Dancing Queen

Tienna LOVES music.  When she hears it, she can't stop herself from gettin' down!

The other day we were in the grocery store parking lot and a car drove by with loud music and she started to boogy on the spot.

I know my opinion might be slightly skewed, but I think she's a pretty awesome dancer.

Grandpa Moves In

Grandpa John moved in with us at the first of May.  It's been...interesting.  I think it has been very good for Jason and his dad's relationship.  And I love to see the kids interacting with him and listening to his stories.  I hope they will make good, lasting memories with him.

For me, it has been like having another kid.  Only I can't discipline him LOL.  I can't put him in time-out or make him take "just three more bites!" before he can leave the table. But it's one more person to feed, clean up after, taxi around, and another schedule to manage.

As for positives for me, this new situation has made me more appreciative of my sweet mother-in-law.  I feel closer to Jan than I ever have.  I miss her so much! I think of her often and I can feel her giving me strength.  I often feel like what I'm doing is a favor to her.

J-Bug's New Shades

Grandpa bought Jenalyn a new pair of sunglasses.  She loves them.  Grandpa loves them.  I do not.  I can't see her pretty face anymore!

Easter Outtakes

Here are a couple more pictures from Easter that just HAD to be blogged:

Up until yesterday, my kids had no idea Silly String existed. Sad, right?

I asked Jenalyn to smile so I could take her picture. She gave me the most beautiful smile...and just as I clicked, she switched to this face! HAHA! Jokes, on YOU, sis! I'm posting this for the whole world to see :) I love my sugar bug!

Did someone say SUGAR?

I love this face! I love this dress. Just love everything about this picture!

Tienna has a proximity alert for Corbin. Whenever he comes near her, she SCREAMS! Well, usually. This apparently was a happy exception.

I saved the best for last! I told Tienna she couldn't have anymore candy. She has the greatest pouty face.

Easter 2012

Highlights from our awesome Easter weekend

• Grandma's Easter party on Saturday: lots of family, an Easter egg hunt, delicious food, and Jenalyn and I got to shoot a real bow! (Corbin was sick, so just me and the girls went this year. AND, I didn't have my camera, only my phone for pictures. *hohum*).

(Jenalyn thought this was the coolest!)

• Tienna's new shoes.

(I know, they're just shoes, but they make me smile!)

• Coloring Easter eggs.
  
• Planting jelly beans and seeing lolly-pops in their place the next morning! (amazing, right?)
• Bright-colored Easter Baskets.

• Silly String. It was fun for about a minute (which was about as long as it took for the kids to empty their entire cans!) ... then we had the joy of cleaning it all up. *LOL*
  

• New Easter outfits.

(This is the dress I made for Jenalyn for Easter when she was 18 months old. I was so happy that it fit Tienna this year!)

• MORE family time. Dale, Nancy, Miles, Will & Grandpa John came to our house for Easter dinner.
• I made the entire Easter dinner. This was the first big holiday meal that I have ever made by myself! I was really proud. I love cooking for people! Ham, twice-baked potatoes, green beans with bacon, tossed green salad, rolls, and deviled eggs. Oh, and jell-o salad that was forgotten and never made it out of the fridge *ugh*. Aunt Dale brought some delicious cake to celebrate Grandpa John's birthday, a week late ;)
  

She's at it again.

Last year I posted about Jenalyn's love for paper crafting. Well, she's at it again. This time she's making costumes. I was impressed with the detail she included in this one. The whiskers, the paws, the ears, and the cute little nose. She even had a long tail. Made entirely out of paper and tape.

Jenalyn says she's more like a cat than any other animal because: (1) she can balance really well; (2) she's really really fast; and (3) she likes to eat fish.

Me? I just think she has the most beautiful eyes. So pretty!

Paradise

Jenalyn: Mom, can I have a snack?

Me: No food in the tub.

Jenalyn: Awe, that would be paradise!

That just struck me as funny. Silly girl!

Snow Day 2012

Last week, the week before Spring Break, we got epic snowfall. Well, epic for our town. It just doesn't snow like that around here. No school for two days, downed trees, power outages, etc. It was kind of a big deal.

Jason was out of town.

We were basically confined to our house for two days - if you could see my steep driveway, you'd understand why.

We survived it.

And we drank a lot of hot chocolate.

After the kids got done playing in the snow, they came in with frozen toes and fingers, and pink little noses and cheeks. The best cure for that condition (aside from hot chocolate), is a warm dip in the jacuzzi tub :) They loved it!

Tienna watched from from the sidelines. She's not a fan of the jetted tub.

Corbin turned SIX

(His Kindergarten teacher made him a "6" crown.)

My sweet little man had another birthday. No matter how many times I demand that he stops growing...he just doesn't listen! Why can't he stay little forever?

When I asked him where he wanted to have his birthday party he said, "Well, I really want to have it at Chuck-E-Cheese, but I would feel bad because I already told Red Lobster that I would have my birthday party there!" *he didn't want to hurt their feelings*

So on the night of his sixth birthday, our little family had a delicious dinner at Red Lobster.

We had his party with friends the following Tuesday. I wasn't about to pay for 7 kids and their parents to eat at Red Lobster. **cha-ching**

We decided on an Angry Birds theme for his friends party. If you have spent any amount of time with Corbin, chances are pretty high that he has asked if he could play Angry Birds on your phone. He's crazy for those birds!

We had breakfast-for-dinner (eggs: the birdies, ham: the piggies & pancakes with fruit and whipped cream), we knocked over plastic cup towers, and hunted for the angry birds' eggs. Then the kids decorated their own Angry Birds cupcakes.
Also for Corbin's birthday, Aunt Dale gifted the kids one month of Tae Kwon Do. Don't they look deadly? Don't mess. Seriously.
At 6-years-old Corbin:

• Still likes to sleep snuggled up with Jenalyn...when we let him...
• Would spend all day playing video games...if we'd let him...
• Anticipates Saturday like it's Christmas, because that's the only day he's allowed to play video games.
  
• Loves learning Japanese.
• Likes pizza, pirate booty, most fruits, and Mac'n Cheese.
• Dislikes just about any vegetable. Except carrots.
  
• Loves his music! If he's not allowed to be sitting in front of a screen, he has his music playing.
• Is still a blanky boy. He loves his star blanket. *awe*
• Loves to make people laugh.
• Gives the best hugs in the business.
• Has one of the most contagious smiles around.
• Has moves like Jagger.
• Has a weird fascination with anything scary: zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, haunted houses, etc. He'll talk your ear off about them, and then be too terrified to go to the bathroom by himself.
• Has a super cool light saber.
• Has epic dreams that he's Mario, battling Bowser.
• Loves books. He gets super excited for library day at school.
• Hates doing homework. But he's really good at it!
  

I love my crazy little monkey-boy! He lights up my life.

Little Dancer

Tienna loves music. She's been boppin' to the beat for as long as I can remember. And every once in a while she'll sing me a sweet little song.

Corbin loves music too and every morning (he's in afternoon kindergarten), he turns on his music and races around the house. Tienna sees this as an opportunity to perfect her dance moves.

I've been trying for weeks to get a good video of her dancing. I have to be stealthy, because if she sees the camera, she rushes to see what I took a picture of. So I hid it behind my laptop and she didn't catch on. (I know. I'm brilliant. Although the quality of the video suffered because my location was limited.) Every time I'd look down at the camera...instead of watching her dance, she would yell at me! Check it out, it's pretty cute!



(This awful, make-me-pull-my-hair-out music is the soundtrack from Mario Galaxy. *UGH* Seriously! Who thought it would be a good idea to make a soundtrack from a video game! It drives me insane! And it's Corbin's favorite right now, so we listen to it around the clock.)

Asian Celebration

My kids performed with their school at this year's Asian Celebration. We were so lucky to have all of my local family, plus Jason's aunts come and support them. Especially since daddy was at Disney Land for work (pfft...)

Grandpa John bought them Asian outfits. Don't they look great?
After the Asian celebration we got to celebrate Corbin's birthday with Nancy and Dale. As always, Corbin got totally spoiled :)
Here are a couple videos from the performances. (Most of the videos were too big to upload *sosad*) I got lucky that both kids were on the ends so I got pretty good videos of them both.

(Jenalyn is the one in the middle on the end - they all look the same in those outfits!)

She's growin' up!

Tienna is starting to say simple words. She's taking after Corbin. He was an early talker too. Not Jenalyn - I don't think she was saying real words until she was about 2-1/2. But she baby-babbled like no one else!



It's so hard for me to get pictures of her these days because she's always moving. Especially when she sees the camera! She'd rather see what's on the other side of it than sit and say "cheese" (OH! That's another word she says - but only in reference to the kind you eat...NOT for the camera!) But I did manage to get this picture of her in the cute barrette Aunt Rachel made for her for Valentines Day (while she was strapped into her seat, so she had no choice but to sit still).
I love this little girl so much.

My Rock Star Family

One of the {many} reasons why I love my family is because you never know when a random rock concert might occur.

I shut myself in my bedroom after dinner tonight because I had a really bad headache. When I came back out I had a rock concert waiting for me. (Luckily the Advil kicked in and the headache was mostly gone, so I could enjoy the show).

Corbin on guitar:

Jenalyn on drums:


And Jason on vocals (he declined photos from the paparazzi tonight).

Tienna was acting as a back-up dancer from her highchair.

They were rocking out to a song on Jason's iTunes and about mid-song, Corbin shuffled over to me and whispered in my ear, "It's coming from dad's phone! We're not really playing music."

*LOL* I'm glad he cleared that up for me. I was about to start booking venues for the tour! That would have been embarrassing. We would have had another Milli Vanilli scandal on our hands!

This time it was for ME!

I found this picture on FaceBook on Saturday night. It's so beautiful to me. Both the picture and the promise in the scripture. I immediately thought of certain family members who could benefit from such a promise because of the hardships they are currently dealing with.

I tend to do that. When I'm in a church meeting and I hear something awesome, I immediately think of certain people in my life who *should be here, hearing this right now*

I always think of other people who could use the message. I rarely internalize it. Not because I'm so full of myself and I don't think I need the help. But because I'm a fixer. I like to fix other people's problems.

Well, guess what. I NEED HELP! I have been all tied up in knots over parenting a certain child of mine. I got not one, but TWO calls from the principal's office this week. I lay awake worrying about this child. And worrying about ME as the mother of this child. Can I really do this? Am I adequate? Am I going to screw this up even more? What more can I do or say to help him?

My stomach hurts and I am losing sleep.

So yesterday while sitting in church, the Lord spoke to me. And I heard Him loud and clear: I cannot do this alone. I need His help.

We had a girls A Cappella choir from BYU come and do a special little performance for our Youth. They sang one song in particular that touched me. Abide With Me Tis Eventide.

Abide with me.

That's what I need. I need Him to Abide with me...like, at all times. Always. I need the Spirit with me all day long. I truly believe that if I have that, I will be more inspired as a mother. I will lose my temper less. And I will find more opportunities to teach, instead of just rant and rave.

Then I remembered the above picture. When I saw it the previous night I didn't relate it to myself (how foolish). But, after hearing that song, it's the first thing I thought of.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11: 28-30

I am heavy laden. I need rest.

And all I have to do is let Him help me. I need to ask for his help daily. DUH! Seems so simple. But I was somehow missing it. Maybe I just needed a reminder.

I felt very humbled. And yet, I felt loved. I know there are others who's problems are greater than mine. But He spoke to ME! He will abide with ME if I ask him to. My troubles are important too. They are important to Him. The Almighty loves ME. And my offspring...he doesn't want me to screw this up either.

"Little Eyes Are Watching You"

I wasn't going to post this, because it's shameful and embarrassing. But, apparently, it's a lesson I need to remember. The other day I was in a really bad mood. It was a hard week last week, with the baby throwing up all day and night, and then I got sick too...It was really hard and it wore me down.

I was in a REALLY bad mood. Stomping through the house like an angry bear. Not pretty.

Jenalyn asked me {very sweetly and sincerely} "Do you hate being a mom?"

...

...

...

Stopped me dead in my tracks. My first thought was, if I keep this up, she's never going to want to have children!

I guess my actions speak louder than my words. When I tell them that I quit my job at the office because I always wanted to be a mommy, and I'd rather stay home and take care of them than do anything else in the world, I need to SHOW them I mean that.

I saw this blog today and it had me in tears. She quoted a poem...which then had me sobbing. I need to be a better mom! I need to show my kids that I love what I do.

Little Eyes Upon You

There are little eyes upon you
and they're watching night and day.
There are little ears that quickly
take in every word you say.
There are little hands all eager
to do anything you do;
And a little girl who's dreaming
of the day she'll be like you.

You're the little angel's idol,
you're the wisest of the wise.
In her little mind about you
no suspicions ever rise.
She believes in you devoutly,
holds all you say and do;
She will say and do, in your way
when she's grown up just like you.

There's a wide-eyed little girl
who believes you're always right;
and her eyes are always opened,
and she watches day and night.
You are setting an example
every day in all you do;
For the little girl who's waiting
to grow up to be like you.

I want my girls to have joy in motherhood. I want them to WANT it as badly as I did when I was young. It's an amazing responsibility.

The motherly instincts are there. I can't screw this up for them.



(this is an old video, but I thought it was relevant to this post.)