The purpose of this blog is to capture some of the high lights and low lights of just normal day to day life. Our life is loud, busy, and fast, but we love it!
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11.30.2010

Tree Trimming

The Christmas season seems to get better and better each year with the 3 girls. Watching their joy just makes us smile! The day after Thanksgiving it is tradition for us to start decorating. I did not do a lot this year as Leah still has curious and grabby hands, but enough that the house is festive and ready for fun! Usually we put up the tree but decorate it later the following week, but I could tell that was not going to happen this year. The girls were ready!
After watching David put up the tree (yes, it's fake- we live in Arizona!) the girls waited semi-patiently for me to hand them ornaments to place on the tree. We have two containers FULL so there are lots to choose from. They love their own, but they also love putting up my old ornaments (thanks to my Mom!!) and some of the ones that David and I share.

Each year, the day aftetr Christmas, David goes to Kohls and buys the discount ornaments. I love how well he knows our girls and chooses just the right ones. He gives those ornaments to them the next year when we are decorating the tree. They are so excited-as you can see from Mayah's face! Leah received Cinderella (aka "lala"), Chiara's was a ballerina, and Mayah's a ballgown Barbie. All perfect.

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This year the girls really took over decorating the tree. They hung all the ornaments, then rehung some, and just enjoyed the entire experience. I loved watching it and handing out the ornaments. Each ornament is like an old friend they have not seen for a year.This was Leah's first time putting on ornaments and I am happy to say she did a great job. We try to keep all the breakables out of reach. Favorite ornaments this year: musical Hannah Montana and HSM (David bought and gave out last year), and anything with their names printed on it.

A Time for Thanks

At first I did not want to give up having Thanksgiving at our home, but I have to say, I am sure glad I did. Since we host Christmas it is nice to not have both big holidays here. We spent the day before Thanksgiving baking 3 pies and one very large loaf of bread. The girls wanted to help with everything and be completely involved. The did the most work to make the NY Cheesecake and were quite proud of their finished product....it was YUMMY.


This year we made something called Sheepherder's Bread. When I make our bread I have a bosch mixer and it does all the work for me since I make 4 loaves at at a time. This bread though was made all by my hands. David and I talked about having communion together as a family before heading off to my parents house-giving thanks to our Lord and Savior. It was the first time that the girls have ever had communion or heard what happened at the last supper (they know that after Jesus died on the cross).


We arrived at my parent's house early so the girls could watch the parade. Nanny put out some cheese, crackers, and grapes.....INHALED! I guess the girls were hungry-after breakfast AND a snack!

The 2 big girls made these great turkeys at a fellow home schoolers house for craft time. Each feather was for something they were thankful for. Chiara listed family names and Mayah drew pictures of people and the number 5. Why the number 5? She had just learned how to write the number (Chiara taught her) and I guess she was thankful for it! Cute.

It was a great day. The food was fantastic (my mom rocked it out!!!), the pies were fabulous, and it does not get much better than watching the Patriots WIN! None of us wanted to leave, but we eventually made the treck back home. Our blessings are in abundance....we have so many things to be thankful for, not just on Thanksgiving, but ALL year.
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Zoo Fun

Last week, while David was off, we surprised the girls with a trip to the Phoenix Zoo. Everything is just more fun when Daddy is around. What cracks us both up is that Chiara has such an amazing visual memory she KNEW where we were going well before we got there-and we even took a different route because we came from a doctor appointment. Geesh!

WE had a great time. We usually average about 3 hours which gets us around the zoo. Everyone has their favorites. We let Leah walk this time (which meant David carried her a bit too). She has been to the zoo a few times but this was like her first....she thought everything was so cool. The big cats were out, which I love. Everyone enjoys the giraffes and "stinky" rhinos!




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11.27.2010

The word is out!

For 3 months I have been holding on to the most wonderful secret. On Sunday, September 26, 2010 we discovered that we were once again going to be blessed with a baby in our home. You would think after three kids we would be used to this or it just become mundane. It is most certainly not.
Becoming pregnant had always been sort of comical in our house. We never "tried" to have a baby. Our first blessing surprised us since babies were a couple years out for us. Our second came when Chiara was only 10 months old....I am pretty sure David just smiled at me and it was done! Hee hee....seriously. When it came to having number 3 we made the decision and 2 months later we were with child. Easy as pie. I have talked to so many who have struggled to have their precious bundles and I know not to take for granted the ease with which we conceive.
David and I had always talked about having 4 children....though this was before we had THREE girls. Three of the same sex is just a different dynamic. I always envisioned my home being a house of balance-boys and girls. The Lord decided differently. He surely knows us even better than we know ourselves. We started trying in the Spring and after months we both thought it was not for us to have another. I went through a wide range of emotions and after a couple more months I finally let go of the idea of having that fourth child. Well, before we left for Disneyland something magical sure did happen.
I am quite in tune with my body.....I am like a clock and I can notice the slightest of changes. Right away something was different. I can remember being at the hotel in CA and brushing my teeth-I gagged. I am not someone who usually does that and yet I did. Strange. Then, way off my normal cycle I broke out on my face-something that I had not had happen since changing my diet. Strange. It started to clear up....then broke out again. Huh? Hmmmmm....I started suspecting right away, but then of course thought maybe I was just going to have a rough period that month. September 25, 2010 I knew. I was having back cramping which I never get before my period. I bought a test without telling David on Sunday, took it, called him upstairs and with tears in my eyes showed him the results. His disbelief was a complete reflection of my feelings. We both went into a sort of shock.
We have never kept any of our pregnancies a secret for long. We never waited the standard 3 months. This time was different. It took us a month to move from shock to surprise then another month to move from surprise to just joy and excitement. The joy and excitement was always there, but masked by....really? Wow! What? We told a few close friends.....we both needed people to talk to. Then, about week 6 I got very sick. Nauseous. Awful. After a couple weeks of that we had to tell the girls. I was napping daily and feeling awful. I did not want to teach and I knew I could not keep lying to them. I can't believe how well they kept this to themselves or asked before telling someone. We let them tell my parents so they would have someone to talk to about it.
I am relieved to not have to try and hide the bump or how icky I feel. I am not as nauseous as I once was, but I am better. The exhaustion is passing....just in time for the Christmas season to get here! This will be my 4th c-section; my second scheduled one....and my last. My OB and I have very slightly conflicting due dates, but in the end I will get to pick the birthday. It will be at the very end of May most likely. As with Leah I know it will be nice to have a goal date.

11.22.2010

A house of learning

As a home schooling family, I wonder how life will change as the years go by. Will it get easier? Harder? A mix of the two? I really have no idea.....I hear lots of things, but each family is different. One thing that blesses me is that as each child gets older they are drawn to "school" here at home. The do not know anything different and of course they see siblings at work each day. It does not make things easier, but it is nice that I do not have to 'train' the younger ones like I did Chiara.

Balancing school in our daily schedule is still a big learning curve for me. Some days I just plain suck at it....no better word. I lose my patience. I get interrupted by a 4 year old and 2 year old nonstop. I have to discipline someone for something....more than once. Those days when everything goes "just so" I know that I have to thank the Lord because it is a blessing!

These challenges will someday lessen, but there will be new ones. Some people tell me to just send my kids to school....part of the reason I do not share these thoughts often. I love home schooling. My kids love being home and learning this way....and I know they are ahead of most kids their age because of it (major benefit of one on one learning and individualized to their learning style).
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I'm a Barbie Girl.....In a Barbie World!

My parents brought a HUGE bin of all the Barbie items that were saved from my childhood. I am impressed at how well they have kept (for the most part-we did have to lose a Ken or he would have become an amputee) and how much my mom saved. Of course when you are a kid you never think that maybe someday your kids will play with your toys-I am not sure if my mom thought about it, but I am just so happy she kept them!

As Chiara and I went through the bin a million memories of playing with my sister came flooding back. I could remember each outfit as I picked them up and bits and pieces of dialogue we would have our Barbies participating in. Amazing. I would say that as a kid they were my favorite toys.

This summer I took the girls out to Walmart to buy their friend a birthday gift of Barbie clothes. I stood there staring at the outfits in disgust. Is there a cost reduction on fabric so we need to make everything skimpy? There must be a surplus on plastic because the shoes are all "hooker" shoes. I stuck with the pajama items because they seemed the least revealing. I know that not everyone holds our opinions about modesty, but David and I have pretty strict guidelines on this. We have no problem with Barbie, I just think the clothes from the 80's covered more. I was right.....they did.

When we went through the bin there were some mini skirts from Barbie and the Rockers and a bikini, but everything else covered. Love the evening gowns! Some were strapless, but they covered. I had told David about the collection I had and we were thrilled that my mom was willing to let the girls have these. Not only does it save us TONS of money, but we can stand by what we say-trust me, their dress up is even to be modest.

Regardless of ALL of that, Chiara and Mayah have been having a blast and I have even been able to join in the fun too! Chiara and I set up a great barbeque reunion for the ladies! It was great!



11.20.2010

Sometimes a picture says it all

Most days I would say I am just managing the choas....someone needs something, teaching, disciplining, cleaning, helping to resolve silly arguments, etc. In all this chaos though there are moments. Moments that trump any chaos, any stress, and any thought of "am I nuts???"

I can say without a doubt that my three girls love one another. Of course they argue and fight....they are supposed to. However, Leah shows more joy in the morning for her sisters than for me. Chiara wants to hug and kiss Leah all day, and Mayah and Chiara can be found in a loving embrace often.

This past week I heard them upstairs all being silly and such. Chiara called me up saying, "Mom, you have to see this!" I grabbed the camera and up I went. Worth it. So worth it.

11.03.2010

It was a happy halloween


I love that I have three girls who love make-believe, dress up, and magical things like Disney and pixie dust! This Halloween we had Pharaoh's daughter (who raised Moses), Tinkerbelle, and Snow White. I love how each costume fits their personality.


Here are the girls with our lovely neighbor Ana. They adore her!

Trick or treating with Daddy and Nanny.
This year we had Mayah's family birthday party before heading out. Madeline and Colin McRae joined us for dinner and cake.
Two Tinks!
Daddy the race car driver (he owns this stuff because he has done it!) and his girls
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Leah's first real time out....she got the hang of it!



They ended the fun handing out candy with Nanny and Grampy.

Turning 4

Our sweet My-My turned four! Can't believe it. She is the one who stretches us as parents and gets me outside my box. It's good. She has changed so much over the past year it just amazes me. She is so smart and has become the lover she was when she was born.....she would be content in my arms all day!

Happy Birthday Mayah Rae!!!!









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