Birthdays

First, I forgot to say in the last post-we said good-bye to our trusty blue van. It literally gave us no trouble at all-until it finally decided it was time to go and died a quick and painless death. We bought a brand new Honda Odyssey, but my kids keep asking why we had to get rid of the Mazda. Looking at this picture makes me sad!

My sweet girls had birthday parties this year. I hope they know how much I love them and how special they are. 

Breanna turned 6. Six! Wow.

If there's one thing I think represents Breanna, it's hearts, and a sweet cake covered in hearts too!

They made sugar castles and headbands, played charades and who's got the button, but the game that was the MOST fun was the limbo. Who knew?

Breanna with one of her friends.

Afton turned 3 and I think this is her first *real* party. Oh Afton the joy you bring to us! What an unexpected twist you are in our family. We had a North Pole party for Afton and she loved it.

Uhm this snowman is the best...thanks to Brad!

And a snowflake cake-or are they blue flowers?

They were supposed to go outside to spray the snow but it was so cold that day, so we brought the snow inside. 3 year old parties never quite go as planned anyway.

Snowflake quesadillas!

Presents and Friends

Bye-bye snowman!!

Anyways, do I ever love my girls! I hope they felt special!

Time

My blog has evolved into a bit of a family photo album. Someday I will print it out for my wonderful kids to look at and feel good about.  It no longer feels like a creative outlet, though. I think that's why it's become hard for me to keep my blog up. It feels a bit chore-ish. I think if I wrote more often I could write about the details and get a bit more satisfaction from it. That's okay, this blog has evolved, my life has evolved. 

Gone are long days when going for walks,  going to the park or going to the library were the main-or the only- events of the day. I would clean and clean and clean to pass time. It was hard figuring out how on earth to entertain these kids for the next 10 hours!  Outings were meant to take up time.  Time, please move along! From the moment lunch was over I would count down the hours, minutes, seconds until Brad walked in the door. It was so, so hard, but so peaceful and intimate. 

 I still count down the minutes until Brad gets home, but not until about 4:30. And if he's late, no biggie. Oh man I used to think I would die if he said he'd be even half an hour late. I don't try to pass the time anymore. I'm trying to figure out how to make more time. More time to clean and go for walks and go to the park and go to the library. More time to enjoy the fleeting moments of my children's lives. More time to develop my own talents. I feel like we are constantly doing things. I'm a drill sergeant. Church, sports, doctor, ballet, piano, homework, shopping, playdates, parties-(so many parties!) I can't keep up with the housework anymore. I'm always scheduling and re-scheduling. I'm constantly rushing kids out the door. 

I'm in the in-between phase where I wonder: have I done anything with my life? Or do I just exist to make other people's lives possible?

Time just moves along.

                                                      General Conference/Thanksgiving October 2013

                                                                            Halloween October 2013

                                                     Afton in a  Pumpkin Patch October 2013

Lunches. Daily.

Dwelling in the Light

Yes I know it's been a while, but I've seen people abandon their blogs over less  :)

It's that time of year, when I can't help but feel happy and blessed. Happy about new beginnings, about the familiar cozy weather ahead, about the vibrant colors of fall, about schedules, the smell of my childrens' hair when they come inside and upcoming family traditions!

I've been trying to replace the word "busy" with "full". Sometimes I ask myself, did I choose this? How do I always have something to do? What happened to sitting for hours reading a book, going for long walks, spending hours playing with my kids and lazily paddling a canoe down the river in the sunshine with fairies flying by and Unicorns grazing on the shoreline.... but yes, I choose to look at my life as "full" because it's full of things I have chosen. I am blessed with a wonderful family, many lovely friends, means to put my kids in activities (and drive them), a love for exercise, a home to live in (and clean), food to eat (and prepare), a church that uplifts and blesses my life but also asks me to serve. I'm blessed with so many, many good things and those are what my life is full of.

My new favorite mantra in life comes from our most recent General Conference when President Uchdorf gave a talk called The Hope of God's Light. In it he used the phrase "dwell in the light", the light being hope, I think, in the Savior. This phrase repeats itself in my mind. I hope it becomes something I naturally do in my life.

(Aaaand a photo update on life in general)

Speaking of fairies and unicorns I think this is about as close as it gets in reality. Brad and I spent our 10th anniversary in Waterton. We biked up to a  back country trail and hiked up to Twin Lakes. I always like to imagine the Indians (sorry for the non pc term) on a hunt for bears and where they would stop to rest and take a drink and the landmarks they would use as navigation. We were alone up there, making it quite romantic and the bike ride down was one of the funnest things I've ever done!

Did I mention I got to go on a little holiday? It was really nice, but to be totally honest my favorite part was flying on the plane and being in the airport...reading a lovely book...by myself. I'm a true introvert I guess. I also loved sitting by the pool talking and getting really hot, then jumping in to cool off. I was always the first one awake and always took a nap in the afternoon in true Sarah style. Yes those are palm trees reflected in my glasses! I got to come home to colorful leaves sprinkling the ground and love notes all over the house. I was happy walking home and that happiness pretty much overflowed when I saw the notes.

We said goodbye to summer with bike rides and the best summer send-off of all: Cornfest!

                                       

Now we're back at everything, after a lazy but wonderful summer: piano for both kids, ballet for Breanna, sports for Jesse, Mandarin homework every night and school lunches every morning. I also go to the gym every morning now, which I love. Life is very full, and very good.

The Truth about Afton

Afton hugs me by wrapping her arms around my neck and squeezing tight. Then she will give me the most delicious kiss,  with all kinds of puckering power and a big "mmmwah!". When I say "I love you Afton" she says, quietly and so sincerely, "I love you Mama" "I just love you Mama". When I help her on the monkey bars and catch her on the slide (even though she doesn't need it) she smiles so big and laughs so heartily it makes my heart ache a little that I don't do that with her all the time. When she runs she kicks her bum and takes big strides. she moves so fluidly I love watching her do anything: walk, run, jump, dance, it's all a pleasure. Sometimes she'll do them in slow motion. It's funny. I love watching her fumble with her eyes closed during prayer at dinner time, with one arm folded, to find food and eat. She can be so silly but it all becomes serious when she sings 'I am a Child of God'. I show her a picture of Jesus and she says "that's my Jesus!" I love her lisp. I love how when I hold her while I'm walking she clings to me and it feels like I'm hardly carrying anything.  I love that when the closing prayer is finished in sacrament meeting she gets up and takes herself through the crowd to nursery and makes it there every time. By herself. She can play at a park for hours, by herself. She calls Jesse and Breanna her "friends". I really connect with her. And that's the truth about Afton!