The world as we know it

Yesterday while digging for worms in the backyard, Keith mentioned that the worms probably needed to eat. I told him that worms ate the dirt. He laughed at me and said, "No...worms don't eat dirt! They eat chocolate milk." How did I not know that?






















While watching General Conference last Sunday (for more information, go to http://www.lds.org/conference/languages/0,6353,310-1,00.html ) Cole said, "I don't want to watch the Church movie. The Church movie is boring." Awesome. We're already instilling such strong religious respect in our young children.



























Ally's latest news is that she has some sort of allergy to gluten, wheat or grains in general--we're not quite sure. Since we've cut all grains from her diet, her cheeks, chin and neck have cleared up significantly. Poor girl. How will any girl survive life without carbs? Hopefully she will grow out of it.

















G and G Smart visited last week for Spring Break. They spoiled everyone as usual. We had a blast at the Zoo (including a ride on the choo-choo train) and just plain hanging out.






BTW: Several people in public mention how much Ally looks like her Grandma. Seriously, when the 3 of us are anywhere, someone ALWAYS comments on how much Ally looks like my mom. I'm beginning to agree with them.

Behind Every Successful Mom is...

1. A Really Great Husband
I don't post my feelings about Brent because I'm not a good enough writer to sound anything more than corny. But seriously, Brent is the best guy. (See what I mean?) So, anyway, a few weeks ago I got a wicked flu and didn't even roll over Monday morning until 9 am. He had already taken the day off, dressed and fed all the kids and was playing with them by the time I stumbled downstairs. He took them to the park and continued double-duty parenting until I recovered Tuesday morning.





















2. An Amazing Mom


My mom came to my rescue for the countless time again to help with the nasty illness plaguing our family. She chased the boys, fed Ally (which is no small task these days), did laundry, cleaned my kitchen and managed to spoil everyone rotten with a few shopping splurges.







3. An In-tune Mother-in-Law


Ellen is the perfect mother-in-law. She just rolls with anything and I couldn't feel more comfortable when she is at our house. She is basically the exact opposite of Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond, (if you ever watched that show--one of my favorites.)
She just digs in and helps out when she's here. Just like my own mom, she helps do the laundry, clean and most importantly is excellent with the grandkids.




4. A Debbie



Debbie is an angel posing as one of us "regular" people on earth--seriously. She is not related (at least not yet--her daughter is marrying Brent's little brother later this summer which is so cool I can hardly stand it, more on that another day), yet she is always showing up at my doorstep to pitch in. She watches the kids so I can go for a run or run errands, she calls from Costco to see if I need anything, she folds laundry (it's never done), vacuums, etc. Trust me, there is ALWAYS stuff to do around here. And she seems to always sense when I need some help. Keep in mind she works full time, still has children at home and is the Bishop's wife. I know, amazing, huh?

So, whenever strangers in public ask me, "Wow, You must be busy. How do you do it?" or "Wow, are they all yours? How do you manage?" I take little credit because I have A LOT of help and I couldn't do it without any of the aforementioned helpers. So, if by chance you ever come to my house and it looks remotely clean, or if you see me out and about and I even resemble looking "put-together", you can bet that one of these 4 people has been involved. Otherwise, if you see my usual baseball-capped, greasy head, non-showered-self and my laundry is piled high, my carpets are dirty, my bathrooms are smudgy, and my kitchen is stinky, you'll know that it's just me, myself and I taking it one day at a time.