Relay for Life

Here's part of our team-- I wish we got one with everyone! Dang it! The other members were manning the fundraising table or walking in the relay at this time.

Here's our Sole Sister's fundraising table

I made keyfobs and headbands! You can go to my kirstikoo blog or etsy store if you want to participate in post-relay fundraising! Go here for more info!

Kim brought a bounce house for the kiddos.

Shannon donated 10 inches of her hair to locks of love! Her idea was contagious and 2 others decided they wanted to participate too! My good friend Becca was the hair cutter/stylist and I was her assistant! :)

The lovely Cheryl announcing about our team.

I love both Shannon's and Becca's faces in this pic!!

The hair-cutters with the Chick-fil-A cow!

I wish I got more pictures of our other team mates, but there was always so much going on!

At about midnight, they turned off the lights and did the Hope Ceremony to honor those who have had cancer.

They did a silent walk with the luminary bags lit up honoring those who have fought cancer or died from cancer. I was honoring Jeff's Grandma Clark, my Grandma Lanie, a good friend Kathy, and my dear friend Toni who is a part of our Sole Sister's team, and she inspired me to be involved. We miss Gma Clark very much, and I was emotional thinking about her.

I am so happy to still have my dear Grandma Lanie, Kathy and Toni. I just felt such an overwhelming love for them and am so happy we get to continue making memories together!

This Week's Highlights- a crazy week from start to finish!

You know you've had a crazy week when it's Sunday night and you look at the calendar and it still says Monday from the previous week. Happy Birthday Katie! I've been celebrating every day :)

On Monday, our Relay for Life group tie-dyed shirts in the morning and I had a dr. appointment in the afternoon. I'm having hernia repair surgery probably in July, when my mom can come for a week or so and Jeff's parents are coming to visit and help after that! So that's exciting news. I've known I needed to have this done for awhile now, but the time hasn't been right, until now and I'm so glad I will have help from my family!

On Tuesday as I was mailing some packages at the post office, a shelf fell on my foot and instantly swelled up really bad. I thought it was broken, but luckily the bone was just bruised really badly. My good friend watched my kids all day so I could get x-rays and got all cleaned up and bandaged up. She even had delicious dinner and home-made bread ready for me when I picked them up! Thank goodness for good friends!

On Wednesday, we had our Mother-Daughter Dinner for Activity Days. It was really fun. The theme was ''put your best foot forward" (that would've been my right foot :)!!) with a lesson on manners and a little game.
On Thursday, I could hardly move, so any chance I had, I rested on the couch. Tyler was my little messenger boy and we even developed a game I could play while laying down!! We tried to shoot the fan or the tv and we were both cracking up laughing (I had a little kick from the pain killers, I'm sure). He even ran and got my camera and took pictures of me being a bum!

On Friday, we had Relay for Life! It was so wonderful to be a part of and I was there in Memory of Grandma Clark and in Honor of my Grandma Lanie and a couple other good friends who fought cancer! Tyler helped me decorate the luminaria and it was really special to see it as I walked by. It was a great experience and I'm sure I'll do it again! (I'll do a whole post on Relay for Life)

On Saturday, I was exhausted all day and started feeling sick so I once again, was a bum, and jumped in bed anytime Jackson was napping or the boys were happy. At about 2 in the afternoon I realized we were out of diapers and milk so I better get my butt to the store. I decided on Target and had lunch while we were there. Can I say, I just love eating at Target? I can feed my boys and myself for $6.50 which includes chicken nuggets, apple slices, popcorn, a pretzel, drinks and even curly straws. What could be better than that?
On the way home from Target, my car said it was 94 degrees and I decided we needed a dip in the pool. So we headed over and had a delightful time. Jeff even got to meet us over there when he got home from work!! No pictures there, though I do have a quick video clip from my phone!

I hope you don't mind my detailed description of each day, my way to record and remember.

Pool Video

So, I couldn't get my video to add in the last post, here it is:



again, please excuse my loud talking, I don't seem to have a volume button, but I'm hoping to get a flip for my b-day (hint, hint, hee, hee...) so hopefully I'll perfect the video taking soon :)

This Week's Highlights

What a fun and crazy week! Mother's Day, 1st dentist visit ever, spider rings, playroom fun, new creations, dress up, silly bath-time and lots and lots of cutie-pies!

I heart Thursday!

Reasons why I loved today:

Tyler had preschool from 9:30-11:30

I cleaned like a mad-woman while he was gone and actually accomplished a lot

He came home in a great mood

He drew me a picture of a "dinosaur monster"

Jackson took a nap. I got even more done.

I didn't have a car until after 1:00 and so I had to stay home. Hence the accomplishing a lot part

My v.t. companion and I do dinner for a friend on Thursdays. This time I was on dessert. I made Angel's Food cupcakes with frosting and strawberries. They were delish!

I needed to pick up a few things from Walmart to finish decorating the playroom (pictures coming soon!) and Jeff wasn't going to be home for a couple hours still, so we took a quick trip over there

I was dreading it on the way there and then remembered there's a McDonalds inside

so I used it as a bribe

the entire shopping trip... "Tyler, come back or we don't get chicken nuggets"..."put that back if you want a white ice cream cone"...yes I'm that kind of mom :) it really worked!

We ate dinner inside a Walmart. Awesome.

Tyler shared his ice cream with Baby Bird without even being asked to.

I drove home smiling (listening to Jack suck on his finger and hum) and thinking I love my life!
Plus, it's Thursday. That means Grey's Anatomy/ Private Practice, The Office and 30 Rock.
Tomorrow is Friday.
And it's the Fathers & Sons camping trip for church.
I'm having a girl party. If you want to do Relay for Life, come over! While the boys camp, we are tie-dying team shirts. What is better than purple and turquoise tie-dye?!

Dear Mom & Dad,

It's always hard to get back into normal life after you leave...

But luckily you left so many special things that remind of us you every day.

The boys love helping me water the plants.

 

Jackson loves his purse  my soap on a rope ducky and says "Quack, quack" while he carries it around the house.

And Tyler shoots us all day long. So that's nice. Thanks for getting him the biggest longest coolest gun we've ever seen!

 

And we finally have mastered blowing kisses! We love you and miss you!

Which One?

It is exactly 1 month from my birthday. Yes, I'm counting. I love celebrations and parties and special days and, yes I love presents! Ever since I was little, my mom has us make Birthday Wish Lists.
So, help me decide which suit I should put on my list. After having 2 babies, I've tried a few different brands, and Hapari is the only one I feel good pretty in. Their control top bottoms go up to your belly button and hide the tummy area and have little shorts and skirts that match the tops. Let me know which print you like better!

One of my favorite thing about these tops is that you can tie them up 3 different ways in the back!

so you can switch up tan lines and just have fun. They really should be paying me for this post. Maybe a free swim suit? I'll ask...

Things that make me laugh...

I know Jackson's getting into mischief when I hear the chairs being pushed out from the table, a little bit of grunting, followed by "Ta-da!" over and over.
Then I wonder what Mr. Jack has gotten into. Or I should say, what I have left on the table for him to attack. This time, it was a few paint brushes, which he kept tickling on his face and laughing.
Earlier today, we were playing with a bouncy-ball that was sending him into a giggling-frenzy.
His new favorite thing to do is turn the light on and off and look up and back at me with every switch of the light.
He says Hi (while waving) and Ball and No,no,no,no,no. As well as banana (nanana) and Thanks.

The other day, Tyler asked me where his dinosaur was. I asked him which of his many (many) dinosaurs he was talking about. And then he did this:

 and so of course, I thought he wanted this one:

 but I was wrong. Don't you see the resemblance? Two fingers, mouth open... but maybe all dinos look like that...

Yesterday we were playing outside and Tyler found a bug. I heard him smash it over and over and pretend-bug scream with each smash. And then he said in a sad, whiny voice "oh, he want his legs."

Earlier today, Tyler started telling our favorite sitter Stephanie a funny (and completely made up) story about a bug in our house. It contained lots of "last night"s and "bamorrow"s and "almost got me"s. It's funny to listen to him talk and use grown up words and expressions.

In other news, 2 MORE DAYS!! until my parents come! Wahoo! 

"Nauna and Gampa are coming and we gonna shoot Tigers ba'tuz that be fun, huh mommy?!"

Crafty friends, I need your help!

Sending Smiles is helping out a darling family who's father has a brain tumor. We are doing a Handmade Auction and I would love your help! If you'd like, make something special and donate an item or items for this auction and all the proceeds will be given to the Baumgarten Family for medical bills and treatments. If you're not crafty or don't have time to create something, come on over May 6-8 for the Auction and do some shopping!! It will be super fun, I'm so excited to see what everyone comes up with! Go here for more information on the Baumgarten Family and what you can do to help!

My Eternal Family

Our lesson for FHE tonight was on 'My Family Can Be Together Forever' from the Nursery Manuel.
We talked about Temples, played Hot & Cold until we found a picture of the temple in the hall, pretended we were a beautiful temple by making a steeple with our hands and talked about our eternal family. We talked about what we can do now to prepare to enter the temple. Tyler said he would go to church. We made finger puppets, and paper necklaces and sang a song. I think it was successful!! My favorite part was when Jackson held out his two pointer fingers for puppets and walked around the coffee table wearing "Daddy" and "Sister". My second favorite part was when we talked about our "sister named Lindsey" Evidently, she's waiting in heaven for us.
I'm grateful for my eternal family, both the one I grew up in and the one we are creating. I'm grateful that our Heavenly Father put temples on earth so that we can start to learn about Heaven and want to go there, together as a happy family!

Have you ever found one of these in your dryer?

I try to baby-proof the house, but they just keep coming back!
Haha! I love that quote. At least they're cute.

Some Fun Stuff!

I've had too many internet tabs open for the past couple days on projects I want to do. Usually I just email myself the links, but I thought some of you might love them too! I haven't browsed  U Create for awhile, and I could get stuck on that site and other links for hours!!

Homemade Wreath- Somewhat Simple

Shelf out of Closet Doors- Infarrantly Creative 

    Candlestick Holders- Drab to Fab

Ruffled Camera Strap- Crap I've Made







The Domesticated Skirt- Sew a Straight Line






Interchangeable Flip Flops-Make It and Love It


Ok, that's better!
Happy Weekend, Everyone!!

I figured it out!

Ok, I just figured out how to get my updates to pop up on your sidebar list.

Just replace this URL: http://clarkupdater.blogspot.com/ with the one you currently have saved for our family and you'll see when I've made an update. Then just click on the link to get back to our private family blog. Hope that helps!

Perfectly Perfect

All day long today, I've been thinking about my many blessings. As I was reading this blog about a family with a baby that was just born with Down syndrome, thoughts came flooding back to me from the day I was pregnant with Jackson and received a phone call from the Parkland Hospital. They told me I had some irregular testing and needed to come in for a visit and should bring my husband. I quickly looked over the pamphlets they gave me at my last appointment and read down the list of all the diseases and disorders the baby was tested for.

We met with a very nice lady who told us we had 1/162 chance that this baby had Down syndrome. Women my age with normal testing would have 1/4400 chance, so they deemed it high risk. We could choose to get an amniocentesis or not, but that would be the only way to know for sure before the baby was born. I don't love needles and I always thought I'd be against risking the baby in any way, but after praying and fasting about it, we knew that I should have the test.

It would be two weeks until we got the results and I wish I could say I wasn't an emotional basket-case during that time. But I was. I began the mourning process in hopes that when I did find out, I'd be out of tears and ready to be optimistic and excited for our journey with a baby who had down syndrome. I felt like it would be an honor to be a parent to such a special child; one that would be ours forever, without doubt. But thoughts of how hard it would be and what he would miss out on, always lurked and made Jeff and I very sad.

It was two weeks later on a Thursday when we found out, I remember it very clearly. I was standing in the kitchen when my phone rang. I knew it was the hospital before I answered. It was the nice lady who visited with us before. I was happy to hear her voice and for the wondering to be over. I just wanted to know and then I could deal with it, either way. I remember being very calm as she told me that our baby did not have Down syndrome. I'm sure she could hear the relief in my voice as I told her, "Thank you so much" and it wasn't until she told me "Congratulations" that I started crying. I hung up and turned right to Jeff and told him our baby is ok. We hugged for a long time on our kitchen floor.

I remember our prayer that night, thanking our Heavenly Father that our baby was healthy. We try to include that in every prayer we make, and I'm sure we always will. Because of this experience I don't take for granted for one second how blessed we are to have two children who are healthy and safe.

Jeff and I haven't told anyone about this except our parents and a couple people who we served with at church at that time, but today I felt very strongly to share my experience. I had many peaceful moments where the Lord gave me strong answers. The first was to do the testing. Looking back I'm so grateful that answer was so clear because it saved me a lot of heartache and anxiety, if I had to wonder for another 5 months. Another strong feeling I got was to be ready. With this prompting, I thought it meant for sure he had the disorder, but now I know it had to do with his delivery. I'm so glad that I was spiritually prepared at the time or it would have been even harder for me to recover from that. The greatest inspiration I received during this difficult time is that we are all special. That the spirit that would be sent to me would be ours and he would be perfect. I'm grateful for those answers, that didn't give me a yes or a no, but gave me the promptings I needed to stay strong and know that the Lord has a greater plan for all of us. That we are sent down at the right time and to the right parents. I'm grateful to be a mother and a wife and I find so much joy from those callings as a woman.

The Dreaded- Going Private

So sorry, but I have to go private. I've had 2 COMMENTS from some guy in India. If you don't know us, why are you looking at our blog? Let alone commenting. Just wondering. It's one thing to pop on a blog and stay for a minute, but come on. That just makes me uncomfortable.

So, if you know me and I know you, and you are viewing my blog, you should feel special :)

I'll set up an account so that you can get updates on your sidebar if you have a list... once I figure out how to do that. Until then, I'll rest easy knowing that the man in India isn't planning an attack on my family to steal one of my children that he thinks is "cute".