Mother's Day

Poor Jon, he has to deal with Holiday Tara. For some reason I get depressed on holidays like my birthday or Mother's Day. Even though the day went well and I was shown love and appreciation I can't help but revert, be quiet and just want to be alone those days. Luckily the sadness didn't really hit me until the end of the day, so up until then I was good.

The kids drew me a card in the morning, I whipped up some cupcakes before church for me to devour later, church had some good speakers and I was given a flower and treated to a chocolate-covered strawberry extravaganza at the end. The Elder's Quorum just seems to be stepping it up more and more each year, they did good. The after consisted of a short nap, a quick walk to the park, me making dinner, cleaning up from dinner and then putting the kids to bed. After that I deep cleaned the kitchen, did two loads of laundry and talked on the phone to my mom and aunt. I then laid my head on my pillow and shed a silent tear or two before falling asleep. Why is it so hard to enjoy these special days? Gah, motherhood, what a range of emotion.

The next day Jon surprised me with this beauty. Her name is Blanch, referring to her color. I'm spoiled. The end.

Musings of Dieting

Dang it! Blogger deleted this post... so this is the second time I'm writing it.
How do you tell your friend that she honestly looked better before her crazy fitness/diet makeover? She was already thin and already relatively active and now.... well her face is too bony and her arms are starting to look like she's injecting steroids. What is with these moms? They are moms. They are fertile females... they should look fertile, not like a racing greyhound. Gah.
I wrote this on facebook and it caused a little bit of a debate.... heh.
Jon and I recently have decided that enough is enough and we want to lose a little weight. And by "a little" I mean that I have no intentions on trying to get down to a size 2 or compete in an Iron Man. I'm not ashamed by my current condition, I'm still in single digit jeans and can run a mile without walking. I eat relatively healthy as well. No canned foods or processed boxed foods are allowed in the house. I bake and steam everything and we eat very little beef. Fresh fruits and veggies make up the bulk of every meal. We do love our dairy though, milk, eggs and cheese.
My biggest set back is dessert. I love homemade goodness and usually have something made at all times. I'm not eating processed junk and artificial colors and sugars... but I do love me some homemade yummy, chocolatey goodness. I eat something like that everyday... how do I curb my crazy dessert addiction? Tips?
Here's a very unflattering pic to illustrate what I would like to change... the infamous baby belly... I can't believe I'm posting this.

This one's for Shauna

Every now and then my posts become more like a log of events rather than a page in my personal journey. I was talking about this with my dear friend Shauna and so, in her honor, this one is all about me! It's about what Tara does these days... not Mom Tara or Wife Tara or Church Tara, but Tara Tara.

 I was recently commissioned to design the logo for the Nova Scotia Humane Society. So, when the house is clean and the kids are occupied, I'm sketching. I'm glad I still get commissioned every now and then to take pictures, paint, or design... makes me feel like I've still got "it". Long gone are the days when 100% of my thoughts were consumed with line, perspective, color, light, and theme. When I wasn't in class discussing art, I was rehearsing for Women's Chorus while thinking about art, or mopping the floors of the MARB and thinking about art, or being a docent at the Springville Museum of Art talking about art.
Now it seems like my thoughts are filled with numbers; how many hours of sleep I got last night, how many timeouts have we had so far today, how many cups of juice has Ethan downed, how long has it been since he's used the potty, how many hours until Jon gets home, how many more dishes can I fit in this load, how many weeks has it been since I've done anything with my hair besides pull it back, how much more money is left in the grocery budget this pay period, how much time is left in Jon's hockey game, how many hours has it been since I've had some form of chocolate...

 When the kids go down for their nap I immediately go to my happy place. I cuddle with my favorite purple pillow, drink frigid cold water from my camelback water bottle, apply an essential oil for relaxation and read my kindle or scriptures. If I don't get this time once a day, I am a very grumpy mommy.

 Lately it has been overcast and cold... I LOVE IT! Seriously, this is my favorite weather, always on the verge of rain, freshness in the air, cardigan weather. (Cardigan Weather happens to be a song by one of my favorite bands too.)

These are my newest babies, an herb garden and a pot of peas. I transplanted the herbs into one large pot... there have been some deaths, but hopefully what remains will grow in nice and strong. I was so excited when my two pea plants sprouted up, now I feel like it's just a waiting game until I actually see the fruit of my labors. Which brings me to the topic I've been avoiding this whole post... we're moving.
When we heard the news about a position opening up in the SLC office we were so stoked... then came the waiting game. Jon went from being told "the job is yours if you want it" to "well, legally we have to open in up to the public" and now we're just waiting and twiddling our thumbs to know if we're going to be moving in the next 1-2 months. I spend a lot of time looking at rental listings but it's frustrating to know you can't yet act on anything. And so, just like my pea plants, I'm waiting...

Can I just say how much these girls mean to me? I have never been closer to a group of women and it completes me. They're my family.

 It was Shauna's (girl on far right) birthday and I was determined to paint her something in less than 3 days.

 Believe it or not, this was the longest part... trying to figure out chevrons and also trying to draw straight lines on curved surfaces.

 Ahh, success.

 And then Ethan came along, with dry brush in hand and made me cry like a baby. Luckily I was able to turpentine the birds off and start them over without damaging the chevron background.

The finish product, done by 3pm and then given to her at 8pm... just in the nick of time. :)

P.S. The inspiration for the painting came from one of my favorite scriptures, Pslams 84:3.

Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God.

Under Construction

I'm in the middle of changing up the blog background and headers...

Aren't my kids cute soaking up some Vitamin D?

I've finally finished our dining room table and chairs! Back around Christmas, I bought a table a chairs from two different garage sales. After many months of stripping, sanding and painting, they're finally done. Here's what I've learned from this experience, for those of you thinking about refinishing furniture: It's going to cost A LOT more then you think, it's going to be a lot more labor then you think and it's going to take a lot longer than a weekend. ;)

I've been crossing off projects left and right, I think I've found a great way to make my days more productive. I've been using the 3-tasks-a-day method. So besides my base line, normal daily chores* I give myself 3 things to accomplish. For instance, today's were 1. Send CDs (walk to the post office and send out photo cds from a photo shoot I took), 2. fold laundry (3 loads and put them away), and 3. Budge painting (I'm doing a Portland temple painting for a friend).

*my daily chores, you ask? One load of dishes, sanitize countertops, vacuum entire house, sweep (sometimes 2 or 3 times), make all 3 meals, shower myself and bathe kids, dress me and kids, spend time outside, read to kids, pick up endless messes, and nap (hopefully) with the kids.

 Jon grew a beard, per my request. He hated it, I loved it. It was a love hate relationship. I finally told him he could shave it off today and of course it had a little fun shaving it off in stages.

Potty Training is EASY!

Well, not THAT easy... but Ethan has been such a great sport! It only took me a week and he's already diaper free all day. I have to also say, he looks so cute in his undies.

He also went #2 today in his little toilet. He's always been very independent and so the technique that has worked best for him is to take him to the bathroom and then close the door and say "Okay, tell me when you're done." He pulls down his own pants and sits himself down. So, because it was a funny choice, he was given a chocolate pudding cup as a reward for going #2. :)

One of my close friends had her baby the other day, so while she was laboring away on child #2, we played with child #1! Eliza a sweetheart and a GREAT big sister. 

South of the border

Our favorite spot on the boat was the sun decks/pools in the back. The boat was completely booked, 2700 people... but honestly it didn't feel like that many people. We were constantly running into people we had met at dinner and faces started looking familiar after a day or two. There were maybe 50 kids total on the boat, I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that 70% of the passengers were over 50 years old. That may not appeal to some people but it was perfect for us old fogies at heart.

 First port was Puerto Villarta, our view from the ship consisted of a Walmart and Sams Club... needless to say we weren't necessarily looking forward to going into town. Luckily our entire day was filled up with zip lining, hiking, repelling, mule riding, and tequila tasting (not). The excursion was AWESOME, but on the way back the driver decided to pull over to a tequila distillery and let us tourists take a tour. The strong smell of fermentation made me nauseous.

 Second port was Cabo San Lucas. We spent our time there snorkeling and whale watching.

 Most of the whale we saw were humpback but this is a picture of a gray whale, it was almost white colored and super huge. With one swoosh of it's tail it was gone, long gone, it was SO FAST!

Our time little bit of time at port we spent exploring the beach.

Overall here is my review of the cruise: AWESOME. Food: great. Bed: hard as a rock. Next time we'll bring friends/family and maybe the kids. Also, I highly recommend getting a balcony room, it was hard not having natural light in out little cave.

Seven days without the kids was bittersweet. I'm glad to be home though. :) :)

I just had to.

Here are some great little things from the past week.

 Ethan loves to help mom. Whether it's doing laundry or cooking, he's a great listener and very careful, such a big boy!

 Wearing Mom's new boots

 Aunt Ranee sent us balloons in a box. From Seattle to LA. The kids LOVED it.

 And the box they came in. :)

Our book club tonight was vintage themed so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to wear my late great grandmother's coat.

The post before the cruise

That's right, Jon and I are going on a cruise! 7 full nights of sleep and 7 days of fun, fun, FUN! We're excited. But first, here's what we've been up to since Christmas.

Doesn't she look like a big girl here? Where did my baby go?

Nay took us to a children's museum, this was the super cool entrance.

Using a flashlight to peek at the big spiders... eeww.

Ethan (a very shy boy) was apprehensive to participate in the drum class... but after a while he inched closer to the front, eventually took a drum and was banging away. I was so proud of him. He's been drumming on various objects throughout the house since "pepperoni pizza".

When we walk to the park the umbrella stroller is our top choice. Ethan can push her the entire way there, around corners and everything. He's always willing to help out.

We got Corryn a pair of flip flops, this is how they usually look on her feet after about 2 minutes... and she doesn't care one bit.

Look at those teeth!!!

Yup, Corryn got in the bath before we were able to get her clothes off.

Ethan has become quite the little artist, producing at least a couple drawings or paintings a day. Just the other day her figured out how to draw an oval and he was SO proud of himself, drawing them all over the paper.

I made this wall collage for a friend's baby shower I threw. Pictures don't do it justice, it was pretty darn cool.