Carter's 1st Grade Field Play Day

The last week of school, I had a great opportunity to help out with Carter's Field Play Day. There were lots of parent volunteers, so I had a great time taking pictures of Carter and his friends.

They started out with a tug-o-war. Class against class, boys against girls and many more.
Smile ~ if the girls are winning! :)

Dig in ~ if you feel your hands slipping!

Jump ~ if you come across an orange cone!

Run ~ if you want to pass the baton! Scream ~ if you get a wet sponge thrown at you! (Aiko-Carter's 1st grade girlfriend.)

Catch it ~ if you dare!

Wonder ~ if you don't know what to do!

Slow down ~ if you don't want to spill! (Levy)

Pour ~ if you have any drops left! (Alyssa P.)Skip ~ if you don't care! (Isabella-Carter's other 1st grade girlfriend.)

Go again ~ if you like getting soaked! (Trenton)

Walk ~ if you don't want to run! (Tyler)

Try ~ if you are brave!

Grin ~ if you can bare it!

Soar ~ because you can!

What a great day out on the field! Fun times, getting to know Carter's friends and watching them play and enjoy each other.

Mother's Day

Oh, to be a mother! There once was a time in my life when I wondered if this would ever be an option for me. I dreamed as a little girl, while playing with my baby dolls, about being a mother and having little babies to cuddle and take care of. Then when I was first married, I realized what a miracle it was to even get pregnant. It took over 3 years for us (with the help of fertility drugs) and by our 4th anniversary, we finally had a little baby boy. Oh, how our lives changed in so many ways.

Being a mother was so much more than I ever imagined as a little girl. I had no idea how much love I could feel, how much sadness, how many millions of emotions I could possibly go through as a mother. One thing I truly never imagined was how hard it would be to be a mother. To feel so responsible for everything your child eats, drinks, learns, says, does, wears, looks at, feels and experiences! To feel like a failure when things go wrong, and kids exercise their own agency as they develop their ability to make choices.

Almost 8 years and 4 kids later, those feelings have magnified in so many ways, but so has my confidence in the knowledge that I am not alone in motherhood. There is a Father in Heaven who knows these children better than I, and he has blessed me with them, for they are His. Because of this, He will help me understand them, get to know them, and love them for who they are. His children. How grateful I am for this help!

This day, I am honored to be a, their, Mother.

I ventured off to church with some of the kids and got to listen to Carter sing with the primary children. It took him many years to go up and sing on this day because he was so shy. I think the first year he went was when Chloe became a Sunbeam and drug him up with her, because she wanted to sing! :) It is such a special feeling to hear the children sing to their mothers, definately the spirit of Heavenly Father reassuring mothers of the great work we are doing. Chloe was sick so she stayed home with Matt and had a special suprise for us when we got home.

This was the sign on the front door as we entered.

Chloe was dressed up in her Mulan costume and was my hostess. She welcomed me to the K-mono Cuisine and seated me to the table. The rest of the family joined me at our fancy home-made restaurant. We ate delicious curry chicken and rice and had a great time talking about the day. The kids made my day special. Matt always helps them learn to appreciate what their mother does for them. I received a nice tomato plant from church and special letters from the kids. What a wonderful day, even with sick kids.

How grateful I am to be a mother! And how grateful I am for my own mother who showed me by her example how to be a mother. Love you Mom!

Organize Life

So, I have been thinking about how to get my life organized. I have always considered myself a pretty organized person with order as kind of a talent. I don't know what has happened, but I feel like every aspect of my life has become so chaotic that I don't know where to start putting things back in order.

Maybe this blog post could be something like...the reader chooses 1-3 things that helps you feel order in your life and post them as a comment. Maybe then I could post again with all the ideas and then try them out. Hopefully, helping anyone else who might be struggling with the same thing.

Any ideas???

Trek

Matt and I have recently been called to be Ma & Pa for our Stake Youth Trek. We are really excited for the opportunity. I have never personally been on a trek, but my parents went on several, including the one going right into the Salt Lake Valley. So, I feel like I should have some experience. Honestly, I am nervous and wondering if I am "strong enough" to do it.

We have been doing a lot of pioneer talk in the last week, so as we were driving home the other night Chloe started asking questions...anyone suprised? (Chloe is our million question girl.) The questions go in order without much pause for an answer...

"Are the pioneers still walking?"

"Are they all dead?"

"Are you guys going on a pioneer hunt?" (This one was my favorite!)

"Will people think you're really pioneers?"

Sometimes I wonder what the world looks like through her eyes. She has such a vivid imagination!

So, I am reaching out to all "trekking experts" to flood me with advice. We had our first training on May 2nd and we start the trek on June 3rd. HELP!!!!

A Lovely Little Flower Garden

This spring we were feeling the itch to get our hands in the dirt. Since we have a huge yard full of sand, and we aren't able and ready to start landscaping it, we decided to move a tiny bit of rock in our front yard and plant some flowers. We did a little preparation and planned to have a Family Home Evening talking about faith. The kids were so excited to make our front yard beautiful!

Matt got us started by teaching the kids how to rototill the ground and prepare it for the planting. Look at Carter use that big heavy machine!
Josie helped by sitting nicely in the stroller and not running off into the road!

Wow, Chloe is one tough cookie trying to manouver that heavy machine on her own!

Gotta love those boots too! She didn't want to stop wearing them when the winter ended!

Here comes Mason, begging for his turn to help!

After tilling up the ground and adding lots of manure and potting soil, we planted some flowers.

Carter loved helping put the flowers in the ground and pat out the dirt.

I love working in the dirt and beautifying our yard. I wish I had more time and energy to spend my days out working in the yard! Actually, I wish we had more plants in our yard to take care of. There is such a great feeling taking the earth and adding a little TLC to make it beautiful.

Then we added some nice bark.

Now we will nurture our new plants and help them grow into a beautiful garden! What a nice Family Home Evening! It was time well spent.

The Movie

Downstairs the phone rings...

Chloe answers, "Hello."

pause

She responds matter of factly, "We're watching a movie. There's a bad guy and he's going to kill the dad."

pause (Memaw, the caller, responds "What movie are you watching?")

Chloe answers, "Little House on the Prairie."

Mom, upstairs, sighs in relief...

Flowers are Beautiful

I have decided that I enjoy taking pictures of flowers. I love their beauty and the way I can capture it at their best. When Matt and I were first married I did something naughty and told him not to buy me flowers. I know sounds crazy, but we didn't have the money and I felt they were money wasted. I know this was hard for him and he has broken my rule many times throughout our marriage...which I have decided is ok. I love the way flowers bring a brightness into our home and our lives. Recently, I did rescind my rule and told him that he is allowed to bring them home on occasion, which he has done so already. (I know, I sound like a control freak! But I have eased up over the years!)

The greatest thing I love about flowers is planting them and watching them grow. I love to play in the dirt and rub it through my fingers. When I was growing up, I watched my dad plant flowers and weed the yard, and found great pleasure in seeing his strong hands move the dirt around through his fingers. In Idaho the soil was cool and damp and nice to touch. I remember spending many summer days weeding and beautifying our yard with my dad. It was a chore sometimes, but I believe I really grew to love it. I am kind of a weed freak, because I love to weed. I have thought about this often and had many discussions with family and friends and I have come to a conclusion about my freakiness. Weeding is simply hard work and instant gratification. Hard work always makes you sweat which is a result of your heart pumping harder, which creates endorphins, which makes you feel happy. The added result is that the weeds are gone, creating a little more beauty in the world, instant gratification. So, happiness and beauty combined together makes for a pleasant soul.

I am grateful for a father who helped me learn to love weeding. I am also grateful for parents who helped me see the beauty all around me. Now, I am blessed to have a husband who helps me see color in everything, with an artistic eye.
I have taken several pictures of flowers and I am not sure what kind they are...I will have to do a little research, or have my dear cousin Melissa help me identify them. :)

I hope one day I can have a beautiful flower garden to create, tend and care for. Flowers are Beautiful.

Pictures taken at Polly's Home in Gilbert, AZ