bye January

It is already the end of January. How crazy that it is almost February. Before you know it, it will be Spring and daylight savings and the end of school and summer and 105 degrees. But for now, I'll just keep documenting one week at a time. 

We are still potty training and just living our lives free of sickness yay! (knock on wood) That's always my main goal during flu season. 

So, here's what's going on this week:

Crying over spilled milk.

Three beanies are better than one. 

Dan took Otter hunting. Twitch used to be his favorite hunting buddy but he's just too old now. He doesn't even want to retrieve dead birds anymore. It used to be the highlight of his year. Things change. So Otter went with Dan and Twitch stayed home with us. Angus was the first to notice. He kept saying, "Two doggies?" and I had to reassure him a few times that we still had two dogs and Otter would come back. Winter didn't notice all day until she asked if she could walk Otter. To which I replied, "Ummm Otter is hunting with Daddy remember?" Then she started crying and yelled, "What?!! THAT'S NOT FAIR!" 

Feeding Twitch fake food. He's not really interested. He's asleep.

"I'm so sorry that you're old Twitchy."

Addie thought Dan was bringing home a pet duck. She wasn't too upset when he told her the duck was dead and he was planning on cooking it. She even wanted to see it. And he showed it to her and she smiled. Not sure if that is a good thing or not.

Addie calls our minivan Vanny. I know, it's not super original but she's four. 

Vanny rarely gets washed. Dan wants me to keep it nice for some reason. It used to be because it was a new car. But now it's five years old so I'm not really sure what the clean car obsession is. But I do clean it out frequently and take it to the car wash when I get a chance to keep the man happy. I waited a long time this time. Not sure why. It rained the one day I wanted to take it in. Other than that, I just blame kids and a busy life. I finally got around to taking it to the car wash last week and when it was done, the guy told me in broken English as he handed me my keys, "I clean two times the windows!" I'm not sure if he wanted a bigger tip or if he was just commenting on how filthy poor Vanny was. But now she shines and Dan's happy. And for the record, I love this car. She is my dream car. I don't think I'll ever want another vehicle besides a newer version of Vanny. Well... maybe when the kids are teenagers I would be okay with an escalade. An off white one. Not that I've thought about it.

We rarely take our whole family out to eat. And when we do, it is usually Max's down the street or Mauricio's local Mexican restaurant. That is because we are loud and messy. And Mexican restaurants welcome that. This is us two nights ago at Max's. Winter ordered a grownup burrito and did a good job eating most of it. She amazes me with the amount of food she can put down for such a little person.

Angus does whatever he wants. He's eating a lollipop standing up in the booth like a boss while I finish my fish taco.

Addie is also enjoying a lollipop because they are free and they buy us about 5 more minutes. And it's how we bribe the kids to behave before the food comes. 

We took our annual trip to Knott's Berry Farm yesterday. We get discount tickets because Dan is a firefighter so we take the kids out of school and go on a weekday when it is super empty because we hate crowds. We invited a couple of good friends because we love them and we need help with our tiny circus. And I like to ride the grown up roller coasters and Dan doesn't. Angus is getting older and that means less naps and less meltdowns. We actually stayed the whole day for the first time ever. And we enjoyed it.

Mya is totally conquering her fear of people dressed as characters. Look at her like 3 feet away from Linus. So brave.

Winter wore her birthday pin from Disneyland and pretended we were still celebrating her birthday. 

Angus loved anything having to do with horses, trucks, cars and trains. 

We have yet to master our 6 person photo booth shot. We forgot that it takes four pictures so we only attempted 3. But technically all 6 of us are in the bottom two. And Angus was the only one who cried so i think this could be counted as a success. 

Addie wanted to go on everything but was only tall enough for a few rides. I love her laugh here.

organized chaos

Angus is a potty training machine. He even accidentally pooped in his little potty. He was very surprised to see it there. He's pretty much peed everywhere downstairs but that's easy enough to clean up. I have a few stations where I keep paper towels and baby wipes. We had a minor set back one day when I went to the store and came back to a little pile of poop in the playroom and a dining room covered in pee. Not really sure what happened there. It looked like he peed in his potty then dumped it all over the floor. BUT all in all, he's doing very well! Our potty training method is simply letting them run around naked (with a sweatshirt when needed) and have them drink lots of juice. This would be a nightmare with carpet. SUPER thankful for hardwood floors.

The two differences I've noticed between girls and boys so far is that when Angus leans back in the potty chair and relaxes the way males like to do, he pees all over the bathroom so I gotta tell him to lean forward. 

And he doesn't care where he goes #2. The girls were pretty scared to poop anywhere but their beloved pullup. Angus does not care where it ends up. 

I am amazed at the number of things that constantly need fixing around here. And we have a newish house. I'm not sure what people do with older homes. Quite frequently I have a small list of things for Dan to fix when he gets home from work. The kids have a lot to do with it of course. Angus likes to stand on the dishwasher door. It broke.

Sunday picture before church. I've been using Jelly Bellies to reward Angus when he goes peepee in the potty. They also work for smiling when Mommy wants to take a picture and not running away crying nooooooo. This is pretty much as cold as it ever gets in Azusa (low 60's). And Winter is still in flip flops. And that's why I still live in SoCal. The weather is something you just cannot get anywhere else. I never yell Get your coat! to my kids. Never. We actually do not own any coats. It's true. I don't even know if they know what a coat is.

If Angus were a fly...

I bought the big girls sugar cookie mix and frosting with sprinkles for Christmas. It was one of the amazing gifts that totally made them squeal and tell me how much they love me. I didn't really think it through though. It's not like they could bake and decorate the cookies all by themselves. And it's not like I don't have two littles running around requiring every spare second of my day. And not to mention my two enemies laundry and dishes. (I have learned that I can't take my eyes off of them for a second or they will start reproducing) When would be a good time to bake cookies with Mya and Winter? The answer is never. And they pretty much have asked me about it daily since December 25th. And the time of day has been totally irrelevant. Before breakfast, perfect time for baking cookies. While I am spanking Angus and he is screaming, even better. 

I actually suggested it to a babysitter two weeks ago as a "fun activity" she could do with the kids.

Didn't happen.

Soooo, I finally gave in and stupidly promised that if they were good for the babysitter Monday night, we could bake cookies Tuesday. They remembered of course and I had no choice. It actually wasn't horrible. Angus was entertained by my BFF YouTube and Addie insisted on helping which we knew would happen. I only yelled a little bit, frequently taking deep breaths and counting to 4 like Daniel Tiger recommends, and they actually commented several times how fun it was to make cookies. They asked me if I was having fun and I said no because I like to keep it real with them and they were confused. But, I'm glad they enjoyed themselves, even though I forgot about the second batch and kinda burned it. Good times.

I couldn't love Mya's face more in this picture. She's a lot like her mom. We don't do well with all the touching.

There's my "well done" batch on the right. It looks okay in the picture but they are very hard to bite. I tested them to make sure.

I've probably posted on this subject before but it's something that I enjoy doing and talking about so why not mention it again.

I love to organize stuff. I hate cleaning and rarely have the time but when things are clean-ish around here, it gives me great pleasure to organize in order to make it easier to keep things clean in the future. Dan is way better at getting the house cleaned up and ready to be organized. He's like a cleaning tornado without the destruction. Or like if Mary Poppins was a drill sergeant, that would be Dan. So, we work well together. I thought I'd mention a few things that I've learned that have been really helpful. And it's nothing you haven't heard before.

The first phase is the biggest and most important.

Getting rid of EVERYTHING I don't need

I'm going through this process right now. I love it. I look forward to it each day. I give you permission to get rid of anything you want to get rid of. No guilt.

Why have three sets of dishes? Why have backup cups that no one uses? Why have crazy kitchen contraptions you only use once a year? I have to admit that it helps that I'm a minimalist. I don't like clutter. I don't like knickknacks and I love to get rid of stuff. It makes me feel amazing to load up the back of the minivan with bags and boxes to donate.

This process always takes a while. But it's so worth it. I just go through one room at a time. Drawer by drawer, cabinet by cabinet until it's done so it's not so overwhelming. I can do one drawer per day and I'm happy. And there's no hurry. Unless you're moving or something.

The second phase is:

Everything needs an easy home to go to. 

Use boxes, baskets, or any container you already have in the house to create a space for small stuff in cupboards and drawers. Larger baskets for papers, bills and toys. Ikea has wonderful solutions for toys for affordable prices.

I have little bins to keep our snacks organized in the cabinet. And more bins in the downstairs closet for hair accessories, diaper stuff and art supplies. I asked Dan to put hooks in many places around the house to organize backpacks, sweatshirts, belts, hats, scarves and pretty much anything that can hang up.
I use a big laundry hamper for all my purses and large bags. For the most part, everything has a home in our house. I'll be working on better homes for everything though.

Go through your tupperware and ditch anything with missing lids. Use them to store stuff in drawers. An organized drawer is a beautiful thing.

 (Don't feel bad. You should see the rest of my house)

And the 3rd phase:

Develop a minimalist attitude.

Do I need this? Will I use it? I can't tell you how many times I've wanted some cool gadget and Dan has talked me out of it saying, "Can't you just use a knife and a cutting board?" He's right. Most of that stuff really is just a fancy way to cut something or cook something we already are able to cut or cook using what we have.

And how many times have I kept a pair of pants that were one size too small hoping that one day I would lose 8 pounds and they would be perfect. That has literally never happened. So if it doesn't fit right now, as I am, I'm not keeping it.

My sister has a rule that she has to get rid of the same number of things she brings into the house. So if she buys 4 new shirts, she gets rid of four shirts. Such a smart rule.

And the less stuff you have, the less you have to take care of, clean, organize and sort. And after all, it's all just stuff.

Happy Hump Day!

trees and stuff

Since I don't have Instagram and Facebook on my phone anymore, these blog posts are pretty long. So feel free to read them in sections.

A few people are mad that I've cut them off cold turkey from my Instagram stories so here's a couple to assure you that nothing has changed...

This is a blurry pic but too cute not to post. I may have taken it while driving, eyes on the road of course. He's got his beebee and his fruck. Yeah he's pretty close to dropping f bombs all day when looking for it. Especially because he says it like... "Ffffffffruck!"

The best part about eating a giant Target pretzel is this part of course.

Addie took this. I'm not fully committed to the smile. I always plan on immediately deleting any pictures taken by the kids because they are always most unflattering but I like my expression. It's so my face all day. 

Addie's first selfie with the neighbor.

We have a master in fitness living down the street who works out in his garage and inspires our girls to become stronger...

Winter said, "Mom take a picture of me cooking." So I did. I'm not sure when she became tall enough to cook without using a chair but it happened fast.

The girls frequently go upstairs to play and come back down in costumes. 

"Super Elsa." Super power: freezing people who are being mean to her.

"Tinky Belly"

"The Queen." I'm not sure what she's the queen of...

"Miss Hawaii." 

These two laugh so much that sometimes I get frustrated because they are impossible to calm down when they get in one of their silly sister moods. But even though it rattles my nerves a little because sometimes the crazy is just too much, I secretly love it.

Twitch is getting pretty old. I think he's turning 14 in June. He's getting to the point where, if Angus hugs him, he makes old man sounds. But like human ones. Kind of like an 80 year old smoker cough.

Saturday we went on an adventure. Not really. We just went to Pasadena. But it was just the girls. Dan was down with the man cold so I left Angus with him and took the girls to Kidspace. They had a blast. They were little balls of happiness for hours. They were by far the oldest kids there. Most of the little ones were toddlers, too little to even know where they were. But my girls are so goofy and so not too cool for school they didn't even notice nor care that the place was geared toward 3-5 year olds.

We played at a park after lunch and I bought popsicles from a guy with a little ice cream cart with a bell for the first time. I've been feeling very generous lately (probably stems from mom guilt) so I bought them popsicles from the ice cream truck at the park yesterday too. Addie yelled up at the man after he handed her her popsicle, "I LIKE YOU!" so he gave her a lollipop for the road. Angus insisted on the minion popsicle which of course he refused to eat because he hates anything cold. He enjoyed seeing me eat it though.

Then they wanted to go swimming since it was so hot out. But the pool was ice cold.

I just started potty training my fourth child. The pros are: I've done this 3 times before. I have hardwood floors that are totally okay with being peed on and clean up wonderfully. Angus is very particular and likes to clean stuff and he's 2.5 years old so he should be relatively easy to potty train. 

Cons: Potty training blows. I hate potty training. I hate pee. 

Pray for me.

Have you checked out the Google photos app? It's pretty awesome for those of us who have stupid older iphones that hold like 5 photos and then get full. I have to delete my photos all the time and it's annoying to have to download them onto my computer before deleting them from my phone first. The google photos app allows me to keep them all on my phone and I don't have to download them onto the computer. (I still have to delete them from my camera but they are on the app forever) The pictures are automatically transferred to the app. It's been most helpful. And I like the filters. I feel like they are better than the iphone camera app. Instagram still wins for best filters though.

Things that made me feel like a good mom this week. There are always very few so always worth mentioning the times that I was rockin it.

1. Buying valentines a month early - flashback to last year when we went to Target on feb 13 and there were about 2 choices.

2. Remembering to bring an extra change of clothes and towel to Kidspace. Most parents there were on their first kid. But they have a stream that you are allowed to play in. I felt bad for the moms that let their kids play in it and told them not to get wet. Good luck with that one sweeties. 

3. I made dinner that everyone liked. And it only took me 20 minutes. Not too many complaints and it was all from Trader Joe’s including the "bag o salad" as Dan lines to call it. And Dan didn’t hate it that I know of. He’s come a long way from the man that would rarely accept anything from a can, bag or freezer as an acceptable dinner. 

On the menu: from the freezer - teriyaki chicken, veggie potstickers, Mexican corn (spicy). 

From the box - rice pilaf (made in the rice cooker). 

And from the bag - butter leaf lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado. Sounds delish right?! Everyone ate a ton. But it could be because we ate late and everyone was starving. But it made me happy even so.

So, I was in Bakersfield last January and bought a bunch of children's' Christmas books that were 75% off because it was January. It was a used book store which made them about a quarter each. Then I saw this awesome idea on Pinterest where you wrap 25 Christmas books and your kids open one each night leading up to Christmas and you read them to your children. I was totally on board last year. I even wrapped about 10 books to give myself a head start. That's the trouble with Pinterest. It makes everything sound so much easier than it is. I forgot that in December I walk around in a stressed out fog and barely have enough energy to say goodnight to my kids, let alone read to them.

Of course I didn't follow through with it BUT a couple weeks into December I found those 10 wrapped books and thought, well I guess we can read a few of them... seeing as it's mid December and all. It probably won't kill me. One night we read a cute little story about an elf. The next night, Winter unwrapped another book and actually commented that it looked boring, but Mya said we should read it anyway.

The cover and title, 'My Christmas Collection, Three Favorite Stories' had me assuming I would be reading about Santa or reindeer or snowmen. I was surprised when it was actually was about Jesus. My eyes filled with tears as I read it. it was such an amazing story with an amazing message. So, I had to share. I was just going to mention that you should read it. But when someone says I should read something, I roll my eyes. So I thought I would make it super easy for you and type it out. It's okay I love typing. It's therapeutic. Also a good reason to blog. You may have already heard the story...

And of course it took me a month to actually write about it. So, pretend it's Christmas Eve while you read. Even though the story would be good any time of year.

The Legend of the Three Trees

Life burst into the world on the third day of Creation. From under the water, God brought forth the earth. Peeking up through the earth's soil, green plants waved like millions of tiny flags. Grasses, bushes, and trees grew into every size and shape.

The trees towered above all. There were pine trees and poplar, olive and oak, willow and walnut. Each held its own seeds and fruits.

Their seeds and fruits scattered as animals carried them from the trees. In a green valley, a fox dropped an olive pit. From that pit, a new olive tree with beautiful wood began to grow.

Along a rocky shoreline, a stork dropped an acorn into a deep crack. From that acorn, a great oak tree began to grow.

High on a mountainside, a clumsy goat knocked a log into a tree. The crash sent pine cones and their seeds spinning to the ground. From one of those seeds, a new pine tree began to grow.

Each of the trees had great dreams of what it would become. The olive tree hoped that its beautiful wood could become a treasure chest. Decorated with sparkling jewels, it would hold the greatest treasure in the world. The oak hoped to become a mighty ship. Strong and proud, it would carry kings and queens across the waters.

The tall, majestic pine hoped that its towering branches would remind people of the glory of God's creation. It dreamed that it would always stay on the mountain and point people to God.

Many years passed. The trees' dreams had not come true. The olive tree had become a simple manger for feeding animals. The mighty oak's wood was made into a little fishing boat. And the great pine fell in a storm and lay in a heap of old lumber But God had His own plan for each of the trees.

One night, shepherds keeping watch over their flock saw an angel. A great light shone all around. The angel told them not to be afraid, for their Savior had been born in Bethlehem. Just as the angel had said, the shepherds found the baby lying in a manger.

The olive tree had not become a treasure chest, but now, as a manger it held the greatest treasure of all time - God's only Son, Jesus.

The infant Jesus grew into a man and traveled to the very lake that held the oak fishing boat. One day, the little boat carried Jesus into the lake with the fishermen. Suddenly, a great storm swept over the lake. The oak boat struggled with all of its strength so it would not sink. "Quiet! Be still," Jesus said. The storm stopped. The oak boat felt Jesus' power. The boat had never carried a king of this world. But now it carried the King of Kings!

One day, soldiers came for the forgotten pine. From the pine's trunk, they made a cross and they placed Jesus on it. Under a blackening sky, the pine cross swayed as the soldiers raised it. The cross did not know if it could bear the weight of the man upon it. But it did.

That day, Jesus died on the cross to take away the sins of all who believe in Him. And ever since, the cross points people to God as a symbol of His great love for us.

Sometimes, the dreams that we have for ourselves are much smaller than the dreams that God has for us. The three trees' dreams came true, just not in the way they imagined. And so it is with each of us. For if we follow God's path, we will travel far beyond even our greatest dreams.

TIME OUT

I love my community. LOVE it. We are super blessed to have great friends that live just a few houses away. And we have an awesome neighborhood for the most part. Even our weird neighbors are pretty nice. 

The other day my weird neighbor made me laugh. I came outside to witness a pretty intense Nerf gun war between about 8 or 9 of the neighborhood kids. Winter was a part of it. It made me happy to see them all playing outside and not on ipads and tablets etc. I heard the pleasant voices and laughter from them all running around and screaming, enjoying the 75 degree January afternoon we often take for granted here in SoCal. I smiled and sipped my diet coke I refuse to give up... at least not in 2018. (Don't worry Elizabeth, I don't drink them very often) Then I heard a man's voice from down the street. "Time out!" he yelled at the kids. "I'm calling a TIME OUT!" I guess they were arguing but I didn't even notice. Maybe my arguing tolerance has gone up since 4 kids. I guess his tolerance was not as high. I smiled and waved a friendly hello. He shook his head and waved back. 

Then Angus wanted to ride his balance bike so I said sure and hopped on my razor scooter so I could keep up. Addie came out and joined in on the Nerf fight. As we passed the same neighbor, he yelled, "How is your little girl the same size as your boy? Or is that not your little girl??" I laughed and yelled back, "Yep, both mine! Genetics I guess." Who says stuff like that? haha. Neighbors. They like to keep things interesting.

So, here are the pics that made the blog this week:

Wendy has been taking the girls to Disneyland once a year for their birthdays since they turned 5. Addie is going to be crazy fun next year. Can't wait. I love this tradition because I don't really care for the place. It's crowded, there are lots of strollers and crying children and it's WAY overpriced. But I do want the kids to experience it. Mya passed it up the last two years because of her fear of people dressed up like scary Disney characters (like Minnie and Mickey). She is ready to face her fears for her 9th birthday in August. She's also no longer afraid to get her ears pierced. Brave girl, that one. 

So Wendy took Winter last week. She had a blast.

Addie impressed me the other day when she asked me if she could "make breakfast" for Angus and herself. Dry cereal. She even remembered to put the dogs outside first. Well done little one. 

This is both wonderful and horrible. Angus has started totally zoning out to YouTube videos about construction trucks and trash trucks. It's okay because they are "educational" and the kids were on Winter break all week. When all four kids are home, all good mom bets are off. I can't really take care of all of them without going insane. Someone is going to have to watch TV and it's usually the little ones. I try to take them to the park or outside a lot to balance out the rotting of the brain that the TV is causing.

The girls didn't get enough of their Christmas dresses in December so they wore them again to church Sunday. I tried to get a pic but I guess the sun was a little bright.

I used to love reading. I was a total bookworm in my early teens. It's been a couple of decades but I've rediscovered my love for it once again. There's my unfolded clean laundry on the dresser behind me. It's mostly caught up though. I'm on fire in the laundry department right now. So much so that there isn't room in anyone's drawers for all the clean clothes. And how fabulous do I look in my new readers? Very sophisticated indeed. 

Things I'm slightly obsessed with these days:

Eric Hutchinson. By far my favorite artist right now. I don't think I've heard a song I haven't liked of his. If you haven't checked him out, you totally should. I'm not really sure how mainstream he is because I haven't listened to the radio in years. I usually only listen to Amazon Radio... which brings me to my next slight obsession.

Amazon Prime comes with an app, Amazon music. It's like Spotify but it's free with Prime and there are no commercials. You can make your own playlists or download new music or chose a radio station. There are a few albums that aren't included unless you pay for the unlimited version but I am able to download most of my favorite artists and songs. Check it out if you haven't already. And if you don't have Amazon Prime... I don't know what to tell you. How did I ever live without it? I'm not sure. Amazon is taking over the world by the way.

And what am I currently reading? OUTLANDER!! Ohmagoodness the best series I've seen in a long time. I watched the first 3 seasons and loved the story so much that I started reading it. There are 7 books I think. So maybe if I keep reading, I can find out what happens in season 4 before it actually starts. It's like an 18th century Grey's Anatomy if you like that show. I have really loved reading an actual book instead of my kindle ap. I was starting to feel like I was getting brain cancer from looking at my phone so much. 

And last but certainly not least, thrift store shopping. My great love for 2nd hand items came also in my early teens when I was introduced to some of my first thrift store experiences in Hollywood by my sister Wendy. In the 90's the grunge look was born and thrifting became popular. But ever since, I've always kept an eye out for a good place for 2nd hand items. Moving to Azusa put me in super close proximity to some of the best thrift stores I've found in SoCal. Community Thrift and New Unto Others in Glendora are so organized and lovely that I could spend hours there. Especially because I shop for clothes and shoes for the whole family. Most thrift stores don't sell anything that isn't newish these days so it's not like the stuff looks used. It usually looks like it hasn't even been worn. And you can get good brands and quality stuff for just a few bucks. It satisfies my shopping urge and I rarely spend more than $30 or $40 for a big bag of clothes, shoes, purses and the occasional toy or baby doll if I bring a kid with me. Most of Angus's Christmas presents this year were from thrift stores. And a few of the girls' presents as well. It's quite an addiction of mine. 

And that's all for this week. Happy Wednesday!