MONUMENTAL EVENTS!!

Lots of excitment over the last couple of days! Maybe I should start by showing you some of our fun from the Memorial Weekend.....

Oh...I guess all the pictures I have are of us being totally wind blown at Canyon Lake on Monday. It was CRAZY! It was so windy the kids wouldn't get into the water. I couldn't read cuz I had to hold onto all the chairs and even SHOES so they wouldn't blow away. But we endured about an hour and a half before we hit the road.

When we got home, we pulled into the garage and Marcus says(and just like this)..."Oh my Gosh!!!" pause pause pause..."I think I have a loose tooth!" When we got out of the van I wiggled it... Uh YEAH! It was like hanging on by a thread. It was gone a few hours later when he finally dared let me yank it with the floss - nothing a bribe of Diet Dr. Pepper couldn't handle....

After we pulled that tooth it only took him about 2 minutes to realize the tooth right next to it was JUST AS LOOSE! He's not so sure he wants me to pull it yet.

Today was the 2nd Grade Talent Show. Madelyn auditioned with a song that my mother wrote and composed music for when I was a baby. Today she got to perform in the show with that song. It's called 'I Have A Little Girl'. She sang it proudly and confidently. I was so nervous. We videoed the performance but for some reason it won't upload onto Blogger :(

So proud of her!

THEN I find out that next door-in the cafeteria- Marcus was receiving an award at the SAME TIME! He received the 'Character Counts' award for his "...decision to be a person of good character".

What a great couple of days!

Meanwhile, Brian is playing with his guys and being as cute as ever...lovin' the kids!!!

CHECK US OUT At Trulie Scrumptious!!

Head over to Trulie-Scrumptious and check out our feature AND enter to win a great give-a-way!!!  It's easy!!! And you'll LOVE Trulie-Scrumptious

An Audience Required...

So like I was saying in previous posts, Brian is working on the reading program. One of the motivating factors....an audience from his "guys".

He is very particular too...Caymon always has to punch out Barracuda. Hornet has to be there too. All the rest are "special" when it's convenient.

 Oh...a new thing that Brian ALWAYS has to have - BLUE DRINK...aka Blue Gatorade.

Oh the little things....kids are great!

Pleasantly Surprised...

I taught both Madelyn and Marcus how to read with a book my sister in law swears by...Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann.

Well...maybe I need to rephrase that a bit....I fought with Madelyn through the 100 lessons, almost destroying her will to read. Marcus made it through a little better-not much. We weren't killing each other, but we weren't exactly happy with each other through it....

Brian, Brian, Brian. The last one always has it the easiest, don't they. We figure out all the right's and wrong's with the first kids so by the time we get to the last we know it all - or have lost all hope so have stopped fighting. :)

We are a quarter of the way through the reading program and I've been so pleasantly surprised; no fighting, no crying, no tantrums(by me), just sounding out words and reading stories.

YES!!!

I think I'm to the point now that I can swear by the book! Thank you Siegfried Engelmann!

I FOUND THESE IN MY ARCHIVES

One of our last trips to San Diego...or maybe it was our last trip to San Diego...

 I'm not really sure what we did on the trip cuz all I have are pictures at the hotel and pictures at the temple, and a few a the beach. Maybe that's all we did. I'm sure there was an IKEA trip in there too. Now i remember!!! We got to see Missy!! Yay!!! And her two kiddo's...stinking CUTE kiddo's!!

 best buds...

 (I see your true colors....)

The San Diego Temple is one of, if not the most beautiful building I have ever seen. And the outside doesn't even compare to the inside. Magnificent.

On another note, and a little on the lighter side(okay, a lot on the lighter side)...We ate at IHOP in San Diego and I found this in the restroom...

 Is this not the BEST invention EVER!!!!!

Way to go IHOP!! Any Yumanites - its the IHOP by IKEA if you are looking for a good breakfast restaraunt with a clean bathroom :)

I'm SOOOO BEHIND!

Wow...we had a lot going on over the last week! Madelyn had her first Choir Concert - "In the Jungle". It was so cute! I loved every minute of it...except the part that I THOUGHT the concert started at 6:30 - but it was actually the PTO meeting that started then and the concert was after it...TRICKY!

(you'll have a hard time picking her out. She is on the front row, third from the left)

A little shout out to my peeps in Yuma :)

Then on Friday Marcus was a TV star at school. He and four other kids from Kindergarten were chosen to lead the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag(had no idea that existed until now).

Melinda got here late Thursday night so Friday Brent took her to the Riverwalk, to Casa Rio, and just showed her around a bit-walked her through the "forest" behind our house, etc, etc. Saturday we took a little trip to Fredericksburg, a little German town about an hour away from here. Super cute shops.

Sunday we enjoyed church and then did a little more sight seeing while Melinda was in town. Brent took us to Canyon Lake. It was great fun for the kids.

A little picnic lunch...

 A little walk around a "island"

 Yes, Brian was there, but didn't go for this little walk with us. I have to document Madelyn and Marcus LIKING each other. They played so well!

 The kids loved having Melinda here. Brian kept calling her Aunt Cynthia, so she retaliated and kept calling him Marcus...I think it was forgetfullness on both sides...lol

Brent and Melinda have so much in common - I think they function on the same wave length. It's been fun to have now TWO of Brent's sisters visit us here in Texas. I think a third is on her way soon :)

And then it was Monday...we worked out, went to Chuy's for lunch, and then had to take Melinda to the airport. It sure was fun! Look forward to seeing her and all of our families this summer!

DON'T WE ALL NEED A MAP

Marcus asked Brent the other day a simple question...."how do we get to Jesus?"

On Mother's Day, during Sacrament Meeting worship, Marcus drew me this "MAP".

When I opened it I giggled a little....at first.

But then as I looked at it with admiration and awe. I realized he's really got something going on there. Are there not twists and turns, and jagged edges to our ultimate destination with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father? Do we not get tangled in loopty-loop worldly suggestions? Have we not all been trecking along a fairly straight way for awhile and then been surprised by a sudden turn, backtrack, or cliff on our "map"? 

But look what we have to look forward to in the end...and really all through-out our journey.... 

Encouragment...love...and satisfaction...not to mention everlasting Joy!

Thanks, Marcus. I love you soo much! And together we will work our way through the "map".

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I am going to be honest....I am not a fan of Mother's Day. It is not a day that I celebrate as being a great mom, having it all together, and being grateful every day for the rich blessings of motherhood....

It's become a day that I find my inadequacies, that I compare myself to other mothers, that I look back at all the times during the past week(or even the darn weekend) that I yelled at the kids.

No...Mother's Day is not a celebration for me.

Be it pride, selfishness, or a lack of faith on something I have planted this road block in my mind that I'm gonna dread it every year.

But then the day passes......

And I look at the photos.....

And I remember once again how richly blessed I am!!! How happy I am that we are working at getting it all "together", and that I may not be the BEST mom in the world, but I AM a mom!!!

I love my kids! And they love me! Thank you Madelyn, Marcus, and Brian for making me the happiest mother in the world!!!

Mother/Son Date at the Gym...so much fun! It was cowboy theme-they had a mechanical bull, pony rides, dancing(which the boys killed it on the dance floor), dinner with root beer floats, balloon animals, pictures, and games. Great activity! And while we did that, Madelyn and Brent went on their own date to Six Flags.

Sunday Morning - my three pride and joys!

Gifts...I won't pass up gifts :)

 These are the best gifts!!! Homemade cards, school projects, etc.

Oh how I could count the joys of being a mother...I have three PERFECT reasons for me being here on this earth.