I Had a BIRTHDAY!!

Yeah, that's right folks I had a BIRTHDAY and it was AWESOME!!!  I was spoiled rotten and ate LOTS, and LOTS of FOOD! :)  That's my kind of Birthday. ;)

 Jed started my Birthday off early and gave me this...THE BOSCH UNIVERSAL PLUS!!!! With the blender attachments, cookie paddles, and bowl scrapper. 

Check out all the features.  IT IS AMAZING...to say the least. :)

I am BEYOND happy! I honestly couldn't believe it!!! I bake bread all the time (we hardly ever buy it from the store).  I have a Kitchen Aid and it was great and all but when you compare a Kitchen Aid to a Bosch it simply can not stand-up to it.  My Kitchen Aid could BARELY handle making two loafs of wheat bread and the Bosch can do 8. 8!!! People! :)  Can you tell I'm excited? ;)  I used my Bosh last night to mash some potatoes and it took all of 2 min.s TOPS to mash those babies up to glorious, fluffy, mashed potatoes.  HAPPINESS.

My Birthday could've ended there and I would've been 100% satisfied but it didn't.  Jed got up early and got Christian off to school AND made breakfast for us.  My friend took me to get a morning cinnamon roll...YUM! Then my other friends took me to lunch (Cafe Rio) and I got some really cute earrings and a scarf that I am in love with!  Jed later took me out for Dinner while my in-laws watched the kiddoes.  It was great!!!  I gained 10 lbs, but it was great, and well worth it. :)

Did my Birthday end there, oh no no no.  My sisters took me out to Zupas on Wednesday night and then we hit up the mall and I was able to get me 2 pairs of boots (I've been waiting a few years to get me boots!) and a SUPER, SUPER adorable and comfy sweater with some birthday $ that I got from various people.  I am ONE. LUCKY. GIRL.  Here's to being 31!!!

I'm a dork and was having too much fun to think to grab my camera.  I know some of you girls took pictures though, send them my way would ya?

Motherhood

I know I'm not the only one out there that has hard (dang hard) days with their kids.  I know that I'm not the only one that feels overwhelmed by being a parent at times, and I know I'm not the only one that wonders if what she is doing is good enough.

My sister-in-law sent me THIS BLOG POST  and I LOVED it so much!!!!  This Mama knows what it is like!  This Mama knows how hard it is some days, and this Mama knows that it is okay to not  completely love every second of everyday.  She knows, and I love her for it!

It is okay to not love every second of everyday.  It's okay to admit that you are not perfect, you're kids are not perfect.  You are still a good Mom.  You are still a good person.  It doesn't mean that you  don't love your children, or that you wish you didn't have them, or that you are doing something wrong.  It just means that life is hard, dang hard sometimes, and raising kids is hard, but in the end it will all be worth it, because what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger right.  ;) 

Excerpt from her article:

"I think parenting young children (and old ones, I’ve heard) is a little like climbing Mount Everest. Brave, adventurous souls try it because they’ve heard there’s magic in the climb. They try because they believe that finishing, or even attempting the climb are impressive accomplishments. They try because during the climb, if they allow themselves to pause and lift their eyes and minds from the pain and drudgery, the views are breathtaking. They try because even though it hurts and it’s hard, there are moments that make it worth the hard. These moments are so intense and unique that many people who reach the top start planning, almost immediately, to climb again. Even though any climber will tell you that  most of the climb is treacherous, exhausting, killer. That they literally cried most of the way up."

Read the whole article it's great!

P.S. I have LOTS to say on Motherhood...LOTS, so I can guarantee they'll be plenty of posts like this one. :)  It's GRAND being a MOM in so many ways and scary in so many other ways. :) 

It's a Plan.

At our house we are already starting to plan our Halloween costumes.  Sorry, I'm a planner.  I HATE leaving things to the last minute. It causes me anxiety, and we all need a little less anxiety in our lives, right.  Thus I plan. :)  Here is the line-up.

Emmitt will either be Thomas the Train or Buss Lightyear Space Ranger.  I'll let him pick that day because he's 2 and temperamental (bless his heart).  Right now he is LOVING the Thomas the Train, but Jocie finally got him to put on the Buzz costume too, so I can see it going either way.  We already have both so it's NO STRESS. :)

Jocelyn is of course going to be a Princess.  Rapunzel to be exact. :) She's been planning this since last Christmas when she got her Rapunzel gown. Easy! We already have Rapunzel hair as well, because my awesome neighbor made her some. PERFECT!

Christian is ALWAYS the most difficult to find.  He ALWAYS wants to be the most random thing, that is impossible to find in stores, and since he is the oldest there are no 'hand-me-downs" for him to choose from.  This year he is requesting to be 'Ash the Pokemon Trainer'.  I've never heard of him, but guess what?  My life saver of a friend (ASHLEY) has the costume!!!  I could kiss her!!!!!!!!  That means I don't have to spend a penny this year on costumes! SWEET!!!

Halloween is done and I've told the kids that they are being held to there choices!  I'm rude?  Yes. I know this. :)   

Joce, and Mr. E playing hookie with Daddy from church.  Jocie was "supposed" to be sick.    Oh, well it resulted in these cute pictures, and a very quiet Sacrament meeting for me. :)  It's a win, win!  I seriously can't get enough of those (Emmitt's) lips!!!! 

"Buddies"

This summer was so fun for me to watch Christian and Jocelyn become "buddies".

Phrases I heard numerous times this summer, "We're buddies", "Come on Buddy lets go", "I thought we were buddies" (when there happened to be an argument), "Thanks buddy".  I loved it!  Christian is as boy as they come and he doesn't like anything girl, and Jocie is ALL GIRL, but somehow they came together and taught each other to see a different perspective.

I had to laugh every time I'd hear Christian trying to convince Joce that it's "cool to be a tomboy" the conversation would go something like this...

Christian: Hey Jocelyn you should be a tomboy.

Jocelyn: Why?

Christian: Because it's a lot more cool then just being a plain girl. Like they do lots of things boys like.  You know like sports, and pokemon, and just boy stuff.

Jocelyn:  But I like girl stuff.

Christian:  Yeah, well, I guess you can still like girl stuff, but you should like boy stuff too.

Jocelyn:  Okay I like Pokemon.

Christian: YES!

The summer proceeded like that with Christian teaching Jocie how to be a tomboy. They played spies, legos(although she had her own pink set ;) ), and Pokemon.  

The biggest surprise of the summer was when Christian went along with Jocie's plans too.  Like watching "My little Ponies"(she turned him into a 'Bronie'!), and finger crocheting.  He went right along with it and let her teach him all about them.  

They become 'buddies' this summer and it just warms my heart to no end to see it.  I have an older brother that I was also 'buddies' with and I LOVED it!!  He helped me become well rounded, and I always felt super cool to have a big brother that I went to High-school with.  Actually I lucked out and was sandwiched between two brothers(just like Jocie is)!  I'm the only one in my family that has a big and little brother. Blessed! I am blessed to have them! :) I love you my brothers!

Love you Christian and Jocelyn I hope you will always be BUDDIES!!!!  You have more value to each other then your little minds can even comprehend!   

One of the many "sleepovers" they had together through the summer. :)

Changes

                                                                        

Us a year ago...

...and now.

Aw, man our family has CHANGED a lot ( we all are another year older!) from my last post and I can't tell you enough how heartbreaking it is that I missed documenting all of those changes.  So I'm turning over a new leaf and am going to get going on this blog once again.  It's been weighing HEAVILY on my mind for too long now.

I'm excited though, and if you were one of the few that followed my "Thrifty-Nifty Year"   last year then you might be glad to know that I will put some of my 'sweet finds' and such on this blog now.  It's WAY too hard and time consuming to do two blogs at once.  I'm a Mama of three and simply do not have time for too many 'extras' in my life, and to tell you the truth I don't want to over cram my life, because I just don't function well like that. ;)  Well if I'm being totally honest then... I don't function well anyways. LOL! :)

This is going to be a blog where I will document it all in one, like: family life-the good, bad and AMAZING, frustrations and concerns on motherhood, book reviews, thrifty stuff, recipes,   just whatever I'm feeling like I want to share, or remember 10 years from now.

It's going to be REAL, not a "picture perfect" blog.  It is not a blog that will have perfect grammar, or spelling, or family, or house, or life.  It's just a blog about a family who truly loves each other and are on this ride of life together and trying to make it through the best they know how.


EEEEEEEEEEEEE!  I'm excited!  Here's to CHANGES. :)