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!

so fun!

Pillow treasures

The girls have to put something under their pillow every night, usually it's just a book, but lately the list of MUST HAVES is increasing. Lucy had to put her new Little Mermaid book, a pink/purple pony and her sock bunny that we made at a friend's house on Tuesday.

Notice how she isn't using her pillow because of the bulk under there.

Audrey likes have lots of stuffed animals around her while she sleeps and tonight she only put the Finding Nemo book under her pillow (I just bought the DVD today for $5 on Craigslist--they love it). She must have misplaced her sock bunny because it has been under there since they were made.

Hi Nemo!

And Sage will usually want something with her when I first put her in her crib, but within minutes she'll say "MOM, I don wan it!" and hand it back or just throw it out herself. Her little blankie is all she wants...for now.

Lucy is the only one who will wake up and carry all of her under pillow items out of her room. She is REALLY possessive of her new Little Mermaid book. I'm trying to find a good deal on all three Little Mermaid movies for her birthday. Cannot believe they will be turning 4 soon!

oh no it's almost been a whole week!!!

The twins had the flu all last week. I didn't know it was the flu until Wednesday afternoon, but I think they caught it from Sage. Lucy still can get febrile seizures when her fever shoots up, so I was waking up every 3-4 hours at night to give her medication. The first night I noticed she was warm I gave her medication, brought her to our room and began cooling her head and back with a wet towel waiting for the medicine to kick in. She started to get fever chills and I worried about her seizing. Because she is asking me why ALL the time, I spent some time explaining about her fever and how the wet towel helps her to not get the shake shakes. Last year she seized once, which is the only time since her initial seizure back when she was 16 months, she remembers and it scares her. I explained why she got the shake shakes and that she would be OK. She is such a doll and although I know she felt terrible, when I'd put the towel on her head, she'd look in my eyes and smile. A sweet smile filled with pure love and trust and I could tell she felt very safe on my lap. I really do love being a mother. There is nothing like it.

Princess jewelry

THANK YOU NANA!

love Love LOVE these girls of mine.

Today I took the girls swimming. They are so fun to play with and watch play with each other. Sage is my little sassafras and always wants to "do it mahsef." She loves fishies and jooouuss and cheese. Oh and she also likes to say "lee mee awone" when you want her to do something...she learns so many wonderful things from her older sisters.

Although, she has actually taught her older sisters the joy of opening the fridge. The twins for some reason, have never bothered with opening the fridge, yes, almost 4 years old and rarely opening the fridge is such a blessing. But sassafras Sage just turned 2 and has no qualms with opening the fridge and pulling out the juice container or a block of cheese or big yogurt container all by herself. At first her sisters just looked on bewildered, but now they have joined in the fun, which means I get to be even more vigilant. Nothing major yet...only once has Lucy taken out the juice while I was upstairs putting the laundry away. She tried pouring it in her cup and it went EVERYWHERE. I got to clean under the oven for the first time in two years after that mess, guess it needed to be done.

Sage was sick with a fever earlier this week and it lasted about 4 days, she was on my lap alot during the day. One day while on my lap watching a movie, I felt something slimy on my arm and thought she might be drooling or something. I said "Sage, what are you doing?" She looked up smiling, "I licky yuuuu mommy." I guess the Tylenol had just kicked in, silly girl. German and I love her strut-like walk and the way she kinda closes her eyes and lifts her chin when she's being lovey. Today after nap, I walk in to get her out of her crib and she says "Mommy, I went puuu puuu!" I love my baby Sagey!

Feeling very thankful this week...

Audrey is so imaginative and talkative lately. German bought me flowers on Friday, but the lilies had not yet opened. One opened on Sunday and the girls were so excited, then yesterday another lily opened overnight and Audrey saw it first, she squealed with joy. "Mommy, mommy, LOOK! The lily opened and it is soooo pretty. Oh, I am SO proud!" Hands first went in the air and then she clasped her cheeks, obviously filled with so much happiness. She's adorable, I love her.

Lucy loves that they have spots...I told her they were pretty freckles. She saw me cut off the stamens on the first lily and had to know why (she started the WHY phase), so when the second lily opened the first thing she said was, "Mom, we need to cut off the yellow part because it is so messy!" The girls cannot resist touching those bright yellow anthers and in the past I learned the hard way that they leave impenetrable stains.

Notice Sage laying upside down on the chair watching a movie, silly girl!

I finally uploaded pictures to my computer instead of to German's. Last night German brought home take out from Pei Wei for dinner. We all love it and since dad uses chopsticks, the girls HAVE to use them as well...and they are getting really good at it!

I am so thankful for my husband and three daughters. Life really is good (sometimes it can be a pain, but ultimately it is good and I feel so blessed).

I'm so glad when daddy comes home!

Dad is driving home right now! We survived the 15 week long two internships and I am so glad he will be home with us again. I miss him and I'm tired! The girls have missed him too and are constantly asking when daddy will come home. On Wednesday Lucy asked when daddy would be home and I told her in TWO days! Then yesterday during prayer she prayed for daddy to come home on TUESday.

We've been practicing writing their first names for a few months now. Usually they'd trace the letters or follow dotted lines, but today they both did it all by themselves! I can't believe how grown up they are getting,...so crazy. Audrey drew a smiling sun and a straight lined rainbow. She ran out of room to write her name, so on another sheet of paper she asked me to draw a butterfly and colored it completely green. Lucy also asked me to draw a butterfly and she wanted a sun with a tree. Then she drew three holes in the tree trunk for the squirrels to live in and she also drew nine big red apples in the tree each with a black stem and a green leaf. Of course, the butterfly needed to be pink and the sun needed a smiling face like Audrey's sun. Sage just screamed at me to draw her things and scribbled.

Audrey's smiling sun, rainbow and squished name (she added the tree w/ apples after she saw Lucy's)

Audrey's green butterfly and name--for some reason she wanted an O on the end ???

Lucy's sun, butterfly, and apple tree. She did the Y twice...hers are the two on the right

She did her name again on the back with more room.

Sage's beautiful orange and black scribbles...she must be excited for Halloween!

Lucy Lu

During scripture reading and prayers last night, Lucy started kissing my arm over an over. I smiled and said "Thank you for your kisses, Lucy." She said "You're welcome, mommy, they are angel kisses 'cause I'm an angel!" To which I replied, "Yes you are..."

I love her.

And today we drove home from Fort Worth and I hoped the girls wouldn't sleep in the car so we could all take a nap when we got home. Lucy sleeps anywhere and took a 45 minute snooze early on in the car. I wondered how naps would go, but I gave it a shot. Audrey and Sage were out in minutes, but I heard Lucy still making noise. I was soooo tired and couldn't stay awake. I faintly remember Lucy coming in my room asking if she could watch Strawberry Shortcake. I mumbled "yeah yeah, sure..." Well, she pressed play and turned on the TV and watched Strawberry Shortcake all by herself while the rest of us slept for over an hour. She is an angel. Thank you Lucy!

And thank you Nana Gail! The girls love all their princess jewelry and tiaras. Lucy yelled "I'm a butterfly princess!" when she saw herself in the mirror, followed by lots of giggles and smiles. Not sure how I'm going to convince them to take it all off, so we can go to the gym. Oh, and I'm going to save Rio to watch tomorrow. Thanks!

ha, everyday...

We've been up here in Fort Worth this weekend and the internet was crappy in our hotel. The girls love making up bedtime stories ever since we stayed the night in Albuquerque with my friend Melisa and her daughter Julia. Melisa made up a story about little girl princesses and ended it with happily ever after. So now the girls love making up stories about three little princesses riding pink or purple horses and wearing big pretty dresses living happily ever after. Everyone has to have a turn, even Sage...so cute to hear her baby talk. I love my girls!

I have a new goal to write something every day...

...and look I'm writing twice! Today I started off on the wrong foot and it pretty much ran downhill fast. Why do I go beeserkko?? I yelled way too much at my sweet girls today and I am totally feeling the guilt now that they are sleeping. Does that happen to anyone else? I just can't see the big picture sometimes, I love them so much and wish I could stay more calm. They behave exactly like 3 year olds and a 2 year old should behave. I, on the other hand, act like a spoiled teenager who just wants to be alone or go get her haircut or go running in her new shoes, but can't because her three daughters have noses that are running more than Niagara. And I really don't mind wiping noses, but when they repeatedly feel the need to wipe their noses on my leg or my shirt or the couch, I feel my patience slipping away.

Audrey will at least get a tissue and try to blow and wipe her own nose, only w/o much success. Today after using about 10 wipes, she yelled "UGGHHH, come out boogers! Mom, the boogers aren't coming out!" I think she wanted me to put her boogers in timeout or something. And Lucy no less than 5 times today came up to me, pretending to kiss my thigh, when in actuality she would finish her kisses with a nose press and wipe. Sage is the runniest faucet, she will just run to me and throw her face into my shirt or pants and just swish her head back and forth as fast as she can. Usually the snot is running down into her mouth or she'll use her hand to wipe it up her cheek into her eyebrows and hair. She will also do that to the couch, the hanging kitchen/bathroom towels, the bedding, her sisters, anything really. I had to take all three to Walmart to get some snacks for the drive to Dallas tomorrow (we are going to visit dad) and that is never fun. Then to Walgreens to get yet another humidifier, we've gone through 4 now...then come home to do dinner/baths/bed. I just get so overwhelmed and this mean crazy yelling lady comes out. I won't even tell you the junk I've eaten today...I'm a mess.

Ok, I was a mess. Tomorrow I will try to be less of a mess. I just went to kiss and hug my beautiful sleeping girls. I am so thankful to be their mother. I am so lucky to have them, so lucky they are healthy and so lucky they are forgiving. I love them each so very much. Tomorrow I will try to feel honored to be covered in their sweet snot! At least they'll be strapped into their carseats most of the morning, but I'm sure I'll be covered by the time evening rolls around. Thank goodness, tomorrow is a new day. And thank goodness tomorrow we get to see dad.

Mom, this is a really long drive...

On Sunday July 17th around 2pm I decided to take the girls to Utah since German would be in Dallas doing his internship. We packed up and left by 7pm to drive Fort Worth, then Monday onto Amarillo, Tuesday to Albuquerque, then Wednesday after about 10 hours of driving, we arrived at my Aunt Janice's around 6pm. It was really great to visit with them all and enjoy sitting outside w/o dying of heat exhaustion. We then headed to my mom's house to surprise her, she had no idea we were coming to visit. It was fun! The girls only had a few freakout moments, but the car DVD player I bought in Amarillo helped alot.

German & Abuelo

Like grandfather like son...

In 2005 we lived in BYU married housing and Abuelo came to stay with us for a few nights. One morning German woke up and smelled smoke. He entered the kitchen and saw flames and smoke coming from the gas stove top. Dear abuelo was washing the dishes totally unaware of the fire. He thought he was heating up the water in our 'electric kettle' to make some mate for breakfast. Actually when he saw the smoke he said "German, what did you do???" We love abuelo Oscar and hope we have a little boy someday to name after him.

Earlier this week German was getting ready for work here at his dad's house in Dallas. We just drove all weekend from Utah and he was pretty tired. He thought he had grabbed his dad's teapot to heat up some water for mate, but he didn't. He grabbed our electric kettle and the flames melted the plastic. We had a good laugh, he and abuelo are so alike.

single mom summer

German finished school on Friday, May 13th and started his summer internship on Monday May 16th. He is interning at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Temple, Texas about 80 miles away. He works Mon-Fri and stays the night with an LDS family there in Temple and so far things are going pretty good. I'm so glad he is able to come home on the weekends. He is really enjoying his experience and he feels like working for the VA would be a great career choice for him. The girls and I miss dad, but we are surviving. I've been busy which really helps to make the time fly by faster. The twins just finished a 2-week swimming lesson last week and jumped off the diving board twice...it was so cute! I finished work last week and it is really nice to be done for the summer. I enjoyed teaching ESL, but things were stressful sometimes trying to find a babysitter every week and feeling less than energetic, not sure if I will do it again next year.

After the VA internship is over next week, German starts another internship in Dallas. We will see less of him, but I will try to stay busy. I think Audrey misses him the most, she asks about him alot and every week when dad kisses the girls goodbye Audrey says, "no daddy, please don't go." Last night she told me that her elephant (the one she sleeps with every night) misses her when she goes away and that he wants to come with her next time.

Lucy loves to help me cook, everytime she sees me cooking she goes to find her little chair to stand on and asks me what I am making. She'll say "Can I help you mommy? Oh no, I didn't wash my hands, I'll be right back!" When she returns she'll ask me if I washed my hands, too. She loves to sing, too! I checked out a book from the library called Song for a Princess, there's a little bird who sings a song to a sad princess to cheer her up. I made up a tune to go with the little poem he sings to the princess, it took me awhile to remember how I sung it, but now the girls have it memorized and want to sing it 5-6 times every night. Lucy loves it the most.

Sage loves to dance and give kisses, I love her head tilt w/ little puckered lips! She has to do whatever her sisters are doing and has very little fear, except during nursery. I still wait with her in nursery for a little while and I have to sneak out when she's not looking. I have been reading a book about attachment parenting and although I can't say I fully agree with everything in the book, there are many points that rang true and it's making me rethink some of my old ideas about parenting. I really want to change how I discipline and try harder to use the golden rule. I don't always treat my children the way I would like to be treated--I am a continual work in progress I guess.

Lately

We've just been hanging out doing what we can to have fun and stay sane. Sometimes I just want to run to the top of a big hill and scream my lungs out. I love these monkeys, but they drive me batty some days.

Here's some photos and tidbits of the last month or so...I posted this pic on FB, but I wanted to put it on our blog, too. Audrey loves drawing family pictures and I love them, too.
Nana Gail sent a slip n slide and the girls went nutso. It was lots of fun! She also sent Tangled and Rapunzel is my daily lifesaver. Thanks nana!
The engineering department on campus had a Physics Festival which was really fun. The girls loved the bubble show and Lucy loved having her hair stick up.


And this Sage of ours is finally happy again. After months of having a chronic snotty nose and repeated ear infections, she had tubes put in her ears and adenoids taken out. She and I have been sleeping much better and been happier ever since. Oh and she's obsessed with her dad--I mean completely enamored. She only wants him, she cries for him, she plays the damsel in distress whenever he's around, she MUST have his undivided attention and must be in his arms in every possible moment. She will only cuddle with me or let me hold her if he is out of the house, but once he walks in the door it's see ya later mom! And I'm okay with it...after all, he is a pretty great guy and I am always in need of a break.

The girls also got to meet and visit with their great aunt Lynn and uncle Bunky from Tennessee, but I have not downloaded the pictures yet. Must add that to my 'to do' list...my dreaded never-ending 'to do' list. I guess that's all for now.

The girls love Birthdays!

Everytime Audrey watches this she gets mad at me and says "MOM, you didn't give Audrey a candle!"

I love this birthday boy!

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...

I know who I am, I know God's plan. I'll follow Him in faith.

I hope these three will follow Him, too because I really like having 'em around.