M.O.M.

It's pretty pathetic that the only posts I have made lately have been quotes I found for Mother's Day. I found the neatest book and gathered a bunch of inspirational little quotes and stories from it. I loved them and wanted to make sure I remembered them, so I thought I would blog them each Monday. Hopefully soon I will start posting other stuff too though. I am having camera issues. I hate having to get a new one when the one I had before was just fine. Now, it's just annoying to spend money on a camera that just isn't as good as the one that got ruined. Grrr. I just returned my 3rd camera and have one on order. Hopefully soon I'll find one I like!
Anyway, the thought for today is one that I especially needed since today is the first official day of summer break! We've had so much fun folding laundry together, making casseroles to freeze, cleaning our "school closet out, playing house in "teepee tents" all over the front room, playing baseball in the backyard and having our Monday Math Madness activities. Today has been a great day - no arguing, no pouting, no ill-tempered mommy:), and no "it's too hard" attitudes, but...I'm sure that eventually all of these nasty monsters will show their ugly faces. At that point, how I handle them and myself will make all the difference in the world. Therefore, this quote was perfect for me, to remind me how important these weeks are that I get to keep them home with me and how important it is to remember what it is I really want them to learn from me.

"Teaching a child a new skill takes love, patience, and a very positive attitude. A child can become discouraged as he tries to fold his clothes, make his bed, or learn to do something new. Each new experience is a chance to encourage. When he makes a mistake or doesn't do it right, a mother can make the difference in his learning experience. As mothers, when we chastise or show anger and impatience, we send a message to the child that he isn’t worthy of our love and time. However, when we demonstrate our love by helping him try again with calm encouragement, our child will blossom and grow to his full potential. He will learn to trust us and trust that he is capable a achieving anything."

M.O.M.

A mommy on Monday....just a thought

to put it all in perspective.

"There are only two lasting bequests

we can hope to give our children.

One is roots; and the other, wings."

Hodding Carter

A Mommy Moment

Our family has been discussing the miracles of God a lot the past couple of weeks. Brock has been terrified lately of the wind. I don't know why or when it started, but the minute he comes home from school, he goes around closing all my windows and doors, even the blinds. Brandon was outside playing baseball last week on a very windy day and Brock was screaming through the window, crying, saying, "Brandon, hurry, get inside." It nearly broke my heart. His fear is crippling him. If there is anything more than a light breeze, he WILL NOT go play outside, even if I'm out there on the porch swing with him. Last week for Family Home Evening, we sat out on the trampoline and listened to the wind. It sounded beautiful as it rushed through the tree leaves. I told the story of how Jesus calmed the raging seas when the people on the ship were so scared that they were going to drown. I thought it would help him realize that if Jesus was able to protect the people on that ship from the raging storm, he could certainly protect Brock from the annoying wind. When we opened our eyes, there was poor little Brock with tears rolling down his face, still terrified and begging to go inside - not quite the outcome I had hoped for. After trying a bit longer to help him realize that he was safe and that the wind wasn't going to hurt us, I finally relented and we headed inside.

I've thought about this experience with Brock and realize that most of us experience fears of this type in our own lives. Fears that cripple us from doing what we truly love, that keep us locked in a room, peeking out at the outside world, but too scared to join in. Sometimes we do forget that Jesus Christ is right beside us, ready and willing to calm the raging storm and bring us comfort, courage and peace. The point we have to remember and learn from the miracle of the raging sea is that we can't wait until the storm is raging and the seas are threatening to sink and destroy before we go to him and let him help us. All that time, as the seaman fretted, all they had to do was wake the Master and ask him for his help.

One of my greatest fears in life is that I'm not being a good enough mom, that I'm not the type of mom that raised those 2000 stripling warriors. I worry that someday when my kids are all grown-up, they'll wonder what was really the most important to me. That's not what I want, I want to be the type of mom that my kids can say, "We did not doubt that our mother knew." This fear that I'm not doing good enough is very real to me. I worry about it. I wonder how I can do better. I search for ideas and for answers to my concerns about their lives. I stay awake at night worrying about the trials they'll face and how I can help strenghen them. My heart aches for the days I wish I could take back and do again.

This is one of my favorite paintings by Del Parsons and is entitled, "She Turned to Him." I love how simple that phrase is, I love the peace and hope I can see on her face and I love the thought that all I have to do is turn to him and He will be there. And so, for today anyway:), I'll let go of all those fears I have and turn to him and do what I think he'd want me to do the most. Maybe that way, Brock will see me trust in the Lord and will know that if he can help me, he can definitely help him too. Then we can both say with confidence “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.” Hebrews 13: 6

Our Very Own Cindy Lou Whoo!

Click here to watch

Thankfully I have a friend who recorded more than I did of Kaitlin singing!

Our Very Own Cindy Lou Whoo!

Kaitlin performed in her first-ever talent show this year! We are so proud of her! This is her "costume" - our very own Kater-Sue Whoo!

First of all, a HUGE thanks to Ruby for helping me figure out how in the heck to pull off this super cute hairdo! It absolutely MADE the performance a hit!

Kaitlin and her friend, Kylie, who also performed in the talent show.

Kaitlin and Melanie, our pianist. She was so amazing. After Kaitlin's performance, she and her husband gave Kaitlin some flowers. Who does that? Especially when it was us who really owed her for the huge favor she did for us! It was so sweet. I am so grateful for her willingness to come to all the practices and to both performances to share her talent for Kaitlin. Every other singer sang to a CD; it was fun to have an actual accompanist.

Great mom that I was, I didn't have room on my SD card for the whole thing and halfway through - the recording stopped since the card was full! I only got a little recorded on my camera. Oh well, you get the idea of how she did!

Ever since Kaitlin saw her school's talent show last year, she decided that she was going to be in the talent show this year. She wanted to sing "Where Are You Christmas" from The Grinch and was super excited about the whole thing. Although, I'll admit I was less enthused then I should have been about her singing in a talent show (she has never sung in front of anyone before), I decided to be a good, proactive, non-procrastinating mother and download the song and get her practicing. Over the past several months, we have practiced this song for the "someday in the future" talent show, so when the flyers finally came home assigning a date to the darn thing, we were pretty glad! The only bad thing was that the flyer said that only the first 40 entries were going to be accepted. I was thinking, "I'll bet they don't even have that many people enter." Confidently, Kaitlin and I filled out her application and she took it the next morning. For sure she's going to get it - right? I mean she even gets the application in BEFORE school starts. In fact, neither of us are the least bit concerned and she just keeps practicing. Well, then a week or so later, Kaitlin plops on the couch, after walking home, and says, "Today was the worst day of my entire life." Apparently she wasn't one of the first 40 entries and so she wasn't going to be in the talent show. She was HEARTBROKEN! She went into the bathroom, locked the door and sobbed. Now, I'm not talking the little teary cry - we're talkin' the full blown, chest shaking, gasping for air, cry. I felt so bad for her. Everyone else in her class who had entered had gotten in except her. And the poor dear, she had been practicing for 3 months now. Oh my. After some consoling and pitying, we decided it was for the best, that we were too busy anyway and that she could just support her classmates and try again the next year. Well, quite honestly, I was a bit relieved. I had a TON going on and I was pretty nervous about her doing it, so as far as I was concerned, this was a blessing in disguise. Needless to say, a few days later one of the teachers in charge of the talent show talked to Kaitlin and said they were hoping she would still be able to perform since they had had a few kids drop out. Okay - we're back in. Long story short, it continued to be a crazy adventure - right up to the part that my pianist FORGOT about the afternoon assembly and was late - literally ran in the building the minute Kaitlin was supposed to go on! Thankfully, she's an amazing pianist and can play on the spot like that and thankfully Kaitlin had no idea what was going on or how panicked I was!

Anyways, it was so much fun to watch Kaitlin perform like a little pro. This is the first time she has ever performed and she looked like a natural. She didn't mess up the words, she sang perfectly into the microphone and she looked out at the audience and smiled! She just did amazing and we couldn't have been any prouder of her! The boys were so cute watching her and cheering as loud as they could afterwards! And as soon as Allison saw her, she was doing her "grrr laugh." (If you've been around Alli lately, you know the laugh I'm talking about!) I was so grateful that Cole was willing to put work last and make sure he made it to see her. We had only expected for him to make it to one of the shows, so when he showed up at them both, complete with flowers for his little girl, I was so overwhelmed with gratitude for his support of her. She is one very special girl and we couldn't love her more!

Thought for Thursday...Sunblock, Sunblock, Sunblock

I just can't say it enough...put your sunblock on people! Yesterday my little guy was in surgery for 2 hours for what I thought was a simple mole. He had this tiny little mole on his ear, really not big at all, perfectly circular, no discoloration - no obvious signs that it was anything other than one of the hundreds of other little moles all over his body. Thankfully, it bothered him a little and he wanted it off his ear. I ignored his requests for a while, I mean, who wants to go pay the co-pay for a little, non-worrisome mole to be taken off. Finally, after months and months of him begging, we took the darn thing off. 3 weeks went by and I had never gotten a call telling me it was benign, which I was sure it was, but still... I called the doctor and the response I got was less than reassuring. The mole was an unclassifiable melanomous mole, it had been sent to 3 different labs to confirm diagnosis. At this point, it was benign, but with 99% certainty, it would become malignant with time. It was recommended that we meet with a plastic surgeon as soon as we could to have complete margins removed. Boy, you can bet I was more than a little mad at myself for not getting the darn thing taken off sooner, but I was also so relieved that we had finally done it. After a miracle, I got into the plastic surgeon who had a 2 month wait and we scheduled the surgery for 2 weeks out. Now let me explain, I was still thinking this was going to be no big deal, probably done in the office, etc. However, when I met with him, I realized it was quite a different story. The margin that this type of mole required was a 5mm margin at all angles, including depth. Imagine his little ear...yep, that essentially would create a giant hole through the side of it. Thankfully, I 100% trust and adore the doctor we were with and knowing that had worked on Brock since he was 10 months old was helpful, but man, was I worried. This doctor is one of the top plastic surgeons in the country right now and yet, has decided to stay in St. George and let his kids grow up here. (Yep, there are some perks to being a nurse and knowing all the details on the docs!) I just love him. Anyway, yesterday came and I still had no idea what to expect. We had decided to have a full-thickness skin graft removed from the back side of his ear so that we could maintain the ear without any obvious deformity. It was nuts when they said how long the surgery would last, I never dreamed it would be that detailed - just imagine if it was something much worse than a little spot on his ear. Now that it is all said and done, I am grateful for this experience, but will have to be way "on the ball" with this kid. The doctor said that he should never leave the house without sunblock. We are trying to get into a new routine with that. Despite all my prior precautions (he was a redhead after all, I never let him burn) he will still have a 50% higher chance of developing melanoma later in life. Wow! I was looking all over his skin while he was recovering and realized that we have a long road ahead. I noticed 3-4 other spots that I should probably have removed, just to be safe. It's so hard to tell because they are on his head, feet, and back. (which grow, so so does the mole) Thankfully, he is super tough and a good sport because I'm afraid we are going to get to be great friends (better than we already are) with our dermatologist!

Just a few facts ( and...in case you think this is just about your kids, it's not - most of us (at least I did) burned a ton as teenagers and need sunblock just as much as they do) And trust me folks, I worked with cancer patients for 6 years and saw tons of melanoma cases. It is not something you ever want to deal with.

•Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than 3.5 million cases in two million people are diagnosed annually.
•Basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are the two major forms of non-melanoma skin cancer. Between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have either skin cancer at least once.
•Contrary to popular belief, 80 percent of a person's lifetime sun exposure is not acquired before age 18; only about 23 percent of lifetime exposure occurs by age 18.
•The incidence of many common cancers is falling, but the incidence of melanoma continues to rise significantly, at a rate faster than that of any of the seven most common cancers.
•More than 20 Americans die each day from skin cancer, primarily melanoma. One person dies of melanoma almost every hour (every 62 minutes).
•One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.
•A person's risk for melanoma doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns at any age.

The happy kid before the surgery, and before the Versed, which made him soooo goofy!

The "before" ear picture.

Trying to kill the nerves and wait time!

Cole kept teasing him about his "crib." The bed had rails like a crib and Brock thought it was so funny when Cole kept teasing him.

2 hours later, Brock was done... and pale as a ghost. He was dazed, confused, tired, emotional and sick to his stomach. It's so hard to watch them coming out of that - something that makes you fell so helpless and heartbroken.

The site of the skin graft with the bolster. It was bigger than I thought it was going to be, but I was pleasantly surprised how intact and normal the surrounding area looked.

The skin graft and the skin graft donor site. The donor site was WAY bigger than I had thought. I couldn't believe how long it was. At least it is in a good site where the scarring won't really be visible and an area that has had minimal sun exposure and therefore, less likelihood for future skin cancer growth.

Poor guy. He was just out of it. The surgery was done at the new Health and Performance Center (HPC). It is a beautiful facility and I was really impressed with the layout and staff (other than the few younger RN's who tried to act smart and talked themselves into a corner! They don't realize I'm not the average momma and know a little more than they do when it comes to most things medical!) Anyway, the HPC has slushies for their patients when they come out of surgery. Brock was so excited for his slush before his surgery, but when he got done, it was the last thing he wanted. We had to force feed him a little bit so that we could get the heck out of there, but other than that, he didn't even care about it...and let me tell you, it was one of the greatest slushies I have ever tasted! Yummy! (Cole took a cup of it home!)

He was so sick to his stomach, but couldn't throw up. When we got home, he slept for about 4 more hours and then woke up and was starving. He ate a ton ... and a few hours after that, it all came back up! Since then, he's been feeling much better!

Moral of the story..... wear your sunblock. Our dermatologist recommended Blue Lizard Sunblock. It's a bit pricey, but it WORKS. It isn't sticky, it isn't greasy and it doesn't smell like sunscreen (which is the one thing I don't like. I love the smell of sunscreen.) Anyway, just wear SOMETHING!

Double Trouble Turns 6!

6 years ago...no way! It has been a fast and furious 6 years, that's for sure. I sure love these little guys and I can't imagine what it would be like without them around. I am so jealous of the bond they have with each other, but so grateful that they do have each other. We had fun celebrating their birthday this year. It was simple, since it was a family year, but we still had tons of fun!Their birthday was on Thursday, which was a crazy day for us, so the night before, we went out to dinner - Texas Roadhouse, of course! The boys wanted to ride the saddle. They made them right it together though and then they were pretty bummed that they didn't even get an icecream of anything! On their birthday, Brock had a doctor appointment for his surgical pre-op and then we went out for smoothies while Brandon celebrated at school. (Brock brought treats and celebrated on Wednesday, since we knew he wouldn't be there.) After school, I was going to take them to Jumping Jacks or something fun, but they were having so much fun just playing that we ended up just staying here and waiting for dad and Kaitlin to get home. For dinner that night, I made some yummy chicken and we let them open presents. I made these Oreo surprise cupcakes that were okay, but there is nothing like an actual cake with ice cream, I've realized! Then it was off to the ball fields for softball. On Friday, we decided to go to Pirate Island for the final birthday celebration. It was fun, as always. They sang to them again and this time, they even got ice cream! Plus, we ran into Jaeden and Avery, who were there with their Grandma and Grandpa, so they got to celebrate with us too! It was a great birthday and the boys got some really cool toys. Brock and Brandon got bat bags with their names embroidered on them and Brock got a rocket toy that he had been wanting for a long time. They got more balls to replenish their stock and got some motorcylces and cars, a kite, chalk, a huge soccer ball and 3 movies! (Oh, and the boring stuff - some cute clothes from mom and dad!)
The loot! It always looks like so much more when there are two of them. It just killed them the next morning when they saw all the presents piled up but had to wait until that evening to open them! I enjoyed the suspense, although it was torture for them!

They did get to open one present in the morning - their birthday boy shirts and favorite candy!

Brock at 6 years old:

He loves to soccer, baseball and basketball.

He has scored 2 goals in soccer this year, both in the same game!

He loves Ketchup and won't eat chicken or fries without it.

He loves the color green.

He is a risk taker.

He jumps his bike off any ramp he can.

He climbs everything.

He can do head-stands.

He's a lefty, but can switch-hit in baseball.

One of his favorite things to do is get foul balls at Cole's softball games and turn them in for suckers.

He likes his hair spiked.

He loves the Michael Jordan basketball outfits the Easter bunny brought and would wear it everyday if I let him.

He LOVES girls!

He loves the Boxcar Children and Henry Higgins books.
His favorite foods are ice cream, french fries, and Ramen (chicken flavored)

He loves to play with his toy cars

His favorite thing to do after school is to play with his brother.

His girlfriend is Brinley.

His favorite teams are the Jazz and BYU

His favorite car is a Slug Bug!

He has lost 2 teeth, he pulled one out all on his own

His best friend is his brother, Brandon!

Brandon at 6 years old:

He loves to play baseball and basketball

He has scored 3 goals this year in soccer

He likes his hair parted on the side, not spiked

He loves listening to Boxcar Children books

He is reading books on his own too

He doesn't like fruit or vegetables

He's a slugger! He can hit the ball a mile

He loves steak and chicken

He eats A-1 on everything!

He climbs trees really well, but can't get down!

His favorite color is blue

His favorite teams are BYU and the Jazz

His favorite foods are pizza, steak and cereal

His girlfriend is Justin, Adrina, and Alize (all 3!)

He has lost 4 teeth - (all on accident)

He loves the Mustang

His favorite toys are his baseball bat, his baseball, and his cars!

He doesn't like to play anything if he can't be on his brother's team!

He is very tender-hearted and will cry if you raise your voice.

He tries very hard to be good and make good choices.

Heading off to school!

The boys and aunt Heather - she totally spoiled them this year!

FINALLY! It's present time!

I just love this picture! Little Alli and her big brothers watching their Alvin and the Chipmunks (one of their presents from Heather!)

The Real Baptism Pictures

I already posted pictures of Kaitlin in her baptism dress, but these are the actual pictures from the baptism. It was such a fun day. It started bright and early with Kailtin's 8 o'clock soccer game. Cole took the entire Saturday off, which never happens, and woke Kaitlin up extra early and took her out to breakfast. After the soccer game, Kaitlin and Cole went to Orange Peel to get Kaitlin's favorite non-dairy smoothies and then we all came back home and just relaxed. It was such a beautiful day and very stress-free, which was exactly what I wanted. We had fun trying out all kinds of hairstyles, but being the perfectionist that I am, I didn't like many of them and ended up doing a simpler hairstyle. It looked cute though (and stayed in well!) Since the food had all been prepared throughout the 2 days before, we were able to just have fun with Kaitlin. About an hour before Cole and Kaitlin had to go to the church, I gave Kaitlin the gift I had made for her. I had made a DVD with all the pictures I had of her from birth to baptism. I put it to beautiful church songs. It was so fun to watch just before she left and it brought a beautiful feeling to our home. The picture below is Kaitlin with her special white bracelet. She wore the same bracelet at her blessing day.

Sweet Sister Bingham. She always brings the kids a special bottle of water from their baptismal font. It has a cute little quote that reminds them of how pure they were today.

She was confirmed in the gym of the cultural hall at the Stake Center. It was CRAZY loud and so hard to hear what Cole was saying, but we got the general idea!

And of course, back to the house for food and fun! I made Cafe Rio's pork and rice and it was YUMMY! It turned out perfect! We were all stuffed!

Kaitlin is so blessed to have so many people who love her and were here with her on this special day. We feel so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who support us in so many ways.

The Somervilles

Kaitlin, daddy and Tim

So many special reminders of this special day!

Danny, Anna and Kaitlin (Anna is actually Kaitlin's school teacher which is crazy!) We've been friends with Danny for 8 years - he's dating Anna!

The Adams' Family

Uncle "D" and Aunt Amy

Aunt Krystal and Uncle Ladd

Grandma and Grandpa Stewart, Heather, and Landon

We forgot to get one with Grandma and Grandpa Roundy - OOPS! They left a lot later.

The fun continues, but one very wiped out little girl is sound asleep!