Attack of the Stamps

Need I say more?

Woman To Woman: "Share an important quote and what it means to you."

One of my favorite quotes is "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured." -Gordon B. Hinckley

I have this quote above my pantry. I love it. It applies to many things in my life. I apply to raising my children. I shouldn't just endure everyday with them, I should enjoy them. Enjoy my kids in each of the fun busy stages they are in. Not quickly wish it away and count down until each week is over and the weekend is here. We should have joy in our posterirty. We should enjoy our kids. Take a minute to enjoy the simple things.. pretend we are in hot lava.. be silly. That is what being a kid is about. Looking back my best memories are when my Mom was a kid with us playing and having fun. She enjoyed us!

A big reason it is above my pantry is to remind me to enjoy my food. I have had issues which I have talked about in the past. The Lord wants us to enjoy our food, savor it. Not be obsessed with every bite making it a chore. It reminds me to enjoy a good meal, not to count the calories of everything. Life is not meant to be so focused on all of the details, and in our society it is and it honestly makes me sick anymore. People cutting, stuffing, dieting, doing all these things to look happy, and not enjoying who they are, and the great people that Heavenly Father has made them to be. A friend of mine once said will you really be happy if you lose those 5lbs. I thought about it.. a lot. Probably not. I am happy being me. I am who the Lord created, I enjoy my body now. Not just endure it. I am stretched and squished in all sorts of new ways, and I am freaking hot. I enjoy the way I look. I am uniquely me.

We need to enjoy the times with our spouse, the quiet moments where we can just be together. Not endure the years of marriage. Marriage is a wonderful and beautiful thing. The Lord didn't give us marriage to torture us for years. He gave it to us so we could enjoy it. Enjoy the companionship and to be blessed throughout the eternities. I enjoy each day with Randy. The fun and laughter he brings into our home. He helps me to not be serious and to realize it if it doesn't matter in the eternal scheme of things it really doesn't matter. I don't have to endure any day with him! I am blessed to enjoy each and every day with him.

I truly believe that Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured. It is my motto, my mantra if you will. Enjoy it. It goes so quickly and is a great gift.

Join in and read others! Leave your link at Lei and Morning Glory's blogs!

Goodbye 3...

Today is Little Miss is 3. The last day she is 3. She will never be 3 again. She is my last 3 year old. Tomorrow she will be 4. I can hardly believe that she is almost 4! How did that happen? Where has the time went? Truthfully, I am a little sad.. a little excited.. a little bit of everything.

I realized the other night in the middle of the night when I do my deep really random totally me thinking, that she has 14 months until she starts Kindergarten. Now I know some people would be jumping up and down. But I am not. I have even contemplated no preschool, which my husband quickly vetoed because he says it will be good for her... (it will right?) I have one year left of having her home and then my kids will both be in school everyday. How did this happen so quickly? I still remember four years ago going the the hospital with my head hurting and having them tell me to lay on my left side, lights off and to not move. My blood pressure was sky rocketing higher and higher and my kidneys were failing slowly. I had gained 15lbs in one week.. I was no a pretty sight. I even had one friend tell me Lee, you look fatter every day. Gee.. thanks. I had no idea what my future would behold.

Little Miss year of 3.. let's look at the highlights.. or read about them.

She finished speech therapy. What a huge accomplishment, and something that I am so incredibly proud of. Seriously proud.

She attended preschool for three months, then because her speech was SO GOOD she got "kicked out" okay she didn't qualify anymore, but the kicked out makes me giggle. What a great accomplishment.

She learned to pump on her swing. All by herself. I am jumping for joy on this one! It just happened a couple of weeks ago, but she will now go outside and swing for HOURS. And she loves it, as long as it is the yellow one!

She can ride a bike.. with training wheels. But I think with some practice those will be off this summer. She doesn't need them too much and seems to balance quite well on the two wheels.

She is now a Sunbeam in Church.. she loves it!

She is my faithful reminder to make sure we have scriptures as a family every night. It is a great example.

She knows her ABC's and 123's! Hooray! What a great feat!

She can spell her name.

These are some of the great things she has learned this year. We are so proud of our Little Miss. She is such a joy, to all she meets. I am excited to see what four brings for her. But I am praying that times slows down. That this year will feel like the last four. That four will be just as great as three.

GO Look!

The pictures are up.
Go to the other blog to check them out! I am thrilled with them.. and hope they are too.

A Daughter's First Love, a Son's First Hero.

The title sums up my post.

I married the most awesome guy in the world. I wanted to marry him after the first kiss way back in 1999. I knew he would be an amazing husband and Dad. Little did I know what a tremendous Dad he would be. Randy is the LOVE OF MY LIFE. In case you haven't gotten that from my previous posts.

My kids adore their Dad. He adores them as much as they do him. Randy is the Dad to get down and play and wrestle with them. He is the rock of our home. When the kids are scared Daddy is their to comfort them. I am so proud of the great Dad that he is. The kindness he shows and the gentleness with our little princess when she is having a 'day'.

He is an example of a righteous priesthood holder for little man. Showing him the way to be a great father and husband.

Randy I love you, not only for who you are but for who you help me to become. You make our family complete.

It's My Blog.

I can brag if I want to. Because this blog is about me. It is MY blog. You know how I was so excited to go take the pictures, now I cannot wait to edit all of them. I have previewed a couple quickly, and I must say. I rocked it. Seriously rocked it. I am quite proud of myself. Yeah I could be modest, and say they are just okay, but I really believe they are better than okay. I think they are freaking rad! Yeah, I said rad on my blog. That is how much I rocked it.
Now you can go back to your lives.. I will quit bragging.. for now. Just wait until the pictures are up though... on the other blog though. Then.. I might just brag again.

Excited!

I am so excited! Tonight I am taking engagement pictures. I am working with a great couple, who are just so fun. I am so excited to go out tonight and I am hoping that the winds will die down and I will get the shots I am envisioning. I have been scouting out the perfect places, and thinking of all of the fun things we can do with them! Wish me luck! It is going to be fun! And be on the look for some new pictures! **doing the happy dance as I not so patiently wait for time to pass!**

Woman To Woman: "Having the latest baby everything"

"There is such a variety of baby products available in stores that it can be overwhelming. Add to that the pressure you often feel from your peers to have the latest and greatest of baby equipment. Add to that still the bombardment of products that promise to make your baby smarter, faster. When you want to be hip AND have those things that make mommying a little easier, how do you keep from breaking the budget?For those women who are past the child-raising stage, do you have difficulty with these pressures in wanting to provide the "goodies" for the grandchildren? Do you see them as a hindrance towards a child's natural ability to develop? What were some ways that you were able to achieve similar benefits without all the bells and whistles?"

I remember when I found out we were expecting Little Man. I was thrilled. And then I started pouring over the baby websites. What was my baby going to have. The best I could buy him. He was my baby after all and you only want your kids to have THE BEST. Right? Or so I thought.

I remember searching high and low for the perfect stroller car seat set. It had to match and it couldn't just be a cheap one, it needed to be nice, have bigger wheels and just look cool. I was 21 when he was born, I was still hip. I remember my Mom laughing that I wanted all of this matching stuff. She told me it didn't matter and to buy nice things on sale. I scoffed at this advice. This was my child, my offspring, he was growing in my belly. I wasn't going to buy something that I deemed mediocre. I bought my stroller and car seat that matched and was beyond proud of them. They were a nice blue and khaki plaid. Something that looked cool still.. I felt like he would be the hippest baby. I was proud of our choice, okay my choice. Randy was just glad it wasn't covered in Winnie the Pooh or something equally as dreadful. It was used by both children. A worth while investment, but I still giggle that I had to have a certain print. And that some just wouldn't do. It is incredibly silly and makes me just laugh now. What was I thinking? That really mattered to me then?

I had a boppy, actually I had two. One that my wonderful Sister-in-Law made me. She took hers apart to figure out how to make one for me. I loved it. And another that I entered to win online, and heck I did. I was shocked I won it.. but guess how much time I had been spending online looking for the perfect baby stuff.

I had a diaper genie, that was a gift, otherwise I would have never ever bought one. I am not a huge fan. I think two Wal-Mart bags work just as well, and heck they are basically free.

My crib set, I made it. It was simple, and I used it for both of my kids. It had animals on it and leopard print, and the alphabet. What is not to love. I was sure my son would be learning while looking at it. Did you know all he did was poop, pee, and puke on it. Really.. it doesn't matter what it looks like. They don't care, it is purely for you.

I have watched my kids grow and learn. I have wanted the cool new learning things. But when it comes down to it they play with them for a while. But they are quite content playing with blocks, wooden blocks that Grandpa made. The little things, the details that I thought mattered, that I barely remember now. And in a few more years they won't even cross my mind. There are things far more important than having the latest baby or kid everything. My kids are growing far to quickly for my taste. (All though you might find a day where I wish it would just speed up and be done with.) The little details are just that details. The perfect toy that your kid breaks no less than one week after buying you realize they are just as happy playing hot lava in the living room with blankets and a few basic toys. The big expensive toys and baby things and all of the new hoop-la.. really not necessary. We didn't have them. We are successful, smart, and *gasp* normal functioning people. We don't need therapy for being so deprived.

I see our culture and this constant we NEED more, not just want, but our wants our becoming NEEDS. We need to be clothed, we need to be fed, we need to be sheltered. We need so little but want so much. I want my children to be appreciative of all they get. At times I worry they think they are entitled to certain things, I do not ever want them to feel like that. I work on it. I want them to work to get things they want, not just have them handed to them. I think we as a society need to do that. I am working on defining my needs from my wants. I need much less than I want. But don't we all.

Now go check out Lei and Morning Glory and join in. Leave a link leave a comment and enjoy your day!

Life is just busy..

I realize it has been a few weeks now since I have taken the time to blog. It isn't that I don't want to. I get blogger block. Serious blogger block.

What am I doing right now? Working on the Mad Hatter Lupus Walk, that I am chairing.. I am in desperate need of a committee to help me. Right now I am the committee. I have 3 months until the walk. Do I have any takers? I am so excited to do something to raise awareness and to raise funds for Lupus. It is a primarily a woman's disease and there is so little out there! I want to help, to make a difference. I am not going to stand by idly and wish there was something different. I want to get out there and help. So if you have some extra time, I would love you forever and ever.

I am doing more photography stuff.. did I mention I got to shoot a wedding with a friend for her brother? I did. And it was so much fun.

Kids have started swimming, and soccer is starting soon. I am a soccer Mom, always on the go. I seriously love it though. When my kids are busy they are happy.. and so am I!

And I have had my dates and alone time with the wonderful Randy.

And last but not least I have had just all of the normal busyness of being The Mom. It isn't that I don't want to blog. The topics are not coming to me. Or I think of one but quickly forget. I am going to work on that.. in my spare time.