Inspiration

I've talked about her on my blog.

My children know her best.

I got to see her speak here.

What a sweetheart.

 Her book, 

Heaven Is Here

will be out April 3rd.

My copy will arrive and

I'm very sure 

laundry will have to wait!

Inspiration comes first. 

Right?

Happy to be loved.

 

  Jeff has 10 days off!He has been fixing things and helping around the house. He got the kids up at 5:00,he took them exploring: to find owls, and bald eagles.
I love him! Our marriage isn't perfect.I'm late sometimes.He doesn't like that.We get irritated,stressed,overwhelmed.We don't deal with it the way we should. But,we work through it. We both want the same thing.We want to be friends.We want to be together for our kids.We want to retire together,go on missions.We want happiness, we want to be loved.Its awesome to be with someone,who wants what I want.
There's an article that is awesome.

 HereI just read it.We have some things to work on.January is a perfect time to start.
 ♥

Crazy about him.

 

November 21, 2011

Happy Anniversary!!!  So how is my favorite girl doing this morning?  I miss you.  I am exited to see you tonight. 

November 30, 2011

Hi Kimi,

I love you.  I cant wait to see you.  Too bad I have mutual tonight.  I have had the best time with you the last few months and can't wait for the next few.  

13 years so far. The time has flown.We celebrated with a two day break.A little road trip.We snapped pics with two cameras.It was fun.  

   ♥

Email love.

  Emails from my husband:
 6-30-11

I love you so much, cant wait for this weekend.

8-3-11

Just thinking about you.  Cant wait to see you.  I can't wait till I get to talk to you on our drive this weekend. I miss you so bad right now.

8-15-11 

 I feel close to you even though I am not.

9-19-11

I am so exited to be in love with you!

Jeff works an hour away and we can't talk much on the phone while he's at work.

Its sad.

But.

Email love is my one of my favorite things.
It's a sweet reminder that I'm not alone in this world.
When he declares love I feel 
strong,
beautiful,
brave,
happy.

♥

Turn back Tuesday

Thanksgiving 2004

I love my sisty uglers!

Thanks for knowing all my faults and still loving me.

Sorry I used to be so bossy.

I'm so happy we had each other when mom died.

I'm so excited for you to have a baby, Mel! Can't wait to be in delivery with you. Can't wait to smell a new baby again.

I can't believe its been 13 years since all three of us shared a bedroom.
Meeting!! meeting!!

I take you both for granted!

We need more pictures of the three of us.

Thanks for being my sounding board, Sher.

Both of you are beautiful in every way. I'm so proud to call you sisters.

♥

I'm a believer.

For the past 2 years I've battled acne on my neck and chin. I've tried several things and nothing has worked. So many companies profess to be the best at this or that. How do you know who's really telling the truth.

Anyway, I've been in the market for something to clear up my face. I've also wanted to look vibrant, non-blotchy, and basically have a good palette for my make-up. One of my very best friends signed up with Mary Kay. I must admit, I've never been a fan. I don't get sold on things very easily. But since she's selling it and I wanted to help her with her income, I tried it.
And now... I'M A BELIEVER. The difference is HUGE and I love to wash my face like never before. I wash it in the morning and at night. I have a regimen down and totally endorse the cleansing system that Mary Kay has to offer.

While I'm on this subject. I must say I love make-up!!!!! Pictured below is my make-up box, and yes I use almost all of that makeup. Whenever I open this box it makes me happy. I love it because its like painting, and that's why I love make-up brushes too.

Some of my makeup must haves.

• eyelash curler
• mineral foundation

• bronzer ( I love physician's formula)

• Mary Kay Ultimate Mascara- best mascara that I've ever used. Laura taught me to put the mascara tube under my armpit while I do my make-up. It warms it up and makes it easier to apply. She also taught me something that has dramatically changed the fullness and length of my lashes. My neighbor even asked me if I had false lashes on the other day!!

• eye brushes, stipple brush, eyeliner brush, and big powder brush
• eye makeup remover from Mary Kay

• Mac Paint pot Painterly, a creamy nude beige color (what is a paint pot? Read below)The paint pot intensifies the color of your shadows, making them vibrant and true. Green is really green; blue is really blue.

  By Amber:Another benefit: MAC Paint Pot extends the life of other eye makeup you’re wearing. Preventing creases, it keeps eyeshadow in place and looking great. It works so well, you could even sleep in it and your eye make up would still look great when you woke up! It’ll at least make it through a night of dancing with your best girlfriends. It’s one of my favorite eye shadow primers I’ve tried.

  Another little secret? It works great as a concealer too, especially for covering dark under-eyes. Since the nude beige color of Painterly matches my skin pretty well, I just use a concealer brush and apply a little to my blemishes and under my eyes. It works better than a lot of actual concealers I’ve tried. I can’t say it would work for everyone, but if it matches your skin, I would definitely give it a try!

One more suggestion. If you want to learn some skills about makeup application, take a look at these amazing books. You can also call my friend Laura, she loves to teach anyone how to put on their makeup.

♥

♥ In honor of Valentine's Day

my little family

Dearest and nearest
how we show our love

♥ When I get a chance to lay down with Whitney for a nap I tickle her back and tell her make believe stories about Princess Whitney. A very beautiful Princess with beautiful brunette hair, deep brown eyes, and most of all - a beautiful heart, for that's the most important thing a princess can have. I tell her in my best librarian storyteller voice.

♥ Sometimes I clean the kids' rooms and surprise them. I always leave a love note for them and ask them to try a little harder to keep their rooms clean.

♥ We tell stories at dinner time and try to make each other laugh. The kids always like it when Jeff and I start our stories with- "When I was little..."

♥ We have FHE evening every week. Its not always a major production but we're consistent and the kids KNOW Monday night is always FHE. They look forward to the activity.

♥ When anyone does something awesome, I call the family to attention and we do a cheer 3x: Hip hip hooray for _____________!!!

♥ We have a family hug after family prayer before bed.

♥ We point to our eye than our heart and then we push our pointer fingers together. Abby made this one up.

♥ I always kiss the boys and tell them how much I love them when I drop them off at school and attack them with kisses. If we don't say a prayer at home and we're not running late we say a little prayer together before they leave.

♥ We dance together in the kitchen. I always ask them if they think I'm a good dancer. The girls love to shake their booties, Ethan loves it when I make him twirl, and Devon looks at us all like we're nuts. (I'm trying to teach them how to find the beat and move with it. Its hilarious to watch.)

♥ We go on adventures together when its warm. Family bike rides are the best.

♥ Jeff gets up every day at 4:45 am and leaves for work at 5:00 am. He gets home at 6:00. The kids attack him with sweet salutations, hugs, and kisses when he walks in the door. I give him kisses too but they're a little different than the ones he gets from the kids.

♥ I wake up with Jeff and make his lunch. I put love letters in his lunch box, especially when I want something, or I'm trying to make up. :)

♥ Jeff and I correspond during the day through email. We send each other secret messages.

♥ Jeff has never spanked any of our kids. I have, but very few times and far between those times.

♥ Jeff takes me out almost every weekend. (I'm going to miss my babysitters when we move.)

♥ No one is allowed to call anyone fat, stupid, dumb, or any other demeaning word. I get pretty grumpy if they do. It doesn't happen very often. The boys are learning to treat their sisters with respect and to compliment them.

♥ I love it when I ask the kids to do something and they say, "Yes mom." Those two words spoken together have got to be my favorite. Especially when there is a sweet smile attached to it. One of my boys replies to his teachers requests by saying, "Yes mam." Love it.

PS I would love for this all these things to happen much closer together. Interspersed in all this love talk is "How we show each other we're mad, sad, and frustrated." I could blog that topic... Hmmmm? I don't think I need to. I don't think anyone needs extra help with that.


How does your family LOVE each other?















♥

Dear Mr. Seymour,
Thank you for coming up with something that makes me feel thrifty, crafty, and just plain makes me happy. I will be using your invention today. I don't know if you're still around, but your invention is, and I'm so glad. Don't worry I am a conservative user of your product. There will be no huffing or tagging by my hand. I'll be painting furniture for my new house.
Sincerely,
your biggest fan
Kim W.


In 1949, canned spray paint was invented by Edward Seymour, the first paint color was aluminum. Edward Seymour's wife Bonnie suggested the use of an aerosol can filled with paint. Edward Seymour founded Seymour of Sycamore, Inc. of Chicago, USA, to manufacture his spray paints. Its still open today.


♥

Welcome home honey!

On a regular basis I'm kinda grumpy when my hubby crosses the threshold after his 12 hour work day. I don't like to be. I try not to but its just a tough thing for me. The homework and dinner rush is crazy sometimes and it razzes my brain!!

On Monday I got a brilliant idea. I was cleaning and dancing to the Music & Lyrics soundtrack. I was being totally goofy while I was dancing to "Pop Goes My Heart" and you couldn't have made me mad if you tried. Ah Ha!! That's it. Do the same dance for Jeff when he gets home!!

He liked it. A lot. I think he was a little embarrassed for me, but still, so much better than this:

We should consider every day lost in which we have not danced at least once. - Nietzsche, philosopher

♥
By mom247 at 2008-10-20

Ever take your sweetheart for granted??

I have. I've been so self-absorbed the last couple of months that the man in my life has felt a little left out. I've been struggling to fill the hole left in my heart, left over from watching my mom dwindle, to seeing her die, then having her disappear from my days. Its a tough road full of emptiness; longing for something that can no longer be.

I have to admit I've been selfish, wanting him to make me happy but not reciprocating that loving feeling. I was bending over backwards to make the house perfect, making sure the kids were in line, and begrudgingly fulfilling my wifely duties all the while constantly wanting a pat on the back, and finding fault with almost everything he did.

Well, I'm happy to report, that I'm back on track and so therefore, WE'RE back. When I'm feeling down in the dumps seems like I lose total perspective and everything is about me. After some gut wrenching "talks" my eyes were totally open and I was able to see how I hurt Jeff. Guys are really not all that complicated. My husband is about TIME and RESPECT. He loves it when I spend time with him, talk with him about what's in his heart and just be willing to love him for him.

It also helped to understand, again, that he his different than me in so many ways and when I while I can fixate on something for 4 days, he's long forgotten it and moved on. I also had some help from Dr. Laura's "The Proper Feeding and Care of Husbands". Now, I know that there are some people that can't stomach her but let me tell you, her book on tape helped me understand way I had been sooooooo wrong. I didn't appreciate some of her language and some her talk about sex but for the most part she is right on.

Most of all I just needed to look around and take an evaluation on the loved ones in my life and notice that they don't thrive when I'm not filling their lives with SUNSHINE. "Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves."J.M. Barrie author of Peter Pan (I've loved this quote ever since President Uchtdorf uttered them at the RS broadcast. )




Next month we will celebrate our 10th anniversary and I'm giddy to be his. GRATITUDE fills my heart with reverence for his life and I feel utterly blessed that his love is intertwined with mine.

The gushy meter is off the charts. I LOVE IT!

By mom247 at 2008-10-20

My heart smiles at this picture!!

making life easier
Originally uploaded by almostbunnies

I LOVE
being organized.

I LOVE
storage containers (if you ever want an idea for my birthday or Christmas or you just want to cheer me up- containers are a favorite of mine. BASKETS, BINS, JAR, RACKS- you name it I love it.

I also LOVE
PAPER, MAGAZINES, COOL PINS, CREATIVE TOOLS- the office/craft room could easily be my favorite place in my future home.


I can't wait to move and start creating, organizing, and decorating. Its been a YEAR since I've been able to play with my craft stuff or do any serious decorating. In fact, because I thought I would be able to sell my house in a month, I put my stuff in storage. (I'm so silly-needless to say, I've been humbled!)
I got it out the other day and my heart sped up as I went through all of my paper, tools, ribbon, stamps, paint, idea magazines.