What people think

These posters have been circulating the web. I think they are super funny. These are my favorites that apply to my family.

Discoveries

I've discovered a couple things about myself over the past couple days. First of all I have to admit to myself that I CAN'T SEW! While at my parents house, I had a couple simple projects that I had hoped to accomplish with my mom's sewing machines. Now I have to note here that my mom is a super seamstress. She has won competitions with her quilts. When I was young, she did her best to try and teach me her skills, but they did not rub off at all. Chelsea even noted (with a smirk) that it's amazing that even a little bit of my mom's skills didn't rub off onto me.  I'm trying to sew some simple curtains to replace some of the ugly lace things that are hanging in my windows. It looks simple enough but I nothing that I was doing was right. I was also trying to work on a headboard, but with the first cut, I had totally messed it up. I can't even cut right! But I decided to keep trying. I wasn't going to let it beat me. Before we moved to Mass, my mom had enrolled Chelsea in a sewing class and bought her a simple machine in the hopes that maybe the family honor could be regained. We have had this machine packed up since the move (5 years ago). So when we got back to Vegas tuesday night, I asked Mike to dig it out and I was determined to try again. On Wednesday I struggled all day with the stupid thing only to realize that I had messed up again with my measurements. I give up!

I wanted to give it one last try. Today I went out and got more material, measured 3 times, and then carefully made my cuts. I was able to at least get something that is decent and doesn't look to bad in the window. Just don't look very close at it because I'm not winning any awards with this project.

Another thing I realized today is that, I LOVE BEING A MOM! I'm so grateful for this time off to "recover" from my surgery. I'm feeling better every day and finally got clearance to drive. I'm loving having time to spend with my kids, run errands, and be there for them. I love sleeping at night and putting my kids to bed with a story, hug, and kiss. I feel like I have more patience with my kids and with life in general. I love having time to do homework with them or just talk to them about their day without being rushed. I love not having to work around my crazy schedule when making appointments, etc. I love having a routine. I love having the afternoons to hang out with Cord and do fun crafty things. Today we colored this crazy leprechaun mask. He's doing so good with his coloring and I love talking about his day at school. But what am I going to do??? It's not like I can quit my job. It's expensive to raise a family. All I can do is pray that something happens to allow me to cut down to part time and go to day shift. All I can do is PRAY and trust that the Lord will help us out so I can be a better mom for my kids before it's too late! Meanwhile, enjoy these pics of a cute little leprechaun!

President's Weekend fun

Cord can hardly wait to go to grandma's house. He's been bugging us all week because he wants to play with Caleb and go to the "trampoline place" (anti-gravity). Today is finally the day. Cord woke me up Sunday morning at 8:00 AM. He said, "Mom! Look at my face (insert huge smile here). It's time to go to grandma's house!". I asked for a few more minutes to sleep. He came back in at 9:30 and said, "Mom, I need to pack my clothes and the toys I want to share with Caleb but I can't reach my suitcase". So I got up and helped out this desperate boy. We picked out the clothes he would need and he looked around to pack any toys he "needed". He also packed his toothbrush and toothpaste. Now he is all ready to go. Too bad nobody else is up and packed. He'll still have to wait a few hours. I'm feeling much better after my surgery but I'm still not supposed to drive, so Chelsea is driving us there and back while I lay in the back seat. I discovered that the trip goes much faster when you are asleep in the back :). We sent Mason up saturday morning on the shuttle so he could have some time with Riker. We picked him up sunday night on our way to my mom's house.

We got to Grandma's sunday night. We love to hang out and play games. It becomes a whole family event.

Monday morning (as soon as they open) we arrived at anti-gravity. It has wall-to-wall trampolines and bounce houses. The bigger boys like to play the dodgeball, the little boys run around and do whatever they feel like for one whole hour. Brianna helped me out by following the boys and taking pictures (since I can't be walking around that much). My brother, Cam, joined us on this fun little outing.

Me and my little bro....

4 Wheeling

It was a beautiful day to be hanging out with family. My parents suggested we go out 4 wheeling. I was nervous about this considering my recent surgery, but it turned out OK. My dad set up a cool "anti-gravity" chair for me to hang out in while the kids had fun with their cousins. It also worked out that Jake, Chelsea's boyfriend (gulp), was able to join us for the fun. He was headed back to Vegas from Brianhead. We had now entered a new phase in family fun - the first grandchild to invite a boyfriend. It was fun to have him join us and he made a good impression on the family. As Chelsea and Jake headed out on the 4-wheeler, I threatened to send Uncle Eric (ie, Bishop) out to find them. Or I informed them that Grandpa was also equally qualified to find 2 lost lovers. Everyone had a good time either digging in the sand, going for a ride, playing games on the trailer, or just soaking up the warm Dixie air. This time we also dug a pit and made smores.

Cord is captain of the hill! 

What a cute couple!  She said she was "cold"  Whatever!  Like I've never used that excuse before.

Game time!

Since I couldn't ride, Cord decided that it was OK for Brianna to give him a ride.

She must be a good driver.

Zoom in and see Jake's face.  He was a little concerned to let Chelsea behind the wheel.

Do I sense a challenge happening?  Girls vs Boys.

A rare fun sister moment.

Cord and Rebekah found a cool hideout.  They were the "good guys" looking out for the bad guys.  They are also covered in red dirt and tend to dump a bunch of it out of their shoes into the car.

It's rare to have both my brothers at a family activity.  It was fun to talk to them and catch up.  And I had to take advantage and make it a picture moment.  All we are missing is Maria!

Proof that I'm chilling, taking it easy, kicking back (doctors orders).

That's my son, reading instead of riding.

My inventor son decided to stick the chocolate bar INSIDE the marshmellow before roasting it.  That way the chocolate melts inside.  Very cool.

Cord says, "Look Mom!  I'm driving"

A big thanks to my dad for making this a fun day.  It's a lot of work to load and unload the 4 wheelers.  He also cooks the hotdogs and took time off work to make it happen.  But the family time together is priceless.