Creativity Art Studio

 I love mommy and son date nights.  It's a great time to laugh, have fun and bond with the little ones in my life.  This week's date night was with my 6 yr old, Liam, at Creativity Art Studio in Orem.

When we got there they gave us a 3x3 tile and showed us all of the fun colors that we could paint them with.  They explained about the "3 coat rule" meaning that one coat meant you could still see brush strokes and it would be a very light color and 3 coats would mean a darker more finished look.  After that Liam grabbed his smock, his pain colors and went to town painting his tile.

His first masterpiece he told me was a pattern but then he found his true inspiration and decided to start over.  We ended up with matching BYU tiles that he is so excited to use.

A big thanks to Katie at Earning Our Stripes for hosting the mother & kids date night.  She shared the studios cute story about how they came to be.  The owner was out of work and knew how much his little girl loved art.  So he decided to open up Creativity Art Studio to share his daughters love of art with everyone.  

They now offer Art Instruction classes, host birthday parties and have an after school Kids Club.  There's a little something for everyone!  As we were leaving Liam said "Mom, we have to come back and bring dad.  He would love it!".  Well, that says it all...they have won over my little guys heart through their love of art also.

Salt of the Earth: Spa Skin Care Products

When we say homemade goods. What are the first words that come to mind?

Love, passion, determination, caring, quality are all words that we think of.  How true is it that when you get a homemade gift from a friend you know, without a doubt, they were thinking of you when they made it.  The same is true for an amazing company based out of Utah. 

We've always been passionate about supporting local companies in everything we do.  We've found a new local company that we will be supporting for sure.  Salt of the Earth is our new favorite go to for all our spa skin care products.  The "larger 12oz stackable retail jars are 100% made in Utah, that's right the salt minerals from the Great Salt Lake, the plastics are actually manufactured in Logan and the rest is made right here in our facility...truly local".  When we say spa needs we're talking "mommy time", "alone time", "pampering" even if it's just for a moment next to the kitchen sink.

Now is your chance to head on over to Salt of the Earth and get some amazing spa products.  Paul is amazing and is doing something special for our readers.  Use the promo code: saltyparty14 and you'll get 40% off retail!  Guys they have NEVER done this before so hurry over and claim your discount. Those local to utah you can email them and do a pick up (no shipping cost if you do that)

We had so much fun at the #saltyparty hosted by Salt of the Earth. Paul Heslop is a creative genius and so much fun. We made salt products, ate, danced, and had a piñata mosh pit. We were pampered with custom hand massages. I chose the Stress Free fragrance, which was awesome. We also got to make and take home a custom product. I made a Juicy Pink Grapefruit cream. It was really hard to choose a favorite because all of their products are amazing! Big thanks also to Whole Foods for the yummy food and IKEA for the awesome swag.

I was very impressed with Salt of the Earth. They are doing great things and using great local ingredients. I love my mango salt scrub. It is beyond yummy! I also had a great time getting a hand massage from a very beautiful NIMA student. It was a great night with some great people.

  

The event was simply amazing.  It was full of bloggers, amazing scents, and amazing energy.  Paul at a spry 29 years old has done so much with a business that literally started out of his neighbors garage.  It was so great to be able to connect with old friends, meet new ones, and enjoy an amazing hand massage.  I had such a hard time picking a favorite scent.  I bounced back and forth between Cabana Boy and Cabernet and Neroli.  I mean who doesn't need a little Cabana Boy in their life every day. (Ok I'm thinking about that wording and maybe it should be worded different)

Huge thanks to Ashlee Marie for being so open and honest while we got our hand treatments done.  Our kids have many similarities and it was so refreshing to be able to talk to another mother about some of the quirks our little super kiddos deal with.  Also, please note if I could look as stunning as she does with awesome colored hair, I would TOTALLY have purple hair!  She is rocking that teal hair.

The food was provided by Whole Foods and I was pleasantly surprised.  I had the most amazing mac and cheese with pork.  It was a great combination.  And don't get me started on the desserts.  They not only looked stunning but they tasted divine.  

One of the highlights of the night was the piñata.  Lesson learned. Don't put thousands of dollars of prizes in a piñata for bloggers to snatch.  It was like a blogger black friday on steroids.  Great to watch from the outside but not something I wanted to get in on.  Congrats though to those that won!

Way to go Whitney from A mommy's life with a touch of yellow for getting some good hits in before the piñata fought back.  Cross fit must be paying off.  She got some stellar hits in.  I got a video of the amazing swing from Lindsay aka Frenchie knocking the piñata down and the craziness that then resulted but it was black and you could hardly see anything.  

Thank you Paul for a great night!  Keep your eyes peeled to the blog this month.  We have some huge and exciting things happening.  You're not going to want to miss it!

Who doesn't love a good party where there is pampering, delicious food, and wonderful company? That is exactly what Salt of the Earth provided for spa product night. The night started off with a relaxing hand/arm salt scrub and massage. The scent I chose was White Ginger, it was recommended by the aesthetic girls from the NIMA. Paul Heslop, owner & chief care officer, announced to us that their products are now going international and can also be found in many 5 star hotels. Whole Foods provided yummy Gouda macaroni and cheese followed by creme brûlée and fresh fruit. The swag at the end of the night was warm comfy robes and container for body products from IKEA. As a parting gift Salt of the Earth filled our IKEA containers with our choice of salt scrub, sugar scrub, or body butter. I chose salt scrub with Cabernet & Neroli scent, is smells like heaven in a cup! Such a great end to a fun night. Couldn't have asked for more.

Wow! Salt of the Earth sure does know how to throw one heck of a ladies night. It was full of hand massages with their signature oils/salts/lotions, great food, networking with other bloggers, and fabulous freebies! Paul Heslop is a great entrepreneur and has thought of several different ways these products can benefit so many people. He is creative, social, and innovative. I was very impressed with the whole night.

And to finish off this post here are some of our amazing dance moves! Enjoy!

Feeling Naked

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About 8 years ago I felt like I needed to start openly talking about my experiences as a birthmom (I placed a son for adoption almost 20 years ago).  I started by volunteering at a local adoption agency and participating in their support groups for other pregnant young women considering adoption and other birthmoms (this is right when I met Katelyn).  Shortly after volunteering I began speaking and sharing my experience to audiences all over Utah and Wyoming and at adoption conferences.  

At the beginning whenever I would share my life experiences (because they included so much more than just adoption) I would need to recover for about 3 days.  Numerous emotions would surface and I would doubt the reasons I shared them.  It wasn't fun to talk about my struggles and pains.  

So one night after returning home from a speaking engagement, I started to cry... and cry... and cry.  I looked up and cried to God.  

"Why do I have to share these hard things?  They hurt and I don't want to anymore".  

I felt like I was waving my dirty laundry for the whole world to see.  I felt exposed.  I felt naked on the inside.... and it was very uncomfortable.

The answer I received next was surprisingly to say the least.  In my mind, I heard the words "This experience is no longer yours".  

My mind opened in wonderment.  If the experiences were no longer mine and almost didn't belong to me anymore, then WHO are they for?  

This is the moment I understood that once I have experienced challenges and pains of many kinds then it is almost my responsibility to share them (when prompted to do so) with others who might need it now.  

I strongly believe we are all connected and we can help a lot of people by sharing the lessons we learn or simply to help comfort when only we can (because we've gone through something similar).  

A while ago I studied the word Courage and the Latin root it comes from. . 

The first part comes from Cor or Cordis which means:

Cor/Cordis 

noun

• Definitions:
• 1. heart
• 2. intellect/judgment
• 3. mind/soul/spirit
• 4. souls/persons (pl.)

• Source
• 
  

The last part of the word comes from the latin suffix "age" which means "the act, the result of, or state of".  

Quite literally COURAGE means the act of sharing your heart, intellect, judgment, mind, soul, spirit and soul.  

When you are sharing your personal experiences you are showing great courage and strength.  You may have an occasional negative reaction from someone... but I say ignore them.  Because MORE often than not you will get waves of people thanking you for your vulnerability and authenticity.  This is the place we serve from.  

Sharing your life, your experiences, and challenges also bring a feeling of freedom.  It liberates you from the opinions of others.

It reminds me of a quote I heard once "What other people think of me is none of my business".  So true.

We all have pain.
We have all made mistakes.
We all struggle at times.
We all hurt.
And it all is a little more bearable with people to share in that journey.  Please be open to sharing more, mourn with those that mourn, and comfort those who need comfort.

One of the things I love most about the purpose of this website is to provide a place where we can all openly share our challenges and difficulties and then be a support to others who are struggling with something similar. We are ALL ONE in purpose and are lionesses at the gate of our homes. 

Shaw-some sauce

To understand my family you must first understand the lessons that each of our children have taught us.  Lessons that have not been easy by any means.  Lessons that in the midst of them pushed us to the breaking point.

Lesson 1 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Ally Age 6

This is Ally, she made me a birth mother.  She is one of the biggest miracles of my life.  At the tender age of 7 she has changed me far more than any other person in my life.  She has made me realize that my children are the world to me.  Ally was born on May 10, 2007 and placed into her earthly mothers arms on May 14, 2007.  I am so blessed to have an open adoption and have been able to watch her grow into the most amazing little lady in the world.  Her laugh is contagious, her smile vibrant, and her love for everything is just simply mind blowing.

Lesson 2 PATIENCE

Cayden age 2 Photo Credit: Lindsay Jane Studios

Cayden is our oldest (he's 7).  I was blessed to become his mother through the miracle of Adoption.  Wait, you mind is wondering "how does that work?"  Two kids, both 7, both from adoption?  I met my husband, who was a single father, when Cayden was 2.  In August of 2009 we were married and in August of 2010 I legally adopted Cayden.  I knew the moment I spent time with Cayden I was meant to be his mother.  However his birth mother was still currently in his life.  Over a period of 6 months his life was changed dramatically in ways that I wish would have been different.  Choices were made by individuals in Cayden's life that left in him harmful situations.  My mother instincts kicked in and we served his birth mother with termination papers.  The day she signed her rights away should have been a joyous day for me.  It wasn't.  Simply put, it was painful, heart breaking, traumatic, and life changing.  Over the next 2 years Cayden's relationship would evolve with his birth mother, eventually resulting in a mostly closed adoption.  I want to fix things now for him.  I want him to have a perfect relationship with his birth mother.  I want her desire to have a relationship with Cayden to be there just as much as mine is with Ally.  I want things done NOW . . . only problem is . . . NOW isn't the right time.  I've learned that I wasn't blessed with the virtue of patience.  The Lord brought Cayden into my life the way he did, to teach me.  To help me become the mother that Cayden needs me to be.

LESSON 3 FORGIVENESS

Last visit with Bryer, Nov 2009

Bryer was part of our life for a brief 3 months.  She was born in August of 2009, it's amazing to think she just turned 5.  Bryer made me a step-mother.  She currently lives with her mother.  Just as with any child involved in a divorce, things can get messy.  Bryer's life, even before she was born, was messy.  Her mother and father didn't see eye to eye on a few things and because of Utah laws her mother had most of the say.  Choices were made with reagrds to Bryer's relationship with her father, brothers, and step-mother that I may not agree with.  One of the hardest lessons that we have had to learn in our journey of parenting is forgiveness.  We have had to forgive Bryer's mothers for not allowing her to be part of our family.  We have had to forgive Bryer's mother for not allowing us to give her the love that we so readily feel for her.  We have had to forgive each other for any hurt or pain we hold the other person responsible for when it comes to the whole that is in our family because Bryer isn't there.  

Lesson 4 FAITH

Jaxson age 2 Photo Credit: Liybie Cerar

After the loss of 3 pregnancies I was starting to feel like adding to our families was never going to happen.  Lucky for us this little nugget came along and has blessed us in so many ways.  However the blessings haven't been without trial that is for sure.  The first year of Jaxson's life I don't really remember.  The day he came home from the hospital Cayden went to the hospital for Norwalk virus.  It seems like that set a pattern for the next 2 years of his life.  Illness ran our lives for the first little bit.  I was very sick for the first 6 months of Jaxson's life.  At the point that I started healing he started going down hill.  He stopped gaining weight, started coughing constantly, and wasn't sleeping through the night.  He was diagnosed with Reactive Airway Disease as well as Chronic Pneumonia.  After 4 months of  constant antibiotics, steroids, and doctors failing to help my child I turned to a friend for help.  Jaxson is the sole reason I became a Foot Zonologist.  It is because of foot zoning that we were able to figure out some dietary changes to make to help him.  However his life would again be touched by physical trials with a severe reaction to vaccines at 18 months.  The reaction resulted in Verbal Apraxia, more allergies, and severe digestive issues.  Jaxson has done so many hard things in his short life.  In the last few months his life changed dramatically, this time for the better.  Jaxson was accepted into the Northern Utah Autism Program.  He attends a special preschool each week for 25 hours.  He is becoming a different child.  He is saying, doing, and participating in ways I've never seen before.  He truly has taught me that "Faith in the Lord includes Faith in his timing." 

My Life's Work

Who knew a date to the symphony during my junior year of high school would lead to such a beautiful life.  After 20 years of marriage, 4 children, and a whole lot of ups and downs, Ryan and I might just be starting to figure things out. 

When I started having children, I was very fortunate to be able to stay home with them.  While that hasn't always been easy for me (I have a working girl's brain) it was something I always envisioned myself doing when children came into our lives.  As a mom, I have been far from perfect.  I'm the first to admit that.  I'm not a master chef or baker.  I don't have all my scrapbooks up to date.  In fact, my youngest doesn't even have a baby book.  And, I've always regretted I didn't read to my kids more (It hurt my voice / throat after a few pages).  

But, there were a few areas that were priorities to me.  Over the years I've tried to make a consistent effort to be present for my children and yet, give them space and independence to grow.  I've tried to teach important values and spiritual truths through casual conversation, interactions, and by example.  I've tried to be a model for service, philanthropy, and learning how to manage responsibility.  And because we focus on balance, we've also tried to have a good measure of downtime and fun.   

Now, let me introduce you to my life's work.

Alexis (16), aka Lexie, is our oldest daughter.  She is a beautiful soul inside and out.  She is grounded, spiritual, a talented dancer, a photographer, a fashion guru, and has an artistic eye for anything creative or beautiful.  However she can't throw tumbling tricks to save her life.  Believe me, I've paid for 4 years of tumbling and she still can't throw a back hand spring.  But, when you're good at everything else and breathtakingly beautiful, you have to have at least one flaw.  Oh, and did I mention she is self confident and funny. She too thinks her tumbling skills are humorous.

Jackson is now 14.  When I look back at all he and I have been through, I think we've lived through enough for two life times.  Jackson has a rare chromosome duplication (7q11.23 duplication), currently less than one of 500 in the world.  The duplication mirrors autism.  Since his birth, we've been involved with specialists, medications, therapies, and have traveled near and far for treatment.  Jackson has intense struggles in building relationships, regulating emotions, and verbalizing feelings.  He also is trying to manage ADHD, anxiety, and Oppositional Defiance Disorder.  While Jackson's world is full of challenges he also excels at organizing his room, keeping track of dates and family memories, he connects to music and the latest hit on the radio, he enjoys the beach and building in the sand, camping, exploring in the woods surrounding our home, and those silly ghost hunting type shows.  Jackson is a key member of our family because we all have a chance to serve him and help him achieve successes in this life.  And in return, we have an appreciation for the simple pleasures of life that a family can enjoy.  Our hearts melt every time we have positive interactions and happy moments with Jackson. 





Collin is 11 and enjoying 5th grade.  He is the unassuming, handsome type.  While he may present himself to the world as shy and more reserved, he has a wicked ability to tease and take in everything around him.  Collin loves basketball and just started playing with a competition team.  He also enjoys hip hop, playing with his Kendama (Japanese toy that has a string, wood post, and ball), the game - Magic, and Dr. Who.  Because of birth order, Collin has endured much in his short life.  Even though he is younger, he's been an advocate and care taker for Jackson and has had to learn to acquiesce more than he should in order for Jackson to maintain a sense of calm.  We love Collin and his giving spirit.  He is a pillar of strength and a source of much joy.

Isabella, aka Izzy, just turned 8 and was baptized into our church this year.  Izzy has a tender heart and is a very spiritual young soul.  She is thoughtful, giving, artistic, a great piano player, spunky, funny, and adores her cat, Mrs. Fox.  She started dancing with a competition dance team this year and loves every minute; especially Hip Hop.  Izzy is in a French Immersion program in school.  She can always get us laughing with made up words in a french accent.  We are so happy this ray of sunshine is in our family.  Her bright light often lifts our spirits and adds warmth to our sometimes stressed out household.

So, that's us.  We're pretty down to earth and for the most part, a typical family.  The extra DNA that is a part of our family keeps things real.  While our challenges can be overwhelming at times, we know they are helping to make us stronger, more compassionate, and more unified.  We're all in this together and know that we all want to be together as a family forever.

May there be no empty chairs in heaven!!!

My Little Family

I love my little family!  They are my everything.  I'll introduce you to them and I know that you'll love them too. 

I've been married to my husband, Mr. McHot Nerd, for over 10 years now.  He proposed to me in my favorite Chinese restaurant  The food was amazing but it was so loud that when he popped the question I couldn't hear him.  I leaned over to him and said "what did you say?".  Luckily he wrote me a 3 page love letter to make up for the non-romantic setting.  At the bottom of the letter it said

PS- will you marry me?

Circle one: yes or yes

We sure know how to push each others buttons but I still love my Mr. McHot Nerd and the sweet, funny, gentle man that he is.  (His pet name for me is Nerdette, we are so corny!)

We have 4 boys, still hoping to one day add a little princess but until then I'm loving all of the sports games, Legos, wrestling, Star Wars and monster trucks in our home.

Photo Credit: Sharon Crown Photography

Bobby is our oldest.  He would have turned 9 in August.  He was born with a rare heart defect and only lived for 11 days.  He lived his entire life at Primary Children's Medical Center and was never able to come home.  We saw many miracles in those 11 days, one of my favorite miracles was being able to hold him for 2 minute while he was alive.  Due to his condition, we could only hold his hands or touch his feet at PCMC.  But luckily before life flight came to take him into surgery, I was able to hold him in my arms and kiss him with out any wires or tubes being attached to him.  I will always have a special place in heart for Bobby because he made me a mother.

Ted is our second little boy and he would be turning 8 next month.  (Bobby and Ted were 15 months apart.) He was also born with a rare heart defect but he also had bowel problems that required a colostomy bag.  Even with all of his health issues he was such a happy little guy.  You could always find him smiling, laughing and just being so content with life.  He loved cell phones, remote controls and his daddy.  We had 9 1/2 beautiful months with Ted; he was then called home to heaven to be reunited with his older brother.  I find so much peace knowing that my 2 angels are together and watching over our family.

Photo Credit: Sharon Crown Photogarphy

Liam came to us through the wonderful miracle of adoption.  He was placed in our arms at 4 days old.  He is now 6 yrs old.  You can often find him telling knock-knock jokes, playing football or baseball, watching BYU sports or snuggling with family members.  He loves music and has been playing the violin for over a year now.  He's my big helper and is always asking if he can help me chop veggies for dinner.  Liam brought so much peace and comfort to a heart broken mommy.  His birthmom is an angel and we are so grateful to her for her love and sacrifice.

Stanley is our baby and so full of life!  He also came to us through the blessing of adoption.  He is 3 yrs old and is always coming up with the best phrases.  One of the best was when he told my mom that she should be the "wicked witch of the west" for Halloween.  He followed up with "But make sure yous have a gween face alwight".  Stanley is all boy and loves every sport that has a ball.  His favorite thing to do is catch butterflies or any kind of bug.  We have an open adoption with his birthmom (she is awesome!) and love that he will always have a relationship with her. 

We like to say that we have 2 angels and 2 miracles.  Our children have brought so much love and happiness with a lot of stress and craziness.  Wouldn't trade any of it!



Family

In our house we have one rule: 

Family First.  

That sometimes means we do things we don't really enjoy.  It means that sometimes we go out of our way to make sure the other people in our family are happy and have all the love they feel they need.  We didn't always have this rule, it's just been in the last 5 months or so.  We got to a point in our lives that everything else was coming before family.  We weren't even eating dinner as a family.  We were being pulled in so many different directions that our family was falling apart.  Over the last 5 months we have dealt with some pretty life changing circumstances in our marriage and with the health and well being of one of our children.  Sometimes those moments force us to realize what we were doing, wasn't working.

Because the commonality that each author of the blog shares is that we are mothers I thought it was fitting to introduce not only ourselves to you but also our children.  Between the 13 contributors on this blog we have 37 children and 11 grandchildren.  It's amazing isn't it.  With that many children odds are that we have dealt with or experienced a great number of "learning opportunities".  That's what we are going to call those moments where you sit in bed at night and think, "Really, this is really happening."  I've had my fair share and I know I'm not alone.

As I prepared to write about what family means to me one thing kept coming to mind and it's the quote from Michael J Fox.  It's something that has stuck in my mind for the last few weeks and I just had it printed to put in my bedroom and in our kitchen.  I would encourage each of you to do the same.

Download this print from Sweet Rose Studio

I was raised as the only daughter who had 3 older brothers.  Life with 3 brothers was rough at times.  I got to be the test dummy, the butt of all jokes, and I got teased all the time.  However I always knew that I was loved.  I always knew that my brothers would defend me to anyone.  I was proved that time and time again.  

Photo Credit: Lindsay Jane Studios

As I've gotten older I have days where I hate being the only sister.  I have 3 amazing sister-in-laws but some days it's just not the same as sisters you grew up with.  I wouldn't change my family for anything in the world.  We are each very different and unique and my mother was given a run for her money that's for sure.  I've heard from her, many times, "I did that wrong, so please learn from me."  I know that our families have the ability to mold, shape, and  create us into the people that we are.  I'm excited for each of us to share our families with each of you.