My latest project

Now that the kids are back in school, and the temperatures have dropped, I've had the time to work on some projects that I've been wanting to get done for quite some time. Here's one of the latest. I busted my hiney to get these done before my mom got here. I've got the island and the upper cabinets done in the kitchen. Hopefully the "after" is obvious.

The downstairs bathroom is done.

This has been a very time consuming project. And while I'm in "project" mode, that's all I can think about and get very Gung Ho on getting it done. So the few weeks "off" in between is healthy for my kids and my husband! He's been great to help me out with the kids so I can stay focused and complete which ever phase of the project I'm in. I'm sure it helps to see the end result. We LOVE it! It will sure be fun to have it all done. Then who knows what will come next...hopefully granite and/or new stainless appliances. Only time and money will tell. To be continued...

It's been one of those days...

Yesterday Drake was running a fever and was NOT a happy camper. Between crying, sporadic naps, and snuggles, I was wiped out at the end of the day. So you would think I would sleep like a log, right? Not so. I woke up around 1:30 am and couldn't get back to sleep until after 3 am. Try as I may, I couldn't get thoughts of RAGNAR (a relay race I agreed to run at the last minute) out of my head (Who will watch the kids? Will we take them with us, or try to find a friend here to watch them? Will Paul run it too? Where will we park? Where will we stay? What should I take?) You get the idea. My brain doesn't work well in the middle of the night (it struggles in the middle of the day too), so of course none of these "pressing" issues were resolved in my head which equates to one very tired momma.

I knew I was in for it when my patience was already being tested at 6:30 am (of course the kids had been up since before 6 am). Cooper had a grocery store field trip today which was mandatory for a "responsible" parent to attend. After walking around the grocery store for an hour, Cooper was spent--throwing himself on the ground in tantrum mode. It's no good when mom wants to do the same. Trying my best to hold it together, I got him into the car (at which time another kicking and screaming tantrum is thrown). My saving grace...Nap time! And both kids should go down for a nap at the same time which means I could try to catch some zzzzz's too.

Cooper fell asleep on the way home. I knew it would be a fight to get him to go potty and then get into bed, but I could handle that. I knew the payoff would be worth it. Got Cooper in bed, got Drake in bed and then read for a few minutes to relax before attempting a nap myself. But that was not to be. Cooper came out of his room in 15 minute intervals, and Drake was awake an hour later. What's up with that? They both should have been exhausted! I knew I was!

So at this point, hopes for a nap vanished, I knew I was in trouble. Now I had to endure until bedtime. I knew the kids would be a mess--Drake was still running a fever, and Cooper isn't much fun when he's tired. Not to mention a tired momma (who isn't much fun either). And then an amazing thing happened. It took me a couple hours to realize it. I still expected the kids to be acting up, so was poised, ready to react to their crying, tantrum, bad moods. But instead, they were great! They played well together. And for the first time in 2 days, Drake was content, and even happy playing with Cooper (as opposed to being held by me).

It was then that I said a silent prayer thanking our Father for blessing my children with happiness when I felt I was at the edge of the cliff and ready to jump.

We've got a walker

Drake, just like the rest of my cute boys, didn't start walking until about 13 months. I love watching these little monkeys wobble around the house with arms held high above their heads for stability.

Working really hard on walking:

Walking is mastered!

Elder's Quorum President

With the recent split of our Stake (this is the 3rd Stake we've been a part of since our move to AZ), our bishop was called as a member of the new Stake Presidency, the Elder's Quorum President was called to be a member of the bishopric, thus leaving the Elder's Quorum unattended (not really, but you know...). So I was not the least bit surprised when a few weeks ago Paul told me that he had been called as the Elder's Quorum President. This is the calling he had in Washington right before we left--he was only able to serve in that calling for a few months before moving here. He LOVED being in the Elder's Quorum and loved serving as President. And I think he's been itching to get back into it ever since. But the timing wasn't quite right. He was in the middle of Law school, teaching Sunday School to the 15-18 year olds, served as a counselor in the EQP, and then served as the Teachers Quorum Assistant Advisor. He has loved all of these callings, and has served in them well.

So when asked how he feels about this new calling, his response is that he's really excited. He's excited to serve in any capacity that he can. But he's especially excited to have the time and energy to invest in the Elder's Quorum. I have no doubt that he will serve well.

We met the Stake Presidency at the church at 4 pm for Paul to be set apart. We had to wake Cooper up to get there on time, and he was a bit clingy to Paul. As the time came for the blessing, Cooper was not happy about sitting on a chair by me, but wanted to sit on Paul's lap. Sweet President Thalman suggested having Cooper sit on Paul's lap during the setting apart. I cautioned President Hancock to not let his hands slip (thus avoiding setting apart a 3 year old to run the Elder's Quorum).

As President Hancock set Paul apart, he gave him the keys of the Priesthood to preside over the Quorum. He blessed Paul that he would always be able to put his family first--that is where his influence is most important. (President Hancock doesn't know my husband very well. Paul has this part mastered!) He was also blessed that he would have the time to serve his Elder's Quorum.

I feel very blessed to have a husband who is worthy and willing to serve wherever the Lord needs him.

You know you have all boys when...

This morning Paul was telling the boys how lucky they are to have one another--brothers! The conversation with Barik went something like this:

Paul: "Barik, you are so lucky to have an older brother AND younger brothers. You know, Nic (Andrew's best friend who spends lots of time at our house) doesn't have any brothers."

Barik: "Yes he does. He's got a brother that's a girl."

Apparantly "sister" isn't part of Barik's vocabulary:)

Our 5th Son

No I'm not pregnant! But sometimes it feels like we have 5 little boys. Andrew's best friend, Nic lives 2 doors down and is here as often as he can be. So, it shouldn't surprise us when the following happened:

Andrew, Barik and I were at Adrienne's hanging out for the afternoon. Paul, Cooper and Drake were taking naps. So when Paul woke up to voices down stairs, he was a bit perplexed. But when he came down, discovered that Cooper had woken up from his nap and had opened the front door to let Nic in. Nic (almost 9) and Cooper (3 1/2) were playing happily in the toy room.

Nic has become part of our family. He shares meals with us, goes to the movies with us, says prayers with us. Sometimes preferring to play with Barik over Andrew. Andrew's brothers are also Nic's brothers. After all, he has grown up with my boys almost as long as Andrew has. Barik was only 6 months old when we moved in and Nic came along a couple months after that. We often remind the boys how lucky they are to have brothers. Nic just has an older sister. He really eats up all the boy energy at our house.

Andrew earned his Bobcat

Tonight was the first Pack Meeting since Andrew officially became a cub scout. This was a new experience for me and my boys. Andrew, along with 3 of his other friends (Mason Kiedrowski, Bryce Hackney and Walker ?), were introduced to the Pack tonight and when Andrew was asked what his favorite thing to do was, he replied "play Gotcha Force". Not too many of us knew what that was. Man, he sure loves to play game cube!

Since Paul is out of town, I was able to have all 4 boys to myself at Pack Meeting. About an hour into the meeting Cooper told me he needed to go poop. Great! So, here I go with Drake in one arm, a bottle of water, a bottle of milk and a binki in the other arm--off to the bathroom. Too bad the nursery bathroom was taken. That would have been so much easier. So Cooper (pooper) sat, and sat, and pushed and pushed. Meanwhile Drake and I patiently waited. Hmmm. Not quite what I had in mind for our first son's first Pack Meeting. But not to worry, my good friend Darbie Hall came calling for me in the bathroom saying that I needed to go pin something or other on Andrew and that everyone was waiting for me. What to do? Cooper is still in "pooper" position, I have toilet paper in my hand (ready to make the escape on the double), Drake in my other arm (still) and my sweet oldest is in need of a good "pinning". Sweet Darbie (to the rescue AGAIN) takes over the toilet paper and tells me to go. What kind of friend does that?!

After receiving his Bobcat, I was able to paint verticle lines on his face--2 blue lines on his left cheek and 2 yellow lines on his right cheek. He was pretty stoked. What a great beginning to Scouts! What a great way to get these young boys excited about learning to become more honest, trust worthy, loyal, brave (and all the rest of the great things that are in the scout motto). The Lord has blessed me with 4 boys so I can have an appreciation for this program. I used to think scouting was silly. But already, with the minimal experience that we've had with scouting, my respect for the program has grown. I sure love my boys and am very pleased that Andrew is so excited for this new adventure.

San Antonio

I got to spend 5 wonderful days with one of my bestest friend and her family in San Antonio. It has been too long since we've been together!

My girl, Ellie followed me around every chance she could, often sneeking away to get more time with me (Arianne didn't want her "bothering" me). But how often do I get a waist high, curly hair little girl shadow? I loved all her questions as she sat with me in the bathroom getting ready together. "What's that?" "A flat iron." "What's it for?" "To straighten my hair." "Will you straighten my hair?" "Why would we want to take those beautiful curls out of your hair?" "Why do you want to take them out of your hair?" (touche) OR "What is that?" "Powder." "Will you put some powder on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Blush." "Will you put some blush on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Eye liner." "Will you put some of that on my face?" "Sure, girl." "What's that?" "Eye shadow." "It's booful. Will you put some of that on my eyes?" "Sure, girl. Wow. That green eye shadow looks beautiful with your green eyes!" "What's that?" "Mascara." "Will you put some macara on me too?" "Sure, girl." And this is how my getting ready routine would go. Cute Ellie.

The first morning I was there, Arianne introduced me to her favorite step class at Lifetime fitness. Classes are always a bit intimidating to me because I don't like feeling like I'm being watched make a fool of myself. And when we got to the class (15 minutes early), there was a line of ladies waiting to get in. There were so many people in this class that I was worried I wouldn't have enough room to actually do the steps without stepping on someone else's step. Well, here goes nothing. I'm following along pretty good, until the instructor throws in "around the world". What? Not just up and down anymore, but I actually have to go up, down and turn around and not run into anyone else? I finally got the hang of it half way through and just hoped that no one behind me was watching--if so, they got a good laugh, for sure. At one point, I was sweating so much (no fans in this room--what's up with that?) that Arianne actually got down on all fours to mop up the sweat that was puddling on the floor beneath me. Gross! But fun! I enjoyed Arianne "power up" every move--she's hard core!

There were a few times Arianne and I got to get out (without our girl, Ellie). One evening we spent the night at the River Walk. Historic San Antonio has a picturesque river running down the middle with restaurants on both sides. We settled on a Mexican restaurant. It was packed! (and this was just a Thursday night) An entertaining, and very loud mariachi band provided entertainment and cut off our conversation (we couldn't hear each other speak over their music). We walked the streets a bit longer, ate a white chocolate apple pie apple from Rocky Mountain chocolate factory (DELICIOUS) and then headed home. The next day we did a little shopping. Arianne introduced me to the most amazing work out clothes every! Lululemon--the wicking, non stinking work out gear! Hook me up! (but does it REALLY work? Can any clothing item REALLY make it so I don't stink after working out?) I was skeptical, but was able to put it to the test the next morning during a run in one of the local parks. Tree covered, almost mossy trails reminded me so much of running in Washington. What a beautiful run. And would you believe that when we got done running (with sweat dripping off any part of my body not covered in Lululemon), I smelled like new clothes? I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't smelled it!

After showering, it was ready to get to work--paint! I love to paint, and Arianne hates to paint. I loved spending time with her chatting while we beautified her house. We painted a wall behind her tv to make the "white room" not quite as white. Then painted a white border 3/4 high on Ellie's walls for her brown and purple vinyl polka dots. And while we were at it, we painted a little cupboard of Ellies that didn't quite match the rest of her bedroom set. Good music was listened to and great conversation was had! All four kids loved checking out our progress. And would have LOVED to paint right along with us. They got their chance to help the next day when the dots went up. Fun times were had by all!

Sunday morning Arianne made a super yummy breakfast of homemade whole wheat french toast with her yummy buttermilk syrup, fresh strawberries and fresh whoopin cream. MMMMMMMMM! Then off to church, San Antonio style (not any different than AZ style). After church, we headed to Austin for a visit with Arianne's brothers Ryan and Jeremy and their families. The whole Searle family must be made from the same mold--outgoing and fun. Nothing like the quiet, reserved family I grew up in. Arianne snuggled right up to Ryan and they proceeded to harass one another the majority of the time we were there. The evening ended with one of her nephews throwing a pickle at his little sister. What?!

We went out on Ryan's boat Monday (Labor day) morning and almost had the whole lake to ourselves. The lake is so low that if your boat isn't docked IN the lake, you can't get it in our out. Lucky for us, Ryan has a spot on the lake. I'm not much of a water sports type of girl, so just enjoyed watching the kids and Arianne do their tricks. Then we went back to Jeremy's house and had a great time in his awesome pool! Of course I had to remind myself to be happy with my pool without a diving board, hot tub, slide or rock wall. Cole, Dallin and I jumped off the rock wall together. Arianne and I jumped off it once too. We did some awesome toe touches and cannon balls. Oh yeah, watch summer olympics!

Our last night was spent watching a chick flick and eating skookies (only one of the many times I ate Arianne's YUMMY skookies!) Man, she knows how to treat me right!

Paul was so sweet to let me go! He kept telling me that I deserve it and never complained about the boredom he felt. He has a really hard time being stuck at home--doesn't know what to do with himself or the kids. In fact, he got soooo bored one day he ended up taking 5 boys (our 4 plus Nic) to the mall. I don't ever take the kids to the mall. What fun is that?! Crazy boy! (and wonderful!)

Several of my friends also helped make this trip possible: Adrienne watched Cooper and Drake for a day, Darbie had them all over to play one evening (so Paul could golf with her husband, Brad) and fed them ALL (8 kids, 3 adults and 2 missionaries) dinner after. And Laura Thompson got up at 6:30 Tuesday morning so Paul could drop Cooper and Drake off until I got home (our flights overlapped by a few minutes). I also want to thank Bret for sacrificing his very limited time with his wife so I could have her to myself. I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the whole Pearce family! It was so nice to see where they live and spend their time. I sure miss them all!

10th Anniversary

What a sweet husband I have. Yesterday was one of those crazy, can't seem to keep up with the kids and all their needs kind of day. I'm leaving for San Antonio this afternoon and am trying to get prepared to leave--laundry, grocery shopping, getting the kids schedules coordinated, finding rides to/from school, subs for primary, swim team try outs, karate class (which is happening at the same time Paul will be dropping me off at the airport) homework, etc. etc. etc. You know the kind of day I had yesterday. But I did remember to get some chocolate dipped strawberries from the store. Way to go, Leslie!

Paul got home from work a little early, which is always a welcome surprise, and had the kids bring in 2 beautiful boquets of flowers. And I know he didn't remember, but the gladiolus are the flowers that my wedding boquet was made of. So amidst the craziness of kids eating their lunchables for dinner, and trying to get Andrew ready for swim try outs and then scouts, I cut and arranged the beautiful flowers.

At about 7 pm, I asked Paul to get the kids ready for bed so I could go upstairs and get ready for our date. Oh how I needed that half hour of quiet time to get ready. It's always rejuvinating and relaxing to spend a little time getting dolled up all by myself. With "I thought I loved you then" by Brad Paisley sounding on the radio, my mood was shifting. I felt great! Hair curled, flattering clothes on, smelling good...I was ready to go.

Off to Babbo's we went. Good conversation over a bowl of pasta--remembering days in the past and dreaming of days in the future. Where will we be in another 10 years? A house full of teenage boys. We decided another trip to Hawaii will be the way to celebrate our 20 year anniversary. Do you think we'll still be in love then? Most definately. And even more.

We came home and Paul told me to go hide out for 8 minutes. He would come get me when he was ready. More like 15 minutes later, he was done. He had lined the pool with tea light candles and had several floating in the water as well. Breath taking! We love hanging out by the pool at night. Water and fire have a very captivating and calming quality. This was where my anniversary contribution came into play--chocolate covered strawberries. Yummy.

Ten years ago, I married the man of my dreams. And over the past 10 years, he has become more than the man I dreamed of. I didn't marry a handy man, but handy my man has become. Just a few months ago, he saved us several hundred dollars by fixing our sliding glass door. I didn't marry a very romantic man, but romantic my man has become. Last night is a perfect example. I didn't marry the worlds greatest dad, but 4 boys later and the worlds greatest dad my man has become. I did marry a very smart and loving man, and smart and loving he still is. We have faced the challenges of many years of school, a few moves, parenting, finances and have become closer and more united as a result. I am filled with warm anticipation for what the next 10 years will bring. I love you, baby!

Happy Anniversary Leslie!!

(Paul's Voice) I was writing out a card for our anniversary and thought it would be fun to add to the blog. Here's what the card reads:

I LOVE YOU...(next page) MOMENT TO MOMENT, DAY TO DAY... I LOVE YOU MORE AND MORE!!! Even though the card only cost $.99, I still think it says what I want it to say. I'd spend another $.99 if it sang the line to music.

(Here's what I wrote inside the card)
Wow!! What a wonderful life so far! I love our marriage and our family. It's pretty great, don't you think? I love laughing with you at night. I love looking into your eyes and having you smile with those big dimples. When I see the love in your eyes, I would do anything for you. I love you more than I would have ever imagined. Everyday I love you a little more.

You are a great friend and lover. You are fun and funny. Hearing you laugh and seeing you smile is a joy!

I think back to when I was 19 & you were so young, so naive and beautiful! Three years later we broke up and became even closer than ever before. Two more years and I was so nervous to hold your hand... and you wanted to skip that base altogether. Its hard to believe how young we were and how much life we had ahead of us. Skip ahead two more years and we were no longer alone. Skip 3 & 2 & 2 and now we're 6 strong. Hard to believe each new child can increase the strength of a heart and my love for you. Here's to 65 more years... Well, maybe we'll just leave it as many many more.

Love Paul