Memorial Day Memories

Lila was finally feeling better and the weather was lovely so we had a great day. Steve went for a bike ride with Matt and I took the kids to the park to do our jog/bike/play thing. This time I timed Ellie on her bike to see if you could increase her speed for her triathlon. When we got home we got out the slip-n-slide and the kids played on it for hours. Even Marcus enjoyed playing in the sprinkler part or trying to get a drink from it.

I was being lazy and took this picture from my comfortable seat on the patio. :)

We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and watched the Music & the Spoken Word Memorial Day special. The message came from JFK famous inaugural words, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." It was a good thought that we should look outside ourselves and serve others. I told the kids when I was growing up we used to go to the cemetery every year and clean the headstones and leave flowers--that's what you do when you have 5 generations living in the same area. We don't have that opportunity to visit family grave sites so I thought the Musical Special was a nice touch to help us remember why we celebrate Memorial Day. We then let the kids roast some marshmallows and make s'mores. It was a fun day! And definitely a good kick-off to summer (if we can endure 4 more crazy days of school).

It's Been One of Those Weeks

I love my kids, but it's been one of those weeks especially with the boys. Andrew isn't taking a nap any more and I tried to go back to it for the summer because the longer days are making him really irritable in the late afternoon/evening time--it didn't work. Marcus must be getting teeth or something because he only naps for 45 minutes and wakes up crying. Ellie is in that tween stage and I'm struggling to know my place there. Poor Lila got a stomach bug that included her heaving into a bowl over my bed last night while asking me to tuck her in again. 

Don't get me wrong, we've also had some awesome moments like taking Ellie and a couple of her friends out for burgers and ice cream after their softball pictures, watching Ellie pitch 3 strike-outs on the first three batters at her game (coach said a 3 minute inning must have been a record), taking the boys to our beloved story-time, and going for walks to neighborhood lemonade or snow cone stands. 

Today I was trying to close some tabs in my browser (yes sometimes I have a lot of those open at once--it's like a little reminder list) any way one of them had Elder Holland's talk Because She is a Mother open and I was grateful for the inspiring words of comfort and motivation. 

If you try your best to be the best parent you can be, you will have done all that a human being can do and all that God expects you to do.

Remember, remember all the days of your motherhood: “Ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.”¹⁰

Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.”¹¹ You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Like the woman who anonymously, meekly, perhaps even with hesitation and some embarrassment, fought her way through the crowd just to touch the hem of the Master’s garment, so Christ will say to the women who worry and wonder and sometimes weep over their responsibility as mothers, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.”¹² And it will make your children whole as well.

This week I also prepared a visiting teaching message from Elder Eyring's talk My Peace I Leave With You 

The unity we seek in our families and in the Church will come as we allow the Holy Ghost to affect what we see when we look at one another—and even when we think of each other. The Spirit sees with the pure love of Christ. 

I'm really trying to rely more upon the Spirit and be more gentle and kind in my direction to my children and I have seen a difference in our unity and I pray that I may continually strive to be open to the promptings and guidance from Heavenly Father. We're about to spend 3 months together so no time like the present to practice. :)

E 1 1

Ellie turned 11 this weekend. It was a weird birthday. 1- it was on Sunday so we kind of did things all weekend to celebrate which I don't know if that makes it fun or makes the official day feel not as special. 2 - I'm facing a hard reality that she's becoming a teenager. Next year she'll be mutual age and with that comes girls camp, youth conference and I'm not ready to give up all that time with her yet. . . So for now we just enjoyed the weekend.

Friday I took Andrew into her class to do a little spotlight and pass out a birthday treat. Lila and I picked her up after ballroom and went shopping. Lila has been begging me to take her to buy a purse and wallet so she can keep a little money to go shopping so we went birthday shopping and each of the girls found a cute purse and  Lila found a little coin purse to keep a few dollars in. Then we frantically got ready for the Activity Day recognition night we had that evening.

Ellie wanted to watch the 3rd Harry Potter movie. She finished all the books a few months ago and I think we watched the 2nd movie on her last birthday so I guess it was time. We started it Friday night. We only watched an hour because I was a little worried about how Lila would handle it and so I didn't want it to go too late or be too dark when we finished. Saturday we got up and went to the park again to play tennis and Ellie had softball practice. Afterwards we went to the Olive Garden for lunch (her choice). Then the kids played outside all afternoon while Steve and I did a little yard work. We had strawberry shortcake for an afternoon treat and then the kids and I made slime for fun. They played with that for a couple of more hours. Then we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs for dinner. Once everyone was bathed and the boys were in bed we finished the movie with the girls and enjoyed a bowl of warm brownies and ice cream (birthday girl request).

Sunday morning she woke-up and wanted to open her presents immediately. I made her wait a bit while we got aebleskivers cooking (her birthday breakfast request). Then I got the camera and let her open. Sweet Lila even gave her a couple of her shopkins, one was a pair of earrings. ;)

The girls were singing in the choir that day so we all got ready for church right after breakfast. After church I made tacquitos (also the birthday girls requested meal). I put two on her plate to make it look like 11 (she's wearing her new dress).

While Steve went home teaching we watched MasterChef Junior semi finale and finale. In the semi-finale they made lava cake and we thought it would be fun to make it for Ellie's birthday so we did. When Dad got home we sang and Lila played Happy Birthday on the piano (she happened to be practicing that song this week and it motivated her to be able to play for Ellie's birthday). Then we ate yummy lava cake and ice cream.

We went for a walk as a family because Ellie wanted to practice her rollerblades. Then we had leftovers for dinner and put everyone to bed. Mimi & Panca came over Thursday and gave Ellie her present and Mimi watched Ellie pitch her first softball game and she did pretty good (only walked 3, got 2 strike-outs and the rest were hits that the team didn't know how to field). Venessa gave her her present with Lila in April (the fun mermaid tail blankets) so we just kept it low key with our family especially since Ellie has to be to ballroom at 7am tomorrow for their final run through before the assembly. 

Happy Happy Birthday Ellie! We love you! You were born on a Sunday like this year, a week after Mother's Day I became a new mom. You are kind, helpful, loving and a good example to your little brothers and sister. Thanks for being patient with us as we learn and grow with you (it's not easy being the oldest--I know this from experience). We hope we can work together to make your dreams come true. Love ya!!

Ellie's Rainy Day Blues

What do you do on a cold rainy/snowy day? Take Ellie to the dentist after consulting with Uncle Doug about a tooth ache and a soft white spot in her mouth. Poor Ellie had to have a tooth pulled and the pocket drained. Good news is it wasn't an infection just the mouth trying to help push the tooth out and the tooth was wedged too tight in between the other teeth. Our poor kids . . . the orthodontist said they have small mouths and big teeth. I'll spare you the picture I sent Uncle Doug and post this cute one of the boys building houses inside because it was too cold to go out today (crazy Utah weather).

Happy Birthday Mom

that's what Andrew kept saying. I guess he doesn't understand there's a special day for Mom's and so he made it a birthday celebration. He even insisted on singing and told Steve to get the camera ready when Steve brought out the present. :)

Steve made me my favorite breakfast, eggs benedict and then I gave him this slow cooker fajita recipe I wanted put in the crockpot for dinner. It was fabulous to have him cook. Seriously, I didn't feel rushed getting ready for church and doing the girls hair. It was fabulous. Ellie had asked Steve to wake her up at 6:30am because she wanted to make breakfast so I think she felt a little shafted that Dad did all the cooking, but soon soon enough I'm dreaming of breakfast in bed for both Steve and I. :)

It was a fabulous weekend. The girls and I got our hair cut on Friday. Ellie got a cute little shoulder hair cut for the summer and to help blend in her growing out bangs. I also went short for the summer. Then Steve took the older 3 to the Kaysville theater to see the Batman Lego movie. Lila proclaimed it the best day ever to get a haircut and see a movie. Then we played outside and after the kids were in bed Steve and I left Ellie in charge and snuck out to get frozen yogurt and buy some dining room chairs that were on sale to match this custom table I'm ordering.

Saturday we played tennis at the park again while Ellie had practice. We showed up a little before her practice this time so she could play tennis for a bit. When we got home Steve emptied the van to pick-up chairs from the night before while the kids and I watched our episode of Master Chef Junior. :) When he got back I cleaned the van before putting everything back in. Then I was in such a cleaning mood I starting posting things on KSL that I've been wanting to get rid of and guess what by the end of the day everything was gone and we made a little money in the process. Love days like that. Honestly, I told Steve it was a perfect weekend of fun, productivity, and cleaning that just made me happy!

I'm so grateful for my husband, my children, my parents, and extended family. The kids sang in church today, "The Family is of God". It was the first time Andrew got to sing in sacrament meeting and so I've been practicing the song with him at night and I know the family is of God and am so grateful for that knowledge and the strength and comfort it provides me. Here are the words to the first verse:

Our Father has a family,
It's me, it's you, all others too we are his children.
He sent each one of us to earth, through birth,
To live and learn here in families.
God gave us families to help us become what he wants us to be.
This is how he shares His love.
For the family is of God.

Spring & Sports

I cannot believe we only have 3 weeks left of school. I'm used to going to July with the year around schedule we've had the last couple of years and I feel like this just jumped out of no where while we've been busy with spring sports and recitals.

I've been coaching Andrew's tiny tot soccer team on Tues & Thurs. I love that it's not a weekend and your game time is either 5:30 or 6:30 that's it. I've been pushed out of my comfort zone a little and found that I really like coaching that age and it has been fun-well the nights when Andrew isn't throwing a fit. He gets mad if someone else kicks the ball when he's right there. One time he kicked it all the way from one end of the field to the other and was about ready to make a goal when one of his teammates kicked it in--oh that pushed him over, but then he went on to score 2 goals and we've talked about being a good team player and not getting frustrated so I hope he's learned something in that aspect.

 






The girls have been good to babysit Marcus for me since games are on the nights Steve is working in Draper. It's been good for them and Ellie has learned how hard it is to take care of someone else and is more aware of when she can be helpful without me asking.

Ellie had her ballroom team match night. The costuming was a fiasco and the event went on and on seriously 3 hours, but she had fun and we were glad we were there to support her (well Mimi and me, Steve was driving Lila to her dance class with the other two hooligans).

  Ellie just started softball and had her first practice last Saturday. They are now pitching so practices are longer (the first one was 3 hours), but we made a morning of it and played tennis with Lila and Andrew on the courts at that same park then let them play on the playground for a while while the practice finished up. I think we're going to try and do that all of May enjoy a little tennis and let the kids play while she practices. Even Marcus had fun roaming free in the tennis courts (seriously it's like a giant play-pen). Life is good and busy. 

I also managed to weed and till the garden and get it planted last week. We had Mimi & Panca down with Nessa's kids Friday night to have dinner (cinco de Mayo style) and play in the sprinklers since we had to turn on the water for the garden. They managed to catch 2 snakes and play with them all night. Siena was very upset that we kept all the snakes--"it wasn't fair." Believe me I feel the same way. ;)

We're being productive and having fun. :)