Good Crop

So the title of this blog comes about because my new SIL told my brother that one of the reasons she chose him was because he looked like he would "produce good crop". Hilarious! Cant say I disagree I mean we do come from an incredible yet undefined gene pool. Anyhow the reason for the post is I wanted to brag on my "good crop." Ya know how you always hope for your kids to make wise and selfless choices, but grit your teeth when they are faced with a decision (that might not be easy for them) that could go either way?

Just to give a little background on the subject we give our girls 3 gifts each Christmas (not including the little things we put in their stocking). We give them a want, a need and a surprise. Now one gift might include a couple things. Last year we got Dani a braclet maker and the string that she would need to make the bracelets. So there is an example of "one gift".

The other night we started talking with the kids about ways in which we could share with people that dont have as much as we do. Some of the items we decided on were; donating canned foods to a food bank, donating some of our things to Goodwill and last but not least "shopping" the Compassion catalog. If you are not familiar to Compassion, it is an organization where you can sponsor a child but this year they sent out a catalog and had different items you could donate to people in need (in Africa). This spoke to our heart because a little boy we have been sponsoring for the last 9 years lives in Tanzania, Africa. As a family we went through and decided on some things we would purchase and then we challenged the kids. C and I usually spend about $100 on each other and this year we decided it would be $70ish and we would put the remaining money towards something else in the Compassion catalog. We asked the kids if they wanted to give up one of their three gifts and give something to someone who has less than they do. I thought for sure Leilani would be the hold out, but I was wrong. She and Dani jumped right on board. Alli on the other hand said, " Can I think about this for a while." Of course. We really wanted this to be their decision. So we were fully prepared for her to answer "no" but I really hoped they would choose to give.

After much consideration Alli chose to give up one of her gifts. I cant tell you how proud I was of all of them. I wanted them to feel a certain amount of discord so that this was truly a sacrifice to them. Dani chose to give money towards a playground. Leilani chose a blanket and a tarp. Allison chose formula for a baby for a month. I am so humbled by their hearts. Oh, this makes mommas heart proud and is proof I am raising "good crop".

Ineffable

I know this doesnt sound like a real word, but it is. I even sound borderline bad. Do you know what this means? Impossible to describe. I was homeschooling Dani this morning and this was a vocabulary word that we were touching on during the reading/composition section of our workbook. Loved. Im bad!

I have had my head in the clouds lately. Dreaming of taking the kids to Hawaii. I think it would be so magical to see their little faces as they frollicked on the white sand and waded in the crystal blue water. warm water even. The sun would bleach out their hair, tan their skin and bring out the fraction of Hawaiian that they are. I thought about taking them to Kauai, renting boogie boards and lounging out there as long as possible. My only fear is that we would never want to come home. But oy vey, it was spendy last time. A gallon of milk was $7. C would need a huge pay increase and all our family is here. Oh to dream, as I sit here in 20 degree weather freezing my hiney off.

Baby girl is rolling over in the crib and usually not happy about it. Very funny. And as I type I hear her stirring, so more later.

Jaimie

Smile Bug

I will have to find my pic of Lou. She was a pink cowgirl. My daughters looked so adorable. Alli was a super model, Dani a blushing bride, Charlee a butterfly. C took 2/4 of the girls around the neighborhood while Dani, mom, Charlee and I answered the door to 349 kids. It was fun and the count was great. I absolutely loved answering the door and chatting with mom. Love these memories. I also love the after halloween pillaging that I do at Walmart to prepare for the following year. The girls really wanted some "spider webs" on our shurbs out front and I got some for next year. Love!

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin on her belly!

Reason #214 of why being a Stay At Home Mother rocks.......I get to witness all my baby's firsts. No one else is telling me what she did today, what I missed, I get to see it all. Praise God for teaching C and I early on to live on one income. So incredibly thankful. Two days ago Charlee rolled herself over and then didnt like it. It was precious. I went to her last night and she had turned over on her belly and again was not happy about it. This morning when I took her out of her crib she was on her belly completely turned a different way then I put her in the crib. She is so happy in the morning to be rescued, changed and fed. I absolutely love going to get her smiling face. Love, love, love.

Costa Yucko!

So, for our date night this week we tried the infamous Costa Vida. Needless to say, I had carried their coupon in my purse for weeks and then when we finally got to the front of the line I didnt have it anymore. Oh well I thought. Here were my issues:

#1
The gal who took our order kept touching her face with everything but her gloved hands. Seriously, if you are gonna make my food dont mess with your face.
#2
The amount of meat in the taco was sad. Seriously? For $8 I would expect more.
#3
Chips and salsa cost extra. Someone didnt tell Costa Yucko that those are just supposed to come with the meal along with an all access pass to a salsa bar. Sheesh!
#4
Evidently the people working are frazzled and the staff and customers could not hear the questions being asked b/c they messed up order after order in front of us. "Do you want tortilla chips on that salad?" "No" Que tossing on tortilla chips on the salad top.
#5
The cost $19.99 for C and I to eat. No thank you. Next time we will go somewhere where they wait on us, we get free access to the salsa bar, and the staff can pass a hearing/ health food safety test.

Anywho, if you were thinking of going, save your money. Im just sayin', this is completely random review from no one important.

Another birthday come and gone

So in love, as I should be! So much gonig on here. I have not updated in a while but surely have bunches going on. I turned 29......again. Love. Especially love all of the people who play along with me to celebrate. This was probably one of my most special birthdays because I enjoyed the date I got after the family party. C and I went to dinner, attempted the rollerderby and then some live music at Cheese Louise. Conversation was directed to future fun and quite frankly I enjoyed staring at the wonderful man I married holding our youngest and conversing with strangers. He is the social on of the two of us you know.

Oh I get excited thinking about the future. Every time I watch the movie "Soul Surfer" I look at C and ask, " Is there anything you can do that would make enough money for us to move to Kauai and live at the beach?" Unfortunately his answer is still "No". I get nostalgic thinking that I have 4 blonde beauties that could be bleach blonde surfer girls.....never mind the potential shark attacks. Oh well, I guess the Tri will have to be our little piece of paradise for now and dont get me wrong, it is.

We are going on a cruise in a couple of years and I get excited thinking about that too. Part of me holds back though and thinks, "should you really look forward to two years from now for something that will only be a week of your life?" Idk, looking forward none the less. We would ideally like to do one of those KLove cruises with the Christian artists and people on board. That would be the ultimate.

So, eventhough our date the other night did not work out the way we had planned, it was more enjoyable than imagined. My cup overfloweth!

How Long Will She Go?

So, the baby hasn't pooped in a few days. Poor little monkey. Each day I tell her that she should poop today but to no avail. If she doesnt go by Monday I will call the doc. Why do I feel like a first time mom all over again? Nervous, scared, worried, sheesh. She is not fussy or having trouble sleeping so for now I think that everything will be ok. She is an incredibly easy baby averaging 12 hours of sleep each night, ocassionally 13. Dream baby!

I am in season 5 of 24. Loving! Every minute I can steal away to watch it I do. Currently I am in season 5 episode 18.

For our 15 year anniversary we are taking a Caribbean cruise. That is plenty of time to save, plan and dream. Ideally we would do a Mediterranean cruise but I think that would be way too much moolah. So excited to one day see all the places on my bucket list. I think a Mediterranean cruise would help to cross off a lot of those. I figure that by 2013 my baby will be fine without me for a few days. Our last big vacay away was to Kauai for our 10 year. Uh-mazing! The day we returned home my daughter turned 5 and my grandfather died. Lots of highs and lows for the day.

Homeschooling is going great. I am loving our schedule. Dani asked to work ahead the other night so that our Friday would be chill. I had dreamed of doing stuff like that, but wouldnt suggest it. Her idea so I was obliged to do Friday schooling on Thursday night.