Abc's of Gratitude (in progress)

A - Apple dumplings, my favorite autumn treat

B - Beaches that I miss; Babies who are fun to snuggle and smell so good

C - Christian who loves a good joke and not only still gives me kisses and hugs, but insists on them because they make us both happy; Chocolate; Christmas

D -Dad, my example, strength, comfort 

E - Emma, our princess; Eternity that I have to be with my family

F - Family who can always be counted on to love and support, Friends to laugh and cry with

G - Grandparents;

H - Hair products (good ones), Happy endings

I - Insipration; Ingenuity, there is a reason for the phrase "necessity is the mother of Invention"

J - Jordan and Jenna my smilers, Jokes, even the dumb ones

K- kids who bring laughter, love, smiles, wonder, and joy; Kisses, especially the slobbery ones

L - love: the love of my life, love as a mother,

M -my Mother who gave me creativity, silver linings, confidence; being a Mommy

N -

O - opportunities to succeed given us by our parents

P - Paul, of course, and all he is to me and our family.  More than I have space or time to write; Parents; Priesthood; Patience;

Q - Quiet, moments so rare

R -

S - Singing, Emma is a very creative song writer; Snuggles from cute kids

T - Truth

U - Understanding

V - Vote, the right and privilege we have to participate

W - Water, clean water to drink bathe etc.  We are fortunate.; Watching my children play

X - X-rays that detected pneumonia twice this month

Y - Yawns, which mean the kids are ready to sleep

Z - 

Halloween 2010

I can't believe I forgot to take pictures of the kids in their costumes!  How dumb is that?!  I did remember to take pictures of our annual Halloween dinner.  We have a fun, kid friendly dinner before going out to trick-or-treat.



Mummy dogs



Flies in Jell-o
(the kids insist on this every year)



Monster smiles



 

We've decided to name him Nick

When I suggested we name this doll Nick, Christian, our Harry Potter fan looked confused for a second and then laughed really hard saying "Oh Mom..."

A Wise Woman Told Me

The other day, Emma asked me why I put on make-up.  I was taken back to a conversation I had with my mother as a young teenager.  I asked her a similar question.  I wanted to know why she would go to all the trouble of fixing her hair and make-up when she knew she wouldn't even be leaving the house that day.  Her answer has stuck with me all these years.  She said that in part, she did it for when my dad comes home, but more importantly she did it for herself.  She told me that she always felt more ready to tackle her day, and therefore accomplished more.  She also felt more confident and better about herself.
I have found this to be true for me too.  If I hang out in my pajamas all day I accomplish very little.  Now don't get me wrong, this in no way means that I am bright and shiny by 7 am.  Today for example, I threw on some clothes and a hat over my "Pippi braids" as Paul calls them so I could drive carpool and then come home to till the garden and shovel MORE dirt.  Then later I will be digging up raspberries to transplant for my huge raspberry patch that I have been dreaming of for years.  But, at some point today, I will shower and do my hair (if only a pony tail), and put on some make-up because it makes me feel better!  Some days it is 5pm before I get to this point but I still do it because getting there eventually is better than not getting there at all!
I am not a spa day kind of girl.  I've never had a pedicure or manicure, unless you count that one fake nail I got to match the others when my nail broke 3 days before my wedding.  I buy my make-up at Target or the grocery store,wherever I happen to be when I remember.  I get my hair cut, etc once every 4 or 5 months.  You get the idea.  However, I hope to never stop making myself feel ready to tackle my world!  Besides, it gives Paul an unspoken message about the kind of day I've had.  If he comes home to a make-upless face, he knows he better be on his game because it's been one of those days. :)

Conversations from the car

We decided with sick kiddos, cold nights, and plenty to do around here, that we would forgo our planned camping trip in favor of a stay-cation.  Our itinerary included the following:

Thur.  Paul worked half day, then we went to Boondocks for some miniature golf and to Pepperbelly's in Kaysville for dinner.  We then went home to watch "Tinkerbell and the Great Fairy Rescue" from Redbox.

Fri.  We drove into Gateway went to Jason's Deli for lunch and the planetarium for the dome movie "Attack of the Space Pirates".  Then we walked over to Discovery Gateway to play for 3½ hours.  Amazing how tiring sitting all day can be, but we had a blast.  We went home and grilled steaks for dinner. 

Sat.  After fighting over getting jobs done (lest you think our days are all rose colored), we drove to Snowbird enjoying fall in all it's glory (my favorite part of the whole weekend) (and yes, I like to use parenthesis every chance I get).  We then had a picnic on the patio. Snowbird was having a food drive and so for six cans of food we all rode the tram to the top and looked over the surrounding valleys while the kids built walls from rocks.  We then walked along a fun little trail to the playground.  It is a great playground with the most amazing view.  We played, tagged, and the kids added their own improvements to a fort/den someone had built just off the path in the trees.  We ended our day at Joe's Crab Shack (Paul's favorite part of the weekend).  Whoever came up with the idea to put a playground area in a REAL restaurant was a genius!  We ate good food (crab takes a while to eat) while the children played!  It's a bonus that the kids like seafood too.

On the way home today, these were some of the things heard from the back seat.  Keep in mind that these are overlapping conversations.  No one actually takes turns talking.

Jenna: "Watch out Mom, the brave squirrel is coming!"

Mom: "What will the brave squirrel do?  Why do I have to 'watch out'?"

Jenna:  "He will kill us" (I attribute this to having older brothers??!!)

Mom:  "Why would he do that?"

Jenna: "Ummm"

Then Emma pipes up:  "Mom, my top lip is spicy."

Uncontrolled laughter from Paul.

In the meantime, from the back seat, Christian chanting:  Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, antidisestablishmentarianism, qugzuang..... (he is fascinated by long words)

Jenna: "It's okay Mom, the nice squirrel is coming."

Mom: "Oh good, what is the nice squirrel going to do?"

Jenna: "He's going to kill us."

Mom:  "That's not very nice."

This does not include the "Oww", "Ooch", and "Ahh"s coming from the back seat in a never ending game of how many subtle (and not so subtle) ways can I torture my brother, which resulted in our "hands up" consequence which we find very effective!  If they work their way through "keep your hands to yourself" warnings, we then say, "hands up!"  Which means they must hold their hands up above their heads until they are told they can lower them, or we reach our destination.

Paul just informed me of some riddles I missed while dozing (I tend to do that in the car) on the way up the mountain.  Christian was telling riddles to which Jordan would answer something to do with farting.  Every. Single. One. (That's fluffing for some of you, we used to try... some days I still do)  For example,
Christian: "...so, how did he get the handcuffs off?" 
Jordan: "uhh, he farted?"
This was then accompanied by raucous laughter.  I'm glad I wasn't coherent for that part.  But hey, they are 8 and 10 year old boys, and no matter what their mother says, anything to do with bodily functions is hilarious.  I just hope with coaching and some maturity, they will eventually grow out of this genre of humor...  Or maybe not.

Anyway, it has been a wonderful weekend with many quality memories made.  Sometimes it is nice to have low stress days when we can come back to home base and sleep in our own beds.  Although, I think I need a few more trips to the mountains to get my fill of Fall before it's gone!

Jenna's latest milestone

This is how we have been spending the last couple of weeks!

Jenna is doing so well!  We are almost there!  She only has 1 or two accidents a day and is so exited to put flowers on her chart and get potty treats (m&ms or skittles) each time she goes.  I am so proud of her.

It's a bit sad for me.  Not that I will miss all the diapers, but this is a BIG milestone that screams my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Short Family Campout

We have a goal to try to get out in our trailer more often. We love to camp and the kids do too. And, after all, how many more years do we have that we will all love to camp together? When the beat all family activity is to sit around a little table all squashed together trying so hard (okay, not SO hard) not to look at each others cards or Rummikub tray.

Our kids are great hikers too! Both of the boys hiked Angel's Landing in Zion with Paul this year and Emma has hiked up to 3 miles without complaint at least 2 or 3 times this year. Jenna naps, sings, and talks up a storm in her pack in between insisting on walking by herself.

We took the kids out of school for the couple of days after labor day, after the crowds, and went to Spruces Campground up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Unfortunately, Christian is still doing makeup work for school, but he always agrees camping is worth it.

Teachers and Student

Last night Paul and I stayed up late to finish my homework assignment that I forgot was due yesterday. I signed up for Jordan's "star of the week" week at back to school night the first week of school. Unfortunately, I forgot to write it on the calendar. My little boy tried to tell me when he got home from school but I was busy cleaning up my 8th potty training incident of the day. He tried to remind me as I frantically tried to throw dinner together because the aforementioned incident set me back a precious 20 minutes. He tried to tell us as we sang a primary song to which we couldn't remember the words as we fought the frustration of having 10 minutes before bedtime to pull off Family Home Evening. When we finally got to the family business portion of Family Night, he took his time to inform us that he was supposed to have a "cool" poster with tons of pictures and a treat. He should have had it yesterday but "that's okay, I can take it tomorrow". I was a humbled mother. He was forgiving, flexible, understanding, and positive. If that wasn't enough, he was trusting and showed confidence that I would mother up* to the task and not let him down. This was his chance to shine in front of his classmates and enjoy the spotlight. He had confidence that even though I had not lived up to my responsibilities, I would make everything right.

*Mother up: derived from the saying "man up" but referring to the expectations and responsibilities a mother must live up to. Though I've never been a man or been expected to "man up" I believe to "mother up" is more difficult with more lasting consequences. Think about it.

This morning, when Jordan saw the Rice Krispie treats Paul had made and the poster I made compete with stars I luckily happened to have on hand and poor quality photos printed on my printer at 10:30 pm, he exclaimed “This is so cool, thanks Mom!” My heart leaped with gratitude for my pack rat tendencies which vomit supplies at urgent moments.

And then my heart softened again with humility. As the kids all ran off to school, I flashed back to yesterday afternoon, when I ranted at my other child who had forgotten to turn in the homework that he had finally completed a week late. This was after countless (not so patient) reminders, and being grounded for 3 days. I mentally replayed the last strand of my patience slipping through my fingertips. As I reflected on all of the positive attributes Jordan had displayed with all of his 8 years of earthly experience, I found myself in awe of the spirit of Christ evident in my little boy. I was ashamed. As a mother I should be the example. I should be the one showing Christ-like love, mercy, patience, forgiveness. How can my child’s feeling of self worth and knowledge of his mother’s love, trust, and confidence compare with missing math worksheets? I am reminded of a better way to motivate. Unfortunately, in the frustration, exasperation, and anger of a moment I forget what I know.

The longer I have been a mother, the more I realize I have to learn and apply. There is so much my children can teach me. I hope I can be a good student in the short time I have them as teachers.

Surprise! I have pneumonia!

Went to the doctor on Thurs. with some pretty random symptoms, had xrays and they didn't know what was wrong. Doc called today and said he took another look at those xrays and found I did have a "little sign" of pneumonia. Glad it's not all in my head officially proving me a hypochondriac! I am also grateful that I can get a z-pack to get rid of this!I just wish he had called BEFORE I had to finish mowing the lawn. I could have used the excuse! :)

My latest projects

I've done a bit of sewing lately and gotten some fun results. These are super fun skirts that don't even need a pattern and I made them for about $3 each.
Aren't they the cutest models even with their after church hair?
The patchwork took more time and I don't know if I would do one again but it turned out cute.
I also made some accessories with ideas from these links: Rosette tutorial and snaps

The girls really like their new clothes and it was fun to make them but I think I'm done for a little while. As much as I like the things I made, I don't love sewing!

I am linking this to Made by You Monday, All Thingz Related, Tatertots and Jello, and Works for me Wednesday.

Our Handsome Jordan

Here are some recent pictures of Jordan. I love how photogenic he is! Doesn't he just have the most contagious smile?! And those sun-kissed freckles, I just have to kiss them too!

Our beautiful Jenna

I have been very negligent in getting Jenna's pictures taken so we went this morning. I still wish we had managed to capture that big amazing smile that I love.