Mallory's Big Day

I have to admit I was a little sad on her birthday. The year just went by so fast with our busy lives. I wish it could have slowed down for me to have had more quality one on one time with Mallory. I love this little girl to pieces. She makes me so so happy in so many ways. I feel like the luckiest mom that she's mine. I treat her like she's still a newborn, and here she is one. I guess I should take her out of her rear facing seat and allow her to actually sit in a stroller instead of just being clicked in. She is a big girl now, sniff sniff.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The party was small, just us all sitting around smiling and laughing at Mallory, just how we like it.
We're all glad you joined our family, Happy Birthday Mal Pal.

Mason the superhero

We've got a four year old in our house. I love four, four year old are the best and Mason's no exception. He'd begged for a superhero party forever and these were the results, a house full of fellow superheros and friends:

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I can't imagine life without Mason, he's the best kind of energy to have around. Happy fourth!!!
(imagine some music in the background of the slideshow, it's on SmileBox but doesn't come across the blog, my technical abilities are questionable once more)

OKC!

A few weekends back we took a quick day trip up to Oklahoma City. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir was putting a show on in Norman that Chris wanted to go see and so we thought we might as well make a day out of it.
We left bright and early so we could pack in as much as possible. We had breakfast at Pops, visited the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum which was amazing, and sweat like crazy on the Bricktown Canal rides. The heat we endured could probably classify as child abuse, it was miserable. It happened to also be a huge Harley convention there that same weekend. We've never seen so many motorcycles in our lives. These were the same people on our memorial tour with us and boat ride too, sweet. I entertained the kids that night at the mall since you had to be 8 years old to get in. We were going to stay in a hotel that night but decided to just head on back. Here are some of our favorite shots.

Suburban Mamma

I just passed off my last requirement to join the elite, the lemonade stand. I really was dreading it but couldn't deny my kids who'd been asking for quite some time. We invited some friends over to help us so I wouldn't have to endure the pain alone. It seemed like everyone who drove past bought some and would even leave a tip. After I put a stop to Rozlyn's door to door solicitation the advertising became running up and down the street, chasing the cars, yelling and jumping like the house was on fire. We even had a few neighborhood geckos join in the fun that were being passed around. That fun ended when the owner told us to make sure and wash our hands because they carry salmonella on their skin. Gross, as if I'm not paranoid enough about sickness. I was so scared all night that there was going to be a neighborhood outbreak because of our lemonade stand. In the end the kids had a great time, and earned $10.75. Not to shabby, now the money is sitting while they decide what to spend it on.
The preparations for the big day
One of these signs said buy 10 cups get 1 free, ha ha.The source of all my stress - this salmonella dude

My favorite dads!

I'm feel like the luckiest girl in the world to have these two guys in my life.

This picture just makes me laugh so hard, my dad had never heard of the "self-take" picture. He was insistent on using the timer but on top of a mountain there aren't alot of places to set the camera.

These are from this past weekend when we went to visit them in California (post coming soon). My dad is an adventerous guy and Chris is always up for an adventure so it's a great combo. I don't think either one of them are afraid of anything.

I'll admit that I'm spoiled by these two. I can't imagine living life without them. Happy Father's Day to the two best Dads!!!

Veggin Out

I now know where the name came from.
The other night I told Chris that I just wanted to sit on the couch and veg out, sitting there doing nothing.
-and then these beauties came to mind

My first attempt at vegetable gardening. These Earth Boxes promised me great success. I was so eager and devoted to their cause from the begining, they grew so fast, making me feel so proud. It's been a few months now and no vegetables. I think they forgot to grow food. Their sitting there doing nothing, like me on my couch on a Saturday night. My gardening spirits have hit a low, this was my rookie year, this was a small attempt to boost my confidence so I could expand in summers to come. My friend already has vegetables, real life size ones that they can pick and eat. My "learn by experience" has not been a good experience. I've grown rather attached to these plants and they're letting me down. Hopefully I'll have good news, (good vegetables) to report on in the weeks to come.

Help Wanted!!

This is my personal classified ad. Seeking three eager and willing helpers to assist there mom around the house. Jobs are flexbile and change daily. Must not whine, drag their feet or complain about the fairness of the assignments. Even better would be if they recognized work that needed to be done without asking and just did it. Payment will come in the form of food, lodging, clothes, toys, entertainment, story time, pool time, etc.

If only, right?? My kids are getting to be stinkers about helping around the house. Lately the beef has been about fairness and the unequal distribution of workload. Until now, they've been given a daily list of jobs. Their attitude's is what really concerns me. After their token jobs have been done, they give me attitude if I ask anything else of them, like this:
me = "Hey, could you bring me one of Mallory's diapers?"
them = "I already finished with my work today."

me= "Hey sweetie, you left your dishes just sitting here on the table, you need to clear them off."
them = "Is that one of my jobs today?"

So I want this to be a fun summer, I don't want to be a nag, so I think we need to change things up. I'm just wondering the best way to do it. Should I not assign jobs and just have a work time frame where they have to work for a certain time, or assign jobs on a need done basis?
We finished some jobs the other day before heading to the pool. Charlotte asked if we're going to have to do work everyday before we can swim this summer, to which I answered probably. Her response was "I guess I won't be swimming everyday this summer."

I've got a few days left to get my summer game plan together, I'd love any suggestions and input.

4 scoops of raisins

Recently the Kellogs Raisin Bran, 2 scoop, box was on sale, and I bought a few boxes. It's pretty box is such a marketing trick because looking at it you'd think it would taste so much better then the ugly boxes. It doesn't. There's no raisins, it becomes a mission just to find a few. I poured two bowls with NO raisins, not one. On my second bowl, I closed the box and shook it upside down for awhile just trying to get some toward the top. I was complaining to Chris about my dissapointing morning of eating yucky plain bran cereal. The box sat of the shelf for awhile.
A little while later we were having a cold cereal breakfast and our options were skim. The kids don't like raisin bran because they don't like raisins. I assured them it would just be the flakes and if a few raisins fell out I'd get them out for them. You guessed it, tons and tons of raisins came flying out. It looked like it was a 6 scoop box. I really thought I had the worst luck. So as promised I went picking out each raisin from each of the kids bowl. I collectively gathered a whole bowl full of raisins.
Soon Chris walked out and saw that the Raisin Bran made it to the breakfast line-up. He asked if there were any raisins in it this time. In my "you'll never believe this kind of way" I went on to explain how many raisins there were, and how I was so confused that when I want a bowl there's none and when the kids want a bowl there are a million. He smiled at me and told me that after my last experience he'd opened a large can of raisins and poured them in. He showed me the almost empty can from the back of the pantry. I guess he'd been patiently waiting for me to try them again. You know your husband loves you when he pours extra raisins in to suprise you. He's the most thoughtful, funny guy. It made my whole day. Thanks, babe.

Pinkalicious

Today was the conclusion to our family's first experience with soccer. Rozlyn was our first kid to give an organized sport a chance. Through her example, Charlotte has now decided that it looks pretty fun and will start playing in the fall. We joked that team Pinkalicious were the mis-fits, like the Bad News Bears or some other movie worthy underdog story. The team was formed with all the girls who had no other team, who had never played before, and oh yeah, no coach. Luckily a great dad stepped up and gave it a go, with no previos experience himself. The first practice, all of the girls showed up wearing pink (this is before they became "Pinkalicious") so I should of known then that our team style would probably be better then our talent. We had to wait 4 games until our team scored their first goal, we actually got 2 that game. Then we had to wait 4 more games until the last day, today, to score again. This probably is because the girls on the team seem to only care about two things during a game, who's hand is on top during the cheer, and who gets to kick it in when it goes out of bounds. If Rozlyn can see the ball heading out of bounds, before it even gets out, her hand is straight up hoping to get picked to kick it in. Our coach is so great with the kids, and the other families are wonderful too. Team Pinkalicious definately gets the most improved award, and the other teams better beware, because team Pinkalicios will be back next year!!!

Smiling, Swimming and Scooching

These are just a few things Mallory has been up to late to. She's growing up way to fast.

Words just for me

Today my Visiting Teachers came over. After having our normal conversation that involved all the girly, mom, wife stuff she shared a message. It was crazy how the thoughts she'd organized were direct answers to questions we'd been talking about earlier. I've been thinking about them all day and wanted to jot them down because they made such an impact on me. There from Elder Ballard's talk last April, "Daugthers of God". He asks the question "What can you do as a young mother to reduce the pressure, and enjoy your family more?" He gives four answers:
1. Recognize the joy comes in moments
2. Don't overschedule yourself or your children
3. Find time for yourself to cultivate your gifts and intrests
4. Pray, study and teach your children
There was also a part directed to the husbands and kids.
I just love when I hear things that I really feel like I need to hear, that are just for me, just when I need them.
To read the whole article in detail you can follow this link

Summer is Here

Or it might as well be. There's no more homework, the weather is beautiful & we've already spent a few days in the pool. I cannot wait to have the routine end. Soon we'll be sleeping in, lounging in our p.j.'s and eating yummy breakfast. Bring on the best time of the year.

Charlotte's Money

Lately Charlotte has been cracking me up with her spending skills. You'd think by the time one hit the age of 8 they'd be making wiser choices with their money. She never has very much because she just spends it so quick. Two funny stories to that leave me very concerned about her spending skills.
1. She decided that we never have anything good to eat (read crap) around the house. So Chris was headed to Kroger and took Charlotte with him. She starts throwing in a bunch of junkfood and told Chris she was going to pay for it herself. He couldn't argue to that. She even generously offered to buy Mason some popsicles. At least she has a kind heart, I guess.
When I saw the junkfood and heard what she did it just made me laugh. All my money I ever saved went to clothes, toys, music or something else like that. I still get depressed buying groceries because it's not fun or rewarding to me. I don't think Charlotte will have that problem.
2. Last night I was picking up the upstairs and Charlotte was just hanging out, her room was a mess and I could tell she had no intention to clean in. I wasn't in the mood to deal with it. I was however very frustrated. Why is it so hard to teach kids to work with a smile? I usually can get mine to do it, but it's such a miserable process getting there. Anyway, with no energy to argue left in me, I had this great idea. I told Charlotte that she could clean her room or I could do it and charge her $5.00. She looked suprised, got all excited, declared this was the best deal ever and went and pulled 5 bucks out of her bank and handed it to me. Grrrrr!!!! It wasn't supposed to happen that way. I guess the positive side to this is that she'll either have a clean room or I'll get rich myself.
My next obstacle to tackle is what to do when she runs out of money, do I give her a loan, I might never see that money again.
So between junk food and paying someone to clean her room I have my work cut out for me in finding a better way to teach her the value of a dollar.

Going back to any time in your life

So last night Chris broke out with the deep question of "If you could have one time in your life to do over again which time would it be?" I sat there and thought about it. Finally I came up with two "bad" phases in my life, times filled with regret that I coudln't pick between. Chris looked at me startled, the thought hadn't occured to him to pick a bad time. He came up with the best time of our life. It's funny how we were thinking on opposite ends of the spectrum and didn't give any thought the other way around. I really admire Chris for always looking at the bright side of things, he really doesn't live with regret. If something bothers him he doesn't dwell on it, he lets it go, moves forward and forgets about it. Then I wondered what it says about me to wish I could "re-do" some years. I'm curious to know which way does your mind work. I know some of you will have some great insight for me. I can't wait to hear your opinions.

Name that ingredient

So my sister should love this post. When she was here visiting back in Dec. we saw a show on the Food Network that had a challenge where they had to "Name that Ingredient". On the show they had to taste the recipe and then guess how many ingredients they could name, the opponet could then pass or up the number - just like Name That Tune. That night we entertained ourselves by cooking dinner,some delicious Idaho Potato Soup, and made Chris guess what was in it.
Well you guessed it, the game has stuck. Instead of making the real food we pull out cookbooks, Charlotte is usually the reader and she picks the recipe, then we play. Our kids love to laugh at the names of recipes because there are some recipes with really funny names out there. Chris and I laugh trying to guess what could possibly be in "Aunt Julie's Favorite Dessert". I mean, who is Aunt Julie?? Did she love fruit or chocolate, crunchy or chewy, who knows?? I take great pride in knowing the basic in and outs of what meals are made of. It's the game that I have the best chance at winning.
If your family is very easily entertained you should try it. It really works for us.

E.R. visit #2

I consider our family very lucky at the few amount of times we've had trips to the E.R. In total we've made the trip there 4 times but only 2 times have we been admitted. The other 2 times were with Charlotte's allergies but we just sat in the parking lot watching her and waiting to see if she improved or if things got more serious. So both admitted trips were for Rozlyn. First for the croup and then came tonight.
We'd just finished reading scriptures and saying family prayers. The kids were all snuggled up on the couch ready to watch a little "Wipeout" before they had to hit the sack. I was feeding Mallory and I heard this super loud "crack, whip" sound followed by agonizing screams of pain. The sound was so terrifying to me, like a sound I've never heard before. Rozlyn had wrapped Stanley, a family favorite rubber snake, around her feet and stretched him out when he snapped. Rozlyn was screaming about her eyes, because of the crack sound I heard and then her screams I was very afraid of what I might see. I was sure her eyeballs had been shoved into the back of her head or something equally as terrible. She couldn't calm down and was in so much pain, very uncharacteristic for her. We couldn't get her to open her eyes for anything, she was squeezing them shut, still screaming. After awhile Chris took her into the dark closet wondering if the darkness would persuade her to try and open them. After Mallory was in bed I decided we had to get her to the Dr. Unfortunately Accute Kids and Care Now were both closed so to the E.R. we went.
I was happy that I had numerous occasions to explain that she was hit in the face with a rubber snake named Stanley. In hindsight I should have taken Stanley with us. Many of you know Stanley and how he's almost like a family pet to us, he eats dinner with us, goes swimming with us, takes baths with us and participate in many more activities. So I knew Rozlyn was really mad when she said she wished our family never would have got Stanley, because then this never would have happened. Poor Stanley.
In the end she was diagnosed with scratched corneas. She had neon orange eyes for awhile that made her look like she belonged in a sci-fi movie. That was the only cool part of the experience. Apparantley they are very painful and Rozlyn handled it like one tough cookie. She's numbed, druged up and hopefully will be able to get some sleep tonight.
When we walked in the door Chris was holding Stanley moving his head up and down and apologizing for him. I think he might be forgiven.

California Dreamin

Ooooh I can't wait to make another trip out west to visit my parents. I just purchased the tickets so it's a done deal. This time my date is with Chris. The two of us need a getaway and I'm looking forward to the kidless time with the folks, games, food and laughing. The countdown is on!

Hidden Talents

I love the day when I upload the pictures to the computer because I get to find pictures like these. and videos like these

One day Rozlyn called me upstairs to show me her new found talent. As a family we'll each take a few bells and play a song, but never before had someone attempted a solo. She can't even read music yet, but we have some sheet music with the note letter and there's a note letter written on top of each bell. (You can tell how much I know about music with terminology like "note letter"). She mastered Old McDonald all on her own. I was very impressed and still make her play it for me often. I even had her play for her school class. I love her recently discovered talent.

WHOO HOO

Go Dreamgirls

Here is some video clip from last weeks school talent show. My girls are second from the left(Roz) and far right(Charlotte), the ones usually going in the wrong direction. Rozlyn was a little worried about her foot during the performance after she took a tumble, but what a trooper to keep going. It was lots of fun for them and the third year they've done it. Since they had two dress rehearsal's prior to the big night I'd already seen all 40 acts 2 times. That made the night especially fun for me to sit through it all for a third time.

Dreamgirls @ Yahoo! Video

Carnival!!!

Not the Rio kind, just the big huge Rozlyn turned 6 kind. We had quite the party. After going to a friends party the previous summer who did the same thing, Rozlyn had been begging for a carnival party of her own. Thanks to the same friends mom and another friend from church we were able to put together quite a fun time.
Rozlyn couldn't narrow her list below 17 girls but I figured it would be O.K. because it would be in our back yard with lots of room for little bodies. Only one girl didn't come, I just assumed a handful wouldn't show up. The even bigger problem was the huge rainstorm that was rolling in that day. So we ended up having 7 game booths, face painting, the funny picture center, refreshments and the ticket store all crammed on my first floor. We survived and Rozlyn had such a great time. It's been a great six years with that girl, I just can't get enough of her.
Here are some pictures:


Games
The ticket store:
The girls would win tickets at the game booths. They then could come and shop at the ticket store. They could buy party favors and treats like cotton candy, soft pretzels and popcorn. The girls were hilarious to watch, some would count there tickets over and over again agonizing over what to buy, some would buy all treats, some would buy all favors and some wouldn't buy anything because I guess they thought their tickets were more valuable then anything they could purchase.
More Games
These were my darling helpers from church who ran the games. We also took pictures of the girls behind here. face painting

hand painting Here's a shot of the crowd How many girls can you fit in one kitchen??
There were so many things that I'm regretting that I don't have any pictures of. (the cupcake tower, the invitations, all the cute signs Charlotte made to hang by the games, Rozlyn close-up, the whole group together, the awesome Plinko and penny toss boards my friends husband made, the snack stand) At least this way it's written down and we can be reminded of them. I honestly am the worst picture taker, I need to hire an assistant to follow me around and catch our family memories on film.

If you have a goal make it known

I have to celebrate my victory for making it over halfway through the month of May with the 31 posts. The lesson I'm learning is that if I want to get something done I should make it known publicly. I guess my personal motivation and will is just not strong enough. I better be careful what else I write down unless I really want to do it.
I do have to say that I'm glad I have my daily recordings, if even just for a month. In the past I usually only blog abou the big things, parties, vacations, holidays or really funny things my kids say. I never took the time to mention the small things. However, really my life is filled up with the small things. The small things are who I am. I'm a horrible journal writer so this month's archive will end up being a pretty typical representation of my day to day life. I didn't plan for this to happen but I'm happy it's ended up this way. Day to day assignments, book club, my calling, my relationship with my sister - these are the sorts of things I've never taken the time to document.
So 14 more days to go, I think I can make it!

The recap of our adventures

At about midnight when the fun finally ended for the girls I was kicking myself that I didn't get pictures of our girls night. I actually totally spaced it, I'm pretty poor at taking photos. I should have taken one this morning with them konked out on the family room floor to at least show the conclusion to the fun but didn't do that either. We had lots of fun, lots of sugar and I finally had to turn the T.V. and lights off at midnight because I knew there would be no other way to get Charlotte to sleep. That girl is a night owl I tell you. I wonder where she got that from.
I finally drifted off to sleep but woke back up around 3am to loud winds and storms outside. I immediately thought of Chris and Mason and started to get nervous. I came to the computer to look up the weather and realized a huge storm was coming in and not leaving anytime soon. He was sharing a tent with a few other guys so I was nervous to call and wake everyone up. I decided to just send him a text asking if they were O.K. He was already awake along with the other guys sitting in the tent with rain pouring down, sleeping soundly and wondering what to do. The tent was filled with water by morning, everything soaking wet. Many families just left their tents and went home because it would have been a disaster trying to pack up in the conditions. Poor guy got zero sleep. I was also laughing because he told me that he didn't take a pull up for Mason, pajamas or a change of clothes for him. He told me that he took alot of stuff but nothing useful. I decided that is why I get on invited on trips, to be the packer. In the end there were 3-4 inches of rain that fell throughout the night. I texted him this morning, harassing him to enjoy his soggy pancakes (since it was still raining out) and he told me they were headed to IHOP because the breakfast guy bailed sometime in the night.
During family prayers tonight the feeling of grattitude was much more sincere when he gave thanks for a nice home with a roof and good protection.

Mother and Daughter's

Bring it on! Tonight will be our first of many M & D nights. Mason will be joining his dad on their first Father's and Son's campout. The big plans: shoppping, eating out, polishing fingernails and toenails, a movie and some treats. Is there anything I left off the list that girls should do when no guys are around. I'll have photos tomorrow to document our event. I'm so excited!

Geek Squad

Today I met with them for the first time. They're real people that really help. My computer is such a headache to me in so many ways that I went back to where we got it to explain my problems. They gave me a lot of answers and sent me on my way. They told me if I still have issues to bring it back and they'll look at the actual computer. Guess what, I'm stil having issues after trying their tricks out tonight. So it looks like me and the geek squad will soon be on a first name basis. The best part - it's free! (that is their help in the store) Maybe they can get away with it because there aren't alot of people willing to take their computers in. However if they have to come out to your house, $150.00 bucks per hour....ouch. I sure hope to get it resolved.

A.I.

Chris and Kris, anyway you spell it = Happiness. One in real life and one on a reality T.V. show. I so glad Chris Graham is my husband I'm so glad Kris Allen is in the American Idol finale. That's all I have to say about that.

My day off

I like to call Tues & Thurs my days off while Mason is at school. Perspective has changed so much in the past 8 years that I can call my alone time with 1 child a day off. It's my big day to get my groceries done, house cleaned, volunteer at the school, pay bills, and the list goes on.
This morning when Mason went to school I realized that he only has two more weeks left. I eat lunch with the girls every few weeks but have only joined Mason a few times. I'm not quite sure of the reasons why. For my free time today I put Mallory in the jogger and went for a run, came home and got ready and then went to the girls school. First Rozlyn for a 1/2 hour, then Charlotte for a 1/2 hour then I decided to go to Mason's school. I'd already packed him a lunch but grabbed a kids meal on the way there for him to be excited about. Just his mom coming might not seem that great. I'm lucky that all three of my school aged kids lunches are staggered about 35 min. apart so this could happen. He was excited to see me and we had a fun time. He's such a good little boy. When I took him back to class they were getting ready to rest. He has the view of the door so I could look in and wave, blow kisses, thumbs up, show him his prize I was taking home, hold up his lunch box, more kisses, funny faces and and a few more thumbs up. Luckily his teacher didn't come out to rush me along because I wouldn't have been ready to leave. He had the biggest smile and I was so happy that I spent my alone time not so alone today. The moment was priceless. Sometimes dirty houses can wait when these moments are available. I'm glad the opportunity didn't pass me by.

New Computer

I thought a new computer would be the solution to all of my techy problems. Nope. So I'm apologizing publicly to a computer that did us so good for so long. I'm not yet loyal to our new purchase. All the files are in wierd places. Certain files won't open because programs don't recognize them, the media center and picture viewers are all different. Grrr. I'm sure after some time I'll get used to it. Why is technology so difficult for me??? I even got suckered into paying for some upgrade/optimization that was supposed to make things easy breezy. Yes, totally suckered. It appears they just find desperate, uncapable looking females and charge us a large amount of money with empty promises. The sales dude gave me the pitch for alot of different systems to which he told me would all be 10X faster then our current computer. Chris's request was to get the fastest and best but honestly I can't tell any difference. On top of this all I've really wanted a lap top. I could have bought one but instead went with the desktop again putting off my wish for even longer. Even more then that I've wished for a Mac but in the end couldn't justify the price to myself because I'm so cheap. So here I am with this computer which I should be more happy about but just am not. At least it's not living and breathing. Now I don't have to feel all that guilty about my unkind feelings towards it.

Felicidades Mama

This was the what the card said that was attached to my big, fresh and beautiful bunch of flowers from Charlotte. She asked me what the card said when she got home and I just laughed. I love my flowers with a little spanish flair.
Mother's Day is like another birthday, all about me, what's not to love about that. I quickly listed out my favorite parts of today.
-Sleeping in
-Big yummy breakfast
-No extra church meetings so Chris can help get the kids ready for church
-My huge beautiful and bright daisy from the ward
-The primary kids singing to me - Mason's first time
-Mason's first prayer in primary where he blessed me (his mom) and of course his belt
-No meetings after church for Chris
-Presents-yahoo!! My favorite is my new hose holder, I know it sounds pretty lame except that I really wanted it now that I'm finding my green thumb and all (that's for a future post)
-Yummy dinner, yummy dessert and Chris's mandatory "make every kid say nice things about mom" game
-thinking about my mom
Speaking of....today Charlotte was having a hard time cleaning up after dinner, she was frustrated and crying (totally not fair on MY day). She asked me what I would do when I was a girl when I got in trouble or when I was mad. It made me think of my own mom. I told Charlotte that honestly I can't remember ever getting in trouble. No grounding, no time-out, no shouting, no spanking. I really don't remember ever being bad, and the time I was afraid of getting in trouble (when I almost burnt down the house) I just cleaned and cleaned and cleaned hoping she wouldn't be as mad when she got home. This made zero sense to Charlotte that I would clean to get out of trouble while she was getting in trouble for not cleaning. The irony. It left me in awe wondering how she did it. She even had one more kid then me. I always felt love, she gave me wings to fly and be who I wanted to be. She supported me in all my wildest ambitions and really had me believing that I could be anything I wanted to be. I'm not the same with my kids. I'm controlling, I want them to act a certain way, be a certain way and have a hard time letting the control go. I need to be so much better. I wish I had more of my mom in me. So instead of beating myself up over my poor parenting, I'll celebrate how awesome of a mom mine was and just try to be better. I love you mom, you're the best - felicidades mama.

Hooray for Antibiotics

Today I've spent my day grateful for modern medicine and how miraculous our bodies are. Just yesterday I was feeling so crappy. My throat hurt, I was so tired, I was just plain sick. I got in two naps before I even had to pick the kids up - my lucky break. I had to shuffle the kids to their dress rehearsal for their school talent show and it took everything I had in me to do it. We even left early which was frowned down upon but I really couldn't hang out there. Chris came home from work and I swallowed my pride and went to the late night clinic. I got in about 9o'clock, and the Dr. checked me out. It was strep throat as I suspected. I got home at 10:00 with my drugs handy and went off to sleep. I woke up still feeling miserable, took some motrin and by 12:00 my throat wasn't hurting. I love drugs!!! It must have been such an exciting breakthrough when penicillin was discovered. So I've spent my days amazed at how a little tiny bit of medicine can work so quickly and effectively even with the complexity of our bodies. I know I probably still have it and am not at 100%, but the difference in one day has me so happy. I should go to sleep now seeing how it's already after 11:00 and I'm sure so many of these night in a row is why I got sick in the first place.

My one and only sister

I just wanted to wish my one and only sister a very happy birthday. Today is her big day!! I could write something I love about her for each year of her life but thought I shouldn't rub in her old age. I'll just say that I feel lucky to have her in my life. From the time I was little she's watched over and cared about me in a way no one else has. I know I bugged her as a kid always wanting to be everywhere she was, doing what she was doing but it was because I looked up to her and wanted to be like her. She's wrapped up in all my childhood memories. Sleeping in her bed, throwing my Sunday shoes at her, trying to figure out how she got chocolate out of a Hershey's chocolate notebook and having sleepovers with her after she went to school. She taught me how to dance, how to be creative, how to be crafty and above all thoughtful. I know of nobody else who is as good at remembering somebody else's special days. She was always there to teach me, wish me good luck, make me care packages and travel packs. Now she does the same for my kids as well. She never missed one of my events while I was dancing, cheerleading, and doing plays. She was always, always there. She taught me how to dance, through all of my performances she was the behind the scenes story. The song Wind Beneath My Wings has always reminded me of her because while I was winning awards, getting recogniation and tonz of attention she was in the background. I so appreciate the endless sacrifices she made for me to see me succeed and feel like I'll never be able to give that back to her. I love to laugh with her, play games, make fun of ourselves, travel and take the average age down of people. I'm sad that so many states separate us and that I can't be there for her. This has gone on and on and I now can't see the screen because my eyes are filled with tears thinking back with a grateful heart for my sister. So Ang just know that I love you and have a happy happy birthday. Sorry this is cheesy, not your favorite thing.

Sweet Talkin

I just returned home from bookclub, a few hours earlier then the normal. I think we're all getting old and have less energy. I guess that's what the 30's do to you. I think the history of the bookclub originated in downtown Dallas 5-6 years back. Since then everyone has moved out to the suburbs but the club has stayed intact. That makes for meetings all over the place. I kind of the like the seperation from my everyday friends and ward. Anyway, I was driving the crowd out to Flower Mound tonight. We had 4 women and 2 babies in the mini-van from over here. I like to refer to the road trip as pre and post book club, because before we even hit our destination we've already covered so much. In the middle of the chit-chat I see the dreaded flashing lights behind me. Grrrr!! Why me, why now? As we were waiting for the cop to come up I told them to trust me and that I could get out of it. We quickly talked strategies and then I told them to keep quiet and that I'd take care of it. Then in my head I was certain I would get a ticket just for being so arrogant. I was nice, friendly, apologetic, and a little chatty. After he came back he said we could without a ticket unless anyone else in the back wanted one for some reason. SUCCESS!!!! It was the pride of my day. Now I'll go hit the sack a refreshed, rejuvinated and ready to be a better wife and mom. That's what my adult girl talk does for me. It fills my tank to try harder and keep going. It also helps that I come home to a neat and tidy clean house - I love my husband. First he lets me go have some girl time, second he cleans the whole house while I'm away. I can't wait to share my news with him in the morning that I got out of yet another ticket.

It was one of those days

I just returned from a YW board meeting at 11:08 p.m. That's right. I love working with the YW and love love working with the other leaders. I sometimes joke that our monthly board meeting is my social life. But honestly we laugh our heads off every time. Tonight we re-wrote the lyrics to the Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mamma, la la la song with modesty lyrics. When we perform it I'll try to record it and post it.
Prior to YW this is how my day went down....
I found this on Sunday and just laughed and laughed. My favorite part... I've got some time to myself so I'll brush my teeth. All the lyrics though really hit to close to home and yet I love my life and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Celebrating May 5

Cinco de Mayo and a new fresh month's of minutes for my cell phone. Two things worth celebrating. I think I'll get takeout tonight.
Charlotte told me she was tired and needed a nap. I told her to hold out and go to bed early. She seemed all concerned that she'd miss our "party". I told her it wasn't a real party just one where we order some yummy mexican food and tell each other "Happy Cinco de Mayo" that's as festive as it gets. I think she was dissapointed. I guess she thinks I abused the use of the party word.

Mother's Day Preview

Today I took my kids out into the swine flu filled air, hand sanitizer on the ready, to take care of Mother's Day and my sister's birthday (May 8th). That in itself is a huge success because I'm never prepared ahead of time. We went to the church bookstore because I had some returns and needed to make my family some money (see earlier posts) ha ha. That really was a laugh because I came out spending way to much. Let me just quick brag about the steals I found. "The Wednesday Letters" by Jason F. Wright, New York Times bestseller, regular price 19.95 was 1.99. There were tonz of them. I haven't read it myself but I bought three because well, they were only 1.99. Who knows what I'm going to do with them but I couldn't resist. I also picked up two Leven Thumps books (book2&3) hardback for 1.99. Then I splurged and bought myself "Project Organization" by Marie Ricks (my sister always shares tips from her and I need it!)some dough enhancer and gluten just because.
My success ended at this point.
My next stops, and my failures will briefly be described below.
1.Distribution center - closed for renovation
2.Borders to pick up Guernsey Literary book for Chris's mom (because I love it and know she will too) was all sold out. Next pick "I Capture the Castle" all sold out. What?? Bad Luck
3. The cute little local post office to pick up cute new stamps since they up the prices on Monday. My mom would like them because of practicality and Chris's mom would like them because she's the master card sender and stamp collector. Of course all they have left were a few forever stamps, but that wasn't the point. The point was to get some unique ones because that's fun, the new price starts the next day and I'm a thoughtful daughter.
4. The big huge, long line, real Post Office. I waited in line for a few minutes, asked a dude if they had really neat stamps, I was told no and left.
So in all of my intentions to think of Mother's Day a little earlier then normal so that a gift might actually make it to them before the big day failed.
What am I going to do, what does everyone else do? Someone enlighten me. I'll trade you a few 1.99 books for some good ideas. Please, anyone? I might even throw in some gluten.

I've been Elected

I'm happy to announce my new office - the Graham Family Historian. I don't think I've ever been elected to anything. I've tried and been the big loser a few times so I had to make up an office that was automatic and no one could vote me out of. (Chris made it clear he didn't want to run or be appointed).
With my new office comes new equipment. Presenting my new toy/headache...

Toy because of the many possibilities, headache because of my limited technical abilities.
Anyway, this device allows me to put all of my old unwatched media onto DVD's. I can put any VHS tape, our 8mm camcorder days and our recent miniDV's. My kids love home videos and in the past they've been such a pain to hook up, wires, wires, wires, change channels, change inputs, it doesn't work try it all again, I can hear the sound but can't see the pictures, you know the drill. Not any more, put in the DVD, select which scene you want and you're off. I'm so excited!!!
After I get the stuff transfered I'll be able to piece, add music, add still pictures and make movies.
Another responsibility of the family historian is to scrapbook. Unfortunately my goods are in a far away closet getting dusty. I can't get rid of them because I do enjoy it but don't have it in me to do right now. In the meantime shutterfly photo books are doing the tricks. They're not as personal, but they get the job done and that's the survival mode I'm in right now in my life.
I'll be up for re-election as soon as one of my own is capable to take over. Actually I'll probably just resign and enjoy the fruits of someone else's labors. I'll deserve it.

Vain at 3

Mason has been way into both his age and looks lately. He keeps on saying the funniest things. He's very into his clothes, picking them out, laying them out for the next day before he goes to bed and making sure they match just right. Then after he gets dressed he likes to look in the mirror. This is when he starts talking like this "How do I look??? Hey guys, do I look good?" "I'm a handsome guy". This is all while he's staring and beaming at himself in the mirror.
Along the same clothing lines, he always checks his tags and lately has refused to wear anything that doesn't have a 3 on it. If it's 2T or 4T I might as well just pack it away. This gets frustrating because he has some great outfits that aren't size three. Another obsession - his braided belt. He has to wear it everyday. This means only pants with loops will work. I'm sure you can imagine the problems he has with his shoes that are size 8. He just can't figure it out. "He this isn't right, these are Charlotte's shoes, Charlotte is 8". It just cracks me up how much these sorts of things mean to him when my girls never thought twice about any of it.
The last funny thing about being three is that he won't use the term "me too" when I ask the kids if they want to do something. He'll only say "me three" so he specifically waits for someone to say "me too" so he can use his age appropriate "me three". He then smiles all proud of himself like he just tricked everyone.
Someday I wish I could freeze this "3" stage. It's just such a funny one.

31 Posts

A brilliant idea to motivate me to post just came to me. "One a day in May". So starting today is the begining of 31 posts to come. I have so much to catch up on and never have it in me to do all at once so maybe if I spread it out I'll enjoy the process more. Since I'm slacking at my own personal journal I need to be at this. I still hold that reading everyone else's is way funner then writing one.
So brace yourself, daily updates are coming your way - I know you can hardly wait for the scope on our super exciting lives.
I'm so glad I got this in at 11:28p.m. and that it's still May 1st.

2 Reviews

A book and a movie...

Book - The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows.
Movie - Bedtime Stories

The book is one of my new favorites. I haven't read a book I enjoyed so well in a long time. I loved the characters, loved the story, it was totally PG rated (love that) and I laughed right out loud so many times.

I always love finding a movie that both me and the kids enjoy and we had a fun family night with this one. There also was alot of laughing and I thought it was clean enough for the fam.

Go experience them for yourselves if you haven't already.

So Happy!!!

This is from a tag a long time ago, 8 things about me that make me happy (beyond the obvious).

1. Cinnamon rolls - always a weakness of mine, I just can't get enough.
2. Yummy smelly things - car jars, room sprays, Bath and Body Works, and my new favorite is anything Scentsy. I love their warmers!!! I love coming home to a delicious smelling house.
3. Goose down comforter and feather bed. We have both of these on our bed year round, even in the heat of the Dallas summers, to comfortable to take off. I love my squishy soft bed, it makes me so so happy. I could lay in it all day.
4. Game shows and reality T.V. Growing up I never watched T.V. That was until after I was married and reality T.V. started up. I love watching people in real life (or totally fake:)) Current favorites, American Idol - (Kris Allen) and Biggest Loser, I just can't make it through an episode with crying. The Price is Right, I cry everytime someone comes running down all excited.
5. I enjoy a good cry. Give me a good book or movie and let me just cry. Once Chris called home while I was reading a heart wrenching book and sobbing away, he told me I should probably stop reading it and put it down. Call me crazy but I love a good cry. My most recent was "Marley and Me" and anyone who knows me knows how much I hate dogs and even that book made me cry.
6. BYU - I'm one proud cougar alum.
7. Free food, i.e. company dinners paid for by NSAI, receptions, parties, samples. Is this embarassing to admit to??
8. Returning things - I have a messed up mentality that makes me feel like I make money when I return things. The truth is that I don't buy things with plans to return them but I have bad buyers guilt and often my purchases go back. I also never try clothes on at the stores so clothes are returned all the time. Instead of realizing that I've spent the money and and are just getting refunded for it, I see it as money already spent and that I get some free money.
People I tag - do it it's fun! StreetWalker, Angey, Megan

We've gone country

We've had quite the cowgirl and cowboy fun filled events the past few months. One night Chris came home and decided it was time for him to buy some cowboy boots. I asked him when and where he planned to wear them and he was undecided, just certain he wanted some. Also a few times recently when I've gotten in his car the radio has been left on a country station. My husband's a new man, for sure this never would have happened 11 years ago when I first met him. If only he already had his boots to ring in the fun of two open houses and one wild wild west birthday party.
First Mason's open house - for months he's been reciting the words to Deep in the Heart of Texas. Unfortunately his big night was the exact same night as Rozlyn's open house. It was such drama for me. How could I ever miss either one of these nights. I went with Rozlyn and Chris went with Mason, we only have one digital camera so I took it with me and he took the video. Bad choice because we ended up with no pictures. I was holding Mallory the whole time and just couldn't do it. So here is a cute one of Roz after the event.
Charlotte really really wanted a pool party for her big eighth birthday and I really really didn't want to be responsible for all of her friends in a pool so I had to think of something even better to convince her. My idea: horseback riding, petting zoo, barn, bounce house - a sure sale!

Mason wasn't missing out on any of the fun


Here's most of the group. Charlotte insisted on wearing cowboy boots, even though they really don't fit. After about an hour of running around they came off. I was very disgusted at the idea of no shoes, I would pick blisters anyday over stepping in horse crap. Somehow they stayed off, and it's just now looking at this picture that I'm wondering how I ever let her get away with that. CPS might as well take me away now. I mean really what mom let's one of her own run around barefoot through a barn. I'm so grossed out, I can't talk about it anymore.

Family Pictures

Here are some family pictures we had taken right before Charlotte's baptism. I really wanted to get pictures of her in her dress and some pictures of Mallory for her 6 month birthday too!! Since half the kids would be dressed and pretty I made a poor judgement call to do all the kids. I'm really getting to be more and more of an anti-studio kind of gal but a friend had recommended this place and it was super cheap so we gave it a try. The experience wasn't all that great. It was my first time so I tried not to say to much because I didn't know the system. After taking a million ugly background family group shots, she informs me we're running low on time. I explained my main goal was to get pictures of Charlotte in her dress (which she didn't start out in - their advice) and some of Mallory alone. So then we're rushing, rushing trying to get what we actually needed. I was left with about two pictures to choose of the ones I wanted. Grrrr. If only it worked like a payphone and I could deposit money as needed to extend our session time, but that wasn't the case. We were herded over to the computer station where I got to sift through all the pictures while my four kids ran around unattended. Photo sessions with four kids are best handled at a 2:1 kid to parent ratio.

Two more things to say, does this make any of my photographer friends feel sorry enough for me that they could move here and also I'm supposed to publicly say that Chris didn't endorse the pioneer look on Mallory.

Baptism

We had the unique opportunity to travel to Vegas, a place not usually known for conversion stories, to baptize Charlotte. On Chris's side of the family there were three little girls born all within a month, who now live in three different states which was going to make getting to all these baptisms a logistical nightmare. The solution: baptize them all together in one central location. The other huge advantage was that my parents who are currently serving a mission in California were able to drive up for the day. The whole week went by so fast but was so much fun. We decided to do the drive. Overall it was a success, there were a few disturbing rest stop stories but they're still a little to close to the surface for sharing. We stayed in a rental home so all the kids could get in cousin time and all of the adults could have adult time. The bapitsm was on Saturday followed by a huge luau with a whole roasted pig.
I'm grateful for the circumstances that made it such a memorable day for Charlotte. It was so fun to see her getting ready, running around with excitment, giggling with her cousins as they were getting their jumpers on and standing on the side of the font dripping wet as they watched and waited until all three were done. I'm so proud of Charlotte, I love her so much for so many different reasons.
Her are some pictures from the big week and even bigger day: