Cars Smars

I just spent an hour sitting at the Windshield replacement shop for an hour with three kids! Can I just tell you that it was a new location, not too dirty at first glance but all it had was a wall of chairs, a TV about 50 feet in the air and across the room so that it couldn't be heard, missing a kid channel (all it had on it was History, news, and 20 Spanish channels) and a quarter machine dispensing candy and bouncy balls. So as things naturally would go, I only had two quarters and three little girls that wanted balls to bounce. So Abby put in the first coin only to have a green ball come out- didn't want it and handed it to Liv, who also said "I don't like green" and handed it to Eva who was more than happy to have it. Insert next quarter (and final one mind you) out comes swirled blue and red. Abby "I really wanted it to be sparkly" Liv says " But I don't like red" and Abby takes the ball while Liv now starts to wine that she still wants a ball. So you can see how this is going. Luckily she discovers my purse and gets distracted for a while filtering through it looking for treats, which just don't exist in there. Now Abby and Eva are bouncing their balls as high in the air as they can to get them to touch the 50 foot high ceilings, they don't reach but proceed to bounce down the hall and into the bathroom, where they roll around on the floor! Gross! Now said balls are being washed in the sink which leaves the small one on her own to rummage under the wall of chairs and find little candies that have fallen and starts to put them in her mouth- gross! Lucky for me the lobby is vacant during our lovely hour of stay so I wasn't too embarrassed about the running, spinning and squealing girls that had taken over the most masculine of places that is the car shop!! After enduring about 20 more minutes of Liv begging for a ball of her own and me replying over and over that I didn't have any more quarters one of the workers came in and went behind the desk. So in hopes of freeing myself from this bondage I had put myself in, I went up and asked if he had a quarter I could exchange for two dimes and a nickel. He looked in the money drawer only to discover that they were also out of quarters(curse those previous patrons that had endured the same fate as myself!)- enter my dramatic child Liv, flashing up her big sad brown puppy dog eyes laced with tears she says-"oooooohhhhh nooooooo, but I so very wanted a bouncy ball all my owwwwwnnnn"- drop crocodile tear!!!! Yes, that man didn't have a chance, he hasn't had three years to become numb to the routine as this hardened and seasoned mother has. Just as I am about to roll my eyes at her that sweet man said "Oh honey, wait just a minute, lets see what I have in my pocket"- and what do you know, he had TWO quarters in there! Oh the joy, the trumpets, the instant smile that flooded her face as she held out one hand to receive the loot and wiped her eyes with the other, all the while inside thinking to herself, sucker!! They decide to use one quarter to buy some sweets to share, very nice. Of course the story is not over, no no no. Insert last quarter and what comes out- a sparkle ball!- Now Abby is crying that it was the one she had "wanted always" as another nice man comes in and tells me that in fact my prayers have been answered and the car is done! Pay the bill, gather the children and usher them out the door amid Abby's cry's of "It's not fair", Liv now crying "But I don't want to leave, I haven't played with my ball yet" and Eva, well lets just say she is black from the top of her head to the bottom of her crocs from crawling around on the seemingly clean floor.
Cars Smars- The things we go through!!!!!

I LOVE Summer, and Weddings

I have just been loving this wonderful sunny and warm weather!! Mostly this is because it means that I no longer need to bundle everyone up in jackets and lots of the time we run around without shoes! We have been able to go outside all day everyday which is a great thing with small children. Almost every morning Abby and Liv have jumped on their bikes and I push Eva in a stroller and we go for a stroll up and around the Discovery Park. It is a mile round trip and sometimes we do it twice, I am pretty proud of Liv for making it that far! Lucky for me they find it more fun to ride the path than stop and play since me and three kids by myself is kind of hard!! Then we come home and fill up the pool and they play the afternoon away. In fact the girls are headed out there right now so I had better sum this up!!

I have a sneak peak for my soon to be sister-in-law Amber of her sign-in book for the wedding. She has put me in charge of the creation and printing of the book and I think it is coming along fabulously!!! Her colors are Chartreuse, raspberry, and white. I had a vision(yes I am a crazy woman that dreams about scrapbook pages!) one night of what it should be and I think it is turning out just as I saw it in my mind! I have done 13 spreads so far, here is a looksie:If anyone has suggestions for layout ideas that would be cute let me know because it would be very helpful. I have lots of pages to do and I don't want it to be too repetitive!! Oh, and how many pages would said sign-in book need to have? Everyone give me a number!!

ode to Dad's

Father's day to me has always been a wonderful day. Now, as I am older, I have an even greater appreciation for the roll of "Father". I have a great Dad. He has always been there, most would follow that statement with "for me" but to me, saying "He has always been there" is an even greater way to honor him. My dad is one of the constants in my life. He is such a roll model to me of what I wanted and needed my future husband and father of my children to be. Paul always jokes with me that girls always marry the opposite of their father, and yes, as far as stature, eye color and personality- but in qualities that are of the most importance they are the same. My father has an unwavering testimony of the gospel, strong sense of work and honesty, and a desire to be the best he can be. He helped to raise 8 well rounded confident and self sufficient children! If that is not a testament of all that he is I don't know what is! He is still there, willing to help, counsel and guide whenever he can and such a wonderful part of my girls lives. Paul's father is no less of an example to me of the love that a father has for his children. So giving and loving and open to help his children whenever he can. He too has a testimony to be emulated. Grandfather is a great roll in the family to have! My girls are so lucky to have both Grandparents so close and they LOVE all of them equally and will gladly climb into their laps to hear a story or just snuggle. It is so wonderful as a mother to watch that relationship grow and blossom. It is such an important aspect of their emotional development that they can't get anywhere else.Paul has such a unique calling in this life, that I know he at times struggles with, but he alone is the perfect person to fulfill it- the father of three daughters. Both of our father's did the same thing, but they weren't completely over run with the estrogen and moodiness that comes from a house full of girls! They had some "BOY" time in between that they could retreat to!! I remember studying in school, in a child development course, about the important roll of parents and that the greatest influence on a child was the parent of the opposite gender. As I raise my girls this thought has come to my mind over and over, that Paul is the perfect person to instill a positive sense of self worth in our girls. He LOVES them so much. He sees the good that each of them has to offer and so desires to bring out their strengths and help them feel wanted, loved, and needed as part of our family. Now, I know that all father's feel these things and have these desires for their children but as the mother of our three girls I am so happy with the positive influence Paul has on them. He has constructed a wonderful platform with which they can grow and blossom into the great women they most certainly have the potential to become. This is greatly done because I know that he will "always be there".
So to Paul, my father and Father-in-law, thank you for your willingness to take on the roll of "Father" and for doing it so well!

And on a lighter note, I hope I don't blow the surprise, but some of you will not be at my parents for the unveiling of the "Book" to my father. I wanted all to see a glimpse of the gift my family is giving my dad, it was truely a labor of love and I think he is going to really enjoy it:

Happy Father's day to all you wonderful Dads!!

Entrepreneur

With the combination of a great homemade sign, cute smiles and a stare down as people went by- Abby and Liv were quite successful this afternoon with their very first sales stand out front of our house. For a while Abby has helped various kids in the neighborhood man their stations and has developed a great love of the free market that we live in. After several weeks of BEGGING to have her own I told her about the wonderful success I had one summer as a child selling chocolate chip cookies. I can vividly remember people coming back for more and the fact that everyone loves a cookie! I told her if she really wanted to sell something, that this is what she should do! So this afternoon we made 36 cookies and she drew up a sign. Liv was more than happy to sit and flash her smile to the customers in order to take her cut of the loot. Thanks to my fantastic chocolate chip cookies (ok, and some really great neighbors!) in almost exactly one hour and thirty minutes she had sold every last one of those cookies!!! Looking at her drawer of money she had the biggest smile any five year old could possibly have!

Sugar and Spice

Lily Anna

My sister-in-law Jill had her sweet little baby girl on May 31st! We were so excited last Friday to go over and see her and hold that little bundle of joy! We love the girls in our house and the fun dancing, singing, dressing up and make believe play that it provides. Jill- you are going to LOVE having a little girl to dress up in ruffles and frills and take shopping with you on the weekends, I know that I do! Here are a couple of pictures of this beauty being held by my beauties- don't we make cute girls in this family!!(If you want any of these shots Jill, just right click on them and do a "Save Image As")
Congratulations again Jill and Cory, she is precious and I am so glad that the delivery went well and that little Lily is healthy and doing well- We love you!

A little rain never hurt anyone, right?

The Salem Springs Tri was this morning, and as most of you residents of this most unpredictable weather of a state knows, it was POURING RAIN this morning. Paul helped Kelly and I load up our bikes and hoped for the best as we drove down to Salem at 6:30am only to get there and have the rain ultimately cancel the bike portion of our race. I was so disappointed, we had trained so hard, I had Scarlet that needed to be broken in and proven the sure winner that she is! So after a half hour delay it was decided that the race would go on despite the 40 degree temps in the format of a 500 meter swim (shortened from the set 800 meters) right into the 5K run being that the roads were just to slick for the canyon bike route planned. So I was a little upset to say the least, Kelly and I went back and forth over whether it was worth it to do such a shortened race in the miserable cold. Gratefully we dug deep and new that if we walked away we would be SO mad at ourselves later, plus all the money and time spent on this would be wasted, so we decided to do it! The competition was greatly reduced (as many people decided to give it up and go home), upping our chances at doing well in the standings. We donned our suits (Kelly, you can thank me later for posting these pics!!!)and on the siren sounding for the fourth heat we hit the water strong!I have to say that I REALLY liked this open water swim better than the pool swim. It wasn't nearly as chaotic as I thought it would be, and the longer length(although not what I had wanted) as well as no lane flipping, helped me to hit my stride and pull it in strong.
One quick transition later (you will all be happy to know that I did so much better this time around!) I was out on the runThanks to my dad for pacing me the entire course and tough loving me throughout the run, all the while intimidating the competition, by telling them as he got me to pass every man that was in front of me, "Are you going to let a girl beat you!" Yes, I was afraid I was going to be lynched right on the course, but it did bring a smile to my face and make me feel proud! I was able to shave a minute and a half off my time and I was very happy with that!Of course, as expected because she is so great at this, Kelly beat me again!! But I still love her anyway!!! Thanks again Kelly for letting me do this one with you! It was an emotional roller coaster to say the least, but we are the better for it because we fought the mental game and came out victorious- I placed 9th in our age group! (I won't tell you out of how many because it isn't as impressive, but hey, I was in the top ten!!!)
One more race down, just the Strawberry Day's 5k to go on the 21st and my race season will come to an end- are you ready Jerianne, you are my next partner in crime!!!