1-30-11 What a Week!

I feel like this has been a long week. I haven’t posted since last Friday. On the 22nd I was shooting a wedding and my camera broke! In the middle of shooting the family shots! It was seriously terribly embarrassing, and I had no back-up camera on me. Luckily, the woman doing the video for the wedding happened to be a friend of Jacob’s family and had a 7D at home that she had someone bring up to the temple. So while it could have been a catastrophe, it was instead a minor setback. But I do have to pay around $600 to get my camera fixed. So that’s a major bummer. I also need to invest in a back-up camera as well. Money – the thorn in my side.

Easton got sick on Sunday with a fever and croup. I thought he was better so I let him and Teagan go up to Cedar City with Adam and Angelica on Wednesday. They came back into town on Friday afternoon, but I left Friday morning for a girls weekend with Susan, Sherrelle, and Jen in St. George.  Jacob called me in St. George after he picked the boys up and said that Easton and Teagan were both sick. On Saturday when I got home, they were the saddest boys EVER! I felt so terrible for being gone and not seeing them since Wednesday. The girls weekend was a lot of fun, but I was so happy to see my little sweeties again.

So, for the girls’ trip, we drove up to St. George on Friday morning and met Susan at our hotel. Then we went to lunch at Olive Garden and next to get massages. I haven’t had a massage since I was pregnant with Easton, and it was wonderful. I need to get them more often.

After massages, Sherrelle and Jen got pedis while Susan and I hung out and chatted. Then we did a little bit of shopping and finally went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner where Becca met up with us (she was up in St. George for a little getaway with Juddy for her birthday). We pretty much ate our faces off at Texas Roadhouse. I had my share of yeast for the entire year. After dinner, Becca left with Jud and the rest of us went back to the hotel to play games, eat junk, and chit chat till the wee hours of the morning.  On Saturday we basically woke up, got dressed, went to lunch at the Pizza Factory, and then headed back to Vegas. Lots of fun, but glad it was only a night since my boys were such sickies!

1-21-11 Days Like This

Mother of the year right here. I spent the entire day screaming at my children, only to tuck them in bed tonight and mark this day off as a miserable failure. Reminds me of the book Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.  My kids kept bickering today. Teagan whined and screamed incessantly, although that’s not unlike any other day. He also ripped our favorite book and one we borrowed from the library. Easton spilled green beans all over my couch and mixed the play dough into one big ball even after I told him not to. I hate that brown color that play dough inevitably becomes.  And Easton just got out of bed to tell me that Teagan took his jammies off. Beautiful. Blissful day. Jacob worked all day and won’t get home until 9 tonight.

Sometimes I wonder who would ever entrust children to my care, especially on days when I prove to have not even an inkling of patience.  It’s always comforting to know that my children will likely carry on into their own lives all my bad habits and bitter failings as a parent. This brings warmth to my cranky heart on an especially cranky day.

“What would Jesus do” seems so simple a question. But I sometimes have no idea what He would do. When my children are bickering at my feet all day, creating problems all in the name of giving Mom something to solve, sucking the sanity out of my brain, I feel like all I can do is refrain from locking them in a dark closet and then myself in an even darker and more hidden one.

I love my children. So very much. But honestly, sometimes I feel like I’m failing miserably, and by doing so, I’m teaching them to fail miserably as well. My grandchildren are doomed.

Easton just came out again to tell me that Teagan took his jammies off again.

Heaven help us.

1-16-11 It’s Going to Get Hectic

In about a week I will be starting school full time at CSN. I have been wanting to finish up my degree not necessarily to go to work or anything but simply to be prepared in the event that I need it. I’m going to switch to Nevada State College in the fall to their Speech Pathology program. At least that’s the plan for now, but plans in my life seem to change sometimes. I got the Pell Grant so I don’t have to pay for school at all, so that’s really the only reason that I’m going back now.  I’m excited because I love school but I’m also nervous to be a full-time student and the same time I’m a full-time mom and wife and photographer and Camp Director and Mia Maid advisor. Yeah, I’ve got a lot on my plate, and I really just don’t want to fail at any of it. I have to maintain a 3.0 GPA to keep my grant, so I’m nervous about that.

I just found out Thursday about being the Camp Director for girls’ camp this year. I only went to camp one year when I was 12, so I don’t really know what the heck I’m doing. I like to believe that I’m in this position because Heavenly Father knows I’m capable of influencing these young women for good, but I also feel quite inadequate and hope I don’t totally screw up their camp experience.

Easton went fishing with my dad this weekend. He left Friday, which was very traumatic for him and Teagan to say goodbye to each other, and came back today. They had the sweetest little embrace today when Easton came running in to say hi to us. He just scooped Teagan up in a big bear hug completely ignoring Jacob and me and said, “Oh I missed you so much, brother!” Their brotherly love melts my heart more than I can tenderly express. I just love it. My dad’s friend Pearl also went with them. Pearl is an older man that my dad met at the lake quite a while ago. He now lives in his trailer on my parents’ side yard, which really sounds kid of weird, but he’s the sweetest man and plays with the boys whenever we go to my parents’ house. Easton wrapped his arms around Pearl tonight and said, “I love you, Uncle Pearl.” Easton can make a life long friend out of anyone, and it always makes me smile.

While Easton was gone I snapped a few pictures of Teagan. Teagan is much easier when Easton is around, which I’ll attribute to the fact that Easton entertains him a lot so that I don’t have to. Teagan is quite needy. He seems to believe his life is full of unsolvable problems. Heaven help him when he grows up and realizes what a real adult-sized problem is actually like.  It will be catastrophic for sure. Luckily he’s got an insane amount of adorable personality that helps me to forget just how whiny he can be.  Here are a few shots of his beautiful little face.

 

1-11-11 Fun With Family

Today Becca and Juddy invited the boys and I to go with them to a place called Pump It Up. It’s a place that has those inflatable bounce houses all set up for the kids to play on. They had so much fun. At first, Teagan was a little unsure of the big bouncy things, but he warmed up and had himself a fun little time. Easton loved it right from the start, of course :). And Sadie was adorably happy about the whole thing. She is such a cutie. We spent the rest of the evening playing at Becca’s until Jacob picked us up after he got off work at 8pm, so the boys got to bed a bit late.  But sometimes days like that are okay.

1-9-11 Sometimes They Are Listening

Uncle Don and Erin came into town on Friday and stayed with us for the weekend. They came to see Uncle Dane who is having open-heart surgery tomorrow. It was just a quick visit, and they had a lot of people to see, so we didn’t get to spend a lot of time with them. Erin managed to get in a bit of play time with E and T, and they loved it. It was fun to have them, even though the visit was quick. They went back to Glendale this morning.

At church today the mother of one of my Mia Maids came up to me and told me that it’s really hard to get her daughter to church, but that since I started teaching the lessons her daughter has loved them and wants to come to church. She said that I teach in a way that she understands. Well, of course, I was happy as a lark to hear that. Sometimes when I’m teaching I feel like no-one cares, no-one is paying attention, and I would never had thought that this particular young woman cared one bit about what I was saying. So it just made my day for her mom to tell me that she loves my lessons and really understands what I’m saying. Which means that her daughter actually mentioned my lessons to her. I guess, when you don’t know it, you really might be saying something that these young people “get”. And that makes me very happy, even if she is the only one in my class listening. I have a great bunch of girls in there, so I’m sure she’s not the only one listening. Nobody in the church holds a thankless or useless calling. Sometimes those we serve really are changed or helped by something we say or do.

1-6-11 Girls’ Night

I’ve been working on my blog book, and I realize that I need to be better about using this blog as a journal. I have to be sure that I update at least once a week for journaling purposes now that I’m going to be printing this out into a book. I’m excited to get it done.

The last time I posted was the day it snowed, and there hasn’t been anything too eventful since that day. Thursday, the 6th, I went out with Becca, Staci, and Andrea to celebrate Staci’s engagement. What a fun night. Dinner at Brio at Town Square (nothing I’d eat again), then a bit of attempting to shop at Caesar’s palace, and finally we ended the night dancing at Stoneys.  It was a ton of fun to go dancing with the girls since we always talk about it, but it also wasn’t an environment I liked being in, so we likely won’t do that again. I wish that here in Vegas someone would open up a place that maintained some level of morality. Maybe one day I’ll be that person.  Here’s a picture of me, Andrea, and Becca on the dance floor.

 

These girls are my favorite friends in the world. I love them so much! My cute little sister is my best friend next to Jacob, and I am so grateful for her friendship in my life. I can tell her anything, we can do absolutely nothing together and still have the best time laughing. She’s nearly perfect, and it’s often annoying how perfect she is, but she’s my very best non-husband friend. Sisters are awesome, especially mine. She took me in when I was homeless and husbandless and pregnant, and I’ll forever love her for that.

Andrea and Staci and I have been friends for the longest time. Stac and I met when I was 16 and she was 15, and we worked at the same ice cream shop together. I love that girl to pieces. We went through our divorces together, being officially divorced within a week of each other,  and she was such a support to me through everything with Adam. Now she’s getting remarried soon, and I’m so happy that she’s found someone to make her happy.

Then Stac and I met Andrea one night at a dance when we were in college here in Vegas, and we were instantly a trio. Andrea is so much fun, and she’s just a nut. She has been a good friend for the past several years. It’s funny that these past 2 years we’ve gotten closer while Stac and I went through our divorces and Andrea did her best to cheer us up. Then we added Becca into the mix, and we have the best girls’ nights ever! Love  you girls!

1-3-11 Perfect Day

How could the day not be perfect when Easton comes into my room at 7 am telling us that it’s snowing outside? The night before he prayed that it would snow. You can make your own conclusions about that since the snow came the next morning.

Now, since I’m a native Las Vegan, snow is the ever elusive white stuff that happens everywhere but here. When I lived in Meridian, I did not like the snow at all after one particular snowy winter of shoveling driveways every other day and gloominess for days and days without end.  But in Vegas, I’ll take it because I know it’s not going to be happening again anytime soon. I also know that if it snows at 7 am it will be completely and entirely melted by 2pm. So, a snow morning – you couldn’t even call it a day – is a wondrous thing here in Vegas.

The boys were just as giddy as could be about the snow. They stared quietly out the window, mesmerized by the white flakes that kept falling and falling. Everything is so much better when you have kids to enjoy these good times with. They made this day absolutely perfect because they were so purely delighted about all the snow. When the snow stopped falling we went outside to play while Jacob was still sleeping with a headache. Easton and Teagan were mainly determined to eat all the snow before it melted.

When Jacob woke up, we took them sledding right before all the snow started melting, and I don’t know if they’ve ever had so much fun in their lives which made sledding one of my and Jacob’s favorite things. They are such a joy to watch when they are having so much fun. It’s a mother’s favorite thing to see her children so happy.

After sledding we spent the rest of the day hanging out at home and ended the night with FHE. I read You Are Special by Max Lucado for our lesson tonight. It’s one of my favorite stories. Now my tired little Teagan is tucked into his bed and Easton is downstairs watching a movie with Jacob while I work on all the pics from our day. It has been a perfect day :).

 

Easton ended up getting too cold so he went inside to warm up so I put some mittens and a beanie on Teagan and we stayed outside.  He was so amused by the mittens, silly kid.

 

These were the looks on their faces the whole day :) Teags thought it was so much fun to slide down the hill on his belly. Have you ever seen a happier face?