A Huntin' We Will Go

Philip and I recently acquired a bow and arrows. I have enjoyed archery from the first time I tried it and I think we finally found something The Husband and I can enjoy equally. When shopping for the bow we began interesting conversations with the girls. They love to go around sportsmen stores and look at all the stuffed animals (you know the real animals that have been shot and stuffed). This last time we were talking about the animals and hunting. My girls want to be hunters. They want to shoot and eat an animal. I think the main goal is deer, though they think it would be fun to shoot a bear too. I love that they are able to love animals and at the same time want to eat them. I love that they know where their food comes from and don't just think that meat comes from a grocery store.

On a side note, (that I promise will be related), my kids love playing Zelda. I never played a lot of video games as a kid, but the ones I enjoyed were Tetris and Frogger. There was one level of Donkey Kong that I liked. But I had never played Zelda (until Philip- he sure does broaden my horizons). I stink at video games! My girls don't! Especially Lexi- she figures them out quickly and does well at them. Lately she wants to play Zelda: Ocarina of Time all of the time! I love it (not that she wants to play video games all of the time but that she is able to do more as a kid then I did).

Now, for the connection of the two random subjects. Today, for a majority of the day, Emi was Zelda (though if I'm not mistaken she was technically pretending to be Link, right?). She would tuck her sword and shield into her sweater and go on adventures. I am pretty sure they were dinosaur fighting adventures because Alexis spent most of the day being a dinosaur. This evening I realized that the weight of the sword and shield had been pulling Emi's sweater to an "uncomfortable, slightly choking" stage all day. Poor girl. I made her a sling type wrap to carry her weapons instead. Lexi wanted one too. Then, our creative juices got flowing. We asked Emi about her slingshot and she "made" one from a head band. Then we decided to create for them bows- and eventually arrows. It was so much fun to make and shoot them and the girls enjoyed learning from Daddy. (I wonder how long they will get to keep them before a person gets shot and they loose them).

Alexis' set up. though they later began putting the bow in front.

Nater wanted a sling too, so he found his own.

Learning how from Daddy. It takes lots of practice.

Gender Reveal

With our first pregnancy we did not find out the gender of the baby. I loved having Philip be the one to announce to me that we had a girl. I felt like it was the first moment we shared as a family.
With our second pregnancy we decided to find out the gender, mainly because we had all the girl clothes we would need and  no boy clothes. Our budget couldn't handle buying a new wardrobe all at once, so we wanted to be prepared. We had another girl.
With our third baby, Philip was deployed. We argued about what gender the baby would be. So during an appointment when Philip was home we asked the doctor for an ultrasound. The doctor agreed, though he warned us what we already knew- it was too early to be likely that we would be able to identify a gender. Johnathon proudly showed us that he was a boy.
And now, we are pregnant again. We have boy stuff. We still have some girl stuff. There isn't really a NEED to know what gender this baby will be. So, I didn't want to. Philip, however, wanted to know. So we agreed that he could find out and I would not. We chose a pronoun for the baby- we would continue to call the baby she (because the girls and I were already doing that). He would not be allowed to tell anyone until after he told me. The ultrasound tech did a great job of keeping the gender from me and let Philip know while I ran to the bathroom after my appointment. Philip has been so good at not letting any hints slip. We even chose baby names without him being more interested in one over the other. I was back and forth- sometimes feeling like I was having a girl, sometimes a boy. There were times when both of us wanted the information to be shared- but we held off.

Until the other day.

You see, Philip will be deploying again. While he should be here for the baby's birth- he wont be around for much longer than that. For me, that changed things! Preparing for a deployment is hard work. You go through so much emotionally and have so many things to do to be as ready as you can be. I didn't want that tainted our joy at having a new baby (though it has already started to). I wanted something to celebrate joyously before deployment emotions took over. We decided we would have a gender date sometime during the month of May. Afterwards, we would do a family announcement for the girls (and I guess for Nater too, though he doesn't understand it). Then we would tell family and select loved ones. I am sure we will eventually announce it publicly too- but not until those we are closest to get a personalized announcement.

Our gender date happened kinda sporadically. Philip had a few possible date plans- but decide that since we were going out for cupcakes already he would use that for my surprise. He called the cupcake place and had them put a specific color frosting on my cupcake. He warned me before we got to the cupcake place that I was not to open the box because it would be part of our date. We decided to take the kids with us instead of driving all the way back home for a babysitter. We went to the mall and while the kids played on some rides I opened my cupcake. Philip and I discussed how we felt about the gender and then we all shared the cupcake. Then we got to shopping. It is tradition that Philip picks out an outfit for the babies to come home from the hospital in. We also wanted to get a blessing outfit. We shopped and shopped and shopped the night away (making other stops for other things we had needed). We let the girls know that we would tell them the next day if they were having another brother or another sister.

The next day we put together a gift bag for the kids. We included several items that were the color associated with the gender of the baby. Attached to each item was a piece of a puzzle that announced, "It's another ________!" They got the items out and put the puzzle together. Then they read the puzzle and we talked about their thoughts and feelings on the gender. We emphasized that we are not telling people the gender and that they should not talk to anybody about it. It was a lot of fun! I have big plans in store for family announcements and cant wait to get the calls from them when they receive their announcements. For now, I have felt a lot of happiness and peace from knowing. I feel like I am not as anxious because I can prepare as needed. (not to mention- this drawn out announcing is a LOT of fun!).

A Local Military Celebration

 So, I have been checking out our cities parks and recreation website a lot lately, because I am looking into joining the community center. I saw that they were having a picnic and events celebration for military families in the area. I had plans for that afternoon/evening with a friend and thought this may be fun to attend before hand. Her family met us there and we had a blast! I was so impressed with it all! The food was good (some pregnant ladies were craving us some hot dogs), the events were fun and varied, and the people were all amazingly nice! We had a great time for free. A very good way to spend a Saturday afternoon.
 There were several vehicles to play in; military, police and construction.
 There was a petting zoo with a llama, goats, pigs, bunny, chickens, and more.
 There were 3 ponies to ride. The girls loved this part. Nater didn't ride, but he pet a pony.
 There were police officers and their canine dogs.
 There was a "smoke house" the girls went through with Daddy. I am glad they had this opportunity since we have been practicing fire drills and talking about fire safety at home.
 There were tons of bounce houses and slides.
 There was face painting and "fishing".
 There was even more activities and events after we left. Our parks department did a great job! We loved it!

Easter Comes But Once A Year

I knew I was behind on blogging, but didn't realize I still hadn't posted any Easter pictures.

I love to give my children special, magical days, wonderful memories, and happy times. I also want to teach them the importance of quiet, reverent, reflective days. We work on keeping the Sabbath day holy by doing things that will help our thoughts turn to Christ. This is especially true of holidays to celebrate Christs life. Easter Sunday is a day set apart to think of Christ, to learn of the Atonement, and to feel special gratitude for His sacrifice for us. Easter Sunday is not for candy, or bunnies, or eggs. Therefore, in our house we have "bunny day" the Saturday before Easter. These are pictures from that day. Daddy took them to get slushies from Sonic and they came home to a bunny trail leading to baskets and a bubble machine. Then there were eggs hidden throughout the yard. Inside the eggs were snacks (animal crackers) and hair pretties and some small toys. It was a fun time. It was so hot though, that their chocolate bunnies melted in their baskets.

Becoming

I am not a super mom! I am not a domestic goddess! I feel so far from those things sometimes. Lately, I have really been struggling. There are so many things I want to do. So many things that I have an intense NEED to do. Yet, I always feel like no matter how hard I try I can not get them done. I have been feeling so insufficient in many aspects. I have definitely been on the edge of depression and have been fighting not to give in, not to give up. Some days are better than others. Some days are wonderful, productive, and happy. Some days are miserable and sad. On those days, nothing gets done. I have lost my balance and though I fight to find it I have been unable.

And then...

- Have you ever heard the story or seen the demonstration of having a jar and trying to fill it will sand and pebbles and rocks? The lesson is that if you fill it first with the littlest things (the sand) and then try to fit the small things (the pebbles) and the big things (the rocks) in- it will not fit. However, if you take the same amounts of those three things and fit the biggest things in first, then the small things and finally the smallest things, they will all fit. I have heard this story and seen this demonstration so many times (which is probably why it came so quickly to mind when I needed it) but I have never felt a real NEED to follow it. I need this now. My husband and I discussed it and I asked him to politely remind me when I was filling the jar in the wrong order. He cleverly decided he would tell me to stop playing in the sand.

-We have a meeting at church where different members of the congregation are asked to speak on a topic. I hate that I don't remember who said these words but they spoke to me when I really needed them. In talking about the Atonement, she talked about becoming perfected. It occurred to me that perfection is a process of BECOMING. It is not so much a goal to be achieved, but a characteristic to develop and become. I can not achieve perfection by following my many lists and plans and goals. I must become perfected by following Christ's example. By becoming better every day, with every choice.

- Philip and I have talked for hours and  hours almost daily. Pouring over issues and concerns, digging down to the deeper levels and making plans to build ourselves back up. It's been rough! It's been emotional! It's been intense! It has been wonderful! I feel close to my husband in a new way. I no longer feel like I carry a majority of the weight of our family. We are working on carrying our burdens together, and most importantly- with the Lord's help. I truly feel like my husband listens to what I have to say. Hears and sees how I am feeling and then works to help me turn things around. I, of course, try to do the same for him. We don't have our relationship or communication skills perfected, but they are becoming so much more.

- I realize I can't do it all. I can't expect any one else to do it all either. I also realized that just because I can't do it all doesn't mean I shouldn't do it at all. I decided today that when I can't give anything else, I will give 15 min. Today we put this to the test for the first time. Instead of trying to clean everything myself, or nagging at the kids to take care of things for themselves; we set the timer for 15 min. and we all did what we could to help out. The timer went off and we all felt accomplishment. Everything is not done, but we gave everything we could for at least 15 min. I plan on doing this throughout our days with many things (not just cleaning).



I guess I am writing mostly to say that life is hard and overwhelming, but I realize that it is through the process of learning to manage hard and overwhelming that we become more. We become better. Someday, I may become a super mom. Someday, I may become a domestic goddess. Someday, I may not. But I don't care. Right now I care about becoming better today- even if it is just for 15 min. I am going to become better today than I was yesterday. And that makes me happy!

A Perfect DONSA Day

Yesterday was a DONSA (day of no scheduled activity) a.k.a. my husband didn't have to work. So, I planned the perfect day for us (for me anyways)- we would finish catching up on housework that we had fallen behind on by doing cleaning races all day. I figured this would be great because it would free up the whole weekend to play.
We got up and  told the girls the plan. I have never seen them so excited to clean. They raced their hearts out and had their room and Nater's room clean before we were even half way done with our room. They earned a movie each and watched while we worked. The next race was putting clothes away (I didn't participate in this one because I was still working on cleaning our bedroom). They got all of their clothes put away before Philip finished with his. They won the puzzle they had been waiting to play with. We had a snack break and a final race. Philip did kitchen, girls did dining room, and I did living room. Philip won- the girls had a rough time finishing, but they did. The whole house was mostly clean and it was only lunch time. Not only did we have the weekend, we had all the rest of the day too to play. I love how motivated my family gets with cleaning competitions. It sure does make cleaning a lot more fun!

So, only half way through our DONSA and we didn't have anything in particular that we needed to do. The girls played. The boy played and napped. We got a package from Grammy. I napped and talked on the phone and played. Philip played with his R/Cs and did some shopping. Eventually we put the kids to bed. Philip grounded me to my room and prepared an at home date for the two of us. I decided to shower and dress up for my date (he had snuck some clothes out of the room and dressed up too). He made me steak, potatoes and sweet corn. We ate until we couldn't any more and talked. Then we spent the evening doing our own things until bed time (I got so many more pictures sorted on my computer- maybe I will be able to finish sometime this year!).

Overall, it was a wonderful and very productive day! I am loving the cleanliness and organization of the house right now and all this free time to enjoy a weekend.

Oh, and while I was all dressed up we snapped a quick shot of the baby belly. I am 25 weeks along (or so) right now.

One Year Old (One Week And One Day Late)

After our morning walk

I can not believe The Boy is already a year old! He is growing so quickly and time is flying by.

It seems like every day I am impressed by something new he does.

Walking- Nater has been walking on his own since the day he turned 11 months old. Now he can walk with his elbows by his side (instead of arms out for balance). He can run and walk backwards. He even has less of the baby waddle.

Eating- Johnathon feeds himself and eats a LOT. He often eats as much as I do. He is off of formula and does well with the milk. He drinks primarily from a cuppy, he can also drink from a straw and a regular cup with help. He likes meat and cheese and yogurt, but his favorite is cereal.

Playing- Nater plays well on his own and does well with the girls or the dog. He loves to play with his little people toys and anything that makes noise. Nater likes to "read". Although, he will hardly sit through a book being read to him, he will pick up books and "read" them to himself regularly.

The boy is so happy and playful. He loves to clap and play chase. He typically only gets upset if he is hungry and when he is upset he screams!

We are so happy to have him in our family. He brings so much love and joy to our family. We love having a boy.

Johnny, I hope you had a wonderful first birthday. We love you. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful part of our family!