Mother's Day 2011

I had a nice Mother's Day this year. Before church things were a bit hectic and it wasn't what Allen had hoped for. We woke up late and then ended up scrambling to get to church on time. Allen made me a nice breakfast that I ended up eating in the car on the way to church. Ah well, such is life with 4 kiddos.

I got a picture with the kids after church. This pic cracks me up because of Addie. Such a ham. It was the only pic with Emery looking at the camera.


Allen took care of everything all day and let me take a nap, read my book, relax and hang out with the kids while he fixed all of the food and took care of my every need. For dinner I requested the Jamie Oliver Asian Noodle Salad. It my FAVORITE and a ton of work and he did it all. We also grilled some yummy chicken sausages from Trader Joe's. Delish!

The kids showered me with adorable cards, homemade gifts and a potted plant. Allen bought me roses and a mother's necklace.

I've wanted one for years but wanted to wait until we were done having kids. Finding something I loved that could fit 4 names was a bit challenging but I adore what I ended up with. I've worn it every day since!

I am so grateful every day for my 4 blessings and that I get to be their mom! It's the best and hardest thing I've ever done and I am trying to love every minute of it. I know the stage we are in will not last long and I am appreciating it for what it is. I thank the Lord every day for my healthy, beautiful children!

Mother's Day Lunch

Friday Carter's school had a Mother's Day lunch. Once again, I took my mom and we "enjoyed" lunch with Carter. The food was...interesting. They tried to make some fancy cafeteria food but it didn't really translate on a large scale. We still had fun seeing him with his classmates and having lunch together.

With my mom:

With some friends:

Mother's Day Tea

Last Wednesday was the Mother's Day Tea and concert and Makenna's school. It was such a cute little program and the kids did such a great job with the decorations and gifts. Here's a cute little video of one of the songs her class sang:

My mom was able to come with me to the tea and had fun seeing Makenna and her classmates. A few pictures:

Each place setting had this setup:
A mother's day card, a decorated flowerpot with flower pen and a placemat that included some questions the teacher's asked the kids about their moms with the responses. Here are Makenna's responses about me:

Q: Why did God make mothers?

A: So they will look beautiful

Q: Why did God give you your mother and not some other mother?

A: So she'll love me forever

Q: What kind of little girl was your mom?

A: I think when she was like 5 or 6, at Halloween time, there was an Earthquake! Grandpa had to go save everybody in the earthquake {true story but has nothing to do with my childhood}

Q: What does your mom like to do in her spare time?

A: She likes to play games with the family

It was a fun morning and start to the Mother's Day festivities around here.

Mother's Day

Mother's day was great this year. Allen really went above and beyond and I so appreciated it. The kids fixed me a yummy breakfast, I got homemade cards and roses and a camera bag (even though I insisted on no gifts since I just got my camera). I didn't lift a finger all day - dreamy. Allen even made my favorite dinner - cafe rio pork salads. YUM!

I really, really wanted to get some pictures of me and the kids so we took a few minutes before we left for church to take some pics. I posted them on my facebook account so this is mostly for the benefit of the grandparents!

I am truly so grateful to be a mother to these three wonderful people. It is a big and sometimes scary job, but it is all I've ever wanted to be. They have enriched and blessed my life in a way I never could have imagined. I've learned some tough lessons in there too but they have all been worth it.

Of course I can't post about Mother's Day without acknowledging my own angel mother! I was so blessed to be raised by an amazing, intelligent, strong, opinionated, charitable, selfless woman. I am grateful for her every single day of my life. I owe all that I am to her! My MIL is a pretty great woman herself and raised some amazing children and blesses all of our lives! Allen's mom even sent a Mother's Day card to my mom to thank her for raising me. Isn't that the sweetest thing? We all cried over it. Thank you Mom Frost!

Hope you had a great day too!

{A couple other things on my mind not relating to MD: Several of you have asked my feelings on project 365 and if I'll do it again and the answer is YES!!! I already love reading through previous weeks and I think it will be true treasure for my family. I don't know that I'll do it in this exact format next year (and subsequent years) but I think the journaling is a HUGE part of what makes it so special so I definitely plan to do that in future years as well.

Also, LOVE x a million my new camera. I ended up with the Nikon D90. The above pictures are SOOC (straight out of the camera), no editing at all! Amazing. Taken with a 50mm/1.4 lens. That means nothing to me at this point except that it takes great photos. I'm pretty much shooting in auto at this point but will have lots of time to play once we are settled in NM.}

Hands Full

Something about having three young children must make people think you've gone over the edge mentally. I can't even begin to tell you how many people have made comments to me about having my hands full since I've had Addison. Surprisingly, it is usually when my kids are behaving that I get the random comment from strangers.

I have two fabulous responses that I give to people who comment about my full hands. They both come from seasoned mothers.

The first is from my friend Susie, who has 5 kids. When someone tells her she has her hands full, she replies, "Yep, full of LOVE."

My sister, who also has 5 kids usually responds, "Better full than empty."

Aren't those awesome? I use both responses ALL the time and people are usually surprised to hear my POSITIVE responses to having my hands full. Who wouldn't want their hands full with such precious little ones?

(And that picture is exactly how my kiddos look right this second, unwinding with a movie after a day at school! Love them!)

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Mother's Day to our wonderful mothers who taught us all that we know and molded us into who we are today!! We love you!

Thoughts on Motherhood

This Article in this months Ensign on the Joy of Nurturing children totally resonated with me. I know a lot of people think I'm crazy when I pull out all the stops on a random holiday like St. Patrick's Day. Believe me, when I was up until midnight cutting out shamrocks I was pretty sure of it. But the first portion of the article summed it up PERFECTLY for me. Here are a couple snippets (and really, you should read the entire thing):

"One phrase from that conversation opened up my mind to the bright light of personal inspiration: “He has so many wonderful memories of his childhood.” I wasn't just rearing children; I was preparing a future generation of parents—a generation that would need all the positive experiences I could give them to cope with an increasingly challenging world. Was it possible that children who have a happy childhood will be better parents?

The parenting puzzle of thousands of pieces came together into a whole picture for a moment. I couldn't live my children’s lives for them, but I could give them a well of joyful memories from which they could draw throughout their lives.

Seeing the value of memories has changed my perspective on being a parent. We no longer make messes; we make memories. One crisp autumn day I took my children and two of their friends to the park. As they ran from swing to slide and then rolled in the damp sand, I was filled with gratitude for this time they had to be kids. “Oh, remember this day,” I told them in my mind. “Remember the joy of autumn, of family, of friends, of God’s wonderful earth.” On the way home my son discovered enough sand in the car to make a handful and affectionately tossed it at me. We laughed together. We’d made a memory—we could clean the car any day.

I believe I understand better what is expected of me as a parent. I work harder at creating moments that matter. The demands of parenthood haven’t changed. Perhaps the pressure has even increased, but the blessings have also. I hope to pass on these insights to my children in memory after memory. Perhaps each precious memory I give my children will become another link in a chain of righteous parenthood as they help their own children make joyful memories. Eternal bonds, eternal memories."

So there you have it... now go make some memories with your kiddos!