Andrew + Sidewalk = Ouch

Thoughts on Motherhood

When I first became a mother, I heard this song in Relief Society, and it touched my heart.

Keeping Sheep

I have a little flock of sheep

and they are mine to tend and keep.

And I must guard them every day

for little lambs, when left alone,

will lose their way.

So many voices say to me,

A sheep fold is no place to be.

Your time in there is dull and slow,

and lambs leave very little room

for you to grow.

Chorus

Oh, if I ever start to stray,

deceived by thoughts of greener pastures,

remind Lord that keeping sheep

will lead to happier ever-afters.

Will lead to happier ever-afters.

Oh, surely there will come a day

when all the lambs have left my side,

and I am free to roam about,

and go exploring other meadows,

green and wide.

Yet something whispers in my heart

that when my sheep have left this pen

I'll long to stroke their little heads,

to draw them close to me

and have them young again.

Repeat Chorus

So while they still are in my care

I pray that I will clearly see

these little lambs within my fold

are tender gifts the Master Shepherd

has given me.

--Lynne Perry Christofferson

Now it has become my mission to cherish the time with my young children.

I love what President Monson said during the last conference.

"If you have children who are grown and gone, in all likelihood you have occasionally felt pangs of loss and the recognition that you didn’t appreciate that time of life as much as you should have. Of course, there is no going back, but only forward. Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.

This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and non-existent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

It's my hope that as we add more children to our family in the future, that we will enjoy every moment and remember what is most important.

Today was Josh's birthday party. He wanted a St. Patrick's day party. We played games: bingo, lucky corners, gold coin hunt, and pot o gold toss.

He wanted a rainbow cake with a pot of gold at the end.

He opened presents. Thanks everyone!

And we ended with a Curious George pinata.

The kids had a blast! And a friend party wasn't quite as bad as I imagined. Andrew is already planning his!

Can you guess what I'm doing?

I'll give you five clues.

1. My shirt is soakin' wet.

2. My nose is running.

3. I won't eat anything.

4. I'm not sleeping very well.

5. And I'm MISERABLE!!!

You guessed it...

I'm teething.

Ugg.

It's Fall

A couple months ago we had a lesson in preschool about trees.

We learned the difference between deciduous trees (trees that shed their leaves once a year) and evergreen trees (trees that are green all year).

Josh determined that house plants were evergreen trees because they never have fall.

Well, a week ago Josh's assumptions were proven wrong...he informed me that this is NOT an evergreen tree because it is "fall time" for this tree.

New Piano

Last Friday my piano came.

A big truck brought it about 1:30pm.

It came in a huge box. The delivery guys refused to put it together for me.

So I had to wait until Darrin came home at 6pm...and then wait for him to mow the lawn.

The lawn is important at our house. And I'm not kidding.

So about 6:30pm we finally opened the box and smelled the wonderful new piano smell.

The boys loved playing with all the packing materials.

And Luke loved his big "play pin."

At 8pm I was finally able to play the digital ivories.

It felt wonderful.

Luke loves to do it too.

Thanks Darrin for buying us this beautiful toy.

I know you will love it more then you ever would a Core i7 =).

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to Josh

Happy Birthday to you

Today was Josh's 5th birthday. He woke up to presents: a spiderman bike, Lego's, green clothes to wear today, books, and a transformer. He was so excited to go to school on his birthday and took cupcakes to share with his classmates. We told him he could pick where we ate his birthday dinner, and out of all the restaurants in town, he picked McDonald's. Gotta love it! Then we came back home to have birthday cake, which he decorated himself again this year. Now we're gearing up for his first friend birthday party on Saturday! Happy birthday Josh!!

oh and

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!!

Exciting News!

So thank you to everyone who voted in our poll about what to do with our tax refund.

With part of the money we've decided to buy this AWESOME piano that will be delivered to my house in 14-21 days.

I am soooo excited!!!

Isn't it beautiful??

You're welcome to come try it out, you just have come visit first.

Weekend Fun

This past weekend Darrin's parents came to town. We always have lots of fun with them and our Oregon family when they come.

We started out the weekend with the adults going out to Benihana for dinner. It was my first time, and it was actually really good. I'm ready to go back! Luckily, we were able to put Luke to sleep before we left, and he slept the whole time. He was still so sick on Friday.




Saturday we had dinner at our house for everyone. Darrin was in charge of dinner and did a great job making Panini's for everybody. The kids had fun playing together and then watched a movie. Here's Andrew and Jenna snuggled up watching the movie and eating popcorn. Aren't cousins great?



Since there are three Hancock families that live in town, Darrin's parents spend one night at each house while they are here. Saturday night was our night. The kids woke up to Micky Mouse pancakes and a little later Grandpa made pies for later that night. Yummy!




Sunday night we gathered once again for dinner and ate the pies. The kids were bummed to say goodbye, especially Josh. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for making the long trek to see us! We love you!

Luke Update

Taken on March 2, 2009

I think I can finally say Luke is getting better. It's been a slow recovery. He's starting to sleep better and eat food again. He's not so attached to me, and he'll actually play on the floor for a while. Hopefully in another week he'll be completely better. I was able to get up and go to the gym this morning so that means I wasn't up all night. This has not been a fun thing to deal with, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

Finally

So I have a question.

Why is it that when you have a baby someone automatically sends you a social security card for your new addition, but they don't automatically send you a birth certificate for them?

And not only do they not send you one, but it costs at least $15.

This has bugged me for almost 5 years.

I have refused to conform.

Ordering my kid's birth certificates has been on my to do list forever.

I've never actually had to have one for any of my kids. I've always been able to use their shot record in place of one.

Well, I finally HAD to do it. Josh needs it for Kindergarten registration.

I just mailed off $55 to get them--$15 to Utah for Josh and $20 to Oregon for each Andrew and Luke.

I vow with the next kid to order it before they are 6 months old.

Hold me to it.