Sally Caroline Maseda

Brooke went on an adventure today in our backyard with none other than, ta da, her imaginary friend, Sally Caroline Maseda; here to tell you all about her adventure is Brooke.

Sleeping Cuties

How sweet is this?! I crawled a.k.a. snuck out of bed this morning, trying hard not to wake my sleeping cuties; I actually got to shower and get ready in peace, HALLELUJAH! Even in my rush to hurry and get ready before they woke, I couldn't help but look at this sweet scene and be struck at how blessed I am to have 3 beautiful crazy children!

Braden's Thanksgiving Party

Here are pictures from Braden's Thanksgiving party at school. They all looked absolutely adorable dressed up as indians, but Braden of course was the leader of the pack in the cuteness department.

One of these things is not like the other

If anyone has watched a Primary Sacrament Program, you know that there is always that one child who is doing their own thing, that one child who can't seem to sit still, that one child who does all he or she can to draw attention to themselves, that one child who tries to carry on a conversation with his parents in the audience, that one child who has designated himself the ham of the production; today that child belonged to me (and to think Rich and I worried that Braden might get up in front of everyone and get scared, freeze, and refuse to stay up front for the entire program). During the program Braden proceeded to: crawl all over his chair, fall on his butt, cover his face and nose with tissue, wave the tissue in the air like a banner, tear up the tissue, blow up his cheeks with air and ceremoniously pop them, and contort his face in as many ways as possible. Of course along with Braden's behavior comes the inner struggle, do you as a parent sternly reprimand your child, do you go up front and remove your child (drawing attention to yourself as well), crawl under your chair from embarrassment, fight fruitlessly to contain the laughter, or do you sit back, remind yourself that he is only 4, and enjoy the show?! I decided to finally pick the latter alternative, sprinkled with a little laughter of course; I couldn't help myself, it was so stinking funny. I really am going to have to get better at one of the all important cardinal rules of parenting,

"During your child's misbehavior, keep a straight face at all costs!"

(and laugh your head off when they are out of ear shot)

Oh, you know you do sooo want to be ME!!!!!!!!!

Title sound a little cocky, don't worry I am not on an ego trip, I am just responding to a woman at Wal-mart. Today, Brooke, Emma, and I went to Wal-mart to purchase food for Thanksgiving Dinner. We will be having: Cajun Turkey (mmm, made by Kroger; hey let them make the turkey, I'll do the rest), creamy potatoes, scalloped sweet potatoes with apples, tender sweet yeast rolls, homemade macaroni and cheese, green beans, and cornbread and sausage dressing. Anyway, back to my story, as many of you can imagine going to Wal-mart with a 2 year old (almost 3) and a 7 month old isn't the easiest thing to do (Braden luckily was in school, Hallelujah); it requires patience, prayer, endurance, and chanting in your head 'endure to the end, endure to the end' also helps. Well, I survived the trip, had just finished paying for our goodies, and was attempting to find my keys and leave the store with a sleeping Emma in my arms and my sassy princess at my side when I saw a woman look my way and exclaim to her friend (did she really not think I could hear her?!), "I'm sure glad I'm not her." Well, sister, I'm glad you're not me too! I'm glad I get to be the mother to my 3 beautiful, energetic, crazy children. I'm glad I am the one who gets to be in the trenches everyday working hard to mold them into the amazing adults they will become. I'm glad that I am the one who gets to: read the stories, kiss the boo boos, sing the lullabies, wipe the dirty faces, say the prayers for guidance, answer the endless barrage of questions, make the treats for school parties, go on the field trips, remind them to always say please and thank you, tell them its okay to scream in the house only if there is a fire or if they are being attacked, tell them that if they are going to burp at the table it needs to be followed with an excuse me, kiss them on their sweet faces morning, noon, and night, be the one to applaude their accomplishments, be the one to help them learn from their mistakes, encourage their creativity, help expand their imagination, cook the endless number of meals, buy the clothes, wash the clothes, dance with them around the kitchen, and be the one who at the end of the day hears the sweet words, "I love you Mama!" I personally couldn't imagine a better life! To top it all off, I have a stud by my side supporting me in all that I do and loving me for who I am and not for what he would want me to be! So, I say to all the sadly misinformed women in Wal-mart,

"You know you soooooooo want to be ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Rich Maseda~Father and Husband of the Year

Envelope Please, The Award for Father and Husband of the Year goes to (drum roll)

Rich Maseda.

Speech speech!

That Rich Maseda must be some great guy; I sure wish I could be married to somebody like that, oh yeah, I am!

Seriously though, lately I have just been more and more aware and in awe of what a fantastic father and husband Rich is and how patient he is with our children. Yesterday, I was at church all day for a huge craft day I had planned for the women and young women at church, so that meant Rich had all of the cuties all day! Most husbands would be stark raving mad by the end of a day with their children, but Rich had whipped our kids and the house into shape. I came home expecting to see a complete disaster, but instead I was greeted by a clean kitchen, a clean living room, vacuumed and steam cleaned floors, washed, dried, and folded clothes, and 1 child down for their nap, and 2 getting ready to take theirs. What could be better than that?! I began to wonder, "Is this real?" "How can I be so lucky to have such an incredible husband?" Just when I thought it couldn't get any better my sweet pillar of perfection looked at me and said, "You can go lay down and take a nap if you want to."

Every day when I say my prayers I thank Heavenly Father for sending Rich into my life; I consider having him as my eternal companion one of the greatest blessings I have ever received. It is amazing when you meet the right one and everything just seems to fit into place. I couldn't imagine spending my life with anyone else by my side. His weaknesses are my strengths, and my weaknesses are his strengths; we truly compliment each other. I love his sense of humor, his quick wit, his intelligence, and I love how his eyes light up when he smiles! The cuties and I are lucky to have him in our life.

As I watch him with our children, I feel even more blessed that he is the one I get to have children with; they absolutely adore their father and for good reason.

This slideshow is for you BABY!

Daddy has left the building~chaos can now commence

The night was relatively calm (well for our house); Rich took Braden to Wal-mart to pick up a few things for me, while Brooke, Emma, and I stayed home and finished supper (Brooke decided her job was to run around the house half naked while I repeatedly admonished her to get some clothes on, Emma's job was to look cute, and I took care of the rest). With supper ready, drinks prepared, and the table set, Rich and Braden finally arrived home. We ate dinner (I really don't know how Rich's mama kept her sanity eating with 7 children every night; I think I am going to loose it some nights with 3) or attempted to while we refereed and constantly herded the children back to the table. "Brooke, please keep your hands off Emma." "Braden, get back in your chair and finish your supper." "No, you can not have any more bread until you eat your pasta." "If you want to have a tantrum instead, that is your choice, but it won't get you any more bread." "Braden, do I need to take your new shoes away or are you going to eat." (still not quite sure how I connected shoes with eating, but hey I was desperate, and it worked) "Brooke, sit down." "Brooke please get back in your chair." "So, Braden how was your day?" (attempt at a normal conversation, but before it even begins...) "Brooke, it is not your turn to talk, please let Braden finish first." I think you get the picture of how a typical dinner goes at the Maseda household; we would call this relative calm, especially compared with the chaos that was soon to ensue. After dinner was done, Rich started getting ready for a night run; Braden and Brooke insisted they be allowed to go, so they too got their clothes on (always in a state of undress), put their tennis shoes on (which light up I might add; they are very proud of that fact), they all stretched (quite the sight), and then left on their run (Hallelujah for Mama). Alas, the portion of Rich's run they were to accompany him on was short and therefore my peace was short lived. Rich came back to the house, dropped the children off, and in the distance I hear the announcer say, "Daddy has left the building, chaos can now commence!" And commence it did; I could smell it in the air, like a tiger smells its prey, chaos lingered in the air like an animal ready to pounce on the string of sanity I had left. It began with Brooke. As I am feeding Emma, Brooke begins to run around and around the bench in our living room; I think to myself, 'I'm glad she is getting all of that energy now.' Oh, if I only knew what was coming next. Before I could even register what was happening, Brooke peed all over the living room floor. Inside, I screamed, "NO, NOT AGAIN!" Outside, I handed her some paper towels, some Grease Lightning, a wet washcloth, and told her to get to work and start cleaning. As Brooke commences cleaning, I also commence giving a two minute lecture on how she is to listen to her body as soon as it tells her she needs to go and not spend her time running around the living room. With the floor soaking wet with enough cleaner to clean the entire living room (I let her apply it herself) and a towel laying on top of it to soak up all of the wonderful nastiness, the calm has been restored to our home, or so I thought; little did I know, Braden had his only little trick up his sleeve ready to pull out at just the right moment. With the pee incident behind us, I run the bath water and send Braden and Brooke to the bathroom to start getting undressed. I give them a minute and then go check on their progress, and what you may ask did I see. Did I see two sweet children in the bath tub? No. Did I see two children getting ready to get in the bath tub? No. Did I see a child using the bathroom before he got into the tub? Yes. Was this child using the little potty training toilet we have? No. Was the toilet right beside him, not even a foot away? Yes. Was this child using the regular toilet? No. Was this toilet also right beside him, not even a foot away? Yes. Would it have made sense to use one of these convenient and useful toilets? Yes, but as I have posed the question before, "What would be the fun in that?" Braden decided to do a little experimenting and see if he could squat over a purple Tupperware cup and get it all in there without making a mess. I can't even begin to describe the feelings I felt in that moment: horror, shock, and yes, a little bit of humor (I think some of Rich is rubbing off on me). As a parent though, my job was not to laugh but instruct; I hurriedly informed Braden that he was to dump out the pee in the toilet, clean out the cup, get in the bath tub, and to please use the toilet in the future; as an after thought I told him that it was okay to pee in a cup or bottle only in a car on a trip when nothing else was available. Well, after all 3 children are bathed, in their pajamas, and calm restored, Rich walks into the house and says, "So what have you been up to while I was gone?"

"Oh boy, let me tell you!"

Sunday in the Maseda household

Here are some pictures from our Sunday afternoon. After having lunch, Rich pulled out his guitar and played a few tunes for our listening pleasure. Emma especially was enthralled, so I put her beside him on the couch, and she just couldn't stop touching and grabbing the guitar; Rich finally had to stop playing. Brooke and Braden also made up their own songs and played the guitar; Braden's song was about all of his girlfriends and Brooke's was about getting a scratch and having Mommy take care of it. Brooke also danced with abandon as Rich played and sang, 'If I Had a Million Dollars.' These are the times I treasure the most; as I look at the faces of my sweet children and my loving husband, I am always overwhelmed by how blessed I am. These moments to me define happiness!

I'll take that, thank you very much!

Daddy, show me how to play this thing!

Oh, the music I could make with this thing! Do you feel the power?! Watch out world!

I know I am a stud; my daddy taught me everything I know! Don't hate me because I'm studlicious; I've got all the girls at preschool eating out of the palm of my hand!

(Braden was in a show off my bod mood for about an hour today, so I humored him and took this snapshot of him flexing his muscles.)

And now for your listening pleasure, here is Brooke singing her boo boo song.