Bye bye patience, Hello cranky pants!

Well, our morning and afternoon weren't great today (Friday). The boys and I seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed. Everything went wrong, from the time we got up, and continued on until Marc came home, at the end of the day. I dislike starting my day this way. It is so frustrating! It does nothing to help keep the Spirit in our home and sure doesn't make any of us happy.

Even though I have tried to keep my voice down and try desperately to be patient, my sons decided that they just were NOT in the mood to listen, and do the simplest thing I would ask them to do. While I somehow manage to not yell at them, I did however raised my voice more time than I would have like to. When days like these come along, I don't feel good about myself and my shortcomings.

I HATE THOSE DAYS! I hate that it makes me lose patience. I hate that it turns me into a mean mom. I hate that I am not at all feeling like I should deserve my babies's  love. I hate that those days come so unexpectedly.
Nevertheless, when I finally catch a break from all the madness, I do appreciate the quietness it brings and often ponder about the lesson I probably needed to learn. I don't always know what that lesson is but I enjoy pondering about it. It is calming and it keeps me from beating myself up about my "failures". As cliche as this might sound, we are not perfect but we can learn from our many imperfections and strive to get better the next time. Today for example, I learn that I just needed to RELAX. Really, that is all I needed to do. Let my kids be kids!

I am glad our evening was more enjoyable! Marc took us out for dinner in Lethbridge, then we went shopping. We had a great time! we laughed a lot, goofed around a bit and just enjoyed each other's company. We hugged and kissed here and there and bought a few treats for the drive home. I am grateful for my husband. He always picks me up and cheers me up when days like these come for a visit. I never need to ask, he just does it.

I am grateful for my children's ability to see past my shortcomings and still love me like only they know how. Another, not so great day on this journey of motherhood/parenthood. I Love the good days and sometimes learn from the bad ones. Being a mom is not always easy. But I STILL love it no matter how crazy it can get.

Thrift store and learning!

When we first came to Taber, the boys and I went on a little town exploring adventure and came across a thrift store called M.C.C. We liked it so much that we started going there weekly.

At first, it was just a fun thing to do with my sons and get out of the farmhouse. But one day, Yann came to me and asked if  M.C.C was like Walmart. Interesting question for such a young boy. So I started explaining to him what the purpose of the store was and where everything they sell came from. Then he told me if he could give some of his toys to the store. And give we did!

Ever since that day, we started going through their toys, and books and made it a monthly activity to give what they feel they don't need anymore to the thrift store. It has been six months now and the boys are still willing to do it. Yesterday was that time of the month where we go in their room and start our two piles of give and keep, and the boys just tell me where what goes. The first time we did it, there were more keep than give but now, we regularly have more give then keep. I do make a point to ask them. It is their toys and I know how they really like some of them. I know what they love and what I love so I find that it works better that way. We all cheer when we are done and I feel it rewarding to do this with my wee ones. Every time we do it, the boys say and I quote them 'we gonna give these to make other kids happy' and I add parents too :). Let's be honest, as parents we like a good deal that make our children smile. My children are beyond happy when we get them something from the M.C.C. It's "new" to them! I also give the clothes they have outgrown to the thrift store.

I like doing this! It is, in my opinion, a good way to teach them about giving. We teach them to share with others on a daily basis. Why not teach them to give willingly, right?

On a side note, I have to say that, we have been pretty lucky with this particular thrift store. We've found some really good and fairly new toys for cheap. And some nice frames, house things, and clothes (for me) as well. I am enjoying thrift shopping. Not everything is nice but if you dig you usually find some treasures.

This month's "give".

Great find! $2 for both.

$4

$1

$1

So close in age!

People often comment on how busy I must be, having two boys that are so close in age. Recently, I was asked about how crazy it really was to have had my boys that close together. I have to say that, that question made me reflect on the subject more sincerely than I ever did before. It seemed like it was a long time ago but really, it wasn't.

Going through a pregnancy, chronic pain, and a baby who was just 6 months old at the time I found out I was expecting my second child, was really stressful even difficult at times. Dealing with hormones, lack of sleep, taking care of a baby and house work was overwhelming. Nevertheless, it was by far the easiest "phase" of it all.

Then baby arrived and a whole lot of crazy came with him.

That "phase" was challenging... BUT, you adapt quickly. You learn a lot more about your capacities (and there are there) to do so much more than you give yourself credit for. You learn or get even better at multitasking. You learn to prioritize which need comes first and which kid, sometimes, needs you more than the other. This one is a tough one but you have to do it, not because you love one child more than the other but just because at that time baby #2 needed you more than baby #1 or vice versa. I cried a few times over this but you get over it, you truly do. However, this phase has its highs. There's nothing like the joy, and happiness of seeing your babies displaying caring gestures and pure love, and excitement for one another. The interaction the two have with each other puts smiles on your faces that are always a hundred percent genuine. You cheer for those happy times and wish, hope, that they will be like that forever and always. As one becomes more mobile, and more independent than the other, you will find that you do after all get some time for yourself. And that is true as they both grow older and are more independent (in my opinion).

I can honestly say that as I reflected about this question earnestly, I really don't think that it was as crazy as I thought it was. And not as crazy as people think it is. Don't get me wrong, there was, and there is craziness in it but it is, in my opinion, the same kind of crazy that all parents go through when they add a second child to the mix. Parenthood is one beautiful ride yet one paved with some crazy speed bumps and that is true for each and every one of us parents out there.  Add a third, fourth, fifth child to your mix then it becomes a whole other kind of crazy (wink). Having a family is CRAZY GOOD no matter what. Close in age, not so close in age, one child, two children, three children or more, it is all WORTH it! Looking back, I am happy that I had Marc when I had him. He completes our family and I can honestly say that, he was born when he was supposed to. Not too early, and not too late. Crazy. What a funny word!

Hungry Bears!

Lately, the boys have been eating like little bears. They are constantly going through the pantry and the fridge, grabbing anything they can put their hands on. From eating cucumbers, tomatoes, yogurts, and drinking apple juices to opening bags of treats and cookies in the pantry.
Only locked doors will stop those two little skinny bears from emptying my cupboards. I honestly don't know where they pack all that food. They are so thin.

I love that they are independent and can do a lot of things without my help. Sometimes, I wake up in the morning and find them playing and eating raisins that they found in the pantry while waiting for me to cook them a decent breakfast. I always leave cups of water in the living room for them at night so that they can see them when they wake up and occasionally will add a little bowl of cheerios just in case they are up before me. I am grateful that they are not too picky.

Even when we think that they surely had enough to eat, they surprise us with their request of being served another round of supper and of course the before bedtime snacks. And here I thought they wouldn't start eating like bears until they reach the teen years. Maybe it is just a phase.

I love my browny bears! As cliche as that sounds, they are growing way too fast.

Life in Taber!

While we were excited to move, I honestly wasn't excited about the old farmhouse we stayed in. We lived there for about 8 months and decided that we have had enough of it and moved to an apartment right in town. Yes, an apartment!

It's a downgrade from our house in Lloyd but a welcome upgrade from the old farmhouse. We like it! It has 2 bedrooms, a den, etc... enough space for our family.We know it is just a "temporary residence" for now until we sell our house. And the price was right. We don't have to worry about utilities and all.

We walk everywhere. The library is a few minutes walk from our place. Same for the parc, water park, pool and grocery store. We like being in Taber or southern Alberta for that matter. We enjoy being close to Lethbridge for shopping and having family close by. The boys enjoy playing with their cousins. We love that we do a lot more activities as a family. We love the different vibe we get here in the south. We are way more spontaneous. We love going to Waterton to bike. We feel even closer as a family. Marc is happier. I find there is so much more to do here than back in Lloyd or maybe we didn't do enough over there. Moving here has made us an even stronger couple. We supported each other through it all without once complaining about the living situation at the farmhouse and put up with any discomfort it brought. We rely on each other's spiritual strength and faith when we have questions about our house up north.

Our family stands stronger in the gospel. Family evening is finally a regular occurrence in our home. The boys get excited when we read scriptures from either the bible or the book of Mormon. We strive each day to teach them about their Savior. They always remind us about prayer. I am humbled and grateful when the primary teacher comes and tells me about how impress she is of Yann's knowledge of some of the biblical stories we've read. Life is GREAT! It truly is.

Are we happy to have moved? Absolutely! We have gained a deeper testimony of the commitment we have made to our Father in Heaven, to each other as husband and wife and to our sons, our eternal family. This alone makes the move here worth it.

Are we doing well? Absolutely! We are in tune with all aspects of our lives, emotionally, spiritually and financially. Having to pay mortgage and rent is a burden for everyone that has to go through it there's no question about it. We moved here knowing that if we were to pay rent on top of a mortgage, we would be fully prepared and for that we are truly grateful.

 Are we making friends? We slowly are. I met a few Polynesian members in Lethbridge which I am really thrilled about. Feels good to see/meet people like me :). 

We love Taber! We are happy here. Two moves in a space of 8 months later, we still believe we made the right decision. We know Heavenly Father wants us here. Life in Taber is good!

Here's a couple pics of our apartment. Cannot wait to bring the boys's bed here and my own kitchen table and chair. The decor has changed since I last took these pics. Not a bad place to live. It is over a hundred years old but the owner of the building did some renovation to it. He is a lawyer and owns the law office under us.

I like the grey walls!

I like the bright yellow! It's a nice change from beige.

Don't mind my plastic chairs, haha.

 Not fond of the bright orange kitchen.

 The boys room! Hope to get their beds here soon.

House for sale!

It's been 9 months! Yes, 9 months. Crazy? Kind of. Although the comments we got from the many realtors that showed our house are positive, and nice and full of compliments about the work we've done to our home, it is still not selling.
Why? According to our realtor, slow market especially on the Alberta side of Lloyd and to quote her 'houses are moving steadier on the Saskatchewan side than it is on the Alberta side', and location. Location is a major factor in our case. We had many families come through our house who loved it but were not fond of the location and the busyness of the street. Can I blame them. Absolutely not. Houses in a better neighborhood of the city will most likely sell faster than ours which is totally comprehensible and newer ones will do too.
We pray daily about it. We fasted and still do for it to sell. We have faith that it will and have faith in the Lord's timing. We are looking forward to the day it does. We missed our home in Lloyd and are always happy to get back there every time we can and hope one day it will make a family happy to call it there's. We have fond memories of our house. Marc and I bought it in 2007. We beautified it to the best of our abilities. The work we've put in has given us a lot of confidence about what we can do together as a couple. We loved working together. I am grateful for our home in Lloyd. I learned how hard working my husband is and how determined he is when he puts his mind into doing something and what a skilled person he is. I miss my home.
I saw this a couple weeks ago and loved it!

Last September!

After working for First Truck Center in Lloydminster for 7 years, my husband decided it was time for him to leave the company. Although it was a great company to work for and money was good, the stress, headaches and anxiety of dealing with some of his coworkers was too much for him to bear with, hence the decision for a change. He sent his resume to different places in Lloyd and in Southern Alberta. In Lloyd, he got a really good offer to work for Peterbilt with a great salary. It required him to work on Sunday so he turned it down. He didn't want money to influence his decision. He wanted to be home on Sunday with us. We deeply felt this change was not about the amount of money Marc will be making but more about the change we needed to happen in our lives as we strive to teach our children about the gospel.

All this took place during the summer months and by the end of August, Marc got an email from John Deere in Taber wondering if he could meet with them early in September. He was quite excited about it and so was I. Although a big part of me wanted to stay in Lloydminster, I wanted my husband to be happy. I knew he needed a change. So we came to Taber.  He had the interview with the manager and two or three weeks later he got the job. During those two or three weeks, they have kept in touch to negotiate the money aspect of it. Although he willingly took a pay cut we were confident that this is what we needed to do. We prayed about it to make sure we weren't gambling with our lives and livelihood. We strongly felt the insurance to go on with our decision and in October 28, we moved Marc down south. November 02nd was his first day at work. The boys and I traveled back and forth between Lloyd and Taber and officially moved in with Marc in January.

The Lord has blessed us through it all and we see his tender mercies everyday in our lives since we moved here. 

Marc's grandpa allowed us to live in his house for free and while I didn't like the house itself, I was grateful to have a roof over our head for the 8 months we stayed in. It allowed us to only have a mortgage to pay without adding rent to it.

After a month of working for John Deere, Marc was promoted as Parts Assistant Manager and was making as much money, if not more, as he did while he was in Lloyd. Talk about blessing, right? We are happy with our decision for a change and what a change it has been.

We moved but still have our house for sale in Lloydminster. 

Break is over!

Well, I didn't expect to take a whole year off of the blogging world. A LOT has happened in a year. I seriously don't know where to start. I will keep this post short so I can gather my thoughts and write several ones to update you guys on all that has taken place in our crazy yet amazing lives. Stay tune!

Taking a break!

Taking a break from my blog. I just don't have time for it anymore. I'll be back when I'll be back I guess. Shortest post ever.

Best article ever!

Here's an article a friend shared on Facebook that made me smile . I felt gratitude for reading it and mostly gratitude for my parents and my AWESOME childhood.

When I became a mom, I felt a bit awkward because people I knew or mothers on Pinterest I follow seemed to do things so wonderfully I didn't know if I could ever be as good as them. Fortunately that feeling didn't stick around long enough for me to cry my head of because I couldn't make those perfect crafts or bake those perfect cakes for my children. I decided early enough that I was going to raise my children the way my mom did. She let us be children!

I do a lot with my babies and take them out as much as I can and YES, I do let them play on their own a lot and they love it. Nothing makes me smile more than seeing my Yann playing with his toys on his own, and do a lot of pretend play with his dinosaurs. Nothing excites me more than seeing him use a box of tissu papers as dinosaurs feet or other house item as tools for a wonderful creative play. I am by no means the best mom ever and I accept it fully. I do not do a lot of craft with my boys, it's honestly not something Yann seems to like. I truly love this article. I don't need to feel guilty because I don't/can't do what other moms do. I do it my way, the old fashion way (Tahitian style). Of course, I do play with them. I do not neglect them. Family time is important to us.

Today, Yann wanted to catch the snowflakes so I dressed him up and let him out in the back yard and he had fun while I was visiting with my mother in law. After he was done playing in the back yard, he went out with his grandma for a walk and came back with a few pine cones that he collected while walking. He was so excited about them, it made me happy. Here's something he probably won't remember but I for sure will. Ever since he started walking, I used to (and still do) just let him off the patio door so he can go explore the back yard. I used to feel guilty about it because I didn't know if other people did this but I am not anymore. My secret is out!

My sons' mother!

Last week was probably the craziest week I had since I became a mother of two. My children serenaded me with screams, cries and a lot of attitude. Out of the 7 days that made this week, I had one and a half days that were amazingly good and the rest well, the rest was far from being amazing. I enjoyed the good days and dreaded the bad ones. They were so bad. It is hard to find patience in such circumstances.

Someone once made the comment to me that because I have waited so long to be a mother I shouldn't complain about all the "bad" that comes with being one. Dumbest comment ever I would say!

I am a mother! I have high and low moments as a mother. I have good and bad days as a mother. My children are sometimes really good, and sometimes really bad even awful at times. They either scream, cry, yell.  Or laugh, giggle, and smile depending on their moods. I feel overwhelmed at times and yet I feel overjoyed at the thought that I am a mother. I spend my time making sure all their needs are taken care of and forget about my own most days. My children are perfect in my eyes yet so imperfect in their ever changing behaviors. I run and hide in my bathroom for a quick break from my kids once in a while. Does that make me LOVE them less? Of course not. Everyday it seems like I fall in love more and more with them than the previous day, despite the screaming and the loud cries. How? I am not sure myself. Among the chaos of a bad day, there is always a little ray of sunshine that highlights a wonderful trait of the kind of people my babies are.

Yes, I hate the bad moments. But, I love the cuddles, the hugs, the kisses, the smiles, the giggles and the laughter. I love being my son's mother.

Madly in LOVE!

Last week, I had a friend coming over and we got talking a lot about marriage and the things we do as a couple. I got to share a lot of the hardships Marc and I went through in all the years we have been married.

Marriage is a wonderful thing in my opinion. I have met so many people who have such a misconception of what marriage truly is. Some think it is just a means to have control over one person, some think it is a headache, some think in an over positive way that it is all rainbows and fluffy clouds but there is so much more to it. I have friends that have chosen to just divorce because they say it was too much work to try to make it work. Well, I am no expert in marriage but WORK is exactly what makes my marriage to my husband last. We are not a perfect couple and I like that about us. We argue, we butt heads sometimes, we compromise, we agree and disagree, we raise our voices (sometimes, not often), we get annoyed, BUT no matter what, we always show each other that we CARE deeply about one another, we always start our day with I LOVE YOU and finish it the same way, we always try our best to put each other's needs before our own, we HUG, and KISS a lot daily, we strive to lighten each other's burden by giving service to one another on a daily basis, and so on. All those things we do is WORK. Some are big, some are small but nonetheless it is what makes a marriage last (still, in my opinion). Imagine if we stop telling each other I love you? Imagine if we stop hugging, and kissing, and caring, and helping each other?

I am grateful for my marriage as imperfect as it is. I never want to stop working on it and giving my 200%. Saturday morning, I was cuddling with my baby and my sweet husband came and sat next to me. With a gentle voice he told me he was madly in love with me. These words are worth more to me than diamonds.
Photos courtesy of my friend Indie!

My eternal family!!!

My eternal companion!

My ONE year old!

Last Wednesday, we celebrated Marc's first birthday. I made some decorations for him just like I did for Yann. We decide to have a construction theme party.

The day started out pretty crazy with screaming children but fortunately, my friend came to visit and spent most of the day with us. After Marc got home from work, he started decorating the cake while I made supper. After the little party, and when everybody went to bed, I got thinking and reminiscing about Marc's birth and the whole year we had with him. It is amazing how time REALLY goes by too fast.
I still remember how tiny he was when they handed him to me. My 6 pounder has come a long way even though he still looks so tiny. I liked that he was a good sleeper and still is except for 2 nights last week (had a fever so we had to keep him cool and he ended up waking up 3 times at night BUT we are back to normal).

He eats a LOT but doesn't seem to fatten up. He is now 19 pounds! Has been walking up a storm in the past few days and tonight I can finally say that he is full out walking. He is my smiliest son but also my whiniest one. I love him despite his whiny self. He is an adorable little boy, with such a contagious smile and is a lot of fun to snuggle with. I love his laugh and giggles. Most people I encounter make comments about his crazy hair. He has beautiful hair I have to say. We talked about cutting them but I really don't want to anymore. He is just so darn handsome! I am so looking forward to see him grow. He will be doing so much growing from now until his next birthday. I love my little boy!

The cake!

The Birthday Boy!

Menu: Roasted veggies, baked salmon and couscous. And the birthday salad, a Bennetts tradition.

Big brother wanted to help blow the candles!

Helping dad cutting the cake!

Opening presents!

The playroom!

We gave our boys a playroom for Christmas. I reused the furniture they had for their toys and turned a space in the basement into a playroom for them to enjoy and go crazy in. We bought crayons, felts, doodle pads to complete their space and the rest was already there. We all love it and the boys can do almost whatever they want there.