“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God . . . and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.” ― Orson F. Whitney

thanks for posting this quote Carin! You are truly inspiring!

not what he expected

we had to take a trip to nashville to complete something
coopers dr left unfinished when he was born (re-circumsized)
we told cooper we were going to stay at a hotel
without brackon and grayson
just him and mom and dad
he was so excited
he fell asleep on the two hour drive
and because cooper had to fast the next morning
we stopped to get some food around 9 at night
yea, we were "one of those parents"
with their kids out LATE!
(i guess we can't judge, cuz we never know their circumstances)

he really woke up when the good stuff came out!

see where he put the clothes he took off!

the next morning
we did a little shopping to pass the time
and distract him from not having breakfast
(cooper WAKES UP ready to eat.
he could only have apple juice until 9 and then nothing
until after his surgery, which was at 1)

just before we were called back
he asked for food
he never asked what was going on
just said he wanted to go home
we just said, when we're done we will go home
and we didn't even know what to tell him that was going to happen
so we didn't say anything
are we mean???

they had him playing in a little car
to make things easy when it was time to take him to the OR
but when we finally realized they were taking him
we felt bad because we didn't even have a chance to tell him
what was going on
so we quickly said they are going to take you
and you're going to sleep for a little
and we will be right back!
he screamed!
the nurse took him from dusty
and he screamed all the way down the hall
it was horrible

his surgery only lasted a half hour
but we waited and waited probably an hour and a half
just for them to prep, surgery, and get him to wake up

he didn't want juice when he woke up
but when he was asked if he wanted a popsicle
he didn't turn it down
he has been doing really well
he will be swollen, red and bruised for a month
the dr said it will look worse than it feels
(does he really know)

a little advice. go find food while you wait :)
i ended up passing out from lack of food, being too hot and seeing blood
as we were walking out,
dusty was carrying cooper
and i was feeling really hot (i had my jacket and scarf on all day)
i had hardly eaten cuz i didn't want to eat in front of cooper
and they said surgery will be an hour
after we saw the dr, he said it would be 20 minutes
so we felt like we couldn't leave to get anything

i told dusty i was going to pass out
just then a nurse walked by and asked if i was okay
i said, no, i'm going to pass out

luckily she got me in a wheel chair
before i hit my head on the ground
it was pretty embarrassing

more advice. if one of your boys' privates look different
than his brothers

and your dr doesn't say anything
get an opinion from another dr.
and don't wait until they're 3 1/2 :)

family traditions

i recently read a book by emily freeman about inviting christ into your christmas
more through doing family traditions throughout the holiday season
we've decided to jump on the idea
and i am SOOO excited about it!!
even though my kids are young and they may not
fully realize it all
i know i am learning more, at least
and sometimes that is what happens right
we plan for something to impact someone else's life
and we realize along the way what an impact it made on our life

this night we talked about mary and how she gave birth to the son of God
we talked about that night and the thoughts that were going through her head
how much love she had for her new baby
and the overwhelming responsibility it must have been to raise the son of God
then we decorated heart shaped sugar cookies

here is brackon's drawing

lazy days

even though brackon has to get dressed
comb his hair and brush his teeth every day
it is often these boys get hot
and this is what we end up with :)
gray was in the middle of getting dressed

we read A LOT of books throughout the day
and like to do projects after we read with what we just read about
here are the boys jet packs

we had a picnic lunch
(who says you can't have leftovers on a picnic)

and yes, my boys aren't perfect
although the good times definately outweigh the bad
here is a classic...
they will laugh at this picture one day

cooper can be a night owl
so the days he doesn't take a nap
he can be caught like this around 4 pm
and then the house is h'owlin' all night :)

brackon put this in a little box for his daddy...

"I Love You
Who Am I?"

happy thanksgiving

we had a low-key thanksgiving
we went to dusty's grandparents to eat
it was easy for me, i only made a few dishes
and came home to a clean house
and lots of leftovers

happy thanksgiving!!!

during the month we filled a wall full of thankful leaves
it was fun to hear some of the things the boys were thankful for
coopers was always jesus

which reminds me of a story
i have a bunch of pass along pictures of christ in our piano room
cooper had 3 pictures lined up on the ground
and was hitting them with a play hammer
i said, cooper don't hit jesus... he died for you.
he looks at me with this crooked face and said, why?
i said, so you can live with heavenly father again after you die
he got the biggest smile on his face!!
so now when we talk about jesus he always tells us, jesus died.
so cute.

friends, cleaning, and sharing

brackon was invited to a birthday party
there was a low turn out but they seemed to have a lot of fun
they played laser tag and had hot dogs

apparently gray watches me clean :)

he will sit in his high chair while i make dinner, while we eat, and while i clean up

no wonder he hasn't started walking yet :)

i just liked this happy drawing!

brackon was taking pictures of his bike and cooper got in the picture

WHENEVER! grayson notices someone is eating something different
he makes himself known
this day, he kept wanting brackon to share!

even if it meant getting on top of him!

it's tough being a kid

as i look at these pictures, i think, wow what would it like to be a kid again
and to be "free" not a care in the world
of course, these boys have things they care about

and to them, these things do matter
do i take things too seriously?
am i going to look back on my life "now" and think
wow?! why didn't i enjoy that season of my life.

i need to be better at getting excited about the little things in life
like sleeping under my bed
do you think dusty would do sleep under the bed with me?!

even just looking out the window
and being grateful for things i see
and for the freedom i enjoy and take for granted on a daily basis

i heard gray screaming but i couldn't find him!
he climbed up these stairs and didn't attempt to go back down
he is our cautious child :)

gray has a special bond with cooper

cooper's coloring, not too bad.
the rest of his picture was "almost this good" :)

first piano recital

i never have to remind brackon to practice
he does it on his own EVERY day
(mostly "on his own")

he did really well his first recital
i think i need to do a better at letting my kids know what to expect
as we got to the church, brackon said, do i have to play in front of adults?
it made him nervous
also, that we were the last ones to get there
and he was FIRST to go.