If you need something quick to entertain your kids while you cook dinner

It's simple...

paint, brush and paper plate.

 Sorry about the immodesty ;)

It entertained for about 10 minutes and got everyone out of wining mode and wiped up quickly.

Try it :)

Awesome Easter!

We had a really great Easter this year and it was really fun to see Anna start to understand the meaning of Easter and the joy and blessings that the Savior's resurrection brings to us. 

In our family the Easter Bunny comes on Saturday.  So after Daddy got back from hunting the kids got to search for their Easter baskets and have an Easter egg hunt.

We had great amounts of fun and messes!

 She had to eat each piece of candy in the egg before she would get the next one.  We are soooo lucky she didn't throw up that night!

  He's cheering Anna on.

Nathan and I spent about two hours cleaning up Saturday night after the kids went to bed.  We wanted everything in order so that Sunday was relaxing and we could remember and focus on our Savior.

Easter Sunday was wonderful.  We were actually early to church for the first time in months! (hopefully we can keep that up. )

We sang Easter hymns on the was to church and the messages were great.  My only problem is that they didn't even sing my favorite hymn!  One of my favorites is "He is Risen" and I look forward to singing it in church every Easter.  I even had it stuck in my head for several days prior.  Though we sang other good ones I was sad.

So what did I do...I made the family sing it with me like 10 TIMES that evening.  They are good sports.

Here is our family Easter picture that only took 8 times to get right.(Family Christmas picture took 24 times!!) 

I made Easter dinner for the first time all by myself.  I admit there were moments in the process that I was sure it was bound to fail.  But it actually turned out great! Yes, I made the starving family wait to eat so that I could take pictures of my grand accomplishment.

 My awesome ham that I am so proud of!

Judging by the look on Joshua's face, it was a success. 

I loved having my husband with us for Easter this year.  It was such a special time to remember the resurrection of my Savior.  My faith in him grew this Easter as I studied passages from the scriptures on his death and resurrection.  I know that he lived a perfect life and suffered for my sins and afflictions.  I also know with surety that he was literally resurrected and has a body of flesh and bones(Luke 24:39) and that if I keep my covenants and live worthy I too can be resurrected and live forever.  I testify that he is the Savior of the world.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

He Is Not Here, but Is Risen

Swiffer vacs are wonderful things

This is my son's face after I turn the swiffer vac off.  This is a regular occurrence whether it's the swiffer, vacuum or mop.  Glad to know I have a future helper.

I feel the same way about my swiffer!!

I am going crazy!

It's a complete miracle!!!!!! Joshua slept through the night two nights in a row and only woke up once last night.  I finally slept through the night, which I haven't done in over 2 YEARS! Well, I guess it could be worse ;)

Anyways, I don't know what to do with myself.  My body does not know how to NOT be sleep deprived.  I have been so used to it that I actually felt kinda yucky and lazy after sleeping through the night (though I'm sure I could adjust back to non interrupted sleep quite nicely).

Yes, my son is 9 months old and is just starting this but I was prepared for worse. Anna did not sleep through the night until 15 months and she was up between 3-6 times a night usually.  Now I am not expecting every night to be perfect but yes, I have two children almost sleeping through the night. 

Bring on the next one :)

Here is my sweet guy:

  This is during his first haircut and the tooth brush kept him still the WHOLE time.

For those who are looking for answers to get their babies to sleep through the night, my answer is that THERE ISN'T ONE.  I know, it's sad but I have read a billion books and tried advice from a million people and nothing worked for my kids.  They just had to grow out of it. 

I know that this has been one of my little trials so that I can learn patience.  I have learned to give my selfish desires to the Lord and put my whole heart into serving and sacrificing for someone else.  What a great blessing this has been!  Now you really know I'm crazy lol. 

I know I have a long ways to go so who knows how many more sleepless babies I will be blessed with, but I always know that my Savior is there to help me with any trial or struggle in my life to help me learn and grow from it.

Spring Fun!

I love Spring, especially here in Missouri! It probably seems so wonderful because I have been trapped inside for the last 4 months with two kids under the age of two who have way too much energy!!!! Well, needless to say, my kids LOVE being outside and we have enjoyed every minute of the beautiful weather this week since it will be raining all next week.  Here are some of our adventures. 

 Anna loves her tricycle

 Playing outside and making bread all day wore her out

 We went to McDonald's after dinner the other night for ice cream and yes, my children love it! Probably got that from me ;)

 He was trying to play hide and seek at the park

 We spent 4 hours at the park and walking this morning.  Anna came up to me with a dandelion and said "Jesus created the flowers."  Oh how sweet.   I told her that he also created the grass and trees and everything beautiful.  She then said, "Jesus created the park for Anna, it's beautiful."  Children are so sweet.  Just walking today and seeing the new growth really reminded me of Easter and the resurrection of the Savior.  He is the reason we have hope for a new and everlasting life. 

I love the spring and enjoy spending all day with my wonderful kids.  I am so blessed to be a stay at home mom.  Speaking of good weather a thunderstorm is happening outside right now. lol Well, let's just hope we don't have a tornado warning tonight, it's getting to that season. aawwww!

Pictures I should have posted a long time ago

I never posted pictures of Anna's birthday party, so here they are.  She had a few friends over for Elmo cake and ice cream the day before her birthday and then we had some ice cream on Sunday(her actual birthday) as a family.

 She loves baby dolls!

 This is my girl with her baby doll, necklaces and lip gloss. She is in heaven!

 I took the kids to the science center in St. Louis when we went to the temple last month.  Here they are standing on a T-rex footprint.

This is what my car looks like after our 6 hour(round trip) temple trip. 

Our Fun/Crazy General Conference Weekend

 First of all, there is going to be a temple in Meridian, ID!!! This is my home town and I am so excited!  I started crying when I heard the news.  What a blessing it is to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ restored on the earth today and a living Prophet to guide us.  I am so grateful to be able to serve and worship in the temple of the Lord and receive it's blessings.

My poor husband had to work a really long shift on Friday and didn't get home until Saturday at 8:30am so he crashed for most of the day until Priesthood Session.  So I was on my own with the kids.

I got a set of these pictures of the First Presidency and the Apostles from lds.org for about $5 and then I got clear contact paper and put it on each picture front and back to keep them durable and clean.  When one of the prophets or apostles would get up to speak I would help Anna find his picture and she had fun learning their names.  I know a 2 year old can't find much interest in General Conference but I wanted a way to at least involve her a little bit and get her excited so that she doesn't just think of conference as a boring thing mom and dad watch twice a year. We now have these awesome pictures to pull out every conference and for family home evenings. 

This is my general conference experience with a 2 year old and 8 month old:  We get back from the park and I turn conference on the computer while we find the picture of President Monson.  Everyone decides they are starving so I try to feed them while I am listening (some what).  Anna escapes out the front door and starts running for the park because she wants to put Tigger in the swing.  I run after her and Joshua starts screaming because I walked away from him.  It takes me a little while to calm them down and then Anna has to go potty every 3 minutes and Joshua follows us into the bathroom and screams because I won't let him play in the toilet.  Joshua has a blowout poop so I miss a talk because of that.  I get everyone on the couch to watch and I have Joshua laying on my lap fussing and drinking his bottle and then Anna is sitting on my shoulders trying to stuff Cheezits into my mouth and giggling. 

It was quite an adventure but I love my sweet little children and they are worth it and I know that they will learn to love General Conference too as they get older.  Even though I didn't get to hear every talk live(thank goodness we can listen to and read it again here) the spirit was so strong in our home and the Prophets and Apostles and God spoke to us and encouraged us!

P.S. When I first got married I was set on taking wonderful notes of every session and going to the church for most sessions so that I would not miss anything.  But obviously I had not been a mother of little children yet.  Now I understand the importance of motherhood and doing my best to be an example of the Savior to my children even if I don't hear every word of conference(or church for that matter). :)