the kiddos

My kids crack me up.
Sam can turn anything into anything. Here's a shark made out of corn on the cob.


And how about this cute little "Jackie-O-Lantern"

Gotta love how crazy baby teeth can be.

Blessing #3

I am grateful for a beautiful home. We have plenty of space to comfortably live. We have a great yard (after lots of work) for Sam to play outside.


A few times when we were house shopping, we almost settled for a house that we only somewhat liked. I am so grateful that we were patient and waited until we found this house. I know we are supposed to be here right now.
I am so blessed.

Blessing #2

Today I am thankful that I have a strong body. The last couple of days, I have been a little under the weather... but I am still strong. (Well, not super strong, but strong enough... and very capable.) I am grateful that my body is usually healthy.



I am not in the best shape of my life... but I feel healthy and I feel strong. A few weeks ago at Trek, I was worried I wouldn't physically be able to handle the 30+ miles. I did, and I think I did a great job at that! I had a horrible night last night, and I have been up since before 6 am and I just shoveled 2 truck loads of dirt onto the ground. I am grateful that I am able to help my husband with difficult things. Now I should probably just help him outside more often....
I am so blessed.

count your many blessings

It seems that lately I have a lot of cranky days. Yet I really don't have a reason to not be happy. I usually try to remember my blessings, especially on those grumpy days, so I have decided to count my many blessings on my blog.... because things become more real when they are written down and shared.

I think I need that.

So I'll start today.

Blessing #1 (these will be in no particular order)
I am so thankful that I have Jason. He is so perfect for me. He is loving and caring, he is patient and affectionate, he is smart and hard-working. He is tall and handsome. And he is my eternal companion... forever and ever.
We have obviously had our ups and downs, but the downs have become few are far between, and the ups have continued to rise beyond my expectation or comprehension. I love this man! He makes me want to be a better person, a better wife and a better mother. I am so grateful that he picked me to be his wife and the mother of his children.
I am so blessed.

PS Today was not a grumpy day... in fact, today has been a beautiful day.

morningness

Highlights:
1. Livia rockin' out to Yankee Doodle
2. Livia's monkey feet holding the ball in place




Highlights:
1. Maggie's pleading look and her amazing catching skills
2. Sam's delayed reaction

curtains... please

Since we moved in almost a year and a half ago, I have been meaning to put up curtains over the little windows on each side of the front door.


Now I don't have to worry about ever getting dressed again. J/K.

keeping sambo out of the pantry

Love it!

drum roll please....

I know that all of you have been pacing and pondering what in the world I ended up doing with the space above my cabinets.

The wondering and waiting has come to an end.

This:
has become this:

And a close up:
and the change:

I got some really good suggestions, so thanks everyone for your help!

bum scooter

Livia has not shown much interest in crawling. However, just today, she discovered the joys of moving around on her own.

First, you need to start off with a complete bum circle.



Then you can move on to bigger and better things.



Scoota-roo.... ta-da!

the traveling pooch

Meet "The Dog." The Dog has been in the Riskedahl family for about 8 or 9 years. He lives with all of us. He moves around from house to house. Right now, he is at my house. You see The Dog has become the family prank. When we received him as a gift all those years ago, my family consisted of 5 different households. (My parents, each of my 3 sisters, and me.) My mom thought it would be a fun family game to sneak The Dog into each others' houses.

This dog even made it into the MTC with me! My sister, Ronda, sneaked it into my suitcase when I wasn't watching.


I almost took it to Argentina with me, but worried my baggage would weigh too much, so when I left a few boxes for Ronda to pick up at the MTC, The Dog remained in Utah.

When Jason and I were recently married, we lived in a little apartment in Springville. I invited Ronda and Leesa and their families down for dinner. The next time I did laundry... I found the little guy on my washing machine.

One time, my brother-in-law, Ron, put Livia in her carseat for me, and very willingly took her out to the car too... only for me to discover a little prize on top of her when I unzipped the carseat cover at home.

This week, Leesa gave me some tubs and boxes of little girl clothes and shoes... and one little doggie inside one of the boxes.

It's fun to see where The Dog ends up and how he gets there...
so, watch out family... he's on the prowl... again....

one of those days

Yesterday was just one of those days. With the help of a few key moments, I started the day really cranky... and only got crankier as the day went on. Every little thing annoyed me. My poor kids. And poor Jason. He called at lunch time to see how my day was, and he could tell I wasn't very pleasant. I should've been nicer.

When Jason got home from work, I was up in our bedroom folding some laundry... and I was still in a bad mood. And I still needed to get ready for Bunco... a major highlight of my month. We were all upstairs while I was getting ready, and Sam kept telling me he wanted to show me something. Since he says that for everything, I didn't want to go with him. Finally, I was ready to leave, still with a not-so-pleasant attitude. I said goodbye and headed downstairs, with Sam still wanting to show me something. As I walked into the kitchen, Sam proudly pointed to something on the counter...



All day long I had been upset with everything and everyone. I had been feeling that Jason expected me to be this perfect housekeeper and gardener and everything else... which I am clearly not, which makes me feel like I am a complete failure at my roles in life. I know he didn't mean to hurt my feelings, and I know I'm overly sensitive about things like that because I'm not good at it. He really did tell me in the nicest way possible what he was feeling and I of course always take it the wrong way.

Jason, I am sorry for always being so overly sensitive and cranky when you try to help me be better. I know that you appreciate what I do and the things that I am good at doing. Thank you for your patience with me as I work on my weaknesses. Thank you for being better at expressing yourself than I am at it. The flowers are beautiful and it really changed my heart when I saw how much you care. I love you.

one last hoorah

My sister Leesa and her family are moving to Farmington, NM this week. I took the kids up to my sister, Ronda's house yesterday to see them one more time before they leave on Thursday.

Sam had lots of fun playing with Cassidee.


Livia tried to play State to State with Kylee and Emmalynn, but I think she felt a little excluded.

So she found a hanger instead.


I'm really sad to see them go, but I know that this is a good job for them. They are a great family and I wish them the best of luck in NM.

And now that of all their family, I live the closest to them with a 6 hour distance, I know I'll be the favorite sister for sure.