Dear Kids,
Your dad hurt his back last week. This time it has been REALLY bad. He was completely down for about five days. He's hurt is back before, but this time, it is more than at other times.
I know that one thing I am learning through it is patience in being a care giver. I am not keeping up with everything by myself. My heart is so soft for those women who have no help, single women, or women with disable husbands. They are a league all of their own. I am so grateful that normally I have so much more help from your dad. I can't imagine taking care of everything, ALL THE TIME by myself. That would be so exhausting.
Your dad has to do something different about his back, or he's going to end up on the operating table in about 10 years. It's not a good shape. But, if we act now, he will be okay.
I've been having a hard time wrapping my head around my own aging body and life. I've always had such a vibrant soul, heart and energy. I am feeling the toll of mortality starting to set in just a bit. I can't eat what I used to eat. I can't do what I used to do. It is a bit discouraging, especially to see my parents aging they way they are.
I have been eating horribly for the last little while... almost in rebellion. I don't want to admit that this is where I am in life. I have been rebeling against my own life by eating whatever I want. I am going to make it a major matter of prayer to get past this block that I've had in my heart.
I did a cleanse last week and felt GREAT. But I hopped right back into my bad habits once it was done. Getting my emotional state wrapped around my own mortality is taking me for a loop.
But... I will figure this out and conquer this, just like I have anything else. I am giving myself so much grace inside of figuring it out, but now I am feeling the pull of the spirit to really get past it, accept it, love it, and glean what I can at this point in my life. Influence who and what I can at this point in my life. Really start to step into my magic. That's what I want to do, that's what my heart is aching for, to step into my own magic.
Patience Andrea. It will come.
I love you kids,
Your Mom
Sunday, June 30, 2019
Angels Helped Nana Down The Hall
Dear Kids,
Your Nana came to stay with us for a few days while Dani and Alan are moving houses. It is good to have her with us anyway, we haven't spent time with her for a while.
Well, the first night she was here, something happened that really jolted both Brent and I, and we are so grateful she is okay. Once again, angels are very aware of everything happening around us.
At 3am I felt someone touch my foot, I shook myself awake and Nana was there at the end of the bed. She said, "I've hit my head. Will you help me?". Well, of course I jumped out of bed and thrust my eyes open even more. She sat on the edge of the bed and as we put light on it, we could see that she had really fallen. She didn't have a deep cut on her head, but there was plenty of blood on her hair and around the abrasion. It took us some time to clean up everything that we could. There was blood that had already dried, so it was evident that she had been knocked out and was laying on the floor for a little while before she made it into our room.
While she sat there during cleaning her up, she was completely confused and couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember why she was in St. George. She couldn't remember living with Dani and Alan. She couldn't remember where Tooele was. She was very disoriented and her memory of the last few years was gone. She remembered living at Sam's house and that she wasn't happy there. She kept asking questions and we kept telling her the answers and talking about it. It really shook your dad up quite a bit to see his mom that way.
It took us about 30-45 minutes to get her cleaned up. By the time we finished her memory started to come back. We had her lay down on my side of the bed next to Brent for the rest of the night so if anything happened and she needed immediate help, he would be there to help her.
When we went to the kids bathroom, the blood on the floor was in a particular spot, and we couldn't figure out how she fell down. We didn't know if she had fainted or was dizzy and fell. The edge of the rug was turned up, and your dad pointed that she could have caught her foot on the edge of the rug when she was getting up from the toilet and fallen down.
All of that was very scary, but here is the miracle part. She had angels guide her down the hall to our room. She has NO memory of what happened and no memory of even making it down the hallway. But the lights were on so she could see her way. She has no memory of getting off the floor, nothing. Even when all her memory was restored from the incident, she still doesn't know how she was able to make it to us in order to help her. It was the angels in our house that helped her. I know it. They helped her up and helped her down the hallway to get our help. I tear up just thinking about it in my mind. I have no doubt of it that she was accompanied by angels that night.
I am so grateful for the spirit and our Savior who helps us in time of need and the "errand of angels" that we receive on a daily basis.
It's hard to see parents getting old. It's even a bit harder to realize that "I am next". I am the next one in line in this circle of life. One day it will be me that YOU all will have to help down the hallway, and help me when I fall, and support me in my aging years. I hope you know that I already appreciate it in advance. Caring for parents isn't for the faint of heart, but it is part of our turn. It's my turn to help Nana, Mimi and Papa, because they cared for me and Brent for so many years. And eventually it will be yours. Know that I love you, no matter what.
I love you,
Your Mom
Your Nana came to stay with us for a few days while Dani and Alan are moving houses. It is good to have her with us anyway, we haven't spent time with her for a while.
Well, the first night she was here, something happened that really jolted both Brent and I, and we are so grateful she is okay. Once again, angels are very aware of everything happening around us.
At 3am I felt someone touch my foot, I shook myself awake and Nana was there at the end of the bed. She said, "I've hit my head. Will you help me?". Well, of course I jumped out of bed and thrust my eyes open even more. She sat on the edge of the bed and as we put light on it, we could see that she had really fallen. She didn't have a deep cut on her head, but there was plenty of blood on her hair and around the abrasion. It took us some time to clean up everything that we could. There was blood that had already dried, so it was evident that she had been knocked out and was laying on the floor for a little while before she made it into our room.
While she sat there during cleaning her up, she was completely confused and couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember why she was in St. George. She couldn't remember living with Dani and Alan. She couldn't remember where Tooele was. She was very disoriented and her memory of the last few years was gone. She remembered living at Sam's house and that she wasn't happy there. She kept asking questions and we kept telling her the answers and talking about it. It really shook your dad up quite a bit to see his mom that way.
It took us about 30-45 minutes to get her cleaned up. By the time we finished her memory started to come back. We had her lay down on my side of the bed next to Brent for the rest of the night so if anything happened and she needed immediate help, he would be there to help her.
When we went to the kids bathroom, the blood on the floor was in a particular spot, and we couldn't figure out how she fell down. We didn't know if she had fainted or was dizzy and fell. The edge of the rug was turned up, and your dad pointed that she could have caught her foot on the edge of the rug when she was getting up from the toilet and fallen down.
All of that was very scary, but here is the miracle part. She had angels guide her down the hall to our room. She has NO memory of what happened and no memory of even making it down the hallway. But the lights were on so she could see her way. She has no memory of getting off the floor, nothing. Even when all her memory was restored from the incident, she still doesn't know how she was able to make it to us in order to help her. It was the angels in our house that helped her. I know it. They helped her up and helped her down the hallway to get our help. I tear up just thinking about it in my mind. I have no doubt of it that she was accompanied by angels that night.
I am so grateful for the spirit and our Savior who helps us in time of need and the "errand of angels" that we receive on a daily basis.
It's hard to see parents getting old. It's even a bit harder to realize that "I am next". I am the next one in line in this circle of life. One day it will be me that YOU all will have to help down the hallway, and help me when I fall, and support me in my aging years. I hope you know that I already appreciate it in advance. Caring for parents isn't for the faint of heart, but it is part of our turn. It's my turn to help Nana, Mimi and Papa, because they cared for me and Brent for so many years. And eventually it will be yours. Know that I love you, no matter what.
I love you,
Your Mom
Joshua Was Lost Then Found
Dear Kids,
Your dad gave a talk in church last week and told this story about Joshua. I wanted to just copy and paste the part of his talk because he did such a great job with this story:
Your dad gave a talk in church last week and told this story about Joshua. I wanted to just copy and paste the part of his talk because he did such a great job with this story:
One of the prayers we pray as a family, and one that I offer almost daily myself as a father, is that the Lord will protect our family and send angels to watch over us, especially when we are apart. Last Sunday shortly after arriving home from church I was changing out of my Sunday clothes and I heard Andrea and Talia leaving for Choir practice, which is conveniently held a few doors down from us at the Valentine’s home. When I came back into the living room and kitchen area I couldn’t find Joshua, our 2 year old. Glancing outside and not seeing him either there or in the garage I assumed Andrea had taken him to choir with her and went on with what I was doing. A few minutes later I texted Andrea to make sure she had him with her, no answer. I looked around the house one more time and reassured myself he must be with her if he’s not here. It turns out he had let himself out of the house while no one was looking and saw his mom heading towards the Valentine’s home and decided to follow. He of course didn’t find her because she was inside singing long before his little legs could carry him that far, so he just kept looking. He walked all the way around the block, twice, as it was later reported to us by the angels who were sent to keep watch over him. A mom in our neighborhood saw him walking and tried to help him but he wouldn’t have it so she jumped in her car and followed him while he walked, and another angel saw him walk by while he was out mowing his lawn and stopped what he was doing to make sure my son stayed safe. Imagine the terrible things that could have happened, imagine how differently that day could have turned out for us. Immediately after choir practice we discovered he was indeed missing and started our frantic search which only lead us to the end of the circle where another angel, a police officer was attending to the situation to make sure our son made it home safe, he just happened to be driving by when the angel mom flagged him down.
As we walked back home, clutching our scared little boy in our arms the spirit whispered to both of us, "I have heard you and your prayers have been answered, and angels did indeed protect him."
Our prayers were answered even before we knew that we needed to say a prayer, before we even realized the danger.
Now, of course, my mother's heart went crazy when I realized what had happened. Joshua was so scared when I went to him. He clung to me. These sweet people who found him, they were obviously not of our faith. They had tattoos, a "rough" exterior to most people on the outside. But my goodness, were they amazing on the inside to follow around my boy and make sure he was okay. I'm so grateful for their instincts. And the policeman was so cute, he could tell how horrified I was. He said, "I have six kids, and something like this has happened with atlas three of them. It's okay."
After all this happened, Talia asked me, "Did Heavenly Father make that happen? Did He make Joshua do that?"
It was a great opportunity to talk with her about how Heavenly Father helps us inside of our free agency. I told her, "No, Heavenly Father didn't make him do that. Joshua chose to do that on his own. But Heavenly Father protected Joshua inside of that choice." I believe this so strongly. I believe that Heavenly Father sends us inspirations all the time to help us in our life. It is our job to listen and keep close to the spirit. This was such a perfect reminder of the way He helps us, despite of our choices.
I'm so grateful for Heavenly Father's protection and help for Joshua this day.
I love you,
Your Mom
Friday, June 14, 2019
Update on Gabriel
Dear Gabriel,
It's time to update your life! I can't believe how much you are growing.
-In the truck the other day I looked over at you and your head is almost as high as mine when we sit down! I couldn't believe it! Pretty soon you are going to be taller than me. I'm going to have a man child soon!
-You are very thoughtful and methodical.
-You are still loving building with legos, playing pokemon (you go to a pokemon card group every other week) and you are totally into "Dogman" books right now. I don't like those books, they are really fluffy books, but you love them. They are "boy" humor.
-You are in the love of learning phase right now like CRAZY. There is always a book in your hands. You are reading like mad. You retain everything that you read too! It's amazing the stuff you will spout off that you read about.
-You are very "information" oriented right now. It's actually making it a little hard for your friends to be around you, because all you want to do is talk about what you are reading, and most of them just want to go play and they don't want to be "talked" at. You will learn, you'll get there... all those social things that you have to learn can be tough sometimes.
-You are still in karate, you finished up robotics last semester, you are doing a bouldering class this summer, pottery, and also rugby.
-The High school Rugby coach actually gave you a really great compliment. He was there for one of the practices and he wanted by you after the practice because he wanted to meet me. He said, "This sport is a really good fit for him. He is a thinker. More than anything you have to think on your feet quickly in this sport, and he's got it. I would love to have him on my team. I would highly recommend to keep him going in this." He gave you great compliments about how quickly you listened to instructions and everything. Out of all the kids at the camp, he noticed YOU! I thought that was pretty cool.
-You are really into "toy soldiers" on xbox right now. You are wanted to earn time to play so you can play that game. You have your regular "check off" tasks you have to do to earn the screen time. You are pretty good at getting it all done.
-You are in your "head" a lot. I have to go touch you on the shoulder to jolt you out of your thought processes. It reminds me a lot of MY dad, your papa. He does that all the time. He can tune anything out around him, you got that from him.
-You will still reach out and hold my hand. I love that.
I love you handsome man. I can't believe how fast you are growing. In only 7 years you will be going on a mission. That's CRAZY.
I love you,
Your Mom
It's time to update your life! I can't believe how much you are growing.
-In the truck the other day I looked over at you and your head is almost as high as mine when we sit down! I couldn't believe it! Pretty soon you are going to be taller than me. I'm going to have a man child soon!
-You are very thoughtful and methodical.
-You are still loving building with legos, playing pokemon (you go to a pokemon card group every other week) and you are totally into "Dogman" books right now. I don't like those books, they are really fluffy books, but you love them. They are "boy" humor.
-You are in the love of learning phase right now like CRAZY. There is always a book in your hands. You are reading like mad. You retain everything that you read too! It's amazing the stuff you will spout off that you read about.
-You are very "information" oriented right now. It's actually making it a little hard for your friends to be around you, because all you want to do is talk about what you are reading, and most of them just want to go play and they don't want to be "talked" at. You will learn, you'll get there... all those social things that you have to learn can be tough sometimes.
-You are still in karate, you finished up robotics last semester, you are doing a bouldering class this summer, pottery, and also rugby.
-The High school Rugby coach actually gave you a really great compliment. He was there for one of the practices and he wanted by you after the practice because he wanted to meet me. He said, "This sport is a really good fit for him. He is a thinker. More than anything you have to think on your feet quickly in this sport, and he's got it. I would love to have him on my team. I would highly recommend to keep him going in this." He gave you great compliments about how quickly you listened to instructions and everything. Out of all the kids at the camp, he noticed YOU! I thought that was pretty cool.
-You are really into "toy soldiers" on xbox right now. You are wanted to earn time to play so you can play that game. You have your regular "check off" tasks you have to do to earn the screen time. You are pretty good at getting it all done.
-You are in your "head" a lot. I have to go touch you on the shoulder to jolt you out of your thought processes. It reminds me a lot of MY dad, your papa. He does that all the time. He can tune anything out around him, you got that from him.
-You will still reach out and hold my hand. I love that.
I love you handsome man. I can't believe how fast you are growing. In only 7 years you will be going on a mission. That's CRAZY.
I love you,
Your Mom
Update on Talia
Dear Natalia,
Time for your update! I haven't written one for a while.
-You've all of a sudden started playing the piano like crazy. You didn't really gravitate towards it for a while, but now it's like your body is just getting it. You love to play!
-You cut off your hair really short when I shaved my head. You came to me the next day and said that you wanted to donate your hair to people with cancer as well, so we chopped it off! It's so nice, it's super easy and fast to do. Low maintenance for the win!
-You are very aware of how you spend your money. I've been pleasantly surprised by that actually. You just bought an iPod, and you are listening to books on it like crazy right now. You are a very auditory learner, and listening to things is a big deal for you. You love to have something to listen to all the time.
-We have been dog sitting lots of dogs lately. You are by far the most responsible with them. You are very aware of their schedules, what to do for them, keeping them clean, walking them, feeding them, just everything about it. You are very responsible.
-You are the first one to get your "tasks" done for the day so you can go play with friends. You are very socially motivated and you want to get all your stuff done so you can just be "free" for the rest of the day.
-You did a "Princess Camp" a couple weeks ago and loved it. You are going to be doing a pottery class in July, and you can't wait for that. I'm excited for you to do it.
-You are missing dance during the summer time. This last year with dance, your body just "got it". You started really getting the coordination of it all and loving going to dance. I'm excited about it for you. You are always moving around and dancing with everything, it's a huge part of your soul.
-Your voice is getting stronger and stronger. I love hearing you sing. You have music in your heart all the time.
-Right now for school you are doing "elephant math" online learning, reading chapter books everyday, learning cursive writing, copywork each day, your daily chores around the house, and lots of creative and experiment time. I think you are going to be going into the love of learning phase really quickly, you are starting to go in that direction right now, I love to see it.
-You are still in karate. I always want you in self defense, especially with your personality.
-You are a little mom to Joshua. You love to help him with everything. It's really cute to see it actually. You love to be in charge of things. You know everyone's schedule, you know what's happening all the time, you keep track of EVERYTHING. And if I'm off on the schedule even a little bit, you are the first to let me know about it!
-Your sense of fashion is AWESOME!
I love you so much! I love bonding with you. I'm so grateful for you in my life. I already know that as you grow you are going to be one of my best friends.
I love you,
Your Mom
Time for your update! I haven't written one for a while.
-You've all of a sudden started playing the piano like crazy. You didn't really gravitate towards it for a while, but now it's like your body is just getting it. You love to play!
-You cut off your hair really short when I shaved my head. You came to me the next day and said that you wanted to donate your hair to people with cancer as well, so we chopped it off! It's so nice, it's super easy and fast to do. Low maintenance for the win!
-You are very aware of how you spend your money. I've been pleasantly surprised by that actually. You just bought an iPod, and you are listening to books on it like crazy right now. You are a very auditory learner, and listening to things is a big deal for you. You love to have something to listen to all the time.
-We have been dog sitting lots of dogs lately. You are by far the most responsible with them. You are very aware of their schedules, what to do for them, keeping them clean, walking them, feeding them, just everything about it. You are very responsible.
-You are the first one to get your "tasks" done for the day so you can go play with friends. You are very socially motivated and you want to get all your stuff done so you can just be "free" for the rest of the day.
-You did a "Princess Camp" a couple weeks ago and loved it. You are going to be doing a pottery class in July, and you can't wait for that. I'm excited for you to do it.
-You are missing dance during the summer time. This last year with dance, your body just "got it". You started really getting the coordination of it all and loving going to dance. I'm excited about it for you. You are always moving around and dancing with everything, it's a huge part of your soul.
-Your voice is getting stronger and stronger. I love hearing you sing. You have music in your heart all the time.
-Right now for school you are doing "elephant math" online learning, reading chapter books everyday, learning cursive writing, copywork each day, your daily chores around the house, and lots of creative and experiment time. I think you are going to be going into the love of learning phase really quickly, you are starting to go in that direction right now, I love to see it.
-You are still in karate. I always want you in self defense, especially with your personality.
-You are a little mom to Joshua. You love to help him with everything. It's really cute to see it actually. You love to be in charge of things. You know everyone's schedule, you know what's happening all the time, you keep track of EVERYTHING. And if I'm off on the schedule even a little bit, you are the first to let me know about it!
-Your sense of fashion is AWESOME!
I love you so much! I love bonding with you. I'm so grateful for you in my life. I already know that as you grow you are going to be one of my best friends.
I love you,
Your Mom
Update on Elijah
Dear Elijah,
It's time for an update on you handsome man! I can't believe how much you are growing.
-You still always want to sit on my lap and you are getting so big that I can't see past your head when you are on my lap. It's adorable.
-You DON'T want kisses. You think they are gross. You want me to hug you and snuggle you, but no kisses! When we watch a movie and if there is any kissing you always say, "Oh great. Another kiss just went into my brain." Ha!! it's so funny!
-Your sense of humor just gets better every day. It's amazing to see how witty you are.
-You are still having a hard time with hitting and pushing people. You are SO PHYSICAL. It's crazy. It's a strength for you as long as you learn how to control it. You learn through touching. You are extremely tactile.
-For school you are doing "elephant math", reading with mom everyday, doing a few words of copywork, and playing as much as possible. You have daily chores you are in charge of, and you are particular with those. When you do a job, it is done right.
-You are learning how to be honest right now. Sometimes you will tell me you've done something, when I know you haven't yet. So we are working on that.
-You want me to snuggle with you every night. You love the snuggles.
-You stand up for people when they are being picked on. You aren't afraid to stand up for people. You are brave. You are a fighter and a warrior. You always will be. It came with you from heaven.
-You are very self aware of any mistakes that you make. You have a very particular personality, and you don't like making mistakes. Most of the time you won't try something unless you know you can succeed FIRST. It will be a challenge for you to "put yourself out there" before knowing you can do something perfectly.
-You are very coordinated. You are an athlete for sure.
-You just finished your first basketball camp for three days. You loved it!
-You are a teaser. You will always push people's buttons that's for sure.
-You LOVE "Pirates of the Caribbean" music. You listen to that every second you can get it. you love the beat and the instruments. Your body moves with the music like crazy when you listen to it. I think it helps you get so much of your inner feelings out, it's therapy for you.
-You make me laugh all the time! You are so fun!
I love you my handsome boy. You are going to be a heart breaker, that's for sure. You turn heads everywhere you go already. But always remember, you've got to be handsome from the inside out.
I love you,
Your Mom
It's time for an update on you handsome man! I can't believe how much you are growing.
-You still always want to sit on my lap and you are getting so big that I can't see past your head when you are on my lap. It's adorable.
-You DON'T want kisses. You think they are gross. You want me to hug you and snuggle you, but no kisses! When we watch a movie and if there is any kissing you always say, "Oh great. Another kiss just went into my brain." Ha!! it's so funny!
-Your sense of humor just gets better every day. It's amazing to see how witty you are.
-You are still having a hard time with hitting and pushing people. You are SO PHYSICAL. It's crazy. It's a strength for you as long as you learn how to control it. You learn through touching. You are extremely tactile.
-For school you are doing "elephant math", reading with mom everyday, doing a few words of copywork, and playing as much as possible. You have daily chores you are in charge of, and you are particular with those. When you do a job, it is done right.
-You are learning how to be honest right now. Sometimes you will tell me you've done something, when I know you haven't yet. So we are working on that.
-You want me to snuggle with you every night. You love the snuggles.
-You stand up for people when they are being picked on. You aren't afraid to stand up for people. You are brave. You are a fighter and a warrior. You always will be. It came with you from heaven.
-You are very self aware of any mistakes that you make. You have a very particular personality, and you don't like making mistakes. Most of the time you won't try something unless you know you can succeed FIRST. It will be a challenge for you to "put yourself out there" before knowing you can do something perfectly.
-You are very coordinated. You are an athlete for sure.
-You just finished your first basketball camp for three days. You loved it!
-You are a teaser. You will always push people's buttons that's for sure.
-You LOVE "Pirates of the Caribbean" music. You listen to that every second you can get it. you love the beat and the instruments. Your body moves with the music like crazy when you listen to it. I think it helps you get so much of your inner feelings out, it's therapy for you.
-You make me laugh all the time! You are so fun!
I love you my handsome boy. You are going to be a heart breaker, that's for sure. You turn heads everywhere you go already. But always remember, you've got to be handsome from the inside out.
I love you,
Your Mom
Update On Joshua
Dear Joshua,
It's time to write an update about you and how you are doing in your life right now. You are two and a half years old. I can't believe it. You will be three in October. How did that happen?
Here are some things that I want to write down and remember:
-When you want a cup, you say "Puc" .... hahahaha! It can sound like a bad word. And we laugh every time.
-You want to be involved in EVERYTHING that your siblings are doing. You are completely aware of everything that is going on around you.
-You still LOVE your binky. You don't want to give it up yet. Reminds me a lot of your sister!
-You are starting to talk like crazy. Just in the last month you are trying new words everyday. It's amazing! I will say something, and you will mimic me every time. Your talking reminds me a lot of your sister as well. You just try things out, even when you've never said them before, you are brave with your speaking and not afraid to make mistakes.
-You are still napping everyday, and it's wonderful. You have acted like you want to stop your naps, but I keep forcing you to do it. There's so much going on, I have to protect that time for you.
-You are very independent and get whatever you want in the kitchen. I will walk into the kitchen and catch you sneaking something all the time. You don't want to wait and ask for permission.
-You are the most pleasant personality. You are happy all the time. You hardly ever throw fits, and when you do, you learn from them. I can tell you anything and you understand exactly what I'm saying and the boundary I'm setting with you. You will push the boundary, but your understanding is there.
-You are always helping people around you. You are always sharing. You are very aware of when people need something.
-You are particular. You don't like to be messy. If something gets on your hand while you eat, you want it wiped off immediately before you continue your meal.
-You always know where you "place" things. You have particular places where you put things all the time.
-You still love your blue blanket. It's your snuggly.
-You love to go outside and play in the water. You are sneaky about getting out there, if I can't find you, it's usually because you've made it outside and you are playing with the hose water and getting soaking wet.
I love you baby boy. So much. You are so good for my heart. You help me to laugh and see the bright side of things everyday. I'm so grateful for that. you are happy, pleasant and smiling all the time.
I love you,
Your Mom
It's time to write an update about you and how you are doing in your life right now. You are two and a half years old. I can't believe it. You will be three in October. How did that happen?
Here are some things that I want to write down and remember:
-When you want a cup, you say "Puc" .... hahahaha! It can sound like a bad word. And we laugh every time.
-You want to be involved in EVERYTHING that your siblings are doing. You are completely aware of everything that is going on around you.
-You still LOVE your binky. You don't want to give it up yet. Reminds me a lot of your sister!
-You are starting to talk like crazy. Just in the last month you are trying new words everyday. It's amazing! I will say something, and you will mimic me every time. Your talking reminds me a lot of your sister as well. You just try things out, even when you've never said them before, you are brave with your speaking and not afraid to make mistakes.
-You are still napping everyday, and it's wonderful. You have acted like you want to stop your naps, but I keep forcing you to do it. There's so much going on, I have to protect that time for you.
-You are very independent and get whatever you want in the kitchen. I will walk into the kitchen and catch you sneaking something all the time. You don't want to wait and ask for permission.
-You are the most pleasant personality. You are happy all the time. You hardly ever throw fits, and when you do, you learn from them. I can tell you anything and you understand exactly what I'm saying and the boundary I'm setting with you. You will push the boundary, but your understanding is there.
-You are always helping people around you. You are always sharing. You are very aware of when people need something.
-You are particular. You don't like to be messy. If something gets on your hand while you eat, you want it wiped off immediately before you continue your meal.
-You always know where you "place" things. You have particular places where you put things all the time.
-You still love your blue blanket. It's your snuggly.
-You love to go outside and play in the water. You are sneaky about getting out there, if I can't find you, it's usually because you've made it outside and you are playing with the hose water and getting soaking wet.
I love you baby boy. So much. You are so good for my heart. You help me to laugh and see the bright side of things everyday. I'm so grateful for that. you are happy, pleasant and smiling all the time.
I love you,
Your Mom
Learning From Sidewalk Chalk
Dear Kids,
My mind has been on education a lot lately. I've been taking a break from homeschool for about six weeks, and it's exactly what I needed to do. It's given me the space I've needed for my brain to wrap around what I want for this next upcoming year. Teacher preparation is a huge thing! A big thing!
While I was sitting on my chair on the patio and going through a few things, I had a much needed reminder. There was Joshua, playing with sidewalk chalk.
He was dumping them out and putting them back in their bucket one by one. When he saw me looking at him, he held up a blue chalk and said, "Blue!!", so proud of himself. I said, "Yes! That's right!" Then he held up another color, yellow, and said, "..... blue??".
I said, "Yellow."
"Yellow!" was the excited reply. And he put it in the box.
He help up another one, red, and said, ".... blue??".
"Red."
"Red!!!" and put it back in the box.
This process went on for about 20 minutes. Taking the chalk in and out of the box. His repetition of putting them back in one by one, while he would hold them up to me and verify the color was right.
By the end of the process, he had his colors down. And since that sidewalk chalk day, he hasn't forgotten all the names of the main colors he learned. He is two years old.
He didn't need me to "tell him" to learn his colors. He WANTED it on his own. He wanted to learn on his own. We forget in our society so much about how FAST children learn when they are young. They love it. They want it. They want the education. They want to know all about the world around them. It's our society that crushes that out of them when we push to fast, too soon.
I've been thinking about Elijah inside this process as well. If he was in school I KNOW he would have already been diagnosed with ADD. He wouldn't sit still for a moment in a school setting. He is so tactile. EVERYTHING he does, he has to experience the touch of it. He learns through his body, not through a traditional school setting.
Homeschooling all of you has been REFINING for me. It is refining everything about me and the way I parent. The way I experience life around me. Most important thing I have had to learn is to just get out of your way. Let you do it. Let you experience it. Let you take charge. Give you the space you need in order to get that done.
More and more studies are coming out about how children must have play when they are young. The younger we push them in a school setting, the more our children are struggling. I see that first hand while I am teaching you. You need to play. Gabriel is just coming out of that phase and going into his hungry for knowledge space. He reads all day long. He just wants to read and read and read some more. He doesn't need me to tell him to do it. He does it on his own because he wants to. He wants to learn. He desires it from within his soul.
Each of you have your own unique places and things that you are passionate about as well. Gabe could study science all day, where Talia wants to do everything that has to do with dance and music. Elijah wants to hit things and touch things all day long, and Joshua just wants to learn from everyone around him. It's a beautiful process, and I'm finally understanding how to just "get out of your way" and let you learn.
I try to give you boundaries and parameters. But all in all, it comes from within YOU. Not something that I'm trying to "educate" you on. You are your own educators.
I love you kids. You are amazing. You are doing amazing. I am so blessed to call you mine.
Your Mom
My mind has been on education a lot lately. I've been taking a break from homeschool for about six weeks, and it's exactly what I needed to do. It's given me the space I've needed for my brain to wrap around what I want for this next upcoming year. Teacher preparation is a huge thing! A big thing!
While I was sitting on my chair on the patio and going through a few things, I had a much needed reminder. There was Joshua, playing with sidewalk chalk.
He was dumping them out and putting them back in their bucket one by one. When he saw me looking at him, he held up a blue chalk and said, "Blue!!", so proud of himself. I said, "Yes! That's right!" Then he held up another color, yellow, and said, "..... blue??".
I said, "Yellow."
"Yellow!" was the excited reply. And he put it in the box.
He help up another one, red, and said, ".... blue??".
"Red."
"Red!!!" and put it back in the box.
This process went on for about 20 minutes. Taking the chalk in and out of the box. His repetition of putting them back in one by one, while he would hold them up to me and verify the color was right.
By the end of the process, he had his colors down. And since that sidewalk chalk day, he hasn't forgotten all the names of the main colors he learned. He is two years old.
He didn't need me to "tell him" to learn his colors. He WANTED it on his own. He wanted to learn on his own. We forget in our society so much about how FAST children learn when they are young. They love it. They want it. They want the education. They want to know all about the world around them. It's our society that crushes that out of them when we push to fast, too soon.
I've been thinking about Elijah inside this process as well. If he was in school I KNOW he would have already been diagnosed with ADD. He wouldn't sit still for a moment in a school setting. He is so tactile. EVERYTHING he does, he has to experience the touch of it. He learns through his body, not through a traditional school setting.
Homeschooling all of you has been REFINING for me. It is refining everything about me and the way I parent. The way I experience life around me. Most important thing I have had to learn is to just get out of your way. Let you do it. Let you experience it. Let you take charge. Give you the space you need in order to get that done.
More and more studies are coming out about how children must have play when they are young. The younger we push them in a school setting, the more our children are struggling. I see that first hand while I am teaching you. You need to play. Gabriel is just coming out of that phase and going into his hungry for knowledge space. He reads all day long. He just wants to read and read and read some more. He doesn't need me to tell him to do it. He does it on his own because he wants to. He wants to learn. He desires it from within his soul.
Each of you have your own unique places and things that you are passionate about as well. Gabe could study science all day, where Talia wants to do everything that has to do with dance and music. Elijah wants to hit things and touch things all day long, and Joshua just wants to learn from everyone around him. It's a beautiful process, and I'm finally understanding how to just "get out of your way" and let you learn.
I try to give you boundaries and parameters. But all in all, it comes from within YOU. Not something that I'm trying to "educate" you on. You are your own educators.
I love you kids. You are amazing. You are doing amazing. I am so blessed to call you mine.
Your Mom
Tuesday, June 4, 2019
Let's Go Clean Up The Milk
Dear Kids,
I had one of those "parenting wins" this morning I want to tell you about.
Your dad was out of town and so I had to really plan Sunday morning out in order to make sure everything was "above board". I got up early, woke everyone up, got moving for the day, was on top of breakfast and moving through the routine of it all.
After getting everyone going with breakfast I headed back to my bathroom in order to finish putting on my face and then get dressed. After about five minutes I started to hear a bit of bickering around the table, then it escalated, then majorly raised voices, then I heard a CRASH! It was clearly glass that had shattered, there's no way to mistake that noise.
First, Talia came running down the hall to tell me all about it. "Mom! Elijah broke the glass on purpose! Wahhhh!" She was hysterical. I looked at her, then waited for her to calm down while giving her a hug. I said, "I will be out there in just a minute."
Then Gabe came to me and said, "Mom, I believe I saw the whole thing. I will tell you about it." Then proceeded to paint the picture for me of what I knew had happened from hearing the commotion earlier. Talia had started to antagonize Elijah. Elijah got upset. Talia kept pushing buttons. Elijah yelled at her. Talia kept working on getting his goat. Then Elijah took his stuffed animal and flung it at her. The poor puppy was knocked into a glass on the way to Talia and flung the glass on the floor, which shattered all over the place, and milk made it's debut all over the room.
As I walked out it was the perfect scene. Milk all over. Joshua standing there not sure what to do. Saw me and said, "Momma!" while he pointed to the mess. Talia crying. Gabe telling me all about it while I was surveying over the scene. It was reported to me that Elijah was in his room.
Before continuing, I must interject something here. I had been spiritually focusing all morning. I was praying in my heart, "Heavenly Father, these are thy children. I am going to serve them breakfast out of the love I have for You and how much You love them." Same thing when I heard the alarm clock go off, "Father, this is the body You gifted to me. Help me to get up and take care of it and be a good steward over it with thankfulness." I repeated phrases like this all morning long no matter what I was doing... getting in the shower, getting breakfast ready, choosing church clothes, waking up the kids, picking up the shoes... whatever it was.
So when the "heat of the day" came up and scorched the spirit in my home with this conflict, I was able to handle it correctly because of the seeds I had already sown in my thought patterns before the "rocking of the ship" actually happened. I went to find Elijah. He was on the floor in his room hiding under his blanket. I immediately prayed and asked Heavenly Father for help in knowing the best way to handle this.
I sat down by him and said, "Elijah, no matter what you do, I will always love you." He got up from his blanket and gave me a huge hug. He just sat with me for a few minutes. Then I said, "Everyone makes mistakes buddy. Let's go clean up the milk."
I was AMAZED at his response. This is my boy who is the ultimate kid with "oppositional defiance". Whether I handle things 'perfectly' (according to parenting textbooks) or not, most of the time he has fight in his soul for whatever is happening around him. Which is one of his biggest gifts, he's a fighter. But not this time, he was ready to help and comply. I know this was the miracle that was manifested as part of the spiritual focus that I had already fed my soul with all morning long.
So we went out and with Talia's help we swept, cleaned, rinsed, REPEAT (because I tell you what, milk is STICKY messy stuff if not cleaned up all the way!).
This whole process took about 45 minutes from beginning of the situation to the end... and we didn't finish until about 8:55. Church starts at 9am. I kept looking at the clock and just knew it was more important for me to handle the situation correctly, WITH the spirit, than it was for me to hurry everyone along in order to make it to church on time. I was able to make some HUGE deposits with my kids. So we finished getting ready for church, watched a scripture video, and headed out the door to make it to classes.
This was a parenting "win" for me. But most important it was a parenting "win" together with the spirit. We were partners through the whole morning through the situation. Even though it was only a daily enticement and not a 'huge' adversity, it made deposits into every single one of your souls.
I pray everyday that the Lord will take my small basket of five loaves and two fishes of parenting and expand them into miracles for all of your lives in your future.
I love you,
Your Mom
I had one of those "parenting wins" this morning I want to tell you about.
Your dad was out of town and so I had to really plan Sunday morning out in order to make sure everything was "above board". I got up early, woke everyone up, got moving for the day, was on top of breakfast and moving through the routine of it all.
After getting everyone going with breakfast I headed back to my bathroom in order to finish putting on my face and then get dressed. After about five minutes I started to hear a bit of bickering around the table, then it escalated, then majorly raised voices, then I heard a CRASH! It was clearly glass that had shattered, there's no way to mistake that noise.
First, Talia came running down the hall to tell me all about it. "Mom! Elijah broke the glass on purpose! Wahhhh!" She was hysterical. I looked at her, then waited for her to calm down while giving her a hug. I said, "I will be out there in just a minute."
Then Gabe came to me and said, "Mom, I believe I saw the whole thing. I will tell you about it." Then proceeded to paint the picture for me of what I knew had happened from hearing the commotion earlier. Talia had started to antagonize Elijah. Elijah got upset. Talia kept pushing buttons. Elijah yelled at her. Talia kept working on getting his goat. Then Elijah took his stuffed animal and flung it at her. The poor puppy was knocked into a glass on the way to Talia and flung the glass on the floor, which shattered all over the place, and milk made it's debut all over the room.
As I walked out it was the perfect scene. Milk all over. Joshua standing there not sure what to do. Saw me and said, "Momma!" while he pointed to the mess. Talia crying. Gabe telling me all about it while I was surveying over the scene. It was reported to me that Elijah was in his room.
Before continuing, I must interject something here. I had been spiritually focusing all morning. I was praying in my heart, "Heavenly Father, these are thy children. I am going to serve them breakfast out of the love I have for You and how much You love them." Same thing when I heard the alarm clock go off, "Father, this is the body You gifted to me. Help me to get up and take care of it and be a good steward over it with thankfulness." I repeated phrases like this all morning long no matter what I was doing... getting in the shower, getting breakfast ready, choosing church clothes, waking up the kids, picking up the shoes... whatever it was.
So when the "heat of the day" came up and scorched the spirit in my home with this conflict, I was able to handle it correctly because of the seeds I had already sown in my thought patterns before the "rocking of the ship" actually happened. I went to find Elijah. He was on the floor in his room hiding under his blanket. I immediately prayed and asked Heavenly Father for help in knowing the best way to handle this.
I sat down by him and said, "Elijah, no matter what you do, I will always love you." He got up from his blanket and gave me a huge hug. He just sat with me for a few minutes. Then I said, "Everyone makes mistakes buddy. Let's go clean up the milk."
I was AMAZED at his response. This is my boy who is the ultimate kid with "oppositional defiance". Whether I handle things 'perfectly' (according to parenting textbooks) or not, most of the time he has fight in his soul for whatever is happening around him. Which is one of his biggest gifts, he's a fighter. But not this time, he was ready to help and comply. I know this was the miracle that was manifested as part of the spiritual focus that I had already fed my soul with all morning long.
So we went out and with Talia's help we swept, cleaned, rinsed, REPEAT (because I tell you what, milk is STICKY messy stuff if not cleaned up all the way!).
This whole process took about 45 minutes from beginning of the situation to the end... and we didn't finish until about 8:55. Church starts at 9am. I kept looking at the clock and just knew it was more important for me to handle the situation correctly, WITH the spirit, than it was for me to hurry everyone along in order to make it to church on time. I was able to make some HUGE deposits with my kids. So we finished getting ready for church, watched a scripture video, and headed out the door to make it to classes.
This was a parenting "win" for me. But most important it was a parenting "win" together with the spirit. We were partners through the whole morning through the situation. Even though it was only a daily enticement and not a 'huge' adversity, it made deposits into every single one of your souls.
I pray everyday that the Lord will take my small basket of five loaves and two fishes of parenting and expand them into miracles for all of your lives in your future.
I love you,
Your Mom
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