Feeling a little Guilty...

I've been feeling a little guilty for my previous post about Sundays. Sunday's tend to be harder days for me, particularly because Chad has been going to work right after church. Since that post, I have thought long and hard about how I can make Sundays better at our home. I have decided that right now my focus needs to be on the boys and not on that it is "my" day of rest. I am happy to say that we had a wonderful Sunday. The boys all got up and got ready pretty easily. They were all wonderful in Sacrament meeting. After church we got home and decided to go on a family bike ride. Not sure if that is considered "breaking" the Sabbath or not, but I felt great about it. We were all happy and having a good time together. If we would have been at home we probably would have been fighting and that would have felt like we were breaking the Sabbath. After our bike ride Jared had his baptismal interview with our bishop. Jared was SOOOOO nervous. I am not sure why he was so nervous, especially because he knows the bishop pretty well. He is an amazing guy and has young children and is always so cute with the kids. My kids just love him. So we went in and sat down and the bishop asked him if he knew what it meant to get baptized. Jared's eyes welled up with tears, and he couldn't talk because he was so nervous. Bishop didn't say anything about the tears, he just kept on talking and explaining everything to Jared and tried to make him feel more comfortable. It was a very sweet and tender experience for me. I know that Jared has been thinking a lot about his baptism that is coming up and is taking it very seriously. I am thankful for a kind bishop that is sensitive to the spirit. Jared is very excited to get baptized and even more so after his interview today. Later in the afternoon, my mom and Tera came over (mom brought some dinner) and we all had a nice visit! The kids even got to play with Tera's Sugar Gliders!
With the right intent and the right spirit Sundays can be good!

Snow Shoeing Elders Quorum Activity

Chad came home one night from an Elders Quorum meeting very excited. He said that they had planned an activity for couples in the ward. I couldn't wait to hear all about how we were all going to go out for ice cream, or sip hot chocolate around a fire in a warm cozy cabin. But no, not my husband. He said they had planned to go snow shoeing! I immediately started complaining. I thought it sounded like the worse torture EVER! After several weeks of planning and coaxing, I agreed to go. Boy, did I ever eat my words! I loved it! For one, it was great exercise! It was so beautiful and quiet! Oh how I love the quiet! So, if you need a fun outdoor activity and want to get off your treadmill...give me a call, I know a great place for a winter's hike!
Chad and I at the top in the Meadow



Brock and Cherish in the lovely quiet meadow


Chad fell down, and didn't quite know how to get up



Only three of us girls went! Next time I will talk more into going!

Easy like a Sunday Morning...

I'd like to meet the person that wrote that song and give them a piece of my mind. I have NEVER had an EASY Sunday Morning? Or Sunday Day....or Sunday Evening! I find it incredibly hard to get four children ready for church. It is hard to make three wrestless boys sit through three hours of church. Then, come home to home teachers coming over right after church and be expected to sit quietly through yet another message. Sundays are not easy days for me. In fact, they are my least favorite day of the week. Don't get me wrong, I do like going to church, and do feel uplifted a lot of the time, but sometimes feel so guilty because there are million things that I could be doing better. On Sundays I have this fantasy that can just relax and read scriptures or a good book, not worry about fixing food and cleaning it up, or think about a batch of laundry that I could be doing. I wish the kids would just lay around and read the friend magazine and not fight with each other...oh just one day it would be so nice if they didn't fight with each other! No folks, that doesn't happen at my house. It's never "easy like a Sunday morning" here!

Valentine's Day 2010

I have some very special memories of Valentine's Day growing up. Grandma and Grandpa Prestwich would come and visit us every year. Mysteriously right before they walked in the back door, our doorbell would ring and we would find a Valentine Surprise on our front doorstep! My kids can't wait to find their surprise from "cupid" on Valentine's Day! This year they received a pack of gum, a reece's peanut butter heart and Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs movie! Below is a few of the activities that kept us busy for a about an hour. They rest of the day the boys spent loving each other in their own special way...fighting and wrestling! Where's the love? I wonder if Valentine's Day would be different at our house if we had a girl....probably not!


Thanks to Sister Markle, Landon and Spencer had some fun with the red koolaid playdough!


Jared wrote Willow a message on FB


Kyle made sugar cookies. He made the dough and cut out about 3 dozen heart cookies all by himself. I'm gonna make him cook/bake more often!


This was his cupid! Poor cupid didn't last very long!

5th Grade Science Fair

Kyle entered his first Science Fair last week! He did it on the Bernoulli's Principle. I usually help with most of the kids' homework, so I turned this one over to Chad. He and Kyle worked hard on it! I thought he did a great job!

Date Night!

The boys and I had a date night tonight! We had so much fun! First, we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner. They were so excited to go to a real sit down restraunt. Landon is taking Dance lesson's at the Vibe here in PG. The dance company was putting on a show and the boys really wanted to go to it (so did I...bonus)! The boys were very excited because "Derek" was gonna be there. Derek is my good Friend Sharee's brother! They love watching Derek dance, and is the reason Landon signed up for Dance Lessons...which he LOVES! He was very kind to the boys! Their dreams have come true...for tonight at least!

The Kitty's Are Back...

Every year at preschool my cute little kids start acting like kitty cat's. I don't know why they do, but it really happens every year! I had forgotten about it until Wednesday. I have 8 girls this year and 4 boys and ALL of them were kitty's. Some were momma kitty's and were leading the others around by their necks. Chad came downstairs on Thursday after he got home from work. He looked around the room to hear meowing and then looked at me with wide eyes, all I could do was shrug! What's a preschool teacher to do?