Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Scratch-scratch-scratch

This post is 10 days over due. On July 14th Josh and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. In another couple of weeks we will be celebrating the 8th anniversary of our first date. So we have been joking for a little while about the 7 year itch.
Totally in love with this guy!

Truth of the matter is, I am not going to sit here and paint a picture of total and complete honeymoon-ish bliss. The truth is, life is SO MUCH BETTER than that Honeymoon bliss. I remember when my parents were doing a bunch of marriage classes based on the book "the five love languages." I was either engaged or newly married at the time. They stated that the "love feeling" only lasts about two years. I was really taken back by this. I thought that there was no way that this feeling for Josh would ever sway or falter. I knew that what we had was going to last FOREVER! Our truth is somewhere in between there. When you have four kids in four years, life gets busy really fast. Money gets short really fast. And putting your relationship on the back burner is really really easy to do. I have to admit that life hasn't always been peaches and roses. We got to the point where we had to work at making our marriage work. There have been countless times where the coward in me wanted to runaway. Good thing I had 4 kids in 4 years, and I wanted to be a stay at home mom--I always had a reason to stay at least one more day. And things always look better in the morning. I have never liked the advice "don't go to bed angry." Not that I have a lot, but every time I have, I always wake up with a much better perspective on the situation. When we work through things, that honeymoon feeling always comes back. It is more like a cycle than a constant feeling now. Yet, the highs are higher now!
7 years later- even more in love with this guy!!

I love this man now, in ways that I never could have after a year of dating. I have seen how hard he will fight for me, or my kids. I have watched tears run down his face because one of us is hurting. I have watched as he continually steps out of his comfort zone to make our lives a little better. I have watched him work all day, only to come home and help me until after the kids go to bed. I have seen him sacrifice his wants and sometimes needs only to make sure that the rest of us have what we need. I have watched him deal with my crazy pregnancy/nursing hormones with love in his eyes. He has comforted me, encouraged me, walked beside me, lifted me up, made me feel beautiful, strengthened me when I didn't think I could do something, and he always searches for ways to make me know how much he loves me. So the only itch I want to scratch is on his back. I love my husband. 7 down, eternity to go!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Memories

I was looking at some old pictures from my camera today. Oh my little babies! I can't believe that Turner was Max's age and Max was only a little older than the twins in these pictures. It seems like these were only yesterday! Maybe because I don't remember much of the first year of twins. Maybe it is because kids just grow up too darn fast! Maybe it is because I am in total denial of how old I am getting. Anyway you look at it, these are some cute babies!
Max helping me out with feeding Cooper!

We had all been to the doctor our fair share!

My little crew!

The magic of twins :)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Liver Logs

Not sure if "Liver logs" sounds gross or not. I was going for alliteration--Liver diaries might be better though! So my dear readers (the thousands of you out there.) You may remember me alluding to my health problems earlier in the year. I may have even mentioned that it was my liver. Well, I was suppose to go into the Dr. after 3 months to see how I was doing. I was doing much better after 3 months! I called over a month ago to get an appointment, and they couldn't get me in until today. (It has been close to 6 months by now.) I am nervous! I have never been so nervous for a doctors appointment in my life!


See the thing is, I did really good right after my diagnosis. I worked out everyday, I ate lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, I drank a lot of water. I did liver cleanses, juice cleanses, research on the internet, daily prayer for my condition etc... and then I started to feel better! Of course I was feeling better--I was doing what I was suppose to!


Yet things got busy, money got short (I stopped teaching preschool), and I got forgetful. I stopped doing everything that I was suppose to! It took a while, but I have started feeling crappy again the last couple of weeks. Just in time for me to go to the doctor. I feel so defeated. I am sure that he is going to think that I haven't done anything!


It just reminds me of the Book of Mormon where they mention (A LOT) to remember. How do we remember? I am thinking that it takes a lot of practice to remember everything we are suppose to. I am hoping that with learning to remember, we forget a lot in the beginning. There are some things in my life that I have dramatically changed, so I know change is possible. Taking care of myself though, is a huge weakness of mine, one that I have been trying to "remember" to do for a long long time. 


I guess I just get frustrated because I actually eat better than most Americans.  I exercise more than most Americans. My body just requires A LOT of attention I guess. Yet people look at my size and think--this is what is wrong with America. To look at me, you would think that I eat a ton of processed foods, and sit around and watch TV all the time. Truth is, I log way less then the 2 hour recommendation. I probably only watch 2 hours a week! Although I am on the computer a lot. I rarely eat anything processed. I make most of my food from scratch, using mostly (read 90% of the time) whole wheat and honey instead of white flour and sugar. 

I read a lot of health food blogs,. and get so sick of the rants of thin people that walk around "disgusted by the obesity epidemic." They see overweight people and just know that don't care about their health. I read Facebook--I know what my friends eat for dinner. I know what physical fitness efforts they make. So if you are blessed to be thin, even if you struggle with those "10 extra pounds." Please don't judge me because of how I look. Or anyone else for that matter. Truth is, most people don't want to be overweight. We are because something is broken--physically or emotionally. We aren't stupid or lazy. If you want to see how "lazy" we are-- try putting on 100 pounds of weights and walk across the room. Okay, enough of that rant! (Sorry, I guess that was bottling up for a while)


Anyway, I hope we all can take care of ourselves today. I am! I am going to the doctor, even though I don't want to. What do you do to "remember?" How do we change what needs to be fixed in our lives? Not all you struggle with liver disease, or being overweight. Yet I am confident that everyone struggles with something. Everyone is fighting some kind of battle. So any help or encouragement that you have would be greatly appreciated!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Slip n' slidn'

Here are the other pictures from our 4th of July! The greatest thing about me getting down with my kids is that Max was really reluctant. But after a lot of runs from me, he decided that he liked it, and continued until he really loved it also. I think playing with your kids is important. I remember my father going swimming with us all the time as kids. It was huge! I am thankful that my kids not only me that likes to play with them, but a grandma that does also. My mother-in-law, whom is 19 years my elder, went down the slip n' slide also! She is awesome!!
Here is the proof that I actually did it! This is the only picture of me going down the slip n' slide. I can't care what you think I look like-just respect that I did it! And I had a great time!






My beautiful Mother-in-law! Yep, she did it too!


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

God bless America!

Our 4th of July was terrific! The only way it could have been better, is if we were in Prescott, AZ. If you have never been to Prescott for the 4th of July, you are missing out!! But Kaysville is awesome--if you don't mind seeing only a few horses in your parade :) We started out the day by going to the community-fundraising pancake breakfast. I had seen these awesome Captain America tie-dyed shirts on pinterist when Avengers came out. So Josh and I whipped some up. They didn't turn out like the picture online, but I thought that they were cute none-the-less!
My big boy!


This guy just gets cuter everyday!


I am not sure that I have one of him smiling all day, but he looks stylin' anyway!






Our little tie-dyed family.
I also made Amelia a skirt out of my scrap pile--I thought it was cute!



We really loved those squirt bottles with fans attached! Score for end of the year clearance last year!!



Keeping shoes on the twins is a near impossible challenge these days. These are not even the shoes we brought for him! He wouldn't let us change it thought. So funny!!

Uncle Justin chilln' with Max!


Ohh Ohh, I almost got a good picture of Cooper!

He was covering his ears because of the fire truck! I guess we know that his hearing works! (Mr. Holland's Opus anyone?)

Us with Captain America!! His costume is made out of duct tape! Oh holy HOT!! Can you tell Turner and Cooper and trying to figure him out! Oh my little curious ones :)
**More pictures of our day to come!!**

Friday, July 6, 2012

I can barely move! Learning some lessons from my kids.

          I am going on day two of  searing pain, every time I try to move achy muscles! I have decided that the "exercise" that keeps me the most motivated is a slip and slide! I honestly haven't been this sore . . . probably ever! I can not wait to post pictures of our fourth of July adventures. Part of the day my in-laws broke out a huge piece of plastic and the sprinkler. Luckily we live in an area that has secondary water, which we pay a monthly fee all year round--no matter how much we use. Behind my in-laws house is the school yard, with some nice hills. They put the plastic on a small decline and jimmy rigged a couple of metal hooks to hold it down. We played on it for hours! We actually had got it out on the previous Sat. and although I played in the water, I only went down the slide if my husband and bro-in-law grabbed my hands and threw me down. Although that was a lot of fun, I wanted to slide down on my own, like how I did years ago. I don't know why, but I hadn't thrown myself on the ground lately and for some reason, your body doesn't seem to remember how to do stuff like that.
          It took me several tries to figure out what would work best for me, but I did it! I followed the example of my two oldest boys, and learned a few things in the process. The first thing I had to do was to not care what I looked like. Did Turner or Max worry about what they looked like? Did they worry about form or if certain body parts were going to jiggle? Nope! So I couldn't either. I had to throw all care of looking silly out the window! The second thing I couldn't care about was making a mistake. If I was worried that I was going to flop myself down, only to go a foot or two, then I wouldn't be able to learn. When my boys are learning how to do something, I EXPECT them not to get it right the first time. Only because learning something new means making mistakes. The third thing I learned was that I couldn't be afraid of getting hurt. My boys were not afraid of getting hurt. Did they get hurt? We had a couple of scrapes and bruises. That is okay--the fun way out weighed the hurt . . . even now with my achy muscles. The fastest way to get hurt, is the be afraid of it. The most important lesson I learned, is that I had to expect that it was going to be a blast! Before I would go down the slip 'n slide, I would stand at the top and picture in my mind that I was sliding down, and that it was a blast. Guess what--what I pictured, was exactly what happened. 
         What if we get in this life, exactly what we most think about? Whether we think mostly about things we don't want to have happen, or things we do want to have happen. That doesn't matter. Someone very close to me told me once about her struggle with severe clinical depression. She told me that she had tried conventional help, but the only thing that truly helped was changing every bad thought into a positive one. She didn't allow her mind to think about negative things. Now before you think that this "cure" is simple. Changing a thought process can take a lot of practice and energy. But you are thinking about something anyway right? Might as well be something wonderful. That is what happened to me on Monday--I felt defeated, came to the computer to write a rant, and ended up walking out loving my life. Why? Because I chose to list the positive things about my life! Try it today--every time you feel something negative cross your mind, erase it, sing a song that makes you happy, Do something that is fun to you, or just anything that you find to make you happy!  If your looking for some ideas, head over to the Vocal Sokol . Her whole blog is dedicated to doing "pleasant things." I am sure you will find something that makes you happy!
**And keep your eye out for our 4th of July pictures--they are sure to bring a smile to your face!**

Monday, July 2, 2012

Time out!

I am locked in my room in a time-out right now. I wish I could do a minute for every year I am--a 34 minute time out sounds good right now! I am hoping for 10 minutes before something gets broken. I am just struggling this morning. My kids are great kids, and they are being pretty good, minus the full-sleeve-crayola-marker-tattoo Cooper is sporting right now. I am just in a funk! I have a hard time with Mondays because the house is a disaster from the weekend, and I don't want to clean it. Yet, I try. And every time I try to get control of the disaster, I turn around and there is an even bigger mess awaiting me. I am not talking perfection here folks, I am talking about trying to not get the health department involved. I think if we could get out of the house, I would feel better. Yet we need to eat lunch, and have naps etc. What do you do when you just need to get out of a funk? I seriously love to hear how other mother's keep sane, because some days we all need to remember that "this too shall pass." And along with it, all of the wonderful parts of this stage will too! like:
  1. Crawling into my lap with a book.
  2. Picking me flowers, and giving them to me wrapped in a drawing.
  3. Lots and lots of kisses.
  4.  Snuggling in bed.
  5. Telling me about every little part of their day.
  6. All of the great stories that happen in their imaginations.
  7. Magical kisses.
  8. Hearing, "Mommy, your pretty" just because I got dressed.
  9. Drawing every picture for me.
  10. Them (all of them) wanting just to be near me.
I guess sometimes it just helps to list what is great about my life right now. It helps to see that it isn't as bad as it feels sometimes. I am also so glad that tomorrow is always a new day "with no mistakes in it."