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!"

HAPPY

My new favorite song is Happy by Leona Lewis.. if you havent heard it... check it out here!

In her song the chorus just really hits me when she says

So what if it hurts me?

So what if I break down?

So what if this world just throws me off the edge

My feet run out of ground?

I Gotta find my place, I wanna hear my sound

Dont care about all the pain in front of me

I just wanna be happy

My mom called last night and told me a VERY sad story about a family with 3 little boys and thier baby died on Sunday after falling off a chair and hitting his head! That night BJ and I talked about how blessed we are!

Life hurts sometimes, I break down, I feel like the world throws me off the edge every now and then

BUT

I am blessed and I can CHOOSE to be

HAPPY

or

SAD

I CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY

Here are a few of my reasons for happiness TODAY:

The boys and I danced and danced around the kitchen during lunch time

GRAHAM gave me that million dollar smile when I was twirling around that made my heart jump

BJ called to say hi

I drank a DDP for lunch (my drug of choice Diet Dr Pepper)

BJ will be here for dinner YIPPY

Girls Night TONIGHT! I am looking forward to some quality girly time

And #1 I have a beautiful family who is messy and grouchy and imperfect but we are safe, happy (75% of the time which is a GOOD percentage) and we LOVE each other!

Christmas post.... its on its way, sort of! The camera came back to us for a few days during vacation but it died again and I think its gone for good! My parents are sending me the pics...HOPEFULLY.... this is BLOG pressure! MOM... DAD.... email me PLEEEEAAASE

Darn Camera

SO I think the time has finally come... my trusty camera is finally calling it quits! For some reason it wont charge or upload the pics and until I figure it out I am at a standstill with my blogging!

BE PATIENT!

I have my BEST man on it... BEEJ is trying a few different things out to try and revive it! I'll be in touch! HOPEFULLY SOON!

Ups and Downs

I feel like I write some version of this post about once a month! But I am always coming back to this feeling....
That life is always up and down I feel like I am just riding this never ending roller coaster! One minute the kids are playing super Hero's and Jedi's and the next one is balling because he got stabbed in the eye with a light saber and they start beating one each other until I break it up and Spencer breaks out with a " you are such a mean mommy , I don't like you!" SO I either send them to time out, yell until I feel better or on the rare occasion where I stop to THINK about it I try to change the situation and calm them down! (THIS ALWAYS works, I just never think of in the moment...ahhhh)

This constant roller coaster has been making me unusually sick lately
until at church (GREAT I KNOW) I kinda snapped! Getting ready for church was rocky but as SOON as we got in the doors to church the boys BOLTED and started running until they RAN right into the chappel where they continued to run around.... I WAS MORTIFIED!

I need to just throw in there that this is NOT the first time they have been told not to run in church! We have had multiple FHE lessons on reverence....its just not sticking!

I got them to come out in the hall where I REMINDED them we dont run at church and Spencer started arguing with me about WHY he HAD to run! And at that point I had had it! AND THEN they took off again! BJ FINALLY found us and I was about to cry I told him I had to leave! We went home and talked and talked about this rollercoaster!

It was then that I realized I needed some help! Its been a long time since I really SAT DOWN AND STUDIED my scriptures or had a truly meaningful PERSONAL prayer! I wasn't taking any of my "medicine for the MOTION SICKNESS." I was just riding the roller coaster and complaining without going to the ONE THING that could really help me feel better!

I sat on my bed and read and read! I said a meaningful prayer and really TALKED to my Father and Friend and told them I wouldn't forget where the real lasting medicine comes from!

I have been feeling better.... A LOT BETTER! I am STILL on the roller coaster! I have 3 kids under 5 I think it WILL be a series of ups and downs for a long time! BUT I have rediscovered (yet again) where real peace comes from!

I dont mean to sound all preachy or corny this part of my journey and it really helps me to write it down and hopefully get feedback from friends about what works for them!
If any of you out there have some ideas to help with this motion sickness please share!!!

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!

Messy Messy Messy

Graham is really starting to be more independent! He wont let us feed him anymore he HAS to feed himself! It makes a HUGE mess but who cares right?
ahmmmThis stage only lasts so long and I remember HATING it with the other kids and this time I just want to roll with the spilled spaghetti, crunched up cheerios and love his messiness!
Enjoy it with meCause when those big eyes look up and smile at you all you can do is smile back!!


And yes a lot of these look similar but I just couldn't pick they were all so darling!

TWI-HARD

SO I have a confession... I am a TWI-HARD Twilight MOM! And I love every minute of it!

I LOVE making Twilight accessories declaring that I am TEAM EDWARD all the way!
I LOVE standing in line for hours on opening night with 200 other 15 year old girls! It makes me remember what it was like when I was young (AND HOW GLAD I AM TO HAVE GROWN UP...A LITTLE BIT ANYWAY)I LOVE spending time with my BESTEST FRIEND, laughing giggling and having some good old fashion girl time! I LOVE the excitement and tension between a girl, a vampire and a werewolf!
So I am anxiously awaiting Eclipse I love the relationship between 3 of them! And the next one is going to be the best! Let me know if you are a Twilight Mom too!!!

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!

Fall Festivities

So here is the big long catch up! Feel free to just browse the pics its a LONG BEAST to read!!!October kicked off with the most important day of the year...

My 27th Bday! One year older and wiser too...Happy Birthday to.......ME
Am-DAWG and I went to St George for our last BIG yard saleing trip of the season and then went to RED ROBIN (sing the song with me) with Jenise!



Then Bj's fam came over for cake (root beer cake yummy yummy) and presents!And as you all know I get SO excited about presents! Here I am in a moment of bliss....
Later in October Amber Jenise and I went to Krumpets (a great decorating store) for a Witches night out costume contest! I made all the capes and we got all decked out hoping to win the 50 dollar gift certificate! I think we looked spectacularly spooky! Unfortunately out of the 3 Hocus Pocus sisters only Jenise own! But we are so proud of her for representing!
Mom and Abby came to visit for Jenises Bday and Halloween
We got J up on the saddle at Texas Road House for the Big 2-5!

Gramzie and J teasing Spenc at the restaurant and Spencer hating EVERY minute of it! :)

A rare picture of me and the hottie who calls me his wife! What.A.STUD!

We had or first snow at the end of October! And it was good thing because Spencer had been begging and praying for snow since August!They got all bundled up and just soaked it in!

Until... Coop got a little too much to soak in.... luckily Spencer was there to give a "feel better hug" so they could get back to enjoying the snow!


Halloween arrived along with lots of family to dress up with! Sommer and Chris came down from Rexburg. Chris was Max from "Where the wild things are" and Sommer joined the witch sisters! Mom and Abby came from Mexico and we all went trick or treating in St George!

The stars of the night we my 3 scary Halloween boys! Spencer was a Skeleton (made my MOI) Cooper was a bat and Grahamy was a black widow spider(made my me too!) Oh and we cant forget my knight in green armor.... BJ was Frankenstein!November kicked off with our last craft fair! We all drove up to Gunnison Utah, a small town where Allison grew up! IT WAS A BLAST! We all had a great time just us girls! To top off a great time we all made more then we ever had! SO YEA!!!!
We had a small booth so we had to crawl under the table to get in and out! It made for a lot of laughing!!!
We celebrated a big birthday in November, Kristys 50th! She didn't want a big to-do so we all surprised her and took her to her favorite place.... IN AND OUT!
And our most recent event was Thanksgiving! We had it early again this year but it was great! It was over and Mindy's house and she did a beautiful job of decorating!I was on the kids table decor! I made a place-mat to color and a cute crayon envelope and napkin ring! The kids had a great time coloring! I cant forget the SWEET turkey hats the boys made for the big day! They looked so FESTIVE, is that the word?There were lots and lots of people who joined us!
BJ, Cadie, Lance, Kristy, Brent, Bristie, Matt and MOI
Matts Brothers Girlfriend, Matts Brother, Matts Mom, Matts Dad, Aunt Liz and Uncle Jess! Whew I am so sorry I don't remember Matt's families names!!
We all brought different things for dinner, and Brock made a fried turkey!
It was a great holiday!
SO wow that was A LOT! I am committing that I am NOT going to fall THAT behind again! And I am going to get some pictures up of all the crafts I have been working on! It has been SO much fun to try and do a homemade Christmas! All the craft blogs have been so helpful! I am addicted to stalking them and finding all the GREAT EASY ideas!

LOST......

Well its been forever since I posted! I have a few excuses so sit down cause here we go...

1. I lost my camera and whats a post without pictures

2. Life has been a little all over the place and I didn't want to post all about how crummy I was feeling!

3. I have been working on my homemade Christmas projects EVERY spare moment!

But I have picked myself up found my camera and decided to take a few minutes to get back on MY journal! SO get ready cause I am going to dump a whole lot of pictures from the last 2 months!

Just for as a little teaser here are my 3 little boys all clean a happy

Graham just started having a bath with the big boys and he LOVES it! Soak in the smiles cause it takes a small miracle and a tub full of toys to get them all blissfully happy at once!!!