Sunday Photo: 23

After church and quick lunch we headed up American Fork Canyon to enjoy some of this beautiful weather. Wade found us a nice little place off a picnic trail on the road to Tibble Fork.

I have to continue the story from last week about Avery:

Last Sunday, if you remember, Avery got hit in the mouth by a door at church. They are dumb doors that open out into a busy hallway.  We have spent all week praying and stressing about her two front teeth.  We called Wade's brother in law (who is a dentist) on Sunday when it happened and he said if they were permanent just to watch them, and there wasn't much we could do but wait and see. I was pretty positive they were permanent teeth.  But I'll be honest, I just had no idea.  It always seems like Gage, Noah and Avery all lose teeth at the same time.  She has lost some, I just don't know which ones.  But I thought it was mostly likely the front ones.

So we waited.  And ate a lot of soup and soft foods and wouldn't let her chew anything.  I was SO stressed.  By Thursday night I had had it. Wade's brother in law was out of town. I called a pediatric dentist's office that I've been meaning to switch my kids to (because their kids go to our kids school), but he didn't work on Friday.  So I called our regular pediatric dentist we've been seeing, and got her in for Friday morning.  It only took 15 minutes and one x ray, and I was SO happy.  Those were baby teeth that were falling out!   She could wiggle and pull and get those teeth out whenever she wanted!

It wasn't until I got back to the car and called Wade with the great news that it dawned on me.

We OWN our own x-ray machine! DUH! We totally could have done that ourselves! GEEZ!

She (I) pulled out one of her wiggly teeth out this morning in the bathroom at church because it was bothering her so much.

And the tooth fairy will come tonight (if she doesn't forget because she's done that too).
And it all will end well.

~~

Today at church we had one of the best meetings I think I've ever sat through.  It was about addiction and recovery and we had a couple people from our congregation speak to us and the youth.  It was very informative and spiritual and eye opening.  The lead speaker is a retired policeman who worked in undercover drug force task work.  Another speaker was a recovering addict.  She has been clean for 3 years now.  She was so brave to speak to such a large group, but she had such a wonderful spirit about her.  She really touched me. She really was amazing.  Amazing! Then we heard from the policeman's sister.  Her story was most interesting to me, because she had been married to a drug addict who hid it from her and the entire family.  And in the end her brother had to be the one to come and search their home arrest him.  And take him to rehab. I don't remember the statics that they shared today.  But drugs affect every family somewhere.  She said something that really struck me.  She said, that she knew all the signs of drug abuse.  She could tell them to you with no problem.  But what she didn't know...what she didn't realize...is that they would be in her own home.  Until she found the drugs in her husband's laundry, she didn't think that drugs could be in her home and affect her family.

Satan is real.  He is everywhere.
Drugs are real.  They can be addictive from the very first time you try them.

We had a good talk with Gage, on the way down the canyon tonight.  He didn't attend the meeting, but we told him some of the stories.  He really listened and we all discussed.  Then he stuck his stinky feet up on Noah's chair and Noah got mad and then Eli did it too, and the back seat fighting, who's touching who, someone's breathing my air, resumed and our teaching moment was over.  Back to normal life.

But this meeting really stuck with me. I think it will for a while.  I cannot do it justice by writing a few paragraphs on my blog. I wish all my family and friends could have heard (and felt) this meeting. It doesn't matter if you come from a good family, a bad family or whatever, Satan is real.

But another thing that I know is real is Christ.
And the Atonement.
And I really loved listening to the sweet sister share her story.
Because she is important and loved.
And I know this is true:

"God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been, as he does about where you are, and with his help, where you are willing to go."-Jeffery R Holland.

~~

God loves you.
He love me.
He loves Gage, even when he sticks his stinky feet in his brothers face.

Schools out.
Summer here here.
Strawberry-Rhubarb cake is upstairs calling my name.

Happy Sunday.

{15 Years!}

15 years ago we were just babies with big ideas.

We looked through our wedding album this morning.  The kids think this picture is funny.  They said Dad's hair looks funny and they agreed that he looks a lot better now. Then Avery said he is handsome either way.  I agree. Then Noah said my legs are longer now because I run??  Noah always finds a way to make me laugh.

15 years.  5 kids.  5 degrees.  Lots of different jobs.  10 different moves (not including some rotations for school) but only 3 states. And hopefully not many more moves ahead.  We are now where we will be forever.  When we buy a house, it has be in this same school boundaries. I actually love moving. But I don't think some of my kids love it as much as me.

We've spent roughly 12 of the 15 years in school or residency.  Geez! That is a lot of time!  I used to think that being in school was so hard.  I used to think it would all magically get better when we finished undergrad, or med school or residency.

Life doesn't happen like that.

We got to go out this last weekend and stay at Anniversary Inn.  Overnight without kids.  That never happens.  never.  It was nice.  Wade got to sleep until his eyes popped open.  I woke up at 5am and read a book.  We ate too much yummy food.  

While we were out we were discussing 15 years how we used to think the magic years would happen after school.  I said to Wade how I thought the last 3 have probably been the hardest.  I barely had the sentence out of my mouth when he completely agreed.  Life is hard!  In the last three years we have finished a very crazy/busy last year of residency.  Taken a job.  Which did not work out how we imagined it would.  We've lost a parent.  We've added a baby to the mix. We left a job and job hunted. And moved our family again...and moved in with family.  And took a leap and started a medical practice from scratch. And just like that we are self-employed, self insured, trying to figure it all out. All while balancing 5 kids, part time jobs, church responsibilities and life. It has not been easy.  

Some days you are the one that falls apart. And some days you have to be the glue that holds it all together.  And some days you just send up a prayer that bedtime will come soon and we can start over again again tomorrow. 

I kinda have this mantra while running.  I can do hard things.  Because I think I can.  I think that WE can.  I think we have a good relationship. Wade is my best friend.  We have good kids.  A supportive family.  I think we are where we are supposed to be. 15 years.  Some easy.  Some not.  

Just because something isn't easy doesn't mean it's not worth it.

And this is worth it.

Happy Anniversary to us.  Here's hoping the next 15 bring many more fun adventures and memories. (And not 10 more moves)

Sunday Photo: 22

We delivered our Memorial Day flowers to the cemetery this afternoon.  Some flowers for both sets of Wade's grandparents and his mom.

This week...

Gage: I've been noticing this week how much Gage has been growing up lately.  The other day I was busy and Wade's uncle came over.  I didn't see him or his car, but Gage yelled downstairs, "Uncle Charlie is here!"  He then opened the door, held the door for him, talked to him and had him sit down and then told him he would go find Grandpa.  I'm not sure why this surprised me so much, I'm not sure why I didn't think Gage was capable of doing this, but it just struck me as such a big person thing to do.  He took care of Uncle Charlie for me because I didn't even know he was here.  He's been reading like a crazy kid lately.  I worry that he doesn't comprehend what he is reading, but I ask him questions and he is able to explain the stories to me.  He finished book 3 and 4 of the Janitor series all on his own!  I showed him this morning how his kindle can read the story to him (and highlight as it reads along) and so he's now started listening to The Red Pyramid book by Rick Riordan.  He really loves that it reads to him.  And he really loves that he can follow along.  He's been sitting around all day with headphones in listening to the story.  

Noah: This week marks 3 years since Noah had his last seizure!  He's been off his meds since Christmas time and been doing great.  Noah's finished the 3rd book of Janitors on his own too.  He is currently reading the 4th.  He keeps telling me what is happening and asking Gage questions about what will happen next.  He is SO excited for school to be out so he can play video games.  He really likes his 2nd grade teacher.  He really loves one of the other teachers in 2nd grade too. Mrs. Talbot and Mrs. Laudie have been his favorites.  Noah had a party with his church class last week.  He went bowling and scored 119!  He had a lot of fun and had never been before.  Maybe we'll have to go bowling more often.

Avery:  Poor Avery was skipping down the hall at church today on her way to class when someone opened a door right in front of her and it smacked her right in the face.  She said she was trying to be so brave and not cry out loud, but she was really hurt.  Her front two (permanent) teeth are loose.  She tried her best to be brave, but Wade ended up taking her home.  I'm not sure how her dress survived without blood, but Wade's shirt was covered.  While the boys are counting down the days till school is over, Avery is so sad that kindergarten will end.  I checked her out early after the dance festival and she was so mad at me.  She says she doesn't want to go to first grade, because she loves Mrs. Caldwell so much, and she wants to stay in kindergarten forever.  In fact her day today, was just no good, she also fell off her bike this afternoon, and her brothers told her that she didn't have school tomorrow.  She cried big tears over no school.

Eli: Eli cracks us up on a daily basis.  I can't keep the kid off his bike after he learned how to ride without training wheels last week.  If you can't find Eli he is 1. someplace eating 2. riding his bike or 3. in the garage talking to grandpa. Today in the car he told me that Dad was my boyfriend because we like to kiss. Then he told me that boyfriend also starts with the same letter as butt. Then he laughed and laughed.  Eli is the easiest kid to put to bed each night. Sometimes he is in bed asleep before I even know he's put on his pajamas.  So when the kids went to sleep at my sisters this week so Wade and I could go out for our anniversary I didn't think Eli would be trouble.  But apparently he was up sad all night.  When I got back the next day he said he was just sad because he missed mom.  Wade said, "did you miss me?" and Eli replied, "nope, just mom"

Lucy: Little princess Lu-Lu.  Two years ago this week she had her heart surgery. She is doing great now.  And a handful.  She loves her daddy.  She has him wrapped around her little finger.  The other day we were talking about foster kids and adopted kids and how sometimes mom's have kids that come from another mom's tummy (how else do you explain this?).  And Lucy walked by and said, "I from Dad's Tummy"

yeah.  I'm pretty sure if she could have picked, she would have picked dad.

she really loves him.

She is such a funny girl.  She loved the school dance festival and sat in her chair the whole time tapping her foot to the music.  Lucy has started sing songs that we listen to on the radio.  She can sing a lot of Taylor Swift songs. "That's what people say...woohoo, that's what people say, woohoo"

  It's pretty funny to listen too.

~~

love these kids of mine.  

they are loud.  

and eat a lot.  

and kinda silly. 

 and loud. 

 did I mention they are are loud? 

but they are good kids.  

and I'm pretty blessed to call them mine.

Sunday Photo: 21

Just like that my little guy is growing up. 

He didn't want training wheels to slow him down this summer.  

He wants to keep up with everyone else.

And it only took one little try...

(maybe it was his lucky short shorts! haha)

What a cute boy!

Happy Sunday!

{April}

May is almost half way over and I'm finally getting around to posting some of the random happenings from April.  But what can I say...April was just exhausting....

(ok, maybe not, but this picture just makes me laugh)

I'm going to go broke during their teenage years.  This particular night we had fried chicken legs and Noah LOVES them.  I took the picture when he was on 4, but he finished the dinner off by eating 6!

Spring Break was in April!  We didn't do much, but stayed busy.  All five kids slept in the playroom the entire week.  They thought this was SO fun.  We had a couple good movie nights.  

I was able to run outside a lot more this month!  YAY!  

The highlight for a couple of the kids was that they went to the dentist during spring break. ??? I'm not sure why they love the dentist, but I am not complaining!  It's always a good day when all 5 kids can come away cavity free!

I worked at the office a lot during spring break.  

We got a copy of the Best Bites 400 Calories or Less to review on My Reading Spot blog.  We have loved everything we have tried from the book! (review here)

We read and finished the latest book in the Five Kingdom Series.  The power went out one night but that didn't stop these boys.  They just pulled out a flashlight and kept on reading.

At the end of the book Gage even read a head because he wanted to know what would happen before Wade had time to read for them.  He finished the book on his own.  Which is HUGE for him.  He's started to read more chapter books.  We started to read out loud  the 2nd book in Janitors series next and he decided to read a head and finish that book too.  

He loves to read, I just wish it would come a little easier to him.

We took the kids to Scheels during Spring Break to ride the Ferris Wheel and play around.

My nephew Tyler moved from SLC to Boise.  He works for the airlines and Boise isn't far, so I'm sure we will see him again soon.  The little kids love Tyler.

Oh...and while at Scheels the boys decided to spend their money on pellet guns.  I made them paint an old box into a target. I'm not sure what they had more fun with, spray painting the box, or the guns.

We got our last snow storm...which the kids thought was great!

And yes...I was a great mom and let Lucy go out in it like this.  The big kids had gone to school in tee-shirts and no coats so we had to make an emergency run to the school to take them some winter gear.

Avery has a skirt my mom made her last year that she loves, she requested a couple more just like it for summer so one afternoon we put together a couple of these, and, of course, Lucy needed one too.

We went to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival.  It was really pretty.  And the pictures I got were really pretty too....

Gage (and his cousin Daesha) got to perform in Hope of America,  It's a pretty cool program that 5th graders from all over the valley do.  The only bad thing about it is it's down at BYU and you have to get there super early for good seats and fight traffic on the way home. The mom behind me gave me a the biggest crusty look like I was a horrible maniac mom when I pulled out an electronic device for every kid since we  had to sit there for an hour before the program.  I had a good laugh when her kids hung over the back of our chairs the entire time watching my kids.  My kids had their homework done, their reading done, and dinner done.  And we had to sit there for an hour. It isn't church!  geez!

Gage is in the top corner of the right side and his cousin Daesha (who goes to a different school) got to sit on the ground.

Eli is my little buddy.  He loves to entertain me with silly antics while we wait to pick up the big boys from school.

The school had their walk-a-thon and we managed to make it there to cheer them on.  Avery is a girl after my own heart.  She loved the running!

And Eli was pretty excited that Cosmo was there!

More office pictures.  Just because Lucy is just so cute when she is there...it's so overwhelming.

And from snow to this...we are all looking forward to summer!

I'm running two half marathons this summer.  Kinda crazy, one day a couple girls from the team and I were looking up silly running shirts on pinterest.  I'll only post the clean ones we found...ha! 

and my personal favorite:

And last but not least, Lucy and her puppy.  She carries this little guy everywhere.  My Aunt sent it to her and she adores it.  She would sleep with it if we let her.  It goes to the store and in the car.  She loves this little pup.

May is super busy - school is almost over and we are all ready and anxious for summer.  

Noah is counting down the days!

Sunday Photo: 20

Happy Mother's Day.

I am so thankful for these five little monkeys who call me mom.

Where's the fun in a normal looking Sunday Photo when we can act like this:

I am thankful for the mom's in my life.  My mom is one of my best friends.  Someday I might convince her to move to Utah. Wade's mom was never a mother in law, she was a second mom.  I am so sad my littles won't remember her.

I hope today is a good day for you, no matter where you are at with motherhood.

One of my favorite quotes on motherhood:

"There is no one perfect way to be a good mother.

Each situation is unique, 

each mother has different challenges, 

different skills and abilities, 

and certainly different children....

What matters is that a mother 

loves her children deeply."  

Elder M. Russel Ballard

I love each one of these silly kids of mine.  

They are all so unique.  So different.  

Some challenge me more than others. 

 But sometimes I just sit back in awe of them.  

They are blessings.  And smart.  

And amazing.  And here to teach me.  

And I love them.

Happy Mother's Day.

Sunday Photo: 19

When Wade was growing up he had a Disney story book called, "The Mystery of the Missing Peanuts." He really liked this book and since moving back home the kids have really liked to read it too. It's a cute book. Spoiler alert: In the end Detective Donald solves the crimes by finding foot prints of Chip and Dale through some blue paint, and then matching it up to the blue paint on the bottom of their feet.

Tonight though, after dinner. Wade went out to the garage to check on something and came back, told the kids to line up and said we had our very own mystery to solve.





The Mystery of the Footprints on the Bridge




Back up: Yesterday Wade spent all day building a bridge for cub scouts. It's for a crossing over ceremony...when the boys earn their ranking in cub scouts and move to boy scouts. Anyway, Wade used a bunch of scrap wood he had and he spent all afternoon building this thing. He worked pretty hard on it. And the last thing he did was stain it. But then it started to rain so he moved it to the garage.


And he specifically told the kids...repeatedly to NOT play on the bridge because the paint was not dry.

Well...if you know our kids....

Today he went out to check on it and came back laughing that the paint wasn't quite dry yet, but there were foot prints all over it. So it would be pretty easy to see who the culprit was.


The Mystery of the Missing Peanuts, right?

So he lined them all up and looked at their feet. And lifted them up to see if they matched.
The kids thought this was SO funny and every one was giggling and talking about that book.



So who was Chip and Dale in the end?
It was no surprise....
A curious little 4 year old and his side-kick 2 year old sister...





Everyone had a quick bath.
The footprints came off the newly painted bridge.
And the case was closed.


Happy Sunday.