Happy St. Patricks Day!

(We did green eggs, milk and green dotted toast for breakfast. Now whenever we eat eggs, Bryce wants them colored. They loved making and eating them- especially Bryce b/c he loves the book, Green Eggs and Ham).

What the.....?!???

Can anyone guess what this is???


Whoever guesses it, gets to keep it, so hurry and guess first! :)

Answer: Play-doh hairball of course!
Carter and Bryce were playing with play-doh while I was cleaning and talking of the phone. This ended up making play-doh balls and throwing them at each other laughing. After that, they made play-doh hats resulting in the play-doh hairball. This hairball is Carter's. Luckily, Bryce was able to get his out. (I told them not to put it in their hair b/c it would get stuck, which is probably why Carter took the liberty of getting the scissors and cutting it out himself and not telling me).

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

I'm listening to the boys play together in the basement as I'm cleaning the kitchen upstairs. I love that they can play so well together now...most of the time.
Anyways, I hear Carter say in an excited voice, " Bryce... you know what today is...." (suspense building pause) "ORGANIZING DAY!"
Bryce immediately exclaims, "Wa-hoo!"

That's right, I train them well. They know what's really exciting in life. :)

Conference Sunday...

I just love general conference and this man. I know he is a true prophet of God and am so grateful that the Lord has sent someone in these latter days to lead and guide His church. We had a great conference day today. I planned on playing a few 'conference games' with Carter that of course involved candy. The first session I made a picnic lunch that we ate on a spread out blanket on our basement floor to watch it downstairs. Indoor picnics are always fun. Especially with juice boxes when it's not even a school day! After lunch, I put Bryce down for the nap and introduced the games to Carter. We had a list of words that he had to listen for and if he heard them in one of the talks, he got a piece of candy (we had skittles and m&m's in little baggies he could chose from). I had no idea there would be so many talks on temples. With temple being a key word, Carter ate SO much candy! It worked really well, and he was so into it. At one point, he even got up close to the tv so he could listen better. It was awesome b/c Brady and I were then able to listen too! We also had Carter identify the speaker with a list of pictures of the First Presidency and Apostles and members of the 70. When he did, he got to put a penny on it and then once he got five... a piece of candy.

My favorite part of conference, other than being with my family and not going anywhere this Sunday, and having Bryce actually nap instead of being so sleep deprived at church b/c it's at his nap time was Elder Hollands talk about the atonement.
I have always wondered why Christ while dying on the cross feels all alone and even at a point asks, "God, why hast thou forsaken me?" I didn't understand that at all. It was stated so clearly and powerfully today for me. Christ in order to truly feel what we all have felt and will feel in the future, also needed to know what it felt like to be without the comfort and presence of our Father in Heaven. He needed to experience not only physical death for us, but also Spiritual. He lived a perfect life, and always had God with Him until then end when it was necessary for him to experience that awful feeling of being alone. I loved that Elder Holland said that he believed that actually at that time, God the Father was closer to His son, than any other time, but Christ was not able to feel it. Wow. It was so powerful and spoke to my spirit so deeply. I'm so grateful for the holy ghost that I can know things for myself. To have them confirmed to me as truths. What an amazing blessing it is to be a member of Christs church on the earth today. I can't wait to read the Ensign when it comes out in a couple months and catch up on the sessions and talks I missed.
What was your favorite part about conference?

Outer Banks retreat

Last weekend, we had the opportunity to go with four other families to North Carolina to the Outer Banks. It's SO beautiful there. The weather was beautiful at 65 degrees and there was practically no one else there which made it even better. It poured the whole 5 1/2 hr drive there and was supposed to rain the entire time. I'm so glad the weather man is wrong the majority of the time! :)
Sat. morning right after breakfast we walked the 2 blocks to the beach. It started out overcast and chilly, but by 10:30 or so warmed up a lot so the kids could just wear their suits and t shirts. We even got burned a bit. The water was FREEZING! When my feet touched, it stung! Why is it that kids can't feel that? Or is it they ignore it? Either way, the kids were wet up to their waists (maybe numb?). They had a blast!
(Run boys run!)




(making a sand castle)


(I see Baywatch in Brady's future...)

(uhhh...did I mention Bryce was potty trained now? He was dancing around screaming, "potty! me potty!" and we told him to go in the sand at the edge of the beach. He was too nervous to go, so good ole big brother showed him how it was done.)

(the boys better side)
I even tried my hand at running. Well, kind of walking with a bounce because I was so slow. But I really loved it! It was beautiful as I ran along the surf with a gentle warm breeze. Not hot, not cold. Perfect! I was impressed with myself. I ran and ran and ran... or wogged, and wogged and wogged... (my mom's word for a combination of jog and walk). It was refreshing, and gave me time to meditate, contemplate, clear my mind and pray. What a beautiful creation the Lord has made for us, His children!
Brady enjoyed himself that afternoon paint balling with all the other menfolk. The women went out that night for dinner.
Sunday, we went to church and then to the sand dunes. It was SO WINDY! The sand hurt and it pelted against face and neck. We walked backwards for the most part to get to the hill and then once we arrived, and ran a little bit down, the sand went over the hill so wasn't so bad. Brady and I took turns holding Bryce who kept whining "owie, windy day!" Carter braved the wind and ran and jumped down the hill. Check out these pictures...

(running like the wind, in the wind)

(It felt like I was flying. I loved it!)

(Carter running down the dunes. Go Carter go!)

(Bryce hiding from the wind)
What a great vacation!

PLEASE READ- Important rule for all women to know (although should know already)

Two weeks since the question was asked. Two weeks later, still not quite over it.
At church, a woman (who has kids mind you) came up to me with a big smile on her face and leans in close. Thinking I'm going to hear a super secret, I lean a little closer to her as well. She whispers with a little smile, "are you pregnant?" as if she is on to me and my secret. I immediately pull away, look at her and say, "no, I'm just fat."
She then starts rambling, trying to dig herself out of the hole she's dug. "oh, no, it's just that I am noticing every ones belly around me, because it's just something I am aware of on myself, so, and... uh..."
I start to walk away as she is kind of chasing after me trying to make it right. As if anything she could say or do at that moment would take away the embarrassment, and hurt I felt. I tune back into the rambling and hear something like how I've been looking tired lately too so it's not just the "pooch."
Seriously?!? This is supposed to be making it better?? "STOP TALKING!!!" I want to scream. Instead, I tell her, I'm on my period. So perhaps I do look a little bloated and I'm always tired. Didn't really plan on sharing that personal information that day, but hey, now you know my cycle.
So, to everyone out there- women especially.... here is the cardinal rule, if you really don't know it already. NEVER ask a woman if she is pregnant unless the baby's head is beginning to crown. Really and truly. Never. No exceptions.
In her defense, she is 10 weeks pregnant so hyper aware of belly's and probably looking for someone to buddy up with and be pregnant with which I get. But still, refer back to the rule. Never deviate from the rule. If you do, you might get a rambling person who is still upset about it two weeks after the stupid comment was made.

Dinner time prayer

Carter was saying the prayer for dinner time not to long ago and it went a little something like this...
"Bless Bryce because I love him and he's my baby brother. I love him the most out of everyone. I love my brother but not my mom and dad. But I'm supposed to love my whole family so ok, I love my mom and dad too, but not as much as Bryce cause he's my baby brother..."