Today I am Thankful for...

Instead of being grumpy and whining about how my dear husband failed to tell me until last night that he had to go into work this afternoon (a Saturday) thereby missing a family Christmas ornament making session (not only had to just make it the girls but also meant me alone with 4 coo-coos in a pottery studio, eek!) and missing a nice warmer day that I had been wanting to take the girls to the park as a family. But I won't do that ;) I am trying to turn my frown upside down and list things I am thankful for directly relating to Jason's infuriating job..

1. I am thankful he has a job and a really good job that allows me to stay home with our children.

2. I am thankful he is such a dedicated teacher that he is willing to put in the extra time with his student (even if it's zero hour and probably won't make a difference, aw crap there I go again *slaps hand*)

3. I am thankful he has a job he enjoys, if you have to go to work and be away from your family 12-15hrs 5 days a week, at least you should enjoy your job!

Um, yeah that's all I got. My list of distain is much longer ;)



On to cuter stories!

On our to making our Christmas ornament, we all had a sing-a-long to Katy Perry's "Firework" yes you may think it's inappropriate of me to let my daughters listen to Katy Perry, but oh well :p Anyway, Audrey and Charlotte LOVE singing to this song and it's quite contagious! It was a nice way to help me over my grumpiness of a missing Daddy ;)

Kate and Naty are currently using a bunch of little paper plates we have to "bake pizza" so far I have been treated to a sour cream pizza, a strawberry and sausage pizza and a lollipop, cupcake and bread pizza! Hahahaha I love the imagination of young kids ;)

Just some random cute stories

Just wanted to share some random cute stories of the girls from this past week :)

I was taking Kate to school at the beginning of the week and when I asked her if she was going to have a good day, she told me that Sion (her friend) didn't want to hold her hand out to recess anymore and that made her sad. I told her that just because she doesn't want to hold your hand doesn't mean she doesn't want to play with you anymore. She was quiet for a moment, obviously pondering. I asked if she thought any of her other friends would like to hold her hand on their way out to recess and she told me "Maybe Emma!" I said that was a good idea and she should ask Emma today! She then told me "It will make Jesus happy if Emma holds my hand, because it will make my heart happy and Jesus lives in my heart so he wants it happy!" Hehehehehehe (I do believe either Emma or Sion started holding her again because that was the last I heard of it)

I volunteered to take over the teacher's aid position in Kate's RE class at church this week, the current one was over booked and kept missing so I was subbing a lot anyway. When I told Kate, she got the biggest smile and gave me a huge hug and said "I love when you teacher my church school! It makes it feel just like home!" I was grateful that must mean she indeed has fun at home too, not that Mom is always there to talk at me ;) LOL

Naty is really getting excited and anxious to get to go to both school and RE next year, she is also my most random child ;) So I was sitting at the kitchen table talking to my mom about taking over the teacher's aid thing and Naty comes up and asks if that means she can go now too. I told her no, she said "But I'm as tall as Katy!" Hahaha I said "Yes but you have to be 4 to go sweetie" enter random Naty, "Well if there was a big, mean bat in the delivery (living) room, then Jesus could use his big muscles and scare it away so it won't hurt me!" LOL Yup, that would be classic Naty! ;)

He even saves small children from big, mean bats!

What is really important

So this is a status going around FB today;

My home is filled with toys, has fingerprints on everything & is never quiet. My hair is usually a mess & I'm always tired, but there is always love & laughter here. In 20 years my kids won't remember the house or my hair, but they will remember the time we spent together & the love we felt. Children only get one childhood... Make it a good one! Repost if you agree ♥


I thought it was so true! I will be the first to admit I am not Mrs. Clever or Martha Stewart when it comes to keeping house! I am often behind on laundry, lucky to clean the bathrooms (other then a quick Clorox wipe down) more then once a week, I despise dusting and do as little as possible, I have never cleaned a baseboard, and when I clean the windows it is a real-life Windex commercial with people walking into them thinking I must have opened it. My living room doubles as a toy room and although we have tried many different "pretty" organizers, we always come back to the econo-size catch-all toy box. Not pretty but at least most nights the toys are off the floor. We live in an older house that needs massive fixes, the carpets are 20 years old, the walls are covered in crayon scribbles, the kitchen floor has old stickers stuck to it, oh and best of all the outside is only half painted the beautiful red I picked out 2 years ago ;) The state of our home has bothered me to varying degrees over the last 5 years we have lived here, the worst times being when I have a new friend over who I feel will judge me on it. But as the years have passed, it bothers me less. We are doing our best to fix it as we have money, but 4 small children will really cut into that home project budget ;) To be honest I would much rather spend $40 when we have it taking my kids to the Aquarium or out to dinner then stash it in the "New Carpet Fund" At the end of the day if you don't want to come to my house because it's not up to your standards and you want to think I'm some kind of poor housekeeper (secretly meaning I am somehow and bad parent because of it) then that is your problem not mine. 


My children are happy, healthy and love their home. Some days it very liberating to not feel the need to yell at them because they spilled juice on the already stained carpet, or made a mural on the already scribbled on walls ;) Every night when we sit down to dinner, there is laughter which I will take over a spotless house any day! My montra of late has been "Don't sweat the small stuff" and the things I have listed may not count of your list of small stuff, but they do on mine. 20 years from now, all my kids will remember was the family tickle tournament we had in the middle of the living room, not that we rolled around on stained, old carpet and over countless un-picked up toys. They will remember playing Red Light, Green Light in the backyard on summer evenings, not that there was a pile of laundry to do be done. These are the things I strive for, not to be some unreachable perfect housewife and mother. :) And sense I have been fairly serious here, I insert my trademark humor with one of my favorite images ;)

Amen.

Being Thankful

So it was pointed out to me that I complain about little things a lot, one might refer to it as "bitching" ;) I voted it is simply exercising my First Amendment Rights on every subject possible hehehehe But in honor of Thanksgiving coming up, I will now commit to the "silly" giving thanks posts my FB friends are doing. I will post them here instead though so I can talk your ear off (or would type your eyes out be more appropriate? LOL) on any one thing if I feel the need, and two so I can tempt my friends to follow my blog bwahahaha! As I am obviously in a silly mood right now, I will start with a few of the less serious things I am thankful for in all honesty >:)

iPhones

My life lives in my iPhone! It amuses me while I wait in endless lines wherever I go, it makes a great toddler distraction when a public tantrum is looming (well except when you have two 2 years old with you who BOTH want to hold it, then it's just better to run from said store for your life.) And I have come to believe it is essential to have every bit of music you own with you at all times ;)

Facebook

I know there are a lot of haters and people who have to be dragged kicking and screaming into having a profile, but I adore this site! Being a SAHM, or just a mom period, can feel very lonely sometimes, like cold and flu season when your children endlessly pass the flu back and forth and you start to feel like you will never feel the fresh air on your face except for revisiting the doctor and pharmacy again. This wonderful lil website makes me feel like my friends are right there, suffering or laughing with me all day long :) I'm also pretty sure I "talk" to my friends way more now then I even did in high school. 

Might be sad, but so true!

Kate turns 5!!

Miss Birthday Girl

Yesterday my first baby turned 5!! It really is hard to believe, these last 5 years have felt like they dragged on every day at times but over all it feels like it's been the blink of an eye. Natalie and I got to bring snacks to her class to help them celebrate with her. I had planned to bring Audi and Lala too but they decided that a nap was not a good idea until about 30mins before we were supposed to leave! Luckily Paula and Simon were spending some time with us and didn't mind staying with the sleeping twinesses ;) When we go to the classroom they were finishing their stations and it was organized chaos! Hahaha In other words, my house x22 ;) I have to share a little secret that I was pleased on the inside to see the teachers struggling to keep their frustration in check with several little boys who were not following instruction. Only because I really have had this image of Pre-school teachers being these people with amazingly endless patience (or a steady supply of tranquilizers) and it was nice to see that I was sadly mistaken! They didn't act in anyway that made me think twice of how they were handling it btw, but I certainly had a moment of a little validation for not being Mother Teresa at times ;) So anyway, Kate got to go to the front of the class and they sang to her and thanked her for bringing treats, she was bashful as ever when put in the center of attention she so badly wants all the time hehehehe

Kate and her teacher Ms. Steinhoff

Kate then got to hand out her treats to all her classmates which she found endlessly fun! Naty got to pull up a seat and sit next to Kate at her table, she was quite tickled at that :) She kept running up to me telling about all the things she was noticing about the classroom (i.e. blocks, coloring, computers) and telling how "TOTALLY EXCITED!" she is to go to school next year! Makes me feel so much better because I was worried about her when I found out that Pre-K is all day, 5 days a week when we enrolled Kate. After treats Kate refused to leave til after they watched Curious George (they put in on so the kids will sit still and the teachers can pack up everyone's back packs) so I took advantage and took some pictures of Kate and her friends she is always telling me stories about..

Kate with her posse 

Later that night the whole family came over for dinner to celebrate Kate and Paula's birthdays! I still think it's really sweet that my sister and daughter share a birthday :) My brother Daniel and his girlfriend (my future sister-in-law hehehe) Lizz even came to dinner which was a nice surprise! My nephew Simon was completely unimpressed by the whole affair and made his feelings clear when he wasn't sleeping that he did not approve of the celebration hahaha All in all it was a lovely day for her and us! Here's a couple more pics..

The birthday buddies Kate and Paula

Lizz and Daniel