Life right now is a feast

You all know the saying, "feast or famine." Well right now I feel like our life is a total feast and it feels really good.

Jeff asked me tonight how my day was and I told him it was so good to see the sun and know that more sunny days are in the near future. I don't remember any winters lasting as long as this last one did, but then again there are a lot of things I don't remember so... perspective, maybe?

There are so many good things happening right now in life and around the farm. The little baby in my belly moves all the time. It's so fun to feel him doing his acrobats whenever I actually pay attention. I love it. It's like he's in there going, "I'm still here mom!" Whenever Jeff or the kids put their hands on my belly, the baby usually stops, just to get a reaction out of them all, and then starts up again a few seconds later. I think he may just be "that" little brother.

Gage is big and my natural sidekick. He is seriously my best friend lately and I have a hard time imagining him as not the baby. I think a part of me will always think he's the baby and that's okay. They each will always be my baby in one way or another.
Gage is super independent and easy. He spent the first couple days of the week down in Lake Steven's with my sister and came home just the same as he left. Happy, funny, ready to make someone either laugh really hard, or really ticked off. He's so much like Jeff, which is probably why he is so much fun to be with.
Gage kisses my tummy (the baby) numerous times a day. Just walking by he will kiss my tummy, always before bed, and multiple times in between. It's the sweetest. He also prays every day that Hercules won't run away, which seems to be working.
He loves meeting new friends at his siblings soccer practices and comes home with lots of things that he's learning from these older kids. Plenty of teaching opportunities going on.

Emmett is awesome, that's a constant. He is organized and happy. He wakes up first and gets dressed before I have time to remind him to shower. So usually he has to undress and do it again. Showering isn't his favorite but he is the dirtiest kid! Always comes home from school and soccer with dirty knees and hands. It's become a family joke because he will start to set the table with hands covered in dirt and we all laugh because his hands always look like that.
He is a natural leader at school, and a friend to everyone. He is the teachers pet and continues to advance in math, grade levels above his own grade. His piano teacher says he is to hard on himself and needs to relax and I tell her, "good luck," he has always been that way.
He is really getting good at soccer and him and Braxton are the best of friends at home always playing either soccer, football, or basketball in the backyard.
Yesterday when he came to the store with me he asked if he could pick out the cereal and I said yes and he picked out my favorite kind. Just the sweetest kid. I told him he could pick out one that he liked too.

Adelle is growing up too fast. She's so fun and mature and doesn't think I can tell when she puts on my eye shadow. But I can tell. And she knows it's not okay for school but it's okay when her friends come over to play. She is sweet and helpful and just happy and easy going. She has been working really hard at keeping her room clean and yesterday she woke up early to do her homework for the whole week because she had neglected it. It makes me happy when I wash her sheets and find her scriptures under her pillow. She is just a gem.
Adelle and her friend sang in the school talent show a couple weeks ago and advanced to the finalist night. She is such a talented singer, and performer, and it was fun to watch her personality shine through on stage.
She still bears her testimony almost every month in church and one week when I wasn't there a couple weeks ago she took notes of everyone who spoke so that I could know what I missed.
The boys at school love Adelle and she is not intimidated by them one bit.

Braxton is an amazing young man. He continues to impress me with his character and maturity. When the  boys his age are being disrespectful to people or adults, he leaves and finds something else to do. He is breaking records at school and at soccer practice with his running ability and wall sits. He loves to work hard towards his goals and achieve them. He always collects the eggs on Sunday's when his dad is gone at meetings so that I don't have to do it and yesterday he poured my bowl of cereal for me so that it was ready when I came to sit down.
Today he mowed the lawn down at The Diner in front of our house. His new summer job, and did a great job. Jeff said he got the lawn mower down to The Diner using the tractor, a pallett, and the forklift and was able to start the lawn mower himself. He's growing up quite nicely, but too fast!
Braxton is the best big brother. Emmett and Gage actually argue about who gets to sleep next to Braxton every night and it's turning into a bit of a problem but they both just love him so much and want to constantly be with him.

Jeff is busy, and the best. I say feast or famine because that's the way both businesses are and right now they are both kicking his booty! But he takes each day at a time and manages to get it all done without taking his frustrations out on me or the kids. He always has time to shoot hoops with the boys or wrestle with the dog, or help the kids with the dishes, or read to them Harry Potter, or fix the clogged toilet, etc. I am so thankful for him and his hopeful, optimism.

On Sunday the speaker, President Nelson, who was our Bishop for a long while in 1st ward, spoke about praying in the morning and only giving thanks. Then he challanged us all to do that and specifically to pray for something that we are having a hard time being thankful for, and giving a prayer of thanks for it. It's been miraculous in my life as I have prayed gratitude all week for all the blessings in my life that really are blessings. Chickens who are laying eggs that I get to collect. Kids that are healthy and active that I have the priveledge of driving around and watching fulfill their dreams, a home that is big enough for all of us and has lots of rooms to clean, etc. These are some of my blessings lately but there are many more.

Life is a feast.