A Wonderful Day to be a Dad!!!

We spoiled Jess on Father's Day.

He deserves it.

As we were walking out the door to go to church I heard Jess tell Jayci, "You're beautiful. Just like your mamma." He is just a deep down genuinely good person and I'm so lucky to have him be the daddy to our babies.

Jess has been serving as the assistant 11 year old scout leader for a few years now, and I've been impressed at the impression he has left in the boys. There is one boy in particular who seems lonely and sometimes troubled, and I know he loves Jess and looks up to him. He'll just show up at the door step wanting to hang out. A few days ago he was in our backyard with our family while Jess played and joked around with the kids.

This little boy quietly told Jesse, "You're kids are so lucky."
Jess, "Oh, why is that?" (thinking he was going to say because we have a dune-buggy. The boy is quite in love with it, and even offered to trade us all kinds of his stuff for it. Shoes, play-station games, even his dog, but not his favorite dog, just the other one! :)
His unexpected answer was "Because you play with them."


That just made my heart ache for him and so many others who aren't as lucky as me and my kids. Having my own fabulous father, and my kids having their own amazing daddy is just something I tend to take for granted because I've never know otherwise. So I just want to recognize Jesse all the wonderful fathers out there. You are appreciated more than you'll ever know!!! I couldn't do this alone.

New Beginning

I know that there's really no way to be prepared for motherhood/parenthood. There are many classes, literature, audio recordings, seminars, etc available to help one prepare to the best of abilities, but I don't think it's possible to be 'completely prepared' to have a child. Luckily our feelings of desire and longing to raise a child generally overpower feelings of inadequacy, thus we proceed, and multiply and replenish the earth.

I grew up babysitting. I must have been good too because I got calls many times a week. (possibly my clients just knew I didn't have much of a life and would be the only one available, but I really like to think otherwise! :) I loved it and I grew to love the children I tended. (Jack was almost named after my favorite little boy that I feel like I secondhandedly raised, but Kayli beat me to the punch.) I have known all my life that if I was given the chance, motherhood would be my greatest calling and would take first priority over other various paths in my life. When the appropriate time came, I felt ready. Even though I knew in my heart that motherhood couldn't be something learned in a class, I at least felt prepared to take on the challenges it would bring. I certainly have had some ups and downs, but my kids truly have given me a happiness and fulfillment that's unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's a motherly love and bond beyond words that cannot be fully understood until a woman becomes a mother herself.

Having said that, I have come to a point in my journey that I wasn't prepared for. It may sound silly or whiny, but my kids have been presenting me with some major mental challenges. Their recent behavior is mostly due to their ages, but I feel like it's taking a toll on them, me, Jess, and our family life in general. I'm sure their behavior is nothing atypical, (whining, crying, tantrums, constantly telling me 'no', bickering between each other to name a few) it's just part of the package of raising a 2 and 3 year old. However, I have felt myself wearing down. I've become this person that I don't want to be. Someone who has resulted to throwing adult tantrums (an oxymoron-adults don't throw tantrums, right?!?) and who feels tired, stressed, irritable, inadequate, and just not myself. After surfing the net, an overstock order, and a visit to the library, this is my hopeful solution residing on my nightstand.

Spiritual enlightenment first, if not to find a tangible solution, at least to feel uplifted and better prepared emotionally to face my day.

I've never read this but it had some good reviews. Any comments or opinions of this book and audio cd would be welcomed and appreciated.

Although I've read this before, I'm at a new phase that I wasn't going through before, thus I wasn't paying attention to the solutions I need now. I also purchased the dvd so Jess and I can watch it together. It helps immensely when we are both on the same page.
(I HIGHLY recommend this book, btw!)

I have to end on a positive note and say that everything has it's opposite and such is the case here as well. My kids truly are the light of my life. They still make me laugh everyday and bring me deep, genuine happiness. This is why I've brought up the negative, in hopes of finding a solution that will allow even more happiness to shine through.

Seriously, who couldn't love these precious faces!





PS- This movie for Jayci has also made it's way into our house courtesy of the Orem Library PERC (parent educational resource center). I'm not sure I'm ready to do this again! Wish us luck!

Grandpa's Roping Tribute

It's 8:55 pm. Today we've driven to Rexburg, had baths and played at great-grandma's house, gone to a roping, eaten and played at Mcdonalds, driven home, unpacked and cleaned the house and van, taken baths again, had the kids in bed by 8:00, gone to the redbox, and started a new blog post. Whew. What a day!

My grandpa's close friends have been planning a roping in his honor and they invited all the family to come and participate in a tribute to him. It was a fun and extremely fast little trip, and it was neat to once again get together as a family and remember grandpa. My family is so important to me and I love seeing our devotion and support for each other. I know it's been nearly a year since his death but sometimes it still doesn't feel real to me, especially in settings like today that are so much a part of who he was, so much his element. It's weird.

I asked a nice cowboy to take some pictures when we all went out in the arena. Here's all the family who could make it.

The man in the far left is Willie. My grandpa hired him years ago and became a father figure to him. He spoke at grandpa's funeral and is the one who put this roping together.

Here's aunt Lisa (in the pink shirt) announcing the "Blane and Corrine Hendricks Scholorship" to be presented to a senior who was in the roping.
Of course that's my child running around in the front!Jayci loved the horses

Jack would make a cute cowboy!
Jayci got tired of her hat so she passed it on.
This is when Jayci got to be a first-time-close-up witness to a horse going poop. She said, "Ewe, he's pooping! He needs a diaper."
Lil CowboysI love this picture.
(Notice Jayci's 'brand'. Diamond H is grandpa's brand.)

The kids slept a total of 0 out of the 8 hours of driving. Seriously, not a wink! We left early hoping that they'd go back to sleep. Nope. We drove home in the afternoon hoping that they'd take their naps in the car. Nope. Surprisingly they were really good. Better than I expected. Thank you mini portable dvd player. I love you! You were worth the $100+. The kiddos got extremely hyper when we had about an hour left and started tossing popcorn to each other. We didn't notice until some flew up to the dash. They were screaming, laughing, and having a party. I guess I'll take that over tantrums and tears. Of course when we got home all they wanted to do was run around for hours while Jess and I wanted to crawl into bed. This is how parents stay humble. (and grateful for early bedtimes!)

Well Said

I walked into my bedroom to find my kids doing what they know they shouldn't be doing: Jumping on the bed. Jack, knowing what I was about to say, told me to go away before I could say a word.

Me: "Jack, talk nice."
Jack: "Mama, go away PLEASE!"