Super Landon!

I have been having "one of those days" for a couple of weeks now. Life gets so crazy and hectic that it seems like I will never get caught up. Instead, my frustrations have overwhelmed me to the point where I just want to go to bed for a month and sleep it all off. You know?

Today was going to be a busy day. I hadn't been in to work for a week and I knew that my work was piling up on my desk {literally}. On top of that today was payroll and 1st quarter taxes needed to be taken care of. So, top of the list....log in some hours at work.

As today is the first day of the new month, it also means that it is the first day of the April menu. {don't ask....}I do my major grocery shopping at the beginning of each month and then fill in with the last minute items about once a week. Grocery shopping had to get done today because my cupboards were looking bare from using up everything last month. So, after work....off to the grocery store.

What? It's already 2:00 in the afternoon? I still have to put ALL of the groceries away, maybe I should eat some lunch, I should probably try to squeeze in a shower at this point too. Landon gets off the bus at 4:00. The Intermountain Gas guy apparently knocks on the door WHILE I am in the shower. Mackenzee apparently climbed IN the front windowsill to wave at him WHILE I was in the shower. Hurry through shower so that my daughter does not end up opening up the door for the strange man who apparently needs to talk to me. Run outside to find that he is marking the lawn with yellow paint for the guy who is installing the sprinkler system for us tomorrow.

Landon is home already? Grab the piano books, hop in the car....off to piano lessons we go. Halfway there Landon reminds me that we forgot to grab the videos we rented last week that are due TODAY. Sigh.

Run home, cook dinner, inhale dinner.....grab the movies so I can take them to the video store. Figure while I am out I should probably stop at Target to find the bday presents I will need for this weekend. Friend party...family party. Grab Landon to go with me so he can pick out the present for his friend.

Drive to Target first...oops! I meant to go the other way to drop the movies off first. Will have to take the long way home now. Get to Target...tell Landon we have to hurry so we can make it back home for bedtime. Grab the cart.....Landon says...

"MMmmmm....smells like popcorn." :0) And he giggles. I ask him if he wants some. He stops and looks at me shocked and wants to know if I'm serious.

SCREECH! What? Wait a minute. My son is with me at Target. He is actually ENJOYING going to the store with ME. AND...he knew that we were not going to be buying something for him. He was still happy....and he was giggling....and smiling....and he wanted to hang out with ME.

Of course we got some popcorn. AND a sprite. AND...I slowed down.

Why am I always in such a hurry? Why am I always looking ahead to the next item on my list of things to do? This morning as I was sitting at my work computer filing taxes {blech!} and feeling uber stressed one of my favorite songs came on. I listen to my playlist off of my blog at work, so I guess most of the songs I listen to are on my favorites list. BUT! The first song on the list is "Come Thou Font of Every Blessing". Anyway, the words, "Here's my heart....." made me stop for a minute. My other blog has recently referenced to my need for "water" but for some reason I was finding it difficult to find a source. I have felt tapped out and dried up offering my water to others.

ANYWAY....so tonight....my most amazing son and I....we have a most marvelous time. At Target. :0) We chatted about Bakugan, and Star Wars....Video Games, and honestly....even burps. I impersonated Darth Vader. Landon was impressed. :0) Did you know there is a new kind of Bakugan now that is a two in one? They are twice as powerful! AND....Target just happened to have two of them! One for Landon's friend and one for Landon. Lucky kid him! We wandered up and down the aisles looking at cute mom clothes and shoes, toddler toys, toothpaste, and even toilet paper. He did not complain once about shopping for the boring stuff and even suggested that I purchase a facial rejuvenator that he was sure would do wonders for me {because the commercial said so}. Just so you know....I splurged and bought it and my face feels wicked awesome. Landon even made sure we picked out some Dora toothpaste for Mackenzee because they were out of kid toothpaste. Did you also know that when people turn 16 they move out of their parents house and buy their own? I didn't know that. But apparently Landon has big plans to do this so that he can get away from Mackenzee. :0) Apparently it's a love/hate relationship.

After we dropped the movie off we stopped off at Artic Circle and went through the drive-thru window and go some ice cream. Did you know that you can make a killer ice cream mustache on your face if you smoosh your lips on the ice cream cone really hard? It's very rugged looking. :0)

We got home after bedtime. :0) But the best part of the whole evening was when he came to give me a hug goodnight and said, "Mom, thanks for EVERYTHING tonight."

You know Landon, it was all you. Thanks for wanting to hang with me. Thanks for giggling with me over the "Birthday POTTY" card. {get it?} Noah will love it. Thanks for helping me to find a present for baby Jeremy. Your vote of approval made it so much easier for me to decide. Thanks for thinking of your sister even while you had me all to yourself.

You are such an awesome kid. This is not the first time that you have somehow known that I needed a little extra boost. You have such a big heart and I am so glad that you have shared it with me. My cup may not be full, but the water you gave me tonight....made a world of difference. You are one of my bestest friends, Landon. You always have been. I hope you always will be.

Love you to the sky.

What do you see?

Landon was angry with me. I caught him and Mackenzee snuggling on the couch together the other day and hurried to grab my camera so that I could capture the moment. Mackenzee had laid out her pillow and her blankets and asked Landon if he would listen while she "read" stories to him. So, he had climbed on the couch and snuggled right up beside her. {PROUD mom moment here.}

However, when he saw my camera he quickly covered his face with the blanket. :0( What happened? All was going so well!

I'm a blogger. He knows it. He knows when I take pictures of him that they normally end up right here for all of you to see. It normally is not a problem. That day it was. Why? He was laying on a pink blanket, tucked under a pink blanket and he was sure that people would think he really LIKED the color pink. {heaven forbid!}

I looked at my oldest child, who holds one of the biggest pieces of my heart, and told him that he was SO wrong. I told him the people would see a picture of a little girl dressed in pink, with her pink pillow, and her pink blanket reading stories to her big brother, who was so awesome for taking the time to sit there with her.

I mean, what do you see?

I see a sister who completely adores her big brother. Who is so glad when he takes the time to be a part of her little world, as girly as it may be.

I see a brother who has such a good heart. Who, no matter how much of a pest she can be, will still let her be a part of his world.

Honestly, though I am quite partial, I think these are THE two cutest kids on the entire planet. Seriously.... :0)

Love you Landon. Thanks for letting me take the picture anyway. You are a sweet kid.

4 years and counting

I was a single mom. Because of this I had to work full time. My son was my entire life at that point and so dating wasn't really important to me. I worked all day, so my nights were dedicated to him. The only dating I did back then was blind dates. My friends would set me up with some guy and it would never make it past a second date. If there was no connection, it wasn't worth it to me to keep it going. Fun dating wasn't an option, because it took precious time away from my son.

My neighbor set me up with a guy from one of her college classes. She said we were a perfect fit because I was a "Molly Mormon" and he was a "Norman Mormon". Ummm....ok. She obviously didn't know me as well as she thought she did. :0) She knew I loved to bake and that I loved family time. Apparently that makes you a Super-Mormon or something. {If that's the case...a lot of you that aren't Mormon now qualify as Super Mormon. :0) } Anyway, he came over...and brought his roommate along with him. What? And he came over at 10:00 pm. Ummm....3 year old son. Bedtime....he obviously had no clue. But, I figured I would endure him for a short period of time and he would then graciously leave. It didn't happen that way. He was oblivious to my hints for him to leave. And the conversation? He bore his testimony to me and talked about how his mission made him strong. What? On the first date? Sigh....my son tried to throw him a ball, and he didn't even know how to interact with the kid. He was clueless. The date was HORRIBLE. Blind date hell is how I like to refer to it. I swore I would never go on another blind date after that.

I was an assistant manager at an apartment community at that time. It was after this horrible experience that one of my residents {who I knew from high school} told me that her cousin {who I also went to high school with} had someone she wanted to set me up with. Really? Are you kidding me?

I was such a snot. I told her that I would think about it, but that my answer would be no if his name was Jason {I had already dated a couple of them since getting divorced. I figured they were bad luck} or if he was divorced {because when couples divorce it's always the mans fault right? Can you tell that I was still a little bitter towards men? And how hypocritical could I be? I was divorced for heaven's sake!} I really think I just didn't want to go through another horrible blind date again. Another guy that wouldn't cut it. It was kind of depressing. I had actually just resigned myself to being ok with being a single mom forever. It wouldn't be so bad right?

I ended up saying yes even though his name did turn out to be Jaysen {at least it's spelled differently right?} and he was divorced. I honestly wasn't holding out much hope. I told my friend from high school that we had to double date because there was no way I was going alone with some stranger. So, on October 9, 2003 we all went to Chili's for dinner {Jaysen picked me up at my house though} and then we went bowling. I tied him. Best game I've ever bowled...124! At that point we separated from my friend as they had to get home to their babysitter. Jaysen and I went to Dairy Queen for dessert and stayed there until they closed. I still wasn't sure about him after that first date. We went out again a week later. This time it was just the two of us. We went to see a Nicholas Cage movie and then out for dessert afterwards. We talked for hours again. He liked 80s music. I was intrigued. I still wasn't sure if I liked him or not, but knew there was something. I figured even if we ended up really good friends, it wouldn't be a loss.

Date #3 was exactly a week after date #2 and exactly two weeks after date #1. It was like he wanted to make sure to give the "proper" amount of time in between them. It was during this date that I knew. Which was scary. He accidentally met my son that night. I hadn't introduced them yet because I didn't want Landon to get to know him if he was just going to disappear. But, there was a flood in one of the apartments and so I had to go take care of the emergency call after work. I rushed home to get ready and Jaysen showed up right after I did. I told him to sit down and wait because I needed to touch up a bit. Landon came out with his little basketball and Jaysen taught him how to "slamma jamma". It was adorable. Anyway...our 3rd date was great. He knew I loved photography and so he took me out to Shoshone Falls and gave me a photography lesson {he has a degree in it} with his fabulous camera and all the lenses and cool gadgets that went with it. Afterwards he took me to Sunsations, which is a spa, and hung out for an hour while I got a massage from a masseuse there. He paid for it. :0) And after that we went out to Johnny Carinos for dinner. {Italian...my favorite!} Again...we talked until they were closing. They had to kick us out. It was a fabulous date.

After that, I lost ten pounds. I was stressed out. Have you ever heard about people praying to know if the person they are dating are "the one"? I didn't do that. I prayed that if he wasn't the one that God would make him go away. I was scared because I knew I was falling for him and I didn't want to get hurt again. It was a horrible feeling. Luckily I had a friend that talked me through it and I made it through it. Jaysen never went away. And I'm so glad.

We were married May 22, 2004 in the Boise Temple. It's been four fabulous years. We added a new member to the family since then and are now complete. Landon and I weren't meant to be alone. We needed Jaysen and Kenzee to finish the circle. My heart is so full of love for this man who completely changed my world. He opened my heart up again, when I didn't know if I could let it. His unconditional love for me amazes me. His spunk makes life fun. His compassion and love for our children is truly one of the sexiest things about him. :0) I love him more and more every day. I can't wait for the years to come!

Happy Valentine's Day

Just wanted to share the love with all of you!

Happy Valentine's Day!