Moments.....

When I was a little girl I dreamed of becoming a mother.

Like literally it's all I could think about.

I even carried a notebook around with me carrying information about my pretend future family I couldn't wait to have one day.

I had a list of must haves I would have in my house.

A list of cute outfits I would buy my baby.

I even had a description of each family member including likes/dislikes/hobbies.

No I wasn't weird.

Okay yes, yes I was.

But my point is I could not wait until the day I would have my own little babies lo love on and watch in wonder that I helped make these most perfect little angels.

I thought it sounded amazing to stay at home doing mom things, like cleaning, laundry, making meals, soccer games and cartoons.

Nowadays not every day is what I imagined it being when I was a little girl dreaming of the day I would have a little family of my own.

Cleaning is something I only tolerate.

Laundry is ridiculous.

I feel like most of my day is spent in the kitchen.

Cartoons can get on my last nerve.

But at least a thousand times a day I look around in wonder and am so grateful that the life I dreamed of having is not only great but so much more than I ever could have imagined.

It's in those tiny little moments, where your heart stops you in an instant and says remember this moment......this is the good stuff.

The stuff that will last a lifetime and makes you so grateful these are the people you get to spend eternity with.

This family of mine I sure do love them.

A quiet moment in a rocker, a little boy in desperate need of a haircut, wearing an outfit he picked out himself.  A blond haired sister, those crazy wisps falling out of her tiny ponytail, bare feet almost as big as her brothers.  A painfully slow reading of Hello Kitty as his Kindergarten voice sounds out each and every sound in his effort to read to his sister.  Little K cheering him on "oh wow really Lukey".

Love them.

Loved this moment.

Papa Deano stopped by the house one afternoon with a prize for the kids.

New kites to fly on a windy afternoon.

We waited and waited for just the right day to come upon us.

And then one night after dinner.

Luke happened to mention "it's windy outside".

It was a school night, kids needed to be bathed, backpacks set out, bedtime stories read, I was hoping to get a few miles on the treadmill before bedtime.

But Eric took one look out the window, opened the back door and said "kids get your kites, Luke's right it's a perfect wind".

That night was just pure magical to me.

Spring had arrived, the night was long, the grass and flowers were beginning to thaw out from a long harsh winter.

The sun was lazily going down in the sky, the chill was just right.

On first try we got those kites up and flying high, perfectly silhouetted against the setting sun.

The Wellsville mountains in the distance.

The field next to our house creating a perfect backdrop for kite flying.

A first experience for my kids.

None of them had ever flown a kite before.

The sounds of their squeals and delight was infectious.

Each one clamoring for help from dad until their confidence settled in and they had that kite flying down pat.

We stayed out there for close to an hour.

A few small crashes between brothers who have not quite figured out how to keep their distance from each other up there in the sky.

But no tears, daddy got them untangled quickly and sent them soaring again.

Bedtime was pushed off first just fifteen minutes, then a half an hour and finally a whole hour behind schedule.

Their smiles were worth it.

From my view in the kitchen as I slowly cleaned up the dinner dishes, my back door wide open letting in the most beautiful Spring time breeze.  Lamp lights slowly being turned on as the world got darker and the sun settled down for the night.  Dirty shoes were lined up along the backdoor, cold little hands and cheeks were sent to the nice warm shower.  Promises were made that yes we would go out again as soon as the perfect wind came along.  My family, my cozy home, our safe neighborhood, a dream I dreamed of as a little girl.

If this is what my eternity looks like I can't wait for it to begin.

St. Patrick's Day and a little Easter.....

So it looks as if each weekend I just do a lump sum post to wrap up the last week.

I feel good about that, at least the big stuff is getting documented right?

Besides St. Patrick's and Easter are so close together this year it makes sense to post both in the same week.

Or at least the beginning of our Easter celebrations started this last week.

So here we go....

I don't make a huge deal out of St. Patrick's, I don't recall my mom ever having done much for the silly holiday.

We are not Irish, not even a little bit.

But hey why let life get mundane and boring.

If I can spice it up a little bit for my kids and turn ordinary days into a little extraordinary for under $5.00 then I all for it.

Last minute I put together these little pots of gold at the end of the rainbow for the kids to find on their trail of clovers left by the leprechaun.

Pretty simple clues around the house, leading them from one spot to the next.

The piano....

The television....

The washing machine......

Poor K was repeatedly left in the dust by her older brothers.

But she happily trailed behind them going from clue to clue.....just happy to be a part of the squealing and excitement.

And of course the end prize was a hit.

Now let's have a chat about this guy and naughty leprechauns.

Each year in Sound Beginnings they have a naughty leprechaun week.

He comes knocks over chairs, turns the toilets green, throws the kids backpacks everywhere.

They all set traps in hopes of catching him at the end of the week he escapes leaving the kids gold instead.

Luke has always thought it was good fun up until this year.

And maybe he still likes it at school I don't know, but at home every day he would come home and spend hours talking about how we needed to lock all the doors to keep our house safe from leprechauns.

He would set traps in his bedroom to make sure all of his toys were safe.

Even a few nights had trouble getting to sleep, so worried a leprechaun was going to sneak in and create havoc while he slept.

So the Friday before St. Patrick's he went to Kindergarten.

I picked the boys up as usual after school only to have Luke hop in the car and instead of my usual smiles and chatter there was tears and sobs.

Apparently the class went for a walk looking for clovers and when they returned a leprechaun had visited leaving green punch and treats for the kids.

Only to discover the green punch had turned Mrs. Kelley's feet green.

Luke freaked, jumped out of his chair crying ran over to the aid and wouldn't give Mrs. Kelley the time of day to afraid of her green feet.

Soon after that the bell rang and he shot out of there before she could comfort him and tell him it was all a silly prank and just pretend.

Hence the tears when arriving at the car.

We went home I explained to him Mrs. Kelley was just being silly and it was all just pretend.

30 minutes later after a whole lot of snuggling on the couch he was back to my happy little Loubird.

Then Mrs. Kelley called.

She felt horrible about the way he responded and wanted to explain to him it was all just a silly joke and her feet were back to normal.

She is the most amazing teacher and I was so grateful she took the time to call him and make sure he was okay.

And he was okay, after all......"I just don't like green feet for anybody."

Who does Loubird, understandable buddy.

So no naughty leprechauns visited our house this year just nice leprechauns who brought yummy treats instead.

And that brings us now to Easter.

We had our cousin Easter party this last week and Miss K was finding it mighty hard to wait to dig into those candy filled eggs.

She looks a little put out doesn't she?

Usually I make the treats for the party but we swapped roles this time and Teri took the turn making treats and boy was I glad she did.

Mini fruit pizza's.

I ate 3.

And then brought 2 home with me and ate them for a midnight snack.

I am not proud......

Coloring our Easter eggs.

Lance has the patience of Job, he sat there forever making sure each egg was just right before moving on.

K and Luke were long gone by the time he was only halfway finished.

Nothing prettier than a batch of colored Easter eggs.....

Easter egg hunt was up next.

Naturally when Easter falls in March it's entirely too cold to head outside for an Easter egg hunt and let's face it inside hunts are lame.

But what do you do we did our best.

And the kids had fun.

Luke was at the party thought I have no pictures to show for it.

That's a wrap for this week, guess I'll be back next weekend at this rate!

Birthdays, sleepovers and basketball

An update from the last few weeks:

My Grandma Williams turned 80 this year!

Naturally we could not let such a big birthday go by without a surprise party with all of her family.

It was planned for all of her kids and grand kids to be at Maddox in Brigham a half an hour earlier than Grandpa would be bringing Grandma out to dinner there himself.

We got the big room alongside all the windows facing the road.  I was a little worried they would show up, but we wouldn't know they had arrived and nobody would know to yell surprise.

My dad quickly reminded me Grandpa would be the only car on the road going 20 in a 65 zone and pass right in front of us through the windows with a line of cars behind him.

Sure enough not ten minutes later my cute grandparents came tiptoeing down the road at snails pace.

In fact my cousin who was behind them and running late managed to arrive, park her car and hurry in the side door while Grandpa was maneuvering through the parking lot.

Man alive I love those two grandparents of mine.

She was surprised for sure!

I am so glad I had my camera because I realized I do not have one picture of my dad and has wife Lori  together in the ten years they have been married.

Now that's sad and I am glad to say I have a picture of those two now.

This picture also makes me smile because lately I have really gotten to know Lori quite well and can honestly call her a friend.

It took some time but we got there and I am glad the two of them are happy.

Speaking of few picture together we rarely have any ourselves.

Ash pistach and Brev looking cute.

A couple weekends ago we had a big cousin swap.

Lance ended up at Carson's house having a sleep.

Luke ended up at Brev's house having a sleep.

And as for my house I was the lucky one that got to have these two little sweethearts for a sleepover.

I would say I got the good end of that deal!

Two little ladies who sat quietly and happily playing, happy to be spending time together.

The princess bed was a success.

Bubble baths were a hit.

Stories were read.

My Little Ponies were played.

The little mother's hauled there babies around all while naturally playing the part of Aurora and Rapunzel.

Multi tasking at it's finest, but after all they are girls even if they are small ones!

Multi tasking is what we do best!

Basketball ended a few weeks ago for Lance but now that the weather is warming up nine times out of ten you will find that boy outside shooting hoops until the sun goes down.

And if he's lucky the neighborhood boys will come over and start up a scrimmage game with him.

I love that boy, he is growing up so fast and makes me so proud to be his momma.

It would be too much to ask to sit on the couch normally, no this is how we do things in our house.

And I wonder why all my pillows look like rhinos have been sitting on them.

Last piece of news is our house is officially up for sale as of this last Tuesday.

It's bittersweet for sure.

I adore this house, I adore this neighborhood, I adore this valley we live in.

But it's time we settle down closer to Eric's work, we did what we came here to do.

Luke will graduate Sound Beginnings this spring.

Time to begin the next chapter in our lives.

But part of me secretly hopes our house never sells:)

Valentines Day

So let's start off Valentine's with this gem of a girl.

She was looking mighty cute this Valentines Day...picture worthy for sure!

Until the dorky side in her came out!

Oh man this picture makes me giggle every time I see it.

Love that spunky little sweetheart.

First I made breakfast for my little Valentines.

Buttermilk pancakes with fresh blackberries and Cuties Clementines juice.

Did you even know there was such a thing as Cuties juice?

Neither did I, it's pretty darn amazing.

I love it.

We are not ones for venturing out into the craziness of dining out on the big day of love.

It's way too crowded.

Way too hard with kids.

And not relaxing at all.

So we stay home, put the kids to bed early and eat a romantic candle light dinner for the two of us.

Followed up by an episode Downton Abbey.

That was the plan for this day.

So first things first I tossed our dinner in the crockpot and let me just tell you about this dinner.

Chicken, baby red potatoes, mini pearl onions, fresh green beans, garlic cloves, and few lemon slices, chicken broth and some spices.

Ahh--mazing!

So very delicious, I was so excited for Eric to get home all day so he could admire my handy work.

As soon as the boys got home from school we headed on over to our little Granny's house to bring her a few flowers to show her we love her dearly.

Poor Granny is being covered up  by the flowers but well you get the idea.

She always has giant suckers and cookies for the kids and that always goes over really well.

See happy!

And happy.

Granny goes to a ceramics class every week and makes oodles and oodles of these ceramic eggs.

The kids love picking out an egg each time we visit Granny and she lets them take one home with them.

One of those things I want to always remember......Granny and her ceramic eggs.

She is also the biggest patron of Hallmark and never has a holiday pass by without some sort of singing stuffed animal.

Not to mention Luke usually ends up falling in love with said animal and Granny usually ends up letting him take home the singing stuffed animal.

Now we collect ceramic eggs and singing stuffed animals.

Oh that Granny.

A pretty bouquet....

For a very pretty lady.

I am feeling a little sentimental right now, we are getting ready to put our house up for sale and while I am ready for the next adventure in our lives I can't help but cry every time I think of leaving my dear sweet Gran and my home in Cache Valley.

I adore this little lady....she will never know how much she has meant to me over the years.

I don't know how I would have managed without her.

And her without me.

We take care of each other.

Oh man now I am crying.

Gran I guess you better put your house up for sale too it looks like!

You are coming with.

We got home from Gran's and we did our annual Valentine scavenger hunt for the presents.

Each kid finds their name on the cards and follows the string to where their present is hid.

Good fun.

I love Valentines Day, it's a happy one.

About an hour before I was expecting Eric home.

Just after I put the finishing touches on dinner.

I got a phone call from him.

We have had a stomach bug being passed around our family and wouldn't you know Eric was the last one to get it.

On Valentine's Day.

He came home and went straight to bed poor fella.

And poor mommy.

Instead of a romantic candlelight dinner for two.....

I had a chaotic Valentines dinner for four.

They loved the candles.

Hated the chicken.

And the beans.

And onions.

But they did like the jello.....so there's that.

Happy Valentine's Day!