I am such a sucker for these!

Here's how to play: List 3 joys, 3 of your fears, 3 of your goals, 3 current obsessions/collections and 3 random, surprising facts about yourself. At the end of your post, tag 5 more people.

3 Joys
1. My family is my #1 Joy. I love my family!

2. Mail. Especially non-bill-like-mail. I love getting letter, and e-mails, and voice mail, and so on...

3. Being home with my kids. I love being a stay at home mom. It is so rewarding, and such an amazing opportunity.

3 Fears

1. My latest and greatest fear comes from a very disturbing dream/nightmare. I am scared to death of someone kidnapping my kid(s). I came very close to canceling our family vacation for fear that something would happen to Lilia on the trip...

2. Being alone. Not just left alone in a room or by myself for a few days, but really being alone. I like companionship and knowing that I have someone I can run to or call to just talk or ask questions or advice. I have recently learned to be more particular on who is on my list of people that I can do this with, and it has made me realize how very special my truest friends are. I can't begin to describe the crippling fear I feel at the thought of not having Joe in my life and not having my few close friends to confide in.

3. Death. Its not necessarily the after death part. Its the actual dieing part. That and what leads up to it. I am scared that I will die young and not get to see my grandchildren, I am also scared that I will outlive everyone in my family (meaning cousins, siblings, etc.) but most importantly I am scared of a long drawn out painful death.

3 Goals

1. To finish my MT training. I hate it, but I will continue just so I can prove I am not a total loser. I didn't spend a ridiculous amount of money on a training program just to turn around and drop it cause its not what I expected.

2. To be a more forgiving person. To be able to take a hit and not wish evilness on the person delivering the blow. To be able to turn the other cheek over and over again. I need to get better at this. I don't want to stoop to their level. Basically, I just wanna be more Christlike in this aspect.

3. To teach my children about the Gospel, and help them become spiritual giants. I want them to see me set a good example, and I would love for them to love the scriptures, and to love the Lord, and to love being at church and to feel the spirit and get excited to do temple work.

3 Current Obsessions/Collections.

1. Spring Cleaning.

2. So You Think You Can Dance- I LOVE this show!

3. Joe!

3 Random, Surprising Facts About Myself

1. I like painting rooms. Just not the ceilings...

2. I have an aversion to certain textured foods. I don't like biting into an onion (but I love onion powder), I hate tomatoes (but love ketchup and tomato based sauces and I even like tomato soup), I hate the crunch of bell pepper, and don't like jalapenos, and though I hate all those ingredients, my favorite snack food is chips and salsa... go figure!

3. Scary movies freak me out. Yet I can't seem to get enough of the thrillers. Some of my favorite movies of all time are spooky: The Forgotten, The Good Son, The Secret Window...

Ok, I tag Triscuit, Riah, Morgan W, Steven, and Janna! Ready? Go!

Finally, Joe has an excuse!

Joe doesn't send me flowers. There is actually a very good reason for it, and I understand completely. He had two really awful experiences with buying me bouquets for our wedding reception and open house, and ever since then he has never been much for getting flowers. "And besides," as he would remind me, "flowers die- I don't want something dead to show how much I love you!" But it turns out there is a lot more behind his reasoning than I thought!

The reality of this job

I read a blog today written by a good friend of mine. It was such a good blog that I now feel the need to pass it on to the rest of my friends. AnnaMarie is one of the most amazing women I know. She is Superwoman! Anyway, below is her blog, and though it is long it is well worth reading. If you don't feel the need to read the whole thing, just skip down to the BOLD part. Thats the part that really brings this blog home for me!


The reality of this job

About a month ago, my husband and I were out on date night. At that point I was about 7 months pregnant. He started telling me about his friend, a guy that he works with, and a conversation they had.

This friend had recently been teasing Dan about this "unplanned" baby and going to have 4 kids.Well, soon after, he found out his wife was unexpectedly pregnant with baby 4 :)

Fast forward the the conversation he was telling me about...He said he had come home, and his wife (keep in mind she is in the middle of that first trimester, sick and crazy tired stage) had left the house a mess. Things were everywhere. The counters were sticky. His daughter was wearing his sons clothes and it looked like nothing had been done all day. As my husband is telling me this, I know in my mind there have been days like that around here, and I am feeling for his wife. Well, his friend proceeds to tell him how angry he was. He says he got the kids together and spent the next 45 minutes cleaning it all up. By then he was so mad that he left and went for a drive, and wouldn't answer his wife's calls when she tried to reach him. He went on about how he KNOWS a woman should be able to keep an impeccable house at all times, he has a friend whose wife does it. He knows it is possible. It's her job. And on and on and on.

As my husband is telling me this, my blood is literally boiling! I know that whatever he spent those 45 minutes doing with the kids, she had likely done 15 times already that day, and he just so happened to walk in the house at the wrong moment. When you have 3 little kids, your house goes from clean to messy, back to clean, about 50 times throughout a day. His wife had said those same things, and he was just sure she was making excuses, that being a mom is NOT THAT HARD!

It still makes me mad thinking about the whole thing because each day, I find myself in some situation where I think, "Didnt I just do this? Didnt I just clean this up? Didnt I just tell them not to _____?" It's part of being a mom.

I'm totally at the nesting phase, and over the last few days, I have spent hour after hour, reorganizing and cleaning. Yesterday, the tiredness finally hit me after several days in a row of hard, physical work I shouldnt have been doing. I planned to take it a bit easy. I took the kids to Subway so that I wouldnt have to cook. I put them at the table to eat and I laid down for a moment. A few minutes later, Savanah came in and said she dropped her sandwich on the carpet and some mustard got on the floor. I used every cleaner I could think of and it didnt budge. There is now a nice yellow stain on the dining room carpet.

Not 5 minutes later, Mason came in and said he accidentally spilled the entire thing of strawberry milk on the carpet. He tried to clean it up, in his best 8 year old boy way, and I went out to help him out. I was able to get most of the pink out, but still, if you look closely enough, my dining room now also has a huge pink stain, not just a small yellow one.

An hour or so later, I was walking through the living room and stepped in something wet. I asked what the spot was, and the kids said they spilled milk. So I scrubbed that as well (this spot was maybe 2 feet from the others).

And just before bed, I walked into the kitchen and stuck to the floor. What was it this time? Grape soda.

So this morning I get up and Im ready to get back to nesting. I didnt get much done yesterday (I mean, I didnt make much progress since I was treading water all day). I notice first thing that the last spot on the floor still has an off color, so I scub that one again. And the other small ones on the living room floor that I had not known were there. Then I went about my cleaning/organzing/moving furniture madness.

As I am going through some of my piano music to put it away, I pull on one piece of music that is sitting on the piano and it is stuck, melted, if you will, to the piano. Someone has spilled something on my prized piano, not told me, and let the music sit in that wetness. No big deal that the music is now missing the last few measures, but the piano, that one Im not happy about. I have to try and get it off without using a harsh enough cleaner to damage the finish.

While Im doing that, I see there is another dark, large spot on the carpet that wasn't there before, so I let that soak in some cleaner while I figure out the piano issue.

That's it right? Well, I think in the last 24 hours, those are the only real things that happened, in addition to the usual cleaning, picking up, cleaning again, picking up again, washing dishes, cleaning them up etc, that is part of our every day.

I love being a mom and truth be told, I dont even mind the cleaning. Sometimes I enjoy it. It's a great stress reliever for me. I absolutely think that part of my job as a stay at home mom is to keep a clean, organized house for my children and my husband.

But let's be realistic here. It's not as easy it appears. If you come home and it looks exactly the same as it did when you left, it's not because nothing was done, it's because your wife worked hard enough to get it back to where it was in the first place :) The dishes didnt stay clean. Breakfast and lunch didnt clean up themselves. Your children did not maintain themselves all day long, getting themselves dressed, doing their chores without supervision, not getting into any trouble. What you see is not necessarily any reflection of what has actually gotten accomplished that day. While I clean, it's not what I am. What I am is a mother and that entails so much more than being just a housekeeper. The way my children turn out comes down to more than how things looked at 5:30 pm, and those things are not only time consuming, but absolutely imperative in the lives of my children.

Today I hugged.

Today I gave and got kisses.

Today I did someone's hair and painted someone's nails.

Today I read a book.

Today I held a child on my lap.

Today I tickled a giggly toddler.

Today I taught someone how to do something new.

Today I kept my cool when I wanted to scream.

Today I told them "it was okay" when inside I was frustrated.

Today I am taking them somewhere they have never been, to learn about something new.

Today, my children will know that nothing is more important to me than they are. They will know that my favorite hobby in life is being mommy. And they will know I love them when they are good, when they are bad, and when they dont listen to anything I say.

Today I will be a mother and I will be proud of that.

And that's the reality of this job.

And how do YOU feel about this?

Happy Mothers Day!

Joe got me a NICE gift card to a day spa. AND- he DID hide it in a stack of papers in the kitchen. Love him!

It has been a great day. Joe has gone above and beyond to make my it a nice day. And it helps that the girls have been very well behaved today. We went to my MIL's this morning. Just got home, and now we are just relaxing around the house. Good times!

Happenings

Lacey's Favorite Toy.

Lacey has recently found a favorite toy. She love playing with it. She just LOVES rolling it. She will climb to get to it, and just giggles away while it rolls.



Or should I say UNROLLS.

My kitchen helper.

A few weeks ago I was making rolls for dinner. I had actually triple booked myself that day, and found myself making dinner for my family, another family, and my inlaws who Joe had invited for dinner. SOOOO, I was making A LOT of rolls. I got the first batch to the point of cooking (while batch #2 was in the bread machine, being mixed) and walked away while the oven preheated. I don't remember what exactly I was doing, but whatever it was had me busy with Lacey. While dealing with Lacey I heard Lil making these spitting sounds over and over again... "PBBBTTT. PBBBTT. PBBBTTT..." Thinking nothing of it I went about my business. When the oven beeped to let me know it was preheated I walked into the kitchen and found THIS:

Turns out Lil had poked each and every roll and "deflated them" and accompanied each one with a "PBBTTT!" Darn kid! Yeah- the rest of the rolls I ended up making were rushed, and didn't taste as good as I was hoping. :S



Joe's smart move...

So my awesome possum, better than great husband has had the same exact look for as long as I have known him. With minor changes in the shape of his glasses, everything about him looks the same as when we met. His hair is the biggest factor. He has had this same haircut since high school. Basically, he found something that works for him, and he never ever changes it. Here is a few pictures to show what I mean...

Joe in Highschool (senior picture)


Joe and I about 3 years into marriage


Family shot about 2 years after the last one (you'll notice my hair is changed, but not Joe!)

So, you see, Joe hasn't ever really changed his hair. He just lets it grow a bit, then cuts it short, then it grows out and he cuts it short again... WELL- today, Joe decided to give himself his monthly (or so) hair cut, and he pulled the clippers out. He put the proper guard on, and shaved the top, then changed to a smaller guard and shaved the sides, then he stood up straight, and put his glasses back on to see that he had gotten it all, and noticed a chunk right in front on top that he had missed. So he too the clippers and lopped it off. THEN HE REALIZED HE HAD THE SHORTER GUARD ON FOR THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD... Ah hahahaha! So, the end result was the need to shave his whole head down to like quarter of an inch. I about died when I first saw it, I LOVE it! BUT- its very different for him, and he was pretty annoyed that he had done it in the first place. So, whats the damage?


Oh, and also for those of you in our neighborhood, Joe was worried that you all would think that he shaved his hair off to hide any evidence of aging (gray hair and receding hairline...). So if you see him be sure to ask if the new do is to hide the gray! LOL! I love him!

Lil's Favorite Babydoll.

So I am making dinner and hear Lil talking to her "baby" She is talking about buckling her into the babydoll stroller, and how she is goingto take her baby for a walk. I of course, assume she is referring to her babydoll. I go to check on the girls and see why exactly Lacey is being so quiet, and what do I see?


Yeah- Lacey was her baby. Lilia managed to pick Lacey up and put her in the babydoll stroller and then proceeded to wheel her around the house in it for the next half hour or so. Kids... whada ya gonna do, huh?

My Mother's Day Present

Lilia made me a gift at her preschool for Mothers Day. Only problem was, when she got home she decided she would rather give it to Daddy. :S Yeah. I feel really loved! :) Of course, Joe gets home and Lil gives it to him and says its for him for mothers day. He laughs and opens it. Inside was a flower she had made me as well as a paper they filled out naming my best qualities. I just feel the need to share them with you. (The bold part is Lil's answer)

My mom is special because she makes food for me.

I like it when my mom makes dinner.

My mom can do many things! I think she's best at Basketti and dinner.

My mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by eating dinner.

My mom is as pretty as a princess.

My mom is smart! She even knows ______.

I think my kid is a bit fixated on dinner. What do YOU think? Now to be fair, I have really been struggling to get her to eat dinner lately. AND- if she does eat it really does make me happy... so she is pretty observant. Oh, and incidentally, I had made Spaghetti (basketti) for dinner that night. I rock!

My OTHER Mother's Day Present.

Later that night after the kids were in bed I mentioned to Joe that I really liked my Mother's Day present (I honestly didn't expect Joe to have remembered it, and I wasn't expecting much more than what Lil gave me). Well Joe looked at me and said, "Oh, you cleaned that up and found it did you?" To which my response was, "Huh?" He then said, "What are you talking about?!" And I told him I was talking about the letter from Lil, and what was HE talking about? And his response? "Well, nothing, never mind." :) Unfortunately for Joe, I have recently made a pact with myself not to pry, and not to figure my gifts out before they are given to me. (It worked for Christmas, for the first time since I met Joe he surprised me with a gift!) Well, because the gift is hidden, and can be found by cleaning something up, I have decided I am NOT cleaning until Sunday! Oh, and the reason for the pact is because Joe is terrible at keeping secrets and it is way too easy to work it out of him. In fact, I usually don't even try. He just kinda slips up and gives it away. So I really REALLY am putting forth some great effort to be surprised by gifts.


Oh, and have I ever mentioned that Lil looks SO DARN CUTE with curls?

Want proof?



And yes, she dressed herself with an inside out shirt... Independent kids are great, huh?

Crazy 8's

8 Things...

8 things I’m passionate about

1. My kids
2. My husband
3. My family
4. My religion
5. My kids getting a good education
6. Family Vacations
7. Naptime (hehehe)
8. The importance of paying tithing

8 Songs I can listen to over and over again and never get sick of

1. If you could Hie to Kolob
2. Tarzan Soundtrack (The Disney cartoon)


3. Mask of Zorro Soundtrack
4. The Way- Fastball
5. Fingertips- TMBG
6. Grace Kelly- Mika
7. Fools Rush In- UB40 (yes- I prefer it over the original Elvis version)
8. Love Shack- B52's

8 books I’ve read

1. Book of Mormon
2. To Kill A Mockingbird- Harper Lee
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3. Receiving Answers to our Prayers- Gene R Cook
4. The BFG- Roald Dahl
5. Righteous Warriors- John Bytheway
6. The Alchemist- Paulo Coelho
7. The Giver- Lois Lowry

8. Standing for Something- Gordon B. Hinckley

8 Things I say often

1. Crap! (At least I assume thats where Lil learned it)
2. I love you.

3. Are ya kidding me? (Thanks, Katie- now I say it too!)
4. Is that how you ask nicely? (Teaching kids manners...)
5. Excuse me?
6. Nigh-night, Snuggle Puppy! (Saying goodnight to Lil)

7. Hiya Monster! (Thats how I greet Lacey)
8. Know what I mean? (I will admit, I say this WAY too often, know what I mean?)

8 Things that attract me to a friend

1. Honesty
2. Common ground
3. A sense of humor
4. They have to like me too... kinda important, that one!
5. Patience... heaven knows you'll need it with me!
6. Someone who really does know what I mean!
7. Never makes me feel like an idiot (at least not on purpose)
8. Someone who lifts me up instead of dragging me down.

8 Random things about me

1. I am left handed
2. I like to eat, eat, eat, apples and bananas... (crap, now that song is stuck in my head)

3. I love playin' the movie quote game... Not sure why, just do.
4. I hate singing alone, and an very self conscious about it... it took me 4 years before I could sing in front of my own husband... and thats just lullabies and the likes..
5. I prefer to sing harmony but only on songs that HAVE a harmony part. I can't STAND it when people make up their own harmony for songs with only a melody.
6. In my family I am the runt. A scrawny 5'4" with towering siblings ranging from 5'7" to 6'4"
7. In Joe's family, I am taller than average. All three of his sisters are shorter than I am. Joe is the tallest sibling at 5'6"
8. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a banker when I grew up. (How boring of a dream was THAT!?) And guess what? I was.

8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Be a grandma
2. Travel. Certain places in particular, but I just wanna go places I have never been before.
3. Have my dream house...
4. Watch my children get married in the temple
5. Watch my husband start a company and make it a success
6. Learn to enjoy cleaning, and exercising

7. Read a good book
8. Charity work

8 Things I’ve learned this past year

1. Life can throw you curve balls, and though it causes change, that change can be a good thing if you work at it enough.
2. Joe and I can work through anything, together.
3. My husband isn't perfect.
4. A difficult child just raises the bar for you to extend your love to. And yet, its still easy to do.
5. Lilia is a wonderful big sister, and a smart smart child.
6. My worst nightmares have nothing to do with me, and everything to do with my children and their welfare... A mothers love can be fierce.
7. Personal revelation is REAL, and can REALLY happen.
8. That I love my family more and more with each passing day.

The 8 People I want to do the 8’s

1. Katie
2. Triscuit
3. Riah
4. Heidi G.
5. Morgan C.
6. Morgan W.
7. Nikola
8. Twins