There is a First Time for Everything.

Oh what precious moments we have when we are young and the wonderful memories they become when we get older.  I am watching my daughter growing up and turning into a beautiful young woman who is enjoying her wonderful experiences in life.  This last week she went to the Temple for the first time in her life and I could not help but share my experiences as a young woman, I tried to tell her about how special it was going to be and what a big responsibility it was for her to be able to go and do baptisms for the dead.  As I talked to her about my first time inside the Temple I kept seeing myself in her, what a great age she is at right now, so pure, so innocent and full of excitement.  I can tell she really likes her new life in young women, she has new friends and is looking up to her leaders as role models.  It gives me great joy to know that so far she is loving it.  She also had her first talk during sacrament meeting today.  She almost forgot  about writing it, we kept reminding her but I decided a long time ago that she has to learn from her own mistakes and she can be guided by us but she will ultimately has do choose what she wants to do.  She is so busy with school stuff and I know how it goes but at least we remembered in time for her to write it all on her own.  She really did a good job and some tears were shed but after some input from her mom and dad she got all done and ready to go.  Poor Shayna was so nervous she read super fast but the people who actually payed attention came to me later letting me know what a great job she did.  Even one of the speakers quoted something she said on her talk.  I could not help but sit there and be nervous with her with my sweaty palms until she was all done.
It is an interesting phase in my life right now having a 12 year old and a baby at the same time, such different experiences, some times they are hard and others are tough but mostly great.  I love my girlies and all those crazy boys.

Update on the Dogs

So the neighbors did some work a couple of weeks ago to keep their dogs in their own backyard, The next day the kids spotted the dogs running all over the backyard again and I noticed a huge hole they were working on since the dirt is pretty soft after the rain and it was so easy for them to dig...  I immediately went out there to cover the hole and since then we haven't seen them.  Oh joy!!!
I have to say that I am ready with my camera now to take pictures of any intrusions and/or possible attacks. Every time I open the door I am ready for action.  Isn't my life so exciting?

A Green Bubble.

Oh babies are so funny, picture a beautiful baby with 4 humongous front teeth who has been kind of sick for the last few days and after a couple of minutes of you doing the dishes she pups up by the side of the dishwasher with a big green bubble coming out of her nose and a cute smile of course.  It was so gross, cute and funny at the same time, I called everyone downstairs to come see the amusing baby and everybody sat at the bottom of the stairs laughing really hard, Khalan then continued to amuse us a little bit more by laughing really hard and us copying afterward until the bubble burst.... didn't take a picture because I was having too much fun with my kids. Now if only this horrible headache would leave me alone...

I feel like a mom again.

I know this might sound weird but now that my mom is gone I feel like I have control of my household again.  You can't understand what it feels like when you have a parent like my mom, I love her dearly but she can drive me nuts some times just as much as I driver her nuts.  But seriously I feel like I can breath and I can be my normal self again, playing with my kids and spending time with them  learning together. 
Aaron also needed some me time and he has been enjoying that a lot.  Last week we played with his board game he got for his birthday.  The name of the game is "Guess My Picture", the moment I saw it I knew he was going to love, he is very creative and loves shapes.  It was an clearance because apparently not very many parents liked it or maybe the kids were not that interested in the game.  I love learning games that are simple yet the kids can go wild with their imagination instead of video or electronic games.

Here are a few pictures Aaron worked on and I really think he is getting good a it. Basically you pick 3 pictures out of 6 without telling the other player which ones you picked and then use all the different shapes in the box to make those pictures as best as you can.  Of course I pretend to not know what the pictures are but he is so good at it you just can't fake that much.

Stupid Dogs!!

Years ago a cartoon came out on TV that had a line like this "Stupid dog!"  I hated the cartoon and could not stand watching it but that line has stuck with me and I have been using it a lot lately.  No we did not get a dog, yes I have been dealing with a stupid dog or two for that matter. 
The house next door to us had been vacant for over a year and we finally got some people move in recently, at first it was just a lady and her significant other (yeah one of those couples) then her parents and then her brother, a couple of dogs showed up shortly after and then my frustration started.  They have Chihuahua dogs and they are annoying, they dig under the fence and come to our backyard to dig holes, pee and poop.  Not only the backyard but also our front yard which seems to be their favorite dumping grounds, literally.  One day Tristan stepped on some poop that was in our drive way, got the poop in the house cuz he didn't even notice it.  So there I was on my knees cleaning the mess that wasn't ours to begin with. 
For Kahlan's birthday party we had some friends come over and when they knocked on the door I heard the evil dogs barking at them, they had little ones so it was kind of scary for a 3 year old to have a dog that size jump all over her.
Once we opened the door for Shayna's friend and the dog came in the house, Kahlan was crawling around ad I freaked out because the dogs are very violent. 
Every day when the boys come from school the run in the house and are chased by the stupid dogs all the way to the front door.  They also sit in front of our door on our welcome mat.  I don't know why they like our house better than theirs.
I went over to talk to their owners about it about a month ago, letting them know they were playing in our backyard, the guys said something like "yeah they are small and get under the fence, ha ha".  I turned around and went home annoyed that he didn't offer to go get them.
Last week I went over there because Tristan is afraid of dogs and is tired of coming home to some crazy dogs that bark and try to attack him every time. 
I went over there in the evening hoping to find the lady home but she wasn't there, her dad once again opened the door but this time the stupid dog came running straight at me and started biting me on the leg, the guy kept telling the dog to stop but wouldn't help me get it off me.  The dog finally let go and I told him that THAT was the reason why I was there.  I explained to him how annoying they were, how they chase my kids and how they are little but still dogs and my kids are little too and could get bitten by them.  He didn't really seem willing to help me out and seemed very annoyed instead saying things like "but they are little" or "it is not a he, it's a she" when I told him his dog poops everywhere in my yard, like that is something I care.  I asked him nicely and he mumbled something like we'll try....
The next day we could hear them working in the backyard and we could see that they did try but half an hour later the stupid dogs were running across our yard once again and immediately started to growl and bark at me when I tried to get them out of there.
I honestly think that people who owns any kind of pet need to be responsible for it, what ever damage he does to other people's properties or if they are getting our of your yard wouldn't you want to know so you can fix the problem?  I could really get them in trouble and things can get ugly really fast but I hate confrontation, believe or not.    I have been advised by many people to record the different things these dogs do and hopefully it will help me show proof later on about how annoying and crazy they are.  I could care less about the dogs but it is my little kids I worry about, Aaron and Tristan see a mouth full of teeth that could hurt them, I see a little baby trying to learn how to walk or playing in the backyard who could find dog poop and play with it or even worse eat it.... gross. 
Hopefully thing will get better.

Out with Aaron and Kahlan

Since my mom is no longer with us my adventures to the store have been limited which is nice most of the time because I don't feel like I have to entertain somebody else other than my kids.  It is hard enough with little ones but when you have an adult that requires lots of attentions it can be very tiring.  I do enjoy going out with my mom and most times she made it easy to go shopping since she was holding Kahlan and I could get the things I needed in half the time. 

 Making a Valentine for his dad.

 He was the only 5 year old in the group and meant he was the oldest.... the others were 2 and under, so he felt so cool for being able to do the writing himself with some help from mom of course.

 Kahlan at the playground.

Today we had a nice time at the mall with Aaron and Kahlan, we went to story time and sat there listening to a nice lady read them books, then they did a craft and later we got a coupon for Chick Fil-a.  I had to buy a meal to get his free meal which wasn't what I had in mind but Aaron had a good time and afterward we hit the playground at the mall.  It was quiet for me, I just sat there and watched the kids play and have fun, Aaron approached me and asked, you didn't have any friends today?  Which made me smile because this is my life when my mom is gone, me alone with nobody to talk to, funny that Aaron noticed it.  We ran some errands and headed home finally and now baby girl is sleeping and Aaron is playing some games, I will get started on my taxes finally and hopefully have a great girls night out with some ladies from the ward... I am tired because I actually finished reading the book last night and wish I could take a nap but I am looking forward to some adult conversation later on.

The Hunger Games

Shayna got The Hunger Games book from grandma for her birthday last year and she read it in like a week.  I was intrigued about the book when Dan told me he found her crying in her room one night while reading the book.  After she was done she gave me the book to read and let's just say that I am hooked on this one, I mean I was because I finished it in a couple of weeks.  I am so proud of myself for finishing a book and THAT quick.  Let's face it I don't have a lot of time to read and I am the kind of person that gets really sleepy when I am reading, yes even reading the scriptures... my mom tells the story of me falling asleep while reading some book years ago.  I like reading but it is really hard for me to get interested enough to keep going, that is why I enjoy having Dan read to me or books on tape so I can do something while listening and I don't feel like I am just sitting there.  Let's face it we are all different and reading is not for everybody.  Anyways, the book was really good and we got the second book last week, Shayna is about to be done with it and I am close behind.  I am so excited there is going to be a movie coming out soon and hoping they will do a great job on it.  I love the character because she is a strong young woman, not physically but you know, she knows who she is and what she wants, she loves her family and friends and is willing to die for them.  What I think is funny is that Dan hasn't read the book yet and feels a little left out when Shayna and I talk about the book... finally Shayna and I have something in common :) 

PS. I think I like these books better than the Twilight ones... 
Just wanted to share that.