Fun in the snow

Late Happy Birthday to Grandmas!!

I was finally able to get a video of the kids singing Happy Birthday,(or the closest I could get to it) and I couldn't email it so I thought I would just post it on our blog, for you Grandmas to see. Enjoy!! and ignore me singing in the background.

Kelsos Choice

So in school Joel is learning how to deal with little problems with other students before going to an adult for help. They have a little chart called Kelsos choice with 10 things that kids can do, some of the things are, walk away, ask them to stop, suggest sharing and ignore. Well the other day I asked Joel at least 5 times to get his pajamas on and he wouldn't respond, so finally I went up to him and asked him if he heard me. He told me that he did, and I asked him why he didn't do it, to which he answered,

"I'm using Kelsos choice and ignoring you."

I tried hard not to laugh, because after all that is what they are teaching the kids to do in school. But maybe they should make sure the kids know not to use it on their parents. I wonder if we can use the same technique with our spouses....hmmm... ..okay, not really, but an interesting thought.

Tender Moments

So I know that I am really up and down, but oh well. This post will be completely opposite from the last one, but I don't want to make people feel like I'm just writing bad things, and the last post really wasn't suppose to be bad, I honestly don't feel guilty about what happened, if I could go back and change it I would, but I can't so I'm learning from it and moving on. I appreciate all the sweet comments, thank you. So with that said, I absolutely love the moments in life where everything is peaceful and you feel like you could stay in that moment forever. I had one of those moments, last night I was getting the kids ready for bed and we were sitting on the couch reading stories, everybody was happy and we were all snuggling, and when I finished the last story Bailee gave me a great big hug and a kiss and said "I love you mom". IT WAS THE SWEETEST THING!!!! I almost didn't want to put her to bed, but I figured I should probably take advantage of her sweetness while I could, and I laid her down, and she went to bed so well, it was wonderful. In fact Joel and Sydney went to bed very nicely too. It is in powerful moments like these that I feel the love of my Heavenly Father and I feel an increase in love for my own children, it makes everything worth it. It's amazing how powerful the words "I love you" can be when they come from a sweet child in those tender moments. I know that moments like this don't last forever and they don't happen every second of everyday of my life, but the love and the spirit that come from them last forever. I am so very grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with my wonderful children and for their love. Motherhood is the best job ever!!!

It was just a shirt

I'm not writing this to complain or make people feel sorry for me, but I am writing this so someone might learn from my mistake. Last night I had an experience that really made me realize how easy it is to let little things turn into big things,which in turn makes us miss the important or specials things. Joels Christmas school program was last night, and I was super excited for it, but as the night went on it turn from exciting to frustrating. It started out with getting Joel dressed, I made him wear his church shirt, which he was not happy about, then everything went downhill from there. Fits were thrown, toys were thrown away and there were lots of tears. By the time we got to the school, both Joel and I were very upset. Joel was of course fine after he got with his class, but me being me, continued to let myself get more angry to the point that I didn't even enjoy the program, and I stayed angry until I went to bed. But as I thought about it I realized how silly this whole thing was. If I would have let Joel pick his shirt, this whole situation would have been avoided. Something small and a lot of bad choices on my part ruined the whole evening and I missed out on the enjoying what really mattered and I won't be able to get that back. So if you guys find yourselves in a similar situation whether it is with your kids or your husbands, remember it is just a shirt, or whatever it may be for you.

A Wonderful Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was so much fun. My parents and brother(who just got off a mission and is very cute and single, so if anyone knows someone who wants a blind date, let me know :) came to our house and I was able to cook my first thanksgiving dinner. I think it turned out ok, nobody died so that was a plus and I didn't have to clean up, we left that to the guys. After we were all stuffed and ready to take naps, Justin being the exercise scientist that he is, made us all get up and go to the gym and play kick ball and duck-duck goose. It was so much fun. Then Joel, my parents and I were able to go to Seattle and visit my Grandma. It was a good weekend. I love the holidays because it is a chance to be with family and enjoy each other, but tis the season to eat way too much. I can't believe how much pie I ate. Note to self, don't eat a whole bunch and than go shopping for pants right after. Anyways I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday!!!

The only prayer that begins and ends with a fight

I remember growing up and when it was time for family prayer, we knelt down together in a circle and my father picked someone to say it, and we would all reverently fold our arms and close our eyes and patiently wait until the prayer was over and than we would all make a mad dash to the dinning room so we could all get our favorite spot at the table. The good old days. Let me paint a picture of how my family prayers are now that I have my own family. We sit down at the table and sing the song

Open, shut them, open, shut them
give a little clap
Open ,shut them,open ,shut them
fold them in your lap

As soon as the song is finished Joel starts saying a prayer as fast and as loud as he can, mean while Bailee is screaming at the top of her lungs, telling Joel to stop. Both Justin and I are talking as loud as we can trying to get both of them to stop. Then the crying and the fits start. When it is all said and done, Joel and Bailee are sitting in time-outs, still trying to out-do each other with their prayers, Justins blood pressure is sky high, I've got my box of chocolates and I'am headed for the t.v, and Sydney is still in the high chair with one arm folded, the other in the air saying "My turn". Some where in there I think we've lost the spirit, but I'm not sure if it is before or after the song. I can only imagine what this would look like to Heavenly Father and the good laugh he is getting out of it.

More to Justin than meets the Eye

I was having so much fun creating my blog that I have forgotten to add the most important thing( which my mother was kind enough to remind me of, thanks mom). She told me that I forgot to add some good stuff about Justin. So this is a list of things I admire in Justin and somethings that some people don't get to see in him.

Justin is:

An Awesome helper: He cooks and cleans without being asked. One time he cooked every meal for a whole week, with out me asking him to, and it was all really yummy.

Good Cleaner: He doesn't like clutter and so he keeps things very tidy. When he cleans, he goes all out and makes things look excellent. He also puts the toilet seat down, for that I am truly grateful.

Knows when I need a break from the kids: Justin will sense when I am having a really bad day and he will take the children so I can mentally get sane again.

Smart: He is doing awesome in school. Last week he got over 100% on a test, and continues to get good grades in all of his classes. He is going to be soooo good at whatever profession he chooses.

Dependable: You can always count on Justin to be where he says he will be, and he is always on time. He takes it seriously when he is asked to work and he does a very good job.

Funnny: When Justin keeps himself in check, and isn't trying to embarrass me, he can be very funny.

And probably the most important is he is patient with all of my emotional and mental breakdowns and still loves me in spite of my weaknesses. This is just a small list, I didn't want to be too mushy. Love ya Justin!!!!

And so it begins...

Today Justin laid Sydney down for her nap and about a half- hour later I heard her playing with some toys. So I went to go and check on her thinking, why in the world would Justin lay Sydney down with toys to play with, and sure enough she was sitting on her bed with some toys. Well it wasn't until after I walked around her crib that I noticed something was missing. I don't know how but she broke off the whole front part of her crib, it was laying on the floor about two feet away, so she was free to climb in and out of her crib. It took me a moment to realize what this meant, the first was, well at least Justin knows not to give her toys to play with for naps and the second was "oh no I'm in trouble." The realization that nap and bed time will not be as easy now that she is free to leave her crib whenever she wanted finally came to me, I'm not ready for that, and so it begins.....

Brain Damage

I know I put a lot of videos on here, but I loved this one. Sydney is trying to do a somersault, and it is hilarious to watch her. Luckily we have carpet now, or she would have brain damage. Don't mind Justin torturing Joel in the background.

Fun Pictures

Here are just some pictures of everyday life. Doesn't Joel look so handsome!!!

Cooking with the kids

Halloween

Halloween was a fun and busy day. We started out with going to the Library for their story time, then we went to the University for their trick-or-treating ,Joel went as a fire fighter, Bailee as a witch, and Sydney as a ladybug. . The kids loved getting the candy but were very scared to try anything at first, but after a while they had a lot of fun and we left before it got to crowded. Then we went to the church for the trunk-or-treat and got more candy that we DIDN'T NEED!!! After that the girls went to sleep and Joel and mom went to the Smiths, Halloween Party, which was a lot of fun and it was very hard to get Joel to leave. Then we all crashed with a sugar overload.

Videos

Pumpkin Patch Fun

Sydney

Sydney is finally growing and is almost 20 pounds, yeah. She is finally growing on her own little curve, off of the growth charts, but still growing. No more trip to Childrens Hospital, Yeah!!! She does not like her glasses, but will wear them when we take pictures of her or if we are out of the house. Sydney is finally in nursery and loves it, as long as she gets to push a stroller and nobody gets in her way. She is talking really well and can sing I am a child of God. Yesterday she sat on the toilet and went potty, mom was overly excited at the prospect of not changing diapers anymore. Sydney is a lot of fun and a great addition to our family.

Bailee

Bailee.....well what can I say about her, she is Bailee. Full of life and loving every minute of it. She enjoys finding new and inventive ways to make mom go crazy. She is a miniature Justin, and that is scary, one is bad enough :) However she is a lot of fun and makes sure that mom gets her exercise. She is finally talking in sentences that we can understand however her favorite sentences are "leave me alone" and "I don't want it". We love her and life would be very boring without her.

Joel

Joel started kindergarten this year and is loving it. He enjoys learning and loves his teacher and he actually talks to her. (for Joel that is a really big deal.) He loves having his friend Corgan in his class and talks about him non-stop, it's really cute. Recently he had his primary program and to our surprise he actually got up and said his part, we were so excited. Joel is finally coming out of his unsocial bubble, (much to moms relief) so we are hoping that he will continue to grow and blossom in school. This is a picture of his first day of school.