Little moments that you don't want to forget

Nothing extraordinary happened this week, however little moments happened that will make me happy to remember them. Because these boys will be growing up fast and unless I write these little things down, I will never remember some of the sweet and cute things they do at this age. 

Adam is 18 months old today! He loves to kiss me right on the mouth. He is saying new words every day. I love it when he says, "ay go!" (Here you go) whenever he wants to give me something. Tonight he lunged from daddy to me to give me the sweetest hug and cuddle to make anyone's heart smile. 

When Silas goes into the "pretend" mode where he is just imagining and playing with things, he talks in a really high, squeaky voice. It's so fun to listen to him just go on and on in this voice. He is the best of my kids to say "fank you, mom". If that doesn't make a mom happy, I don't know what does. He likes to put things on his head and say, "look at me, mom!"

Brigham is having a great time and being very helpful in preschool. He loves to share his knowledge with Silas. He is always telling him, " Silas, did you know..." wanting to teach him something new.  Brigham has been listening to scripture scouts in the car and he LOVES it! I like watching him in the rear view mirror singing his heart out to the songs. 

Croup and a Heart of Gold

I woke up at 3 am to a barking sound. Some hoarse crying was accompanied with it. Oh no! That's Silas! He was having a harder time breathing. The poor boy had croup! I held him, gave him a drink of water, some Ibuprophen, and decided it would be good to give him a puff from Brigham's albuterol inhaler. Doug gave him a blessing and then I took him to the Redi Care. When we got there, his breathing had improved. They gave him a steroid and also found that he had an ear infection. When we got home, Doug was still up too. He had cuddled with Adam because Adam had waken up. We were both tired and slept in late for us, especially because of daylight savings. As I was starting to wake I hear my door creaking open further. A cute little happy-faced blonde boy in Spider-Man pajamas was carrying a cookie tray. On the tray was two red cups of water, two pieces of bread toasted and buttered, and two string cheese. The sweet little five-year-old just smiled and said, "I have breakfast for you!". No one told him that mom and dad were really tired. He didn't know we were up in the middle of the night. He just used his heart of gold to serve us and show us that he loves us. 

Thank you, my sweet little Brigham! Thank you for being my angel today. I love that boy sooooo much!!!!

Tribute to Sheryl: A worthy role model

Today we went as a family to Sheryl's very last home game of her entire college basketball career. We have been going to see her play since Brigham was a baby (even before that with her high school games). I have no doubt that watching her play has sparked my boys love of basketball. We can't even go to church without Adam looking at the hoop in the gym and saying, "b-ball". 

If there is a role model that my kids chose to be like though, Sheryl is an outstanding one! She is a kind and caring aunt, she is an all-American for academics, she is a great basketball player, is positive, and has a strong testimony of the Gospel. Thank you, Sheryl, for the example you set for me and my boys.

Congratulations on ending your career with a huge bang! We are excited to see all the amazing things you will do in the future. Surely while this door is starting to close, many more amazing options will open up to you. We love you!

New life and new beginnings

The new year came and we made resolutions. We probably already messed up those resolutions. Well, our chance to start new and fresh is over. Sorry. Ok....NOT true!

Yesterday I took my boys to see two brand new baby lambs, a brand new baby foal, and some baby goats. It got me thinking, we get chances to start new all the time! Think about it, spring is a wonderful time for you to start new. That's when new growth comes and the sun shines a little warmer. That's when I start feeling fresh and new! We get the start of a new month, a new week, a new day. Every day we can make it what we want it to be. So, today, go do something new, try something new. Thanks to a fun friend of mine, we got out of the morning routine and we did something new. We walked around the church parking lot while the kids road trikes and bikes. They loved it and so did I. I exercised with a friend. (Thanks, Tara!)

At he beginning of these animals lives, everything is new to them. Let's keep making things new for us. Wear a new shirt.

Fly a kite!

Eat popcorn out of a big kitchen garbage bag

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

After lunch, the boys and I went to the library to celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday. They had a special story time with one of the local news anchors reading Green Eggs and Ham. Adam stood right by the guy reading the story for a while, he was very quiet, so I didn't think he was distracting. Hope other people didn't mind.

They also got to color pictures and make their own Cat in the Hat hats while eating goldfish and Swedish fish. We took the hats home to finish because it was crowded and I think Brigham and Silas enjoyed decorating them at home.

Oh, and Brigham was a big help pushing Adam in the stroller and obeyed all the rules I gave him about pushing him.

The dilemma of the clean house!

I explain to people all the time that my house is never clean. Usually, they are so nice and respond back, "oh, I don't believe that" or "I am sure your house is clean". But, really it's not. It's not because I don't clean. I clean all the time, it just doesn't stay clean for very long. In reality it's because we LIVE here. We eat, we play, we dirty dishes, spill drinks, and make messes. I am more of a binge cleaner. Does that make sense? I clean everything one day and than I give myself a little break.(except dishes and laundry you never get breaks from) I am not very good and being a consistent cleaner. Cleaning up everything right after it happens (except for spills and obvious messes) and when we are done with something, putting dishes right into the dishwasher.... I am just not good at that sort of thing. (So, if someone has any really easy and good tips...I am open to them). I try to teach my kids to clean up one thing of toys before they get out another thing, but they all just dump different things out and it's all over the floor anyway. Besides, I heard someone say that cleaning the house while your kids are young is like shoveling the snow while it's still snowing! And if you are always shoveling then you are not playing with your kids in the snow! I think I like helping to make the mess more than I like cleaning it up.

This morning I woke up to an already messy house and I decided that I was going to clean, vacuum, and sanitize the whole upstairs.I started a little later than I thought I would because those unexpected messes that you have to clean up right away always happen before you can clean what you wanted to. This happened when Brigham was in the bathroom and yelled, "Mom!" That's always a nice way to start the morning.

Anyway, I then started with the pile of clean laundry that has been waiting to be folded for a couple of days. I finished the laundry and then cleaned most of the upstairs. I went downstairs to find that Silas had dumped out the dirty clothes in his hamper and had dumped out all the clean clothes in his drawers that I had just folded and put away! The clean and dirty were all mixed together. Ok, big breath, mama! Nope! Couldn't handle it! I got mad; but then I realized that this is what happens. It's ok, just let it go. It doesn't do anything to get mad. I quickly apologized to Silas and asked if he could help me put the clothes back. He responded very nicely and was a great helper. It really took no time at all. 

All in all, I really love a clean house, it makes me happy to be in a clean home, helps me feel comfortable when people come over, and gives me a boost of self esteem. However, when you do come over and it's not spick and span, know that I do my best, but I just can't shovel snow all the time while it's still snowing! Sometimes the snow piles up a little...I think that's ok. I was meant to do more than just clean. I saw a sign at Christmas time that said, "The house was clean yesterday...sorry you missed it!" I need to get me one of those signs! And by the way, I think I worry so much about this because when I see other people's houses, they are always clean and I think that I must be the only person in the world that does not have a spotless house. I know that is not true, but someday invite me over and just leave your house the way it is...I will be happy to know I am not the only one out there!

Behold your little ones

It was a wonderful fast and testimony meeting for Sacrament Meeting today. About half of those who bore their testimonies were children. These children all stood up at the pulpit by themselves and said their own words. They shared their own pure testimonies. It brought such a sweet spirit and gave me great courage. I sometimes am afraid with how the world is going rapidly downhill and askew, that my children will have some tough challenges to face. But these children who stood up today have valiant spirits. They have strong spirits and they desire to do good and to choose the right. They recognize the spirit of the Holy Ghost and I believe they want to keep the spirit with them always. These young people were saved to come down at this time because of their pure righteousness. 

 

I also had the opportunity to rock a baby girl to sleep today in relief society. I held this sleeping little angel the whole time. It was such a sweet experience for me. I felt of this little girl's spirit and it was amazing. You see, I am surrounded by boys all day and I get to feel of their spirits all the time. I can tell you that  they are both so good and both so different. It helped me realize even more that God made us each who we are for a reason. We need each other and we each have different roles to play. (It also made me hope to have a little girl someday).

Although those of us with little children at home get to watch these little ones all day, let's take the time to truly behold our own little ones and see them for their purity and how close they really are to Heavenly Father.