Believe it or not, I have a Pinterest account. It's true. Shocking I know.
I thought that it would be a pretty cool way for an uncrafty person like myself to learn how to be crafty. So . . . after I set up my account I decided to explore the site and get the crafty process started . . . but after exploring for awhile I learned two things.
One: What in the world was I thinking? I can't even pick out toothpaste at the store without taking way longer than I should. How on Earth could I ever do anything but waste a lot of time "looking" for the perfect craft on Pinterest and end up giving up before actually doing it?
Two: They expect you to actually Pin? I thought I was going to just be able to look and steal other peoples ideas . . . But suddenly I was getting all of these emails saying, "So and So is following you on Pinterest!"
Really? Man . . . these people are sure going to be disappointed! There are no pins on my account. The chance of me actually "Pinning" to Pinterest is about as high as me crocheting cute booties for all the new babies in the ward and then competing in the next Quilt off . . . Not going to happen.
But I'll tell you what. Maybe I SHOULD "Pin" on Pinterest . . . because I am pretty sure that there is not a great selection out there of crafts made solely from Construction paper and Duck Tape. There are probably millions of people out there in the world who are searching on Pinterest for, "Duck Tape crafts to do with Children" and are just not finding a good selection.
Well, a couple days ago I was on the phone and Drew came up to the kitchen on a mission. He was frantically searching our cupboards full of craft materials and saying, "Mom! I need some tape! Do we have any tape?"
I was in the middle of a conversation and wasn't really listening to him much. But then finally he was like, "Mom. This is important! I need to make a 'Fun Hat'! Can you get off your phone?"
And realizing that making a 'Fun Hat' was much more important than the conversation I was having . . . I got off the phone and started to help that boy find some tape! It was urgent. And if I haven't mentioned lately how fun my kids are . . . I love their little imaginations! They had a vision of what they wanted to do . . . and I just helped them do it. A night full of fun and all it took was construction paper, duck tape and three crazy kids!
I better hold off on "Pinning" though. I just don't know if the world is ready for our Duck Tape craft talents . . .
So I don't know if this has been proven. Maybe there have been some studies conducted that can back me up here. But I'm pretty sure that Men in general tend to be hottest while performing certain activities. I have come up with a few (in descending order of importance):
6.Crying: Guys that cry while bearing their testimonies or while talking about their wives are . . . hot.
Lamon isn't much of a crier, but he did cry once on our wedding day while singing a song that he had composed. I remember the chorus. It went, "Mary . . . you are so wonderful. You are so good to me. Your smile and you . . . will be with me for all Eternity."
He got so choked up while singing it his voiced cracked and he was audibly crying. I don't even need to tell you it was . . . Hot!
5.Singing: If a man can sing, and does . . . hot.
And yes Lamon can sing. He is very versatile. He is a base, but can sing higher than me. You should hear him belt out the Soprano in the Hallelujah Chorus!
4Exercising: All I'm going to say about this is "wetsuits" and "biking shorts" . . . need I say more?
3.Cooking: Do I even need to give an explanation on this one? Lamon is definitely the best cook in our family. He is the master griller. I personally don't even know how to fire up the grill . . .
2.Working: a man working in any form is hot, but it's true that a man doing the dishes or yard work tends to be the hottest. And anyone who knows Lamon knows how hard he works! . . . Which means that everyone must know how Hot he is . . . :)
1.Interacting (positively) with Children: Nothing in the world will make a woman more attracted to a man than seeing him play with children! . . . Fact.
And based on this criteria Lamon has to be the hottest man on the planet. Lamon is so good with kids, it is amazing to watch. And I get to see it everyday.
Today we spent our anniversary watching my twin sisters kids. This week there are 7 kids in our house under the age of eight including two babies. Most people would think we are crazy to spend our anniversary this way. In fact, most husbands during a week like this would be MIA unless their stressed out wives gave them an ultimatum to come help or else. But Lamon willingly has been helping change diapers, dress, bathe, feed, entertain, and discipline all of these children along with me. He loves kids! He is so patient and loving, and can I just say . . . Hot!!
I love you Lamon. You are honestly the hottest guy I know.
Happy Anniversary!
And since this write up was not the greatest (keep in mind we do have seven children in the house) I will have to write a real one later. But since talking about how much I love Lamon is pretty much my favorite past time . . .don't worry! More will surely come. But here are a few of my favorite past blog posts describing just what kind of man I have! Enjoy.
A couple weeks ago Hayden got in trouble. He didn't listen to me when I told him to do something and he even said, "No."
Nothing gets to me like a child's willful disobedience so he lost his privilege to play for the rest of the night. And I wasn't about to let him talk me out of it either. But boy did he try.
He cried and wailed and I kept explaining to him that he needed to have a consequence for disobeying. His little tantrum lasted for quite a while . . . and then finally he stopped crying and started to be really nice and sweet. I was very happy that he changed his attitude and told him so, but then he asked, "So now can I go outside?"
"No Hayden. I'm glad you are sorry, but you still have to have a consequence." Oh boy did that set him off! He started full swing into another crying fit. And in the middle of it he yelled, "Mom! You are not the 'Consequence Maker'! Dad is the Consequence Maker! You are the 'Homework Checker!'"
I tknow he was very serious, but I had a hard time not laughing out loud. Homework checker eh? That is Motherhood defined. I explained the best that I could that although homework checking was a part of my duties . . . I also have the privelige of being a "Consequence Maker' along with Daddy.
So what does it really mean to be a Mother?
For me being a Mother means being a "Homework Checker" and a "Consequence Maker."
Being a Mother sometimes means being awakened by children early in the morning saying, "Mom . . . I'm hungry . . "
Being a Mother sometimes means making breakfast with one eye glued shut while the other one is adjusting to the light while thinking to yourself, "Oh how I would love to sleep . . ."
But being a Mother sometimes means . . . No Sleep. . .
Being a Mother sometimes means being so exhausted that you accidentally fall asleep sitting up.
Being a Mother sometimes means waking up in the middle of the night to feed a baby, or wash the sheets and bathe a child who has thrown up in the night,or help clean up after a child who has just wet the bed, or to calm a child who has had a nightmare.
Being a Mother sometimes means spending your day breaking up fights, putting screaming children in timeout, and answering children's endless demands.
Being a Mother sometimes means becoming so accustomed to children whining and screaming that when your husband comes home and sees you staring into the void he asks, "Can you hear that?" And you just say, "What?"
But being a Mother also means playing with Pretty Ponies, Beyblades, and Lightsabers.
Being a Mother means building forts, eating popcorn and having sleepovers.
Being a Mother means staying up at night making up stories at your children's request about the "Mack Kids Club" where the children have special powers and talk to a squirrel named 'Ollie' who always informs them when danger is afoot . . .
Being a Mother means being constantly entertained by the things your children say giving you endless things to write about on your blog. (I still don't know how I lucked out in getting the funniest kids on the planet!"
Being a Mother means going on hikes, walks, and bike rides.
Being a Mother means going on family adventures with Daddy!
Being a Mother means getting to listen to your children pray for Tilson to have a chance to go to the Dentist so that he can see what it's like.
Being a Mother means getting to listen to all sorts of Knock Knock Jokes.
Being a Mother means sometimes singing instead of talking . . . just for fun until your children ask you to stop.
Being a Mother means having picnics on the lawn and pretending you are on a magic carpet.
Being a Mother means hugs and squeezes and laughter.
Being a Mother means hearing a child say, "I love you"
Being a Mother means having indescribable Joy.
Being a Mother means loving stronger than you ever thought possible.
And so much more! I love being a Mother/Consequence Maker/Homework Checker! I wouldn't trade it for anything. Not even Sleep. :)
Lamon Mack- I kind of like him . . . a lot. It’s not a
mystery why either. He is amazing. And I promise it’s not just because he looks
great in a wetsuit either, although I do enjoy his wetsuit hotness.
There are so many things that I love about Lamon. One of the
things I admire most is that he is a very hard worker. I don’t know that I have
ever met someone that knows how to work quite like Lamon. In all honesty
sometimes I’d love for him to take a rest! But he inspires me and makes me want
to be better.
Lamon works hard in every aspect of his life, and fitness is
no exception. Yes, there is a reason that he looks so great in a wetsuit. That
body of his is amazing. I have written about his physical feets before. He has
done numerous marathons, triathlons and bike races inspiring us each and every
time.
Well, about a year ago he decided that he wanted to do the
St. George Ironman. He has trained for the last six months 6 days a week and
has dedicated many long hours to getting ready for the race. It has been a
sacrifice for all of us, but we counted down the days and were so excited for
the race to come. And he was ready! In fact for the last week I was the only
one who was nervous and not able to sleep at night. Lamon was not nervous, he
just wanted to get it on! He was ready. His body felt ready. Why was I so nervous?
It wasn’t that I feared he couldn’t do it. I knew he could. I just knew how
important the
race was to him, and I worried about something happening out of
his control that would ruin the race for him. I remember one Olympic Tri in
which he had a tire blow out and had to finish waaay later than he had planned
on. That was awful. And this wasn’t just some triathlon, it was the Ironman!! I just prayed that the conditions would work
out in his favor and that nothing crazy would happen.
Well, we had fun in the days leading up to the race. It was
fun to get caught up in all Ironman excitement. We went to the banquet, and
went to all the meetings. We bought a bunch of stuff from the Ironman store,
and basically we just waited for the race to come. Drew and Hayden came with
Lamon’s family on Friday and ran in the Ironkids race. That was a lot of fun
too. And then we rested.
So yesterday was the race. We woke up super early all
excited for this long awaited event. I interviewed Lamon on his thoughts
before this endeavor, never even
entertaining the thought that he wouldn’t finish. I was imagining how awesome
it would be to watch him finish. We were all in good spirits. I woke the kids
up at 4:45 and we made our way to the lake. It was exciting. We found Lamon
when we got there and he was excited. We took pictures and found a spot to
watch the start.
And just like Lamon has told us over and over . . . the
start of an Ironman is incredible! There isn’t anything like it. It is crazy to
see that many swimmers all start together. And the start of this one went off
without a hitch. The weather was absolutely perfect when the gun went off. But
then something crazy happened.
All of a sudden these microburst winds started up. The winds
were insane! And pretty soon that calm lake turn into white capped waters with
four to five foot swells. I couldn’t even imagine trying to swim in it, and a part of
me was waiting for them to somehow call it off and bring in all of the
swimmers; but they didn’t stop the race. We have since learned about how truly unsafe it really was. Here is what the Newspaper wrote about it: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54053841-77/ironman-swim-george-hoffman.html.csp
And here is a video I took of the crazy wind:
Well, we waited in the wind for Lamon to
come out of the water. Mandy and I decided to split up. She would catch him coming out of the water
and I would catch him coming out on his bike. So I took the kids to the bike
start and waited for her call. And she did call. Only what she said was not
what I wanted to hear.
I said, “Mandy. Is he in yet?”
Mandy said, “No . . . Mary . . . he’s out. They took him out
of the water. They told him he could bike and run . . . but he’s out.”
What? Is she kidding? I felt my heart suddenly sink. The
tears immediately started brimming in my eyes. How could this have happened? I
was sort of in shock. I never thought Lamon wouldn’t finish the swim. He is a
strong swimmer. If there would be a difficult event it would be the bike. I
took the kids by the hands and started dragging them through the crowds to find
Lamon.
“Mom. What’s wrong? Is Daddy done?”
“Daddy is out of the race bud.” It’s all I could do to hold
back the tears and we kept walking. But kids are kids and they love to ask
questions. So the entire way to the water they were asking me questions like:
“What do you mean he doesn’t get to finish? How come?”
I was actually getting a little frustrated with them as they
asked all of these questions that were running through my own head. “What
happened?”
Well I’ve only known Lamon to cry twice since we’ve been
married. Once on our wedding day, and once when he gave my brother Jim a
blessing. He is not a crier. And he didn’t cry today; but when I found him
standing there at the dock . . . it looked like he could have cried if he would
have let himself. It was devastating!
None of us really knew what to say. We were all so sad for
him. He told us that while he was swimming with the current he could feel the
waves go over him but it was pushing him along, and then suddenly when he
turned a corner about a third of the way through the swim the waves were four
feet tall and were crashing over his head sideways. He was dizzy, nautious, and
couldn’t breathe. It got so crazy and at one point he grabbed onto to a Kayak
and looked around. The few swimmers he could see were getting pulled out of the
water. He thought they were calling off the swim. And that article even explained the chaos and how some people were even getting pulled and being told the swim was being called off. And he felt strongly
enough that it was too dangerous to swim in those conditions that he got on
the boat.
But they didn’t call off the swim. More than a thousand
people finished the swim and he struggled as he watched them come in. And it
was hard for me to watch him watch the swimmers come out wondering if he should
have just stayed in. He was so prepared for this race. Could he have possibly
pushed through the waves? A part of me wished that he could still just jump
back in and go! There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he was capable of doing
it.
The Ironman was all he had been talking about for a year! He
wanted it so bad! I knew how important it was for him and I was crushed. A
friend compared an Ironman to having a baby. Just like a woman spends all of
her time thinking, reading about, and preparing for her new born baby . . . so
it is for an upcoming Ironman getting ready for and completing his race. So I
guess in a way it’s sort of like Lamon had a miscarriage today! J Anyway, I was feeling
pretty deflated. It didn’t help when my twin sister called asking me,
“Hey Mary. Is there an internet address I could look at to
see how Lamon is doing?”
And in response I let it all out. I started bawling. I
finally said, “They pulled him from the water.”
Suddenly my sister went completely hysterical. She was
crying uncontrollably. “What? . . . Oh Mary . . . I can’t believe it! Oh no . .
.”
I mean I knew it was sad, but I was surprised by her
reaction until I realized that she had thought that I meant they
pulled his dead body from the water. Not a good choice of words by me. I was
quick to reassure her,
“No Liz, he is fine. He is not hurt. He just didn’t finish
the swim. He is safe.”
But Liz couldn’t stop crying and had to hang up the phone.
She told me later that it took her an hour to stop crying, because it had
scared her so badly.
And in order to understand her reaction . . . you have to
know that we have received a phone call like that before. Seven years ago I had
to listen as my older sister Karyn called and told me that my brother Jim had
drowned in Big Cotton Wood Canyon. It was one of the worst moments of my life.
Well, after talking to Liz my crying pretty much stopped. I
had a bit of a paradigm shift at that moment. It pretty much stunk that Lamon
didn’t finish the swim but it took my sister crying hysterically on the phone
thinking Lamon was dead to help me realize that the last thing in the world I
would have wanted was for Lamon to keep swimming and ignore a feeling that he
should get out of turbulent waters.
While we were driving in the car later I was asking the kids
if they knew why Daddy got out of the water early. They gave a few answers, and
then Hayden said, “Because of the wind and the big waves?”
“Yes Hayden. Do you think it was smart for Daddy to get out
of the water if it wasn’t safe?”
Hayden quickly answered “Yes.” I’ve told them about their
Uncle Jim plenty of times.
But Drew was a little slower and he said, “Yes . . . but how
come all of those other people finished?” . . . Ouch. Kids are pretty free with
their thoughts. That was the question that bugged Lamon too. It was a question
that all of us were beating ourselves up with. How was it that all of those
people finished and Lamon didn’t? But then I told them,
“Do you think that it is important to get out of a dangerous
or bad situation . . . even if everyone else around you doesn’t?”
“Yes.”
“You know, sometimes you have to do something you feel is
right even if no one else is doing it. I’m glad that Daddy decided to be safe
and do what he thought was right . . . no matter how bad it would feel not to
finish!”
And let me just tell you . . . it felt bad. If Lamon had
turned to me and said, “Let’s go home to Orem and cry for the rest of the day.”
I would have said, “Sounds great!!” I would have totally been on board with
that! That would have been my plan. But I of course am not Lamon. Lamon spent
the rest of the day chasing his uncle (who was still in the race) around and
cheering him and all the other athletes on.
So we brought the boys to let them see their Dad do
something really hard in finishing the Ironman . . . but they got to see their
Dad perhaps do something even harder. They saw their Dad choose safety over a
glorious finish, and they were able to witness their Dad deal with
disappointment with strength and a cheerful attitude.
So yesterday Lamon didn’t get to hear them say, “Lamon . . .
you are an Ironman.” But does that change anything in my mind? Is he any less
of a man to me? Not at all. In fact, his manliness went up a notch in my eyes.
I already thought he was more of a man than a lot of the athletes for keeping
his manly hair and not shaving . . . but as we watched the athletes finish
yesterday, I seriously felt like I had the toughest man up in the bleachers
with me. Could he have done it? I have no doubt. We have all watched his hard
work and dedication. I'm glad that he didn't want to risk his life to prove that he was a man.
But I learned something today. Despite all of my prayers for
the winds to stop . . . they didn’t. Sometimes God doesn’t grant us all we ask
for no matter how timely WE think it is. Perhaps this Ironman St. George was
meant to teach us something entirely different. As inspiring as Lamon’s physical
feets are, this Ironman race inspired us more than any other race we have
watched; and it wasn’t because we heard them say, “Lamon . . . you are an
Ironman” it was because of his character. I’ve been thinking about how the kids
have seen their dad do some pretty amazing things. It seems like there isn’t
much that Lamon can’t do. He is incredible. But maybe it was good for them to
see Lamon NOT finish something. Maybe it was good for them to see their Dad deal
with something that hard, and watch the incredible way in which their Dad dealt with
disappointment. Because I’ll tell you, it was pretty inspiring. Lamon could have
curled in a corner and cried, but he didn’t. He was so awesome. The night ended
with so many people from the family texting him and telling him how inspiring
he was, not because he had ended the night as an Ironman, but because . . . he
didn’t. Because of how when all of us felt like crying, he was strong and was
Uncle Reeds biggest supporter running street to street following him and
cheering. He was there until the end. Uncle Reed texted Lamon last night,
“Lamon you are my brother. You showed the greatest of character today by your
support.” And he certainly did.
I am so proud of you Lamon! I love you. Thank you for being
oh so much more than an Ironman to me. (Not that that won’t happen soon
enough!) You are an inspiration to us all, and I am so blessed to be married to
you.
( P.S.- that newspaper sort of hinted that because of the crazy swim Ironman might wave some fees in the future for those athletes pulled out of the water so we will keep you posted. The Ironman journey just may not be over yet! :)
I've wondered at times how it is that two very mellow adults have together created children with such strong personalities? Does it have something to do with our parenting techniques? Is it a gift from God to bring excitement into our lives? . . . Perhaps both.
Another idea that has recently been flickering across my mind is that God in His infinite wisdom knew that I would not be one of those "cool" mothers who knows how to throw a world class over the top birthday party certain to secure endless friends for her child. Thank heavens my children are so good at making friends by themselves, because if it were up to my birthday party throwing skills . . . they would be doomed!
If you are an elite Birthday Party throwing parent you send your invitations out weeks in advance and they are handcrafted with cute scrapbook paper. This is a fact. I have a friend that lives down the street who sent out her sons birthday invitation weeks in advance and the invitation was so incredible that the kids have been fighting for days over who gets to hold it!
Ya . . . we sent Drew's invites out a day or two before the party. He was going to invite three kids from his class and a couple kids from the ward. Well he brought the invitations to school on Friday and later that day I get a phone call.
"Hi, is Drew there?"
"No, sorry."
"Well, he told me to bring a ball to his birthday party, and I was wondering if he wanted me to bring a big ball or a small ball."
Certain that it was his friend David I said, "David, I don't know what Drew told you. I will have him call you okay?"
He hesitated and said, ". . . Okay."
Mmmmn . . . what is Drew telling his friends about his party? And how did David get his invitation already? Drew must have run it over to him.
I called David's Mom and asked her, "Hey, what time did it say the party was going to be at on Davids invitation?" I was a little paranoid that I had written 2 on some of the invitations and 3 on others. Yes . . . it is totally something that I would do.
She answered back, "Um . . . David never received an invitation."
"What? He totally called me saying that Drew told him to bring a ball or something."
"No . . . I'm pretty sure that David never called over there."
Nice. I am AWESOME!! So then later I get a phone call from a parent of a child that Drew gave an invitation to.
"Hi, is this Drew's Mom?"
"Yes."
"Oh good. Connor will be coming to the party tomorrow, and he told me that he is supposed to bring his Beyblade Stadium?"
What? "Oh! It must have been Connor that called earlier! I thought it was Drew's friend David. I even called David's Mom and she had no clue what I was talking about! How embarrassing. Ha ha ha."
"Uh . . . Connor didn't call you."
"Oh." Awkward.
So the day of the party comes. Oh ya . . . that would be the next day. And I was preparing for the party. When I had asked Drew what he wanted to do at his Beyblade party he said, "We are going to "Bey" Mom. Of course!" Which if you know anything about "Blading" . . . Bey is short for Beyblading.
I knew that we couldn't just have the kids come and "Beyblade" if I were a good party throwing Mom.So I decided that we would start off with the children decorating cupcakes. Each trying to make their cupcake look like a Beyblade. Then we were going to do a little scavenger hunt in which there were notes from the "Dark Bladers" who had hid the Arenas and they would have to find the clues in order to find the arenas to Beyblade. And then possibly if we had time we would play "Pin the Beyblade to the stadium." Ya, that would satisfy any elite party throwing mother.
Well the first kid, Connor, arrived with a stadium in his hand.
Then a mystery child shows up. His name was Nicholas and he was holding two soccer balls.
"Ah . . . You are the one I talked to on the phone aren't you?! I called you David didn't I."
"Yeah."
"Sorry about that."
I said, "Okay guys. Come to the table and we will decorate cupcakes!"
But Drew ran to his friend said, "Great you brought the balls! Come on let's go in the backyard and play some soccer!" And off they ran.
Oh heck . . . I would rather play soccer than decorate cupcakes too. And so I let them. Other boys showed up with their stadiums (that Drew had asked them to bring) and the kids all played soccer for awhile and then they had a Beyblade tournament. No pin the beyblade on the stadium. No scavenger hunt. Drew had his own plans and was running the show. And I let him. His party turned out to be more exciting than the one I had planned anyway. I mean honestly, how did it come about that "Pin the tail on the Donkey" and all other versions started to rule the birthday party agenda? Is it really that great of a game that we feel like parties aren't complete unless we add it? . . . Anyway, I attempted to make a cake that looked like a Beyblade . . . but when the kids came in Drew looked at the cake and said, "Mom! I thought you were going to make a Beyblade cake . . . Not an Octopus!" He was completely serious.
Ya . . . that's why I don't decorate cakes.
Oh boy, what can I say? I may not be cut out for birthday planning. But Drew is!! Drew had that party planned! I had a few extra cupcakes at the end of the day . . . but hey, Drew enjoyed his party. I may not have impressed anyone with my party planning, and I certainly didn't impress anyone with my cake decorating skills . . . but I'm pretty sure Drew had fun, and he knows that I love him! And that is what matters. . . . I hope. Because if I get to the final judgement and the extent of my birthday party throwing skills is a determining factor . . . I am so in trouble!!!!!
