What a day

Here are the events that took place this morning...this is when I want everyone in the world to know, motherhood is the hardest job on earth.
-Boys woke up at 6:00
-Cleaned Bathroom one
-Fed boys breakfast
-Started cleaning bathroom two
-Ran into the toy room every two minutes to break up a fight or put someone in time-out.
-Finished cleaning bathroom two.
-Jump in the shower while boys watch Thomas the Train
-Got boys dressed
-Sent them outside to play while I started cleaning bathroom three.
-Here screaming in the backyard, run out and find them both drenched in muddy water.
-Strip them down, put them in the bath.
-Blow dry my hair while stopping every two minutes to keep them from drenching the bathroom, hitting, or taking away each others toys.
-Get them dressed again
-Make my bed
-Boys jump on bed
-Make the bed again
-Put them both down for an early nap.
-Finish getting ready and cleaning up the rest of the house.
-Get boys up from nap to go pick up my little brother from the airport.

What a morning...good thing I don't clean my bathrooms very often, this would be the reason why. The days that are the hardest, is when stuff needs to get done. Oh how I will look back on these days and remember the wonder of it all. I love it.

A few of my favorite pictures taken this month.

Time Out For Women

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend "Time Out For Women" in Phoenix. It was absolutely incredible. You know how you have those times in your life where you feel as though you're not accomplishing much or finding joy in the little things. Well I've had a little spell of that lately and this is exactly what I needed. Of course it's okay to have a bad day here and there, but I needed a boost. Every woman, mother, sister, wife, etc. needs to take time each year for yourself to take a step back and become rejuvenated. Sometimes when we get away from our day to day routine, we have the opportunity to really see and appreciate what we have. There were so many brilliant speakers at this conference that truly inspired me and helped me see my worth and purpose in life. The entire theme of the weekend was finding ONE thing you could BECOME better in. Even though it was just Friday night and Saturday, I feel like I came away with a new lease on life. I have picked ONE thing to work on and I am striving to be become THAT with the Lord's help. I have been so happy and have had a totally different attitude. It's sad to think how much I was letting Satan creep into my life and distort my identity. My testimony has been strengthened and I know Heavenly Father loves me. I always knew this, but it's just nice to be reminded how much he does sometimes. I challenge every one to find one thing you can improve upon and diligently seek to do so. Don't be the one thing that stands in your way.

A few "dozen" of my favorite quotes and thoughts from the conference.

"Optimism breeds faith, faith breeds optimism."
"The Father wants to give you bread when you ask for bread, but first you must ask if it be right."
"Don't have faith in the outcome, have faith in Jesus Christ."
"Faith is wanting what God wants for us."
"Times will come that will make you doubt, but remember the feeling you felt when you prayed and how right and good it felt."
"This life is not just about being a good person, it's about becoming better."
"The ultimate will not be us seeing Christ, but Jesus Christ seeing himself in us."
"A God that requires nothing of us is making nothing of us."
"Today is a gift, embrace it."
"Return to who you are and become who you were meant to be."
"Nobody can change or take away your identity, you will always be a child of God."
"God must think a lot of me sending me such difficult children:)"
"Tribulation can make you bitter or better."
"You are the perfect mother for YOUR child."
"The Lord is a jovial, lively person."
Pres. Hinkley "Be happy, don't get discouraged, things will work out."
"All the prophets are all optimists even though they know the world out there. They see the big picture. We are on the winning team! Don't quite the winning team."
"We have every reason to be a happy people, filled with a brightness of hope."
"We can have a bad day, and still have a good life.
"We have to know sorrow to appreciate the joy. There is purpose in suffering."
"It says in the scriptures "it came to pass", not it came to stay:)"
"Don't conform to be what others want or what the world thinks you should be." God wants me to be an individual, not somebody I make up.
"The Lord will give us things we can't handle ALONE." We can always do it with his help.



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One of my favorite things was getting to listen to Hilary Weeks sing her wonderful new album "Every Step". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyX-I-um5Kk You have to listen to her music video on youtube called Beautiful Heartbreak.

Cars

There is no denying the fact that these boys love cars. That is pretty much all they play with from morning til night. They fight over them constantly, and occasionally the joyous moment occurs where they just sit and play together. I am so glad the weather has cooled down and we can spend time in the backyard again. We're just waiting for our grass to grow in and then maybe we'll eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner out there, and whatever else we can come up with. This is the season I remember why Arizona is so great.
Lately, I have been looking at Kellen and realizing he's getting really big. It's like it all of the sudden just happens. I wish time would slow down, but I know it won't and that makes me sad. I will always treasure these memories of watching my boys play cars in the backyard...especially when they're playing nicely together:)




Notice how Kellen has several cars and Brady only has one...Brady is just about to make his move.

Happy Halloween

Bob the Builder, a ferocious tiger, and a nerd.

A Happy 3rd Birthday

We got a new camera which means we're officially back in blogging business. I can't believe I have a three year old...I know 27 years from now I'll be saying, "I can't believe I have a 30 year old." How does each year keep getting faster and faster? When I was a kid, time seemed to last forever, now it's gone in the blink of an eye. Hopefully it's like that for every child. Thank goodness we have a camera to capture it all.
My sweet Kellen had a wonderful "Thomas the Train" birthday. We celebrated on Sunday by opening presents and having Tyler's brothers and their families over for cupcakes and ice cream. Monday, Tyler had the day off work so we took the boys to this awesome park with trains and a merry-go-round. It cooled down just enough for us to enjoy being outside, thank goodness.

Notice how he got two of these cars. One thing I've learned about having two boys so close in age is, they fight over everything, so why not get two of everything. However, we thought we were being smart but now they both fight over the blue car. Note to self...get the same color next time.

Delicious Thomas cupcakes, with hand painted Thomas the train pictures...haha, yeah right.

He saw me making these and whined all day until we finally gave him one...he's in heaven.

Enjoying our picnic in the gorgeous weather.

All of us. Love when people offer to take a picture of all of us.


Brady is unsure about this whole train thing.

He's enjoying it now. Kellen carried his Thomas train the entire day. How handsome they all are.

Our last stop, the merry-go-round

Oh how I have loved these three years. Kellen is determined, stubborn, lovable, witty, and happy. He has taught Tyler and I much about patience and having Christ-like love. I am so proud to be his mother and know he is going to accomplish great things in his life. Although each year brings new challenges, I am blessed to have this little boy teaching me how to love and enjoy life. We love you Kellen

Money Money

So I feel like I can't post anything because I don't have pictures to go along with it. Our poor camera is still broken and I'm hoping we can get another one soon, especially before Kellen's 3rd birthday. Anyway, do you ever feel like you wish you had a ton of money? Today I wish I had a ton of money so I could replace all the broken things in our house (Who broke most of them? The boys of course). Just to name a few...
Our video camera
Our regular camera
My lamp
Our VCR
Our DVD Player in the car
(Pretty much any electronic item in our house)

A few extra things I would like to buy with my money...
food storage
curtains
decorations
paint
freezer
clothes
toys

Yes, I am very greedy today. I am very blessed and have much to be grateful for, but it doesn't hurt to wish once in a while right?

Learning and Growing

My entry today is on motherhood. What a joy and a challenge it can be. There are days when I just want to give up and climb in bed and say forget it, I have no clue what I'm doing. Some days it takes everything within me to be patient and loving. On those days, it's hard not to feel like a failure when you loose your temper or run out of patience one too many times. Motherhood is definitely a task that has made me realize how very far away I am from being perfect. Thank goodness there is forgiveness and prayer for those times when I need it. I'm glad Heavenly Father reminds me now and again what a tremendous blessing it is. I have definitely been reminded this sabbath day how richly blessed I am to have the life I do, and the sweet little miracles that stretch and mold me into the person I am to become.

I take comfort in knowing that it's alright for feel frustrated and overwhelmed at times and make mistakes, because I am here to learn. I also take comfort in this talk by Elder Holland. I watch it a lot, it always makes me feel better:)

"I don't feel very well"

The phrase "I don't feel very well" will be heard in our home at least a million times a day by Kellen. He apparently picked up on the fact that when he's ill, he can pretty much be lazy and get what he wants. So, now that he's been fully recovered for months now, he continues to use the phrase before asking for something. It's also said with a big whine, like he's in the greatest pain imaginable. He got us a few times at first, thinking he was really sick, but now it's just like the little boy who cried wolf. If he really is sick, we won't believe him.

For example:
I don't feel very well. I want to watch Elmo.
I don't feel very well. I want some milk.
I don't feel very well. Can I go over to ___ house?

So, apparently he thinks that by using this tactic, he'll get whatever he wants...but he doesn't. So, what we can't seem to figure out is why he keeps saying it over and over and over. Some day he'll realize it's not getting the desired result. Gotta love him for trying though.

P.S. Our camera got sand in it from our California trip. Hoping for a miracle so I can catch up on posts.

Birthday Boy

Here is he reading Grandma and Grandpa Scott's card.

Brady's birthday was great! The day consisted of swimming (which I forgot to get pictures of), presents, cake, playing with toys, and much more. Brady truly is the sweetest baby boy. He has brought so much joy, laughter, and love into our home. I can't believe only a year ago he was born. He has so much personality. He loves taking baths, playing with balls and cars, and making his big brother frustrated. We love you Brady!!!

Brady's 1st Birthday

This little guy turned one today. I have so many pictures and videos I want to post from today but it's late and I'm tired, so I will do it tomorrow. As for now, here he is smiling and happy as ever. I love you Brady.

My little rascals

There are so many things I want to capture and post every day of these two, but it's just finding the time to do it. All I can say for now, is how much I love these two little rascals. They are the two most crazy little boys and keep me very busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Brady will be one next week and Kellen will be 3 in October. I wish they didn't have to grow up. Funny, there is only a 5 lb difference between them, and they can fit into the same size diaper. Kellen is going through a phase where he doesn't like eating, it's a big inconvenience for him. I worry a lot about that as of late. A few cute things to mention.
-Brady loves sneaking in Kellen's room and pouncing on him while he's taking a nap.
-Kellen took swim lessons and did so good, he's a natural.
-Brady loves climbing the stairs, now he just needs to learn how to get down them.
-Kellen is so smart...he loves to read books and learn new things, he soaks everything up.
-Brady has 6 teeth now, and loves having his teeth brushed.
-Kellen's favorite toys are cars and trains. He can spend hours lining them up.
-Brady loves balls, he's a pro at throwing them. He loves cars too, and most of the day they fight over them.
-Kellen loves having friends over, and going over to play at their houses.
-Brady loves his blanket, and is so cuddly when he drinks his bottle.
-Kellen loves stickers and doing art-work.

Honolulu Hawaii

I am so behind in blogging. First I need to share about our wonderful trip to Hawaii. My awesome mother came to watch the kids for a week, while Tyler and I went to Hawaii ALONE. Let me tell you, it felt so strange not having kids with us. She was wonderful and did such a good job taking care of them...we know because they never even asked about us. Tyler and I had a fabulous time. It was so nice just being the two of us. We missed the boys a lot, but nothing makes you love your kids more than a little time apart from them. We managed to fill every day with something fun. Some things we did were...
1. Visit Pearl Harbor
2. Swap meet
3. Did a session at the Hawaii Temple
4. Hiked Diamond Head
5. Went snorkling at Hanauma Bay
6. Went to the Polynesian Cultural Center
7. Went to Hank's Hot Dog shop (From Diners Drive-ins and Dives)
8. Visited Waimea and jumped off the rock
9. Visited Turtle Bay Hotel
10. Got Matsumotos Shaved Ice
11. Visited Pali look-out
12. Ate the most amazing food at Duke's Restaurant
13. Witnessed one crazy rainstorm and two amazing rainbows

It seriously was the best trip ever. Tyler and I had a blast soaking up the sun and relaxing also. I hope we can continue doing fun trips like these for years to come. Thank you Hawaii, we love you!

Easter Photo

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Easter Eggs

Kellen talked about Easter weeks before it arrived. He repeated the phrase "Easter's coming" at least a dozen times every day. I think he thought it was like Christmas. I didn't get cute pictures of the boys in their Sunday best, but I am taking them to Target tomorrow to get some, so those will come shortly. Kellen had fun decorating eggs and doing the actual hunt on Sunday. Since then, we've done about 5 more just around the house. He keeps coming up to me and saying "mom, hide the eggs" I just can't resist his cute little face and how it lights up whenever he finds them.

Most of all, we are grateful for the atonement and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We had the opportunity to go see the beautiful Easter Pageant at the Mesa Temple last Thursday and it was truly amazing. My testimony was strengthened and I am grateful for the sweet reasurrance that we have a loving Father in Heaven who loves us and sent his son so that we could return and live with him again.

At the Easter pageant

My favorite part was the drive home from the pageant. I drove home by myself with Kellen and our conversavtion went like this.

Kellen - Mom, where did Jesus go?
Chloe - The Jesus in the play wasn't the real Jesus, he was just pretending. The real Jesus is in Heaven. This Jesus was just showing us all the good things Jesus did, like how he loved the people.
Kellen - MOM, I LOVE PEOPLE TOO!!!
Chloe - You do?
Kellen - Yes mom, exactly.
Chloe - Wow, that's great.
a little later...
Kellen - Mom, DAD LOVES PEOPLE TOO!!!
Chloe - You're right, he does love people.
haha, sooo cute.