What Am I Thankful For?

these



and this




him




this




and these when they are not doing naughty things




this




most definitely these



and who could not be thankful for kissy lips



and of course this



and most definitely, positively this



just to name a few

You get what you pay for

This is the classic example. Last night we opened the "store" for the boys to purchase something from the prize box. They had all done well earning tickets for the week and each had enough to buy a $1 toy. All of them wanted to buy these faux Power Rangers. I stupidly had only bought 2 of them instead of 3, but that is another story. Within half a day one leg had broken off of 2 out of the 3 Power Rangers. A design flaw perhaps? No, just cheap as you can get. I think these toys were literally falling apart as they were taking them out of the box. So I spent a half an hour trying to fix the stupid legs. They were of course disappointed that the toy they spent their hard earned tickets on was a piece of crap. The only way I could figure out how to fix the legs was to wrap a rubber band around them. Plus, the sword surprisingly wouldn't stay in the hand, so Bennett had taped it in place.

I guess the upside of it all is that I talked to Taylor about the concept of delayed gratification. You save up more tickets = you get something nicer. I think it pretty much went over his head, but I'm just trying to plant the seed at this point.

living life

Today I went down to BYU for a little Christmas shopping. I got a 20% coupon in the mail the other day and I decided to use it sooner rather than later. But shopping at BYU isn't really what this post is about. You see in the back of my mind I have always thought that if you took away my kids that go with me everywhere and put on some clothes that were actually in style, I would still fit in with the college crowd. I would still look like them. Today I felt old. I don't fit in anymore. I swear it seems only a couple of years ago that I graduated. It has been ten years. Where did that time go? I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and I did not see a skinny freshman. I saw a mom with a "mom" body. It didn't depress me, it was just a reminder of where I am in life.

The other day I was talking to my sister-in-law Michelle and I was telling her that I still feel like I am a new mom. When I talk to moms with only one or two kids I feel like I am one of them, but I am not. I am a mom with 4 kids! How did that happen? Didn't I just have Taylor a few years ago? What happened to all that time since then?

I have always known that time flies quickly. When people tell me to enjoy my kids now because they grow up so fast I have never doubted that. They are growing up fast. Faster than I ever imagined they could. Every once in awhile I will catch myself saying things like "As soon as he does this...." or "It will be so nice when he can..." I have been stopping myself a lot more lately from saying stuff like this. I know it is only a matter of time.

Right now I know where my kids are every night. Right now every single one of them think Scott and I are the best things in the world. Right now they are soaking up whatever we tell them like a sponge.


Right now he would rather throw the football with me than with any of his other friends.


Right now this kid says the sweetest things and I see my 5 year old chubby cheeks on him.


Right now his personality is blossoming and he makes me laugh with his ever-growing vocabulary.


Right now I can't get enough of this one. I really could smell him and hold him all day long.

Right now they are all mine.

tweaking the tickets

A few months ago I started a ticket system in order to encourage my boys to do or not to do certain behaviors. It worked very well. However, lately I have gotten lazy about giving them tickets and I realized that my system needed some tweaking. It was getting to be more of a hassle for me to dole out tickets all day everyday and then keep track of them.

Yesterday my friend and I were chatting while our kids were playing and we had a nice long discussion about the ticket system. She has been doing it for awhile with her kids and she had some good ideas for me. So I have reworked the system. Tickets are only given out at night and rewards are given out once a week. I compiled a list of what they can do to earn tickets each day and a list of rewards that they can buy with their tickets. I don't think this system is perfect yet, but I am going to give this version a go and see what else needs to change.

How Sweet

Sometimes I forget how sweet my kids can be. Last night we arrived home from Tampa with 3 mini Nerf footballs and 1 mini baseball. I told Owen this morning that the softball was for Chase and the other boys each got a football. Obviously Chase got the baseball so there would be no arguing among the older boys. I found Chase snuggled up against his baseball a little while later.

Greetings from Florida!

Scott, Chase and I are spending some time in Tampa for a few days. The weather is delightfully warm and I am delightfully happy to have a much needed break from being mommy to 4. Seriously, what on earth did I do all day with only 1 child, or less than 4 for that matter? Don't get me wrong. I am not saying less than 4 is easy. I remember being quite busy with only 1, 2 and 3 kids. It is a mystery how us moms adjust depending on the number that we have.

Little Chase here has been a piece of cake. When we leave our hotel room every person we walk by oohs and aahs at how cute he is. I will definitely agree. My goal for the next few days is to sleep, read and eat something deep fried for every meal.




A little windy and a little bright. I think that is standard weather for most beaches.



Chasey testing out the water with his little toes.



Love the hat!

low-tech

scott.

sitting on our bed.

listening to the UofU vs. TCU game

broadcast on a 20 year old

clock radio.



pretty funny.

Going Private

I've been kicking around making my blog private for awhile and I have decided to go ahead and do it. I will make it private next week. If you are interested in viewing it, please send me an email or leave a comment and I will send you an invitation. Thanks!