Baby Shower Laughs.

I went to a baby shower for my friend Trisha. It was fun and we all had a couple good laughs. This was one of them!!

ballerina!

well i had originally signed the boys up for a class at the YMCA here in town, however that did not work out and so I had a credit that I wanted to use to do something for the kids. I saw that they had a little dance class called creative moment for 3-5 years old. I knew that this would be perfect for Briea. 

She always tells me that she wants to be a ballerina!

So Friday morning we got her all ready to go in her in dance outfit.

She was super excited. There are about 5 other little girls in her class.

 Briea is one of the younger girls. I think there is only one other 3 year old, but she did really well. 

For the first class, they stretched out and learned how to point their feet. They learned some technical stuff and then they put on their hula girl outfits!!

 the dance instructor, Ms. Beth, had some cute hula music for them to dance to. I don't remember exactly how it went, but it was super cute!

Ms. Beth has 5 children of her own and so she knows how to get little girls excited. At the end of each dance class, Ms. Beth picks a princess and she has a cd that has a different song for each one. They do a princess dance to end class. I am pretty sure this is B's favorite part. They put on their pretend crowns and dance around like princesses!!
I am posting some short little videos I took on my phone.
I just think they are so cute!!

into the city i go.

I had to go into chicago last friday night to have a sleep study done. I have not been sleeping well, and they wanted to see what was going on. I have to admit that I enjoy going into the city. I don't know that I would want to live there, but i do enjoy going in and being around all the activity and people. 

Anyways, I went in Friday night and tried to be the most cooperative patient I could be. Having a sleep study is not the most fun thing in the world. 

I did get some sleep but not a lot. 

They said that my problem is that I am not going through all the cycles of sleep. It seems that I never enter that really deep good sleep that we all need. I just seem to stay in the doze phase all night. That might explain why it feels like I never sleep. 

My doctor is supposed to call soon and let me know what they want to do. Hopefully it will equal feeling more rested soon!!

A day at the Park!!

On Monday we decided to go to the park for FHE! It was a gorgeous day and the kids needed to get out and just run for a while. I guess Garran and I did too, since we played just as much as the kids did!

Case in point. I think the got stuck due to his shoes slowing his sliding ability.

 Garran and Ayla. 

I just love pictures like this. 

My kids are lucky, they have a great dad. 

He loves and plays with them. Such a great guy!

 Here is a collage of all my littles hanging out. In case you are looking at the bottom right corner and wondering what Kael is doing, I am going to post that picture all by itself. 

 Garran and I could not stop laughing at this picture. What is he doing?? I guess he takes ridding that hippo pretty seriously. I think he is on a mission!

I am glad warmer weather is coming and playing out side will be happening more. 

Welcome Summer!!

Thanks Lisa!

I loved this and needed to see it. 

where am i??

let me just start by saying that yesterday was a very long day for me.

it was beyond stressful. i can't even begin to say. 

anyways. after a long day, i had to run some errands and meet some friends. 

while i was out, Garran asked me to stop and pick up some dinner for him since I was not going to be home. He had had a rough day and so I told him that I would get him some rice and beans. 

one of his favorites.

so i stop at office max and then i walked down to this little mexican restaurant.

I walk up to the counter and asked if I can place an order to go. 

The lady says sure. 

I tell her that I wanted an order of rice and beans. 

she looked at me kind of funny.

like i said it had been a long day, so i might have had just a little bit of attitude at this point.

i said again, "rice and beans!!"

she asked me what kind of rice. 

i thought to myself, what kind of rice?! the only kind you guys make! spanish rice or whatever the reddish rice is that every mexican restaurant in the world makes.

she then hands me the menu and asks me to select off of the menu. 

so i look at it. i guess reading through my frustration and i see...

chicken rice

beef rice

shrimp rice

I thought to myself....what kind of mexican place is this?!?! 

i was really getting frusterated. 

so I said.."i guess chicken rice!"

and then she asked me what else. 

so i repeat rather annoyed,

"beans!"

she looked at me like I was crazy. 

so i finally say...

"beans, you know like the mushed up beans that you serve?!?!"

she again looks puzzled!

as i am starting to see red, i realize it is because I am in a Chinese restaurant that has a bunch of red lanterns hanging from the ceiling. 

I look at the asian hostess with a blank stare.   

I realized that I looked at the menu on the door as I walked in.
I even thought...hmm that is odd that a mexican place has a buffet!

I just turned around and walked out. 

I think this might just be proof positive that I have officially lost my mind!

this kid

this kid does not get enough credit sometimes. he can be difficult at times. he can be very stubborn and can have a strong will. however, on the flip side of that is a very sweet boy who loves to be helpful. today he spent all day helping me clean with out hardly any complaints. 

i just love him and sometimes i don't think i say it enough!

oh dear

today we were shopping for birthday cards for an uncle and a grandpa. i was busy looking at cards when briea walks up and hands me this. she could not stop giggling. i could not stop laughing. oh dear. this little girl might just give us some trouble down the road!!

kael

yesterday i had kael's parent teacher conference. i was supposed to have it before easter but due to a scheduling mix up, i missed it. so i rescheduled it with his teacher because i obviously wanted to know how he was doing. 

he got nothing but praise. 

she said that he was well above the bench mark for learning. that he was already putting sounds of words together instead of just identifying the letters. she said he was more than ready for kindergarten. 

i love hearing things like that.

i love just as much hearing that he is doing well socially in his class and that he is being kind to other kids. i know that might sound silly but i really want my kids to be kind to others and to not pick on others. i am sure at some point they might say something mean... i mean i am sure they have said mean things before. but for the most parat they are good kids. I am happy to get good reports!!

Briea's Easter Message

I thought this was to cute not to post.

Happy Easter from Briea!!

trials

what you have missed...

if we were a tv show, this is what you would have missed if you had not been watching in the last couple of weeks.

 april 9th, kael lost his second tooth. 

this time he did not swallow it, so he was pretty excited.

 Briea got a hair cut!! When the stylist asked what we were doing, Briea said "please make me look like rapunzel". i thought it was super cute. 

and here is a mini collage of some of our easter. Lots of fun and grandparents visiting to boot!!

foto crazy

ok. so many of my friends have done this before, so since i am a photo junkie, i am too!

i am going to post one picture a day in kind of a photo journal for 365 days so it will end next year on my anniversary. I am excited to see what i come out with. there is a link on the top left hand side of my blog that you can click to follow my progress!! 

what can i say...I am addicted to taking pictures. 

8 years.

well 8 years ago..this was us!

we were so excited and had no idea what the future would hold.

 and here we are...8 years later.

4 kids

1 undergraduate degree and almost a graduate degree.

lots of laughter, good memories and even a few tears. 

8 years ago I made the best decision I could when it came to marriage. 

I married the perfect guy for me and my best friend. 

I look forward to the future with happiness and excitement and what is to come!!!

Easter!!

this year for Easter i had all sorts of fun things planned. 

first off, my in laws were here to visit.

so we were pretty excited about that.

of course we decided to dye Easter eggs.

 Briea looks a little skeptical....

 Everyone was working hard on their eggs.

 Everyone doing their different egg colors. 

 Grandma G wanted to try something different.

 We also tried this tie dye machine.

 It looks cool, but not that great. It really just mixes all the colors together.

 Guess who's egg this is?? 

Hmmm... Who loves a handsome man with those initials!!

ME ME ME!!

 here are all our finished eggs. 

so pretty right!!

next was the hunt for the Easter baskets. 

this year i made them work for it.

i took streamers and started at the front door. then i streamed them all through the inside and outside of the  house. they had to follow the streamer to find their baskets. 

Like i said we started at the front door. 

then they went up stairs.

they had to go up one side of their bunk bed and down the other. 

then back down stairs. 

 then around the living room and through the kitchen.

 out through the garage...

 around the cars...

 and some trees...

 back up around the house...

 oppss. we needed some help from grandma!!

 around the back of the house and the satellite.

then back through the back door. 

 then woo hoo!! they found them in a trash can!!

Happy Easter!!!

Later that night we did a night time Easter Egg hunt.

We gave the kids each flash lights and threw the eggs out in the backyard. 

the kids had fun running around looking for eggs in the dark. 

I only got this one picture of Cullan. I was to busy chatting to take to many others. 

This was Sunday morning before church. 

and.....

Grandma, Grandpa, and the KIddos!!!

We were so happy that Garran's parents were able to come and visit. We enjoy their company and the kids love to see them. 

We are also so thankful for this time of year and for the reminder it is of the atonement and resurrection.

that knowledge brings us comfort and peace.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter.  

being a mom.

*warning: this is coming from a sleep deprived mother of four, sick kids. *

ok. here is something i have been thinking about for a long time and i don't know why, but today is the day that i am going to say something. 

being a mom is HARD! 

there are rarely easy days. every day is different. every day poses new challenges. you never know how things are going to go when you wake up in the morning. each of your children are their own little people. just like us, they have emotions, feelings, and sometimes they wake up on the wrong side of the bed just like us!

they have a right to have those feelings. to have bad days and good.

so why is that if a mother complains, we are looked down upon. 

i am not talking about those women who complain constantly and do not ever seem grateful for their children/family. 

i am talking about all the good moms out there who work day in and day out to do the best that they can for their little ones.

i honestly do believe that being a mom is one of the toughest jobs on the face of the earth! you start to worry and care and do everything you possibly can for that little one from the time you hear that you are pregnant until the day that you die.

there is no coffee break in my day. there is no vacation days. if i am sick, i don't get to call in and take a sick day. i have to take care of my littles while running a fever, throwing up or whatever else i have been blessed with in the symptom category.

(ps. i am not knocking working women or working moms)

now here comes the part that really gets me.

i don't know if this has been everyones experience, but it has been mine. 

anytime i remotely say that i am having a bad day, or that my life can be hard sometimes, that it's not always sunshine and roses, i am met with this....

"well, your the one that had all those kids!".

 REALLY??

so because I love children and wanted a family... in my case, more than one or two...i am not allowed to have a bad day. I am not allowed to say, "man, today was rough!". 

I was actually told once when commenting on how tired i was "well, whose fault is that?". 

again...mind blowing.

from now on, maybe when "these" same people make make comments about their hard day at work, i will say, "well, you are the one that choose to work there!". Maybe when their boss has come down on them for not doing something right, i should say "well, whose fault is that?".

but we all know the truth. i would never do that. i would never say that to someone. 

i just get really tired of the double standard. 

being a mom is hard work. it is one of the most selfless jobs ever. i just don't think that women who try very hard day in and day out to be good moms should be made to feel bad when they just need to release and say, "wow, this is hard work". 

saying that does not make me regret my decision to have children. i love each and everyone of my little kiddos. i would not change a thing about my life. 

i guess in the end, it would be nice to just hear..."ya, that is hard work, hang in there."

ok. im done ranting... i do have little ones to go take care of! 

problem solved!

so as it is getting close to the end of the year, i have been trying to decide what to do with our bucket of artwork that the kids have brought home throughout the year. then i had an idea. i took pictures of it all. i uploaded the pictures to walmart, where they have a poster collage option. I shuffled them until i liked how they were all organized and then ordered it. they were priced really well and i also found the frames for 4.00 a piece. the kids were thrilled. they loved them. Now they have art work hanging up in the house just like Daddy. i will probably save one or two of my favorites, but the rest will sadly have to go. However we will have these nice pictures to remember them by!

well its about time.

that i post another walmart breakdown story.

i say that i am going to stop shopping there, but honestly it is so convient, I can't seem to help my self. 

anyways. here is my story. 

i have had this issue before at walmart, but have failed to blog about it. this time though...well this time pushed me over the edge. 

i was standing in line to check out. i had pulled my cart around towards the spinner thing with all the bags and before i could turn back around to watch the lady check my stuff through the register, wham! a cart right in my side. i mean really. could you give me some space. on top of having their cart digging into my flesh, one of the ladies started passing back and forth, almost hovering.

i kept looking behind me as if to say, "can i help you with something?!?!"

oh walmart people. 

i tell you. i think normally in a different setting they are probably pretty normal, but once you go through those automatic doors and passed the greeter, they become different people all together.