Smile- it's contagious

      I have an amazing friend in Idaho. She is the ultimate optimist! I have seen her struggle through life's challenges that would beat down the best of us with a smile on her face. She is forever happy. She thrives on life and the challenges it brings. When we had to make an unexpected and truthfully, unwanted move her words to me were, "what a GRAND adventure you will have!" I struggled with the move that took me away from the town, friends, and family that I hold so dear. I was so homesick and struggled to make our new house and town a home. If those words were a quilt they would be rags from all the times I have thought of her cheerful advice. They wrapped me in a warm embrace as I tried to learn from her amazing example.

     We taught cub scouts together for 5 years. Trust me, a group of 9 year old boys can wear you down. Not Rebekah though. She could smile and laugh off any of the boys antics. She is wise and caring. Her children are amazing and strong and well behaved. I have always been in awe of how she can mold a child; how she can teach a child without them realizing they just learned. It all comes so natural. Her cup is always half full or more. She truly has a smile that is contagious to those blessed to share it! I try to remember her quick and easy laughter. It really does make the day lighter.

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A Journey in Dual Language Immersion

    

     This year we have the privilege of starting our youngest, Mr Matthew, in a dual language immersion (DLI) program. Our school district made the fantastic decision to introduce all 5 languages offered in the states DLI program, German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Mandarin Chinese. This is an opportunity I would not miss out on. Our school school was chosen for German. My sweet hubby is fluent in German having served an LDS mission there and although a bit rusty he still enjoys speaking this language and stays in touch with friends. We were thrilled that Matthew would be able to learn German. Our oldest, Josh, also entered his first year of German in high school. 
     Matthew spends 50% of his school day in German and 50% in English classes. His German teacher speaks only German to the students. They learn math, German culture and various other lessons in German. After the holidays the students were further challenged to only speak German to each other as well. It's challenging to be sure but allows his brain to focus on understanding and deciphering German.
     Our dinner conversations have been fun with many laughs as the boys share new words and try to stump each other. We knew it would be an adventurous year when the second week of school Matthew was making wise cracks to Josh...in German. Yeah, little brother thought he was ALL THAT!
     What I find amazing is how much faster Matthew is picking up the language than Josh. Earlier this week dad was thrilled to have a conversation with Matthew in German. He needed a few cues but Matthew was able to share his thoughts and feelings on the topic, why he was too big for "Cars" underwear.
     In sharing this fun moment with Matthew's teacher, Frau Page, she asked why I thought it was that Matthew was surpassing his older brother. Both are strong students. Both have the advantage of a fluent parent. Both are maintaining their grades and proficiency in other studies but Matthew is moving toward conversation passing Josh in language skill. Is it because of an aptitude for language or another reason? The answer is clear...AGE! Matthew's 6 year old brain is still hard wired for language development. He has an advantage over Josh despite prior language challenges.
     Matthew had a significant speech delay. At 12 months he spoke 6 words then...nothing. He stopped speaking. Life was good. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. No trauma or outside influences to prevent him from speaking. We have another son who also had a speech delay so we set to work using the skills and tools we had learned from Keegan's speech therapy to help Matthew. It took a year and weekly speech therapy before Matthew repeated an easy word he previously knew, bye. I was in tears to hear my little boys voice break through again. We heard all the usual reasons why he wouldn't or couldn't speak but none of them fit. Our speech therapist was stumped. He did not know why Matthew was not talking. Matthew learned to communicate through sign to avoid frustration. It took years, but he finally took off talking and caught up to his peers. In fact, this is the first year he has not had speech therapy so it is interesting to me to see him pick up a second language with such ease. 
     I love to hear Matthew share his latest German song, phrase, or just a new word. He even corrects moms pronunciation. Josh continues to learn as well but quizzes his little brother a little less...it's not so cool when little brother is no longer stumped by your "quizzes". Matthew is loving his DLI. He is learning to love the language, culture, and people. We are learning as a family as well. Next year we are even looking forward to having a German exchange student.
     The world is growing smaller. The internet has put the world at our finger tips. The opportunities my boys will have increase everyday. The opportunities Matthew will have by participating in and learning German are limitless. I am thrilled and so thankful our school has this opportunity. How could I NOT have my boys participate in Dual Language Immersion.

Memories today...word art freebie

We had a wonderful weekend. We traveled to Idaho for a family reunion. There were a lot of people there but still just a fraction of our very large extended family. It was great to see my cousins. I haven't seen them for years! You don't realize how much you miss family until you see them again. We are hoping to plan a trip to Texas to see them again in the next year or 2.

We love to travel. I enjoy the quiet (sometimes) time on the road. It is a great time to talk with my boys. We make a point to turn off the electronics and just look out the windows or play those long lost road games. My boys travel well. It helps that we have always had to travel to see some family or other but they generally do well. The trip back is the hardest (they are usually tired and grouchy) but we try to time it for a nap or settling in for the night. 

Each trip is memory laced. We mark milestones with our trips. The boys will comment, "remember when we went to Oregon" or "yeah, that was on our way to Nauvoo!" or "that time we went to San Diego". There are lots of them. I keep them straight based on how old each of the boys were. Soon, we get to add Colorado and Texas to our growing list of states we have visited. Generally, we camp along the way with our little pop-up. Sometimes we stay in a hotel. Either way you grow closer as a family when you travel together. There is something about the tight quarters that discourages the "he's touching me!" syndrome. (I wont' add that I pull out the movies in times of desperation).

In the end, it's all about families. About making memories together. The house, the garden, the cars, the toys, the clothes....all of it will go to the way side, but the memories we make together will remain with us forever. I want my children to have all the memories I can pack into their big minds. I want the to know how to work but to remember our trips. The fun we had together.  The sights we first saw together. Then I want to be with them when they pass it on to their kids.

The classic summer road trip! I love it!

Colors of fall

Mr Matthew and I traveled up the canyon for some branches for my latest project. I couldn't help but share some of the beautiful colors we saw.

The day was cool but still warm enough to not need a jacket.

I loved how all the colors came together. Fall is so beautiful. Reds. Greens. Yellows. Oranges. All against a clear blue sky. *sigh*

And the beautiful scene was topped off with the grin of a very helpful little man. I cherise these little day adventures. All too soon my little man is gonna be going off to school then with friends and leaving mom behind. A little 1 on 1 time soothes the soul!

And here is a little peck at our project.......

The final pictures coming soon!

100 Activities for Summer

 With 4 active boys life can get pretty crazy! Then summer comes. Now, don't get me wrong...I have been looking forward to summer. No more chasing boys to and from school and various activities. For us, summer is family time. It's a time to go on hikes and trips; to have water fights and read a great book in the warm sunshine. BUT...I don't want to have it be a totally unproductive time. I like the boys to retain some of what they learned through the school year and to explore new things. I want them to have something to write about when the teacher gives the "what I did this summer" assignment. So this year I made a list.

(I actually made most of the list during church hehehe) Each of the boys, dad included, added to it. Now, I don't know if we will get to all 100 things but it will be fun all along the way.

 Some things are simple, maybe something we would do anyway, but this will be a way of tracking all the fun summer brings. I just wrote them out on regular poster board. Nothing fancy. I want the boys to look forward to crossing each one off. Wanna know what we included on our list?

Well here you are.....Our 100 Activities of Summer list

1. Light off fireworks

2. Dip Strawberries

3. Send thank you cards

4. Roast hotdogs

5. Go to daycamp

6. Build a summer project

7. Have a pizza night

8. Have a block party

9. Play with the giant sling shot

10. Duct tape fun

11. Sidewalk chalk art

12. Enjoy snowcones

13. Pioneer Game day

14. Build a fort

15. Do leave rubbings

16. Write in a summer journal

17. Go to the thrift store

18. Do a giant family crossword puzzle

19. Make a beans and pasta mosaic

20. Ride go carts

21. Ride a roller coaster

22. Sew a button

23. Build a kickball field in the empty lot across the street.

24. Have a neighborhood beautification day

25. Make a craft

26. Dutch oven

27. BBQ

28. Go to a parade

29. Go to Yellowstone

30. Go to Zions National Park

31. Go camping.

32. Go to Bear Lake

33. Have a Tug-of-war

34. Make popsicles

35. Bake cookies

36. Make homemade ice cream

37. Pick Huckleberries

38. Sleep on the tramp

39. Do "50 photos with your kids"

40. Go to Grantsville Reservoir

41. Swim Lessons

42. Go to the pool

43. Hike

44. Go to Timpanogoos cave

45. Memorize a scripture

46. Memorize an Article of Faith

47. Make homemade chocolate

48. Make a fingerprint map

49. Draw a picture

50. Plant a flower

51. Plant a tree

52. Have a backyard movie

53. Make a craft

55. Read a book

56. Water-balloon Relay

57. Sew a pillowcase

58. Go to Hogle Zoo

59. Go to the Idaho Falls Zoo

60. Go on a family bike ride

61. Have a bike car wash

62. Have a tournament

63. Scripture Chain

64. Play catch

65. Shaving cream slip and slide

66. Nap in the Sun

67. Make Sugar cookies

68. Make smoothies

69. Make paper airplanes

70. Sponge waterballs

71. Homemade strawberry lemonade

72. Walk Scooter

73. BBQ with friends

74. Dutch oven

75. Buy fabric of your choice

76. Piano concert at home

77. Build a sandcastle

78. Goblin Valley

79. Go to a New Temple

80. Go fishing

81. Geo-caching

82. Scripture Chain

83. Backyard Smores

84. Tie Dye T's

85. Bird Watching

86. Real Soccer game

87. Slip and Slide

88. Feed Ducks

89. Run through the Sprinklers

90. Fly RC plane

91. Day at the park

92. Drive Inn Movie

93. Blow Bubbles

94. Visit a museum

95. Homemade rockets

96. Roast Marshmallows

97. Have a picnic

98. Do an experiment

99. Look at the stars through the telescope

100. Go to 4 Corners area

What's on your list?

Merry Christmas!

Dear blogging friends. I know I have been a bit MIA of late. Life got a bit out of hand there for a while but never fear I have great plans just around the corner. I let things slip a bit in the name of sanity preservation. Then Pinterest caught my attention. Now the holidays. I decided to relax until after the first of the year then return with a vengence. I also had to revisit why I started blogging. 

Some of my dear friends suggested that I start. It was for family but since I had so many other things to share and few of my family followed my blog it became a journal of my creative outlet. I sough ideas to make my house a home on a budget; tips for cooking, cleaning, sewing, and most of all crafting. I began to wonder if I wanted to continue blogging. Then I realized I have missed it. 4growingboys has become so much a part of me. I also realized it gave me an excuse, a reason if you will, to complete the projects and ideas I pinned or found on other blogs. Last year I amazed myself after posting all the 52 projects I had completed through the year. It was fun but even more amazing to see what I had accomplished through the year. So with all these things in mind I have lots of plans for the coming year. 

First off, I will be starting my 52 projects again. It's a goal to focus on one project a week. Whether big or small. I will most likely be posting them each Monday. Keep an eye out for that. 

I am also planning to scrap 365 pages. I usually do several pages at a time but I want to average a page a day. I will post the pages I have done each week as well. My pages are often simple by comparison, I'd rather the pictures speak for themselves but maybe someone will be inspired as well. We love to look back through our albums. The boys ooh and aah over their own faces. I have fallen a bit behind so hopefully I will be able to catch up this year. I also have a bit of paper scrapping to finish before tying it all into the digital scrapping.

So whether it be sewing, paper crafting, home decor, cooking, gardening, or scrapbooking you are sure to find lots of ideas in the coming weeks and months. For those of my followers that have stayed with me- THANK YOU! It fills my bucket each day to see new comments from all of you. You make my day just by saying hi.

So, for now MERRY CHRISTMAS to all. May you have the peace of the season in your hearts and home. I love this time of year. It is truely the BEST time of the year. Enjoy your holiday season. Keep your family close and love them like there is no tomorrow. I send all of you my love. 

Join me in January for new and exciting things!

The things I love; a personal note....

What would you do if you had an extra day each week? I can think of a lot of things I would do. Lucky for me I will be able to attempt to do each one of them. I have been working full time as a RN for 11 yrs and now get to cut back to part time. That's just 2 12hr shifts. I work nights so my boys don't notice that I am gone as much. They are usually with me or dad but let me tell you what! Sleep is a high commodity for me. My favorite time of the day is 6am to 10am. Crazy? Maybe. But I love the calm quiet of the morning and I can generally be ever so productive. So imagine my delight when Dear Hubby left at 5 something in the morning and I felt wide awake and refreshed. I stayed in bed until 5:45 am then decided to get up. Yep, wide awake and feeling GREAT! 

I enjoyed a uninterupted and unrushed shower. Took time to lather lotion all over and just enjoy the morning. Now with bread in the oven and, surprisingly, boys still in bed I had to put a few thoughts down. 

I thought of all the things I love and I am going to savor today. Starting now I am going to enjoy the journey a bit more. 

I am thrilled to be able to focus more on my boys and family.

I love early mornings and am going to try to enjoy more of them.

I love cooking and mostly baking. More homemade bread!

I love to read and look forward to more time reading with the little boys.

I love seeing dear hubby come home and wrap me in his arms for a hug and kiss. He is great about doing this but sometimes we are going opposite directions. I miss my kisses then. My favorite is when he has just gotten out of the shower and shaved. Ooohh! I love a freshly shaven face. SMMOOTH! Yep, it melts me every time.

I love crafting. Thursdays are my dear friend and I's day to craft. We'd gotten away from that a bit but I have missed it. Simple things. Time well spent.

I love making memories. I look forward to spending more time scrapbooking those memories to share with my family and friends. It's always a treat to watch my boys pull out their baby books and share/brag about their own pictures.

I love Christ. I have an increasing desire to study the scriptures like never before. More scripture power stories for my boys. What better hero's to read about?!

I love the refreshing feeling of having a good start on the day. Ok-maybe this is more of my type A personality but when I feel good enough to get up early I know I can accomplish so much more. 3 of my 4 boys take after me that way. They are early risers and are usually up before 7am. It is great when we travel. We can hit the road or attractions before most of the other families get up. School doesn't start until 9am. Think of how much we can accomplish, the time we can spend together when I can join them in their early rise!

I have looked forward for a long time to only working part time. I have counted my blessings to have a career that could sustain my family through job loss, trials, and moves. That is WHY I went to college to begin with. I watch my parents struggle and wanted better for my family. Now, I look forward to the blessings of being MOM!

What are you thankful for?

What are some of your favorite things?

Life Unscripted.....

Some of you know about our trampoline excitment; how the wind decided it needed to reside in the street and not the back yard. Of course the best way for the WIND to carry something is in the AIR, which of course means OVER the house. Once again we have an opportunity to count our blessings. Little damage was done to the house. No kiddos hurt. A couple of bent pieces to the tramp but easily replaced. Yep, we are being watched out for still. So tonight I took pictures of the house damage. 

 

This is just above our back door.

It's incredible how you can see the exact outline of the bar from the tramp. I am still in awe of the whole incident!

It was getting dark so I didn't get pictures of the tramp...ok, okay, I got side tracked and THEN it got dark. Easily done in this house. Besides it is such a beautiful night and OH MY that sunset! We can see a portion of the Great Salt Lake from the back step. The orange glow of the sun setting behind the mountains, projecting over to the lake and the mountains beyond the lake. WOW! Beautiful! It is very quiet here too. Robin and I just sat on the back step talking and planning our backyard. Hopefully we will get that in before the end of summer. The boys are in desperate need of more area to run and roll and play. Especially Matthew. I think we are all missing our toys from IF. 

 

I am missing my garden, vegis and flowers, and the boys are missing the area to run and play, jump and swing, and build forts under the fort. Tyler has mentioned several times that we need to get a big playhouse like our other one. 

 

Yeah, that will be next summers project but he is gonna make sure we don't forget! And I doubt it will be quite this big, BUT it WILL have a slide. We were saving for one but never got it. This will be a must this time round. Matthew loves to slide! Of course, I could do without the sandbox undernieth, we'll see if the boys will let me veto that or over rule mom. It does provide hours of no running in and out of the house yelling, "mom I'm hungry" time. Hmmm, gonna have to think about that one! I may have to start planning the yard and my flower gardens to prevent total withdrawl. 

I have made great friends with our neighbor. The Lord is watching out for us both and helping us before we even know we needed it. My list of blessings through this whole ordeal is longer than I could have imagined. From big to little I can't deny that for some CRAZY reason the Lord needs us here in Tooele Utah instead of in our comfort zone in Idaho Falls Idaho.

I have gotten more of our pictures up, fixed the water fountain, finished another project, and got going on my coupons again. I have one more thing to do to my fountain before I re-reveal it. I also got our 4th of July pictures scrapped, you will get to see those on Sunday. For tonight a sneek peek at my next project post....

And I just couldn't leave without a glimps at our tramp legs. It's dark but you get the idea....

Uhmm, those joints are suppose to be straight. No 45deg angles on the legs! I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E!