Proud Mommy Moments

Skylar is growing up SO fast. She is smart and funny and FULL of ATTITUDE! This last week I had two little moments with her. The first one made me laugh the second one made me proud.
Moment 1 -

I was teaching her how to make pancakes and she was working on "flipping" the pancakes over on the griddle. She had a mishap with one of the pancakes and then looked at me and said:
"Mom, when I grow up I am going to be the best flipper EVER!"
The look on her face was priceless, she was so serious about learning how to make the pancakes.

Moment 2 -
We were coming home from school yesterday and the girl that we carpool with is not a member of the church. I don't even know how the conversation started, but the next thing I know Skylar is explaining to her friend all about the church. She told her about the Holy Ghost and the Prophet and about primary. She was being a great missionary and I could feel the spirit in the car. It was amazing to hear her answer her friends questions - most of the time with better answers then what I was thinking in my head. I am so grateful that she has a testimony of the gospel and is not afraid to share what she knows to be true. It gave me a great opportunity to talk to her about being a missionary and listening to the Holy Ghost. I was so impressed by her and wish I had her courage! 

Small Changes

This last weekend was BEAUTIFUL! The sun was shining and the temperatures were warmer than usual. It seemed like a small change that lifted my spirits! Last week I took Kortnie shopping for new shoes. I was a little nervous about how it would go because this girl is VERY picky and she LOVES shoes - so I thought we might be there for a little while. She surprisingly chose a pair of shoes very quickly and since the kids were still being good I thought I would look around the store for a little bit. My mother-in-law just got a new table and she wants some new table clothes so I went to look for one for her. I didn't find anything that would fit her table, but I happened to find some new digs for my bathroom. I have been wanting to update it for a while, but it just never seems like I have money for decorating the house so I always put it off. Well I found a new shower curtain and some towels all on sale and thought I would create a change.

Before

After. 

 

It is a small change, but I love walking past and seeing the change. Now I want to paint and do more, but that will have to wait until another day.

This is my favorite picture of the week. These two are becoming such great little buddies. They love to play with each other and they make each other smile. It warms my heart.

This and That

Nothing much to say, but I am trying to update more often so here is the scoop on the Denos Family this last week.
This Saturday was my second Saturday not working and I was able to go to the baptism of one of my primary girls. It was so nice to be able to be there and feel like I was fulfilling that part of my calling. I have been really sad that I have not been able to participate in baptisms up to this point. This is one of the blessings of having my hours cut. After the baptism I got to come home and do Saturday chores. It was AWESOME. Those that really know me understand that I am NOT a good housewife. With eight people living in this house and four of them seven and younger, my house is rarely clean. I know it sounds silly, but I have missed being able to do Saturday chores with my family. It is a good opportunity to teach the kids how to clean and we get the WHOLE house clean at one time (although this only lasts for a short time!). It was nice to have lunch with my family and just hang out. I think it will be hard to actually go back to work on Saturday's if my work is ever able to give us the hours back.
Saturday night, my mom kept the kids for Kory and I and we got to go on a date! Hurray! We went with his sister Shelley and her boyfriend Clint and his other sister Stephanie and her husband Bryan. We had dinner at Joe Morley's and then went and saw "Back from the Future" at Desert Star Playhouse. It was fun and Kory and I both got to reminisce about old jobs, since he used to work at Joe's and I used to work at Desert Star. The show was fun and the food was great, but we really enjoyed getting to spend time with each other and his family.
Here are a few random picks from the last week or so. 

Kortnie found that she likes to wear Holland's hat.

"P" day. She got to wear pajama's to school and eat pancakes!

I was trying to take a picture of Holland chillin' to some cartoons -This kid is ADDICTED to TV - he saw me at the last moment and gave me this cheeser!

Boys and big Trucks! Holland got this big Tonka dump truck for Christmas but Lukas loves it too!

Look Ma I'm Standing! Yes this little goober is already pulling himself up to standing and trying to walk around once he does. I want him to slow down and stay my little baby a little longer, but no dice!

Now that Lukas is mobile we have been working really hard to teach our kids that the door at the top of the stairs always needs to be shut. He loves to book it over to the top of the stairs if he sees the door open because he wants to see what is happening everywhere. Well yesterday we had a little neighbor girl over and they were playing downstairs. I was in the kitchen and Lukas  was playing in the living room. I came around the corner from the kitchen to get Lukas and saw that the kids had come up. I look around and there is no Lukas, I start to ask the kids "Where is Lukas" when I hear the thud, thud, thud! Our little neighbor girl was at the top of the stairs and didn't realize that Lukas would fall down. I started screaming and chasing him down the stairs, but to my horror he went down all 14 steps! Luckily he was fine - a little shaken up - but I think more scared by my reaction then what actually happened. Ugh! I felt like the worst mom in the world and I think I scared the poor neighbor girl to death. He is fine, but I am still shaken up about it! I guess all's well that ends well, but you better believe I am a going to be a freak about having that door shut until he learns how to go up and down them!
On a side note. I spent two and a half hours working on a school project for Skylar yesterday. I am so irritated about it. The assignment was to do a biography on a famous person. They have to write it out and do a side project that goes with it. Everything had to be supervised by an adult. I HATE parent homework. The skills needed to do this project were WAY above what a first grader can do on their own. Their teacher knew this and told them they would need their parents help. WHY DO TEACHERS GIVE HOMEWORK TO PARENTS? I am a teacher and I have to say I do have one assignment I give to my health students where they have to interview their parents about dating rules. I feel it is a very useful assignment and helps to open communication between parents and kids where sometimes it doesn't happen. I don't understand however, giving a project that is in a skill set where the parents have to do the work? Has anyone dealt with this before? Do I talk to the teacher about it, or should I just let it go? This is the third project like this that Skylar has had to do this year, and she had a few last year too. It is not that I mind helping my kids do homework, I read with them, I will help them with math worksheets or whatever is needed, but the key word is help.
Okay, I need to end on a positive note so that I am not bugged all day. I am thankful for all that I have. I am so blessed with an amazing family, wonderful friends and neighbors, a job that I love, a home to live in, food to eat, and most important the gospel in my life! I can't count all of my blessings.