The Mothers in My Life

Last night after my girls went to bed and I was picking up toys I started to think about mothers. I was thinking about my own mother, my sweet mother-in-law, and others who have played a motherly role in my life. Examples of mothers have in some way shape or form helped to mold me into the mother I am today. As my sister-in-law recently said to me, "Kids don't come with instruction books!" I have thought about how we are supposed to learn how to be mothers. It isn't easy, and being a mother is definitely a work in progress kind of a thing, but having great examples have always helped.


My own mother has always loved being around small children. She thrives off of their energy, creativity and love for life, which has really made her into a wonderful teacher. She has touched the lives of many children and continues to do so. She has taught me that all things in life are learning experiences. That I should let my kids be kids and get messy, play in the dirt, and with worms. She has taught me through example that you need to jump in and play with your kids sometimes, not just send them off to play. Thank you for the life lessons!

My mother-in-law, Teren, is such a sweet and wonderful lady. I remember the first time I met her- I was so nervous to meet Isaac's parents. She put me right at ease and treated me like a daughter. I am so grateful for her kindness and her example. Whenever I think about how crazy my life feels like right now, I often think of Teren, remembering that she had seven kids, seven wonderful kids. Among many things I have learned patience from Teren. She thinks before she acts, and lets her children do the same.

Last, but not least is Sharon. Sharon, for those of you who don't know her, is not only my mom's best friend, but my second mom. She has always been there for all of  us kids whether it be sports, concerts, beauty pageants, weddings, the list could go on forever. I remember in High School we lived across the street from Al and Sharon. I think I went over to their house every single day after she got home from work. While she cooked dinner we would chat about life, school, boys, whatever. I should say, I probably did most of the talking. :) One of the things that I love most about Sharon is that you can talk to her about anything, and no matter your opinion, you never ever feel judged or wrong, and you walk away feeling more confident about yourself. For a teenager, that's huge and rare. She has taught me the importance of listening. I hope that I am able to be like that with my children, I hope that they can come and talk to me and not feel wrong or judged.

Thank you to all of the Mothers out there, what you do does make a difference. Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day

Today has been the absolute best mothers day yet! And it's not even over! It actually started yesterday when my wonderful husband said, "Mother's Day is going to start today!" He made brunch for us all and then took Gabi and Madi to Twin with him (not an easy task!) and did the grocery shopping! What a man! I got to stay home with Brynlee and do whatever I wanted. Wonderful. I ended up cleaning, but I didn't mind. I actually enjoy the monotony of cleaning, it gives me a chance to think which doesn't seem to happen a lot lately. :) When the got home, the girls handed me a dozen red roses and told me, "Happy Mothers Day!" It was super cute.I had homemade pizza for dinner (gluten free of course!) and we had a relaxing evening.
Church was wonderful as usual. Gabi sang with the primary for the first time since being a sunbeam. Even though she stood up there wide eyed staring at all of the people, she managed to smile every time she saw us in the crowd. She didn't sing one song, and neither did the other kids her age up there, but she sure looked cute! I went up with the Young Women to sing a compilation of songs, and it ended up turning out really nice. We had one youth speaker who did a fantastic job, as well as two Young Single Adults from the local YSA branch.
Madi even went to nursery and only cried for about 5min- a new record, and Gabi went to Sunbeams without crying at all! I taught in Young Women's today. I really love having a calling with the Young Women. They never cease to amaze me. They are so much more prepared spiritually than I was at that age. I love their unique personalities and perspectives.
When we arrived home Isaac had the girls bring a card with their hands traced on them and a bag of Dove chocolates...mmmm my favorite! Isaac also gave me a card from him with... a gift card for a manicure and pedicure!! I am so lucky!! It has been such a relaxing weekend, I can't think of a better way to celebrate Mother's Day.

The Dentist and A Random Act of Kindness

When was the last time you went to the dentist? Well, for Isaac and I it had been about...oh 6-7 years, that is until today. Today we decided to take the plunge and go to the dentist. I have never been afraid of going to the dentist. Ever. In fact I have always loved going to the dentist. I loved getting my teeth cleaned and polished....I really could go on forever. Which is the reason why I was going into dental hygiene before I met my wonderful husband and put that goal on hold for our little family. Well, today I was scared to go. 7 years is a very long time to go without a cleaning. It stunk. I have never felt like I needed Tylenol or some sort of pain reliever after getting my teeth cleaned, but today I did. Crazy enough, we each had very few cavities, but that did not lessen the pain of our throbbing mouths. Resolution- we are going to be a lot better about going to the dentist. Like every 6months better. Totally worth it in the long run, but sure doesn't feel like it.
After we had been home for awhile, and had started to get over the pain-in-the-mouth from the dentist visit, we noticed something that came as quite a surprise. We're not quite sure when it happened, most likely while we were gone at the dentist, but someone came and mowed and weed whacked our backyard. Beautifully. The absolute wonderful thing about it was that Isaac had wanted to mow today, but by the time we got home and de-stressed it had started to rain. It wasn't until after it had stopped raining when Isaac went to take the garbage out, did we realized our beautiful lawn.
So thank you to whoever so graciously beautified our yard. Thank you so much! We appreciate it so greatly!

We're so glad when Daddy comes home!

We are so excited to have Daddy home! It has been a super long week full of ups and downs laughter and tears- sometimes laughter with tears, and lots of wishing Daddy's trip was shorter to he could be home sooner. Today in preparation for Daddy to come home, the girls made a "Welcome Home Daddy" poster to put in the window. The girls loved it and were so excited to put it up and eagerly watch out the window for their Daddy. They were so excited to have him home. The primary song that goes something like this, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home. As glad as I can be! I clap my hands and shout for joy and climb up on his knee." took on a whole new meaning as I say my girls do just that when he got home.
It's amazing how much simple things can be taken for granted until you go without them for awhile- like having someone help put the kids to bed or read stories or keep them calm during family scriptures and prayer, the list goes on. We are so grateful to have Daddy home with us! And yes, story time was much more enjoyable for the girls- Daddy does a WAY better job!

Hanging out this morning

She LOVES  the Bumbo

Her Rock n' Play sleeper

She sleeps SO good in this!

Yeah for Daddy being home!

Laughing because she's so ticklish

Gabi and Madi tracing their hands on the Welcome Home poster

Madi's still trying to get the hang of it  :)

Gabi's practically a pro :)

Side Story:

Brynlee's Diaper explosion

Yes, I was holding her

Yes, it got on me

No, it didn't get on her

No, I don't know how that's possible

I was holding Brynlee, and without warning I heard something dripping on the floor, at first I thought it was Gabi peeing her pants, but as I looked down this is what I saw! Somehow little Bryners had shot it right out the back of her diaper. She didn't get any on her clothes, but managed a spray of it on my shirt and pants, all over my shoes and definitely all over the floor. Isaac said it looked like it shot right out the back of her diaper. Strange, but true. True, but gross.

Love, The Knights

Almost in the Clear

Isaac has been gone on a business trip these last few days, so life has been kind of crazy. Despite the craziness I promised I would blog everyday so that he wouldn't miss out on much. Lucky for him I've actually done it! Unfortunately it's usually super late. We are sooooo excited to have him home.
The girls haven't really understood what's going on and why Daddy isn't home yet. At least today I was able to tell them they would see him tomorrow. It was still hard when they would say things like, "Doesn't Daddy want to eat dinner? Isn't he hungry?" or "Doesn't Daddy want to sleep in his bed?" or every time a car would drive by the girls would run up to the window and say, "Oh, it's Daddy! He's home!" Seriously would make me cry sometimes because I wish he was home too, only for different reasons. :) The girls have seriously missed story time with Daddy, I just can't do it justice. :) We miss him tons! Tomorrow cannot come soon enough!
Well, today. Today we tried really hard to go outside, but it was super cold. I let the girls pick some flowers on our way to the car. I was in a have to get out of the house before I go crazy mood, so we headed to Jerome and went to Walmart. I really need to go grocery shopping but lacking the emotional energy today to handle all three girls, I decided the trip to Twin would have to wait until Isaac got home. Lucky and unlucky for us they had just marked down all the Easter stuff to 75% off! Since they were just barely putting up the signs, there were still some yummy things left, like Reese's PB Bunnies and Nerds jellybeans (my new favorite!) among several other things...I won't mention them because I'm actually kind of embarrassed at how much candy I bought. Not to mention a doc in our stake was in the line behind us and we chatted, pretty sure he must have been thinking something like, "Not the healthiest choice..." Oh well. I was caught in a weak moment, and hello! I am seriously an emotional eater...kind of goes without saying if you know me... Anywho, I digress.
The girls have actually been pretty good all things considering. For some odd reason they have been going to bed earlier, but have also been waking up earlier. Except Brynlee- still going to bed late and waking up early. Speaking of sleep...it is calling me.
One last story for the day. My girls, like most kids LOVE to splash. The more water out of the tub, the more fun. Seeing as how I have to take care of Brynlee means less of a watchful eye that those two little mischievous girls. Usually I have to wipe up the floor after the bath, not tonight. Oh no, not tonight. Tonight I had to MOP up the floor. Quite literally. Yes, I knew once I heard uncontrollable laughter, something had to be going on. Yes, they had been DUMPING water onto the ground. They took one look at my face and stopped laughing- well Madi let out a little chuckle. After "the look" they new trouble was there. I guess I couldn't get too mad at them...I was needing to mop the floor anyway.

Brynlee has just discovered her tongue this last week and it's ADORABLE!

Seriously LOVES bath time and is such a chatter box!

Gabi LOVES holding Brynlee and is always asking

Brynlee appears to be impartial :)

Madi's "cheese" face (i'm in love with it!)

They discovered they both have pockets, a new-found love

Totally ready to snooze and totally done with pictures

Hope you've had a great day! We love and miss you Isaac! Can't wait to see you!

Lazy day

Yesterday was such a gorgeous day I fully expected that today would meet expectations. It started out pretty nice and got up to 75, but then it rained and was windy and overcast the rest of the day. Unfortunately by the time naps and lunch were done it had started raining already, so we didn't make it out at all. The girls seriously must have had cabin fever because they were a little nutty today. We ended up succumbing to the call of snuggly blankets and a good movie.

Can't Beat a Sunny Day!

Today it got up to 85 degrees! It was such a beautiful day, and we tried to take advantage of the nice weather by spending as much time as possible outside. Brynlee doesn't love it outside yet so we had to skate outside when she was sleeping. Our day in a nutshell-

gabi getting brynlee to laugh :)

 Blowing Bubbles

 Madi is sooo blonde!

 Random pic of our onions that we planted LAST YEAR!

 Little Bryners

 Looks like she's testing out an uppercut, not true :)

Hope you had a great day too!