Grateful Sunday

Again, I have to say that this "grateful Sunday" idea is borrowed from Farnsworth's Blog.

Today I am grateful for growing up in a time period where I learned that in competition there is a winner and a loser. I am grateful that I had parents who taught me that not everything in life is fair and that sometimes I will get the short end of the stick. I am grateful that I grew up in a time where not everything was handed to me just for being me, but rather I learned that if I wanted something I had to work for it. I am glad I learned as a youngster playing little league baseball, basketball, and football that the winners got trophy's and the losers...well...we didn't get trophy's...and that was okay.

I just watched a little clip tonight on the TV show 60 Minutes, that talked about the age group of America known as The Millenials. Many of you who are probably reading this right now fall under this age group, those born between 1980 and 1995ish. It was a pretty interesting piece altogether, and while I didn't agree with 100% of it, I had to chuckle when the reporter said that this generation is the generation that grew up with the philosophy of "blue ribbons for everyone", "everyone is a winner." This generation hasn't learned the meaning from their parents of the word "no" and have been given everything they ever wanted to them, now! You need to read, or watch, the 60 Minutes piece for more information on it.

The reason I am posting this is because it drives me nuts that there is this "blue ribbons for everyone" attitude out there. I don't understand how this can be healthy. Life is full of losers and winners. If you want to be a winner in real life you need to work hard for that and do what it takes to win. While it may be hard for a 5 year old to lose the game, and then watch the other team jump up for joy and be rewarded with trophies while they walk over to their orange slices and Capri Suns, at least the lesson is learned that not everything is given to them in life and that everything is always going to be good. Life isn't like that, and we shouldn't be doing our kids a disservice by giving them this false sense that life is fair for everyone. When they lose, pick em up, dust em off, and tell them that things will still be okay, winning isn't everything, but if you want to win next time then work harder for what you want!

By the way, lest you think I am going to be that obsessed little league dad on the sidelines who is always screaming at my kid to make them better, you are dead wrong. I am not advocating that winning is everything, in fact I don't really believe that. I am simply stating that it is just as important to learn that there are losers in life, and if you ever fall into that category, you need to learn how to deal with it. This is a very important "lesson" of life.

3 Months Old Already?

Brynlie is already three months old! I can hardly believe it. Time is going by so fast. Brynlie is doing great. She is full of smiles and coo's and loves to blow "raspberries". She's quite good at it too. She is so much fun to have around!

Bathroom Dialog

I was standing outside the bathroom this morning waiting for Cade to finish pooping and I heard the following dialog between him and Brooklyn.

Cade: "My poop is kinda stinky."
Brooklyn: "What?"
Cade: with more empahsis "My poop is kinda stinky!"
Brooklyn: "Yea it is. What does it smell like?"
Cade: "Macaroni and cheese."

I can only imagine what that must have smelled like!

Two Issues

So I just read online that the State Supreme Court of California just made it legal for gay and lesbian couples to marry. Yes this is a political post of sorts, and yes you may choose not to read any further if you wish.
I have two issues with this whole thing, and for the sake of your sanity I'll make my comments brief.

1) I have nothing personally against anyone who is gay or lesbian, they have the right to make that choice (even though I strongly believe it is the wrong choice). However, marriage is, and forever should be, strictly defined as a union between a MAN and a WOMAN. You can't start changing definitions of things just because people begin to live "alternative lifestyles." I could go on, but promised to be brief.

2) It bothers me to no end that the judicial systems in this country think that they can make laws. It is happening way too often that a handful of judges are deciding to take the law into their own hands and, based on their decisions, determine what laws I have to live by. I think America needs to take another look at the Constitution and remember that the laws are not made by the Judicial system.

There, I've said my peace for the time being. Sorry to ruin all the warm and fuzzy feelings you are accustomed to when reading this fascinating blog of ours.

Exercise or Ice Cream?

So I was exercising this morning (something I should do more often-as you will read) and I was on the ground doing some Pilates when Brooklyn walked up to me and said, "Mom, you look like a whale!" I'm sure she meant that with a lot of love. I had to laugh, I mean seriously, how do you take a "compliment" like that. Kids seem to be brutally honest don't they? As for how I was feeling after that comment...I headed straight for the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. YUM!

Too sweet

Well I was waiting for Chelsea to post this, but I guess I am going to have to! We were in the car the other day going somewhere and Brooklyn started talking about how she was going to start going to school when we get to Arizona. She talks about this a lot and I think she's pretty excited about the whole thing.
Well, shortly thereafter the kids began whispering to each other. All of a sudden Chelsea heard some sniffles and she turned around to ask them what was wrong. Then all of a sudden, with a puckered chin, the corners of his mouth turned down, and his eyes filling with tears, Caden said "Me going to miss Brookie when her goes to school." Talk about heart breaking! Then immediately Brooklyn joined in and began crying saying that she was going to miss Caden too. Chelsea and I had to hold back our own tears!
These two definitely have their moments of contention (more than we care to share), but one thing is for sure....they are best friends. In fact, when they are upset at each other they always say, "I'm not going to be your best friend anymore!" Shortly after this "episode" in the car, Chelsea and I were commenting on how at times it can be difficult to have kids that are under 2 years apart, but at times like that it makes it all worth it. They love each other and I sure hope that they can always stay close and be "best friends."

FHE

So we just finished having FHE and right after the closing prayer this is what Brooklyn had to say. "Mom, guess what? When you was saying the prayer I feeled Jesus in my heart! Guess what he said?" Of course I was curious and asked, "What?" "Jesus told me to be a good girl and then we can live as a family all the day! That's what Jesus told me in my heart!" She was so excited. It's an incredible feeling as a parent to see your child so excited about the Savior and the Gospel. I'm so grateful for the Plan of Salvation (that's what our lesson was on) and that we will be able to live with our families "all the day".

Up and coming golfer

Sorry everyone for the lack of posts lately. We have been in Arizona looking for jobs and homes and actually have a lot of things to post about, but have just been lazy in doing it. I am actually posting this one to try and get Chelsea encouraged again to post some of our happenings from our trip to Arizona.
Our trip to Arizona was such a blast. We originally intended for it to be 4-5 days of home searching, but when we found out that it was unlikely that we were going to be able to buy, our trip turned more into a vacation. It was so fun to be able to be with family again and to have Chelsea's parents there visiting as well.
One of my highlights for the trip was taking Caden to the driving range with both of his grandpas. He LOVED hitting the balls and I am pretty sure that he hit more than the other three of us combined. In fact, it was so fun, that I actually ended up purchasing the little club that he used. It was a used club that belonged to the golf shop, and they had new ones for sale, but the new ones were $20 per club. So I asked if I could buy the used one, I know Caden doesn't mind used, and they sold it to me for $5! Here are the fun pictures.

Our Crazy Family

Well for Easter it is tradition in our home to get the kids a new Sunday outfit and we thought this year it would be neat to try and capture a nice family photograph after church on Easter Sunday. We quickly realized that with no photographer around to help us it might be quite the challenge. So we set up our tripod and camera and started snapping away. After the first handful of pictures with Cade looking away, and Brooklyn closing her eyes we knew that our efforts were futile. So then we just decided to have fun with the kids and told them to make their silliest faces for the pictures. This is our final product....and actually it better represents what our family is really like than some nice, polished masterpiece.

Best Friends and a Love Bug

Well Heath has been in Arizona all week looking for work so I thought I'd show him the cute kids he is missing at home. Doesn't Cade look like he's ready to hit the golf course? He loves this outfit and picked the hat out himself.
Brooklyn is still such a good helper and she can't stop saying, "Brynlie is so cute!" She asked me the other day if once Brynlie grew up, we could have another baby. She said we could pray to Heavenly Father and tell him we want another little baby and then maybe he could put one in my stomach. She's thought about it a lot I guess.

I can't believe Brynlie is already 7 weeks old! It's going by so fast.

Brynlie is smiling a lot more lately. It's so fun to see her personality start to develop. The kids love it when she makes noise. They come up with all sorts of things that they think she is saying, such as, "Mom, she said that we should have ice cream!"

This is the outfit she came home from the hospital in. It finally fits!