Wedded Bliss

 Ten years ago today I married my favorite person in the whole entire world.   

And ten years later we're still blissfully happy.

 

To hear how the story began, click here.

Sunday Thoughts

While preparing for my talk today I was reading through Elder Perry's address from last April's conference.  The quote that stuck out the most to me and hit home the hardest was the following:

"Parents, now is the time to teach our children to be examples of the believers by attending sacrament meeting.  When Sunday morning arrives, help them to be well rested, properly dressed, and spiritually prepared to partake of the emblems of the sacrament and receive the enlightening edifying, ennobling power of the Holy Ghost."

This point was driven home to me a month or so ago as I was getting ready for church one Sunday morning.  As I may have mentioned before, Scott is the Young Men's president in our ward and has meetings before church just about every Sunday.  This leaves me alone almost every week to get us all out the door on time.  On that particular Sunday morning we were running late.  I had been yelling -- nay, screaming -- at the kids all morning long as I was trying to get them and myself ready with all the bags and snacks and church things we would need for the day.  When the critical departure time of 10:30 had come and gone, a startling realization suddenly dawned on me.  Late is late.  Yelling at the kids wasn't going to turn back time -- there was no way we were going to make it on time now and the only thing that continuing to yell at the kids would do would be to drive the spirit away and increase the stress and contention in our home.  As soon as I realized this I immediately felt peace and calm and an additional insight came to me as I recognized that most of the chaos could have been avoided if I had just taken the time to prepare the night before.  As I finished getting ready I made a renewed commitment to being more prepared for the Sabbath day in the future.

I'd like to say that things have been smooth sailing each week since this incident, but unfortunately that is not the case.  We are still a work in progress {clearly}.  Sundays are hard.  Especially with little kids.  Every week is a struggle to maintain the peace and love in our home as we try to get ready for church and then once we are home again.  As time goes by I realize again and again that preparation is so key.  Even the smallest little bit goes such a long way.  We could have used some of that this morning, that is for sure.  Let's just say that the state of preparation in our house this morning left much to be desired.  As I was frantically trying to finish some last minute tweaks to my talk while kids everywhere were bombarding me with questions and demands and problems I felt like the least qualified person in the world to give a talk on "Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy."  And then when I finally snapped and yelled at Grace to leave me alone and stop asking me if she could go and catch a turtle in the backyard {while wearing her church dress, mind you} in the rainy and muddy backyard so that she could finally have a pet -- well, I felt like I had reached the end of my rope.

As she finally left me alone and the rest cowered away from me in trepidation I pretty much broke down and cried.  After a quick prayer to plead for help and forgiveness I finally managed to finish everything up, get the kids in the car, and make it to church on time -- mostly thanks to Scott (who had no meetings today -- a tender mercy) and my sister Laura who flew in late last night.  In another tender mercy, my talk went off without a hitch and the kids managed to (mostly) sit still and be reverent.  I even overheard Grace saying later in the afternoon that "Mom gave a really great talk today."

I am most definitely not perfect.  I think there is enough evidence pointing to that.  But thankfully for all of us, the Savior stands ever ready, waiting and with arms open for us to come boldly to the throne of grace and to partake of His goodness and mercy as we earnestly seek to come and follow Him.  As the day draws to a close, I am grateful that my prayer of desperation was heard and answered this morning. 

{And I'm grateful that Jane made it through sacrament meeting before needing to go home and be treated for her mini asthma attack.}

Poor little lamb -- all tuckered out from coughing.

Flashback Friday -- 10 Years in the Making

This weekend is a big one!  Not only are Scott and I coming up on 10 YEARS OF MARRIAGE, but we are also officially old.  Hahahaha.  No, really.  We kind of are.  In my heart of hearts I still think of myself as a young, cool, barely-out-of-college, hip and happening kind of gal (ahahahahahahaha), but the sad reality is that this weekend marks another 10 year anniversary as well -- my (and Scott's) graduation from BYU (aka Brigham Young University).  SO.  In honor of that momentous occasion, this week's flashback contains my all-time, top favorite memories from the college years {in semi-chronological order}.

First Sunday at church as a cool college kid
Here I am with all my freshman year roomies.  Living it up in Heritage Halls was the bomb dot com.  Loved it.  Rogers Hall was where it was at.  Hahahahaha.  I remember loving that dress I was wearing and feeling super cool because I had bought it with the discount and hard-earned money I got from working at The Gap the whole summer before leaving for school.  Also.  That yellow cardigan?  My super fave OF ALL TIME.  I kid you not, I wore that thing to death.  I wish I still had it.  Also from my working-at-the-Gap-days, it lasted all through college plus a year or two more until Scott finally convinced me that it was too hole-y to continue wearing.  Boo.  It would seem that I have been on a quest to find the perfect cardigan ever since, seeing as to I currently have about 20 different versions in my closet as we speak.

Left to Right -- Andi, Kenya, Me, Natalie, Jennifer, Candace

The 191st Ward
I have SO many happy memories from the 2 years I lived in this ward.  Bishop Whetten and his wife were so wonderful and gracious and warm.  They opened up their home to us on so many occasions and they always made us feel like we belonged.  I also forged some of the best friendships of my life while living there.  Thanks for the memories 191st ward!

 Celebrating Lindsay's birthday.
Left to right -- Natalie, Lindsay, Candace, Emily, Me

Christmas activity at Bishop Whetten's house.
Left to right -- Mindy, Paula, Heidi, Candace, Lindsay, Emily

Terrible picture.  Best FHE group ever.

Back-combing and Young Americans
So these two items are PROBABLY unrelated, but for some reason they are always linked in my mind.  Hahaha.  During the summer of 2000, my roommate Natalie and I spent a fun-filled summer together living it up in Provo, enjoying life without any classes, jobs (? -- I don't remember any), or real responsibilities.  We spent at least one memorable evening styling our hair in a much-mocked (amongst us) manner with a lot of back-combing and a LOT of hairspray.  It was awesome.  Also awesome?  The extremely short-lived television show entitled "Young Americans."  Seriously -- we were probably the ONLY people watching it which is why it was canceled before the season was over.  Man, oh man, did we get a kick out of that ridiculous show.  Please tell me that someone else knows what I'm talking about! 

 Just as an FYI, I still have that t-shirt.  It is pretty much non-existent it is so threadbare, but that's what makes it so comfy.  I apparently have a hard time getting rid of clothes.

Hiking the Y at midnight
Another summer of 2000 favorite memory.  Natalie and I had decided that in order to be a true BYU cougar, you had to hike the Y at midnight.  I'm not quite sure how or why we came up with this completely arbitrary requirement, but once decided upon we HAD to do it.

We tried to catch a shot of the full moon in the background.  We failed.

Rooming with my sista!  
LOTS of my favorite memories from college involve my sister Emily.  Pretty much the funnest and funniest girl you could ask for as a roommate.  Some of the many memories include many a late night walk all the way to Center Street to get specialty drinks from Ottavio's; lots and lots of late night walks all OVER south of campus Provo; bowling at the Wilk; impromptu dance parties in the living room; eating watermelon on the front stoop of our hot summer house -- you name it and we were probably together.

Living in a non-air-conditioned house for a whole summer
Summer of 2001 was the BEST SUMMER EVER.  Me, Emily, Natalie, and Heidi had SOOOO much fun together despite the sweltering heat.  It was seriously so hot.  We pretty much lived in our swimsuits (or underwear) and just kept sarongs handy to throw on for whenever anyone came to the door.   True story.

{Sorry -- no pics for this one...  Hahahahaha.}

Playing UNO and laying out at DT pool
See above.  It was so hot that summer.  And even though none of us lived at DT (or had ever lived at DT for that matter), we spent the whole summer crashing their pool that was technically just for the on-campus residents who lived there.  And brought otter pops and UNO cards to keep us company.



Fast and the Furious week
Let the record show that I look back on this phase and fully recognize that "The Fast and the Furious" was a TERRIBLE movie. Horrible even.  Yet for some reason, when we first saw it we thought it was so awesome that it inspired a full week of festivities.  Clubbin' at Club Omni on Latin music night while wearing thrifted, re-purposed, and revamped t-shirts (customized left to right -- "Furious," "NAS," and "Fast")?  Check.  Cruisin' down Provo main street in Natalie's Mercury cougar (while she was out of town for the week)?  Double check.  Thinking we were a lot cooler than we probably were?  Check, check, and check.  Or not.  Maybe we really WERE that cool.  Hahahahaha.  I don't even remember what else we did, but it was enough to forever afterwards earn the distinction of being "The Fast and the Furious Week."  It's probably safe to say that if Natalie had been there with us we would have come to our senses much, much sooner.  So thank you Natalie for going out of town that week and leaving your car behind.  :)

Heading out to Club Omni.

Left to right -- Heidi, Me, Emily

Legally Blonde
Another movie-themed memory.  When "Legally Blonde" came out we thought the most logical approach would be to dress all in pink and attend the movie on opening day.  And we did so with panache.  Although I still can't figure out why we drove all the way up to SLC to see it.  Surely we could have found it playing in P-Town.

Back Row -- Chrissy, Natalie, Me, Heidi

Front Row -- Brooke, Emily

Board games up in the newsroom
The summer of 2001 found us spending LOTS of time up in the BYU newsroom.  With Natalie working late hours up there several times a week we naturally congregated at Newsnet (with it's bank of computers, free internet access, cable TV, and AIR-CONDITIONING) while waiting for her to get off of work.  An added perk was getting to know Scott -- also working up there that summer and already friends with Natalie -- and enjoying enough down time to squeeze in lots of rounds of Trivial Pursuit and Boggle.

Here is a specialized birthday pie that we created for Scott's birthday that summer.  It says "4 the Wedge" in honor of our Trivial Pursuit-ing fun.  Even though everyone else insisted that they were called pie pieces, Scott insisted they were wedges.

Operation Hot Dog
Perhaps the craziest (and stupidest) memory of all.  My kids LOOOOOVE this story.  It's relatively new to them -- I was amusing them with "funny stories" a couple of Sundays ago when I shared this nugget, but it has inspired a cult-like following among them.  During my last year at BYU, we were in a ward with a bunch of boys from South Carolina who thought they were sooooooo cool.  We clearly begged to differ and after what I'm sure must have been a giggle-infused, hare-brained scheming session we decided the best thing to do to take them down a couple of notches was to hot dog their lawn.  Wait, what?  Yeah, you heard me.  Dressed all in black and under the cover of darkness one night we stuck plastic forks all over their front yard with hot dogs speared atop them. We got them, now didn't we. Hahahahaha.  Seriously, though, I probably shouldn't have told the kids the story because now they can't wait to go to college to do the same thing.  I've heard Grace mention to Ethan on several occasions that she's going to hot dog his lawn when they're at BYU.  Oh to be young and dumb again!

The kids hold this picture in a kind of reverent awe.  Every time Jane sees it she says, "Hot dog in a bun! Hot dog in a bun!"  As a sidenote Ethan and Grace think I look really weird in this picture.  I wonder why?  Hahahahaha.  (Left to right -- Heidi, Emily, Me)

Homecoming Senior Year
And now for a tender moment.  Here I am with Scott right before we left for dinner and the Homecoming Dance in Spanish Fork during our senior year.  Although the dance itself was lots of fun, the memorable part occurred after the party was over.  As Scott was bringing me home that night he admitted that he was falling in love with me (awwwwwwww!) and I in turn told him that I loved him, too.

I love this picture of us -- although the framed print in the background is a bit jarring.

The Hansen Girls are Reunited at last!

My senior year at BYU had the added bonus of including my little sis, Sarah, who was a freshman.  Me, Emily, and Sarah were kind of like the 3 amigos growing up so it was really great to have her out there with us again.  And even though my last year was mostly consumed with Scott -- sorry everyone! -- we still managed to squeeze in some good times.  :)

Taking our Engagement Pictures
After the initial "I Love You's" were shared, it was only a matter of time before Scott decided that he liked it enough to put a ring on it.  Hahahahaha.  Although I personally was experiencing the most stressful and anxiety-ridden time of my life during pretty much our entire engagement, I do remember having so much fun while taking our engagement pictures that it made up for a lot of the other difficulties.  Emily decided to tag-along with the photographer that day and helped to make everything a lot of fun.  As someone who is super self-conscious and not super fond of having her picture taken, I was able to chill out and have fun thanks to Emily's talent for making me laugh.  Scott's super laid-back and carefree personality helped a ton too, of course.  Hahaha.

So there you have it.  Like the corner of my mind.  Misty water-colored memories.  What's YOUR favorite collegiate memory??

Bedtime Stories

I'm beat!  And it's the kids who are doing the beating.  Hahaha.  The reason why I'm so wiped out this morning revolves (as usual) around lack of sleep.  Let me walk you through a typical bedtime routine in our house.  In theory the two little ones go down at 6:30 and the older ones go to bed at 7 without a fight.  And then they all stay in bed, go to sleep, and STAY asleep the whole night long.  That my friends is what we call a FAIRYTALE.  Hahaha. 

In actuality what ends up happening is highly dependent on the 2 year old.  Because Jane is the one who has been beating me to a bloody pulp these days.  Pretty much ever since Jane stopped sucking her thumb over a year ago she's been a terrible sleeper.  But now that she's decided she wants to give up her naps she's been even worse.  If she takes a nap she seriously won't fall asleep until 10 or 11 o'clock at night and sometimes it's midnight before she finally succumbs to the sandman.  If she doesn't nap, she WILL go down at 6:30, but then she's a melting down mess of a monster from about 3 o'clock on.  And she will fall asleep in the car if we drive anywhere during that critical time.  And then she won't go to bed until midnight.  It's a delicate catch-22 we're navigating here.  Especially because the other problem we have with the no-nap scenario is that 9 times out of 10, she will wake up about 3 or 4 hours after falling asleep and then it's party time for a couple of hours until she goes back to bed.  And even if all the stars align and we manage to get her in bed at a decent time with successful results she still likes to wake up in the middle of the night and climb into our bed.  Like last night when she was up at midnight and then again at 4 and then up for good around quarter to 7 this morning.  But hey -- at least it was just Jane this time.  Alex usually likes to throw his 2 cents in around 3 o'clock as well.  Hahahaha.  Cute little lover boy is not always this cute in the wee hours of the morning.

{Please ignore how filthy his sheets are -- it's on my to do list.}

As for the older kids, well let's just say that ever since I started promising 20 peace points apiece for going to sleep at bedtime -- or at least for not BOTHERING us at bedtime -- they have been doing a little bit better.  Do we still have to go up there and break up a few fights every night (especially between the bunk-bed-sharing Ethan and Sophie)?  Absolutely.  And do we still have kids coming down at various times saying they're hungry, or thirsty, or not tired?  Yes.  BUT, things have gotten a little better.  And that's a good thing!

In other news, we've got a busy week as usual.  Here's the quick run-down before I have to get these kids off to school.  I've got visiting teaching this afternoon, Cub Scouts after school, a digital Film Festival tomorrow evening featuring something that Ethan has done (?) or is in (?) -- I'm not really sure of all the details, and then on Saturday my lil sis Laura (aka MUFFY!) is coming in town for a week. 

He's really excited about this "VIP" badge.

Betwixt and between all of that I've got some regular stuff to do -- like trying to keep the house clean, keeping up with the laundry, and actually making some meals for my family.  With any spare time I have I'll be working on a few OTHER things that I'm desperately trying to finish up -- namely: our anniversary is coming up on Monday and since it's the big 1-0, I'm going all out and there are still a few projects I have in the works.  Also, my sister Emily and I are collaborating on a surprise for a good friend of ours, and last but not least I've been asked to speak in church on Sunday.  The topic?  Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  Hmmmm.  Perhaps a review of our current activities are in order.  I'll keep you posted on how that pans out...

Come to the Temple

In my church -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes referred to as the Mormon church) -- the temple is considered the most sacred place on earth.  A place of love and beauty, as one of our children's hymns proclaims -- 

I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday.  To feel the holy spirit, to listen and to pray.  For the temple is a House of God, a place of love and beauty.  I'll prepare myself while I am young -- this is my sacred duty.

I love to see the temple, I'll go inside someday.  I'll covenant with my Father, I'll promise to obey.  For the temple is a holy place where we are sealed together.  As a child of God I've learned this truth -- a family is forever.

All who have qualified themselves and are worthy to enter the temple may do so.  Qualifications include first and foremost being a baptized member of our church, but in general it means that one is keeping the commandments and trying their best to follow in the Savior's footsteps.  Inside the temple, church members participate in sacred ordinances, make sacred covenants with God, and can have their marriages and families "sealed" together for all of time and eternity.

Whenever a new temple is built, however, the Church opens it up for a limited time to be viewed by any and all who have the desire to come and see it.  After the Open House period is over, the temple will be dedicated to the Lord and from then on open only to those who have qualified themselves for entry and hold a current temple recommend.  

In the temple we learn more of God's plan for us and receive answers to the age-old questions that nearly everyone ponders at some point in their lives.  Who are we?  Where did we come from?  Why are we here? Where do we go when this life is over?  To learn more about why we build temples in our Church, you can turn to this link.  In addition, here are some Commonly Asked Questions about Temples: (taken from a handout at the Open House)

Q. What is the purpose of the temple?

A.  Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider the temple the house of the Lord.  Inside, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to serve Jesus Christ and other people.  In addition, they participate in ordinances such as baptism and eternal marriage for their deceased ancestors.

Q.  What is the inside of the temple like?

A.  The interior of the temple does not resemble a great hall or a cathedral.  Instead, it contains a number of rooms, each designed to accommodate certain ceremonies, such as marriage, baptism, and instructional sessions.  Church members participating in these ordinances change into simple, modest, white clothing.  The color white symbolizes purity and reverence.

Q.  Can the public see the inside of the temple?

A.  Yes.  After the temple is built, the general public is invited to an open house that usually runs several days.  At that open house the public can ask questions, and the different functions of the temple are explained.  The temple is then dedicated and open only to Church members in good standing.

Q.  What is the difference between a temple and a meetinghouse?

A.  Meetinghouses, or chapels, accommodate regular Sunday worship in addition to social and recreational activities.  Inside temples, faithful members participate in family-oriented ordinances both for themselves and on behalf of deceased ancestors.  These ordinances, performed only in the temple, make it possible for families to be united eternally.

As for me, going to the Kansas City Temple Open House with my own little family was a treasured experience in spite of the troubles and trials that surrounded it.  I am so grateful that my children were able to go inside and feel the beauty and peace around us.  After talking with each of them afterwards,  it was interesting to see which rooms were their favorite -- Ethan loved the baptistry, Grace really loved the first instructional room with its beautiful mural on the wall, and Sophie loved the Celestial Room where we were able to stay for a moment in silence before moving on to the next area.  My favorite room was the sealing room.  While inside I felt the Spirit so strongly.  Our family is forever.  Because Scott and I knelt across an altar to be married in the Salt Lake Temple nearly 10 years ago, we are bound and sealed for eternity.  Because of the covenants we made, each child in our family is sealed to us as well.  Our family is eternal because of the blessings of the temple and I am so, so grateful.  

20 April 2012

{The following links provide an outside perspective on the Temple Open House.  To see pictures from inside the temple you can check out this video from CNN and in this article from the Huffington Post an Episcopalian priest gives her take on the experience she had as she toured the Temple.}

Things Remembered

So, this weekend found us once again ON THE ROAD.  Are we gluttons for punishment, or what???  Hahaha.  This time it was for an opportunity we felt just couldn't be passed up -- the Kansas City Temple open house.  Our ward decided to plan a trip over there for all the Youth, and since Scott is the Young Men's president and was supposed to go with them, we decided to tagalong and make it a family affair!

The plan was to leave Thursday evening, check into a hotel for the night, and tour the temple the next morning.  Well, let me just say that it seemed as though the adversary was working overtime to keep us from going on this trip and it's a good thing we're not easily deterred!  Hahaha. Aside from the normal hustle and hassle of getting all of us ready to go, trying to clean out the car from our LAST road trip, and getting all our stuff packed for THIS trip, we also experienced the following setbacks:

Setback number one -- Grace.  Well, Grace's wipeout that is.  While riding a little tykes bike down the hill in front of our house {when she should have been packing up and getting ready to go} she wiped out hard and skinned up her knees pretty bad.  Which ended up taking quite a bit of time to get her cleaned up, consoled, and contributing once again to our departure preparations.  Okay, scratch that.  She never really contributed before the accident much less after.  Hahahaha.

Setback number two, you ask?  Oh, that would be Sophie.  Because apparently monkey see, monkey do.  Even when monkey number one limps outside to scream at you that you need to get off the bike so you don't hurt yourself like she did.  Apparently we have really strong-willed monkeys in our family, because Sophie didn't want to listen.  Grace had followed me upstairs to my room where I was helping Scott finish up our packing when she walked over to the window, looked outside, and informed us that Sophie had just wiped out, too.  Are you kidding me??  Let's just say that I had a bit of hard time feeling sorry for monkey number two when her accident was 100% preventable.  And in fact had been strongly discouraged and in fact, prohibited.  

From here on out, it just seemed as though everyone was moving slower than molasses and when we finally hit the road (for our 3 hour drive) it was almost 8.  In the end, the timing was probably for the best, as the settling darkness induced the 2 little ones to sleep and the borrowed DVD players were put to good use with the older kids choosing from amongst the newly checked out movies from the library. By the time we got to the hotel it was after 11, Jane had just woken up from a refreshing late evening nap, and all the kids were wired.  We had to divide into 2 rooms, and I apparently lucked out with my combination of Grace, Sophie, and Alex who all fell asleep pretty quickly a little after midnight.  Scott, on the other hand, took one for the team with Jane -- who didn't fall asleep until after 1 and then woke up a couple more times after that before morning.  {We've been experiencing quite a few night time issues with Jane, just in case you're wondering.}

The next morning got off to a good start -- mostly thanks to the free continental breakfast -- and we made our way over to the temple in plenty of time for the Open House.  The temple itself was BEAUTIFUL, and even though it had turned COLD and very windy and the kids were NOT a fan of that, they were fairly well-behaved throughout the morning, all things considered.  I think they really enjoyed the tour (or at least they did once they were inside and away from the elements) and I'm hoping that the memories and feelings from the experience will stay with them for a long, long time.

The Parkway Ward Youth plus some of the leaders and families.

After the temple tour we joined the youth once again for a trip to Liberty Jail, a nearby Church Historical Site where the prophet Joseph Smith was once held for several months along with other church leaders.  And here is where the perfect storm of a super late night plus our spirited children began to spew out and spatter everyone around us.  Grace was fairly embarrassing at the jail and while none of the children had to be dragged out kicking and screaming -- unlike our trip to Historical Kirtland from a couple of years ago -- we nonetheless decided it was time for our little family to part ways with the rest of the group.  This was made possible {fortunately} by the fact that none of the young men from our ward ended up going on the trip.  With no boys to help chaperone, Scott was able to bail from the group without feeling guilty and we were able to leave for home a LOT earlier than we were anticipating.  Which was a good thing.  After stopping a meltdown in its tracks by going to eat lunch, we were able to hit the road and travel in peace for MOST of the time until everything began unravelling with about 30 minutes left in our drive.  Grace was still the main culprit but rest assured that the others put their 2 cents in as well.

Most memorable exchanges of those final moments going home include:  Sophie wiping her ear wax on Grace; Grace whaling on Sophie almost non-stop;  Sophie cowering under her quilt in an attempt to buffer Grace's blows; Ethan intervening with a pounding or two; Grace shrieking crazily, "I'm going to kill you!!!!!"; Ethan responding, "You're going to pay for this!!!!!!"; Jane screaming for everyone to "STOP!!!!"; and finally Grace yelling, "I'm going to slap your face and shove a tack down your throat!!!!" to Scott when he was trying calm her down.  Apparently no sleep + hunger = very disgruntled children.  All-in-all it was a trip to remember -- although, for the record, I'm not going on any more road trips for a long, LONG time!

Flashback Friday -- A Day in the Life

Now here's something only my family members will find truly entertaining -- an email from my mom towards the end of my sophomore year at BYU dated Tuesday, 21 March 2000.  My sister Emily and I were already out at school, but the 5 younger ones were all still at home:

 A day in the life of mama

Woke up at 5:50 to take Sarah to seminary.  I sleep in my clothes, so all I need is to put on my shoes and we're out the door.  I guess you've heard we are back at it trying to get good attendance for the remainder of the year.  I walk around the neighborhood for the 45 min we are there.  When I get home, I clean up the house and take a shower.  I get laundry swapped and then sometimes fix breakfast then we leave for school.  Sarah was home this morning because test not until 1 pm.  I had to go by rendon's on the way to school for amy because she needed 3 fruits for class. we already had an apple, so we got a banana and orange.  she hadn't finished her homework because she misplaced it so she did it in the car whining for someone to find her something to write on...everyone ignored her, but I found a baby wipes carton to use as I neared short street.  Getting the picture by now????????????????

Dropped freddie and laura at their school while freddie teases laura about liking justin scott in the 2nd grade. (because they see him walking to school).  She denies it and he doesn't let up. Then we head to amy's school and traffic was backed up, so she gets out and walks about 1/2 a block....I think she likes that because it feels like she is walking to school and the crossing guard gets to stop traffic for her....I think she likes how she looks with her LLBean backack and paperbag of fruit in hand.

Well, next i go home to get jacob to school for 9 am --- Piece of cake compared to the previous 3 hours....although it did take a few minutes for him to get in the school because the freshly cut grass was too tempting for the little billy goat gruff (he gets on all fours and pretends to eat grass).  next i head for the Dept of Motor vehicles to get my license renewed (my bday is in a few days and it expires)...I was so fearful that there would be a long line, but there was not.  A lady and man came in behind me and wanted to get ahead because she said "he is an old man", so I let them.  I was a little worried about my eye test, but passed with flying colors.....actually, they only checked my right eye, which is my better eye....hooray.  I must say, my picture came out great considering my age and condition!!!

Next, I went home and asked sarah if she wanted to come with me to canal place to return a sweater set I had bought over the weekend.  she seemed delighted and we got to the counter at Casual Corner for the return and the lady pointed out that there was makeup on the under piece.  I was quite embarrassed and said that I would keep that piece, and she gave me a refund for the sweater top piece.  Next we looked at Laura Ashley and Ann Taylor.  I had a credit for about $17.00 there and sarah picked out a black t-shirt, with cuffed sleeves and small slits over the hips.  I only need to pay about $7.00 for it.  Cool.

That was about it and we left to go eat at NOLA.  Sarah ordered crawfish cake appetiser and I order shishkabobs  They gave us complimentary appetisers and when we were done even sent out a free huge banana cream cake.  yum.  Not bad, huh?

Next, it is time to take sarah out to ben franklin.  She studies on the way and says she has another 45 min in her homeroom to study for her history test.

By now it was time to pick up cutie jacob.  On the way, I see the Wherehouse Music store and remember that the girls are dying for the new nsync cd that came out today, so I figure that since I was in the hood there would be plenty left....sure enough, so i got one for the good price of $14.99.  Next the park.  Nice and fun for jacob.  Then after about 40 min its time to go.  We left and ran carpool.  jacob fell asleep before we got there.  Next stop, Plum Street Snowballs.  We were first in line and bought 3...holding 2 until we picked up the twins.  they were happy.  we headed home.  Listened to the 7 messages on the machine and began answering appling calls until sarah got home.  Helped amy study language arts for her exams tomorrow.  Ate leftover hamburger helper and now dad is home and going to take them swimming.  I will keep going with the laundry.  and cleaning.

how's that for a typical mama day

love ya,

yo mama 

Perhaps this will be my life in 10 years.  Hahahaha. (And for clarification's sake -- there are no twins in our family.  Freddie and Laura are only 18 months apart and always looked to be about the same age growing up.  Hence our affectionate nickname.)

Easter Redux

One of my favorite Easter traditions growing up was getting a new dress.  I don't know if we actually ALL got a new Easter dress every year -- after all there were 5 of us girls growing up -- but we must have gotten one often enough that I remember it as tradition.

In my own little family, the tradition has been kind of hit or miss.  BUT, this year I couldn't resist the allure of these beautiful little dresses.  And as Anne of Green Gables says, "It is ever so much easier to be good if your clothes are fashionable."

I love it when they take it upon themselves to "pose."  Hahahaha.

And when they almost strangle their baby sister. 

Who doesn't love a good twirl in a pretty dress?

Easter outfits for boys are CLEARLY not as pressing an issue for me seeing as to how Ethan's church clothes aren't even ironed much less CLEAN in these pictures.  And Alex has been sporting that look as his go-to church outfit for about three months now.  Hahahaha.  Oh well.  I don't think they care.  They probably would have all looked a little better if I had managed to snap the picture before church but that was not to be.  Even with an 11 o'clock start time, we still struggle to make it on time!

This is my favorite shot -- Scott had just pulled up in the driveway (we have to take 2 cars to church because he has meetings beforehand) and the little ones were so excited to see him get home.

Little Cinderella kept losing her shoe.  Probably because they are technically Sophie's and just a wee bit too big on her.

Scott's comment upon seeing all the pictures I took was that Ethan and Grace look like they're the proud parents of the three little ones in all the shots.  Hahahahaha.  They kind of do.  

This is Ethan's "are we done yet?" face.

I love how Grace and Sophie like to pose like they're BFFs when we all know that is not always the case.

Well, that's all folks.  Maybe next year I'll be on top of things enough to have them actually WEAR their Easter outfits on Easter morn itself.  Because you know what?  Anne Shirley just might be on to something -- the girls were remarkably good during sacrament meeting.  Of course, it didn't hurt that we told them they could earn 5 peace points apiece if they would just behave...

Hoppy Easter!

This year we threw together a last minute trip to Indiana for our 3 day weekend.  The kids (and Scott) get Good Friday off here, and since we haven't seen Kristin and Co. since LAST summer (before Alex was even born) we decided a visit was in order.  

I'd like to say that our recent travels to New Orleans have turned us into professional road trippers, but that is most definitely not the case.  And even though this trip was shorter by half, we still endured many trials and tribulations as we crammed all 7 of us plus our stuff into the mountaineer for our 5 hour drive.  On the Thursday before Easter, I checked the kids out of school a bit early, loaded everything up in the car,  and picked Scott up from work on our way out of town.  Thirty minutes later and we were already stopping for food.  And gas.  Because that's how we roll.  Hahahaha.  It was mostly because the kids were already freaking out and bugging each other, wanting to eat, and needing to use the bathroom, but it was also because a new seating arrangement was in order.  Things weren't exactly working with Ethan and Jane flanking the baby in the middle row of seats.  Jane kept trying to hit him and take away his snacks and Ethan can't handle the noise when Alex starts to fuss.  I decided that I couldn't handle listening to Ethan yell at the baby to stop crying and be quiet for the rest of the drive, so we switched Jane's and Grace's seats and solved most of our problems while managing to make the trip in our allotted time frame.  

The kids -- as always -- had a BLAST with their cousins, staying up until midnight (or later) almost every night and overloading on candy and electronics (they really had fun playing Just Dance on the Wii), and jumping on the trampoline.  We had an Easter Egg Hunt in the backyard on Saturday which jump-started the sugar consumption while providing an outlet for fun and festivities.

 

The 6 younger ones. I love Jane's expression here.

Easter Egg Hunting.

Jane needed a little trampoline break.

The 4 older boys humored the younger ones by coming outside during the Hunt.  They also humored them on MORE than one occasion by bouncing them on the trampoline.  They were VERY good sports.

Sunday morning dawned bright and SUPER early no thanks to my 2 little ones.  Alex and Jane's night waking habits slowly but surely evolved over the course of our stay until the last night we were there one or both of them were up almost the whole night long.  Fun times -- luckily Scott was the one driving home and not me!

Since I knew that the kids would be stuffing their clothes in their backpacks for the trip, and I knew that Kristin's ward meets at 9 rather than 11, I decided to save the new Easter outfits and the obligatory photo op for the next Sunday when we'd be at home and theoretically have a little more time in the morning.  I think it was a good call on my part.  The kids managed to ransack their Easter baskets before church and after getting everyone ready to go we made it in one piece even if we were just a tad late.   After church we let the kids play for a little bit longer until we finally had to hit the road.  Within 30 minutes, every single one of them had crashed hard and fallen fast asleep.  It made for quite a peaceful Sabbath drive for about an hour or so.   Hahahaha.

It's taken a full week, but I think the older ones are finally starting to get back on schedule -- at least with bedtime.  Unfortunately for me, the little ones are still having issues.   Just last night Alex woke up around midnight which then woke Jane up who didn't fall back asleep until after 3 in the morning.  Aaaaahhhhh!  Aside from the bedtime problems, we're finally making progress with our ongoing "Love at Home" initiative.  After seeing how much the kids loved the trampoline at the cousins' house, we decided we're going to finally bite the bullet and get one for our yard once the kids earn 400 "Peace Points."  They can get points for pretty much anything -- being kind, helping out, doing their chores, staying in bed at bedtime, brushing their teeth -- so long as it contributes to the love and peace in our home.  They can also get points taken away for things that decrease the peace -- such as yelling, screaming, fighting with each other, disobedience, etc.  So far it's working much better than expected.  Hahaha.  At the end of each day we add the day's tally to the grand total where it is then safe and sound from having any points detracted.  Ethan is very particular about that stipulation.  It's only been a week and we're already almost a quarter of the way there!  At this rate we should be able to get one just in time for summer vacation.  It's amazing the way I've manipulated the system into perfect timing, isn't it?  Hahahahaha.  Once the trampline is earned, we'll just have to see what else I can come up with to bribe my children into good behavior...

Updated Addendum:

Apparently I also need to come up with a way to bribe myself into better parenting.  While trying to finish up this post about 20 minutes ago, I made Sophie -- the child who is allergic to all dairy -- fix a bottle of milk for Jane.  Well, let's just say it didn't end well for poor little Soph.  She spilled milk on her dress which got on her stomach which caused her to break out in hives.  THEN when I told her to go and wash her skin off before putting on some hydrocortizone, she got soap in her eyes and is now a burning, itching, crying mess.  I am not always the best mother.  Just to let you know.

Another update:

It is now after 10 o'clock and Sophie has been freaking out off and on for the better part of the last 6 hours.  And while she is a bit of a drama queen, her eye is legitimately hurting.  And here are some pictures to prove it.  :(   I just might give the doctor a call in the morning if she is still complaining.

Do you like how stylish she still likes to make herself look even when it's bed time and even when she's in excruciating pain?  Hahahaha.  Poor little super muppet.