Keeping sane: June 2011

Sweet girl, sweet dress, sweet friend.

A friend of mine once brought her darling little girl to church in a sweet little dress. Her little girl is always dressed impeccably and this certain dress had a real vintage feel to it. I oohed and ahhed over it, and told her how cute the dress and her daughter were. Fast forward a few months and my friend gives the dress to Miss Lexi Joy.

Pictures were in order! Lexi Joy will not pose for pictures unless bribed with cookies.

Cookie in hand (and headband removed!) my Dad held her back so that I could get in position. Lexi moves fast!

Here she comes strolling down our fashion runway, also known as my Dad's garage, wearing the sweet vintage-y dress.

Oh Lexi! Pictures of your are a lot of work (and a lot of cookies!) but so worth it! My sweet little girl in her sweet little dress!

Obrigada amiga por el lindo vestido! :)

SuperHero Dad

For Fathers Day the girls made Brian a comic book of sorts. I told them I would draw a picture of Daddy looking like Super Man. So I drew this:

They scratched their heads and said, "but that doesn't look like SuperMan or like Daddy."

Tough luck, kids. I'm no artist!

And while I may not be an artist, I can whip up a good batch of cinnamon rolls for my husband on Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers Day, Brian. We love you!

What is it?

We made this hair clip thingy today out of circles of fabric. We went crazy with the hot glue gun. We can't decide if it looks like a fabric flower hair clip or like a bunch of fabric circles hot glued together.

What do you think?

Elena couldn't hold still, this is normal.

Abbie kept making funny faces for the camera, this also is normal.

Today I got all the laundry done.

(And by done I mean washed, NOT, washed, folded and put away. That would just be crazy.)

Eggs, Paper, Paint, Sandwiches

*Whew*

Today is over and it was a good day, but I'm Tired. (Yes, with a capital T!)

Abigail learned how to make her own peanut butter and jelly sandwich today. She was very proud of herself and told me to "tell your computer I can make my own sandwiches." I think that's her way of saying "please blog about me and my new skill."

So there you have it, computer. Abbie can make her own sandwich.

She also made this painting which I really, really like. I think I might frame it for their play room in the new house.

One of the reasons I may be so tired is because I found two weeks worth of eggs smashed on the floor.

(Alice thought they were AWESOME.)

I won't name which child did this, but here is a picture of a certain someone fleeing the scene.

Dear Lexi,

That's a lot of eggs,

and they smashed on top of the construction paper

that I bought downtown.

Going downtown is a nightmare for me.

No more ruining construction paper, please!

Signed,

a Tired (with a capital T) Mommy

Cooking with Alice

Tonight I made dinner all by myself. I love cooking with my girls, it's so sweet when they help me stir, chop veggies, lick the spoon or dump ingredients into a pan. Every now and then it's nice to cook without them, less concentration required, more quiet in the house, less mess. That was nice.

Of course I wasn't completely alone. I did have some company. And while I would like to think she was there because she loves me so much, I think she was just hoping to eat stuff off of the floor.

Why would I think that? I mean, it's not like every time she hears that Lexi is in her highchair Miss Alice goes scooting over to see what's up.

They are good friends, those two. I love them both to pieces.

Before I leave you tonight, please, check out Captain Alice's love handles. Aren't they the cutest?

Our Weekend

We had a busy weekend. Well, maybe not busy compared to a USA busy weekend. Seriously, life there is FAST. How do you all do it?

Busy for us, our little slow moving family in a country known for being "tranquilo." (calm)

Here is a glimpse at our busyness:

1. We played with balloons.

2. Lexi read some books, one of which happened to be about balloons. What are the odds??

3. We had church and it was good.

4. We made a double batch of Easy Yummy Oatmeal Cookies.

5. Captain Alice escaped from her kennel around 3 AM and made a HUGE mess in the living room.

6. Brian and I went to a birthday party for someone we barely know. Then we left because, hello, we barely knew the person.

And there you have it! Our busy weekend.

That is all certainly busy enough for me! I am very easy going and I don't like rushing. At all.

How was your weekend?

Chubby cheeks are meant for kissing.

Bedtime kisses on smooshy baby cheeks, is there anything better?

We think not.

Same old same old

Today was big day around here.

We taught Alice how to play futbol.

She's very passionate about the sport and shows lots of potential. Ha!

Elena drew a picture of this family and then took a picture of it.

Alexandra got into the puppy's water dish (again) and I told her not to (again.)

Abbie pretended she was sleeping so that she wouldn't have to clean up the mess she made. Sneaky.

Just another day in paradise!

Today

We started off with having Eggs In A Hole. Or Eggs In A Basket. Or Man In A Boat. I've even heard of them being called Toad In A Hole.

I love them!

Morning was beautiful, we had a rock hunt in the yard and then the girls painted the rocks with my last little bit of paint in the house.

(Blurry picture, but very accurate.)

I spent the rest of the day talking to myself. Scolding myself actually.

"I'm so sick of waiting to live. When do we start living? We've been packing/moving/packing/moving for over two years now. What gives? When does it end?"

And then I say to myself, "Self, stop complaining. You have a roof over your head. Count your blessings. You are living. This might be the last day. Enjoy it."

And then Grumpy Self says, "I hope it IS the last day. I'm tired. I don't feel like a mom. All I feed these little people is PB&J. Our days feel like a Dr. Seuss book and I want out."

And then I say to Grumpy Me, "The girls love PB&J! And they love Dr. Seuss! You are a mom, every day, like it or not, so be a good one. Circumstance don't decided that!"

And then Grumpy Self says...

You get the picture.

Do you ever have to chew yourself out?

Then came my least favorite part of the day.

5:00 pm.

Brian asked what I needed. I needed two things. Would he please keep an eye on the popcorn popping while I went to the bathroom and could he take over Lexi's bedtime.

I couldn't do it. Not tonight.

As always, because he's perfect for me, he stepped in and saved the day. (Thanks Hon!)

I gave the big girls some Ginger Honey Tea to soothe their runny noses and sore threats. They sipped on it while I read from Little House on the Prairie.

Maybe I do feel like a mom after all.

My thoughts on photography

I've been thinking a lot about photography lately. I might be starting a small, photography business.

Or I might not.

I can't really decide.

The reason we bought my SLR camera was because I had learned how to use my point and shoot to the max. There was so much more I wanted to do but couldn't because the camera was limited. I feel that my life is pretty interesting, and I want to capture that. I think my kids are pretty cute and I want to remember all the cuteness. I didn't buy a fancy camera to make money. I bought a nice camera so I could remember small, but important, details about my life.

Like, how during this rushing season of our life, where our days seem to revolve on building a home, we spend some afternoons at my mom's house. Jayde and Elena will watch The Cosby Show while eating a snack.

One reason I hesitate about a photography business is I'm not very good at setting up a scene or picture. Photo shoots don't come easy to me. I am creative, but creativity leaves me exhausted when I force things to happen. Dressing my kids up in cute matching outfits and setting up a pretend picnic scene with helium balloons sounds like a great idea to me, but I will become frustrated and short tempered when the kids don't cooperate. I'll have cute pictures, but not so good memories.

However, if I happen to make a stack of pancakes for dinner and place them in front of my freshly bathed 3 year old, with wet matted hair, and pink Sleeping Beauty pjs...good pics and good memories.

Abbie thinking. She does this a lot.

Elena, rolling down a grassy hill in Grandpa's yard.

Lexi, and her awesome blue eyes.

The only reason I'm considering a business is because I have a few wants right now. Not needs, wants. A small photography business would supplement some cash for my wants.

But is photography fun when you're being paid to do it? What if clients show up with an idea I just can't stand? What if I get stuck in a rut? What if I don't feel like setting the perfect picnic scene with floating balloons? What if I get so busy that I neglect my kids? I don't have any training! What if my camera breaks while taking pictures of complete strangers and then I can't take pictures of my kids? What if I just plain don't feel like taking pictures?

(See? It's a whole bunch of crazy in my head.)

We'll see what happens.