We went to Emma's end of the year program for her preschool class.  It was so darling.  They did a Wizard of Oz theme.  Emma was supposed to be a munchkin, but the costumes looked more like a witch to me.  Oh well, I still thought she looked darling.  

She was a little nervous when she first came out, but she warmed up after a minute or so.

They sang "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead," and did cute little actions to it.  In the bottom left picture, she is waving.  It was so cute to see her reaction when she saw us in the audience watching her.  

She was trying so hard to do all of the actions correctly and was so cute.  She got a little excited at one point.  They had little circles that each child was assigned to and at one point she went to jump back on her circle and fell down.  She got up and looked a little stunned and unsure what to do for a moment.   However, she kept on going.  I was so pleased with her that she did not cry and decide to come sit with us.  This class has been so good for her.  I have really seen her blossom.  She has become much less shy and so much more willing to try new things and meet new people.  It has been wonderful!

Here she is with her cousin Annika.  She is in the class one year older then Emma and as you can see she was dressed as Dorothy.  They have so much fun together and it was cute to see them both up there preforming!

I can't believe how fast time goes.  It seems like just yesterday that Emma was learning to walk and talk and now she's through her first year of preschool.  I don't know what I'm going to do when she graduates from high school!!  :)

My favorite Name!

Daniel's grandfather turned 83 on Sunday!  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA!  

Matthew definitely enjoyed eating his own cupcake!!

Grandma and grandpa came down from Idaho and we had a little get together here at our house.  Grandma, grandpa and Tamara came over early to get some ice cream made.  I was trying to get things ready, but of course Matthew was a little nervous that I was going to leave him and so was clinging to me for dear life.  This made it a little hard to get things done.  Tamara offered to feed him and so I put him in his chair.  The moment I did that, he started saying, "Mommy, mommy, mommeeeeeee!"  He did this for about 5 minutes when grandma said, "Do you wish you could change your name sometimes?"  I thought about it for a moment and said, "Nope, that's my favorite name!"  

I LOVE being a mother more than I could ever have imagined.  I never knew how much love could come from someone so small until they placed Emma in my arms, and somehow it just keeps growing.  Somehow your heart grows with each new addition as well.  What a blessing!

My cousin's wife, Holly, had this quote on her blog:

"The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only-- and that is to support this ultimate career."

-C.S. Lewis

I love my job, even when it does get hard!

Matthew loved Daniel's cousin's new little baby, Katelyn!  He kept wanting to hold her and trying to grab her from aunt Bev.  It was so funny to see all of the different expressions on his face.

I think these precious children are better than any coworkers or any praise from a job well done!  My favorite name is and always will be MOMMY!!

Spring Break at Temple Square!

Okay, so I know that Spring Break was actually a month ago, but I am just getting around to posting now.  Oh well, better late then never!

During the week of Spring Break Jan, Melissa and I went with our kids up to Salt Lake to the children's museum and then to lunch with Jen. 

The tulips had just come out and looked beautiful, so I took one with them and the temple.

In one of the talks during general conference a couple of weeks previous to our going on this trip.  Someone talked about letting your children touch the temple, so here are Annika and Emma touching the temple wall and the temple door.   And then a couple of Annika and Mieka at the children's museum looking darling.

All of the grandkids love Aunt Janice and Aunt Jenny.  What a treat to get to spend a day with them.  I love the other picture of Emma and Matthew holding on to the iron rod.  Matthew is going the wrong way.  Hope this is not a forerunner of things to come!  :)

Emma absolutely loved the baby station at the children's museum.  I think she is going to make one GREAT mommy someday!  She is so cute about the way she takes care of her babies.

Matthew was a bit of a handful (as usual).  He kept running all over the place, but he sure seemed to have a good time!

We did have lunch with Jenny afterwards at her work, but it wasn't the best.  Matthew and Mieka were a little overstimulated with all the noise and wouldn't eat very well.  They were fine once we got in the car though, so that was good.  All-in-all it was a really good day!

What Kind of 3 Year Old?

I am sad to say that I did not make a good choice (this is what we say to Emma when she doesn't obey) tonight.  Actually, let's back up.  

This morning we went to my nephew, Ethan's, baptism.  We would probably have arrived just in time except that I made a wrong turn.  That made us late and me upset.  I was trying very hard to be patient with Emma.  However, when we got into the church she couldn't decide where she wanted to sit and began crying quite loudly just as the prayer started.  I scolded her in a rather unkind voice and basically made her feel worse.  Fortunately Janice let Emma come and sit by her, so at least I didn't totally ruin the baptism for her.

After that bad choice, I decided that I would dedicate my fast today and tomorrow that I could have help with being more patient and talking more kindly to my children.  It didn't last very long however.

Tonight as we were getting ready to read scriptures, Emma was not obeying.  After asking her 3 times to obey, I told her that she wouldn't get songs tonight if she didn't obey.  She didn't obey and I lost it.  I didn't yell at her, but I did raise my voice and was talking very unkindly when I put her in bed.  At least I didn't yell, but for how sensitive Emma is, it might as well have been yelling because it probably has the same affect.

At this point of the evening I was fuming, not at Emma however.  I was so upset at myself for losing it with her when the very thing I was fasting for was to be more patient and kind to her.  I finally decided that I would go in and tell her I was sorry.  I took some clothes I had folded in to her room and began putting them away just before I talked to her.  As I was doing that, Emma said, "Mommy, I love you!"  She said it with so much sweetness and truthfulness in her voice that I broke down crying.  What kind of 3 year old says that after her mother has just punished and talked unkindly towards her?  I was truly humbled.  It is moments like this that make me realize what the Savior was talking about when He said to "become as a little child."  I hope that someday I will get to the point that I can forgive that easily.  She is so sweet and so pure it amazes me sometimes.  

After a while I told her about all the things she had done today that were good choices and as usual I realized what a good and obedient little girl she is.  This of course made me feel even worse about the fact that I had punished her for one of the few times that she did not obey.

Anyway, I did end up apologizing to her and we both felt much better, but I am still amazed at the incredible spirits that I am blessed to be raising.