Motherly thoughts

I woke up today in a bad mood. Several things weren't going my way. If you're a mother, you know how it goes. Kids wake up waaaaay earlier than they should. Dishes are undone from the night before creating more mess. Husband leaves early. ...and then things snowball into chaos...Cherrios crunched on my floor... baby had a dirty diaper that turned into an explosion and somehow ended up on said baby's legs, tracked on my carpet and found on my favorite pajama pants. 3 out of 4 kids are sick and Mommy is already out of gas by 8am. 

So, I stayed in my pajamas.... til noon. 

(I actually changed to different pajama pants since my first pair got pooped on!)

Then, I took a 5 minute break & read a couple of friends blogs. (You know, since I don't do much FBing these days) I wasn't feeling so great about myself...still in pajamas, messy house, sick kids... I started to compare myself to other moms that were brilliant at managing their households, having clean houses and raising wonderful children. I felt like what I do as a mother sometimes doesn't matter. Then I remembered a message my sweet visiting teacher shared with me. See below.

 

It was then, that I got up, dusted myself off and realized that the daily chores I do actually DO matter. They matter to my children and to my hubby. They matter to my Heavenly Father. Its the small things that count. My 6 year old thinks I'm awesome that I sewed on his patches for his soccer uniform and my 3 year old loves that I will spend time with her playing Princesses. Caleb loves it when I sit down next to him to watch a movie. He flashes me his million dollar smile. Sometimes, I need to remind myself that the work I'm doing isn't going to get me much recognition or even much thanks, but that I'm doing it because it matters in the long run. 

I know my children will grow up and be teenagers before I know it. I may not being doing everything perfectly but that's okay. This is a reminder for myself to take a deep breath, enjoy these kids of mine more, have more pajama days and look back with a smile that I was doing some great work.

Disneyland - Picture Overload!

(In my last post, I neglected to mention that we did leave Bode home with my Mom & a friend. We missed him so much and plan on taking him to D-Land in a couple of years when he can really enjoy it!)

On the Monday of our trip, we headed up to Anaheim and checked in to a hotel across the street from Disneyland. We've never done this before and I highly recommend it! We spent 3 days at the Happiest Place on Earth (also, the most crowded, exhausting and expensive place on earth, but nonetheless, we did it!)

Upon entering we saw Minnie all decked out in her Halloween attire and the kids went rushing over! (I think the kid next to us was a little ticked he didn't get to her first!)

 One of our first rides was the Matterhorn! Yippee!

Caleb loved meeting Cinderella. She was so graceful and very sweet. 

We spent a chunk of time in Fantasyland because all the Princesses live there. They also do story time and a meet & greet. Breezy was beside herself. She adores the Princesses and if she could pick, we would've stayed there all day.

Story-time...

After lunch the boys took off for a few rides and I stayed with Bree to meet the Princesses....An hour later we got to meet them. Sheesh! 

Meeting Ariel...

And Tiana

We stopped for a few photos while we waited to meet up with the boys. 

Thumbs up! 

Toon town. 

These are my favorite pictures of Disneyland. The totally exhausted children. 

 Gunner was a wild man and stayed awake until midnight riding the rides and loving every minute. Heck, why not, right? Carpe diem...sieze the day!

That same night, Caleb needed a baby tooth pulled out. And thank goodness we knew a good pediatric dentist that happened to be traveling near us! Uncle Ryan to the rescue! After he had that nasty tooth out, he slept like a baby. Thanks Ryan!

The next day we were able to meet up with Krista and Ryan & kiddos again. We headed over to California Adventure and did some of the rides over there then headed back over to Disneyland. 

I found this dress at Goodwill before our trip. It fit Breezy perfectly! Little poser!

Ragin' Rapids! We are getting set to get wet! 

Tower of Terror. The kids loved this one. Gunner's face is so serious. 

Breezy lost a shoe on the Little Mermaid ride. I was sad. I loved those shoes. She loved walking around in socks. 

I think Caleb's favorite thing about Disneyland is meeting all the characters. He would give them hugs and kisses. They should feel so lucky to get a Caleb hug!

This is one of my all time FAVORITE pics! I adore Caleb's smile. 

Watching Captain EO. Ah, Michael. Brings me back to the 80s. Good times.

Day 2 - Pure Exhaustion. Mom's Mission Accomplished! 

Day 3 - Ready to go again!

Meeting Winnie the Pooh. We rode his ride 3 times in a row. There were no lines. :)

We hung out in the petting zoo area just to take a breather and Woody and Jessie happened to show up. The kids loved hangin' with them! Woody is Caleb's favorite from Toy Story. I think he was star struck!

Bree loves Jessie! Love her face!

Riding the Merry-Go-Round. Gunner was a good sport. We needed to do a few "mellow" rides before going on the more intense rides because Caleb needed a break. 

Poor Mr. Caleb somehow broke off the other "temporary" front tooth in the middle of Space Mountain. The poor kid really had a rough couple of weeks with his teeth! He was such a good sport though! That's why we wanted to let him relax a little.

We stopped and watched the parade. Bree loved seeing the Rapunzel float. Caleb's favorite was Mickey. Gunner & Dad took off to do Space Mountain one more time. :)

I took Caleb & Bree to see Mickey at his house in ToonTown. They both loved exploring in Mickey & Minnie's house. 

We missed having Bode with us, but we had a great trip. We made lots of memories and can't wait to come back...we might need a few years to recover! 

October break - Part 1

This year, I was determined to get a good vacation out of October break. In years past, it creeps up on me and I don't plan to do much while my kids are out of school. So, this year I wanted to get out of the heat (since it was still in the 100s in October here! yuck!) and escape to Cali! So, we took off to Huntington Beach & Disneyland for a week and it was a great trip! 

We spent the first couple days with Krista & Ryan and their cute fam. Our kids play so well together (I wish you guys lived closer!) and we simply adore them! We shared an awesome beach house and it was so fun having all the cousins together.

Justin & Ryan kickin' it:

We went to Ruby's on the pier twice while we stayed at the beach house. Yum! The kids all enjoyed taking a walk on the pier and seeing the surfers and waves.

We desert rats don't realize how windy it gets on the pier and I forgot to bring the kids jackets. Duh! I don't think they really minded until the walk back. It gets cold! Who knew?! I love this picture of my Breezy in the breezy California wind at sunset (and the tiny surfer in the background). 

Straight out of the camera. I L-O-V-E sunsets!

Before we got dinner at Ruby's we walked around to see what some of the fisherman had caught. One guy had a couple of these bad boys. The kids were thrilled. 

On the first night, I went to check on the kids after they fell asleep. This is how I found Caleb. He was totally gone asleep. I was amazed he could sleep this way. His head is on the floor!

The next day we headed to Balboa Island. 

Krista knows how to window shop! 

This cute guy was saving me a seat while we watched the people going by and window shopped some more

On the way to the ferry to Balboa Island, we walked by some gorgeous houses on the beach. Where are the pictures, you ask? Oh ya, I didn't take any. :( I did love how much Billy would take care of Bree. He was always holding her hand and being such a sweet cousin. 

I love the sparkling water in the background!

Balboa. Let the fun begin.

On the ferry...

Checkin' out the salt water candy. The chocolate chip was my fav! 

 Breezy loves driving with the windows down. That's my girl.

Ah, my snaggle-tooth! At least that was his nickname for that week. He lost one of his "temporary's" before we left for the trip and walked around like this that week. I still love his smile. Teeth or no teeth! 

After Balboa we hit the beach back in Huntington. Gunner was running wild with his cousins, I only saw him when he came back to get warm for a minute then went back out again. Caleb was a little more cautious but loved chasing the waves back and forth and up & down the beach. 

Breezy told me she didn't like the cold water so she just wanted to play in the sand. I wish I looked as cute with my belly sticking out as she does here. :)

Gunner tackling the waves...

When the kids got cold, we buried them. I love Anna's face. She was nice & toasty.

Pure relaxation! Plus, I liked my pink toes. 

Forgot to throw this one in. Just because I love it. (and I love her buns)

Know what I mean?

 Some of my favorite shots:

If this post didn't tucker you out, just wait...Disneyland is up next!