I really wanted to post yesterday...it was a very important day, Crate's 1st birthday! I can't believe he's one. We were out celebrating all day and then I headed out for the night and by the time I arrived home it was way past midnight so I just went to bed.

But lets just pretend like it is October 7th and go back a day...

One year ago today my not-so-little 9 pound 8oz pumpkin arrived in time to celebrate his first holiday...Halloween. (Is that really a holiday?)



My water broke while I was running bleachers at the high school...he was eight days past due and my doctor would only let me go two more days before he would take him out his self. Knowing I wanted another unmedicated birth I was doing anything to avoid being induced, hence the bleacher running and it worked! My water broke at 7:45am and he was born at 7:49pm, my longest labor yet...isn't labor supposed to get shorter with each child? Everything went well for the most part, A little scary towards the end and during the first several minutes of his arrival. I remember the nurse holding my hand and saying he's not breathing, just pray. I didn't see him right away but one of the other nurses yelled out "he's got red hair!" I was shocked. After several minutes, tears and lots of praying this little guy made his first sounds and is happy and healthy has can be now. We are blessed to have him apart of our family, even though people always stop me and say "is he yours?", "where did he get that red hair?", "are those his real brothers?" On a side note...if you ever want attention anywhere you go do one of two things:
1. Have three boys tag along with you
or
2. Have a red head child.
or do both these things and get several comments during your outing.

Anyhow, we celebrated little Crate's birthday by going to the Tonto Natural Bridge in Payson, AZ. Which I would HIGHLY recommend for a day trip or a family get away. We took TONS of pictures but here are a few of my favorites.



Check out the cool rainbow created by the always flowing waterfall above.

Once we got home we celebrated as a family with pizza for dinner and cupcakes for the boys. Crate LOVED his cupcake! I hope his wishes always come true.



I have so many more pictures I want to post but for some reason it won't let me so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

Here he is on his birthday...Aunt Jeaniece gave him this awesome shirt for his birthday! Thank you! It says "This little monkey is one" A perfect shirt to wear on his first birthday. For his present he got a new car seat pretty exciting for a one year old!


I sure love this little boy and am so grateful to celebrate his first year with us.

The computer

My thoughts on "the computer."

What an immense blessing this thing called the "computer" is. It can compute a lot of things. (That was a joke) It can connect you with the entire world in the blink of an eye. Information on anything is literally at your fingertips. Sometimes the information is correct and sometimes is a little skewed but any topic you want to search is right there waiting to give you an answer. The computer is what allowed Pops to work from home for 5 years, it's created millions of jobs, it's allowed more people than ever to receive an education, it's shared the gospel, it's given me recipes I would have never tried before, it's connected me to friends I would have lost contact with, it's stored all my thousands of photos of my sweet children, it allows me send a message to Pops when I know he can't talk on the phone, the list goes on and on and the blessings of a computer are amazing.

However, this massive blessings can be a horrible, horrible vice. A vice in many forms and I'm realizing how much of a vice it is for me. I have to say the computer is probably my biggest distraction in my life. Having the TV on...not a temptation, actually I could throw the TV out the window and be perfectly happy. However, the computer is like a beautiful curse. The possibilities are endless and the time wasted on it can be endless too. It can suck you in...I'll just check my email really quick, I'll just check this blog really quick, I'll just check Facebook really quick, I'll just check out this website really quick...so on and so forth. I've decided it's sometimes pathetic that websites in any form get priority attention to my personal prayers and scriptures. By 1pm today I hadn't read my scriptures or said my morning prayers but I had check my email and facebook and a few other things on the computer. So as of tonight my life is shifting. I am now putting a limit on my computer time (unless I'm working of course) to 20 minutes a day. This is going to be like going on a diet. I will allow myself to splurge on the days when my priorities have been taken care of and I need some down time, usually at night, but most days I will shut the lid to the vice and use it only when necessary. I'm not saying this is for everybody but it is what is needed for me so I can make sure I do not waist this precious time I have as a mother on unnecessary and sometimes unproductive screen time. I limit my children's screen time so why not limit my own? I think I might feel out of touch with the world but it won't kill me. My boys are growing up right before my eyes and the world is to scary of a place to let them grow up without my undivided attention. I don't like diets, and I know I'm not gonna like this but I know it's what is needed for the time being.

Wow...look what happens once again when your journal is out there for everyone to see. Please don't judge. :)

Moving on, Crate had is first real play time at the park. He loved climbing up the stairs and tried the slide once but it was still to hot and kind of burned his legs going down. Hello, it's a week into October and the plastic slide is still to hot? Yuck. Buster and Boss had fun playing though. They especially like the monkey bars right now. For the rest of the day the boys and I took it easy. They helped me fold laundry, pick up and vacuum the house for young women's tonight and then we sat down for a movie afternoon while Crate was asleep. That only lasted 45 minutes but it was fun watching part of Karate Kid with them. Needless to say our home has been one big Kung Fu Studio since seeing that movie. Is that how you spell Kung Fu?

I had a friend show up at my door with dinner this afternoon, a REALLY good dinner too. I was so thankful and it was such a great surprise. The best part was I hadn't started dinner for the day so it came in really handy. She said she had a bunch left over and wanted to share. How awesome is that?

I made brownies with applesauce for the YW tonight. They turned out pretty good. Since they are supposed to be much less fattening does that mean I can eat 8 instead of 5? Someone stop me please!

Today it finally rained, not just sprinkled but was a complete down poor. It was so refreshing, the smell, the sky, the mood of it all. Buster didn't care for the storm and was pretty scared. I felt bad for him but he made it through...obviously.

Took the boys with me to get my hair done...which by the way I really like. Then we stopped off at the store to find a b-day present for G-ma. We walked in several different stores and the boys did really well. It reminded me that when everyone is in the right mood we really have fun hanging out together. I was tempted to stop by Pop's work but it was pouring so hard I didn't want to ruin my hair by getting out of the car so we drove right on by. Again, my hair is a priority. Hopefully I can go at least a week before I have to wash it or blow dry it again. Thank goodness for shower caps. And Pops actually noticed that I got it cut before I said anything to him. Miracles haven't ceasehttp://www.blogger.com/posts.g?blogID=1066478300544841384d.

I actually did a craft tonight. Thank goodness for crafty people who know what they're doing and can help me out. Also, thank goodness for people who like to make crafts and then sell them. Purchasing them is my favorite part.

Not to get to mushy once again, but Pops is a good guy. A really good guy. Part of me is thankful there are sides to him that no one knows about, good sides. It's like my little secret that I'm not willing or ready to share with anyone else. I'm just thankful he is who he is. Not saying he's perfect and I'm not trying to brag about him, I'm just glad I'm married, it's been a blessing in more ways than one.

I'm excited for our mutual night tomorrow. We're learning all about nutrition. I hope the girls learn something they can remember for when they are wives and mothers, and hopefully they'll learn something they can use now in their lives.

So far I'm not wanting fall break to end. So far, so good.

Man, why can't I just listen to promptings and follow through with them? I once again learned my lesson. Luckily it turned out good but if I would have just followed through on the first time it would have made someone else's life a little easier.

I had a list minute opportunity to serve today. It wasn't in the plans for the day but I was actually, truly more than happy to do it. I knew she was really grateful and I knew she would have done the same for me if the tables were turned. It's moments like these that I can feel the joy of serving.

FHE tonight was on family responsibilities. The boys learned the difference between a maid and a mother. New job charts were created so hopefully the boys can stick to them. They promised to do chores without complaining and doing things on the first time they were asked. We'll see how long this lasts.

Looking forward to tomorrow. I get a haircut and highlight. I haven't had my hair highlighted since March and it needs it REALLY bad.

Awe, another season of general conference is over. I had two epiphanies during these last two days. Each are pretty personal but just so I don't forget they are:
1. Follow the Prophet
2. I'm where I am for a reason. Learn to love it, don't go against the Lord.

The advice to follow the prophet is so simple yet, especially right now, so vitally important. So many people giving their input on what to do, where to go, how to handle the economic problems and so on. But I think the advice is clear. Follow the Prophet. Follow the spirit. I need to weed out the things that make me nervous or put thoughts in my mind that would lead me to rely on "man" or the "arm of flesh." I must always follow the Prophet and follow his council.

Also, I must play a part in teaching the YW how to live a virtuous life and I must live one myself. I must watch what I wear, I must make sure nothing could be perceived as being possibly immodest (I am a firm believer that this also doesn't mean I have to dress frumpy) I must teach them the importance of a temple marriage. Lots of work ahead for us as leaders.

Now it's time for bed! Yeah for fall break tomorrow!

First session of general conference...awesome! Can't wait for the second session. We had a good turn out with the young women here. Each had a job to do to get breakfast on the table and it turned out great. We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, a fruit platter and orange juice to wash it all down. Everything was delicious and it's a good thing I don't eat breakfast like that every morning. The girls stayed and they seemed to all be taking notes during the conference. Once again Elder Holland delivered. I always love his messages. Actually all the talks were awesome.

Looking forward to the afternoon session. I have the boys conference packets printed up for them. Maybe Crate will even sleep during the afternoon session.

Pops was so kind and coached soccer for me, he also had to coach Busters team because the regular coach is out of town. Can't say I really missed being out in the heat today, it was a much more lovely time being here with the YW.

Trying to think of something fun to do with the boys this afternoon while Pops is at the priesthood session. Dang weather is messing up all my plans. Usually I take the boys to the park and get pizza for dinner while Pops is gone but considering it's 105 degrees today I think I'm gonna pass.

OK now it's time to clean the kitchen.

I don't like it when I'm about to crawl in bed and then I remember that I haven't done a post yet.

After Busters half day I took the boys to Pop's office and we convinced him to take the rest of the afternoon off. I was so excited he agreed. So we headed to the mall (OK, I had to do A LOT of convincing to all the males in the car) but we made it and had fun hanging out together. The boys of course searched the Lego store up and down and pointed out everything they would like to have. I think it probably would total $4k if I was to buy everything on their list. Walking out of the store empty handed was not a high point in their day today.(Not a high point in my day either...I will be patient, I will be patient...) However, they did love playing in the play area although Buster is way to big to still be playing in there. I can see the evil eye the other parents are giving him as he's running around chasing his brother knocking over every little two year old. The parents are saying under their breath "where is that kids mother" as I'm sitting in the corner hiding my face.

Poor Crate still isn't feeling well. He's pretty hot. If he's not better by Monday I'll take him in.

Tomorrow is our semi-annual general conference breakfast with the YW. It should be fun and I'm just hoping Pops can get everything hooked up since we'll be streaming it live online and we'll have the computer plugged into the TV so everyone can see it. Shame on the people who canceled it on the "free" channels, that would make life much easier.

Now, it's almost mid-night so I must lay down my weary head.