February 29

Tonight as I was enjoying the adrenaline rush as I pedaled out my 6 1/2 miles on the bike I was thinking about my life. I am so lucky to be who I am living my life to the fullest. I have 3 wonderful, healthy, active kids who call me mom. I have a testimony of things I know to be right and choose to live it. I am so very blessed. I am looking forward to the next few months as our time here in San Antonio comes to an end and we start fresh in Houston.  There are still many unknowns but the details that I do know bring me even more hope and peace.

Today being Leap Day I have heard of some people making predictions for where they will be in another 4 years and be able to look back and see if they came true.  In 4 years I hope to be finished with school and be debt free.  I hope to be dating someone and find companionship.  I hope to have gone to the winter Olympics in Russia and to have seen Hyrum ordained a deacon at church. I am clueless as to where we will be living, but a city by the beach sounds nice. Hopefully within the next 4 years I can have a good job that still allows me my number one hope and dream to be a full time mother as much as is possible as a single parent can offer.

Wolf

One of the fun things Hyrum thinks about turning 8 is the fact that he started cub scouts. He looks so handsome in his uniform.  When he was getting ready he was so excited to read through his book and figure out what he needs to do to complete things. Coming up in a few months we have the pine wood derby. Thank goodness for google and youtube, I will be able to help him figure out what to do!

Dallas

One of my goals while being 30 is to go on 30 trips this year.

What better reason to go on a trip than Hyrum's 8th birthday!

It just so happens that one of our friends was staying in Dallas and invited us to be a part of a convention so we drove up to go visit and explore.  I will let the pictures do the explaining.

At the Dallas World Aquarium with the Mayan dancers.

After we got home Sunday afternoon, Hyrum was excited to build his new lego.

The Hilton Anatole is filled with lots of neat artifacts from around the world, every time we would walk past this pair of elephants the boys were loving the fact that they were allowed to climb all over them.

Kade Man watching the penguins.

TinTin was loving the giant sea turtles. He was following this one along the glass back and forth and then at the end when we were watching the turtles and sharks be fed he was loving seeing them from the top as well!

We spent $4 and bought all day DART passes for the trains. I think this was the best use of money. People watching and seeing everything as we zipped from stop to stop. For an hour and a half the boys were entertained. Worth every penny!

One night the conference that we were a part of had a movie night. Quinten didn't want to watch the movie, though he LOVED the soda and popcorn so I got the job of walking him around the hotel and playing with him. It was a lot of fun and this little boy is like a firework. Never a dull moment when he is around!!

On the drive up I rode in the back between the two little boys. Kade was loving having me there with him. A definite rare treat!

The hotel had many different gift shops, one of the boys favorites was a store called This & That. They picked out new guns and hand cuffs as their souvenirs.  Quinten hauled this gun around the entire trip and had fun shooting everyone he saw. He more importantly loved the glass elevators and shooting people from there as we rode up and down. Many a times we passed up on the mirrored elevators waiting for the glass ones to arrive at our floor.

 We were spoiled in the food department. Ice cream floats in fancy glasses were served after (sometimes during) dinner. Definitely a favorite!

Hyrum with his new gun target practicing in the 7 acre statue gardens. This hotel was pretty fancy!

More with Mr. Elephant. You can see Quinten at the 2nd one in the background.

It was a fun weekend getting away making more memories with the boys and letting them try new experiences. I love seeing them out of their comfort zones and being willing to adapt and make changes to their routines. They are definite troopers and adventurers. 

Happy Birthday Hyrum!

 Eights years ago today I became a mother to an adventure loving kid.

Today to celebrate we are going on an adventure to celebrate him and what he likes to do.

He already had the traditional donuts at school to celebrate.

Now, off to celebrate Rummy feeling so grown up!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HYRUM!

A new decade

It kills some people that I can be going through what I am and still be happy.  I don't understand it.  I hope that everyone can be happy, truly I do.  I know that being happy comes from within.  I guess there are people in the world who don't think in black and white the way I do.  I am glad that for this point in time I get to choose how I spend my time and what I spend it on.  I love to blog and journal my life, I enjoy looking back on what I have accomplished.  I am grateful for my mind and the way that it works.  I am thankful for having a plan and being financially smart. I am thankful to get to spend my time helping myself and my boys the way I want to spend it not having to add another person in to the mix right now.  I am thankful for my true friends, those who make sure I am living my life to the fullest.

Saturday was my birthday, I turned 30.  This weekend was a great time to reflect on my life. I celebrated with my boys on Friday night. With Heather's help they had made brownies and had sherbet punch. We opened presents that they picked out at the store.  It was neat to see the things that my boys think are important to me that I would like.  Little things down to the candy and mints that I like.  They brought a smile to my face as they showered me with simple gifts.  

On Saturday I woke up early on my own. I was awake and movie at 7:30 on my own. No kids waking me up, just my own body. I still am not a fan of early mornings, but I am waking up most days on my own now and it's something I honestly never imagined I would do in my life. I have sworn forever that I am not a morning person, I guess everyone can change.  My friends took me out to lunch and it was fun laughing about everything. Great friends make all the difference in the world!  It was a wonderful lunch. That night I drove to Houston and had a delicious steak dinner and went out.  I missed my boys, but enjoyed myself alone being able to think about what I wanted to do. 

Sunday night when the boys got home we celebrated with more friends yet again.  It has been a fabulous birthday weekend. More than I ever expected it to be, but looking back it was everything I hoped it would be.  I am ready for the next decade to see where life takes me and where I take myself.

I have made a few goals for myself for this year. One of them is to go on 30 trips while I am 30. Only 29 left to go.  I have a few more already in the works for this summer.

TinTin

Quinten (AKA TinTin, Qubes, QB) doesn't know if he wants to be a baby or be a big boy.  He loves sneaking out of his bed during nap time then is exhausted falling asleep on the stairs on his way up to bath time.  This kid LOVES to sleep in.  It is a good thing that Kaden has morning school now or else I am afraid he would try to sleep until noon, some days I am waking him up around 10:15.  I hope he can figure out that it's ok to be a big boy who takes a nap.  Lately, he has mastered the puppy kiss and is trying to learn real kisses on the cheek don't mean bites too.  He has figured out 2 wheel scootering and so much more.  We are starting to work on learning letters more with Estela and Kaden and Quinten thinks he needs to join in the fun.  He still loves tractor books and is learning to notice all the different types of trucks and tractors from his books while we drive.  I love his smerk when he is doing mischievous things and hopes you don't notice.  He has learned that he is strong enough to pull open the fridge and freezer and loves bringing me random treats. He is still pretty skinny but you wouldn't guess it by the way he can pack in so much food.  One of his favorites right now are oranges. This boy will eat as many as he can get away with. He also likes to tease and say that his name is Hyrum or Kaden, not TinTin.

Put A Smile On Your Face

Today I had to go buy new clothes....again....I had bought some new jeans on Christmas Eve.  Today I decided enough was enough and I couldn't cinch the belt (which I have even had to buy new belts!) in anymore and still be comfortable.  The pants I purchased tonight were 5 sizes smaller than I wore a year ago.  Can we saw AWESOME!  Last time I weighed myself I was 26 pounds down....that's more than Quinten weighs.  I feel great, I look great, and am loving all the things that come with being smaller.....minus the hit to my wallet.  Thank goodness for end of the season clearance!!  Bring on swim suit season!  

I think even though I have bad knees I am going to attempt to pick up running....we shall see how it goes....

Line Graphs

Life is a lot like a line graph.

You have a mid-line that you start out with and there are ups and downs along the way, but as you look at your own life along the way hopefully there is an upward slope.  I know in mine there has been.  I am thankful for those real friends who have helped me along the way.

Day of Love

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am excited to spend the day with people who love and appreciate one another.

We have been blessed to have lots of people think of us these last few days and have been spoiled by lots of delicious treats.

Today I made chocolate covered strawberries with the boys. Our 3rd year of this fun tradition and one they have asked about for a few weeks now.

And yes those are Kaden's real glasses.  I've been asked by many if they are dress up only, nope they are real and are awesome.  Worth every penny so as to not have to keep going to the optometrist to get them fixed every few days.

Quinten wants to be like Kaden so many times I will find him digging through the Mr. Potato Head stuff to find "my glasses like K-Dun"

Because of the atonement we are able to keep the joy and not the misery of the events of our lives!

Excited for valentines day this year.

Turkey Tango

Tuesday night we had fun dancing the turkey tango at our house.  Everyone had on high heels including Hyrum and I. (I promised Hyrum there would be no pictures of him though.)

 This is a totally blurry picture, but I love it.  Kaden is singing and dancing.  Sometimes the things we come up with after baths are over and we still have some time before bedtime are pretty comical around here.  And that is what makes life fun!

She's here

 Kaden & Estella

So the big surprise at our house is we had Estella move in to finish the school year with us.  Hyrum is excited for her to be here because Kaden & Quinten think she is so fun and keeps them busy.  Kaden likes having her here already because she helps him with his mischievous plans.  So far they have locked Quinten in the outside storage shed and made him a puppy dog with a backpack harness.  Quinten likes having her here because it's yet another kid to play with and someone who enjoys bike riding as much as he does.  He calls her Dora.  Estella is my dad's daughter and will start kindergarten on Thursday.  Fun times at our house.  It is definitely like a party over here.  The more the merrier!  I am grateful for the healthy distraction for my boys and glad I had the courage to say yes.

Relief

 Safe, Home, Bathed, and Asleep.

Well, not Quinten...he is back to worrying about mom going bye bye again and doesn't want me out of his sight.  This too shall pass, right?  Bedtime, what's that?  I love my 3 little men!

We have a busy week ahead of us full of counselor visit (thank goodness) and welcoming our surprise tomorrow.  I am thankful for every day that I get to talk to my boys and hear their crazy laughter and know they are safe.  I am thankful for my friends who kept me busy this weekend and for making sure things were going ok.  I am thankful to get to attend my church meetings and listen to the words that I know were meant for me.  I enjoyed meeting new friends and catching up with some old.  It is always nice to have someone to say goodnight and good morning to even if it is just a friendly text.

Got a glimpse

This weekend I have caught a glimpse of what it will be like when my boys are teenagers and they don't call home and don't respond to text messages or emails.  The worst feeling in the world is if you don't know if you need to file a missing persons report or not.  And at the same time I ask myself, what am I needing to learn from this??  I just want them to know that I love them and I took the time to call and say hi even if they will never know because they can't read phone logs.  How young is too young to get a kid their own cell phone??

I do not like being Nancy Drew!!

You're Invited

HYRUM is turning 8 and has made the choice to be baptized.

He wants to invite anyone who wants to come.

Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 3:00PM

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

6240 UTSA Blvd, San Antonio TX 78249

We would love to have you there with us!

He hopes to have the Relief Society Room filled to capacity with the most people ever, funny kid!

Winter is Ending, Bring on Spring!!

 Hyrum & a girl sitting in a tree, T-A-L-K-I-N-G!

Today Quinten learned how to rollerblade.  Yes I realize he is only  just turned 2 but he is determined. He has almost pretty much got it mastered in less than 30 minutes!  Not walking, but actual skating!  Now to make a house rule of no skates at the dinner table.  I need to find the kid some full body armor too!!

I love where life is taking us these days.  We are exploring new adventures and trying new things.  Monday the big "change" comes to our house.  I think my kids are ready for it... I am sure there will be many more adjustments but it will be fun for the time that it lasts.  It is a secret and an adventure and something that is taking courage to take on right now.

 This week I had a humbling experience to talk to a friend about divorce as she is getting ready to file herself and to talk to her about life and trials and where they take us.  I remember back to October when I thought my life was falling apart and this was the absolute worst thing that could happen to me... and now even though I am still in the midst of it all to see how strong I am and it's not the worst thing.  Her obstacle she had to overcome before she could take the final step and realize she wasn't quitting, that her husband actually quit on her a long time ago.  She also was worried that she wouldn't be happy.  Tomorrow I get to go with her to meet the attorney, it's a huge step.

I shared with her something that I have learned deep to my core.  If someone is basing their own personal happiness on the behavior of another they really don't know how to find true happiness.  I think that our society leads people to believe that you need others to be happy.  This is a lie, instead it is just tons of pressure that boil up to a lifetime of missed opportunities.  Too many people feel unsure of themselves due to the pressure of their parents and family.  It bottles up over ones lifetime until they explode like a can of soda and cause a huge mess.  Here is one of the best secrets I know.  NO ONE MAKES YOU HAPPY BUT YOURSELF!!!

  I also shared with her that trials are for our good and that as odd as it sounds we should accept trials and be constantly looking for what it is we are supposed to be learning.  Isn't that what life is about, to come and learn and progress and see how we choose to life our lives.  Once I realized for myself that these experiences are for my own good and to not worry about what is out of my control, my fears have pretty much melted away.  Not to say I don't worry but it is what it is and I have healthy and for the most part happy boys.

I hope my random jumbled together thoughts make sense tonight.  All of my boys fell asleep VERY early tonight and I just want everyone to know that life is what we make of it.  Sometimes it is fun to laugh at everything that goes wrong because what use is getting angry.  When you feel like nothing is working out, take the time and make yourself smile. It is hard to be mad when you are smiling Something good has to come to your mind even if just for a short second and focus on that!