In which Harry turns five...

On the Menu for Harry's B-day was...

Chicken Noodle Soup

Water

Lemon Cake

Basketball cookies

Milk

How cute is that?

Oh and he wanted his friend Alex and family to be present.

It was such a fun day.

During the day we went to an indoor swim park and by the end this is what we all felt like.

Happy birthday Dear Harry! You are a treasure.  He reminds me to tell him his special words everynight....I take his sweet cheeks in my hands and say "You are kind,  you are smart,  you are important."  And son, that doesn't even scratch the surface of all that you are. Happy Birthday!

Where did I go wrong....

My children have lost the privilege of going to the store with me. I have tried bribing, coaxing, coddling, crying, screaming etc. etc. etc. and yet every time we go it is the same. "Mom, can I have (fill in whatever randomness they see here, once it was a rutabaga just because we were in produce and that's what they saw.) coupled with complete choas and refusal to stay near me So much so that I have been reprimanded by people at the store. So I will begin to shop at nights alone. Heck, maybe I will even enjoy going to the store again.

Just so we are clear, Eve has NOT lost that privilege yet.

Maybe I was too harsh. Maybe I wasn't reassuring enough in my followup. For whatever reason I came out this morning and Bella was sitting in her chair at the table arms folded glaring at me.

" Honey, what's wrong?"

"Do you want to know what I just threw away mom?"

"What?"

"The paper that talked about selling your kids."

(Mental pause that sounded like "paper that talks about selling kids, paper that talks about selling kids, paper that talks about selling kids ......Do I have a paper that talks about selling kids?")

"Harry and I said we would do better, mom."

"Of course" mumble, mumble, mumble while riffling through garbage to figure out what she is talking about "AH HA.....Honey it's a Kid Sale for Clothes at Gymboree...not about selling kids.

I still haven't stopped laughing. Maybe this will be a turning point though. I'm still not ready to take them back to the store.

One mom's musings....

"One mom's musings standing athwart history hands raised saying "Dude seriously?!" That is a friends description of her blog and I quite like it and thought I would include it here.






Tell us how you really feel Bella!

Bella is such a good helper and little mom. I am so grateful for her.

On Tuesday Evelyn had croupe. It usually gets worse at night but is there anything more frightening then your baby your baby struggling to breathe? I was just about to go to the ER when the Shower/outside/shower/outside combo worked. Then I called my doctor.....

Side note: calling a doctor on her cell. I LOVE IT! LOVE IT! This is how it should be done. Dr. Jen delivered Evelyn and has known her since her first breath and before I guess. And Dr. Jen has a who lot of common sense which I recieved the short end that stick recently, and it's worse when baby isn't breathing. The next day I put Eve in the shower with me and put a ground up mustard combo on a thin fabric and on her chest to draw out the infection. It worked!! I love calling my doctor anytime anywhere.

Anywho, Evelyn has discovered her toes. Her favorite word that makes her break into a grin everytime without fail it "Umm Goo". She blows bubbles ALL the time and it a water fountain (teeth maybe). Her head wobbles in search of Papa whenever she hears his voice. He loves quiet time with her which doesn't happen often, apparently being 4 and 7 is synonomous with being LO UD and ROUGH!

Harry is hilarious as usual. He is now actually drinking his green drink in the morning and his cough (of about 3 months) is getting better! YAAA!

And that is us in a nutshell!

Oh da Teentz....

Thanks to our daddy, baby Evelyn's life has been very well documented photographically. Here are some updates.

Her face about splits in two with her smiles. I LOVE IT!

See what I mean?!

I can't get him to stop kissing her. Cute I know, but there's a point ya know. Like a limit, 200 kisses a day max or something.

Bella is so excited to have her sister. We set up the crib in big sis' room already and she has slept in there a couple of times. But Bella doesn't sleep, she just stares at the baby until midnight. Also cute, I know but there is a point there too!

Baby's nicknames include "Teentz", "Tines", "Roost" (because of her red mohawk), and Eve.

I love my baby. She is growing so fast!

30 and loving it....

I turned the big 30 last week. The incomparably beautiful I-Shuan made me Korean B-day soup...you turn a year older when you eat it, which I did. It was the greatest way to celebrate my birthday with the sweetest people!

Inspired by my friend Bethany, I am writing 20 things that I learned in my 20's.

This post took me forever to write, and finally I had to break down and ask for Kentito's help. It disturbed me not because of my age but rather because it took me so FREAKING long to think of 20 things I've learned, and that bugged me. I mean really, I couldn't think of 20 measlely things in my life from the last decade? Not being able to quantify it made me wonder, Was it a wasted decade? Which of course the answer to that is HELL NO! Let's begin shall we....
In no particular order...

1. A grateful heart is the secret to a successful day. Noticing the small things and offering a silent prayer of thanks.
2.I like to learn. 13 years in the public school system and I thought I hated it. I left that behind and my real education began....and I love it.
3.I have to excercise everyday in some form or other. Like a giant cosmic checkmark I have to check everyday or else I am grumpy. I've learned that as I get older I work out twice as hard and look half as good.
4.I LOVE and feel blessed to have the calling of "mother" in this life. LOVE my job.
5. I have a thirsty and conversely absorbent mind. I flit over an emotional political or criminal article and I can recall the party's last name 4 years later. I have to be careful what I watch, read and especially think about.
6. I love to read.
7. I am fiercely defensive. Try and cross someone I love and we'll see what's left of you when were done. It's not a good quality but I acknowledge that it's there.
8. You can have 3 PhD's and not know a thing. Unless the spirit of truth is there in education it's not education, I don't think.
9. I've learned alot about the Word of Wisdom and nutrition. Still learning and loving the depth found there.
10. I value differences in opinion. I might not agree with you but I can respect the point of view. I like hearing different ideas. I value a similar respectful point of view, you might not like what I think but don't tell me I'm an idiot. Narrow minded people bug me.
11. Happiness is a choice, a state of mind rather than a state of circumstances.
12. I'm indecisive.
13. No I'm not.
14. I struggle with fear. The Lord has helped in not letting it control me. "Perfect love casteth out all fear.

15. Friendship is important to me.
16. I'm not a cry-er and wish that I were one. I always feel so much better after a good, hardy cry. That is also when I feel the most beautiful too. The morning after a cry, puffy eyes and all. But in reality I only cry maybe twice a year. And the things that make me cry are random, a work of art, a perfect moment. etc.
17. I learned that I love to dance like a hyper idiot....but only when no one is looking. Does this mean I care what people think, or that I care about people enough that I don't want to frighten them (I AM REALLY SPAZZY!)? Hmmm..food for thought.
18. I learned that I like to think of myself as an AMAZING TRAVELER but I'm not. Carsick, Airsick...landing in Hawaii last year was my once a year in tears experience. Maybe it's because I was prego?
19. I learned I hate heights. Jumping from them is not an option. I love the ocean, it puts me in a state of awe. I have no desire to see under it's deeps it freaks me out.
and
20. I learned I have ALOT to learn.

I was trying to think of 20 things I'd accomplished in my 20's. I can't. When I look back on my 20's I will think of it as the decade I became a mom and wife. I hope that quantifies it enough.