What matters?

I just have to say that even though there are many moments in the day that are hard being a mom  That the end of the day when my kids and I are laying in bed snuggling and they whisper in my ears things they love about me then quickly fall asleep, there is peace in my house.  Even though a few hours before someone might have stomped their feet and threw a fit about not liking what I made for dinner (again) and someone else might have been sprayed by the hose and gotten locked in the back yard.  There are still those crazy hectic moments, but I just enjoy loving the calm in the evening.  Even though I may have repeated myself a thousand times to get my boys to listen and put on their shoes so we can go, or TinTin used his dinner plate as a frisbee because he wanted a different plate, it is the peaceful moments that I can try again tomorrow that make all the difference in the world.  I may have put the wrong shoes on Kaden when he went to school and had to quickly rummage through the car to find him a new pair so he could stay for the day and Hyrum may have left his homework at home yet another day in a row....but when it comes down to it those things don't really matter.  What matters is that my boys live with me and the good memories that we have.

Tonight after we came home from scouts and playing at the church I was finishing up a sewing project for my friend and the boys thought I was magical sewing holes and making things look nice.  Hyrum and Kaden ran up to their rooms to look through their drawers to find clothes with holes in their so I could work my magic machine again.  They were cracking me up.

I am working on a new chart with the boys today where they have a list of things they have to complete every day and they try to earn a "MOM" so they can earn allowance for the week.  It is amazing what the thrill of keeping all their MOM letters for the day does for my boys. We are 3 weeks in to the chart and it is stillworking wonders.  The boys are excited to have their own spending money while we are in Las Vegas for spring break.

I need to go study for my exam tomorrow, but no post should be complete without a few pictures of my boys.

 My birthday weekend I got the boys back 2 days early unexpectedly and the boys told me they were tired because they had stayed up late the night before.  I still took them to church (stake conference) because it is important to me.  I had told Hyrum that he could do whatever he wanted as long as he sat still in his chair and was quiet.  He complied by falling asleep.  At least he did what I asked him to do.  Hyrum also turned 9 last Saturday!

Last night I put the boys to bed around 8, and thought they were all asleep.  Around 10 I heard the pantry door open.  I looked up to see this crazy guy.  I asked him what he was doing and if he might be missing something.  He responded, "Ummm, maybe my cape!"  After a quick snack and re-finding his jammies he was tucked back in bed.  

When I showed Hyrum this picture this morning I told him that Quinten is crazy.  Hyrum's response was that he is not crazy, just extreme.  I think I am going to start a book of the adventures of my TinTin.

I took the little boys to the SanAntonio Temple one day last week to walk around.  Kaden was enthralled by the jackhammer man and sat there watching him for about 15 minutes while Quinten and I walked and looked at the flowers.  A funny story about this little guy... he is supposed to sign himself in to school on a clip board every day.  If you ask him how to spell his name, he will tell you K-A-D-E-N.  However, when he writes it down he writes KAdEMAN.  Then if you ask him what letters he writes he says K-A-D-E-N.  I still don't know where he got the idea to write down his nickname but he does.

NEWs

Lately there has been a lot of NEWs in our family.

NEW skills of no training wheels!  He is still a bit shaky, but the training wheels have successfully stayed off.

NEW glasses. His eyes have gotten progressively worse in the last year.

NEW school for both the little and the middle actually.  This is their first week and it has been a success.

NEW adventures.  The weather has been perfect for hikes.

NEW treats.  Finally got around to getting free doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.

NEW desire to wear glasses like his brothers.  The eye doctor said he doesn't need them, but he so badly wants to.

NEW information I am attempting to cram into my brain this semester.  3 weeks in and it finally feels like Christmas break is over!

NEW park day interests in rocket launches with the Buchanan's who are not cousins.

NEW memories visiting Grandma B in Houston.

Yes, I think it is safe to say we have been busy trying NEW things the last few weeks.