Random stuff.

Here are a few pics from the last month. We did not go out on a date for Valentines day but we went out as a family to enjoy dinner together, this could become our family tradition since we also did that last year (not a fun ending if you remember my encounter with a crazy lady). Dan and I gave presents to each other and cards, it was lovely anyways. I made lava cakes for dessert for the family and for being the first time and not having the right tools they turned out OK.
I took my little boys to a park with a friend and her boys and they all had a wonderful time feeding the ducks. Aaron was a smart boy and put himself on the table so the crazy ducks could not get him.
Every once in a while we get tired of playing around so we just pass out on the way up the stairs. And then our creative brother protects us from the evil guys with shields.
We also had way too much time playing with my valentines present, (three Lego houses) and created a beautiful neighborhood complete with a couple of fun scenes like a BBQ and a house fire. Notice how the lady is running away from the scene.
Shayna gets cooking lessons at least once a week from me, easy stuff like how to make chicken fingers, her favorite so far.
And last but not least my Tristan as a cowboy today, the Rodeo is coming to town and schools here get very into it so they asked that the kids dress up for the theme. Tristan had his red boots from last year so he was all set. Don't you just want to kiss this cutie? He is the cutest boy on earth.

The best mom ever!!!

When I was younger the idea of having kids was so weird to me. I knew that the day would come but was not excited about it really until I saw my best friend with her baby for the first time. She was so new at it and yet she was the best mom on the face of the earth, she was loving, caring, careful, gentle and all those good things that moms always are to their kids. I think it was because of her example that I thought that it could be done, that some day I could be that kind of mother and that all those beautiful things a mother is supposed to be would come to me just as they came to her the day her baby was born.
Well let me tell you, I am far from it. I have discovered that motherhood was not meant for me and that is for sure. What was I thinking? Not only did I think that I could handle it with one baby but thought that it could only get better with three more.... yeah, did not happen. I am still waiting for the patience that I thought all mothers had and don't think it will come to me any time soon.
I guess we get the idea that being a mother is a beautiful thing and don't get me wrong, I do think it is a beautiful thing but I do not think that I am the best mother in the eyes of some other mothers out there. I have seen many moms (specially at church) being the perfect moms, having their kids throwing a fit and they still keep a loving face and talk to their kids with kind voices and then proceed to take them out, now do I know if they spank their kids in the bathroom, no and really do not care. I am sure that when my kids are throwing a fit my face does not look anything like that and I probably scare people, maybe that is why people don't talk to me :)
So why am I thinking of all this? No I did not have a horrible day at church with the kids, actually they were pretty good today, there was one moment when Shayna and Victor where talking to each other and out of respect for the people around us I tried to get Shayna's attention and in the end I ended up making more noise than they were making. The people around us were looking at me and I felt a little embarrassed and then that made me think about my parenting skills and how I must seem like a horrible parent to most people.
It is something I have had to deal with since the moment I became a mom, I was not doing things right from the beginning and people did not stop to think twice to let me know how many wrong things I was doing. I take pride in the fact that after 4 kids I might know a thing or two about kids and how to deal with them, at least that's what I think. I have never claimed or will never claim that I know it all, that what I have done works for every body or that every other mother out there is doing a rotten job at raising their kids.
I am not the kind of person that gives her opinion not even when asked on how things are supposed to be done with their kids because in the end what worked for me and my kids probably wont work for theirs. I appreciate the advice when I ask for it but feel that if somebody is telling me how to deal with my kids is because they do not approve.
Take it from me, just because I have 4 kids it does not mean that I am an expert or that I think I am an expert. I am a good observer and I always try to learn from other mothers, for example my sister in law Tashia was a great a mom from the beginning, I learned a lot of tricks from her and incorporated some of them into my parenting, my good friend Laurel was a very nurturing mom and has always try to feed her kids the right way, that stuck with me and when we go out to the park I always remember to bring baby carrots for snacks. Lisa my other sister in law has 9 kids and still finds time to have fun and be a fun mom, so obviously with 4 kids I should be able to be at least half as fun. Amber who has two cute little girls ( a newer mom) is very into reading to her kids so that is a great example to me and I try to find time to read to the little ones through out the day. (Those are the moms in the family I have come more in contact with) So there is a little of each of you in my parenting and I am sure that I will get to incorporate more as my kids grow.
I know that I am not the best mom, but my Heavenly Father thought that I could be the best mom for my kids, they make me feel that I am the best mom even when I have had a horrible day and their sweet lips kiss me at night. They are pretty good kids and I love them to death.

My Steam vacuum experience.

After thinking about it for a long time I finally decided to go ahead and buy the Bissell Quick steamer. It is a light and compact steam vacuum and I have loved using it ever since I bought it. They sell them at Target and Walmart for the same price so it was not a big deal finding it. I have tried so far 3 different cleaning products for this vacuum and I think the one that works the best is the Resolve brand. The vacuum came with a trial bottle that was gone after several uses and it did the job just fine, but the Resolve leaves a fresh scent and it really deep cleans.
The vacuum is not a real steam vacuum because it does not make the water hot as you are cleaning but instead you pour hot tap water into the container. It is a half a gallon container so it does keep the water hot for a long time. I have cleaned the kids room twice since Aaron decided to pee on the outside of the dresser one day, the living room and hallways, the big foyer area and the results are great. I don't regret buying it but I do regret not waiting to get a bigger one with attachments and all that fun stuff since I can't clean the stairs, but oh well. I will probably update when this one brakes down in a couple of years.
Wish I had taken some pic of the before and after, specially around the edge of the carpet and the beginning of the kitchen, that was my problem area with the kids dragging the crumbs into the carpet. Who knew a cleaning toy would make me so happy :)

Science Circus

After weeks of waiting and waiting the science night at school was finally here and the kids were so excited to go. We usually skip the activities they have at school because we have something else going on but this time we made sure that we were available for them. The kids had lots of fun and learned a few new things. They experimented with body heat, air, rocks, paper, flashlights, silly putty, they even made Texas snow. Dan and I were very happy with the whole thing and also enjoyed trying a few of the experiments. Before we went home the kids got some popcorn and animal crackers and they went home straight to bed. I love it when we just spend time together as a family, I just love it!!!

Today I served the army of God.

I have to admit that service is something that I don't get to do much these days. Having little ones and not a lot of baby sitting available during the day I can't just take off and go help. Last week I got a call from my RS president and asked me if I could help out at the church to feed the missionaries after their zone meeting. As soon as I was about to tell her that it was probably going to be really hard to make that happen she told me that they had somebody already set up with the babysitting and all I had to to do was show up.
I have actually been waiting since then for this day to come because I love helping others and specially the missionaries, they work so hard and they deserve the best. I actually did not do much, just stood there and set up the tables, served them their barbecued pulled briskets on a bun and that's it. What made the whole thing so special was that all of the sudden in the middle of their meal all the elders and sister missionaries got up and sang to us "Because I Have Been Given Much", it is so silly but I ended up all teary and I felt so good while they were singing. It was pretty special and I am thankful for the time that I was able to give today to such an amazing group of young people that left everything behind for a while to go serve the Lord.
I am also thankful for the sister that watched my kids so that I could go and serve for a couple of hours. I am starting to love my ward!!!

Mars Rover contest

We were so excited when Shayna told us that her after school program had selected her Mars Rover creation to go represent the school (with two other teams) and could not wait to go and see what that was all about. Since Dan is going to school on Saturday we knew he was not going to make it and since I did not dear to go by myself with all the kids, we told Shayna that we were really sorry but she was on her own this time. I felt horrible but Dan came up with the idea to drive with him to his school and I would drive around until he was all done. It worked out. We showed up just before they had the big announcements and were there to support her for at least an hour. Shayna was so happy we were there. I think so far this has been the greatest experience for Shayna, she loved working on her little project and doing the research. They had a great model and honestly I think they should had won but oh well. Isn't it cute? They used recycled materials.


Her school did take one trophy home, one of the other teams won, but still she thought it was really cool and loved being able to go on a tour of the school meet people from NASA. The judges came to their table to take a look at their model and asked them all kinds of question about it. Shayna's 3rd grade teacher (from last year) said that Shayna and the other guy in her team did a great job answering those questions. The place was packed but even with all that craziness she managed to find a friend from our old ward, Summerwood. They took pictures together.
We are so proud of Shayna and for the effort she puts in her school work and really anything else that she does, she is a great kid and we tell her all the time, but also remind her that she still need to be cool about it and be humble.

Car, house and health problems.

Man was this a hard week or what? A simple cold that is all I thought my problem was on Tuesday but somehow it did not feel like it. It was not the flu that is for sure. I just have had a stuffy nose, teary eyes, a horrible head ache that wont go away, been really tired and coughing at night. I have gone through 3 boxes of tissues, DayQuil and NyQuil, etc etc. The cold is still here and my ears are so plugged I can't even hear my kids talking to me from across the room. Dan had school on Saturday so I was able to sleep in and then he sent me back to bed around 10:30 am and he watched the kids before he left for school. After he left Shayna took over the duties as nanny and babysat for me until I woke up at 2:30 pm. I did not sleep the entire time because of the coughing but I got a good 3 hours. It felt good. On Sunday I stayed home with the kids and made everyone take a nap, Dan went to church and when he came back we watched the Superbowl.
I thought that by Monday I was going to start feeling better but no, the cold is still here and I am so done with it :(
Also last week or since last week Dan has been driving my minivan to work since the windows in his cars were all messed up and we have been having so much rain he could not take his car to work. We kept his in the garage so it would not get wet. Man did I miss my van.... I had to go on short trips to the store when it wasn't raining. I was stranded at home most of the time, but since I was sick I guess it didn't matter that much. We finally took the car to our trusty mechanic on Friday since I also found out the control cruise cable in his car were fraying away and the mechanic kept the car until yesterday. I have to say that having a mechanic like him helps a lot. He speaks Spanish and does not take advantage of the situation. He wants us to come back to him so he is always giving us good deals. Dan finally has his car back and I have mine.
Now on to the house... a while ago we noticed that after we take a shower in our bathroom sometimes the wall decides to leak, it does not happen that much and honestly I think the last time it happened was months ago. I kept the checking the ceiling for water marks but never found a single one, that is until Shayna pointed out about a couple of months ago that there was an orange spot on the ceiling in the living room. Low and behold my suspicions were true, we have a leak and has been getting worse. We are not not using our bathroom which is a pain and are waiting for our Tax money to be able to fix it, I need to find a good plumber to get that fixed and then we will nee to find somebody to fix the ceiling I guess. Mean while we are the proud owners of a lovely orange bubbly spot on our ceiling. Some times it seems like life throws at you a whole bunch of things all at once.

I love my kids!!!

My kids are so fun and full of energy. They make me laugh most of the time and yes they can also drive me insane... a lot. But I love them and would do anything to make them happy.
I love finding new things to do with them and since Tristan got a little craft book for Christmas we decided to try and work on a little project, specially one that did not required a lot of expensive materials. Tristan picked the "fish" project, it was really easy and fun and has kept them busy playing after school. It is kind of funny to see them sitting on the stools quietly trying to catch their fish. Maybe we should try real fishing some day.

Walk like a lady.

On our way to school this morning we saw a little girl (probably about 10 years old) walking to school with this high heel shoes, funny thing is that it seemed like she was having a hard time walking with them and it brought back some memories from my childhood. I used to wear my mom's shoes all the time and the shoes she kept for my cousin too. The shoes were beautiful, all kinds of colors, all kinds of styles and I used look in the mirror and imagine myself as a grown up. I think every little girl dreams of growing up some day and looking like one of those models on TV and walking like them. Well my dream came true when I was about 15 years old. At the end of school year back in 1991, my cousin signed up for modeling school, her brother was paying for it and he was always so nice to me and offered to sign me up as well and pay for the whole thing.
I was really excited about it and could hardly wait to go there. It wasn't until I showed up there that I realized what a different world that was for me. They had all kinds of classes, they taught us how to set a table, how to eat with all the different kinds of silverware, how to apply make up (thank goodness for that), how to talk in front of people and most importantly how to do the cat walk. The walking thing was the most exciting thing because before that I did not dear to wear high heel shoes, did not want to look silly with them. The whole experience was very interesting and I learned a lot, we had to put a dance show together and then performed in front of the whole school.
They got us ready to put on a fashion show for our graduation day and that meant to come up with our own walk and do all the cute turns, and stuff like that. We went to try our outfits on one day and it felt so good because we were the important people at the store trying out all kinds of outfits. All the girls there were so pretty and I always felt out of place but I tried to enjoy it anyways. We also had the opportunity to meet a former Miss Guatemala and she gave us some pointers.
The big day came and I was so nervous, my group consisted of 3 people, my cousin, some other girl and me. We were told that they were taping the fashion show and it was going to air on TV, that didn't help since I got more nervous than before. I know that I wasn't the most talented girl on that stage but when I walked down that T shaped stage I felt good and did the whole thing without a single mistake. It was nerve racking but I did it. I forgot all about the cameras and the people staring at me, I kept with the beat of the music and kept telling myself to walk like a lady. I did it. I never saw myself on TV, my mom came to see me at this fancy hotel where they had the fashion show and she was so proud of me.
At then end of the show my cousin asked me if modeling was something I wanted to pursue in my life and if so he would pay for me to go there regularly, but after spending 1 month with all those people and getting to know what a crazy and superficial world it was I thanked him but decided not to do it. It was a good experience and I learned how to walk with high heels. I wish I had pictures of that day, I don't even remember what I wore. At least I can teach Shayna how to walk with high heels some day so she doesn't look awkward or anything like that.
I am thankful for the experiences I had growing up, even if it something as silly as to learn how to walk.