I love fall!

A few weeks ago I decided that I should try to have a snack ready for the older kids when they come home from school. They always eat anyways but I figured maybe this would keep them in the kitchen talking to me for a while and maybe they would be able to focus on their homework right away. Well, they LOVE it! And I love having that time to chat with them after their day.

So in October, I thought it might be fun to have fall/Halloween snacks every day. This is what we are having today: candy corn cheesecake mousse. Yesterday we had deviled eggs with olive spiders on top and Monday we had pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. So far the kids are having fun and I am too! It is fun for me to think about it ahead of time and try to be creative.

I am having so much fun getting ready for the holidays! We are working on Halloween costumes and Christmas stuff as well. We were at Hobby Lobby the other day (love that store) and I am pretty sure Callie and Kimber love it too:)

Lane's birthday is coming up and he is so excited about his Halloween birthday! He says he wants a telescope which would be pretty awesome.

I may be wrong but...

It might be just me but I'm pretty sure my kids are about the funniest around. Take the twins, for example. Kimber has started this thing where she closes her eyes and thinks that we can't see her. I'm sure that is pretty normal for someone her age but there is something about the way Kimber does it that makes you want to about die laughing. She shuts her eyes tightly so they're all crinkly around the edges but then her eyes aren't really all the way closed so she can peek through.Then she gets this huge smile on her face and turns her head back and forth while you "look" for her. Sometimes she ducks her head and other times she will just throw herself on the ground and try to sink into the carpet:) It's pretty hilarious.

Callie is our little talker. You can even understand her when she talks; it is not just blabber. And she says some pretty cute things. Yesterday she wanted a banana. As I started peeling it and the actual edible banana became visible, she said, "Oh! There you are! There you are, banana!" So stinkin' funny:)

Lane likes my hair. Always has. I think it is getting worse. He really only likes it when I have a ponytail and then he grabs the whole handful of hair, right where the hair band is holding it, and pulls on it and tugs it every which direction. Lately he has started telling me that, "I need yours hair." One night I finished singing to the boys in their room and was leaving when they all started telling me how awesome I am (I know, I'm so lucky). Lane pipes up, "Yea Mom, you have nice hair." I think that my hair may be my only redeeming quality in his eyes:)

Cade is loving school, now that it is his new normal. He is so funny and such a blessing because he likes everything done the proper way and in order and so on Monday afternoons, he gets his whole week's worth of homework out and finishes it all by himself. No direction from me. Just him. He always chooses orange to color with, unless he doesn't have a choice. And his coloring consists of scribbles. The first few days of school, he was not happy because "all we do is color, cut things out, and glue." What can I say? I don't blame the kid.

Cole loves going to the same school that his dad went to. One of the first days that he had P.E., the teacher came up to him and told him, "I know who your dad is." Then he took him into his office and showed him a football that his dad had signed, back when their after-school football team won the championship. So fun. Another thing Cole likes is that he might get to be a Mountain View Toro in high school. Sometimes he and Jeff ride their bikes over there to "see what the Mountain View Toros" are up to. This morning, we stepped outside before school and he heard the marching band practicing. "Mom! The Mountain View Toros are practicing - can I stay out here and listen?"

Maddie is an aspiring chef. She loves to watch cooking shows with her grandma and is always trying new recipes. Some recipes she finds on the internet, others she makes up. A couple of weeks ago, she made a batter, poured it into some mini loaf pans with some canned peaches and made her own version of a cobbler. She made up the entire recipe by herself and it wasn't a disaster. She made deviled eggs the other day and mixed up the mustard, mayonnaise, etc. and just put it on top of the egg yolk instead of mixing them all together. When I told her how you really make them, she smiled somewhat sheepishly and said, "I thought there was something a little funny about them."

All right folks. Here is the evidence; you be the judge. Aren't they about the funniest kids ever? I love them and I am so lucky to have them.

Bittersweet

I keep telling Jeff how much I am loving being here in Mesa; I love getting inexpensive produce, I love the grocery store sales, I love swimming in the backyard, I love getting Utah fruit and canning them with my sister-in-law, I love making day trips up to the mountains to visit my parents, I love spending so much time with Jeff's parents, I love our new ward, I love it ALL. But I miss Hewitt. I miss my friends. I miss my ward. I miss the small towns and the green fields. I miss the Cameron Park Zoo and the Mayborn Museum. I miss Movie Night. I miss the fireflies. I miss the Texas accents (I plan on saying y'all for the rest of my life, hehe).  I miss playdates with friends. I miss it ALL.

I think one of the reasons this move has been so hard for me is because I know we won't ever move back. When we moved there, we knew that if things didn't work out or if we didn't like it, we could always move back. The thing is, things did work out and we loved it. Our time there was just done.

I am so grateful for Jeff's new job and the opportunity we have to be here in AZ. I will forever be grateful for the years we had in Texas and for the friends and memories that we made. Like I said, bittersweet.

Westward Ho!

After three years in my beloved Hewitt, TX, we have moved home to Arizona. Words cannot express the heartbreak I feel about leaving my dear friends and tender memories behind. A lot happened to our little family while we were there and I experienced so much personal growth; it has been life-changing. A little piece of my heart will always belong in the heart o' Texas. I will miss you!

On the other hand, we have been so amazingly blessed to find ourselves back in our home state close to our parents and much of our extended families. Jeff was able to get a good job with a stable company and we are so excited about this opportunity! We know the timing is right and have felt the Lord's hand guiding every step of this journey. I am continually awed and amazed at our Heavenly Father's love for us and his willingness to bless us in ways that we never thought possible. I have felt and seen it too many times to doubt it.

We are currently staying with Jeff's parents while we try to figure out where we want to live exactly. I have been somewhat stressed about this but I know that as we continue to pray and seek guidance, we will know what we should do. The kids start school next Wednesday and so we are working on getting them ready for that! But mostly right now, we are having so much fun with cousins since most of Jeff's family is in town!

It has been a busy summer and lots of changes for our family but we are optimistic and excited about the future! Life is beautiful and we are blessed.

What do you get when you combine strep with pneumonia?

One sick girl. And no, this is not a joke. Madlyn has been sick for 12 days now. She was diagnosed with strep throat 8 days ago and was just not getting better. She was still running a fever and was so tired and fatigued and didn't have any energy. Every time she would get up and do something, she would get winded and have to rest. On Monday I called the doctor and they changed her prescription and told me that if she wasn't better in 3 days to come in for another appointment. This morning she woke up with a fever still and even though it hadn't been 3 days, I felt like she needed to be seen so I called the doctor again and took her in. I told the nurse practitioner my concerns about her breathing (which were validated by her oxygen pulsometer?? and her heartrate and listening to her breathe, etc.) so we did a chest X-ray and a breathing treatment to see if that helped anything. After seeing her X-ray, the NP's words were, "Your X-ray is quite impressive. You have pneumonia. You have a pretty good case of pneumonia." Apparently her left lung was particularly bad. Poor girl. No wonder she has been so sick and so unlike herself. It makes me feel so bad that we didn't catch it earlier. I feel so frustrated because her breathing was what had me worried in the first place - she didn't even ever have a sore throat! I should start listening to my mommy instinct because I am almost always right on the money! (OK, not always. There was the time I was convinced there was something terrible going on in Madlyn's mouth - turned out she had a canker sore:) Dumb mom moment for sure.) Anyways, she has an additional antibiotic to take for a few days and hopefully she will be good as new by the time we hit the road for AZ next weekend!

It's Raining

A couple of months ago I realized that I needed some good music to listen to while I clean the house. If I have something good then I start dancing and actually can get quite a good workout in at the same time that the chores are getting done! It is so much more fun that way! I had to think and think about what kind of music I like because it has been years since I have really listened to anything other than what is in our CD changer in the car and the random songs Jeff plays for me. I decided that I just really like show music. So the first album I chose to buy was "Grease". I knew that it would get me dancing. It does, by the way. I am pretty sure my kids think I'm a little crazy busting my moves as I wipe down counters, load the dishwasher, and fold clothes:)

Today, it's raining. I love the rain. Especially today because I woke up to a pretty clean house (not always the case, I assure you). I can't stand a messy house when it is raining or overcast; I'm not sure why but it depresses me. So today I am feeling pretty good about being cozy inside my nice clean house while the rain comes pouring down.

I feel like I almost always have a song for every occasion. "Mister", my 5th grade teacher, was the same way. You could say one word and he always had a song to go with it. Of course, it was a song none of us had ever heard of but he would sing it anyway. I like that I am growing up that way. I don't always sing my songs out loud but at least I think of them.

Naturally, the song that came to mind this morning as I am gazing out my window at the lush green grass and the dark skies with the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance is,

It's raining...on prom night.

My hair is a mess.

It's running all over 

My taffeta dress.

It's wilting the quilting

on my maiden form.

And mascara flows

right down my nose

because of the storm.

 Nice. I can't even think of another good rain song to go with this beautiful day. Maybe I'll have to branch out a little with my listening choices:)


I just realized I need the soundtrack to "West Side Story" so that I can dance around the house singing, "I Feel Pretty"! Haha.

Busy Happenings...

Yes, we have been busy. Yes, it has been challenging. This being a mom is not an easy job. Rewarding, yes. Easy, no. And frankly, I have been pretty much living in survival mode and not even doing that very well for a couple of months. I think I am past that. At least I am blogging, no? Here are a few things that we've been doing at our house: 

getting visitors from AZ -  we loved it!

playing at the park

getting strep throat (Madlyn & I both had it and it was no bueno)

getting haircuts and being too handsome for words

getting temporary mohawks:) nope, I couldn't let him keep it:)

and yes, we are lucky enough to have 3 handsome boys!

learning how to climb on big sister's desk and get into all her stuff

trying on shoes (lots and lots of shoes - doesn't matter what size) and running around half naked

camping (thank goodness for fun dads - such a great weekend and I needed it)

I love this shot of the kids playing in the lake at sunset!

the kids had so much fun and got so incredibly dirty:)

trying out the new tent at 2pm

I think this is one of my favorite pictures of all-time! It captures Kimber's personality so well

I will say this: I am a lucky mom. And wife. Sometimes I get to feeling sorry for myself because I have so many dishes to wash or mountains of laundry to keep clean or because I have two toddlers running around and wreaking havoc on my house. Shame on me. I am so grateful to have such beautiful, amazing children who love me and make me pretty pictures for Mother's Day and give me lunch in bed and every single day of my life make me smile and laugh. I am so incredibly grateful for a husband who is NEVER critical and who so patiently encourages and supports me, especially on my hard days. I know I don't deserve them but I sure am glad they are mine:)