great to be EIGHT!!

last weekend, ellie got baptized here in Oregon.

surrounded by our children and lots of people that will soon feel like family.

she is darling.

i'm so humbled to be her mother.

after her baptism, she received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

In her blessing she was promised that the Holy Ghost would be a guide to her when she is mothering her own children.

I thought- how I need to listen to those gentle promptings teaching ME how to mother HER!!

After her baptism, todd, eve and I took Ellie out to eat-- her choice.

(She picked Hibachi... I picked a perfect, small town, bakery for dessert.)

We had our eight year old "greatest things" conversation.

Yup, right there at the hibachi table we explained Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy and the birds and the bees-- all in one swoop. 

She took it all in stride, smiling with an embarassed "that's gross". 

(Todd assured her that someday she would love it.)

I have never regretted having these conversations with my eight year olds.  They are old enough to know right from wrong.  At school intimacy is part of every day conversation.  I know that our kids know the basics, and that they know they can talk to us about any questions they have.

Ellie is so kind and sensitive.

She is full of life and goodness.

How I love this child!!

What a special day.

singleness of heart.

this morning i was just thinking over our past Sunday.
it was a great day.
and, we are not known for great Sundays...
Sunday morning I read my favorite verses ever on the Sabbath day (Doctine and Covenants 59:9-13)...
i loved this reminder, "let thy food be prepared WITH SINGLENESS OF HEART" and later, "do these things with thanksgiving, with cheerful hearts and countenances... with a glad heart and a cheerful countenance."

i loved that.
All day I tried to do whatever I was doing WITH SINGLENESS OF HEART.
Meaning, I wasn't always worried about everything that needed to get done.
I tried to just cheerfully do ONE thing, and have peace that it was enough.
We had a few friends over for dinner.  My kids spent the day doing uplifting, Sabbath things.  I worked hard.  And, I was happy.

Today, I want to remember this and keep that SINGLENESS of HEART feeling.
I don't want to get overwhelmed with everything... just enjoy the one thing I'm doing.
If I'm organizing... I'm not worrying about lunch. 
If I have a child that needs me, I'm not worrying about finishing my organizing.
There is a peace that comes from just accepting what you can do and knowing everything will be fine.

My 5 older kids are at soccer camp this morning and baby eve is sleeping (she is awake ALL night).  Lily is crying by my side... "Nobody can play with me, nobody.  I am never going to see them again, they are not there."  I suggested she read a book.  She said, "Nobody can read it to me, nobody."  I smile.  This sweet child is going to have quite an adjustment time once school starts... she is VERY used to having LOTS of loving.
For now, I'm off to play with her and read her a story.

I hope you enjoy your day!!

ps.  Singleness of heart is how I cope with no sleep.  If, at night, I just think about my sweet baby and enjoy the time I'm spending with her, I AM FINE!!!  If, I worry about the sleep I am missing because of her.  If, I start to resent my husband who snores peacefully through the night...  I am CRANKY!!  And, in the morning, if I think about the number of hours of sleep I am not getting, I'm cranky.  Instead, if I just do what needs to be done, with singleness of heart... I'm good.  I'm happy.  And, sometimes I find a few minutes to nap in the afternoon.  How I really, really need to remember this lesson...  I'm loving this concept.

scout camp.

oregon is beautiful...

  and, i really, really LOVE having this guy as a 12 year old.

life is good.

the end.

dance!

this sweet daddy passed away unexpectedly (here is his wife's blog- jennie's kitchen).
here he is dancing with his little girl... he didn't know this would be thier last dance.

SO SWEET!!
now, i've got to go dance with my kids!!!
today, let's enjoy our moments!

a prayer for families.

my heart was touched this morning.
i have been full lately with a desire to love my family, to teach them, to create a home of love and spirituality.
at times, i feel that i am marching up hill, carrying many.

as a family, we read these words together.
words, spoken from a living prophet of God, to me...

Bringing Heaven Closer
"May our families and homes be filled with love: love of each other, love of the gospel, love of our fellowman, and love of our Savior.  As a result, heaven will be a little closer here on earth.
"May we make our homes sanctuaries to which our family members will ever want to return"

I was SO grateful, and comforted, to read this prophetic prayer...

A Prayer for Families
"Inasmuch as the family unit is under attack in the world today, and many things long held sacred are ridiculed, we ask Thee, our Father, to make us equal to the challenges we face, that we may stand strong for truth and righteousness.  May our homes be havens of peace, of love, and of spirituality."

somehow, this morning i am filled with HOPE. 
together, the Lord and todd and i, we can make our home a heavenly haven of peace, love and spirituality.
i just know it.

relaxed?

todd got home from work for a few minutes before he left for scout camp.

he said, "honey you look cute."

i laughed, because i didn't.

he said, "no, really you do.  have you been exercising?"

i laughed again, because my life is exercise.

he said, "I just thought you might have been exercising because you look sweaty."

that poor guy... he's just not so good at compliments is he?

i spoke with my mom this evening.

she had been looking at pictures of my blog and said, "you look good, jen.  you look more relaxed than i have seen you in a long time."

i laughed.

relaxed?

my life is not very relaxing.

it is baby steps forward with children hanging onto my every limb.

i LOVE this picture.  it is my life.

blueberry picking was PERFECT... but, not relaxing.

we had 8:30 am dentist appointments for drew and anna-- pre-picking.

jakob is at scout camp, todd is teaching class, so i had to bring my brood of 6 to the dentist with me.

it was a rushed morning...

i have been making my kids listen to old tapes in the car.  (i'm kinda sick of all things modern these days... except blogs- still like them.)

so, my kids stayed in the car listening to "Obey Land" and i ran in and out of the dentist office checking on them while my older kids swapped appointments and x-rays. 

(they both need like 5 teeth pulled...  holy teeth happening!!)

then, we headed to the fields.

of course, i got lost.
about 100 times.

we pulled up to the farm and i realized i FORGOT my baby bjorn on the counter in my kitchen.  blah!!

i had to hold eve the whole time-- because she was NOT excited about her car seat or the umbrella stroller.

picking blueberries is not very easy one-handed... with a tired baby.

imagine a beautiful field with shouts of "i found another blue one mom!!"  and, "here is a great bush."  and, "Lily, stop eating the red ones!"  and a sweet baby cry echoing through the valley...

that was my life.

my one "relaxed" picture is of me nursing and wondering if we would end up with any berries in our buckets since most seemed destined for little mouths... 



i suppose i do look a little relaxed?  really, i'm just SEIZING.
embracing the chaos.

i'm certain i have blueberry stains on the bum of my jeans.

i'm potty training lily.

(finally!!  that poor child had to wait through the birth of a baby, a move, and family reunions before I was ready...)

she had to go potty twice while we were picking... ugh-- potty training is not so pretty in a porta-potty.

i did remember a change of clothes for her-- but she stayed dry the whole time!! 

lily has reverted to giving open-mouth kisses like baby eve. 
and, don't you love sweet anna trying to braid lily's hair?  girls!
(please ignore the boxes in the background?!  ugh.)

we had a great time.
relaxing?  nope.

I thought for a long time how i would describe my life lately.
Maybe content more than relaxed... but even content seems a bit too stagnant.
this is a growing time for me... not a slower time.
I am SEIZING.
does that sound good?
i'm seizing the moments.
i laugh at myself.
"Jen, you look very seizing lately."
"why, thank you."
and, it's busy, and tiring, but wonderful. 
i love being a mother to many.

our neighbor has dogs... my kids LOVE to take them for a walk, often.

we've been enjoying a lot of fresh produce, much to the chagrin of my 4 year old.

leah doesn't love zucchini or onions or many of the things i try to hide in her dinner.
tonight i spent many moments with her encouraging her to bravely eat the veggies i had mixed into her pasta.

she ate an onion and then smiling yelled, "I did it!!  Aren't you so proud of me?"

i loved that moment.

and, i loved the moment later when i covered her last piece of zucchini in a spoonful of ice cream so that she could say she ate every last bite of her dinner. 

my oldest girl, with my youngest girl- i love them.

oh, life.

i wonder what it will be like when i wake up rested, not to the excited exclamation "Mom, I'm AWAKE!" or to the hungry cry of an infant?

i'm sure that my house will be clean, i won't find boogers on my walls or tiny elastic bands everywhere.

and, i'll be relaxed.

i'm sure that i will miss blueberry picking with my brady bunch.

i will miss the sweet explanations, "I can't poop mommy.  My bum don't want to."

or, "what is your name?"  and the response from sweet lily, "my name is Willy."

leah's cute, excited story... "Mom!!  Guess what?  The lady let me pet her big dog, way in the back where they were making blueberries!!"

i will miss the comments, "how many kids do you have?  Seven?!!  You don't look old enough to have seven kids.  They are beautiful!"

yes, i am old enough. 

and, they ARE beautiful.

my life is beautiful.
and today, i'm SEIZING.

my babies.

carpe diem.

ps.  i was cuddling in bed with my 3 youngest (and a bag of half-eaten salami they had confiscated from the fridge) at 6:02 AM this morning.  leah asked, "Mom, how much do you love us?"
i replied, "Up to the sky and back."
she laughed, "Mom... you mean up to Poodle don't you?"
(i think she meant pluto?)
How i love that child... up to Poodle and back!!

blueberries.

yes, i'm falling in love with Oregon.

if i get emotional SHOPPING for produce, you can imagine the serotonin that spreads through my body PICKING produce, outdoors, with my children, on a beautiful morning.

i love it.

as i drove circles trying to find the u-pick fields i was amazed at the beauty of God's creation.

who could feel this majesty and not believe in a supreme creator?

i am so grateful for the bounty of the earth.

and i LOVE fresh berries.

did you know there are MANY different KINDS of blueberries?

yup.  they told us to go down the rows sampling until we found the variety we liked.

i preferred smaller, tarter berries... my kids liked them big and sweet.

i should have remembered the brand names for next year.

i suppose we'll just have to try them all again...

ps.  i read these scriptures yesterday...

James 3:2-13

and, this quote about language from For The Strength of Youth...

"Use language that UPLIFTS, ENCOURAGES and COMPLIMENTS others."

this reminder CHANGED me.

i had so much fun trying to think of ways to parent my children with only UPLIFTING, ENCOURAGING, COMPLIMENTING words.

i loved the parent i was yesterday.  it is who i am, when i'm not lazy.

here's to day 2 of positive parenting revisited.

{i call it my end of the summer parent renovations!!}

hope you are enjoying these last weeks with your children!

i love my job!

mother forgets.

today i read Father Forgets, by W. Livingston Larned. 
i found this story in a book called, That Ye Might Have Joy, by Bryant S. Hinckley.

i saw myself in these father's words...
"The habit of finding fault, of reprimanding-- this was my reward to you for being a boy.  It was not that I did not love you; it was that I expected too much of youth.  I was measuring you by the yardstick of my own years. ... I will keep saying as if it were a ritual: 'He is nothing but a boy- a little boy!'"

today is a time of much change in my life...
i am continually teaching, encouraging, asking more of my kids.
that is good.
but, i need to remember to ENJOY these little ones.
to love them in their imperfection.
to laugh and smile more.
to hold them more.
to tickle their tummies.
to play. 
to be still.

my children know when they need to do better...
but, do they know that they are so GOOD, just as they are?
teach them, yes.
love them raw, OFTEN.

some days the Spirit tells me to TEACH more, today the Spirit told me to LOVE more.
oh, my sweet children.  how i wish i was better for you!
tomorrow i will remember...
you are nothing but children- little children.

i heard another story from Bryant Hinckley... told by his son, President Gordon B. Hinckley.
it's darling.

hope you have a great day!!

reverent, reverent.

have you heard of the game "tickle, tickle"?

it might be a made up game, just my family plays.
you take turns tickling someones knee and you say

"tickle, tickle on your knee.  if you laugh you don't love me."

for family night we played "tickle, tickle" and then our reverent rendition.
because we are very creative, we called this game, "reverent, reverent".
kids sit reverently with their arms folded, head bowed and eyes closed.
we say, "reverent, reverent, look at me, i'm as reverent as can be."
then, we try to get them to laugh or look...  without touching them.

it was a fun way to get them to try REALLY hard to be reverent.

i loved watching them try to stay still... and, i loved saying "wow! you are so reverent."

our family prayer afterwards was SO quiet- our best yet.

my kids asked on their way to bed... can we play that game again tomorrow?

[please excuse the lovely pictures of me... i was VERY ready for bed!!]

and, i do know that true reverence is more than just quietly sitting-- but, this is a fun idea to end a lesson on reverence.

how do you teach your kids reverence?

a perfect sunday.

we're having a NO SCREENS time of life... when i woke up Sunday morning this is the to do list i found.
i replaced it with the "to do on Sunday" list above. 
aren't my kids funny?!

yesterday, i was FOCUSED.
:: i ironed all Sunday clothes on Saturday night.
(we still couldn't find shoes two minutes before we were supposed to leave... drew had to wear black sneakers.)
:: i read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, and really felt hopeful!!
(my hair was not so cute for church- i was pretty rushed, and i forgot the baby's pacifier at home-- todd had to drive home quickly to get it.)
:: we went for a beautiful drive after church... to see the 13 acres for sale that my husband loves.
(i just kept thinking how LOST i feel here... will i ever know my way around?)
:: i tried to meet with each of my kids one on one, and to write goals for the week in their new composition notebook journals.
(i only met with 1.5 out of 7 kids.)
:: the one child i had a one on one with was jakob-- and he left after church for scout camp for a week.  he had packed with him his scriptures with a little reminder note card of the goals he set for the week... 1. personal prayer and scriptures daily  2. be the FIRST to help   3.  pray daily to SEE someone who could use a friend.
(i'm in the primary presidency now, in this new ward... and so i didn't even get to say goodbye to jakob before he left.  i'm grateful he has a little piece of me tucked in his scriptures!)
:: after church, i was very tired, and i tried to get a nap in. 
(my kids woke me up FIGHTING over a picture album.)
:: i tried to take care of the more temporal things (like feeding and dressing the kids) so that my family could focus on spiritual matters.
(at dinner there was a lot of dumb contention-- fighting over seats and the color of their cups.)
:: i called the kids together for a Sunday devotional on this talk, "The Tradition of a Balanced, Righteous Life" by Elder L. Tom Perry.
(it was SO GOOD... but, i spent the majority of my efforts teaching the lesson-"How to sit in your seat nicely while someone teaches a lesson.  OH, this is such an important lesson for little ones to learn!!") 

i ALMOST felt that it wasn't worth all the effort.
but then, after our evening devotional, while we were eating pie, my husband said, "Wow.  This has been a PERFECT Sunday."
Later that night he said, "Jen, you really worked so hard today.  Thanks for all you did, it was perfect.  I realized that I am just so lazy.  I need to be better."
Not that he really is lazy, or that I was amazing... but, it was good to be noticed. 
And, I didn't even need to sit down and say "Honey, both of us need to do more."  I could just BE better myself and trust that the Spirit would tell him what he needed to change. 

Sunday this week, was just a little bit better than Sunday last week... 

That makes it a PERFECT Sunday. 

meeting eve.

while visiting with my in-laws, many we love got to meet baby eve for the first time.

this is eve meeting GG (her great-grandmother), and her great aunts Jill, Joy and Darlene.

can you see the family resemblance?

(sweet aunt jill was just recovering from carpel tunnel surgery... and aunt joy was just preparing for her surgery... aren't twins amazing?!)

i sure love these people.

linked.

at our reunion, my mother and father in law called everyone together.
they had metal, circle links with everyone's name on them.
we talked about eternity, and how we are all linked together.
12 adults... 26 grandkids
hopefully, we will be together for eternity... with no missing links.

home.

we're back from our "vacation".

i LOVE being with family.

my kids had a hard time leaving...  Oregon is not quite "home" to them yet.

(Lots of driving for my family lately!)

we've been so busy lately that our move hasn't really settled... but, we're here now.

to stay.

i was worried as we drove back that it wouldn't feel like we were home.
but, oregon is easy to love.
and, it DOES feel like home.

(i also had your kind comments and a few sweet emails from texas friends to remind me that in this day and age it really is easy to stay close even when you live far away.)

we stopped at a waterfall on the way home this afternoon-- so fun!!

oh... are you ready for "real life" to start??!!

I AM.
i've got A LOT on my mind... can't wait to chat!!
i've missed you.