Sad day.

I am sure everybody feels the way I feel right now.  I woke up to the horrible news of the shooting in Connecticut.  My first thought was of the poor little kids not knowing what was going on and then of the parents when they found out their kids would not come home with them.  I feel awful just thinking that people in this world are so evil and don't even think twice about hurting innocent kids.   I feel blessed to have my kids home with me tonight, safe in their beds.

My Birthday

I recently turned 36.  All I have to say about it is that I don't like my birthdays anymore, maybe it's because I am not getting younger but older.  

The previous day it was kind of tough for me, I was really depressed about some things and didn't feel like celebrating anything.  Dan came home with a cake for me, it was an ice cream cake and really good.  The day of my birthday we went out for dinner and a movie and that was nice.  I did feel better by the end of the day.  Dan got me a cool Redskins watch an the Lord of the Rings Lego game which I am enjoying a lot. 

Young Women here I come.

OK so I have been a flake at church lately, I do have an excuse though and it was my health so at least that makes it better :)  Up until 3 months ago it was really hard for me to make it to church or to hold any kind of calling when we never knew when I was going to skip church or be there for Scouts but now that I am doing much better I finally got a calling and am really excited about it.  I was called to serve as a Beehive adviser, to those of you who don't know it is a position in the Young Women's organization to help the very young ladies, guide them, teach them and support them.  I had not been in the YW organization for over 14 years now and honestly I really missed it.
It feels like it is going to be a good fit for me and although I can't imagine Shayna being super excited about her mom being there with her, I am looking forward to get to know all the girls and be around young people, where the drama lasts only a couple of hours or so,  unlike grown ups who bring more drama into my life.
We had our first official presidency meeting tonight and it felt good to be accepted in the group and have them listen to me and acknowledge my ideas.  Hopefully the girls will accept me as well and since I am not really as one of the principal leaders but more as a helper I don't really feel like a big weight on my shoulders, the Beehives are the biggest group in the YW right now, I think they have like 8 or 9 right now.
I know my Heavenly Father is trying to give me a little push here, he knows and strengths and weaknesses, he knows I can do this and also that it will bring me to where I need to be,  I have been struggling spiritually for a few years now and he knows my battles, he knows exactly what I need.
I am putting my trust in him and can already feel him guiding me.  As we sat at the meeting tonight we all felt good about the things that we discussed and it felt so different from when we first started the meeting, not knowing what we were supposed to do or how to start off.  I could also see that we are all very interested in the welfare of all the girls and that's the main thing, to bring those girls to where they can fulfill their potentials and become great YW.  We'll see how long I'll last :)

Tough times for Tristan

It is really hard when your kids come home from school telling stories that are not so fun, Tristan is only 8 and I can only imagine what is going to be like as gets older.  My Tristan is a small person, he has always been and I knew it was going to be a curse for him.  Actually none of my kids are really tall at all and I still have high hopes that will be taller than me (here is hoping).
The day this happened he came home saying that on the way back from school his friend was talking to some other kids and giving them directions to her house, he being the social guy that he is started to tell this boys that he lived just across the street from her and they reacted very negative towards him, the thing that made him feel really bad is that they said something like "we don't care where you live LITTLE guy" to which he replied "I am not little, I am older than you and I am in second grade".... he then ran home.
It breaks my heart to even imagine it, after he said the last part he started to cry and said "why am I so little mommy?"
As his mom I tried to turn the whole thing around and make him understand that all people come in different shapes and sizes and we all have different things that make us great, I explained to him how he might not be a big boy but he has a big heart and he is kind to other and he would never say anything like that to other kids, after giving him a big hug and saying this to him he started to calm down and agreed with me about him being kind and how he will never make anybody else feel that way because it feels awful.  Don't I know it.  All my life my height was something people made fun of all the time and where I come from tall people are not that common.  I finally got to a point in my life where I realized that being short is not a huge thing, it really doesn't make you any better than others and if you put your mind to it you can reach anything and grab it.
I am sure he will get in time and will figure out how to ignore them next time.  The good thing is that 5 minutes later he was happy as he could be playing with his brothers and that's when I knew he would be OK.

Family Pics 2012

 It's that time of year again, getting ready to send out our Christmas cards and that means we need a picture for it.  This is the one event during the year when we all must look our best and smile for the camera.  I have to say that this year was way better than the last one, we got good pictures of the kids, I wanted something better for Dan and me but Shayna needs to be a little taller and learn to hold the camera the right way, but she did great.  Once again we used the tripod to get the group picture and I forgot the little attachment to cover the viewfinder, I pretty sure that if I used it next time it will focus better.  I did my best editing the pictures to bring out the colors in the background which were not many.  We had a drought last year and a lot of the trees died out there so they had to be cut down and I didn't know how bad it looked until we got there.  Dan found a good spot for us and we made it work.  Kahlan was sick so her nose was running the whole time but I got a few pics of her even though she didn't smile that much.

 I love this pic of the boys, I thought giving it a retro look would make it look better and it did.  Notice how cute those freckles on Aaron are.

 We had no other but to take the pic right there and then I started to get this horrible glare, this is the best we could come up with... oh well.

 My princesita and me, well princesita numero uno.

 Can't believe how big she is getting.

 Tristan is such a cutie.

 A sad smile, that's the best way to describe her in the pic, but she still looks cute that baby of mine.

 My stud Victor.

 Hands down to my boy Aaron, he was the best out of everyone, I love his blue eyes.

 So this here is not a real smile, it was that second before she started to freak out, can you see it?  We even brought her Mini Mouse doll, she loves her and it didn't help.

 There is something I see in this picture that probably no one else can see and that's why this is my favorite picture of Kahlan on that day, something about that look of mischief and her little fat cheeks, the perfect color of her skin with the bright pink of her outfit, just something special about her that I wanted to remember forever.

And this last pic just because she looked so cute with her outfit, can you see her bracelate?  She is finally getting into wearing it.

Thanksgiving

The kids had the whole week off school as usual and we couldn't wait to enjoy it.  Getting up late was a treat for me and the kids by now have learned that as long as mom doesn't come out of her room they are not supposed to be out of their room and make noise.  Years of training hard have finally payed off.  I did get up with Dan to make him breakfast and then back to bed for at least another hour of sleep.  For some reason it seems like I am always tired :)
For our Thanksgiving this year we had been planing to get together with our friends the Javiers.  The kids could not wait for Thursday to get here.  My friend Elizabeth suggested that we could cook our family's favorite foods and get them all together as a buffet and have everybody pick and choose what they wanted to eat. Of course the cooks not being traditional "Americans" didn't go the traditional route and most o the meal did not have what you would expect at a Thanksgiving table.  Sadly I was running late getting my things together that day and we hate to show up late but it was only 30 minutes late...
  They cooked a whole pork leg, mashed potatoes, rolls, salad and pies for dessert.

We brought two stuffed chickens, mashed potatoes, home made rolls and our dessert stayed home because it wasn't ready by the time we had to leave.


No bones!!!


  Another family from the ward was also there that night, the

Rodriguez Family 
and they brought some goodies too, deviled eggs, tangerines, sodas, juice for the kids, ice cream and brownie cookies.  The whole thing was so good and trust me when I tell you that the pies we tried that night were amazing.
The kids of course had a blast and Dan enjoyed watching the Redskins destroy the Cowboys, he was in 7th Heaven while we were enjoying the meal :)

It was a nice get together and hopefully we can do it again in the future.

6 years of blogging.

It is hard to believe that it has been that long since I started out my own blog.  It was thanks to my sister in law Lisa Brown that I decided to go ahead and put out there my thoughts and share my experiences with the world.  I haven't shared everything on here since there is always the chance that people actually read my blog and find out about all my secrets... I really do love having a blog and being able to have some kind of legacy for my kids.  Sadly I found out that the space is limited on here and since I do have lots of pictures to share I finally go tot the end of my rope.  Last night I discovered that I could not post any more pic and was faced with the hard decision of ending the blog or choose a different blogging site, in the end they all want your money and they all have limited space.  Talking with Dan and some other friend who encountered the same problem we came up with a solution that might work.  I opened a new account and now have a different profile and will be able to upload more pics, so instead of being Hyde Brown, I am now Elizabeth Gonzalez which was my previous name anyways (Hyde Elizabeth Gonzalez Garcia is the full name).  I guess this will have to work until I am able to print out all the previous posts and then finally delete them some day.  I have read so many horror stories about blogs being erased by blogger and I really don't want to lose any of my posts.
Let's hope this works out and that I am able to keep up my blog for another 6 years :)

14 years

Once upon a time there was a young couple who thought they were ready to get married and so they did... a year later they thought they were ready to become parents and so they did, not realizing how though  parenting was going to be they decided to to do it again and again and again and again. 14 years later they took a look back at their lives and how everything had turned out and decided that it was all great and no mater how many mistakes they had made along the way they still wanted to be together and given the choice again they would do it all over again and again....
I am truly blessed to have married my best friend, to had done it when we did and how we did it.  Life has been tough at times and we had fallen and gotten up again, we have supported each other in the good and the bad, we have come to know one another better than anyone else and loved one another like no one else had before.  I know how Dan thinks, what he likes, what makes him mad and I can surely push his buttons just like pushes mine but we also know and respect our boundaries and most importantly love  our family and because of our family we will continue to stay strong, be there for each other.  It doesn't seem like 14 years, I guess when you are having fun time goes fast.  We know there is room to grow and get better, we know we are not perfect but we try our best, together we are invincible and we can do anything.
I pray that we can have 14 years more together, that we can appreciate every single day we spend together and that some day we will look back again still feel we have made the right choice.
I think what makes Dan and I strong is that we do not follow a pattern that is expected, we are not trying to be that perfect couple or put on a show for everyone else out there.  We are learning from our own experiences and figuring out this life together.  I loves this quote and will share it on here and of course just want to say for the record that I love my husband and will do till the end of times, there is no one I rather live with...

If you choose wisely and if you are committed to the success of your marriage, there is nothing in this life which will bring you greater happiness. —Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

Scouts and my boys

Not much to say about it really just that my boys really like going to Scouts and have fun learning and sharing with their friends.  Victor worked really hard this year and got his Weebelos badge and Tristan is half way through his Wolf badge.... he was really excited to get two yellow beads last pack meeting.

More pattern testing.

 Once again I was given the opportunity to test a pattern for the same company and it was really cool because I love making dress coats for Shayna so having a dress coat for Kahlan was very important to me, they don't get to use them a lot in Texas I guess but they do need them when it gets cold on Sundays.  I had a hard time looking for the fabric for this one, it took me almost an hour to decide. In the end it turned out really cute and she liked my pictures too so she used them for the official pattern release (just look through all 5 pics), here is the other one.

 There are two patterns, one for the dress coat and one for the hat and muff.  I did one for a doll too and that one was tricky but with a few adjustments which I got to advice the lady to make to the pattern it is just perfect now.

 This is the pic that made it into the pattern release and here is the pic of the doll.  I took Kahlan to the Old Humble town park that's really cute for pics.  

 Last week I got to test another pattern, this one was for a nightgown and I think it's the first time I see something that was good enough for Shayna, I was lucky to get it and she even used this pic for the pattern release.  It makes me so happy to see my work on an official website.

 Here is a close up of the trim and buttons, I can do better than this but was running out of time and patience.

My baby is officially a toddler.

 Let me just start by saying that I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little girl, she is the coolest last baby we could have ever ask for.  She is the best and even though there are many times at the store where I wish the earth will just swallow me whole because she is throwing the biggest fit ever..... I do love her and she is so cool.
This week Kahlan decided to try to climb out of her crib, I caught he red handed and it scared me so much.  She is so tiny but nothing is impossible for her.  Since I don't want her to brake any bones I suggested that we take the crib down and find a toddler bed, buying a brand new one was out of the question since we are thinking about dong a big change in the sleeping arrangements some time next year. I have a special budget for it and didn't want to mess with it so I turned to my friends on FB and ask my local friends who had a toddler bed we could borrow for a couple of months.... turns out my friend Loretta had one in the garage that she didn't need anymore and was happy to donate to us.  So grateful for her gift and the next day I went to pick it up and put it together myself, I just couldn't wait for Dan to help.  When I finished and she woke up from her nap, took her in the room and showed her the brand new bed with her bedding and favorite stuffed animals, she loved it and kept saying "night night", she fell in love it. It was so cute.

 She didn't want to leave the room and cried when it was time to go get Aaron.  These are the pics of the first time she got on it and how happy she was to have her own little bed to get in and out of.

 Now to brag about my awesome baby.  Dan and I have been really good about not sleeping with babies on our bed, first because I dropped Shayna off the bed the first night we got home from the hospital and I woke up to find her face down on the floor... it was so scary.  So I swore to never have a baby in my bed.  There have been a few exceptions I guess but just for a couple of hours.  Second we just can't sleep with a baby kicking us all night long.  Another thing that I had to get used to was that no matter how hard it was they had to stay in their bed, they were fed, diaper changed, we read them books and did everything they needed so we didn't take them out unless it was feeding time again.  It was really hard with Shayna because she was my first one and I didn't like to hear her cry but Dan was right, she was fine and had to get used to it. Victor was easy because he would sing himself to sleep, by the time we had Tristan I was ready to get my sleep and he was a good baby, plus the room was far away from us and we could not hear him cry.  Aaron was cool too, it got a while for him to get used to his toddle bed though and on the first night he busted his lip right before I had to go to work and he ended up with a fat lip.  He eventually learned to stay put.  But do you know what Kahlan did on the first night?  I put her in her bed, sang to her, tucked her in and left the room, I did hear her cry for like 3 or 5 minutes at the most but then it was quiet, an hour later I went to check in on her and she was asleep on her bed.  Second night the same thing and the next morning she was awake but waiting for me to come get her, she was still in her bed.  Last night Shayna put her to bed and there was no crying at all, she even closed her eyes and said "night night".  Can she be any more perfect  I think not!!  OK so some babies read early, some babies are great eaters or great talkers, but MY BABIES, they are great sleepers and great nappers which means the world to me because I need my sleep. I am not saying my babies are dumb because they are not, it just takes a little while for some of them speak clearly but other than that they are great.  There I am done bragging now.

Lice and Math Night

 OK first of all let me just start by saying that I am so freaked out by bugs, any kind but specially the ones that are small enough for you to miss and can multiply so quickly.  Tristan came home from school one day saying that they found lice on his head... it was horrifying and I immediately took him out to the backyard to see for myself and sure enough there they were.  Horrible little creatures!!  I asked Shayna to stay home with the kids while I went on a quest for a lice kit.  I came home to cut off all of their hair, first Victor because I knew he was clean and didn't want to spread them around.  Aaron was playing with Tristan earlier so he got one on his head but he was clean too, no eggs.  After I shaved all of their head I went and use the shampoo and gel to kill all those suckers.  Once I got all the stuff out of their head we washed all their bedding and clothes, stuffed animals and sprayed the entire house for lice.  I did not rest until it was done.  Later that evening Dan said the sweetest thing to me, he said I was a good mom and that it showed that I love my kids because I took care of the situation so fast and effectively.  It had never happened before.  I always thought it would be Shayna the one to bring them into our home but never the boys.  I feel like I dropped the ball but I will never again let their hair grow long enough for those things to hide again, NEVER!!
So the next day we had the Math night at school and I took all three boys with me, we have tried it in the past but it was always hard to go with every one, too many kids and Dan did not have the patience to be there for an hour and a half.  He stayed home with the girl and did homework and I braved the craziness. It really wasn't that bad.

 Victor really loves Math and stayed by himself in the 5th grade area solving the problems and dong all the quests they had for him.  The idea was to complete a Bingo page so they could get a free snack in the end and participate in a giveway.

 Tristan, Aaron and I went to the 2nd and Kinder area to do some math games too, they did all the games and taught me some cool games to do at home.

 Here is Aaron doing some addition and making a fashion statement with his favorite tie made by me :)  Everybody would make a comment about it and he would just smile, I swear it was all his idea.

 The boys just before we headed home.  They entered a chance to win some games by estimating how many items were in a jar and out of the three boys Tristan won!!  He came home the next day with a brand new game of Connect 4.  It was a fun night.

My future carpenter, construction site worker, firefighter....

 And the list goes on and on and on.  But right now we will stick with carpenter.  This little guy LOVES anything that has to do with hammers, I mean all boys have shown interest in tools but they lose it after a while. Not Aaron, he has always walked around asking for things to fix, he usually gets hired to fix the couch or the coffee table and when he gets too loud he goes out to fix the trampoline.

 So for his birthday his friends gave him a building kit with fake wood made out of foam and tools that he can actually use to cut and hammer down.  It has special nails that do hold the whole thing together.

 He had so much fun and followed the instructions on the first item he built with a little bit of help.  Then he went on doing his own thing, measuring, tracing and cutting his pieces all on his own.

 I particularly loved how he put the pen behind his ear every time he was done using it... he built a skateboard and a camera, he tried to build a sword but he was running out of material so it looked more like a dagger.  He had so much fun that I might get him more of those kits for Christmas.