I'm a little late on this post but I thougth it was cute so I wanted to share.

In Primary at church they leaders had all the kids fill out a questionnaire on their moms for Mother's Day. Then they helped them make candy flowers for them to give their moms.

I loved some of Karter's answers. Their little minds are so darn cute!

Here are a few of his answers.

How old is your mom? 4
What do you like to do with your mom? Play motorcycles
What's your favorite thing about your mom? She just loves me. (ahh...so sweet)

And my favorite one....

What is your mom's favorite thing to do?

That little stinkweed...I laughed out loud when I read his answer.

He said, "sleep and watch TV."

I wish!! I guess if he counts watching "The Genie" and "Mice Age" as me "watching" TV he's right on that one. Although I think my kids have seen those movies at least 20 times and I have yet to see them all the way through.

And sleep...I don't sleep much. I don't really have any complaints in that department though. I like to stay up late, the kids get up early and I don't like to nap. So if I'm tired I guess it's my fault.

That questionnaire was definatly my favorite Mother's Day gift!

Can you guess who ate the candy flower...? It was so funny to watch all the Primary kids come out after church and say "Look what I made you Mom!" as they were eating the cookies and candies off. :)

Some days I miss my "old" mom so much. Today was one of those days. I don't have them very often. I am usually able to focus on the amazing blessing we were given of keeping her here with us for longer but some days...some days are hard.

Everyday is a struggle for her. I looked at her today and I could see it in her eyes. She looked so sad and worn down. My sweet momma is tired.

Today I wish I could go back in time and change things. I wish I could have my happy, energetic, fun-loving mom back.

I love her for the example of true faith that she has been to me. Her life has been far from easy yet she has always remained true to her faith and her beliefs.

I'm not writing this for pity...mostly I am just having a pity party for myself. But as hard as these days are I like to be reminded that my mom was once that person. Memories are sweet blessing in this life.

So maybe when you are out running your daily errands and you come across someone who you pass a silent jugdement on think about them a little more. They may have been born into a circumstance they had no control over or had their life changed in the blink of an eye and are now doing the best they can to make it through each day. Remember that we all came from a loving Heavenly Father who cares for each of us and watches over us as we go through life.

We were at walmart a few weeks ago and Karter found a bike that he instantly fell in love with. Karl wanted to get it for him but I wanted Karter to learn a little lesson on working for something you want.

He is a fabulous kid and understands that he can't have a toy or a treat everytime we go to the store but I think he is a little on the spoiled side. This could be because he is the oldest and so he gets the new things while Hudson gets the leftovers.

We decided he would work on doing his chores better and he would earn money to help pay for the bike. Chores for Karter consist of; putting his clothes in the dirty clothes, scrapping his plate and putting it in the sink and a few other small things like that.

I think Karl was more excited to buy the bike then Karter was. He only held out for a week. We weren't very good at giving Karter the money to put in his bank so I think he ended up with 17 cents. It's so cute to see the guy that you fell in love with turn into a dad. Karl is such a softie when it comes to things like this.


(Karter could rival Napoleon Dynamite in a shoe contest! Brit gave him these cowboy boots and they are still a few sizes too big but he wears them everywhere. He switches off between his cowboy boots and his irrigating boots. Oh dear...good thing we live in Idaho.)

Karter had picked out a different bike the week before but when he saw this one there was no looking back. He had hit the jackpot!! He tells people it's his
"motor-scycle bike bicyle". He LOVES to show it to everyone that will let him and he has to demonstrate how fast it will go.

I love how it keeps him busy and tires him out all at the same time!!

I did it...I finally took the plunge, let go of some of my pride and did something I told myself I would never do...never!!

I bought a minivan(sorry Patty Lou).

Can I just tell you how much I LOVE this thing?!!!

Karl brought it home for me on Saturday after a long three week search. I set a very strict budget that Karl kept trying to get around...he also tried to get around buying the car I had requested. He kept sending me pics of crossover SUV's telling me that their gas mileage was pretty good and telling me how much he didn't want a minivan.

I stuck to my guns, pouted a little :) and of course got what I want. Aren't husbands fabulous!!!





Seriously I can't believe I waited this long to get one. Who wouldn't want doors that open at a touch of a button, seats with ample space in between that my kids will never have to be tempted to touch each other and of course the real reason I wanted it...the gas mileage with seating for seven. Oh I am in Heaven!!! This makes up for the yucky Mother's Day I had (I still have some training to do with Karl).

Hooray for minivans!!!!

Dieting is for the birds I'm going to be a hippo!!

Haha...not really but it sure would be fun for a day or two.

A few days ago Karter filled his dump truck up with dirt and decided it needed a new home on the garage floor. Now this is no small dump truck...it's one of those large metal ones that can fit a small child. Needless to say I have a TON of dirt in the garage.

Well...Hudson decided to add to the mess by taking the lid of his sippy cup and dumping water all over the dirt. Dirt + water = muddy mess!

I didn't see him do this but when I walked around the corner he was down on all fours DRINKING the muddy water!! He was having a good ole time. Gosh that kid. He will eat anything...seriously AnYtHiNg!!!





I love those two little boys but man is it ever a full time job with overtime hours added on to keep the house looking half way decent. I clean every day and you wouldn't know it if you came to my house past 10 am.

Tonight for FHE we did a lesson on chores and being "Happy Helpers" (can you guess who was in charge of the lesson?). We talked about how when you are asked to do something you do it with a smile on your face, no whining and fits involved. We showed Karter how to vacuum, sweep and dust. He did so good!

Meanwhile Hudson figured out how to take his diaper off and peed on the table Karter was dusting. Good grief!!

Then after teaching Karter that we do things when we are asked. Karl and I debated over who got to clean up the pee. Hmm...better work on the "leading by example" rule.

This is one of the kiddos favorite spots. The cupboard with the broken lazy susan. I can often find them in the kitchen unloading all the canisters that belong in there and climbing in.

Ahh...to be a child.

Well...April has come and gone and I didn't hit my 30 pound goal. I have lots of excuses and a few of them are really good ones but I will spare you the details. I haven't given up though. I just got out of the grove of things.

I put on some of my summer clothes (the two nice days we have had this year) and they were too BIG!!! Hooray!!. I was staring in my closet this morning and I told Karl I wanted new clothes he said "me too". I told him I needed another month to work on my goal and then I will go summer clothes shopping.

Now...Karl has been one of my number one problems the past six weeks. He has become a brownie addict. He makes them atleast once a week. And they are delicious!! Karl can make a mean pan of brownies. The problem is he makes them after the kiddos are in bed, eats one while we watch a movie and then leaves them at home with ME the next day. Urr...if it's in front of me I have no self control. I have thrown them away a few times and then Karl comes home and asks where they are. I'd rather say they are in the garbage instead of saying I ate them.

I am thinner but mostly in the bra department. I think I lost 18 pounds in my chest and 1 in my face. When I see people I haven't see in a while they always comment on my hair. It drives me bonkers!! They say "oh wow your hair has gotten so long." In my head I think "my hair! Look at the size of my butt! It's shrunk!!"

I saw a guy the other day at a meeting that we used to go to church with. He didn't recognize me until I told him who I was. Then I got brave and said "I lost 19 pounds maybe I look a little different" do you know what he said "No I think it's your hair. It's lighter and longer than it used to be." Suck!!!

Oh well. Wish me luck. I still have 11 pounds to go...12 on a bad day. I need some motivation. So if you have any to spare send it this way.