Because I Hope I Never Forget...

Warning: The following is a wordy journal entry about the cute things my kids do and say and may only be interesting to grandmas. :)

Maddie is at such a fun age these days. She is such a fun girl and loves to entertain and socialize. A few weeks ago she hosted a P.E. class for her friends because she wanted to teach Cole about P.E. and "you can't have P.E. with just 1 person". Today she had a "fashion show" with Raelyn & Camille (pictures will come soon) and she is always wanting to throw a party of some sort. When I asked her what her plan was for her fashion show, she said, "Everyone needs to dress fash-ie and then we just have a fashion show". Haha...I really like that word - fash-ie. I think I need to start dressing a little more fash-ie. I made her a very excited girl when I told her that there are people who plan parties for a living. She would be great at it! I have been babysitting a neighbor boy a couple of times a week and Maddie has taken him under her wing and really worked hard to make sure he is having fun. The first day he was here, after she had helped him get a snack, she asked me, "Do you think Hunter feels welcome at our house?" I am amazed every day at her thoughtfulness for other people. I got the video camera out today and was taping her for a few minutes and was struck with how beautiful she is as well. I just think she is gorgeous! Lately she's been wanting me to tell her stories about when I was a little girl and when I told her that I learned how to make bread when I was 6 (I know, I know, my brothers don't believe me:) ) she wanted to learn too. So we made bread together today and I loved teaching her about the yeast and watching her knead (just like my mom did with me). What a precious little daughter I have!

What can I say about Cole? He is just about the lovingest little guy. He tells Jeff and me about 100 times a day that he loves us. It's so funny. He gets this urgent voice, "Dad!" "What, Cole?" (and then all sweet) "I love you, Dad." He is constantly kissing on everybody, but especially Lane. I have to ask him to stop sometimes because he gets a little forceful with his smooching and it's a little rough for Lane. Cole has a great memory and it makes me a proud mama to hear him recite the first 3 Articles of Faith. He can also quote about any movie that he's seen (even if he's only seen it once) and often corrects me on song lyrics or movie quotes. Cole is a bike-riding machine and loves to ride out in the driveway and to go for walks. He has started standing up as he rides and I am amazed at the daredevil side of him I see when he rides. He is usually so timid about things but he really gets cruising on his bike and even when he biffs it hard he wants to get back on and try it again. Cole is the EASIEST sleeper ever and is the first one asleep at night and the last one to wake up in the morning. I'm glad he's so easy in this respect because he is a tad challenging in some other areas :)

Cade, Cade, Cade. I love how he sneaks out of his bed at night about 100 times (I am not even joking) and comes crawling out of his room army-style and hides his head in the carpet thinking that maybe I won't notice him. Then when I pick him up, he closes his eyes and kind of flutters them. Seriously so funny. Or how when I say, "Cade, get back in bed" he says all whiny, "But Mo-o-o-om...I firsty". Cade has NOT been sleeping well and when I wake up with the baby, he is always in a different spot. Sometimes I find him in Maddie's bed, sometimes on Jeff's side of the bed (never mine - I think he knows I would make him get back in his own bed) and sometimes I wake up on the couch to him sitting next to me while I am feeding Lane/sleeping. One night I woke up and he was even on the kitchen counter - what?!? I think he just wanders...not quite sure what to do about that. When we read books he'll say, "Hey! How about that?" or "Hey! What's that?" When asked what his name is, he thinks real hard and says, "Name is...Cole!" And then he says, "Name is...Maddie!" "Name is...Lane!" He is such a little teaser, like his daddy. He loves to help in the kitchen and he loves to make messes everywhere he goes. Seriously, he just throws things. If he is eating, he throws his food. I never quite know where I'm going to find it (on the blinds, on the pantry door, etc.). If he is playing, he throws every single toy as far as he can. If he is outside, he throws rocks (or picks not-yet-ripe tomatoes out of our garden and throws them). I am thankful that he is beginning to get the concept of cleaning up and is becoming more anxious to help clean things up as well as make messes.

Lane is just a sweet little angel boy. He is crawling all over and pulling himself up to the LoveSac and chairs and even in his crib. He is still not sturdy enough to stand up very well and so he falls sometimes and has some battle wounds. He likes to grab my hair and give me big, open-mouth kisses and I love it. He plays really well by himself but really likes to be wherever I am. If he is playing on the floor and I walk by, he immediately starts crawling to me and crying. No one else can hardly hold him if I am within his sight...so flattering but not so fun sometimes. He has learned to be tough since his older brothers are sometimes a little rough on him. He smiles at everyone...if you want one of his smiles, just look at him and he will get all excited and reward you with a huge grin. So, so cute! Lane is so easygoing and is adored by everyone in our family!

I feel it a huge privilege to be mother to these beautiful, talented, loving, and funny kids! I am really enjoying the time I get to read with them, play soccer with them, make bread with them, sing songs with them, give hugs to them, laugh with them, teach them about Jesus, and everything else I get to do as their mom! They give me lots of reasons to smile, cry, and laugh every day and I love them so much!

I Love You More, Part Dos

Remember this?

Cole: Mom, I really love you more.
Me: Oh, really?
Cole: Yea, 'cause the numbers have more than the alphabet letters.

Who can argue with that logic?

I turned 6!!

On Friday I had a birthday. I had fun. I went to the movie theater with my friends to see Hannah Montana. It was funny. One of the parts of Hannah Montana, one of the boys got bitten by a alligator on his bottom. Me and my friends laughed. I ate at the movie theater and after the movie theater, we went to a store to eat lunch. Our lunch was pizza and Icees. Me and my friends laughed in the car because of my baby doll that I got for my birthday. We laughed hard because she was talking so much that we could hardly stop laughing. We had fun together and we are very best friends. I love them and they love me. We are good friends and we love each other. Every Wednesday after school we go to each other's house. One of my friends has a dog at her house and we like to play with him. His name is Esse. And we like to play with Esse.

And on my birthday I had fun. So much fun. I loved it! And too many birthday presents that I like.

This is a picture of me when I was a baby at my grandma's house. I had woken up from my nap. I like that picture and I love my grandma.

We're All in This Together...

By nature, I am one of those 'do-it-yourself' type of people. Well, not in the 'do-it-yourself' home improvement sense (I like to think of the projects, I leave the 'doing-it-yourself' stuff to Jeff) but in the sense that I like to take care of myself and my family all by myself, without any help from others. For instance, when my baby brother was born 16 years ago (yes, I was 11), my mom had left the task of feeding the family to me. So...I woke up super early (like 4:30) in the morning and made my dad's lunches before he went to work, I made homemade tortillas for burritos, homemade bread, etc. My mom had a C-section so she was planning on being in the hospital for about 4 days and because of complications with my brother, it turned into a week. Of course, good friends & members of our ward saw an opportunity to serve and several people brought meals in. I guess I got a little offended...my exact words to my dad were, "Don't they think I can take care of my family?" Fast forward about 8 1/2 years to when my 2nd child was born...my wonderful in-laws came to Flagstaff to stay with Maddie while I was in the hospital. I came home on Saturday evening and they were planning to leave on Sunday after church. Well, on Sunday morning, I was faced with a crying baby and a 2 yr. old that spilled a whole bottle of bubbles on the kitchen floor. I proceeded to hold my screaming baby and clean up the mess. My very kind and helpful mother-in-law saw that I was struggling and tried repeatedly to either take the baby or clean up the bubbles but I WOULDN"T LET HER. In retrospect, I'm sure I was kind of mean (I'm really sorry, by the way). I was determined that I could take care of my kids all by myself.

I have since realized that we have been sent to this earth in families, in neighborhoods, in wards, in communities to help each other along this journey of life. Life is not always easy and we are going to be faced with trials and mountains to climb from time to time and it is up to us to reach a hand to our neighbor, sister, friend, and help them on their journey. And sometimes it is our responsibility to give someone else the opportunity to reach their hand down and lift us up. Because for goodness sakes, this life is hard and we just can't always do it by ourselves. And wouldn't it be a shame if we did not allow others the blessings of service just because of our own pride?

We ARE all in this together; to support, serve, give encouragement to, and especially to love those we are blessed to know in this life. How grateful I am for those who have so thoughtfully and generously given of their selves in countless ways to serve me and mine. And to someone else I know who is going through a little rough patch, our thoughts & prayers are with you and we only wish we could be with you this week. We love you!

I Love You More!

Cole: Mom, I love you.
Me: I love you too, Cole.
Cole (with a little smirk): I love you more.
Me: I love you more.
Cole: I love you 15 and hundred.
Me: I love you 20 and hundred.
Cole: I love you all the numbers.
Me: I love you all the numbers too.
Cole: No, you love me all the alphabet letters.

Isn't he just the cutest??

Things I've Learned from Being Married

Being married to such an amazing guy like Jeff has given me the opportunity to learn many useful things. So, I thought maybe I'd share some of the wisdom I've gleaned just in case any of you have come across similar situations and if you haven't yet, I'm sure you will someday, and then you can be prepared :)

*if you drive his car, always move the seat back to its original position when you're done (and no, this doesn't work both ways 'cause "you can at least get in the car if he leaves it pushed back - there's no way he can even sit down in his car if you leave the seat where you like it")

*when you go to bed at night, be prepared for an all-out battle to maintain control of the covers.

*don't give him choices for what you're going to make for dinner, he won't like any of them. but feed him something (anything) and he'll be happy.

*a little competition never hurt anybody. wait...that's what he's learned from me. I've learned...everything doesn't have to be a competition.

*if you need a chore done, don't sigh heavily or act like you're really tired or stressed...HINTS DON'T WORK!!! just ask him to help you (he may say no but at least you won't resent him for it).

*when you ask for help, give him a time frame (i.e., could you please empty the trash sometime in the next 30 minutes before our neighbors come over for dinner?)

*if he doesn't do the chore that you ask him to, but picks his own chore (like cleaning the microwave) don't complain...the microwave is getting clean.

*when you go somewhere together, don't even bother getting in the driver's seat (we all know how it bugs him when you get talking, forget that you're driving, and suddenly you're driving 10-15 mph UNDER the speed limit).

*don't ever try to compromise when it comes to salsa...you both hate MEDIUM and it will just sit in the fridge...spend the extra 3 bucks for another jar.

*don't get offended if he puts Frank's RED HOT sauce on EVERYTHING you serve him.

*it's OK to keep some things to yourself.

*don't EVER accuse him of being a perfectionist...'cause then you'll be doing the garden all by yourself.

What have you learned from your spouse?

What's Up?

Can you guess what song I'm singing today?

I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa-oa
I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa-oa-oa
I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoa-oa
And don't it feel good?

That's right. Semester finished (minus one last take-home test due Friday but compared to what I've been doing, that should be cake). I did turn in a shoddy essay on Saturday but at that point, I was just happy to have it over with. Once I realized I only had to get a 46% on the essay to still get an A in the class, I just didn't care any more. Here is a conversation I just had with Mads:

M: Mom, I wish you didn't take your school class.
Me: Why not, Maddie?
M: 'cause then you wouldn't have to spend your whole life on homework.

Hmmm. It's a good thing I have reconsidered my work load and I will only be taking one class a semester now, not two. That should alleviate all kinds of stress around here.

OK, so here's what we've been up to the past couple of weeks:

Maddie's been hanging out with her Uncle Quinton:

Check out that awesome beard!! Actually, G & G Davis, Lincoln, Quinton, & Catherine all got to hang out with us yesterday during Conference. It was tons of fun! Thanks for coming to visit!!

Lane's been learning how to crawl!
(check out the view I got when I tried to take some pictures the other day - he REALLY wanted to play with the camera!)

He is crawling around so well these days - I can't believe it! On one hand, I love his newfound mobility and independence, but on the other hand...can't he just stay a baby for a little while longer? And seriously, who crawls at 5 1/2 months?

The boys have been doing a whole lot of this:

Yes, unfortunately we have been watching way too many movies at our house! Some of the favorites are: Robin Hood (Disney's cartoon version), The Incredibles, and...who am I kidding? They watch these two OVER and OVER again. Maddie has to do a whole lot of persuading to get to watch Cinderella every once in a while!

And that's about it. Well, not really, but I better save something for another day.

And don't it feel good?

*a big thank you to my good friends & family members who so generously volunteered to watch my kids for several hours so I could get homework done; I honestly don't know how I would have made it without your help! A more formal, edible thank you is coming your way later this week :)