running like a chicken with it's head cut off

Yes, I have been feeling like I've been running non-stop lately, and today, I was finally able to breath! I love the Sabbath, because it truly is my day of rest, and today WAS restful, I even got to take a 20 minute nap (which hasn't happened for several months)!

Reilyn blew up a balloon today and Maci was having a blast playing with it, then the kids got a little crazy, and I caught this picture-- I love the look on Maci's face, asking me why she has to put up with her brother and sister?

Here's Maci cooing at the balloon. Does she look like Reilyn and Kedric or what? I thought she looked more like me-- but in this picture- the look is definitely leaning toward James.

When James came home between his leadership course and his recruiter school, we went down to the Oregon Coast for a few days. We stayed in a cute cabin that overlooked the ocean. The kids had a blast playing in the sand and running in the water. I have a ton of pictures, but I'll only post these two. 

Maci and Kedric making funny faces!

We visited Grandma Larsen. The residents at the nursing home LOVE seeing kids. Ceann didn't look very good on this visit. She didn't say anything either. She did kiss Maci's hand though. It's so hard to see her like this, and I know that it kills James. I'm so glad that he always makes an effort to visit her when we can though.

Kedric graduated from his first year of Joy School. He loved it. It was so much fun to do Joy School with these cute kiddos, and their cute moms.

Kedric's showing off his trick on the scooter.

A few days after James left for Recruiter school, we went to McCall, Idaho for my Grandma and Grandpa Facer's reunion. We had a ton of fun! I loved seeing my cousins with their cute kids, staying up late playing games, going on drives with my family, and just reconnecting. I have way too many pictures from the reunion, I'll probably post some of Facebook later this week if you want to check them out. Here's a cute one of my and my Grandpa. He's turning 80 this year!  (I think I found which side of the family my nose came from)

Here's a cute one of Maci and Grandma Facer

It will be so fun to see my cousins and my Grandparents more often, because if you haven't heard, we're moving to UTAH. James got orders to Salt Lake City. He's been selected to be an AMMED Recruiter. Which means that he will recruit the Pre-Med students to the Army, and SLC is the top AMMED Recruiting office in the nation. So James will stay busy, and won't have any problems meeting his recruiting goals. He'll be working in downtown, and we will probably live in the Sandy/Draper area. I am sad to leave the Graham ward. I really like it, and I feel like I've met some really good friends here. We will move there toward the end of August, which means I've been busy trying to get the house in order, so that we can rent it out. I put it up for rent on 3 different sites on Friday (click here if you want to see it, or if you've ever wondered what my house looks like on in the inside, only usually it's messier :), and got a call yesterday and a family came by to see it today. I don't know how much I like people coming into my house and looking in the garage, pantry, closets, and all the places of my house that I normally would keep private... It's really weird. 

Anyhow, amidst all the craziness, we have had fun too; playing the Seattle Fountain, seeing Toy Story 3, hanging out with my family, playing at several parks, seeing Uncle Varon a few times (since his fiance lives close by) and working out at the YMCA (if you ever need a good laugh, come watch me do a Zumba class!). Here's the fun cake that I made for the 4th.

Anyhow, I'm out for now!

Oh to be a Mother

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a couple of weeks, but the last two weeks have been quite hectic...a nasty cold, which we ALL got, the flu, wonderful little bugs in hair from school--gotta love public school (sometimes I wish I had the patience to do home school), and ANOTHER nasty cold! So after wiping noses, cleaning up puke, steam cleaning the carpets and washing EVERYTHING in site, I'm sitting down to write about how wonderful being a mom is. :)

The day before Mother's day we finally planted out garden. I know its late, but we only planted a few things...peas, tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs. How cute are Kedric and Reilyn planting the peas?

 Actually Mother's Day was super! I loved every minute of it. I didn't think anything special would happen with James gone, so I wasn't expecting it to be any kind of a special day. But Reilyn was so sweet and made it super special for me. With the help of my mom, she made me a really cute necklace and matching bracelet out of coral and turquoise beads. I love them! You'll see them in some of the pictures below. She also made me breakfast. She was so cute about it. We were at the grocery store the night before, and she tells me that she really wants to make me breakfast, but the only things she knew how to make were pop-tarts and cereal. I told her that she could make me toast and yogurt and I would love it. This is what I woke up to....

She had set a place for everyone, made a toast for everyone, and placed a yogurt by their plate. What a cutie. I love that she gets excited for stuff like this!

After church we headed over to my moms and we all went to the Arboritum at UW. It was so beautiful with all the Azaleas in bloom. It looked like heaven to me! And how cute are these three little rascals?

Eva-- rolling down the hill in her white dress!

It was also Jadeyn's birthday-- I can't believe she is 19! 

Later that night, Maci rolled over 5 times! So I got the camera out, and she wouldn't roll anymore, she just stared and the camera, and hasn't rolled since-- :)

Every morning Kedric and Maci crawl in bed with me. (Well I bring Maci in bed with me when she wakes up to eat in the morning.) Kedric loves to play with her. He was so cute saying good morning to her when I took this picture.

We dolled Maci up today, and she was "twins" with Reilyn. Reilyn was so excited to have the same dress as her. 

Even though being a mother is seriously the hardest thing I've ever done, and even harder when James is gone and I have to play single mother.... the cute little smiles, the fun giggles, the moments of tender love shown between siblings, the little acts of 6 year old's service, the little hands stretched out to hold mine, the sparkle in a babies eyes that tell me there is a heaven, and the little arms squeezing my neck to say good night, definitely make it the most wonderful thing.

Cuties

Maci is 3 months old now!! I can't believe how fast its gone by. She is such a GOOD baby! She sleeps through the night, for 7-8 hours each night. She hardly ever cries. When she wakes up from a nap so just lays in her crib looking around. She's such a blessing! I just love her so much! She loves to talk and has such a cute little smile. She gets embarrassed sometimes and turns her head to the side when she smiles. I'll have to get some pictures of her smiling, although it's hard because when I pull out the big camera, she just gets a confused look on her face!

Kedric is pretty cute too!  He's even cute when he's mad. :)
(Reilyn's cute too- of course, I just don't have a picture of her.)

Fun times and lasting memories

The last few weeks before James had to leave for training, we had some fun weekends. Reilyn has become quite the little runner, and has been training for the YMCA fun run for kids with James, so we took the kids out for the run. They had a short little run for the little ones that Kedric got to run in...he did awesome! Reilyn's race was a 1K, and she did great! It was literally 35 degrees outside! So cold!

After the race, we headed straight to Moses Lake. James' mom hadn't met Maci yet, and I hadn't seen her for a while, so it was good to see her. It's always depressing to go into Nursing homes, but it is fun to see how excited they all get when they see the kids. I know that a lot of the people in the home don't get visitors very often, so it's hard when they want to play with our kids, and we can't stay too long with them. Reilyn and Kedric are both really good with them, and say hello, and give them high fives. Reilyn read a book to Ceann, it was so cute. James' dad is so good with her. He visits her everyday. He's such a great example of loyalty. It's so sweet to see him with her. I love how he just holds her hand to let her know that he loves her.

Kedric got to wrestle with his boy cousins. He doesn't have too many of those on the Glauser side. He had a blast, and I was a nervous wreck watching them wrestle. :)

The next weekend, we were able to take the kids up to the Open House for the Vancouver Temple. On the way there we had to stop at the Tulip Fields.

This was so cute. What a good sister!

The temple was gorgeous. We got there for the tour at 8:00 PM and they still let us in. It was really cool to be able to go inside the temple with our kids. What an awesome feeling it was in the Celestial Room with our family there together.

This last picture was in front of the Science Center in Vancouver. We took the kids there after getting rained on in Stanley Park.

Crazy

It was Crazy Hair Day at Reilyn's School today. She rocked this look!! I loved that she wasn't embarrassed to go to school like this!