Another Mother's Day

I wrote this post around Mothers Day and did not post it.  So I'm adding a few pictures and going for it.  I hope it makes sense since I don't have much time to edit it again:

My favorite Mother's Day post so far this year is Brooke's.  I like that she admitted to having weaknesses and that she is not perfect, but she listed the things she is good at and focused on being positive.  We all have mom-guilt.  We all know we're not perfect.  It is easy to get down on ourselves for not being all we think we should be.  But why worry about it?  Worrying and feeling guilty is not productive so I'm going to be like Brooke and talk about what I'm good at.

But first, so that no one reading my blog thinks things are perfect (I don't know why anyone would) I'll tell you my struggles.  I struggle with being patient after 6pm.  I struggle to get kids into bed on time without getting mad, and I get super selfish around 8pm.  I struggle with not letting their fighting get to me.  I struggle with meal planning.  We sit down together as a family for dinner but I am often grumpy about cooking and then mad when someone doesn't like what I made and complains to me about it.  I struggle with their messy rooms.  I want to be left alone at times.  I'm usually behind on laundry.  I wish I was more laid back, and I wish I always knew (right away) the best way to respond to a problem or issue that arises.  I get mad and I yell.  But we all do that right? I like to think I'm getting better with time.  I pray to be more patient and I hope I am.

Now here is what I hope my kids will realize about me someday:

I am good at caring about my them.  I care so much it hurts and I think about them, and my parenting, a lot.  I'm good at recognizing when something isn't right with one of them and trying to figure it out.  I'm good at listening and noticing non-verbal cues.  I want them to be happy and I know that isn't always right because being sad and not getting what you want, and going through problems makes us better and stronger.  But still, I want them to be happy and I try to make them happy as much as I can.  I'm good at teaching them about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and answering their questions about life.  I'm good at making them work.  It's hard and I hate it and it's not pretty most of the time.  I try to turn up the music and make nice lists of their chores but yelling usually happens anyway.  But I don't give up- I want them to be hard workers.  I'm good at gathering our family together.  I like us to do things as a group.  Even though sometimes being all together is way more stressful for me, I think it's important so I do it.  I'm good at finding fun things for us to do.  I'm good at keeping my kids active and setting a good example for that.  I'm good at defending them when they need it.  They know I'll fight anyone I have to fight for them.  Maybe I should let them fight their own battles, and I will, and I have, but I'll always be right behind them and they know that.  I'm good at doing hair, making sure they have the clothes they need, signing them up for activities to try, getting them new books from the library, letting them have friends over, and keeping homemade cookies around the house.  I'm good at hugging and kissing and scratching backs and telling them I love them.  Somedays I try to remind myself that just being here for them is enough... I'm lucky I get to be here and I hope they are glad that I am.

Lastly I want to say- let's not judge eachothers mothering.  Every mother is different and there is no one way to be a mother.  Let's not fake it.  Let's be real.  We're all good at things and bad at other things.  One woman's strength is another women's weakness.  Why do we think our lives need to appear to be perfect?  It only makes someone else feel bad.  Being real is the only way it should be HOWEVER I do appreciate positive people.  So being real and positive at the same time is the best combination.

For Mother's Day this year we met Susie at the beach (the day before) and spent a day hanging out and then went to dinner together.  It was really fun.  Mack hadn't been to the beach since the summer before and he was IN LOVE.  He spent the day digging and digging in the sand and running from the water.  He would just run back and forth over and over.  What's cuter than a two year old running??  Nothing!  Thus the 100 hundred pictures:

the sand totally makes it look like he has a 5 oclock shadow!

Me and my kids- I feel lucky and blessed that they're mine.

We got Susie an Itouch for Mothers day- she loves it and has really figured it out!  Lexi and I gave her some tips and taught her some things and she picked it up quick.  The kids picked out the turtle cover because she loves turtles.  I'm excited she's gotten the hang of her new little device!  We can now send her picture and video and she's even on Instagram!

Not to end on a sad note but... At the beach, Mack just rolled in the sand a little too much and ended up getting a lot in his eyes.  We tried washing it out but he had already rubbed it too much, and then spent the next few hours crying.  He would fall asleep and then wake up crying again. So we eventually took him to the ER- it is so not like him to cry a lot!  They put dye in his eye and used an ultra violet light to see the scratch- he had a large circular one on the colored part of his eye.  The doctor said it can be very painful so she gave us some pain meds and antibiotic drops.  Luckily the eye heals very quickly and after 48 hours he was better.  So when taking little ones to the beach bring baby powder to get all of that sand of of their face asap- just a little tip that I wish I had listened to!  Even with that bad experience I can't wait to take him back.  Kids and the beach = pure contagious happiness.

   Thank you.  The end.

It's Been Three Weeks!

Three weeks since I've blogged- that's a long time for me!  We've been busy but I've actually been taking some pictures of it all so let me dump them on you.  This time of year is crazy and I remind myself of that every May but I'm still never prepared for it!  

Landon is a senior so he has lots of stuff going on and one weekend he had some big things and my parents were out of town so I took over.  I'm going to miss you Landon when you leave us!

Here he is with his Senior Ball date the darling Maddie.

And his volleyball team went pretty far this year.  I like this picture.  He's all "come to me ball." 

His cheering section one night.  We went to multiple games but I could only lug my camera there once!

the sisters and I took my mom out for her birthday and that is always fun.

Lexi and I ran a 5k together!  It was awesome - I am proud of Lexi for sticking it out.  She only walked for a minute a couple of times and it was really hot that morning so this was a hard run!

This is the white dresser I have painted at least four times throughout its life with me.  

I painted it again.

Grey... and I love it!  I rubbed a darker grey stain onto it afterward and I really like the finish it made.  I want to paint everything grey now.

Logan's piano recital finally came and is now over.  We are relieved.  He won second place for his video- thank you to all of you who watched and helped him get hits!  Next year he is going for 1st!

I'm proud of Logan for his hard work and dedication to the difficult song he chose.  I think he now hates that song.  Oh well- I'm sure after a few months off he'll start to play it again!

Here he is walking up to accept his second place trophy from Mr. Bill- I do love his piano teacher- Logan is learning a lot from him and enjoys going to his lesson every week.

I think he's the handsomest kid in a collared shirt- he hates them though so will only wear one once a week to church, or to a special occasion when I force him (like the night of his recital).  I try to tell him he's handsome over and over when he wears it so he'll want to wear them more often- but it's not working. I should probably just leave him alone.

Logan turns 11 in just a couple of weeks- I cannot believe it.

Lexi just finished up her volleyball season for the school team.  She loved it and had some good friends on the team with her.  Their name was "danger zone" and a big part of the prepping for games was getting their matching ribbons in their hair and putting makeup under their eyes.  They were big on the cheers too!  12 year old girls are so enthusiastic!  I love it!

Here she is diving in for a ball at the end of the game.  I think she just missed it.

One day when the kids were gone at school and it was just me and Mack he got a shirt of Daddy's out of his drawer and asked me to help him get it on.  Then he found some of Macey's socks and Logan's hat.  He thought he was so funny and stood looking in the mirror for a long time.  I just love this little guy.

That's all for now!  Hopefully I'll be back before three weeks this time....  I hope!  

Life (version 10 million... I'm sure I have so many posts with this title).

Yesterday a friend of mine told me about her shopping trip and some fun items she got.  I started to think back to my life with one or two toddlers and how the whole day was spent the way I wanted to spend it!  It was nice.  Now I get to spend everyday from 8-12:30 the way I want- except for that I need to be preparing for the rest of the day during that time.  Also, I have a lot of people to run errands for so it's never just my errands I'm running.  1:00-2:30 is spent frantically doing whatever I can do at home while the baby sleeps.  Then 2:30-9 is all about the big kids, the big kids, the big kids.  Homework, projects, scheduling, playdates, sports, dinner prep, piano, showers, anything they need etc. etc.  But I'm thankful for it.

Last week Dave and I went on a short little getaway for two nights to Santa Cruz.  Dave really needed some rest and relaxation but I have to admit I was a little bored at times!  I mean, it was GREAT to be bored.  We watched three movies, slept on the beach, slept in, ate out, and walked/hiked.  It was so nice.  But I had a good realization that I wouldn't want my whole life, every day to be that empty.  Can you imagine not having work to do and not having anywhere to be?  I discovered that I am not yet ready for the retirement years and I promised myself I wouldn't complain about having all these kids to work with constantly.  It's a blessing and I'm thankful for our busy, but happy, life.

Macey and Logan just finished up a season of track.  They really liked it.  I didn't take a single picture.  I hope by writing it down that there will be some proof that we did it.  I want my kids to know I let them try everything and supported them in it all.  Logan is super into long distance running.  At practice they got to run in the hills which he loved.  At the meets he mostly wanted to do the mile.  His best mile time is 6:36.  Way faster than me which is awesome.  He's hoping to shave his time down under 6 minutes this summer.

Macey did the long jump and some sprints at the meets.  It was so cute. The long jump was hilarious because she would run down the track with the hugest grin on her face.  Her best jump was 8 feet 4 inches I think.  The thing I love about Macey is her attitude.  She is always cheerful and excited about everything.  It's contagious.

Lexi is doing volleyball through her middle school.  School sports are the best because they just stay after school and you don't have to drive them around much!  The good news is I found some decently longish volleyball shorts... because seeing some of those girls in the black "short as underwear" volleyball shorts is disturbing to me and I wanted her a bit more covered.  I'm not ready (and never will be) to see my child's body displayed for the world.

My favorite restaurant right now in WC is Citra Grill.  I just tried it for the first time a few weeks ago when I went with some friends there before we saw "Sound of Music" at the Lesher.  I couldn't wait to take Dave so we went the following Tuesday.  I NEED to go again.  It's super yummy and healthy and you don't roll out of the restaurant feeling stuffed.  You feel satisfied.  I also think I'm not great at cooking good meat and so I love a restaurant that will serve me some good meat.

Last night we went on a family bike ride and accidentally rode 5 miles.  Having Dave home again so we can do things like that makes me HAPPY!

Earlier this week I drove by a tree-filled ditch near our home and saw a fire. I called 911.  They transferred me to the fire department but I didn't know it was the Walnut Creek fire department so when she asked me where the fire was I said, "Walnut Creek, California!"  She was like "........ where?"  Kindof annoyed I could tell.  That's when I realized I was talking to WC.  So then I was like "Oh!" and told her where it was.  I felt heroic when I saw them putting it out a few minutes later.  I think I was the first caller.  It was exciting.

Last weekend we got to visit with Dave's brother and his wife which was nice.  They have recently moved to Arizona but were in town for the weekend.  My childhood BFF Laura also came into town with her family.  It was so fun to see her and get to catch up a little bit.  I love seeing lifelong friends and I especially love when you love their kids and husband too!  Again, no photo.  What is my problem?  This month I will do better at taking pictures!

That's all for now!

This and That

A few things I love right now:

1.  Amazon Prime- do you have it?  It is the best!  Free TWO DAY shipping.  It is perfect for people like me who like isntant gratification.  I can't wait 3-5 days or more to recieve something I ordered- are you kidding?  Two days is do-able most of the time.  And FREE shipping.  It pays for itself at Christmas time alone- I think it is $75 a year.  If you don't have one try it out- worth every penny.  If I planned ahead enough I would like never have to go to the store.

2.  This sandwich at Boudin that I've only had once but have been dreaming about since.  It is the Grilled Cheese with Apples and Fig Jam.  Here is the description:  Brie and Havarti cheese, sliced apples and fig jam melted to perfection on toasted Multigrain bread.

It was truly delicious.  Please try it and if you don't have a Boudin near you, please try making it.  The fig jam was the perfect sweetness to go with the sour apples.

3.  The Mindy Project.  I've talked about this before I believe, but this week's episode was so funny I've watched it twice and saved it on my DVR.  A few fave moments:  When Mindy forces her priest boyfriend to say he would murder her killer, if she and their children were murdered.  When Mindy over packs and can't get her carry-on into the overhead compartment- and Danny won't help her- when other passengers try to help he says, "no,  no don't help her she needs to learn."  When she sneaks out to see her Ex and Danny confronts her at the car.  In the rehab center.  Ok, now I'm just going off and talking about the whole episode.  Does anyone else love it?

4.  I've read two books lately that I really liked, 'The Language of Flowers," and "The Fault in Our Stars."  Both so good and kept my mom-brain focused and entertained!  Read them!

5.  Logan's video!  He's trying to win $100 by getting the most hits and I check his number of views like every hour. There's still one girl ahead of him and I'm dying!  If you haven't watched it yet, please do!  And PLEASE, pretty please, share it with your friends?? 

http://youtu.be/58TduJF6oUI

6.  The fact that tomorrow is the end of tax season and Dave will be done being busy! I can't wait to have him around at night again.  We made it through!

And that's all for now!