Happiness

  Asher's School had their 1st Grade program- Seussical- the other night. Here are a bunch of first graders pre-show. Nine of the kids in this shot are members of the LDS Church and it always amazes Josh and I how many members there are here compared to Gaithersburg, MD where there was only one other family in the whole school that were members. Needless to say, there are often daily Parent volunteers in the classroom. After the show!! Asher did great! I loved it! Ethan and Jonah, our resident 8 year olds thought it was too goofy. The Parents ate it up! The music teacher, Mrs. Wilson, always does an amazing job with these shows. They do them up to 2nd grade and then stop- which I understand now because of Ethan and Jonah. They just couldn't handle it! Asher's Video here . Here's another short clip as well.

It's National Infertility Awareness Week and I want to write a little about it.  When you look at our family, with our 4 kids, including a set of twin boys, you wouldn't think that we are the image of infertility.  But we are. It's been 18 months since our last miscarriage and we haven't conceived again. Despite going to a very good Dr. who said keep trying, keep trying, keep trying. Despite trying. And we are okay with that- with our infertility. There are other ways of growing a family: Adopting. Foster Care. We've been led, through quiet thoughts and small stirrings, to do foster care. And we're extremely excited.  I washed blue and white onesies yesterday, folding little sleeves and tucking little bottoms. The bottles got a bath as well and the kids were thrilled.  "Ooh, can I feed the baby?" asked Elizabeth, our 10 yr old. "Can I change the diapers?" asked Asher, the 6 yr old. "I just want to try it o...

Hard Boiled eggs are gf- right? I love the smile on Asher! He has been without 2 front teeth for 4 months now and finally one is peeking out! Today is Day 4 of our going Gluten-free for a week challenge. I had talked with a few friends at the school about how helpful/easy it was for their children to go gluten free (although one of them is allergic to gluten and one is diabetic). I also talked to my sister Larissa, who has friends with kids who have really benefited from a gluten free lifestyle. With my boys being hyper/full of super energy and Jonah still working on finding a good medicine for his ADD (although he is adjusted finally to his current one) I thought I would try it out! I mean, why not? After several weeks of trying to attempt it- I was busy/it was testing week and the teachers were handing out snacks/I was busy- I sat down one day during a quiet testing hour at school and wrote out a week's worth of gf meals and snacks. What I have learned so far is this: it...

Here are a few more pictures of Josh's birthday on the 9th: Josh, presents and Asher Blowing out the Candles!

 Happy Birthday to my dear, sweet Mother! I love you, Mom! xoxoxoxo

   Out for Dessert for Josh's Birthday. These boys are my Joy! (Asher, Jonah, Ethan) And Elizabeth too- hopefully she won't be mad that I'm posting this! (Josh was there too- he was standing in line) I'm blogging a lot this week. This week the kids have their State Testing at school, so I haven't had any sub jobs. It's hard to administer tests as a substitute. It's been strange to not be at the school with the kids and I miss it. Two thoughts for today: -I would have never thought that I would see my friends who are foster parents go on to foster not just one, but two children while we wait to foster. It reminds me of how, when trying to get pregnant, my friends, one after the another, would be pregnant with not just one, but two and sometimes three children. -LDS Adoption Connection.blogspot.com has a great video on adoption and how it felt for one LDS Mother- Tamra- to place her son for adoption. It made me cry, although many things do lately....

I am back on the topic of foster care, as it has been looming large in my life right now. The past couple of years, with all of my children in school, have been ones of relative rest for me. Yes, we have had hard times, but they have not been the continual day to day trying times that parenting very young children can bring. I am about to return to that stage of parenting and am hopeful and excited. It can't come soon enough. Until it does though, I am going to try and relish the days that I have now- quiet at home. I am not going to take as many sub jobs. I am going to re-read the talks from General Conference, read some blogs on Mothering and spend some time reflecting on my past Mothering experiences, how I got here and where I am going. Just like a pregnant Mother does not know when her child will arrive, we have no idea when this child will arrive. We are powerless, for the most part, to rush these arrivals. And we wait. And we learn. We learn patience, submissiveness...

General Conference was amazing. It was so good to hear the words of our Prophets, to listen to the stories they tell, to feel of their love and to feel encouraged and uplifted. In the last General Conference (Oct. 2012), Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk entitled "Protect the Children" . Recently, as I have contemplated doing foster care and what types of situations these children will come from when they come into our home, I was reminded of this talk and especially of a story that Elder Oaks retells. He states: " Jeffrey R. Holland recently shared the experience of an LDS police officer. In an investigation he found five young children huddled together and trying to sleep without bedding on a filthy floor in a dwelling where their mother and others were drinking and partying. The apartment had no food to relieve their hunger. After tucking the children into a makeshift bed, the officer knelt and prayed for their protection. As he walked toward the door, one of the...

Happy 34th Birthday, to my bearded/now not bearded Joshua! I love being married to this guy and I love how strong a view on Marriage we both have! We can't believe that he's 34! I'm a year and 4 months older than him, so it always seems like he is exactly the same age as me. He's just turning 34 now? What a young 'un! The kids think it's hilarious that I am older than him, since to them being older means being wiser and Dad is always the one who knows the answers to your questions/fixes things. (Asher once said, Mom you are not the boss, Dad is! Do you even know how to fix a bike tire?)  Here are just a few things that Josh and I like to do together: -Go to Barnes n Noble, Grab a few books we've been wanting to read/look good and sit down and read them together. I like to share everything I learn. Josh is patient with me and listens. -Go to Barnes n Noble (again!), bring a board game and play while having a treat from the Cafe.  ...

 Here are a few shots from our Easter day, albeit blurry ones.  Elizabeth and her basket. Ethan eating a Peep, complete with head gear for searching for the baskets. Every year the Easter Bunny hides clues as to where they are hidden. This year they were in a cabinet in the garage (good idea, Josh!).  All 4 kids ready to go to Church: Jonah, Ethan, Asher and Elizabeth. I ended up taking Elizabeth home right after Sacrament because her pink eye was flaring up. I played the piano for the Choir and was oh so glad it was over. On to the next song!  We ended the day with a trip to the Temple and a walk around it's grounds with it's lovely Spring Flowers. It was perfect because just the night before they had taken down all the chairs from the Easter Pageant and it had left a big, empty field with lots and lots of rows where the people sat. The kids starting running before they even hit the grass. And they even found some spoils left over by the crowds: ...