Madster

Madster ate 4 bananas today and spilled close to 2 gallons of water on the floor.  Close.  1 gallon was spilled while I was gone to a meeting, the rest - here and there before and after preschool.  Cheerios and milk on her brother too.  She dumped a bunch of shampoo in her hair  - 2 times yesterday and once today.  But she HATES getting her hair washed.  So I dunno which part of "when I dump shampoo in my hair, it has to be washed" she doesn't get.  I was sure by the 2nd time around yesterday she would learn.  Not!  She is a handful.  Boy, good thing she's got adorable ways.  And a cute personality to boot.

New Series to Read

...for Collin that is.  After watching the How to Train Your Dragon movie, now he wants to collect dragons.  Walmart has them he says.  Well the book looks so fun too.  I am glad that this series is for boys (and girls!)ages 7 and up.  And one that Collin actually wants to read.  There aren't very many boy-themed series books out there we've seen that are for his age group, so I am glad to see that this series looks promising.  Costco has the books right now, I almost picked a couple last week but didn't know how cool they were until I saw the movie.  I bet the books are even better!  Hopefully this series will get him interested and stay with reading!

Ms Layers

---strikes again! This time, not too comfortable in the 10 pieces of clothing she has on.  You only see 6, but trust me I counted them all.  There are 3 skirts and 7 tops.

32!

It was such a busy weekend to turn 32!  It was great, because for the last year I thought I was 32 so now I was just really making it all official.  Collin reminded me quite a few times that I was only 31.

Here are the highlights of my birthday week-end:

I had planned on a girls night out type of birthday since Collin and Kevin had a Fathers and Sons Campout planned, but it got cancelled the last minute due to snow - so nice surprise to find out they were going to be home after all!

Bree and Andrew spent the weekend with us.  While we were driving together all 7 of us, Kevin and I looked at each other and I told him this could be seriously our family - a 13 yr old, a 10 yr old, 8 yr old, 6 yr old, and little 2 yr old.  Hilarious!  I wouldn't mind 2+ more kids.  Seriously.  But Kev's good with whatever we have.  And then of course there are days when I am good with the 3 we have. :)

We got together for mine and Chad's family birthday dinners the Sunday before last.  It was great to have everyone all together.  This was us at our birthday candles blowing routine, cake courtesy of my s-i-l Megan.

On my birthday, there were a few thoughtful presents, but these two top the cake:  1:) Collin woke me up with a box for me to open.  It was a homemade card and trinkets gathered from all over the house.  They were cool though - a green plastic bead necklace, a plastic pink ring, a butterfly necklace and a sponge curler.  So funny.  2:)  Allie gave me a giant candy bar, that she proudly announced she bought with her own money.

And birthdays wouldn't be complete without your whole host of friends and family to help you celebrate right?  Nothing beats that.  So, Lorraine, Kristie, and the kids and I went to Joe's Farm Grill for lunch.  Then my friend Alisyn and I went on a fun shopping and ice cream trip that night.  Kevin was so nice to watch all 5 kids, including Bree and Andrew who were staying with us for the weekend.  Our date will have to wait til this week (looking forward to it!).  Thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday on facebook and also called me up on the phone.

On a sad note though, my mom's mom (Mama Rina) also passed away on my birthday.  She was 85.  It was just time for her to go.  We didn't get to see her much the last 20 something years, since she lives all the way back in the Philippines, but I remember her being a great cook and great homemaker.  spotless house. spotless clothes. spotless bathroom.  the best strawberry jam ever.  I am sure she is having a grand old time in heaven now. I know we will see her again someday.  I love this gospel truth!

Saturday morning Kevin and the boys (Collin and Andrew) went to the Fathers and Sons breakfast at Church so the girls and I decided to run over to Krispy Kreme to get donuts for breakfast.  They voted to eat in and watch the donuts being made and enjoy breakfast there.  While we were there, I called Kevin to see if they wanted to come and crash our breakfast, but the girls were not up for that -  "This is a girls only breakfast!".

In the afternoon, we took all 5 of them to watch "How to Train Your Dragon".   It was such a good movie, probably the best we've seen this year, and I can't wait until it comes out on DVD!  After the movie, we split, we girls went to the girl shops and the boys went to get some ice cream and the hat store.  Bree and Allie got them matching hairclips.

Maddie is such a hoot with that crinkly smile of hers.  I don't have very many photos of just her and me, so I like this one of her and me on my birthday. She's almost as big as me!

The girls talked me into doing a spa night with them after dinner.  That we did.  We soaked our feet in foot fizz, scrubbed our heels, painted our nails and I let them use my special lotion.  Maddie came and joined us and got her nails all painted too. Of course she wouldn't miss that one for the world.  The girls kept saying how it was so fun to get to do that.  So maybe the teenage years won't be too bad?  Girl talk is awesome.  Just think of the girl comments on the following topics - how fingers turn to toes, if pink fingernail polish matches a yellow dress, and if boys wore nail polish and went to a spa, how would that be?  So that wraps up Saturday for us. Too bad I was too lazy to go down and get my camera to take photos of our spa night.

Sunday we had a quiet day at home.  Collin wanted to eat cinnamon rolls so we made some from scratch. Obviously it doesn't happen all the time because I took pictures! :)  It was such a long process and the kitchen was a whole mess!  They all wanted to roll the dough and pat the dough and sprinkle the sugar and flour.  By the time the bread and rolls were done, I was done too!  I was dreading going back downstairs to clean it up, but very excitedly found a spotless kitchen.  Kevin had done it all for me.  He's a keeper.

The End.

focused scatterbrain

Is that even possible?  Because that's what I feel like most these days.  I feel like I have so much I want to accomplish and not enough time to fit them all in my little schedule.  But I have some kind of goal/end in mind.

Remember our new year's resolutions?  One of the things in my "Fit" category is to really strive to make great *but easy* dinners every day of the week for my family (ok, more like 5 or 6 dinners to be honest and exact).  So I bought me two new recipe books, which I have been picking thru since I got them in the mail a week or so ago - The Food Nanny and Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals cookbooks.  We tried the Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin recipe from Robin Miller, and amazingly it went over well and we didn't have any leftover. (Kevin wasn't so sure about the balsamic vinegar, but liked it in the end!)

  

So while being inspired by all these new recipes to try, I thought, hey, I could use a menu board so I can keep "focused" during the week. Because my brain can't think about food when it is 4 p.m. and I haven't figured it out.  So I am eyeing this at Pottery Barn:

and this,  to help with stacks of *important papers* that don't seem to stop growing.  Plus it matches my green sideboard that's in my hall.

I must have been thinking on my lucky stars, because I saw another use for the chalkboard I've been eyeing on one of the blogs I follow - which is to use the chalkboard to display quotes you want your children to memorize and internalize.  How true.  So now I'm really excited about the chalkboard!

It was great daydreaming about where I would put these two awesome things! But I had to quit the daydreaming because this week I had to prep for the digital scrapbooking class I volunteered to teach - (I don't know how I get myself doing these things!) but anyway, I did it tonight!  It was fun, but I am glad I got that over with (to make room for all the other stuff on my to-do list).  I am not entirely crazy though; I am midweek coordinator in our ward and somehow the planning stuff is just right up my alley.

I am not to forget I still have that great challenge to mark up the Ensign when it comes.  That's part of the reason I was inspired to be a better mother and homemaker - so hence the focus on how to better our home life.  Pres. Hinckley worded this desire of mine perfectly -  while we were at BYU he gave a devotional and titled his talk The Quest for Excellence.  And the bits and pieces that stuck to me then are these:

"The distance between mediocrity and excellence can be ever so small.  Don't be a scrub! Rise to the high ground of excellence. You can do it.  I want to urge you to stand a little taller, to rise a little higher, to be a little better.  You may be lacking in some skills. But you can do better than you are now doing."

Not perfect, not geniuses, but excellent.  I like that.  I can see this quote on that chalkboard right. now.

It sounds pretty domestic, to be excited about a chalkboard to write menus on, or quotes for the kids to memorize, or a pinboard to put up important papers (like the fun kids' art and what not). But really it helps better the most important of all - our home.  I wish I could be the most excellent person I can be.  Yeah, I have to remember Pres. Hinckley said that the quest for that may be "a long one."

Case in point: just as I am about to hit "publish", I remembered I was supposed to have emailed Allie's teacher the Spelling Lists and Greek/Latin roots worksheets that I promised would be put together and emailed to her promptly every Friday.  :)

The Latest Scoop on Maddie

Maddie comes to preschool every day.  Sometimes she is crazy and doesn't like to be told how to do things, but there are days where she concentrates and gets a lot of work done.  Lately, especially.  I am pretty amazed at the things she's been able to do at this age.   She is counting to 11 on her own, sings a few of our preschool songs and can be found looking like this on a normal Montessori day:

 Pattern blocks - I was amazed to see how she was able to pick out the right blocks to lay on top of the control card.

Transferring 8mm beads from the small bowl to the suction cups of the foot-shaped soap holder.

She loves to grade the pink tower from largest to smallest.

Maddie's into her clothes.  As in she likes to pick them out. Every chance she can get.  Most the time she picks out totally mismatched things, which I let her wear. Most the time.  Anyway the other day she brought me a red long-sleeve pajama top and wanted me to help her put it on.  I did.

Then she came back with a yellow tank top.  #2
Then a hot pink 3/4 sleeve shirt. #3
Then a green printed tank top. #4
Next an ivory long-sleeve bodysuit. #5
Then ivory leggings. Allie's leggings, that is.  She wanted to fold them up like capris.  So I did. #6
She disappeared for a while... then came back with
a skirt on.  #7
Then wanted a short-sleeve red shirt to top it all.  #8
This is what she looked like after she was all dressed:

She was so thick it was hilarious she ran around outside looking like she had put on some weight.   Then they (the kids) ran thru the sprinklers and her uncle Tony helped her with her wet clothes.  She had so many layers on she was DRY by the time the 5th layer was off.

She loves her clothes.   She always has at least 4 pieces of clothing on these days.  The dress-up stage lasts only so long, so I let her as much as she wants.  It's pretty sad once it's over.  I remember when I realized Allie's princess dress up days were over.  One day she just didn't want to be a princess anymore!

The other thing she's into is makeup.  I got a new tube of Lip Glass and other things the other day and she came to preschool with a bunch of it on her lips + mascara on too.  When I tried to wipe off the mascara, she said, "No, mommy I'm sparkly princess. I so pretty. "  I just had to smile. Especially when I put her in front of the mirror and she realized just how black and sparkly her lips were. :)

"Practice" Recital

 Waiting for her turn

Allie signed up to play the Spanish piano piece "Malaguena" at her school's talent show.  A song she can play with her eyes closed.  It was a minute of full-on nerve racking experience!  She is still convinced that it was bad because she didn't nail the awesome-sounding triplet sequence at the end.  She acted like it was no big deal earlier today... so we talked and I tried to convince her that although it was not perfect, she showed off her great piano skills AND she was brave, AND it was also great practice for the big piano recital in May.  I know I for one would have a hard time doing that.

When she wasn't too convinced, I asked her to find 3 good things about her experience today - because I truly believe there is always good to be found in everything.  She answered, "just the beefy 5-layer burrito".  Food always help make everything better!  "Malaguena" is now on her blacklist, however.  Before running off to bed she played a part of this piece (half), which she just started learning on Tuesday:



From the sound/looks of it, I think she'll be fine!  Thanks to Grandma Lorraine and Macey for coming to watch.  Go Allie!

For you performers out there, any tips on calming those nerves down and prepping your emotions for a recital? 

With Macey;

Allie and I after the show

Aww!

Came across these while going through a few thousand photos from last year.  Taken last December, after her most-requested morning bath.  She still loves them.  In fact this morning she woke up crying, wanting a bath first.  Instead of breakfast.

I-need-to-document-that

Some days are full of  I-need-to-document-that!-type of happenings.  That's the way it is here at home.  Recently it seems like I am picking up my camera more often that not (what's new?), and that's why it sits right by my phone within easy reach.  Forget the camera case.

Yesterday, Allie picked out her recital piece.  It was fun the way Mr. Heck let her choose.

She sat with her back to the piano so she couldn't see the music, and just listened to him play 5 songs.

Then she picked the song she thought sounded cool.  Well, coolness, she picked the one with LOTS of notes.  That's why Mr. Heck doesn't let them see the music when picking their piece. Tricky!  But it is pretty and I am glad she likes this one (although to me all the other ones didn't seem any easier).  She has to memorize this piece and play it in about a month.

This was the outfit Maddie picked out for herself yesterday.  She had me help her put on the swimsuit and disappeared upstairs.  Quite some time later she reappears and this is my first sighting of "the outfit".   She also stole a waffle from the freezer and ran outside to meet Kevin, who had just come home from work.

Collin woke me this morning and told me he had just come up with a wonderful way to keep track of what he's supposed to do.  A checklist, too cute not to take a photo of!

From the top:
homework,
do hair (see the bottles of hairspray next to the hair),
brush teeth,
use the bathroom (toilet to the left, sink to the right),
get dressed (shirt, pants, shoes, don't know what's on the top of the shoes),
eat breakfast (see cup with straw and bowl with spoon),
BOMHB - which stands for Book Of Mormon at Home Before school;
then lastly - a car for "pickup" (go to school).

Here's another one I couldn't NOT post:

Allie's Wish

Going thru a stack of papers from last week, I found this card Allie gave Kevin and me:

Just one of the many cards and letters we get every week.  Maybe she knows something we don't?  But I have to agree, this looks like a very happy family.

Please post this!

Once again Mr. C complained, "how come you never take pictures of my lego creations?".  So I took pictures of his "creations" (yeah, he loves to use that word) and posting it on here for him.

the crane is his own original design.  Check out the outriggers and the major cab design.

special request to take back view photos.

Serious, isn't he?

When that Ensign comes...

I made myself a challenge.   At the end of Saturday's conference talks, I felt like there was so much said about parenting and teaching our children the gospel.  I immediately started thinking that when the Ensign comes I am going thru the whole thing and taking every bit that's related to parenting & teaching kids. I thought how awesome that would be to have a little handbook of sorts or a totally marked up Ensign on this topic, and to be able to study it everyday! 

Just for starters...

"It is by divine design that the role of motherhood emphasizes the nurturing and teaching of the next generation." - Elder Tom Perry

"Are the life and teachings of Jesus Christ embedded in the minds and souls of our children? Do they think about the Savior’s life when they wonder what to do in their own lives? This will be more and more important in the years ahead." - Elder Neil Andersen

Anyone with me?

I know, it's a totally random photo, but the pigtails at the end of the day just crack me up + the big brother trying to get in the picture back there

Spring Soccer

Spring soccer season started up this last week, and Collin's first game was on Saturday.  It was a good first game with good hustling, but they lost 2-1 to the Dragons.  Collin's team is called the Scorpions to match their black and white uniforms that look much like some sports' referee's.  Collin wears a #6 jersey.  For the past two seasons (both basketball and soccer), Collin wore a #4 shirt.  I hadn't even thought about it until the first day of practice when he told me he needs to make sure he doesn't get #4 again, since he's had #4 every single time.  He was right.  So he chose #6 to match his age.

Well back to the game...we had the usual drama of Allie not wanting to be at the game (because it's boring she says).  So she spent the whole time reading a book and writing some silly journal entries about how boring sports is.

Maddie dressed herself for the day, yep, including the fancy necklace she found as we were heading out the door.  She told me "I pretty Mom" after I helped her put on her carefully chosen outfit for the day.  And let me tell you, it is pretty hard to get her to wear something else. So, here she is in her "I pretty" glory:

P.S.   Just when I got really comfortable and happy with the old one, I switched cameras and now I am still trying to get my camera to match what I see on my monitor and vice-versa, so the colors, tones and what not are a little bit off and have been for the last couple of weeks (eek!).  I forgot how long it takes me to get where I want it. Any advice on shortcuts is welcome.

Someone had a half-birthday!

Collin's turn for a half-birthday date came too quickly!  Being the big Lego fan that he is, he chose to go to the Lego Store to spend his half-birthday date with me.  We weren't planning on celebrating until the weekend, but he found out we were heading to the Chandler Mall on Tuesday night, so he asked me if he could go to the Lego Store for his date.  Of course! He was in heaven at the Lego store, and kept talking about all the different things he wanted to save up for, things he would like to build someday. 

He made sure to bring his check register with him, and had me look at the price tags to see if he had enough money for it.  After checking a couple of boxes, he was pretty good at estimating which toys he had enough money for, and was so happy to take home a little camper set he bought with his own money that he earned by doing his chores and helping around the house.

What a sweet boy he is too!  He picked the one Lego set that he just knew Allie would love playing with.  I thought he was going to pick out the helicopter set he had wanted for so long, but in the end, he picked up the camper set and said, "I'll get this.  Allie would just be so surprised I got it!"  The last time we were at the Lego store, he and Allie were looking at the camper together and wanted to buy it but they didn't have enough money to purchase it.   It was fun to get to spend just a little time with him, doing something he wanted to do.

At 6 and a half, Collin:

1. Hasn't lost a single tooth!  He is starting to worry about it.
2. Is good at reading, and does awesome on his spelling tests at school.
3. Builds a very detailed Lego model EVERY day. It's something different every time too.
4. Likes to do his own hair. Spiked up with lots of hairspray.
5. Wants to be an engineer when he grows up.
6. Wakes up bright and early, gets dressed for school and comes to my bed to "surprise" me - the surprise is that he got ready for school BEFORE I could even tell him to get ready.
6.5 Still loves to come to my preschool (even after being in kindergarten all morning) and creates lots of fun crafts - the latest one he called S.S. Fruity, a boat/barge made out of an empty egg carton and Fruity Pebbles box - hence, S.S. "Fruity".

***the half-birthday date idea is that each of our kids gets to go on a daddy-daughter or mom-son date on their half-birthdays.  It makes them feel oh so special to get this one-on-one time with us.***

Going private again!

I opened up this blog to share our Easter Plan last week.  For those of you who need a hard copy of the idea and do not have a private invite to our blog, you may either ask me for an invite (so your links still work) or copy the ideas you like from my blog.  I will be going private again soon!

Eggs, eggs, eggs!

Kids were off school on Friday, so we and all the cousins played, colored Easter eggs and went on Grandma Lorraine's annual Easter Egg Hunt.  This was Maddie's first year coloring eggs on her own, and boy did she want NO help from me whatsoever.  So I let her -- and did she go to town coloring those eggs, saying "Ta da!" after every few strokes of her paint brush.

 

 Gabby and Cade giving the little ones a ride in the wagon

At the egg hunt, Allie really wanted to find the golden egg with $20 in it.  She was disappointed that this year, her cousin Dallin found it, but overall, she found the most eggs - 29 total! and got over $5 in cash prizes.

Collin found 12 eggs and was happy he that got $3.50 and Maddie and I found 14 eggs but didn't care about all the money in it (totaled $3), just the candy!  Little Madster pie really got into the hunt!  I'd give her some clues and would go right for the eggs.  There was this one time I didn't even see the one she was going for! She liked finding pink ones which she called "Princess" eggs.

 Grandma Lorraine giving them instructions before the egg hunt 

(everyone is in this picture except for Maddie)

Easter Weekend

Easter ranks high up if you ask the kids which are their top 3 favorite holidays.  It'll be Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving for Allie (in that order) and Collin will say, "Christmas, the one that's in November, and Easter".  St. Patrick's comes 4th, 5th is 4th of July,  6th is Halloween, and in last place is Valentine's Day.  All those days are big at our house.  So naturally, being #3 on the list of "favorite holidays", Easter week just has to be great, and this year, it was a double treat with Conference falling on the same day.  Don't think the kids are being spiritual and all, they told me once they like Conference because we don't have Church! Funny kids.

Kevin and the kids woke up early Saturday morning to help clean the ward building, while I stayed home with my fast-asleep Maddie and got the house clean and ready for a full day of Conference.  I know those that know me well are laughing or shaking their heads that I clean the house before conference, but hey, whatever is required to "focus" (for me!).

The kids were so good and spent both sessions playing Conference Bingo, putting up pictures of the apostles as the spoke, and coloring and working on their conference packets I printed from Scriptures4Kids.  As the packets are divided up into sections, one for each session, I just stapled each section and gave them to the kids at the start of each session.  It worked out great, and Conference was enjoyable for both us and the kids.  Add to that a bunch of treats to eat, and Conference is fun for them too!

Conference Bingo and packets

Idea that worked for Allie: 

Write down a question/s or problem/s you have that might be answered during Conference.  Listen for answers to this/these questions/problems.

Allie's question this year: "Do I HAVE to read scriptures every day?"

Answer: She said her question was answered in more than one talk.  The one she remembers is Elder Christofferson's.  It's because "we weren't there, but we know what happened...because we have the scriptures".  How cool.

The kids took turns putting up the photos of the 12 apostles and First Presidency as they spoke.  Maddie thought it was fun to "color" their faces, which made Collin mad.

 Note: Of all the 15, only Elder Oaks' didn't make it to the board.  He spoke at Priesthood.

After the first session, Allie said, "Wow, conference didn't seem as long as last time!"  and Collin agreed that time went "so fast".  I told them it was because they were listening.  Same thing happened with the afternoon session.  I was so uplifted by the talks and inspired to be a better wife and mother.  I loved Sis. Beck's talk and I told myself that this was the talk for me to study in the next few months.  I thought that there were so many talks that emphasized being a good parent, and teaching the kids MORE diligently about Christ and His gospel.

Of all the places she could have picked, Maddie squeezed herself in between her brother and sister at the start of conference.  She spent the next two hours stealing candy off Collin's bingo board.  

(excuse the graininess, I didn't take this one with a flash)

I'd like to remember they shared a blanket to watch conference

I spent Saturday night with my in-laws (the gals, except for Kristie who we missed), and Kevin and his dad and brother Chad went to Priesthood and dinner after (as usual).   We had just spent an awesome day!!!  Except Kevin and I woke up in the middle of the night with food poisoning which I believe we got from a drink cup - which we both drank from. We have never gotten sick at the same time before!  That put a damper on Easter Sunday!  Kevin was so sick he stayed in bed all day.  I, luckily, didn't get it as bad as him!

The kids got up at 5 a.m. to see if the Easter Bunny had come yet.  He did.  They found their Easter baskets filled with Blendy pens, drawing pads and candy, apparently to help with Conference, which they thought was cool.  I got up to take a photo (I had to!) and then made Easter breakfast rolls (rolls that are hollow in the middle) before going back to bed to sleep for a couple of hours. 

5 a.m.: discovering the loot the Easter Bunny left

Kevin was so sick he stayed in bed to listen to Conference, while I went downstairs to open the last egg with the kids, eat the "special rolls" and watch Conference with them.  They were so good thankfully! and still were so attentive.  I put Allie in charge of Madster, so I could rest (at this point I was feeling so sick I just had to lay on the couch!).  

Anyway, long story short, I made some scalloped potatoes for Easter dinner, decided we were both too sick to go so Kevin's mom came and picked up the kids and took them to Megan's for dinner.  Collin threw up all over our new van on the way (he says he also took a "sip" from the cup but he could have just gotten sick from all the candy he ate that morning, he was fine last night!) so she had to come straight back!  Anyway, I spent the next hour or so cleaning the van and got Collin in bed to sleep. Hah! I seriously think mothers have some secret strength somewhere hidden in their bodies.  Thank goodness for that.

So that was Easter Sunday for us.  Besides the surprise bug, I loved that we got to remember and talk about the Savior's last week and all that He has done for us and sit at the feet of the prophets at General Conference.  What better Easter than that?!

Easter Week: Day 7 & 8

from left: centurion/guard (setting a watch); hand puppet; empty egg

our Easter tree with all 19 eggs

Happy Easter!