The Bravest Person I Know

After nearly a year of battling pancreatic cancer, my cousin Amberly passed away peacefully in her home yesterday. There are no words to express my feelings for her. She was brave. She was kind. She was beautiful. She lived the Gospel of Jesus Christ in her every action, word, and deed. My thoughts and prayers are with her husband, Jason, and her sons Davin (8), Collin (6), Aaron (6), and Nathan (4). Check out her blog (bring a tissue with you).

jasandamrhodesfamily.blogspot.com

Benny Boy

I am having so much fun with my 31/2-year-old right now. It is just such a fun age. Lately he has been calling me "My Lady." For instance, the other day he asked me, "Will you draw with chalk with me My Lady." Who can resist that. Sometimes he also calls me mother. "Mother can I have another cookie." Josh is the only other one of my kids who calls me mother. For some reason that term just melts my heart. I am so grateful to be a mother!

I LOVE Paris!

I recently returned home from six days in Paris. It was amazing! To keep the story short, my mom retired from the airlines, so all McPhies can fly for virtually free. My sisters and I decided in January that we needed a break. My dad has been to Paris several times in the last two years and offered to accompany us as our tour guide. He also offered to pay for our hotel. Who can pass up a free hotel room and almost free flight to Paris? Anyway, I was nervous to leave the kids, but all was well and we had a terrific time. I highly recommend Paris in the springtime!

Library Fun

Ben and I went to the library today for storytime. I was sadly disappointed. Our favorite storytime lady, Miss Joan, has retired. She has been replaced by a woman with the personality of a rock. Seriously, a degree in Library Science does not make you good with kids. I doubt this woman has children of her own. Needless to say, she couldn't keep my attention let alone the other 2 to 3-year-olds in the room. By the way, who thinks it is okay to take a child out when they are coughing up a lung. Seriously, do we all want RSV? There were kids there that I could officially diagnosis with bronchitis. Back to the point, how hard is it entertain some preschoolers. If any of you moms need a second job, we are in desperate need of a story lady with some personality.

The highlight of the trip was when the mother with three kids under the age of 4 had a complete nervous breakdown in the library and started SCREAMING at her kids. It made everyone (including the library employees) uncomfortable. I admit there were times I took on too much when I had all little ones at home, but this was out of control. She was yelling, "You are stressing me out" loud enough for all to hear. Are you ever embarrassed for someone else? This was bad. It made me wonder if she had ever tried this before.

Happy Birtheday Sam!

My oldest son turned 12 yesterday! Where does the time go. I am waxing nostalgic for the days of finger painting and making cookies with mom. Although there are many moments I am looking forward to, I somehow yearn for the past. Does anyone else feel this way. There are days I want to put all my kids in a bottle and freeze them the way they are now. I guess I just fundamentally hate change. As a side note, I don't like getting older either. All of my issues aside, I have the best 12-year-old boy a mom could hope for. Sam, we love you!

PS. Am I the only one who doesn't think a 12-year-old needs an tPod Touch?

More Reflections....

We just got a letter inviting Hannah to an awards ceremony next week. Apparently her dance won at the district level. The next level will be state. Wish us luck!

3-Year-Old Joy

My 3-year-old just told me that I can't tell him no because he is a child of God. Good to know he is paying attention in Primary

Reflections!

Okay, so if you can't brag on your blog where can you do it? We attended a special event last Thursday night at our local high school. Hannah entered a dance for the reflections contest this year. As a preface to the story, let's just say I always wanted to win this prestigious honor as a child but NEVER did. Come to find out, after talking to my mother, I actually won one year but because she was the PTA president, she didn't let me win!
Anyway, Hannah entered a dance and won at the school level. Her dance went onto win at the council level. It was a great night. They displayed her dance on a very large screen for the whole audience (about 100 people) and she got to go up on that HUGE stage and get a medal. What a night for a 6-year-old girl! I will post a picture as soon as Jordan helps me download them. I'm totally technologically incompetent.

Teachers

Today I am grateful for teachers of all kinds. My son is having the best sixth grade experience. All my kids really are enjoying school this year (of course, it's always hard to go back after the Christmas break). I am thankful also for art teachers, music teachers, dance teachers, Primary teachers; all the teachers that work hard for my kids. To any of you who are teachers of any kind, thank you!

Today

Today I am grateful that I took a phone call as I was leaving my house this morning. There was a fatal accident this morning on the road I typically take to my parents' house. Do you ever wonder what things are coincidences and what things happen for a reason? Anyway, I couldn't help but think that it could have been me. If I had left a few minutes earlier, I could have sonehow been involed. I am so glad I stopped to talk to a friend.

Welcome January

Hellow All. Yes, I am officially the worst blogger on the planet. Let me explain. First of all, as many of you know, I spend several hours a day working at home on a computer. Let's just say, more computer time is not a break for me. Second, I switched e-mails and could not remember the password for my account. There it is; I'm out of excuses. I've decided to try to post each day some sort of positive thought or recognition of a blessing in my life. Hopefully this will help me out of my mid-life crisis/January funk. Does anyone else hate the aftermath of Christmas? Anyway, I'm looking forward to expressing my gratitude each day for the blessings I have. I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Disney Deals

We are thinking of taking the kiddos to Disneyland in March. Anyone know of any deals? It is $150 a pop for a 3 day park hopper. OUCH! I have heard of credit unions in the past who have offered discount tickets but I don't have any info. I hope you are all blowing at least a portion of your tax refund too just to make me feel better :)

Merry Christmas!

Here is our last minute Christmas card. Hopefully you will be receiving one in the mail :). Let's just say Josh has excited eyes in every one. He can't decide if he's more excited for Christmas or his birthday (Dec. 27th). We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sam (10), Josh (7), Hannah (5)

Benjamin (2)

A new room just in time for Christmas

Here are the pictures I promised. This is the entry way.

Here is a close up of the pillows and couch.

Here is the the room from the entry. It turned out so great. Thank you Caitlin!

The pictures on Caitlin's blog are far superior. Check out her link, and yes, my kids did those self-portraits. It was very scary to let them have artistic license.

Things to Love

So I finally broke down and hired a decorator. Luckily, Caitlin is a friend of a friend. Anyway, she has been helping us with our front room. I totally love her! The best thing about Caitlin is that she has great taste and likes to save money. Many of our new pieces are second-hand. Check out her blog at http://www.ccinteriors.blogspot.com/

Our first decorator was our talented friend from St. George, Kristi. She decorated a room she had never seen and we have loved it. Thank you for the ottomans and pillows that are still in use! I will put up a link to Kristi's blog soon. I have to double check it.

Also, if you need an inspiring story in your life, check out my cousin's blog. She is one of the most amazing people I know. She is fighting a rare form of cancer right now with courage and grace. She is truly amazing. Check out her blog at http://www.jasandamrhodesfamily.blogspot.com
We would appreciate any prayers and good wishes in her behalf. Also, if you have any secret or crazy cures for cancer, please share.

Road Trip

So we decided that we needed a UEA get away! Needless to say, road trips with four young children are challenging, but this one made the books. We left Thursday at noon and drove to Jackson Hole, Teton Village actually. It was freezing cold, but we were happy to be there. The next day we went into Yellowstone. We anticipated a 45 min drive to Old Faithful, but thanks to road construction, we were in the car three hours each way. Who can honestly except a toddler to stay in a car seat for that long? We did have a great time seeing Old Faithful and the hot pots, but it was way too much car time for me and the kids. Once we got back to the hotel, Josh threw up and three of the six of us were sick with colds and coughs. Saturday we ventured into Jackson and then decided the kids had had enough of that, so we came home. On the way home we had two barfers and a 16 oz bottle of diet coke explode all over the car. Jordan says we aren't taking a trip for five years!

Boys and Girls

So sitting in Church today, Josh leans over and whispers, "Mom, for your birthday I'm getting you a rat, a DEAD rat." Hannah on the other hand says, "Mom, for your birthday I am getting you something beautiful and sparkly." My boys often accuse me of spoiling her. I wonder why I would want to do a thing like that.

New E-mail

After a long and very stressful attempt to switch from Comcast to Qwest, back to Comcast, I am pleased to say I have a new e-mail address. It is melissalarson34@gmail.com. Send me a note to see if I am up and running. PS, sorry if you sent me a note and I haven't responded!

Quote of the Day

"Excellence does not require perfection" - Henry James

House News!

As most of you know, we have thought about moving and even attempted to move several times! At last it looks like things are going to work out! The best part is we get to stay in the same schools and neighborhood, even the same Ward. We are excited to have more space. My absence in blogging is due to the fact that my every effort has been spent to keep this house clean! Anyway, we are under contract and close on both homes at the end of the month. We are happy that Hannah will have a room and a real bed in time to start kindergarten! Here are some pictures from our recent trip to Moab. We had a great time. Thankfully, my Mom stayed home with Ben so we could all enjoy the trip. Thanks Mom and Marianne!

I will include pictures of both houses in my next post!