A "Mother's Day" to Remember...

So this last Sunday was "Mother's Day" & I was pretty worried beforehand that it was going to be a disappointing day... Mainly because I already knew beforehand that I was going to feel sick BECAUSE I am a Mother (we're expecting Baby #4!) & because Laron had to work that day, so I knew I wasn't going to be receiving any extra special treatment or anything.  And so, it kinda felt like I was being set-up for a lousy "Mother's Day," before the day had even begun.  But surprisingly, it turned out to be QUITE the opposite...

The week BEFORE "Mother's Day," Laron randomly surprised me one day by leaving me flowers on the table & a note that said, "Happy Mother's Day!"  So I figured that that was his way of apologizing beforehand that he wouldn't be there on the day OF "Mother's Day."  And then, a few days later, he ended up buying me 2 tan benches to put on our back porch which I've been wanting, which have been SO nice to have with feeling sick lately... Because on the days where I feel like all I've done is lay on the couch throwing up all day, at least at some point in the day I can go sit on the back porch in the sunshine & feel a little revived to be getting "out of the house" a little & enjoying some fresh air!  What perfect timing those benches have been!  It's AMAZING how a little fresh air can boost your spirits after being sick for weeks on end!

So "Mother's Day" morning came & I felt sick, as usual.  But the first thing I saw when I opened the front blinds that morning was that our Iris' in the front yard finally opened up today!  We've been expecting them to bloom ALL this past week, so I felt like that was my "Mother's Day" present from Heavenly Father that morning that they didn't bloom until TODAY, which started my day off with a smile!  A small little detail, but definitely a tender mercy from the Lord!

About 5 minutes later I threw-up & as I sat there in front of the toilet a few minutes later, I remember thinking, "Well, things can only get better from here!" (I usually only throw-up ONCE per morning).  And that was kind-of the pivotal moment of my day... When I just DECIDED that today was going to be a GOOD day, despite it's many limitations & imperfections.

After breakfast, me & the kids decided that it was too beautiful of a morning not to be outside, so I went outside & sat on my new bench out in the sunshine on the grass & wrote in my journal while I watched the kids giggling & playing all around the yard in their pajamas.  We stayed outside WAY too long, but the fresh air & the sunshine seemed to help start ALL of our days off good.  Right before I started thinking that we'd better go inside & get ready for church, our Home Teacher (Bro. Christensen) showed up with a "Mother's Day" treat for me.  I was a little embarrassed to be caught outside in the backyard with all of us still in our pajamas, but it was very touching to have someone think of me on a day I wasn't expecting them to!

When we finally got inside & looked at the clock, I realized that I only had an HOUR to get all of us ready for church & to feed everyone lunch.  I knew that that was probably cutting it too close, but I still tried my best.  The closer it got to church time, the more I realized that we were definitely going to be late!  Normally, that thought would really stress me out & I'd be snappy with the kids, telling them to "Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!" & we'd all arrive at church frazzled & grumpy because Mom had been yelling.  But today, Heavenly Father helped me keep a better perspective on things & I thought to myself, "So I guess we're going to be late... Who cares.  It's not worth ruining the day over it."  And so we got to church late, but we got to church happy & without any yelling, which actually made church even MORE enjoyable that day!

The 2 final blessings of my "Mother's Day" this year was that I had the day-off of my calling at church that day (the priesthood brethren take over all the women's callings, so they can have a day-off for "Mother's Day"!) & that my Dad had invited us over for a nice "Mother's Day" dinner, so I didn't even have to cook dinner (or even SMELL it being cooked, which is one of the worst parts lately with feeling nauseous)!

So anyway, all-in-all, it was a really great "Mother's Day," contrary to my very LOW expectations!  I have been SO blessed to be able to be a Mother to 3 beautiful children & one on the way.  How grateful I am for those who made me feel extra special on this very special day of the year!

New Animal Friends

So we've got a couple of really great fields off to the side of our house (which we LOVE!), which off & on seem to have ANIMALS in them.  The field that's kiddy-corner to our house currently has a Llama & 2 baby Goats, which are pretty fun to watch, but the other field has been EMPTY for a few months... Until this last week that is!  The kids were SUPER excited to wake up to a new Horse & Donkey, just right across the fence from us one morning.  They hardly have wanted to EAT for the last few days, because they keep going back & forth from the table to the sliding glass door to "check on the animals" & see where they're at.

Their favorite has definitely been the DONKEY though!  The horse kind-of seems to ignore them for the most part, but the donkey seems to really ENJOY their doting attention: being hand-fed grass & getting petted.  And actually, he's JUST the right size for the kids to be able to reach him PERFECTLY, so it's been fun.  EVERY day, the kids have got to go out & check on the animals & make sure that they're okay!  It makes me thankful to have fields next door to us, because then they can have this awesome animal-interaction that I think is so great for kids, but then WE aren't the ones who have to buy them or feed them or take care of them!  It's the PERFECT way to have a PET, as far as I am concerned!  So a big thank-you needs to go out to my neighbors, for providing my children with these cool animal experiences & for saving me the hassle, or headache, or commitment of actually OWNING an animal myself!  :)

Spring Break Fun

Spring Break this year was pretty low-key around here... Skyler kept asking us what we were doing because he'd heard of all the exciting things his classmates at school were doing (like going to St. George or Disneyland or something), but I ended up feeling pretty sick that week, so we just mainly stayed around here.  But there was one place that we'd been wanting to take the kids to for awhile, so on one of my better-days, we headed off to the "Treehouse Museum" in Ogden.

It was pretty crowded when we got there because there were a bunch of school groups on a Field-Trip there that day, but other than that it was a fun place to explore & run free (although keeping TRACK of all 3 kids amongst all the school-kids running around was a little bit of a challenge!).

All-in-all, I think it was a fun afternoon spent with the family.  Our favorite part was probably actually the PLAY that we got to watch with kids from the audience being able to come up on stage & dress up as some of the characters.  The kids were disappointed that THEY weren't picked, but it was fun to watch!

So yay for a simple, yet fun "Spring Break"!  I think the BEST part was just having our WHOLE family home together again for a week (it happened to also be Laron's week off of work too, so that was nice!).  Sometimes I forget how nice it was just hanging around the house all day as a family before Skyler started school.  What great kids we've got!  It's fun just watching them smile & have a good time!

A Campfire in April

Every year, once the weather gets warm enough, Skyler starts begging us to have a campfire in the garden & roast hot-dogs & marshmallows.  He loves the excitement of having a fire & eating yummy food, and I love making fun family memories, without having to drive somewhere far away & worrying about what items I may have forgotten to bring.  So either way you look at it, it's always a win/win situation, once we actually get around to DOING it!

And as always, EVERYONE had a GREAT time!  It's nights like these that you wonder why us parent's try so hard & spend so much money trying to come up with OTHER exciting fun family outings, when some of the funnest memories can be made right in your own backyard!

April Fool's Day

So way back when I was a kid, there was ONE certain "April Fool's Day" that seems to stick out in my mind & so I've always wanted to do the same thing for MY kids someday, when they were old enough to appreciate it.  So this year seemed to be the year...

I remember waking up to our furniture being all CRAZY... The kitchen table was overturned, the couches made a crazy MAZE through the living room & everything just seemed to be in disarray.  I'm sure my Dad had fun that night!  But it was just as fun for us kids to wake-up & explore our new house of craziness!  I knew I couldn't move ALL the furniture all around, so instead I just tried flipping the kitchen table upside-down & having the chairs crazy all over the floor.  And although my kids were shocked & surprised by the change, they unfortunately didn't seem to have the same enthusiasm as I remember having as a kid.

The next thing I remember as a kid was that we had dessert for breakfast & breakfast for dinner, so we tried that out as well.  The kids were pretty excited about eating ice-cream for breakfast, but I still think that they just thought Mom was going a little crazy.  I didn't hear any COMPLAINING about our yummy breakfast though, so I think they liked it anyways!  And then for dinner we had breakfast foods, which honestly wasn't that DIFFERENT of an event, because let's face it, pancakes end up being a last-minute dinner food more often than I'd like them to.

Overall, I think the kids had a good day, but for all my EXCITEMENT about finally doing an "April Fool's Day" memory that I remember LOVING, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a more exciting day for them... I guess I'll just have to get a little more creative NEXT year, but until then, "Happy April Fool's Day!"

Easter

Easter this year was fun with the kids... Everyone was old enough to go hunt after their own eggs, although we had to help Bailey try to GET to the eggs before all the big-kids found them all!  Our first Easter-Egg Hunt of the year was the week before Easter & one that our widowed next-door-neighbor MaryAnn Jones invited us to, which was fun (we were kind-of her fill-in grandkids for the event!).  But it was a REALLY cold morning, so the kids didn't last too long.

The NEXT weekend we went to Grandma & Papa's house (MY parents) & did a little Easter-Egg Hunt out in their backyard.  The weather was a little warmer & they didn't have quite as much outside-competition trying to grab eggs before them, so I think they enjoyed THIS one a little better!

And as always, going THROUGH all your Easter-Eggs & seeing what candy is hidden within is usually one of the funnest parts!  Later that afternoon, we drove to Bountiful to do another Easter-Egg Hunt at my Grandpa Erickson's house.  The kids certainly didn't seem to mind doing yet ANOTHER Easter-Egg Hunt!

Easter morning the kids were THRILLED to have to search all over the Basement for their Easter-baskets & they were even MORE excited to see what little surprises awaited them INSIDE of them!

The beautiful Spring flowers coming up always make Easter seem extra special & fresh for ME too... We have SO many amazing blessing all around us!  That night we also had a special Easter Dinner, full of different things representing foods that Christ might have eaten when He was alive.  This was an idea that I read about in a book entitled, "A Christ-Centered Easter" & has given us lots of fun, simple ideas over the past week to do with the kids to remind us all about the TRUE meaning of Easter.  And with all the Easter-Egg hunts the kids have done this year, I think we NEEDED a little reminding!  :)

Our final Easter excitement for the year was coloring Easter Eggs with the kids... I'm actually not sure that we've actually gotten around to DOING that with the kids many other times before, so they were excited to be doing something new & fun!  Kind-of a simple tradition, which always makes for a fun night of family memories!

Well, Happy Easter Everyone!

St. Patrick's Day

For some reason, St. Patrick's Day has become a pretty fun holiday around here... Skyler & Kimberly were old enough to come up with their OWN idea for a trap to build to catch the Leprechaun, so it was fun to see their little minds planning it out & putting it together.

But of course Leprechauns don't LIKE it when the kids try to trap them, so they messed up both of the kids rooms pretty good.  Kimberly was especially disappointed that HER room got messed up, because SHE hadn't put a trap in HER room, so she thought the Leprechaun would only bother SKYLER, but of course, those Leprechauns aren't always the most predictable of little guys...

For breakfast we just had cereal, but the kids were AMAZED when their milk started turning GREEN!  Those tricky Leprechauns!  But soon afterward they found a yummy green snack that the Leprechaun had left for them (green marshmallows & green kool-aid),  so they quickly forgot about being upset about their messy rooms!

St. Patrick's Day was on a Sunday this year, so I was a little worried about us all having CHURCH-clothes that had green on them, but somehow we all managed.  But even though Skyler DID have a tie that was green, he decided instead this year that he wanted to be TRICKY & wear green in a place that not everyone could see, so he just wore some green-striped socks this year & was hopeful that someone would pinch him so he could pinch them back 10 times!  But unfortunately, only one person questioned him about it (an adult) & pinched him, but then Skyler said he was too embarrassed to pinch them back anyways... Funny kid :)

Right before church we all ate a yummy GREEN lunch of green jello, green yogurt, green apples, green cucumbers, green kool-aid & green cookies, so we all left for church with quite satisfied little bellies!  It's always fun to do something a little different & a little special for a fun holiday at home with the kids!  Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Laron's Regional Basketball Game

 So our ward made it to the Regional Basketball Games this year, which Laron was pretty excited about!  They've had plenty of good skill & good turn-out every game too, which always helps.  The kids always ask if they can go watch Daddy play Basketball, but unfortunately, most of the games have been too late for getting kids to bed at a very decent hour, so we hadn't watched too many this year.  But the Regional game was a little earlier & a little more exciting, so we finally decided it was time to go cheer on our Daddy & watch him play the Basketball he loves...

The kids were excited to be in the stands as they watched Dad run back & forth dribbling the basketball & making a few baskets.  And then they got distracted with playing with the other kids.  And I got distracted talking with the other women there, of course, so we missed a few important plays of the game apparently.  Because shortly after half-time, suddenly everyone seemed annoyed as the umpire abruptly said the game was over & declared Laron's team to be the winners (even though they were down a few points at the time).

I still don't quite understand what all happened, but basically the other team got too many technicals or something (& at CHURCH-ball, they REALLY try to emphasize good sportsmanship & stuff!), so as soon as the other team reached the allotted amount of "too many," it was declared that the game was over & that was that.  I could tell as all us wives congratulated our husbands for winning the game, that they were disappointed in not having been able to play through to the end of the game & winning it fair & square, but I honestly was proud of them all for being good, honest, rule-keeping players the whole time instead of pushing the limits & being sassy & using bad language, just because they were getting a little competitive.  So congratulations to Laron & the rest of the team, for being more than just good Basketball players... You will always be winners in MY book!