Rain is Falling All Around

Last Sunday it rained A LOT. After church my friends each wanted an umbrella and played out in the rain for at least an hour. They had a blast. It was fun to see them laugh and splash all around. At first I did not want them to go out, but it was an ok temperature and what a better way to be creative and best of all they sang in the rain!

Ruby fell down. Her boots are still a little big and bit hard to walk in sometimes. It did not deter her though she hopped right back up and was playing again.

Ruby and Sophia wanted to hold the umbrellas, but it made it a bit hard for the rest of us. I walked under Ruby's for a minute and she thought it was hilarious that I was scrunching down to walk with her.

Chatting in the rain....

It was nice though because after it rained it cleared off and we were able to enjoy a very nice Father's Day dinner outside!

A Friend

This is a little friend named Paige who we get to watch once in awhile. Ruby thinks Paige and her mom are pretty cool. She is always asking when can Paige come over and when can she go to Paige's house. Paige was sad for a second and Ruby was telling her a story to make her feel better.

Flap Jacks

Grandpa and Grandma returned from their 2 week cruise and train ride to Alaska. They brought each of the kids a pair of flap jacks. Lots of fun was had with the "bear bottom!"

They all look cute in their new jammies!

Papa Bear!

HAPPY.HAPPY.HAPPY.BIRTHDAY!

My Lucie Goosie turned 8!
Lucie is so many things.
She is beautiful inside and out.
She is super responsible.
She is always watching out for her friends.
She is smart.
She is a good helper.
The line that comes to mind is from the book I Love You Forever that goes something like this:
I Love you Forever
My baby you will always be.

Mmm, just looking at that picture makes me want some cake.

The Presents...

Love this shot of her intently reading the card from grammie and grandpa.

Wahoo gummy bears, which she kindly shared with all of us!

Oh my goodness! Counting the $ from grammie and grandpa.

Cha-Ching!

The next day she planned out exactly how she was going to use the birthday money.
Tom Shoes
Ice Skate Blade Covers

Jack and Ruby gave her the Encylopedia of Science book. Lucie kept asking for a science book. Seriously, where does this girl come from?? It's actually a pretty cool book and I think I could understand it too!

I am not sure what happened but I did not get any pics of the Ovard gift.
Noelle made white hair clips for Lucie's baptism and a gift card to Jumpin Jacks.
Trent and I gave Lucie 8 gifts -
1.Purse 2.Coin Purse 3.Headband 4.Nancy Drew Book 5.Headband 6.Headband 7.Earrings 8.Ticket to...

Mary Poppins
She was reading the ticket trying to get what it was.
Jack was freakin excited.
He immediately knew and was trying to explain to Lucie. The show, the show, that's coming to Salt Lake he was saying. His arms, eyes, voice were all going trying to get it out. We had no idea that knew about the play.
Luc was like huh??
Then Jack was laughing when we were all imitating what he was doing.
Luc was nervous that we were sending her alone.
It's exciting!
We will get to see it as a family in September!

We went to Color Me Mine during the day.
All friends had a great time painting.
Jack painted a BYU bowl.
Ruby painted a bowl with any color that was at the table.
It turned out to be light yellow. She also painted her arm!
Lucie painted a polka dot mug.

It was a fun day
celebrating Lucie!
Del Taco for lunch.
Ice cream cones at Maceys.
Steak for dinner.
Lucie is a read meat girl and we rarely eat steak.
She was thrilled!
Thanks to Ovards and Grammie/Grandpa for helping us celebrate.
Always thanks for the nice cards and emails that Luc received too!
Family is the best.
We love you
Miss Lucie!

Parker, Parker!

We picked up Parker from basketball camp last Thursday. Lucie, Jack and Ruby were so excited to hang out with him for a bit. Parker was super patient and kind to let Lucie, Jack and Ruby drag him all over our house, play with them, and show them his pictures and videos on his camera! This was the moment that I captured all gathered round trying to see Parker's videos of the BYU basketball players. Jack was in heaven and was asking when he could go to basketball camp.

Oh, She's a Smart Cookie

For the past little while Ruby's favorite phrase has been I hate you or I hate this.
I did not realize how much I use the word hate to describe things until I hear it come of out of sweet Ruby's mouth and it doesn't sound so nice.
Time out was not working for a consequence so one Saturday Trent told Ruby she was going to get her mouthed washed out with soap if she said hate again.
Of course she said it because she is the child that once you tell her not to do something she totally does it just for kicks!
As Trent was carrying her off to the bathroom I was thinking she is going to like the soap. See Ruby is a human that likes the taste of things that most humans stay away from....hair gel, mouse, hand sanitizer. Yep we have to keep all of these locked up because Ruby sucks the lids of the bottles or pumps lotion into her hand and enjoys licking finger fulls into her mouth.
Sure enough Trent put soap in and she said
more please!
So we brainstormed about what we should try next. Trent decided on vinegar.
The next time she said hate we put a finger of vinegar in her mouth.
She thought about it for a minute and then walked away.
About 10 minutes later I caught her getting the spray bottle of vinegar out from under the cabinet. I asked her to put it away.
She looked at me and said
I hate you
and
handed me the bottle.
Ahhhhh
How can she like all of these nasty things.
She is definitely our child that will push the limits.
Now, today she has started using the word stupid.
I don't think she has a clue what stupid really means. I think she likes the sound of it.
Just a few minutes ago she walked in saying
R: Stupid Dad is home.
M: Dad is not stupid Ruby.
R: But Dad's home mom
It really did sound kind of funny that she thought it was such a good word choice to describe Trent being home. I wish I could describe things better in writing because I don't think it will have the same affect later when we read this.

Ruby has also become interested in money and clothes.
We are in big trouble for later on I am sure.
We were at a store and she picked up a skirt, held it up to her and said
how many dollars is this?

What am I to learn...

There are some moments when I feel like a failure of a mom. This morning I went to change the laundry while my friends were eating breakfast. I came back into the kitchen to see that Ruby had already dropped one plate of poached egg crumbs to the floor and in her hand was a second plate to drop. As I looked at the floor running through my head were the words I quit. My quick plead for her to not drop the second plate brought a quick smile to her lips and a quick release of her tiny fingers grip on the plate and it to dropped to the floor. The tears came not quite knowing how I was going to muster the energy today to pick up the eggs that were scattered all over the floor and show love even in the midst of my frustration.
I quietly picked up Ruby and carried her to another chair for time out. I picked up the plates and prayed as I retrieved the broom that the eggs would actually sweep up and not stick to the floor. I managed to clear the walking path before eggs were tracked to other parts of our house and Ruby sat nicely in time out. Everything was ok.
My thoughts of failure in moments like this make me wonder if I am teaching enough. My mom used to always to say to Noelle and I when our rooms or jobs were not done were you raised in a barn! This morning I wondered if my little friends think the same that they can treat our home like a pig sty! I know that's not true and that there is something for me to learn to day, I must of needed some refining this morning, a test of the things I am trying to practice. To show an increase of love instead of flying of the hook when the crazy moments of life happen. A few thoughts from this talk that has taught me a lot.

Discipline comes from the same root word as disciple and implies patience and teaching on our part. It should not be done in anger. We can and should discipline the way that Doctrine and Covenants 121 teaches us: “by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness and pure knowledge” (verses 41–42).

A sweet and obedient child will enroll a father or mother only in Parenting 101. If you are blessed with a child who tests your patience to the nth degree, you will be enrolled in Parenting 505. Rather than wonder what you might have done wrong in the premortal life to be so deserving, you might consider the more challenging child a blessing and opportunity to become more godlike yourself. With which child will your patience, long-suffering, and other Christlike virtues most likely be tested, developed, and refined? Could it be possible that you need this child as much as this child needs you?

I so need my little friends. The schooling that I need as a parent currently come packaged as a 2, 5, and 8 year old. I feel so privileged to be a mom that can be with them everyday. They love me unconditionally, they strengthen me, they help me to be better, they always see the good, they forgive me, they are my best friends and I love them more than words can ever express. I pray everyday that I will be able to meet their needs individually and have understanding of how I need to parent each of them.
The eggs have been swept into a pile. The plates will be washed. But in this moment I have only gratitude in my heart for opportunities that pull me, push me, stretch me. There are lessons for me to learn every moment of everyday. I hope I will be able to develop the Christlike attributes that are needed to live eternally with my family.

I Am a Child of God

We discovered this video yesterday and have watched at least 2 dozen times in the last 24 hours. A cool surprise we also discovered while watching is that Trent's cousin sings one part. Ruby is convinced that we are all in the video. As soon as the first little girl comes up she says, "that's me!" She then goes through the whole family saying, Lucie, Jackie, grandma, grandpa. The really funny thing (too me anyways) is that she thinks grandpa is one of the black men. She is consistent with who's who every time we watch it.

Trent has been out of the country this week and I think that this video has been some comfort for my friends. We have watched a lot right before bedtime. The kids were excited to share it with Trent so we emailed him the link. When he watched it he replied back saying...

{i do think i saw ruby's and lucie's and jack's sweet little spirits in the movie ;-)}
I agree.

Try, Try and Try Again

I came across this quote here today. It resonated with me because this is something I was having a conversation just last week about with Luc and Jack. Jack wanted to go to "stick time," which is a time where he can go and practice for hockey in full equipment. When we arrived at the rink there was only 1 person on the ice, which is a dream to have the ice practically all to yourself. It had the reverse effect on Jack he was nervous about being on the ice with only this one other person who he did not know. He was unsure, then he was upset, then sad....then I became frustrated, then mad, then I said words that I regretted after. It was one of those situations that spiraled downward fast and after wards I felt like a terrible mom. Most important thing though I learned a good lesson and hopefully next time I will remember to LOVE first and then think through the best way to make Jack or Luc, or Ruby comfortable in any given situation.
One thing I did tell my friends is that I just wanted Jack to try. All he had to do was go out on the ice and do his thing and not talk to the other person. We had a good discussion about how there will always be scary situations to face, but we will always be there to support each other as a team. I love my friends and I hope and pray every day that they will turn out to be good, faithful kids despite my flaws as a mom!