Because I Had Children

When I was a younger mother and my children were much smaller, I had several people regularly tell me they thought I had too many activities going on with each of my children.  I felt like I had everything under control, but apparently I looked like I didn't.  I felt like I was able to get everything in; my church calling, my homemaking responsibilities, volunteer activities, "me" time, plus get my kids to their piano lessons, sports practices and other extracurricular events.  I never once felt like I had taken on too much.  But, I felt like I was constantly having to stand up for myself and prove that I was doing it all and I was doing it just fine.  Never once did I feel overworked or stressed out to the point that I couldn't handle my hectic schedule.  (OK, let's be honest, I had my days, but they were relatively few and far between.) Until this summer happened. I have never felt so overworked and exhausted as I have the last two months.  It ac...

I took the kids to the park today even though it wasn't ideal weather.  I hate being cold and we had to wear jackets and it was so windy.  I sat on the park bench and huddled up, but the weather did not stop my children from taking off their shoes and socks to play in the sand.  They were desperate to play with their buckets and shovels I gave them for Valentines Day.  It got me thinking about how serious I am about getting my exercise in every day or at least most every day and how grateful I am that they are seeing my good example of fitness.  But, am I doing enough to show my kids how important it is to take care of their own bodies? Sometimes my children won't even walk a few blocks to go to their friend's house to play, they are always asking me for a ride.  What is up with that?  They complain about having to walk to and from school and it is merely around the corner from our house too.  I have been so tempted to tell them about how I had ...

Can you tell what is on my mind lately?  Yes.  Exercise.  I'm in a weight loss challenge and doing all right.  I'm 13th this week coming from not even in the top 20 last week.  I need to kick it in gear if I want to get into the top 7 by Monday and that will be the half way point.  But that is neither here nor there.  Today I want to talk about one way I think exercise is more fun...and that is with a partner. Overnight hike for girl's camp while pregnant with #8 in 2009 I have lots of training partners, but my favorite is this one, my husband.  We have lots of fun together, hiking, running, and walking. He is my most favorite work out partner, but not because we always do it together, but because he supports me.  When I want to go running at 4 in the afternoon, he does mom duty for an hour or so so I can have my time.  I love it.  He supports me by joining races or even just keeping the kids for two days straight so I can do m...

Exercise is an important part of my life.  My dad has struggled with heart problems for 12 years now.  He had his first heart attack in his 50's.  That is only a few short years from where I am and it has me constantly on guard as to how to better take care of my heart, not only through exercise, but diet as well. Exercise has always been a fundamental part of my life since I was a kid.  I played church softball, volleyball and basketball since junior high.  I ran track, played basketball and was a cheerleader in high school.  I have always remained very active mostly because I am just not a sedentary person, there is just too much to do to spend it sitting on a couch watching t.v. I played team sports, water skiied, repelled, did a lot of walking with friends as I got older and kept myself busy playing with the kids enough that I never felt the need to really "exercise."  That is, until that one day when I broke my ankle back in the summer of 2004...

I am so selfish. You see, I am not that great with little children.  Don't get me wrong, I love them, I'm just not patient enough to be the kind of mother I wish I was.  Ok, maybe it isn't that I'm not that great with them, I just don't really enjoy them as much as I would like to.   I'm better with other people's little kids because I only spend a few minutes with them at a time.  I'm so sick of the snotty noses, the crying, the whining, the diaper changing, blah, blah, blah, blah.  It just really isn't fun to me.  Ironic that I've had eight of them, isn't it? On the other hand, even though I'm not a big hugger, I love to kiss and love all over my sweet babies.  I love their wet kisses and their hugs.  I love when I ask, "Who do you love?" and they answer "Mom!"  I love it when I go into their rooms in the morning to wake them up and they are so happy to see me that they practically jump out of bed and into my arm...

As you can tell from the last family picture above, I don't like to do things too ordinary.  I like to live life big...huge even.  So, this is my request to you, my beloved readers.  I need to get my graduation picture done soon so it can be included in my Christmas/New Years/Valentine card (depending on when I actually get around to mailing it).  I need your thoughts and suggestions because this needs to be epic.  The photo shoot could include just me or me, Ben and the kids, or me and my family and my parents.  Lots of options.  We will all be wearing maroon/gold and I will be in my cap and gown.  I would like it to be on ASU's campus somewhere so that it is obvious where we are.  Think about props, poses, location, etc. Ready?  Go.   I'm waiting.  Literally. I'm sitting at my computer right now waiting to hear what you have to say about this.  Think of something and get back to me. Note:  I do not want to ever en...

I know I just blogged recently about setting goals, but since I found this contest and wanted to enter, I figure I'll share some of my bucket list items with you.  I have tons, but here are my top 15: 1.  Graduate College.  I know, I've already talked about this one, but I can't wait to cross it off my list!  7 weeks and counting... 2.  Serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints .  I have the potential to send off 7 more missionaries before I can go, but I will do it.  It will be awesome to serve with Ben. 3.  Hike the Grand Canyon.  We keep planning a summer trip, but babies, missionaries, time constraints and money have kept us from our goal.  I want to do it soon so that I can helicopter my dad and mom in to stay with us then helicopter them out. 4.  Learn to play the harp.  I really want to take lessons, but buying the harp is the expensive part.  Guitar is my second choice and I might ...

It bothers me when people don't know when I am being sarcastic or not.  When I'm talking to you face to face, it should be fairly obvious by my facial expression, hand gestures, tone of voice, etc.  I struggle with the written word and how to use sarcasm appropriately when I write.  So, a few months/years ago (I have no idea when), I invented the sarcasm meter for Facebook.  Yes, I did.  I wish I would have patented it or sold my idea to Mark Zuckerberg because maybe I would be rich today, but oh well. Here is how it works.  If you are saying something extremely sarcastic, you should put a (5) at the end of said statement.  If you are completely serious but are concerned that your comment may be taken sarcastically, then you put a (0) at the end.  Obviously, if you are somewhere in the middle, you can choose numbers 1-4 to show your level of sarcasm. While I find that I am pretty good at sarcasm, I realize that sometimes it can be taken wrong ...

My dad, Drew and Skylar Several of my friends confirmed it today on Facebook so it must be true.  Now I wish I had a picture of me being the cool mom so I had proof.  I will let the sunburn on my arms and neck be my witness to those that see me. I went golfing today with two of my boys and their Grandpa.  Poor hubs had to work today and well, someone had to do it.  I'm just happy they asked me.  Maybe I have always been cool to them and I just didn't know it. Ben asked me to go golfing with him when Drew was just a baby.  I went and fell in love with the game that very day.  Of course, it doesn't hurt that lots of people think Ben looks just like Phil Mickelson and I think he is a hottie.  But, I knew (hoped) that ahead of me were many long years of pregnancies and nursing babies.  I told him that I had so much fun, I knew it would be an activity we could do together after I was done with kids so I could actually spend some time enjoyi...