new song that i am loving... i heard it the first time on The Hills at the end of last season. now it is playing on the latest Grey's Anatomy commercial. It's by Natasha Bedingfield. LOVE IT!!!
Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine [RSMV]
I am also loving this new show. New Amsterdam It's about this guy that is immortal until he finds "the one" and their hearts are joined. i have been catching up on the episodes on the internet. One more show to add to my list.
so this year I really wanted to girls to understand that Easter isn't about the hunt, and gifts from the bunny, but rather about reflecting on the true meaning of the season. we read books about what happened to Jesus leading up to Good Friday, and about his sacrifice for us. Our family has a tradition that on Good Friday, we stop what we are doing and pray at 3:00 PM,
the hour when Christ died on the cross. We were lucky enough to be with cousins, aunts and Abue this year for Good Friday as well as on Easter. Bella read from the bible about the Passion (in an appropriate form for children) and my nieces and nephews all read reflections. I later talked to the girls and asked them if they really understood why we prayed at that time and on that day. Tori was the first to speak up and told me that it was to pray for Jesus because he had to die. Then she told me, "Mama, I wish Easter didn't have to come, then Jesus wouldn't have had to have died." Ahh, the innocence of children.
So Easter Sunday, the girls awoke to find their Easter baskets and letters that the bunny had left for them. They of course got the requisite candies, gum, and tid bits. This year, they also got to go on a second egg hunt, both of which took place inside since the weather outside was so cold and yucky... hello people, it's spring. Anyway, the bunny had left them
5 eggs with clues that led them to the final present. They had a blast finding them, and the fact that Bella can read so well now, definitely helped facilitate the search.
after they followed all the clues, they finally found the loot in the guest bathroom. it was a little nerve racking making sure that what the bunny had left hidden for them wasn't found, especially since i was up in the middle of the night with Belle in that very bathroom while she was feeling sick. whew!...
so after Easter service we got together for a relaxing lunch and games with the family. no huge cooking extravaganza for us. the easier the better so that everyone can rest and enjoy.
okay, i'm off to get some laundry done. have a great afternoon.
*ciao*
deb
so the girls were super busy this week with lots of outdoor play. they certainly kept their daddy company while he worked on my desk in the garage. during one of his breaks, bella came in and asked if he would, "please, please, please" make them a swing. he figured he would make them something quick and easy. well that ended up becoming a 3 model process. his first prototype was something out of cartoons. we soon found out that in the real world it was neither stable or safe enough for a child. belle ended up falling off of it pretty quickly. then came the second one he made which was much more stable, but not in the best place. too many things for a child to hit or fall on. so in the end, he built them an awesome swing that sits right in the middle of the yard and hangs from this huge tree that is our main source of shade in the spring and summer. (not pictured) the girls absolutely loved it, and have been pretty much living outside on it ever since. I kept telling them that they had no idea how lucky they were that they had such an awesome daddy. i love to see how much alex adores them. they are totally spoiled when it comes to their daddy.
speaking of my desk, check out the desk my awesome hubby is almost done making me. it is huge and awesome and perfect for what i need. this is actually his first attempt at wood working and i have to say, he rocks at it. he is downstairs painting it as I type and I should have it in place by next weekend. Woohoo!!!
Oh and i forgot to mention it, but there is a little something different going on in the pictures. little Tori got a hair cut. actually, both girls got hair cuts, but tori's is the most noticeable.it was her first hair cut ever...EVER. she looks so cute and is constantly getting compliments about it. she loves to walk around flicking her hair back and forth, and her favorite part of the whole thing... no more pony tails.
so we celebrated a major milestone in our household last week. our little Tori has finally given up her thumb sucking... (everybody... WOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!) this is huge for her. it had gotten to the point that it was in her mouth the majority of the day, and it was seriously starting to concern me. She had already moved one of her teeth and i was worried that she was going to have some serious speech problems. she still may need to have speech therapy once school starts but we will cross that bridge when we get to it. so how did she do it?.. you ask. well, i found this nail polish on the internet that is specifically for thumb sucking and nail biting. so i figured this would be my first line of defense. if this didn't work then i would bite the bullet and buy the thumb guard a friend of mine had gotten for her daughter. i was really hoping this would work because seriously, I'll take a $13 expense over a $75 one any day. so i waited until she had fallen asleep and then i applied a coat of this stuff to her thumb. i figured i probably wouldn't sleep very much that night, and i was totally right. she woke up the first time at about 1:30 a.m. she was crying and saying that her mouth tasted bad. we drank some water and then went back to bed. i told her that it was probably that her finger had gotten way yucky from all the sucking and yucky germs. so off to bed she went. then she got up again at about 3:15 a.m. again crying and crying saying she wouldn't be able to eat or drink anything because her mouth tasted so yucky. after drinking more water she finally asked if i would put her gloves on her hands so she would remember not to suck her thumb... poor baby. at about 6:30 she woke up and tells me, "Mommy, i've decided i'm not going to suck my thumb anymore, cause i don't like the way it tastes. It tastes YUCK." and that my friends was the end of our thumb sucking stage. much easier than i thought it would be. it worked so well on her, i'm thinking i may use it on myself so i will stop biting my nails.
so to kick off our spring break, we took the girls to see Horton Hears a Who. we loved it. it was such a cute movie, and i just love all the Seussisms that you hear in the movie.
*A person's a person, no matter how small.
*I said what I meant, and I meant what I said. (i think I'll be using this one a lot.)
Then of course i love:
*Today you are you That is true-er than true. There is no one alive That is "YOU-er" than you!
*The more that you read, The more things you will know. The more that you learn, The more places you’ll go.
*If you never did, you should! These things are FUN and FUN is GOOD
*UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.
anyway, this one will definitely be one that we get for the girls. nothing like a good movie that teaches a good lesson.
okay, i'm off to paint my cabinets. enjoy your sunday.
so i finally have the chance to sit and blog about all the craziness that has been going on for the past couple of weeks. so fair warning, this is going to be a long one. first of all, as i promised, here are bella's poems and some pictures from her Coffee House Poetry night. I helped her teacher set up for the evening, made a sign (thanks Loren), did some baking, and helped make the kids anthologies that the parents got to take home. So Bella got to read three of her poems that evening. Valentine's Day I love... Kisses Candy Hearts Mom's cookies Mom Dad Tori Everybody Best friends
School I like school fun Friday Math is great Best teacher Going to recess Word work Beautiful poetry Read to self Best friends forever Dogs sloppy Big Small Dogs Hairy dogs Nice dogs Mean dogs I love stuffed dogs. The hilarious part about her last poem is, in case you don't know her, she is absolutely terrified of dogs, so the last line was so funny to hear.
We also got to go to Tori's open house and see all her creations. she had been talking about what she was doing and how it was a BIG secret. it is so neat to see how they can do so much on their own now. when did that happen? although there are a couple of things i still wish she could do on her own. then maybe i could eat a complete meal without having to wipe a butt. (i know it is a little graphic, but SERIOUSLY... just one meal without that would be nice.) My favorite part of seeing her work was finding a drawing that she made of me. Look it even has all my curls. She was also so proud of her cinquain that she wrote all by herself. Maybe my girls will be writers when they grow up.
Mom also got to come in and visit us last week. she was hear to help Marie with the packing and moving, etc. I have been over helping my sister quite a bit this week getting her house in order. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. They painted their kitchen cabinets an oatmeal color and their family room built ins black, and really and truly, they look brand new. it is amazing what a coat of paint can do. they are so excited about the new house. Unfortunately now that gas is going way up, it is going to be costing me every time i go see her. even though we are in the same metroplex, we are still far enough away from each other that i went through a tank of gas in three days. THREE DAYS!!! i can't wait to have a car that doesn't go through a quarter of a tank just to go see my sister.
so alex is off for spring break, which means projects, projects, projects. the girls are super excited that he is off. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather stays nice so that we can enjoy some time outside while he is working on the garage.
okay, i'm off to do some laundry, and maybe even get some painting done.
i remember when i was younger i had a certain idea about what kind of house i wanted. i would draw pictures of the house i would live in, and it always had the red brick (probably because that is what our house had when we were little) and it had a white picket fence in the front. our house growing up was kind of country-ish... not sure why that is since El Paso is certainly not country-ish in any way, shape or form. now i look back at that and wonder... WHY???
It is amazing how our styles and preferences change over the years. i guess i would best describe my style at this point as eclectic. when we bought our house 8 years ago i was very naive about what i wanted. i wish i had been exposed to more, so that i could have made a better choice about what i wanted in my house. i have seen some seriously beautiful houses in our area, and now i know really what i like. then i read lots of blogs... way more than i care to admit. the advantage to this is i have come across some incredibly crafty and inventive people who have great decorating ideas that do not require an interior decorator and in some cases don't even require sewing. at the moment, i am trying to figure out how to incorporate some of the ideas i've seen on the Nester's blog. her house looks so calming and comfortable. i also really like this blog. creative ways of making simple little things, interesting and fun. Then there is also this Southern Hospitality blog that has lots of fun ideas.
I am also trying to find some paint colors for future projects. i really like this cappuccino color from Restoration Hardware for the playroom, since I think I am done with the yellow in there. I have come to the realization that I am just not a yellow person. Although my bedroom is a shade of yellow, the color in the playroom just bothers me. i guess i just feel like my house doesn't flow with that color, so it needs to be changed. and i have also decided that the dreaded picture molding will need to be removed as well. I don't know who thought that that would be a good idea in there, but when it comes to hanging up decorations on the wall, you are quite limited when you have that stuff up on the walls. so down it will come. i also really love this color but i just don't think i can do a cool color in my house. there are too many warm colors here to sneak that one in.
as for my desk... my husband is turning out to be quite the carpenter. i am so excited about how it is turning out. now decisions, decisions... what color to paint it. i had originally planned on painting it white and then i saw this picture which is making me rethink the white thing. not that my desk will look anything like this, but i just figure since i have so much white in the room already, why not go with a black desk. but then i might need to change the color of my frames in my montage, and the shelves, etc. what do you think??? Bibi, I need your help here. i better make my decision fast. He will probably be done with the desk this weekend. woohoo!!! can't wait.
so it is Thursday, and we are experiencing our second snow storm or the week. hello... it's March for crying out loud. does anyone think there is something off here??? not that it isn't beautiful outside. and these are no little snowflakes either. these are some big honkin snow flakes falling. i predict that school will be canceled tomorrow. (fingers crossed) how nice would it be to go out with the girls and play in the snow? but for now, we are happy in our warm house, sitting by the window, and watching the beautiful snow falling. Bella asked if they could go out right now, but it is actually pretty icy out there. so i think we'll wait for tomorrow.
in other news, i FINALLY got my Cricut. Everybody repeat after me.... WOOOHOOO!!!! and the major bonus is that i found a website where you can download a program that allows you to use the true type fonts from your computer and cut them out on your cricut. how awesome is that. now i don't have to buy the different $60 cartridges. So i am just thinking of all the awesome projects and scrap booking pages i'm going to do. i also went with my sisters in love to a scrapbook sale here and got some awesome stuff for cheap... CHEAP!!! paper, rub-ons, flowers, board books, great ideas for gifts.
okay, so i've been talking about the fact that i am totally scatter brained since i had my girls. well, we now have proof that it isn't just me. my cousin sent me this link. you have to watch this. it proves i'm not nuts. at least i know i'm not the only one who had gotten to the groceries and forgotten what i'm suppose to get. and i have to admit, i have walked away from the grocery store a few times without my groceries.
i have pictures of bella at her poetry reading (plus poems), and of tori at her open house this past weekend, but i need to go get dinner started. i'm hoping alex will get home soon before the streets get crazy.
