Love day

This week was Valentine’s day. I wanted the boys to wake up to a surprise. The night before, Shaun and I hid about 30 winne the pooh valentines all over the house, sticking them to walls and such. We left some red mailboxes on the table for them with goodies inside. Went to bed giggling:)

I apologize that I don’t have pics to show, but it was 6:30am when the boys were up having a great time finding their surprises. I wasn’t quite awake to document, but it was nice to hear their little voices, “Kevin, here’s one! Look at this!” with the little Kevin’s “Oh, yes” replies. I just wanted to make it fun for them.

I went to the store to get stuff to make the awesome chocolate Bundt cake for Shaun’s gift. Who knew that 2 cups of sour cream could make this recipe SO good? As I was leaving, I heard the bag girl ask the clerk what she was doing for Valentine’s day. The clerk said “Oh, I’m married. It’s just another day”.

I totally disagree! It just made me think of my long waiting time to find Shaun. When I was 20 going off to Ricks college in Idaho, I sure thought I knew my plans. I was going to have a great time at college, (which I did, and that deserves a blog post of its own!) and marry my friend when he got home from serving a mission for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, two years later. Many of my friends and roommates got engaged left and right. I had the thought of ‘maybe my darling husband is up here at school’, as everyone seemed to be finding their soul mate on campus. Not for me, but oh Ricks, (now BYU-Idaho), what a wonderful school experience.

In the meantime, I made a ton of friends at school, learned a lot, grew up a little, (yeah right) dated and fell in love with another friend the summer before my missionary was to return. This was back in 2001, ah, the heartache summer, ha ha!

In short, both guys didn’t work out, and I was an emotional, sobbing basket case for a few months or so. My poor roommates. After a bit, I said ‘Oh, bag it. Let’s get out of here.’ and served a mission for the church in Florida. Small break from guys, as missionaries do not date while serving. I didn’t mind that. (It was serving around stinking hot elders that was another fun trial, but again, that’s another good story for later:)

I came home, did a little more college, saw more roommates get engaged, tried to have faith that someone would like me enough to take me out on a date, had a blast living with 11 other roommates in one house, (two bathrooms, but only one with a shower. Now, that’s fun!) and finally got stable enough to not care about getting married.

See, that’s the thing. I realized that whining and moping about my single status did absolutely no good at all, and did not speed up the ‘meeting the sweetie’ process. Once I just let go of all the fear and worries, said in my prayers ‘Well, whatever goes. I’m just going to be happy’, and kept busy doing good things, that’s when Shaun appeared. Yet, I couldn’t just sit and wait for him to come. I had to go in the area where he would be, being a singles ward at church or Institute. (church study class during the week). See, that’s the thing. I needed to do something on my part to help me find him, and the Lord guided me along to him. Isn’t that neat how it all works out? 

And there he was, sitting near me at church, his arm in a cast due to a broken wrist.  My friend introduced him to me, to which I will be forever thankful! Had no idea that this was my eternal sweetie, and that it was finally my turn to experience that joy that all my friends had found.

I went to an activity at Red Rock and Scandia, and he was there. I remember hoping I had enough to pay for my Scandia entrance, and he slapped down some money at the cashier to pay for me. To which I thought “ Oh, wow. That was nice”. What I remembered most about the fun at Scandia with the group of friends was the sound of his laughter. It was so comforting. I just remembered thinking “I hope I can hear him laugh more”.

There was another time our group of friends went to dinner at a restaurant, and he was there. He told me “Get anything you want” for dinner. That’s really the best thing you can ever say to a girl you’re interested in. I was incredibly happy at the thought of being able to afford my pasta that night! I need to teach my boys to do that when they’re older.

That’s how we began, and now it’s been 6 years of laughter, and three kids, holy cow! (Wasn’t this fun to read, Sweetie? :) So when someone says ‘its just another day’, I beg to differ. I don’t ever want to forget the road that led to Shaun, and how blessed I am to have him. He makes me laugh so much, and is my gift from above. Happy Valentine’s day, indeed! 

Sundays

I dream of Sundays that are days of rest. I have not experienced those types of Sundays since college, when naps were a gift to have. With young kids, restful Sundays just don’t seem to happen that often. Ever. Yet, it makes me search for the good moments of that day, the moments when I can actually hear the speaker at church, and learn something wonderful. Shaun and I try every Sunday to make it a good day. Here’s our attempts:

• From this very good post HERE,  we started to build some Sunday bags to rotate each week. So far, I’ve only made two. Oh, well. I’m getting there:) It has helped tremendously to plan better and bring things for the kiddos to survive the 45 minutes of sacrament meeting.

We started taking better control of the TV, now watching only Sunday appropriate stuff. We’ve watched the scripture story cartoons, church DVDs, and occasionally and old movie here and there.

It sure takes a conscious effort to make Sunday different than all the rest of the days, but it does make the day better. Many parents have said to me that church gets easier as the kids get older. After a year or so, we are finally starting to see it. For the first time in awhile, I am finally starting to hear the speakers at church, and get spiritually fed. Oh, it feels so good. I need it so bad.

My sweet Ethan started having a hard time again going to his class at church. For some reason, he just would cry and struggle going. I prayed and prayed that yesterday he would be ok, and would not be scared. I thought about when I was young and going to kindergarten for the first time. Long ago, Mom told me I cried the whole time, and didn’t want to be left there. Thinking of this helped me have full empathy for my little boy. Some sweet angel teachers helped him calm down. I’m so thankful for them. We picked him up from class in better spirits. Snacks and crafts sure can help!

I just love these kids of ours. I don’t understand why they throw huge fits sometimes, and struggle with stuff. I just am feeling a renewed goal of seeking the Savior more in my parenting. Why haven’t I done this more? It would make everything so much easier if I just keep thinking ‘How would Jesus parent this child? What would he do on those really, doggone hard days?’ I know I sure have a long way to go, but I think just trying to think this way means I’m on an uphill climb.

The gorgeous sky yesterday, when I was leaving choir at church. Seeing this just makes me remember how good it is to be alive, to walk, and to see beauty like this.

The good moments of Ethan being a big brother to Brooke. He loves her so much.

A quiet house

Do you ever have a moment at home when kids are napping, or one kid is gone with Daddy, and you just don’t know what to do with yourself? That’s what’s going on right now. Kevin is napping, Ethan went with Shaun to do errands, and Brooke it out. There are so many good things to choose to do when I have quiet time like that, and what did I do today? Browsed Pinterest and learned how to play ‘words with friends’ on my phone. I was having too much fun making a word, that I started about ten games with friends. I felt terribly guilty afterwards, thinking of how I am inconveniencing them with a game request when they are probably busy with kids, chores, etc. Yet, it was fun. Maybe one will play back and the madness will begin, ha ha!

Shaun decided to start going to the library for a few hours each day to job hunt and get things done on the laptop. As much as he loves the boys, he got a lot more done there without them jumping all over him and wanting to play.

This week, a friend of ours sold a Wii to us for dirt cheap. I was ecstatic. It felt like I was 13 again, when my mom got me a Sega Genesis for Christmas one year. Best mom ever! I guess even though I’m a grown up and a mom now, there still lies in me the dormant tomboy that I was, and I still love video games. There simply is no time to sit and play all day. Too much better things to do, but its fun to play a little at night here and there.

First night we had it, we put the kids to bed, and ran to the living room (Ok, I ran:) to play Boom Blox, the one game we bought for the wii a long time ago, even though we didn’t have the wii. It’s a super fun game like Jenga, knocking blocks over, pulling them out, accidentally hitting sheep, and getting points for it. Love it.

Other than that, not too much going on here. I made a yummy crockpot lasagna that turned out great! Recipe here. I also made Our Best Bites awesome chocolate mousse recipe. Oh, that mousse is easy and SO good. Go here for recipe.

I went to a church meeting and the topic was on getting organized. I went on a declutter crusade today, and got three bags of stuff out. Doesn’t it feel so wonderful to declutter and get organized? It’s like your home is saying “Oh, thank you” and everyone can breathe a little better.

That’s it for today:)

Saturday, we made it!

Isn’t it always a nice feeling to know you made it through the week? Saturdays can be so wonderful. Today, Shaun got up at 6:30, with Ethan up, too. He and Ethan got dressed and left to help a friend move into their new home. I hope some seeds of service will be planted into Ethan. You just want to teach the best stuff to your kids, you know?

Kevin and I have been under a comforter watching ‘Winnie the Pooh’ cartoons. Brooke slept all night till 6:30, fed her, and put her back down to keep her on her schedule. Angel baby!

This is our darling at 4 months old. She is is precious. The boys continue to love her, and give her big hugs. I am so thankful to have three kids. Yes, there have been a lot of moments of the boys struggling over the same toy, constant reminders to not yell at each other, and such. I’ve heard that’s quite normal for young boy brothers. Shaun and I keep trying to be peacemakers and maintain some sanity in the home, but there have been a lot of playing together moments with the boys. That’s always wonderful.

I had some days of slowing down to have mommy moments this week. Sometimes Kevin gets so very worked up over something, and gets in a screaming fit. Sounds something like a scary horror movie. It’s kind of funny because he will be in his room screaming, you crack open the door, toss a sippy cup in, cookie, or something to calm him down, and shut the door and run for your life before he turns his rage on you. Feeding the bear:)

Well, I was brave and went in the room with him, held him until he calmed down, sang to him, read him some books, fed him a ding dong, and he got better. Thankfully, Shaun was with the other kids. It was just nice to be a mommy and help a little one. I think that’s one of the best moments of being a parent. Its neat to think that is how our Heavenly Father is towards us. If we will come to him, he will hold us and help us feel all better. Prayer is a wonderful thing.

A blessing happened this week. Shaun got hired for a part time job doing paramedic work for conventions. The company is very friendly and it’s a flexible work schedule. We both felt that this could be a blessing to go with school, when we can start that. It’s a start. Still have to pinch pennies, and pay bills somehow, but it’s a blessing.

Today, I get to go play photographer at a fun shoot for the local photographers in Vegas. There’s going to be a lot of models there. I try to do my hair, throw on a necklace, and pretend to be all professional, (yeah right!) while having fun practicing some more and meeting other nice gals with cameras. I just love looking for the best light. It’s so addicting, and once you find it, you can create an amazing portrait. Oh, it’s fun!

Hope everyone has a super Saturday!