Too Sweet!

From Olivia's dance recital

Truth about Pox

Olivia has chicken pox! She had the vaccine for them but apparently a small percentage of people vaccinated still get them. Leave it to Liv to be in that group. Fortunately, if vaccinated people who do get it, the case is very mild. Liv's spots only touched her face and neck and are already in the last stage.

I love December

I love December (even though I hate the cold, serioulsy how did we live in Minneapolis for 3 years?). I love Christmas trees and goodies and songs and lights. And I love the anticipation of Christmas morning. But I especially love that Christ is in my thoughts more. And I love that even amidst promises of Santa coming to visit, my kids seem to be more in tune spiritually. Last night Zoey fell asleep reading her scriptures and Liv's prayers have suddenly become so thoughtful. This morning she prayed on and on about real, sincere things and ended with a plea for us to serve others today. She is 4 years old!!

complain-athon

This morning was off to a good start when a cut on Zoeys heel started bleeding and she trailed blood across my newly mopped bathroom floor and down the carpet and through her room. Then Olivia kept telling me she didn't feel good, that her 'stomach hurt.' I thought she was just making up an excuse not to have to unload the dishes. (It brought back too many memories of a certain brother who used the same excuse everytime we had to do the dishes growing up). But sure enough 10 minutes later she was laying on my bed and the puking began. Of course I felt bad, I hate when my kids are sick. But I have to admit that a close second to the immediate concern for my daughter, was for my brand new white comforter that was soaking up the orange colored throwup. The ironic thing was the previous time I bought a brand new duvet cover, the next day she colored on it with black sharpie. I think there is an unspoken rule about parenthood...that you are not entitled to have anything nice. Lastly Kellen has a cold and will not let me put him down for even two seconds. He scoots after me crying and pulling on my legs. It is so hard for me to be patient when I have to hold him constantly. Of course in the big picture, when my kids are grown and gone, I will miss mornings like these, (or so my in-laws keep telling me).

So I put thoughts of my now peach colored comforter aside, I forget about the blood now drying in my carpet because I am in charge of carpool today and need to take kids to school. So I load everyone up and head out. When I return home, I am just getting out when Joe calls needing me to take him a document at work right away. So forgetting the mess at home, I load Liv and Kellen back up and make the hour trip, grateful I at least took time to put a bra on. And while driving I eat 4 chocolate chip cookies to compensate for not having breakfast which now make me feel like I am going to throw up.

It is nearly noon and I am still in pj's (which is rare, if not nonexsistent for me by this time of day), I haven't put in my contacts or brushed my teeth but instead of continuing my complaint-athon, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season I will write a few things I am thankful for today to try and boost my mood.

1. After dropping Zoey off at school, she comes running back to the car. I thought she must have left a school paper or something but instead she says, "I forgot" and reaches over and gives me a hug. It made my heart melt.

2. I am thankful for a washing machine and oxyclean that may have actually saved my comforter.

3. But the most important thing I am grateful for today is the plan of salvation. They installed my dads headstone at the cemetary yesterday. It has been hard for me because it is a very blatant reminder of him really being gone. But more importantly, it reminds me that life does not end at death. It goes on forever and I can be with my family forever. And that blessing and knowledge overrules every sad or discouraged feeling I have today.

Jackpot

Kellen hit the Jackpot!!

Bum Scooter

Just like Olivia, Kellen has decided that traditional crawling is not the way to go, so he has become a bum scooter! Here is a little clip for your enjoyment.

Labor Day

We loved spending Labor Day weekend in Utah and especially being with my family. It didn't hurt that BYU had an awesome victory over Oklahoma, or that the kids got tons of candy at the Onion Days parade or that we ate lots of bacon (Thanks Jilyan!) We ate alot, and stayed up way too late every night playing Rock Band. Good Times.

The girls and some of their cousins were honorary cheerleaders for the big game. Here are a few shots of them practicing their stuff.My mom is getting her house ready to sale so we spent some time helping her sort through many years of stuff that had been building over the years. Good Job mom on letting us throw away so much. This is my brother wearing an old groovy sweater of my dad's. Looking good Shane!

Totally unrelated but here are the girls on their first day of school.

And here is Kellen enduring the girls dressing him up for bed.