Disregard...

Just skip the next post. I finally got it to work. I had to make a whole new playlist, but I got it to work. I have had problems logging in to my account. Oh well... it was nice to start fresh.

STOP...before you read the next post...

Turn up your speakers, and go to my music player. Put your cursor over the playlist, and scroll to the bottom of it. Click on the last song called little wonders. It will help you with the meaning of my next post.

I had problems moving the song on my playlist... it is being faulty today. So... this is the next best option. It really will make you feel good, it is a great song.

Little Wonders...

I love music... I love the way it makes me feel when I hear a song that just touches my heart. This morning, a song did just that. It is called "Little Wonders" It is from the movie Meet the Robinsons.

I was listening to it this morning just after I laid my little ONE year old down for his nap. I really started thinking about their little lives, and how everything that they do is such a wonder for them. Every experience is new, and I get to be a part of that. I love sharing in the joys of childhood with my children. Every path our children take, we get to be a part of it. Many times we help lead them down certain paths, and we are an influence for good in their life. In these small hours of there life, we have an imporant role.

It also made me reflect on Jex's first day of school this week. What a big step that is, but I get to be a part of it. I loved watching his excitment, as I picked him up the first day. He had the biggest grin on his face. I got to be a part of that little wonder as he shared with me all about his first day.

Along with all of the little wonderful wonders, there are bad parts to life as well. We also have to be a part of those. The words to the song helped me to realize what matters is what is in your heart, and what we do with all of these small moments in our life. That means in all the moments of our life;good and bad. Then when the bad comes, we just have to let it go. We have to remember the good.

Here are the words to this amazing song:

"Little Wonders"

Let it go,Let it roll right off your shoulder

Don't you knowThe hardest part is over

Let it in,Let your clarity define you

In the end

We will only just remember how it feels

Our lives are made

In these small hours

These little wonders,

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away,

But these small hours,

These small hours still remain

Let it slide,

Let your troubles fall behind you

Let it shine

Until you feel it all around you

And I don't mind If it's me you need to turn to

We'll get by,It's the heart that really matters in the end

Our lives are made

In these small hours

These little wonders,

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away,

But these small hours,

These small hours still remain

All of my regret

Will wash away some how

But I can not forget

The way I feel right now

In these small hours

These little wonders

These twists & turns of fate

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away but these small hours

These small hours, still remain,Still remain

These little wonders

These twists & turns of fate

Time falls away

But these small hours

These little wonders still remain

I tried to move the song from my playlist to start when my blog opened, but I am having difficulties. If you scroll down to the very bottom of my playlist, it will be the last song. You should listen to it if you haven't.

I hope it inspires you to not forget the way you feel in the small hours of the day that you share the many little wonders with your little ones.

{"One"derfully One}

Today is the day... my baby is one. WOW!! It has gone by so fast. I have enjoyed every minute of him...except for the new found screaming.

We have had a "One"derful Morning. We opened his gifts, and then had crepes for breakfast. He blew his candle out(with help from mom.) I put it in his crepe. I also let him have a smoothie for the first time this morning. He was in heaven.

We will have a nice One year old party for him when my sister comes for a visit. Complete with a Froggy cake., for a "toadally" great birthday.

I will share one thing I love about him, because he is one. There are many more, but here is my favorite.

I love when he wraps his arms around my neck, and buries his head in my shoulder. It is the sweetest love I have ever had from a baby. He has such a sweet countenance about him, and he shows it through his loves.

Happy Birthday Isaac!! We Love you.

{BOO HOO... or YAHOO?}

Jex's First Day...
Today was Jex's first day of School. I am officially a kindergarten mother. Can I have a nap now?

Today went great. Jex did wonderfully. He got right up and ready. He ate his breakfast like a champ, and we were out the door. On our way there, he said, "I have dinosaurs in my tummy." He said that he likes to say dinosaurs better then butterflies. I thought that was so sweet.

Once we got there we waited in the gym for the teacher to come and get him. Then we followed him to his class. I helped him get all settled, and then we left him there. I left my baby there for the whole day. I even paid for him to eat school lunch. He wanted to try that today. .. they were having mini corn dogs, and applesauce. This is right up his alley.


I didn't shed any tears. I am holding them all in. I cried some last night when we read, "The Kissing Hand." A wonderful book for school prepardness. If you haven't read this to your kids you should.


I am so happy for him. I can't wait to go pick him up. It is only 10:13... can't wait until 3:30.

If you haven't listened... you should

For those of you who haven't listened to this talk, you should take the time. If you have, listen to it again. It recharges my batteries, as a young mother. A mother who gets overwhelmed at times. This is a wonderful reminder of why we do everything we do.

http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-851,00.html

Click on the link and then scroll down to Sunday Afternoon Session, and then Daughters of God. If you click on it you can read it, or on the right you can click on the real player icon, and actually watch it. ENJOY!!! I hope it lifts you up today.

{Blessings for a new school year...}

What is the significance of a priesthood blessing? Think of a young man preparing to leave home to seek his fortune in the world. If his father gave him a compass, he might use this worldly tool to help him find his way. If his father gave him money, he could use this to give him power over worldly things. A priesthood blessing is a conferral of power over spiritual things. Though it cannot be touched or weighed, it is of great significance in helping us overcome obstacles on the path to eternal life.
-Elder Dallin H. Oaks

As members of the church, we believe that the keys of the priesthood have been restored to the earth. I am so thankful for a husband who is worthy to hold these keys.

I was a witness to the power of the priesthood as Jonathan gave blessings to each one of the kids. He did this in preparation for them to start a new school year. We took the time to have this be our Family Home Evening this week. What a sweet FHE it was. Jonathan explained to each of the kids the importance of school. Why we go, and then some of the things we expect out of them. He emphasized being an example to others, and always choosing the right choice. He asked Stella to make new friends, and told Jex to help others make good decisions. I am thankful for his insight, and the lessons he teaches our children.

After our discussion, he took the time to give them each a blessing. The spirit was so strong in our home, as he told Stella that she has been blessed with a light in our home to bring happiness to us and those she meets. I listened as he blessed Jex with comfort to eat school lunch, and try new foods. He also told him that he is a child blessed with qualities that others do not have. He needs to use those qualities to bless others.

I am thankful for the guidance that blessings can give us in our life. They are gifts from our Heavenly Father that can be given to us according to our faith, and obedience. This was a FHE that touched my heart.

{Oh the places you will Go....}

Stella started school yesterday. It was so exciting for her. She talked about it all weekend. She picked out her outfit the night before. She looks darling, however she picked the wrong shoes. She came home with blisters. OUCH!! The price of beauty.

I can tell that she is going to be so happy at her school. She will go 3 times a week, for 3 hours at a time. Just enough for her to gain a little independence. I am so happy for her, and so proud of how she handled it. I thought she may have a hard time. She didn't, just walked right in with a huge smile on her face. WAY TO GO STELLA!!!

Notice she doesn't have shoes on... those darn blisters.

{Our New Blog...}

Several friends and I have gotten together to make a public blog full of all the creative ideas and thoughts we can come up with. It was hard for me to go private, and not be able to share all of that anymore. I am happy to say that it is up and running. I hope you find some wonderful, exciting, and all around fun information there. We hope to keep it uplifting, and inspiring. We hope you will check it out. Our blog is called "The Errand of Angels." There is a post on the blog to explain how the blog came about, and how I picked the name.

We hope to see you there!!!

http://www.theerrandofangelsblog.blogspot.com/

{Just a Reminder...}

I had planned on going private in just 2 more days. I am leaving this open for one more week. Jonathan and I are worried that we have missed a few people, or someone may have missed the last post. So this is just a reminder... I will be going private for sure on the 24th of August.

I also wanted to let you know that I am working on a blog collaboration with some friends. We are putting together a blog full of home decorating tips, parenting tips or ideas we have found, home projects, digital scrapbooking tips, exercise and fitness, food storage ideas, Family Home Evening ideas, etc...

I wanted to put together a public blog full of these items so that it would still be available to those who are not my invited guest, but just random blog wanderers.

I also made a commitment to share my testimony of our church on my blog, in reference to Elder Ballard's talk in the July Ensign. This will also be a part of our blog. I will still share this on my family blog, because it is important to me to have it as part of my published book. I want my family to know that I have a testimony, along with blog readers everywhere.

I think this will be a really fun and unique blog full of a collaboration of great ideas. I will post the link when it is all complete. I can't wait for you to check it out.

Don't forget to leave me a post or an email if you would like an invite.

{Same thing... One week later...}

Here is a video of Jex blowing out his candles on his {COOKIE CAKE.} Every year I make him a cake, and he never eats it. He told me on Stella's birthday that he really doesn't love cake. So we came up with a plan to make a giant SUGAR cookie instead. We made it look like a baseball and used licorice rope as the threads. He loved it, and actually scarfed it down this time.

Jex had a wonderful birthday today. We played all day, he watched a few of his favorite TV shows, he rode his bike, we went to Burger King, we played battleship, opened presents, and had a cookie cake. WOW!! That made me tired!!!
Here are a few pictures of the special day. I had to throw in one of Stella, because she is modeling his new gift.

{One year older and wiser too....}

...Happy Birthday to You!!!

I can't believe that my baby is six today. I just barely found out that I was pregnant with this little guy. Now he is big and off to school in less then a week. I can hardly say that this is fair. I remember his birth. It was such a special day for Jonathan and I. Our first baby, new parents, unfamiliar territory, and it all was so wonderful. I loved every minute of those first few days together. I had the baby blues for a few days, but not because I was sad. I would cry and cry because I was afriad something was going to happen to him, and I just loved him so much. He was such a beautiful baby. We didn't have a digital camera until he was one. I am including the first digital picture that I have of him. He is one in this picture, and reminds me of Isaac now.

In honor being six, I will post six things I love about Jex:

1. I love his desire to be good and righteous. He never wants to do anything wrong. He has always been one to ask me before he does anything, just to make sure it is the right thing to do. He also wants to make sure that others follow the rules. He is always so concerned when we go to a place like Mcdonalds, and they have a height restriction. He asks what it is, and makes sure that he is still the right size to be playing. Just last night, he was so concerned because Stella didn't say her prayers. She claims she did, but he said she didn't. After a while of being in bed, he came out and said, "I am having the worst night. I know that Stella didn't say her prayers, and I feel so sad that she didn't talk to Heavenly Father today." He had tears in his eyes, and genuine concern for her. He is an amazing boy. So much wisdom for a six year old.

2. I love watching him learn. He soaks up knowledge like a sponge. He can ask questions all day about "stuff", just because he can't get enough information. Then weeks later he can repeat back to you what he has learned. I love that learning is important to him.

3. I love how sensitive he is. Just today, we stopped at a store. I am looking for a new purse, and I wanted to check out this store. I asked him if it would be okay to do this on his birthday. It was on our way home, and I hated to go back out there. Anyways he was fine with it. When we got out, the store was closed because the power had gone out. He just looked at me and said, "I feel bad for you mom, I wanted you to be able to find you a purse." He doesn't want anyone to be disappointed or sad. He is always aware of others around him.

4. I love his wonderful manners. He is so polite. He is constantly saying please and thank you. He also goes out of his way to make sure you know that he thinks you look nice. If you do something extra special, he will tell you several times how much he loves it, and thank you. He really is the most polite child I have ever been around.

5. I love how happy he is all the time. He wakes up happy.(sometimes at the crack of dawn) But he always has a smile on his face. He laughs and giggles all day long. If you haven't heard his laugh before, you will just die when you do. You will die with laughter yourself, it is so contagious.

6. I love that his heros are the most wonderful men I know. He worships his dad. He loves watching and doing whatever Jonathan is doing. He also loves his Grandpas, and has always wanted to be just like them. I remember at a very early age, he wanted to mow the lawn with them. He likes to be in their back pocket when we are near them. When Jonathan is at home he follows him around the house. He also has a great love for the scripture heros; Nephi, Alma the Younger, Helaman, and Captain Moroni.

Jex and My DadJex and Jonathan's Dad

I love you Jex!! I am so happy to be your mother, and I thank Heavenly Father everyday that he sent you to our FAMILY!! I am so grateful that you are the oldest, you are such a wonderful example for your brother and sister.

{It is time...}

I am sorry to announce, but I have been thinking about it for a long time. I am going PRIVATE!!
It is time to get my blog off the internet for the whole world to pull up when they google something.

I have been so happy to share this with all of you, and if you would like an invite please leave a comment here or email me.

I know there are a few onlookers that are sisters or friends of my friends. Please feel free to introduce yourself, and I would love to invite you. I am always excited to meet new people and make a new friend.

Blogging has opened up a whole new world for me. I enjoy sitting down, and sharing a part of my life. I also love that it will be a history for me family(I will have it printed at the end of the year.) I have noticed though that our blog pulls up on google quite often. For instance, I wrote a quote from Jon and Kate plus 8, and when people googled that, up came our blog.

I will leave my profile open so that you can contact me in the event that I miss you on the invite, or it doesn't work.

I will leave the blog open until August 16th. My blog is being used at a presentation at BYU on the 15th. After that it is going PRIVATE!!

I can't wait to hear from you, and I will add you to the list of invites.

{This one made me cry...}

I am still finding coupons all over the house from Jonathan. This is what he did for my birthday. I found this one this morning, and I started to cry. It is so sweet. I feel so lucky and blessed to have such a wonderful amazing husband. The best part is that I do get to be with him throughout eternity.
I LOVE you Jonathan!!

Thanks again for the great birthday!!

{A Riddle for you...}

1. It has happened 30 times in my lifetime.

2. It has happened in all of the different places that we have lived.

3. It has always been a time to celebrate.


And if this doesn't give it away...
4. It is a good day to eat cake!!

You Guessed it: today is my birthday. I am the BIG 30!!

My friend Krysta told me that instead of being the oldest of the young, I am now the youngest of the old. I like that. I like being young again!!

My wonderful husband surprised me today with my favorite gift. FLOWERS!!! I have just recently fallen in love with this gift. When we were first married that was the last thing I wanted him to spend our money on. Now, I have a new appreciation for flowers. I love waking up everyday to fresh flowers, and if I had money in the budget I would always have a vase full of fresh flowers on the table.

So for now... I will enjoy the occasions that Jonathan surprises me with them. It was a wonderful gift. He was also so thoughtful, and left little notes and coupons all over the house. Things like: a morning to sleep in, or a 15 minute scalp massage.

What a wonderful day. Thank you to who sent birthday wishes!! It is so great to feel loved.

I guess it isn't so bad being 30.

{My Dear little Stella}

I can't believe that 4 years have passed since the birth of our beautiful daughter. Four years ago, was such a trying time for us. We were so thankful to have a beautiful new baby, but so sad that we were separated. It was a wonderful day when Jonathan got to see his week old baby girl. So much has happened since that day. I am thankful for the gift of this little girl in our life. She has brought so much happiness to our family.

Here are FOUR of my favorite things about Stella:

1. I love that she wants to snuggle, kiss, hug, and love everyone in our family. There are times(like when you are late, and need to get out the door) that it can be annoying. However, I think it is a beautiful gift that she shares. I love that she speaks her love language through affection.

2. I also appreciate her need to know that she is loved. Especially when she has done something wrong, and has had a time out, or been told "no." She immediately needs comfort from whomever did the disciplining. She just needs to know that you love her, and that you aren't mad at her. I appreciate that in her.

3. I love how helpful she is. She enjoys doing chores, and helping me around the house. Some days, I come in the kitchen, and she is wiping everything down with a wipee, just to be helpful.

4. I love Stella's sense of humor, and how witty she is. She comes up with the funniest things. Often times it will surprise you with what she comes up with. Her are some normal conversations with Stella. All of theses happened today:

"Mom, why do we have such a nice doctor? (we went to the doctor, and she had 4 shots. So if she thinks that is nice she must really have a lot of faith in good people.) Anyways, I said, "I don't know, they are just nice people." She said, "I think it is because they think I am special."

She also said when asked what else she wants to do for her birthday, just after eating a whole root beer float, "go and get a snow cone?" With the biggest smile on her face. That girl has one giant sweet tooth.

She also kept asking me today why I was letting her do special things. I told her it was because it was her birthday. She said, "is it because you love me?" I love that she is 4, and already knows this.

What a blessing it is to be Stella's mother. Hooray for birthdays, and chance to reflect on the lives of our children, and also on their {BIRTH}-day

Here are a few pics of Stella with her cake and presents:

Make a Wish...

Happy Birthday Stella!! We love you.

We celebrated last night because Jonathan is on call. Here she is blowing out her candles.

What Heaven Sees in You

I know that one of my friends posted this on their blog not to long ago. I found it again when I was looking at a video for my lesson at church on Sunday.

It was a good reminder to me of the potential that I have as a woman. A reminder that I am a daughter of God, and that I have purpose on this earth. That Heavenly Father knows all that I can do. It reminds us of the blessings and promises that Heavenly Father makes to us. I just wanted to share this, and I hope you can feel the love of our Heavenly Father as you watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMfr9Ewp8o4