January

January was a full month! We celebrated three birthdays,starting with Jenika on the NINETEENTH.  At ten years old, Jenika is a beautiful red head with a (almost always) sweet disposition and a strong will.  She is tall at 4'9".  She is busy too.  She has been jump roping, and clogging, and she just started playing the violin.  It's hard work, but she is getting pretty good! :)  She loves playing with her friends, watching TV, and dressing up her little sister.  She is doing well in school, and loves to read.  She doesn't love math as much, but she is good at it.

Jenika had a birthday party with about 9 friends.  It was loud, but fun!  They played karaoke, made pizza, played some games, and giggled a lot.  She doesn't like cake, so we made her a rice krispie treat cake.  She got lots of presents, including a suit case, a Kindle, and accessories for her American Girl Doll.  I can't believe that my birthday buddy is already 10 years old!  We love her, and she is a huge blessing for our family!

January Part 2

We celebrated another birthday in January... Cutler's!  I cannot believe that he is SEVEN!!!  He is growing up so fast, and we love having him in our family! Cutler is in first grade, and is learning Spanish! He is a very good student and loves math and reading.  He is very smart and knows almost everything (he tells me everything too, especially when I am wrong - which is always).  He loves riding dirt bikes and playing outside with friends.  He plays the piano, and this year, he played t-ball, flag football, and basket ball.  His favorites include red, Chinese food, ice cream, his baby sister, and playing on the ipod.  Cutler is very extreme.. He is usually either ecstatic or devastated, and he is very verbal.  He likes to talk.

To celebrate Cutler's birthday, we took some of his friends and played laser tag and then we ate dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.  He wanted an Olof cake and to see the Loves. :)  He got a Nerf gun and a new backpack for his birthday.

Remember...

It is March, and I believe that I haven't shared anything on my blog for over a year.  

Yesterday, my mother gave me a beautiful gift... She gave one to all of my sisters.  It was a book, sharing the story of my older sister, Jessica.  She also had recorded pictures and birth statistics of me and my sisters.  I went home and read the stories, treasuring the words and pictures.  How great it was to have those stories recorded! And I went to sleep, with nightmares, worried that I wouldn't remember the details - or even the big things of the lives of my children.  My life is wonderful today, full of happiness and joy.  Full of the activities and happenings of our family, and I don't want all of this to be forgotten.  Things change so quickly by the days, weeks, months, years... I want my children to understand where they came form.  

So... I have a resolution.. To record the happenings of our family from one week to the next.  To give them and me something to remember these days, because our days and our choices will shape who we become.

Brielle is one!!!

One year ago, I was in the hospital, holding my baby girl (and maybe shedding some happy tears).  Shawn went home to take care of the kids, and I was alone with my sweet, newborn.  (and I was extremely tired!)  All day long today, I have been remembering what I was doing one year ago.  I remember waking up, taking a shower, wondering when I'd have that baby... I remember reading the scriptures, praying (that someday this baby would come), and feeling that kick that broke my water.  I remembered calling my sub, sending the kids off to school and telling them that I was just too tired to go to school (not wanting to get their hopes up), and riding to the hospital.  I remember checking in while Shawn went to set up a patient (the registration nurse couldn't believe that he just dropped me off! What if I delivered before he came back! Yea right!).  I remember watching the baby story while I was in labor, and I remember getting that epidural and thinking that I had not felt that good for 9 long months!  And I remember when our Brielle was born, and how sweet and perfect and beautiful she was.  I remember the kids coming to meet her, and then Shawn took them home.
Thinking back over the last year, I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for teaching me about what was important in such a tender way.  In the last year, I have been able to cook and clean for my family, spend time with my children, serve in callings, and take care of the newest addition to our family.  I've also been able to take a few classes and help Shawn with his.
I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me just what I needed and reminding me of what was important.  Happy birthday Brielle!  We love you so much!

Basketball season 2013

I don't know what my hang up was, but I did not sign Bryson up for basketball this year. I think football just wore me out! But, this great team asked Bryson to join their team half way through the year. Bryson didn't play a ton in the games (because he was the eight man and came on late in the season), but he learned a lot and I even caught him doing a fancy behind-the-back dribble in one of the games.
What I'm most proud of, though, isn't how he played the game, but how he treated his teammates, coaches, and opponents. I observed him being respectful to others both on and off the court. AND, (this is what makes me spread out my feathers a little) both his coaches and a few other parents told me how impressed they were by his positive attitude, even when I wasn't there. I love getting good reports about my kids! Makes me feel like I'm doing something right at home! :)
So... Good game, Bryson! You learned that it isn't whether you win or loose, but how you act when you play the game that counts.

Oreo stats.

This may be the only way I get through my statistics class! But, I passed the first class and I've only got two more to go!

Cutler is SIX!!

Cutler told me a while ago that if you didn't have cake with candles on your birthday and if nobody sang happy birthday, then you wouldn't turn a year older. I am definitely going to try it sometime, but Cutler wasn't going to let that happen to him! He made sure that it was all there…presents, cake, candles, people… the kid's a sucker for traditions.
He wanted a pine wood derby for his birthday party... So this is what we came up with...

Happy birthday Cutler! We love you!