MEAL TIME!!!

This is how I feel at every meal with my kids. And lately, that has been three meals a day on my own. Miguel's been working late most nights and is rarely home for dinner. Today was a perfect example. I gave them two choices from our leftovers to ensure that they would eat what I set before them. All I get is kids out of their chairs, dancing around, laying down in their chairs, and just about everything else but eating! I feel like I yell and yell and plead and beg them to eat. I even resorted to guilt trips today at lunch. I told Sophia that people are going to think I don't feed her and are going to take her away from me because they are going to think I'm a bad mom. She hasn't gained any weight in the last year! An hour later the food is still sitting on her plate. I get so exhausted from it. Today I was reaching my limit. I actually turned to the Lord during our meal. I had them all fold their arms and we said a prayer to help me be patient and for them to be obedient. I think I eventually gave up and realized it wasn't worth the fight. Sometimes I think my kids just tune me out. They flat out ignore me. I don't know any parenting alternatives to just yelling and spanking. That was the way I was raised.

Following this episode and while I'm writing this post I hear Gabriela explode on her sister. She was yelling at her and then she threw a bunch of toys all over the kitchen. My first response was to jerk her up and put her in time out. I finally humbled myself enough to ask her where she is learning that behavior, all the while knowing the answer, and when I asked her if it was from me, she said yes. I just sat myself next to her in time out. I told her that even Mommies need time out sometime and that we have got to come to a solution. I was kind of at a loss of ideas to be honest. We've both got a problem, but I guess the first step is recognition.

How do you get through meal time with out losing it? What is your discipline method?

Babysitting Group

So of you might know, but we are apart of a babysitting group here in the neighborhood. There are 12 kids total right now between four families. During the winter it cam be tough, because you have to keep them all in the house, but oh when the weather is good, it's a piece of cake. We rotate each week and you get three dates for one night in. Not to bad. Last weekend, the weather was good and these munchkins stayed outside for two full hours playing. I bet you didn't know you could fit 7 kids around one of those tiny turtle sandboxes, did ya? I think it's time for an upgrade. There is something magical about kids and dirt and sand. It's like natural attraction. We then held our first talent show/concert that night. One little girl came prepared with pompoms in tow. Our toy room turned into a bonafied dressing room, where no boys were allowed. We set up the audience and put on the music. The kids had so much fun, it was ridiculous. Then Miguel got involved and we thought we would help the boys discover their inner performer. We put on the Michael Jackson album and they were all about it. Our talent show then turned into a preschool rave as we cut out the lights, turned on the black light, and turned on Thriller. It was awesome. You should have been there. In fact the kids were so thrilled that they had to repeat the show once all the Moms and Dads came to pick them up.

The Audience & the Talent on hand.



That's my girls! Notice Julianne's delighted face. I think she's enjoying herself.

And for your viewing pleasure, a snipet of the show!

Looking for a Good Date Night?

This weekend is the 50th Anniversary of BYU Ballroom Dance Team Concert. It should be great. We are taking the girls on Saturday. It's in the Marriot Center at BYU. Bring your family or go on a date with your honey. After all it was on this team that our love blossomed.

By the way, this picture was taken a long time ago, and we weren't even dating yet.

An Extraordiany Ordinary Day

Yesterday was such a good day! If everyday were that good and stress free, I would live a really long time. It started with me getting up early and fixing Miguel a lunch to take to work and I made him a breakfast to eat on his way. This never happens. I'm usually waving goodbye from my bed pillow. Then I got this beauty out and got supper going. Now I'm in an exceptionally good mood and feeling pretty good. I go to the gym, hooray! and I even got the house pretty cleaned up before I left. The girls ate lunch without one complaint. Maybe it was the bowl of M&M's I sat in front of them and bribbed them with if they ate all their lunch. I then had a good friend over and we made these!
The rest of the day went smoothly and I was pleasant with Miguel when he came home late in the evening. I did dinner by myself without any major catastrophes or crying. Like I said, it was an exceptionally good day.


And today hasn't been half bad. The sun came out, but don't be fooled. It is not warm. I have been eyeing this set of Lego's at the store and thought that my girls would love them. It's a horse stable set and my girls get really creative with blocks, but anyways, I just couldn't justify buying it since we've had Easter and birthdays and a visit from Gigi. However, I was not to be deterred. I figured out a way that would not do damage to the credit card statement, but might take a hit to my pride. I loaded up the girls and we went and got the Legos that I paid for with quarters! Yes folks, that's right, I paid over $50 in quarters. We have had this rolled money sitting in a pile for over a year, that we have never cashed in. I made sure I got there when they opened, hoping noone would get behind me in the check out line and there I sat counting it out. So embarassing, but we got the Legos and got rid of some of the coins in our house. My mom would have been so embarassed, but you do what you gotta do. We also hit Macey's for a few groceries and the girls got balloons. They rode their bikes for like ten minutes before our hands were frozen, so we came in and played with the new blocks.

Asking the Right Questions

Last year, sometime in May, I happened upon a book that had a profound influence on my life. It was called A Mother's Book of Secrets by Linda and Shawni Eyre. It seemed to change the way I looked a motherhood and gave me the courage to pursue the type of family that I had always dreamed about. It gave me vision and has led to many other learning opportunities, one being mentioned in my previous post.

Well I think I've happened upon another book that I have a feeling is going to do the same thing in my life. It's called Change Your Questions Change Your Life, written by Wendy Watson Nelson, current wife to Elder Russell M. Nelson. It's a beautiful book and as I skimmed it's pages in the store, I felt I really needed this book.
It talks about asking ourselves the right questions and getting rid of the negative ones. Within a few days and reading only a few pages, I could tell a difference in my life already. At one point during the day I caught myself asking, "if I were to write a list of all the things that drove me crazy, what would they be?" I was surprised at myself and thought better of it. I discarded that question and didn't allow my mind to go there. That was not a positive question to be asking myself. At one point in the book, it has the reader read Alma 5, which is full of questions, and then jot down your favorite ones. One that particularly stuck out to me was "do you see Christ image in your countenance?" It's been on my mind lately and as I mother my children day in and day out, I'm starting to think my kids see the devil instead. My heart's desires are righteous and I don't think others think I'm the devil, but man, my children seem to bring out the worst of me. They put all my weaknesses right in front of my face. I feel like a barking dog all day, trying to get the kids to listen and be obedient. I hit a turning point at lunch today.

Sophia wouldn't eat her lunch and after an hour of time outs, nagging, and pleading, I sent her to bed without eating. As I'm sweeping the floor, I started to think, "how would Christ deal with preschoolers all day?" "how would He get the three year old to eat?" I know some of these answers, but then realize I'm severely lacking in the patience department. Miguel came home from priesthood session and told me that Pres. Uchdorf said that impatience is a symptom of selfishness. Well he's probably right. I get so impatient, because I don't want to spend my precious time hand feeding my three year old. I get impatient for my kids to take a nap, because I'm dying for some alone time.

One thing I know for sure...at least I'm asking the right kind of questions now. This is an eternal quest. To become more like my Savior each day. And hopefully, little by little, my children will be able to feel of Christ's love for them through me and be able to see him in my countenance more and more each day.

It's great to see the workings of this book and the words of our church leaders in my life. For that I am ever grateful.

The Power of Moms

I just wanted to let all my friends know about a wonderful website that I've been introduced to and am now a part of. It's called the Power of Moms. It is run by two amazing women who had a vision of what mothers can do and how we can strengthen each other. We are not alone and our work is of the most importance. On this site you will find essays that mothers write in, tips and tricks, words of encouragement, ways to teach your kids, and so much more.

I am now on the Board of Moms helping to make this site even better. I will be incharge of a weekly question that encourages readers to write in and answer. I'm also an ambassador for the site, which means you will be hearing a lot about things that I've read, or programs that I'm participating in. The retreat that I'm going on in June is through the Power of Moms as well. It is going to be amazing and so uplifting, so if you want to come...come on!

I encourage everyone to check it out. Just click on the red button on my sidebar and explore the site. I'm sure you will find things that you will love. Also leave a comment for a question you might want me to ask. See what women around the world have to say?

I don't endorse a lot of things, but in this case, I do it whole heartedly!

I haven't disappeared, I've been DECORATING!

GIGI CAME TO VISIT, HOORAY!!!

We all look forward to when my mom comes to visit. It usually is accompanied by a suitcase full of goodies and being spoiled for a little while. And boy did she ever spoil me (which is so nice for a stay at home mom with three preschools to feel spoiled.)

We went to our most favorite place to shop...none other than Gardner Village. This is our tradition, and my new obsession is the fabric store. It is a sewers heaven. I get all my girls clothing patterns there and it's just so inspirational. Any ways, when we pulled into the parking lot, she told me she had a surprise for me. I gave her a blank stare and then she told me she had booked us hour long massages! I was both elated and mortified. I hadn't shaved my legs in a day or two! But hairy legs or not, I wasn't going to pass is up! I just had to give the gal a long explanation and my appologies just so she was clear that I would have normally shaved for such an occasion.

It was wonderful and accompanied by lunch and some shopping. The girls were super thrilled to see her. They were treated by bedtime storytime! Dominoes

And loads of crafting lessons. Just kidding, they could have cared less about our crafting marathon, except when it came time to make them slippers. (My fabric store find)


Aren't they just darling. LOVE THEM!!!

A few months before she came, I asked her to help me redecorate the girls bedroom. I wanted it to be pink and girly. I found a Pottery Barn room that I loved and my mom made her own version. Bless her heart! She sewed three of these babies. I can't imagine how long it took her. We had them quilted while she was here and it was so fun to see them finally finished. Beautiful.

This was my project. Yep, that's right, I painted that joker on their bedroom wall. Pretty proud of it!

On her last day here and in celebration of all our hard work, we treated ourselves to some gormet cupcakes. They looked yummy, but we weren't so impressed with the taste. Sorry Cocoa Bean, but it's true.

She was smitten with Julianne

I caught Sophia enjoying her new revamped room and had to grab a photo.

My mom survived the week, but just barely. I guess that's the joy of being a grandparent. You get to skip town just when you think your nerves can't take it any longer. A funny story; she took the girls to a toy store to pick out something and they chose stick horses. She wanted them to put them in the car while we headed over to the distribution center to grab a few things. I told her just let them ride them to the store. She was mortified and just raised her eyebrows in submission. I know she was embarassed, but I thought it one of those good humbling moments. The girls created quite the site riding the calvalry into the store, but let kids be kids. It was fine until Sophia decided to gallop on out of the store. We sure do relax a lot once we become parents huh?