Spring has Sprung

This is the Mother's Day bouquet that Tanner made in school for me. They had a little Mother's day tea (juice) along with a little program. It was pretty cute. Tanner asked if Dad's could come to the tea as well, but we told him it was just for the Mom's. He really loves his Dad a lot.



We had a hot dog roast at my Mom's this weekend and it was so much fun. Afterwards, Amy, Melany, Chris and Tanner had a huge water fight. Melany seems to think she won, but there were clearly no losers...everyone was soaking wet! It was lots of fun.



Tanner played in the water table Grandma got him a few years ago, while Amy and I did yard work.



This is the first bag I've ever made. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out.



I made this for one of my best friends, Jamie, for her 30th birthday. She always makes me bags/purses and so I thought it would be fun to make her one.

Tanner and I had a great time at my Mom's this last weekend. We are going there again this weekend to celebrate Amy and Megan's birthday's. We are looking forward to a BBQ and good times.

A short public message for Jamie

Jamie, hello, of course I watched Grey's!!! I can't even wait. I was going to stop watching it at the end of this season, but now I HAVE to watch it next season. I think George is out. His story line depleted this season so unless they have something totally awesome for him, I can't see him returning. And we will visit in June when I drop Tanner off for the week. I believe it's the 26th that I'll be up. It's a Wednesday for sure. The Wednesday before July 1st.

Okay now for all those other people who possibly read my blog....

It's been a great 2 weeks. Calgary was really fun and we were all very productive. We had a great Mother's Day and celebration of my sisters' birthdays. Megan will finally get some clothes she wanted that fit her after having baby "E". He's such a doll...no pun intended. He didn't like Matt too much though. He got scared when he started talking to him. Maybe with time Matt will be less scary...lol. It's a bit of a sensitive subject for Matt. A small hit on his self esteem. Most kids/babies love Matt. And I'm not just saying that. Matt is amazing with all my friends' children. He's just such a good Dad.

I found this paragraph from a talk that Julie B. Beck gave back in November 2007. It's part of a really great talk and I would encourage all of you to read it because it is a really great talk (I know, I said that already).

" Mother's who know do less. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world's goods in order to spend more time with their children"

I believe in that quote full heartedly. I love that so much. It helped to confirm to me that not having T.V. in our house and not having a computer and only listening to church (because that's the only wholesome music I have) music is helping us be more spiritual and helping the spirit be in our home more frequently and more strongly. I am glad that Matt and I made that decision because it has blessed us in many ways. We do spend more time with each other and building our relationships with each other. And that's the most important thing right now. Well, one of them.

The weather has finally started to be consistently warm that it we don't have to dress in layers.

Here's a nice little story for you. ANd I would love any of your opinions to tell me if you think I made the right choice.

When Tanner rides his bike, he likes to "park" them behind the vehicles. We are telling him every time he goes out to park in the special spot he picked (which is on a grass hill on our yard) and not behind the car or truck (it's Matt's Dad's, not ours...on loan). So a couple weeks ago, he left his tricycle behind the car and as I reversed I hit it. It didn't do any damage, just scratched it a little bit. We reminded him again that it's not safe to leave his bike behind the car or truck because they could get wrecked and then he would have no bike to ride. So last week he parked his 2 wheeler with training wheels behind the truck. We got in the truck much later that day and when I went to pull out of the driveway I heard this "klunk". I knew right away what it was. So I jumped out and got the bike and showed Tanner that the front wheel was completely bent and that he wouldn't be able to ride it. He seemed a bit sad but then said "you can buy me a new bike". To which I said that we could not buy him a new bike because he needed to take care of the bike he already had (plus we don't have $60 to buy him a new bike every time his bike gets run over). So then he didn't say anything and I told him he would have to ride his tricycle again. When we went to my Mom's on the long weekend, she has a bike for him that someone gave to her. We'll let him have it when he comes home for July 1st from Calgary but did I do the right thing in not buying him another bike? Is there anything else I should have said to him? How can I help teach him to care for his bike? That is my wonderings...

Well, I should go and pick up the little munchkin from school. He only has 5 more days left...crazy! He has his final music performance tomorrow and Megan and my Aunt Carolyn are coming down for it. I'm really stoked about it. It should be really cute. Anyways, Have a great day!

Father's Day already?

So Matt and I decided that it was not in our best interest to work for a company such as the one he was with. So we took the truck and everything else back up to the company and left it at that. We both feel really good about it and know that something else will work out. I actually feel happy that we got ourselves out of the situation when we did because I'm not sure how much longer we could have lived walking on egg shells, having this dumb company manipulate us. What a headache.

So in spite of my frustrations, I will not post my personal feelings on this company and or boss because heaven forbid I might be accused of slander and get sued. WHATEVER!!! It's okay for people to complain about Telus or Shaw or a place they got a bad haircut at, but I'm not allowed to say anything about Action Auger because it's different if I said anything that wasn't positive about the stupid company right??? *rolling my eyes*

Anyways, my Mom and Aunt arrived from Utah today and they had a great time down there visiting their sister.

Sisters are so great. I hope that I can have a good relationship with my sisters when I'm older. I mean I do, but everyone in a family has their own differences and issues. I guess that's what makes a family so great is having different characteristics. It's nice that we all just fit together and even though there are things that bug us, that's what makes us love each other more.

It's funny this year because I didn't even think about Mother's Day. For me, it's just another day. I don't ever expect it to be anything overly special. I think because I have such an amazing husband and great son, I feel like most days are Mother's day for me. I feel lucky, every day (yes, even despite the crankiness), to be blessed to be a mother and have the wonderful son that I do. There really isn't a week that goes by that for at least one day, I don't feel special because of something Matt or Tanner does. So to have one day out of the whole year to celebrate motherhood is not really anything spectacularly great. I appreciate it, don't get me wrong, but I think if I had more children and they all did something special just for me on that one particular day, I might feel differently.
And on the subject of Mother's day, how come when it's father's day, the fathers don't get something special in church. I have only been in one ward (the Horizon ward) where they did give out something to the Father's. Why is that? Why are mother's or mother's day, more important than father's? Aren't we suppose to be equally yoked? So if we are equally yoked, why do mother's get a flower, or plant or whatever the gift may be and father's don't? Do people think that father's are less appreciative or deserving of something a little extra? There's always someone saying that a mother works 2 full time jobs, but isn't the fact that the husband provides and works outside the home, equally as important to raising a family? Both are working for the greater good but in different ways. The concept is like washing dishes. There's more than one way to wash dishes. Just like there is more than one way to teach a child about work or whatever the goal is. Life is kind of funny that way.

Anyway, that's my philosophical brain talking tonight.

Until next time...

Spiritual thought and Mother's day

My friend sent this to me and I really liked it so I thought I'd post it here for everyone else to read:


Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the
sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of shag
carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a little
voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Real Mothers know that a child' s growth is not measured by height or
years or grade... It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to
Momma or Mother...

4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!

8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!

12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.

14 YEARS OF AGE - Naturally, Mother doesn't know that, either.

16 YEARS OF AGE - Mother? She's hopelessly old-fashioned.

18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman? She's way out of date!

25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it.

35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.

45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom would have thought about it?

65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that
she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must
be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the
place where love resides. The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mole,
but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul. It is the caring
that she lovingly gives, the passion that she shows, and the beauty of a woman
with passing years only grows!


On a different note, as I was studying my scriptures this morning (after a wet, but not too wet, run) I read this verse (I'm only in 2 Nephi)

16 "And I, Nephi, did build a temple; and I did construct it after the manner of the temple of Solomon save it were not built of so many precious things; for they were not to be found upon the land wherefore, it could not be built like unto Solomon's temple. But the manner of the construction was like unto the temple of Solomon; and the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine"

So here's my thoughts on this verse because I never thought of it like that before. So it didn't matter back then that the temple wasn't built with precious things but it was built none the less. So how can we apply this in our lives??? It doesn't matter what we have (or can afford) on the outside, what matters are our intentions and what's on the inside. Our testimonies, our faith etc. It doesn't matter if we can't afford the nicest things in life or even one nice thing, what really matters is being obedient and doing the best that we can.

Then a few verses before in verse 11 it says:

And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance. And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.

It made me think about how we can grow if we sow and reap ourselves spiritually. What kind of person would I (or anyone) be if I was more diligent and faithful about sowing and reaping?? What more could my potential be if I was more kind, or gave more, or prayed more, or had more faith, or obeyed more willingly? What is my potential?

It was a really great study today and really made me think a lot.

We were unable to have FHE last night because I got called in early so we had our FHE tonight. The lesson was on keeping the commandments. We talked about how we have commandments to help keep us safe because we are all Heavenly Father's treasures and he wants us to be safe (through keeping the commandments) so we can return to live with Him. So we talked about that and then we went on a little treasure hunt. It was really fun. Matt is in charge this month of FHE so it was great. Tanner was so cute...we were talking about rules and I asked him if we had rules in our house and he said "yes" and when I asked him what they were, he said "no hitting, screaming and no pushing". It was great to know that he actually understands on some level what rules are. It makes me feel like we are on the right path.

It was a busy day today. I sorted and organized our back hall space. It was insanely overcrowded. Then I took down Tanner's bunk bed because he doesn't even sleep in it anymore. I'll post a picture later of what I did. It's hard to explain it. But it opens up his room and makes it less crowded.

So now I'm off to work in a bit. So until next time....