Every morning we wake up, go work out, come home, and the kids read books while I shower. I might be getting a little tired of re-shelving almost all the books in the case every day, but I am so glad my kids like to read.
Long ago I went to Barnes & Nobel and bought a little journal that I call "My Love Journal". I bought it back when Logan and I first started dating. I could tell he really had a lot husband material going on in his handsome being and I wanted to make sure I really understood what love was so I could make the decision to know if I truly loved him and if I should marry him. I spent the next several months recording scriptures, quotes, and notes all on the topic of love (if you are dating I highly recommend doing this it was awesome! and proved to be so helpful as I chose who I would end up marrying). I still add to it from time to time because I know that love, or charity as it is often referred to in the scriptures, is a trait I always should be working on.
As I made notes of love and what I wanted in a husband, I realized more and more that these were the traits that I needed to cultivate in myself. While reading through this journal recently I came across the above list of characteristics of a kind person. Again I was reminded of how kind Logan is, because he still has all of these traits. And I also saw where I was lacking and I wanted to recommit to being kind.
Another favorite thing I stumbled upon in the last few weeks of reading through my journals was a list of questions I wrote down about Logan, from when we were dating. Questions like, Do I love Logan? What do we have in common? What don't we? What goals of ours are the same? What are different? etc. It was so funny to read my answers to these questions because I was clearly giving it a LOT of thought, as to if I should marry him or not. The answers to the questions were written over the space of two semesters and it was so interesting to watch as my feelings for him changed from initial 'dating love' to a full and complete love that comes as you find your spouse. I will forever be glad that I kept a journal of these moments!
In other news, Thomas is the biggest tease on the planet. His favorite pass time is taking Elsy's toys and listening to her scream. Today she fell asleep on the couch after church and he got a hoot out of poking and hitting her and making her cry until we caught wind of what was going on. Here he has her necklace and wont give it back.
We decided to go with my family on a little fishing trip to the Tucannon, outside of Dayton, WA. We packed up on a Friday and left just before nap time. There is something cozy about having both your kiddos sleeping in the back of the car.
I just love my mom and dad. Dad got everything put together for us all to go fishing. I have always taken for granted how much work goes behind traveling and going on outings... until I had kids of my own! Thanks Dad and Mom for taking us out on so many fun adventures!!
On the drive out we stopped at a fun little park to stretch our legs.
There was the biggest swing set there and so many fun fun toys! You just don't find outdoor toys like that out here in Eastern WA where every one sues and blames others for their misfortunes. :P
Tommy loves swinging but only for short periods of time. He can be a nervous soul sometimes... but other times he is crazy adventurous. I haven't figured him out quite yet.
Elsy has always loved swinging and would swing all day if I let her. A girl after my own heart. I love swinging.
By the time we got to the lake the sun was high and it was quite hot, especially since last time we went fishing there we froze to death so we all dressed with long pants and jackets. It was gorgeous out and the fishing was good, although in years past it has been better.
Since Elsy couldn't remember the last time she had been fishing, we prepared her by showing her YouTube videos of kids catching fish and I had told her all about it. The instant we were there she wanted to catch a fish and was in tears because Grandpa and Dad weren't fast enough at baiting the hook. And then she was in tears again because there was to much waiting after the pole was cast. Luckily Logan was patient with her and they sat for a while. When she finally got to reel in a fish she didn't quite know what to think.
She stood there like this just staring for quite a long time and then asked, "Why is it got blood on it?" She didn't want to catch any more after that. I hope she doesn't end up queezy because I am already excited to take her hunting when she gets old enough!
Tommy on the other hand was all over those fish. He had a blast playing in the dirt but it was quite the workout keeping him out of the water!
It was also close to nap time by the time we got to the lake so he was a bit cranky. I walked him around in the backpack until he fell asleep.
Elsy had the rosiest cheeks because of the heat and they were oh so cute.
While we were home my mom told Riley to help clean up and she wouldn't. So Elsy decided to sing to her "When we're helping we're happy!" I guess Riley wasn't to thrilled about that. We have been singing that song, and "When my mother calls me, quickly I'll obey" a lot lately at our house...
Logan was content to sit out in the sun and fish. I didn't get a license which was kind of sad, but I helped Elsy reel in her fish so I got my fish fix out of that.
The kids were totally out on the way home. And I was too.
We spent the rest of the weekend out in the sun at my parents house, playing with cousins.
My parents bought this little plastic pool with a slide built into it.
I think all of the kids ended up slipping at some point but it was a total hit. Elsy kept squatting on the side and saying "Part of your... WORLD!" in which she would burst up over the side. Pretty hilarious.
And of course we had to do sprinklers on the tramp, my personal fav.
Nothing beats the wide open sky in Tri-Cities. I sure do love that blue, and the sunsets are to die for.
I feel like all my pictures of Tommy are little grump faces. He was pretty pouty the whole time we were at my parents house. It was a mix of teething and the crowds. He sure doesn't like small crowds. Big ones hes fine in, but small ones I think its a little to many intimate people for his little heart to take and he just wants to cling... and cry. :(
While we were there my dad bought an ATV for the trailer park he owns... I have my suspicions about that but the kids loved getting rides and just playing on it.
Elsy and Ezra are such good friends. I can't wait for Hannah to move back in June so the trio can wreak some havoc. :)
On the way home while the kids were sleeping, Logan and I got to talk a lot. I happened to glance up into my visor and saw this so I quickly took a picture just because I want to remember how much fun it is getting to talk and drive with my best friend.
Logan and I have really been having some awesome gospel conversations these last few months. Logan has been listening to a lot of business books and came across a book called Reinventing Organizations which talks a lot about something called "The Color Spectrum". Its really interesting, you should check it out. But it got him thinking and applying the spectrum to a lot more than just businesses. Ever since I have learned about it to I have been able to do the same and it has been really eye opening as we apply it to the gospel. We talked about it with Logan's dad and Logan and his dad ended up making a little visual that puts the color spectrum idea into context with the gospel.
Before they made this I really wasn't able to see the whole picture but once they did I could finally grasp how it worked into the gospel. Now I find myself asking myself where I fall on the spectrum with different aspects of my testimony. When I find myself keeping a commandment because maybe "That's just the way it is!" I really try to delve deeper into it and learn the meaning of why I am keeping that commandment. It has been awesome as I try to work my way through the colors to get into the "Teal Section" in different aspects of the gospel and the doctrines the church teaches.
It's interesting how Logan came across the color spectrum way of thinking about things, actually. He and I were both struggling with some questions about the history of the church. It was only after we decided to trust the Lord and say, "Even though we don't understand this and answers don't seem to be coming we feel good about, we will still continue with our faith because we know from experiences that the church is true" that we actually finally did start to get answers. I thought that was interesting. It wasn't until we trusted Him and accepted the gospel as it was that we we got answers. Not very long after we decided trusting was more important than understanding did we stumble across the "Color Spectrum" and actually start to understand. What a funny paradox. In order to understand, we had to stop trying to understand? Trust has been another of my new mantras.
At first when Logan introduced it to me I was wary because it seemed kind of like a man made philosophy that mixed in with scriptures and I didn't feel to good about that. But the more I have understood it, I am realizing that it actually just explains the progression of someones testimony set to a rainbow... and we all know how much I love rainbows... so it really is kind of perfect for me and helps me visualize things better. :)
Anyway!! I feel like this has helped shape a lot of our conversations as of late (or more like the better portion of this last year), and it was what we spent a lot of time talking about on the drive home. Wow, I didn't plan to share all that. Haha
We got home and went back to normal life. Normal life has been Tommy waking up way to early and falling asleep in the car every morning. The above is my attempt to wake him up to eat lunch. He was so out. (And the poor kid always has a bruise somewhere on his little head).
I wish I could sleep like him sometimes. Elsy comes up with the craziest excuses to get out of bed. I must really love her though because I find myself clearing a path for her to walk to my bedroom in the dark.... seriously!? I can't believe I do that. My favorite excuse (besides her elbow hurting or her lips being chappy or her being worried about the new wood chips they just put outside by the plants, or the fact that there is a bowl in her room) was the one where she came in around 5am and said "Mom! The birds are singing good morning!"... way to chipper for 5am. She was right, though. The windows were open and the birds were singing. We finally installed a lock and that seemed to help but it also started to develop some anxiety in her. She mentioned that Cinderella's mom locks her in her bedroom. When she did that I decided we should stop locking her in. I didn't want her to see me as the evil stepmother. :( We went back to taking away the teddy bear if she comes out more than once and that has been the most successful by far.
We sure love parks and there are a lot of good ones here in Issaquah.
I have taken to packing some chicken dinosaurs and having them eat at the park, that way if Tommy does fall asleep in the car I can just slide him right into bed when we get home.
This month was Elsy's birthday and to help her better visualize when it would be we made a paper chain! She asked several times a day to tear a chain off and all the way down to the day before her birthday she would say "Mom! We didn't tear a chain!" at every meal even though we did tear a chain already.
My kids love the Kids Quest Children's Museum so we go every other week or so. (We got a membership)
They have this awesome water area and these fun aprons the kids wear that don't protect them at all. The kids are always soaked no matter what.
This is Tommy's favorite spot. He is kind of a hog. He takes after his dad. :P
Logan worked from home this day so we went out to give hims some quiet... and also Elsy stayed in her bed the whole night long for the first time in forever so this was her reward. She told me she wanted to send Daddy a funny face picture. Since then she has actually been staying in her bed the whole night long a lot more often than not so that has been a total and complete miracle and blessing to me.
She is so darling. And this is her new favorite toucan shirt.
So we had a bad experience with Tommy that made us re-arrange the kids bedroom. Elsy's bed was right below the window sill and on many occasion I would go into the bedroom to find Tommy standing on the window sill looking down three stories at the cars. Which is fine, because the window is always closed. So this particular day I saw him on the window sill and was like, whatever, if I take him down he will just get up again so I left him. I feel bad because I left him up there a lot. He knew how to get down. Well a few minutes later we hear a big crash, some crying, and an even bigger crash and then some utter screaming. I ran in to find he had fallen off the sill, onto the bed and then off the bed again. But the worst part was that he was completely tangled in the string that hangs down that draws up the blinds! It was wrapped around his neck and luckily his arm was in it too or he wouldn't have been able to scream and he might have chocked and we wouldn't have known! It was a really scary experience and we were all shaken up. He had a welt around his neck and his voice was hoarse for the rest of the night. I had heard about kids choking on those strings before but I just kind of sluffed it off like, "that wont happen to us". Anyway, super scary. And a great reminder that "Yes! It actually can happen to you!!" We re-arranged the furniture so now there is no climbing up there.
That night during our couple prayer before bed Logan said, "Please protect our kids from getting hurt... for their whole lives." Then he stopped and we both started to laugh. Oh how we wish we could just protect them from everything and keep them in our little home bubble.
Anyway. Here he is after the incident. We always keep this castle facing this way because if we turn it around then he climbs onto the second story of the castle to look out the window (he really likes looking down at all the cars!) and I don't want the castle to break. So he climbs behind it and his legs stick out the doors. Its hilarious.
Here he is again with the castle. He is so funny. He cries when I put him in his bed because he wants to play with his toys. And when he wakes up in the morning he whines and then wants me to put him down and he runs straight to his toys. So cute.
I love when I tell him to get his shoes and he runs away and grabs them and then comes and backs up to me. I have to sit down quick so he will land on my lap. :) He does the same for books he wants me to read.
Another favorite play place is the Kid's Cove at Bellevue Square Mall.
I was so happy because three girls invited Elsy to play with them. Here she is, in the purple, playing with them. Ever since her experience with the bullies she has been pretty wary of playing with other kiddos... or maybe I . She was timidly following these girls around and I was worried they were going to be mean to her. Then the oldest girl turned around and asked Elsy if she wanted to play. Elsy couldn't have been happier and I almost cried for joy. I was so glad she had a good experience at the play place instead of another bad one like before.
After hearing about the earthquakes in the news I realized I needed to take some inventory of our 72 hour kits and update them and add to them. We have a big backpack full of stuff and then a duffle bag with spare clothing. Its a work in progress! I spent a few nap times making copies of all our important documents like birth certificates, social security cards, marriage licences, patriarchal blessings, proof of ownership for our cars, etc. I also printed an emergency contact list I found on Pinterest and filled that all out and printed a detailed map of the state. And then, saddest part, I printed pictures of each of our family members. After I printed them I held them and started to cry because I just can't imagine walking around holding a picture of my husband, or sweet little kid, asking others "Have you seen this person?" It was a little to real for me. :(
We spent a hot afternoon on the porch with bowls, water, and ice cubes. The pool doesn't open for another month and it was like 88 degrees! What are you supposed to do!?
We also said goodbye to one of my bestest friends, McKenna. She just had her sweet little girl, Molly, and is moving to Utah. We stopped by to say goodbye. It was really sad and we will miss Cameron and McKenna, or should I say Tamron and Kenna, very VERRRRY much!! :(
Every Saturday is pizza night at our house. Elsy learned how to grate the cheese (which means we get really really tiny slivers of cheese) and she helped Logan out. We go buy a bunch of pizza dough at Trader Joes ($1.19 people!!) and throw it in the freezer. Then the day before we put it in the fridge to thaw. Its pretty awesome.
Logan always told me I'm a cute peeker. When we were dating it was always cold in Rexburg and I had my hood up a lot and he said he liked the way I peeked out at him. I have found Elsy is also a good peeker but in different ways.
The "Kitty Cat" loves to peek out of pillows and warm places. She told me the other day she was a horse and I about died I was so excited. She said, "I can be other animals!" I was so happy... Tonight she was a super hero. Hurrah... but as she crawled into her bed she said, "I'm tired of being a super hero. I'm a cat." And she snuggled into her blankets.
*forehead slap*
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