{ Valentine’s Letters to Our New Baby }

For Family Home Evening on Monday we talked about love, and told some stories of the prophet Joseph Fielding Smith and how he loved his family, then we wrote love letters to the new baby. The night before when Aaron said the family prayer he called the baby Ethan. All of the kids (especially Brianna) were all excited the rest of the prayer. He has been the last one to agree for sure on a name and usually just asks for the “baby” to be healthy and strong, so they were happy to have his approval, and write their little love letters to “Ethan” instead of just baby #8.

I guess we are pretty locked in with a name at this point-though Ryan and Scott still think that his name will be Jack Attack. They also think that he will come out with a cape and his arm will be up out straight like he is ready to fly into the sky. They have a little bit of super hero mania going on right now.

Ryan’s picture to the new baby

It was cute to see him color his heart (the left one) so intensely, and then the rest of his paper. He was very adamant about using “turquoise” his new favorite color I guess, and then would also grab his other colors in just the right order. He insisted that I color the other two hearts because, “I am too tired”.

 Scott’s Valentine to the new baby

He is super excited for Valentine’s Day on Friday, and even more excited that he learned how to draw a heart at preschool last week. He has been drawing hearts on every picture he has made since then (which is a lot), and after seeing Brooke cut out a heart, he insisted that he add a few to his picture too. It’s hard to see but he REALLY taped down those hearts good. He is one of my “tape thieves” around here-he really loves to tape up anything he can. He made sure that I wrote down exactly what he said on the paper too, “I love you baby. Happy Valentine’s Day”.

Abby’s letter to Ethan

Abby was a bit in a mood tonight and didn’t feel like writing too much. She made sure to tell him the most important thing she felt though-how much she loves him.

Erika’s letter to Ethan

Erika’s letter made me smile-it’s funny to see the kids different perspectives about how life is around here. She is so excited for this little guy to get here that she can hardly contain herself some days. She is going to be such a great big sister for him.

Brooke’s letter to baby Ethan

We had just read one of the hymns as part of the lesson-it was one that President Smith had wrote as a poem to his wife when he was away and feeling the loneliness and hardships she may have had to endure. Brooke decided she wanted to write a clever little poem in her Valentine’s letter to the baby too.

Austin’s letter to Ethan

Austin gets right to the point. He was the first one done, and as well had to put in his plea to the baby that he will be the “favorite” one.

Brianna’s letter to Ethan

Her letter kind of cracks me up-she is pretty confident that she will be the favorite too, and lists lots of great reasons for that. Makes me laugh!

Aaron’s letter to Ethan

My Letter to Ethan

And where is my handwritten letter? Unfortunately I got as far as Dear baby Ethan, and then was swiftly sidetracked helping the little boys with their letters and that’s about all I could muster by the end of FHE, so a typed version will have to due.
Dear Baby Ethan,
It’s hard to believe that 9 months have come and gone and it is almost time for you to be here. My heart is full this Valentine’s Day as I think of all the happiness and love you will bring to our family. It would be hard to pick who is the most excited to see you, everyone has been preparing in their own little way, and the wave of excitement hits them at different times. We wonder what you will look like, how you will act, how big you will be, and how sweet you will be to hold. We love you so much already!
I feel you kick all the time and can’t wait to see those tiny little feet in person. Your big brothers are helping me get everything ready for your arrival. They think those little diapers you will wear are as cute as I do. Ryan is very excited for you to have you new binkies that we bought you. We bought you a few new outfits and we all just squeal in delight at how little and cute they are. I know getting to see you in them will only bring more smiles on our faces.
I know since you are baby #8 that you must be patient, and one that will need lots of love. The abundance of love you will feel around here is by far the sweetest thing to see and for us to look forward to. I wonder how old you will be before you are actually put down for any period of time and not being held, there are so many arms just waiting to cuddle with you.
I hope when we bring you home you will be able to feel that love in our home, and every day after that. I hope you will grow with a strong knowledge of how much you are loved-both by us and by your Heavenly Father. I know that your sweet little spirit will bless our home everyday. I love you so much, and am so grateful to get to be your mom, and feel of your love too. We can’t wait to see you soon!!!
Love, Mom

{ Pizza Pete }

I love Family Home Evening! I love the time together. I love the spirit that is there. I love to see my kids take turns sharing what’s important to them. I love all of it. And I know someday my kids will have the same passion for it like I do. Now.. they love it too. They love the treats. The love the time together. And the treats. Did I mention the treats? The idea of family home evening appeals to them, and they would never let us miss a week even if we wanted to-glad that we don’t-but non the less they keep us on track. They love the silliness, and loud. Wow, do we have that loud thing down. They like to conduct and be in charge. They like to hold the Harry Potter wand and lead the music. But when it comes down to who’s turn it is for the lesson-there are eye rolls. We have a chart, we have had a plan for each week, but having to prepare something is where we struggle a bit.

Me on the other hand. I get panicky every time I think about how few family home evenings we have left with them. As of now, only about 1200 left for Brianna until she leaves for college. ONLY 1200. When I think of everything I want to teach them and share, that number hardly seems enough. My mind starts to swirl with everything they should know and feel before they leave our little nest.

It was Scott’s turn for the lesson tonight at family home evening-which means it was really my turn for the lesson. I was determined to keep with our value a month approach we have started (we did courage last month, which I still haven’t written about. Let’s just say I really don’t have the courage to write it yet. It’s been a doozer of a month in the parenting department lately. I am seeing how difficult parenting can be sometimes.) By the time that the after school crew tumbled in the door, homework and papers made their way on the counter and time was spent studying, track stars needed to be picked up, and cries of “what’s for dinner?” filled the air-quite frankly my mind was spinning. Insert {tender mercy from the Lord }, as I am finishing up the pizzas and I have an idea for the perfect lesson. It was the perfect mix of 3 year old help and story, with the Spirit.

Our theme for the month of April is RESPECT. Dinner tonight of homemade pizzas led to a perfect object lesson/story. Scott helped to make our Pizza Pete to go along with our story/mom’s made up parable/listen to the Holy Ghost and pray it will all turn out /lesson.

RESPECTING our Maker Baker

Once upon a time in a small little village on the far edge of somewhere great, their was a Maker baker. He owned a pizza shop, and made the most amazing pizzas around. People would come from far and near as the smell lured them into the bakery where they would wait patiently for their pizza. The Maker baker was so talented, but his masterpieces took time.

Pete was a pizza at the bakery who was a little sad about his plight as a pizza. He looked around at Billy the biscuit, and Marge the muffin, and wished he were destined for greatness like them. Yet, there he lay a big lump of pizza dough, waiting and waiting to rise. (1st pizza with only the eyes)

He questioned the Maker baker daily about just how long he would have to wait to become one of those amazing pizzas he saw the people admiring. The Maker baker patiently encouraged him to wait, for surely greatness takes time. He would be wonderful. He would be delicious. He would be amazing. Time would give him that. Pete the pizza felt reassured for a time, but as the days went on, he continued to compare himself to those around him. His Maker baker was constantly squishing him and tossing him, and at times he felt pulled in all different directions.  (2nd pizza with a frown)

One day the Maker baker pulled out all sorts of things to dress poor little Pete in. “Today is the day my friend” he declared. He got busy spreading and dressing Pete is an array of things. Sweet smelling aromas filled the air. Pete was excited as he was garnished with the finest of toppings around. Pepperoni, and fresh green peppers, black olives sliced to perfection, and who could forget the plump mushrooms. All pilled on freshly shredded cheese. He felt like a king. His excitement all but vanished as he saw his Maker baker friend approaching the oven.

“Wait! What are you doing” Pete cried out in fear.

“My little friend. The only way to become the pizza you were destined to be is to be cooked to perfection in our hot oven. Then and only then will the smells fill the streets, and the crowd will gather to see my masterpiece. The heat will make you great.

Pete was scared. Would the heat of the oven be too much to bear? Would he be able to trust his Maker baker friend. Would he really be all that He had promised? He approached the oven with courage in his heart.

Time went by, and the oven door leaked the smell that slowly lured in people by the dozens from the old cobblestone streets. The small bell on the front door, jingled and jangled as the crowd filled the small little bakery. At last the time was here to see the Maker bakers latest creation! He opened the oven door, and out he took his masterpiece. The crowd oohed and ahhed as they awaited a taste of this wonderful smelling pizza. Pete caught a look at himself in the shiny oven door, just as his Maker baker was passing by. (3rd pizza with everything on it) Yes, his patience had paid off. Yes, his Maker baker friend was right. He was great. All he had to do was trust the one who made him, for only He knew of his greatness from the very beginning.

THE END

I love that I can still mesmerize even my big kids with a story. Okay, too much credit for myself. I am totally impressed that the Spirit can mesmerize my kids so much. They listened so intently as I told the story, and Scott helped to uncover our little pizza's at just the right time. I cried over our pizza story, and the Spirit was felt. Mission accomplished. I wanted them to see that they are amazing! That it definitely takes that knowledge of ourselves and our greatness to be able to RESPECT ourselves and others around us. So grateful for my amazing kids. They are SO amazing!! As a parent it kills me at times to see them as they see themselves as Pete the first little pizza. I wish they could see more that last pizza and how great they are and can become. The endless duty of a parent to help them see what our own Maker Baker sees in us. Love. This. Mom. Job. Never has such an intense job brought me so much joy, and man are there times when I certainly feel in that oven. Parenting is tough. Making our children into who they are destined to be is tough. Being patient amid mistakes is tough. Seeing those perfect little pizzas..amazing.

{ Our Goals Revisited-Goals VS.Plans }

At the beginning of the year we set our family goals that we wanted to work on. When we set our goals, we just set them for the month of January –hoping they would be more attainable, but as the end of January rolled around we evaluated what we had accomplished and unfortunately it wasn’t much.

At about the same time I was finishing reading a book I got from a friend for Christmas called The Entitlement Trap by Richard and Linda Eyre. I love reading books that have great ideas for parenting/organizing/homemaking/decorating/loving that have a main goal or theme that is already along the lines of what we are doing and what feels right for our family. This book fit the bill perfectly. The first half of the book was about helping your children (and ourselves really) earn and budget money through a variety of methods. I loved that many of the ideas were ones that we were doing or had done in the past, but it had that boost of motivation we needed and a few great ideas to add to ours to make it a success. The second half of the book talks about helping kids own the choices they make, values, taking care of their body through their choices, etc.

There was a part during the last half of the book that caught my eye as I was having a hard time trying to figure out why our goal setting strategy wasn’t really working for us. It talks about the difference between goals and plans. I realized when I looked back on many of our goals that they were more of plans than goals. At the beginning of March for FHE, we talked about the difference with the kids and Aaron helped us know the difference with a method he had read about at work called SMART. The goals need to have all of these things:

S-Specific

M-Measurable

A-Achievable

R-It is suppose to be Realistic, but we thought that was very close to achievable, so we changed ours to Recordable. We wanted them to be able to record down their progress.

T-Time Framed

A lot of the goals we had set before were great, just a bit too vague. Mine was too lose weight, but I had written it as exercise 3 times a week. What did I ultimately want to accomplish? To lose weight. Aaron’s was a list of things to be healthier, but really he wanted to max out his PT test in April. When we saw our real goals, it was a lot easier to come up with the plans.

We decided that just focusing on one goal for right now would really help us know this system well, and be able to accomplish it. I typed up papers for us that had two columns. One for our goal, and the other column for our plan. I numbered that column from 1-5, because I wanted us each to think of quite a few ideas to help us achieve our goal. I also made each person a paper with a large circle on it. In the book they talk about having something like a pie chart to show your progress. I loved the idea to be able to visually see when we had accomplished even a little bit of our goal. I know that I feel so much better and stay motivated when I can see that all my hard work is paying off.

We helped each of the kids come up with their own goals. Whatever the goal was we they helped them divide their circle into that many pieces that they could mark off as they accomplished that part. I loved seeing all of our papers hung up on the wall in our family room, with our pie charts ready to be filled in. It was exciting for us all. Some of the kids took a little longer thinking of goals and are still working on deciding exactly what they want to focus on. That’s okay. It’s a process.

Most of us took one of our goals that we had previously written down at the beginning of the year, and fine tuned it to make sure it was a goal not a plan. Here are a few that we chose.

Scott-be able to go potty by himself. For his we just used his circle to put stickers in each time he was able to go by himself. Before this, his usual routine is-hop up and down to tell me he has to use the restroom, ask me to help him (which really only involved me coming into the bathroom until he got on the toilet, then he would say,”okay, now get out”.), yelling at me to come back in and get toilet paper of the roll for him, then insisting he wanted to do the rest. He was so close already.

Abby-To pass off a word list a week until the end of school. She had already passed off one, so we divided her paper into 10 more sections (there are 11 total). Her plan had three parts:

1. To read my list with mommy each day.
2. To write my words 3 times each week.
3. To circle the words in a magazine.

She was so happy when she passed off a word list to be able to color in one of her pieces of the pie.

Erika-To be able to run 1 mile without stopping in one month. Her pie chart was the cutest. Where we live there is a big circle that circles around our neighborhood. From our house all around the circle is one mile. Aaron helped her to draw a map of the neighborhood in the shape of the circle. He divided it into four parts (one for each week) that she could color her line in on the map road as she accomplished running a little farther around without stopping. It was so clever. Her plans were set up as a daily and weekly schedule.

1. Week 1-Be able to run 2.5 minutes (or about 1/4 mile) without stopping. Monday-run around out side while mommy times you for 2.5 minutes. Tuesday-go to soccer practice (run there) Wednesday and Thursday-run like on Monday. Friday-go to soccer practice. Saturday-go with daddy and try to run the mile around the neighborhood. Try to run at least the first 1/4 mile part without stopping, but finish the whole mile either walking or running.
2. Week 2-The same routine except try to do the run for 5 minutes and run for 1/2 mile on Saturday.
3. Week 3-The same routine except try to do the run for 7.5 minutes and run for 3/4 mile on Saturday.
4. Week4-The same routine except try to do the run for 10 minutes and run the whole mile on Saturday.

Brooke-still nailing down her exact goal.

Austin-To be able to run a mile in 5 minutes 45 seconds. His plan was set up kind of like Erika’s with daily and weekly plans.

1. I am going to run 2 miles 3x a week.
2. I am going to run 1 mile and record 3x times a week.

Monday-Run 2 miles in the evening 9pm

Tuesday-Run 1 mile in the morning before school 6:15am

Wednesday-Run 2 miles in the morning 6:10am

Thursday-Run 1 mile in the morning 6:10am

Friday-Run 2 miles in the morning 6:10am

Saturday-Run 1 mile in the morning 9:30am

Brianna-To be able to run a mile under 7 minutes 30 seconds in a month. Her plan was like Austin’s.

1. Run 2 miles at least once a week. Run 1 mile at least 3x a week.
2. Record results.
3. Get enough sleep (10 hrs).
4. Drink at least 5 full glasses of water a day.

Monday-Run 1 mile at night after FHE.

Tuesday-Run 1 mile after school.

Wednesday-Stretch day.

Thursday-Soccer practice.

Friday-Run 1 mile after school.

Saturday-Run 2 miles.

Monae-To lose 20lbs by our anniversary trip to Puerto Rico in April. I divided mine into 20 pieces of the pie. I liked being able to mark off even the littlest accomplishment. My plan was this:

1. Record food I eat on myfitnesspal.com Limit calorie intake to 1240 per day.
2. Exercise at least 3x a week for 30 minutes and record on myfitnesspal.com.
3. Weigh in only once a week-Monday mornings.
4. Limit treats to 2x a week.
5. Drink more water. Try for at least 5 cups a day. Record on myfitnesspal.com

I also made smaller rewards for myself at each 5lb mark. After 5 pounds I would get to buy some new itunes songs. At 10 pounds I would get to buy new workout pants. At 15 pounds I would get to buy a new swimsuit (for our trip). And at 20lbs I would get to buy a new pair of jeans. We talked with the kids about rewarding ourselves with things that would help us with our goals. If I rewarded myself with a big candy bar, that would kind of defeat the purpose.

Aaron-To be able to max out the PT test at work. His plans were basically the same as what he had listed for his goals before. Eating healthier, excising certain days, and lifting weights/pushups and sit ups other days. He was so busy helping the other kids he didn’t get a chance to write his out. He is doing great working on his though. It totally motivates me to see him get up early before work to exercise. I love that he also has joined me on recording his calories on myfitnesspal.com-his is to gain weight though so he gets a ton more calories than me. The thing is with his super high metabolism he probably needs more than that. A problem I totally wish I had. His goal is a little hard to write in pie chart form until the actual test, unless he does his own practice tests.

It feels so good as we are closing out the month to see all that we are accomplishing. Our pie charts are filling in, and we are becoming better at those things we want to do. I love that we are able to see our plans becoming reality-such a boost for us as a family. Austin and Brianna both made the track team, so they have been doing a lot more running than they had planned. They are both really close to their goals. Tonight is their first track meet, so it will be fun to see their times that they each run the 1 mile in.

A quote from the talk by President Monson about Living an Abundant Life that we put on our goal charts to reminder us to not give up:

Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

{ Our 2012 Family Goals }

For our first Family Home Evening of the year we talked about goals and set some goals as a family. We did our four normal categories: Spiritual, Physical, Educational, and Emotional, but decided to just set our goals for January not the whole year. Many times we set the goals for the whole year, and forget about them after the first month anyways. We hope that this will keep us more motivated and able to achieve our goals. In Sacrament meeting yesterday President Eiland from our stake presidency talked a bit about goals and stressed the importance of setting goals that were achievable. We felt like it would be nice to set shorter goals and reevaluate every month.

Each person got four half sheets of paper with their name on it to write each of their goals, then we taped them up in our family room under each of the four headings. I love that they are posted in a place that we will see them each day and be able to remember each others so we can encourage one another throughout the month.

Spiritual

Aaron-Read January Ensign and Priesthood lesson

Monae-Write at least something in my journal each day-blogging counts!

Brianna-Keep up with my scripture chart and read my scriptures each day  in the morning

Austin-I will read my scriptures before I go to school

Brooke-My goal for Spiritual  is to read my scriptures every morning

Erika-I will read my scriptures every day

Abby-Say my prayers before I go downstairs and when it’s the night, right now, read picture book of scriptures.

Physical

Aaron-Cardiovascular-run,basketball, soccer for at least 1/2 hour 3x/week, Flexibility-stretch 3x/week, Nutrition-1 veggie/day, Strength-core strength 3x/week

Monae-Walk 3 miles at least 3 times a week, do my sit ups and pushups, and leg exercises.

Brianna-My physical goal is to go outside and play for at least 1 hr each day

Austin-In 30 days I will improve my push ups, sit ups, standing long jump, and 1/4 mile walk run

Brooke-My goal for physical is to eat my vegetables each night at dinner without complaining

Erika-I will do stretching exercises every morning at 6:20am

Abby-Carrots are yummy. Carrots are good with ranch dressing. I will eat carrots for a snack

Educational

Aaron-Complete 4 Audio Digests and the oldest 2 allowed AAFP magazines for CME. Attend 4 resident morning reports

Monae-Read at least 1 book

Brianna-My educational goal is to study for my classes. Study every night even if I don’t have a test coming up

Austin-For 30 days I will keep all A’s and study for my Math tests

Brooke-My goal for educational is that I will read more books in school

Erika-I will do my math flash cards every day. (10 minutes 4:00pm)

Abby Pass off word list 1

Emotional

Aaron-Communicate better with my kids and wife

Monae-My goal for January is to say one sincere compliment to each of my kids daily

Brianna-My emotional goal is to keep my temper and not F-R-E-A-K!! out but to work out my differences

Austin-I will write in my journal how I felt that week-which was changed to I will not tease my brothers and sisters

Brooke-My goal for emotional is not to moan at my mom or roll my eyes

Erika-I will not cry when I’m tired and I will just say in words I’m tired.

Abby-I will not be grumpy in the morning

I love that each person tried really hard to think of things that were important to them. Aaron and I wanted them to be sure to pick things that were things they saw as goals, not things that WE saw as goals for them. It was great that they could be honest with themselves and us about what they wanted to improve on. Erika was really diligent in writing down specific times that she was going to do her things-she really wanted to make sure her stuff was planned out good. It should be a great month for goals.