Fall Conference

Today was general conference- one of my favorite times of the year.  We cooked a big turkey dinner and all the trimmings.  It was a lot of work!  I think next time we'll just toss in a frozen lasagna.  The talks were wonderful.  I choked back tears as I listened.  The Spirit touched me and whispered to my soul some things I can and must do better in my life.

We invited Andy and Carter to join us, as they usually do on Sundays.   Mark took the opportunity to teach and testify to them, as he usually does.  He has a gift of reaching people.  He is so wise.  He is so good.  During the second session, we snuggled on the couch and listened to the speakers.  I closed my eyes as the warm autumn sunlight shone through the windows, my head on his chest and his arms around me.  I reflected on the happiness of it all.  The joy of the Gospel.  The Savior and His love for us.  Families and the eternal links that bind us.

Last night we were visiting next-door while all the guys attended the Priesthood Session.  Tiffany said the funniest thing.  She talked about President Samuelson (of BYU) getting released as a general authority.  She said when she heard that news, her first thought was, "Maybe Mark will be the next President of BYU!"  She said it with such seriousness that it took all of my strength to hold the laughs in.  Later when I told Mark we laughed and laughed.  He was quite flattered and I agreed that it was a nice compliment.

Rachel faithfully took notes on all the talks today.  She is amazing.  She is stalwart and virtuous and strong.  Linc is not too far behind her.  He is a good boy, his friendship and example may be what saves Andy.  I really could not ask for better kids, I feel so very blessed.

  Our baby turns four this week.  We told her that we are not having any of it.  We want her to turn two instead.  She said, "Mommy, you turn what you turn and you don't throw a fit".  I told her I might throw a fit anyway and she said, "Just go down to the baby store a get another baby- I am turning four!"

Life is good.

A Typical Sunday

Today marks the day of a new start with this little blog of mine.
Today I begin to write just for me.
I can brag about the amazingness of my three joys and not even think twice about it.
I can share the most intimate desires of my heart, complain if I feel like it or just write boring stuff that no one else would really care to read.  This is going to be great!

Today is Sunday.
It was a good Sunday.
Mark started at 6:00 am as he does most weeks.  Tonight he got home at 8:45 and announced that he was done for the day and that he would now be taking off his tie.
He is a rock, my Mark.
I love him.
He is absolutely true.

The twins taught their Sunday school class today.  Their teacher, Brother Oliver, asked me to substitute for him and so naturally I assigned Lincoln and Rachel to teach the lesson.  They were fantastic!  They tag teamed it like old pro's.  They engaged all the other kids, asked thoughtful questions, validated class comments, they were just so great.  At one point, kids were sharing personal experiences about a time when they each felt the Spirit.  A few of them got emotional.  Lincoln said to the class, "Feel that?"  "Feel that peaceful, good feeling we have in the room right now?'' "That's the Spirit"  Devin related that a new boy moved in next-door to him.  He said he felt prompted to introduce himself and invite the new boy to walk to school with him.  He talked about how good he felt about reaching out to the new boy.  Rachel then commented, "Devin, I'll bet he really appreciates having such a nice kid like to you welcome him here and be his friend".  She was so sweet.

We came home and had out usual Sunday dinner and Lincoln invited Carter and Andy to join us.  Mark had them go downstairs and do a Duty to God and then report back to him.  They did great.  Mark is trying hard to teach them what it means to be a priesthood man.

Our little Sam Girl played dress up all afternoon.  She went from one outfit to the next.  She brings us plenty of smiles!

Now it is time to close the day.
How blessed I feel.

Kimberly

Sami:  (Handing me a piece of paper written on and cut out) Sing this.
Me: What do you mean?
Sami:  Sing this, just read the music.
Me: (Upon closer look, she had drawn music notes!)  Sam!  You wrote music!  Sami!  You're brilliant! And she is.  She. Really. Is.

Saying Goodbye Is Hard To Do

Well today I got out the old laptop and dusted off my blog.  I have a hundred things to write about.  A hundred things that have been floating around in my head, only to be placed on a shelf until that magical day arrives.  You know the day I'm talking about, the one loaded with time and nothing to do but write.

 But days keep ticking by, turning themselves into weeks and then months and still THAT day never seems to get here.  Things I want to remember about this season of life seem to quietly melt into days gone by.  My patriarchal blessing specifically tells me to keep a journal so that I can hand it to my grandchildren for their learning and benefit.  So with that being the real goal of writing, I have made an unusual decision.

I am turning this blog private.  Private as in just for me.  I want to climb into bed at night, type a few thoughts down, upload a picture or two of the day's events and keep this blog as a personal journal.  Every once in a while, I'll get it printed into a book to save for those little red-headed grandchildren that will start arriving in about 15 years or so.

Saying goodbye is hard to do and I want to thank you for taking the time to read.  I have loved your comments, advice, and most of all, your friendship.  Keep posting on your own blogs!  I love hearing about your adventures and I will remain a fan.

Your friend,
Kimberly

The High Price of Parenting

We all know what Mr. Save For A Rainy Day would do with roughly $7,880.00.

But what Could a girl like me do with that kind of mullah?

Make a decent down payment on a brand new one of theses babies?
Did you know that the new Acura MDX pushes the luxury SUV to new levels of refinement?  With its super handling all wheel drive, a plethora of luxury appointments, and room for SEVEN, and their gear???

Sadly, no that's not what I did with the cash.

Take the entire family on a magical vacation aboard Disney's New Dream Ship?  Where all our needs will be anticipated and carefully attended to- where we will eat ourselves sick, sunbathe, swim, snorkel and explore- basically, have the experience of a lifetime on the high seas with Mickey & Company?

Nope, unfortunately, regrettably, distressingly, this was not an option either.

How about a visit to my favorite place for home furnishings .......

Oh Pottery Barn how I lovey you....  

But (sigh, sniffle, weep)  it was not meant to be.

No new car, fabulous vacation or beautiful new furniture.

Instead, 7,880.00 was our portion of the 15,760.00 original bill, (choke) that bought exactly:

2 sets of braces (4,500 x 2), 

two retainers (190. x 2), 

2 Maryland Bridges to hold in place the new teeth the dentist had to make to put in place of the missing teeth that never grew in (3,100 x 2).

Warning-- vent coming on...

*HONESTLY, did they both have to be missing the same teeth in the same spots??? I mean really, where did that come from, Mark and I both have all of our teeth--- SHEESH.*

Thank you, I'm done now.

And finally, two new retainers to go with the new teeth. (190. x 2 again).

And that my friends, is what a girl like me did with 7,880.00.

PS, recent dental x-rays show that the little one in the middle does indeed have all her future teeth.

Can I get a Hallelujah?! 

The Magic Spell of Love

Mom.
Mother.
Mommy.
Mama.

Those words mean love.
Love in its strongest, most tenacious, unyielding, purest form.

The first moment you look at your child, Heaven reaches down and casts a magic spell over your soul.
You fall so intensely deep in love, that you have a super natural ability to withstand nights of
no sleep, messy diapers, spit-up, a diaper bag that could double as a mid-size piece of luggage and a waist line that is never quite the same.

That love stays with you as you learn how to deal with tantrums at the store, potty accidents, snotty noses and vomit at 2:00 am.  It swells and grows as you read bedtime stories, watch them run, play, laugh and learn to pray.  

Motherly love overrules that urge to make them change clothes because the ones they picked out don't match and celebrate accomplishments like putting their own shoes on, even if they end up on the wrong feet.

It's the kind of love that leads you to sob when they go off to kindergarten and then 3rd grade and then jr. high.

It brings tears to your eyes when they hand you a homemade card or Christmas ornament or ask you to snuggle at the end of a long day or lie on the green grass and look at the stars together.

It causes your heart to ache and weep when they strike out in a big moment or get left out by their friends.  You wish you could take away the pain of not making a team or ease the sadness of being rejected by a first crush.

Sometimes they do things that disappoint you.
Sometimes you do or say things that you regret but that certain strain of love, wraps itself so tightly around your heart,  you are moved to humbly apologize and ask for  forgiveness.

You find yourself with the uncanny ability to give them the benefit of the doubt.  Every. Single. Time.  You see the best in them, ALWAYS.

You have your Mother Bear Moments and understand when other Mother Bears have theirs.

You see the goodness of their hearts like no one else, even their dad. And while you treasure the memories of childhood, you can't wait to see what's around the next corner.

And the best thing about this unique, extraordinary, unparalleled kind of love?
It never ends.

It evolves and grows and expands.

And someday, you hope to have a front row seat when someone places a little piece of heaven in your child's arms and the magic spell of love begins again.

Chicks Dig Him

Well...
Apparently Chicks really do dig scrawny, pale guys-
and
Dudes with cute little sisters.

Congratulations on the election, Linc!
You'll be an awesome great 8th grade Senator.

Three Cheers For Rachel!

A couple of years ago Rachel came to us and announced that she would like to be a cheerleader when she got to jr. high.  An older sister of a friend had just made the squad and boy did it ever look like fun.

I was a little surprised.  Ballet is her first love and that is where all her focus had been.  But she persisted.
So, reluctantly, I signed her up for a Saturday morning tumbling class.  When she arrived the first day of class, they separated the girls into skill levels.  Rach could do a cartwheel and a round-off.  So she was placed in the beginning level.

The problem?  All the other girls except one were half her size and half her age. She came home that first day feeling embarrassed and a bit humiliated.   We asked her if she was sure this was something she wanted to do.  She thought about it and then repeated a line that she had heard a well loved scout master say, "Don't trade what you want now for what you want most".

Those words became her mantra, her theme, her words to live by.  Week after week she pulled herself out of bed to get to class.  Progress was slow.  Younger girls were quickly moved to a more advanced class while Rachie struggled to do a back-walkover and then a standing back handspring.

Rachel is the first one to raise her hand and admit that she is not naturally flexible.  Her toe touches were not pretty and her splits were nowhere near flat.  But she was determined.  "Don't trade what you want now for what you want most", she muttered to herself every time she felt like sleeping in on a Saturday.

She also began a serious habit of stretching before bed each night.  She did push-ups to help her tumbling.  She wrote messages to herself on the bathroom mirror and on the whiteboard in her bedroom.
Those messages said:
I can do this!
I am strong!
I am a cheerleader!

She studied out scriptures for help and fasted on Fast Sundays.  She wrote on her mirror, "If I do my part, He will do His".

Time passed and improvement was noted.  This year for her birthday, all she asked for was some private lessons to help her nail the round-off back-handspring.

By the time tryouts rolled around last week, she felt ready to give it her best shot.  She used her own money to buy cheer shoes and some new clothes for tryouts.  She went to the clinics and then home to practice until bedtime.  She knew odds were against her as they only take 2 or 3 seventh graders but she stayed focused on the goal.  Mark and I were out of town on her big week, so my sisters stepped in to deliver moral support.

The day of tryouts she went before the judges and did her very best.  She called me when it was over and said, "Mom, if I don't make it, I won't feel bad because I will know that I did every single thing I could have done".

I think she meant those words.  She truly had done every thing she could have possibly done and that's all you can ask of yourself.

Last Thursday we gathered at the school for the big announcement.  Tensions were high and butterflies were plentiful.  We sat there with hearts racing and fingers crossed.  One by one, the current cheerleaders gave a cheer for each girl who made it.

The #5 spot went to Rachel!  (assembly video below)
It was a rewarding moment to see all that hard work pay off.
A real life lesson that anyone can do anything that they put their mind and heart to.

So, three cheers for Rachel.
Three cheers for determination.
Three cheers not trading in what you want now for what you want most.

Hip Hip Hooray!
Hip Hip Hooray!
Hip Hip Hooray!

See Sam Chapter 11

See Sam.
Sam has a favorite game.
The name of Sam's favorite game is Hide and Seek.

Oh how Sam loves to play Hide and Seek.

"I will count and you hide," says Sam to her family.

"One
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven-teen
twelve-teen
thirteen
fourteen
fifteen
sixteen
seventeen
eighteen
nineteen
twenty-teen!"

Sam can count to twenty-teen!

Sam is good at finding Buddah.
Sam is good at finding Issy.
Sam is also good at finding Mom & Dad.

But you know what Sam is BEST at?
Sam is best at hiding.

It's not so easy to find Sam.

She tricks almost everyone in her family.

                                   

"Where is Sam?"
"Where could she be?" Sam's family wonders.
The best way to find Sam is by listening for her giggles, otherwise it is EXTREMELY hard to find her.

One day Sam taped up her favorite hiding spot to make it even harder to find.

 Oh, the places Sam finds to hide.

So clever is Sam, that sometimes she just cracks herself up.

Sam has so much fun playing hide and seek.
And as long as Sam doesn't decide to play hide and seek at the store again, Mom likes to play too.

Happy, playful, silly, Sam.

The Essence of Thirteen-ness

Today is a crossroads of sorts.
Today is a turning point and a defining moment.

Today, these precious bundles of sweetness will officially become teenagers.

The day they were born was the happiest day of my life up to that point.
After five long years of waiting, hoping, wishing, longing, I became a mother.
There is no other joy like it.
There is no other love quite like it.
They captured me, heart and soul.

And you know what?
Thirteen years later, I can still stay that I have never gotten over the thrill of having these two.
They are not perfect kids, but they are the perfect kids for me.

I wanted to find a way to preserve their personalities, their thoughts, the essence of their thirteen-ness today so that as they continue to grow and change, I can remember what thirteen was like.

The other day I ran into a mom who's son is a classmate of Lincoln & Rachel's. She asked me if I had seen what the twins had posted on the class website.  When I went home and read these couple of paragraphs, I knew that their own words would do more to remind me who they are, than mine ever could.

Each week the teacher poses a question and the kids have to respond.
Here are their words:

Question for week #7
If you had to give a gift to someone, who would you give it to and what would it be?

Rachel:  I would give a gift to my cousin Lauren.  She has Down Syndrome.  She is so cute!  My gift would be that she wouldn't be treated differently than other kids.  Even though she might talk and act differently than other kids, she is the sweetest little girl I have ever met.  I wish people would never be mean to her or make fun of her.  I look up to her so much!  She is only eight and yet she has had open heart surgery.  I am glad that she is special because she has taught me to be a better person and to be grateful for the many things that I have.  I love you Lauren!!!!  Thank you.

Lincoln:  I would give my beloved sister a mall.  Yes, a mall.  She loves clothes, accessories, the boys she could meet at the mall, the whole shabang!!!  She is such a great sister and I love her.

Rachel:  Thank you Link!  You're the bestest friend I have!  You are an amazing person and I really look up to you.  I love you and always will.  I would love a mall!  That would be pretty sweet!!  You know me too well!  You are one in a million, thank you.

Love for others.  Malls and clothes.  Accessories and boys.  (In all fairness, we should include girls on this list for Linc, but as part of the Motherly Code of Conduct I will refrain from elaborating at this time.)

But my favorite part of their thirteen-ness is the love they have for each other.  They are different in so many ways and yet the same in all the ways that count.  They really are the best of friends in an old married couple sort of way.

Welcome #13, I think we're going to get along just fine.

Happy Birthday my Twins.
I love you.

Grumpy New Year

Today is probably not the best day to get back on the blog bandwagon.
I'm grumpy, crabby and in an all around bad mood.

I stepped on the scales recently.
When those black squarish digital numbers popped up, my white jiggly, nearly nude self almost fell over.

Must be a low battery, I said out loud.
I kicked the thing, tapped the scale nicely with my foot, and tried again.

Same. Ugly. Numbers.

I yelled for Sami to come in.
She had just been to the doctor with double ear infections and they weighed her.

There it was, 33 pounds.
The same thing she weighed at the doctor.
My scales were accurate.

I shrieked in horror.

No, it was more like this...
I SHRIEKED IN HORROR!!

It turns out that all my favorite things about December
namely:
chocolates
cinnamon rolls
a jar of chocolate dipping sauce
pecan logs
fudge
dipped pretzels & marshmallows
snack mix drizzled with white chocolate
chocolate milk
carmel corn, popcorn balls---
All of those favorite things have decided to stay with me like a good Christmas memory should.
Yes, they have set up camp on my hips, thighs, stomach and that pesky spot underneath my arms.

Oh the agony of natural consequences.

No, more like this:

OHHHH THE AGONY OF NATURAL CONSEQUENCES.


So yesterday, I took matters into my own pudgy little hands.
This is stopping TODAY, I declared to myself.

For the last 37 hours I have eaten zero treats.
I had a can of slightly dressed up tuna fish for lunch and a bowl of blueberries for a snack.
I completed day one of an extreme exercise program that has left me unable walk, lift or breathe.

Thus, the grumpy, crabby, (completely justified), all around bad mood.

*Note to family*
Today would not be a good day to leave socks or wet towels on the floor or try to avoid practicing piano.

My bright spot is that I happen to be married to a sweetheart of a man who has agreed to go through the next 90 days right by my side.  He called home at lunchtime yesterday and we commiserated over our cans of tuna.  Last night we wrapped our sore muscles around each other and fell asleep.  Tonight we'll rendezvous with weights and chin-ups and try to make it through.  I am still on the fence about before and after photos but we'll see.

12 pounds is my goal.

Grumpy New Year Everyone.
From your ball of sunshine friend,