In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine. ~ Maya Angelou
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Happy Birthday to Todd
I'm a little behind with my posts.... Happy Birthday to Todd a few weeks ago!
In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine. ~ Maya Angelou
In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine. ~ Maya Angelou
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
A Few Things.....
It's been awhile since my last post and I have a few things to share.
First, my last post is in reference to sweet Tori's 16th birthday. She's now driving. We decided to buy her a car. We are now a four car family.... four cars. I kind of think it's ridiculous that we have four cars; however, with that said I'm very grateful that we have the cars. It sure is convenient and so very, very nice not having to run Tori to all her practices and school events. I hope we can survive the insurance and fuel!
Second, Evan is such an amazing young man. I don't talk enough about him and he needs to be talked about. He has such a steady, reliable, quiet personality and a quick intelligence.... he's going places. One other item of note with Evan - I've discovered his motivation as a teenager. As a parent trying to encourage certain behaviors and enforce rules, it's always very nice when you discover something that motivates compliance, right?
We've always encouraged good grades because we know all the children are fully capable of earning good grades. To encourage good grades, we have offered a monetary reward for each A earned. This reward has never been a motivating factor for Evan. What we discovered is that when we started making Evan pay us for his car insurance because the cost increased due to his low GPA, he suddenly improved dramatically on his grades. His motivation is that he doesn't want to spend his money.... he's a saver. I love it!
Finally, Todd has been cleared for full-duty at work. It's a true blessing. After his shoulder surgery, the doctor told us it would most likely be a year before Todd would be have the range of motion needed to return to work as a firefighter. His surgery was the end of December and he's back to work the first of April. Todd received a Priesthood blessing, given by members of the Mormon faith, and was blessed to have a speedy, full recovery. I believe our prayers were answered and I am grateful.
First, my last post is in reference to sweet Tori's 16th birthday. She's now driving. We decided to buy her a car. We are now a four car family.... four cars. I kind of think it's ridiculous that we have four cars; however, with that said I'm very grateful that we have the cars. It sure is convenient and so very, very nice not having to run Tori to all her practices and school events. I hope we can survive the insurance and fuel!
Second, Evan is such an amazing young man. I don't talk enough about him and he needs to be talked about. He has such a steady, reliable, quiet personality and a quick intelligence.... he's going places. One other item of note with Evan - I've discovered his motivation as a teenager. As a parent trying to encourage certain behaviors and enforce rules, it's always very nice when you discover something that motivates compliance, right?
We've always encouraged good grades because we know all the children are fully capable of earning good grades. To encourage good grades, we have offered a monetary reward for each A earned. This reward has never been a motivating factor for Evan. What we discovered is that when we started making Evan pay us for his car insurance because the cost increased due to his low GPA, he suddenly improved dramatically on his grades. His motivation is that he doesn't want to spend his money.... he's a saver. I love it!
Finally, Todd has been cleared for full-duty at work. It's a true blessing. After his shoulder surgery, the doctor told us it would most likely be a year before Todd would be have the range of motion needed to return to work as a firefighter. His surgery was the end of December and he's back to work the first of April. Todd received a Priesthood blessing, given by members of the Mormon faith, and was blessed to have a speedy, full recovery. I believe our prayers were answered and I am grateful.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Sweet 16 and Loving It
Our beautiful Tori is sweet 16 and loving every minute of it. She loves being able to drive, loves the feeling of being "so grown up" now that she's 16, and thriving. She's a naturally skilled driver and has been looking forward driving the car on her own since... forever.
For her 16th birthday, she played hooky from school and went shopping with her Mom all day. We did some serious shopping and had a blast. That seems to be what makes Tori super happy.... getting spoiled and having all attention lavished on her... so that's what we did. She loved it! And we LOVE her.
Happy 16th baby girl!
For her 16th birthday, she played hooky from school and went shopping with her Mom all day. We did some serious shopping and had a blast. That seems to be what makes Tori super happy.... getting spoiled and having all attention lavished on her... so that's what we did. She loved it! And we LOVE her.
Happy 16th baby girl!
Monday, February 20, 2012
This Little Girl of Mine
This little girl of mine.... I'm gonna let her shine..... Let her shine, Let her shine, Let her shine.
Can you hear me singing?
Tori is an amazing young women with so much fire and energy it's difficult to keep up with her. She now loves Volleyball and she's pretty dang good. At 5' 1", she is scrappy and digs right in and never lets the ball get past her.
She's amazing at everything she does and we thoroughly enjoy spending time with her during her volleyball tournaments.... well.... except when the tournament is from 8am to 6pm with an hour or two between her games.
I'm learning that life goes by much too fast and my little girl is growing up much too fast also. So, even though her tournaments can be a long, grueling day, I'm enjoying every second I can soaking up time with this little girl of mine.
Can you hear me singing?
Tori is an amazing young women with so much fire and energy it's difficult to keep up with her. She now loves Volleyball and she's pretty dang good. At 5' 1", she is scrappy and digs right in and never lets the ball get past her.
She's amazing at everything she does and we thoroughly enjoy spending time with her during her volleyball tournaments.... well.... except when the tournament is from 8am to 6pm with an hour or two between her games.
I'm learning that life goes by much too fast and my little girl is growing up much too fast also. So, even though her tournaments can be a long, grueling day, I'm enjoying every second I can soaking up time with this little girl of mine.
My Funny Valentine
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”
— A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
— A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)
Friday, January 27, 2012
Along for the Ride
As a parent of two teenagers and an adult child, I've come to the realization that I'm not so much parenting as just along for the ride.
All three of my wonderful children came to our family with very unique, very strong-willed, personalities. Todd and I have fooled ourselves for awhile thinking we could get them to behave and think exactly how we want them to think.... hoping they would be perfectly, perfect little images of us. Well, at least all the good qualities of us... cause we don't have any bad qualities... only good.
Ok, back to the point. The point is. We've done our best but in the end, they are who they are and who they've always been; we're just along for the ride. We've tried to provide some bumper pads in the game of life for them, some railings to help them avoid going over the edge, but otherwise they are headed off to their destination.
And their destinations and lives are going to be amazing..... cause they are amazing people. Todd and I have been blessed to be part of their lives.
Sweet Spencer always does his best to tolerate us, and never wants to hurt our feelings, but has a mind of his own. Always has and always will. Love him tons and tons.
Darling Evan is our quiet, a little bit shy, son who hides his brilliant mind behind his quiet confidence. He's always seemed to know exactly what needs to be done and just does it. Not because we've told him to but because it's the right thing to do. Love him a million times over.
Beautiful Tori came into our lives as a force of nature. She moves forward with a purpose and direction and doesn't let anyone stop her. She seems to tolerates us because we provide food and shelter and, well, maybe she loves us a little too. She's been this way since birth and she's fabulous. Love this young woman.
We are blessed!!
All three of my wonderful children came to our family with very unique, very strong-willed, personalities. Todd and I have fooled ourselves for awhile thinking we could get them to behave and think exactly how we want them to think.... hoping they would be perfectly, perfect little images of us. Well, at least all the good qualities of us... cause we don't have any bad qualities... only good.
Ok, back to the point. The point is. We've done our best but in the end, they are who they are and who they've always been; we're just along for the ride. We've tried to provide some bumper pads in the game of life for them, some railings to help them avoid going over the edge, but otherwise they are headed off to their destination.
And their destinations and lives are going to be amazing..... cause they are amazing people. Todd and I have been blessed to be part of their lives.
Sweet Spencer always does his best to tolerate us, and never wants to hurt our feelings, but has a mind of his own. Always has and always will. Love him tons and tons.
Darling Evan is our quiet, a little bit shy, son who hides his brilliant mind behind his quiet confidence. He's always seemed to know exactly what needs to be done and just does it. Not because we've told him to but because it's the right thing to do. Love him a million times over.
Beautiful Tori came into our lives as a force of nature. She moves forward with a purpose and direction and doesn't let anyone stop her. She seems to tolerates us because we provide food and shelter and, well, maybe she loves us a little too. She's been this way since birth and she's fabulous. Love this young woman.
We are blessed!!
Monday, January 16, 2012
The Love of the Sport
Our family enjoys the winter months here because of our love of skiing and snowboarding. Each one of us enjoy this sport and we look forward to each snowfall; sadly, this year has been a little skimpy on the white stuff so far. We've all looked forward to forecasts predicting snow falls and have been disappointed when it's just a light dusting of snow.
So after telling you about our enjoyment of this sport, you might be surprised that we've suffered from some injuries over this last year. Injuries that would make many people think twice before heading to the slopes. Why do we still persist in putting ourselves in harms way when there's risk of injury?
At the end of the season last year, poor Tori broke her arm, which caused her to miss out on Volleyball tryouts for the year. Recovering from this injury was not fun and wearing the cast was not pleasant. Yet, this year she's all ready to hit the slopes to try out her new snowboard.
At the beginning of this season, Todd took a terrible fall and dislocated his shoulder causing a severe injury in his shoulder and to his bicep tendon. All resulting in surgery and some temporary nerve damage, which keeps him from work until he fully heals. Yet, he's disappointed that he's missing out on the ski season.
The thrill of the sport is hard to give up and how can we resist such beauty in nature? Let's just hope and pray we can all be a little more careful, a little more coordinated, and much more safe in the years to come because I don't think the family can ever give up this sport.
So after telling you about our enjoyment of this sport, you might be surprised that we've suffered from some injuries over this last year. Injuries that would make many people think twice before heading to the slopes. Why do we still persist in putting ourselves in harms way when there's risk of injury?
At the end of the season last year, poor Tori broke her arm, which caused her to miss out on Volleyball tryouts for the year. Recovering from this injury was not fun and wearing the cast was not pleasant. Yet, this year she's all ready to hit the slopes to try out her new snowboard.
At the beginning of this season, Todd took a terrible fall and dislocated his shoulder causing a severe injury in his shoulder and to his bicep tendon. All resulting in surgery and some temporary nerve damage, which keeps him from work until he fully heals. Yet, he's disappointed that he's missing out on the ski season.
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