What's on my mind....
5 things I've been thinking about recently

1. I hope my hubby gets better soon. Every time he is sick I worry a lot about him and he seems to be sick for long periods of time and that makes me worry more and worrying is stressful. I hope the kids stay healthy for the rest of the winter because I get really worried when they are sick because they can't do any thing to help themselves and it breaks my heart to see them that way. And I hope winter ends sooner rather than later, I'm not a fan of cold winters with no fun snow to play in if it's going to be cold can't it just snow and give us a reason to go outside?!
2. I can't wait until my mom comes in two weeks! The kids, okay so E, has been asking when she will be coming every day almost. We are going to have so much fun with Grandma here. I am so happy she is coming when C will be on his biking trip, that would have been a long 10 days with just me and the kids. On the same note, I've realized that I've become such good friends with my mom over the last several years. She's like my best friend now(besides my hubby of course). I think about how I turn to my mom for every thing when it comes to motherhood because I know she has been there before but it's funny because why then, when I was a teenager did I not turn to her more often for teenager advice because she went through that before too? I guess I just didn't think about it in that way before and I was probably self-absorbed back then and with maturity I have grown to lean on her more than I ever have and it's a good thing, why didn't I see it before?!
3. I hope one of my sisters gets married this year for a couple of reasons: one, I just want another excuse to go home and a wedding would be a fun thing to add to a trip home. Two, I have yet to attend another Temple Sealing(sp?) since my own and I would really like to and if it were one of my sisters that would be even better. And the last reason I think one of my sisters should get married is because they are all so awesome and beautiful and smart who wouldn't want to marry such amazing women (except my youngets is, you're beautiful and smart etc. just too young to get married:).
4. I have so many projects around the house that I want to do to make my house better but I just don't know where to start. I get overwhelmed with stuff like that, I'm just not good at things like that. I need a motivator most of the time to get me started then I can go from there. I'm hoping when my mom comes we'll get to do some of the fun projects together and that'll get me going ( I know you want to mom!). I think when I have a house of my own I am going to have to hire some one to help do the interior design, I think I will be way too overwhelmed when that time comes.
5. I really want to start exercising again and get into shape, like really good shape. I loved being an athlete and would love to be that way again. And if I don't ever get down to as small as I was before kids that is fine with me I'm not in it for the looks I just want to have that athletic ability again. I don't want to be sore after cleaning house (I know, it's pathetic don't laugh), or playing with my kids, throwing them in the air etc. I think the reason I feel so out of shape now is that I was once in REALLY good shape(gymnastics will do that to you). I used to be so active and fit and now that it's hard for me to even get out of the house I feel so lazy and that I just sit around way too much. When I was at home I went to my youngest sisters gymnastics meet and it was fun to relive memories I have of doing that and I miss it. I even did my old beam mount I did in high school and it looked okay I think (all of my sister's fellow team mates where impressed which made me feel good) but my point is that I was so sore after and I only did it a few times, it was sad! And the other reason I want to get back in to shape is that some day in the future not too far off, C will be done with schooling and have his career up and going and at that point we will have time to take family vacations, and when that day comes I want to be physically fit because the hobbies we enjoy doing together and as a family would most likely require me to be in good shape and I don't want to be the one holding us back from doing what we love(d) to do.

Well there you have it 5 things that I have been on my mind lately. I hope I didn't bore you too much but I just wanted to write these things down and since I type so much faster than I write why not blog it right? What's on your mind?

Sunny Saturday

Saturday was such a nice day out even if it was still a little cold out. It was sunny with no wind it was just a nice change from the gloomy skies we've seen around here lately. C was still sick, and still is today (We sure hope he gets better soon) so we headed outside with out him to soak up some of the sun and get the kids a much needed "out". They have been sick so we've been staying inside for quite some time now. I tried to get some cute pictures of the kids since it was so nice out and the kids were having fun. I know I am no pro at taking pictures and I only dream of having a nice camera but I think I got a few good ones.

Look at those angel eyes! Have you ever seen anything so sweet in your life!? I must say he is pretty cute, but that is just my opinion.

And here is my other cutie, and a little poser I might add.

The sun was a little bright in their eyes, I just like their facial expressions in this one.

Taking a little rest... okay so I was trying to be creative and made them sit there. I think it turned out cute and they did like sitting there even if it was only for a moment.

After a while they didn't want to hold still for any more pictures, oh well.

We went out in a wooded area near our complex and the ground was pretty uneven with lots of sticks all over the trail and this is what J did most of the time (he would fall and stugle to get back up) I like his little bum in the air, so cute. He just couldn't keep his balance in those boots.
I laughed when I saw this picture, it looks like he's doing a little dance.
"Snow ball mommy?"He fell over and couldn't get up, so he just laid there
And after our long adventure out side a nice cup of hot chocolate, yumm!
I know it's blurry but I love this picture! This is how E tries to make her brother laugh and it usually works.

Just Pictures

We made this blog for three reasons: one, to keep family/friends updated on us while we are so far away from many of them, and also to share new pictures of the cute kiddos, and finally to keep it as a family type journal.
I think I've been lacking in the picture area of this blog, especially for our family's sake I should start posting pictures of the Grandkids/or niece and nephew. Oh by the way, mom I know you said you were unable to comment but I changed it so that any one is able to comment on our blog posts and not just bloggers. Just so you know, you don't have to make comments if you don't want to I just didn't want you to feel left out :)

E wearing my new boots, it was funnier to see her walk in them.

they got in big trouble for this. thowing oatmeal all over my kitchen, arrrgg!

So I know this isn't of the kids. C and his buddy went Mountain biking some time last week. Any way they got sooo muddy here is his bike. They were both pretty muddy too as you can imagine Sarah posted more pictures of them on her blog.

C went Snowboarding the other weekend (hey I'm noticing a trend, he's having all the fun! Okay I did spend $$$ on myself the other day that was fun) and got out all his gear and E thought it would be fun to pretend she was a snowboarder. She looks pro!

Yay a cute picture of my boy! I got him to say cheese for the camera, hence the teeth showing....CHEESE!

You may be surprised by this but J is good when it comes to playing with Play-doh, he doesn't really like to eat it which is good. And he tries to copy his sister when trying to make things it is so cute.

E my Play-Doh Pro!

Reading books on the couch together

Often I put on music in the Kitchen or living room and let the kids dance, okay I join in too. It's fun! and No you may not see any pictures of me dancing :)(pay not attention to messy kitchen.

E has got some moves, she uses her whole body as you can see. And by the picture above you can tell J is learning and uses mostly his hands,arms, and shoulders he's still cute though. I love dancing with my kids.

J getting his monthly hair cut by his daddy. His hair grows so fast. I like this picture because he's got hair in his mouth and he's not happy about it, and I like his little naked bum all squished.
Okay that is all the pictures for now, I'm sure I'll come up with more soon.

You know you’re tired when……

Feel free to help me finish this sentence. I came up with just a few I have done in the last couple of days, but I know you guys have more. Help me out, this could be fun!

You know you’re tire when…

-You put the milk in the cupboard and the cereal in the fridge.

-You start to put hand soap on your toothbrush and open the toothpaste to wash your hands

-You put on you’re shirt and then pick up you’re bra and realize that this is not the right order of dressing your self.

-You change your kids diaper, and two minutes later you say “did I already change you’re diaper, I can’t remember” and change it again any way.

-You bathe your kids in the morning get them out and dress them in p.j.’s thinking its bed time already.

-You think to yourself “I need to go upstairs and do…whatever” then you go over by the door and put your shoes on and go up stairs. Then you think while up stairs “why did I put my shoes on again?”

-You see your kid’s nose is runny so you go get a tissue and then go to the wrong kid and tell them to blow, they look at you weird and do it any way. Then you look over at your other kid and say “oh yeah, oops.”

Okay so that is all I got. I could have sworn there were more dumb things I have done, and if there are I just can’t remember them.

You may be wondering why I am so tired, and maybe you aren’t but I’m going to tell you any way. It all started with a sore throat on Wednesday. Then Thursday still just a little sore. Friday comes along and it’s more sore than it was before. Then halfway through the day I start to loose my voice, I can still talk but it takes some effort. I still don’t feel terribly sick so we go to our Ward’s Valentines Dance that night and have fun with out the kids for a couple of hours. Friday night I do not sleep well at all, because I have developed a cough too. Saturday I have NO voice at all and am feeling pretty tired, every now and then I can squeak out some words at the kids or my hubby but I try and save my voice. I plan a head and get a sub for our Sunbemas class on Sunday thinking “if it gets worse than this there is no way we are going to church.” Sunday comes and it got worse! I couldn’t even get a squeak out of my mouth if I wanted to, I was left with only a whisper. I was awake off and on all Saturday night and I felt like I had been hit by a truck early Sunday morning. My head was pounding my throat still hurt and the cough was nagging still. At this point I am just glad it’s the weekend and I have my husband home to help with the kids. We were a sad sight yesterday, my kids were in their pj’s pretty much all day and C is sick too so we didn’t do much but sit on the couch and tell each other how crappy we felt. I made ramen noodles for dinner because I had no energy to think of or make any thing else. What a weekend! Today I can talk but am trying not to talk too much so I can get my voice back for good. I didn’t sleep much again last night so I am still pretty tired. My cough is still there but over all, besides being tired, I am feeling much better. Lets hope tomorrow is even better.

Side note: I think I yell too much, and don’t even realize it. This whole weekend I couldn’t talk much less yell and E kept saying after she’d get in trouble for doing some thing naughty “mommy you can’t yell though.” On more than one occasion she pointed this out and then I realized I must yell too much. So something good has come from this, I have learned I need to not yell and find another way to handle her "situations".

No more Boob-tube kids!

So guess how many cartoons my children have watched in the last three days(going on #4).....ZERO! Aren't you so proud of me?! Well it is not easy to keep my kids from turning on the TV and sitting in front of it for several cartoons at a time. It is also not easy for me to not give in and turn it on for them so I can get stuff done or keep them out of my way, but I have done it and it feels good! I did let E watch a movie each day while J was asleep so she wasn't terribly bored while I cleaned up but that doesn't count as TV does it? Well any way, I'm proud of my self for not giving in to the boob-tube, yay for me!
I think it is time I really started limiting their time in front of the TV it's hard for me, I don't know why but it is. Am I the only horrible mother that lets her kids get away with so much TV in one day or is this a normal thing. You see some times it is not worth the fight for me to turn it off but at the same time I know I should do it. So I did one day and I only had to tell them one or two times to turn it off before they got the hint and didn't fight with me about it. And now after a few days of doing it they don't even turn it on in the morning and hardly ask for it. It is so GREAT! I love it! And now they actually play together, not always nicely but at least it's an improvement. BOO on TV!

"Ball Ball"

So J LOVES balls, any kind of balls. He's such a boy and it's fun to see the difference between his likes and things he gets attached to at this age and E's when she was that age. He has recently learned to talk and now can say ball and he says it all the time. It's crazy how kids seem to just learn to talk overnight, my boy is talking so much lately and it's really fun. Any way on to my son's obsession with balls. We got him a set of three balls for Christmas (basket ball, soccer ball, and football) just the cheap small foam balls you can get at Walmart and he loved them and I think that is what got him starting to like balls so much. Lately he has been attached to this weird plastic Mario brothers ball we found out side a while back. It's been around for a while and I have almost chucked it a few times because neither of them play with it very often but he found it about a week ago and will not let it out of his sight. This weird ball is, in J's words, "Ball Ball". He loves it and carries it with him most of the day. He'll put it down for a while to play with some thing else but shortly after he will drop what ever else it was that grabbed his interest and instantly say "ball ball" and start searching the house for it. It was so cute at first and I'd help him find it but today we lost it for about an hour or so and it was not pretty. He cried while wandering the house saying "ball ball" in his sad little voice. I finally found it hidden in a cupboard in the kitchen luckily right before his nap. I think I would have had a hard time putting him down if we didn't find it. He even sleeps with "ball ball" especially today after he lost it for so long, he would not let it go. When he wakes up he instantly says "ball ball" and looks around his crib for it, or if he didn't sleep with it he'll beg me to let him out so he can look for it. It WAS cute but now I think I'm kind of getting annoyed with having to help him find it, since it he looses it several times a day. And yet again at this very moment he has lost it and is tugging at me saying "ball ball". I guess my ball finding skills are needed. What a silly kid to like such an ugly weird toy, oh well I hope we find it!

here it is "ball ball", ugly right?

Here he is so cute sleeping with ball ball today after he lost it.

After his nap he was hungry and still wouldn't let ball ball go so he even ate with it today.

E's Song



So we have a little composer in our family. The other night at FHE she made up a song using pictures we have that comes with our FHE lesson book my Mother-in-law gave me. It's a really cute book with quick easy lessons and it has a card with a picture on it that has to do with the lesson so each week you let one child draw a card and you do that lesson, it's really cute and E loves it. Any way I gave her 5 or 6 cards and she made up a sweet song using the cards to help her.
The song is called "I Love Each Other" (she titled it herself)
I'm going to write out the words for you because they are so cute and it's hard to hear her in the video with J making so much noise. This one is for you Mom, I hope you like it.

I Love Each Other By: E Harker

We go to bed if we say the prayer
There was the Temple when I was away
The sacrament...
The family is fun...
I pray for my family
I pray when I go to bed
Go to Church do the sacrament
and then go home
I love each other
Say the prayer for my family
Say the prayer when I go to bed
Go to church do the sacrament
go home and do stuff
Say the prayer for your family
say the prayer when you go to bed
go to church take the sacrament
go home
Say the prayer for you mommy

Cranky kids

For the last week or so J has been so cranky and winy and well annoying! Which makes for a cranky Mommy and an annoyed three year old who decides to act out all the time. Our house has not been a pleasant place the last week or so and lucky C has not been around to witness most of it (he has a test Friday so he's been busy studying, nice excuse;) Then I checked J's mouth yesterday and yep, there it was his first molar! No wonder he was so cranky, then I felt bad because I just thought he was being a "boogger" (we'll use that word to be a little bit nicer, is that how you spell that?) Any way, I was not being so nice to him, telling him "get over it" and then I felt awful because he had a good excuse. So now my boy is on Tylenol because he's still cranky I think because all of his molars are trying to come in at the same time, which is so fun for all of us. My question to you is this...How do you make them come in faster, does it help if they chew on things or does that not really make a difference in the rate they come in? Also should I just keep on giving him tylenol when he gets really cranky or can I over due it? I mean I'm not giving it to him even every four hours like it says on the box you can do but like when he starts to act like he doesn't know what to do with him self then I give it to him, is that bad to do for several days in a row? I hope that makes sense.
You may be wondering why I don't already know this stuff since I have had a child before this one. Well E didn't even get her first tooth until she was 17 1/2 months old and then when her molars were in she was like two so she was old enough to handle it and it didn't bother her at all really, at least not like this. So I just don't know what to do for the poor little guy?! Any tips?

Along the lines of children tips... Does any one know what to do when you're child makes a "racist" remark? Well lets just say it was the most embarrassing thing she has ever said in public. We tried to address it at Family Hone Evening but I don't know that she really understands how hurtful those things can be and that we don't ever talk like that, at least not in my family. I have no idea where she learned it from. Any way I'm just at a loss for what to do with my kids this last week it's been a rough one! Okay enough of my venting on the world wide web. I love my children I really do :)

Commercializing Holidays

I think Valentines Day is a good day for one reason, not for the stupid candy hearts or chocolates or flowers or big huge stuffed animals but because it gives us a day to appreciate and show love to those who are really important to us. I hate it how every holiday is so commercialized, it's starting to get on my nerves a little. They (the stores) start putting pink and red out immediately after Christmas as if people are going to buy Valentines Day stuff that early any way.
So after coming home from the store seeing a whole two isles dedicated to this upcoming holiday I was annoyed and told my hubby that we aren't "buying" any thing for each other for Valentines Day. In his head I think he was thinking "YES I'm off the hook." but that is not what I meant by that statement. I told him he is more than welcome to make me a card and write a love note in it, or make me breakfast etc. but not to buy things that "they" want us to buy for this holiday. Meaning no flowers, chocolates, toys, candies, or even a card(he'd have to make that with the stuff I have) but he'd have to be creative and I told him I'd do the same for him. He said he's felt that way for a long time about this particular holiday and was fine with my idea. I think it means more to me any way if he does some thing different for me rather than just get flowers and say "Happy Valentines Day". It's not that I don't like getting flowers, I'd be lying if I said I didn't. I love getting flowers and chocolates for that matter I just don't want some one telling my husband when he has to get them for me, I want him to do it on his own and not just because there is a holiday every year that comes around telling him he should, I like being surprised. May be I'm the only one that feels this way but I thought I'd just share my thoughts on this particular holiday.
With E being in preschool I know that if I don't send her with little cards and candies she'd be the only one in her class that didn't hand those out to every one so I'll make an exception for her. Any way I'm done with my ranting about Commercialized Holidays.

I realized today I don't take nearly as many pictures of J as I did and still do of E, why is that? It's not that I love him less, or that he is any less cute, then why is it so hard for me? I keep thinking when they are older he'll think "wow not very many pictures of me mom", which he probably won't but I'll think that and then I'll feel bad. So I have concluded there are a couple of reasons why it is harder for me with him than it was with E: for one I think as mothers we get more busy with the more children we have, another reason is that with your first you're so excited to have a cute face to photograph and you go crazy (and we did with E that is for sure), and then I realized another really important reason why I lack in the "J pics" because he could care less about the camera and actually gets annoyed much of the time when I have that thing in his face. E on the other hand was a baby that knew she was cute and wanted to pose for any one with a camera. Here she is at 8 months old, I put that bow in her hair and I could tell instantly she felt "pretty" and she totally posed for this picture. It was this picture that opened my eyes to the fact that she totally knows what she is doing and loves the camera and then I saw my future with her, a little scary I might say! And to this day she'll say things like "take a picture of me doing this momma" or "look at me take a picture I'm so funny" etc. she's just a little HAM! Why do I bring this up now, well today J looked so cute in his little jammies and was being so good for the first part of the morning that I got the camera out to capture his cuteness and as soon as I tried to take a picture he went crazy and started wining and crying. It's not like this with him all the time but quite often I'll try and get him to smile or look cute he just refuses or walks away. It was just so much easier with E, and I just want to show you and my family how big and cute my boy is getting but I guess we'll have to get pictures of him on his terms and not mine, oh well.
To the right is J at 8 months old with his crazy hair...silly boy!

Look at this little poser, look no teeth!

She was so much fun to take pictures of
And then we have this boy....
This morning after trying to capture his cuteness, this is what we have
This was an attempt to get a cute picture with chocolate all on his face, he got mad
To prove he is not like this all the time here he is being silly at Grandma's house and below he just looks so cute there with his little chubby legs.
Here they are with Aunty after making cookies. I think E has some of her Aunties same genes, when her auntie was little like E she was always posing for the camera, she was the Ham of the Fam. I like this picture for the fact that you can tell which of my children likes the camera, and look who's looking away and could care less about it.

Edamame, and no ice cream, what?

The other day we were at a friends house and J decided to climb up on the table and eat the little girls leftover lunch, her mother didn't care so I didn't either. I asked her mother what it was my son was eating and she said "edamame". Eda-what-eh? I had no idea what it was but J apparently loves it. I came to find out that it is a Chinese dish of steamed immature soy beans, you can find them in the frozen veggie section at most grocery stores. They come in either the pods that you have to shell yourself or already shelled and ready to steam. He seriously ate a few dozen of these little beans. I thought maybe it was because he didn't eat his lunch that day and he was starving. Then I was digging through my freezer for some frozen veggies to serve with dinner the next day and found that I accidentally grabbed the "deluxe veggie mix" which happened to have edamame in it so I was excited to give it a try and see if J really did like this stuff and again he ate quite a few of them with his dinner. So last night I steam these veggies up again to see if it's just a fluke thing that he scarfs down this good for you bean dish, and again he ate at least 1/8 of a cup full if not more, he kept asking for more and there were no complaints from me. I looked it up on the internet to see what this stuff is and apparently it has become a popular dish in the U.S. (although I had not heard of it) and it is really good for you. In just a half a cup of the shelled beans you can get 9 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein and only 2 grams of fat, it is a good source of vitamin C, A and Iron. So I was happy to hear that it is so good for you. I like it too, I think it is pretty good. C thinks it's okay and E hasn't taken a liking to it although I did get her to eat a little bit of it last night. I think I'm going to have to stock up on edamame in hopes that my boy will keep eating it and E will learn to like it. So if you're looking for a new dish or a yummy snack try it you may like it and maybe your kids will too.

Going along with the food subject... I noticed some thing weird around our house, we, meaning me or C, have not bought or eaten ice cream in more than three weeks! If you know C that is an amazing thing since his nightly snack is usually a bowl of ice cream. Usually when I ask what we need at the store his response almost always is "Ice Cream". I think I figured out why he has been laying off of it for a while, he's been trying hard to get in shape for his big bike trip to Moab Utah, he wants to be in good shape so he can enjoy it to the fullest. So maybe he's actually trying to eat better too, maybe is the key word here. But I did notice that I bought a bag of double stuffed oreos (his favorite snack next to ice cream) about a week or two ago and it's still in our cupboard partly eaten of course but usually he can eat a whole bag of those in less than 4 days. I think I'm on to some thing here, and he did eat his veggies last night too. Hmm I think there is some thing wrong with my husband, or maybe he's just come to the realization that he might actually need to eat good even if he will never get "fat" he'll be the "skinny fat" guy right? Isn't that a term used for unhealthy skinny people or did I just make it up? Well I think he's realized that that might be him some day since he is getting so old and all maybe he has gained some wisdom in eating healthy. I hope this trend lasts and I start eating better too, we'll see.