Finding Joy in the Journey

September 27th 2018

This is one of those stories that it all happened in seconds, but it takes a while to tell. Ready or not, here we go! 

A new neighbor had invited us and several other neighbors over for dinner. They lived just down the street and across the road perpendicular to ours so we just walked. The older 3 decided to ride their scooters, Robert pushed Emma in the stroller, and I carried John.

We had a great time at the party, and we went to walk home. We looked both ways, there were no cars coming, so the whole family started across the crosswalk again with the 3 older kids on their scooters, me holding John who was sleeping in my arms, and Robert pushing Emma in the stroller.

As we entered the crosswalk a car turned on to the street. Robert and I said at the same time, "They're coming fast." And then as we realized at the same time, "They're not going to slow down!" Lydia, Mary, and James were right in line with the car. For a few horrible seconds, I thought my 3 older kids were going to die.

Something snapped in Robert and me. Robert had Emma in the stroller so he stayed back but started yelling and waving his arms for all he was worth. (Which gave him the perfect vantage point to witness the whole thing *poor guy*) I ran up to Lydia and Mary. James had just made it across but was turning around to come back into the crosswalk. I yelled, "James stop! Girls HURRY!!" And pushed them forward. Then I tried to walk real quickly backward out of the way. I almost made it but my right leg stuck out just enough that the corner of the car clipped it. The hit spun me around then when I went to stand on the leg is when I collapsed. I came down on my left knee first. I was holding John in my left arm. So at the last second (with the help of angels, no doubt) I threw my right shoulder underneath me, landing on my back with John unscratched, still sleeping, in the crook of my left arm.

I started screaming and crying, "My leg! My leg!" But after just a few seconds I had the thought, "Stop, your kids are watching" and stopped immediately. I wasn't sure whether the car had missed the kids until then when I calmed down and was able to look around and see them. I couldn't stop from going into shock though, so the shakes took over. Robert called 911 right away. The girls ran back into the house we'd just had dinner at and yelled to everyone there, "Our mom got hit by a car!" 

 From that point until I was admitted into the hospital was a blur of events. So instead of going moment by moment, I'll just list some key points I want to remember: 

The surgery to put the rod in was the next day and the recovery side of things began. Most of the physical pain is gone as long as I don't bear weight on my leg. Emotionally, I'm not a pretty picture right now. It could have been SO MUCH WORSE. I cry everyday thinking about it and being so grateful that it wasn't. But also, it would have been nice for it to have not happened at all, and I do a lot of crying about that too. But that's another post for another day.

Lately I've been struggling with feeling like my life isn't mine right now. I have so many goals. Ways I'm wanting to work on me, things I'd like to be able to do, projects I'd like to complete, friends and family I'd like to spend time with, but nearly every minute of everyday someone else's needs or goals trump my own. 90% of the time that someone else is one of my little people. I am powerless at taking charge of my own life.

This week's example, I wanted to work on feeling a little more put together. Namely, hair done and a little make up on everyday thinking this would boost my self esteem and motivation. Instead because of the hustle and bustle of life, I rocked an Agatha Trunchbull bun all week long, and I did my make up once. Said make up stayed on my face for 3 days, causing a huge break out by the end of the week. 😕

Which brings us to today. Sunday is my one, non-negotiable, "do your hair and face" day. So I arrived at our stake conference ready to be spiritually fed and feeling beautiful for the first time this week. In the first hour of the meeting, I took the 2 older girls to the bathroom, I nursed Emma under my nursing cover on the pew, Robert took James to the bathroom (he didn't actually have to go), then James proceeded to whine over and over again "I'm tired!" not satisfied until we made enough room for him to lay fully stretched out on the pew with his head resting in my lap where he promptly fell asleep. Within 2 minutes after James finally settled, Emma started fussing to be fed again, so I took her out during the intermediate hymn. There were a few designated "Cry Rooms" where they were broadcasting the meeting so parents dealing with restless kids could still try to watch. So I went into one that was a bit full. I decided maybe Emma wasn't hungry. Maybe she just needed to be burped and then would fall asleep instead. Started to burp her at my shoulder and she looked up at me, turning her head just enough that when she spit up it completely missed the spit rag and got my face, hair, and down the front of my shirt instead (and apparently this undiscovered part of my skirt). I felt pretty NO MORE.

I wiped up the mess as quickly as I could, stubbornly refusing help from a friend, and left that room feeling embarrassed. I went to a different room, this one designated just for nursing moms. This room was much quieter, just me and 3 other moms with our babies. As Emma began to settle, my heart started to open to the peace that was in that room. I looked at Emma and then at the other moms with their babies and received the unmistakable impression...

"There is power here."

This brought me immediately to tears. Grateful, peaceful, soul-rejuvenating tears. Being a mom is often thankless, exhausting, menial, sometimes downright awful work. I get so caught up in the day to day drudgery of it all that I forget the eternal perspective of it. I am a mom. Raising children of God with love. Though imperfect, I am doing my best to raise righteous human beings that will one day change the world for the better. NOTHING is more important than that, and the blessings from doing this work are INNUMERABLE.

"There is power here."

Spit up and all 😉

I lost two babies.

It was is awful.

A year ago last night was when I lost the first. I never knew I could be as sad as I was when I lost the first baby. The 2 months that followed were a couple of the most emotional months I've had in my life. Then we found out we were pregnant again. I thought that it was some kind of reward from Heavenly Father that we were able to get pregnant again so soon. The 2 months that followed after that were the most pregnant sick I've EVER been. They were miserable. Robert started staying home at least half the day everyday because I could not take care of the kids. But when I'd get in bed each night after agonizing through another awful day, I'd still think how thankful I was that I was able to be pregnant. This would all be worth it once I was able to finally hold another beautiful baby in my arms.

But that would never happen. At twelve weeks, October 27th, 4 months to the day after losing the first baby, I would be at my OB appointment and they would not be able to find a heartbeat. Two days later I went in for a D and C. It was not the ending I was supposed to have. As I got on the operating table, tears started to stream down my face. One of the nurses said there was no reason to be scared. I said, "I'm not scared. I'm just sad."

For the next few days, I didn't know what to feel. Unlike the first miscarriage, there was never any excessive bleeding or cramping. It was less physical pain, but also less closure which led to more emotional pain. One day I was pregnant. The next day I wasn't. It was hard to accept it as reality. I think the first emotions to set in were guilt, shame, and blaming myself for what had happened. Thoughts like, "Maybe if I were in healthier shape I wouldn't have lost the baby again." and "Robert sacrificed so much of his time taking care of me and the kids while I've been so sick the past 2 months, and now because of me it was all for nothing." or "Two in a row, there must be something wrong with me."

Soon that guilt turned to anger. I had to really turn inward and heavenward to find comfort and understanding. The saddest moment of the whole ordeal came from our sweet Lydia. Several days after we had told her what happened she came up to me in tears and said, "Mommy, I prayed every day that this baby wouldn't die like the first one. Did Heavenly Father not hear me?"

The inspiration I received from Heavenly Father right then in my answer to her not only calmed her, but was an answer to prayer that started the healing process of my own broken heart. I told her, "Heavenly Father heard you. He ALWAYS hears you. But he also knows that sometimes we need to go through hard things. We might not know the reason until we are in Heaven, but I know in Heaven we will be happy and all these hard things will be worth it. And I know that Heavenly Father loves us and is sad we have to be sad right now."

I've learned and grown this past year. I've gained a deeper testimony of the Atonement and the love of our Savior and Heavenly Father. My heart still hurts and yearns for those babies I've lost. When I hear of someone else experiencing a similar loss, that hurt is brought to the surface as if it happened yesterday, and I have a feeling that will never change. But in a strange way I'm thankful for that. I'm able to understand more, help more, and serve better those who are going through similar trials. This shows me again how important and special the Atonement is. Christ experienced this pain. This EXACT pain, and because of this he knows exactly what I need to heal and learn and become the person I am supposed to be.


We hope to be pregnant again very soon. I'm TERRIFIED. As much as I long to hold another baby in my arms, I'm scared of losing one again. But I know that Heavenly Father's plan is a Plan of Happiness. No matter what happens if I rely on Him, I will be happy and have peace in this life or the next.

Friend invites me to a play date Friday...

It's been a while since I've made it. I really should go. It's just tricky getting out of the house with my kids and my 3 extras.

Find out youngest extra isn't coming Friday.

Let's go to the play date!

Play date is at 11:30am. Need to get myself ready (AKA put on real pants and maybe mascara), pack lunches for everyone, get kids dressed and ready. Simple enough, right??

10:30 - I go to put real pants on. Tell kids to clean up the toys they are playing with because it is time to get ready to go.

10:50 - All five kids are in timeout. Toy room is even messier, and somehow I still don't have real pants on.

11:00 - Real pants are on. I start making lunches. All kids have been released from timeout. Dressed 3 are cleaning up toys. Lydia and Mary are sent to pick out clothes for themselves.

11:05 - Lydia comes in complaining that none of her clothes are pink enough. Sees that I'm making sandwiches. Throws a fit because I say Ramen is not a good food for a picnic lunch.

11:06 - Lydia is in timeout.

11:10 - Resume making lunches. Text friend that we might be late. Toy room is back to original point of messiness when the kids were first asked to clean. The rest will wait until we're back.

11:15 - Release Lydia from timeout. Convince Lydia that the play dress that has a pink skirt is sufficiently pink. Mary sees Lydia in that dress, wants to wear hers that matches instead of the clothes she's already changed into. She goes to change herself. Gets her head stuck in the arm hole.

11:25 - Finally finish lunches. Time to do girls' hair. Where's the spray bottle? Oh yeah, in the car. I go to get it. Notice we haven't put the 2 extra car seats back in since our trip this past weekend.

11:35 - Car seats are in the car.

11:45 - Girls' hair is done. "Okay kids. Time to get in the car."

11:47 - Lydia can only find one croc, wants to wear tennis shoes instead. Extra #1 can't find either shoe. Extra #2 put his own shoes on but on wrong feet and without socks. James wants to wear his monster slippers.

11:50 - Notice Extra #2 has a wet Pull-up. Change him.

11:55 - All kids' shoes are on. Begin putting kids in car. Get James out from under next door neighbor's truck. Force James in car seat. Tell James, "I'm sorry Mommy yelled, but Mommy is trying to keep you safe."

12:05 - Arrive at play date.

Spend the following 45 minutes having all three girls complaining that it is too hot to play, take 3 different kids to the bathroom, find James after he's disappeared 2 times. Change James's poopy diaper... twice. Say maybe 10 complete sentences over the course of this to the other Mommy friends at the play date. 

Decide it's time to go home. 

Where's my phone? I must have left it in the bathroom. 

Put 4 kids in the car. Tell Lydia to get in while I go to get my phone.

Go to get in the car. Lydia is not there. 

Search for Lydia. Find her hiding in the backyard because she doesn't want to leave because miraculously it's all the sudden not too hot to play.

Force Lydia to the car.

James has Houdini escaped out of his carseat, is sitting in the driver's seat, and has locked us out.

Luckily I've left the window rolled down a crack that my arm can fit through.

James closes window on my arm. 

Use Serious Mom Voice to get James to roll down window.

1:30 - Get home. Put youngest 2 down for nap. Older 3 down for "rest time." Eat a whole bowl of chocolate ice cream. Write blog post.

My comfort sanity keeper on days like today:

"In speaking of mothers generally, I especially wish to praise and encourage young mothers. The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work... But with night feedings and night teethings, often the greatest challenge of all for a young mother is simply fatigue...

Do the best you can through these years, but whatever else you do, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones... Remember, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”... Mothers, we acknowledge and esteem your faith in every footstep. Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever... 
Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.” You are doing God’s work. You are doing it wonderfully well. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging." - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

Well, that and more ice cream.

How have you been?

Here? We have been B.U.S.Y.!!!!

I feel like the past few months, practically since the beginning of the year, have been us gearing up for what we knew would be a doozy of an April. There were yard and gardening projects we wanted to get done in time to get our early spring seeds planted. Robert had 2 conferences he was travelling for. Another whirlwind trip down to Mesa. Preston's graduation festivities. We expected the month to be a doozy, and boy howdy was it a doozy! Let's break it down by week, shall we?

Week 1:

March 30th: My nephew, Easton was born. I got to attend the birth. Such a privilege to witness such a sweet miracle!

March 31st-April 2nd: Robert had a conference at The Ohio State University

April 1st-2nd: My sister Breanna and her family came to visit.

Week 2:

April 1st-5th: We prepped and started planting our garden.

April 1st-6th: Easton was in the NICU so we tried to visit often and do what we could to help there.

April 9th-10th: We drove down to Mesa for our awesome friend, Lizzy's wedding and then back the next day.

Week 3:

PROJECTS!!! Every moment we could spare we lived and breathed yard work and housework. 

 April 16th: Was spent with Preston's help heaving a ton (literally) of stuff into a couple truckloads and hauling them to the dump.

April 17th-20th: Get house in order for company.

April 21st-22nd: PRESTON'S GRADUATION!!!

April 25th-27th: Help Preston and Sharon pack and move all of their stuff to our place. 

April 28th-30th: Robert went to a conference in Maryland where he was officially certified an actuary!! 

April 29th: Mary graduated preschool. (WHAT?!?)

Until the 28th we weren't sure if Preston and Sharon were moving in to live with us for the summer, or if they were just storing their stuff here and moving to Mesa on the 30th. Preston didn't get final word on an internship opportunity here in Utah until the 28th. He sadly didn't get it, so they left on the 30th to move down to Arizona for an internship he got there.

April 30th: Picked up Robert from the airport and took the kids straight from there to a babysitter's while we capped off the crazy month going to the temple with some of my awesome cousins.

Add the fact that during all this I had the 3 extra kids that I watch (age 4, 2, and almost 4 months) 5 days a week and on a couple days I also watched Easton (7 kids 5 and under!!!) and Robert finished up teaching for the semester and giving finals and what not (FYI giving finals is easier than taking finals). Robert and I sat on the couch May 1st, took a deep breath, and said "We survived!"

Now what? Well, our lives are ALWAYS crazy, but we are looking forward to a little more flexibility in our schedule. Robert's schedule is more relaxed during the spring and summer semesters. Lydia has less than 3 weeks left of kindergarten (WHAT?!?) and then we'll all be on summer break and looking forward to the trips and visitors we have planned. In the meantime, we're hoping to be able to add some missed things back into our routine. Namely, blogging, vlogging, and exercising. Oh, and maybe getting caught up on laundry... maybe...

Hooray for May!

P.S. Less than 5 weeks til our trip to Italy!! AHHH!!!!

Well, I already slacked on my "2 posts per week goal" by only doing 1 vlog on Sunday last week. Life is crazy busy. I'm babysitting 3 kids now, ages 4, 2, and 11 months, from 8-5 Monday-Friday. Lydia had her first dance recital. Kids have been sick. Robert and I have entered a 6 week weight loss challenge. Busy, busy, BUSY! But hopefully more posts on that later. For now, here's a little update on my kiddos.

 What can I say?? This kid has me completely wrapped around his little fingers. He is just such a sweet boy and a total charmer. I hate to say it (because my kids playing this contact sport terrifies me!), but he LOVES football. He has been doing this cute little thing lately where he'll put his hand down in a lineman stance (if that's what it's called) and say "Hut, hut, HIKE!" and try to tackle you. (Robert taught him). We're also seeing glimpses of this super goofball side of his personality developing that already gets us laughing until our sides hurt. He'll throw a terrible two year old tantrum with the best of them, but for the most part he is a very happy boy with a chuckle that could put a smile on the grumpiest person's face. As much as he tries to talk, he says very few words clearly which has me more and more worried, but we'll take that one day at a time and we'll get some kind of intervention soon if it comes to that.

Sweet, soft-hearted, soft-spoken Mary! She is so smart. She'll overhear us working on Lydia's homework and be able to answer nearly every question faster and more correctly than Lydia a lot of the time. She likes to keep to herself and will rarely go up to a kid to ask to play, but she lights up if another kid takes the initiative and asks her. She will immediately refer to that kid as her new best friend. She loves to craft. She will spend hours on end coloring or doing carefully thought out Perler Bead designs. She still is able to turn tears on and off like a faucet, a talent she's had since she was a baby. The other night I asked her if she wanted to start dance classes like Lydia when she turned 5. Immediately, she burst into tears and said, "I just really want to do soccer!!!" She's currently still on break from preschool and can't wait for it to start back up again at the end of February.

There is no shortage of spunk and sass when it comes to Lydia. She is the one that tests my parenting skills and patience the most, but then she'll turn around and do something the makes me burst into tears over how loving or thoughtful it is. I also occasionally have days where she is the extra helpful, not self-centered person I hope I'm teaching her to be. So hopefully I'm doing some things right. We're currently deciding whether or not to put her into the Chinese Dual Language Immersion at her school next year. We worry it'll be a struggle for her academically maybe too much of a struggle, but she is set on doing it because ironically her closest friend in her kindergarten class IS Chinese and she wants to be able to communicate better with her. We're leaning towards doing it but still weighing all the pros and cons and praying about it, so we'll see what happens. She just did her first dance recital. She had a blast and looked adorable. Hopefully there will be another post about that soon. She's liking dance so much that we're thinking we may want to move her into the class that meets twice a week. Grade school, dance recitals - I can't believe she's already at this stage of life!!

These kids have my heart hook, line, and sinker!! They've made me a better person. I'm proud and thankful to be their Mommy!!

Merry Christmas 2015

WE’VE MOVED!!

We are once again Provo, Utahns and no longer Santa Cruz, Californians. We are no longer students and have entered the real world. And we have a backyard! It’s kind of a big deal. 

Here’s what we are all up to:

James barely turned 2 in November and already weighs nearly as much as his two older sisters. He is all boy. He loves all sports with balls including basketball, football, soccer, and baseball, although he calls them all football. When he isn’t throwing a ball, he is either playing with his train set or cars or watching Mickey Mouse, especially the ones with cars or trains. His soft side is very evident, though, as he loves any regular family moments, such as prayers or scriptures, and begs for hugs and cuddles often. 

Mary is a very smart 4-year old. She is already reading easy books, asking math questions, constantly pointing out shapes and patterns, and remembering every fact we tell her. She is also very sensitive, which makes her very sweet, but can lead to some very funny moments when she tries so hard but cannot hold in her tears. She can spend hours building with her Duplo blocks or making Perler bead creations. 

Lydia is a social kindergartener. She loves going to school and playing with her friends. She is doing very well with her reading and schoolwork. She can be super duper crazy, but when she is in the right mood can be a great helper and example for her younger siblings. She loves playing all sorts of games with her family like Uno, Go Fish, or Freeze Tag. Coloring, painting pictures, and making Perler bead creations are some of her favorite 

creative activities. 

Heidi takes care of her children during the day and also watches an extra 10-month old child five days a week. She finished out our Santa Cruz era as a hall-of-fame Primary children’s chorister for our church and is now for the first time in 10 years NOT in a Primary calling. She has a couple of Relief Society callings in our new ward and is enjoying making new friends there. Having a larger home in Provo has kept her busy doing such things as pruning and weeding rose bushes, organizing all of our stuff, and in general making everything much more beautiful. 

Robert is now a full-time professor at Brigham Young University teaching statistics. He finished up his doctorate at UCSC in June by defending his thesis on Integro-Differential Equations in Spatio-Temporal Modeling, which included doing such things as modeling ozone pressure and predicting El Niño. He has been invited to present some of his research at a conference in Italy next summer. His kids think he is silly, smart, fun to play games with, and works hard.

Wishing you lots of love this holiday season,

THE RICHARDSONS

Written by: Dr. Bob

You did not have to be embarrassed about the comments he made to me. He looked about 10 years old, but from his lack of eye contact and constant fidgeting, I figure he's either on the autism spectrum or another social communication disorder. My brother and several nephews are on the spectrum, so not only am I used to it but since I live away from most of my family I find it especially endearing and heartwarming. You felt awful when he said I sounded like a man (I have a cold). And you shushed him and pulled him away when he said I must have not showered today because my hair looked greasy (he was right). But he TOTALLY made my day when the cashier said I'd saved $145 and he cheered "Mom, she's rich!!" and then proceeded to clap for me. So, sincerely, I love him!

In other news, I've been regularly couponing for a couple months now and I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. Between the in-store savings, catalinas, and rebate apps, I spent $129.05 and saved $156.63. It's not the most percentage I've saved on a shopping trip, but it was a BIG haul and the first time I didn't feel completely overwhelmed by it. Yay for learning and improving, and hooray for stretching dollars!

Life gets away from you sometimes. I started a vlog because I thought it would capture moments of our family better than words and pictures did. And it did, but as a result I had no time for the written blog, which I had hoped wouldn't be the case. Then I had a miscarriage, got pregnant again and horribly pregnant sick, then miscarried again all while starting a new chapter of our lives in Utah and trying to form new friendships and routines there. This made it so I stopped vlogging as well. I've missed it - vlogging and blogging alike. So I've set a new goal. At least 2 posts a week. Whether it's a vlog or blog doesn't matter, just as long as I get 2 things posted. Here's to a New Year of getting back on the wagon!

I'M BACK!!

Once upon a time, approximately 6.5 years ago, I started this blog. It's been such a blessing to us. I had never in my whole life been a consistent journal writer or scrapbooking person of any sort. I moved away from my huge immediate family and wanted a way to keep them posted on some of my day to day life since calling 10 siblings regularly can be impossible at times. This blog has filled all those needs. But lately I find myself lacking time or energy (thinking out what and how to write really zaps my energy) to keep really on top of it. I feel like all I'm able to do, especially for the past several months, is post pictures of events with captions here and there. Sometimes this happens months after the event happened so I've forgotten all of the little memories I wanted to write down that weren't photographed. I also have been feeling more and more like I want to capture more of my growing kids' personalities and funny quips and the emotions of our day to day things - the parts you don't get from a picture. I felt the answer to this was to get in the habit of taking more videos, but I feel like the only reason I've been somewhat successful at being consistent with this blog is that knowing others had access to read it kept me accountable to it. How could I get that same accountability with videos??

ENTER VLOGGING

The first real exposure I got to the vlogging community was when Robert's cousin started a daily vlog  on YouTube with his family (check out J House Vlogs) last September. The thought intrigued me right away, but I had a lot of reservations about doing it. Mainly insecurities (do I really want people to see how I'm wearing no make up and a pony tail a lot of the time? And hear my manly voice???), fear of blogging in public places (I don't like drawing strangers' attention), and of course privacy concerns. So I've been researching more and more over the past several months, following several more family vlogs (shout out to Matt and Em and Sam and Nia), getting a ton of tips on everything, and we've (Robert and myself - Robert's been in on the entire debate) decided it's time to test the waters.

So without further ado, our newly launched vlogging channel is Find Joy With Us. And our first video is here, also below:



I think we're in "beta mode" of this new endeavor right now. We're still figuring out what exactly we want the videos to be, how we want to structure and present them, how often we want to post, or if we are really up for consistently doing this at all. So we're testing it out and learning as we go. We'd love any feedback you have to share!!!

P.S. One privacy or identity protection suggestion we're trying to follow is to do our best to not include our last name. If we continue with the vlog past "beta mode," I will probably stop this blog and start another that follows that and other identity/privacy rules. We'll see where it goes from here! :)

Articles of Faith

We've been making a little extra effort to work on the Articles of Faith with the girls. They almost have the first 5 memorized. Here's Mary reciting the 4th :)

Running West Cliff
I'm trying once again to recommit to my running goals (though I've somewhat slacked this past week). I go with James while the girls are at preschool. Running with a stroller is not my favorite, but James' cuteness and the view make up for it.


National Pancake Day
We love when restaurants give free food for random holidays!


Lydia's New Swing Tricks
Lydia can now pump herself on the swing, making trips to the park that much more enjoyable for Mommy :) She also knows how to jump off the swing which I was completely surprised with at the end of this video.



Family Sunday Stroll
We're trying to really take advantage of the area we live in with the time we have left. This is the meadow right next to our apartment. On 4/20 it gets packed with 20,000 people smoking pot, but every other day of the year it's a beautiful place :)

Do you see the deer she's looking at?

Pi Day of the CENTURY!!
We like Pi Day! We usually eat some yummy pies to celebrate. This year being 3.14.15 made it extra special. I couldn't resist impulse buying these way overpriced shirts off of an ad I saw on facebook.





Then the day of Pi Day we ran in circles at 9:26am (3.1415926) and we bought my favorite Pi Day treat.


The full truth is that my favorite is a homemade recipe I make of these, but they are not easy to do in a kitchen as small as ours, so we've settled with store bought ones while we've lived here. Not complaining though because I also love the store bought ones :)

James' Laugh
I may be biased, but I think that James has the best laugh ever.



St. Patrick's Day
I have mixed feelings about this day. I love having an excuse to wear green, and I don't mind squirting a few drops of green food coloring in whatever foods we're making and having a bit of fun with that, but I have no desire to do any of the leprechaun tricks or whatever I've seen others do. Sometimes I feel like it's only gotten as big a creative deal as it is because of Pinterest. I want to make it clear too that I have nothing against moms who go all out. In fact I'm always super impressed at all the things I see, but I don't think that will ever be me. I guess I just would rather invest my energy in some of the surrounding holidays like Pi Day, Easter, etc.  So this year all our festivities included were green clothes, green pancakes, and green milk, and the kids thought that was just great :)