*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, had to get the kiddos up early so I could get to my Women's Forum meeting at 9 a.m. 

They were really good, but a little noisy. Got a lot planned and expressed my opinions.  

Chatted with Karen and Beth after. Then headed to Walmart. It was fun. Kalani was very vocal and got a lot of smiles from others. Hard to not smile at her. She is a crack up. Got Winston a lot of treats and food he likes. He told me he wanted to live with me forever and never go home. Ahh...  We came home and made lunch and then they played so well. I laid Kalani down for a nap later than I hoped (3:30) and she slept until almost 8:30. She had two bad accidents today, but we worked it out. I gave them baths.  My parents came over today as well. It was a lot of fun. Carson came over after school and they played. We had tacos for dinner. 

I made McKay some keto cheese crackers again. There was an incident and I had to talk to both boys. Sky and Sarah came by and picked Carson up. I had a book from my harp teacher I forgot to return and I read it to them. Dave worked until almost 9 pm!  He is swamped! I am basically doing this solo. Hope I survive!  haha

dear tuesday, 
░H░A░P░P░Y░* 。*★•。* 。*。★
• ★。* 。*。 •★ ░B░I░R░T░H░D░A░Y░ to my son Skyler who made me a mama 35 years ago today! I guess the cat's out of the bag that I was only four years old when I had him.😱 You have blessed our lives in so many ways but most of all by reminding us to live each day to it's fullest and to squeeze every ounce out of life each day. We are so proud of you and your good heart and for all the lives you have changed (mostly ours) for the better! Love you bud! Happy Birthday! 🥳🎈🎉🎁🎂 Skyler

I had my harp lesson today and so I took kids to my mom's. My dad was golfing but wasn't going to be too long. Harp was really good. I had to hit a few stores in search of bday gifts for Sky. I got back to my mom's and the kids were having a good time. I hung out there for a while.  

Winston fell asleep on the chair about 7:30 tonight. I think I am wearing them out! hah It was Stephanie Hicken's shower tonight at Karen Jone's house but I had no one to watch the kids and Kalani was asleep. I called Bryce and he was so kind and immediately came over. I forgot all about this needing a babysitter thing. Hah The shower was fun. I wish I could have stayed longer. Jaida was there and we had a good chat. She is a senior! Wow!  

McKay was with Coop in SLC and he leaves for spring break to Vegas tomorrow and then to Costa Rica with Taylor and CJ and Natalie. Dave was at meetings really late. I did stop by Sky's to take his gifts to him. I ended up getting him Sushi Ya and iFly gift cards and some $$$. 

dear wednesday, went on a short walk while Dave tended. Pretty crazy it's been SO long since I walked up at Kotter Canyon. There are several new homes already built and several almost built. 

I have been taking a lot of pictures of these littles. They are so cute!  Today Dave was supposed to be off but with his dad being sick and Kellie quitting, he is the lone man (with three NP's) and so he worked today. He isn't going to get a day off in a very long time! Haylie brought Brinlee and Liam over to visit and then my Mom and Dad came by and brought pizza.   

When Liam saw my mom, he ran and grabbed her hand and dragged her into the playroom to play with him. It was THEE cutest!!!

 Everyone had a great time playing and hanging out!
The kids loved having some playmates!

 I LOVED THIS!!! ↓ How cute is that!?

My parents are the funnest and the best!  Everyone loves hanging out with them! 

I loved this photo!  It's probably my most favorite all week!

 McKay made it to Vegas.

dear thursday, I made Mickey Mouse Funfetti pancakes for the kiddos today. Man, they were good! They are good little eaters. 

I got them both bathed and dressed. I got ready and worked a bit on Homemaker stuff. 

Kalani sure loves Scratchers! He loved her for the most part too. Once in a while she got a little too close for comfort for him, but overall he is one good cat for littles!

We tried to get ONE good picture to send her Mommy of the two of us so she would know she was happy and having a good time at my house, but I'm not sure we succeeded. 

 I do like this one however!  It's my fave!

We then went to my Homemaker's meeting. The kids had fun in the nursery. 

Our meeting was an Instapot demo and it was very informative. I really need to use mine more. 

 Here is the recipe for the really yummy Creamy Tuscan Chicken Pasta she made. It was so tasty!

We still have only one home for next month's home tour. I am not sure what we will do. Every single home but one cancelled on us. Crazy. I chatted with Beth and Karen a bit about the women's forum. My parents called and were on their way. I told them where I was and so they drove over. I was chatting to some of the members and then  trying to buckle the kids in when they pulled up. We raced them home. The kids were so cute. I fed them leftover pizza. My parents stayed for quite a while. 

I had to make dinner for Dave's parents while my parents were there. I made chicken bundles, Brussel sprouts, and lime jello salad. I loaded the kids up and we delivered it to them. We visited for a bit then ran to Walmart to get supplies for the glitter bottles. 

The toilet paper shelves were EMPTY!!!  Still!

We ran into several peeps I knew and then came home and I fed them dinner and let them watch a little bit of TV. Kalani had me laughing so hard at Walmart. She just says it how it is...loudly. She kills me. I love her spirit. I love three year olds!  Two and three year olds have my heart. So much fun. I didn't give her a nap today because our schedule was too crazy, but she did fine. 

dear friday, today I made Funfetti pancakes again for breakfast (they are good!). I love them! Scratchers has a new pal!

I got the kids ready and then I got myself ready but before I was done, Haylie and her littles arrived. She had court today so I was tending them. We had a busy day but lots of fun!  We made glitter jars!  

 Here is the recipe. The one on the left is the normal one. The one on the right is the one that looks more like a lava lamp.

We only had one major mishap when Liam took the lid off his glitter and it went everywhere. He had fun with the vacuum after I cleaned it up. What a mess! LOL

 The jars turned out great. 

 We went outside because it was almost 60! SO NICE! SPRING IS HERE!  It was so fun.

They played musical chairs while I played the music and then had a show where Winston and Brinlee did gymnastics. 

 They were hilarious...

 Kalani and her seer stone!  LOL 

What?!! The audience is not watching the brilliant and impressive show!

They had a lot of fun with bubbles (more like spilling them everywhere), and then my Mom arrived. She drove herself. I was happy she made it safely!  Haylie then arrived. We then did the Ivory Soap in the microwave. They loved that. 

Then we made slime. What a mess!  Seriously! What was I thinking? Haha  But it was fun. 

 OH MY GOSH!
How did this happen?  NO IDEA!  But it took a long time to get it out of her hair and clothes!  Haha

We then went to Wendy's for lunch. It was fun. I love those little ones!  Can't get enough of them even if they do exhaust me! 

That little Liam is so precious and Kalani is such a spitfire, she has me laughing all the time! I love her feisty-ness!  

My happy place!

Haylie and crew went home and I brought my mom back to my house. She stayed and visited for a while. 

They played with their slime and then Madisyn and Harrison arrived to pick them up. Kalani was ready to go. She got her suitcase and bag and was heading out. It was so cute. But they stayed and visited for a good hour and a half. It was fun. Then they left. As well as my mom. The house was quiet. I was bone tired. I just sat there for a minute and could have fallen right asleep.  But I hurried and cleaned the disaster of a playroom, swept, cleaned all the main living areas, washed the sheets, folded up all the blankets, washed a million fingerprints off the windows, wiped the counters, etc. I was so tired. Dave and I had Stephanie's reception we went to as soon as he got home. 

It was at Maple Springs. Best part was the crepes!  Oh, so good! We chatted with Matt and Adam. He had another video of Tyson and Matt bombing the frog pond. Only this time Sky and Bryce were in it. He was laughing as he told us about it. He said one of boys said, "The tadpoles are all dead!". He thought that was hilarious. Oh boys!  We talked to the guy who is a PT where I go and then to the Davis'. We came home and I hit the hay!

dear saturday, this is what I saw when I went to catch this up today:

I'm usually pretty good at keeping up with the daily (at least) writing and then I add the pix later. Not a single word!  This is proof what happens when you have littles around 24-7!  I am totally perplexed how I did it with FIVE LITTLES 24-7 365!  No idea!  Especially when back then I accomplished WAY more than I do now. I guess I'll chalk it up to aging. I do have to admit, I AM EXHAUSTED!  At the time of my writing (6:00 pm), I am so ready to hit the hay!  Especially since we LOSE AN HOUR tonight thanks to that very irritating thing called Daylight Savings Time. But I think the main difference is, once I put my boys to bed, I had energy to stay up into the wee hours of the night and get a TON done then. Not now!  When I put these guys to bed, I put myslef to bed too!  Hah  I'm so behind in EVERYTHING!  My email has piled up, I haven't written in this once, I haven't practiced the harp, my newsletter went by the wayside, my blog books are on hold, I haven't got the Bishop's Wife Luncheon planned yet, and on and on!  Truly, I have no idea how I did so much when I had even MORE littles!  They were so much fun, but holy, I am beat!  Not sure when I will catch up either because this coming week is full speed ahead again!  GO GO GO!!!  I really just want to CHILL CHILL CHILL! For a day or two anyway!  But that is not how life is!  

I went out walking this a.m. I had plans to run but my ankle was really painful today. Plus I just didn't have any energy! I wonder why!  Hah I got in five miles walking though. Found quite the haul!

Dave and I headed to O town to the Ogden Temple for Stephanie's sealing. Guess who didn't have their recommend?  It's nice to be married to a Stake President in times like this!  LOL It was packed!  After that we went to Roosters for lunch. I have been craving their pepper jack turkey enchiladas. Oh, they are my favorite!  Dave had stroganoff and it was so good too. I was so full I didn't even order the Caramel Bread pudding!  Shocking I know!

We came home right after because we both had so much to do. I did some laundry, prepared my lesson, planned the food for the Bishop's Wife Luncheon this week, caught this up a tiny bit, and did photos of the kiddos to post on social media. I wanted to just go upstairs and watch a movie. Maybe next week. 

dear sunday, I had to teach today and so I got up and finished with my lesson a bit. It was mostly done though. 

I went to church and chatted with Karen about our Homemaker home tour. She gave me some ideas to check on for homes. It was our ward conference. Dave spoke and did a great job. We had the stake leaders in primary as well. We only had three littles today. I taught the lesson and they were adorable as usual. Little Ever is just the cutest little thing and got so excited when she walked in sacrament today and saw me. She said the prayer and it was long but we couldn't understand what she said. LOL  I love my Sunbeams!  We came home and no one was here and so Carson and I headed over to Julie's to see her new furniture. She got a new bedroom set and a new couch set. We came home and I finished dinner. We had chicken pot pie and a jello salad I made and .... hmmm... can't remember what else. Hah It was so quiet without McKay and Winston and Kalani here.  My parents stopped by. I made brownies and we had a good chat.  We lost an hour last night due to Daylight Savings and I was ready to hit the hay early. I do like it staying lighter later though. 

dear quotes, my friend Gary (Guru Gary) sent me this with a challenge to get a coach and to not wait any longer before I get myself running. I needed the challenge. He told me how Linsey Vonn was injured severely and was able to come back and ski again. Her story is amazing. Go google it!

From Jody Moore's Take Tuesday:
Worry is not important or necessary.

It doesn't drive your best action or help you find solutions or prevent challenges.

It creates panic, chaos and suffering.

Even if something tragic occurs, worrying about it ahead of time serves no purpose.

It only prolongs your suffering and prevents your most strategic problem solving.

Did you know you can choose to be prepared, plan ahead and make wise choices without the worry?

The only thing real is what's happening right now and if you take a look around you right now, you are just fine.

You are here. All is well.

If something challenging happens in your life then you will get to work problem solving around that challenge.

But 99% of the time the things we worry about never come to be anyway.

All that worry was just un-necessary suffering.

You have everything you need to handle anything that comes your way.

And life is only going to get better.

Have an amazing week. 

Here is one more that I need to work on! From TONYA LEIGH: See if you can relate to this. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my office. It was a beautiful day. It was one of those days where everything --and I mean everything-- was going right. (Don’t you just love days like that?) And yet, for a reason I can’t explain, a familiar feeling from my past began creeping in. I started thinking about all the things on my calendar. I started obsessing about all the things that needed to be done. And before I knew it, I found myself playing out these dreadful, worst-case scenarios in my mind … scenarios about what might happen if I didn’t finish all these projects. My chest started to tighten. My heart rate climbed. Have you guessed which emotion was starting to swarm over me? If you guessed overwhelm, you’re spot-on.

When I work with clients, overwhelm is a word that comes up a lot. “I’m so overwhelmed.” “I’m so busy.” “I’m never going to get caught up.” “I’m behind.” They believe that if they just get more done, the feeling will go away. It doesn’t work that way. Overwhelm is an emotion, and emotions are created by the thoughts in your head (not your to-do list or how busy your calendar says you are). I know we often feel like our thoughts think for themselves, especially when we’re used to thinking about things a certain way. And, they seem so true, don’t they? But, one of the greatest skills that I’ve ever learned that created a 180-degree change of my entire life is learning how to manage my own mind and think on purpose. Occasionally, it will pop up, but overall, overwhelm is something I rarely experience . And it’s not because my external world has nothing going on (quite the opposite, actually!) It’s because of how I think, which then impacts how I organize my life. When it does start to creep in, I know exactly how to deal with it. The first step to eliminating overwhelm is to watch your language. When you’re thinking about your to-do list, how often do you say things like: “I have to take the kids to school.” “I have to go to work.” “I have to do the laundry.” “I have to clean my house.” The I-have-tos make you feel trapped and overwhelmed, which is why I never say I-have-to do anything. Everything is optional. I don’t have to abide by my daily agenda, meet with clients, create content, cook dinner, record a podcast. Instead, I get to do those things. I get to record a podcast. I get to talk with my clients. I get to write a blog post. I get to cook dinner. It feels so much better to think of getting to do these things, instead of “having” to do them. It changes your thoughts, which changes your emotions. And, when you change your emotions, you change your state of being. This changes everything, my friend. This leads me to Slim, Chic & Savvy. You don’t “have-to” do it. It’s something you get to choose for yourself. You get to invest in yourself and learn timeless principles that will be with you for life. This from EMILY BELLE FREEMAN: Do you ever feel like you are a work in progress? And if you just knew exactly what He had in mind for you it would be easier? Do you look at all of the things and all of the people and all of the goodness and wonder if you are getting any of it right? I stood at that temple site today for a long time. I’m going to be honest...I felt a lot of anxiety over it. Do they know what they are doing? Do they know how careful they need to be? I watched them work as if I was the General Contractor. Because I love that temple. In case you are wondering, no one asked my advice while I was there. As I stood there, I felt the change and the preserving all happening at once, and then I focused on the sweeper. Someone hired a sweeper. He swept for the entire time I stood there. Every few minutes. He took care of the mess that comes with the restoring of a thing. So the beauty would be revealed. This week I have laid my soul out bare. I’ve given Him permission to do His work there. The preserving and the changing. The getting things right. What I am recognizing most is the sweeping going on...and I am hoping somewhere underneath it all, the beauty will be revealed. Do you ever do that? Lay everything out bare and let Him go to work? It gives me a lot of anxiety. I want to be the General Contractor. But I honestly trust that He knows more about this process than I do. So I’m letting Him lay out the plan, and build, and sweep. Im waiting for the beauty to be revealed.