Scrabble tile wall

It's done!

BYU Vocal Point

Becky and Rob asked us to go to the BYU Vocal Point concert up at Thanksgiving Point.

IT WAS SO AWESOME! I knew it would be because we all love the movie Pitch Perfect and who doesn't love a bunch of guys who have amazing voices singing and dancing around?

We first went to dinner at Johnny Rockets which really just made my whole week just thinking about it. It brought back such fun memories from High School with all of my friends. I literally have not eaten there since then and it was JUST THE SAME! I wish the one back home was still open so we could eat there sometime.

The concert was so fun.

I can't even count how many times I got goosebumps.

I loved how they sang hymns and that I totally felt the Spirit.

I so want to go see them again and maybe even take the kids. I know they would love it too.

I love these awesome kids Becky and Rob and that its so fun to hang out with them.

Yay for great friends!!

Haircuts

This is how we do hair cuts around here.

All the mess in the sink and then a hose down for Kasen right after.

He is so stinking cute and so sweet to just stand there so still.

I love having a boy!

Chloe funnies

This morning on our drive to school we were listening to "Do you want to build a snowman?" off the "Frozen" soundtrack.

I think that part of the movie is so sad how the younger sister just wants to play with her older sister and doesn't know why she is always told to go away.

So I said "This song makes me so sad, I think I'm gonna cry".

Chloe says from the back of the van:

"Go ahead, I won't judge"

Just like that.

I was dying.

I love that kid.

Goodbye purple kitchen

So you know when you finally decide you don't like something and in fact to have to stare at it every single day makes you crazy and hate it that much more??

That is my kitchen.

And I CAN NOT STAND LOOKING AT IT ANY LONGER!!!!

I need a change, something light and airy, something FRESH.

None of that was going to happen with this purple backsplash.

IT IS PURE TORTURE TO REMOVE IT!

One by one those tiny mosaic tiles come off, one by one.

THERE MUST BE A MILLION OF THEM!!

My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, my arms are cut up from the tiny slivers of glass everywhere, my hands have blisters and my wrists feel broken.

After 12 hours of chipping away, with my children fending for themselves and one crying baby at my feet, I am 20 min away from being tile free.

I think I might save the little patch I have left for TJ so he can feel as awesome as I do.

It will still be a long road to get the kitchen to where I want it to be but the good news, 

I started! And there is no going back.

(This is what Kasen does while I'm busy)

St George Half Marathon

I am so proud of TJ!

For training in 0 degrees, running at midnight and never giving up.

He had a great run and he didn't even need a couple days to say if he would do one again...it was like 20 min after.

The weather was beautiful, I just wish the kids would have been able to enjoy it.

They were all feeling pretty crappy.

Kasen threw up on the way down all over himself and the car seat.

He couldn't stop coughing and I couldn't wipe his nose fast enough.

We got in late that night. 

We planned on staying at the house but when Tj talked to his dad on the phone on the way down and found out it was being remodeled and that half the house was torn up (not cool for a curious toddler). We would all have to sleep in the tiny wood floor room. Not enough room for a pack n play and all the girls on the floor.

We stayed in a hotel last min.

Tj took the kids out to eat at 9:30pm with his friends who he was running with. I stayed to put Kasen to sleep in a quiet room.

By the time they got home and into bed it was after 10.

Tallie and Kasen coughed all night. My back was so sore and I couldn't get warm.

Everyone was awake at 6:00am because of Kasen crying. It was nice the race didn't start until 9Am. I had to drop Tj off at 8 and so after I took TJs friends daughter with us (so she didn't have to hang out solo) to breakfast. While standing in line at Mcdonald's, Kasen threw up all over me and him. I cleaned up and still ordered food because the kids were starving. Everyone kept starring at me because I had 5 kids with me. One being 12 and everyone thought they were all mine, which wasn't bad, it was just that this girl was my height and looks older.

I found the closest store that was open, Kmart, since Kasen was out of clothes. I bought some ugly clothes (thats all they had) and then went back to the hotel to change myself. Then we headed back to the finish line to wait for TJ. I found one of the guys wife and her twins right away so it was nice to chat while we waited. 

After we all went to lunch. I really like the people TJ works with and I'm hoping that we all hang out some time. Jamie and Kendall are really fun people and easy to talk to.

We thought we might hang around and play at the park but the kids were all freezing (it was 55 degrees, summer compared to 25) which is how I knew they weren't feeling well. Tallie hadn't eaten all day and Lexi's throat was raw.

We drove home right after lunch. 

Since we have been home, Tallie has been on the couch crying with a stomach ache and headache and body aches. 

Chloe seems to be okay and isn't sick and will prob still go to church tomorrow with TJ. We don't want her to miss a beat with primary since she is now going!!

TJ got my fuel fired for racing, which I so needed. I can't wait for race season!!

It's almost as fun to watch someone you love cross the finish line as it is to cross it yourself.

Especially because you know the emotions that go with accomplishing something hard.

TJ is FINALLY HOME! 

And that same day we all went ice skating to celebrate Lexi's birthday as a family.

Lexi's 4th birthday!

I LOVE this little girl for so many reasons! 

She is my sunshine!

I am so blessed to have her as my daughter and that Heavenly Father saw me fit to be her mother. She brings such a sweet spirit into our home. She makes me laugh, makes me think, makes me play, makes me read, makes me smile etc, etc, etc. She is so independent and is great at imaginary play with little figures or characters as she calls them. She keeps her self busy for hours playing with her toys and she loves to build with her legos (she loves the step by step instructions). Her favorite question lately is "How do you know?". She literally asks me that about everything. She is very outgoing and loves to play with friends and doesn't have a whole lot of fear like the other girls. She is fine to leave my side and play at friends houses. She loves to talk and use big words to describe things. She loves to sing and twirl her hair.

She probably twirls her hair 90 percent of the day.

She is so sweet and is a great big sister to Kasen and is always keeping him out of trouble and letting me know when he is in the "hair aisle" (in the closet where I keep the broom there is lots of hair on the floor from haircuts). She really wanted a Tinkerbell cake (I am not a decorator). And when I asked if she wanted a friend party now that she was 4 she said no, only a family party. I feel like since Tj is gone for some of the birthdays we end up spoiling them and overdoing it and doing so much more. All Lexi wanted to do was go ice skating as a family and that will happen once Tj gets home but I also don't want her actual birthday to be lame so I took her on a breakfast date (thanks to my sister who took Kasen) and then once the girls were out of school I took them all to the Rec Center to swim and then cake and ice cream at home. Birthdays go on for more than one day around here. But I do feel like birthdays need to be special. They are important. It's the day they became apart of our family and that is HUGE! It's the one day a year that is all theirs to celebrate them and they look forward to it all year.

 We went to McDonald's for breakfast. It took us all of 20 min. She didn't want to stay and play.

 Cousins Jade and Brightyn came swimming. And I ran into Krissa Allen there. Every where I go there she is. Tallie and Mckailey actually played together. They never have. They were in the same primary class for a whole year and never said a word to each other. Now they want to play after school. It was nice to see them play but I wish she wasn't there because Chloe gets left out and just wants to play with her big sister. So I was bummed that Chloe didn't have as much fun as she would have.

Project #2...almost done

I cut 28 "tiles", sanded and stained them.

Now I just have to wait for TJ to get home to cut me out some vinyl letters for my scrabble wall.

This week has been pretty good. I kept myself together and the kids were pretty good (most of the time). Church was tricky, juggling the kids and my calling. I was pretty exhausted when I came home and my feet hurt from standing almost the entire 3 hours. Chloe has turned over a new leaf and decided that going to primary is a good thing and she goes willingly with a smile on her face every Sunday. Lexi, who cried all morning saying she didn't want to go back to be a Sunbeam, surprised me and sat with her class and didn't cry like last week. Kasen was good even though he was soooo sooo tired. Tallie is always good to go to class and a huge help after getting all the kids from their classes and holding Kasen while I get all my crap together.

Kasen passed out as soon as we got home and so did I after I made the kids lunch. Last night was long. I for some reason could not fall asleep until after midnight. I laid in bed all night with my brain running. At 2AM Chloe comes to tell me that Tallie was crying because her stomach hurt. It was so sweet of her to ask Tallie if she was ok when she heard her crying in her bed and asked if she wanted her to go get mom. I hate stomach aches because I don't feel like much helps to make it go away. She sipped on some Sprite, I rubbed Peppermint on her tummy (which helps but I like Dill better but couldn't find it), heated the rice bag and brought her up to sleep in my bed (I can't hear any crying or anything down in their room). Tallie tossed and turned for a while and finally was able to fall asleep. Chloe comes back up around 3 scared because she doesn't want to be downstairs alone. I made her a bed on my floor. I couldn't fall back asleep until after 4. Lexi was up yelling for me at 7. So a choppy night but it was nice that I got a nap after church. I am so very thankful that I am not a single parent or that TJ doesn't have to travel a ton. Being solo sucks and its really nice to have someone carry the load with you.

The kids didn't have school on Friday so Tessa and I took all the kids to Krispy Kreme to turn in their report cards for free donuts. For dinner I made pizza dough and Tessa came over again and all the kids made their own pizzas and we ate it by glowstick/candle light. We then had a late night and watched The Princess Bride (huge hit with the kids these days). Saturday we cleaned and Tallie was in one of her cleaning moods and was organizing and cleaning like crazy! I love those moods of hers where she doesn't want to stop and keeps asking me "What else?".

Tomorrow is Lexi's birthday. I can't believe she is turning 4! I wish that Tj was here to help celebrate with us. I know they are both sad about it. I'll try my best to make the day special though.

Only 2 more days until TJ gets home!!!

While TJ is away...Project #1

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

I have been wanting to frame my mirror for seriously 4 years! Not sure why it took me this long. Its really not that hard but FINALLY I did it! I gotta keep busy when TJ is gone so I don't go crazy and start pounding chocolate and loaves of bread so instead I go to Home Depot. I ran into Dave and Krissa there too, I'm pretty sure I run into them every time I go. I didn't tell TJ I was doing this so I'm sure he'll be happily surprised when he comes home. I have to say I'm pretty proud of it. Maybe one day I'll do the other bathroom mirror...(I forgot to take a before pic but I found this one from when I first painted the bathroom blue).

Little Loomers

Lately these girls think my bed is the place to be. 

While TJ was packing and getting ready to leave for a show for a week. the girls brought in their looms and set up shop on my bed. Tallie has been working on a jumprope which will most likely deplete her stock pile of bands, and Chloe is working on a belt. They keep telling me I need to YouTube some videos and teach them some new loops. Problem with that is I get hooked and spend all night looming myself.

Tj is now gone to California and the house feels so empty even thought there are still 5 of us here.

I'm hoping that monster mom doesn't come out this week and that it goes by smoothly.

Before TJ left he made me open the gun safe and rehearsed to me what to do should I need to. 

Its scary having a gun in the house but reassuring at the same time.

Before he left he gathered us all for a family prayer. We haven't done that in the past which seems so odd and crazy that we haven't. 

I just can't wait for him to come back.

I miss him already.

I'm pages away from finishing reading the "Matched" trilogy.

Took me under 3 weeks.

They are that good.

Now I need to take a reading break so my family is not neglected. 

I also forgot to mention in my Goals that I want to work on being a more present mom (goodbye books) and to be more playful and engaged with my kiddos. I want to laugh with them and try really really really hard not to yell.

Why is that so hard? I have really good kids.

Family/Personal Goals

2014 Family/Personal Goals:

Family-   -Read scriptures every night

              -Family prayer in the morning

              -Kid dates

              -Read books at bedtime

Dad-

Mom- Read Book of Mormon, personal prayer, write letters, beat 1:49

Tallie- Make bed in the morning, 5K, personal prayer, sew clothes, personal scripture study, Memorize Articles of Faith

Chloe- Make bed in the morning, 5K, personal Prayer, go to primary

Lexi-Ride a bike with no training wheels, learn sight words

Kasen-

We finally got together for Family Home Evening and set our goals for the year. I think the ones we set for the family are great and very doable. Sometimes we are great at reading our scriptures and other times not. I'm hoping this year we stay strong! We had started to say family prayers in the morning a while back but for some reason it is so hard to remember in the chaos of the morning. We plan to set an alarm on Tjs phone before he leaves for work to remind us. I really feel that morning prayer is super important. My family always did it growing up and it helped me throughout my day. Like I started the day with a shield on. Kid dates can be hard but so rewarding and we all love it so we hope to do more this year. Lately I feel like the TV has become the before bedtime tool to calm down for the night but books are a better choice and it used to be that way for a long time...but sometimes its so easy to just turn on the TV. TJ has yet to write his goals down. Tallie and Chloe's goals are similar but its what they each really want to work on. Lexi has already got some words down and Tallie is constantly trying to teach her more and more. As for myself, I want to read the Book of Mormon and I'm hoping to do it twice. I want to be better at my own personal prayers at night and really take the time to talk to my Heavenly Father. I want so bad to beat my best half time of 1:49. I have been wanting for a while now, is to let people in my life who I am so blessed to know know just how much I love them. There are so many great people that I have come to know, either from being neighbors, family,or their hair stylist, working with them in callings in church, people from high school, college or hair school. There are so many people that I love and I want them to know. So I thought I would write a couple letters a month. Because who doesn't want to know they are awesome and that someone loves them? Comparing to last years goals I accomplished some but not all. I did read the BOM and for a short time I did only check FB once a day. I didn't beat my goal time but I did run a marathon in great time so I'm counting that. I did not bear my testimony in church but that WILL happen this year. I learned a lot this past year and I learned a lot about my self. For one I turned 30 last year and I LOVE IT! I guess I have always viewed my self really young who looked even younger and I just felt like people didn't take me seriously or that I wasn't a good mom. I felt like a kid having kids and I never really felt like a grownup. Once I hit 30 it all changed. I feel like what I should have been feeling like all along. Probley makes no sense but I just love where I am in life. I have learned that I LOVE TO RUN and move and be active and feel alive. It's not just exercise but a mood. Its not that I just need to get my exercise in for the day, any time of the day but I need it done in the morning. Early morning. When everyone else sleeps and I have time to myself before the world awakes. I need to wake up on my own terms and not because my children are dragging me out of bed. I need to be done with ME when my kids wake up so I can focus on THEM. And not just focus on them but to focus the better part of me on them which is what running does. I love my own mom for teaching me the importance of exercise and treating our bodies with care and taking time for ourselves. I watched her from the time I can remember, go running and walking in the morning, lifting weights in the living room, being on the Nordiflex (remember that?!). She always said take an hour for yourself. Exercise, eat right, get dressed and ready for the day, no matter if you plan on not leaving the house, and then spend the rest of the day serving others. I love my mom for those lessons she taught me. I also learned this year that I need to do whats best for my family. I spent most of the year being somewhat bitter towards my family and health and oils and nutrition and everything that goes with it, even the stuff I believed. I kind of just threw it all out the window and went the other direction. I didn't want to have anything to do with what has made my family fall apart, weaken or strain relationships. I was watching and I felt what it was doing to us all and I didn't want it and I definitely didn't want that for my own family. So I took the things I had learned and stopped it all. I have watched my family become obsessed, angry, bitter, negative, even Superior because of the knowledge they had. I couldn't stand it. There was no balance or tact or loving but be littering and frowning upon. But over thanksgiving something changed. My sister Tandy asked me if I was organic or not? I guess I was confusing her as to what I was when she saw me feeding Kasen an organic squeezable fruit thingy. Apparently she thought I was living on preservatives and toxins. With TJ listening in the background I said to her. I'm in the middle. I have many things in my home that are natural and free of dyes and organic. There are also many things that are not. I do not plan to go one way all or nothing. I started to think about how I was 2 years ago. I was cooking more from scratch with raw, fresh ingredients, I was using natural products and doing my liver cleanse and putting oils on my kids feet nightly. I was shopping at Sprouts every other week ( which ironically I spent LESS money there than Walmart). I was staying away from dyes and making snacks and Popsicles and a lot more. I kinda fell off the wagon this past year. It made me realize that I like to be healthy and teaching and feeding my kids that way.  I like doing the natural remedies and making things at home. And I had a good balance. I wasn't nazi and we still went out to eat and ate candy and bought junk food. I wasn't angry at the world or the government for everything in life. But I let that all go because I was scared of going overboard and tearing my own family apart.  But in doing so I let go of some things that I really believe in and that I want in my life and my families life. I learned that I need to do what is best for my family and what I want to do. I can't go in the other direction because someone else has gone too far. I love my grandma Betty Jo because she was natural too. I can remember the homemade remedies she would use on me when I got sick. I loved that about her. I love Jolene Benson who is the same. Who has 9 kids all birthed at home. I was lucky to work with her in the Relief Society Pres for about 3 years. She looks just like my mom and reminds me of her so much and she did things for her family that she felt were right, not because the were a fad or trend, not because they were floating around Pinterest for everyone to see. She did many things that she just felt were right and good because she had the inspiration of just being a mother. I came to love her and I look up to her and would love to be a mother like her. So in short (before this becomes the longest post EVER), I want to be a good mom and if I want my kids to remember me as their mom who was semi-natural/organic then I need to BE it. I need to not focus on others and who I don't want to be, but I need to look at my own family and do what works for us. So yes this year I will be incorporating some of the things I used to do.

First Date of the year

Chloe was having a hard time going back to school after the long break we had. She woke up crying, not excited in any way to go back.

TJ, who has the magical powers of calming, was able to calm Chloe down and promised her a date as soon as he got home from work that night where he wanted to hear all about the her first day back. Chloe had something to look forward too all day (and of course had a good day, came home smiling). They went to McDonald's and then to SOS Drugstore for some LARGE ice cream cones.

Looks like we are starting the new year off right with getting our kid dates underway...

Sledding with cousins

On the last day of Christmas break Tessa asked us to go sledding. Only Tallie ended up going because Chloe did not want to go. Tallie had such a fun time and afterwards Tessa, being the awesome aunt she is, took the girls to Subway for lunch and then to BYU Creamery for some ice cream. I'm glad that Tallie got a fun day away from home, I just wish I could have too.

New Years Eve

New Years Eve we did a lot of playing with friends and being outside. Once Tj got home we went to our hole in the wall Chinese food joint that I seriously don't know how it stays open because it is so dirty and gross. It's funny because the kids don' even really eat the food but they look forward to going there every year. I think they just want the fortune cookies. We went to every Red Box after to get a movie but there was a line at every one so we went home and watched The Emperors New Groove. We let the kids stay up until 10 Pm and we ended the night drinking Martinelles. We had Chloe laughing so hard! I don't think I have ever seen her laugh so hard I thought her face might crack and I'm guessing it felt that way because in a split second she switched from laughing to crying! I have never seen such a change of emotion so quickly and from the complete opposite side of emotions. She said her face hurt so bad from laughing. They all went to bed happy and that was the best way to end the year. TJ and I went downstairs, watched a little TV, had a little us time (wink wink) and then I went to bed at 11:30. I know, how lame am I? I did fall asleep but then woke up to the sound of fireworks at 12:04 and was so mad because it was so loud. How can people celebrate at that late hour??? :) I am like a 90 year old. New years Day was great too. We all slept in, I got to run in the sun and TJ went to Ikea to get nightstands for our room and a dresser (which was sold out again) and after that he stopped by his parents house to help take down their Christmas trees because Bob's back was bad. It makes me sad to think they are getting older. They turn 70 this year. And although they don't seem to be that old, I have noticed in pictures that they are aging. I see a difference even within the last year. Enough about that because I don't want to think about it...WHILE Tj was gone, the girls and I cleaned up the garage so that when TJ got home he could finally park his car in the garage. The kids played outside all day, roller blading. It felt like a cold spring day and it was so nice to feel the sun on my face. TJ put the nightstands together and for the first time since we got married we feel like we are grownups with furniture in our room (thanks to my mom who gave us Ikea gift cards). I put up hooks in our closet for my jewelry and hats and scarfs and it feels nice to have an organized closet too. I wanted to go see the Ice Castles up Provo Canyon but since it was now a school night we decided to take baths and get to bed early instead. Darn school nights.
Some facts about 2013: Obama Care was passed, Iron Man 3 was the biggest at the box office, Red Sox won the world Series, Disney's Frozen was a huge hit, Gas is $2.95, Utah legalized Gay Marriage, the Boston Marathon was bombed, Instagram is huge, and Duck Dynasty is the best show ever!