Easter

I have to say that I LOVE Easter! It is such humbling time to remember what my Savior did upon the cross. I love the newness and freshness of spring however, it kind of crept up on me this year. I wish that I had some better items to put in my kiddos baskets, but at least I do have a few things. I have Easter dress(es) for my girl, new shirts for the boys, and Doug will be stylin' in green.
We had so much fun coloring eggs tonight together! The kids have been begging to do it all week. Tonight was the night! Our eggs.....well they are colorful to say the least!
More important than eggs, new clothes, and Easter baskets we have had some great discussion this week. I think my kids are really starting to understand the importance of Easter, and what it means to them personally. Chris wanted to know if Jesus would of died for just his sins? He was so happy and relieved to know that Jesus loves him that much. Trev soaked up every bit of our communion service at church. He really took it so seriously! He has been full of questions since Wednesday night. It was priceless to hear my kids belt out, "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." Let's just say I bawled like a baby through the whole song. I think they really began to understand what that blood did for them. Cass attempted to hand out cards to all of her friends inviting them to church. She told me she wanted all of her friends to learn about Jesus and come to the Easter Egg Hunt.
The five of us will be doing a card board testimony together this weekend at church. My kids are really excited to be able to share the story of how God brought us together. I am so thankful to serve a risen Savior that is still performing miracles even in the lives of my own family!
I hope that you have a blessed Easter!

Mr. Motivation

Okay....I have been feeling SOOOO lazy lately! Could it be because I am married to Mr. Motivation?! My man has a serious case of MOTIVATION! He is working like crazy at church and amazing things are happening, working on his Masters, and recently decided to run a half marathon with a good pal. It is crazy to see someone that used to not enjoy running, run 4 miles and read half a book in a day. Running and reading have never been a part of his vocabulary in the 14 years that I have known him. I am so thankful for the healthy example that Douglas is setting for our children!

I have recently had to remind myself that God's plans for those around me are not his plans for me. So, all that to say I am not running a half marathon. I am pretty content with my new exercise regimen at the gym. I am also not going to pursue my Masters at this point (even though I have more than half of my hours). God has really been working on me and helping me to be more disciplined in my own spiritual life. My motivation is my family. I want to be a God fearing woman that serves my family with joy. I have realized that my problem has been that I have no goals. There is no finish line or degree earned at the end. So, my goal this week is to set some goals. I think I might ask Doug for a little help as he seems to set some pretty high ones lately!

Fab 5 fightin'

okay i have to admit i am a lover not a fighter! i have never much been into wrestling, boxing, karate, or really any of the martial arts. i just don't like to watch people hit or kick each other. however, for the rest of my fam it is a different story. my kids are all excited for basketball to end so they can start karate (much to my dismay). they have been recording and watching all of the karate kid movies lately.
the twins have always enjoyed trying to take each other down. especially when encouraged by their father and older brother. the smack downs usually occur right before bedtime, so that everyone is wound up like no other! smack downs at our house consist of the twins grabbing each others arms and trying to push/pull each other down. there is only a half pound difference in weight, so it is actually a pretty fair fight. doug and trev cheer and guard all of the sharp objects and corners so that the contestants are not hurt. the score of the last fight was 2 to 1 with Cassi the champion. however, she was injured in the smack down. she got a bruise on her shoulder, but it was the kind of bruise that you can not see (at least that is what she said). her shoulder was also "swollened" on the inside. while tucking her in after her victory she told me not to tell anyone, but that she was a tom boy. she decided that she no longer wanted to do gymnastics or ballet just be a fighter.
i have been a soccer mom, a baseball mom, a swim lesson mom, a tumbling mom, a basketball mom.....but i can't do this martial arts mom thing. if i hear one more, "I'm gonna take you down." i might scream! i have to admit i love to watch the twins do their little smack downs in their p.j.'s, but i just don't want them learning real moves so they can really hurt each other!
please don't tell cassi that i blogged she was a tom boy, or for that matter chris that i told you a girl beat him in smack down. i would be in so much trouble!

life and 30 days to live

well....i guess it was about Christmas time that i last blogged. i am thankful that we did have our "Christmas slow down" because we have literally been running since then. our year has been off to a great start. we have made lots of "healthful" changes around our house. doug and i joined the gym and we are all eating more healthfully! i am SO proud of douglas, and love going to work out with him. i am so thankful for the example that he is setting for our children.

a lot of our time recently has been consumed with the boys playing upward b-ball and cassi cheering. they are all enjoying it and doug and i are having a great time spectating. they are all about ready to start an after school program as well. trev is going to be in a boise children's theater production, chris in more b-ball, and cassi in an art class. never a dull moment around here!

okay....so that was the life part! in a nutshell we are all doing great just trying to make the most of everyday, and that is where the 30 days to live part comes into play. i am really enjoying the new series that we started at church. even before we started the series this was really what i pondered upon during the "Christmas slow down." this year i am really trying to make the most of every minute. i am trying to be more positive. most importantly i am trying to rely on Him more. as the book that i am currently reading states i am "connecting to the vine" instead of trying to be the vine. okay, so it is already the middle of february and i wish i had this all down by now, but i don't. i am just so thankful that God has not given up on me, and continues to work in, and bless my life on a daily basis. i am thankful for the new perspective that he has given me, and how i have been able to enjoy some precious moments with my fam that i might of previously missed out on. the work out discipline has definitely helped my spiritual discipline to be better this year. well i am off to play w/ my kiddos instead of doing the much needed laundry...priorities right?! if i only had 30 days to live clean clothes would be the bottom of my list!

Christmas Slowdown

Well....Christmas is all and said and done. It's hard to believe all of the shopping, all of the eating, all of the hype is already over for the year. It seems like we hopped off the plane from Cali, hit the ground running, and the next thing I knew it was Christmas. During the month of December we tried to fit in as many Christmas activities as our schedule permitted. We baked a little, watched quite a few Christmas flicks while sipping our new fam favorite hot cocoa w/ vanilla ice cream, decorated our house and tree, looked at lights, hung out w/ friends and fam, shopped a little, celebrated a few b-days, decorated a gingerbread house w/ friends, attempted to read the Christmas story every night before bed, and attended Christmas parties. Amongst the craziness we all got sick, Chris had oral surgery, Doug took his final and wrote a paper for his Masters program, and everyone but myself practiced and performed in, "Simply Christmas" at church. Trev also had his first orchestra concert, which surprisingly was very kind to the ears. I am so proud of my little man! We were also able to spend a little time w/ my Dad who was in the hospital in Boise for a shoulder replacement. The kids had so much fun playing with his hospital bed. We all absolutely adore that man, and hope he doesn't have any more surgeries for a LONG time.
We are currently spending time w/ Doug's family for the holidays. We are enjoying relaxing and spending time just the 5 of us. I already took a peak at the January calendar and am trying to savor every moment w/ the fab 5. I love these peeps so much! It is nice to just slow down and be able to cuddle with them and actually carry on a conversation w/ them with out having to say, "Hurry Up!" Amongst the hustle and bustle of life I find myself saying it quite a bit. We are making the most of the Christmas slowdown. The slowness has given me a chance to reflect upon just how incredible this past year has been. God has truly poured out his blessings upon our family in so many ways. I am humbled to sit, think, and thank Him for the love, grace, faithfulness, and mercy He has bestowed upon us during these past 12 months. I am looking forward to many great Fab 5 adventure to come in the next year. For now I am going to go snuggle with the kids.

We were so blessed to spend Thanksgiving in California with my family. There were 12 of us in all that made the trip including my parents, brother Will, brother Drew and his wife Christa, sister kati and her adorable almost 6 month old Rhyse, and of course the Fab 5.

We stayed right on the beach in a great house. The kids had so much fun playing in the sand, boogy boarding, playing volleyball, looking at dolphins, seals, crabs, starfish, and finding shells. They also spent a lot of time in the pool and hot tub.

We spent two days at Disney and had an absolute BLAST! We would send G-ma Kiki and Baby Rhyse to get us fast passes for the rides that we wanted to go on. We hardly waited in line at all. We found out that Cassi and Trev are roller coaster maniacs along with their Dad. Chris and I, well lets just say we did a few, but we don't like as Chris says, "That throw up feeling." We were able to see some great parades and lots of characters.

We also spent one day at Sea World. It was a fun day and so much more relaxing than Disney. The kids loved seeing the sharks, and Chris is still doing the Shamu wave. The guys and kids all sat at the bottom of the splash zone on purpose and stayed dry. They were a little disappointed.

The other days of our trip were spent on the beach, exploring Huntington Beach Pier area, shopping, and going to Bolt.

It was a great vacation and we were SO blessed by my parents to take us all. We made so many fun memories together! I am not sure if the sour dough turkey is going to be a yearly tradition for us, but we did not miss real turkey this year. We were having way too much fun to worry about a traditional meal. In fact, we spent Thanksgiving in Disney and stopped at one of the few open restaurants on our way home, Del Taco. Yes, we had Del Taco and various other snacks at about 10 p.m. for our Thanksgiving dinner.

Thank you so much Mom and Dad for a wonderful trip! We so appreciate your generosity! Thank you so much for making this a very special time for our family. We love every minute that we get to spend with you. You are the BEST!

Teeth

My little man was so brave today! He had to go to the oral surgeon this morning and have a tooth pulled that was fused to his bone. He did not even flinch when they stuck in the I.V.(maybe the nitrous oxide helped out a little)! They ended up having to cut the tooth into 4 pieces, and that included the double root that the tooth had. It was HUGE! They said it was a bigger extraction than most adults.

I kept him nice and doped up most of the day so he did not feel any pain. I am a little concerned with how tomorrow will go! There is a huge hole in his mouth that is VERY deep! We are just praying for no pain!

You may notice from the above picture the huge gap in the front....yeah Chris is missing his 3 front teeth. Too bad there is not a song about that! Poor guy he is in for it when it comes to TEETH! Only seven years old and we are already starting with the orthodontist. The list of to be pulled is long....one down many to go!