How I Get Laundry Done

Dance, Thumbs and CD's

Peyton is napping and the girls are swimming, so I thought I'd download pics from my camera and blog for a second.

Today is "dance class day" for us. We have a drawer full of various styles and sizes of dance clothes, and today this is what they picked out. They have their annual dance recital next week, which they are excited and nervous for.

Doesn't Peyton make you want to suck YOUR thumb? She makes it look so yummy (and maybe that's because I am a recovered-thumb-sucker myself - yep, did 10 years and still have perfect teeth!). She loves her thumb.

And do you remember back in the day when it was *cool* to BUY CD's? You know, before iTunes, Kazaa, Limewire, etc where you can just download the songs you want? Yeah, well, Tucker and I were really into the whole buying CD's thing, so we have had BOXES and BOXES of CD's in our garage for quite a while. We have everything from LL Cool J to Def Leppard to Garth Brooks to Limp Biskit to Whitesnake! So, we FINALLY bought CD books to load all the CD's into so we can throw away all of the cases. I alphabetized them on the table and I'm still in the process of loading them into the books. I've been tempted to throw them away, but instead we'll get organized and then we can put them on our iPods. Fun projects!

Thank Goodness for WD-40

I really, really think it's a crime when a baby is woken up from a nap before they're ready. Peyton has just entered the phase (which will last a couple years) where getting her FULL nap is essential to her happiness and my sanity. Unfortunately Peyton and Lexi share a room and Lexi is my child that has the almost uncontrollable urge to change outfits 5+ times per day. This doesn't work well when Peyton is napping. So today I thought I could *sneak* in there and get Lexi's clothes while Pey was sleeping. Sadly, the door did a nearly inaudible squeak....but was just enough for her to stir and wake up about an hour prematurely. I tried to let her fall back asleep, but to no avail. Now, it was in no way a catastrophe to the day, but it is still a deep fear of any mother who savors every single minute of those naps to "catch up" on one of millions of things in need of catching up on! Thus the title to this post....thank goodness for a little WD-40 (or cooking oil spray if you're desparate) on the hinges...so at least the door won't wake her up again.

Now its just too bad WD-40 doesn't work on the other kids voices....

Memorial Day Fun

We had a fun evening BBQ and swimming at my parents yesterday for Memorial Day....here's the rundown!

Dad, totally in his element - the BBQ master!

What kind of dog likes carrots?

cute daddy and cute baby

Tucker never fails to do all sorts of crazy flips off the diving board...

like father, like daughter! jordyn did this at least 10 times

Hangin' out by the pool!

Mommy and daughters

We finished off the evening with my first attempt at home-made ice cream (with the ice cream maker we got for our wedding 7 years ago! yummy mint chocolate chip)

Alex and Tucker

We were lucky enough to have Alex, Janice and cute little Lex stop by last weekend as they were passing through town. It's always fun to see them - visits are too few and far between!
Tucker and Alex have been friends for around 13 years. They met while on a 2 year mission for our church in Vina del Mar, Chile and have been great friends ever since. I dug up an old pic of them...

Alex and Tucker 1993 in Chile - look how young they look!

Alex and Tucker - 2007

"Aha!" Moment

This is sort of long, but worth the read. Occasionally I will TiVO Oprah and watch it at night. I was so glad I did that today. After having a hard few days and thus feeling guilty at my disconnectedness to my children this week, I needed to hear this. It's worth reading a few times till you "get it". (I typed this up from what was actually said by Dr. Martha Beck on the show):

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A mother was talking about her guilt over mistakes she had made by staying in a physically abusive relationship for the sake of her children. She ended the relationship, but not before her children had witnessed this abuse. She felt extreme sadness and guilt for this and said she could see the unforgiveness in her son’s eyes. Dr. Martha Beck went on to say the following to her:

"Children model what we do to ourselves, not what we do to them. If the mother is unforgiving to herself, then the child is unforgiving to the mother and the child."

She went on to relate this story: A psychiatrist dealt with troubled patients for 20+ years, and they’d always say “I know my mother loved me, BUT..” and they’d go on to explain their problems. One day she met a really healthy man, and wondered “Gee, I wonder what a normal person’s mother is like”. So, she asked him. She imagined that he’d say that his mother loved him perfectly and made no mistakes at all. But instead he said something she had never heard before from a patient. He simply said “My mother loved life”.

The number one thing you can do to teach your children to be happy is to love your own life. And then love for others comes as a natural outpouring after that. If you raise kids and you only love them and not yourself, then they grow up to be people who can’t love themselves. They don’t treat themselves the way YOU treat THEM, they treat themselves the way YOU treat YOU.

She also suggested we try this exercise….
Imagine that you are caring for a loved one (maybe a sick child, elderly mother or heartbroken friend, etc), and imagine that you’ve tucked them into bed and later, feeling worried about them, you check in on them. You are standing there over the bed watching them sleep, feeling such compassion for them and just wanting them to feel better. When you feel all the compassion you can, imagine the person rolls over in bed, and it’s YOU. Maybe just for a second you can imagine all of the compassion you are PULLING out of yourself to give to others, imagine that same compassion directed at YOURSELF…the possibilities for your life are endless.

Happy Birthday Carly!

Today is my sister Carly's 28th birthday! Carly is the second oldest and we are just two years apart. When I see my girls play together, it reminds me of being little and the endess hours Carly and I would spend playing together. It worked well - I was the boss and told her what to do (isn't that the job of the oldest?). I think Carly soon realized that she did NOT want me to be her "boss" and told me so quite often (ha ha). Anyway, we had some rough years which included lots of bruises and yelling matches, but that all seems so distant now because we've been quite good friends our whole adult life. Carly is a strong person and has been a great mom to Alyson. I'm so proud of her for pursuing her career as a cosmetologist and becoming a very talented stylist! She's been MY stylist for, what, 8 years now Carly? I wanted to wish Carly a Happy Birthday! I wish she was closer so I could make her one of my cakes...let's see...I think I would maybe make haircutting scissors? or a blowdryer cake? Love you Carly!

The Park

Today I was a nice mom and took the girls to the park. Lindy and Lyric came with us too (even nicer pregnant mom, huh?). They had lots of fun, of course. Even though we basically have a park in our backyard, the REAL park is much more exciting! It was Peyton's first time in a swing too, and she absolutely LOVED it!

Hard Days

This week I've had the kind of days where I would give anything to crawl back into my bed, pull the covers over my head and hope it all turns out for the best with the kids! I'm sure its just a normal part of life to have bad days for no reason, but I'm a "fix-it" sort of gal, so when I can't pinpoint WHAT the problem is, it frustrates me further. I wouldn't change a thing about my life. Some days it just sounds really hard to be patient, loving, and keep a calm voice while repeating myself for the 1,000,000th time, cleaning up messes, breaking up fights...all the while trying to teach these little humans how to have manners, be kind and respectful people and balance all that with LETTING them be little kids and have fun too! It can start to feel robotic and monotonous at times. But I honestly DON'T want to be doing anything else or change my life at all, so I will just persevere when I have these days and remember "there must be opposition in ALL things" - it's all part of the plan, right?

Lex and I were snapping pics of each other today...

Not So Beautiful

(This one's for you Tiff) So, the girls and I were in the car listening to my iPod the other day, and since 99.9% of the time we listen to kids' music, I thought I'd change it up a bit. For whatever reason, they have always loved "You're Beautiful" by James Blunt, so I decided to put that on. So, we're cruisin' along singing and all of the sudden my faced flushed as I heard the "F" word blaring throughout my car, right into my girls' ears! It completely shocked me! Apparently the part that says: "Yes, she caught my eye, as we walked on by. She could see from my face that I was, Flying high..." are just the alternative lyrics played on the radio, and let's just say *flying* is not what we heard that day! I had never listened to the song on my iPod to know that I had the un-edited version! Luckily they didn't notice, but I was a bit surprised to say the least.

Then to further the story, that evening I left the girls at home with Tucker. (Keep in mind I hadn't yet told him about our song experience), so the girls kept singing "You're Beautiful" and asking to listen to it. So Tucker grabbed my laptop (like a nice dad) and found it on my iTunes....which is EXACTLY where the un-edited version came from. So he's letting them dance around and sing and he had the SAME thing happen to him! He was quite shocked too! So we had a few laughs when I got home and decided maybe we'll stick with the kids' songs from now on. There shouldn't be any questionable lyrics in those~!

The Coast and Shana's Wedding

We just got back from a fun 2 day trip to the coast - ALONE! One of my most dear and long time friends, Shana, got married this weekend in Cayucos....so we took the opportunity to have a great little get-a-way. Thanks a TON to my sisters/family and Beth for making it possible. They all juggled the children all weekend and gave Tucker and I a much needed break. We even got to finish conversations UN-interrupted! Imagine that! Here are some pics from the weekend...

Here is how most of the drive to the coast looks...

Shana's Dad walking her down the isle...isn't she beautiful?

The ceremony was on a hilltop overlooking the ocean, so serene

Tucker and I - thinking how amazing that our wedding was 7 years and three kids ago!

Me and Shana - her reception was held in a barn that she completely transformed into a magical place. It was absolutely wonderful.

Shana and Derek cutting their yummy cake

Derek and Shana's first dance - I have to say that I completely approve of Derek, he is SO great, and they make a perfect couple! Look at her beautiful dress!

We also got to spend some time in Morro Bay - here is Tucker looking at Morro Rock

This man was unloading fresh crabs that will be soon cooked up to eat!

Some scenic/touristy type pics are always necessary

Yummy, we were so glad we tried Giovanni's, recommended by a local.

Harmony and Swimming

Well, today was the last Harmony performance this season! We did 12 performances in three weeks, and it is always a little bitter sweet.....a lot of work but a lot of fulfillment too. We get the summer off and start up again in September. Whew!

And we also have officially started swimming season here! The girls have dipped in my mom's big pool a couple times, and I put up the Costco blow up pool in our back yard the other day. The girls love it. The only downfall is that I hear the girls yell "Mooo-ooom" every couple minutes....only to find out that there is yet another bug in the water that they want me to get out!

Happy 7th Anniversary to Us

I need to back track a few days...Saturday was our 7th Wedding Anniversary! This always gets to be such a crazy time of year and we don't end up making as big a deal of it as we should! I just wanted to publicly tell Tucker how lucky and blessed I am to have him as my husband, friend, partner, and father to my children. He has exceeded all my expectations (which were high) and helped me to have a feeling of peace and security embedded in my life. Tucker is so thoughtful, hard working, happy, fun, determined and gives 110% to our family. I can't believe it's only been 7 years (in a good way!) because I can hardly remember who I was without him by my side. I love you Tucker! Cheers to many more exciting years to come!

Peyton Update

I haven't done a Peyton update in a while. She is nearing 7 months old, which I have no idea how that's possible!! Where does the time go?? She is so full of personality and cuteness. Here are a few highlights:

• Cut her first tooth at exactly 6 months old and cut the second three weeks later (both bottom teeth)


• Is finally on a little more of a nap schedule - maybe 2 naps per day ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours.


• Sits up and plays with toys but has NO interest in rolling over (this is how all of our kids have been)


• Goes to bed at 8:00 and gets up at 7:00 with one bottle in between (usually)


• Just learned to "click" her tongue and loves it


• Wants only NON-baby toy items (the computer becomes fun at this age...)


• Loves to give kisses and eat your face!


• LOVES her silky blanket when she goes to bed, cuddles up with it and puts her thumb in her mouth - so cute


• Doesn't LOVE baby food. Seems to like table food a little better, but is not consistant. If she doesn't want it she definitely spits all over the place


• Loves water out of a NUBY sippy cup

I just love our three little girls. Life is crazy, busy and good. Here are some Pey pics:

sitting up like a big girl

see the tooth peeking out?

"i wish i could go swing with my sisters already"

Happy Mother's Day!

To both our mothers and grandmothers - HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! We love you and thank you for loving us, teaching us and being examples of strength to us! What a privilege it is for me to be family to these women.

My Mom

Tucker's Mom Jeannine

Tucker's Mom Judy

Tucker's Grandma Shirl

My Grandma NaDeane

Tucker's Grandma Elaine

My Grandma Shirl