Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Halloween and more

Allow me to update you on our Halloween adventures and other things. 
So Brigham dressed up as "jake" and the never land pirates. But mostly he was just an awesome pirate. Silas was the cutest little captain America. Adam was a puppy dog.
The boys got to sport their costumes 3 times. Once for a carnival at Doug's school, then a church carnival, and for Halloween itself. 
Brigham almost needed to use a real eye patch. He started sword fighting with all the other kids with swords and got nicked just below his eye. Adam was so into his doggy role that he even wanted to crawl on all fours in the walmart parking lot saying, "woof woof!"

We carved some pumpkins that was pretty fun. We cheat by using the patterns, but it makes it nice for the kids to do a good looking pumpkin. Brigham did most of his all by himself. He poked all the holes and then I would tell him to cut one line and then stop then I would tell show him the next part. Those little pumpkin saws make it easy to cut. Silas enjoyed poking his holes. He would poke one over here or one over there, jut randomly. But he really liked poking holes in his pumpkin.

It was nice to go trick or treating to great Grandma Bitter. She paraded the boys around the dining room.
 The next day we went down for Ashton's baptism and we were able to visit Granpa Weight before. It was so nice to see him and visit with him. Even though he won't remember our visit and he didn't know who we were even after we explained; it still made him happy to have visitors and that was so nice. I was so glad to see him happy, but when it came time to leave I was sad leaving him in his room alone. 

I am grateful that my kids can visit their great grandparents who are still living. We get to see my grandma Mackley this week.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Ahh!!!!! My children can be terrors!!!

Ok. Big deep breath! I need to vent this out, because I hope it will make me feel a little better by releasing this to the public. Then you all can laugh because it's not you.....yet!

Well, the funny thing is that I had my bedroom door locked all morning because I had some craft things in my bedroom that I didn't want kids to get into. Since I had an extra child here today that I was babysitting, I figured it was a good idea to just leave my bedroom locked. 

Well, I unlocked it to go get something later in the day and I didn't think I needed to lock it again. 

Here is where the real mommy errors begin. I went into the bathroom and thought I would look at some amazon deals for Christmas gifts for the kids on my phone. (Admit it, I am not the only one who gets on my phone in the bathroom. If I am: ok I am wierd, but I learned a valuable lesson about not doing it anymore). 

Anyway, I got too distracted and then Brigham knocks on the door and says, "mom, something bad is happening in your room."

I walk in my room to see two purple-faced monsters staring at me. Their arms are purple, their clothes are purple and my carpet is purple!!!!! Aahhhhh!!!!!!!! Purple acrylic paint does not come out of clothes or carpet very well at all!!! After dragging them to the bathtub, I realize now I have paint on my clothes! Momma is not happy. I probably scrubbed that paint off their little bodies a little too roughly. 

Anyway, I know that half of it was my fault. I need to not be a distracted mother. I need to step away from my phone and pay attention to the kiddos. Motherhood is a most important calling. It is very demanding at times and very frustrating at times, but so rewarding and so important. I pray for the help I need to be able to have the patience and love to do this most important job.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Week #1 of Harvest Break

Well, due to the wonderful Harvest break, I get to have Brigham home for 2 weeks! Wow, I had to think of some things to do with the kids! 
First of all, we needed to get organized and get in the habits of daily chores. We started a 2 week sticker chore chart 3 weeks ago and we finally got a good thing going this week. The fact that I finally bought prizes for completion of their chore chart may have had some help in motivating them to actually clean up. But, we went from "No! We can't pick up toys without your help, Mom!" to them cleaning their room and the entire downstairs and putting everything in the right place by themselves!!! Awesome!!!!!

The boys earned some fun things because of their hard work. So, they earned playtime at the park, picking out books from the library, and a trip to the zoo! I have to say that though my kids are crazy and silly at times, grumpy and cranky at times (well they are KIDS!) they are really good kids and I am super blessed. 

Now, the task is what to do with them for this coming week? Especially if it rains! Which, please pray that the sun will come out and "dry up all the rain" so our farmers can finish their spud harvest. The grain was already ruined, please pray for the farmers to be able to harvest the spuds! 














Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The Tater Trot, Funeral, and a Date Night

Tater Trot: This year I had 2 cute little runners! What a fun event it is to see children racing. Brigham looks forward to this event every year. He pretty much starts a countdown for the next race as soon as his race is over. Ok so that's exaggerating a little bit, but the point is that Brigham LOVES the tater trot! Last year he was one of the oldest in his age group of runners and ended up being first place with a fancy potato medal. This year he was the younger of the age group and so I tried to prepare him that he should do his best, but it would be harder to win. He ended up in the middle of the group but he felt good and kept telling me, "Mom, I passed a 1st grader!".  
For Silas, I was just so proud that he ran the whole way! He was so cute! Those little legs don't move very fast, but he told me that he ran FAST! That was so fun for me to watch my cute little runners. 

The Funeral: Grandpa Harvard Bitter's funeral was on Saturday. It was such a heart-filling service. I was grateful for women who weren't concerned about spud day as they were watching small children during the funeral so we could actually listen and pay attention without having to deal with squirmy kids. That made it so nice. What a blessing it was to see how the chapel was filled with the posterity of Grandma and Grandpa. Big families are such a blessing. It was so touching to see a woman at a 4 way stop allow the entire funeral procession pass by (and it was a very long line of cars). She could have been in a hurry to go somewhere, but she put that aside and put us first. Whoever she is, I wonder if she knows how touched my sister-in-law and I were because of her act of kindness. Grandpa was also honored for serving our country in WWII. What a legacy of hard work and testimony he left for us. Thank you for example, Grandpa!

Date Night: It was nice to have a double date with Mark and Nicole. We had a half price deal for squealers and so we enjoyed go karts, mini golf, climbing wall and bumper boats. It was fun to laugh, compete, squirt each other, and test our skills and nerves. It was a fun night out! 2 hole-in-ones for my mini golf! I love go karts and rock climbing. The nerves came in when the first time you climb to the top and you are ready to go back down you just let go of the wall and the cord takes you down; letting go the first time is kind of scary! But then it was just so much fun. Nicole was on my tail with the go karts during one of our runs and I kept blocking her so she couldn't get passed me. Sorry, Nicole....but it was super fun!!! Doug's favorite thing was of course the Go Karts and he enjoyed blasting past everyone. Thrilling adventure!!! Loved it!!!







Tuesday, September 16, 2014

A Happy Birthday and a Tender Goodbye

Sunday was a very special day. It was a day to celebrate my baby being two years old! He is a sweet little boy. Whenever he gets caught doing something he let's out an"ahhh!" with a slight growl to it. He likes to replace the word "I" with "my" so he always says, "my done, mom" or "my do it!" He loves to play with his big brothers. He loves to sing twinkle little star. He always knows when trucks or tractors are coming in to the yard  and says, "hee comes da tuck!" 

Sunday was also a day to say goodbye. Great Grandpa Bitter (Doug's grandfather) was getting ready to leave this earth. Sunday evening we went down and told him we loved him and gave him our last hugs. It was very special and what a gift it was how alert he was. He was giving advice and joking. It was a truly beautiful gift for us to see him so talkative and alert. What a sweet last moment to see him and remember him by. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing his body to have that last burst of energy to say goodbye to many of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. We feel so privileged to have enjoyed feeling of your spirit and visitng you, grandpa. We love you!






Sunday, September 7, 2014

Fun at the Fair

We try to make it to the fair every year and last year we found out how much easier it was to make a date out of it instead of pushing a double stroller through the crowds. This year we made it even more fun by doing something we have never done before....we went to a live concert! 

We loved the food. I got my favorite thing from Reed's Dairy. A brown cow. I know that sounds bad, but it's the most yummy creamy ice cream (I got grasshopper and vanilla) in the best chocolate milk! It's like a milk shake. Anyway, love it! 

We decided to dream and tour the fancy trailer homes. Wow! One of them had a whole living room with a flat screen and a fire place, a full-sized fridge, and nice master bedroom. 

Then was our concert....Big and Rich! It was a new experience for us. We enjoyed the upbeat songs although they are kind of a crazy bunch. It was just fun to enjoy a concert with my hubby and have a great time at the fair!


Sunday, August 31, 2014

It was worth it!

A Saturday where we stay home and organize the house. A little boring, but it needs to be done. I was bummed that it didn't work out to go to the Ogden Temple Open House. It would have been a great thing for us to do with the kids. 

Doug came home from out in the fields and said, "I can have the rest of the day off. Let's go." In an hour and a half we were on the road heading to Utah.

The 2 hour drive and the long wait was so worth it to have the wonderful feeling of having your family with you in the House of The Lord. Watching Brigham and Silas walk hand in hand and Brigham telling me in the Celestial room that his heart felt warm, and just feeling the joy and spirit of families are forever is the best feeling in the whole world! I am so grateful for our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness for us.

It was also fun to see my childhood best friend and enjoy her sweet hospitality as she let us stay the night. Thank you, Sarah!

Also, enjoying being with family today as we gathered together after Dean gave his belated home coming talk in Honeyville. I really enjoyed being with my family and talking and laughing. 

This spontaneous trip was totally worth it!











Sunday, August 24, 2014

Caterpillars, Cuties, and Corn

Caterpillars: We have had these fuzzy black caterpillars all over lately. We caught two of them and put them in a jar. Brigham could take a show and tell on Friday as long as it started with one if the letters they worked on for the week. Well C is for caterpillars. So he got to show his class something fuzzy and fun for his first show and tell for kindergarten. 

Cuties: I love it when on the weekends Brigham gets up and decides he wants to make us breakfast in bed. He is getting to be a professional toast maker. He made us toast and got out yogurt and granola. Silas is all too happy to be his side kick as long as he gets to play in the butter. This time Brigham also wanted to draw us a picture; it was really sweet. 
When Adam had his yogurt for breakfast, he decided it would make a good hair gel....or maybe he just wanted an excuse to take a bath.

Corn: We have been loving the corn in our garden this year. So sweet and yummy. All of the boys do a really good job at gnawing down their cob to nothing.
 Yesterday we decided visit the local farmers market and Brigham saw someone selling th Mexican corn. You know the one with the white cheese and chilli powder? He really wanted to get one. I told him I would make some from our corn. That's what I did tonight and it was delicious!


Puddles!

What do you do when it rains nearly every day in August? That's crazy! But it left something that my boys just couldn't resist. Something that thrilled and chilled them to the bone! Big muddy puddles!  

Silas and Adam had the time of their lives tromping through the water, jumping and splashing, and getting soaked through. All their clothes were wet and muddy. They were slushing and squishing around with their boots full of water. 

So, you ask me why would I allow my kids to get soaked, muddy, and cold? Well, for one simple reason: the best smiles in the whole world! :)