We Walked a 5K for The Cycstic Fibrosis Foundation

A couple of weeks ago, we joined the "J" Walkers and walked to raise money for The CF Foundation.  "J" Walkers is the name of the team that walks and raises money in support of Tanner and Caleb, brothers that live with the day to day challenge of having CF.

We had a TREMENDOUS amount of fun at the walk!

I wrote about our experience as a GUEST blogger on 52 Brand New!  Go check it out!

I also asked Kiri, the boys' mom, to share a bit about her experience.  Her words are on Pennies of Time.

 

 



This month is CF Awareness month.  Please take the time to read the posts linked above and learn more about this life threatening disease.  If you would like to learn more about these boys or donate to The CF Foundation in their name, please visit:  www.cff.org/Great_Strides/JWalkers

Snapshots

May 2
I think Merritt just charmed his way right out of a negative consequence. He is 4. I am doomed.

April 26
Conversation between Merritt and a friend:

4 yr old girl (very happily): We are married! So wonderful!

Merritt: (bodily function sound) TOOT!!! (Laughs hysterically)

4 yr old girl (very disturbed): We are still married but I don't like it when you use that language!

April 24
5 young boys rocked the creek clean-up this afternoon! They worked hard for 45 minutes . . . And the creek is the cleanest it has ever been!

April 18
Because this week has been overwhelming in many ways, I wanted to share my admiration in seeing a marathon runner run through our neighborhood carrying a huge American flag in support of those touched by tragedy, my respect for a mom that works so hard to support her boys and teach others how to understand their needs, my appreciation for the guy at Sonic who discounted my drink :), and the overwhelming feeling of hope brought by the many good acts of love I see each time I work on "pennies of time." You good people with your willingness to sacrifice for others inspire me.

April 6
This included a 30 min discussion/fight on how much blood should be flowing out. Deadlyaccuracyofboys

April 3
The house was really quiet.  Guess what was in the toy box?

February 13
To the Sneakiest and Sweetest Friends: Thank you! The youngest started screaming,"I SEE MY NAME!" when he saw your heart attack. And, Erik immediately tried to figure out all the languages used. We feel the love!

April 5
Caught Merritt trying to call 911 because I wasn't making mac-n-cheese for his brother.

March 14
Today was pretty tough. After I put the boys to bed, Merritt came out to apologize for getting lost at the park (horrifying story). Evy joined us, and we all talked about how we love each other, how we are grateful for being safe . . . lots of hugs and giggles (and a request for a pet cat). Great 15 minutes of little boy love! I sent them to bed and not less than 30 seconds later one boy bit another boy's finger. of course. I'm exhausted but ever so grateful for my boys and my hard working husband.

February 7
When Mom is not home, this is what we have for dinner.

 

 

January 23

Erik got a shot of Mom just as the door opened for her SURPRISE party . . . love the expression!

 

 



January 10
Many people in our neighborhood have been sick. Lots of trashcans still out. So, we rode our bikes around the block to take care of them.

January 3
Evy teaches me about unconditional love and Merritt teaches me how to live life in the fullest way possible. I'm constantly being schooled by my kids.

 

 

January 1

*someone* was feeling better. So, at 9:00 I made him clean his room. He had to don the right accessories first.

 



December 20
If Merritt has to winterize, he does it in style.

December 17
The boys have been leaving small surprises for our mail carrier . . . today he took the time to knock on our door and wait for us to answer it (takes us awhile to get to the door). He had the biggest grin on his face and gave the sweetest thank you to the 4 year old. Small acts completed by kids do make a difference!

December 15
Evy came down this morning dressed to go to the shelter. "Mom, I need to look my best."

December 9
All from our neighbors in the last 15 minutes!
clothes/diapers/coats/wipes/toys/toiletries!!!

This is what Evy said when we took the picture: Mom, my heart feels good. And we need to figure out how to help them because they are helping out homeless kids.

 

December 2

Today was one of the busiest days I've ever had. Erik was right there the entire way, picking up what I left undone and keeping our boys happy and content. And, now I sit in a mindless stupor while he *unloads* the same dishwasher that he loaded earlier this evening. Thank you!

 

November 18

A sign that dinner might not go as planned: When the dad takes a bite of the meal, swallows hard, and then turns to his son and says,"You know, I had to eat unusual food on my mission."

 



November 15
(The 3 year old slid onto the bed 30 minutes before the alarm sounded.)

As the alarm went off, I heard a little boy voice whisper from the blankets: You are doing great, Mom. You are a genius, and you are pretty. You are incredible!

What a way to wake-up! Like a love alarm. (as he then started to sit on my face). :)

November 16
Oh, yes, he did!  :)

November 7
No matter my differing viewpoint or my crazy ideas or the fact that I think that the sidepocket in the car door is perfectly designed for a trash receptacle, my husband has always been supportive and loving. Thank you, Erik Sjolseth, for being a wonderful husband and father! You love me for who I am as a person in my entirety. That is true love!

October 10
The other day, we were late getting the kids home. Everett said he wanted to take a bath and read a story. I said we only had time for one, and that he could choose. I was waiting…waiting…waiting for it…”Dad, you can read us a story *while* we take a bath”. That a boy!! Good answer. He got a story while he took a bath.

October 8
My 5 year old and I have a "Make your bed" challenge going on, and he has beat me every morning for the past week. Today, I was going to beat him. While he was taking a bath, I hurried up and made the bed. Ran into the bathroom with a triumphant yell of,"I MADE MY BED!!" He said,"Go check my room." SNAP, he beat me again!

September 20

September 6

The other day, our 5-yr old came home from school sad. He said a girl he was trying to play with wouldn’t play with him during recess. Other girls convinced her to not play with him. He asked what to do. My thought was to tell him to kick her to the curb (it’s just an expression). Fortunately, my wife responded and said that he should focus on playing with other people.

Seeing that he wasn’t thrilled by the lack of guidance, she asked him in a secretive type of voice, “Do you want to go on a ‘secret adventure’?”

Of course, he said, "yes," looking very intrigued.

“Your secret adventure is to find two different people to play with while you are at recess tomorrow.” She quickly followed up with, “But, do you want to go on a ‘*Super* Secret Adventure’?”

Of course he did.

“I need for one of those people to be someone who is not playing with someone else.” She promised him a “super secret surprise” if he was able to accomplish his mission. In essence, my wife turned a difficult situation for our son into an opportunity for him to serve someone else who might be feeling lonely.

Well, he did accomplish his mission, and he had a new (and highly coveted) snorkel and mask that he had been asking for all summer, waiting for him when he got home. More importantly, he had a great time recounting to us how his super secret mission played out, earlier that day.

A Guy, that's Erik, Does 42 Acts of Service for His 42nd Birthday

 

It was amazing!  Go read about what he did.

Chills and Thrills

I seriously cannot remember the last time I checked-in at Sjolseth Update. 

Here some updating that is seriously overdo.  I'll start with me.   :)

I am busy with several things.  One:  being a wife to an awesome man.  Two:  being a mom to the boys.  Those two priorities keep me hopping.

Other stuff that I do: 

• I am the voice of Pennies of Time.  This is where I spend most of my writing time, um, free time, um, time volunteering to help others.  I have felt a heavenly call to share what we do every day with our boys when we go out and serve.  I serve every day with my young boys.  I don't write up every service act, but I do jot down quite a few.  Pennies of Time has seen quite a bit of traffic over the past couple of months.  I am glad that others are seeing how kids can serve and are serving with their own families.
• Not surprisingly, serving with my boys has motivated me to crank up my own volunteering.  I've been looking for more ways to help in the community for 7 months now and have centered my time with 1)  I help women that are looking for employment (most I help are transitioning to the workplace after being out for quite a while), 2) I help out nonprofits that have a focus on children. (I have recently been helping with grant writing and newsletters.), and 3) I am serving in my church's women's group called Relief Society.
• I swim several times a week.  I continue to move toward being grain free.

Everett recently had his first phone interview with a service oriented nonprofit!  I had to write up some biographical information on him and then figure out headshots for this guy.  He is doing amazing things with his service work, and others want to talk to him to find out more.  He is loving school.  He is reading.  He wants to get more seriously with the swimming, and he is one of the kindest kids I know.  Today, he tried riding his bike without training wheels for the first time, with some success.

Merritt is a sweet, sweet fast-moving boy.  He cracks all of us up!  He still going to his nature preschool class once a week.  Several months back he graduated from speech.  YAY!  He is constantly putting his brother's needs before his own.  Whenever Evy is at school, Merritt is always the first to make sure that we don't forget to include Everett in what we are doing. He loves to fully accessorize.  Most days, he is dressed better than I am. 

The boys recently transitioned to bunkbeds, and they are LOVING it!  They are both tall, love writing bikes, and they keep me hopping.  It was so much fun to watch them with the Easter Egg Hunt this weekend.  Both boys found eggs for the other one!  They are great friends!

Erik is busy as usual.  This year he is still Ward Employment Specialist and is Everett's Primary teacher.  Everett loves it!  Erik is also working on several projects in the house and has a personal vendetta to get green grass growing again in the yard.

This week we celebrated Erik's birthday early.  He decided to do 42 acts of kindness in one day.  It was an amazing experience that I am sure to write out soon.  His favorite acts of the day 1) paying for the gentleman behind him at the donut store and 2) spending an hour clearing out weeds at a complete stranger's home (and, no, the stranger will never know who cleaned up the yard).  The boys and I really enjoyed burying treasure in a sandplayground.  That was so much fun!

Here are a couple of posts that highlight what we have been up to this week:
Egging Someone for Easter
Making Easter Bird Nests
Making Busy Books for the Children's Medical Center

Here is the most popular post on Pennies of Time right now:
Making Chemo Care Packages

Top 5 Tips for Making Serving with Your Kids Horror-Free

 

I've been working on "Pennies of Time" for a variety of reasons which I should share soon.  In essence, I feel like my Heavenly Father has asked me to dedicate time and energy to sharing what we do when we serve.  It will never be a business.  It will always be a labor of love.

 

Because of the work I have done with "Pennies of Time," I was asked to write a guest post for The SIP (Service Is Painless) Project.

 

Go check out the post, you'll love it!

 

 

Kindness Quote

Need ideas on how to be kind or service ideas?

 

See what we've been doing at "Pennies of Time"

 

Check the Service Boards on Pinterest