Oh, Heart Be Still

The Promise Of Forever

By Sydney Roberts

For art class, Sydney, was assigned to do a "stain glass window" picture using markers. She chose to make her assignment a gift for me featuring me holding both Zachary and Aftyn in my arms, something that my heart and arms yearn to be able to do someday. It's entitled "A Promise of Forever" because someday we will be together again. Someday I will hold both my twins in my arms together. The bottom says...*Until we meet again*I'll be watching from above*, it shows Zachary in Heaven watching over his twin sister, Aftyn. Just like I know he does, as well as watches over all his brothers and sisters. Sydney depicted Zachary looking like a missionary because we know he his fulfilling his mission on the other side of the veil. Although I miss my baby, I know his spirit is not that of a baby. This picture gives me both. It also gives me a glimpse into Eternity. Thank You, Sydney. I will forever and ever treasure this gift. 

November Happenings

Here are a few of the November happenings in our house that haven't yet made it to a blog post.

The day after Kaylie's 12th birthday she got her cast removed. Though she never once complained about having it on, she was one happy camper about getting it off. 

On the same day Tyler got to go to Clear Creek (outdoor school) for a day and a half. Even better than that Ken got to with him. Both father and son had a really good time together. 

Since this was Kay's 12th b-day she got to have a friends birthday party which we did the week after her real birthday. We had some crazy fun that night!

This is McKenna and Daric having a winter picnic together. They are such cuties!

And lastly we are now the owners of a bunny rabbit named Zoe. The kids are in love. It all happened rather fast, I'm not quite used to the idea yet. She is pretty cute though,  I think she's growing on me.



4 Adults + 15 Kids = 1 Awesome Thanksgiving

I'm feeling a little giddy over my Thanksgiving holiday. You see...it was really RELAXING. I know you are asking yourself how could this be humanly possible, right?  Considering I am the mom and the mom always ends up cooking for 2 days straight, eating for 30 minutes, then cleaning up for another 2 days.

Check out all the things I didn't have to do this year:

*I didn't cook a turkey

*I didn't make mashed potatoes or gravy

*I didn't bake rolls

*I didn't make stuffing

*I didn't start cooking the day before Thanksgiving.

*I didn't have to worry about cleaning my house for company.

*I didn't have to worry about anything.

WHY?

Because my friends did all of those things for us this year.

We went to our friends house for Thanksgiving, and had a wonderful time.

I got to sleep in and enjoy my family. I got to make a few of my favorite salads with the help of a few of my favorite kitchen helpers. Then I got to go enjoy good food and the company of good friends, all while my kids played and had a wonderful time.

It was a perfect day for me. I feel spoiled. And I'm liking it.

Thank you, Dione and Rory.

Here are a few pics from our at home Thanksgiving festivities.

Me and the kids made these fun and yummy turkeys together on Wednesday night.

I couldn't let Thanksgiving pass without taking a picture of the people I'm most Thankful for.

Love you guys

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving...

 For Family Home Evening, Monday night, I asked the kids to think about the things in our lives that they are especially grateful for.  

This is our list...

The Roberts Family is grateful...

That families can be together forever.

For education.

A home.

My Grandma (from Daric, I know he loves his Grandpa's too)

The earth that we live on.

To be a Husband and Father. (Ken)

The Atonement.

Food.

Our friends.

The Gospel.

The Priesthood.

Temples

Time with each other.

Mom and Dad. (thanks, kids)

Mrs. Cooper (Emma's 2nd grade teacher)

I didn't even contribute to the list because Ken and the kids pretty much covered it all. I would just like to ditto all the above and echo Ken's response....I am SO grateful to be a wife and a mother. My heart is full.
We all have so much to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!!

Losing It....Week 14

The last two weeks have not been great for me in the weight-loss department. That's actually putting it mildly...here's the truth...I basically FELL OFF THE WAGON.

Results:

0

I didn't lose or gain this weigh-in.

I could offer up a bunch of excuses but I won't. I'll just start over and do better. My goal for next weigh-in is minus 5 pounds. I can't say I'm not disappointed that I've let 2 weeks go by without making any progress, BUT in a way I'm sort-of glad. Although it will be hard to get back on track, I'm actually looking forward to the challenge. Losing weight started to get too easy, if that makes any sense. Now I have to recommit and work harder especially through this holiday season. So, really I'm glad I had a bad weigh-in, cause it's only going to motivate be to do better next time.

Oh, I just remembered...I promised to post pictures when I fit into my "too small" jeans. Well they fit! But pictures are still not my friend. I FEEL much smaller that I look and that is kind of discouraging when I see pictures. I am about to do something completely horrifying and post pictures of my bum. Yes, I just said, my bum.

*The picture to the left was taken in July just before I started my weight loss journey. It actually greatly helped motivate me because although I have aways known I have a big tushie, I was not prepared to see just what I looked like from the backside.

*Picture on the right was taken a few days ago, almost 30 lbs. lighter in my "too small" jeans. Baby still got back, I know. But it is looking better if I do say so myself.

Oh my heck, I can't believe I just did that!

This really is totally embarrassing. Oh, well...here's two more.

*The picture on the left was taken in February on my 36th birthday, 2 weeks after having Aftyn. I actually weigh not too much more than I do now, but hopefully I'm looking a little better.

* The picture on the right is taken the same day as the "butt" picture, just a few days ago.

 Okay, I think that is as much humiliation as I can stand.

You could wish me luck though, that might help. ;)

I'm Diggin' 63% Off

Do you remember back in the day when hospital photo's were affordable? Granted they were not so cute, but you bought them anyway because who can say "No" to a photo of their child, right? Well, now they actually take great pictures at the hospital, right in your hospital room, using natural light. They are much better than the old ugly ones. The only problem is...now they cost a fortune. I was more than a little broken hearted back in January when I had to say "No" to ordering hospital pics of Aftyn. That was a rough time at Ken's work, we weren't getting paid regularly ("regularly" would be an understatement) and we just couldn't afford it. Many times during the past 9 months I have thought about calling to see if her photos were still available, but I still never could really afford to get them so I never called. I just felt that twinge of sorrow whenever I thought about it.

Much to my surprise, relief, and joy I got an email last week from the hospital photographer offering Aftyn's hospital pictures for 63% off. Even though they still cost me over $60.00 I jumped at the chance to order her hospital photos.

Here are a few...

This one she wanted everyone to know she was 3 days old.

Smart girl!

I'm a happy mama.

 

What's Up With The Tongue?

Today I attempted to take a few pictures of Aftyn only it's not so easy anymore. She will NOT stay still. I had to take a bunch to end up with a few where she isn't trying to escape. And check out the tongue...she has discovered her tongue and has it hanging out on nearly every picture. By the way, she recently had her 9 month check up and she is now 16lbs. 11 oz. Still pretty little for a Roberts, but she does have some chunk on her little thighs. Love it!

This was my attempt to keep the tongue in.

Aah...finally.

This little girl loves to bounce. This is one of her favorite places to play. Aftyn is such a fun baby! 

Little-D Turns 3!

Happy Birthday, Little man!

Daric turned 3 today! Our little guy isn't so little anymore. He sure is growing up. Check out these studly birthday pics of our handsome guy.

I love this little tank. Can't wait to watch him grow and learn over the next year.

He is so fun, and hugable, and crazy, and LOUD, and perfectly adorable.

Love you, Baby Boy!!!

Big Girls Don't Cry...Or Do They?

Yes, they do. Big girls do cry.

For instance, 13 year olds cry when 4 year olds ruin the art project that they've been working so hard on.

This is a portion of Sydney's art project.

She is recreating this picture of Todd waiting for the bus on his first day of preschool.

Pretty awesome, huh? Sydney is a very talented artist and was doing a beautiful job on her project until McKenna got a hold of it and tried to "help" Sydney out.

This is what it looks like now. The scribbles at the top are compliments of McKenna. Sydney cried, and I wanted to cry for her, but I must say she handled it very well after a moment of grief. She will finish it the best she can working hard to blend in McKenna's contribution.

Since McKenna started pre-school she has been coloring on EVERYTHING. She loves to practice her name or just doodle on whatever she can find, including her bunk bed and other such things.

It's difficult to keep up with the destruction that so frequently occures at the Roberts house. Sigh..........  

Losing It....Week 12

The last two weeks have brought both some new challenges and some awesome rewards. We'll talk about both, but first let's talk numbers...

Results

-3 lbs.

Three pounds isn't huge, but I don't think I've been more excited about any other weigh-in as I was for this one.

HISTORY HAS BEEN MADE, FOLKS!

Ken and I have been together for over 17 years. For all of those 17 years I have weighed MORE than Ken. When I weighed 160, he weighed 140. When I weighed 180, he weighed 160. We have nearly always had about a 20lb. spread. The closest I have ever got to his weight was by 6 lbs., but that was when I was 3 months pregnant with twins and I knew that I wouldn't get any closer than 6 lbs. for a very long time.  BUT this morning FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER I weighed LESS than Ken. I have waited for this day for a very long time and I feel so stoked!

I even put on a pair of his jeans this morning and although they didn't look so hot on me, I got them on, buttoned, zipped and everything. YES!!!

Okay, so let's talk challenges.

 * For a little over a week we had the privilege of having family in town. Though I LOVE ken's family I almost always gain weight when we get together. We love to sit around and visit with each other and food is usually the center of attention. I thought I was prepared because at least I could plan most of the meals. I was really NOT prepared for all the cookies, cupcakes, doughnuts, bags of candy, and ice-cream that floated in and out of my house all week. It made it much harder to resist temptation, but family is worth it and I'm so happy we got to be together.

*Then came Halloween. Halloween is an icky holiday. My plan was to get rid of all the Halloween candy right away so that it wasn't even in the house and therefore NOT a temptation. That didn't happen, we still have candy in the house. And it IS a temptation, and I have given in a few times, but for the most part I have maintained my self-control.

*The darn weather is getting colder. Too cold to walk the littles to school in the morning. That really cuts into my exercise plans, but I knew that would happen sooner or later so I am improvising.

*And finally, we have all felt a little cruddy this week. We've had a touch of some bug that has left everyone feeling so tired, making it more difficult for me to think about exercise. 

Now for the rewards. Ooowah, I'm still feeling giddy.

*Getting through the last two weeks and still losing feels like a reward. Yeah, baby!

*I have never made it this far before. I'm actually doing this! It's feels real. It's feels do-able. I feel like I've got my second win and I just can't wait to keep going.  

*Clothes. Clothes is a big one for my the last two weeks. Allow me to explain...I have several "sets" of clothing. For example, I have the "too big" pile. Those are the clothes that I keep around for after I have a baby and inevitably put on weight. As soon as I start needing to wear the "too big" pile then I know it's time to get busy and do something. That happened to me 3 months ago. Next, is the "regular" pile. Those are the normal everyday clothes that typically fit on any given day. Then there is the "Skinny" pile. Alright, let's get real, there's nothing "skinny" about them, but they are the clothes that fit when I lose 10/15 lbs. and start feeling thinner. I used to mentally celebrate when I made it into the "skinny" pile. Those have now become my "regular" pile. Yeah, for me! And finally, I have a "too small", never been able to wear pile. Yes, I know that's weird. A few years ago one of my sisters gave me a box of clothing. I was pregnant at the time and could not wear two pair of pants from the box. I liked them and put them up in my closet in hopes that one day they would fit. There they sat and sat, until last week when I pulled them down and slid them on. They FIT! They were SO comfy and I was in Heaven.  That was motivation for me; to finally be able wear my "too small" pile. So guess what I did? I went to Saver's this week and bought a new pair of "too small" pants. Now I have more motivation to get into my new jeans. When I do I'll post a picture and you can celebrate with me!!!

*Because of the weather and the need to workout at home more I found a new workout that I had forgotten about. A few years ago I bought "Biggest Loser" for the wii, soon after I got pregnant and didn't use it much. This last week I pulled it out and it's been kicking my butt. It feels good to do something new and feel my muscles burning. I'll be using that a lot more in my workouts.

*I am getting closer to my first goal, which is to get under 200lbs. It feels so good to see numbers on the scale that I haven't seen in YEARS.  It was when I was due with Kayie, our 2nd child, that I tipped the scale over 200lbs. for the very first time. I couldn't believe it. It was so hard to see that number, but since that time (12 years) for all but a very short time after Kaylie was born I have wieghed over 200 lbs. Rather embarrassing to admit, but it's my reality, I just have to keep moving forward.

*I have lost enough weigh now that people are starting to notice. I have gotten many compliments over the last few weeks and it feels good. When I look in the mirror I can't SEE a huge difference, because I still see rolls of fluff, but I can tell in my clothes that it's making a difference. And hearing it from other people sure helps keep me going.

One last thought.

Yesterday I was killing some time before church by reading "True to the Faith" and I read this statement...

"Faith is a principle of action and power. Whenever you work toward a worthy goal, you exercise faith. You show hope for something that you cannot yet see."

I was struck by that thought as I related it to this process of losing weight. This too is a worthy goal that requires faith. I hope that by making healthy food choices and exercising that it will produce something that I cannot yet see; a thinner, healthier me. You also have the power to take action and apply this principle of faith in your own life. Do it! Do it! Then share your success story with the rest of us. :)

  

Kaylie is a BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Tomorrow technically, but I couldn't wait to post her darling birthday photos. She is such a cutie!

Happy Birthday, Kaylie!

Wow,12 years old!!!

Aw! This girl just twitter pates me. She is such a sweet, good, wonderful daughter. In some ways she is still such a little girl to me, but every once in a while I catch a glimpse into the future to the women that she will become and I like what I see. Kaylie is are hard worker, she never complains, she always accomplishes the task in from of her. She is so helpful to me, always trying to lighten my load. She is so good with her siblings and is always willing to help me out when I need a sitter. She is fun, and smart. Tender and kind. Silly, and goofy, and such a tease. I love watching her grow and develop her many talents. She is growing into such a lovely young lady. She is thrilled to be going into Young Women's with Sydney, and I am thrilled for her. I know she'll love being 12.

Love you so much, Kaylie!!!