random

Winter has figured out how to avoid time outs and spankings. She gets off on a technicality. She finds new rules to break everyday. That way she can claim she didn't know it wasn't okay to do things like unroll the stamps and decorate her shirt with them or take all of my sweaters out of the closet and hang them on door nobs around the house. I'm on to her... Just have to be a few steps ahead next time. 

I thought I would share a picture of Mya's outfit from the other day. She thought it was the prettiest ensemble :-) A size 24m dress, a bright pink tutu skirt and leapard print jammy leggings. I like the girls to dress themselves and these days I take what I can get. So off to the park we went.

I just thought this was a super sweet picture of  Mya and Addie. I think people get sick of seeing people's kid pics on Facebook so here it is on the blog :-)

I've come up with new names for my girls...

Sweet

Spicy

and Delicious :-)

or maybe I'm just hungry. :-)

Speaking of hungry, I was pleasantly surprised with dinner last night. I used brown rice noodles from Trader Joe's, Classico's Spinach and Parmisean sauce

and threw in some kale in the boiling water a couple minutes before the pasta was done cooking. The noodles are actually pretty good and good for you. You just have to cook them a few minutes longer than regular noodles. And the sauce is really tastey I must say. The kale softens up nicely when you boil it for a few minutes. If I would have thought about it I would have taken a picture last night. It would have looked a bit more appetizing but here's one from today's lunch.

heights, mascara & nachos

Pics issue solved. Upgraded to Google Chrome. Whatever.

Anyway...

Dan hates to see Mya climbing up stuff like this. To be fair, he's a paramedic and has seen his fair share of awful kid tragedies but I still like to give him crap for it. Here's Mya demonstrating her love of climbing tall things. It was her idea to send a pix message to Daddy :-)

We have "quiet time" at our place because we don't nap anymore. The girls usually watch a movie in separate rooms. Winter gets to lay down in our bed and Mya in hers. Today, Winter quietly helped herself to mommy's make-up bag.

Lunch today was made from leftover ingredients from tacos one night and enchiladas the next. The result...

nachos! Don't they look awesome. And they were. I recommend cooking them in the toaster oven for crispy chips.

no pics

So, for some reason blogger is having a hard time with pictures so I'm unable to post pics which is a bummer because I have so many to talk about. Oh well, my words will have to entertain you for now...

cleaning tip

I just realized something. All these years, I've been thinking that the only mess makers in the house are the kids. And while that is partly true, it is not just them. A big contributor to the mess is ME! I figured this out because my husband has been on a mission to keep this house clean. He empties the dishwasher every morning, does a load of laundry every day and cleans the girls' bedrooms and does the dishes every night. I know, it's rough.


But this clean house has made me realize that I don't put things back when I'm done. When everything else is clean, it's easy to see the things that are out of place. I leave cereal, crackers, peanut butter and bread out on the counter after I'm done with them. I leave my clothes on the bed and dishes in the sink instead of putting them in the dishwasher. I never used to be this way. I'm sort of a neat freak at heart. But I had to let that part of me go and surrender to the fact that you can't have a clean house with kids. Over time, I've given up on putting things away until the end of the day when I do a clean-up after the kids have gone to bed.


However, I've learned that if I put my stuff away after I'm using it, I have way less to clean up at the end of the day. And the place looks better during the day. And I'm setting a good example for my kids.


So that's my cleaning tip. Clean up after yourself. It makes cleaning the house so much easier. And it only takes a second.


Haha, that makes me laugh because my husband reminded me one time that I need to put the dishes away and not in the sink. "It only takes a second," he said. And of course I was able to throw that right back in his face the very next day when he forgot to put his dishes in the dishwasher. It felt great. "Oh hey, honey, it only takes a second!" In your face! I'm working on my maturity...

32

This is kind of an embarrassing post. But, maybe everyone else does this and maybe it's just me. When I see a young guy driving next to me, I quickly get in "look young and hot" mode. Especially because it's easy to pretend I'm hot in a car. No one can see my outfit and I'm usually wearing sunglasses. I think I look my best in the car. I think everyone looks better driving than up close and personal. It's the mystery of it all maybe. It's not like I'm flirting. I don't even look at them. The lady in me just wants to feel attractive to strangers. Okay, now I'm on the fence about posting this...  ANYWAY.

So I was driving yesterday when a college age guy pulled up next to me. I switched over to "look young and hot" mode, pretending I was in my 20's on my way to Starbucks to hang with my gals. Then I realized something... I'm driving a MINIVAN...with 3 kids in it! Haha, I'm 32, not 21. There's no more faking it now. I look like a 32 year old married lady with 3 kids. Oh well, that's what I am after all. And my hubby things I'm hot. Well that's what he says anyway ;-)

And there you have it. I've shared a bit of the real me with you. I'm not proud.

100

This is my 100th post! I feel like I should get a cake or something.


Here's my 100th post:


I'm pretty sure I'm not alone when I say that I've wished for a long time now that just once I could witness those rule breakers on the freeway getting pulled over for being so reckless and annoying. You know, the ones who weave in and out of traffic, cut in and out of the carpool lane, or pass you on the shoulder to exit. I'm a rule follower (for the most part) and it makes me so mad when others get away with not following the rules. Perhaps you are a rule breaker. I hope you change your ways. There are babies and children out there people! Drive safe.


Well, just a few days ago I was in the carpool lane in Glendale of course. No offense to those living in Glendale but it's not exactly known for it's safe drivers ;-) So I'm in my minivan cruising along at a nice speed, passing all the stopped traffic (love it!) when I saw a car cross the double yellow lines and cut off the guy in front of me. Oooh it got my blood boiling. (Writing this is making me realize I may still have a little road rage. I thought I was done with that when I quit working and commuting but I guess not.) But THEN I saw a motorcycle cop pass me with his lights on and pull over that rule breaker. Yes! So exciting. I was filled with joy. That really made my year. 2014 is off to a great start!


Oh and by the way, that dude was solo. He wasn't even carpooling AND he crossed the double yellow lines AND he cut someone off. Idiot.

5 weeks

Man, I forget how much life changes with a newborn in the house. We're doing okay though. Dan is learning what it is like to be a homemaker, organizing and cleaning everything in sight while giving time-outs and spankings. I'm a little out of it these days obviously due to sleep deprivation. I found a whole package of frozen waffles thawed on top of the fridge with the bread. Then I found Winter upstairs with her shirt up, breastfeeding Black Baby. Mya is my sensitive one that cries if you look at her funny so this has been the hardest on her I think. She loves her new baby sister more than anything but it has definitely changed her little world in a big way. She's getting back to her old self again though. We are adjusting to our new normal.

photo shoot

My friend Lindsay Willmer is a super talented photographer. This is our second photo shoot with her. She is so patient and really good with the kids. Here are some of my favorites...