Meadow is 5!

Meadow is five and she already has said she can't wait until she is 6 and then 7 and then 8. She can't wait to get baptized since we have been talking about it with Parker recently.

She had a birthday party with friends from church and school and family at Apex Gymnastics and they all had a sweaty good time. :D

Some things that are really sweet about Meadow are:

She cries sometimes when Liam cries because she has such a tender heart and feels bad if he gets hurt.

She likes to "read" very large books and turns them page by page and even puts a book mark where she left off. She recently finished volume 2 of our encyclopedia set. :) She also does this with the scriptures. It is adorable. She asked me "Why did God make me so interested in reading books and reading the scriptures?" I told her because he wanted her to learn all of the things that would help her in her life to make good choices and be happy.

When she prays she tells Heavenly Father the cutest things about how she loves her gymnastics class and her friends at school and yummy dinners.

She worries a little bit about having homework in Kindergarten because she sees how much Parker dislikes having homework.

She really really likes to win. Last week her soccer team lost to the gray team and she cried on the way to the car. She definitely has a competitive streak.

Oh Meadow, you are such a fun and special girl and we love having you in our family.


Here is a letter Parker wrote to her at school for her birthday. :D I am transcribing it for now because I don't know where the camera is at the moment.

"Dear Meadow, You are the best sister! I know whats going to happen! Your birthday! Happy Birthday! You are going to have lots of presents! I love you. And I am feeling so great!

Your Brother Parker


I love that letter!! It makes my whole self smile. :D

Soccer Saturdays

Fall Season has begun. The kids are playing with Futbol Club of Cary again. They've been great and no games on Sunday. Yippee! This saturday both games were at noon so we had to divide and conquer. Meadow's team has really grown and she almost scored in her first game which was exciting. :) What a difference from spring to fall for this team. 4 goals in the first game this season. 1 goal the entire season last season. Go Heat! Before the game Meadow said "Mom, I have a surprise for you today."

Me: What is it?

Med: You'll have to wait to see it out on the field today.

Me: Ok! I'll be watching!

After she came out of the game to rest I told her "way to hustle, you were running really fast."

Meadow: That was my surprise! :)

Parker is also really improving. He goes after the ball more and is starting to understand the positions. Go Clash!

Liam just loves being outside. :)

Back to school, monkey in the dishwasher and taking matters into his own hands

Awesome Meadow started her first day of her last year of preschool. She missed the Kindergarten cut off by 25 days and can already read level 1 Bob books, but that is ok because Mamma loves to have her home with me for 1 more year. I'd rather have her be the oldest in the class than the youngest and we will keep her challenged. She was very excited this morning to go to school and her teachers are so wonderful. She is in the Monkey class this year. Meadow also started a gymnastics class that she adores a couple of weeks ago. Side Note: I think gymnastics is a great sport for kids because it builds flexibility, strength and coordination which can then be tranfered to any sport they may choose to move on to.




Speaking of Monkeys, yes he did get up there by himself. Yes I did find also find him sitting on the end table by the couch playing with the lamp. He got on the table by climbing onto another toy that was sitting next to it. Liam is into everything and doesn't seem to have a speck of fear.








Liam also especially loves the little green power light on the Wii that turns red when he pushes it much to the bemused chagrin of Parker. I loved that Parker took the matter into his own hands and made a toy barracade, picked Liam up and put him behind it. "There you naughty baby." lol.







Parker has a really fun sense of humor. When we were writing sentences for his spelling words, one sentence I suggested was "I have the same toy as Bill." He thought this was hilarious because he doesn't know anyone named Bill. He kept saying Bill! Bill! What a weird name, Bill. He proceed to crack himself (and me) up with the next 3 or 4 sentences.

Give me a hug Bill.

I like to hide from Bill.

I have no idea Bill.

I ate cheese with Bill.

Luckily he got tired of it after that. ;)

One fun thing that Meadow does recently is that I will find her randomly wearing her "high heels" from Easter just for fun. She likes the way they feel and the sound they make when she walks. These are the shoes she often chooses to wear to the grocery store. She is our sweet fun little lady. Also she can run as fast as a cheetah in them.

Each Life that touches ours for good

Our Bishop and his family (Bodily Family) just moved back to Idaho and I am sitting reflecting on how grateful I am for the time they were here. How grateful I am for the service and love our family received and for the shining example that they were. There were many instances during talks and ward conference where it felt like the message was just for me. I am sure many people felt that way. I thought I'd record some of those things that will always stick with me.

It is a good thing to reflect on our lives and ask ourselves each day is "What am I seeking?" and then to plan your life/day accordingly. Are our lives in line with how Heavenly Father wants us to live and spend our time? How are we spending our time? "If we stretched a string from the microphone back to the very end of the gym and that represented eternity and then we pinched the string with our fingers, the part of string we are covering with our fingers represents how short our earth life realy is. This made me want to print "What am I seeking?" out in vinyl letters and put it on the mirror so I would never forget it, so that I could keep persective and use my time wisely and seek the best things for the best reasons.

The leave no trace program for the boy scouts should not only apply to scouting but to our homes and church building. Are we leaving our homes and church buildings better that we found them? Are we cleaning up after ourselves, putting our things away and leaving no trace. Are we able to feel the spirit in it's fullest measure? This made me want to be better at leaving no trace at home.

I was reminded by the Bishops testimony that the atonement not only covers sins and transgressions but sorrows, dissapointments, sickness etc. This made me want to use the atonement more fully and leave more of my burdens at His feet. He understands all of it and can help us.

When speaking the bishop told of one of his children lamenting that he was not very good at basketball. The bishops response was "I don't care if you are ever good at basketball. What is most important to be good at is being good and that is something that all of us can do." This made me want to teach my children that the most important thing to be good at is being good.

He continually spoke of the simple things to be 100% in. By small and simple means, great things are brought to pass. He challenged all of the families to be 100% in family scripture study, family prayer, family home evening and regular temple attendance.

These are just a few. We'll miss the Bodily Family but we know that Brother Suppes will be an amazing Bishop too.