I spent  a  great deal of time completing this book for my daughter...I think it was worth it. I'm waiting for a special occasion to read it to her. Can't wait to tackle the rest of the gang's baby books! Couldn't we just add one more hour to each day?

Click here to view Savannah's Story--A Sweet Beginning!

Parental Rewards

We have a marble system at my house. When a child completes a chore, they earn a marble and place it in their marble jar. Each marble is worth 50 cents. When they want something extra (beyond their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs), then they pay a marble or turn their marbles in for cash to buy something they've been saving for. Cody and I are not as disciplined in using the system as we should be. Most of the time, the kids come out ahead--we are better at giving the marbles than taking them away.

Sometimes I wish there was a token system for parenting. I often feel I'm figuratively "losing my marbles" on a daily basis! Just recently, however, we had a few "token" experiences that filled my maternal jar to max. capacity. Some of these stories might not seem "token" to those on the outside. I consider them to be milestones, however, as we face daily episodes of short attention spans, bouts of anger, and mood swings as well as other normal kid tendencies.

Token moment #1: Hunter was having a really hard time last week. He was in one of those moods in which his self-esteem and ability to function were in their lowest states. As he was in time-out, bawling and moaning, Grant approached Cody and said, "Dad, I feel bad for Hunter, is there something I can do for him?" Cody, feeling it was important to use this as an opportunity to teach compassion said, " Would you like to take his place?" Grant agreed and dutifully went to serve his brother's time out. 

Token moment #2: Grant offered to take Hunter's turn emptying the silverware out of the dishwasher--their least favorite part to empty. When Hunter accepted the offer, he said "Thanks, Grant. You're the best!" 

Token moment #3: A conversation I had with Savannah recently showed me how pure my daughter's heart is!

Savannah: Mom, I just wanted to tell you that while you were upstairs I took another brownie and ate it. I just feel bad and I always want to be honest with you. I'm really really sorry!

Me: That's okay Savannah. Thank you for telling me. I have a hard time resisting brownies, too. 

Token moment #4: A similar conversation with Savannah at bedtime revealed that she was laying awake at night worrying about how she accidentally let the neighbor's dog out of their house and never told them. This particular dog has accidentally been let out a few times, so this occurrence was not too out of the ordinary. I made a few suggestions about how to resolve guilt and suggested she might want to speak with our neighbor as it would probably make her feel better. I forgot about the conversation, but sure enough, after a few days I was speaking with our neighbor when Savannah anxiously approached her and said " I just wanted to let you know that when I was over at your house, I accidentally let the dog out. Can you ever forgive me?" Of course, my neighbor was very gracious and promptly forgave her. 

Token moment #5: The primary teacher came up to me and told me how wonderful Grant did in class one Sunday. They were talking about Book of Mormon heroes and were asked to draw a picture of them and describe their picture. Grant drew a picture of President Hinkley standing at the pulpit in General Conference and told everyone that he wasn't in the Book of Mormon, but he talked about it and told everyone to read it! I had told him not too long befor that how President Hinkley had challenged everyone around the world to read the Book of Mormon at the same time, and that Cody and I had decided to participate in that challenge. I was so pleased that he remembered! 

Family Holiday Photos

A friend of ours shot these pictures at a nearby park in November...Tumbleweed Park is one of our favorite places to hang out as a family! It was hard to choose which pictures to post, there were so many fabulous ones! My kids' personalities really come through! 

October Snapshots

The Queen Bee with her baby!

Highlights

Since it's been awhile, I thought I'd post some of the exciting things our family is doing. October was really busy for our family. The kids had a break from school for 2 1/2 weeks, so we started out with a trip to Disneyland (leaving Talmage with Aunt Jenny). Just a few days after we got back, Savannah, Talmage and I went to Richmond for a few days to visit Aunt Missy. While we were there, we hung out with the Bybee family, saw the James River, the Richmond Folk Festival, the Zoo, and (one of my favorites) a store called "For The Love of Chocolate"! Savannah and I also took off for one day to go to Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. Finally, last week we celebrated Talmage's first birthday, the boys' seventh birthday and Halloween! Whew! I'm glad it's over! I need a vacation from all this partying!

As I look back at the past month, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with my mom about four or five years ago when I told her we were not going to take a family vacation that year because we felt the boys were just too difficult to transport long distances! In a very nice, but urgent, tone she encouraged me to make memories with my children. I'll never forget the way she said it. It was one of those conversations that I don't remember the exact words she used, just her motherly intuition and her great sense of concern. While we did not make a trip that year, Cody took some time off of work and we tried to do some fun things around town. I'm grateful for a Mom that showed her children that life is fun, no matter how much money you spend or how imperfect the circumstances are!

At times I have doubts that I'm doing enough to foster the emotional and spiritual growth of these little ones. I'm aware of how much time it takes to raise a child. Times it by four and it's enough to run me ragged. Fortunately, It's getting easier to see the fruits of my labors as my children get older. I rejoice in the little things they do that show me I might be doing an okay job as a mom.

Two recent experiences come to mind. First, there was a program at church that all of the children participated in on a Sunday this past month. Cody and I could hear a very loud child singing (louder than the rest of the children). Every song was sung with almost perfect accuracy in lyrics and pitch. This particular child , bless his/her heart, stood out so much that I was quite surprised at how he/she belted out the songs and thought, perhaps, that the integrity of the music did not call for such strong singing. I looked all around and could not determine who it was. When the program was finished, I asked my daughter who it was and she said it was her!!! I really was shocked. She doesn't normally sing in such a way. Apparently, the leaders said it was important for the kids to sing out because they couldn't hear them very well during the program rehearsals. So, my daughter took it upon herself to be responsible for making sure everyone heard the many songs that they had been working on all year! I'm sure the Heavens are smiling down on that girl!

The second experience was yesterday, when I stayed home from church with all of my boys because Talmage was sick with a fever. Because it was an unusually long meeting (a conference) we kept the older boys home as well. They had dutifully gotten dressed, however, in their button down shirts and slacks. When I asked Grant if he wanted to change he said, "No, Mom, because I want to show respect to Jesus."