Pen-pals, Play Group

A few weeks ago the kids helped me write a thank you card to their great-grandparents and we just got back a letter from them! The kids loved getting a letter addressed to them! It is fun to have a pen-pal for them and I'm excited to keep up with it!

Today we played at the mall for the first time in a long time! The kids were so worn out that they could hardly keep their eyes open in the car on the way home. I love our friends!

Visits, Preschool

One of my favorite parts of my calling is being able to go visit the women and their families in our ward. I love seeing them in their homes and getting to know them better. It is fun to see that different side of them.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the wonderful women I am surrounded by!

Last week we started our preschool co-op group again and today was my turn to teach. I love these kids and their energy! I love to see Tenley trying to keep up with them too.

Charlie

My kids and I have dance parties a lot by pulling up songs on YouTube. We each usually get a turn to pick a song, but lately all Tenley has wanted to watch is "Charlie Bit Me." When she requests it she even uses a British accent. It is hilarious!

So, Charlie, wherever you are, thank you for making us laugh over and over again everyday.

Grandma Judy

Tonight we called Brad's dad on a video chat call as has been the tradition for a very long time, but tonight was different because he was on his honeymoon with his new wife Judy.

It was good to talk to them both and actually see that warm weather exists somewhere in the world, but it was mainly so good to see Brad's dad so happy.

It's been a hard several months in a lot of ways, but nothing has been as hard as watching Brad's dad suffer so deeply and mourn so much. Although our hearts are still tender and grieving, we are so grateful for Grandma Judy and the light and life she is bringing back in George. 

We are so happy to know that George is in good hands and will be taken care of and loved.

We are grateful that our children will have another Grandma to love and be loved by.

We look forward to this new chapter in our lives and cherish so much the memories we have with Brad's sweet Mom.

This Week

Looking back we've had such a fun week! Kade started preschool again after a long holiday break and he was so excited to be with his friends! We had a lot of fun family time, lots of good conversations with friends, and one of my friends took me out to lunch for my birthday (Chick-fil-A is so good!).

We are so lucky!

Fridays

At the end of every long school week I always find myself mainly grateful for Friday. It's nice to have a nice relaxing night with Brad and to be able to sleep in a little on Saturday. And the kids love knowing that the next Daddy doesn't have to go to school! 

I have no idea what we'll be doing tomorrow but I'm just grateful that we'll be together!

The Bishops Storehouse

Tonight I had the opportunity to visit the Bishops Storehouse here in Indianapolis. It was amazing and inspiring! I didn't know how big it was and how many lives the Church really touches with the supplies they have there. They provide service for member and non-members of the church alike and have many supplies ready to go out to those who have experienced severe natural disasters. It is an amazing program and I'm grateful that I was able to get a more in depth look at it. I'm also grateful to be a member of a Church that is so prepared and willing to help everyone around them. 

Heat Blankets

I think the best Christmas present I got was an amazing heat blanket from Brad. I use it every night and it works so well! 

With a high of 8 degrees tomorrow I might never get out from under it!

Birthdays

Today was my birthday and Brad completely spoiled me. He did every chore for me that I would normally do and then some! He got the kids dressed, made me pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast, made a yummy ice cream cake for dessert, took me out to dinner at Red Robin, got the kids ready for bed, and changed 3 dirty diapers! Wow! He sure made me feel special. I'm grateful he was willing to do all that for me. I had a great birthday!

Sometimes it is hard to get older, and I find myself  occasionally wishing that I were 20 years old again, but if I were I wouldn't have my cute kids, or these past amazing 8 years with Brad, or a lot of the life lessons that I've grown from, and the list goes on. My life would be missing a lot that I've been able to gain. 

So I'm really glad that I'm not 20 years old again and that I've been so blessed and that I'm surrounded by so much to be grateful for.

How could I live without these cute kids?!

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

I've always loved Martin Luther King Jr. Day because it falls close to my birthday and usually means a day off work/school and today Brad did get the day off school! Not only that, but many museums in the city were allowing entrance for a can of food so we took advantage! For $5.52 we went to the Indiana State Museum, saw a cool movie at the IMAX Theater, and went to the NCAA museum. It was awesome! The kids were exhausted after it all but they loved it!

Helpful Children

Kade and Tenley have been learning to do their own dishes! And I love it. They are so helpful!

Frozen Music

My kids and I love listening to the soundtrack from Frozen. Kade practically has it memorized now!

I couldn't believe he was jumping the whole time he sang it. He is a funny boy!

President Thomas S. Monson

I let myself get easily overwhelmed often. I mean, why can't I just be superwoman? Why is that impossible? 

I want to have a perfectly clean house with no excess junk and to have everything put in its place.

I want to spend plenty of time playing with my kids, reading to them, and teaching them.

I want to have time every day to read my scriptures or other good books.

I want to have time to sit and ponder so that I may be inspired to do good things.

I want to have time to serve someone everyday.

I want to be able to play the piano everyday.

I want to have the time to cook good, healthy, well-rounded, meals for my family everyday.

I want to be able to spend some good quality time with my husband everyday.

I want to be able to catch up with family and good friends on the phone.

I want to feel like I'm doing my very best at my calling.

And I feel like so many other people are able to do all those things, but it seems to be so hard for me to stay on top of it all! Something is always suffering. My children are watching T.V. too much, or my house becomes a huge disaster from which it seems like there is no fixing, or I've gone too long without opening my scriptures, or we've done too many thrown-together-at-the-last-minute meals, or I barely get to talk to Brad. 

So often I feel as though I could be doing SO much more and that I have SO much in my life to improve!

As I was busily working on who knows what this morning I, for some reason, looked up at this quote on my wall:

And I realized that I need to stop worrying about everything being perfect and focus on my most important priorities. And number 1 is my family. My children and my husband should not suffer so that I can have a clean house, or most of the other things on my list. I do believe that taking time to work on myself in certain ways will help me be a better mother and wife but most of my time should be spent loving my family. The other problems in my life pale in comparison and importance to the love my family needs.

I'm grateful for a living Prophet today who is so inspired and who says things so simply and beautifully that I am able to recognize my faults and try harder to be better.

Progress

Kade and Tenley often fight most of the day, but ever since we were stuck in the house during the winter storm for a week they seem to have become much better friends! They love to color together, chase each other, and watch movies together. I love to see them bonding!

They wanted to watch a movie in their room today :)

Great-Grandparents

Growing up I don't think I was able to get to know any of my Great-Grandparents beside my Great-Grandma Butler. I have very few memories with her, but I do remember her being very sweet, gentle and kind. I'm grateful for those memories.

Most of Kade and Tenley's Great-Grandparents have passed away, but luckily they have Great-Grandma and Grandpa Woodruff. I wish we lived closer so they had more time with them and more opportunity to get to know them, but they have been so sweet to my kids. Today we received a package from them with four little sing-a-long books for the kids and they love them! They were so excited and one of the first things Kade said was, "We need to write them a thank you card!" So we did.

My Grandma and Grandpa Woodruff have always been so generous with all that they have. They have also always been so willing to serve the Lord in many different ways, and no matter what they've been through in their lives together they have stayed faithful and true to the gospel principles. I'm so grateful for their examples and I hope Kade and Tenley can remember that of them.

They were never able to meet my Grandma and Grandpa Feveryear, and although I was 8 when my Grandpa passed away and 16 when my Grandma passed away they left a great legacy for me and my children. I'm grateful for this biography that my Grandpa Feveryear left. It tells a great deal about the person he was.

I, unfortunately, was never able to meet any of Brad's Grandparents. I wish I was because I've heard so many good stories about them.

My sister-in-law and I were talking about this the other day, that we have so many faithful relatives with so many great experiences and faith-building stories to share, and we aren't able to meet many of them while we are here on Earth because we are here for such a short time. But I believe we'll have the chance to meet them and talk to them after this life is over. I'm sure we will be surprised with the amazing legacy we each have when we are able to meet our ancestors and spend time with them and talk to them. I really look forward to it. I look forward to spending more time doing genealogy so that I can learn as much about my ancestors now that I can. 

I'm so grateful for mine and Brad's faithful families and for the examples they all are to us.

"Warm" Weather

It has been warming up lately, the snow has been melting and you can actually see the grass now! All Kade wanted to do was go ride his bike with "Dada, and Kade, and Mama, and Ten!" So right when Brad got home from school we went for a quick spin around the block. It felt so nice! Even though it was probably 40 degrees it felt so much warmer than what is has been. I might even get to go for a run in the morning with a friend and I'm so looking forward to it! It's been a while since I've gone running outside.

Church Basketball

January is a fun month for many reasons and one of them is church basketball. I love watching Brad play and the kids enjoy it too! They had a great day Saturday and won both of their games! Yay!

Outings

Besides a quick trip to the grocery store a few days ago (which was crazy by the way. No milk and hardly any fresh vegetables!), today was the first day that the kids and I have gotten out of the house in 6 days! I've never been cooped up in the house that long, and surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. But we were really excited to get out. We spent the morning at the big library downtown and had fun playing there. Afterward, Brad and I had a good time trying to push our car out of the snow bank on the side of the street after getting it stuck. I learned that I'm not very experienced when it comes to trying to get a car unstuck. I made Brad drive because I was doing a horrible job at that, but I wasn't much good at pushing either. Luckily a nice man came and helped me push it out. I'm sure I'll be pretty sore tomorrow! It's always fun to make memories :)

Cupcakes, Icicles, Men doing the Dishes

Kade and Tenley have a little book with a picture of cupcakes in it that they love to look at and often request to "eat," so today we finally tried to make them. They look better than they tasted....I'm not good at making homemade frosting apparently.

We have some crazy, big icicles on our house right now. They are beautiful! It really is like a winter wonderland outside.

Brad hasn't had school at all this week due to the weather and the pipes breaking at the Dental school and he has been so helpful at home! I so appreciate him! There aren't very many things hotter than Brad doing the dishes!

Surprises

This morning we were trying to go about our normal day but we all missed Brad a lot! Kade said, "Mom, I'm worried about Dad. When is he going to be done with school forever?" It was sweet! But little does he know that when school ends, work begins! A little later though in walked Brad from school! I was surprised to see him home! Apparently the water pipes had frozen at the school and when they went to finally start classes today and turned on the water some pipes burst and the school started flooding so they sent everyone home. They won't go back until tomorrow afternoon! This has turned into such a crazy week, but we were all so happy to have Brad back with us.

Kade and Brad spent the rest of the day playing the Wii. They are so cute.

The Past Week and a Half

The kids and I have been loving having Brad all to ourselves this past week and a half! Every night this past week Kade's favorite thing has been playing with Dada.

 It was nice that our long break was lengthened by a few days due to the storm. None of us are looking forward to Brad going back to school again. We've really enjoyed being lazy together :)

But life can't go on like that forever...

So, on to cleaning the house, getting dressed before noon, eating healthier, being more productive with our time, working toward goals, and getting out of the house once in a while. Sadly those areas have been totally lacking for awhile.

But it was such a nice break.

Snow Days, Mom Hobson

We've been snowed in for two days now and will be tomorrow as well! Church was cancelled on Sunday, Brad's school was cancelled today, and it is cancelled again tomorrow! The kids and I are loving this and I think Brad is too.

We've been having so much fun sleeping in, eating big, warm breakfasts, watching movies and reading books. Today we played the Wii with Kade too. I wish we could go on like this all week!

Brad made "sunshine" pancakes this morning to bring a little sun to our morning!

Our windows are freezing on the inside!

Brad going out to shovel-again! He's probably shoveled over 4 hours in that past 2 days.

When the storm started:

After the storm ended:

Today was a special day because it is Brad's Mom's birthday. We had a nice evening talking to the kids about her and her life and what was important to her tonight. We looked at a lot of pictures and watched videos of her and it was nice to hear her voice and her laugh.

I plan on getting on https://familysearch.org/ to do some indexing tonight in her memory because I know how important geneology work was to her. We miss her so much!

Preparation

We've been hearing that a big snow storm will be coming tonight followed by severe cold weather so we've been spending the day getting prepared for it. We went grocery shopping (and it was crazy to see all the people there stocking up themselves!), we did laundry in case we lose power somehow, we took out the garbage since it sounds like we won't be wanting to go outside, and we checked out some new books from the library. We should be ready to be snowed in for a while now! And I hope that we are. :)

Sledding

Some friends invited us out to sled today so we put on our snow clothes again and went sledding with them and I'm glad we did. We had a lot of fun! Kade was brave enough to go down the hill all by himself. It is crazy to watch him grow up so quickly. Tenley got cold and hungry pretty quickly but it seemed as though Kade could have gone sledding all day!