Ain't Life Grand

Tonight I sat in the hall waiting for the kids to get ready for scripture study.  We do scriptures while the 3 youngest are in bed and the 2 older girls are out in the hall with us helping to read.  I sat with my back resting up against the wall and realized how tired and exhausted I was.  I love that feeling sometimes and tonight it feels good.  I had a productive, fun day with my kids and I thoroughly enjoyed them.  I let them "help" me with all my chores so they all took longer, but I loved how proud they were of themselves.  I let Tanner and Kelsey help me rake up the yard and put the piles into the garbage, which means I had to lift her repeatedly so she could reach it (hence the reason my back is a little sore I guess).  We went to the park to enjoy this gorgeous weather and played sand monster.  They love that game, but they really only get into it if Nancy or I play it with them. Nathan rode his bike around and I am still blown away with how awesome he is at this 2 wheeler thing. I sat and thought of what a great blessing it is to be able to have my healthy body and that each member of my family is also healthy, well, and safe.  I am so grateful for that kind of exhaustion tonight.  I looked across the hall into the toy room with legos and cars scattered everywhere, and I smiled.  I don't usually smile at the sight of a messy room, but tonight I saw it a little differently.  It was messy because Tanner had played for an hour and a half all by himself this afternoon and gave me a little break.  I actually had a little snooze and he was an angel and played quietly without waking Kelsey or sneaking into the pantry. I am grateful for that.

I looked into the girls room and Daddy is laying by Kelsey and reading her a book.  He adores her.  And she adores him.  I love how they interact.  I see Eliza's Elsa cape hanging from her top bunk and I think of how much she loves to sing the Frozen songs and her excitement for the school talent show.  She has the whole thing memorized and she has had her outfit and routine all planned out for months.
Katelyn came and sat down next to me and she puts my arm around her as she snuggles into me.  I am filled with love for her as I think about how last year she was in so much pain and we didn't know why until tomorrow when we took her to the ER to find out her appendix had ruptured.  I am grateful for her strength and her recovery and again for all of our health and all that we enjoy because we have these wonderful, healthy, able bodies that we do.

I have really been loving life lately.  I really love MY life.  I am so very blessed and I know that.  We had a lesson in Relief Society recently and the teacher was talking about how many people question who they are and they take for granted what they have.  I am blessed to know who I am.  I have always had a pretty good grasp on that.  I have always known I was a daughter of God.  I also cherish being a Richards' daughter.  I love the family that I was raised in because they are the all time coolest, most amazing people I have ever met.  I am grateful for the family I married into.  They are so fantastic.  I love being related to a good friend from college.  Not everyone gets that. Hardly anyone gets that.  I love that blessing.  I love having 5 kids.  I love the ages and stages they are in.  I love the ease in which I can do the things I want to do.  The kids can do the workout videos with me rather than cry at my feet when I try to do them.  The kids can help me cook or keep me company instead of crying at my feet or needing to be held. I love the ease of biking to the park or taking the kids for a walk to Nancy's.  I love having my 2 little buddies with me while I shop.  There was a lady today that thought I was crazy for having 5 kids and I told her it is my favorite thing.  I told her I dread the day my kids grow up and I don't have this age and stage anymore.  I truly love and delight in this stage of my life.

Tomorrow we are having a party.  A "we are not in the hospital" or an "I'm so glad I don't feel like I am going to die" party.  Eliza thinks we should stuff ourselves with cake to celebrate it.  I don't think that is a bad idea. We may need caramel corn too though.

The Gift of Motherhood

I have been thinking a lot lately about what a gift it is to be a mother.  I don't know why I am blessed to be a mother and others don't get that opportunity.  Maybe because I need help in the patience department.  Whatever the reason, I am eternally grateful that I have 5 beautiful kids I get to call my own. Even on my worst day I still recognize that it is one of my greatest blessings.  (Church membership/my testimony, the Holy Ghost, my husband, my family, etc. also fall into that category.)  I would never trade my life now for anything.  I had such an incredible single life but now I love married life and motherhood more than anything. I couldn't sleep on Christmas Eve a few weeks ago because I was so excited for what the next day would bring.  I couldn't wait to see the kids faces.  I had worked excitedly for months finding and making the perfect gifts and I was just as excited (maybe more so) as I was for Christmas when I was a kid. I didn't take any thought for what gifts I would get.  I didn't even care.  The greatest gift I could get was seeing my kids light up when we switched on the living room light.  It was hours until I finally fell asleep. As I was lying there thinking about my kids I thought of how this is the greatest time of my life.  I was thinking of all the things I love about this stage of my life.  My kids are young, but not in that hard can't-get-out-the-house-or-sleep-for-more-than-ten-minutes baby phase.  My kids still want to be with us.  They will be silly with me.  They are learning to be useful.  I want to document more of these moments in my blog/journal to remember just how much I love this part of my life.  I want my kids to know how much I love being their mother and how fun it is.  I want them to know the little things that I love on a daily basis. So, here's to forgetting how far behind I am on the blog and just moving forward.

The other day I was sitting on my bed matching socks.  Since the kids had received new socks for Christmas I was throwing some old socks in the direction of the bathroom garbage, although none of them flew well enough to land inside.  The next thing I know Kelsey is chucking socks off the bed.  I was going to stop her and I gave a big sigh before I got up to pick up the socks and then I realized what she was doing.  She was copying me.  She had no idea why I was throwing socks but she was following suit.  I started laughing and then she gave her little scrunched up smile and threw the socks at a much faster pace.  She can get away with anything with that scrunched up smile of hers.

Last night Kelsey had a fever before bed. I gave her some medicine and I rocked her until she fell asleep. That is by far one of my favorites as a mom by the way. She woke up in the middle of the night and was burning up again.  I got her up and got her a cold drink and then some medicine.  I took her back to my room and sat on my bed rocking her in my arms for a minute and then I laid down.  Kelsey fell asleep right next to me. She has never done that.  She will only fall asleep in my arms when I rock her.  (And that has only been the last couple of months since I am such a softie.  I can't let go of the baby phase with her.)

I was shopping one day with just Kelsey.  Tanner was at preschool at Nancy's.  As I walked up and down the aisles I was talking to her, telling her remind me to get this or that.  I talked to her like she could respond.  Like we were buddies.  I mean, we are buddies, it's just the conversations are sorta one sided right now.  People looked at me like I was weird and I realized that I am going to miss having her as a shopping buddy.  I enjoy shopping by myself, but I can do that at night or on Saturdays when daddy is home. When all of the kids are in school I am not going to have the option to have a buddy to go run my errands and chat with me.  I will miss that.  I will miss her cute little smiles and funny faces in line.  I will miss her saying "hi" to everyone and waving. I will miss everyone telling me my daughter is beautiful. (Not that she needs to hear it anymore than she already does.) I will miss having the kids with me to excuse the extra candy I buy. I will miss my buddies.