Always Something................

First for the record I would just like to state that one year ago almost to the day I asked Dan if he would mind taking the glass doors out of Ryanne's room; for one thing with a little one they are ALWAYS dirty and also I wanted to hang a cute curtain there instead when we did her room make over. Dan said no because they were expensive doors, they looked nice (ya' right minus the nose and hand prints right?) and he didn't want to have to store them, have them get broken only for her to want them back as a teenager. Case closed.

Fast forward present day. My friend and I decided to get together today so the kids could play and swim and hang out before we left for our trip. We had lunch, we went swimming, the kids were playing while we visited and talked about the upcoming school year etc. Then all of a sudden as the kids are "cleaning up" I hear a crashing sound. I ask Ryanne what the noise was and she very calmly says,"my mirror mom." I'm thinking its the wood framed mirror hanging over her dresser that has possibly fallen and no big deal right? Well, maybe in someone else's house but not mine. I walk into her room (barefoot mind you) and see one of her closet doors laying face down on the floor. I think to myself,"self just pick it up and put it back on the runners its safety glass after all." Well I don't remember when it dawned on me that I was standing in a pile of glass with tiny shards of it sticking out of my feet but it eventually became clear to me that "safety glass" is only safe when it stays upright and the entire door does not come crashing down on top of a play tow truck. Yes my girls have tow trucks in their rooms. Thank you God for two things; one, my friend was here when it happened because no way would I have ever been able to lift it out all by myself and two, that I am reading those self help parenting books my friend loaned me cause I kept my cool and did NOT freak out although I had a few choice things floating in my head that I wanted to say. I was really grateful the kids moved out of the way and nobody got cut (except my feet) and that now I get my cute curtains. ha,ha!! ;)

After everyone went home I asked Ryanne how the door "just fell" and she said and I quote,"well mom, I was getting this game and climbing the inside of my closet when everything just started coming down." Including Ryanne apparently along with the door.

*big sigh* Please pass my blog onto anyone who is pregnant with their first child. Anyone who said parenting would be easy and boring. Anyone who's kids have moved onto college and they are bored because frankly I have enough excitement in this one house for them all. :)

(I forgot to take pictures in between picking glass out of my feet and yelling at the kids to get out of the room)

A Quick Question

OK, I am throwing a baby shower for a friend in October and have a question for all you wise bloggers out there. We all know cards are nice but starting a book collection for the first baby is even better so any ideas on how I could word that on an invite? Maybe you have been to a shower where they have done that and you have suggestions. I will be ordering the invites home made from a girl on www.etsy.com in a couple weeks so get those ideas coming. I don't know about you but I would much rather buy a book for a baby than a card. You can always write something in the book to the baby or parents. I know our girls library is one of their most cherished treasures. Thanks for the help. :)

Catching you up in no specific order.........

OK bare with me because we have done ALLOT in the last few days and in no special order (actually a really backwards order) I am going to share our weekend with you. :)

Monday Ryanne turned 5. We took Ryanne, Morgan and Ryannes friend Emma to Sea World for the day. We didn't think we would stay all day but in the end we pulled into our driveway at 11pm. Yaaaawwwnnnnnn!!!!!! So much fun though. It was really hot down there but the girls all did great and NEVER complained.
I was a maniac with the sunscreen and was all over them like every 30 minutes.
Here they are in the polar bear caves. It was so nice and cold in there.

We also had Ryannes birthday party on Sunday after Dan and I got back in town. Did I mention I picked the hottest day of the summer so far to invite 24 people to our house for a party? ugh! Everyone was great about the heat and we just kept the iced tea flowing.

This is how Ryanne gives hugs and thank you's when she liked your gift. Oh my mom is going to love that I posted this shot! ;)

Thank you Sarah for taking pictures all day so I could run around. I love that you caught this shot. This is my,"OK which one of you little monsters just soaked me so I can get you back look." See below pictures for more fun.

Dan and I got away for a night here.........to attend a friends wedding up in Big Bear. The wedding was outdoors. The bride and groom looked amazing. The last thing I am going to say for those of you who may not know this; you will NEVER go to an event thrown by a firefighter and be bored. Nope. That's all I'm gonna say. What happens in Big Bear stays in Big Bear. ;)

Some more cute shots of Ryanne's birthday party. Someday they will all be grown and look back at these and thank me right? Probably not; they will be oh so embarrassed. ;)
The tower of bite size cup cakes I made for all the kids. They were a hit. Especially when they found out there was enough for seconds. ;)

Here's a photo of a few of the kiddos painting birdhouses.

Quized The Kids...........

Earlier in the week my friend sent me this little quiz that her gran daughter had taken and I thought it would be fun to run by my kids.

1. What is something your mom always says to you?
Ryanne-I love you! Morgan-I Love you!

2.What make your mom happy?
Ryanne-When I be good. Morgan- When I surprise her.

3. What makes your mom sad?
Ryanne-When I'm naughty. Morgan-When I disobey

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Ryanne-Tickles me. Morgan-Tickles me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Ryanne-You sucked on pencils. Morgan-You were always playing outside.

6. How old is your mom?
Ryanne- 13 Morgan- 32

7. How tall is your mom?
Ryanne-17 Morgan-1'5"

8. What is your mom's favorite thing to do?
Ryanne- Go places with us Morgan-Go to the beach with us

9. What does your mom do when your not around?
Ryanne- Watch the news Morgan sleep

10. If your mom became famous, what would it be for?
Ryanne- Playing Michael Jackson music. Morgan- Dancing

11. What is your mom really good at?
Ryanne- holding my stuff. Morgan-taking care of us

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Ryanne- Wearing headphones. Morgan- Trying not to yell

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Ryanne- famous stuff. Morgan-watches us

14. What is your moms favorite food?
Ryanne-corn Morgan chicken

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Ryanne- that she loves me Morgan how good she is at taking care of us

I thought this was funny and cute to do. I would like to defend a few but I will instead leave it up to your imagination. I will say though do you think Ryanne had over load of media talking about Michael Jackson? ;)

How Transparent?

Well it is 4:30 in the morning and I am trying to decide how transparent I want to be at this very early hour. I guess since I am up what the heck right!

I love when God shows me something in my heart that isn't right and that needs to be corrected to look more like his own, but I DO NOT enjoy the breaking and pain that comes with getting there; growing pains hurt. Before I became a mom I swore many things; I would NEVER raise my voice at my kids. I would NEVER allow my kids to eat at McDonald's. I would NEVER snap at Dan in front of my kids. And the list goes on. I know crazy right? Oh and by the way I have done ALL of these things more than once.

God has really convicted my heart over the last few days and today I get to sit my almost 5 year old down and apologize to her for my anger. I will readily admit that this child who I love and adore has been able to push my buttons like no other. I don't believe there is anyone who can mess with my head or make me angry or frustrated so fast as Ryanne. I started hearing the Holy Spirit asking me to exam why that is and the answer? Because I hate disobedience in kids. Any kind period. I hate when kids are disrespectful, I hate when kids don't listen to their parents, I hate when kids act like they are entitled to do whatever they feel like at any cost. I then started to think about how our sweet Ryanne loves to push the envelope when it comes to disobedience and why that sends me flying off the handle all the time. I believe the best way to describe the conclusion I came to last night was if you were to imagine God holding a mirror up to my face and saying,"this sounds allot like another child of mine I know." Often times I will watch shows because well, they are not outright hurting God. I will make a comment that really isn't fully gossip just a comment. I will barely read the word on the fly in the morning knowing full well that breaks Gods heart that I don't listen to him or take the time to find out what his desire for the day is for me. You see I am Ryanne as well. That is why we battle.

Lately I find myself short, unkind, unwilling to budge and extremely negative. I let Morgan get away with being negative about this as well. I knew God was about to break my heart in this and I could feel it coming. Then a friend pointed out so kindly that maybe if I quit saying things that were negative Ryanne would stop acting negative. Ouch. I sat Morgan down last night after Ryanne was asleep and shared my hearts desire for our family with her. I asked her to pray for me and help me keep things positive. I was barely able to get the words out past the tears. I asked her to help me protect Ryanne and to lift Ryanne up to be the amazing child of God that she is. Today when Ryanne gets up I will ask her to forgive me and I will commit to being only positive and rational.

I got up this morning to spend some time in the word; previously i had been reading through Job but flipped open to Psalm 127:1 and this is what I read from there.

Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.

Psalm 128:1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed and it will be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children like olive shoots around your table.

Psalm 130:3 If you Lord should mark iniquities, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared.

Psalm 131:1 O Lord my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised to high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I Have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.

I often doubt my ability to parent. I often struggle with the fact that I REALLY have No idea what I am doing. I often struggle with parenting alone so much with Dan gone. I often struggle with balance in discipline. I often struggle with allot of things when it comes to parenting but one thing I NEVER struggle with is the fact that I am CERTAIN God put these two particular girls in our family for a reason. I NEVER struggle with the fact that they are a gift. I KNOW God has blessed us with Morgan and Ryanne.

Please pray for me as I learn balance. As I learn to give Ryanne a little more freedom and allow her to succeed and fail. Please pray this week that when Ryanne tries to set the house on fire, jump off the back wall down the hill, throws the cat in the air to see if,"it would land on the shelf mama!" when she eats a snail in the front yard to make the boys laugh, when she brings me a handful of screws and bolts and says,"nope, I just found them mama." and then the dresser falls apart, when I get told by a friend that Ryanne flashed the kids in the bedroom or she says,"ha,ha mama I went pee on the slip n' slide while everyone was going down it." That I would look in the mirror and remind myself that I too do things to get a reaction from the Lord and they are not always appropriate. That I would laugh more with Ryanne and remind myself that these things to shall pass and I WILL miss them. Thank you.

**Disclaimer: Ryanne has not yet tried to set the house on fire but all the other ones are true. She did however stick a key in the light socket to see,"if it would light up mama!" Seriously God has his hand on this child of mine. I mean his. ;)

8 Things........

OK Jessica wanted me to do this so lets see what if I can come up with 8 things. :)

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Going out of town for the night with Dan next weekend.
2. Ryanne's birthday next week.
3. Sea World with the girls and Ryanne's friend Emma next week.
4. Going to Hume Lake in 2 weeks to serve at the Romance conference
5. Hearing about all the girls adventures they have at camp up at Hume.
6. Home schooling both girls next year.
7. celebrating Dan's 39th birthday in a few weeks.
8. Mom's night out tomorrow night while the girls are at VBS. ;)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to Greek family reunion.
2. Did Laundry
3. Packed up for early morning swim meet
4. Made dinner
5. Watched the news
6. Cleaned the carpet where the new kitten decided to pee.
7. Ate a couple desserts I wasn't supposed to have.
8. Swelled up and was in pain all night for eating a couple desserts I wasn't supposed to have.

8 Things I wish I could do:
1. Figure out how to go visit my cousin up in WA this summer.
2. Blink and have the classroom painted for next year.
3. Fly (then it would be cheaper to go see my cousin)
4. Take Morgan on a mission trip somewhere since she is dying to serve in another country.
5. Eat whatever I want and not have ANY pain or problems from it.
6. Get through an entire day without freaking out about something insane my children have done.
7. Sleep better when my husband is gone for days at a time.
8. Financially help my friends who are struggling right now with the economy the way it is.

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Survivor
2. Amazing Race
3. Fox News
4. Army Wives
5. Ace of Cakes
(Seriously, on a regular basis that's it. I occasionally watch cooking shows or home shows but that's it)

Do I pass Jess? I don't think mines as fun as yours! :)

Our Newest Member, Favorite Product & Falling Off The Wagon

So when we decided to treat my disease with food a couple years back that had us of course researching everything from whole healthy foods to healthy cleaning products for the house etc. It was really easy to find laundry detergent, soaps, cleaners etc. Even switching everyone to toothpaste that didn't have any additives was a breeze but finding ant killer (a must when you live here) not so easy. Well, I was at Clark's the other day and they had this stuff......so great, smells like oranges and is safe for pets and kids. LOVE IT! So I think everyone remembers our beloved Tiger seen here right? Don't worry nothing happened to him. It's just that he is basically Morgan's cat. He loves her to the ends of the earth. Follows her everywhere like a dog. Sits with her during piano, sleeps on her chest at night, plays fetch with her and comes when she calls from anywhere in the house and I mean runs to her. So very sweet. Well, Tiger has never had a fondness for Ryanne (maybe it was the shoving in the dryer or cupboard thingy, that's another post) any-who, so we thought we would bless Ryanne with a sweetie all her own to grow with.
Meet Milo. He's the newest member of our family and seriously the sweetest thing ever. He lets Ryanne lay him on his back while she pets his stomach and he is so easy going. Probably a good thing since he will probably see the inside of the cupboard at some point. ;) We rescued him from going to the pound. Don't you think rescued pets are the best? I mean they just have this disposition that is so grateful and loving. Anyways, I just wanted you to meet Milo since I am sure there will be stories to follow.
OK last but not least I have to confess, I didn't just fall off the "no meat" wagon; I jumped,launched myself leaped for joy or at least boredom. It was fine I didn't miss meat really it was just that I got bored trying to come up with stuff to make. If someone were to say oh come be my live in chef and make me vegetarian meals every meal I could do it no problem. We are now taking application's although I must warn you the pay is REALLY low, mostly the reward of being around my sweet self. Ha! Ha! Oh man seriously I need to sign off.

Tidbits From Our 4th

Dan had to work the entire weekend which was kind of a bummer but what are you gonna' do right? So the girls and I made 4th of July sugar cookies.They turned out super cute and were super yummy! Yes, I cheated and ate one, OK two.....well maybe it was three but if it makes you feel any better I could barely walk by the end of the night. *sigh* I know better. But they were just so cute. ;)
Now please don't for a minute think I am leaving Morgan out by posting on Ryanne so much these next two weeks. I mean I would NEVER dream of leaving out my moody 8 1/2 year old who is so close to being on house arrest for the rest of her life it's not even funny. The 8 1/2 year old who rolls her eyes and sighs so much you would think the world was ending. Nope not me, I would never leave her out of my posts on purpose. Locked out of the house maybe.....kidding! It's just that Ryanne's birthday is in a couple weeks and she has been very entertaining lately.

We decided to go for a walk with our neighbors on the evening of the 4th and all the kids jumped on their Razor skooters. Ryanne being the dare devil she is went blazing down the hill behind all the other kids. We live at the top of a REALLY steep hill. My final words were,"oh man, this is not going to end well." And then......................

Ryanne hit a rock, got speed wobbles and slid on her stomach about 4 feet. She took all the skin off both arms, legs and bruised her little chest. My friends husband carried her home because the hill is so steep and she was bleeding everywhere. We weren't even all the way home and she stopped crying, stopped shaking and said,"You know, I think I will walk next time mom."

This kid is tough. The pictures don't do her body justice. Her wounds are still oozing and she has to have Tylenol to sleep at night because,"Mom, I just hurt everywhere." As if that wasn't enough she was running through the yard with a Lego spaceship thingy and didn't see the apple tree, slammed into it which in turn slammed the spaceship into her face and busted her lips open. Yup' you guessed it more blood. The she did a back flip off the swing and landed on the root of the tree bruising her back and last but not least and I'm not making this up; she came running around the corner in the kitchen where my friend had pulled out the cutting board and ran into the cutting board. Ahhhhhhhhhhh..........so glad very little freaks me out. I just bandage em' up and send em' back out. Someone is going to think I beat this kid and turn me in. The funniest thing is yesterday I get her hair all done cute, put her in this cute Hawaiian summer dress and send her into church and she looks so cute and calm and fragile. NOT!

A Day In The Life Of Ryanne....

It's the strangest thing; the other morning at 8:15 am we had a fairy swinging through the trees right outside my kitchen window.Now mind you this is "our" fairy but not our tree.
This particular little fairy had to get up, get dressed, climb the neighbors fence (I mean fly over the neighbors fence) ;) onto the table and launch off the swing all on her own.

Anyone that ever looks at this little fairy and thinks though she is small for an almost 5 year old fairy and is not perfectly capable of her own kind of mischief, does not REALLY know this fairy I speak of.

I think we could all take a lesson from this fairy who ALWAYS wakes up this early and this happy.

Besides what else is there to do in the summer at 8am? :)