how to raise a confident child...

I have had three very good laughs from my three sons recently....and they all speak to the confidence that they each have within themselves.  

T's confidence in his physique....

T was on the floor doing push ups and when I commented on what he was doing he told me that he was working on getting an "eight pack".  

I said, "I think you mean a six pack"

To which he replied, "No.  I already have a six pack.  Now I want an eight pack."

J's confidence in his knowledge....

Our bishop was bearing his testimony and started out by saying something along the lines of "there are a lot of things that I don't know..."

At which point J turned to me and said, "I think I am kind of the opposite of that cause I really know a lot about a lot of things."

C's confidence in his "game"...

C came home last week and told me that he got $5 and a pack of gum from a 7th grader at school so, of course, I wanted to know how.

He told me that he got it by beating the boy in basketball.

I asked him if he was betting.

C's answer was "there wasn't any betting because I knew I would win."

Yep.  That's my boys.

I think I am going to write a parenting book this year :)

T's latest OBSESSION!

 T has been introduced to birds and bird watching at school this year and he LOVES it!

For Christmas he received his own little bird house, which he painted and filled with food.

When his grandpa Dougall found out about T's bird fascination they went on a field trip to the store and came home with a hummingbird feeder...

...as well as a cage to hold some additional bird feed that T had received from his older brothers for Christmas.

Since then, T spends a lot of time looking out the window or actually being outdoors watching his birds.

 

We try our hardest to capture birds with the camera but they are not easy to get!

 

Each night we read about a new bird before going to bed.

And T keeps track of every humming bird he sees so that he can report to his teacher, who told him that he wouldn't see humming birds until spring :)

favorite shot

While my parents were in town for J's baptism and C's ordination we took some time to play.

No surprise that there was a little basketball involved.

This is probably my favorite shot of all that I took.

C is ordained to the Aaronic priesthood

Along with J's baptism, we had another special event this morning.

C was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood and my dad performed the ordinance at C's request.

Talk about the pulling of heart strings for this mama....my oldest son advancing to the priesthood with my dad giving him a beautiful blessing.  

My heart was SO full!

Man am I grateful for these two men in my life!

And here is C with grandfathers, his dad and brothers.

A mighty handsome group of men and I was sure glad that they were all here for C today.

I belong to the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS

Today was J's baptism.

I had made two different invites and loved them both so much that I used them both.

The day was made extra special with the presence of both sets of grandparents, who each traveled to be here.

Love that my dad caught the chaos of trying to get a family photo....

Here is our gang...so glad that Tanner and Conner were there to complete our family. 

the baptism boy...

The program was perfect.

Both grandmother's spoke.

K sang a solo.

Two older brothers gave the prayers.

Both grandfather's were the witnesses.

Rich performed both the baptism and confirmation.

We had many friends and family members attend and after J was baptized, while he was changing, those in attendance wrote notes to J.  I was surprised, and very touched, by the depth of the loving messages that were written to J in support of his decision to be baptized.  Those notes will be kept and cherished for years to come.

I am so proud of J and his decision to be baptized.  

He has really grown into quite the young man and he looked even more grown up this morning during his special event.

Love you J!

2014 review...the year they read for food

Last January we set a goal for each of the kids to read for opportunities to go to lunch with mom.

The requirements were based on age....J had to read 700 pages to earn a lunch, C had to read 1100, and K had to read 1300.

I intended to get photos of each lunch but I kind of dropped the ball on that....luckily the kiddos didn't drop the ball on reading!

Here's to 2015, with each of the kid's requirements increasing by 100 pages since they are each a year older.

01.18.14 Five Guys Burger & Fries

02.06.14 A&W

02.17.14 Arby's

02.27.14 Dairy Queen

03.14.14 Qdoba

05.01.14 Burgerville

01.20.14 Azteca

02.14.14 A&W

02.17.14 Arby's

03.01.14 Jersey Mike's Subs

03.10.14 Indian Buffet

05.10.14 Fruitlandia

05.17.14 Crepe Cafe

07.18.14 Bridgeport Cafe

August Cutler's Sandwiches (in Utah)

11.15.14 Country Grain's at Fir Point Farms

03.08.14 Burgerville

05.21.14 WOW Burger

#12 for C

C turned TWELVE years old on the 31st!

We sure love that 12 year old of ours and are sure glad to claim his as ours.

Rich and I took him out for dinner the night before his birthday.

On his birthday we celebrated with our little family.

I have a hunch that in the next year or two we will have a new "tallest" member of our family so I thought I ought to document 12.31.14.....the birthday when both the parents are still taller than the birthday boy....