All great gals

Two very exciting and wonderful things happened this weekend. 

First:

Natalie finally got her stinky cast #3 off. She had 3 different casts for 6 weeks. Dr Sean was awesome and so great with her. She was so brave through it all and didn't even cry when he sawed it off. She wanted to keep the casts and give them to choice individuals. She wanted to give one to Garrett, one to her friend Lindsey and keep one for grandad since he is a bone doctor. Her arm is healed, the growth plate in her elbow, but still a little stiff. The best thing? The day she got it off we went swimming. She couldn't wait to get her arm wet! Oh and itch it to death! 

Second:

Saturday was a day that was special for me. Two of my young women from when I first got called into YW's (5years ago)went to the temple. They are sisters and they are preparing to serve a mission. Briana is going to Alaska and darci is going to brazil. It was such a neat experience for them to go together and for us all to be able to be there with them. 

I love my friends and I love these girls. I am so proud of them and the decision they have made to serve The Lord! 

Lastly:

I have completed all if my classes and tests, I now just have to take my final and find a job and I will be a certified real estate agent! I am excited and really proud of myself for accomplishing this. I never would have guessed this decision and path for a career but I am excited to be doing it. 

I also got released from my church calling as the stake YW secretary on Sunday and got a new calling as the stake YW 2nd counselor. I'm excited to still be in the stake and still get to work with the wonderful ladies I do and  to get to continue getting to get to know and love and teach the wonderful Amazing young women of my stake. They truly are amazing. 

The graduate

Preschool graduation- It's kind of a big deal! Stephen did it this week and I'm so proud of him. He's learned so much And is prepared for kindergarten. He can tie his shoes, knows his alphabet and all the letter sounds, is a great friend, great listener, and participates it everything. His teachers loved him and he loved them! We love ms Debra and ms Rosalyn! 

Service

Courtney has been doing very good with potty training, except for going number two. She has been going in her panties for the last month every day without fail. Yesterday I walked into a room and just knew that she needed to go, if she hadn't gone already. She hadn't so I asked her if she would go on the potty and she immediately said no. I then began to bribe everything in the book that I could for her to go. We could get an ice cream cone, a Slurpie, candy, we could even go and get a new toy at the store. Nothing was working then she started to think for a few minutes by herself. 

"Mom, can I get a toy from the dollar store for baby Alyssa?" I said sure, but I told her that she could get a toy for herself if she wanted too. 

She wanted nothing to do with that. She then asked if while we were at the dollar store if she could walk instead of riding the cart.  Of course I Said yes. She was so excited, and then she continued to go to the bathroom. It took a few minutes But she knew the end result. We immediately left and went to the dollar store or she picked out a toy for her little friend who just turned one. 

We delivered it to her house andshe could   hardly contain herself!! 

Whatever works right? 

Aaa-choo!

Well the pollen in the air must be high because I am going crazy!! I have really bad allergies this spring. It's crazy how in Canada and even when I lived in Utah there was nothing that effected me. Then I moved to Texas and slowly they started after a few years. They have now progressed after 8 years to really terrible miserable allergies. I get stuffed up and can't breathe, but it's still running constantly, I get red itchy watery eyes, I get a cough and sore throat, constant sneezing, and I get a headache.

 Last night I had a migraine that put me out for the count. I was in bed from 3- all night. I couldn't move. 

The worst part is, I told the kids I was sick and be good, don't bother me. I knew they would get into some trouble but I was ok so much pain I didn't care. The first thing I heard was Natalie "mom, boots and Courtney are eating raw hot dogs and they are making a huge mess on the backyard with food. Food is everywhere." I replied that I don't care. She then added "and Courtney pooped her pants and its everywhere." Oh joy! Man, can't a girl just get some rest to get rid of her migraine?! 

I went to see a dr and here is all that is going on with me to try and keep them under control. Is it working? No. But I can't give up cause they would knock me out for good. 

Poison ivy

What's crazy is that Texas seems a lot like Calgary. I think it looks a lot a like, other than the lack of mountains and cleanliness. But I am always surprised at how different the two can be. We went camping this weekend and there were several differences that I noticed:

1. Poison ivy. We don't have this up there and it was everywhere. I think I was a little a lot paranoid about it and kept seeing it seriously everywhere.

2. Snakes. I am pretty sure we didn't have any up there... But even if we did, we didn't have copper heads and rattle snakes to be on the look out for.

3. Raccoons to eat your treats you leave out or to eat your trash. Yes we had bears, and yes bears are scarier, but raccoons scare me too!

4. Bugs bugs bugs. That sums up Texas summer for ya. So you have your regular Rollie pollies, spiders, mosquitoes, flies, but you also have poisonous spiders, and chiggers. We don't have those in Canada, nor do we have red fire ants. Too many biting itchy bugs.

4. Sweaty humid heat. It gets warm up there in July and August, but it was disgustingly hot. 90 doesn't seem bad but it was with he humidity.

So it was great. The kids explored around, Natalie hated the out houses and s'mores, Courtney loved the little tree swing, and boots loved canoeing and fishing with me. Natalie is a scary car or everything. So am I. Brian and I took a walk at 2am to the trash and I was freaked out the whole time. I hate being scared of the dark. A frog jumped up my leg, so I didn't like that either. So it was a blast regardless of the pancakes not working out for breakfast, and getting the worst sleep ever.

Door signs

Natalie loves to make signs for her door that limit who has access to it. She is very particular about the way she sets up the doll house or her American girl doll(or anything) and when people go in her room, of course it gets messed up. It's Courtney, and guests, and boots, really anyone except her. But she knows she'll get in trouble if she didn't let anyone in her room. Instead she makes signs that say "no boys allowed". She sticks it on her door and naturally boots feels left out and sad since he is the only boy.

Well he decided yesterday to make his own sign. He asked me to help him spell "no girls allowed" but I told him that wasn't very nice to do. He has a tender heart and of course agreed. He had to think quickly of something else that is not allowed in his room. This answer came very quickly and he thinks he is brilliant. "No popcorn allowed in my room". Obviously.

Stinky

Natalie has been so brave and awesome with her cast. What a pain to have it on and not be able to itch(she's the queen of itching), or get it wet when everyone is pooling or playing in the sprinkler, or just playing in he tub which is her favorite time of day. She has gotten 2 of them cut off and is onto her 3rd cast now. She hasn't really complained much and I am so proud of her! Of anyone, she is the complainer so it's been great to see happy side of her.

She wakes up grumpy everyday and so we made a little chart. It was a happy chart for every morning while she gets ready for school. If she can do it and be happy she gets a smiley face, if not than its a frowny face. She did it for 3 weeks only missing a few days that she had to make up for at the end. We promised her a bike at the end. So the day she completed it all, we took her down to frisco resale(second hand shop) and she chose out her new to her bike. Purple and sparkly, and kinda dirty... She was ecstatic to get it home, clean it off, and start riding her big girl bike! Now I can't wait to get that cast off to help make re riding easier! She is saving up for a basket and a bell. I'm really glad we didn't take her to get a new bike because it is teaching her that we don't always need new when this is perfectly good. It was also 7.50$ which can't be beat!

Proud of my happy sweet girl!

Croc hunt

Tonight for family home evening we talked about spiritual crocodiles that bite away our testimony.
Obviously we went on a croc hunt to find them all. Telling lies, not listening to mom and dad, stealing, and fighting and complaining were our crocodiles.
Pretty sure the kids loved it. They were totally scared of the paper crocodiles. My husband rocks at FHE.

Mother's Day

I had a real life Mother's Day yesterday. It started wonderfully... My awesome sister sent me a cookie bouquet, which is gone. then it was Breakfast in bed and 3 sweet goobers who all picked out sweet gifts! Nail polish, a tumbler and roses.
After we started getting ready for church, Courtney started throwing up. So I stayed home with the little sickie.
Within a few hours I wasn't feeling so hit either and joined the club. We snuggled and napped and threw up together. It was special bonding time... Ok it was horrible, but luckily it was short lived!
The rest of the family went to grandmas for a fun dinner with the Rawlins crew, and when they got home sweet Brian made my bed up and got me tucked in and the kids to bed. He's the best.

So happy Mother's Day. I blessed to have the best kids that make me so proud to be a mother every single day. It is truly the best job in the whole world. It is really hard and tiring but I wouldn't trade it for anything. They are worth the tears, stresses, frustration, happiness, giggles, smiles, kisses, and everything else that comes along with it.

I also love the mothers I have in my life who are the best examples to me. First and best - my mum. She is the person who taught me about Christlike love and compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, charity, and unconditional giving to your family. I know I can turn to her for anything I am having trouble with, and anything I am excited or proud of, and she will share those feelings with me. She's cried with me, laughed with me, sat with me on the phone when I've been on the brink of going crazy and locked myself in my room, she's sat by my side in the hospital when I thought I would die and held my hand till I fell asleep. She is the best mother in the world and I'm so lucky that she is mine.

I have the most wonderful examples all around me, sister, sister in laws, mother in law, and friends. I look up to all of them and know they are all always there for me. Happy Mother's Day to all the best mums I know( that's all the mums I know!).

Super cool

I'm blessed ... and married into a radical family. We aren't just family but we are all friends too. It's awesome and this week we all went out on a group date. Family movie night if you will! We did dinner at breadwinners which is always to die for... And then Ironman 3. It was great company and entertainment! Also too, thank to chase and Anna for letting us crash their anniversary the however many times this makes it in a row! It's like marvel knows when your big day is and lines up their movie releases with it! Thanks y'all - happy anniversary, love ya!

It's a date

Every so often we like to take the kids out on dates one on one. However now that we have three kids that makes it difficult to get a babysitter for one of them especially when she's two and throws a fit. So this last weekend Brian took Natalie out on a date and I was going to take boots and Courtney decided to come along with us.(the truth is that Natalie did not want to share for date with Courtney so boots willingly volunteered that she could come along with us, he is such a sweet brother.) With a four and a two-year-old who won't sit through much, And being on a budget, it made it difficult for me to choose a date.

They said they wanted nachos and frozen yogurt. So we went to Del taco and to the local gas station that sells frozen yogurt. We then headed home to put Courtney to bed. Boots and I Stayed up a little later to watch wreck it Ralph.

I think Natalie and daddy did about the same but they did it at a different location. It's funny that our kids when they are given an opportunity to choose anything to do choose food and to watch a movie they don't care where either. They are happy with our couch! Love them!

Proud parent moment

As we were getting everyones hair done today in the bathroom, boots was clipping his nails with the toes nail clippers(giant clippers). I decided he needed some help, so I took over cutting and the first cut "ahhhhhhh" I totally got his whole finger tip in the clippers. Blood. Screams. Tears. I'm awesome.
(Obviously the picture was from better times)