The Hubster flips!

This past weekend held some firsts for our family...

Emilia's first time diggin' with her big brother and sister in the sandbox...

The Pirate's first time mowing (a patch of) the lawn...

And... The Hubster's first back flip on a trampoline since he was a teenager. Yes, he landed safely and yes, the kids were highly impressed. In fact, afterwards, I heard T declare it, 

"An amazing day"!

        

         

             

Happy 18th Birthday Nikki!

This is Nikki. She is our FAB-U-LOUS babysitter! She has faithfully watched my children for the last 6 years, first every Friday night, then every other Friday night (give or take a few due to sickness, vacation, etc.). Now I know when I say "babysitter" you all think of some teenage girl who you hire to watch your kids for a period of time, hoping she does not spend the entire evening watching TV and ignoring the kids, and then leaving a mess for you to clean up when you get home from Date Night. That is a babysitter, I am talking about my kids' surrogate mother. Granted, she is a teenager, but we would gladly leave her guardianship of our children in our Will if we didn't know that it would seriously complicate her future ability to find a husband should Matt and I both kick the bucket together. Now this all might sound crazy so let me explain...

Back when The Hubster and I got married we lived with his sister and brother-in-law in a beautiful basement apartment. We attended their ward while living there and that's when we first met Nikki, a cute little 7 year old girl with a blond bob. Fast forward 5 years. We had since moved out of that home, had 2 children, bought and sold our own house and were now living in my parents' basement while building the home we are in now. Matt and I wanted to go on a date and we needed a babysitter. We couldn't find one in my parents' neighborhood so we called his sister (the one we had lived with who also lives about 10 minutes from my parents). We asked her who she got to watch her kids and she told us Corey, Nikki's older sister. We got her phone number and made the call. Corey informed us that she could not babysit that night but asked if we would like her sister Nikki to do it instead. We agreed and went to pick her up. She came out of the house, no longer a little girl but a beautiful 12 year old with long blonde hair, holding a box full of activities and games for my kids. From that first night my kids ADORED her...and so did we!

I have never had a worry with leaving my children in her care. She loves them as much as I do! I even left Em with her when she was 4 weeks old. People thought I was crazy....but they didn't know Nikki! She has always gone above and beyond to love my kids. They have colored Easter eggs and decorated sugar cookies. They have made Piñatas for Cinco de Mayo. They have made homemade fortune cookies, and origami and a homemade Chinese dragon out of blankets and construction paper for Chinese New Year. They have gone on Ghost hunts at Halloween and made Valentines each February. She has given them birthday presents and Christmas presents. She has kept track of them at Lagoon (a local amusement park) and was even supposed to go to CA with us but for some reason her and her parents thought that Finals were more important....priorities! She has sung songs to them and read scriptures with them, she's prayed with them and kissed them good night in my place.

She has served me countless times too. She has helped with birthday parties and cleaned my house for Em's blessing day. I never worry that my house will be a mess when I come home from a date night. When I get home my house is always cleaner than I left it and if there's any mess still out she won't leave until it's clean (even when I try ordering her to stop cleaning). When I was pregnant she would do my dishes and sweep my floors while I was away. She reminds my children to speak more kindly, to choose the right and to say please and thank you. I could go on and on but mostly I just want to her to know how much she has meant to our family.  She isn't "the babysitter", she's one of us.

There are two reasons I am sharing all of this. Number one, today is Nikki's birthday. I cannot believe that she is 18 years old (makes me feel old...Although this does mean she can now legally stay overnight with the kids, which means, vacation here we come)! Yay us! The second reason is because she will be graduating from High School this May/June (with her diploma and her Associates degree with straight A's I'm sure cause she's cool like that) and leaving for college in the fall. It hurts just to type that. A member of our family will be gone. Sure, it will be a pain to find a new babysitter and we will never be able to find one as good as her, but more than that we will just miss her. We've tried to talk her into letting us finish our basement and having her move in but for some reason she wants the whole college experience...go figure!

So Nikki, I know how you LOVE to have everyone make a fuss about you and your birthday but....Happy 18th My Dear! Words cannot express our thanks for what you have been to our family. I know you don't actually leave us for another few months but I still want you to know how much we love you. I have to admit, I can't wait to leave the munchkins with you for a weekend, or a week, or if worse came to worse, a lifetime (hee hee hee...) but more than that thank you for being someone I trust them with. I've always said that if my kids turn out as good as you I'll consider myself a success and I mean that. You are an example to them and you are an example to me of kindness and  honesty and service. 
                                                                            
Thank you just isn't enough but.....thanks. We love you!


                                                 Love- M (&M&M&T&E)


P.S. Good luck in the marathon this weekend! You're my hero...crazy!....but my hero.


Matt added (in the comments section):Nikki is all that and more. She is the big sister Madison doesn't have, someone to look up to, to learn from, and to be loved by. I am so grateful for the wonderful, love filled, example that she is to our family. She makes all of us want to be better people. We love you Nikki, and hope you know how great you really are!

12 Years!

This past Sunday The Hubster and I celebrated 12 years of marriage! 12 years! Now I know in the whole scheme of things that's not much but in today's world of divorce that's the equivalent of like 20 years....kinda like dog years ya know? Anyway. Since our anniversary fell on a Sunday we didn't do much, but I have to tell you about the gifts I got prior to our actual day. About 3 weeks ago I was doing the dishes and I dropped my cell phone in the sink. Now honestly, I am not addicted to my cell like some, so I went without it for a good week or so before I finally told Matt to just pick up a new one for me while he was out. I told him I wanted a colored one but didn't care which kind. He came home with this:

I was shocked! He told me that it was an early anniversary present. Yay me! Of course, the day he brought it home I barely even got a chance to check it out in between him and the kids playing with it. I love that it's red (my favorite color), but my FAVORITE thing is that I can entertain The Pea with the toddler apps I have on it. Again...Yay me!

Then on Saturday I came home from running errands to find the most bea-utiful red roses waiting for me! Yeah, he's a keeper. He sends me flowers all the time! The best thing about it is he knows that I love all different kinds of flowers so sometimes it's tulips, sometimes it's roses, sometimes it's Gerber Daisies and one time a few years ago he even sent me flowers twice in one day! I know ladies....(as Reagan always says) don't be jeal!

I have to tell you, when I married him 12 years ago on a lovely spring day I had no idea how lucky I really was. He was fun and cute and made me laugh. Now that we have been through depression and pregnancies, bed rest and child birth, raising kids and job stress, car accidents and sick kids, etc, etc, etc...I can honestly say that he's "The One". Not in a twitterpated all hopped up on pre-wedding hormones kind of way, but in a "wow, he stuck by me through all of this and he still loves me" kind of way. And on top of all that--he still thinks I'm beautiful. Yep, he's a keeper....

I love you Sir! Thank you for all you do for me and our kids. You made a promise to me way back then that you would make me laugh everyday and you've kept that promise. Thank you for seeing past all of my craziness and faults and believing in the best in me. You are my best friend and my life is wonderful because of you. Here's to the next 12 year and counting! 
                                                                                                              Love- M

One of the good days...

FYI-Lest you should get confused...The pictures with this post have absolutely nothing to do with the post itself, other than the fact that they are of The Pea. I just thought they were cute!

Tuesday was one of the good days. You know the ones? The days where you feel the magic of being a mom. Where for just a little while the laundry and dishes don't matter and the feel of your baby in your arms and the sunshine on your face stops time for a little while.

Wanting to be outside with the big kids on the trampoline...

It was a beautiful day, the sun shining and birds chirping. I took Em outside for some fresh air and playtime. We wandered around the cul-de-sac while she discovered bugs and rocks, all the while jabbering in her little toddler voice. She found a baby "roly-poly" bug as it mozied across the sidewalk. She watched it until it crawled down the other side of the curb into the rock garden below while she pointed enthusiastically and jabbered in her own little language, seemingly asking it to come back. We waved and told the bug "bye-bye" and went on our way. Ten feet later, after saying "bugs" repeatedly she had to turn around and go back to squat down and point some more at the spot where our insect friend had been seen last.

At last we continued our walk and a moment later she stopped me rather urgently in front of the neighbor's lawn, handing me her egg shaped purple sidewalk chalk that had hitched a ride in her little fist, and I drew a heart and a kitty because those are the shapes that always make her smile. Eventually we found our way back to our driveway and she ran across the grass to our neighbors gate, thinking it was ours, and I knew she wanted to go jump on the trampoline. I opened the gate and before she could get to the trampoline she had to climb the steps of our RV and go inside. We sat for a little while in the cool interior and she explored the beds and seats that smelled of past family camping trips. Soon enough she was ready to go! We re-entered the bright sunshine and she pointed to the trampoline while running on her little legs. I hoisted her up and one of her trademark grins lit her face. We bounced and bounced and she laughed and squealed.

Then I layed back, and she climbed onto my stomach, laying her head on my chest. Soon, in her little binkie hindered toddler voice, she started to sing "Tink-o...tink-o...tink-o..." I joined her and we sang "Twinkle Star" and "Itsy-bitsy Spider" over and over. If the neighbors heard me they probably thought I was crazy, singing to myself. By this time she had quieted to just humming and then silence. In that moment, with my baby girl on my chest, both of us bouncing softly with the sun warming us, I wanted time to stop. I complain. I whine. I get tired of it all. But I do realize that this time is fleeting. My last baby is growing and I can't stop her. Too soon the moment was gone. She needed some lunch and a nap. The day moved on with chores, making dinner, bath time etc. But that one moment has stayed with me since then. I need to record it forever somewhere in my mind and heart and I need to create more moments like it on a daily basis.

One more thing. As I was making dinner The Princess said, "Look at the sky Mom!" This is what I saw:

I love that my girl loves beautiful things like sunsets as much as I do. 

          Loves!
       

American Girl Store....

So I know our CA vacation has long since passed but I did promise I would show pics of our trip to the American Girl Doll Store. I just finished the scrapbook pages yesterday so I thought I would post them for those who have little girls who might want to see pics of the store.It was so much fun to see Madison get to go somewhere that she had dreamed of for a while!

         Have a Happy Day!