Kids...

So I know everyone is different and is unique in their own way. I think that's one of the fun things about being a mom...you never know what you're going to "get" from a child. Grant is our serious and sensitive child but he has the BEST laugh and loves to tell stories and jokes. He has quite the imagination. He loves Star Wars and just the other night told us the plot for Star Wars #8. I can't really remember what it was about but there is a "turkey man" who plays an important role.




Mackenzie is a sweet and sour little thing. She can be in the best mood but quickly make a turn for the worse. She can play for hours alone with her toys. I thought it was just a phase but it has yet to end...Kenzie loves to clean between her toes. I can't remember how old she was when she first started this but it seems like she wasn't much older than 1. The other night I found her cleaning Grant's toes. FUN! She loves to clean under her fingernails now too.

And then there's sweet little Tyler. He LOVES his mommy and LOVES to be held. He tried that sleeping through the night thing for a week then decided it wasn't much fun and is back to waking up mostly only once in the night. He is great at going down for bed and takes pretty good naps so I have yet to figure out how to help him understand it's OKAY to sleep all night long.

Thank goodness life isn't dull!!

Peas?!

I don't know what I was thinking! Peas?!


(Darling little face isn't it!?)

Tyler has been eating baby cereal with applesauce on occassion without any problems. He would take a bottle with formula without worrying too much about it. But then I had to go and throw things off by feeding him peas! His face was priceless! Why didn't I have the camera ready? Because he's the third child! Been there done that. Not that we don't care about the third child, I mean Tyler, but just that we're busy trying to get our other two kids to eat that we don't think about getting out a video camera. I do feel bad that I don't have any videos of Tyler. Our video camera is 10 years old and doesn't do so well but I'm also out of 8mm tapes for it. Talmage and I have talked about getting a new one but it's just another expensive thing that we want but really don't NEED.

Back to the peas... I know I should have started off with something tasty and sweet like bananas or peaches or sweet potatoes or even green beans! I just was trying to introduce the healthy green vegetable... Now Tyler makes quite the face anytime I try to give him cereal or any kind of baby food and now even bottles. I really messed up! Poor kid even makes a face with a clean spoon. This will take some time for him to forgive me and forget that awful taste but I'll be persisitent. As for now and for entertainment purposes...here is a little video of his refusal for a clean spoon.

Back to school...or not

Grant asked me almost every day last week if it was Monday yet. He's been anxious to go back to school, which I'm glad about. I don't remember ever being excited to go back to school after Christmas...but maybe I was. However, there's no back to school for Grant this morning. He came into our room around 1:00 this morning with a fever. I made him a little bed at the foot of our bed and gave him some tylenol. He's been asleep ever since. Then Kenzie came in around 4:00 and had a fever also. How disappointing to miss school on the first day back...and it's the first day of kindergarten he has missed.

I was one who never liked missing school. I remember feeling sick when I was in the third grade but I didn't want to go to the nurse and have to go home. I finally went home when I got sick after lunch. Then again in the 7th grade I remember feeling terrible all day. I never went home.

So when it comes to Grant, there's part of me that thinks I should wake him up and see how he feels and maybe he can go to school a little late, but then I remind myself that he needs the sleep and it will be just fine for him to miss one day of school. I worried Grant would have a hard time waking up in the morning for school so we made sure to get them to bed earlier on Saturday and Sunday night. My kids rarely slept in past 8:00 during Christmas break so for them to still be asleep now gives me this opportunity for a few minutes of quiet time. I should enjoy the silence and get as much done as I can.

Do you like white diamonds?

I haven't quite found a routine yet for keeping up with this thing. There's just been too much excitement in my life lately? Either that or too much chaos. I would vote for the chaos. Some days I really wonder if I can keep my sanity past these child rearing days. I LOVE my kids...but some days are those kind of days. I cannot count the number of times I played "Mom" as a child. I was a fantastic mom. My kids loved me ALL the time. They were happy ALL the time. We played together ALL the time, except for the times I had to go to the "grocery store." They took naps and woke up happy. I never lost my temper. I never got upset. I never wondered when they would out grow certain stages. I never had bad days. Why did no one tell me it wouldn't be that easy?! Real kids are a lot different than my dolls. Hard to believe...I know. It's sad when I realize I'm not the mom I thought I was going to be. Being a mom is really hard sometimes...no, a lot of the time. My kids are not happy ALL the time. I get busy and have things to do and don't get to play with the kids ALL the time. They don't wake up happy ALL the time. I lose my temper more often than I wish. I get upset more often than I would like. I often times hope these are just stages that they will grow out of. Tonight, however, was one of those moments that I felt the joy and sweetness that I wish would last forever. I wrapped Christmas presents this afternoon. Once it was wrapped I would put it outside the bedroom door and Grant would write the name on it then he or Kenzie would put it under the tree. When we were all done he asked where my presents were. I did buy a few things for me but didn't wrap them. At dinner this evening Grant told Talmage that he needed to take them (he and Kenzie) shopping for me. Talmage (jokingly) said I spent all of his money so he couldn't. Grant quickly spoke up saying he had money in his piggy bank. Kenzie then chimed in that she had money in her piggy bank too. All moms feel the same way, I'm sure. We don't need or want anything. But the fact that they thought of spending their own little pennies on me made me feel so special. The past couple weeks we've been watching a few of the Christmas specials on TV on our bed. During one of the commerical breaks of A Charlie Brown Christmas I went to lay Tyler down in his bed. When I came back Grant looked at me and asked, "Mom, do you like white diamonds? Is that what you want for Christmas?" What a sweet and thoughtful boy. He was especially helpful tonight before the show started. He helped Kenzie brush her teeth and get the step stool up to the toilet for her. He got her blanket and pillow even when she was being a little difficult.

These are the things I couldn't have pretended better. These are the moments I didn't plan for and no one could have prepared me for. These are the sweet little memories that forgive the frustrations. Being a mom is very HARD sometimes but just as every mom can say, it's ALL worth it.

I'm back!

Where have the last 6 weeks gone since I last wrote? A quick explanation in 4 words... We bought a house. Something we have hoped for and dreamed of for years! Through this process of moving to California just over three years ago, I have had a greater understanding of just how much the Lord is aware of us and how much he loves us and is just WAITING to bless us. When Talmage got his job teaching at Escalon we thought it was pretty crazy that we ended up here in Oakdale. Of course this is where I wanted to be but I really didn't expect to be this close to Oakdale. Talmage applied for jobs within 2 hours of Oakdale. I was a little surprised when he was offered the job here but I was delighted to be close to my family. Then shortly after he accepted the job, shortly meaning a matter of days, we found out that one of the houses my grandparents rent out was becoming available. Just a reminder...three years ago when we moved here house prices were CRAZY expensive. There was no way we would be able to afford a house so naturally a house to rent at a great price was perfect. We quickly felt very at home in that blue house with not much to brag about regarding a back yard. We didn't love the neighborhood but I recently learned of how convenient it was to walk Grant to kindergarten. I didn't love the walls of that home with the spacious closets but I loved the Spirit and memories that we made within those walls. After three years and three months we finally moved into this beautiful home. And I know that throughout this process we were blessed. We are part of the fortunate group that was able to capitalize on the housing crisis. When the housing market started to stumble I realized the opportunity to buy a house might actually come. I started looking more earnestly into houses but prices were still a little high and we didn't find anything that suited us. The first house we put an offer on in September didn't work out. My cousin Katie has 2 kids very close in age to Grant and Kenzie and that house was pretty close to them. Without understanding the truth in what she said to ease the diappointment, she remarked that perhaps we'll find a house closer. When I think back on my childhood, I don't remember too many memories without Katie. She was always my best friend aside from my siblings. The thought of being closer sounded fun but not likely. When our realtor, Stacy, called to tell me about another house, I said we could go look at it just to see it but I didn't think I would be that interested. I had seen pictures online and wasn't impressed. I was wrong! I loved this house! And the crazy part about it...we are SO much closer to Katie and Eric. I could throw a rock and hit their house...well maybe Talmage could throw a rock and her their house. I don't have great accuracy. Stacy needed to know as soon as possible if we wanted to write up an offer. The house had been off the market because one of her clients had a cash offer on the house contingent on the sale of their other house out of the area. She hadn't notified the selling agent that her client had to back out due to their other house not selling. The selling agent was then kind enough to work with us and not relist it until the bank had reviewed our offer. The offer went in on Friday September 26th and we found out on Monday the 29th that our offer had been accepted. The LONG process then began. I would like to say everything went smoothly, and for the most part it did. We had just a slight misunderstanding with the interest rate lock but that was all sorted out...answer to prayers!! Then another slight problem when we finally got a locksmith out to unlock the garage door only to find a big of a water softener plumbing leak. But that couldn't stop us. And come to find out there were 4 other back up offers on our house and one realtor was calling everyday to see if it was available again. But this house is now ours. We got our keys and got painting on Saturday November 8th (Happy Birthday Kenzie). Monday the 10th was another painting day so we could make the big move on Tuesday. Talmage and Grant had the days off for Veterans' Day. I love our home! I know we have been blessed tremendously! I know things fall into place and work out when you're doing what you're supposed to. I look forward to the memories we will make within these walls. I feel so at home and comfortable here. As for the kids...they love living close to their cousins. I think Grant asks almost everyday if he can play with Jack. If anyone is interested in seeing pictures...go to my mom's website. http://www.judyhousephotography.com Once you enter the site, go to proofing and type in the password "kellyhouse" These are mostly pictures of the house before we painted. They had some crazy colors! There are a few with the new paint but I'm sure we'll take more!

The Walk

There's so much I still need to learn! This morning, like every other morning, Kenzie, Tyler and I walked Grant to school. Kenzie was VERY slow this morning. I felt like I had to drag her along. It's a good thing we leave the house by 7:45 to get Grant to school by 8:00. He's never been late because we only live around the corner from the school and it takes us about 6 minutes to get from our door to Grant's classroom. Today I learned a very important lesson. Slow down and take time to notice life. A woman whom I see most mornings was behind us on our way home. I kept turning around to tell Kenzie to keep walking and hurry up. It seemed she would stop every 5 steps...I was unsure why, still am. But this woman said something that I've known but just needed to hear again. She said, "Isn't it great how simple life is for them? Here we are in such a hurry to get to the next thing and we rush through life. Before you know it you'll be taking her to school and then too soon after that you'll be taking him (Tyler) to school." I've known that but for some reason I don't follow it often enough because I am in a hurry to get to the next thing. The rest of our walk took about 10 minutes but it was great! I thought of the people I see every morning. A mother with quite a few young children. I haven't been able to keep track of how many kids she has because it seems to be different everyday. Some mornings there is a little girl in the stroller holding a smaller little boy while the school age daughter walks, or most of the time runs, along side her mom. This morning there was an older boy walking with the older daughter and younger daughter while two little boys were in the stroller. Also every morning I see a happy older gentleman riding a bike way too small for him while his granddaughter sits on the front of the bike getting a free ride to school. He always greets us with a warm smile and a hello. Another woman walks her three young kids to school then walks to the bus stop. I assume she's going to work... Stopping to slow down this morning made me think about these "regulars" I see each morning. It also allowed Kenzie and I to share a moment and listen and notice the things around us. It was a little overcast this morning. A little cool with some moisture in the air. A beautiful morning. We heard whistles over at the school as well as the bell ringing. Then we looked in the sky and saw a little bird flying and singing along the way. Kenzie watched as it flew to a tree. She told me the birdy went home to her mommy. We heard dogs bark and the cars that drove by. Then she heard the church bell chime in the distance. It was such a great morning. I hope I remember this and make sure to slow down more often. I don't want to miss out on these great moments. The simple things in life are the best.

President who?!

Funny story... The other day I was picking Grant up from school and visiting with one of the other moms. The kids had come out and they were just waiting for their moms to stop talking. Their teacher came up to us and said, "I have a question...Who is President Hinckley? And apparently he died?"

We mentioned to her that he was the President of our church but that yes, he did pass away. She replied that they were talking about the President of the United States and about half the kids were insisting that the President is President Hinckley, not President Bush. They also of course informed her that President Hinckley died.

She said she had a hard time convincing them that they were wrong and that the President of the United States is President Bush. Out of a class of 20 students, 8 of them are LDS. I'm not sure who the really outspoken ones of the bunch were. I can't really see Grant being the one to really insist that President Hinckley is the only President. Although I don't ever remember teaching him about our country and that we have a President of our country who is our leader just like our church has a President. Good FHE lesson. What cute kids though! They loved their President Hinckley.