"You will have significant experiences. I hope that you will write them down and keep a record of them, that you will read them from time to time and refresh your memory of these meaningful, significant things. Some of them may be funny. Some may be of significance only to you. Some of them may be sacred and quietly beautiful. Some may build one upon another until they represent a lifetime of special experience."
So one of my resolutions/goals for this year is to play more with the kids...like actually play with them. I had a couple canvases laying around so i thought it would be fun to have the kids paint them however they want...
This is hard for me...which is why they've been sitting in my basement for about 2 years...I envisioned the kids painting perfect scribbles...a child masterpiece or something.
Well, I decided to just let go of that and let them paint whatever and however they wanted!
It was fun for all of us I think...the kids had fun painting and we had fun helping/watching/taking pictures.
Looking at them now it makes me happy that we did it. I look at them and think, "I wonder what they'll be when they grow up?" Will they love to play sports, or dance, or sing, or play the piano, or be an artist? I think as a parent you sometimes want to live vicariously through your children...get them involved in everything you loved or wish you would've done. But what i'm learning is that we need to just let them do what they want to do...not what we want them to do.
The kids are growing up entirely too fast for me! It makes me sad...but then it makes me happy to see them grow and do things independently also. What would we do without these little monsters that drive us crazy most days?!
Here's Aspen's masterpiece...(it's a unicorn)
And Clayton's...well his is a blue and red = purple blob
Now I just need to find a place to hang them!
Is there something you wish or want your kids to grow up and do? I'd love to hear what it is!
Jeremy and I have been married for 4 months today! It doesn't sound like a long time...but it feels like we've been together much longer than that. I like to think we knew each other before we came to this earth...and though it took a while to find each other...it's finally the way it's supposed to be. I honestly don't know how i've lived so long with out him. He does so much for our family...I come home from work and dinner has been made, the house is picked up, and the kids are usually happy as can be. And he does so much more than that. He makes family a priority...he would rather hang out with me and the kids than do anything else. And I love that about him! He let's me cuddle him at night...even though he hates it. He takes me to Cafe Rio...even though he hates it. He rubs my back, he folds my clothes, he does the dishes, he fixes up the house.
If I haven't said it enough already...I LOVE THIS MAN!
He is the cheese to my macaroni...the butter to my bread! Husband, thanks for doing the little things. Thanks for listening to me. Thanks for being such a strong Priesthood holder. And thanks for waking up at 4 am on your day off to take me to the "pretty" temple. And for letting me cuddle you at night even though it makes you sweat to death! And thanks for being understanding of my girlish ways.
Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations.
~Brigham Young
I love this quote! And it's going to be my focus for all my resolutions/goals this year!
Here's my list for 2011:
Exercise more- at least 3 x per week
Quit drinking soda
Read more good books- at least 1 per month
FHE 100%
Spend more time playing with the kids
Finish reading The Book of Mormon again
Work on Personal Progress- receive my Young Womenhood recognition award
Simplify and organize every room in the house
Remodel bathroom
Food storage
Start a garden
Get out of debt
Go on a vacation
I tried to keep the list somewhat simple this year...trying to focus on the important things. Beautifying my home, family and self. I want to be able to look back at the time i've spent doing things and be happy with the results...not feeling guilty about it.
Hello blogger, nice to see you again! It’s been a while!
Lately, whenever people ask me how I’ve been…my response is usually BUSY! Life has been busy! Busy at work, busy being a mom, busy being a wife, busy keeping up a house, busy fixing up and organizing that house, busy with church callings, busy editing pictures, busy with the holidays…and just about everything else! I like being busy…but I sometimes feel like I never have time to enjoy the moment…anyone else feel that way? The last half of 2010 seemed to go by soooo quickly! The holidays came and went by like none other! And now we are already half way into 2011! Craziness!
So I thought I’d do a small re-cap of 2010 for you and maybe eventually show you some pictures of us finishing out the year! So without further adieu…
Re-Cap of 2010: (not necessarily in order)
• Faced the challenges and reality of being a single parent
• Was hired for some photog gigs...first wedding, a couple funerals, some really awesome families with really cute kids, and also a few adorable babies. See my website here: http://www.lesliemarshphotography.com/
• Went on my first blind date…which also happened to be my first date in like 9ish+ years!
• Ran my first 5k
• Got a d-i-v-o-r-c-e
• Vacationed in St. George
• Aspen turned 6 years old and started 1st grade!
• Clayton had surgery for his teeth
• I went to a Backstreet Boys Concert with friends!
• Celebrated 28 years of my life
• Got engaged!
• Planned a wedding/reception
• Became the 1st counselor in Young Women’s
• Received my endowments at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple
• Got married!
• Clayton turned 4 years old!
• Aspen lost her first tooth
• I got a promotion at work!
• Celebrated our first Christmas together as a new (but complicated) family!
So that’s just a few things we did last year! Pretty crazy year for us with lot’s of changes!! I have high hopes that 2011 will be a good year for our family…simple…not so crazy...pretty much fantastic!!
The boys were having a "bachelor" party for Jeremy...so Jeremy's mom and my new sis-in-law, Jenny, decided to throw me a last minute "bachelorette" party! We went to the Mayan for dinner...which we were told was the Mormon way to throw a bachelorette party...because you get to see half naked men (and women) dive into pools...in a family friendly restaurant! Here are some of the appropriate pictures from our night!
So, since my last real post…lot’s has happened! Life has been busy…and unfortunately this blog takes a back seat in it all! Does anyone even follow this blog anymore?? Well if not for anyone else I want to document all the exciting things we’ve been up to!
On July 26th…this super sexy guy swept me off my feet! It was a Monday, and we had a pretty typical family home evening with the kids (you know the one where the kids whine…and someone always ends up getting sent to their rooms!) It wasn’t that bad…but they are sometimes a struggle to get through! And this particular one we were trying to actually have a lesson! Anyways, after the kids were finally asleep…we were both exhausted! Jeremy’s alarm went off at 10 pm (reminding us it was time for him to go home)…we were standing at the door when he starts saying all these really sweet things…gets down on one knee…says he wants to build an eternal family with me…and pulls out the ring! (and of course I said yes!) The time since he has come into our lives has truly been enchanting! I thought I new what love and happiness was…but this is so much more…it’s an eternal love and a greater happiness!
Here are a couple engagement pics...
I told the kids the next morning…Aspen was really excited! She gave me a huge hug and said she was excited to have 2 daddies! When I told Clayton…he just shrugged it off like it was no big deal until I told him Zach (Jeremy’s brother) would be his Uncle Zachie! He then was super thrilled! (they are best buds and share a love of Star Wars!)
So wedding plans took up the bulk of our time in August and the beginning of September!
Aspen also started 1st grade during this time. She is so grown up now! It scares me a little for how she’s going to be when she’s a teenager! She’s such a diva…and I think 6 year old girls are sometimes worse than the terrible two’s!! She’s so dang emotional and so dang sassy! But beneath all that sassiness is also a beautiful, loving little girl! She’s reading like crazy now…and learning so much! She can sign the entire alphabet…which amazes me because I don’t think I learned that until I was much older! Her teacher tells us she’s very well behaved at school and she’s in a higher reading group than some of the others! She makes me so proud to be her mother! Jeremy says he sees a lot of me in her…and I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing…but I hope that she continues to grow up, learning as much as she can and making good choices for herself!
In September my sister-in-law, Amber, drove 17 hours with 2 year old Rachel in the backseat to be my escort when I received my endowments! Seriously, that is love! I must be her favorite! =) The day was beautiful! I received them at the Mt. Timpanogas Temple on September 11th. I was surely pampered and having people there to support me made it even more special! The Spirit that I felt throughout is indescribable. The blessings of the Temple are so important and so beautiful. I’m just so happy that I was able to experience and receive such wonderful blessings! Afterwards we went to celebrate at the Olive Garden! (waiting on pics from my sis-in-law...coming soon hopefully!)
Jeremy and I were married at 10 am at the Salt Lake Temple on September 18th. The day was amazing (everything except waking up at 4 am)! My sister Melissa woke up super early to make me pretty! The hair was perfect! The dress was perfect! The ceremony was perfect! The reception was perfect! The weather was perfect! We were truly blessed to have so many of our family and friends there to support us! And very grateful that everything turned out so well! Jeremy’s Great Uncle is a sealer in the Salt Lake Temple and was able to seal us which made it really special. One of the best things about that day (among many others) was having my big brother Mark there as one of our witnesses. There was a moment that I looked over at him, we both had tears in our eyes…and there was this moment of triumph…like “I finally made it!” It was very sweet!
If the slide show doesn't work...click the link below...
Thank you to everyone who came to support us! It meant so much to us to have so many of our friends and family there to celebrate with us!
After our open house we made a stop at the car wash and then we spent the next 2 nights at the Stein Erickson Lodge in Park City! After all the planning and stressing we were finally able to really relax! All the colors in the mountains were so pretty…but I forgot to bring my camera every time we went out!
The Wednesday after the wedding it was Clayton’s 4th birthday! It’s hard to imagine my baby is 4 years old…but looking at him he seems so much older than that already! We had a couple different parties for him…and he was spoiled rotten with Star Wars toys! I swear this kid is a genius when it comes to Star Wars! Just this morning, he comes up to me with some of his toys and says “Mom, I’m gonna be Captain Rex and you can be General Grievous”…I just stared at him not knowing who either of them were...was I the good guy or the bad guy? I didn’t know quite how to play the part of an alien looking dude with 2 “life- savers”! I was thinking candy and he was thinking of chopping my legs off! Anyways, he is growing up so fast! I was pretty happy that our gift to him was a big hit…we gave him a “dirt bike”…and he loves it! Much better than the little tricycle he was riding before! (pictures of his b-day are coming soon...i can't seem to find the memory card i have them on at the moment!)
So, married life has been great! The kids adjusted after a few difficult nights…and now they don’t seem to know any different! They absolutely love Jeremy and it makes my heart happy to see them hanging out together! Don’t get me wrong we aren’t the perfect family and we still have days that are hard…but we get through them together! Walking in on Jeremy and Aspen singing, “the wise men built his house upon a rock” make all of those rough days worth it!
Jeremy and I both recently received callings in our ward. I’m the 1st counselor in the Young Women’s and Jeremy is a Gospel Doctrine teacher. These among many other things keep us busy, but happy! Overall we are doing really well and we are excited for the holidays to come! Hopefully I can continue to blog what we’re doing…face book is so much easier to update…but I like the blog because I can look back on all the posts and see all the details!
I'm working on a major update...and I promise i'll be posting it soon...but I came across these questions on another blog and I thought they were pretty interesting! Here they are along with my answers...hope you enjoy! (if there is anyone that still follows this blog)
If I could say one thing to myself twenty years ago....
that would make me what 7? remember the worth of your soul...be more outgoing...stay strong in the things you believe in
My favorite place in the world....
home
The Lesson I keep learning over and over....
if i left the house 15 minutes earlier I would be on time!
The movie I watch when I want to laugh...
lately it's been the TV series Psych...it's seriously hilarious!
The most scared I have ever been....
in college when one of my roommates dressed up in the "scream" mask and barged in our room in the middle of the night!
No one knows I....
not sure I'm ready to move from no one knows to everyone knows
Unhealthiest thing I've ever passed off as dinner....
just last week i came home from young womens and ate a bowl of queso with tortilla chips and a pepsi...looking back it was so unhealthy...but at the time it tasted so good!
Personal Philosophy...
live with integrity
Book that changed my life...
Book of Mormon
I unwind by...
watching tv/movies, talking to my hubby, playing with the kids, reading
What keeps me up at night....
My kids, bills, ideas for new projects, dumb things I've done or said during the day, sometimes my mind just won't shut down
I define "downtime" as...
anytime i'm not working or planning for something i have to do...basically anytime i get to do whatever i want to
Guiltiest Pleasure...
carmel ghirardelli chocolates, pottery barn catalogs, and blog hopping
My mom was right about...
a lot
My mom was wrong about...
a few things.
The last time I lost my temper was...
last week
My favorite moment of the day...
the few minutes after i get home from work and get to hug and kiss the kids and jeremy
I wish I had more time for...
how about everything.
crafting, sewing, taking pictures of my own kids, spending time with the kids, spending time with jeremy, spending time with my family, keeping the house up, going to the temple
Holy cow…where has the time gone?? This year has gone by so fast! I’ve been terrible at keeping this blog going…it used to be so easy for me…now not so much! There’s so much I need to update/document…and who knows if I’m ever gonna find time to do it. So I think I’m just gonna do a recap of some of the things we’ve been doing the last few months:
We were blessed with 2 new nephews/cousins in May…both named Jackson/Jaxon! Congrats to Kimi and Jack and Scott and Melissa! They are both so cute!
I got set up on a date with a great guy named Jeremy (he’s the guy in the pictures above)! Thanks Lis!
Aspen put on two great performances in May at the Spring Ice Show…she was the cutest Dorothy I’ve ever seen!! I’m so proud of how well she’s doing at figure skating! She’s currently in lessons again 2 days a week and loving it!
The kids and I went on a mini vacation to take some pictures of some good friends in St. George…we had so much fun!! Jeremy just so happened to come with us…and stayed with his grandparents…
Aspen finished up her year of Kindergarten at the end of June…I was able to go with her to her very first field trip to the zoo! It was so much fun watching her interact with her friends in her class. She passed all her final tests and is totally ready for 1st grade…although she’s sad that she won’t have Miss Amy next year. =(
It’s a long story…but a LONG paperwork process and 50 “non-dates” later...Jeremy and I are officially together… and I couldn't be happier!
Princess (our cat) unexpectedly had baby kittens…2 survived. The kids named them Pumpkin and Jack-Jack! Looking forward to getting rid of them soon….let me know if you want one!! Both boys…one orange…one black!
Clayton and Aspen went to the dentist…Aspen had 1 small cavity…Clayton had 5! Clayton had to have surgery to fix his teeth…he ended up with 4 silver caps on his back molars and a pulled molar…now he calls them his “Transformer” teeth!
Aspen turned 6 years old on June 21st …we had a lady bug party for her at the park...and she was spoiled with lots of great presents! Thanks to everyone who came to make her day special! I can’t believe I have a 6 year old!!
We had lots of visitors in June…Mark, Amber and Rachel…my Mom and her husband Mike…then my Mom and my Grandma Judy. While they were here I received my Patriarchal Blessing…and it was so nice that they could be a part of that!
I went to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptism’s with my brother Mark and his wife Amber…first time in the Temple with anyone in my family…it was pretty cool! While we were there…we saw David Archuleta get baptized…which was even cooler (sorry Mark)!
I went to the Backstreet Boys concert with my friend Tara and her sister Carlie…we had so much fun…6th row on the floor…it was SWEET!
On July 13th…I turned 27…I’m so old!! Jeremy and I went to watch the Joseph Smith movie at the JS Memorial Building…then we had dinner at The Roof…which was amazing! The view…the food…the date…it was amazing!
The kids and I are having a great summer…I can’t believe it’s almost over! School starts back up next month…which is crazy! But things are going really well for all of us! I know that’s a lot of text…so if you’re still with me…I’ll have pictures to follow up all these events soon. And maybe I’ll one day post some pictures from Christmas last year…or Easter…
So I was on my break today at work and I was blog hopping as usual. I came across this post by one of my "favorite people I like to stalk but have never met in real life" blogs and wanted to share it with you. You can check her out here! When asked the question "What do mother's want?" this was her response and I just want to say DITTO! I agree completely and don't know if I could put it any better than she did...so I'm just going to share it with you...
VandCo: being a mom takes a lot of time, energy, patience, sacrifice and prayer.
bottom line, it's the most taxing job i've ever had. but i would never exchange it for anything.
"what do i want?"
i took two full days to sit and think, and stare at my kids. for the first time in a long time i sat quietly and stared. at them. thinking.
"what, as a mother, do i want?"
here's a little of what i came up with:
i want my kids to be safe, happy, healthy, successful in whatever they chose to be. i want my kids to be able to handle their trials and learn from them. i want my kids to have healthy relationships, i want my kids to think i'm the coolest person alive, i want my kids to learn to work hard, and enjoy the fruits of their labor. i want them to think about their future at a young age, i want my kids to be smart with their money, their education, their investments. i want them to hold tight to what we try to teach them, that God is good. i want my kids to stay close to the church. i want my kids to have faith that good can prevail. i want my kids to be able to stand firm in the storm of wickedness that this world is offering. i want them to be smarter than the average American thought of "you need this now, and you can pay for it later." i want my kids to be safe from porn, i want my kids to be safe from an abusive relationship, i want my kids to have great friends. i want my kids to not be bullied, i want my kids to value school, i want my kids to want to be good. i want my kids to want to stay morally clean. i want my daughter to be a mother, i want my boys to be loving and hard working fathers. i want my kids to always want to be sort of close but not too close so they have healthy relationships with their spouses and their family as an entity. i want them to be able to fix their own problems because of what i taught them. i want them to not do drugs, i want them to not drink, i want my kids to be best friends, i want them to be goody two shoes till their wedding night. i want my kids to basically be in a bubble that will protect them from anything harmful, anything wrong, and anything that will bring them pain.
as my thoughts swirled into a chaotic mess, and as i started to hyperventilate at the thought that my kids are going to have face so much before they move on from this earth...i stopped. wiped away the tears, i sat and i stared at my beautiful kids that i would lay down my own life for, and the final answer came to me:
"what do i want?"
"i want to be a good mother at every stage of their life. i want to be there for them and to be able to handle the choices (good and bad) they make with grace, humility, and love. i want to always be able to love them, and forgive them, and to always have open arms when they need me. i want them to know how much i rely on the Lord. i hope to be a good example that they would want to do what is right and good not by my words but by my actions."
so scratch all that other stuff. (well not really but you know what i mean)
i just want to be good for them. that's all that matters. nothing else can come close to that in my world. i just hope to be a good one.
and that makes me nervous just the same.
so with that.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
i'd love to hear.
it will make you think long and hard about those little noisemakers that make you so mad at times, in a different light even if for a minute. well, before one of them comes and tells you he just blew out a window in the barn with his brand new BB gun his grandma gave him for his birthday.
here's to grace and love...and counting to 10 before responding.
I think most of us mom's would agree with her don't ya think?! Seriously go check out her blog...she's awesome and SO-SO funny, and she makes some pretty cool stuff also! Absolutely inspirational!
