this blog is all about randomness

lately every single post is a "random stuff" post

maybe because my thoughts are so scattered, maybe because there is too much going on, but whatever the reason, here's another one to keep with the trend!

The other day I did something that Chloe wanted me to do and she said,

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about!"

It makes me happy that Morgan and Brynn want to hold hands in the car.
What doesn't make me happy is that Chloe is in between them...
she doesn't like it when they hold hands in the car.
Have you ever experienced Chloe when she doesn't like something?

I like to take baths every day instead of showers (it is my little way of pampering myself)...
every day when I am in the bath, Chloe comes in and gives me "bath kisses" over the side of the tub.
I love her.

The kids went on a little adventure with Grandma Becky and Grandpa John a few weeks ago and they told me about this conversation when they got back:

Morgan: "Grandpa, you have a bald spot on the back of your head just like Chloe, but hers grew back.

Will yours grow back too?"

Gma Becky: "Well, sometimes boys start losing their hair when they get to be grandpas."

Morgan: "Hmm, I wonder what will happen to my hair when I become a grandpa?"

My kids really like each other.
When Seth asked Morgan where he wanted to go on his birthday Daddy date,
he said, "Can Chloe and Brynn come too."
This is why I will continue torturing myself by having my kids so close together!

A few days later, they were learning about careers in preschool and I asked Morgan

what he wanted to be when he grew up:

"I want to be a grandpa."

I told him that he can be a grandpa and have a job too.

"I want to be a grandpa AND a dad."

Poor Brynn is sick again. Same ear infection/sinus drainage type deal.

She is scheduled for surgery on Wednesday to get her tubes replaced and her adenoids removed.

We are so so so excited to get it over with.

I stay pretty focused when I go grocery shopping. I make a list, get what is on my list (and sometimes what I forgot to write on the list) and get out. But for some reason
Hostess crunch mini-donettes
ALWAYS call my name. If I see a box, I will buy it.
Since I hate grocery shopping, it is like my $3 pat on the back for doing it anyway.

Brynn thinks she is all grown up.

She wants to sit up to the table like the big kids, drink out of a cup like the big kids, sit on the couch like the big kids, climb on the table like the big kids, play with cars like the big kids, hold a wii-mote like the big kids, wear bracelets and dress ups like the big kids, help "load" the dishwasher like a big kid, play in the sandbox like the big kids, play the piano like the big kids. Oh how much we love her, but she is still a little baby to us.

I love gardening...

the dirt, the blooms, the flowers that will soon be strawberries, the idea of seeds becoming beautiful plants,

the promise of summer cooking, the ugly grayish brown dirt patch that will soon be green and producing fruit

did I mention I love gardening.

a balancing act

For the past few months of learning, considering, researching and finally deciding to officially take on the whole profressional photography gig, I feel like I have been attempting to do a balancing act without any equilibrium. I am LOVING the creative outlet...both the creativity in the photography and exercising my mind on the business side of things, learning like a sponge, and penciling appointments onto my calendar. I love the to do lists and the feeling of victory when something grand is completed to my satisfaction (website, business cards, logo, marketing materials, packaging...). But in finding this creative outlet, I have been missing the boat on good parenting. We have been eating chicken nuggets and cereal and hot dogs and peanut butter sandwiches and little caesar's pizza and spaghetti, if they are really lucky. We have not been to the library to check out books in over a month. My house...suffice it to say I have had to block out a full day for cleaning before we could have people over. Pretty much a whirlwind of craziness.

But, as it always does when I need it, inspiration has come in the most unexpected places. I am finding some balance...and remembering to put things in perspective and keep my priorities in line. I remember why flyLady is so awesome...and why I really REALLY need to stay on track with that! I remember how much energy and life comes into me when my house is clean...all the time. I remember how important it is to just spend quiet time doing nothing. I remember how happy I feel when I get Morgan to school on time...and when I am the first one there for pick-up so he doesn't have to wait a single second for me. I remember how much better my body feels when I cook a real dinner every night (ok...leftovers or cereal one night a week is still good). I remember how important it is to turn off the computers, put away the homework and the studying, and the website, and the forums, and facebook, and email and blogs and just snuggle up to my sweatheart and watch a great movie. I remember how much I need order and schedule and how it is only freeing to throw it all out the window for a day if it is there all the other days to get me back on track! I remember how easy folding laundry is when you do it one load at a time (and when it isn't winter!!!).

Yesterday, I decided to make a change. I wrote down the schedule, made a commitment to myself, talked to the kids about it and set some new rules. We worked together to get the house clean...really clean. I gave myself some "working hours" and figured out how to do what needs to be done on my terms. I think I need to do this about once a month...because I forget!

Today, I followed the schedule (mostly). We slept in...because today is the first day of in between semester break for Seth, got our garden patch ready for planting, put away the folded laundry, played games, read books, kept the kitchen clean, kept the house clean, did the work that needed to be done, and now Seth and I are sitting opposite each other typing away on our laptops...not by default, but because WE decided to put that in the schedule for tonight. 

Motherhood is a balancing act...life is a balancing act.

And when there is balance, I feel more joy, I feel more peace, I feel more control, I feel more empowered, I feel more fulfilled, and I feel more productive.

I love this scripture today:

D&C 88:119

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.

whaaat????

a blog post with pictures?

I know, pretty awesome right!

I looove these kids! I am trying to make time to "just love them" every day.

We have started a new thing around here.

3 hugs and a kiss...with something great about them with each hug.

Morgan just eats it up. He loves the praise.

Chloe mostly loves giving the kiss just like whatever princess she happens to be that day...

I think she has seen too many princess movies!

I am finding that I love the cuddles and I love the positive time telling each child that

I love them to pieces.

Anyway...

here is my great big 5 year old birthday boy!

He is just a delight! He says the funniest things and does the silliest things and is just bubbling over with personality lately. I love how he tells secrets and covers his mouth to giggle. I love how he gets sippy cups for himself and his sisters. I love how he remembers everything.

Could this picture not be right out of a magazine?

"bunnies for sale"

She is so adoreable...and she loves Grandma's bunnies!

We have been relishing our time with daddy now that the sun stays up a little longer so the kids can too! These kids just can't get enough of their daddy-o!

This little one had an appointment with the ENT today. At her 15 month check up last week we found out that one of her tubes is clogged and that it is affecting her hearing (which is not much of a surprise considering how loud she jabbers away). So, it looks like another ear surgery is in the very near future to get her adenoids removed and her tubes replaced. We are not a bit worried, though. Just looking forward to a happier, healthier litte missy B! 

funny things

At Sunday dinner with my fam a few weeks ago, we were talking about Shrek 4 coming out.

everyone was quiet for a minute and out of the blue,

Chloe says,

"Everyone put your hand in the air and say, 'SHREK 4'!"

If you know me and Seth, you know that she didn't learn that phrase from us...

I was co-oping in preschool a few weeks ago with one of the other moms and she told me,

"When Sylvie tells me about preschool she says, 'Morgan...you know, the funny one...'"

Earlier this week we were talking about Morgan's birthday and who would be coming to his family party,

"No ticklers are allowed at my party!"

And, just in case you are confused...a tickler is anyone who tickles him.

Pretty much all of his uncles are uninvited if that is the case!

Yesterday we were driving along and Morgan said,

"The only tickler who can come to my party is Dad, because I might want to play his iPod."

I am feeling totally overwhelmed with life right now.

The kids had colds last week and I have one this week that has knocked me flat.

I am editing a bunch of graduation pictures and dealing with birthday mayhem.

I now have 2 little girls who are highly overdramatic and have mastered the art of shrieking.

blah, blah, blah, complain, complain...

but these little pieces of humor coming from the mouths of my children get me through the day.

Sadly, I forget most of them before I get a chance to write them down,

so this is just a snippet of the ones I can remember.

I love them and I love their smart little minds and I love their sweet little faces.

Pictures are Updated

Sooo behind on blogging...never gonna catch up...

but the picture blog is up to date!

Mother's Day Mini-Sessions

Check out the smileabunch photography blog for more info...
and make sure you do it fast because there is an added bonus if you book before Saturday night!

And, don't forget...
you get $5 off your next session or print order for everyone you refer who books a session.

You can grab a button for your blog here or blog/facebook/tweet about the mini-sessions.
Make sure you let them know to tell me you sent them.

a happy easter

more to come...

feeling uplifted

Yep, it's general conference weekend and time for my bi-annual "spiritually fed" post. If you don't know what General Conference is, it is 4 sessions of music and talks by the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is uplifting and inspiring and motivating and I look forward to it and block every session out in my schedule to watch and listen and learn! You can hear the messages online (streamed live tomorrow or later in audio or written form) here.  

From the second Elder Uchtdorf stood to welcome the congregation at the first session until the closing prayer, my eyes welled with tears. I needed to be fed. I needed the messages that were shared. I was so grateful for the messages of the importance of family and the hope and guidance to parents, particularly mothers.

I loved Julie Beck's call to mother to "persist in faith through difficult days and mundane tasks," "to nurture our children as Christ nurtured," and the reminder that losing our temper distances us from the spirit.

I loved Elder Ballard's call to teach our daughters to find joy in loving and nurturing children.

I loved President Eyring's message about the importance of teaching faith to our children early in their life and his accolades for those who serve in the primary. It made me miss my sweet primary class so much!

I loved the talk (which I heard in the car and don't know who it was by) about learning from the scriptures and their importance. That we need the scriptures more now than in any other time on this earth.

I loved Elder Bednar's call to read and talk of the Book of Mormon with children of all ages and of sharing our testimony of true principles with them each day.

Most of all, I loved Elder Holland's statement that "true love must include the idea of PERMANENCE," that when you feel true love for someone you want to shout it from the rooftops, even in general conference, and that we need to respect and honor that kind of love. Today is Seth's birthday...the big 30...and he is working 12 hour shift after a long week of class and training and certification. I can tell you that I love him with that same love that Elder Holland talked about. Almost 7 years later, I still want to shout it from the rooftops that I am married to the most wonderful man in the world! I still get butterflies when I think about him and he is my very best friend in the world. Not a single day of our marriage have I thought that we may not make it to our 5,10, 25, 50th anniversary, because I cannot imagine my life, or eternity, without him! I am so grateful every day that I am lucky enought to have found that kind of love so early in my life.

I love General Conference and I look forward to the messages tomorrow. I feel a renewed conviction to devote my time and energies to improving myself so that I can better build, teach and love this...

my family, for this life, and for eternity!

(Picture taken with the self timer last week at the Great Salt Lake...4 of 5 looking is pretty good right?)