Temple Trip

Today was our Primary's annual trip to the temple. Jamie took the kids since I was working (the last of several extra shifts over the last 2 weeks, thankfully!) and they seemed to have a good time.  Love these four kiddos of mine! 

I realized today I haven't really mentioned Hudson's recent glove obsession. A black batting glove. One hand only. Always. I'm always hearing, "Mommy, where's my gwove?" He wears it to church, to bed, to the store, to the school to pick up Boston, around the house. And apparently, to the temple!

So Long Second Grade!

Today was Boston's end of the year party. He had lots of fun with all the sports-themed activities, Popsicles, and treats. 

His teacher, Mrs. LeBlanc, has been so wonderful. (Although we haven't met a teacher we didn't like at this school!) She is very high-energy, but takes the time to show love for the kids. She has really helped Boston excel in his strong subjects and improve in his areas of weakness. She texted me this morning: "Boston made the A Honor Roll!!!!" She was so proud of him, as were we. 

Un-birthday

Boston's class celebrated his birthday today, since it is during the summer.  I brought in ice cream, and the class made him a birthday book with letters from all the students.  I love this idea! These are some of my favorites: "You dress well.  That means your handsome!"

And this one: "Intelligent means smart, tricky, (proboly crafty) etc."

Happy Un-Birthday Boston!

Sleep Over

Wednesday nights Jamie has church meetings and then plays basketball, so he's gone all evening. I let Boston and Cade fall asleep in our bed, and Jamie moves them when he gets home. It's a fun little weekly ritual we all look forward to.

Duet

She takes her part of the duet very seriously: 

Maybe she will be my piano player, who knows. 

Temple

 This painting of the Dallas Texas Temple is my favorite piece of art Jamie has made. My parents had it framed for Jamie's birthday, per my suggestion (Surely I'm not the only one who gets their spouse gifts that are really things they want for themselves...)

We picked it up today and I can't stop staring at it! I love the colors of the sky and the light coming from the Angel Moroni. 

Snoozing

My Sunday afternoon nap buddy:

Cabella's

Jamie likes to take the kids on outings when I'm working. He gets lots of comments on how brave he is! Today they went to Cabella's, one of the boys' favorite places. 

Girly Girl

Purse? Check. Ready to hit the road. 

Sick

Rough day today. The kids have been passing a mild virus around. A low-grade fever for one day seems to be the only symptom. Avery started feeling bad today. Luckily she took a 4 hour nap this afternoon because I got a migraine and was in bed for several hours myself. Thank heavens Jamie came home to take care of all of us!

Having sick kids always makes me feel extra blessed to be a parent. I hate to see them sick, but I love the feeling of being the one they want, the one that can make things better. When I'm rocking, measuring the ibuprofen, wiping sweaty hair off of foreheads, refilling water cups...all the other things that need to be done seem to fall by the wayside. Just being present in the moment with the one that needs comforting takes center stage. 

Strawberries

She insisted on having her strawberries in the measuring cup she had been playing with while I cooked dinner. This girl loves her berries. 

Adventures at Work

Today was a good, busy day at work. The adventure of the day was taking my unresponsive patient outside to a mobile MRI unit since our radiology department is under construction. We had to go literally outside, down a ramp, and a little ways on the sidewalk to get to this trailor. Then there was a lift to raise the stretcher up so we could roll her into the unit. We had a while to sit while she was in the MRI machine, then did the whole process in reverse. We had to get almost a running start to get her bed and all the equipment UP the ramp! Also coming down on the lift, one of the gates wasn't latched all the way and flung open when we started lowering down to the ground. Luckily the nurse standing on the lift was able to catch herself rather than falling backwards! Talk about occupational hazards...

We were all worn out by the time we got back to the ICU...and then we had to get back to work! I think I'll sleep well tonight.

(This shows the lift raised up, holding the empty stretcher.)

3-3

The hubs turned 33 today. He says it's an awkward age (whatever that means) and honestly, it started out a little rocky. We hit a few snags on our date, but we had a (mostly) good time being together! 

Lover,

Sorry your birthday was kind of a flop. Things can only get better from here! Love you, love our wild kids, love our busy, messy, exhausting, beautiful life together. 

Xoxo,

Ash

Birthday Eve

Tonight we celebrated Jamie's birthday with the kids (since we will be going on a fancy date tomorrow on his actual birthday). Highlights: babies smooching in the stroller pre-walk, family jump on the trampoline, and cupcakes!

Snack time

The best part of my day didn't make it into any pictures...I got to spend the day with my mama! We spent the morning taking care of the kids, cleaning up around the house, then did some shopping and went out to lunch. The afternoon was spent relaxing and then playing outside when Boston got home.  It was the highlight of my week, really!

She bought powdered sugar donuts for the kids, but they couldn't wait for breakfast tomorrow so they busted into the bag for an after school snack. Hudson must have gone head first into the bag because he had powdered sugar on his forehead, eyelids, and of course his mouth!

A Thursday Walk

This was my little crew today heading out for a nice walk in this beautiful spring weather:

We got as far as that blue car in the neighbor's driveway and then everyone was ready to turn back. Cade was frustrated he couldn't steer the tricycle like he wanted. Hudson was basically dragging that little four-wheeler along because the battery was dead. And Avery was dragging her feet under the car so bad I had to stop every 10 seconds and tell her to pick up her feet. 

Maybe next time!

Memories

Recently Mom brought over a box of things from my childhood for me to go through. It was full of momentos from my infancy through school years. I enjoyed reading through baby keepsake books, flipping through stacks of photos, and treasuring letters written by my parents and grandparents.

But I could have done without the baby hair and envelope full of teeth.

Jamie always teases me that I throw away everything. It's partly true because I don't like clutter, but I do save important things here and there. And I try to help our family make memories and document them with pictures and videos. But this is a prime example of sentimentality gone too far. What am I supposed to do with 30 year old hair and teeth?? 

Get a good laugh and blog about it, that's what!

Daddy's Girl

Poor quality photos today, but they will have to do.  

Jamie worked from home today, and he had the cutest assistant you've ever seen.  She kept grabbing toys and climbing up on the bench next to Daddy. After she woke up from her nap, she brought her blanket and went straight back to her spot next to him.

Tonight Jamie had been in Avery's room for a long time putting her to sleep, so I knew he must have fallen asleep with her.  Sure enough:

Bananas

Long story short: Hudson loves to peel bananas but he doesn't usually finish them. Today he gave it to Avery (hey...points for sharing!) and for some reason, she thought it would be a good idea to smear it all over her hair and pants. 

I'm just glad it wasn't on my carpet!

Mother's Day

I had such a good Mother's Day. 

As I've gotten older, my perspective and expectations of Mother's Day have changed.  It's really not about the gifts and the recognition, not even the words of gratitude and affirmation that what mothers do is important. To me, it is about honoring the divine calling of motherhood, whether you bear and raise your own children or nurture and teach others'. All women are given spiritual gifts that make us uniquely suited to nurturing children. And today, we celebrate and honor all the women who do that selfless job, day in and day out.