Eagles!

We were driving home from family dinner at my Grandma's today, and just across the road from our house, in a big group of trees there sat two beautiful bald eagles! They have lived there off and on for a few years now, and we have seen them several times lately. I can hear them squawking (do eagles squawk? That's what it sounds like, but it seems kind of an unflattering reference for such a majestic bird...) when I walk the kids to the bus stop every morning. I have been meaning to get a picture, but never have my camera, or the time to go get it. But today is Sunday, and Sundays are days for taking time for things like this, (plus my dad wants me to love living here, and taking pictures again, so he always makes me take pictures of spectacular things that we see, and then each time we look at the picture he says "see, and this was taken five minutes from the house! Aren't you lucky to live here?" And I am:) so we ran into the house and grabbed the camera with the "fancy lens" and went to capture the moment. We got a few pretty nice ones. And this was just taken "right out the front door! Aren't I lucky to live here?":)

Ethan update.

I am really proud of Ethan lately. First of all he did phenomenal in school this week, which is a HUGE relief after the last, well, month or two, hasn't gone so smoothly. The holidays were emotionally rough on him, but now that things are getting back into routine he is doing much better. (If we can just make it through the big birthday disappointment of next week, we will be in the clear for a while:)

And the other thing that has made me really excited about him lately is that he can finally read well enough to sing along to the hymns in church. He can read, process, and say the words fast enough to keep up with the rest of the congregation! That might not seem like much for an almost 9 year old, but for THIS almost 9 year old, it's the total BFD!

Heavenly Father's House

This week was the first of four that our family is responsible for cleaning the church. I actually enjoy doing it, but I'm about the only one who does. My kids certainly weren't excited about the idea. So I reminded them that it's Heavenly Father's house and that we should be honored to do this for him. They seemed alright with that, and happily worked. Until we got to the boy's bathroom. Someone had gotten a little distracted I guess, and the whole room was a mess. Adia wasn't helping much with this job anyway, but she was watching me, and being the "supervisor" which is really her best fit anyway. She took one look at the state of the bathroom and said "well, Heavenly Father DID NOT do this!" Then she turned around and walked out.

Teeth

Adia lost her first tooth in November two days after Thanksgiving. She was so excited. It had been loose for about a month. Ethan lost his first tooth the December he was five (due to a certain chocolate cookie given out each year by a certain sweet sister in our ward as a christmas gift) Adia's tooth got loose in the October that she was five, and she was sure it meant that she was much more mature than her age reflected. She kept telling everyone she met "I'm only five and three quarters, but I'm sure that surprises you. I just seem much older because of this loose tooth." It was cute, but slightly confusing to everyone who didn't know the time line of Ethan's first loose tooth.

She spent some time with her uncle Jim who tried to pull it out with pliers (my sister took a totally darling picture of that, but I can't find it ANYWHERE! If I do, I'll post it) but she wouldn't let him. They did succeed it getting it so loose it was barely hanging there, just flopping around in her mouth as she talked. I told her to let me feel how loose it was, and yanked it. She had no idea until I showed it to her. Then her first reaction was to run strait to the bathroom to check herself out in the mirror. The fairy came that night, but was nearly caught on the job as Adia kept waking up every few minutes to see if she had come yet. She left Adia a dollar and Ethan a quarter for being a good brother.

With that one out of the way the one next to it fell out shortly thereafter. But this one happened at school and made her quite a celebrity. It's always way cooler to lose a tooth at school than at home. She even got a special envelope with the school's address printed on it to bring her tooth home in. What a life. Again the fairy came, again, she nearly got caught, again Adia got a dollar. But this time Ethan got a dollar too. (some unfairness had occurred concerning a payout for Adia's first tooth while visiting her dad and Josh before Christmas, and the fairy wanted to make this right:)

Next, a few days later Ethan surprised us by pulling out one of his teeth too. He had told us it was loose a week or so earlier, but he hadn't talked about it since, so it was surprising when it came out so quickly. Now he has his two front teeth, but is missing the two next to them, so he has a bunny grin. Don't make any comments about that however, or you will get the stink eye. (Of course maybe it's just reserved for mom, you never know these days...) Ethan got a dollar and Adia got a quarter which caused a little whining but that stopped as soon as she was reminded that the tooth fairy might not leave her anything next time if she couldn't be grateful for what she had.

I hope that the kids can keep the rest of their teeth for a while because the fairy is feeling the pinch in her pocket book!:)

(And sorry about the lack of pictures, I totally slacked on the shooting of the moments)

Happy New Year!

Fresh and New

So I took a little blog break this week. Did you notice? Probably not, I don't think I have any readers left:) But regardless I wanted to make a new years post. It is 1/1/11 after all, I won't be alive the next time they can say that:)

Welcome 2011! I can't wait to know you better! Not that 2010 was so bad, I learned a lot, and had a lot of adventure. Life changed a lot, but not all in a bad way. Really, for the most part the year was filled with growing and laughing, and getting really close to my kids, my family, and my real friends. I gained a lot of really great relationships, and strengthened ones that I already had. 2010 was full of a lot of "I've Never's" (I've never been hit on in divorce class, I've never been a single mom, I've never had a date go this badly, I've never had to make small talk my ex-husband's new boyfriend... you get the picture) But luckily I lived through all of those, and so now they will be "I've survived's". Also 2010 was about "cleaning out". I got rid of a lot of stuff that was weighing me down and hurting me. Those people who weren't real friends are gone, sorrow, and self conciousness are packed away(can't quite throw those out yet, but don't have them out on the shelf anymore either:) All of those cluttery worldly possessions are out of my hair:) Most of the baggage is gone too. 2011 will be about new starts in a fresh clean life. No clutter to hold me down or trap me.

Last year our family mottos involved finding joy and having courage. We really put both of them to the test this year, but when all is said and done we did both quite well. I am proud of us. I think that this quote describes the way we finished up the year and will continue to be a theme for 2011:

Life is like an old time rail journey...

Delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts,

Interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.

The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

So now on to 2011...

I know that it will be full of much more adjustment and healing mingled with change and unexpectedness. But I also believe that it will be a year of happiness and peace and settling in.

This year our mottos will be about hope and thankfulness. Here they are:

Press forward, having a perfect brightness of hope.

(Taken From 2 Nephi 31:20)

and

Live in Thanksgiving Daily

(taken from Alma 34:38)

And the perfect quote to describe 2011 will be:

And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold;

yea my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

Alma 36:20

Happy new year to each of you, and thank you for being a part of our lives.