Busy Mom To 6

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Father's Day--Helaman & His Warriors

I found this blog post about the fathers of the 2000 stripling warriors that I wanted to share. I found it touching and like the author says, most of us think about their mothers when we read their story. But their fathers were taking care of them in battle. Here is a little bit of the post but you can read it all here.

And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it. (Alma 56:47-48)

I have heard these verses a thousand times, and I am happy that moms in our day get to see the impact that mothers can have on their sons. But I always asked myself...

Where were the fathers of the stripling warriors? Surely they must have been involved, right? But we only hear about the mother, and how they taught their sons to have faith, and to be obedient. Besides, someone had to have taught these boys to fight like they did...?

Where are the dads?

I found them. Yes, I found the fathers of the stripling warriors in Alma 56:27. In the middle of the war, buried in the middle of the chapter, it says this:

And now it came to pass in the second month of this year, there was brought unto us many provisions from the fathers of those my two thousand sons.

What were the dads doing? Keeping their boys alive. The supply lines were always a problem during this war. The dads were providing for their sons. Probably in the same manner they had been providing for them their entire lives.

The author continues to talk about the Proclamation to the Family. This post touched my heart and I appreciate this story even more.

Wanna read something interesting?

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children."

Where is that written in ancient scripture? It's not. It is from 1995. "The Family: A Proclamation to the World."

From one covenant people to another - the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I am thankful for my father and all that he does for me. I am also grateful for Rusty's dad & that we are able to live by him. And of course I can't post this without saying how grateful I am to the father of my children--he is awesome!

Happy Father's Day!

Monday, June 10, 2013

Quick update on Ethan

Since I haven't kept up on Ethan's blog, I thought I would include a couple of pictures that I have received.

A picture of Ethan in May--sent from a member.

Ethan is in Santa Barbara--and this is a baptism on June 9, 2013. His companion is Elder Farley from Tremonton, UT (I'm pretty sure that's where he's from).

So excited that he comes home next month!!!

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Ben and Emmalee misc.

This is what Ben did to the table one day--and it's still there! (I haven't tried anything besides the dishcloth yet).

I'm not sure when this all occurred.

I just know these pictures were on my camera when I downloaded my pictures. She does make one cute snowman!

Emmalee's after-school lady bugs.

Brienna did her hair this day (one of the few days she wanted someone else to do it).

what a cute idea for a snack!

Emmalee and Ben.

This is what Ben likes to do at home--especially when I tell him we need to pick up the floor.

Once he's picked everything up, he pulls out the mini=vacuum and vacuums as much as he can. He really is a great helper (especially if it is before 4 pm).

I have observed that he has his "meltdowns" after 4 pm. And on days when he hasn't had enough sleep the night (or nights) before. And once he has a meltdown, it takes a minimum of 20 minutes to calm him down (distract him, etc.) so he can join us again.

Elementary End-of-the-Year Awards & Gifts

Emmalee received a few awards at the end of the year award ceremony.

Here she is with her "Faithful Attendance" award--they can only miss 1-3 days.

And here she is receiving her bronze medal for her AR goal (over 100 AR points in reading).

All of the 2nd graders and 3rd graders received this. Only a couple of 4th and 5th received higher. Emmalee likes to read, but she isn't as "into" books as the older kids (Ethan, Brienna, Zane)

I thought she looks so adorable here! (and notice how cute her hair is!)

Here is what I gave the graduates this year. I put in play dough, candy, mints wrapped in money wrapper, and rolled up $2 bills.

I thought it would be a fun gift--and different than just giving money in a card.

This is what I made for the teachers. I made a double batch of cookies and only had about 1 dozen left over. Each teacher had 6 cookies in their bag.

This is the card I made for them, and I wrote a note to each one on the back of it.

I had 16 that I gave out (I also gave some to the secretary & our superintendant/principal). Again--I wanted to do something a little bit different.

(And not to brag or anything, but everyone loves my chocolate chip cookies.--OK, it is a brag)

Elementary Spring Concert

Tuesday was the Elementary Spring "Zing" Concert. Emmalee is in the blue shirt with the pink bow in her hair.

This is most of the elementary kids--minus the 9 kindergarteners & the nine 5th graders that are out of camera shot.

Here is the whole bunch. I was impressed with this song. Our music teacher had the kids singing in 3 different parts. It was awesome! Especially since we have such a small school. I did get a little bit of a video I might try to add (I am still challenged when it comes to putting videos on my blog).

The 2nd graders!

**About 2 or 3 months ago Emmalee decided she was going to start doing her hair all by herself--absolutely no help from me or Brienna. A few times I asked if I could help her a little (lumps, bumps, creative, etc.) but she said she didn't want any help. I should have taken some pictures, but I didn't. I did enjoy all her creative styles, and most days, her hair looked awesome (and not "messy"). On those few days where her hair was a bit messy, I just bit my tongue (after she refused my help) and let her go to school.**

Monday, May 20, 2013

Town & Scrapbooking

Friday I went to town with Brienna & Ben. Brienna needed an x-ray for her back doctor appointment in 2 weeks. And I had a lot of stores/shopping to do (we had Emmalee's birthday shopping to do). We bought 2 pieces of foam for Rusty (since his back hurts & he puts a pad on top of the bed). We went to about 10 stores. I ended up going to Wal-Mart first, then to the "old" Wal-Mart to pick up Emmalee's bike (last stop) but (of course) they didn't have the bike so I had to go back to the other Wal-Mart to get the bike.

Also, there was a power outage in IF, so some of the stop lights were out & DI was closed for a few hours (Ben had to make sure we made it to his favorite store!). So when we finally got home (I bought 3 Little Casear's pizza's for dinner) & put all the fridge/freezer stuff away, it was almost 8. It was scrapbooking weekend, so I gathered all my supplies & went to set up my stuff. I did manage to get a few pages done before coming home around 11 pm.

Sat. I went back to scrapbook, took a break to help with Bountiful Baskets (1 1/2 hours) & then scrapbooked some more. Around 4, I was at a stopping point and even though I could have stayed a few more hours, I packed things up and came home. I made American tacos for dinner & home made salsa/pico de gallo & then worked on some piano recital stuff (awards, certificates, program). So it was a very busy & tiring weekend.

But Sunday, the kids looked at the new pages I finished for their scrapbooks (and other books also) so it makes it worth it. I just wish I had a place to scrapbook more often (all my stuff is still in the Jeep). But it takes at least 1 long table to spread everything out, and there is definitely no room here for that!

Haircuts by Brienna

Callum has been bugging me to give him a haircut, but I am usually to tired at the end of the day to even want to think about it. So he talked Brienna into giving him a haircut.