Valentine's Party for Lucy

Lucy has been working so so hard on her reading lately that we felt we had to celebrate! She wanted a party so I bucked up and planned a Valentine's party for her and her 4 favorite friends from school. 

There were decorations.

A craft.

Tons of treats.

Valentine's BINGO.

And lots of cute girls!

(Mckenna, Lucy, Lilah, Katie and Caitlin)

Lucy was happy.

Love

I'm in love with this man.

Hope you are in love this Valentine's Day. It is wonderful!

Jonah Day

{If you know what book/movie the title of this post is from, we are true "kindred spirits"}

I'm feeling down in the dumps this week. I'm not sure what it is. I suspect the fact that its February, my least favorite month, might have something to do with it. It might have something to do with the monotonous days this time of the year provides. I feel like all I want to do is eat and shop, and lets be honest, the result of either of those 2 activities is never very pretty. (Read: fatter and poorer)  The motivation I had a few years ago, to lose that little extra weight, is alluding me. I am trying so hard to find that place that got me going, but all I see is cheesecake and In-N-Out burgers and I cave.

Landon commented that I was grinding my teeth in my sleep last night. That usually happens when I am stressed. It got me thinking of why I might be stressed. And as usual it is probably due to my worrying over the children. Worrying and motherhood seem to go perfectly hand in hand.

Will Jolie always pick such a rag-tag group of friends? What sort of influence will these strange little souls have on her good nature and desire to be good and obey?

Will Lucy catch up to the other 1st graders with her reading? She is struggling so and I am desperate to not have her held back next year.

Will Reese ever fully talk? Should I get him help for it? How? Why won't he potty train? Or play with other little boys? Is he always going to be an introvert?

When they place that new baby in your arms you really never imagine the heart ache and worry that you are going to be experiencing. All you can picture is a beautiful, rosy life stretched out before your perfect little bundle. Oh and how you want to protect them from all of life's pains and disappointments! It takes all of my effort to not pack them up and move them to some secluded little haven in the middle of nowhere where they would be safe. (OK, that probably wouldn't work either!) I guess all I can do is love them, support them, and offer them a soft place to fall when they hurt. 

Now I am going to go work out, get some endorphins running through me and hope it lifts my spirits. What do you do when you have a Jonah day?

Chinese New Year

Jolie has the best teacher I have yet to meet. Her devotion, the way she is over-the-top enthusiastic about teaching is so inspiring! Everything she does goes above and beyond, and boy does she adore those kids! She is Chinese and has never done this before but this year she thought her class was so great that they should put on a little parade for the school for Chinese New Year. She and the kids designed this dragon and marched around the playground, banging drums and cymbals and gave speeches about the holiday. They also chanted, "Gung Hay Fat Choy, Eat more tofu eat more soy!" (She is a vegetarian!) She painted all of their faces and I brought in the spray hair dye and we did all the kids up. After they had a party and she even brought in cupcakes for the kids! Who does that? Their class was the envy of all of the school, especially the other 3rd graders. How lucky is Jolie?? I will be so sad when this year is over!

All Work and No Play

I'm not a fun mom. No, seriously I'm not. Not only do I hate all things messy/crafty, I also seem to be the taskmaster of the house. I often feel like all I do is say no, correct mistakes and force chores and homework. Dad is the fun one. He takes the kids on fun outings, gets down and dirty playing with them, and loves to help them develop their creative little minds.

The truth is I'm a good mom. I cook healthful meals every night, I teach, pray with, and love my children. I encourage outdoor play and help them develop their friendships. I try to teach them respect, manners, kindness and responsibility. I'm not perfect at these things but I am trying.

I love the balance that Landon and I have. Together we make a great parenting team I think. I am OK with being the less exciting parent. My children will hopefully remember how their mother spent time with them by teaching them and listening to them and just loving them with all my heart. If they never get to play with playdough, or only get to paint or craft only when it rains, I hope they know they were loved. And adored. By a happy if OCD mother.

Mom's Birthday

We had some serious fun on Monday at Mason park in Irvine with the fam for Mom's birthday. It was a bit on the cold side but the kids didn't seem to mind!

G1 and Dad playing some T-ball

BFFs

My monkey

Reese loves a playground almost as much as the ipad!

Frisbee fun

Never a dull moment with this kid, at one point his shoe ended up in the lake...

I was there  ;)

Monica, Mom(with Gideon) and Grandma I. (Grandma R. was there too but I didn't get any pictures of her for some reason)

Trying to play together

I'm not sure why half of these pics are blurry, may be time for a new lens.

Dark chocolate tart with salted-almond crust. Pretty darn good if I do say so myself!

Jolie loving that G2

Reese is so over the T-ball thing.

Lucy was in heaven!

*I love having a place online to put all my pictures and memories where the family can see what we are up to. One of my few New Year's resolutions is to post more regularly and with fewer pictures and more writing. I feel like there is so much to say about this mothering thing that I want to have documented somewhere. My blog is as good a place as any. So far I am failing miserably but I will try to be better!

Christmas Morning

A few shots from our Christmas morning.

Reese got more trains than he could ever want!

Lucy's favorite gift of the morning.

Candy for breakfast.

Our kids were embarassingly spoiled this year. With generous gifts from Santa and ALL of their grandparents and great-grandparents these kids shouldn't be bored until next Christmas comes! Thank you to all those helped with the spoiling this year. The children are so happy and thankful and love love love each of you!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Our Christmas eve was as fun as ever at Grandma Rasmussen's.

Of course it helps that Santa was there!

This kid wanted nothing to do with him yet again but kept peeking at him from around furniture and corners ;)

Grandma, the hostess with the mostess for sure!

Snuggles with Grandma and Aunt Camille

Lucy was Mary this year and took her job VERY seriously!

My camera died before I could get pictures of Jolie the "wisewoman" but believe me when I say she is adorable!

3rd Grade Concert

The 3rd Graders put on a musical performance for the holidays this year.

Jolie was a turkey and was quite funny (I guess no surprise there!)

This girl loves so preform.

Catch-Up

The day after Thanksgiving Dillon and Angella and the boys came down to spend a couple days with us. It was so much fun to have them, the children enjoy each other soooo much (and I have to confess I enjoy Angella quite a bit too!) We took them to Wilderness park to get good and dirty before the headed home.

Love the cute kids!