My very own...

When we were at church yesterday, the missionaries came up to Grace and noticed she had a very old tattered book of Mormon in her hands. They asked her if she would like a brand new one. Her face lit up and she said yes. They each gave one to Grace and Scarlett.

The first thing she did when she got home, was write her name in it. Several hours later she had lost it, she went from person to person in our family asking if they had seen it. No one had seen it. She came back to me about an hour later, and whispered in my ear "I prayed to heavenly father that I would find my book of Mormon, and I found it on top of the washing machine."

At their request, I will be heading to Walmart today to get some stickers for them to put in their very own book of Mormon.

Grace's testimony is like a little seed, and literally before my eyes I see it sprouting and growing. I feel so blessed to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I feel even more blessed that Grace recognized, that a simple prayer from a six-year-old, could be answered.

Sleeping beauty...

The rocking chair pictured below is the "hot spot" in our home. The kids claw at each other and rage if it's taken. They love it because it's beside the warm cozy fire. I found sweet Scarlett fast asleep in it. My heart melted looking at this sweet girl fast asleep. How I wish I could keep her young forever.

Halee bug...

Sometimes I feel as though I have a kitchen timer set for 2 1/2 years. And that before I know it I'm going to hear the beeping sound saying it is time for Halee to leave. I try not to think about it because if I do I will go a little crazy and get a little depressed. The one thing that makes me a little less sad, is that she is growing up to be such a beautiful independent wonderful lovely person. What mother could possibly complain? And besides, she will always be My halee bug.

My sweet Austin...

He may be almost fourteen but he will always be my Austin roo. I love hanging out with Austin one on one. He has the ability to come up with the funniest things to say. He totally cracks me up and makes me laugh on a regular basis. Thanks for hanging out with your mama, Austin.

Being spoiled...

This is what I woke up to this morning. Yes, I know Valentine's Day is tomorrow. Chris will be gone for the day, so he made sure I didn't miss out on a Valentine surprise.

What does it mean to be "spoiled" anyway? For me, it has absolutely nothing to do with materialistic things. And it has everything to do with actions. Chris letting me put my cold feet underneath his legs in bed at night, is me being spoiled. Chris starting my car for me in the morning without my asking, is me being spoiled. Chris coming home from work and saying "what do you need me to do?" Is me being spoiled.

In my opinion, little things like this are so vital to my relationship with Chris. And it goes both ways, we both choose to give. If we didn't, I am certain our relationship would flop. And in all honesty, I truly believe that Chris derives a great deal of pleasure from making me happy. Who isn't happy when they are giving?

I am not a princess, but I do not think it is too much to ask to be treated like one. 

Happy valentines day...

If ya can't beat em'...join em'...

"Winter storm warning in effect"...that's all I ever see the last two days when I click on my weather channel app. I'm just a tad tired of it, but how often does this happen?? Not very often so we have made the best of it. I've even kind of enjoyed it.

I ran with 3 other lunatics in this today. We went 8 miles and only feared for our lives a handful of times...not bad. We then went out for breakfast at a local diner and ate every calorie we burned on things like French toast, pancakes, bacon (you name it.)

Tammy (my very mean friend) then forced me BACK out into the freezing snow and made me go sledding with my family. Only, Tammy and I didn't go sledding we went sitting. It was good times.

Crazy...

Who in their right mind would go out in 19 degree weather (snow and wind) and run six miles? You guessed it...the two stooges. By mile 4 Tammy announced that her eyelashes were frozen...I thought to myself "no way...that can't be" and then I blinked and my eyelashes, sure enough stuck together from being frozen. It was hands down the coldest run I have ever experienced. 

I came home and my whole body just shook for like 30 minutes until I forced myself into a hot shower...and melted like frosty the snowman. Not sure if crazy is a good thing, but all in all, I'm glad I got out there and made it happen.

Grace's turn...

I snuck off with this little cutie last night. We ended up at Shari's drinking milkshakes and eating pie. It was delightful. I loved the look on her face at the size of her milkshake. She finished every little bit.

Another date...

Wow, when you have a lot of kids this one on one dating thing can go on forever. That's fine by me though. I took Scarlett to icecream and we played uno, in which she totally schooled me. Because you know, if I win I'm like the meanest mom ever, so I was careful about that. I love my baby...and yes indeed...she is still a baby.

We are in the clear...

We made it out alive. Of what, you might ask? A week long weather inversion. An inversion (from what this silly blond girl understands) is where the atmosphere doesn't circulate air properly so it's like you're stuck beneath cloudy, foggy, still weather. It's happened here before, and obviously it's not actually dangerous but my mental health was on the verge...and to me?? That's dangerous.

Today the sun shone bright and even though it was only 47 degrees it felt like heaven on earth.