Choices

In primary on Sunday the kids were taught about choosing the right. Many of the leaders stood and shared experiences they've had in their lives where they've made good choices that affected their lives for the better. I was inspired by so many of the stories and was so grateful that they would share such personal experiences.
Brad and I have been struggling with a big family decision of our own for the past year and it has been extremely difficult. Our life has been in limbo for almost two years now as we've been trying to sort out how to find a more permanent situation. We've gone down different paths only to find disappointment at the end. And then we are returned to our state of uncertainty. How long this will keep going on, I have no idea. But I am so grateful to be going through it all with Brad. Life is a hard journey, a long up-hill climb, a crazy roller-coaster ride. We have felt so many highs and lows lately. And at the end of the day I can't help but think of how lucky I am to have a great marriage and three beautiful children.
I also have some pretty awesome family and friends. One friend in particular was kind enough to call me today. She is such a great listener and I needed that good talk with her more than she realizes.
Life may be filled with disappointments, but there are also many tender mercies along the way. We are not alone in our struggles. The Lord loves us and is supporting us all along the way even when it doesn't feel like He is there. He is! Our challenges are meant to make us stronger, better people. All things will work out in the end. We can't give up hope.

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One of my favorite moments of the day happened with Ryder. He was whiny and crying most of the day, probably because he's still a little bit sick. And he's pretty adamant whenever he wants something even after I tell him no. So we had a lot of power struggles today. Right before bed we sat down to read scriptures and as I was reading, Ryder came over and was whining for me to give him the scriptures. I didn't want to because I wanted to quickly finish reading so I could put the little turkey to bed, but he wouldn't let it go. I finally let him show me what he wanted so badly and he sat on my lap, put the scriptures on his lap, and started repeating what I would say. We read a few verses that way and it melted my heart. He has seen Kade and Tenley read the scriptures and he wanted to be apart of it too! It was the perfect tender mercy to end the day.

Baby Showers

My friend is having her seventh baby next month so we got to celebrate her today! She is such a good momma and it was fun to get together with friends and have a little party. Tenley joined me for the day and I loved having more girl time with her!

Church

Ryder is getting better but was still too sick to go to church, so Brad stayed home with him. Kade and Tenley were a little bit sad to go to church without their Dad. They love him so much and they know how good he is at entertaining them! I did my best to take his place as the entertainer, but they did a good job at coloring and entertaining themselves too.
I really enjoyed the time I had with the two of them. It's fun once I get them to open up and talk to me about things they're learning or want to learn. Kade's always good at carrying on a conversation!

My Kids

Brad went snowmobiling today so the kids and I had a fun day partying together. Except poor Ryder who was so sick he didn't have much energy to care about anything.
We went shopping in the morning because Tenley needed some new clothes. She is growing so fast! I'm grateful that my boys have hand me down clothes so that Tenley is the only one I have to constantly shop for. And I really love shopping for Tenley! It just adds up quickly.
On our way out of the mall, Kade noticed the big yummy pretzels as we walked by, and since he had been so good while watching us girls shop, I caved and got them pretzels. At one point during our shopping trip I overheard Kade whisper to himself, "I will survive this!" It made me laugh so hard. I'm glad he survived!
When we got home Ryder took a nap on me which I loved, but I really hope he gets feeling a lot better soon! I actually miss seeing him running around our house and getting into everything!
I really love hanging out with my kids and I'm so grateful for the fun times we're able to have together.

Tough Girls

Tenley is the toughest little girl I know. She constantly surprises me. She has had a loose tooth for a few days now and she asked if Brad could pull it for her! So after we picked up Kade from school we went up to the office, Brad numbed her up a bit, and then asked if she'd mind if Kade pulled the tooth instead. She said, "Sure!" She wasn't scared at all. She got in the chair, winced a little as Kade was pulling, and then was fine. No tears at all. Equally impressive was Kade's skills at pulling the tooth. He did a great job!
In other news, Ryder is super sick. He has a high fever and has wanted to cuddle Brad most the day. It's sweet to have so many cuddles, but we feel bad for him at the same time. Hopefully it passes soon!

Good Mommy Days

Ok, so today wasn't totally perfect, but we had a lot of good moments. Kade stayed home from school again to rest up some more. I really love having him home. I just love having all my kids home and being with them. They make me so happy! They are my little buddies.
The sun was shining most the day so we jumped on the tramp a bit. We also played toys in the toy room, played Go Fish, Jenga and Dominoes, and watched Ryder's favorite movie The Lion King.
Tenley was really good at helping make dinner and set the table, and Ryder repeated a prayer with Tenley's help at breakfast, Kade's help at lunch, and my help for our night time prayer. It's so fun to hear his sweet little voice say a prayer!

Sick Days

Poor Kade has caught the cold that nearly everyone else in the family has had. And when he gets sick it always hits him hard, probably due to his asthma. Tenley, Ryder and I were happy that he was able to stay home from school, but we definitely wished he was feeling better! He mostly laid down and he even took a nap in the afternoon which are both unusual things for him! While he was napping Tenley had the idea all on her own to make Kade a get well card. She has so much compassion! Ryder helped too. They snuck them under his door so that he'd see them when he woke up from his nap. They're so sweet.

Batman

Ryder has his own, very strong, personality. When it was time to get him dressed today I picked out his favorite batman shirt to wear, but when he heard me say batman he ran to the costume closet, pointing at the door, and saying "BATMAN!" I knew he wanted to wear his batman costume. Since he was so adamant, and I didn't see any real reason to not let him, he got dressed in his costume. He was happy as ever running around in it all day. And it never got old to say 'I am Batman!' in his low voice.
We did end up having to go to Costco before picking Kade up for school and I didn't have the time to change him so he was in his costume all day! Shopping with my little Ryder in his batman costume was pretty fun, though.

President's Day

It was so nice to have Kade home with us today since it was President's Day. We slept in and then took the kids to the movie Storks. It was cute! Brad was nice and bought the kids some popcorn. It was a huge refillable bucket and I think Tenley probably ate close to a whole bucket on her own! She really loved popcorn.
The sun finally came out in the afternoon so we went for a bike ride! I love riding bikes. Kade gave us all a great lesson tonight on prayer. And Brad taught the kids some more about the plan of salvation using some things he had while on his mission. It was a great day.

Siblings

At church I get to play the piano for the primary children. Today, a new little 3 year-old sunbeam was having a hard time being in primary. She was pitching a HUGE fit! The leaders were doing all they could to calm her down by holding her, laying her down, giving her toys, or crayons. But nothing was working. Someone finally decided to have her older brother come sit by her and that calmed her down immediately! She stopped screaming and was happy! It was really cute to see the bond that she has with her older brother. I love that siblings, even at such a young age, look out for each other so well. I hope my three little ones do that for each other too.

Saturday

I seriously love Saturday. I love the slow morning cuddling in bed with my favorite people, the productive afternoon of getting things done around the house, and the lazy evening when I usually don't have to make dinner. It's really great. The weekend is just a really great time to relax and forget about a schedule for me and I love it just as much as I love getting back into a routine on Monday.

This morning after breakfast, Brad decided to pull his BB gun out to teach the kids how to aim. It was kind of fun. Even Ryder wanted a turn pulling the trigger. Kade and Tenley both hit a target! It was impressive.

Mommy-Daughter Dates, The 100th Day of School

I love having a sweet little girl in the middle of my boys. Tenley is such a big helper especially when Kade is at school during the day. She's always willing to help cook, clean, and take care of Ryder. I'm so grateful for her! Today, Brad took Ryder on a bike ride (which Ryder LOVES to do), and Tenley and I went on a little mommy-daughter date shopping to the store. She had been asking to have time with just me and no whiny Ryder, so I was happy to take her out! She found a couple cute shirts and we had a lot of fun together.

Kade celebrated the 100th day of school today! He took in 100 skittles, played games, and did other fun things. He loves school and he's such a smart boy. And after school we took him to the Lego Batman movie with his cousins and his cousins cousins (which he says he considers to be just like his own cousins). It was fun!

My Boys

My boys are the best, most handsome boys I know. They were all so cute today. Kade decided to wear a baseball cap to school today and Ryder wanted to as well. They both look pretty handsome in hats!
Ryder loves to run and give me hugs as he's saying "ugga mugga!" (Thank you, Daniel Tiger!) It was one of my favorite moments of the day.
And then I got to watch Brad have a little impromptu light saber fight with Ryder tonight. It was pretty adorable.
I love my three boys!