phthbsath....

That is the word/noise that sums up my emotions for the past few weeks.

So many things going through my mind.

Some good,

happy,

interesting,

thought provoking,

down right crappy,

and sad.

You guys ever feel that way? Of course we all do. But when you are feeling that way don't you feel like the only one? So the other day I was really feeling this way and I was driving to drop Bode off to meet up with Jer so they could go to Chuck-e-Cheese. It was a gloomy day, kind of rainy, perfect for my glum mood. Bode kept telling my to look up and see the rainbow. I was driving so I kept telling him I will in a second, but I am driving and can't right now. He was just so insistent I look at the "bootiful rainbow". After about the third time of him telling me to look at it I did. It was breath taking. A double rainbow stretching across the whole sky. You could see where is started and follow it across the sky and see the other end. All I had to do was look up.

Isn't that how life is sometimes? I had put myself in this awful mood and was to self centered to even look up to my three year olds pleas to look up at the rainbow. So I have been thinking of these things since then.

• 
  
  How many times in our lives have we ignored the simple pleas and promptings of the Holy Ghost? Or have been so self involved we forget to "look up"? Things that are so simple mean the most. We have so many things that point us in the right direction and if we are willing to do those things we will have the peace that comes with living the gospel.


• 
  
  It reminded me of the things that really matter. I can get very stressed out sometimes. Like when the house is messy, bathrooms are dirty, laundry everywhere etc... Those stupid things get in the way of me being a mom. So today I let a lot of things in the house slide because I played with my kids. We went to the park, twice. They got to empty the cupboards and play fort. And they got to take a long bubble bath. It was a fun day. I love my job. The days are long but the years have gone by so fast. Bode will be 4 soon and Laine is 1. There will always be laundry but they will only be little for so long.


• 
  
  A rainbow always bring s sense of calm and security for me. It is like Heavenly Father telling you that this to will pass and that he hasn't forgotten about you.

Oh dear, these late night posts get very rambly, very fast. Hopefully is all makes a little sense. I just needed to sit and put my thoughts down in one place.

Dear Willow Canyon...

Please excuse our absence from sacrament meeting this year. You see Jeremiah's job makes it so that the only time we can go to church together is 12:00. I am so very grateful that Jeremiah has a good job, so please don't think I am complaining.

We decided rather than Jer going to church alone and me going alone (wrestling 2 rowdy children) we would continue going to the 12:00 meeting time as a family.

So as for me and the kids we are making Sunday and all day affair. Sacrament at 12:00, then we come home, eat (blog) and nap, then we head out the door to go to Sunday school and Primary at 3:00.

It has been good so far. Hopefully it will stay that way. I want our children to know that church attendance is important. Sometimes it is easy to go and sometimes it is a sacrifice. Either way the blessing of going to church out way all the inconvenience of having to do it this way. We also are very grateful for Jeremiah's job. This is just a small sacrifice we have to live with.

So if there are any important announcement made in sacrament meeting please send them my way. I would greatly appreciate it :)

Heidi

You know your are an Arizonan when...

the economy is tanking,

there are devastating earthquakes in Haiti,

political unrest and all we talk about is

the weather.

Ok it has been pretty awesome though. There were thunder storm warnings, flash floods and even tornado warnings. So much rain! I loved it. All except the rain water in my back yard slowly creeping up to my back door. Bode ran out yesterday morning and yells "holy cow! look at all the water!".

Checking the mail. Bode's umbrella came in handy. I felt pretty cool running my errands carrying my awesome kids umbrella. It got the job done.

Here is the lake...ummm... I mean park by our house.

This was in the morning around 10:00. By about 3:00 in the afternoon the water had rose even more. If you look across the park you can still see the grass, but by the afternoon it was up to the gravel. Crazy!


Bode was dying to get out in the water. He finally snuck outside when I wasn't paying attention. He told me all he wanted to do was float the boats.

As much as I have loved the rain, I still wish I was up in Pinetop enjoying all the snow. Here is the view from my parents house this morning.

A...

Sunbeam! A sunbeam! Jesus wants me for a SUNBEAM!

Bode is now officially out of nursery and into the primary. He is loving being a sunbeam. The first week Jer took the Sunday off to take Bode to class. Just in case Bode was afraid to go Jer would be there to help him. Well we were wrong. We walked him to the Primary room, he ran in there, sat next to his teacher and said bye!

Hopefully I can get this little story right. That same first Sunbeams day one of Bode's little friends and his mom were sitting in the sunbeams row. She was getting her son to want to stay and said something like "look Bode is sitting here and his mom isn't here, don't you want to do that to?". She said Bode sat up all straight and tall. He was trying not to look like he heard but he was watching them out of the corner of is eye trying to be all good.


Last Sunday I walked Bode to the Primary room. We were a bit early so his teacher wasn't there. I decided to just stand in the back corner until she got there. It was all of 2 mins. Bode kept glancing back at me. The finally he looked back and me and said "MOM, go to class!".

This picture made me laugh. I said Bode make a pose and this is what he did. It is the teapot from the "I'm a little tea pot" song. We are going to have to get Jer to teach him a more manly pose.

And she is....

1!

Today is Delaine Jo's first birthday! This year has just flown by. We all love this little girl oh so much. At exactly 3:00 pm she will not longer be my little baby :( But my big one year old. This past year has been wonderful and we are excited to see what next year will bring for this sweet little girl. (Hopefully more hair...)

She was not a big fan of taking pictures this morning. She was much more interested in the balloons right behind me.

This morning we celebrated Laine's birthday before church and Jer's work. If was fun. We had a pajama party :) It included a picnic breakfast in the living room, jammies, balloons, french toast and bacon. And of course birthday cake. Who doesn't need cake before noon?

Jer and I are celebrating the fact that we made it through one year as parents of 2 kids.

Laine wasn't to sure about the candle.

Good thing she has a big brother to show her the ropes.

She knew exactly what to do with the cake though.

She had some in each hand and was shoving it in there.

After cake we all got cleaned up and ready for Church. But right before we left for church SHe opened presents. Bode has been so patient. He has been wanting to rip through all those presents for days. I told him before Laine could open presents he had to get Sunday clothes on. I have never seen him get ready so fast.

Laine figured the best way to open presents is with her teeth.

Yay for the Disney Princesses. We definitely had to get Sleeping Beauty before it went back in the vault.

She was genuinely excited to open these presents. She got so excited when she got to the goody inside.

I absolutely love this pink bear. The other day the kids and I were driving down the road. I was talking to Bode about Laine's birthday. He and I were going later that day to pick out a present for her from him. I asked him what he wanted to get her for her birthday. He though for a little bit and replied "a big giraffe or a pink teddy bear". He was so excited to find the pink teddy bear at the store. She looks very happy to get it don't you think?

Bode giving Liane a birthday kiss :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BUG!

Don't you hate it...

when people put a ton of pictures of their kids doing the exact same

thing over and over on their blog.

Sorry. My kids where too cute today and I took a bunch of pictures of them. I loved their faces in each picture and had to show them all.

I was feeling overwhelmed with all the things I needed to get done today. Cleaning the house, tackling the ever growing laundry pile, the small project in the garage that has turned into a monster project... All these things and more were going through my head when I walked around the corner to see this wonderful scene. Bode and Laine laying on the floor playing together and sipping on their cups. It made me slow down for a second and remember what is important. Oh how I love these two children and their sweet spirits. I am grateful everyday that Heavenly Father entrusted me with them. I love my job!

Give me that camera!Oh this face! She sees the camera and this is what I get. CHEESE!
Bode was trying to play it cool. But he was having a good time :)

Big boy bike...

Bode took his first big ride on his bike last week. The Subway opened up close to our house (yay) and we all went for a walk/ride over for dinner. He is still pretty shaky at it and was scared to go down any inclines, so it was a slow go over the Subway. Soon he will be peddling fast and I will be jogging behind him just to keep up. When Santa ;) brought the bike I thought it was to big and he would look to small on it. But no it is just his size, he is getting so big.

He takes it very seriously.

New Year's Eve Festivities...

Like always we celebrated the New Year very low key. We ordered pizza, popped popcorn in our new air popper. Thanks Merrill family, it was a big hit! Then we played family video games.

Laine was very interested in the air popper. She thought is was amazing.

The kids went to bed on time. Jer played xbox and I picked up the house.

But for some reason each kids woke up about midnight. I guess they both wanted to ring in the new year with us.

Happy New Year!

(a few days late)

Despite the look on his face...

he did this to himself.

Bode thought it was a good idea to put on Laine's new Christmas dress after church last week.

I thought it was a good time to take a picture.

Time for change...

I got my new red curtains. I love the look they add to this room. Just a little more substantial then the white sheers.

This cork board got a little new life to it. I found it and its matching white board at goodwill for $2 apiece. The cork in this had seen better days but I just covered it with some left over fabric and ta-da it is new again. It fills is some dead space I had above the computer. Speaking of the computer...

Check out my awesome new chair. The picture quality is horrible but you can still see it. Jer's dad was getting rid of it and I was happy to take it off his hands. It is the perfect little leather computer chair for my desk.


So after I was so happy about finding my old pillows online I changed my mind and decided to go another way. I found these beauties at the HomeGoods Store and fell in love. I love the paisley print and the pale blue mixed with the red, yellows and tans. Plus they are better quality and they were cheaper. Score!





So here is the room for now....
I love the pillows, curtains and the layout...
Here are my 3 questions:

Are the bird houses on the entertainment center looking outdated?

I put up the American flag picture to fill a space. I think it is more of a 4th of July decorations and doesn't match the room. What should go up there?

The curtains I love, the tops not so much. Should I make some kind of cornices board to cover them or just leave them alone?

White Elephant Party...

Every year we have a White Elephant Party with the Merrill Family. This year Tim and Connie hosted and we all met at Jill's house for the party. We ate way to much great food, opened white elephant gifts, played "ticket to ride" and enjoyed each others company. This picture sums up the chaotic night. I love my family!!

I guess I forgot...

This was our tree this year.

It was a beauty.

I love fresh trees.

These made me think...

Reflection Questions for 2009


1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year?
Single best thing- really just one. I think it would have to be the birth of our second child. Laine has brought so much happiness this year.

2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened?
I am not sure if this fits correctly, but a challenge for me was learning patients. In so many aspects of my life.

3. What was an unexpected joy this past year?
Being able to spend so much time with family. We all love such busy lives so it is always wonderful to be able to spend time together.


4. What was an unexpected obstacle?
The mess with our house in Lakeside. It was supposed to go so smooth. But it now has changed so many things for us.

5. Pick three words to describe 2009.
stable-fun-new

6. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe your 2009 ( This one I didn't like so I asked Bode about his year)
FUN!!-Birthday-Preschool

7. Pick three words your spouse would use to describe their 2009
Laine-Good job-Bode

8. What were the best books you read this year?
Hunger Game, Catching Fire, Confessions of a Shopaholic Series

9. With whom were your most valuable relationships?
My family.

10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year?
This is hard to explain so I will try-My personal change this year has been trying to figure out and accept who I have changed into. I am no longer a volleyball playing, athletic free for all person. I am a mother, wife and homemaker. Duh, I keep telling myself, you have been this for awhile. But I really feel this way with two kids. So lets put it this way, this year I looking to have a more personal change in a positive light. Meaning I will not just be wife, mother, homemaker, I will remember who Heidi it too.

11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally?
I think I am leaning to be more loving... key word learning.

12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually?
Spiritual growth is hard to pinpoint, but I have really gained a testimony of the basics this past year. Doing the small things like reading scripture, saying prayers and attending Church meeting really mean a lot and keep life going in the right direction.

13. In what way(s) did you grow physically?

(crickets chirping....) Wish I had something great here like I did a triathlon or ran in a marathon but no. But no. I started off the year having a baby and finished the year struggling with body image issues. This year I hope to "shrink" physically, so check in with me later. But on a more positive note I did play volleyball 8 weeks after having Laine and surprised myself with not looking like a complete fool.


14. What was the most enjoyable area of managing your home?
I love to make my home warm, comfortable and inviting. So my managing come out in decorating. I always have fun doing that.

15. What was your most challenging area of home management?
LAUNDRY. Always laundry. I have a serious hate relationship with laundry.

16. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year?
Worrying about things. Like weight, what people think of me, how clean my house is etc...
17. What was the best way you used your time this past year?
Time spent with family.

18. What was the biggest thing you learned this past year?
To be content with what I have. I get caught up in wanting more and more. But I have so much to be thankful for. I learned that to be happy I must be happy with what I have and not look to others and things for happiness.

19. A phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.

“Security for our families comes from learning self-control, avoiding the excesses of this world, and being temperate in all things.”
Kent D. Watson