Monday, May 23, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
My Sister's Visit and Our Real Tea Party
My sister karen,her husband, and their two girls Kianna (4 1/2 years old)and Kaella (20 months)came for 4 days to visit. Even though, the main goal of their trip was to leave their daughters here so we could watch them while they went to Europe for a month, we managed some time to have fun during her short stay. One of the great memories we had, was our real tea party at an old house where they offer tea parties on Saturdays. The girls got to dress up and they had hats and jewelry they could wear there. The girls were super exited, they wore their princess dresses and we got to wear some of the hats. Fun, fun!
Rob's Parents Visit in April
Rob's parents, his sister Kristin and Joe, Rob's brother came to see us. Joe came back from his mission in Huston Texas April 6, 2011, and met Beckam for the first time on this trip. It was as if they had always know each other. We had lot of fun, and the girls enjoyed having more attention and their adorable auntie Kristin here.
Some of the pics are from a Mexican restaurant we went to eat at to celebrate Brian's B-Day(Rob's dad. Lots of B-days posts:)Thank you for making this long trip to see us. We had a wonderful time together.
Some of the pics are from a Mexican restaurant we went to eat at to celebrate Brian's B-Day(Rob's dad. Lots of B-days posts:)Thank you for making this long trip to see us. We had a wonderful time together.
My B-Day in March
I just had to post this pics for the record. Rob made me this delicious desert, I did not want cake. The girls woke me up singing, and gave me lots of hugs and kisses. Then I had a wonderful run of 2 hrs and 30 min in preparation for my marathon in June, and when I came home Rob had an amazing breakfast and our dear friends, the Godfreys came over. It was a great day. At night a friend watched our kids, and Rob and I were able to go out to dinner. Perfect!
Rachel's B-day in March
March
We celebrated Rachel's 4Th B-day. She wanted to dress up as Hello Kitty so I went and got a shirt and turned some Easter bunny ears into cat ears. She had lots of fun with her cute little friends.
We celebrated Rachel's 4Th B-day. She wanted to dress up as Hello Kitty so I went and got a shirt and turned some Easter bunny ears into cat ears. She had lots of fun with her cute little friends.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Good Moment and Saying I am Sorry
GOOD MOMENT
Yesterday at church Arianna surprised me by being so reverent during sacrament. We had a lesson last Monday about reverence (from the Nursery manual), and it seems like she is trying. She had her eyes closed, her arms folded and then she would take the bread and water and go back to closing her eyes. Then she opened her scriptures and passed the pages, since she does not know how to read well yet. When her 3 and 1/2 year old sister, Rachel, saw her, she took her scriptures and opened them too. Afterwards, I congratulated them for trying hard to be reverent. I told them how happy Heavenly Father and Rob and I were because they were being good. Arianna said, "it hard to be reverent sometimes when you are a kid, but, I am trying to practice being reverent because I want to follow your example"... I felt such great responsibility to be a good Mom and a good example to them.
Things were not perfect, since Rob and I had to take turns coming in and out of sacrament meeting, with Beckam (15 months) who was screaming like a wild animal. He is coming out of his shell. It was exhausting. So I have to see the good in the midst of chaos.
SAYING I AM SORRY
After this wonderful moment with Arianna and Rachel being more reverent, I had to go home because I had bad allergies and was not feeling good. So, during dinner in the afternoon, Rob says, "Arianna, did you tell mommy about what happened today in primary?. Arianna, looked at Rob and said, "no, I don't want her to know." I asked Rob what had happened and he said Rachel had taken a toy to church and was playing with it during primary. The bishop's wife, whose name I will ommit for privacy reasons, always volunteers in primary, (I will refer to her as Sister S.) took her toy away. I am glad she did. I would have done the same. Rachel, freaked out and walked out of primary crying about her toy. Arianna, followed her and trying to deffend her sister and when Sister S. tried to hold her hand she shook her arm to not go back in, and they made a big scene.
I said, learning this from my mother in law. "Looks like Arianna and Rachel are going to have to make cookies for Sister S. and say Im sorry." Arianna, said, "I don't want to make cookies" Rachel said, "I do" when it comes to cookies Rachel is always willing. I said, " You can choose to make cookies or make a card, and then say Im a sorry to her when we take the card or cookies" They chose to make a card. And they did a beautiful job. Making things short. When we went to drop off the card, Rob and I explained how important it was to say sorry when you have hurt someone with your behavior or made a wrong choice. Rachel agreed. Arianna, on the other hand, said, "I already made the card. I am not saying sorry." I said, then I think you are going to have to miss your favorite show Zaboomafoo this week, she said, "I am not saying sorry". i said Ok. but when you hurt someone and make them feel bad that is what we should do. and try to change. We try to talk about it and finally she said, "do you want to know why I dont want to say sorry?" I said, "yes, I do" She said, "because I am scared" My eyes got watery. When I realize how in tune this child is with her feelings. I gave ger a hug, and I told her I had felt scared before when I had to say sorry, and shared a story with her. She calmed down, and we said a little prayer. In my heart I was praying for the right things to say and do. Then, we knocked on the door, and Sister S. openend. She was kind and Rachel gave her the card and said, "sorry" Sister S. gave her a hug. Then, Arianna gave her the card, but did not say sorry. I did not force her. But, Sister S. still gave her a hug. I thought, in my mind, ok, I am going to let her have the card be her way to say sorry. But, then I thought, I know my child, and in the future she is going to say, she does not want to say sorry because she is scared, and I think that is not OK. Part of making mistakes is dealing with the consequences and sometimes the consequence is facing the fear of looking at the person you offended and saying, "sorry". All of these were my thoughts, while I was trying to figure out if I should just let it go. Then, things fell into place when Arianna said, while going back home, I am sad Im going to miss my show this week. I was going to let it go, but, I said, "I know, but you can always call and say Im sorry" She did not say anything, but when we were saying family prayer, she offered the prayer and said, "Heavenly Father, I am sorry I behaved the way I did with Sister S., please help me be better." I knew at that moment that she truly felt sorry, and that made me very happy. Today, after school Arianna of her own initiative called Sister S. we talked about what she was going to say and then I dialed and she did all the talking, "Hi Sister S. how are you?, this is Arianna (moment of silence) then she said, "Im sorry" and Sister S. said, "Arianna, I accept your apologies." After she hanged up I have her a hug. I told her I was so proud of her, and then I looked at Rachel and said, "I am proud of you too. I know it is not easy to say I am sorry, but you were so brave and I am proud of you girls. "Arianna said, Mom, I still was little scared, but I was brave." I asked her how she felt, and she said she felt happy. I told it was the Spirit in her heart telling her she had done the right thing.
Someone might say, I went a little far with making my kids say sorry. I just wanted to make sure they really felt it and learn from the experience. I think they did. I have to say, the whole time I felt like an illiterate parent, but the Spirit certainly guides in the direction we need to go when we are willing to listen, I felt guided a step a time. Because at times I felt lost. I don't know what we would do without the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Yesterday at church Arianna surprised me by being so reverent during sacrament. We had a lesson last Monday about reverence (from the Nursery manual), and it seems like she is trying. She had her eyes closed, her arms folded and then she would take the bread and water and go back to closing her eyes. Then she opened her scriptures and passed the pages, since she does not know how to read well yet. When her 3 and 1/2 year old sister, Rachel, saw her, she took her scriptures and opened them too. Afterwards, I congratulated them for trying hard to be reverent. I told them how happy Heavenly Father and Rob and I were because they were being good. Arianna said, "it hard to be reverent sometimes when you are a kid, but, I am trying to practice being reverent because I want to follow your example"... I felt such great responsibility to be a good Mom and a good example to them.
Things were not perfect, since Rob and I had to take turns coming in and out of sacrament meeting, with Beckam (15 months) who was screaming like a wild animal. He is coming out of his shell. It was exhausting. So I have to see the good in the midst of chaos.
SAYING I AM SORRY
After this wonderful moment with Arianna and Rachel being more reverent, I had to go home because I had bad allergies and was not feeling good. So, during dinner in the afternoon, Rob says, "Arianna, did you tell mommy about what happened today in primary?. Arianna, looked at Rob and said, "no, I don't want her to know." I asked Rob what had happened and he said Rachel had taken a toy to church and was playing with it during primary. The bishop's wife, whose name I will ommit for privacy reasons, always volunteers in primary, (I will refer to her as Sister S.) took her toy away. I am glad she did. I would have done the same. Rachel, freaked out and walked out of primary crying about her toy. Arianna, followed her and trying to deffend her sister and when Sister S. tried to hold her hand she shook her arm to not go back in, and they made a big scene.
I said, learning this from my mother in law. "Looks like Arianna and Rachel are going to have to make cookies for Sister S. and say Im sorry." Arianna, said, "I don't want to make cookies" Rachel said, "I do" when it comes to cookies Rachel is always willing. I said, " You can choose to make cookies or make a card, and then say Im a sorry to her when we take the card or cookies" They chose to make a card. And they did a beautiful job. Making things short. When we went to drop off the card, Rob and I explained how important it was to say sorry when you have hurt someone with your behavior or made a wrong choice. Rachel agreed. Arianna, on the other hand, said, "I already made the card. I am not saying sorry." I said, then I think you are going to have to miss your favorite show Zaboomafoo this week, she said, "I am not saying sorry". i said Ok. but when you hurt someone and make them feel bad that is what we should do. and try to change. We try to talk about it and finally she said, "do you want to know why I dont want to say sorry?" I said, "yes, I do" She said, "because I am scared" My eyes got watery. When I realize how in tune this child is with her feelings. I gave ger a hug, and I told her I had felt scared before when I had to say sorry, and shared a story with her. She calmed down, and we said a little prayer. In my heart I was praying for the right things to say and do. Then, we knocked on the door, and Sister S. openend. She was kind and Rachel gave her the card and said, "sorry" Sister S. gave her a hug. Then, Arianna gave her the card, but did not say sorry. I did not force her. But, Sister S. still gave her a hug. I thought, in my mind, ok, I am going to let her have the card be her way to say sorry. But, then I thought, I know my child, and in the future she is going to say, she does not want to say sorry because she is scared, and I think that is not OK. Part of making mistakes is dealing with the consequences and sometimes the consequence is facing the fear of looking at the person you offended and saying, "sorry". All of these were my thoughts, while I was trying to figure out if I should just let it go. Then, things fell into place when Arianna said, while going back home, I am sad Im going to miss my show this week. I was going to let it go, but, I said, "I know, but you can always call and say Im sorry" She did not say anything, but when we were saying family prayer, she offered the prayer and said, "Heavenly Father, I am sorry I behaved the way I did with Sister S., please help me be better." I knew at that moment that she truly felt sorry, and that made me very happy. Today, after school Arianna of her own initiative called Sister S. we talked about what she was going to say and then I dialed and she did all the talking, "Hi Sister S. how are you?, this is Arianna (moment of silence) then she said, "Im sorry" and Sister S. said, "Arianna, I accept your apologies." After she hanged up I have her a hug. I told her I was so proud of her, and then I looked at Rachel and said, "I am proud of you too. I know it is not easy to say I am sorry, but you were so brave and I am proud of you girls. "Arianna said, Mom, I still was little scared, but I was brave." I asked her how she felt, and she said she felt happy. I told it was the Spirit in her heart telling her she had done the right thing.
Someone might say, I went a little far with making my kids say sorry. I just wanted to make sure they really felt it and learn from the experience. I think they did. I have to say, the whole time I felt like an illiterate parent, but the Spirit certainly guides in the direction we need to go when we are willing to listen, I felt guided a step a time. Because at times I felt lost. I don't know what we would do without the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
After the Winter Storm
Yesterday we had a blizzard that lasted all day and most of the night. I got my scare yesterday waiting for Rob to come home in the afternoon. The weather was horrible, and he works in a rural area 25 min from here. So the roads around there are not as clean as the freeways. The girls and I were praying, and he arrived home without harm. I have never heard thunder and lighting during a snow storm. I guess it is because I did not grow up in the US. The winds were very strong about 30 to 50 miles an hour. Schools and some businesses are closed. Good thing the power did not go out, so it made it nice for us to be at cozy at home. Can you imagine in the time of the pioneers? I can't even fathom.
During the blizzard
Opening the garage this morning
Our backyard fence
There is supposed to be a walkway and five steps to the front door. Now there is walkway, no stairs, just a mountain.
After shoveling the snow. Rob did such a great job! Thank you, Hon=). Of course he is wasted.Time for a warm bath and hot chocolate.
During the blizzard
Opening the garage this morning
Our backyard fence
There is supposed to be a walkway and five steps to the front door. Now there is walkway, no stairs, just a mountain.
After shoveling the snow. Rob did such a great job! Thank you, Hon=). Of course he is wasted.Time for a warm bath and hot chocolate.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Our Ballerinas and the little guy
Every monday night we have family night. I have even made a simple song we sing when we are going to start. The girls hop araund the room singing it. We sing, then we have what we call talents, it is just a time to share whatever you want, a song, a poem, a trick, a dance,a tongue twister, a quote, or simply and experience of the day. It is just a time to share something with the rest of the family. This is my girls very favorite part. They look forward to it so much. Last night the girls dressed up as ballerinas and each one danced. Then we had a small lesson, and dessert,home made raspberry shake.
I love my little guy!
Beckam likes to be funny. He loves picking his nose and then he smiles. I am not an advocate of nose picking, but I have to admit he looks cute.
I love my little guy!
Beckam likes to be funny. He loves picking his nose and then he smiles. I am not an advocate of nose picking, but I have to admit he looks cute.
Wall painting
I decided to buy some construction paper, hang it on a big wall in our entrance hall way and let the girls experiment with paint. It was wonderful. The girls loved it and we had a great time.
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