Spring Break

We had a great Spring break a couple of weeks back.  It started off with a bang when Chris and Lisa invited us to meet them at the beach where they were spending their break.  The kids and I drove there right after their early release and Joe met us later on.  

The girls had a blast on some boogie boards they had.  We should probably get some too. 

Elizabeth riding a wave in:

Eli was curious about the ocean until his feet got wet.  He didn't like that much. :)

We love spending time with cousins!

We enjoyed some s'mores around a fire pit in the evening:

 

 

 

It was such a fun night!

A random moment I captured:

Elijah loves his big brother and loves to do whatever he's doing.

Then came Easter:

Egg hunt!

Swim lessons:

Nate made a lot of progress, although he still has a healthy fear of the water that we're working through.

The girls both perfected their strokes a lot in just a few lessons.

One day we drove up to the Oakland Zoo:

I love that fat little foot...he won't keep shoes on. :)

Judging by their reactions, these flower crowns I made might have been the best part of the day:  

Checking out the sun bear:

Of course we had to stop at the temple while we were in the area:

Such a beautiful place.

Another day we met some friends at the beach.  It was chilly (in the 60's) but that didn't stop the kids from getting in the water.  I had a lot of fun chatting with the other moms while the kids all entertained themselves. We ended the outing with a trip to a delicious new ice cream spot I'd never been to (Mariann's).  

Check out all these kids:

(that picture is courtesy of my friend Adele)

We participated in a neighborhood clean-up project.  The kids were excited to get this cool trash-arm-things:

They were very enthusiastic and did a great job.

Right after that Nate had a great t-ball game.  He played pitcher and got some great stops.  And, he hit three pitched balls, including a home run! (He was the last batter--that's the only time they let a batter run all the way.)  

He was thrilled to get the game ball:

Here's most of his team:

We had a great break!  It was hard to get back to school/homework/projects on Monday.

Girls Weekend

The weekend before my birthday I got to have a girls trip with some of my favorite ladies.  We had our first ever Atkin girls weekend.  Tom and Shari and their kids had been spending their Spring break with us, so when Friday came she and I drove up to the mountains together to meet our other sisters-in-law who came from Utah.  

It was such a wonderful weekend--mostly full of hanging out and talking.  I did introduce them to the Village Pizzeria:

Regina made sure we worked out a couple of times.  We all made sure we got some good ice cream for our April birthday celebration (3 of our birthday are in the beginning of April).  We sat in the hot tub, watched the snow come down all day on Saturday, and took a little walk in the sunshine Sunday morning:

It was wonderful!  I really did feel recharged on my drive home, looking at the beautiful surroundings and thinking of all the beautiful people in my life.  Thanks so much for making the trip out, everyone!  

One thing you can definitely say for Joe and his brothers is that they picked out pretty awesome wives. :)

Little Things

I wanted to catch up on some little things over the last few months...

Chalk art that Natalie made:

 

 

 

That LOL made me lol. (ha!)  I don't know where she learned that.

 Elizabeth put this helmet on Elijah and was pushing him around like this:

 We have huge pine trees that drop a ton of needles on our driveway and Nate is always so good to help me sweep.  He'll say--"Uh-oh, Mom.  We'd better sweep today."  He's pretty good at, too!

 Just hanging out in the car waiting to pick up the girls after school.  Nate calls this "facetiming" Eli.

 He loves it.

 Nate has started t-ball.  It is pretty darn adorable, I must say.

 I haven't gotten a good picture of him in his uniform yet but I will post one when I do.  It is so cute.  He seems to like it pretty well.  I think he is the youngest and one of the smallest on the team.  

I loved this note for the tooth fairy:

 We had some friends over on a pretty sunny day.  The kids decided that they wanted to go swimming!  Sure enough, they actually stayed in the water quite a bit.  This was the middle of March and that water was cold!

 

 Another early swim:

Practicing a bit on a beautiful sunny day:

 

Elijah pulled Nate's cup for t-ball out of his drawer and started using it as a phone:

 

I love that baby stage when everything's a phone.  

Nate was proud he climbed this tree by himself:

Last night we had a wonderful FHE.  We drove through the green hills by our house and saw deer, turkeys, and a coyote.   Then we found a beautiful spot and just had fun exploring around.  The kids were in heaven and were pretending it was their very own Terabithia (they read that book recently).

 I mean seriously--will you look at this?

 

 

On Turning 30

A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking about my upcoming birthday and I realized something--I got pregnant with Elizabeth only 3 months after my 20th birthday.   I did the math and I found out that I've been pregnant or nursing for 6 1/2 of the last 10 years.  That's 6 1/2 years where my body was not my own.  Except for a couple brief breaks, I've been changing diapers for almost 10 years.  I thought of the months and months spent potty training my kids. (shiver)

Of course I did some other things, too, during the last 10 years.  I finished college.  I helped Joe finish college and law school.  I read a whole lot of books.  I tutored a few people in math.  I tried to take time for myself and my own interests, but out of necessity that time was limited.  I had little people to take care of (and still do).  

I think some people would read that and feel sorry for me.  I have to be honest and admit that sometimes I feel sorry for me.  I have had this thought cross my mind--"I've given up my best years!  I've given up my 20 year-old body! Has it been worth it?"

The answer to that question is always a deep and resounding yes within my heart.  Thankfully, I know that life is not about achieving and maintaining the perfect body.  Unfortunately, many definitions of beauty that are given voice in our world are impossible to attain or maintain for long.  It is a sad fact of life that our bodies age and wear down.  Isn't it better to love our bodies for what they can do and to recognize that we and everyone around us are so much more than our bodies? 

The fact is that we were given our bodies to do something with them! To help other people.  To give love.  To work.  To learn.  Even to give life to others.  What a miraculous thing that is.  These are not things we do if we can squeeze the time in.  This is what God gave us time for. That applies not only to motherhood but to any act of service to God or one of his children.

I feel good about how I've spent the last ten years.  I've brought 4 beautiful people into this world.  I've fed them until they have learned to feed themselves.  I've taken care of them when they've been too sick to care for themselves.  I've kept them clean until they can learn to keep themselves clean (still waiting for the fruits of those labors :).  I've taught them how to treat other people.  How to apologize.  How to pray.  How to work.  How to read.  How to count.  I've taught them about the world around them.  I am so thankful for Joe who has not only sacrificed a lot so I can stay at home with the kids, but who loves to teach our kids all he can during his time with them.  He supports me in everything I want to accomplish.  

All I ever wanted to be was a mother.  Or a mathematician....

I wrote that when I was 9.

My kids help me to remember how "worth it" this all has been.  They have given me card after card, weeks before my birthday came.  The picture above is one Nate taped to my mirror. They give me hugs and kisses and tell me what a great mom I am, even when I've hidden in my room the night before because I just couldn't handle it anymore (happened last night--again, thank goodness for Joe!).  They love me and they forgive me.  I sure love them and I thank God for them in my prayers every day.  All I want is to be the mother they need me to be.

It feels like a time of transition for me.  My years of having babies and changing diapers might be coming to a close.  It makes me really sad but I also feel hopeful about the future and what it holds for us.  There will be more poop and more potty-training, and a whole lot more teaching.  There will also be a whole lot more letting my kids make their own decisions and mistakes.  That part is going to be hard for me.  

My 20's have been good to me.  Sure, my body isn't the same and I often feel like I've lost half my brain cells. But, I've got four little pairs of arms reaching out for hugs every night.  

I wouldn't change a thing.

A Decade

One important event that I have yet to record is that Joe and I celebrated our 10th anniversary at the end of the year.  The day itself was pretty uneventful. Joe and I have a private joke where we round-up or exaggerate how long we've been married so it kind of felt like--"Ah, finally it's actually true! 10 years!"  Joe got to go on another fun golfing trip to Pebble Beach with my dad and brothers.  He always talks about how beautiful it is and since I'd only ever driven through we decided to stay there. It had been 5 years since our last night away from the kids and it was definitely time.  We splurged on a really nice hotel for two nights and then spent the last night at an Econo-lodge.  The contrast was pretty funny.  It was a wonderful trip and we were SO grateful to Marsha for watching the kids for us.  She is a saint! She even took them to church by herself.  No small feat, believe me, especially with a pre-nursery toddler.

It was wonderful to sleep in, eat amazing food, and wander along the coast.  Joe knows how to make me happy :).  It's funny because I've always thought of myself as the ocean-lover in the relationship but I think Joe definitely rivals me in his love for the sea.

He especially loves looking at tide pools.

He found a hermit crab:

Here we are at the golf course at sunset:

It really was so beautiful.

We saw some sea otters in this cove:

We had a sunny day, too:

That's Crazy Joe in the ocean when it was freezing out! 

I sure love that guy.  I'm pretty proud of reaching 10 years together.  And of the fact that our relationship is better than ever.  We've been through a lot together.

Just married...

I have to laugh saying that, though.  I was just reading through my journal recently (I only have one journal that I started while we were engaged and I still haven't finished it--I'm not the best journal-writer...).  Anyway, Joe pointed out a funny entry only like 6 weeks after we were married when I said basically the same thing--"we've been through a lot together."  So, when I say that, I recognize that there is a whole heck of a lot more to come, I'm sure.  Who knows what the future holds for us?  Still, this time right now for us is pretty good.  I do want to remember that.

I'm so grateful to have such an amazing guy by my side.  He is not perfect but he is good.  He is genuinely kind and considerate of my needs.  He is a wonderful listener and he nevers fails to make me laugh.  On our trip, we walked around the golf course listening to this bagpiper that plays every day at sunset.  Suddenly, Joe started belting out "Danny Boy" in his Irish accent.  Such a Joe thing to do and I loved it.  It embarrasses our kids to no end but I think someday they'll admit they secretly love it, too. :)  He's my best friend and I love living life with him.  Here's to 6 or 7 more decades together!