Turning 29...again....

Wow.
For some reason, I have dreaded turning 30 for quite sometime.  Now that it is only a week away, I am really struggling.  I am not sure why, but I have been!  I made the comment to a friend the other day, "I am turning 30 and I haven't done anythings with me life!"  He looked at my son and said, "Steven, I guess you are nothing."  I stopped dead. in. my. tracks.

My son is absolutely my biggest accomplishment.  He is my life.  My world.  My everything.  I am ever so grateful to be his Mama and I try not to take a second of that for granted. 

But it also got me thinking, "What else have I accomplished in my 30 years on this earth?  So, I decided to sit down and compile a list, because maybe it will help me feel better about things. 
In my 30 years I have:

-Survived Jr. High!  (quite the accomplishment!  I thought I would share a funny memory of Jr. High.  I had a HUGE crush on a guy named Eric Jones (man, I pray he doesn't read this!)  He sat in front of me in one of my classes.  We were in the last row, so every Friday we had to bring in a piece of news that was happening locally, in the state or nationally.  I knew Eric always forgot, so I always brought an extra piece of news for him to read and talk about.  Man, I was whipped bad!  But it got him talking to me!

-Played several differant instruments including the piano, saxophone and tuba.
-I was the drum major my Senior Year in High School. (I was also thinking about this a lot the other day.  I struggled with depression a lot in my years and I was hospitalized for a week my junior year.  I was voted the drum major my senior year.  I feel very surprised that even after knowing what people knew about me, the trusted me enough to vote me in.  How grateful I am for that experience!)

-I graduated college and was accepted to BYU-Idaho for the fall 2000 semester.  I got a (very small) music scholarship.  I was told I had a lot of potential.  I am so grateful for those teachers seeing something in me that I couldn't see in myself.  I LOVED college.  I had enough old friends around me to make me feel comfortable, but I had enough new people around me that I could really find myself, discover myself for who I am.  I was the band president.  I really, REALLY LOVED band.  I lived at the music building, and I really needed that socialization back then.  Band was life! 

-I went to and graduated from massage school. 

-I have been a teacher for nearly 8 years.  I really love teaching others a trade, a passion.  It has been so rewarding watching students grow and develop a life skill. 

-I married Steven Matthew Anderson in the temple, for time and all eternity in September 2004.  He has been a rock.  As much as I have fought him, bothered him, butted heads with him, he has been a trooper.  He loves me despite all of my imperfections and he always tells me how wonderful I am.  Someday, I may even believe him! 



Whipped Cream and a sweet Story

My Bug loves strawberries and whipped cream.  He was really hamming it up on this day too!  I love this little guy and the joy he brings to my life.  Recently, he has wanted the same truck book read to him every nap and bed time.  If I try to trick him by reading another book, he always says, "Book"  and I know exactly what he means.  But in the last week, he has allowed me to read, "Love You Forever" afterwards to him.  It has really been a special bonding time for the two of us.  He seems to know, seems to understand the words so crystal clear.  He hugs me extra hard and extra long.  My sweet son is so close to the spirit.  I am grateful, beyond words, to be his mommy!! 

Memorial Day

A few weeks ago, Nana bought Steven a box of trains at a yard sale.  They are the really nice metal Thomas the Tank Engine trains.  The child is in love!  Prior, it was trucks and tractors all. of. the. time.  Now, his life is trains.  In fact, he came out of his bedroom the other morning and instead of uttering his usual, "Mama" he looked straight at me and said, "Thomas?"  So, Matt and I decided to take Memorial Day and ride the "train" downtown.  We would check out where he works at the University and then walk down to 16th St Mall where you could ride a bus up and down the street.  Steven ended up having a blast! 

At the Aquarium

David and Amber came to visit May 18-20.  We had a great day playing with our cousins Henry and Josie as well.  We spent Saturday at the Aquarium and it was a blast!  Steven has been before, but I think he enjoyed it more this time.  He LOVED the big sharks and the fish. 

We arrived before everyone else so the first 3 pictures are Steven sitting on Matt's lap totally hamming it up in our car. 

 Three little boys.  Henry and Steven are 363 days apart (even though Steven has a good 8 pounds on Henry!)  Emmett is then 7 months younger than Steven.  The three of them crack me up.  Poor Emmett had to ride in the stroller, but the boys were just too big.  They wanted to explore everything they could.  I could never get all three of them looking, but I thought this was sweet of them all gazing into a fish tank together. 

Seriously, look at the size of that fish!  Those little boys has no fear!  They stood there and marveled at that fish for the longest time. 

 He was looking anywhere except at the camera.  There was soo much going on!

What a cute family I have!  I am so lucky to have these boys in my life!

We got the part of the aquarium where you could touch a horseshoe crab and a starfish.  Below are pictures of each of the kids doing so:

At the very end of the visit, you can feed the sting rays.  I think the two boys would have liked to, but there was still some apprehension surrounding it. 

The entire crew (minus Amber and myself who were taking pictures).

Summer Lovin'

I have a "love-hate" relationship with the Summer.  I LOVE that we can go outside for hours.  I HATE that it is so stinkin hot!  I LOVE that we can play in the pool and work on our tans.  I HATE breathing in hot air or feeling like my clothes are sticking to me.  I LOVE seeing the smiles on my little boy's face as he swings or slides or plays.  I HATE watching his face turn all pink and red from the heat and the sunscreen plastered to him because it is so hot. 
Here is a sampling of our summer fun so far. We are trying to have a good attitude about the heat. :)

Steven loves to blow bubbles!  He says "Bubbles" so clearly.  It is so darn cute!  It cracks me up though because he doesn't quite get the concept of blowing them.  He sticks his lips right on the blower and blows, which of course doesn't work.  Man, I love that kid!

Playing basketball with dada.  He has really got the hang of it now.  He has great form and gets so happy when he gets it into the hoop, which really is a good majority of the time!

I bought this golf set a right after he was born.  We pulled it out this year and he is having  a blast with it.  He usually uses the clubs to hit the ground though.

First of many golf lessons with dad. 



A boy and his truck....

Sliding down the slide



She thinks my tractor's sexy....This kid LOVES tractors!!

Opps!!

Part of our fence connecting our yard to our neighbors yard fell down with the crazy wind storms. We have such great neighbors (on one side of us) we decided when we put the new fence up to put a gate between our two houses! Steven and I were walking back one afternoon from playing in their yard and he tripped and fell onto a piece of the old fence still on the ground. He didn't cry very much, but what emerged over the next several hours was his first "shiner." Someone at church said, "If that is how you look, I would hate to see the other guy." It didn't phase Steven much, but really left my heart hurting for him and his eye!