We can DO HARD things

We have been adopting the motto, "We can do hard things" into our lives and the lives of our children.  When anyone in the family is trying to do something and they complain it is just too hard....we combat the complaint with "You can do hard things."  For example: if the kids are having a hard time controlling their bodies and they say they just can't control it, we say, "You can do hard things'  when the kids are having a difficult time with their school work, and they whine that they just can't do it,  we say, "You can do hard things"  when we are out hiking and they say their feet hurt or I can't climb that mountain, we YELL "WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!"  and we did!  In the middle of Palo Duro Canyon we were yelling WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!  and then watching our kids excel and feel good about themselves as they would conquer a mountain, climb up to a rock, find a way to an old abandoned tent that they thought was impossible to get to because of a huge valley that stood between them and the tent.... the day was all about overcoming obstacles and feeling success!  It was so fun to see the look of accomplishment on our kids faces after they did something difficult and they knew it!

We lost poor Detric 1/2 way through the hike to exhaustion!  He crashed right in the pack and took a nice afternoon nap on Mom's back!  Then, Clayboy had to act as surgeon as CJ continues to learn about the jumping cactus!  (Not really, he just likes to kick them and then gets needles stuck in his toes...hmm. But according to CJ, they jump out at him! HA!)