Just realize...

Everyday my children teach me something new...
...stop and wait for the angel to kiss your cheeks, you feel it when you close your eyes and listen with your heart. Inspiration: Gracie
...when the lights are off and the sunlight is shining in the windows there are rainbows, everywhere! Inspiration: Kailee
...books are good for reading when my fingers get tired from typing all that school work. Inspiration: Gracie
...books are good for listening to when you need snuggle time. Inspiration: Kailee
...sleeping is only good when it's dark, if there's nothing else fun to do. Inspirations: Kailee and Gracie

Suck it up buttercup!

Sunday Classics

Kailee is in her bedroom, putting away toys, shoving them all in the toy box.
Gracie walks in and said to Kailee, "you're not cleaning this up right."
Kailee begins to cry. Through the sobs she says, "you don't understand me, your words hurt my feelings."
To which Grace replies, "suck it up buttercup."

I was doing Kailee's hair and she said, "ouch mom, you're hurting me."
I began to say, "pain is-"
Kailee interrupts and says, "yeah, yeah pain is beauty, I know, but it still hurts."

Just when...

... you think your life is horrible and no good could possibly come from the torcher you have endured... something happens... a silver lining is there! Just when you think there is no one who understands, a stranger smiles at you, a child touches your hand, the phone rings and it's a friendly voice, or maybe it's just a tender moment where the sunshine hits the window just right and there's a rainbow. Sometimes enduring the hard things can be so unbearable that you think, why me? WHY ME? WHY! Just when you think these things are too much to handle, and you question it again, WHY ME,  you may discover the answer by looking at it from a different point of view. There's always going to be those "why me" days, there's always going to be those horrible-no-good-very-bad days, but those are the times we must just take a moment, take in a deep breath and think, there is good within all this craziness. The good might just end up being, "I'll look back and laugh" or it's a moment that changes your path forever. All good comes, just find it... find the good. Strive for the good. It's there, keep looking, it's there. You only have one life to live and you mine as well live it the best you can and be happy. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, worry about the dust bunnies or hold that grudge... it's not worth it. With that being said, certain things occur that make you realize that people come in and out of our lives for a reason... sometimes it may seem bad but every person you meet has that "good" that they bring to your life... find it... and thank them for helping you find that good, even it was them helping you find strength within yourself.

Christmasy Excitement

In 4 days I will be flying to Florida to see my not so little brother. I have that excitement building inside me like I did when I was a kid on Christmas Eve eagerly awaiting Santa... that feeling use to come with everything when I was younger, now it seems to be something I have knowing that my children will have that feeling as well. I am just giddy like a school girl to go so Louie. It's only been 3 months since our last visit but prior to that it had been over a year. We haven't been down to see his new house yet, which is very exciting! My not so little brother is a home owner... crazy! I love having this feeling, I wish my sister and her family could be going as well. It's so fun when we're all together. I think that feeling that I was describing in seeing it my kids, is what I see in my mom when we (my brother, sister & her family and me & my family) are all with her and my dad. I love that feeling! I love that the feeling is still there "twenty'ish'ish" years later... (Tab, don't you go and post my age now!)

Sunshine kisses



After being outside in the sunshine for an hour for lunch recess duty, I noticed this afternoon that my cheeks were pink. I said, "Oh Gracie look the sunshine kissed my cheeks today, let me know if she kissed yours." She was in the playroom with her friend Alynna and they both looked at each other and started laughing. When I showed them where the sunshine kissed me, they raced to the mirror to see if they were kissed too. Both of them had pink cheeks too and giggled about it for an hour how the sunshine kissed them.

I love innocence. I will keep them innocent for as long as I possibly can!

Motherhood

There's no time-outs in motherhood....

Sunday Classics...

...we did not have any kleenex to wipe runny noses, so I just grabbed some toilet paper and shoved it in my pocket just in case... at church Grace said, "Mom, Kailee's nose is runny she needs a tissue." So I grabbed the tp from my pocket and Grace says in a loud voice, "I said her NOSE not her butt mom!"

...the girls are in the rest room with me because we all had to go, so we stopped at a grocery store to use their facilities. While in the rest room Kailee says, "you know mom, your taking too long people are waiting." I said, "Kailee there are 3 of us it just seems like we've been in her a long time because you and Grace went potty first." She peeks under the door and says, "mom there's even more people waiting." I said "ok I understand dear". She says, "I don't think they do" and points under the door. We all walk out and there were 6 people waiting! What are the chances? Walking out the door, Kailee says, "mom there were 6 people waiting, next time we should just go home and pee."

Snow Day Dance!

The girls and I did our snow day for tomorrow dance!!

We'll let you know if we succeeded!!

That was for you Deb Haas!

**Update: Wednesday, March 23:
 Snowday dance did not work.
So I decided that we made our own half day snow day
because it was so nasty out after lunch recess.**
Sorry Deb, we tried!

Auntie Time

Abby Joy, I adore you!

This child just melts my heart!

Seriously could she be any cuter?

I did spend the morning with Jordan as well, however when he was at Auntie Ria's house we were much more busy and I did not get a chance to grab my camera. When Abby came for the afternoon I had a lot more down time because she wanted to play "alone".... giving Auntie Ria the opportunity to grab that camera.

I love these children just like I do my own. My heart bursts with love when I think about them. 

Cupcakes

Cupcakes! It's what for dinner!

What kind of mother feeds her children cupcakes for dinner?

I DO!

End note: Cupcakes are made with meatloaf, mash potatoe frosting with corn sprinkles!

Recipe:
Cupcake:
1.5 lb extra lean ground beef
1 c brown rice (cooked)
4 cap fulls worceteshire sauce
a couple dashes of salt
a few dashes of pepper
1 egg
1/2 c milk
Mix it all together and scoop into cupcake tin
5 good squirts of ketchup mixed with equal amount of honey then smoothed over top the cupcake
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Frosting:
5 large potatoes (boiled)
1/2 c cream cheese
1/2 c milk
1 Tbs. Butter
Smash it all together.
If you want to "decorate" like a baker: spoon into a gallon zip lock and cut a corner off
then squirt onto your "cupcake" when it's fully cooked.
Then put back into oven for 5 minutes to brown the top.

Clover Day!

It's the green time of year again! When we all get to pretend we're a little bit Irish and drink a little green Guinness beer and believe in the lucky clover! Being the Irish wanna-be that I am, I turned on Green Day this morning, made some green muffins and had a little Irish cream creamer in my coffee... the good Catholic that I am...  will celebrate not because of the hoopla of the day but because of importance of St. Patrick himself. St. Patrick would explain the importance of the Trinity by using a three leaf shamrock, as the old tale goes. We celebrate St. Patrick the day of his death and not of birth; which I find interesting. We honor this man who knew his calling was to convert pagans to Christianity; he lived that life for 30 years. A tiny little piece of history that was learned many, many masses ago and has always stuck with me...  

Bumps and Bandaids

Just when we forget how fun bandaids are, we get a bump or scratch that requires one.

The selection of bandaids must include but not be limited to: Scooby Doo, Strawberry Shortcake, Phineas and Ferb, just to name the 3 that we have currently have in the house... however certain bumps and scratches require particular bandaids... for example, today's boo-boo required a 'rella bandaid but since we are currently out of the Princess' we had to improvise! This requires some quick thinking before a meltdown takes place, we really want to be able to avoid anymore crying since usually crying takes place because of said boo-boo. So, thinking quickly as all mommy's do, I grabbed a silver marker and made a crown on Strawberry Shortcake and we dubbed her Princess Strawberry to keep the peace.

It's worth the quick thinking and keeping of beautiful markers for these unfortunante events, as every bump and scratch is a moment that mommy gets to steal away because there's nothing like a good 'ole mama kiss on the site of soreness to make it "all better".

Today's victim was Grace... then as I was typing this Kailee became a victim of the wretched "ouchie" door pincher! (Finger pinched in door.) Oh Nexcare and Bandaid Brand because of you I am able to make two little girls who would be very unhappy when they think they can't smile... a whole lot better with a simple "pretty" bandaid to cover up the "oucher".

"Thank goodness God gave us Bandaids,"  Grace said after kissing the boo-boo better.
"Thank goodness God gave us mommy's kisses," Kailee said after kissing the ouchie better.
"Thank goodness God gave me these moments to steal away with you." -Me.

LYLC

This is my world. I live my life crazy and love every second of it! It's true, I think that I want the crazy to end but honestly I am so bored without it. I will be a life long education lover, I will always take classes, attend seminars and lectures in hopes of learning something more. I hope that the example I set by living my life crazy for my children is that we can always be a better people. We can achieve higher standards if we are given them to live by; the standards that I feel are important...

• Being true to yourself.
• Believing in what one feels is right and just.
• Standing up for those beliefs that drive you.
• Never settle.
• Hold your head high because life is too short to look down.
• Believe that you will make a difference.

These are what I hope I can teach my children through example. I want to be the best mom I can be and in order to do this; I must follow my heart and be true to who I am.

"Life is full of choices, make them with the information you seek out; not the information just in front of you."

Flu

Day 6 since the flu has hit our house... hard and quick! 3 down, 1 to go! Grace and I did not get it as bad as Kailee; thank God! Jon has once again lucked out... I guess that's what happens when you don't get coughed, sneezed and cried on. This week has been the longest week, ever. We have had the opportunity to visit the Emergency Room and then the doctors office. We hadn't been to either place in a while so it was nice to catch up with the nurses. (Sensing my sarcasism?) Rest, liquids, TLC... that's what our week has consisted of... off to enjoy more.

The First Baby

Lilly Sue is our first baby, we adopted her January 2000.

She was born November 1999.

 This big eyed purr'ing mischief maker has been my baby for a long time.

This kitten'ish cat is a 12 year senior this year. 

A Child's Point of View

Gracie asked if she could take some pictures... here they are.

 This is me thinking about the answer... or what I would like when I think about it.

Time to start using wrinkle cream? Oye!

TSBFF's

Thumb Sucking Best Friends Forever

Wish Everyday was a Fun-Day!

This is what the girls did for the morning on Saturday... and what they wanted to do on Sunday.

Love that Wii-time is fun family time too!

*Please note the Florida shirt Grace is wearing, she "has to wear it because she cannot wait to see Uncle Lou".*

Gaining Daylight

This picture was taken on January 21st at 7:05 a.m.

This picture was taken February 1st at 7:15 a.m.

What a difference 10 days makes during the winter months... daylight comes earlier and I love it!

No Mommy's Allowed

This beautiful face said, "No Mommy's Allowed."

This beautiful face said, "No Mommy's Allowed."

These three beautiful faces that are all dressed up and ready to go went to the Daddy-Daughters Dance.

Sometimes being a daddy has a benefit that mommy is jealous of.

January 27, 2011

Kiss Em Lips

I don't know a mama who doesn't love seeing those kiss em lips on their babies faces... these are my two most favorite kiss em lips pictures. Perfection from Heaven.