Prayer

This really sweet sister in Relief Society said this about prayer.....

Do we use prayer as a steering wheel or a spare tire? 

The other thing was that to make our prayers more meaningful, we are supposed to pray with real "intent!" What that means is to "intend" to do something about what you are praying!

So there's my challenge! I tend to pray with REAL INTENT when I am desperate!!! I need to use my prayers to STEER me so that I will follow through with my best intentions!!!

Love you,
Le Anne

Kaia's Spanish Song

http://youtu.be/7aXnmR74miM

I found this on my phone...long, but I didn't edit cause I thought the very end was funny. This is the same Kaia who is furious with her mother for putting her in Spanish immersion school.

Memory Lane

Found some photos while organizing the garage. What a treasure these memories are:

Flooding in T-town

We rushed out before school to get a few pics. It has been raining on us for days. Last night the rain was so heavy it turned our back park into a lake. This happens often during rain storms, but only one other time, in the 33 years that Gram&Pop have lived here, has it flooded over into the houses to the south. Those poor people are certainly going to have water in their basements. Our forecast is calling for more rain all week. When I dropped kids off at school, there was a big sign telling parents to pick kids up at 1 pm due to inclement weather. Apparently after I left, the principal was trying to turn all kids away and send them home. I guess we don't handle rain so well here in T- town ;)

Farm Girl

Great grandma Gladys would be so proud of this sweet little city girl gone country. Miss Hazel has embraced the country life more than most. She sits out with the chickens every day. Working, talking and loving every second of it. Well today her labor of love paid off...the first chicken egg!


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Cairns

What a lone man in the wilderness does when his back is preventing him from doing much else...

Now the whole family enjoys the sport...

4 Generations of Ed Week

Just some notes....Ed Week.  The first time I went to Ed Week was when Geof. was a baby and I had discovered my brain had turned to mush...I could no longer take notes in class because I had forgotten how to spell. I missed a few years off and on but since Brooke turned 14 and I took her for her b'day I have only missed one year.  We flew down and they announced to everyone on the plane that it was her b'day and she got to serve drinks with the stewardesses. Yes, They were stewardesses then, not flight attendants. She was so cute! We roomed together at Helaman Halls. I knew I would keep going forever when she told me, "You know Mom, the speakers say the same things you do about boys and dating and....."  Me, "You are kidding me? They do? Perfect! And you listened to them! We're in!!!"

When I first started going I would meet up with Megan, Michelle and Aunt Marcelle. We even roomed together for a few years. Bob and Katie (aka Bob and Betty) asked us to stay there and when we finally did it started a wonderful reunion of cousins, Bennetts, Rigbys, Beechers! I had been afraid we would be too big a burden. Their hospitality knows no bounds. Awww the fun we would have all of us trying to get ready in the  mornings! Then classes with all the cousins/friends...you did go to a few of the classes right? Feed my fantasy and tell me you did!!! At night back to Bob and Katie's and all of us taking turns reading scriptures around the circle. Kneeling and saying prayers together....could it have been any better!!!

This year Janie came with her old G'ma and Jack turned 14, so he and Meags came down too. What was really fun was Bob and Katie's oldest g'son is Jack's age. Meags set it up with Ryan and Jackie, for Caden to spend the night Wed. and go to classes and the dance with Jane and Jack. They never remember meeting each other but they were so cute together!

That makes 4 generations And so the tradition continues!!!! What I really owe to Ed Week is the strengthening of family ties.

I Love You all. I could have written so many memories but I know if there aren't pictures no one reads past the 3rd or 4th paragraph anyway!

First day of school 2013-2014 school year and pics you've all seen before

Cole's a fifth grader, June's repeating kindergarten, and wouldn't you know it, Cole got Junie's Kindergarten teacher from last year! She switched all the way up to 5th grade. I think she'll be great with all the rowdy boys in her class. They both were less than excited about school starting (as opposed to Dayne who's been planning it for a month), but fortunately, both woke up happy and stayed happy throughout the whole day! I think it just feels good to have the structure. Dayne is home with me this year. She had wanted to home school last year, but I told her to give me a year with all three kids in school, just so I could figure things out. Not that I really figured anything out...

So here we are. I was anxious all last week knowing Dayne was so excited about school and "ready", while I was anything but! All I could think about was a few days of doing absolutely nothing. Just a good book and a comfy couch, that's all. But I'm often reminded that my kids are only young and sweet and tender only once, and my years for laying (or lying?) around reading books will be here before I know it, and I'll wish I'd spent more time with the little treasures (as sweet sister Mindi would say) I have. 

School with Dayne turned out great. She loves to learn and is easy in that way. The thing I'd say she most needs to work on (and I could improve on myself) is more quality, less quantity. She can write pages and pages or color a whole coloring book, but the spelling is mostly wrong (even though she knows it!) and it's carelessly done. However, I think it's probably common with what's asked of kids in public school and they can also get away with it more. With JUST mom, we can focus on writing TWO SENTENCES completely perfect, rather than two pages of mediocre quality. Dayne's also very concerned about a "schedule". I told her that as long as our work is done well, it doesn't matter if we get to every subject. Reading, writing, math, and piano are our four everydays. History, science, art..those can be covered on field trips, in the evenings, etc. 

And I'm so excited for our field trips!! So many things to do in VA.