Spending time with my boys

So this morning, Aaron, Ammon, and I were restless and went shopping at Walmart and then went to the park to feed the ducks at the pond. It was fun because our ward playgroup was there and it was such a beautiful, sunny day. The boys really enjoyed seeing the ducks although at first Aaron was a little scared of them. Ammon enjoyed eating the bread as well as throwing it at the ducks. We even saw a mama duck sitting on her nest full of eggs. They played on the playground and then when it was time to go, they were upset to go home, of course. Luckily, they didn't protest too long (you know the mom line: "I'm not bringing you back to the park if you make such a fuss about going!!")

This picture of the boys in the stroller is the other day when we took a walk. The weather has been so awesome the last couple of days. I was so proud of myself because I really just wanted to sit down and read my new Mary Higgins Clark mystery and have the boys just vegitate watching movies and T.V. but I got out the stroller and we did go for a walk. I guess that is what it means to be mature is to think of others before yourself. Sometimes it is really hard though! I must say that it felt good to spend time with my boys and I keep reminding myself that they won't be this little for long. The time is speeding by.

Yesterday, I went to the MVHS counseling office to ask some questions about concurrent enrollment. Kael has so many opportunities than I ever did as his age. He is taking a summer school class this summer and early morning seminary next year and that will free up some of his schedule so he can take even more classes his senior year. Wow....I can't believe Kael is getting so old that we are talking about college already. He finished up his driving ranges so now he just needs his roads. Then after he gets his driving hours, he will be ready to get his license. Kael is such a good kid.

Counting my blessings is fun to do.......

I love this picture of all the kids piling on top of Scott. He is such a good Dad and I love that he takes time to play with them. They had a ball doing this!

Sometimes I wish there more hours in the day. My to do list is so long and even if I worked on it constantly, I would never get everything done!!! I think part of this life is learning to prioritize what is most important. Sometimes what is most important is not on my to do list. The other day, I was trying so hard to get my dishes done and Ammon kept wedging himself between me and the counter and pushing me away from the dishes. I was so close to being done. I just wanted to get it done! But I finally dried my hands off and picked him up and sat down and read him a story. He just wanted some attention. It is good to get things accomplished but I think it is so important how we treat people and we make others feel. Sometimes I get so caught up in my to do list and my schedule that I forget this! Anyway, I am so grateful for my family and lately I have been very aware of how blessed I am. I need to take time to feel gratitude and make sure I don't get caught in the trap of negativity and thinking how bad things are. Lately, it has been helping me to get through some trials to try and be as positive as possible. I'm not perfect and sometimes it doesn't work but it sure makes it easier to deal with "stuff". Today I am grateful that my family is healthy and it is Friday and the weather outside is absolutely gorgeous! Hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Cooking

I watched the movie Julie and Julia the other day for the first time and I really liked it. It has gotten me excited to blog again. Julie worked full-time all day and made time to blog and cook. She cooked 524 recipes out her Julia Childs recipe book in 365 days. Wow. I am home all day and I just feel like I don't have the time!! Plus, I think it way more important for me to be nurturing my children than cooking and blogging. I would love to pick a cookbook and cook all the recipes in it like Julie did but I keep thinking of all the wasted food. My kids are too picky and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't eat some things from some cookbooks I have. Even my Lionhouse Recipes are pretty good and all of them sound yummy to me but I still don't think they would eat some of it. Maybe someday when I'm not changing diapers, soothing hurts, helping kids with homework, cleaning house, chauffering kids, and all the other things I do, I will have time to blog and cook!! Kalli just got home from school and reminded me I promised to make cookies today. I better get to it!!!

A day out!

Yesterday, Kael, Kalli and I left for Salt Lake at 2 p.m. and didn't get home till past 8 p.m. It may not sound like a big thing but for me it was such a release to be able to leave my younger boys and go do something fun. I have been pregnant and nursing for a long time and I used to take for granted time away from kids. Not anymore. Especially when I was nursing Aaron and Ammon, I couldn't be away from them for more than 4-5 hours before I really started hurting. There are some really neat, special moments that I have had with my nursing babies that I will miss but boy am I enjoying the freedom that comes when your children grow older and don't need you as much. Ammon is 20 months now and although he still needs his mommy and he loves me, boy do I remember the days when he was a newborn and I couldn't leave him to do anything. So, anyway, my older kids deserved a day out. They have been working so hard this Spring Break and with the little boys being sick all week with throw ups and Hershey squirts, it has been a long week for all of us. Especially doing laundry. So Scott stayed home with Aidan, Aaron and Ammon while we were gone. We parked at the Sandy Civic Center and rode the Trax up which was an adventure too. Kalli and I really enjoyed riding the train. We went to the Planetarium and looked at all the exhibits which were awesome and then went to see Hubble 3D. Amazing is the only word I can think of right now but I wish I could think of a better word. It was so thrilling to watch! I wish that it had been a longer movie. It was so interesting and you felt like you were in Space. Anyway, we were going to go to the Attack of the Space Pirates but we will have to save that movie for another day. We caught the Trax again and went to JB's for dinner. After delicious food, we walked to Temple Square and walked around for a little bit. Then we went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and went to the Legacy theater and watched a movie about Joseph Smith. It was just a really fun outing and it was fun to spend some time alone with Kael and Kalli. We definitely need to do this again! I hope that this made Spring Break a little bit better for Kael and Kalli. Back to school tomorrow!!! Today I have sharing time in Primary and it was really nice to go to the Joseph Smith movie last night because that is what my sharing time is on today. I am so glad to be a member of the true Church and so glad for the joy that the gospel brings to me and my family.

I got to meet my favorite author!!!

Okay, I know I said my favorite author was Shannon Hale but I said it in the heat of the moment. Really my favorite author is Anita Stansfield. I have read every single one of her books except her brand new one a Far, far better place and I will have that finished in a couple of hours. She was so nice! I was surprised that Deseret Book wasn't packed full of people! What a thrill. I know...authors are people too. But I love to read and I love to read Anita Stansfield books so it was so fun to meet her!

Easter Fun at Maceys

So yesterday, I drove down to the Provo Maceys looking for my good friend Jana who is visiting from Colorado this weekend. We found her and her family shopping there getting ready for their Seder dinner and I was able to visit her for a minute and give her a hug. I had promised my boys ice cream cones so we went into Maceys. They were having all sorts of fun! An Easter Egg hunt and the Easter Bunny was there and they were painting kids faces and giving out free bunny ears. So I got the boys their ice cream and we got Bunny ears and it was a lot of fun but a lot of energy for me. I am just getting too old to have young kids. Anyway, Ammon didn't want anything on his head so both pictures I took I was trying so hard for him to keep the bunny ears on because they were so cute! I'm lucky I got the pictures I did because he really didn't want to wear them! Happy Easter everyone!

Easter Egg fun with the Kids

Scott worked till late last night so the kids and I decided to color Easter eggs. I boiled up 2 1/2 dozen eggs and they had a lot of fun. Then we went in the other room and watched "Here comes Peter Cottontail" Everyone was so much into the movie that they didn't notice Ammon had other plans. I went to find him and there he was at the empty kitchen table dying his hand orange. It didn't come out very well but at least he didn't get it all over his pajamas and the table. I caught him just in the nick of time before it was total disaster! Today we are going to Lehi to have an Easter Egg hunt with cousins and that should be a lot of fun. Even if the weather is bad it will still be fun to hang out. Plus it's conference today which I am so excited about! My two sisters, Emma and Katie and my brother-in-law Legrand are singing in the afternoon session with the Orem Institute and I am so excited about that! What a chance in a lifetime! Happy Easter everyone!

Books are our friends!

Everyone that knows me knows how much I love to read. The perfect moment for me is when I am curled up with a good book and no one interrupts me. Lately I have been reading so many books. I have been to the library so much the last couple of weeks. Some of the good books that I have enjoyed: I read "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See (a bunch of girls are reading this for a book club and so that's how I came to read it) Wow it was one of those books where you come away so grateful for your blessings and it was very thought provoking. So then I read another book by Lisa See called "Peony in Love" Wow. Even though I really enjoyed these books, I will not be letting Kalli read them for awhile. They are definitely Adult books. Not rated R but definitely PG-13. Anyway, "Beyond Perfection" by Juli Caldwell and Erin McBride was a really cute twist on Pride and Prejudice with Lizzie Benson and Will Pemberly being the main characters. It was a lighthearted, fun read. I got this book for the title--it made me laugh so hard: "Strangling your husband is NOT an option" That should be a fun read. So half of these books pictured I haven't read yet but I'm getting there. I also finally got Anita Stansfield's newest book "A Far, far better place" and Anita Stansfield is signing books at the Deseret Book by the University Mall this afternoon at 4 p.m. and I am so hoping to have my book autographed. We shall see how that goes. This new book is the only book of Anita Stansfield that I haven't read. I am also hoping to read the new Fablehaven soon and I noticed that Mary Higgens Clark and Carol Higgens Clark both have new books coming out this month. I have read every single one of their books too. I just love reading. It is such a good escape. I will always have a love affair with reading.....