I Love My Mom Because...

She was courageous. She was positive. She showed us everyday how much she loved my dad and us kids. She had a good sense of humor right up to the end. She was calm and level-headed. She was smart and confident. She was pretty in a non-fussy sort of way. She was a great teacher. She had gorgeous eyes and hands. She loved to be with her family. She always saw the best in me. She adored, truly adored Parker. She was the best grandma ever. She was faithful. She had a quiet strength that I didn't know I depended on so much until she was gone. She lived a life of service. I knew she loved me without a doubt. She still comes around when I sing to let me know how proud of me she is. I always want to make her proud. She'd drop everything to help me when I needed her. She still does. She's my mother for always. Happy Mother's Day, Mom.

Lucky Me

He's funny. He's kind to everyone. He's a great big brother. He always has a hug and a "you're beautiful mom". I'm so glad to be his mother.

(My sister-in-law took this picture and I stole it. Thanks Meggen!)

Our Trip to Moab

Last week we headed out to Moab on a little family vacation. We got to hike around in Arches National Parker and Cayonlands National Park. We even camped (for one night). We aren't brave enough to do more than that with the kids. One night is enough. The second night we got a hotel room (my idea, very smart). Parker was in heaven running around everywhere and climbing on everything. Makenna wasn't so sure and wanted to be carried a lot. It's so gorgeous out there! We are lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the county. On our way back home we stopped at the dinosaur musuem in Price. We had the whole place to ourselves! We even took some pictures of "snuggle duck". For those of you who don't know him, he's been Makenna's best friend basically since birth. He goes everywhere with her. Even throwing him in the wash is a big deal for Makenna and it always involves tears. He's pretty much had the yellow loved off of him, his legs are coming apart, and his beak has had to be repaired several times but he's Makenna's favorite thing. Of course, he came on our trip and we decided to snap a few shots of this important memeber of our family.(:

Mommy confessions

I thought it was about that time again.(:

#1 My kids ate chips for breakfast today.

#2 I have read roughly 2 out of like 20 chapters of my Music Civ book this whole semester.

#3 I almost never actually do Makenna's hair. I mean, I brush it, but I have loads of cute bows in my bathroom that I never use. I also refuse to cut it because I am weirdly emotionally attached to her hair (especially the adorable soft curls at the end) and I don't think I could handle seeing it get butchered.

#4 I still have no intention or desire to potty train Makenna. She's not ready, and really, diapers are a pretty great. She's not 3 yet anyway...right.

#5 I did nothing exciting for St. Patrick's Day. No green anything. My kids probably didn't even know it was a holiday. I want to be that mom that does cool and amazing stuff for every holiday, but I know I'm just not.

I'm sure I could go on but I have 2 weeks left of this semester and I really should be reading my Music Civ book.(:

Sick

No joke, this all happened today. So this morning Makenna scratched Parker's eye. I have no idea why. Most of the time they are the best of friends, but occasionally they just attack each other. Siblings. Anyway, after a good cry he seemed fine but all through the rest of the afternoon he kept telling us how much his eye hurt. Finally we decided to run him into the doctor to make sure that it wasn't damaged. All the way over Parker kept telling me that his stomach hurts. As we are walking through the instacare parking lot, Parker stops, bends over, and pukes up everything in his stomach. So I take my now vomiting kid in to get his eye checked out and sure enough, it's badly scratched and he needs a patch. This is what my poor boy looked like for the rest of the day. The stomach flu and an eye patch. It was pretty much the saddest thing ever. Oh,and he had to miss his soccer game. But he does make one cute little pirate.

Egg Hunting

Soccer

Parker's first soccer game. Can you tell he was just a little excited?