Bitter Sweet

I'm leaving for Hawaii on Monday morning and we are leaving behind out 3 little mutts in very loving and capable arms. The truth is I'm nervous, excited and sad all at the same time. There are moments when I am playing with London or Dane or Jack and I think "How I am ever going to leave you?!" Then like 2 seconds later I'm thinking, "Can't I just leave RIGHT NOW!!!!" I think it would be fun to have them on the beach with us but the I quickly realize that it will be so rejuvenating to be just the married couple again, all alone. I know there are parents out there that could never leave their kids like this and I understand why but I also think that sometimes we have to reinvest in our relationship so that we can be better parents for our kids. I guess I'm just feeling those Bitter Sweet feelings. I know we will have a great time and I know that when we get back we will be even more appreciative of our little ones than before. I used to travel about once a month and I would miss Jack so much but when I got back I would rediscover his cuteness and discover new things about his little personality. I loved that part and I haven't beed able to do it with the twins yet, it will be so fun to come home to them. I just want all my little people to know that they will be greatly missed and the return is highly anticipated already, I just love you cute mutts!!!:)

Home For The Hollidays

I'm sitting in my kitchen listening to a little Bing Crosby Christmas, watching Riley prepare the Turkey (he LOVES this) , Jack helping daddy, Dane playing on the stairs, and London walking around with a golf ball. It may sound weird but it's magical:) My heart is so full of gratitude it's running over. I thought that doing our own Thanksgiving may be a little sad but I couldn't have been more wrong. Being in our home being with the ones that I love more than anything in the world is more special than I could have imagined. In a few hours we will be siting down as a family enjoying our first thanksgiving as a family in our own home.

This Thanksgiving I am feeling SO grateful for my family. I'm grateful that I married a good man that will stick by me through thick and thin and who loves me so much. I'm grateful for my little ones who bring me more joy than one person deserves.

Thank You Heavenly Father for giving me all of this. I know without you I wouldn't have any of these things that I love so much.

Turkeys Have Parts to Mom

Have you ever wondered what sex the turkey you are eating is........me neither. Not my Jack, he knows very well that his turkey is a boy. I mean isn't it obvious. I guess when a 3 year old little boy is learning about himself he kinda thinks everything is a boy. The other day he said, "Don't worry London when you get big you'll grow a penis." My response, "First of all I'm quite positive that London wasn't worried about it and second of all London will never have a penis." Jack gave me that look that says, "It's ok mom, one day you will get it."

Today I was reminded about Jacks interest in the male parts. I walked into pick him up from school and the teacher took my hand and said, "I have to show you this. I was laughing so hard I was crying." I followed her into the art room over to a wall of turkey drawings . She picked out Jacks and pointed to the line between the turkeys skinny little legs. Jack said to his teacher (and everyone in ear shot range) "This is my turkeys penis." All the sudden all the little kids around him were asking "What did he just say?"

When we got home I asked him to explain his drawing to me and he said, "This is my turkey, these are his feathers, these are his legs and this is his penis. Turkeys have penises too mom." So there you have it, it's really a simple concept. I guess I have something to think about while eating our delicious turkey this thursday, thanks Jack for the insight:)

Randome

My London just looked so cute in this pic, I needed to make sure I got it on my blog somewhere:)

My Dane is always on empty. Trying to keep him tummy FULL is like trying to have your gas tank constantly FULL, it's just impossible! Dane has to be walking around with some little treat in his little hand at all times:) You can imagine how my floors look 90% of the time. I think that this little thing is going to be my big guy, not as in fat but more as in just plain SOLID!

This is my Jack so proud of his cookie that we made together. He wanted to make pumpkin cookies so we called Grandma Smith for Grandpa Smiths Sugar Cookie receipt. They were YUMMY!!

This Video is just too fun not to share. You get a glimpse of Jack singing in his preschool and then you get a glimpse of the twins exact personalities. You will see London demanding my attention and Dane just enjoying the show, so cute:)

Jacks Dream

I was snuggling with Jack before his nap yesterday and he told me about his dream. This is what he said, “When I closed my eyes I saw Jesus and I looked out my window and he was standing outside by my door. Jesus was knocking and you were on the other side. You open the door and let him in and then he told me to be nice.” When he was finished I was crying, the spirit was so strong and the look on his face was so unique and special. I really didn’t know what to say, I just sat there and he went on. He said, “And mommy there were the bad men that put nails into his hands and they killed him and put him away. Why did they kill him?” I in turn asked him why Jesus died and he said, “Because he loves us so much. But he came back to life mom.” Our conversation was long and so incredible. I guess I thought that a 3 year old wouldn’t understand the sacred things we talked about I couldn’t have been more wrong. Being 3 means that he hasn’t had all the garbage out there in our world hurt his soul yet, he is closer to the spirit than anyone I have ever met. I have heard people say that they don’t want to fill there kids head with spiritual things and they don’t want to push them into a religion. I couldn’t disagree more. Satin is out there and he doesn’t give our little ones a moments rest, he wants nothing but the worst for them, he will do everything in his power to make sure they have the most unhappy life that is possible. The only way for them to have a chance is if we make sure they know what is on the other side. When I am teaching Jack about our Heavenly Father its like he already knows it, he listens and then gets this look on his face that’s kinda like, “oh ya, I know that.” It’s like he’s remembering something he has forgotten. To be able to bear my testimony to him and tell him the things that I know are true is the single most important thing I have to accomplish on this earth, this is a moment in my life I want to always remember. I also find it interesting that when you become a mother you think that you will be the one doing all the teaching but you soon realize that somehow your child is doing most of the teaching. I can be so naïve, Jack keeps me closer to the spirit than anything. He will asks me questions and then he will unknowingly bears his testimony to me, it unbelievable. At night he always prays for Jesus, I never really understood why but I think it’s because he feels our Savior close to him and he only prays for the people he loves.

At the End of our conversation I asked him how he felt. He said “I feel good, I’m happy.” I told him that THAT feelings he was the Holy Ghost telling him that what we were saying was true and that any time he ever feels that was way it is the Holy Ghost. Jack smiled at me, wiped a tear away from my eye, kissed my nose and fell asleep. I know right?!!!

I am so grateful for the Gospel in my life and in my Children’s life. I couldn’t be the mom I am without it. My ONE job on this earth is to get my children back to my Heavenly Father it doesn’t seam like it should be that hard. But in reality it’s a HUGE responsibility and it scars me. Satin is so smart with how he tricks us into thinking that we know more than God, he knows our weaknesses and he plays on them every chance he gets. BUT I KNOW if I follow the spirit and do what our Father in Heaven has asked I can get my little ones back into my Heavenly Fathers loving arms.

Thank you Jack for being an example to me, you make me a stronger and a better person every day. I love you little man

Halloween 2010!!!

This year for halloween I made Dane and London's Halloween Costumes. They were none other than Thing One and Thing Two. I must say it turned out even better than I planned. I'm no seamstress but this time around I really outdid myself, lol;) Mr Jack was our Night in Shining Armor, boy was he Handsome! He would announce himself whenever he told someone what he was, he would say "Dun Dun na Dun, I'm a Knight!" He really couldn't be any cutter! I did NOT make his costume:) Then Riley and I were none other than Olive Oyl and Popeye, yep just like Pam and Jim on The Office and Riley was just about as excited about it as Jim;) I did make these costumes and you could tell they were made the day of the party. They were a little special just like us;)

Thing One and Thing Two. And yes I did put some thought into who would be what. London arrived 1st so she was obviously Thing One and Dane came 2nd so naturally was Thing Two.

Here are Thing One and Thing Two cleaning up after Cat in the hat just like they always do:)

"Mom stop bugging us!!!!"

Surprisingly enough they kept their hats on. Their hats by the way were super easy to make. You just get a beanie and glue a boa all the way around it. For their feet I just glued the blue boa on their socks.

Our Handsome Knight!!! LOVE HIM!

MaRea always does her Halloween Party for the kids and this year she didn't disappoint! Hear are all the little friends that showed up:)

There dinner was slimy worm (hot dogs cut into slices dowsed with barbecue sauce) sloppy joes. It looked way to real;)

Miss Olive Oyl and Popeye. Riley is to handsome for his own britches, love it:)

Miss Thing One and just in case you didn't know Thing One is a girl, I mean the bow and ruffles on the bum were a dead giveaway:)

Dane 101

My SWEET, SWEET, SWEET Dane! There are so many things about him that make me smile! Mr. Dane is starting to jibber jabber and I just love it. If we say and word and ask him to say it he will 80% of the time. His favorite word is puppy. Speaking of puppies, Mr. Dane can't get enough of puppies. Where London is petrified of them Dane will follow them around till the dog is more than a little bothered. London cries when the dog walks in and Dane cries when the dog is put out, lol:) It's so very cute!

Dane is VERY tender hearted! If he trips over something he will cry, if you look at him wrong he will cry, and he will most definitely cry if you tell him no. Yet in the same breath he really doesn't understand when I'm being serious. If he is playing in the brown sugar and I tell him to stop he just laughs like I just told him the best joke ever. If he is hitting someone of something and I tell him to stop he will just laugh and keep doing it, I must say it's hard to get mad at him when he is giving me his delicious little giggling.

Dane is very laid back. He doesn't demand my attention all the time, he just walks around and entertains himself. When he does want my attention he will simply come up to me and say "pup" which means up. I love this about him!!!! He and London are complete opposites when it comes to this:) It fascinates me to discover that these little twins and polar opposites in almost everything. I'm so glad that they are this way, I want them to feel like they are just a member of our family and not a pair to this family.

Dane loves his sister London. When he wakes up in the morning he searches for London and wanders around saying "undin" witch means London of course. He will kiss her and go up and pat her head, these are the moments that I can't get enough of.

Then there is the not so nice part side of Dane. Because he is only 18 months old he still doesn't understand when he is hurting Jack or London. Mr Dane has got one tough arm. When he hits it really does hurt! And like I said before he really wont stop unless I remove him totally and completely from the situation. London is my bitter and Dane is my hitter. When Dane finds something that he can get a good grip on he will use it as his weapon and it's near impossible to remove it from his unbelievably STRONG grasp.

There is something about Dane that just feels so yummy. The other daY I was walking into Wal Mart and the little old man that is always there to greet us said, "I just can't put my finger on it but there is something about that little guy that is just wonderful. Maybe it's his eyes or his smile but I love it when you come and I get to see him, it always brightens my day." The sweet old man was right, Dane is different and he has this sweetness about him that can just melt your heart. I LOVE you Dane and I can't imagine my life without you. Thanks for choosing us because we so NEED your sweetness. LOVE YOU!!