A mother's lesson in humility...

Do you ever see people around your neighborhood walking their dogs? Do you see them with plastic grocery bags, usually knotted and containing something relatively heavy? I often feel ashamed for those poor people. Forced to trail around behind their dog with their make-shift, poorman's pooper-scooper. While I am glad that they are taking responsibility for the cleanliness of their neighborhood and beloved pet, I secretly wish they'd just make their dog do his thing in someplace where I don't have to witness it as I drive by. Snobbish, you say? Perhaps...

Fast forward to today. What a fun day we had. We attended our last day of gymnastics, as t-ball will be starting shortly and had lunch at Burger King with Aunt Shell, Little Dude and Tater. The children played in the kiddie land until they were actually sweating. We were having so much fun, we decided to take them to a local neighborhood park to continue the wild rumpus, so to speak. While J had frequented various restrooms on our day of fun, he had not done the one necessary thing that really cannot be done on a tree. I'm sure you are all following me so far.

While the park we went to is probably one of the best in the city with great climbing toys, picnic tables and RESTROOMS (!!!!!) , the powers that be chose to close said facilities for the winter.

@#$%&*}!!!!!

It would of course be at that moment that J had to use that potty, RIGHT NOW!!! After trying to brainstorm solutions with the co-mom in attendance, the only thing we could come up with was to emulate those selfless pooch owners and their grocery bag porta-potties. I don't think I have to paint a picture for you, but I was laughing so hard at the sheer rediculousness of the scene, which took place privately behind the locked facility, that J had to ask me to stop before he could go into the bag.

As I walked, with bag, knotted at the top with it's weighted contents, to the garbage can, I couldn't help but think, "Man, this would be great experience to put on my blog..."

J, I hope someday you can forgive me for sharing this uniquely priceless moment with the world. I really do love you...

Time to pop that bubble...

My heart has been very full lately... I think we hear that phrase frequently. We hear it at church, with our families, with those we love of our faith and not of our faith. But today I say it to you. Over the last year I have become very conscious of the world. Does that sound wierd? Since I have become a stay at home mom (whatever that means), I have definitely become quite complacent in my own little world. I am wholy consumed by my children, my spouse and my little bubble that I have surrounded myself with. Funny, if you have ever tried to look through a bubble, you see that the world outside is pretty distorted.
Today, I see how fortunate I am. I never had a lot of friends in high school. I was the braces and glasses girl that always sat in the back. A friend took me out for my "sweet 16" birthday out of sympathy. (Thanks again, Brad.) I had one or two really close friends that shared the horror of secondary school with me. (Thanks Steph).
Today, I received a response to an e-mail from my friend that was very silly, just about plans for the weekend. When I read it a spirit of overwhelming appreciation to the Lord for my numerous friends overtook me. Especially the ones who love me even though they know all about me. I love my friends that let me disagree with them. And I can be very disagreeable. Who don't hate me because I'm so far from Perfect I can't even see it from here.
I wish I had pictures of all of you to put on this post. I wish you could see the tears that flow when I think of you. (Actually, I don't. My mascara is everywhere.)

Thank you for being you, and for letting me be me.

Happy Love Day!

Why is it Valentine's Day and I am scrubbing my floors and cabinets, doing laundry and still in my grubbies? I have my cute V-Day clothes laid out for after my shower, if I get one, and my children look darling in red. I got up early this morning, did my Tae-Bo and had my protien shake. What did my children have? Pink heart shape pancakes lightly dusted with powdered sugar and a glass of chocolate milk. What did my adorable 5 year old say to me when he saw the beautiful presentation of the breakfast? "Mom, the pancakes are not pink enough." Everyone is a critic...

Ah, the life of a mother. Thankless, frustrating, often times ulcer inducing, but the hardest job you'll ever love. Right?

I do love my family more than life. My children are funny, brilliant and dang good looking. My husband is a wonderful father, provider, help-meet and companion and pretty darn good looking as well.

I even love them when they take pictures like this...

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

Ninety is Nifty!

This weekend we celebrated Grandpa's 90th birthday. It put D's 33rd birthday last weekend into real perspective. We had to catch Grandpa quick while he was smiling for this picture. We all just love him to pieces. He always keeps us on our toes asking us interesting questions, often requiring a decent amount of thought. He always encourages us, loves us (most of the time) and supports our aspirations (again...most of the time).

Perhaps the funniest thing he says to us are his "qualified compliments." Usually, when anyone cooks for him, especially me, he tells me the food is really good, that I'm a great cook, but I need to use more salt. This weekend, for his birthday, I gave him jars of homemade applesauce and salsa. When he sat down to the tacos Mom made for dinner and opened up the salsa, I sat and waited for the inevitable..."Please pass the salt." When he tried it and didn't ask for it, I asked him, "Does it need more salt?" "No," he replied, "But it does need to be hotter." Apparently I didn't put in enough jalepenio peppers. The last time I made him cookies, I took them right out of the oven and put them warm on a plate and laid it by his chair. He was grateful, told me they tasted great, but they were too warm and too soft. Can that be possible in a chocolate chip cookie? :)

I wouldn't have Grandpa any other way. I love that he likes what he likes and never pulls any punches. I love that he is so opinionated, even about things he knows very little about. I love that he loves me and my family, especially my kids. I love that he loves Grandma so much and that even though he doesn't really believe in any religion, he knows that Grandma is waiting for him on the other side. Small steps, small steps.

Happy Birthday Grandpa; we love you!!

The Artist

A few days ago, in preschool, J made this drawing. As per our usual routine, we went through his backpack when he got home and we discussed what he did that day and what he brought home. His drawings usually include himself, a monster, a dog (usually Grandpa and Grandma's), or his family. Not this particular day.

This small picture does not do the original justice, as I'm sure my brother can attest. The figure on the left is J and the ball in the middle is a flaming bomb. I, myself, loved that the bomb is menacing yet smiling. It is being hurled at a "really bad guy." I also love that J is so big in the picture and the bad guy is very small. I hope he is able to translate that into the real world when he is confronted by a bully. Hopefully, he will not have the resources at that time to make a flaming bomb...

How blessed we are to have J in our lives and our family. He is such an example of kindess to other children and keeps us laughing. I love picking him up from play dates only to hear the mom ask me if she can keep him and how well he played with their kids. We are all so proud of him and what he does for our family simply by being alive. J, I hope in 10 years when you are having a really bad day, that you will read this and know how much we all love you....

Happy Birthday, Handsome Man!

On Sunday we celebrated D's 33rd birthday. What a blast! We had a great group of friends join us for hot dogs, chili and football. What a great combination. My only regret was that I wished more friends could have joined us. Unfortunately, our house simply would not accomodate everyone in the area that is important to us. That and my heart could not handle any more kids. Holy frijoli! (Did I spell that right?) I wish I would have taken a picture of the toy room after Hurricane Birthday Party came through it.

I especially loved cake time. Using a coupon, of course, I bought the "All American Chocolate Cake" from Costco. Those of you who have had it can attest to the ooey, gooey, goodness of this confection. Four layers of dark chocolate cake with equally dark and yummy frosting between each layer. Oh, and don't forget the shaved chocolate bits covering the outer edge of the cake. The best part of the cake time? D, being so sweet and mindful of the children, told the group around him that he would need help blowing out the candles, which happened to be the trick candles that sparkle. When the candles wouldn't go out, the children took it upon themselves to spit upon the cake to make sure the light was good and extinguished. Did that stop us from cutting it up and sharing it with family and friends? Heck, no!

D and I had a good laugh that evening because the previous night and after church the next day, D spent quite a bit of time figuring out how to wire our satelite TV to our movie screen upstairs. About 2 hours and $150 worth of cables and plugs later, D found success. We could watch the Super Bowl on the big screen! Now the funny part.... Did anyone come upstairs to watch the much anticipated game? Nope. Everyone wanted to stay downstairs to talk. So periodically, D would come up and check the score and report it to us motor mouths downstairs. Oh, well. Now we'll be ready for next time. Is anyone up for a General Conference party? :)

Jonah was put in charge of the party this year. I should say he volunteered. He was very excited to make and deliver invitations and plan the food to be served. He did a great job delegating to his "staff," also known as Mom. D's family and my parents joined forces to give him what he has been wanting, a new lap top. I think he was really pleased and excited. I'm also enjoying the ability to look up recipes in the kitchen and shop the Target and Kohl's clearance web site with a blankie on the couch. Ah, technology... Now, if I can just find someone to actually DO the cooking, I'll be on to something... Happy Birthday, Sweetie!!

My abs hurt!!

Well friends, I wanted to mark today by sharing with you in this very public venue that my abs hurt today! As millions do, D and I set the goal this year to loose the extra pounds we gained by being married. Funny, no one told me I would gain weight when I chose an eternal companion. Shouldn't there be a disclaimer somewhere about that? It should definitely be part of the ceremony. "Do you take this woman to be your wife, in sickness, in health, for richer, for poorer, in obesity and bloating?" I don't think you'd get as many "I do's."

Anyway, back to my abs.... I've been getting up at O-dark-30 to join my good friend, Billy Blanks, in a bit of Tae-Bo to start my day. I simply love delivering upper-cuts and round-house kicks to the imaginary bad guys... Maybe not so many bad guys, but the really rude people who call me at ungodly hours wanting to consolidate my "debt."

Last night, I am thrilled to report, my pants almost fell down as I was loading groceries into my trunk in the Win-Co parking lot. I wasn't wearing a belt with my jeans and they almost found a new home at my ankles. Thank you Billy!! What would I do without your loud, abrasive and "too ripped to be real" self?

What is my goal? Well, I'm not going to tell you. Frankly, I'm afraid I won't meet it and I will be held accountable to all of you faithful blog readers. It's too much pressure. As long as I feel and look good and am not embarrassed to be in front of all of you beautiful moms at the neighborhood pool this summer, I will consider myself successful.

So, if you find yourself up early in the morning and need to call me about something...Don't worry, I'll be up with Billy...