Life is happening and it is good:)

I have been too tired to blog but life has been going on and good things have happened even when I haven't been writing them down.

• Eerika doesnt wear diapers anymore. She has accidents still, but there is no going back to diapers anymore and most of of the time, she does really well.  When we were in Utah, she only had one accident in the whole week. There have been more accidents since we are home and I am more relaxed about checking on her. Either way, I don't have to change diapers anymore.
• Troy fell into a cactus while going on a four wheel ride. He had about 200 needles stuck in him, but he was very lucky to not get hurt any worse. He learned that Elmer's glue and duct tape work well to pull needles out.
• I had a liver transplant patient last week and it was the coolest experience to inform him that the doctor thought that the liver was good and he was finally going to get a new liver. This was his 5th time being admitted for a possibly transplant and each of the previous times, it had not happened. When I said that they would take him to the OR in half an hour, he looked like a kid on a Christmas morning, except much more grateful:)
• It is summer here. Full blown summer. The forecast is 100 degrees for the whole week. It makes me anxious and I am looking forward to the weeks that we will be in Finland and in a cooler weather.

Happy Mother=Happy Family

Happy Mother's Day!

I got to sleep in until 8:30. That by itself was a great present. There might have been a foot or two on my back, but I am not complaining.

We ate breakfast around 10 am. Troy served whole wheat banana chocolate chip pancakes. 

Miss Eerika was sick so Saku and I went to church without isi and her.

This boy got to sing in the sacrament meeting for the first time and he was amazing. He loves singing but does not sing in public very much. However, when it was time to sing "Love is Spoken Here", he rocked it. I was so proud and happy to see my boy shine. 

Saku often tells me "I love you to all the stars and back" and Eerika has started to say "i love you äiti" multiple times a day. Some people say that being a mother is a thankless job. While my kids do not comprehend all the work it takes to make their world go around, I do feel very appreciated by them. 

The Last Hurrah!

For the past three or so years, we have done a monthly family home evening with four other families; the Cherrys, Gryglas, Ertels and Rowsers.  We were introduced to the other three families by Brian and Alia when they moved to Tucson five years ago. Over the years, we have become friends and we have watched as each family has grown.

While hosting a dinner for twenty or so people was stressful at times, I feel so blessed to have the chance to spend time with these fine families. And it sure was nice to show up to other people's houses and have a delicious meal without cooking or doing dishes as well:)

Steph, Alia, Cristy, Eevi and Kendra. 

All the kids showing off their cuteness. From left: Eerika, Saku, Maddy, Tyce, Ryan, Cameron, Jackson and Cade.
2nd row: Caleb and Kyler
3rd row: Leyla
Mister Dane is missing. Quite the total tally for each family. I think there were less than half the number when we first started to get together.

Some good looking and happy families!

Brandon, Brian, Troy, Mike and Joel

Since Brian and Alia and their boys moved away last week, May was our last chance to celebrate our friendships. It was a fun gathering with everyone. We swam, ate delicious food and chatted it up until it was time to put the kids to bed. 

I have a feeling that as the years go by, it will be more and more difficult to establish such great friendships as we have in our younger years as our kids are little and growing. I do hope that I am wrong though.

Thanks to Mike for these great pictures. 

My dear friend Camry is moving to Utah in a matter of days. The interesting thing about Camry and my friendship is that we barely even knew each other until I started to work and she watched Saku for me for few weeks. This woman took care of her little Lyla, who is two months older than Saku, and Saku and was still going to school at the time. She is quite the woman. Somehow around this time, I feel like we became very good friends very quickly. We could sit and chat for hours. 

We happened to have our #2 children around the same time and then she got ahead of me and had Ashley last August. 

We were very different in many ways. Camry is a modern day pioneer woman. She had chickens and goats in her backyard. She gardens. She cooks from scratch using tons of vegetables. She cloth diapers and she delivers her babies with midwives at home.  And she truly lives the lifestyle that she loves and I think it is so admirable. 

In the past year, we have not seen each other very much. I think it has been only about five times, which is pretty pathetic. However, the absolutely beautiful thing about my friendship with Camry is the fact that seriously months can go by and it does not seem like it at all.

We Are Young

My mid-week birthday getaway came and went and it was fabulous. For about 20 hours, we were carefree and had so much fun. 

We shopped. Troy carried my shopping bags. We shopped until the stores closed. You know how many times I have done that? I think about once! I walked away with few shirts, awesome pair of shoes and a new watch. 

We watched a movie, Jack Reacher, until midnight, which is way past my usual bed time.  And finally there was a good movie that Troy and I both enjoyed. I wish I could say that we slept like babies without our babies, but I could not get comfortable and kept tossing and turning all through the night.

We might look little different than we did 9 years ago when we celebrated my birthday together for the first time, but I am loving this 28 year old life!

We ate at P.F Changs. We felt sort of predictable to be dining at a chain restaurant when we could have gone to cool restaurants named "Culinary Drop Out" and such. 

Sesame chicken for me, thank you!

Mongolian Beef for the man. And I might have taken a bite or five out of his meal as well.

Salted caramel chocolate cake-rich and delicious

The lobby of our fancy hotel.

We enjoyed a breakfast by stopping at Einstein Bagels. Let me tell you. I know some people do this all the time, but there is something beautiful about a small luxury of stopping to get a bagel and paying way too much for it and a cup of orange juice.

While Troy was busy with work the following morning. I read a book at the hotel while munching on twizzlers . Then I checked out of the hotel and headed to the mall, again, to buy a new lipstick. 

Lunch stop was at Zupas and we arrived in Gilbert around 2 pm to pick up our sweet kids. 

They were happy to be there and happy to see us. They were water coloring pictures when we got there. It is so good to get away from them because coming back to them is so sweet.

I think an annual birthday get away would work well for me;)

Family Bed

There is something magical about our bed. When our kids sleep in our bed, they sleep in! On Mother's Day, the whole family slept until 8:30!!! Saku has become quite the teenager when it comes to sleeping and he often sleeps in late; however, Eerika is my early riser, as in she is up by 6:30 on most days.

However, for various reasons, the kids have slept in our room and in our bed for past few nights and these are two pictures of show the reality of family bed.

I did not have very much room here since Eerika decided to sleep diagonally!

Even the open shutters that allowed sunlight come in didn't wake up the family!

For the record, we do not let the kids fall asleep in our bed. Saku comes every once in a while on his own and I barely notice him until I wake up in the morning. I guess that is the luxury of a king sized bed. If we do let them sleep in our room, they sleep on the floor on a comforter and they think it is the best thing ever. 

While I do enjoy it more when it is just my man and I in the bed, there is something precious about waking up to those little faces breathing next to you. Plus Eerika has the biggest smile when she wakes up next to me. 

I should note that Troy does let Saku fall asleep with him when I am work. :)

Divinity of Motherhood

It is Tuesday night. The house is quiet at 8:12 pm. Troy is at scouts as usual. I have some kitchen cleaning and laundry folding to do, but it can wait for few minutes. 

Tonight I feel peace in my heart. It is not because today was a perfect day, though today was a very good day. I listened to a podcast interview of Virginia Hinckley Pearce on the Mormon Channel and while it was not anything remarkable, the following comment from her stuck in my head. She said that as a new mom she thought that hard work would fix everything and she struggled. She had a colicky baby and nothing helped her baby. She had more children and she realized that hard work doesnt fix everything and just because you work hard doesn't mean that things are going to be great. She did not mean this in a negative way. She just meant that sometimes you work so hard and sometimes you just barely survive  and keep your kids alive and that is enough.

Fortunately I am not in a stage with my kids where we are barely surviving. On most of our days we are thriving and loving life. But I loved her comment because it reminded me that sometimes life is just life. It doesnt have to be scrapbook worthy moments day in and day out. Sometimes you just live. You love your family and that is enough.  And you can be truly happy with a life that isn't all scrapbook and blog worthy. 

 In the past few weeks I feel like I have spoken with women who truly embrace their role as a mother, while being realistic, and it has strengthened my testimony of motherhood and its divine purpose. I am grateful for them. It reminds me that while it is important for me to take time for myself, I will have plenty of time for myself later in my life. 

Tonight Saku got very upset because I "cleaned" up the toys outside after my requests for them to clean them up were in vain. He was crying, which is very loud crying, for a good 10 to 15 minutes. While he carried on, Eerika and I showered and got ready for bed. Once Eerika was in her PJs, I asked her to go and get book and read it while I made Saku feel better. He still cried for his toys, but he let me hold him and get him in the bath tub and through the miraculous power of distraction the crying ended. After a bath, we all cuddled in his bed and I told them two stories and sang songs as Saku fell asleep. Eerika was awake as I put her in her crib. My heart was so full of love for her little face.

As I held my children, who are not babies anymore, in my arms. I was grateful that I had the patience to deal with a tired and obnoxious child. And I had an inspiration that reminded me that while I am a mother and that is what I do most of my time, my children don't define me. Their bad or good actions are not just because of me. They are who they are.  I influence and teach them a lot, but it is not all me. When you spend most of your time taking care of these kids and you give so much of yourself to them, it can be easy to take each one of their failures personally and feel like I am not good enough. I am not saying that I am perfect but I am a good mom who loves her kids and that is enough.