So...

Yesterday was MY personal

 "horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day...

No details; just know there are TWO children that are seriously LUCKY to be alive. 

On a daily basis I loose my cool; but yesterday it was WAY BEYOND just loosing my cool... I had to go in my room; scream into my own pillow WHILE crying I was SO UPSET.

Quick Question;

What do you do to calm yourself down?

Usually I just need to tell myself I am like 10 times older than my kids so grow up!, but on days like this one I was SCREAMING... no not just yelling at the kids; SCREAMING like I was going to loose my voice at them.

It makes me sad...

It makes me feel like I am a bad mother...

WHY do I let myself get so UPSET?

I mean I love these kids with everything I have; so why do the little things they do as 3 and 4 year olds drive me so freakin' crazy? WHAT the heck am I going to do with them as teenagers?

Just so I can remember this day; I'm just going to say Hailey had TONS of potty accidents... pee and poo; so when I read back on this I can remember what pissed me off so bad...

I think today I am over it and really trying to get past it; but MAN I still feel upset.

Pray for ME and PRAY for my kids... not looking forward to that cruise now if this is what I have to deal with.

CRUISE PLANNING

We set up all our documents for the cruise today... it seams more real to me than EVER...
Usually when we book a cruise it is months off; so I have to WAIT like forever to go. But this time I have less than a month to prepare... getting excited about it!~

We have been telling the kids about "Going on a Big Boat" for about a week now. Landon is BEYOND excited about it and everyday asks daddy to show him pictures of it. Matt will get out my NOOK (LOVE THAT THING; and love just saying "NOOK") and let him scroll through the pictures. We have showed the kids a few videos of the "Big Boat" and Hailey says she does not want to go because "I am scared, and I don't want to go down the big slide!" YES, the ship has slides on the top and we are STOKED about it; until we learned Landon was to small to go on it... well see how this goes down. Hailey who is tall enough could care less about going but shortie Lando wants to go so bad it hurts!!~~ HAHA!~

I am VERY thankful we are able to do wonderful things like this as a family. I completely "get it" how lucky we are that we get to enjoy things like this. I also KNOW we can do things like this because we had set ourselves up right. We don't go out to eat much, we don't waste money, we live on a budget, we save, I shop on clearance racks and buy generic brands, we work hard for our money. We make our money work for us... so we can enjoy little vacations and things like this.

If there is anything I have learned from my husband it is this; You have to ENJOY life while you are living it. And sometimes you have to spend money to do that. 

And what my husband has learned from me is this; You only buy things if you have the money for it. We don't put things on a Credit Card to pay off later; we pay everything in full at the end of the month. And if we don't have the money for something... we don't buy it!

I have to admit I learned what I know from my parents. We were never BIG SPENDERS, we always lived within our means. I swear I life a much fuller and richer life by doing this. Sorry about my RANDOM RANT... I feel like some "haters" around us think we get everything in life handed to us...

ANYWHO... This is me excited about going on our Family Cruise!~ :) AND at the same time PRAYING that this does not happen...

  

Landon Turns THREE!!

My Baby is THREE!!

He is SO fun, and SUCH a crack up!
Landon David Bird has yet ANOTHER YEAR under his tiny belt!!
We did not have a "Party" really... we just had friends over for dinner and sang to him... I guess that kinda is a party, but we eat dinner with these people ALL THE TIME!
I guess if we think about it we must have LOTS of parties over here!!~~

 He did want a "Pirate Theme" so he wore his new shirt and we put up candles and dimmed the house lights.

 I made cupcakes, and Landon got a hold of one as our friends were arriving...

 We had a Healthy Dinner; BBQ Mesquite Chicken, Rice, Fruit Salad, Salad with ANY dressing option, and the kids had French Fries and hot dogs. YES there is two huge soda bottles in the one picture which makes it not really healthy, but there was water and sugar-free juice behind them...

 The kids enjoyed making Balloon Pirate Friends while we got dinner ready...

 And After dinner we all enjoyed some YUMMY Cupcakes!!

 As soon as Landon finished his cupcakes he told me it was time to open his presents! This kid got HOOKED UP!~ The Hardens got him the Batmobile, the Bakers got him a Spiderman backpack with a sleeping bag, G&G Andersen got him a Disney Read-To-Me set of Books & If you give a Dog a Donut book, G&G Bird got him Spiderman Shoes and a Spiderman Shaving set, and we got him a set of Monster Trucks and Two C.A.T. building toys! This kid is LUCKY!!

The above picture shows Hailey very upset that she did not get a present; we had a nice talk about birthdays and how she will get a present in a few months. It was a GREAT night with GREAT friends! Thank you for sharing out JOY that is Landon with us!

Mommy and Daddy love Landon SOOOOO Much! 

~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY STUD!!

Positiveness!!

(Thank you Stacy Rogers for sharing this on FB)


THIS is my new favorite quote...

"We can't direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. 

For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude!" 

- Thomas S. Monson

Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue ~

Have you ever been wearing a pair of shoes that you LOVE

and noticed that the back of the heal has come UN-GLUED??

I got these STEVE MADDENS while pregnant with my daughter to wear with my sailor dress. 

I love wearing them because they are SO comfortable!!

I had forgotten that they were broken, so when I took them out of the box and remembered; I realized I knew EXACTLY what would FIX my little problem...

Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue
(hit on the above hyperlink to learn more)

I feel a little dumb giving you directions... this is NOT rocket science... (I promise)
Grab your glue, put the glue on one side of the shoe, press and hold. Wipe away excess glue. BEST PART... It only took 25 minutes to dry!! I wore them the next day, and the glue HELD! I had previously "fixed" these shoes with super glue and that only held until I put the shoes on and took a step! This glue allows for movement and a quick bond!

I LOVE THIS STUFF!!

Check out iLoveToCreate.com for all your Crafty~Fix-it~ or Fun needs!!

"Dr. Teeth" A.K.A. The Kids Dentist

No my friends this is not a post about how scared I am to enter the dentist office...
This post is about a BRAVE mom putting on a HAPPY FACE for her kids to not get all worried about going to see the dentist. And can I just say I LOVE the kids dentist!
Monday the kids went in for a cleaning and they both LOVED it!!
We walk into the office and see THIS:

HELLO play area for the kids to ENJOY before they go in for dental work!

My kids absolutely LOVED it!

When the kids are called into the back room for the cleanings they ask them what movie they would like to watch. Hailey picked Strawberry Shortcake. She sat there in the chair watching her show and getting a cleaning. She has two cavities on the upper back teeth, so we went back today to get one of them filled.

Landon choose Toy Story to watch, and was a little squirmy; but did wonderful. No cavities; but we have to cut out juice during the day. (which WILL be a struggle) And we need to brush and floss after breakfast and before bed. DONE!! We did great Tue and Wed with the routine so far!!
So when Hailey went back today for her first ever dental procedure, she was very hesitant. I told her the night before and the morning of that we needed to go back to the dentist so he could clean her back top teeth. Getting into the car was the toughest part. Once we got there, she played and when it was her turn she was ready to go "get her top back teeth cleaned"
BUT FIRST we had her go to the bathroom...

YES that is a MINI toilet and sink and mirror for the kids... HOW cute is that? We loved it! After going potty we went to the room and she got up ready to go. She decided to watch Dora the Explorer this time, and was sitting so well. They put the "Elephant Nose" on her to give her Nitrous to calm her down, numbed the area, gave her a shot, put a brace on the tooth, drilled and filled it AND she sat perfect THE WHOLE TIME! I was SO proud!!
She got a pink balloon and a Princess Book and we were on our way! I think I was more worried about the whole thing; and she was a ROCKSTAR!! Now we will be back next Wednesday to get the other cavity and then we are done until our summer cleaning!! YEAH!!
Thank You Powell Pediatric Dentistry ~ YOU are the BEST!! If you are in the Fresno ~ Clovis area and need a pediatric dentist... CHECK this place out!!~

SILLY STUFF ~

You know those adorable kids books written by Laura Numeroff... Oh you don't recognize the name... well how about the title...

If you give a Mouse a Cookie or

If you give a Moose a Muffin or

If you give a Pig a Pancake or

If you give a Cat a Cupcake or

MY little boys FAVORITE If you give a Dog a Donut... (THANKS Grandma and Grandpa Andersen for getting it for his Birthday!!~~)

YEAH... THOSE books!!~~ 

Well, I was on FB reading to my hearts content because HAILEY is at Preschool and LANDON is watching Team UmiZoomie and I came across THIS... ENJOY MOMMAS!!~~


IF YOU GIVE A MOM A MUFFIN-
"If you give a mom a muffin, she'll want a cup of cocoa to go with it. She'll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the cocoa. 
She'll wipe it up. Wiping the floor, she will find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer, she'll trip over boots and bump into ......the freezer. 
Bumping into the freezer will remind her... she has to plan supper. 
She will get out a pound of hamburger. She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With A Pound Of Hamburger.) 
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail. She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow. 
She will look for her checkbook. The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old. 
She'll smell something funny. She'll change the two-year-old. 
While she is changing the two-year-old the phone will ring. Her five-year-old will answer and hang up. 
She'll remember that she wants to phone a friend to come for cocoa.
Thinking of cocoa will remind her that she was going to have a cup. 
She will pour herself some. 
And chances are, if she has a cup of cocoa, her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it." by Kathy Fictorie


I thought It was SO cute!!~ I think I could take pictures of my daily life to fill in the book for Kathy if she would like!!~

SNOWBOARDING!!

While my family visited for New Years, we had also planned a Snow Trip. Preston my little brother (who is NOT littler than me in real life) and Matt wanted to hit up China Peak for some SNOWBOARDING!!

The boys left early and hit the slopes; my dad went with them, however he sat back and relaxed in the sun reading until "The Girls" got there (we had Landon so that is why I say "the girls") with lunch. It was chilly; but not too cold. I decided to put my big girl panties on and hit the slopes too; only ever since I had children I tend to take things REAL slow. Almost like NOW I have a purpose and if I get hurt playing around my purpose will become MUCH harder!! Here are some pictures from the day...

 Hailey had fun making snowballs and throwing them at Grandpa, Preston, and Daddy. She told me "We don't throw snow at girls" so Grandma, Sharon and I were safe! She got hit by a snowball in her armpit by Preston and she acted like she was pretty upset about it; however when I was taking her to school the next day she told her friend Haley Harden that her uncle Preston had hit her with a snowball and it was funny; then she giggled.

 She finally put on her coat after Sharon told her it was cold...

And this is Matt and Landon the snowboarders... see the below video for them in action!!

And this is me at the top of the hill ready to snowboard down... don't i look SO happy?? haha!

Oh, and YES I did get some new Snow Clothes THANKS for asking HOT PINK PANTS and a sweet Jacket at the Columbia Outlet... THANK YOU!

Hailey throwing Snowballs at Daddy...

Landon and Matt going down the "Bunny Hill"...

Landon trying to slide on the snow...

The kids made a snowman with Grandpa while Preston, Matt and I went down the hill. I only did one run and I was done. Grandma was reading her book for church book club, and Sharon was helping the kids and grandpa make the snowman. They made a little slide area for the kids; we know now that we can take the kids to the snow and they will LOVE it! ~

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!~~

The Andersen Family came to FRESNO for New Years!!
I had the Wonderful Opprotunity to give a Talk on New Years Day at my Church, so they decided to come and spend some time with us. (It helped that Preston wanted to go snowboarding, so that is what we did on Monday) But we had a GREAT night out on New Years Eve...

We went to Mitsui Buffett for dinner!!

And we were Celebrating TWO occasions... New Years AND Landon's Birthday!!

 They sang Happy Birthday to him, and he REALLY liked it!!~

~

 He got a piece of cake too and that was nice!

Hailey, Aunt Sharon and Uncle Preston got Ice Cream cones for dessert!

 It was a GREAT time had by all!!~~ 

Here is the end of the Birthday Song they sang with the WHOLE gang...

And this is Landon singing the song...

HAPPY HAPPY DAY!!