Mother's Day Gift From Marc...

I think after being married for, coming up on 10 years this December, Marc is finding it more and more difficult to surprise me with gifts during these holidays. I keep telling him there is no need but he insists that I get something for me and just for me on these special occasions, claiming that I earned them. I understand he wants to get me something and its a very thoughtful and a sweet gesture but when I don't need/want anything specific it gets harder for him to find that perfect gift. This year he offered to put the wood on the staircase. The same wood flooring we put in the downstairs area. We bought enough flooring a month and a half ago for the downstairs, stairway, and upstairs hallway. Its a very time consuming project to say the least. I was thrilled when he offered to do the stairs. In my mind, that meant 1 step closer to being done with all the floors. I couldn't be happier with how they turned out given the challenges we were faced with in these wonderfully (hear the sarcasm) built Arizona homes! He did an awesome job and I truely appreciate that he dedicated almost an entire Sunday to finishing the stairs for me!

A Mother's Day Gift From A Friend...

If you follow this link a good friend sent me its pretty funny. Sure made me smile!

http://news.cnnbcvideo.com/?nid=I6lwi4uIYrEJyRx_y0Nv1zMzNDAzODE-&referred_by=16529115-gw9lWQx&p=moveon

Happy Mother's Day To ME!

The day finally arrived! I look forward to this day every year, not because I get the pass on all things around the house, not because I get all my meals cooked for me, but because the children wake me up with hugs and kisses and remind me how much they love me! This morning, the older 3 children wanted to help Marc make breakfast in bed for me! They all headed downstairs as I was instructed to stay in bed. I had no problems staying upstairs and ended up back asleep! A little while later, in comes the older 3 kids with a present, plate of food, and drinks. I had a wonderful breakfast in bed which consisted of the a bagel, eggs (made by Ava), bacon, and a fruit bowl. Dillon and Liliana made the coffee and orange juice! It was so sweet that they WANTED to make me such a yummy breakfast! Of course before I could eat my food, I had to open my present. It was a shirt that had each of their handprints on it. On the back it said #1 Mom. Those that know me, know that I am not into the materialistic things... I care more about the thought behind a gift. I especially LOVE homemade gifts. The best part about all they did for me on this special day was how happy it made them to such nice things for me!
After eating the day went on like any normal Sunday. As much as I enjoy the kids and Marc saying that they appreciate all I do around the house, I appreciate them just as much! I really do love my family and consider myself the luckiest woman alive to have all I have! Thank you Marc, Liliana, Dillon, Ava and Garrison for making my special day another one to remember!

Give Me Those Potatoes...

Recently Garrison began sitting in his bumbo chair. He has since realized its more fun to be vertical and see things instead of laying down. So during dinnertime we started putting him in his chair on the table so he could see what we were all doing! A few weeks have passed and he is learning that the bumbo chair is no longer fun! On this particular night, we had baked potatoes. Marc finished all his food so he put Garrison on his lap. Marc's potatoes were still in front of him at the table. For some reason Garrison was drawn to this plate. There was a fork laying next to the plate... he was also drawn to the fork!! It was the funniest thing to watch. He grabbed the fork (yes by himself) and began poking the potatoes. After a few minutes of poking at the potatoes he decided to try and put the fork in his mouth! The most impressive part about this event was that he tried to put the correct side to his mouth, which in order to do that he had to twist his fist before moving his hand and arm up to his mouth! Of course for safety reasons, Marc pulled his hand away from his face/mouth and it made him very upset! Overall he was so excited while doing all these motions. The kids and I were cracking up over his new discovery!

Getting Better Each Day...

As most of you know I enjoy sewing a good majority of the time these days. A good friend of mine, has a little girl that is turning 1 this weekend. I decided I would make her a couple dresses. Most of the items I have made up to this point have been for myself or the kids. Even though I do sew decently I always worry that if I make something for someone it may fall apart?! I decided it was time to get over that. I got the idea to make the little girl dresses when I was showing my friend the Easter dresses I made for my girls! She made a comment about wanting me to make her daughter dresses but would NEVER ask since I have 4 kids and am always busy! I found a really cute pattern a few weeks back and decided I would at least make 2 dresses. Picked out fabric at Joann's a few days later but didn't start making the dresses until this past week. Mainly cause we were all sick these last couple weeks! I was nervous about the timeline I gave myself but was surprised when I finished the first dress in one day (on and off again time at the sewing machine due to Garrison and school pick up and drop offs along with keeping Ava entertained). I had bought 4 different patterned fabrics just incase I wanted to make more than 2 and I was so glad I did. I ended up making the second dress the following day and the last 2 dresses the day after that! This pattern is very cute and so very simple. I am very excited to make the girls some more dresses for the summer now that I am getting better at these patterns!

Sleepy Children...

I don't have much to say about these two pictures but wanted to post them!


Liliana the other night asked to hold Garrison while I put the other two kids to bed. Both Garrison and Liliana were wide awake. I agreed to let her hold him while I put the other two to bed so that I could read them their bedtime stories (Marc wasn't home that night due to a softball game). When I came back downstairs I found both of them fast asleep! Too cute! They love each other so much!

Then another day Dillon decided he was tired. So I instructed him to go upstairs and put his nighties on. About 10 minutes later when I didn't hear him upstairs I decided to check on him! He didn't even make it up the steps before falling asleep! I swear this boy can fall asleep ANYWHERE when tired enough!

Rice Cereal...

Yes it was finally time to introduce Garrison to rice cereal! The very first day he didn't seem to like it very much! He kept spitting it out but getting a slight bit down. It took a good 6 days before he would open his mouth and appear to be enjoying it!