What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

I was up stairs putting laundry away when I hear my oldest son running up the stairs.  He busts into my room laughing so hard he can hardly talk.  ”Mommy, Maveric is giving himself a bath and doing the dishes.”  So I run down stairs as fast as I can ( trying not to kill myself as I dodge the shoes and toys my kids seem to always leave  on the stairs).  He likes to play in the sink so I thought he had just spilled water all over the place…..

NOPE the little bugger pushed a chair over to the sink, climbed inside as if it was his own little tub (fully dressed I might add) turned the water on and was having a ball!  How can you not smile when this is what you see…. Oh this little guy wears me out!   Now if I could just get him to really wash the dishes and put them away

And if you are wondering yes that is sheet rock on the walls… we are in the middle of a VERY long kitchen remodel you can read more about that here.

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What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

One of my goals this year is to teach my children to love service.  I do service in many ways almost daily but I do not always involve my kids … or explain to them why we are doing something.  If you look for ways to give back or serve you will be surprised how many opportunity’s  come your way.  Saturday  was our families day to help clean our church building that we attend every Sunday.  Waking up on the weekend and going to clean is not always my idea of fun, but my kids were super excited that it was our turn again. (Matt was at work so he wasn’t able to come.)

Matt’s Sister came to visit so I had an extra pair of hands to help me get the kids dressed and in the car.  We were doing good on time but I did not want to be late.  On the drive there I talked to the kids about service, what it means, who we were helping  and why we were cleaning the church.   Just then I saw a man on the side of the road with his hand is his pockets just standing there with no coat on. My first thought was dumb kid…. where is your coat!  Then I realized he didn’t have any shoes on either, and his feet were covered in mud.  Back in the field behind him I spotted his SUV up to its axles stuck  in the mud.

I was in a hurry to get to the church on time so I drove past thinking I am sure he has called for help and someone is one the way to help him.  Plus I am bit leary to stopping to help a total stranger with my kids in the  car.  But something was different this time, and I quickly turned around to go see if I could help him out.  I pulled up and realized this was not a man.. but a teenage boy.  I asked him if he had anyone on the way to pick him up, he said no.  So I asked him if he wanted to use my cell phone and call someone, once again he said no he just moved here 2 weeks ago to live with his sister and did not have or know anyone to call.  I then asked him how long he had been standing in the cold, and he said about 20 minutes.  He tried to flag people down to help at first but then just gave up….

My heart sank this poor boy had been out in the cold for 20 minutes and no one had stopped to help him.  I teased him a bit about being in his PJ’s and not having shoes.  I told him I could give him a ride to his house, but he said then he would be stuck there and still not be able to get his SUV out.  I then told him that we were going to clean our church and I was pretty sure we would be able to find someone with a 4×4 to help pull him out.  After talking a bit I realized he went to the the same church we did when he lived in Wyoming, so he hopped in my van and off we drove to the church with a muddy stranger aboard.  While waiting for help to come he pitched in and helped us clean windows and sweep.

It was a good lesson for me, often we are so busy on our journey to “do good” in this case clean the church that we drive right past opportunities to help others.  But I am pretty sure the Lord would rather have me help one of his children in need, instead of having spotless windows at church.  Once back in the car on the ride home it felt good to once again talk to my kids and discuss how we were able to do random acts of service.  As my little ones would say ” Mom, it was fun picking up that Muddy boy and helping him get out of’ the Mud”

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What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

I was busy trying to get dinner done, I told my kids they needed to grab a bag and get all the trash picked up in the toy room before dinner.  They had been working on art projects, but it looked more like a paper factory exploded.  I heard lots of laughing and so I assumed not much cleaning was being done… but I was not expecting to see this….

Mom we are trash…. and we picked ourselves up.

Lol they were so proud of themselves .

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If you are a mom you are well aware of the “Get dressed so we can go” routine.  It is that fine line between teaching your child to  do things for themselves. Or doing it for them just so you can get them out the door and wondering if you are still going to be dressing them for college.  It is not uncommon for me to say “Are you ready to go?” … and I hear 4 children reply back “yes”. Only to round the corner and see them like this….

Often half naked, no shoes, legs in one pant leg, shorts in the middle of a snow storm, underwear as a hat, shoes on the wrong feet, or two totally different shoes,  hair all jacked up on one side and a pony tail missing on the other.  The bunch of them look like they just escaped from a fashion bootcamp gone wrong. Oh but wait… then I say “You can’t go out looking like that!” and they all look at me like I am the over bearing fashion police.

Depending were we are going some days I let them prance out of the house looking like this (only if we are just going to Grandmas or something) … but only at the last minute do they have the “I can’t go out like this meltdown”.  I scratch my head thinking really… really… come on I have been telling you to change for over an HOUR and now in the last 30 seconds you realize I mean business?

Yesterday while trying to “herd” my children to the car…. I saw my sons  crack when he bent over to put on his shoes. My first thought was good grief the kid is trying to go commando style today.  I told him to go get some underwear on, he quickly replies back that he already has them on and proceeds to tug at an elastic waste band.  But all I saw was the waste band, no undies…. Not sure how, or why his undies were torn to shreds?   But I am sure if underwear could talk they would have a great story to tell.  Needless to say we were a few minutes late, as I felt the need to cover his naked bottom before be left the house …lol.

It’s Matt – FYI – that same pair of underwear Matthew was wearing as a whole underwear just that morning. Who knows how it got like that!

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What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  Even as a little girl I would start thinking of gifts I could make my family months in advance and have them wrapped and waiting.  I made my share of homemade hot pads, macaroni necklaces and a whole bunch of other “useless” items.  Yet my Mom and Dad would open them with delight and thank me for  the wonderful gift.  I quickly learned the warmth and joy in the power of giving to others.  Sure I was just like other kids and wanted gifts as well…. but also looked forward to giving.

So each year we take our little ones shopping.  We have a talk about the meaning of Christmas and tell them to think about what would make the people on their list happy.  They buy a gift for Mom, Dad and their siblings.  We take them to the dollar store to shop, since they don’t quite grasp the concept of the dollar value of an item.  Our main goal is to teach them to forget what they want… and think of others.

It is rather funny to watch their little eyes dart around and store and see what they pick out.  We try to help them select a gift but  let them make the final choice.  It is a great learning tool,  as they are not always thinking about why someone would want  or need a gift instead….  They just like the way it looks.  Like my 4 year old daughter was SURE Daddy need this 4 piece funnel set… but then finally picked out the 150  q-tip box… ” My Daddy woves (loves) to queen (clean) his ears… lets get him this”

It is neat to hear the conversations turn from ” I want”  to “lets give”.  They  come home and wrap their gifts.  It is so fun to watch their faces and see they find joy in giving to others.

How do you teach your children the Joy in Giving?

This is post here for the do’s and don’t of Dollar Store shopping!

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What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

I am blessed to be able to work from home.  But it is also hard some days to get my work done as I still have all the daily tasks or chores to do as any stay at home mom.  Much of  my work it is done when my kids are taking naps or in bed.  But they also see me at my desk a few hours a day.  How do you explain to a 1 year old or any child for that matter that Mommy has work to do?

It can be a real challenge making sure that each of my 4 children get enough one on one time.  Making sure they know just how precious they are, and the joy they bring me.  Sure I tell them to take their dishes to the sink, or to pick up their socks, or change their clothes. But sometimes the more important words or moments fail to find time in our busy everyday life.

Maveric my 1 year old will grab his blanket, and then come push on my legs (or if I am sitting at my desk,  push me and my chair across the room) saying Mama, Mama.  This is his way of letting me know he needs a little time with me.  Yes some days it drives me nuts as I am busy trying to make dinner and the last thing I want is a 1 year old clinging to my leg.  But the older I have gotten, I have learned just how fast they grow…. and to snatch them up, love of them (even if it is just a few minutes) and know that in the moment nothing else could be more important.  But even I have to remember and make that choice everyday.

I invite you to  have a few Mommy Moments this week

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What is a  Mommy Moment, click here

Last night was our church Christmas party. We ate, sang Christmas songs, and at the end all the kids got to go meet Santa Claus. All of our kids jumped in line and were so excited. But as soon as it was Matthew’s turn he….

But later  after some encouragement from dad… he was able to brave his fears..

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Look what I  found …

At first glance you would think I have a mouse problem at my house.

  See the little hole in my bag of coconut….

But then the knife laying next to the bag, makes you think this is a different kind of pest…

Oh and the Teddy Bear Tea Cup on a pink plate….

Oh it is all coming together now… I don’t have a problem with mice….

I have CHILDREN!

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This week one of our readers asked to see what our work space looked like.  Matt decided to take a photo of our desks and post them to facebook so she could see.  It was fun to read the comments and kind words spoken about our home.

Here is Matts desk… pretty right.  But what he does not tell you is that he does not sit there much because his PC is broken and so he normally blogs from a laptop (while sitting on the couch, watching tv… yip he likes to multitask) someday we will get his computer fixed.

Here is my desk (where I spend about 10 hours a day)… yes it is beautiful and I feel very blessed to have it.  BUT what I am not telling you is… it is never that clean…lol.  Normally covered with coupons, ads and random “crud” the kids bring me or drop off.

Our long time readers know we bought an old house built in the 70′s about 2  years ago.  We started right into a huge remodel project, took out walls, put in hard wood floors, heated tile… we planned to do most the work ourselves and went to work.  But half way into this huge project  found out most the sub-floor in the house had to be torn out and replaced.  Due to mold we had to tear 2 of the 3 bathrooms all the way down to the studs, we had to rewire much of the house… and last but not least we found out EVERY PIPE in the house had to be taken out…. yip we had to re-plumb our whole house.

With all the extra projects and HUGE bills coming in we soon blew threw our budget.  At this point we had a choice to make, finish the house so it would look pretty and be much easier to live in.  But the only way to do that was on credit.  OR we could start saving again and continue  the remodel once we had the means to pay cash for the project.  Sure I wanted my kitchen done… but what I wanted and still want more than ever is to live within my means, and be debt free.  SO for the last 18 months the “other half of our kitchen” that you do not see in the photos looks like this…..

When I run into friends at the store or even readers they often say… “oh so how are you enjoying your new kitchen”.  When I tell them it is not done they are confused because they see photos I post online all the time, and they never show the sheetrock walls or lack of cabinet doors.   Instead most of my photos show the few sections of my home that are finished and pretty.  Not that I am embarrassed about my unfinished house.  I just got tired of answering questions about it so instead I just show photos of the part of my house that is done.

So how many of you saw the first three photos and felt bad that your desk did not look that way?  How many times do we do this to ourselves?  I personally do it every day…. I compare myself to others, often feeling bad  or like I am not good enough.  BUT  I take the things I struggle with, and compare  them to someone else’s strength.  But what I may not see is all the other “rooms or areas” in those peoples lives are not perfect either.  So this is us “keeping it real” and someday I will show you a finished kitchen…but till then I will keep being thrifty and saving for that dream:)

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There is a saying … “don’t cry over spilt milk”

Well at our house it should be…. “don’t cry over broken dishes”

Little Maveric, being all boy has learned to throw everything. Everything that he can get his hands on is a “ball” to him.  He says none, duh, fee (one, two, three) and then hucks whatever is in his hand. Food, clothes, toys, my camera, but his favorite is dishes from my kitchen.  Then he throws his hands up and cheers for himself as if he has made the winning touchdown for an all star game.

That is unless his “ball” breaks then he feels bad, and he knows he is in trouble.  Sure I get upset and tell him a firm no… but I have also learned that he is little and does not understand just yet.  So if you ever come eat dinner at my house, don’t be shocked if my place settings do not match….. I will have pretty dishes once my little ones are grown.

FYI –  they are plastic….

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SC Johnson sent me a few products to review (watch for a giveaway soon).  I decided to try out the Scrubbing Bubbles  Toilet Cleaning Gel. I have never tried this product, but anything to help keep my toilet clean perks my interest.   Oh ya and did I mention the box comes with coupon inside.. oh ya already loving this product!

You put the “wand” together, press firmly against the side of your toilet, it will click down one notch and the gel will stick to the side of your toilet.  Keeping it clean with every flush.

Call me nuts but I was pretty excited about this pretty little gel disc stuck to the side of my toilet…..

I can say this is the first time I have ever been excited about something stuck to the side of my toilet

Oh ya did I mention that is smells awesome as well, clean and fresh.

I shut the lid and walk out of the bathroom, to put the  rest of the gel up high out of the reach of my little ones.  Just then I see little Maveric run into the bathroom and lift the toilet lid.  I was across the room, so I yelled “No No Maveric” and headed towards the bathroom.

Then in horror I watch him take his little metal scrapper from his sisters  toy kitchen set… and scrap off part of the gel disc… and almost in slow motion watch him bring it up to his mouth.  Meanwhile I am throwing my body forward to stop him before he can get it to his mouth… shouting ” NNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO”  I was able to get to him just in time.

I crashed into the toilet, Looked up at Meveric and said ” No No …. we don’t eat things out of the toilet”…. wait did I really just say that.

Just then Matt rounds the corner to see what all the fuss is about. He asked what happened,

I was laughing so hard at this point  all I could say was ” Maveric tried to eat the little gel terd thingy out of the toilet”

Well this product review just took a twist I was not expecting ..lol.

Oh what a day… what can you do but laugh. So if you have little ones that like to look for a snack in the toilet you may want to hide it a little better than I did.

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I have been taking take of sick little ones for two weeks now… seems like our family can not catch a break.  I am finally feeling better but since then the kids and Matt have all been sick.  And with little ones they all seem to want Mommy to hold them to help them feel better. Or sleep in the middle of  our bed, which leaves Matt and I clinging to the edge and little knees and elbows jab us all night long.  I wish I had some great words of wisdom or witty story this week… but after running on just a few hours of sleep each night…. I got nothing.  But  I can say how grateful I am  for childrens Tylenol and Advil and Popsicle to help them feel better  Now I am just keeping my fingers crossed I don’t get it too.

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You know that every Sunday I post my Mommy Moments.  This week instead of posting about my own family I would like to share a youtube video with you.  My cousins posted this on facebook, I clicked on it and it was in fact my Mommy Moment for the week.  It made me smile, cry and celebrate all in a short time of 8 minutes.

I invite you to watch this video as well, it features Emmanuel Kelly  from Australia and his audition to  The X Factor.  I fell in love with this young man, his borther and his Mother.  His Mother inspired me to go grab my own little ones and let them know just how much I love them. As Emmanuel walked out on stage, it was like watching my own little Matthew.  Both of them born into bodies that are not defined as normal… yet the twinkle in their eyes and the smile one their face…. makes none of that matter and you love them even more.

If you can not see the video click here to watch it.

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 Just in case you did not know…. your children are often like little “mini me’s” running around the house.  Or at least mine are, I am not sure whether to laugh or cry when I hear them repeat things I say, as I listen to them play.  One thing is for sure, it really makes me think about what is coming out of my mouth.

This week my two youngest were playing with their baby dolls, and I heard my daughter say

“Yuz (you) are driving me cwazy (crazy)….now cwoz (close) your eyes, say your prayers and go nite nite.”

Just then she kissed her baby, handed it over to me so I could babysit it while it took a nap.

Oops….

*****

On a side note, that crazy little doll Maveric is holding.  It was my doll when I was little, he found it  and totes it everywhere he goes.    He loves it…. but he also likes to dunk her in the toilet every chance he gets.  Needless to say she gets tossed into the washing machine almost everyday.  Much to his dismay!

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Some moments are ones we wish would pass quicker than others…

Can you guess where I have been this week?  Yip back to the doctor again….3rd time in 6 weeks. Now don’t get me wrong I really love my doctor, but I don’t like being sick this long.  I found out I had an allergic reaction to the last round of antibiotics I was on… so instead of getting better I got worse. Which has delayed me being able to schedule surgery to get my tonsils taken out.  I found out I now have bronchitis and am on another 10 day treatment.  Lets hope this one is able to help me kick this thing!   Does your Doctors office have this silly little sign…. they ask you to pick a face and tell your pain level……

After 6 weeks of being sick, this was my answer…..

(Just me keeping it real….lol)

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Last week I told you all about my families Drive In Movie Night, with our cardboard cars.  Click here if you missed it.  What I didn’t tell you was how much fun the kids had with the left over cardboard boxes.

I had a few extra Mattress boxes (that we got from my uncles furniture store).  SO the kids opened them up flat and put them on one of the hills in my parents yard.    This gave them about 30 feet of “slide”…. next they had to make their sleds.

  They took extra pieces of cardboard and made sleds out of them.  This allowed them a smooth (and rather fast) ride down the hill. The kids played with the cardboard slide for HOURS.  It was a nice alternative to a  wet slip in side since it was kind of a chilly day.

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Above is a photo of my parents house.  Which they built on their own when I was little. They cut 75 lodge pole pines, took the bark off by hand and with years of hard work and love, build our family a place to live.  With the end result being a beautiful home, that was paid in full.  This month was our yearly family reunion where all my sibling come together and spend a weekend at home.  We let the kids play, be silly and remember how blessed we are to be family.

Each year we have a theme.  This year my brother was in charge and he picked “Drive in Movie”.  Each family was to construct cars from cardboard boxes.  We had boxed of all shapes and sizes, little bitty up to large appliance boxes.

We had cars and trucks of all shapes and sizes.

We used paint left over from other projects to paint them, and added fun accessories like cup holders, steering wheels, and all sorts of things.

The kids all loved it and spend hours creating their own personal ride.

My Mom and Dad recreated their first car… a two door, purple Gremlin from the 70′s.  But they added a few bucket seats to make sure it was nice and comfortable.

Once we were all done, we voted for our favorites, largest, smallest, most colorful, and many other things.

Once it was dark, we popped popcorn and handed out snacks.  Everyone bundled up with blankets and we watched Bed Time Stories on the big screen in the front yard.  I thought for sure the kids would get cramped or want out of their cars… but instead they all stayed put (many of them even fell asleep) and had a wonderful time.My Mom and Dad reliving their date at the drive-in ….. in their Purple Gremlin 37  years later… and a few grandkids along for the ride.

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It is only natural that my children will fight  some days… but what is a surprise is WHAT they decided to fight about.  Last week I was busy in the kitchen making Cilantro Ranch for our Shredded Pork Tacos.  Mayleeya was up on the counter helping me and my other daughter was coloring at the counter.  I added the mayo and then was off to the next ingredient, Maleeya asked if she could throw away the empty mayo bottle. So I handed it to her.

Next thing I know both girls are shouting and crying.  I turn around to see Maleeya with mayo on her face and Mckeely reaching with all her might for the bottle as well.

You have got to be kidding me… they are fighting over the empty bottle of mayo?  Then I watch Maleeya scrap out a spoonful and gobble it up as if it was ice cream…. trying not to gag myself, I just looked at her?

“Mommy I don’t want to share, it is just so yummy”….

I then tell her, “You need to share the mayo with your sister, let her have some too”

Really did I just say that?  Gag… All in the day of being a mom I guess

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I was in the kitchen making dinner with my girls this week.  Matt and the boys were in the back yard, and I was keeping an eye on them thru the window.  Matt was digging a small trench to bury a cable cord in our back yard.  Little Matthew as playing on his tractor in the mud ( and getting rather dirty I might add).

I noticed little Maveric running toward Matt with his little snow shovel in hand.  He then stopped right in front of Matt.  I could not help but smile as I watched Matt put down his shovel and start talking with him.  He then let him try to help dig with his plastic shovel.  You should have seen the smile on his little face…. He sure loves helping his Daddy.

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