The Price of Children

I got this in an email and I couldn't help but share it. And yes, I did cry when I read it. I'll be surprised if you don't get a little teary eyed yourself.

The Price of Children

This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely
positive for a change.

I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child,
but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way.
It's nice.

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from
birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family.
Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have
children if you want to be 'rich'. Actually, it is just the
opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites, etc
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said
or how your stocks performed that day or how the traffic was coming
home from work.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* color Easter eggs
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on stars.

* You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator
magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand
prints set in clay on Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters
for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be
a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* holding a hand at the doctor's or dentist's office
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* kissing a boo-boo, making it miraculously better
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team
that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first smile
* first giggle
* first word,
* first bra
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family
tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary
called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education
in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human
sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have
all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the
bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them
forever, and love them without limits, So . . one day they will like
you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the
price!!!

Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!

United States

So I was watching this sitcom and they were playing a game that you had to write down all 50 states in 6 minutes, and they say that no one can get all 50 states.

I know you will think I am a geek, but I decided to participate in the game and try it myself, while watching the show. I took longer than 6 minutes and I still missed four states.

So I want to see if any of you can do the same thing, we'll if you are "geek" enough to do it that is. I wish you luck, and let me know how it goes! Happy state guessing.

Random

So I found these random pictures that we have taken. Here is Gwen in her summer hat. Doesn't she kind of look like the flying nun?

Here is my sis-in-law, Megan, her daughter, Zoe and Noah. We were having a fun time in Park City shopping like mad women!

Daddy is a comfy chair.

What Gwen would look like with hair. Nice huh? I think from her expression, she is staring into her future of pig tails, barrettes and flowing locks.

Yes Sir!

So last night when I was putting Noah down for bed I was asking him what he is going to do. I was trying to make sure he knew to stay in bed and go to sleep.

Noah's response to this was "yes Sir, go to sleep Sir," in a lower voice and with a little salute. And he kept doing it, probably because I was laughing at him. It was just so cute.

So I think we are breeding this little guy to join the army, or maybe just a comedian. Who knows!

Noah's camera skills

So this is a tower that Jason built with our Dominos. He was so proud that he used all of them, he wanted me to take a picture. Sometimes I think he is more of a kid than Noah is.

Noah wanted to try to take pictures with our new camera. I say that he does a pretty good job. What do you think?

He also likes to take pictures of the kitchen. It is his favorite place to take pictures of. Funny kid!

Conference Drawings

This is a General Conference packet that I got in an email.
Here is where Noah drew the current prophet. Isn't it the spitting image of Pres. Monson?

Now, just to let you know. I just talked him through drawing the pictures, like a circle for the head, eyes, etc. This is 100% Noah, my 2 1/2 year old. Crazy I know!
He amazes me everyday!

Noah was so excited that he did such a good job that he wanted to draw more.
I think the one on the right really looks like Pres. Hinkley.
We love all of the prophets.

And this is Noah's Castle he drew. It is sideways, but if you think about it real hard, you can see the castle, I think.

Good work Noah. My little artist!

Easter - a little late!

So I decided to finally post our Easter pictures. We colored our eggs on Friday night, when we had our little "hunt" on Saturday morning. Growing up the Easter Bunny always came on Saturday morning, because Sunday was the time that we think about Jesus. I was happy to keep this tradition with my kids. Here we are coloring Eggs.

So very interesting.

Awesome, Dora DVD!

"I like eggs!"

Later, while Jason and I were getting ready to go to my parents' house for an egg hunt, Noah was in his chair going to town on his chocolates. I have to give it to him for sitting at the table. He even put on his bib. Luckily I have taught him well, and he is a good boy and listens. This boy sure does love chocolate.

Grocery Smarts

So here is a website that is completely free. You just have to put in a code and you can find all the deals at all the stores you need (in Utah)

Here is the website: www.grocerysmarts.com and the code is: g84cjf

Just look at the picture or the website and you will see what I mean. In order to get the most of the deals, you will need the Sunday newspaper coupons. But the nice thing is, you don't have to cut all the coupons out, you can just file them away (after writing the date they came on them) and the website tells you when and where to use them.

The key in using the coupons is, using them when the items go on sale. An average grocery store has everything on sale at least once in a three month time frame. So you can get a lot. And sometimes you don't even need the coupons.

Anyway, we are working on our budget a little better now, so this was just something I thought I would share with you all, and hopefully this can help your family too!

Let me know if you have any questions and I will help if I can.

Noah's observations...

So I was watching "Dancing with the Stars" this morning while I exercised, and Noah observed something I wouldn't even think he would notice. He looked at the guy, Christien, and said "he's waked," (meaning naked) and then said, "his arms are waked."

He continued to watch and said, "his back waked." Meaning that girl's back. He thought it was so funny. I would never think he would even pay attention to things like that.

This is yet another reminder that I need to continue to be careful of what he hears and sees. He is just a big sponge, waiting to soak in whatever comes his way.

Before I was a Mom...

Before I was a Mom: I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby. I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous. I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on. Pooped on. Chewed on. Peed on. I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts. I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests. Or give shots. I never looked into teary eyes and cried.I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin. I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him/her down. I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt. I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much. I never knew that I could love someone so much. I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body. I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby. I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child. I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom - I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache, the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom. I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.

What a joy it is to be someone's mom, or even better, a mom of two! HAVE A BLESSED DAY!!