Autumn Leaves and Giant Puddles

The boys have been off track and home all day for a week and a half now. It hasn't been that bad, I do enjoy having all my boys home during the day. Don't get me wrong after a while they do have thier moments of constant fighting and crazy abnoxious energy. 

So the other day I thought it would be a good idea to get out and try out the new jogging stroller one of my friends gave me. I told the boys they could run or ride their bikes. I kept taking pictures thinking I'd blog about the beautiful fall leaves and our fun walk. We got half way to our planned turn around spot. I asked Manning to pose for a picture and than he started dancing and trying to pull his pants down. Unsuccessful right there and than a puddle began to form at his feet.... and just like that a fun outing turned interesting. I pulled the blanket out of the stroller and wrapped him up and awkwardly put him in. The others cried as I explained to them that we had to go home. Mattix wanted to finish the walk and let him sit in his wet clothes. So our fun walk turned into a few crying kids and a frazzled mom all hurrying home and leaving behind the rather large puddle of pee. 

Oh well...It's the thought that counts. It was a fun 10 minutes. 

Licking his ring pop, sporting his fireman jacket and his awesome birthday crown he got from preschool. Even with soaking wet pants. I love this kid. 

Doggy Pile

It's been raining all day and it's cold outside. No one wants to play outside. I've tried letting the boys out to run off some energy, but it lasted 5 or so minutes. 

So here I sit, it's Daddy's late night at work, I'm done watching lame cheesy Kids show, my baby is grumpy with a fever and the boys are out of control. (As you can see in this picture.) Nights like this make me count down the minutes until daddy comes home. I need bedtime and a Hallmark Christmas movie. Maybe some popcorn and chocolate. 

Happy Friday Night! 

Happy birthday Grandpa

For Grandpa's birthday this year we couldn't decide what to buy him. We brainstormed and decided we'd take him out on a date. So we planned a trip to Cabella's. The boys had fun and I think my dad did too. I love that they got to make memories and spend time with their Grandpa. He's a pretty special guy. We sure love him. 

We saw lots of fish and even got to feed some. Manning was disappointed we couldn't go fishing. 

Grandpa taught Mason a thing or two on the fake shooting range. Like how to aim and hold the gun. He thought that was pretty neat. 

We ended up spending 2 hours there. 

We definitely had a good time. 

Happy Birthday Grandpa! We love you. 

Do fish sleep?

The other night we were getting ready for bed. Part of our routine as new pet owners is to feed the fish and turn off their light. We got it done. I got the boys to bed. Came back into the living room and the light was on again. I turned it off and went to bed. The next morning I got up and the light was already on. I asked the boys if they had already fed the fish. They said no. I commented that the light keeps coming back on. Mattix said "mom fish don't sleep. They probably don't like the dark. We need to keep the light on."

Mason asked me "do fish really not sleep?" Well I have no idea. So we did what any mom in new internet knows everything era, we googled it and found out that, fish rest but don't sleep. Apparently they can't stay still because they move their gills to keep them breathing. But they don't really know if they actually sleep. Kids are full of all sorts of questions. I guess it's a sneaky way of keeping their parents learning too. I'm constantly having to look stuff up to find the answers to their questions.  

Simple Reminders

I woke up this morning in a fairly grumpy mood. Matt hurt his back the other day and just wasn't feeling good. We both agreed that maybe if he stayed home and took it easy, it might help him feel a bit better in time, to go to work tomorrow. Sundays are usually crazy and stressful. For some reason it seems to be the toughest day of the week. With Matt down for the count, I wasn't to excited to fly solo. Getting everyone ready and taking them all to church. Matt and I were recently called to team teach Mattix's class. (5-6 yr. olds) I made the mistake of procrastinating my lesson and was kind of dreading teaching. Well with all this negativity floating around in my head, for some reason I just felt like staying home and being lazy. I even found myself asking why do I have to have a Sunday calling? 

The boys were excited to go, which made going easier. Plus I didn't want to let my class down. We pulled into the parking lot and I knew we were a little early for primary. (We had already missed sacrament.) I sat in the car and said a prayer to change my mood. We sat down in sharing time and one of the cute little girls in my class sat down right next to me. With a big smile she hugged me and told me I looked pretty today. She was so happy to see me. She reached into her "purse," and pulled out a page of stickers. She picked out her favorite and put it on my shirt. She patted it and told me, "I am so happy you came to church today. I really wanted to give you a sticker." 

Something as simple as a little sticker and a sweet smiling face brought it all back to perspective. I know I am needed. I have a very important calling. Some may say it's "just Primary." But really it's a BIG calling. Christ taught how important it is to teach the children and show them love. How easy it is to think, oh I'm just a Primary teacher? But really, when you are there and fulfilling your calling, you are helping to build tiny testimonies and one day those tiny testimonies will be missionaries, moms, dads, Relief Society Presidents, or even just a Primary Teacher. How important is it for me to be an example and show my class I love them by loving my calling? 

Lay up your Treasures.

As we were reading in the Book Of Mormon the other night, in  Helaman chapter 8, one of the verses kind of sparked a little discussion among the boys and I. It said, "Lay up your treasures in heaven." (That's not an exact quote of the scripture reference. But that phrase stuck out.) Being boys the word TREASURE really excited them. Mason said, "mom what kind of treasure are they talking about?" I think they were all thinking pirates, gold and X marks the spot. I tried to explain to them that treasure isn't always buried chests of silver and gold. But this treasure that they are talking about, is our "heavenly treasures" the things that we can take with us when we pass away. Like our memories, our knowledge, our testimony and our family. I think they kind of understood a little of what I was saying. Maybe they were a little disappointed that the story wasn't going to be about pirate adventures. But it gave me something to think about and ponder on my own.  

I have been sitting on this post for a few days and I thought this was a good time to post this. Everyone is posting about what they are thankful for. This being the season of Thanksgiving. So I thought I would share some of  my most precious Treasures instead. (And sneak in a few of our Family Pics. that we had taken by Captured by AmyLee.)

 I am thankful for big messes. Especially those created by the cutest Master of Disaster I know. 

 Tender Hearts and endless love for each other. My boys sure do love each other. We definitely have built in best friends around here.  

 Our good health and endless amounts of energy. Someone always has enough to go around. If only they could share it with me. But they keep me active and on my toes. 

 My heart has a very special place for this guy. I sure love him. He is my best friend, my biggest support, and the one I want to spend eternity with. He's my favorite everything. And he's pretty dang handsome if I do say so myself. :) 

 The cutest and greatest boys I could ever of asked for. My heart bursts with love for these boys. 

 Chaos... Come what may and love it and learn something along the way. 

 Temple blessings.  I treasure my knowledge of the blessings of the temple and the symbol that Families can be together forever. 

Last but not least I am thankful for my responsibilities to teach my family and learn for myself the important things of life such as gratitude. My life is full of many blessings and I could go on and on and list all my blessings I am blessed with everyday. I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know my Heavenly Father loves me. I am so thankful for all my treasures in my life. 

My Baby is 1!

Nov. 1, 2012

Nov. 3 2013

Happy birthday little man! 

I've said it before and I will say it again...

We LOVE this little guy!

Halloween 2013

Every year I think, "this year I will make our Halloween costumes." Than every year I run out of time and ambition and end up buying or throwing something together. This year the boys all wanted to be Ninja Turtles. Me being the pinning fool that I am, I thought I could easily make their costumes this year, especially if I start early and plan ahead. This decision came after seeing how much I'd have to pay to buy their costumes X's that by 4. I got to work and started studying the NT's and all the ideas online and I made my own version. I was so excited to see them all put together and done. I hope the boys will look back and remember how cool they were and not remember that their mom made them wear a turkey roasting pan. 

So without further explanation, here they are. My 3 (I'm missing Carter. I didn't get a picture of him. But he was the purple one.) Ninja Turtles and their pet baby turtle.