Nail Polish

When I first met Eric, he taught me that wearing black nail polish on your toes helps you wake board better. He and Devon were avid wake boarders with black toenails. I might have thought it was a little weird, but Eric was cute, so you have to make allowances.

After being married to Eric for 5 1/2 years, he taught me every day is an adventure--you never know what Eric is going to do. Last night, he ended up with dark blue toenails. I might have thought it was a little weird, but we were bonding as he joined me in painting nails, so you have to make allowances.

For some reason, we couldn't convince him to wear flip-flops to work today . . .

Games, Grillin', and Glasses

We spent the evening of Memorial Day with our good neighbors, the Heustis Family. Of course, we started out the afternoon with a riveting game of Ticket to Ride. Eric won, but we won't mention the fact that he beat us by about 100 points! Owen stepped in for Mike . . .

We had a delicious dinner and ate outside under the pergola. It was such a nice day! As you can see from the pictures . . .

We picked up Kacin's new glasses today. The other ones were broken and repaired in 3 different places. It was time for a new pair of glasses. This is the cuteness that Kacin is in the glasses he picked out . . .

Not Another Boy!

My cute sister Stefanie is pregnant. When she found out what she was having, my conversation with the boys went something like this . . .

Me: Aunt Stefanie and Uncle Tyson just found out if they're having a boy or a girl. What do you think Aunt Stefanie is having?
Kyler: A girl!!
Kacin: I think it's a boy.
Me: Well, she is having a little boy!! Isn't that cool?
Kacin: Yay! I was right! It's a boy. That was my vote!
Kyler: No, it's a girl. I don't want it to be a boy.
Me: I'm sorry Kyler. You really wanted her to have a girl, but she's having a little boy.
Kyler: (pouting and really mad) Well, I'm never talking to her again!!

(Sorry Stefanie, I'm sure when he sees his new baby cousin he will be so excited that he's a boy and start talking to you again!)

Last night, we were reading together about Abraham and Sarah. This sparked a conversation about Sarah not being able to have babies in her tummy like mommy hasn't been able to. This discussion brought to our remembrance and continued the conversation written above . . .

Eric: What if someday mommy has a baby in her tummy and it's a boy?
Kyler: No! I don't want another boy!
Eric: Well, what would you do if a boy came out.
Kyler: Then I'd just push him back inside her and change him into a girl!

Goodbye, Katie the Jeep!

My jeep.
My high-school years, four-wheeling at Sycamore and Butcher Jones, named by Seth after that country music song, driven by many, stalling in the middle of intersections, good and dirty, fun times jeep.
She's gone.
Sold.
Adopted.
Now driven by a guy who gave us the cash he won gambling at Wendover over the weekend.
Hope he takes good care of her. She can climb near anything.
Just needs a little fixing up.
Goodbye, Katie!

Stress, It's a Killer

You know you've had a stressful week
when your husband takes a sticky note he finds laying around and places it on your forehead
and you start bawling.
When he asks you what's the matter,
you proceed to blame everything, in a jumbled string of sentences, from the ending of "To Kill a Mockingbird" to all of the happenings of the last few weeks of school to maybe you're going blind in your right eye to placing the "For Sale" sign up in your front yard.
Did he really understand a thing you said through all those tears??
That'll teach him for attacking you with sticky notes . . .

or maybe he'll just think twice before asking what's wrong . . .

Stress means . . .

A little less sleep . . .
(How can you sleep with laundrey all over your bed?)

A lot less time . . .

(Especially when half of your time is spent worrying about what you have to do, right?)

A little more running/walking . . .

(an attempt to de-stress)

A lot more Krispy Kreme doughnuts. . .
(Terrible, isn't it?)

And don't worry, after a good cry, I'm feeling much better now. :)
And I'll be feeling even better after May 29th . . .

The Biggest Bounciest Bed

It was "Fathers and Sons" for our ward, but my guys weren't able to go camping because of some scheduling conflicts. So they played catch and got to sleep out under the stars on the best bed in our backyard-- the trampoline! Good times, lots of pillows and blankets, big bounces, and a little sleep thrown in . . .

Eric wasn't sure if the boys would be able to stay out there all night. He gave them a little talk before they headed out to prepare them. He thought they might be too cold or scared or something. But it was actually him who came in at 5:00 in the morning because he was cold! (Ok, Ok, he only had a blanket....he gave the boys the sleeping bags.)

So Eric spent some quality time with the boys last night.
I spent some quality time with a good book.

T-ball Rules

Rules? What rules?
Kyler's first T-ball game was last night and he quickly established his own rules to play the game.
It was quite entertaining and very cute. (Where's the video camera when you need one?)

T-ball According to Kyler
1. While you are waiting for your turn to bat, it's ok to grab the ball before the coach can and place it on the tee for the next person.
2. The first baseman's responsibility is to always run and get the ball first--no matter where it heads. If it's going towards second base, the pitcher, right field or left field, just get there fast.
3. It's ok to wrestle over the ball with another teammate, as long as you are triumphant in getting the ball from her.
4. Second baseman is actually a personal escort for the other team running the bases. You run with them to 3rd base.
5. Third baseman stands in the way so no one else can touch the base. A gentle push may be necessary if someone tries to approach the base. And you can run to home base when you feel like it.


Let's just say Kyler was the little star of T-ball!!

Mom's Day

Since being married, Mother's Day has held a lot of emotions for me. Those first few years it was the most dreaded of celebrations. Not that I don't love and appreciate my own mom (and now my mother-in-law who raised an amazing Eric), but because of the blatant reminder it was to how badly Eric and I wanted to be parents, and that wasn't happening for us then. I hated going to church that day. I hated trying to be happy for other young moms when I wasn't.
I know, I was . . . angry, sad, frustrated, bitter . . . all of the above. But it's the truth. That's how I felt.

Before we even knew about the boys, and over time (after a lot of prayer and scripture reading and priesthood blessings), I came to find peace and understanding. I could celebrate motherhood and be happy for others again.

Really, the only negative thoughts I had last Mother's day were over the fact we got flowers instead of chocolate at church! :)

SO this Mother's Day was my first as being a MOM.
A mom to two of the most silly, cuddly, energetic, loving boys who I absolutely LOVE completely.
And this Mother's Day also held a lot of emotion. I remembered all the sadness the day used to bring. And felt sad for anyone to whom might feel how I used to.
But I also felt JOY. Lots of it!

I woke up to the sounds of clanging in the kitchen, boys arguing, an oven timer going off, boys yelling, a threaten of a spanking . . . and I SMILED. I just lay there and enjoyed it all.
Only a few minutes later, the boys were jumping on my bed telling me about a SURPRISE breakfast downstairs! They knew they had tricked me. :)
I was delighted with the heart-shaped biscuits, eggs, and bacon.

During Sacrament meeting at church, all of the primary children sang to us. So what if Kyler and Kacin did more standing and staring than singing!! I just watched them up there and felt so proud of them and so grateful to have them both as my children. It was a beautiful moment.
(On a side note, Kyler also gave his first talk in primary today! Another proud mommy moment.)

The afternoon brought a little reading and napping and a LONG walk. It was a perfect day to spend some time outside.

Finally, we made some Mother's Day sugar cookies.
We cut out some people and star shapes.
But my favorite was tracing Kacin and Kyler's hands. There has to be some kind of children hand-print gift on Mother's Day. Mine just happened to get all decorated with frosting and eaten up.

Kacin's hand (left) and Kyler's hand (right)

Happy Mother's Day!

Problem Solved

(Preface: Eric wears his hair down in the front, Kyler spikes his hair up in the front, Kacin's hair goes down in the front, my hair just does whatever it wants to)

Eric: Which one of you wants to stay here and which one wants to come with me?
Kyler and Kacin: I want to go with you!!
Me: Do you want to bring both of them?
Eric: How do we decide who comes?
Kacin: How about whoever has their hair going down in the front the same as you gets to go?

Tomatoes and Tears

At the dinner table . . .

Me: (with genuine concern) Kyler what happened to your forehead? Did you get a cut today at school? Or a bug bite? What is that?

(I reach for his forehead and when the red, juicy mark came off onto my hand, I jump a little and Kyler starts laughing hysterically)

Kyler: It's a tomato seed! Hahaha!

Kyler laughed for almost 5 minutes--to the point in which tears were actually rolling down his face! He thought it was hilarious that he was able to trick me. :)

Nothing is as Constant . . .

. . . as Change! And apparently our little life is destined to be full of sudden changes. As soon as we get comfortable, the carpet is pulled from beneath our feet.

Eric is being relocated to Phoenix, Arizona!

When talks of this promotion began, my initial reaction was NO WAY! I finally feel settled here in American Fork. I mean, there are finally pictures up on my walls! We have chickens, wonderful neighbors and friends, book club, a fenced and cemented backyard, and, most importantly, I wasn't going to have to move classrooms this year!

But I am cursed. Cursed to never stay in the same classroom 2 years in a row. Because of this curse, Eric interviewed in AZ over spring break, everyone realized how AMAZING Eric is, and they made an offer.

Meanwhile, God did a little softening of my heart. During General Conference at the beginning of April, I listened to THIS talk by Elder Steven E. Snow entitled "Get On With Our Lives". I couldn't help thinking (as I'm sure did many others), that this talk was one that I needed to hear. I rolled my eyes, but I got the message. Sometimes our lives have to change in order for us to grow. It is a matter of trusting Heavenly Father. He guided Eric and me to Utah and we now have our two cute boys (and lots of other great experiences and friendships). So I just need to continue to put my trust in God and everything will work out for our good--better than I could ever plan.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

This scripture has taken on a lot of meaning for me these last few years (yeah for scripture mastery!)

The plan is now:
* that Eric should sign the official relocation contract this week
*Eric will travel back and forth between AZ and UT for a few months
*We will be down full-time in AZ by Aug. 1
*We don't know where in AZ to live!
*I will stay home next year (possibly try to teach preschool a few days a week, possibly go get my masters degree!!!)
*I will miss Utah a lot!
*But it will be wonderful to be around family again!!