Ashton's First Talk

Oops... just found this from 2/21. I guess I forgot to post it.

Today, Ashton gave his first talk in Primary. Through out the week he said things like, "I wonder what I'm going to talk about." or "What do I want to tell the children?" Well, I pretty much decided for him and he practiced it. This was what he said:


"When Heavenly Father sent me to Earth, He gave me things to bless me. He created grains, fruits, vegetables, and meat so that we would have food to eat. Heavenly Father gave us wood for our homes. He gave us this beautiful world so that we can be happy.

The most important thing Heavenly Father gave me is a family. My family protects me and loves me. They teach me right from wrong so I can choose the right. I am thankful to Heavenly Father for my family."

A Movie Recommendation

Wednesday night, as I was cleaning up my stuff from a book party, the hostess and a guest started talking about this movie they had just seen and loved. It was called Fireproof. So, last night Jeremy and I had an at home date (the only kind we seem to have these days) and we decided to get Fireproof from the redbox at McDonalds. (We also got a James Brownie from Pollies so it could count as a real date and not just a regular old night at home. It was DELICIOUS.)

Anyway, here is my review...

The acting... pretty bad. (The main two characters are okay, but the supporting cast reminds me of a high school play.) Oh... Kirk Cameron is the leading man. Remember when he cute? I guess he is still kind of cute, but really now he is mostly just old. I guess that means I am getting old too. (Sigh.) I don't think his acting skills have improved much in the last two decades.

The writing... also, pretty bad. Seriously, sometimes I wanted to roll my eyes because the writing was over the top cheesy. It was also quite predictable.

The message... AMAZING!!!! Seriously, I was crying by the end (this is in spite of the cheesiness and predictability). It was a great movie about what love is and what it isn't, marriage, committment, Christ's atonement and love for us, charity...

Seriously, watch this with your spouse!! Watch it on one of those days when you are having a hard time thinking of something nice to say. (Hopefully, I'm not the only one with those kinds of days.) Or, you can watch it one one of those days when you think you are quite possibly the luckiest girl in the world to have such a great husband. Either way, I think you'll come away edified and uplifted.

Surviving Will's Toddlerhood

I am posting this in hopes that I will get some great advice on dealing with temper tantrums. Although this is my fourth child to go through the "terrible twos," I am about at my wit's end!

Will throws several huge tantrums a day. It isn't a communication issue... he speaks very well and has an excellent vocabulary for a 27 month old child.

IT IS ALL ABOUT CONTROL. I want to be in charge and so does he. In the past, I gave my kids choices (do you want to wear green jammies or blue jammies?) and they were fine. But when I give this kid an inch he takes a mile. He demands that I drive to and from the kids school a certain way, demands that he drink out of certain cups, demands that I tie his shoes while he stands in a particular spot, etc. He SCREAMS when he doesn't get his way.

I've tried everything I've learned (from my degree in Child Development, past experience, Parents magazine, etc.) and everything that has worked in the past, but to no avail. Currently, I am just leaving the room and letting him scream. But the noise is wearing on me.

HELP!!!

And now... just so I don't sound too negative (and to remind myself on a bad day)... here are a few of the many things I ADORE about Will.

1. He has the cutest, dimply smile. His eyes sparkle when he smiles.

2. He is really smart. He remembers so much and applies it to his life experience. Yesterday, he wanted me to play "Go Fish" with him. I didn't think he could do it, but he did. I can't believe he knows how to play cards and he is barely two.

3. He is actually pretty polite. He almost always says please, thank you, and your welcome. The other day when we left the grocery store he turned around, waved the clerk and said, "Have a nice day!"

4. He eats his vegetables (and pretty much anything else I place before him) without complaint.

5. He is a junk food junky. I know this isn't a good thing, but it is so darn cute when he says, "I need some candy in my mouth, please."

6. He absolutely adores his older brothers and sister. He loves to play with them, hug them when they come home, and be like them.

7. He has so much enthusiasm for life... he loves animals (from a distance), being outside, the farm, reading books, going to the store, etc. It is so darn cute to see his excitement for life.

8. He tells us he loves us all the time.

9. He really says the funniest and cutest things. Seriously, I laugh so much at the silly, witty, and down-right adorable things he says.

Okay... that list could go on for awhile. And by writing it down, I feel better already. Maybe, that is just what I needed... to realize how lucky I am to be the mother of such a wonderful kid (and three other pretty great ones).

Still... I will take any time-tested temper tantrum advice. :)

Venting... Warning: It's Political.

This morning I followed a link from a friend's facebook page to a Conservative Politics blog. There was an article posted there on titled "Building a Conservatism that Can Win Again." Being something of a political junkie, I was intrigued, but what I read was SO offensive to me (I am not even posting the link because I don't want to be responsible for people reading it) that I have to vent. And this is my blog so I can.

Anyway, it talked about how the best two Republican 2012 Presidential candidates are Gov. Jon Huntsman and former-Gov. Mitt Romney... both members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon). He outlined the reasons why he thought they were the best candidates and it was really interesting. Side note: Even though I am not a registered Republican, Romney was my first choice for President last year (as people who have been reading my blog that long know), because the two most important issues to me were the economy and health care and I LOVE his record on those two issues.

Anyway, this article went on to stay that it is unfortunate because a significant number of people in America (and especially conservatives) will never vote for a Mormon. No big surprise. We saw that in 2008. Then the author got into the reasons why people won't and here is where it turned ugly. The article reported half-truths and down-right lies about deceased church leaders, church doctrine and church membership in general. Seriously, about 1/2 the article was filled with this stuff. I can't believe people really think/believe that. It was so eye-opening. I thought that America was past that.

Anyway... I hope by posting this I don't offend any friends/blog readers of faiths different than mine. I just had to vent my shock and outrage at the way my beliefs (and in large part who I am) are seen and have been represented. I thought people saw me as a normal person. Sigh....

Loyal Commenter Award

Amanda Padgett of Moving Forward gave me a Loyal Commenter award as part of the 5 Minutes for Mom Say it Forward Carnival. (The 5 Minutes for Mom blog is quite excellent by the way. So is Moving Forward and her other blog, Beautiful Blog Designs.) So now, I have a loyal commenter badge to post this blog. Pretty cool!! Some day, maybe when I have more commenters :), I am going to participate in the Say it Forward thing. It is such an awesome idea.

Valentine's Boxes

I wrote last Wednesday, but get my camera to upload the pictures on this computer so it has just been sitting here! I'm going to finally post it now and hopefully, Jer can get the pictures uploaded asap... because WOW!!... That Wall-E Valentine's box was cute.

Today the kids had their Valentine's Day parties at school (no school Thur or Fri) and so they needed boxes. Jer apparently loved to make Valentine's Boxes as a kid and so he and the kids came up with some great ones this year. He said that as he was helping Matthew carry his box into the school this morning several kids shouted across the playground, "Hey it's Wall-e!! That is awesome!" and things like that. Matthew was thrilled with the attention.

Katie's box collected valentines in her classroom while she lay in bed at home. She was just to sick and weak to make it to school this morning. Thank goodness for the long weekend. She needs it to recover from being sick.

We had a great Valentine's Day party at Grandma Coxes, but I think I left my camera there... so to see some pictures, please visit my sis-in-law's (Jenn) blog.

Happy Birthday Great-Grandma!!

Yesterday was Great-Grandma Coxes birthday and we all went over for a visit. Well, I say all, but really Katie and I had to stay home because Katie has been quite sick this week. I will maybe post about that later. Since Katie knew couldn't see Grandma to wish her a "Happy Birthday" she spent the day drawing several lovely "Happy Valentims" and "Happy Birthday" cards for her. Jer said Grandma loved them.

So, in honor of my birthday blog tradition, I will now share the kids' favorite things about Great-Grandma Cox:

Matthew: She always loves and us and never wants to disappoint anyone.
Kathryn: She is always nice and loves to hug me. Everytime she sees me she gives me a hug. (Katie didn't say this, but she also likes Grandma's name. She always tells people, "My great-grandma is Dorothy Belle Cox."
Ashton: I like to play with toys from her toy drawer.
Will: I wanna visit Great-Grandma Cox.

A Blogging Award!... Exciting!

So, this morning I was excited to find out I awarded the "Lemonade" award for good attitude and gratitude on my blog. My first blogging award.... Yeah!! I didn't know you could get awards for blogging... what do I need Usborne for now? Oh, yeah... $$$$. ;-)

Anyway, I received this award from my wonderful friend Amanda Padgett in SC. (Amanda if you are reading this Leah said your presentation at the Carolina Regionals was EXTREMELY helpful.)

So now, I am supposed to nominate some blogs I read and am inspired by. So here it goes. (If you are on the list you need to post the award and your nominees on your own blog.)

• Teresa... She has been amazing and inspiring me for years!
• Jody... Someone I've always looked up to and now am learning so much from!
• Jenn... The epitome of a good attitude and gratitude
• Sharie... Love her honesty!!
• Cashelle... Reminds me about the importance of cherishing those little ones.

Now is there an award for creative inspiration and beauty because I would also like to recognize:

• Tiffini... I admire people with amazing creativity
• Amanda... This one is for you latest blog. It inspired me to change my background. :)

I have so many blogs I love to read! It was so hard to choose.

Thank you all for the beautiful backgrounds, inspiration and laughs!

Usborne Regional Training

Camille, Me, and Suzanne

My downline supervisors. We missed Melinda (my other downline super) that day.

This Friday and Saturday were the annual Usborne Salt Lake City Regional Training for consultants and supervisors across the intermountain west. We had a great time and after fourth months of Jer working 70 hours a week, I was ready for a "slumber party" with my Usborne friends. (The kids were thrilled to have a sleepover with Stacie at Grandma Craguns!)

The meetings were inspiring, motivating and super informative. I trained on the software (mailing lists and bookkeeping) the company provides, on why my Usborne Business is the BEST job I've ever had, and on Home Shows. I was also in charge of the scheduling and training on Saturday.

It was also SUPER fun to see some of my wonderful consultants receive recruiting and sales awards. I am so proud of them!!

It was a lot of work, but so much fun!! It was just what I needed to recharge my batteries... all of them.

Readasaurus' Birthday

Friday was the Readasaurus' Birthday. The kids had literally been counting down for a week. The theme this year was Pirates and the kids could either dress up as a pirate or wear their pjs. This was a great theme for us because we have a plethora of pirate costumes at our house. Matthew decided to wear his Captain Jack Sparrow pjs with a pirate hat. The kids loaded up their backbacks with pirate books (we also have A LOT of those) to read during the day and they were delighted when Captain Jack Sparrow (our neighbor Kory Howard) appeared at an assembly.

Readausaurus' Birthday was my FAVORITE "holiday" when I was little and it is so fun to see the kids so excited about it too.