wanted: "OLIVIA" books

Olivia has started a new collection and she is SUPER excited about it. Olivia is collecting the "OLIVIA" books. she currently has three:

the original OLIVIA book,
OLIVIA starts a Band,
OLIVIA and the missing toy.

She thinks the books are hilarious and she try's to read all of them to whomever is willing to listen. she even has a special case she puts them in, the case has wheels on it so she can wheel them around with out them getting damaged all over the house. She is anxious to add to her collection, so if you see any around let me know!

trip to the Zoo

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Today we had a GREAT day at the Zoo! We went with Olivia's class, while there are only 20 kids in her class, we had 17 parents decide to come! I love days at the zoo. thanks kim for making it even more fun!

reading the good book

Each morning we have been working really hard to get in family scripture study. It is AMAZING the difference we feel in our life when we faithfully do this and then when we just don't. Usually when we read, we each get two verses. Mike and I do all the long verses and we have the kids do the short ones taking turns over and over, we read a chapter most mornings this way.

This week though we started letting little Olivia read all by herself. WOW. She can read so well!! We are regularly amazed at how many words she can read with out our help. In fact the only ones she needs help with are ones that a lot of adults would struggle with too. She loves the scriptures, each morning she sets her alarm gets dressed and heads to the kitchen before any one else. and just Wednesday mike and I found her opening every ones scriptures to the right page for them, it was such a sweet selfless act. Its just amazing to us as parents. It is so completely rewarding to see our sweet little girl reading the scriptures all by herself, and finding joy in them as she does.

worlds cutest baby

Not to be a stinker or anything But I really believe I just must have the world cutest baby. There is not a moment where he doesn't make me smile. All you have to do is look at him and he lights up. Just to prove my point here are a few pictures. The bath ones were from Tuesday. I reached down to get something and when I looked up he had his feet in his mouth and couldn't be happier about it. then the other ones I took just two minutes ago. I just swiveled around in my office chair and snapped away. Of course he gave great results....like always. anyway I just wanted to brag, after all its my blog and it is (to me) is like a journal, sorry if you think I am a stinker.

switch it, change it, re-arrange it.

Have you ever noticed right before a big change things get CRAZY!?! Sometime in the next few months Mike and I will be making major changes in our life. There could be a move, new schools, or maybe not. but this I do know- With him going to Law school, change is coming. I have been thrown into old memories of what it felt like to be on my own most of the time. It was hard, but I grew and he grew. I hope I can do this time around a little more gracefully then the last time.

But what is driving me more crazy then the changes coming, is that I keep trying to simplify life so we can enjoy these last few months around each other, and life keeps coming at us faster! With every call or e-mail I get it seems like my time gets sucked away. hmmm...... I suppose this is just how life goes. But I have noticed from similar times in the past, that whenever you desire the most to enjoy life as it exists, things just pile on from every direction. oh-well, no sense in complaining, just wonder if any one ever has the same thing happen to them. I just tried to get out of a calling, not be cause I don't want to do it, but because I don't know if I will be here to see the project through ( I can't stand to not Finnish things!). of course they said no... but it was worth a try right? =) anyway, hope you have a fabulous day!

Look mom

The other day I was sitting at one of my favorite spots in the house and Jackson came running up and said:

"look mom I have a hair on my arm!"
m: Wow, buddy that's pretty spiffy"( yes we use that word a lot here)
J: Yeah.... but you can't touch it.
M: "why can't I touch your hair?"
J: cause.... you would get rid of it... and I don't think you should.... cause now I have a hair on my arm and dad does to.... so I need to keep it.

Just for the record I have never removed a hair from his body. Trimmed the hair on his head, but that's it. I thought it was cute. funny.

daily scripture reading.

Mike and I have a friend who just started this web site. I think its a good idea. He wants to read the book of Mormon but not alone. so every day the assignment is posted on the web. there is a place where you have an opportunity to share with others what you learned and see what they learned. It helps to read but not read alone. Anyway I just thoguht I would pass this on for any one who might want to read but needs some one to HELP out. good luck!

I love her!

My very talented sister took these pictures of my kids, yet one more reason I love her!

mothersday pictures

want to see what I did this weekend? click here , my sister blogged all about it.

Sick, sick go away, come again another day!

Olivia has a double ear infections, she is miserable

Joey has a yucky cough

Jackson is still recovering from eating wheat last weekend.

it's been an interesting week.

why are kids so mean?

Today there was a little girl giving out gum balls to her classmates at recess. she only had a few left and she looked at the girl next to her and said " you can have one if you won't share with Olivia."
As you can imagine, I felt...upset. I wasn't sure if I should do anything, because Olivia ( fortunately) did not hear the girl say it. BUT it really made me mad... all day it has bugged me. why would she target my little shy sweetie, who already struggles to make friends?
That's it. that's all I have to say. I just was mad.

Jacks stick story

A few weeks ago We went to the park on a beautiful sunny day. We had a wonderful time and my kids enjoyed being free to run and run and run. When we left, Jackson had a large collection of sticks in his arms. I was with another one of my friends and she told her son to put the sticks down, he listened to her, and they left. Now, we walked and Jack rode his bike- I had my arms full and I knew if we took the sticks home it would only result in tears from sword fights and messes that couldn't be picked up with a vacuum. So, I also told jack to put down the sticks..... he said no. After trying every way I could think of to get him to comply, I told him he had a couple of choices: he could put the sticks down and he could ride his bike home happy, he could pick a very favorite one, and then he could ride with it, or if he insisted on being so stubborn he could bring them all home, BUT, he had to take his bike by himself because my arms were full and I couldn't carry his stuff and mine, especially when I had already asked him to put the sticks down-plus when we got home the sticks were to go straight into the back yard.
WELL I bet you can guess which one he chose. Before we even left the park he was screaming at the top of his lungs " I CAN'T do this!!!" and "MOMMY I NEED YOU TO HELP ME". I must admit that it would have been much easier to say fine, take his sticks home, and he would have been happy. But then he would not have learned to listen when mommy tells him something. So I decided right then and there we were in it for the long haul.
I might need to explain, normally it might take us ten minutes or fifteen to get to the park, but this particular trip ended up being almost a full hour. It was hard, for every step Jack took he yelled and cried, each time his bike fell down he would burst in to tears. about every ten feet I would turn around and gently remind him of his choices, I told him at any moment he could put the sticks down, and we would get home fast, but he still refused.
The last part of our Journey has a very busy street we cross. I was worried from the start about this road. I always am, even when we are all listening and happy. I knew this was to be our biggest challenge yet. So we all stopped, I again told his options, I tried to explain how he would be so much happier, if he would just put the sticks down. He decided to hold on to them.
We were in the middle of a large intersection with Jack crying, walking right into the middle of the intersection, me putting Joeys brakes on and running after jack, watching yaya as she tried to get to the side walk and the whole time I scared some one was going to call CPS because Here I am with three kids all upset and all over a very busy road. It was not so fun.
Eventually we arrived home, Jack put his sticks in the back yard, and we calmed down. All this craziness made me think.
Life down here on earth is a journey back home, Just like our walk from the park to home, we can choose at times how easy our journey might feel. Jacks sticks are like sins. Our individual sins have a wide range of descriptions, some may be more serious, some may seem so small, but they are all real and just like Jacks sticks, they still make our journey hard. Our Heavenly Father has given us commandments and then told us we were free to choose how we would make our journey. If we would just put our sticks down, the journey will still be hard and hot, and tiring, but we can find a large amount of enjoyment out of it. But when we refuse to put down our sticks, the journey will at most times feel impossible and frustrating and even exhausting to the point of giving up.
There will be large cross roads in our lives, our father may try to remind us of what he has asked, and unfairly, when we choose not to listen, he will at times still save us even if we don't deserve it. He loves us so much. I believe that most of us who are trying will all our hearts to get home to our father, will. But, how hard do we want to make our journey? how often does the Lord quietly remind us of his commandments and love? each Sunday? each time we enter the temple? each time we come to him in sincere prayer? how about the time we watch his gentle hands in the lives of our families?
You know whats the most interesting part? Jackson put his sticks in the back yard when he got home, do you think he has even touched them since? NO. I can't imagine we will even miss our sticks if we drop them, the hardest part is truly just letting them go. I have a feeling I will be learning much about myself for a long time to come, all from an hour journey from the park, with a few sticks and a stubborn child.

swine flu

On Friday I got a call, it was yaya and she was crying, her tummy hurt and she wanted to come home. Of course Mike went right away and picked her up. When she walked in the door she was crying so I got on my knees and gave her a big, long hug, after her big hug she laid on the couch and from that moment on acted as though nothing was wrong. So being a mom who knows something about pretending to be sick, I instantly realized something was off. When I questioned ya ya, her daddy got quite protective of her, so I backed off! =) but a few hours later I sat her on my lap and asked her if they talked about swine flu in school that day, and WHAT did they talk about. ( Livy's teacher told us they had talked about it) she told me that a little girl in her class had a brother who got swine flu, and when you get swine flu there is a place where you can make a wish, and your wish will come true.
Now, its a good thing I help in class a good amount, because I was able to figure out what was up, in two seconds flat! There is a little girl in yaya's class with a brother with cancer. the make a wish foundation granted his wish to go to Disney land. OLIVIA thought that if she got the swine flu, she would be able to get her family to Disney land.
Can I tell you how hard it was not to laugh when all the pieces of the puzzle fell together?? I told her that she would have to be REALLY sick to have the make a wish foundation send her to Disney land. Of course I told her we would NEVER want her to be that sick. Her grandparents and mike have also had similar conversations since then with her. In fact yesterday morning I over heard mike Talking with her about it again. He told her this:" Olivia, let your daddy make all your wishes come true." guess we know what those wishes are now.