Anticipation

For the last two days, I've been listening to Jade ask (in her wonderfully annoying whining voice) "can we go to Jess's house now?" It's a sentiment that we are all sharing. I've been planning a trip to visit my brothers in Sacramento for over three months now (it was a way to distract me from the doldrums of Winter). We leave tomorrow. Am I ready? Mentally-yes. Realistically- NO. The kids are playing outside, I'm blogging. My laundry is unfinished in the basement that is being finished. I have books to deliver, donations to solicit, kids to keep alive, clothes to put away, lists to make and a pedicure to enjoy. As such, tomorrow morning promises to be a chaotic clash of kids and parents trying to remember to pack underwear and keeping in mind that this is FUN! We have four days of driving and three days of playing (it's a little off balance, but it will have to work).

While we are away, Ayden will celebrate his 5Th birthday. Our lives have changed so drastically since Ayden joined our family. His presence has taught us patience, love, compromise, faith and most of all he has brought us an unbelievable amount of joy.
Happy Birthday Buddy.

Easter

Happy late Easter! Easter was so early this year, I had a hard time getting everything done! We had a fantastic weekend celebrating with friends and family. On Thursday night, the kids and I colored eggs. They did an amazing job. I can't believe how well they followed directions and listened to me. We had no major catastrophies and not one egg was broken! Here are the kids showing off their art work. Next year, I'll boil more eggs, they couldn't get enough of coloring them (some eggs were dipped more than twice and came out a beautiful brown color!) We ended up coloring eggs two more times before Easter. Once with our friends and then again with Grandma and Grandpa in SLC. All three times were a load of fun!

On Friday, we went to St. George with a couple of my friends that were visiting from SLC. The annual art fair was in full swing and it was a load of fun! This year, the new Library Plaza was complete with fountains and streams for the kids to play in. They got soaking wet and we all got sunburnt! There were street preformers and great musicians. It was a blast, much improved from years past. After we had all the fun we could stand, we rushed home to play with our friends in Cedar (the second coloring of eggs). It was a good day filled with lovely people and the weather was amazing.

We drove to SLC on Saturday to spend the holiday with my Dad and Step-mom. They always do a huge party for Easter complete with brunch, bobbing for peeps and a large scale Easter egg hunt. This is my dad cooking Brunch for everyone. He's an awesome chef. My brother and sister were there along with their partners in crime and my step-siblings were there too. My niece was also there (she's adorable). It was so much fun. The best part was watching the kids try bobbing for Peeps (it's like bobbing for apples, except with Peeps). Ayden couldn't get a single Peep in his mouth, while Jade managed to get 4! She was so awesome. Just dove right in, she's got her daddy's competetive streak. I'm thinking she'll take first place next year! Now, we're home, gearing up for our next trip. I'm so glad Winter is OVER!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Luck o'the Irish to you all today! We have had a great weekend pre-celebrating St. Patrick's day. Sprindale has an annual St. Patrick's Day Parade that we attended on Saturday, then on Sunday, we had an Irish Feast at our house. Fun times! Both Steve and I have a significant amount of Irish in our blood so it is fun to learn a little more about our heritage this time of year. The kids get a kick out of wearing the green. Here's a traditional Irish blessing and toast to get you in the St. Patty's day mood:

May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind be ever at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And the rain fall softly on your fields

And until we meet again,

May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.

Forgiveness

In the last year, I've been given the opportunity to let people from my past back into my life. Several of them actually. These relationships were ended due to lots of different factors, some hurtful, others out of my control. With each new re-forming of the friendship, I've had to ask myself if it is worth it? What will I gain by being a friend to this person again? Will my life be better if I allow them to be part of my future? And, sometimes, I've had to ask the really tough question of can I forgive them for hurting me in the past? I found it useful to think about my current friendships. All of my relationships are very unique. I gain different things from different friends. They all mean something special to me, but are all very individual. I gain something from each of them by allowing them into my life and I hope the reverse is true. Every person in my life adds value, why wouldn't I want more? With these old relationships, I had to explore my feelings and in the process, I have learned a lot about myself. Forgiveness, when contemplated as it relates to me is useless. Saying, "that person hurt me, they deserve to suffer for the pain they inflicted" is very self-serving. I gain nothing with that approach. Instead, I've had to look at the pain and accept that it had nothing to do with me, but was wholly based on their experience and opinion. In "The Four Agreements" it says: Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do are a projection of their own reality". When that idea is applied to those who need my "forgiveness" it is easy to shed myself of the pain I have carried and move on without feelings of anger, sadness or insecurity. I know this is deep, but it's been on my mind for a while now. I am blessed to have my "old" friends in my life. Each one of them have helped me in ways that are deeply personal. I would have lost so much if I hadn't let them back into my world with open, loving arms. I believe friendships, like life, have seasons. Everything happens for a reason and I can't wait to learn the lesson associated with these exciting additions to my life.

One of those times....

When I wish I had my camera! I took my kids shopping at Costco yesterday (first mistake). Steve was working so it was just the three of us and a big list of things to get (second mistake). Jade was in the cart and Ayden was hanging off the side. Jade was being pretty good so I decided to let her out of the cart (third mistake). We were in the section of the store where they stack crates of bottled water about 6 or 7 feet high. As soon as the words "don't you dare climb up that" came out of my mouth, she was off! She hit the top of that stack in less than 10 seconds. I couldn't reach her and she was dancing around like she was on top of the world (she really was). I didn't know whether I should laugh, cry, or scream for help. Well, I managed to get her down and even better, I managed not to beat her to a pulp. Needless to say, she spent the remainder of our trip to Costco in the card and crying. Poor thing. It was pretty comical, her up on top of the water, me down below contemplating my options. Ayden thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing too! He was laughing pretty hard and egging Jade on "climb higher, run Jade!" He's such a good influence. Ahhh. Motherhood. I'll also add that this all took place after the wrestling match between Ayden and Jade in BurgerKing. No wonder I was eating IceCream and blogging late last night!

Should be in bed......

As a mom, I find that the precious hours when my kids are asleep are absolutely Golden. As such, I tend to make them last longer than I should. So, I stay up way too late (usually eating a bowl of ice cream or enjoying an adult beverage). Here I am, at 10:45, with an empty bowl of ice cream in front of me- blogging.
I'm trying to get this page looking awesome. Do you like the background? I had to laugh, because that expression pretty much sums up most of my days. I need to learn how to add a slideshow, I have several that I know you would enjoy. I'll work on it again (at a more decent hour) and send you a message when it's up and running.
So, would you like to know what's up with us? It's quiet in my house, so why not???
The biggest thing (in my opinion) that we have done in the last few days was to remove the white pickett fence in the front of our yard!!! Yes, the weather has been awesome, we were actually wearing tank tops and shorts on Friday. So, the fence is gone and the neighborhood celebrated with us! Don't get me wrong, it was a nice fence, but it wasn't a good fit for us. It seemed to add a barrier to our home. And, you know us, we don't need anything keeping us in or people out. Our door is pretty much an open door to whoever may want to enter!!
That brings up the other new thing that has been happening. With the weather improved, we have had a flood of great play days with the neighborhood kids! It's so fun. It reminds me of when I was growing up and I spent all my days playing outside with my brothers and cousins. We roamed from house to house finding new games and snacks to enjoy. My kids certainly get that from me!
We are in the process of finishing our basement. So, at any given moment, there is a hoard of workers running in and out of the house. Not to mention the awesome sounds of a construction zone. Jackhammers, drills, cement mixers, hammers, falling walls...... It's music to our ears. Within a month, we will have luxurious accomodations for those who want to visit!
The kids are great. So much fun and so much work! I keep hoping that Mary Poppins will stop by and give me a day off. Ayden is just so busy, well they both are, really. They get that from their dad. It's funny, Steve gets frustrated at how overly active the kids can be, yet at the same time, he's asking me "what are we doing today? do you want to go to Vegas? do we need to go shopping? how 'bout the gym?" It's a good thing he has a job that keeps him on his toes and busy most of the time. Every couple of months, his restaurant gets an audit that focuses on food and worker safety. He got a 100% today, after working very hard for it over the last few months. So, rest assured, if you eat at the Cedar City Chili's, your food will be top notch quality and absolutely safe!
Well, I suppose I should head to bed and start recharging for tomorrow. It should be another fun filled day with the kids. Love you all, and I hope you enjoy reading about our family. Please let me know what you would like more of (I'm working on pictures).........