Best Mothers Day Ever!!

Today I woke up to a flurry of gifts being dumped on my bedside, and three cute little kids (and one hansom husband) jumping around excitedly and telling me, Happy Mothers Day! and to open my presents.

Liam brought home a bag full of stuff on Friday and ran and hid them before I could find it! That little stinker! But I got to open it today! There was a place mat, a book about the ugly duckling (that he wrote and illustrated himself), a picture of him and his class, a few strips of paper, and an "about my mom" picture, all wrapped in a paper bag that he decorated.

This is his "about my Mom" paper. He answered questions about me.
Mom translator:

My mom's name: Kira

My Mom's favorite food is: cookies

In her free time, Mom likes to: Take a nap

Mom like the color: purple

Mom like it when I: clean my room

I like it when my mom: Makes cookies.

This little boy gets me. It's like we are kindred spirits. I especially like that in the picture of me I am wearing socks. I guess I just woke up from my nap and eating my favorite food, cookies...

Emma's preschool class made these awesome "MOM" signs. In the picture of Emma the preschool teacher said that Emma wouldn't stop eating hotdogs, so her mouth/cheeks are stuffed with hotdogs. It's makes me love it all that much more. :)

This is the card that Liam picked out for me for Mothers Day. hehehe
And how they changed it to fit.

And I'm super excited because I got my new favorite movie, Tangled!! (We already watched it this morning :)) And a plant. It's a "coffee" plant. LOL. It's suppose to cleanse/purify the air. Pretty cool.

Mother's Day has been fantastic so far. And why wouldn't it be with being a mother to these three, cute, little hooligans. ;)
And happy Mothers Day to my Mama, Grandma, Mother-in-law, Sisters, Sister-in-laws, Aunties, Cousins, and friends! I love you all!

Memories- Lehi house

This is once again one of those "I want to remember" things, so for all you people who want to read something interesting or see what has happened in our lives, move along, and wait for the next post :)

There's only a few things that I remember from living in "the Lehi house". I was born there-well actually in the hospital, but you get what I'm saying (you have to clarify these things when people you know have their kids at home...), and moved before I started kindergarten. (Which made me sad because I remember my older brother really talking up how in kindergarten you get to walk through the "monkey gate"...my other school had no monkey gates. Lame.)

I remember, at one time, while living there, running up to my mom and having her put her hands on my head and playfully push down while saying, "Oh, I love the age your at. Don't ever grow up. You stop growing." Sorry ma, I tried...okay not really, but I do know that I often think the same things about my kids.

(These memories are incredibly sporadic, I was five and younger, so bare with me)

I remember being sick, with the flu or something like it, and my Grandma Pugh bringing me rolls and gingerale, because, hey, that's what grandma's do. :)

I remember one hot summer's day watching my older brother run out side without his shirt on. So, I proceeded to take my shirt off and started after him, only to be caught by my mom. I was horribly angry that she wouldn't let me outside to play with no shirt on. We finally compromised and she let me outside with a light green tanktop (with some sort of teddy bear on it?) on. It's amazing how things I did when I was littler are coming around to bite me in the bottom :). After hiking on Saturday (well Iowa hiking, aka walking in slightly hilly, woodsy areas), Liam decided to take off his shirt because he was hot. Emma tried to follow suit and got very frustrated when I wouldn't let her. I tried to explain modesty stuff, but it didn't work out and we end up with Emma riding home, crying about being hot and wanting to take her shirt off (Where was my teddy tank top then, hu?).

I remember walking down our stairs (ones that when down so far, then had a landing, then turned and went down the rest of the way), and feeling like I wasn't touching anything. Like I was "floating."

I faintly remember being in our front sitting room and pulling off the eyelashes of my moms porcelain doll. The act, of which, I will never live down.

Okay, I think that's it. ah ha! I covered the first five years of my memories. Brilliant! :)

And just for the record- No, Mom, I don't remember the couch that I cried for hours about when you got rid of it. My kids didn't cry for hours over the couch we got rid of. Perhaps if you would have turned it into a fort for a couple of days, then I would have been able to let it go more easily. ;)

Flooding

Downtown Davenport, Iowa. Spring (April) 2011

This is about a football field-ish length away from where we were playing in it in this post. The road by the river (aka river drive) is flooded and closed.

Crazy hu?

How my day went yesterday

It's a funny story. Okay, really it's not. But I keep trying to make it into a funny story...possibly because its one of my biggest fears-my kids left on their own with an unresponsive mother. But I keep trying to make it lighthearted so that I won't feel the terror of "what if".

Yesterday, I told Emma that she and Liam could have an Easter candy after he got home from school (Yes, I horde them). Liam came home and with in five minutes Emma was begging me for candy with the whole, "you said!" Darn kids and their elephant-like memories--when it comes to candy, that is.

I was sitting on the couch when I gave into her request. I stood up and walk into the pantry in the kitchen, and grab the candy. I suddenly felt light headed, and thought "hu. I better hold on to something," as black swept over my vision.

Someone began moaning, a horrible unearthly moan. I could hear my kids screaming and crying in the background, before I realized that that moan was coming from me. I found that I was laying on the cold, hard floor, and my face was screaming in pain. I pushed myself up to my hands and knees as I felt a warm drizzle fall from my nose. My eyesight came back just in time to see red splatters of blood splash onto my tan vinyl.

That's when I realized I had passed out. My kids still screaming, crying and running in and out of the kitchen, finally brought me back to reality. I stopped moaning and said, "I'm fine. It's okay. I'm okay. Liam get me a tissue."

As I reassured my children that I was fine and gave them hugs, I couldn't stop the tears from filling my eyes a seeping out onto my checks. My face throbbed. I called Tony and told him what happened and twenty minutes later he came home to still tear-ridden wife.

We contemplated our choices, and ultimately the fear of being home with my kids and passing out and not waking up, drove us to urgent care--I had to know what went wrong.

We dropped off the kids at a friends house (thank you) and headed to urgent care. From there they told us they didn't have the equipment they needed to check me out, and they were nervous about my blood pressure, so they sent us to the ER.

A few moments later I was in a hospital robe with a heart monitor, blood pressure cuff, and IV. (Mind you, I've had all my kids at home. I've never been in a hospital for myself, that I can recall, except the day I was born...and I can't really recall that :))

After hours of blood test, CT scans, and neurology test I was told that I was mostly fine. All blood test were negative (Including the pregnancy, hahaha now I have proof Mom Bundy ;)) and I passed everything with flying colors. Except for my nose, which was broken, but still in place. The low blood pressure (which I've had all my life) didn't worry the doctor. They said it was just a fainting episode, and that I may or may not ever have one again. They said it was from standing up quickly. I asked how can I prevent it, and they said stay hydrated. I wasn't dehydrated, they had tested for that, but I just need to stay hydrated (??? yeah, I don't get it either). The doctors where excellent. They were very kind, and gave me advice for if it ever did happen again (aka sit down :)).

It scared me. I don't ever want to scare my kids like that again. I don't even want to think of the possibilities of if I had hit my head harder, or fallen somewhere worse.

But now I live with a lightly bruised broken nose, that I am told will get much worse before it gets better. The bruising is slowly bleeding into both my eyes, so that I will end up with a bruised nose and two black eyes. It's awesome. And I teach sharing time this Sunday, which is going to be extra awesome with all that bruising.

"Hello children, do you want to learn about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel?"

"Ahh!! Monster!!"

But I am excited, if they do turn black, to take a picture and label it "This is what happens if you use your face to catch yourself instead of your hands." It's a moral of the story type thing. :)

Easter

Friday, before Easter, we decided to dye eggs. You've never met a boy who was so happy to be given an egg and a crayon. He thought it was super cool to color on the egg...until he discovered the egg could be cracked/smashed. Then he just spent the rest of the time smashing the egg.

Liam and Emma enjoyed the dying also. They got to choose the colors they wanted, color on the egg with crayon and then dye it.


Saturday our apartment owners had an easter egg hunt. They were about 30-ish kids there and a bizzillion eggs. Liam left with his basket/bucket overflowing. And the other two kids did pretty good too. After the egg hunt they had a giant scary bunny-man that all the kids could have their pictures taken next to, and they handed out another small basket of goodies to each kid. So their are perks to living here :)


Sunday morning the kids came down to find their awesome easter baskets. Each got a homemade bunny. Liam and Emma got jump ropes and fox got a ball, along with other treats.
Then the egg hunt was on. Fox only got about three eggs because when he found an egg he would sit down and fiddle with it until he could get it open and eat the treat inside (or be disappointed with the lack of edibles inside).
Liam has turned into a pro egg finder. But Emma gave him a run for his money.





And finally the Easter bunny brought us some new fish (cringe). They are currently named Optimus Prime and Jesus (said the spanish way ei. hay-suess :)) fish. However, we are looking for a new name for Jesus fish before we get struck down by lightning. If anyone has any suggestions.
Tony gets to clean and handle them.

Destined to do Great Things

Yes, it is 1:18 in the morning. Caffeine does crazy things to my sleeping habits. I only took one excedrine around 7 tonight, and here I am, 1:18 in the morning and my mind whirling. Stupid caffeine. :)

But when I'm up this late I often have deep thoughts...either that or sleep deprived, crazy thoughts...

Tonight I've been thinking about President Uchtdorf's conference talk "Waiting on the Road to Damascus." Particularly his single statement about sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: "It is not easy. Some would rather pull a handcart across the prairie than bring up the subject of faith and religion to their friends and co-workers."

As I've thought about this I've considered how absurd it is, but how true. Often times we rever the early saints because of all that they withstood and did. They walked thousands of miles pulling handcarts. They endured tourment, bullying, and even death because of their beliefs, and trying to find a place where they could exercise their beliefs freely. They were driven from their homes, sometimes in the dead of winter, and forced to find somewhere else. Their trials were unbelievable-reverable.

But so are ours; in a very different way. The pioneers knew what they believed. They stood for it. They lived for it. They died for it.

Today we are hit with different challenges. Confusion and chaos run rampant through the world. It affects us, and it affects our children. The values that have been lived and revered as wonderful and good for thousands of years are now being stomped on by modern civilization. The ten commandments are being spit upon and mocked. Honor thy father and mother? My father and mother lived in the past. They don't know how to keep up with the modern world, how to tweet, how to work a computer or a cell phone; they don't know what they are talking about. My parents are crazy.

The seven deadly sins are becoming sought after delights. Greed? Wait, does that mean more money? Sign me up!

Pornography and immorality is being pushed at us every time we turn on the television, computer, sometimes even look at a billboard.

It's scary. But the scariest part is that its not being done suddenly in a way that shocks us, its seeping in slowly. We are getting use to one part and then slowly introduced to the next. If the pioneers saw what we are allowing into our lives- our homes, I have no doubt that they would be horrified.

Don't get me wrong. I am extremely guilty of all of this. It makes me sad. But how do I walk away from the world?

A few weeks ago, after relaying a sacred experience to my mom, she replied, "Well, this just shows me that you are destined to do great things." After I hung up that remark stayed with me. I pondered about it for many days, and ultimately I accepted it. Yes, I am destined to do great things. It's not a conceded moment, its the truth. I am destined to do great things. God did not send me here to do mediocre or "okay" things. Absolutely not. I am here to do great things. That is my destiny.

So would I rather pull a handcart across the prairie then live in the bombardment of evil today? Honestly, yeah, probably. I have no illusions that that task would have been easy, or simple. But I would be more actively living what I believe and not constantly have me and my family hounded by immoral, unchaste, evil beings and influences.

But I'm not. God sent me here at this time. God sent me here at this time to do great things. It's time I realize that, and start living up to it.

A dumpster miracle

Remember this post, where I told you of my secret yet awesome new ninja skill of dumpster diving? You know the one where I got a beautiful head and foot board for my bed? Yeah. And do you remember how I told you I tried to salvage a dumpster-dived couch but it smelled to sickly of smoke? Well after we, sadly, took the couch back out to it's pitiful ending by the dumpster, we checked a few hours later and the couch was gone. We were hopeful that some one else would have success with cleaning it and the beautiful couch would find a happy new home. Well, come to find out it was my friend who helped me find the couch in the first place. Her husband does maintenance and cleaning for a living and couldn't let the couch's smell beat him without taking a hit on his pride ;). So a few months, and much washing and airing out, later, look whose back with our happy family.

That's right, this is the beautiful couch that was out by the dumpster. Dumpster diving pays off I tell ya.
And what of our old awesome, burnt orange couch?

Well it's still in our living room, but being used as a fort.

While I await the day we find a truck and get the darn thing out of here. (Our awesome home teacher is helping us take it out tonight! I think)
Aw, all is well that ends well in stories of happy dumpster dived couches.

Oh, and check out my sisters awesome craft blog for MY newest crafting creation. You'll be impressed...I promise ;)