Surprises

Since I have been having some hard times, Brian decided to treat me to a special Valentines Day Surprise. The best Brother in Law in the world came over to Babysit and we were on our way.

We had a STAY-CATION is what I would call it...

FIRST OF ALL, my CAMERA is dead and I cant find the charger, so the pictures are all stolen pictures online.

We headed to a place to eat in UP TOWN Dallas. It is called Fedora's and it was Italian. The atmosphere was awesome and the food was good, but the service was just OK.

Then we headed to a movie, The Vow, at a new theatre in Down Town Dallas. We both thought it was really good. Tears were shed and we left just kinda more in love than we were before. Does that sound silly? Yes, but the movie was really good. We approved. So at this point I wasn't really understanding why this was such a great surprise date...

Until, we drove down a ways to a very cool hotel. I have seen them around a few places here and have always wanted to stay in one. Khloe and Lamar (you know, Kardashian Lady) live in the apartments that this same company makes. ANYWAY, we walk in and you better believe we checked in to an ALOFT suite for the night. It was fun because it felt like we were somewhere out of town and it is not a hotel we would normally ever stay in. Really modern and trendy and of course a "loft" feel to the rooms. It was so fun.

I was really looking forward to sleeping in and having some relaxing sleep with no peepee interuptions. WRONG, I woke up at 7 with visions of Boots beside my bed asking me to go to the bathroom. Ug. But it was still relaxing to not have to worry.

Now I am a food girl. I love food SO much that it is probably not right. So Brian did some more research beforehand and found this little place Breadwinners Bakery. It was so cute and the middle had this room that was kind of like a greenhouse, outdoor patio, top of a roof top kind of feel. It was pouring rain outside and so it was loud, but it just added to the ambience. The food was AMAZING! It was by far the best breakfast I have ever ever had. It was a creamcheese raspberry stuffed frenchtoast with the thickest yummiest bacon and freshly squeezed OJ I have ever had, ever. Their desserts looked incredible, but I will have to go back for those on another day. I can say this FOR SURE... I will be going back there. Oh yes.

It was a fantastic date. I know that this will not happen every Valentines day, which is FINE with me! I just like that my husband is so sweet and compasionate to me, and can see when I need a little extra something. He is the most thoughtful man and he truly cares about my needs and my wants, and making me happy. I love him so much and cant imagine life without him. Watching that movie made us both realize the importance of journal writting and how we want to make sure our relationship is special every day.

Now back to real life. The house is a mess and needs a deep clean and we are needing to start getting boxes and packing up the house because... we are moving! Yeah!

Anticipation

I am loving the age that my kids are getting to. I feel like they GET IT. With Valentines Day tomorrow, I know it isn't a huge day or a big deal, but I am wanting to make it a fun day and a special day. The kids are pumped. They have no idea what tomorrow is and what it means, but I know Natalie went to bed giddy!

So tonight we dropped off some of the kids little Valentines to a few people and while we were out Boots was playing with a GLOW STICK in the back seat. Happy Happy Happy, singing singing singing, laughing laughing laughing... SCREAM! I look in the rear view mirror and I see blue splattered all over Boots' face and he is screaming holding his eyes.
I quickly pull over into Sonic and get him out. I am waiting for someone to come out and ask for a water, I am watching a woman next to me glare at me like I am beating my child. All I had was a wipe to wipe his face down... so I do. He seems to get better after about 5 minutes and we get back in and go on our rounds. I was concerned and call Poison Control. They told me that I have to get it cleaned out immediately. She kinda harped on me for using wipes, SORRY! thats all I had! Anyway, we were heading over to my cousins house and as soon as we arrived, we went in for a little 15 minutes shower for the kid. He was so good and brave and on we went! I am hoping he is ok. Man, that kid keeps me on my toes. Especially after watching him push an acorn up his nose on Sunday, sooooo far that it took me a while to get it out. haha I laughed so hard at that one.

We played around a bit tonight and off to bed. I love/hate bedtime. I love getting the in bed and having a few minutes alone, but I hate the process getting there. It all has to be timed just right and there is always unexpected things that come up and Boots has his numerous potty trips, Natalie whines and whines for more stories and books and really... JUST GO TO BED! But after it is accomplished, It is blisfull to sit alone and veg! Ahhh!

Tonight I first had to get the kitchen ready for a fun Valentines Breakfast. I just love those kiddos and want them to have fun all the time. I am thinking heart shaped Pankcakes, whip cream, berries and bananas, strawberry milk. It'll be great. They eat panc's like they are going out of style.

They were super excited to get their Valentines done and put together today. Boots insisted on Jelly Beans, so we came up with this. He had just a few people he wanted to give them to and was so excited to do it. After we bagged them up, he had one look and his response was "MOM! Thats not enough!" He thought the HUGE bulk bag of beans was what he was giving to each kid. haha If you cant see it the card says " You make my heart turn to Jelly, Bean my friend! Happy Valentines!"

Natalie is having her little "friendship party" at school tomorrow and these are what she wanted to do. OK fine, This is what I wanted to do. Enough candy already. I am so over it. So I wanted something fun and different. And of course pinterest was the perfect way to find something fun and EASY! The battle we had with these was having her write her name on each one. There were several temper tantrums, erasing, and tears...but we finally got them done.

Tomorrow is the big Love day and YES I love Valentines Day. I am a little selfish and love a day devoted to Love. Lets be serious, It kinda is all about the woman, sooo I love it. Brian has something planned and he is claiming that this will be the BEST date I will have ever been on EVER.... we will see! But really, Im so excited for not only the BEST date ever, but just a night out. I am in need, desperate need. I am hoping yummy dinner and the movie The Vow are involved.. I love me some Channing and really want to see it.

Ending on another funny story about Boots. He has memorized all of the apostles names and faces for church. So we quiz him every so often, and the other day I noticed that 3 were missing. So we go through them all and the conversation goes like this:

Mom "Oh, we are missing a few huh Boots?"

Boots "Ya... Anderson... and Utchdorf...and what else?"

Mom "Well, who is left boots? CHR...."

Boots "Christopherson!"

Hahaha I was laughing so hard that he rememebered the other ones who we were missing. Kuddos to him! Smart kid!

womp womp womp

I cant believe that it is already the middle of the week. This makes me so excited. I usually don't really care what day it is, or when the weekend comes because I like to think that we make every day fun. But for some reason, I cant wait for the weekend, regardless of the heavy schedule that is going on, I don't care. I am excited.
Brian has been out of town for the last week-ish and it has been a rough rough week. BAD week. however, through the horrible week (no joke, worst in my mothering history) I feel like all the tears that were shed and "moments" that me and the kids shared made me a little refreshed. Well refreshed ish. Lets just say that I am trying to figure some stuff out about myself as a mother but here are a few things that have been helping me this week...
I hate being WHITE as white in the winter. I got this a while back and love it. It REALLY does just give you a natural glow! I have no idea if it really makes a difference, or if anyone else can even tell, but I feel better and more "glowy" with it on. LOVE this!

Moroccan oil. AHHH! my dry dry hair has started to improve. Maybe it was the head and shoulders, maybe it was the olive oil I drenched my hair in one night, or maybe MAYBE it was this great stuff!! I love it. It smells yummy, and I think it is really helping my hair become silkier and smoother, and just rejuvenated. Love it.

And last but really FIRST, Pistachio nuts. They were salt and peppered nuts and they were sampled (stample as the kids call it) at Costco last week with the kids and we all fell in love. I mean of course I have had them before but these are AH MAAZ ING. I have been munching them and munching them day and night. BONUS, they are the lowest calorie nut. YEAH love that! If I cant eat low calorie anything else, I can at least get these. I just polished off the bag. I guess I will have to go back tomorrow for more. Can you say ADDICTING!

You know what is funny? My kids love forts right? When we build them they just cant wait to play and eat and do anything inside... for like 2 minutes. Seriously, I spend a long time making good ones for them, like yesterday I spent about 30 minutes turning the ENTIRE room into a fort, you know with fort rooms and all. Well 2 minutes later they were out whining about nothing to do. COME ON! I just built you the coolest fort ever! Speaking of forts, it reminds me of the episode of The Community when they all build a giant fort. haha If you don't watch that show, you should. Its so funny.

AND back to my nightly routine. Sit, Relax, drink Diet coke, (not eat pistachios since they are gone) and indulge in my shows.

midweek movie

This week, we decided to do Movie night on Wednesday because of circumstances that I wont say...Anyway, King Fu Panda 2 was the movie choice. The kids were so excited. Really, they don't care what movie they watch, they love anything.
We learned some Chinese words, and then they each looked up some words and got to paint them. Natalie was pretty spot on with hers! Boots, he just isn't super artsy! But they had fun. We then made paper lanterns and hung them around.

Then Noodles and chicken from Panda Express with chopsticks and little rice field peasant hats on their heads. They loved it! They are pretty easy to please!


Before the movie, We played with our food. They checked to see how many marsh mellows they could fit into their mouths at a time. FUNNY! Oreos and movie tickets and we were in business! Fun night, another success.
The remainder of the week has been so, so. I have been doing a lot of soul searching and deep thinking about motherhood. It is hard for me and I am really struggling. I know I mentioned some of it in my last post, but I am just trying to get it all figured out. I love my kids, but there are times when I just don't like them. And tonight? I wish there was a babysitter available and around so that I can just go out by myself. Or someone would come over and just give me a hug. There have been tears shed, there have been a lot more than I have ever had over this matter in the past. Today was a hard day. BUT, I am trying harder and harder daily. I am getting over it. I am trying to find things that help and I hold to those.

DONT GET ME WRONG... I love being a momma, and I love my 3 kids. They are wonderful. BUT I just ... I cant even explain it. I wanted to have something written about this experience I am having though. It is hard, and I want to always remember that there were some really really really hard times. I know my mom will say that she knows and remembers feeling the same way, but I just dont believe it. So when Natalie is all grown up and calls me crying for something that is going on with here kids, I can look this back up and remember and tell her that YES, It is normal to have bad days and bad weeks, and cry! Its ok!

On another bad note, (difference kind) A few weeks ago We had a small Lice scare. I will spare the details and just say we were safe. But Natalie and I did the lice hair shampoo treatment to make sure we were ok. Since then it has destroyed my hair. It is dry brittle and breaking. My scalp is flakey and I have full on dandruff. I have never experienced any of this before so it sucks! I bought a few new supplies to maybe get it all taken care of. I just used head and Shoulders in the shower today for the first time, followed by a generous application of Moroccan oil. I am thinking some olive oil, avocado, honey, oatmeal, and maybe mayo and eggs into a hair mask to set for a while tonight. I remember once in high school me and my friend Meg did mayo in our hair and it was soooo gross. The smell was nasty and we smelt bad for a while if I remember correctly. Sick! But I am desperate! ANY SUGGESTIONS? AHHHH I dont want to have to cut my hair! I have been growing it for 3 years.

OK so now onto thinking about my big decision for the night... I am not cooking, and there are no babysitters available, sooo what fast food am I going to pick up and indulge in tonight?

Struggle

So is it possible to be having post pardum when your baby is 16 months old? still? Or do i just call in anxiety? Or low self esteem?

I usually don't like posts like this, but lately (as in the last month or so) I have been down down down. I've been super emotional and snappy, I have been having a hard time losing any of the last few pounds I want to lose and it has made me hate my body, I have found it frustrating every day, all day to be a mom and not yell and get mad at little things. I am trying so hard. I have been praying And praying for patience with my kids, my hubby, and myself. I have been reading talks and trying and trying and trying. I feel like I can not ever get everything I need to get done, done. There aren't enough hours, there aren't enough times I could give enough hugs and cuddles, and kisses. I don't ever want to cook, and cleaning is a must but I procrastinate till the end.

Maybe this is just part of being a mom, and everyone goes through times like this, but I gotta say that I feel all alone in it. When i see other moms, i have to remember I am seeing their best front, on blogs they are writing the best things. I mean come on, Friday family night? It's great and fun and wonderful but do i mention the day and hours leading up to it? Oh no no no! So I have to tell myself that I am normal and everyone goes though this. It is part of life and being a mom, and human.

Really, i have to keep telling myself that i am here on this earth to become a better more Christ like person. There are obstacles along the way and things that we need to learn about ourselves. Patience is a big one for me, and I am working so hard to be that way. I kmow I can't just pray and ask for it, but i need to work at it daily over and over.

Thanks for reading my blah blah blah. I just had to get that out there. To someone other than me, And other than certain men who just don't get it sometimes, even when they a super sensative and wonderful, even they just don't get it sometimes.

Ps. Family fun Friday didn't happen this week. The kids were naughty and got it taken away. Instead I watched "eat pray love", and "hello dolly!" By myself. I enjoyed both... A lot.

Take that Trash out

Look at this sweet sweet baby. She looks so peaceful. She IS so peaceful. Look at her grabbing her favorite blanky and shoving it into her little mouth, and sticking her fingers through any hole she can. Than girl LOVES her blanky. I just love her. And do you know why she was so peaceful? She couldn't hear what was going on in the rest of the chaotic house with her industrial fan on. Lucky her. Drown out the noise!

Then, I took the trash out. I dont do this as much as I should, and I realized this for 2 reasons today.

1. I dont take it out as much as I should for the obvious. The trashes just get too full too fast and they should be taken out more. I mean I am clean but somehow we accumulate so much trash in our little home, it is ridiculous.

2. When I shut the door behind me today while walking the trash bag to the dumpster, It hit me. It was so peaceful and quiet outside. I usually head right back in, but today I took a few minutes extra. I didn't care what crying, teasing, bugging, screaming, or whinning was going on inside at that moment. I didn't hear it! It was glorious!

I immediatly after coming inside and returning to the hot mess of inside the house, called Brian and just put it in his radar that someday soon, he should take me out on a date. No kids, no other couples, Just nice quiet adult time. We have been trying to be on a very strict budget this month, and that meant no date night outs... I have missed our weekly outing! So he gets home, gets a sitter, and off we went on a date. It was heavenly. I loved the sweet peace of adult time. My hubs is a winner! Oh, and that Creme Brule that I got was insanely good.

Just for kicks, this picture sums up Boots pretty good...

Gotta Love him.

Family Fun Friday

Another round of our Family movie night tonight and it was another hit! I was saving egg cartons this week, so what can ya make with Egg Cartons? CATERPILLARS!

So the birth of movie night - A Bugs Life!

We had tasty buggy food(spider sandwiches, bug ranch dip, Caterpillar cheese ball, ants on a log, worm ice cubes, dirt'n'worms) face painting of bugs, making egg carton caterpillars, *kind of cotton candy*, and a hunt for the food before the grasshoppers came!

The kids loved it. We had 2 other families over to make it more fun!

As another week comes to an end-ish, I make a sigh of relief. I have been so busy lately that it feels good to have a night to watch TV, or read, or just sit here and not move. I love to sit and not move. The bad of the weekend? We have been trying to lose a little weight and weekends we kinda take off. This is great until what we lose during the week is gained back on weekends. Ug. I suck. No, losing weight sucks.

BUT its the weekend so...

Hi Laundry

So when we got home from Canada, we came back and as I tried to throw in my first load of laundry, my washing machine malfunctioned. So we were about 2 weeks without a washer and poor courtney was wearing some teeny tiny outfits for her voluptious self. I love that girl. I also love that my washer is fixed and we have clean clothes again. Still working on the huge piles that accumulated over that time, but I am getting there.
The weather here is fab. I cant complain about our 50/60/70's given it was -30 something in Calgary today. We left at just the right time it sounds! We have been enjoying the park, the broken down trampoline in our brown backyard, and "riding" bikes. NAtalie loves it but boots has other things on his mind and on his agenda. That kid is too busy to even keep busy.

Family Fun Friday

I will not take credit for this idea. Family Fun Friday's. While pinterest-ing the other day I discovered this great idea of having a Family Fun Friday. We do have days every week where we spend time together (its called every night) but I wanted to have something fun for the the kids to look forward to, and thought this would be fun to start.

So Family Fun Friday. We take a movie and make the day's activities, or evening depending on how much time you have to put into it.

Brian chose the first movie and he chose Ratatouille. So I got to work thinking of some fun things to do and eat. That afternoon the 3 kids got to be chefs and help me make some mini chocolate chip cookies. Courtney was a newby to helping cook and she loved it. She also LOVED the dough.
Dinner was already planned for the night, Taco's so I didn't change that to something french, but...
I made chef hats out of paper and grocery sacks. Easy Peasy. The kids loved their hats!! Then I got some black streamers and made an Eifell Tower from the ceiling out of it. Didn't turn out as good as I wanted, but still the kids thought it was awesome. Over Dinner we tought a little french. Bonjour, Oui, etc...

I made up some movie tickets, and if they wanted their movie ticket they had to finish their dinner. Sneaky I know!

Earlier, while I was cooking dinner the kids got the coloring pages out and colored up some rats and chefs. Boots doesn't really like coloring. He gets bored fast, so next week I will have to come up with an activity that is better for him.

After Dinner, we jammied up and we headed out to the couch for more snacks. I made a fancy plate of cheeses, crackers, grapes and mini cookies. They were all to be eaten with fancy toothpicks of course. Courtney LOVED the cheeses and just was happy tottling around grabbing handfuls and shoving them in her mouth. Classic Court.

So it was a really fun night. The kids loved it, Brian loved it, and I loved it. I will FOR SURE keep this up and continue doing something each week. It does take some time and effort to plan ahead, but lucky for me, my kids think a movie with popcorn is super fun so anything above and beyond is AWESOME! So although it is now Monday, and I am behind on this post, Happy Family Fun Friday!

Go to www.familyfunfriday.blogspot.com/search/label/FFF for more ideas! I love them all and they just got my mind turning!

I'll never

I will never buy my kids gifts that are breakable and of any kind of significance. Like ever. I love to make them happy and get them things they love, but it is so hard when they turn around and break them... A few days later. Point in case;

First natalie's snow globe. It was adorable and musical and much more than Santa wanted to spend. First the snow globe it self was dropped and broken, on carpet. Ug! Then her wings somehow magically broke off. They were then glued on and then that night she came back out to me amputee without an arm. I'm tempted to throw it away but know that she loves it. I also know that she obviously can not be trusted with anything breakable and of worth.

Second was boots' gumball machine. Santa also decided to spend too much on this. Instead of just getting the plastic mini one from the dollar store, he got the real deal. Now HE didn't break it, but somehow it broke, and can no longer be used. Again, we have been home a week.

It's just frustrating to spend money on things that just get broken and thrown away. Lesson learned for future gifts. Go small or go home!

The gains and losses.

The first week home after the holidays has been bitter sweet.

Let's start off with the flu on the plane. Nothing like being squished in a smelly airplane bathroom trying to throw up quietly in a little airsickness/dirty diaper baggy. Woof. I was happy to get home and get a shower and get in my bed.

We had some friends come into town so it was something really fun to look forward to. They stayed only a day but we managed to squeeze in a Dallas maverick game and some yummy Mexican food. Can i just say, I am slightly obsessed with the fact that Chloe and Lamar are in Dallas. Like love it. I spent most of the game scanning for sassy brunettes and finally found the whereabouts of Kim and chloe kardashian. They were hundreds of feet away, but i could stop staring. I will now try to be out on the town more to maybe one day run into them. Ok, probably not, but I think they are kinda radical.

Today was boots first day of sunbeams at church and he did great, other than the fact that he was half undressed when we went to pick him up, Natalie said all the sunbeams "they be'd so good mom!". I can't believe he is so big. Well i say that, but after receiving a bubble gum machine for Christmas, I should probably not think so highly of his maturity. Today we found gum smeared and stuck all over his body, clothes, and couch. How is that possible? You are thinking. Just trust me, boots makes things happen you never thought possible.

We had a tragic loss this week. I was jumping for joy and waiting for this day for a long time, but the kids took it a little different. They all have blankets. Natalie had loved hers since she was about 1. She rubs is under her nose and between her fingers. It is soothing and she loves that thing so much. It does not cause much damage, but she relies in it to go to sleep. Boots has had his since he was born and I swear has love that thing since day one. He has one corner that he sucks. It is nasty. It smells like old mouth and old wetness. The sounds are gross and the blanket is just gross. He also has a little tasstle and a giraffe tag on it that he loves to twirl in his fingers. Kinda cute, again relies on it to go to sleep. We had them on a strict only sleeping schedule for these things, but they got to a point where I decided it just had to stop. I think it is moving boots teeth a bit, and I can't take his and not natalie's, so we decided to take them both. It's has been hard. Boots has shed many tears. Natalie has been awesome and has learned to deal. No tears( although there were tears over breaking her new snow globe last night) but tonight there was minimal inquiry about the said blankets. We had put them away and I told the kids they could have them back when they go to college. Natalie thought this was awesome. I don't think boots get it as tonight while going potty before bed, had a little tear in his eye and sadly looked up and asked "is it college yet mommy?" man, he melts my heart. I would give into him if Brian wasn't home. But I'm proud of those kids. Hey are doing great!

So now, Christmas stuff is put away, hustle and bustle are over and it is a new year. Time to throw away all my junky fudge and goodies laying around, and start my health kick. Tomorrow is Monday, which for me is the perfect start over date. Tomorrow I start fresh and new, get rid of those x amount of lbs gained over the holidays from eating and eating and eating. Back to get my kids reacquainted with the gyms play place and me with my treadmill. Ahhh, it's gonna be a good week!

The Night before

There is nothing much that comes close to Christmas in Canada. It hasn't snowed much at all but it has been so much fun. Brian and Robin and their kids came and everyone has had so much fun. I made the girls some matching santa skirts this year and they were so adorable. It was impossible to get a picture of them though!
We had a HUGE moment for Natalie and for me. She is 5 and she lost her first tooth. It had been sore and a little lose for a few months and it was getting more lose. That morning it was really lose, but I never imagined it would happen so fast! We went to the movie Aurthur Christmas, which was very cute, and while eating popcorn in the middle of the movie, she wispers over to me "MOM! I lost my tooth!!" She handed her tiny tooth over and although we forgot to put it under her pillow that night, the next night the tooth fairy came and left some sweet cash!

We had an adult date night out to Joseph and the Technicolor dreamcoat. It was...interesting. But the company is always fun and good for a lot of laughs!

Then the day before Christmas eve, we went on a sleigh ride. The kids were all bundled up and loved being out in the snow and trees. I, on the other hand, was freezing.

That night, we had a very special visit from the big guy. There was a knock at the door and in walks SANTA CLAUS! He was so awesome! The kids all loved him and all got a chance to talk to him, ask him anything they want, and sit on his lap. He left a little while later to start all his plans or Christmas Eve!

On Christmas Eve, we of course did our traditional nativity, thanks to Newby for helping participate with all the kids. Nat was an angel, Boots was Joseph, and Courtney was a half angel, half shepard, half wanderer. Singing Carols, opening some Christmas jammies, and then the Cousin gift exchange and the kids were all off to bed.

Christmas morning we headed down for Santa, the pitter patter of the kiddos was so sweet! I love to see the looks on their faces and see their excitment! We got ready for church and headed to a wonderful musical Christmas program about the Savior. SEE NEXTPOST BELOW!