Momma's Day

My mother's day started with breakfast in bed provided by my 3 children. Ayden prepared the food in the kitchen while Tate and Ellie were the "lookout" making sure I didn't come out of my room. They were stationed right by my door.  I'm guessing Ayden was taking longer than they thought because the lookout team started to get restless and loud. So much for the element of surprise! They brought my favorites (or what Ayden said he thought were my favorites): fruit loops, waffle with lots of syrup, toast with butter and a glass of milk. Ironically, all these things are THEIR favorites! It was the sweetest thing and my best gift of the day, to know that my children wanted to take care of me.

After church I was given time to take a nap. Oh how I loved that! And then Spencer and Danielle made chicken alfredo, yummy. No dessert though, because they each thought the other was in charge of it! It was nice to be pampered and spoiled for the day. And I am very thankful for the reasons that I get to be spoiled on this day. My family is so important to me and I learn each day how much the Lord blesses me.

News

We shared some news with our children on Tate's birthday. We wrapped up a piece of paper with the news and let them open it like a present. Here's the reaction:

Tate's Song

I love this video of Tate singing his favorite primary song. So precious!

Tate's Birthday

Our little Tate boy turned 2 today, but not if you ask him. According to him, he is 5. When he woke up this morning I asked him if it was his birthday and he told me no. Then I said 'are you 2 today?' and Tate responded 'No, I five.' And he stuck with that all day too!
I think he had a great day, very low key. He got a baseball and bat and he loves it. He hasn't put it down. He's been watching Ayden play baseball and is mimicking his stance for batting. It's adorable because Tate squats down really far and says "strike 'em out". Not quite sure he gets that meaning yet!
Here are some things we love about Tate:
He is so goofy and fun
He is very smart and does whatever big brother and sister do
He loves to make people laugh.
His favorite primary songs are The Wise Man and I Am a Child of God
He isn't a picky eater (thankfully)
He LOVES  'pockicles' (popsicles)
He is left handed (mommy loves this)
He loves to color and play the Wii
He still takes 2-3 hour naps
He is our Taters!
Tate, we love you and our family is so blessed to have you. Have fun being 2, but go easy on us!

I am a Child of God

Bedtime in our home, usually consists of whining, complaining, and tantrums (and once I calm down, we put the kids to bed). But tonight, it was perfect. The kids were so great during scriptures and then after, for stories, they asked to read from the Friend magazine. Ayden and Ellie were so calm and attentive. There was a definite difference in the spirit in our home. Ellie said as I tucked her into bed, "mommy, I feel good in my heart."
And after I had put the older two to bed, Tate and I went downstairs together. While I did the dishes, he sat on the counter jabbering away. And after, we sat on the couch and talked together. We counted, we said funny words and practiced his 's', and then I sang to him. We sang his favorite song from Nursery The Wise Man and then I sang I Am a Child of God. As I sang, I "cuddled" (Ellie's word for soft rubbing and tickling) him and he loved it. Tate was so calm and he listened to every word. Finally, he leaned in and put his arms around my neck. I sang a few more times and he fell asleep. It was the perfect way to end my day. What a great reminder from my Heavenly Father why I chose to be a mom. I love my 3 beautiful children and am so thankful for them.

Bird

You know what I did today? Chase a bird out of my house and clean up bird poop. Joy. How did a bird get in my house you ask? I blame Danielle! She opened a window in the playroom this morning to cool off the upstairs. The bad thing about this is that the window doesn't have a screen on it. So she only opened it a little. However, it was enough for a small bird to get in.

Ellie discovered the bird and came running down stairs freaking out. She told me there was a bird at the window flapping its wings trying to get in. So I didn't think it was actually in the house. Tate wanted to see so Ellie and Tate went back upstairs. I wasn't too interested in a bird flapping at the window so I got in the shower and proceeded to get ready for the day. When I got out, I could hear Ellie screaming my name and told me the bird was still there. That seemed weird to me, why would a bird still be trying to get in the window? So we all went upstairs to the playroom to see the bird flapping at the window. But the bird wasn't flapping at the window, it was frantically flying around the room!! I screeched and closed the door. I went and got the broom and was going to somehow get the bird back out the window. When I came back to the room, the bird was perched on the computer monitor and when it saw me it freaked out again. I was only going to get close enough to use the broom handle to open the window more and hopefully get the bird out. But before I could do that, it started flapping at the window and landed on the windowsill and then found the opening! The poor thing was so scared. And proof of that was all over the playroom! Gross. So we had to walk around the room and find where it had pooped. Let's just say it was scared a lot! Yuck! I think we got it all and I hope we don't find any little surprises we missed. 

I am very thankful for birds as I know they are beautiful creations from a loving Heavenly Father, but I am also thankful when those beautiful creations stay out of my house!