A Star Is Born!

Riley is the star in his classroom this week, typically in any other class this means that the student is highlighted all week long; they get special privileges and responsibilities.  This year they get to make a poster and bring in a treat.  They are the star all week long but according to the boys there is nothing special that they get to do besides the poster.

I hate making posters, I feel it is a waste of time and supplies.  Erik and I don't even print pictures anymore, everything is digital.  So rather than waste countless hours on a poster that the kids can't even see from their desks I decided to make a movie.   I am just learning how to use iMovie and it seems like every time I use it I learn something new.  I let Riley pick all the pictures that he wanted and the songs that he wanted.  We tried to keep it around 5 minutes.

Like always when I look at pictures it makes me(and Erik) want to have another baby(or two).  It also makes me realize just how blessed I am to have two healthy and happy  boys.  It is never hard to find pictures of them smiling; because they are always smiling.  It is however hard to find pictures of them separate, they are always together; laughing, and playing, arms around each other as they pose for the camera.

There is always a challenge with parenting, it seems that my boys take turns being challenging.  For 6 months Carter will be a pill then they switch and Riley will turn into a stinker and Carter will be great.  For the past 9 months  or so Riley has been my challenge; until recently.  I don't know if I changed my attitude toward him or if he is just catching on.  He has been so pleasant, so loving for the past few weeks.  It is no longer unusual for him to pull me into his bed at night and give me a big hug and tell me he loves me.  Each morning he wakes me with the biggest smile I have ever seen, then he crawls under my covers and snuggles with me for the next 30 minutes until it is time to get ready for school.  I have loved having him in my life, he has so much energy and such a great outlook on life.  Putting this short video together reminded me just how much I adore him.  I want life to slow down just a bit so I can enjoy every second that I have with him.  

Napa

Erik had some business and personal things to take care of in the Napa area this last weekend.  For  the first time in 10 years we got to spend some time alone without the kids.

What I felt in Napa without the kids is so hard to describe;  from the moment we approached the airport our relationship changed into something it hasn't been in a long time.  Don't get me wrong Erik and I love each other and show that love, but we have responsibilities and those responsibilities change how we can respond to each other.  Walking to the terminal there was an increased love or spark between us; we could be more playful with each other; we could flirt!

Throughout the whole trip, the car ride to Napa, moving into the hotel, taking tours of amazing estates, eating at restaurants; I loved every minute of it.  I didn't have to entertain anyone, or break up any fights. I only had to order for myself, dress myself, teach myself.  But, there was still this void; I found myself looking over to Erik saying, " the boys would love this" or "could you imagine what the boys would think" and "look at the size of that cookie, they would be in heaven".

Is it 10 years of habit?  Is it because we have never left them? No, it is because we love being with them. As much as they can drive us crazy we love spending our time, all of our time with them.  I can't think of anyone that we would rather be with.  Friends call, people invite us places; restaurants, movies, vacations, events.  We always ask "with kids?"  If they say no, we decline.

We love the time that we had away from them,  I think we should do it more often.  But  WE decided to have kids, Erik and I made that decision.  We need to be responsible for them always and forever.  Yes, breaks are needed and everyone might feel they need to get away, but when we made the choice to have kids, we made the choice to raise them.  With that choice we give up late nights, girls nights, guys nights, weekends away, sometimes gym time, and even the celebration of anniversary's with out kids; really, why celebrate without them, don't they make your marriage what it is?

I watch and listen to friends that will take any excuse that they can find to get away, sometimes they have no excuse.  I see them leave their kids with neighbors that they barely know, they leave them with older siblings that really shouldn't be left alone with that kind of responsibility. They take advantage of their parents who should be enjoying retirement.  I can't help but think that if my parents left me all the time for something other than business trips, if they were always looking for an excuse to get away; I would have been hurt, even at a young age I would have wondered why my mom always wants to get away.

They are already growing up faster than I would like, and one day they will move out.  Hopefully if we time things right Erik can retire around that same time.  When this time comes, and it will come, we will have all the time in the world.  I am willing to bet that we will miss them; that we will call them and ask them to come join us for dinner, for movies, for a weekend get a way.  As much as they drive us nuts, we love and cherish every moment we can get with them.

I loved Napa, every minute that I had alone with Erik I will never forget.  But I love being a mom and a housewife, it's what I do, it's who I am.  I love my children. I am going to find every excuse that I can to spend more time with them.  They are 10 years old, I know the journey of a mother never ends but it won't be long before they are going to be out of the house.  I want every second that I can have with them.  There is no good excuse for finding time to spend away from your family.  There are only good excuses for finding time to spend with them.  I will take any excuse I can find!

The Bubbas 9th year

Here we are hitting the double digits, it is hard to believe that they are already so old!  I feel like our little family does so much every day, week, month, year.  I wanted to share with you just some of what the boys did in their 9th year of life.  Maybe one day they can look back on this video and realize just how good they had it!

First day of School

What a summer,  I have to admit that I almost feel ripped off a little.  I didn't get to do all the fun things that I usually take the boys to do and it makes me sad.  Actually what really happened is when we had the time and I asked, "do you want to go to the park, the zoo, the aviary.  Do you want to go on a bike ride, swimming, or a hike?"  They never wanted to, they want to "hang" with their friends or go ride their bikes around the neighborhood; but never with me.

I remember being 10 yrs old, if I look back on my childhood that is the age that I have distinct memories of where I was, what I was doing, and how I felt.  I remember riding my bike around the neighborhood, running in and out of all of my friends houses and as long as I was home for dinner thats all that mattered.

It scares me to think that I remember my teacher Mrs. Macintosh, the songs we sang, my first boyfriend Jeff Larsen, my first bra, and my first migraine.  I was old enough to know things and do things on my own but I still wanted my parents help; but not in front of my friends.  I road my bike to and from school everyday and if my mom wasn't home when I got there it was no big deal; I went out and played, or sat in front of the t.v. with a jar full of skippy.

As a parent I am absolutely terrified of my kids memory.  Not that I don't try my hardest every day to be the best parent that I can be, I do.  But, now I feel I have to put in that extra effort because they will undoubtedly remember things for the rest of their lives.

So this morning as I send them off for their first day of school, I snap this picture; they will remember this Jersey as being the outfit that they were so excited to wear.  They will remember Mrs. Hart; I hope she is good.  They will remember that all their friends are in the same class this year.  They will remember that the 2 of them were the number one pick for the Bountiful Braves gremlin football team.  They will probably find a girl they like, or maybe two.  But above all of that, I hope that they remember that their mom was here for them; to make them breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  To take them to school, to football, and to their tutor;  even though they hate going maybe one day they will be glad.  I hope they remember that I was there for the bike rides if they wanted me.  That I can still bounce them on the tramp even though they almost weigh as much as me.  And at night after the evening battle of brushing their teeth and washing their face, I hope they remember that I was there to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight.

Happy Anniversary

Each morning I wake and every night I fall asleep I can't help but think of how lucky I am for so many things, but the one thing that I always feel so blessed for is my marriage.  When I look back to my dating years and I think about the boys that I dated, I can't help but think how different my life would have been had I taken a different path.
How amazing it is that my brother Travis served with Erik in the MTC and remained good enough friends for 2 years that Trav invited Erik to lake powell.  Then by some  miracle Erik and I became friends; he lived an hour away, is 5 years older, and was at such a different time in his life than I was.  But somehow, through one year of dating, one year of being good friends, then one more year of dating and being best friends he asked me to marry him.
He is my best friend, and an amazing husband and father.  He works harder than any man I know to create a happy, loving home.  He provides, he plays, he loves.
Marriage isn't easy, but it shouldn't be hard either.  I can't help but think that there needs to be a balance of everything.  You have to work at it, but you also have to play; and play hard.  Of course there is always going to be a fight, but if you didn't fight then you wouldn't make-up.  There is a certain balance in our marriage; I know his role and he knows mine, when one of us can't fill our role then the other steps in.  Every time we go to Costco as a family we get home and we take on our roles; he unloads the truck and brings everything to the stairs of the house, the boys then bring everything from the stairs to the kitchen, and then I put everything in its place.  Each time we go to Costco as a family and we go through our routine I work in the kitchen smiling; these are not only our responsibilities after a day of shopping, these are our responsibilities for our life.  Everything we do in our life, our marriage, our family; we do it together.  We are not always smiling and happy while we do it, in fact sometimes we are crying, screaming or whining; but we still do it.....together.
Each year on our anniversary since having kids Erik and I struggle with what we should do to celebrate if anything at all.  We can never seem to decide if we should get a babysitter and go have a nice dinner or do we take the kids somewhere with us?  As we casually discuss the day we almost always come back to us as a family, we would not have the marriage that we do with out our handsome boys.  They entertain us, they play with us, they help us, they make us mad; really mad sometimes.  So when it comes to the Happy Anniversary celebration we typically choose to celebrate with our family.  It is our family unit that makes our marriage click, it is why the last thirteen years have been so rewarding and it is why the next thirteen plus are going to be just as wonderful.
Thank you Erik for the best 13years of my life, I will continue to love you, work with you, play, laugh, and cry with you.  I would not be who I am without you in my life;

Loving Summer

Here we are in the middle of July, baseball is over, football has just begun.  Water parks, hikes, vacations, rhino rides, boating, campfires, movies, and night time bike rides have all been done.  There is no better time to bond with your family than summer time.  How blessed I feel to have a husband that can come home in the middle of the day to hit up our favorite amusement park or run up to the lake.  I feel even more blessed that I look forward to him coming home early!!


Here are a few pic's to give you an idea of just how busy we keep our summers, keep in mind we are only half way done!

We started off with the Dirty Dash, next year the boys are going to join us!

 Time to remodel the Laundry room, too much wasted space.  The mess almost drove me crazy!

 Way to many rattle snakes this year.  This one had a full grown squirrel in its belly,  YES they did cut it out; they are boys.

 Family reunion to Reno, Nevada.  All of the boys had a blast.

 Slip and slide, went on forever and could have kept going!

 Sidewalk days at the Gateway, so relaxing and so many talented people.

Combining work and pleasure; Daddy had to work in St. George so we tagged along.  We got to see Zion's while we were there!

Tipton boys will be Tipton boys

It is not easy to be a wife to a Tipton boy,  I don't know if it is easier or harder for me because we live out of the "Tipton" state of California.  When I first married or even started dating Erik and we would go visit his family it was always very entertaining to watch all 4 of the bothers, if not somewhat chaotic.  As time went on and Erik and I got married and had kids the chaos of the Tipton brothers though still entertaining is still sometimes annoying. When they are having so much fun together that they forget that they have a wife and kids.  There are times when you can see any one of the Tipton wives sitting in the car with all the kids buckled up and ready to go home 40 minutes past bedtime; but the Tipton boys are so clueless as to what is going on outside their circle of fun.  How many a family reunion do we wives chase after and entertain our kids while our husbands entertain themselves with various games; R.C. cars,  pillow toss with elbow catch, baseball,  crazy high fives(this can go on for awhile), video making.  The list goes on and on.

As the years have past I have learned to be more patient and realize that they don't see each other very often.  Last night after a rainy day home with the kids Erik was sitting working on his lap top and I was doing dishes.  At the first sound of laughter I looked up to find my boys 20 minutes into a game of kick the hacky sack past the other and score a goal.  The game totally made up on the spot with rules and all.  They were entertained for an hour before it was time to cut them off and put them to bed.

As I sat recording them I couldn't help but think to myself; only a Tipton boy could be this entertained for so long.  I can only hope that my boys will grow up and have a relationship like their uncles.  I pray that they will always find joy in one anothers company, that they will have many moments of laughter together.  If I am lucky enough, maybe they will drive their wives crazy playing silly games way past the time they are suppose to be somewhere else.