I have a question

Does anyone know how I can get a lizard out of my house without actually touching it?

Perspective

A week or so ago I found a small filing case full of old college work--papers I'd written, notes from my favorite classes, a few tests I'd taken. I was especially drawn to the creative writing folder. There were some items in there that got a little chuckle, but I was also pleasantly surprised at some of the writing, and decided some of it was not that bad. But as I kept reading, I felt like the writing was so self-centered. Granted, I wrote about what I knew, and so most of my subjects came out of college life. For example, my final project was a personal essay about a roommate, pretty much what I learned by living with a difficult person. But I kept feeling like I was missing the big picture.

12 years after I took that writing course, my life is drastically different and it doesn't revolve around roommates, studying, and hoping that boy will ask me out. Time, distance, and experience have given me an entirely different perspective.


Today was a hard day, like many Sundays are. For anyone not familiar with the Mormon church, we have no paid clergy. Members are asked to fill the positions that are necessary to make things roll smoothly. Currently, Dan has an assignment that doesn't always allow him to be with us during church hours. That means that I sit with my three children during our service, and then send Tyler off to his class while I keep the twins for 2 more hours. This can definitely make for a long day at church.

So today I found myself caught up in a woe-is-me attitude. Complaining under my breath that life is hard, and won't it be better when the twins are old enough for nursery, and when will they walk so I don't have to bring a stroller to church, and why do they scream that shrill scream when the room is absolutely quiet.

Then I remembered my college writing days. Back then, I couldn't have imagined my life of today. And suddenly it dawned on me--the stage I am in is a little piece of a big puzzle. I won't always be the mother of little children. I won't always be sitting in the hall for church. This stage is like every other stage--it will evolve into something else.

Bittersweet. Every stage has the good and bad. I guess it is up to me to enjoy what I can, while I can. Because I can't even imagine what my life will be like 12 years from now.


Photos taken at the Houston Temple this afternoon. We decided to do a little drive over to keep everyone occupied. Particularly the cranky babies. But what better way to reinforce the idea of keeping things in perspective.

We've got our tickets

do you have yours?

Just call him Dalai Carter

While Brady has become a nonstop crawler, Carter just can't quite figure it out. He is so close, but it's just something about using one hand and the opposite knee that gets him. So instead of crawling, he just does yoga. I have been trying to get a picture for 2 weeks now, but I am never fast enough. He gets up on his hand and knees for cat pose. Then puts himself into plank. He follows with a downward dog, and then reverses back to plank and cat.

These are the best photos I've been able to get:


Love these boys!

edited: found one more

The power of the internet

The internet is awesome. Did you know, you can type "How to remove olive oil from carpet" into a search engine, and you will get several websites that can answer your question.

Don't ask why I had to learn this, but it starts with a B and ends with a rady. Good thing he is so dang cute.

PS. I'm talking about a cup or so of olive oil! All the tips and tricks have helped, but I still have a greasy spot. Will try using Dawn again today.

For mom

I've been thinking a lot today about all the "mothers" who mean so much to me. My own mom is amazing. There is no way I could begin to list all the ways she is my hero, so I will just say that I am grateful for her example, for her love and support to me and my family, and for her job in making me who I am today.

I am also grateful for my mother-in-law. It is so true that you marry the family, and I am just glad I married into a great one. She is an amazing example to all her posterity; she is thoughtful and kind; she is a wonderful grandma; and most of all, she did a great job to make Dan the man he is now.

Finally, I am grateful to our birthmother. I have thought about her on and off today. I don't know how she is feeling today, but I am so thankful for her. She made the ultimate sacrifice--she did something for us that we couldn't do for ourselves. We are forever indebted to her. Thank you.

I must now repent, and ask for forgiveness--we didn't even put a card in the mail. I had this great idea to turn a photo into a card, but I will let the pictures speak for themselves, and you can see why we didn't do that. The thought does remain: Happy Mother's Day!


I was also practicing using Manual on my camera (and in turn photoshop), which is why the brightness varies so much from photo to photo. I'll get there!

Just so tired

I have not been posting much. I am tired. Brady is lightning fast, and I forgot how exhausting it is to keep up with a crawler. At night when I have time to blog, I usually just want to veg out. So I thought these photos were fitting.

Doesn't everyone have a photo of them as a wee one, asleep in some weird place? Here is mine in all of its 70's glory:

Here is one of Tyler:

But this one of Brady I find especially funny:

Brotherly Love

There are few things in this world that melt my heart. Watching Tyler be the big brother is one of them.

He loves his brothers. Sometimes, he loves too much. But for the most part he is willing to play, distract, move, and fetch on behalf of his brothers.

Yesterday morning I actually summoned the willpower to hit the gym before school. When I got home, Tyler had been entertaining his brothers in their cribs so Dad could shower. And last week, I left the room for just a minute, and came back to find the following game, or as Tyler told me, they were having a parade.



I know some of my most cherished relationships are with my siblings, so I hope that this brotherly love continues.