Sometimes.....

.....I stress out. I worry about what other people think of me.

Today is one of those days where I woke up automatically stressed out.

Why?

Well Thursdays are a busy day for me. I changed my long run to Thursdays now and I am not sure why with everything else that has to get done, but whatev. Thursday is also the "I scrub every surface of my house" day. Normally all this is not a reason to stress over. I have a system for my cleaning, I do it all the exact same way every week, so I can get it all done within about 2 hours after the kids are in bed at night (ya ya I'm OCD, I've heard it all before).

Today however is different, I have people coming over tonight. Totally not a big deal except that they will be here when I usually do my cleaning. Again, it shouldn't be a big deal, but I felt myself starting to stress this morning as soon as I opened my eyes. I worried that they would think less of me if my house wasn't as clean as I wanted.

So what did I do?

Well as soon as I rolled out of bed, I knelt down and said a prayer. "Lord please help me to not stress over things that don't matter. Help me to not take time away from my kids over things that don't matter." I felt the spirit wash over me, and I new I would be ok.

So, naturally I did all the cleaning while Blake is at school and Kade is napping. A thought kept coming in to my mind all day, "If you don't waste time, you will have the time." Isn't that so true? How much time do I spend on the computer or watching TV while the kids are napping, when I could be spending that time getting things done, or bettering myself? I know I am guilty of wasting plenty of time on things that don't matter.

Today I feel extremely blessed to have prayer. Just a little prayer this morning, changed the way I looked at the whole day, and changed the way I was feeling.

Then as if to reiterate the answer to my prayer, the Lord helped me see that the stress wasn't necessary, I needed to just laugh. Blake came to me and said, "Mommy, I had a big bless you (sneeze) this morning and huge boogers came out of my nose."
I said, "well that's pretty gross." (while in my mind I was thinking, where am I going to find these boogers, because surely he wiped them on a wall or something)
To which he replied as if reading my mind, "Don't worry mom, I cleaned my nose with a rag."
In awe I said, "well that was good, thanks, where did you put the rag?"
I swear he rolled his eyes and said as though he was explaining this to Kade and not me, "In the washing machine mom."
I just started laughing, and silently thanked my Father in Heaven for the sweet children he has given me.

Oh For the Love!

So the other day I called my husband at work and was going to give him some sarcastic comment about how I "absolutely loved" cleaning out the freezer with his exploded soda in it. I dialed the number smiling to myself and waited for him to pick up. He answered. I hesitated. And then all I could get out was.....Hi. Why does my husband have to have such a sexy (yep I said it) voice? It makes me swoon. *sigh* I love him.

Right now I am loving lots of things. Here are just a few of them...

Reading scriptures by the Christmas tree. We turn off all of the lights except for the tree lights and let the kids light the scriptures with their flashlights. They love it. And please notice how just as Adam took the picture, Kade just had to pick his nose, and then proceeded to try and wipe it on the couch. srsly. Just a few of the joys of having boys!! :)

If you can't tell, that is Kade lighting his face with the flashlight after scriptures. Love him.

Winter grass. I absolutely love winter grass. It is so green and pretty. I love the smell, and that during winter time I can lay a blanket outside and have a picnic with the boys. They love rolling around in it, and in turn I "love" getting the grass stains out of their clothes.

Baking sugar cookies with these two little tykes. There was no outside play time today because it has been raining all day so we baked sugar cookies instead. They helped roll out the dough, place the cookie cutters, and then frost and sprinkled them. It was a HUGE mess in my kitchen afterward, but well worth it for those faces. I love their smiles, it makes me melt.

Rain! It has been rainy outside for the last 2 days. Although I don't love that the rain today cut my run in half (it started raining in the middle of my run, dangit!), I still love it. I have had all of the curtains open so we can watch the rain fall, and the trees sway in the wind. I wish it wasn't so cold so we could actually go play in it. Oh well.

So what are you loving these days???

I've Changed...

So it's been awhile but here I am. My littlest "crazy" Kade turned 2 a little over a week ago. We had a birthday shindig at our house for him and his cousin Graham who's birthday is a few days before his. I know everyone says this about their kids, but seriously, I don't know where the time went. It feels like he should still be a baby, but he is definitely not. He is such a big boy and so independent. He puts up a good fight with his older but not much bigger brother. He is feisty, but also such a snuggler. He talks more than any barely 2 year old I have ever seen. For instance just this morning, I told him to stop banging on the wall because the mirror was going to fall on his head, and his response was "It not fall on my head mom, it fall on your head!" He is not supposed to be able to string that many words together! And that is just the tip of the iceberg, you should see when him and Blake are playing together, it is crazy. I love my little baby and am so thankful for him. So here he is in all of his pizza face glory on his birthday!

Cousin Graham's birthday is just 6 days before Kade's. He is so cute I could just bite him! But I won't I promise. Here is Graham opening his presents, and of course Blakers is right in the middle of it all. :)

We had a Buzz Lightyear cake for them. I don't know what is with my kids and Toy Story right now but they love it! Kade picked out the cake all on his own and was very excited about it.

The Big Kade Monster opening his presents.

A Special thanks to all those who helped and also came to the party, it was a success!


Yah so the day after Kade's birthday, both him and I got really sick. I don't get sick very often, but when I do, it kicks my trash. Thankfully, it wasn't the flu or anything like that, but it was a bad cold. Poor Kade had a high temp and was miserable, and I was miserable right a long with him. I felt bad for Blake because he had no one to play with at home when Daddy went to work. The worst part about being sick was the fact that it was Thanksgiving week and I was all signed up to run the TURKEY TROT! Kade was better within about 2 days, but of course mine lingered. I was determined to run even if I felt like crap and I couldn't breathe out of my nose. Well, I did it, but I was a little disappointed with my time.

Nicole Graham #684

Queen Creek, AZ

Age: 25 Gender: F

Distance	10K
Clock Time	1:02:08
Chip Time	1:01:05
Overall Place	1470 / 2690
Gender Place	590 / 1426
Division Place	119 / 290
Age Grade	49.7%
Pace	9:50

I actually felt pretty good running, I just couldn't breathe through my nose most of the time. As I was running, I thought back to when I was playing softball at Westwood. When we would do something wrong, or get in trouble for whatever reason, Ricedorff would make us run laps. As I would run, I would think to myself, "I hate this! This sucks! I hate running! Who would do this for fun?! Why do we have to run for punishment?" That is exactly what it felt like back then, punishment. Running was what we did when we were being punished. Now, 8 years later, I was running a 10K, for fun (I actually had to pay to run it), on a holiday!
WHO AM I?!
Then I realized, I have changed. I am not the same person I was. I remember when I was younger being scared to be a wife and a mom someday. Would I be a good wife/mother? Would I know what my baby needs? Would I be able to handle having more than one? Would I be able to handle staying home with them?
Now, I can't imagine how my life would be with out the man by my side. How I managed to snag him away from all of his many admirers I will never know, but I am grateful. I can't imagine life without my little ones. I still don't know if I am a good enough mother to them, but I do know that I love them more than anything. I will do/be anything they need me to be. I love being home with them. I love hearing their voices, their laugh, their snores. I love it all. Of course I have my moments, we all do, but those three boys are the very best part of me. And that my friends, is why I have changed.

It Happened......

The "smurf" (our Hyundai) died. Ok, so I am being a little dramatic, it didn't really die. In the last few months it broke down what felt like a million times. Adam drives super far to work and leaves waaaay early in the morning so Smurf breaking down was not an option. You have no idea the sinking feeling I had in my stomach when my phone rang at 5 in the morning. I thought Adam had been in an accident, but no, Smurf blew a gasket or something dumb that I have no idea about. So as you can imagine I was more than fed up with it and so was he. Luckily all of the crap that kept breaking were covered under our extended warranty that we bought (thank heavens) so we didn't have to pay for it. What really gets me is that Smurf was only 5 years old! It was the first car that Adam and I bought together after we got married. We were sad to see it go, but ready. We got everything fixed and sold the thing while it was still worth something. So now, let me be the first to introduce you to Adam's new baby............

We don't have a name for him yet, unless Adam has secretly named him without telling me. :) I'll have to let you know. My dear husband treats our cars like they are our children.

In other news, the other night Adam and I went to check on the "crazies" before going to bed and this is how we found them......

How cute/uncomfortable is that?! And look, they are holding hands. Precious.


FHE was a blast last night. Music was the theme! The "Crazies" are in love, and I mean in love with music. So we had a little spiritual lesson made our own shakers, and then rocked out together as a family. The big hit of the night was Adam bringing out his trumpet. The boys about died with enthusiasm when he played the first note. Then, as if the night couldn't get any better for the boys, Adam let them PLAY the trumpet. Blake was a natural, he actually made music come out, unlike myself and Kade just making a bunch of spit noises. Needless to say, the spit valve was a little disgusting to empty out afterward. Yum!

They are happy, SUCCESS!

Reverence is Golden...

I don't know about ya'll with kids but church for us isn't always very quiet during Sacrament Meeting. In fact sometimes it is downright loud. In my kid's defense it isn't just them who are loud, but still. So tonight FHE was about Reverence. We talked about how important it is to be reverent when we are at church, during prayer and scripture study. I made them little sashes to wear saying "I Can Be Reverent" and they wore them for the rest of the night.

In the end, I am not sure it stuck with them, but at least we tried, right?

Vindication

I have these dear friends of mine. We'll call them Lurae and Brian (names changed for privacy reasons). For the last 2 years they have been going through the most horrific trial you can imagine.

Countless fasts were held in their behalf, numerous trips to the Temple with them in mind, and prayers, endless prayers for them. You can't imagine the pain that they have suffered.

Today, it is over. He has been vindicated. They no longer have to worry about what tomorrow will bring. They have each other and their family and nothing can take it away from them now.

Throughout these past two years of heartache my wonderful friends have remained united and strong. Their unwavering faith in the Lord has brought them through tougher times than many of us will ever face in our lifetime. I am in awe of their positive attitude through the whole ordeal, I don't know that I would ever be that strong.

The Lord knows each of us. He knows what burdens we can bare. He knows our hearts, and hears our prayers. I have such a firm testimony of the power of prayer. I have seen the affects of it in the lives of my dearest friends.

To Lurae and Brian: I love you guys, and I am so thankful to be counted as one of your friends. Breathe, its finally over!!!

Life Is About Makin Fun

Sunday night we had a little superman fun. Just thought you would like to know. I don't normally condone jumping on my couches, but for these cuties I let it slide just this once, and joined in the fun.

Last night for Family Home Evening our lesson was on our "bodies." We talked about how important they are and what good things we can put in our bodies. We asked Blake. "what is something good for our bodies that we eat?" Blake told us, "I know! Stuffed Shells! I like those mommy, and so does my tummy." Stuffed shells just so happens to be his favorite meal. I know what 3 year old loves that and not french fries (he hates those by the way)?

So anyway, as part of our lesson, we thought it would be fun to draw the kids on paper and let them color it while we talked about the importance of bodies. All in all, it was a good FHE. Sometimes I wonder if we are ever getting through to them with Family Home Evening and scripture reading, and then we have a good night where they both participate and I realize that it is working!!! They may not understand everything, but they are listening. Hallelujah!

Showing Kade how to color in his eyes. He then proceeded to tell daddy every body part that he saw. Precious.

Kade makin his hair all spiffy. He. Is. One. Handsome. Dude.

Blake coloring his fingernails. If you look closely you can see that he made his own huge eyes. I just love it.

It was so cute watching them color the different things on there outlines. Blake told us "daddy you didn't make my toenails!" so he then got down and drew them in. They looked like claws, but its cool.

EDIT: Ya so I forgot to flip the pictures sue me!

Halllllloooooowwwwweeeeeennnnnnn!

So I am not a big fan of Halloween. Don't get me wrong, I love dressing my kiddos up and love all the free candy, I just don't like the "let's scare your kids so they are up half the night too afraid to go to sleep." I don't like feeling scared, so I can only imagine how little kids handle it. You know?

Anywho, with all that said, I love how excited the boys got this year. They are both old enough to go "Trick or Treating" so we finally got to go and have fun the whole time! Woo hoo!! So here they are in all their glory. Blake is Buzz, and Kade is Woody. They looked so cute I just wanted to bite them (but I didn't, I promise) :)

They walked up to the door and said "trick or treat" all by themselves and then came running back to us telling us that they got more candy. Then they would turn and yell "THANK YOU!" They did this at EVERY house, it was so precious.


On Friday, our family had a costume party and we all had to dress up. Adam and I didn't want to spend extra money on a costume so we decided that we would have to find something around the house or borrow one. So I was lame and decided the easiest thing to be was a cow girl. My friend Jen had these rad red cowgirl boots, so I was rockin those (no pic sorry). Everyone complimented the boots Jen Thanks!!!
My husband on the other hand, decided not to borrow one. He decided that he would find something at home, and I must say it was........awesome. I won't spoil it for you I will just let you scroll on down and see the before and after pics...........Enjoy
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Before
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AFTER!!
He decided that he would be Tom Hanks from the movie Big. Yah those are Blake's pajamas, and he sure did stretch them to the max putting them on. I don't know that Blake will be able to wear them now. I wish we had a better front picture of him in it, but you can imagine I'm sure. The best part was that he stayed in the robe all night until the contest, and then just ripped the robe off and shocked everyone, it was HI-larious. My husband rocks. End of story.
Happy Halloween!

*Update*

As many of you may know, Adam had the swine last week and it really kicked his bum. I am happy to report that he is finally better!!

It was so weird to have him home, but not really home. He was in our room for almost 4 days, not moving much and sleeping almost the whole time.

Needless to say, I missed him like crazy.

I slept on the couch all week, I couldn't touch him (for fear I would pass his germs to the kids. I could care less if I got sick, I just didn't want the boys sick), I couldn't hug or kiss him. It was like torture seeing him, but not being able to get close enough to smell his special Adam scent. Plus the crazy worry I felt about him getting sicker (all those stories on the news of people dying really freaked me out).

Last night I got into bed and FINALLY got to snuggle up close to him and feel his arms wrap around me and I finally felt like I was home.

Mr. Roboto

Well now that I am on the tail end of the Swine we decided to do a little dancing last night. I am addicted to the new Muse song so I thought I would show the kids. Once I put it on Blake felt compelled to bust out the Robot. Well, here is a little sample.
Adam

Quarantined...

My husband went to the doctor today, and guess what? Yep, he's got the swine. Not fun. So the poor man has been quarantined. He is stuck in our bedroom, so the "crazies" don't get anywhere near him. I feel so bad, he doesn't even want to move. He didn't even object when I wanted to take a picture of him tonight. Some how he still manages to look HOT even though he is poopy. I love you baby.

On a much much lighter note, the weather has been beautful the last couple days so the boys and I have been outside A LOT. Here are a few pictures I couldn't help but take of the cuteness.

Argh! I could just chew on those cheeks (that's not weird right?)

He did not want his picture taken, this was the best I could do.

Feel the love.

I wanted this picture to be a lot cooler looking than it turned out. Oh well, they are still cute, even with the squinty eyes.

Tidbits of Blake

Blake: "Mom, I am getting taller and taller!"
Me: "You are! You are getting to be such a big boy!"
Blake: "Ya, I am gonna have to go to highschool now mom."

Blake while lying in bed: "I fell down a mountain and a dog pee'd on my face."

Blake: "Mom, I have a cupcake?"
Me: "No dear, it is only 7:30 in the morning, you don't need cake."
Blake: "But mommy, I have to, my tummy hurts and I need a cupcake to make me feel better."

Blake while blessing his lunch: "And bless Daddy that he will stay at work and drink his water."

Blake again while blessing food: "And bless Harry Potter that he will be safe and be strong."

Me: "You and Kade are going to stay with Heidi because Daddy and I are going to the Temple for Brian and Jen's wedding."
Blake: "Brian and Jen are getting married?"
Daddy: "Yep, and they are getting married in the Temple so they can be together forever."
Blake: "I want to get married."
Me: "You do huh? Well, can you wait until you get older, like after your mission?"
Blake: "Ya, then I am going to marry Jesus in the Temple!"

Why Do I Love My Husband?

Because he does things like this, and I realize that I can't even put into words how much I love him. I am so happy with my life.

All The Single Fellas........

See this girl.....

Ya, this is my sister Heidi and she just turned 21.

She is pretty much my best friend. She keeps me sane when "the crazies" are being WILD!

She is B-E-A-utiful, and I just love her to death.

Here are just a few reasons why Heidi rocks this world...

1. She loves and plays with my crazies

2. She, like myself, is a movie quoter. We go back and forth with movie quotes all the time. I love it!

3. She reads her scriptures every day

4. She started reading all the books that I have and now we can talk about them together.

5. She is HI-larious! She knows how to make me laugh

6. Ok so she is kind of a blonde, but she is very sincere, and very easy to love.

For some reason she is single, and I am ready for her to have a man, a GOOD man.
So blogging world, who should we hook her up with?? Any ideas for a good man who will treat my little sis with the utmost respect that she deserves?

I LOVE YOU HEIDI, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I Was Brave.....

And chopped my hair! It was a long time coming, I was just too chicken to do it. I REALLY needed a change, and my awesome and talented friend Jen (check out her blog yo!) was brave enough to defy my husband with me. Adam was a little anxious for my haircut (probably a little more anxious than me). He is a big fan of long hair. He hasn't seen it done yet. He saw the big poof ball that was my hair after it dried last night with no products in it (I wish I had a picture of that...yikes) So here is the big reveal.........

I love it! I really do. I can get it done so much faster! Jen cut about 5 inches off and added layers, she is A-MA-ZING! I know absolutely nothing about hair, so I put it all in her hands and she made it look nice. Thanks Jen!

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Here is a little story about the time Nicole almost wet herself with fright.

Ok, so the boys and I get home from our run, and I decided that it was about time to clean out the garage (there were remnants of cereal all over the ground), and spray off the driveway. So I set off to work. I was done spraying the garage, and started on the driveway and entryway to our front door. Kade was with me making sure to hinder me in anyway possible :) I look up in my entry way and see this...

Sorry it isn't a very good picture because frankly, I was not about to get any closer to the thing. My first thought when I saw it, was "what the heck is that?!" I went through all the possibilities in my head, a bee hive, a bugs nest, a spider's eggs, each thought getting more and more disgusting. So I finally decided that it was a bugs nest of some sort, and I was going to spray it away with my hose (not the smartest idea I have ever had, but whatev). I got Kade away just in case it was bees and started spraying.

I was not prepared for what it really is.

It's a freaking BAT?!

Why in heaven's name is there a bat in my entryway? Don't those nasty things live in caves!?

As soon as I sprayed it, it's wings started flapping, and I dropped the hose and ran for cover.

It took about 5 minutes for me to get the composure I needed to go back outside and turn off the water.

Adam was not the least bit worried about it like I was. I said, "Don't those things have rabies or something babe?" And he texts me this, "you already have rabies babe, so you can't get it twice. :)" Thanks babe, thanks.

So now, I can't even go out my front door because I know when I do that bat is going to get some revenge on me for spraying it earlier. Everytime I go to check through the window above my door if it has gone away yet, there he is taunting me, daring me to open the door so it can swoop down and give me rabies for real.

How do I get rid of a revenge craved bat?

Sounds I Love......

There are some things in my life that may be ordinary or not mean much to others, but I love them! These are just a few.........

-The sound of the laundry/garage door opening, telling me that Adam is home from work.

-Turning the page in a book I can't put down.

-A giggle from "the Crazies" when they are supposed to be in bed.

-A deep belly laugh for no reason at all.

-The shower turning on after a long run.

-The voice of an old friend I haven't talk to in awhile.

-A "Hi Mommy" from "the crazies" when they wake up

-"I love you Mommy"

-"You're my favorite Mommy"

-A whisper of "I love you" in my ear from my husband before he leaves for work.

-The sound of........silence, telling me that we survived another day and "the crazies" are resting peacefully.

Why I am Happy Today

There are a few things that are making me very happy today.

The first is this song. Sorry for the annoying picture video thing with it. I just love the song. It is exactly how I feel about my husband. My baby loves me even when I am scary looking and have bad morning breath. He even shows me love when I am grumpy. He is the best, I love you babe!

That's right peeps, this book is going to be a movie!!! That makes me very happy. Now let the speculation begin on who should play Ian!

This Blog makes me very happy too. I don't personally know Lauren, but I love her blog. She is hilarious, and uses words like sicknast, and awesomespice, which are words that I use regularly as well.

Last, but certainly not least, these little guys. This picture is disgusting and Kade looks a little "stoned" but its all good, they are still dang cute. How did I get such handsome boys!?

The Randomness That is My Brain

I have had a lot of things bouncing around in my head lately. Nothing super important, just stuff I have thought to blog about. But because I am lazy I haven't done it. So here are just a few things I have been thinking about............

1.

Soaked

Please excuse the scary picture. 2 Saturdays ago, the "crazies" and I went on our normal run. It was overcast and really windy but we went anyway hoping to just get it done. I thought the hardest part would be the wind, and it was killer on my legs. It started to rain a little and we were all laughingat first. We have run in the rain before so we weren't to worried about it. Just when I was on my last mile......it started pouring rain. And I am not just talking about raining hard, it was sideways rain with wind. It felt like we were taking a shower outside. That is when the screaming started from the "crazies." I turned around and came home. This picture is after I had been drying off for about 20 minutes. I was still soaked. It was awesome though. I love the rain.

2.

My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE show started last night...

I am in love with this show! I love to see the transformations that people make inside and out. Not to mention Jillian (the lady trainer) makes me laugh. She makes me think back to when we would do weight lifting for softball at the good old West to the Wood and I thought that my coach was so hard on us because he was a football coach too. Boy was I wrong. He yelled at us but he is sweet as kittens next to Jillian. She rocks though! She doesn't take any crap and that is what these people need. Love it!

3.

Faces!

The "crazies" have now decided that I am not allowed to take any pictures of them unless they are making "silly" faces. Blake and I always make faces at eachother and now he is obsessed with it. He will make faces at me while I am running, and ask me to do it back, which I always do. He is so funny. And Kade is just happy to be doing whatever Blake is.


4.

Walking in Daddy's shoes

The other day I was in my room doing who knows what when I heard some clippity clopping going down the hall. I knew Kade had Adam's shoes so I grabbed the camera and got a shot of him walking in his daddy's shoes just before he tripped over them and came crashing down. I don't know why but I absolutely love it when the "crazies" wear Adam's shoes, it is so cute. Adam is probably not such a fan of finding random things in his shoes like fishy crackers, or cars, but whatev.

5.

Daddy Time

Everynight after scriptures and prayer, we have "story time." It's nothing special we just let the boys each pick a book and decide if they want us to read it or if they want to read it to us. It is really funny to hear what they say when they "read" the story. This particular night daddy was doing the reading and I had to take a picture because they are so darn cute.

p.s. my latest project has been the "crazies" room. I painted the bottom half of their room black and the top white. We will be putting up a chair rail all around. The boys love music so that is going to be the theme of their room. What do you think, is it a good idea?