Sprinklers

I made a neat sprinkler for the kids to play in. The fun lasted about 24 hours. And... then it broke. I guess I didn't glue it together well enough. The kids really had fun with it while it lasted. I will have to fix it when I get the chance. 

Be Still My Heart

There is nothing quite like checking on my kids at night and seeing their sleepy, messy heads. It makes my heart nearly burst with love. The day is over. All of the chaos that occurred earlier in the day is gone. The house is quiet and still. They are safe in their beds. They look so peaceful and innocent. 

Artwork

Mercedes loves drawing me pictures and writing me nice notes like these. She is a sweetheart.

Joshua also likes leaving Jon Mark and I nice notes laying around. He had a club at school that he and his friends named B Star Boys Club and this is the symbol. It is common to see the symbol all around the house.

Luke likes painting. He is really getting good at drawing people. I will have to post some of those pictures. 

I don't know why they aren't dressed...

These Days

This poor girl gets so tired by the end of the day. Sometimes we are on the go so much trying to entertain her older siblings that she misses out on her nap. Caleb will still sleep anywhere. The last couple of nights she has fallen asleep at the table. 

Luke loves holding Caleb and isn't afraid of his spit up. He takes it in stride. Here he is showing off the spit-up down his head.

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See it there in his eye-brow?

Hannah loves her swimsuit. She either requests wearing it ALL day everyday, or she carries it around like a security blanket.

We bought a lawn mower for our yard and the kids had a great time helping Jon Mark put it together.

I had just given Luke a "short cut" instead of a "haircut". Mercedes walked around feeling the back of his head the whole day. She liked the way it felt on her fingers.

Joshua LOVES reading Calvin and Hobbes. He erupts in laughter every time he sits down to read. That kid is quick to laugh with a huge belly laugh. He just lost his other front tooth. It was a little loose but he told me he determined that it would come out that day and he wasn't going to rest until it did. Then, he just pulled it out. I was sad that those two baby teeth fell out. They were the cutest little teeth with the cutest little gap. He loves being tucked in still. It has always been a big deal to him. The other night as I tucked him in, I said, "you know there will come a day when I won't tucking you in any more..." He said, "yeah, I know. Someday my wife will probably just have to take over that job." He let me kiss him on the lips, which is not always that often anymore, and I said, "best day ever!"

This little buddy loves kissing me on the lips. Always has, and maybe always will (if I am lucky). 

Sisters

Sisters! Every girl needs sisters! These two looked so pretty in their dresses on Sunday that I felt a picture was in order.

Mercedes calls these dresses wedding dresses, because they are white and fluffy.

She doesn't leave her hair alone for too long, and I am pretty sure that it came down half-way through church, but here it is looking nice and neat.

Hannah can really carry a tune nowadays and loves to spin while she sings. Mercedes also loves to sing and perform. She listens to the same song over and over and over again... until I am singing it in my sleep. She finally can do cartwheels.

Scripture Study: Walking on Water

Matt 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.  

26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.

 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.

 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.

 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

I have been thinking a lot recently about the state of our Nation. If I dwell on the sinful nature of all the events that have been taking place, I truly can feel what it means in the scriptures to sorrow over the sins of the world. At times, it feels heavy and burdensome, and yet we are commanded to not fear, but be believing. To have faith.

The other day, I read the above passage in Jesus the Christ. I pictured the image of the stormy sea. I saw the Lord walking on the water, and I felt Peter's desire to join our Lord. In my mind's eye, I pictured Peter walking out to meet Jesus. I imagine that he, in awe, walked out upon the sea, perhaps wondering how he was able to do so. The waves grew around him and the wind was so boisterous that his faith, which had had power to utilize the laws of nature, wavered. In fear he cried out for Jesus to save him. 

James E. Talmage draws symbolism on this image, and that of our Savior's ability to save through the atonement. To expound on that imagery, and to add some of my own, let's liken the boisterous sea to that of our trials, or in my case sorrow for the sins of the world. At times, they can seem all-encompassing, consuming our strength and our courage. But, with great faith, we become the master over our sorrow, or our trials. Faith is power. Our faith keeps us buoyant, it keeps us afloat. It strengthens us against the storms of the world. As we fixate our eyes, our hearts, and our faith on our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can be purified through our trials. But we were never meant to go through them alone. And, that is the key. Because faith is a God-given gift, it brings us closer to Him. As we draw nearer to Him, we recognize His ability to save us so that when our faith wavers, we will cry out to Him. I heard a quote once, I don't know who said it, but I liked it. It says, "when you feel as though you are drowning in life, don't worry, your lifeguard walks on water". 

Glasses

The kids like trying on Jon Mark's glasses. I have an eyeglass appointment next week, and chances are I will be getting glasses as well. 

I think Hannah's picture is the funniest. She looks like a little geeky librarian. It makes me laugh.

Joshua looks so grown up in this picture. 

Mercedes really likes holding Caleb and singing him songs. The other day she decided that he would like getting dragged by his feet on the carpet. He now has a rug burn on the back of his head. And... that is why 6 year olds don't make great babysitters. She felt very bad when I showed her the burn and explained AGAIN why it isn't a good thing to do. I think she understands now.

She is a sensitive little girl. She jumps straight to tears when she thinks she made a mistake or made someone get hurt. She is working on controlling her emotions. She loves playing freeze dance. She is getting better at doing handstands and brags about Bekah being her "gymnastics teacher". 

Caleb is so big and so sweet, I just love him so much! I kiss is open mouth about a gazillion times a day because it is my absolute favorite thing to do. He likes it when I do so. He smiles and coos and tries to drool in my mouth (which is gross, but a price I am willing to pay). He loves being rescued from his crib. He is so even-tempered now, although he does not like sudden loud noises. He has a big, beautiful head with blond hair finally starting to grow in. I just love him.

Luke is growing up, too. He can do a really good-looking push-up. He keeps his bum down and his body straight, He goes about half-way down three times. He is strong and I think that someday he will be very broad.

We were at the grocery store the other day and he kept telling me that he was seeing a man with a tail walking around the store. He kept asking me why some men got to have tails and I kept telling him that nobody has a tail. He insisted that he did see one. Anyway, in the produce section he yells out, "Mom! See! Look quick and you will see the man with a tail!" I looked and saw a worker bent over and he had a feather duster sticking out of the back of his pants. It really did look just like a tail. Joshua and I laughed hysterically.

Hannah sure is a happy little girl. She is sooo cute. She likes to laugh and sing at the top of her lungs, She also thinks it is funny to hit Luke. Poor Lukey Bear. She chases him around the house with fly swatters or her open hand and taunts him that she is going to hit him. She sings really well. She loves singing in the car. Her favorite song is Let It Go still. She can sing a lot of other songs too though.

Joshua wasn't too excited, at first, that we were switching him to American Leadership Academy this next year. He was sad that his best friend Bobby wouldn't be with him. I told him that I would arrange a play date and so I called Bobby's mom and she came over with him this morning. 

It was such a good visit. She thinks that it was a Godsend that she came to my house this morning because she had been thinking about putting Bobby in ALA and now that she had talked to me about it, she was more convinced that she needed to put her kids in it as well. I had never really talked to her before, so I told her that it wouldn't offend me if she stayed during the playdate. We had some really good conversations. She is Catholic and is very conservative in her politics and is also patriotic. Unlike many parents nowadays, she monitors what her kids are exposed to, they don't have access to the internet or phones, and she is also concerned about modesty in dress and language. She and her husband were in the army and she is a cop and her husband is a member of the SWAT team. 

There is so much happening in the world right now. I know that I don't talk about it much on this blog, because quite frankly, it is depressing, but we live in a world full of wrong. The Supreme Court just declared that same sex marriage is legal everywhere in the USA. The country is divided over racism. People are attacking religious freedom. Christians are being murdered on the other side of the world and ridiculed here. The government is taking control of education--which was the driving force behind our decision to switch our kids to a different school. Joshua wasn't super happy at first, but then I explained some of my concerns to him, and then, like Nephi, he is willing to go and do. He hasn't complained or been negative in any way. I basically just told him that dad and I are concerned that the schools will eventually be teaching things that are contrary to the laws of God and that we wanted to protect our kids from that influence to some degree. And, now, he is pleased at the possibility of Bobby switching as well.