Out in Public

I am not a shopper. Grocery shopping is only done when we absolutely have nothing to eat in the house and I rarely do any other kind of shopping. Like never. The fact that I have four children has only intensified this characteristic of mine. Taking all four of them anywhere can be overwhelming but the biggest hang-up I have with shopping these days is the response I get from others when they see me and my little entourage coming their way. I can not go anywhere without getting at least one comment and I am usually the recipient of approximately 3 rude or sarcastic remarks, stares, or visible children-counting. I really don't think that 4 is such a big number, but apparently I am mistaken.

For example, yesterday I actually ventured to TWO different stores with all of the kids in tow. At Wal Mart, the commentary was relatively positive.

"Oh, you are a busy mom. You've got 4 kids." {I do??? oh my - why didn't anyone tell me before?}

"Oh, bless your heart. You have your hands full." {yes, I am fully aware that my hands are overflowing right now}

"Oh, you have beautiful children." {why thank you. they are beautiful, aren't they?}

But then I made the mistake of going to Superstition Ranch Market without reinforcements. If you've never been there before, first of all...you should go. They have the best deals on produce. Second of all...don't take your kids. It is a madhouse. You can barely get the miniature cart through the mayhem, let alone any children that may not be firmly attached. And when you do find an opportunity and make a run for it, a disgruntled elderly gentleman will cut you off or curse at you under his breath. Really. OK, so there we were, minding our own business. Cade was on my hip because...well, if you know the kid you don't have to question why {but in case you don't know, just imagine a 2-year old lobbing apples like they are baseballs}. Madlyn & Cole were being very well behaved and staying pretty close to the cart and Lane was sleeping the day away in his carseat. I thought we were doing pretty good when a long-haired, gray-haired, annoyed {old} man said,

"Hey. It looks like maybe you need to have some more kids."

What could I say? Nothing. Instead, he got my trusty ol' polite chuckle. Thank goodness for the sweet lady in the checkout line next to me that bought my kids suckers. It made their day and frankly, it made mine.

**Of course, 5 minutes after this interchange, I thought of what I should have said:

"Hey, what a fantastic idea! I think I will have a couple more!"

I love my 4 beautiful, talented, smart children and wouldn't have things any other way. I am so grateful that my hands are full!

Did you miss me?

OK, so I really was going to post some pictures but our computer died and we haven't yet put the software for our camera onto the new one. And I'm not quite sure how to pull the other ones off of the old hard drive. So I guess I'll just have to ramble on like I usually do.

It made me laugh how many responses I got about Jeff's soap story; he didn't really want me to post it. He thinks blogs are a waste of time for the most part (hmmm, not sure where he came up with that idea) and laughs at me when I say something is "blogworthy". For instance, the other day we were talking and he said something about getting another'n. That is totally blogworthy. I mean, where did he grow up? Clay Springs?*

Today has been a rough day. We're working really hard at our house to not yell or be mean to our brother or ignore our mom. We get popsicle sticks in a jar with our name on it if we are caught doing kind things, being obedient the first time, etc. and get a stick taken away if we do one of the above misbehaviors. If the whole family has 100 sticks by next Monday, we'll get to go to McDonald's for ice cream cones for FHE. Nice concept, right? Well, what do you do if a certain little 3-yr. old doesn't have any more sticks to take away? And it's not like I'm pulling one for everything he does either - trust me, I'm cutting him a break. But seriously, it doesn't make anyone happy when the first sight & sound of my morning is Cole sitting on Cade's head and Cade screaming. Thankfully, I am being held accountable as well (Jeff & I have jars too) 'cause I really want to yell sometimes.

In other news, Cole is hilarious. He calls girls 'ladies'. We figured out that the reason behind this hilarity is because he is embarrassed by how he says 'girls'. I guess he says 'gills' or something like that. But I don't care because it is just about the cutest thing ever. He asked me the other day if Esse was a lady dog or a boy dog. I replied that I didn't know. He then said, "Mom. It doesn't have a bow in its hair so it's not a lady". Another day I was telling him that some friends were coming over (girls) and he was a little upset, saying "Mom, I don't want to have ladyfriends". Well good Cole, I guess I don't really want you to have ladyfriends either, but whatever.

Maddie just has a couple of days left of this school year and I am so excited! It has been a crazy year with a new baby and everything and it will be nice to not HAVE to have anyone anywhere at a certain time. Although I am planning lots of structured activities for the kids this summer so that we don't go stir-crazy so that should be good. We'll definitely be spending lots of time in Grandma's swimming pool - yay! And we'll get a couple of trips up to the cool mountains and to UT so "it's all good".

I've been playing baseball with Cade and he's good. Pretty sure he's gonna be a pitcher or something because he has a fantastic arm. Nice. Lately we've been practicing batting and he's even good at that. I am amazed - I hope he does me proud someday:)

Lane cut his first tooth on Sunday; maybe now I'll be able to sleep like a normal person. Probably not, but one can wish, right? Actually, I've been sleep-training him and things are getting better so I do have hope. Wish me luck!

Well that's about it. Not really but I don't want to bore you too much. Seriously, I could type all day about who knows what but nobody wants any of that. Thanks for stopping by!

*I love Clay Springs.

Only a Dad...

I got back a couple of hours ago from an awesome "Body Image" night put on by Castlegate Ward YW and it was amazing. It was nice to get away for a while and enjoy some adult time:) When I left around 7, the kids were in their jammies and Jeff was preparing to read and tell stories and get them to bed. I expected them to go down around 7:30. We have had some trouble with Cade coming out of his room over and over again so I was hoping it would go well for Jeff. This is the conversation we had when I got home.

J: Cade went down really well tonight.
T: Oh, good. Did Cole do well?
J: Yes.
T: Did Maddie?
J: Yes.
T: Oh, I'm glad. I was a little worried.
J: We finished reading at 8 and I left and they didn't come out once.
T: Nice.
J: Aren't you going to ask me how I did it?
T: How did you do it? Is it because you did such a thorough job of winding them down before leaving?
J: No, that wasn't it.
T: So what did you do?
J: I put soap on the doorknob.

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!