Veterans Day and Popcorn Balls

Today I am so thankful to live in the country that I do! I am so grateful to the many men and women who have served and are serving for our country! Even though many people may not be happy with the recent election, I still feel truly blessed to live in this country. I am grateful for the rights and freedoms I enjoy every day that many other people in this world do not enjoy.

Today Travis did not have work and we had an amazing day at home. We were trying to come up with something fun and fantastic to do but then we realized we had overlooked the good and simple. We decided on a day at home doing things together as a family. We took time to stop and smell the roses.

First, we cleaned out our 'pantry' cupboard. It was badly in need of organization so Trav and I attacked it while the boys played outside and got dirty. It was a gorgeous fall day! Then, Trav worked on a leaky pipe and I made homemade fried rice for lunch. I pulled out a veggie tray and the boys went crazy. It was fun to watch them dip their veggies in the Ranch and enjoy licking their fingers. Then, Trav and the boys worked on  pulling out the dead grass in the back yard. Don't know if the boys were much help but the sure loved working next to Daddy. The fresh turned earth reminded me of home and the farm. Lastly we made dinner/dessert. Trav made the homemade pizza and we enjoyed a chicken bbq pizza for dinner with a fruit salad and the veggie tray. The crust was thick and awesome. I greatly enjoy cooking with my hubby in the kitchen. For dessert I made an oldie but a goodie. One of my most fond memories of my Gramma is her popcorn balls. She made them almost every Halloween. I remember that being my favorite treat from Halloween. I want my kids to have a piece of my Gramma and one of the best ways I know to do that is through her recipes. So, I made jello popcorn for dessert. We didn't quite make it to popcorn balls. It was so good that everyone just started to dig in lol. Even William was happy with it.

What a perfectly wonderful day. Nothing major or life changing happened, but we were together and we enjoyed it. Chores were done and everyone is happy and we feel blessed. Sometimes living simple is the best remedy to taming the chaos in our lives!

Self Discipline Book Review

I recently read an Ebook about self-displine. I am attaching the link to the book at the end of my post. :) The ebook is called, 21 Days to a More Discipined Life. When I had the chance to review this book, I jumped on it. I often feel that I am good at setting goals and of coming up with grand ideas for projects and all sorts of cool things, but I feel like I am rarely able to finish everything I want to accomplish. I often try to eat the proverbial elephant in one sitting in less than hour. The problem with that is it doesn't work obviously, and it really is not humanly possible. One day when I was reading another great book The Unstoppable You I realized my problem: I had poor self discipline. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel like I try to do my best, but I seemed to fail at a lot of things. This had me discouraged so when I saw this new Ebook I was very excited.
The author breaks up the process into bite sized pieces and habits. She focuses on gaining the little victories and setting a foundation for success. Instead of trying to figure out how to swallow the whole elephant she breaks it up into daily sized portions. It has mini daily tasks and also breaks up one mega task over 21 days.
The first time I read this book, I simply did a read through to see if I thought it was doable. Now comes the real test. I am going to take this book and do it day by day? Anyone else interested? If so please let me know. I would love to have an accountability partner. Someone to share the journey with. I will be posting my victories (and hopefully not too many nonvictories) throughout the next 3 weeks.
Here's to a new way of living!

http://crystalpaine.com/21-days-to-a-more-disciplined-life/

Tender Mercies

Lately, I cannot help but notice the many tender mercies we have received. At the end of each day I am humbled and remember many throughout the day. Another mother passing down clothes, finding costumes at Vallarta, being able to be home with my kids, a promotion at work, friends to go to the temple with, the list could go on and on. I feel so truly blessed and humble for these many blessings.
Elder David A. Bednar said, "I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are available to all of us and that the Redeemer of Israel is eager to bestow such gifts upon us."   I have such a strong testimony of this. I know that as I have gotten to my knees and have prayed for help, it has come. I know without a shadow of a doubt that He knows me personally and is a part of my life. Here is the link to Elder Bednar's entire talk which is definitely worth reading! http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/04/the-tender-mercies-of-the-lord?lang=eng
Last night we were able to attend Literacy night at Ethan's school. It was nice to chat with his teachers and see him in his element. The boys each picked out a book from the book fair. We have been setting aside more time for reading and the boys are really starting to get into books. Last night we also got Ethan's school pictures. They turned out very cute.
Another new-ish thing is that the boys are pretend playing together. And not fighting. :) Yesterday they were going after the bad guys which Josh notified me was 'the girls'. I made a sad face and he told me, "It's ok, you're not a girl, you are a mama." Phew! I was a little worried. :) They have been pretend playing a lot lately and it is always entertaining.

Lastly, I think I will be rejoining facebook. Mainly so I can post my blog updates. I have been asked to review a book and it will be hard to get my posts looked at unless I post on Facebook. I still won't be posting much, but I am looking forward to blogging more consistently.

Lastly, words of wisdom from Pinterest! :) "You will never have this day with your children again. Today is a gift. Breathe and notice. Study their little faces and feet. Relish the charms of the present. Enjoy today mama, it will be gone before you know it." Jan Hatmaker

Life Lately

Ok, so I need to catch up a little. :) We have been running crazy and I finally have a few minutes to catch up. On Columbus day we had an opportunity to go to the Science Center Museum. It was a lot of fun and the boys, especially Ethan, had a good time exploring. I think the favorite thing they did was to 'pick up the truck' with the levy.

We have been doing lots of little projects lately and many have been a success. Due to pinterest we have found a lot of fun things to do. The one thing that has to be the favorite is definitely the homemade Gak. Ethan asks for some every time he sees it on tv so we decided to make some since it is cheaper. They loved it and have literally played with it for hours.

These past couple of weeks we have celebrated to very special people in our lives. My mom's birthday was the 11th and Travis' mom's birthday was the 17th. They are both very wonderful women and the boys were sad we could not be home with them to celebrate.

In the world of Ethan everything is exciting. :) He has really gotten into legos and is getting better at soccer. He is over half way through his first soccer season. It has been an interesting adventure. He is very friendly and makes friend easily but he is not quite as in to the game yet as he is into playing with his friends.

Josh is a smarty pants. He talks very well and is quite willing to let you know his opinion. He loves to be outside and he loves his mama. He cuddles with her all the time and loves going to the park with her after their morning walk. He is becoming a good helper and he is Ethan's right hand man.

William is our whirlwind. He is starting to walk and he can climb anything in the house, literally. He loves to make a mess and discover everything. His poor brothers cannot build a lego tower or train track that is safe. He has yet to be unable to wreck one. :) He loves to wrestle and is starting to say 'hi'. He is growing up too fast.

As for mom and dad, well we try to keep up. :) We are very blessed to have the children we do and we feel we have learned so much over this past year. We only wish we had more time in the day.

It is time to attempt the impossible! :) I am starting this blog with a mission. Simply put, I am going to attempt to organize chaos (aka my life with 3 young children and my thoughts and goings on). I want to be able to look back on these crazy days and reminisce as well as to be able to see how far I have come. I want to create something worthwhile for my 3 crazy boys, but also for anyone out there who may need strength on their own journey. So, here it is. Here we go!...

(My 3 boys on Valentines Day)