A Christ Centered home

Geoff and I gave talks in Sacrament Meeting. Our topic was Having a Christ-Centered Home. Last night, Geoff asked Justin what he thought a 'Christ-centered' home is. Justin replied, "I have NO IDEA!" I guess we have a little more work to do!

Despite the fact that we were giving talks, this sacrament Meeting was the most relaxing meeting Geoff and I have had for a long time since the McCauley's accepted the challenge of watching the boys for us!!! Justin was his usual angel self, and Max gave them a run (literally) for their money. Although they did amazing well with our little terror, I doubt they'll volunteer for the job in the future!

Geoff also played the organ for the first time in this ward. ALWAYS, when Geoff plays the organ, he receives MANY compliments. Geoff has a very natural ability to make the hymns (and the congregation!) come alive when he plays. Delos Price, and elderly gentleman who used to sit behind us in the 1st ward would always say to me when Geoff played the organ, "Well, the cobwebs have been cleaned out of the organ!" Today, since I was on the stand, I heard the chorister whisper to the Bishop, "He's a keeper!" I wouldn't be surprised if Geoff received an organ calling soon.

A NEW Max

Today Max received his FIRST HAIRCUT. It really suits MAX to keep the 'punk rocker' look--it is much more his personality. I'm VERY curious to see if his new hair cut will inspire a little more civility at home and abroad!!!

Hablar Espanol muy bien!

In Co-op, Valerie taught the kids to sing Happy Birthday, Head Shoulder Knees & Toes, & the Inzy Weenzy Spider in spanish. They also reviewed their colors. Too bad she didn't extent her lessons to teach me how to spell in Spanish! These kids are awesome & really learn well together, and I LOVE this co-op!!!! I am secretly planning to marry Justin to Emily.

Balloons and signs...the Food Drive continues

We spent a good part of the morning making signs, getting balloons, and hanging them throughout the development as a reminder of the food drive. I am amazed at the generosity of the people here. We have two days left still, and we have already had such a good response.

A true valentine celebration

Happy Valentines Day to all the men in my life who truly are my sweethearts. I am the luckiest gal alive. Today I celebrate my wonderful life...a life full of love!

I love how Geoff makes the Holidays special. His creativity is simple and fun! His homemade valentine heart notes were adorable, and complimented so well by his heart-shaped waffles for breakfast. Of course, he mostly never forgets a bouquet of flowers which I love so much! An especially fun thing this year was hiding little surprises and finding them. Geoff hid Justin's surprise on top of the ceiling fan. When Justin finally saw it, he was told he could have it if he could get it down. We all laughed very hard when Justin turned on the fan and Geoff tried to catch the flying Valentine before it hit the ground!

Justin's little heart note 'tine made for me said, "I love Mom"--and that was what melted my heart. And Max always gives me kisses. I love my boys.

'lovely' culinary creations

This is Justin's favorite breakfast...waffles with fruit/yogurt topping. YUM! Of course, today we enjoyed some raspberry/grape valentine juice too.

We ALL LOVE Salmon, couscous & veggies at dinner time--it definitely ranks in the top 5 of dinners.

Nuts About You!

So here is my low budget gift for a million dollar guy... the theme was "I'm Totally nuts about You!" (which I am--TOTALLY NUTS about Geoff!) I decorated an old little baby's shoe box, and filled it with an assortment of nuts (Geoff's favorites: Almonds, cashews & pistachios). Then from my big Home Depot purchase yesterday, I made him a "nuts about you" Key chain (see the picture on left below). I wrapped up the key chain and put it inside the box of nuts, and sprinkled the remainder of metal nuts in the box with the edible nuts.

Geoff got a kick out of the gift, and Justin was very intrigued with the the little "nuts" keychain. He had to make one for Geoff as well. After viewing his cool "nuts" guy creation (on right below), we decided his theme would be "You're TOTALLY NUTS"! We all had a good laugh.

Value based Schooling

Each month as part of school, we focus on a VALUE. This month we have been learning about COURAGE. Much of what we do in school each month centers around the value we are studying. For example, in scripture study we'll read about people who showed courage. As a part of literature, we'll memorize and write a poem about courage. The books we read are based on courage themes, etc. We have a value board that we add pictures to as we learn about the value. You can see what we have talked about so far, The Little Engine that could, Peter on the Water, The Savior's atonement/Crucifiction (added this morning), the book Twenty and Ten, and the poem Try, Try Again.

Tis a lesson you should heed
Try, Try Again
If at first you don't succeed
Try Try Again.
Then your courage should appear,
For if you will persevere,
You will conquer, never fear.
Try, Try again.

This morning, as I was putting Max down, I asked Justin to choose a hero from the scriptures who showed a lot of courage. As I fed Max, I thought of Nephi getting the plates & building a ship. I thought of Ammon guarding the sheep, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's as they knelt down before the Lamanites to keep their covenants.
When I went downstairs, I asked Justin what story he choose to read. He choose the Crucifiction. He said, "Mom, It took a lot of courage to be crucified." Again, I am taught and humbled by my 6 year old son! We had such a sweet discussion about the Savior's courage.

Flyers to 200 MORE homes

Between today and yesterday, Justin and I (with Max by our sides) delivered 200 more flyers to the homes in our development for the Valentine Food Drive. Yesterday Justin went on his scooter and I pushed Max in the stroller. We each took one side of the street and were able to make pretty good distance this way. However, it was so windy today that I had to take the car and drive. Justin was an INCREDIBLE TROOPER. He ran most of the way-- running up to the door of each house, and down the street to the next until all the flyers were passed out. It was A LOT of running and he was just AWESOME!!

This is so characteristic of Justin--so willing and happy to do what is right and good. It is really humbling and inspiring to be his mother. I love him very much.

Beans, Beans, Beans!!!

A fond memory I have of Justin as a little boy, was his love for Garbanzo beans. He LOVED garbanzo beans, and begged to eat them constantly. Since then, the only thing that has changed for Justin is the kind of bean he begs for. Almost everyday, he'll ask to eat an entire can of some kind of bean, his favorites of late being kidney and black beans. I kid you not. He STILL LOVES beans.

Max is just at the stage of loving finger foods, so I thought I'd give him a little bowl of some of Justin's beans. He held his little bowl with such determination as to not be interrupted, and ate each bean pausing only long enough to say, "hmmmMMM!" between each one. It was so funny. I guess I have another bean lover.

New Calling

I was called to be one of the Activity Day Leaders for the primary age girls 10-12. Tonight was my first activity, and the girls are darling! It will be a fun calling.

Getting ready for the day of love!

The boys helped me pick out a little surprise for Geoff for Valentine's Day tomorrow. We are on a MAJOR budget again this year, so it will be a wee little surprise. He's bound to like my gift for two reasons: 1. It's from Home Depot, and 2. It only cost $1.54 (usually the less expensive it is, the more he likes it.) I love Valentines Day. It's one of my favorite holidays.

Of course the boys LOVE driving through Home Depot, and Max likes to teeth on the loose screws.

Family Night on the streets and compost lessons

Geoff continues his 'WaterWISE Landscaping series' at the Boise Library. Tonight the topic was composting and soil improvement. He has LOVED these classes and has really learned a lot.

Justin, Max and I joined the DeMordant's for Family Night. The lesson was service, and we did it. We passed out flyers throughout the Island Woods Development for the upcoming Valentine food drive. My team consisted of myself and 4 little "BIG" boys...Max in the stroller, Justin on his scooter, and Matthew (6) and NaeNae (4) on foot, and amazingly enough we were able to cover quite a bit of ground. Of course some of the flyers never made it to the front door since Matthew "liked the way they looked on the driveways", NaeNae creatively put them in various places such as the mailboxes, bushes, and under the cars, and Justin had a difficult time separating them with gloves on. By FAR, I had the most effective team, I'm sure! It was a great evening!

We sure love spending time with the DeMordaunts.

Love is...

Geoff and I were talking about the Worldwide Training broadcast, specifically about the quote, "Love is...something you go through." Geoff added his wise saying, which I personally think should be added to The Book of Wise Sayings..."You don't fall into love... you climb there." It is such a profound proverb, I was sure he usurped it from Neal A. Maxwell. But he assures me, he made it up all by himself. What a guy!

More Science PLEASE!

Justin LOVES to do 'Science experiments'! We usually do one each day. At 9:00pm tonight he begged to do just one more experiment! (He has read through & watched the instructions for a entire years worth of experiments, and is anxious to complete them all in a couple of days- so it seems). Even at 9pm--30 min past his bed time--I can hardly refuse, as he gets SO EXCITED and finds so much pleasure in the experiments. Tonight, we "exploded" baking soda & vinegar about 10X.

We just finished a unit on air, and below is a picture of a weather vien and wind wench he made.

Evening stroll with Max

I went on an evening stroll with Max tonight after a GORGEOUS day. The night was clear and beautiful, and the air so crisp. I looked down at Max, and although the only thing I could see was the tip of his nose, I couldn't help but think, "I have the cutest baby in the world!!" My heart overflows with the JOY of being a mom.

"COOKIES FOR CANS"...A VERY successful food drive

Today brought the long awaited Food Drive. We (Karen & son Colton, Tyla & Chad Majors and thier children Savanah, Jacob, Nick and baby, Valarie McCauley and children Emily and Clark, and Justin and I) met at 11:30 at Tyla Majors home and started in her neighborhood. The purpose of our expedition was to approach each house, and explain that we were collecting food for the Idaho Food Bank, and had some homemade cookies to trade for their donation. Most everyone we met was surprised to find that we had a treat for them! It was such a very neat experience for me to watch Justin begin the afternoon very hesitantly and conclude the day with confidence--running up to a door all on his own, excited to give away his bag of cookies and claim the trade of canned food. It was a VERY EXHILARATING day. This kids loved the experience, and we all decided that it was a great way to celebrate the Valentine Holiday. We collected A LOT of food, but are not yet finished. We will do some more "driving" this next week.

Worldwide Leadership Training

Worldwide Leadership Training this morning was encouraging, inspiring, wonderful. It filled me with gratitude to be led by such an inspired group of leaders, especially our new prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

Theme...Raising a Righteous posterity. ...Love is what you go through together. Do not deny the Lord the opportunity to bless you...when you obey, he will bless! We cannot live in fear. Live the gospel, summon faith & move forward. Perfect LOVE casteth out all fear. Reclaim the JOY of honoring the Sabbath day as a family.

From President Thomas S. Monson...
CREATE a HAVEN of HAPPINESS ...

1. Develop a pattern of prayer 2. incorporate a LIBRARY of LEARNING 3. Create a LEGACY of LOVE.

(After hearing the advice to incorporate a library of learning, and to have and read good books, I immediately made plans to put my amazon "wish list" into the shopping cart...YES!!! Then Geoff reminded me that the prophets have also counseled us to live within our means. DARN!!!! I was SO CLOSE to being able to rationalize the fulfillment of my wildest book buying dreams!!!)

Friday Co-op Valentine Service

Our home schooling co-op spent several hours today making, baking & bagging valentine cookies. We made over 450 cookies! Have you ever seen so much cookie dough???

Tomorrow we will take these bags of cookies to the all houses in our development and trade 'Cookies for Cans'. We are hoping to receive many food donations to give to the Idaho Food Bank to help feed the homeless.


The kids worked hard to make sure each bag contained a homemade "thank you" heart note. We are excited to make the rounds tomorrow.

Geoff's Dinner Creations

I asked Geoff to make dinner while I cleaned up Max from his Birthday Extravaganza. After I put him down for the night, I came to the table to find these inviting dinner creations! The first seems to be saying, "Eat me, I DARE YOU!!!" and the second, "If you can catch me, you can eat me!" We all had a good laugh. I LOVE when Geoff makes dinner. It's always an unexpected and creative treat.