Kitchen Dreams

A friend mentioned I should check out The Handmade Home. Let me just say I fell in LOVE with her kitchen. Absolutely awesome! White cabinets, farmhouse sink, chalkboard fridge, screen door pantry, school house pendants, yellow and aqua accents...LOVE it!!! The best part, they did it all on their own. (The before also looks similar to our current kitchen, except that we have white appliances, so we could totally pull this off.)

images via The Handmade Home

So, I showed the pictures to Aaron and he actually liked it! Okay, you have to understand that it is hard for us to agree on anything when it comes to design and decorating. We actually even talked about it once with a counselor in our marriage enrichment program (Shout out to VOW!) Anywhoo...when I explained that they basically just painted the cabinets, added beadboard, and a farmhouse sink (with a few other small changes) he seemed impressed, like a "hmm-let-me-think-about-it-since-it's-not-as-impossible-as-I-thought" kind of impressed. (We repainted the cupboards in our last house, so we know the work it would mean.) Do you think I can convince him we need white cupboards?

Check out The Handmade Home to see before and afters and find more details on the whole redo.

I love to see the temple

"I love to see the temple I'm going there someday.

To feel the Holy Spirit, to listen and to pray.

For the temple is a house of God, a place of love and beauty.

I'll prepare myself while I am young; This is my sacred duty."

The words of this children's song put in simplest words how special temples are to the LDS faith.  (If you would like to know more about what temples are and why they are special to Mormons, follow this link to a wonderful article all about LDS temples.)

Today, I wanted to remind our kids of that specialness and help them feel the spirit. So, we took an impromptu trip to the temple. We are lucky that the Houston temple is within a half-hour drive of our home. So after church this morning, we grabbed a quick picnic lunch and the camera and headed to the temple. The temple itself is closed on Sundays and Mondays, but the temple grounds are open to visitors to visit and walk around. So we sat down by one of the fountains and enjoyed the beautiful day and the peace we felt. I remembered hearing somewhere the idea that if we want our children to grow up and live worthy of entering the temple we need to have it as a daily reminder and goal. What better than a personal picture of the temple to see on a daily basis and be reminded of that goal. So, I took a picture of each of us with the temple. I edited them online with Picnik (which I love), and I want to hang them in our bedrooms.

Later for Family Home Evening, (which we do on Sunday because Aaron has a late night class on Monday) we talked some more about temples and why they are special. I used this lesson for FHE and bore my testimony about temples. Seth told me that he loved being at the temple this afternoon and wanted to go back. That is so great that even at a young age, he can feel the spirit there and wants to return often. We just might have to make this a more frequent family tradition.

It was really neat that Saturday night's session of  Stake Conference was all about temples and temple service. It is probably what sparked the desire to take my family to the temple today. For anyone who wasn't there Saturday, this article sums up what was shared at the adult session at Stake Conference.

Let me finish with a quote by President Howard W. Hunter (from the article). “Let us be a temple-attending and a temple-loving people. Let us hasten to the temple as frequently as time and means and personal circumstances allow. Let us go not only for our kindred dead, but let us also go for the personal blessing of temple worship....If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take His teaching and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be temple worthy."

Happy Father's Day

So, since it's Father's Day, I thought you might like to hear from my other half, Aaron. His contributions to the blog are usually, "Marissa, you should put that on the blog." So in an effort to elicit more from him, and feeling inspired by Simple Modern Mom's week of dad blog interviews, I borrowed these questions from her (and added a few of my own) in an effort to dig into his dad psyche.

What do you now do that is something you would never thought you would do but have done since becoming a dad?
Touch poop...cleaning up a child who is being potty-trained is horrible

What is your favorite thing to do with your children?
Camping is my favorite way to spend time with my children because we are separated from all distractions. I can concentrate on developing my relationship with each of them.

In your family, what roles or tasks do you have as a father? What are your daddy duties?
work, finances, yard work, and disciplinarian

When it comes to parenting, what are your strengths and weaknesses? What about your wife’s?
 My strengths are providing my children with security, structure, rules, and discipline. Marissa's strengths are providing our children with knowledge, love, kindness, service, sacrifice, and creativity.

What is the best parenting advice you have received?
The best parenting advice I have received came from President Monson, "Don't let the problem to be solved become more important than the people to be loved."

What are your hopes and dreams for your children?
My ultimate hope for my children is that they are strong, righteous, and temple worthy, with a love of God and life.

What do you love most about each of your children?
 I love Seth's creativity, imagination, desire for learning, and sensitivity to the spirit. I love Josh's wit, sense of humor, strength, and the way he challenges the reason for things. I love Aubrey's smile, laughter, and the way she looks at me when I dance with her.

What would your ideal Father's Day be like?
 Yummy breakfast, clean house, and a whole day to spend with my family.

What is something you learned from your father that has helped you as a father?
 My dad was always there for me when I needed him and I will do the same for my children.

What is some fatherly advice that you hope to impart to your children?
Take pleasure in the small things

Thanks Aaron! We love you and we know that you love us. I am so thankful to be married to such an amazing man. You are a wonderful husband and father. We are also thankful for all of the other great fathers out there, especially our fathers (a.k.a. Grandpa P. and Grandpa C.). Thank you for all you do for all of your children and grandchildren. Happy Father's Day!

Farewell Sea Monkeys

When Aaron was a kid, he purchased a kit (from a Boy's Life magazine) to grow and train sea monkeys. Sea monkeys are basically a type of super tiny shrimp. He had prepared his kit when (according to Aaron) his little sister, Kristin dumped them in the sink because she thought it was a bowl of water.

Fast forward 20 years and Aaron tells this wonderful account to our sons. Seth was just totally in awe. Everyone he talked to would hear him say, "Guess what?! My dad had sea monkeys when he was a kid, but Aunt Kristin dumped them out." So imagine his excitement when he discovered that you can buy sea monkeys from Target. After making some money selling lemonade during a garage sale, he bought his first sea monkey kit. (Sorry, I don't have a pic.) Both Aaron and Seth were so excited to raise sea monkeys. They got it all set up, watched them hatch, and started feeding them. Everything was going great. Seth would show and tell everyone who would listen about his sea monkeys. He even wanted to name all 75 of them. I have to admit they were pretty cool and even Joshua was getting into it.

Well, small problem...to keep the tank the right temperature, you have to put them in a North facing window. The only north-facing windows are in the Master bedroom. So the sea monkeys would commute from our bedroom to the kitchen counter at least once a day. Fast forward to today...Aaron goes to put the tank in our bedroom window. It slips out of his hand while he was moving the blinds and it pours all over the floor. He grabs the tank and trying to salvage any that might still be in there, fills the tank with water. Two (out of 75) managed to survive. However, the water that he used had not been treated with the kit's water treatment. So, sadly, those last two sea monkeys perished as well. Seth was devastated. Aaron apologized and explained what had happened. Seth forgave him but insisted that they bury the remaining two sea monkeys. So, they dug a hole in the flower bed, poured them in, and Seth said a few words, "Sea monkeys, I just want you to be good." Thus ends the saga of the sea monkeys. Of course, we probably will have another batch of sea monkeys. But for now, we say, "Farewell, sea monkeys."

Good News!

Good news everyone! Aaron has a job! Yeah!!!!!!
He accepted a one year paid internship with Pasadena Health Center. Yes, Pasadena, over an hour and half away. We are thinking that we probably won't move and that Aaron will just commute. If you have time, ask him how he plans to commute to Pasadena, it's quite a plan. :) So, I have to share the story on how he found this job. One day, Aaron decided he would just look and see what kind of jobs were posted on Craigslist. He saw this particular job, but it said that they weren't accepting phone calls about the job, only emails and in person. Well, Aaron likes to make contact when applying for a position, so he decided to go to Pasadena to drop off his resume. As he was pulling out of the health center's parking lot, he got a phone call from the CEO. He asked if University of Houston-Clear Lake had sent Aaron to apply for the position (which they had not). The CEO then told him that ironically no one had responded to the Craigslist posting, so they had just worked out using the position as an internship through UHCL, which just happens to be where Aaron is getting his Masters degree. So going through the school, he gets a job and credit for school! I would definitely say that the Lord had his hand in this one! :)

Happy Mother's Day!

I love Mother's day. Not only because my incredible husband likes to make breakfast in bed and take care of other "motherly" responsibilities for me, but because my two normally wild and crazy little boys like to be extra sweet on Mother's day. Seth made me an incredibly cute thumbprint coaster at school. Josh drew me a picture of the two of us together. When I asked why my hair was standing straight-up he said "We are swimming and your hair is all wiggly in the water," as he waves his arms in the air, imitating my "hair." So cute!

After church, my boys presented me with two worksheets of "All About Mom," which they apparently did during Primary. Whoever had this idea, I thank you. It was hilarious reading these. So funny that I want to share their responses with you. Before I told the boys what my real favorites were, Aaron also took the "test."

All About Mom
1. How do I show Mom I love her?
Josh: Play games with her
Seth: By kissing her
Aaron: Tell her how pretty she is, that I love her, and kiss her

2. My favorite thing to do with my mom is:
J: play games
S: play games
A: date night, going to the temple, and sharing books

3. Her favorite color is:
J: Green and black
S: Purple
A: Purple
*Everyone's right--purple, green, and hot pink/fuschia

4. Her favorite food is:
J: waffles
S: pizza
A: baked potato, and Chick-fi-la
*Aaron's right on this one. I love potatoes in any form and Chick-fi-la nuggets and sandwiches.

5. If she had extra time, she likes to:
J: play games
S: sleep
A: sleep, scrapbook, craft, read
*All of the above

6. When Mom grows up she wants to be a:
J: Doctor
S: Supermodel
A: Teacher
*When my kids are older, I'd love to go back to teaching again.

7. Mom's favorite book is:
J: Superhero
S: Cooking
A: Harry Potter
*I have lots of favorites including the Harry Potter series, but Seth hit it on the nose. 90% of the books I check out from the library are cookbooks and I usually read them cover to cover!

8. Mom laughs when:
J. I tickle her on the leg
S: I'm silly
A: Our kids say funny things
*All of the above

9. Mom is ____ years old.
J: 18
S: 28 (He wrote the 2 backwards and the teacher thought he wrote 58!)
A: 27*

10. What Mom loves the most is:
J: video games
S: me
A: fun time with family & girls' night out
*What I love the most is my family!

I love it! These were so much fun to read. Apparently, I love to play games and sleep! Also, I am so flattered that Josh thinks I'm only 18 and that Seth thinks I could be a supermodel. It's great to have your kids tell you that you're young and beautiful. It probably won't last forever, but I can bask in the glow for now. :)

To all you mothers, including my own, Happy Mother's Day!  Thank you for all you do. Your quiet daily acts of service and love for your family make the world a better place now and in the future. No one can take your place. Thank you!

In Mommy's Words

Aaron and I had a good laugh, last night. We had just finished family home evening and it was time for the boys to go to bed. Joshua kept telling us that he couldn't go to bed because it wasn't dark yet outside (it was about 8:15). Aaron looked at Josh and in his most serious voice said, "Joshua, it is time for bed. That's it. This is not up for discussion or debate. What Mommy and Daddy say is final. It's law." Joshua just looked at him, completely puzzled and said, "What did you say?" We both started laughing and realized that our three-year-old probably had no clue what any of what Aaron just said meant. So, I turned to Josh and said, "Daddy said that it is time for bed. No arguing allowed." You could see the light go on in Josh's eyes and he turned to Aaron and said, "Say it like that, Daddy." So, after we stopped laughing, Aaron repeated himself in "Mommy's Words." Then, Josh said, "Okay," and willingly went and got ready for bed. Sometimes mommies just say it better. :)

Wrapped Around Her Finger

I'm slowly beginning to realize that our daughter might be spoiled. The other day we were at Target and walked by a nursery furniture display. I commented that I liked the bedding set (comforter,sheets,etc.). Aaron commented that he really liked the furniture set and was very tempted to buy it. I just laughed because Aaron hates buying furniture, we couldn't really afford it, and we already had a perfectly fine set at home. But, he was seriously wanting to buy this $600 set, and I had to talk him out of it.
Then, a couple weeks later, Aaron woke up one morning and told me he wanted to paint the baby's room. My jaw dropped. NEVER has Aaron volunteered to paint anything, in fact he has often refused to even let me paint! So, I ran with the idea and agreed. He is even letting me pick the color! Then, a few mornings later, he woke up and told me that we needed to switch the baby's room with the boys' room and move all of our office stuff to our bedroom. I reminded him that this would require us to move around about 50% of our house and that I wouldn't be much help being pregnant. He was okay with it. He wanted his baby girl's room to be closer to us. So he spent that entire morning (a Saturday) moving everything, which ended up being a lot more than we thought.
Then, the following week when I was looking at baby bedding online, Aaron told me that he wants our daughter's room to be cute and themed and that I should work my "magic" to make it happen. I just had to chuckle. It's all I could do just to get him to be okay with me decorating other parts of the house when we moved in. I can clearly see that Aaron is wrapped around our daughter's finger and she isn't even born yet. Oh dear, I just might have to intervene to keep her from being spoiled rotten. I'll start right after I've gotten everything I need out of the deal...