Divinity of Motherhood

With it being Mother's Day, I have been reflecting more on motherhood and its importance. Nothing really prepares you for being a mother. At least as a nurse I went through years of schooling and practice and felt like I knew what I was getting into. Well, motherhood seems to be one of those "learn as you go" kind of jobs. But how grateful I am to be able to have that job because I am learning so much!!! Luckily I have had great examples to draw from including my own wonderful mother, my mother-in-laws, and my friends who are also mothers. Their examples and encouragement are a blessing! Over the weekend I ran across this video.....so inspiring!!

My New Life (watch it)

I love how Stephanie reminds us that Motherhood is divine. It is part of our divine nature. It is something that I feel I was born to do. It is my purpose here on earth. Heavenly Father has so loving granted me the gift of motherhood and has given me two beautiful children. He has placed His trust in me that I will provide for them, teach them, love them, enrich their lives, and ultimately lead them back to Him. What a privilege it is!!! How often I take it all for granted!! And how often I forget that what I am doing is the most important and sacred work that there is!!! Sure, when I am picking up the macaroni & cheese that Mikayla threw on the kitchen floor, I am not thinking about how noble and gratifying being a mother is. Yet the very next day while eating left over macaroni & cheese for lunch Austin says "Mmmm....Mom your a good cook!!" Ah, I love those moments....times when you get rewarded for all the hard work you do.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mother. My children have taught me so much: LOVE, PATIENCE, SACRIFICE. Plus the ability to laugh and play and enjoy life the way that children do. They remind me daily that it is the simple things in life that are the most important such as spending time together whether it is through working, or playing, or reading, or teaching. And although I am no where near the perfect mother, I am learning everyday and really do feel that I have the greatest job in the world!!

Conspiring Toddlers

Sometimes I wonder if kids secretly plot to make as much mess as possible when their parents aren't paying attention. Mikayla is going through the dumping phase. She likes to take the 3 level stackers of toys and pour them all out. I remember when Austin used to do this so I just tell myself "this too shall pass." One night while I was on the computer (probably blogging:) I heard quite a lot of commotion from the back of the house. Upon entering the hallway I found this:
After inquiring Austin about this all he said was something about it being "dangerous." Luckily they were all big toys so it didn't take too long to put away. However the other night when I was at work Craig told me that they kids left a suprise for me when I got home.
They took every single toy from the room and put it in a pile. Craig was in the other room studying for his final at the time this was occuring. And since nobody was crying or hollaring he had no idea this was happening. I can just imagine the giddy smiles on my kids faces as they picked up each toy one by one and threw it in the pile. And when we asked Austin what he was doing his reply was "building a fire." Where do kids get these ideas?? Don't worry....the kids had lots of fun helping me pick it all up.

Spring Flowers

I love looking at all the blooming flowers in the springtime. While driving around one day, I was pointing out to Austin all the pretty flowers. While admiring them and talking about the different colors Austin commented in his typical matter-of-fact way, "We don't have flowers at our house." Ouch!!



I will admit that we haven' t done much to our flowerbeds in the front lawn and I am really terrible at watering. Most plants that I have had in the past usually have a limited life due to my lack of attention. But how could I rob this 3 year old the satifaction of blooming flowers??




So this week we made a trip to Lowe's to pick out some flowers for our pot. Austin was pretty excited about it. He wanted RED flowers which is no suprise since red is his favorite color. After purchasing the necessary items we got to work: pouring in dirt, shoveling, planting, and watering.

Hopefully we will have a pot of beautiful red flowers in no time!

Wish us luck!

Bounce U

We wanted to do something fun with the kids on a rainy friday so we went to Bounce U in Tulsa.
Austin has been to these inflatable playgrounds a couple times before and as soon as we walked in he took off for the slide, no looking back. Up and down and up and down he went---no fear at all. He was having a blast.



Mikayla however, she is my cautious/nervous child and was a little scared about this place. She didn't really like the slide as you can tell from the picture with Craig.

It was fun having friends there with us.

The cars made for a nice resting place.

The only thing that Mikayla actually enjoyed was the trampline.

The kids had a fun time beating up Craig.

Once again, Mikayla is still not so sure about all this.

After an hour and a half of bouncing and sliding we headed over to Mc Donald's for lunch. Mikayla got her first princess crown. It was a great day!!

Dads Are The Best

because they do silly and crazy things like this

and like this

and encourage you to do the same

Dads do things that Moms would never do

Because they themselves are still a kid at heart

That is why Dads Are the Best!!!!

A Sad Day

For the last couple weeks I have not heard the words "Mommy" come from Austin's mouth. Instead I am just "MOM." The word "mommy" just sounds more pleasing to my ears even if it is when he is yelling from the back room. But now I am just plain, boring "MOM." It's a sad sad day.

Care Bears.....Stare!!!!

Austin's new favorite movie is Care Bears. His fascination with it has calmed down some but for a while he was asking daily to watch it. While walking throug the mall one night Craig found these cute care bears in the toy machine and so we had to get some!!! They make for some great reward incentives and something Austin can get with the weekly quarter he accumulates from his Grandma's letters.

And when it's raining....

It nice just to be lazy once in a while.

Enjoying the Spring Weather!!

This year the spring weather has been perfect!! Last year it rained so much which kept us indoors and then when the rain finally stopped it was already hot. This year we have had rain here and there but plently of nice spring sunshine in between. So we have been outside trying to enjoy the weather as much as we can.

One night we borrowed bikes & took the kids on a ride to the park.

We have been to the park several times already this Spring. Mikayla is big enough now that she can climb up and get around the playground pretty well and she loves the slides. However she is not big enough to be trusted alone so I still have to stay close by. But Austin loves having her there to run around with. They are getting to be much better friends now that Mikayla is older.

We also enjoyed Go-Karting here in town. The first race was Craig with Mikayla and me with Austin. I thought Mikayla would cry but she actually made it through the race. She was probably just too scared to cry because the next race I couldn't get her to sit down in the seat. But Austin had a great time racing!! Craig went faster than I did....as evidenced in the picture where Austin is sliding out of his seat. There was a birthday party going on that same night and the b-day kids had fun racing Craig who of course egged them on. And Austin even scored big when they shared their b-day cupcakes.And just this last week we finally made it to the zoo!!! I had been a little nervous about going with the two kids, mostly because Mikayla doesn't like to sit in the stroller for long periods of time. And even though I did end up pushing an empty stroller for half of the time it was worth it because the kids had a fun time. And it was fun having some friends there with us.

The highlights:The train ride......always a favorite!!!

Mikayla also loved the rainforest because she could stand right up close to the fish.

And let's not forget the petting zoo!!!