Girls day out!

My mom and sister paid me impromptu visit this last weekend. It was so AWESOME!!! (Sometimes "me time" is few and far between around here). Mom and Amy said they were coming to give me some girl time. So when they showed up we had a ball... Brett watched all the kids while we went shopping and out to lunch. (The word 'shopping' is used very loosely seeing as how we really only have about three store, but what the heck!) It was fun just to walk SLOWLY and BROWSE... you know, with out having to chase kids out from under the clothes racks or to speed shop because one of the kids are wailing at the top of their lungs. And even though it was only a couple hours, when I came home I was refreshed and so excited to be the mommy again. What a difference just a half an hour, for only YOU, can make in your day. Whether it be a run in the early morning, a little quiet time to study the scriptures, or even just one of those really long luxurious showers. So thanks again girls! And may the rest of you enjoy a little "you time" today!

A nice spring day... and then it snowed!

Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine so the kids and I went for a hike in the hills behind our neighborhood. Isn't that cool that a block away we have THIS!

Ben found a stick to be his gun for "shooting lions" but he was just as delighted to find that it also helped him "climb the mountain."

Madi and Brooke loved the freedom of running far ahead and deciding what trail to follow. I just loved this picture. My two little adventurers.

We really had a fun little hike. The snow had finally all melted and it was beginning to feel like spring. But.... This morning we woke up to snow blanketing everything, even the tree branches. I do love snow, but it really smelled like spring yesterday and I have really been getting itchy to garden. Here we just have to get used to the freak storms that keep coming back until summer. (Apparently its not unusual to get snow in June here).
Oh well, we will enjoy what sunshine we get!

No sick days for moms!

Being a mom has got to be the most rewarding job in the entire universe! I am saying that in all seriousness... I totally love my job! In what other job do your co-workers love you no matter what you've done? In what other job are you the most popular person around? (That can be good and bad... the word popular is used very loosely here. I thought about this "perk" long and hard one day as I was trying to find a hiding place to have a quiet phone call and ended up locking myself in the bathroom with children pounding on the door just to be in my presence).The benefits are "heavenly." However, with all the perks and rewards of this totally coveted and amazing job, there is one slight drawback... no sick days. That's right applicants. Not one. From the moment you "sign on the dotted line" you are on call 365 days a year.

So this last week I was really really REALLY wishing for a sick day... a lot of them. My husband showered me with sympathy and then kissed my poor little sick head and left for work. (Bless his heart, he even took our oldest to school so that I didn't have to worry about the carpool). So blah blah blah... very sick and all that jazz.

A few of the highlights from this week:

1. My oldest was a wonderful little nurse!
2. After 6 brothers (with really nasty brotherly habits) I still can't... ew, I hate to say it... hawk a loogie or cough up that nasty stuff.
3. Sympathy from (I'll generalize it to protect his innocence) my family and then, "So when will dinner be ready?"
4.To see how concerned my kids are for me when I'm not my usual self.
5.Its amazing to know how much we women really can endure and still do our "jobs."
6. The comment that my hubby and kids have made the minute I am starting to feel a little better: "Wow, look at that mountain of laundry!"

So to all you ladies out there who have joined the ranks of motherhood and have marched on through sickness and health... cheers! And may the fun continue. (PS... I thought about taking a picture of the laundry just to show you all, but I couldn't fit all of Mt. Stink-a-lot in the picture).

Missionaries!

My Parents have been called on a mission! They have been called to serve a two year service mission in their area in the humanitarian room. They supervise and prepare humanitarian aid "things" to be made, put together and shipped out. (Its darling to picture my father tying quilts and chatting with the people who come in to help!) Mom got a kick out of showing the grand kids what she does on her mission.
It was great how many family members were able to be there for Mom and Dad. (The two on the left are my mom's dad and her sister). Hooray for you Mom and Dad!

En' Guard!

The bigger they are, the harder they fall! "Bring it on big brother!"

"You've got a handful!"

If you have more than one child, or even just one who happens to behave LIKE a child from time to time, you're bound to run into THEM. You know who I am talking about... those people in the grocery store, in the line at the bank, the library or just about any public setting... They take one look at your darling little crowd and issue intelligent comments like, "Are they ALL YOURS?" "Do you PLAN your family?" "Are you done YET?" or my personal favorite..."Boy! you've got your hands full!" Most people mean no harm and are just admiring your "gaggle" (that one is for you Mel) but some are down right rude. (I opted to leave those comments out).

I used to just smile and laugh with them until one day, out of the blue, my four-year-old said, "Mommy, why do people always ask if your hands are full?" It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. Then it occurred to me that I had never considered my children's feelings about all those comments. That was when I started to think about my reactions. If I shrugged or smiled wearily, what was I saying to my children? They are the best decisions my husband and I have ever made!

So now I have a ready response to those comments that inevitably come our way. And you know, it has been really fun to see the reactions that my come-backs cause. My favorite: A man just leaving the neighbors house saw us all playing in our front yard. He said the usual, "Wow, you have your hands full!" To which I smilied and quipped "Not yet." He started to drive away and then kicked his truck into reverse, stuck his head out the window and asked, "Did you just say 'Not yet'?"

A FEW TO HAVE FUN WITH:

~They had a buy one get two deal.

~You should see the twelve I left at home. (I love this one!!!!)

~Makes for great fun!

~We are trying to market chaos.

~(This one was my uncle's) Let those who want to have a big family, go ahead. We only have ten.

~We'll keep going until we have an ugly one.

If you've ever read the book Cheaper by the Dozen (A true story by the way) the father, who is very proud of his family, had quite a few of these. The obvious one "They come cheaper by the dozen!"

Hope you have fun and I would LOVE to hear some of your family's incounters! If you have a good come-back, may I have permission to use it too?

Bingham Fun

Thanks for all your sympathy with the waterfall in the basement! Just so you know, my wonderful, amazing, marvolous husband fixed it by ten the next morning. I had taken the kids and gone to play volleyball at the church (more for the flushing toilets than the volleyball). When I came home he had it all done. (This is where you hear the angels singing). I really enjoyed having water agian. So after all that whining... I only had to be without running water for about twelve hours. The kids thought it was fun (that is only because they weren't the ones who had to take a FREEZING COLD bath) but we learned some really good things... like how to use the water four times before throwing it out. And our Family Home Evening, on preparedness and water storage, was a lot more meaningful to them after their "pioneer" water adventure.

Brooke's all duded up as a cowgirl (Naugahyde boots and all!). Elko may not have a ton to offer... but we do get to dress up as cowboys every year for the National Cowboy Poetry Contest Week. Yeeee-Haaaa! My favorite billboard in town is an ad for the contest and asks "How many words do you know that rhymes with varmint?"
Madi has been so excited because she just started "cooking lessons."
I'm trading with my friend: I teach her son piano and she teaches my daughter to cook. (Just to defend my motherhood honor... I do cook with my children. We just thought this would be a fun thing for Madi). I sat in on her first lesson... I think I may need to take notes! I thought I could hold my own in the kitchen... well I'm re-thinking that now.

Connor is convinced that crawling is still faster... but he is walking a little more each day. Oh, and did I mention that he likes to climb... the kitchen table is his favorite perch now. He can climb up in about two point two seconds. Ahhhhhh! I turned around for moment to clean up dinner and when I turned around he was up there stuffing his face with as much spaghetti as his little fists could hold. Apparently he hadn't had enough.

Madi has had a good week! She just won third place (In her level and school) for a painting she entered in the Nevada PTA Reflections contest. She is proudly displaying her prize... her own "credit card". (Its a gift card) Sorry, no pict of the painting... I think they send it on to the next judging.

My handsome little men! I love the clearance winter stuff!!! These sweaters were my "find" during our last Twin Falls shopping trip. I never really appreciated all the variety of stores until I moved here. Now I seriously have the "shopping shakes" any time I am in Salt Lake or Twin.