Spring Swimming

She is so sweet, I just love her hair.

Reece has been learning how to dive, he almost had it last summer but a winter without swimming and he's forgotten what to do. Now he's back at it and loves it as much as I do.

He really is a fish and loves the water.

We are so blessed to know and love the Feldman family. They are even joining us for a week of our summer Jersey Shore vacation this year. I can not wait for that. It will be so much fun sipping yummy adult lemonade on the beach with Tina. Today, she let me bring the rascals over to swim all while she prepared herself for a staycation at The Four Seasons. What a life huh?
I sat on my tush and enjoyed watching the kiddos splash in the pool. Sunny 86 degree weather lends itself well to a relaxing by a pool on this Tuesday morning. We will definitly head back there a couple more times this week.

Today

Life moves so freaking fast, take your time and note down what you did TODAY.
Today is very important.
Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn't certain.
The best day to live is TODAY.

Here is what I did today:

made homemade cinnamon vanilla waffles

3 loads of laundry

opened a Easter package from Noni & Pe Pere

played with new dancing Easter bunny

read about Princesses and rock climbers

1 puzzle

read lots of blog posts and Facebook status updates & comments

chatted with friend on the phone & made plans to swim

explained what free will is to my 6 yr old son

listened to a lot of Justin Bieber music

tickled, kissed and hugged the little people in my home (a lot)

vacuumed

watched a very frustrating hockey game

called my sister

attended an amazing bible study and ate a delicious brownie

shopped for more Easter goodies at the dreaded Walmart

I enjoyed the first day of Spring Break and am trying to appreciate the little things this week since I can not have my way and spend a few days in California. What did you do?

Someday...

I will go on vacation during spring break.

I will not have to save money for it because there will be extra money in the blow fund for it.

I will get to go a shopping spree for a new spring/summer wardrobe.

I will get to be a stay at home mom.

I will have new floors and counter tops.

I will be cheering on my son as he runs around the bases or steals the ball from the other soccer player.

I will encourage my daughter to keep practicing her ballet dance.

I will be able to fly up to Reno for a girls weekend without a plan or budgeted trip.

I will be soaking up the rays and playing in the waves in Maui.

I will be free from grading papers.

I will have an extensive collection of stories to tell my children's spouses.

For now I will appreciate the blessings God provides.

LOVE

At service this morning the pastor spoke about all the sacrifices Jesus made for us. Upon the close of service he asked us to go out and love others like Jesus loved us. I cry every Sunday morning while soaking up all the pastor has to share yearning to hear more; this morning though, I wept. My heart was aching as I watched the images of the road to cross. The relentless amount of pain Jesus endured for me, a sinner who doesn't deserve his love. It was good Mo wasn't there because I have been quite somber all day.

Then I was reading a friend's blog and she said this:

I came up with this quote and I hope you enjoy it. "You are worth more than the sum of your choices, more than the value that the world places on you. You are a priceless gift to this world and the impact that you make in this world will be evident in the lives of those who met you and truly knew you. Use your time, words, and actions wisely"

I pray that as you go through this life that you are moved to make a difference in this world. Sometimes I think we all believe that we have to do something HUGE to make a difference, but really all we're called to do is love and to love without expectations or boundaries.. Love unconditionally.

I cried again. Easter is horribly emotional for me. Every since I became a mother, I can not look at the images of Mary & Jesus without sobbing. I couldn't imagine watching my son go through something that horrific. I am so very blessed that God sent his only son to live as a human with desires and temptations and to prove that God is the almighty father. But why oh why did God have to have his son die that way? I guess so we always remember what a sacrifice he made for us. During this Easter week I hope you reflect on how truly blessed you are. And if you don't know Jesus, I pray you will come to know him because having a relationship with him is such an amazing experience. God Bless You!

Camping with Daddy

Ready to sleep in the tent.

Reece fell in love with Arthur the dog
and hung out with him as much as he could.

Raine was supposed to be taking an afternoon nap.

Sweet, sweet blessings from the Lord!

I love this picture. It shows the innocence of my children and the joy they have within them, especially while camping with daddy and his friends. I had planned an all day scrap event at church from 9 until 9. Mo put on his super dad cape and took the kiddos to a huge Easter egg drop extravaganza, then out to Lovell Canyon for the a little spring camping. The had the best time and didn't want to come home. All three of them wanted to stay and camp another night. They loved playing in the dirt and made swords with sticks. Raine said she loved the smores the most. Daddy loved every minute of it. I was spoiled by how much mommy time I had to myself, Mo should probably take them camping at least once a month. Glad they all loved it!

New Position

YEP, I found a new career, well not really. I will be moving into the Special Education Department. I will be one of two resource teachers in our building. Not quite sure which grades I will be working with yet, I think 4th & 5th. We are still working out the placement of students for next year. I will be attending several meeting throughout the end of the school year and will have to brush up on my special ed laws and IEP writing over the summer but overall, I am excited. It is unfortunate though that I can not show my excitement because we are losing 5 regular education positions from our building. While I am cheering for my latest teaching adventure, two of my dearest colleagues and friends who teach in the classrooms on my left and right are having to find new schools to work in. Why is it we have to cut so much from education but can fund other dumb things?

Playing Life

What we play is life.~ Louis Armstrong

I am playing Life right now and it is a very busy one. I like playing life and am enjoying it but am eager to really play. Spring break can not come soon enough. Summer is much too far away.

I just want to sit around and play.

Play with my kids. Play with my hot hubby. Play with my camera. Play with pictures. Play with the Wii. Play with itunes. Play with my family. Play at the park. Play in the pool. Play on the trampoline or our bikes.

Why is there never enough time to just play? I need to make more time for that.

Super swimmer

Reece started taking swimming lessons this past Tuesday He enjoys it but is struggling with the length of the pool and how much strength it takes to make to the end and back. He is a fish, but has never been challenged like this. I enjoy watching him learn the proper technique and try the strokes. He is learning how to put his face in the water, turn his head to take a breath and continue on with his stroke. I am very proud of how hard he works at it. I don't expect him to master the front crawl or back crawl in four weeks but I like the idea of him learning. While eating dinner later that night he was so calm and peaceful. It was a totally different Reece, worn out from all the exercise. I think swimming will be a good activity for my lil guy.

Mumford And Sons

Boy oh boy do I love this band! I can not get enough of them! I wish to see them live sometime. They will be in Denver, Co on June 18th. We are driving through CO then, but I bet the show is already sold out. They sell out venues in 15 minutes. Crazy huh.

In the song Awake My Soul, one of their lyrics says:
In these bodies we live, in these bodies we die, where you invest your love, you invest your life.

I LOVE this so much because that is where I am at right now. I want to invest every minute on my family especially my kiddos. I miss them so much during the day. I am so blessed to have Reece at school with me and can't for Raine to join us next year. Sometimes being an underpaid, overworked teacher has it's perks. ;)

YouTube Mumford And Sons, I promise you will love them, if you don't already.

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY MOM

Today my mother turned 60 years old. She is not old, she is fantastic. I hope I can be half the mom she is. Barbara Ann has lived a very blessed life and I bet she looks forward to another 60 years. I cherish my memories of the good and bad time spent with her. I can not wait to make more awesome memories. I know my kiddos miss her dearly and look forward to seeing her this summer and for their birthdays in the fall. Hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration mommy dearest.

Spring is here!

We love the spring and nice weather that we are having around here. It is unseasonably warm around here and we are loving it. Daddy finished our front yard and it is so fun to sit out front and enjoy all of the color. Raine was given this fun dress yesterday and couldn't put it on fast enough. Raine is a dress girl, she loves them and changes into them the minute she gets home from school. I asked her a few questions the other day and her answers were so sweet. I'm so proud of her and who she is becoming. Tonight before bed we each said a prayer and she prayed for the homeless people. It was so sweet. She is growing up too fast, where does the time go?

11

Sept 11th-NY

Jan 11th-Haiti

March 11th-Japan

Luke 21:10-11 "Then Jesus said to his disciples: "Nation will rise against nation, & kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, pestilences in various places, & fearful events/great signs from heaven. 'Jesus says for behold I come quickly'."

I never even realized all those events happened on the 11th.

I wonder is Jesus will return on the 11th??

Saturday Sleepover

We love have kiddos over to our home. Amaya & Gavin are two of our favorite friends who have been coming over for a few years now. We swap babysitting services with their parents. Mr. Joe has watched Reece at least five times this school year and I owe the Lucero family about a week of babysitting.

Check out how tall Reece looks in this pic!

Gavin growling at me because it was time to come in and eat.

The BATCAVE made especially for sleepovers.

Look how happy our heros are.

The girls didn't want any caves and wouldn't cooperate for pics.

After a very entertaining pasta dinner we loaded all four children into Mo's truck and headed to the 6 o'clock service at Canyon Ridge. Amaya and Reece had a blast in their class. Amaya said she wanted to come back again. We returned home and started getting everyone ready for bed. They had a blast monkeying around and giggled for a long time before falling asleep. My kiddos were a bit shocked when they woke up and their friends were missing. Rebecca & Joe picked them up at about 10pm. It was the easiest babysitting night I have ever had.

Numbers

AHHH, my life is a bit full this weekend. Just take a look at all I have to complete...

2 kids to feed something for lunch

4 children to entertain while getting dinner ready and off to church

3 classrooms I must drop children off in

1 sermon I will try not to cry during

4 giggling children who will need to sleep

17 two and three year olds I will have to teach about God creating the sun, moon and stars

2 bulletin boards I need to hang for the Silent Auction at CCA

2 wild children who will need to be watched while stapling

1 evening meal that will need to be prepared

79 photos that need to be uploaded

2 lunches to be packed for school

1 body that will need to go on a 3.1 mile jog

3 weeks of project life to catch up on

5 loads of laundry to finish

7 blue polos to iron

9 pairs of khakis to iron

120 papers that need to read and graded

Wouldn't you like to come have some fun with me?

Front Yard ReBeautification Project

If you have not met my hubby he is a wizard with a shovel and pick ax. It was finally our turn to have some landscaping done at our house. He has been working diligently for a bout a month now on this monstrous project and it is just about finished. Reece has helped hold the plants and dig holes too. He loves to work in the yard with his daddy. I can't wait to see it all complete!

Super Saturday

Reece and Jalen played Disney Sorry but made up their own rules.

Reece taught Jalen how to build the Lego Ben10 guys.

Good friends!

Yay for Friday night sleepovers and Saturday play dates. Raine was super excited to be invited over to Kaylee's house. She hasn't been feeling well but this is such a special treat that I couldn't say no. She was so excited she helped pack her backpack with all the necessary supplies. Except a pull up and her toothbrush. I woke up at 12:00 worried she was going to pee all over her girlfriends. Thankfully she told Deidre she needed a pull up for bedtime.

Raine was anxiously waiting for me at the car.

The girls were ready for dinner, decorating cupcakes and a movie.

Reece was bummed but we arranged for his friend Jalen to come over on Saturday for a fun boys only playdate. Daddy worked on our front yard while the boys played. I had to run out and pick up Raine. Then we met a friend and her youngest kiddos for lunch and play time at BK. It was great catching up with her, poor Raine was so exhausted and fell asleep within 3 mins of our car ride home. Deidre said she asked to go to asleep at 8 pm when all of the other girls stayed up until 9 or so. All in all she had a blast. Reece and Jalen were starving by the time I made it home. They created their own lunch menus and then checked off what they wanted to eat. It was very cute and they sure did pick a lot of food. The boys jumped on the trampoline, built a fort, created Ben 10 aliens with legos and ran around like wild little animals. It was very fun and I would have Jalen over again and again.

The best part of the day was the fact that we found a babysitter and had a super fun date night. I called about 6 girls and they were all busy until one of my old students Shelby came through for us. We haven't seen her in a while so it was a real treat! Mo and I raced down to Firefly to meet Jenn and Mark for some delicious food and sangria, then it was off to the movies. We saw Just Go With It, which I found to be quite HILARIOUS!!! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. It was a great date but an all around perfect Saturday!

Imagination Movers LIVE

Once again we were blessed with free tickets to see this excellent show! The kids were surprised and ready to dance. Well Raine was anyway, Reece said this is for babies, but then danced all night long. We used to watch Choo Choo Soul & Imagination Movers all the time when we had the Disney channel. Now the kids watch it online. It was a a very fun evening out as a family.

The kids were jumping around dancing when I asked them to turn and look at me,

this is what I got. Silly faces indeed!

Cold Season

YUCK! It sure is hitting our house hard this winter season. I was finally feeling better but only because I passed all of my germs off onto my innocent little girl. She came home from school yesterday with the saddest looking bloodshot eyes, coughing and all stuffy. Raine climbed up onto my bed and requested to watch Beauty & The Beast. I snuggled with the poor thing for a bit then made some leftovers (Noni's not here to cook anymore). Before putting her to bed, I gave her a shot of medicine and prayed her cough would subside and let her get some much needed rest. No such luck, she was up all night long coughing and crying. At one point she was so warm I couldn't tell if she was breaking a fever or just to bundled under her covers. Either way I started calling friends to see if they could sub for me today. Two strikes and then I finally found one, third time is a charm. So here we sit watching Sesame Street and coloring. I hate that Raine feels terrible but I love snuggling with her.

P!nk - Raise Your Glass

Sigh

"I realized that I already know the things I need to do, which is different from all the things I could be doing. And here’s the trick: it’s more important to actually do those things that need to be done than to pursue the shiny new idea right around the corner.

Do fewer things.

Do them better.

It’s become my personal motto for the year. And the really great thing is that it extends to every area of my life: Work. Home. Personal life. Family."-Meagan Francis

I just read this on the Happiest Mom's blog and it made take a deep breath in relief. I have been trying so hard to focus on finding Peace and doing only what is necessary in 2011.

President's Day weekend was spent with my in law's visiting but was very uneventful. If I was feeling better I would have loved to venture out and play in the snow or take a hike at Red Rock but nope, I napped and layed around quite a bit. I didn't even go to church on Sunday but I did push myself to get up and meet the family for breakfast at Ihop and go out on a double date Sunday. We introduced the rents to Aliante Casino and saw Liam Neeson's movie Unknown then headed to dinner at Outback. We checked out the restaurants in the casino but they were a bit too pricey and the elder Hauguel's love Outback. It was a fun date but I had to call it a night at 9:15 because the sangria was kicking my tush and I could hear my bed calling my name. I carefully drove Syd the sitter home and crawled into my cozy bed (because mo bought me a new fuzzy green blanket) with my hot hubby.

On Monday I wasn't feeling very well at all. I stood in a steamy hot shower, ate some cereal and then crawled right back into bed. Mo was very busy creating a masterpiece in our front yard the entire weekend so after making the kiddos eggs in toast he went right back out to play in the dirt. Shortly after lunch, the grandparents loaded my kiddos into their rental car for a trip to the Shark Reef. As a mom, I was a bit taken back because it was the first time my kiddos had gone anywhere alone with their Noni and Pe Pere. I wasn't worried, just unclear of what I should do with myself. I curled up on the couch with my laptop and did what every good mom should do, watched some missed episodes of TV!!! It was very relaxing and just what I needed. I did feel guilty I was missing a fun trip with the kiddos but extremely glad they were able to have that special time with the grandparents from P.A.

Everyone came home happy as can be and with little souvenir turtles in hand. Pa Pere quickly offered to assist his son with the yard and Noni was headed to the store to buy food for dinner. I put Raine down for a nap and joined Noni for a trip to the food store to purchase some staples for the short school week. She was in search of all the ingredients to make a ham and baked mac n cheese dinner but had no luck finding a canned ham so she switched gears and bought a roaster chicken, fresh green beans, stuffing and rice. A meal we all know very well and love even more than ham. I ran around the store grabbing things here and there, feeling a bit of pressure to hurry up. After unloading the groceries, we started preparing the evening meal. I always enjoy cooking with my mother in law because she has super yummy meals made with the simplest ingredients. Reece can't get enough of her cooking either; he raves about them every night. The meal was wonderful once again and we all found some coloring or bible lessons to complete afterwards.

All of that to say we had an amazingly relaxing visit with the grandparents this past week. I feel like it was more meaningful than other visits they have had with us. I guess I am doing well doing fewer things and doing them better. Let's hope it continues ;)

Faith

‎"A little faith will bring your soul to heaven,

but a lot of faith will bring heaven to your soul"

~Martin Luther

Visit from Noni & Pe Pere

On Wednesday Noni & Pe Pere flew in from PA. It has been a wonderfully relaxing visit so far. We met them a for dinner at Outback and enjoyed some yummy food. The kids were starving from a long day of school and a visit to the eye doctor. They gobbled up their dinner and chatted with their grandparents.

Thursday and Friday I was blessed with homemade meals, Chicken Paramsian and London Broil made by Noni. I love to come home from work to a home cooked meal that I didn't have to prepare! It is so nice, I would have no problem hiring a professional chef to cook me meals nightly.

Saturday we ran earned as a family and ended up at Mimi's Cafe for breakfast. It was busy but productive morning. Mo bought me a new fuzzy fleece blanket for our bed. It used it to take a wonderful nap. The grandparents visited and hung out and Noni made us my favorite meal fried flounder, veggies and rice. It was so fantastic.

Raine is starting to read

Raine wants to learn how to read so badly that at night she asks Jesus to help her learn how to read. I am so excited for her. I asked her future kindergarten teacher for some books for her to start with. She said those pictured at the bottom of this post were too easy. So I grabbed her some level 1 books from our school lit lab. Raine was thrilled, she has read all 7 books every night this week. I guess I better get her some more...

Life is Good

We have had an amazingly blessed January. I have begun scrapping again and am finding so much peace and joy while creating. I have cleaned out all my stuff and have it as organized as I can get it. I have assembled my kiddos school days kits that I bought 2 years ago and have also been doing Project Life. I hope to continue it a few nights a week and maybe every Thursday night with the ladies at my church who craft. I am so excited about enjoying the hobby again but the best part is how excited my kiddos get to see a page added to their books. Now if only I could invest in uniform scrapbooks and get rid of all those post bound Scrap in Snap albums.

I am reading an awesome book right now called The me I want to be. It is about becoming the person God called you to be, like the latest and greatest version of you. CR is doing a 5 week study on it and it has been very spiritual and fulfilling. I am very happy with our new church and like sitting back, getting fed. Every week I weep and can totally feel God's presence. Guess I have really needed that. We are wrestling with going to a friends small group also but we are waiting for God to tell us when to go. Reece & Raine are also enjoying the children church program. Reece came out of class last week saying it was such great worship. I love that they have the same teacher each week and they know my little ones names and welcome them with such warm open arms.

I have registered for my third half marathon. I will be running the San Diego Rock & Roll Half with my dear friends along side me. The best part is that it on my 37th birthday. I have always seen the signs for this race hanging all over the city while chaperoning the 5th grade Sea Camp trips. Every year I said I would love to run one, this year I will with 3 of the 6 bowlies! I can't wait, I guess I better start training and stop eating all the chocolate in my house.

Praise God for all of our blessings, we tithed more this month than ever before, which in turn means we made more. Trust in the Lord and He will provide...We do!

Super Citizen

Reece was awarded the super citizen award for Non-Violence this week at school. I found this quite humerus at first, thinking his teacher was just giving it to him because she couldn't think of anything better for my rambunctious lil man. Oddly enough, she told me he was the only one who knew what it meant and that he is so kind hearted. No matter how annoyed he becomes he never reacts with violence. Good for him, I thought. I guess going to church has taught him more than I realize. I was a proud mama.

Las Vegas Tourists

After dropping Amber & Aubrey off at the airport we decided to be tourist for the afternoon. Our kiddos have never seen the Bellagio water show so we walked around the conservatory for a bit, ate the most delicious gelato and then went outside to see the show. We had prime spots for viewing except that the sun was right in our eyes. All in all it was fun playing tourists; from Red Rock to the strip it was a good way to spend our day off of school.

Yay for the kind old tourist who offered to take a picture of our family.

3 out of 4 smiles work for me!

Disney on Ice

Thanks for the tickets Uncle Travis, we LOVED the show!

Raine and Aubrey dressed up for the event.

She was quite a sassy skater during "The Princess and The Frog" skit.

It was a pretty amazing Fantasia skit too.

Raine's favorite part! She was so excited that the Beast was a prince.

We all had such an awesome time sitting 3 rows from the ice watching the fantastic show! Our friends the Surettes sat with us and then Aunt Amber and Aubrey joined us for the second act. I think I was more impressed with all of the exciting skaters than my kiddos. Well Raine was pretty focused on the show because her snow cone was melting all over her dress because she seemed to forget all about eating it. The kiddos picked out cotton candy and snow cones to purchase with their Christmas money. They were so excited because they now have two Mickey head cups and Raine was able to buy a pretty purple Tinkerbell cup. We concluded the night by meeting Mo at Olive Garden to enjoy a yummy pasta dinner. It is the kids favorite food, so it was a perfect choice. It was an extremely exciting Saturday afternoon and evening.

Trip to the Park with Aunt Amber

Aunt Amber and Aubrey came to visit us for the long holiday weekend. They arrived late Thursday night and we hung out and chatted for a little bit. Mo & I had to work on Friday but I let Reece & Raine stay home from school to play with Aunt Amber & Aubrey. Did I mention what a super duper fun aunt she is? Amber asked me where the closest park was so I drew her a map. She packed a picnic lunch and had the kiddos grab something to ride on. Reece and Raine grabbed their Batman and Dora big wheel things and Aubrey borrowed Reece’s scooter. Little did Amber know that the trek to the Dinosaur park would be such a grueling experience.

When I came home from my training, Amber was on the couch and shared all the details about their trip to the park especially what went wrong. Raine closed the sliding glass door on her finger while getting ready to go. Amber had trouble keeping up with the kiddos; they rode too far ahead of her. She dropped Aubrey’s camera in the sand, twice. Raine and Aubrey went flying down the yellow slide way too fast and landed on their butts. While walking home from the park, the kids took off their jackets and Amber dropped Raine’s on the side of the road. Luckily, she called Mo and he found it on his way home. Amber said she was glad they went to the park but it was quite an adventure!

Happy New Year

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today, because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow. I am hoping to post this so mewhere in my ho me because it may just help me with that horrible act of procrastinating. Yet, I' m not sure I will want to scrub the toilet to morrow.