Co-sleeping...

The girls fell asleep on our king size bed last night. And yet they are bunched together like a couple of sardines. Watching them made me grateful that my mom made me, for the most part, co-sleep with at least one sibling until my preteen years. Those are some of my best memories ever.

Ballet...

My beautiful ballerinas. How blessed I feel to have these girls (all my girls) in my life. You are beautiful little dancers, Grace and Scarlett...

Improvising...

So I'm headed to walmart today to have the boys run in for me to get a few essential items to get us through the weekend. I have no shoes on so I can't go in. I realize when we arrive that I need tampons. Crap. The boys will never in a million years agree to my request. Never. And there's no way in you know what, that I'm going to the crappy walmart twice in one day. Not gonna happen. So I do what any reasonable mother would do... I bribe them with Mountain Dew...something they rarely get to drink. To my shock, they reluctantly agreed. They got the right kind of tampons (miracle) they got the drink they wanted, and I don't have to live at Walmart today. Life is good.

I thought it could be ugly...

And I was wrong. Driving all those hours with the kids surprisingly created some memories I will forever love. Yes, there was fighting and bickering and a few moments of insanity but for the most part it was fun, bonding, and let's not forget beautiful. The scenery yes, but also the togetherness.

We listened to doctor Laura for hours, watched movies, talked and laughed...a lot.

I never thought I would say it, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.

It's true...

Families really CAN be together forever. Whenever we travel we try to stop by a temple if we can. We stopped at the Boise temple, which we have never been to. It was beautiful. I felt blessed as I pondered how thankful I am that we can be together forever. I'm so grateful that Chris and I chose to be married in the temple 17 years ago. I can honestly say that my greatest wish would be for my children to choose the same for themselves. I haven't found anything that has brought me more happiness.

It finally happened...

Halee started asking for a phone several years ago. We made a personal family decision to have our children abstain from phones until age 16. Well, my sweet halee bug turned 16 yesterday and her moment of anticipation finally became a reality. She has matured into such an amazing girl. I have no doubt she will have real joy through out her life. She makes decisions that brings her real happiness. She has devoted her life to goodness...and I have no doubt that she will continue to do so. We love you halee.

Rescuing Christian...

Christian gave us a terrible scare two nights ago. He has suffered from asthma since age three but this spring has been worse than ever. He woke up at 12:30am and could barely breathe. We hooked him up to a nebulizer that puts albuterol into his lungs and essentially rescues him. Only problem is, he was so completely out of air that he wasn't being rescued. He ripped the tube that gives him air from his mouth and in panic tried getting free. Free from no air. I have never been more scared. The look on Chris' face didn't help. We were helpless. Just as I was getting ready to call 911 Chris got him to attach back to the tube with air and after 3 torturous minutes of watching panic on my sons face he began to breath. We took him to the emergency room and they have him on a powerful steroid temporarily.

Wow. When you see someone you love in danger of serious harm, all priorities suddenly shift. During the three minutes of trying to help my child, a million thoughts ran through my mind. How could I have prevented this? Should I have taken him in sooner? I would spend any amount of money to save my child. Is Christian going to die? It went on and on.

I am so thankful my Christian is okay. I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father allowed him to be ok. It was out of my hands. I knew that. 

Life is too short not to show love to those we love. Every single day.

Get your head in the game...

Being stuck with six kids for several hours on a road trip. What is it like, one might ask? Hmmm...the best way to describe it is me morphing into a referee at a game where the players get totally ticked at me because the play didn't go their way. They storm off the field and think I'm evil and out to get them. But that's okay because in the end they have to go to the dugout and the play stands. Bwahaha. I love having the power.

Loved...

Grace and Scarlett worked on these for me this evening. Everytime I came near them they would say "close your eyes mom!" It feels good to be loved.

Gingerbread cuteness...

Ok, so I don't mean to sound like a weirdo but I'm totally obsessed with this gingerbread girl Austin drew. He drew it for the girls and I just think it happens to be the cutest gingerbread person I've ever laid eyes on. It also makes me smile because Austin draws for the girls, and let me tell you, they hold him to a high standard for doing good drawings. If the person he draws is "ugly" there's big trouble. It better be cute, and it better be pretty or by golly he's drawing a new one. How lucky they are to have such to tolerant brother.

Kind heartedness...

Of all the tender hearted girls in this world, Grace is number one. Her heart gets hurt easily. I get sad because if she gets snapped at or she senses I am being cross with her she gets so sad. This in turn makes me sad. However this trait of hers carries by far more benefits than it doesn't. She is so kind and loving and nurturing. She can somehow identify with all of her siblings on an individual basis. She hates to be hurt but in turn hates hurting others. What a loving sweet girl you are, Grace Elisabeth.

My hard worker...

I just gotta say how proud I am of my sweet Christian. He's worked so hard in cubscouts this year, and he earned his bear badge. I have been so blessed to be his leader. Working one on one with him has by far been the most rewarding thing I could ask for. Great job, Christian.

Mother's Day...

Mother's Day. Honestly this is one of my very favorite days out of the whole year. I'm not really sure why. I think it has something to do with the fact that I give all I can to my children and to be thanked all day long is beautiful. It's also a celebration of what I find most meaningful in life. My children are literally the meaning of all goodness that exists on this earth. Being a mother to them has been a privilege that I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing me to have. 

Chris as always makes this time of year a perfect day. He got me the below necklace (only, my childrens names are on it) and it is the most beautiful gift I could have asked for.

I get weepy around this time too. It reminds me of how blessed I am for my mother. Today during church a girl about my age announced that her mom has stage four cancer. Stage four? No. How? Why her? It made me cry as I thought about the fact that if that were my mother my heart would be breaking. 

Yes, Mother's Day isn't just a time for goodies and presents and breakfast in bed. It's a time of reflection. A time to appreciate all that I have and most of all, all I have to give.

A good day...

It's not even Mother's Day yet and I found this sweet note and flower on my bed from Grace. Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

#annoying....

Okay, maybe it's just me, and for those who do this, I apologize ahead of time, But hashtags drive me insane. I hate them. They are perfectly useless and annoying in every possible way to me. I think by using them we are bypassing using real sentences and trying our darnedest to be cool. I see 40+ year olds using them, and I feel like I'm listening to someone  scratch a chalk board with their nails. I hope this fad passes really quickly. The end.

Climbing...

Scarlett got me to climb a tree with her today. I swear, that sneaky little thing gets me to do things I normally wouldn't do, and every single time...I'm happy I did.

Portrait...

I think Scarlett might have an evil side. Today during church she drew this picture, handed it to halee and said "this is a picture of you." Halee leans over to me and says "please tell me I don't look like this??" We all had a good laugh.

Birthday dinner...

I forgot to mention that we took our little goose out for her very own one on two dinner. I told her she could pick any restaurant in town, and what did she choose? Good old Shari's. I love her.

13.1...

I decided to be spontaneous this weekend when I found out there was a race a little closer to home. I thought it was going to be the perfect race because of it mostly being flat. You just never know about a race. The wind nearly killed me.

The first half of the race I felt pretty good. I started out running 8 to 8:30 min. Miles for the first 3 to 4 miles. It started to heat up around mile 5. That got me down a little but I felt ok. It was at the halfway point that I started to struggle. We had a head wind of probably 20 mph winds (or so it felt) my morale started to struggle because I was running slower but with twice the effort. Like having rubber bands and resistance. I just kept telling myself to KEEP MOVING. My best friend surprised me and jumped in and ran two miles with me. How did I get so lucky to have such amazing friend? Chris and the kids supported me on the way too. Having them there really kept me going.

I came in at 2:00 hours. Is this a race I would do again? Not unless I'm windsurfing...but that's what happens when you live in the gorge.

Goose turns 7...

My beautiful lovely grace is growing up on me. She was so gracious about the gifts she received. She kept saying "thanks mom and dad." She spent the day playing on the trampoline with the sprinkler underneath with Scarlett and her best friend Adrianna.

Grace, you have been a joy to this family since the day you arrived. A may 1st baby. May Day. We have so much love for you that it feels like it could bubble over. Happy birthday our wonderful girl.