And it begins again

In and out, and in and out, and in and out... that's how I feel our life has been. So I will not share the details of the house but it is for sale again. (big sad face, long story) So we are back to keeping the house spotless, which is impossible, and leaving the house for hours a day.

So for all of you who are about to sell your house and you need tips on how to deal with your house..here are my house for sale tips:

1. dont have 3 kids.

2. get rid of all of your toys so there is nothing they can make a mess with(all of ours fit in a few decorative baskets, the kids are so bored.)

3. dont cook ever. the house cant smell bad, so its a lot of sandwhiches.

4. keep antibacterial wipes and windex wipes everywhere.

5. dont shower and do your hair ever, cause you will get water marks everywhere and hair all over the bathroom.

6. basically stop living your life and cross your fingers that you will hurry up and find a buyer!

I have to say that I can not believe how fast time is going. Courtney is going to be 2 in a few months and she is so grown up. She talks up a storm and say every and anything. She plays and fights and colors and laughs and does everything with the older kids. Maybe it is because she is the 3rd child, but she just fits in perfectly as the peacemaker. She is the common ground. Everyone loves her, nobody hates her and she just brings the smiles and laughs and peace. She was the missing puzzle piece. Love that girl with all my heart. What a doll. She cracks me up. 

We have been pooling a lot and the kids are becoming more comfortable and remembering their skills. Natalie is swimming by herself under the water again and is able to dive for rings and wear her goggles to play underwater. Boots is a little timid about not having his water wings or any type of floatie on, he completely forgot that last year he was swimming on his own. I hope it comes back fast. Courtney LOVES the water and insists on wearing her water wings the entire time we are at the pool. We can be eating, or laying out, things that have nothing to do with water, but she always wants them on. This is a good thing I am learning though since she gives us no notice before she jumps in the water to float. And she will float and kick all around the pool just loving it. I think if I tried I could have her swimming this summer. But I doubt I will try...

And my last plug is for good friends. We have the greatest friends. Brian grew up with a great group of guys. They all married or are dating awesome girls who I love! Then there are the friends we have  made along the way over the last 7 years and mission companions and so on... BUT we feel so lucky that they all get a long, all of them. And we love them all like they are our brothers and sisters. We went to a wedding reception last night of a younger brother of one of the friends, and so many of Brian's friends came. We went out after for a bit and it was just the best. I feel so blessed to have so many good people around me, making me a better person and making Brian and I stronger as a couple. Bad side, it sure makes me miss MY friends and wish I could have these relationships with them and their spouses, sad that none of them really know me and Brian together. I wish I could share those wonderful relationships with Brian too. But really we are just blessed with an abundance of good people in our lives. 

its heating up.

With the kids soccer coming to an end, they had a big fun fest with bounce houses, food, and trophies. Boots waited in line for about 20 minutes for this one and he was so tiny in there! He and his little soccer buddy Brayden went up against eachother and it went on until they had to stop them. Neither won, they are just so little! haha it was cute to see him trying so hard! 

Later that day we went to something we have gone to for the last several years. Taste of Addison. The City of Addison have about 50 restaurants come and set up booths with sample sizes of some of their menu items. You come and can obviously, TASTE all of them! There is face painting, carnival rides, and of course food. We invited Uncle Matt and sweet Cade with us and we had a blast. Boots and Cade are just little buddies when they get together. 

By the end of the HOT day this is how Boots' face paint ended up! All over the place. 

That night Brian and I went back and enjoyed more food and the VIP tent with the free concert to Matt Kearney. It was so fun! Addison is one of the funnest coolest cities around, love going out there!! 

So Brian and I also woke up that morning feeling like we really needed to buckle down, yet again, on eating better and working out. I have slowly started to loose my metabolism that I once had. Ug. I am trying to catch it before it gets away from me. So we knew Saturday would be filled with naughtiness, so Sunday was the real day we started. It is so hard to try and withstand all late night snacking, which is my weakness. So here is the end of day 3, well kind of, we actually already had plans to go out with our friends last night and we had to get the pulled pork nachos. They were just so stinkin good!

 Sweet Natalie has been really sing song-y lately. We went over to another friends tonight for dinner and they have twin 22 month girls. Natalie was in heaven! While the adults were all eating we heard her singing back in the babies room, so we peaked around the corner to find both twins, and the baby dolls, all in the rocking chair with blankets over the top of their laps and she was loudly and beautifully to the babies. It was so sweet until she got caught and got mad we were spying on her. That girl has got some talent though, she can really sing!

The graduate

My sweet Natalie is growing up so fast. She was in a wonderful preschool this year and she learned so much. She came out of her shell, learned all of her letters(which we were really struggling with), she can tie her shoes, and read simple words. I am so proud of her! 

Thanks to Ms. Debra and Ms. Roslyn who are the best teachers ever, she "graduated" preschool. Cant wait for Kindergarten this next year.  

snakes, Snails and puppy dog tails

We have lived in our house for 6 years and we have acquired the best neighbors. They both just happen to have boys boots age. These 3 are trouble. We had them over for dinner the other night as a good bye we love you dinner. The house was crazy loud, the wrestling, yelling, jumping, and laughing that was going on between them was insane. We will miss Dorian and Xavier. (and of course their parents!)

So it is Friday and I am still recovering from our Wednesday trip to Oklahoma City. We drove the 3 hours up with Justin and Andrea for the Thunder vs Lakers game. It was game 2 of their series and it was insanely crazy, loud and fun! We ate at Mickey Mantles and got full on fabulous Steaks. After the game we were waiting in the valet line for our car and the whole team with the cheerleaders, and their families, girlfriends whoever... all turn up to eat at Mickey Mantles. I think we picked the right place to eat dinner! 

Family Fun Friday

We have been dying to go camping and we had it all planned out for Friday night. That was until the rain set in and didn't stop. So, instead of being muddy and wet and miserable at a campsite, we decided to stay home and camp out in the backyard. 

Hot dogs, Marshmallows and S'mores (my favorite part of camping), then it was movie in the tent before bed, Smurfs. 

Well all was going great. They had their lanterns, their glow sticks, their sleeping bags, candy, popcorn, and it was all a go. THEN the rain continued on. It got harder and harder... the sides of the tent were getting moist, and  then wet. We decided to move inside so there would be some sort of sleep that night! They finished up inside and loved camping! I loved camping too. I slept in my own bed!  It was one of the finnest family fun Friday nights we have had!! 

SOOOO, then this weekend got even more exciting! I took a huge step in my life as a US citizen. I have been living in the USA for 10 years now and this is the first time I have ever voted. We voted for the mayor and for our City Councilman and I am proud to say "I VOTED!" It was kinda fun! I cant wait for the presidential election and vote!!  

Wonderful Women

It is that wonderful time of year again to celebrate the women in my life.

I am a mother, and I try every day to be the best mother that I can be. It is the hardest thing I have EVER done. I know there are time consuming jobs and really hard jobs out there, but this is the hardest, I just know it. It is 24 hours a day 7 days a week. You don't ever get a break. You should really make vows for being a parent... through sickness and health, good times and bad, tantrums and happiness, through sticky hands and soaking wet bathtub splashes. I promise to be your mother. ...

So here is a glimpse:

You wake up to little voices and taps on your forehead "mom! mom!" And immediately its  can I watch a show, what are we doing today, or I want breakfast. I am always tired, but I always have to get up, especially when you hear the baby awake or crying in her crib. Then its on to breakfast, where everyone wants something different, cooked differently. There are complaints about everything, then crumbs all over the floor and grease or peanut butter smeared into the chairs. Then there is yogurt dumped on hair, and entire plates or cups being spilt onto the floor.

Moving on, there are arguments about whose is whose toys, and I'm sitting there, and I want this show, or that book etc. etc etc.
Oh lets get dressed! Lets first call you 6 times before you come, then lets argue over what you will wear (or wont wear). Moving into the bathroom for teeth brushing and hair brushing. This is obviously the most painful thing they have ever done and there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. there are tantrums over 1 or 2 ponytails, the gel hurts, the water is hot, the water is cold, you are touching me..  and so on.
SO now we are 45 minutes into the morning. There have been timeouts given, warnings, and sending to the room, and many tears shed.

The day continues on driving here and there. Unloading and loading kids, yelling to get out of the middle of the street when cars are coming, where are your shoes? Why is Courtney crying? please stop yelling. what feels like hours and hours of the wheels on the bus and the eensy weensy spider over and over and over. There will be lots of trips to the bathroom with many reminders to flush and wash hands. More time outs, more messy meals, more waisted food, fighting over who gets to go first into any particular room at any given time. Lots of whinning over Im hungry, Im thirsty, she called me a rat, I want this and I want that.

Bedtime comes far too late and there are again the same power struggles over baths, jammies, teeth brushing, stories, prayers, songs, and lastly lights out. Then there are the night time things you get to deal with. Waking all kids up to pee so they dont pee their beds. Getting woken up 30 minutes after you finally fell asleep to "MOM, I peed the bed." "Mom, Im scared" "MOm, tickle my back and lay with me." Well guess what IM EXHAUSTED. At this point, I have done too much laundry, wiped too many bums, wiped too many tears, broken up too many fights, given too many timeouts, done too many dishes, washed too many anythings, and I am done. GO TO BED. GO BACK TO BED. STAY IN BED! I need to sleep.

Well lucky for me, this wont happen for a long time, and I will cherish each and every moment of every day. You may not believe me if you see me having a mental breakdown in the middle of Target, or screaming in the car, or walk by my house and hear loud noises coming from it... but I love my life. I have the best job in the entire world. I have the most beautiful children who are smart, and funny, and loving, and crazy and I wouldn't trade them for anything in the entire world.
Heavenly Father has given them to me for this life and I will take care of them and do all that I can to make sure they know they are loved and that they learn all they can. With all this bad comes so much good.
Lots of hugs, Lots of kisses, Lots of snuggles, Lots of laughs, and walks, and talks, and tickles, Lots of crafts, and lots of questions, Good tears, hearing first words, teaching a new skill that they actually get, watching them be proud of themselves, and Lots to keep me busy with, and Lots to learn from these awesome wonderful spirits.

I still am amazed at the other women and Mothers around me who do what they do and can be the fabulous mothers that they are. They inspire me to be better, and more patient, long suffering, serve my kids more, and be a good mom. I want to thank every mother who has ever had a part in my life and made me a better mom. I owe you big time!

I have amazing Sister and sister in laws, friends, aunts, grandmothers, and of course a mother in law and mother who have helped to shape me. My Mother in law is amazing. She is kind, gentle, understanding, soft spoken, sweet, has a voice like an angel, raised 4 incredible boys, and is wonderful.

And the most important person of this post... My mother!
She is the kindest person I know, she is funny, and always giving, always there for a hug or to listen, You can count on her for a joke, a shoulder to cry on, a hand to hold, she is kind, soft hearted, empathetic,  and super silly, motivating, charitable, a peacemaker, and one of the greatest spirits I have ever known. I am sure that I am the luckiest girl and daughter in the whole entire world. MOM, I love you and thank you for everything you are!

Happy Mothers Day to the women in my life!!

blue and red lights

I am innocent, I have no record, I have nothing to hide, BUT with that being said I hate police lights. I got pulled over tonight and although I know I wasn't speeding and I had nothing wrong, I was still a mess. I was so panicked. Why?! I hate that.  By the way, it was just a tail light out...and no tickets.

Although it feels impossible to get a picture of all of the 3 of the hoodlums together smiling in the same place, I think I came out OK with this. Ill take it. I think they are just so stinkin cute all the time. 

 Our kids might seem little, but I feel it is important to teach them about saving money and spending, and of course tithing. So a while back, they saw some kites at Costco that they wanted so bad. They were 13 dollars each. I told them they could save up for them if they wanted to buy them. They immediately started to save every penny for the kites. I, of course, bought them, and stowed them away for when they had it saved. Well in counting up their money this weekend, We discovered that they did have enough for their kites, and they cashed in. We took them out for a spin.
LESSONS learned:
1. These kites are really cool, and really pretty when they are flying.
2. Don't buy your kids kites. They wont hold them, you will end up flying them.
3. Don't buy your kids kites who have a short temper and get frustrated when you try to teach.

 We have still been battling with Natalie and her temper tantrums. She has been taking some time in the corner or in a bedroom to take a break. She also has been so exhausted that she has been falling asleep in random places. Like this. The blanket was the line of which she had to stay for a small "timeout". When I looked over 5 minutes later, she was passed out. How can you stay mad at a kid who falls asleep and is so peaceful? You cant.

So I am trying hard to overcome these battles. Today it was battles over new running shoes, and church shoes. We dont agree on anything, nothing fits, blah blah blah. Then it was back to the helmets for a new bike helmet for Boots. When he happened upon one with a bell, Natalie was instantly furious that hers was just normal. "Its just so normal"! She did not approve. Ug, I felt like most of the day was spent in tears over this or that. I can deal with one, but when 2 of them are crying and whining and then the 3rd pipes in screaming (just out of attention) that is when it really gets to me.
BREATHE JENI, JUST BREATHE.  They are sleeping now and I have a new day tomorrow. I have to tell myself that every day!

Everything Bacon

We had such a fun date night this weekend. Our friends Aidan and Jeremy babysat for us while we went to the parenting conference a few weeks ago, so we wanted to go out and double for payback. We headed out and the boys decided to go out to Denton. I dont like Denton, I feel like it is gross. SAYING THAT, I will say that it was so fun to go there and I will go there a lot more now. I think I just have driven the main strip of college town area and that is yucky. But we went out to Dinner at this fabulous place called Roosters. Holy Smokes. It was so good. It was BBQ-ish, and we only ordered 4 different appetizers, but it was delish. 

Then we headed to the Local Candy store. It was the coolest candy store with all you could think of, bulk stuff, old fashioned stuff, Canadian stuff, special drinks... which we all shared a BACON soda. Barf. It was the most disgusting thing I have ever had. Like liquid bacon bits in a jar. ewwww. 

Then we headed to the Ice cream shop right there called Beth Marie's. The best part about this to me was that my nickname is Beth. Those of you who know why I am nicknamed that, will think that the ice cream shop named after me is hilarious. 

So we were gonna get the big thing they have there called the KW special. 16 scoops of ice cream, 2 cookies, 8 toppings, 2 brownies, and a banana. We were all in, but Brian flaked out. Lame. But my 2 scoops I did get were awesome. After ice cream, we headed to an old school music store and hung around there till we were kind of hungry again, and we headed to Fuzzies for some to die for Queso. Man, a food fest night. It was my ideal night and so good! 

so peeps in my area, go to Denton, and go to Roosters, Beth Maries, and Fuzzies.

That was Friday, so then Saturday the kids both played their last soccer games of the season, and who knows for how long as we aren't putting them in it again this year. It was sad for me as they have both come so far. Natalie got another goal, great way to end the game. 

Grandma and Papa took us out to Chikfila afterwards where the real live cow mascot was hanging out. The older 2 thought it was radical. Courtney, who doesn't cry at much, bawled and was scratching at me as if to say "MOM! Get this crazy scary looking Cow thing away from me! He is gonna eat me!" I had visions of how Disneyland would go if we went there. haha 

Finally to the pool for some swimming with Friends. We all got a lot of sun, and I do love when it is hot enough for little tanned bodies to come back. I love when I put them in the bath at night see their little tan lines and a white white bum. They are picking up their last years swimming skills super fast again too. 

OHHHH I ALMOST FORGOT... THE BEST NEWS OF ALL. we sold our house! 3 weeks up on the market and we sold. I am soooooo happy! Keeping that house clean all the time with the 3 kids was impossible. And I felt like anything out of place or not swept or wiped would be the reason we lose a sale.
BIG SIGH!

Double up

After spending saturday at soccer and the pool, we got some free tickets to a mavs playoff game. We decided to take the lucky little boots. It was so much fun and boots was awesome. He sat there cheering "go mavs go!" and "d-fence" over and over, and never complained until about 2 minutes to the end about wanting ice cream. He got excited when we would score and learned some new players other than dirk and jet. He decided that Jason Kidd is really awesome. One of my favorite nights out ever. Love ya kiddo!