My thoughts for Thursday

"As I think about your schedules and the pressures you face at this time in your lives, I can understand why scripture study can so easily be neglected. You have many demands pulling at you. In some cases, just maintaining your social life is a full-time occupation. But I plead with you to make time for immersing yourselves in the scriptures. Couple scripture study with your prayers. Half an hour ...each morning privately studying, pondering, and communicating with your Heavenly Father can make an amazing difference in your lives. It will give increased success in your daily activities. It will bring increased alertness to your minds. It will give you comfort and rock-steady assurance when the storms of life descend upon you." -Elder Ballard

I needed to see this today! I have been dragging lately and realized after reading this I have neglected reading the scriptures. I was immediately overcome with a calmness as I grabbed my scriptures and opened it up to whatever page it was on and it was a perfect message for me today. One verse stuck out to me and after reading it and thinking about what it meant, I felt that it sometimes applies to my life. D&C 70:14- It reads: Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld.

My take on this verse is that Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and even though we sometimes envy those who have more or what we want, we have to understand that we have been given what we can handle and when the time comes to receive more it will be because we have not held grudges on those who have what we want, for if we are to have envy and greed for more earthy things we will lose the holy ghost to help guide us. I had an issue with a family member this week and I hate that they are feeling the envy and greed of what others have been given. I truly hope that they realize that with patience good things will come, just like they have for me!! I openly admit that when family and friends were blessed with a family, I was dealing with the heartache of infertility and then ultimately a failed marriage, but if there are any words of wisdom from being there, I can say it was so worth the pain and heartache I went through to where I am today. I could not imagine where I would be without Mike in my life. I have been given so much to be thankful for and even though I am guilty of still feeling envy for what others have I also have realized that there are things that I have that others do not and I need to be happy and content with what I do have and that is the love of my husband and three wonderful, adorable and healthy kids!! I hate that I have made bad choices in my life and have had to suffer the consequences of them and I just hope that now that I have been through those things that it makes me a better person both inside and out.

L.O.V.E

For some reason Valentine's Day for me is a special one. Granted you shouldnt wait for a holiday to show your significant other that they mean so much to you. I am a lucky wife because this happens on a daily basis and I love that I get treated with such respect! I wake up every morning with a man who loves me and cares for me and our children. Since we really focus on the kids during Christmas, V-Day for Mike and I is a holiday were we get each other the same gift, we thought it would be a fun tradition to start for us and that way we can get each other something that we both want and not have to deal with flowers that are just to costly on this day and that die soon after. Last year we got each other shoes and it was actually accidental that it happened that after that we said lets get each other the same type of gift. This year while bra shopping with my mama at Dillards we did some looking around and after finding the PERFECT color of Kenneth Cole watch, I knew Mike would be excited about it. He has a small love affair with KC watches... I started that addiction when we were dating and getting him a Kenneth Cole watch from Nordstroms, he swore he wouldnt wear anything purchased from a "Ritzy" place like Norstroms, but I insisted he would given in. Since then he has gotten 4 watches, the funny thing is he will only wear them on special occassions. If you knew Mike he is anything but a show off, he likes to be relaxed and find good deals and not spend lots of money on himself. He always puts himself last and I have to beg him to go buy himself something, kinda like someone else I know! (MOM :))

I'm so thankful for this man of mine, for our children and our family. I love the bond that I have with my siblings and I hope to improve on some with others. I've been given the best in laws! I truly am so blessed to have them in our lives. I love that both Mike and I are so comfortable with each others family. I love spending time with his family and we always seem to have  the best time when we are together. Im thankful that they have accepted me and treat me like their own.

New Years Eve & a New Tradition

Every New Years we are scrambling to find something to do. This year my father wanted to take us kids out for the weekend to a hotel and spend it doing all sorts of fun stuff. I of course was elated! Finally we had something planned. It was such a fun weekend and of course since it was the first year doing this it was more spare of the moment activities. The place we stayed at was more than just a hotel, had a indoor water park, theater room and it just was so fancy, I just didnt want to check out after the 3 days. We had a fun filled weekend of bowling, movie time, lots and lots of water time and some down time watching bowl games and eating. We missed my younger brother Rich who wasnt able to make it :(. But hopefully they will come next year. Im glad that we were able to find a time that works for our Letterman side to have a get together. Its always nice when you can spend a few days with each other and make our bonds stronger. Our New Years Eve was fun, my dad went out and bought fireworks and we let them off in the parking lot at the hotel, kinda strange at first, but it was fun to see everyone looking out their windows at us. They were smart and watched from the comfort of their nice cozy rooms. All in all our weekend was a blast and like ALWAYS I kick myself for not carrying around my camera more and taking more pictures, the ones I took just didnt do justice and I missed alot of the activities we did.. :( Oh well!!

 

Christmas

I love Christmas Eve and Christmas, I mean who wouldnt right?? We have had such a fun weekend. We always have a great time when we get together with family. Although its been a rough few mornings though after getting the kids home well after 1am each night. Now I need a few days to recoop and start it all over this weekend for New Years!!

Our kids were pooped Christmas Morning when we got home, that Mike had to come wake us all up at 1030 to open the presents, Mikey popped right up, the rest of us took our own sweet time getting out of bed. Mikey of course was only interested in the gifts that had Halo, but over all was happy with all he got and he was so excited to head over to his cousins house to see the biggest Halo set ever being built. Mikey ran to the room and told me ' hey, you are not allowed in here, we are building Halo and its only Tim, Damon and ME.' Alright then... I was shocked to see that it literally took ALL day to build that and Mikey sat in there watching. Guess I know what sparks his interests ;)

Alivia giggled at everything she got, she would hug it and give a big grin when she seen what it was. I just love the excitement of little kids, I wish Mikey had more of that time :)

Ike was the EASIEST!! He enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper more than opening anything!!  

Mike and I are so thankful for our family and all that they did, done and do for us each year! We are so blessed to have a family that loves us and loves our children. They mean  so much to us and each year at this time I am especially thankful for our and their health! It means more than any present we could give or receive. I can't help but get emotional and remember to be thankful for the small things and enjoy our time with family.

Wintery Elf came for a visit...

This year I decided to do the Elf on the Shelf, but I was NOT about to pay the $30 for the Elf and the Book, I knew I could be creative enough to make it our own :) Mikey was more excited than anything to know that the Elf was going to watch over us all day long and at night... well have a little fun for himself. We had fun with it and Im sure it will be a fun tradition that we do every year. First things first, We had the Elf at the front door, knocked and told Mikey to answer it, he came with a letter from Santa, * who remember isnt real as Mikey would say. We had to give it a name. Mikey blurts out Wintery and there you have it, Welcome Wintery the Elf....

Making Sno Angels out of Powered Sugar! Dang this Weather!

Doing some painting...

The Halo Guys came to life too... and they cornered Wintery!

 Halo-1 Wintery-0

Wintery Trying to help with the laundry, but just made a mess then got stuck! 

 Wintery climbing to the top of the tree

Wintery had a sweet tooth

Wintery was sick of no snow, that he decided to keep cool in the freezer with some ice cubes

Wintery making breakfast for the kids, waffles it is :)

5 Years!! What??

Mikey is 5 years old! Its crazy to think that this little guy was once a baby. It just seems like his is so much older than 5 and that we have just had him forever. I know he has been so excited about his birthday cause he knew that meant, what else? Presents! He wanted me to make sure to tell everyone what he wanted, so I did the unthinkable and did a wish list at Toys R Us for him. Sounds weird but no point in having presents he wont play with right?? He literally counted down the big ol birthday weeks ago and woke up at 4am birthday morning to ask if he could open his presents! He was excited when he got exactly what he had been asking for. Thats not going to happen every time!! Luckily this year with his birthday and Christmas he is only asking for small priced toys! Yes we can handle that! We decided to keep the tradition of a Sunday Birthday Party, that way we could accomodate everyone who wanted to be there. Thanks to everyone who took time out of their day to come and support and help celebrate my little man's birthday. I love that he has so many that love and care for him. We have great friends who support us as well and Im so thankful for their friendships!

This year's theme was Super Mario!! Half way through my planning it he wanted  to switch it to a Halo/Lego/Mega Bloks and whatever else he could think of but Super Mario! But I insisted it was too late, luckily it turned out great and he had a fun time! WELL, Sorta, those who were there probably seen the multi meltdowns he had. He just didnt want to wait to open his presents. It all made sense when later that night he started to run a fever and now has been sleeping all day, so he was just cranky from starting to feel sick. Poor Kid!
I just have to say I love Mikey with all my heart, he truly has such an amazing, unique and funny spirit. He has always been able to put a smile on my face. I love that he still wants to cuddle with me and spend time with me. We always watch movies together and I love the time I get to spend with him. He is my handy grocery shopping buddy and sometimes things get added to the cart without me noticing until we are unloading at the register and I just have to chuckle at him. He is such a smart kid! I have always known that he was, but now that he is growing up he just amazes me with his vocubulary and his questions, they are always so deep and not easy to answer. He has one heck of a memory too! I am blown away when he will bring up something that even I had forgotten. Its incredible! I use to have that sharp memory, 3 kids later well you can guess what has happened, along with the WEIGHT! Ha ha! Oh well, they are worth it and I wouldn't change a thing. He is such a big helper and I feel bad that sometimes he gets treated as he is much older, and I have to check myself for that on numerous occasions. Although right now he is in the phase of 'not liking to play with girls' mode and is all about Ike, I will find him on occasion in Livi's room playing with her, But I cant let him know that ;) He is becoming a young man already and Im just not sure Im ready for that!! Love you Mikey Pixton!!

Letters to Santa

This year was fun to start the tradition of sending letters to Santa, Mikey is at that age were he fully understand its (ALTHOUGH HE CLAIMS SANTA ISNT REAL!) Kinda of a bummer since he really never got to get into the whole Santa thing, especially since TV shows now make it known that he isnt real. Arg! But I told him if he wanted any presents for Christmas then a letter is a must do, that way who ever is getting him present will be told through a dream on what to get him ( Ya I know, we wondered away from the truth a bit.. all in the spirit of christmas right!) Anyways, it was fun for Mikey to write down his list on his own. Alivia of course just wanted to draw and not let me write down, thank goodness I was able to get a little out of her when I would say something and get her expression, most of the time it would be a huge smile or giggle. So it was written down.

My first HOMEMADE Christmas Gift

So since we just dont have room in our little home and I cant be that sneaky with 3 kids around, I needed to let Mike know my gift for him this year, I wanted to make him a softball T-shirt from some of his old shirts. So the first task was getting him to go through all of his shirts and let me have 36 of them. That was hard enough right there, he has well over 200 shirts and getting him to give me 15% of them was HARD! Finally I was able to get them and from there the project began. I started not really prepared and didnt want to go track down all of my quilting stuff, so I made do with a cardboard box, a crayon and some sissors, that only last for maybe 8 shirts and I had to take the time to get all I needed. Once I started this project it was too hard to not think about it, dream about it and just want to get it done, so I asked Linda to help me over Thanksgiving Weekend. I know that the holiday is usually one to relax and eat and eat, but I was determined to get this done. It was nice for the help and the use of all the things I needed. For some reason I thought this was going to be a somewhat easy project... Ha Ha Ha. Not to mention the FIASCO at Joann's on Black Friday!  It was well worth it though and the end project turned out great! Im excited to take it to our tournaments and show it off!! :)