Memorial Day 101

We had a great weekend with the kids! We visited "Grammy's" grave and talked about the memories we have about her. I can't believe it has been 3 years since her passing. Eli was only 5 months old and it makes me sad that he will not know her on this earth. He asked a ton of questions about her "body and bones". It made the moment quite lighthearted! I realize how smart these little ones are when they ask questions about death and what happens to their body? How does their spirit live with Heavenly Father and not their body? We spent many moments explaining to him...I'm not sure our answers were the ones he wanted! On the way out of the cemetery Eli was singing his made up version of the "Grave Song", I thought my other kids would die laughing.

We also went to the Cottage for a night with Papa and Fran. The kids love being there. We decided to go to the Provo Cemetery. Mike's grandparents and "Great" everyone are buried there, including Benjamin Bullock who donated the land for the cemetery. I love the old section of the cemetery where the Pioneer's have been buried. They have ancient looking head stones with amazing poetry about their loved ones carved into them.

So many children and babies are laid to rest there. Mike and I always get emotional reading them. One of my favorites is on a stone were a newborn baby had died, it says; "Budded On Earth To Bloom In Heaven". How sweetly said. It makes me think of my friend Michele who lost her baby (Gracie Gledhill) 2 months ago to a heart defect.

My kids were saddened by how many children died at that time. I think it in some small way, taught them to be thankful for the life and time we are living in, and to be thankful for each other.

Of course, we could not end the moment without one of Eli's funnyisms! We had told him several times not to directly step on the graves. It was way too tempting to jump from grave to grave. At one moment I saw him sitting on top of a small head stone! His eyes caught mine and before I could speak at him he said, "Don't worry mom, there is nobody in this one!"

**Just a side note on the first picture, we were all fascinated by the bottle of beer in lieu of flowers...I don't know whose grave this was, but we thought it was funny!

Dreamland

Maybe...if I was able to sleep in this position all my..........dreams would come TRUE!

Springtime Schedule

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

8:00 a.m. Run to KMART to pick up a 6 pack of flowers for Eli's preschool project
8:20 Drop off Gabe and Ellie at school
8:30 Drop Eli off at preschool
8:45 Head to Target to buy Teacher Appreciation gifts that I forgot about
9:45 Classic Skating chaperon for Ellie's Student Council and Safety patrol party
12:15p.m. Leave Classic Skating, grab a salad at Cafe Rio to eat in my car in the parking lot of Alta View hospital
12:45 Register for Kidney Ultrasound
1:00 Kidney ultrasound, reminds me of pregnancy ultrasound...makes me a little sad
1:25 Pick up Eli from Mom's house
1:50 Pick up Gabe from an early day due to Testing?
2:00 Check emails
3:00 Have a lengthy conversation with Mikail about her "CRAZY" day at school
3:45 Pick Ellie up from school
4:10 Take kids to swim team practice
WATCH...WAIT...WATCH...RESCUE Eli from falling fully clothed into swimming pool
6:00 Leave practice, drive to Wendy's for kids dinner (excited children to have JUNK)
6:25 Get ready for Mike's boss' daughter's wedding reception
6:40 Leave for Wedding
7:00 Mix and Mingle with people from Mike's work
9:15 Leave reception, get a call from Ellie saying her teacher's favorite flowers are tulips...can I pick some up?
9:30 Pick up flowers from Harmons...pathetic selection this late at night...no tulips
9:45 Arrive home, assess house damage from unattended children, pick up, clean
10:00 SIT DOWN...BREATHE...PASS OUT!

Mother's Guilt Day

I'm not a huge fan of celebrating Mother's Day...but who really is? Generations of mothers in my family have shunned the SPECIAL day. It's not a day to celebrate you as a mother, rather a day to feel guilty for the terrible mother you are. Oh the GUILT. Who wants to be reminded of that?

This year the husband reminded me to just enjoy the day, celebrate it for the kids sake. I decided to take this to heart, I know I can do this. I got together with some cousins of mine and we planned a breakfast and pedicure date with our mothers to honor them (and ourselves of course..oh there's the guilt in doing that). We went to the Grand America for brunch and then we all soaked our footies for awhile and had them painted so cute!

Mother's day was also awesome, thanks to the kiddies! They had a "Mother's Day Spa" all set up for me! I got a foot soak, nails painted, and a leg rub from Ellie and Mikail. Gabe and Eli rubbed my back and arms. They had candles and perfume sprayed into the air. I even received chocolate, nuts, fruit, and lime water! After that ROYAL treatment, I was instructed to lie on the bed while all 4 KIDDOS gave me a massage..it was wonderful, but a touch hard to breathe! How could I possibly feel guilty for raising them wrong after treatment like this? They, and Mike, topped the morning off by making me a "wheat/gluten free" breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and strawberries! I think I am breaking the "shunning" chain! Bring on MOTHERHOOD again!

Oh, SERIOUSLY!

I'm serious on this one! Child Protective Services should be knocking sometime this afternoon, around dinner time I should have all my children taken away due to NEGLECT! So we had the Gabe accident last month...then Eli hit his head on some rocks in our backyard last week. He came in crying, I set him on the couch with his blanket. Five minutes later he violently throws-up. Ten minutes later he is DEAD ASLEEP, at the point where I could not wake him up! He slept for an hour and a half, threw-up more. A half an hour later he was hungry, thirsty, and wanted to play outside! Ah...that would be a CONCUSSION! And then there was the incident TODAY! I had a doctor's appointment with the Urologist,(another story for another post) we were in the parking lot, walking in. Eli was walking on the curb like all kids do. I had just told him (perhaps jinxing him) not to walk on the curb because he would fall and get hurt. My children don't listen to me so, two seconds later, I see him hit the ground CHIN first! I rush back to pick him up and he has a gaping hole in his chin. Blood was everywhere! I looked like a horror film victim! I rushed him inside, (heels and a very heavy 3 year old do not make for graceful running) to find a bathroom. There was a lady far down a hall that I asked for help from. She took me into a dental office backroom where we put paper towels under his chin. Have I mentioned that I don't do well with stuff like this...due to great anxiety and not having a medical degree? I was pretty sure he would bleed to death! I got a hold of Mike, my "go-to-man" when I am in a state of panic, and I met him at our pediatrician's office. Dr. Lindgren was kind enough to quickly fit us in, I'm pretty sure they usually don't do stitches often. They would rather you go to the emergency room. So, 2 hours later and 5 stitches we are home! It is not even officially SUMMER and I know I can not handle the stress of more ACCIDENTS! Oh...wait...I won't have to...my children should be under the state's protection by 6:00 p.m.!
P.S. Did I happen to mention that Eli fell on the neighbor's stairs last fall...he hit his CHIN in the same place! That time it was only "glue stitches"...we are progressing!

The Tulip Festival That Made Us Famous

Every Spring we enjoy a vist to Thanksgiving Gardens to see the fabulous display of Tulip flowers. It is acrage after acrage of color that is to die for! My kids usually complain about going at first and end up loving it once we are there. Most of the time we go with my mom, my brother, Spencer, and his family. This year we happened to be there when KUTV 2 news was broadcasting a live noon show from there. Kids are quite intrigued when there are TV cameras in their midst. The broadcast guy, "Kasey", asked the kids if they wanted to be on TV...DUH, but of COURSE! So, they all had their 1 minute of STARDOM...I'm so proud to be their mother!

The Sneaky Leprechaun

I am a little delayed on this post! I forgot about our St. Patrick's Day adventure until I downloaded some new photos. In our home, the Leprechaun comes at night when we are all in bed and leaves GREEN FOOTPRINTS all over our house! He also turns over furniture, messes up rooms and turns the OJ and milk green! He truly is a STINKER! Ellie, Gabe and Eli tried really hard to catch him, (Mikail has become too COOL for this) making ingenious TRAPS with FAKE gold to entice the little man. But to no avail did they catch the Leprechaun! He just left them a mean letter. I think he felt guilty for his rudeness because he left the kids shamrock sugar cookies on the front porch that night! We did enjoy our usual St. Patty's dinner of corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes. Oh, and of course the Irish beer bread...thanks Budweiser, I now know where you are located! (Do I need to confess to the bishop about buying a can of beer?) As for me, I am left cleaning off the green footprints all the next day....better luck next year kids, work on those traps!