Close Up

Here is a smattering of the things I find so darling about kids and babies:

Smiles and Truly Happy Times

Silver at the glass door SO excited about life!

Silver Dawn's eyes.
(This photo is not touched up!)
This is what I get to look into every day!

I love little baby wrists like this that look like they have a rubber band on it.
River never did have fat rolls, She was always so skinny.

Little dimples on the knuckles.

I love when babies pull up their legs.

SISTERS and BEST FRIENDS!

Happiness is finding something you enjoy!

Silver enjoys blocks, the little plastic vegetable set we have, food, and hugs!

Silver kneels up all the time. Either with both feet under her, or one foot under and the other in front bent at the knee. The toes remind me of peas in a pod.

Sweet Memories!

I usually have patience until about 8:30 pm. Tonight after snapping at River I told myself to be patient with Silver's constantly wanting to be held and River's bed-time stalling and non-stop questions (why???? but why??? and why is that??? what does this do??? why do you do that???)

I remind myself that she is a smart girl trying to figure out her world.

Enjoy every moment, because this chapter will pass ever so quickly!

Dreams do come true! And better than I could have ever imagined or designed it myself.

For the Strength of Youth Pamphlet pg 41: "When you do these things, the Lord will make much more out of your life than you can by yourself. He will increase your opportunities, expand your vision, and strengthen you. He will give you the help you need to meet your trials and challenges. You will find true joy as you come to know your Father in Heaven and His Son, Jesus Christ, and feel their love for you."

One of my secrets for joy is to not look at the little things kids do as an inconvenience (diaper changes, clothes changes, constant chatter, wanting to be held, constant messes with toys or art projects or books, more messes - River was getting a yogurt out of the fridge and out fell a bowl of soup that broke over the floor spilling soup literally over the whole kitchen - not 20 minutes after I just mopped the floor. After I took a deep breath, I smiled because she was trying to be a big girl and do things for herself. These things for me are just a part of childhood and are to be expected in my every day while I have little kids. My opinion is that my life is not my own while I have little kids - for about 2 years for every baby I no longer have a schedule or a fixed agenda. My life literally revolves around them and their needs, and I need to fit my projects and to-do lists around them. This is something that I have chosen - to be a Mom, and to love it! I love Silver's name. I always ask myself, what's the Silver lining in this, or what is a way to take a positive spin on this?

I was released from being YW President last Sunday. It's sometimes hard to be released, to have spent so much time, effort, energy and thought and then to have that chapter end. But it's the beginning of a new chapter. I was talking to the Seminary teacher here. He said that in his opinion Scouts isn't about tying knots and camping, it's about having a leader that is a good role model and example. To have a leader that reads their scriptures and prays and lives the gospel and hopefully they'll think back about that and want that same spirit in their lives. That's what helped me develop a testimony for myself, to want what a girl I really admired had - the spirit. This was a really hard calling for me, but I'm so glad I was able to serve the girls - I learned a lot about myself and about teenager-hood. It will impact how I raise our girls knowing they will be teenagers some day. I'm thankful to have had that experience, and I'm grateful that I'm able to start a new chapter now.

Enjoyin' the Journey! Here's to a new Chapter!

Don't Eat the Daisies!

Fall Art Project - Leaves made during General Conference: Great thing to do, kept River interested and entertained, but didn't take too much thinking to distract from the message.
Coloring Eggs - River enjoyed this activity and was taking pictures of me with her camera while I took pictures of her.

Feet Painting!
Finger Painting!

Jigglers!

Princess - Dress Up!

Sweet, Sweet, Sweet!

Painting pumpkins for Halloween!

Happy Princess.

I used to watch Doris Day movies with my grandma when I was little.

One is called Don't Eat the Daises. One of her little boys ate daises, and he says something like, but Mom, you didn't say to not eat the Daises!

River's latest book from the Library was about naughty little monkeys that go through the house doing things they shouldn't. The book was a great conversation starter about Rules.

The next day while coloring a picture on the table, she said "Mom, it's a rule not to cut our own hair, huh!" We then talked about some of the other rules in our home: Only color on paper, not walls, and When you're finished chewing gum, throw it in the trash. No throwing things inside and Be nice to Each Other.

A short while later, I noticed that our front room blind cords had been cut!! She had sniped the cords on each blind - on all 3 of the front room windows. One of them is so short, the blinds only come down about a foot! River has been so proud of her new found talent of cutting out things - she cuts really well and goes around shapes on her paper.

We set a new rule in our home on the spot: No cutting the blind cords! No cutting anything without Mama's permission. In River's defense, she did ask me, sort of: I was SO tired, I laid down while Silver Finally went down to nap. Silver has had the worst diaper rash ever. She kept me up really late the night before and early the next day, waking up multiple times in the night and had a hard time napping. So, I enjoyed a nap myself while Silver finally slept some. Half asleep, I noticed River walking past me with scissors in her hand. I asked her what she was doing: she said she was cutting the things that were wrapped around her hand. I assumed she meant her necklace she had made out of beads that she had been cutting earlier, cutting the string shorter after each bead. Yikes!

A while later, she was squeezing out milk from Silver's bottle into Silver's hair. 2nd rule of the day: No squeezing milk out of the bottle. And the 3rd rule of the day came after filling Mama's violin case with chalk. The violin case has all sorts of fun compartments to put things! Rule: No playing with Mama's violin case.

Priceless!

We have so many precious memories:


River's story from our trip to California: We were all standing around talking on the beach. Our backs were to the ocean and River was digging in the wet sand. All of a sudden a HUGE wave came up and got her. She went tumbling in the water and got sea water in her mouth. She was being so brave too. Last year she didn't want anything to do with the water. This year we would walk down until the waves splashed on her toes and then we would turn running and screaming :) Last year we found crabs. This year there was an outcrop of rocks that she splashed around behind. It was nice because the waves would make puddles that would come and go, but the waves wouldn't overwhelm her.

Silver loved the sand as much as River did!

Saturday Ventures

River LOVES Fishing

River was sitting with her pole in the water when we saw it start to dance. Dad, I think I have one! Sure enough! This is what she reeled in!Way to go River!

Silver LOVES the water! We would go to the swimming pool often. Whenever she gets in the water (pool or bath) she kicks her legs and squeals and has the greatest time!

Silver takes this position often!
River LOVES cooking, we have fun making all sorts of yummy things for our family!

Some things are big successes, some are not! Cullinary tip: Don't try blueberry waffles, they just stick in the waffle maker and make a big mess, but the purple waffles were deffinitely different!

Pumpkin cookies are our favorite thing to make!Daddy's 30th Birthday!

Colt's Archery

Silver dawn loves exploring her world!

Silver at the Grand Canyon
Silver LOVES to Climb! She climbs on low chairs, River's bed, boxes, the dishwasher, she'll try anything! What an adventurer!

Silver loves to walk with chairs. She took her first steps yesterday, 2 steps by herself. She gets so proud of herself and breaks into a huge smile!

Ahhh, we see the miracles of the Lord Every Day!

Tell Me the Stories of Jesus

River and Daddy looking through the Picture Resource Book

River asked Daddy to tell her the stories of the pictures.They spent quite a bit of time looking at each picture and telling the stories for each one.
Oh, when Dad's are involved, it makes all the difference!
Improv teaching moments - when they're ready! It was a Saturday afternoon with lots of other things to do...but River was interested and Daddy took the time to make a memory!

Desert Blooms as a .......Puncher Burr?

Thick nice grass? Lush Green Garden? Colt's promise to make it green for me for moving down to the desert? This lovely plant goes by several names: Tire Poppers, BullHeads, PuncherBurrs, Stickers, OUCHERS!

My shoes after walking around the yard. You can literally walk on the puncherburrs poking into the soles of your shoes.

We tried SO hard to get rid of them too. Spray seemed to only fertilize them. We were on-top of pulling them during the spring and early summer. We even hired a neighbor kid to help us. There wasn't one single plant in our yard. Then came a hot spell with a lot of rain. We weren't able to get to the yard for around 2 weeks. The result: Top photo.

Each plant makes thousands of seeds that sprout over the course of multiple years.

Poor River, she can't play in the dirt in our yard, there are always stickers poking her!!

But we're enjoying the journey, loving our yard and doing the best we can!!

If you give a pig a pancake: Housework Revisited

Our Beautiful Kitchen - Yup, we took out the cupboards above this countertop between the kitchen and the dining room. It's SO nice, it opens up the countertop and River will sit at the counter and color and I'll do a lot of food prep there. We put in a skylight too - what looks like a light is a skylight.

I've been wanting to put clean house pics on my blog, this is our living/dining/kitchen areas taken today. I LOVE A CLEAN HOUSE!! I've thought a lot about housework, especially because it takes up a large portion of my day to take care of a family. Yes, it is difficult with young children, but I actually think it's easier to take care of a home when it's clean than when it's cluttered.

It makes me feel so good to be in a clean environment and if the dishes are clean every night there's not the big project to clean them always looming overhead. An hour and things are straightened instead of entire Saturday projects.

We borrowed a book recently from the library that sums up me to a T:
If You Give a Pig a Pancake.
To Summarize:
If you give a pig a pancake,
She’ll want some syrup to go with it
The syrup will get her sticky and she’ll want to take a bath
You’ll give her some bubbles and she’ll ask for a rubber ducky
The rubber ducky will remind her of her barnyard and she’ll feel homesick and want to visit her family
She’ll want you to come too and you’ll look for a suitcase
Looking for your suitcase, she’ll find tap shoes
She’ll want to dance and have you take pictures of her to send to all her family and friends
You’ll gather up the stamps and envelopes
On the way to the mailbox she’ll see a tree and want to make a tree house
After the treehouse is built she’ll want to decorate it
Putting up the wallpaper will get her sticky
Being sticky will remind her of maple syrup and she’ll ask for a pancake.

Isn’t that great? That’s how I feel much of the time.
I get going on one project and then get sucked into another and then be pulled in another, and after the days gone I’ll look around at 20 unfinished projects (dishes, laundry, cleaning the fridge, etc) and wonder where my day has gone.

I’ve talked about Flylady before, but it’s helped me so much.
Flylady says you can do anything for 15 minutes. So I set my timer for 15 minutes and say: “I’m gonna wash my dishes for the next 15 minutes” Yes, this is pretty unrealistic with kids, my dishwashing is interrupted 20 times before they’re done, but it focuses me on one thing instead of dishes and then laundry and then…..it helps me get one done before I go to the next.

Now the next is going to seem totally over-the-top, but it’s what I need to do for myself to stay on-top of everything: My Daily routine:

Morning
**Get out of Bed & Hit Ground Flying
**Make bed as soon as get out of it
SMILE: Make up mind to be happy and you will be
*Shower
*Get dressed & shoes
*Fix hair and face
*Prayer
*Scriptures
Morning Meditation
GIFT: God, Imagination, Focus, Thanks
*Swish and Swipe
*Check Washer & Laundry Status
KITCHEN:
Empty Dishwasher and Drainer
Start Breakfast
Clean Dishes as you go
Hot Soapy water in Sink
Eat Breakfast & Vitamins
Breakfast Dishes/Clean Table
Check Calendar for Appointments
Make To Do List
ONE JOB AT A TIME
Thaw Something for Dinner
Laundry Status?
Pick up after yourself, get out: put away!
Don’t get sidetracked by the computer!
Drink Water!
HOT SPOTS!
Lunch!
Lunch Dishes/Clean Table
Keep Sink clean and Shiny
Dinner
Dinner Dishes
Dinner Table

Before Bed Routine:
*Clean up house before bed (20 Min. Tops!)
Living Room: Pick up put away
Kitchen, Clean, Shine Sink,
Lay out Clean Dishcloths, run dishwasher
Hot Spots!
*Think about tomorrow
Check calendar for appts
Start a to do list for tomorrow
What can I do tonight to make tomorrow easier.
Things to not forget where you can see them.
Check Washer
What are you cooking for Breakfast?
Lay out clothes for tomorrow
**Clean Face
**Vitamins?
**Put away clothes from today
**Prayer (& scriptures if not in morning time)
****Get to bed at a good time

My Weekly Routine:
MONDAY: ORDER
Weekly home Blessing Hour
*Chuck out clutter
*Change Sheets
*Empty Trash
*Vacuum
M Bedroom
Kids Bedroom
Front Room
*Sweep
Dining
Kitchen
Entry
M Bath
Kid Bath
*Clean bathroom mirrors
*Dust
*Water Grass
*****FHE*****
TUESDAY: HAPPINESS
*Water Flowerbeds
*Zone Cleaning
*Sweep Porch
*Clean Microwave
*Scrub Bathrooms
*Desk

WEDNESDAY: BEAUTY
Partial Desk Time
*Zone Cleaning
*Clean Fridge
*Menus / Grocery List for next week
*Synchronize schedules to plan meals
*Finances
*Pay Bills
*Taxes
*Water Grass
THURSDAY: ABUNDANCE
*Grocery and Errands Day
*Library
*Grocery
*Water Flowerbeds
*Mop
Kitchen
Dining
M Bath
Kid Bath
Entry
*Desk
FRIDAY: PEACE
**STORY TIME LIBRARY 10:30 AZ
*Paperwork
*File Papers
*Clean out Purse
*Sewing/Mending/Polish Shoes
*Clean out car and check fluids
*Clean Laundry Room
*Water Grass
****DATE NIGHT******
SATURDAY: HEALTH
FAMILY FUN DAY!
SUNDAY: LOVE
Renew Your Spirit

This helps me feel like I’ve accomplished something during the day. I am totally a check-mark person! I love checking things off when they’re done. If I didn’t get to something that day I say I’ll get it later in the week, and it helps me focus on the things I did do rather than what I didn’t. As I look around and think what did I do, it’s right there on my list.

It also helps me have 2 days off. When I do the work in the week, I don't have to spend Saturday and Sunday cleaning.

Another thing that’s helped me is to get River into bed earlier. I have dinner by 6 cleanup is then done by 7 Family time, wind-down time with stories and songs until 8. Having dinner earlier has helped a lot!

I have learned if you pray for specifics, you get answered in specifics, if you pray in generalities, you are answered in generalities. This helps me be specific. Please help me get my list done today, and I seem to be more focused.

The Rest that Follows is out of the Ensign:
Another thing that has helped me a lot is the June 2009 Ensign article Our Refined Heavenly Home by Elder Douglas Callister
Here's an excerpt:
Would this be true of the environment in which you live? Is it a house of order? Need you dust, clean, and rearrange before you invite the Spirit of the Lord into your home? President Lorenzo Snow (1814–1901) said: “The Lord does not intend that the Saints shall live always in dens and caves of the earth, but that they shall build fine houses. When the Lord comes he will not expect to meet a dirty people, but a people of refinement.”
David Starr Jordan, former president of Stanford University, wrote: “To be vulgar is to do that which is not the best of its kind. It is to do poor things in poor ways, and to be satisfied with that. … It is vulgar to wear dirty linen when one is not engaged in dirty work. It is vulgar to like poor music, to read weak books, to feed on sensational newspapers, … to find amusement in trashy novels, to enjoy vulgar theatres, to find pleasure in cheap jokes."
Your Father in Heaven has sent you away from His presence to have experiences you would not have had in your heavenly home—all in preparation for the conferral of a kingdom. He doesn’t want you to lose your vision. You are children of an exalted being. You are foreordained to preside as kings and queens. You will live in a home and environment of infinite refinement and beauty, as reflected in the language, literature, music, art, and order of heaven.
I close with the words of President Young: “Let us … show to the world that we have talent and taste, and prove to the heavens that our minds are set on beauty and true excellence, so that we can become worthy to enjoy the society of angels."
Even more, may we become worthy to enjoy the refined society of heavenly parentage, for we are of the race of the Gods, being “children of the most High” (Psalm 82:6).

Also in the same June 2009 Ensign, in the Question and Answer Section:
As parents, we are responsible for providing our children with proper teachings and guidance beginning in their early years. As we see it, our responsibility is not only to provide the necessities of life but also to prepare them for the necessities of eternity.
One of the ways we try to do this is through consistent family prayer. No matter how late or hurried we are, we have morning and evening family prayer to invite the Spirit into our lives. Then, at bedtime, we help each child with his or her individual prayers. This is often a great opportunity to talk briefly about the gospel. It gives our children a chance to ask questions. In answering them, we sometimes open the scriptures, but most of the time, these shared moments are informal chats.
Our hope is that by helping our children develop righteous patterns in their lives and by helping them understand gospel principles in their youth, we will help them build the foundation they need to navigate successfully through life’s challenges and to ultimately return to live with their Heavenly Father.
When I am feeling overwhelmed with the meals to be cooked and clothes to be washed, I take comfort in knowing that when we do for others what they cannot do for themselves, we become more Christlike. Young children need a great deal of temporal care. When we recognize that nurturing our children is a spiritual endeavor, finding joy in our everyday labors becomes easier.

Summer Quote Board

Colt says to Karin "You are a freak of nature"The situation: I can swallow a handful of pills at once (this morning 5 pills were gracefully put down with one swallow) Colt on the other hand has to take one pill at a time and use the momentum of his head whiplashing backwards to make the pill that has been strategically placed in the very back of his mouth attempt to go down the windpipe. It is not uncommon to have to try a couple of times to get the pill down and then it usually gets stuck. It is the funniest thing EVER to watch!

BUT MOMMMMM, It was just an Ask-in-it (Accident)

Colt and I were on a date last night - over dinner after a temple trip we were reminiscing about our girls. We like to say "remember when?" One of our remember when moments was when River used to say ALL the time "WHAT???" (said either really fast or slowly: Wwwwhhhhat?) and then "What you saaaaayyy?"She was really into finding out what everything meant and if she didn't understand a word she would ask about it. Oohhh, our sweet, smart little girl!

River tells us stories all the time. In her story she said "Princess River was in the highest room in the tallest tower of the castle and the dragon was flying this way. Oh no! So Princess River opened her backpack and there was her parachute! She jumped out the window and flew down. Whew!"

Silver got her shots today. River watched with wide eyes as the nurse gave Silver her shots. She counted "One, two - It's okay Silver. Oh No!!! You have to have another shot!! Three! Ooooohhhh, It's a ROUGH DAY!!!"

River just got a big girl bed. She LOVES being a big girl. She fell out of her bed last night and came in to me in the middle of the night crying: "Mommy......(sob)......my bed just squashed me....flat.....like a Pan-Cake!!!"