I really hate myself for saying that last title outloud...

Dare I say it out loud--Spring is really here?!?

First off--thanks for all the nice comments. Holy moley--if I were even half the person that you all made me out to be, I'd be ecstatic! I know where to turn to if I'm ever feeling down. I really do have the best family and friends a gal could ask for!

The Owens & Olsen clan spent an IDYLLIC weekend in Midway, eating tin foil dinners, 'mellow-roasting and S'more feasting, playing outside if there was daylight to be found, setting up the Tee Pee, visiting the cows and riding the Surrey bike. We even got a bonus visit from the favored aunt Lindsay and her friend Sam! Lucky us! Midway is my slice of Heaven. So many great memories growing up and it's so fun to watch my kids fall in love and create their own memories up there.

For FHE, Ash decided that our activity should be a lemonade stand. This has replaced her financial plan of loosing teeth to earn an income, which is good because she was running out of teeth.

Lemonade anyone?

My thoughts (today) on pregnancy

I am awake. Mostly due to the fact that I had to use the restroom and also physically wake up so I could heft my belly from one side to the other to get comfortable, and this is no easy task now-a-days! As I was trying to get back to sleep, my mind kept going through the millions of thoughts about this pregnancy. Alone and with my own thoughts is a rare place to be in this household, and even much less likely in a month or so! An hour and a half later, I'm still awake, so I'm putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard as the case may be. It's all such a jumbled mess, I'm hoping my thoughts make sense!

Each night once the kids are down, Casey and I unwind in the basement family room. Without fail or asking, Casey will take my aching right leg and give it a great rub. As silly as it sounds, it's one of those little things that reminds me that he loves me and that he appreciates what bringing each child into our family has done to my body. I commented to him the other night as I made funny sighing noises that just came out as I was trying to "gracefully" get up off of the carpet that now that I'm thirty, pregnancy is NOT for wimps! My leg looks like it's been through a war zone due to pressure on those veins, along with the exhaustion, stretch marks, pudgy body and belly. I'm at the point in my pregnancy where it takes real courage to just leave the house & face every day knowing I don't look exactly how I'd like to!!! Oh the vanity of it all. I'm embarrassed to say that I can get caught up in it.

Then random things gently remind me of the MIRACLE of it all. I was sitting next to my visiting teacher in church on Sunday. She's an awesome lady whose kids are growing up and starting to leave the nest. I had my elbow resting on my belly and was holding the hymnbook along with her when this little girl gave a great big kick. Susannah looked at me and said "Even I felt that!" We started giggling, looked at each other as I mentioned what a great feeling it was and started tearing up. She whispered how she missed and had forgotten what it was like and I was relishing the moment of THAT FEELING. It's true that you can't explain in words until you've been lucky enough to be pregnant. The great and wonderful things really do far outweigh the hard stuff. There truly is something beautiful about it. It's just that the traditional definition and characteristics that define beauty are tweaked & put into a new perspective.

So, I will take the aches and pains, as I know so many dear friends who have far more difficult aches and pains from struggling to bring children into their own families. The exhaustion and sleep-less nights are a sign that I've had a healthy pregnancy and am nearing the end, where so many have been robbed of that miracle. And with each new child has brought a new stretch mark or two, and a new "ailment" that will most likely leave a permanent mark on my physical body that will be my reminder that I am a mother, and I will try to treat them as a badge of honor, rather than an imperfection. For the next few weeks in particular, I'll try to remember that the miracle of it all trumps any woes, every time.

April General Conference

Love so many things about General Conference weekend, and am really looking forward to sustaining President Monson, a new apostle, listenening to the choir (shout out to mom!) and especially learning from our General Authorities and the spirit.

My awesome aunt Brit found this GREAT general conference packet for the kids and was nice enough to share it with me. I thought I'd pay it forward and send it along to any who might be interested. Here's the link.

Happy Conference weekend!

April Fools gone a-fowl...

As long as I can remember, I have always LOVED April Fool's Day. I could get into some seriously pathetic pranks I've tried to pull off, but will settle for the time that I put saran wrap on the toilet, which is actually not a bad trick. But I was the brilliant one that left a note on the tank that stated:

Go ahead, use this toilet.

There's nothing wrong with it,

just some small repairs.

Signed, The plumber

Right--I'm sure the unsuspecting victim would then think..."Oh, well if it's just MINOR repairs, I'll go ahead and use it then." And my mother always made me feel like I was smart. As I look back, I'm not so sure...

Today was no exception. It started off great with green omelets, a maze that is impossible to finish and a "new job chart" that had the kids cutting the front lawn with fingernail clippers, hand washing their clothes and having to stand outside holding them up in the air so they could air dry and setting alarms at 12 am so they could make midnight snacks for everyone in the family. The kids were totally shocked and surprised when I hollered "April Fool's!" and thought it was hilarious and got right into the spirit of it all.

Ty combed his hair all by himself in a funky 'do and both kids wore mish-mashed shoes to school, thinking they were hil-ar-ious!

I told the kids after swimming lessons that since it was April Fool's Day, we'd have dessert for dinner first. Here are the lovely cupcakes...

Of course, they weren't cupcakes, but really meatloaf with colored mashed potatoes on top. This was the reaction I got from Ty...

Then this by Ash...Followed by this...

In case you can't tell, it's Ash running off in tears saying she HATES April Fool's Day. Apparently I didn't learn in parenting 101 that if you tell your kids that they are going to get dessert first, and it really turns out to be something as unexciting as meatloaf and mashed potatoes (even though I felt they WERE cleverly disguised, thank you very much!), then you'd better be prepared for meltdown of the century!

So, thankfully I had a "dinner" to redeem the holiday and myself as a mother. Chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes w/ gravy and toast with jam, as seen here...

Oh, surprisingly a much better response when it really turns out to be coconut covered marshmallows, ice cream w/caramel sauce and sponge cake with pureed strawberries. So, if any of you decide to try a shenanigan like this next year, make sure to serve the "dinner" FIRST and not the stupid "cupcakes"!

Most of the ideas came from familyfun.go.com. I think I will send the counseling bill to them for the damage that was surely inflicted on Ashlyn;) I thought it was fun anway!