Wii Finally Caved In

So I thought it was worth mentioning on my little blog journal here about our Wii. It wasn't an easy decision to buy this thing. Neither one of us really wanted one. We are not gaming people. Drew would have friends come over and it was amazing at how "unfun" (if that is a word) our house was to them. Every kid that came over to our house wanted to play video games of which we didn't have. I had to watch these kids look at Drew annoyed at his suggestions to play different things, and walk around looking hopelessy bored. It was kind of painful to watch really. Don't kids use their imaginations anymore? For about 4 months Drew asked us constantly if we could buy a Wii. Each time we told him no, it was too expensive and he would lose brain cells etc. He kept asking to go to certain friends houses that had Wii's just in order to play. To say he was obsessed would be an understatement. One day he came up to me and said, "Mom . . . I know how we can get a Wii, and you don't even have to buy it. At Christmas I will just ask Santa Clause for it, and that way you don't have to pay for it." That was pretty cute.

So we did what any unresponsible parent would do . . . we gave into peer pressure. We told the kids that they could earn a Wii. We got a big empty Costco cookie jar and put a hole in the lid. We bought a ton of cottonballs, and told the kids they could earn them by doing chores, listening promptly, serving, being kind etc. We also had the right to take cottonballs away for bad behavior. It was amazing how well we could get the kids to listen with cottonballs at stake. It took a whole lot longer than the kids wanted, but they finally earned the Wii. And all of that earning time gave us time to come up with rules and a system of playing time (Thanks to Lamon's co-workers) The Wii can only be played on Wednesdays and Saturdays. But it's not just a free for all on those days. During the week the kids have opportunities to earn "Wii bucks" Each Wii buck is worth 5 minutes of playing time. So even if it is a Wii day they can't play unless they have Wii bucks. It's worked out pretty well so far. The most they have had at once is 90 minutes worth so they aren't playing Wii all day everyday! And we have never seen Drew so willing to do chores! ;-)

Ada the Diva

So I don't know what is up with the video on my camera. It is all messed up. But here is my little Princess doing what she loves to do best . . . look at herself in the mirror. Usually she looks and says things like, "My hair's so pretty . . . " or "I'm beautiful . . . " But this time I caught her singing to herself. Pardon the terrible visual.

Treated like a Queen . . .

I remember it like it was yesterday . . . I was hanging out with my family on a Saturday. The phone rang and someone said, "Mary the phone is for you."
"Who is it?"
"It's a boy."
I was immediately filled with dread. I was almost sure it was a certain boy who had been calling lately asking me out, a boy that I wasn't too interested in. But no, instead it was Lamon Mack. Would I like to go to the BYU football game that day with him? Oh my Cow!!! When I hung up the phone I didn't even say a word, I just started dancing around the house screaming. Lamon (only I thought his name was 'Lamond') had asked ME out. It was too good to be true. A cool, extremely hot, good boy had asked me out? This did not happen. I had plenty of boys asking me out, they just happened to mostly be strange men in their late thirties . . . So I was extremely excited.
In the weeks that followed I was swept off my feet. Lamon was the real thing. He was respectful. He was as handsome as I'll get out. He was fun, talented, could sing, he was a family man, and he also was a gentleman. I had been on plenty of dates where the boys would attempt to be gentlemen by opening doors etc. but it was sort of awkward and unnatural. Lamon was the real deal. He helped pull out my chair at restaurants, helped me with my coat, opened doors . . . the works. I felt like I was in the movies. I was completely in La la land.
Deep into our courtship I remember being at home one night with my family and my brothers were talking about what they wanted in a woman. Attraction was extremely important to them and they wanted a girl who could keep up with them in different physical activities like . . . biking . . . snowboarding . . . etc.
After listening to this I became a little disheartened. Lamon was an athlete. If my brothers cared about having an athletic girl . . . what about Lamon. I was not athletic in the least . . . unless you considered a night with Jane Fonda or Billy Blanks as being athletic. I fretted the entire night and wrote Lamon a lengthy email in which I explained that perhaps he should rethink dating me because I was not athletic like he was. I wouldn't be able to keep up with him in any of those sporting activities that he did. And it might not matter to him now . . . but maybe he would regret it later. I wasn't really sure how he would respond to this, but the email he sent back to me exemplifies who Lamon really is.
He told me that it couldn't have mattered less to him whether or not I was athletic. That is not why he wanted to date me. He told me that he was impressed with who I was as a person and my testimony in the gospel. He told me that someday I would have children and that my body would change and it didn't matter to him what I looked like as long as I was healthy. He then told me, "I want to treat you like my Queen in everything."
I will never forget that. That meant so much to me to know that he loved me for the most important reasons, and strangely enough his not caring about my athleticism actually encouraged me to want to become more athletic. And I can honestly say that I have come a long way since the Scottish Jig with Jane Fonda! :)
He is one of a kind. And this is just one example to show the kind of man he is.
I love him so much. He HAS treated me like a Queen. I love our little family and I so look forward to being with Lamon for eternity. I hope I do my part to make that happen! I love you Lamon!
From Last Year: Glimpse of my Man

Mother's Day Gift

I got some great Mother's Day gifts this year. Two days before Mother's Day Hayden kept making comments about how excited he was to give me my Mother's Day present. He kept saying, "You are going to love it Mom, but it's a surprise." And I should have left it there, but honestly I had to endure him saying this all day. I kept thinking, "I'm going to love it huh? . . . Could it be running shoes? . . . Something I'm really going to love." I started asking Hayden some innocent questions like, "Did you go with Daddy to buy it?"
"No."
"MMmmm . . . Did daddy show it to you?"
"Mom, it's a secret . . . but you are going to LOVE watching it."
I felt bad then because I totally knew it must be Tangled. I smiled at Hayden and said . . . "I think you might have just given it away!"
Hayden looked at me seriously and said, "Mom . . . all of those things I just said? They're not true." I thought that was funny. I know . . . I am terrible.
Tangled was a fabulous present. I love that movie and the kids were ecstatic to give it to me. But the best present I received on Mother's Day was that the kids did fabulous through two different sacrament meetings, one of which I had them by myself since Lamon was on his way home from St. George. I told them repeatedly that that was my favorite gift.
I really enjoyed this little book that Drew made for me at school where he filled in the blanks. I think he knows me pretty well. The first picture says, "This is my mom. Her name is Mare Mack but I call her Momee. " In the picture he drew me and the words "love" and "God" and then God is the person below it he says. He said he drew that picture because I loved God. That pretty much melted my heart. The second picture says, " She is beautiful! She weighs 35 pounds and is 34 years old." I'm just going to say that he was pretty close on that one. :) The third picture says, " I love my mom. If I could I would like to give her Tangled." The fourth picture says," When I am at school she does mom stuff. But when we are together I really love to play kobe (which he misspelled, but is a game that we play outside where you try and knock over the other teams sticks across the yard and the king in the middle.) The fifth picture says, " My mom is smart. She knows all about Cooking." Oh my deprived children. J/K I guess I am an award winning cook . . . :)"
The last picture says, "My mom loves it when I am Good. But she doesn't like it when I punch people." I'd have to agree with you Drew! :)

Tribute to my Amazing Mother

• Mother . . . it's the identity that I hold most dear. It is what I want to be truly good at it. I am a mother! And I love it. It is challenging and very often tiring. But why does it bring me such incomprehensible happiness?! I love my children, and I can't think of anywhere in the world I would rather be than at home playing with, teaching, learning from, and being entertained by my children. Why?? Why do I love these little munchkins so much? I know that partly it is just inheritantly me. It is a gift from Heavenly Father. I am sure that I came to Earth anticipating being a mother. But I am also pretty certain that a huge part of my love of being a mother, and my love of children comes from watching my own mother.Here are some of the things that make my mother so wonderful:



• She is fun! Sometimes if I need to get away for a little while I head over to my moms to hopefully play games, maybe do a puzzle with or just talk to my mom. She is the funnest to play games with, and she taught me everything I know about cheating at cards! :)


• She is very talented and has used those talents to bless our family. I am amazed at all of the clothes she made for us . . . our dolls . . . our barbies, all of the costumes she sewed, the dolls she made and sold for years. She is an amazing decorater. Our house was always beautifully decorated. My favorite time of year was always Christmas time. The house was always decked out in Christmas decor from November until January. The Christmas trees she decorated over the years were complete masterpieces.



• She knows how to celebrate. She made holidays absolutely unforgettable. My mom went to such great lengths to make holidays memorable. Christmas's were amazing at our house. The Christmas before I got married I still waited up with my sisters to see what Santa brought for me in my stocking. And that is the truth. She makes holidays fun by sending cards in the mail for the grandkids on almost every holiday, full of stickers, confetti and balloons. She is amazing.



• She had fun with us. She bravely took us on road trips all over the country. Boy have we had some unforgettable vacations.



• She has always listened. I love to talk to my Mom! I could honestly talk to her for hours! And when I go to her house . . . I do. She should get an award for the amount of time she has put in listening to me in my life!



• She was always frugal and taught me to be frugal too. I owe my love of garage saling to my dear old mom, and I just hope that there are many years left to go garage saling with her.



• Mom has spent her life sacrificing for her children. She has seen us all through many challenges. She has loved us unconditionally as she has watched us at different times in our lives make mistakes, suffer heartache, go through divorces, suffer serious physical trials, suffer financially etc. and through all of these times Mom has always been there loving us.


• My mother loved kids. She often has said that there wasn't a day gone by that she didn't want a baby at home. And she had 9 of us! Wow!


• Perhaps the most important characteristic that I admire in my mother is her unwaivering faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. My Dad is a master teacher. I owe so much of what I know of the gospel to my father. But I also owe so much of my testimony of the gospel to my mother. Through all of the obstacles that she has gone through in life she always has relied on the Lord for personal revelation on behalf of our family. And when it has come, she has never doubted it. I admire her so much for that. She is a great example of faith to me.
I love you Mom!!! You are amazing. Thank you for helping me WANT and LOVE to be a mother!

Holy Pants and Pop Tarts

I don't think that there are many things in this world as fun as doing something embarrassing in front of a lot of people. There is just something joyous about it. It brings laughter to yourself, to others and creates a story that you can share for years to come . . . The only thing that I can think of that can beat it is doing something embarrassing in front of plenty of people and not knowing it until later. I was doing my laundry a couple days ago and found this:

I don't know how long I walked around throughout the day with that big hole in the rear end of my pants, but I just hope it was long enough to bring a smile to someone's face! I'd like to think it did.

One of my favorite memories of doing something embarrassing and not knowing it until later happened a few years ago while we were living in St. George.I had just had Ada and was taking her in to see the pediatrician Dr. Twiggs. I hadn't eaten yet and was in a hurry, so I grabbed a pink poptart of some sort and ate it in the car on the way.

Dr. Twiggs is a great doctor. He was Drew and Hayden's pediatrician while we were there. But he never was extremely friendly per se or very talkative. But at this visit he was very attentive. He was answering all of my questions, discussing all sorts of things with me, and for the first time I really felt like he cared . . . the visit actually lasted quite a long time. It was rather nice to have him spend so much time with us. When we left and I got Ada's car seat in the car I got into the driver's seat and looked in the mirror. I was completely horrified. My face was completely covered with pink gooey pop tart filling. I am not exaggerating either. It wasn't just a little speck of goo . . . it was all over my entire face minus my forehead. I started laughing hysterically just thinking about how in the world he kept a straight face while he talked to me all of that time! He talked to me forever, and I never had a clue that I was covered in sugary pop tart goo. How did he do that? Doctors aren't paid all those big bucks for nothing. They are truly skilled. Oh fun times!!!!

Tilson Boy

Tilson is 3 months old on Monday. Time goes by too quickly! I can't believe it's time to put away 0-3 month clothes and get out the 3-6 month clothes. Babies get big so fast! But I love watching all the new things they do. Tilson is smiling up a storm. I love it when I'll be feeding him or just holding him, and I look down at him and he is just looking up at me grinning! He is a happy baby. He is very content. If he is fed and changed, he will just sit and watch me do dishes, or hang out with me while I help the other kids. And he is a great sleeper. Since I brought him home he has been sleeping for long hours at night. He usually will sleep from about 9 until 5. I can't really complain about that now, can I?!! He is just a little guy. At his 2 months checkup he weighed in at 9 lbs 15 oz. I have friends whose babies are born bigger than that. So he is pretty little. But he is pretty much adorable. And here is what his brothers and sister think of him:
Drew: Has become Tilson's second caregiver. He is so cute with him. Drew was never too interested in Hayden or Ada as babies, but he has been very involved with Tilson. He loves that he is so big and can hold Tilson and wants to hold him as much as possible. I have to be careful because Drew often picks up Tilson himself if I'm not watching and will take him places. One time I went to the bathroom and when I came out there was Drew with Tilson on the floor in the hallway. Another time Drew took Tilson into his room so that he could lay on his pillowpet. Tilson has never cried or objected to this, and Drew does a pretty good job at holding him, but I still am trying to drill in that he needs to ask me before he takes Tilson anywhere. Yesterday Tilson was crying and Drew said, "Mom, I know what to do." He then went to pick up Tilson and I said, "Wait Drew, let me hand him to you okay?" So I helped Drew hold him, and Drew started walking away with Tilson. I was making sandwiches for the kids and knew that Tilson was crying because he was hungry, and I had to finish the sandwiches first. So I finished them and then went to get Tilson from Drew. He had taken him downstairs and had put him in this baby rocker/swing type thing that we had and the music was going and Tilson was just crying. Drew was just laying on the floor next to him. I said, "Here Drew, I think he is hungry." And Drew just looked calmly at me and said, "No mom . . . it's okay. I pressed the sleep button. He is going to fall asleep." I thought that was so funny. He was certain that since he pressed the sleep button . . . that it was a done deal. Eventually he said, "Maybe you should feed him first." "Ya, I think you are probably right" I agreed. I am so glad Drew loves him so much and wants to help.There has been plenty of times that Drew has rocked Tilson for me or has tested out the lullaby "Rock-a-bye Baby" that he learned at school knowing that for sure that it just had to work. He's cute. Yesterday Lamon told me not to worry that Drew had put a sleeping potion on Tilson and that he was going to fall asleep. Drew just nodded his head affirming that that was exactly right.

Hayden: Hayden loves Tilson too. Haydens favorite thing to do is to kiss Tilson. And he kisses him a lot! It is so funny. Hayden once after kissing his head said, "Tilson loves my kisses." And once asked, "Mom, can I give Tilson one of my beautiful kisses?" He is funny. Most of the time he doesn't ask though and just comes and plants them on him. I feel like I am constantly trying to get the kids to scoot back away from Tilson because they like to maul him. But Tilson actually doesn't seem to mind too much. In fact, I have found multiple times when the kids are crowding him and I am saying, "Kids, scoot back. Get away from Tilson, he doesn't like that." I will be proven wrong because Tilson will just be looking up at them smiling.

Ada: Oh how she loves Tilson. She is with Tilson for most of the day. But for as much as she likes to get in his face and make annoying little sounds with a high screechy voice, she also spends plenty of time fetching me diapers and wipes willingly, getting him outfits when he has leaked through, rocking him when he cries, and even when she gets in his face with too much energy she has never tried to hurt him or be too rough with him. She really does love him to pieces. And I think they are going to be pretty good pals.