Kennedy is 8

No. No way. No way shape or form. 

She can't be 8 already! I just won't allow it!

 If I had it my way, she would stay little FOREVER!!

Kennedy is my easiest child to shop for. She is super easy to please and likes everything. 

Don't mind her "bed head" She arose quite early to open presents!

 She was spoiled! 

8 of our favorite things about Kenny Poo are

1. She can make anyone smile when she gets silly.

2. She is a good friend.

3. She is sassy.

4.  She is very nuturing.

5. She is super creative.

6. She is my fashionista.

7. She is so beautiful

8. She is ours!!

We love you so much Kennedy! 

These past 8 years you have been in our lives have been wonderful. You teach us so much about ourselves. You make your mom and dad so proud of you. And you make us want to be better parents!

Keep working hard in school and in life and you will go far. That smile of yours is contagious. Always choose the right and continue to be such a good girl!!

We love you!

Sunday Mornings

Every Sunday Beau makes a loaf or two of bread. The kids get so excited to help out.

The wheat grinder seems to be a highlight for the kiddos. 

Even Scarlett likes to help!

And it wouldn't be a Sunday morning around here without Beau's delicious German Pancakes too!

Why can't I be cooked for everyday?

I was meant to be royalty! 

haha

Blessed

I started a Book Of Mormon Challenge.I started it 3 days ago. 

If I read 21 pages a day I should finish right before General Conference this October.

It has been wonderful.

 I feel myself looking forward to sitting down each day to read. It has made my days so much better. Life just seems more beautiful.

Today was a beautiful day. 

Nothing Grand or different, just beautiful.

The kids all got along, the house stayed clean, I got a lot accomplished, and tonight we saw double rainbows, again. This is the second time in less than a week. 

I love it.

We found this little guy in our house too!

Caleb is doing his Nacho Libre face.{ haha}

 Feeling pretty blessed today!

Idaho Weather

This Idaho weather is completely nuts. 

It is blazing hot one day, freezing cold the next, and wet another day.

This storm came out of nowhere and was pretty amazing. 

It rained and down poured for about 8 minutes, then cleared up. After about 5 minutes it started to hail. HUGE hail. 

It was crazy.

This was right after the rain!

 And if that wasn't fun enough to watch,  the storm ended with double rainbows!

 Although the weather can drive me nuts, I LOVE Idaho.

I am reminded daily of all the reasons why I missed it here.

It is good to be home!

First Day of School

{This is Caleb's 1/2 excited/ 1/2 not look.}

I will willingly admit that I am the mom who hates when the kids go back to school. 

Don't get me wrong, I look forward to the house staying clean longer than 10 minutes, the fighting to be at a "stand still" at least until after school, and  to accomplishing the tasks I have more easily with two kids at home rather than five. I also look forward to snuggling my two youngest a lot more than I normally have the chance to. 

Truthfully???

  I hate school  because it just flat out scares me. 

I know... I know!
 I shouldn't let fear rule me, but hey, I am human.

I worry that I may have fallen short as a mom in teaching them. I worry that they might make a wrong choice. I worry that they may not have good friends. I worry, worry, and worry.

 I tend to like to have all control when it comes to my children and not let them fail. { Satan's side, I know...darn I am human!} 

I feel liked a warped mother hen. 

She keeps her chicks tucked under her wing to keep them from the harsh things of the world and when the time comes she lets them go to learn on their own. While I still tend to ruffle my tail feathers in stubbornness, instead of letting them go, I just sit on my chicks keeping them fully away from the world.

I know that I have to trust that they will make good choices, choices built on the things they have learned from church and home. I  know that failure is part of our mortal journey, that failure can have sometimes a  far more reaching affect of making us better than we are.  So why is it that I KNOW these things and just tend to let fear rule me?  Is it maybe the harsh judgments of others?  

 Perhaps.

I have been in a situation where a child of mine has made a wrong choice and another parents unChristlike actions caused real hurt.

 I can handle it, I am a big girl, but to see my sweet child suffer at the hands of another adult was almost too much!  Yet we learned, moved on, and grew from the experience.

 Still, I can't seem to fully let go of the "what if's."

I am sure we all have these moments as mothers. 

Don't we just want what is best for our children? I know I do.

So I will just have to keep on trying to overcome the "fearful" part of me. 

All I can do is hope and trust that when my children are faced with challenges and struggles they will do the right thing. And if not, at least learn from their mistakes.

This is my constant battle. 

To let them learn on their own.

Sigh....

Maybe it should be me in the above picture,  jumping for joy with high caged walls on all sides of my children.

Do you think they would be jumping too?

Probably not.

Man I just love these kiddos!