For the love of Chocolate

Happy Valentines are in order! Can you believe it is February? I'm shocked it is halfway over, but I guess I've been a little on the non-existant side for a few months. I think being pregnant & having a baby has clouded my mind, but it is a good cloud! And yes, I was pregnant and had a baby. I will play catch up in a few days.  I do love February though-- it means that tulips are coming around.  It makes me smile every time I come into the kitchen to see these soft pink ones.

Anyway, Valentines Day is here. This morning I had good intentions of having a valentines breakfast. So I decided to make my Belgian waffles with buttermilk syrup. I tried getting all fancy by piping a red heart in each waffle (made with colored batter). Can you tell that is a heart? I guess it would have worked better with pancakes, but I love waffles more than pancakes (yes, they are different). The buttermilk syrup made it all better for me, but not my kids-- they missed having their usual waffles with ice cream. I was trying to go a little more on the healthy side with buttermilk syrup!!

And then it was valentine's boxes, candy and parties for the day.  I love that my kids get enough candy to share with me.  Kendra came home from preschool and looked through her candy to find the sugary candy and some chocolate (nummy Rolos). She took one look at the chocolate, put it all in a pile and said, "Mommy, you can have these!"  What is it about kids and sugary treats as opposed to chocolate? Do your kids pick out the suckers, gum and the like and ditch the chocolate? I was elated, but I knew I shouldn't be for the sake of my breastfeeding baby and my extra chubbiness that I'm trying to shed.  Shortly after, my teenager walks in from school and I proceeded to tell him to get a snack.  His comment on his way to the kitchen, "I'll take the waffles...DUDE ROLOs!" (all in one breath) And quickly put them in his mouth.  I guess my chubbiness has been spared extra poundage by my son!  I'm happy, yet sad... for the love of chocolate!

Because of being behind in the times, I realized I didn't have any valentine decor this year.  So to kill two birds with one stone, we had a family home evening lesson on this Mormon Message...

We talked about the happiness that everyone showed in the video through their smiles and laughter.  We talked about showing greater love towards others, especially our family.  And we talked about looking to the ultimate example of love... The Savior.  Afterwards we each cut out paper hearts, decorated them and wrote something we love about each of our family members.

Mallory wrote poems, Kendra drew pictures and others wrote things everyone was good at.  We then posted them all over the kitchen and read each and every one.  It was so nice to hear what each kid had to say about their brothers and sisters.  We loved it!

Kendra asks me everyday "What does my hearts say?"  She loved hearing all the "loves" for her!  So did everyone else!  My favorite was from my sweet hubby...

It is true-- this new baby does make me smile.  I love that my husband notices it.  After I read this, I realized that I love being a mother and I love my kids-- no matter how "kid-like" they can be, no matter how many times I have to tell them to do something and no matter how tired I get from picking up their things.  No matter that this family home evening lesson will have to be repeated again in a few months... to help us remember to love others!

Happy LOVE day!

Flowers, Chocolates... Promises You Don't Intend to Keep!

It is this last phrase that I need to refer to.  By the way, the movie?  Name it!  No big hints for you though... a disney great, singing, a girl and a beast.. I mean, boy/prince!  Ahhh, stink!  I think it is late... again and I just gave away the secret to the phrase.  

Anyway,  time has long since gone since that night of... weakness, sadness, reality. loneliness, whatever you want to call it.  I apologize for the absence.  Right now I am talking to myself because you as the reader I'm sure could care less if I write or not... but I care.  I have missed a bunch.  It is funny how I say that I am talking to myself.  It is late... again--2:00 to be exact.  I went through a tired phase, then morphed through it and decided to post a quick little jig... I mean tidbit.  

You may think that I talk to myself only late at night. Actually right now I am writing to myself, so talking in my head to myself. (I'm getting very confused)  My point is... I talk to myself a lot.  Ask my kids.  I think I learned this from my Mother-- she talked to herself a lot, too. Is this really something you can learn from someone else or is it just in your character? Why, you may ask do I participate in this crazy endeavor? It gives me clarity, understanding, helps me solidify my thoughts and what I'm going to say.  I have very interesting conversations with myself... if I do say so myself. (Hey it's late, I can get cocky!)  I don't feel like I speak eloquently with real people, so maybe I am subconsciously making up for my lack of beautiful conversations.  

So tangent aside- "Promises you don't intend to keep".  I think I promised myself that I would write on this blog more frequently and not fall behind in my inclusion of fabulous Mack experiences.  Like I said "Promises you don't intend to keep."  Well, I am going to try again.

Much has transpired since my last post-- I was consumed then.  I am consumed now because the consuming of my life then took over and therefore has pushed my other life responsibilities to now.  I AM IN OVERLOAD!

I figured it out though today... we do everything ourselves.  If a room needs painted, we paint it.  If a basement needs finished, we finish it.  If a house needs cleaning, we clean it.  If a lawn needs mowed, we mow it.  If a fan needs installing, we install it.  Most normal people hire a contractor to finish their basement.  Lots of women nowadays (is that a word?) have someone come and clean their home.  People have lawn care crews weedeat and mow.  No, not us!  We like to do it all ourselves!  Which takes  away our time from other realities... like playing with kids, attending sporting events, church callings, making dinner, etc.  I guess what I'm saying right now is... we are in a circus... we are juggling... and life is overwhelmingly busy with the things we "could" pay someone to do.  But we save our pennies, spend our time and our sanity getting it done.

Now I am not saying that everyone else is not busy and that "hiring out" these jobs is bad.  It is just taking up my mind space and my time. Golly gee-- I must be nuts!  I am sure that if we weren't doing those things and paying someone to do them that we would fill our time up with other activities and necessities and feel overwhelmed with those.  Vicious, vicious cycle! 

Oh, wo is me!

But I promise.. I will survive and post, post, post all that has happened this wonderful summer.

(After we finish the basement, paint the rooms, mow the lawn and clean house... etc.)

"Promises you don't intend to keep..."

Sick

Usually I would say that being sick is the worst... well it is!  Especially strep throat.  I felt it coming on late Saturday night and spent the day at home Sunday totally uncomfortable with a severe head rush headache, swallowing nails, aches and chills.  I was miserable.  So since it hurt my head to move around and hurt to eat I just sat in the family room snuggled under a blanket.  (by the way... 3 other kids got sick the rest of the week!)

I decided since it was Sunday that I would listen to church music.  I turned on my tv and my apple tv. 

 I LOVE APPLE TV!

It basically connects my computer to my tv-- I can watch my movies that I buy from itunes, listen to my songs from my computer, watch a slideshow of all my pictures stored on my tv, etc.  It is great!  So I was listening to all of my sacred music on my apple tv and then my picture library started.

I sat and watched pictures of people I loved, places we have been, beautiful creations in the world and priceless experiences... all to beautiful music.  I was mesmerized!  

And for a moment...it was worth it to be sick!

You Can Do Hard Things

At the end of February I was able to attend our Stake Conference where a new Stake Relief Society president was put in. She gave a talk where she referenced a girl who was struggling with some things that were really hard.  The girl complained to her teacher how things were hard.  Her teacher then replied... "Yes, it is hard, but YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS!"

This struck a chord with me.  I realized that a lot of times in my life I hear myself saying "This is hard".  Most of the time I hear my kids say "This is too hard."  I knew right then and there that my kids needed to learn this lesson... and I did too.

Luckily Family Home Evening was the next night so I could remember my thoughts during Stake Conference. I work well with object lessons so I asked the kids to lift our family room chair at the start of the lesson.  What was their response... "It is too hard!"  They tried... each one lifting with their might... each older child being able to barely move it a little more than the younger.  Then came Dad's turn.  Here he is showing us how it is done.

I told the kids that Dad couldn't lift that on his first try when he was young.  He has developed muscle and learned how to grasp it and balance it above his head.  It was hard at first, but in the end he could do it... because HE CAN DO HARD THINGS!

I proceeded to explain how some things may seem impossible to do in this life and they may seem too hard.  But I told them they can do hard things.. they just have to keep trying, learning, developing and relying on Heavenly Father to help them.  Will they be able to lift the chair tomorrow... no, but one day they will!