My Warriors

I have wondered often why I would be given four very strong willed, independent, and stubborn boys. I know nothing about boys. I love basketball but could never tell one position from another. I would rather run barefoot through the snow than sit through a game of college football. I have certainly never suffered the habit of resting my hands down my pants while watching television. And then there is that sweaty boy smell. You know what I'm talking about; the smell of sweat mixed with dirt and graham crackers.

I am a "girlie girl". I have always loved anything that sparkles. I don't mind the upkeep of coloring my hair or having my nails done. A new tube of lip gloss can make my day. A spritz of perfume can rejuvenate me. I would never think of slugging a friend if I am upset with them because we girls talk (and talk and talk and talk) about those sorts of things. I have no problem immersing myself into an elaborate, and dramatic tale of vampires and werewolves (ya, you know what I'm talking about ;)). I am as girlie as it gets.

And yet here I sit with four rough and tumble, sweaty, stinky, (and yet still irresistibly darling) little boys!! Many times I am overwhelmed with their constant excitement. As I finish one room in the house, making sure every corner is spic and span, I find that they have destroyed two more rooms with legos and pillows (of course used to wack each other); sheets spread across chairs in the middle of the room, a formidable fortress to be sure. And then there is the ongoing problem with aim. The complete inability to stand still for a brief moment, and save me the daunting task of bleaching the toilet and all surrounding areas almost daily!

It is when I am drowning in self-pity that I am reminded of a special, actually several special experiences I have had through out the years:
I sat reading my scriptures during my freshman year in college. As I came to the section in Alma where the story of the stripling warriors is told I was overwhelmed with emotion. I read and reread, feeling the spirit touch my heart deeply and yet not fully understanding why this specific story would evoke so much emotion from me. Tears streamed down my face and the pages became a blur. I prayed for greater understanding.

Several years ago Tim brought home poster size paintings of a few Book of Mormon stories. One was of the stripling warriors readying themselves for battle. He pinned the posters to their bedroom walls where they could look at them and be reminded of the stories that accompanied them. One night I gathered my boys around me and began to read to them the story of the stripling warriors,

• "And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites...For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth....Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them. And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it...And now it came to pass that when they had surrendered themselves up unto us, behold, I numbered those young men who had fought with me, fearing lest there were many of them slain. But behold, to my great joy, there had not one soul of them fallen to the earth; yea, and they had fought as if with the strength of God; yea, never were men known to have fought with such miraculous strength; and with such mighty power..."

As I read to my little ones I was once again overwhelmed with the spirit. And for the first time I made the connection. I had been given my own stripling warriors. They had been sent to me with great purpose. I was to teach them to not doubt and to have faith that God would always deliver them. I felt excited, grateful and scared all at once, and yet it was so very clear to me that this was my duty, my responsibility to prepare them for the battles that lay ahead. This was the very reason I had felt such emotion before; my soul had remembered. My Heavenly Father had placed great faith in me, and I determined not to let him down.

The other day was a very hectic one, even by my standards. A gallon of milk had been poured on to the kitchen floor, fight after fight had ended in time outs, with a stern warning of "Don't look at each other!! Don't talk to each other!! Don't touch each other!!" Cry after cry, scream after scream, tantrum after tantrum I became ever more distraught and overwhelmed at my inability to be a good mother. I sat on the stairs and dropped my head into my hands and sighed. As I sat wondering how much more I could take my Isaac came up quietly behind me and wrapped his arms around my neck. "I love you mom" he said. In the midst of playing video games and battling with his brothers he had noticed me there. And with all of his eight year old abilities he was trying to sooth me. I pulled him in close to me and said with yet another sigh," I love you too Isaac." And the thought came to mind: Warriors. They are my warriors. The "fight" in them needs to be there and I needn't be so frustrated by it. One day they will fight with great cause. They will fight in their rightful place at our Saviors side. It is my job to teach them compassion, mercy and love, without breaking their inherit warrior spirits. I was reminded that this time is but a season, and it too shall end and then will the next begin. As I felt his arms squeeze a little tighter, I thought, "I must be doing something right!!" My warrior is strong yet tender, mindful of my troubled heart.

I am so grateful to be the mother of four very strong willed, intense boys. I am humbled knowing that my Father in Heaven has entrusted me to be their mother And I hope with all of my heart that some day, even after all of the mistakes that I make, my boys will know of my love for my Heavenly Father, and with courage and strength will grow into the valiant warriors they are meant to be.

Boys Will Be Boys?

My kids seem to be drawn to the clippers. I put them away and they climb great heights to reach them! It would be one thing if it had just happened once. Sounds reasonable that each kid goes through the event of cutting their own hair. But my kids have done this on multiple occasions. When Spencer was three I made the mistake of leaving the clippers out after I finished cutting their hair. I came upstairs to see a very funny looking child. We shaved it all off and if course it grew back...eventually. I cut his hair again, this time being sure to put them away...high so he couldn't reach them. Silly mommy! Boys climb. Boy, do they climb! He climbed to the ceiling (in our linen closet) and repeated the whole process. Ugh!!

Now, Davis is three. He took two big wacks out of the front of his hair a few months ago. I didn't want to cut it all that short so I waited for it to grow out a bit and then cut it so he didn't look like he had a buzz. As I was getting them all out of the shower I asked him to just run down and grab me the baby's bottle. I heard a "BZZZZZZZ..." and screamed, "Davis turn those off right now!!!" Too late. Damage was done. Is this where someone tells me boys will be boys? Now, while Spencer delighted in me having to shave his head bald, Davis was downright broken hearted. He sobbed and sobbed, and repeatedly said, "Now I look like a man!" I'm not sure what that meant, but I do know it meant something awful. He was very worried that Spencer would tell him he looked like a man too, so after he was in bed asleep and his brothers got home from being out with Daddy I gave them all the pep talk of how "we don't make fun of your brother, he is very upset, make him feel better, blah, blah, blah". They snuck upstairs to peek at him and they both came down sobbing!! "He doesn't look like our brother! He will never look like our brother again. I don't like to look at him!" were just some of the sweet words they said. Jeez! And they say that girls are the ones full of drama!! Later, when I went in to do my nightly check- in, I found that Spenc and Isaac had surrounded Davis in all sorts of "gifts" (zoom in close and you will even see an infamous sock puppet!). They must have really felt bad for him!!

Beauty and the Beast

This was several years ago, but I ran across it and laughed so hard I thought it worthy of a post. All shots are EXTREMELY photo-shopped! For the "pretty one" she straightened my nose smoothed my complexion, arched my eyebrows, and drastically plumped my lips. Boy would I love those lips!! The devil one is awesome. Reminds me of the devil guy in that really old movie with Tom Cruise called Legend. And the other one is me as a fat girl. My girlfriend and I stayed up until about 3 am one night messing around with these. I think I seriously peed my pants laughing at some point! Thanks Kristi!

Thanksgiving: A Lot To Be Thankful For

I think we have started a new tradition. My dad came out last year for Thanksgiving and it worked out so great that we decided to do it again. I had begged my sister for several months to accompany him but I finally gave up and quit nagging, when I got all sorts of hems and haws about it. To my delight she did come! She surprised me at my front door. I was really really excited. At this point in the game there isn't a lot to go and do when my Canadian family comes to visit. I mean we have shopped at every mall, seen Temple square like sixty-fourty-nine times, and a girl can only take the Joseph Smith story so many times!! So now we mostly just stay home and talk. Boring you say? Certainly not this time. Sarah brought with her an amazing new toy: Her Mac laptop and we played with a few techniques for quite a while. I seriously could not stop laughing!! The photos are very self explanatory! Thanksgiving dinner was at my house. My very close friend (not to mention cousin) drove all the way up from Southern Utah to spend it with us. I absolutely love that girl. Kamie and I should have been born sisters. Her two teenage boys were also the highlight of my boys day. Spencer can not deal with the fact that her husband is not his uncle (actually his cousin) and so he insists on calling him Uncle Brett. He really loves Brett. Might have something to do with him being a "real cowboy". My brothers and theirs wives (and kids) came too. So here comes the corney and mushy part: I really love my dad. I admire him more than any other man I know. I know not only would he die for me, but he lives for me. I am grateful for him beyond words. And I am so thankful for him being here with us.

I love love love this baby!

I am 100% completely and utterly head over heels in love with this guy!

Spencer turns FIVE!

Spencer turned five on November 16th. He was so excited to have his Jazz birthday party. He4 invited his friends of all ages, and we had Utah Jazz gear everywhere. Each guest was asked to wear Jazz colors. We had Jazz colored balloons and plates, and drinks. The cake was actually cupcakes, in basketball form. Tim came up with some basketball games and besides that we basically let them all run wild! We aren't sure where this came from, but he has a serious love for cowboy boots. His Grandma Marie bought him a "dress-up" pair last year, along with a cowboy outfit, and he has worn them practically everyday since. They were getting a bit small so I went to a real Cowboy store (ha ha: Pederson Farm Supply) and bought him a new pair. They were leather with beautiful stitching and were even two toned. He loved them!!....at first. But by the end of the next day, he had chucked them to the back of his closet and had his old pleather ones back on. Seriously. It was "the box is better than the gift" syndrome. Oh well. Lesson learned. His favorite gift was the one Uncle Todd actually made for him. It consisted of PVC pipe glued together with plumbers glue in the shape of a bull, and a long rope made into a lasso. I think it may have cost him all of 5 bucks to build, and it was worth every cent! He played with it, practicing his lassoing techniques, for hours that day, and still plays with it. In fact, it even caught on with Dad! Tim has been going around the entire yard looking for things to lasso. Guess I know what to get him for his next Birthday!

So, I did really good for the first few months of blogging, but as soon as the holidays hit I basically just quit. I didn't mean to. Each week I told myself I would get things updated and each week I got a little further behind. So I will try to get caught up a bit. Bare with me while I backtrack....
One morning Isaac came to me looking for one of Dad's old socks so he could make a sock puppet. (He is my crafty, always making, baking, or fixing something boy!) I thought that was a great idea and so eventually the whole gang was making sock puppets. I'm not sure how but the neighbor kids ended up making them too. Now, what good is a sock puppet without a puppet show? So the boys took off down the street to invite all of their friends to see the puppet show. As I was brushing my teeth I looked out my bathroom window to see them across the street hiding behind a storage bin, and performing their show while my good friend and her girls watched form their front door. I giggled a bit, and shouted for them to come on home when they were done. They promptly told me that they couldn't because they had three more shows scheduled. A few more minutes went by and I went to see where they were. As I walked out my front door I was totally surprised! They had six lawn chairs set up in our culdesac. And those lawn chairs weren't empty! They had gone door to door inviting each of my neighbors, who were kind enough to oblige them. We all sat and watched the show which was just a mixture of grunts, yelling, laughing, and the sock puppets wacking each other. Then we gave them a standing ovation, and in turn (who knows why) the sock puppets began belting us with candy of all sorts. (A blow pop really doesn't feel good being hurled at your face). It was quite entertaining to say the least.