Our Week- in Numbers

My biggest disappointment of this week is that I couldn't find my camera to document it! Hopefully I will find it soon. We had a busy week, so I wanted to reflect on it and share some of the fun times we had- good and bad. We watched the 4 children of our wonderful friends, Taylor and Sarah, for 9 days. Here is what went down:

1- family night miniature golfing. Definite success! We had pizza there- so no cooking for me, also a plus. The 2 2 year olds liked the golfing a little too much, so we corralled them over to the slides. The big kids had a great time.

8- days of simultaneous naps for the 2 littlest ones. Woo hoo! Quiet time and clean up time for mom.

200- giggles I got out of Oscar.

50- times I went up and down their dirt road. (One of those times at the end of a 20 mile run that kicked my trash!)

5- number of projects their oldest daughter came up with to keep the little ones busy.

0- Number of nights I went to bed before 1 am. (I don't like being alone and Jeff and I split up for the week. It was easier for me to stay at their house.)

4- number of baseball practices in that time period.

12-loads of laundry

30- minutes it took to sweep up one full box of cereal spilled and spread all over the floor.

8- hours Jeff watched all 7 kids alone so I could go to a service activity one Saturday, and my 20 miler the next Saturday. My hero!

1- broken plate. Thrown out of the car by Alice. First casualty of the week. Sorry, Sarah, it was one of your Burgerville plates.

150- times I had to ask their next door neighbor and my good friend, Ranell, for help with something. She also provided an amazing dinner and dessert for us one night.

1- time we thought we lost Oscar. (He was hiding... apparently $5 wins this kid over...)

1- night of 3D movie watching of Monsters v. Aliens.

50- times we heard that the kids missed their parents.

25- times I hear how mean I was. (Don't worry- I didn't take it personal- Jeff said it was a sign I was doing my job!)

2000- jumps on the trampoline

500- smiles from Alice

100- toys fought over by Alice and Bryce

20- number of minutes the kids still wanted to get things ready for their parents even when they knew they were on their way.

Countless- number of friends willing to take various children for playdates to save them from me and each other! Thanks everyone!

$6- is how much the kids made at the lemonade stand.

$6- is how much the kids spent on ice cream from the ice cream man. (He bought one of their lemonades also and gave Alice her own ice cream!)

9- is how many hugs I got when I left.

2- how many parents are refreshed and ready to be with their kids.

2-how many parents are ready for their trip to Mexico in September!

Unlimited- the amount of love I have for this family! What a blessing they are in our life!


Taylor and Sarah, I am glad you were able to get some time to yourselves. You deserve it!! Sorry I have no pictures, but we had a great time. Whew!!

Happy Easter!

Easter has always been my favorite holiday because I feel it is less commercialized than Christmas. I also love that it is always around General Conference time. I have tried to teach my kids the importance of the Atonement and how that should be the focus of Easter. We still have Easter Baskets, but they are very simple (from the dollar store...shhhh...). The best part is spending time with family and friends. Today was very low key as we don't have church until 2pm. We spent the morning making cinnamon rolls and enjoying time together. I took Emily with me to listen to Sarah and W. sing in their ward and it was beautiful! Dallin gave his first talk in Primary and did it all by himself. I was very proud of him and it was nice to talk about Jesus' sacrifice for us so we can live with Heavenly Father again. After church we joined the Giles family for a fabulous dinner and an indoor egg hunt. We had a wonderful day. I hope everyone enjoyed the spirit of Easter.

Pay it Forward

I just received a fun gift in the mail from my awesome friend from college, Leah Marie. I signed up to do Pay it Forward, and she really thought long and hard and found something perfect for me.

I want to do the same thing for 3 more people.

Here are the rules: The exchange focuses on doing an act of kindness without expecting anything in return other than that the recipient will, in their turn, pass the kindness along and pay it forward in their own way. This is how it works… I am going to do some act of service, or something fun, inspiring or uplifting for the first 3 blog owners who post a comment on this entry (please leave your email address if I don’t already have it). In turn you will then post about this on your blog, link to me, then send something to the first three people who sign up to play along through your blog. If those who respond to you are local, you can do something in person for them, or you can send something you made, bought, were given or found. No biggie--just do something that will make the person smile. And remember that kindness doesn’t have to involve money; there are untold ways to help others every single day, everywhere you go - just look around!

Okay, first 3 people to comment. Ready, go!!

And, I will be updating soon, I promise!!