I am a bit "out of it" lately

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I have been so busy lately, and completely "out of it" as far as blogging goes. I have had a little time here and there to check some blogs, but not comment. Sorry. I will catch up soon.

Some changes might be happening in our family soon, we are all just trying to deal and be excited. I am trying to NOT wish Eddie would grow up faster, since it still feels like my life is out of control since having him. I selfishly wonder if he was just a little older and would go to babysitters so I could get a break every now and then, maybe I could feel like I can at least HOPE to catch up with life? Maybe? I just want what I had with Josh, to be able to drop the kids off, head to the gym, spend a little time in a childs classroom, and then go home and enjoy the baby. (that sounds too perfect, it wasn't like that really, just a bit:) I felt like I had some structure and routine to my life, and I felt good about it. I love Eddie, but I have yet to find a way to manage this third addition and have a functioning life. With the changes coming up in our family, I HAVE to adjust and make things run in an semi-orderly way. Home life for everyone will be chaos if I don't. Well, I am just "mother-venting". These are my thoughts and feelings right now. I need to let go of things that are unnecessary and really focus on what my household needs to grow and have happiness, (and structure). Honestly, I am SO SO grateful I have what I have, these kids are my life. I am just anticipating the up coming need to "tighten ship" and do not want change or stress to affect the spirit in our home. But for the kids to see how simplicity, order, balance, hardwork, play, faith, etc, can lead to feeling good about themselves and feeling good about the choices they make, or problem solving the mistakes and then feeling good about those choices. :) Well, enough rambling, on with my day.......

This picture of Jade and Eddie was taken last week, I love how they snuggle together sometimes. Jade is reading one of my favorite books, I have read it over a dozen times, it's a comfort book from my childhood. (but I didn't read it until high-school :)

stolen wedding pics

These are a bit out of order, and they are stolen from Staci's blog. She really takes such beautiful pictures!

Wedding pictures! Thank you Staci!!!

I gave my password to Staci so she could just post her pictures for me. She is amazing taking pictures and working with photo shop. She makes these look so gorgeous and professional! Thanks again Staci!!!

Some pictures for now.....

Staci just emailed me some pics, but they are all small like the first one except for the "sisters" pic. I'll ask her to resend a few if she can, (sorry Staci!), but like I said before, you can go to the Martin family blog, or to Staci's blog "SMiles" to see more.

Wedding.....

I have no pictures of the wedding since I lost my camera. But you can go to the Martin's blog and see pics. It's mostly their side posted, but there are some group shots. Staci Martin took some pictures for me, so as soon as I get those from her, I will post them. The photographer also said he would send some my way, so we just have to wait. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!! One of the most beautiful wedding's I have been to, (or maybe it's just because it's my sister). Well, if anyone reads this and has some pictures from the wedding, PLEASE email them to me, I am SO sad I do not have any of my own until Evan, (the photographer), gets some to me.

Beads of Courage

Yesterday I was visiting Pam's blog, (the lampwork artist who inspired me to start). She is part of LEST, a group of lampwork artists who also make beads for "Beads of Courage" organization. I started to look into it and found myself completely taken in. I wanted to be a part of it.

This purple heart is one Pam made for the LEST contest.

The artists make and donate beads for children going through cancer treatments and their family member. There are specific and random beads for different milestones they reach. What really got me are the beautiful butterfly beads that are given to the families who loose their children.

The beads help the children tell their story, as each one represents something to them. The program has had some incredible results with helping people emotionally cope with the hardships of the journey.

I am nowhere near as skilled as the artists participating, but I am getting better all the time, and was told they take all kinds of beads for the program. I am really looking forward to participating. I just received the information for the bead specifications, I'm pretty excited.

Pottery still is my first love, but working with molten glass is SOOOO soothing. I feel so relaxed when I take a 15 or 20 min break from housework and make one or two beads. I love it.

(Jess, if you think you might be interested in starting a new hobby, or working to get this program in local hospitals, let me know!)

Anyway, just wanted to pass on the info, check out the sites if you get a chance, it's really inspiring.

Busy, busy.....

So blogging has taken a back seat lately. This whole last week has been spent getting over another bug, LOTS of shopping for the wedding this weekend, and trying to get a handle on our home repairs. Ah life...... but I have been able to sneak in making a few beads, I will post those on my art blog soon.
Here are a few highlights.....
*I took the kids to see Narnia on opening night, just to get out of the house. It was pretty good, but I think more violent then the first one.
*Lindsay and Enos were over last night on their way back from DC, (she got a new ear! but you will have to go to their blog to see it), they stayed for dinner and we had a fashion show with all the kids and Lindsay in their wedding outfits. We are going to be one sharp lookin' family at Mica's wedding!
*Eddie is really good at giving kisses now, we are so happy he is showing affection to people other than mom and dad. But to balance this new act, he had his first "throw-down-and-kick" tantrum last week. I took a picture before I put him in his room. I started to put him in his crib every time he screams, and we have not had it much over the last few days. But this picture is of his FIRST floor-kicking tantrum. We were quietly laugh so much, it took me a while to get a picture before putting him in "time-out".

The rest is just boring busy stuff. We leave on Thurs for the wedding. I will post more later. :)

Mother's Day......

Mother's day this year was pretty low-key. Both Bill and I are coming down with the flu, so Enos and Lindsay came over after church and cooked our dinner for us. I LOVE that they live 10 mins away now!
I pondered motherhood yesterday and how I feel about it now. I always worry, most of you know this about me, and I over-analyze situations and beat myself up for mistakes I make as a mother. But the greatest "gifts" I received for mother's day were the acknowledgment of "little things" that mean so much to my kids. I always treasure their handmade gifts, but this year there were words involved. Somehow, I found them to be the greatest little treasures. Seeing myself through my children's perspective IS a blessing. One thing for sure, my kids are aware that I am scatter-brained, but other than that, they really do not dwell on the mistakes I think are so huge.
I am just going to type what they wrote, since it's easier than getting up out of the sick bed and scanning them. :)

This is a cute little questionnaire Josh filled out about me........

I know my mom

My mom is 10 feet tall.
My mom is 20 years old.
My mom came from Las Vegas.
My mom's favorite thing to say is do your work.
My mom's favorite thing to do is take care of my baby brother.
My mom's favorite thing to eat is Chocolate.
My mom's favorite thing to make for dinner is soup.
My mom's favorite color is all the colors of the world.
I love Mom!

I think it's sweet that the last time I made soup was with Josh, (stone soup), over a year ago. I guess it meant a lot to him. :)

Jade made a placemat for me, and along with all her beautiful drawings, she wrote some things down as well......

The most important thing about my mom is that she's ARTISTIC.
She doodles on a piece of paper when she talks on the phone.
She makes glass beads and pottery.
She makes dinner.
She helps me with my problems.
(I can make an even longer list of things you do!)
It's true that you sometimes screw up dinner. :)
But the most important thing about my mom is that I LOVE YOU!
You Rock!

It is wonderful to see what stands out in a childs mind, what they value enough to write about. I am so grateful for the blessing of being a mother and being a part of these children's lives.

I am SO SO grateful beyond words for the example my own mother and grandmothers have given me. God knows exactly where we need to be placed, when and why. I can't imagine having a more perfectly matched mother for myself, she continues to be a guiding rod in my journey through motherhood.
I love you mom! You have been instrumental in my development as a woman and mother, and continue to be (nearly every day :). Thank you!

Mica's Bridal Shower

This is how it started.......with food. Alyse made a GORGEOUS center piece, it's hard to see how pretty is really was. I made an experimental cake, what you see below. (I will post the recipe for the cake and the salad later when I get more time)

We had a "Mica interview" and we asked her questions about Matt and being engaged. (Staci tried out my baby wrap with little Miles, it was fun to see another mom give it a go)
I thought Mica looked so beautiful in matching wrapping paper, that happens to be in her favorite color.
"the group" , minus Ann D. who had to leave right before we took pics. Going across from the left......Susan Welton, her daughters Megan and Naomi, Janae, Lindsay, Alyse, Laura (Matt's cutie sister), me, Jodi, and the twin-ers Steph and Staci (Mica's future sister-in-law and nephew baby Miles).We had such a fun time just visiting and hanging out with Mica. Sorry I did not get a lot more pictures, I am not very good at it, and some of the others I took didn't turn out very good. :)

This is Roxie, Alyse's new accessory.... I mean her new puppy. She looked perfect with Mica, they seem to be kindred fashion models.
Eddie thought baby Miles was pretty interesting. These are going to be the two little men at the wedding, SO cute!
He also thought Mica's shoes were pretty fun as well.

THANK YOU to everyone who came, it was wonderful to have some of Mica's dearest girl friends around for some fun and girly celebration time.

If you want to see more of the shower, Staci has posted some BEAUTIFUL pics of Mica on the Martin family blog.

I will get the recipes on here soon!

a few events.....

Jade and I had a "mommy/daughter" PJ activity at church, we had breakfast for dinner and played a few games. It was SO fun to spend time with just my Jade. I love this amazing girl so much!

We also had a school program for Joshua. He did so well reciting poems and songs he has learned this year in Kindergarten. AND he looked SO handsome all dressed up. Any siblings of the kinder-students were allowed to take time out from class and watch the presentation.
I love my boy!
Joshua's teacher, Tara M. She has been great with him, and he loves her so much.

list of junk....

I'm not going posting anything for a little while longer, I'm too busy. Sorry. :) I have not take any pictures or anything. Mica's bridal shower is this saturday at my house, so I will have something to post after that I'm sure.

My list of things include, (but not limited to), a long page of home repairs, major house and yard clean-ups, Mica's wedding stuff, kids school stuff, Bill's job stuff, and Eddie's health. I am somewhere on that list, typical mom of course. You know the only stuff I'm going to mention on a blog are the things in the "normal life" category. Everything else that's taking up my energy this week is not blog-worthy. :) When crazier-than-normal weeks happen with young children, it makes me wonder what "crazy" is going to define when I have teenagers? oh boy.

Ok, there is my little Eddie-boy crying for a clean diaper. Weeks like this I just have to make myself stop and count my blessings. At least Eddie's health issues are not life-threatening, my husband and children are alive, I have wonderful family members, etc. :) I am grateful my gratitude list is endless, and my stress list is just a page...... or two. So much to be thankful for once you get started thinking about it........ such happy thoughts! :)

Want to know where I have been?

Poor Eddie was sick this week, and I made a bunch of bookmarks, (with some handmade beads!) for a local boutique. That was my week in a nutshell. (of COURSE other things happened, but not for blog-reality) Now I need to catch up on all your blogs I've missed this week!

If you want to see what I did, you'll have to go to my art blog. :) I did not do that well, none of the vendors did. This was the slowest boutique the owner said she has ever had. I think it's because of the snow, it's just too depressing to go out shopping when it snows in May. I have a lot left over to start my etsy.com shop. (if any of you are interested in a bookmark, just let me know! :)

Bead update

I am posting a picture of my recent beads, they are turning out a little better, so they are going on my art blog. I just got in touch with a local lampwork artist, (the one I mentioned in my last post about beads, but the link didn't work), and she told me where to take classes. I would love to get better, her work is amazing and inspiring. There is something soothing about working with glass, I really enjoy it. Check out my blog if you want to see them.

13 month old Eddie

These are just a few random Eddie moments over this weekend, and an update, since I missed recording his 1yr milestones. After family left on Sat, it's been a pretty chill and lazy weekend.

I found some blocks at a garage sale, much to Bill's disappointment, since we just had our own sale last week. But Eddie LOVED playing Godzilla.
This is Eddie's "I'm waiting for that bottle in your hand" look.

Sorry the video is sideways. You don't have to watch it anyway. Nothing special. It's mostly for the grandmas, since Eddie isn't really doing anything, just being normal cute.

He can say a few words, mama, dada, baba, and he says "ah" or "ga" on the phone. That's about it. I contribute his verbal delay to the fact that he focused so much on getting around early, and he was in discomfort most of his life, he didn't feel like talking much. Who would? He does like to play typical baby games, and he is pretty handy with stacking blocks and pushing buttons. He claps a lot, and likes to give kisses. Surprisingly, he isn't much for TV, even baby Einstein doesn't grab him like it did his siblings. He ADORES his dad, and becomes ultra-alert the second he hears the front door open in the evening, then heads to the stairs to see his old man. That's Eddie at 13 months. We just love him!

Graduation Celebration for Enos The Genius!

Yesterday was Graduation day at BYU. Enos did a FANTASTIC job on his speech, he was my favorite. :)
We took the boys out to run around while we waited for most of the students to receive diplomas. Enos was near the end, so we had nearly and hour to kill during that time. I think Josh will agree that running is always more fun than sitting through names.

The two college grad bros sharin' some luv.
Brothers and sisters........(Ammon had to rush off for Amanda's job interview, and Ira has school in CA, we missed them)
Sisters only, but Enos felt left out.
Enos, don't you know how much we LOVE you?
Pretty sure Lindsay does too. Who wouldn't love this?

Proud parents.
Matt is way cool with the kids. (Staci, this is what you have to look forward too!)
My favorite picture of the kids and I.

At lunch, Eddie surprised us by letting grandpa hold him for a LONG time while we waited for our table.

Tired kiddos.....

Jade's drawing during graduation.....
CONGRATULATIONS LITTLE BROTHER! WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!