blessed

Kyle and I have been going home improvement crazy the last couple of weeks.  There have been things we've wanted to buy for YEARS but didn't want to get them if we were just going to move soon anyways.  WELL now that we're committed to Springville for a few more years we decided to go for it.  All at the same time, because we're impatient I guess.  We bought a bedroom set, FINALLY looking like real adults with real furniture.  We bought a real dining room table, sadly getting rid of our dear old Jokkmokk.  We bought patio furniture, and got an incredible deal on it.  We are starting to decorate like real grown-ups too! Kyle bought me the sunburst mirror I've been looking at longingly for over a year.  We're buying things like real picture frames and decorative knickknacks for our bookshelf and THROW PILLOWS.  It is SO FUN.  I am loving my home right now.  I feel like it's a brand-new house!  I'm way more motivated to keep it clean now that it can look so nice.  We are thrilled.  And it all started with Nieman giving us her old mattress for our guest room, and me deciding to pare down my book collection.

RUBY is going to be TWO soon.  What all parents say is true--it really does go too fast.  I started crying this morning when I read a quote on Pinterest about how fleeting childhood is, and Mitt made me cry in his convention speech when he talked about what he and Ann would give to break up another fight between his boys.  Lucy started kindergarten last week, which was another reminder to me of how fast they grow up.  I just want Ruby to always be this age!  Sure, there are lots of tantrums and fights about what is hers vs. what is Mom's, but she is so adorably sweet and precious too.  Her newest thing is counting to 3 before running down the hall or giving Daddy a piece of bread and stuff like that, and I can't get enough of her "wahr, doo, FEE!"

I am so happy.  It's almost scary how great life is.  Kyle's schedule is hard to adjust to, and I agonize about my weight, and there's a constant stream of dishes and crumbs on the carpet, but those things are NOTHING compared to what I've been blessed with.  My prayers at night are ridiculous--the only things I can think of to pray for are health and safety, and my list of things I'm grateful for goes on and on and on.  I know that I'm in a charmed stage of life, and things are sure to be more challenging in the future.  For now, I am determined to not take this time for granted.