Some Randomness

 Cleared off my camera tonight, so I have some photos to share.  Welcome to random.

Sights like these make my momma heart happy:

Isn't my Daisy baby BIG?  I have no babies here.  sniff sniff

Or maybe I do:

 For the first time in a long time, I had to take a pacifier out of a sleeping mouth.  I used to always do that with my sleeping babies so they'd get used to sleeping without a plug.  Am I the only one?  Although, this one had to come out for an entirely different reason...

And speaking of mouths (following here?), this kid lost another tooth tonight:

 He HATES wiggly teeth and freaks out if I even want a look.  He doesn't want to touch them, and he certainly doesn't want anyone else to either.  Being the mean mom that I am, I held him down and grabbed it, which was all it took for this thing to pop right out.  No pulling, no twisting, no pain.  Funny kid.

And speaking of funny kids:

 That is both hilarious and disgusting.  :)

We've had some great sunny Spring days (and then some really great rainy Spring days as well).

 I love this girl.  I love those mountains.  I love this trail.  I love that blue sky.  I love where I live.  

I feel so incredibly blessed.

Another sunny day at the pond:

And, this coming week is Spring Break!  Hurray!  It whets my appetite for summer, which is only 7 school weeks away, in case you were wondering.  ;) 

Peter Pan

 For the last few months, this girl has pretty much revolved around our school's production of Peter Pan.  She was in the Indian Ensemble.  My cute little (although not so little any more) Indian Brave: 

 There was a group in charge of costumes, they sewed them all, and I really think they turned out darling!  And, bonus!  I didn't have to come up with it or sew it myself!

It was so fun to see my girl trying something new!  I don't know that she dreams of being a famous actress, but I'm super proud of her for going a bit outside her comfort zone and hopefully gaining some confidence and making some new friends along the way.

The best photo I got was on my phone:

 Doesn't she just look like a fierce Indian?  :)

Some more from the show:

I love it that each of their costumes are unique.  The people in charge of this production really go all out!  The sets, costumes and scenery were just amazing.  Good job, Ellie Belle!

I got to go help out with the cast one evening.  I enjoyed being with the kids!  Especially this one:

And, some other things going on around here:

I LOVE it when my kids use their imagination and creativity.  It's their job at this point of their lives!  I was thrilled to see this little creation:

 That is a movie theater for Lego figures.  Awesome!

My kids were so happy to have a rainbow for dinner on St. Patrick's day:

Simple pleasures, people!  Boy, I sure love that ragamuffin!

I love this guy too:

 He just finished up a killer of a class.  Starts a new one tonight, but it was sure nice to have a pleasant weekend off!  We celebrated with cake - his creation.  It was yum.

Weekend Off

 I have really amazing friends.  Man, I feel so good when I get to spend time with them.  They laugh at my corny jokes and silly faces and make me feel wanted and needed.  They listen to me complain and tell me I'm a normal person, and they have me believing them!  They know my weaknesses, probably more than anyone living on this earth, minus my family, and yet, they love me despite.  

I got to spend an extended weekend with these wonderful people, and I'm still living off the buzz of it today. 

We played in warm and sunny southern Utah.  First up, Zion's!  We hiked up to the Emerald Pools, and it was so beautiful!  I love to get out and breathe the fresh air and enjoy this beautiful earth!  The best part though, was having an adult to chat with all the way.

At the top!

Good thing they had me along to hold up big rocks:

We ended the day with a delicious dinner in Hurricane at Triple TJ's Cafe and then an evening in the hot tub:

I didn't know we captured this, but we were goofing around and I got a good dunk in the water thanks to Emily!  Proof of the abuse:

Good thing I can take it.  :)  Actually, I love it that my girls are silly with me.  I needed some silliness.

The next day, we hit downtown St. George.  We explored galleries and antiques shops and toured Brigham Young's Winter Home:

And walked through the temple grounds:

And then, a delicious dinner at Pancho and Lefty's.  We love good food.  Yes, we do.

On Sunday, we cleared out of our wonderful rental home and found a local sacrament mtg and then, homeward bound!  We stopped at Cove Fort, just for a potty break and some lunch.  It was a sharp slap to reality to climb out of the car to chilly temperatures!  Take me back!

Thank you, ladies, for taking me away for a bit!  I sure adore you!

And, also, thank you to my Nick, who manned everything going on at home.  Thanks for supporting me and encouraging me to do things that restore my spirit.  It was so nice just to take care of me for a few days.

Transition

Do you ever feel like you need to just sit down and write?  Like you need to share your thoughts with the world?  That's how I'm feeling this morning.  I know, I may be weird.

I've been thinking a lot about transitions in life.  Change.  The dreaded word.  It's inevitable, as you know.  My entire life I looked forward to being a mother.  I knew that's what I wanted to do when I grew up.  I got a degree in Education because I had to have a backup plan, but really, all I wanted to do was birth babies and then snuggle them.  Reality came with a big smack in the head, because being a mother of small children is HARD.  And then, add four more.  BUT, it was still a dream come true, I recognized that, and I absolutely loved being at home with my munchkins.

Easter 2014.  Oh heavens, look how SWEET and LITTLE they all look!  Life changes so quickly!

And then, here comes transition time.  That dream I looked forward to my whole life, the one with babies?  Well, it's come and gone.  Wow.   10 years goes by so quickly.  No more night-time feedings, no more diapers, no more baby snuggle time, no more nursing.  I spent 10 years being physically and mentally drained, trying to meet the basic needs of little people.  Filling sippy cups.  Changing diapers.  Feeding babies.  Entertaining babies.  Finding little moments of time where I could take a breather for myself.  It was a busy time.

And now?  My kids are fairly independent.  It's so strange.  My 3 year old is completely happy following her siblings around, or even playing on her own.  I'm left with time to myself!  I don't even know what to do with myself!  I wander the house, checking in on kids (yep, they're fine) and then in boredom, check facebook or my email a million times a day.  Golly, I need something to DO.  And, don't tell me to clean house.  I find no joy in cleaning toilets and refuse to spend all my time picking up after kids.  (I do clean house, by the way, but the majority of cleaning is done by my kids.)  I feel like I need to find myself all over again.  I thought I had this worked out.

Thankfully, transition is a mixed bag.  It's not all bad.  In fact, I don't want to go back to those times with babies.  I loved that time, I really really did, but I'm ready to move forward.  Onward and upward!  And hello, there's a lot of really great things happening right now!  I mean, I get sleep, oh blessed sleep, these days.  My big kids are big enough to be helpful, and they really are.  Only one of my kids still requires help getting in and out of the car.  My kids can all put their own shoes and jackets on.  I can leave the house without a diaper bag.  My kids are old enough to go on family adventures and I'm not lugging an ornery, sleep-deprived baby around with us.  These are good times and I'm trying to soak in every minute, because if there's anything I've learned through this, it's that transitions come all too soon.