He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still -Lao-Tzu

Monday, January 11, 2010

And my burden is light

They are a select few.  They remain consistent.  I would like very much become one of them.   I speak of those who readily volunteer their thoughts in Gospel Doctrine each Sunday afternoon.  I have a steady stream of my own thoughts but each time I resolve to make them known, my arms turn to solid concrete.  Then someone else makes their point and I inwardly kick myself because my line of thought was so much more relevant.  (ha ha)   Someday.  

And while on the subject, something that has become somewhat of a Sunday annoyance. When a teacher asks a room full of adults ‘who might volunteer for an opening or closing prayer?’   Not a hand is raised.  Of course until someone from the group steps in.  I leaned over to Jason and mentioned, no vowed to always stick my concrete hand up and never allow prayer to become a burden again.  Hey, maybe it will catch on and instead become a race.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Bittersweet

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Sweet isn’t it? 

Too bad it’s forced affection.  A great form of punishment on road trips when you can’t separate them.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Hike ‘em up

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I know it looks like we are walking through the land of desolation with a coyote trailing us, but in our town we call it hiking in the San Tans with our dog Flapjack.  Its about a mile from our house and we loved it.  Lainy started to complain that her legs hurt and could we please carry her about 30 seconds after we got out of the car. 

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Jayce is quite the outdoorsman.  When we had gone about 45 minutes and were going to turn around to head back, he was ticked that we had not ‘been hiking’ yet.  What did he think we were doing out there?   So, Jason headed off trail and straight up the side of the mountain.  Jayce was happy.  I was not. 

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Pretty cool place though.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Invites for Shell

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The invitations are finished!

Shelley is due in a few short weeks and we are crossing our fingers that little Hailee stays put until then!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Lainy turns 5

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 Lainy bug Lainy bug

Look how you’ve grown!

Just yesterday a baby

And today a little lady.

Your zest for life contagious

your smile wide and bright.

What would we do without you?

I love you with all my might!

Lainy, I am so grateful to be your mother.  You teach me so many things.  Never lose the joy that exudes from you in everything you do.  I love you pretty girl.  Happy Birthday!

Family trip 2009

We headed out that Friday afternoon to St George.  We got to the hotel a full 5 minutes before the bachelorette party ended.  The next morning we went the the temple sealing and the reception that night.  I wish I had taken more pictures of Mike’s restaurant-  it looked AMAZING.   

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We spent 2 days there seeing a bit of Zion’s national park and then made our way up to Shannon’s in Logan.  There was a little bit of this…

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And a tad of this…

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And just a sprinkling of THIS! 

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We celebrated mine and Lainy’s birthdays there and Jason took it upon himself to make me a special cake…

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When Shannon and I left he had begun the cake, when we got home we poked around the kitchen looking for it’s hiding place, wondering why we couldn't smell it.  Jason was sitting quietly on the couch when we found the remains of batter in the trash. He started out well until while mixing noticed the weird consistency of the batter.  It was a little oily.  He doubled the oil and forgot the water.  Whoops.  I am grateful for the effort! 

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We stayed with Jake and Kyra (thank you!!)   And if you remember this little guy Brenden who is not so little anymore!  We had a grand time and froze a bit more up in Washington.  Thanksgiving was spend with the Stolworthy side and it was divine. 

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Lainy got quite attached to Gpa Chad this time.   Had to nearly peel her away with good-byes. 

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The boys had their day with guns up on his dad’s property.  I stayed clear.  9 years and I still don’t so so well with it all. 

The trip home was 22 hours and we went straight through.  Ugh.  I was ready to jump ship. 

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As you can see, the car ride took it’s toll on the kids too- not sure how we got this beauty captured. 

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Silence is golden

I woke up this morning and my voice was no where to be found.  It’s nearing 9 am and I am quickly realizing the advantages to this little cold.  First, only the child who had to go to school arose early and since I couldn’t talk he followed suit and whispered himself.  In turn, the two little ones slept until 15 minutes ago when I nearly dragged them from their slumber.  They also have taken to whispering.  Whisper through breakfast, whisper to each other.   My house seems very….   reverent.  I may milk this one….

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Climb every mountain

It’s been uphill.   And downhill.  We’ve gone around the hill and sometimes barreling through it.  At least my marriage has.  But here’s what I have learned so far.  As you are climbing this mountain together, stumbling and falling, helping each other up, and sometimes tripping the other with vengeance,  it is crucial to remember to stop and look around you.   Look how far you have come.  See the beauty from above and just breathe it in. 

You can’t climb mount Everest without first climbing much smaller feats.  There are days when we feel as though we did it.  We reached the top and it feels glorious!  We stop and look around us, clinging to each other in awe that we made it.  Only to turn around and see yet a larger mountain we must defeat. 

In answer to many prayers at a trial some time in my life I was given the answer that we as a couple needed to experience this in order to be prepared for what is to come.  Not all of us may need to climb mount Everest, but we sure need to be prepared to do so.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Cavemen

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Mom?  Were you born in the 1900’s? 

Yup. 

Whoa.

Sheesh, he made it sound like I’m ancient!  Just in time to turn 30 I guess.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Exhaustion

Truly you know your children are tired when you are 3 for 3 in each of them climbing into bed on their own without a sound. And when 3 children are that tired, their mother is bound to be.

Monday, November 9, 2009

You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.

When I was a kid I remember my dad always walking over to a corner wall and scratching his back on it.  He loved a good back scratch.   There is nothing worse than the feeling of the itch beginning in the middle of your back juuuust out of reach, and the scramble to find something or someone to scratch it for you.  Ahhhh, then the feeling of relief as they hit the spot.  

Jayce loves a good back scratch.  Lainy thinks she does, but every time you begin, her body starts to wiggle and she can’t stop the giggling.  Too ticklish.  I love a good palm scratch.   Something about the palm of my hand being scratched just relaxes me.  

Jared, being 3 has just learned the value of laying over moms lap and asking, “Can you scrape my back?”

***An hour after I posted this I came into the kitchen and Lainy had her shirt off and was frantically scratching her back on the edge of the kitchen table, telling me her back itched so bad!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Phew. I mean… Boo!

I swore this was the year I was living Halloween simply. 

And I did.  

Until 2 days before Halloween. I’m not sure what happened. I went into sew mode somehow.  Decided against the simple ghost idea and created a complete Avatar costume, the fluff to Lainy’s ladybug, and lost my fire when I got to Jared, gained control and went back to simple and dug out the ol’ cookie monster costume.  Phew. I am glad it’s over. 

We trick or treated one house and that was Gramma Jet.

Thank you Georgette! We love you! 

Then it was off to trunk or treat!

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I did get a chance to gussy up a lady in our ward who wanted to go ‘Harley’. 

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Jayce was such a sport to let me shave his head for the evening.  He did panic a bit when the realization set in that he had to attend school and church this way. 

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Lainy and Tessa both came as bugs, which is fitting.  Those two are always buzzing around together.

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It’s faces like this that make it all worth it. 

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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

No Disco ball for the gophers!

I

found

my

RING!

Actually Jason found it tonight in his pajama pants pocket.  We have looked everywhere including my entire acre with a stinkin metal detector.  It’s like having an old friend back.  

Sigh. 

Life is good.

Monday, October 26, 2009

She doesn’t.

My sweet friend asked me last week how I did it.   Keep my house clean (ha ha), raise my kids, support a husband in school, and work 20-30 hours a week.   The truth is…  I don’t.  I can’t do it all.  Especially not at the same time.  My days are like taking a handful of balls and throw them all up in the air at the same time and then trying to catch them.  Sometimes you catch one, and all the others fall.  Once in a blue moon, you catch the majority of them and feel pretty good about yourself.  Today I caught one ball.  Two women walked out of the salon with their hair looking better than when they walked in.  It’s something right? 

  • I dropped the parenting ball when my kids dumped all the macadamia nuts in the boys room, stripped all bedding off beds so they had a better jumping arena, dumped water all over the couch and jumped on it, played mermaids in the bathroom and made a real ‘ocean’, finally one fell asleep on my bed, and then peed on it. 
  • I dropped the wife ball when I didn’t call my husband all day because I didn’t have the energy to support him and tell him to study hard, because I knew I just wanted to tell him to come home. 
  • I dropped the cooking ball when I fed my kids coco puffs for breakfast, cheerios for lunch and Mac and cheese for dinner. 
  • And well,  the clean ball was never even reached for. 

I know I know,   Wo is me.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Diamond in the rough

Jason and I was discussing my recently lost wedding ring while lazily laying in bed this morning and it went a little something like this…

“I really do love my new wedding ring,  I have had a lot of compliments on it” I say. 

He acknowledges my comment with an mmm hmm.  

Then, still being a little tired I say, “I wish had I had some sort of super power that I could feel or hear if it were nearby…”

Smiling now he  says,  “yeah I can just hear it’s little screams now.”

I am into it now,  “help me! help me you idiots I am right here!”

Jason says…  (sorry still laughing at this…)  “Yeah, it’s probably outside in the dirt and some gopher is using it as it’s disco ball.” 

I must still be so tired.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Laughter

Best compliment I’ve had in a while…

Jayce:  Mom, you laugh a lot don’t you?

Life’s too short not to!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Tree of Thanks

Last Thanksgiving I cut out a tree from cardboard and a handful of leaves and for family night we sat and wrote each thing we were thankful for on the leaves and it stayed up for a few weeks.   This year I found this tree at Michaels and bought a leaf punch and put it up when Autumn began.   I wanted to remember to be thankful a lot longer than just one night.  So, I hung a bag of leaves and a marker next to the tree and welcome anyone who enters my home to fill a leaf on my tree with what they are grateful for.  This was the first day we hung it, and it has slowly been riddled with words of thanks by many.  I hope to have a beautiful fall tree by Thanksgiving Day!

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Small and Simple thing #1

Marjorie Pay Hinckley said:

Life is full of challenges.  Many of them involve balance and temperance.  Complete abstention may be easier than moderation.  It’s easier for me to completely abstain from smoking than to try and balance my day- a little for this, a little for that, a little for him, a little for her. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson expresses a majestic thought when he said: “It is easy in the world to live after the world’s opinion; it is easy in solitude to live after our own; but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.”

I have been struggling with balance in my life.  Trying to decide what I should try and balance in, or if I should completely abstain from it.  It was a few days ago that a little 5x5 inch purple book on my bookshelf seemed to call to me.  Sister Hinckley's book entitled ‘Small and Simple Things’.   In it I found this thought.  I read it and reread it and have repeated it to myself over the course of the last couple of days and each time it becomes more clear to me what a simple practice it is, and yet so difficult for me. 

Thursday, October 8, 2009

San Francisco

Thank you to the Hambly’s for letting me bombard them for a day and being such great friends.   I love you guys.

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I wish I didn’t live so far away from my dear friend! 

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And I’m sorry, is she not just to die for?  I had the day to spend with these two ladies, and a part of the day to share with the boys of the fam, who are equally as wonderful!  (but not as photographed apparently!) 

Thank you to my parents for feeding me, housing me, and allowing me to tag along.  I love you guys.  

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YES. That is the golden gate bridge.  I went over it.  Twice!  It was pretty cool. 

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Ok, and the reason for this trip in the first place was to attend Jess and Tami’s Engagement party and I didn’t even bring my camera to it!  Sheesh. 

So, it was beautiful and filled with ALOT of aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  They were all so kind and gracious.   Jess and Tami looked stunning-

(like Arabian Princess Barbie and Ken.  Seriously.) 

Ok, but without all the fluff.   Great company, great food, and glad to be home!

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

At the cracking of dawn

I put the kids to bed early last night.  Jayce was up at the crack of dawn at 5:30.   He came flying in holding a plate of goodies that the Phantom Ghost had left on our porch last night! (Thank you!)  I of course told him to go away and let me sleep.  It was when I finally (at 6:45) woke and found my kitchen in a bit of a mess that I realized the potential of my sweet children.  Jared had changed his own clothes (into another pair of jammies, but still) Jayce had gotten dressed, made a valiant attempt at making pancakes (with flour) and all were coloring at the table very quietly together.  Well, truthfully Jayce was coloring while the other two begged to help him.  I actually had a glimmer of hope that someday Jayce might be able fill the role of babysitter.   My dreams came crashing down when he came over and told me his pants felt weird and kept slipping down in the back.  

Jayce.  Your jeans are on backwards.