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.

New Years Eve Snow Day

We spent the last day of 2010 playing in the snow. It was super-duper cold up at nt. Charleston. The temperature in the truck read 9 degrees. I knew it was going to be bitter cold so I brought extra everything for the kiddos so they wouldn't have any excuses. We had it all extra hats, mittens, socks and even a change of dry clothes for the kids when we were all done. We invited our friends the Russo's to join us. Even though we were frozen it was a great time.

The snow was so fresh and new, we found a great spot no one had touched yet.

Reece was dragging the sled up the hill, he didn't even complain.

Raine held on for dear life as she flew down the hill.

She was so light she went farther than anyone.

Fun family photo after changing the kiddos out of wet clothes into warm dry ones.

Raine loves climbing up and down the huge mound of snow.

Reece packing a snowball ready to throw it at his daddy.

The girls having a snack on the bed of daddy's truck.

The Batcave By: Reece Hauguel

Reece was given this awesome present from Pe Pere & Noni. He and his daddy have spent a few hours building all the different parts of it. Yesterday, Reece started reading the direction book and followed each step in hopes of building the Batcave all by himself. Daddy went into his bedroom to help him but only on a few parts. Reece's replica wasn't the same as it said in the book but he was so proud of his creation. Today when it was time to read books and rest, he decided to journal about it on his new white board. I love his inventive spelling of 'stuff' and 'guys' and his messy left-handed penmeship. I love that he took the time to write six sentences about something he loves, Batman. I love this creative kid sooo much.

SPOILED

Our kiddos are very blessed, or shall I say spoiled! Whenever someone asked Reece what he wanted for Christmas he would say, "A DS but if Santa can't make that then I want a skateboard." Good thing Santa made the DS because it probably cost less than the visits we would have to make to the emergency room. Except Santa didn't make this one; Ma Mere, Mom Mom, Uncle Travis, and Uncle Andy all sent us Christmas money or gift cards. We told Reece this was a very special DS because it was from everyone who loved him.

"HOLY COW, I can't believe it, a DS!" he shouted.

I couldn't spoil my son without getting something just as awesome for my daughter. Black Friday online shopping was a success when I found the pink Leapster 2 for half price. Raine was just as excited as Reece.

She shouted, "A Leapster, I didn't even put this on my list."

Now look at what we've created; zombies who stare in to their magical little machines!

Christmas Song

This is one of the best songs ever written. I love it, almost as much as I love Reese Peanut Butter cups and pretzel m&m's. Listen, read the lyrics and enjoy on the Eve of our Saviour's birth.

She was his girl, he was her boyfriend

Soon to be his wife, make him her husband

A surprise on the way, any day, any day

One healthy little giggling, dribbling baby boy

The Wise Men came, three made their way

To shower him with love

While he lay in the hay

Shower him with love, love, love

Love love, love

Love, love was all around

Not very much of his childhood was known

Kept his mother Mary worried

Always out on his own

He met another Mary who for a reasonable fee

Less than reputable was known to be

His heart was full of love, love, love

Love, love, love

Love, love was all around

When Jesus Christ was nailed to the his tree

Said "Oh, Daddy-o, I can see how it all soon will be.

I came to shed a little light on this darkening scene.

Instead I fear I’ve spilled the blood of our children all around."

The blood of our children all around

The blood of our children’s all around

So I’m told, so the story goes

The people he knew were

Less than golden-hearted

Gamblers and robbers

Drinkers and jokers

All soul searchers

Like you and me

Like you and me

Rumors insisted he soon would be

For his deviations taken into custody

By the authorities, less informed than he.

Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers

Searching for love, love, love

Love, love, love

Love, love was all around

Preparations were made

For his celebration day

He said, "Eat this bread, think of it as me.

Drink this wine and dream it will be

The blood of our children all around,

The blood of our children all around.”

The blood of our children’s all around

Father up above,

Why in all this anger do you fill me up with love, love, love?

Love, love, love

Love, love was all around

Father up above,

Why in all this hatred do you fill me up with love?

Fill me love, love, yeah

Love, love, love

Love, love, and the blood of our children all around

Parenting

Today while we were eating lunch Raine said, "When I grow up I want to be a clown." Trying to hold back laughter, I responded with, "Really, why is that?" Smiling she said, "Because I get to be silly all the time!" I turned and chuckled to myself and then she said, "No, I am going to be a heart and star and a rainbow."

I love this girl so very much. She makes me laugh right out loud, smile ear to ear and frustrates the heck out of me all in one day. She is very independent and strong willed just like her mother. ;)

During our holiday shopping she had a serious meltdown in Target because she couldn't get lip gloss. One where I had to carry her out of the store while she screamed and kicked her shoe right off. I was a good mom sticking to my guns but boy was I embarrassed. I know all of the other people watching had been there before but seriously, Raine is 4 and 40lbs. That was too heavy and hard to carry out into the parking lot; where she continued to yell, "Your hurting me!" Rightfully so, I was squeezing her legs so she would stop squirming and kicking. I finally was able to set her down in a dark spot and beat her. No, not really, but I asked her if she was ready to walk to the truck or not. While standing there with an ugly look on her face, I said you can stand there and pout while I walk to the truck. She didn't like that, she screamed wait for me and ran up along side of me. I took her hand and tried to make her walk fast with me because the parking lot was really busy. She purposely walked super slow. I scooped her up and carried her again. She wasn't real fond of that. When we got to the truck I beat her, no not really, but I was so annoyed. I really wished I had a wooden spoon in my purse.

Why is it I have to have parenting moments like this?

Gingerbread Houses

I love to watch my 5th graders make these tasty little homes in school, so I thought I would start a new family tradition. Reece made them in his first grade class so he knew what to do. Raine was very excited about the patterning of the m&m roof. We built snowmen out of marshmallows and even added some Phineus & Ferb gummies to play in the snow surrounding the house. Daddy would come in from welding a cool Christmas present for a friend and add the peanut butter cup shrubs and Hersey Kiss chimneys. It took the kids a good amount of time to perfect their masterpieces. I wonder how many pieces of candy they ate when I wasn't looking.

Looks like they ate a lot of candy when mama wasn't looking. ;)