The Ultimate Sacrifice

This is a story about the perfect lunch...or the thought of one anyway. It was a beautiful day down here in Southern California and the kids were so excited about eating outside. I nuked them some chicken nuggets (a childhood staple), grapes, frozen peas and a blanket and sent them outside to bask in the glory of sunlight. Inside, I had other plans. I'm sure all of you moms out there will agree with me that having the opportunity to make a killer lunch for yourself and not having to wait hand and foot on your kids is the ultimate in pampering.
So my attempt at a fantastic lunch began. I whipped out the George Foreman grill, plugged it in, and started building the panini to rival all paninis (a hot sandwich). Ham, cheese, mayonnaise, onions and pepper were loaded on and then butter slathered on the outside. Into the Foreman it went and I could smell the mouthwatering smells of success.Then the dream stopped. The slider opened and Mikayla's voice was heard saying, "mommy, there are soo many bugs out here. We keep having to go like this (swinging her hand wildly to combat the fictitious bugs in the house). We can't eat out there. I'm coming inside." At this time, my sandwich was finished and I turned to pay all my attention to dislodging it as gently as possible from the Grill Master. This was the result of minutes of heartfelt assembly and waiting...

Ahhh...oh, but wait. A second child has now entered the building. He's tired of the bugs as well, or just copying his sister. I have to go get his food and place him at the table. That's ok, they can eat their lunch while I eat mine. I take the first bite of pure melted cheese heaven.....

"mommy, what's that?"

"it's my sandwich.mmmm"

"I want some"

"me, too mommy, I want some, I want some, want some" (tyler)

"here, you can have a bite"

"yummy, mommy, can I have that one?" (pointing to the leftover half)

"me too, me too, other half, other half, mommy, other half?"

....it seems like hours go by as I make my decision.

"fine, I'll split the other half between you."

...and here they are, eating my finely crafted sandwich

and this is what I was left with...

At least I had ranch to dip it in. The sacrifices we make for our children. I should get a jewel in my crown for this one.

Halleluiah!!!!!!!!

This post is about Halleluiah's or, in other words, "praise God!" While you're reading this next entry, just sing the Halleluiah chorus to yourself, especially this first one....and sing it with gusto!

#1. This one's a big one. Our neighbors finally moved out!!! (you're singing the chorus now). This may sound harsh but it really is a blessing. This house used to be the domain of a loving family, a few fights and raised voices once in a while, but a nice family....then came the divorce. All of a sudden, the wife moved out, shady characters moved in with the husband and a steady stream of cars started driving down the street in the middle of the day (gee, I wonder what they were doing?). I don't know about you but that spelled trouble to me and my door stayed locked at all times. The police were called in and things kind of calmed down for a while but we knew the house had been foreclosed on since last June and we were just waiting for the bank to come reclaim their property. Finally, they came this last week and forced the gang of characters out of the house, rekeying the lock. Well, they moved all of 10 feet to the garage where they camped out for 5 days still doing their extracurricular activities and making the street feel extremely trashy. Then, last night, the sheriffs came and now, the tarp that took the place of the garage door (yes, it was dismantled) is home to no one. Can I hear a big AMEN!!

#2. Halleluiah for half priced egg dyes. I know most people dyed eggs BEFORE Easter but I had no time or motivation until I saw half priced kits at Wal-Mart. So we hard boiled 9 Easter eggs and used the dyes all of 2 times each, producing some pretty cool Easter eggs.

The finished product before all of the stickers. They were pretty proud of them.#3. Halleluiah for shoes that fit...and cameras that don't cover all of the aisles in Wal-Mart. Now, before I tell the story, let me reassure you that I usually follow the rules but, in this case, bending them a little was imperative. My son hates any shoes that he's not used to (do I hear an amen, Cara?). I have bought him shoes in the past only to have a response that would rival most tantrums when I try to secure them to his feet. This is why, when we came upon a pair of CARS sandals in Wal-Mart and he seemed to enjoy wearing them around the store, I whipped out my scissors, cut the tags, and allowed him to "break them in" on the rest of the shopping trip. I just want to point out that if I hadn't done that he would either have had a fit in the store or later when I tried to reattach them to his feet. When I brought the single tag to the counter to pay for them along with my other purchases, the lady just smiled and rang it up like it didn't even phase her. Makes you wonder...Here he is in his new sandals. Now I'm hoping I can put the other, nicer shoes when Sunday comes around. He'll probably want to wear the CARS sandals to bed, he's so attached to them.#4. Lastly, can I hear a Halleluiah for CD players that won't play CD's anymore but that still have that good old tape player. My daughter wanted to listen to songs since she has liked singing to the Disney princess songs so I found this old Disney tape (yes, tape) that I had bought in high school and then found this old clunker to play it on for her. I first had to teach her what the tape was (which she responded with "how cute and small!") and then I showed her how to use the tape player. It kept her busy for about an hour!! #5. Praise God for Bill and Julie! While at Target, my cousin's husband, Bill, called me and he was also at a Target, far away. He had found this digital clock that was PERFECT for Mikayla and he told me he was getting it for her. Bill, it was a hit-you can tell by the look on her face. The best part was the song sung by Cinderella that it plays. It will come in very handy when we need to give her a time limit in her room. It's so cute and she is very excited. You guys are awesome! Oh, just wanted to point out that Tyler is also excited about the gift (as you can see in the picture).

#6. Praise God for things to praise God for. This year has brought many struggles upon our family as well as new challenges (like baby #3). As I pray for strength and endurance to get through those days that try my emotions and patience, I thank God for little things like shoes that fit and incredible people that help bring me back to a good place. For that, I say, "Halleluiah, AMEN!"

Blast at the Beach

My cousin Cheryl always has great ideas. Going to the beach was one of them. It was a beautiful day in Southern California so we headed out to make the most of the weather and get a sunburn in the process. I must add that I don't think she had any idea that it took practically an hour to pack up half the house, the food, and all of the clothing changes for 3 kids and me for the day. I told myself I was crazy for even thinking of going to the beach but I did it...and I'm glad I did.

Cheryl and I weren't the only ones at the beach due to Spring Break but there weren't so many people that your kids got lost in the crowd. I must add that I slathered them with suntan lotion but forgot myself. I made the wrong assumption that my entire body was under the umbrella with Lynnea but, as we were walking to the car, Cheryl informed me that my shoulders looked a little pink. You KNOW that when your shoulders are pink outside, they're going to be realllly pink inside the house. Boy, I felt it when I took a shower that night and, as I write this, there is still an uncomfortable burning sensation right in the middle of my back and on my right shoulder. I always tell myself that "I'll learn next time." Next time I'll remember that my whole body may not be out of the sun like I think it is. Here's the miraculous shot of the kids and me at the beach. Can you believe we're all looking and smiling?? Tyler saw this adorable puppy at the beach and followed it for several minutes. It was the cutest thing and I got this cute picture of Tyler doing a Matrix-type move to keep an eye on the dog and follow instructions to "come here." The foot is doing an almost unnatural bend in the process.

ok, ok, this next one is a little small but I wanted to get the whole beach in the blog since it's such a cute beach. I'm so proud of myself for getting them put together but you'll have to click on it to get the whole effect. This beach is across from million dollar homes and surrounded by luxurious condominiums. It's a nice little inlet.

Here's a little slideshow of the afternoon. I had too many pictures to pick just one. Enjoy.

Easter Weekend

Get ready, there are a lot of pictures. This last weekend was packed full of activities and we all had so much fun celebrating with friends and family this wonderful holiday. Before I start in on all of the happenings, I just wanted to show you a picture of my daughter's hairdo before we went to the Adult Fellowship Easter party. I think she has more hair than any of the rest of us. If we didn't comb it after a bath, this is what it looks like...After we tamed the wild one's hair, we headed off to the party. Thanks to the Lewis' who hosted the event for probably 30 kids. I don't know if I'd be that brave but we appreciate you opening your house for all of us. This Easter brunch has been a tradition for the last few years and it is always so much fun. Rob leads the kids in singing while some adults go hide the 100+ eggs and then the kids go out according to age and snag their 10 eggs. Tyler was in the first group. He had to open some of his eggs to check out the goods before he kept them. He ended up polishing off half of his candy before the party ended. Good times! A family that used to be in our class and moved away came back to visit this last weekend. It was so good to see David and Sara and spend some time with them and their girls.Here are the 3 Lee's after the festivities. Lynnea's trying to hang in there but I couldn't get her in a comfortable position. But we all must notice the red shoes. She still fits them!The girl I threw the shower for a few weeks ago had her beautiful baby girl this weekend. After 27 hours of labor, she finally had to have a C-section so I went to visit her on Saturday. Her little girl, London, is so beautiful and such a miracle. I can't wait to share in the joys of motherhood with Jenn. Her friendship is dear to me.So on Sunday, we were expecting to see Lisa and Ben, my cousin and her husband. Ben has been through a rough last year with cancer treatments and radiation and was finally taking a break from all of that to drive down the coast from Washington to visit us. Unfortunately, a few days before their visit, he contracted Shingles and was in so much pain he had to fly home. Lisa's dad then flew down to drive with her back home. We missed you Ben!!

That morning, we went to dim sum with Cara, Bryan, Cheryl and Lisa and Will's parents and pigged out. Then we came home, baked a turkey for dinner and then went to BJ's for dessert that night. Luckily I'm not working out yet or I'd feel like all my work was in vain. Here's Lisa trying on Mikayla's hat. Looks cute, Lis!!

We went to BJ's to have their famous Pizookie (a pizza cookie since it's made on a pizza plate). Lisa had never tried one so we ordered the HUGE one. This was just one sliver of it and yum, was it good!! It had 2 flavors, white chocolate macadamia and chocolate chip. While we were there, Lisa and Mikayla played Ariel and used their forks as combs. Since we didn't need them for the dessert, they were still clean...Lynnea tasting her first strawberry lemonade (just kidding). I don't think she even knew what we were doing with her.
We then came home, played and danced a little (not me) and then watched an episode of Charlie and Lola. If you haven't experienced the British twang of these cartoon characters, you should check it out. It's pretty cute most of the time.

All in all, we had a great Easter. Thanks, Uncle Gary, for flying down and being a part of it and Lisa for spending time with us. It was great having you here. Now we need to take a trip to your neck of the woods!!

Bringing the Cubs to the Zoo...

When my sister called yesterday morning and said she was going to the zoo, I decided that would be the perfect place to go to get out of the house and let the kids run off some pent-up energy. She and her sister-in-law, Marisa, were meeting there and were happy to have me so off we went. It took all of an hour to pack everything up, eat breakfast, feed the baby and herd the family into the van and we were off. The kids were so excited and, as we "disembarked" to enter the land of the wild animals (even though I would argue that sometimes that sounds like my house), I wondered if this was really something I wanted to tackle in my exhausted state.

The Los Angeles Zoo. Once we got here, there was no turning back.

The kids were so excited they could hardly wait to see the elephants and the komodo dragons (one of Mikayla's favorites).
The tiger looked so cuddly...and it looked like he wanted to take a swim. It was a beautiful day...not too hot, not too cold, perfect for herding 7 kids around the zoo. This meerkat was absolutely adorable. First of all, wouldn't you love to have a life of sitting back on your haunches and watching people adore you? You can just tell he's basking in the limelight. Cara told me that he's the only one in the exhibit due to the fact that if they add another family, they'll kill him off and make it their place. A little territorial, I must say. It would be a little lonely to be the only meerkat on the mound but I think it might be nice to have a little peace and quiet once in a while.
Mikayla manned the map. Incredibly, and not like her mother, she has excellent navigational skills and knows how to read maps, for the most part. Left to Marisa and me, we would have seen the same turtle 30 times before we realized we were walking in circles. I've always been amazed at Mikayla's memory and ability to recognize where we are when we're driving. When she was about 2 1/2, she was able to tell how to get to Grammie's house. Let me share a little bit about myself in that arena...even when I was a TEENAGER, I could hardly navigate myself to Marshall's. Some of us aren't born with a built-in compass.

The kangaroo before she went completely horizontal. All of the animals were kind of lazy that day.

Here is the gang of kids at the end of the day. We had so much fun, minus hearing the question, "can we get the rainbow drink now?" at least 100 times. The rainbow drink was some shaved ice that Mikayla wanted. Unfortunately, at the LA Zoo, they have more refreshments for the animals than the humans and, once we passed the shaved ice, that was the last time we saw it the rest of the trip. Even after telling her this all 100 times, my daughter didn't accept that answer

until it was the one she wanted to hear and that one never came. Therefore, I had to hear the question all day... "The moms" at the end of the day. I have an extra being strapped to me just for the fun of it (ya, right) but the Moby Wrap makes it surprisingly comfortable to carry kids for long periods of time. I would highly recommend it compared to the baby Bjorn. All in all, thanks Cara and Marisa for letting me join in the fun. We should do it again sometime.

A' Hunting we will go...

'Tis the season for Easter Egg Hunts. It's never been something I've been really "into" but this year I decided to take part in the MOPS hunt. It was so much fun for the kids and there didn't end up being that much candy!! I must admit that I was a little cheap when it came to filling my 24 eggs. We all have that leftover Halloween and party candy. Who's going to care if you recycle? I just made better use of it by opening all of the party packs of Skittles and Sweetarts and evenly distributing them throughout the Easter Eggs. It worked, right? And it got rid of my stash of guilty pleasures...

Anyway, we went to this really cool park for the Hunt. Tell me, isn't this park equipment the kind you would dream of when you were little? Where was this stuff when we were this age. Lynnea wasn't quite happy during the festivities. When she wasn't sleeping, she was letting everyone know how unhappy she was while I was helping the other 2 with their feverish attempts to grab as many eggs as possible. Thanks to several other moms (thanks Christie and Julianne), everyone didn't have to hear the agonizing screams for very long. Christie holding Lynnea during her happy moment.

Tyler running around the play area. It was more fun to run laps than play ON the equipment, apparently.When it was Tyler's turn to get eggs, after they threw about 200 eggs all over the grass, he went barreling onto the grass-the first one to go!! Quickly passing half of the eggs, he stooped to pick up a yellow one and proceeded to shake it to hear the goods. Unfortunately, the way they worked this one, they had tickets for other prizes in some of the eggs. These eggs didn't shake at all and, when he encountered one, Tyler would throw it aside and continue to try to find the "loud" ones. He did end up coming home with plenty of candy and plenty of new toys.Mikayla was pretty good at gathering eggs as well. She got a few tickets also and plenty of candy.

All of us after the festivities. Look, I'm still smiling! It was a fun time for all of the kids and moms alike.

Something to think about...

This last Sunday we sang a song that described the meaning of this Easter season. As Easter approaches, I wanted to reflect on the sacrifice of our Savior and the incredible gift He gave us. Here are the words and a link if you'd wish to hear it sung. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XrZV90MzOA&feature=related

How Deep The Father's Love For Us
Stuart Townend

How deep the Father's love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Chuck E Cheesy

In the morning, Mikayla woke up with streamers on her door and balloons around her bed and presents to open. She got 2 princess barbies from mommy and daddy and 2 princess videos. She seemed to like them...Then we headed off to Chuck E Cheese for her party. Before I get into the birthday festivities (a little late, I know), I must express my opinion on the wrapping of today's toys. When receiving a Barbie or other toy with many parts, be sure to get out the following tools: scissors, knife, screwdriver, and trash can....oh, and take a deep breath to try and keep your cool. Mikayla's friends were so generous in buying for her the coolest gifts from the Princess and Barbie shelves but one gift proved to be almost too much for me to open....the Barbie Bed (thanks, Aly). After getting the box open, which was pretty difficult to begin with, I then had to wrestle, un-rubber band, slice, and mangle various pieces of plastic to release Barbie from her straight-jacket type wrapping. Once I thought I had it, I then had to turn the whole thing over and repeat the process until she fell free. This is what I had to show for it... where are the days of "open the package and the toy falls out?" Anyway, all of her presents were "her favorite" so thank you, all, for your generosity. Following, are a group of pictures showing the festivities held at Chuck E Cheese (I haven't been there in at least a decade). It was surprisingly a blast!! I had visions of a ghetto restaurant with snot and other unknown "things" floating around the token rides. Instead, I was met with a clean, fun, entertaining place where all of the girls had so much fun and made me want to go again, soon! Here are the best shots.

One of the "rides" took your picture and skeched it. Tyler was a little shy.Here are the rest of us. We actually fit in one frame.All of the party girls eating their pizza.

Tyler's favorite ride.

Cutting the princess cupcake cake.Riding the rides.

Later that night, we headed to Red Robin to take advantage of their free Kid's Meal on your birthday. We pigged out on 'shroom and bbq burgers and then Mikayla got her very own ice cream sundae. With a little help from Tyler, she finished it all.

Here's a silly picture of the kids. They love hamming it up for the camera.

Gotta put a picture of Lynnea in here somewhere. She turned 3 months on Friday!!!!

After Red Robin, we headed to Grammie and Gramps house where Mikayla raked in more special presents, including a Jasmine outfit made by Grammie. It looked so cute and had to be worn the instant she got it. The next day, that was the first thing she put on and it has been on ever since, until we went out in the gravity-defying winds this afternoon. All in all, she had an incredible 5th birthday. Now she just needs to get her shots... (shh, I didn't say anything...)

This last picture was so cute, I had to include it. Tyler touching the baby's cheek, sucking his thumb. Mikayla hugging the baby and playing with her toys and all of them under the "new" gym toy for Lynnea that I set up in the living room. I can tell they're going to be the best of friends (I hope).