Each Day

Each day goes by so quickly.  What did I do today?  This morning at 5:30am I worked out, Trudy's muscle class.  I came home, helped the kids get ready for school, drove the kids and a couple of their friends to school, came home, fed Adam, did the dishes.  Then?  I took a nap.  I was exhausted.  Too many nights of staying up really late 12 am - 1 am and getting up early to exercize.  The rest of the day?  A bit of cleaning, carpooling, shopping, making treats with my kids and having a family movie night.  Jim got Star Trek free in the mail through his Art Directors Union.  Yeah, I'm really not sure what I did.  I do know I had a nice time teaching my kids to make the treat.  We made chocolate marshmallow bars.  We spread marshmallows  and slivered almonds on a cookie sheet covered in wax paper then poured melted chocolate over the top and sprinkled with broken up pepermint candy canes.  We'll let it sit in the refrigerator over night.  Ummm good!

I Can do all Things through Christ Which Strengtheneth Me. Phillipians 4:13

What does the word which refer to?  Christ or the things which strengthen us?  I prefer to believe that it refers to both.  I believe that Christ will strengthen me in all things and that he will help us with all things that will strengthen us.  Are things that will strengthen us always good, easy things?  I don't think so.  I think the hard things in life are often the things that strengthen us the most.  They are sad, they can be painful, they can be hard but if we put our trust in Christ he will always bring us through.  Maybe not in the way we expect, but in the way that will be most beneficial to us.

Home

JS, my brother and drove to Sacramento/Placerville today with M and A. Very nice uneventful drive. I enjoyed being able to talk with Js, although I spend much more time with Js than I used to, I rarely just get to talk to him. I'm staying with LF and hoping to see my old friends while I'm here.

"In the search for our best selves, several questions will guide our thinking: Am I what I want to be? Am I closer to the Savior today than I was yesterday? Will I be closer yet tomorrow? Do I have the courage to change for the better?" ~ Thomas S. Monson

sadness

Dad and the boys on their boys trip to LA.

I am so very sad.Trevor's 16th birthday Party a few days before he left for Timpview.

My brother J took these pictures of our family just before Christmas.

M's Baptism

Saturday was M's baptism.She was so excited! Ever since September when she was told she'd be baptised on June 6th she's continually told us, "I get to be baptised on June 6! I just love her excitement, it's so contagious! Grandma and Grandpa gave the prayers, KC gave a talk, AC sang, "When I am baptised," and the Carson's and Collier's sang, "Teach me to Walk in the Light." Then her Dad baptized and confirmed her. She was so happy! Iam so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Dad's Here!

It is very nice to have my Dad visiting today. I really enjoy his company and so do my kids. He and JM were very cute sitting and playing cards tonight. Grandpa taught JM how to play solitare and he really liked it.
Tomorrow is M's baptism. She is really excited. She has everything ready. Her dress, shoes and hair clips all laid out, and her bags packed. She is a very cute girl!

A day on the Boat

We took the boat out for the first time this summer. We were out long enough for JM, M and BJ to ride the tube a few times and for JM to wakeboard. M was afraid of the tube for some reasons and it didn't help that the first time J started to pull the tube it started to go under and so did the kids! She didn't like that! All in all we had fun though!

We had a Strayer afternoon at the movies today. Our family and Js, SS, ES and K all went to see "Up." It was a very good movie. The character of the girl was so funny. Anyway, the movie was fun to see.
We had a fairly sane and enjoyable family night tonight. We talked about work and how important it is for each member of our family to work hard at what they do. We made a goal as a family to complete all of our chores for the next month. As a reward we decided we would go to Lagoon. Anyone who didn't complete their chores would either stay home or pay for themselves.
T seems to be working hard at Lightning Peak. I haven't spoken to his advocate Kelly, but He's been coming home with stories about the community service they've been doing. Today he said they went to a vegetarian Buddist Temple. He was quite excited about an old British woman who was in charge. He said he was sweeping and she asked for someone to help her with something. When no one else volunteered she demanded that he put down the broom and come help her. Later, after he finished helping her he picked up the broom to begin sweeping again. "Did I tell you to sweep again?" she asked. "No. Can I sweep again?" he responded. "Go ahead," she told him. He thought this was quite funny. So did BJ and JM.
BJ had his first day of soccer camp at BYU. He said his leader was the head guy. He said he really enjoyed it. He also ran into his old friend Josh who lives across the field from us. "I forgot about him," BJ said. He was very excited to make that contact again!
M and Addison started a new business a few days ago. They call it "Flower Power." They decided to take all the leftover flower parts from the party the other day and make more flower hair clips. They then went around the neighborhood selling them door to door. They have made about $34.00 so far selling them for $2 apiece. They are very cute about it.
Tonight the kids had a great time laughing at A. He was wandering around the kitchen saying "Okie dokie" except in baby talk, it was very cute. The other day we were at the rec center and he saw a Popsicle freezer, he immediately walked up and started counting the pictures of Popsicles on the freezer. There were 10 Popsicles and he counted all 10. Ben says he can count to 12. It's very cute!
I told T and JM I'd get them a book if they cleaned the game room tonight so I have to go.

Nice Day

Adam and Nathaniel Reading.

It was such a beautiful day today! Warm and gorgeous! After cleaning the kitchen and family room this morning, I got to go on a nice long bike ride with Sandy Tarwater, Tina Rassmussen, Donna Jex, and for a little ways Emily Brimhall. We went down 6400 to the north side of Alpine then down 4800 to the Cedar hills golf course trail, then down past the temple and back home. Lots of hills. I was tired! I then came home and fixed my sprinklers and planted. After picking up Trevor in Spanish Fork, where he was doing community service for Hoofbeats to Healing, I weeded the rest of the night away. A nice, but exhausting day!

Long week

Allie and Abby playing with the Balloons.

Macey opening her presents.

Allie smiling.

It has been a long week this week. I spent half a day Tuesday at court with Trevor. The Judge was very direct with his sentencing. He sentenced him to 30 days at Lightening Peak Early Intervention Program, 150 hrs of community service, a criminal thinking course, a substance abuse assessment, and that he had to comply to any reasonable request his parents make of him. So we went home and of course he immediately started testing the boundaries. By Wedsnesday night we had to call the police as he was not complying with anything we said. When Jim asked him to go outside and cool down after he was harrassing Ben, he began yelling at everyone (we were eating dinner). Needless to say he was told again to comply. Who knows what will happen. He starts at Lightening Peak tomorrow. I hope, by going there, he will realize he doesn't want to be told what to do for the rest of his life. That he gets more "freedom" if he follows rules than if he doesn't . It's just that there are so many errors in his thinking patterns. We spent a couple of hours at Lightening Peak today and that was one of the things the advocate said to me afterwards. "He has a lot of thinking errors," so sad...
We had a birthday party for Macey tonight! Becca and Amber came and helped me do all the girls nails and hair. We made cute flower hair clips and ate pizza. I think everyone had a nice time. Macey was so excited! We had at least 15 girls there. Her best friends from home and school, Addison and Audry were both there. She was really cute! The Meyers came and brought Allie and Matt and Andrew swung by after Matt picked up Andrew. It's so fun to have them around. The kids are so cute, and we have such a nice time with them!
Last day of school is tomorrow! The kids are thrilled and it definately feels like summer already! I hope I make it through the summer!

Heather and Aubry.

JM

Today I am thankful for a therapist who sees my oldest son! I am also thankful for JM. It is his 13th birthday. He was so excited that he woke up at 5am this morning. By the time I got up to go to kickboxing at 5:30, he had finished his book and was pacing around upstairs...so excited! He is such a cute kid! The other night we "lost him." When he failed to show up for dinner we started to get worried, he'd been gone for 4 hours. Earlier I had been unable to find him for lacrosse. His bike was gone. We searched the back and the neighborhood, checked his friends house and then called the police. An hour later he walked up from the Brouer's back yard with his book in his hand! He'd been reading in their backyard for 5 hours!

I had a nice evening tonight. Jim got home from LA around 8pm and went to the "father's and sons" at the park with all 5 boys. Macey went to Addison's and I went to Sandy Tarwater's for ladies night! I had a great time just hanging out and chatting. We need more of those nights around here! I feel like I'm beginning to have a few friendships that I love here. It's been so much harder here to form those bonds then anywhere else I've ever lived, but tonight felt nice.

Lots of sissor problems this week. A. Just decided to cut a hole in his shirt. I guess he wanted his belly button to show. The other day when I was out JM decided his bangs were bugging him and cut them...very close to the top of his forhead and very crooked. He now has a number #4 buzz which he thanks me for profusely everyday. Thank yourself JM.

Girls

T is so sneaky. I am so thankful that so far none of my other kids are exhibiting such advanced sneaky behavior!
BJ and I worked on his poem book most of the night. Then after the kids went down I made M's birthday party invites. I had this great idea for BP and AC. They're starting a business together doing little girl birthday parties in the home ie hair, nails etc... M's party will be their first. They're calling it "Sparklez and Dreamz". I hope it works!

Frustration...what do I do with him? No motivation...no desire to succeed. How do I help? Frustrated.

Miss M

M and her funny car faces on our way to Placerville for TC's Mission Farewell.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Time with T

I wanted to share an interesting experience I had with T the other night. He was out playing the piano. He was experimenting with different accompaniments to go with one of the veggie tails songs. I decided to go into the living room and just sit an listen. After a while he got up to go. I stopped him and asked him if he wanted to play a game. I would say a song and he would play it. He grinned and said, "I don't know if I can do that." "I'm sure you can, " I said. He then proceeded to play the top hand of "I am a Child of God." O.K I said, now play the accompaniment with it. He did. Again. I can't, I don't remember it. So, play a different one. He did, a more complicated version. Again, I said. He did. Now I got it Mom.
We did this again for two additional songs. Scripture Power and Book of Mormon Stories. Both played fluidly, both played without written music. He amazes me. Sometimes with the hardness of him, I forget the beauty, the unequivocal raw talent he possesses. His ear, his ability to translate what he hears into music, his amazing ability to create both musical and visual art. He really has incredible gifts. I only wish, as his mother, I could help him understand and capitalize on these gifts.

scrabble

Our families been obsessed with scrabble lately...a game of words. How important are words. An inflection or placement makes all the difference, a bee or to be...

thanksgiving 2

I just wanted to add I am so grateful for an unexpected but beautiful 2 year old!

Thanks giving

I was reading in Real Simple today and there was an article about Giving Thanks. And being grateful and how healthy it is for you. So I decided that I would take another step in healthy living and begin a thanks giving portion of my blog. What am I thankful for today? I am thankful that I got my garden partially planted. Today I put in tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, zuchini, broccoli and cauliflower. I am grateful for a husband who knows how to put a regulator on the sprinkler system so the drip system I put in does not blow up and my newly planted garden can live! I am also very thankful for a mother in law who let's my aspergers teenage son come over on tuesdays and hang out. It is a nice break for the rest of the family.
I love sitting out here in my back yard and looking out over the ravine feeling the space around me. There is no fence and no one to peep in my windows. Birds sing, the breeze blows and the kids run and play. I am grateful for my back yard, and the city owned protected marshland behind it! Life is good, love is strong.

Interesting Day

After Grandpa left for the airportthis morning and we completed a few chores, we decided to go play raquetball as a family. JM was on a campout in Goblin Valley and T, of course refused to go, so that left BJ(10), M(7), NW(4), and A (2), and J and I. We loaded up the raquetballs and raquets and threw in a couple of ping pong paddles for the little boys. How much fun we were going to have! The first out was A. In the process of going through the door, crushed fingers! NW was the next down with a ball to the eye. J joined the ranks when I hit him in the ear with my paddle scraping off skin on his outer ear. BJ In turn whacked my fingers with his paddle...ouch! We ended the session without paddles throwing the ball around the room and off the walls. I think M was the only one who avoided injury!
Tonight we traveled to Clearfield to M Davidsons baptism.we enjoyed hangin' with the family.

Hard Days

I am tired. My son, he is hard. He has a mild case of Aspergers syndrome. The way he thinks is different, not all the connections are made. Errors in thinking, which he translates into wrong choices. He needs help. I'm not sure where to go. We've tried traditional therapy, but not to much avail. Where to now? He is so smart and extremely talented in both art and music. He has a unique way of looking at things that is mind boggling sometimes. Unfortunately, his unique perspective often limits his understanding of boundaries and of societies rules! It makes me so sad!

Arches

The Carson's spent spring break at Arches National Park with the Lunts and the Whites. The first night we were there, Saturday April 11, it rained for most of the night. We were snug in our tent, but the rain still kept us up. At 6 in the morning I pondered the idea of spending the entire day (Easter Sunday) in our tent, or maybe we should trek to town and camp out at one of the church buildings. They usually host 3 meetings a day. Thats nine hours of dry. Thank goodness it didn't come to that. By 7am the rain had ceased and the dawn of a beautiful Easter Morning began.
We spent the morning hiding and finding hard boiled and candy eggs, barely choking down the traditional hard boiled breakfast. After cleaning up both the campsite and our bodies we went into town for church. One of the main speakers related her care of her children to the care and sacrifice our God gives us. I left the meeting feeling a renewed sense of love for my Savior and gratitude for his atonement.
A, I sure didn't get the same message. Lately after I put him to bed at night he takes his blankets and curls up next to the door and falls asleep. During the middle of the meeting he walked over to the doors of the overflow area, laid down on the floor and fell asleep. It was actually quite cute. Luckily the doors opened outward.
JS and SS joined us Monday with ES. It was nice to have them along. They brought up an extra camera because J and I couldn't find ours before we left. So we actually got some fairly good pictures. The best pictures were the ones we took on the way into the park with our cell phones. So sad that they aren't the best quality!
We hiked around Monday and Tuesday and did the Fiery Furnace Hike on Wedsnesday. Arches is beautiful! I didn't remember how beautiful. I had only been there once before on a 3 day field trip with my colloquim at BYU. So many of the Arches are breathtaking. My kids climbing was also breathtaking although in more of a panic way.
All in all we really enjoyed our trip. We especially enjoyed the company. It is so good to be with old friends that you love. Our kids played and played all day, and we talked and talked. It's just nice to be around people who's company you fully enjoy!

Today was a long day. I started J homeschooling every other day today.

Seems Simple

Wow that seemed easy! I was talking to my niece K the other day about her Blog and how you do it, and she told me it was simple. She was right.
I attended the temple dedication for the Draper temple today with J and JM and BJ. T wouldn't come with us. I felt the need to attend the temple more often. Now I just need a plan. With A and NW both at home during the day, I get kind of tied up, and J and I don't like to leave T with the other kids at night. What to do.