Why Me?

Okay, I need to vent! Before I continue, I'd better preface by reminding everyone (and myself) that I really do love my husband! This morning I woke up, grateful to have a full day to tend to housework, the kids and finishing a book. It just wasn't in the cards. First thing, I went to the laundry room to clean the dryer vent and rotate laundry and what do I see? An entire dryer drum spotted in varying shades of blue! Apparently Cole had done a load of laundry last night and had some how, he swears he had nothing to do with it, gotten a blue pen in the laundry and it exploded! Of course, he didn't bother to mention it, just runs off to work! Not only was my dryer a disaster, but remember that beautiful blanket I spent hours sewing for Brock...yep, it was in the dryer too. I was so mad, I didn't know whether to scream or cry, cuss or never speak again! I still can barely see straight, of course, that is probably from the toxic fumes I have been inhaling all day. It has taken 5 hours of relentless scrubbing and 2 trips to the store, but it is finally only a light shade of blue with only a few light blue splotches. So now here is the question...how do I even look at the man when he returns? I did call him at work and ask him if he knew that the pen had exploded, and he had known, but noooooo, he didn't say, "Don't worry about it honey, I'll clean it when I get home." And he didn't say, "I am so sorry, that is the pits." Oh no, he didn't even say a thing! And I can guarantee he won't bring home flowers as a peace offering...so, grrrrrr! I haven't gotten one load of laundry done, the floors still need to be vacuumed and mopped, the lawn still needs to be mowed (yes, I do that too!) and I have a screaming baby ready to be fed...again! Plus, tonight is full of t-ball from 5:00-6:00 and Cole's softball games from 6:30-8:30. How am I supposed to go and cheer for him when I am so mad right now I could kill him!? I guess I should have taken Kaysie's advice all along and never let him touch the laundry! I know someday I'll look back on today and laugh. Perhaps that is the only thing that is keeping me from throwing my hands in the air and saying, "FORGET IT!" Oh, I just can't wait for him to come prancing home with a big grin on his face thinking he can just make it all better! He is in such big trouble. I really think I can empathize with Darcee right now... "No, I really don't think I do!!!" Okay, I don't feel much better, but now I am off to try and get the ink out of Brock's new blanket! What a day!

Ladd and Krystal's Wedding

I really would love to post all of the amazing pictures I took at the wedding, but it would have taken FOREVER! Plus, I didn't think everyone would want to look through quite that many pictures, so I picked the best I could! We had a wonderful time at Ladd and Krystal's wedding. They were married in the Draper temple last Saturday; the perfect day for a May wedding. The temple ceremony was really neat and the sealer was so sweet. After the sealing was over, he had all the immediate family stay and then he talked to all of us. He talked quite a bit about children and how we would all need to support and help Ladd and Krystal throughout their married life. Then, he quickly added, "but don't help them too much!" It was funny. I think he was warning them that they are going to have some pretty naughty little children! Oh well, Ladd deserves it!

It was especially fun to all be together again. Lance and Shanna live in New Mexico and Brooks and Jodi Lynn live in Texas, so we all don't get to be together that often, but it is always a blast when we do. Ladd is the last of the Roundy boys to get married, so we won't all be able to get together for weddings anymore, but I am sure we can come up with some softball tournaments to bring everyone together! We are so lucky to have such amazing families. I love all of my sister-in-laws just like they were my own sisters and am so grateful Krystal is FINALLY part of the family!

Tawni and Kasi Ann (Brooks and Jodi Lynn's little girls)

Tawni was less than thrilled about being squeezed to death!

Kaitlin and the boys!

Kasi

(You have no idea how many shots it took to get ONE of her looking at the camera!)

Handsome Jackson

(Lance and Shanna's little boy)

Tawni

Lance and Shanna.

These guys have been married just about a year less than us, I don't know what I would do without Shanna. She has always been there for us in so many ways and my kids love her so much! They are wonderful!

(Again, you have no idea how difficult is was to get a picture of Lance smiling, looking at the camera, and not pulling some crazy face! Poor Shanna, she just kept smiling and looking so pretty and Lance just kept ruining them! Really Lance, was it that hard to just take one cute pic with your wife?!)

Dallas and Amy

These two were just married in August of last year. We love Amy so much and are so grateful Dallas found her! I think Brock is a little jealous though, he can't understand why he can't marry Amy, too!

Brooks and Jodi Lynn. These guys live in Texas. Brooks is Cole's oldest brother, but is always quick to mention that he has more hair! He also beat Cole at a basketball game at Boondocks this weekend. I think Cole spent about $3.00 trying to beat Brooks' score! Oh the fun of 5 brothers competing!

Ladd and Krystal. This maybe isn't the greatest picture, but I loved it. She was a beautiful bride and I guess Ladd was pretty handsome too! They are such a cute couple and will be so happy together!

The brothers, minus Ladd.

My little girls!

Brock with "HIS" Amy!

Silly little Brandon

Princess Kaitlin

My monkeys!

Krystal and Kaitlin

Ladd and Krystal and all the nieces and nephews!

The hills are alive...with the Sound of Music!

My boys just love pretty girls!

Looking at the Angel Moroni

Waiting to take pictures at the reception

Killing time while the photographer took pictures of Ladd and Krystal

What a crew!

Alli was trying to get Grandpa's glasses

Dallas watching Alli chew on her RAZZIE!

Kaitlin and daddy dancing!

What would life be like without a daddy?!

Daddy and Brandon (Brandon was too tired to walk!)

Brock was bringing me this rose from Krystal's bouquet. He gave me a kiss, too! It's moments like that that make it all worth it!

We are the Champions!

For those of you who have watched Cole play softball over the years, you may think the championships are rigged since Cole has won a trophy practically every year! Don't worry, it isn't rigged, he just plays with some awesome guys. The thing I love most about the team he plays with is that most of them are sets of brothers and they are all just good home-grown Utah boys! It is such a fun team to watch and it makes it even more fun that a group of good-ol' mormon boys can keep taking the tournament!

CJ and Cole with their proud kids! (What is with the green shirts? Ugly!)

Kaitlin and Avery

All the kids with the trophy. Can you tell they are all so excited that their dads won after 4 hours of softball?! Boden and McKyla took the trophy home this year, I think the trophy was taller than McKyla!

May is for Playing

I LOVE the month of May. In St. George, the weather is perfect and it is fun to see so many people out enjoying the great outdoors. Our first few weeks of May have sure been packed!

I love Sunday mornings when we walk to church. This particular Sunday, Cole let the boys ride their bikes since they had just learned to ride without training wheels. You can see that Brandon gave up fairly early on the trek to church! (Cole is holding the little bike in his hand!) We just couldn't convince him that it would be easier to ride his bike that was a little bigger. Oh well, he learned the hard way!

This year's Cotton Days parade was awesome. It went on and on forever and the kids got tons and tons of candy. I love to watch the flag go by at the start of the parade. I get a lump in my throat every time. Silly, I know, but I really am so grateful to live in such a beautiful, peaceful land.

Allison had fun during the whole parade! She is such a good baby!

These guys were a big hit!

It was so much fun to meet up with all our friends and watch it together!

Jaden, Brandon, Brock and Olivia!

We have been playing a lot of t-ball in our backyard lately. The boys are on the ANGELS this year. You can see how big his shirt is, but Brandon wants to wear it whenever he practices! He was being the catcher for the moment, but was smart enough to scoot back in the shade!

Here's my little lefty...hitting righty! Brock wants to be just like his brother, so he always wanted to hit righty. We wouldn't ever let him, but the other day, we gave up and just let him hit how he wanted. To our surprise, he is just as good a batter hitting righty! How cool is it that at 5 years old he can hit righty and lefty!!!

Allison is happy as pie to just sit in the grass and watch the boys play ball. This is what we do most of the mornings! There have only been a few close calls between Alli and the balls so far, but I can't say I have been as lucky!


We also have been spending a lot of our time at the parks around St. George. I loved this park because it had porch swings all around the perimeter. The swing I am talking about is what Brandon and Alli are on. I could just sit there all day and watch them play!

It was about 11:00pm when I took this picture! Allison was supposed to be in bed asleep and the kids were supposed to be in their room listening to Scripture Scouts trying to go to sleep, but when I went to check on things, I found them all awake, Alli included, and playing in the boys' room. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk...I had to take a picture!

Yet another night, Cole was supposed to be in the boys' room telling them a bedtime story and I walked in to find them all teasing and playing with Alli. Her high-pitched squeals of delight are what alerted me that something was amuck in the first place!

Soccer is finally done, but it was sure fun while it lasted. This is Kaitlin and her friend Madisyn - they are the same age, if you can believe that! Kaitlin is a very tall girl for her age (and Maddy is very small!)

Soccer super-star!

Look how interested the boys were in the game! Brandon and Brock love to watch Kaitlin (and all the other cute girls) play soccer and Landon does whatever Brandon and Brock do!

This is just a bit of what May has been for us! Always fun, always busy, but always memorable!

Love Comes Softly

I know it really isn't fun to have a post without pictures, but I wanted to write this one while I could remember. I had a wonderful mother's day. I am so grateful to be a mom and especially grateful to be able to be a full-time mom right now. This mother's day was especially nice because Cole and the kids didn't just buy me fun things, but they said and did such sweet things, too. I watched a movie on Saturday night that reminded me how grateful I am to be a mom. Sometimes I feel a little pouty on mother's day because I feel like no one really appreciates all I do. This movie reminded me that even if no one acted like they appreciated me, it would still be worth it. It reminded me that being a mom is an honor and that that in itself was worth celebrating. It was called "Love Comes Softly." I really can't believe how encompassing the love I feel for my little family is. I really would do anything for them. All the tears, sleepless nights, exhaustion, messes, trips to the doctor - they are all worth the good moments. I wanted to share a few things I have learned to appreciate about being a mom and a few things that I try not to ever forget. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a mom. My heart aches for those amazing women I know who long to have a baby. It just reminds me to never take for granted these days!

1. I've learned to enjoy today for today. Put off the things that can wait and live right now. They grow up way too fast.
2. I love to watch my kids sleep; it brings out emotions in me that I never knew I had.
3. I relish the hugs and kisses and the snuggles. There is nothing more fulfilling than hearing thank you or than kissing an owie all better.
4. My favorite time of day is nighttime when we lay down together in their big queen bed and tell stories and laugh and laugh and laugh.
5. I've learned that it is so important to make good memories and to have traditions.
6. I've learned to listen and look at the world through a child's eyes again.
7. I've learned that all the toys and gifts and presents can never make up for love.
8. Most of all, I've learned to just let go and live. I have given up on images and ideas and standards and have just followed my heart.

I love my kids with a love I didn't know I was capable of feeling. I am so grateful to be a mother even though I feel so overwhelmed and inadequate at times. I know that the work I am doing right now is so important and I know that my Father in Heaven guides me through it all. Most of all, I know that following the teachings of the prophet will protect and strengthen my family in so many ways. I am so grateful to have a guide to follow and am so grateful to have the opportunity to raise my beautiful children.

Life's A Ball!

Around our house, life really is a ball - literally! It seems that we are always playing soccer, t-ball, softball, basketball, tennis or just about anything else you can imagine that involves a ball. All this activity is making me nuts; I just can't believe how crazy it has been. It has only been a month since my surgery, which makes it even crazier. It would be a discourse to try and explain all that has taken place in the last month, but just to briefly summarize - Kaitlin and the boys had their birthdays and parties, Alli started rolling, Kaitlin finished her soccer season, the boys started T-ball season, Cole played on 2 softball teams - one of which won tournament, we held a Primary quarterly activity, my soon to be sister-in-law went through the temple, I went on a shopping spree and so, so, so much more! I am thoroughly worn-out, but also very grateful for all the fun we've had!



I thought this was a cute picture of Kaitlin. She had to play defense for just a bit, but was so bored. She is turned away from the ball talking with the goalie! Hey, at least she wasn't picking flowers like her dad did when he played soccer!


This is a pic of the boys racing each other at their first t-ball practice! "Uncle CJ" gave the winner a quarter! They are just a little competitive!



Allison is LOUD! She has found her voice and LOVES to use it! She is such a doll. She loves to tell her brothers and sister really long stories and watch their facial expressions change; the more you react, the better the story gets!

Here is Brandon at Kaitlin's Relay for Life. Kaitlin's school held a Relay for Life during the day so that the kids could participate. Cole and I took the kids and walked the track for a while. Brandon rode in the stroller most of the time, while Brock, on the other hand, RAN around the track over and over and over! It is amazing those two are twins! There was a giant crowd around our stroller because I brought a spray bottle and kept spraying the kids! There is just something fun about blasting a kid with cold water, especially when they aren't expecting it.

Kaitlin is such a good big sister. She is so proud of her little brothers and loves it when they get to come to school.

Kaitlin and her friend, Ashlee, posing for a pic while they were playing basketball.

Kaitlin and Ashlee playing basketball on the boys' new hoop!

Allison finally learned to roll! (I wasn't pushing her at all; I was very content to put her in one spot and have her stay right there!) She was one determined little bugger though. She grabbed the carpet and pulled herself over!

Brandon loves to play basketball; every time we get home he grabs his ball and shoots! I have gone through tons of hand soap because he always has black little hands now! I guess that is a price I can pay to let him play his little heart out!

Allison enjoyed sitting on grandpa and watching Kaitlin's soccer game. She was a little annoyed that I kept trying to get her to smile at the camera though!

Happy Allison - she's all smiles, all day!

Brandon was having a blast shooting me with one of his new squirt guns from his birthday.

Brock was having a blast running through the sprinklers and then hugging mommy in his cold, wet swimming suit!