Lovin' the Park ~

We went to the park yesterday.

The weather was SO nice and the kids were being good so I decided they deserved a little treat.

The first thing both kids wanted to do was hit the swings. . .

There must be something calming about swinging.

Both of the kids really enjoy being pushed on the swing.

Then we played on the Playground . . .

They loved running all over and going on the slides.

Then we had lunch . . .

Hailey does not like getting her fingers dirty.

But she LOVES Cheetos so she has to suffer I guess. . . can you see her dissatisfaction with the junk on her fingers??

It was a BEAUTIFUL day, and it got a little cold while we were eating lunch so we grabbed the jackets... is it REALLY June??

BRING ON THE BIRTHDAYS

JUNE . . .
YOU KILL ME! It is by far the busiest birthday month in our family!! This post is in celebration of my little sister Nicole and her husband Brian. They are the Richardson's. They live in Caldwell, Idaho which is too far from me if you must ask!!
Brian's birthday is June 6th, and Nicole's is today...
They are the most " Easy Going" in the family. In fact don't leave any decisions up to them or they won't get made. They just say "whatever everyone else wants!" To which Matt and I take the opportunity to push OUR agenda! HAHA! Just kidding, but they are VERY laid back easy going. They got married in 2005 and have two ADORABLE little ones!
I hope you two have something nice planned for eachothers' birthdays! :)

This is my FAVORITE picture of Brian and Nicole . . . LOVE YOU! ~

Timmy House

So we put an offer in on a new house . . .
WE LOVE THIS HOUSE...
But I am trying to not love it TOO much because when we love it too much we usually LOOSE it...

The house is near the Willow and Bullard corner in a VERY nice area. It has FOUR bedrooms, a BIG kitchen, vaulted ceilings, TWO and a half baths, room for the boat and is over 2400 square feet . . .
It is practically move in ready aside from the half master bath remodel that we would need to finish one of these days. This is JUST what we have been looking for. My only worry is that I do not have enough stuff to fill this place! It has two dinning rooms, and two living rooms. WHAT THE HECK! I love the kitchen, it has a flat surface stove top in an island. PLENTY of storage, and pergo floors. The doorway into the house has beautiful tile work, and there are HUGE windows (dual pane) throughout the whole house.
LOOK AT ME, I am already in love with it . . .
Hopefully we hear back soon on if our offer was accepted or not. I am starting to hate house hunting again. It is neat to go and see houses, but annoying at the same time.
We are noticing a trend lately with the house prices dropping because people can't get financing AND they took away the first time home buyers special tax rebate (not that we would get that anyways)
PRAYERS that whatever is meant to happen will happen for us. We would really love to settle down in a place of our own now. We have been renting and living with family for over 2 years now and I am ready to decorate again!!

WHY?

Have you ever been upset about something someone said to you? I usually get upset about things, then I let them roll off my back. (after I have vented them to another friend of course) But every once and a while I can't let go of what someone has said. WHY do people say the things they say??
I like to think my "filter" is pretty good... sure I will tell a sister they are being stupid, or a friend to shut-up, but I would NEVER purposefully say something mean to someone I cared about. To be perfectly honest I would not even say something mean to someone I did not care about, at least not to their face.
Why would it be ok for someone to comment on something they know nothing about? Like if I wanted the lady at Target's advise about my daughter possibly needing a nap; I would ask!! I don't know her, she does not know me OR my child, what makes her an expert all the sudden. OHHH that is right because my daughter is having a melt down that MUST mean she needs a nap. ACTUALLY LADY she is upset because I took away a princess toy she wanted... but how would you know that... THAT'S RIGHT YOU DON'T!
You don't live with my daughter. She has THREE specific tantrums she throws, and that one was not the I need a nap one thank you very much. I am not STILL upset with this lady at Target, I am actually over that, (this was a few months ago) and I have learned to comment back when RUDE people make "judgement comments" to me. The last lady who made a comment like that got a "Oh, YOU mean YOU need to go home and take a nap, because she is just upset I took her popcorn..."

Anyways, what I am trying to understand is WHY some people's comments make me more upset than others. I have had other mothers that have children with them, BOTH of our kids acting out at the same time make the "Naptime!?!" comment to me and I LAUGH because we have a mutual understanding... she is not judging me, she is just in the same boat as I am.

I know these women MIGHT have raised children, but it was like 20 years ago and things just are not the same. And I am sure if we look back at your "Mothering Skills" you would not have been successful at everything so why put a judgement on me??

I appreciate my mother's approach. She never says anything to me about parenting unless I ask her. And when I ask her, she tells me that it is SO hard to control any child when they are upset, and that she thinks I am doing a great job. I often find myself asking her "Did you ever get to the point where you felt like you HATED us as kids?" And she would say "Yes, and that is when you went into your rooms to play." It makes me feel like I am not the only mother out there ready to pull her hair out. I am not the only mother who has struggled with what to do with my child. I am not the only mother who has thought I NEED OUT! I am not alone. . .

I also appreciate my friends approach with me. When I am asking them about what they do with their kids they tell me what worked for one kid, but when they tried it with the next it did not work. They tell me they are struggling too, and don't put on this FAKE FRONT about how perfect home life is. They tell me that the mean person who said that particular thing to me is just a jerk. They tell me I am not alone, and if I need them not to hesitate to ask. They tell me lets do a play date so we can gossip and enjoy this time in life.

Don't get me wrong I am not sitting here thinking my life is horrible...

I am FAR from that.

What I am trying to do is figure out how to live my life in a world with negative people.
How to teach my children about the world and how it works... for us and against us.
What things do YOU do to ignore the negative people in Life??

Natomas Class of 2000 High School Reunion

Matt and I are realizing time does not stand still for ANYONE!! We have been talking about how long we have been married, and how our kids are growing up SO fast! THEN we had the opportunity to attend my High School Reunion . . . 10 YEARS out of High School . . . REALLY??

We were very excited to get some time away from the kids, and enjoy the night out. I was STOKED to find my dress just days before we left Fresno. All the other dress options needed ALTERATIONS for this Mormon girl to wear them... but THIS one was PERFECT!

This is Robi Quick and I getting ready to announce the "Class Awards"

We had fun little gifts for classmates who had accomplished certain things since Graduation . . .

This is us awarding one of my FAVORITE friends from School. Matthew Shepherd won the "Newest little baby to Love" Award. We had about 20 different Awards... Newlyweds, Married SO long, Travelled the Farthest and the Least to attend the Reunion, Has the most kids, Currently Pregnant, Hasn't Changed, Lost the most Hair, Funnest Job, Coolest Job, Party Animal, Smarty Pants... the list goes ON and ON... 

We took an Alumni Class Picture, I hope the photographer got better pictures than I did! Can you find ME?

And then we DANCED the night away!! Thanks Matt by the way for this LOVELY picture... We had SO much fun, and as we were watching the Slide Show Matt turned to me and said "I have a surprise for you . . ."

He got us a Room at the Hotel that the Reunion was at. He had been working with my sister Sharon to babysit the kids. I guess he was not sure where the venue was and I was no help on getting him the info so he had to e-mail one of my High School friends Aileen for the info... he did a good job surprising me!

This was the view from our room. The Balcony was so nice to just sit and relax on after dancing in my 5 inch heals! HAHA! I have heard mixed feeling from different people about attending their Reunions. I just knew I would want to go and see my friends. I had a pretty good High School experience, and I knew It would be a BLAST! I also enjoyed meeting Spouses and Boy-Girlfriends of my old friends. It is interesting to see who people end up with. I know they have meet their matches!! It was a WONDERFUL weekend I will NEVER forget!!

Nail Polish . . .

I was getting ready to go jump in the shower to get ready for my High School Reunion, and I caught Hailey PAINTING HER OWN TOE NAILS . . .

Matt and I dodged a bullet because there was NO nail polish on Grandma's Floor! PHEW!!!

She did a good job huh? HAHA!

Dog Dog or Kitty Cat ??

It really does not Matter which you call her...

Dog Dog

or Kitty Cat . . .

She won't answer me when I call her Hailey, but she did when I called her Kitty Cat. GO FIGURE.

I made her a sandwich for Lunch and she told me she needed cereal in a bowl.

When I gave it to her (after she ate the sandwich of course... I'm no pushover) THIS is what she did . . .

YEP she is eating the cereal out of the bowl like a DOG or a CAT . . .

WELCOME to my CRAZY LIFE!!

And YES Little Man has a HUGE bump under that band aid thanks to his big sister who shoved him down on the aggregate floor. She did that yesterday along with biting his thumb and leaving teeth marks for over 10 minutes... It made me cry... Not just like a little cry; like I was holding poor little man looking at the bump forming on his head and I was BAWLING... Yesterday was NOT a good day!! I have been praying today would be better and SO FAR SO GOOD!

Landon . . .

My "easier" child . . .

Poor Little Man is teething, so he was not ALWAYS smiling for me

He however will perform better than his older sister however...

The pictures of Landon for the "GIFT from Grandma and Grandpa" SHHHH I can tell you later about it...

His "I hope they call me on a mission look."

Picking Flowers

Stand Tall

ROOOOOAAAARRRR . . .

Smiles

Chubby Cheeks 

Little Man

Ok Mom I AM DONE!!

So what do you think??

This is the LAST time I will "pose" my children. I will PAY to have them posed by someone else!!

Memorial Day 2010

Thank You to ALL those of you who have SERVED our country so it is TRULY the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave . . . I get teary eyed thinking of the people who risked their lives for our great nation. THANK YOU ALL!! It is because of you I get to celebrate with friends and see my children happy . . .

Landon LOVED being in the pool . . . can you tell??

Hailey loved being in the pool as long as Daddy held her.

YES my kid has a life vest on, don't judge me . . . she is ALL over the place, so we figured we could let her roam free as long as this was on her.

Little Man enjoying some YUMMMMMMYYYYY food!

AND this is how we roll... yes that is an old Bathtub with ice and drinks . . .

ARE YOU JUDGING ME AGAIN??

HAHA! Thanks Megan Cluff for a GREAT party!!

Thanks Hardens for a GREAT "Kiddy Pool Po Po" laugh,

And Thanks Adrian and Paris for not killing my child when she threw a bucket at poor little Landon Cluff's Head . . .

The saying is SO true, "It IS fun and games until someone throws a plastic barbie bucket at another kid and the other kid gets hurt and bleeds all over the kiddy pool!"

It will be a Memorial Day to remember!!

Hailey . . .

She makes me SO angry sometimes . . .
But when I sit back and think about WHY she makes me angry it is because she is not doing what I WANT her to do. I have been trying to get pictures of my kids for my sister to "make something special" for my parents and she was just not cooperating... and at times REFUSING to smile . . .
I would say "Hailey SMILE BIG for Mommy!"
And THIS is what I would get . . .

"Sit like a Princess, and look at Mommy!"  . . .

"Give Mommy back the Lipstick" . . .

"Look at the Camera for Mommy!" . . .

"Stop Pointing at the Bird" . . .

"LOOK UP!" . . .

"Leave the Princess Crown on!" . . .

"Stay here, no running off" . . .

"Get up off the ground!" . . .

"SMILE like THIS!"

and I would proceed to show her how to smile . . .

"Look at MOMMY!!!" and she would look away like this . . .

"Smile like you mean it!" and THIS is what she gave me . . .

It is a TOUGH job to be a photographer. I used to think I should take a class so I can capture my children in precious moments, but if THIS is what I have to work with FORGET IT!!

It is out of the last three that I am trying to choose . . .

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

There is always this one from her Birthday I like . . .

WHY do I EVEN bother with this child . . .
I have to admit I LOVE her so much looking and laughing at these pictures now, but this morning I was READY TO KILL HER!!