Lately

There have been sleepless nights... many sleepless nights, busy days that have left Justin and I exhausted, there have been doctor visits and many discussions about Hyrum's health, there  have been hours of homework, there have been errands to run,  lots of endless dishes to do, and mountains of laundry.  There have also been moments that make the mundane worth it.  There have been moments that make me want time to stop forever!

Little Girls!

They love each other!  

Wise Beyond Her Years and Full of Inspiration

Sometimes you come across amazing people that are wise far beyond their years.  My daughter is one of those inspiring people!  Would you believe that this girl is excellent at making bread (particularly French Baguette), if she decides on a project she does it (like the apron she made below), she has recorded several cooking videos for her blog, she is an expert at tutoring younger children and particularly focuses on establishing strong reading skills,  she has learned to plant and maintain a garden, she learned how to use imovie to make movies and picture slide shows, she organizes wardrobes and has read the entire Book of Mormon several times.  Did I mention she just wrote a song to play on her flute?    

In May we celebrated that she finished her Young Women Recognition Award!  

If you are unfamiliar with this award it requires doing 7 

10 hour projects that go along with the values

Faith

Divine Nature

Individual Worth 

Knowledge 

Choice and Accountability

Good Works

Integrity 

For her Virtue project she read the entire Book of Mormon, 

she also completed

Many hours of gospel study and goal setting! 

She is simply amazing and we are so proud of her ability to set goals and work hard to achieve them.  The remarkable fact is that she completed all of these requirements while she was 12!  

Just because she has finished her Personal Progress doesn't me she is done setting goals, she has been faithfully working on her "Honor Bee" (40 hours of service + reading the Book of Mormon again).  After receiving that award she would like to start Personal Progress all over again!  

Featured

I was excited to have one of my articles featured in the Deseret News:

Older Girl's Room

We updated the girl's room with a new collage.  We also added a big mirror above the desk and added a few new accessories.

School Routines

Power of Moms website posted an article that I wrote a couple of years ago about back to school routines.  It is a great reminder to simplify and focus on what matters most.  

Due Date

Today is August 8th.  This is the day that I am due to have baby #8.  Last week I was having contractions and sure that she would be born very soon.  I had swollen feet and was very tired because in addition busy summer activities such as swim team for three kids and swimming lessons for three kids I have been to 21 doctors appointments in the last month!  Some appointments were routine pregnancy appointments, some were well child checkups that I scheduled for my school age children months in advance, an orthodontic appointment, and the vast majority of appointments were for Hyrum.  He has been suffering with health problems that started over a year ago, but have dramatically escalated since April of 2015.  He suffers from daily headaches, stomachaches, and sores on his legs and arms.  I had high hopes that we would have his health concerns all resolved before the baby is born and he starts school, but it hasn't happened.  We are just trying to hang on until August 26th when he has a scope on his stomach.

Thankfully my mom came this week to be here incase I went into labor.  I didn't end up going into labor, but it has been such a blessing to have her here.  Sometimes you just need to spend time with your mom and this is one of my favorite times we have had together.  I would have missed it if I had ended up having the baby early and been in the hospital:)

My mom was ready to entertain kids with an awesome art project.  She taught the kids how to color on thin plastic and then cook it in the oven and it shrinks in size and thickens to make either key chains or charms for a necklace!

She had a fun little grab bag of prizes for the kids.

We went to the park and the library.  It was fun to just do simple everyday activities together.

We went to the mall to get school shoes and enjoyed having another adult to take kids to separate stores.

She read Secret Garden to the kids, I also listened in.  Even though I am 33 I still love hearing my mom read to me.  It brought back many fond memories of childhood.

We also spent a couple of afternoons cooking together so that next Monday when my in-laws have to leave and Justin is back to work I will be able to easily fix dinner!  

Most of all she helped me to relax and enjoy the last week of summer and not worry about the fact that I hadn't gone into labor!  

 We went and got Hawaiian Ice.

While my mom was here Tanner set a goal to earn $62 dollars for a Lego set.  He worked so harding doing dishes and anything else that I asked so he could earn enough for the Lego set that he wanted.  I paid him all of his hard earned money and he was ready to order his set from Amazon.  After spending sometime in his room he came down and told us he had changed his mind.  He wanted to save all of his money for his mission!  We were so proud of him!  

 The kids played outside with Grandma and made fun videos of them jumping.

 We took plenty of walks.  (It didn't help me go into labor!)

 The kids love playing games with Grandma!

I was also able to accomplish some projects to help us be organized for back to school!