EVERY family should have one!!!

This weekend I went to a Successful Mothering Convention here in Utah. (Only in Utah would you have a convention like that, I suppose... hehehe) It was WONDERFUL!!! I went all by myself, since I didn't really know anyone else interested in going. Some workshops were better than others, but one workshop made it SOOOO worth while! It was called "How to Raise Self-Governed children". The speaker taught some really great points on how to do this, and then, of course, she pushed her product. I thought she was going to lose me right there... (for those of you who don't know, I've become very "frugal" recently, if I don't need it and it is not for sale and I have a coupon, I don't buy it!) I was pleasantly surprised, this WAS a great product! It's called Children's Miracle Music. It's a game you play to music to get ready in the morning and to bed in the evening. No nagging, no crying, no fuss, just fun! We've been doing it for only three days, and Russ and I are amazed! Anna cleaned the toilet yesterday. Yes, you read it right, ANNA CLEANED THE TOILET YESTERDAY, and then she asked if we could do it again! No joke! If I could afford to I would buy one for every dear friend of mine. It is the best parenting tool I've come across ever! I could go on and on about this, but I'll just give you their website, it's www.childrensmiraclemusic.com Go there, see for yourself, call me if you have questions, and then GET ONE!

You Make It Real For Me

I love to blog I decided. I wish I had more time to do it. It's so great to be able to sit down and share some of my thoughts. I hope to someday make this into a book for my kids to have some memories of what we did while they were growing up.

So I fell in love with this song recently. It's been on my mind and I can't get it out. The lyrics are just beautiful and it really made me think about who makes it "real" for me. I'm so glad for these cuties right there. They make it real for me. They make me want to be better. They make me look forward to waking up in the morning and starting a new day full of excitement. They make me be able to understand what really matters and what is really important. And as I type this my 3 year old just walked in the room and said: "Mommy, I'm stinky, can you give me a bath?"



She's making it real. :) Here is the song, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

What happened to her?

Isn't it fun when you run into someone you haven't seen in a long time and you catch up? What happened to them since then? What have they been up to? Well, today I ran into this girl, she was 18 at the time. Oh, she was a blast! She thought wearing that black leather jacket and those boots made her so mysterious. She wanted to become a physical therapist, make big bucks and live on her own. No man, no kids, one penthouse apartment with white carpets and white furniture (so as to show how great it is to live on her own and have no one to mess up her beautiful furniture). She wanted a wall covered with CDs and books, which she planned to listen to and read by herself. Alone. And she was going to love it! She liked hard rock, she read Dostoyevsky. She was going to move out and go to the wonderful city of Provo, where she would begin her journey of self discovery and independence. What happened to her?

She is happy. And she still likes to wear black. :)

Emma

Isn't she a doll? She'll be 6 months in a few days, and I just can't believe it. Today she gave the most delicious laugh, I couldn't keep myself from laughing. She is such a joy to us, such an easy going child! I can't help but look at her and be curious about how she'll be as she grows, what will she like to do, what color are her eyes really going to be, will they stay this grayish blue or will they turn brown like everyone elses? We sure went through a lot to get her here, and I think that because of that our bond was pretty immediate. The world just doesn't make sense without her... (cheesy, I know, but the truth none the less). We love you Emma girl!

She's my big girl!

Anna is going to preschool!!! She has been begging us to go to school for quite some time now, and we decided that two days a week for two hours was a good way to start. She is loving it! Her school is called "The Little Blue Engine Preschool" and her teacher is Miss Janene. We love Miss Janene! I have to admit that on the first day I dropped her off and felt kind of sad when I told her:
-Anna, Mommy is leaving now, I'll be back soon!

Her answer, without even looking up from the toys:
-Ok, Mommy, thank you!

That's all I got. A thank you. Well, she's happy, and that makes me happy.


She learned about the letter R. Look at that!

She also colored this beautiful rainbow. I'm sorry I didn't know how to flip it around. But trust me, it's beautiful.

And there she is, my big girl! She loves her Dora backpack, and if you let her she'll sleep with it. Do we have a little nerd in the making? I sure hope so! :) Love this kid!

Blast from the past!

I got this really great printer/scanner for Christmas, and I'm having so much fun scanning some old pictures. I just have to post some here.

This was our engagement picture. We're so cute! Vanessa was 23, Russ was 25. We had no idea what we were getting into, but we seem to be handling it okay!

This was our wedding day in October of 2001. Oh, how lovely to be young and skinny and in love. Now we are older (I'm not old yet!) and fat, and thank goodness, still in love.

I'll have to scan some stuff from when we were single, it would be fun to have those up as well. I can't believe we're going on 8 years of marriage this year. It has flown by.

Anyway, here it is! A little of our past. It's fun to remember.

Happy 2009!!!

So we are finally moved in, and yet there is so much to do to actually feel like I'm "moved in". Lists are my very best friends right now. When I start to feel overwhelmed I sit down and make a list. Now if I could just check things off my lists...

This holiday season was great, it is wonderful being near family for once! At the same time, being near family made it for a very busy time. We are soooo not used to it anymore, being away from everyone for so long made it a bit hard for us to know how to balance things. It doesn't help that Russ and I are such home bodies... we were exhausted! I'm actually really excited about getting back to a routine.

Here is my favorite shot of the Christmas season... Anna really frustrated that we couldn't just open the presents already! LOVE IT!!!

To all my dear friends, I'll send out cards to you soon, I promise. Really, I will!