Aaron on Walkabout

Aaron had a great weekend flyfishing and enjoying God's beauty in West Yellowstone with a few of the greatest men of the Willy clan and a couple buddies.

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"

The 3am badge of Parenthood

Aaron can handle vomit like a boss. Kid puke ain't got nuthin' on that guy. He cleaned up the bedding while I cleaned up the kid, and then he took him back to bed and was asked to "pwease sweep in my bed wiff me and howd da frow up bowl for me when I gets sick?" Aaron didn't even hesitate to say, "sure buddy, I'll sleep with you, come on let's go." 

Dearest Corbin, you have rotten luck catching this tummy bug today, bug you won the jackpot when you scored Daddy. 

I married a very good man.

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.

Date Night with the Willys

A few weekends ago, we saw Brian Regan live at the Walton Arts Center.
What a great night. We laughed so hard our cheeks and stomachs ached the next day.
A friend of mine asked me for some suggestions/advice for having a successful Date Night and I've been thinking about it a lot, so rather than just tell her, I thought I'd share on my blog and maybe inspire a few others, or get a new idea from of one of you in the comments.

Date Nights are very important to us. (They are also the reason we didn't answer your call last weekend.)

A few years ago, we realized we weren't making enough time for us to have "grown up" conversations that weren't interrupted by day-to-day distractions, so we set a lofty goal to have 2 dates a month. Some months, this was easy, but other times it was expensive.

But the result is a happier us, so we stuck with it and now, it's pretty easy to manage and something we look forward to. Some months, we go out a lot more than twice, and other months are just busy, so our dates are simple and quick and whenever we can afford to squeeze them in, like meeting for a kid free lunch at taco bell (yup.) while the older girls are at school and a friend watches Corbin.

Here's what works for us:
-Like I just mentioned, we don't limit our dates to evenings.

-Temple trips count as a date. I know it would be more charitable to offer a ride to others to OKC, but we take those 8 hrs alone in the car pretty seriously and right now, when spending an entire day away from our children is a pretty big sacrifice, we choose not to share that date with anyone else.

-Double dates are really fun, but can only count for one of our nights out. It is important to have at least one date when we are alone.

-We rarely answer our phones on a date. Don't be offended. It's not that we don't like you. We just like each other more and this time has been scheduled for us.

-Date's don't need to be "romantic" (candles, flowers, music, expensive restaurant, lighting, fancy clothes, rom com movie, etc). Dates provide opportunities to talk, laugh, eat, plan, or relax. This is a basic formula for us to enjoy an evening, and we feel that seeing your spouse happy and smiling is romantic.

-Budget. Dates can get expensive. I know many couples who budget for dinner, a movie, and a sitter every weekend, but we just can't do it. We budget to pay a sitter at least once, and try to swap babysitting with another family for the other date. This doesn't always work out, but when it does, we aren't as frugal with our entertainment, so it's a nice bonus.

-Plan ahead. Like waaaaay ahead, if possible. We watch for concerts and events that we know we'll be interested in, and get tickets. If they are pricey, we know to spend less (or nothing) on a few other dates to balance it out.

-Keep it simple, but be creative. Not every night out has to be a big deal to be a winner. Pizza at the lake on a nice day is fine for us. People watching at the square is a guaranteed cheap laugh. If we waited too long to get a sitter, we'll get takeout and a movie (or I'll cook something fun and different and we'll put the kids to bed early and enjoy an evening with our phones/computers off.

-You've probably figured out that we like to eat on our dates. Always. Well, almost always. During our normal mealtimes, one of us is always serving the children or listening to one of them talk about school, etc. We're in a season where we love to just eat and enjoy eating uninterrupted. It wasn't always this way, though. Before we had children we loved going to the gym together to workout, swim, or play badminton or something.

-We don't care if our dates are "always the same thing" as long as they are meaningful and boost our friendship. We do mix in going to exciting places and doing different things, too, but we never let boredom or lack of planning become a reason not to go out.

-It is important to us that our children know that we go on dates. I want my kids to be aware that marriage takes work, service, attention, and fun, and we do all of these things because we love each other and we want our family to be a happy one.

-We like to "dress up" or at least look decent, because it adds to the niceness of the date, but it isn't a "requirement", or anything. We've been known to call a sitter over (last minute) on a weeknight after the kids are in bed and catch a 7 o'clock movie at Sugar Creek in our sweatpants, or go share a blizzard at Dairy Queen, or wander around sporting goods store, or pick out a raccoon trap and chicken feed at Tracter Supply. Whatever, we don't care. Honestly, our only "requirement" is that we have a date at least twice a month. We work toward that, and it works for us.

What are your favorite dates?

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.

{Little Things}

Day 6: redbox (of his choice) and gourmet popcorn (garlic and parmesan...also his choice) date at home.

Day 7: Dry erase markers are perfect for writing notes on the bathroom mirror. Easy to read and the ink wipes right off with a paper towel. Leave your love a note of appreciation this week. You might be surprised to walk in the bathroom later and find a note for you, in return :)

{Little Things}

Day 4: a package of his favorite socks arrived.

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.

He

brought back fresh ground peanut butter from his trip to San Antonio, yesterday.
He loves me.

Every Sunday,

I sleep in.

Every Sunday, Aaron wakes up with the kiddies at whatever unnatural hour they decided was acceptable for weekend rise and shine.

Every Sunday, I am served breakfast in bed (always a waffle with chocolate chips and syrup) at 7:30 by three sticky lovey children.

I love Sundays.
I married up.

I'll take PMS for 1000, Alex

-After a tragic sunday evening with no brownies in the house, I realized I am completely unprepared for disaster. Monday morning arrived and I booked it to walmart and stocked up on Little Debbi Fudge Brownies.

-Big Brother is on tonight. Don't call. Yup. I watch Big Brother.

-It was decided in a recent discussion that Aaron would make a MUCH better contestant on Big Brother than I would.

-This discussion took place right after I cried because there weren't any brownies in our house. Brownies. Well---LACK of brownies, actually....and I think that should count for something, but really? Tears? Uhhhh Hormones anyone? Congratulations, Aaron, you've won tonight's Daily Double!

STATUS UPDATE: Big Brother was in fact, NOT on that evening. I had my days mixed up. Don't even ask about the meltdown that followed.

Friday, I'm in Love

He goes with her to the Harry Potter finale, even though he has zero interest in Harry Potter, never read the books, doesn't even know who the characters are, and will have no clue what is happening in the movie.

Awwww, sweet.

She still loves him, in spite of the fact that he has zero interest in Harry Potter, never read the books. doesn't even know who the characters are, and will have no clue what is happening in the movie.

That's love.

Something Nice: Steel Cut Oats

I don't know why this is posting as all one paragraph. Blogger doesn't like me right now. Sorry. I am not a morning person. You know that. Everyone knows that. (well, everyone that's ever been around me before 9am, knows that.) One of the things I really admire about Aaron is how happy he is when he wakes up in the morning. Like, when the alarm goes of at 4:45 or 5 am, he doesn't have a natural urge to throw it agains the wall, then throw a lamp at it, to make sure that it actually broke and will never bother me again. He is NICE when he wakes up. Me? Not so much. I do try to be nice...and some days, I feel like I am getting better. I've always been such a night owl, and it's pretty impossible to be both. I knew that Aaron had a busy day at work today so last night I decided to try something new. Around 11:30pm, I put 1 cup of steel cut oats and 4 cups of water in our tiny (I think it's about 1 1/2 quart size) crockpot and turned it on Low. At 5:30, Aaron filled a bowl with fresh, piping hot steel cut oatmeal to eat on his way out the door. We changed the setting to Keep Warm, and I had a bowl at 6:30. Listen guys (gals), they were cooked to PERFECTION. Seriously, perfection, I tell ya. Cook some. Soon. Tonight! I LOVE a recipe that makes me look like an awesome wifey that makes hot breakfast for my family in the morning. Uh, especially when it took less than 1 minute to prepare. Forget 30 minutes on the stove top! Even quick oats take 1 minute to nuke, and these were sooooo much better. Wonderful consistency. I've heard that using a large crockpot results in burned edges, over cooked, dry oatmeal, and a fat mess to clean. Using the tiny crockpot was the perfect size, because this left NO mess whatsoever. I emptied the leftovers into a tupperware to nuke for tomorrow's breakfast, and the crockpot was so easy to clean, I could have rinsed it clean with cold water. Yeah! That easy to clean. So if you have a tiny crock pot, don't be afraid to try this recipe out...and say goodbye to the assumption that just because you use your crock pot means you'll be soaking and scrubbing it for an hour later. Not so! Just be sure to use STEEL CUT oats for this recipe. Not rolled or quick oats. Steel cut oats look like little pellets, rather than a flat flake. You'll end up with mush if you use the other kind for this. If want to let them cook longer (because you sleep longer, but still want breakfast ready when you wake up), try setting the cooker on low for 1 hr before you go to bed, then on Warm for 8 hrs. FYI-fresh oatmeal is delicious with dried or fresh fruit (mmm or frozen berries), nuts, maple syrup, brown sugar, honey (blech...I hate honey, but the rest of my family loves it), milk, fruit syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, whatevah! So many options! Give it a shot. Non-"instant" breakfast that IS ready in an instant? Maybe I can be a morning person.

Half Full

Today was a rough one.

In an attempt to feel better about it, I've made a list of some of the good things that happened today

1) Like every Sunday, I slept in until 8:30
2) Like every Sunday, Aaron made chocolate chip waffles
3) We went to church
4) We took naps
5) Dinner was excellent
6) It is 6:30pm and all of the children are asleep in their beds
7) My hair looked cute
8) Reese was spotlight in Primary
9) I expected to wake up with sore muscles, but did not.
10) Quincy gave a talk...sort of
11) All of my children have dedicated teachers that nurture them, prepare lessons, and teach them with love
12) Rocky Road ice cream
13) everyone is healthy
14) apple tarts and a visit with friends

I feel better already.