Haircut, etc.

Ally and I went and got haircuts the other day.  It was a fun little outing for us.  I'm sure I glad I have her to keep me sane among all the "boyness" in our house!

She chopped it off!!  It makes her look so grown up...sigh.  I can't believe she is FIVE MONTHS away from Young womens!

She was also in a play a couple weeks ago.  She was Vanessa the mermaid and a narrator in the play "Hook and the Stolen Pixie Dust". People think she is so shy and reserved, but you should have seen her in the play.  She did so well!  She's quite the little actress.  She had her "snobby" mermaid part down to perfection.  She also just had her piano recital.  She played "Ben Hur Chariot Race March".  This song is sort of a family tradition.  Two of my sisters and I learned to play it and it's a lot of fun.  I have to give her props because I didn't learn it until I was 14 and she's 11.  It's pretty difficult to play.  I dare say she's already a better pianist than I am-and I couldn't be prouder!

When I was taking Ally's haircut picture, Holden wanted his picture taken, too.  Notice the scrape on his forehead.  There were bruises on his cheek as well.  The kid is just an accident waiting to happen and never stops moving.  Church is a nightmare!  If looks could kill, we would all drop dead at church every week!  Well, most people are nice and understanding, but there are a few who probably do a happy dance when we aren't there!  Not sure why they always sit by us...

Other happenings?  We got to hook up to Willard's new sewer.  Whoopee.  Bring on the extra forty dollars a month.  The boys start Little League this week.  That will be fun for them.  We really enjoyed it last year.  I have a feeling I'll have a hard time keeping Holden off the field, though!

Blessedly Normal

I love to read blogs.  Friends, family, strangers-I don't care.  It is almost an obsession.  I truly find other people's lives fascinating. Well, in my random searchings through the web, I have been stumbling across a lot of tragic stories lately.  These are families who have lost children in tragic accidents, their kids are fighting cancer, or perhaps it's even the blog author who is fighting cancer.  I naturally gravitate towards the ones who are LDS.  It is amazing how strong these families are and it has really made me take a step back and evaluate my life.

That is why my blog now has a new title:  Blessedly Normal.

Sometimes I get so tired of doing the same things, day after day, week after week.  I feel like my purpose in life is to do laundry, drive kids around and break up fights between them.  But after reading about what others have been through, I feel so grateful that my life is so "normal".  I don't have a disease that might take me away from my family, I don't have a sick child who requires constant care and I've never had a child die.  I've never even experienced losing a parent or a close family member.  I am so blessed!  I know there is no guarantee that my life will remain so "normal".  That brings me to the point of this post.  In reading all these amazing blogs I have found two main themes that they all have in common.

The first one is to be "present" in your life.  Be there.  Be aware of every single person that goes in and out of your life on a daily basis and make it a point to make them happy.  You never know if that person will be there tomorrow. For me that means I have a lot of work to do.  I have become so complacent about my life lately. I don't think I have been very "present".  It has become so easy to just let the kids do their own thing. I figure that as long as they aren't hurting each other or the house, that they're okay.  I need to make the effort everyday to check in with them, make sure things at school are going well, find out their new interests, play with them, etc.  I need to make my relationship with Josh a priority as well.  As a mother it is so easy to get caught up in daily kid stuff that you neglect to nurture and grow your relationship with your husband.  I think, "he'll be there when the kids are grown and gone".  Well, guess what?  If I don't work on the relationship he won't WANT to be there when they're grown and gone!

The other theme I have found is service.  On every one of the blogs the authors are always flooded with service as they experience their tragedies.  What is their response?  To want to give service back to others.  I was particularly touched by the mother who raises money to pay for head stones of children who pass away.  Even though she lost her sweet little toddler, instead of wallowing in grief, she raises money to help families remember their children.  Service is something I want to be better at.  It's not just these blogs, but lessons in church seem to be focusing on that subject lately.  I think it's something Heavenly Father is telling me to do:  get out of your rut and help others, Heather. It will bring you and those you help happiness. 

So that's what I've been thinking about lately.  These blog authors are so inspired with what they share. I know they have inspired me to enjoy my "blessedly normal" life.

Ketchup, um, I mean Catch up

I'm sure you are all (all three of you that read this blog) dying to know how my birthday was, huh? It was so super exciting I could hardly wait to talk about it. Um, not really.  No matter how hard I try I just can't get that excited about my birthday anymore.  I wish I could bring back the excitement somehow, but I'm not sure how.  Anyway, it consisted of a yummy lunch, shopping (always my fave activity), and...that's about it.  At least Josh was home for most of it-that never happens.  So did I get my new camera that I blatantly hinted for?

No.

It's okay though.  I want a really nice one that costs a lot of money.  Money that just isn't in our budget right now.  I did end up getting a new camcorder. :)  Our old one was getting really old and we needed to update from the mini-dv cassettes.  I spent almost $200.00 at Christmas getting them all transfered to DVD.  I decided then we needed to upgrade so I could just upload onto the computer to make my own DVDs. So it's all good.

Someday I'll get my camera!

Logan had his birthday the day after mine.  It wasn't a "friend party" year for him so it was pretty low key.  We went to Idle Isle with the Grandparents for dinner-and I forgot my camera! So no pictures. Sorry.  He got Legos, a cool kite, an r/c car, money and an mp3 player.  This is his birthday cake (thank you Pepperidge Farms) that he finally got on Sunday.  I feel bad because by the time his birthday gets here I pretty much lose all enthusiasm for birthdays and he gets the short end of the stick.  Three birthdays in two weeks is a lot!

We did get one more night of skiing in for the season.  My niece Tiffany was in town from Canada and wanted to go skiing while she was here.  We headed up to Wolf Mountain again and we all had tons of fun!

Our friends, Wendy and Chelsea Rose (with Ally in the middle) came along with us. However, we did get separated from them and spent half the night looking for each other!

Dinner break!

It was a great night for skiing There was hardly anyone at the resort and it was warm and beautiful. I think I might like this skiing thing after all!

Guess What Tomorrow Is?

Best. Holiday. Ever.

Random Happenings

We've had a busy month so far.  We had to head back from the cabin on Saturday afternoon because Ally and Logan volunteered to sing solos in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.  That's right, my Ally and Logan.  I don't know if I was more shocked or proud.  They did so good!!  It was their favorite song "Gethsemane".  If it had been a different song, they probably wouldn't have volunteered.  I'm glad they did-it was a Proud Mommy Moment for me. (click here to hear the song)

I just love this picture of Holden.  Vampire teeth and all.

This happened on our last trip home from the cabin.  I forgot to post it earlier.  We turned 100,000 miles on our van (I didn't catch it for a picture until 100,001)!  It's fun to know we've put all those miles on it ourselves. We thought about getting a new vehicle, but we've never had any problems with it and it's a Honda.  We just did our recommended maintenance (that bill was scary) and they said we should be good for another 100,000 miles.

Sorry this is blurry (boy I sure could use a new camera), but it was too funny not to post. We had a family birthday party for us March birthday people on Sunday and this happened during it.  Can you tell what Logan and Jensen got?

Our ward had a lip sync last night.  Ally, Logan and Josh were all in it.  Yes, I just said Josh-crazy!

This is Ally and her "Beehive Training Center" friends lip syncing to "Kung Fu Fighting".

I was a little nervous to watch Josh and his Teachers.  He said they were doing "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban and I couldn't imaging what they would be doing, but it was pretty darn funny!  Good job, hon! I was so entranced I didn't even think about taking pictures.

This was my Cub Scouts lip sync, "Squirrels".  It was too funny.  Logan is driving the Tramcor Truck that ran over the squirrels.  They even walked away with Fourth Place!

Weekend at the Cabin

We were able to invite our friends, The Robbs, up to the cabin for the night last weekend.  There was still tons of snow and the kids had a blast playing in it.

This is Jensen in one of the snow caves left by Josh's Scouts when they came for their overnighter a couple weeks ago.  Can you believe they slept in snow caves?  Josh says he could survive a few days stranded in the mountains in the winter.  I think I would last a couple hours. Brrrr.

Ally and Sarah on the four wheeler.  They had fun taking turns driving.  They would drive the other kids back to the top of the hill after they went down on the sleds.

Molly and Logan got some good use out of their BB guns.

It's hard to tell in this picture, but Holden is grinning like crazy.  The road on the loop was pure ice.  We put him in the little red sled, pushed and he would slide forever.  If he tipped over or hit a snowbank he would say "Whoa" and get back in for more.  It was fun to watch!

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day to play in the snow!

Jensen's Friend Party

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I let the kids have a "friend party" on their even birthdays, starting in kindergarten.  Jensen got to have his first one and decided to take his friends bowling.  I have decided that I do not like to host the parties at my house-at all.  I encourage my kids to choose some place away from home where all I have to do is show up.  That's my way to party!

This is Jensen's bowling pin.  All his guests got to sign it so he could remember who was at his party.  I think this is what he was most excited about!

It was a little chaotic when we first arrived.  Getting everyone shoes, balls, names entered in the computer, etc.  Then everyone just started throwing balls wherever and whenever they pleased!  I had one of those moments where I seriously questioned my sanity and wanted to run and hide.  (I was by myself by the way-Josh had to go buy extra cupcakes because Bubby threw half of them on the floor before we left)

I finally had to use my "Mommy voice" and tell everyone to please sit so I could explain the rules.  Once I got everyone settled down (including me), things went smoothly and it was hilarious to watch them bowl.  Kids are funny!

They also got to play a round of miniature golf.  Holden loved it!  He knew exactly what to do and he was pretty funny to watch.

The party guests:  Liberty, Kenyan, Shawn, Logan (back of his head), Joey, Colin, Jensen, Holden's arm and Ally.

They each got a scoop of ice cream and a cupcake.  By the time the party was over, they were all happy and full of sugar.  Then I just dropped them off at their houses on the way home.

Later that night Jensen finally got his actual birthday cake.  He asked Grandma June to make him a coconut cake.  It's a yellow cake with pinauche (I have no idea how to spell that) frosting topped with coconut.  It's what my dad always has for his birthday and Jensen really wanted one for his birthday, too.  It was a very busy couple of days, but we love our Jensen and were glad to celebrate having him in our lives.