10 things about...Brody...

So I posted 25 random things about myself and I decided to write 10 things about each of our family members. Some are good things, some are funny, some are irritating...but each one makes them special and unique. And that's why I love them. Why do you love everyone you know? What makes them special to you?

My Brody....

1. He is very serious about alot of things. He takes everything to heart. So that means when he gets into trouble, it is a VERY big deal. He has to stomp off to the corner or his room to compose himself. He gets that from his mother.
2. Brody has the biggest brown eyes ever, and he knows how to use them. When he asks for something or he's upset, he just opens those eyes big and wide and blinks...it melts your heart every time!
3. My son's body tells him things. Usually its stuff like "My legs say I'm tired" or "My tummy says I'm starving". But sometimes its "My heart says I need to sit on the couch with Daddy" (if he doesn't want to go to bed) or " My arms tell me its time to sleep" (if he's really tired) 
4. He is SUCH a boy. I am actually surprised given he has a big sister that is such a girl. But he loves everything BOY! Cars, guns, pirates, wrestling, robots...he likes it all. Granted he still will have a Tea Party with Gracie, but there has to be cookies involved.
5. He is our little garbage disposal. He pretty much will eat anything, and alot of it. Typical breakfast... yogurt, banana and oatmeal. All before 9 a.m. and then he is still "hungry". Funny thing is that he is our scrawniest child. He grows up, not out.
6. He is very smart for a three year old. And I'm not just saying that because I'm his Mom. He learns alot from "helping" Gracie with her homework. He learned his colors and shapes and most of the letters and numbers last year. He has been able to write his name for  almost a year. He catches on very quick to many concepts.
7. His favorite food is Peanut Butter and Jam sandwiches. When he was around 2, he used to ask (first thing in the morning) "I wanna Peter Sam Sam Samwich." It got shortened to "Peter Jam Sam Samwich" to "Peanut Butter Sam Samwich" to "Peanut butter Jam sandwich."
8. He has always been my early riser. It doesn't matter what time he goes to bed, he is usually up by 6 a.m. And the first thing he goes for...Food.
9. He LOVES his little brother. He loves to give him hugs and kisses, multiple times a day, and he likes to play with him. I always find him in the crib when Cooper has woken up, or on top of the bunk bed throwing toys at him. He just forgets that Cooper is still little and he needs to be gentle.
10. He loves to help his Dad, with the yard,in the garage. He especially likes to get his 'tools' out when Dustin is trying to fix something. 

Brody is such a wonderful and fun addition to our family. He can be such a stinker sometimes and the next he says to you "I just need a hug and kiss!" We love our "big" boy very much!

Poor little man!

I just had to post this pic! Little Coop is teething and he caught the nasty cold my other two kids were sharing. He can't breathe, he's all raspy and hoarse and all together miserable. I feel bad for him because there's not a whole lot you can do for the poor little guy! Just lots of love and sleep. He looks so sad and pathetic in the picture though, I couldn't resist. Its not great as he was sitting on my knee while i took the pic, but...you get the idea!

25 Random things...

I seen a bunch of people doing this on Facebook and thought it was a neat idea. What a great way to get to know others and YOURSELF! 

1. I LOVE chocolate! Pretty much anything chocolate I will eat(excluding chocolate covered insects!) 

2. There is always room for dessert. It doesn't matter how full I am, i have to have something sweet after I eat, its my downfall when I'm trying to be good about eating right. 

3. I love my kids and I love being a mom. I am so glad I get to stay home with them (somedays more than others) 

4. I love my husband, he is my best friend. I love that he knows me and understands me better than anyone ever has.

5. I love music. Any kind. pop, rock, country, classical, 80's, oldies. I don't care what kind, I just love the songs. 

6. I love scrapbooking, but rarely have time to do it. I keep buying paper and stuff and never use it. 

7. I love my t-shirts and jeans. I keep thinking I should wear grown up clothes, but I can't come around to it. 

8. I miss home. I miss the small town where every knows you. I miss the friends and family being right there. 

9. Most of the time I really like living in California. The weather is good and I love being able to see and experience new things. 

10. I love the beach. I love sitting on the sand and soaking up the sun. I love the smell of the water. I love the sound of the waves crashing into the shore, there is nothing more relaxing to me. One day I will live on the beach so I can listen to it every day. 

11.I love working out. I love the way it makes me feel. I love the energy it gives me. And I love the fact that I don't feel as guilty eating that bowl of ice cream at night when I do work out. 

12. I want a salad bar in my fridge. One that perpetually restocks itself so I don't have to. I love salad. 

13. I hate spiders. All kinds. They are sneaky and creepy. 

14. I am scared to swim in the ocean. Love the beach...will not go past my knees in the water. 15. I serve fruit with avocado chocolate dip frequently for dinner for my family. My kids love it and its the most food they eat at one sitting. 

16. I hate doing the dishes in the sink. I do not like the feel of food floating in the water. I love my dishwasher. 

17. I love writing in my blog. I used to write in a journal when I was younger. Its a great outlet. 18. I love to read. And I will read pretty much anything. And I tend to read my favorite books over and over. I've lost count how many times I've read the Harry Potter series. 

19. I get very shy around new people. I have to get to know the person and be comfortable in the surroundings to open up. 

20. I love reality tv. I think its hilarious because people are just funny, the way they interact with each other and to each other. 

21. I love to people watch. Especially at places like Vegas or Disneyland where you get all sorts of weirdos. 

22. Strangely I am excited about turning 30 this year. I will be thirty flirty and fabulous! 

23. I want to write a book someday. I have lots of ideas, don't know where to start. 

24. I am a hermit. I love being at home. We have date night at home, we don't go out much. But I like it, its comfortable. 

25.I love photography and taking pictures of my kids. I love capturing our lives to look back on. I love the feelings and emotions you can capture with it. I want to learn more so I can become a better photographer.

One Quick Weekend!

So my crazy parents came two thousand miles to visit for the weekend! Yes, that seems pretty silly doesn't it? But they got $29 plane tickets from Kalispell, MT (a couple of hours from home) to Vegas and a cheap rental car, so why not?! The only problem was that they were supposed to be in Vegas at 9 p.m but with a delayed flight they didn't leave Kalispell till then. They drove around the Strip, since Dad has never been before, then started the drive to our house. After a little sleep at a roadside truckstop, they made it here at 8:30 on Saturday morning. The kids were so excited. They had been counting the days down all week. 

So we hung out all weekend. We went to John's Pizza for lunch, played games, watched movies, showed Grampa the house (since he hasn't seen it yet), went to the park, went to Cold Stone (of course) and walked down to the school to show them where Gracie goes to Kindergarten. Lots of fun packed into such a short time. They even brought lots of treats from Canada! I think one whole bag was treats and presents! They probably would have got some great looks from the Airport Authorities if they would have checked their bags! Who packs a bag of chips, popcorn twists, and chocolate bars for a weekend to Vegas?

The kids were really upset when they had to leave this morning. I was surprised. Every other time, they are a little sad, but it doesn't last long. But Gracie was really sad, she broke down when we got to the gate at school and didn't want to go. I felt so bad for her. She just said "But they only stayed for a little bit!" I said "I know, but we'll see them again." And I tried to remind her that our other Gramma and Grampa, and cousins were coming soon. That helped a little, but it was pretty tough for the little girl.

Its times like this that I am sad for the fact that we are so far away. But, I remind myself that I can't change that now, and we can only live in the moment. I can't always be thinking about the "What ifs" and the "when this happens..." I have to live my life for NOW. Never live in the past, its gone, it can't be changed. Never live in the future, because you will never know what's coming. Live for NOW, because this is where we are and this is what we have.

I am so thankful for my parents and the fact that they did get to come visit us, even if it was just a short time. I am so thankful that we are important enough to them to even just take the weekend to come visit because I know its hard for them to get holiday time off to come and visit for longer periods of time. And I am so thankful that they are such wonderful parents and grandparents. I had a blast this weekend. Thanks Mom and Dad!

My little helper...

Gracie is getting so big! Looking at little Sloane's pics sooo remind me of Gracie, and I can hardly believe she'll be turning six this coming June! She is growing up too fast. But it is nicebecause she can be such a good helper to her Mommy and Daddy and such a good big sister to her brothers.

Gracie is half way through Kindergarten and she

 is learning so much. She knows many words by sight, including her colors, her families names, and alot of those little words like with, the, and, etc. She loves to read and if you read her a book and go back through it, she can read alot of the words back to you! Amazing, eh? I can't believe it, she's so 

little and she is learning how to read! As Gracie would say, "That's Crazy!"

She lost her first tooth in December. We had to have the dentist pull it out as the adult tooth was coming up behind. She was pretty proud of 

that tiny little tooth! They didn't even have to numb it. Just gave her some nitrous and yanked it out. Then she lost her second tooth a couple of weeks ago. This one was really loose and her Dad yanked it out for her. A few tears with that one, but once she saw the tooth she was all better!

She likes to play with her brothers and is especially good at helping with Cooper. She gets him toys and plays with him to keep him busy when I am trying to cook or something else. And the other day, she even helped feed him his pudding while I finished the vacuuming! She did a pretty good job too! And her brothers just love 

her. Brody doesn't know what to do sometimes without her around during the day. They play alot together and most of the time they are really good and hardly fight. They work out things pretty fairly...no black eyes yet anyways!

I love my little girl. She is so beautiful, spunky and fun! She definitely makes my life more interesting. She always looks on 

the bright side and everything is usually 

fixed with a hug and a smile. She does push my buttons some days, but I wouldn't trade her for any one else! Love you Gracie Dawn!

I have a new NIECE!

We have another pink one! The girls are so out numbered in the Godlonton family right now. My family they are too, but there's still a little more hope of them catching up with JL and Jeff and Jody having no kids so the score is BOYS 3, GIRLS 1. In Dustin's family the score in running at BOYS 8, GIRLS 3. Unless everyone has just girls from now on, I'm not sure they'll catch up! That's ok...Princesses need lots of protection from their big boy cousins!

Anyways Tanner an Lindsay had a little girl on January 14 at 6:43 a.m. and her name is Sloane Deanna Godlonton and she is so cute! She was 7 pounds, 7 ounces and 20 inches long. She is so cute! You always forget how tiny they were until you see those newborn pics again. Almost makes me want to have another one...almost! Three right now is plenty thank you very much! But I can't wait to make her all sorts of girly bows and things! They'll only let you primp them up for so long, right? 

Gracie was very excited...she says "Another girl, just like me!" 

Just give her a couple of years and she'll be dragging her around like Marla and I used to do with Jeri-lynn. 

Congrats Tanner and Lindsay, she's beautiful and we are so excited to welcome her into the family!

I love Family...

I am so excited to have family coming to visit this year! It is especially nice because we were unable to go home and visit this winter. It also breaks the monotony of the everyday life. This year we get lots of visitors over the next few months which will be fun. I can't wait!

My parents are coming in 2 weeks, just for the weekend. It will be a really quick visit, but Dad is really excited about coming to see the house and where we live. We are just gonna chill for the weekend.

Dustin's parents and Kelsey, Steve and the boys are coming in February. They were just coming to St. George and we were going up to visit them there, but because of how it falls with reading week this year, they decided to go down to Disneyland first then go to St. George. So we will get to see them there too!

Then in April, Jeri-lynn, DJ and Levi are coming for Easter week. they want to go up to the Sequoia's one day and maybe the beach so that will be fun.

So many adventures planned over the next couple of months...Whoooeee! It really makes life go by fast, I can't believe its January and Gracie is already half finished her first year of school! Its crazy! So exciting though! 

New Beginnings...

So I missed my wordful Wednesday this week, so here's my take on the thought...New Beginnings. Awesome, thought provoking topic. Everything is new beginnings, isn't it? everyday I think, "Today I will do better, I will try harder, I will be the person I REALLY want to be." And I usually start with really good intentions, but something usually throws me for a loop. A kid getting sick, cranky kids, unexpected phone calls, unexpected anything...it throws me off and it kind of slides downhill and I think, tomorrow will be better. And it usually is, but it never lasts right? Somewhere we have to start over. But thats how we learn, by starting over, trying to fix the things that went wrong. We begin and we start small. Little things to make it better. Like "Today I will try not to yell at the kids." And it may go well, it may go great, it may last all day, but the next day I still have to say "Today I will try not to yell at the kids."  All the small things we try and put into our day must start fresh from the beginning. Everyday is a new beginning. We just have to try and make it to the end of the day as excited as we start it. Its all about enduring to the end, right?

"Have you ever looked at one of those 16-foot farm gates? 

When it is opened, it swings very wide. 

The end at the hinges moves ever so slightly, 

while out at the perimeter the movement is great. 

It is the little things upon which life turns that make the big difference in our lives"

~Gordon B Hinckley~

I got this quote from "Chocolate on my Cranium." I thought it was wonderful. I have always said "little things make a difference." (If you don't believe me, look at your child right now!) Every morning I strive to do better and every night I try and remind myself that even the littlest thing that I have done better is an important improvement. Begin with small steps and eventually you will take giant leaps!

I don't like to think!

I really don't like the fact that I can not shut my brain off at night. If I have a problem, or if I am working on something, or if something is bothering me, all night I just sit and think about it, and if I do get to sleep, all I do is dream about it! I HATE that! Not a very restful sleep. I'm not even sure why I'm like that. My husband crawls into bed, rolls over, and is snoring in like 5 minutes. I'm a little jealous. Even if we have been discussing something, or having an argument or anything else that could be going wrong in the world. It just slides off his back. He has the attitude, that yes, it might upset him or make him mad, but there's not a whole lot he can do to change things, so why let it bother him? I wish I was more like that! Everything bothers me!

It used to be really bad when I taught dance because I had to deal with the stress of teaching, dealing with kids and their parents, trying to make everyone happy. Dustin used to tell me all the time: "You can't make everyone happy." But I tried and I was usually the one to suffer because of it. It got so bad, that at times I would take sleeping pills, just to get a good nights sleep because it had been days since I had had one. I'm getting better now. Probably because I'm not dealing with that mess anymore, but also I realized when we moved down here, I HAD to take care of myself. When we were first down here and knew no one, who did I have to rely on? Dustin was at work most of the time, he was a help when he was at home, but the rest....All I had was myself. If I didn't take care of me then who would take care of my kids? 

So I'm learning that I can't make everyone happy...even if I try, there's always someone that complains. Even if I have the best intentions, there's always someone that will find something wrong with what I'm doing. I am just as guilty at doing this to others as well. Aren't we all? Isn't it easier to find fault in something than to see the effort and thought put behind it? Isn't it hard to see that someone else could have a valid point when we want our way to be right? Maybe I need to see the good behind things, to see it from someone else's point of view. Its hard to do, but maybe it will help me let go of the things that are bugging me. And though I can change myself, I can not change anyone else, and I'm starting to realize that you can try as much as you like, but you can not make anyone do anything they don't want to. You can suggest things and nudge them in the direction you want them to go, but, ultimately it is their decision to make. And I must learn to let go.....

God grant me the serenity 

to accept the things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Funny Kids...

I love my kids!

The other day we went as a family to WalMart...my husband would rather haul all the kids together than stay home with the three of them by himself, maybe he's scared I'll run away! Anyways we were walking through the parking lot...you never get a decent parking spot, eh? And while we were walking, Brody, who has developed a severe case of sugar filled/sleep deprived attitude this year, hears a car honking waayy across the parking lot and he turns an yells, "Honk Honk, yourself!" Where did you hear that one? I'm blaming my husband! He is three, but he has the attitude of a thirteen year old! Then Yesterday, Dustin took him to Home Depot, which he usually loves going with Dad to the store. He fell asleep on the way there and when they got there...

Brody "Where are we?"

Dad "At Home Depot."

Brody "Where's Wendy's?"

Dad "We went to a different one."

Brody "I SAID I wanted to go to Wendy's!" He glares a Dad

Dad, trying not to laugh at the glare, "Mom's making dinner, we are not eating at Wendy's today."

It kind of worked and after they were done in the store he was happy again. But then they had to go to another Home Depot to pick up stuff the other one didn't have!

Brody "Where are we?"

Dad "At Home Depot."

Brody, using his glare "We were just at Home Depot."

Dad "This is another one, Dad needs some more stuff the other store didn't have."

Brody just glares.

This glare is quite funny and he uses it alot, when he's mad, grumpy, embarrassed. It started almost a year ago, when he would get mad at something he would ball up his little fists and stomp away to his room. He would stay

 in there till he decided he wasn't mad anymore. If you went in there he would say "Leave me alone! I'm mad at you." Now its graduated to a glare and usually a "I SAID..." about the situation. I probably should reprimand him, but its so funny! Usually we kind of smile at him because we are trying not to laugh and this usually gets him really riled! I'm sorry little man, but its too funny!

And speaking of little men...Cooper is getting really good at the crawling thing. And now he thinks he needs to pull himself up, but he has no balance yet and usually lands on his head! But the crawling thing he's got down. And when he has bare legs, especially on the tile floor in the kitchen, he does a lovely spider monkey crawl, where he is crawling on his hands and feet! Its so funny to watch. What a little monkey!

What would we do without kids! I decided mine and Dustin's life would be rather boring since we are both such home bodies. We like to hang out in the comfort of our home most of the time. I guess Heavenly Father knew this and sent us some of the most stubborn, silliest, dramatic, and funniest spirits he could find! This way it would keep us on our toes!