Today I saw the brains of a 4, 3 and 1 year old put to work. I haven't been the most fun parent since I broke my tailbone and the weather hasn't been all that wonderful the last few days. Corbin, Gabe and levi have been pretty bored. This morning they started out the day playing with their nerf guns, shotting each other. Gabe came to me every few seconds and needed me to "pull the gun back please" and then he would say, "I said please so you have to do it." Levi walked around with a gun trying to make a "BANG" noise pretending to shot. After a while that got boring so they all found a platic tote that would fit on their head and face and stood on different sides o the room and charged at each other banging heads. They laughed and laughed. It looked pretty painful, but then again, they are kids. Some times I miss the thrill of being little and figuring out life and things. Oh to be a little boy.

The armor of God takes on a whole new, more real, kind of meaning when it is a bunch of cut up pizza and shoe boxes on a 6 foot 5 inch (or so) tall, African American....Tonight we had Family Home Evening with the Missionaries and a family in our neighborhood. Undre, the dad, is preparing to be baptized next month and so the missionaries came and did a lesson on the Armor of God. After reading the verses about the Armor of God in Ephesians (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) Undre was volunteered to put on the Armor which consisted of loins girded with "hot and fresh" pizza box sides, a pizza breast plate, shoe box foot shields with pictures of the Savior over his feet. A garbage can lid for a shield covered with the Savior and a broom for his sword. Then the 6 small children, the missionaries and Heidi were able to throw all the temptations they could find at him. They found pillows, balls, pill bottles, girl scout cookie boxes and I think a few fist to throw at him. It was pretty funny but, I think in a round about kind of way, it got the point across that if we do all we can by reading the scriptures, praying, living the commandments to the best of our ability and trying to be a true disciple or follower of the Savior, Jesus Christ, nothing, no matter how strong or fast it comes at us can get past that armor. But it takes work on our part every day.
It was a good reminder that we are all fighting a battle, not with swords or guns necessarily, but with the devil, everyday. The better we prepare ourselves and our families to face the trials of the world, the better we will be shielded. What a blessing it is to know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and has given us all the tools we need to overcome temptation of any kind. He wants us to succeed and be happy, but we have to do our part-daily.

Today has been horrible....the last 26 hours actually. Often times since I have had kids, I have wondered when falling hurts and gets embarassing. You watch a kid fall and they hop back up. A few weeks ago Gabe, my 3 year old decided to ride a bouncy ball down all 13 or so of our stairs and he laughed when he hit the bottom. I am not that tough i guess. Last night I learned that the embarassment and pain that comes with falling happens sometime between 3 and 29. I had a friend come over to borrow some movies. I was holding Levi and went to walk down the stairs. I can't remember if I was dodging a kid or what happened but next thing I know my butt was hitting the stairs instead of my feet. I was in sooo much pain. Then I remembered that Sarah was right behind me. She grabbed Levi to make sure he had survived the fall and I just sat there wishing there was a hole I could crawl in or some other place I could be.
I spent the day at the doctor and the hospital get poked, prodded and x-rayed. The final result is a shattered tailbone, with out a lot of hope for a painless recovery and a very bruised and swollen pelvis and hip. The only help the doctor could give me was a bottle of Lortab and the advise "If it hurts to doit, you probably shouldn't try." Some one should have told me that before I tried going down the stairs like kids do (on my butt not my feet). So for all of you who need a quote for the week, here it is...."if it hurts, or looks like it might hurt, DON'T DO IT!"

So, the last few days I have played the role of a single parent. It has been mostly aweful. If any of you know Gabe, I don't need to say anymore. For those of you who don't know Gabe, he is the 2nd child and a boy.....not the easiest combination for a little person to be. After the last few days my heart and energy goes out to any single parent or a parent whose partner is out of town a lot. Gabe was pretty cute one morning. The boys were all wondering when their dad was going to be home, we talked about what would happen every day before Adam would be home on Sunday. Afew minutes later Gabe decided if he woke up the next morning (I think it was going to be Thursday) and put on his church clothes and combed his hair (something done only before church at our house) his dad would be home. I wish it would be that easy to get Adam home. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could just put something on, like your church clothes or your saturday lounging clothes and automatically it would be that day? We have missed Adam and I think we will all be happy to see him tomorrow. Levi can stop walking around the house screaming aaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmm (that's what he calls his dad) and maybe he will sleep better after he sees his dad again. Thanks for the idea Cris.....I was going to write about Corbin's dating and marriage ideas-they are pretty funny.

After hearing about Cherish Bound from my sister-in-law and seeing their products I became really excited. Then I got to thinking about what I could actually write about. Does a stay at home mom have anything that would be interesting to hear about? Then while was up with my 3 year old one night I remember when I quit my job as a Pharmacy Technician to stay at home, a co-worker told me how boring work would be with out all my great stories about my three boys and my crazy life. The other day I was hanging out with a friend and we started sharing stories about "driving" when we were under the age of 7. We talked and shared for hours. THink about all the times you have had a good laugh or cry reminising. I decided that I need to do a better job of recording life moments that have made me and my family who we are. That is part of the reason I am starting a blog. I might enjoy the story sharing more than you might enjoy reading them, but feel free to laugh, to cry or to share with me.