Mother's Day

It was such a sweet Mother's Day!  I got spoiled and I feel like I don't really deserve all of the atention and praise, especially of late.  I feel like many days, I fall short.  I have been struggling with my patience lately.  Cov and Lucy were busy planning on Saturday.  They told me I had to stay in bed Sunday morning.  I woke up to my scriptures then soon after, wishes from Dave and Lucy came in with a menu for breakfast.  Dave got some sweet breads and milks, and so I tried little pieces of them all.  The kids brought it to me in bed.  Sydnie woke up soon after and it was snuggles and tickles in bed.  Sydnie started "tickle hugs" where she would tickle tickle and then give a big hug.  Covey said "I will hug you until you die".  Cal then woke up and wished me a happy Mother's Day.  Later, Covey spilled some milk in the kitchen and Lucy scolded him and told him they shouldn't make messes because it was mom's special day and I shouldn't have to clean up after them.  Then Cov said he wanted to paint my nails, so that he did.  Blue with sparkles.  He said he was horrible at it but I assured him it took practice and he was doing great for painting nails hi first time.  Then Lucy did a spa.  She and Cov made tickets, had a waiting room with books, did a face mask, and had me relax with cucumbers on my eyes, which they all laughed about and thought it was pretty funny and had to take a picture. Then we had our sacrament meeting.  Emma gave a sweet talk about Mother's Day and she eyed the kids a few times when she said we should mind mom and be nice to each other, haha!  Cal did singing time and we learned some kindness and Mother's Day songs.  We had our Come, Follow Me lesson by Dave this week and he talked about the impact of one and did an analogy about an apple.  Then we did a video meeting with all my family. She loved the dishes and bowls we got her, and we talked about recent going ons and all shared some memories about her.  I shared about how much grief I gave her about practicing piano, but I am so grateful she stuck with me and saw me through and how much music has blessed my life because of that.  I also told about how I loved singing with her when I was little and how she spent extra time when I was a pre-teen teaching me how to sing alto.  She also told great stories always, especially when we were camping before we went to sleep she always told her favorite ones.  I particularly remember Girl of the Limberlost.  The kids each had fun memories with her and it was sweet to hear what they and the rest of our family had to say about her.  Then we went on a drive as a family, it was a pretty rainy and chilly day, so no walk.  We got home and the kids wanted to do presents.  Dave got me a new Blendtec!  Yay!  Cal really said he wanted to get me something but couldn't find anything, so he tried to give me $10 but I refused so he put it in the adventure fund that we have.  Dave and the kids cooked orange chicken and other yummy things and we ate and then had cheesecake squares.  Then we had a dance party and watched a few silly videos ("You on Kazoo" - wow, no words).  Last, we video chatted with Sue and Dan.  We also decided to share memories about her.  I talked about how I loved her funny sense of humor and especially right before we got married and some of my family members were still pretty ticked about the whole thing.  She was joking but said something like "if it gets too ugly, I will start chanting 'Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!' and throwing chairs and rip off my shirt".  The kids were also excited to share favorite memories with Grandma. 

I saw something online from a music group I love called Mercy River.  Their points were spot on.  As I mentioned earlier, I have really been struggling lately.  I was impressed to pull out my patriarchal blessing and that has been huge in helping me remember who I am and what I'm doing and how to do it!  :)  But this was beautiful and helped me too to realize I don't have to be perfect, but He is and so it will all be okay!  Here's what they said:

"Dear Mom,

For some reason, the phrase 'you are enough' has never sat quite right with you. You know the words are well intended; they’re supposed to make you feel better. But they seem flat, almost like an excuse. Because when it comes to your children, you know the truth: You are not enough for them.

You never will be. There is not enough time in your day, energy in your body, or wisdom in your heart to give them what they need or deserve. They have holes and aches you cannot fill. They have needs you could never meet. And that’s just how it is.

But there is someone who can. The only One who could truly give them everything they need is God.

Sometimes you forget this, and you panic and cry. You let your inadequacies scare the heck out of you. Trust me, I know the words 'you are enough' are not comforting to a woman who knows she could be doing better.

'He is enough' brings much more peace.

Let these three words take the pressure off your mothering. Speak them when you feel overwhelmed or inadequate. Write them down. Hang them up.

You may fear you aren’t teaching them all they need to know. You may be ashamed of your weaknesses, the way you lose your temper, your messy house. You may even see your kids losing faith and you don’t know what to do.

But He is enough.

Because He is the Savior, not you. Your job is to love and lead. He figures out the rest.

Replace your fear with gratitude that He is in control. Remember that His one objective is to gather them safely to Him. And rejoice that every effort you give, no matter how small or imperfect, will be magnified in His hands.

Because, while you are not enough for them,

He is.

He is enough for us all." ❤️

I am thankful to all the women in my life who are women full of charity, courage, knowledge, talents, vision, wisdom and understanding. Especially my Mom and Mother-in-law. I love them so much and can't express my gratitude for them enough! It was a wonderful day here with sweet moments and fun memories with my family. Happy Mothers Day to all women! Thanks for bearing us, nurturing us, pulling those weeds out around us and helping us learn to get rid of them ourselves, pruning and protecting us, and helping us to bloom over and over again!  I am thankful to be a mother myself 5 times over and for my amazing kids.  They make being a mom worth it!  And I am thankful for Christ, who is enough which makes me enough. 💐

Welcome to the main event - Spring!

Ahh, Spring!  We've waited so long for you!  And we are so glad you're here!  We have loved seeing the signs of new life and progress this spring.

Spring projects are events that are occurring lots around here!  We organized our garage better and Dave and the older kids built a loft for our garage.  They had a great time (hello power tools!) and it is so nice to have that extra storage space! The kids have been helping me a bit refinish our kitchen chairs and table.  It is not perfect, was definitely a labor of love, but I'm happy with the results and glad I finally finished it (did the tabletop over a year ago with my mom!).  

This year, we had a great Earth Day celebration!  We went on a nature walk and scavenger hunt to find different things and pick up garbage.  We learned about the world and what we can do to conserve it.  Cov wrote about what he can do to help the earth for school.  We did some sidewalk chalk outside with earth day messages.  We made recycled up crafts like our recycled trees and toilet paper tube crafts.  Emma made a squid and an angry potato for Cal (who was feeling sick that day with a bad migrane so he didn't participate much), Lucy made Dr. Corona Bunny (she was going to do a regular bunny and the mouth got messed up so she ended up making a mask on him.  Way to go to Plan B!), Cov made a Batman car which became an airplane, and we helped Sydnie make Olaf, which she kept hugging and saying "Do you like warm hugs?"  We made cheesecake pie and Emma painted it with food coloring to look like the earth.  Sweet finish to a great day! "The earth is a fine place worth fighting for."  -Ernest Hemingway

We finally made it to the river to play.  The kids have been begging all winter and the day we went was 79* (which is pretty much summer here)!  They loved splashing, catching minnows, looking for neat rocks (found tons of pretty agate and some Rocky Mountain jade).  So nice to be outside again.

Happy May Day!  We got some flowers and made little cone hanging baskets.  The kids helped arrange the flowers and loved dropping them off to our ministering families and other neighbors.

May the Fourth be with You!  We've celebrated this one for years...nerds, I know!  This year, we all wore our Star Wars shirts, read some Star Wars books, did some light saber duels, and had a dinner of Hutt Dogs, Han Burgers, Porg-tatoes, Death Star Melon (the kids carved this one out all by themselves!), blue milk to drink, and some ewoks, thermal detonators, and tie fighters for treats!  Then we watched the Rise of Skywalker.  Cal had his good buddy Nolan over to join us, as the two of them are as big of Star Wars fans as you could find.  Such a great day!  We also did some Star Wars origami.  Lucy especially got into that and couldn't stop making Yodas!

Going outdoors is an event we all look forward to!  Bike rides, jumping on the tramp, bug collecting, playing at the park (they're open again...the kids were so overjoyed!), going on walks and runs.  It's so nice to be outside again!  We've been doing some geocaching, and found a few.  Another time, we got attacked by ticks and that cut our hunting short.  But it's always so exciting when we find a geocache, and even if we don't, we have a great adventure!

We've been crafting away. Tons of slime being made over here.  Sewing masks and repairing clothes, and stuffed animal sleeping bags, and even a lovely costume Emma made that Cal modeled. Ha!  Painting and drawing galore.  It's been lots of fun watching them come up with their own creative ventures.

We made some homemade butter and carved soap.  Feels like Cub Scouts lots of days over here!  

The weather is an event you can never fully predict here.  We've had some really nice, warm days and then a cold snap hit and we got lots of wind and rain.  

We've been plugging away at spring distance learning.  Some days, I really think it's great and other days it's just no fun!  Even our teacher friends have been talking about how challenging it has been.  We are always learning and doing work during the summer too, but it feels different. 

 We've been able to start getting together with friends again, which is so nice!  The kids have loved their playdates and we have been able to have dinner and game nights with friends.

Memorial Day was a great one.  We talked about the importance of the day, then we went to the Ames/McCally's to ride four wheelers, have a BBQ, swim and do the giant water slide.  Can't wait for summer!

It is great to see signs of life, and seeing the budding flowers and trees and greening grass remind me that better things are coming.  That there are signs of life.  That spring always comes and turns everything into more beauty than can be imagined.  

                                                   

                                                                                   

                                                                                                 

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