Our 5 Year Old

Yep that's right we now have a 5 year old in our house. Her birthday was back in November but I'm just now getting around to posting this. I can not believe Mea is 5! Not only is she the cutest 5 year old I have ever seen but she is the sweetest, kindest, smartest, loving girl ever. I'm so lucky to get to know her and watch Maleah grow into the awesome girl that she is becoming.

Mea requested doughnuts for breakfast. This is not a common food to find in our house so it was a real treat!

 This is her flashlight friend she got and is by far her most favorite gift. She loves that thing!

Mea also requested a flower cake make out of cupcakes, which was by far the easiest cake I've ever done for a birthday.

 

Happy birthday Mea we love you more then you will ever know!

EISF

 

        Growing up I lived only three miles from the Eastern Idaho State Fair. This is the biggest and best fair in all of southeast Idaho. It was always a MUST. I honestly don't think there has ever been a year that I haven't been. Now that my kids are getting old enough to enjoy it as well I was super excited to take them this year. I have to say I think they loved it as well.

 

 

Maleah, Kaitlyn & Lilly. These three cuties loved the rides and couldn't get enough of them.

We even got our faces painted.

This was the girls favorite ride. This ride takes them up in the air and then drops them. At first they were so scared, I wish I had a picture of their faces the first time they rode it. But Maleah said she was going to be brave and she was. This was the ride that scared them the most but ended up being their very favorite in the end.

Our awesome friends the Lowry's got to come with us for part of the day. This is my good friend Hayley, I'm so thankful for such good friends.

I bought us tickets to the demolition derby on Sat. the last night of the fair. When Clay and I were dating and first married in Logan we would go to the demo often but haven't ever been to one since we moved. So I surprised Clay with tickets. It was so fun!

Now Clay wants to enter a car next year. It would be fun but I'm not sure he has the time to get a car ready :).

My favorite part was the food. I threw my diet out the window and ate whatever I wanted. It was so great! Seriously between both days we spent at least $60 just in food alone. The food was expensive but so worth it.

 

 



God Loves You!

Hi, I have a message for you. God. Loves. YOU!

For some reason this has been on my mind so so much the past few days. I am the primary president in my ward and it all started last Sunday as I just looked out at all the beautiful kids in my primary. I thought WOW God loves each one of these children so much. I could feel his love in every corner of that room.

Then I heard a voice say Sara God Loves You Too! I was so touched and could feel the spirit so strong my heart just wanted to burst. It was just what I needed to hear, and I know it is so true.

Heavenly Father does love us. He loves each one of us exactly the same. Dare I say he loves us, me, you just as much as he does President Monson. Just as much as he loves the bishop, as much as the super mom next door, or as much as the homeless man down the street. As much as the drug addict or the adulterer. We are each HIS children and no matter our bad choices or our good choices he loves us just the same. Sometimes he might hurt for us or wish it could be different but that will never take away from his love for us.

It is because of this great love that he has for us that he sent the savior to rescue us. That we can have the atonement and that everyone at some point can come to him on bended knee and say I'm sorry I mad a bad choice and I want to make it right. When Heavenly Father sent us to Earth he knew we would make mistakes, he knew we would mess up. He loved us so much that he knew he had to make a way for us to become whole again. Because I imagine from my own parenting experiences that Heavenly Father could not bear the thought of one of his children not to return back to his presence someday. No matter how bad we have messed up.

I know that love that I can feel for each of my little ones is so incredible and indescribable. But I am not their first parent. No, Heavenly Father is. If I have this much love for these little people who I have only known for 4,3 and 1 years. I can't even begin to imagine how much love Heavenly Father has for them. He has know them for way longer then me, in fact he created them. His love for them, for me, for you is astronomical. It is so much for then we could ever even comprehend.

God. Loves. You!

I hope you can feel his love, & feel his arms wrapped around you!

Your heart is in the right place mom, but you are going about it wrong.

I need to preface this post. I usually have a hard time turning my thoughts into words on paper and have it come out like I intended. I'm Not good at saying things eloquently and I usually just blurt out whatever is on my mind. I hope I have done ok with this post.

There is this article that has kinda went viral. From the second I started reading it I was a little confused. You will have to read it for yourself and see what you think. But it has gotten me thinking....

We have a world that is so full of immodest and skanky pictures everywhere you turn, how is this affecting our kids. Of course it will. Is it our job as parents to delete any friend our kids might come in contact with who has immodest pictures, to post a letter to all of their said friends and tell them how they can't be friends anymore and how their immodesty is affecting her kids and how they need to stay covered up.

I do agree on the modesty fact and that girls would be wise to watch what they wear and more so what they post on the internet for every teenage boy and peeping tom to see.

But, by doing this what message is this mom sending her boys. That there is no need for them to learn to control what they think about of how these said pictures are affecting them. That it is the girls fault they are having these thoughts and they should be covered up (which they should, but not my point here). She asks the girls a question "Did you know that once a male sees you in a state of undress, he can’t ever un-see it? You don’t want the Hall boys to only think of you in this sexual way, do you?"

She says she prays everyday for the girls that "the Hall boys" will someday love and that they will be kind beautiful people who will leave them a better person. If she wants her boys to find a girl like this I think she would be wise to teach her boys that girls that post these kinds of pictures are just seeking attention and love in the wrong way. That it is the girls who are confident in themselves and love themselves for who they are that don't need to post immodest pictures of themselves to get attention. That is the kind of girl I would want my boys to marry.

That just because you see a picture of a girl who might not be wearing a bra or who is striking a sexy pose does not mean that has to stay in your mind. In fact I say teach them how to get that picture out of their minds and how to not let it affect themselves that way.

I also find it interesting that she posts pictures of her boys without shirts on flexing their muscles. Does it not go both ways, if she is expecting the girls not to post these types of pictures she better make sure her sons are not either. Maybe she does not realize how her handsome buff not so little any more boys will make a girl feel.

According to safefamilies.org 9 out of 10 children aged between 8-16 have view porn on the internet, usually unintentionally. I don't think we are doing our kids any favors if we don't realize that YES it will probably happen. Our kids will at some point see pornography and our job is to teach them what to do when they do see it.

This is so scary for me because I want to protect my kids and never let them see something that would hurt them or cause them to not be pure in though, as I'm sure this mom was trying to do. But it will happen this I know. I want all my kids girls and boy to know what to do when they see this. I want them to realize that the way that it makes them feel is uncomfortable and that there is a reason it makes them feel this way.

I want them to be able to think wow that is a skanky picture that I should not be looking at and turn away from it, no be mesmerized by it and want to look at it more.

First Day of School

 

I have seen so many great back to school traditions and wanted to start one with my own family. I saw on a couple of blogs sewsara and nienie where they had a back to school dinner the night before. I thought this was a great idea, it was very low key because I had to work that day and then had primary that night so it was just a quickie. But the girls loved it none the less.

 

 

 

Just getting ready for dad's special presentation after dinner.

 

This guy does not look very happy I was taking his picture. He sure is cute though, I couldn't resist.

 

Clay gave a little talk about always trying our best and then we watched this short little movie. The girls loved and Maleah actually got it and understood the meaning behind the move. Then dad gave us this quote and framed it to hang up in the girls bedroom to help them to remember.

 

"Do the best you can until you Know Better. Then when you know better, Do Better." Maya Angelou

 

Then after his talk he gave each of the girls a priesthood blessing. We know Kaitlyn isn't really starting school but we wanted her to have one as well. The blessings were so wonderful and man I could sure feel how much Heavenly Father loves those girls and wants them to do good.

My mom and dad got to come for the night. We are so lucky they live close enough to come to family things like this. We are so thankful they could be there with us.

 



 

And this guy was just too cute not to share!

Next the girls had a fashion show to show my mom and dad all their new school clothes and so that Maleah could decide what she wanted to wear on the big day! It was so cute because they HAD to have music too.

 

She was a little shy at first but then she warmed up.....a little bit.

 

But oh boy did this girl love it. She was rockin' it and posing like crazy.

 

This morning before we left. She was so excited.

 

Once we got to preschool she was a little shy. I was really surprised at this because she has the same teacher as last year. But she was still really excited. Maleah has learned so much over the summer. She ALMOST has all of the names and sounds of all the letters down. I am going to start working with her to put the sounds together to make words. We also need to work on writing all the letters without help. I know this will be a great year for Maleah. She will be one of the oldest in her class and she already know the routine so I hope this will help her. I'm excited for all the new stuff she is learning.

Honestly I'm not really sad this year. I was a little last year but I'm totally ok with her going this year. Her preschool is only 2 hours on Tue and Thur so it's really not to long. Maybe next year when she goes to kindergarten it will be different.

 

Here's to an awesome school year!

Instilling Self Confidence in Kids

So lately I have been thinking a TON about how to instill self-confidence in my kids. I want them to grow up and to have a little light in them that shines brighter and for them to know that they are truly amazing.

I don't want them to question if they are good enough or pretty enough. No doubt this will happen; its human nature and we all will get these feeling one time or another. I guess I just want them to be happy and not be afraid to conquer their dreams or live the life they have imagined. I want them to have the courage to do hard things and know that they are better for it.

 So my thoughts have been how can I as their mother help them see this and their true potential.I have thought of a few things and I hope I'm on the right track here because man I feel like this is so important.

First I think the biggest thing here is to lead by example. If my kids see that I am not happy with the person I am then how can I expect them to be happy with themselves. If they see their mom (and dad) being courageous and standing up to do hard things I like to think they will be proud and in turn want to do that for themselves.

Second I struggle with this one. I know it is important to praise your kids and don't get me wrong my kids get plenty of it. I just hope I'm not overdoing. I don't want them to be boastful and think they are better than others. But at the same time I think if you truly tell your child how amazing YOU as her mom thinks she is will believe it. If you are sure to point out how great she is at sharing, or how kind she was to another kid. I think she will want to live up to that expectation that you have for her and always be that way. Does that make sense?

Third is giving your kids the opportunities to really grow. I don't really think it matters how. This is where your kids get to decide for themselves what activities they are interested in. And it is ok if they change often. It could be anything from art, dance, soccer, or singing, whatever they want. I just think it's important to let them have those opportunities to put themselves out there. To sometimes struggle and mess up but in the end work hard and know that they did their very best.

Lastly and probably the most important I believe that if my kids know beyond any doubt that they have a loving Heavenly Father who is there for them no matter what. That they know how much he loves them and can see all the blessing he has given them. They will feel self worth and realize what the truly important things in life are.

I don't know maybe I worry too much about this stuff and I just need to let what is be left alone. But I think parents have such an instrumental role in shaping their kids and instilling that confidence that they will need throughout their lives.

What do you think I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this topic, I sure could use all the help I can get!

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This Man.....

Sometimes we just have to brag about how great the people in our lives are! I can't even begin to express how much I love and adore this Man. We have been together for over 10 years and each year gets better and better. Yes we have had struggles and sometimes it is hard but I would not change it for anything. I think sometimes in the day to day of life we forget to slow down and really let the people who mean the most to us know how much we love and appreciate them. So that is what I'm doing right now :).

Clay is such a family man, and I love it. He loves his kids with all his heart and he wants to see them be successful. He would much rather spend time with his family then do something by himself or with the guys. He puts his family first before his own need and wants. The kids love it when daddy plays with them and will specifically ask him to tickle them.

Clay tries very hard to teach them to do the right thing and make the right decisions. He wants them to always remember how to act and what is appropriate. He is able to see past the begging eyes and the desperate pleas and know that even though things are hard for them now they will live and they can do it. All too often I just give in when they don't want to do something and I let them get away with way too much. But Clay knows that it’s ok for them to do hard things or things that they don't like and in the end they will be better for it.

Clay is such a good husband. I can't even count the number of times I have came home from work and the house has been cleaned or he has spent the day doing much needed projects around the house, especially lately. Clay does not like clutter of any kind. Sometimes this is hard for me because my life is so buys and I'm always running here or there and it is easy to just let things pile up. But I know when things are put away where they go and not left to pile up our day runs so much smoother and it just helps both Clay and I to be in better moods. He hates laundry piled up also, so instead of telling me to do it or complaining he will just go and do it and it's no big deal to him. I am so thankful he is so willing to help with things like this around the house. Especially with me working it is so nice to know we are team and we help each other.

Clay is my biggest supporter. I sometimes, ok often, get some crazy ideas in my head of things I want to do. And even though they are ambitious and often times too much for me to handle, Clay is always supportive. He never tells me I can't do something. If I am really passionate about it he will support me 100%. Clay is really good at keeping me grounded without making me feel belittled or small. He has a way of wording his questions that make me think about things in a way I wouldn't have thought, but still being supportive. When I wanted to go back to school he was with me all the way. It meant for him to have a lot more responsibilities on his plate but he took them all without complaining. Then when I wanted to sell paparazzi and that meant I would be gone some nights doing parties, he would graciously watch the kids for me. Then when I had a crazy harebrain idea to start an online party store, he gently and kindly helped me realize that it was probably a little more then we could take on at that time in our lives. I'm so thankful I have him to keep me grounded and to be my biggest supporter.

Clay has such an amazing work ethic. Anything he does he does it with all his heart. To him, you don't leave something half done, you finish it and you do it right the first time. Nothing is above him, if he sees something that needs done and there is no one to do it, or if someone needs help he will just get right in there and do it even if that is technically not his job. He has amazing dedication and is very reliable. If he is expected to be at work @ 8:00 you can bet he will do everything he can to get there @ 7:50 and if he is even a couple minutes late he will feel bad about it. He will stay late to finish something up without ever complaining. There are so many more things I could go on about, like how Clay loves traditions and he wants to continue traditions on in our little family. How he is so kind and helpful to our very annoying neighbor. But I think you get the picture of what an amazing guy he is. I am so thankful that he is mine and that I get to spend forever with him!

I knew you could.

Tonight as I read this sweet book to my girls I realized that they are just growing up, and there is not a darn thing I can do to stop it. I so want to keep them in a little bubble and never let anything bad happen to them. I want to protect them from everything that could ever hurt them and cause them pain. I always want them to be the cute carefree girls that they are now.

But I realize that this can't happen. They have to go through life on their own path through all the twists and turns of life and at some point without me. This book was given to Maleah from her preschool teacher at the end of last year. I should not have read it on such an emotional day with preschool graduation and all but I did. As I read this book to my girls that night I just couldn't hold back the tears and now every time I read it they think I am supposed to cry haha.

This book is about a little train that has to set out on his own path. It talks about all the twists and turns along the way. About the dark tunnels and long stretches of nothing. It talks about all the people he will meet and how he might want to be something he is not. It talks about how sometimes the road will be hard and it just seems that he can't go on anymore. But if he thinks he can he will.

This really is such a good book and I think I will be reading this in our house every year before school starts until all my kids are all graduated, and maybe even after. I love it and it helps me to remember that I need to let them make their own path and in the end they will be who they are supposed to be.

New start for this little blog

Today I was just looking through all my old posts on this blog and I felt sad. I felt sad because I haven't recorded anything about our family for over a year. So much has happened and I'm afraid I won't remember it. It was so much fun to read through all my old posts and remember what life was like way back then. I know it wasn't even very long ago but I'm already forgetting it. I don't want to forget this stage of my life. Yes it is rough and most days just aren't glamorous, but it is bursting with love and growing and changing so fast, I blink and it's gone. So I need this blog, so I can remember everything, so when Clay and I are old we will be able to look back and laugh at how crazy our life is right now. I can't promise myself that I will be able to blog everyday but I do want to make an effort to record our incredible life.

My camera needs new batteries and I can't load any pictures, so I think I will just talk about what motherhood means to me. Motherhood is one of the most important things in my life right now, it is my number one. To me motherhood has nothing to do with cooking and cleaning. Nothing to do with looking beautiful and always being perfect. Although we do need to cook and clean just keep life functioning, and usually we try to look beautiful and be perfect it is certainly now what motherhood is.

Motherhood is the other things. The things like when you're four year old tells you she loves you a gazillion times in a day and that you are the best ever. It is when your three year old gets super excited because she had special mac and cheese for lunch and wants to tell you all about the little shapes and that she got hot dogs in it. Its when you pull up and your kids come running to see you and they say they are so happy that you are home. Motherhood is when you can put down what you are doing get on your knees and just listen to your beautiful daughter tell you what she is suddenly so excited about. It is when you have just been worried sick that your beautiful daughter just doesn't have the confidence she needs, but then you see it. That confidence slowly sneaks past and deep down you know that she will be ok. It is when you practice flashcards so much that you just don't think you can do it anymore and then suddenly she knows them and your heart is bursting with pride.

That is what it is all about, the things that really matter. I'm going to try my darndest to capture these things and hold them in my heart forever. That is why I need this blog, because I forget things especially the little ones and those are the ones I want to remember. Forever!