You might say I'm a dreamer...

Okay, so I have to share something - It's more of a reminder to myself as well as some info you might all enjoy.

So, I have dreams. Not just normal dreams, but often Heavenly Father speaks to me in my dreams. Some of you have read about the dream I had that helped me find our toyroom. I had a dream just before Jeff was called into the Bishopric...I decided I need to keep a dream journal as a family reminder of the Lord's hand in our life. Anyway, about a year ago I had a very vivid dream...

We were looking for a new house. Every house that Jeff and I walked into seemed to be the same - there was tons of hardwood and really high ceilings and big open kitchens. We went into home after home and they were all the same, they were all beautiful,but I just couldn't get excited about any of them.

Then we walked through another house. It was older and very quirky. The ceilings were lower, it was smaller, I remember that in the middle of the living room wall there were two steps up into another bedroom. It was just weird! But I was getting all excited and feeling like "this is the house!" Then we walked through the small kitchen and opened a door where we stepped down into this great storage room. It was dark and had really low ceilings but it was like a mini grocery store. There were several freezers and lots of shelves and you could walk in there and find all the ingredients to make almost anything you'd want. Jeff and I knew that was the house for us!

I can still to this day remember all the little details about this dream. I know that I am supposed to do whatever I can to create a safe haven for my family. Whenever I am tempted to yearn for a bigger, newer, more beautiful home (mainly a bigger kitchen) I remember my dream and how excited I was over that weird little house simply becasue it had everything I needed to take care of my family.

Jeff and I have been working on making that dream a reality. In recent years we have expaned our pantry. We have our 12 month supply of staples packed away in the kids' closets and under their beds. What we don't have is our 3 months supply of food we eat everyday. Somehow I have to re-create that weird little room with shelves and freezers that held everything we needed. We will have to be very creative to find the space and money to make this happen but I know it's what my family needs to do.

I wanted to share with all of you food-storage focused friends that I found a coupon for $100 off of those Shelf Reliance food rotations shelves. We have one and I just love it! go to www.pinchingyourpennies.com and scroll down to the bottom for the coupon.

Sami's Song

Sami is really enjoying her piano class. She especially enjoys composing her own songs. Her is her latest composition.

What color crayon are you?

You Are a Yellow Crayon

Your world is colored with happy, warm, fun colors. You have a thoughtful and wise way about you. Some people might even consider you a genius. Charming and eloquent, you are able to get people to do things your way. While you seem spontaneous and free wheeling, you are calculating to the extreme. Your color wheel opposite is purple. You both are charismatic leaders, but purple people act like you have no depth.

What Color Crayon Are You?

runnin' in the rain

 

 

 

 

These pictures were taken over conference weekend. We had a storm in between sessions on Saturday. Something you should know about Josi is that she loves to be outside. Her first words were coo-coo (for cookie or cracker), dog, and side (for outside). This was Josi's first rain storm and she just loved experiencing it. She would have stayed out there all day if her mother hadn't have been worried about her freezing to death.

Max can hunt

 

 

Max and Jeff enjoyed their first hunting trip together last saturday. They went out to Middleton and hunted with Uncle Tom. Max was unsure at first about going hunting but we remined him what a fabulous fisherman he turned out to be this summer and then Jeff promised him a chance to shoot the gun - that was the decision maker for Max. Max really enjoyed the hunting dog and hearing dad tell him stories about when he was a boy. Max ran in the door holding out the phesant feet and chased all the screaming girls around the house. Jeff really enjoyed getting out. It's so fun to have our kids be our buddies as they get older.

Max's New Blog

So, I wanted everyone to know that Max now has his own blog. It can be found at www.maximumoverdrive-hurst.blogspot.com. It is very fun and he thinks it is super cool. He has already added some of his favorite funny stuff so check it out and leave him a comment to read!

Proposition 8 in Plain English

Protect Marriage

I was really touched by this news story concerning the implications of legalizing same-sex marriage.

I love Sister Dalton!

Sister Dalton (General Young Women President) came to the area in September. She held a training for the Stake Young Women Presidencies that I was thrilled to be able to attend. It was one of those meeting that just changes who you want to be. I will always remember it. The following day she held a fireside for the young women in the area. It was one of those meetings that changed who they want to be. Here is a thank you video that I put together to send to her.

Learning Technics & Let's Play Music

There are 2 programs out there that have blessed my family ALOT. I just wanted to share the progress of my kids and pass on some of the answers to our prayers in case they may also be the answers to some of yours.

So, Max is fabulous and bright but has always had a hard time "focusing" "staying on task" "completing work" ect. Now, this is normal for kids but is was to an extreme for Max. Toward the end of first grade, he was below grade average and we were worried. He wasn't suffering so badly that he was going to the resource room or diagnosed with any type of learning disorder - he was just in that lower third that get forgotten and slip between the cracks. My blessed mother-in-law (whose been through everything) had used a program that we prayed about and eventually tried. It's called Learning Technics (that's not a mis-spell)www.learningtechnics.com and it's really changed Max and his future. After his evaluation we learned alot about his brain, the way it learned, and his personal deficiencies. Tonight is our last night of the 28 week program. I am so proud of Max. He went from being unable to track a moving object for more than 10 seconds to being able to hold his focus undivided for more than 7 minutes. His visual memory has been greatly improved and he now understands the steps it takes him personally to memorize and embed things in his brain. He has learned that everything is hard at first but that HE can succed if he calms down and practices. He has had so many personally succeses through this program. I was just about blown away at his parent-teacher conference to learn that he scored one point away from being above grade average. Now, his struggles aren't wiped away, but we now know how to break is down and make things more manageable and we know how he learns. Do you understand the gravity of this? We know how Max learns! We have the keys to his success. We have power; he has power. It is a wonderful feeling to know that there are tools when you feel hopeless. So, thank you mom, thank you Learning Technics, and thank you Max.

Now, Let's Play Music (www.letsplaymusicsite.com). Wow! What a program. It's designed by a BYU music teacher and is now a national franchise that a sweet friend began doing last year. My kids have learned so much! It is taught once a week in a group setting with about 8 kids. My kids think they are having a play date but they are really learning music theory. Can a 5 year old understand intervals? YES. Can a 5 year old recognize major & minor and appreciate classical music and associate the staff with the key board? Yes! It's a 3 year program and at the end these little musicians are writing their own music and transposing into different keys and playing at an intermediate level. Now, I know alot of you who would be incredible Let's Play Music instructors so look into it!

Christmas List

So, is it too early to start dreaming about my own Christmas list? I think not.
So this is the official EARLY Christmas list (subject to change due to my whims)
1) The 4 photo books that I've created on Shutterfly but have been unable to buy
2) The complete collection (minus the 2 I have) Max Lucado Children's books (the ones that are parables about us, our journey, and our relationship with God)
3) A wheat grinder - it's not exciting but if I have a year's supply of wheat, shouldn't I be able to use it if I need to?
4) The lights we bought a year ago actually put up (same goes for the little strip of trim in the kitchen)
5) A new pair of running shoes from The Pulse and a new pair of church shoes that weren't bought at Payless.


Now, what I REALLY want for Christmas but know that I can't have for like 10 years

A double oven with glasstop range.
Of course a new backsplash would have to come with it!

Tagged

So, I guess I was tagged late September by my super fabulous friend Whittney - but I took that month off. So here goes...

3 of my favorite latest purchases:
Compfy exercise pants from Target
retro green and blue fabric for curtains in my playroom
my pink Camelbak water bottle - seriously people - go buy one!

3 favorite movies:
Notebook
Brian Regan on Tour
That thing you do

3 things I haven't done yet:
the laundry
been on a cruise with my husband
enjoyed pregnancy

3 things I can't live without:
Jeffery
feeling creative and fulfilled
cuddling after the kids are asleep, watching TV, and having a late snack

3 favotite dishes:
Anything I didn't cook myself
Alice Springs Chicken from Outback
Grilled Corn on the Cob

3 favorite TV Shows: (only 3?)
Office - hands down!!
Survivor
Biggest Loser

3 places you've last traveled:
Cascade Idaho (thanks G&G Perry for the cabin!)
Idaho Falls (for the temple dedication)
Washington DC (thanks Jeff and Beneficial)

3 favorite desserts:
my homemade orange rolls - I'll post the recipe
chewy fudgy brownies
strawberry smoothies

3 things I'd buy if money weren't an issue:
A tent trailer
A 4 door truck
A newly remodeled and expanded kitchen

3 wishes:
For Whitney to adopt a child this year
For Max to pass off his mad minute at school
For Max and Sami to become best friends

tag 3 more people: Sarah Anne, Jen Duncan, Valerie Hurst

Yeah for Cami Jill

 

So, here is something I am VERY proud of! When we moved into our house 3 years ago this month - it needed alot of work. Jeff and I actually love home projects so we were not scared away. Before we even moved in we painted the entire interior, put in new carpet and I tiled the master bathroom floor BY MYSELF (another proud accomplisment). The next priority was to re-do the backyard. Seriously people, it was like Better Homes and Gardens threw up back there. We had to remove an enormous pond with tons and tons (literally) of lava rock that was just a death waiting to happen. There was almost no grass on this 1/4 acre. It was all rose bushes mixed with squash plants and cactus. Anyway - that has taken 2 summers and over 25 yards of dirt - to just clean up; now we have to start planting trees and stuff. Anyway, one thing I have hated from the very first walk through was the fireplace. I will try to find a before picture. It was this masive old fashion mantle (I usually like old things, but this had "saloon" written all over it) and this yucky grey tile. It just wasn't me. Ever since I've dreamed of a floor to ceiling stone fire place. And here it is. This took 3 working sessions spaced out over 5 months. I mean- what mom has 4-5 hour blocks to work on something? Jeff just about died the day he came home and found that I had ripped the old mantle and tile off the wall. "So, we're doing this now?" I had to remind him of the time he just started knocking down the wall in the pantry to expand it - it wasn't really planned - it just started happening! A guy in our ward owns a stone company and I got all the stone for $75. Jeff helped me put up the backer board, I got a beam from a lumber yard and beat it with chain and hammered screw marks into it and then stained it. I put all the stone up myself and started to grout. I found out that it is harder to grout stone than time and called a guy to finish the grout - $50. So, here is my $200 fireplace. I am so proud of it!<

Washinton DC

 
 
 
 

So, July and August were crazy busy at our house as you will soon see. I took September off of almost everything; just picking up the peices that got left behind. So, here is my report!

At the end of July Jeff and I went to Washington DC for a week. WOW! We try to do over-nighters every 3-4 months but we'd never really been away from the kids and on a real vacation. We had way too much fun. We went with Jeff's company who paid for EVERYTHING which was even better. We went to a national baseball game (a spiritual experience for Jeff); we went to dinner at this fancy restaraunt (which we were way under dressed for) and watched Bob Dole and other senators hob-nob; we stayed at the historic Willard Intercontinental Hotel where the Primeminister from Packistan and some African country were also staying there; we cried together at Arlington National Cemetary which is a sacred place if I've ever felt one; and stood amazed at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial; we were angry and sickened at the Holicaust Museum; we couldn't stop thinking about the kids at the National Museum of National History; and we just played at the Air and Space Museum which was rented out entirely for our company the last evening. WOW. We need to do that more often! I love you Jeff. You are still my best friend, boyfriend, soul-mate, and true love!

GIFT Fundraiser

 

 

 

 

I just wanted to let everyone know that the GIFT Fundraiser we had for the young father in our ward who has brain cancer was a huge sucess. It took about 4 months of intense preparation but that one day was worth it. I was overwhelmed with the goodness of people in our community. I love Meridian! Donors, and sponsors, and volunteers were absolutley wonderful. In the end we were ably to raise over $15,000 for this family. It was a good thing and I am thankful to my friend Suzy for being inspired and for letting me enjoy the journey. I learned so much! My favorite lesson learned was that people are good and they will give whatever they can - it may not be much in they eyes of the world - but what they give is a sacrifice and that is just priceless in my eyes.

Lego's Anyone?

 
 

Calling all LEGO ADDICTS!! Max is so into legos. So, it was no wonder that his birthday this summer was a complete lego-fest. And now with Christmas fast approaching Max has been scanning all the adds and commercials and compiling his list of "must have" lego parifinalia. It's not just kits anymore - lego video games, star wars legos, Batman legos, Indiana Jones legos. I actually like legos- I think they are great toys and if you know Max - you know how much he likes to create stuff (I wonder where he gets that from). But, the point of my tangent is the price. Have you seen how much some of these kits can run. There is this one kit Max wants (mainly becasue it comes with 20 figures) that runs $200. He just got the latest Lego catalog in the mail and there are other kits for $500. What's up with that? So I'm beginning to wonder if he is still young enough to be tricked into thinking that 5 of the $10 kits is better than 1 $500 kit. I sure hope so - becuase we all know Santa's bag (a.k.a. checkbook) isn't big enough (a.k.a. can't afford) that kind of toy!

Jr. Rock Star

 
 
 

So Sami is now 5 and a big grown up Kindergartener. She has ALWAYS been indepentdent and Kindergarten has magnified that in all the good ways and bad. She is super confident and dangerously georgeous. The other day while I was getting Sami ready for school she asked me "Mom what if all the kids at school run at me?" I got very concerned and wondered who was bullying my girl. She quickly added "Cuz they're gonna think I'm a rock star!"

New Family Pictures 2008

 

 

 

 

Our fun new family pictures. Check out www.yanphoto.com - she's amazing!!!

Awesomenes

Max is quite the artist. The other night he was drawing a picture of himself. He had done a very good job and had included a bunch of wavey lines eminating around himself. Jeff casualy asked Max what the wavey lines were. With a slight smirk on his face he simply said, "Awesomeness." Well, you do have to admit, the kid is pretty awesome.

Dora the Explorer on the playground

Okay, this is just the funniest thing I think I've ever seen. On Tuesday night after dinner we headed over to the park just behind our house. It was great, we were playing and enjoying each other. Soon, another family arrived to play also. The family happened to be Hispanic. There were two very cute sisters that Sami decided she wanted to play with. So, very confidently Sami walked up to the two girls and said "Hola amigos". The girls just stood there and looked at her. Sami continued "Hola means hello in Spanish. Hola" Again the girls just stood there and stared at her. Sami keeps trying "Don't you guys speak Spanish? Hola." After a second the girls just walked away from Sami. Jeff and I were trying so hard not to die laughing. Sami was just so honest, and confident, and Innocent. And she was right too - the family only spoke Spanish. They just didn't respond to her. Luckily it was no skin off Sami's back and she just shrugged and kept on playing. Oh man, it was just classic. Talk about wanting that on video!

Max and Samantha's Music Recital

yeah, so... we're pretty proud parents. This is taken from Max and Samantha's Spring Music Recital. This is a pretty honest view into our world. I am actually very proud of Max here. He is using quite a bit of super human self restraint. Man, little sisters, eh? This is just priceless - when they're older we could tell them about stuff like this and they'd never believe us. But to have actually captured it on video - Yeah, it's pretty great.

Max's Song

Okay, so I was going through our footage and found this video that Max had made in secret someting last week.
Lyrics by Max
Score by Max
Directed by Max
Produced by Max
Filmed by Max
Pretty much 100% Max.

The many faces of Josi

 

 

 

 

So Josi is just fun right now. She is getting into everything and developing her own take on what it means to be a Hurst. Josi doen't eat - she dines! She dictates bite for bite what she wants next - a little of this and a little of that and then back to some more of that. Her smile is this crazed, open mouth, wrinkled nose, face that just cracks everyone up. A couple weeks ago we went out to dinner and Josi put a piece of bread on her head, got everyones attention, and said "Ha Ha" with her crazed smile. Yeah, I think she's gonna fit in just fine.

G.I.F.T.

So, friends and family, G.I.F.T. has become my huge project for the summer (as if I need one). But it is an organization my best friend Suzy and I started (mainly Suzy, she's doing all the hard stuff, and it was her idea) to "give inspiration to families in trying times." It was started as an avenue to help the Rodriguez family who attend church with us. please visit www.giftfamily.org to see what we are doing and how you can be involved. It is becoming larger than life - which is fun and scary all at the same time. What we need are hands, sponsors, and donated items to auction (we're lookin for super awsome stuff!!!). So, if you love me - help me!!

Charlie hits puberty

So, I'm not sure exactly when a dog hits puberty - but Charlie may be getting to that point. Just a quick story. Jeff and I are in another room this week when we hear Sami yell "Da-ad, Charlie is trying to ride on Josi's back." Sure enough, Charlie seemed to think that the little creature crawling around (Josi) was a romantic interest. Jeff said "looks like it's time to cut his nuts off" to which Max audible gasped and made the most horrified look I'd ever seen. Oh, what a moment!

Graduation

 

SO, Sami graduated from preschool today. We've done this before and I was just rushing about my morning like usual. It was just another thing on the spring calendar to cross off and move on. Well, Sami of course looked beautiful. And I sat there and before long was crying. It really was a big deal. At first I was like "why am I emotional? buck-up Cami Jill." and then I thought "no, I don't have too. There are very few mommy paydays and this is one of them. I am going to enjoy it and I'll cry if I want to." So I did. I really won't have her for long, will I? I wanted to take a moment and tribute Samantha Joy Hurst. Sami is tough, Sami is determined, Sami is smart, Sami is very talented musically, Sami knows exactly what she wants, Sami can express very deep and emotional feelings, Sami loves to create, Sami is tactile (she loves the feel of sand, of water, of skin, of pudding - she just wants to get in there and feel), Sami is a good swimmer, Sami is independent, Sami is funny. We sure do love you Samantha Joy Hurst!

What;s under your kids bed?

 

So, Max and Sami clean their rooms about twice a week. Prior to last Saturday I would have said that Max kept the cleanest room. It usually looks pretty tidy - he makes one heck of a bed - and he is usually the fastest. So, last Saturday we once again were cleaning house and my "mommy sence" alerted me to have a peek under the bed. Oh my heck! No wonder the kid is so fast, he just has to shove everthing under his bed!

My 16 stones

Okay, so sometimes I write everyday and others....It looks like it's been a month. And what have we been doing this month? TRACK BREAK! Yes, we are some of the lucky few who get 3 1/2 weeks off of school every 8 weeks or so. In the past track breaks have not been the time where I would have wanted a hidden video camera in the past. By week 3 I have resorted to some interesting mommy tactics. So, as I prepared for this current track break, I did a lot of praying. For real. I planned an activity every tuesday and thursday like swimming or Chuck E Cheese or the zoo. That really helped. But what helped the most happended during our Stake Conference the weekend before track break started. On Friday night I had this dream that Jeff and I were cleaning the house and we found this empty room we had never known was there. We were so excited - it just needed a little work and it would be a perfect play room for our kids and their friends. I woke up and thought "that was weird". Then we went to the adult session of Stake Conference (which is always my favorite becuase I actually get to listen). Elder Walker was there and just fabulous. It isn't so much what he said but what the spirit said to me while he spoke. I was more focused and introspective than I have been in years. Pretty much I went home determined limit the influence of the world in my home and make our house a home built for children. It's funny how the spirit works but it was very clear that in no general terms I needed to turn off the TV. Okay, so the only time my kids are NOT fighting is when they are watching TV - so logically this made no sence but I committed to doing it. We would watch no TV except for out kids one and only time slot of 4-5 pm so they could rest and I could get dinner ready. That was directive #1. Directive #2 was a bit more interesting. Remember that dream I had? Well, I have been saving money from birthdays and left-over weekly budget and such becasue I wanted to buy a new set of furniture and make our front living room all pretty and nice and special. Well, I was pondering during that meeting what on earth the children would do with the TV turned off. When it absolutely struck me over the head. "Cami, why on earth do you want a nice fancy room?" I began listing reasons such as "that's what front rooms are for" and "I deserve something nice" but when it came right down to it - I wanted a nice front room as a "stage" that made our house look nice and orderly to other people who came to the front door. To impress other people. Because really we would never use it except for our home teachers. And lets face it - Home teachers aren't a good reason to buy new furniture. So - I remembered that hidden room I found in my dream and realized that the front room WAS the room. So, we went home from the meeting and I told Jeff everything. His face was like "you got all that from the meeting?" and then he smiled and said to go ahead. The only condition was that I could only spend money on the new room that I has already saved or that I could get from selling stuff already in there. So, I worked fast (if you know me at all - that's one thing I've got down. I work fast!) I got everything gathered and over to my friends house who was having a garage sale THAT WEEKEND. On friday night, Jeff got too much of our enemy the "realism" bug. He was convinced that nothing would sell and that we would just be hauling it all back to our house on Saturday night. When I say haul - I mean haul. I found some awesome motivation to get rid of almost everything in light of this new room. So I kept my husband moving and my prayers going. That night the realism bug got me a bit too and as I fell to sleep I remember thinking "Okay Heavenly Father. You told me to do this. I know that. And now I am doing it. So here are my 16 stones - please light them up. This is all I can think of to make this work, please make it work." Guess what? I sold just about everything! Jeff couldn't believe it. It really was a tender mercy. Then track break started. We watched no TV. Much to my surprise, my children began doing things they've never done before - they began playing with each other. They went outside!! Now in our house going outside had almost become a punishment. But there my children were - waking up in the morning and running out back to play all on their own. Up until this point sibling rivalry has been one of the continuous trials in our home. One thursday we went to the zoo and a young couple stopped me and asked "do your children always get along this well?" Now this was no tender mercy - this was an all out miracle! The Lord really does answer our prayers. And those answers really can change our homes. I now know this. It's amazing, a bit overwhelming, and humbling all at the same time.

So funny, So true!

You know those 20 minutes a day that you leave your children unsupervised so that you can go and take a shower? Well, if you're any kind of mom at all - you know that you just do what you've got to do and clean it up later. At least that's my philosophy when it comes to a little mommy time. Once, when Max was 4 I got out of the shower and saw smoke billowing up the stairs. I was so scared, I ran downstairs to find Max obliviously sitting in a smoke filled room watching Aurthur. The source of the smoke was the toaster. Max had decided to make himself breakfast, turned the toaster up to 12 - put in the bread - and gotten distracted by the TV. So, last week when I got out of the shower and noticed a funny smell I knew that Max was up to something. I came downstairs and Max proudly said "Look what I made". He had cooked a potato in the microwave (hence the smell) and then shoved forks and pens and colored pencils and marshmellow chicks into the potato and created his very own "Potato Man". Ahhh, what a creative genius!

Josi's TV

It has been so nice outside this week! We've been eating dinner (well the kids look at dinner) and then run out to play. Of course that leaves me with clean-up duty. So, I turned Josi around in her highchair so she could have something to look at while I cleaned. I think she sat like that for an hour. She was so enthralled and entertained watching the kids run back and forth and jump on the trampoline. She would kick her feet and giggle. She is just so sweet! Her birthday is coming up and I'm having a hard time letting her grow up. I could keep her as my baby forever!

So, Sami couldn't find her jacket the other day. I gave her several ideas of where to look - she disappeared and then ran out the door. I assumed she had found. I looked out the window and just laughed out loud. Sami had squeezed her skinny self into Josi's size 6month jacket. Oh man, id there any other almost 5 year old out there that can fit into their baby sisters jacket?

The next day Sami can down in some cute little pink capris. The funny thing is - Sami doesn't have any pink capris. I thought maybe they had been left here by a little friend. But no - she couldn't find any of her own pants so she went to her sisters drawer and found some there. So, despite the fact that Sami insists on have 2 and sometimes 3 lunches a day - she is a skinny minny!

Sami knows she is a beauty queen. She really is naturally beautiful. She can bounce back and forth between star wars and princess in the blink of an eye. Here is a picture of her after she did her own makeup. She was so proud and moved around the house like a little lady - just believing she was the most beautiful thing in the world. Aren't childhood delusions wonderful?

Mom, can I wear this to preschool?