A Perfect Potty Day!

This is a time of sadness but also of celebration NO MORE DIAPERS!!!! Sad because no diapers means my kiddos are all big boys and girls now but happy because NO MORE DIAPERS!!!
Our laid back boy was showing almost all the signs for being ready to be potty trained except one and it is in my opinion the most important one and it is wanting to do it but the time was right...summer travel had ended and dad had the day off so I could put all my attention on the potty day. We introduce the potty which he had met before. The diaper came off and underwear went on. Koolaid was made along with applejuice. We had potty pez waiting when there was success. Grandmas on call to hear of all of his happenings of the day(and one aunt when no grandma was available). We were all set for Potty Day! I never thought I would be a mom to be offering my child gallons of koolaid but I was all morning and after the first accident and him really not wanting anything to do with the whole business I almost decided he was not ready but the koolaid had caught up to him and by accident he went potty on the potty. Well almost he was sitting on the potty but the guard was down so it was all over the floor but success had happend and this is when the magic began and the first potty pez was awarded. Roughly 5 minutes later he wanted more pez and he was informed the only way you get it is if you go on the potty well he marched right over and went. Once he realized he got candy everytime he went on the potty, he went on the potty. To my surprise he was dry this morning as well and went right to the bathroom. I am sure we will have a few accidents over the next month but huge progress for one day. Congratulations to my big guy!

Be Like Little Children or At Least Learn from Them

My blog is called Jewels of a Child and the reason is we truly learn little jewels from our little children. It is the Savior Himself that says, "be like little children". Here is a little jewel for the most expected source a child:
My little brain came up to me and says, "Mom I have been thinking about it and teasing is not what Heavenly Father wants me to do." This is when I realize the countless teaching moments, Family Home Evenings, and scripture reading is all worth it even when I feel I might be in the middle of a circus at times. It is in this moment that I realize they are getting it, they are listening, they are feeling the Holy Ghost and acting on it. It was a jewel of enlightenment to me that even when you think they aren't listening and possibly think you can't teach kindness, peacemaking, importance of family relationships one more time you can and you will because they need it and then one day the Holy Ghost comes in and makes an impression on their little hearts forever because you paved the way.

Further Evidence I Do Have The Best Husband Ever

My hubby and I instead of buying each other gifts for our birthdays plan a day for each other doing something as a family. Usually I have lots of input in the planning of my day along with a lot of the prepping. Not this year! The only input I had was what beach we were heading off to. He meal planned, he shopped, he packed, he got the kids dressed and ready to go, and the only thing left for me to do was get into the car. It was great seeing him write out a to do list and a meal plan. Do you know what he didn't forget anything! Guess who is packing for our next beach trip?!? Probably me but I am grateful for my day of leisure! We had a wonderful day at the beach and I can't wait to see what he plans next year!

Ending a Highly Stressful Week on a High! for One in Our Family

This week has been one of exhaustion, hunger, emotion and triumph for our teenage boy. Have I mentioned in July he was 4'11" and he is now 5'4" and I am sure these number will keep climbing the way he is eating and sleeping and in midst of all of this growing he had soccer tryouts. Which exhaust the exhausted and hunger the starving. I honestly think we will have to take out a small loan to feed this boy at a box a cereal a day, a half gallon of milk a day, and I am at a count of 30 cucumbers this week alone. After a long week of 2 a day tryouts he has made the JV team(1 of 2 freshmen to do so) and it came down to a nail bitter for him. They announced who made the team by class with freshmen being last. Funny thing is by the time he returned home to tell me the news I already knew via the mass e-mails I received about times, places, orders, meetings and such that will be taking place in the next 5 days starting with getting socks last night for the 4 game tournament on Saturday! Let the games begin!

4.5 miles in 45 minutes on the "expressway"

Yes we had a wonderful time at the zoo. Drove there in less than 2 hours with no problems at all. On the way home all I can say is UGH we left at 4 and got home at 8:45! I can't even imagine what time I would have gotten home if I didn't call a lifesaver of a friend who rerouted me around all of the crazy traffic! Thank you Sara!!! What did I learn from all of this? Have an alternate route handy!

Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!!!

You guessed it we went to the zoo yesterday, me and my wee three! We had so much fun learning and exploring!!!
We always start by going to the penguinarium to see the King, Macaroni, and Rock Hopper Penguins! Funny enough all the main penguins from Happy Feet! Then we headed to
amphibianville to see frogs, toads, newts, skinks, some fish, but he kids favorite is the rainforest you can walk through and see turtles, a manta ray and with the hopes of seeing the 2 toed sloth and we did see his claws and while we were there and the first sighting besides his claws all day his face high up in the trees! If we haven't seen enough of the creepy crawlies we go the the reptile house and see all kinds of snakes, lizards, tortioses, turtles, caimens, and of course a couple of crocodiles! Now that we have went into all the houses we head off to see all the animals of the zoo...camels, tigers, red panda, gorillas, chimpanzees, zebra, kangaroo, bears, lions, lemurs, snow monkeys and much much more. Our highlights of the trip were the polar bears were swimming. This doesn't sound like much but at the zoo we went to you can walk underneath the polar bears through a tube and watch them awim all around and the kids loved it! The second highlight of our trip was feeding the giraffe and learning all about them, ask the brain what he learned about giraffes sometime just have 10 minutes to spare. After spending near 5.5 hours at the zoo it was time to go and do what we always do after the zoo we went to the Temple. It is so fun to hear the response to what is this? and the princess call out it is where you and daddy got married. It is such a wonderful end to a fun day to be able to take the kids onto the Temple grounds and teach them how important the Temple is to families!

In Denial

I can dig in my heels all I want and I can even go into personal denial if I want too but whether I like it or not school is going to start in 3 weeks(so sad). As I was trying to decide how I was going to organize all these schedules of mine and stay on top of picture days, harvest dinners, soccer games, preschool schedules, orientations, play dates and on and on I found a little gem: http://www.cozi.com/ It is great; it a is a free online calendar. Everyone in your family has their own color dot and you can look at one person's weekly schedule or the whole families at a glance and see what is going on and for who. I am loving it!!! I hope with my new found organization tool I won't forget it is our turn to bring snack or school's out early for one and not the other, practice gets out late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday well you get the picture! Wish me luck!

Feelings On Family

Without getting into much of a back story when my honey and I were dating we had a conversation about families and our individual visions for our families. It was amazing we both had the same ideals and in recent months heard a couple quotes that summed up our thoughts and feelings on the subject of families:

"Parents devote your best efforts to the teaching and rearing of your children......however worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely-appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform"

"So much of what we concentrate on in mortality-power, prominence, property, prestige-are things that we don't have any evidence will make any difference in the next life. But family will."

These quotes so eloquently but straightforwardly said put words to the thoughts we shared with each other that day. It has lead us down this path of our life. This ideal of our family is first with Christ leading us down our path of mortality to eternal life with a kind and loving Heavenly Father. I am indeed grateful for that conversation that day. It has indeed shaped and guided our family!

When I was a Kid!

Most don't know I am a country girl I grew up on the Salt River. When I say "grew up on" I mean when I looked out my living room window everyday the river was right there. I spent hundreds of hours of my childhood swimming, building sandcastles more like entire towns on the sand bars, and exploring all its wonders. Well today I had the oppurtunity to take my kids to where I grew up. It was so fun to see them do all things I spent so many summers doing. Finding clam shells and following the clam trails and actually finding one and having it spit on the brain was so funny. Finding racoon, deer, and blue heron tracks. Skeletons of cray fish and actual ones too. Climbing over and under and onto fallen trees. Going to the big rock and watching them do the same thing to that old rock I used to do(splash it and slide down it into the water) was so reminiscent of me and my sisters doing the same thing over 20 years ago. Smearing clay all over themselves and jumping into wash it off of course. Swimming at the bend(a curve in the river where it was deep enough for even a teen to swim). Seeing the lavender butterflies that I haven't seen since I was a child was shocking to me I forgot all about the lavender butterflies. Needless to say we had a wonderful afternoon doing all things I used to do when I was a kid.

Moments That Make Motherhood

• A huge hug and the words "Your the Best" - the princess

• The most disgusting, smelliest backpack in the world and you don't mind taking care of it's contents because your teen had a blast at camp.

• "I am glad I am in this family"-The teen (can you believe that from the teenager)

• All of them lying on top of you for morning snuggles viaing for the best spot.

• "Mom what can I wash for you?" and then proceeding to wash everything with puddles of water everywhere and using their very own toothbrush. The next day "I want to help again?" followed by more puddles and the right toothbrush this time. - the princess

• Them having the need to have good night kisses or it just isn't a good night.

• Cuddling with the teenager watching a movie.

• "Thank you so much mom for making dinner." - the smart guy(I wonder if he knows I am expected to do this as a parent)

• "I want to wear my big boy underwear!" followed by the diaper off and readily putting them on, which is great progress after weeks of absoluetly no way that is going to happen also followed by the other realization of he isn't ready quite yet- the calm one

• Seeing the excitement of the fruits of their labor come to fruition. They were so excited to see red tomatoes in their garden.

• Hearing the prayers of your children for their daddy and big brother to come home soon and their faces lighting up when they do!

• Hearing your child say something you say with the same inflection and going that came from me- "Actually"- the laid back boy

• Them doing something because they know it is the right thing to do and then seeing their sense of accomplishment on their faces when they realize it.

• Knowing your laid back boy is not so laid back because you passed his nap time and now reality has struck you that you get to deal with the grumpy gus. Note to self don't miss nap time tomorrow.

• "I lud you too mom." followed by a huge kiss and a big bear hug and then his little body just melts into yours- the calm one

• When you see parts of you in a boy you were sure was all dad- the brains of the operation

• When your little brain comes down and says, "We forgot all about the hug and the kiss!" and you are now humbled because you are typing this very blog.

I can't believe he's...........

My smart guy is 6 and I can hardly believe it. We started his birthday last week because his dad and big brother were going to be out of town for his birthday and with their crazy work and soccer schedules we will be having a week plus of birthday fun. Friday morining last week he had of course donuts and opened his presents and dad ran off to work. That evening we went to the Loon's game and we actually got to see them win for the 3rd time in a row(has our attending the game losing streak ended...we'll see). The fun never ends at a Loon's game..Shaking Looney's hand, his name on the big screen wishing him a Happy Birthday, we all end up there too smiling of course, trips to the playgorund, and ending with fireworks what more can you ask for. Well you see he can he had this list so Loon's game is checked off. He went on a sleepover with grandma and checked several more things off the list- pizza and ice cream at Pizza Sam's, a trip to Target(he actually got 2 trips), Bob Evan's with Granny, and lots of one on one time with Grandma K. Today is his birthday and the list continues and I think it is complete- McDonald's for breakfast and to play, a trip to the school store, to the library to make funny bug hats, to the movies, a quickie to walmart, and then for dinner tacos so I think we covered it all except when Dad and big bro come back we will be having a cake "this tall"-which is above his head(I told him a cake that big will have to wait until he gets married) and a pinata whomping. We have had a fun, full, and wonderful day(with more to come)!

A bit behind

My laid back boy had his 3rd birthday in June which gives me my 3, 4, 5, year old chain of children for one month. We had a fun day starting with donuts and he was the cutest thing with all 3 kinds lined up in front of him with one bite out of each. He watched his favorite "Monkey George"(Curious George) cartoon. Since going to Disney he had been loving Wall-E and it came out on his birthday; we all went to see the cute little robot movie(he fell asleep in the first half and hour) but everyone else enjoyed it. Now all stuffed with donuts and popcorn and whatever junk was provided we were all feeling a bit blah and so we passed on the cake and ice cream bit until a few days later(I made a double layer cake with chocolate frosting-mud with a blue icing water fall down the side coming from a pond that was surrounded in rocks-they were chocolate covered candy that looked just like rocks but tasted like M&M's with Diego in his big truck climbing ove the rocks). We ended the evening with gifts and several swings at a pinata. Happy 3rd little guy!!!!

Who am I talking about now?!?

As many of you have probably noticed I do not use my kids names in my blog. With that being said I do refer to them often. If you look at the pictures to the right each one has a different name, the joker, the brain of the operation, the princess, the laid back one. When I am writing I will use the exact name or something similiar like the funny one or teenager, smart guy, miss pretty in pink, or the relaxed boy or something of the like. I hope this clears up who I am talking about in my blog.
Also for more fun stories about my Little Jewels on occasion they show up in my other blog Jewels of a Kitchen(see link to right).

20 things I learned from my week of camping

1. My tenative child is not so tentatvie when dad is the leader. They crossed trees that had fallen across the creek and I had never envisioned my little brain even attempting it but he did over and over even after he fell in!!!
2. My little brain knows how to use it in a crisis and doesn't even panic(see above).
3. Keep it Simple does apply to have a "vacation" when you are camping.
4. My princess now loves the water and virtually has no fear. She even took on the 3 foot waves in Lake Michigan.
5. Always bring benadryl.
6. Something my hubby learned the second application of sunblock is important.
7. There should be more Drive In Movie places.
8. My joker does make right choices when the pressure is on.
9. It takes 30 minutes to catch 47 fish and all day to clean them and the clothes of your teen smell horrible at the end of that day.
10. My laid back boy is just that.
11. Taking my kids to a insect safari did help them get over their fear and now they have become quite avid bug catchers.
12. I can cook over a open fire for 6 nights in a row and we won't starve.
13. You can camp with 60 other people and have your own time too.
14. My laid back child is very obedient(he was riding his float toy and daddy was pulling him around and we told him to hold the handles tight so he wouldn't fall off. Great advice until he flipped over and wouldn't let go which caused a suction effect so dad had no other choice but to grab the eyes of the floating crab and pull it and the boy straight up out of the water).
15. Walking up and down sand hills pulling a wagon is exhausting.
16. Never underestimate the tenacity of your teenager ( I was able to best him at dunking 11-4 but I was more like the karate kid at the end of the movie I won but I got my butt kicked doing it).
17. Thank goodness for family across the way.
18. When you tell your child to watch for cars before they cross the road you need to also add: bikes, scooters, runners, strollers, rollerbladers, etc...
19. Love your neighbors.
20. Curb your exuberance is a nice way for the park rangers to say be quiet at 1am!

We finally did it!!!

Today my little princess and myself went and each had 10 inches of hair cut off. We are donating it to Locks of Love and are both enjoying our new found short cuts fun and cool for these humid hot days!!! Okay due to mechanical and human error the pictures we took have disappeared which is a bummer but here is the picture I just took of her and her new do!