My Purpose

Spencer and I were discussing something philosophical, I'm sure, because that's how Spencer thinks.

Just a few minutes ago, I heard a noise. It's midnight...I shouldn't be hearing noises back in the boys bedroom. I went to check and found Spencer in the bathroom. I asked if he felt okay. He started to cry, which is classic Spencer when he's tired...well, or when he's been thinking about sensitive things. I asked him if he was crying because he was sick? No. Was he tired? Kind of. Was he sad? He didn't think so. So, what was bringing the tears? It was because Mommy came to check on him. He said that it made him cry because he was so happy that I cared enough about him to go check on him. He knows that he is my most favorite Spencer on the planet and that I loved him enough to make sure he was okay. That's what made my sweet, sensitive little 8 year old cry. I asked him if he had said his prayers. He hadn't and he was concerned that he was going to have bad dreams. I asked if he would like for me to say his prayer for him tonight. He said yes. So, instead of kneeling and praying the proper way, I held him in my arms and prayed for him...with him. Thanking Heavenly Father for helping us to have an eternal family. Asking Him to bless Spencer...to be with him through the night. After our prayer, I asked Spencer if he recognized the feelings of the Holy Ghost (beings that he's only been baptized for under 2 months I thought maybe he wasn't quite familiar)...then I reminded him of how comforting the Holy Ghost can be. He said he is familiar with that feeling. We agreed that since we'd prayed, he would go climb into bed and think happy thoughts of our family and the good feelings he has at home and also when he is at church. He would let the Holy Ghost comfort him and help him have a good night sleep.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because it is moments like this that define who I am and why I am here on this earth. I am a wife that loves the man that I married so much that I don't think being sealed to him for eternity is long enough. I am a mother that doesn't understand how my heart hasn't burst yet from the love and pride that I feel for my children. I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father, who loves me. He loves me so much that He sent me to this earth to two of the best parents ever...who raised me to know and love the Lord...who taught me never to settle, especially when it came to the person I were to marry. I didn't settle and I got one heck of a catch. This is my purpose. The messy house and the extra pounds on my big old butt...they are just extras that don't really matter in the end. Cuddling with my little boy, telling him how much I love him and sharing my testimony of the Gospel at 12:15 in the morning...that's just...it. What else can I say?

Well, I can say lots more because anybody who knows me knows that I don't know how to stop talking...but since it is now almost 1am and I'm not in my bed...I will just share a few fun pictures. We took the kids to our favorite little piece of sand in West Seattle because it has been gorgeous weather. Not a cloud in the sky and 80 degrees. Here are a couple of pictures to document our little fun day.

My four little blessings all huddled together having tons of fun!

Travis with his e-reader. He and I never leave home without them. (o:

Travis takes the boys out on the dock to see the jelly fish. Wasn't it gorgeous out there? (although...I miss the rain...sunny days are nice, but I love my rain!)

Cuter than cute...even with, um, I was gonna say bedhead, but she was asleep in a carseat, so...even with sweaty carseat hair. (o:

My best friend in the whole entire universe! (and his happenin' grandpa glasses) (He says he's not out to impress anyone...he's too old for that. These are practical and comfortable and I love him no matter what, so that's the end of that discussion.) (o:
Watching Little Miss pick up rocks.

We couldn't get a picture of Joseph holding still. He was having so much fun!

See...he's blurry. He had a blast getting water and taking it to the sand to try and make a sand castle.
Spencer had to analyze and observe before making his first move.
Connor found lots of dungeness crab shells.
That's pretty much it. It was a good day yesterday. Today we spent the day at my in-laws. We picked our first peas out of our garden. We all stood by the garden and ate the peas raw. Sooooo good.

Happy...

I was playing with my little girl today...we were singing songs and hanging her upside down...just having fun. She laughed and laughed. I watched my little girl for a while after...she walked around smiling and being silly...what a great example of someone who just loves life. Sure, she doesn't have bills to pay and laundry to do, and menu's to plan, but still...she loves life, she loves just being with her family...

I need to be more like our Little Miss. I need to stop and take a moment once in a while and just enjoy all the wonderful things I have been blessed with. I get so caught up in how I don't have things done...I forget about all the things that I have done...like four beautiful children that I helped create...and the wonderful man that makes my heart sing...even after 16 years.

I'm gonna go rock my baby girl to sleep now. (o:

Ballard Locks

Saturday we went to the Ballard Locks just for fun...

Little Miss had a blast just running and running and running....

The boys loved the sunshine...it was perfect...not too hot (like the day before was)

A Canadian Navy boat coming to 'invade' Seattle. (o:

Little Miss got her first pedicure that day. (o: She matched Mommy!

We had a pretty good 4th of July!

Connor was sick, but he had front row seats.

So did Little Miss.

Joseph and his dad---two peas in a pod.

He wanted to smell like a smoke ball...or something.

They were excited.

Thank you Indian Reservation for the totally cool, and cheap fireworks.

Travis had lots of fun.

His mom came out and enjoyed the festivities. His dad was in bed because he had knee surgery 2 weeks ago.

The kids had a blast. Connor was sick, but couldn't resist sneaking out once in a while.

The girls.

Joseph is a little pyro man. He had the most fun with his dad. Yay fire! He wears these headphone things every year because he has such sensitive hearing.

Spencer didn't like the loud booming, but he had a lot of fun. He ate a TON that night. I've never seen him eat so much! Must have been good food.

See how pale Connor is? He ended up throwing up not long after this. He's much better now though.

Trying to show Elizbeth how to stomp on Pop-Its. (o: She was very brave until the loud ones came along. But, I think she had a lot of fun too, even though she's so small.

New Email...

I have a new email address for all of you out there that I haven't gotten to email yet. (and for Rachael who went private...sent me an invite missy!) It is now dawnienelson@gmail.com.


Here are a couple of cute pictures of the kids from the other day...we went and played and bbq'd at G&G Nelson's. (o:





Condor and Peppo!
Playing ball with Daddy. Notice Lizbet was right in the middle of it all.

She LOVED the dirt!!!

The boys burned some boxes and cans. Here Joseph and Connor are playing fire fighters.

Elizabeth was in heaven playing outside!

A Preview...

...of Mom and Dad's visit so far.
We went to Alki...

Spencer got baptized...

Little Miss got cuter...

Spencer got baptized by Daddy...

Spencer wore his new suit...

We went to Seattle and Mom saw "Twilight" stuff...

Connor loves playing with Grandpa Clair...A LOT...

We went to Pike Place Market...

We ate at Ivar's...

We've just had a wonderful time. I am already warning Travis that there will be LOTS AND LOTS of tears on Thursday when they leave. I'm not sure how I am going to deal with it, but, since I have a good husband and cute kids...I'm sure I'll manage.

My Parents are Coming!

My mom and dad are coming to visit for a week! They will be here in 2 hours! It's been 5 years since Dad's been here. We are sooo excited! Dad will be able to speak at Spencer's baptism on Saturday. I'm so happy that they are able to come be with us. It's so difficult to live so far away!

Lots of pictures will be posted next week! (o: YAY!!!!!!

A Lot Going On...

...but mostly not things that I want to share. Here is a small sample... We are getting ready for my parents to come visit (our home is a disaster), I'm pushing myself to overcome some physical hurdles because I'm tired of not being able to lose weight (that takes a lot of energy-but I'm seeing some success), we are plugging along with our notebooking for school, Elizabeth still only believes in sleeping 2 hours a day and eating nothing...anyway...just busy.

More later.

Notebooking

I am getting hooked on a new method for homeschooling. Notebooking. It's kind of like scrapbooking, but not. Each boy has a 3 ring binder full of plastic page protectors. We do different activities and then put the pages that are made in the binders. Ummm...this is harder to describe than I thought. Okay...examples. We just finished reading a Magic Treehouse book about the Titanic. We studied some glaciers. The boys drew a picture of a glacier and described what they drew. That went into the notebook. Then, they wrote/drew a page of one thing they learned from the Titanic book. That went in. We are watching the show, "America, the Story of Us". After they watch each hour, they have to draw and write about what impressed them the most. Also, they painted terra cotta pots and then planted seeds to grow things. I took pictures of each child and their pot and they used that picture to make a page to go into the notebook. They do their copy work and in it goes. (yesterday their copywork was the poem, "Try, Try Again". They wrote it and are now memorizing it.

Anyway...I here are a couple of pictures from Josephs notebook to show what the heck I'm talking about. It has been very successful so far because my boys loooove to draw and color. Doing it this way has made it fun and interesting for them. Every day they love showing their book to their dad and telling him about the newest pages.




This is the cover to Joseph's notebook. Each boy decorated their notebooks according to what they love. This is a picture of Joseph being a famous monster truck driver. Notice the spotlights shining on him? (o:

Here is our home garden page...page 1. We will be taking another picture soon to document the middle stage and then the final stage. Again.. I love that the kids are free to add in their own personality. He did the assignment...which was to glue the picture down and write what he planted. The rest was just his creativity flowing.

Here is Joseph's page after we finished Hour of the Olympics.

I LOVE this page. He drew the minuteman shooting the redcoat. I didn't notice he spelled 'fighting' wrong until I scanned it.

Can you imagine 20 years from now...the boys showing their kids these notebooks? I love the idea that they will be able to see how much they improve in writing, drawing, describing etc.

So, I'm thinking that I might have finally found the method that my kids don't hate. We are still doing Saxon math, which they love and some additional grammar worksheets, which are in a different binder.

So...what do you think?

Here is a website that I am using for some inspiration.... www.notebookingpages.com.