Holidays...so much discussion!

I have been amazed at the overwhelming number of facebook posts and blog entries about how overboard St. Patrick's day and other holidays are becoming.  Most of the comments are about over-achieving moms and one upping competitions and kids who expect something because their friends' mom does the holiday differently.  And I have had an inner turmoil, almost shame, while reading each opinion.  But not because I am against celebrating...just the opposite.  Because I feel bad that I enjoy it and am basically being told to knock it off.

Growing up, my dad was in the military and we moved all over the world.  At times the only friends my siblings and I had were each other and the only familiarities we had on holidays were within the walls of our home.  Living in other countries who may or may not celebrate things you are used to can be hard as a child and maybe even confusing.  But my mom kept our traditions alive and brought new ones with us from previous places.  After living in Boston, St. Patrick's day became a bigger deal in our home with green toilet water and green breakfasts.  After we lived in Belgium, we put our shoes out on December 6th for St. Nick to put toys and treats in which none of my friends had heard of back in the states.  And I cherish the memories and the efforts my mom put into making mundane days feel special.

As a stay at home mom now, I see maybe why she did these things and went to such great lengths.  Days can get pretty boring and sometimes lonely and frustrating.  If you can break that up by making a day a little more special for your kids, something to wake up looking forward to, then why not?  But if you don't want to, that is fine too...no one is forcing any family to do things.  I understand the competitive nature we all have and the fact that when kids go to school they hear what other families are doing.  That can be hard.  But I highly doubt moms are trying to make other moms look stupid or less-than-acceptable because they chose to make rainbow pancakes for St. Pat's breakfast.  I did it to see the smile on my kid's face as he asked if he could eat the blue one and I know there are things other moms do to make their kids smile that I choose not to.

The guilt we may or may not feel makes me sad.  So what if you forgot to move your elf on the shelf every single day.  So what if you don't send out fancy Christmas cards on time...or at all.  So what if your Valentine's are store bought and not hand crafted.  I remember calling people Martha Stewart moms and now it is a Pinterest mom.  We all need to get off our own backs and give ourselves a break.  The extras are supposed to be fun, not an added guilt or pressure.  I am grateful for the hundreds of things I have pinned that I will never do or the places I will never visit...it allows me a pretend hope that I can and will make my own padded bench seat from unfinished cabinets from Lowes or visit the gorgeous underwater hotel in Dubai or eat at a table in the ocean in Bora Bora.  Pinterest allows for dreams and creative juices to flow.

As for blogging, posting pictures on instagram or facebook about what you do to celebrate and the crafts you make...go for it!  Each of us is trying to be our best self.  We are trying to find joy in our lives.  And if you were able to do something special and want to share, then by all means share it.  But if you don't have a picture to share, so what?  No need to think that others are rubbing it in.  We are all just working hard to be our best.  As a stay at home mom, there are days I feel like a failure.  Days I barely get out of my sweats.  Moments I have to stop and think "have I showered in the last 72 hours?"  And on the days I can accomplish a drop of awesome, I may need to post it to remind myself that I am doing ok.  I am not as bad or as untalented as I think.

Moms who keep it simple and don't want to dye your toilet water green...good for you!  You do what is best for your family.  Moms who put feet prints on their toilet and a trail of gold coins leading to shoes filled with goodies beside a homemade leprechaun trap...good for you! You do what is best for your family.  My point is, there are enough people in this world saying that moms are not good enough, not important enough...let's be each others' cheerleaders a little more and each others' critics and competition a little less.

And now I will put away my soap box and go to bed. PS:  Click on the drop of awesome link if you really want a boost!  Great blog post by someone I don't even know.

Smattering

Technology is a funny thing.  We love it and are so grateful but we really can't live without it.  A week or so ago we had quite a fight with technology.  My cell phone was wiped clean of all contacts by a t-mobile representative trying to do something good to it and messing up.  Just recently I've been able to fix all that.  Then a few days later my darling Shortstop put a strong magnet on our computer.  Did you know that magnets KILL computers? You didn't?  Well they do.  Back story: a couple of months ago we thought our computer had died but it hadn't.  We realized we hadn't backed it up in a while and my brother in law helped us do that and clean up the hard drive a bit.  Thank heavens!!! Because of that, we only lost a month and a half of pictures and what not instead of a year, including Fullback's birth.  I am so beyond grateful.  Mark bought a new hard drive and reinstalled the external hard drive and our computer is almost as good as new.  So with that...I am caught up with the posts below this one and thought I would do a smattering of pictures.

A new to us swing.  Thanks Aunt Alicia!!

And what better way to enjoy it than by sucking on fingers

 Big brother's bed is so comfy!

Shortstop told me he cleaned his room one day.  I walked in and sure enough...things had all been piled in one area to make his room appear clean.  

 Going on a walk in our new stroller.  I love our Phil and Ted!!!

 Brothers or what!?

 Still not convinced they look alike?  Fullback is above and Shortstop is below.  It is so fun for me to compare these two handsome men in my life!!

St. Patrick's Day

Many of you may know that I love this holiday.  All growing up my mom made this day special, another fun holiday to celebrate.  And LONG before pinterest, she was dying our toilet water green and making green breakfasts.  I love carrying on this tradition with my family.  The toilet water was indeed turned green and of course we had fun hand soap all month.

Because it was on Sunday we had our regular St. Pat's t-shirts but only wore them around the house.  Because our ward meets at 3:00 pm, we had plenty of time to enjoy them.

This is what I get when I tell Shortstop to smile

My happy little leprechaun

The night before, we told Shortstop that a nice leprechaun would leave treats in his shoes if he left them out.  He was very excited to see what he got the next day!

Our nice little leprechaun and the treats/shirts he left Shortstop and Fullback

Breakfast was so fun...and I changed it up a bit.  Usually we do green pancakes or waffles but this year I decided to do a rainbow of pancakes and I love how it turned out.

You have to have gold at the end of the rainbow!

The milk was even green. :)

After church we had green spaghetti, green beans, green jello and Sprite with green kool-aid ice cubes.  My mom used to make corned beef and cabbage but I hated that, sorry mom.  And getting home at 6:00 on Sundays we have decided to always have spaghetti...so dye the water green and voila!

Happy St. Patrick's day and hope you all had fun celebrating.

Luke's blessing day

What a great day March 3rd was!  Fullback turned three months old and he received his baby blessing from Mark.  We had so many family members here to support us and be a part of it.  And this little guy is very loved!!

It was a beautiful blessing and one of those moments when I fell in love with my sweet husband all over again.  I love hearing him pray or give blessings or even when he teaches and gives talks.  The Spirit was so strong and I was grateful for the choice I made in my eternal companion.  Fullback was awake the whole blessing but did not make a peep, such a good boy!

 Grandpa and Nana Elkington

 Grandma and Grandpa Morgan

 Hugging his best bud and cousin, Tyson.  My brother and his family moved away two days later and we sure miss them!  So glad they were around for the blessing.

 Cute family and cute Aunt Ashley loving on Fullback!

Aunt Melanie- the first person Fullback met after meeting his mom and dad! 

After the blessing we enjoyed dinner at my house and visiting and chatting until people had to get on the road.  With 3-6pm  church it was sad to see everyone leave so soon but we understood.  Thank you everyone who made the trip and for those who could not be here but wanted to.  We missed you of course.