Some Thoughts on My Mother!

This took me little longer to put together than I thought- BUT better late than never. Happy Mother's Day Mom! I love you!
Things I Heard A Few Times From My Mom:
1. Remember who you are
2. What would Jesus Do?
3. Pretty is as pretty does.
4. You have to sacrifice for beauty. (I remember the first time I heard this I had to wear panty hose that only came part way up my thighs)
5. No singing at the table.
6. Don't lean back in your chair.
7. You can do anything you put your mind to.
8.Always leave things better than you found them.
Things My Mother Did Better Than Your Mother:
1. Early morning scriptures- Mom was not initially a morning person- but it was important and so she did it.
2. Sew beautiful clothes- crochet beautiful afghans-embellish beautifully with silk ribbon embroidery. I got my love of creating with my hands from watching her make beautiful things.
3. Really tight- no hair out of place pony tails.
4. Gourmet meals- Always. Every meal is always well balanced with perfect color selections.
5. Magnifying every single calling and making it better. She serves with All her might, mind and strength.
6. Live the gospel
7. Forgiveness- She is better at this than anyone I know!
Something My Mom Couldn't Do Better Than Your Mom
1. Let someone else drive - without going crazy inside.
Things I loved to Do With My Mom When I Was Young.
1. Color- she always had beautiful pictures.
2. Read- whether it was her reading to us or all of us just reading and enjoying a book in the same room.
3. Hear her tell stories about family members and have her teach us songs like-Puff the Magic Dragon- especially on long drives.
4.Play -I Spy
5. Playing volleyball on the same ward team.
6. My Mother taught me how to cook, clean and sew and work hard . She prepared me in every way to be a mother- I am so thankful for that.
Things I Love to Do With My Mom Now:
1. Look at cookbooks
2. Cook
3. Watch movies
4. Shop for crafty things
5. Learn from her great example
Special Memories With My Mom:
1. Sitting on the lawn and eating a whole watermelon together on a Sunday afternoon and talking away.
2. Mom always made holidays and special days very special. I never realized how much work it was until I tried doing it on my own.
3. Finding a beautiful dress on my closet after a difficult break up with a note that said- Sometimes we need something beautiful to realize how beautiful we are inside. It still brings tears to my eyes.
4. Mom letting me cry my heart out at the swimming pool- after another disappointing relationship. She just came over and patted my head, then let me cry. She just let me know that she was there for me and then let me get it all out. It was the perfect response for me in that situation.
5. Mom always encouraged me in whatever I wanted to do. She was my biggest fan and my best cheerleader.
6. I loved that Mom placed a lot of trust in me- it kept me honest and more careful with my actions when I didn't want to be.
How My Mom Made Me Feel:
Like I was the most wonderful, talented person in the world. It was a real shock to go out in the world and find out I wasn't. :)

When it comes to Moms- I won the Lottery. Of course this is incomplete of all the great memories and things we have done together, it is merely a sampling of how much you mean to me and how much my life has been blessed because of you. Thank you with all my heart! Heather

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you great moms out there. My cute hubby and kiddos are in making dinner- so I have had a chance to somewhat catch up on the last month of happenings around here. I even had a delicious breakfast in bed, beautiful flowers and the sweetest little cards from the cuties who qualify me to be a mom. I also got a nap and I get to pick all the family games today- Bonus! I love my family so much- they are my everything. I want to share a favorite quote about mothers. This is from a book I read, but I can't remember the tittle. The author is a woman named Polly. She absolutely sums up how I feel about being a mother. "I just want to keep doing the most important thing, the thing that I love above everything else. I just want to keep finding ways to do it better. All my life, for the rest of my life, I want to keep being the finest wife, the most loving and caring mother- and I hope, someday, grandmother, it is possible to be. To me, nothing else holds a candle to this in terms of satisfaction and importance. Anything else I do is just my way of saying thank you for the privilege of being a mother." Here are some more pictures of our latest creation on his first day in our home.

Surprise! Surprise! We couldn't believe our eyes!

SO ....There we were sitting in the front room chatting away- when a big RV pulls into our culdesac and stops in front of our house. Two of our neighbors own RV's so I figured it was one of them. So imagine our surprise when Brig announced that none other than our cutest ever Thompson cousins were jumping out of this home on wheels. Ahhhh! We raced to the door jumping up and down and so super excited. They drove all the way from Florida to spend the weekend with us. The Thompson's rock! Thanks so much for a fabulous weekend.

Friday night we headed out to Katry and Seth's soccer game and then came back for a Thompson's Special Pizza Party. Delicious! Then we all crashed!
We had soccer games aplenty on Saturday as well-Brig had a tournament in Louisville. So we all loaded up in the RV and drove on up. Brig's team thought he was super cool for arriving at the game in style. We are definitely spoiled now and will not be able to endure another tournament without the luxury of an RV. We played games and watched videos and took a nap. We also spent a few hours in a play place jumping on inflatibles. Party!

The Thompsons had to load up and leave all too soon- We cried as they drove off- but we have fantastic memories. Thanks so much for giving us a weekend we will never forget! We love you guys!

Grandma is Great!

Grandma came and stayed with us for 10 Fabulous Days! Thanks so much for the yummy meals, the clean house, all the fun games, the wonderful gifts, great chats, and allowing so many much needed naps. We loved having you here and our bonus day! Thanks for all your help! We love you!

Welcome Little One!

Yea! He is finally here. Zebakai Ammon Redd was born on April 14th at 9:21pm. He was 7lbs. 8oz. You might be asking how we came up with the name Zebakai. Well let me tell you. Half of us wanted to name him Zeb and the other half wanted to name him Kai. Zeb means a gift from God in Hebrew and Kai is Gaellic for rejoice. So we put them together and we are rejoicing in the gift from from God. He is adorable, and we are all ecstatic to have him here.

RHS Egg Drop

After hearing of many an egg drop contest around our great nation- we decided to sponser our own RHS (Redd Home School) contest during spring break. It didn't take long for the kids to come up with their designs. We are pleased to announce, that all eggs passed the drop from 10ft. However, only one made it through the final phase of the 16ft drop. I wish I had a picture of Kalebs cute little creation. It, unfortunately, did not pass the the first drop, but he was just darling caring it around. So...who was the lucky winner????? Was it Seth with his "Green Ace"?- green foam wrapped with an ace bandage
Was it Katry with her "Winter Wonder"?- egg wrapped in mittens and a scarf.
Or could it possibly have been Brig with his creation, "The Box"?- well, yea- its a styrofoam box
And the winner is -Katryanna!- with the egg to prove it. Way to go guys! You all did a great job. At least none of you "cracked" under the pressure. :) I love you!

Three Days to "D" Day!!!

Wahoo! Three days to go! We are so super excited to meet this little fellow and can hardly stand waiting anymore. If all goes well we will deliver on Monday, April 14th. If all goes even better- we will deliver sooner than that :), but I am not holding my breath. Fun for us!