Friday I’m in Love

 Just a tiny glimpse into our life during the Covid 19 pandemic.  Aaron works from home 2-3 days a week and is the only person in the office on the other days.  I spend a lot of time shushing children when he is on a call, but I love seeing his face so often during the day and the little opportunities to talk with him briefly here and there,

Changes

A new bishopric was called last week, so Aaron was released after over 3.5 years serving the Sugar Creek Ward as second and first counselor.  The Cude’s are moving to Idaho and will be missed!  Aaron loved his calling, and I know our ward was greatly blessed because of his service and love and loving service. In the past few years he has served with Bishop Cude, Ken Lanshe, Doug McCash, and Ben Ratsachack. 

Pictured above: 1st Counselor Aaron, Bishop Craig Cude, and 2nd Counselor Ben Ratsachak.  

Schmoopie

There are so many things to catch up on that it's just overwhelming and the blog will have to wait until later this week, or next week, or sometime in May. 

I can't let today end without acknowledging my sweet companion's birthday.  By choice, Aaron does not take center stage on this little blog very often. He is an introvert and prefers to work behind the curtain making sure others shine. I love everything about this man, and thank God that at the immature age of 18 I was at least wise enough to recognize how much he loves me, what a wonderful man he is, and that spending forever with him would be better than everything I could've imagined possible. He is kind, smart, generous, funny, loving, forgiving, compassionate, strong, thoughtful, witty, and always grateful. That is a recipe for a perfect husband and father, and Aaron has every ingredient.  

Happy 38th birthday, My Aaron.  You are the greatest gift of my life, and I hope you know how admired and appreciated you are. 

"Hugs, Megs"

Adventures in Unpacking

I canceled our storage unit to save us $60/month. I figure if we can't fit our stuff in this freaking huge house, then it must be stuff we don't need.  The storage unit place was totally awesome and said that if I got everything out by the weekend, I wouldn't have to pay for August. Sweet!
But that meant I spent a day hauling everything out of our storage unit and into our garage, because our attic doesn't have boards down yet to store boxes up there. My neighbor brought her truck and helped me and unloading went soooo much faster! Yay for new friends to the rescue!

I decided this morning that if I'm going to haul all this stuff up to the attic, I should probably go through it and see what's really worth keeping.  I tackled the bins of children's clothes today and at the end, this conversation happened.

Aaron: What is all this? What are you doing?

Me: I just sorted and purged the children's clothing from the storage unit and condensed 13 storage bins down to 4 1/2.

Aaron: Nice, that will make space in our garage that you've filled up with stuff.

Me: Hey! For every box of our CHILDREN'S clothing, YOU have a box of paper garbage, Mister Paper Hoarder.

Aaron: 13? No way, I'm not a hoarder and I don't believe that
...Did you count the boxes in my car already?  

Team of the Year

This is for long days, for a lot of grey hairs (which are hot, by the way), for working every day of vacation, and for not being able to take a single day of paternity leave.  It's for a lot of things, actually.  You put up with a lot this last year (both at work and at home with a very very sick wife) and not only did you rise above adversity, you excelled and met your numbers. And at the end of each day, you came home and gave another 100% of yourself to your family. 

 

Category Team of the Year. 

I am not surprised at all. 

This award is well deserved. You give only your best to this company and we are happy to see your hard work recognized and appreciated.  Job well done, Aaron. I am so proud of you. 

Baby Got Back!

I'm home.  Did ya miss me? (eh...don't answer that).  I have loads of catching up to do and no energy to do any of it.  Hopefully, I'll be back to blogging regularly soon. 

Let's talk about church, today, for a minute.
Do you know how many people pointed out how big I've gotten "in just two weeks"?  A lot.

California tacos were good to me, friends.

Some of my favorites from church today were how I've "blossomed", "popped out", "grown a whole baby in two weeks", and "brought back a melon with me from my trip". Of course, no one meant to be mean, but it did get a little old by the end of the 2nd hour and I wanted to hide and/or burn my dress (I'd eat the watermelon first, of course).  I am thrilled to be pregnant, but 10-12 more weeks of commentary on nothing but my girth and due date?  I might wear earplugs next week.
Friends beware: to the next person who says, "look how much you've grown over the last two weeks!" I plan on replying with, "I know! You too!" and I'm gonna give your belly a lil' jiggle, too.
We had a super great vacation in Ca.  The girls haven't stopped crying for Grandma's house and their cousins and aunties and Coco and it is sickeningly hot here, but I am still really happy to be home.  I love visits with my family, staying up late talking, laughing, eating good food, and watching countless skits the kids put together.  But there is just nothing like sleeping in your own bed and living your normal routine.  I missed my little home and totally welcomed back cooking dinner for my family, putting laundry away, bathing my babies, and our bedtime routine.  It was great to be away, but just as great to come home.  Sign of a perfect vacation?  I think so. Also, in spite of the humidity, my hair was totally good to me, this morning, and that's always a welcome surprise.

Another great surprise to come home to? A freshly mopped kitchen, clean dishes, a vacuumed living room and groceries in my fridge (complete with a fresh batch of frog eye salad and a carton ice cream in the freezer).  Thanks, Kasey!  We rolled in at midnight after 13 hours of traveling and the last thing on my mind was the fact that the fridge would be totally empty in the morning.  Kasey had us stocked with the basics, and as an additional surprise, the top shelf was full of veggies and eggs from our yard----which she took care of while we were away.  Coming home from a long trip has never been easier. It takes a good friend to know how happy it would make me to come home to a clean house after preparing myself mentally for visual evidence of Aaron living up the bachelor life in it for a week. You win a gold star for friend of the year!

Anyway, I have 1,000 (literally) pictures to go through, 5 suitcases to unpack, and 3 children suffering miserably from PVLDS (post vacation let down syndrome).  Sooo the blog will have to wait a few more days while I come up with some big fun for the children and wait for my ankles to return to normal size...or return at all....right now, they are hiding underneath a layer of puff that won't fit into the cute shoes I bought in Santa Cruz last week.  

But I just couldn't let today go by without expressing appreciation for Aaron, because he's pretty much the greatest thing that ever happened to me.  My children are dang lucky and even though they don't need me to tell them what an awesome father they have, I'm posting it anyway.  Children: you have yourselves one excellent daddy.  He is present, patient, kind, fun, compassionate, hard working, thoughtful, spontaneous, calm, funny, and most importantly, he loves the crap out of you kids.  I couldn't have asked for a better man to raise a family with.  Throw in his beautiful face to make up half of the dna of our offspring and we scored ourselves some ridiculously good looking kids.  Bonus!  

The children made glittery cards for Aaron and fixed him breakfast in bed.  He is enjoying a bike rack that he picked out for the van, and we surprised him and had his BYU diploma matted and framed (finally) for him.  
Aaron, we treasure you and are grateful for the way you love, guide, and provide for our family.
Happy Father's Day to you, and to Grandpa Hal and Grandpa Rob!  We love and appreciate you all!

Happy Birthday to the Man

Aaron is 36, today!

I feel like I should take advantage of this day and attempt some kind of wise crack about him being all old and stuff and how I'm still livin it up in my 20's (for another 24 days, anyway...gotta milk that while I still can).

But Aaron really just keeps getting better with age. He's my cheese. And old man joke wouldn't be fair or accurate.

Also, Q pretty much maxed out our family limit on birthday jokes this year when she was drawing a picture of Aaron and pulled out a gray crayon. Burn!

Dearest Aaron, have a wonderful birthday. I love you, I love you, I love you, and with every year that passes I love you even more. You are a supportive husband and a loving father and a much greater man than any of us could have ever wished to have in our lives.

Happy Birthday!
and PS- your gray hair is damn sexy.

Things that are so awesome I can hardly stand it.

This little gem arrived in the mail, last week. It's Aaron's letter to Santa circa 1982 (first grade)In case you can't read it, I will translate:

"Dear Santa,
I was bad when I hit my sister. I was good when I helped my mother with the dishes.
I want a blue G.I. Joe Motorized Sidewinder."

Aaron then tried to claim that this couldn't possibly be his letter in such good condition after all these years.
I reminded him who his mother is, and that she saved everything awesome from his childhood.
He was still skeptical.

Then we turned the page and whaddyaknow... the proof is in the pudding. Or, in this case, Santa's beard:

"Santa, put the presents in the family room, by the tree.

-Aaron Willardson"

and as if that didn't narrow it down, he continues to clarify:
"My house is brown.

Valencia.

25368 Via Dona Krista."

and then he adds a bit of true Aaron randomness,

"Magic Show."

We can only assume this is a Magic Johnson/Lake show refrence mash up.
I did a little research and discovered that in 1982, tv commercials apparently did their job.
G.I. Joe released a motorized (MOBAT) with sidewinders.

If Santa came through, I would bet a fat chunk of change that it is sitting in it's box in Rob and Lynda's garage, in perfect condition, next to a storm trooper gun and a cabbage patch doll.

Little Things

Reese (with arms wrapped around my torso in an endless super hug): "Mom, Mrs. Pledger read a book about um "Did You Fill A Bucket Today?" and she said that everyone has an invisible bucket that they carry around. If you say something nice to someone else, or give them a hug or something, it fills up their bucket and makes them happy. AND, guess what? She said doing nice things fills your own bucket, too! Is that real? It sounds good."

Oh, how I love her.
I'm grateful for the innocence of children. I am especially grateful that before snuggling up in my lap for a hug or kiss, my children never stop for a moment to assess what kind of mother I was that day, or whether I am deserving of their affection. They don't care what kind of mother I was. They just fold their little bodies into my arms and share all the love they have in their hearts with me, because to them, I am always good enough. I need their example of unbiased, unconditional, and totally boundless love to keep my cynical, skeptical, and often crazy and irrational side at bay.
I am so lucky to have my family.

Here are a few recent "little things" from my 30 days of appreciation for Aaron:
-cleaned the garage. This was no small task. It isn't finished, but a significant dent was made.
-hauled the trash to the curb.
-dinner "warming on the stove" (1950's housewife style) and ready to be eaten right when he walks in the door and says, "Lucy, I'm home!", every night this week.
-put the mattress warmer on the bed and turned his side of the bed to "warm" 20 minutes before he went to bed, so the sheets weren't cold.

This week's intentional acts of kindness have resulted in more peace in our home. Whether we recognize the process or not, gratitude generally follows the rules of reciprocity. It is amazing how intentionally expressing love for one person---even in the simplest way, like a pair of new socks or a little handwritten note, can result in buckets so full they spill over the brim to everyone in the family.

Yes, Reese, invisible buckets are real.

Thanks for filling mine today, Dolly.

On Love and Gratitude

Can I just say that Aaron is a rock star?
I know it is sort of (really) lame to brag about your spouse a ton on a blog, but the support he's given me lately deserves to be credited. The past few months have not been easy for me and Aaron's help has been a constant reminder of how much I need him, how grateful I am for him, and why I married him.

He makes me laugh, every day. He is my friend. He supports my relationship with my Savior. He not only puts up with my wild, creative and artistic endeavors, but he encourages them. He is grateful. He reminds me to let bad moments be just that---bad moments, and to let them pass without allowing them to spoil good moments. He is a good example in all things. He respects me as an equal partner in our marriage and as a parent. He wakes up insanely early, works hard, and when he comes home he works here---all to provide me and our children with a life that we love. And he's damn good looking.

And so, in honor of a man that brings me so much happiness I am giving happiness back.
The next 30 days are dedicated to Aaron.

Not because it's a holiday.
Not because it's his birthday.
Just because.
-because he deserves it.
-because he does so much for me.
-because he loves me.
-because I love him back.

Random acts of service go a long way. We all try to do "little things" for people we love to show them we appreciate them. In marriage, however, it is so easy to be lazy and forget to appreciate our spouse. We take their "they're always there"-ness for granted and focus our energy on more needy situations, like the children or laundry or clogged toilets (gross). Less important but more immediate needs often suck our attention and even our gratitude, while our loved one sits on the back burner like a pot of soup (mmm soup). We stop by the pot occasionally, but only to take and be filled enough to carry on with our tasks, and days can go by without us adding any "little things" back into the pot.

Somehow, my metaphors make their way back to food. I can't help it.
Anyway, it's time to feed the pot, if you will. Add some appreciation to the soup.

Do you have someone that you love and appreciate?
Wanna play along?
Join me in 30 days of Gratitude and Appreciation.
1) Tell your spouse (or someone you cherish) daily that you love them and appreciate them.
2) Do something nice for your spouse (or someone you love) every day for 30 days.

I have a list of "little things" started and will post about many of them, but here are some ideas to get you started. Remember that people give and receive love in different ways (ever read the 5 love languages? words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and gifts) so try to be aware of your spouse's language and incorporate more of those ideas when you show appreciation.

-make him a hot breakfast
-pack his lunch for a week
-write a note on the bathroom mirror
-iron his shirt
-put away the laptop, ipad, phone, etc and watch a movie together
-wash or clean out his car
-give him a massage
-plan and make all the arrangements for a date
-bake a favorite dessert or prepare a favorite meal
-offer to stay with the kids so he can relax, read, take a nap, go to the gym, shop, go to a movie with some friends, etc.
-commit to refrain from criticising, complaining, or saying anything negative at all for 24 hours
-do something romantic
-write him a note or letter
-organize his side of the closet
-make him a cd of his favorite songs (haha remember the FRIENDS episode where chandler gave Monica a mixed tape with Janice singing on it?)
-do a household chore that he usually takes care of but doesn't particularly enjoy.

You might have to get creative to find time to do some of these things. Cleaning his car, for example, isn't really an act of love and appreciation if you abandon him with the children for an hour during the busiest part of the day to go take his car through the car wash, know what I mean? Try to plan a few days ahead to make sure you can think things through and give true appreciation.

What are some little things you do to show appreciation?
Leave a comment to share a few ideas of your own, even if you aren't committing to the 30 days thing. Everyone likes to be appreciated in different ways, so it will be great for us all get a few fresh ideas from the comment thread.

Repetition

Aaron looked at the recent photos I posted and informed me, "you are always wearing that same shirt when you blog."

I don't know about you, but what I heard was, "You should go shopping, Meg. Buy yourself a lot of new clothes."

Vintage Treasure

Aaron retuned from his trip to Utah with a suitcase full of goodies. Wow, is all I can say! Lynda knows me well and gathered the most wonderful "package" of treasures for us including but not limited to:

-fresh peanut butter from Whole Foods (my fave!)
-a new sugar cookie salt city candle
-two vintage My Little Pony Play doh Pinkie Pie Twinkle Twirl Parlor sets (we can't wait to play with this one over the weekend! I need to make some pink and purple playdough! My kids have no idea what kind of fun they are in for.)
-old school FHE lessons from Aaron's childhood.
-paper cutouts and the book, "There Was and Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie" (be excited, preschoolers!)
-Dr. Seuss's The Foot Book and The Lorax
-trick or treating flashlights

and, my favorite item, this little treasure.

-a tiny metal cashbox that Aaron for Christmas from Grandma Wini when he was a little boy. It really locks, it is awesome (clearly), and I love it so much I clapped with excitement when I found it in the suitcase! My favorite part is the old school engraved metal name plate. The keys disappeared years ago, but Lynda was clever and figured out which number it needs to be set on to open and marked it with a sharpie. It opens to a bright orange removable plastic tray that is miraculously still in tact.


I quickly put it on the shelf in Corbin's bedroom with the little vignette of other vintage treasures from Aaron's childhood, but then decided the reason I love it so much is because I can picture a young Aaron toting it around full of pennies or rocks or basketball cards or birthday money. It is full of love and it should be played with. I took it down from the shelf and it is the new hot novelty in our home. We've used our microwave timer for turn taking a lot this week!

I love watching my children play "store" and "garage sale" with it. They have filled it with doll clothes, strawberry shortcakes, toy story characters, grass (that was fun), and hair pretties. I wonder if Grandma Wini knew that it would last 30 years and be enjoyed by her great grandchildren.

Thank you, Lynda, for being the Mary Poppins that you are, and continuing to find little treasures like this, that make my children so happy! We love you!

The All American Summer Passtime.

On Saturday we hit Sonic for slushies and tots, then headed to a ballpark in Rogers to watch Aaron play in a softball tournament with the stake. It was really hot outside. Sick hot.

But the players still played and the kids had a lot fun playing in the sand box at the playground.

Go Daddy!

Father's Day 2011

Aaron is such a good father.
He plays with the kids, teaches them, respects them as individuals, and there is no end to his love for them. Our children will never doubt of their father's affection for them, and I love that about him.

On Saturday, I told Aaron that it was HIS day to do whatever he wanted.

He sent me out for a morning run.


When I got home, he was vacuuming.

While I showered, he loaded up all of the kids in the van and took them out for donuts.


While Corbin napped, he took the girls on a "date" for lunch. (they chose McDonalds. fancy!)

He mowed the lawn with children on his lap.

After I put Corbin to bed, he took the girls to the pool.

When I asked Aaron why he didn't do more things for himself, like go fishing or take his boat out to the lake, he said, "I did do what I wanted. Today was a great day."



I love him. I am so glad I chose to raise a family with him.

I Confess...

Sometimes, I get mad or upset and have a difficult time letting it go and moving on.

When this happens, Aaron turns on Wipeout, then sits back, and waits.

I sit there, fuming, and insist his plan isn't going to work.

But it's like a train wreck can't not watch
and I can't not laugh.
So then I get even more mad at Aaron for using a cheap tv show to make me not mad at him.

But then someone gets nailed in the head with a foam propeller and I can't stop laughing.
and Aaron congratulates himself on another victory.

Thanks, Wipeout.

I Chose My Love and I Love My Choice

For the past few years, I have been saving.
About a year and a half ago, I really started saving.
Cash.
In an envelope. Stashed.


I wanted to surprise Aaron on our 10th Wedding Anniversary with a vacation fund. I know you probably think it is totally lame and unsentimental to give my husband CASH for our Anniversary, but it isn't like that, at all.


It's an act of love, as all $2915 that I have saved, so far, has not come out of a paycheck.
It isn't money that I just moved from one bank account to another and it isn't from my preschool, either. It is cash I have saved from babysitting, our summer garage sale, birthday money, etc.

{See that, HolleeAnn? "never underestimate the power of small change. Cha-ching!" hahaha}

It is one thing to have money in your account. But that money has been spoken for.
Budgeted for living expenses, college funds, retirement, food, new car, whatever. We have a vacation fund. This will just be like icing on the cake and mean we can do extra fun things on that vacation.

"This is found money, Jerry!" -George Costanza

I also had a plan that the money that I end up saving by using cloth diapers would be deposited monthly and added to this little fund. Cuz that way, when Aaron asked 'where all the cash came from', I could honestly tell him 'it is a reward for all the $#!t I have had to deal with!'


So yeah, I have a money stash.
I also realize that this makes me sound a little bit like a granny-with-getaway-cash-under-her-mattress, but whatever.

I wanted it to be a surprise, and if it went into the bank, it wouldn't be.

And weird, tacky, unsentimental, lame, crazy, or not...wouldn't YOU love for someone to give you $1000?

I thought so.

Unfortunately, 5 months early, my Big Secret came cRaShInG dOwN last night, when I was foolishly adding some money from babysitting yesterday to the stash while Aaron was home.

(Do you see where this is going?)

Since I knew I was getting close to my $3000 goal, I (again, foolishly) decided to count it.

(Don't do it, Meg! Don't count the money!)

There I was, counting out the bills, like a little kid does when she is saving up for a new toy, when in walks Aaron.

And I am standing there with an armfull of money.

I think he thought I was planning to run away, or something.

BUSTED.

Happy Anniversary, My Love.

He loves my unsentimental, lame, thrifty, crazy-paranoid-granny of a gift, and we looked at a map and, like we often do, we started talking about where we are going to go on our Big Trip.
And more than the actual gift, he was surprised by my ability to keep it a secret for so long.


He decided it wasn't fair for him to be the only one receiving an early present, and told me he bought tickets for us to go see this, on Saturday!


I LOVE this musical. Can't wait! I hope the roads are clear enough by Saturday to get to Fayetteville!
Happy (Early) Anniversary to him.
Happy (Early) Valentine's Day to me.

Sick Day

I have the flu.
My husband rocks.
I just left my bedroom for the first time in like, 10 hours, and wow. My house looks like a bomb went off in it.
I'm grateful for a best friend who reminds me with her good attitude to look for the positive spin on lousy days. I may have the flu, but I have the flu on a Saturday, and that means I just spent 10 hours in my bed!

I took a "sick day".

Dear Moms,
When is the last time you were able to take an actual sick day? I've been racking my brain and since I had children, I honestly don't think I have ever taken a full blown, real life, actual sick day. But that's what I had today. Aaron took care of the children all day, and periodically took my temperature, then brought me meds, kleenex, and fluids. I "called in sick", checked out of reality, holed up in my bedroom for 10 hours and "took the day off". It's like being a guy. I have no idea why men are such babies when they get sick. I had a fever of 105* last night and I feel like absolute garbage, but today was pretty freaking awesome. Bedside service, unlimited napping, and no responsibility? Hellz yes.

I'm on a lot of medication right now and probably shouldn't be allowed near the computer.
Props to Aaron for rockin' the Super Dad cape today.

Only family will find this funny...

Yesterday:

Aaron: Whoa Ho Ho! These stockings are 'stuffed to the muff!'

Merry Christmas, guys!
Love and miss you all.

Be Grateful for Wal-Mart

I love finding things like this on the sofa. Aaron is a very loyal, dedicated employee.

He LOVES Wal-Mart. Like he really, truly loves it... not just because he works at the home office, but because he truly believes it is a wonderful company.
I love that he reads biographies and articles, attends conferences, and tunes into programs that are related to his career.
I love that he gets mad when I purchase things from a Wal-Mart competititor (...but that never happens, right? Shhhh....).
I love that he pays attention to little details at his job, and does everything 100%. He actually goes to the Saturday Morning Meetings every month. He actually spends the required day every quarter wearing a blue vest, working in the club. He is early for work, and he works long hours. He actually purchases, brings home, and tries out the products that he buys for Walmart (I have a cabinet full of popcorn, fruit snacks, and ice cream toppings). He seeks out mentors and accepts advice on how he can improve.

I am grateful for my husband's job.
I'm grateful that he has a job, that he loves his job, that he is good at doing his job, and that he always takes genuine interest in the companies that he works for.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder

Aaron just called to tell me how much he misses us. 

He must be out of frozen pizza and clean underwear.

Dear Aaron, 

I'm out of clean underwear, too. 

It just doesn't feel like a vacation if I'm still doing laundry. 

Miss you. Love you.

Hugs, 

-Megs

PS- Corbin is cutting molars.  It's awesome!