He Loves Me

My husband really does love me.

See? And all in the account of "because."

He also started the dishwasher this morning and gave Ellie a bath. Thanks hon! You are a gem!

Saturday observations

Ahhhh, doesn't it feel good to have a clean house? So, I decided I wanted a clean house today. I think half of my Sunday downer feelings have to do with a messy house. It just doesn't feel good to be in your house all day when it isn't clean. And then if I want to clean on Sunday I feel guilty because it is suppose to be a day of rest. So we cleaned lots today and it feels good! I think I even did about 6 loads of laundry! I guess that is what happens when you are sick and you don't do any housework for a few days.

Poor Braydens basketball team lost again. They are 0-6. I feel bad for them. It would be nice to have at least ONE win! I just think it was a mistake for his team to play up a grade. The boys on the other teams are just so much bigger than his team and it makes it so hard. I think it is extra hard on them since last year they made it to the championship game and the year before they won the championship. Here's hoping for next week!

There is something about going to tell your kids goodnight and seeing them kneeling next to their bed praying that makes my heart extra happy.

When we were reading the scriptures tonight as a family we were reading the part that says "my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord", and I told my kids that it would make me happy if this is how they felt. Kennedi then replies, "This might sound weird, but I would rather have a thousand posters of Jesus than of Hannah Montana." Well then, I think that counts for something! (She is really into Hannah Montana right now and loves her music and show. Just like every other girl from age 5-11.)

Ellie has been doing awesome in her big girl bed, yippee! Now in hindsight I can't believe I didn't do it earlier. But maybe she is doing awesome because I timed it just right! Heehee! Now we will see in a few weeks how she does when she is sharing a room with her big sister and all of her bigs sisters stuff!

The Day After

So guess what I had for breakfast this morning?

Yup, you guessed it! My Valentine Berry Trifle. Yum.
The Breakfast of Champions.

Love BUG

So today is Valentine's Day. And I am stuck with the Love BUG. It seems that I have caught whatever bug Brayden has been carrying around here at the house. Brayden had to come home early from school on Tuesday because he had a fever. He is still home. And the lame thing is that school just went back on track on Monday! Where is the relief? He has had a fever the whole time until later todaay it finally broke and his crazy lost voice seems to sound better. I haven't been feeling that dandy myself the past few days but today I got the fever, blah.

Taft did make us pink waffles for breakfast and I did cut hearts shapes out of them for the kids and we did hang up our annual heart dangles from the kids doors and they did get a love note and candy from us. (How was that run on sentence for ya!)

Taft also left me two big bars of Ghiradelli chocolates that were mint and raspberry, yum!

I got the kids a heart shaped pizza from good ol' Papa Murphy's and let them drink some sparkling apple cider before Taft got home. I had my sweetie pick us up some yummy Thai Basil and I set the table to have a "romantic" candle lit dinner with the good china and all. What was I thinking? Did I really seriously think we could have a romantic dinner with 4 kids in the house? No way, it isn't going to happen! I wanted the kids to go upstairs and play, but Ellie wasn't excited with that idea. She wanted to sing Happy Birthday to Kat and blow out our candles and watch us eat. So with screaming and crying she was upstairs with Kennedi who didn't want to be up there either. Lame. It isn't so romantic when the parents are angry and the kids are crying. Oh well, the food tasted great though! I did make a berry trifle and it hasn't been touched and it is after 9pm. Bummer. I like dessert.

Here are the kids enjoying their Valentine sweets.

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

Just a little shout out to the 16th President and his Birthday! We have a little soft spot for Abraham Lincoln since Brayden was in 2nd grade and did a "living biography" on Lincoln. It was very cute. So I had to post a picture of it. Happy Birthday Honest Abe!

Gotta love Ebay for costumes!

What is it about Sunday that...

makes me feel inadequate.

I don't really know.

And I wish I was a better writer so that I could explain myself. Uggg.

I feel like I have a split personality on Sundays. One Sunday I will feel like a decent person and then the next, bam!, I feel like a loser. Today is a loser Sunday. I feel like a lousy mom, an impatient wife and a lacking woman. I think it is dumb. I don't like it. I don't like feeling inadequate. What EVER made me think I could be a good mom and teach these four beautiful children how to live happily and gratefully through life? I think my brain hasn't even been on! I am having a little pity party and I do know that I will get over it. But hopefully something changes next Sunday, the problem is, I am the only one that can do something about it and that feels like it won't happen either.

Piano Recital Saturday

Kennedi's first recital went great. Even though she has had her recital piece memorized for weeks, she still wanted that music up in front of her. That is okay, anything to help calm the nerves. She was definately nervous before the recital but I gave her a little pep talk and waited to see how it went. It was awesome. So cute to see her up there being professional. I was glad to see she was number 5 out of 26 so she could get it over with and see that it wasn't as big as deal as she was making it. And she surely learned that lesson. She said after the recital that it wasn't that bad after all! She has done great in her 5 short months of lessons.


This was Braydens 3 or 4th recital, but his first one since his teacher has been Laurel. She has been a great teacher in finding music for him that he can enjoy playing. He really is a natural and I hope I can keep making him play and play. He has great rythmn (always has) and is so good for only playing since 3rd grade. He practiced his recital piece tons and had it memorized and didn't even bring his music. I was glad to see he was confident. He even said he wasn't even nervous! Ha! I wish I was that way! It is a great thing to see your kids do well.

So How Do I Live Up To That?

Can you read that? It is a letter from Kennedi (still 8 years old). It says:

Who could have better

mom Then my mom. She

Loving: She cooks our food youd

whent her so bad because

she is the Best. and a

littell siaret She's the best cook

I know I am not the Best, and I know I am not the best cook, but it was sweet of her. Maybe I could try a little harder to live up to my letter.

Lost: Tooth Fairy Magic

Kennedi my eight year old came to me last night to ask a question. She asked, "Mom, are you the one that puts the money under my pillow for my tooth?" I asked, "What do you think?" She thought a second and said, "I think it is you." So since she is 8 and she wanted to really know I told her , "well there you go!"

Well a few minutes passed and I saw her looking very sad. She said in her depressed voice, "I wish I would have never asked! Now it isn't fun anymore!" I am not surprised about her response at all. The magic is gone. No fun! She asked me, "why did you tell me?" And she cried. But that isn't a surprising reaction, she is my dramatic girly. So I tried to make her feel better and told her the next time Carter (who is 6) loses a tooth I would let her help me join the fun. She seemed to like that idea. She also came up with an idea that to make it fun for her, maybe I could surprise her and give her a little gift instead of money in exchange for her tooth. I think I like that idea too.

Now, she better not clue in on Santa! I am not ready to let that one go!

Poor girl, it isn't fun to grow up.

Got this from my sister. Too funny not to post.

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tediousdiatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning .... Uphill BOTH ways …Yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in heck I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it.
But now that...I'm over (ahem...waaaaay over) the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help butlook around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy. I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a dang Utopia. And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it.

1. When I was a kid, we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the dang library and look it up ourselves... In the card catalog.. (Do you even know what a card catalog is? Didn't think so.)

2. There was no email.. We had to actually write somebody a letter... With a pen. Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.

3. There were no MP3's or Napsters. If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the dang record store and shoplift it yourself. Or you had towait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ would usually talkover the beginning and mess it all up.

4. We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it.

5. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was. It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know... You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister.

6. We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games withhigh-resolution 3-D graphics. If we were lucky, we had Video Pong and later on the Atari 2600. With games like "Space Invaders" and "asteroids" and the graphics were horrible. Your guy was a little square. You actually had to use your imagination. And there were no multiple levels or screens, it wasjust one screen forever. And you could never win. The game just kept gettingharder and harder and faster and faster until you died. Just like LIFE.

7. When you went to the movie theater there no such thing as stadiumseating. All the seats were the same height. If a tall guy or some old broad with a hat sat in front of you and you couldn't see, you were just screwed.

8. Some of us had no cable...only 3 stations (maybe) that you had to gooutside and turn the antennae to be able pick up. Later on, we had cabletelevision, but back then that was only like 15 channels and there was noonscreen menu. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find outwhat was on.And there was no Cartoon Network either. You could only get cartoons onSaturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying.?. We had to wait ALL WEEK forcartoons.

9. And we didn't have microwaves, if we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove or go build a fire ... Imagine that. If we wanted popcorn,we had to use that stupid JiffyPop thing or a pan with HOT oil and realpopcorn kernels and shake it all over the stove forever like an idiot.

10. When we were on the phone with our friends and our parents walked-in, we were stuck to the wall with a cord, a 7 foot cord that ran to the phone - not the phone base, the actual phone. We barely had enough length to sit on the floor and still be able to twirl the phone cord in our fingers. If you suddenly had to go to the bathroom - guess what we had to do..... Hang upand talk to them later.

That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy.You're spoiled.. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1960 or 1970 or 1980.

Regards,The over 30 Crowd

Snow Tracks

I have a lame pet peeve. I don't like driving on freshly fallen snow on my driveway. It needs to be shoveled first. I also don't like it if my sidewalk path up to my front door isn't shoveled and people have to walk through the snow to get to my door. I don't know why it bothers me, but it does :) Taft probably is happy that it bugs me because it gets me outside to do the shoveling. (But don't get me wrong, I don't have to be the one that shovels it, just as long as it gets shoveled.)

You see, when fresh snow is driven on, it compacts it into ice onto my driveway and that is not happy. My house faces North and we all know what that means, it will never ever ever ever melt. (Well it will probably melt in May) Why oh why didn't the house we loved face South? Somedays I look longingly across the street to their dry, clear driveways and get a little pang of envy when I look back and see my wet, slippery driveway.

Too bad this doesn't carry over into other parts of my life. Like, I can't get dressed until all the laundry is done, or I can't take a shower until my shower is clean. Hmmmm, maybe that isn't such a good idea, I would never get dressed or take a shower. I guess I will just stick with the snow on the driveway!

Been there. Done that. Gone.

The days of diapers are officially complete! YeeHaw! Ellie is now potty trained. Phew. After four children, this feels like quite the accomplishment! I am going into a new phase of parenting. It didn't seem like it would ever happen, but now it seems like it didn't take that long.

Another big step is happening today. Let's just say, BIG GIRL BED. Now this is a good and bad thing. Seriously, I have never let my kids stay in a crib for so dang long, but I just am afraid that a bed means no nap! And I thrive on nap time! I need Ellie to take a nap. She is so busy that it is nice to have a few hours of peace. But it is time since she climbs out of her crib every morning anyway.
















Gone are the diapers.

Gone is the crib.

Gone is the baby phase.

All four babies have slept in that crib. I think I have to keep it and use it for my grandkids one day. I am not really sad, but I am nostalgic about it. It is almost weird to know there will be no one else to go through these phases, but we are excited for the next phase in life.
















Sleep tight little one. Keep sweet forever. (You will always be my baby)

Be.

I want to be.

Today was the funeral of a great man. One who made me want to BE a better person. President Hinckley has been the prophet since the year I got married. He has been an influence to our family for the good. He has been the only prophet that my children have had. I am sorry to let him go, but at the dear age of 97, he should be able to go back to our Father and our Brother and to his love of his life, his dear wife. I hope he gets to rest, but I am sure he will be ready to GO serve more.

In the spirit of this great man, my word of the year is: BE. I know what this means to me. Some of it goes along with President Hinckley's Be's. Here they are:
Be Grateful
Be Smart
Be Clean
Be True
Be Prayerful
Be Humble

I want to BE.
I want to be the person I am suppose to BE.

Here is one last wonderful quote from the Prophet:

“Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed. The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just like people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. Life is just like an old time rail journey … delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.”

Okay, I have to share one more quote:

“The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth, and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow. It is a time to be found keeping the commandments. It is a season to reach out with kindness and love to those in distress and to those who are wandering in darkness and pain. It is a time to be considerate and good, decent and courteous toward one another in all of our relationships. In other words, to become more Christlike.”

Again.

Here I go again.

Attempting to get into the habit of DAILY scripture reading. Again.

Trying to stop yelling at the kids. Again.

Being a President as a church calling. Again.

Working hard to lose those pesky extra 5-10 pounds. Again.

Wishing to "finish" the house in a way we love it. Again.

Wanting to BE a blogger. Again.

Not giving up. Again.