First Bus ride!

So as a result of our car drama, the boys have to ride the bus for the last 7 days of preschool (a little annoying)! Travis and I are not huge fans of our kiddos riding the bus, but we had no choice.

The boys LOVE riding the bus! This was their first day and they were so excited!

Is it just me, or does Chase look WAY to small to be going to school? HIs backpack is the size of him!! But OH SO CUTE!!!

Hello, 5 point harness! I think their safe!!

Its such a bittersweet thing watching your kids grow up! They're getting so big!

Trials

I don't even know where to start! I'm writing this post more as a journal entry, and since the only "journal" I keep, is this blog, I don't have many options. So BE WARNED!! haha! What I'm thinking about today and going through is very personal and I hope I don't regret making these feelings public!!! EEEK!!

Today, as I was pulling into my driveway, I opened my car door and heard the wierdest sound. It took me a minute to realize it was the air out of my front tire, pretty much BLOWING out!!! It was crazy! To some, thats no big deal! To me, it is very frustrating! Here comes the back story! First, a couple weeks ago, my other front tire blew out and my spare is currently being used, awesome! Second, our car is a piece of DOODOO and we dont want to pour any more money into. Theres more to that story as well, but thats a little too personal to share! So, long story short, our car will be towed away and we are once again car less! We get asked all the time "Why don't you just go buy a new car?" or "There are a lot of cheap ones on craigslist". Well, let me answer those........We don't have enough money saved to buy a car for cash and we can't get a loan for a car. SO we are up a creek!

I've been without a car MANY times, but this time is very different! The other times, we have had a second car and I could run errands when Travis got home or have a car on the weekends, This time, our second car is Travis's work truck! Which thankfully fits all 6 of us, but I am not allowed to drive! This is why I feel soooo trapped! I know I am surrounded by amazing friends, who will let me borrow their cars if needed, and not to sound ungrateful for that, because I AM so grateful. I'm just not looking forward to having to rely on others AGAIN!!

My challenge this go around, is too not feel sorry for myself, get depressed or get angry! I just need to remember there is a purpose we keep having this trial and somehow, some way it will all work out. Phew, this could be hard! I am so grateful for the many things my family and I have been blessed with and I need to focus on that.

Maybe there is a positive thing happening here. I GET to ride my bike more (in the heat) so maybe I will lose some more weight! HA!!!!

Mother's Day 2011

I am so grateful to be a Mother! Its hard at times, stressful, fun and incredibly rewarding! I am so thankful to have been blessed with 4 beautiful, healthy and sweet little spirits.

I am also very grateful for the women in my life who have and continue to be, great examples to me of what a good mother is. I have a wonderful mom, who has been there for me, loved and supported me through anything. I am so thankful for her! I am thankful for Travis's mom, for raising him and blessing me with my best friend and eternal companion. I am so thankful for my friends who surround me everyday, strengthening me, rooting me on and loving me! I can't forget the WONDERFUL man in my life, who without, I wouldn't be a mom! haha! I was so spoiled this Mothers Day and he and the kids made me feel so appreciated! I am so blessed! 

A couple days before Mothers Day, I made 6 batches of strawberry freezer jam. I kept some for our family (yum, yum) and delivered the rest to just a few of the wonderful women I look up to and love! What a blessing it is, to serve others and thank them for the wonderful service they have given our family!

I am so blessed to be called "MOM", and pray I will strive to be the best mom I can be!

Mother's Day crafts!

For Mother's Day this year, I got these cute print outs for free from an awesome website and decided I needed to dress up the frames I was putting them in. The one on the left is for mom and the white frame is for Travis's mom. I sure hope they like them, because I LOVE the way they turned out!

This is my "Spring" wreath, that looks more "Fall"! What can I say, I'm drawn to these colors! Anyway, Its hard to tell in the picture, but its actually 2 wreaths layered, which is why the B looks to small, but I promise it "works" in person!

I've had so much fun crafting lately and I have a few more projects in the works! 

Spring Break 2011 (long post)!

We had so much fun on spring break this year! (except for maybe Monday, cause that was the cleaning day, before the fun!) In the past, I have dreaded school breaks, because for many, I was car less, but this week was so different! I really enjoyed playing and sleeping in (sort of), no schedules and spending a lot of time with my kiddos! I didn't want to send them back to school!

 On Tuesday, we went to one of the may parks in our neighborhood and played in this giant ball! Its not ours, but true to form, my kids made friends with this family and let us play in this giant ball! It was awesome!
On Wednesday, I took the kids to the dollar theater to see Tangled! They did pretty good, minus the 1 spilled drink and cup of candy! oops!

 Thursday, was St. Patrick's Day! We got all decked out in green and headed to the park for a party with a bunch of our friends! My friend Brooke planned games and treats and we had a blast!

 On Friday, we met up at our 3rd park of the week with our only AZ cousins and had a blast! We packed a lunch and played for a long time! Its nice to have some family in town, even though we don't see them very often!

   COUSINS!

    Some brotherly love!

 On Saturday morning, we worked hard in the yard and the kids were so helpful we treated them to ice cream!

                          All the kids dressed up for Church! I couldn't resist posting these pics!

 Our last Monday of Spring Break, was also Travis birthday and we spent the day at the zoo and went out to dinner to celebrate! Sadly, I didn't have my camera that day! Maybe that's a good thing, or this might have been the worlds LONGEST post! I love my kiddos and truly enjoy spending time with them!

"4" is Great!

Last month, my sweet boy turned 4! Every time birthdays roll around, it amazes me how fast the past year has gone by and this time wasn't any different. Kade is such a blessing to our family. It has truly been so much fun watching him learn and grow. He is hilarious, energetic, loving, sweet and a trouble maker at times. Some of his favorite things right now are Lego's, helicopters and airplanes, singing, cuddling ( yay for me), and dressing up in his sisters dress ups (not Daddy's favorite)!

This past September, he started attending preschool 4 days a week. He was able to get into the school districts free program because he is a little behind in speech. It has been amazing watching him progress and really learn to love school, which I know was a huge help in his transition to being a Sunbeam this year. He is an amazing little boy, with a very tender heart and we are so blessed to be his parents!

We kept it simple this year for his birthday and took him to Red robin for dinner and then home for presents and cake.

His first attempt at saying "4" with his fingers! He did end up getting it right after this picture though!

 His first shirt and tie! It looks like Emma is picking her nose, but she promises she was just itching her upper lip! haha!!!

 He is just a LITTLE bit excited about his pillow pet he got from Grandma and Grandpa Newbold! Love it!

 Chase really wanted to open this game! Notice the huge crocodile tears running down his cheeks?? Poor little guy!

I Love birthdays, but they also remind me that my babies are growing up! Next up...... Chase turns 3! Yikes!

Vulnerable

This is why journaling/blogging is hard for me.................I am horrible at putting my thoughts into words and having them make sense, at least to anyone but me! I struggle with allowing myself to be vulnerable and letting others know my insecurities. Today, I can not get a few thoughts out of my head though, so here I am, attempting to make my thoughts, make sense in words.
About the middle of last year, my ward was split into 3, to reorganize 3 wards and turn them into 4. Before this happened, I had such an awesome group of friends! We did park days, girls night out, couple date nights etc. It was fabulous! So when the split happened and I was no longer in the same ward as about 80% of my close friends, I was so sad.  I've gone through ups and downs adjusting to the new ward. Right now, I LOVE my new ward and am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to meet some amazing new friends! The sad thing I have come to realize, is that no matter how close you live to your friends, not seeing them every Sunday can really change your friendship! Its weird that we can live so close, but I rarely see or talk to any of my friends from my previous ward. Today, a bunch of us met up at the park, the first time, in a long time, I have hung out with these friends. It was kind of awkward and I don't know why! I felt like an outsider. Like if I disappeared, none of these "friends" would even notice! I hated the way I was feeling. I tried to act fine, to talk and interact as much as I could, but it was just weird! Why do we as women, tend to over think everything???? Read into things???? and drive ourselves crazy with our insecurities???  I have great friends, new and old! SO why am I letting this get to me? I am a extremely positive person, which is a blessing. But I am coming to find out, that it can also make things harder. Meaning, people don't seem to "check" in on me, call to say "How are you? I haven't seen you in a while". I think people always assume that I'm happy all the time and they don't need to put in the extra effort. I shouldn't make this sound like no one cares about me, most of these feelings are directed at the friendships that have recently changed. Maybe I just need to try harder or maybe its just time to let go. I don't know!
Tonight, I came home from work, just before writing this and read an article in the Ensign. Its from the February 2011 issue and is titled "His Grace is Sufficient". The part that stuck out to me and pulled me out of my "Pity party" was a line that said "When I have unresolved sin (no matter how small) in my life, I give Satan power to influence me. He knows my weaknesses and he knows what words will stir me up and lead me to destruction."
I'm allowing Satan to have power over my thoughts, allowing him to make me feel weak and insecure. Well, no more! I have vented and I am moving on. I'm going to surround myself with only people who love me, support me and genuinely care about me and my family. I am choosing to be friendly with everyone, but choosing my friends more wisely.
Did I mention that I hate feeling vulnerable and sharing these thoughts was very hard for me but very therapeutic as well!