Sickie and the Big Feet

It's not fair!

I take it back!

I'll knock on wood!

Really? I mean, I didn't even say it out loud!!!!

So, I jinxed myself and I'm not happy about it. The thing is, can you really jinx yourself if all you do is think it? Apparently so....

Just yesterday it hit me how healthy Katie has been (you know what's coming, don't you?) She hit 8 months without even a mild fever! When you compare this to Tyler - 8 days in the hospital when he was 6 weeks old and months on oxygen at home. And Jason - numerous ear infections with tubes being put in at 13 months. And Jackson - well, I think Jackson was pretty healthy, but I was a postpartum haze and it's all a bit foggy! So anyway, there I sat thinking about how wonderfully healthy she has been. At that very moment I am sure the nasty bug germs inside her were having a grand old time, laughing at me and mocking me and infecting my perfectly healthy little angel. Now she is coughing, clingy, has a nose that runs like a faucet and is running a temp. I hate sick babies. Wait, that sounded wrong. I don't hate the babies....I hate the sick part.....you know what I mean. On top of this comes a big dose of mom guilt. The kind every mom I know has mastered to a science. This week I have been diligent in my gym attendance. I am running again and I'm loving it - didn't even realized I missed it, but I did. I've tried yoga and some other classes but for me, there is nothing like just me a treadmill. Classes tend to get in my head and mess with me - but that is a topic for another time! I was feeling really good about taking time for "me" and yet how can I not link the new sickness with a week of going to the gym childcare. What can I say.... I mean, I'm building her immunities, right? Or is that just something some mom made up to make herself feel better. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. Might as well be now.

Back to the running....can I just tell you how much I love a new pair of running shoes? I mean the good ones, the ones some supposed foot expert (with really cute toe nail polish - kicking myself for not taking a picture of it....but that might have been weird) picks out just for your feet that feel amazing the second they go on. I had been using a pair I bought on sale awhile ago that I thought were cute (what was I thinking ) and my shin pain made me want to cry. One shoe shopping trip later and todays run was way faster with NO pain! :) However, what I didn't like about the shoe experience is that since having baby number 4 my shoe size has once again gone up a half size!!! NO!!! It's sad, really sad. I simply can not have anymore kids if for no other reason than I REFUSE to have bigger feet than my husband! I was wondering why my cute summer sandals were so uncomfortable at church last week. It's kinda heartbreaking and shallow at the same time..... and I'll probably keep trying to squeeze into them for awhile.... but I have a feeling some lucky friend of mine (who wears a size 9) is about to score on some shoes! All of you willing to admit your shoe size on my blog, leave me a comment. Free cute shoes should be motivation enough - after all, I put all this out there and I get nothing but big feet! Boo.

Who would have thought I could start a post about my sick daughter and end up talking about my feet. Maybe it's due to my overload of diet coke today, or maybe it's just been one of those days!

However, I must say....these cuties sure do make big feet worth it!

Easter Memories and Traditions

I love Easter. It is hands down my favorite holiday. For one thing - it's in the spring - my favorite season! But also, some of my best memories as a kid are of Easter. Now that I have my own kids, I spend a lot of time thinking about why that was. I want to be able to create those kind of memories for my family and I love holiday traditions. My mom always did such a great job with my egg hunts and baskets. I still remember where she hid my baskets most years. Some of my favorites were... in the dryer, balancing on the towel bar in the bathroom (I kept looking and looking but must have been short and never looked up) and the year it was hiding in a field in the forest with a balloon attached. There were always eggs everywhere, and every year she would count how many she hid and yet we would never find them all. So, every July or August, one of the dogs would show up with a cracked plastic egg in their mouth. Then there was the year that each egg had a clue leading to the next egg. It was by far my favorite egg hunt! I started this tradition last year with my kids and it was a huge hit - they were writing clues and making there own egg hunts for days after. They are already making sure that I will be doing the same again this year. (Luckily I still have my clues on the computer so with a few changes I can use them again!)

The other thing that always made Easter so special was my Grandpa. Being an only child, there were no siblings compete with to find the most eggs. So, the egg hunts were between Grandpa and me. He would chase me around trying to steal my eggs and talking a big talk about finding them all before me. When I was little I was worried he really was stealing my eggs - but as I got older (and realized he gave me all the eggs he found) I just loved the tradition and fun of something we shared together. Last June he passed away and with Easter approaching I am missing him more than ever. How grateful it has made me to have the gospel in my life - knowing that I will see him again is such a blessing! On a side note - as a family we are taking this week to ponder and learn about the saviors death and resurrection. This morning we were reading about Mary not recognizing the savior when he first appeared to her - we asked the kids why she didn't recognize him and Jackson's answer was, "Because he was brand new- with some holes!" They really do make scripture study pretty entertaining (when they aren't asleep!)

Anyway, Easter is almost here and for the first time I can remember, we won't have any family here with us. Luckily, we are having some dear friends over and I get to be in charge of the egg hunt! It's helping me to focus on the fun parts of this Easter and pass along all the fun I had as a child - I love it. I am also in charge of the Ham (wish me luck...) and some other food. I am sure it will work out - and if it doesn't - my friend is a great cook so at least something will be edible. And Grandpa, I love you, I miss you and I promise to steal eggs and candy from all my kids in honor of you!

Why I do what I do!

On days when my life feels uneventful an unimportant, having my 8 year old bring this home from school makes it all worth it!!

You may need to click on the picture to read it - sorry it's so small, but I'm trying out blogging from my phone which is new to me!

Yesterday wasn't my favorite day. There were 8 loads of laundry (only 6 were completed) errands to run, kids to take to swim team, a huge school project to help Jason with and an endless list of things I would have rather been doing. On top of that I have had a nagging headache that comes and goes for the past few days and I haven't been sleeping well at all. So, I was a little (ok, maybe a lot if you ask my kids and husband) cranky. Cranky, but trying my best. So when the rain started to fall, I felt instantly comforted. I love the rain. I always have. I think I love it more when it seems to match my mood on the inside. So I scooped up my adorable baby from the highchair, grabbed her dinner of plums with applesauce and headed to the front porch to watch it pour. Of course the whole family followed and can I just say that there is nothing better than watching your kids run around in the rain. There are no electronics involved and yet pure joy seems to radiate from them as they splash around and are beyond thrilled to get soaked to the bone! Now, if only inside showers could excite them the same way..... Anyway, after all that excitement, who would have thought it could get better? But, of course, it did, in a big way! It was one of the best rainbows I have seen in years. If only I had a a lens that could have captured it in it's entirety.

The kids were convinced that the rainbow was ending at our friends house who lives a few blocks away. I thought about making a joke about the pot of gold being their three daughters but decided to let them enjoy the fun instead of turning it into a "Mo-ooom" (insert annoyance when reading aloud) moment for them all! So, Jessica -if they come knocking and asking about the pot of gold - they really do mean gold, not girls.

And on a completely random note that is covered in spinach....

I can't seem to get enough of these baby blues! I mean, can you blame me?

I have regrets.

Big ones...

And here is the regret for today: I tend to compare myself to others WAY to much! (I'm not the only one right?) I used to love blogging, I loved writing about my little family and reading the comments from my friends that followed. However, the habit of comparing reared its ugly head... My blog wasn't as cute, the writing not as witty, the layout not as appealing, the pictures not as well taken. So, I gave up something that I loved doing. It wasn't a decision I woke up one day and made, it was a decision that my inaction made for me. The problem is that I have spent so much time regretting all the things that have happened in our family that I wish I had written about! So, I'm not making promises, I may not blog again for another year or so. However, I will try. Try not to care if my blog isn't what I want it to be and will try to just let it be! Try to once again enjoy writing about the funny and touching moments of my life with these four little ones I love so much. If for no other reason that I seem to have the worst memory lately and hopefully this will help me remember these years that are passing by way to quickly.

Random things I'd like to remember:

TYLER'S BACKSTROKE

The kids are swimming. It has become a huge part of our life but they are loving it. The older two are on year round swim team but we have been trying to get Tyler ready for summer swim team so we put him in private lessons a few months ago. He has made huge progress and can now swim 25 meters in backstroke and freestyle. When he first learned backstroke, his teacher looked down and wondered why he was only using one arm. Turns out the other arm was holding on to the strings of his swim suit. According to Tyler he was "holding up his belly button!"

KATIE

I love having a daughter. I always knew I would but I really wasn't prepared for how much. I thought I would love the cute clothes and hair bows (and I do) but it is so much more than that! Not really sure how to put it into words without sounding overly corny but I can't imagine our family without her.

FRIENDS

I am grateful for friends lately. I used to make friends really easily. Four years ago, I was more open, more outgoing and probably more fun. But life happens. I may not like it but some of that "life" changed me and I'm more reserved now about who open up to, more afraid I'll get hurt and less willing to let friends in. I'm working on it. Everyday. So, when Katie was born I was so touched by the people that came to help. It reminded me of all the people that I have here that care, friends that I could turn to if I needed anything. It happened again a few weeks ago when I hurt my arm. (Jason fell on it while we were playing on the trampoline-ow!) There they were again, coming over to help, bringing food, changing my sheets and just calling to check on me. Life with four kids can get busy, and sometimes I try to convince myself that it is enough to be a wife and a mother. But it's not. Being a friend and having friends, makes me a better me in all areas of my life. It brings balance to the busyness.

FUNNY DINNER CONVERSATION

The other night at dinner Jackson sighed and asked, "Mom, why did Satan turn against heavenly father?" Tyler didn't miss a beat, turned to him and said, "It's because he's Brittish!"

Not sure where he comes up with this stuff, but we sure enjoy it!

New Beginnings

A new school year is now in full swing. Once again, it was a year of change for our family. We moved here one year ago and started a new school not knowing what we were getting in to. It didn't take long before we loved it. I loved my kids teacher, I loved the sense of family that the school had and I loved all the friends I made through my kids. However, last spring they deceded to rezone the school district and our neighborhood was affected. So once again we started a new school year at a new school. At least this time they got to take a few of their friends along with them but it is still an adjustment. Plus, every time we drive by the old school my kids look out the window longingly and express their how badly they want to return to the old school. Mean while I am trying to stay positvie, telling them how great their new school is, yet on the inside screaming that I too want to go back! Yesterday we went back to visit friends and last years teachers and it was bitter sweet for us all. Upon leaving Jackson asked, "Mom, can we do this everyday?" He really loved his kindergarten teacher - she was the perfect teacher for him and as much as he likes his new teacher he kept telling me how much he wished he were still with Mrs. Ratcliffe. On a positive note, I am happy with the kids teachers and they seem to be liking it well enough. The adjustment for me is really the small things of coming from a school with an extremely active and way organized PTA and now not really understanding the organization or plan of the new PTA. Oh well, we have our first PTA meeting this Monday and their is a group of us ready to go in united and shake things up a bit. (In the nicest way possible, of course!) Should be interesting! :)

As always, I took some pictures on the first day of school. I didn't really look at them again until yesterday when I decided to do some editing. When I did I realized that I liked many of the pictures much more than I had remembered. Amazing what editing can do! Here's the video I put together yesterday. The music still needs a little fine tuning but all in all I am happy with it. Let me know what you think!

Memories of Madison

Lately I have been feeling unproductive. It is almost ironic because my house is more organized than ever - I've been running everyday (even beat Sean's time last night for the 2 mile loop in our neighborhood - woo hoo!) and getting a ton accomplished on projects around the house. What I am starting to realize is that sure, all of that helps, yet I really need to have more of a creative outlet in my life. Nothing else brings me the same kind of peace, stability or sense of accomplishment in my life. I also need to have a place to share it, so after a year of being a pathetic blogger - I am determined to come back in full force! I need to force myself to start scheduling time where my camera comes out of the bag - I need to quit watching videos, reading blogs and magazines on how to take great pictures and actually start taking them again!

This summer I went back to Wisconsin for the family reunion and to see my Grandfather. My mom and I spent a day driving around the east side of Madison, going to the parks, beaches and houses I grew up in. Next year we will hit Stoughton, the other main area of my childhood, but this was all we had time for this trip. It made me realize what an incredible and beautiful place I lived. At least I can say that when my visit took place during the summer months. In the winter....not so much. I made this video clip of all the pictures and video clips I took from the trip. Hope you like it!

Oh - on a side note, you can call me indecisive but I'm not changing my blog - I'll use my other blog for posting other stuff.