My Day

I am on a Mother's Day vacation.  It started last night, oh around 7 pm.  I have been catching up on my favorite shows, reading tons of blogs, relaxing and pretty much enjoying myself in a clean, quiet, calm environment.  What is this vacation you may ask?  Father and Sons Campout!!

The actual campout was cancelled because the site was underwater?  (we've been having alot of rain this week but 'flooded'? I can't imagine)  Since Quinn is a super dad he didn't let the boys down and took them on a campout anyway.  What a great father.

I put Tessa down to bed last night and have been enjoying myself ever since.  I quickly cleaned the house and have been luxuriating in the orderliness ever since!  I stayed up way too late watching TV and surfing the net.  The best part was having plenty of time to complete a project in calm and quiet.  So lovely.  I am reminded of my early mothering days with only my little Jack at home.  I thought it was a little silly how people with kids always complained about trying to keep their house clean and remember thinking my sisters carseats looked atrocious!  Couldn't she clean them at least once a month? was that too much to ask?  Well, 2 kids later: my van/carseats are dirty as can be, I have a tough time keeping my house looking nice and I laugh at my stuffy mother-of-one-baby self.  

Here is my bookshelf/cabinet project!  Of course I just spent 20 min looking though the last 6 months of pics to find my 'before' pic but alas, it is not to be found!  Imagine dark wood with fuzzy beige carpet looking stuff behind.  And here is the after!

 I grabbed a few things from around the house to style it real quick.  At least I have a 'before' pic of the lamp now...it is a work in progress.

When I ripped the fuzzy carpeting off the back I found gold wallpaper underneath so I scraped that off too, washed and scraped off the glue and then applied my fabric for the background.  I love how it looks!  I also love that Quinn just walked in and said, "Wow, it looks really good.  I will be honest, I didn't think it was going to be that great."  He never has the vision!!  I get so excited when he likes a project after he doubted me. 

Here's my darling little vacation buddy.  She is such a calm, sweet child. 

I kind of forgot how babies get into everything, it will be awhile before this is "styled" on a permanent basis!

I have been thinking a lot about mothering this past week, what with mothers day upon us.  I am so thankful to have these beautiful children to love, nurture and watch in amazement.  I love a quote by Nie from her interview on the Today show.  When asked about her life before the crash she said, "it wasn't perfect but it was ideal for me.  I had the life I had always planned for and dreamed of."  I feel much the same way about my life.  It is my ideal. I have the gospel of Christ.  I have a loving husband who is amazing enough to provide for our family, allowing me to fulfill my dream to be a stay-at-home-mom.  My children are sweet little spirits with healthy bodies.  I am fit and able to be active.  Some of the details: job, town etc. are not perfect but I am really living my ideal and I couldn't be happier.  I am a blessed little Mommy. Happy Mothers day to you!!

Inspirational Marathon Super-Mom

My sister Julie has always been an amazing runner but lately she has taken it up another notch.  She placed 3rd in the Top of Utah Marathon (see pic below)  then she reached a huge goal of running a sub 3 hour marathon last fall in the St George Marathon.  

Today Julie WON the Provo City Marathon!   WON!  As in THE first woman over all a 2 hours 59 min.  Not only did she win but she killed the competition, the next woman finisher didn't come in until nearly 18 minutes later.  Only 9 guys beat her.  Oh, I would have loved to see her dash across the finish line with all the speedy men, what a strong woman!

It amazes me to think that my sister ran 26.2 miles at an average of 6 min 51 sec per mile.  I have never run even 1 mile in 7 min (or 8, or probably even 9).  At 39 years old Julie isn't showing any signs of slowing down, what an inspiration.
I love you Julie!!  I miss riding my bike with you while you run.  I really wish I could have been there to cheer you on.  It always gives me chills to see you race by...it is so thrilling!
I miss you!

This morning I was feeling really lousy so Quinn got the boys up and Jack off to school.  It was quite the drama to listen to from my bed.  Quinn rushing people around, the boys complaining about this or that, lots of "hurry up"s and "we are late!"s.

An hour or so later I went in the boys bathroom, saw the the toilet needed to be flushed (regular occurance) and flushed.  Just as things started going down I saw a large bouncy ball amongst the sewage.  Being the brave woman I am I reached for it but it got away.  "Quinn, you are really gonna love this.  I just flushed a bouncy ball down the boys toilet.  I even tried to grab it but no luck.  Apparently the boys put it in there with out us knowing."
"Oh, shoot." forehead slap, "I should have mumble, mumble."
"What?  are you saying you KNEW the bouncy ball was in the toilet and left it there?"
Apparently he had.  He was in a big rush you know.  Thought he would do it when he got back, of course.  Not my course of action but...well..end of story.
Right?

No.

9 hours later.  Boys are getting ready for bed, toilet won't flush properly.  Explain that the bouncy ball went down.  Commence weeping and wailing over the loss of the bouncy ball that prior to this morning no one had played with in a year or so.  "Yes, yes, it is very sad...lets get you into bed where you can have a good cry over it"  If you are a parent you know just about anything can spark crying when it is bed time.

Chase's prayer: (between sobs)  "Please bless my bouncy ball that it can get saved and come back."
I tell Chase how good it is that he is praying about something that is bothering him.
"Will Heavenly Father save my bouncy ball?" he asked hopefully.
"No, there is really no way that He will save it but you can pray that you will feel better about it and He will help you to not feel so sad."
"He can save it mom." sniff, sniff. Quivering voice:  "The bouncy ball will come out of the pipes to the fish and they can bring it up and they can bounce it all the way back into the toy room."

Chase in the toy room attempting to put chapstick on Tessa

What an imagination!

8 years

ago tomorrow this was us:

 So fun to see me and my Dad, it was a wonderful day and especially great to have him there.

 I loved my cake and i loved the setting with Timp in the background.

 My mom hates it when people smash the cake into each others faces but I don't, it was super fun!

 So much fun!!  I remember driving away from the reception and telling Quinn that it really had been the most fun day of my entire life.  I wish we could do it all again.  See all our family and friends together and celebrate our love. 

Oh what a joyful occasion.  I don't think either of us knew quite what we were in for but even for all the craziness it has worked out lovely.

We are going to celebrate in style tomorrow.  Quinn has the day off.  We have a sitter for the kids and we are going to go explore the San Felipe springs (also known as the "bean dip".  wonder why? think about it..hint: we are very close to the border).  Do a little floating, a little swimming and hopefully have a carefree and grand old time, just like the old days:)

I love you Quinn!!

The kids...

Life lately in pictures.

Lost of love for the little star of the family

 I love these boys faces, and it makes me laugh that Tessa looks like she is so surprised about what she is finding in that egg.

 When Jack went into Tessa's room to see her after her nap he found her standing.  He was so excited, "MOM!!  you have got ot see this!"   So, lots of pics to remember the occasion and then hurry and put the mattress down of the lowest setting.  With all tile floors I don't want to take any chances of that baby girl landing on her head.

She pulls up to stand everywhere. 

Pony tail!!  Another big moment.  So adorable. You can also see the two little teeth in this pic. 

The hair is a little crazy after the ponytail.

And the boys are loving the trampoline, of course.

The End

Our house is a very very very fine house..

And I have been wanting to show you around. Trouble is, this whole moving in thing is taking awhile. I finally have one room 'done'! So I will share. It is only fitting that the little person with all the attention around here gets to have her room finished first. Here is the little lady herself performing her army crawl toward me to grab the camera.The ugly before pic. The walls were painted a slightly neon green with a lovely 90s sponge motif. It was really gag. The picture really doesn't do the ugliness justice. it was so glaring! Luckily the rest of the house is a nice light tan color.

We did a fresh coat of a creamy, warm, lovely creamish color. So soothing to the eyes.

The paint is the perfect background to for the friendly little woodland scene stickers I got like 8 months ago and have been waiting to use. So cute!

This fitting little ditty hangs over our Tessa baby's bed.

Close up of the bed skirt I finished just today, bravo for me for getting out the sewing machine finally!This is the chair where all the cuddling, nursing, reading and loving happen. I love being here more than any other place in the house (my bed runs a close second...sleep, mmmm)Still missing a curtain panel, dang you Wal mart for not having it in stock! I still need to order it on line. One more thing on the to-do list

Her sweet little bears who keep the dresser warm and make nice companions for the LOVE lamp. Quinn and I joke about her bears of all nationalities: left to right: black, asian, white.I guess I can post a pic of the front of the house since it is 'done' too. I really like the trees and landscaping. I love the inside of the house but the all brown exterior doesn't get me excited. Just a nice solid shell for our happy home:)

Hope there will be more room tours in the near future!

6 years ago today...

I birthed this hansom little fella.Look how far we have come!
The Big 6 year old birthday boy had a great day. Big waffle breakfast, gifts like real cowboy boots/belt, 2 captain america shields (because 1 shield just won't do for 2 boys!), a lego watch, iron man sun glasses, the original star wars trilogy...oh, and a TRAMPOLINE! He was shocked and so excited. I mean, this boy likes to bounce and has been lusting after trampolines for a couple years now. He is one happy camper.

He also had a great birthday party with his new friends (one of which he hadn't met before, the others he had met one or twice). What better way to make friends than having them over for a party?
The whole family had a great time today with this sweet little boy. What a fun and great kid.
The first year he has really contemplated his birthday wish. This birthday stuff gets more serious every year:)

Happy Birthday Jack boy!!

Home

We are so glad to be home in Del Rio (I didn't think i would ever say that with such gusto!) This trial has sure made me appreciate the little things, like being together at home, checking on Chase in the night, feeding my children good food etc.

In my rush to San Antonio 2 weeks ago I didn't bring my camera so we don't have many images of the ordeal but here are the few from Quinn's phone.

In the clinic in Del Rio waiting for the ambulance.

In the ambulance

During the bad time in the ICU

First time out of bed in a week. Notice how swollen his whole body is?

He looked like the marshmellow man.

All the skin on his fingers and toes is now pealing off in big pieces, the aftermath of being swollen.

Putting on a brave face. I spent as much time lying in his bed with him as possible.

Daddy was with him through the whole ordeal

Notice how swollen his neck is. This is after the whole body swelling went down. The lump in his neck is crepitis: bubbles that formed in the tissues under his skin. He had it all up the left side of his body. They make gurgurling sounds when he coughs and feel like rice krispies to the touch. It gives me the heebie geebies.

Hanging out as a family in the hospital. Being apart was so hard!!!

Getting one of his percussion treatments, basically a tiny jackhammer that bumps up and down on his chest. He hated it so bad, they even did it in the middle of the night. We were so glad to leave the hospital!

For awhile the only time he smiled was when Jack came, there is something about your brother and best friend.

The last day in the hospital we got him to venture out into the little courtyard by the Peds ward. Look how skinny he is! He lost almost 20% of his body weight while in the hospital.

Chase has improved so much just in the 3 days he has been home from the hospital. He is walking further, getting on and off of chairs by himself and sleeping well through the night. He is still very pale, super skinny and weak as a lamb. He has a hard time bending over, stumbles sometimes when he walks and tires very easily. We look forward to his complete recovery.