Mothering....Not for the weak at heart

I've been home sick for 2 days with some sort of cold, throat, head stuff.  David was off on Monday which was great but had to go back to work on Tuesday when I was feeling the worst :(

The day ended up not being to bad.  D went to preschool for half a day and C stayed home with me.  Thanks to a good friend I did not have to worry about picking him up from preschool, which worked out really good.  

I have been going to the gym 3 to 4 times a week and by Tuesday night I was feeling really bad because I had missed 2 days.....mind you not bad enough to attempt exercising at home :)

Although I'm still not better I thought it would be good to go work out this morning.  So I got the crew ready and  headed out.  My son has not been behaving himself when he is with other teachers so I made sure to remind him to obey them while I was gone.

After my work out I decided to jump in the hot tub for 10 minutes before getting ready and going to get the kids.  I had been in the hot tube for  minutes when I hear Monica Livingston please report to the back gym immediately.  I was not sure what was going on so I rushed out in my bathing suit and towel through the gym, where there is 15 guys playing basketball (I'm sure they loved that) to the back gym where D is sitting against the wall and C is still playing.

Now you see I thought for sure my child was hurt and that since they said "Immediately" that must have meant   right now no matter what your doing.  I go in to find that D has not been listening and has told his teachers and I quote "I'm not going to listen because I want to be naughty" end quote.

I take my kids get dress and leave the Y.  Oh but not before C decides that she wants to push the handicap button, which I did not let her push and she yells at the top of her lungs and begins to throw a huge fit all the way to the car. And just because C is yelling D decides that he will also throw a fit all the way to the car.

Yep that was my morning, and did I mention I was still not feeling well.  Which means I have no patience, and no brilliant parenting idea.  I put my kids in their car seats with promises of spankings when they get home.  

For those who know me at all, I hate spanking PERIOD.  I have learned that there is a time to spank and a time to not.  This I have to tell you was a time to spank.  

My children got their spankings, ate their lunch, and went to bed for their naps. 

Now there is hope for a better afternoon.  At least I pray it's better.

This is not a job for the weak at heart I guarantee you that.  Until next time....

Here is my son now.  He sure is cute when he is sleeping.

And here is my baby girl sleeping with her baby.  

If only they could have been so cute at the Y today.

Hiking and the Y

I have been working out tons lately at the Y and really wanted a small change of scenery.  D has been talking a lot about climbing the rocks.  I'm really not sure what spurred it on but i decided that after upwards on Saturday we should honor the boys request and take a hike.  I invited one of our favorite families to come along.  I was amazed at what a great climber both the kids are.  I'm really not sure why I'm surprised since they have been climbing on everything since they could walk.  

All the kids had a great time, even Nickole enjoyed herself :).  We even took our dogs, who go very few places with us.  It did end up sprinkling on us a few times but we really had a good time.  

Cynthia was so excited about going to climb the rocks.

Had to include a picture of my Dunkin.  He was very excited to be leaving the house.  Before the little kids he went every where with me.  I don't have the patience or time to cart 2 kids and a dog anymore.  

Nickole was not sure about this hiking stuff but soon found herself enjoying the moment.  The kids ran and ran and ran.  They were all very good and enjoyed themselves tons.

I forgot to take a picture of Nickole and just her kids so I cropped this picture.  It was not until I was looking at my post before publishing that I realized that Estella was still not in it :(

Valentines flowers

David and I don't ever do big stuff for Valentines Day.  In fact I'm not even sure I've ever purchase a Valentine card for him, and this year was no different.  David and I have been known to agree on something we would like for the house and buy that for each other in the past.  This year we discussed the possibility of getting a coffee maker that makes coffee buy the cup with little coffee pods.   

After a lot of searching we decided that we did not care how good the coffee was it was going to cost us around $.50 a cup which would equal out to around $10.00 a week.  It costs us pennies to make it now so we decided it was not worth it.

My husband decided to do something he normally doesn't ever do....he bought me flowers on Valentines day.  I was really surprised when I walk into the house and found them.  

I had planned on putting the kiddos to bed and fixing my husband favorite meal for him.  That is exactly what I did.  We had salmon, sweet potatoes, and asparagus by candle light.  I put candles all over the living room and laid out a blanket with a heart table cloth on the floor.   We ate, played games and talked by candle light on the floor.  We had a great Valentines day.  

I love my husband very much, and although I don't like what Valentines Day has some do only once a year I'm glad to have a husband who goes out of his way all the time for me.  

Valentines Day

I'm not a big Valentines Day gal.  I have never really cared for this holiday that seems to make, mostly guys, buy a ton of flowers that will be dead in less than 10 days.  I have a husband who brings me gifts all the time.  He will drop flowers off on my desk at work before I get there or bring flowers home at any given time.  We don't need a holiday to remind us to take time to say I love you.  We normally never do anything on Valentines day because restaurants are generally super crowded and prices have been inflated to make the gift seem more important.

This does not mean that we don't do special things for each other, but I'll post about that later.  

Ok, with that said this is a day where David goes out of his way to make his daughters feel special.  He always gives them flowers, candy, and the occasional  large stuff animal.  This year would be no different except for the fact that his girls are in Joplin.  The only thing this means if that we would be paying more money :) Since he would have to have it delivered.

Now David has done this since the girls were little.  He is great about making the girls feel special.  His goal was to let his girls know that He loved them tons, but there is another reason.  He has always said that when the girls get boyfriends that these boys will need to be special boys because they will not be able to sweep our girls off their feet with just a dozen roses and some chocolate, because this was something that their dad did for them regularly.  I love that.  My girls have a great dad.

Happy Hearts

I held a program at the church called Happy Hearts.  It is for preschoolers and their parents.  This is the first year we did it and it turned out great.  I love this group of kids so much.  I love the fact that they love their parents with everything they are and that crafts, story time, and some snacks can make their day AWESOME.  We had several families show up but due to confidentiality I will only show pictures of my family and a few great helpers that I love tons.

Daddy and D had fun coloring their craft bags.

Mrs Donna helped out with happy heart even thought she likes being behind the scene when it comes to the kiddos.  She is really good with them.

Ms Alyssa is expecting her 1st baby and she is just as cute as she wants to be.  She always is smiling and has a great outlook on life.  Her youth bring so much fun to events.  

She really liked doing her crafts.  

Love that girl so much.  

Saving Money

Now I try my very best to save money if I can.  I recently was talking to the kids at church and for some reason we got on the topic of hair cuts.  I was amazed at how many families cut their own kids hair.  I even found out that many wives cut their husbands hair.  So I decided that after spending 10 dollars plus tip I needed to figure out how to cut my sons hair.  Now I want to be very honest when I say I'm not sure I will cut Cynthia's hair when she gets older but who knows maybe I'll be a professional by then :) 

David went to Costco and found a really nice trimmer set.  It even gave me hints to how to do different cuts.  I decided to go for the bald look :(

I was not really happy because it ended up being a lot shorter than I would have liked it but its all even and he looked fine.

Darius did a great job and was super still during the whole process.  I think maybe he was scared what he was going to look like :).

Birthday Celebrations

I love celebrating birthday's.....especially with people I absolutely love.  One of my favorite people in all Colorado turned 50 and we decided to make it a really special time for her.  It just so happened that her hubby was going to be out of town and she was going to be by herself for this joyous occasion.  What are friends to do in a case like this?

PARTY

Now if you know anything about the weather here in Colorado then you know in the month of February we had tons of below zero weather.  It just so happened to be around -30 with the wind chill the night of her birthday.

I decided that we were better than the post office through rain, snow, sleet, and -30 degree weather we were going to celebrate Mr Donna's birthday.  

We went to the Elephant Bar and had a great time.  I was suppose to go to the restaurant and decorate the booth before Nickole and Donna got there...but I ran behind.  

Nickole with her quick thinking decided to stop for ice cream.

We ended up having a great time as we always do.  

Our waitress who was mostly likely under 25 and was amused by us old women who laughed and giggled for over 2 hours straight.  We had a total blast.

This week....

i have had a couple of really hard days.  Sometimes I feel like I can handle anything that comes my way and then a 3 year old boy and a 2 year old girl rock my world.  

My youngest kiddos can make me question whether I'm a good mom.  I love all my kids so much and I desire to be the best mom I can for them, however I fail all of them tons.  I lack patience, ability, and know how tons.

Well, this week I was reminded again of how I fail my kids.  I loss my patience with my youngest kids and rushed conversations and said the wrong things to my older kids.

It all finally came to be to much on Tuesday.  After a quick email to my husband explaining how tired and worn out I was he took off of work and came and picked the kids up at my job.  He also took Wednesday off and stayed home so that I could go out and just have some Monica time.

I went to the Y and worked, relaxed in the hot tub without the need to go pick up kids, took a long 30+ minute hot shower at the Y, took over an hour to get ready at the Y, had lunch with some friends without any rushing...wow it was nice.  

Yes, sometimes all I need is to just have the ability to slow down and just be and because of my MAN I was able to do that.  He is an incredible man and I love him so very much.  I am one bless women.

Today was so much better.  Although my kids were still 2 and 3 I had a ton more patience and felt like I could continue doing this thing called motherhood the best I know how.

So thanks to my wonderful husband for loving me so much and always knowing exactly what I need when I need it.

What's going on???

My days have been rather crazy lately.  I have been working on this food addiction problem I have.....

and the verdict is?

I have made it to the YMCA several times a week for a month and I'm down 10 pounds in three weeks.

I know you can't see me but I'm doing the happy dance.

My friend Nickole has been going with me which really helps with the accountability.  She never lets me quit and gets me up and out of the house early to get it done and over with.  

She is a great motivator and it is really nice to have my very own personal trainer wants nothing more than to help me out.  (I totally love her.  She is a great trainer and friend)

I go in to weight tomorrow and I'm hoping for great results because all this killing my body is not worth it if I don't see some results.  Results about tomorrow coming soon, wish me luck.  

She's driving......

Yes, I know she is 18 but she was just not interested in getting her licences, until she left for school.  We got her a permit before she left for college but made her wait until she got home at Christmas to get her actual licence.  

Well, the state of Colorado will let anyone drive :)

I know that she is my kid but I can't help but say this is one beautiful girl...on the inside and the out.
Love this kid more than the moon :)

Laying hands on her :)

Praying for protection and for all those on the road with her.
She is finding me funny

Dinner at the Stephan's

We have been at Meridian for over 4 years now and we finally got the chance to go over to the Stephan's house.  It's not that we have not tried to get together because we have many, many, many times.  Most of the times it was our family cancelling on them for one reason or another, mostly sickness.  But it finally happened..

Nate grilled some great chicken and we had fajitas.  It was a very relaxing night.  The kids had fun and played good together.  

Hannah enjoyed her food a lot :)