June/July Events 2012

Once again another month has come and gone without any blogging! I looked over my calendar to see what excitement I could share from the past month. The majority of it looked like: grocery shop, piano lessons, plan menu, exercise, laundry, church, mutual, smog the car, library, wash dog, etc. etc. But here are some high lights:

Some wonderful friends from church invited us over for Family Home Evening. They had just bought chicks, and the kids got to hold them and we learned all about caring for chickens (which we hope to raise some day).

Emma Leigh has started "helping" with family chores. She loves the little Swiffer mop that picks up all the dirt and Marley's hair. I wasn't paying attention though today and she took it outside. I found her mopping the dirt under the swing set and on the patio!

LOVE the shoes! 

I have a couple videos where you can hear her cute, little voice. It's not always cute and little (she has a BIT of a temper) but she sure is talking a lot and she understands everything you say.

  

I found this great article in a church magazine about a Family Home Evening idea that we implemented this year. We (the parents) at the end of each school year make up "clues" listing some of each child's accomplishments from that school year. Everyone guesses who it is (yes, it's quite obvious) and the child is rewarded with a little present. It was cute and positive, and just for fun I thought I would share what we had to say about Savanna.

-Played the piano at 3 baptisms and once in Sacrament Meeting 

-Completed her first year of Seminary and was awarded the Stake President's Award for reading all of the scriptures assigned in the Old Testament 

-Survived her first rafting trip 

-Completed her first semester of Algebra I  

-Was called to be the Mia Maid President 

-Bought her first Smart Phone 

-Completed 90 days of Turbo Fire 

-Perfected the art of tortilla chip and popcorn making 

-And....(drum roll please) is a self-taught front-flipper and fishtail-braider! 

Savanna has been having a wonderful summer so far. She had a blast on her white water rafting trip. Then she went to girl's camp in Santa Ynez, then she headed to UCSB for a week long Especially for Youth camp, and she leaves AGAIN tomorrow to spend 3 days in Ventura for Youth Conference. She met some very nice girls at EFY and her dorm even had an ocean view. She was asked to speak in Sacrament about what she learned at EFY, and she talked about how her testimony grew, how she has a strong feeling that she has a personal mission to accomplish, and that keeping the commandments would help her find out what that is- sounds good to me!

Savanna and her roomie, Grace, at EFY.

 Benjamin is doing great- he joined a summer reading group at the library and has been reading a bunch of books on his own. I am going to be starting a classic book group for him and Brad in the Fall which they are both looking forward to. Ben hopes to also start 4H or possibly Karate. He has also been practicing his break dancing under his big sister's mentorship! Some of Ben's accomplishments this past school year:

-Became class president of his Sunday School

-Read his first Dr. Seuss book without help

-Memorized Article of Faith #5 and D&C 88:119-126

-Gave a great talk in primary, also without any help

-Fixed our coffee table

-Is an amazing artist, tracer, thank you card writer, and painter

-Made a tank out of a cardboard box

-Loves his baby Emma

-Is the Co-Creator of the World Famous Salad Bar

-And....is a basketball STAR!

Funny Benjaminism of the month: 
 

"Do you think that guy in the Insanity videos is PhotoShopped?" To which Brad replied, "No way! He's just really that ripped!"

Bradley's ankle is finally healing but is STILL swollen. We took him to the doctor and he said that the swelling would eventually go down on its own. Fortunately it's not causing him any pain. He is having a wonderful summer riding bikes with the neighbor kids, reading a TON, jumping on the trampoline, and playing with his brother. Some of Brad's accomplishments this past school year:

- Completed his first year of piano lessons

-Completed his fourth year of soccer

-Received many belt loops and badges in his cub scout den

-Was baptized!

-Read his first two full-length novels (Harry Potter)

-Has transitioned into the Love of Learning phase

-Loves his family

-Is the Creator of the World Famous Salad Bar

-Wrote the hit single, "Dead on the Street" for his music belt loop

-Wrote his first primary talk, by himself

Funny Bradleyism of the month:

While watching the first Harry Potter movie he says, "I have a question." I figured that even though he read the book he may not have understood it all and was waiting for him to ask about some crucial part of the plot or character development. But then he asks, totally serious and pensive, "How do they get Draco Malfoy's hair to look so good ALL of the time?" I just didn't have an answer for that one!

 James is off on Sundays!! It's been awesome going to church together. He still has training until mid-August and then we will find out his permanent station and shift.

Emma's first time picking strawberries at the Rutiz farm! They now have chickens which she insists on feeding every time we pick up our produce. She REALLY likes chickens!

Ben and Em at the annual 4th of July Breakfast.

 I am going to update my fitness blog this week so I won't take too much time here to share (you can go to www.teambeachbody.com/holliwyett and click on blog for more details). BUT, I just started a new program this past Monday. It's actually a hybrid program. I am doing Les Mills Pump (based on BodyPump, a group fitness class) Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and I am doing Insanity on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Yeah, this makes P90X and Turbo Fire look like child's play! Wow, it's a good work out! I have been slacking a little since James got home. I re-did all of my measurements and pictures and I am COMMITTED to getting these last few pounds off and toning my mid-section.

I will post pictures mid-October when I complete this 90 day program!!  

Oh, and just had to share this cute menu board Benjamin helped me make! The kids and I made index cards of all of our favorite dinners. We wrote the ingredients and instructions on the back so each week I simply pick 7 cards, jot down the ingredients on my shopping list, and we are good to go- simple and useful! Benjamin did an awesome job decorating them too!

June/July 2012

True to my word, I started my Turbo Fire program on December 1st! The jury was out for a few days because the moves were fast and I had a lot of new choreography to learn. Surprisingly after doing it for a little over a week, I am able to keep up pretty well. It is super fun- mostly kickboxing and hip hop mixed together. Great music, and I really, really like the trainer Chalene Johnson. I thought she was going to be a little too peppy for my tastes, but she really gets me motivated and keeps it fun. I will be doing it until the end of February and will be in my size 6 sexy dress a week and a half later for my hubby's big graduation!

Chalene also came out with an awesome book called "PUSH." It is basically a 30 day goal setting seminar in book form. Savanna and I are reading it together and watching a series of videos she put out that go along with the chapters. You read a chapter per night and do the "homework" she assigns and by the end, you have a blueprint for success. It's been a great project to do together. Savanna really has amazed me with some of her goals, and I'm excited about her being exposed to another mentor to walk her through the steps of achieving them. Savanna is starting to get the hang of her Charter School as well. Balancing her time has been a struggle with having school 2 days per week and assignments that are due on specific days. I'm not sure she was quite ready for all of this required work, but she is learning some great tools and skills in the process. Many pros and cons when teaming up with a public school. But I keep reminding her that it is HER education. She can make it as deep and interesting and complete as she chooses. Her teacher is great, and is willing to personalize lessons to help Savanna achieve her educational goals. There is the political mumbo-jumbo (attendance, state testing etc.) and busy text book type work which I think is such a waste. But, good things are happening and overall I feel good about her being here right now. We are going to give it until the end of June to decide if there are more pros than cons for continuing with the Charter.

Savanna is still involved in her youth colloquium. I am leading one this week about The Secret Garden and then in December we will read and discuss Anne of Green Gables. I loved the message of The Secret Garden. I read it with the boys and for those of you that haven't read it, it is basically about a young boy and girl who have fixed beliefs about their health and capabilities. They find this Secret Garden, and as the plants and animals come alive in the garden these youngsters find that when they change the way they THINK, they begin to come alive too. They call it magic. I asked the boys what the magic was and Brad responded quickly, "It's the garden, of course!" Ben interrupted, "Nope. It's believing in yourself. That really comes from Heavenly Father." That kid really does get a lot more than he lets on some times!

I am sad to say, that we held our last adult colloquim. I have been hosting it for two years, but the members have been dwindling and the last two said they weren't available for next year. I thoroughly enjoyed those meetings, and have tried many times to invite others to join us. People are just so busy, and frankly I don't think they see the point in reading and discussing classic literature. I'm thinking of selecting one or two books next year and doing an online book group. Maybe a Facebook group or something informal where people can comment when they have time, and I can post some questions or thoughts of my own. Not sure just yet.

Our goofy boys. James recently found out that he was the oldest member of his class at the academy. Apparently the other cadets now refer to him as Grandpa which our children thought was hilarious. Here is Brad doing his impression of Grandpa, aka Dad. :)

He runs fast for a Grandpa!

November 28 - December 11, 2011

Good Times

These past two weeks really have revolved around James' new job and his preparation for leaving. There have been many ups and downs and not many pictures...but, let me give you what I got:

My couponing is continuing to be a big success! I probably spend about 30 minutes a week and save on average about 30% at the grocery stores and drug stores. It's still very exciting! This week I saved the most I have ever saved- 63% ! The other thing that couponing has done for me is really aid in my ability to assess my needs verses my wants. I don't just buy something because I have a coupon. I carefully look through the paper, ads, or my couponmom site and see what it is that we actually need, and then try to find a way to get it cheaper. Also, stock piling is a big part of couponing. Between sales and coupons, I was able to get 6 bottles of laundry detergent for $11 this week. I won't have to buy detergent until next year, so that will chip away at my future shopping trip balances along with other deals like that I have come across! And because I am taking the time to drive to multiple stores some days or spend extra time online, I am much more careful with our money. I'm not going to save $20 at the store to turn around and spend it on something silly like I might have done in the past. I guess what I am trying to say is that couponing has helped me in my overall desire to be thrifty and prudent.

Our little Emma is busy, busy, busy. She loves to play in the kitchen- and if you leave the fridge open for a second she is right in there pulling everything out! She just began to throw full on tantrums which is not so cute. She will throw herself backwards and kick her little legs if you put her down when she does not want you to, or take something away from her. You think she would learn after the few times she smacked her head on the tile, but her temper gets the best of her! Despite her anger management issues, most of the time she is an absolute love. She is going to walk any day. She can stand alone for long periods of time and has attempted a step, but then quickly kneels down as if she isn't quite sure yet. I am hoping she takes her first step before James leaves...he would be terribly sad to miss out on that!

Emma and Dad during Elder's Quorum on Sunday- she'd fit right in if he was a High Priest!

Emma and her buddy, Nora.

Both her and Bradley's two front teeth are fully showing now! They look so cute together!! Bradley is still very much enjoying his soccer games. He scored 3 goals last week! It's not even the goals that are exciting, it is the fact that this kid seriously does not give up. If something is difficult he keeps at it until he wins. I love that about him!

We have yet another new addition to our back yard! I found this little swing set at Toys R Us. It is on the small side, but is perfect for our yard. Between the swing set and the trampoline, I think my boys will be very happy back here . Some days I barely see them at all they are too busy playing and jumping around in the yard. It does my heart good to finally have a safe place for them to play. It may not be the acre or two I wanted, but it fun and it is all theirs. Bradley told me today that we have the coolest yard ever. :)

Savanna is doing great. She is still working on finishing sewing her first dress. She apparently picked a fabric that is very difficult to work with, especially for a newbie. Her sewing mentors have helped her quite a bit but she still has a little work to go before she can show it off! Her book group discussed the fantasy novel "Fablehaven" last week. Savanna really enjoyed this book. It is written by an LDS author and therefore has many great morals and lessons woven into the storyline. One of the protagonists is about Savanna's age and has an obnoxious little brother, so I think she could relate very well to her. ;) Savanna is still enjoying seminary, despite the early hour. She has been working hard to save up money for EFY (Especially for Youth), a week-long camp held at UCSB next summer. It's $480 and tuition is due January 12th so she has been gardening, cleaning, and babysitting to save up. If anyone has any work for her to do, please let us know!

That's about it on the home front this month. I am just beginning Nicholeen Peck's book on teaching children self-government and am also going to start reading Animal Farm by Orwell for our next Adult Colloquium. I will have many evenings free to read in the near future. I will share what I learn as I go. Until then...Hope you all are having a great week!!

Dance moves and fridge demolition.

Did I post this one already? Couldn't remember!

September 14 - 28, 2011

Children...Where's the Manual?

It's interesting that you can do something for a long time and still feel like a complete novice. James and I have been parents for awhile now. Our oldest will be 14 this coming October, and we have begun to realize lately that we still have no idea what we are doing here! There has been a lot of introspection going on in our home as we have been seeking to objectively look at our character defects (and the defects of our children), and find ways to do better.

Another realization: In the past when I didn't know how to do something (such as gardening or canning or sewing), I have searched out books, watched videos, and talked to people who are good at these skills until I felt confident in trying them out myself. I have practiced (often failing the first time), and refined my skill until my results were better and better each time. In our new business endeavor we have been doing that as well. We have been spending time learning about the company, copying successful mentors, asking lots of questions, and being thoughtful and prayerful about our strategies. Why would all of these tactics not apply to our parenting as well? If I am struggling as a parent, shouldn't I figure out the problem and what I need to do, and then keep trying until improvement is made?

This thought gave me a chance to sit down and write out my priorities on paper. In doing so, I figured out that I do not waste a lot of time. We are actively involved in many GOOD things! However as I wrote my list of priorities and took a good, hard look at them, I very quickly saw that I was spending a lot more time on priorities 7 and 8, than priorities I had listed as 1 and 2! So I am doing some adjusting here with my time management to make sure that I am spending the time I do have in the right areas and in the right increments.

One of our prophets, David O. McKay, once said, "No other success can compensate for failure in the home," and I have to agree. When I lay down at night I may have a fat bank account, a stocked pantry, and a beautifully decorated home, but if my relationships with my spouse and children are not healthy and happy, am I truly successful?

Don't get me wrong, our home life is going okay. There hasn't been anything major that has provoked these thoughts. Sometimes improving in one area of your life sparks a renewed interest to do better in other areas. We have recently taken back the ownership of our health, fitness, and finances, and I think that has encouraged us and given us more energy to now see other areas that need to improve as well. We haven't been beating ourselves up for our previous parenting mistakes, but we are aware that many are still continuing and we want to do better... we want to do our best.

The biggest realization that has occurred to me lately is that time is fleeting. I only have these children in my home for a short time. Then I have to let them go, and hope that I have in some way prepared them to take on the world and face it with integrity, courage, and confidence. That is a HUGE responsibility! And, what does this really look like and HOW do I do this?? I found myself going to my resources this past week- I watched videos, read articles and websites, found myself in the library and checked out a dozen books on parenting, talked with other parents and James at length, prayed, prayed, and then prayed some more. In a very short time, I think I have the answer!

In our recent colloquium, we discussed Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People." He talks about how we all start out being dependent (some of us never leave this phase and that is why we have a whole bunch of grown babies running around pointing fingers and wanting others to solve their problems). Most of us grow out of this dependence phase though and mature to the phase of independence. Here we learn to do things for ourselves and build confidence in our abilities. We are much better off than we were when we were dependent, but Covey says that there is an even better choice than being independent, and that is mastering the phase of being interdependent. An interdependent person acknowledges their own strengths and talents, but recognizes that if they put their efforts with another's efforts the result is always bigger and better. They understand that they can capitalize on others' unique talents that would compliment their own and that together they can be more successful than they could have ever been on their own. Isn't that really the purpose of our lives? We were put here in family units to learn to love one another, serve one another, and work well with each other. The eternal goal is be with your FAMILY forever, not to be hanging out alone in Heaven because you could do it all yourself...who would want that??

That was my answer. I want to raise my children to be interdependent. Now that I had my goal, I had to read through all the information I had found (I have barely scratched the surface, but have gleaned a lot so far) and find out HOW to accomplish this goal. Most of the advice I have been reading explains that discipline is the key to raising a healthy, obedient, happy, interdependent child. I began reflecting on our disciplinary tactics. We have used a lot of quick fixes to get quick results. Time outs, grounding, threats, and rewards (which are really just bribes) to get them to stop a negative behavior or to start a positive behavior. But this does not teach them to be either independent or interdependent. This is not the kind of discipline these books and sites are talking about. Discipline is not about exercising control over our children, and getting them to do what WE want. Discipline is about helping our children learn to control themselves, and do what is RIGHT.

Just like our government has grown way too involved and as a result is stifling freedoms, as parents I think we impose too many of our beliefs, opinions, and desires on our children and stifle their free agency. The bottom line is that we need to teach our children self-government, to govern themselves. They will eventually govern themselves, whether we like it or not, so now is the time to teach them the proper, righteous way to govern themselves so that they can make choices that will bless their lives and the lives of all those around them.

Self-government- basically teaching our children to control and understand their thoughts, behaviors, words, and actions, and accept the consequences that occur from all of these with dignity, confidence, and a desire to always improve. It gets rid of the nagging, reminding, punishing, and elaborate reward systems to get children to do what they are supposed to do! They learn that they can choose their actions, but they can not choose their consequences, and that making mistakes may not be a goal, but it is OK. Most lessons are learned by messing up first. As parents, letting our children choose for themselves and then experience the consequences of their choices (good or bad) is a big part of them learning self-government. Obviously we have to safe-guard them from experiences that are not age-appropriate, dangerous, unhealthy, etc. but there is some great information about the benefits and the love and respect that grow in families that focus on this principle alone!

Our favorite find: Nicholeen Peck's book, Parenting A House United: Changing Children's Hearts and Behaviors by Teaching Self-Government

http://teachingselfgovernment.com

I HIGHLY recommend this site. There are videos, articles, on-line parenting courses- all surrounding this idea of teaching your children self-government. We are very excited to get some help in this area, and to give our children the encouragement, support, and love they need to grow into competent, happy, interdependent adults. As with everything else, we must learn to self-govern OURSELVES first before we can hope to teach it to our children or anyone else (YOU, NOT THEM strikes again!). We are ready...I think :).

Here are some other books that I have learned about, and am working my way through:

How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen so Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber

Kids Are Worth It by Barbara Coloroso

The Family Guide to Virtues by Popov

How to Hug a Porcupine by Dr. Lund

The Anatomy of Peace by The Arbinger Institue

Have a New Kid by Friday by Kevin Leman

Connected Parenting: Transform Your Challenging Child and Build Loving Bonds for Life

Sorry for the long post- it helps me to write out my thoughts- hope some of it was helpful!!

August 14, 2011

Wrapping Up May

These past two weeks have flown by. I can't believe that it is June already! I will share the highlights...there are many.

Here is our angel, Emma Leigh Eve. She is officially crawling (see the video below)! Well, scooting/crawling. At any rate, she can get around! You take your eyes off her for a minute and she is across the room!

Emma is still so happy. She may not like to sleep but rarely gets fussy, so I can't complain too much. She is such a sweet girl.

We started this reward system with Bradley about 5 weeks ago. Every day he had the opportunity to earn up to two checks. When he accumulated 50 checks, we went to Toys R Us and bought this Army Man dress up kit. He has been wearing it ever since! Brad is such a great kid. He would have earned this sooner if he didn't make such a ruckus at bedtime (another child who hates sleeping!). He has started another check chart, along with his brother. Ben is earning checks to buy a Cowboy dress up kit. Who knew boys would like dress up so much!

Our little garden is doing great! We have been harvesting our cucumbers the last couple weeks!

Bradley has been very excited about sports lately. He is the only one playing soccer this Fall (Benjamin and Savanna didn't want to). He also wants to play basketball in the Winter and baseball next Spring. Apparently during the Father/Son camp out a bunch of boys were playing baseball. Brad didn't know how to play, so they told him he couldn't play with them. He was really embarrassed and informed James that it was his job to teach him how to play baseball. We are going to play baseball for family home evening several times so he feels really comfortable with it by next year!

We have been trying new ways to get the boys to play in our little yard. They are a little big for this kiddie pool now, but they played for hours making mud pies and squirting each other with water. My vision for the yard is to make half of it a garden, and put a big trampoline in the other half. Add a decent BBQ and some picket fences to keep kids/pets where they are supposed to be, and it will be perfect!

We had our last youth colloquium until we start again in the Fall. The children discussed Jungle Book. We also had an adult colloquium discussing Laddie. I think this is my new favorite book. It even trumps Pride and Prejudice which says a lot. It is just so applicable to my life right now. I could read it over and over and glean new ideas and insights about family, love, loyalty, and self-reliance.

And, I completed my first month of running! I am up to about 2 miles a training session. Today for the first time I got a glimpse at why people love running. There is something so empowering about pushing through the discomfort, and becoming stronger and faster. I think I'm going to like this after all!

Emma Crawling!

And Talking. :)

May 18 - June 1, 2011