reagan's 4th birthday

my baby is growing up!
 

 

i'm soooo keeping it!

I feel so justified to continue keeping everything I do.

 Huh, ? What does that mean? OK, so it means I am a glorified PACK RAT! I KEEP EVERYTHING! Really, I do. I have the kids umbilical cords for gooness sakeit's a bit extreme, but it's in my blood. my grandma was the same way and ! I know that know that's where it comes from. I just have to make the conscience effort to make it all organized. Which I know is possible, I have to just follow through with what I want to do.

So Oprah (whom I am not a big fan of, but tonight the show was on a "budget holiday" so it caught my attention) interviewed this lady who saved everything like me and was giving her memories of her children back to them to cherish as Christmas gifts. WoW! What an insiration this woman was for the love she showed for her children. She purchased these wooden boxes that she bought with coupons at Michaels (aka, any craft store) for about $15 - $17 dollars and sorted their memories from the time they were in kdg to 18 + years old1 It was amazing and a confirmation I needed to get organized and continue to keep things that I can give back to the babie.

Yeah!

 

just breath

field trip to native american museum
sata arrives the mall (on a Harley, his sleigh broke down!)

never to busy for a shot with Hannah

another failed attempt at a christmas card

" so santa, here's what i was thinking..."

this has been such a busy weekend and it's only sat night! don't get me wrong, i love, no cherish, my weekends, but sometimes the running can get you down. from early morning runs to jewel for lunch items (why plan when you can get up early and make your morning crazy?) to field trips, dentist appts for five to dinner to cleaning to the store to santa to a shoebox wrapping party to a birthday party, and that's just through sat. see why i am a bit in need of a breather? ha, but wait, don't forget the late french report and the edible cell due tues (if the test is passed from friday) and the science project and the drumming performance and the birthday party, for twins (yep, a different one than yesterday, ha). throw a little grocery shopping and spending time with the dog and oh, make sure youare ready to miss some work next week so you can get to all the doctors in the world before the first of the year and then don't forget to get ready to teach 30 kids to play dodgeball on wed night and then you get to make 100 tamales for next sunday :0) but would i have it ANY other way, ah, no, of course not. i do really need to wonder why my dog is ill behaved and the oldest forgets his homework and the little one has anxiety and the baby doesn't want me to brush the knots out of her hair. but we didn't have cavities, and we did read a large stack of books this weekend, got nosy kisses, saw santa, at cake, prayed to jesus and spent time with friends.

sometimes i think i need to slow down, maybe if i have a run a long like this to read it will help to put things into perspective and get me to slow down. i'm not sure that's what i want, but it might be what i need. maybe that's what i am afraid of, slowing down. then i would be able to hear the voice of the Lord speak to me and i would have to listen. could that be my fear? having to fully surrender to Him? I really need to spend time in his word every day. it's my (and I'm sure there are many) major problems in my walk with Him. I pray that he would allow me to have the will and ambition to give Him my first moments in the am to clearly see his will for my life laid out. this is my prayer and i am sticking to it.

So You Want To Have Children?

So You Want To Have Children?
Preparation
Women:

• Put on a dressing gown and stick a beanbag down the front.
• Leave it there.
• Every week, add another beanbag.
• After 9 months, remove 2 beanbags.

Men:

• Go to your pharmacy.
• Empty your wallet on the counter.
• Tell the pharmacist to help himself
• Go to the supermarket.
• Arrange to have your salary paid directly to their front office.
• Go home.
• Read the newspaper… for the last time.

Knowledge

• Find a couple with children.
• Berate them about their lack of discipline, lack of patience, low tolerance, and how their children run wild.
• Suggest how they can improve their child's sleeping habits, toilet training, table manners and general behavior.
• Enjoy it while it lasts. It's the last time you'll have all the answers.

Nights

• Turn the radio on to some loud screaming station.
• Walk around the room from 5 to 10 PM carrying a 10 pound bag of wet goo while the station screams.
• At 10 PM, put the bag down, set the alarm for midnight and go to sleep.
• Get up at 11 and walk the bag around until 1 AM.
• Set the alarm for 3. Since you can't get to sleep, get up at 2 and make tea.
• Go to bed at 2:30.
• Get up at 3 AM when the alarm goes off.
• Sing songs in the dark until 4.
• Set the alarm for 5. Get up when it goes off.
• Make breakfast.
• Repeat for four years. Look cheerful!

Dressing Small Children

• Buy a live octopus and a string bag.
• Attempt to put the octopus into the string bag so that no arms hang out.
• Time allowed: 5 minutes.

Cars

• Sell the BMW.
• Buy a 5-door wagon.
• Put a large chocolate ice cream cone in the glove compartment. Leave it there.
• Put a peanut butter sandwich in the CD player.
• Mash a box of chocolate cookies into the back seat.
• Run a garden rake along both sides of the car.

Going For a Walk

• Wait.
• Go out the front door.
• Go back inside.
• Go outside.
• Come back in.
• Go outside.
• Walk down the front sidewalk.
• Walk back up it.
• Walk down it again.
• Walk very slowly along the street for 5 minutes.
• Stop at every piece of used chewing gum, dirty tissue, and dead bug along the way. Inspect each minutely. Ask at least 6 questions about each.
• Retrace your steps.
• Scream that you have had as much as you can stand until the neighbors come out and stare at you.
• Give up and go back into the house.
• Repeat for 5 years.

Patience

• Repeat everything you say at least 5 times.

Grocery Shopping

• Go to the supermarket. Take along the nearest thing to a pre-school child: a fully grown goat. (If you plan to have more than one child, take more than one goat.)
• Buy your weekly groceries without letting the goat(s) get out of your sight.
• Pay for everything the goat eats or destroys.

Feeding a 1 year-old

• Prepare a bowl of cornflakes.
• Hollow out a melon through a small hole in one side.
• Suspend the melon from the ceiling.
• Swing it back and forth.
• Spoon the soggy cornflakes into the swaying melon while making airplane noises.
• When at least half of the cornflakes are gone, pour the rest on your clothes and the floor.

TV

• Learn the names of every character from every episode of the Wiggles, Barney, Teletubbies, and every Disney movie.
• Watch nothing else on television for at least 5 years.

Cleanliness

• Smear peanut butter on your sofa.
• Smear jam on your curtains.
• Hide a fish behind the stereo. Leave it there all summer.
• Stick your fingers in dirt. Rub them on your walls.
• Color your other walls with crayons.

Traveling

• Make a recording of someone shouting "Mommy!" over and over. (There may be no more than 4 seconds between each shout.)
• Include the occasional crescendo to the approximate decibel level of a fighter jet.
• Play this tape in your car continuously the 5 years.

Conversations
1. Start a conversation with another adult.
2. Have someone else continually tug on your pants and shirtsleeves while playing the tape prepared above.
Get Dressed
1. On a day when you have an important meeting, wear your nicest work attire.
3. Put 1 cup of lemon juice into a cup of cream. Stir.
5. Pour half of it on your shirt.
6. Saturate a towel with the other half.
7. Attempt to clean your shirt by rubbing it with the saturated towel.
8. Do not change clothes. You're late already!
9. Go directly to work.
You are now ready to have children.

payton's first loose tooth

Payton lost his first tooth last night.

I was wiggling for a week and last night it finnaly came out right before dinner.

He even got a visit from the tooth fairy.

Go Payton!

30 days of Thanks - thank God for silence

I am trying to follow this 30 Days of Thanks theme I received from a devotional e-mail I receive everyday and this is the theme from yesterday:

Day # 3, Monday, Nov. 3

Thank God for Silence.

Due to the fast pace of our lives these days,

most of us have forgotten the gifts of silence and reflection.

Take a few minutes sometime today,

find a quiet spot and think of things you are grateful for.

 

So I posed this question to the kids today when we were on our walk with Cali.

It was after we stopped to play with the neighbor's dogs and I was getting really frustrated that the kids wouldn't listen to me asking them to stay off the grass. One of the dogs' was pooping in a few spots and it was really testing my patience to see the kids run around after the dogs knowing that someone was going to step in the poop and the end result would be me cleaning it up. So after we said our goodbye's I gave them a what-for about listening to their mom and how disappointed I was in their behavior and how I just can't understand how they could be so disrespectful for not listening to me... blah, blah, blah. It's bad when you are sick of hearing yourself talk yet you can't shut up even though you KNOW the other parties are just begging you to stop or at the very least, have already completely tuned you out...

So , when I finally shut up, I remembered that the 30 days of Thanks theme I am trying to follow, so I apologized to the kids and asked them to forgive me for ranting and raving and to just be silent on the walk and think of something they are grateful for. Here is what they said:

Payton is thankful for his Jesus, Jimmy is thankful for his family and Reagan is thankful for her dog. Then I mentioned that I was thankful for my freedom, which initiated a lively discussion on America and all the blessings we have as a nation. I am so proud of my kids and for the wonderful things they are thankful for.

So after  I thought of everything that transpired last night, I was really convicted about the way I acted towards them and I would like to change the thing I am thankful for.

I really think I am most thankful for Forgiveness. I am thankful I am forgiven and that I have the willingness and the ability to forgive. I would be nothing with out it, but because of it, I have everything.

 

as easy as taking candy from a baby

this is why they titled the email, why dogs bite.

halloween fun

Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead Traditions

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November and can be traced back to indigenous peoples such as the Aztec and Maya. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth. While that is not an acceptable custom in today's world, there are a lot of other ways to celebrate the traditions of Dia de los Muertos.

During the Day of the Dead, people visit cemeteries and build private altars containing the departed's favorite foods and beverages, as well as photos and memorabilia, to encourage visits by their loved ones' souls. Celebrations can also take a lighter tone as humorous events and anecdotes about the departed are remembered.

Ofrendas (offerings) are put in homes—usually with foods such as pan de muerto ("bread of the dead"), sugar skulls, and beverages such as atole—to welcome the deceased. Some people believe the spirits of the dead eat the "spiritual essence" of the ofrenda food, so even though the celebrants eat the food after the festivities, they believe it lacks nutritional value. (Finally—calories that really don't count!)