Mother's Day

I've been thinking about my role as a mom alot lately. I sometimes wonder if I really signed up for this....the sleepless nights, sick kids, scary stuff I worry about, tantrums.....its a HARD job being a mom! Is this really my role? To wipe snotty noses, and clean up puke and rarely do something I want to do? 

It's made me think about my own mom alot. How did she do it with 5?! How did she not worry herself crazy? How did she go from mess to mess cleaning it up without complaining? How did she do the same thing day after day after day? Laundry.....dishes......vacuum.....wipe counters.....repeat! How did she always manage to have just enough money for whatever we needed? What things did she go without? Was I ungrateful?

 The answer to all of these is that my mom is a christ like person who would do anything for anyone. She was always serving outside of the home and inside of the home. Constantly. That is what motherhood is about. I don't have the time (or energy) for now to go all around doing service for others. But I have thousands of opportunities in my home every day to practice doing what Christ would do. Aren't we told to be like little children? Didn't Christ call for the children to come even when he was so tired and needed a bath? Did he serve tirelessly going from person to person, need to need all day long every day of his life? YES!

So on my hard days, I REALLY try to remember that this IS His plan for me. To be a mom. To serve over and over again. When I'm tired. When I am weak. When I desperately need a bath. That he blessed me with these 4 beautiful little spirits to help ME become like HIM! To help little bodies who can't quite help themselves and to teach them how to serve others. What an incredible opportunity!

 I woke up to homemade cards, gifts and breakfast on sunday morning. And got to go to dinner the night before, and have a massage the night before that! It was a whole weekend of celebrating. I really felt loved on Mother's Day and the best gift was that we made it through sacrament meeting mostly reverent and I had this huge rush of love come over me for each of my kids. I don't even realize sometimes how each of them teaches me something new and stretches me to be a better person.

 My massage therapist challenged me to set aside any things that were bothering me or worrying me and just enjoy the day of being a mom. So i did just that. I put the wedding notes and girls camp notes away and just played with my kids. It was such a nice day! Wish I could have more days like this!

I am so blessed and I hope the Lord will forgive me for when I am weak and murmur about being a mom. There is nothing on this earth more fullfilling than motherhood and I would choose the joy and happiness and getting to stay home with them over anything in the world. I'm so glad to be a mom and so grateful to my Heavenly Father for trusting me with these sweet little people. Thanks for letting me be your mom kids, and putting up with me when I'm not doing my best. Please know I love you So so SO SO much! Thank you for making my day special.

(And I can't leave out Chad! I couldn't be a mom without him nor a successful one either. Thank you for being the man you need to be so I can be the best mom I can to our kids. You help me be a better person daily. I LOVE YOU!)

Potty training and sick week!

Brielle is almost 2 1/2 and was showing some sign of being ready to potty train. I WAS NOT READY! As a mom I think it is one of the hardest things to do. And frustrating too! Mollie was a huge helper the first few days and helped her get to the potty several times. I approached it with the attitude that if she catches on, GREAT, but if not, Ill try again in Aug. We just have too much going on this summer. To my great surprise she caught on REALLY quick. She was pee trained in just a few days and loved going! Poop is another story. Today (5-12) She actually went poop for the first time because I caught her just in time and ran her to the potty. I hope that will help! 

Some days, this is how it goes.....

 The next week sickness hit our house HARD! It started with Brielle puking in the middle of the night one night but it never escalated into anything else, maybe a slight fever. 2 days later Rylee got it SO bad. She puked several times and I was almost ready to take her to the ER for fluids but she finally started keeping food down. It broke my heart to see her like this! (although I loved the cuddles!)

Then sunday we were woken up by carter saying that he was sweaty and had an upset stomach. Sure enough an hour later he was puking and puked all day long until evening. Then monday morning Mollie woke up with strep throat (for the second time in a month!) and she was miserable!

Everyone stayed home on monday to get better. Here are my little dwarves puky, pukey, snotty, and streppy. Rylee also cut 2 new canine teeth at this time and had snot going everywhere! It was an awful week to say the least. I think finally everyone is on the mend. Grandma Hymas even caught the flu from us while they were visiting. Luckily Chad and I never got it. Parents dont have time to be sick! Here's to healthier days ahead!!

Our Miracle!

Nope this post isn't about a baby....well kind of....Our baby that we had built from the ground up that we got to personalize and make our own and fill with so many memories! Our first home in Twin Falls! We built it in 2009 and lived in it for 3 years before we moved to Utah. I had my first business in it. It was the home we brought Mollie home to. It was where we spent so many hours painting, tiling, doing the electrical work, planting grass, installing sprinklers, having friends over, working, playing and so many more memories. This was our home. It was perfect for us.

But all good things come to an end sometime. We have had it for a rental for 3 years and we knew we wanted to sell and gave our last renters the opportunity to buy it but weren't able to. We were so lucky to have 2 incredible families rent our home durring this time. The Richins (who were a miracle in themselves, finding us online from Oregon and signing the lease without even seeing it or meeting us!) and the Kelloggs whom we really grew to love and it was hard to see them go. We never had any big problems and they both took care of our house so well. We are so grateful to them both.

When the time came to sell, we spent a few weekends down in twin falls patching holes, painting, cleaning trying to get it ready. I was stressed about how we were going to sell it from Utah! The Kelloggs agreed to show it for us while they lived there and we told them we would have it listed on April 1st. That was a huge relief but came with its own set of worries for me since they are a busy family and its hard to show a house while you're living in it and have it look nice.

On March 26th i received a call from an old friend Natalie Searle, and she said her parents were interested in my house. They had already gone to look at it and wanted to buy it! The next day her dad called us with a cash offer. It was slightly lower than we were hoping for so we counter offered. He accepted and said he wanted to buy the house AS IS. We agreed and the next few days we busily filled out paper work and closed on our house on April 12th!  It was a whirlwind and its still hard to believe it is gone! We walked away with close to $15,000 and it has been such a stress relief to have it gone. I'm sad we won't make it to Twin Falls as often anymore since we don't have something pulling us there besides wonderful friends that we miss. I love that place and still would go back in a heartbeat. But for now I'm learning to love where I'm at and make the most of it. A home is where you make it. We feel SO blessed and know that the Lord played a hand in this.

Demolition ......again....

We've watched for about 2 years now for a good deal on a soaker tub to put in our bathroom and the day finally came! Chad was tearing everything out to get it installed and we decided that if we were going to do the tub we might as well do the shower since we had to change a few things about it anyway....and so he proceeded to rip out the shower too!

 We may have had a bet about how soon he could get it done and whoever won got new running shoes....I think I won that one! But A week later than planned I was soaking in my new tub enjoying life in a still torn apart bathroom.

We've picked out tile for the floor which is a gorgeous dark grey color and we will do a tile backsplash around the tub, and all tile in the shower! We've also ordered all new hardware and a new shower door. I do love remodeling but it's a big pain too! It's going to look so nice when its done and I look forward to that day! If Chad would quit working 18 hour days in Nephi maybe he could get some stuff done!

Guys night out

The boys needed to escape this girly house and have a fun guys night out. Chad surprised Carter with some Jazz tickets after school one day and a Jazz jersey. He was so excited! He's been begging to go to one for quite a while. 

 Chad gets free trax tickets through his work so they parked at his work and rode the trax down. Another highlight of the trip for Carter!

 He got to sneak down to the floor and snap a few pictures before the game. He thought he was SO COOL.

 They were nose-bleed seats but Chad said he really got into it. The Jazz lost and Carter was bummed about it but some pink cotton candy kept his spirits soaring.

I'm so glad that these two have such a great relationship and still talk about how they are best buddies. It's been so fun to watch him play on his own team and Chad help coach and watch him gain a love for the game and improve in skills. 

Doesn't having kids bring so much joy?! I love these bonding happy moments. 

31!

I think the year I turned 30 went by the fastest than any other year of my life. I some how feel like its not going to slow down anytime soon. I woke up on my birthday morning and was showered with kisses, loves, cards and gifts. My kids get so excited about birthdays and that helps make it special even if I don't want to turn a year older. 

 I got several nice gifts, one of which was a fitbit! I've been wanting one for a while and its been really fun to use. Some clothes and treats were among other gifts.

 Since it was conference weekend we didn't have much planned for my sunday birthday but saturday night we did have a few friends over for cupcakes and a mean game of spoons. My eyes are shut but this is the best one Chad got. Love my rainbow chip frosting & cupcakes!

And listening to general conference was a treat in itself. Getting spiritually fed on your birthday (and your children letting you listen) was a wonderful gift. I look forward to it every 6 months. Thanks to everyone, especially Chad, who made it special.

April Fooooools!

We don't get too into April Fools jokes here...a few random ones for the kids. But we have recently acquired some friends who are big fans of tricks and jokes. They keep us laughing and life fun. Our current bishop at the time was preparing to move so we knew that the calling of the bishop was on the chopping block. While I believe Chad would do an incredible job at this challenging calling, we live in an older ward where many aren't willing or able to take on such big callings. We were slightly nervous and had asked the "what if" question several times. It was giving me some anxiety and it was my birthday weekend so we escaped one night for a date. It happened to be April 1st.  We came home to this......

I fell out of the car laughing SO hard. I really almost peed I was laughing so hard. Chad didn't think it was as funny and went right over and snatched it off the lawn and put it away. I HAD to get some pictures so I ran back and grabbed it and put it back. 

Once I calmed down a bit I hopped on facebook to see this lovely photo.

 OH SAM! You stinker! You sure gave us (well me anyway) a good laugh. Moments later our current bishop (who lives right next door) pulled up with his wife and it gave them a good laugh too. 

Thankfully another man who will be great for the job was chosen as bishop. And Chad, for now, is off the chopping block. Until next year Sam! Watch your back!!!

Easter 2016

We kicked off Easter weekend with a freezing cold Preschool egg hunt. The kids were pretty excited and it was the first year Brielle really knew what to do. Besides the windy day it was a lot of fun!

 Then we waited for all of our family to get here! Tony's family, Jordan's family, Adam & Brit, and mom and dad all came down for the holiday! It was fun to get to spend time with Ashton and watch him learn about family traditions.

Silly bunny brothers

 We woke up to quite the surprise the day before easter to about 8 inches of snow! We joked about having the egg hunt out in the snow but it was easier to just do it in doors. But grandpa was quick to hop out there in the snow and make a snowman with Ashton!

 The kids waiting at the top of the stairs waiting for the hunt to start.

 Jord & Tay, Mol and Chad

 Brielles eggs!

 Opening up the loot with grandpa

 Carter and the soon to be newly weds

 One evening all the girls escaped to the General Womens Conference and it was fun to go out with my mom and sisters! Something I've always wanted to do.

 And Easter morning everyone stayed and went to church with us. This is the best pic we could get of the 4 squirmy kiddos!

 The day after Easter we went to the aquarium with Tony. The kids were loving it!

 The shark tank was the favorite. I think Ashton could have stayed there all day!

Such a fun weekend! We love having family come to visit! Happy Easter!

March

Not much happened the first part of march.... Someone did start crawling though! Little Ry is on the go and she couldn't be happier!

See?

Bri continues to try to be a big sis to Ry even though they are close to the same size! She always says "hold Ry mom!" And for this picture, Rylee was content enough to let her.

say ahhhhh....!

St Pattys day came with expectations of a leprechaun visiting. I carefully explained that they weren't real but that mom would make some fun treats to celebrate the day. Here they are with donut and green fruit kabobs,

And a basket with a few green treats. I struggle every year with wanting to celebrate holidays but not taking it too far. But in the end it brings joy to my kids and makes me happy too so a few fun treats can't hurt, right?

Bri got a black eye while we were out one night and she was home with a babysitter. She tripped and fell on a bed frame that we were getting ready to move. Poor thing! And Bear Bear needs to make it in our blog book a few times so there she is.

Now on to EASTER festivities!