Tag, You're It.

I have been tagged by Jen. This has never happened to me in the blogging world but I always loved the game as a kid. Initially I wondered if I knew 5 people that blog but I think I can come up with them. RULES: Answer these 15 questions on your blog. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts. Tag 5 people by leaving their names at the end of the post. Leave a comment on their blog so they know they have been tagged.

Joys
1. My kids! I know that this is kind of an obvious answer but they really are adorable. They make my life so good. I can not believe that Lucy is almost a year. She has been a complete delight. She is such a happy girl. I am completely smitten with her. My boys are also very fun. They can be exasperating at times but they do such cute funny things. These three little people really are what brings me joy.
2. A clean orderly home. I love it when the whole house is clean and all the laundry is done. I just want to sit down and have it stay that way for about 15 minutes. Is this asking too much?
3. Flower gardens. I love to visit beautiful flower gardens. We are very lucky to have several breathtaking gardens right close to home. This summer I think everyone should visit Temple Square, Red Butte Garden and Thanksgiving Pointe.

Fears (I am not really an afraid type person and never have been so this one was difficult.)
1. Something happening to one of my kids.
2. Snakes, but I am not nearly as afraid of them as my husband.
3. Being fat forever (I hope this wasn't too honest, I am now going to get yelled at by both my sisters.)

Goals
1. Develop CONSISTENT, healthy eating and exercising habits.
2. Complete the Spudman Triathlon in July.
3. Have a beautiful flower garden right outside my door.

Current Obsessions/Collections
1. Lucy
2. Diet Mt. Dew
3. Finding the perfect rugs for my house.

Random Surprising Facts
1. I have really short toes, two of them are kind of webbed. You would think that I could swim fast but I can't.
2. I have trouble going back to sleep if I get woke up at night.
3. Mealtimes are my least favorite times of the day.

I now tag Sarah, Mindi, Jocelyn, Jerry and Kim S.

Have you ever heard of glue ear?

Lucy in her patient gown.

This is before they took her away.

Little Miss Lucy has had a nasty ear infection for the past couple of months and we could not seem to shake it, so the little doll had to go in for tubes last Thursday. She had what is called "glue ear" and the ENT said that it would not have drained on its own. Thank you to my family for all of the help with my boys. She is not back to 100% yet but I think it will help.

I do have to share a cute story about my parents. My mom brought my boys back home and she was visiting with me for a few minutes. Pretty soon my dad calls. He of coarse wants to talk to Lucy. I put the phone up to her ear and she immediately smiles and starts jabbering to grandpa. My mom is so delighted that she is almost moved to tears and even though I couldn't see my dad he was very pleased as well.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. I had a good day. We went to church and the kids sang to all of the moms in sacrament, for me this is generally the highlight of the whole block schedule. I couldn't really see my kids very well. Isaac only agreed to go up if he could be in the back row. Truman was trying to inch his way to the front as they sang the songs, but at least he was singing. I think all of the kids did a great job! I love the Primary songs. They teach the gospel in such a simple but profound way.

It was also Fast Sunday and I don't know if I ever remember having a Fast Sunday on Mother's Day. I think every person that got up commented about their own mother and her importance in their life. One lady commented that she knew of many mothers that don't really enjoy the day either because they feel inadequate in their efforts or because they do not have any children of their own and the day is a painful reminder to them. I have to admit that I do understand both those perspectives. Before I had children of my own it was difficult for me to hear mothers complain about their children or complain about what a hard job being a mom is. I wanted to be a mom more than anything else so sometimes Mother's Day was difficult. To make it easier I tried to focus on the positive examples of motherhood in my own life.

My mom is an incredible woman. She is a hard worker and a good thinker. She has loads of the not so common, common sense. She gets more done than any ten ordinary women and she knows how to do everything. She has spent her life in the service of her children and family. I am very proud of her and I am grateful for all that she has taught me. I am also thankful that she picked a great man to spend her life with. He is a very cute dad. (You should check out his blog.) Mom, I love you!

Another great example of motherhood is my mother-in-law, Alice. I have learned many things from her over the years and I know that her children and grandchildren are very important to her. Alice is very organized and she is a good homemaker. She keeps her home tidy and I appreciate her for passing this habit on to her son. David is definitely the most tidy and organized at this house. Alice has many strengths in areas that I need improvement and I appreciate her example.

My Grandma Truman is another exceptional mother. Grandma always did what she was suppose to do; there was never any question. She saw the good in others and always gave them the benefit of the doubt. She was gifted in getting people to do what they should. She could also say what needed to be said to someone without offending them. She loved to garden and work in her yard and she made the best pickles. She is one person that I truly hope I can become more like. I love and miss her.

Of all the blessings in my life I consider being a mom the greatest. I love my kids so very much. They bring me every emotion, everyday. I love watching them make progress and I love catching them being polite or kind. I know that being a mom is hard and I make lot of mistakes but, it is definitely the most rewarding job around. I am thankful to all the women and mothers that have been influential to me and I hope you had a great day.

Sisters

I don't always know what I should write about on this blog thing, David suggested that I write about how awful church was, but because I already covered that subject, I was looking for a different idea. Then I remembered a great quote I found last week for my sister Kimberly's birthday.

"You know full well as I do the value of sister's affections: There is nothing like it in this world."

Charlotte Bronte

Isn't that such a great quote! I feel very lucky to have two of the best sisters in the world. They are my best friends and I don't know what I would do with out them. (I am now holding back the tears as I write this.) We are very a like in many ways and very different in things also. We have always been close and I hope that it never changes. My sisters are good sounding blocks and I love to run ideas by them and get their opinion about everything from potty training to what should I do with my hair?

Jessica is a sweetheart. She would do anything for me or anyone in our family. She is the family expert on fashion, nutrition, exercise and many other subjects. She is smart and educates herself on current affairs. She usually has a strong opinion on things. She always knows what is going on with every member of the family. She is very generous and a great mom.

A few weeks ago as I was getting ready for a trip I was suppose to go to Isaac's class to volunteer. Jessica watches Truman and Lucy when I go. I wasn't ready for the trip and I didn't really want to go to the school so I told Jess that she should go in my place. I was kind of trying to trick her into going. I told her that she should go and check out kindergarten so she would know what it is like. She wasn't really tricked, she also wasn't very excited about either of her choices- school or watching all the kids. She decided to go to kindergarten and did a great job for me. I was able to finish packing for my trip and she really helped me out. I don't think most sisters would do this but this is one example of why we are close. She is involved in my life and also really showed Isaac how much she loves him. I really wish every one had a sister that helped them as much as she helps me. I love her.

Kimberly is also a sweetheart. She is a very determined individual. She is also very kind. She is fun and has an infectious laugh. Funny things happen to her and she has some great stories. She has always been a lot like me and has often followed in my footsteps. I decided early in life that this is the best form of flattery. Kim is a great mom and she really loves being a mom. We tease her because she is always saying how beautiful her children are. She is quite taken with them. (Aren't they lucky?) Kim is very busy, she works a lot and has three small kids, her load has been very heavy and I am proud of how hard she trys. Kim is also very willing to help me out. She tended for me a lot when Isaac and Truman were very little; she really helped me get through that first year. She is a good example to me and I love her lots.

I really am lucky to have two great sisters. I believe that Heavenly Father put us in a specific family because only our families can teach us what we need to know. We are all lucky to have the families that we have, and we should cherish them. (Go call your sister!)

Consistency

Today I have been EXERCISING. It isn't the only thing that I did, but it is a bit ridiculous that I did this to myself. (You are possibly wondering......what did she do to herself?) Okay here is the story; a few weeks ago I signed up with a nutrition and exercise consultant. It has been very helpful and I have liked it, but the Bon Jovi weekend,(more on that later) kind of messed me up. I also foolishly signed up to do a triathlon in a few weeks. So in order to prepare for that and get my fat man exercises done I was suppose to exercise 6 times, 2 swimming sessions and 4 weight lifting and cardio sessions. As of this morning, Tuesday, I had only exercised once! My appointment is tomorrow afternoon. Needless to say this morning I woke up a bit panicked! I called to try and postpone my appointment to Friday so I would have more time to get my workouts in. He was booked solid. What about Thursday? Nothing. The next available appointment was for Tuesday the following week. I decided to keep my appointment for tomorrow afternoon so off we raced to the rec center. The boys and Lucy went to the day care. I did my weight routine and sprint intervals and then went swimming. It wasn't too bad and only took about an hour and twenty minutes. Tonight after dinner we all returned to the rec center to do it again. Luckily David came for the second go around so he took the kids to the pool while I went to do my weight routine. It was was a different set of muscles, luckily. I skipped the sprint intervals and went back to the pool. Then I went and played with the kids while David swam. In total I did 3 and 1/2 workouts today. (Jess, before you call and tell me I am missing the point of the program, finish reading.) I recognize that I have a problem with consistency, and procrastination. I think being consistent is one of the real challenges of my life. I don't think that I have ever been consistent about anything. Every January I set lots of New Year's Resolutions. I am always very excited about how I am going to transform my life and I do a pretty good job for about a week. Some things last a bit longer but then everything heads south. Another example is when springtime rolls around I am always so excited to get out there and garden. In my mind I am going to transform my yard into temple square. One of the first nice days I will be out planting flowers. (By the way I could really use a couple of nice days around here, we are sick of winter.) I enjoy working in my yard until about mid June and then It just stops. I can hardly remember to water my plants and the pots definitely don't look like they belong on temple square. Scriptures study, family home evening, I'm sure that I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I recognize that with all of these things the real benefit comes in doing it daily and a little bit at a time. I know that is how to improve yourself or make a beautiful garden; I just wish that I could come up with a way to make myself more consistent, then maybe I could quit trying to loose weight and move on to something else. Oh well, I still have tomorrow morning before my appointment and a new week. I'll keep trying. Maybe I'll go and read the fable about the tortoise and the hare. (I do realize that I am crazy! Remember that it does run in my family.)

Rock on!

For Valentines Day David gave me Bon Jovi tickets in Las Vegas. It was kind of one of those gifts that also gives to the giver, but that is okay, we had a great time! For all of you that are laughing go a head and admit it, you like Bon Jovi too. As a kid I can remember vividly dancing in the family room with Mindi and my sisters to the Slippery When Wet cassette tape. We always listened as we did the dinner dishes also. But I do have to say that when it comes to being a Bon Jovi fan, I do not hold a candle to many of them out there. One girl had Bon Jovi tatooed on the nape of her neck. Countless other women, who were significantly older than me, danced around and carried on the entire concert. It was definitely some great people watching. Thanks David for a fun weekend I am really glad that you are my sweetheart and thank you to my parents for watching my kids. I know they had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Favorite Sunday

April is here and that means warm weather is just around the corner. It also means conference weekend; this is the best Sunday of the year! When else can you watch church on TV in your pajamas if you want and everyone that speaks has prepared a great talk? We had a completely lazy weekend at home and I loved it. I watched all sessions of conference and I can't remember the last time that I paid such close attention. It really was uplifting to me. I completely enjoyed President Monson, he was adorable. I also loved Elder Ballards talk and encouragement to young mothers. (My mom commented that Elder Ballard was very clever. He immediately endeared himself to over half the membership of the church.) It is nice to be noticed and recognized because being a mother is a very difficult job. I don't always feel like I know what I am doing but I am so glad that I am a mother, my aunt told me this weekend that you'll wake up one day and they will be gone and I really think that is how it is. Way to go all of you great moms and women out there. Women really make the world a great place to be. Just ask us!