My Heleman's Warriors

What do you do at dinner? Well when BJ is studying and the boys and I are home alone we... SING! Last week we had a Family Home Evening on Heleman's Warriors and there was this FUN chant that went a long with the story. We have been singing our chant in the car, cleaning up, playing with toys and especially at dinner!

Its a little hard to hear what they are saying (especially when Spencer does his silly embarrassed voice)

I dont know what I've been told

Heleman's warriors are very Bold

They love their Moms

And Choose the Right

Full of faith they'll win the fight

Sound of

One two

Bring it on down

One two Thousand

WARRIORS!

I think my little warriors are so darling!

Counting My Many Blessing

The little boys reading together on my bed! Enjoying the time while Spencer is at school!!

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

We had a warm spell between snow storms and the boys got out in the backyard to play together!

Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?

Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly, And you will keep singing as the days go by.

This is a tradition we started last year with Gramzie and the kids love it! Its our Christmas Candy train!

So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all.

This year it was almost 100% mom free design! The boys took turns and designed it together!

Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done!

Some days amid the messes and the fights I feel overwhelmed. But I love this song, because I tryley do feel the storm tossing me around. And sometimes my mind and my heart have a hurt that they carry around.. and its hard to shake it!

But all I have to do is look around me and see all the many many blessing all around me! I have a little board in the living room that says

"Give me the patience to appreciate my Blessings"

My beautiful boys, my hard working husband and the family we created are such a blessing! Not to mention yummy treats, fun notes from friends, crafty ideas, laughing and playing with the kids...

the list goes on and on!

But this song helps me remember to look up and see whats all around me and let the sad feelings go!

Back in the Groove

I have finally defeated the mountain of laundry that has been waging war all over our house! Thanks to B.J.'s help we are gaining control. I am very relieved to report that all but one load is folded and put away! VICTORY!

I have started making dinner again! It feels SO good! BJ's schedule seems like it is a constant state of change but I have decided whether or not he is here the kids and I need to eat! SO ..... we are having "Picnic Dinners in the Car" with Dad! Ill make dinner and then the kids and I will drive over to his work and he will eat dinner with us in the car! (since we cant go inside.... for obvious reasons) Its been really nice to see him even for just a few minutes and to eat a real dinner on top of that!

The kids are having fun with all their new toys! So far their favorite new pastime is LEGO's! They both got LOTS of legos from Gramzie and Grandad , which they love, THANK YOU! The boys have been making lego houses, and fire stations, and airports and castles! They are getting so creative and are actually sharing.... BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!

They are also having fun with their Craft boxes Amber made them! It is so nice to see them use their imagination and make something all on their own! And of course all their new Star Wars gear and action figures are all over the house! The kids like to have epic battles between their action figures! Its really fun to watch them play! Even if I am constantly picking up little toy light sabers and blasters!
BJ has been working what feels like non stop since we got back trying to make up for the time off during Christmas! I am trying SO SO hard to be grateful he can pick up the hours and not be sad he is gone.... its tough!! But I am looking for the silver lining! He turns in his application for Grad school next week! SO PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pray for us! We wont know until March if he is accepted but we would appreciate all the help we can get!
Graham is ON THE GO! He is crawling so fast on his knees now, he has ditched the army crawl all together now! And he is taking a couple steps....when he is encouraged, bribed, and begged! :)

Life is getting back to normal! We had a great vacation.... which i hope to blog about once I get pics from my parents....pressure pressure pressure!!! I am SO glad to be home and back to my version of "NORMAL!"

Childrens Parade.. and a little something extra!!!

Every year in Cedar they have a Children's Parade! It was SO awesome! Here are the highlights... they had so many characters that this just a glimpse!

BJ had to work but I got to meet up with Am-Dawg and Dangsta!
Spencer and Cooper LOVED getting right up close to the characters! AJ was a little nervous at first but Spencer and Cooper were very good friends and encouraged AJ to come and see! And after a bit he warmed up and they all enjoyed it together! They had lots of creative floats and almost every childrens character you can think of
Cooper loved the Little Engine that Could and Elmo! My favorite was the Where the Wild Things Are!The BEST part of the parade was when the Star Wars group of came walking down the street! The kids hit the roof! We yelled and yelled for Darth to come over but he didn't hear us through his big helmet!

We also got a up close and personal visit from Spiderman!
The whole parade was a blast! I hope we can come and see it next year!

And then on Sunday Spencer gave another talk in Primary! This time the topic was "When My family thinks about Jesus we are a happy" hope you enjoy it.... he did a fantastic job!

The Return of My Little Jedis

SO lately the kids are WAY into Star Wars! When I say WAY INTO it I MEAN WAY WAY WAY into it! Cooper says R2D2 like its his only reason for living! Spener can rehearse back the plot line of the whole collection! His favorite character is Anakin "before he started making bad choices and became Darth Vadar!!!"It makes me smile to hear his conclusions about the different characters!! We have watched all 6 movies and all the episodes of the Clone Wars cartoon! They love it!!We have started watching movies as a family! We make it a production which includes a soft cushy bed with everyones individual blankets, popcorn (or as Coopy calls it POP POP) and now that its getting colder, HOT CHOCOLATE! hmm yummy! Oh and don't forget the movie! ITS SO FUN to cuddle up all together!! SO tonight half hour before bed the kids asked to have movie time and I gave in as long as they let me take some pictures! FAIR trade right?And to add a Grahamy update in there... his new favorite thing is CLAPPING! He gets excited and he claps, he falls down and he claps, my favorite is when you come in after nap time to get him and he CLAPS and smiles as you walk in! Oh it warms my heart! So here is a little video of Mr. Sunshine clapping out his glee!

Getting Their GROOOVE ON!

Because my family has been in town so much lately we have been doing a lot of driving to and from St George! On one of our many trips the I was able to catch the boys grooving to the music! It was just too priceless to not share....

SLIP SLIDING AROUND

Jenise gave the boys a Slip and Slide for their Birthday's and this was the first day its been warm enough to get it out and use it! Spencer asks me almost every day if its time to get it out so I was glad today we could actually play with it!

Spencer had no fear, he was all ready to go, even before the slide was ready! While we were setting it up he kept reminding me that on the box it says he has to wear swim shorts without a shirt so he NEEDS sun screen! He is so observant!

He played and played for over an hour and made me promise if it was warm tomorrow that he could play again!

Cooper tried it without any concerns but slipped and got really scared! It took him a some time to warm up (so true to Cooper FORM!!!) He walked down it and then he tried scooting down it and then finally he slide down it with a little help from Spencer!

Graham had a great time being outside and listening to all the giggling and commotion while he hung out in the shade!

It was a lot of fun and I am excited to get it out tomorrow!

"I'm Gonna Beat You Up Wind"

The boys were outside playing yesterday! Cooper was making food in the Little House and bringing to Spencer and I! He thought it was so funny, we would pretend to eat it and he would laugh and laugh! It was pretty cold out but the kids didn't care!By the time I screwed my head on and got the camera they were about done! I am glad a captured a little bit of it! My silly boys are so different.... just watch! Hope you think its as cute I do!!!
And CHRIS none of your "those boys are girly" comments... I'll be watching! I think its GREAT they play with all kinds of things I am not about to shame them into only playing with trucks and cars! They each have their own interests!

Bubble Battles

The boys got some cute bubble guns at the birthday party! And this morning they had a large bubble BATTLE!

We had a bath after the battle was over! But that means they had a good time! 

No He is MY Brother

So the boys favorite thing to fight over this week is GRAHAM! 

They fight over who get to kiss him first, who get to give him a blanket or binkie! Who gets to sit next to him! Even if there is room for BOTH of them to sit by him they fight over who is the closest TO him! 

At least they both LOVE him.... Right?

Sunglasses Make the Man

Yesterday Spencer was playing with my Sunglasses, I was worried and trying to think of a nice way to get them AWAY from what I was sure was the DESTROYER!  And then I remembered we had 2 pair of kid sunglasses from previous summers! I RAN and got them but I NEVER expected the play time we would get out of some old shades!!!

The boys turned into someone else as soon as they put those racing shades on! They wrestled and giggled and had SO much fun! 

I am SO glad I thought a sec before pulling my sunglasses away, what a fun time we all had together! It only takes a sec and a potential temper tantrum can be turned into a silly play time! I hope I can start slowing things down and taking that extra second.....

A Big Little House

This year my parents went in on a BIG gift for the boys....

A LITTLE TIKES PLAYHOUSE! 

I was SO SO SO excited!! I knew the kids would have so much fun playing in the new yard and now with this we would never be able to get them inside! 

I took a few pics of us settting it up, the kids were running and jumping all over the place! They wanted to help SO badly....

After we got it all together the first thing they wanted to do was play...and since it was lunch time we christened the new table with a few chicken nuggets and pretzels! 

The boys have played outside inside and on top of their little house since we got it! THANKS Mom and Dad! 

But MOM.....

We have moved on to negotiations with my biggest boy! He has gotten very good at expressing himself and pleading his case!!! (It is SO hard not to smile and giggle each time, he's getting SO BIG) 

This morning he watched Caillou over and over! And he is such a cute character, SO NICE TO HIS MOM that I was all for it! But then this afternoon I suggested we color! He said he wanted to color a plate, easy enough! Then after about a minute he looked up at me and said "Caillou colored Rosie's (his sister) face and made her a clown! I want to color Coopers face and make him a clown too.... PLEASE PLEASE!!! Caillou did it and he is a nice boy!!" It went on and on...  At first I said no but then I remembered I wanted to be more laid back and let them be little and have fun! SO why not, marker washes off and they are playing SO nicely together! 

(Cooper was mad that I was taking his picture and taking away the markers:(

So they colored each other for at least a half an hour while I packed a few boxes! They would run in every couple minutes to show off their latest masterpiece on their arm or face or leg!! After a while the marker started to rub off on their clothes and I was worried it would make its way to the couch or carpet so we had to stop the coloring! Spencer was devistated I assured him that we But we would go to Walmart and get some face paint! They had SO much fun and if Caillou can do it then WHY NOT!!! 

A couple random Graham pics, I was really trying to get him to smile on que....HE DID he just let out a little milk at the same time! AHH its so funny how blissfully unaware babies are!!! :) 

MUD.....FUN?

So it was really nice on Friday so we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather! Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the MUD! within 5 minutes the boys were over in the MUD, HAVING A BALL!
They had so much fun that they didn't want to go! So I changed Coopers pants and TRIED to get the mud off his shoes, and they played and played until the sun went down!

AS SOON as we got home we stripped down and ran for the TUB! I was amazed at how dirty they got, and all they thought about was the super duper dirty time they had! BOYS WILL BE BOYS!

Snuggle Blankies and Promises

While my Mom was here over Christmas she had the great idea to make a special soft blanket for Cooper to use when I nursed Graham! The idea was that he could go get his special blanket and pillow and come snuggle with me and the baby so he didn't feel left out and sad! So while she was here we made a Mickey blanket, because he is fascinated with the Mickey! He LOVED it and after reminding him a few times to go get it while Graham was eating he started to go get it himself! 

HURRAY every ones happy....

Well everyone except Spencer! We thought he would rather color or play with play dough? But instead he wanted a special blanket that he can use to snuggle with Mom and the baby!! It all went down in a ball of noise and crying that turned into screaming that sounded something like, "Why cant I have special snuggle blankie, don't you want to snuggle with me too? I love you and Baby too!" I felt so bad! And I was tired of them fighting over the one blanket! SO.... we went looking for a special blanket for Spencer!

He had a fabulous time running around the fabric store and loved EVERY fabric they had! He really was like a kid in a candy store, everything looked yummy!!! But we decided on a CARS fabric and super soft back! He helped me pin it ( sort of, he was terrified of the pins but liked to pock them into the fabric!) 

Here are my two boys all snuggled up watching Kung Fo Panda waiting for their silly mom to put the camera down and come and cuddle on the couch! 

Since having Graham I have noticed my patience in dealing with the 2 "BIG" boys is so much shorter! I justify it by saying that there are SO many things going on at once that I don't have the time to stop and think of how best to react in the situation! But the reality  is I don't MAKE the time and I ALLOW myself to get upset! 

While making these blankets I realized I can look at these SMALL situations in a positive way or a negative way! The kids crawl all over me while I nurse, they almost squish Graham and FIGHT with each other about who sits where! I HAVE been getting frustrated and eventually kick them off the couch! BUT I WANT to look at them kindly and in a sweet  voice tell them I am so glad they both want to sit with me and that they can each have a side to sit on! I can either join in on the frusteration or step back and show them how to react!! I know what kind of Mom I want to be... I just have to rise up to the challenge and MAKE IT HAPPEN! I have lots of chances every day! 

I AM grateful for all 3 of my boys! And I PROMISE to TRY MY BEST to look at them through excited and GRATEFUL eyes! 

Instead of getting mad that they are crying I am going to ask them why they are crying and what I can do to help them feel better! I AM going to MAKE the time to be patient again! Because I don't want to be a Mom who worries about getting THINGS done I want to be the Mom who MAKES the time to PLAY and READ and have FUN with her kids, and worry about CLEAN up after!

BOYS I want you to know Mommy LOVES SNUGGLING and I PROMISE to make MORE time to BE with you! I am grateful for your bear hugs and slobbery kisses! You mean SO VERY much more then clean rooms and vacuumed floors! And I am going to start showing you! 

I LOVE YOU!  

My Boys SHARING.... Are you sure?

My boys are usually kind, fun, happy kids! But when it comes to SHARING...they are VERY HOT and COLD! One day I'll hear sweet happy voices and kind words like; "Here Cooper do you want to play with this?" or "Try this out Cooper." And then the next day I cant help but hear the loud screams that come with words like; "Don't sit by me Cooper, THAT'S MINE, GO AWAY!!" On those LOVELY days EVERYTHING is something to fight over! The step stool, where they are sitting, if Cooper is in the same room! It DOESN'T matter, because its a battle day! 

So last night as I was making dinner the boys were wrestling over who got to stand closest to the chef! BJ was sleeping and I knew putting them in their room would invite a SCREAMING match that would wake him up SO I tried my best to include them! We were making enchiladas and so as soon as I offered them a bowl and the chance to add some ingredients the bickering stopped! They took turns and laughed as each new ingredient was added! And then one of those

sent from HEAVEN moments.....

Spencer was stirring the enchilada sauce and Cooper started to get anxious for a turn so Spencer got up and got Coop his OWN SPOON! They sat their stirring and laughing together! It was a MIRACLE! I know Spencer is a softy and that he loves his brother, but moments like that make me so 

PROUD OF HIM! 

So this simple 2 minute moment must seem very ordinary but when everything seems to be getting more complicated these moments make me grateful for all the chaos!