Stitches

Last Sunday we were at a friend's house and we were getting ready to go and I was finishing up a conversation with one of the mom's. Nate came up and was trying to get my attention and I asked him to wait until I was done talking. The boy of the mom I was talking to also came up and she told him to wait, and then we noticed that he was upset and crying. At that moment, I hear Daddy Freeman say, "Freeman needs stitches." He walked in from the backyard and my sweet Freeman was covered with blood on his face and shirt and was crying. He had walked up behind one of the boys who was swinging a metal baseball bat and he got hit in the eyebrow.

We rushed to 3 different Urgent Care's that were all closed, before finding one right before closing in Avondale. They were very prompt and calm and got started. Freeman had calmed down as soon as dad put him in the car and I give all that credit to Daddy Freeman for being so calm and setting the mood for Little Freeman. (and mom) Freeman laid there and answered all the doctor's questions and even stayed real still for his shots in his cut. We took turns holding his hand so he could squeeze as hard as he could. One time he even calmly said, "oww. oww." and still laid still and maintained his composure.

The doctor was stitching him up and asked what his favorite number is, and Freeman answered, "One thousand." The doctor asked him if that's how many stitches he wanted and he told him no. The total count was 8 stitches and X-rays came back normal.

I am so proud of Little Freeman and being so tough and realizing how important it was for him to be calm and stay still. I am also grateful for my husband and how he is such a great father and leader. He knew he had to stay calm for Little Freeman and that he had that much strength and immediate response to do just that. I am proud of him and thankful for his example he is always setting and that he could be that strong for our kids. I am thankful that I wasn't alone when that happened, because that experience that Freeman went through would have been ruined by me because I know I would have broke down crying and freaked out if it wasn't for Dad.

Daily Gospel Teachings

One of my goals as a mother is to teach the gospel to my children. At the end of the day when it is time for my personal prayers, I realize that I need to do better and pray that I may focus my goals as a mother and make teaching the gospel a priority. Well, this has been a repeated weakness that I feel at the day's end, and started to feel discouraged and couldn't believe that I could get so distracted by little things through out the day, and not accomplish one of my main goals...

Well, there is hope to this story... read on...

We were sitting down for lunch and Freeman said the prayer and asked that his food won't be hot. He then tried his soup and it of course was hot. He was confused and said he prayed about that and Heavenly Father didn't do it. I then told him that we have to do our part also in order to recieve help from him. I shared an experience and explained that Dad and I prayed about something, but then we went out and did all that we could do and then had to wait. Then we were blessed. Little Freeman then picked up his food and put it in the fridge. I then realized that I do teach the gospel in my home, it may not be formal sometimes, but we live it. We live the gospel and we come across obstacles that we can use as teachable moments to teach a principle about the gospel.

I am grateful for these moments and can't believe I've been overlooking so many of them. I am grateful for my testimony and the choice that I have to teach my children about Christ and our Father in Heaven and that they want us to return to him and that they gave us so many teachings to help us be happy down here and to learn so much and return back to them. I am grateful for all that I have learned and hope that I can have more moments to slow down and take the time to use it to teach my children some kind of gospel principle. I am grateful for prayer. I guess I have been hard on myself, but am grateful to close the day with a prayer and reflect on what happened, what I am grateful for, and all the blessings that Heavenly Father has given my family. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost that does comfort us and help us realize these special moments and that it truly cheered me up and pointed it out that I wasn't realizing.
-Tiff

The Power to Read!

The past year Little Freeman's been working on reading CVC words and some word families, but we just didn't have access to the right books that were easy for beginning readers. After a frusturating day for me and the librarian not finding anything appropriate for easy readers, I turned to facebook for help. A good friend recommended "Bob Books" and the next day when I glanced at the Book Order form through Scholastic I was excited to find out they were selling them. We anxiously waited for our order and they have been a big hit ever since. They come with a set of 12 little books and it starts easy and gets a little more challenging. This has opened a whole new world to Freeman and his frustration with trying to read has been lifted, and he is so happy and proud. (So is Dad and Mom) Little Freeman loves taking his turn to read to me at night or to his brothers. I am so proud of him and his desire to read and figuring it all out.

Tonight I walked by his room after tucking him in and heard him talking to himself. I peeked through the crack of his door and he was reading aloud a new book and trying his best to read through. I love the freedom that comes with learning to read. If Freeman had his way he would have me read to him all day long, so for him to want to read a book, and not have to wait for a grown up to read I think really excites him.

Besides Bob Books, I also want to give credit for some great programs out there that really help with kids learning to read. So here is my shout out to them:

Starfall.com
pbskids.com
pbskids.com/island
SuperWhy
Between the Lions
Leapfrog DVDS (these are the bomb!)
WordWorld