kids

Family History TuesdayZ | Children Names

Journal prompt: If you have children, were your children named after someone?

My Journaling:
Joey and I have always felt it was important to give our kids names that we liked, but also that meant something to us.

Joseph Clark Smith Jr
JJ obviously is named after his dad and being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints – we also wanted to name him after the Prophet Joseph Smith. JJ’s middle name is named after Joey’s childhood best friend.

Elizabeth Colleen Smith
We both loved the name Elizabeth and from the get-go knew we would shorten it to Beth. Her middle name is after my Grandma, who was very special to me – she died when I was a junior in high school, but I have so much in common with her.

Each Tuesday, I am going to be offering prompts or ideas. If you don’t write in your journal regularly – I am going to encourage you to write just ONCE A WEEK and answer the question/idea that I give on Tuesdays. These ideas hopefully will spark a memory and you will be able to capture that in what you write/record so that it can be left for your children/grandchildren/family/friends. Give as much detail as you can when answering.

Will you do this for me? Will you do this for your families? You can write it down in a journal, you can type it up on a computer or journaling software, you can take a recorder and talk, you can videotape your answers, you can even scrap a page with the journaling. It doesn’t matter how you do this – it’s just important that you do it. The memories, the dates, the information is the only real thing we can leave to our families when we are gone.

Life 2012 | First Day of School

JJ and Beth are going to a new school this year. The School District opened up a couple of new special classrooms for Autistic children and they moved JJ over to Orem Elementary. I was also able to get Beth in as well, so now they are both at the same school this year. I was also able to get Beth on the same bus as JJ, which just makes it easier. I hope they will both be able to adjust to a new schedule, make friends, and learn!

JJ is technically a 5th grader this year (although they have different age groups in his special classroom) and his new teacher is Mrs. Vitone. JJ has grown so much and I love that we are communicating so much better. He loves playing games on the computer, the Wii, apps on the iphone/ipad, and his Nintendo DS. He thrives on structure. He is starting to enjoy reading and he likes to help out around the house. He loves watching his dad on the computer and I can just see him growing up just like his daddy. JJ LOVES Agent P/Perry the Platypus, Phineas and Ferb and all superheroes. He likes to run and to draw. He’s always so busy and hardly ever sits/stands still. He really enjoys movies/tv and his favorite food is pizza. I love watching my JJ grow and use his imagination in all that he does.

Beth is in second grade this year and her teacher is Miss Funk. She loves reading, playing with friends, and doing crafts with her mom. She loves My Little Pony, Disney Princesses, and horses. She likes playing on the computer and playing soccer. She thrives on attention. She’s emotional and has a good heart. She has recently taken over washing dishes, because she knows her mother doesn’t like it and she finds enjoyment in it. Her favorite food is Ravioli and Potatoes, Ham & Cheese. I love my Bethie girl and I love seeing her learn and grow!

My Layout:

I used my School YearZ Kits.

Life 2012 | Moving Cows

I’m finally getting to blog about our annual trip to Bull Rush (my family’s land on the Arizona Strip). I remember that growing up this was always something I looked forward to. Every year in the first part of June, we would head out to the Arizona Strip for the week to move our cows to the summer range at Sink Valley (my family’s ranch near Alton, Utah). It is always a time of work, play, talks by the fire, and great family memories.

I’m so happy that my kids have had the chance to experience this special time. Even though, my kids are what my daughter calls “city kids,” I grew up a country girl and I’m glad that I’m able to give my kids just a little part of the country life. Sometimes I long to go back and live in my small town and raise my children the way I was raised. But things are different now and even if we could go back – it just wouldn’t be the same. But at least a couple of times a year they get to spend time with the family at the ranch and I hope that it will still be something that they will have so many great memories of – the way I do.

We left Orem in the afternoon on Sunday, June 3rd. I was sad that Joey couldn’t come with us, but one of these years I hope he can use his vacation time to go with us! We got to Bull Rush before dark and I was really glad “Toothless,” our old mini-van made the trip across the rough dirt/gravel road. It was good to see all the family-including many of the Harris Family (cousins on the Sorensen side of the family) that I hadn’t talked to in awhile. I love that people will come out and help! We slept in the van that night, since my parents occupied the house. It was not the easiest night – pretty uncomfortable, but we survived. The rest of the nights – my parents slept at Sink Valley after hauling a load of cows – so we got the house. The Harris Family and my sister Kori’s family had nice trailers to stay in and many of the kids slept out on the springs around the house. It was quite the camp!

The next several days were spent gathering up cows, branding the calves, teaching my kids to ride a horse on their own, exploring, and lots of memories. I got to pick up my old job of vaccinating the calves during branding and my kids got to come and help me. The kids had such a great time playing with their cousins and getting dirty. It was definitely really hot too – and that is not my favorite part of being out on the Strip. I was able to spend a lot of time with Kori – and it was really fun catching up with her and I really enjoyed the nightly cook-outs and just being together. I enjoyed connecting with my little nephew, Dustin who is just growing up so fast. One night – the kids and I sat and watched a big moon rise and it was an amazing experience. The land out on the strip is so flat and stretches out for miles and so watching the moon come up from the far distant mountains is just really neat. It was fun to see the gorgeous sunsets that are always present out there too.

Unfortunately, it has been an extremely dry year and so the cows suffered quite a bit. Many of the cows ended up missing and later we discovered that several died trying to get down a canyon to water. We really really need rain. We did take a trip and hike to the canyon to see if we could find the cows and the kids enjoyed looking off into the “big ditch.”

Beth had the chance on to go with her grandparents on the Peterbilt to Sink Valley on one of the trips and she spent the night there. She loved having all the attention from the grandparents and Uncle Clint and the much cooler air at Sink Valley. She especially loved playing in the treehouse and hanging out with her pal, Smokey the dog!

For the weekend, we ditched out on the final couple of days trying to search for missing cows and headed off to cooler weather to Sink Valley. We went to Orderville first and showered. It felt so good! Then we spent the night at Sink Valley and it was fun to visit and be with my parents. We loved having a cook-out and we even watched a movie on Grandpa’s old setup of an old tv with a vhs player and a car battery!

The kids love playing on the tire swing, the treehouse, and the old farming equipment.

JJ’s favorite was riding on the old buggy that Grandpa has been building out of all different kinds of parts.

We left for home on Sunday, June 10th and it was good to get home and see Joey. We really missed him. It was a great week though and I hope that we are able to keep it a tradition for many years to come!

** Here’s something ironic for you – we really did go to move cows, but it turns out that I didn’t take any pictures of the cows! LOL

My 2-page Scrapbook Layout:

I used my A Little Bit of Cowboy Charm, plus a layered template from the ScrapDelicious My Creative Life Workshop

2012 | Weekend with Mallory

The last week in April, I got a call from my brother. He had decided to take his wife on a fun little train trip for their anniversary, but they needed someone to take care of little Mallory. Of course, I was delighted to do it for them. A few days later, Cody and Becki and Mallory spent the night at our house and then in the wee hours the next morning, they left on their adventure.

Having a 2-year-old around the house was an adventure as well, but one that I enjoyed so much. It made me miss having a toddler pretty bad. I enjoyed getting to know Mallory more and we had a great time.

After getting the kids off to school Friday morning, Mallory and I had the house to ourselves. We watched a bit of tv, ate some breakfast, and ran some errands. And of course we had to hit the park for a little while. Mallory adores swinging on the swings at the park! We did a little grocery shopping and visited Uncle Joey at work for a bit. We had lunch and then I got to sing to Mal and we both had a bit of a nap before my kids got home from school. JJ adores his cousin and he loved coming home and getting to play with her. I swear he is the only one who can make her laugh so hard. I always love to see the special relationship that Mallory has with JJ. We ended up going to the little park in our trailer community for some playing too. Then of course we had to watch “Meet the Robinsons, ” which I’m pretty sure is Mal’s favorite movie. It was darling to see her giggle and enjoy it. We had Chili for dinner which Mal just gobbled right down. After getting my kids to bed, it was a bit of an adventure trying to get Mallory to go to sleep. She was missing her parents pretty bad. I sang to her and we watched part of Meet the Robinsons yet again. We hit a snag, where she kept asking me to sing, “the dog song.” I couldn’t figure it out, so I ended up calling Becki, where I was informed that she was saying “duck” not “dog.” So once we solved that mystery…we sang “5 Little Ducks went out to play” and she calmed right down. I thought she would sleep with me, but for some reason she really didn’t want to sleep in my room, so she ended up sleeping on the air mattress. Once she got to sleep, she slept all night.

On Saturday, we went to the park again and Mallory loved swinging. We came home and had Mac & Cheese for lunch. We played and played and played. The kids loved playing outside with Mal. We also finally got Mallory to take a little nap before her Aunt Ashley came over to take her for a little while. I spent some time with my own kids and we had dinner and cleaned up before Mallory came back to us. After getting my kids showered and off to bed, it was some special one-on-one time for Mallory and I (Joey had gone to a movie with a friend.). This was probably my favorite couple of hours that I had with Mallory the whole weekend. We watched some tv, sang some songs, and I finally felt like we really connected. We started actually having a conversation and giggling and snuggling. She would not go to sleep, but I was enjoying her too much to really make it happen. I was kind of sorry to hear the knock on the door and see Cody and Becki arrive back. I had been having so much fun with my niece. But Mallory was so glad to see her parents and she just wouldn’t let go of them. It was fun to visit with Cody and Becki for awhile. Joey came home soon after they did, and we all stayed up and talked for awhile, before all heading to bed.

It was such a fun weekend with Mallory!

Life 2012 | No more Magic…

So on Monday, we were at our “vacation home” (that’s what my kids call our timeshare) – and I was in the kitchen but I could hear the kids whispering back and forth to each other. I wondered what was going on, but I figured I would find out soon enough.

A few minutes later, Beth came up to me, looking very serious. As usual, JJ was tagging along behind, and was just fine with Beth doing the talking. Beth said, “Mom, is the Easter Bunny real?”

I said, “What do you think?”

She said, “Well, I think he’s not.”

I looked into her beautiful blue eyes and saw how serious she was about it and there was sadness there and I just couldn’t lie to her. “No, Princess, he’s not real.”

JJ piped in, “I knew that.”

I gave Beth a hug and she asked one more question, “Santa isn’t real either, is he?”

I said, “No, I’m sorry.”

Beth said quietly, “So you and Dad are the ones who give us presents?”

“Yes, we are.” I looked at both of my kids, “Are you guys okay?”

“I just wish they were real,” Beth said.

“I know sweetheart, me too.”

I gave them one more hug and that was it. They both seem okay with it and I think it went over better than I thought it would.

I’m actually kind of sad that “the magic” is over. It will be different now. I remember when I found out – I was 10 when my friends told me and I was so disappointed. I feel like “the magic” came back after I had kids. Of course we have always focused on the true meanings – The birth and the resurrection of the Savior – but still the other parts were fun too. I guess my kids are just growing up and its just way too fast for me.

When did you discover the secret?

Life 2012 | Brotherly Protection

I want to remember these amazing little moments that make life worthwhile. I love these 2 kids so much. How did I get so blessed to be their Mom?

On Sunday, March 4th, JJ and Beth were playing a game that they love to play with their Dad. Joey is the tickle monster and he has to stay in his chair at his desk and the kids have to try and get around him without being tickled. They have to be pretty sneaky to get by him. They could play this for hours. It sometimes moves to other rooms and especially on our bed, but in this instance they were in the living room.

After playing for awhile, JJ started helping Beth get away, even though it made him get captured by that tricky Tickle Monster. As he was being tickled he called to Beth, “How about I always be here to save your life!”

That sounds pretty good to me. I hope they will always protect and love each other.