Happy #60 Mom

My mom turned 60 on her birthday. My older sister knew we had to make the day special, so we planned a surprise party.

My older sister also teaches some sort of Math at a college level and so occasionally she acts us to fill out random questionnaires for statistics. This tactic worked well to figure out what we should serve for dinner and dessert.

We also had my little brother and sister use their gift of lying to get my parents to my sister's house. The story was that my little brother was headed somewhere and broke down close to my sister's house. So he called my dad for help. My dad was part of the lying party and used his best acting skills to act as if he was all put out that he had to help my brother. Somehow he convinced my mom to come along for the drive.

The grandkids were anxious for Grandma to arrive, as evidenced in the video below. My mom was also super surprised and was happy that we remembered her.

My sister also put together a little posterboard picture of how close we all are to the grave. It was kind of funny.

After dinner and dessert, we gave my mom her gifts. I gave her a video slideshow of her life. She thought it was pretty fun.

What Happens Next...

April's Adventures

And here's what happened the rest of April...

We start off with Tarzan. For some reason I decided to introduce Jace to the movie. I wasn't sure how he'd react, but it quickly became his favorite. He doesn't go a day without watching it now.

Next up was an adventure in sewing. 

My mother in law sewed a lot of holiday themed shirts for my father in law. He was so proud of them and wore them with pride. After he passed away my mother in law couldn't bring herself to just throw the shirts out, but also wasn't sure what to do with them.

For Christmas, her good friend made her a beautiful quilt using the Christmas shirts. But that left other shirts still hanging around.

One day on Facebook I ran across a link to something called a memory pillow and I felt that it would be a good way to make use of the shirts. Of course, I don't really sew so I'd need some help. I sent my mother in law the link to what I had found and she also thought it would be a good way to use the shirts.

She purchased 13 or 14 little pillows and she then cut out the amount of fabric we'd need from the shirts. We were able to get 2 pillows out of each shirt which meant that all my kids and Eric and I got one. My mother in law kept a couple for herself. 

After a quick sewing lesson on her serger and her sewing machine I went to town. I was so excited to be able to do something like this and though the project took most of an afternoon, it was so worth it. This was our finished result. (Minus the ones my MIL kept. Hers weren't quite done as she could do hers on her own time)

And if you aren't sick of hearing about braces, here's some more. So when Shaylyn went in for her consultation - Eric took her. He took care of all the payment, etc. So I figured they knew that Shaylyn wanted shaped brackets. I took her to get them on originally and it didn't even occur to me to double check that they were giving her heart shaped brackets.

Well they didn't. So the next appointment I talked with the orthodontist and explained the issue and he said, "No problem. Let's get them on now." Only to discover they didn't have enough hearts. So he said he'd order them and we'd put them on at her next appointment. And that's just what we did. She now has hearts on the 6 front top teeth (that's the only place they have shaped ones for).

Most little kids get attached to their blankets and carry their blankets around with them. My kid? He carries his pillows around with him. Yup, pillowS - plural. Thankfully they're small pillows, but it's still a handful for the kid.

The very next day he discovered a new use for his pillows. He's a little too smart, this one.

There are times you see things as a mother that just melt your heart. This next picture is one such thing. I think I'll treasure this picture for a long time to come. My oldest and my youngest snuggled up together. Tanis is an awesome big brother and Jace learned that quickly. These little kids really look up to their big brother and know they can count on him when they need him.

I had to snap this picture quickly before Tanis woke up.

Rounding out the month is Jace again. Just recently Jace has taken to 'wearing' my foot gear. It's pretty funny to watch him try to get my 'shoes' on and then walk around in them. At least it's not high heels. 

What Happens Next...

Because We Love Her...

So my sweet Mother In Law had a birthday earlier this month. I always like to give her something with meaning or something of use. This year I was sick for almost the whole week before her birthday and was sick on her birthday. Luckily by Sunday I was completely better so we were able to have her birthday party.

On Saturday I got to work getting her birthday present together. I decided to do the 'song frame' things that I did for our siblings for Christmas. I had a hard time thinking of a song, but when I asked Eric for his opinion, he gave me the perfect song.

Now I only have the saved file picture - even though I made a nice plaque type thing for her gift. I had to wrap it on Sunday after church and because I had been puked on by the sweetest 2 year old boy, my only thoughts after church were to get changed ASAP and get the present wrapped...Getting a picture of the completed gift went out the window...



I decided that just giving her the plaque wouldn't be enough. She just HAD to hear the song as well. At first we were just going to find the YouTube video of it and play it for her, but then I had the idea to make a video with pics of her boys growing up and I tried to match the picture with the words in the song. It worked out so much better than I thought it would.

My Mother in Law LOVED the video. She watched it over and over again. Eric even had to get it onto her new phone (Gift from Greg and his girlfriend) so that she could take it to work the next day to share with all her coworkers. I never expected the video to go over as well as it did, but it made me so happy to know that she LOVED it.

She may now hate me for sharing it on my blog, but I think it's hilarious and such a good song for mom's...Plus, I get to share pictures of Eric as an ornery little kid! Enjoy!!!

What Happens Next...

It's Not Always Roses

So a few months back I was talking with a friend of mine, we were discussing blogs and how she felt that she wasn't always telling the 100% truth. She said she doctored photos she put up of her and stuff like that. She decided she was going to be a little more honest in her blog, and she actually did it. You can read her blog here.

I've decided that since this blog doubles as my journal, I need to be a little more honest as well. I don't downright tell lies or anything like that - but I do tend to omit certain things at times. Like how Eric and I weren't really speaking to each other the whole night of Tanis' Hope Of America show. We were both so stressed and at each other's necks for silly little things.

Sometimes I feel like I paint this picture of our relationship at being totally perfect and that nothing ever goes wrong. And while our relationship is pretty darn good, even great (compared to others around us) it's far from perfect.

Now this post isn't meant as a hubby bashing at all. I'm not that mean. If I want to bash him, I'll do that in private. This post is just my attempt at being more honest with myself and the world...
About Thursday of last week Eric and I were discussing plans for the weekend. I told him that I had a Mother/Daughter activity with Shaylyn on Friday. He said, "Well that messes up my plans for a Mother's Day dinner that night. Maybe we can work it out on Saturday." The reason for the 'maybe' was because he had plans with his buddies Saturday night.

Saturday ended up being quite busy actually. Eric spent the morning in the yard - mowing and edging and all of that stuff, while I spent it cleaning inside. At noon we had to head to Lex's ball game. Eric's dad came to the game and then treated us to lunch afterwards. We got home about 2:00 and Eric said we should probably leave for dinner around 4:00 if we were going to go.
I finished cleaning the house and it was about 4:30. Eric wasn't exactly thrilled to go to dinner Saturday night - for reasons I don't quite remember right now - and said he'd be less stressed if we waited till Monday night.

I didn't want to wait until Monday because that would mean I'd have to come up with some sort of dinner for Saturday night and because I wasn't feeling real well - I didn't want to deal with that. So we headed out.

I really wanted to go to Olive Garden. We got there and when we went to go see what the wait time was, we were told it was an hour! Eric didn't have time to wait for an hour (not that I really wanted to anyway), so he gave me a few options. We could grab some fast food for Saturday night and go back to Olive Garden on Monday, or we could just find somewhere else to go.
Because I am stubborn and was worried about the financial side of a fast food dinner on Saturday night and an Olive Garden dinner on Monday - I voted we go somewhere else. We ended up at Applebee's. So not a favorite place of mine...

Anyway, we had a mostly enjoyable meal and left. I had to have Eric stop by Target cause I needed tape. A random thing yes, but needed anyway. I hurried as fast as I could knowing time was short.

When we got home 2 of his friends were already at the house. So we didn't really have time for a nice conversation after dinner. His friends were here probably till about midnight. I'm not really sure of the time because I went to bed around 10:30 cause I wasn't feeling well.

I woke up Sunday morning (Mother's Day) to just another day. Nothing fancy was done for me. (Okay I didn't really expect it - I knew my 'gift' was dinner) But, I didn't get a word from ANYONE in this house. I still wasn't feeling great when I woke up, but I decided to finish up last minute things for the Mother's Day gifts for our Mom's and Grandma's. That took a good chunk of the morning.

Eric had decided the night before that he probably wasn't going to be going to church because he had some work that had to get done and he wasn't sure he'd get it done before church. That was okay because he'd have stayed home anyway since the 2 little kids had what I thought were colds in their eyes. (Turns out they both have pink eye, yay!)

And because I wasn't feeling well I decided I didn't have the energy/desire to get all the other kids ready for church. I also decided I would just go teach my lesson and then come home.
While I was busy with my things Eric was stressed out. He was trying to get this work this situated all while worrying about his missing wallet. He had disovered his wallet was missing shortly after we arrived home. He immediately called the restaurant, but they hadn't seen it yet. So, he tried his best to put it out of his mind. On Sunday morning he had drove out to Applebee's to look in the parking lot - but there was a car parked where we had parked the night before. He waited a few hours before calling the restaurant again - just to hear that no wallet was turned in. He was STRESSED OUT!

It was time for me to get ready for church, so I jumped in the shower. After the shower Eric came and told me had found his wallet. He had just stuck it on a shelf in the frontroom where he doesn't usually put things. So that stress was relieved. He then noticed that I was upset. I tried explaining to him how I just felt like no one cared because no one said a word to me all morning. Then it got into how he felt like taking me to dinner meant nothing to me. We got into an argument while I was getting ready for church - and I had to leave in the middle of it to be on time.

My lesson went well and I am so glad I was there to teach it. It was difficult though because I lied to a sweet lady who snuck into my open classroom door real quick to keep her 2 year old from seeing her and not going to nursery. She asked how my Mother's Day was and I told her, "Great." As soon as class time was over - I left. But I ran into my 'twinner' and she asked me how I was. I have a feeling she could tell I wasn't telling the whole truth and just went with the, "Oh I just feel kinda crappy" route. I left the building feeling somewhat relieved but sad as well. I realized that because we didn't go to Sacrament Meeting my kids didn't get to sing to me and I didn't get the cool "Mommy Gift" the Primary kids give the mom's. And apparently I missed out on Mint Truffles or something during RS.

I apologized to Eric when I got home and told him I was just so sad and so upset that I had to get sick on Mother's Day and his stress caused me stress and so on and so forth. We were supposedly good.

Lex then even surprised me with a gift he had made at school. There is this WONDERFUL mother who does so much with these kids. I know this because Shaylyn was in her son's class in 1st grade and she did a bunch for them as well. I really need to find a way to thank her. Anyway this is the gift he gave me:

Along with the paper silouhette:

Then just when I was trying to get kids ready to get out the door to go visit our parents, Eric tells me his parents are running behind and won't be home until 6:00. (They had gone to visit Eric's brother) So then I got mad and told Eric not to whine about leaving when we got to my Moms. (Eric gets up by 5 every morning, so he should be able to be home at a decent hour - I was just ornery) We get in the car and he starts in on this whole, "You don't always have to celebrate a day ON the day, you know." That just made me more upset.

For me - I needed to get out of the house. For him - he wanted to stay and work on our relationship. Which probably would've been a good choice - but I so wanted out. It took almost the whole hour drive to our parents to work through our issues, but we did.

I know that I was being petty by wanting a 'gift' on Mother's Day because honestly, I AM SPOILED ROTTEN by my hubby any given day of the week. He goes out of his way to make me happy and to treat me well. Just because he wasn't 'on top' of things ON MOTHER'S DAY doesn't make him an awful man. And if any of you think it does then YOU need to look at things in a different light.

He did give me a Mother's Day gift. Just because it's not what I had envisioned - it doesn't lessen what he did do. At first, I was like - I would've preferred that he got a babysitter and we went to dinner alone, but as I've done some reflecting - what better way is there to spend Mother's Day with those wonderful creatures who MADE YOU A MOTHER? Seriously? I should've been content to have my awesome 5 blessings with me instead of wishing I was alone with my husband.

A lot of our issues on Mother's Day came from my selfishness and my views of how things should've been. But in that time in time I couldn't see it. I needed some rude awakenings to make me see how good I do have it.

The rest of the night was pretty great. We visited with Eric's parents and had a wonderful dinner. My sweet MIL made French Dip sandwiches because she knows that I like them. We weren't able to stay long because we had to still visit my Mom and it was already like 7:30.

We then headed to my mom's and luckily my maternal grandma was there. She LOVED the gift I gave her and that made my day! To know that something that cost me pretty much nothing was treasured so much was awesome!!! Plus, I just always like visiting with her and she said she was hoping she'd be able to see my family. Awww. I ♥ my Grandma.

And I also ♥ my wonderful hubby. "Ah Always Have, Ah Always WILL!!!!"

What Happens Next...

Our Week-End

Most of our weekends are pretty laid back, come and go as we please and whatnot. This weekend wasn't. It was a pretty packed weekend, but also so much fun.

THURSDAY - APRIL 28th

Shaylyn had an Achievement Day Recognition Night. Because it was held in the chapel, we all had to get dressed up. I wasn't too thrilled about it for anyone but the girls.

While Eric's mom was looking for Easter dresses, she came across some other dresses that weren't 'springy' or 'Eastery' by any stretch of the imagination - BUT these dresses fit mine and Shaylyn's personalities perfectly (Black for Shaylyn, Hearts for Me). Once his mom discovered that they had the opposite dress for baby girls - she bought both girls the dress.

We got them the same time she gave us the Easter dresses, but because Easter was first these dresses had to wait. I was so excited that they could wear them on Thursday that I had to get some pictures of my cute girls. (And yes Eric I will email these to your Mom as soon as I'm done with this post!)

FRIDAY - APRIL 29th

Lex had his field trip to the zoo, which he wouldn't let us forget about. He even woke up extra early to make sure he'd get there on time. Eric said he'd go to the zoo with him, so Eric took him over to school. Eric said that Lex was so excited he kept saying, "This is my daddy. This is my daddy."

After Eric got Lex all situated he came back to pick up the little kids and I. I wasn't originally planning on going, but as the day got closer I decided, 'What the heck?'

It was kind of a cold day, but tolerable. I didn't take a lot of pictures of Lex because he was always with his group and I didn't want to offend the other mother with us.

Driving home we encounted a snow storm. Luckily we missed it at the zoo and luckily it was a wet snow, so it wasn't too terribly scary. We had the rest of an uneventful night.

SATURDAY - APRIL 30th

Lex's 1st ball game of the season. Why they didn't cancel it - I don't know. We woke up and it had rained/snowed, but it was done doing so and the sun was shining. We left Tanis and Shaylyn home because they just didn't want to go. But we had the two little ones with us. I kept them in their warm jammies hoping it would help keep them warm.

About 5 minutes after we arrived at the game, the sun disappeared and it got COLD! Luckily they called the game a bit early and just in time too as it started snowing again!

Lex did great during the game however and didn't let the cold stop him. He is such a natural at this game and he enjoys it a ton!

SUNDAY - MAY 1st

We finally got around to celebrating Nathaniel's birthday. I felt bad that we did so 2 weeks after his birthday, but the Sunday before his birthday we had just got back from vacation. The Sunday after his birthday was Easter, so it left this past Sunday. I was a bit sad as Eric's parents weren't able to be there as they were in Nebraska visiting Eric's grandparents. All in all though, he had a fun night.

-- My little sister got Nate these jammies. They are perfect for his nickname. --

It also happened to be my Mom's birthday, so I made her a cake and made her blow out the candles as well. She turned 55, thus the 5 candles on each side - we do what we can!

What Happens Next...

The Leader of the Band

For a very long while I've known that I've gotten whatever creativity I had from my mommy.
I think the first time I realized it was when I was in 5th grade or 6th grade and had to write a poem for some reason. Well, I struggled a bit with it to make sense as it was the first one I'd ever written - but my mommy helped me out with it. I was actually able to attend a writing festival after writing this as well. Apparently my teachers thought it was good...

This is the poem:

THE DEATH OF A BEST FRIEND

You always siad, "Don't worry"
When I was in a jam.
You always said, "Don't friek out,
It's just my brother, Sam."

You always told me, "Look out!"
When a car came whizzing by.
You always said, "Shoo"
To each bothersome ol' fly.

We had fun while dancing,
And doing the 'monster mash'.
Together we got our homework done
In what seemed like just a flash.

And when you had to go away
I did not understand.
Heaven seemed so far away,
A long and distant land.

One day I saw a rainbow,
As beautiful as you.
Reminding me of friendship,
The kind we always knew.

Now the creativity doesn't end at writing. I remember my mom doing all sorts of creative things for her Primary classes and such when I was growing up. She claims she isn't so creative anymore, but every once in awhile it still shines through.

Anyway, I'm getting off the subject of what I really wanted to make this post about.

For those of you who haven't heard/didn't know, my maternal grandpa died when I was just 13. His death was sudden and so unexpected that a lot of the family had difficulties with it. We accepted that he moved on and he was in a better place away from the crappy world we were living in, but we all missed him HORRIBLY.

...Grandpa as a young man...

That first year I think was extremely difficult for my mom and for me. I remember that my thoughts were focused on my grandfather for a large part of that year and that I would break down in tears at random times. I also wrote a lot of things that year in English in regards to him.

This is one such thing:

DEATH OF GRANDPA

As I sit alone and frustrated,
Wondering why he left me deserted,
I think of his garden and lovely vegetables no more.
And I ask why, why, why?

I think of all his wisdom,
And how I never heard him complain.
His wonderful rootbeer floats,
Which leads me to ask why, why, why?

I'm missing the smell of nature,
and talk about my future.
His loving arms around me no more, all gone.
Why, why, why?

He worked as if a robot,
His arms were iron bands.
There'll be no more asthma, aching pain.

I'm missing the sound of his hum, hum, hum.
The sweet taste of his sugar-free gum.
Nothing is going right in my life,
And all I ask is why, why, why?

My mom was the baby of the family, born when my grandpa was 45. But, this allowed them to have a very special relationship. My mom always admired her dad and in her eyes, NO ONE could be as great/special a person as her daddy was. No one could live up to the type of spiritual giant he ended up being.

...Grandpa with my mom as a newborn...

...Grandpa with kids #3, 4 & 5 (My mom is the little girl)...

...Grandma, Grandpa and Mom (About age 16)...

My grandpa wasn't the type of ornery old cuss that a lot of old men end up being. No, he enjoyed being with his grandkids and even watched my little sister (who was a baby around this time) quite a bit for my mom. He was also willing to drop whatever he was doing if we needed help. I feel sad that Eric and the kids never got to meet my grandpa (although I guess technically, my kids probably have met him...), but I am thankful that Eric's grandpa is so similar to the spiritual giant that my Grandpa was and that he is still around and the kids have got to meet him.

Anyway, so my Grandpa died in March of 1993 and for Father's Day in June of that year my mother adapted this song into a "poem" that fit her dad. I had all but forgotten about it until the other day when I went searching for a completely different song. Well, the album that I found that had the song I was looking for also had "Leader of the Band" on it and I made sure I got my mom's poem from her after hearing it again.

Here's my mom's take on the song:

LEADER OF OUR BAND
(adapted from Dan Folgelberg's "Leader Of The Band")

Though he was not an only child
And not a rich man's son.
His hands were meant for constant work
And his heart he kept from none.

He left us here and he's gone on
To find a better way.
But he gave me a gift I know
I never can repay.

A quiet man of wisdom,
Denied a sinner's fate.
He tried a life much different once
Vowed to change - he couldn't wait.

He earned his love through discipline,
A thundering velvet hand.
His gentle means of sculpting souls
Took me years to understand.

The leader of the band grew tired,
And his eyes did soon grow old.
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul.

My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate this man.
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

As siblings we are different,
Still we hear our leader call
"Stay close to the gospel,
Then children you won't fall."

I'm doing all that I can do,
As I remember time will tell.
I'm living out the life I've chose
The one he lived so well.

I thank you for the music
And the stories that you told.
I thank you for the freedom
When it came my time to go.

I thank you for the kindness,
And the times when you got tough.
And papa I don't think I said,
"I love you" near enough.

The leader of the band grew tired,
And his eyes did soon grow old.
But his blood runs through my instrument
And his song is in my soul.

My life has been a poor attempt
To imitate this man.
I'm just a living legacy
To the leader of the band.

I am the living legacy
To the leader of the band.

Dedicated to Alma E. Kehl - Fathers Day - June 20, 1993
WITH ALL MY LOVE!
- Alaine K. Merchant

So, yes. I think most of my creativity was born of my mom. She may not admit it, but I will forever be thankful to her for it.

What Happens Next...