This is where it is at....

Lately I have found myself saying or thinking that I wish I could just freeze this stage of my life. Not that everything is perfect, but family life right now really rocks. I love the ages of my kids, I love motherhood in these stages and I feel like things with Shawn and me are really jiving. I wouldn't mind staying here just a while longer.

Jackson is really starting to come into his own. His confidence is growing, he is finding his talents, and he really is starting to become a young man. I understand why boys receive the Priesthood at this age. He really is ready for more responsibility. Jackson is such a nice kid. Almost everyday I have someone tell me what a nice kid he is. There is a sweet little old lady across the street from us and he never misses taking her garbage out or bringing it in for her. He is so great with kids. I love how he plays with his little nephews, and I also love how in church he will pay special attention to the babies or say hello to the kids in the hall. He loves to spend time talking with me, and looks for an opportunity to really connect with people. He gets that from his dad.

He is also starting to really like the girls. He came home on Valentines day with this...


from a cute girl in his class who had asked him to be his Valentine. He felt bad he hadn't gotten her anything so we headed to the store to buy his first Valentine's present...so funny.

Jackson also had a great weekend in golf. He placed in his tournament in Sand Hollow, and I think realizes now that he can actually compete. It was a great confidence booster for him. I just really couldn't be prouder of him.

Emma is in the transition stage. She has really grown up but would like to be more grown up, yet she still really needs her mommy. She has lots of friends in school and is doing well. She is such a rules girl...I guess she gets that from me...she loves her instructions to be exact and then she will run with a project. She has come out of the stage when she needs me to sit at the table with her to do her homework, and likes to do things on her own. I couldn't ask for a better helper around the house or with Kendyll. Every mom should have an Emma to make their life easier. Emma loves to shop, and to create. She is starting to come out of her shell around the grownups and can really be a chatter box. One of the things that cracks me up about her is she loves to give every little detail of the things going on in her life, a book she is reading, or a tv show. Talk about play by play. She is excited for soccer to start in a couple of weeks. She is also doing really well at the piano, and I think she even likes it. She is surely my child with determination and gusto, really good at just about everything she does and always wanting to do more.

Britta is a goofball. She too found love this Valentines day. Here is the letter she got..
Britta is Issy (Because of her middle name Elizabeth) and Mark is Eldean (I am assuming that his his middle name) very little house on the prarieish... She is very twitterpated and gives me updates on a daily basis. I keep reminding her that she is six, to which she exclaims that she is seven...and then I remind her that she is seven.

Britta is doing her first play at the Draper theater. She having lots of fun. She got a new haircut and thinks she is the bomb. She is definetely the fun kid in the family...gets it from her daddy I am sure. She is also loving Chinese. We just had parent teacher conference and got to hear her communicate with her teacher. It was a treat.

Kendyll will forever be my baby. It doesn't matter if she is writing on the walls, throwing a tantrum or cuddling up with her daddy, I think she is the cutest thing in the world. I guess that is why my mom never made Casey do the dishes...I am understanding so much more now that I have a baby of my own. I love everything about her and keep asking her to stop growing, she promises, then she grows again...she is such a promise breaker....One of my favorite things about Kendyll is her lip syncing abilities. She will lip sync and act out any song with attitude. I love it. She is still in love with her bunny, I think she is on her fifth one because the others she literally wore out. She holds it's ear while she sucks her thumb. She will bring her bunny in the car with her for preschool so that she can "just get one more suck" before going in. I wish I had something that brought me that much comfort (with 0 calories).
The other day Kendyll had a friend over and we had made cupcakes. I went downstairs to check my emails. I was gone for five minutes. In the meantime the buzzer had rung on the cupcakes. I came upstairs to find that Kendyll had opened the over and removed them with the hot pads. They were sitting on the counter cooling. She had also cracked two eggs into two different bowls, beat them, and put them in the microwave for thirty seconds. When I entered the kitchen they were eating scrambled eggs waiting for the cupcakes to cool....what the heck, she can make lunch but can't get out of the car without "one more suck" of the thumb. I guess that is youngest child syndrome..