Thursday, February 20, 2014

Gold and Blue Banquet

I can't believe that Corb is big enough to be a cub scout!!!  It's official...he's now a Wolf...and I'm the den mother!  CRAZY!  I'm not sure I'm the right gal for the job...but I guess you don't really get to pick your favorite callings in church.  My cute mother in law says that it's "my duty" (since I am currently the mother to all boys).  Speaking of "duty", the cub scout promise talks about "doing my duty...".  It is all I can do not to laugh as I look at Corbin ready to bust out laughing and seeing if anyone else noticed that they said the word "duty".  BOYS!!!  I didn't have an official boy scouts shirt and since I REFUSE...let me repeat that....REFUSE to purchase such an UGLY, not to mention EXPENSIVE shirt...I'll improvise with a navy dress, a mustard cardigan and a fun belt.  Hey my boots are leather...and that's kind of boy scouty right?!!  
Well, it'll be an adventure...but I'm ready to give it a go!  If not else comes from this, at least I'll get to spend a little more time with Corbin.  I sure love that boy and hate that he's growing up so quickly!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!!
 This morning I woke up early and made my family homemade heart shaped IHOP pancakes with the works.
 
 Jaden woke up early and became my little helper.

 I love having special breakfasts together, especially before everyone starts their busy days.
Even this little one was enjoying it!

Here are the boys' Valentines we made this year.
 I accidentally forgot to take picture of Jaden holding his sucker before we handed them all out!  Ooops!

Coby and I don't usually do much for Valentine's Day, but this year we celebrated a day earlier with dinner at Christopher's Steak house and a sealing session at the Jordan River Temple for dessert!  Dinner was okay.  Our waiter was a jerk and even went as far as rolling his eyes and laughing at Coby for his choice in dinner.  We were late because of him and for our session...but the good Lord helped us get there just in the nick of time! 
It was so nice to feel the Spirit as we held hands and looked into each other's eyes across the alter tonight. I love this Coby So much!  SO SO much!  He's truly the love of my life and the reason I want to be better every single day.  Some days I'm sure it may not seem like it, but I want to be the person he deserves!  Because Coby is more than I could ever deserve!  :)  He's amazing in every sense of the word!  How did I get so lucky??!!

 Later that night we made homemade Heart shaped stromboli. 

 
 It was a HIT!  
 
Aunt Ambie joined us for a glutenous carb overload of flour and sugar!  Then we all got into our jams and settled in to watch a movie.  We watched Ender's Game.  Not my first choice...but the boys seemed to like it and I actually stayed awake for most of it and didn't play on my phone!  :) 

 All in all the Valentine's Day was a success!  I so HEART this family of mine!

Thursday, February 06, 2014

A bad day...wait a bad WEEK

Have I mentioned that life with Cole hasn't been particularly easy lately?!! 
I'm trying....I really am! But there is only so much I can take before the woman that woke up hoping to be Mary Poppins all day quickly turns into Cruella Deville!  Today has been INSANE!  I feel like I've been running around with my head cut off.  Corb's been off track for the past 2 weeks.  Jaden thinks HE should be "off track" as well.   Getting him to preschool has been fun let me tell you!  I took Corbin to the dentist today and was informed that he had 5 cavities! 5!!!  Are you freaking kidding me??!!!  It turns out that he only had 4...but don't worry...he had to do a small root canal on one of them!  Good times! Can't wait for that bill!

Today we were supposed to head down to Lehi for the boys to be in a short commercial for Coby's work.  It had already been a LONG day already and Cole wasn't particularly in the best of moods.  I was debating cancelling.  I didn't. Instead I went with the WORST attitude!  It was like I was this big black rain cloud bringing GLOOM and DOOM everywhere I went! And it was hard NOT to be affected by it!  After the boys made their debute, we had a little lunch, and I yelled at everyone all the way home to keep Cole awake, we finally made it home.  I put Cole to bed and then had a little breakdown to my mom.  I told her that I was just going to hop on the elliptical and try to get some good endorphins going to hopefully lighten my horrendous attitude.

No sooner had I got the older boys settled, put on my work out clothes, when I saw her white little camry pull up in my driveway.  I watched her fiddling with something and then she stepped out holding a big chocolate candy bar and pretty pink roses.  I was instantly HUMBLED.

She didn't need to do it.  She definitely had every reason to get in her car and NEVER come back after the way I acted today.  But she didn't.  She looked for an opportunity to serve even someone as undeserving as ME!  It changed my attitude and after I had a good cry and told her how sorry I was, I found the courage to appologize to everyone else I'd hurt that day.  Thank goodness they are bigger than me forgive quickly and easily.  
How grateful I am for my mom.  She comes over sometimes daily to help me and spend the day with me. She's one of my best friends and I am so lucky to have been blessed with such an amazing mom!  I love you Mom and hope that I can be half the mom you are to me!

Corb's visit to dentist

A few weeks ago Corbin and Coby went to the dentist for a cleaning.  Coby came home and told me Corb had cavity. A Cavity as in what I thought meant ONE!
 
 You can imagine my shock and surprise when she said it was actually 5! 5 cavities!  At first I looked at the hygienist and asked her if I heard her correctly...I told her I must have been hallucinating because it sounded like she said 5!  And once I pulled my JAW up off the floor...they proceeded to give Corb a shot to numb his gums.
 After getting completely numb the dentist started going to town...to DRILL town! Then he said that it looked like Corbin didn't actually have 5 cavities...but only 4.  That was great....and then in next breath he said..."But it looks like we're going to have to do a mini root canal on one of them." GREAT!
4 Cavities and a mini Root Canal??!!  Are you trying to kill me kid??!!! I'm NOT looking forward to that bill!  I hope you start taking better care of your teeth or you will quickly be OUT of the running for favorite kid! :) 

Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Who needs little girls...

When you have as much drama in this house with a 14 month old,  4.5 going on 13 year old and an 8 year old going on 16...
who needs little girls?!!!

Lately this little guy has been making want to pull my hair out!!  As you can see from the picture he's just whining....that seems like all he does these days!  He whines to be held, throws tantrums when it doesn't happen and then all the water works start and usually ends up all over the front of my pants. I haven't had to wash my clothes this much in my entire life as I have had to with Cole!  By the end of the day they are so loaded with so much crusty snot I want to scream!

I'm not sure what to do to be a good mommy to him.  I try to be patient!  I do!  I really really try!  I've even been reading a book called "A mother's book of secrets." by Shawni Eyre Pothie and her mother Lynda Eyre.  It's GREAT...if you ever get the chance to read it!  It's about finding hope and joy in the trenches of motherhood.  I've been starting each day with reading my scriptures and saying my prayers.  I have been praying for patience with my kids and to not get caught up in the things that just don't really matter.  But...after Coby and Corbin leave for work and school...Hell becomes my life.  Cole is so hard.  He is a hard baby.  Coby says I just don't remember what it was like with the others...but I think HE doesn't remember!  I remember it being hard...but not hard like this!  I dread going to bed at night because I know that it's just a matter of hours before I have to open my eyes and have this ground hog experience again.
Lately Jaden has been throwing complete tantrums when I drop him off for preschool.  The kind of tantrums that involve kicking, screaming and going absolutely limp when his sweet teacher tries to help him.  It takes me 10 minutes to get out of there.  And then I leave feeling horrible!  Horrible because I left him screaming like that.  Horrible because I left him screaming like that with his teacher and what she'll have to do calm him down and hope that it doesn't affect the rest of the class.
Corbin is the least of my worries.  He's a huge tease...but the second that I am on his level and speaking kindly to him...he's AMAZING!  I worry about his reading.  I got a letter from the school stating that he wasn't on correct level for 3rd grade.  He's really sensitive about it.  Each time we talk to him about it...he takes it as a personal insult and that he's not smart.  Not at all true!  I think he's brilliant!  Reading is sometimes hard!  I get it!  I just want to help him and I don't know where to start! He's struggling with comprehending what he's reading.  I worry because his teachers told me that if he doesn't get reading down and I mean really DOWN, he'll feel like he's drowning when 4th grade rolls around.  They say that the teachers will expect him to be reading on a 4th grade level and won't take the time to really work with him the way he will need most.  It makes me nervous. 

I know that this all sounds harsh...but I'm having a hard time finding the joy right now.  I am grateful Cole is here and I'd take all this drama and constant whining all day every day forever over NOT.  But the thought of having another baby makes me so exhausted...the kind of exhausted you feel when you are so tired and burnt out that you find yourself staring blankly off into space!  And when you realize you are doing this...you start wondering how long you've actually been doing it!  I don't know if it's because I've been having babies for 9 years now and I'm older and don't have as much energy as I used to.  Maybe it's because over the years I've developed a crazy sense of trying to be in control of everything.  I want my house perfectly cleaned, things in their correct places.  I don't like plans to change suddenly.  I don't feel like I'm as fun or the "fly by my seat" kind of girl I used to think I was once was.

What I've come to understand is that nothing is going to be perfect!  Nothing is going to go exactly as I have it planned in my head.  And I need to come to terms with that.  I am learning that it's okay for things to NOT be perfect! The boys aren't going to care about how clean our house was growing up.  The things they will remember are the games we played and the books we read together.  They will remember the one on one time. The times we spent as a family laughing and having fun together.

 I am going to try to let things go...I'm going to try to not care that the kitchen floor isn't swept.  I am going to try and focus on my family and how I'm affecting their lives.  Am I influencing them for good or for bad?  Am I yelling more or talking kindly to them.  Is the TV on?  Am I letting electronics raise them this week or am I going to be a One on One kind of mom?  
I'm choosing the latter....I'm praying for a miracle...because I'm going to need it!  But I know that the Lord will not let me down if I'm doing my best.  So...here's to trying...and letting things go!

Sunday, February 02, 2014

Super Bowl Party

GOOOOO Broncos!!!
 Okay...so they don't exactly have a Bronco's jersey....so we worked with what we had. And since we root for Payton Manning anyway...and he used to play for the Colts....And when he was a Colt they actually WON the Super Bowl of 2011.  Too bad it didn't work out for them.   By a LONG shot! 
 Here's the delicious spread
 Coby and his "eager" to watch football brothers, my dad and Lance. I say "eager" because apparently Coby got all the "sports" obsession genes in the family.  ALL. OF. IT. in one guy!!!
 Jaden played happily with his cousins in their little club house under the stairs.  I think he's trying to welcome Tyson into the cousin's club.
 Meanwhile, Marse was hard at work in her new photography studio snapping Valentine's shots of all the kids! 
 And because Coby and I are good parents and never celebrated Cole's first birthday...Joanne helped make it happen with a candle, cake and the famous birthday song.  What?  Everyone celebrates their 4th kid's birthday 3 months late!!
Cole didn't quite know what to do.  He didn't feel the greatest and didn't quite give the super excited response like we would have hoped!  Oh well, at least Sammi, Honey and I are ready to blow out the candles! :)

And....it's OFFICIAL!  The end of football season is here! Can a get a HALLALUJAH or an AMEN! OR I even think Clark Griswald's rant in Christmas Vacation is appropriate..."Holy crap...where's the tylenol?"!!  

Fun Party!  Thanks for hosting Honey and giving our boy a reason to have cake with raspberry filling!  You're the best! 

Saturday, February 01, 2014

Decorating for Valentine's Day

Tis the season to set the mood for L O V E!!
Rich Family table in kitchen
 Dining room table
 Front Porch
 Baker's Rack on front porch
 Mantle
Front Entry way / Angel Table

Did I get a little carried away....probably! Do I care??!! Nope!