It Was a Green Day

St. Patrick's Day is always fun for our family.

I sent the kids to school wearing green to make sure they wouldn't get pinched!

Payton's teacher asked her class to be creative and make leprechaun traps to see if they could catch a leprechaun at school.  This is what we came up with…

We took an oatmeal canister, covered it with green scrapbook paper, cut an X into the top lid so when the leprechaun crawls up the paper straw ladder to try and get that basket of rainbow Skittles, he would fall into the canister and be trapped.  We added gold glitter, shamrock stickers, and a rainbow made of pipe cleaners to embellish it.  Somehow, I missed that it was due back in class by last Thursday, so at the last minute, we gathered up my craft supplies and got it done.  Luckily, I had everything on hand to make this.

Payton also decided that she wanted to add a note for the leprechaun...

She didn't catch a leprechaun, but one did leave her some gold coins.

I also put together this breakfast the night before.  Usually I make green pancakes and eggs, tinted green from food coloring, but I knew I wouldn't want to wake up early to do that because it was 2 a.m. and I was still up.  

The kids thought this breakfast was fun!

While the kids were at school, I bought some Hershey's Nuggets because I couldn't find any gold coins.    I spread them on the counter with a little note from the "leprechaun."  He told us in the note that he had to empty his pockets at our house because he had too much gold and needed to share. 

What's sad is I have eaten more of this chocolate than any of the kids.  I waited until they all got home from school so they could see it, but now I have it hidden in the cupboard and I am the only one eating it!

Before I hid it though, I caught Asher stuffing his pockets with these Nuggets, and when I pulled them all out, I counted 13 of them between both of his front pockets!  And he had 3 in his hand!  It was cracking me up how sneaky he was trying to be!

We always have a traditional St. Patrick's Day dinner of Corned Beef, Cabbage, Potatoes, and Irish Soda Bread.  This year, Mom and Dad came over to share the feast with us.  Mom did the Corned Beef and Cabbage, and I made the Potatoes and Irish Soda Bread.  I always make Martha Stewart's recipe for Irish Soda Bread, and it never disappoints!

Photo & Recipe via Martha Stewart

St. Patrick's Day is always a fun day to celebrate for us.  March 17th is also my late Grandma Hendry's birthday, so it makes it extra special. We always think of her on this day and cherish the memories we had with her.  

BOOYAH!

I love it when other bloggers make a post dedicated to the things that they've loved and found interesting over the week.  I've discovered so many new things to try.

Booyah! It is an exclamatory phrase.  People say it when they are excited. So, whenever I dedicate a post to things I get excited about over the course of a week, it will be titled, BOOYAH!

Last night, I made a giant pot of this Spicy Potato Tarragon Soup.  It was so good!  I have made several variations of Potato Soup, but this is definitely one of my favorites!  I think the fennel and lemon juice made it extra yummy.  A little bit of spice doesn't bother my kids.  My boys actually like to eat spicy things.  Recently I made this salmon for Danny and I, and made the kids' with just lemon and honey.  They ended up preferring our spicy salmon to theirs!  You can pin the soup recipe here.

I received my doTERRA Frankincense essential oil in the mail yesterday. I'm so excited to use it because of the many incredible things it does for the body!  Right now, I'm using it mixed with coconut oil to help heal our dry winter skin.

My favorite channel on Pandora right now is En Vogue's.  It features so many throwback tunes that I grew up with.  I usually have Pandora going on in the kitchen while I cook dinner.  This song came on the other night, and it just never gets old to me.

This weekend we are taking the kids to see Mr. Peabody & Sherman.  It looks pretty cute, and I always enjoy taking the kids to the movies. Asher always does surprisingly well, especially with popcorn in his lap.

I got Easter outfits ordered for the kids from H&M.  I only have so many years to dress them in matching clothes for the holidays.  Now I've got to make some hair pretties to go along with the girls' dresses.

Life Lately!

What in the world happened?  It's been almost a month since I've posted last!

Just a re-cap of what has been keeping us so busy lately...

Pre-game intimidation!

Payton, Sawyer, and Sage played Rec Basketball!  The season only consisted of 8 games, which lasted about 2 months.  The twins were on the same team, thankfully.  Watching 5 year olds play basketball is hilarious!  They travel all over the court, bounce the ball off the walls and yet continue to play, and sometimes they just stand in one place with their arms up in the air waiting for the ball to come to them.  

Whenever Sawyer would get the ball, he would travel around until he got an open shot, and then shoot.  

Sage's favorite thing to do was stand directly under the hoop with her arms straight up.  Sometimes, she would get really aggressive and go after the ball.  That was fun to watch because the more comfortable she got with playing the game, the better she'd get at defense.  

But seriously, watching 5 year olds play basketball is hilarious.  

My little ballers!

Payton at half-time!

Payton had so much fun during this season!  Every time any of my kids made a basket, they'd look at me in the crowd, and I'd give them the thumbs up sign to let them know I was proud of them.  Payton was also really great at scoring.  It was so much fun to watch her.  Each of them said they prefer playing basketball over going to their dance classes!

Basketball is in their genes.  Their grandpa Walch played for BYU Idaho, and their mom and dad played throughout high school.  They already can't wait until next year when the season starts up again.

Last week was Spirit Week at school because of a big basketball tournament for the 7th and 8th graders.  Last Tuesday was Crazy Hair/Pajama Day.  Sawyer wanted nothing to do with it this time around, but the girls were very excited to dress up for it.  To keep it simple for myself, I suggested that we just add a bunch of hair bows, which they were excited about, so that's what we did.  Their American Girl Dolls have these matching pajamas that they are wearing.

Payton competed in the Spelling Bee for our school district last Wednesday night.  For each class, in grades 2-8, they choose the top 2 spellers to compete against each other.  Payton was chosen as one of the two in her class!  It was so exciting!  My sisters and I competed in these Spelling Bees when we were little.    When my sister Meridith saw this picture of Payton, she said that those privacy dividers were probably the same ones that were used during our days.  I think she is right.  Everything was pretty much the same as when we competed in them 20 years ago.

After 4 incorrectly spelled words, competitors are dismissed.  This picture is right after Payton was dismissed.  She was bummed she didn't make it further, but we are so proud of her even for making it to the Spelling Bee!  When she was feeling down about it, I reminded her how talented she was, and it was just an honor to have even made it to the Spelling Bee, and to be one of the top spellers in her class!

Just a few other exciting things lately…

My Grandma and Aunt Sherece are visiting!  Sherece lives in Arizona, so she has been loving this rain we have been having!  It's such a nice break for her from all the desert sun.

Grandma and I are both really into essential oils, and so it's so much fun to share stories with her and how they've helped us!

Dad had a birthday yesterday, and so I made him a chocolate cake AND apple pie because that's what he requested!

We had an earthquake a few hours ago with a magnitude of 6.9 and the epicenter isn't too far from here.  Luckily, there hasn't been a threat of a tsunami as a result.  The kids were all asleep in bed, but it was pretty powerful and definitely rocked our house.

I am officially in the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy.  It's going by pretty fast, and I still have so much to do in preparation for this baby!  May 23rd is going to come so soon!

Dad bought Sawyer and Sage their own set of nunchucks because they love to watch Bruce Lee together.  Bruce Lee was amazing.  Now all my kids practice their karate chops and kicks.  This movie clip has been been watched a countless amount of times, and it never gets old to my kids (and don't worry…there are no nunchucks swinging near any body parts in this house!)...

My Top 5 Love Songs

Music has always been a huge part of my life.  My first memory of starting my cassette tape collection was when my aunt Sherece bought me the C+C Music Factory tape for my birthday because I loved that song, "Everybody Dance Now."  I was only about 7 or 8 years old, but I was SO excited!  I would listen to it over and over!  As I grew up, my music collection grew bigger.  Among my favorites were Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, MC Hammer, and Mariah Carey in my early days.  When I was old enough to babysit my younger sisters, I would turn on our giant stereo system as soon they left the driveway as loud as I could and dance/exercise with them.  We'd grab our hairbrushes and pretend they were microphones.  I also remember listening to the radio for hours hoping to catch one of my favorite songs so I could record it onto a mix tape.  Thank goodness now for the internet, iTunes, Youtube, and Google.  

Through the years, I've come to appreciate the many different genres of music.   I thought it would be fun to compile a list of just a few of my favorite love songs in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow.  

I've always loved Valentine's Day, even as a kid.  Growing up, my mom would always make sure we woke up on Valentine's Day to find a sweet note and candies from her and my dad.  In elementary school, I loved bringing home my sack of Valentine's that contained all the cards we passed out in class and going through them.  

Here are just a few of my favorite love songs (in no particular order)…

"Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me," by Mel Carter

I love the drama of this song!  It's a classic!  Some versions of this song have been done by other artists, including Gloria Estefan, but this original version by Mel Carter is my favorite.

"Without You" by Mariah Carey

I already mentioned my love for Mariah Carey growing up, and this song was one of my absolute favorites. "Without You" was originally performed by a group called Badfinger, but when Mariah released her version in 1994, it became an instant hit.  Her voice is absolutely incredible.

"Time to Say Goodbye," by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli

I absolutely love Andrea Bocelli!  And Sarah Brightman (especially her version of "The Phantom of the Opera")!  This song is one of Danny and I's favorites!  It is heavenly.  Despite what the title of this song suggests, the lyrics are very romantic!  Someday, I will see Andrea live in concert. It's on my bucket list.

"Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe," by Barry White

Who doesn't love the deep soul in Barry White's voice?  It is incredible!

"I Just Can't Stop Loving You," by Michael Jackson featuring Siedah Garrett

I am a huge fan of Michael Jackson.  I love to watch live versions of his songs because his dancing is amazing and the theatrics of his tours were over the top.  I once watched a documentary of the making of his "Thriller" video and his choreographer talked about how even though his backup dancers had spent much of their lives studying dance, Michael would walk into the studio and outperform them because he was just so naturally gifted.  "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is probably my favorite song of his.  Throughout the decades, he performed this song with the different women that toured with him.  In the late 80's on his Bad World Tour, a less-famous Sheryl Crow was his lead female backup singer and if you want to see them performing this song together, click here. Sheryl's hair stylist must have used several cans of hairspray.

And because it's almost Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share an old photo of Danny and I.  I believe this was about 13 years ago.

I had some pretty sweet bangs, huh? :)

Danny and I just fit perfectly together.  We are two peas in a pod.  He is my best friend.  I'm so grateful I get to share this life and eternity with him!

Trials

Can I just magically fast forward time and wake up when it's about 5 weeks from now?

Lately I've been feeling stressed to the max!

I am trying to simplify life right now.  I'm learning to say no because extra things just don't fit on my plate right now.

I am 6 months pregnant, and it's been hard for me to have the strength and energy to keep up with things that are required of me.

Yesterday, I woke up with such a positive attitude, and then this morning was the opposite.  It didn't help that Asher woke up at 5:45, which is much earlier than he normally does.  So this morning, I was a cranky mom who didn't have much patience as I got the other children ready for school.

I've been praying hard to understand the trials that I am facing and what I need to learn, as well as for strength to get through them.

I've also been praying for my faith to be strengthened.  Heavenly Father can work miracles, but faith is required of us.

It's easy to feel lost and alone when going through trials.  It's easy to start feeling like you are the only one that has ever experienced them.

I'm grateful for my knowledge though, that I have a Heavenly Father who is waiting to hear from me, and can uplift my spirit whenever I need it.  He can help to lift burdens off of our shoulders.  He gives us the strength to press forward, even when we want to wallow in our pity.

I recently read two articles about the challenges that other families experienced that made me realize how small my trials are compared to what others have gone through.  My trials seem almost like nothing compared to theirs.

This turned my attitude around.  It made me feel grateful for everything that I have.

I am so blessed with a husband who helps me so much, in every aspect of my life.  He's been such a huge help around the house.  And he's always a listening ear and comforts me whenever I need it.

I am so blessed to have 4 (soon to be 5) children that are healthy and happy.  It is certainly not an easy thing to raise children, but I have been so blessed by their sweet, innocent, humble and forgiving ways.

I am so blessed to have the knowledge of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  I am so grateful for my testimony.

I am grateful for forgiveness.  Heaven knows I've had to ask for forgiveness from my family many times, and I've also grateful for my knowledge that my Heavenly Father forgives me for my weaknesses.

I am going to strengthen my faith and press forward.  Trials are necessary for our growth.  Maybe I should get this enlarged up and framed for my wall...

image source

Asher is 2!

On January 23rd, Asher turned 2!  I'm a slacker for just now writing about his birthday!

After I got the older kids to school, I took him out to breakfast at my favorite cafe and bakery, where we had quiche and fruit.  He gobbled it all up!  And of course, we had to get some fresh baked cookies and muffins afterwards!

I let him lick the frosting bowl while I made his cake

After breakfast, I took him to the park near the beach to play.  It was such a gorgeous, warm day.  After lunch and nap, we took the whole family (including Grandma and Grandpa) to the movies to see Nut Job. Then, it was back home for pizza.

And of course, presents and cake...

He cracks me up how he just relaxed on a pillow while opening all his gifts!

This car has been a huge hit so far :)

Here is Asher last Friday after the school assembly where Payton received the Star Writer award.  He had to step through every puddle, and had a giant smile on his face the entire time.  

Asher is such a sweetheart.  I think he is my most cuddly, affectionate child and I LOVE it.  He always randomly wraps his arms around me and gives me hugs and kisses.  

He has such a fun sense of humor, and loves to laugh.  I think he will be quite the jokester when he grows up.  

We are so extremely blessed he is part of our family!  He is such a special boy and I feel so lucky and grateful to be his mother!

I sure wuv that little guy!

Mornings

This morning was awful.

Just plain awful.

And what's sad is, that many of our mornings are like that.

Getting three children ready in the morning for school is a lot of work, and requires a great deal of patience.

I struggle with patience.  I have always wished I were one of those moms that never raises her voice and never gets impatient with her children, but I fall short here.

Every night before school as I tuck the children into bed, I help them pick out their outfits for school the following day so we are one step ahead when the morning comes.

But when morning comes, there are still tantrums.

Someone will be upset about what is for breakfast.  Someone will be upset about the things I am packing in their lunch.  Someone will change their mind about the outfit we picked out the night before.  Usually one of the girls gets upset about how their hair looks.  Sawyer usually takes a lot of coaxing to wake up, then is groggy and grumpy as he's getting dressed.

And by the time I drop them off to school, there has been so much arguing that I am emotionally beat and cranky because that is not how our mornings should go.

This morning, things started off ok, and then slowly things started escalating for the worse.

On these stressful mornings after I drop them off at school, I feel like the worst mother in the world.  I tell myself I should have been more patient, I shouldn't have raised my voice at them, I should have been more prepared, and on and on…

And then I always think…do my children really know how MUCH I love them when I'm sending them off to school like that?  Telling each of them I love them is always the last thing that leaves my mouth when they exit the car in the drop off lane, but do they REALLY know?

When I got home this morning from dropping them off, feeling sad and discouraged, I knew what I needed to do.

I got down on my knees and asked Heavenly Father for help.  I asked for strength and ideas to help our mornings to go smoother.  I know I can't do this on my own, and that I need divine help from my loving Heavenly Father.

I didn't receive an answer right away because I was still lost in self pity. But soon after, ideas started flooding into my mind.

#1 - I help set the tone for my family.  If I get all frazzled, it's only going to make things that much worse.

#2 - I need to stay more calm, and one helpful way to do that is by starting the morning by dropping to my knees and saying a MEANINGFUL prayer!  I need to be putting on my spiritual armor before I even see them in the mornings.

#3 - I need to buy Sawyer a neat, children's alarm clock so that I am not starting the morning off nagging him and making him frustrated and he can be responsible for getting out of bed himself.

#4 - I need to prepare lunches the night before.  This will free up my time in the mornings so that I can be more available to help them individually, rather than being frazzled about time.  This will also hopefully prevent the tantrums over what is packed in their lunches.

#5 - Discuss with the girls the night before about how we should style their hair and choose the hair accessory that matches their outfit so it's all ready to go.

#6 - Wake everyone up a little bit earlier, which also means that I need to go to bed earlier so it's not as hard for me to get up in the mornings.

#7 - Make time for family prayers in the morning.  This is something that we are not as consistent with, but we really need to be.

#8 - Play spiritual music to help set the tone.  It's hard to get angry when there is spiritual and uplifting music being played.  Music just really helps set a tone, and we can utilize it in a good way that brings feelings of peace to our home.

After all these solutions came flooding into my mind, I also felt Heavenly Father's love for me.  He has so much patience with me, and I need to remember that as I am caring for my/His sweet, precious children. Children are truly a blessing, and I always need to treat them with patience, love, and kindness, just like my Heavenly Father does for me.

I am sharing a video that I have always found to be uplifting.  Watching it always reminds me of my divine role as a mother, and that I have a sacred, special responsibility of raising my children.

Please watch!