Book Of Mormon

Caden's reading scores have been all over the map. His state scores are really high, but he has a hard time reading to his teacher. I have been baffled at what is going on. He is super smart, he can read, so why all the reading trouble at school. I decided that he has a hard time reading when he is not interested. He hates the Mercer Mayer books and the Bernstein Bears books too. He says they are baby books. All the little kid books that are for beginner readers he hates. He loves chapter books though. So we found him a series at the library called "My Crazy School", and he is loving them. He also loves Junie B Jones, but I don't like her sassiness and bad grammer. We have enough sassiness to go around, we don't need more help! Well, today he tells me that he took the Book of Mormon, Junie B Jones, and his Miss Hannah is Bananas book and put them all on his desk in case he had free time to read. He said the minute there was free time everyone wanted to read his books. So he passed out all three to his friends and found himself another book. Um... some mom is probably not happy. I don't even know if that's allowed is it? Are you allowed to take scriptures to school. I just told Caden he was awesome, and he said, "I know. I am a good friend!" Yikes! I hope that's ok.

Sisters

Randi and I have always been told that we look alike. We don't see it. Our husbands say NO WAY! But I think that we have been told so many times that we believe that we must. Today I went to church in Randi's ward. It was my old ward. I had tons of people saying hi and giving me hugs. It was great to be there seeing so many friends that I haven't seen for, in some cases, a few years. I was smiling and chatting away when the bishop (that was never my bishop) came up to me and asked if he could talk to me. I gave him a weird look, and very hesitantly said, "Do you know who I am?" He said, "Yeah, a Jones girl." I was like, ok. So I started walking with him to his office but I was so confused as to why he would want to talk to me. All of a sudden he said, "Which Jones girl are you?" I said, "Kimber." He looked at me and said, "Nevermind. I did think you were your sister." I laughed so hard. A good friend witnessed all of this exchange and we both just laughed. Nothing like getting a calling in a ward that you are visiting!!!

Observant

When I was registering Caden for Kindergarten, the school councilor told me that Pronghorn had the highest number of married parents in the school district. We were just over 50%. I was shocked. To be the highest, and still only be barely over 50% was crazy to me. The fact that they follow that statistic and had it was crazy. The fact that it probably HUGELY effects (I never know if I am supposed to use affect or effect?) the kids learning is probably why. Now, I am SHOCKED that there are over 50% of parents still married. Almost all of my kids friends have parents that are divorced. The things my kids learn about that! Caden was informing us all about what "seperated" means, and the pros and cons to a first grader when that happens (at first he thought it would be cool, but after about 5 seconds of thinking, he quickly changed his mind and said he wants us to NEVER seperate or divorce!). Kids are so dang observant!

Today while I was eating breakfast, Colbs was playing with a truck right next to me. He was driving it on the table and came to something, so he totally "let the air brakes go" on the truck. I looked at him wondering how in the world he would know to do that. Why would he relate stopping to a huge "push of air" instead of screeching, like a race car would. He totally knows a semi does that. That would have to be from sitting in his seat and observing.

When I think about the things my kids will learn while observing from me, I am sometimes scared. But my good friend Sarah once said, "Who cares how clean my house is, or how fancy I look. My kids have family home evening every week, they read the scriptures every day, they have family prayer twice a day, they go to church every week, and they have testimonies of Christ. That's what matters to me." It was a great comment. She had been talked harshly of for not be clean enough, or on top of it enough. That was her thought. I loved it then, and I love it now. I hope that the things my kids are observing from me are Christlike attributes. Sometimes I feel like I am drowning in life. Like things are just too much! I want to be the perfect mom. Perfectly groomed, behaved, mannered, respectful kids (ok so I am failing miserably in this department... there's always tomorrow!) and a perfectly clean house, a perfectly cooked meal every night, the perfect Relief Society lesson, the perfect party with everyone feeling completely welcome, and of course the perfectly in shape amazingly wonderful supportive wife. Yeah, that's a tough list. Not gonna happen all at once, EVER. I have finally come to grips with it! But, my kids have FHE every week, they go to church every week, they pray "a million times a day" according to Cars (family twice a day, personal at night, meals), they read the scriptures almost daily, and they are building testimonies of Christ. Cael said in his personal prayer 2 nights ago, "Please tell Jesus that we love Him". I thought that was so cute. I have never said anything like that, so he either got it from church, or solely from his soul!

Little does Colbs know, he just taught (or reminded me anyways) a HUGE lesson. Everything we do is being "observed" by someone. Someone is being effected by all of our actions, and I want there to be as many positive, eternal ones as possible for my kids from me!

(I saw a thing on facebook that said something like, "I have 99 problems. 86 of them are completely made up in my head and I am totally stressing myself out about all of them!" That's a pretty good sum up of my head. But I do WHOLE HEARTEDLY believe this! My kids are watching my every move and I will teach them far more by example than by my words alone!) It's a GOOD, GOOD life!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wyoming

You know that your kids are Wyomingites when you pull up next to a deer and I say excited, "Look! It's a deer!" (about 10 feet or less away from us) and your two 9 years olds don't even turn from the movie. Your 7 year old makes his hand into a gun and "aims" and shuts one eye and says, "BANG!" Only to be followed by your 4 yr old saying, "Nice hit. You got him right in the neck!" At which time every boy turns right back to the TV and continues to watch. Only in Wyoming, right?

Balloons

Cael comes into the house today, Saturday, in his athletic pants, mismatched shirt that is a little too big, and his hair messed up from the mohawk the day before. He looked like he typically does on a Saturday as he roams the culdasac playing with everyone in sight. He was carrying a blue reusable walmart bag. He proudly announces, "Mom! I just got gone done delivering all of our balloons!" To which I respond, "What! What are you talking about? Who did you deliver balloons too?" We had about ten 7" balloons around the house a little earlier. He gathered them up, put them in his walmart bag, and took them to everyone in the culdasac. Do you know what happens when you have one balloon and more kids than that. I am sure the neighbors "loved" having one 7" balloon.

 

I text all the neighbors to tell them I was sorry, but thanks for being so nice to him, and that Cael was quite proud of himself. They all text me back and said how dang cute he was. One neighbor said, "He was so so stinkin cute!!! Love it :)" I just laughed. I was sooooooo glad he wasn't trying to sell them! The neighbors next door that have no kids tried to convince him that he would want it in about an hour, but he insisted that he wanted her to have it. She said he was just smiling away telling her that she needed it more than him. Another neighbor told me that her boy wanted a red one instead of yellow so she had just gotten back from the dollar store for a red balloon. Oh my!!! My cute little thoughtful boy. I love him to the moon and back. Good thing that he is just too cute for words!!!   

Hiding only means one thing..or two

Today when it was time to pick up the boys from school, I couldn't find Colby. I had just seen him in my bathroom only minutes earlier, so I knew he couldn't have ventured far. I was walking around the house yelling his name. Then I hear some rustling in the closet. I go into his closet as he pops out from behind the door. I said, "Colbs, are you in there poopin?" He looks at me and says, "No." Then I smelt my lipgloss, and said, "Are you putting on my chapstick?" and while picking him up he said, "No." As I picked him up I also got a whif of his stinky butt. I said, "Are you poopin and usin my chapstick?" He just looked me right in the eye and said, "YES!" like I was so smart. Little turkey! When they are old enough to go hide and poop, they need to be hidin to the bathroom!!!

Puppy Dog Face

Cars got into some serious trouble today for an ongoing problem (ATTITUDE, you're surprised I know!). He was sitting on his bed for a long time. He tried everything to get out of it. Well, tonight after dinner Caden got some cookie dough out of the fridge and was eating it. Chet told him that he would not get dessert. He looked at us with the most beautiful blue eyes, pouted his lips and looked down at his feet. He was so sad, because he knew we were going to get ice cream. It was the cutest thing I think I have ever seen. It wasn't a ploy to get the ice cream, he was seriously heartbroken! I started laughing and said, "I don't care what Dad says, that's the cutest face I have ever seen, you get whatever you want!" Chet was laughing too and Chet said, "How can we not let you with that face?" and by this point Caden was laughing too. Cars says to Caden a few minutes later, "You need to teach me that face. I tried everything to get out of my punishment today and nothing worked." We all got a good laugh out of it! I just love those moments you sometimes have with your kids that you couldn't script if you tried. He kept trying to make the face again, and it just didn't work! Caden has been in a tough stage for me the last couple months, but the last few days he has become a total angel and cutie. It makes me laugh how they all go in and out of all their many stages!

Insight

Being parents is hard. Kids are so dang smart. Mine are smarter than Chet and I at electronics for sure. We have to ask them how to do certain things on their IPODS. And I used to wonder how in the WORLD my parents could have found out some of the things they did. Cart and Cars are just reaching the age of independence. We are trying to do the best "doggy paddle" we can, to keep up with them. Heaven knows we have tried to teach them everything they need to know to keep themselves safe. Chet and I also know that kids will be kids, and they are going to make mistakes. But it's hard! The other day the boys asked how dad and I know that? I said that it was in the book that we were given when they were born. They both believed me, that the Dr gave me a book that has all the parenting answers. Oh how I wish. Little do they know, it's the craziest things that you stumble upon that open the door for you to learn more.

 So the other night, Chet and I were looking at pictures on Cars's IPOD. I had introduced myself to some girls dads while at a school event, and told them that I knew Cars was emailing and messaging with their girls, and that I hoped all was ok, but it was his first time with it, so to let me know if he needed me to talk to him about anything. So I see a message from this girl that says, "I thought your mom didn't know about the email account." (which is funny because I set it up for him) Strike one! So while we are looking at all the pictures that she has sent over to Cars, she messages. Not so good. There were some naughty words. Instantly, Chet wanted to say something. I kept him quiet and we went right to the older messages, and learned some more. Strike 2! By this point, I think Cars was sweating bullets not knowing what we were going to see. He had bolted to shower for the night. I said nothing to him that night.

The next day when it was just him and I, I told him the things that we had seen and read, and told him that we were proud of him for not saying any bad words back. And that we were proud of him for the conversations he was having, and ending when others would start saying bad things. His whole face lit up. He KNEW he was going to be in trouble, and probably lose his IPOD (which is life shattering for him!) He was shocked that I was praising him. He immediatly opened up about how he feels when he uses bad words, and how he feels when he's around people that use bad words, and how he wants to keep away from that as much as he can, but that everyone at recess is using them ALL the time (which Carter had told me at another time too). He also told me of some other things that were going on at school that made him feel bad. It was amazing! I learned so much. And I think that he trusted Chet and I so much more at that point. That we saw what HE was doing, not blaming him for what others were doing. We had a talk about how your friends can make the difference in a lot of things. His friends will a lot of times determine what he will be doing as well, so that he needs to pick friends wisely, but that was always going to be his decision. We would not pick his friends for him, but the decisions he made while with certain friends could effect his trust and reputation, therefore affecting his freedoms. He was so happy and willing to share about all of his friends, good and bad. It was so educational. It's good to know what the kids are like, from him.

It's gotta be hard being good when everything is starting so young. It's gotta be hard navigating at such a young age the line between not hiding your light, and being kind to everyone, and still standing up for what you know. I don't envy my kids at all. The things they are dealing with already I don't remember until well into Jr High. And I remember it being hard then. I cannot imagine it that much younger. I'm so glad that we are given so much help though. Even though we don't have a magic book that tells us all the parenting answers, we have prayer, and the Spirit, and other parents that help out a lot too! I'm scared. But happy that I have amazing boys!

Hello Kitty

Tonight while eating dinner, the boys were all trying to find out what we were doing for family home evening. We finally told them that we were watching a family movie (one of their fav things to do!) and immediatly it turned to trying to figure out which movie it would be. Cars says for the 50th time (so it seemed), "What movie are we watching?" Caden, with his newly shaved head, big blue eyes, and gorgeous dimples stands up to take his bowl to the sink and says, "Hello Kitty." with no emotion at all. The whole table goes quiet as everyone looks at us. He just walks over to the sink cool as a cat on a summer stroll. All he had was a little lip curl and those cute dimples. No smile or laughing. Chet and I look at each other and bust out laughing. Where in the heck did he come up with Hello Kitty??? And he was so cool with the delivery, that the boys actually looked at us like he was telling the truth. I laughed until I cried. Cart and Cars looked over to Caden to see if he was being serious, and it wasn't until then that he cracked any emotion. Holy crap that kid is funny! It was the "GQ" that makes him friends so easily, and makes every girl want to marry him. Dang I love that boy, even if he lives in Caden-Land!

Old Tricks

Tonight we went out to dinner with friends. We had their five kids over with our five (the sitter makes $20 an hour that way, and it's a total party for our kids, win win!!) so the chance of going to bed is slim to none. So we just let them stay up. So we got home at 9:00. We talked for a while and then when everyone was gone, we said prayers. The boys were talking about the sprints they did in school today, that were timed. I realized they were doing what we called suicides. There were a lot of things that I didn't excel in in sports, but the running was always my friend!!! I refused to lose. I always had to come in first. I mastered the lines and could easily beat anyone in suicides. So, I HAD to teach the boys, right then and there, how to also win. I had a mini workshop and then we had races. It was so fun watching even Colby taking his turn. The boys got remarkably faster as we went and I critiqued every turn. They are now masters as well. They won't be beat next time! Love my family of boys!!! Every day is an adventure, and competition!

Duh, Look At the Handwriting

This morning I was making breakfast and Caden comes in fire mad. He had found a paper in his backpack that said that "Nate was Stuped"(Nate is one of his best friends). He said that one of his brothers must have put it in there. I said, "Did you put that in there?" Caden looks at me like I am a retard and says, "Mom, look at that handwriting. Would I ever write that sloppy? No!" Haha, true artist. Not, no I would never say that about my best friend. Just I would never write that sloppy. He cracks me up. He is free as a bird, but don't insult his handwriting or art. That's serious stuff!!!

Phases

I think all kids go through phases. They have periods of time where they are stuck on certain food, or activities. Lately Colby has been cracking me up with some of his. Well, some of them. He is in a HUGE brat stage. He knows exactly what he is doing when he is being a total punk. It's so bad that he does everything he can not to laugh as we are all shouting at him to return, or walk away from, certain things. I think when they are in stages like this, the baby brat stage, they have to do other really cute things so you remember how dang cute they are. Everytime I ask Colby to do anything, or I tell him no, he slaps his thigh and says, "Oh dang!" with emphasis on the dang. It is so funny. "Mom, can I have some peanut butter?" Me: No "Oh dang!" "Mom, can I go outside to play?" Me: No "Oh dang!" "Mom, can I have cookies for breakfast?" Me: No "Oh dang!" Me: Colby, can you please pick up your shoes? "Oh dang! (and remember the slap of the thigh)" It's so funny. He says it about 25 times a day. I love it!

We are also having problems with the boys not wanting to shower (GROSS!!! Boys stink, they need showers!) so we have told them that they are showering EVERY day, no exceptions. They can shower at night, but if they do not, then they are showering in the morning. Since it has been cold outside, the boys come in from playing, and want to shower to warm up, always scattered throughout the night. Every time a boy gets in the shower, Colbs strips down and runs his naked butt into the bathroom. He gets so excited as he is stripping off his clothes as fast as he can. He takes about 4 showers a day on average. It is so cute! Just love that baby brat!

Pregnant

Thank goodness this is not a post saying that I am pregnant. I wouldn't be able to type if that was the case. The other day Cael was talking to me and leaned in to give me a kiss. He put his hand right on my belly to give the leverage needed to plant a big one on me. When he did, he pulled back and said with a confused look on his face, "Mom, do you have a baby in there?" I said, "No Cael, and that is rude to ask a girl that." He said, "Mom, I can tell that there is a baby in that big bump." as he proceeds to poke my belly. I said, "No. I am just fat from having babies Cael. That is why I am trying to eat better and work out lots." He just looked at me with a funny face and shrugged his shoulders, and says as he walks away, "I think you have a baby in there."

 

Then over the last week he has been asking me almost daily if I am pregnant (and I am positive that I am not, he is not receiving divine inspiration!). He will lift up my shirt so he can see my belly and say, "There is a baby in there. There has to be! You have a big bump." I am about to kick his scronny little boney butt!!! Well, today he comes into the kitchen as I am making bread, and looks into the bowl of fresh popcorn made with organic corn and coconut oil. It was empty (thanks to a million hands eating it!) and I hear him grunt with disgust. He then comes over to me and says, "Mom. I know why you are so fat. Because you eat way too much food. When you put all that food into your mouth, you need to spit it back out or you will always be fat." I had to laugh. What a punk!!!

At least he is coming to grips with the fact that I am not pregnant, just fat!

 

The Priesthood

A while ago, Chet learned that none of the young men, but one, was saying regular personal prayers. It really bothered him. Then he thought, well, I don't help my boys say their own prayers. It's usually us yelling a lot for them to just go to bed. So, Chet started going to each boys bed and kneeling with them individually and "helping" them say their prayers. We are kinda picky about prayers. I think just being in the habit is great. But, we want a little thought as well. When the kids are rocking back and forth with their eyes wide open, and seem completely disconnected from what they are saying, it makes us mad. We tell them to be respectful while talking to Heavenly Father. So, here we are about a year after learning of the lack of young men praying. By bedtime, I am sooooooo tired of being mom. But, thankfully for my amazing husband, we have 5 boys who I believe are in the habit of saying their own prayers every night. If we forget, they will remind us. And better yet, they are very good prayers. They put thought into them. They really think about what they are saying. So... Chet was gone at young mens during our family prayer which I said. I thanked Heavenly Father for an amazing man that held and honored his preisthood, and fulfilled his callings, while we were safe and protected at home.  I don't know if that's what sparked Cael's prayer, but he had a pretty cute one that night. "Thank you that Colby and Me and brothers can hold the priesthood, and that my mom can make wonderful breakfasts." Rock on!!! Love that kid. Not thank you that my mom can make wonderful breakfasts, but it was like we hold the preisthood and she cooks. It was awesome! Love him to pieces!!!

Busted

Today on the way to school the boys were fighting over what time it was (they fight about EVERYTHING I tell ya!) I turned on the radio so that I could see what time it was. Then I heard a song that the boys play on their IPODS all the time. Forgetting that I had JUST turned on the radio, I say mad to the boys, "Who has their IPOD? You are NOT allowed to take them to school!" Caden and Carson had guilty written all over their faces. I totally caught them off gaurd. Caden just bobble head like nods his head, and Cars stays silent. Then I realize that it was the radio with the song. Inside I am laughing on so many levels! That I forgot I turned on the radio, that I totally busted Caden taking it to school, the looks on their faces. When I got home, there was Cars IPOD, hid in the seat pocket. He had totally slid it down in when I asked them. Too funny!!! I love when crazy things like that happen and you get a victory from it. Someones looking out for us moms. There's too much to check every morning!