Life According to My iPhone

This is a random life post. Sometimes I forget to write about the simple things that are going on, like the normal day-to-day stuff. Lately I have been using my blog for therapy more than anything else, but I do like to keep track of the things we are doing too! The kids love the real life posts way more than the philosophical posts. I like to write both! ;)

This will be really random, I just found random images on my iPhone and thought I would use them as a glimpse into our reality...

We went to the church McCall beach party. It was really fun! We traveled there with some good friends, and hung out by the water all day (this was the day William got crazy-burned). It was so beautiful up there, I love the trees and the water. The kids were in heaven, loving every minute.

Henry was nervous about the water at first, and then he got brave and went for it. See that white back? Yep, that is William frying in the sun -- Daniel was wise and kept his shirt on.

 Henry drinking lemonade, taking a break from the water.

 Henry and Kellen (the Harlin's son), ready to go on an adventure together!

 A car full of boys. The Harlin's have 4, and we have 3, plus a lovely Sammi.

We rearranged our house. It was quite the undertaking! It is a good thing I am made of sturdy-stuff because we moved some pretty crazy things. We switched the rooms around so the boys are in the smaller room, and I am back in the master with Sammi as my roommate in the walk-in-closet. It works out great!

The moving process…it looks way cleaner than it really was. Every inch of the house was covered in furniture and just stuff.

My room. Since Sammi is using my closet, I pulled out my grandma's armoire, and everything fits perfectly. (I am not a collector of clothing.) I was also able to fit my grandma's rocking chair in my room. I love the chair, my mom and I fixed it up a few years ago, and it is great! I am also grateful to be back in the room with the ceiling fan -- yippee! Oh, and, notice my green blanket on the end of the bed? I have had it since I was a teenager! Charles had a brown blanket just like it, and we would both sleep with our special blankets. I must say I am grateful for my security blanket now more than ever! And pillows… I need lots of pillows. I also love my bedding. It is called "The Darcy." As in, Mr. Darcy. Yep, that is why Charles got it for me a few years ago. He loved watching BBC movies with me -- Pride and Prejudice being the favorite.

A view of my roommate living in my walk-in closet. She can close the door for privacy if she needs it, but we mostly keep it open. Sammi loves her room. It is unique and fun! She will have great stories to tell her children. Her daddy made her the loft bed and ladder, and even picked out the cute material to cover the wood plank. She has two thick foam pads for a mattress. It is a great place for her to read, listen to music, and draw. Having a unique living environment like this builds character. Sammi is proof of that! She is one of the most grateful, undemanding people that I know. She had a year living in a normal-sized room, and she said she prefers her special closet bedroom. It is magic.

Here I am enjoying an evening of music performed by my children. It is really wonderful to have someone who can play the piano in our home -- such an awesome thing. The kids love to serenade me, especially Sammi. I love it when they all sing together. It is usually Disney songs, Les Mis, or Phantom of the Opera.

Running, running, running! I try and get out almost everyday to sweat-off all the bad stuff, and breathe in all the good. ;) I can feel like crud and miserable, and then go out for a run and feel amazing. Running outside is key to my feelings of joy and happiness. I am really looking forward to running in the Fall -- there is nothing better than Autumn running! Do you realize I only have about a month until I am allowed to decorate with pumpkins? Yippee!

TaeBo is still one of my favorites, too. I don't do it as often as running, but I like to do it for the feeling of power and strength. There are a ton of Taebo videos on youtube, just FYI.

 Daniel likes to join me. He sticks with me for the whole hour. He is getting pretty tough!

 Henry being cute.

He looks so innocent, but he really is a ball of toddler-power. He always seems to be dirty, or making a mess. He has discovered the joy of coloring himself with markers, and eating crayons. One day we kept  a running tally of all that Henry did that needed cleaning-up after, and it was a very LONG list! He keeps us all on our toes, that is for sure! Grieving with a toddler has sure been interesting. 

One thing that is really nice is having children that are old enough, and strong enough, to help with things around the house. My kids are a HUGE help in every way. They are so helpful, and so good to me. I am certainly glad they are with me to enjoy the journey together. We have fun, we are going to make it!

We don't really have anything fun in our backyard. One time we bought a trampoline but took it back (we never opened it) after there was a huge storm, and we decided it would likely just blow away. (We have seen that happen to our neighbors!) But we make-do with whatever. The kids are creative. One day they filled the recycling bin with water and had tons of fun -- especially Henry!

Bike rides have been the norm. The kids ride their bikes while I run. They are real troopers. Sometimes it is so hot, and we finally figured out to bring a spray bottle along for the ride -- it really helps. Sammi loves spraying everyone down and helping us cool off.

 We used to just poor water on our heads -- the spray bottle works much better!

 Sammi especially loves to spray me!

It always warms my heart when I find my kids have fallen asleep reading the scriptures. Daniel always forgets to take his glasses off at night. He usually reads himself to sleep.

Every now-and-again I have an angel sleeping in my bed. I am not sure if there is anything more angelic than a sleeping toddler. All the mischief of the day is washed away, and the purity shines through.

Daniel is in accelerated Math this year, which means going to junior high for an hour before elementary school. He is super excited about it. He is especially excited about the fact that he gets a locker. I admit, I am not really ready for this huge jump, but he is. The fact that he is physically -- as well as mentally, and emotionally -- more mature than most boys his age really helps. He has been sprouting-up tall right before my eyes. I know it will just be a year until he passes me in height. I sure love him. He is my hugger. He hugs me everyday, multiple times a day. He always hugs me before I go anywhere -- he knows all too well that you never know what could happen. He is smiling because he managed to open his locker -- yeah!

The cute cheerleader is one of Sammi's closest friends, Hanna. She was quick to find us, and was a HUGE help with opening the locker. We probably would have been there for a long time with just me trying to help!

 Am I the only one who has nightmares about a hallway like this? Yikes! 

Henry has a favorite blanket. It is a huge twin-bed blanket. I even had to bring it on the airplane when we went to Alaska. I had a bag just for his "bunky." Good thing I had it on the airplane, as soon as I pulled it out, he threw-up all over it! If I had not had it with me, he would have made a mess of everything around us. Instead I just got a garbage bag from the flight attendant, put his blanket in it, and shoved it back in the bag. It was nasty, and I had to wash it out during our layover, but it worked out. I am sure Charles was laughing at the sight of it all.

 I just love Henry's face. He is so smoochable.

These are the books on my nightstand -- you know, just a little light reading. I am weird when it comes to reading. I have a really hard time with fantasy novels, but I love deep gospel doctrine books -- I always have. When I was 18, and working, I would take the Brigham Young manual with me to a restaurant, and sit and read it alone in the corner, while eating my turkey sandwich. I would devour the Prophet's words, and my sandwich, with great hunger, and satisfaction. Brigham Young has a way with words that just speaks directly to my soul.

Now my reading consists of the scriptures, my gospel doctrine manual (I am the gospel doctrine teacher at church), Jesus The Christ, Charles' journals, and some other uplifting and educational books. My soul just hungers for spiritual nourishment -- now more than ever before. I also often use my phone to search www.lds.org for many doctrine topics. I have had a particular interest in learning about the Spirit World in greater detail, as of late. You really should study it too -- it is amazing. Life after death will be wonderful. I promise!

Me and my most beautiful roommate, Sammi, lying in my bed, and writing in our journals. I have always been an avid journal writer, more so before blogs -- I mostly blog now -- but there are some things that do not belong here on the blog, and a journal is perfect for my inner and most deep thoughts and feelings. My real, scribbly, and raw emotions are all contained within my pink book.

Did I mention that Sammi is my first girl roommate? I was 19 when I got married, and I went straight from my parents house to an apartment with Charles. I was going to college in Alaska at the time, and I had the chance to room with some girls, but my personality is such that it would have been really hard for me. I avoid drama as much as possible, and I need peaceful quiet time just for thinking, and pondering. Don't get me wrong, I love friends, and girls -- but you can't tell me that a bunch of girls living together does not cause crazy things to happen! It just wasn't for me. I am super-grateful for the way things worked out for me then. I am grateful I found Charles so early on, and that I had as much time with him as possible. I am so grateful we married young. I would never change that, ever.

I am also grateful for the one girl in the world who I do not mind sharing a room with! ;) Sammi is a no-drama kind of girl. I think she is pretty awesome. She is my daughter, and my friend.

I have had some sweet people bring me flowers. I love flowers. They really do something for me! Especially when I drag myself out of bed in the morning, go in the kitchen, and see the sunlight shimmering on the beautiful petals, beckoning me to smile, and be alive. Did you know that one meaning of the word paradise is a garden? Perhaps that is why flowers are so soothing to my soul! I have a little bit of paradise now gracing my kitchen! Thank you ladies! (You know who you are!) 

There is so much more always going on, but that is all I have for now. I don't always take pictures of what I am doing -- I should try to do better at that! Phones make it super easy. They are not the most beautiful pictures ever, but they do the job well enough.

I feel pretty awesome about myself today, because I just cleaned out the entire garage -- a very terrifying and tedious event -- but I conquered it with help from my children. While I was going through a bunch of random stuff, I was again reminded of how grateful I am to live small and simply, and how much I loathe excess stuff! It causes me stress to have things hanging around that I never, ever, use. I am so glad I was able to get that place cleaned-out before school starts! Whew!

That is all for now… tomorrow is another day!