Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Why?

I have a fun game that I like to play with the girls called "Why?"

It started when I would get a million "why" questions and didn't have the energy to answer all of them. No worries. I actually DO answer a lot of the "why" questions. But sometimes they would ask silly "why" questions on purpose just to get me to laugh. So, we turned it into a game. It's kind of like "I spy." You ask "why" questions based on what you see outside the windows of the van while driving.

Example:
Me: Why is the light red?
Reagan: Why is that guy on the bike not wearing a helmet?
Skylar: Why does that lady have green shoes?

You see...we don't answer them. We just keep asking. Eventually we all start giggling because the questions get silly. Especially today. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Why does that car have its lights on?
Skylar: Why is there a banana on that sign? Ha! Ha! Ha! (funny kid)
Reagan: Why is that guy peeing in the trees?
Me: WHAT?

I looked over on the side of the road, and indeed, a man was urinating in the trees. Thank you Mr. Pee-in in the trees Man. You have opened the door for me to have the all important "why we don't pee in public" conversation with my children. Somebody should give you a medal.
Or a cup.

Oy vey!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Happenings

We have been busy bees lately! Last weekend we went to the strawberry fields in Carlsbad and picked our own fresh berries! For the last few days we have enjoyed strawberry pie, strawberry smoothies, strawberry milkshakes, and strawberry shortcakes. Mmmmmm! (So much for the four pounds I had lost....)





We also took a "personal" day and went to SeaWorld. Since Reagan had her hearing loss during her Spring Break (and there was no way I was going to take her to a crowded theme park when she couldn't hear me!), we decided to do something fun and take her out of school. It was unseasonably warm and thoroughly enjoyable.

My girls LOVE LOVE LOVE to do crafts so this past week, we made candles! It was fun and easy (and not nearly as messy as it could have been thanks to some tips from Tamara) We even added some "scent" to the candles so they would smell nice while burning. By far one of the favorites so far!! We've had "candlelit dinners" most nights this week.





In an attempt to be organized, I packed our first few boxes. I filled five boxes with toys from the playroom (although you can't really tell if you look in there now). Five down, 200 to go. Sigh. Moving is good. Moving is good. Moving is good.

We are hoping to close on the house by Thursday of next week! Prayers would be appreciated! :) Then the real fun begins!!

Monday, April 20, 2009

Seriously!?

What good is a blog if you can't rant once in a while? I figured Monday was a good day to do just that.

So, I went to the store last night with Skylar and of course she wanted to get one of those carts that has a car on the front. Who invented those? Obviously not a PARENT, or he/she would NOT have made them absolutely impossible to steer! They are twice the size of a normal cart, so navigating the store "displays" is always a treat. She picked one out and I reached for a sanitation wipe to de-germ it and of course, they were out. So I pushed it (heaved it) into the store just as my cell phone and keys went slipping through the GIANT slats (yes they are bigger than normal) and crashing to the floor. My cell phone broke into three separate pieces and scattered into three separate directions. As I'm picking up the battery, battery cover, and phone, the guy behind me (who apparently can't go around my HUGE hiney) lets out a deep, loud, sigh.

Seriously?! You're going to *sigh* at me? Obviously I PLANNED to drop my belongings right in front of you. I was put on earth to frustrate you.

I went to grab a frozen pizza for dinner (nevermind that it was already 7:30pm) and the pizza section was buried in the chilled beer section. In order to get to it, I had to push my behemoth of a cart past three wine displays with barely an inch to spare on either side. I got to the pizza door and realized, "Great. I can't open the door to get pizza out with my cart in front of it." So, then I had to back my car cart back out, leave my 3 year old sitting in the germ infested taxi, while I grabbed two frozen pizzas that I knew I would regret eating. As I was grabbing the pizzas, Skylar was shouting "I want a cheese one mommy!", a lady was trying to get down the same aisle and says "Is this your cart?"

Seriously?! No, the kid inside just keeps calling me Mommy!

Pizzas, milk, and cheese in the cart, we headed to the produce section to find that wonderful strawberry glaze to make a strawberry pie with our freshly picked strawberries. After walking around for a few minutes, I asked someone. His response, "Hmmm, we used to. Did you check by the strawberries?"

No, Einstein! I hadn't thought of that. They didn't teach me common sense in grad school. Seriously.

Without said glaze, we headed over to checkout. My initial instinct was to do the "self checkout." I should have followed it. Instead I went through a regular checkout lane. The guy in front of me was wearing a USC sweatshirt. Apparently the checker had serious opinions about "private schools."

"Oh, you went to the University of Spoiled Children!" Haha...funny. The guy in front of me chuckled a bit, grabbed his groceries, and left. Then, the checker turns to me and says "Guess his parents forgot to buy him a sense of humor."

Oh, hilarious! You're so funny. You should be a stand up comedian (hopefully you can hear the sarcasm).

Most people would have just stopped talking there, but no, not this guy. He goes on to tell me that he thinks people that pay that much for education are not so smart afterall. Apparently anyone that goes to a private school is privileged and has rich parents. As opposed to you buddy...czar of checkers!

Seriously? Instinct told me to keep my mouth shut, but somebody had to put this guy in his place. I went to TWO private colleges and my parents are not among the wealthy.

I opened my mouth and let it all just spew out...."yah, he probably drives a beamer and wears a cigar jacket and has a butler." He chuckled. "I bet he has a wife named Babs that he calls 'dahling' and two adorable children with names that end in 'the third' and a summer home on the lake."

He stopped chuckling.

"Or maybe he's a normal person like me that went to a private school because it was the best education available. And maybe he worked hard to put himself through school, like me, without help from his average, working class parents." Silence. "Or maybe he got that sweatshirt at walmart cuz he likes the team. I'm just sayin..."

He handed me my receipt without a word and just nodded his head.
At least he didn't ask me what I do for a living. When folks hear that I have a masters and I'm a SAHM, I get a plethora of ignorant responses. But that's a whole other post.

Skylar and I left the store; Her with a sticker, and me with my dignity (and a cell phone in three pieces).
Of course on our way out, I ran the pink taxi into the sliding glass doors. Seriously?! Thank goodness "driving a car cart" is not on the DMV requirements for safe drivers!

And while I'm at it....why is it 95 degrees in April? In the words of Franklin (yes the cartoon turtle), "Spriiing, where are you?!"

Friday, April 17, 2009

Should be

I should be doing my exercise DVD.
I should be loading the dishwasher and wiping down the counters.
I should be calling my OB's office (no, I'm not pregnant, but they have overcharged me).
I should be folding laundry.
I should be planning dinner.
I should be answering some emails.
I should be figuring out why the toilet keeps running.
I should be taking my cell phone away from the baby.
I should be downloading pictures from my camera.
I should be.....but I'm not.

Instead, I'm sitting...and listening to my little girls giggle....and drinking coffee...and eating chocolate cake. My list can wait.

This is bliss.

What should you be doing but you're not? I hope your list is waiting too. :)



No reason for this photo, other than the fact that I like it!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

April and Easter Photos

If you have not viewed these on facebook yet, check them out!

April pictures and Easter too!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Frantic Faith

I'm no good at chaos. One of my biggest pet peeves is being late, so I feel like I'm constantly rushing to get myself and the girls out the door on time. The kids hear the words "hurry," "quick," and "COME ON" so much that they have started saying the words to each other. Currently I feel like we have a lot going on. My to-do list continues to grow as daily I cross off a few items but add ten more. Today, I was putting out fires, pushing swings, standing up for our family, cutting up fruit, demanding results, changing diapers, and making silly faces, all the while tucking in my cape so my superhero status would not be revealed. After being "frantic" all morning, I sat down and sighed. In my devotions yesterday was the verse "Be still and know that I am God." It's that darn "Be Still" that I am not so good at yet. Isn't it just that way in our faith though? There's so much to learn; so much unknown; so many things we 'should' be doing, or wish we could be doing for others. People to serve. Songs to sing. Things to teach our children. Sharing our faith. Yet, all He wants from us is to Be Still.

Today, I chose to quiet the monkeys in my head that keep shouting about what I "should" be doing, and just sit (albeit for only 5 minutes), and breathe. I stared out the window while my children played and quietly thanked the Lord for them. And breathed.
Then the dog barked, the phone rang, the baby woke up, and my stomach growled. But I was 'still'....even if just for a moment.

Friday, April 10, 2009

AMAZING!

Indubitably Blessed! That's me! First, I have these AMAZING girls that challenge, inspire, and motivate me to be the best mom and person that I can be. THEN, I have this AMAZING friend that offered to take photos of my three precious blessings. Um, can you just say "AMAZING PHOTOS?"!!

Here's my shameless plug for her if you would like her to photograph your blessings too! (Love ya Jaimie!)



These are their Easter dresses, by the way.









Blessed beyond measure! Thank you Jaimie for sharing your "gift" with us! These are a TREASURE!!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Toys and Tympanograms

A few years back (no one is quite sure how many), B purchased a camera for my birthday. It has served us well, but lately it seems to be "acting up." I tried putting it in time out, but that didn't work. :) So, rather than buy a new one, B brought his "work" camera home. I'm in LOVE! I'm still trying to figure out the whole "focus" thing. But I am looking forward to learning more about it.

Whatchyathink? It helps to have such cute subjects to photograph!






In other news, the last few days have been especially frustrating with Reagan as she seemed to be blatantly ignoring us. Today, she turned the television WAY up and said she still couldn't hear it. That was a clue for me to take her in to the dr. They used a "tympanogram" meter and found out that her eardrums were registering at zero. ZERO! No wonder she hasn't been "listening" to us lately. She couldn't hear us!! Now I feel like a heel. She has a double ear infection so she is now on antibiotics to clear it up and we are just praying that as the fluid behind her eardrums clears, her hearing will return. In the meantime, I am off to buy her some ice cream before she starts calling me Mommy Dearest. :D

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Ironic Monkeys

I don't know why, but all three of my girls have been nicknamed "monkey" at some point. No, I take that back. I do know why. It's because they INSIST on climbing on anything and everything from the minute they learn to pull themselves to a standing position. I was hoping (seriously praying) that Baby Bay would be our calm, docile, mellow, baby. No such luck. At 12 months old, she can climb onto the sofa, over the ottoman (that used to keep her safely in the family room), and last week tried to climb OUT of her crib! She has one of those cute little "push" toys that help babies learn to walk. Does she push it? NOPE. She climbs ONTO it and uses it like a scooter. In the same fashion, she kneels in the baby doll stroller and uses her other foot to push herself around the room. You would think that by the third child I would be used to all the daredevil ways. Somehow they still manage to freak me out with their stunts, but in my defense, I am much calmer when they hurt themselves. :D

With irony at it's best, I was in the midst of writing the above paragraph when Baby climbed onto the couch and then promptly fell off. All the while, Skylar was running through the house with the dogs and attempting to "hurdle" them when she tripped and fell face first onto the hardwood floors. Chipped tooth, fat lip, and a black eye later, she seems to be ok. Oy vey!

Who needs boys when you have monkeys for kids?

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

An Answered Prayer! And a happy dance!

One of our MAJOR prayers in the last couple weeks has been the offer that we made on the house in Murrieta. After the initial offer was rejected and countered, we felt defeated, to say the least. But we didn't feel like we were supposed to walk away just yet. We re-countered and just found out yesterday that our offer was accepted! After all the jumping up and down and screeching, I still don't think it has set in that we are going to have a home of our own again. We still have a few hurdles to jump over, but the hardest part is over (so we're told).
We will post tons of pictures after we close, but for now, here's one of the outside!



Aint it cute!?
Praise God for answered prayers! Now excuse me while I go do more happy dancing!!

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