Valentine's Day recap

We had a very low key Valentine's weekend this year. Kendle came home from school on Friday with her valentine box filled to the brim with cards and candy. I don't remember getting that much candy when I was in school. It's almost like Halloween. [I asked her if she was excited to get a valentine from anyone in particular and she said nope, just all her friends. I'm kind of relieved she's not boy crazy just yet.] We decided to get Panda Express for dinner and then we watched a movie and just relaxed. It is hard to stay up late and do anything anymore.

Saturday everyone pitched in and helped clean the house. I always think of the primary song, "Saturday is a special day it's the day we get ready for Sunday." I was able to go through all of Kendle and Morgan's clothes and weed out the ones they have grown out of and organize their dressers and closets. It was much needed and looks so much better now. And I don't know about anyone else, but I think one of the most romantic things a guy can do is help you clean! After the cleaning I got out some fun things to let the kids decorate some sugar cookies I had left un-frosted for them. I was surprised at how well Morgan did. He very carefully shook sprinkles on his cookie and placed a few other decorations very precisely. Their cookies looked great! They ate quite a few of them, but really I didn't mind because there were less there to tempt me.

Yesterday Morgan and the babies were so good at church and Kendle was a good helper. When we got home I received some valentine's from the kids and the babies went down for a nice long nap. Then Riley made me a delicious dinner of tomato/basil/garlic/ grilled chicken, baby red potatoes, grilled asparagus, strawberry spinach salad, and french bread. I helped with the salad a little bit, but other than that it was all him and he wouldn't allow me to do anything. It was so good! He even set the table and did all of the cleaning up. What a treat. (I could definitely get used to THAT on Sunday afternoons.) For dessert I made chocolate dipped strawberries and a heart shaped chocolate cake dusted with powdered sugar using this recipe. The cake was pretty good for being so low cal and low fat. I will definitely make it again.

Later that evening my parents drove up for a visit and brought us some treats. We visited and watched Penelope which is such a cute movie. My parents offered to take Kendle and Morgan home with them to spend the night since there is no school due to President's Day today. They are awesome. Riley is gone today to a soccer game for his girls club team, and with the older kids gone it will be a very quiet day which I will thoroughly enjoy. I am going to relax and catch up on some reading in between taking care of the twins.

So it was a very nice weekend and I'm so thankful for my family. I have the best Valentines.

Wedding

Saturday evening we attended a wedding for one of Riley's friends he has known practically his whole life, Josh Bonderman. My mom came up to watch the kiddies and here's a picture she snapped of Riley and I before we headed out the door:

Notice the TV blasting some cartoons in the background? We Dodson's like to keep it real.

It was nice to have an adult evening out, albeit that it would be outside in hot summer weather waiting for a wedding to start (which we got there almost an hour early for), but still we were able to have some adult conversation without being interrupted by little voices demanding snacks, treats, bathroom breaks, or my personal favorite - "I'm bored!"

Their family's backyard was decorated with large white tents with lights attached and underneath were many tables decorated with beautiful flower arrangements. It was completely transformed. Riley and I kept doing double takes, it looked so different. Here are a few pictures I took during the ceremony:

I was trying to not get the guy down in front in the pictures, but it was very difficult. Why is it that no matter where you are, a wedding, graduation, school concert, there is always that one person in the way?!

It was kind of a tropical, casual theme. Everyone was wearing flip-flops including the bride and all of the bridal party had big beautiful flowers in their hair.

We enjoyed visiting and seeing Josh's family. It is always an adventure for me to meet old friends of Riley's and hear their stories from their younger, wilder days. Ha. We gave the new couple our best wishes and then decided to make an early exit before the party got in full swing. Since we were already dressed up we decided to go grab some dinner at O.G. and take full advantage of our night out.

Weddings always make me nostalgic, over dinner we talked about our wedding and reception and all of the things we would have done differently. I was telling Riley that for our ten year anniversary I want to have a big blowout party where we can do all of the the fun things we shoulda, coulda, woulda done. The most important thing about a wedding though, isn't the flowers, or the dress, or the big sparkly ring. It's the fact that you've found the person you want to spend your life with, all the rest is just the icing on the cake.

The Journey of Motherhood

Once upon a time, some years ago, there was a little girl. This little girl loved to play, and read, and dream about what her life would be like when she was older and all grown up. She had many hopes and aspirations and the desire to be successful at whatever career path she would eventually choose. She had fleeting thoughts of being a mother, but it was never something she dwelt upon much. It seemed like something so far in the future; time felt so slow when she was young. She reasoned that she needed to experience life and have some adventures and triumphs before that day came. She thought the world expected more from her, and the world was very persuasive. The twists and turns of life constantly interrupted and changed the once clear and marked path she had been on. This girl was always a people pleaser, and once she struck out on her own and tried to find her own way, life got a little scarier and harder and the decisions weren't as easy as they once were. Did she know who she was any more? Did she like this new person she was becoming? What were her goals now? Where did she want to end up? What was her driving force in life? She felt lost and confused and unhappy and life continued that way for a while until one day she met someone, and they fell head over heals in love. Happiness ensued and then fate decided to take one more gigantic twist and change her course indefinitely. The day came when she finally realized that she had a purpose that was greater than she ever imagined for herself. She became a mother, and her hopes and aspirations and dreams all shifted and became hopes, aspirations, and dreams for her child and future children to come. Her life was forever changed, and her heart was grateful.


Everyone has their own stories and battle scars associated with being a mother. If anyone thinks it is easy, they have obviously never tried being one. It is the most challenging, humbling, scary, exhausting, mind boggling, heart wrenching, and difficult role to have. But it is also a more rewarding, fulfilling, joyful, fun, interesting, educational, and sacred experience than I could have ever imagined. It's like having pieces of your heart walking around outside of your body.

Someone once tried to make me feel belittled and embarrassed that I was "just" a mom. They tried to insult me that my life was boring and unimportant. Instead of feeling angry at this person, I just felt sad for them. If they could have only felt a little fraction of the joy and contentment I felt when I rocked my baby to sleep, or when I was the recipient of a tight little squeeze around the neck with chubby little arms, they might have had a different interpretation of what was important, and that there was nothing in the world that could have made me feel regretful that I was "just" a mom.

I feel a great responsibility on my shoulders to lead and guide my children and love them the best I can even on the bad days where I really need a nap, the house is a mess, I don't know what to cook for dinner, and there are 3 big baskets of laundry waiting to be folded so I can finish the other 10 loads still needing to be washed. Everyone has those days were you have to really dig deep and draw from your inner strength to get through the day and it is easy to become discouraged, but I am constantly surprised to find how much strength we as mothers possess when needed, and thankful for the knowledge that tomorrow is another day and we have the opportunity to start fresh again. I for one need my fair share of second chances.

The Journey of Motherhood for me has been life changing and everything I didn't know I wanted for myself. I truly believe there is a purpose and a reason for the things that happen to us; lessons are learned, loved ones are found, new adventures begin. I am far from perfect and find myself lacking in many qualities I would like to possess, but it is my hope that someday my children will have an assurity that they're mother prayed in thankfulness for them, treasured them, felt joy to be with them, and loved them with all of her heart.

To all the Mother's out there who are not "just" moms,

have a Happy Mother's Day.

Happy Anniversary

6 Years under our belt!


















"What counts in making a happy marriage
is not so much how compatible you are,
but how you deal with incompatibility."
-Leo Tolstoy

I've learned that you need to laugh a lot, forgive a lot, listen a lot, and love a lot. Things are not always going to be easy, but it's how you deal with the hard parts that define your marriage. I married my best friend, and I hope that 80 years down the road we're still best friends.

Life sure has a funny way of working itself out sometimes.

Some things I love

Last night, (or early this morning depending on how you want to look at it) Kendle woke me up because she had another nightmare. This usually happens at least 3-4 times a week. I know, I know mom, just getting paid back for my childhood leaps through the dark onto your bed. So I walk her back to her room, tuck her in, and am turning to leave when she says "blow me kisses mom". Let me explain a little bit here-
Our nightly bed-time ritual is that we read, say prayers, give each other a kiss, and then I blow her a kiss at the door so that she can catch it and stick it under her pillow to have good dreams. My daughter is very systematic and everything has to be just so, (hmm, don't know where she gets that from). Kendle remembers EVERYTHING, so if for example she happens to fall asleep on the couch and you put her in bed without this ritual, when she wakes up in the middle of the night she freaks out that she didn't get her kisses!

OK, so back to the story. Turning to leave she asks me to blow her a kiss. So I do, she catches it and sticks it under her pillow, and I can see her little mind at work. "What do you need?" I asked her, (almost falling asleep leaning against the door frame mind you) and she says that I better blow her some extra kisses to save underneath her pillow in case she has another bad dream, and then I won't have to come back in her room again. What a great idea! Why hadn't I thought of that? I guess it worked because she didn't wake up another time and slept on till morning. I love that my daughter thinks her mother's kisses are magical and strong enough to keep the bad dreams away and protect her while she sleeps.

I love that she ran up to me and gave me a big hug when I picked her up from kindergarten today. Those surprises are getting few and far between.

I love that Morgan is so happy to see me when he wakes up in the morning, and lays there cooing and talking while I drag myself out of bed. I love that he laughs at my silly faces and jokes while I get him dressed.

I love that my husband is getting my cupboard door fixed for me today and picking up a new cell phone charger for me since I can't find my old one. He really is a pretty thoughtful guy, when he gets around to thinking about being thoughtful. :)

I love that today is just a boring Tuesday, nowhere I have to be or anything important I have to do. Love it.

Riley, he's the coolest

The story goes, that the day my husband met me, he told one of his best friends that I was the girl he wanted to marry. I often joke that it must have been his lucky day! But really it was mine, yesterday reminded me of this and let me tell you why.

I'm so glad I have a husband who can pick up the slack for me when I need it. Yesterday being about 1,000 degrees, I didn't want to take Morgan (3 wks. old) to the parade for over an hour and then to Kendle's swimming lessons, so of course Riley takes Kendle by himself and they have a great time. As they headed out of the driveway I wondered to myself - how did I get so lucky to be married to someone who doesn't mind doing all sorts of "mom" tasks for me? I know lots of guys who won't even watch their children so their wife can run to the store. A couple of nights ago he went grocery shopping for me at 10 o'clock at night without a single complaint (even though he knows this is how he can buy the stuff he really wants). At the beginning of my pregnancy when I was throwing up for 3 months straight, he took Kendle to school, took her trick-or-treating, did all the shopping, helped clean the house, would go buy me anything that remotely sounded good to eat no matter what time it was, and gave me a blessing when I didn't think I could throw up one more time and live to see the light of day. I know I can depend on him for anything. I'm confident in him that if anything happens to me or I'm away he can be a great caregiver for our family.

Riley is one of the hardest working people I know. He is great at his job, and works hard for every sale. He is awesome at developing relationships with people and knows more people than the president. I often joke that he will be the mayor someday. His life growing up was not very easy, and from a young age he has always had a job. When other kids were just being teenagers in high school he was going to school, playing three sports and working part-time. Sometimes I feel bad and wish he could go do more of the fun things he would like to do. People often ask me if I get annoyed that he goes golfing all of the time, but if they knew how hard he's worked for everything we have, and how hard he's worked his whole life, they would know that he deserves it. And just like with golfing, Riley is passionate about whatever he does and doesn't settle for being mediocre, he wants to be the best. I give him a hard time about that, but really I wish I was more that way myself.

He tells me I'm beautiful even when I'm at my worst, and that I still knock him off his feet. And the thing is, I know he's not just saying that to make me feel good, he really feels that way and that is the best thing! He's my best friend and one of the most fun people I've ever met. We can laugh and laugh when we're together. He fits in with my family like the missing link, and my family loves him. He lets me vent without interrupting, and we can disagree without bad feelings. I know he will always stand by me and honor our commitment to each other. He is a GREAT dad and sacrifices so much for his family. Kendle loves nothing more than to tag around with her dad all day.

Riley always knew what he wanted out of life and when the opportunity came knocking (literally) he seized it. He joined the church a few months after we were married and I'm so proud of the way he lives his life. He made me want to be a better person and to get re-activated in the church. I know there was some divine intervention there. Those missionaries were pretty persistent. He loves our family and loves being with his family.

Some other little facts about Riley:
-he's ultra competitive at everything

-he loves 711 slurpies

-he owns more hats than anyone I've ever met

-he can recall almost any sport statistic or fact

-he's loyal to his friends and is still friends with his kindergarten buddies

-he's a softy and has a big heart

-his eyes can change from green to blue

-he loves Johnny Cash (I can't figure this one out)

-would love to own his own golf-course someday

-he's the BBQ man

-he was a stud footballer back in the day ( I knew he'd love that I threw that one in)

Well, he will probably be embarrassed by this "tribute" post, especially because he makes fun of me and all of my blogging friends but I felt like I needed to share how I was feeling about my hubby today. Tomorrow, who knows.....

Remembering summers past

I thought until I got pictures on here from last weekends graduations, I'd make a little post about some summer memories I have. Summer has always been somewhat of a magical time for me.

We used to camp out in the backyard, or sleep on the trampoline and look at the stars. When I was about Kendle's age our family used to play this game called "No Bears are out tonight". I can't remember the exact gist of it, but basically someone was the bear (usually my dad) and we'd end up getting scared silly and having a blast running around our big backyard from the "bear". Our family trip to visit our grandparents in Idaho, was always a summer adventure we couldn't wait for. We were always pretty free to roam around as kids during the summer. There were many times we'd still be out riding our bikes at ten o'clock because we could still barely see where we were going. As I got older there were always summer slumber parties and swim parties. BBQ's, picnic's, parades, the 4th of July and fireworks, the fair....there are so many things I love about this time of year. The smell of grilling food, and the sounds of children laughing and playing. Smelling the freshly cut grass, and hearing the spray of sprinklers. I played lots of summer softball in the hot heat, double headers in high humidity and I loved it. Now that I'm a parent I want to make sure my kids have as many fun summer memories as I have. Summertime gives us a chance to be kids again and make our own family traditions our children will look forward to every year.

This song, I put on here got me thinking about this topic in the first place. "Tim McGraw" by Taylor Swift makes me very reminiscent about being in high school and being young and in "love" and all of that good stuff. I just remember that feeling of not having a care in the world for three months straight. This summer make lots of memories with your family, and maybe even fall in love with your sweetie all over again.

The things we do for those we love.

My husband Riley is the assistant varsity soccer coach at Southridge High School and they had their last game tonight. So being the good wife that I am,(ha) I dutifully pack up our gear for the game, knowing full well that the weather is about to take a turn for the worst, but still wanting to be there to cheer on the team and support my dear husband. As we approach Lampson stadium it begins to drizzle more and more. By the time we get our gear out of the car (raincoats, two big blankets, two umbrella's because Kendle has to have her own, snacks, water, and Kendle's favorite stuffed animal of the day which is a whole other blog in itself) it is coming down a bit harder now. No fear. We are weathered sports fan's. It could let up I tell myself. We venture up the bleachers, but then decide we had better use the bathroom before we set everything down on the wet benches and have to gather it all up to go during the game. So off we pack everything to the bathrooms, where of course Kendle insists that she doesn't need to go. But being 8 months pregnant I certainly did, so it wasn't a total waste of a trip. Ok, then back to the bleachers we go to set up our spot and make some sort of attempt to stay dry. Right off the bat Kendle gets me right in the face with one of the sharp parts of her umbrella. Fun, fun, fun. We are having a blast. Up goes my umbrella and we set one of the blankets down to sit on and the other on my lap. Kendle goes off to play with all of the other rug rats and comes back minutes later soaked from the knees down. How in the world? There are no large puddles to be seen. And all of this before the game has even started. Of course all of the other more prepared parents have dressed their kids in nice warm up pants that are staying dry. As soon as the National Anthem is finished, it's like a signal and the rain just starts dumping down hard. My daughter is running around with the hood on her raincoat completly off her head and her wet pants and I'm sitting there hunched under my umbrella with my ankles getting wet and having the baby inside me unmercifully pushing itself under my ribs over and over again. I'm trying to concentrate on the game, but it's impossible and the players are so wet themselves that they are slipping around on the wet turf. I keep thinking to myself "I'm missing American Idol for this"? I look at my soaking wet blanket and my drenched child and decide at half-time we will make a mad dash to the car and head home. And that's exactly what we did. I sheepishly gave my husband an apologetic look, knowing full well the other coaches wives were staying, but perhaps they are just a bit insane I tell myself. So another treck back to the car with armloads of our wet gear and we are on our way home at last. Two minutes from our house I hear from the back seat-"mom, I think I had an accident". It was just the icing on the cake to the most enjoyable night. The things we do for those we love.