Things that make it all worth it

Some days with young kids are just hard. They argue all day, won't take naps, make messes and have accidents at the worst times, fall down and hurt themselves after you warned them to stop doing something. And it goes on and on. But then there are the millions of things that happen every day that make it all worth it. To me these always come at the most discouraging times and I know they are true tender mercies from the Lord. Here are a few of the tender mercies I've seen recently....

Having Daddy home on a Sunday afternoon (a very rare occurrence these days!) Then seeing Eliza give him tons of loves and cuddles.

 Finding sweet Eliza asleep like this. It looks like she fell asleep saying prayers.

Spending time with the most beautiful princesses in the land! Those necklaces and rings are as bad as Legos on bare feet but I will sure miss this when they're older. 

Finding Hazel not napping but instead doing this... 

She even put the toe pads in before she put the shoes on. I just couldn't even be upset with her:) 

Finding the "72 Hour Kit" that Hazel made all by herself...

Realizing as I was blow drying Eliza's lovey so it would be dry for bedtime (she had an accident about 6 and won't sleep without Ellie) that I'm so thankful to be spending my days like this.

During the General Relief Society Broadcast I was touched by many of the talks and messages that were shared. It was truly an amazing night of inspiration. But the thing that touched me the most that night was singing the song "I'll go Where you Want Me to Go" The lyrics go: "It may not be on the mountain height, or over the stormy sea. It may not be at the battle front, my Lord will have need of me." As I sang I felt an overwhelming feeling of assurance that the Lord needs me most at home with my kids. The days may be long and I may spend my time blow drying loveys so little girls can go to sleep that night, but I'm so thankful for it!

Dryer Elves

You know those annoying little elves that steal socks from your dryer? Well mine have escaped and are pillaging the house! And they're only hitting big targets.

Right now the camera is missing (with an 8GB memory card in it that has pictures from the past 2 years in it!). So is Hazel's best friend Rafi. And our can opener. All of them have been lost for several weeks and it's making me crazy wondering where in the world they went. 

The last time we saw the camera was when we went on a picnic up the canyon. It was in my pocket right before we left and I swear I looked through the photos as we sat in the car on the way home, but no luck. I was REALLY bummed about losing it. Not for the camera but for all those pictures! Thankfully all the best pictures are on the blog and I'm so glad I've kept it up to date. I'm still hoping it turns up!

Then there's Rafi. Poor Hazel misses her so much. She tells me Rafi is on vacation and has been calling and texting her. But now Rafi got lost on her way home and is still trying to figure out how to make it back here. It makes me sad Hazel doesn't have her best friend. And for whatever reason, it makes be sad to think of Hazel going to school without Rafi. Hazel has talked about how when she goes to Kindergarten Rafi will come along and stay in her backpack all day. If Rafi is there she won't be afraid and she'll have someone to comfort her if she needs it when I won't be there. (Pregnancy's making me a tad overly emotional I'd say).

The can opener? Well, that I'm just annoyed by. Seriously, how do you lose your can opener?

So dear dryer elves, please bring back some of our things. Until then I'll be asking everyone for  every picture they have of my children for Christmas.