Christmas this year!!

 

Christmas this year was spent in Florida with my in-laws, also known as Beesha and Dziedze. We had such a great time visiting them and going to the beach two days before Christmas! The kids splashed and splashed in the water, even though the water was freezing! My Little Man even enjoyed the beach! He chased the seagulls for over an hour!

Christmas Eve was spent with my sister-in-law and her husband. She made lumpia, a Filipino dish, and my father-in-law made Lomein. The food was super yummy and we exchanged gifts with them on Christmas Eve because Uncle Joe had to stand duty for the Navy all day Christmas day. 

One of our traditions is for the kids to get new jammies on Christmas Eve. One day, I'm sure our kids will realize that they always get jammies for Christmas Eve, but for now, we're going to stick with it!

Christmas morning was not super early for us. But we sure had lots of fun opening gifts and seeing what everyone got for Christmas.

The present of the year was the table my mother-in-law made for my kids play room. She found a table at a yard sale, cut down the legs of the table and chairs. She recovered the seats and painted the legs of the table and chairs. My kids have used that table every day since we brought it in the house. The crazy thing is, she's had this table since October and Oswald has known about it since then, too. And he kept it a secret from me!!!!!!

Once again the computer won't let me upload any more pictures...so annoying!! I have got to get this problem fixed!!

stupid computer problems

I don't know why I can't upload pictures from my hubby's laptop! It's so darn annoying! I have so many posts in my head and can't share them because they're only fun with pictures!!!! Oh well. Don't give up on me, I'm trying to figure this out!!

In the mean time a few cute quotes/stories from my kids:

We were talking about how my kids need to start getting back on the school routine, I said something like, "We can't stay up late anymore because pretty soon Buddy is going to have to wake up early!"

He said, "I know and I hate being woken up in the middle of the night to go to school!"

One of the days we were on vacation for Christmas my Princess went out with her Beesha to get Beesha's hair cut. My Princess enjoys spending one-on-one time with people. While they were gone, Beesha asked her if she had gotten gifts for her brothers. I had thought about having them buy gifts for each other, but quickly pushed it out of my mind.

But she went to a store with Beesha to buy her brothers a gift. After Beesha convincing my Princess that maybe her big brother didn't want a sparkly wand or that little brother didn't want a mirror, she decided on their gifts.

Christmas eve rolled around and she was so excited for them to open them that she didn't even care that they didn't get her anything. It was so touching to see how excited she was to give them something just from her. When she gave them their gifts, she said, "Buddy, I got this present just for you!"

He opened the gift and he gave her the biggest hug ever. It made this mommy tear up.

That night we found some nail polish we were planning to put in her stocking for him to wrap up. He was so excited for her to open it that he had her open it very first. They, once again, gave each other a huge hug! I love that my kids love each other so much and that they want to do things for their siblings with no expectations in return.

I love My Buddy

Inside the program for church was a pamphlet for profiles on Mormon.org you can see mine here.

My buddy is loving reading and he was reading some of the questions:

First and Last Name: he filled in the blank

Introduction:

Why do you go to church: he wrote, "Be cus I love it."

Then he got out a blank piece of paper and wrote three sentences,

"I love the God he is my frend"

"Good Got rezrectid."

"God is Fun."

He then drew his very own depiction of the First Vision.

He drew Joseph Smith and Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  He told me what the picture was and in an excited voice pointed out to me who was whom.

"Mom, this one is Heavenly Father, he's bigger than Jesus."

Iron Chef Birthday Party

 My Buddy turned 6 on Tuesday! I know I'm super late posting, but life has been pretty busy/crazy around here! 

For his birthday we went to the school and ate lunch with him. I am at the school for a couple of hours that morning, so we just made it longer and took him Chick-fil-A for lunch!

My Little Man felt super cool getting to eat lunch at the tables with all of the big kids. He even grabbed one of Oswald's chicken fingers and ate the whole thing!! Guess he's growing up!

That night we had an Iron Chef Party! Each kid arrived and got an apron to wear because Chef's wear aprons!

 They played games until all of the guests arrived. My kids love to play games, so it was fun to get to play some games with their friends!

 Then everyone washed their hands, got their own ball of dough and went to town rolling out their pizzas. Each kid felt so cool to be their own chef!

 After the pizza was eaten, we decorated cupcakes! It was so much fun! The kids loved using real piping bags and getting to do their own decorations.

 And what's a birthday party without candles and the Happy Birthday song??

 The quietest part of the night was when everyone had their mouths full of cupcakes!

 Time for presents!! Oswald had all 8 kids on his lap at one time! The kids were all so excited that in order for my Buddy to actually see what he was getting, he had to turn his back to everyone!

I guess at 5 the cool thing to give is legos! He got so many lego toys. He can make a boat, Cars 2 cars, a spider man, and so many other cool things! 

I had a fun time, but was completely pooped when the party was over! I think all of the kids had a good time, but what really matters is that my Buddy did!

Happy Birthday, Buddy! Thanks for being part of my forever family!

Party Preps are underway!

My Buddy turns 6 tomorrow. He was supposed to be born 6 years ago today, but decided to wait to come to our family!

My Little Man, my Princess and I have been out shopping all morning. We've bought all of the ingredients for our chef themed party.

The kids are getting their own aprons! They're making pizzas and getting to decorate cupcakes! My Iron Chef, aka my Buddy, is going to have so much fun! He love cooking, plus having 6 of his friends come over is going to just rock his world!

But I still have a list a mile long to take care of before his friends arrive:

1. I have to clean my house! (this includes, but is not limited to, the bathrooms, kitchen, playroom, and living room)
2. I need to wrap his presents
3. I need to make the cupcakes
4. Oswald needs to get the pizza dough made, so it can sit for 24 hours. (it's the best part of the party!)
5. I need to figure out some games of some sort, in case we run out of stuff to do!

So I guess I need to put my big girl pants on and get to work!

The Great Christmas Decor Debate

Christmas in North Carolina 2 years ago our tree is currently still in the garage.

There is a debate going on at our house right now, do we set up the Christmas tree and all of the holiday decorations or do we wait a little longer?

Here is the problem, we have a very "busy" 15 month old in our house. And by busy I mean, he is into everything. He pushes buttons on the DVD player, we tell him "no". He carries shoes all around the house, we tell him "no". He's into everything. Today he took a toy thermometer and pushed the water button on the fridge and water poured all down his arm! He's busy!

Oswald doesn't want to have to constantly tell him "no, don't touch that." I don't blame him. I get tired of saying "no". I think we all get tired of saying "no".

So what do we do? Do we postpone decorating? doing that makes me feel like it's not even the holiday's. Do we only decorate in places he can't reach? or do we just decorate the way we want to and spend the next month saying, "no"?

It's a tough call. I want to get out the decorations and make my house feel festive. I am ready to see Christmas lights and to feel the joy the holidays bring.

But decorating is a lot of work and I will need to put my fall decorations away in order to get the Christmas ones in place. It's a tough call. Maybe I'll let Oswald make that decision.

A Cherry Coke Zero taught my Little Man Manners

Today started out like any other day. I woke up, got my buddy off to school, walked home from the bus and crawled back into bed, only to be rudely interrupted by needing to puke (that part was not normal). I rushed to the bathroom to take care of business while Oswald got me a banana to eat quickly. Once I had a bite of banana in me, the morning sickness/nausea was gone.

We got dressed and headed to do the grocery shopping. Lucky for me, Oswald was working from home and could accompany me to the store. We did out shopping and various errands all without incident. As we were driving home, my Princess says, "Dad, can we go to a restaurant for lunch?"

"It's up to mom." is his reply.

So, of course, we head to Firehouse Subs for a delicious lunch. If you have never had Firehouse, you need to find one and find one fast.

But, I digress...

Oswald orders and I sit down with the kids. I'm trying to keep my Buddy as happy as he can be when he's starving and forced to sit in a high chair. Yep, I'm one of those mom's who makes their toddler sit in a high chair, meanie!

Again, I digress...

Oswald brought me my drink of choice, a Cherry Coke Zero. Yep, caffeine. I had a headache and that's one of the things my Doctor prescribed for me to take in order to combat the terrors that are my headaches. It's that or a narcotic, so I think I'll stick with the caffeine.

Once again, I digress...

So my Little Man is DYING for some soda. He's flailing his arms and making the most awful noise with his mouth you can even imagine.

So being the mean mom that I am (see paragraph 6) I look at him and say, "Can you say 'please'?"

He looks at me with those big brown eyes, grins and says, "Meese". How could I refuse?

Thank you Cherry Coke Zero for teaching my Little Man manners!!


How have you taught your kids manners? Any ideas or suggestions for this Mormon Mommy?

My first Thanksgiving play!

 My buddy taking a bow after his First Thanksgiving play

Wednesday morning, I got up at my normal time to get my buddy on the bus. After he got on the bus, I rushed home to get ready to go to the school.

I had to get in the shower, fix a breakfast cake for the classes "feast", get the other two kids ready and make it to the school early in order to get seats for a kindergarten play featuring my son, the corn.

I rushed and rushed frantically around my house, and got to the school an entire 45 minutes too early. That was way early!

We popped our heads in the classroom and saw the pilgrim men, the pilgrim women, the Indian men, the Indian women, the preacher, and of course the ears of corn.

Those kids were so excited and looked so cute sitting there with their legs folded. I dropped my cake in the room across the hall and made my way to the cafeteria for my first every Kindergarten play!

We got to sit on the second row. My buddy was right in the front row waving and giving me a thumbs up the entire time. 

His little part was to say "pop, pop, pop" each time the narrator said "corn". Each little section had their own three word part. Talk about totally cute!

So this is my life now, rushing around making yummy food to take to school plays to see my kids do and sing really cute stuff!

And guess what, I love it! After all, this is what Mormon Mommy's do, right?

If you want to sign-up for the give away, click here! Win yourself or someone you love a free hand made winter hat!!

A little history...(unless that's borning?)

My buddy is in Kindergarten this year and since November got here, he has been learning all about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans.

A couple of interesting facts/historical points...

 the Mayflower

I had a great-great-great x 9 grandpa who was on the Mayflower. His name was Edward Fuller, his brother (also on board) was Samuel, he had a wife, Ann, and a son Samuel who also made the journey to the new land.

My Grandmother recently wrote and published an autobiography of her mother's life history. Included in this history is a little snippet about Edward.

     "The heritage she (my great-great grandmother) brings from the Fuller family traces back many generations. This includes Edward Fuller who came to America on the Mayflower in 1620 and was a signer of the Mayflower Compact. He and his wife, Ann, dies the first winter they were there. His son, Samuel, was sent to live with Edward's brother, Samuel, who was a doctor....
     "....The extremely difficult conditions for the passengers and the length of time for the crossing made the journey almost more horrendous than we can even imagine today! As a descendant of one of these very brave men, I deeply appreciate their determination to succeed in reaching the New World to being to establish the many freedoms we enjoy today. Edward's courage in pursuing his dream led to the eventual Restoration of the Gospel to the earth for this, the find dispensation of time. I am so thankful for my Fuller heritage."

I think it's interesting and a little exciting that I have an ancestor who went against everything he had known to stand up for what he believed. Even though he died that first winter, he was still very influential in bring very important changes to the world. Changes that have helped shape who I am today and how I live my life.

I have ancestors who were Mormon Pioneers and I am equally grateful for them, but this being the time of year when we think about the Pilgrims, I thought I should jot down this little tidbit about my Fuller ancestors. What a legacy they leave and what huge shoes we all have to fill!

Do you have any family who have carved the way for you to be in America or who have helped make it possible for you to worship how you choose? I'd love to hear stories!

A little misty eyed

The last few days have been emotional ones for me. I'm sure it has something to do with being pregnant, but it probably also has to do with a few of the conversations I have heard happen.

A couple of days ago, we were all riding home from some friends house and my kids were talking about what they want to be when they grow up.

My Princess asked her big brother, "What do you want to be when you get big?"

"I want to be an Iron Chef" he replied confidently.

"I want to be a mommy." she said without skipping a beat.

Sometimes I wonder if the "work" I do around the house is noticed or just brushed aside as "what mom does." Seriously, when I heard those words, my eyes filled up with tears. She wants to be a mommy. What a great goal to have. She'll make a great mommy and I hope that by her being home with me all the time, she is learning a few things to help her become the mom she wants to be. And hearing that made my heart swell. Made me realize that the work I do is not in vain, but is fully appreciated.

The other conversation happened this morning between my Buddy and Oswald. I told Oswald last night that he was getting up with our Buddy and going to do the "go to school" routine with him. I had not had a nap in a couple of days and the night before last, I didn't get much sleep. I was exhausted!

Of course, Oswald had no problem helping me with this task. He's amazing like that. But when he came into our room this morning at 8:30...that's right people 8:30...he told me something very sweet.

As the boys were putting their shoes and getting ready to walk out the door, my Buddy looked up at his dad and said, "Tell Mom, I love her."

Bring on the waterworks. Such a sweet kid. I never realized how much he enjoys me being with him in the morning. I love being with him in the morning, but I guess I thought it didn't mean much to him. But now I know. In his own little way he expressed how much I mean to him.

I am one lucky and blessed girl to have such amazing people in my life. People who help me realize my self-worth and who appreciate the things I do for them!

Meet Question Girl...

 (don't you wish the weather would still allow us to do this right now? I sure do!)

I'm sure most of you know who WorldGirl is...she is a little girl who knows the meanings of all kinds of big words...like flabbergasted or exhausted.

I don't live with WordGirl, but I live with Question Girl. My Princess has hit the lovely age of 4 and has thereby graduated to asking all kinds of questions. All.The.Time! (no this is not an exaggeration)

Just a small example of what one conversation with me and My Princess might be like in the course of one day,

"Mom, why are you making that cake?"

"Because it's someones birthday."

"Who's birthday is it?"

"It's Daddy's birthday"

"Oh, how old is Daddy?

"He's 30."

"Mommy, why are you putting those eggs in there?"

"Mommy, what's that thing called?"

"Mommy, can I help you."

"I am almost done, sweet girl, maybe you can help me in a minute."

"Mom, why are you putting that stuff in there?" (the batter in the cake tin)

"It has to go in there to bake."

"Oh, how long will it take to bake?"

"35 minutes"

"Oh, when it's done can I help you frost it?"

and the questions go on and on...all day long.

So I have my very own super hero in my house...and if you ever think that being a mom is a mindless job/career/profession, come to my house and see how taxing being a mom can really be!

House Tour Part 1

I have a disclaimer to make before I post these pictures...

1. I am not a professional designer, nor do I claim to be! I would, however, love to be one and understand design concepts. Or, I could always have David Bromstadt come design my house. I'd be totally ok with that!
2. I don't have oodles and oodles of money to spend attempting to design rooms in my house. But if I did, I would probably rather pay to have the above mentioned, David, design my house. (if you don't know who he is, you're totally missing out!)
3. The design of my house is what my family likes. Cozy and inviting. Real people live here. Little kids live here and my house reflects that, because let's face it, a lot of time there are dirty clothes on the floor and toys everywhere!

Alright, my disclaimer is over...now for what you've all been waiting for:

The only room, fully decorated, my Princesses room...

Her Beesha bought her these cute little letters and dots to put on her walls. She had so much fun spelling her name and sticking things on the door!

She couldn't not be in the picture. She is so excited to have her own room! The photographs on the wall, I took. The painting is another one Oswald's aunt did. The bed is Oswald's great grandpa's bed. I know the wrought iron makes it very masculine, but she loves it and I would be completely disowned if I ever got rid of it!

 The letters I got at Hobby Lobby or something before she was born. We seriously struggled with how we would spell her name. There were so many options. the butterflies were a gift from Beesha. Yes, that is a nightstand and no there is no dresser. We seriously hang up everything except panties, socks and jammies. No need for a big bulky dresser!

The painting on the left wall a friend did, they read, "He gave me my eyes that I might see, the color of butterfly wings." Her nursery theme was butterflies and it still fits to this day. (plus I ♥ those paintings!) The window shutter looking thing was a hand-me-down from a friend that didn't really use it, but couldn't see getting rid of it. And it fits her room perfectly!

If only I could get her to keep her room clean, it would be awesome. She told a visitor to our house today, "I have my own room. Sometimes it gets messy in there."

First Field Trip

My Buddy got to go on his first field trip ever this week. He had a blast...when he got off the bus, he yelled, "I got a pumpkin!"

I am so glad he had such a good time and I am going on the next one...no. questions. asked!

Thanks to my friend for taking these wonderful picture!

Halloween Tradition

It's a tradition in our family to carve a pumpkin...I guess that's a tradition in everyone's family...but in our's Oswald carves the pumpkin.

The kids decide how it should look.

I draw the design, first on paper and then on the pumpkin.

Oswald then uses the biggest knife he can find and proceeds to slice and dice.

This year we decided that my Buddy has an excellent jack-o-lantern pattern going on with his own teeth.

Once the top was taken off, the kids were ready to gut the gourd. Talk about a funny experience. My Princess was loving it...

But her BIG brother...the face explains it all!

This year's jack-o-lantern carving was even more fun then in years previous. I think holiday's get more fun with each passing year, especially with kids who are so excitable!

Where have I been?

I guess more accurately I should title this post, "where have I not been?"

The last few months of my life have been a complete roller coaster. It started off with a move from an apartment to a house. The best move of our lives, for sure, but also at a stressful time (more on that later). It took months (still not quite done) to get things unpacked and settled. I'm realizing how much furniture I got rid of to move into that silly apartment and now wish I had back!

Then it was my birthday and I got in a car accident! That's right, Happy Birthday, Jennie let's ruin your car. The story is long, but to put it short and sweet, it was not my fault. There was some sort of insurance mumbo-jumbo and I had to take the claim out on my insurance. State Farm was wonderful and now they can fight to get their money back, plus my $500 deductible. But my truck was not fixable and has been totaled out. Due to it's age and the repair cost, I no longer have "Ironhide".

My youngest brother got married (yea!!) and my parents came here from AZ to visit (yea!!) we drove 8 hours to his wedding and then another 5 hours to visit my dad's cousin. All in a rental car that had expired tags, no cruise control and the darn Enterprise people wouldn't return my mom's phone calls. (in the end, my dad got the 5 day mini van rental for free, plus 4 more days for free when they come back to visit!! Awesome!)

 My Buddy wanted a picture of "just me and Uncle Austin" so sweet

My Princess was a "flower girl." She loved her beautiful orange dress and being a part of the wedding.

On Tuesday (a week ago) we found a new truck, but because of some serious mix-up at the dealership where we bought "Ironhide" we don't have a title to give to State Farm to get my check to buy the new truck. It's the exact same as "Ironhide" only it's turquoise. It's beautiful has leather, a tow hook (why I would need that, I don't know!) and the part Oswald likes the most is that it has a gadget that tells me which direction I am going. Being from out west where everything is on a grid, knowing N,S,E, and W was easy...not so much here on the east coast.

After a few more ups and downs in the process of getting our new truck, I finally got it on Saturday morning. She was worth the wait, and I think I'm going to name her "Smurfette". She's blue/green and I just think the name is fun!

And on an even better note, Baby #4 will be here in late April. I am due April 22nd and I am so excited to be past the first trimester. As Oswald said, "now things can get back to normal."

As the doctor was listening to the baby's heartbeat, he said, "It's really strong!"

"What is it?" I asked wanting to know how many beats per minute.

"165" was his response.

I looked at him with a sly grin, "so what sex is usually faster?"

"Girl's" he replied without hesitation, then he said, "but at this stage they all beat pretty fast, but if I had to bet, I would say it's a girl."

We went home and finally told the big kids about the baby! My Buddy looked at his dad and said, "Can we have a girl? Roxie!!!?"

We explained that Heavenly Father gives us what he knows our family needs. He looked at his little sister and said, "Let's pray for a girl!"

That night during our family prayer he reminded my Princess of his "girl request" and her prayer went like this, "Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, thank you for our blessings, thank you for our girl. Name of Jesus Christ Amen."

So I guess we know what our kids want. More regular posts coming again because things are "back to normal" whatever that is!

Under the Weather

My little man is not feeling so hot. He's been running a little fever since yesterday afternoon. He's all snuggly and lovey when he's not feeling well. But it's so sad to see him not smiling and not feeling super well. Tylenol has been his friend today and has helped him feel a little better.

Here's hoping my little man is feeling better tomorrow or we'll be making a trip to the doctor. I really don't want to go to the doctor because tomorrow is my birthday and I wanna party like it's 1999!

So what's on tap for tomorrow? Not much. Oswald's taking me out on a date. We might play volleyball in the evening. I'm sure French Toast will be involved somewhere tomorrow. Maybe a cake of some kind, but since I don't like cake, we'll have to figure some other option out for my special day dessert.

I cleaned my house and washed all of the dishes so that I wouldn't have to do any "extra" work tomorrow. I sure hope that I'm spoiled tomorrow. And knowing Oswald, I'm pretty sure I will be.

So send warm thoughts our way that my little man will wake up feeling more like this!!

The Tooth Fairy is Going Broke!

My Buddy is not even 6 years-old and he's lost 3 teeth and has another one loose. This is crazy! I expected him to have a mouth full of teeth for at least another 6 months. I know one of these teeth came out because it was "sick", but the other two have fallen out on their own. I just can't believe it!

I didn't lose any teeth until I was 6. All of my little friends in my kindergarten class were all losing their teeth and here I sat with all of mine. Just not fair, but what my Buddy is doing is ridiculous. We're losing a tooth a month around here.

The Tooth Fairy just can't keep up. She's having to visit all different houses all around the world and my Buddy is just adding to her flight route. Visiting our home once a month is wearing her out, she told me so. Plus, she only has so much money and my Buddy is taking it from her. Remember times are tough everyone...it's even hit the Tooth Fairy.

The crazy thing about this losing teeth stuff is the fact that there are none growing in their place. So he has this toothless grin and no adult teeth in sight. I am fully aware that one day he'll probably wake up with a mouth full of adult teeth and I won't recognize him! But for now, I'll just have to enjoy his cute little toothless grin.

------------------------------
How old were you when you lost your first tooth?
--I think I was 6 or maybe even a little older

What is your favorite late night snack?
--I love popcorn at any time of night and if I'm being really bad, I will sit down to a bowl of chips and salsa. Salt for me, leave that sweet stuff for Oswald!

Tempted

I have this incredibly cute adorable snugly one year old little boy in my house. He has this head of blond hair that is out.of.control! It is so fine that it never lays down the way it should. And the only solution I can come up with is...to use these...

on this...

He even find it out of control. He tries to comb it several times a day.

These serious fly-aways are so annoying. Last Sunday at church, he was sitting on my lap and the little hairs were tickling the inside of my nose!

I have tried a couple of different tricks to help this hair dilemma. We have the slick-down missionary style

And we have the spike

See what I mean, a cute adorable one year old...but this hair...has.got.to.go!

So if he were your cuddly little man, what would you do? Take the clippers to that fine blond fluff or just endure the tips tickling the inside of your nose?