Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Father daughter time.

I think it is so important for girls to have their dads in their lives, even being an adult I still need special time with my dad. My sister, my dad and I have always had a blast together since I can remember.
My memories go like this, my sister and dad in the front seat, me in the back and all we can talk about is, music.
This weekend I got to add another awesome memory to my mind roladex,  we got to go hiking at Mt. Rainier just the three of us, we have not done something just us three in over 10 years. It was such a blast, we bonded more and really just got to hang out as father and daughters.

 Al and dad in the front :)

 Father and daughters.

 Reminds me of the Lorax :)
 Show me your muscles!
 Gorgeous!
 These little dudes were awesome to watch!


:)


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Tip of the day.

You know when 3:00pm rolls around and after doing all of your chores, having kids running like marathon runners through your house, getting the arts and crafts mess cleaned up, the little kids are already up from their naps with more energy than this morning, and you haven't even sat down once the whole day and you feel like you are going to pass out or fall asleep while standing?! I have a trick, a super secret trick to help you feel energized and helps you finish the rest of your day that is full of more kiddos running around, picking up your house, cooking dinner, doing dishes, bathing the kids, putting the kids to bed and even doing 3 hours of homework.. It's called. A protein shake. Usually I will chug a sugar free red bull but once I tried drinking my protein shake instead I was PUMPED with the effects, I am..

A. Full, so I am not snacking on crap (which is so easy at all the snack times the kiddos have)

B. Energized (just like the red bull does, but these wings come from protein and vitamins)

C. Not dreading the rest of my CRAZY day (most think ooo 3:00pm only 2 hours left of my work day, man that must be nice... For us mom's it's the countdown to the kids' bedtime and then the countdown to OUR bedtime! THAT is when we get to clock out, but only as long as one of our kiddos doesn't decide to wake up in the middle of the night.)

So moms, for the future, don't drink your fake energy crap (I am a hypocrite because I do love it too) BUT make yourself a quick protein shake and sip it, chug it, whatever and watch as your energy pours back into you. Well, now that I gave you my secret what secrets do you have, we all like to have options don't we?!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Lists = Sanity.


My husband makes fun of me on a daily basis for all of my 'lists', I have grocery lists broken up into three different lists,  one for Costco, Winco and Safeway. I have packing lists, to do lists, chore lists, etc.  He asks me, "Why so many lists?!" Let me tell everyone why I have so many lists, and moms you will know exactly what I am talking about..
We have all heard of 'pregnancy brain' that many of us women use as an excuse for the rest of our lives.  Well, I don't think it is pregnancy brain, I think it should be called mommy brain. We don't just have ourselves to worry about, we have our kids, a diaper bag, a purse, a significant other, a job, a household, animals, friends and other family members. When I pack to go out of town I have four different lists, One list for the girls, one for Mitch, One for snack and misc, and one for me. Guess what list I always forget something from..... You guessed it, MINE! I always remember everything for everyone, I remember my husbands favorite basketball shorts and swim trunks, or my daughters favorite bed time stories but somehow I forget MY underpants! HOW?! HOW?! I'll tell you how, mommy brain. We think of everything for everyone else, we remember every chore, every project for school, every snack day, every play date, we even know when to replenish our husbands favorite snacks or favorite body wash before he runs out, even though we don't eat the snack or even pick up the body wash... But you always forget to get more of YOUR shampoo, body wash or worst of all shaving cream when you are in desperate need...
Another thing that is freakishly weird and takes up a lot of our concentration is when it comes to knowing where things are located when asked. We are on it! Like your husbands baseball glove (that you saw last week and it is still fresh in your mind), your daughters favorite teddy bear (that bad boy practically has a homing device in it, no matter how random the place, you know where it is at all times) or even the dogs favorite chew toy. But, when it comes to yourself you always forget  where your car keys are when they were JUST in your hand and you have NO idea what happened to them, you misplace your sunglasses and are stuck without them on the first sunny day in weeks and my favorite; you forget where you put your coffee cup that you need so badly to carry on and it was just RIGHT there! 
The reason for writing this is to let everyone know, I do not have pregnancy brain, not any more anyway, I have mommy brain, a brain that is so full of amazing information that my family needs and uses on a daily basis, it might not be a doctorate or a bachelors degree but I use it more than most people use the degree they paid big money for. Also, I might have a plethora of lists, but let me tell you it helps keep this busy brain of mine in check and remember everything for everyone else, and sometimes for myself :)

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Colors overlapping... Oh the colors overlapping....

Yesterday I sat down to update my calendar on my Mac, and what it does is plugs everything in, in a different color AND it can even over lap events that are taking place at the same time... OH THE OVER LAP. I have 4 things over lapping each other. This is NO JOKE. I never thought I would have to pencil people in; but all joking aside I do it 21st century style and type that crap in, and well from 7AM to about 9PM most nights, are crazy packed. HOW?! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?! Yes, it looks pretty and colorful but when I see NINE different colors over lapping each other, well I get a tad frazzled. Then the day comes to an end and I smile at that calendar and think to myself, "That's right TAKE THAT! I just showed you what's up. HA!"
And then I sleep, and start all over. This weekend, there isn't one color on my calender. Not one thing planned. And you know what.... I am kinda nervous. So I started filling that crap in with "shampoo carpets, intense mopping, clean master bedroom and last but not least read your books" Now I have a full schedule and I am beginning to breath again. Oh when the day comes that I am able to relax and not feel guilt will feel so nice and well... Relaxing. Until then I must get back to my overlapping events. (oh and just so you know, this took me 2 hours to write, between laundry, four kiddos, snack time, corn starch time, glucose monitoring, picking up and being involved in a pillow fight.) 

I could look like this.....





But somehow I look like this....


Real fact: No drugs necessary just lots of giggles and joking throughout the day.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Stressor or Stress Reliever?!

Spring is upon us and as I woke up today I got the itch to begin my spring cleaning....
Some of my friends might not understand the difference between spring cleaning and regular cleaning..
Well to sum it up quickly SPRING cleaning is cleaning each and every corner of your house, reorganizing everything, etc. Today I have even scrubbed the tracks of my sliding glass door... Some might think that is excessive, I think I need a special tool to make sure there isn't a spec of grim left in that bad boy. 
I believe I have spring cleaning fever so badly that I am about to break the paint out and touch up where my loves have colored or placed a muddy hand trying to take off their rain boots. 

When my spring cleaning is done my house feels airy, fresh and ready for BBQs, get togethers and family time. Some might look at spring cleaning as that thing to check off their to do list and find it stressful and some look at it as "I CAN'T WAIT TO CHECK OFF SPRING CLEANING FROM MY LIST!!!!" those find it distresses them... 
What does spring cleaning mean to you? Is it your stressor or your stress reliever?

Friday, March 23, 2012

Grateful > Oblivious

My whole life I have witnessed myself and others getting to a point where they loose what they love and cherish because they didn't know what they had at the time and how special it was. I have done this many times when it came to friends, boyfriends, jobs and anything in life.
I believe everyone has lost something they did cherish and didn't realize how much they cherished it, until it was gone....
I feel I take so much for granted, things we don't even think is a big deal, for example, running water, or heat (or AC for my friends in warmer areas) in our homes. Lately I have been thinking about all the little things that if were to go away would be a drastic change in my family and I's life.
I also think of how lucky and blessed I am to have my sweet little girls and supportive husband. Sometimes it's hard if you are fighting or the girls are acting up but at the end of the day I wouldn't change my life the slightest, I am the happiest I have ever been.

Sometimes it takes loosing things to realize what we once had but I am stopping that from recurring in my life and being grateful for even the little things.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Quiet Game?!

Have you ever tried to coaxed your child into playing the quiet game so you can have a little quiet time to keep your sanity?!
As I am working in the living room and listening to BrayBray and G while they play in the playroom I hear G say,
"Lets play the quiet game. And the winner gets the balloons."
"Yeah, lets play the quiet game", answers Brayden.
So they start.
One minute goes by....
A minute and a half goes by...
"Hey Brayden lets start over." HAHAHA
BrayBray agrees, "Yeah lets start over...."
"Ready GO!"
One minute goes by...
Two minutes goes by...
"Yup, I knew it Teddy looses, we each get a balloon."Ghianna says excitedly.
"Yup teddy looses" Brayden agrees.

In my opinion I think they did quite a fantastic job and staying quiet for up to two minutes.... When the quiet game is my idea it lasts for MAYBE ten seconds. And I mean come on the only reason why they didn't last longer was because teddy broke the silence hahaha