This week it has been SO very nice. After spending a weekend in AZ my kids are very ready for Spring. I look at the parks around my house and there is still snow everywhere and where it has melted there is mud. Kaily asks me everyday, after looking outside and seeing the blue sky, if she can go to the park. It's still cold outside and with the kids getting sick I just don't want to chance it yet. I may be a bit paranoid...

With all of this nice weather it has gotten me going on my spring cleaning. I am really tired of clutter and I need to get it under control before it swallows me up. The only bad part of organizing and un-cluttering everything is you make a mess and then you have to clean it up all over again, only this time with more organization to everything.

1. Go to your documents/pictures.
2. Go to your 6th file folder.
3. Go to your 6th picture.
4. Post and blog about it.
5. Tag 6 people to do the same.

This is Clint when he was a little boy. He is playing in the irrigation ditch on the farm in Hyder AZ. What you can't see in this picture is his brother, Ben behind him. I cut him out b/c I was trying to get a good pic of Clint when he was a little boy. He says he's about 4-5 in this. he doesn't remember exactly how old. Wasn't he a cute boy?! His dad took the picture with an OLD camera so it's a bit grainy.

Ok, so I'm supposed to tag 6 people. Here you go: Stef J., Julie, Kate, Sarah, Angelica, Brianne

Yesterday was Kaily's 4th birthday and she is sick. We kept her home from school and just did a movie marathon with her all day. For her birthday we gave her The Little Mermaid videos, all three of them. She just wanted to snuggle with me and so I let her. I'm ashamed to say that it's been a while since I've just sat and cuddled Kaily on my lap. I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. Clint made her a good lunch and we had a tea party with her new tea set while we watched the movies. I could tell how much it meant to her and I realized that even though she received all these things for her birthday the one thing she wanted more than any of it, the one thing she will remember is that Mom spent all day just being with her. I feel bad that it took her getting sick for me to remember. That's why I like this quote for today. I think it sums it all up for me.

"What can . . . young mother[s] [do] . . . to reduce the pressure [of raising young children] and enjoy [their families] more? . . . "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. "Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: 'The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less' (Loud and Clear [1004], 10-11)." ~M. Russell Ballard~

I can't believe it's been one whole year since Conner was born. In some ways it feels like yesterday that he was so tiny in my arms and he and I were cuddling in the hospital bed together. Now he is ALL over the place, he hardly sits still anymore. He has become the biggest tease and he loves to laugh...and whine. (= So how did we celebrate his birthday? We went to a Super Bowl party at a friends house. We gave him a cookie for his treat and let him eat it himself, that is until it started to get everywhere. This Sat we are having a party for Kaily and then Sunday we will celebrate with the whole family. Happy Birthday my little boy!