Words of Wisdom

I know as a parent I'm always second guessing myself and wondering what I can do to help my kids grow into decent, honorable, righteous, happy people. This has been on my mind a lot lately, as I am constantly so disappointed in what I see going on with people around me. I heard something recently, sort of a rule of thumb that struck me as sound advice to help achieve these goals with my children. So here it is:

Do what your grandparents would have done.

This refers to the way they raised their own kids, not the way they act toward their grand kids. When you think about it, in general parents from a couple generations ago produced better quality people. Yes, I say "quality," because I believe a person's value should be based more on what they do to contribute to people and society around them, and less on how important he/she is just for existing. I think if more people evaluated themselves this way they might be more motivated to do GOOD things (rather than whatever they'd choose to make themselves feel good) and in the process they'd actually earn some real "self esteem." Kids who think little of themselves end up with real inner tension and often haven't learned any productive, positive way to deal with it, and I think that's why so many go and shoot up their schools, become addicted to drugs, and/or become promiscuous. So considering that so many of today's generation have fallen to these things, I think it's safe to say that focusing on telling our kids how very special they are and to love themselves more than anyone else (the more modern approach) is not super effective in producing happy, hard-working, balanced children. So when we (as parents) wonder what is the best way to approach situations with our kiddos, we might be best advised to be firm, enforce consequences, and stay focused on teaching our kids the miracle of serving others and acting with morality. We must consider the effects of our (ever important) personal choices on OTHER PEOPLE, and not just ourselves, then prioritize accordingly. Our lives cannot be truly rewarding if we live any other way.

I have plenty of work to do in this department. Being firm and teaching my kids seems to only get harder as they get more creative in undermining what I try to do. It's just their nature to do that. But it's my responsibility to teach them to go against their nature and do what's right. My mom is always telling me something that is key and so far rings true: If what I'm doing is causing me pain, it's probably an indication that I'm doing the right thing for my kid. How easy it would be to indulge their every whim and give them ice cream for every meal and allow them to join in the fun even when they've done something wrong. They'd smile all the time, which would make me feel great. Till they get what's coming to them for being self centered, and they don't know how to be happy in life because I never taught them. I think I'd be depriving them of millions of smiles later on in life, in order to allow them a few extra smiles now. What a selfish thing that would be for me to do. And I didn't become a mom to serve myself. I did it to serve my children.

P.S. It is such an honor to be a mom, it really is. I pray that I do a good job of it. I'm so blessed to have the Lord to turn to when I need Him. I'm so grateful for that.

Happy 25th Birthday, Matt!!!

Gabey got annoyed with cutting separate bites of cake, so he stabbed the whole piece with his fork and ate it like an apple. That's our boy!!

What a babe!

The boys pushed chairs up to the counter before I could move the cake to the table, so we celebrated there. Just ignore my messy counter tops and adore my messy boys.

Happy birthday, Darling!! We love you SO MUCH!!!!!

Big "Birth-a"

I told Katie I'd post pics of the belly, so here they are. I'm just over 20 weeks along (1/2 way, for you non-mommies), so yes, I'll apparently be getting stinking HUGE again... But everyone seems really healthy so far & I'm covered in stretch marks anyway, so we'll go ahead and celebrate. So many blessings to our family these days! And each of you is one of them. Love for everyone!
(P.S.- please excuse the sappiness, I'm A LITTLE BIT PREGNANT!!!)
P.P.S.- Some really wonderful people from our ward had their last day today and are headed to Washington in the morning. Thank you Werslands, for your kindness and all you contributed to our family and the ward. We'll miss you guys very much! Be safe on your trip, and merry Christmas!

Speaking of Lazy...

So, I don't think I'm gonna send Christmas cards this year, except to grandmas who don't use the internet. The rest of y'all are regularly updated with pics & all, through the miracle of modern blogology. Is it terrible of me to forget the post office scene this year? It's not that I don't love you, it just seems redundant to update you on stuff you already know & send a picture you've already seen, no?

Too Lazy for Privacy!

OK, some of y'all have gone private, and SOME of y'all haven't even emailed me passwords. What's up with that? Have I been exposed as the uncool person I am, or am I still safe and y'all just didn't have my email address? WHICH IS IT?!! Just kidding. But PLEASE, if you've gone "private" with your blog or you know a mutual friend of ours who has, please leave a comment here/ ask them to do so! I miss you people. So let me know. Just write "call me" or something so I know who's willing to share their secrets with me, ok? Ok.

P.S.- TO THE PRIVATEERS: I get why you do it, but why do you do it? Didn't take my LAZINESS into account when you made that decision, did you? Don't answer that. I got ya- internet privacy is no joke. Gotta protect the fam. My kids will just have to watch their backs. That's right- lazy.

...Ugh.

Matt's in the bath with the boys. I just ran out here to post a doozie from Jesse. Remember, they're in the bath, so- mystery solved.

"My smelly buns is makin' bubbles."

Ew.

Re-Run

THIS IS FOR YOU, LINS!
(Some out there who don't know what we're having, so I'm re-posting this. Originally posted about a week ago. Too lazy to start again, so enjoy. Again.)

GIBLETS ON PARADE!!
That's right, more giblets (or "jibbles, as we like to call them) for our little crew! The new baby is officially (and very visibly- got quite the view) boy-boy-boy. Jesse said today that we're gonna give the baby brother back to Jesus and get a baby sister. He's not exactly pleased with the latest- uh, development- (forget the pun).
So I'll be outnumbered 4 to 1, and couldn't be happier. I believe I've told my mom since I was a kid that I'd give birth to lots of boys when I grew up. I've lived to be a mommy to my own little band of men, and I'm getting more blessed with each year. Matt was sure we'd have a little queen this time, and it took a bit for the shock to wear off. He's adjusted nicely though, and is finally willing to discuss boy names. He's excited to add to our little wolf pack.
With the ever-exploding economic diarrhea going on these days, I'm picturing my family living on some farm without the joys of deodorant and dental visits. My prayer is that things will hold off a few months so I won't actually have to confess when asked, that yes indeed, my third child was born in a barn.

Hooray for Testorterone!

(I've always been a little "bottom heavy," but my butt ain't THAT big. I SWEAR it's the coat!)

Matt's work had their Christmas party last night, and we got to go in early so the boys could play with all Matt's toys. We all had a blast of course, and we thought we'd go ahead and make Josh & Caleb jealous by posting the pics. So check out my little gang, oh- and by the way, you should note that... They're too sexy for their guns, too sexy for their guns, with sweet little buns...

ALSO:

Female viewers: glance very quickly over a few of the pics, then hit "OLDER POSTS" at the bottom of the page, cause the cute ones are scattered throughout on the next page- (mixed in with TONS more manly, -boring- pictures)

Male viewers: seriously, there are like 100 pics here of different weapons, so enjoy. My boys sure did!