Memorial Weekend

I wish I had pictures of beautiful grave side visits and flowers or some memorial tribute we attended.

I Don't.

Instead I have slivers and scrapes, dirt under my fingernails, a sore back and a big dip in my bank account and a pile of trash.

I also have some pretty flowers, tanned arms, a slightly more eye appealing yard, and my clothes smell like campfire because we have been burning wood and yard debris.

My boys truly know the meaning of a hard days work- I made them move rock and re-stack the wood pile. Unfortunately they didn't get that good feeling of gratification after a job well done- they are still grumpy I was such a slave driver.

I have hope that one day my yard will look beautiful- that's improvement because on Friday I didn't even have hope- I had given up and was ready to post a for sale sign in the yard.

Rules to live by

Don't buy a house when the yard is covered in snow and you have no idea how scary and awful it is underneath.

While pulling weeds, moving rock, spraying weeds, planting flowers,and moving trash I had time to think- maybe thats the therapeutic aspect of yard work- anyways, I thought a lot about loved ones who have passed on.

I thought about my Great Grandma B who was just cute and sweet and forgetful- a school teacher and artist.

My Great Grandma Smith who had an incredible testimony.

My Grandpa Miller who I wish I would have known better, and my Grandma Miller who demonstrated hard work.

I've been thinking of Dev's Grandparents, some I never had the opportunity to meet and wish I would have, his incredible Grandma Dora who was just a delight to be around- smart and witty and close to the end took up cursing like a sailor- old people and cuss words make me giggle.

I've especially been thinking about my cousin Nate. Wishing I had more memories with him, grateful for the ones I do have. I've been thinking about his family and how hard things still are for them-so many questions they will always have and how there is a void now that will never go away in this mortal life. His tragic passing happened right before Mothers Day. He was in a state of sadness that I will never understand. My heart continues to hurt for my sweet Aunt and uncle and for Nate's siblings. It has made me more aware of people around me, a new found desire to reach out to the quiet and shy ones- to offer sincere and Christ like love. Nate was a giver, he was genuine and kind, and I miss him. His passing has brought our entire family closer together- its helped us all to think more of one another, to strengthen and renew relationships and to make sure we all know how much we all love each other.

Fountain Of Youth

Or something. Saturday I woke up with a killer earache. It was bad. And weird. I popped some Tylenol and went on with my day. It was Cinco De Mayo after all and no earache was going to keep me from celebrating with my fellow Hispanics. Ok- not really "fellow" but I chalked it up to a cultural experience and me and the kids participated in the parade and festival (another plug for how great Evanston is as a community) anyways- the ear throbbing dulled down for most of the day but reared its ugly self Sunday Morning.
Oh Sundays. Last week the bishopric spoke- always a treat- I mean it. One of the talks was opened up in regards to being on time for meetings. It was a great talk. BUT clearly given by a man who had 6am meetings so of course he was on time for church- not to mention that he left his darling wife to deal with bathing, breakfast, ironing, finding church clothes, dressing, packing diaper bags, church bags, lesson materials, and hair do's not only for herself but also darling children they co- created. Anyways- I just don't think you will ever hear a latter day woman ever preach about punctuality. It really was a good talk and something to aspire too... When I retire. Ok so the earache was still there. The previous night I had tried the pinterest prescriptions of olive oil, vinegar, garlic, hot towels and heating pads. All lovely and organic and useless. I turned to my left over pain pills from labor. It was that bad! And I was about to embark on my Sunday calling of teaching gospel principals to 3 year olds- if you have not had the opportunity to teach a sunbeams class go to your kitchen right now- take out your blender and carefully prepare everything you need to make a delicious fruit smoothie- then turn it on full power and leave the lid off. Beautiful chaos right?? It's sort of like that. Careful planning, good preparation, best of intentions and then - a total disaster :) but I love those kids and I think they are learning... Sort of. Anyways, I needed to not start off with a painful obnoxious ear. This morning it was still ever present. My self diagnosis of 'adult swimmer ear that would cure itself' was becoming obviously wrong. I called a few family docs who were gracious enough to get me in in the next 2 days or so (insert silent cry for more family practice docs everywhere!!) then I called my hero pediatrician and sobbed my ear pains to her fantastic receptionist -who by the way has some impressive arms- the girl is buff- she said to come in!!! So I did. The pediatrician took a quick look in my ears and throat and proclaimed I did indeed have an ear infection. In order to give me a perscribed cure to my woes she needed my weight. Oh lovely- your use to dealing with mini people who top the scales at 65 lbs and you want me to step on up??!!! But I did - then to be funny I asked her what percentile I was in :) anyways I picked up my perscription and some clearance nail polish and then did a quick browse to see if the drugstore happened to have my soap (cuticura- totally awesome) a soap I use specifically for the purpose of keeping my adult acne at bay- they didn't. But here I am, nearly 30, still dealing with ear infections and zits!!! It's not fair!!! Screams my inner 13 year old self. But here's my hopes and dreams, I will deal with these ailments but in return I do not want wrinkles or gray hair. That's the trade off. In spirit of my new found youth I'm going to go lock myself in my room, listen to a mix cd of The Cranberries, Alanis Morisett, smashing pumpkins and techno while I try a new recipe for a face mask I got out of seventeen magazine, then I'm going to paint my toes, plan out my outfits for the coming week, try some new hairstyles, talk to my BFF for a few hours, yell at my brothers for picking up the phone during the convo and making farting noises, not start on my homework until 1am, and then deep condition my hair.
Oh ya- those days are long gone. Thank goodness!
Instead I will do the dishes, get my kids to bed, put in more laundry and snuggle with Dev. And whine to him about my ear and zits.

Limits

Mine have been officially reached. I'm blogging in conjunction with my own timeout. Dev is still at work. A super busy working husband is a lot easier with 2 children and with a no school schedule.
Since 4 pm there has been non stop fighting. As of right now ALL Lego is put up. The wii is off limits, about 20 minutes ago the TV was taken away, the trio blocks are away for the night, and so is the perfection game, nerf guns, and talking dinosaurs. Brody is hiding in his room because I had one of those crazy mother moments where I totally lost my marbles and he's scared- the moment was brought on after all the above mentioned had been taken away and he decided to stab a hole into the back of the couch with a kitchen knife. Not even kidding. The knife was brought downstairs by Zane -who was going to use it to cut open the suitcase that I shoved all the taken toys away into. Not only did I spazz out, but I also locked Zane in the garage for about a minute after he refused to come in-he had fair warning. I even told him i was going to lock him inside. He was in the garage emptying Devs tools into the freezer. Also not even kidding. I was entitled to a spazz and now I'm feeling guilty but still angry so I'm hiding and confessing my lack of calm parenting. Ok. I'm done.

Six Months!!!

It's true. Preslie is six months and I have become a full blown addict of all things ridiculous (baby girl related) it is SO FUN!!!!
To top it off she is is a super easy baby most days. Content and happy during the day and sleeps from 7pm to 7am. I use to hear mothers say this type of thing of their children and I was so sure they were full of beans or something was wrong with their baby! Thanks to the boys my experience with infants involved a lot of crying and holding and more crying and no sleeping and more crying and a lot of no shower days or cooking days or really anything other then holding and crying. I thought that was normal. Anyways- this time around has been much easier! Yahoo! I'm guessing in the end it will all even out- the boys are pretty easy now, seldom is there tears or drama- but girls.. I hear that's a different story :)

She wakes up like this. SO happy. Whats the magical age that mornings become less then desired??

This beautiful little cardi I scored at our YW auction. YAHOO! Its super cute. Thanks Sian!!

Look who can mostly sit by herself! It makes pic snapping a tad easier.

Remember what I said about ridiculous?? I love it. Including flowers on bums. If shes in a dress there is a good chance that under the dress you will find a flower :)

Its just fun :)

So Happy!

Her fancy Easter Outfit

I got a new stroller. It might make me want to have more babies because it is cool and handy and tall. 

Spinach anyone?? Because this little lass LOVES it.