Positive Speaking

(random pictures of Jonah napping while Bentley plays compter games)

(our camera is in the shop)

President Holland gave a talk last conference called "The Tongue of Angels." It was one of my favorites, and you can read it all here. Or, you can simply keep reading for a few of my favorite quotes. Enjoy. :)

I love what Elder Orson F. Whitney once said: "The spirit of the gospel is optimistic; it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience." We should honor the Savior's declaration to "be of good cheer."(Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other!) Speak hopefully. Speak encouragingly, including about yourself. Try not to complain and moan incessantly. As someone once said, "Even in the golden age of civilization someone undoubtedly grumbled that everything looked too yellow."

I have often thought that Nephi's being bound with cords and beaten by rods must have been more tolerable to him than listening to Laman and Lemuel's constant murmuring. Surely he must have said at least once, "Hit me one more time. I can still hear you." Yes, life has its problems, and yes, there are negative things to face, but please accept one of Elder Holland's maxims for living—no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won't make it worse.

Our words, like our deeds, should be filled with faith and hope and charity, the three great Christian imperatives so desperately needed in the world today. With such words, spoken under the influence of the Spirit, tears can be dried, hearts can be healed, lives can be elevated, hope can return, confidence can prevail.

Bentley's Show Day Spring 07

Bentley's Show Day was today!

Bentley and his teacher, Miss Sarah.

The Cracker Jack Class celebrates with their medals!

You can see him on the obstacle course here.

Bentley on the beam.
Bentley's Pizza Hang on the bar.

Maxwell tries the high beam.
Jonah loves show day because he gets to do more than just watch!



Aunt Mindy helped Ruby take a nap. :)

Joy School Graduation 07

Bentley and Maxwell graduated from Joy School today!

Here they are with their diplomas.

Bentley and Maxwell's graduating class.
Our Family Flag

(part of the last unit we studied)

Maxwell - Joy School Graduate
Bentley - Joy School Graduate
Mindy, Ruby, and Jonah
(thanks Mindy for the use of your camera)

FHE - Exceeding Expectations

Until about a month ago, John and I were
in charge of all the Family Home Evening activities. Lately, we've been using this board to delegate assignments. I thought that when one of the kids had the lesson, I'd let them color the pictures and they could "help" me present it. Jonah did that two weeks ago. Last week, Maxwell shared the talk he was practicing for Primary. (by the way, it was his first talk EVER and he did GREAT!)

Yesterday, it was Bentley's turn, and I hadn't sat down with him to choose a lesson. After lunch, John asked Bentley what he wanted to teach us. Bentley said he would tell about Nephi getting the brass plates from Laban. I found a few clipart pictures online and gave them to Bentley just before we began FHE. He used them to tell all of us (in detail) the story of Nephi and his brothers' attempts to recover the plates. I think this was his favorite part: "And then he took Laban's sword, and he chopped his head off!" I was amazed at how much of the story he remembered and how well he told it. Maxwell and Jonah sat and listened to the whole thing, which is more than they do when I teach the lesson!
PS- I don't count this as a "brag post" because I'm pretty sure he learned the story from a movie, not his parents :)

Jonah 1 and 2?

Popular opinion around here (at church) says that Ruby looks

"just like Jonah." Do you think so?

Rice Cereal for Ruby

Last night Ruby tried rice cereal for the first time.

She was anxious to eat food, but I don't think she expected this.

The lucky girl did get ice cream for dessert.

Jonah shared his ice cream cone with her while Mom and Dad weren't watching.

Ruby liked that much better.

The Mistake

note - the title of this post does not reference any

or all of the children pictured below

This morning, I made a mistake.

My intentions were good: a friend asked me to pick up

something she found on Craig's List.

Not a problem.

I asked Bentley and Maxwell to get themselves ready.

Then I got myself, Jonah, and Ruby ready to go.

By the time I was ready, Jonah had taken his shoes off,

Bentley was ready, Ruby needed a new outfit,

and Maxwell was still in his pajamas. Not a big deal,

they won't even need to get out of the car, right?

So, I loaded the kids into the car - as they were - and drove to Provo.

They stayed in the car while I talked

to the owner of the play yard her front yard.

Easy.

I loaded up the play yard and as I got back in the car,

I realized I was just blocks from Spencer's work.

I gave him a call and found out he was there.

This is where the mistake starts.

I decided to go visit him - with all the kids.
Back in February, I blogged about my decision to never

go anywhere alone with all four kids. That was a good idea,

one that I've followed until today.

After talking to Spencer, I realized several things:

Jonah had no shoes on,

Maxwell was in his pjs and had no shoes on,

I hadn't brought the stroller.

It seemed silly to be so close to Spencer without

stopping in to see him - besides how busy could he

be on a Friday morning? He'd probably enjoy the company,

and I'd already told him we were coming.

I managed to park next to a shopping cart, loaded Jonah

and Maxwell into it, carried Ruby, and tried to keep a hand on Bentley

so he wouldn't wander off. (Not as easy as it sounds.) :)

Sportsman's Warehouse, where Spencer works, was very busy.

Huh? Oh yeah, it's Memorial Day weekend. People want

to go camping, and that's the stuff Spence sells. Whoops.

We wandered around the store for a while,

waiting for Spence to have a minute to talk.

We looked at lots of animal heads on the wall, water guns,

real guns, lanterns, candy, and Crocs.

Bentley was too tired to walk,

so he ended up in the cart with Maxwell.

Of course, that led to fighting and screaming

and Bentley getting back out of the cart

(not so easy to manage when I'm holding Ruby).

Just then, Spencer found us. Phew.

He helped me haul the kids out to the car and we

loaded them back in.

(THANKS SPENCER.)

Then we drove home.

If you've managed to get through this saga,

I hope you can laugh about it.

It's kind of funny to me that such a little

trip can be such a big deal, and I'm trying to amuse, not to whine or complain.

(Now that it's over) I think it's funny. :)

Dinner Conversation

Maxwell to John and me, "Why do you two always sit next to each other?"

John, "Because I like her. She's my favorite person."

(isn't he sweet?)

Maxwell, "That's so boring."

Later -

Maxwell, "Do you know what's funny?

One time, you guys said you were going on a date,

but you just went downstairs to watch The Office!"

ps - we got a letter from mikey today

check it out here.

Maxwell's 2nd Show Day

Maxwell's Show Day was today at the Little Gym. He did three routines and in between routines, the other kids got to play around on the equipment.

Maxwell shows off his medal.

The floor routine was kind of a no-go. He has it memorized and can do it perfectly, but when he got in front of everyone (and there were a lot of people there), he melted. Poor guy. He recoved nicely to perform his other two routines.
You can see his bar routine here and his beam routine here.

ps - the flash on our camera is broken, sorry for the dark pictures

Maxwell's First Campout

Last year, John took Bentley on his first campout.

Last night, he took Maxwell and Bentley to the ward's Priesthood campout.

Here they are, all ready to go:

at the fire pit:

Bentley's favorite part: climbing a mountain

Maxewell's favorite part: sleeping in a tent

Their least favorite part?

There was no water in the creek!

Stacy's

A few months ago, two of my friends (both named Stacy) received a box of Stacy's Pita Chips in the mail, along with letters saying something like this:

Since we can't afford to send everyone a bag of our chips, we're sending them to everyone named Stacy.

Both Stacys that I know liked the chips, and I've been watching for them in our stores. Sunset has had adds for them recently, and this week I found them at Target. I tried the Cinnamon Sugar and the Parmesan, Garlic, & Herb. Yum.

Two Peas in a Pod

When I looked in on Maxwell and Bentley last night, instead of finding them asleep in their separate beds, I found this:

John and I were up late getting ready for Joy School today, and each time I looked at the two boys, they'd moved a little closer.

I'm not sure how they got any sleep; they both move around soooo much at night.

One Chair

Bentley is "helping" Connor take his turn in their game. It's a good thing we got John a big chair for his computer. :)
My boys are so used to having their picture taken that they mostly ignore me. Connor managed to tear his eyes away from the exciting computer game to smile for the picture.

4 baldies

Yesterday, I gave the boys their "summer haircuts."

Now they look like Ruby! :)

Saying Goodbye To Mikey

Mikey leaves tomorrow for the MTC in Brazil.

We got to spend some time with him this weekend,

and then said goodbye

- for two years.

Bentley and Maxwell hugging Mikey
Jonah took a very quick break from playing to wave to Mikey
Ruby will be Jonah's age when Mike gets back

Mikey and Dad

Good Luck Mikey! We love you and we'll miss you!

We've set up a blog to keep track of Mikey while he's in Brazil.

His letters and pictures will be posted as we get them.

Check it out here.

Family Fun

Max, Ruby, Bentley, Kenna, Jonah
Jonah made friends with Aunt Deb
eating popsicles while watching cartoon network -
(the boys are big fans, but we don't get that station)
Brianna and Ruby