Homework!!

I have done it!! I have started college through BYU's online program called Pathway. It is an amazing program and I feel so blessed to be apart of it.

This week we studied the concept of Learn, Do, Become. I have gained a lot of insight into studying all subjects through this concept.

First we must Learn something from our studies. Even if you think you know it all already, you can still learn something new. For instance; in the beginning of  1st Nephi we learn that the first vision that Lehi has is  of a pillar of fire and God sitting on his throne. God comes first, always. He must come first because without him there is nothing. We Learn that Lehi has 4 sons - Lamen, Lemuel, Nephi and Sam. We learn his wife's name is Sariah. Lamen and Lemuel complain, a lot!
What do we learn underneath the surface? What can we learn from the contrast of Lamen and Lemuels disobedience verses Nephi and Sam's obedience and devotion to  the commandments of the Lord.
I pulled from this that Lamen and Lemuel whined and complained because they couldn't, or didn't want to see the big picture. All they saw was the fact that their dad pulled them out of their nice house, away from all their money and friends, and went on the never ending camping trip. They had become so obsessed with worldly possessions that their spiritual sight had been clouded.
Nephi was obedient to his father. He wanted to see the visions his father was teaching them about, so he did something about it! He learned from his father, and then took action.

Once we have learned something, what are we going to do with it? What action will we take? Information is  no good to us unless we do something with it. I am taking this information and teaching it to our children. I will teach them that if they have questions, they can pray and their Father in Heaven will answer them and be there to comfort them. This is something we can also take and apply to our own lives. When we complain it just makes life harder and more miserable. I have a harder time feeling the companionship of our Heavenly Father when I allow Satan to take over my emotions. Everything I see is dark and dreary, and what I should strive for is to see the bright and  beautiful world that has been created for us! We need to have faith that the Lord knows what's best for us and will lead us in the direction we need to go to become the person he needs us to be.

Becoming more Christlike is the obvious goal. What will become of Lamen and Lemuel? A wonderful example of how to be miserable. They find someone to love them, they grow to have families, but they remain wicked and the cycle never ends.
If we are to become who Christ needs us to be we must first learn who that person is, then we must take action and do the things that the Lord has commanded. If we are given a commandment, it's not without a way to accomplish it. The Lord will always prepare the way if what we seek is righteous and true.

I am grateful for Nephi's example of Faith and righteousness. I am excited to learn more about the Book of Mormon and become the person my Heavenly Father already sees me as!

Our genius!

This kid!!!!

THIS KID!

As part of his homework he had to memorize this:

I have to admit, I had my doubts, but as a parent, it is my job to make sure he tries his best. So we started it. I heard that when you're trying to memorize something of length, your brain will retain it more effectively if you start at the bottom. 

So, at the bottom we started with "ready to ride..."

Next we added "one of by land..."

Once he was wondering around singing that, we added "He said to his friend..."

This kid! He did that and add the rest all on his own! He surprised us all when he busted it out at breakfast this morning! 

We are so proud of him! 

Sooo...What do you do?!

 I don't know if we've met, but I'm Sonya, and I'm (what some people refer to as) a S-A-H-M!

If you are unfamiliar with this term, it stands for  Stay At Home Mom.

Which means it is my "job" to stay at home, while my husband gets (yes I said "gets") to go out into the world, interact with other adults and single handedly (well....single handedly with both his hands) earn the money for our entire family, of five, to live off of.
Am I happy with this arrangement?! Not always. I envy his work relationships, his conversations that don't require him to ask if someone needs a snack or a run to the bathroom or why they thought burying their sister in the hole they just dug was a good idea. I envy, what I perceive as, a daily break from the chaos of running a home. I envy that he gets paid to do what he does all day - and I do what I do for the occasional penny my 6 yr. old decide to pay me for his Popsicle.
I am not thrilled with the crooked look  I get when people ask "So what do you do for a living" And I reply back with "I stay home with the kids" I would like very much to say to people, I went to school for (insert desired degree here) and now I'm working as a (insert specialized degree position here).
But the truth of the matter is - I stay home with the kids, and there isn't enough time in the day to stand here and tell you all the things that I do, and am responsible for, but here's a taste of what I do:

 

It is my job to make sure everyone has clean, and tidy clothes to wear.

It is my job to make sure there are clean dishes to eat off of, and cook with.

It is my job to make sure everyone has eaten breakfast before school, and packed their lunch if their tiny little hearts desire a cold lunch that day.

It is my job to make sure that the homework (that dad helped them with the night before) is in their back packs, that they know where their back packs are!
It is my job to keep track of shoes and clothes - do they fit, are they worn out, do you need new ones?!

It is my job to make sure they make it to the bus stop on time, and if they don't I gotta bust some booty to get them to school on time.

It's my job to make sure there is food in the fridge and that the food in the fridge won't give you tunny aches, or kill you!

It's my job to make sure they have a safe place to come home to after school, and a clean place they can sit and do their homework.

It's my job to make sure they have a clean bed to sleep in, and a clean pillow to sleep on!

It's my job to make sure they grow up to be responsible adults, realizing these things don't magically happen.

It's my job to make sure they are nice to each other, taking turns - waiting their turn.

It's my job to raise kind, gentle and loving human beings who know how to stand up for them selves and always do what's right.

It's my job to make sure they understand that I will love them unconditionally - I will always be there for them.

I stay at home, because it is my job! That IS what I do for a living! 

It is my responsibility as their mother, to make sure they know - no matter what, I am here. I am ready to help them, teach them, and learn with them!

 

 

I GET to do this! It's not always easy to realize, or remember that it's a blessing that I don't have to work to help support our family! I give out mass props to working mom's who work all day and STILL Have to do all of these things!! More power to ya!! I get to stay home and help our children learn. I get to be the one they come to when they've had a bad day at school, or if they've fallen off something I told them to get off of, and now they need a band aid and a hug (even if it comes with a bit of a scolding). Our children are my living - taking care of them is what I do all day.

In  "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" put out by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it clearly states "By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners."

 

So while I don't always like my job, who actually likes their job 100% of the time?  It is my job, and it is the most important job on the planet! It is a tough, messy, annoying and extremely rewarding job.

 

 

So to all my fellow SAHMs out there - Keep doing what you're doing!

Thank you for doing what you do! I know that we are where we're supposed to be, and our kids will thank us for all we do, even if it's not until they're older and doing what we're doing now.





Dear THAT Mom;

We all know the mom I'm talking about.

The mom wandering the grocery store with her kids in their pajama's practicing their latest karate and WWE moves in the aisle while she stands there deciding if the budget allows for nutritional substance over price value.

The one who is barely dressed, with the zombie eyes - 1,000 yard stare, thinking of all the lovely places she could be relaxing with her best friend (be-it her hubby or best girl friend) instead of fighting with the children over which portable yogurt and juice pouches they want in their "back to school" lunches.

That mom who is on the verge of tears if one more thing goes wrong that day.

The one who is struggling to remind herself why she doesn't just go get a job so that someone else can fight with them all day.

 

I see you!

I hear you!
I'm with you!

Today, I was THAT mom with THOSE kids!

We all are at some point in our parental lives!

At some point, we are all that mom in the store who's kids might look a little homeless, because let's face it, getting dressed just wasn't a fight that was on the menu this morning. After cleaning up mess after mess after mess from the very inquisitive 2 yr old, at least all the children are fed and have some form of clothing on!!!!

It's ok to be her.

It's ok, if your kids are your least favorite people for a day....or two.
As long as we are still providing food, clothing, a hug and a good job through out the day, it's ok to have a bad day, to be a grouch and just want to crawl back into bed.

We are all human, and deserve a freebie day. A day where we can all just wear pajamas and if all we get done is the grocery shopping then, Good for you!! You accomplished something! Now go put you pajamas back on and find a movie that your kids will snuggle down too! After a shopping trip like that, it's all your kids really need - some popcorn, a movie and an hour and a half where their mom isn't too busy to snuggle them.
I gaurentee you, you will feel better, and they will be back on your top (however many people are in your family) favorite people list.

So, now that I've accomplished the grocery shopping, and done a load of dishes (I'm unstoppable today, I know) I will locate the Muppet Treasure Island movie, pop some corn for my munchkins and we are turning the rest of the world out....because I need a "mommy love" recharge!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

An awfully big adventure

For our 10 year anniversary we decided to be adventurous and embark on a 15 mile (roundtrip) Backpacking hike up to Echo Lake. I dropped the kids off at my parents for their annual week of "Papa's Pirate Camp" and we shopped for fun camping stuff, and packed our packs and headed out Sunday after Church.

 

 

It's all very exciting and fun when you first start out!!!

 

Pumped up and ready for our adventure, we started down the trail!!

 

We hiked for about 2.5 miles before we stopped to camp, just past the 2nd Greenwater Lake. The spot we camped in was surreal. It was the kind of beauty you don't realize even exists until you are there to experience it. Picturesque doesn't even BEGIN to describe it.

We had to cross a fallen log, over the river to get to this hidden gem of a spot, but it was SO worth it.
We did take pictures of it, but the flash wasn't on, so they didn't come out.

We had to cross over the river, back and forth, many times. Not all the bridges were fun to cross, but at least some had a hand rail to hold on to!

 

 

The next morning we got up and got going about 9:45am. It was going to be about 4.5 miles, and a 1300 foot elevation climb, so we wanted plenty of time to do it. We took our time, stopping to rest our bodies (which are pretty out of shape) several times along the way.

 

This was one of the scariest bridges we crossed. The original bridge had been washed out, so the WTA was working on this new one...I don't do well with bridges w/o sides, but what's life without doing a few scary things once in a while, right?!

 

I made it across the bridge, and felt pretty proud of our accomplishments so far.

 

 

The rest of the hike was pretty brutal.

1300 feet in 4.5 miles, you can imagine how intense the uphill action was.

I don't know if you can tell, but we got pretty soaked with sweat (Shexy, I know)!!

 

 

There is a magical feeling that overcomes you, when you finally reach your destination. After such a treacherous climb, that moment we first saw the lake, we heard angels sing!! It was a magnificent sight to behold!

We made the rule when we started, "No pictures unless one of us is in it" When we reached the lake, we made an exception. After 5ish miles, It was amazing! 

 

 

 We hiked up to the tip of the lake and found a good spot to stop and have lunch about 2pm, before finding a spot to set up camp.

The beauty that surrounded us was breathtaking!!

Almost....ALMOST made us forget about the hike, ok! Who am I kidding. We didn't forget, we just appreciated a place to sit and eat.

 

After lunch, we hiked back down to the base of the lake and found the most perfect spot to set up camp! The view of the lake was outstanding! We were able to set up our tent so that it was the first thing we would see when we opened the tent door. It was perfectly romantic and worth the hike!!

We (and by we, I mean HE) set up the tent, filled water bottles, quickly got out snacks, hung our bear bag, set our sleeping bags out, took our shoes off (my feet literally sang with joy), and laid down!
The feeling of relaxing was incredible. Our bodies were worn out, pushed to, what we thought was, their limit! Our bodies needed, and deserved this beautiful break!!

 

Loved this view!!

 

 

 After about 30 mins of relaxing, we heard some people hike into the camp site. It was plenty big for 2 tents, so we had already decided that someone else could take the other half of the site, if they wanted to. Who doesn't enjoy making a few new (human) friends, while enjoying nature, right?!

They weren't fellow backpacking for the "fun" of it, they were forest rangers, coming to bring news of a forest fire "just on the other side of the ridge". We were asked to pack up and evacuate the mountain.

My heart sank clean into my toes. My gut twisted as I turned around and saw the smoke, billowing up behind the trees. My brain went to mush. I couldn't think clearly, I was in full on panic mode.
Luckily Greg sprang into action, getting everything gathered up, and letting me know what he needed help with. He packed my sleeping bag for me, I went and got the bear bag, and we loaded our packs back up. Fortunately we just filled our water bottles, so we didn't need to do that.
It took us about 45 mins to get everything packed up and head back down the mountain, we made it out of camp around 4pm.

(Keep in mind that by this time we have already hiked close to 5.5 miles, if you count the 1/2 mile up and back down the lake)

 

The sun was emanating blood read beams, that shone on the trees as a terrifying reminder (as if we needed one) of what we were hiking away from.

We only had about 3-4 hours until it was dark, and 7ish miles until we were back to our car.

  

 

Forest fires is a huge fear of mine, well, getting caught in any fire is a big fear of mine. So needless to say, stress was running a bit high. I felt like we were running down the mountain. We weren't. We had to go at a somewhat slow pace, because of how narrow and rocky the trail was in some places, but we hiked down as fast as we were able to. We had to stop because our bodies were already exhausted and in pain, but we had no choice, we had to push on and keep going.

 

We made it down to the car about 845ish.

We were so exhausted. I don't remember ever feeling so, completely wiped out.

In my mind, we still weren't in the clear, we still had an hour, hour and a half car drive home, that we needed to stay awake for....but, with each other, and a few prayers, we made it!!!

Through all of it, we never fought, argued or got cross with one another. We motivated and encouraged one another. It was an incredible bonding experience for us! We definitely made it out stronger as people and stronger as a couple. It is incredible what your bodies are capable of, the unknown limits they have. The ability to push forward until we got home, into our beds.

It was an experience we will never forget, and an anniversary story we'll probably never stop telling.

 

Here's to one decade down, and an eternity to go!!!!

 

 

Boredom is underrated

I have been seeing a lot of "Summer Boredom Buster" posts lately, all captioned with something along the lines or "Don't let your kids get bored" or "Boredom doesn't exist in our house, here's why" or "Combat the Boredom Bug with these simple crafts". It got me thinking...
Is being "bored" really that terrible for our children?!
What are we doing?! We are killing ourselves all while pumping ourselves full of chemical mood enhancers...all for what?! So that our darling child, is constantly entertained?!
To this I say NO!
Kids need to be bored. They need to learn how to self entertain! They need to know how to be sitting in a room, without the TV on, and be able to come up with an idea! If we are constantly telling our kids what to do, and spoon feeding them the next activity on the agenda, they will never learn how to think and plan for themselves. They will never figure out that it's ok to not have anything to do, and maybe that means you should read a book, take a nap, pick up some clothes, go outside and invent a new game......

I am no "expert" in child rearing, I have not formally studied psychology or child education, but I am a mother to 3 kids, who occasionally get bored. I don't plan out their summer with a list of 100 things to do. The entire school year is planed and scheduled out, summer vacation should be just that....a VACATION!! We fly by the seat of our pants. I don't tell the kids "tomorrow we're going to the zoo!!!!!" Because what if tomorrow comes, and Bubba didn't sleep well, or Bear woke up entirely WAY too early so he's going to need a nap, or we get an hour into our day and Bug decides that going potty in the toilet is overrated....I have the option of changing plans, and the kids are none the wiser. We go to the zoo a different day, a better day, and no one is mad at me because life happened and we had to change our plans. Some days are just meant to be TV/Jammy days.

While I believe that children need to learn how to be adaptable, they also should be spared disappointment when at all possible. 

Am I saying you should never do fun crafts or activities with your kids? Of course not. Hanging out making silly animals out of cups is fun, but it's also fine if your kids are bored once in a while. Let them figure out what to do when there is nothing to do.

Now, if you will excuse me.....I have a mess or two to clean up....because I'm a mom, and my kids are messy.

Why Summer is the best ever

Anyone who knows me knows I am a summer child. I live for summer!

I freeze all Winter, endure the depressing rain of Spring and Autumn, all because I know that just around the very long corner, is a glorious, hot day!!!

Something magical happens in summer. Everyone seems to be happier. Even people who don't do heat are happier, because the sun is out!!! I love nothing more than filling up some water balloons and squirt guns and heading out to the back yard for some "at home water park" action!! The kids are screaming and yelling and giggling and laughing and no one cares, because all the kids are outside playing in the warm weather. The colors are magnificent!! Neon and jewel tones fill all the shops. Happy colors that say, "let's go out side and eat popsicles and drink from the hose. Let's go to the beach and play baseball in the park. Let's eat watermelon and corn on the cob. Let's roast marshmallows and cover ourselves in smooth and sticky melted chocolate from our S'mores.

Summer makes me happy to my very core. It makes every part of me want to run screaming and laughing as if I were a small child. It brings out the kid in me.
I want nothing more than to wear my swim suit and flip flops every single day (that's about 80), because all you should have to do in summer is be outside playing. Boating, fishing, camping, watering, enjoying this amazing earth that our Heavenly Father has blessed us with. Given us to tend and enrich our lives!!

No chores! The house shouldn't be that messy because you're never in it!! No dishes because you only eat outside on paper plates and napkins you burn that night over the campfire. No laundry, except the swim suits and towels after dinner, because that's all you wear anyway!

Sunscreen and water balloons should be permanent items on your grocery list because you go through them so fast!

Summer is like a great big, giant hug. Just don't let it kiss you, that can get a bit painful.