Dear Brett...

Dear Brett, when you check in on our blog, which I haven't posted on in too long, I know, I want you to know that you are right. Yep, I'm saying it. You. Are. Right! The other night you said that you were the only one who does the planning and you do, it's your thing. And you're good at it! I could do it, but I'd never plan anything as good as you do, with as much thought as to what exactly we could do that would leave our kids grinning over the memory for months, so I leave it to you.

What I do though, besides the loads of laundry our excursions create, what I do is take the pictures, and make you an amazing family album every year to remind us of the magic that happened on the trips you plan. (I might post more to a blog too if it didn't take so long to load pics here!) Yep, my thing is the memory keeping.

I'll write about how this girl couldn't contain her smile over her vast new geode collection...about how she set up a museum at our campsite before we even got the tent up...
I'll write about our goofy tradition of wearing matching bandanas, about how you brought us rock hounding, camping, and hiking, before we even hit summer...

I'll write about how I have the most amazing husband and my kids have the best father (even if he grows his facial hair out to look like Neil Young!)

I'll write about how Max is the sweetest most stubborn little Superman, but about how he makes the funniest expressions you'll ever see, and about how he has moves like Jagger if the right song comes on...

I'll write about how you challenge our kids to try new things & develop new talents, and you stay by their side and show them that they can do it!

And I'll write about how blessed we are to live this life of ours with all these sweet kids to fill our home and memories of events with them to fill our pages...

With that said... you'd better get on our summer vacation itinerary already Easy Rider!!!

Pretty Little Thing

This beautiful girl turns 8 this month. My baby. My stilt walker. My tree climber. My tomboy. She's a math whiz, a pack rat, and a spit fire. She can eat with chopsticks and write a word with three variations of spelling. She plays piano. She reads Harry Potter. She farts with her armpits and has a grin that melts your heart. She loves learning, camping, cupcakes, and being with buddies. She is her own person.

She is a pretty little thing.

And I love her.

Happy Birthday Monkey!

Sweet and Bold

Today while walking to the school to pick up the girls with my neighbors, Quinn and his friend Addie fell into stride and their hands slid into one another's with ease. Izzy joined in and for most of the walk there the three of them held hands, talked, and laughed. Angie and I watched and felt a longing for them to stay just as sweet and tender as they were, for time to just stop. We also wished we'd had a camera. On the way home Quinner got ahead of the group and his friend Warren saw him, sprinted towards him, and they too held hands and continued on.

Tonight as I think about this afternoon I feel a little sad. We start out in life so bold, so brave, and, I realize, we often lose part of that along the way. As children we talk to anyone around. We become instant best friends with kids we only just met seconds ago at the park. We make friends of strangers. We hug. We touch. We hold hands. We are magnetically drawn to others. We notice when people feel sad and want to comfort them. Children are so uninhibited. So able to stop and see the beauty of a flower, to wonder at a bug, to notice with awe a rainbow, a sunset, a dandelion. To see that someone needs a friend or a smile and to give it without hesitation.

Children are so sweet. So bold. I think we lose some of that along the way. Quinn had a pocketful of candy from a pinata and on the drive home from the party he'd attended he stated, "oh, there's some laffy taffy in here, Anna likes those a lot, I will give it to her." How often do we look at what we have and think first about who we can share it with? How different would the world be if we could live like our children? If we could be friends with everyone? If we could hold hands and laugh and love as freely as a five year old? If we could love others without hesitation or judgement?

I'm so grateful for the chance to be a mother and for all the learning that comes along with it. Oh, and for my tender hearted Quinn, may he always stay this sweet!

New Thinking

The other day I was at Becky Higgins blog and she posted this printable which I liked. Go to her sight, she explains it. Basically, if you look at each thing you're doing and think of it as a way to build your relationship with the person you're doing it with, or for, then you will have a new attitude about it. Homework, cleaning my daughter's bedroom, doing laundry with Izzy-these are small tasks which provide time together to be us and talk about simple things. It makes sense. I was thinking about how much I love working on a project with Brett, painting a room or a piece of furniture-it's a relationship building task. I want to work this year on changing my attitude about the things I'm doing and focus on strengthening my relationships.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Look at these two, aren't they cute!? My baby girl and her Auntie smooching. It warms my heart.

I used to hate Valentine's Day. When I was single it was a day to feel awkward and lonely. A day that felt like a mockery of your solitary situation. Also, a day to binge on ice cream or cookies to feel better about said singleness. One year in Provo a bunch of us had a girls' night where we got together and ate and celebrated our singleness/talked about boys all night. I remember distinctly a V-day in Hawaii my freshman year, my friend Katherine and I holed ourselves up in her room watching Friday, burning incense, eating Cheetos and Chips Ahoy chocolate chunk cookies. She had a long distance boyfriend, I had her, and we had a good time, we laughed and talked all night. Why are these nights so memorable? I think feeling loved is what the day is about, not necessarily romantically, but having someone who knows your heart, who spends time with you, and who loves you for you.

I do admit that I think Hallmark invented the holiday to make guys feel guilty about not being romantic and thus forcing them to buy marked up flowers, and jewelry, and giving them a deadline to do it by. Or maybe a teenaged girl invented the holiday to put her boyfriend on the spot about who he really likes. Remember the candy grams? The girls carrying roses and balloons around at high school? Remember getting awkward gifts from guys you weren't really into? Or having an expectation and then being let down? And now, am I the only woman who grumbles if my husband spends twice as much on a bouquet that Hallmark told them to buy when it could be five times as meaningful and a fraction of the cost on any other day? Also, teddy bears. What grown woman wants a teddy bear!? The commercialism of it all is too much.

At our house this day is usually celebrated with a heart-shaped pepperoni pizza and some pop. Are we classy. Absolutely. I will say though that tonight I think it'll be lasagna, we had pizza on Friday. I usually buy a few things for the kids and we look through their valentines from school together. We make sure that the little guys know they are loved, and Brett and I give each other a cheesy card. Will I perhaps give him a foot rub and buy him a Super Big Gulp of Pepsi? Yeah. Because to us, that is what love is.

Happy day to you all!
I love you!