Just a normal day

I took this picture today because...

 1. We had just picked Orin up from school & today was his first day back after spring break, so we were all excited to see him! He was missed today! I love getting to hear about his day at school.  Not that I usually get much more than him telling me it was good, but still one of the highlights of my day. He got this class picture today and was naming off all the kids in his class.  Memories flash of the classes of my past.  Names & faces of former students whose lives I was a part of.  As I look in my rear view mirror, I am reminding that the faces I see are my own little students & I am still a teacher (the pay is just a bit different)! 

2. Looking at Brody, I just can't help but smile & laugh! He's wearing my coat & a headlamp! He is always wearing some sort of costume piece (a few hours earlier he had on a baby bib he had found). Hard to ever get too down, when you have these little personalities there to remind you that life is good. I had seen one of those videos lately on Facebook about a mom reminiscing about how fast time goes by & how her kids are grown.  She mentioned reaching out for their hands to cross the street... Until one day there was nothing but air.  With as fast as time seems to be speeding along, I need to take their hands (usually dirty & sticky), kiss their little cheeks (even though they wipe away my kisses), stop to listen to what they have to say even when it's the same question that's being asked over & over, and snuggle them in their beds... Because I know that is something that they will definitely out grow!  Sometimes I need reminders to stop and enjoy the everyday.

3. Wyatt is hugging (and flipping) his baby around.  A few months ago, he discovered this baby in the playroom (which someone left at our house years ago).  He loves to carry it around. Sometimes he wants to change it's diaper, sometimes give it spanks, or put it to bed.  He's such a rough & tough little boy that it's pretty cute to see his soft hearted side.  I has been reading the LDS parenting manual (my mom found a copy & had been telling me how good it was) & it was a good reminder to me that these three little boys that I have stewardship over are someday going to be husbands & fathers, providers for their families, and it's my job to help teach them (luckily I have a dang good partner for this task- who is an excellent example).  So as Wyatt holds that baby, I think, one day... in the very distant future, he'll be holding his own baby... What do I need to teach him before that day?

These are my thoughts on this normal day.

Christmas Card/Letter 2012

For our Christmas card/letter I had the idea of having it book themed, centered around the books that defined our year, so of course, a library was the perfect location!  I envisioned a picture of us sitting together reading, not realizing that my husband would think this was totally lame (he did it anyway).  Each year I think I'll start earlier, maybe even book a professional photographer and every year... I last minute ask one of my talented friends to snaps some pictures for us.  This year felt like a real photo session, thanks for my wonderful friend Johanna.  I have learned to go into photos with my family with zero expectations, but the boys did pretty good, and even had a little fun.  So my vision all came together, with outfits we already had (I just sewed up some bow ties with fabric I already had) and my amazing friend/sister found my dress at a thrift store! I absolutely love it! Maybe next year, I'll actually write the "Christmas Letter" before Christmas, instead of in February... we shall see.

 

AND... here's some reality!

Meow.

 Yesterday, Brody found the dress ups that I keep in Wyatt's closet.  He put on a 6-12 month costume he wore TWO years ago as Baby Jaquar from Diego (it was too small then)... and he wore it ALL DAY LONG! I thought it was too hilarious.  He even wore the mitten things, and kept telling me that he was a cheetah and could run really fast, and he didn't have any claws, so he couldn't climb very high, and other random facts about himself as the cheetah.  When I showed Shawn the pictures his comment was, "You let him walk to pick up Orin in that!"

Oh, yes I did! Why? Because, who am I to take away from his creativity, and frankly, I have to choose my battles.  Plus, every time I looked at him, it make me laugh!! He sure makes a cute cheetah! 

Meow.

A Kiss...

...to hold onto!

As my children are growing older, as more are added, and now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, these motherhood quotes pretty much sum up my life as a mom...

"Motherhood is not for sissies!" 

"There was never a child so lovely but his mother wasn't glad to get him to sleep."

 -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Mothers are all slightly insane." -J.D. Salinger

"Being a full time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs- since the payment is pure love." -Mildred Bremont

"There is no way to be a perfect mother, and a million ways to be a good one." -Jill Churchill

"The mother of boys work son up to son down."

"Mother is a verb, not a noun."

"All mothers are working mothers."

There are days that I just feel done: exhausted, patience sucked dry, feeling inadequate, frustrated, helpless, & directionless, physically abused (Wyatt has a mean whack & kick), mentally abused (as I am told, "I don't like you, Mom! You are a meany! I'll never listen to you!" )

And yet...

there are so many moments during the day where I just stop and think how lucky I am to be a mom. The kiss that Ory blows me when I take him to school, the cute conversions I get to have with Brody (today he was telling me all about the farm animals he wants to get for the backyard), the sponteous hugs I get from Wyatt all day (even a kiss if I'm lucky), all make it perfectly imperfect.
Definitely worth it.
I love them more than words can describe.

And, they are all asleep. 

Which makes tomorrow seem possible!

Avengers- family style

Since I started working on my boys' Super Hero room, last February, I had a vision of having large posters of our family dressed in Super Hero costumes!  So, this year the Halloween costumes were a no-brainer!  I let the boys, well Orin and Brody, decide who they wanted to be, and knew Shawn would make an incredible Hulk! After telling Shawn how cool I thought it would be if he painted his face, arms and legs, his response was, "I'm not doing that!"
I was stressing.
Was he going to not go along with my vision?
 I would ask him about what he wanted to do for his costume, and he would just say, "I'll take care of it."  Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why I doubted him.  He is really the one that has the good ideas about things.  He has this ability to just know how to do things!  This was no different!  He looked awesome.  The kids were so excited to see him! I'm pretty sure this was the easiest family photo, ever.  If you want your kids to cooperate for pictures, just dress them up!
So without further ado, my I present.. our version of...

THE AVENGERS!

      

(I was just going to use a tripod, but luckily there was some random workers downtown & he snapped the group shots for me).
My sister hooked me up with the frames (she works at the company that sells frames to KMart, Target, etc) and when I put the prints in the posters frames and showed the boys their response was, "That is AWESOME!"

 Photos of the boys' room coming soon.

First Day of Preschool

Brody started preschool a few weeks after Orin started kindergarten.  I am doing a preschool co-op with some of the moms from Orin's group last year, which for me is just a nice reminder of how grateful I am that I get to stay home with the kids!  Brody was pretty excited to get to go to school too (although, he kept telling me it's not real school because it's just at his friend's house). 

That morning, Brody got to pick his breakfast.  He, of course, wanted pancakes!  So he helped me make pancakes, with colors (food coloring). 

The boys also requested that I make Mickey Mouse pancakes.  Usually, I only make pancakes on the weekends, so this was a nice treat (Wyatt especially looks excited)!  

"New" backpack passed on from his brother. Check!
New shoes. Check!
Pictures by the front door. Check!
School mix. Check!
He was ready.

 Last year, I did Orin's group (see here) and this year some of the same moms are in the group again.  I think it's so fun taking first day of school pictures. Definitely the teacher in me.  And since I no longer have my own first day of school, I get to just enjoy my kids' first days!

I took Brody's pictures first, cause let's face it... my kids are the hardest to photograph by far!  Brody was totally being silly and trying to hide from the camera! Surprised? Not at all.

Two hours later, it was time to pick him up.  This teacher said he was under the table and she had to ask him to be her helper to get him out (but he's not doing that anymore, for now).
I asked him a few questions:

What was your teacher like?
She is nice. She tells us to listen.

What did you do?
Watched "Cheesecake Factory" (Letter Factory, see above) and had a snack.

Brody wanted to wait to go to McDonald's after we picked Orin up from school and Shawn was able to come too.  The boys even got Happy Meals AND an ice cream cone! Spoiled!

Time-Out

I put myself in time-out!  As I watched my boys throw their dinner (mostly Wyatt), and then smash in into my freshly mopped floor, I started to yell.  Having just recommitted to not yell in my home, I announced that I was going to my room for a time-out! 

Immediately, I felt better.  I hopped onto my bed and just laid there thinking that it might take some coaxing to get me out of time-out.

Just then, I feel a little arm around me and the words, "I love you, mom."

There was Ory.

I had been only been in time-out for about a minute, and he came in to check on me.

He then proceeded to tell me some jokes.

"Why did the duck cross the street? To prove he wasn't chicken! Silly!"

It was a cute moment and one I wanted to record...

As a reminder to me that my children do indeed love me (even though they have been telling me the opposite lately),

That it feels nice to have some one come in and tell you they love you when you are in time-out,

and

to remember that when I feel like I can't handle them or I'm going to yell, 

it's okay to remove myself... go to time-out, or count to ten, take some deep breaths, whatever it takes.

The faces of my little men aren't going to stay little for very long, and yelling isn't going to teach them. (Cleaning it up would... which is what their dad did. Yay)!