Some recent pictures

A little collage I put together for Miss Gracie's birthday.

Daddy and Miss Gracie at a wedding.
Check out Miss Rose "that guy" in the background!

Miss Gracie has shocked me by actually
figuring out to draw on the Magna Doodle.
Should an 11-month old be able to do that??

Daddy and his girls :)

I am always taking the photos, so we don't have many of me with the kids. I'll find some soon though. Or have someone take them!

Tag, You're It

Some weekends are like a game of tag in our house. This seems to be one of them. I'm sure we're not the only ones.

8:30am--hubby and I go to church breakfast together
9:30am-tag hubby to take the girls home and give the baby a nap
10:20-i get home
10:30-tag corrina to go the grocery store
11:30-tag hubby to go car shopping with my sister
3pm-tag corrina to go to costco for all church baby shower supplies
5pm-tag hubby to worship practice

Maybe by 8 pm we'll get to hang out! The kids will be in bed. But we'll be exhausted!!! And Sundays in our house aren't much better.

I keep reminding myself, it's just a period of time in life. It won't always be like this. Roger won't always be working a second job, our children won't always be so small and require so much attention.

However--we have 2 offers from girls who want to come watch the kids while we go out! That's 2 dates :) And one offer even came with movie passes. Now to find a day or night we can do it :)

TAG!

RIP Goldie and Sparkles

Miss Rose had her first pets this last weekend, for all of about three days.

My cousin got married and they had golfish as part of the centerpieces. We left before the reception was over but my sisters stayed until about the end...when they were giving away the goldfish. And they thought it would be fun to bring them home to Miss Rose. Thanks aunties.

Miss Rose was excited--but I was quick to warn her that goldfish don't always live too long. Auntie Z was quick to point out that you know they are dead if they are floating at the top and the fun part is flushing them down the toilet. We don't beat around the bush in my family!

All was well until Monday morning. The water was super cloudy and stinky so I changed it. Apparently that is a no-no. I didn't know...I'm not educated in goldfish care. We had several as a kid and they all died quickly (now I know why!) The fish weren't too peppy after that.

We got home from the park later that day and Goldie was gone. Sparkles was just laying on the bottom practically. Since she was prepared--Miss Rose wasn't really traumatized. Thank you God!! We got the fish out and prepared to flush it. She wanted to carry it to the toilet. I thought she meant the cup it was in...she wanted to actually touch the fish!! Brave girl. We didn't do that though!

A bit later we called Daddy at work to let him know of Goldie's demise. Miss Rose got on the phone to talk about it. Daddy said "I guess Goldie went to fishy heaven." And Miss Rose said "no Daddy, we flushed him down the toilet." At which point Daddy began to laugh uncontrollably but wanted to hide it in case it would upset the grieving 4-yr old. Since he didn't respond she kept yelling into the phone "no we flushed him down the toilet."

At the end of the conversation Miss Rose says "well, you know what they always say..."
PAUSE

What? You are 4. How do you know what anyone always says?

RESUME Replay

"Well, you know what they always say...when your fish dies, you just get a dog because they don't die."

We absolutely fell out laughing! The kid wants a dog!! Unfortunately our yard isn't fully fenced, and we rent, so it's not an option. Plus there is enough in our life.

Oh yeah, Sparkles was sparkling in fishy heaven next to Goldie by the next morning.

Thanks aunties. For the lesson in death and dying. I guess it can't hurt to start early!

Thoughts on a Wednesday

My post today is a bit scattered so I've just entitled it "Thoughts."

Birthday party update
The birthday party went really well. We had almost 30 people in the house--crazy! Most of those are related too. Miss Rose was classic opening her gifts. Every gift she opened she called out "WOW" in this super excited voice. She got a pair of shoes and gave a "wow" when she took the first one out of the box, and then said "and another one" at the 2nd shoe. As if someone would have given her just one shoe!

I ended up finding a party favor I was pleased with. Target had some cute little kids cups (straw cups for the toddlers, tumblers for the preschoolers and acrylic for the big kids) that were $3 or less. I put some candy in each and that was it! I felt good that it is something useful and not toys that break.

Miss Gracie will be having a family only birthday dinner! She's 1 people...it will be enough!

Smart Girl
Okay, I have to share this story about my smart little 4 yr old. I think she has an almost photographic memory.

We were driving down a local street and passed by a lot with mounds of dirt where they are going to be building a new shopping center.

Her: "Mama, are they building a new Henry's there or something?"
Me: in a surprised voice "Actually yes, they are. How did you know that?"
Her: "Well, I saw a sign."
Me: "How did you know what it said?"
Her: "It was green and white and well, I just know some words."

Oh--like I shouldn't be surprised. She just knows some words?? HA! It's a store we go to often so I guess she's just learned what the sign looks like. It reminded me that probably before she was 2 yrs old, anytime she saw the "Babies R Us" sign (even on the back of the building) she'd say "Elmo" because she always rode in an Elmo car there.

Other thoughts
Why am I stressing over when to plan the 3rd and final child in our family? I realized that I need to focus on the children I have, and not compromise time with them in order to be ready for #3 in my own timing. That baby will come when the time is right.

I love learning! I am a school junkie. I am taking a course this semester and I am just eating it up! When we are getting new info in class, I'm just so excited. I am a nerd. And yes, it's a subject I really enjoy, but I honestly think I would be this way regardless the subject.

Birthday Parties stress me out

So, Miss Rose is turning 4 on Saturday. When I was growing up, I maybe had 4 actual parties with people other than my parents and siblings there. Birthdays usually weren't celebrated with extended families. I never remember going to my cousins' birthdays either.

But, I guess in the last 10 or 15 years things have changed. Birthday parties have moved up a whole notch or 12. So many people I know throw parties for their kids every year with many invited. Sure, it's fun. But it's also a lot of work. And as a parent--and this is just my own thing--I feel pressure to have this perfect party. Not that my 4 year old knows, and probably not that others are judging my party.

I had a draining day at work on Tuesday and found myself at Party City and Target at 8pm that night. I found out that...

1. Toy Story is not a popular birthday theme right now. But Miss Rose loves Buzz Lightyear. I ended up with bright green party gear to match Buzz. It's the best I could do.

2. All party favors are CRAP. We have so many little toys around and I know I don't need more, so I figure others probably feel the same. Not to mention the fact that party guests range from 1 year to 14 years old! I wandered the favors isle for 20min trying to find stuff that wasn't crap and wasn't expensive.

3. Target isn't stocking the art easel I want for Miss Rose. Neither is Toys R Us. What is that all about? Seriously now. Thankfully I found it at a local toy stoy. I guess after Christmas the stores don't have it.

4. Birthday parties give me ANXIETY! I drove home a MESS!

In the end I know that we are going to have fun. I'm thankful that my daughters have a healthy, functional extended family that want to be around and share these special occasions with us. I need to take a lesson from my dear husband and just relax.

Now...what am I going to do for Miss Gracies 1st birthday in 3 months? AHHHH. Breathe Corrina, just breathe. :)

So far so good

So, January is close to being over. Let's see how I'm doing on those resolutions.

-I am eating pretty healthy and exercising. Haven't gotten to the toning part yet though.

-we are breaking the TV addiction and Miss Rose is doing pretty well with it. Her new thing is pbskids.org so I have to be sure to monitor total "screen time."

-I'm doing 50% with planning meals

-doing better with cleaning, organizing etc. I could always do better though.

I've been focusing on speaking more seriously with Miss Rose and not raising my voice. I think I'm seeing some results with it. She is understanding that I mean business and she is expected to obey. Hopefully over time it will result in better behavior and following through the first time!

Here's the rest of 08.

The New Year

It's a new year. It's been a while since I made new year's resolutions. It just seems so trite and trivial most of the time. Everyone makes them, but who really keeps them? But, for some reason, I'm motivated in my life right now to make some positive changes, so I've made some resolutions this year.

My resolutions...

1. Keep getting fit (exercise, healthy eating). I need to tone up majorly!

2. Less TV for my 4 year old. She kind of has a TV addiction at certain times of the day. She freaks if we are out at night and her "shows" are over when we get home and she goes straight to bed. I'm okay with her watching some TV when the time is right...but not okay with a temper tantrum when I say no.

3. More planned meals for the family. With hubby working a 2nd job and me with the kids 4 nights a week alone...planned meals aren't happening too often. But it's important to me that we eat balanced meals and my girls learn to eat at the table.

4. Stay more organized. Put things away. Less clutter.

5. Don't sit down at night until the house is under control. Too often I sit for a breather once the kids are in bed. But I never get up again! I lose the motivation to do what needs to be done (dishes, clean up, prepare for work next day).

Resolutions I SHOULD make

1. No more Diet Coke. I'm addicted. It's better than it used to be. I drink about 1 can a day. I was drinking 3 a few months ago. All that aspertame cannot be good for me!

2. Make my bed every day. Hubby would LOVE if I did. (I'm last out of bed). But it's just not a priority for me I guess.

3. Less time on the internet. HA HA. I'm here right now!! It's become my nightly unwinding.

4. Read intellectual books. I am addicted to cheesy Christian Romance novels. Especially those set in previous centuries. Give me a romance novel on the prairie, or in Amish country and I'll read all night.

5. Only organic, wholesome food for my family. Honestly--I'd love to do this...if I could afford it and if I had the time. But, I don't on either count. So, I'll do the best I can. I make a lot of my own baby food and I'm buying cage-free organic eggs among other things, but I still buy my daughter Cheez-its because we both love them!!

Hope your new year is all you hope it will be. It probably won't be, but you'll do the best you can with it!