Going back

Sometimes I am a big goofball about certain things. Let me rephrase that, often I am a big goofball about certain things. An emotional goofball at that. The women in our ward will tell you that I cry at the drop of a hat. Although very few of them ever wear hats so I'm usually good. It is a joke among them to see how many times I will get teary during church. In my defense though, I still cannot get over how much I love them and how affected I am by what happens to them. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I wasn't prepared to feel for them the way I do. Plus I love hats.

So while this blog post has absolutely nothing to do with Relief Society, I thought I'd set up my current emotional state since we moved here. I've always been overly-emotional, but this move brought out some kind of tear-induced craziness. I tell you, almost twelve months later and I am still going strong. What, you want me to get to the point? If only I could remember what it was. Oh yeah, it's coming back to me.

This morning I was reading the blog of someone I know. Her sweet kids went back to school yesterday (uh, for those of us who have only been celebrating summer for a month, that was weird to read). Anyway, I love how she writes, but her post wasn't especially sentimental or mushy. It was just a post, with darling pictures, of her four kids headed to their first day of school. And it made me emotional.

Now let me be clear here. I do not pretend to be an incredible mother. I feel extremely lacking in that particular area in my life. Not a pathetic, "I'm so terrible!" lacking (at least most days), but an "Err, why don't I do better at this?" kind of lacking. Some days I get it and get it good. Many other days, not so much. I get frustrated, I yell, I let them watch too much TV, I sometimes realize it is 2:00pm and they haven't had lunch. But for all of my inadequacies (and they are many), I LOVE my kids. More than I knew it was possible to love another person.

Jacob is the love of my life and truly the greatest thing that ever happened to me. I feel overwhelmed often at the feelings I have for him and the deep gratitude that I get to go through this life, and the next, by his side. I completely adore him. That being said, you love your children differently than anyone else. And that is only right. There is a fierceness and protectiveness that goes to the deepest part of my heart like nothing I could ever have imagined. I am their mother and they need me. What I do and say, how I act and how I respond to them matters. It matters a lot. They don't need me to be perfect, but they need me to be their mom. And while I have so many shortcomings as a mother, there is one thing I know and that I tell them often. I love them, I will always love them and there is not anything they can do that will change my love for them.

And that is why the post about going back to school this morning made me emotional. I love having my kids around me. I would never pretend that I am not excited to get back to a schedule, excited to have them in school, excited to have some more free time (one at home, I don't even know how to wrap my mind around that), because I am. Besides, they love school and they are going to be fine—even my little Matt starting Kindergarten (welcome back tears). But I truly enjoy having them around. I enjoy running errands carrying one with the other three at my side. I enjoy hearing them come up with games to play together. I enjoy listening to music with them while they work on some activity at the table. I enjoy watching them run around the backyard laughing and having fun. I just enjoy them.

So even though the first day of school is more than three weeks away, there is a big part of me that doesn't like the idea. But luckily, the other part of me knows that my goal is to raise healthy, happy, productive, independent children. So any step that gets them closer to that is makes me joyful. Even if today, the thought of them starting school again makes me teary.

A Primary temple trip

Free at last...mostly

We just got home from Ben's 37-hour doctor appointment. Okay, so we were only gone six hours, but I'm feeling exhausted and dramatic (thanks to downtown Boston traffic, seriously don't get me started), so I'm sticking with my 37-hour story. Anyway, we are thrilled to share that Ben is cast free! That big blue thing sits in the garbage of the Boston Children's Hospital—right where it belongs.

Great new for sure. But his leg is not completely free of beautiful accessories. He is now the proud owner of a lovely little black boot, known as a Wee Walker, not to be confused with a weed wacker. His bones are healing very well, but they were concerned that if he went straight to running and jumping around we would be playing this little game all over again and believe me, no one wants that. Especially his dramatic mother. So he gets to limp around in a boot for the next two or three weeks until they can check him again. He doesn't want anything to do with his boot for now and prefers to just scoot around like before, but hopefully he will get up and get going when he feels ready. Until then, we are thrilled that it can be taken off for baths and sleeping.

So there you all go! I know you were just all sitting by your computer waiting for the post to come up. You can rest easy. Or just go about your business as you were before. Either way. I, on the other hand, will be giving our little guy a bath for the first time in three weeks. And then putting him to bed for the night without a big, blue cast to deal with. I think I'll miss hearing him clunk that thing against the bars of the crib several times a night. No I won't. That's just crazy talking.

Did I mention I'm exhausted? And that I will never drive into Boston again? Ever. Or at least until the next appointment. I am so sticking with my small town living. I wonder what that guy who owns the 7-Eleven knows about broken bones...

 

(Oh and before you all think I'm dramatic or something, I'd just like to defend my
driving bitterness with the fact that in addition to today's drive, I spent one hour and
forty-five minutes driving into Boston last night for a work party for Jacob. The drive
was supposed to take thirty minutes. I'm over Boston traffic. It is dead to me.)

This morning I...

...slept in later than usual and feel so much better (read less grumpy) than I did last night. Happy day for everyone that lives in our house.

...drank a super delicious smoothie that Jacob made. He is becoming the smoothie king—they are always incredibly good and incredibly healthy.

...created a new header for our blog. But even when I lower the pixels to the size that blogger shrinks it to, it looks blurry. It is driving me crazy. But I love the people on it, no matter how fuzzy they look. I'll keep trying, but for right now, just squint and pretend please.

...listened to my kids practice soccer outside. They got along perfectly, being kind and encouraging to each other, and I loved it. Let's just say it has been several days since I heard such niceness. And I'm sure my grumpy attitude didn't contribute to the contention at all.

...watched my sweet baby sit in his high chair on the deck, as he watched the kids play on the grass. And prayed for the thousandth time that tomorrow is the day that he can join in and not just sit and look.

...felt grateful for all of my amazing blessings. Either my bad attitude, the heat, or a combination of both, has left me less than grateful the past couple of days. Ridiculous I tell you. I mean seriously, look at how blessed I am!

Kind

I think there are times in life that a lot comes at you and it is hard to take. Often, at least for me, if someone is going to be unkind to you, another person (or several) jumps in line just to reinforce the fact that you are not so liked. Or you do your best to handle a situation the right way and it comes back to you unhappily and misinterpreted. Or you learn that things are being said behind your back and you decide it doesn't matter and to ignore it, but even if you don't show it on the outside, it absolutely breaks your heart. And to me, that is just life. As well as an invitation for me to try harder and do better and to be kinder.

But no matter what happens to us at times, I can tell you, there are always people whose kindness is overwhelming to me. Like the wonderful sister in my ward who is quiet and shy and has never said more than a few words to me. But that wrote me a long email the other day, just to tell me how much she loves me and how grateful she is that our family moved here. I didn't exactly feel deserving of that email at the time, but what it meant to me, she will never know.

Or two sweet friends who, without any prompting or cash exchanging hands, each wrote a very kind blog post about me. Neither one of them mentioned that they had done it and when I came across the posts a few days after, I couldn't believe it. They don't know that what they said brought me to tears and saved me on a day when I wasn't feeling especially great or capable of much. Even if I definitely do not agree with every kind thing they said, it meant so much to me. So once again I want to say, thank you Jana and Staci!

And then there is my lovely high school friend that took the time to sew a personalized superhero cape for our Ben, write a sweet note from her darling boys, have them sign it and mail it to us. When it arrived a couple of days ago, I couldn't figure out what it could be. But when I opened it and saw the darling cape, with Thomas the Train material on one side, bright red on the other and a big yellow "B" on the back, I couldn't believe it. And when I read the note about how these two boys thought Ben had been so brave when he had broken his leg and that he deserved a special cape, I got emotional. Believe me, I do not mind when people are kind to me and I appreciate it so very much. But anyone that goes out of their way to be kind to my children, quickly becomes one of my favorite people ever. Even though, Angie, you were already on that list. Thank you.

I love kind people. I want to be more kind. Unfortunately, I have far to go. But the great news is, I get to keep trying.

Choo choo

This is what Ben has spent hours doing since he broke his leg. He asks to play with the
"choo choos" several times a day and can set a track up almost completely by himself.
 It is so sweet and while I hope he continues to love playing with the train tracks,
I am praying that he will be doing it cast free in two more days.

Four

Almost twenty years ago (yikes, I am old) the movie Jurassic Park came out. And it was a huge hit. Everyone went to see it. As did I, but not until it had been out for a very long time. (I don't remember why now, but I remember I was the last one in North America to see it. Someone in India watched it the week after me though, so I wasn't a complete nerd.) Anyway, when I finally did make it to the theater, it was a complete let down. Not because it wasn't amazing and awesome, but because the build up by everyone I knew was so great, the movie could not possibly complete. Not matter how cool it truly was.

So on a totally unrelated note, here is the last clue for this little let down. It is a big deal to me and I am excited, but for the rest of you, I apologize ahead of time if I am your Jurassic Park.

Begging for your help

I get mosquito bites. Actually, let me rephrase that, I get mosquito welts. Huge ones. It is ridiculous. And I have passed this lovely trait onto at least two of my kids. A little bite will eventually turn into a gigantic welt and be painful for days. And if you can't tell from this post, I have several lovely bites as I am typing. And I am begging for your help.

Does anyone know of anything that actually helps mosquito bites? Temporarily, long-term, instantly makes them disappear—I’ll take it all. I've never really tried anything, except complaining loudly, so I am open to all suggestions. (Oh and before one of you wise guys mentions mosquito repellent, I know, I know, but I can be out there seconds and come in with seven. Which is what happened the other night.)

And just a little bit of information before I sign off. Did you know when we lived in San Diego I never had a single mosquito bite? Not one. Did you know I didn't even own mosquito repellent for four years? Did you know my kids did not even know what a mosquito bite was when they were little? Did you know I miss San Diego a lot? Especially right now as my legs hurt so bad I might cry.

Maybe mosquitoes are attracted to dramatic whiners. Hmm, then why in the world would they be drawn to me? Weird.

Countdown

The countdown is on. Seven more days until Ben has his x-ray and possibly gets his cast off. Again, I know this is small compared to some, but we are sure praying hard that next Friday brings us a cast-free baby boy.

Today Ben started walking on his cast. I take it that means it feels better. I'm trying to keep him off of it, without making it a big deal, because then he would do it just to see my reaction. It may be a long seven days. But hey, the first fourteen have gone relatively quickly, so we'll just be grateful for that.

Today

Today I slept in until my youngest woke up. And he slept late. I felt lazy and rested, all at the same time.

Today I brought my little one downstairs and sat on the floor with him passing a ball back and forth and setting up a train track. And realized while that may sound absolutely boring to many people, I loved it.

Today I laughed at my three oldest playing a fun game on the Wii. And thanked them for letting me sleep in a little later.

Today I kissed my husband goodbye and watched him leave for work. And when he called me a little while later to tell me to have a good day, I felt grateful for him for about the billionth time this past week.

Today I asked my kids speak kindly to each other, even if they don't always agree. And then remembered I should try hard to follow my own advice.

Today I mailed a stack of letters for several sisters in Relief Society that have asked only to be contacted through the mail. And wished so much I could do more for each one of them.

Today I returned three DVDs to the library. And paid a library fine for the second time in my whole life. Three dollars. Err.

Today the sky started pouring rain and interrupted our weeding the front yard. Our front flower beds look like no one ever cared about them. And now they look wet and like no one ever cared about them.

Today I caught up on my emails and and my blog reading. And realized I have so many incredible friends and family members.

Today I wrote a long blog post about pretty much nothing. Because I was stalling and didn't want to do what I should. I can't exactly remember what it is I should be doing, but my brain has the feeling a blog post isn't it.

Today I stopped stalling. And took a shower.

I've mentioned it before...

...and I'll mention it again. I adore this man. Absolutely and completely. I really don't know of too many husbands that would happily take off work to tend four kids for four and a half days. One of which is in a cast and cannot walk. And not only tend them, but make life so very happy for them.

Between letting them have friends over to play, splashing around in the pool, riding the train to Boston, going to the children's museum, going to the library, sleeping outside in a tent, having a kid/grown up switch night, going to a church activity—I honestly don't know how he could have made it more fun and exciting. And he never complained to me once or acted like it was a big deal to do what he did. Oh, and did I mention I came back to a perfectly clean house and mowed lawn?

The kids adore him. I adore him. I mean really, how blessed am I?

Back

I'm back. I'm exhausted. And it was worth every second. Red-eye flights? Not my favorite.
Seeing three of my siblings and their absolutely darling kids? Definitely my favorite.
And holding a brand new baby as much as possible? Beyond my favorite. I have the cutest
nieces and nephews ever. I mean really, look at the pictures below. I miss them already.
And I cannot even look at that sweet little baby without wanting to run right back
and steal him. Ahem, I meant borrow him for an undefined amount of time.

Super excited

In very few hours, I am headed to the airport. Where I will board a plane headed for New York. In New York I will get off of the plane and wander around another airport until I find an over-priced dinner and gate fourteen. I will then board another plane that will fly at a great speed to get me to Utah in several hours, rather than several days. I will get off of that airplane and find my darling, younger brother who has offered to pick me up at a very late hour and take me up a hill to stay with my cute little sister. Who will be having a baby very few hours after I arrive.

I am so excited I can hardly think straight. Contrary to the feeling of this riveting post. I get to play with my little niece and my darling nephew and hold my brand new nephew for the first time. I think I'll take my camera. After all, I've been known to take a picture or two. Now if Jacob is able to get home from his current business trip on time. He should arrive in about four hours. I need to be to the airport in six. Wish us luck. I'll be back. With a smile and a camera full of pictures.

I will eventually quit posting...

...about Ben and his cast. Maybe.

Remember when I used to go out there and just run around? 
Happy times I tell you, happy times.

That dumb blue thing still there? Yup.

Sainthood and graffiti

Yesterday morning my phone rang and it was my darling friend Rachel. She was one of my first calls the night before when Ben broke his leg. She announced that she would be picking up my three oldest in a couple of hours and taking them to her house for the day. She didn't really care if I wanted her to or not, she was just going to do it.

A couple of hours later she showed up, loaded my kids in the car and left. I started to cry. Because her kindness was overwhelming to me. She didn't act like driving 90 minutes round trip was a big deal to pick up my kids, didn't act like keeping them at her house for seven or eight hours was a big deal, didn't act like giving me an entire day to focus on my sweet baby and his broken leg was a big deal. But it was to me. A huge deal in fact.

A few hours after she left, an email appeared in my inbox that had the title, "Please come get us!" The email read,

Mom, Can you please come get us? It's so boring here. There's nothing fun to do.

And the pictures below were attached.

Followed by another email a little while later that read,

And we're starving!

With more pictures, including the one below, attached.

I still don't know how to thank Rachel enough. But maybe this simple blog
post will help her know, just a little, how much I appreciate her.

Thank you Rachel! I love and appreciate and adore you my cute friend!

Oh, but before you think she is a complete saint, please take a gander at what she promptly wrote on Ben's cast when she showed up on Friday. And for those who cannot make out the words, let me help you.

If you were mine, this would never have happened.

Rude eh? True maybe, but rude nonetheless. Ah, but I still think she is the absolute best! Even with her tendency toward offensive graffiti.

Some thoughts

A lot of thoughts have been going through my head today and because they are significant to me, I wanted to make sure and record them on the blog. First, I should explain something interesting about myself. When something serious or of an emergency situation happens, I instantly calm completely and am able to focus and think clearly and get through the situation, even if it lasts for some time. In general, this is very unlike me, and so I am grateful that this seems to happen each time. But after the situation is over and taken care of, it feels as though all of the emotion and stress and anxiety of the situation hits me at once.

Last night, after getting home from the ER, we got Ben settled and down to sleep. And then I walked into our bedroom and began to sob. Out of exhaustion and worry and stress and mostly, gratitude. What happened to Ben could have been much worse than a broken bone.

Yesterday evening, we went to a barbecue for Jacob's work. It was at a beautiful home and his coworkers were kind and welcoming. Most everyone was visiting and talking on the patio or the grass, but the kids were running and playing most everywhere—especially on the play set just above the grass on a hill.

Several minutes into visiting, Annie approached me and asked if she could take Ben up to the play set if she watched him carefully. Annie is extremely cautious and careful with Ben and I told her yes. Annie took him up the hill and I kept turning to watch and make sure they were okay. And then sweet Annie decided she wanted to take him up the ladder in order to go down the slide. In her mind, the both of them could climb it together and be fine. It never occurred to her that what she was doing could turn into a problem and it never occurred to Jacob or me that she would ever think to try that, so it didn't dawn on us to warn her against it. At the top of the ladder, that was a little taller than me, Annie bumped into something and lost her footing. She and Ben fell hard to the ground.

None of us saw it, but heard the cries. It didn't sound that serious at first and Jacob ran up to see the situation. In hindsight, I should have headed up right away because I woke up yesterday morning with a strange feeling that something unusual and worrisome would happen that day. Nevertheless, I waited to go up until I realized after a minute or two that the crying had not stopped. When I got to the play area, I knew immediately that something bad had happened.

Annie took quite a chunk of skin off of her knee and in addition to being very stressed about what happened and how it had hurt Ben, her knee was in a lot of pain for several minutes. I knew pretty quickly something was wrong with Ben...and you all know the rest of the story.

And so today, I have been quite emotional. First, because that is what I do after a very stressful situation. But also because I know that the Lord protected Ben and that his injuries could have been much more serious. If he had been turned at all a different way, he could have come down on his head. And the thought has made me cry, out of gratitude, several times today. What happened to us is so small in comparison to what has happened to others. Even with the inconvenience that this cast brings for the next three to six weeks, I put my baby to bed in his crib tonight. We are not in a hospital, not worried if our son will make it or not, and not something even worse that I cannot bring myself to type. He is here with us—blue cast and all.

The second thing that is making me emotional is the idea that this was very traumatic for Annie. She would never intentionally hurt Ben. She would never put him in danger. It was an accident. But it shook her up. A lot. Jacob and I have talked to her several times and reassured her that it was an accident and that we are not angry in any way. We have told her that nothing she could do could change the love we feel for her and that everyone makes mistakes. Before she went to bed tonight, we made sure again that she knew Ben is going to be fine and that we love her.

I would hope that I would always want to make sure that she, and every one of our children, knew that I felt this way in every situation, but a story I read a while back made me think even more deeply about my reactions to my children. And while this story is so much more tragic than our own story of last night, it is what first came to my mind after I realized what had happened to Annie and Ben. This story not only made me cry (and still does) when I read it, but it gave me the desire to make sure that my actions toward my children are very deliberate and filled with love. Even if discipline or correction is needed, they need to know I love them no matter what.

And so I sign off with a portion of the story I read and with, for the second night in a row, an overwhelming amount of emotion. And an even greater amount of gratitude.

"After the death of his 5-year-old daughter in May, Grammy- and Dove-Award-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman told his manager he might never perform again.

But the singer and his tightknit family later realized his music was part of the healing process and another way to honor Maria Sue, one of three daughters they adopted from China.

He and his family discussed Maria Sue's death last week in two national television interviews.

Maria Sue died after being struck by her 17-year-old brother's SUV as he was backing into the family driveway near Nashville, Tennessee.

As Chapman, rushed his youngest daughter to the hospital, according to a television report, he shouted out to his heartbroken son, 'Will Franklin, your father loves you.'

Said Chapman, 'I just really had a deep concern in my heart that I wouldn't lose two children as a result of this [accident].'"

 Story found here.

Ben and his cast

Here are some pictures of sweet Ben and his new cast. He seems to be doing okay this morning.
He doesn't act like he is in pain, but just cannot understand why I won't take the dumb thing off
his leg. He keeps pointing at it and yelling at it. It is both sad and funny at the same time.
Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts and prayers.

A photo of Ben on the way home from the ER. He did not cry once when they were putting on
his cast, but once he realized it was attached to him, he was pretty frustrated. He completely
forgot about his new addition when we got in the car though, as he was just so happy to
have some crackers. He had not eaten in six and a half hours and was starving.

On the way home last night, we stopped at the drug store so I could pick up some Tylenol
and Motrin for Ben. I was also able to find a long, soft sock that I cut the toe out of to put
over his cast. I don't think I ever thought before about how rough casts are and wanted
to do something to make Ben's weeks with his new blue leg a little less difficult.

And one more of Ben this morning. I took off the sock to capture his cute cast. He would smile
 a little when I asked him to, but still isn't up to much besides sitting on my lap and being loved.
I couldn't be more happy to oblige. I sure love this sweet boy!

Broken

Our sweet Ben broke his leg tonight. We just walked in from the ER and got him in bed and asleep. He is exhausted, as are we.

As he fell from a piece of playground equipment, we are just so grateful it was not worse. I am only posting tonight to let you know and to ask for your prayers for our sweet little guy. He is having a hard time understanding why we won't just take off the silly thing.

Of all of the difficult things people go through, this is a small one, and we are thankful. But we have a long few weeks ahead of us, as the cast goes the length of his entire leg and he cannot walk on it. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. I'm off to bed as I'm sure tonight won't be Ben's most restful night's sleep. I'll post more tomorrow, as well as pictures of our poor little sweetheart. Good night from this grateful and exhausted mom.

Summertime water fun

Running through the sprinklers.

Do I dare try it?

I didn't realize it would get me wet!

Hot sun + cold water + swimsuits = happy kids

One sweet boy!

Back of the room

Today during our last hour of church, I had the opportunity to sit in the back of the room. And while that may not seem significant to many, it was for me. Because of my calling in Relief Society, I usually sit closer to the front to help with what is happening or to conduct the meeting or to play the piano if I absolutely have to. But today, several strange things happened and I ended up sitting in the back.

It was a very sweet meeting. The music was wonderful and the lesson was taught incredibly well. There were even two comments made during the lesson, by women who do not usually speak up during Relief Society, that were beautiful and profound. I felt, as I often have lately, such a deep love for the women in our ward. It is something, as I have mentioned several times, that I was not prepared for when the calling was extended to me, and that still catches me off guard when it happens.

As the hour came to a close, the sweet and darling second counselor stood to announce the closing song and the prayer. Before she announced these though, she talked for a very brief minute about one of the topics of the lesson, the temple, and how much she loves being there. She became a bit emotional, quietly apologized and sat down.

Let me tell you a little about this amazing woman. About a year ago, she very suddenly lost her husband of many years. It was unexpected and obviously completely devastating. She seems to me to handle his death with incredible grace and composure, but has told me on several occasions that it is not how she feels on the inside. In addition to this great trial, she lost one of her sons, many years ago, to an accident that took him far too early from this life.

She has had a hard several weeks. Between her wedding anniversary, Father's Day, her son's birthday, and many small and large events, she feels like the grief is coming at her more powerfully than usual. So when she broke down a little today at the end of the meeting, I knew why. And my heart absolutely ached for her.

So after she finished conducting, she returned to her seat, sat down next to the wonderful first counselor in the Relief Society presidency, and the closing hymn began. Apparently today at some point in our church meetings, both her husband's favorite hymn, as well as her son's favorite hymn (both sung at each of their funerals) was sung. It was an intensely difficult day for her.

As the music started, and the first counselor put her arm around her, my sweet friend just broke down. And she doesn't cry like anyone else I know. She cries quietly and composed and without her face changing much. But she sat there, sobs shaking her body and tears streaming down her face. I couldn't handle it. I sat in the very back of the room and sobbed quietly, until I thought my heart would break.

I know this gospel is true. With all of my heart I know it. I know that our Savior Jesus Christ died for us and that He lives again. I know it. I know that life goes on after death takes us from this world. There is not a single question in my mind that this is true. And because of that, my friend is going to be okay. But for that moment in church today, her heart was completely and utterly broken. She felt lonely and sad and overwhelmed and like the pain was too much to bear. And although I would never pretend to know how she felt, my own heart felt like it would literally break in two for her.

My sweet friend's testimony is going to get her through all that is ahead, but that didn't change the fact that two men in her life, one husband and one son, who she loved as only a wife and a mother can love, had died. It didn't change the fact that she would give anything she had to have them with her again. It didn't change the fact that her loneliness and grief is very real and beyond difficult.

I had a hard time watching what I saw today. I'm aware that I become very involved in others' lives and their joys and sorrows. It matters to me, probably more than it should. But be that as it may, I am incredibly grateful for my experience today. I am grateful for how it strengthened my testimony of truths I know. I am grateful for how it made me feel such deep compassion for someone else. I am grateful for how it made me want to serve others more. And mostly, I am grateful to have sat in the back of the room, which is exactly where I needed to be today.

Blessed are all they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

~3 Nephi 12:4

Freshly painted

Remember when I mentioned that Jacob and Adam painted the living room last week? The one

that used to be peach? So I might walk by it thirty times a day just to remind  myself how much

 I love it. And while my style may appear to some to be Early Simple Boring (which is totally

what I am going for), it works for me. It more than works for me, I love it. It is bright and 

happy and uncluttered and that is all that matters to me. A talented home decorator I am not.

A happy mother and wife with walls that are a neutral color? Why yes. Yes I am.

Another fabulous visitor

Jacob's brother, Adam, came to visit us this past week and we loved having him. Seriously, he is so much fun to have and so easy to be around. I think what I love most about Adam is how similar he is to Jacob. They think alike, talk alike, act alike, roll their eyes at me alike (okay maybe not outwardly, but I know they do it on the inside). It is fun to see how they get along and watch them interact. He is beyond good to the kids and plays and plays with them. Ben took a huge liking to Adam. It was fun to watch because Ben usually takes a very long time to warm up to someone, but not to Adam. They were buddies from the start.

The only thing we feel bad about is that Adam did too much while he was here. As I mentioned, he played with the kids constantly, kept unloading the dishwasher when I left the room, helped paint one of our rooms for us (I have to say I was SO happy about this one though, as I've been wanting that room painted a different color for a very long time), and helped unload a truck full of things that belonged to our cute friend, Lorri, who will be moving in for the next several months. We are not sure he is coming back after that many chores, but we will definitely take him any time he will come.

Thanks for coming Adam! We love you and miss you already!