I'm tired.

I am going to be honest.
I try really hard to avoid being negative when I write on my blog. Don't get me wrong....my life is crazy and I have my bad days, but I try to focus on the good things because those are the things I want to remember in my life.
However, I just want to vent today.
I am tired. I make an effort to go to the gym 3 to 4 days a week, but for some reason, my body is not in the mood this week. I LOVE working out - that is not the part I dread. I dread having to get my kids dressed every morning then have them fed and out the door by 8:30. I know, SERIOUSLY, they aren't even in school yet.

Then when we get to the gym, I hussle them into the daycare(s) - YES, 2 different daycares because of their ages, write their names on a sticker that has to be on them, fill out a label for Emma, and sign both of them in on another form.
Monday, I was determined to start the week off fresh by going. Braddock & Emma, on the other hand, had NO intentions whatsoever of doing so. Braddock's lovely fit-throwing started as I was loading the kids into the car. He wanted to take his baseball with him. I didn't want to hear the crying, so I gave him what he wanted. (Bad on my part).
When we got to the gym, I had to try to convince Braddock to leave the ball in the car. Fortunately, he obediently followed my instructions. Woo hoo!
But as we walked into the daycare, Braddock decided AGAIN that he didn't want to be there. It took me and one of the daycare ladies to pull him off my leg. Awesome.
By the time I got to kick boxing class, I felt like I had already had my workout. I was tired and just wanted to crawl back into bed.
Thirty minutes into our cardio, the daycare lady comes into class to let me know Braddock needs a diaper change, so I go to get him, and then wait for our turn to use the bathroom where the changing table was at. I ended up waiting for 10 minutes (by that time, I am cooled down, and ready to just get out of there). But the little voice inside me said, "NO, stick with it." So I got his diaper changed and dropped him off again. The second time was no better than the first.
I got back to class, did 10 more minutes of cardio, then left.
When I got home, I ate two brownies.
Hence, the reason I have not gone back since then.
There are other reasons too. The weather right now is depressing. It is cold and snowy. Yes, it's April 15th, and it's snowing.
Growing up in AZ, I looked forward to the cloudy, cold, rainy days, but now that I live here, I only prefer them at Christmas time.
Winter has gone on long enough!
So there is my venting. Sorry, I hope I didn't depress any of you.
Here are the things that have made me happy this week!

*Baking homemade wheat bread. It smells so good, it tastes so good, and it is healthy!
*Reading in the Book of Alma. There are so many great NEW things that I have learned.
*Going to the park in Nephi with my sister Jenna and her cute twin boys - AKA Braddock's best friends.
*Reading to my babies.
*Buying a fly swatter. (weird one, but we have had so many flies!)
* Watching Les Miserables.
* Seeing my kids fold their arms when we have prayer.
* Having Easter with my family & reflecting on the Savior and ALL that He has done for me.
*Decorating my home.

Here are some pictures to leave you with.

I bought this mirror at a store in Arizona called Fallas de Paredes (yeah, you get the idea) like 4 1/2 years ago.

Cara, I think you were with me.

Anyhow, it was cream with red roses, so I touched it up a little bit. I think it was $5.

Now this hangs above my toilet in our bathroom.

Rodworks is the best store ever! Thanks, Kassie for inviting me to go to their half off sale! I got this sweet thing.

I bought this over a year ago and finally put pictures in it. Woo hoo!

This picture does my shelves NO justice. I got them for FREE at a yard sale and painted them chocolate. They look amazing. Jim set the stuff on them - I'm not sure what I am going to put up there yet.

So that is all. Let me apologize again for the whining.

I have so much to be grateful for!

4 Years Ago Today.............

This happened.

And I'm so glad it did.

Happy Anniversary, Babe!

I love you forever.

(p.s. Can you find yourself in this picture???)

Temple Square, Happy Birthdays, Babies, etc.

The last few weeks have been consumed with quite the number of events.

First off, Potty Training.

Seriously.

It's a joke, but I'm not laughing.

See that face below?

That's the face of "Mommy, how could you do this to me?"
I have my reasons for being frustrated.
Reason #1: Every morning when Braddock wakes up, he has a dry diaper. SO, immediately I take him to his potty. We sit there for 20 or more minutes, but to no avail. Then, when we can't sit there any longer because mom is going to be late for the gym, I grab a diaper for him. And YES, he goes as soon as I change him.
Reason #2: Braddock likes to tell me that he is going potty AS he is going potty in his diaper.
Thank you, Braddock. Much appreciated.
The last month, Braddock has used the phrase, "It don't work. It needs batteries" to just about anything that doesn't work. (Examples: battery-operated truck, flashlights that don't light up, toys that are supposed to make noise, but don't.)
So a couple of weeks ago, as he was practicing his morning ritual of sitting on the potty for 20 minutes, this conversation came about.....
Me: "Braddock, (trying to keep my patience and explain to him in toddler vocabulary what needed to be done) you need to make the pee-pee come out."
Braddock: "It don't work. It needs batteries. Daddy fix it."
Sorry bud, Daddy can't fix this one!

Onto other things.........

A few weeks ago, our family had the privilege of going up to Temple Square with my Uncle Russ & Aunt Marcia. We were able to go to the Tabernacle, walk around the temple grounds, eat at the Lion House (Heck Yes!), and take pictures at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

I just wish my whole family (all four of us) would look at the camera!

Yeah, what-ev.

On our way home, we were all pooped out.

Especially, these two.
Braddock & my niece, Livvi.
I love it.

A week later, we celebrated mine and the twins' birthdays at my sister Jenna's home.

I can't thank her enough for all the time and effort she put into everything!

Thanks, sis!


So here is a few pictures of the night.

Alyssa - my anorexic sister - posing for the camera. She loves getting her picture taken.

(joking on the anorexia part.)

My hub.
Look at him go in the kitchen!
You should practice some of that at our house, babe!

K, love you!




My mom & Auntie Donna also came up from Arizona. It was so great to see them, as it's only occasionally that we get to.

Aren't they beautiful?






Last, but not least, here's one of
Emma & me.
This was not intentional, which makes it even better!


All in all, my birthday was FANTASTIC! It fell on a Sunday this year......better yet, a Fast Sunday! At first I thought, LAME.
But then I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to relax and have a low-key day.


My sweet sister, Alyssa stopped by that night and brought me these beauties (look below).

She also got Jim and I tickets to go to General Conference Saturday morning. That, honestly, was one of the best presents I have receieved in a long time! What a privilege to see our Prophet and the apostles and hear their wonderful messages. I hope we can do it again soon!

(Also a HUGE THANKS to Jenna & Alyssa for tending our babies so we could go to conference. Jenna was crazy enough to have them sleep over at her house! We could not have done it without you guys.)
Thank goodness for family!


Here's a picture to leave you with:
Emma will forever be the winner of the funniest photo faces.

Soaking up the Sunshine.

Fever, cold chills, body aches, coughing, sore throat, nausea - SERIOUSLY! I've had it all the last two days! I may sound like a horrible mother, but since I woke up this morning, I have not been able to stop thinking about putting my babies down for their afternoon nap, so I could take a snoozer myself. However, after I fed them their lunch, I realized what a gloriously BEAUTIFUL day it was and reconsidered the whole nap thing.

Change of plans:

We laid a blanket in the front yard and ran around!

I pulled Braddock's little tractors out of the shed that had been hibernating for the last 5 months and put them to good use.

Emma was in heaven!

And Braddock was so good to share with her.

Emma, on the other hand, did not want Braddock to lay a finger on the tractors. She literally makes a GOAT noise when he touches anything that she wants to play with. The little stinker!


I love this picture. One MILLION dollars.



Braddock also found a toy gun in the backyard. This kid loves guns! (Is that bad?)
His dad took him to shoot some birds, and now Braddock is always talking about going outside to shoot the birds.

Braddock later got a hold of my camera and quickly learned how to take pictures.

He decided to take a photo shoot of his mom. Pretty good aim, but not such hot pictures.

I'm singing!

Not so sure about this one.

Like I said before, Emma loved the tractors! She looks so Tom-Boy here.

So glad I changed my mind today!

Shame on me for actually considering the thought of keeping myself locked up all day from this beautiful weather!

Hope everyone else is having a sun-shiney day too!

***ALSO***

I have a couple of videos to post on here of Braddock and Emma racing on their tractors down our slopey driveway. I'm not sure why, but I laugh so hard everytime I watch them. If only I can manage to figure out how to get them on here!

Emma Girl!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Emma turned the big 1 two weeks ago today! We love her so much because............

1. She is so so so loveable! When you tell her to give kisses, she'll put her mouth up to your face and will make the cutest little smacking sound with her lips.

2. She has a big strong spirit in a tiny little body. I took her to the doctor this week and she weighed a whole 15.5 pounds! She's in the 1 percentile for her weight and the 18th for her height. Her littleness doesn't prevent her from trying new things, though. She is very playful and ACTIVE! It is the funniest thing to see her pull herself up and walk around the couches because she looks like a little midget.

3. Her hair has its own personality. I've tried gel, but her hair is so thin that it makes it look NASTY-CRUSTY. When I brush it, it stays for a little while and then goes back to whatever it was doing. We call her our little apostle because she has little old man hair.

4. She's our little girly-girl. Emma loves holding baby dolls, singing (high-pitched), and cuddling. Her mannerisms are even girly! She crosses her legs all the time and rubs her feet together (like my mom does....Ha Ha!)

We don't know what we would do without our little Emma Sue in our lives. She makes everything so much sweeter.

So here's what we did for her special day.............

The morning of, I got up early and made breakfast crepes with fresh strawberries and whipped cream. They were delightful and Emma was thrilled to partake of their deliciousness. (Yes, that was pretty much her birthday cake and she was happy!)
Her birthday present is what you see sitting on her tray. She needed a new sippy cup, so that is what she got. (I have learned that one year olds get excited about the smallest things). She sat in that high chair for about a half hour enjoying her gift.................

and her whipped cream. :)

Later that day, my mother-in-law came over and we went to lunch at a little restaurant here in Payson, Utah. We weren't too impressed with the service, but the company was great!

The next night, we spent at Jim's family's house to celebrate MORE birthday for Emma. So now you all don't have to fret about it - Emma got cake! AND a birthday crown!



Here's an extra picture of her for laughs! Isn't her hair hilarious?

Some other things that went on that week were............

I made another book, but this time not for me!

I made it for my sister, Jenna's birthday!!

Happy birthday, Sis! I'm grateful to have you as my sister and close friend.
This picture was taken at Gloria's Little Italy Restaurant. Delicious food!

Yea for birthdays!!!!!! Hope everyone has a happy week!

Friday & Monday

What about Saturday & Sunday??!! I know, I know, but I think it's best we skip over those days because I was in some weird mood - I guess you would call it EVIL. Seriously, I was so cranky and irritable and I couldn't stop crying. The most frustrating part about all of it was I could not figure out for the life of me why I felt like crawling into a little hole and living there FOREVER!! Then, it hit me like a ton of bricks! I just quit nursing this last month ( I know, finally!) and so I hadn't experienced something that most of you gals experience every 28 days. It's been like 2 years! It was nice to learn that my condition of sorrow wasn't permanent.

Anyway,

Friday was a great day because Jim and I were able to go on a date and it was sort of original! We went rock climbing with the Young Women in our ward!

Here was mine and Jim's conversation as we pulled up to The Quarry (the rock climbing place).

Me: Hey, why is this building so tall??

Jim: Uhhhh......because it's a rock climbing place.

Me: Oh. We have to climb that high up??

Jim: Um, yeah.

Me: You think we should go see a movie or something instead?

Jim: No.

Me: Okay, just thought I'd ask.

This is just a few of us. I love these girls!

And the rock climbing??? Yeah, it was hard, but making it to the top was a very proud moment for each of us! I would go again in a heart beat!
Marilee ( my favorite YW leader friend) and Kaydee.

Thasss a crazy person.

Some more crazies.

Whoa, who is that?! That harness is smokin' hot!

(One of these days Jim will ban be from blogging).


Okay, so now on to Monday!!

It didn't start off too hot. I pulled into the parking lot at the gym and when I got out of the car to get Emma, I slipped on some ice and fell flat on my back! If it were someone else that did what I did and I saw them, I probably would have laughed my head off - being the Good Samaritan that I am. By that point, I was ready to get back in the car and go home, but instead I made my way into the gym and had a great workout! Always rewarding!

Later that day, when the kids were sleeping, I made something. If you ever want a simple, yet fun project, here ya go!

Buy yourself a composition book for 97 cents at Wal-Mart, some Modge Podge glue, and pick out your favorite scrapbook paper.............

Ta Da!!!!!

I needed a book to write my daily To-Do's in, and this is what I came up with! I think I am going to incorporate these colors in my family room (when it's finished). Love them!
This definitely will be used as a YW activity.
Does anyone have any other good ideas for Modge Podging?? I'd love to hear them!

Happy 25!!!!

Happy Birthday, Jim!

I love you so much.

I thought I'd share with the blogging world 25 reasons

why I love you since you're 25 today!!!!!

(Let's forget that your birthday was yesterday :) )

Here it goes:

1. Jim is a beautiful man. In fact, some of the Young Women in the ward call him "Ken" as in Ken & Barbie.

2. He's a wonderful father. His children think the world of him because he's willing to give them his time and his love even when it's not always convenient for him.

3. Jim has a heart full of SERVICE. I'm always left a widow on Sundays because Jim is out fellowshipping the neighborhood.

4. He's passionate about work. He puts his heart and soul into everything he does and he does it solely to provide for his family.

5. HONESTY - sometimes he's a little too honest and will just say right then and there what he is thinking. He's not afraid to tell you what he thinks. This sometimes has been embarrassing for me, but he's learning to improve on the things that come out of his mouth and I'm learning from him to overcome my problem of being afraid to speak up!

6. INTEGRITY - Jim's heart is one of integrity. He stands firm in what he believes and shows it through his deeds.

7. Jim is a softy. He cries watching just about every chick flick or family movie or listening to a talk given. Sometimes he'll even cry when he tells me he loves me. (he's probably going to kill me for sharing that).

8. He's a manly man. He loves hunting, fishing, camping, watching action movies, and he can even eat a whole box of pizza all by himself! That's pretty manly if you ask him.

9. Love his smile!

10. Good kisser. enough said.

11. He's an amazing wrestler. Okay, that sounds gross and I didn't mean it that way. What I mean is........well.....he really is a great wrestler! He took state every year at Highland High School. Every wrestling photo I have of him, the ref is holding his hand up (meaning Jim won). However, being married to a good wrestler sometimes is NO fun. He knows how to get me in a lockdown that is impossible to free myself from! and then I get angry.

12. Jim has an incredible voice. Just kidding! I know I'm mean, but it's actually an advantage for him because when I'm frustated or irritable he knows how to make me laugh......he just starts singing. Really loud and obnoxious too.

13. Very patient. Back to me being irritable.......he always knows when to leave me be or help out around the house.

14. Sincere.

15. Tall. That's attractive.

16. Gorgeous blue eyes.

17. He tells me I'm beautiful.

18. Dependable. If he says he'll do something for you, he means it.

19. Jim is a family man. He loves to spend time with us more than anyone else.

20. Perfectionist - Being that Jim is a contractor, he makes sure the work that he does is perfect to a T. He would never expect anything less of himself.

21. Gratitude. Jim is always reminding me of the many blessings that we have. If it were Jim's choice, we would be living in a small little trailer out in the wilderness. True story.

22. Jim is not a picky eater. I love this about him because I LOVE all kinds of food too and he's always satisfied with what I cook him for dinner.

23. This boy can dance! One of our favorite things to do together is swing dance.

24. My best friend.

25. He loves me for me. I have never felt like I have had to impress him, even though it is fun to. He knows who I am deep down and even after all I put him through, he still loves me.

Here's a few of my favorite pictures of him.

He still is full of hottiness even if he's wearing five party hats on his head.
That's the smile I love. Look at his eyes when he smiles. So cute.

There he goes with his hand up again. What a stud. Would you get a load of those legs!! Woo woo!!

Getting his haircut right before a hot date with me.

Mission Farewell. There's that cute smile again. Love it!

The Epps Bunch.

Our weddin' day!

I love you, Jim. You're my favorite.Thanks for choosing me.

Happy 25!!!