Mommy Thoughts

Tales of A Sleep Walker

2012-02-28T19:31:00.002-08:00

Because this blog is a way for me to capture my family memories I really wanted to write about Savanna's sleep walking. I want her to someday read about the silly things she does that she never remembers in the morning. Savanna has been sleep walking for awhile now, it comes and goes in frequency but for that last few weeks it's been almost a nightly event. It always happens about an hour or two after she goes to bed, so James and I are usually still awake to witness it, and keep her safe. The first time she sleep walked James was working late so I was home alone. This was kind of freaky. She walked into my bedroom with this strange look on her face. We now are able to identify this glossy eyed look and know she is not fully awake. However, the first time she did it I had no idea what was happening. I asked her if she needed to go potty and she just stared and me with glossed over eyes and a huge goofy grin. I kept asking her what she needed and she just kept smiling at me, then started giggling and darting her eyes around the room. The giggle got louder and she never said a word. If I asked her if she was okay she would nod her head and keep giggling. It was so weird! It definitely freaked me out. I let her lay down in bed with me until she stopped laughing and I could tell by the look on her face that she had woken up and was conscious of what was going on. Sometimes she will wake up and come out of it but usually we just take her to the bathroom and put her back in bed. It always starts like that, she gets up, has that strange look and is giggling. She always goes pee, I think that is what gets her up, her need to potty, but she never fully wakes up. Mostly that's all it is but there have been a few exceptions. One time she wandered into my bedroom, pulled down her pants and undies and started to squat, I hurried and grabbed her and set her on the potty. Sometimes she grasps at the ground like she is trying to pick something up. One time she was reaching into Avery's crib trying to grab something and saying "I just want a pickle, give me the pickle!" Probably the worst time was when she climbed into Avery's crib! I heard Avery start crying, then Savanna joined in. When I went in their room Savanna was in with Avery and kept saying "I don't know! I don't know!" Thankfully she has never gotten hurt or tried to go outside or anything like that. Like I said, it almost always happens when James and I are still awake and can take care of it, and have a good laugh. Needless to say, we have decided against bunk-beds.

Butt Munch Birthday!

2012-02-20T09:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I really did hesitate when deciding what to title this post. Butt Munch? How wildly inappropriate! However rude it may be, it's a befitting title. Despite my efforts to be a good mother and shield my children from the awful things of this world, Avery loves Sponge Bob Squarepants. It all started when I went out somewhere leaving the kids with James and it was discovered that all the seasons of Sponge Bob are on Netflix. For whatever reason, Avery fell in love! The inappropriate part is the way she says Sponge Bob: Butt Munch. I don't know why, that doesn't really sound anything like Sponge Bob but that's how it sounds coming out of her mouth, Butt Munch! So for her 2nd birthday we had a party, Butt Munch style. I made the cake and was pretty proud, it started out looking like Bart Simpson but with a little more work, we had a Butt Munch cake. Grandma gave her the Butt Munch t-shirt and stuffed doll. Auntie Trish made her a very snugly Butt Munch blanket, Ave's two favorite things: Butt Munch and manky's. She had Butt Munch balloons and plates, got a Butt Munch DVD and was soooo happy! We also had a birthday dinner at Nana's (I didn't get any pictures) where she got Butt Munch pj's! She also got spoiled rotten by her cousins and Aunts and Uncles, the family was very generous, Thank You! It makes me very sad that my baby is 2. She is such a sweetie, loves to snuggle and hug and say I love you. She is so smart and talks up a storm. She has a very loud voice when she needs to be heard above the din of her big brother and sister. She's a bit demanding and possessive, MINE!! But she is so much fun and at such a fun age. HAPPY BIRTHDAY V! Challenge: count how many times I typed Butt Munch!

Now Thats Romantic

2012-02-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Valentines day began with my sweet Savanna bringing James and I cards she made while we were still in bed. I gave the kids their valentines, heart shaped suckers and a box of conversation hearts. They were so excited to have a treat and we all sat in our bed eating treats and saying "Happy Valentines Day!" and "I love you!" over and over again. I'm planning on making heart shaped grilled cheese for lunch and going to Savanna's school to help with the Valentine's party. Sounds like a fun day to me!
I wanted to mention how romantic my wonderful husband is. This year I did not get 3 dozen roses or perfume or jewelry as was typical when we were dating. This year and for the past 6 years now I have gotten the gift of being a stay at home mom. Being able to raise my children myself, not having to carry the financial burden of supporting them. I have a warm, comfortable home, a nice dependable car, all the food and clothes I need. I have kitchen cabinets, tile floors, pretty furniture, all that James built. My children have all those things too, plus so much more. James spent all day everyday for almost three weeks finishing our basement. I have a gorgeous, comfortable family room that we can all enjoy together. I have an extremely good life and a wonderful man to share it with. He is my best friend and an awesome father. All those things he does for me and our kids are the most romantic thing I could ever think of, I love you James!

Savanna's Sixth

2012-01-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

Last year after Savanna's birthday she told me "Mom, I am so excited because next year I will be six!" I started to correct her, "No dear, you will only be five. Wait. You will be six!" Six seems sooo old! My babies are growing up so fast I can't believe it! We are having fun though. With the kids getting older it is much easier to go out and do things and we are getting much more sleep! Savanna is loving kindergarten and is a star student. She just advanced to reading level H, which is just about where kids should be at the end of first grade, I am so proud of her! She brings her readers home every night and it's exciting to hear her read a book she has never read before, she is learning new words everyday and really reading, not just reciting memorized stories. She is the most creative kid I know. I have stacks and stacks of cards and pictures she has made me. Her Aunt Bubbas gave her a huge pack of scrapbook paper and stickers and pens and glue and markers and she spends most of her time making creations. She is my big helper and is always fetching things for me and entertaining Miles and Avery. She is a very good big sister. When she started school her classmates started losing teeth and she would come home and tell me all about it. One day I told her we should check her mouth to see if she had any loose ones yet. She told me "I don't mom, I check all my teeth every night and none of them are loose." Eventually she came to the conclusion that she would have a loose tooth when she turned six. The morning after her birthday she came into our bedroom and announced her first loose tooth! She is so excited to lose it and have a visit from the tooth fairy!
After Miles' pirate party last year I decided that we would do birthday parties every other year and when we didn't have a party they could choose a family activity. Savanna chose to go bowling! It was so fun, all the kids really liked it and were good the whole time. Avery even packed around a ball and rolled it down the lane. Miles kept intentionally pushing the ball down the gutter but it didn't matter because he ended up winning the game! After bowling we came home for cake and ice cream and presents. I had taken Savanna shopping for clothes a couple of days before and she got Hello Kitty slippers and undies on her birthday. It was a great day!

I made a project then I blogged about it!

2012-01-12T18:51:00.000-08:00

So, in an attempt to decorate my bedroom I moved a beautiful bookshelf that James made me for my 19th birthday up from the basement and put it in our room. It's so pretty and it has been sitting in the storage room ever since our "office" became Miles' room. I made bookends for it out of wooden letters, paper, and mod podge. I still need to pull up most of my books from the basement but, you get the idea. Pretty!

And...It's over!

2011-12-27T13:38:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone and the wrapping paper and toys are finally cleaned up! As the children grow older Christmas is becoming more and more fun. Savanna woke up at 6 excited as can be! She laid down on the floor in our bedroom playing games on the IPod until 7, then we woke up Miles and Avery and started the madness of present opening. They were so cute and excited. Avery was especially sweet, she was so animated and excited about everything. She had a smile on her face the whole day! After opening presents we had breakfast at home. Every year since we've been married we have gone to James' parents house for Christmas breakfast but we shook things up a bit this year and stayed home for awhile. We had eggs, sausage, cinnamon rolls and orange rolls, it was yum. After breakfast we went to church. We figured this was going to be difficult, how were the kids going to behave for and hour and 15 minutes on such an exciting day? I have to tell you, they surprised us. They did just fine and I actually got to hear some of the talks. It was a really good experience. Our Bishop spoke about the first Christmas Eve he worked as an EMT. He said that he thought working that night would be super easy, it was Christmas, everyone would be with family and loved ones and taken care of, nothing bad would happen. He said the first call they went on was a heroine overdose, the next five or six calls were attempted suicides. He realized then that not everyone had a happy Christmas and that there were a lot of people who were in need of compassion and help this time of year. It made me remember that Christmas is just another day and to be grateful for what I have and to remember others. It might seem like that story would have been depressing for a Christmas morning, but I thought it was something we all needed to hear.
After church we headed up to the Bayless' for presents and games and a wonderful Christmas dinner. The entire day was wonderful. Our whole family was together. Something that struck me at the end of the day was how well behaved my kids were. They were just sweet as pie all day. Like I said, Avery's smile never left her face. James' brother commented on how good they were being for such a crazy day, maybe that was my Christmas present, happy kids! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

2011-12-07T20:19:00.000-08:00

Yay Christmas! Although I always loved Christmas as a kid, as I got older I became sort of a Scrooge. Christmas just started to stress me out! All the money being spent, the zillions of family get-togethers, and the unavoidable let down when it was all over. But this year something is different, I am so excited for Christmas and I'm having so much fun with my kids! They are at a good age, Christmas is so magical and fun and they are starting to remember our family's traditions and are excited to start new ones. Yay! We have jumped right into the season with some fun stuff! The day after Thanksgiving we went to the annual Christmas Lights Parade here in Spanish Fork. We have gone for the past few years and it's awesome! It has this very small town feel with homemade floats, inflatable Frosty the Snowman tied to a Jazzy, and a Elk head dressed up like Rudolph attached to the front of a truck pulling a trailer full of snowmobiles wrapped in Christmas lights. Like I said, awesome! The kids loooove it! One of the floats was a trailer that had a light up Nativity on it. When it passed us Miles shouted out "Bye Baby Jesus!" After the parade we went home and set up the Christmas tree. We pretty much let the kids do it all and we have such a mish mosh collection of ornaments that it looks a little like Christmas throw-up, but it's cute. The next week I took the kids to see Santa at Macey's grocery store. I am too much of a wuss to brave the malls at Christmas time so I thought it was a good option. He was a very convincing looking Santa I thought and both Savanna and Miles sat on his lap for the first time. Avery was too shy, maybe next year. The next day my mom came down and we baked and decorated Christmas cookies. This was really fun, the kids really got into it! Avery loved rolling the dough with the rolling pin. We also made ginger bread men. I don't know why I thought to make them so big, they puffed up so much in the oven! And finally, my oh-so-creative daughter made herself a crown and skirt out of wrapping paper. 'Tis the season!

What I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

My husband, Savanna, Miles, and Avery. My home, my car, food on my table, Savanna's school and teacher. My mom, dad, Charles and Trish and Asher. James' family and the two new sister's we got this year. James' ability to work like a mad man everyday and be able to pay every bill that is thrown at us. The great gift I have to be home raising my kids. My Heavenly Father and Jesus, my church and all the people in my ward who teach me and my children the gospel. My best friends' baby girl that she is being blessed with after four sons. My health and my family's health. My exercising buddies and the motivation I get from them to stay in shape. In addition to these and many, many more, I am utterly and extremely grateful that I am not going shopping on Black Friday. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

My 3 Ducks

2011-11-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

For memory sake I wanted to post the pics of each of my kids as The Duck for Halloween. So Cute!

Seasonal Festivities

2011-11-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

I would have titled this post "Halloween!!!", but that would be so unoriginal. Is that a word? Anyway, Halloween!!!. Every year we go to Vineyard Nursery Pumpkinland. They have a corn maze, different farm animals to see, bouncy houses, a playground and a kid friendly spook alley. The kids love it! My mom came with me and she is still talking about how well behaved the kids were. I think it was the only time we have done an activity with no fits or fighting, my kids are getting older I guess.
This year for Halloween I really wanted to make the kids' costumes. Neither James or I could remember a time when we were kids that we had a store bought costume. Our mom's always made one or we scrounged something up and put one together ourselves. So I wanted to be creative this year and make something. Now, when I say make I mean I will hot glue or safety pin anything and farm out the rest of the work to more talented people. Savanna wanted to be a Lady Bug, easy! We got a red sweatshirt and wings at DI, felt, headband, pipe cleaners and pom poms at Joann's, and she owns a pair of red pants. A little glue, some pins and, voila! The sweetest Lady Bug ever! Miles' was little more challenging, he wanted to be the Eon Kid. Has anyone ever heard of it? My kids are Netflix experts and can log-in, search for and start their movies themselves. The Eon Kid was something they found, an animated super hero/slash robot awesome kid that Miles' loves. I tried to steer him towards something else for awhile because it looked hard, but he was set on it. We found the suit at DI, (the tag said Shadow Ninja) and an old bike helmet. The "Iron Fist" is my old ski glove with felt hot glued to it. The leg armor are soda boxes painted red. Oh the sacrifice I made for him, all those Vanilla Cokes I had to drink. My brother painted the helmet to match the Eon Kids' and I think it turned out very cool! Miles was so happy and excited! Avery wore a duck costume we already had, both Savanna and Miles have worn it. All in all I spent $16! I was proud, and they were happy! Trick-or-treating was awesome. They were all well behaved and very friendly, telling everyone thank you and Happy Halloween and Avery would say "quack quack" when she got her candy. Fun Holiday!

Pumpkin Party!

2011-10-20T13:51:00.000-07:00

For my mom's birthday we had a pumpkin carving party! Halloween was always a big deal at our house growing up. My mom decorated the yard super scary like and she always dressed up and took us trick-or-treating, and we always carved pumpkins! So what better way to celebrate my Moms' October birthday then to carve pumpkins! We had a great time. My brother Charles brought his new puppy Asher (Trish was out of town), and of course, my mom came. We had pizza and treats and pumpkin birthday cake. The kids had so much fun. They love grandma and Uncle Charles and the newest family member, Asher. It got a little loud and crazy, but that's pretty normal around here. Happy Birthday Mom!

The Benefit of Blogging

2011-10-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

Friday around lunch time I noticed at package on my front step. We get packages quite often, usually it's something for the business. James said he wasn't expecting anything and I knew I hadn't ordered anything so my first thought was it was something delivered to us accidentally. I picked up the box and saw that it was to Chevon Bayless from A. Bayless in PA! A package from my sister-in-law Amanda to me! Amanda is a notoriously great gift giver. She is one of the most thoughtful people when it comes to gift giving. She sends my kids birthday and Christmas gifts, she sent matching dresses for the girls when Avery was born. She sent my mother-in-law this awesome strawberry slicer and when I e-mailed her to see where she bought it, she sent me one too! One of my favorite sweaters was from her! She always remembers everyone's everything. So getting a package from her was exciting! Inside the box was some chocolate's, slippers, a CD, a magazine, a recipe book, popcorn, a cute tote bag, and the above note. I read the note and started to cry. As I mentioned in my previous post, things have been rough lately. It meant so much to me that someone was thinking of me and, as silly as it might sound, it's means a lot to me that people actually read this blog. I have always loved writing and blogging is such a convenient way to put my thoughts into words. I now know of two people who live out of my state that read my blog! Granted, they are both relatives, but still! I want to say thank you to Amanda, you are wonderful! I have been inspired by you to be more thoughtful and remember the people around me and what they might be going through. I really wish you lived closer so I could see you and your family more often. Us Bayless daughter-in-laws got to stick together, it's been rough out there for us lately! Thank you for reading and remembering me, I hope to see you soon!

When It Rains It Pours...And Then Snows

2011-10-06T12:19:00.001-07:00

Why is it that this expression is so true? Doesn't it always happen like that? One thing goes wrong then a hundred come behind it? This seems to be our life lately. One thing after another. James has had so much stress at work with one job on top of another, he barely gets any sleep. My Aunt passed away. I had to go to the Emergency Room with an injured arm. The fuel pump in the truck went out. James cut his arm at work,but thankfully our nurse neighbor came and sealed up the cut so we didn't have to go the ER again. Our lovely tenant in Orem is, well, GRRR! Miles got lost at James' brothers wedding (we found him). I have had a cold for hmm, about a month. It's SNOWING! And to top it all off my Netflix Instant Streaming to my TV won't work! Ok, so maybe if you piece it all apart, it's not so much. However, considering the fact that all of this happened in a weeks time, it's tough. That's why I'm sitting here blogging and eating a huge piece of leftover wedding cake. At least the sun came out for the wedding, it really was beautiful. Everyone looked so nice dressed up. By the end of the night Miles' tux looked as though it had been to war and all three of them were covered in cake, but this picture was taken before all that. Even though things get tough and stay tough sometimes I am grateful for what I have, my husband and my three cuties.

2011-09-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

I have not had the creative juice lately for an awesome blog post, so here is a lame one. Life is puttering along in our family. So far school has turned out to be a great experience. It's helped us to get on a schedule and I can see academic progress in Savanna already. Her reading and writing has improved a lot. Wherever we go she is reading signs and she is figuring out how to spell things by herself. We went to the school carnival and on a field trip and both were fun new activities for us to enjoy. When Savanna is at school, Avery has a nap and I get to have some alone time with Miles. With being the middle child stuck between two sisters I worry that he sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. He is generally easy going and not as high maintenance as the girls so he gets passed up sometimes. Having time with just him has been really good for him. We play games, read books, look at funny videos on you tube, and work on his "school". We didn't finish the Summer Bridge workbooks this summer so I have been working with Miles to finish his. He always surprises me with how much he knows. He is working on the pre-school to kindergarten book and can pretty much do it all. He is not as talkative as Savanna and is not forever telling me all the things he knows, so sometimes I don't realize how smart he really is, but he can fly through those pages! Avery is growing up so fast! Just recently her vocabulary has exploded. She is always repeating words and songs and blurts our the funniest things. I have not been very good about a bedtime with her (oops) so she is accustomed to spending time with James and I after the other kids go to bed. She enjoys her time with just us, the other night we settled on the couch after putting the kids to bed and Avery said "watch a movie?" James and I just laughed, she is at the funnest age where everything she does is sooo cute! Although work is still really busy for James, he was able to have a few nights off and we had an awesome family night at Taco Amigo and Chuck E Cheese's! These are the days of my life!

Kindergarten!

2011-09-02T15:59:00.001-07:00

It happened! My sweet Savanna started school! A week before she started we went to the schools open house. She got to meet her teacher and have a scavenger hunt of the school. She had to find her cubby, the bathroom, the playground, etc. She was so excited! She was bouncing around the whole time, her teacher commented on how excited she must be! Savanna was counting down the days until she started, the only time she can seem to remember the days of the week is when something exciting is going to happen. The morning of the first day she kept telling me that I could just drop her off, she knew where to go I didn't need to take her in. I told her that mommy's have to go in the first day to take pictures so I was going in no matter what! We got some cute pictures and she sat right down at her table and started coloring her picture. She barely said goodbye, I think she was ready! My new favorite thing is dropping her off and picking her up. When I drop her off she walks up to the door with her backpack on and turns around three of four times to wave goodbye with a huge grin on her face, it's the cutest thing ever. When I pick her up she is smiling so big and immediately starts telling me what she did that day, she stands outside the car telling me everything through the window. I have to remind her to get in the car so other parents can come get their kids. She just can't wait to tell me! We survived the first week, hopefully she can keep up the enthusiasm for a few months at least!

Last Week of Summer

2011-08-30T13:10:00.000-07:00

Knowing it was our last week of Summer I wanted to enjoy it with some fun activities with the kids. Tuesday morning we had to stop at the school for Savanna's kindergarten assessment test. She did very well while Miles and Avery tore apart the class room. After the test we headed up to Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. We had never been before I wanted to take advantage of the 2 buck Tuesday deal. It would have been well worth it to me to go on another day, pay full price and not have to deal with the crowds! It was nuts, but the kids had fun anyway. They got to see and smell various farm life and go for a tractor ride. We had lunch at the restaurant there then stopped to get new shoes for the girls on the way home. I wanted Savanna to get velcro shoes for school so she could easily get them on and off by herself. She picked out her own shoes so Dora the Explorer will be going to kindergarten with her. A couple of days later she brought me some older shoes she has and showed me that she can now tie her own shoes, no problem. I hope I haven't stunted her shoe tying ability by making her wear those velcro ones anyway, oh well!
Later in the week we spent some time at the splash pad and playing in our backyard. We ate popsicles and ice cream cones too. On Saturday we went up Provo Canyon and had a picnic with my family and went to Bridal Veil Falls. The kids loved sitting at the bottom off the falls fishing rocks out of the water and throwing them back in. We also happened to have Backpack (we like Dora ok?) with us and filled him (her?) up with river rocks. While we were at the park having our lunch, there were a couple of guys going around with metal detectors. My dad filled his pockets with change and casually walked around the field where the metal detector guys were. My dad started dropping change at random spots in the field, just to give the guys something to find you know? That's just the kind of guy my dad is, kindhearted and helpful. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time!

Manual Labor

2011-08-11T16:39:00.001-07:00

The joys of being a land lord are in full abundance lately! James and I get to trade off either telling adults to clean up their messes or just cleaning it up for them! It's awesome! I'm being sarcastic of course. The Orem house is giving us grief again (as per usual), so we have had to put more work into it. We have gotten discouraged, but right now we are being positive about the whole thing and just getting it done. This post is mostly being written as a shout out to my husband. He has been working himself to the bone this summer. Work with his business has been extremely busy and when he is not doing that he is working on the apartment. I wanted to help out and take some of the pressure off him, so I offered to do some of the apartment work myself. Monday I spent an entire FOUR hours cleaning and prepping the place for paint. At the end of the day I was exhausted! My eyes, nose, and throat hurt, I was so dirty and tired. Today I was there for just over FIVE hours doing some more grunt work because I have no skills. I am also very tired today. The whole time I am working I am thinking, how does James do this? I have been here for two hours and it sucks and James works like this for 12, 15, 20 hours a day! He is Super Man and I am a huge wuss. For all my hard work this week I get to have a break and go to dinner with a friend tomorrow while James does a backyard camp out with the kids. Things seem a little unbalanced, don't you think? I can make myself feel a little better by remembering that James has never used the dishwasher since we moved here five years ago.

Things I Don't Want To Forget

2011-08-01T15:17:00.000-07:00

This post is for random, completely unrelated events that don't deserve their very own post but are things I don't want to forget. Most of life is like that actually, random events that somehow merge together to form an existence. And because it's my existence, I better not forget! I will start with "I am grateful for the splash pad." Last year a new park opened up about 5 minutes from our house. The best part of the new park is the splash pad. The kids love it, and it has given us something new to do this summer, it's free and safe and a great way to cool off!

Next: Funny posing and playing with camera. Savanna and Miles like when I get the camera out, especially Savanna. She is always posing in weird ways and making funny faces. They also like to take pictures themselves. One day we were playing in Miles' room and Savanna and Miles started playing "freeze pose", a game Savanna made up. I got out the camera and we took a bunch of silly pics, it was fun.
Finally: Paint Stick Swords. As I was preparing for Miles' pirate party I came across a crafty blog that had the idea of making swords out of paint stirrer sticks. I went to Home Depot and got a bunch, the sign said FREE! Take as many as you need! Sweet! My mom came over and helped us make them. We cut, painted, glued, and wrapped leather around the handles. I think they turned out pretty cool.
The End!

Savanna Starting School

2011-07-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

I love summer and I hate winter. I am so glad it's summer, but it is going way too fast! I have already mentioned my anxiousness about Savanna starting school, and I think that has a lot to do with why I feel this summer is just slipping away from us. I am trying to make each day count before my little five year old leaves me! Okay, it's not like she is going to Japan for ten years, I need to relax. Do all moms go through this when their first child starts school? Some moms I know are so excited for school to start. They can't wait for their kids to be out of their hair but I feel different. I quit my job about three weeks before Savanna was born and I have not had a job since. My kids have never been to day care, they are always with me. This is a huge blessing and something we (James) have worked really hard for. It feels so strange to turn my daughter over to people I don't know five days a week. I know it is something that almost all kids go through. I did, of course, and I am excited for Savanna to have the experience of school but I do have some reservations. I don't like not knowing what she is doing and how people are treating her. I hope that we have done a good enough job with her so that she will be able to stand up for herself and know what is appropriate and what is not. I know that my Heavenly Father gave me these children and has entrusted me to raise them, teach them, and protect them. I feel like sending them away at such a young age is well, almost wrong. As I read this I know it may sound a bit extreme. I mean, it's only kindergarten! I think I just need it to begin so I can see how normal and good school is, but I also don't want it to begin at all. Summer forever! I love my kids, I love being a mom and I hope I am doing an okay job. I am sure I will be the one crying on the first day of school.

My Pirate Birsday!!

2011-07-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

Miles just turned 3! Miles has been into pirates lately so we decided on a pirate party! We have been talking about it for months. We had been talking about it so much that one day Miles told me, "Mom, my birsday is July 21st and I am having a pirate birsday." It's always birsday, never birthday. We had the party at the new park here that has a splash pad and a fun playground. The one thing they don't have there is shade, it was so hot, but I think everyone had fun anyway. I know Miles did! He was such a good boy all day, so happy and excited! I can't believe he is 3! To me it actually almost seems like he is older! Miles was only 10 months old when I found out I was pregnant with Avery. This was not a planned pregnancy and I pretty much freaked out. I feel like I missed a huge chunk of Miles' babyhood because when the news of Avery came, I pushed Miles to grow up fast. I was terrified to have two babies! This is something I regret because I almost don't remember that year or so of his life. Poor Miles, I'm a terrible Mom! Maybe I made it up to him with an awesome party? I try to remember to slow down and enjoy all my kids everyday. I love Miles, he is the goofiest, sweetest little boy! My parents gave him a slip n' slide and he didn't really know what it was when he opened it. Finally he exclaimed, "I got my very own river!" So cute. Happy Birthday Miles!

Time Well Spent

2011-07-14T13:48:00.000-07:00

I was talking to my mom recently and she was saying how important it was to make memories with your family. She said, "Do your kids remember what they got for Christmas last year? Or their birthday? No, but Savanna is still talking about the time we all went to the zoo together. (which was before Miles was born!)" She said that the toys and stuff they collect won't mean nearly as much to them as the things we did and the time we spent together. I haven't had the best attitude about Savanna starting school this fall, and there really is no reason for this except that I am so sad that she will be away from me and that my kids are growing up so fast! I felt like since this is the last summer we have before "real" school begins, I really wanted to make it a summer to remember. While we can't vacation all over the world, or even make to the swimming pool each week, my kids are happiest just playing in the backyard. I've said it before but it's true, even though motherhood makes me tired and stressed sometimes, I love it. I can't imagine doing anything else, that's why it scares me that they are growing up! What am I going to do when they are gone? I guess I will worry about that later, but for now I am enjoying this time well spent.

4th of July!

2011-07-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

What?! It's the 4th of July already?! Less than two months until my Gooshie goes to Kindergarten? AHHH! ... Anyway, we love the 4th of July! This year was especially enjoyable for many reasons, some of which I will now share with you. We are right in the middle of the busy season for James' business and he has been so busy! This is awesome, but it means he is gone a lot, so on the 4th of July he got to spend the entire day with us, which was so nice. We have had a tradition for the last few years of going to the hot air balloon launch in Provo then to breakfast at the park, so we carried on the tradition this year. Waking up at 5:45 on James' first day off in months seemed insane, but we did it anyway (we made up for it later with the entire family taking a three hour nap). Because of weather conditions, the balloons didn't get to actually fly, just like last year. The kids had fun seeing a few of the balloons filling up, but were kind of grumpy and hungry. James and I decided that next year we'll skip the balloons, sleep in, and head straight for breakfast. We went to the Scera park in Orem this year and had doughnuts and breakfast burritos, we don't mess around. It was a cloudy day too, so it wasn't too hot to play on the playground for awhile. Miles still likes to swing in the "baby" swings at the park but one of them was wrapped around so the swing was really high up. James put him in there anyway. We had to flip the swing upside down and slide him out head first to get him down. After the park we went to get some bbq supplies and fireworks. This year Utah legalized aerials, which I thought was the dumbest idea ever, until James bought some and I saw how awesome they are! We let off a few but there were so many going off all around us, we had a great firework show from our front porch. I was a little surprised that our neighborhood didn't burn to the ground though, there were seriously so many! That's a lot of hard earned money us Americans burned up! Anyway, we had a relaxing day at home then grilled up burgers, brats, and hotdogs for dinner, just like the founding father's would have wanted. I also made a flag cake with strawberries and blueberries, so yummy! It was Savanna's idea to put the strawberries in a curvy line to make it look like the flag was waving. This year was the first time since we have been married that we spent the 4th at home. Every single year we have been at the in-laws and it was so fun to stay home! The kids were in their own environment, I didn't have to worry about them making messes or breaking things, there was no fighting to wrestle them into the car at the end of the night, we made our own dinner so we knew we would like it, and we got to see how much Spanish Forkites love fire! Family get together's are fun of course, but I think it was nice to be able to be alone together and spend some quality time with each other and our kids. At the end of the night Savanna said, "I don't want the 4th of July to be over, this was the best day ever!" I agree.

Blessings

2011-06-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

It has been almost two years since James quit his job to work for himself full time, and more than a year since he moved out of the garage and into his own shop. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! From when I first met James he had wanted to have his own business and work for himself. There always seemed to be a reason to stay at his job, buying a house, babies coming, etc, etc. Finally we decided that there would probably always be a reason to not go out on his own, so we better just do it. So, when I was 6 months pregnant with our unplanned Avery, he left his job and never looked back. Not only have these first two years been profitable enough to keep the bills paid and food on the table, but the business has grown by leaps and bounds. So many opportunities have come his way, and James has stayed busy, busy. I am so grateful for a husband who can provide for his family. James has always been the hardest worker I have ever known. When we first started dating, I thought it was so weird that on Saturdays instead of wanting to hang out with me all day enjoying the day off work, he wanted to piddle around the garage and work on "projects". This piddling and project working taught him the skills he now uses to fully provide for a family of five. Wow. Since Savanna was born I have never had to work. We both felt that the only people who should be raising our kids should be us, and James has worked hard to make sure that I can be home with our children. We are right in the middle of the busy time for James, he has never been this busy! It is a good thing to be busy of course, but I know James is tired and stressed so I just wanted him to know how much I appreciate how hard he works for us. I am so proud of him and the successful business he has built, I am grateful for the work that he gets and the home, cars, food, and all the things you need to live that we have been blessed with. I do have a very good life, a cushy life. I mean, it's 3:00 in the afternoon and I am blogging while my kids nap, pretty cake. I LOVE YOU JAMES!

Andy and Melissa's Wedding

2011-06-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

We kicked off the summer with a wedding! James' younger brother, Andy, was married to Melissa on June 4th in the Draper Temple. They had a beautiful wedding! I just loved the color scheme she picked out and was so happy to get new matching dresses for the girls and a nice tie for Miles! They were married in the morning then had a nice luncheon afterward and a reception that night at their new house in Lindon. Needless to say it was a long day, but my kids actually handled it better than I was expecting! Savanna was especially cute, she loved running around with her cousins all dressed up, and Miles loved the buffet at the reception. Even Avery was enjoying herself, she (thankfully!) was able to take naps at Nana's house between the festivities which helped a lot. It has been awhile since I had been to a wedding so, even though it was a busy crazy day, I had fun. Melissa is awesome and we get along great, it's fun to have a new sis-in-law! Congratulations Andy and Melissa! p.s. LOVE Miles' face in the second picture.

Swimming Lessons

2011-06-20T20:43:00.000-07:00

Savanna took swimming lessons this year! Last summer we went swimming a lot, a certain sister-in-law was taking a break from employment so I had help at the pool and we were there a bunch. Savanna and Miles both wore the inflatable arm "floaties" in the pool and could handle themselves pretty well, and they loved being in the water. Well, one day we ended up going to a pool near my sister-laws-house, and they didn't allow any floatation devices. It made me very nervous, but we were already there so we got in the water. Savanna and Miles immediately sank to the bottom of the pool. I panicked and pulled them up. They both looked bewildered as could be. I hovered over them trying to teach them how to swim without the floaties. After 20 or so extremely stressful minutes we gave up and went home. That experience taught me a big lesson, my kids need to learn to swim for real, duh. So this year Savanna took lessons and Miles will be old enough next year. At first Savanna was a little cautious in the water and when she tried to swim she mostly flailed around splashing everyone, but I could definitely see her improving as the lessons went on. After the first day she said "I can swim without floaties now mom"... okay. She did well though, back floats, bobs, all that fun stuff, and best part was the huge grin she was sporting the entire time. I was very pleased when she passed level one, on to level two next year! I am going to try to take her to the pool without the other kids a few times so we can work on the things she learned. Hopefully she can at least stay afloat and not sink like a ton of bricks.

Lagoon!

2011-06-10T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yay! Summer is finally here! Although Savanna has been out of school for a few weeks now, it seems like this was the first real week of summer because it is finally warm! We have been swimming in our little pool, eating lunch outside, playing on the swing set, and just having fun. I love this time of year! I set a lot of goals for this summer and one of them is to just have fun and pack in as many activities as we can and we are getting off to a good start! Thursday was Lagoon day! Thanks to my mother-in-law and her years of serving on the Lindon City Council, we get a free Lagoon day each summer. My mom stayed with Avery this year so I took Savanna and Miles and my brand new sister-in-law (a post about the wedding will be coming soon!) came with us. It was great having Melissa's help! My kids are still not quite big enough to move out of kiddie land, but we did get to ride the Tidal Wave, twice! The kids had a blast and I proved my age by becoming so dizzy from this crazy dragon thing! Savanna was very brave and enjoyed the craziest stuff. On every ride Miles had this very serious/worried look on his face but as soon as he got off he was screaming about how fun it was and how he wanted to go on another one! I love, love, love days like this when I can see how happy my kids are and be able to spend quality time with them and make awesome memories!

The good, the bad, the ugly.

2011-06-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

I was reading a conversation on Facebook talking about how reading Facebook status updates and blog posts make you feel bad about yourself because you read about everyone's exciting, wonderful life. It think someone called it "the Facebook complex". Someone commented on how no one ever posts their real problems and we never see their tears. I have to admit that I myself have suffered from this "Facebook complex". A barrage of happy families, perfect parents, good looking people and exciting lifestyles at your fingertips every minute of every day has definitely made me question myself and what my life is like. Should I be buying all my kids clothes at Gymboree? Should I be wearing Toms shoes? Should we be taking a vacation to Hawaii? Will that make me more happy, beautiful, and exciting? I think about these things a lot more than I should. The conclusion I have come to is this: you have to do what you are comfortable doing and what works for you and your family. If that includes the things I mentioned above, then great! But if not, don't worry about it, enjoy the lifestyle you have chosen for yourself and your family. Which, for us, does not include the above. I think posting about the positive stuff in your life is a good thing, a way to remember all the good. However, we have to keep in mind when we are reading about others it is true that we don't see the tears, heartaches, and trials that all these people are experiencing along with the positive stuff. On my last entry I posted the pictures I just had taken with my family, I realize this is the happy, beautiful, exciting part. The positive stuff! But, let me tell you, it was not without it's own trials! It's not easy getting a 5, 2, and 1 year old to hold still, look at the camera and make a face that is not grimacing at the fact that they are being made to do all these things instead of being allowed to run around and explore a new place. How many times do I have to say "Fine! If you don't smile for this one you are not getting a slurpee!" or "Ok, if you hold still and smile just one more time you will get a slurpee and some licorice!" And it's not easy finding an outfit that will successfully hide my post babies gut and muffin top. It's tough living life, whatever kind of life you are living and all we can do is try our best and cherish the good and get through the bad and the ugly.

Family Pictures!

2011-06-06T13:37:00.001-07:00

Ok, so we can all admit that a blog is just a place to brag, right? So this is one of those posts, here is my beautiful family. This the first time we had family pics professionally done and I was definitely happy with the way they turned out.

Cleaning House!

2011-05-31T16:56:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I ranted about my latest struggle, keeping my house clean. Since then I have tried to put a plan into action to clean up! Our ward happened to have a RS meeting on the subject of teaching your children to work in the home and it was great. A lot of great ideas were shared and I have taken some of them and made them work for our family. Two of the things I realized weren't working was 1) I expected Savanna and Miles to be capable of the same tasks and 2) I was expecting them to do all their chores while I was doing mine, just leaving them on their own. Now we are doing things differently. Savanna and Miles are both responsible for cleaning their own rooms and the playroom and TV room in the basement. Savanna also empty's the dishwasher and Miles cleans the living room. Because Avery and Savanna share a room I encouraged Savanna to teach Avery how to help. It's really cute, she hands Avery a toy or book or whatever and tells her where to put it, the few times I have seem them do this it works pretty well! Instead of walking away and leaving them to their own devices, I now "help" them with their chores by being nearby to observe and offer advice on how to do something. Savanna can handle things much better on her own than Miles, so I do spend more time with him. With Miles I try to make it fun, let's see how fast we can put the trains away! that kind of thing. They cannot go outside or watch a movie or do computer until the chores are done. They also have to make sure they have cleaned up whatever they were playing with before they move on to the next thing. When they are done they get a smiley face on their chore chart. They are rewarded for doing chores by activities, going to lunch, the park etc. So far it's working pretty well, eventually I will add and change chores. One of the things they talked about at the meeting was teaching your children that all that they have are blessings and they are responsible as a member of the family to take care of their things and work as a team to keep the house clean. Hopefully we can keep this going so they will grow up knowing what their responsibilities are and fulfilling them.
This summer I also wanted to make sure they were continuing to learn, especially Savanna since she will be starting kindergarten in the fall. They each have a Summer Bridge workbook and started doing a few lessons a day, when their books are done we are going to Pirate Island to celebrate! Savanna has always loved doing workbooks, so she is doing great. I was surprised by Miles, this is the first workbook he has done and he is doing great! He is working on the pre-k to kindergarten book and Savanna is doing the kindergarten to first grade. It seems not too long ago when I was just worrying about getting my babies to nurse and sleep and of course Avery is still my baby and I cherish that, but I feel like I am entering a new stage of motherhood, new and exciting things lie ahead.

Zoo Trip

2011-05-19T09:36:00.000-07:00

Last week my mom and I took the kids to the zoo! We had a great time, it was one of those rare days when everything seemed to go well, everyone was happy and enjoying themselves and I felt like I was being a good mom. Avery was especially interested in all the animals, when the other kids wanted to hurry and move on to the next exhibit, she was just fine to stay and observe. We attended the bird show which was really neat. The birds were flying right over our heads the whole time, a big raven even brushed Miles' head with it's wings. Everyone was ooh and aahing and clapping, even Avery, very cute. The weather was great, just a little cool and cloudy, but I think that kept the crowds away, which was nice. It takes some work getting there (and getting home, 3hrs on the construction laden freeway!)but it's so worth it to make memories with my kids. I think they fit in quite nicely at the zoo!

So Proud!

2011-05-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Savanna's preschool sends home these cute certificates each time she passes off a skill. Some of the skills she had down way before preschool such as colors, shapes, letters, numbers 1-10, etc. She did learn a lot at preschool too, like right from left, memorizing her address and phone number and a bunch of others. Today she brought home this certificate, and I was so proud! I have been working with her to get her reading before kindergarten and I think she is well on her way. The school started sending home pre-primer readers for her to work on at home. I can see her progression with each book, how she recognizes the sight words and can sound words out much quicker. Today she read one of the books for her teacher and got her certificate! I was so excited for her! Learning to read opens up a whole new world and because she loves to be read to, I think she be so happy to be able to read herself. We have also been working on BOB Books and she is already through the first set! I have ordered 2 Summer Bridge work books, one for Savanna and one for Miles and I am so excited to work with them this summer! Learning is fun!

Third Time's a Charm!

2011-05-13T19:41:00.001-07:00

This year the Provo City 5K was held on May 7th and it was the best one yet! The last two years it has been raining/snowing and freezing. They were both fun of course, but this year the weather was absolutely perfect. This year I was also in much better shape than last year, who runs a 5K two months after having a baby? I set a regular training schedule and stuck to it and, surprise! It totally worked! I finished thinking, I want to run another one right now! Hopefully I can keep it up so I can redeem myself at the Speedy Spaniard this year and not come in nearly last place like 2 years ago, who runs a 10K when they are 2 1/2 months pregnant? Although I have accepted the fact that I don't think I will ever be a marathon runner, I have really come to enjoy these short, fast races. I have even missed running this week (I allowed myself a week off) and can't wait to get back into it. There are several more races this summer and I am so excited, hopefully I can fit them all in! James was in charge of picture taking at the race, along with being in charge of 3 highly energetic kids. Needless to say, the child watching trumped the picture taking so we only got a couple right before the race, but enjoy!
May 7th was also my birthday! I had a great day! After the race my mom came over and we made a cake and played with the kids in the yard. That evening James and I went to dinner and shopping and had a really good time. Mothers Day was also really nice, we were able to spend some good quality fam time together and then head to the in-laws for a Mothers Day/Birthday dinner where I stuffed myself with schnitzel.

Savanna's Preschool Spring Program

2011-05-05T09:18:00.000-07:00

I signed Savanna up for preschool just a week after Avery was born, apparently you have to get on the preschool registration early! When I registered her I kept thinking how far away it was until she would actually start school, now she only has two weeks left! I can't believe it! Preschool has been a very good thing for her, she has learned so much and so have I, I have a much better understanding of what things she should be doing at her age. Here are some of the things she has learned and improved on in preschool: She has her phone number and address memorized, knows right and left, can write her name and all the letters, knows all her numbers, letters, sounds, shapes and colors (she knew most of these before preschool but has improved a lot), knows opposites and rhyming, knows that reptiles are cold blooded and mammals are warm blooded, is starting to read sight words and the pre-primer books and doing really well, and a bunch of other things I can't think of right now! I am really glad we decided to put her in preschool, I think it has been a great thing and she will be much better prepared for kindergarten in the fall (aaahhh!).
She had a spring program where the class got to show off their skills and sing some very cute songs. It was really sweet and cute. Savanna kept her eyes on her teachers most of the time and didn't smile much, but you could tell she was happy and excited when everyone clapped after every song! I can't believe we are attending school programs already, time is flying by and my kids are growing up so fast!

Deja Vu

2011-04-27T20:15:00.000-07:00

When I was a young girl this cute little family lived across the street. I loved babies even at a young age and they had babies so I would go over there and the mom let me play with her kids. When I got older I baby-sat these kids, a lot. They eventually moved, but they only moved around the corner, so I would still baby-sit the kids. When I was 12, the mom told me about a church program that she was a part of called Young Womens. The girls got together every week and did fun activities and service and she invited me to go. The first time I went we played miniature golf at the church, each class had made their own hole for the course. It was at this activity that I met Teressa Love, who became (and still is) my best friend and a bunch of other girls who I spent most of my adolescence with. The "mom" who invited me was Anne Law, who is still one of my greatest friends and role models. Anne was awesome. She let us girls play at her house and with her cute kids, she hired us one summer to do yard work for her and earn some money, she let us come over to her house and just hang out and talk, she was always good for a talk, she even let us sleep out on her trampoline once. After awhile, we discovered that Anne and I had the same birthday! This started a tradition of going out for lunch for each of our birthdays, which we still continue today although Anne and I are the only ones who still live in Utah. The other girls, Teressa and Holly, my best buddies, have moved far away, much to my dismay, but we get together whenever they come to visit, usually at Anne's house! Anne was there at my baptism and sealing and played violin at my wedding. She has visited me when each of my kids have been born, and has always been an amazing friend. When I got older and had a home of my own, I began to wonder, why did Anne always let us come over and hang out? We were so annoying at that age! We must have bugged the crap out of her! She is just that nice, I thought. Now here's where the Deja Vu comes into play. I teach the 11 and 12 year old girls in primary and they are very sweet girls and love my kids. I was wanting to train for a few upcoming races but I had no idea how I was going to go running with all these little kids to look after. So I asked a few of the girls if they would want to come over a couple of times a week to play with my kids so I could go running. They all said yes! They come twice a week prepared with baby sitting kits and activities for my kids, and my kids love it. The girls are coming! The weird thing is this, when I am done running, we hang out. Just for a little while, but we talk and tell stories and laugh, just like my friends and I did with Anne. It's like a part of my childhood is replaying before my eyes, it's weird, but wonderful. I find myself really looking forward to their visits. I realize this post probably won't mean anything to anyone but the people mentioned in it, but I really wanted to write it down. To be perfectly honest, the kindness of that one person opened a lot of doors for me and established relationships that have been paramount to the person I have become today. It sounds cheesy, but I am completely serious. I don't know if I can been as an amazing influence on these girls as Anne was to me, probably not, but I am happy to begin to understand why Anne did the things she did for us. Life is amazing sometimes.

Spring Break and Easter

2011-04-26T08:57:00.000-07:00

Oh how I was looking forward to Spring Break! Savanna is only in pre-school and it is only two days a week, but having a week off was really nice, I loved having her home. I don't know what I am going to do this fall when she is gone everyday for kindergarten! The week before spring break was very rainy and cold and we had a lazy week of staying indoors and watching too much TV, so I made a goal for the week of break, we were going to stay busy and do lots of fun things and stay away from the TV. I think we accomplished that goal. The weather was really nice the whole week and we spent a lot of time outside. The kids love their new swing set and we spent a lot of time playing on it, their cousins came over and played with them too. On Wednesday my mom came over and we went to lunch and played outside some more. On Friday I had my friends' kids over for the day, she just had a baby so I took her older kids to give her a little break. We played outside, did sidewalk chalk, ate lunch and made a craft. They were good kids but with a total of 6 kids it was pretty noisy! But they all had a good time. On Saturday we had a birthday party at a friends house, they had a huge bouncy castle and all the kids got to see their animals, baby goats, a pony, chickens, and a dog. Avery was especially excited to see the animals, she kept pointing at the dog and yelling at it. After the party we went to see Rio with Aunt Bubbas. It was the first time Avery had been to the theater, she didn't do too well. I thought she would fall asleep because it was nap time, but no such luck. Miles, however, did fall asleep, so Savanna was the only one who actually saw the movie, but we had fun anyway. James has been working on a medical office renovation in Helper right next to the train station. On Sunday after church we headed down the canyon so James could do a few things he needed to do, then we ate lunch at Helpers only restaurant (it was really good) then drove by the station so Miles could see the trains. It wasn't busy, no trains coming in and out on Sunday I guess, but they got to see a few and the drive through the canyon was really pretty and we got to have some good family time. I always feel good when we have a week like that, it's tiring to stay so busy but it feels better than the lazy days and I feel like I am spending quality time with my kids and making memories.
Easter was wonderful as usual. We did our traditional egg hunt and the bashing of the eggs. James was the Easter bunny this year and he did a great job, he needs to do it every year! We had so much candy! I also made jello and cookie salad for the special day. We went to Nana's for dinner and another egg hunt with another huge amount of candy. Needless to say, we were all completely overloaded with sugar, which made for an interesting Monday.

Arrrr!

2011-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Spring has been slow coming around here, the last week has been so rainy and wet. We are going absolutely crazy being inside for so many months! It is always a challenge to find activities to do indoors that all the kids will be happy doing and I try really hard to give them something to do other than movies and computer. They have been really into pirates lately so, on this rainy day, we played pirates! We made eye patches and pirate hats out of construction paper and elastic and they loved them! We also made a treasure map and I set up everything that I put on the map throughout the house. The marble machine is the pirate ship because the knob you turn to start the marbles looks like the steering wheel (if that's what it is called) of a boat. Savanna made a pirate flag and taped it to the ship. We hung a blue blanket over a door to make the waterfall, a little plastic crocodile sitting on the couch was crocodile river, a pile of brown blankets in the hallway was the mud pits. I hid a box of change under a pillow and put a paper X on it for the treasure. I think they had fun! Avery did have a hat but she ripped it off in 5 seconds, so no pictures of her. A fun rainy day activity for sure!

Clean House?

2011-04-07T14:36:00.001-07:00

I once heard a saying, it went something like "Cleaning the house when children are growing is like shoveling snow while it's still snowing." This is how I feel all day, everyday. I am always shoveling and it is always snowing. Before having children I would say I had a clean house the majority of the time. When we were first married and living in an apartment I would spend the first half of every Saturday cleaning, and with that done the place stayed pretty nice the entire week. Even when Savanna was a baby, things were pretty neat at home. I and liked it that way, I still very much like to have a nice, clean home, it make me feel calm and happy. I am home most of the day and it's easier to live in cleanliness instead of messiness. However, as more children came along and those children got older and began to collect a lot of stuff, keeping my house clean has been a major challenge. Preparing and eating 3 meals day here makes a mess. I clean the kitchen at least twice a day. The laundry piles up and as soon as a basket of clean, folded laundry is put away, it is filled up with dirty stuff right away. And then there are the toys, toys and books and crayons and paper everywhere! I try, I really do, but at the end of the day, it looks as if nothing has been done. This has become one of my biggest short comings as of late. I don't know how to keep it all clean. My children have chores to do. They are responsible for cleaning their own rooms and the playroom, and they usually do a good job. Of course, once this is done, they get something out to play with and it is all undone. I want my children to be responsible, to have respect for their home, but I also want them to be kids. How do you find a balance? My goal is to let my kids be kids and play and laugh and grow and teach them to help out and want to have things neat and tidy. I also want to spend time playing with them and not spend all my time cleaning up after them. If anyone out there actually reads this blog, please let me know your secret of finding this balance. This is my mommy thought for the day!

Weekend!

2011-04-04T12:24:00.000-07:00

We again had a few wonderfully warm days and we took advantage of it. We went on bike/scooter rides, Savanna tried out her new skates in the church parking lot, and covered the drive way with murals in chalk. I was inspired by the warmth to expedite my birthday present. I wanted to get a swing set for our backyard for my birthday (which is in May), but I convinced James that this weekend would be a great time to get it. We would be home for conference so James would have time to put it together and the weather would be perfect for it. So we went Saturday night and bought it and woke up the next morning to 7 INCHES OF SNOW! There was so much, that a few big branches broke off our tree in the back from the weight. Didn't I mention in a previous post that I would cry when we had a snow storm in April? Yeah, so I didn't cry but it was pretty disappointing. However, my champion of a husband went out in the snow and spent 5 hours building the swing set for us! He is amazing! I love him! Our kids love him! He is the best! We stayed in most of the day Sunday but the kids could hardly wait to get out there Monday morning and play.
This weekend was also General Conference. Ever since I joined the church I have watched conference and James and I have had the opportunity to attend conference in SLC several times. But for some reason it seems like this was the first time that I really heard what was being said and it all seemed really relevant to my life. It was really nice to listen and feel the spirit. Good weekend.

Let's blog today!

2011-03-31T13:04:00.000-07:00

Ok, I haven't been updating the blog as much as I wanted to. I guess life has been pretty busy. I exercise every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at the church, go running every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (5k and 10k training!), pre-school, feeding kids, changing diapers, playing, and cleaning up all the mess. I guess that keeps me busy enough, but mostly I draw a blank when I think of blogging, what to write about? Last week I got to go with Savanna's pre-school class to the Bean Museum for a field trip. We also went to the Paleontology Museum at BYU which I didn't even know existed, so that was fun. There were lots of mom helpers so Savanna and I kind of just hung out together. She really liked the big butterfly made up of lots of little butterfly's. I know, I know, my life is full of such exciting events as this.
Last Friday James was able to be home in the evening and wanted to do something fun with the kids. We talked about what we could do and finally decided to go to dinner and then to Toys R Us and let the kids pick out a new toy. After eating at Migo's (Taco Amigo) we spent almost two hours at the toy store. It took the kids forever and a day to pick out a toy, mostly because there are 502 million toys there. What they really wanted to do was sit on all the Power Wheel cars and pretend to drive them. In the end James and I had to help them out, we decided on roller skates for Savanna, a Geo Tracks bridge for Miles' train set and a sparkly ball for Avery. We got home after 9 and James set up the train set and Savanna skated in the kitchen before bed. The next day I had to go to Maceys to get diapers and the kids were whining and just being naughty. I kept threatening to take the new toys away. I asked them if yesterday was Christmas, no they said. Was it either of your birthdays? No. Ok, so why did you get a new toy? The answer I was hoping for was because Dad loves us and is so nice to us so we need to behave better. But the answer I got was from Savanna, because we couldn't think of anything else to do!
Thank you for reading my random post and looking at random pics, giant lollipops Charles and Trish brought back from Disneyland! Not sure why I didn't get one of Savanna, but I put another pretty one of her!

Spring and Spaghetti!

2011-03-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ahh! Is it finally here? Spring? Although today out my window it is terrible gloomy and threatening to rain, spring is coming! It is something that, as moms, we cannot wait for because spring means getting out of our crowded house, and it also means that wonderful summer is coming right up. Last week we had three glorious days of sunshine in a row and we spent each one of them at the park. The kids were so happy to be outside, Miles did not stop running the entire time! Avery ran all over too, trying to keep up with her big brother and sister. I know that in the middle of April when my yard is covered in snow after one of those wonderful Utah spring storms, I will not be so happy, but for now, I am!
And now for the spaghetti. The kids love spaghetti and it is such and easy meal to make. However, not so easy to clean up!

Little Treasures

2011-03-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, originally I wanted to do two blog's. One for all the family events and cute pics of my kids, and one to chronicle the ever changing job of being a mom and the thoughts and ideas I have on this subject. But, because I am busy being right in the middle of the mom job, I don't have time and/or space in my mind to remember two blogs, so this is my mega insightful mothering thoughts/brag about my cute kids blog. This post will be a mommy thought.
One thing I say a lot is this- even on my worst day, I love being a mom. A thought occurred to me once that while I was stressed, ornery, extremely sleep deprived, tired of counting to three, and covered in stretch marks, this is exactly what I always wanted. From a young age, I knew I wanted to be a mom. I would play mommy all the time, taking care of my baby dolls and once my mom helped me make a bag of rice into a baby (it was heavy like a real baby and the crinkly noise the bag made reminded me of a diaper ). I went through a phase in my late teens where I wanted to be a business women and keep my own last name, but that was short lived. When I got married I began to pray that James and I would be able to have children, that it would come easily for us and we wouldn't run into complications. Boy, that was one prayer that was definitely answered! The point is, I love my kids, I love being a mom, and now that they are growing up so fast I am making a real effort to treasure them and the moments I have with them. Some days when I wish they would just play by themselves so I can get something done I try really hard to think of this: someday this situation will be reversed and I will be begging them to play with me.

Avery's Birthday

2011-02-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

This will be the first post on the new blog. I have found that blogger is easier (and cuter) than wordpress, so I will be blogging here from now on. On Saturday the 19th, Avery celebrated her first birthday! This first year with her has gone by so fast! Here are all the awesome things my one year old can do: walk (she started walking at about 10 months), sign the sign's for "more" and "thank you", although she never signs thank you at the appropriate time, only at random times like in the bathtub, can pat her head when you ask her where her head is, roll her eyes at me, eat an entire corndog by herself, smile a lot and sometimes sleep through the night. Ok, not too impressive, but I love her! On her birthday we had pink pancakes for breakfast. We went to Maceys to get balloons and I let her have a sucker that the cashiers give to kids for the first time, because it was her birthday. That night some family came over and we had pink and white cupcakes. She got a bunch of cute new outfits and lots of attention. Savanna even put on her unicorn costume for Avery, she loves it and giggles and hugs unicorn Savanna whenever she has it on, so cute! She is a sweety and I am excited for this fun age she is entering in to. Happy Birthday Avery!