How Much is too Much?

As Christmas is fast approaching, I begin to ponder the question, how much is too much? How many presents do we really need? How many decorations are really necessary? When did Christmas get so complicated? As I walked into Michael's Craft store yesterday, I immediately noticed the overabundance of decorations; everywhere I looked there were decorations to help you create the perfect scene of Christmas in your home: angels, garland, berries, beads, ornaments, wreaths, bows, miniature houses, and ribbon. I watched as various women hurriedly gathered up decorations, and I began to wonder, Is Christmas really about the decorations? Is Christmas really about making your home a winter wonderland? Why do we spend so much money and time on things that don't really matter? I understand the desire to want your house to feel like Christmas, but sometimes at what cost? Every year we are bombarded by magazines and media giving tips and ideas on how to decorate your home and lists of things you just have to have to make your Christmas perfect. When did it become a requirement to have bead covered garland going up your staircase, the perfect exquisite centerpiece on your table, a to die for decorated mantle, a wreath on your door that turns heads, and a flawlessly decorated Christmas tree? At Christmas there are so many people living way beyond their means only in an attempt to have everything they think will make the perfect Christmas. Why can't Christmas be simple? I myself love to look around my house and see a semblance of Christmas, but I think it needs to be kept in perspective. I love to look at my Christmas tree covered in kid made ornaments, ornaments that adorned my Granny's tree until she passed away and now adorn my tree, ornaments collected, bought, and made for me by my sweet mama through the years and presented to me when I moved out, so I could start my own traditions, and the cute ornaments that Rich made as a child. I love to look at the miniature churches that my dad gave us last year; when I look at them, I think of him. I love to look at the Christmas cards sent to us by those we love the most. I love to hear Christmas music playing in the background, as I sit on the couch listening to my children play as a fire blazes in the background. To me that is what Christmas is about; it is not about how great your house looks compared to the magazines or even your neighbors, and it is not about how many presents you have under your tree. Christmas is about the Spirit of Christ. It is a time to show love to those you love and those in need; it is a time to remember what is most important. When my children are older, my children will not remember how perfect or imperfect our house is decorated, but they will remember the memories we made as a family during Christmas. They will remember how we spent time together putting up the Christmas tree, looking at and talking about each ornament and memory associated with it as we placed it on the tree. They will remember how every year we piled up into the van in our pajamas and went to look at Christmas lights. They will remember buying a present every year for someone in the community. They will remember making Christmas treats in our kitchen while dancing and singing to Christmas music, and later going as a family to deliver the goodies they helped make. They will remember going back to where their mama grew up to watch the Christmas parade together (as their mama rattled on about her own childhood memories, trying not to roll their eyes). They will remember the spirit of love and kindness felt in the air, and most importantly they will remember the real reason we celebrate this time of the year,

Jesus Christ.

President David O. McKay (1873–1970) declared:

“True happiness comes only by making others happy—the practical application of the Savior’s doctrine of losing one’s life to gain it. In short, the Christmas spirit is the Christ spirit, that makes our hearts glow in brotherly love and friendship and prompts us to kind deeds of service.
“It is the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ, obedience to which will bring ‘peace on earth,’ because it means—good will toward all men.”
Giving, not getting, brings to full bloom the Christmas spirit. Enemies are forgiven, friends remembered, and God obeyed. The spirit of Christmas illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world’s busy life and become more interested in people than things. To catch the real meaning of the “spirit of Christmas,” we need only drop the last syllable, and it becomes the “Spirit of Christ.”

Absolutely Hilarious!!!!!!!!

For those that don't know, this is a scene from the movie Twilight, which is of course based on the book Twilight. I know you must have heard of the Twilight series; it is all the rage right now. People everywhere are reading the books, watching the movie time and time again, and quoting lines; I too read the books (carrying the books everywhere with me until I finished them all), but alas only one time each. I did not feel the need or desire to read them more than once, and I quite honestly was very disappointed in the last book. I also was one of the many women in the movie theater on opening night, and I did enjoy the movie; I didn't go in there with any preconceived notions that it was going to be just like the book (it also helped that I only read the books once, so I didn't remember the minute details), that however is beside the point. My purpose in writing this post is to share a link that I saw on my friend Heidi's blog; if you are a die hard fan of everything Twilight, you may be offended. I however found it absolutely hilarious! It is the alternate screenplay for Twilight, at least what the writer Eric Snider thinks it should be. It is worth checking out; here is the link http://www.ericdsnider.com/snide/my-rejected-twilight-screenplay/.

After you check it out, let me know if you laughed as much as I did.

Pictures from Braden's Turkey Feast

Last Friday Braden had a Turkey Feast at school, and I was lucky enough to go; thank goodness for good friends! Here are some pictures I took of Braden; I am really glad I got to go, because it made him feel so loved and special to have me there. It sure gets harder to spread yourself around once you have more children, but seeing Braden's sweet face light up when he saw me made the planning and sacrificing worth it; I sure love that sweet rascal!

Isn't this the cutest little cookie?! Braden however didn't even touch it; he instead gave it to another little boy in his class, who doesn't really have as much as the other children. It made me sooooooo proud of Braden being so Christlike, and I made sure to tell him so! One minute I want to hang him from the rafters, and the next I want to hug him and kiss him all over his sweet, dimpled face!

Motherhood is a roller coaster!

FANTASTIC Movie!!!!!!!

Rich and I watched this movie last night (based on the equally good book),

and it was

FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!

If the sequel is anything like the first movie, I say

BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!

I checked out both movies from the library yesterday (gotta LOVE the library), and I am sooooooo glad that I did! The first one was so good, that I want to add it to my Christmas movie collection. I can't wait to cuddle up with Rich again and watch the sequel. I would definitely recommend The Christmas Shoes to everyone (just make sure you have some tissue close by)! I'll have to let you know about the sequel after tonight.

Flashback

I have been attempting to organize all of my photos into Rubbermaid containers complete with labels and organizing my photos on the computer; while I was going through my various files and folders on my computer I found this video of Brooke when she was two, so here is a little flashback for your enjoyment.

*For those seeing this video for the first time, I guess I should explain that when this video was taken, I was pregnant with Emma; therefore I was a little hormonal and repeated this phrase more often than I realized. Brooke, much to my chagrin, brought it to my attention through her little "true to life" performance; kids don't let you get away with anything! :)

How could I not love him?!?

When I witness moments like these, it makes me love Rich more!

And when I clean up and find a book like this hidden behind our bed skirt,

I love him even more!!!!!

I also left it hidden, so the recent romantic gestures continue; I'm no fool!

I'm so glad I married this man,

He is everything I ever dreamed about and soooooooo much more!

Emma's Latest Skill

First, I guess I should start by explaining; every night before putting the cuties to bed, we as a family kneel down to pray. As we kneel, I ask who would like to say the prayer for us; well two nights ago, much to my surprise, Emma shoots her hand up in the air and yells, "Me!" I thought, this should be interesting, so I told her to go ahead and say the prayer. Emma then proceeded to fold her arms, close her eyes, bow her head, and whisper; I'm not quite sure what she said or if she really said anything, but she is definitely learning about prayer. I thought it was adorable! Braden and Brooke also thought it was fantastic, so for the last two days, they have continued to ask Emma to pray for them. I decided this was something I just had to get on film, so yesterday during lunch I asked Emma to pray for me a couple times; here is the result. Enjoy; hopefully you will find it as entertaining as we did!

And Our Student of the Month is...

ME!

ME!

ME!

Just Playing, I have never in my life been student of the month, student of the week, or student of the day. Well, there was that one day in kindergarten, where I got student of the day; the only reason being that I was faking sick, so I had to be really quiet in order to be believed (I guess I didn't really earn that though). I would like to point out though that during my school career, only my kindergarten teacher and my fifth grade teacher did student of the day; out of all the days in a school year, you would have still thought I would have achieved student of the day, sadly no. I even remember one day in fifth grade trying so hard to be quiet, but at the end of the day my teacher gave the award to Dawn a.k.a. Rainbow; we had nicknames in fifth grade, teacher's idea (like that wasn't scarring for a 10 year old). My nickname was Cuddles; lucky for me I have a thick skin, plus I had a flippant attitude towards my teacher (wouldn't you too if your teacher wanted to call you Cuddles in front of your class). I digress though; I basically decided after that day of trying so hard to be quiet and good, only to loose the prize YET AGAIN to Rainbow, I threw in the towel. I didn't try again after that day; in fact, I talked as much as I wanted, getting my name on the board everyday, often with a collection of checks. One day, my teacher, in all of his wisdom decided to put me in another class for an hour as punishment, where I promptly made friends, and you guessed it, got my name on the board. But again, I am digressing; let's get back to my announcement, Our Student of the Month for the month of November is....

Rich Maseda

Wait, that would Student of the Year; yeah, Rich got student of the year at his school in first grade. I say whatever my cute little goodie goodie :) .

Okay now for the real Student of the Month,

The Student of the Month for the month of November

is...

none other than our Braden Maseda.

(these are the pictures Braden's teacher took and sent to me along with the good news)

I'm so proud of my little Braden; he managed to accomplish in his first year of his school career, something I was never able to achieve (must get that from his Daddy). Last night we took him out to eat to celebrate; we gave him the option of waiting until the weekend and a trip to Chuck E. Cheese, but he couldn't wait that long. So, instead he opted for Burger King, or as he likes to call it Hamburger King, and hamburgers and milkshakes. All that matters is that he went home happy and on cloud nine!

One of the Best Sounds in the World

I love a child's laughter,

especially this little girl's.

I want to forever remember how sweet, innocent, and full of life it sounds, so I did what most mothers do, I dragged out the video camera. Here is a video of my sweet Emma's joyous laughter, one of the best sounds in the world!

(before watching, make sure to turn the music off at the bottom first)

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

I am glad to report that this morning ran more smoothly; why can't this be the new trend? What worked? I am not sure; it could have been one thing or a combination of things. First, the cuties all woke up about 5:30 this morning (yes, earlier than usual), meaning they had time to play with each other and their daddy while I got breakfast ready; I'm wondering if that time to play and spend with Rich made a difference; we always have breakfast together, but that is it. Rich usually woofs down his food, we say a quick family prayer, and then he is out the door. Is that what made the difference? Or was it the talk I had with them before they started getting ready? You know, the we are a family team, we need to work together, show love to each other talk. Or was it the music I played while they got ready? I had to turn the music off a couple times when they started slowing down, but they quickly started speeding up again in an effort to get the music turned back on; these are the Maseda Rump Shakers we are talking about. Or was it the upbeat fake it till you make it attitude I had today? I forced myself to praise Braden and Brooke for the progress they were making, rather than pointing out the things they had left to do. What exactly was it that worked today? What made this morning so different? Maybe it was the combination of everything? I don't know, but I sure am going to try to repeat it tomorrow! My sanity stayed intact, I actually got a shower and got ready BEFORE taking Braden to school and not after, the cuties had 15 minutes to play after they got ready, we were all in upbeat attitudes on the way to take Braden to school (throwing in a little car dancing to one of Braden's favs, Boogie Shoes), and this morning all I felt towards this little boy

was LOVE!

Losing My Ever Loving Mind

Do you see this adorable little boy?

This is my son Braden, and lucky for him, I love him! I would do anything for him, including sacrificing my own life to protect him; that love is the reason that every morning I don't kill him. I ask you, how can someone you love so much also send you to the brink of insanity. Every morning I feel like I am going to lose my ever loving mind! It doesn't seem to matter what I try, he continues to dawdle in the morning or just chooses to do as he pleases. It was so much easier when Rich was home in the mornings to help, but now he has to leave super early to get to work. To try to help, I have made a chart for both children with their morning routine and bedtime routine, complete with little pictures; you know things like: wake up (picture of sun), make bed (picture of bed), eat breakfast (picture of pancakes), brush teeth (picture of a toothbrush), you get the general idea. Their night routine chart is similar, it has things like: take a bath, get pajamas on, brush teeth, hang up towel, put dirty clothes in hamper, lay out clothes for the next day, etc., complete with pictures as well. It's not super complicated, and very age appropriate; I have reviewed the routines with both Braden and Brooke a number of times in the process of implementing them, to insure they understood the process. By using the charts, I was hoping to help instill some independence in Braden and Brooke, help mornings and evenings run smoother, give them some ownership, help my sanity, and hopefully prepare for the mornings in the near future when a newborn baby is going to be thrown into the mix of the morning chaos. My heart is in the right place, but it is not going as planned. Brooke is obsessive about following her routine; she in fact will not do anything out of order. Case in point: A couple weeks ago, Rich was watching the cuties, so I could go to church; well, at bedtime, he told Brooke to hang up her towel. Her response, "No Daddy, let me show you my chart. I have to brush my teeth before I hang up towel, see." Alas, I do not receive the same response from Braden in regards to the charts; in fact, instead I either get the Whatcha talking about, say what?!? face, or he ignores the routine completely choosing instead to play with Emma, read books, or basically do anything rather than get ready. What am I to do? Life before the charts wasn't much better; I just don't know how to get him moving in the morning. I am desperately trying to find his currency. I racked my brain today of ways I could perhaps help. Here is my list:





1) Play music in the morning as they get ready; as long as they are getting ready the music continues to play, and if they stop, it stops. (not much incentive for most children, but these are the Maseda rump shakers we are talking about)


2) I already set a timer in the morning, and if it goes off before Braden is not ready, he gets no spiked hair for the day. I think also that maybe he should miss school one day, and sit in his room, only coming out for potty breaks and food. It would be like missing the bus. (If he was older, this might actually be an incentive to dawdle even more, but he is anxious every day to go see his friends at school)


3) Start a morning ritual at breakfast where we sing a Primary song and read a scripture, maybe helping him to feel the spirit every morning will help him want to be more loving and helpful; it might also help me keep my cool when I feel myself going over the edge.


4) I considered a positive reinforcement chart, but I'm not sure if I like that idea. The routine and chart was to help Braden and Brooke learn to be self motivated; I worry that if I reward for everything, they will grow up only doing things for an extrinsic award. I want them to be motivated by intrinsic rewards. They already get poker chips for doing chores, which they can cash in for things like: watching a movie, taking a bubble bath in Mommy and Daddy's big tub, 30 minutes of computer time, etc.; I just don't want to reward them for everything. I want them to feel that sense of accomplishment. Also, they already know that if they get ready early, they have free time; I think that is enough of a reward, if they can get to that point.


5) Try to be excited every morning; act like a cheerleader. You know, the ol' fake it until you make it routine. Try to be more upbeat in the face of frustration.


6) Sit down with Braden and see if there is an underlying issue, yes a mini therapy session, hey, my mom is a Psychology teacher, what do you expect?!? I picked up quite a bit from my many, and I do mean many, little therapy sessions growing up. Hey, he will thank me later; I am grateful to my mother now, just not then. :)


7) Keep plugging away, maybe he just takes longer to adjust to change. Routine can never be a bad thing.


8) Blog about my issue, and beg for suggestions.





As you have gathered, I am following through with my 8th idea; if anyone out there has any sage advice or ideas, please share. Or if you just want to reassure me that I am not the only one feeling like they are going to lose it most mornings, those reassuring words are welcome as well.

Family Home Evening~Recap and Reflection

Well, today is Monday, which means another Family Home Evening. Tonight I taught the lesson, which was on Love; it was short and sweet, perfect for the five and under crowd. Lately the children have been arguing more, and I have had less patience lately; it is probably because Rich has to be away so much, but it still needs to be addressed. Anyway, we began the lesson by singing As I Have Loved You, and then we talked about how important it is that we show love to each other as a family; we also talked about how we had not been doing as good of a job as we could. I also pointed out that Jesus was our perfect example of what it means to show love to others. Then I showed the children all of the hearts I had cut out, and I asked them what hearts represent. After we talked about how they meant love, I explained that we were each going to think about ways we could show love to each other as a family; as we came up with them, I wrote them on the hearts, and then the children and Rich posted them all around the picture of Jesus we have on the pantry (to remind us of who our perfect example is).

Here is a picture of our finished product:

Here is Rich's favorite heart:

Rich especially liked when we reviewed all of the hearts before putting them on the pantry door. As I finished reading, "Mama will work on not yelling.", Brooke exclaimed, "Yeah, that is a good one." At this point Rich broke out in laughter, yeah, yeah, yeah, funny. At least I was the one to write it down; I think it takes a big person to admit their weaknesses. I know I need to work on yelling less, that is why I wrote it on the heart. He wanted to make sure I shared that story on the blog, so there I shared it; now the whole world knows I am not perfect, but I think ya'll were already aware of that fact. I don't profess to have reached the pinnacle of perfection, but I do try everyday; I get up, I pray for patience, I pray for forgiveness, and I try my best. Somedays I do better than others, and on the days I don't, I repent, and go to bed determined to try again tomorrow. Every day I get up and continue on my journey; I try my best to show my love to my children, show my love to my husband, serve Heavenly Father to the best of my ability, and not waste my time worrying about things that don't matter in the grand scheme of things. One day I will reach the end of my journey, but until then I will just continue to plug away at this thing I call life and motherhood; I will do my best, work on weeding out my weaknesses, and repent when I fall short, and on the days I do fall short, I will remind myself that Heavenly Father knows me, believes in me, and loves me despite my shortcomings.

Southern by birth~Southern by the grace of God~ Tried and True Carolina Girl

As you may have guessed I am very proud of my southern heritage, either that or I have listened to Alabama's song "The South's Gonna Rise Again" one too many times in the last few days; in my case, it would be both. I have to admit it has stirred my southern pride, not that it took much stirring to get that pot boiling; it is always at a low simmer. I come from a long line of true southern belles and gentlemen, having ancestors going back over eleven generations just in South Carolina, and having family that fought in the Civil War. I am proud to say that I am a Southerner and all it entails.

Childhood Summer days spent at the beach,

Summer days spent barefoot walking through soft grass,

Splashing in the puddles after a good rain,

(my sister)

Summer nights spent catching lightning bugs in jars

(we don't call them fireflies in the south),

mud pies, hay rides, family reunions, Easter dresses, watermelon, barbecues (knowing the distinct difference between eating barbecue and having a barbecue), and all the things that make a southern childhood special. Being a true southern woman is so much more than that though: it is unfailing good manners, maintaining both your class and composure in the face of great trial and tribulation, pride in your ancestry, knowing the fine art of entertaining, knowing how to whip up a meal that will leave them wanting more, knowing how to be both soft and strong, understanding that your greatest joys in life come from family, not being afraid to have a strong faith in God, making sure to always make the most of every moment you have, enjoying and savoring even the simplest things in life, not judging a book by its cover, knowing that beauty and grace have more to do with inner beauty and the way you carry yourself than anything else, making sure to always protect both your character and your word, being comfortable with your femininity and not apologizing to anyone for it, finding just the right balance of beauty and intelligence, and using your feminine wiles to catch and keep YOUR MAN!

Here is the man I caught, Think that is good, look at this one

(ooooo how I love a man in uniform)

I make sure he is pampered and well taken care of; in the South, we believe in stroking our men's ego. We know how important it is to let our men know that we are glad they are MEN! We as Southern women are very comfortable in the role we play; we love being women, and have no desire to be anything else! We walk beside our men, not behind, but we still look to them for guidance, as they look to us. A man who has captured a Southern woman's heart knows the prize he has won, and he treats her accordingly!

I have even more pride in being a true Southern woman when I contemplate about the Southern women that are and have been in my life, the ones who have taught me the fine art of being a Southern belle, even in this day and time.

First is my mother, a.k.a. Mama; she has taught me how you can be both incredibly intelligent (she most definitely is) and be feminine at the same time. She taught me how to achieve the balance of beauty and brains, and she taught me that what you put into life is what matters the most. My mama taught me to be passionate about life; she taught me to dig deep into my soul and find the things that make me feel the most alive, the things that bring me the greatest happiness. She also taught me about resiliency; she taught me how to look to my inner strength to find solutions. Mama has taught me that what I think of myself matters more than what other people think of me; she taught me that as long as I was happy with the way I was living and was being true to myself, then it didn't matter what others might think. My mama has always taught me to know and remember who I am; her constant advice to me as I was leaving the house was, "Remember who you are!" It's advice I still try to follow everyday.

Next, is my granny, my mama's mother, who sadly is no longer in this life. My granny taught me about selfless love, giving to others for the sake of giving, not to get noticed or praised. She taught me what it means to always carry yourself with style; my granny is one of the classiest women I have ever known. My granny taught me the importance of laughter and joy; she taught me that you don't have to have a lot to be happy. As long as you are surrounded by the ones you love, you have the greatest treasure in the world. She also taught me what it means to have an unfailing faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father; in the last days of her life, her body racked with pain and sickness, her faith never failed. God and Jesus were her constant companions, and through her trials, she held her head up high and carried herself with dignity and pride. She is a true steel magnolia!

Last, but not least, is my grandmother, my 84 year old grandmother I must add. My grandmother has taught me what it means to take the bull and life by the horns. She has also taught me what it means to be a steel magnolia, both of her parents died when she was young, she put herself through nursing school, and she used the fine art of playing hard to get to capture the heart of Edward Crolley, my handsome granddaddy. He was the love of her life, and when he died 20 years ago, her life could have been over. She could have let herself be consumed by sadness and grief, but she didn't. My grandmother taught me that it is okay to grieve, but then you need to get up, brush yourself off, and keep going. Grandmama has taught me to never stop learning and to make the most of every moment you have in this life. She takes line dance lessons (they go dance for the "old folks" at the nursing home :)- to quote my grandmama; did I mention she is 84), she goes on excursions to the mountains with her Golden Girls gang, she travels to Africa, Spain, you name it, she has been there (probably in the last few years in fact), she e-mails, and now she even has a facebook account. She never has and never will let life get her down; she is a fighter, and that has been an incredible example to me!

So as you can see, being a southern belle has nothing to do with being frail and weak, as so often is the belief, but it has all to do with being strong, courageous, graceful, polite, faithful, and feminine; we face life head on with dignity and pride, and do our best to enjoy every minute!

I am proud to say that I am Southern by birth, Southern by the grace of God, and a tried and true Carolina Girl!!!!!!!!!!!

Exercising Control

Before I begin, a.k.a. share the news, I would first like to say that I believe children should be allowed, even at a young age, to have some control over decisions. You know, things like, "Would you like the red plate or the yellow plate?" "Do you want water or milk to drink?" "Do you want to pass out the plates or the cups?" "Do you want mayonnaise or mustard on your sandwich?" Lay out what clothes you want to wear tomorrow (Brooke puts quite the outfits together). Pick out the toothpaste you want Mama to buy. You get the general idea; of course as they get older the choices they get to make change and evolve (I am still only dealing with cuties 5 and under). I think that by letting them have control over certain aspects of their life gives them confidence, helps them be more independent, and they hopefully won't feel a need to rebel (at least not because they are rebelling against control). Well, this week I let Braden exercise some of that control over his own life. Braden has decided to branch out and exert his creativity; he and I went Wednesday afternoon to get our haircut, and he informed me that he wanted it cut short. He wanted it cut short, because Braden has now decided that spiked hair is the cool thing; I thinking that there could be worse things than a little boy who wants to spike his hair, said sure. You could also tell that it made Braden feel really good to be able to decide that for himself; his little face beamed when I replied to his request, "Sure bud, it's your hair." I also have benefited from this little hairstyle change, one, I think it is adorable (I can see his cute face better), and two, I use it as an incentive to get him to get ready faster in the morning (which is something we have been struggling with). Now, everyday he asks me if I will spike his hair, and I simply reply, "If you get ready in time, I will, but if you don't, there won't be enough time." At this point Braden runs around like a mad man getting ready as fast as he can, and I think, 'YES, that was easy!'

And now I present a new spikey version of Braden:

As an afterthought, I started thinking that maybe spikey hair is some kind of rite of passage, because I remember a certain young brother of mine sporting a similar hairstyle; I rifled through my old photos to find proof of said hairstyle. Here is that picture of Paul in all of his spikey, acid wash jeans glory (remember Paul, you love me, so you can't kill me).

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! My beautiful, wonderful sister turns 30 today, and I tried to send this e-card to her; her e-mail at work however would not accept it, so here it is Elizabeth. Happy Birthday; I love you!!!!!!!!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

*By the way, I also sent it to your hotmail account, but I don't know how often if ever you check that account.

Sweet, Loving, Crazy, Energetic Emma

As I have said before, there was no mold to break with Emma; she is as unique as they come, and we love her for it! She can be sweet and loving one minute: giving out hugs, blowing kisses, and waving at anyone that passes, and in the next she can be crazy: dancing, wanting to dress up in various get-ups or stripping off every item of clothing, climbing on the tables, or running like mad when you discover she has something in her clutches that should not be there. Then of course there is Emma's temper and attitude, and yes, she has both; aren't we lucky?!? Case in point: A few days ago, she, Brooke, and I were in Wal-mart (AGAIN, I really should buy some stock in that place); I had run over to the toy section just to check on a toy for Christmas, but I needed to hurry and get the other items on my list. Well, as you may have guessed, Emma was not done looking at toys; she let me know it, first by trying to hit me (I backed up of course), and then by biting the cart (gross). To say that Emma is quite the spitfire would be an accurate synopsis of the situation, but she also can be quite the sweetheart! Luckily, we as family are quite entertained by her shenanigans!

For your watching enjoyment, here is a little sampling of our sweet, loving, crazy, energetic Emma:

First a video of her performing while sporting a yellow wig, and holding a Hannah Montana microphone (both bought at the 75% off Halloween sale, gotta LOVE it)

Now here is Emma sporting a Hello Kitty shower cap while getting her groove on.

And here are a couple videos of Emma just looking cute (and doing a little talking).

My Little Man

Tonight I got to go on a date with the cutest little man this side of the Mason Dixon line, my sweet Braden. Recently Braden's behavior has been less than stellar; so Rich and I sat down last night to discuss possible causes: bad influences at school, jealousy of his sisters, not enough time with his busy daddy, and not enough one on one time with me. We came up with a game plan, and first on the list was some much needed one on one time with me. Braden often has to compete with Brooke and Emma for attention, never quite getting enough. It is not like the old days, when it was just he and I; my motto then was, "Have baby, will travel." Travel is exactly what Braden and I used to do; wherever I went, he was by my side: to Wal-mart, grocery shopping, to get my haircut, to church, you name it, we were there together. Then life changed for him and our little family as we added Brooke and then Emma, and soon little Colton will join our growing brood. With each new addition, more joy came into our lives and our family, but it also meant more sharing of the Mama. So tonight Braden and I went on a little mini date to Sonic, just us, no sisters in tow; he loved it! We pulled up to the Sonic, parked, and Braden crawled up front and perched himself in the passenger seat. He and I discussed what we would order, put in our order, and chatted while we waited for our food. Braden told me about his friends at school, what his daily schedule is like, what he wants for Christmas, making sure to inform me that he is getting me a necklace, a ring, and some flowers for Christmas (he doesn't have any money of course, but it is sweet that he would like to get me those things), and he and I discussed his recent behavior. Finally our food arrived, so we set up our little picnic and continued chatting. Braden and I talked about what he likes most about our family, what he likes the most about his day, what I do that lets him know that I love him (quality time, my words not his), and he informed me that he thinks he should stay home and have me teach him (yeah, not sure what to think about that yet). As I looked across at him, it hit me how fast he is growing up and how important it is that I keep finding time for moments like this; I want Braden to always know that he can come to me to talk, but I know I have to lay the groundwork to make that happen, starting with moments like tonight. It was such a nice evening spending time with my little man; I could tell it really meant a lot to him too, because halfway through our dinner, he looked at me and said, "Mama, I really love you!" I of course said, "I love you too my little buddy!" Before I knew it, our date had drawn to a close; I hated knowing that our one on one time had ended, but I knew that it was just one of many dates to come with my little man, the little man who one day won't be so little anymore.

Perseverance Pays Off

Well, today I went round two with Emma in another attempt to get some print worthy pictures; this time I pulled out the big guns. I bribed (with goldfish), I cajoled, and I did a little song and dance to get her attention (okay, I didn't dance, but I did sing the five little monkey song to elicit a smile and look). Braden and Brooke also enjoyed trying to help; I say try, because helping isn't exactly the word I would use for what they were doing. Either way, I would call this afternoon's photo shoot a success; I didn't lose my mind (completely), and I got a few good shots. It also helped that there was more light and less nasty weather to work with today than a couple days ago. Anyway, back to the topic at hand; drum roll please, here are some of my favorites of Emma today. I think the first one is my all time favorite though ( think it turned out the best); it is probably the one I will print for family, and anyone else who wants one.

(too bad she has goldfish in her teeth)

One more thing or question before I end this post,

Question: How do you know when Emma is done with a photo shoot?

Answer:

When she runs away from the camera,

when she shows you her goldfish

(letting you know that is all she cares about at the moment),

when she starts to look anywhere but at the camera,

(trying the if I don't look at her, she'll leave me alone tactic again)

and when she gives you the Emma look of death,

you know the photo shoot is DONE!

(How could a face look so cute and so scary within a matter of minutes?)