Matthew's Blessing

Sunday we attending the blessing of this baby - can you believe that hair?  I totally have baby hair envy since my babies are such balded little things.

Now I know you are suppose to close your eyes during the blessing, but I always keep mine open for just a little bit.  Priesthood circles are one of my favorite things to witness.  I'm positive there is way more symbolism to them than I realize, but I think they are just such circles of power. 

A circle of honorable men surrounding whomever they are blessing.  Exercising their priesthood to bless the lives of others.   It's a beautiful thing.

Last Day of School. Part Two

The Back to School Time Capsule

The last day of the school was the day the boys decided to dig it up.  The air was palpable with excitement, would we remember where we buried it, how much had they grown, how much had they changed. 

Both boys took 3 turns before Jarom finally unearth our treasure.

Even Barrett wanted in on the action.

Before the boys went digging I had them fill out the questionnaire again, just to see how much they changed in the year.  They were mostly the same, but some differences.  It was interesting to remember what they were afraid at the beginning of the year and hear their favorite events throughout the year.

In September we measured each of the boys with a string.  This is the how much they've grown over the school year.  Crazy.

Last Day of School. Part One

Can I hear a Woot Woot!!!  Man am I excited.  Last Day of School = fun, freedom and adventure.

 

 

It also means a couple of unpleasant things like more fighting, bickering and children to always be entertaining, but right now I am choosing to focus on the the pleasantness that the end of school brings.

Back at this post, these two boys had no idea what the year would hold for them, but today they headed off to school knowing they had a successful year and their report card would make their parents proud!

Jarom hit Grade 2 running and didn't look back.  He had wonderful teachers and turned into a pro at reading.

I think this picture tells you all you need to know about Nolan.  He's cool.  The beginning of Middle School created big changes in this boy.  He is officially Tweened.  He loved all his option classes - guitar and foods being at the top of his list!

P.S. These are Nolan's favorite shorts and even though he has a drawer full of expensive shorts, he wears these ones every single day.

The Grade 2 Teacher - Mrs Neeve.

These were the gifts of appreciation to the teacher this year (below).  I saw the idea on the Internet awhile ago, wish I could remember where, but I thought it was cute and we went with it. 

Along with the gift I like to have my kids write a note to their teacher and this is Jaroms.  I had to take a picture and remember it, I feel like it will probably be his last year of innocence where he unabashfully (I think I may have made up this word up, but just go with it) tells his teacher he loves her.  It's so sweet. 

Books

I so love books.  Right now I feel a bit buried in the stack of books sitting on my night stand calling me to read them.  I always find myself wishing I had tons of time to spend reading - some day.

These are some of the books I've been enjoying lately.

Book club book was Driven - the Larry H. Miller story.  My first biography. 

Half Broke Horses - Loving it so far.

The Book Thief - added to my top 5 beloved books

The Shadow of the Wind - The first page griped me and sent chills up my spine.  I'm half way through and intrigued to discover how it plays out, now it's just okay.

This was our Family Picture for Father's Day.

We captured it seconds before the clouds opened up and the rain came down.  There was lightening and thunder - well I am not to sure about the thunder.  But I do love a good rain storm.

My Athletes!

Saturday both boys had their last games of the season.  Jarom participated in his first season of soccer.  He turned out to be a great player with lots of sweet moves.  He loved it and is now training to play in the Southern Alberta Summer Games. 

Man it's been fun watching this kid play basketball this season. He had such great coaches and some of the nicest kids on his team. Basketball is my favorite sport and I loved being a spectator as Nolan grew and honed his skills. 

Nolan's jersey number is always 8, not to sure how this happened, by fluke or because it's the day of his birth.

Father's Day

Take a good look at Spencer.  Isn't he funny?  Wouldn't this have been the cutest picture had he not been goofing around.  What can I say,  This is after all one of the reason I love him so.  He's a funny guy. 

Seriously though, Father's Day is such a wonderful day. I get to celebrate all the men in my life.  They've been good to me.  I've been blessed.

When I look at this photo, and my boys sandwiched between these two spectacular men, I am grateful they have such strong and righteous men teaching them how to men in a world full of lost souls.

Barrett

Today this baby turns 10 months old.  Man has it ever gone fast.  I have tried to soak in every moment and enjoy him to the max. 

There was a time when Nolan and Jarom were toddlers I would often think (say with a little desperation in your voice), "I am going to be stuck in this house forever with these kids".  Then the next thing I knew Nolan was in school and Jarom quickly followed.  Having such a big gap between the boys has given me a perspective at how fast babies grow up and life changes.

Barrett has such a fun personality.  He is happy and smiley and makes us all laugh.

At 10 Months

1. His top two front teeth just grew in on Sunday

2. He is trouble, getting into and destroying anything he can get his grubby little hands on.  Toilet paper, laundry, emptying - drawers, bookcases and bins

3. Climbs upstairs, almost can climb down

4.Stands, cruises on furniture

5.  Thinks he should only feed himself - loves fruit, blueberries are his favorite.

6. Loves to give me kisses by attacking my face and sucking on me.  Loves those wet wet baby kisses.

7. Loves to be chased around the house.

8. Barrett's favorite cupboard to get into is the one under the sink.  Spencer has put handy little clips on it to Barrett proof it.  This is a source of great frustration to the boy, he stand at the cupboard pulling it and grunting all the time.  It's so funny.
9. I'm trying to teach Barrett how to go down the stairs.  I pull his legs down to show him what to do, the only problem is he thinks I am playing a game with him.  He giggles as he climbs back up the stairs so I'll pull him down again.
10. He weighs 20lbs 4ozs

Barrett is about the luckiest kid in the world to have brothers who love him to death and chase him around.

Beginning of the End

The school year is quickly coming to an end; with the end comes a flurry of activities.  Everyday or night there is something to participate in. 

One of Nolan's drawing made it into the school Art Show.  It was fun to go and see the projects the kids have worked on and what we can look forward to seeing in the coming years.  Nolan was excited to show off his work (can't you let by his face?)  Whatever, I liked seeing it.  Jarom enjoyed the complementary drinking box. 

Nolan is addicted to his guitar and is in the process of mastering Iron Man.  It's fun to hear him developing a new talent.  He participated in his first Gatorstock and played magically. 

After participating in a unit of studying boats, Jarom was give an assignment to build a boat.  He was beyond excited about the assignment and he and his dad worked hard building a boat that would float and carry soup cans.

Today all the grade 2's went over to the park and floated their boats.  It was cool to see the fleet of boats sailing across the pond. 

Easter

Really the only reason I am going back to Easter is because I think this picture is so darn cute.  We had a good one.  Easter egg hunt with the Court Family and dying eggs with the Strate's.

I'm going to do better

I stopped blogging for awhile I think for a couple of reasons, the big one being time, had lots of other things to do, the other being that I let myself feel inferior to others peoples blog.  I think mine is a tad boring, lots of my friends are witty and creative, writing has never been one of my talents.

Then the other night we left Nolan to babysit while we went out with some friends (yes we leave him when the other boys are sleeping soundly in their beds and our cell phones are charged - this is such a beautiful thing) and Nolan laid on our bed a read my entire blog.  He talked for days about stories he either never knew or had forgotten.  It was so fun to listen to excitement in his voice.  So I guess, for me, this is what blogging is about - capturing the memories I want to remember forever.

This was my Mother's Day. 

Me and my favorite people in the whole world hike around the river bottom.  Outings with my family are one of my most favorite things in the world.  Everyone gets along, everyone gets fresh air and is worn out.  We see beautiful thing and talk.  It's one of those perfect moments in life.

During our family prayer my kids cycle through each member of our family and pray for them, when they pray for me they always say things like, bless mom while she grocery shops or cleans the house or takes care of Barrett.  This has bothered me for a long time, somehow making me feel like they don't see my role as important as Spencer's. I know that it shouldn't because what they pray for is exactly what I do; I just have a deep desire for them to know that I choose this and how important my role as their mom is and how important their wives role as a mother will be.  I think this is one reason why I have always loved Julie Beck so much.  She gives me the strength to keep striving to be the best mom I can be, and then just a little bit better.