Making Messes

Let me start out by saying that this post is not meant to be a complaint - more like something to remember when I miss the messes. :)

Sometimes I am amazed at the messes my children can make.

What is that, you ask? It's rice. Don't ask how it got in the closet.

It was tracked all the way through the entire house. I can't even tell you how long I was vacuuming up rice after I thought it was completely cleaned up. Let me give you a hint: it was about a week.

And Nathan found where the toilet paper is kept today. It is crazy to me how I can be cleaning all day long, but the house never seems to get any cleaner.

This explains it perfectly:

Let's just say that I take full advantage of the 1.5-2 hours they nap each day. :)

I'm so glad those two little mess-makers are mine!

What About Nathan?

What did Nathan do while Ellie and I went on a date? Well, he got to stay home with Dad!

This little boy has been quite attached to his dad lately. 

He hung out on his newly-found seat.

And helped dad clean the house.

I have some awesome boys, and I'm excited to add another one in a couple of months!

A Girl Date With Ellie

On Saturday Ellie and I went on a "date" to get her hair cut again. Sam and I hyped her up for the experience, and she was pretty excited.

See?

Her hair had gotten long and scraggly again. It was time!!!

She was a little unsure about the whole hair washing thing, but she came around and was able to muster a funny little smile.

She held pretty still and begged for some kind of spray in her hair at the end, which I thought was funny since she cries almost every time I spray something in her hair... Apparently I'm not as cool as the hairstylist.

She got a sucker for being so good, and she was quite happy about that.

But the thing she looked forward to the most was ice cream and "playing on the toys" at Arctic Circle after she was done!

She had lots of fun, and I was grateful for the time alone with my girl!

Longing for Summer... And It's Only January

I was looking through some old pictures tonight, and I came across these:

Sitting in the sun in shorts sounds so great right now!

I just have to remember that summer will come... It always does. And for now, I've got to enjoy winter.

Love,

Saturday Adventures

Saturday started out with my awesome husband getting up with the kids so I could sleep in. Yep, he is great.

When I woke up, I saw this:

Two happy, mostly naked kids helping Dad make waffles. With homemade strawberry syrup. Mmmmmmm...

We did some cleaning, and decided that later that afternoon we would take the kids to see "Frozen" after their naps. We got halfway out of the neighborhood when we had to turn around because we forgot the tickets. When Sam ran in to get them, he parked in the driveway in front of our house rather than the garage like we always do. Then on our way out he decided to go through a huge pile of snow rather than the plowed driveway, and, well.... We got stuck. In our own front yard. Yeah. So Sam started digging around the wheels and pushing while I steered, but nothing worked. Then our neighbors drove up. These neighbors happen to have a tractor. After an embarrassing conversation and much laughing on Sam and my parts, (oh, and some scolding of Daddy from a certain daughter) this neighbor hooked us up to his tractor and pulled us out. And that was that. It was really, quite embarrassing.i wonder what those neighbors think of us now..... :)

By the time we got out of the snow we were late for the movie, so we decided to run to the grocery store and play a few games in the movie theater while we waited for the next showing. We passed the kids' cousins on the way, and they decided to come play games too. They all had lots of fun!

Then the movie started, and Ellie was in absolute heaven the entire time. She LOVED it. Nathan..... Not so much. It probably doesn't help that he fell and hit his head twice. 

The movie was great, but I have to say that I think Ellie's favorite part was getting to hold the popcorn.

All in all it was a great Saturday, even if we did get stuck in the snow.

Liberated

      I came across this post today at nieniedialogues.com, and it describes how I feel in so many ways. I wanted to share what she says and add a few words of my own.

       Stephanie says:

"As a mother of five children I will not stand around
and let the world decide what is moral,
what is right, and how I should raise my children.
And just because the world changes with
every single trend doesn't mean I will too.
As a Mormon, I want to make it clear that
I can still love everyone but I don't have to 
agree or condone others lifestyle choices that go against the teachings of our 
Heavenly Father and His commandments and words.
If God changed at every single whim and fad, He would cease to be God."

       There are many in the world today that make choices that go against God's commandments. God loves all of His children, despite the choices we have made that go against what He says, just like any parent still loves their child when he makes decisions that go against the parent's wishes. However, that does not mean the parent doesn't wish their child would make better decisions, or that they agree with the choice their child made. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we try to follow the examples of God - our Heavenly Father, and His Son - Jesus Christ, in loving everyone, no matter what choices they make. But this does not mean we condone others' decisions that go against God's teachings. As a steward over my children I will teach them to use God's standards to determine what is moral and right, not the world's standards. 

      God reveals his commandments in many places, including The Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, The Pearl of Great Price, and through His modern-day Apostles and Prophets. In the Doctrine and Covenants section 1 verse 38, it says,"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken ... whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." Through these modern-day leaders, we can learn God's will for us today. (Learn more about the book of scripture called The Doctrine and Covenants here. To read God's most recent words through His prophets given in October 2013, click here. To learn more about why we need these leaders today, click here.)

       Another phrase from Stephanie's blog post that stood out to me was:

"I have heard it said that people think that being good, having a family, and following moral rules means you are stupid, and uneducated."

       I agree with her that this is absolutely not true. Many people look at members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or "Mormons," as blind followers of a prophet who do not think for themselves. This is also not true. I follow God's prophets because I have prayed and received a personal witness that they speak God's will. I choose to follow God's will because it brings me true joy.

       Like Stephanie said,

"I can't tell you how liberating it is to follow rules, follow a living prophet of God, and to teach this to my family."

     
       "Liberating" is the perfect word to describe my feelings. I feel liberated because there is no question in my mind of what is right, and I know exactly where to turn when I have questions about God's will - to the scriptures or to the words of the living prophets. I feel liberated because in these references I have a sort of "instruction guide" to aid in teaching my children what they need to know. And I feel liberated because I know that I do not have to cater my standards to the world's in order to fit into today's society, because God has His own set of standards that do not change.

To learn more about the 

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 

also called the "Mormon" Church, 

go here.

A Big Sister's Magic

Nathan has recently decided that he doesn't want to eat baby food anymore, which has been fine because we are just keeping all of the leftover jars in a cupboard in anticipation of the next little boy. But the other day he needed bananas (if you know what I mean.....) and we didn't have any left. So that morning Sam had tried to feed him a jar of bananas out of the jar, and he was completely offended. He wouldn't have it.

Later that afternoon, though, Ellie insisted on feeding him the rest of the jar. I gave her a spoon and the jar thinking he would have the same reaction, but I was surprised to see this:

He ate half of the jar from Ellie. I guess he just needed his big sister to help him.

I love the relationship these two are developing. I hope they can always be friends.

A Funny Picture

Gotta love Photobooth. It could keep Ellie entertained for a very long time.

Christmas

This year we stayed home for Christmas and just spent it as our little family. We were sad to be away from extended family, but at the same time it was fun to focus on our kids. 

On Christmas Eve we got together with Sam's brother's family. We had Sam's family's tradition of Hawaiin Haystacks for dinner, decorated gingerbread houses, the kids watched "Rudolph," and the adults played heads up - a fun game that my mom taught to us while she was here. 

After family left, the kids opened a Christmas Eve present from Grandma:

Christmas jammies! We all put our adorable new pjs on, and Sam taught the kids about the Jesus' birth with our Little People nativity set.

After the nativity story, the kids had a huge fight. Excuse the blurry pictures - I was laughing too hard.

Ellie: "No Nathan, you can't have a single one of the 15 nativity pieces! I need them all for myself!"

Ellie: "Sorry, I'm bigger and can just push you away." 

Nathan: "You want to put your hand right there? Fine, I'll bite it!" Then he grabbed one of her pigtails and yanked. She screamed and jumped on top of the toys to protect them.

I guess Nathan was satisfied after that, because he walked away with a pleased look on his face.

Sam and I had a pretty good laugh over that fight. Usually when Ellie takes things away from Nathan he just looks up at us and cries, waiting for us to intervene, but it was hilarious to watch him actually fight back.

After everyone was calmed down, we took a family picture:

Then we put the kids to bed. I made a cinnamon bread ring for Christmas morning, finished up the slush, Sam put the rest of the presents under the tree and put together one thing, and we were off to bed too. 

Christmas morning was great! It was nice and slow-paced. We opened presents, then had breakfast.

We got to talk to family and just be together celebrating Christ's birth. I am so grateful for the beautiful, humble beginning of the Savior of the World and that we have the opportunity each year to dedicate a day to celebrating it.