exhausted

This is what Parker was doing
during the fourth quarter of the
awesome Jazz Game on Tuesday night.
How did he sleep through that noise?

my acceptance speech

You all know that I'd be totally lying if I said I wasn't excited about receiving my first blog award. Imagine my shock when I was reading along to one of my favorite blogger friends and saw my name. Thanks Tonii!

As part of my acceptance speech I think I'm supposed to share 10 things that make me happy. Here they are in no particular order:

1. Sunshine {keep it coming Mother Nature}.
2. Family fun {I love having all of my family together in the same room doing something fun together. Pure bliss!}
3. Friends {I have the greatest friends ever. period.}
4. My Home {everything about it makes me so happy...the people, the decor, the smells}
5. Baking {love the smells, love creating, love taste testing!}
6. Containers {love organizing containers or food containers; paper, plastic, round, square, big, little...love them all!}
7. Target {I can't lie, it makes me so happy}.
8. Exercise {love running, love working out, love being active, love sweating}.
9. My Religion {love praying, love reading the scriptures, love the Prophet, love my Savior, love the peace and joy that the knowledge of the gospel brings to my life daily}.
10. Blogging {love writing about my life, love reading about others lives}.

I now get to pass this award on to some of the blogs that make me so happy, Obviously, my family and friends blogs are my absolute favorite and make me the most happy! So, I will share some other blogs that I find joy in:

Tootsie Magee and the Shpanky Brothers. I always know that I will be laughing so hard when I read Annie's witty and hilarious posts. I went to high school with Annie and had no idea she was this funny. Love her brutal honesty and funny approach to life.

Think Garnish. Remember I said that I love containers? This blog has all those food containers that I'm in love with. I am beyond giddy when I search through the products and ideas on this blog/website. You can actually order products, but be careful. If you're like me, you won't be able to leave this site without spending $$$$. If you do, it will be worth it. The owner of this company sends everything in the most beautiful packaging and also sends a personalized thank you note. Heavenly!

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes. Best healthy recipe blog I've found. This woman has never led me astray. I've tried dozens of her recipes and loved every single one of them.

It's what makes me...me. This girl has perspective. Because of her life experiences, she has the most genuine perspective on life, religion and family that I've ever read. I always know that I will feel inspired and uplifted by reading her posts. Plus, the beautiful photography and her darling family is a bonus!

Clover Lane. I've recently mentioned this blog, but I wanted to make sure you didn't forget. This is worth checking out just for her darling blog header. Those kids are gorgeous! While you're there, take some time to read a couple of her posts featured on the side of her blog. You'll be hooked!

I could go on and on, but just pretend like the dramatic music in the background is now playing. I'd just like to quickly thank my Mom for always commenting on every single post, the Man and my beautifully neglected children for allowing me to write this post!

family home evening chart

In January I had this big elaborate idea that I was going to plan our Family Home Evenings out for the entire year. I would spend the afternoon going through the many various lesson ideas I had and decide what lessons I would do each week of the year. I would type all this up in an excel spreadsheet and be the most organized Family Home Eveninger you'd ever seen. I sat down and started going through all my stuff when I realized that this was not the point of FHE. Once again, the perfectionist in me was missing the point. Family Home Evening should be based on the needs of our family at that particular time, not planned months in advance. Family Home Evening should be something that my children feel involved in, as opposed to me preaching to them every week.

I found this silly little chart that our kids got at a primary activity last year. I immediately colored it {I mean, one of my kids did}, laminated it and then printed off a picture of our family. I cut out our heads and laminated those too. I attached Velcro adhesives to the chart and the pictures. This project took me less than 30 minutes to do and it has completed changed the spirit of our Family Home Evenings. Everybody loves having a part, which we always tried to do before, but never did that well. My boys beg to do the lessons. Who knew?

I've learned that sometimes the big elaborate things we try to do are just wasteful, they are completely missing the point and detract from the spirit. This simple little chart was all our family needed to have successful Family Home Evenings...together!

spring break in fort collins

Fort Collins was our Spring Break destination of choice because my sister, Erika, and her family live there. They just recently moved to Fort Collins from Vail. Her husband, Brian, is getting his MBA at CSU. The first day we spent there the boys went to CSU's football stadium and watched the team practice. Payton was in heaven. Brian then took them to the bookstore and bought Payton a CSU football. Don't worry...we still bleed red, but Payton is just obsessed with anything having to do with football right now.

We were lucky to have all of my family {except Clint, Becca & Sophia} come join us on the trip. Our little family stayed at Brian & Erika's home while my parents, Krista & Willis had a hotel suite. It worked out really well. We spent the day on Saturday shopping. My Mom treated all the girls to new clothes and jewelry while the boys hung out at Barnes & Noble and McDonald's with the kids {thanks guys}! We ate at a couple really yummy restaurants while we were there; Beau Jo's Pizza and Inca Mexican Restaurant. We mostly just had fun hanging out with everyone.



We also celebrated Easter while we were there. The boys woke up on Easter morning and found these Easter baskets.

Then we went over to my parents hotel to swim and the front desk asked if my boys wanted to do an Easter Egg Hunt. Of course! This sweet girl hid about 50 eggs just for my boys. They had to search around the front lobby to find them all. It was really cute. They also gave them balloons and presents.

Later in the afternoon we colored Easter eggs and had a yummy delicious feast!

One of the highlights of our trip was spending time with this little angel!



Harper is four months old now and she is so stinking cute. She has a piercing scream that is hilarious. The girl knows what she wants. She also LOVES to smile and goo. We had so much fun playing with her!

Brian was so great at entertaining Payton & Parker. They were always attached to him {especially Payton}. He was great to throw the football with them and let them play games on his phone.

I didn't take any pictures of my sister & I so I will share one from last summer. It was so much fun spending time with Erika and I wish so bad that they lived closer, but I'm so happy for her and her cute little family. Fort Collins is a cute little town and a great place for them to call home...for now!!

cooper's two

I know. I know. We all say it, but seriously...
How do they go from this?

to this?

to this?

It seems so fast.
It feels like yesterday.
But, I know that it's taken two whole years for my sweet little baby
to turn into a sweet little toddler.

This little guy is such a joy to have around, unless of course you have something that he wants and then he screams until you give it to him. Or, if you refuse to give him "juice." Besides that, he's an easy going little guy who absolutely adores his older brothers. He loves to be a big boy and follow them around. Here are a few more things I don't ever want to forget about Cooper:

*Cooper gets so jealous if Payton or Parker sit on my lap or if Tim touches me. He loves his Mom and is very protective of anyone {but him} touching me.

*Cooper LOVES balls {have I mentioned that before?}. I would say his favorite is "bas-ket-ball" sung in a little tune while being said. He loves to say "shoot the ball" also in song. He says it every single time he sees a basketball hoop. He spends HOURS a day shooting hoops. He will shoot into anything that is circular. You have to pay attention when you are around Cooper because he also loves to pass the ball. If you're not looking, you will get popped in the face. It's happened to me more than a few times and this kid has got a good arm {what I'm trying to say is that it hurts!}.

His second favorite ball of choice is a "hike" more commonly known as a football. He loves to "pass" and "catch." He also loves to tackle. He plays football with his brothers all the time. While basketball and football seem to be his favorite sports right now, he does love to kick the soccer ball, catch the baseball or throw any type of ball.

*Cooper loves playing with "guys." He is always carrying little "guys" around with him and asking "where are guys?" He will sit for a long time by himself playing with little lego guys, super heros or star wars characters. He just loves little "guys."

*He also loves Dora. Not Diego {we've tried to convert him, but he won't have it.}. He likes Diego, but he LOVES Dora. It's so cute. He sings, "Dora, Dora, Dora." While watching the show, he can be heard responding to the tv at the appropriate times, "the map" or "backpack" or "swiper no swiping." He also likes to watch "the Mouse" meaning "Mickey Mouse."

*Cooper calls all football helmets, "Utah hat." {I think he's been sufficiently brainwashed.}

*Cooper loves to give kisses to anyone when they leave or before he goes to bed. It's so sweet.

*He is talking so much right now. He is a little copy cat and repeats everything we say. The most common things he says right now are:

"I want juice"

"Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom" {repeated obnoxiously over and over and over}

"Mommy help."

"Mommy watch." {while grabbing my face if I'm not paying attention}

"PAY" {Payton or Parker}

"Chase" {any of my boys friends}

"Daddy" {While he does love his Daddy he so lovingly refers to any adult male as "Daddy." It's a little embarrassing when he says "Bye Daddy" to his nursery teacher at church}

"Watch a show"

"Thank you"

"Love you"

And, my favorite thing today, he's been singing "Happy To You" all day long. It's so cute. I love how he so conveniently omits the "Birthday" part.

Happy Birthday To You, Cooper!

children's chores

I am not great at having my kids help me clean around the house and doing weekly or daily chores. My boys are very responsible. They make their beds every morning, brush their teeth, get dressed themselves and always keep their room clean, but it's the other household chores they don't often do. Not because they don't like too, but because I don't let them. They absolutely love cleaning the toilets, vacuuming and dusting so I usually try to do it when they are not around so that they won't ask to help. What's wrong with me? I'll tell you. I'm a perfectionist. I've recently realized that this is not helpful for my children. I know that I need to involve my children in the household responsibilities whether I like it or not. It is my responsibility to teach them, not to make sure they have a perfectly clean house to live in.

I have tried to establish different chore routines for our family, but none of them have worked with our lifestyle. The only day we could all clean together would be Saturday's and that is impossible with our sport schedules.

I've tried to assign my children to certain areas of the home, but they always get jealous of what somebody else is doing. Also, I've noticed that a lot of times things were getting done that didn't need to be. Therefore, I came up with a solution that I could have complete control over, but still allow the boys to help. I would chose a Daily Chore for my children. I've tried to do this before, but was always too lazy about it. I would make up silly little tasks for my kids to do just to make them feel like they were helping. However, this wasn't teaching them anything.

In order to give more responsibility to my kids and also make myself accountable to actually let them help, I typed up and laminated a bunch of chores that always need to be done around the house so that I don't have to try to come up with something off the top of my head. Each day I put up a chore on their charts depending on the needs of our home. We've been doing this for over a week and it is working out fabulous. My kids are so excited to see what their daily chore is and I am forced to pick something and have them do it. It has been more work for me right now because I have to teach them the proper way to do things, but I know this will pay off down the road. Soon enough I will have amazing little workers who can unload the dishwasher, dust the house and vacuum the floors just the way I like it {or close enough}! It's also helping me realize that letting go of control is not so bad. These boys really can help out and do a great job.

Here is how I implemented our new chore system. I made a "Vacation Countdown Calendar." We have done this every time before we've gone on a trip and it's worked so well for my kids. We are planning to go to Disneyland in June. The boys use these charts as a way to earn money for the trip. If they complete all of their "Jones POWER responsibilities" on the left side of the chart they earn a sticker for the day. Each sticker is worth 50 cents. If the boys get a sticker every single day they will be able to earn $40 to spend on the trip. If they don't earn a sticker one day, they just won't earn that money so if they choose not to do their chores one day {which has happened in the past} they just get less money. I don't have to nag my boys to do something. They have a choice. They have a reward or a consequence. It's really a best case scenario all around. Tim & I figure that we would spend at least $40 on souvenirs for them anyway. So, why not have them earn it?

Here is the chart I use to start with:

This is the Daily Chore portion that is laminated so that I can easily transfer it to future months chore charts.

I pasted the calendar on to a 12x12 card stock paper.

Then I let the boys personalize them.

Both of the boys charts hang in our kitchen near the pantry where they easily see them all day long. They are constantly reminded that they have a goal they are working towards.

My absolute favorite part of this chart is that I incorporated all 5 aspects of our family motto. I was trying to think of something I could do for "enthusiastic," I thought of things that make me happy; exercise and serving others. I added these two things to the boys chart and it's been their favorite thing. They have been sharing with each other so well. They are constantly telling me all the nice things they are doing for each other. They are also doing push-ups and sprints every night. It's pretty cute!

Now, let's see how long this lasts?

new eyes

Tim got a new pair of eyes.
Eyes that can see without contacts.
I don't think I've ever seen him so nervous.
He was sure that he would never see again.
After the surgery, he was pretty sure that it didn't work.
Despite the doctor telling him that the surgery was flawless.
He was an ideal patient.
His eyes looked great.
Luckily, he had a follow-up appointment the next day.
The doctor gave him more reassurances.
I think Tim is starting to believe
This thing he thought was "too good to be true."
Actually worked!

time management tip #3

PLAN YOUR TIME

Seems pretty obvious, right? Well, I got seriously mocked for having "Tim Time" on my time budget. Mock me all you want, but this guy is a priority in my life. If I don't plan for him, than I may never be able to see him. Our lives are a bit chaotic and I want to make sure that he is always a priority. Therefore, I will continue to schedule time in my life for my main man. This week we have an appointment with the eye doctor {AGAIN} so Tim can say goodbye to these glasses.

Here are a few ideas that I've used to help me plan my time:

1. Let go of things that do not help you achieve your goals and priorities in life.

Only plan activities that will help you accomplish your goals. Obviously, this tip can't be completed if you haven't followed tip #1, which probably seemed pretty cheesy, huh? However, these are the guidelines you must use to determine how you will use your time.

One thing that I've learned to let go of in my life is ironing every single piece of clothing. I used to spend hours every single week ironing all of my boys jeans and t-shirts, just to do it again the next week. When I examined my time usage I realized that ironing was always taking much longer than I originally thought it would {3 hours vs. 1 hour}. I decided that I had much bigger priorities in my life than my kids having perfectly pressed jeans that would just be wrinkled within minutes of them putting them on.

2. Plan your time!

Take one day each week to sit down and incorporate all of your weekly tasks into your schedule.

I usually write down all the things that I need or want to do during the week and then plan out which days I will do them. This helps me be realistic about how much I can actually accomplish in one week. I also sit down every evening and plan out the next day (by scribbling it down in a notebook). It's nice to have a guideline when I wake up in the morning instead of wasting half the day trying to decide which task I should start first.

3. Schedule as many tasks and activities as possible, but don't be devastated if you can't accomplish everything.

Learn that it's okay to let things go and just add them in your schedule for another time.

My list of things I would like to do during the week is often fairly long. Many, many, times I will end up having the same exact list for two weeks in a row because I wasn't able to accomplish ANYTHING one week. That's okay. {It never feels okay, but I'm trying to tell myself that it's okay}.

4. Understand your energy levels and plan your time accordingly.

This one tip has been so helpful for me. It's so easy to start plugging things into your schedule, but when the time comes to actually do that activity you may just not feel up to it. I've noticed that I have more energy in the mornings to do physical activities like cleaning. In the afternoon, I like doing my office work because I am little more tired. It's nice to sit at a desk and get some things accomplished. Also, I've noticed that I NEVER have energy to do any office work in the evenings. So, I plan my time accordingly.

This is also a great tip when planning exercise, reading and anything that requires more energy than others. This often takes time to figure out and get just right. I often find myself trying to clean and I just don't feel like it. That's when I realize it's best to walk away and do it another time. I'll go start another project that I actually feel like doing.

5. Re-evaluate your schedule often.

I re-evaluate every single minute of the day. My schedule is constantly changing and is RARELY the way I've planned it. That may not be ideal, but that's how it has to be right now. I know it's because of my current phase of life. Having three young children at home requires me to be flexible.

Here's what we've covered so far:

Tip #1: Define Your Goals
Tip #2: Examine Your Time Usage
Tip #3: Plan Your Time

Only two more tips to go!

spring = organizing

{this is reality}

It seems like everyone, including myself, is thinking or talking about organizing right now. I've decided it's because springtime is here. We are all trying to get things in order in our lives so that we'll be prepared to enjoy our time outside once the nice weather decides to stay. Plus, sunshine is motivating! I've loved all the feedback I've received about organizing because it's motivating me to get better organized. I'd love to know your favorite organizing tips? I'm trying to label my posts now and I found a few of my previous entries regarding organizing. You can find them all here.

meet dax

He is the newest love of my life!
Unfortunately, he's not mine to keep,
but I sure do love getting him as much as I can.
This is Brady & Mahina's new little baby boy.
He is perfect in every single way.
An angel baby.

My boys sure do love him too!