The Family

Christmas only gets more fun as the children get older! I knew it was a success when Cariña said "This was the best Christmas ever! I loved everything I got." Phew, I thought long and hard for each gift. I was not willing to spend money on gifts that wouldn't get played with. Also I was able to complete their pjs before Christmas eve. They turned out cute. Cariña loved her nightgown.

Here is the kids opening up the Christmas eve pajamas. They were cute.

Here is Cariña with her polly pocket mega set. This was a great gift. She has played with it consistently for the past week. In the picture below she loaded her polly pocket crew on her cousin's mega truck.



This is one of Helaman's favorite gift. The BYU glow in the dark ball. Balls are always great gifts. The only problem is making sure the kids don't fight over the ball.




I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This is the start of my Christmas decorations. This is my Christmas mural. I am not an artist but it turned out okay. I love this type of decorations because when I am done, I take it down and throw it away and I don't have to store it. :)


This isn't a great picture, but it shows the details a little better. Cariña and Helaman helped alot. on the left you can see all the scribbles Helaman did and Cariña did the tree on the right. She did a great job.

I am not a big fan of Halloween. I have never been a fan. I quit trick-or-treating in 5th grade because I didn't like it. I don't like dressing up, I don't like knocking on doors, even if there is candy on the other side. Therefore my kids have suffered because I am the biggest halloweener. (do you get the joke :)) Last year Cariña went up to the doors all by herself, did I mention she was only three then, while Sam and I stood on the sidewalk and watched. Poor girl. So this year I decided that we would go hang out with cousins to help with the excitement of the holiday. It was well worth the drive to see my children have fun that I couldn't provide them with. :)

At first I didn't know what to do for Helaman's costume but then the idea came to me. He was a cave man. Any person that has heard Helaman grunt and has seen his stocky self, knows that this was meant to be. He was adorable, and I only wish that he didn't have to wear all the warm clothes underneath. Oh well.

Then there is Cariña. We all know what she wanted to be. Well I hate princesses, fairies, and anything girly and unoriginal. I have enough sense to know that I can't tell her not to be things that she likes, so this year we had an unknown compromise (unknown to her anyway). I was inspired at the fabric store when I found the sparkley pink leopard print that she could be a cave girl princess. At first the idea was rejected until her cousin wanted to be cave-girl princess twins. So in the picture is the cave people clan. Aren't they cute.





Here is the entire group. It was a fun group and the kids had a great time.


Here is the family pictutre. The kids sure are cuter than Sam and I. I don't know how we got such cute kids.

I hate Halloween candy. Not just for the fact that it is terrible for my children, but I have no control over myself. So when they are over in their bedrooms playing, I am sneaking into their bags eating the candy. Why?
Do I love it? No, not really.

Does it taste good? No, not really. It is always too sweet.

Does it taste like wax? Usually, and if not wax, some other fake ingredient.

Does it make me feel good? Not at all. Physically I feel disgusting.

Do I feel good about myself? No, I feel like a failure because I really don't want to eat it, but I am.

Is it satisfying? No!!!! I only want more when I am done.

Is it worth it? Not a chance. I gain weight. It is full of hydrogenated fat, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors and flavors, and other mystery ingredients that are usually chemicals that I am sure cause cancer. There just isn't anything good about it.

Why do I do it? I don't know, maybe because those stupid candy companies know that sugar is addicting and put more in it so that people like me can't control themselves even if it doesn't taste good.

Bottom Line

I HATE CANDY!!!!! (Why can't I be better?)

Helaman has a favorite pair of shorts. He seems to find them everywhere and always wants them on. I finally had to throw them behind the dresser so he couldn't find them and they could get washed. Well the washing thing hasn't happened because obviously I haven't remember them behind the dresser either. :) So much for my brilliant plan. :) Well here is Helaman with his favorite shorts that he put on all by himself. Good job Helaman!!!

How could anyone resist such a sweet little boy with such sweet little legs.


The back view. FYI he has put them on right before, (well mostly, they usually are twisted :)) but this was just too cute.

The other day I had one of those moments where you question your decision about having children. Don't worry whenever these moments come they are always fleeting, and as soon as I see a smile I always remember why!

So here is the story.

I was at a craft store with a friend and I started smelling something terrible. The first thing I thought was it can't be Helaman because he just had an explosive diaper this morning. Luckily Sam was just hopping into the shower so it was a good excuse to have Sam change the diaper and put Helaman in the shower with him.

My next thought was man this store stinks, but this thought quickly left as I realized the quality of the store. Anyway I was really just hoping that it wouldn't be Helaman. But as he was sitting in the cart his jacket came up a little and his white onesie was soaked in brown, slimy liquid. Great just what I needed. So I ran out to the car grabbed a diaper (luckily I had one) and my huge bag of wipes.

When I headed in I grabbed a couple plastic bag from the store front. Mostly I just wanted to put Helaman in the bag. We headed off to the bathroom. I was lucky they had one. :) We walked in and there was one sink. I was trying to figure the best way to handle this situation, but truefully there was nothing to do but hose this kid down. So I took off the clothes and put them in the bag, but I HAD to rinse out the onesie, The rinsing would have gone much better if it wasn't a push sink that I had to keep pushing to keep the water on. :) So here is a kid walking about the bathroom with no clothes on, no socks or shoes, and poo all up his back. Lovely. :) I finally rinsed out all the clothes and had to start on the kid. I took off the diaper trying not to let anything drip and then put Helaman in the sink. It was a tiny sink so he sat in the sink toliet style. I was able to get him mostly clean when a lady entered the bathroom. Great now I have to hurry so this lady can wash her hands in a clean sink. She was obviously a grandma type and was very understanding of the messy, stinky bathroom. (I did apolgize!) I got him mostly washed off and was on my final rinse when I went to wipe his bum, but I noticed that it was really dirty. I pulled my hand away just in time for him to relieve his intestines once again. Please, is this really happening to me! So now I am trying to wash everything down the sink wipe Helaman, and clean the sink before the lady comes out. What a mess. I barely made it right when she walked out. I grabbed the can of lysol that was provided by the bathroom and did the spray for the lady.

I put Helaman in his coat, socks, and shoes and off we went. Hopefully we wouldn't be going to any more stores. :) Once I walked out my lovely daughter say, "Mom, I need to go to the bathroom." Urg, fine let's go. So she goes in and starts yaking. She is notorious for talking and putting off what NEEDS to be done. It drives me crazy! So she is standing my the stall door telling me something. I can't remember what because what I am thinking is Will you just go kid! :) Finally she gets into the stall and comes out and starts washing her hands. Her hands are covered in soap she tells me, "Mom I forgot to push out the poo." Really are you kidding me. Well go. But of course she can't because her hands are covered in soap. So we have to wash the soap and go again. So I wait and she is still yaking by the stall, again. Finally she goes and it was a good thing she did, because it was just like Helaman's. I am sure it was the 15 peaches they have each eaten the past couple of days. :) Finally we leave. My hands were so dry from washing them at least 15 times in those few minutes. :) As I left I had that question, why did I have kids.

Well it didn't take long before I realized why. I saw Helaman with his little manly strut walking out of the store with his jacket and shoes. He was so funny. Cariña was taking care of Helaman and how could I resist. They are just too cute, but I will tell you what, we sure have cut back on our peach intake for a couple of days.

That is really a rhetorical question that doesn't need to be answered. My daughter already answered it for me with a big resounding YES! :) You have to love four year olds that are too smart for their own good. :) Here are the reasons she gave me. . .
1. I don't listen very well
2. I always get angry.
3. I try to listen but really don't.
4. I don't let the kids buy what ever they want.

Actually I have been feeling like a bad mother lately, and that is why I asked Cariña. I knew I would get an honest answer from her. Although, I was really hoping for a "No, of course not mom, I understand the stress and worry you have been under and I know that you love us." But obviously that wasn't the answer. :) Here are my reasons I have been feeling like a bad mother.

1. I always get angry. This is interesting because I have been trying to be more spiritual and read my scriptures. I try to read a couple of chapters in the morning but my kids won't let me. They are always bothering me and crying. So it takes me an hour to read the chapters and inevitably I can't stand being interrupted anymore and I lose my temper. It seems interesting that I get the most angry when I am trying to be better. :)

2. When people ask me if I am going to send Cariña to preschool I say no. I want her to explore and learn things on her own for right now. So I always prided myself in teaching things when they ask. A couple of years I asked Cariña is she wanted to learn to write her name. She said no. So I never tried to teach her. Well she picked up writing on her own. She has always had really good finger dextarity. I mean she could color in a 1/8 inch circle when she was two. But my point is now she is really interested in school. Since she doesn't go out to school I told her we could have school at home. She was so excited and got her backpack ready with pencils, color pencils, paper, toys, etc. She has had writing, math, art. (Here is my chance to teach and be that great teacher who leads to great learning right!), but now I say no, no school right now, I am too tired. Really, How pathetic am I?

3. My heart still breaks when I think of little Helaman's tear-streaked face. These last couple of weeks I have been under a lot of self-inflicted stress. So we have not been eating well at all. My kids have gotten way to much processed, artificial flavored, colored, and sugared food. So last night when the kids didn't finish eating their dinner, I told them that they could not have a cookie at the family history activity we had to go to. We even brushed their teeth before we went. At the activity the people in charge were wonderful and had a nursery but at the end of the nursery they told the kids they could go and have a cookie. I was eating MY cookie when the kids came up. I reminded them that their dinner was still on the table at home and that they could not have a cookie, and it broke their hearts. EVERYBODY!! including all the kids that came were holding two and three cookies i their hands, and there was my kids standing there empty handed. The saddest picture was Helaman standing on his tip-toes staring at the cookies with tears streaming down his little face. He wasn't throwing a fit, just so sad that he couldn't get a cookie. I was about to give in, but made such a big fuss before we left and up to this point that I couldn't give in. If I did I would lose what little authority I have been able to maintain these past four years. But was it really fair that I was so strict when it has been my fault that they haven't eaten anything good for the past two weeks?

Oh well, what can a bad mom do?

Not a chance!!!!! We had the weirdest thing happen last week. . .

Sam's mother sent us a forward of an email that she received from Sam. It said that he was in London without money and requested money to be forwarded. Of course it was a Spam. But then I started looking at the email address and it was Sam's email, everything. So I told Sam about it and he said that he found out the day before that his email address was stolen. Apparently Sam got an email from windows that said that they had too many empty accounts and were running out of room and needed to clean up the storage space. I actually read the email and thought it was real, too. So they said to sign in and and the account wouldn't be deleted. So Sam did it. He said it looked real. Then the next day he couldn't get into his account and everyone from his contact list got emails begging for money. It is kind of embarrassing. :) So don't send us money!, unless you really want to because you love us! JK :)

The worst part was our paypal account was linked to this account. So we went onto paypal to change everything and change the link, but I couldn't remember the password. I requested the password and they said okay you answered all the questions correctly we will now send your password to your email. (Which was the email that was stolen!!!) So in desperation I contacted the bank and closed my accounts! So now we have no cards, checks with no name, so basicly we can't go shopping until we get new cards from our new banks. What luck. Just add this adventure on to the list here in Utah. This place has been the refiner's fire for us, and I am tired!

Since our lives, (at this point anyway) tend to be more transient than most I have no desire to buy things if I have something already, (like a cheap white tablecloth to cover storage boxes). Also I am not willing to spend what few pennies we have for savings to buy stuff for the apt. It just isn't worth it to me. That is until the plastic tablecloth I had, and the cheap plastic shower curtain look like this. At this point I am willing to spend a few dollars to appear decent.

Does the cloth help? Well, since their is no holes it does look better, but that pile of cords is hopeless. (Our tv has no connections in the back. Oh well it was free, what am I going to do, complain) Savers was going to sell me this piece of cloth for $2. That is way to expensive for a small piece that really can't be used for much else, so I put this piece of cloth in a bag full of material for $4. I am not sure what I am going to do with the other material, but at least I got something else. :)

Below is yet another ripped project. Oh well, as you can see I was never able to get that pink moldy stain off, so the kids gave me a justifiable excuse to get a new shower curtain. On the way to the store we were telling Cariña that we were going to the store to buy a shower curtain because she and Helaman had ripped the other one. Then we asked if it was a good idea to rip something. Then she says, "Why do I feel like you are trying to get me in trouble!" Her guilty conscious was weighing down on her mind. :)


Here is our $5 (from Savers) non rippable cloth shower curtain. I thought $5 dollars is a little expensive for a used shower curtain, but I really liked it, it is still cheaper than the store, and hopefully the kids won't be able to rip this one.


So what do you think. Were the improvements worth $7. I don't know. I think it is a little expensive for second hand stuff, especially for material that is almost completely useless, but I guess anything is better than cheap ripped plastic.

So we won't start with the ouch photo first. Mostly because I don't know how to move the pictures. But this one was cute. We went up to the temple to show the kids what the temple is. Notice the beautiful flowers in the back ground. It was beautiful and I was sorry that I was sick that day. Hopefully we can make another trip of it.
I don't know why they,especially Helaman, enjoy chomping on green peppers. Cariña will eat some but I can't get Helaman to eat anything green. Oh well, he was just doing what his sister was doing. He definitely likes to do anything Cariña does. It is cute!
Here is the ouch picture! Poor little guy. He fell in the bathtub and hit his face on the side. He put a nice big gouge on the inside of his cheek. The picture only shows the outside, but he won't even let us look on the inside. Today he soaked through two shirts with drool because he couldn't close his mouth and swallow. It was sad to watch him today. Hopefully it will get better tomorrow.

With our computer it came with a camera effects. The kids laughed themselves silly for an hour. It is pretty funny. This is what we got recorded.

So minus all the stress and unwanted adventures I have been having, here is something worth blogging about! We got a new computer. It is an imac. My dream finally come true. You may be wondering how on earth could we possibly afford a new computer since Sam really hasn't been working the entire summer, especially such a nice imac. Well here is the deal. my fabulous sister-in-law asked her fabulous father if his company sold any computers. It turns out that they sell their used computers. Since it is such a nice graphic company they frequently get new computers. This one was one of their old ones. It looks brand new, and has way more stuff than I even know about! :) The best part is the price, and this is the only reason why we got a mac (my husband otherwise wouldn't have done it. He is not much for change, but he couldn't argue the price.) Are you waiting. It was only $250. I can't believe it. Thanks to Krys, her father, and his company, all my wildest dreams have come true!

This past weekend Sam and I took a last minute trip home to Oregon, again! The first time I was able to spend 2 weeks there, but since my job, I don't have the luxury of vacation time anymore. It has been hard to accept. It was so nice to go home and see my sister that I haven't seen in 2 years. The only problem with a weekend trip, is that you are always on the go. The trip down was pretty uneventful and the kids were ready to party, but on the way back was a completely different story. Poor little Helaman got so car sick. From the first picture you can see the happy little Helaman, with that big smile. But that smile was all gone on the trip.It started about an hour and a half into the trip and continued until we got home. Poor kid. The picture explains his misery.

When we got home we had to wash his car seat, any t-shirt that wasn't being worn, and all the blankets that were used in the car to catch the throw-up. Let's just say we had to stop on the road several more times than usual to clean him up and change his clothes.

Then to top it all off we we arrived at home and came into the house, there was this awful stench. I finally found the source which was a big bag of potatoes that spoiled in a plastic bag. The bag was filled with nasty fermented potato liquid. Just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. Luckily the bag didn't leak, and I was able to throw it away, but he box it was sitting in smelled and that too had to be thrown away. The smell lasted two days afterward. URG! It is gone now and no more potatoes until the winter and when there will be no traveling!!!

I can't really seem to understand what is going on. First Helaman just decided one night that he didn't want a bottle anymore. Forever I would give him a 4oz bottle of water and he would drink it, put the bottle aside and fall right to sleep. I never tried to give up the ritual because why mess with a really easy bedtime routine. But now he won't take the bottle and he somehow learned how to climb out of his crib.

Next out of no where Cariña has started coming up to me saying, "I just love you so, so much!" and "Your the best mom in the WHOLE world!" I am not sure what she is wanting. :) Then the other day I asked her once to clean up the living room and the next time I looked it was spotless. I mean what's the deal. (Not that I am complaining)

Then I all the sudden got a job. I went an ESL graduation and saw all the praise the teachers got and I missed it. So out of complete selfish spurr of the moment I told Sam's supervisor that if she needed another teacher I could teach. After it came out of my mouth I regreted it, but than Sam and I prayed about it and decided that if she remembers and gives it to me than I will take it. It was never mentioned again and when I came back from my vacation I had a teacher's meeting. I am not sure how I feel about the whole thing and don't really know what to do. I haven't worked for years.

So I am not sure really what is going on. I just keep getting these surprises, both pleasant, and not. Oh well we will see what else life can throw at us.

There is not much to say about the video, except that it is hilarious. I am glad Alma didn't quit and gave Helaman a good beating. In the last fight Alma gave up. Helaman deserves a good beating. Before you think I am an insensitive mother you should see the blood blister Helaman gave Alma on his back from a bite. I guess a cookie is worth fighting for! :)

ps notice how Helaman went in the boxing hug for a break. :)

I think BYU came out the conqueror, but there should be some leniency towards U of U as BYU didn't have his mother watching! Although I am sure BYU was glad I was watching because you can tell that U of U went in for the bite several times but knew he would get busted.

I am not one to really brag about my kids, but every once in awhile it is fun to show others what they can do. Here is my few times of praising my kids. Here is goes!


Cariña's has shown signs of having finger dexterity skills. Here is some of her things that she has done. This first picture is what I saw one morning. Apparently she woke up and quietly got into the craft box and
wanted to make something. So she woke me up with her snowman picture that she did completely by her self. Notice the green on the bottom for grass. The best part was I asked her what the line was that was going across the page. She told me with no hesitation, that is the horizon. At first I didn't remember telling her about horizon lines before, but then it came to me that one time we were coloring, several months ago, and I drew a horizon line and she must have remembered. What a funny girl!


These two plants she planted by her self. She got the dirt, seeds, and cup from her nursery class. She came home and "read" the instructions and planted them all by her self. Her reading was pretty good. She must have remembered it all from the teachers explaining.








This envelope has her writing. I have never gone over writing with her. I have offered several times, but she never wanted to, so I decided to wait until she wanted to. Well this was her first time trying to draw letters. She actually did a great job if you ask me. Also those envelope lines are pretty small.








This idea came from the "Friend" Magazine. It was a story about a kid making a can to put things in. She did this completely by herself too. Notice how well the paper fits on the can. She cut out the paper by herself. She used elmers glue, and I didn't think it would hold so I didn't encourage this project, but it worked.










This is her water painting. It is actually really impressive that she stayed so close in the lines especially since water colors bleed through the paper.









This is her ability to stay within the lines. Give her a small tipped maker or pencil and she can color the smallest things. This picture is just a section of a larger piece of paper so it is hard to tell the actual size of the picture. The picture is actually much smaller than it appears. She has actually been able to color this well since she was barely two. Good job Cariña!

The videos below are of the kids at my chiropractor. My chiropractor is so nice that he adjusts my kids every time they request, for free. They absolutely love it. For awhile they were getting a free adjustment 3x a week because they would beg after I get adjusted. It is kind of embarrassing to have such beggers for kids. Anyway my chiropractor is fantastic. He has gotten me to be able to run again. He is the only chiropractor that has been able to fix my jaw. He knows which muscles to massage when my finger knuckles seem to pop a little to often. He helps when my arms go to sleep. There is only one other chiropractor that has almost helped me as much as Dr. Carter, but not quite. My kids backs are better because of him too,Thanks Dr. Carter!

Helaman is my favorite to watch. He absolutely loves it. Notice when he climbs up on the table he just lays there, and doesn't move until he is done. Anyway I have to agree with Helaman, there is little that compares to a good adjustment.
Thanks Dr. Carter

ps don't let Helaman's crying fool you. He is not upset about getting adjusted. The reason way he is crying is because it is so cute when he crawls up onto the table, but he was crawling too early and I wouldn't have gotten it on the camera so I pulled him down. He was MAD about that. Also did you notice the huge slobbery spot by his mouth when he gets up. :)

ppss sorry about Cariña's lack of covering in Helamans's video. I didn't notice until I watched the video after it was loaded, and now I am mortified, but what can I do. I have already tried to do this video several times and my chiropractor is such a good sport to let me do it that I don't want to bug him a 4th time. :)

So they were done about 2 weeks after Easter. Well, except for Helaman's button holes. I sewed on the buttons and then safety pinned him in. It was pretty funny because the nursery teachers noticed. :) oops. But I finally finished them on Monday. My machine doesn't have anything besides a straight stitch. (But just for the record this straight stitch has gone through 12 pieces of sweatshirt fabric without even thinking about it. This is why I can't give up my machine.)


Here is Helaman's outfit. This is the jacket that made my life miserable. The good news is this past Sunday Helaman walked in and I over heard this lady say, "what a cute jacket." It made the torture worth it. :) Well maybe. This jacket was suppose to have a collar, but as you can see there is no collar. I think it was because I added extra fabric on the back. Also the shorts are way to big. It was a size four pattern but I took the size 2 pattern and it didn't seem that much bigger and the size four patter was so much easier and after the jacket I wanted easy, but from the picture down below you can see that the shorts are way to big. They make him look like a cholo.


Here is Helaman. What a handsome dude. He is wearing Sam's glasses, and notice his wide, opened mouth smile. You just can't help but smile.


Here is Cariña's dress with her bloomers. The only reason why her dress is acceptable to her is because of the glass buttons, and the only reason why she is absolutely in love with her bloomers is because of the lace on the bottom. What a girl!!!



Here is beautiful Cariña. But that stinkin girl took out her green bow in her hair and put in a pink one after the picture.






Can you find what is wrong in the picture. Yep it is the pink floating comb. Helaman chucked the comb right as soon as I pressed the button to take the picture. What luck! Both kids are nuts. :)

So what do you think. Were the outfits worth the torture and misery, and should I do it again next year? :)

Helaman is my super cute little guy. He is so smiley and with his smile it is always the big wide open mouth smile that is so contagious. It is the type of smile that you can see both the top and the bottom teeth and gums. He also has super floppy, soft ears that are irresistible to play with, and yes he does have a big round head. He also goes by several names which include, Helu, which is the most used. It was given by Cariña when he was just a baby and has stuck. Helababy, which is the cutest and given by Arys his cousin. Other names include Hela-monster, Search and Destroy, phone wrecker, biter, cord lover, and whatever else anyone can come up with. Here in this picture he was dressed for church. I can't resist little boys dressed nicely for church.


The next couple of pictures are what happens when I am not looking, or for the more dramatic ones, the activities happen when I am in the shower. The picture where Helaman is in a skirt, Cariña dressed him all by herself. She did pretty well. After a few minutes she got on a skirt and 2 shirts so she could match. Poor boy. The funny thing is some children could look like either sex when they are children, but not Helaman. He is 100% boy and looks pretty ridiculous dressed up in a skirt.



With an older sister you can't help do what she is doing. It is too bad that she isn't playing with cars or something more manly. Notice that they are twins again. They are wearing their purple outfits with blue headbands. With the headbands Helaman is playing Lamanites. :) It was the mostly manly thing we could come up with for the headbands.



This picture inspired another nick-name that probably isn't the best, but I couldn't resist. When I pulled his pants up I didn't realize how stretchy they were, so ineffect this is what happened. Poor wedgey boy.






Poor little Helaman was so exhausted that he fell asleep right there. It was Sunday and he didn't take a nap, so at 7pm he zonked.






This picture I can't resist. We found this wig at a thrift store. What more can I say. :)






This is also what happens while I am in the shower. He has been playing with knives. I obviously couldn't take a long video while he had the knife. Usually I come with bananas all chopped up. Yes I am obviously not responsible, but I do put my knives away and I have no idea how he always finds them. The other day he got the cleaver out of the drawer and was holding it over my head. I admit I did scream and grabbed the knife. Luckily I didn't cut my self as the sharp end of the blade was the first thing I grabbed. :) I have reorganized the drawer so he can't get to the knives. Yet the other day I found him standing in the kitchen sink standing on a knife with another knife that had fallen into the disposal and the tip of the knife was pointing straight up. I don't know how he does it. Luckily he has only had one mishap and that was when I was trying to take the knife away and he quickly put it back on the counter and it fell off and the tip fell and nicked him in the toe. Stinkin kid!

ps I haven't proof read this because I have started it three times and I just need to get it up!

Anyone who knows my mother, don't worry. I have already addressed her about the stress she is causing me. On Sunday my stress level reached an all time high, and I realized it wasn't my fault, but my mother's! I was trying to sew Easter outfits for my 2 children, and I realized then and finally came out with it in the open, (although, I have known subconsciously for a long time) I hate sewing, but I do it on the fact that I loved my mother sewing for me. I have the fondest memories of wanted to go to a church dance and decided 2 hours before that I wanted a new skirt. Two hours later I was always on my way to the church dance with a new skirt. I really can't express how much I loved my mother's sewing abilities and all the things she has made me.

Now here I am wanting to give my children the same joy I had in my youth, so I turned to what I loved and am trying to do that for my children. The truth is I am a terrible seamstress and sewing just causes me a lot of stress. For example I made Helaman a little Easter jacket. I found the cutest pattern at the DI which was made in 1969. I unpicked the collar 10 times, cut out 2 different pieces because I messed up, and the jacket now has no collar. Cariña's dress I had to redo the zipper, the hem around the waist, recut the sleeve, and the lining, unpick the sew-on facing several times. I don't know why I get myself into these projects, but actually I do. It is like I said I want to give my children what my mother gave me and I just can't do it!! :) So we will see about next Easter. I just might have to finish these project or give up for good. :) Pictures are to come once I finish the detailed work like the buttons, and shorts, etc, and as soon as I can find someone to put them on a cd so I can download them to my computer.

ps You know I love you mom.

I love my daughter. I better, the job of a mother is to love her children. But I can tell you this, I love her, but she sure knows how to drive me crazy, but before we go there here are some pictures of the great things that she is and does.

First she is so cute. I love this picture of her in her fairy costume. I have to give credit where credit is due, the first reason why she is so cute is the genetics from her dad. She got all of his great features like dark eyes, and black, long curly eyelashes. To be honest though I hope she doesn't get his eyebrows. :) Boys can get away with uni-brow, but not girls. :) Second, her first cousin once removed, Tiffany, bought her HER DREAM costume.


She is such a good sport. On Christmas Eve she wore her new Christmas PJs with such enthusiasm that it made me happy. She has since not enjoyed wearing them except to match Helaman. :) This is one thing that drives me absolutely crazy is that she wants what everybody else has. She does it all the time with food and I can't stand it. "Helaman has more than me!" She will say this often and it is usually true because she never eats her food EVER!!!! It is always a big fight. Ps I made the PJs.

She takes care of Helaman. On this day the kids disappeared into the bedroom with the door closed. They were in the room for about an hour, but all mothers know that sometimes when there is no crying you just let things be. This time was one of those times. I was getting ready, and making breakfast so the last thing I needed was having kids on my ankles. When they finally appreared, Cariña had changed his night diaper, and put all his clothes on him. You can tell by the diaper tab that she did it by herself, but she actually did a great job. She even had a onsie on and snapped. I was pretty impressed. I wish she would do it every morning, but the truth is the second time she tried it Helaman wasn't up for the long event again. :)


She loves her brother. Sometimes a little too much. In public she is always making sure that no one is bothering him, and is giving him all the toys that he wants. But at home she also uses this attitude to get what she wants. "Helaman wants to watch tv, or Helaman wants cereal." These are just a few examples of things that she wants but uses Helaman as a ploy. What a little snake. :)




She can always pose so cute for the camera. She was fighting with Sam just until I took a picture. But I love this picture with Daddy and daughter.






She is such a cute dancer. I think the video shows you more than I can write.




Can you see what is different about Cariña. Yep, we cut her bangs. It was pretty funny because she decided that she wanted bangs, but she didn't know what they were called. She came up to me a couple times and pointed to her dolls and said something like, see how their hair is like this, while pointing to their bangs. :) So I asked her one day if she wanted her hair like that and she did, so we cut them.

1.Other things that I love about Cariña is that she is a fantastic colorer. She has been able to color in lines since she was 2. She cuts on the lines when she uses scissors. She has great hand dexterity.
2. She loves classical music. She calls it little girl music, and she hates her dad's hip hop. What a good girl.


The thing that drives me crazy every time is her eating. I will give you an example of what I go through every day at every meal, and I am not kidding. The other day I made porridge with peaches. It was quite good. Helaman loved it, but for some reason Cariña just didn't want to eat it. She cried and sat at the table for at least an hour. Finally I got her to eat half of it before we had to leave for the chiropractor. As soon as we entered the car and were buckled, mind you 5 minutes after she is at the table, she says "Mom, I'm hungry, I can't wait until we get home so I can eat my porridge." I about lost it. Like I said it is like this at every meal. She is going to be the death of me yet, but I still love her and am so glad she is with us.