His Last Game

So, fall soccer is over. We had fun. They sure are cute kids who play and more than once we were laughing at them (as rude as that sounds it's true). They were pretty darn funny. Nathan didn't love soccer and that's okay.  He'll have another shot at it in the spring. I must say, he had a great coach though. Aaron invited the team over after the game for some awards. What a cute guy!

Pictures from Nate's last game

The Awards at our house

Thankful Thursdays

Today I'm thankful for:

- Girlfriends. I have the BEST girlfriends. This week Suzanna came over and deep cleaned my house with me and boy was she thorough. Also had a bunch of friends over last night and we stayed up way too late laughing, crying, venting, and counting our blessings of motherhood.

- Kids who sleep well. This is not to be taken for granted because I LOVE MY SLEEP!

- Fleece Sheets.....it goes along with sleep. When the weather turns cold I put those babies on my bed and feel like I'm getting into a cozy blanket every night. Divine!

- Yummy food. I do a dinner swap with a few ladies in my neighborhood. Each of us take a night of the week and make dinner for all of our families making it so we only have to make dinner once a week. I'm telling ya, there have been some very good meals at our house lately.

Capturing some Moments

These are completely random.

Toe Dipping at Thanksgiving Point Gardens

Hannah sporting my gear and looking mighty cute!

A night with Daddy is way more fun than all the time in the world with mommy.

Aaron is not much of a sports guy. Doesn't really care too much about keeping up with the teams, but when our neighbors asked if we wanted some BYU tickets to an 8:30 pm game, I might have said yes and I might have convinced someone that he'd have so much fun going and taking his son. I just can't pass up an opportunity for these two to hang out. (Doesn't Aaron look thrilled?)

Well, it ended up being a pretty fun night after all.

And lastly as of late, I got such a fun surprise visit from a very dear friend whom I haven't seen in nearly 8 years! Emily was one of my college roommates and a most beloved one! Our married lives have taken us far away from each other, but we've managed to stay in touch over the years.

She has three pretty cute little kiddos herself. Hannah had no problem making a few new friends.

I'm hoping it won't be another 8 years before our paths cross again.

Thankful Thursdays

Today I am thankful for:

- Glorious Fall days. It does my heart such good to get outside and enjoy the fresh air. It makes a world of difference to my kiddos as well.

- Lots of Fruit. I crave it like no tomorrow.

- My washing machine. Abigail is a champ at going potty in the toilet and is 0 for 132,458 in making it there for #2.

- How easy Hannah is to please. Give that girl a hug and a kiss and she will do whatever I ask of her.

- The hardest working man I know! I do not tell him enough just how grateful I am that he works so hard for us. We miss him more than I think he understands, but when he's home it is all each of us can do to not fight for his attention.

- I'm also thankful for good books. I have become quite a book worm and can hardly stand to wait for "my" time to get reading again.

Jane Eyre

I believe I've started this book a dozen times in my life. Three different guys have given me this book in hopes to swoon me over (can you believe that). Somewhere in this house I have two more copies of it. How could a girl who's name is Melissa Jane Eyre never have read this book? I'll tell you why.....I'd fall fast asleep the moment I opened it's pages. I COULD NOT get past the first couple chapters!

My oh my, I was really missing out. At 32 years old I am so very happy to say I've read "Jane Eyre". Not only did I read it, but I LOVED it! And although, despite what many believed that my parents named me after this book, it was just a very fortunate coincidence that my last name was Eyre. That said, it is one of my moms favorites and now I can finally understand why. So Good!

Fall Days

We have pumpkins coming out our ears! So, rather than just using them for decorations, we are trying to find yummy recipes to use them in. A favorite....Dinner in a Pumpkin!

We've had lots of fun at the Farm at Thanksgiving Point. They have such great activities for the kids. Last night they had a witch theme and we got to go on a scavenger hunt to find things to put in the witches potion; things like hair of bat, snakes teeth, eye of frog, etc.  

I am loving the jacket weather. If only fall stuck around a little longer. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful fall colors, long walks, trips to parks and gardens. Today we had a Wild Day. How can we not when we live in such a beautiful place?

I love the river, the bridge, the sage brush with some wild flowers tucked in, the blue sky. We collected items we wanted to color on our walk. I really think Hannah has a gift. She certainly has a love for drawing and coloring.

And this little guy is simply divine! LOVE his outfit!!!

Happy Fall!

Short

It's been a long time coming. I do this just about every 3 years. Grow my hair out so long and then wack it all off. Every time I do this I am full of anxiety. Today was no exception. While driving to my appointment I turned on the radio and Michael Jackson's "Beat It" song was playing. Perfect! Just what I needed to get the darn nerves to calm down. It's so dumb. I know this. Don't ask me why because I have no idea. It is common knowledge that I "do" my hair once a week for church. The rest of the week it is in braids, ponytail, hat, what have you. There is some weird attatchment I have to my long hair, even though I usually dispise it. Maybe because it's such a big part of my identity as sad as that is. I've always been known as the girl with the really long hair.....that is until a chop it and start growing it back out. Some time that's gotta give though right? I mean, as I get older will I always have long hair? Maybe. Oh, and one more thing, an hour after the cut was finished and I got back in my car, the same Michael Jackson song was on. This time I was really rocking out since now the worry of my hair was a thought of the past. So here it is.

Before (don't mind my pj's or that nice calic in my hair)

and After:

Aaron is a long hair kinda guy, but says as long as I like it, then he does too. Hannah and Abigail said they don't like it.  (They actually said that. Rude huh?) Hannah pert near started crying and told me never to cut my hair again! Nate on the other hand told me I am beautiful and that he likes it. Thank you Nathan....you will remain my favorite child today. 

Some  little girl will get my 10+ inches of hair since I always donate it to Locks of Love.

9/11 Boat Lift

Don't know how I missed this, but PLEASE take the time to watch this.


America is full of good people. I'm so proud to be an American.

Happiness Is.

Happiness is having a mommy/daughter date.

Happiness is riding a tractor.

Happiness is petting cows and chasing ducks

Happiness is loving a fluffy, white bunny and seeing stinky baby pigs.

Happiness is having a goat not afraid of you

Happiness is playing in a box full of corn!

And laying down in the corn.

And throwing the corn.

Happiness is being loved by mom

Happiness is sitting on a HUGE pumpkin and making silly faces.



And happiness is ending the date with ice cream.

Thankful Thursdays

I love the idea of writing down what I'm thankful for once a week. I'm not good at doing it at all. Here' to trying one more time. One day late. :o)

-I am thankful for Fall weather. I personally feel that Utah has the most beautiful Fall.

-I am thankful my children have grandparents, both near and far, who really really love them and who make many efforts to make them feel special.

-I am thankful that Hannah LOVES to color. I was so worried that once she got into school that somehow her love of coloring and drawing would be schwelched. Three weeks later, she still loves to color. Phew!

-I am thankful for our little garden. We have tomatoes and cucumbers coming out our ears....and they are delicious!

-I am thankful that I have my kids all to myself each morning before school.

Routine

I may not be the most organized or most well put together each day, but I THRIVE off of structure and routine with my kids. Even during the summer we had to have a little structure or else I would go bonkers! With school in full force, routine is somewhat easy and more important to me than ever before.

Little did I know that most everyone in our neighbor with a child one of the ages of my kids, prefers morning preschool and kindergarten. We are sleepers over here, so we opted for afternoon. And this means I have my kids to myself everyday in the morning. Our days look like this, with very little change.

Wake up
Breakfast together
Get dressed, make beds, do hair
Devotional - Song, Scripture, Pledge, Prayer
Homework with each child - read, write, math
Piano practice for Hannah

This routine takes our morning up to about 11:00 each day. It's good. It's order. It's time well spent with my kids. Because when they get home from school, so do all their friends and they are gonzo from me until dinner most days.

I don't think.....

....he knew this was flour.

Imagination

My kids have the greatest imagination. It cracks me up to listen in on them playing and "imagining" that they are on a boat and one of them falls into the water while the other throws them a rope and pulls them back to safety. They could do this for hours.....well, at least an hour. :o) I love to hear them come up with something new to imagine. Oh, and someone is always Melissa and someone is always Aaron. Clever kids.

Today was a very very busy Saturday. I wish I could say that made me happy because usually I enjoy a day that is full of things we 'have' to do together on a Saturday, but my darn wrist is still hurting from my fall over 3 weeks ago and I was just kinda a grouch, fighting kids to cooperate perfectly so I could baby my hand as much as possible. Of course, when they didn't cooperate perfectly, I was just a grouch. Enough said. On a better note though, Nathan had a much better soccer game today. Didn't shed one single tear. Hooray! Plus, he almost made a goal. He also picked the ball up with his hands during the game. It was pretty funny.

Today was also our Ward Fall Harvest. I just have to say our ward is the greatest at putting on a party. They really do go above and beyond to make it such a fun time. What makes it so great is that everyone seems to be so supportive and creative. I mean, our neighbors even brought one of their chickens in a cage along with her eggs! There was a chili cookoff, pie contest, different pumpkin eats, and some yummy things made with zucchini. And my attempt at making a peach pie 3 times paid off because it won for best tasting pie! The pan was licked clean. There was also face painting, train rides, balloon animals, donuts on a string, bubble gum blowing contest, plasma car racing, corn tossing, country dancing performed by some of our darling young girls in the ward, and a fabulous fiddle by one of my neighbors. Really, truly, it is the greatest ward ever. So much talent. Such wonderful people. And now I am tired. G'night.

This is my favorite picture of the week. I could eat her up she is so darling to me!

Winding Down

What do you do to wind down? Read? Watch TV? Clean? Write? Exercise? I write. Most of my life I've been a fairly good journal keeper. I love to write my thoughts down. It's therapeutic to me. When my kids are down for the night and all is quiet in my house, I like to reflect on the day. Was it good? Was it bad? Did I get all the things done I wanted to? needed to? Were my kids happy when they went to sleep or were they grouchy because mom was grouchy?  I was at a meeting tonight so Aaron put them down. No doubt they were happy since daddy is way more fun than mommy, especially at bedtime.

So my reflection on this day..... it was good. Hannah had her first dance lesson today. She looked adorable. She was so excited. Nikki took her to her lesson so I didn't get to see her dance, but when she got home, she and Grace showed me all the new moves they learned. I'm so glad Hannah has Grace. I'm so grateful these two girls have each other. They are different, but they love each other. I hope they will always love each other. They each have strengths that will take them far. They each are beautiful and they each have something to offer the other. I get choked up when I think of these two girls. So much potential. So much to offer. So much to give.

They are special.

Labor Day Weekend

Our Bear Lake plans were cancelled, but the fun did not! Swimming. Splash Park. Dinner Out. Movie. Camping. Exploring. S'mores. Sleepover. Kayaking. Home. Pooped out. Messy House. Tired kids.

My favorite part was when everyone was sound asleep in the tent last night and I got a peak at everyone. Everyone I love so much. Those who made this little getaway so great! I may not have slept a whole lot last night, but my heart was so full to be sharing that little space with my little family.

 Nate and Abby were in competition for who could get the dirtiest.

The End.

Time Together

I've never been one who is afraid of change. Maybe that's because I haven't experienced a lot of it in my life and the "change" I have experienced has always been good, even if it was hard at first. With school in full force, my heart strings have been squeezing tight. I've been emotional everyday since school started. And it's been surprising to me. I hadn't realized just how much I really do love having my children home with me. Sure the fighting, the whining, the mess is very nice to be without for a few hours each day, the quiet is very very very hard to get used to. We are getting into a routine, which I love and crave. I'm organizing "time together" with each child. With Hannah in school everyday and Nate every Mon., Wed., and Fri. I now have time with just Abby. Oh, she is sweet and adorable. I wish I could bottle her cute little voice. Yesterday I asked her if she wanted to go to the store with me; just mommy and Abigail. Wowzer! she was excited. We walked around and she held my hand. She LOVED the attention and I loved spending that time with just her. In one store, there was a woman who apparently was observing us and she told me what a good job I was doing raising her. I almost cried. I want to do a good job. I want to give each one of my kids this kind of undivided attention because I know they need it and because I really do love being alone with them.

By the end of our shopping, Abby was asking for Hannah and Nathan though and could sense the loss of not having them around to play with or to be teased by. I was so happy that she missed them because quite frankly, I missed them too.

Today I get to have Nathan home with me and I wanted to have some one on one time with him as well. I put Abby down for a nap, which will be my routine so I can be with just Nate on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Nate is my movie boy. Once Abby went down he asked for a movie. That is not exactly the kind of one on one I was hoping for, so I told him that I had some very special books that were just for him and mommy to do together. They are preschool books and at first he was impressed and even a little excited to work on something together. Poor little guy though is easily frustrated. As he was tracing circles or the alphabet he would just lose it if he would go out of the line at all. I could tell this was not going to be the 'positive' activity I was looking for. We continued on a little bit longer and then I told him he could pick out a movie. Our preschool books will not just go by the wayside. It will be a good opportunity for me to help Nate channel his frustrations a little at a time.

Spending time with just Hannah is going to require more of an effort now. She is changing so much. After her second day of school she told me that there is a girl in her class who isn't very nice to her. Made my heart break. However, this is a good teaching moment so we talked about it and I asked her what she thought she could do. It kind of sickens me though, I have to be honest. I just want to protect her from everything and yet, I know she has to experience life in order to really grow. I just pray that we are teaching our kids to choose the right, to be kind, to grow into strong, and happy adults.

I'm really going to like this one on one time. I'm really going to like the time I will have to clean a little more deeply. I'm really going to like having a little time for me. But not as much as I like having them all home. Especially when they are home and playing together, and loving eachother.

I am silently laughing behind the camera.

And this is how I always want my Hannah to stay. Darling with pigtails.