my grandmother was awesome

"Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom His love commits me here. Every this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen."

My grandmother taught me this prayer as a child as a bedtime prayer. And just lately, I've been teaching the kids to say it before bed. And tonight, it made calming down Big M and getting him back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare a lot easier. He used to wake up from some sort of night terror hysterical when he was younger. He would scream, get up, and talk incoherently and not awake. Sometimes it took both Daddy and I to calm him down. After we moved to our current house a year and a half ago it finally lessened to 2x in one year. But in the last 2 months or so, the nightmares are starting up again. So before bed, I told Big M that he must pray and ask God to send him good dreams, or at least be there in his dreams to protect him.

Tonight, just moments ago, he woke up screaming. Daddy tried to calm him down but it wasn't working. I took over and tried to talk to him but it wasn't working very well. That is until I mentioned the prayer. We said the prayer together and with that he told me goodnight and went back to sleep.

My grandmother had watched over me from day 1 of my life and today, 10 years after she has passed on she is still watching over me and my family.

little rock stars

Here are J and Big M rockin' away with the xbox guitar. I think the no-pants look might be part of the rock star image.

I have a night out and I'm paying for it.

It's against the laws of nature for a mom to go out without her husband and without any kids! Why else am I suffering today? Last night I joined a few other moms for a mom's night out in Dallas. We spent hours eating at The Cheesecake Factory and talked and laughed and talked. But of course a mom's night out is not as easy as getting dressed and leaving the kids behind with their Daddy. Oh no. My day began mid afternoon by cleaning up the kitchen and cooking dinner. And while the boys are somewhat occupied, I snuck out and got a quick shower so I didn't stink like Salmon. I mean, there's nothing like making friends when you stink like fish. Then I had to pick up the girls slightly early from summer camp so I could give them their baths before dinner. Incidentally, I got to sweat all over again giving them baths. But I guess sweat is better than fish. Right?
So then it's dinner time and I squeezed in a phone call to make sure hubby comes home in time for me to go.  Thankfully he came home with enough time for me to change and freshen up before I headed out.

So the other moms and I talked, ate, giggled, guffawed, snorted and then it was 10pm and we all run for the our cars because God knows what kind of mess the Dads made of our house.

I get home to a sleeping house, except baby was not sleeping. He was awake and wanted to play. I gave him Tylenol since he had been teething and in pain the past few nights. It helped him not be cranky, but it didn't make him sleep. Do they make Tylenol PM for toddlers? Gotta look that up. So now it was past midnight and the baby was crawling around me and was starting to cry. Another hour or so and I was going mad. Sleep, for the love of everything holy. Sleep!!! So another hour and baby was quiet. I moved his leg that was resting on my arm and he woke up. ARGH! Now I'm thinking I should have ordered wine instead of Coke at dinner.

So that's it. I had fun last night and now I'm being punished. How dare a stay-at-home-mother leave her den without anyone attached to her? Oh, and get this. While I was going mad in the middle of the night, a loud storm and bright lightening started booming. Yeah, I get it. I should have just stayed home.

Oh, I just love my kids.

Father's Day!

Happy father's day to my hubby. You're the greatest Daddy in the world! When your kids rush you when you get home from work, you know you're doing great. :)

For Father's Day, Big M woke his sisters up and coordinated an attack on Daddy in bed. The problem was Daddy was already up and about. Foiled!  We then went out for a brunch at IHOP since Daddy had a craving. We planned to be there at 10am to beat the crowed. Little did we know that the rest of the city was planning on doing the same thing. We had a 30 minute way so the kids and I just stayed in the van while Daddy waited inside. It was already hotter than hell at 10 and the line was outside the building. While waiting in the car, I heard, "Hey! Stop it! You keep moving while I'm picking my boogers. You're interrupting my booger time!" That was Big M yelling at his sisters. Hilarious!

For the rest of the day we played Kinect games on the xbox 360. I thought Daddy was going to pass out at one point.

It was a good day. :)

summer is a drag!

Our summer schedule is exhausting! Big M go to summer camp MWF and the girls go TTh. This means I don't get to be by myself (or rather, Little M and I don't get to be by ourselves), unlike when school was in session. When there was school, baby and I were alone on MWF when the girls go to school on those days and of course Big M is in kindergarten everyday. On Mondays I clean the house from the weekend mayhem. I vacuum the kids' rooms, the living room, the kitchen and change bedsheets. When I don't have time to do all, I do them sometime on Wednesday or Friday. I don't clean everything, but I do get to what needs to be done some time and then I get to be in peace by myself when Baby M takes his naps.

This summer I either have 2 kids, or 3 kids depending on the day, which means I am constantly answering someone's request: I want juice, I want this, I want that, or I'm done (from pottying)! My kids are highly independent and self-sufficient but there are still never-ending requests! And I can't find the time to do any cleaning because when I do find a quiet time, I'm exhausted. I am also trying to get the kids out because it is summer after-all. It's just highly frustrating to leave a cluttered house and then come back to a cluttered house. ARGH!

I love my kids, but I need time alone!!!

But with parenting, there is the 90% of the time when I want to pull my hair out, poke my eyes out and stuff pencils in my ears, but there is that 10% where everything is awesome and we all get along. Without that 10% I would be in a mental institution.

daddy/daughter date night

I found out that Chick-Fil-A has a Daddy/Daughter date night once in a while so I signed Daddy and the girls up. Apparently some Chick-Fil-As go all out with red carpets, etc. Our neighborhood one did a great job, but they didn't go all out. Nonetheless, it was a night with just the girls with Daddy so it was special.

(J has the orange headband and K has the 2 pink flowers.)

We have the most beautiful daughters!!

neighborhood block party

Our neighborhood had it's 2nd annual block party. The 3 bigger kids and I walked over there thinking of playing in the bounce house for a bit and walk back home. It turned out there was a wet bounce house, which they thoroughly enjoyed. But they weren't dressed for it. So I called Daddy to bring their swim suits so they wouldn't have to walk dripping down on their shoes. But then the girls didn't want to get anymore after changing to their bathing suits. Go figure. There were pizza, popcorn, snow cones, balloon lady and more! It was a lot of fun and we got to meet some of our neighbors including a family with 2-year old identical twin girls who live one street over.

some pretty funny stuff

So here is Little M fed up about being in the kid corral. Although he has free reign of the house, there are moments we put him in there for safety. But I guess he isn't haven't that anymore!

And here is Big M being a hip hopper.  The cackling noise in the end is me about to die laughing.

Wow, this is actually getting easier.

I took the girls and Little M to an indoor safari play place last week. I didn't know how it would go with me shaving to watch 3 but it wasn't that bad. Of course this meant that I didn't know where the girls were at every minute. Some parents would freak out if they can't see their 4 year old every minute in a public place,  and I do too but I fight the urge. Because if I don't, we would never leave the house. Thankfully, K hung around Little M and I. And when it had been too long since I knew where J was, I asked K to help me look for her.

Little M had a log of fun. His sisters give him confidence to try something most toddlers his age wouldn't try.

After playing, we met up with Daddy to eat lunch.

Happy 4th Birthday, Katelyn and Jordan!

I can't believe my baby girls are 4 years old already! How crazy is that? It seems like yesterday I had an assembly line to change diapers and put them to sleep. Today they are outgoing, fun-loving, fearless little girls. Mommy and Daddy love you, K and J!

For their party they picked a super heroes theme. I asked if they would rather have a fairy or princess party but they insist it be super heroes. So here they are dressed up as super heroes with their friends. It was a fun party.

K with the red mask, J with the blue.

J on the left, K on the right.

J on the left, K on the right.

J on the left, K on the right.

But they did have a girly ballerina cake which the loved!

This is their traditional birthday pancake. 

This is part of their gift from Daddy and I. It was fun watching them have a puppet show!

14 months old and having fun

An impromptu shoot in front of the house while the bigger kids were gone. At 14 months he is adventurous, fearless, vocal and mellow. He throws a quiet tantrum because he knows his parents are always busy helping one of the other 3 older siblings and crying for a long period of time won't get him anywhere. He is vocal because he hears his sisters and brother talk non-stop. Though he knows not to waste his voice while they are rowdy. When it's a bit quiet, he chats everyone's ears off. He is adventurous because after being man-handled, trampled on and pushed around by his older siblings, nothing could possibly be scarier. He is mellow because when the others are around, he knows there is always someone to pay attention to him.

cooling down at the spray park

Big M, Little M and I joined a group of moms and headed to the spray park. It was hot but when you're wet you barely notice it. Little M had a lot of fun walking around not caring where I was. There was a big playground beside it so the boys did a little playing there too and then got wet some more.

I got soaked blindly following Little M around and not looking where we were heading.

School is out!

With school being over comes the new crazy schedule. Big M goes to the girls' school on MWF and the girls go TTh. This wasn't planned but when the girls were advanced to another class when they turned 4, the swim days for the class is TTh. They would not get to swim at all for the summer if they kept their MWF schedule.
Our first outing while Big M was in summer camp was just to the park. With the weather being in the high 90s the only time to go to the park is really early.



Having a snack and a drink before they pass out from the humidity.



K picked a flower to give to Daddy. But of course it wilted before Daddy came home. She was very upset.



Little M doing his own thing.



Little M enjoys the swing with K pushing him. Getting pushed by J results in whiplash.

Cars 2

Mid week week last week, Disney's Cars 2 came to Dallas to promote the new movie. I still remember Big M watching this movie over and over again at 2 years old so I bought he might like to see life-sized Mater and Mcqueen. The event was at 1pm but school doesn't let out until 2:45. He has never missed a day of Kindergarten and school is almost out. I decided to pick him up early. The reason for the early kick up - " dr's appointment". Shhhh.

At the event, people started ligning up early so by the time we got there the line was very very long. An hour later, Big M was getting impatient. Little M had not made any noise but he was getting close. It was 95 degrees in full sun. Finally we just called it quits. We took a picture from the side and headed to the mall where Big M had more fun. Two words - Lego Store.

Some backyard fun and random pictures

The girls, Little M and I played in the backyard for a bit after taking Big M to school. We bounced a beach ball around and then K and J helped Little M play with the basketball.

K helping Little M with the ball, or taking it away from him. I can't tell.



K guarding Little M.



J's 2nd boo boo on the exact same spot! She went nose first on the wood chips in the playground at school.



Playing water gun in the front yard. The front yard is nice and shady in the afternoon, which makes it perfect to play in even in the hot weather. It's really like a second backyard.



My carpet Lillies are finally blooming!



My little apricot rose. Love the color!



J is behind her paper doll fashion show.



K's fashion show is all about dresses, but she ran out of glamorous dresses with the third doll.



Big M showing his 2 front teeth that are about to fall out. They're pointing straight out!

break-dancing at the bowling alley

So here are the trio doing some break-dancing at the bowling alley. With the lights and sounds you'd think they're in a dance club.  K is the one wearing the sideways stripe and glowing pants, J is the one with the necklace and of course Big M is the moon-walking fool. It's still moon-walking even if he's moving forward instead of backward, right?

Family bowling

We spent memorial day having our family's very first bowling games together. In between turns we ate lunch. Little M was in the table getting fed by everyone, though we didn't know it at the time until the poor little monkey threw up from over eating.

Bumpers went up for the kids and came down for Daddy and I. The kids also used a ramp, but on our second game try kids tried without it. J won the first game. We didn't finig the second game but Daddy was in the lead. At one point the lights in the alley were dimmed, black lights turned on and music blared. The kids started dancing as if they were in a club. I will post a video of it another time.  We played a little arcade better heading home. It was a fun holiday.