Cheap Sunglasses

What kid doesn't love a pair of cheap sunglasses? These pictures were from summer of last year and amazingly we've only lost the camouflage safety glasses (which really isn't a tragedy because Brannon used to sport them too even though I told him he looked like an insect when he wore them) 

Haiv still sports the glasses in these pictures, so yay us for not having to purchase another pair this summer to get lost or broken!

4th of July 2013/Baby Blessing

These pics are from the 4th of July last year. Our favorite part about the 4th is definitely the fireworks (and the food). Fireworks are super expensive, so we just get enough to put on a show that any 5-year-old would enjoy. Aerials aren't needed to impress this bunch. Throw in a few fountains, some sparklers, and a smoke bomb or two and we're good to go!

 Little Miss Thing was so scared of the fireworks that we just had to put her to bed and then finish our show. I'm hoping she's outgrown it a bit this time around, but I doubt it! She is THE biggest scaredy-pants I've ever known.

Aww, the classic sparkler pic. I actually hate that particular type of sparkler Taj is holding. All of a sudden it began crackling and spraying sparks EVERYWHERE. Pretty sure they were meant to be held while wearing a fire-protective suit. We ditched the rest of the box in the trash. I didn't even get sparklers for this year's show--seems like someone is always getting their hand burned on those stupid things anyway.


I can't remember exactly what month is was that my brother blessed his first baby, but I found these pictures from the big day. I do recall my brother starting the blessing off wrong and all us VERY irreverently trying not to laugh.  How rude, right?! That's my family for you. You can be sure that you will never take yourself too seriously with this bunch.

 We are just missing my sister Marci and her hubs Brian. They have since added a fourth grandchild to the mix, Little Miss Cora Mae.

 My parents with the grandbabies.

 Obviously my kids adore my dad. He's been a celebrity in our house since Taj was born and I don't think he minds that in the least. It's nice to feel adored, right?

Forgotten Moments

It's amazing how much a person can forget over the course of a year, say for example, how small their kids use to be and the everyday moments that made up our lives. These are just some photos that I found that didn't ever make it on the blog. I taught Jr. High at South Ogden Jr. High a second year last year and with that came a few new responsibilities at work and even less time at home to do the things that I used to do. I found that working even part-time was extremely draining when coupled with taking care of kids and our home. I focused all my energy on my kids and my job and that left room for little else, which would explain my absence on the blog for so long. I don't know how single moms do it, but if you know a single mom, help her out, give her a break because raising kids and working is the hardest thing I've ever done and I'm not alone!

Working was a good out for me and it helped me to advance my teaching license so that if or when I go back to teaching, that I can be competitive and not stuck in the same pool as entry-level teachers--not that entry level teachers are bad, but I'm too old be considered entry-level and I graduated from school WAY too long ago to be hot-of-the-press like all those new education grads. I didn't think I would stand a chance of getting a job, so upgrading my license was a good thing in the event that something ever happened to Brannon or his job. It will give me the advantage I need to get a job if I ever need to. So to all you moms out there with professional licenses, DON'T LET THEM LAPSE! You never know when you might need it and I know as a teacher that if I were to let my license expire, it would take a lot of time and money and more school to get it renewed and it's just not worth it, especially if you need a job NOW.  

I remember when I first dropped Haiven off at daycare my first year back at teaching. She was 10 months old and she cried, A LOT. It was awful. Those first three months back working were hell every time I had to leave these two at daycare and I wondered if what I was doing was worth it. I wondered if it was worth it when Taj would ask me why I was leaving him there. It hurts too much to think about the 20 months that I lost with them because I chose to go to work. They grew up fast in those two years and as I look at these pictures, I realize that there is no way I will ever get that time back. These pictures were from last summer, my time off with them. We tried to pack a lot in that summer before I had to go back to work. The only thing that keeps me from being too hard on myself is the fact that I have chosen to stay home for awhile now. I achieved my goal of upgrading my license and gaining valuable teaching experience that will help me if going back to work ever become necessary for me. I used to think that being "just a mom" wasn't enough for me to feel accomplished, but not I realize that being a mom is the only occupation that will ultimately be the most fulfilling "job" that I ever do in this life. No job out there can compare with what being a mom has done for me. I've grown and progressed in ways I didn't think possible and been strengthened in areas that I didn't even know were weak. These two have made me a better person and I now realize the great responsibility I have to lead and guide them through this life safely. That's a HUGE responsibility, but I'd rather be putting all my efforts into my family instead of a career. I can't fathom facing my Father in Heaven and having to tell him that I cared more about my career instead of my family. I think that I will have gotten the whole point of life all wrong and have done a major disservice to my kids and family. The whole reason we are here is to help each other make it back, not to further our own selfish desires. If at the end of my life I can say with full confidence that I did everything I could to raise my kids right and to help them gain a testimony of their Savior, then I'll feel that I've done my job, the most important one: being a mom.

I used to be obsessed with finding out what career I'm meant to do in this life. I made it my life's quest for the last seven years to figure that out and I never seemed to get an answer. I prayed hard, I searched, I pondered and prayed, and still no definite answer--at least that's what I thought until I realized a small voice had been telling me the whole time that now was the time for being a mom--that now was not the right season to pursue dreams of no eternal consequence. Until I read an article on FB titled "Am I Enough," I didn't realize how little I valued my job as a mom. I didn't realize that my kids are enough to make me feel accomplished, that I didn't need a worldly title or recognition to feel accomplished. Why couldn't my kids be enough? I felt immediate remorse and shame over all the time and energy I spent pursuing things that I felt were more worthy goals than taking care of my own children. I'm just thankful that I finally got it and that I figured it out before my littles grow up and leave me.  So I guess you can say that I have a fresh take on motherhood and I'm am thankful for the privilege and honor of the title mother. I can say with full honesty and not an inkling of a doubt that being a mom is all I want to do for the rest of my life. I know there will come a time when I will have more time to pursue other interests, but for now, all my best is going to these guys.

 

 

All of these pictures are from Summer 2013

Sabbatical

So I guess you can say that I've been on sabbatical for the last year. A lot can happen in a year and I realize that I am quickly coming up on a year since I last posted. Holy crap! I didn't realize HOW long I've been away from the blog. Obviously, there is some catching up to do and I have already chewed my fingernails off and eaten a dozen Oreos today contemplating how many posts it is going to take to get caught up. My goal is to get caught up before this baby comes in the next two weeks. Didn't know I was expecting? Oh well, add that post to the list! I've also decided to stay home from teaching for awhile, so I'm hoping to get back to my regular blogging ways of posting at least once week. So I guess you could say the Morse Family blog is up and running again. New updates and posts coming soon!

June in Pictures

 So Taj graduated his second year of preschool the end of may. I had WAY cute pics of the program and him with his teachers and all that was eaten up by my senile computer, so I made him at least stand in our living room for one picture. Obviously he was a lot more enthused about graduating the day of!

 Taj and Haivi loved helping me with Brannon's anniversary surprise. I knew those expensive balloons would double as entertainment, so I got my money's worth.

 June 2nd was our 8 year anniversary. Holy crap, that time went by fast! I got this lovely idea off of Pinterest. I love that place. When I don't have it in me to be creative, Pinterest does the work for me. The idea was to buy one balloon for each year you've been married. On the end of each balloon, you tie a memory you have of the two of you together. Then you release them in your bedroom and vwala! It looks amazing and it looks like you spent lots of time on it, but really you didn't AND it's an awesome way to surprise your significant other. Bran was pretty impressed. I could tell, so I just stood in the corner and patted myself on the back while he read each of the memories. A cheaper alternative is to buy regular balloons. You could buy colors that signify certain emotions or events for each year. I will probably do that the next time around because I really don't want to spend $50 bucks on balloons and I'm sure Brannon would be happy if I didn't either.

 The second part of his gift was this: a 52 Things I love About You book made from a deck of cards. Again, Pinterest is genius! It really didn't take me long to come up with 52 things, in fact, there are about 100 things in this book. I just typed the little messages in columns on Microsoft Word and then printed them out and cut them up. ModPodge is fantastic for not only gluing the messages on the cards, but for helping to preserve them as well. You can tell by the picture that I did a coat over the top. I hole punched the cards and then bound them together with some rings I bought from the office section at Target. It took me about an hour or so to do it, so it was pretty snappy and it's something that is super sentimental. He took it to work with him and I imagine that when he gets bored, he sits there in his office chair perusing it's contents. Again, I could not help but pat myself on the back with both hands this time. Thank you Pinterest for making me look good!

 Haive loves her Minnie and her kitty. Her cat is not pictured here, obviously, but she carts those two "babies" of her around everywhere we go. I have to wash them at least once a week, sometimes more often. Her favorite thing to do is nuzzle the cat's mouth. You can tell too because after one week, it is gray, with bits of food stuck in its fur. She is very generous too and loves to unexpectedly shove the said kitty's dirty muzzle in your face so you can give it kisses to. Word to the wise? Make sure you have your mouth closed or you'll pick up a funky virus that may or may not leave you hugging the porcelain for days.

 Taj's dentist is awesome! I was so worried about taking him to get his teeth cleaned, but they were amazing. Here he is showing off the balloon sword his hygienist made for him to calm him down. They did the cleaning and the exam with him sitting in my lap and his head in their laps. I was super impressed with this office and would recommend to anyone. After it was all over, he got a token to get a prize out of the prize machine. How creative is that?!

 He's doing his best to show off his "cwean teef."

 For Father's Day Pinterest rocked the house again. I'm starting to think that a certain Mr. Morse is pretty darn spoiled. He got a "snack-attack" kit for work, a treasure box that was hand-painted by Taj and Haiven with small toys in it to represent each of them. He also got a hand print and a picture from each of them. I splurged this time around and bought him one of those big-faced watches that I've seen him admiring on the wrists of other guys for the past year now. If I had the money, I would be surprising people with presents all the time. I love giving much much more than I do receiving, the whole surprise factor is my favorite part.

 This picture will tell you how our summer is going. No, he is not bored, he is just exhausted from running helter-skelter all over the place. I signed him up for field trips once a week with his friends at daycare and then we go somewhere fun at least once a week. So far we've been the the Air Force Museum, Classic Fun Center, Boondocks, and all kinds of parks. We will eventually make it to the Train Museum in Ogden, The Treehouse (also in Ogden), the Dinosaur Park, and a splash pad or two. For his field trips he has already been to the Clark Planetarium, an aquatic center, Nickelcade, Classic Fun Center, and this coming week he'll be heading to This is the Place park to milk a cow, ride a train, you know, the whole "farm" experience kind of thing. I'm so glad we decided to sign him up. He is having such a great summer!

 This picture I am not happy about. You see the redness and the swollen bump on his neck and the red mark on his chin? This is from some kid he said "squeezed" his neck at daycare. I of course was way fired up about it and demanded that he be sent back to his old class with the younger kids. Apparently two boys were singling him out and picking on him every day he was in their class. Taj is still learning how to communicate with others and how to read other people's emotions and that is why I don't like him with older kids. This is why I am nervous about school for him. I don't want him getting singled out because he's "different." I know it's going to happen, so I guess we need to start teaching him how we handle those situations, so that he is not a victim all the time.

 I love that face!

 Taj is VERY good at riding his fourwheeler, almost too good. It scares me. That boy also knows how to start about anything and how to drive most anything with an engine in it. I'm afraid that we may have a little "gear head" on our hands. That of course if fine by me. He can be our little mechanic when things break down.

 I have a feeling that I will be seeing more pictures like this as they grow up. She loves getting rides from her big brother and he is careful with her. He always waits for her to wrap her arms around his waist before he'll take off. He usually only has patience to take her around for one lap, but that is usually good enough for her. So if you ever see them cruising together in our backyard, don't panic! He's good at it and if he does happen to bump into something, they are on the grass, so it's a soft landing.

 This is what happens when big boys play on the monkey barks. We were having a lovely time at the park last Sunday until Brannon went to jump up on the playground equipment to help Haiven down the slide. He failed to see the monkey bars above him and smashed his face right into one of those cold, metal, bars. His nose bled from the inside out. The top of it had a huge gash and it bled for a good half hour. I'm pretty positive he broke it because it was still bleeding from the inside for days after it happened and it's still really tender. He doesn't seem too concerned about it being a little crooked, so I guess we won't go get it fixed unless it really starts bothering him. Poor guy. The kids were pretty much traumatized and they didn't fight me at all when I threw them in the bike trailer so we could high-tail it home. We did learn something new about Taj from this experience. He is just like his daddy when it comes to seeing blood. Taj has never really seen blood like that before, so he didn't even know to call it blood, so it was very interesting when he turned ghostly white and said "my beebutton huts, I go way down." The poor kid was green for a little while. He definitely does not handle bloods well and I guarantee that is a trait he literally inherited via genes from his daddy. Crazy how strong those genes can be! Haivi was fine, she's like her momma. She was concerned about him though and kept peeking her little, or should I say, big head, in the bathroom to check on him.

 I love this picture because it captures her fire. She is not just a "spitfire," she is a raging bonfire! That girl has more fight and spunk in her than anyone else I know. She's tough and I have no doubt that she will be able to look out for herself just fine. My worry is that she may be too tough sometimes, and we will probably have to work on teaching her that we treat others the way we want to be treated. Every time I pick her up from daycare, the first thing one of her teachers says is, "Haiven had a hard time this morning. She wouldn't quit hitting the other kids." Great, thanks for that. My kid's a bully. Did she do anything good today, for once? You can tell that I get a little annoyed hearing that same sentence as soon as I walk in the door. It's only one particular teacher, but I'm on the point of yelling, "Well, what do you want me to do about it? I wasn't here when it happened, so how can I fix it?!" However, I know if I did that, she would then figure out where Haiven gets half her fire.

 It's a darn good thing she has that irresistible sweetness about her too or we'd have to donate her to the homeless shelter.  When this girl feels like it, she can be heaven on earth and melt your heart by wrapping those little arms around your neck and offering you a kiss of her own free will and choice.

 I love her piggies. I think I always end up taking pictures of her when she has piggies in her hair.

I can't remember if this is a real conversation or not. It was pretty intense though and he wandered around the shed (like his daddy does when he's on the phone) before parking his hiney on the the tail-light of one of his grandpa's Harley's. I love that boy so much!

July is going to be so much fun! The only way I get through this awful heat is because of the July holidays. I love summer in Utah!

We are cyclists

We have decided to be cyclists. We, or should I say, Brannon took hiself down to the Costco and bought us some "real" nice bikes. And a trailer for the kids. Love that place. Who doesn't? It's like a one-stop shopping experience. You can buy anything there that your little heart desires. We desired bikes because we are both tired of carrying around those darn spare tires that only seem to get bigger and never smaller. We were in a pickle you see because who in the heck has time to exercise when you've got two kids and jobs and a house and a yard to take care of? I don't get those people who spend hours upon hours at the gym. They must not have real jobs or they don't have kids. If they do have kids, then they are probably neglecting them. A great solution, we thought, would be to take up cycling and get a trailer for the kids to ride in. Those first two weeks were glorious. We had raw rumps and every muscle ached, but it felt good because we knew our bodies were actually getting some exercise. Then the "newness" and "fun-ness" of it all wore off and the kids decided they couldn't stand to be in such close quarter with each other. A half-hour bike ride turned into 30 minutes of torture for all involved as we sailed down the road with a screeching and cackling trailer. Haiven does the screeching and Taj does the cackling. When you have to stop every 2 minutes to see who's touching who and who's "wooking at me" or "bothuwing me," all that's left to do is to turn hide and head home as fast as you can before it gets too violent in the back.
Brannon suggested that on Memorial Day we go for a bike ride. I was down with it as long as we could figure out a way to separate the gremlins. We pulled out an old bike seat and problem solved. We rode the Bridal Veil Falls trail up Provo Canyon and I can guarantee that it did not disappoint. We were surrounded by steep mountain sides lush with vegetation and rode along side a lovely little river on a paved, shaded path. When we got to the falls, there were quite a few people there who had the same idea as us, but there was still plenty of room for us to have our own little corner of the shallow end of the falls for the kids to play in. We passed two parks on the way up and on the way back when Taj announced in the middle of the ride that he had to "poop," we thought no prob! We stopped in at a campground bathroom and when Taj and I opened the door and stepped into fresh sewage that had flooded the entire bathroom, I told him there was no way in hades we were going in there and that he'd have to pinch those bum cheeks of his together until we could find another bathroom. The kid was a champ and managed to wait until we found a more "sanitary" place for him to do the deed. Other than that, the weather was perfect and it was a great day. Haivi only screeched once and there was no complaining on Taj's end either. It was an 8 mile ride round-trip, but wasn't to strenuous. I guess I can say that because I wasn't pulling the trailer and I didn't have Taj on my bike in the seat either. Bran had both kids and I tell you, I was so proud of my man when I looked back at the top of a steep hill and saw his hat turned backwards (that means he's down to business) and him standing up on his bike pedaling with all his might to get those kids up that hill. There were about five hills like that and he never stopped once. I wouldn't be surprised if we made that ride a family tradition every Memorial Day. So if you every see two white bikes pulling a yellow bike trailer on the side of the road, please honk the horn to encourage the Morse Fam to pedal strong.

Good Intentions

Well summer break has not started off with a bang as I had hoped it would. Much of that is due to my own lack of ambition, but I've resolved to not spend the rest of our summer like we did that first week. Items that I should have had completed by the end of the first week? 1. Clean the house top to bottom. 2. Get all the laundry caught up. 3. Detail the car myself. 4. Plant a garden and 5. Do something fun with my kids every day. 6. Get caught up on the blog.
The house did get cleaned, but I wouldn't call it top-to-bottom. We are functional and sanitized at this point. The washer broke down after my first load of laundry and flooded the basement. Wet, old carpet=nasty, musky, moldy, smellier old carpet. I spent all day at the laundry mat with the kids and a giant, black hairy spider and all kinds of bacteria. I'm not sure if our clothes were cleaner after that trip. Detail the car? Ha! Well I did throw away a plastic wrapper off a sticky bun and a few old receipts, so I guess that is progress. Who knows what kind of weevil colonies are are multiplying in our car as a result of a school year's worth of food crumbs. I really hate bugs, so that will most definitely get done this week, I hope. Planting a garden did not go as planned either because it rained pretty much every day, all day last week. We had brief moments of sunshine, but it was never long before the clouds came rolling back in. That really put a damper on the exercise thing too. I couldn't take the kids out on a bike ride in the pouring rain and as a result, the small spare bike tire around my waist has grown into a trailer tire. I'm not about to let it get much bigger so I've cut down on the nacho cheese sauce and popcorn and jalapeno bites. Think I'm kidding? I'm not. I'm an emotional eater and just having the washer break down was enough to send me into a week-long binge. So you can imagine that I just ate more and more when I did not manage to get the car detailed or to plant a salsa garden.
Then we come to my blog. I love writing. I love preserving families memories and I definitely consider it worth the time and effort to keep this up. I decided I'd procrastinated enough and downloaded 300 pictures of the last two months of our lives on the computer. With that done, I thought, alright now to the fun part--actually posting on the blog. Little did I know that this whole time my computer was plotting against me as well and got all senile on me. It "forgot" where it put those 300 pictures that included Taj's preschool graduation and many other irreplaceable moments. I was literally devastated when I clicked on the folder and all I saw were those horrific three words: "Folder is Empty." Wha? Whawhawha? WHAT?! My heart was broken into pieces to have lost those pictures and then of course all I could think to do was to go upstairs and throw some poppers in the oven and consume 300 deep-fried calories of jalapenos and cream cheese. I shut down the computer and restarted it, hoping the ol' dinosaur would wake up and remember where it put my pictures. It did not and also notified me that I had "successfully" cleared out 200 mbs of space. Hmmm, must of slipped my mind because there is no way in HELL I did that! Can you guess what happened when I went back into my pictures folder to search for the lost 300? I discovered that ALL albums starting with the letter A had been deleted. They are gone, no where to be found. That's the moment I exercised great restraint and kept myself from hurling the ol' silver dinosaur through the wall of our basement and out into the front yard. I will never trust it again, which is why I don't dare download more photos on it right now because I'm afraid they will be lost in cyberworld forever. Some geeked-out hacker is probably having the time of his life stuffing flaming hot cheetos down his gullet, all the while hysterical laughing and picturing my confusion, shock, and rage at the discovery of the missing files. Well I hope he snorts one up his nose. No slurpee in the world will put that flame out. So rest assured family and friends who actually read this blog, that I have not abandoned my post. You WILL see regular posting from here on out, I hope.