Raising A Daughter

When it comes to raising a daughter where do I begin? I want my daughter to have everything in life, but there are a few things which I consider most important. I want to her to know that she is loved, unconditionally, so not a day goes by that I forget to say those 3 little words. I want her to have confidence in her abilities and have good self esteem. I praise the good she does and tell her she is beautiful everyday. I want her to know that I will stand with her with all that life may throw at her. She's mine and I want her to truly know that she can come to me with everything. She is more important than having a perfect house, so today I will push aside the mess of toys and have a tea party in the middle of the floor anyway. And when I reluctantly think that someday she will be grown and out of my house, there is one final lesson that I want her to have down. I want her to marry someone great, not just good enough. Someone who exceeds all her expectations. So we buy her flowers sometimes as her reward for whatever it may be that week. I want her to expect treatment like that. Flowers are a great gift, but I want her to expect that from someone she's dating. I want her to think...flowers are nice, but I get them all the time. The reason? I will not have her fall for some guy because he buys her the right things, I want her to see past gifts like flowers so she won't get too easily swept off her feet. I want her to be able to appreciate the person's tokens of love but not get overly excited so that she may see the real person behind the flowers. I want her to find the right person because gifts are just things, and they mean nothing if the wrong guy is behind them. I truly believe that if we raise our daughters to feel loved, pretty, confident, important, protected, and appreciated they will always expect that. They will demand those things because they will know they are worth it and they will attract the right kind of people to date. She may only be 3 today, but my husband and I are helping her build the foundation for the rest of her life.

Love Really is All Around

If you want to see that true love exists in today's busy and crazy world you don't have to look very far. It is easy to forget that marriages can last and more than that...some people actually do stay in love throughout their marriage. I love watching elderly couples. I like to see how they interact with each other because I feel we have a lot to learn from them. They often know the secret to making a marriage work. Here are a few things I have seen in the last few weeks.

I was at Costco with my kids. After shopping we stopped to eat hot dogs. I noticed an elderly couple walking out together. The husband was pushing the cart. There were only 2 things in the cart: Depends and 2 dozen roses. So cute! He still buys her flowers!

I was at Applebee's with the family one night. There was an elderly couple in the booth behind us. Their waiter asked if they were out to eat for a special occasion. The wife replied, "We are celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary." Wow, 60 years! I had to ask them what they believed the secret to their success was, and they said "Service".

On July 3 I was in Sandy for a neighborhood parade and BBQ. I saw the smallest of gestures that touched my heart. An older woman's glasses had slipped down her nose. Her husband pushed the glasses back up on his wife's nose.

I know these are simple things, but it's through these simple things that we can achieve a happy and successful marriage. I believe that we can keep the romance going, true love alive, and beat the dismal divorce statistics if we continue to serve our spouses in simple ways on a daily basis. Through acts of kindness, kind words are then spoken, and small gifts are given to show our love. When we act lovingly we want to spend time together which will remind us of why we love our spouse. When you know you love your spouse you will want to be affectionate. And that's how I think we make it to 60 years and beyond.

My Quest for the Fountain of Youth

The number 30 steadily approaches for me this year. I have noticed that as time has marched on, it has begun to do so across my face. What's a woman to do? Call an Aesthetician! I booked a Signature Facial for myself just weeks ago. I have had facials before, but they were just cleansing, masking, and generally relaxing. This facial was supposed to actually do something, like perhaps take a few years off my face. I had no idea what I was in for... To begin she performed microdermabrasion. I had never had that before, I thought it went fine. After the dead skin was taken off it was time for a glycolic and lactic acid peel. This is supposedly a mild peel. She said I should feel "warmth". Well it felt like my face was on fire. So much for my massage while it was supposed to be penetrating my skin. She watched me and after a few minutes she could see the burn I felt. I went to wash my face off at the sink. She continued with the face mask, cleansing, and moisturizing, etc. About 2 hours later I was done. I looked in the mirror. I looked sunburned and you could see the lines of the microdermabrasion. Apparently all normal. Not to worry, just stay out of the sun and don't work out that day. By the next day I looked hideous! My entire face was completely scabbed over. The expensive products I purchased, at a staggering price, did nothing to alleviate the pain or improve the look of my skin. By that evening I called the woman on her cell. She said I should put Neosporin all over my face for a week. She was excited that my, "controlled wound", as she referred to my face was scabbing. "You'll get better results!" However, with this "mild" peel, my results had only happened 2 other times in her 10 years of experience. I'm thinking...that can't be good. I called a friend who works for a dermatologist she said to add some Aquaphor to my face along with the Neosoprin. Did you know that stuff, especially combined, never absorbs? All that week I walked around looking like a freak. Head down, hair pulled forward. I went to the dermatologist, days later, who said those 2 treatments, microdermabrasion and a chemical peel, should never be performed in one visit on someone like me. Well, I didn't know that! So after all was said and done the final results are in: I am out hundreds of dollars, no permanent scarring, and I think 1 wrinkle on my forehead looks less deep.....

My Angel in the Night!

So I have been busy cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, etc. to get ready for my in-laws to come visit for a few days. I am the type of person who cannot stop once I start something. It's a sickness really. So still in a frenzy late at night, I thought I will take the trash out at 11:00 pm because it simply can't wait until the morning. Well I forgot to unlock the door leading into the garage and found myself locked out! With no shoes I might I add. Of course the front door was locked and dead bolted. Of course every window was locked. Of course the sliding door was locked, not that it mattered since the gate was padlocked anyway. And it's not like I could have thrown a rock at Aidan's window to wake him up because he knows not to answer the door. And the snow flurries began to roll in. David works extra late on Tuesday nights and gets home close to 1:00 am. All three kids were sleeping inside. What's a girl to do? In a panic I walked up and down our street, every house had turned out their lights! Apparently no one stays up late. Panic continued to rise. I was freezing. I tried to pick the lock but nothing in the tool bag was the right size. I said a silent prayer and immediately my next door neighbor walked out of her house to take out the trash! Thank goodness we are in sync with the same household chores! I ran to her and asked if she could pick a lock. She went home to grab credit cards and a knife. I tried. She tried. Nothing was working. After 45 minutes she was ready to wake up her husband for help and gave it one last try. And voila it worked! We screamed out with surprise that it worked! So tonight I am so grateful for a neighbor who can pick locks with a little bit of luck. Now that's what we should learn at Enrichment...;)

Forever and a Day!

So it truly has been a very long time since I lasted posted. As I like to say, it's been forever and a day! But... I'm back! I have decided that if I don't write it in my blog, I tend to not write whatever it is down at all. So here we go again, back on board!

The end of my pregnancy was a little crazy....complete bed rest, NST, AFI, BPP tests done twice a week, and 3 hospitalizations. All which resulted in a completely healthy baby boy being born Dec. 5, 2008 at 6:47 pm, weighing in at 8 lbs., 15 oz, and measuring 20 in. long. We named him Liam. The month of December and part of January were filled with weight checks as he dropped 12% of his birth weight very quickly and we struggled to get him to gain it back. But of course he did gain weight back and we are happy to say that he has chunky thighs! He is a very mild tempered baby. He started laughing on March 13, 2009. He smiles all the time and is quite the cuddler. Like his siblings he is always trying to talk, (I love the baby cooing response stage!) and put his two cents in. Liam's hair is coming in blond and we think his eyes are turning brown. As Aidan says, all the boys eyes will "match". He has finally started sleeping longer and I have more energy! I am truly grateful for his safe arrival and his continued good health at this time.

The other day Aidan said something that I have to write down before I forget. We bought him 2 new pairs of Converse sneakers. The first time in a long time that we have given him shoes with laces. After about a week we thought we would teach him how to tie his shoes. He was not particularly interested in learning this task. He then sighed and said, "I don't need to learn how to tie my shoes." Dad asks him "Why?". Aidan replies "Because Dad I will have servants to do that for me when I'm grown-up." Of course he was so sure about this fact which made this exchange even funnier.

Halloween

Doesn't Seery make such a cute Snow White?!

Aidan with his preschool teacher

Aidan was so excited to be Buzz Lightyear

Aidan received a lot of treats from his friends at school

This is my favorite picture of the kids

Seery & Aidan with me

Seery & Aidan with their Dad

Seery is ready to trick-treat!

Aidan & Seery trick-or-treating

Mackenzie, Seery, and Bailey

We had a great Halloween last week! Seery had wanted to be Snow White for months. Aidan still likes "Toy Story" and wanted to be Buzz Lightyear. Aidan had a party at his preschool. All the kids paraded through all the other classrooms at the school to show all the kids their costumes. All the preschool teachers dressed up too. They played lots of games and had treats. He left preschool with a bag just filled with treats and little Halloween toys. Both David and I picked him up from school, along with Seery. David used a half day of vacation so he wouldn't miss out on all the Halloween festivities. We went to our church for a Halloween party. We had dinner there and the kids were able to go to different rooms to play games. After that it was time to trick-or-treat. David stayed home to pass out candy. I took Aidan and Seery trick-or-treating with our friends from across the street. It started to rain so we didn't go for too long. We went to all the homes on our street, it's a pretty big street though. Somehow even though all the kids went to the same exact number of homes, Seery ended up with a lot more candy than Aidan. We went to the Beckstead's home across the street to watch the classic movie, "Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin" and eat popcorn. The kids really enjoyed having a late night party with their friends. By about 9 pm Aidan and Seery were exhausted and went straight to bed. And David and I actually had a Friday night together which almost never happens!

Tradition

Every year Gardner Village has "Witches Night Out", an event held on both the Friday and Saturday the weekend before Halloween. It begins at 6 pm and ended at 10 pm this year, it has gone later in the past. You can have your tarot cards or tea leaves read (for fun). There is a dream interpreter. They have a DJ playing music so you can dance outside. Every store store has great sales and giveaways. Sadly, no one out of our group won the raffle this time, which was a first! They have a costume contest. Women go all out for this event, you should see some of the witch costumes and hats! They are spectacular! All the women in my family that can attend go every year together. It has become a tradition in our family. We all dress up as witches and have a girls' night out. I look forward to it. How often to moms, sisters, and sisters-in-law have the opportunity to go out all together? Not often enough. So we treasure the one evening a year we do get out and have fun as women. Even Katie came this year and she enjoyed dancing to the music.

So True...

David always says, "If wishes were fishes then we'd all have our catch!"

The Scarecrow Festival

That pumpkin is just the right size

However, there are so many to choose from...

"What do you think Aidan?"

This pumpkin may be too small for Aidan's carving plans

Decisions, decisions...

Our little family

My Mom, Aidan, Me, and my little sister Katie

Seery is determined to haul this load!

Seery found "the one"

Aidan is meticulous in his choices, even if it is just a pumpkin.

Ever since 2004 we have attended the annually held "Scarecrow Festival" which raises money for Westridge Academy. It used to be held in Sandy across from City Hall and was a much smaller event. Last year and this year it was held at Thanksgiving Point and has had the space to be a larger event. Here are some of the activities that they had: bounce houses, blow up obstacle courses, a haunted house for kids, go carts, remote control truck racing, lots of games, comedians, jugglers, music, face painting, a boutique to shop, a pumpkin patch, and good food, to name what I can think of at the moment. We love going. It has become our family Fall tradition. This year most of my family met us there. It's rare that we all go out together with every one's varying schedules, so even better! We went on Saturday which has to be one of the nicest days we have had, perfect weather. Although we would go rain or shine.

Wheeler Farm & Good Friends

Aidan feeding the ducks

Seery & Bailey feeding the geese

The ducks really liked their food

Seery loved how they swam over to eat the food she threw to them

Aidan came over to check out the other pond where Seery was feeding ducks

Bailey, Seery, Mackenzie, Justin, and Aidan all playing in the tree house

Seery & Aidan saying hello from the tree house

Aidan & Seery on the tractor

Justin, Seery, and Bailey planning where they will drive the tractor

Last Thursday my good friend Gentrey and I decided to take our kids out for the day. First stop was Wheeler Farm. (I miss that we used to live minutes away from there) We fed the ducks and geese in both ponds. The kids pretended to fish in the stream with sticks. We visited all the animals. Seery's favorite animal to see were the rabbits. Aidan really liked the chickens, he thinks it's so cool that they lay eggs. The kids went up in the tree house to play, and eventually, came down. The tractor pulled wagon ride was fun. Wheeler Farm is so pretty. And always a favorite for my kids at the farm, they were able to "drive" a tractor. After the farm we went to Gardner Village. It was "Wee Witches Weekend", a "Witches Night Out" for kids. The kids walked around to see the witches, but I think their favorite thing was dancing to the music hosted by the DJ in a castle. I think the kids could have easily partied with the other kids but the pregnant moms were exhausted and ready to go home.