The Land Before Time

I guess Zack's birthday has me thinking of his babyhood. When he was really small and just learning about how much fun watching movies could be, he picked out a favorite. It was The Land Before Time...the first one, the original one. He watched it at least two or three times a day. He would say "watch dinosaurs", and I would put it on for him. Now this was before I knew better and sometimes he would wake up in the middle of the night and would want to "watch dinosaurs" and I would actually let him.....boy have I learned since then.
Anyway, I really loved this movie. It would be playing and I could get so much done while Zack was watching it. There was one scene from the movie where I would stop what I was doing and run over to watch it. It's when Little Foot is following behind his mom while they are journeying to the Great Valley. He asked his mom "Mama, have you ever seen the Great Valley?" and she stops, turns to look right at him and says "no"...and then he asked her "then how do you know it's there"....and she looks at him and says "some things you see with your eyes and others you see with your heart"...I would always get tears in my eyes during this part. What a lovely snippet of truth! That is what I want my kids to know in life...some things you see with your eyes and others you see with your heart....

Random Thoughts

The other day I was sitting in the bathroom feeling so thankful for toilet paper...what would we do without it? I remember sitting listening to my grandma tell stories about her youth. They did not have running water and used an outhouse for their bathroom needs. I remember asking her if they had toilet paper (I must have a hang up with this subject)....anyway, I think she told me they used dried up corn husks....can you imagine???? EEEEUUUUWWW! and OUCH!!! Again I express my thankfulness for toilet paper...and running water is pretty darn great too!

So, Aaron's boss is in town to audit his store. He brought his wife and two boys with him. They live down in Springfield Missouri, which is about 5 hours away. Yesterday we went with them to the children's museum. They have a little boy, who is five, I think. Well he went right up to Aaron and said "It's not okay for people to be bald". Aaron said his dad turned so red! Haven't we all had moments like that where our children embarrass the heck out of us!! Joe's latest is noticing big people and men that look like they may really be women. He'll ask very loudly "is that a boy or a girl!!!"....these little innocent people who really don't know they may hurt another's feelings, you just gotta love em.....

Zack is turning 15 on Sunday! How did this happen?! I remember just yesterday when he was a sweet little boy running around with a fetish for doors...always opening and closing any kind of door he could get a hold of. Taking our keys and going to the door and turning around to wave bye bye to us. Tackling his brother in the name of love telling us Josh was his buddy. Asking at every turn "cause why?". What happened to this cute little boy? I'll tell you what happened, he is growing up. He's almost 6 feet tall and I feel like he just towers over me. He's happy talking to his friends and I've become just an annoyance to him. He's into drama and choir and is becoming his own person. It's so hard to let go. I'm thinking maybe a mom really never lets go completely...how can she? I know I plan to hang on, even if by a thread, forever.

A Sick Day

Yesterday I took a sick day. I worked all day on Monday getting the house clean...all the while I could feel a cold coming on. I woke Tuesday morning and decided to spend the day in bed. Can I just say how lovely it was. Hannah came and laid with me for a while every now and then...she was not feeling well either. I found it very therapeutic to lay there watching Animal Planet, Discovery Channel, TLC and the History Channel. I just kept flipping back and forth. Josh brought me lunch in bed and I didn't have one ounce of guilt for not being out there being a mom. I think mom's deserve a sick day every once in a while. Today I'm back up being a mom, doing the laundry, making lunch, going grocery shopping, refereeing the fights, and whatever else comes my way. Now, if only I could have PAID sick leave.....

Now you see it....Now you don't

Today Josh got a haircut. He begged me to take him because he wanted a short cut....all his idea. I have to admit that I was a little sad to see the long locks go. I kind of liked his long hair even though I was always teasing him that he looked like a girl and that he really needed short hair. The one thing that surprises me the most is his bushy eyebrows!! I haven't seen them in about a year! LOL. He's growing up. His voice is getting all deep and he is learning to carry himself like a young man. He's not a little boy anymore! But, he'll always be my baby.

Josh before his haircut

Josh after his haircut

Happy Easter

It's Easter time again! Every year seems to come faster and faster. The kids had a good time. They had candy for breakfast which makes Aaron so crazy...good thing he wasn't here...ha ha....We really missed being able to go to the Murray Schafer annual shindig though...that was sad for us. Megan, Matthew, Joe, Hannah and I did venture over to the neighborhood egg hunt...it wasn't very thrilling and it was only 40 degrees and cold wind was making it very hard to enjoy it. Megan, Matthew and I went with the missionaries on a teaching appointment. The family is coming to church tomorrow. They have a girl Megan's age and a boy Matthew's age. They are from Africa and know very little about Jesus. It was interesting for us to see how much we are blessed to have knowledge of our Savior and to realize how much a part of our lives the gospel is. There is always so much room for improvement but I was happy to see how much Megan and Matthew know and how good they were about sharing how they feel. I'm looking forward to church tomorrow where we can celebrate the Resurrection. How blessed we are!

Book of Kind Deeds

A couple weeks ago we had a lesson in RS about noticing the blessings in our lives and then recording them. Well, I had an idea after this lesson to write down the nice things I see my children do, no matter how small. I started this last week. I haven't written every day but I have written things down...like "Joe told Hannah he loves her" or "Matthew put Hannah's baby stroller together". I keep them written in a small notebook I got at the dollar store. I keep the notebook on the mantel over the fireplace. I've told the kids that they are welcome to record things in it also. So far they haven't but I hope someday they will. It's amazing how much better the feeling is in the house when I notice the good things they are doing, instead of always pointing out the not so good things. This is something I know works but still have to continually remind myself to do. Why is that? Maybe the why isn't as important as the doing.....

All's Quiet on the Midwestern Front

I love getting up early, when everyone else is still asleep and having the quiet house to myself for a few minutes. It never lasts long...first one is up, then the rest slowly come to life. The feel in the house this week has been so good, despite our drama of abscessed tooth boy. Last Sunday we moved rooms. Now Josh and Zack are sharing the big room downstairs, Megan and Hannah moved to Zack's old room, and Joe and Matthew are sharing the room across from Aaron's and mine. This move has made a tremendous difference in Matthew. He has had very few tantrums, where before the tantrums came every few minutes it seems. I'm so thankful for this change. I know Matthew is so much happier. This idea to move the kids around came to me the week Aaron was out of town. That was the week I had Matthew sleep in my bed. Bedtime was much easier. So, it's taken us a whole month to actually make the move, but we finally did it and the result has been awesome. I've made positive comments to Matthew all week. I know he feels the difference too. I'm so thankful for my Father in Heaven and the Holy Ghost for I do know this inspiration came to me after prayer. I'm so blessed......Our family is so blessed.

Tomorrow is a new day

Thank Heavens we get to start over tomorrow. I just woke up mad this morning...for no particular reason. My day started with me waking up very late..the kids had to be to school by 8 and it was 745!! After several nights of getting up to give Joe his medicine at 4am and going to bed way too late...I guess it all just caught up with me and I just could not get out of bed this morning. When I finally did I found Matthew laying on the couch in his pajamas holding Molly. I told him to hurry and get ready. He dawdled and did not get any breakfast after I warned him it was time to go and he had 10 minutes to eat...he decided to sit on the couch, doing nothing. Then he couldn't find his backpack. So he ended up going to school with no breakfast and no backpack but he did have a very bad attitude that he took with him out the van door. When I got home I came in just as the phone was ringing...my lunch with girl friends was canceled due to illness...poor Jana has the flu. I was so looking forward to this lunch and felt so bummed. The rest of the day was just kind of blah....I just felt irritated with the kids and with Aaron and I would of just liked to of been able to crawl into bed and read and be alone...but life with six kids just doesn't work that way. So, tomorrow I will try to get up early and be happy and start all over again!

Putting things into perspective

I'm sure every parent has had moments when they realize just how much they love their kids...I know I've had so many moments like this. The most recent one was yesterday. Joe had such a hard night on Sunday. He woke up crying and was pretty disoriented. He ended up coming to sleep with us and was so restless, tossing and turning all night. I knew something was wrong, I thought he was getting sick. Well, in the morning he woke up saying his tooth was big. I looked and his whole jaw was swollen! I knew he had an abscessed tooth. I was so bummed because he was scheduled to have that tooth worked on Tuesday. I called the dentist and they got him in right away. While sitting in the waiting room I heard him scream out and then heard him yell "I don't want you guys to do that!!". That's my Joe! Well, the dentist came out to tell me that it was quite serious and with the swelling he had there was the worry that it could swell so much that it would cut off his airway!! I had no idea. She said they had to get the tooth out and that they would try to make him as comfortable as possible but that sometimes they are not able to get the area as numb as is should be because of the infection. I sat in the waiting room feeling so nervous and just kept praying and praying for him. I love him so much! He is such a sweet boy. Just the other day we were in the store and he said "mom, I love you all the love in whole planet!". He has many challenging moments but when it comes down to it...my heart is so full of love for him. I know we can't even imagine the love our Father in Heaven has for us...and in moments like these, that seems so astounding to me. Well, Joe did just fine during his tooth pulling. He was sad that he wouldn't have a silver tooth like the one on the other side of his mouth but was very excited about the tooth fairy coming. He recovered slowly at home...he didn't want me to come near him for a while...he just wanted to lay down on the fat sack and watch TV. I gave him his space and after a while he decided to come snuggle with me...which I was so thankful for. We started him on some heavy duty antibiotics, which he hates...*sigh*. Last night I went to check on him twice in the night, I just needed to make sure he was still breathing. It's times like these when I realize what really, really matters in life...our families and loved ones. I'm so thankful to have so many people to love and who love me...all the love in the planet!