New Adventure in starting the year 2018!

We are starting the year by celebrating a new adventure for Derek.  He partnered with his Dental consultant that he has had since getting the practice.  Derek's partner has helped Derek and I envision and made it possible to have a more fulfilling life with lots of family time and a successful practice.  Derek started working 3 days a week in September. 

This day we celebrated going to dinner at "Jenny's Kitchen". (Inside story: when I was a little girl, my siblings and I would ask my mom where we would be eating out and she would say "At Tammy's Kitchen".) We wanted to make this closing date special for Daddy!  When he got home, we ran to the car and blindfolded him and led him inside.  

The girls then took Derek on a "joy ride" to the restaurant.

Claire was the driver and Ashlyn was the one that made the menu.  Then we all made a Congrats sign for Daddy!

We had 3 amazing waitresses!  One for each course of the meal- appetizer, main dish, and dessert.

One of my goals for the new year is to spend more individual time with the girls.  I tried in the past to do 10 minutes a day individually with each girl and it was too overwhelming for me.  So I wanted to start with a goal that is very doable.  So I decided to focus on a girl each day of the week.  Monday is for Desi, Tuesday is for Claire, Wednesday is for Brinley, Thursday is for Ashlyn, and Friday is for Derek.  I love the smiles and excitement when these girls hear that it is their Mommy and ________ (Desi) TIme. 

During this time, the girl gets to choose the activity that we do.  Desi wanted to play with the new magnetic princesses the girls got for Christmas.

The game Sequence

Connect 4 and this girl rocked it!

Claire and I did some watercolors and then we ate Pop Rocks.  This was her first time and she was very giggly during her experience of eating the Pop Rocks

The week we got back from Utah, Ashlyn was still on Christmas Break for a week longer.  I wanted it to be productive, but still fun for the girls.  We focused on deep cleaning a room/day (boy- did these girls work hard) and I paid them each $1/day. At the end of the week we went to Target as a family and they each bought stuff with their money they earned and I get the deep satisfaction of having a clean house after the holidays!  Win-Win!

One of the girls asked Derek if we could have a family sleepover in the living room when he was putting one of the girls to bed.  By golly- we had to do it!  We blew up the air mattress and watched a movie.  We had a blast!

For Christmas my parents bought Derek and I new pots and pans.  These were so needed.  Since we have moved to Texas (1 1/2 years ago) my handles fell off and I have been using a hot pad instead.  I wanted pans last Christmas and ever since, but I am so indecisive.  Since I have been using these amazing pots/pans, I have been thinking to myself..."I should have bought some of these a long time ago...haha"  Thanks mom and dad!  We absolutely love them!

Another one of Derek and I's goals is to be more consistent with one-on-one dates with the girls.  It was the girls that inspired this goal because they have been begging to go on dates with us.  We have been going on a date with a one of the girls once a week and it alternates with the girls and with one parent.  The girls absolutely love it and Derek and I cherish these moments!

Brinley and I went on a date to Walmart.  When we got back for Utah we were in desperate need of food and it was Brinley's turn.  She was a great helper!  She wanted a donut and a Danimal (yogurt drink that I hardly ever buy- which makes it very special). 

Funny side story about Brinley: I always (if you haven't heard) call Derek "Honey" and the girls will sometimes call him Honey too.  Well we were in the kitchen one day and Brinley comes up to me and says, "Mom, who is Maren's married Honey?"  (David- Sorry she couldn't remember your name). It was too cute not to share.

I recently have been thinking about things that make me happy and I love doing homework time with the kids.  They love it too.  I have been more consist with doing Mommy School with Claire and Homework with Brinley.  It must be the teacher side of me, but I get all giddy inside when my girls beg to do homework with me!

Desi learned a new chore: Silverware!  I didn't know that she knew how to do this chore until Derek put her up on a chair to sort the silverware and she did the work very well! I am assuming he must have taught her.  Derek is one to teach our kids to work hard at a young age.

This is one of my favorite gifts from my parents EVER!  It isn't just the gift itself, but how much effort they put into giving me these amazing gifts.  So my parents, Derek's parents and grandparents have similar photo boards and I have always admired them.  I knew that my parents got theirs at Costco and for the past 1 1/2-2 years I have called the company that makes these frames, get info on where they sell them, if they have any in store (which they never did when I called), and then they did random sales throughout the year at a variety of Costcos along the Wasatch Front.  Well I sent my parents on a hunt to find one at a few Costcos without any luck.  I was so sad because I thought they were so beautiful and a fun way for the family to look at the pictures/memories in our home. I finally accepted the fact that I probably wouldn't ever get it.  My parents got these costumed made by a friend that my mom works with, my dad painted them, and did the adorable vinyl.  I not only got one, but TWO!!!! When I (and Derek) got these for Christmas, I couldn't help but have tears in my eyes.  It has been something that I have wanted for a long time and to hear the back story of the whole experience made this gift PRICELESS!  I am so grateful for parents who will go the extra mile with many sacrifices along the way to fulfill a daughter's want.  Thank you so much Mom and Dad!  I absolutely love them!  

We are just waiting for our photos to be shipped to us to fill up the boards!  I am so excited, I can't wait! (I have tears in my eyes just writing this section).

Derek and I have always had second hand furniture and Ashlyn's dresser broke this week and from the experience of the pots/pans we decided that we would buy from a local furniture store.  So Claire and I went off on a date exploring 3 different furniture stores in Lufkin.  Claire found this chair and was so excited!  She loved it and was jumping on all the bunk beds begging for one.  I told the kids that maybe when Emmett is 3 we can get them a bunk bed (lets see if they will remember;))

It is so nice to have Daddy home during the week.  It was a fun day on Thursday where we just laid low and hung out.  Daddy pulled out the nail polishes and was doing all the girls' nails.  They loved it!

We got Derek's mailer in the mail this week.  I will usually have one of the girls get the mail from the mailbox and they were so excited that we were in the mail.  One said, "We are famous!"

Our girls love their new ride called the razor!  I had one when I was a kid and it was the cool thing to have.  I love having fun memories as a kid and watching my kids make their own childhood memories.

Derek got a Reese's in his stocking and he had been saving it for the right moment to eat it.  Well when he found it in the cupboard, it was unwrapped with the brown wraps left empty.  He asked the girls who ate it and with a guilty look on Brinley's face she was definitely guilty.  As a consequence Derek had her sweep the whole garage.  The lesson is that no one messes with Dad's Reese's!!! 

During her clean up Brinley was having so much fun. She was singing and banging the buckets, putting on her bike helmet while sweeping, and seeing her imagination while she worked.  We don't know if she learned her lesson because this girl will find the chocolate anywhere!

Ashlyn created this game and we played it as a family! I love her creative mind!

 Derek went into work on New Years because of an emergency call.  Well the family was so grateful that they dropped off cupcakes the next day to express their gratitude.  He brought them home and the girls enjoyed them!

(of course she got the only chocolate one)

Ashlyn is becoming such a bookworm.  She really enjoys reading wherever we go!

Jenny and I have re-instituted our dates with the kids. It was my turn for a date with Ashlyn. She chose to go to the dollar store to buy a couple toys. She definitely took her time in considering all her options. 

My surprise was taking her to Which Wich after (she loves the sandwiches here). We had a great time. It was so sweet. While we were sitting there eating. She looked at me and said, "Dad, thank you for spending your money so that we could come here" and then came over and gave me a big hug. What a sweet moment. She sat down and commented, "It looks like we both spent our money today, huh?"  

(Derek) Dad got us boys this sweet pump. It has been awesome. I usually check our tires often and if I need to adjust, I'll get the bike pump and pump the tires to the right pressure. I was thrilled with this gift! All you do is set the pressure you want it at, plug it into the car, and turn it on. Thank you Dad!

Ashlyn was so excited about her new headphones she bought with her own money from deep cleaning the house.  She wanted to go on the treadmill, listen to Disney music and sing at the top of her lungs!  Oh my goodness, what are we going to do with her when she is a teenager?!

Elder Stevenson (one of the 12 Apostles) came to our stake conference and so we made a trip of it by traveling to Longview (our stake is 2 hours away).  Derek and I went to the Adult session and then we went to conference the next morning as a family!  It was really great!  The girls' favorite was staying in a hotel and fulfilling our tradition of jumping on the beds.
One of the stops we made before the hotel was a park that looked like a castle.  The girls had so much fun there.  It was huge and it seems so magical as a kid, but as a parent, Derek and I were stressed out keeping track of our girls.  It was so big, it is easy to lose sight of the girls.  Plus there were so many kids there.  It was the happening place to be on a Saturday afternoon.

In their stocking they got a new church activity! They love the WOW books.  It is a book that you use water and it colors the pictures and then it dries and you can reuse it over and over again!

Right now Ashlyn likes to be the family dog.  Derek told her no dogs in the house and put her outside in the cold.

The joy of sisters playing together!

Claire is such a great big sister and so caring!

In this picture they were building a birthday cake, singing happy birthday, and then blowing out the candles.

We made pizza for dinner this weekend and Desi was our helper.  We got this pizza stone as a wedding gift and it is still going strong! We texted our friends who gave it to us, Dave and Alyssa and they said that it is the best regift that they have given....ha ha!

Thank you Ruth Ann and Scott for the Amazon gift card for Christmas.  One thing that I got from it is this book and I am loving it!  I read Matthew-John before Christmas and this is the 2nd part which is Acts-Revelations!  It has helped me really understand the New Testament.  My love for the New Testament has grown so much living here in the Bible belt.  Most of my friends here know the Bible really well and honestly I have never read it straight through so this is my first time and I love how this book helps me understand it so much better!

I am a New Years Resolution type of gal and I love this time of year of setting goals and envisioning who and where I want to be in a year.  Well as I have done it for many years, my goals were too far set, so a few years ago I started setting monthly goals and it has made it more real and doable for me where I can continue to be motivated throughout the year, make fresh goals each month, and rededicate and sometimes redirect my goals.  

This year I want to have a word that I will focus on and the word is REFLECT!

I feel like the work reflect is powerful and can be so inspiring!

I have three categories that I want to reflect on

1. Relationships

I want to strengthen my relationships with each member of my family.  I want the girls to feel loved and valued, but do I reflect that in my thoughts and actions?  I will admit that there are times when they want to tell me something while I am busy cooking dinner, where I don't look at them in the eye and I say uh-hu without really listening.  Also there have been times when they get hurt and I just tell them that they are ok and go on with whatever I may be doing at that moment.  As I reflect on my actions, they aren't feeling loved or understood.  I really want to establish a relationship where they feel like they can come to me whenever and I will give them all my attention because what they are saying I think is important.  

2. Moments

I feel like being sick with this pregnancy (I tried to get off my medicine and I was the sickest I have been this whole pregnancy- so I am back on the nausea medicine) it has forced me to slow down and savor the moments with my family and evaluate what is important.  It is so easy to get caught up in the to-dos of mothering, but it really isn't that important if I end up doing laundry later than I planned.  My kids are young for so many years.  I love this time in my mothering and I want to savor these precious moments, but it isn't always easy.  Especially if you are like me and like to be "productive".  But I must remember that playing a game on the floor with my kids is more productive than cleaning the kitchen at that moment.  I have realized that moments pass by so quickly and I must soak up those moments when we are all laughing together or having a dance party in the living room.

3. Becoming

So lately I have been having a difficult time with my self confidence.  Being pregnant, gaining weight, feeling sick and not totally myself, my "prego" face with my perioral dermatitis, not having as much energy...it has all taken a toll.  So I recently looked up beauty and studied it a bit.  I was so surprised that true beauty comes from happiness, confidence, and attitude.  So it caused me to reflect on what makes me happy?!  Then I started thinking about that is who I want to be is happy, confident, and positive- it isn't about what is on the outside, but it is the inside that creates beauty. I thought about all the people that I think are beautiful and is because of the people that they are in the inside that makes them so beautiful and radiates on the outside. 

You may not care about my goals, but my blog is like a journal. So I will share a few of my goals.

No Soda

10 minutes of individual time with the girls

Working out 5 days/week (I haven't worked out my whole pregnancy because I'm so sick and so I am so excited! I have really missed working out)

Reading the New Testament

Sincerely saying one prayer a day (praying is something that doesn't come easy to me)

Happy New Year everyone!