good intentions...

When I opened the box, I had good intentions. 


Ya see, Haven was sick last Sunday- reallllly sick. So were our kids. So was I. Since the hubs didn't even have a voice, I called around looking for someone to sub for his CTR 9 primary class. How bad could it be, right? Aren't people just skipping church so they wont be asked to teach these kids DYING to teach primary? (All i know is, after being nursery workers, then nursery leaders for the first 6 months of our marriage, I was just relieved when they called Haven to teach primary alone, not with me lol.) The answer to this question is no, they aren't- in case you were wondering. I called the people I honestly thought would be willing to do it too- the ones who are always willing to do ANYTHING you ask. And who tell you to call them if you ever need ANYTHING, at all, ever. Nope, those people said no. Some people had good reasons, some didn't. Some people didn't even answer. lol (totally would have been me haha). SO anyways, I was getting completely desperate. Finally this amazing guy answered, and he not only offered to do it, but he SOUNDED EXCITED? Unprecedented, I know. 


Needless to say, I was so happy I could have cried. Instead I told him I would bring him cookies for being so amazing and helping us out 30 mins before church. 


Now its Wednesday night and still no cookies. Good intentions.....
But... I had some cupcake mix. Regular yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Score! I can bring them cupcakes! Plus, I would venture to say that getting cupcakes is even BETTER than getting cookies. Right? 


Well now its 9 pm. It's looking a little late to drop off the cupcakes tonight. And I've already eaten 6 cupcakes (and now Im seriously considering doing HCG lol). I guess they'll just have to stay here till morning- for safe keeping of course. And I'll be that classy person who drops off cupcakes to someone's house at 8 am. 


I wanted to do service. I wanted to give these cupcakes away. I had goood intentions. I swear. 


PS. Someone please bring over some pre-washed lettuce so I can cleanse tomorrow. 
(if you don't get this joke click here http://www.seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/)

out n' about issues

I've been busy! And by that I mean that I've been out n' about, doing things, seeing people, going places. It's been awesome. First, I stayed in for like 2 days working on more than one sewing project...one of which was an adorable pink damask car seat canopy for my gorgeous friends Joy's baby shower...

I know, totally one of those women who makes you think holy crap why didn't I look this good?
"WOW she is so beautiful pregnant- she's GLOWING! I hate her lol. 
Pretty sure I was glowing and looking this good for the first 3 months... and thats it... :)

PS I can totally make YOU one if you want.
Email me at sugarnspiceorders@gmail.com

Don't judge me....I put up the Christmas tree and some other Christmas decorations. If it were up to me we would skip Halloween altogether and I would have the tree up from October to December. 

(PS, why can't my house dress up like Christmas for Halloween?) The house just feels so much warmer and inviting with all the twinkling lights everywhere, and I love having reminders around me all the time about what this season (and every other season) should really be about- the Savior. 

With the tree up and the weather cold and wintry, I felt the need for some hot chocolate. So my partner in crime- Allie- and I went to Starbucks to get our fix. Sounds so relaxing, right? Ha, funny joke. We took the girls. They were alright until we decided to get them out of their seats... which is the point when all heck broke loose. Some really nice guy came over to talk to us and struck up a convo about twins. Turns out he has twin 9 year old boys at home. He was saying that as soon as you have twins, you realize how many other people either have twins or are connected with twins somehow. Little did he know that I was a twin myself and that Allie also has a twin sister...

To answer the question in your head, YES I am growing my eyebrows out after a long argument with my tweezers finally ended. It's awkward, I know. 

Fast forward to this morning. Amanda Marie and I and the gang (five girls under 3) got up super duper early (9 am :D) to go to our library reading group that happens every Tuesday. We missed the very first one last week because we were all sick. We had heard about the class two months ago and thought it sounded fun, but we were told we had to call the day, no, the MORNING that the signups opened up or else we would not get in. Honestly they made it sound like the Alpine Country Club of all library groups. So i called the MORNING of signups and got us on the list...just in the nick of time. :) 

(This is all taking me back to a recent episode of Modern family- Lily and preschool- hive five if you know what I'm talking about.)

I got all pretty for this kids reading group, only to get there and realize that all the other moms had just rolled out of bed for this. Hmmm...don't need to wear makeup next time I guess lol. All I know is, when the lady in charge told everyone to "stand up and put your hands up above your head like a rocket"I thought she meant everyone. 10 seconds into the song I realized that in a room of 15 parents and tons of kids I was the only adult standing up, shaking my hips from side to side, hands above my head, pretending to know the words of the rocket song. Country Club of library groups? Not quite. 

Whatever, I was a DANG good rocket. Psh. 

Since  my kids are perfect and they sat still the whole time literally ran around the whole library group for 30 minutes, I needed a coke. (duh.) Off to Mcdonald's playplace! Here is where everything else I blogged about ties in. First, there was 2 other moms with twins there! One mom had fraternal twin boys, four months old and SO CUTE! They were so smiley and sweet. Another lady had fraternal twin girls, eight months old. They were really sweet too! It made me think of what Starbucks guy said- once you get looking twins really are EVERYWHERE! 

Is it just me, or should some adults be banned from Mcdonald's playplace? Yes, that's right- I said ADULTS. Clearly, there is a sign that says 

"Toddler Area only- Children 3 and under ONLY may play here"

My IQ isn't that high, but even I understand what this means. After one lady's big 6 year old knocked my girls down twice and made them cry, I was ready to make HIM cry. I have no problem telling other people's kids how to behave when they wont, so I asked the boy nicely to go play in the "big kids" area. He didn't listen. I tried to make it obvious that I was irked by standing really close to the girls and repeatedly saying "Boys watch out!" and "NO NO NO NO NO". The mom finally came over and threatened her boys with time out...twenty times. Without ever actually following through. 

What do you do in this situation? Do you confront the mom and ask her to remove her kids who obviously don't belong there? Do you ask the kids directly to leave? I don't know what to do when that happens...

What would you do? 

Ordinary.

I woke up this morning feeling really ordinary. I've been feeling like that a lot of mornings lately. Like I can't do much of anything right. Being sick has gotten the best of me, and I haven't been up to cleaning or cooking, or showering, or bathing the girls. Or doing anything for anyone else. We got "booed" for Halloween three different times because I didn't bother to tape the "booed" sign to our front door. I never even made treats to boo back- and I should have done it for six houses. I got an email about how a cleaning job I helped with was less than satisfactory. I feel frumpy and lazy, worn out and spread thin. I tried to take my sick girls outside for some fresh air and one of them ended up with a very bruised (purple) nose. Like I said, terribly ordinary. 


Then I started reading a blog where a husband was gushing about how special, talented, beautiful and amazing his wife is. What an amazing mother she is. How she means more to him than anything. I felt a prick in my heart- because I want someone to feel that about me. Today especially, I don't even feel those things about myself. 


That's when it hit me like a train, all at once. Even - no- ESPECIALLY on the days when I feel like a loser, with nothing to offer anyone, someone still thinks I'm beautiful. And amazing. And a great mother. That someone is God. I am extraordinary because I am his daughter. He knows me better than anyone, and he knows my heart. He doesn't see the mess in my house, the grease in my hair, or the to do list I have with nothing crossed off. He sees my heart. The love I have for my kids. The desire I have to make cookies for a  neighboor. All the good things I want to do and become. 


As soon as I realized all this and let it sink in for a little bit, I realized more. Today, I taught Cambria how to hold a boxed apple juice and drink from the straw all by herself. 


Today, I gathered both girls in my arms and snuggled with them as they cried and whimpered "mommy". 


Today, my embrace and loving hands helped my daughter's tears disappear after she fell down. 


So today I take comfort in knowing that I am loved, no matter what. And that the work I'm doing, however ordinary it feels, is actually the most important work out there. I am a mother, and that...is extraordinary. 


For more pick-me ups about motherhood, check out these amazing links. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2saTjwg7_g


http://new.lds.org/church/motherhood?lang=eng