The National Zoo with our Friends

The kids and I met up with our good friends from dental school at the DC Zoo in early May. Cole and Dave had the AAO conference in DC so the whole Butler family came out our way form Kentucky and we were so excited to see them again.

The kids took a little while to warm up to each other since it has been about a year since we'd seen them last. It's weird to think that Trenton and Macie were barely 2 years old when dental school started. Now they are about to turn 7!! We made our way through the crowded zoo and had a great time. It was a very hot and humid day and all the kids seemed to hold up well except Dominic. He had a few meltdowns, but we managed. Bri's mom was there too and it was nice to have her help although my kids didn't want to accept it. At one point I had Claire in the Bjorn, was pushing Tessa in the stroller, and was carrying a screaming Dominic all at the same time. We were quite the sight.

I really enjoyed catching up with Bri. Definetly wasn't enough time, but I am so glad we got to see them again!

We were also able to meet up with Cole in between his meetings for about a half an hour. We picked him up and then walked to the nearest grocery store to get the kids a treat. We sat down in the store at one of their tables and ate icecream bars. Cole was holding Claire and she somehow managed to get chocolate all over the sleeves of his dress shirt in the short few minutes we were there. Oh well. We were just glad to see him since he had already been gone for a few days and stll had a few more days before he came home.

Our Back Patio

I was very excited to learn that our townhome in VA would have a back patio and from the pictures it looked like it was enclosed with a fence too. Yeah, finally a place for my kids to play while I got things done in the house!

Well, we did get a patio but it wasn't fenced and it's not grass but rather massive amounts of weed and clover. Not what I hoped for. The kids still do go out and play every once in a while but they prefer the front yard because it actually has grass.

We get to be the ones to wack the weeds in our patio area and I obvious let it grow way too long before doing something about it. Shameful I know. The weeds were as big as Tessa and it looked even more trashy because of all the stuff I let accumulate back there during the winter.

I got to work and cleaned up the place and now it feels so much nicer to play out there and looking out the window is much more pleasant too.

Dominic and Tessa's favorite thing to do out back is dig in the dirt and make mud pies. As you can see they get extremely dirty and require a good scrub when they are done. I sent Dominic in to wash his feet and hands and I walked in a few minutes later to see him sitting in the sink in the half bath. I couldn't believe that he felt safe sitting in that tiny thing. If he would have fallen back he would have smacked his head right on the toilet. Crazy kid.

Macie and I planted a few things in some pots - tomato, basil and thyme. We've already used lots of basil and thyme and our tomato plant is getting really big. Just today we the kids saw 2 tiny green tomatoes. Can't wait to eat them.

The Window

I was already running late. I scrambled to get the three youngest kids pulled together with shoes on and hair quickly finger combed. I rushed to make a bottle for Claire, grabbed my keys and grocery list and opened the front door.

Yard maintenance was working that morning. I'd heard them and had even told Tessa to look out the window and watch them to give her something to do while I put on my make-up. When we walked out the front door one of the guys was standing by the van just waiting. "Ma'am, is this your car?" I hesitantly told him yes and then I saw it as I peered through the front of my car. The back window of my van was completely shattered.

Holding Claire, with Dom and Tess following behind, I walked to the back of the van to inspect the damage. He told me that one of his guys was trimming the grass that I had parked next to and a rock flew up and hit the back window.

I herded my kids back in the house as we obviously weren't going to be going to preschool or the grocery store that day. By the time I came back out the nice maintenance guys had already started to vacuum up the glass. I stayed calm. No reason to get upset as it was an accident after all. My biggest worry was that I was going to have to find a way to have to take 3 little kids with me and sit in a waiting room for hours as it got fixed. But no! The yard company and apartment company were on top of things. Within an hour I got a call from the auto glass company saying they'd be out to pick up my van about noon to get the window fixed. Sweet! I had my van back in one piece by 2:30pm and I didn't have to do or pay thing.

The only thing that would have made this little situation better is that the front window would have been hit. It's the one with the break all the way across from a stupid rock chip that didn't get fixed in time. I think I'll park the car in the other direction next time and hope that another stray rock makes it's way to my window so I don't have to fork out the money for that repair!

* I was at the park later and the 'yard guy' who was at the scene of the window shattering thanked me for not getting mad. He told me that most anyone else would have been mad. I told him it was no problem. I remember the apartment managing days so well and how testy tenants can get when unforeseen things happen. Testy tenant are no good.*

My Friend Jenn

Amazingly, my childhood friend Jenn and I both moved to Virginia last summer. Crazy how the timing worked. She and I have been friends since we were 5 and now we're married and have a ton of darling kids. I took my kids up to her place in the DC area (about 1 hr 40mins away) to play and visit. I had such a great time visiting with her. So many great memories together and it had been about 2 years since we'd seen each other last. Thanks for hosting Jenn!

Dominic and her twin boys are only 4 months apart. They had a blast together playing, being loud, chasing the cat (Doms favorite part) and making tons and tons of messes (sorry Jenn).

These little ones are only 2 weeks apart. Tyce is much more active and was crawling all over Claire and taking her toys. It was so fun to watch them interact and all the noises they made sounded so much alike!

The Creek

So my kids and I have gone to this park several times before but had never taken the time to walk down the trails and see what was around. Much to their delight we found a very shallow and slow moving creek. It hardly flows at all so it became the perfect place to throw rocks and splash around.
It has a very sandy shore and bottom so it's perfect to dig around in.

The first few times they didn't wear their swimsuits and they would end up completely drenched and would ride home naked in the car. My kids love it so much and I loved it because they loved it. Being outside is just so relaxing so we have been a lot. I ended up taking them there to play 4 times in 8 days (I hope that qualifies me as a cool mom).
Macie is holding the cool flowers that kept falling out of the tall trees above us.

Claire enjoys her time in the stroller or sitting on the shore grabbing at the bushes.

Outings With Grandma Dawn

We took Cole's mom to Colonial Williamsburg. I'm so glad we got season passes, I just love the whole atmosphere of that place.

These two kept trying to climb in the crawl space under these stairs.

We stoppped and watched the reenactments of life way back when - I can't remember the story line of this.


Dominic messing with the beautiful red bud trees.

The Civil War Visitor's Center-

I tried not to wear Cole's mom out, but wanted to provide her with some history of the Nation because I know she loves history. So morning we went to the Civil War Visitors Center in town. It was small and neat with lots of artifacts. The had a scarf there that had two bullet holes in it that one of the general/captains wore when he got shot to death. Gave me the chills just looking at it.

Thoughts on Being a Mom

I've always wanted to be a mom. It has never been a question for me. When I was a little girl I had a life size baby doll that I named Caitlin. She was pretty real to me. She was fed, diapered and clothed daily (and she smelled good too). I was babysitting by age 9 and so thrilled to make a dollar or two. I was the mothering type to my friends, possibly too much of an old soul (sorry Jenn, Mikaela, and Keri). It's just in me to be a mother and I can't deny it. I've never wanted to be or do anything else. I've just always wanted to be a mom and I have been blessed to be one.

Macie, 2 days old, June 2003

I'm not a perfect mother. I feed my kids chocolate chips at 8am so I can have peace and quiet, I yell and mutter loudly "you're driving me crazy," I bribe my kids with candy at the grocery store, I don't bathe my kids as often as I should and their teeth aren't perfectly brushed every day. I'm not consistent enough in my discipline, I let the kids watch cartoons for hours on the Saturday mornings when Cole is out of town so I can sleep in, they watch too many movies during the week and I don't spend enough one on one time with each kid as I probably should. And the list could go on and on.

April, 2008

But despite my failures I know my kids love me and even like me most of the time too. I love the days when I spend time doing activities with my kids like play dough, reading, and running around outside playing games together. I love the sweet kisses and cuddles they give me. I love to scratch Dominic's head and run my fingers through the girls hair and kiss and smell them even if they haven't bathed. I love their sweaty little bodies when they wake up from their naps and that they like me to hold them when they don't feel good. I love the funny little things my kids say and the way they make me laugh and smile. I love to cook and do projects with my kids and answer their silly and thought provoking questions.

Dominic, Feb 2007

I feel satisfied in my duties and accomplishments as a mom when I've read scriptures to my kids at the breakfast table, given them each a hug and a kiss and told them how much I love them, when I've really listened to what they are telling me and am giving them my undivided attention. I feel good about being a mother when I am doing the little things like getting someone a drink, helping with their potty chair, looking at every bug they've found that they are so excited about, singing songs, and wiping noses even though it might not be glamorous and I might not want to. It really feels like it's the little things that add up to making me feel whole and satisfied as a mother, but it's easy to forget those little things sometimes and get discouraged.

Tessa, April 2009

We all know that being a mom isn't easy. It's actually pretty hard. You hear that a mom's salary is in the $150's or something, yet it feels like it should be worth a million. Although we don't get paid I sure am counting on those blessings in heaven for trying my best, yet failing and then trying again each day to be a better mom.

Macie, Rexburg, ID, Jan 2005

I love being a mom so much that I try not to take offense at the comments bystanders make about our large family and can chuckle at the fact that the nurse at the health center spoke to me in hushed tones even though no one else was around and said that they had family planning materials and items if I needed them. I love my children and role as a mother so much that I laughed and said that I love having children and I didn't even make her feel bad by saying I also had a child in school at the moment and that I am planning to have 15* more kids! (*not really 15)

Finding out we're pregnant for the first time, Sept 2002

I love being a mother so much that we didn't wait to have kids to have "us time" and were blessed with a baby girl 10 months after we were married. I love being a mother so much that even after enduring the painful, emotional and heart wrenching loss of 3 of our children due to miscarriage we kept trying again to bring more of Heavenly Father's children into our family. I know that those children are waiting in heaven for us and that they are still ours to raise and love.

Claire, Dec 2009

I love being a mother so much that with each pregnancy I push aside the fear of another loss and endure horrible morning sickness, fatigue, and major changes to my body. But the aches and pains are so worth the prize of a newborn baby wrapped in my arms for me to feed, love, teach and care for. I see each one of my children as a special and unique blessing. Being a mother has taught me much about love, patience (mostly that I don't have as much as I thought I did), responsibility, humility, faith, hardwork, selflessness and the value of a good nights sleep.

July 2009

I feel that being a mother is the greatest calling, responsibilty, or job that I could ever have and I couldn't be happier that I get to experience all the joy that it brings.

Newborn Claire, Aug 2009

I am so grateful for a loving and wise husband who shares my same great desire to have a large family with lots of kids and enjoys the pitter patter of little feet in our home. Obviously I wouldn't be a mother if I didn't have him in my life and he truly helps me be a better mother. He lovingly encourages me and pushes me along even when I feel like it's too hard or that I'm not measuring up.

Our first baby Macie, June 2003

I'm grateful to my own mother who taught me the ways of mothering by her righteous example. She is truly the most selfless and loving mother I know and I love her for all she taught me.

The day before Claire was born, Aug 2009

To all of you, Happy Mothers Day! My gifts to you are the following quotes/ talks that I love about Motherhood:

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations. (The Family: A Proclamation to the World)

There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. Each situation is unique. What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply and, in keeping with the devotion she has for God and her husband, prioritizes them above all else.

I am impressed by countless mothers who have learned how important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life. If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only one-fourth of a parent’s life. And the most formative time of all, the early years in a child’s life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent’s normal life. It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes. This eternally important work falls to mothers and fathers as equal partners. I am grateful that today many fathers are more involved in the lives of their children. But I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being. In the words of the proclamation on the family, “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Liahona, Oct. 2004, 49; Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102).

We need to remember that the full commitment of motherhood and of putting children first can be difficult. Through my own four-generation experience in our family, and through discussions with mothers of young children throughout the Church, I know something of a mother’s emotions that accompany her commitment to be at home with young children. There are moments of great joy and incredible fulfillment, but there are also moments of a sense of inadequacy, monotony, and frustration. Mothers may feel they receive little or no appreciation for the choice they have made. Sometimes even husbands seem to have no idea of the demands upon their wives.

Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.

M. Russell Ballard, Daughters of God (Such a good talk! You should read it!)

As mothers, our work is not washing diapers and mending holes in jeans—that is what we spend much of our time doing, but it is not our work. Our work is rearing children; but it is much more than that, for we rear our children to fulfill their potential. We might have dreams of their success on earth, but we are being shortsighted. For them to be successful, they must inherit the celestial kingdom. The little people with whom we share our homes are more than gifts from God. They are gods in embryo themselves. Our work is to help them realize that awe-inspiring fact and then to live so that they will not fall short of their divine potential.

Motherhood is joyful. It is exciting, challenging, and fun; it demands all our best efforts. Motherhood is creation of children and of the homes to nurture them in. Motherhood is partnership with husbands and the Lord. May we all catch a glimmer of the splendor we can create in our own outposts of the kingdom of God. Petrea Kelly, The Joys of Motherhood