String Bass!

Superstar had his first night-time orchestra concert last night. He did so great! When he said he wanted to play the bass I wasn't sure he was really up to it. It is SO huge and heavy, and he has not been super coordinated, but he loves it and is doing wonderful. What a great string program we have here in the Logan schools. We are really proud of Superstar!

Christmas Trees, Devotional, and Spirit!

So we just finished our traditional Sunday breakfast dinner. French Toast!(Yeah Toast!) We don't have that very often. There's one member of our family who doesn't love the Sunday breakfast dinner tradition. "Do we have to have breakfast dinner EVERY Sunday?" Last week we decided to make chicken instead and you should have heard the uproar! "What!? We're not having breakfast!? Why not?" I guess that tradition is a keeper.

Before that we all gathered around the Christmas Tree we bought and put up yesterday to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. The kids were all piled on the couch together(for some reason they insist on sitting really close together whenever possible--in church they complain that they're squashed--but they refuse to scoot down on the bench so they can have more space. At least they like to be together!) and Stephen and I on the love seat. We could smell the Christmas tree and had all the lights turned off except for the Christmas lights. What an experience to sit with our family in our own home to watch and listen to a prophet of God! What a blessing it is to have the technology to bring his voice and face right into our home to listen as he speaks to us.

Stephen and I were in our stake choir for stake conference today. I was feeling really grateful to have a voice to sing praises to the Lord. I don't get the opportunity very often these days to use that talent the way I would like(LOVE) to. There are other things that have higher priority right now. I was really grateful to join my voice with others in singing My Savior Will Supply My Need, Be Still My Soul, and I Believe In Christ and feel the power and spirit of that music and share it with the congregation.

Much of our stake conference was about the temple. I am so grateful to live within just a few minutes drive of the temple where we can go to feel peace and receive revelation. I'm also grateful for a husband who has tirelessly made sure that we attend the temple on a regular basis.  A member of our stake presidency said, "Distraction is a tool Satan uses to keep us from the temple." We have truly seen Satan at work trying to distract us from getting to the temple, but if we stay focused on the temple the Lord helps us to accomplish all of the needful things that are becoming distractions to us.

I don't know why, but it's taken me a while to really get in the Christmas mood this year--I'm usually ready by about July!  Today I was just feeling flooded with gratitude for so many things. We are so blessed. I guess I'm ready for Christmas now!

Happy Day :)

We had such a great Thanksgiving! We invited all the Bartons and the Dunns and a few friends and neighbors to come to Logan and join us for Thanksgiving dinner. We had 40 people at the church with lots of food and basketball and toys. It was crazy and wonderful. And wouldn't you know it but I was too busy to get out the camera to take even one picture.

That night as I went to brush my teeth I walked into the bathroom to find this...

...on the bathroom floor! The glow stick artist has been here today. I thought DaVinci took a really long time to brush his teeth and now I know why. This is the kind of art you can't really keep. Thank goodness for cameras :)

busy busy busy, and happy anyway :)

There has been so much going on I haven't really had time to put it all here. Superstar had his 10th birthday, DaVinci & Superstar had their first promotion at karate, Relief Society, scouts, swimming, etc., etc., etc.  Today I just want to share this quote from Mother Theresa. I got it from my friend Lacy's blog and I love it. So here you go!

People are often unreasonable and self-centered.

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives.

Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you.

Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous.

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.

Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.

It was never between you and them anyway."

— Mother Teresa



Family Pictures!

 OK everyone, this is a test to see how many people really look at this blog. We took some family pictures and want to blow one up big to put on our wall but I can't decide between these two. Leave a comment with your opinion! Thanks :)

From Cutie: How did Heavenly Father make us? Did he do a science experiment?

A Breakthrough(or two)!

I posted this picture a couple of years ago never imagining that I would ever want to do anything but stand on the sidelines taking pictures of others crossing the finish line, but as I've shared before I felt prompted to start running about 1 1/2 years ago. I had heard from several people that if you can run three miles you can keep running and running and running. It doesn't really get any harder but up to now I have never been able to feel that for myself. I pretty much always take breaks and walk. Sometimes a LOT.

It's been getting easier lately. I don't know what has made the difference, maybe just experience, but this morning I ran 3.4 miles without walking at all. It felt really good and I wasn't any more tired than when I walk a lot. I really could have kept going for a long time more. That is amazing to me and that is breakthrough #1.

The second breakthrough is definitely of more importance. I've been reading the book Christlike Parenting by Glenn Latham and decided to apply these principles in my parenting. Last night I found out about a meeting I needed to go to at the last minute and left my children home with instructions to make dinner. I came home an hour and a half later to half made dinner and chaos. But remembering what I had been reading I used a calm voice, I didn't criticize, I didn't tell anyone anything they already knew and the results were miraculous. When I calmly asked DaVinci and Superstar to look around the kitchen and see what needed to be done to be ready for dinner they both jumped to clear and wash the table off and set it for dinner. Then DaVinci proceeded to start doing the dishes so as to save him work after dinner. It's not that there was no contention--that might take a little more time--but the fighting was over who could get the work done the quickest!

Cutie really likes to think he is a baby and can't do anything for himself---that has really been a pain lately. But last night and this morning he was telling me wasn't a baby. He didn't want to get dressed this morning and time was running short. I told him that he would deny himself the priviledge of wearing clothes to school or having breakfast if he didn't get dressed in time. When the full responsibility of the choice and consequence was put on his shoulders he was very quick to do what he was supposed to. 

I am very grateful for the principles taught in Christlike Parenting and one of Dr. Latham's other books, The Power of Positive Parenting. They've helped me so much!

Signs of Fall

I just got home from walking Cutie and Superstar to school. I saw an interesting sight on the way home. There are grasshoppers everywhere this year. They are so annoying...especially when I'm walking to church and I think they're going to jump up my dress! But this morning I noticed where some of them go at night when it's cold. They were under the yarrow blooms in a neighbor's yard. They were like little umbrellas with big, ugly grasshoppers sleeping underneath. I just had to take some pictures.

I LOVE fall. I love the colors. I love the cooler temperatures. I love getting ready for the holidays. Fall is such a relief from the heat of the summer(although this week is forecasted to be pretty summer-like in temperature!). In front of the school is a small tree looking so fallish(?). The leaves had all changed and half of them were in a pile at the base of the trunk. All the kids were walking by and commenting about the leaves having fallen off already.

It's such a miracle to me to see the seasons change. Heavenly Father made such a beautiful world for us to live in and I'm so grateful to be part of it!

September

Bales of hay on a golden field

Sunflowers sag with their load of seed

Sizzling temperatures fizzle out

Green and yellow speckled trees

All the world glows green and gold

September's here again

Hiking to the Wind Caves

We had my nephews and niece staying with us last weekend while their parents were off on an anniversary trip so to get out of the house we took them on a hike to the Wind Caves in Logan Canyon.

Poor Pete(or lucky?) got to ride on people's shoulder's the whole time. Here you can see Juice's hair(she took this picture). He fell asleep on Stephen's shoulders about 3/4 of the way up.

It was lots of fun(and hard work)!

Discovery Gateway

We had some free passes to go to Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake. DaVinci got them at school so we decided to use them before they expired at the end of August. Cutie thought the life flight helicopter was pretty cool. But the biggest hit by far was the area that had all kinds of building toys. Everyone insisted that they had to have their picture taken with their creation made of these Wedgit(?) toys. We spent a really long time there and had to drag everyone away when it was time to go :)

Cub Scouts

I know this is kind of out of order but on July 24, Pioneer Day in Utah, Superstar got to march in the parade here in Logan with his Cub Scout pack. He was sooooo excited. Thank goodness for new leaders(instead of me ;) that have new ideas!

It's kind of hard to see him in these pictures but he's the one right in the middle with the cowboy hat and cub scout shirt :)

In August there was a Raingutter Regatta. I must say that this is my favorite cub scout derby because the actual race is so interactive. The boys have to create their own wind power instead of just watching a car go down the track. Superstar had so much fun even though he didn't win :(

First Days of School

Wednesday August 18 Cutie and Superstar started first and fourth grades. Cutie was SOOOO excited. Superstar was much less so but here they are in front of the school on the first day :) (By the way, Superstar has decided maybe it's not so bad now that three weeks have gone by)

DaVinci started MIDDLE SCHOOL (!?!) on Thursday, the 19th. How did he get so old? He was excited and nervous and all the things that go with moving up to middle school and he's doing fantastic. I don't have to remind him about homework or anything!

Sonny Pie didn't think we should take a picture of him on Friday, his first day as a SENIOR at Logan High School so here's a picture of his belated birthday cake we made for him the night before. He got home from camp Thursday evening and went to school the next morning. No worries about him! He's getting letters from all kinds of colleges(even Harvard!) and just doesn't want to have to choose :)

Magical

Riding, riding, riding in the car

Changing seats every half hour

Missed the turnoff at Idaho Falls

Find a place, turn 'round

Bumpy, rocky, bumpy dirt road

Seems like forever to get there

Trees and dirt and scouts everywhere

Lovely lodge, good food

 

Creeping, sneaking, tip-toeing up behind

Don't let him see us yet

Happy Birthday Sonny Pie!

It's my birthday? It is!

Flickering, shining, glowing campfire

Laughing at skits and cheers

Patriotic thoughts abound

Down the trail to bed

Hiking, swimming, playing outside

Freezing in the lake

Creatures and plants to explore

Thought provoking film

 

Flashing, booming, pouring rainstorm

Shaking the whole lodge

Children playing under the eaves

Love the summer rain

 

Morning, shining, walking to church

In the summer sun

Feel the spirit out of doors

Learn to be our best

Packing, lunching, hugging, leaving

Find our way back again

See him in a few more weeks

When he's back at home

A misnomer

When I started this blog a couple of years ago I decided to use nicknames for my children for privacy purposes. It was so easy to come up with the right names for Juice, Sonny Pie, Superstar & Cutie but Silly Guy was a puzzle. He is rather silly sometimes-- like when he's wearing a chicken hat we got for free from the grocery store and singing "cock-a-doodle-doo" along with the radio in the car, or when he pretends to call me to tattle on his brother and get him in trouble--but silly doesn't really encompass who Silly guy is like the names of the other kids.

So after much consideration and discussion with Silly Guy his name is being changed to......oh let me explain first.

This boy is a little bit of everything---artist, author, athlete, scientist, worker, builder, tease, sensitive, tough---it's really difficult to sum him up in one or two words. So there's someone in history who I think of that way also--he was an artist, scientist, author, philosopher, and who knows what else('cause I'm not really a historian!). From what I have learned this person was so diverse and difficult to sum up in a word or two so we decided to re-nickname(is that a word?) Silly Guy after him.

He never did like being called Silly Guy and so we are thrilled to announce that
his new blog nickname is now DaVinci because he is so diverse just like Leonardo DaVinci.

What is a hero?

This morning Superstar came to me talking all about how a hero never submits. He was very anxious for me to know that he wanted to be a hero by never submitting. I was prompted to use this as a teaching moment and gave him some food for thought by telling him that sometimes a hero is someone who does what's right even when everone else around them is not. Or sometimes a hero is someone who admits when he's been wrong.

I am grateful for heroes in my life who have taught me these concepts and been good examples of them. Especially my wonderful children who are much better at standing up for the right than I was at their age!

6 years old!

I am behind about a week as you can tell but Cutie had a fantastic 6th birthday last week. In between opera dress rehearsals we had tickets to we managed to fit some balloons, presents and cake & ice cream. He was so excited to get a new slip-n-slide, swim goggles, and a really cool shark swim towel. What a great day!

9.3

Well I did it! I ran in the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15k on July 3. It was really hard! Between miles 3 and 4 my left hip started hurting and that made it even harder. The last two miles I was really slow but I finished in 1:52.47 overall which was just a little slower than I had hoped for. It was kind of fun to do this with my hubby although he's much faster and more experienced than me. He asked me afterwards if I wanted to run in the Top of Utah Half Marathon in September and I told him I am done with long runs for this year. But we'll see what might come up next year!

Happy Fathers' Day!

Summer on the run! (In more ways than one)

Wow! Summer is here. Every year I think that when school gets out things will get so much more relaxed and easy going but it never happens that way---swimming lessons, summer orchestra, Juice needs the car for work, eat lunch at the high school, summer job lists and fun activities when the jobs are done. It seems like we never get to slow down. So when am I supposed to do the laundry or make dinner? School has been out for two weeks and Silly Guy said to me yesterday, "School has only been out for two weeks but it seems like forever!" Oh boy, we better make more plans. 8 1/2 weeks to go! Maybe a trip to Bear Lake for a couple of days or to visit Sonny Pie at Camp Loll for the weekend :)

Speaking of Sonny Pie at Camp Loll he left yesterday morning for the whole summer. This is the third summer he's gone but somehow I'm more sad(sadder?) to see him go this year. He's just so dependable and easy going(most of the time) and good company. We're going to miss him!

I'm also literally on the run because I'm training to run in the Blacksmith Fork Freedom Run 15k with Stephen. I ran(and/or walked) 7 miles this morning. That's the farthest I've ever run. I get up early to run before everyone else is up(at 5:30 this morning because I was running so far). I like to go early while it's cold outside. Also, once everyone is up things get too busy and I never get it done. The race is in two weeks. It's pretty amazing that a little over a year ago I would never have even considered considering training for a race but here I am. It's still pretty hard for me but I kind of like it.

I feel so blessed that I am able to do all I do. I don't know how I manage it all and being the Relief Society president too. That job hasn't been too hard so far. Thank goodness I don't really know all I should be doing yet. I think it will get busier as I go along--and bring more blessings with it.

Sydney Australia Jones and the Ghost Town of Doom!

Superstar has been participating in Unicorn Theatre, a children's theatre class, for the past several weeks. It has been so good for him and he has LOVED LOVED LOVED it. On the last day we got to go and seen them perform a play they made up themselves entitled Sydney Australia Jones and the Ghost Town of Doom!

I'm so glad opportunities like this are available! I only wish I would have known about this one for my older kids!

Sonny Pie

Well our Sonny Pie is doing us proud once again! He was asked to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting last Sunday on how he is preparing for the Melchezidek Priesthood. I asked him what his topic was and he told me then disappeared into his room for a long time.

If the bishopric member who asked him to speak had known him very well he would have told Sonny Pie how long his talk should be because Sonny Pie gave a FANTASTIC 15-20 minute talk using the purposes of the Aaronic Priesthood as a guide for preparing for the Melchizidek Priesthood. He filled so much time that the bishop rearranged the program and bumped one of the other speakers to next week!

Of course EVERYONE was just thrilled and telling us over and over how great it was and Sonny Pie like his usual self hated all the attention.

And then he wonders why he is always chosen to be the leader of everything! :)

Relief Society......what?

President...It's been over two weeks since I got the call and I'm just starting to be able to say it out loud. I am the Relief Society President. Wow.

Heavenly Father let me stay comfy and cozy in my comfort zone in Primary for so long....I really liked it there. But I guess it's time for me to stop playing with my kids and spend some time with my sisters. I really like having sisters! The ones I grew up with are amazing and wonderful women and there are many more amazing and wonderful women all around me.

OK.....I have never been one to hang out with the girls very much. I always did relate to the boys better and I live with a bunch of boys now and for the last 17 years.

But who the Lord calls the Lord qualifies. I have a testimony of that. So He will qualify me. He will help me be able to know and meet the needs of the women in my ward. I don't know how but I'll put my trust in Him and it will all work out. :)

clubs

"Now that you're a boy you can be in our club!"

--- Cutie, upon seeing his sisters super short haircut for the first time

The First Ever Barton Family Read-a-thon!

So it was Sonny Pie's turn to choose our family night activity tonight. He came up with a surprisingly popular idea---a read-a-thon! He had everyone put on their pajamas and get their blankets before he even told anyone what we were doing. He made some chocolate chip cookies and everyone got a good book to read.

When he told us what we were doing everyone was so excited. Silly Guy was literally bouncing up and down on his seat he was so excited.

What a fun activity!

Some thought on concert attire

Tonight Juice & I and my mother and sisters are going to the Utah Symphony. We're all very excited! Someone has asked what the attire should be for the evening and as I was discussing this with Juice she taught(or reminded---I'm not sure which) me something that I think is important.

She used to be upset with us because we insisted that she get dressed up for interviews with the bishop. We told her that he would get dressed up in his suit to interview her and she should respect that and get dressed up also.

She told me that going to a concert is like a bishop's interview--the performers get dressed in their nice clothes to come perform and it shows respect for their effort and practice and work to dress up to go watch them perform. As a performer I have always thought it is important to dress up for concerts whether performing or listening, but I never put it into words or thoughts quite so clearly.

Thanks Juice for your insights!

Spring Break/Moab--Rock Art!

At my insistence we went to find some ancient petroglyphs that are available to be seen near Moab. They were really cool. Everyone thought so. I don't know why it was so hard to convince them that we wanted to see them. It really is interesting to think about what the people who made these drawing may have been depicting. Some of them are obvious, like animals, but others you have to wonder about. I put some of our thoughts on some of these pictures.

Spring Break/Moab--part 2

Here we are under Delicate Arch which is sooo amazing. I've seen a thousand pictures of it but the real thing is so awe inspiring!

Cutie loved having his picture taken everywhere we went so here is his hiker pose.

What Superstar loved the most(and the rest of them) was climbing on the rocks everywhere we went. It was so fun that most of the hikes and arches we could walk right up to and under and climb around on the rocks. This was one of the most relaxing, unbusy, fun vacations we've ever been on!

Spring Break/Moab!

We had the best vacation during spring break this year. We went to Moab, UT and camped for four nights. It was pretty cold at night this early in the year, but it was so fun! We spent three whole days hiking in Arches National Park. When we were planning this trip I really thought we would have to find other stuff to do---and there is a lot of other stuff around there--- but the kids LOVED Arches.

We spent the first two days going on all the hikes and seeing all of the amazing landscape there.

Then the third day when we asked the kids what they wanted to do they very excitedly asked to go back on several of the hikes again so that's we spent the third day doing.

The pictures really cannot do justice to the amazing landscape there.

It was funny how everyone had to touch every gigantic rock we stood next to. We told them they now have a lot of 'pet rocks'

The Lord's Hand

Sonny Pie was sure that the only way he could possibly finish his homework that was due today was by skipping early morning seminary to work on it. He knew he hadn't planned his time very well to finish it but now it was down to the wire and he had to finish or ruin his grade. His mother said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of Heaven and all these things shall come to pass." He had heard that before of course.

So grumpily he went to school knowing that his math grade was history.

When he came home from school his mom asked how his day had been and he was pleased to say(a little sheepishly), "You know what? We got an extra day to finish that math assignment!"

Thank the Lord for being true to a mother's good advice!

Happy 11th Birthday Silly Guy!

Silly Guy is 11! How the time flies! So I have to explain the cake---Silly Guy invented a superhero called Magnetoman a while ago. Sonny Pie helped him design a logo for this new superhero and Silly Guy really really wanted it on his cake. So--here it is---made by Sonny Pie himself!
Silly Guy planned a birthday party for himself. They played frisbee and basketball, then watched a movie and ate pizza.

And of course had cake and ice cream :)

I think it was a good day!

Arrow of Light

So Silly Guy got his cub scout Arrow of Light--the highest award in cub scouts. He was so excited and it was really fun to have so many of his friends getting it along with him!

The Order of the Arrow(from the BSA) came and did the ceremony to present these awards. It was so fun.

Silly Guy is really growing up. He's so excited to be a boy scout and do lots of new things!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We had a great time at a party for Mom's birthday. Dad asked all of us to participate in a program in her honor. Unfortunately I didn't get video of everyone, but I did get this one!

Lengthen Your Stride!

As you may know I've started to try to be a runner in the last 6-7 months. I've been surprised at some of the things I've been learning from running. For example today I learned what it means to lengthen your stride. I have always heard that phrase because President Kimball used it to help members of the church try a little harder. That made sense to me, but as a runner it became even more meaningful.

Until recently I've been running outside all the time. I didn't really know how fast I was running or exactly how far. With winter upon us I found that when it was below 20 degrees I just couldn't do it. So from Thanksgiving until the beginning of January I didn't run at all. But now we have a treadmill so I can keep running during the winter. Running on a treadmill is different than running outside. There's nothing to look at except the wall or the display that shows my speed, distance, calories burned, etc. It's very boring that way. I've had to work up to my same level as before over the last couple of weeks. It's kind of harder knowing exactly how far I've gone. It seems like it takes forever to get anywhere!

The point of all this is that in my boredom I notice more about how I run--technique I guess. I've discovered that when I wanted to go faster I was taking more short steps which tired me out---fast! But when I just stretched my legs a little bit farther instead of taking more shorter steps the difference in speed didn't affect my fatigue very much at all. So by lengthening my stride just a little I could cover a lot more distance without getting too tired to endure.

So what President Kimball was saying was that we just need to stretch a little bit farther in our efforts to do what is right and we can be much better people with just a little bit more effort. President Hinckley was always telling us to try just a little bit harder each day to be a little kinder, a little bit more loving, a little bit more like the Savior. It's the same idea and that's what I want to do.

Skiing!

For the first time in over twenty years I went skiing yesterday. Every year Stephen's work has a discount night at Beaver Mountain in Logan Canyon and he and some of the kids go every year. We've always had kids that were too little so I would stay home or in the lodge with them.
But this year we decided that Superstar and Cutie were old enough to try so we bought tickets for all of us. So with two first-timers and me practically a first timer(this is only my second time ever) we went up the mountain.

Juice and Sonny Pie couldn't come so Stephen had his hands full trying to help everyone but we all had fun. Superstar kept hollering, "That was totally AWESOME!," whether he stayed up or fell down and Cutie was so cute(imagine that). Everytime he made a pizza(or snowplowed) he stuck his elbows out as well as the back of his skis.

In the end I think everyone was happy. Superstar got to go up the lift and down the big hill once after much practice on the small hill and Cutie made it down the little practice hill all by himself on his last try. I learned a great lesson that applies to more than just skiing. It's very easy to fall. The hard part, but most worth it, is getting back up to try again!