Where does the time go!?

We are just pluggin along with life over here! School, callings, meetings, kids performances, family gatherings. It gets busy but when I stop and think about it...I wouldn't have it any other way!

The weather is nice and cool. We woke up this morning to frost on the ground. This about as close as it's gonna get to being a white Christmas here in the Valley. My kids love the cold. (Brandon and I do too! After enduring our first summer back in the "Valley of the Sun" I am relishing every second of cold outdoor air!

Weston put on his snow coat this morning and just stood in the back yard enjoying the chilly morning. (I was busy getting breakfast on the table...so there no pictures.). Weston really wants it to snow!

The changing of seasons makes me homesick for Snowflake.

Kaitlyn is 11 now! Holy COW right!? She is such a fun girl. I love that she can babysit now. She does a good job at helping me out when I need it. She plays the violin and is really starting to enjoy it.

Adelin turns 8 in nine days!!!! We are planning a party for her! Adelin is a great help to me. She is SO good with the baby. She loves playing the piano for him...and she is great at calming him down...and making him laugh.

Connor is 3 1/2 and I tell ya....he is either so darn sweet or so darn sour! He really hates it when Brandon and I go somewhere without him. He throws a huge fit and tries to run out of the house and chase whoever is leaving down the street...while screaming his head off. It's dreadful! Brandon and I know try to sneak out of the house. The thing is...when we take him with us, he is really well behaved. He is a good shopper. He doesn't ask for anything and he is content to just sit in the cart. Other than that...he is a great kid! :) He loves to eat cereal and he just found out that he kids bananas! He likes to play with his brothers, jump on the trampoline, ride his bike or scooter and go for walks to the park! :) (that almost sounded like a classified ad!)

Does that cover all the kids?

Oh! Cameron! The baby! He is so stinking cute! How could I forget him! He's my sidekick! He crawls all over this house now! This week he discovered the kitchen cupboards and has climbed in and out of a few. He can open drawers...and stand up to furniture. He says, "ma ma" now! He's said "da da" for a while...and now he will finally say "ma ma" too! He is learning to wave "bye bye"....but isn't consistent with that trick yet! This boy also loves to eat. He isn't picky. He eats whatever we offer him. (He loved the pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving dinner!)  He also begs food off the other kids. He especially likes frozen GoGurts.

My nephews wife took family pictures for us last weekend. We haven't had a family picture in a long time!

I guess that's all for now. Sorry there aren't any pictures....but that's just the way it goes. Our other computer that I download pictures to is not hooked up to the internet right now anyways...so even if I had time to post pictures, I couldn't!

Boy this past week was as busy as ever!

Monday was my kids first day of school after Fall Break (two weeks off)...and we had just gotten in from Utah at 9 p.m. the night before. I got up at 5 a.m. because I really want to be a morning person and thought getting up that early would be an awesome way to start the week. I read my scriptures and wrote in my journal for an hour. Then I did this really hard work out, showered and was dressed for the day before the kids woke up! We had a wonderful FHE that night! if you want...I can email the lesson to you!

Tuesday I was up early again. I cleaned the bathrooms then I made whole wheat waffles from scratch....with fresh fruit on the side.

Wedneday I went grocery shopping. It is a fun way to spend time with the kids and get food for the family. They are great at helping me pick out nutritious things snacks and meals.

Thursday I was up cleaning the house again. I think It is awesome to get the house work all done before the kids wake up. At least the house is clean and sanitarty for them...even it if it is only for a few minutes!

My parents watched the kids for us Friday night and Brandon and I went to his cousin's daughters wedding reception in Phoenix. It was fun to see and visit with family there! There was a live band that was really very good!....a little loud...but good!

Satruday, we had time to relax...since I had gotten all the house work done earlier in the  week. So nice to have a day off!

Sunday, we got to church early and sat on soft benches! It was nice to not be sitting in the "over-flow" where you have the sounds of metal chairs scooting across hardwood floors to deal with.

And today....I am typing this post....which is 98% false!

Can guess which TWO days events are true!

Life

 My Grandpa Barrett...working on the farm

Holy Cow life has been busy around here!

I have pictures of stuff...but I don't feel like digging out the camera and downloading any of them.

September 22nd, my Grandpa (Golden Wesley Barrett Jr.) passed away in Los Alamitos, CA. He was 87. I love that guy! I am SO greatful for a Grandpa who as able to make my siblings and cousins and I feel so loved. He lived a good life. Up until he got cancer 5-6 years ago, he'd been as "fit as a fiddle"!

Last Monday (Oct. 7th) we loaded up the minivan with kids and luggage and headed up to Utah for my Grandpa's funeral. It was a good trip. Our kids like roadtrips...and staying in hotels...and since they were on Fall Break, we were able to take our time driving there and back. We loved seeing family that we haven't seen in five years or more.

Brandon and I loved taking the kids to Temple Square. I LOVE Temple Square. I have a lot of good memories from going there as a child and teenager. We hadn't been back since they renovated and created the City Creek Mall. That place is beautiful. It rained for sprinkled the whole day we were there...but we are from Arizona...so we LOVE rain! We walked through the Joseph Smith building, both visitor centers, the Assembly Hall, the Tabernacle...we sent a good amount of time in the Church History Museum. They have a great exhibit for kids. Then we took a tour of the Conference Center. Our guide is the best friend of one of my good friends mom who lived in Show Low. She was the perfect person to do our tour because she raised 5 boys and knew we had to be quick when the kids were impatient or let them take their time when they were interested. We ended the day at Sizzlers with a table away from everyone else and a chance to talk about our day.

My Grandpa's funeral was Saturday October 13th. It was a beautiful Autumn day in Logan, UT. The trees still had their Fall colors. There were also a good number of leaves on the ground.

The funeral was good for me. I hadn't cried about my grandpa passing until then. He was so sick and miserable. He just wanted "to go". We took the kids to California and visited my Grandparents in July. I knew that my Grandpa's life would be coming to an end soon. But the funeral was a time for remembering. I remember so much about my grandpa and it just made me cry. Mostly they were tears of knowing I will miss him...but also tears of joy. I know I will see him again!

My dad and I took the kids to the zoo today.

They have a cute area called "Harmony Farm". You can pet the goats and milk the fake cow. I sat down on a bench in there to feed Cameron while my dad kept an eye on the kiddos.

When I finished nursing him I noticed that I had fed him right next to this sign:

Nice, right? I guess I will have to be more careful next time I pick a place to fed the kid in public.

We had a good time though.
We saw the animals,
 rode the train...
the kids played at both splash pad areas.
We ate our snacks...and then it was time to go!

Bloggin'...

This, my friends, is what some people call, "fun". Other people call it crazy. Brandon and two of his brothers (Doug and Tyler) participated in the "Wild Cow Milking" event at the Snowflake Rodeo over the Pioneer day Celebration weekend. That's Brandon holding the cow by her horns...and that's his brother Doug...milkin' her. They didn't win but they had fun tryin'. Plus they got their picture in the White Mountain Independent newspaper looking like 'real cowboys'! Although...I don't know how often real cowboys milk wild cows...?

Anyhow.

SO. It's been a while since I have blogged. There are lots of reasons for that but it mostly comes down to this: I am not sure what to blog about when I have the time to blog.

I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking lately. Books like, "Daring Greatly" and "The Gifts of Imperfection" both by Brene Brown have me thinking about myself and life and others in a different way. I want to have more courage, compassion and connection in my life. I want my kids to feel loved, understood and guided by me as their mother. I want to remember that I am going to mess up and that it is okay. I am learning that, for me, I have to be constantly seeking self acceptance because when I am not, I am not just standing still...I am regressing back into comparing myself to others, and hustling to make it look like I can do it all when under the surface I am drowning. SO...see...like I said...I have lots on my mind to blog about...I am just not so sure how to go about sharing it.

I will share something from my morning though. 

I went to wake the kids up for school and remembered that today is picture day for Kaitlyn. We had already talked yesterday about how she wanted her hair done (curled) and that we'd either have to put her hair in rollers before bed or get up early to curl her hair. SO...we forgot to do both. Long story short...I really wanted her to feel like she looked extra nice, so I ended up curling her hair, which meant that I was curling her hair and hollering at the other kids to brush their teeth and get their shoes on...and doing Adelin and Weston's hair in between curling sections of Kaitlyn's hair. I was feeling stressed when my phone alarm started going off telling me it was time to leave to take the kids to school and I wasn't done with Kaitlyn's hair. 

Things like that happen around here often. Daily even....there's multiple things that need my attention all at the same time. What bothered me this morning is that I let it get to me. And what really bothered me is that I snapped at Adelin. She wasn't listening and I was a little too hard on her. I apologized and told her I love her...but it's bugging me even still that I wasn't more kind and gentle with her earlier. 

After dropping the kids off at school I came home, and sat down to nurse Cameron and read my scriptures (I still can't seem to let the chance to multitask pass me by...darn it). Before I read I prayed to read something that would help me today. I am in Alma chapter 48....lots of talk about Amalickiah and all his evilishness. Then, in verse 7 I read, "Moroni, on the other hand, had been preparing the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord their God." I read that and thought, "That's it! That's what will help me today!" Today, I can prepare my children's minds to be faithful to God as I let them see me as the imperfect mother that I am...as I let them know that I love them, but I am not perfect at showing it. As I let them know that I am trying and that I know they are trying too. And, as I let them know that none of us are going to be able to do anything good without trusting the Lord enough to ask for His help. That is one way I can help them prepare to have faith in Christ....today.

It is nice to know that I can have a bad moment and that it doesn't have to lead into me having a bad day. 

That's something worth bloggin' about. :)

update

Well my mom said to post something so i will
WE ARE GOING TO CA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)
oh and on Sunday  we saw a gopher hole in our  front yard and today Weston and Connor thought that if they peed in the gopher hole then the gopher would leave they were wrong and instead they got a scolding from my mom telling them to pee in the backyard and not in the front yard 
good times
~Kaitlyn M. F.