A warm winter walk...

Today I just did not feel like taking the kids to Taekwondo. 

I was feeling bad about it, but then the heaven's opened and the sun was shining.

Not only was the sun shining but you could comfortably be outside with a light jacket. 

So I didn't feel as bad about it since we could be enjoying the nice weather instead.

So after naps, a snack and me vacuuming out the van we headed for a long walk. 

McCoy who is usually a constant complainer on walks, never made one complaint the entire time. He rode his scooter the whole way and never whined about going home. It was amazing, seriously!

And it was just so nice to breath the fresh air, and feel the sun on my face.

I can not get a genuine, cute smile out of this girl when it comes to taking her pictures.

"I need to take a breaf for just a minute."

She sports the "crack" quite a bit, haha!

This is our favorite rock throwing spot near our house. 

I excited for many more days to come with weather like this. Spring can't come soon enough!

A peanut butter sandwich...

One day after preschool I was trying to get lunch made. I asked Mac what he wanted and he said he didn't want anything, he wasn't hungry and just wanted to play with Grandpa (who was visiting). I told him that was fine, but that I wasn't going to make lunch for him later. He told me he was fine with that. So I fed Oak lunch and put everything away. And about 15 minutes after that, guess who walked in wanting something to eat. I told him that he could make his own sandwich and he knew where everything was. He totally went for it, and it was very adorable to watch. I was so proud of him, and he was very proud of himself too. He got everything himself and made himself two sandwiches. 

Love this boy!!

life in cell phone pics...

Oak likes to sit in her rocking chair (that was mine when I was little) and put on her socks. She looks so stinking grown up when she does that.

We got a year family pass to the Science Factory. This was our first visit. The kids loved it!

Me and my boy!

Incredi-girl!

Alot of Nerf gun playing going on lately.

Nothing like a little dress up action before breakfast.

Doing a little sparring practice (no contact).

A lot of Lego playing going lately too.

Oak went to a princess birthday party for our friend/neighbor who turned two. It was so adorable!

Cake on a stick!

I was so excited to find this at our local Bi-Mart. It will be great for Mac to wear to Kindergarten next year. 

G-ma & G-pa took Mac to ride the bumper cars and Oak wasn't big enough so she got to ride the horse.

Oak's new ballerina suit! I don't know what it is really called.

So cute! I might just have to find her a dance class.

Mac the Jedi! We watch alot of Cello Wars around here.

Go Beavs! mac wearing the Beaver football gear from Grandma Cammy

What my entryway looked like post Christmas festivities.

We do a date night/babysitting swap and this was our night to babysit. The kids were so great and were so easy to watch and play with. Despite the fact that neither of the kids would eat a bite of food. But they sure had fun playing dress-up.

Taekwondo Tournament

Mac had his very first tournament. It was very exciting! The cool thing about this tournament was that his instructor was the host. He also got to see his instructor Mr. Duer (who is a Master candidate) perform his 6th degree black belt form. Mac thought that was so cool! 

The whole thing was a bit chaotic, but it was alot of fun.

They had all the Tiny Tigers turn their belts around and hold on to the kid in front of them so they could walk in a line walking into the opening ceremony. 

Waiting his turn to do his form.He was wiggly and had a hard time sitting like a black belt. But he wasn't the only one.

Each kid got a medal for participating and when they handed Mac he was told he had the "best black belt attitude".  He was so proud of his medal, but it only lasted around his neck for 10 seconds. He refused to wear it, but didn't put it down the rest of the day.

My brother Chris happened to be in town for a business trip and he was able to come and watch. Mac was obsessed with his uncle Chris and got upset every time he had to leave.

(side note: after seeing my brother this last weekend, I have been lucky enough to see all five of my siblings this year. That is really unheard of with the six of us spread out over four states.)

Both sets of grandparents came.

It was my parents 50th wedding anniversary, but they still were able to come.

And some videos...

Mac Taekwondo Tournament Jan 2013 video 2 from bwilberger on Vimeo.

pancake flippin!

The other night we made pancakes for dinner and for the first time I let Mac help flip them. 

He was loving it! I am loving that he is at an age where I don't have to worry so much about him burning himself. 

Fifty

This last Saturday was my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

Fifty years gave them six children and twenty-one grandchildren.

(this year will bring the count up to twenty-three and hopefully twenty-four).

Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us catch you making out in the kitchen, for holding hands, for always kissing after the prayer is said and for making sure we knew that you always loved each other. 

I am eternally grateful for their example of love for each other and a long lasting marriage. 

Happy fifty beautiful years of marriage!

ten loves...

I don't really have anything exciting to post about, but felt like posting something.
So here are ten things I am loving right now...

01...watching my kids play dress-up.

02...that my kids have been playing so well together and there is very minimal refereeing on my part.

03...hugs, kisses and snuggles with my kids and husband.

04...mac's interest in drawing and him telling me about every detail of his pictures.

05...that play-do can keep my kids occupied and happy for long periods of time.

06...that when hubs and I kiss, the kids get all crazy and grossed out by it, so we kiss some more.

07...consistent exercising and that I can tell I am getting a bit stronger every time I work out.

08...that tomorrow is date night and that we are assured at least one date night every month this year since we are doing a date night/babysitting swap with our neighbor.

09...the way oak plays with her baby dolls and how strong her motherly instincts are.

10...my kids' adoption stories. I have been thinking about their stories alot lately and what our next little one's story will be like.

34

34 years ago was one of the best days of my life (although I wasn't quite born yet). 

Love this man, my husband, my everything and the father to my children.

Happy Birthday Handsome!

Hubs doesn't like to make a big deal about his birthday so we just had a quiet night with Hubs's parents and sister (who happens to be in town) over for dinner and cake. Mac could hardly stand the anticipation of giving daddy his gift and eating chocolate cake. That is all I heard about all week from him. And because I don't like ice cream I totally forgot to get any, but no one seemed to care thankfully.

Can you tell Mac was excited?! Mac chose a Lego set for his daddy. He got him one last year and decided he needed to do it again. It took alot of pep talks and a little threatening (on the lines of we will have to return the gift if he tells) to help him realize that he couldn't tell daddy what he had gotten him. 

A cute story to go with that: Mac was playing Lego's with daddy in his room. I guess Mac accidentily told Hubs that he had gotten him Legos for his birthday and then he felt bad. He said he would come and tell me and Hubs said don't worry I will talk to Mommy about it later. Mac got worried that that meant daddy was going to lie to me about it and told Hubs that since he (Mac) was the one who told him that he would come and tell Mommy. I frustrated at first but then realized that he was wanting to tell me the truth so I praised him for taking responsibility and for telling the truth. We are very proud of our boy!

Oak telling daddy what she drew on her birthday card for him.

Daddy and his kids. Silly girl Oak for some reason decided to pose like this. 

This is the gift that I gave Hubs. It has been a year in the making and it just for some reason was hard to get put together like I wanted. But it is a picture of my Father-in-law, my husband and my son all at about the same age. Then we thought it was cool to get a picture of them all together now with the picture. Love it!

And we love that Aunt Jessie is visiting! We got to spend the day with her before the party and we had so much fun. 

three goals for a new year

Yesterday my adoptive-mommy-blogging-friend, Julie posted about her New Years resolutions. And I loved her J.O.Y. theme that they have set as a family for the year. Jesus, Others, Yourself...Isn't that so cool?! Well as I was going to make a post about my new year goals (I don't really like the word "resolutions") and was thinking about my specific goals that I have already set and have been working on, I realized it fit into Julie's J.O.Y. theme.

I love a new start, but I really dislike setting goals and failing. But there are a few areas in my life that I have been really wanting to work on already and I thought that the New Year would be a good place to start. I have kept them very simple and feel like if I improve in these areas that it will automatically improve other areas of  my life that I have not set goals for.

 I have also decided that I am not going to jump straight into doing everything perfect everyday, but that I would just do what I could everyday and what I remembered to do, and just do a little better everyday with out worrying about missing a day. I am much better at achieving goals when I work into them gradually.

The first goal I had set (which fits with the "J") was to gain more spiritual strength in my everyday life. I wanted it to be more than just reading my scriptures everyday. So I am also trying to be more consistent with my morning prayers and I also want to read a conference talk or an article in any of the church magazines everyday if possible, but will settle for a couple times a week.

My second goal (which goes with the "O") is to be better at consciously serving others. I feel like I give of myself when the opportunity rises but over this last year I have felt strongly that I need to be a better example to my kids when it comes to service. I have wanted to devote one day a week to doing service for others with the help of my kids and had tried to implement that last year, but  then I get caught up in my week and would forget. So I am thinking I need to keep putting some thought into how exactly to go about this so it won't be overwhelming. I have also decided that for my birthday this year that I will be spending the day doing random acts of kindness.  I am so excited to do that!!

My third and last goal (which goes with the "Y") is to be better about exercising. Age 33 was the "magic" year for my body to decide it wasn't going to stay the same as it always has anymore, without me doing something physical. So I have been doing an exercise video about every other day or so. I have been getting up at 6am to get my exercise in and then a shower, if I don't do that then I do it when the kids are down for nap/quiet time. My hope is that I can get myself into a bit of shape so that I can start running when it gets lighter out in the mornings. I have a desire to be a runner and maybe run a race, but I don't feel like I can adequately fit it into my life right now for a few different reasons. But I feel like it will be more feasible more towards the middle of the year. 

Nothing too jaw dropping, but I do feel that these are attainable goals and will help me the most to live a happy life this year. 

High Five!!!

Love this little boy and the peanut butter smudges on his cheek. 

I could eat him up!!

 This handsome little boy of mine has been quite difficult to parent the last two years. 

As trying and frustrating as the last two years have been, I would not trade it for anything! 

But I am SO HAPPY to say that since he has turned 5, he has grown up so much! 

It is like a switch went off in him and he is a completely different kid (in the behavior department, he is still his energetic, loud, funny self). 

He still has his moments, but mostly he is pretty easy going. 

He is understanding more about actions, responsibility, consequences, attitude, respect and obedience. 

He is also way more "go with the flow" then I have ever seen him. And his temper tantrums only really come when he is tired or doesn't want to clean his room (which is totally understandable :))

He is also playing better than ever with his sister, and having fun with her. And also playing by himself better. He has also made a change in the fact that he much rather be playing with his toys than watching a movie or  cartoons. The few times I actually turn on a cartoons, he ends up wandering to  his room and playing instead.  Love that!

Just TODAY he was having a difficult time staying in his room for quiet time. On his "third strike" I made him lay down and take a nap and he lost his privilege of playing on the iPad later. He took a nap and when he woke up he came to me and the first thing he said to me was, "Sorry Mom I wasn't good at staying in my room." Then after a few minutes of hugs and loves he asked me how he could earn back his privilege of playing on the iPad, instead of "can I play the iPad now". I was in utter shock!

And  the other day, Oak was screaming and yelling at him in her two year old girl fashion. And he calmly asked her to please stop yelling at him because he doesn't like it and it isn't nice. I about died when I over heard him say that to her. 

Difficult or not...

I am so glad that this little boy is ours forever!