When does the mess end?

Messy, messy, messy. When does the mess end? How is it that whenever you get your kids all cleaned up and ready to go, or you just finish picking up the last toy in the living room is when they decide to get their messiest? Why is that? I sometimes feel like Mr. Incredible when he said, "I feel like the maid, I just cleaned up this mess. Can we keep it clean for 10 minutes?!" I love my children and I love being a mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything else but I would like to have a day where my hard work remains noticeable for at least 12 hours. I would like a day where I could check everything off my list and step back and sigh with a sense of completeness. A day when I could truly say all the chores are done and the rest of the day I'm free to play. Oh well, I guess I just have to continue to laugh about it and instead of getting upset ,take a picture so I can remember these messy moments. They won't be around forever and maybe one day I will start to miss the mess.

Sky High FHE

Today was a busy day! It was full of phone calls to lenders, visiting teaching, runs to the bank, more phone calls to lenders, making copies, printing home offer paperwork, laundry, dishes etc. It was good to be busy but at the same time it was really tiring. My favorite part of the day was when we all settled down and had Family Home Evening. It was so relaxing to sit around the table together and spend some quality time.
Tonight for family night we did a little craft project. I love crafts and I will do anything in my power to help my children learn the joys of being artistic and crafty. The great thing though was that it was all Dan's idea!
While Dan was away on business he happened to pick up some airplane model kits for the kids at an aerospace museum in Portland. He is such a good daddy and he lets us know that he thinks about us while he is away from home. Anyway, he decided to give one of the kits a try for a Family Home Evening activity. Kiera had the privilege of wearing mommy's beloved Red Sox t-shirt from her college days as a painting smock and went to town! She absolutely loved painting the larger pieces of Balsa wood, while mommy painted the smaller ones in a different color. Kiera chose her color herself. What better color than PINK! Dan held the pieces while Kiera painted away. I think more paint got on Kiera than the wood but she actually did a really good job!
Ethan was a little small for the activity but he kept busy in his high chair playing with some odd kitchen tools. Over all the activity was a success and the plane turned out really cute!

Gifts Revealed

So I am now unveiling my first 3 giveaways. The recipients have all received them so the secret is now out. The lucky winners were my dear friends Jenny, Kim H., and Kim L. Check out their blogs too! They each got a cute little box zipper pouch. I found the tutorial online and decided to give it a try. It was so fun that I had to keep going. Each was a little different and I used different fabric for another. They were way fun to make! Congratulations you three and I hope you enjoy them.

#2 and #3 pay it forward gifts completed!

I have finished two more of my pay it forward gifts. It feels so good to get things accomplished. Just two more to go! I have delivered one of those 3 gifts already so not too long and you all can see what was made. I just don't want to ruin the surprise for the others. Aren't you excited?

Pay It Forward gift #1 complete!

This will be a very short post but just wanted to say that today I finished my first pay it forward gift!
I won't reveal it quite yet since I don't know who is going to get it. But 4 more to go!
I love spring time!

May Day!

May is officially here! And the weather is just how it should be! Sunny Sunny Sunny. After breakfast the kids started out their day by going outside and doing what they do best. Getting dirty! The dirt seems to scream their names or maybe it is just screaming because Ethan is making a second breakfast out of it. Kiera's new love are the little creatures that she finds crawling around the yard. She is definitely her mother's daughter. Either way, the mess made for some fun pictures.

Sheriffs, Keys, String Cheese, and Prayer.

So today I am going to be writing a tale of a tale. I have had lots of time to myself this week, well I take that back. I have had almost NO time to myself this week. Dan has been out of town for work all week. The original plan was that he was to be back Tuesday night. Well, that scenario has changed multiple times and he is still not home. So lets just say I have been wanting some extra adult conversation lately and I have learned to relish the times during the day when the kids are napping. Hillary Weeks sums up my feelings best in her song "My Favorite Things." Check it out I think you'll love it.

Anyways, I will say I have had good moments as well. One of those moments was yesterday during visiting teaching. I was really good to get outside and spend some time with other moms and chat while the kids ran around and played at the park. It was a gorgeous day and the sun always cheers me up. I was able to talk and relieve some of the stress I had been feeling this week playing a single mom. Also this day was a day that I got to witness how some of the simplest things can teach you the greatest lessons.

When our visit was over and it was time to leave we all said our goodbyes and headed to the cars. Ethan and Kiera both got buckled in their seats and I went around to the Drivers side of my car to see where we were headed next, when Susan (name has been changed) had this look. This wasn't the look of someone who had just finished a good visit. Instead this was the look of a frustrated mother, 8 months pregnant, who had just been locked out of her car by her two year old son Ryker (name also changed). Apparently after she put her son in the car she closed the door before realizing her keys were still inside. But before she had the chance to retrieve them, Ryker kneeled on the key chain and triggered the lock button.

Now remember we had just spent about an hour at the park on a nice warm sunny day. Ryker had been wearing a fleece jacket since there was a cold breeze that morning. Now he is stuck in a hot car and he doesn't know how to unlock the doors. The windows were all rolled up and there was no way to get in. Susan tried to get Ryker to push the locks on the door up but he just didn't understand. She also tried to get him to push the buttons on her key chain but to no avail. It was so frustrating to watch and not be able to do anything. Ryker was getting hotter and hotter as time went by. Sweat was building on his nose, and then his entire face, and then his hair. It was pretty scary.

There was a Sheriff parked in the parking lot so we asked him if he could help. He had a slim jim in his trunk (probably from a previous arrest) and he tried using it to unlock the doors. It didn't work, so he went back to his trunk and pulled the wire hanger off of his extra uniform that looked like it had just come from the cleaners and tried to use that. Nothing worked. We were worried. I felt really bad for Susan who just had to stand there and listen to Ryker say over and over "mommy I want out" I was sure the stress was going to put her into labor and then oh boy! We'd really have a situation on our hands.

After another silent prayer and at just about the time I couldn't possibly handle it anymore Susan's husband pulled up in his car and pressed the button from their spare key! Whew! Ryker was soaked but was perfectly fine. The fleece jacket came off and he was free to walk around for a bit. He got in my car with Kiera and Ethan who I had been keeping happy with my stash of string cheese and he was happy as could be.

As that day went on I would think back to what had just happened and thoughts would keep coming to my head. Watching Ryker in that hot car, struggling and not being able to do anything to help or change the situation is probably a lot like what Heavenly Father feels like when we practice our agency and make wrong decisions that get us trapped in sticky situations. And watching Susan struggle and have to watch her son suffer in that hot car with no way to help him could be like our Heavenly Father watching his son Jesus Christ suffer for all of us in Gethsemane. It was a scary situation but at the same time it was a learning experience and a good reminder that Heavenly Father is aware of us and always has been.