straws

whoever invented the straw is a genius! that being said, let me elaborate. it was a typical morning with P and L barely making it out the door on time and M and R here with me getting ready for preschool. the girls and i were getting ready to leave when i realized that P had not turned in her field trip permission slip. of course at this point i also realize that i cannot write a check to pay for this fabulous outing, but must pay in cash. okay- so i don't usually carry cash and if i do it is spent before i can blink. so with the girls loaded in the van and on our way to preschool we have to detour to the bank. although, how do you break a 20 on the way to school?!! my answer is obvious-STARBUCKS! so P gets a fabulous field trip to the movies and i get to indulge in my favorite addiction. it was at starbucks that i developed deep and heart-felt love and admiration for the inventor of the straw. i decided to actually go into starbucks instead of the drive-thru in hopes of avoiding long lines. in the attempt of avoiding any public scenes and trying to distract the girls a bit i asked M to get me a straw. of course she decided to get one for herself. R soon caught on and followed big sister's lead to get her own as well. so crisis averted there are no melt downs, outbursts or unruly children, only well behaved little angels with straws and wide open imaginations. it was awesome. during our ride those straws were magically transformed into letters, a cross- just like the one Jesus died on for our sins, a violin, drum sticks, horns, pencils, swords and so much more. all of this to say that i am convinced that the straw is and can be the best toy your child will ever have- next to the card board box, which is a classic! i am amazed that a little imagination can transform a little plastic tube into a world of learning and hours of playtime. so today i salute the inventor of the straw, who probably just made it for his/her own kids! so from now on when i am at starbucks or mcdonalds or wherever you can bet that i will be taking a few more straws than necessary and filling up my purse, diaper bag and glove compartment! i may even go crazy and buy the bendy straws at the store!

little mama

it is so fun for me to watch my kids develop and discover new things. it seems as if they change overnight and they are suddenly transformed into these little people with blossoming personalities, diverse interests, huge vocabularies and deep thoughts! i have asked myself this many times, but really where does the time go?! it seems as if i get so wrapped up in homework, car-pool, changing diapers, karate class, shuttling kids from place to place, play dates, searching the couch for hot lunch money, repeating over and over "stop that- don't hit your sister-knock it off- go to bed- brush your teeth- wash your hands" etc..... that i can forget to stop and catch my kids doing something new and cute.

well, yesterday i actually realized the moment in front of me and stopped to watch little miss r playing with her baby doll. lately she has really been into her babies-it is a good thing that we have at least three of those suckers because we always have one with us. my grandpa made the girls a little baby doll cradle and miss r has become attached. i loved watching her go around the house collecting the things that she would need to take care of her baby. we needed a diaper, wipes, blankets, crib and a bottle. i loved how she gingerly cleaned her baby and tried to change her diaper before the baby had to lay down for her nap- 'shhhh mommy baby sleeping' although she did get mad at me when i would not give her powder and cream for her babies diaper rash-'need powder, need cream!!' i love this little girl with all of my heart and hope that i can continue to catch and hold on to these precious moments before any more of them sneak by me.

bring it on tonto

okay, let me first say that i love animals! God has created some pretty cool animals. yes, i love God's creatures, although many of which i choose to enjoy from afar. i enjoy dogs and have been the owner of a couple in my lifetime- blondie, audie, and currently scout- all of whom will always have a special place in my heart. we have bonded and shared life together. that being said, as far as pets and animals living in my home i do have limits-dogs and fish. recently a couple of tiny critters have decided to take up residence in my home- uninvited i may add. these mice have quickly become my foes and prey. it seems that they are out to get me and will taunt me throughout the day and night! of course i do not think that anyone in my house has actually seen my new arch enemies, which in a way i am glad that the girls have not had any encounters with the little rascals. now you may be thinking that i am overreacting and going a bit overboard and to some degree i would have to agree with you, but i have been consumed and on a mission and will not cease until i have reigned victorious. so i continue on in my journey to defeat tonto (yes, i have named the mouse- he keeps taunting me, i thought it was fitting) and rid the heyer home of all intruders!

my little rock star

A couple of weeks ago my baby turned 7! I can hardly believe that she is that old. So we decided to have a rock star birthday bash,

which of course was inspired by Hannah Montana and P's love for all things musical. It was quite an adventure. We had 12 little pop stars running around the house in dress up clothes, making musical shakers, eating pizza and cake and putting on talent shows. In the end P had an awesome time with her friends and had a rockin' birthday!

diving into my 30's

in december i turned 30. somehow i do not feel that i should be 30 yet. where did the time go? who knows?! a few months ago i decided that for my birthday i wanted to go sky diving. my dad had gone for his 50th and i was so jealous. it was something that i had wanted to do for a while and thought that it would be a fun adventure for my 30th birthday. my dad immediately said that he would jump with me when i asked him to go. although, mom and logan were not to excited about us flying through the air.

we set the date to jump on december, 7- the day before my birthday. i was so excited that the day had finally arrived. my dad came to pick me up and we were off. it was a bit foggy outside, but we were confident that it would pass. after all, i was not thinking about the fog as a hindrance, i had been praying that it would not rain. anyway, it turned out that the fog won out and we were not able to make our jump- after waiting it out almost five hours!

for the next couple of weeks scheduling and the holidays prevented us from making our jump, until- january, 4! it was a clear sunday morning and after talking it over with dad we decided to go for it- no appointment- just do it! (is this a nike commercial?) after church we drove out to the byron airport and things started happening quickly. we walked in the hangar, put on purple and green jump suits and harnesses, got a quick instruction from our tandem guys and were on the plane to jump within a 1/2hour. it was crazy. as we were taking off we could see mom, logan and the girls driving to the airport hangar. dad jumped before me and soon became a little purple speck flying through the air. of course i was not focusing on him for long. my turn came to jump and it was awesome! i didn't feel my stomach in my throat or anything like that. i did however feel the freezing cold air on my face. i did scream for a bit, but i couldn't even hear my own voice. it was a cool thing to fly through the air. i think that i probably looked like a frantic bird learning how to fly- i had no idea what i was doing with my arms, they were flopping everywhere. when the parachute opened it was an awesome view. i even got to guide the parachute a bit too. thanks vic and yuri for getting us down safely!

it was an awesome experience that i will never forget. i am glad that my kids got to be there and see that moms can have fun too. thanks dad for helping my jump into my 30's. when are we going again?!!!! (logan and mom- don't worry)

words of a 4 1/2 yr. old

i do not often have the chance to have good one on one time with my girls- we always travel in packs! you know girls, they all go to the bathroom together even if only one of them really has to go. that's what it is like with the little ladies in our family too. anyway, i had the opportunity to take a drive with miss m on sunday, just the two of us. i was impressed by her deep thoughts and wanted to share my joy with you. every year the local boy scout troop comes and picks up our christmas tree for disposal. it is a nice service which we really appreciate, but after the tree is gone i don't put much more thought into the whole situation. well, my imaginative 4 yr. old does. she did not really understand what they do with them and why they were stacked up in the parking lot of her karate class. so she came up with her own great solution. 'mom we should take the chopped up wood to a waterfall and feed it to the beavers they could use it.' i just had to smile. i would not have come up with such a creative idea.

later in the car ride she also told me that her skin would soon be turning that tan color, like in the summer time. this of course began an entire dialogue about how we are thankful that God made so many different colored and types of people because life would be boring if we all looked the same. and that is when i found out, 'but you know that monsters are red! sometimes they have spots and are rainbow colors like blue, yellow, red, pink, orange, green.....'

i hope that you have learned some things that you did not know before and giggled a bit too. i can't wait to hear what is coming next. ahh, from the mouths of babes!

Advent(ures) and Kaiser?

In my continual effort to bring the blog up to speed and into 2009 we must take another look back to the weeks leading up to Christmas. If you are familiar with the term Advent you will know that it means "a coming or arrival" and also marks the four Sundays before Christmas. Well, in our home there were many things that happened in those few weeks before Christmas and the New Year began. Let me highlight a few for you.

We attended Madi's Tiny Tiger Karate Class Ceremony, which was so fun. I love to see her out there kicking booty. At the ceremony she received a black tip on her belt for completing the class. She is looking forward to continuing her classes in the New Year. That same weekend was my 30th birthday. My best friend from college surprised me by flying in from Or. for the weekend, which was awesome! Love ya, BRG! My Dad and I were all set to go Sky Diving that weekend, but alas were unable to make the big jump into my 30's due to fog. We tried to wait it out, but after 5 hours there was no sign of it letting up. It was such a bummer.

On the third Sunday of Advent our family was asked to light the Advent candle in church. The girls were excited to wear their fancy new dresses and walk down the aisle carrying the candle. I am thankful that we were able to light it in all three services allowing both P and M to have a chance at carrying the candle. Once the candle was lit I was supposed to read the scripture for the morning. Now if you know me, you can pretty much guess what happened next- tears! It never fails. I was certain that I would not cry after practicing the verses (Matthew 1:18-25) over a couple of times, but there is something about reading about the Savior's birth that just gets me every time. Even thinking of those words now, I am sure to shed a tear. 'She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.' Matthew 1:21 It is incredible to think about how a tiny baby can change the world- especially mine. God sure had a cool plan! Anyway, by the third service I was able to control the tears a bit. Overall it was an awesome experience for our family. We were also able to light our own advent candles at home and have a small devotional as a family, which was fun and only resulted in one minor injury. Rylie now knows that we mean it when we say that fire is hot! This should have been an indication of the weeks to come.

The next week we attended Payton's First Grade Program at school. Of course, we had the best soloist in the group! P was amazing and sang her heart out. We were so proud of her. Madi also had her night to shine on Christmas Eve when she sang Happy Birthday Jesus with her PreSchool class at church. I just love it when little ones are praising the Lord with all of their hearts! It sets such an example for the rest of us.

Well, Christmas Eve is when our Kaiser saga began. At the Christmas Eve service Rylie was picked up by her hands and started to act hurt. She was guarding and not using her right arm. I am thankful that the service was only one hour for R's sake. When we got home we decided to take her to Minor Injury to get checked out. After lots of screaming and stickers we came home with a hot pink cast on her right arm. She had fractured her wrist. We were thankful that it was her right arm because she is our lefty and could still function somewhat. Anyway, to make a long story short we were back at Kaiser 5 days later with a sprained left arm and another cast. (They can't really splint a toddler) So R spent most of the Holidays in casts. She is one tough cookie. I am pleased to report that since then we have been back to Kaiser 3 more times and have one less cast! Hallelujah! She should be getting the cast off her right arm Monday.

Despite our many trips to the doctor we had a wonderful Holiday season. We were blessed to be able to spend time with family and friends whom we love! And especially blessed to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Many blessings to you all in the New Year.

rockin' thanksgiving

okay, so i realize that the new year has come, but i am still living in 2008- at least where the blog world is concerned. i have not posted in so long it is hard to know where to start, but lets go back to november for a moment. it was the first time that our family had the opportunity to go and celebrate thanksgiving with h & d (my sister and her husband) at their new house! we had a great time together. there were the usual festivities such as making fudge with grandpa, playing scene-it, dinner at knotts berry farm (a high priority and special treat), thanksgiving day football and early morning shopping on black friday. although, the girls were most excited about playing rock band with uncle d. they had specific outfits and accessories that needed to be packed, were thinking of names for our family band and assigning everyone a role to play. a few of the names that were thrown around were the boys and girls band and the super stars. i am not quite sure what we ended up with, but we had fun. we can't wait to go back soon and hang out. meanwhile, we will be brushing up on our dance moves and musical skills.