Oh No! Not a Tag!!

I have never done a tag before, but I thought this photo tag was cool. I thought it would be so fun to look at this years from now to remember what things were like at this time in my life and what better way to capture that than looking at things in your home (regardless the condition they are in).


#1 My Favorite Room

This is a no brainer! My front room for lots of reasons. It is the place we spend time together as a family. We read here, do homework here, have FHE here, I chill here, the red walls remind me of a sleepless night when B and I painted each brick individually, and it's the first room you see when you come to visit (so it's usually picked up and tidy!!) I Love this room!





#2 What are my kids doing right now?


Luckily at this percise moment they aren't fighting or messing things up! S was playing with Baby on the rug in the front room while K was getting a little dose of Nickelodeon on my bed.










#3 My Closet


Oh, this one is scary. It's small, its packed, its just plain SCARY! No, I will never have a closet like the ones on CRIBS. I have just come to accept it!




#4 My Favorite Shoes

For sure my Reef flip flops I got in Hawaii. They are perfect all the time. The only ones I reach for every day! So why do I have like 20 other pair?

#5 Laundry Room

As I like to call it, My Catch-All room! I'm not proud of it. Please tell me everyone has a room like this!



#6 Guest Bathroom


This room also doubles as my daughters bathroom so threre is usually a plethora of hair styling tools and products on the counter. Aren't pictures of toilets funny! ( I think I've been hanging around my 6-year-old son way too much!)

#7 Kitchen Sink

Really not much to say, its a sink, woohoo!





#8 The Refridgerator

This one scares me to death. Look at this monster! No matter how much I clean it out, it's still full!!




#9 Self Portrait

I hate these things, but oh wells, here goes! (I hope I don't get fat face!)


So, for whoever wants to do this tag, do it. I'm not gonna ask someone to. The only rule is that you can't tidy up before you take the picture. Grab your camera now and start shootin!

With a Thankful Heart

When the weather cools and this time of year approaches, like many, I begin to think about the things I am most grateful for in my life. And like so many others, I have too many things to count. A husband who is my best friend and eternal companion, 4 truly amazing children, and much much more, but it is my mom that has been on my mind lately. It has been a truly difficult couple of months for her and I am thankful to have her in my life and I am grateful for the many life lessons she has taught me.

Two months ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer after a lumpectomy. What woman doesn't know a lot about breast cancer these days? It was just breast cancer awareness month and it seems like everywhere you turn there are articles and new findings about the disease. I myself had a scare in my early twenties. But when you find out someone so close to you has it, its difficult to process. When I first heard the news, my first response was "O.K., well, take it out. Lets get rid of this thing." I didn't want to believe that it was what it was. I was scared. I couldn't entertain the idea that something so horrible had it's grip on my mother. After the second surgery, the doctor told my mother that no cancer was found in the lymph nodes, but there were still cancer cells left in the breast, good and bad news. During these weeks of uncertainty I can't imagine the stress my mother endured. Working part time, dealing with little to no sleep, battling effects of a head injury from years ago, helping my father with his health issues, and now the uncertainty of breast cancer. She like usual handled it beautifully.

I am grateful for a mother who is so strong. She handles even the hardest of lifes trials with dignity and grace. I am grateful for a mother who is compassionate. She gives all she can to everyone and anyone many times leaving herself without. I am grateful to her for teaching me to find joy in doing a job well and for always being my biggest fan. When I am discouraged with life, parenting and feeling like I am just not quite measuring up, her words are encouraging and hopeful. She is an inspiration in my life. She is now in her second week of radiation therapy and she is feeling the wear of such a treatment, but she continues to handle it beautifully. I see that she is tired, not only from the treatments, but from the emotional burden she is carrying, but that doesn't stop her from playing with her grandkids. She is that Nana you go to because you know that she loves you with all her heart, and that is the best kind of grandparent any kid could ask for. She is a remarkable woman and I am proud to call her my mother.

So, this story has a happy ending. Her doctor feels that the radiation therapy will be very successful because she was diligent about mammograms and the cancer was caught early enough. She will have a few difficult weeks ahead of her, but in the end, I am confident that she is going to kick the cancer. This disease picked the wrong woman to mess with! So, with my heart full of Thanksgiving, I say thank you mom, thank you for so many things. I am thankful to have a mother like you. I love you.

It's Just a Hermit Crab! (for cryin out loud!)

So, last week we had a little incident in our home that ended up being a pretty emotional event (for some) around here. S got a really cool Batman Hermit crab for his birthday and believe it or not, it became a pretty cool little pet. S would bring him out and let him crawl around the house while he played and it was a very big, very cool crab. Well, he took it out and it was walking around the kitchen and I had to run Saxon to a play date. Well on my way there I realized that Hermie was still out. I figured he would just crawl around and no harm would befall him, Boy was I wrong. Hermie decided to crawl through the posts of the banister and down he tumbled to the basement. When we got home we found an empty Batman shell and a sad little Hermit crab hiding behind the door. It was obvious he did not fair well on his trip. We helped him back into his terrarium where he spent the last few hours of his life. Yes, I know, its just a hermit crab, but this being our first pet to pass away, it was a big event. S really didn't care and he was already excited to pick out a new one, but K on the other hand cried most of the night saying things like, "He was a good crab wasn't he?" and "Do crabs go to heaven?" Yes, it was a very emotional night indeed. We put little Hermie in a Spongebob Gogurt box and said our last goodbyes to a very cool little crab.

Yes, we did get a new crab and he's not quite the same. Hermie was the size of an apple and very impressive and the new crab that Saxon HAD to have is about the size of an almond. Not as cool, but hey, S loves him! So, yes, there is a happy ending to the sad sad crab story. Moral of the story, When you have crabs, make sure you know where they are at all times!!

(ha, ha!)

So Much Has Happened!!

"Partial" Family Photo at V's baptism!

Squirt!

Indiana!

Yoda!

Dead Ballerina!

Grandpa taking the girls out to the "haunted garden"

My kids on a hike up at Snowbird!

My favorite! Here we are posing for a picture, completely unaware that my 4-year-old is climbing over the edge of this lookout. Oh it's only about a 50 foot drop to certain death!! But hey! I need to smile for this picture so who cares! Yea, did I mention I am mother of the year?

I can't believe how crazy-busy things have been for us. It's been awhile since I last posted, so I guess it is kinda my fault. With my Iphone I do a lot of checking up, but not a lot of posting. This is the first time I have even touched my home computer since my last post. Well, where to start? We took the family up to Snowbird for a family retreat. That pretty much means that we went up there and did nothing but hang out. We hiked, swam, played, ate, read books, and watched movies. Our cars didn't move for the entire time. We did nothing and it was WONDERFUL! We have decided to do a retreat every year. Vacations are nice, but you end up GO GO GOING and never get a chance just to hang out together with out planning the next move. So it was fabulous! I even got to take yoga classes everyday including one taught by a very dear old friend. Thanks Kristen!

Then the whole Halloween thing happened! Bryces parents had the whole family over for a haunted treasure hunt and it was awesome! Grandpa paraded the kids around the backyard and told ghost stories. With the help of the older kids, ghosts and gouls came to life and thats when the screams arose. It was so fun and the kids were scared to death!! We were all having a blast! These are the kind of things that kids remember. I am so glad that grandpa put this on and I hope it becomes a tradition. K LOVES to get spooked, V hates it, and S THINKS he likes it, but when it comes down to it, he gets pretty scared!

Halloween night went as usual. Get dressed up, meet up with all the cousins and GET CANDY. What more is there to say? V was a dead dancer, K was Indiana Jones, S was Yoda, and C was Squirt (turtle from Nemo). Yea, they were all pretty cute I think!

Then next morning, bright and early was V's baptism. What a wonderful day that was! Everything was perfect and we couldn't be more excited for her. She is such and amazing daughter and I couldn't be more proud of her. I am so lucky to have her!

So those are the updates on our fam. I love this time of year! The weather, the holidays, the feeling in the air, It is by far my favorite season. I woke up this morning to Christmas music (yes, my husband is a Christmas JUNKIE) I can't believe it is already here. Things only get crazier from this point on. The funny thing is, things never stop being crazy do they? I think Ferris said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and awhile, you could miss it!" Amen Ferris, amen.