a few fun updates!

I have been so busy trying to get this business going that I have totally neglected my blog. We have been doing well. Chuck has been working like crazy to get ready for his commitee meeting with his graduate meeting so we haven't seen very much of him lately. He had his meeting two days ago and it went really well, he is still on track to be graduating in 2010. It has been hard for me and the kids, sometimes I feel like a single mom, but I guess that's pretty normal when your in grad school.

Emma is doing great she is so funny right now, she is obsessed with being pretty. I have tried really hard to not focus just on her looks. I try not to just tell her she's pretty but comment on things that are more important, like when she is being loving or making good choices. Anyway, she still is loving that she is pretty. She loves it when people tell her she is so pretty. And she will tell me everyday after she gets dressed and ready "Mom, I am so pretty today, I go show Cayden how pretty I am." And in her prayers last night she prayed that Heavenly Father would bless her to be pretty, and bless mommy to be pretty. I tried to have a talk with her, that this is not important, and we should pray for things that help us be a nicer person and more like Jesus. I don't think she get's it. Maybe this is normal for a girl. I hate how society makes girls so obsessed with their looks and I don't want her to be that way, espcially at such a young age. I hope I can teach her to feel good about herself for other reasons. Besides that she is just two, fiesty, bossy, independent, and emotonal. I swear she acts like a teenage girl sometimes. I adore her and have so much fun with her, but I have decided that one girl is enough for me. Boys are so much easier, she is so dramatic and emotional about everything. It makes me feel sorry for my mom who had a home full of 4 girls, hello estrogen.

Cayden is fun as ever, he loves school, and primary. He is really thriving intillectually right now. It seems like so many things that I have been trying to teach him are finally clicking, and he is getting it. He is a great big brother and for the most part is really good to Emma. I have a problem I NEED ADVICE on. Cayden is fabulous when he is at home with us or at school or church, he is kind and pretty obediant. But when he gets with his friends he is a little stincker. He and his friend ran away from the church the other night while I was at enrichement. They escaped and ran all the way home in the dark by themselves. He will lie when he is with his friends, which is a big deal at our house. He never lies except when he is with these friends. And last night he was at his friends house and they were playing out in the front yard and he threw a rock at a car. It made a dent the size of a quarter and scratched off a little of the paint, the people want us to pay to get it fixed, so that is like $200 bucks down the drain. I am making Cayden give me half of his allowence for 2 months to help pay for it. He said he wasn't trying to hit the car, he thought he could throw it over the car. I told him that I know it was a mistake, but we still have to be accountable for our mistakes and that is why he will have to help pay for it. Anyway, all this naughty stuff only happens when he is with his friends. I don't know what to do. I want him to have friends and be social, but I get irritated when I think they are having a negative impact on him and his behavior. Has anyone had this problem. I told him that if he can't make good choices when he is with his friends then he can't play with them, he is grounded for a week cause of all the stuff that has happened in the last couple of days. I told him that at the end of the week if he can show me that he can make good choices when he is with them, then he can play with them again. Am I too protective that I don't want him playing with friends everyday. I want them to be home and to be spending time together and with me. I want them to learn to love to be home, and not always having to go somewhere else to have fun. I want our family to be the biggest influence in their lives, not their friends. All the other kids in the neighborhood are out playing everyday, and sometimes Cayden is sad that I won't let him go out and play with them. I just don't want him to be playing everyday. Anyway, if anyone has any advice I would love some help with this matter. I guess this is just the beggining of many years of friend troubles.

Other than that I am doing well, I miss Chuck, he is so busy and is gone late a lot. Business is going well, I have 8 bookings for the next couple months, so I am excited about that. I only want to do 2 photoshoot a week, tops. I would love to do a Sat mor or evening, and one weekday evening a week. Any more than that would take me away from my family too much. But I really enjoy it, and I hope I can keep getting better as I have more experiance. Chuck was realeased as the Stake Sunday School president, they are reduing a lot of the stake auxileries. We were happy that he would be home more now. The day that he was released they called us both as ward missionaries. We go on visits one evening a week, it will be fun to be companions and go together. I am a little bit intimidated, but really excited to have a chance to share the gospel with others. Anyway, I will try to not let to much time go by before I update again, probly not many people made it past reading the first paragraph anyway, so am just rambling to myself now.