Friends Forever...Abby's visit

This is Abby.

One of Madie's best friends in the whole world.

I have pictures of them when they are two digging in the dirt at the park, swimming in our backyard and having family night together at the lake.

The only problem for them is...Abby lives in CA and Madie lives in CO!

Well, last week their worlds came together.

Abby was here for a nationwide volleyball tournament and Madie's team was participating too!

They got to spend three days of moments here and there talking and smiling.

I am so grateful for friends who raise their daughters to be kind and accepting. Abby is so wonderful to Madison, and Madie loves having a friend like her.

Madison and I have both been very blessed to have amazing friends to share our lives with.

I love Madie and her cute friend Abby!

Look who is home...

from the Dominican Republic!! Our A.J.!

Dad and Easton headed to the airport Saturday night to pick up A.J..

After they walked out the door, Madie began to cry.

I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm sure A.J. would have wanted us all there to pick him up."

All the little girls followed her lead, and in five minutes we were loaded in the car and off to the airport, sign and camera in tow.

This is what we found when we got there...

Welcome Home A.J.!! We sure missed you!

Fire and Ice

How is it possible to come into direct contact with FIRE and ICE in one day?

Well, there are probably many different ways if you are creative or are watching a show in Las Vegas, but for us (just simpletons), it doesn't happen often.

However, Thursday we managed both.

We had gone to the mountains to be with cousins over Spring Break ( that post will come later with pictures), and on our way home we encountered a mini-BLIZZARD.

As we are driving, and crying (just me), the snow started with just a few beautiful flakes, into a complete white-out!

Side-note on the crying: I hadn't slept all night, I had only one contact in, the windshield wipers were in poor condition and I had two, very bald back tires. NOT the ideal situation.

Fortunately, Madie talked me through it. Pretty sad when the 13-year-old is the voice of reason.

Then the FIRE...

As we were driving in these wonderful mountain conditions, we get a phone call from one of Madie's friends telling us that our neighborhood has been given a mandatory evacuation notice!!

Apparently, there was a fire that had started earlier in the day 3 1/2 miles South of us, and they had issued a mandatory evacuation notice for 8500 homes.

Seriously CRAZY!

Let me just say, that other than dogs that we love, pictures, documents and journals...we have nothing of great value in our home. I had all of the children with me (except A.J. who was in the Dominican Republic, post later) and John had gone home to get the dogs, so we were doing ok in that department.

The snow eventually lifted as we came down the mountains, and the winds changed by the time we arrived home, so tragedy for us was avoided.

I just want to say that I am grateful for the peace that comes with being prepared. I am somewhat of an organized person, and mostly that just gets me a lot of grief from my children when we are working on "projects." But Thursday, everyone had rooms that were together so they could tell their dad where to look for their "one thing" to bring with us in case of a fire. The documents were all stored safely together in a binder that John could grab at a moment's notice. And the 72-hour kits were good to go in the car straight from a garage shelf (maybe with some stale food,) but nonetheless, ready to go.

I guess those projects do pay off sometimes!

Exciting times here on Spring Break! I can't wait to hear A.J.'s stories of missionary work and baseball in the Dominican Republic in a few hours.

Sick days

This is the little one I took care of today.

We usually look after each other everyday while we run errands, exercise, prepare dinner, clean, fold lots of laundry, play games and read.

But today, we only did a few things, because little Annie was sick.

We tried to teach exercise, but only made it about 20 minutes, before moms in the room (who are much smarter than me) decided it was time for us to go.

Good choice.

We headed home where Annie had medicine, a warm bubble bath, lots of cuddling and a long nap.

I love days like today.

I get so far behind on our regular stuff, but I get to cuddle on the couch without guilt. I get to have the chance to play a very challenging game of Connect Four, and I think Toy Story 3 actually ran twice.

After Annie got up, she brought me her littlest baby, all swaddled by her (which was actually very impressive) and asked me to keep her "safe."

I love the opportunity to keep these beautiful children "safe."

Safe from the world. Safe from danger. Safe from feeling alone. Safe from being sick without someone to watch over them.

I hope that she will feel better soon, but if not, I will take the down time, just the two of us.

Brooke's Broken Bone

"One of these things is not like the other!"

The day before New Year's Eve, we had a little snow.

Now when I say a "little" snow, this time I mean it. There may have been a couple inches of beautiful white stuff. I suppose when you have had virtually no snow, two inches seems like enough snow to jump off the side deck into a "snowdrift."

Fortunately for Ellie, that was true.

For Brooke, not so much.

This is what happened to Brooke when she decided that it was a great idea to jump off into the white (but not soft) ground below.

If you look very closely on the big bone, near the bottom, you can see a nice hairline fracture. This picture was taken after six weeks of wearing the lovely boot below. The fracture has healed from the ends, but the middle is still mending.

I know that she is smiling.

I am smiling taking the picture of her waiting to get the go-ahead to take this boot off, but let's just say that I would not recommend jumping off any deck, into any amount of fluffy stuff below.

Brooke is still healing, we now have a very expensive boot in our closet complete with gorgeous knee-highs, and some very nice copays to pay.

Blindsided...

Do you ever feel like you are just blindsided by life?

I have certainly had some experiences like this on a grand scale, but the last few days, I have just felt it on a small, quiet scale.

I just feel like what I do is just never good enough to satisfy my sense of accomplishment.

I have wonderful moments of confidence as I watch two of my girls help each other to achieve simple tasks like homework, picking up their room or making their beds.

Then the moment is shattered five minutes later as they argue over what stool at the counter was sat in first.

It is like, "Look what you are accomplishing...kind girls who love each other and are working so well together."

To, "What are you thinking? Why are your children arguing over something so petty?"

It is like that saying, "One step forward, and two steps backward."

It is not just the kids either.

I feel this way as I finish a great lesson with the Sunbeams. We have a great day with lots of fun and learning. They are singing the songs, coloring their pages and loving the fun activity for the lesson. All is well, then I walk to the car, climb in the seat, and wonder to myself, "Did they feel the Spirit? Could I have done better in preparing?"

I actually got up this morning, (which is usually the perfect time, just before I begin to wake everyone) when I am so excited for the day. I am filled with ideas of morning conversations, what fun ways can we try on the girls' hair, and so much more.

But this morning...nothing. Just that same numbness that I went to bed with. A sort of sadness that I just wasn't doing everything good enough.

That is how I felt as I sat waiting for Brooke to finish her piano lesson. I thought to myself, "I could do better with her piano playing. I could sit with her more, and teach her more." I didn't let myself remember all the time I did spend with her, by her side, helping her with new pieces. I didn't allow myself to remember that I waited to wake her while I went over her pieces myself, so that I could better coach her through them.

Then I began to help Ellie to finish her spelling and math for the week. As we went through each first grade spelling word on the list I began to critique myself again. "Is she doing well? How does she get perfect scores on her spelling tests every week with a mom like me helping her?"

Even as I sit here and type, tears stream down my face. Why?

I got everyone off to school with lunches, jackets, completed homework and a prayer. That is when I started to ask myself, " Why am I letting such feelings of self-doubt creep in? I KNOW where that sort of self-talk comes from...so why am I letting it affect me so much."

No answer.

I decided to sit down with Annie and finish a bracelet order for a current company purchase order. Thirty bracelets to go. Not overwhelming, not difficult, but this was not a normal Laura day.

Those thirty bracelets took twice as long.

That in itself was not the answer. Sitting there, next to Annie, accomplishing something on the must-do list, did not bring the peace I needed.

We had decided to put on a movie. Nothing looked good, so we went with the channel it was on.

The Blind Side.

Here was a movie about an extraordinary mother.

She was feisty, but amazing!

She saw a child who needed a mother, and she did exactly that.

As I watched this movie, I began to think about my life. The sadness started to move out of my heart, and the joy seemed to slowly find its' way back in.

I am doing the best I can. Heavenly Father knows my heart, and knows me personally. My Savior loves me and is my greatest cheerleader. He loves each of us. Even those of us who feel inadequate in everything they do.

I love my life. I don't love the times I feel like I am not enough, but then I remember...I am enough. I love my children, my husband, my family, my 3 year olds, my friends, the Savior and people I don't even know personally. I am so blessed. Blessed with the successes and the needed improvements.

Thanks for the reminder...tomorrow I will try again...I will look for the rainbow of blessings...and succeed.

We Love Daddy!

**First of all, sorry for the sad picture, but it was the best we had for this lovely note.

Daddies.

Don't we just love them?

They take care of us, work so hard for us, and worry about taking care and working so hard for us.

Our daddy is tired.

This week was a very long work week, and then was accompanied by lots of busy activities to run this big family after work.

There was a Pinewood Derby car to help finish, books to be listened to and read, lots of driving, and even more encouraging and coaching.

It was exhausting as the mom, and I didn't have my boss in town (well kinda, but he was too busy to care what I accomplished.)

I didn't know the ins and outs of making the Varsity baseball team or the driving locations for tournaments and scrimmages.

I am now very tired too, but I don't want this week to end without telling the love of my life, THANK YOU!

Thank you for supporting us, loving us and being here for us.

I am in total agreement with Brooke's little note she gave him recently, "I love you with all my heart. I will never ever let you go!"

Eternity is a looooong time and I can't wait to spend it with you!

Basketball for 2011...CHECK

We had five kiddos playing basketball this year.

Ellie played rec ball, Easton and Brooke played for the Hawks, Madison played for her junior high and A.J. and Madie played some church ball.

Lots of games, lots of points, and even some fouls.

It is always great cheering the kids on. I love basketball. Back in the day, John and I could play some hoop. Not professionally or anything...not by a long shot, but we loved playing.

It was fun to have so many playing, (ok...I wouldn't jump right to fun you have five games in 4 hours) but it was great!

It even provides some memorable moments. Like watching little sisters cheer on their brothers. Or watching John jump in and help the coaches.

Even Annie, who wasn't even playing, had a cute moment.

Last week, Madison had her final tournament for her school's A team. The day before, she had her last game at her school. I got Annie all ready and we headed over. When we got there the game had started so Annie and I quickly found a seat on the bleachers. As we sat there, Annie cheered for Madie, played on my phone and began to make friends with the girls who were from the other school who were waiting to play the next game. She was so cute as she told them that Madie was her sister, that their hair was pretty and showing them a game on the phone.

Then the moment...as the game started to wrap up the other girls decided to get ready to warm-up. They all got up and headed down the bleachers. Annie stood up, smile on her sweet face, and yelled, "Good luck!" The girls loved it! They all waved and told her, "Thanks Annie!"

It was hilarious and so cute!

We have loved this season and are on to the next. Here comes high school baseball, more competitive volleyball, junior high track and field, lacrosse and swim team.

I am so grateful to have the chance to support the kids in their different talents.

Sometimes it is really easy to focus on the things that need work.

There are reading, phonics, fluency and times tables. Not to mention, missing socks, whining about homework and piano and midnight visits from kids who don't want to sleep in their own beds.

But sometimes, it is just nice to watch your children succeed at something that comes naturally to them.

It makes a mother's heart smile!