Mercy River...I LOVE their Music!

In February, I went to Time Out For Women with Ryan's mom and sisters. It was seriously so wonderful! I loved every second of it. The group Mercy River was the music group on Saturday and I fell in love with them! Here is a video they have off their new CD "Higher". It is so amazing how music can touch our hearts. This cd has blessed my life. One of my favorite songs on it is called "Beautiful For Me." The first time I heard it, it made me cry and I was overwhelmed with the feeling of how I can help my 2 sweet daughters believe that they are beautiful. I listen to this CD so much that Whitney has now started to sing the songs! I will hear her playing by herself singing, "Has anyone told you you're beautiful? You might believe if you could see what I do!" It is the most precious thing ever! In those moments I wish I could just freeze time! Anyways, check this cd out if you haven't before. These 3 beautiful women and mom's truly have been inspired in creating this work of art!

http://youtu.be/6cCXqqbF-iE

1st Annual Family Fun Day

Today I started a new tradition within our family. It began on accident, but I have officially made up my mind that this day will happen at least once a year. (Sadly, I didn't take any pictures..so I will just write about it!)
It all began on Tuesday night when BYU played their first game of March Madness. Without thinking ahead and waiting 1 more month until March Madness was over, we decided to turn off cable last week. We now only have the basic channels. Well, Tuesday's BYU game was on a channel we didn't have, so sweet little Jace sat by the computer watching KSL's live score update! No sound, no visual of the game just the score board that is updated every few minutes. Ryan got home with 4 minutes left of the game and found the audio on NCAA.com so we were able to listen to the exciting last few minutes!
So, when it was announced that BYU played today at 12:45, Jace was just broken hearted that it was right during kindergarten. He asked me, with those little puppy dog eyes, if he could miss school to watch the game. (Which would be on channel 2, which we DO have!) I told him I would think about it! Sadly, he went to bed pretty stressed about possibly missing the game.
When Hailey and Jace woke up this morning, I told them they didn't have to go to school so they could watch the game.....and to have a family fun day!
We went swimming at the Legacy Center in the morning, which was so nice because it wasn't crowded. Hailey mentioned that she loved that we went when it wasn't so loud there! We had so much fun! Hailey and Jace both can swim now, so it is fun to go without having all 3 kids holding on around my neck! (Honestly though, I did miss it some!)
Then we went to lunch and came home to watch the game! Unfortunately, BYU lost, but it was still fun!
We finished off the day by going shopping for some new spring clothes. That was more fun for me than them, but they were excited to go and pick out new spring time clothes.
Ryan wasn't able to join us today because of work and he is in the heart of aerating season.
I had this great idea that we are going to do this once a year where the kids miss school, hopefully Ryan can take the day off, and we are just going to take the day off and PLAY! Looking forward to next year's 2nd annual Family Fun Day...next time I will actually plan ahead!

This Fits Too!

As an addition to the poem I wrote about yesterday.....I love this too!

Good Moms Have
Sticky Floors,
Messy Kitchens,
Laundry Piles,
Dirty Ovens,
and Happy Kids!!

I know I have lines 2,3,4,&5...I hope I have #6!!!

Rembering What is Important

“Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait til tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.”

I just stole this from a blog of a friend of mine. When I read it, it brought tears to my eyes. I feel like I just had a baby, but that sweet baby is 2 1/2. My little Jacer's is almost 6, and of my little Hailey bugs is 8, and is loosing more and more of the little girl each day.

Each day flies by like a blink of an eye and I wonder what I have done. I look around, and most days there are dishes in the sink, the bathrooms are sort of dirty, I am not sure if I have even washed all the windows in my house since we have moved in, and there is always clean laundry waiting to be folded on the couch.

Lately, I have discovered my limits...there are 3 things that need to be done each day...1) Do my work ( I work from home). 2) Keep up on my household duties. 3) Love and play with my sweet kids. I have decided that I can do 2 of these each day. When I try all 3, I usually fail and am flustered. I realized that something has to give on most days. I have to do 2 of these...I have to do my job, and most importantly, take care of my little angels. So, my house is messy and needs to be dusted, with the help of the kids and Ryan we pick it up every few days....but for now I am going to play with my kids, and rock them (if they will let me :)) because I am learning way too fast that babies don't keep.

St George Marathon

For 19 weeks I have been training for the St George Marathon. In hind sight, I wish I would have blogged about the journey of this accomplishment. At the beginning of the 19 weeks, I really didn't know if I could really run a marathon. 19 weeks later on the morning of the race I still didn't know if I could run a marathon. I hoped I could, I really believed I could, but I just didn't know. I really wanted to do this, and NOT pass out during it. I was very faithful to my training. I missed a few of the mid week short runs here and there, but I did not miss even 1 long run. The journey really was amazing. I loved having something to work towards as each week the mileage increased.
When the big day arrived, I was so nervous and excited all at the same time. As I started I said a prayer in my heart that all my hard work would pay off (and that I would make it to the end on my feet) . I followed Hal Higdon's training schedule, so I also had the thought, "okay Hal, I have done what you have told me to do to get ready for this, I am trusting you that it will get me to the end without dying!
The race was absolutely amazing!! The first 10 miles were over before I knew it! I ran with a good friend Megan, and we kept looking at our watches seeing how fast our pace was, and kept having to slow ourselves down, knowing we had a long way to go! I was just so happy and excited to really be running a marathon, and actually be feeling pretty good during the process! As I passed my family at mile 16 with a huge smile on my face, Ryan knew I was going to do be able to finish and be fine. (He was a little nervous before this) As each mile passed by I was so excited to know that I was 1 mile closer...and still feeling good. During the last 3 or 4 miles, I really had to work hard not to cry...not out of pain, but out of joy! I really had put my mind to something I really didn't know if I could do..and I was doing it! It really was such a life lesson for me to train for this and finish it well. I have gained confidence in myself, that if I want to do something, and if I put my mind to it, and take it one step at a time, I really can do things! The smile I have on my face at the end really shows how good I really felt! This will be counted as one of the best days of my life! It was so wonderful to have my family there and cheering. I am also grateful for Ryan for supporting me all summer as I trained week after week! ...oh and I am sure I will do this again! ;)

BYU-UTAH Game

Ryan's mom got an extra set of football tickets this year that she divided up between Ryan and his 3 other siblings. We got lucky enough to draw the BYU-UTAH game. If anyone remembers the outcome of this game, we were wishing we would have been given a different game! :) No, even though BYU got killed it was still fun to get out and go to the game. I love being able to go to the games and go back to our old stomping grounds!

First Day of School

Can you believe it?! Jace is going to Kindergarten and Hailey is in 2nd grade!! They were both so excited to start school! They both picked out their 1st day of school outfits and then kept asking how many minutes until they could go to school. ( I hope that excitement always lasts!)
I just can't stand how fast time is going by....the only thing I know to do is do my best and enjoy each one of these precious little moments!