What's on the Bookshelf

Guess what I did today?

Spent an hour and a half at the park with my three kiddos and read a new book.

You know that glorious time that comes every now and then in your life when all of your kids are able to play and have fun basically on their own at the park.

You know nobody needs pushing.

Nobody needs constant supervision cause they think they are bigger than they really are.

No crawlers in the family who find it funner to eat the wood chips.

When two big brothers spend a good twenty minutes going up and down the slide with their little sister just to hear her sweet little squeal of delight.

Now I am not saying K was angel because she most certainly wasn't...but well I did get two full chapters read and that's saying something.

Yup I got a good thing going right now.

Park, my cute kids, a diet coke and good book = one happy mommy!

It's going to be a good summer.

I have three new books just calling my name.

No shows on right now (except the Bachelorette of course).

So reading becomes my thing in the summer time.

Seems like throughout the school year I average about a book a month.

I wish I had more time to read but I do at least make it a habit to read for twenty to thirty minutes as the last thing I do before turning the light off and going to sleep.

These five above are my most current reads and well I love a good book recommendation so here you go!

"ALL OTHER NIGHTS" by Dara Horn

A little slow going in the beginning, it took me a good few weeks to get interested in this one.  Actually I was close to putting it down, but it seems I am incapable of not finishing a book so I plowed ahead.  I am so glad I did.  The ending was fantastic, and I secretly had a book crush on the main character.  For once he didn't have a stupid name, I hate stupid named characters.  His name was Jacob Rappaport and I liked him.  And the ending was perfect and made me think about it for days after finishing so I judge that as a good thing.  4 out of 5 stars.

"The Help"

Honestly who doesn't love this book?  My only regret?   I saw the movie before I read the book.  I wish I had read the book first, just because I knew everything that was happening so it sort of lost the element of surprise that way.  I probably would have finished this one a lot faster had I not seen the movie first.  4 out of 5 stars

"War Horse"

Just like the movie.  Eric got me this one for Valentines Day I believe I saw the movie over Christmas so again I should have reversed that.  But for some reason it didn't bother me so much with this book. It was such a quick heart warming read, I finished this one in a week.  The movie doesn't follow the book exactly but that didn't bother me so much.  I enjoyed the quick pace it went with, seriously you just fly right through it.  Enjoyable.  3 out of 5 stars.

"Black Heels to Tractor Wheels"  Pioneer Woman

Another quick happy read.  That P-dub she makes me laugh a lot.  Has anybody read this?  Please tell me you laughed your head as off as well at the scene of the wedding when she is having a sweating attack in the bathroom.  Oh dear Eric thought I was a lunatic the way I was carrying on, she has that self deprecating humor down perfectly.  Love her, loved the book.  4 out of 5 stars.

"Winter Garden" by Kristin Hannah

I can't even describe this book.  The best, if you read anything read this one.  But you will cry just a warning.  Any mother out there will bawl her eyes out.  The author has the most amazing way of making you the reader feel every heart breaking moment.  It's a modern day story that tells a past story within the story...does that make sense?  It's a story about family, relationships....particularly of a mother and her two daughters.  The best book I have read in quite some time.  5 out of 5 stars.

Happy reading!

My kids are off to bed and I plan to spend the remainder of the evening on the couch with a book!

Memorial Day

Memorial weekend was a good one.

Here's a quick post with mostly pictures and a few words cause I am a little tired tonight.

Isn't this a pretty sight?

Flowers ready to be placed.

I didn't buy these.

Eric's parents did, but they were just too pretty not to take a picture.

We lucked out and got to to go to breakfast not once but twice in one weekend.

Saturday morning with Eric's parents.

And Monday morning with my mom.

The novelty of it all had apparently run off by Monday because my kids were a little wound up and how to put it nicely,  "irritating" come Monday.

It may have had something to do with the fact that I didn't have Eric's help on Monday.

He went golfing for the morning with his dad and brothers.

Sorry mom, I know they were a little crazy!

After breakfast we met up with my Granny to go see Grandpa's grave in Hyde Park.

My favorite picture of the day.

The boys thought it was hillarious that Iron man was able to hang from Grandpa's grave.

And I bet you Grandpa thought it was pretty hillarious himself!

Another winning moment of the day.

Eric had the van so the kids and I rode in my mom's car until we met up with Eric later in the day.

Now I know why vans make me so happy.

If I ever have to ride in a car with all three of my kids directly behind me touching each other.....I think I will lose it.

Wow.

And I thought they were crazy at breakfast.

"He's touching me".

"She's hitting me."

"His blanket is smelly."  (Which of course it's Mickey, so I don't doubt it needs a round in the washing machine, I mean it has been three days.  That's well past Mickey's prime.)

See she looks thrilled to be riding along with her brothers too doesn't she?

They made up for it in this moment though.

Sitting atop Grandpa Cherry's parents headstone.

Love that Grandpa of mine, he is one of a kind.

And that Luke is one funny guy.

Cemeteries are a good place for a heart to heart.

Three sweet little girls.

She's a classy one.

Elle Bell needed a picture with her aunties.

Really this was her idea.

And who are her picture loving aunts to say no to that request?

Just a sweet one.

She's pouting about something.

Again with the heart to hearts.

We finished off the day with a BBQ with the cousins at Grandma and Grandpa Smith's.
A good hamburger.
A little horse on the basketball court. (Not me of course.)
Great company.

It was pretty perfect and pretty relaxing if I do say so myself.
The kickoff to summer was wonderful.

And now I can't seem to keep track of what day it is.
I keep having to remind myself today is Wednesday, not Tuesday.
Those three day weekends throw me all of kilter, you too?

On my mind...

So I have started this post half a dozen times today and then erased it.

I have been hesitant to share what I am about to share....but honestly it's like I can't move on until I do.

My mind is going a thousand miles an hour and I need to get rid of a few thoughts before I can move on, what is it about writing that is so therapeutic?

You will have to excuse me if part of what I write is a little cryptic and missing details.  Truth is they are not mine to share, it's not my story.  And I feel like I need to be careful what I write to protect the privacy of others.  But sometimes you learn parenting is not for the light hearted.  Sometimes reality shakes it's head at you and more importantly at your innocent children and leaves you shaking in your boots.

Last night Lance and I went to special dinner at Golden Corral for students at his school.  They have had their giant fundraiser going on the last few weeks.  And each level kids earn gives them certain prizes.  Lance raised quite a bit of money in large part thanks to grandparents and earned a dinner served by his principal and a few teachers.  We went and had a most glorious time with each other, I love that kid so much.  At one point in the evening I noticed my phone ringing but decided to let the caller leave a message, I didn't want to disrupt the evening.

Later on in the evening around midnight my phone rang again waking me from sleep, only I didn't get to it in time and again a message was left.  I don't know about you but phone calls past ten usually send me into panic mode thinking surely something must be wrong, why would somebody call that late?  So I got out of bed to listen to the message and then remembered the first message I had missed earlier in the evening.

The first was just a recording I quickly bypassed and moved onto the second one that came around 6 pm.  It was the detective from the elementary school in a recorded message notifying all the families that a first grader had gone missing and they were looking for any information anyone might have on him.  My first thought was a first grader?  Lance is in first grade and then I heard the name.  I recognized it immediately as one of Lance's best friends in his class.  I was sick to my stomach and immediately woke Eric telling him what the message had said.  He asked if I was certain it was Lance's friend and I said I was almost 99% certain it was.

My mind went into overdrive.  Lost what does that mean?  He didn't come home from school, does lost mean taken, had he been found yet, after all the message was almost six hours old.  I was close to waking Lance to ask him if he knew anything about it but decided to wait until morning until I knew more.  I didn't want to alarm him if not necessary.  I could not get back to sleep I was so worried about this little guy wondering what in the world was going on.

It's now approaching 2 am, Eric was sound asleep, all was quiet in my household except for my mind.  I hear a car pull onto our street, I see headlights shining through our bedroom window, I jump from my bed and right as I peer out into the darkness I hear loud knocking resonate through our silent home.  I see a police car in my driveway, Eric sits straight up in bed as I say "get up, it's the police, it's got to be about that little boy".

Here is where the vague details come in, it's important that I only share my story and not somebody else's.  We answer the door to two policeman, they apologize at startling us at this late hour.  We answer questions that yes we do recognize the picture, yes it's true the information they received that our son was good friends with this missing boy is accurate.  Would we mind waking him to see if he has any information that could lead to the return of this little guy?  Of course we agree and go to Lance's room to awaken him from a deep sleep.

It must be said my heart is pounding out of my chest right now, my mother's heart is aching for what might be going on.  Trying not to let myself jump to that horrible conclusion, every mother's worst fear an abducted child.  I am about in tears as I try to wake Lance and quickly have to turn away because I know my reactions right now will send Lance into a frantic state if I don't control myself.

I am so thankful for my husband.....my calm level headed husband.....who turned me around, sat down next to Lance, and woke him calmly, said what needed to be said to help him understand what was going on.  But did so in such a manor that left both of us feeling at peace and confident that we must do what we can to help Lance's friend.

We go down the stairs.  I am so proud of my son.  He was calm, he was concerned, he answered every question, he did his best to help.  We answered what we could but truth is we had no real information to give them.  They apologize again for waking us and walked out our door into the night.  Nighttime has never looked so eerie to me.

I am worried about Lance.  I wonder if he will be able to sleep after all this.  I wonder what is going through his little mind.  I wonder if for the first time true childhood innocence has been lost.  He seems okay, we talk to him for a bit, he says he is fine and immediately goes right back to sleep.

It's now about 2:45 am.....I lay awake in my bed until 5:45, all sorts of thoughts going through my mind.  I take countless walks around my home, praying over my children's beds that they will always be safe, that horrible things will never happen.  Praying that this little guy will be found, that he is safe and no harm has come his way.  Finally exhaustion sets in and I fall into what I like to think of as more of a restless nap.

Morning comes early we are awaken to a silent Lance standing over our beds, he crawls in the middle of us, his blanket curled up around him.  He asks if that really happened last night, if the police really came to his home, if his friend was really missing, how could that happen, where would he be?  And I realize he is starting to peace all this together.

Probably the hardest conversation I have had with him in his whole lifetime.  I couldn't give him the answers he wanted and needed to feel secure.  All we could do was say a few prayers and hope that everything would work itself out, that he would be found and returned home.  I realized that sometimes when you think you have no idea what to say as a parent and how to get through hard conversations with your children the words are just put into your mouth.  You know what to say, you know what to do, parenting is so scary but so amazing at the same time.

We took Lance to school, hoping that somehow is friend would be there.

And miraculously while he wasn't in school, sometime in the early morning he had been found and returned home.  I can't say much else except he was fine, safe and what seems to be a misunderstanding of sorts.  We were so relieved to hear of this news, so grateful that such a scary situation turned out the way it did.

But most of all I feel so so proud of my sweet boy.  He took a hard situation, a grown up situation, a situation I hope and pray none of us ever have to go through again and he handled it beautifully.  His heart is so good, as we speak he is clutching a hand written note to his friend to give to him on Monday.  Telling him how glad he is that he is okay and safe at home, how he was so worried and how he will always be his friend.  I love him so much, he is such a good kid.  We received an email from his teacher saying how proud she was of him, how much he is liked, how kind he is to the other kids, what a good boy he is.

I keep watching him closely today making sure he is not scarred for life and traumatized, wondering if he is processing everything okay.  Every time I ask if he is okay and make sure he is not worried he just says "Why would I be worried mom, everything is okay now."

Just a reminder to me and all of us out there as parents......know where your kids are, know who they are friends with, make sure they know the harm of strangers, make sure they know their telephone numbers and addresses, know the parents of your kids friends.  Don't assume we live in a safe world, take precaution, teach your kids precautions.  I am so so grateful for the way this turned out, so grateful for my husband and my three sweet children.  Praying they hold onto that innocence a little longer and feel the peace that only prayer can bring in times we don't have the answers we are seeking.

Today we spent the day as a family, teaching Luke to ride a bike without training wheels.
It took 5 seconds and he had it down pat.
It's been a remarkably simple day......and after the last twenty four hours simple is just what we needed.

It's almost here...

It's coming.....

......the trailer is out of storage.

......the kids are chomping at the bit to help Grandma and Grandpa go on few little trips.

........evenings at the drive in for dinner.

......crazy carefree summer hair.

Oh who I am kidding her hair looks like that every other day!

.......bedtime pushed back to 9, or 10, or when we get really crazy 11.

......the world is covered in green and blooming flowers.

........little boys love to help Granny do some watering.

.....and in turn Granny loves playing with the kids.

......to keep up with the heat lots of water is being consumed.

.......kids are on the run.

.....I taught her the art of making a wish and blowing.

......I did not teach her the art of making a dandelion pee down your arm.

(Please tell me you remember that nasty game from your childhood too.  Who the heck thought of that?)

.....little nighties on little girls.

......first father son camp out of the season.

......fresh basil, mozzarella and tomatoes, I sure do love you Caprese.

And at the end of every day slimy, dirty, sweaty children in need of a bubble bath.

Summer is coming.

In your house too?

Mother's Day (a week later)

Does anybody even care about Mother's Day posting still?

Mother's Day?  wasn't that like ages ago?

You have all moved on to other exciting events like the fact that school is out this week for Luke, and next week for Lance.

Yikes I go through a certain amount of fear this time of year.

Just this morning while doing my grocery shopping for the week my mind kept playing dirty little tricks on me.

All I could think about was at this time in two weeks I will not only have Katelynn to worry about spilling large buckets of popcorn chicken all over Lee's grocery store but Lance and Luke as well.

And yeah that totally happened today, popcorn chicken everywhere.

There's a reason I shop early Monday mornings, keep the embarrassing kid behavior moments to a minimum, less people to witness the craziness.

Anyway sorry about the tangent there.

We have Mother's Day pictures!

Wow what a photogenic family, this is has got to be one of our best yet.

Not.

This is cute for two reasons.

1.  Lance knows french toast is my favorite breakfast food....made with french bread at that.

and 2.  He pulled out that plate circa 1989 made by yours truly at the age of six years old.

Tender right, it was actually really cute Lance thought it was pretty great I was the same age as him when I made this masterpiece.

I should have become an artist obviously, my craftiness showed itself at such a young age:)

Oh my sweethearts how I love being your mommy.

And I really love it when they let me dress them in matchy matchy colors, how much longer can I get away with this?

We headed off down to the road to church, sacrament only so we could get to all of our moms on this big day with plenty of time to visit.

Have I mentioned how glad I will be in seven months from now when our church block changes, 1 -4 is the worst!

Oh sweet girl, she thought she would help me out by unloading the dishwasher while I made our spinach salad to take to our BBQ for the evening.

Unfortunately I have memories of a little Loubird doing the same thing at the same age and breaking our dishwasher door.

She was promptly relieved of her duties......

Onto my sister's house for a BBQ.

Love this picture, I only wish I had thrown little K in there as well for a four generation picture.

My sweet mommy....

She's so cute and short isn't she?

I am 5'2 so what does that tell you about how short she is.

I don't know how my sister does it but her backyard is a kid's Disneyland.

Every nook and cranny is filled with something fun for the kids.

It's no wonder Lance finds our own yard so incredibly boring.

I love Mother's Day.

We all meet at Teri's bring our own meat to grill.

Each of us bring a salad or dessert and we are good to go.

Plenty of food to go around and plenty of great company.

A perfect day.

We did head over to my other mother, sweet Eric's mom but as usual so late in the day my camera was put away by then.

We are so blessed to have two mothers who would do anything for us.

I love you both so much!

And I feel so much lighter now that this post is finally done.

Honestly I have been working on this here and there for the last like five days.

May needs to be over, it's just too much!

Mother's Day Gifts

Seriously the gifts deserve their very own post.

I just adore the gifts my kids give me on mother's day.

Honestly I think it's my very favorite part of the day.

Those teachers know the way to melt a mommies heart.

I have my gift shrine set up on our kitchen table that I just can't see to put away yet.

They make me so happy each little trinket made with love by my babies.

First gift was a brunch at Luke's school Friday morning.

He was so excited to go and be with just me.

Some one on one Loubird time is full of laughs I will tell you what.

This boy knows how to have a good time.

He is being a crazy monster in these pictures to match the crazy monster on his shirt.

Cause you know that's what five year old boys find funny apparently.

I received his gift that afternoon because he just couldn't wait until Sunday to pass it along to me.

First up was this darling pipe cleaner bouquet.

So cute right, he thought that thing was pretty special.

But then I thought it was pretty special too.

Now before you see this next picture just brace yourselves no need to feel bad about your own parenting skills when compared to mine.

I know this is a lofty goal to achieve but apparently this is something I do really well with.

You know the typical book with questions the kids fill out about their moms?

Well here is Luke's answers......again don't feel bad....just try a little harder to be a little better that's all.

(Please tell me you are sensing the sarcasm here:)

Of all the things I help him with "turn the light off" is what stands out to the little fella.

I know dare to dream right?

I am obviously doing something right in the mothering department.

What can I say I am a very concerned citizen when it comes to electricity.

I have those light switches down pat.

I am cringing at what his teachers must think of me.

We don't have video games.

I don't know how to play video games.

He doesn't even know how to play video games.

My mind is seriously stumped right now as to where this answer comes from.

Well at least he got this one right.

It's true I am nice:)

From Lance we have a bookmark.

He also gave me a sweet card he made himself.

With three coupons attached to it good for: one free hug, one free room clean, and one free getting ready for bed happily coupons.

Unfortunately with Lance he let me see his gift, listened to me praise him and then placed everything in HIS keepsake box.

Not mine, HIS.

My little pack rat has a really hard time parting with anything.

So I managed to swipe the bookmark from him but that's it for now.

Still working on attaining my coupons for my keepsake box.

A bracelet made by Luke but then given to K to give to me as her present.

That gesture alone was another priceless gift.

Those boys sure do watch out for their little sister.

And one more hand made card by Loubird.

That boy really went above and beyond with the gifts this year.....they just kept on coming.

And now is as good of a time as any to introduce you to my gift from Eric.

Oh yes, only a new car.

Actually it wasn't technically a mother's day gift we just happened to buy it last week.

So I told him no worries this most definitely counts as a perfect gift from him.

I fought for a really long time with the idea of getting another mini van.

My little heart was set on an Acura.

I am sort of mini vanned out.

My 2001 Sienna was not making my heart skip a beat much any more.

We were tired of each other.

But in our test driving adventures we realized Acura's are just really not very convenient when it comes to hauling a lot of little children around.

Not to mention a lot of little children's stuff around.

You just can't beat the convenience of a mini van.

The automatic doors.

8 people seating.

Tons of trunk space.

Fold down seating.

So we decided on this Honda Odyssey in my favorite color, it's shiny and new or newer anyway (don't get all crazy it's not a 2012, the day Eric and I buy a brand new straight off the lot car, I think our family will all croak over and die from shock).  We are known as the tightwads in our family, but hey we like to think it's called being smart with our finances not tight!

I like a nice reasonable payment......nothing wrong with that.

Point is my heart skips a beat every time I get in and we love it.

So I guess I am a mini van mommy for awhile longer just yet.

Love it, thanks family you all outdid yourselves this year!

I feel like one spoiled, loved little mommy.