Your killing me Keegan!!!!

Keegan-Wow you have given me a run for my money this week kiddo. You have been a little on the naughty side this week. You have lied to me numerous times this week, you hopped on your bike and rode around the block without telling me, you had the wet recliner incident, then once we grounded you, we found you playing your Wii in your room. I am not sure what has gotten into you this week, but you have disappointed me quite a bit.

However, it is hard for me to stay mad at you because as naughty as you can be, you are so innocent in some of your actions. Its hard for me to understand, because I feel that at the age of 7 that it is time for you to take responsibility for your actions and your recent excuse to everything you do is "Mom but I did know" and the fact is, you do know!! You very much know right from wrong, and in your hours of remorse you explain to me over and over why you were wrong and plead for forgiveness. Tonight you kept saying to yourself yet loud enough to make sure I heard you how stupid lying is!! You kept saying " Why did I lie?" "I can't believe I did that" "That was sooo stupid" And then you always say "Mommy, I have been thinking! And I have decided what I did was really dumb and I am never gonna do it again!" And most of the time you have this false hope that your comments will let you off the hook of your punishment, which is how I know that you are smart enough to realize what you are doing!!! Then I respond to you "Keegan, I am sorry too, I am sorry that you made bad choices, now go back to your room" and at which time the crying starts all over again, until 20 mins later when you come back and try it all over again.

So I have decided that although I won't tell you this anytime soon, but you being grounded is the worst punishment I could put myself through!!! But I have to be consistent with you and hope that this new lying phase will soon pass, because there is nothing worse than a liar!! You are such a good boy at times, and yet test my patience. I hope that you get back on track soon, because I really hate to punish you. I like to see you play and smile, and be your funny, charming self. And this picture makes me laugh hysterically every time I look at it

1543 Miles

Well I looked it up. 1543 miles between me and someone I will treasure forever!! I started thinking tonight about the different people that have come in and out of my life, and one has somewhat stayed the same. We met approximately 10-11 years ago. I didn't know when we met that we would be friends still today. I have written about her before and she is the reason that I started this whole blog thing, so a big thanks to her for that. Emily Tripp Moore (although she will always be Emily Tripp in my eyes).
Em- I am so glad that we found each other again (thanks to Myspace). I truly thought that we would never find each other again. I know that we live 1543 miles apart but I will always think of you as one of my dearest and best friends. I was so sad when I moved away from Salt Lake because I knew that I was leaving behind one of the most loyal friends a person could ever find. I do have a best friend out here, but the connection and bond that we had and I hope still have will be unlike any other. You were one of the only friends that stood next to me even after I had Kaley. Wow for that, I am forever grateful. Most days I wish so badly that we lived closer. We could share so much together, hard times, funny times, sad times, but for now we will have to make do with our occasional text messages and our several page emails (which reminds me, we haven't had one of those in a while).
This may sound cheesy, but I have always looked up to you. You a such a beautiful person on the inside and out. You amaze me with your knowledge and understanding. I have never been ashamed of who I am, what I feel, or what I say when I am around you or even writing to you. I think that one thing I remember most about our friendship, was how much we were so different yet so much alike. Its like we know what the other one was going through without much words being spoken.
I envy the relationship that you and Jake have, and only hope that one day Heath and I will have as much love for each other as you two do. Em- Jake is an amazing man, who loves you and cherishes you and your children, and for that NEVER take that for granted. Jake has always just been the bonus to our friendship. He has always been the quiet one in the background, yet his loyalty as a friend to me in my most recent trip to SLC, and the crazy ex was very much appreciated. You children are beautiful, and I wish so badly that I could be around them and love on them, as much as I wish you could be around Kaley, Keegan, and Alexander.
I am secretly looking forward to the 10 year reunion, and I am begging Heath that we can go so that we can see each other again. (I mean how many friends can go 6 years without seeing each other and when you see each other again, just pick up where you left off).
So with all the cheesiness, I just wanted to make sure that you know that I love you like a sister, I cherish our friendship even at 1543 miles away. I will always be here for you, if you need me. I am only a plane ride, a text message, a email away!!!

The little things

Today the small things that I appreciate seems to shine through more than normal. It hit me on the way home after I took all three of you kids to eat dinner. We went up to Henry's or as Kaley and I changed the name to Henry Joe's. It is just a small deli so there isn't much to choose from when it comes to kids food. You both do pretty good about not being too picky, however Keegan you always have a belly ache or you say " Mom, I didn't think it was gonna be this big, when I ordered it" to prevent from eating as much as you should. The worst thing about going up there is keeping Alexander occupied.

Alexander, you have always loved to hear yourself scream. You don't scream because you are mad or sad, but clearly just to see every ones reaction. Your screams are usually occupied by flying arms and waving hands. Your brother and sister think that this is one of your funnier moves. Of course they laugh or scream back at you, and this just encourages you to do it again and again, however you manage to get louder and louder every time. Not only do you get your brother and sisters attention, but usually everyone around looks at you and is probably wondering why you are screaming, but not crying. Then they start smiling and giggling at you which again just gives you the ok to continue. I have to admit, it is funny.....

I was looking down at my shirt earlier today and realized that I had baby Alexander snot all over my shirt. Then I realized that I had been in public with this same snot on my shirt. It looks like I blew my own nose on my shirt!! CRAZY, and then I notice that I had some of Alexanders puff snack in my hair. WOW how things have changed, two years ago I would have never thought that having snot on my shirt and baby snacks in my hair would make me smile. I smile because I realize that for every drop of snot, meant that I held Alexander close to me. And someday he will not want to be as close to mommy. And if I have puffs in my hair that means that Alexander smiled today, because he always smiles when he grabs my hair. So if it takes having snot or sweet potatoes or drool all over my shirt everyday, then I happily take it, because that means that I was given a hug, held a sleeping baby, or comforted a crying child, and that means I have done my job for that day!!! I love my children more than life, I realize more and more everyday how blessed I am for having such wonderful children that make me remember the small things.

I LIKE TO MOVE IT MOVE IT

Yeah baby Alexander!!! You are finally crawling, and you love it!! You are starting to realize the actual benefit of crawling. Its great to watch the smile on your face as soon as you remember that you are able to get that toy you want across the room. Here is how our first full day at home went with you crawling. You also realized that once you got where you wanted that you could pull yourself up on everything!! You even got into things you weren't supposed to. IMAGINE THAT