My Husband ROCKS!

Somewhere I've heard this bit of marriage advice...(I'm paraphrasing, because my memory sucks these days), "The secret to a good marriage is to put the happiness of your spouse before your own happiness." Amen to that. I'm not great at this, but I sure try. But, John, he is awesome at this and I love him to the moon and back, to infinity and beyond, forever and always.

Yesterday I knew by 9 am that the day was going to stink and stink BAD! I was balancing our checkbook and comparing it with my online statement and OH NO! We were overdrawn by alot. It scared me. It worried me. I also had not gotten a lot of sleep the night before and had a wicked headache. I went downstairs to wake up John. Now, mind you, John works to 2:30 am, gives a co-worker a ride home to a neighboring town, then heads home and spends some time winding down. This means that when I woke him at up 9am, he had probably slept about 4 or 5 hours. Poor guy. But, I told him about the money situation and he said he'd take care of it (which he did). Then, I guess because I had his undivided attention (all the kids were upstairs), I ranted for nearly 30 minutes. And he just listened. I complained about money, friends, the kids, my weight, the messy house...etc. When I was done, he just looked at me and smiled. Then he said, "I love you."

And to top it all off, a couple of days ago, John took "New Moon" to work to read while the parts he is making run. Let me just say, most men are idiots. His co-workers gave him the hardest time about this. Can you say "moron"? Yep, that's what they are...or as John called them, "uncultured swine." Ha ha. Anyway, he read "Twilight" awhile ago to see what all the fuss was about. He's also taken me to all 3 movies and gone to Walmart at 12am to buy the movies for me right when they came out. So, because I asked him to, he's reading the rest of the books. Can you say "Yowzaa"? He is so studly to me because of this. Those guys at work are a bunch of so-called "machismos", but they don't know what a real man is.

A real man changes diapers. A real man hugs his kids. A real man takes his daughters on dates. A real man reads his wife's favorite books and goes to chick flicks. A real man tears up when he teaches his family from the scriptures. A real man works his butt off to support his family. A real man lets his wife sleep in on Sundays. A real man won't let his wife get a job. A real man plays with the baby. A real man gives his wife a hug and asks how he can help when he comes home to a messy home. A real man says, "I love you" to his wife and kids daily. A real man lets his wife rant and doesn't give advice unless she asks him to. And guess what? I have a real man. And I'll love him forever...

I Think I'm Growing Up!!

Before I had children, I was so smart and I knew everything. I was so grown up!! Parenting shmarenting. I read all the latest parenting books while I was pregnant with Mark. I thought to myself, "This isn't so hard, I know exactly what I'll do!" But then Mark was born and I had a brain hemorrhage of knowledge. I became pretty stupid, let's just be honest. I had no idea what I was doing! I panicked everytime he cried and swore I was done having children.

I was a hyperactive mother. Everything had to be just so. Mark wore perfectly matched clothes, with his hair combed to exactness. I followed a perfectly devised schedule each day. All meal times and nap times and bedtimes were scheduled. I followed the experts advice and put Mark in time-out for the exact minutes equal to his age. NO spanking...heaven forbid.

Back then, my home was pretty clean, too. "A place for everything and everything in it's place", as the saying goes. Toys consisted of one little basketful. Laundry consisted of 3 or 4 loads per week. I finally got into the swing of things...I was feeling pretty smart again. And then I had Savannah.

Then Wynter, then Hunter, then Micah and then Lincoln. I've just kept getting more and more stupid with each child. They are each so very different! And, needless to say, things around here have changed a bit, too.

Perfectly matched clothes? HA HA!! I'm just glad they get dressed! My kids dress themselves and who knows what outfits they will come up with! And hair combed to exactness? Whatever. And a schedule? I try to have consistency, but the only thing that is consistent is that nothing is ever consistent! Dinner is at the same time each night, but as for the other meals, it's survival of the fittest. If you can't make a sandwich by yourself, you better learn how and learn fast. (I do feed the baby, he's pretty helpless that way.) And spanking? I admit, I have/do...but rarely and when it is VERY necessary.

Toys consist of a closet full. Laundry is 14 loads per week. I can't find things a lot of the times, so although I do have a place for everything...nothing ever gets put back!! So, if you're into cleanliness, please call and give me 24 hours notice so that I can have things ready for your visit.

But, here's where the grown-up part comes in...It doesn't matter. The "perfectness" doesn't matter. The more children I've had, the dumber I've gotten in some ways, but the more grown-up I've become in other ways. For example, the other day we went to the park as a family. It had rained that day and there was a HUGE puddle just begging to be splashed in. And Micah did just that! And I didn't care. And, today, we were outside working on the yard and the sprinkler was on. It created a puddle in the sidewalk...a nice muddy puddle that Lincoln plopped his little self in. And I didn't care. He was having fun. You may be wondering if I just didn't care because I'm too darn tired. Nope. And while I'm on a roll here, I will just say that, yes, Lincoln has eaten a bug or two, and yes, my kids eat in front of the tv, and yes, I have taken Micah to the store in the summer while he's wearing shorts and snowboots, and yes, I will neglect the laundry from time to time until it is so tall the kids can pretend it's Mt. Everest. But, really, who cares?? I think that over the past 16 years of parenting, I'm finally realizing what is important.

I realize that one day I will miss this. I will miss the wet shoes and the wet muddy little body. I will miss the noise and the chaos that always seems to occur while I'm making dinner or I'm on the phone. I will miss the messes. I will miss the "why" questions from my curious 7 year old and the "what if" questions from my 16year old. I will miss all the little things that make up my life. This is it. Life IS in the details. I've learned to relax ALOT over the years and enjoy it all more.

And I've also learned in Whom I can trust. My loving Heavenly Father. He is always there. I can rely on Him to get me through the tough spots. I can rely on Him to help me through the day when I didn't get much sleep the night before. I can rely on Him to guide me to the answers when I have questions. Through Him and through my Savior, all things are possible and manageable. I can do all things with His help. And yes, I truly believe that "...Men/women are that they might have joy." (Nephi 2:25)

So, look at me, I'm growing up...and it's pretty nice.