Maybe I Won't Run Away

Today has been one of those days.  Every mom knows what I'm talking about.  (At least I hope it's not just me!) One of those days that you question your ability to be a mother.  And you're so frustrated with your kids that your whole body gets tense and you just want to let out a long and lound scream. In fact, I just sent a text message to my husband that said I want to run away. Just for a few hours until he got home. 

And as I turned around to set my phone back down, I saw this hanging on the fridge.

Ok, so maybe being a mom isn't so bad and maybe I will have to cancel my afternoon departure plans (or maybe just postpone them :)

No more Elphanants

Since Caleb could talk he has loved elephants. The best part about him liking them; he said their name more often. He would call them elphanants. It was so stinking adorable, that we had little Ernie conspire with us to try to get him to say it like that forever. We would all say "elphanant" instead of elephant. If any of us accidentally said the right word, then we quickly got corrected. It worked.

Until yesterday.

I was reading him a book about animals. And sure enough, it got to the section on African animals and he wanted me to read him more about the "elephants".

I know, we weren't going to send him to kindergarten that way, but it was a sad, sad day for me.  Can't you just picture this sweet little "younger" Caleb saying "elphanant".  I thought his pictures from the beginning of the elphanant era would help. (And yes, Enrie was probably about that old when we started to get him to say "elphanant".  And he would turn and smile or try to wink at us as he did it.)

A Love of a Love Holiday

Valentines Day, what's the point, right? You have all heard the whole, "you shouldn't have to have a special day to treat someone the way you always should."   Well, I have never been a gushy mushy gooey person.

Ah, what the heck, you have read my posts before and know that I am very sentimental and I can't even pretend to not be.  I totally LOVE Valentines Day.  It is so much fun.  A whole day to think of more ways you can show people around you that you think they're pretty great. 
When did I start this love of a love holiday? Well, it was actually in High School.  First thought is, "Some great romantic story about a boyfriend doing something increadable", right?  Nope, just a best friend.  A great friend who decided that it would be fun to buy me flowers.  It was the first time that I realized that it was more than a boyfriend/husband holiday. And so she and I would buy each other flowers every year.  I LOVED it!

I'm not the most talented or organized person in the world, but I try to make it a special day. In years past I would do the 12 days of Valentines for Ernie, and it was so much fun! (Especially when he was a teacher, because his students would really get into it, and thought it was so adorable when a bouquet of balloons, ect would show up at school.)  For the past few years around the 10th or so I remember how cute I used to be. Therefore,  it's usually not as elaborate, but I still try to make it fun.

This year,  I used my fancy stuff for dinner (china and nice silver wear and goblets ).  I can't  tell you how special the kids felt! It was so cute.  I don't hink they have ever drank that much water because they thought the glasses were so cool. We made sugar cookies and cards for friends.  And the kids thanked us all day long for the books we got them. (Well, mostly Ernie, and when Caleb would overhear him, he would chime in as well :)

I hope you had a fabulous day as well, and that you were able to feel loved and to make the special people around you feel  loved. 

And yes, I am grateful for a 'hallmark' holiday.  No, I don't NEED to feel more loved than I do every other day, but it sure is fun!
 Plus, my boys said that one day a year pink would be their favorite color. Tooo bad they didn't let me know before the end of the day, because I could have done a lot with that one.

Taking Time For Bubble Baths

The other day, I had a million things on my to do list, as most of you I'm sure. Caleb loves to help me with house work in the morning. So, he was putting laundry in the washer, ect.  A little while later, he came to me and said, "Mom, I think I've helped a lot. Can I please take  bubble bath now?"

A little reminder that we always have a lot going on and sometimes it's ok to stop and take a bubble bath. 

A Weekend With Freddy

Ernie's teacher does a cute thing where each weekend a deifferent student takes home their stuffed class pet,  Freddy the frog.  They get to write all about it in a class journal. So we took a few pictures of Freddy hanging out with us for the weekend.    We went bowling, the boys favorite family activity.  And I'm sorry, but I still think the real thing is way better then the wii version :) (That might be because my score is better in real life, because I am horrible at video games.)

Ernie was pretty proud of it. (until we actually got into a public place, and then he would quickly shove it my purse and ask me to hold it.) He thought he was being nice by reading a story to both Caleb and Freddy.

Shhh, I think Caleb might have gotten a little attatched to Freddy.  He made the mistake of documenting it with my camera, and let's all hope Ernie dosen't notice :)

The Birthday Boy

We have a few traditions for birthdays.  We always had breakfast in bed growing up, and I loved that tradition (although, I'm not sure it carried on through the younger kids, sorry girls.)  My kids get up way too early for that, and we had to come up with a new plan.  That's where the birthday chair came into play. We decorate it at night with ballons, streamers, wrapping paper, ect., and that way they still have a fun surprise when they wake up in the wee hours of the morning.  And then we make them their favorite breakfast.  This year we had waffels and bacon. The kids love it.

We try to take them out for lunch on their big day. Caleb loves mexican food, so beans and rice it was! Oh, and he usually eats his weight in chips and salsa :)

SO, here comes the dramatic part of the day. He requested steak, potatos, Grandma Angie's twisty rolls, and broccoli and carrots for dinner.  The steak was marrinated, the rolls ready and rasing, and the bake potatos in the oven.  Oh, and the cake ready to frost.

 I am now in charge of scouts for the 8 yr olds in my church (I know, I have NO idea what they were thinking! :) We had it at the park that afternoon.  It was all planned out, everything was ready to go when I got home.
Well, as I went to leave, I couldn't find my keys anywhere. My cell phone was in my locked car.  I tried really hard to hold it together.  I was stuck at a park with no keys and no cell phone. And, I was really freaked out.  A few random parents from the park helped me look all over for about an hour. They had just dissapeared, along with my shiny new key chain! Finally I borrowed a cell phone from one of the strangers helping look and called Ernie.  He called a lock smith and we finally headed home.

 By the time I got home, the rolls had turned into loaves of bread.  And then when I opened the oven, the potatos had exploded in the oven. (I had never seen that before, and it was a total disaster to clean up!) I freaked out a little, (again), took a deep breath, and finally decided to order pizza.  

We had invited a few friends over (we were limited on space and so we kept it very low key).  Well, by this time, I realized they would be there for cake any minute. So I threw the frosting on the cake (not one of the best jobs ever, but Caleb didn't seem to mind.) Then I pulled out the table cloth.  But alas, the Indiana Jones table cloth was a Star Wars table cloth. Wow. Well, as was the day, so I shoudn't have been surprised.

 I love to make their birthdays a big deal, have fun traditions, and really hope they feel special. This year I fealt like a total birthday failure!

But hey, he still loved his indiana Jones cake, and thought it was cool that he had both of his favorite Harrison Ford adventures in one party. 

And at the end of a very frustrating day, he gave me a big hug and said, "mom, thanks for making my birthday so special."  Wow, a little teary thinking about it now.

How do kids always seem to say just the right thing to put everything back into perspective?

A Skiing Adventure

When we were trying to get Caleb to tell us what he wanted for his birthday, he said didn't want anything.......but he would like to go skiing.  What a kid!  We had so much fun watching him buzz down the hill.  

The first time the kids went skiing was for Christmas when we stayed at a cabin last year as a present from my parents. Caleb was just 3 when he started, and it was the cutest thing ever! He wasn't scared at all, he would just hop on the lift and head down the hill.  Ernie got a little too confident (he wears a helmet now :).

My sister Claire had the day off, and so she came with us.  It was nice to have her to be able to go with Ernie. (Last year he would ride up the lift and go down all by himself because he thought Caleb and his dad were too slow.  Yes, I am proud that he was brave and good enough to do that.  Yes, I was much more comfortable watching him rise into thin air on the lift knowing that Claire was there.)

While I was standing at the bottom of the hill, I heard constant remarks about Caleb similar to this, "look at him go, he's so little! Ah, that is so cute!"  And yes, yes it was priceless.  I'm sure being next to his dad made him look that much smaller coming down the hill.  SOOO stinkin cute.  Luckily I video taped it, so we can always look back and go , "ahhhhhhhh".

Ernie was like a lighting bolt down the hill.  He's crazy.  As he was headed down a run, he zoomed past a few people.  As Claire passed them, she heard them coment and say, "Man, look at that kid, he is insane.  Man, he is so fast!"  I think I mentioned earlier that he wears a helmet now.  So, no brain concussions yet.

We had a really great time. I'm so glad that Caleb asked ot go or I'm not sure if we would have made the long treck to Brian Head. What great memories! And what great kids!

And Then He Was Five

It only seems like yesterday that I was being woke up from a nice nap because I was dialated to a ten and it was time for Caleb to come into the world. This was the beginning of a a truly fabulous and easy going kid! He slept from the time he was two days old all the way through the night. We never had to baby proof anything. He just didn't get into the things he wasn't supposed to! He was happy and enjoyable all the time. He was chubby and adorable  and just plain perfect.

Of course, (yes, here it comes...you all knew it was coming) I am a little sad to see his young small boy years gone. He never even hit the terrible two's, so I was hoping that meant I was going to be allowed to keep him 'little' a little longer. We are so very very grateful for him to be in our family. I couldn't imagine our lives without him.



                                                                             (4 yr old b-day dinner)

(4 yr old b-day party)

A few things about this year.  This year, shortly after his last birthday, his love of Star Wars swtiched to a love of Indiana Jones.  Harrison Ford is now his favorite actor. (He named a stuffed animal after him)
He loves to build things still, but his love has moved to legos. He still loves puzzles.  He loves books, and cars, and well, just about everything except dolls or pink.  (He can't even stand to go down that aisle of toys)
Other kids love him. The kids all run and give him hugs when I pick him up frim preschool.  (And a particularily adorable girl named Shelby always saves him a seat next to her for circle tim. Way to go caleb :)
He adores his big brother.  And his favorite foods just make me laugh! Steak, peas, olives, and carrots (the big ones, preferrably with the green leaves still in the end, unpeeled and uncooked).  He loves to snuggle still, and for that I am extremely grateful!  What an amazingly sweet little boy.  A few days ago he gave me a huge hug and said, "mom, you're my favorite and best mom in the whole world."  (And that is in writing now, and I will keep it for future use.)

Another Try For Perfection

Wow, I know this is a little after the fact, but it really just kicked in that it is 2010! The beginning of the year is such a good opportunity to take a look at where you are in your life and where you want to be.

Of course it is always a reality check as well.
For instance, I realized a few things, like I need to spend my time a little wiser and find more ways to serve.  In fact, I thought of A LOT of things that I wanted to improve on (I think it would only scare you all to know all of the imporvements I need to make). 

It was also interesting to think about the things that happened through out the previous year.  The things that made us better people.  The trials, but also the triumphs. It is amazing how much can happen in only one year!
So I head into the new year with a long checklist for myself of all the ways I need to improve. A reminder of how far I have until I reach that perfection mark.

But I also took a moment to reflect on the things that I think I do pretty darn well at.  And it's always fun to remind yourself how great you are. Even before the long list of things to change.