Big news....

Today we had some big news to share with the kids. I am so glad I grabbed my video camera because Kaysia's reaction was PRICELESS!!





It is a little premature for sharing this news with others but I had to share this video! Baby brown will make his or her appearance in this world some time the begining of March.

RAGNAR....

I ran my very first race last weekend and it was a BIG one to be a first one!! I ran the Wasatch Back or RAGNAR relay race. It is a total of 188 miles starting in Logan and ending in Park City. I didn't run the whole thing, I'm not quite that amazing, but I did run my parts of the race rather well (when I say well I mean I did my parts within the time estimated for me to finish them). I was part of a team of 12 people and basically we each had our section of the race to run, at the end of our section a team member was waiting to start their 'leg'. Our team was called the Duodecads, the meaning of it is "a group of twelve things". We got creative and if you notice our shirts we are each a 'thing', like Dr. Suess. I was runner number seven so my shirt said "thing 7".


All in all it was a good time! I loved hanging out with the ladies the most, as for the running it was very hard both physically and mentally and I would LOVE to do it again! I am officially addicted to racing and signed up for my first 10k today!! Unfortunately I forgot my camera so I didn't get any pictures but there were 5 other cameras there so I am sure somewhere down the road I will inherit a few more pictures!

Today the kids and I ventured to the zoo. They always like to see the animals there. We got to see Zuri the baby elephant, she was ADORABLE! They were trying to train her and she would come outside run to the trainer and then turn around and run back into the cave where her mommy was caged up. The trainer said that was the first time that she had been out there without mommy and that she kept running back in there to make sure it was ok for her to be outside alone...so cute!! Finally she decided she wasn't going to be outside without her mommy so the both of them came out and put on a show for us! They were feeding the elephants strawberries and the mommy elephant would pick them up with her trunk effortlessly and put them in her mouth. The trainer pointed out that the baby elephant (who is 10 months old) wasn't as coordinated with her trunk. It was fun to see how she clumsily tried to get the strawberries off the ground and roll her trunk up to her mouth.
Every time we have been to the zoo the tigers in in a coma like state from the heat, I have only see them so much as lift there head for a second and then lay back down. Not today!! They were playing with each other in the water and jumping all over the place. It was so neat, I couldn't get enough of it, they were so close and so beautiful!


While we were looking at the rinocerouse I could hear this really loud grunting noise coming from around the corner but I didn't think anything of it. We just moved on and when we came to the turtle exibit I realized that was where the noise was coming from and this is what I saw...



Try explaining that one to the kids!! Kaysia asked me why that turtle was on top of it's baby (the turtle on the bottom was a little smaller) I told her that isn't the turtle's baby, but the zoo will probably have baby turtles the next time we visit!!

What to do?......

So one of my friends has decided to home school her kids. Her daughter who is only in first grade is reading at a fifth grade level and is at a third grade math level. She is learning faster than the public school can teach her and the principal said there is nothing they can do. I feel like Kaysia could potentially be in the same situation as my friends daughter. She loves to learn yet all year in kindergarten I feel she learned nothing but how to share a teacher with 25 other kids, a very important lesson to be learned if she continues to attend public school. My friend found out that the 5th grade classes at Kaysia's elementary school will have 36 students in each class. Now I don't have a child that age but I have a feeling that number will be similar when she does reach that level. I can see where it would be so easy for a child's needs to get lost amongst a 35-1 student teacher ratio.
My friend sent me some information on a program or outline she has decided to try. This program is called Headgates. I am only 11 pages into the 32 page e-book and I have already learned so much about myself and the way a child 'should' learn.

Here are some parts of this book that pertain to me:

"All women want to feel like they are growing week to week, in some fashion or another. For example, if we are good with our schedule, we will find time to grow in such things as knowledge, experience with new skills, new hobbies, new recipes, new friends. All of these things take time, and they make us feel alive because we experience growth. When our schedules are not reliable, and we are not experiencing this needed growth that makes us feel alive, we unknowingly may attempt to fill this emptiness by seeking gain. Although materialistic gain does provide the temporary illusion of having experienced growth, it is short lived and un-satiating, and therefore urges us on to acquire more gain in effort to finally fill in the emptiness. This is why shopping becomes such a beloved past-time for
women. This expensive and unfulfilling cycle can be broken for a mother simply by getting a handle on her schedule, and making room in her schedule for her purpose, beyond survival.
When a woman lives on purpose, shopping (as an activity in and of itself) loses much of its luster. Purpose is much more richly fulfilling. "

The reason why this particular part pertains to me is the fact that I get such a rush from shopping. I can't explain it, I just love it. Now the coincidence is, I don't live by any sort of schedule. I sort of just take it day by day and let the wind carry me wherever it may. I really want to live a more scheduled life, not strict by any means but a more routine life. The reason for wanting this is not for myself but because of the importance that it has to my children.

This section of the book talks about each person knowing their order or role in the family. Once again this particular paragraph helps me to understand a part of me I couldn't explain myself.
"The challenge in our modern world for women who desire this fulfillment is to understand what that feminine role is. What does it look like in regards to her husband? What does it look like in regards to her children? When women experience the emptiness from not living up to their potential, they will search their entire lives for something with which to fill it in. They will bounce from one thing to another hoping to find what they are missing. The error though, lies in not knowing what it was they were missing. If only they could go inside themselves and return to
their childhood make-believe and see what it was that their little girl heart always desired, they could have all of the answers they need at their fingertips."
Jason makes enough money to support us and for our family to live comfortably. For reasons that I couldn't explain (until I read this) I wanted more for myself. I wanted to be important. I wanted to do something amazing and be successful. I wasn't feeling that from my daily cleaning and wrestling with kids. I did real estate for a couple years, which I did at the perfect time and was quite successful. I recently started photography bringing in a very small income, but it is something I am good at and thoroughly enjoyed. Like explained in the earlier version of the book, I am not growing. The answer to my problem is I don't know my order or 'role' in this family because I wasn't shown what that was growing up. My parents did what they needed to do to provide for us which meant my mother also became a provider in addition to being a nurturer. In the book it explains that parents need to be clear by example what exactly their role is in the family and make sure that the children also know theirs. Now, my mother was and is very motherly and did nothing but sacrifice for her children. She is a great mother. Now that I am a mother my role in my home is very different than hers was when I was growing up. So I guess you can safely say I am or was unknowingly confused.

Now back to the home school program. As far as this particular book shows you, you basically let your child learn at their own pace. There is no formal time set aside each day to teach. Basically your child wakes up in the morning helps mom with chores and grooms themselves, then in the afternoon they play. Now the mother watches the child 'play' and decides what phase they are in, that will then determine the rest of the program. The child doesn't become a personal slave to the mother but works closely with her, for example. If mom wakes up and makes breakfast and the child is there helping her, how much does the child learn about fractions and measurements. Or you crack an egg (if you are daring you let the child do it) the inside of the egg sparks your child's normal interest to learn and they may start to ask questions. So, just by your child helping you make pancakes, they had a small math lesson with a lesson of the anatomy of a chicken embryo. They are being taught important things without even realizing it! This is just a small example of what the book has described. I think it is VERY interesting and it has got me thinking seriously about my children's futures and how I want them educated.

Like I said before I am only 11 pages into this book and felt compelled to share the things I have learned!! I wish my friend all the luck and hope she is successful at this method of teaching her children. I am going to try it over the summer and see what comes of it. Who knows, maybe I too will feel confident enough to put my children's education in my own hands!

New Church Calling...

Saturday afternoon we had an unexpected visit from our bishop. He came to issue a calling to 'us'. I was thinking to myself, "I wonder what they are going to call Jason to do, it must be important if the bishop is personally delivering the news to our house!" You see, I have been in my calling teaching Valiant 8 only since the beginning of the year. There was no way they were going to call me to do anything! He then looked at Jason and said, "Your wife is going to need your support in this, are you willing to support her?" I was thinking, "WHAT? I am getting another calling? What could I do on top of teaching the 8 year olds?" Turns out the plan wasn't an additional calling, it was a new one. Second counselor in the Relief Society Presidency.



I swear he had it wrong. I just kept saying "ME??? ME???" I always looked at the Relief Society Presidency as spiritual, wise, knowledgeable in the gospel, giving and just downright perfect women (or close to it). Women to look up to if you will. I really don't fit in this category! If I am honest...I have never even read the book of Mormon completely! My testimony of the church is growing, but still not where I would like it to be or where I think it should be for such a big calling. Now I know that I am not the President, but I take this just as seriously. I was learning so much about the gospel teaching the 8 year olds. I felt I was right where I needed to be, not too intimidating to teach them, yet still learning SO MUCH!

When I was set apart for my calling the first thing that was said in my blessing was that Heavenly Father wanted me to know that I was chosen, he chose me, for this calling. That was pretty powerful, given the fact that I don't fully understand why I was chosen. I do know this however, I was put in my calling in the primary to learn things that helped my friend, Shauna, who has been dealing the loss of her sister. Because of the lesson I taught these children I was able to explain the plan of salvation to her, hopefully bringing peace to her and the plan for us. I was able to use her sister as an example of the sacrifice of Christ and what he specifically did for her. I appreciated and loved teaching these children but I feel like Heavenly Father will put me in places I need to be exactly when I need to be there. I am excited for the new experiences and spiritual growth my new calling will bring me. I trust that He will be there when I need guidance to help me become the woman I need to be!!

Jason's project...

When we moved in we saved enough money to pay someone to do our yard. Well, let's just say we didn't get what we paid for!!! First of all we were unaware of drainage issues in the subdivision, and second, we trused a "professional" to do our yard and grade it accordingly. We OBVIOUSLY sit lower than the surrounding homes to the north and back of us, unfortunately, the "professional" we hired decided not to take that fact into consideration when grading our yard....did I say he graded our yard? I take that back, the LACK of grading our yard and the LACK of leveling, smoothing or even using enough top soil for the grass to grow decently!! Okay, I have vented now. We are very sad we have to start all over!

Don't worry Cam...daddy will fix it right and chase all the buggies away!

We had some major low spots in our yard and everytime it rained or at the end of winter our yard was a pond from the back fence, about halfway to the house. At the end of last summer we put in a drain that runs along the back fence then down the side of our yard to the curb. It works great, except one BIG problem, we have to now direct the water to the drain it likes to pool up in the yard away from the drain. Here is an example of the yard after the rain this week. There is no more grass because we have decided the only way to fix our problems is to start completely over.

Jason has been really happy about doing all this work. He is excited to hopefully have a back yard that we can use that hasn't been overtaken by swamp smell, frogs, mosquitos, and MILLIONS of spiders! Yes, that is how bad the back half of our yard was. A constant wet swamp!

On a brighter note, the kids have had a BLAST during the demolition! There have been MANY trips to the dump (a kid favorite of mine too though I'm not sure exactly why). A big bobcat with fun rides.


Kaysia got a ride when I was at the store. I'm sad I didn't get a picture.

Then there was Kyson's favorite part about the whole weekend.....

A GREAT, BIG, GIANT pile of DIRT!! That kid LOVES dirt. He rolled in it, slid in it and yes, even attempted to cartwheel in it!!



Camden wasn't as interested, thank goodness. I think I can only handle on dirt lover! He just decided to pose for me and look adorable as always for the camera.

We are excited to have a clean slate and hopefully that excitement will drive us to get it done FAST!

We have lot's of ideas on how to make our yard not only beautiful but also make the water flow to the appropriate places to keep it stink free and like a park instead of a SWAMP!

All in a days work...

On Friday I started and finished project #2 on my list of things I would like to improve in our house. I am now LOVING my laundry room. It got a well needed face lift and is now completely organized! Our laundry room is off the garage entrance to the house so that is where EVERYTHING gets dumped. I am embarrassed to show the before picture. Instead of cleaning it all up I decided to keep it real...so here is to keeping it real...
BEFORE...


As you can see there are coats, backpacks and shoes all over the floor (aside from a laundry basket of clothes, but after all it is a laundry room). This is how it ALWAYS looks. We really don't have a great place to store those things aside from a coat closet that is on the other side of the house where the front door is that we NEVER use. Not to mention the kids are still too little to hang their own coats. Mommy solved a few of our problems...
AFTER...




I painted the room 'Heavenly Blue'. With a name like that I couldn't refuse, after all, who doesn't need their laundry room to be a little more 'heavenly'? I painted the ceiling and the shelving white. I also added some baskets to put the cleaners and stuff in that was on the shelf to make it look a little less cluttered. Also if you look at the picture closely you can see a shelf with wire drawers. I fold my clothes straight out of the dryer and this awesome little thing has made my life a ton easier! Each kid has their own drawer and they are responsible for putting their own clothes away. The basket is manageable for them to carry up the stairs even when it is full. The colors really brightened the room up which was one of my goals. Then I added the hooks on the walls, now coats and backpacks have a place! As for all the shoes...


I found this shoe storage cabinet at IKEA. I wasn't sure on how modern it looked so I went to home depot and bought some different knobs. That made a TON of difference! It fits perfectly behind the door and fits a ton of shoes for it's size!

I am very happy with the room which is a good thing because I spend a lot of time in there!