Firsts

NUMERO UNO:

• When 'best best' extended the invite to join her and her darling crew for a celebratory weekend in Boise, I was excited, but nervous. Could I drive their with the girls and Max alone? Would we be able to handle all of the kids by ourselves....and still have fun? Is there anything fun to do in Boise???? Yes, No Problem, Tons of it, and Surprisingly Yes:

Driving there was easier than I anticipated, thanks to a DVD player, patient girls, a sleepy baby and a tasty caffeinated beverage from the golden arches. Once we hooked up in Boise, we rode around in Phoebe's tricked out Mini and danced the day away to 'Phoebe gets Funky'.
The crew was very well behaved-
then again, we did spend 4 hours at Boondocks one day.

Boondocks wasn't the only thing we discovered in Boise.

We had a very exciting afternoon at Cabella's! Neither one of us had ever been there before and let me tell you it was an experience. The kids had a great time looking at all of the wild life (Rose still thinks they were real). Phoebe and I had a good laugh because her mini-van was the smallest car in the parking lot!

Boise also has a very nice mall that we did drag all six of our flock around. It is amazing how well kids behave when See's Candies are involved. I loved the thrill of this adventure and would do it again in a heartbeat-though it must be said that our husbands did fly in Saturday to help drive us home; a very kind and smart move on their part as we stayed up much to late chatting each night. I simply adore my Phoebs and relished the time we spent together. My road trip to Boise earns ****!

NUMBER TWO:

• Rosie recognizes her cousin's doll as Ila's cousin and insisted on us taking a picture of them together......twinkle sparkle. We have never had a child or met a child who loves their baby as much as our little Rose. She was so excited for Ila to have a play-date with her cousin.

Twinkle Sparkle!

Cowboy Hat: $7.00

Christmas P.J. top from last year: $6.50

Old baby bib used as a handkerchief: $4.00

Dress-up Dress tucked in and worn as a skirt: $11.00

Plaid p.j.'s bottoms from another set: $6.50

Pink Ribbon for her lasso: $.50

The imagination and ingenuity of a five year old: priceless!!

My Sister-in-law once used the term: Twinkle Sparkle to describe pride and joy emotions she feels for her two cats. I enjoyed the phrase very much and now coined it for my own (thanks Krissia).

Times like this make me smile and enjoy motherhood! Cheers to the imagination of our five year old; may she always keep it and never be afraid to share it! Yee-Haw!

I live in a Toliet!

So, most of you know Max has had an awful case of Diarrhea for the last 2 1/2 weeks. According to our pediatrician (who we love) he will get better, it's just taking a LONG time to resolve. At this point I am wondering if it will ever go away and if I will ever stop smelling like bleach and poop. I hit the wall tonight and thought I can either laugh about it while blogging or cry myself to sleep. I choose to smile in times of utter desperation:
I was battling the evening alone tonight as Kel had a meeting (famous last words). Things seemed to be going smoothly until I noticed on my arm that Max needed another diaper change because he obviously had blown-out. I am sure you can imagine what his little bum looks like after such a long stint with diarrhea. Because of the diaper rash, he screams and tries to crawl away every time he needs a change. I find myself crawling after him as he his rolling around with no diaper on and smearing poop everywhere he goes. Finally, after I have to hold him down to get him cleaned up, the thought occurs to me: "Maybe I should take the doctor's orders and let him crawl around naked to "air" out a little bit; surely he won't go you know what since he just went." Thinking that I can watch him and throw a load of dishes in, I begin to clean the kitchen. I don't even think I cleared the table by the time he was going all over the kitchen floor and crawling around in it. I grab him, put him in the kitchen sink and start rinsing him from head to toe. As I am washing him, I notice different but equally gross smell. I turn around and see Rosie at my side asking for help with wiping. She looked like a mummy wrapped in used toilet paper. Quickly taking Max out of the sink and putting Rosie in, I start hosing her off as well (I figured I had to bleach it anyway, might as well get some good use out of it). No sooner than me taking Rosie out of the sink I hear "Mommy Max is going poo-poo's all over in here!!!!". I was so focused on cleaning Rosie up that I had not put a diaper on Max. MY MISTAKE. So, I repeated the sink bath and this time put a diaper on promptly. By this time I was ready for bedtime. I sent the girls up to their room while I got Max in p.j.'s. As I am walking up the stairs, to my utter disbelief and horror, I hear these words "Rosie went to the bathroom all over my bed Mommy!". I am thinking NO WAY!! But, sure enough Lizzy's bed and pillow were soaking wet. At that point I officially lost it. I called my Mother in tears wondering what I had done to deserve this night. She assured me that it's just motherhood and that every thing would get better soon. I hope so Mom because I don't know how much more I can take!

NURTURE

I was so touched by conference this last weekend. Thoughts of wanting to improve have been wheeling through my mind ever since. One word has stuck with me and I am not able to let it go: nurture.

As mothers our responsibility is to nurture our children right? But what does nurture really mean? How do we nurture? How can I improve? How does Heavenly Father want ME to nurture Rosie, Max and Elizabeth? What ways do you nurture? I would love to read any of your thoughts on the subject and promise to share any insights I receive.

Yes I Can!

I love Canning! It is one of the big reasons I love fall so much. I love going to the farmer's market with my girls and picking up some yummy produce. I love seeing the fruit all lined up in our food storage and the sense of accomplishment it brings. But, most of all, I love spending those long hours in the kitchen with my Mom! We chat about everything in great detail and she shares with me precious words of wisdom and gives me insight that I would not have gained otherwise. She teaches me so much and on a small occasion, I believe I have taught her a thing or two too.

note: Rosie came up with that outfit all on her own.