Garage Sale this Sat. May 1st 7 a.m.

So as most of you know we are moving back to Arizona. We are done moving all of our STUFF….SO WE ARE SELLING MOST OF IT!!!! It blows me away how much we accumulated in 8 years of marriage…and three kids later!  Don’t laugh at me…but one thing I really hate about Garage Sales is how hectic and messy it gets. So I probably went above and beyond in organizing this…but at least (well hopefully) there won’t be clothes thrown all over the place on Sat.  So if anyone is looking for cheap stuff …check out the new blog I set up for this sale. Go to: westjordangaragesale.blogspot.com to see pics of some of the things I’ve got around to posting. I haven’t posted the baby crib and changing table along with my kids dressers.

If you see anything you want to buy early just call me 801-967-9561…my garage store is up and running so I will take early customers…haha!

Be thou an example…

So I woke up today on the wrong side of the bed. Then it didn’t help that I was pulling teeth to get my kids ready to make it to church on time. The Mommy monster began to emerge as I tried to wrestle the kids into the car. I was in no mood to be going to church. In fact…I felt like the day was already shot spiritually and that it would be pointless to even go. But I do have a testimony of church attendance….so I went anyway….LATE OF COURSE!

But I’m always amazed how we can be blessed just by doing what we know is right…even when our heart is not in the right place.

Today in sacrament meeting some neighbors of ours talked. This couple is a rock!!! She was diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago with cancer and they have been battling through this trial for sometime now….and things are not looking as bright as they were hoping for. But through it all I have been amazed at their strength and willingness to help those around them. I was so touched by their testimonies and talks they had prepared. I felt so selfish that just an hour before I was home getting work upped over such insignificant matters, when on a daily basis they are just praying for more time together. Life is just too precious to get worked up over the small things!!!

So when I was leaving for church today….IN MY BAD MOOD…I choose not to take my scriptures. “It’s just one more thing I have to carry and be burdened with”..I thought to myself. I felt bad about my decision,  knowing it’s something I should take…but again feeling angry I choose not to. THEN…as I was listening to the talks and my heart was beginning to soften…I reached down to grab something for the kids….AND THERE LAID MY SCRIPTURES!!!

Rich had grabbed them for me! I instantly began tearing up!!! This small moment was the perfect example of the relationship we have with each other. Marriage is not about two perfect people coming together to live perfect lives. It’s about supporting each other and carrying each other when one of us is feeling weak.

I didn’t want to carry the message Heavenly Father had for me today…So Rich carried it for me until I was ready. Then once I was ready, I opened them….and of course read exactly what I needed to hear! The whole chapter was on patience (which it was my lack of patience with my kids that sent me in this downward spiral to begin with). I feel so thankful the Heavenly Father has blessed me with such great examples in my life. I’m ready to test my patience tomorrow in hopes that what I have learned will give me some much needed strength.

SO HERE’S WHAT WE DID TODAY…JUST TRYING TO PASS TIME AS A FAMILY!

Face Painting

Mason was so excited he even said “Mom will you put this on your blog for everyone to see?”….so here you have it…..my scary attempt to make some cool creations on my kids faces!

I don’t know if Kendyl was crying because of her lame cat painting or if it’s because she had a rice krispy up her nose….or maybe it was a mixture of having paint all over her face, cereal up her nose….AND THAT MOM WAS TAKING PICTURES INSTEAD OF HELPING HER!!!!

At least she’s got herself a cute little man that takes care of her. Her little boyfriend who’s three months younger took her for a little stroll today…I thought it was so cute!

Deal Junkie…

So my new pass time (as if I have a lot..haha) is to find AMAZING DEALS from groceries to toiletries…you name it! I’ve been amazed at how much we have saved by doing a little bit of homework….AND A WHOLE LOT OF COUPON SHOPPING!

So here was one of my favorite purchases this week. 32 BAGS OF GUMMY WORMS AND BEARS….and I only paid $3.84!!!!! Yep…each bag (I think regularly was $2.00 and I got them for 12 cents).

So you may be thinking…. “What is she going to do with 32 bags of gummies??? THIS IS WHAT: Party favors for the 18 kids who will be invited to Sadie’s B-day party. (My goal is to spend only $50 for her B-day. That’s with the gift….feeding the kids…and games. Do you think it’s possible. We'll at least I’m off to a good start).

Then the rest will be bribes to my kids to be good in church. We only give our kids fruit snacks at church… which when you hold out on them for a week it REALLY WORKS! Now I just upped the anti a bit. We’ll test it out tomorrow and see if the little angels within my kids come out!

Officially Certified…

After 5 long years of changing diapers day after day….I can officially say that I am CERTIFIED to change diapers...(well briefs \’’/ can’t use the term diapers!). So a new goal has recently consumed my thoughts, well really for the past three years, but strongly for the past 8 months or so. I’VE DECIDED I WANT TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL….to be a NURSE!!! After experiencing childbirth three times…I’ve discovered I really want to be a labor and delivery nurse (So my heart tells me right now). It’s going to be a long process because my first and foremost priority is my children. I don’t want to regret spending too much time away from the home while they are young. So I went and got my CNA certification and plan on working one day a week as a nurses assistant until my kids are in school and then I’ll jump back into school. I guess we’ll see if I have the same drive and desire in 5 years as I do now. But until that day comes at least I can be a professional diaper changer (although I think 5 years of experience makes me more of a professional…not a certificate!)

So cute…so wise!

So today when Mason went to the store with Rich, he asked Rich if he would buy him some candy at the checkout stand. Rich used our usual response “Well Mason, did you bring any of your money you have earned???” Then Mason got this sad look on his face, THEN HE STARTED SEARCHING THROUGH HIS POCKETS UNTIL HE FOUND THIS….. A dollar bill Sadie had made for him this morning when they were playing store. He got all excited thinking this was as good as real money!!!!  So of course Daddy bought him the candy. When Sadie heard the story she got all excited herself…figuring she had discovered a “Get rich quick” scheme. She was sad when we had to break the news to her that Dad actually slipped the cashier a real dollar to purchase the candy.

Then another cute thing Mason did this week… He slept on our floor one night when he was scared, and Rich said he woke up to Mason talking. He figured he was talking in his sleep because it was still really early. But then he started listening and this is what he heard:

“Dear Heavenly Father…We thank thee for this day. Please bless the food. Please bless Uncle Taylor in the Navy. Please bless Uncle Ben in Chili. Please bless Grandma in the hospital. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen”.

Then he jumped up and started his day!!!!

So cute!!!!

Getaway….

Rich and I had a quick little get-a-way this weekend!!! His close friend that he grew up with got married this weekend in California and Rich was his best man.  It was a very QUICK TRIP….but it was so fun to have a weekend just to ourselves.

Our goal was to spend as little money as possible…WHICH WE DID VERY WELL! We only spent $6 on food (because the rest of the time we were making PB & Honey sandwiches in the back of our car). The first night we just camped in our two man tent in Leeds, UT (So. Utah). The weather was wonderful and the scenery was beautiful. The best part about it was just being together ALONE….NO KIDS!!! As much as I miss my kids when I’m away from them…being alone makes me feel young and carefree again. I love focusing all my attention on each other!

SERIOUSLY LOVE THIS MAN!!! I really enjoyed having 3 days to just talk about everything and a whole lot of nothing with no interruptions!

 

Rich spent a lot of time teaching me about photography….I’m excited to get more into it! I took most of these pictures with his Digital SLR. I got a lot of fun practice at the wedding. I felt like I took some really good pictures…I have a feeling photography is going to be my new spare time hobby!

We stayed with our good friends the Haymore’s in Cali (we love them) and they have the most adorable kids! I had to work some of my new photography skills on these beautiful eyes. (I don’t have photoshop….these eyes are the real thing…straight out of the camera).

Here’s just a few of the wedding: I’m not posting much because I never know who wants their lives exposed on my blog. But the wedding was beautiful, the bride was beautiful…and we are very happy for our friends!

 

 

THANKS DALLAS and ISSAC…FOR PUTTING UP WITH MY WILD AND CRAZY KIDDOS! Your three days of complete chaos, was our 3 days of rejuvenation! You’re great people!

This is the life!

So yesterday while I was laying on my bed after church, Sadie came in and took off my shoes and started rubbing my feet. Then she asked me to sit up so she could rub my shoulders…. THEN she started asking me what my favorite snacks were. She went running off to the kitchen and started shouting out demands to Mason to start preparing my favorite snacks. She came back and told me I couldn’t come into the kitchen because she was preparing a surprise for me for the next morning. She said “Mom I’m putting together a surprise for you and I’m not going to tell you….BUT it’s going to be breakfast in bed…so in the morning stay in bed ok!”

Well the problem with this plan is I get up at 4:45 a.m. to go running every morning. So I promised her that when I got back I would lay back in bed and wait for my surprise. When I got back from my run, Sadie was already at the window holding the curtain just waiting for me (so cute). She got so excited! The door flew open and she told me to close my eyes as she walked me back to my bed. Then she carried in breakfast !!! I had oatmeal, apples, a graham cracker and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (good thing I did some serious running today…this meal was a little bit larger than I’m used too). When Rich asked her why she was making a sandwich she responded “Because someone told me once I make really good sandwiches!!!” So cute. Although the sandwich was covered in glitter from the cute card she made me.

Do you think she’s buttering me up for something???? So far I think this was just an act of love!!

I have the best job in the world….it’s days like this I love being a Mom!

It was a hit…

So when Sadie woke up today I showed her the picture of her and the Tooth Fairy. See what really happened was…we were staying at our cousins the night I played Tooth Fairy. But I didn’t get the idea to do the picture until we were home and no longer at our cousins where I could take a picture of her in her cousins bed. So I told her that the Tooth Fairy came back the next night to our house to see if she had lost more teeth and that’s when I caught her. SADIE HAS BEEN ON CLOUD NINE ALL DAY!!! That’s all she can talk about. (Honestly I would be freaked out by the thought of a little fairy flying around my head at night….but not Sadie…she can’t wait to lose another tooth).

So today after I showed her the picture she asked if I would leave it up on the computer so she could draw a picture of the fairy…which is the picture posted above. She said “Mom I’m going to start writing a book, and this is going to be the first thing in my book. My book is going to be titled, “EXCITING THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED TO ME IN MY LIFE!”

I CAUGHT HER!!!

Sadie lost her first tooth yesterday (April 9). It’s about time…the permanent tooth had already grown in behind it. It’s been really loose for about a week, but of course, Sadie would not let me pull it out. After days of hearing her cry about the pain, I told her if she would let me yank it out I would take her to her cousins house. It came out with no effort. She was SO EXCITED!!!

Do you see the permanent tooth already grown in behind it??? Yes it’s time to start saving up for braces. Goodbye beautiful baby teeth….HELLO BILLY BOB TEETH!

The exciting part is I heard a little buzzing noise through the baby monitor last night. When I came to check on the girls…THIS IS WHAT I FOUND!!!

I CAUGHT HER!!! Sadie was excited about the money she left in exchange for the tooth.

(p.s. I was able to do this for free online. Go to http://www.icaughtthetoothfairy.com/ the normal charge is $10.00, but if you use coupon code fairy-proof it’s FREE!!!)

Perks…

In many ways Rich’s internship has been so much more stressful than his schooling….well at least it’s a lot more demanding of his time. But at least having a job sometimes involves perks (can’t say that about school). Rich’s work gave us Jazz tickets tonight. It was fun to just get away together!

More than....

I love the holidays. I love making the holidays as much fun for my kids as I can. But Easter has so much more meaning to me than Easter candy and fluffy bunnies. 7 year ago on Easter of 2003 my Mom passed away from cancer. As hard as it is to lose a parent…what better day to reflect upon not only my Mom’s death…but the joyous news that our Savior was resurrected. And therefore we will all one day be resurrected and reunited with our loved ones again. I don’t remember who said this in their conference talk yesterday…but he was talking about the courage and commitment of the early saints in Nauvoo. I loved when he said that they suffered from broken hearts….BUT THEIR SPIRITS WERE STRONG. That hope, peace, and joy does not depend upon our circumstances in life. That the true source of hope, peace and joy comes from having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot control what happens to us in life…. BUT we can control our own happiness. I miss my Mom so much that my heart aches from a broken heart….but my spirit is not broken. I continue forward with faith and hope in my Savior, knowing because of him I will live with my Mom for Eternity. What greater joy can we find than that of eternal life and happiness.

We visited the cemetery today in between conference.

I laughed when I saw Sadie carrying Kendyl across the entire cemetery. She was dangling like a rag-doll.

Easter Extravaganza

Do these headbands look familiar??? Let me refresh your memory… (April 2007…Sadie almost 3, Mason 8 months).

Rich couldn’t believe I was going to stick a flower on his son’s head. Well the Easter Bunny happened to bring Kendyl a purple flower band…so I had to dig the old ones out. Now it was Mason who couldn’t believe I was sticking a flower band on his head.  I might as well throw these bands away…because I know I’m never getting this back on Mason’s head again!

This whole week has been full of Easter fun. Here’s a little bit of what we did….

We got the neighborhood kids together again…but it was storming outside so we crammed them into a small church room while we hid the eggs throughout the building !

Kendyl had no idea she was smuggling the goods!!!

Dying Eggs….

EATING EASTER EGGS….way too many!!! I think Mason ate all 4 in one sitting!

Easter paintings…

We went to Barnes and Noble on Saturday for their Easter storytelling time and Easter Egg Hunt. Sadie loved that we got there early so she could dance on their stage….

We enjoyed the peace and quiet….UNTIL ABOUT 60 OTHER KIDS SHOWED UP!

Then: Easter Morning at our house….love the bed heads…

Running out to see what the Easter Bunny brought….

On the search for more goodies…

After 3 Easter Egg Hunts this week…..Kendyl knew the worth of each of these little plastic eggs! She was snatchin these babies up before Sadie and Mason could even grab them.

NOW IT’S TIME FOR THE REEVES FAMILY TO DETOX FROM ALL THIS SUGAR!!!