Yay Friends!!

So this was awesome to hear as the mom of my cute son  :D

Ethan and his friend are having a sleep over and playing Halo 3 together.

Ethan: Aw man why did you kill me?

Friend: Because we are against each other and don't like each other.  But just in the game, if it was real life, I'd take your side for sure.


:D  Great Big Mom Grins!!

These are the days (times 2)

Sometimes when I am having a bad day I go back and reread old posts of mine to remember good things and get a better perspective on my life. I wrote this back on September 9, 2008. I have accomplished even more now than what I listed here and I am grateful for the chances and blessings I have been given.

I love this quote:

“The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”
-Anna Quindlen

So I just went to Shauna's myspace page and I heard her song and I got to thinking. Her song is "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. It talks about how fast life passes and that if you blink you will miss a lot.

Now with all four kids quietly sleeping in their beds the song makes me all choked up. It is so true, they change so quickly, life changes so quickly. It has been eight years that I have been married to Greg. I have finished college, watched Greg go through Law School, moved to Kansas and back, seen Greg as a prosecutor, and as a defender, bought a law firm, bought a house, sold a house, built a house, and most importantly been pregnant three times with four beautiful children. I have seen the first day of kindergarten, been called into the principal's office because my kid was in trouble, learned how to deal with ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome, attended Parent Teacher Conferences that have left me so depressed and down I couldn't stop crying and ones that have left me so proud and happy that I couldn't stop hugging that poor kid. I have taken kids for stitches, been to countless soccer and tee ball games, sat through tumbling class and Kung-fu classes so that when they ask "mom did you see me?" I can say yes and mean it. I have carried babies so small through the store that people have stopped me to tell me that they "thought that was a real baby." I have potty trained two kids and am working on two more. I have been a substitute teacher which has made me contemplate being an actual teacher. I have given up on my dream of Med. School thousands of times only to pick it up again a thousand more. I have kissed more owies, rocked more sick babies to sleep all night long, cleaned up more play-doh, broken up more fights and been thrown up on more times than I can count. So yeah, a lot has happened in those eight years and sometimes when I have three toddlers screaming at me all day it is hard to remember that these are the times that when I am old I will look back on and say "those were the days, I miss those times."

I go back to having the four kids all sleeping quietly in their beds and if I don't look around at the mess that is my house I can feel that these are the days.

So my point is that I am making a resolution to try harder to remember that these are the days when my kids are awake and rowdy and messy so that when they are grown they will look back and think, "those were the days, I miss those days" and they will come home to me, because as Emma told me today "even when I am a grown up you will still be my mommy and daddy and I will be your baby girl."

I think I will re-resolve to try harder and be the happier, more patient, and more content wife and mother that this beautiful family deserves. :)

My Better After!

I love this blog called Better After. They have some of the most amazing transformations of what most of us would just throw out as junk into beautiful home design. I have been inspired to try and see the potential in the ugly stuff as how it can be remade into something beautiful. This is actually my second project but I am pretty proud of it.

I bought this poor ugly broken table at a local thrift store for $2. The top was split and coming off of the base and the side rails were split and twisting. The hinges and pulls were just stained and varnished over when the table was made and they were so dark and streaky and ugly. But with a little sanding, tons of wood putty, several L-braces, and a lot coats of paint (the color is called Sage Blue and I LOVE it!) I was able to get the perfect end table for my family room that I am slowly working over to get rid of the reds that I hate! All in all the entire project cost me right around $9. That is definitely Greg's favorite part!! :)

Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Gila Valley Temple Open House

Last Saturday I had the chance to take my Young Women to visit the Gila Valley Temple down in Central, Arizona. We had quite the drama being able to go. Our first plan was to go with the YM and YW and stay over night with my sister-in-law in their brand new house but the Young Men decided they didn't want to go and thanks to HUD my sister-in-law's house didn't close in time so we had to rethink that plan.

My counsellors and advisors really felt strongly that this activity was worthwhile and important so we began working out a plan where we do the entire trip in one day! We left at 4:30 AM and we were home before 7:00 PM and it is 4 hours drive each way! We had some rules: two adult drivers per car, and we needed priesthood.

We have such dedicated priesthood! My sweet husband was willing to get up at 4:00 AM and load up all four kids and drive them in our car so he could serve as priesthood so that the girls could go. Jason Neenos was also as kind. He had plans to go to Phoenix with his wife Bryn but before I was off the phone with the Stake President he had already volunteered to miss the trip with Bryn and serve as our second priesthood holder. Add to that President Spencer loaning us his Beast (their Excursion) and Jenny and Jeff being willing to drive it we were good to go!

We had 10 young women, 4 kids, and 6 adults up and at em by 4:30 AM to head to the temple! The temple was beautiful, like every temple is, but this was even more so to me because I was able to experience with and through my children Ethan and Emma. I loved the joy I could watch in their faces as they felt the spirit walking through that holy building. Emma whispered, "it feels like God is walking behind me everywhere we go, and that makes me want to dance and sing!" After we left the temple we were escorted to the chapel next door for refreshments and oh was it crowded. The Cultural Hall there was stuffed to bursting with happy people discussing the beautiful building we had all just seen. Ethan said to me, "Mom it is very crowded in this room and very loud. It is much harder for me to hear and feel the spirit in this loud place. The temple was quiet and peaceful and I could feel the spirit everywhere. I can't wait to go back there." I love that my children love the temple and know that the spirit of God dwells there and that they want to return as soon as possible.

I love the temple. I am grateful for the work that is performed there by the power of God. I am thankful to be sealed to my beautiful family for time and all eternity. I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who made that possible for us. I am thankful for a Savior who made it possible for me to be worthy, through his sacrifice, for those blessings.