a few good things...

my dear friend gave me the book, Heaven is Here by stephanie nielson.  i read it and one line really stood out to me....

 "the amazing thing is the more i make the choice to see and feel joy, the more joy there is to see and to feel."

i remember being in the hospital with abe and having the impression to 'let my heart rejoice' .  one of the neat things about that whole ordeal was that i felt the lord teach me through it and one thing i felt him telling me was to allow my heart to feel joy.  i always notice good things but sometimes i'm too preoccupied to actually allow my heart to soak it all in and really rejoice.

i also want to make the choice to see and feel joy.  

this is such a great time of year and a great time of life!  

here is my attempt at posting some joy:

hot chocolate.... and, we had the chance to tend our cute cousin jade.  she fits right in.  it was joyful.

sadie taught vivian that the sign language for chocolate chip is to hit her head.  

sadie thinks it is hi-larious!!

vivs now does the "sign" for any treat.

 here she is standing in front of the cupboard with the choc chips in it, hitting her head:)

 when i didn't respond (because i was taking this picture)  she headed over to me doing it more and slightly bigger, like, 'come on mom, i'm doing the sign for chocolate chip!  don't you get it?"

it makes me happy, both that sadie thinks she's funny and that vivs is so teachable and cute.

 my mom has been coming up and helping me conquer my storage room full of boxes from our move.  it is a huge task.  vivian LOVES it because we find all kinds of treasures that no one needs... like this huge flower that sadie used to wear in her hair:)  haha!  i especially love that i have a thoughtful, selfless mom who continues to help and help me!  

 for scouts, kai trick or treated for food for the local food bank.  i went around with him and his friend.  i got a glimpse of kai as a missionary and it made my heart rejoice.  he is an awesome kid!

 peek a boo in the store.  those cute cinderella, sparkly shoes peeking out were so cute and then her happy beaming face would appear, followed by her cute laugh.  so cute.

 wii wednesday.  we have been too busy to play lately so last wed, i told the kids if they got ready for bed they could play for a few minutes.  i loved seeing them together on the bed.  vivs loves those boys and they love her.  did my heart good....

 then, abe noticed i was taking pictures...

 so he started acting "natural"

 totally reminded me of his cute dad and made me so grateful for both of them!

 dave and i spent friday night making soup together.  it was as good as a date!  we cooked and listened while sadie and her friends carved pumpkins and talked.   then, we all gather around our table together.  i've always wanted a place where our kids could bring friends and i looked around and it has happened.  

i spent the morning with sadie and abe who are so fun and getting way too grown up.  it was the day after halloween and all the christmas stuff was up in the stores, along with christmas music.  i loved watching their excitement.   then dave and i met up for an afternoon date.  we went to schneels and rode the ferris wheel and had roasted almonds and talked.  it was ideal.

 we then, picked the kids up and headed to dave's grandma's birthday.  it made me think about all the great ancestors we have and their lives.  

i am so grateful for our families and can't wait to enjoy them over the holidays.

and last of all, i have no picture for this, but the other night i was reading to vivs and max was getting his chart done.  i started to sing to vivs cause that is our routine and then i usually put her down and then go in and sing or make up a story or do raiki or sandman for max.  he heard me singing and he came in and sat next to me and asked if he could sing to her.  i gladly agreed.  he sang one primary song and then asked if he could do one more.  he proceeded to sing one direction, what makes you beautiful  to his cute little sister.  she loved it and he was very serious about it.  max is such a thoughtful, sensitive, kind kid and brother.  he has a huge heart.  it was a joyful mom moment.  

these are all just random moments and events and there are a million more of them that i could post!  i agree the more i choose to rejoice the more joy there is to see and feel.  that is my goal this holiday season.

and this made me laugh too:)

happy halloween

dave decided vivian needed to be cinderella for halloween, so when the kids were in school we took her to the disney store and fitted her in her own princess dress.

she liked it.

you should see how much glitter that thing left in her car seat and our house!  we have definitely been sparkled!! 

after school snack-  monster donuts

 for weeks, max knew he wanted to be a ninja.  abe switched what he wanted to be daily, and kai had no idea.  the day before halloween we finalized costume ideas.   abe- a garden gnome, and kai-a circus muscle man.  we were so excited, but when it was all said and done, kai was not happy with his costume and lasted only for a few pictures before he changed into his old standby penguin costume.  muscles were just too itchy....i have to admit, i was a little disappointed since i thought he looked awesome!

 dave took vivian, max and and max's friend trick-or-treating while abe and kai ran around the neighborhood with friends.  i stayed all by myself to pass out treat, which after the run-a-round day, i was happy to do.

the boys brought a few friends back to watch a movie and count their stash.

 sadie and a couple friends planned a halloween party at her friends house.  they invited "everyone" and sadie was so happy that a few friends from different "groups" all came and had fun together.  i enjoyed her excitement and hearing all about it.  she's in such a great time of life and she's a treat to have around.

this halloween made me think of how blessed we are.  i re-realized we live in an awesome place with such good people, friends and family.  i was so glad dave had the day off and got to be a part of it all.  i also realized a few things that i want to work on--such as creating more family traditions and memories, being a better planner and getting more organized.  i can easily get discouraged that my to do list always out weighs my got done list, but i will keep working at it while i soak up my most important things. 

halloween was a great kick-off to the holiday season and i am getting more excited by the minute.  such a great time of year and i am looking forward to loving it!!

story time

decided to take a break from the usual routine, so i took vivian
to her first story time at the library.  so many kids and things to look at.  she was super interested in the dragon on the ceiling!  sometimes i expect her to be shy and want to stay close, but she loves kids and walks right up to them.  even though she can't talk, she looks at them in the eye and i can feel her heart wanting to connect with them.  she wants to explore and be independent.  

on sunday, she went to nursery for her first time.  dave said when she walked through the door she said, "yes!"  sadie affirmed that it really happened and it was clear as clear.  

i hope she did a fist pump too!  

it is fun to see her be interested in things and have opinions and hear her talk.  she has a few regular words, and then sometimes she says things in vivian language and just jabbers away.  

then,  every once in a while, she pulls out a sentence.  

like the other day, she walked right up to sadie and said, "aaa-deee, let's go play."  abe and sadie were both completely shocked. 

 i'm so glad i held out and had baby number five.  i'm so glad she came to dave and he felt her say, 'don't forget about me.'  

she is a joy, and it makes me so happy to watch how my other kids treat her.  this morning, there was one pancake left and max really wanted it, but vivs was there and he said, "she can have it."  it was a pure sacrifice.  i'm pretty sure that is why we are put in families...to learn to love someone else more than ourselves.  he leaned over and gave her a hug and told her he loved her.  it made me better and is a memory i will tuck in my mind forever.  

i love being a mom.  

i tell my kids they are my masterpiece.  really, the best thing i will ever create. 

amazed i get to be a part of it.

cinderella shoes

today was the first time vivian has had an opinion about her clothes.  

i held up a polka dot sweater and she said, "no" and pointed at these flowery pants.  when i put them on, she got a huge smile.  then, i put on her red shoes and she cried and said, "cinderella shoes!"  

it sounded more like, "aaarrreeeyyaaa shooose"  

i think it was her first sentence....besides the one time when she  said,  "aaahhyyyy awwwwwnn aaaattt."  

 i was shocked and sure she said, "i want that."

today, i also heard her say:

mom

dad

ayyyy  (abe)

adies (sadie)

guy (kai)

ziggamo

and

cinderella

ziggamo and cinderella are remarkably clear.

she must say max but i haven't caught it yet. 

she has so much personality.  i watched her today and smiled a lot.  i want to freeze these cute moments and hold on to them forever.  she is getting big so fast.

throwback thursday

life moves pretty fast.  if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.  

- ferris bueller

this is me.  do i look like vivian?

vivian- one week old

behold

i just finished a book called, Covenant Motherhood by Stephanie Dibb Sorenson.  my sister told me to read it one day, probably when i was feeling crazy or way behind.  

one part of this book is about when jesus blessed the children in the book of mormon, "He blessed the children one by one, and then He turned to their parents and said, 'Behold you little ones.'   Angels came down from heaven and surrounded the children as by fire, and the multitude was overcome...Elder Ballard explained: "Notice that He didn't say 'glance at them' or 'casually observe them' or 'occasionally take a look in their general direction.'  He said to behold them.  to me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with out hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes.  When we truly behold our little ones, we behold the glory, wonder, and majesty of God, our Eternal Father."

i seriously loved this book.  

the last few days i have been listening to conference talks about motherhood and have felt sort of a reverence and joy in my heart when i think about my kids and being their mom.   maybe i have just been 'beholding' them, you know, embracing them with my eyes and my heart, and i feel so lucky to be part of it all.

here is a list of some mom moments that did my heart good this week:

-text check with sadie late at night when we ended up laughing and talking about her life.

- told abe i love him and he responded, "i love you too, mom."

-kai confided a few of his deep feelings this week and it made me so happy he expressed what he felt and that he trusted me with the information.

-this week as i tucked max in bed he asked me to make up an original halloween songs.  they are the lamest songs ever!  he thinks they are the best and he wants it to be our thing and no one else can hear or know.  he looks forward to it each night.

-miss vivian wants to watch cinderella all day on the computer.  she LOVES it and sings right along with the songs even though she doesn't really talk a whole lot yet.  sadie had a friend over and they were working on the computer so i set vivian on my bed so i could make dinner and turned on sleeping beauty.  all of a sudden i heard a blood curdling scream.  i ran to my room ....vivian was pointing at maleficent on the screen.  even though it was so sad that she was scared, i loved her cute shriek and for some reason it makes me so happy this is her reaction when something frightens her. (she screamed at a cricket in our laundry the other day too!)   i curled up next to her and snuggled.

a few pics i ran across this week that made me smile and behold...

 i hope it's ok to 'behold' my husband too... he is pretty great himself.