Hello From The Other Side

Have you ever seen these signs?

I guess you just can't win with kids.  You clean, they mess up.  That's why my home is such a mess! But I don't personally like the above because I like teaching my kids to clean with me.  I like being the example and hopefully encouraging them to like a clean space as well.  I mean, I get it.  My home will not be spotless without a lot of effort and constant upkeep until my kids are out of the house.  It will never look like the home magazines, there will always be a ton of laundry, dirty dishes, and crumbs everywhere.  But what feels odd is when moms tell stories about how they took the time to play and be present with their kids instead of cleaning up the home.  Seriously?  If you don't feel like cleaning up the house, just admit it.  But don't go blaming it on the fact that you're being present with the kids.  You probably just spent 15 minutes on Facebook posting that meme or status update when you could have been cleaning.  HA!  

There are a lot of hours in the day.  It takes 15 minutes to unload the dishwasher and re-load it.  It takes 5 minutes to load laundry and another 5 to move it to the dryer.  It takes 20 minutes to fold laundry.  It takes 15 minutes to vacuum.  It takes 15 minutes to mop the floor.  It takes 30 minutes to clean two bathrooms.  Really, you could do ALL of that and it's still be less than a few hours, but obviously you could also do a little each day and use less than 30 minutes per day.  That's still a whole lot of other time to BE with your kids.  

My house is not spotless, but we do pick up and make cleaning part of our weekly routine.  It is a sometimes futile attempt but I want my kids to understand that beds are made, dishes are put away, floors are swept, and being neat and organized is something they should strive for.  I am a firm believer that it will spill over into other aspects of their lives.  They can object in their own future homes, but I dunno anyone who has gone to a hotel and explained, "dang it, why did they make my bed?!"  I like coming home to a made bed, and so I make it. I like waking up to a clean sink, so I make an effort every night. But like with everything else in our life, it's just about what matters most and what you're willing to make time for.  

Anyway, here is a funny meme of what moms on the other side are thinking when the above signs get posted.  

The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of

I don't think I fully understood how much my parents loved me until I became a parent myself. My heart is constantly overwhelmed with the love and joy that these three bring me despite the frustration and fatigue that sometimes comes along with parenthood. Those quiet moments before bed are often spent looking back at the photos of the day and this is one of my favorites from today. 

My heart constantly aches for them, I want to protect them from everything and shield them from all the bad in this world. I want them to always love one another and be kind, hopeful, and full of faith. I worry about them being insecure, scared, or alone. I stress about if they'll make good friends who will support them and be good influences. But right now is the only time when I can wipe away all their anxieties and pain with a kiss it a hug. One embrace solves it all. I know it won't always and that may be why this time is so insanely glorious and difficult at once. The moments are so fleeting and my little kids change so fast and learn so much while other moments feel like a never ending replay of déjàvu (like being on my hands and feet and sweeping their crumbs off the floor or picking up duplos and wiping pee off the bathroom floor). And yet like my kids, just one glimpse of a sweet moment when my three kids are loving each other or playing together, and all the repetition of cleaning after them, falling asleep while they play and hoping they don't die in this instance and then waking up to mediate a fight or because someone jumped on me, the angst and cruel pain from tripping on a tiny toy in the middle of the night, or wishing they would just get out the door already in the morning is wiped away. I'm a blank slate again and all I see are hearts. 

Let Them Be Little

My favorite part about being a mom to young kids is how much they love me, no matter how many times I fail (and I fail often).

Every night, I lay between my two boys until they fall asleep. Sometimes we listen to a church devotional or browse through my Instagram feed. I know it's a bad sleeping habit and that I'm stuck, (and Bubba roams around for 10 minutes crying for me when I go work out once a week during their bedtime), but I secretly really treasure these sweet moments (95% of the time) because they tell me repeatedly how much they love me and I know this won't last. 

One day, they won't want mom next to them at night. One day, they won't want to talk about the day with me. One day, they won't care about my Instagram feed. One day, they won't want to continually hug and kiss me. One day, they won't shower me with "I love you's" 

I actually get extremely nervous thinking about weekends without my kids by my side 24/7. I'm not sure if this makes me a helicopter mom hidden behind a wannabe tiger mom but it just scares me to think I won't be as involved in their lives as I am now. I am with them almost all day long with the exception of some school here and there. I'm the one always telling Andy what they did, funny things they said, if they are well, had a tantrum, did well playing together etc. and it makes me sad that it's just a few more years and all my kids will be in school a lot longer doing who knows what!! 

Is it bad that I want to let them be little for a long time? Cuz I kinda do... Or I want them to grow up but still want to be with me all the time. Maybe homeschooling isn't such a bad idea after all...

Jordan's Big Hero 6 Party

Jordan's almost 5 but I guess I took a break from blogging and never stopped to recap on his 4th birthday party.  We picked a fun theme that both Jordan and I were on board with, so it made planning DIY elements super exciting.

I was especially excited about the black and white tablecloth we got from Ikea.  It's great for the Big Hero 6 Party theme, but it's also great for future use.

I downloaded a free banner here, got some small white lanterns and glued some Baymax eyes, used the prints we got from pre-ordering our DVD from the Disney Store, and made food tags (and used themed foods we made up!)

 DIY Baymax lanterns.  We went with red and purple ribbons to hang them.

Honey Lemon's cupcakes (swirly frosting cuz she uses colored gas balls)

Gogo's Bagel Pizzas (cuz she loves using discs)

Baymax's health chips hehe

Wasabi's Edamame (cuz it's a Japanese appetizer and serving wasabi might be weird...)

We made water bottle stickers and used clear packing tape so it wouldn't smudge with condensation

Fred's fireballs (aka Clementines!)

Baymax name tags and Baymax fists (made from this DIY) for everyone

free downloadable banner from here 

we loved making the swirly cupcakes!

lucky us, we had a purple blanket (on point with the theme!)

Baby Dagny and her Baymax onesie we made ourselves

the boys wanted green and blue Baymax shirts

Andy came up with all these games...

Andy led the kids with the games he made up for Big Hero 6.  They sliced balloons with Wasabi's laser sword, threw rings around poles for GoGo, saved their toys from villains (who shot them with Nerf guns from above), and then threw colored balls as far as they could to imitate Honey Lemon.  We used all our Big Hero 7 memorabilia, which is a lot.... and it was awesome.  It was so fun planning the party with Jordan who was equally excited and afterwards, the lanterns are still there (through the snow almost a year later) and the little lanterns are above the boys' bottom bunk.  We use it sometimes and it's quite fun to have the room lit up.

I can't believe this party was almost a year ago.  With us heading to Washington D.C. and celebrating Jordan and Bubba's birthdays there, it really does remind you that time flies.  I've been telling him that D.C. is where we celebrated his first birthday, and now we'll also celebrate his fifth birthday there!  Kind of fun huh?

We Bleed Blue

One of the biggest advantages of living in Salt Lake City is how close we are to Provo and how often we can make our way down for football and basketball games!  This year, Andy found a $20 deal for 8 tickets, so a bunch of us all jumped on board.  Sometimes the games are at night, making it a bit harder to take our kids with us... but this last weekend, we had a 2 PM game!  A few weekends ago, after a brief morning ski session (trying to take advantage of the time we have before we leave in 2.5 weeks!), we headed home, changed, and made our way to Provo.  

It was our first time at Brighton, we normally go to Alta for the afternoon 3 - 4:30 PM $10 access to the bunny slopes, so we were a bit lost about where to park.  We followed the masses and had to walk/ski along a huge pathway for what felt like eternity.  We know now to park on the streets and just ski down near lot 4.  It feels a bit weird that my kids are going to grow up skiing.  It's definitely an expensive sport, we're grateful that Utah Ski & Golf has the $30one time payment deal where you can trade up boots and skis until they're an almost tween size.  It's already been made worthwhile with Jordan's skis and boots!

OGO and Grandma went to Roots Tech, so we headed down with Jeffrey (a Ute!) and Jan.  Notice Jeffrey's subtle red shirt underneath his black cover up.  

Despite it being an awful game where BYU decided shooting free throws didn't matter, it was fun as always to go down with the family.  I'm always amazed at the amount of BYU fans all there with their kids.  I'm never alone roaming the hallways with my children, BYU fans bleed blue and since most of them are Mormon, they all have tons of kids to bring along.  HAHAHA.  Even though I'm not a huge BYU sports fan (not compared to Andy), games are always more fun to watch in person.  Plus, I really like watching the Cougarettes dance!

I'm glad we bleed blue.  My alma mater for college was a D3 in sports, I made it to a few games here and there, but nothing to get super excited over.  It's really fun to cheer for a D1 school, but the real reason I bleed blue is because Andy does.  He gets so excited, and though I don't always watch the games at home with him, it's always more fun in person.  I might go run errands or work on the side or even catch up on my own shows upstairs while he's watching a game, but most of the in person games are fun and enjoyable for me too.