My poor neglected blog...today!

You may have noticed how many of my pictures were all lost last year because of a google mess up...so discouraging! But I still need to use this as journal, so I'll start with today since 'catching up' is just too overwhelming.

Today was a really good day! I love my sweet little girlykins! The girls let me sleep in and got breakfast all by themselves and even poured a bowl of cereal for me. They colored upstairs and I love that they usually play so well together. Lucy did get in trouble for wanting to kick her sister and I sent her to her room. She then yelled "I don't love you anymore mom!" and slammed her door.

Later the girls did some yoga with me and Audrey did 10 jumps with her jumprope. We ate lunch outside since weather was beautiful today! I love our backyard soooo much. I got a blanket so I could read outside and the girls wanted to play I spy and lay outside with me. I finally made them each get books and we read under the trees. Lucy had a way too long big toenail and brought out some clippers so I could cut it, I ended up trimming all their nails. Then Audrey asked if I'd paint them, too, so I painted all 30 toenails and fingernails! The girls found ladybugs and were so excited...not so excited when they saw ants and spiders though.

I finally took a shower and got dinner ready. Dad came home semi early (before 6pm) and we ate chicken salad in lettuce wraps, tomato/cucumber salad and broccoli. I'm so glad the girls love to eat their vegis. Later we relaxed on the love sac upstairs and watched the end of princess diaries, while dad napped.

I made some yummy white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies for FHE and we had a lesson on being a missionary. Audrey chose hide and go seek as our game/activity. Then shower, books and bedtime. I'm also glad they usually go to bed pretty well. I love our girls. Tomorrow I am planning on the free first Tuesdays at the Dallas Museum of Art. Hopefully, it won't be raining because I want to grab some food truck grub.

Good night!

Motherhood

I have so many thoughts right now that I don't know where to start. I love being a mom and I love my kids! I also love other people's kids! But I've never felt so insecure about my parenting until about 15 months ago when school ended and 'employed' life began. I need to sleep, but I wanted to save these articles for future reference.

articles here and here

*update* March 23rd: I read this article today in the NY Times and loved it. I realized I have had a smart phone for the last 16 months. Although the two mat not be completely related, the coincidence is enough for me to want to get rid of the thing ASAP.

We miss nana and nampa!

The girls were loving life with nana and nampa. They got to stay with us for 2 1/2 weeks and I really miss not being outnumbered by these little people all day...come again soon! We love you!

My baby is 3!

 Can she stay 3 forever?

 She got to pick out her toy at Target. Her favorite princess is Cinderella...Audrey loves Belle and Lucy loves Ariel. It is so much fun having little girls!

 I've decided that I hate decorating cakes...I am terrible at it and it makes the cake look less delicious. Oh well, she loved it and that's all that matters.

We love you so much Baby Sagey!

devil's food cake

butterscotch pudding

Big wheels

When I was three years old, we lived in a cul-de-sac. I had a big wheel and I vividly remember riding it around the cul-de-sac buck naked. My almost three year old was contained to the backyard, but she and I are kindred spirits for sure. 

Hi mom!

See ya later

I love this girl so freakin' much.

silly girls

I wrote German this email yesterday...

The girls are playing in the entryway and Audrey just said "I am the King of the Jews!" then Lucy responded, "Ok, and I'll be the Queen of the juice!" I think Audrey was the only one paying attention in church yesterday. ;)

We had lots of crazy fun with cousin Maddie and Aunt Amy the past week and a half. Amy came to watch the girls so German and I could celebrate our 10 year anniversary for a couple of nights. We had a little birthday party for Maddie since she is turning three in a couple of weeks. We danced in dressups and ate pink cupcakes. They had fun playing outside, jumping on beds, coloring Valentine's, decorating heart cookies and fighting over toys. We even got to see Uncle Spencer for a couple of days, hopefully we will get together again soon.

Isn't she so cute?!?

email to dad...

I made caramel corn and the girls and I were chowing down in front of a movie. It was disappearing fast and Lucy looks down and says, "we better save some for daddy." So, she says, "I'll just take two more bites." Then she grabs two more little pieces. I tell Sage and Audrey to take two more little bits and then I'm going to put it away to save for daddy. They proceed to take two more BIG handfuls and Lucy also digs in again for one more huge handful. It's addicting. I'll try to save you some, but not sure if I can stop...

We will probably wait until you get here to eat since we just ate alot of caramel corn.

Love you.

i love the green!

Today I took Sage (and the other two) to the doctor because she's been really cranky, stuffy, feverish and waking up the last couple of nights. It started on Sunday and turns out she has RSV and maybe the beginnings of pneumonia. Poor thing...she wouldn't nap today, so we are watching lots of TV. I'm tired and should be working on my talk for church, but instead I am wasting time looking at design homes. Maybe it's because I was born on St. Patrick's day, but I LOVE all the green.

robot twins

Lucy and Audrey will sometimes start talking to each other in robot voices...must be from a cartoon. And they love to pretend their names are Ahhsha, Anna and Bobah. No idea??

I wish I had a pecan tree in my backyard. These are pictures from last month at the beautiful Royalty Pecan Farm, the most delicious pecans I have ever tasted. The day we celebrated German finishing his last final! No more school!!!

I love these people so very much!

Ahhsha

Anna

& Bobah

My newest design wish: a photo frame collage wall kinda like this one. Or this one.

today

I woke up at 7:05am

I remembered to say my morning prayer

I gave the girls Life cereal for breakfast & Honey Bunches cereal to my honey

I read outloud from 1st Nephi chapter 5 and told the girls how much Lehi and Sariah loved their children and how much they worried about them

I also smiled to myself reading about Sariah complaining to her husband Lehi, calling him a visionary man

I cut out three paper hearts and watched the girls color rainbows on them like their friend Bristol while I ate breakfast and drank some mate

I helped Sage with her pinkalicious puzzle

I washed, folded and put away two loads of laundry

I gave the girls graham crackers and milk for snack

I told Lucy 5 times to stop bugging Audrey and sit down and finish her snack

Then I lost it when Audrey spilled her full glass of milk because she was trying to get away from Lucy who was, of course still bugging her

I cleaned up the milk and continued to rant and yell about the girls leaving their toys and clothes and blankets and puzzle pieces everywhere

I felt bad when Lucy came to say sorry and give me a hug

I hugged her back and told her I was sorry I had made a bad choice by yelling

I sent the girls out in the backyard to ride bike/scooters

I laughed when I saw Audrey walking around in dad's flip flops

I got a phone call from my MIL

I gave the girls mac n cheese, mixed veggies and homemade pinto bean dip for lunch

I let the girls watch Miss Spider

I spent time on craigslist looking for a queen size bed, piano, dresser, lawn mower, cake stand, butter dish, and a bunch of other non-essential items

I also researched a solar oven and really want to buy one soon

I changed three poopy diapers & wiped two poopy bums all before noon

I put the girls down for a nap

I thought about how I want the girls job chart to look like

I also thought about taking a shower (didn't happen)

I took a 30 minute power nap

I sighed when the girls woke me up

I gave the girls trail mix for a snack and they pretty much only ate the M&Ms

I put on 'Vida' music so the girls could dance around in their dressups

I crawled around chasing the girls while being the red-headed tickle monster

I tackled and tickled the twins and smiled when Sage did a Sumo jump onto my back

I snuggled and watched Milo & Otis with the girls.

I skyped with my mom, the girls are regular jokesters ("Sort of" & "Awkward")

I made BBQ chicken thighs, rice and vegis for dinner and PW prune cake for dessert

I smiled when the girls saw daddy and squealed for joy

I bathed three cute little girls

I kissed Sage all over after I put on her diaper--she laughed and yelled "top it mommy!"

I helped draw a birthday card for family night

I laughed and applauded for each singing performance on the fireplace stage

I listened while Sage and Lucy both had to say family prayer

I sang I am a Child of God while I put their books away on the bookshelf in their room

I kissed, hugged and said I love you to my three favorite little girls

I am now enjoying my alone time and feeling thankful for being a mother

I am also thinking that I really need to start writing my talk for church on Sunday

Tah Tah for now

This morning at breakfast...

...Lucy was wearing her favorite yellow headband:

Audrey: Hey Lucy, maybe when you get too big for your yellow headband then baby Oscar can wear it.

Lucy: Baby Oscar can't wear a headband, he's a boy!

Mom: When is baby Oscar coming?

Lucy: When Sage grows up and isn't a baby anymore then baby Oscar will come.

Dad: Where is baby Oscar?

Audrey: I don't know where baby Oscar comes from...

Mom: Ha, I'll tell you when you get older.

I think the girls are getting a little baby hungry, too bad mom and dad aren't quite ready yet.

JOY

This past week I've been feeling alot of joy. It is wonderful and I realize how important it is for me to always seek out that joy, not just when things seem to be going well. Things aren't incredibly different, I still wake up tired and cranky some mornings and I still lose it with the girls now and again. I still get a little stir crazy being inside all day and I still get frustrated when the girls are all screaming something at me at once.

The difference: I get over it quicker. I am somehow not allowing those moments to linger as long and ruin my day. Sadly, over the last few years I often let my deep worries/concerns pour over into my attitude toward daily life, which impeded my joy.

Now because life has alot less worries, I am sleeping better and recognizing how I feel more joyful and more grateful. I realize this is all fine and dandy, but the trick is that I need to learn to feel this way even when my life is filled with worries and/or trials. Because as most of us know one guarantee in this life is that trials will come. My job is to not let the trial shake me up for too long. My challenge is to find joy during difficult times. I love our beautiful little girls so much and I am extremely fortunate to be able to stay home with them each day.

Yesterday I decided to shower while the girls were napping. The girls woke up while I was blow drying my hair. I got them a snack and then went to put hot curlers in my hair (which I usually only do occasionally, maybe a few times a month). I finished my hair and makeup and it was almost 4pm. I looked in the mirror and thought, "alot of work and I'm not even going to leave the house today...oh well." I walked out into the living room and my Loving Lucy said "Wow mom, your hair is so beautiful!" I started to tear up a little as I thanked her and gave her a hug. She is so sweet and so sincere and just such a wonderful reminder of how very lucky I am to be home all day.

Adorable Audrey loves the new bike they share from Christmas and she is always wanting me to put on her pads and helmet and WATCH her. "Mom, look at me mom...mom, mom, look--did you see me mom? Watch mom, Watch this! mom mom MOM!" And I get to be here to watch her ride in circles over and over. How lucky am I?

Sassafras Sage and her dressup changing is adorable and a tad annoying. She loves to twirl and say "look mom, I so boosissol in my dress!" I find her dressups strewn all over the house inside out all day long. Cinderella is her favorite followed by her purple fairy Halloween costume, then Alice. I have stitched up Alice and Cinderella once and it is time for another fix on the Cinderella dress.

My Gentle German. I love him more each day! We are both so much happier when not in school. We will celebrate our 10 year anniversary in a few weeks and we've been loving our lazy nights together with no homework to do. We have been in school pretty much since we got married and I still can't believe it is over FOREVER! I am so proud of him and he gets even more handsome with age. He is my media naranja and I love to be near him always. The girls love him, too and get SOOO excited when daddy gets home from work (screaming, running and jumping for a good 5 minutes straight!) He is a wonderful daddy and I love that he reads to them every night before bed.

 Surprised Faces

Mean Faces

Silly Faces

I love each face so much!

Wish our bed looked like this...I love the shutter headboard and the lamp and the pillows...

German full-time employee

German finished school on Friday and he just left to start work full-time this week. I am so proud of him. We will all move up to Mansfield, TX (about 30 mins south of his job in Arlington) on Jan 9th and start a new era of our lives with NO SCHOOL. It has been a difficult and long journey, but I knew he could do it. I knew once he got his foot in the door, he would be offered a job. He works so hard and is so loyal and reliable and gives his very best.

I have set new goals for myself since he will be gone working now M-F from 8-6pm and why wait until the New Year??? I will miss having him so close by and at home so often during the day. I have to step up my game alot and I need the girls to help me out. I am making a new schedule for all of us, a routine of studying and learning and playing and cleaning and organizing. I want helping out to be fun and enjoyable, so that they feel like part of a team. I want it to just become good habits or second nature to them, not something I have to nag and remind them about each day. I only have a year and 8 months left with them here at home all day and then they are off to school and then gone forever. I got a laminator for Christmas and I am so excited to use it! Now that German has an office at work, I get to make the home office my own work space. We also got Adobe photoshop and illustrator, so I get to play and design and hopefully, develop/attain some talent. I'm excited.

Any ideas or website links for preschool projects, organization ideas, crafts. etc would be great!

Love him...

And them.

Today I'm grateful I drove to Utah with my girls in July...

...so Sage could meet her sweet great grandfather and give him a kiss.

Halloween cuties

First primary program & Halloween fun

Yesterday was the primary program at church and our girls had their first opportunity to 'speak' in church. And we decided to record it, is that against some church rule??? Oh well! We practiced their parts until they both had them memorized. Audrey had a little stage fright, but she did say her part really quietly and Lucy was awesome! So proud of my little angels. Sage was crying for Lucy & Audrey most of the time and even walked up to the stage at the end of the program.

You can barely hear Audrey say her part at the very end of the video. "I can treat my body like a temple by dressing modestly."




Then that evening we decided to let them try on their Halloween costumes and after 3 hours they were already starting to fall apart a little. WHY do they make kid costumes so cheap????? Good thing they don't care, but I told them they have to wait until Halloween to wear them again.

Audrey

Audrey was watching Martha Speaks and the episode was about pets. She yelled over to me in the kitchen and said "MOM, I want a pet!" To which I responded, "Oh really? What kind of pet?" She said "A puppy!" with a big grin on her face. Then I said "Did you know that puppies poop and pee all over the place and you'll have to clean it up?" Her smile faded and she thought for a second and yelled "A kitty?"

"Well, they pee and poop, too."

"A horse?"

Sorry, honey, you're getting colder. Keep trying...

some thoughts on developing talents

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to know more about food. I wanted to know more about cheeses and chocolates. I wanted to know more about cooking exotic foods from all over the world. I tried simple delicious recipes and complex long recipes with detailed methods. I absorbed as much as I could and found some great foodie blogs to follow. I attempted some great dishes and failed a few, but I found that I really enjoy creating in my kitchen. I now only use Kosher salt, real butter and whipping cream, extra sharp cheddar, Ghirardelli chocolate chips and I don't think I can ever make a dessert from a box again! I now have pure vanilla extract, saffron, whole peppercorns and LOTS of cumin in my spice cupboard. Tonight I made my own version of mexican lasagna with corn tortillas, chicken, corn and cheese, with some homemade black beans and a cilantro/onion/lettuce salad on the side. I know my meals are a success when Lucy says, "MMMMM, mommy this is the best dinner I ever saw!" I am by no means done learning, but I feel satisfied with my progress and am fairly confident in my ability to throw something tasty together. Plus I really enjoy the creating AND the eating!

My newest desired talent is design. I want to be crafty, I want to create and do a pretty good job of throwing things together. But I fear this talent will be much more difficult to develop because I am beyond awful at just knowing what will look good. I'm scared I will completely ruin items beyond repair or choose the wrong paint colors and then what do I do? At least with food, I can throw it away or cringe while my sweet husband tries to swallow it down. But the idea of buying furniture/artwork or painting a bedroom wall scares me to death. I have zero confidence in my design abilities. So the last couple of weeks I've been reading/absorbing design blogs. I am blown away by the talented women out there who not only mother children, but design, sew, craft and create beautiful works of art like these stuffed colorful cat pillows or this darling Easter dress.

And LOOK at this kitchen, I covet it. I know covet has a negative connotation, but I covet nonetheless. Since I will never be able to afford this kitchen I want to try to slowly create something like it...on a smaller scale...someday. It will probably take me 10 years, so therefore I am starting now. My obsession for the design talent has begun.

The green backsplash, and the yellow walls, the dark wood floors, the skylights, that island, everything (except maybe the rug, not loving it). A part of me wants to throw in some orange to complete the citrus look, but would that be overdoing it??? Would it look just awful with a touch of orange??? I don't know. I made an orange checkered valance for a kitchen window last year and I like it, but sometimes I look at it and wonder if it just looks really goofy or something. If anyone out there has some design ideas, advice, favorite blogs, etc, then please enlighten me!