Sometimes I Forget . . .

Life took over this last week and slowly pulled me down.

Worry.

Grief.

Hurt.

Confusion.

Fear.

They were all understandable feelings. Feelings for someone I care very much about and worry about. But, I let those feelings overcome me. Overcome me to the point where I lost perspective. I lost hope. 


Luckily though, Heaven was watching over and helped me this morning to remember.

Memories.

Laughter.

The Temple.

Answered Prayers.

True Friendship.

Sub4Santa.

Surprises.

Silly Pranks.

Circle Of Hope.

Christmas.

Our Children.

Little Ones In Heaven.

Scum! (hehehe)

The Cupcake Walk. 

Testimonies.

The Saddle at Texas Roadhouse.

Relay.

Painting The House.

Why let grief and sorrow take over, when I have such wonderful things to hold on to?

I'm so grateful for such a wonderful friend, for such wonderful memories, and for Heaven helping me to remember!

My Little Fishies!

Handsome and Angel just completed swimming lessons on Friday, and I am so proud of them! They made so much progress!

Handsome passed off Level 1 in June and then just finished Level 2. He still has a few things to master (floating and swimming on his back) before he passes off Level 2, but holy cow has he learned a lot. At the beginning of June, he didn't even like to put his face in the water. Now, all he wants to do is swim under water - and he can do it all by himself!

Angel is my timid one. I took the Mommy and Me class with her to help her get used to the water. She is definitely more comfortable in the water than when we started (I couldn't even get her to walk in the shallow end by herself at first - but now she does!), but we still need to work more on blowing bubbles and letting her face in the water. I'm sure it will all come with time!

Anyways, long story short, I'm proud of my little fishies!

I Will Try Again Tomorrow

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE Pinterest!?! I LOVE IT! Anyways, I found this quote on Pinterest and just had to share:

Love it! "I will try again tomorrow!"

No Yelling

Have you ever tried going a full day without yelling? I have' and it's a little bit harder than I thought. I wouldn't have ever considered myself a big yeller, but as a mom I've found myself resorting to quick, sharp, and loud commands (aka yelling) to get quick results from my kids.

I never really liked that I was yelling, but it just crept up more and more in the way I did things.

I started really noticing my yelling, when I started reading AhaParenting. I decided that I wanted to cut yelling out of my parenting (I'm not perfect at it - but I'm doing a lot better). And, I have been so amazed at the huge effect it has had on our home, our family, and myself. My stress level has gone WAY down, I'm enjoying being a mommy so much more, and my kids are responding to me so much better (I should mention that I have replaced yelling with discussion - talking to the kids about their behavior, etc).

I think I'm going to make this no yelling thing a habit!

Image Credit: Life As I Know It

In The Good Ole Summer Time!

(The kid's lemonade stand - Handsome is hiding behind the yellow sign and Angel is hiding behind the lemonade pitcher. Silly kids!)

Handsome spotted some kids with a lemonade stand the other day, and so of course he had to have his own lemonade stand (he is always wanting to create his own version of whatever he sees: parades, egg hunts, talent shows, etc.)!

He, Angel, some neighbor kids, and a couple of his cousins set up their own lemonade stand and got to work. It was so fun to watch! And half way through they all decided to tape their signs to their bikes and ride around to bring in more customers. Their hard work paid off - they ended up making just over $7.00 - and they were so proud!

There's nothing like celebrating the United States with a little bit of good old entrepreneurial spirit!

Happy Fourth of July and Happy Birthday USA!

Identity & Purpose

One of my favorite blogs to follow is SarahMae. She is so inspirational and all the while so real! The other day, she posted this quote and I could relate to it so much, that I just had to post it:

"The value of identity of course is that so often with it comes purpose."

 - Richard R. Grant

It's taken me a long time to find my true identity. I think I found parts of it a long the way, but it wasn't until I just let go and let the Lord guide me - that I really learned. 

I would never in a million years asked to have such trials placed before me - so that I could in turn find myself - but looking back, I would not trade those experiences in. Because of them, I have realized so much more - my true identity: my purpose here on earth. 

A little time away . . .

(Sisters: myself, Becki, and Melissa!)

Remember the fire I posted about the other day? Well on that same weekend, I got invited to a girl's weekend trip up at Bear Lake with my sis and sis-in-law. It was so much fun and so relaxing. . . and totally needed to help keep my stress level down about the fire! Plus, sometimes it's nice to have just a little time away to regroup! 

We thoroughly just enjoyed being girls and filled our time crafting, watching movies, shopping, at the lake, and just hanging out - I loved every minute of it! 

While I was there, I started working on a project for little Miracle's baby room (here's a sneak peek below) - I can't wait to share the finished project with you!

I feel so grateful to have such awesome family that I love to hang out with and an amazing husband who is so willing to let me have a weekend off! Thanks guys!