What did he say???

We are a family that likes to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving.  It's so much fun and considering that it goes down after New Year's, we have a limited amount of time to enjoy it and want to get the most out of it.

So this year, like all the others...our decorations are up and we have presents under the tree (thanks to Black Friday) and are enjoying Christmas already. 

This evening, my daughter Emilie was in the living room by the Christmas tree and I had just got done trying to figure out where the little thing to turn on the Christmas tree lights were at.  I looked all over however I must admit that I wouldn't be able to find things if they fell out of the sky, landed on my head and started to wiggle.  So I asked my husband, "Babe, where do you turn the Christmas tree lights on at?"  He seemed a little irritated which I didn't really understand...and then he said (mind you the Christmas presents are wrapped)..."It's under the guitar!"  Note: you can see the red package in the above picture to the left of the tree.  My jaw hit the ground as one of my little girls is standing there next to the tree as he is saying this...I said, "What did you just say?"  And he said it again..."I said it's under the guitar."  I immediately asked him to go ahead and tell Emilie what the rest of the presents were while he was at it...and it hit him.

I was mildy friggin furious angry!!

We are really big on forgiving each other when the other asks for forgiveness...but I must admit, tonight was a hard one for me.  LOL  But I forgave him. 

I then had to have a quick talk with Emilie about the present and that if she wanted to forget it until Christmas...that would be great.  We both laughed and then she promised not to tell her sister until they opened them up...we'll see how that goes.

Playing along with Debi of WhoSays8isEnough? on this Baby Picture Sunday.

It's Baby Picture Sunday.
Time to dig out your favorite old photos of your favorite babies in your life and share them :)

Come on! You know you wanna share them ;)

This week's theme:

Why I'm Thankful

 

This was a picture that was taken on April 29th, 2009 on my girls 6th birthday.  I took this on my cell phone so the quality is not the best, but it's still one of my favorite pictures of my little ladies.

They make me so proud every day!

Multiples & More Question of the Week...

Every week Multiples and More posts a Question of the week...whether you are a multiple mom or not, you are welcome to join in on answering the question and then going on over to Multiples and More and linking up.  Below is the question...

 Welcome to our Multiples and More Question of the Week!

Time seems to fly when you have small children, doesn't it? In the midst of changing diapers, doing laundry, cooking, working, planning, etc, it's easy to overlook the special moments that we have with our kids on a daily basis. Today, we want to stop and take a minute to remember and appreciate some of these moments. So, this week's question is:

Describe in detail 5 of the most special moments you have shared with your children.

There have been so many special moments I don't know where to begin...

1)  I guess it would start with them before they have the ability to remember.  When Adam and I were in the hospital and we were told we were having twins...that was one of my most special moments not necessarily shared with them...but none the less, one of my favorites.

2)  Then I was blessed to be able to breast feed my girls.  I actually breastfed them for a year and a week and those moments were some of the most special moments you could ever spend with your babies.  I remember how they would look up at me and more often than not they would hold hands while they were eating.  I fed them "football hold" and decided that if I had to feed them one at a time because they were getting too big then I would not be able to continue breastfeeding because I would have to spend twice as much time feeding them.  As it worked out, they didn't get too big...I just kept scooting their bottoms back and they were able to feed like that for a long time.

3)  I was blessed to stay at home with my girls for the first 3 years of their lives and every single day we were doing something fun.  We never turned on the TV...we went on field trips, went to playgroups, etc.  I remember some of my favorite moments with my girls were on those car rides.  I would never turn on the radio unless they wanted it and I would just listen to them and talk to them the whole time.  It's funny how this time that we spend with our kids can be taken for granted yet it's the best time that we have with our kids.  We would laugh the whole time...they were so funny!

4)  Our vacations every year are the most memorable also!  The phone doesn't ring, there is no computer (keep in mind I work from home) and we have really good "us" time.  We have spent time in Southern CA for a week at San Juan Capistrano and were able to spend a day at Disneyland.  That was awesome and my girls were SO good...we cherish that trip.  Then we have a timeshare in Nevada that we go to when it's snowing and have so much fun just relaxing.  We also went to Kauai for a week and what I loved about that trip is that this island is not commercialized at all, so all of the time we spent together was at the beaches and sight seeing.  There are many more trips that we have spent together and I always look real forward to them every year because it's this time that we make the whole week about our kids.

5)  And this last one might seem really little but it is so big for us...there are many mornings that my girls climb in to bed with me and we just get to sit and talk about what they have been doing, anything that have happened that they need to discuss.  I like to find out what it is that we do that makes them happy and what makes them mad or upset.  It's interesting to find out what your kids perspectives are.  We are able to talk about things that you wouldn't talk about in the normal course of the day.  This is a real special time that I enjoy with my girls and hope that it never ends. :)

To see more answers to this question...head on over to Multiples and More

Small town Christmas Celebration...

Every year on the weekend after Thanksgiving, our small town blocks off main street on both ends so that all the locals can come down and watch the Christmas tree lighting.  All of the shops open their doors until really late and each of them have already decorated for Christmas and are offering cookies, cider, hot chocolate, candy canes, etc. 

This was the first year that we have actually watched the lighting of the Christmas tree and it was so funny...standing around the tree and every direction you look you know the families that are surrounding you.  I felt how the Who's in Whoville probably felt in the movie, The Grinch.  I really thought that if I broke out singing their song they sing while holding hands around the Christmas tree that the whole town would have joined in. 

The local book store had "Mrs. Clause" reading books to all the boys and girls who chose to sit around her...this was my girls' favorite spot. 

Then the parade started with Santa on the fire truck lit up with Christmas lights going down Main Street with the siren on...and that let us know that the festivities had begun. 

Santa then positioned  himself in the Wells Fargo Bank where he is taking free pictures for all who desire to stand in line long enough to receive it.  My girls could have cared less about their picture with Santa...they were more concerned with the fact that you get a balloon when you get your picture taken.  Needless to say, we weren't waiting in the cold for a balloon. 

We look forward to this night every year and love the feeling of our Small town Christmas Celebration.

Black Friday...to go or not to go...that is the question!

Ever since I had twins in 2003, I have been an avid Black Friday shopper.  You see when you are shopping for two of EVERYTHING, Black Friday provides a TON of savings. 

Living in a very small community, we have a Wal-Mart and unlike other Wal-Marts, ours is very nice, clean and upscale.  So 99% of the time my Black Friday consists of going to Wal-Mart at about 4:30pm.  What I have done in previous years is pretty much show up right around 5am when they open.  That way I wouldn't have to fight the crowd on the way in the door when people get trampled and harmed because everyone is so friggin crazy for that "one item" that they have to have. 

Being that the economy is the way that it is, I figured today might be a little more crowded than usual.  When I got to Wal-Mart at 4:30am...there wasn't a soul in sight.  OMG...they left Wal-Mart open all night long to prevent from having the long lines of people.  This way, you walked in to the store and then the items that were on sale until 5am...those were bubble wrapped and would be cut open at the time allowed. 

I always save SO MUCH MONEY!  And I am usually done shopping for the girls the day after Thanksgiving.  This does one of two things...1)  It takes away much of the stress of the season since the people you buy the most for are your own family.  2)  We have always been a family to decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and this provides the opportunity to have wrapped presents under the tree from the first day that it is up.  So much fun!

There was no drama, a lot of chaos and more importantly a TON of awesome sales. 

For those of you who don't go to Black Friday...you may want to give it a try next year.  You actually feel somewhat "victorious" leaving the store when you have the items that you circled on the ad.  I am proud to announce even though my husband's not so thrilled that I got WAY more than the circled items today.  I made a huge killing.

You only live once...take it from me, give it a try!

Thanksgiving...success or failure?

This was our very first Thanksgiving in our new home and it was shaping up to be a very good day.  When you get family together you truly never know one way or another who is going to come to Thanksgiving and be a little sensitive or a little harsh for that matter.

I am proud to announce that this year was a screaming success! 

It's just amazing what a difference a large house makes for accomodating everyones needs.  Prior to moving to our new house, we owned an 1100 sq ft. house.  Now we loved our house, don't get me wrong.  But we were too big for it when we moved in to it, knowing that we were going to be able to add on to it within a couple of months after living there.  Then as you all know and are feeling the effects...the Real Estate market did what it did and the option to add on to the house no longer existed.

Our new house is 2500 sq ft. and is so much fun.  I was able to prepare the Turkey and all the goods and not even have a mess in my kitchen (so it seemed cuz the kitchen is so big)!  When you have a fun, gourmet kitchen, I have learned that you look forward to going in and preparing meals, snacks, etc.  (Considering my last kitchen had one drawer and one cupboard and we were there for 5 years.)  Can I get a what what?

All the family had such a great time...the turkey was PERFECT!  Thank you God...you just never know with those big birds. 

We ate, then we enjoyed a game of basketball...as our new house also came equipped with a basketball court.  After playing family against family...Thompson's against Yochheim's...we were proud to announce that the HOME team came out on top...1 for the Thompson's!  Yay!

A little game of Wii fishing was hilarious...an then we broke out my favorite game in the whole world, which you are not even able to buy and haven't been able to for many, many years...Mad Chatter.  It's just like a home version of the $25,000 Pyramid...and oh it is so much fun!  You can actually play up to 10 players and it is friggin hilarious.  All the family plays regardless of age and that makes for an even funnier evening with all the different generations.  What a blast!

You know there was a time when my husband and I would play games with me at home so that when we play other couples or members of the family...we dominate. (I'm not competitive at all yeah right)  Well it was obvious that we hadn't practiced, but I did give him the benefit of the doubt and took in to consideration that it was Thanksgiving and not a time to be upset at my husband's game performance.  LOL 

After all was said and done we did decide to go ahead and start up Saturday night family game night...can't wait!  :)

All ended well...we stuffed ourselves to the brim and now today are looking forward to the "holiday sandwiches" that I got off of someone's blog last week. 

Today we are putting up the Christmas decorations...let the holidays begin!

Hope you had a Thanksgiving to remember also!

Thanksgiving Day Thursday

Gobble Gobble!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! It's time for Thanksgiving Thursday,

the Turkey Day edition! I am thankful for:

*God being first and foremost in my life!

*My wonderful husband who shocks me every single day to still be putting up with me. :)

*My precious 6 yr. old identical twins.  I am so proud of them and all that they bring to the family through their smiles and sense of humor.

*My whole family...we have a big family and we are all very close and I thank God for that.

*My mom and the encouragement and support she offers me every single day, without fail.

*I am thankful for a woman who was like an angle in our lives and brought us this beautiful house.

*My health as well as my families health.

*My wonderful blessing of a business that has allowed me to be a stay-at-home mom for the last year and a half.  I thank God for this business every day.

*I am thankful for starting a blog, this provides daily therapy for me.

Happy Thanksgiving all!  Have a great one!

MY DH...

My darling husband (DH) and I have been really working on being kinder to each other and communicating with each other more...since our Marriage Retreat last weekend that is.  But how do you come home and not let anything bother you any more.

He is so kind and does so many wonderful things to help me that when he does good things...how can you complain about what he isn't doing.  For example, we have just moved into our new wonderful house...we had a bit huge amount of stuff left in the garage on the left hand side so he was not able to park in the garage.  He took the liberty of getting all of that stuff upstairs in to the house and cleaning the garage ever so tidy so his car would fit...but what about the STUFF IN THE HOUSE???? 

Perhaps I am the only one that remembers that this week is Thanksgiving and we are having it at our house...or no wait, I know...I am the only one that remembers that we have company coming over TONIGHT and there are boxes and boxes of stuff in my living room and bar area.  Ugh!

So unlike what I would have done last week...I kept my mouth shut.  Here is the hard part...I broke my back when I was 24 and am unable to assist him in picking up these boxes and moving them to the appropriate rooms.  So there they sit while my girls and are are living around them.  And yet...our company is in route to our house and will be here in about 5 hours.

Another thing that I will get off of my chest on this FABULOUS blog...so as not to have to mention it to the husband, is the fact that when I come home at night after my business meetings and he has every light in the house on, has put the opened orange juice in the pantry, shut the pilot light on the fire place off so I can't turn it on and has not done one thing with the living room...how does one keep their mouth shut then?  Well sadly, I didn't.  I'm not rude, if you can think of pointing out everything that he didn't do not rude, but I tried to be kind and didn't want to make it mean...just pointing out the obvious.  O.K. O.K., so I didn't think there was anything wrong with it until I just wrote it...it might have been uncalled for. 

So my question for all you "professional wives" out there is....How do you communicate the things that are making you borderline crazy to your spouse without offending them about the stuff that they did do?

And with that...I am off to go sweep around the boxes in the living room.

God bless you all and Happy Thanksgiving!

Random Tuesday Thoughts...

Oh yes, it is Tuesday again. Woo-hoo! Time for Random Tuesday Thoughts!  If you want to get down with your randomness head over the Keely.

Is it really almost Thanksgiving???  Where did the year go?  I am usually on top of the whole shopping thing by now but I guess moving 2 times in the last 3 months throws a curve ball in life, yo!

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Google 411...I just love it.  If you're not "down with it" you have to add the number 46645 to your cell phone and then make the name "Google 411" or whatever you want...that's just what I made mine.  Then when you text Google 411 the name of a business followed by a comma, the city and a comma and the state abbreviation...wait about 10 seconds and you will have a text on your phone with the name, phone number address, etc.  I friggin love it!  If you don't have it...come on...get jiggy wit it...it's 2010!

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O.K...so I started the whole NO CARB thing again this morning.  We'll see how it goes, what you can imagine, you can achieve and I can imagine myself the next Victoria Secret model, watch out world.

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So my friend that is showing signs of skitzophrenia, it's getting bad.  But let me tell you how "the system" works...her kids are actually being harmed mentally.  Obviously, when your mom thinks there are 3 of herself, its starting to get bad.  Apparently the family is afraid for their own well being that NO ONE...and I repeat NO ONE in the family is stepping in to help out with those kids.  So I had to do the unthinkable and call waste my time our CPS...Child Protective Services.  I have NEVER called anything like that in my life, it was hard to muster the courage, I did it  and was talking for about a minute and a half and the woman said, I have to go to the bathroom, can I call you back?  HUH?  I am telling you about children that are in serious harms way and you are going to the bathroom...whats worse, she didn't call me back for 2 and 1/2 days!!  I would have been more OK with her saying I have to use the bathroom, can you hold on for just a second...or even taking the phone with her vs. hanging up and not calling back for over 2 days.  What is wrong with our system?  If there is any suggestions on what to do here...I am all for them.

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My long time friend Amanda over at Garibay Soup is coming down from Oregon today for a couple of days!!!  Yay!  What's even better is that we both have a video phone and I get to see her and her precious children all the time so they won't be have to have the "warm up" time, they will run to me! 

I love that!

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I love fact that I work from home and really appreciate it during the holidays!  I love being able to make my own schedule and hang out with my girls while they are out of school.  Thank you God for the path that you have me on!

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The news...I just don't ever get a chance to watch any TV including the news.  I know that I should be up on the "current events" but when you have to muttle through so much misery and sorrow along with rapes, killings and molestations...I'd rather spend my time in a good book.

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Speaking of good book and you all have to get it and read it before the end of the year...it will change your 2010, I promise.  It's called...The 5 Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle" by Jim Rohn
It is seriously changing my life and will change yours too if you choose.

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Decorations...time to get them out...we decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving!  And I hit a HUGE after Christmas sale last year and have so many BRAND new decorations...I can't wait!

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Happy Thanksgiving bloggers...the next time I am on here I believe I will try the Nog Blog like the
Un Mom suggests.

Peace Out!

Bitter Sweet...

The last couple of days have been interesting slightly crazy to say the least.

My home phone and cell phone ring at the same time on Wednesday night...one call I picked up, the other my husband got.  My call was a really good friend of ours from high school, a guy who was in our wedding and has been my husband's best friend their whole lives, he called to tell us that his mom had committed suicide....everything in me dropped! 

On my husbands phone, the call was my husband's little brother calling to let us know that he and his fiance were expecting a baby (which would be the first kids on my husbands side of the family other than our twins) and that they were wanting to get married at our house on Saturday night. 

Talk about mixed emotions! 

With us moving in to our new house 3 weeks ago, we had already planned on having a "stock the bar" party in our new house on Saturday night.  The house that we just bought has a full bar and we are not big drinkers, so what better way to stock the bar than with a "stock the bar party".  We got the UFC fights and invited everyone to come over and bring a bottle of their favorite alcohol.  This was the night that Adam's (my husband) little brother (Mikey) wanted to get married.

Here's when things get crazy...so Adam goes online to become ordained to marry his little brother and his fiance.  This was a very rigorous actually the easiest process you could have to go through.  It actually took him about 7 minutes on the internet to be "ordained" as a Reverend to marry Mikey.  We were cracking up.  All that huh?

Then we were off to the funeral on Friday for our friends mom.  What a very sad ceremony...then following that there was a celebration of life.  You can imagine what a high school reunion this was.  So we took it upon ourselves to invite everyone there to our "stock the bar" party the next night.  I mean, why not.  Many of them came from out of state and it was going to be a long time until we saw them again. 

So Saturday comes and by this time we have since learned that Adam cannot actually marry his little brother and fiance until the following week because he has to be granted a one day pass by the County Clerk and they were closed on Friday.

Our friends start arriving for the "stock the bar" party...it was so much fun!  Everyone brought a bottle of alcohol and that totally stocked us up...for life pretty much considering that we are not big drinkers at all! 

Our friends were here from Southern CA, New Mexico, Nevada, Northern CA, as well as many from our local area. 

Things got very interesting...our friend Tim whose mom just passed away, learned yesterday that his girlfriend of less than 2 months was pregnant with twins.   Mind you, Tim's divorce is not even final yet.  The ex-girlfriend of Tim was at our house and was having an emotional breakdown because she has never really gotten over him and on and on and on. 

Adam and I are not big "party" people.  This seemed like a very logical way to stock the bar and was indeed a great time and so much fun to see our childhood friends, but in hindsight, we would like to go to other peoples houses for get-togethers because we always have a way of leaving before the drama.  I loved seeing everyone and was super excited to be able to dance and hang out...and I will keep you posted on the wedding of my brother-n-law.

Happy Sunday!

Multiples & More Question of the Week...

This post has nothing to do with being a Mother of Twins, but I am excited to share this family tradition as part of answering the Multiples and More question of the week.

What do you like to make with your Thanksgiving leftovers?

We love to have Turkey Sandwiches the next day.  I have always wanted to learn how to make Turkey soup out of the left over turkey but have never found a good recipe.  I hope to find a good recipe through this Question of the Week. 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

To share your recipe and to view more answers to this question hop on over to Multiples and More.

Aloha Friday....

At An Island Life she has a fun Meme called Aloha Friday. Friday is the day that we are to take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. You answer my ?. You can participate by adding a ? to your blog and linking up at An Island Life. Don't forget to visit the other blogs. Its a great way to meet new people and find great blogs to follow and get visitors and followers in return.

Do you have a Thanksgiving tradition for your family

and if so, what is it?

 

My families tradition is probably like many others (which is why I am looking for new ones :) where at dinner time we go around the table and ask what everyone is thankful for.  Don't get me wrong, I love this tradition, but feel like there are probably some others that are really neat that we could implement in our lives as well. 

Thanks so much for commenting with your families tradition and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Way Back When..esday

Playing along this week with Cheryl with Way back Wednesday. Click here to play along also!


The below pictures were taken as we were getting on the plane to go to Hawaii and then while we were there.  I just located these not too long ago and love them.  Some of my favorite pics of my girls.
 
This one is my girls getting ready to board the plane on their first plane ride ever...

And below is at a Luau in Kauai, HI...this picture is taken on the beach of our time share.

When:  June 2006

Age:  4 years old

Random Tuesday Thoughts...

Oh, once again it’s Tuesday which means that according to Keely, I’m allowed to babble on about anything and everything that pops into my head!

This is one of my favorite days of the week to get out all that is going on in this head...and we all know as females...our mind never stops...

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After a board meeting last night and learning how much money my girls' school district DOES NOT have...it angers me a bit to think about how many privledges our prisoners are given.  For one thing, they can actually get a full college degree off of our tax money, have a sex change, a heart transplant, etc.  Whoever is the one who doles out the tax money, shouldn't it be obvious where the money should go first.  Our prisoners are getting a better education than our children.  ...this could be a whole post in itself...

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Wondering how I am going to lose any weight not changing anything that I am currently doing.  Hmmm...not very realistic, but it does make me happy to dream about it for a moment. 

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Life insurance...what a worth while monthly payment.  You can be here today and gone tomorrow...knowing that my family would be taken care of if anything ever happened to me gives me peace of mind.

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My brother-n-law Mikey found out he and his girlfriend of 4  years are expecting a baby!  So super excited but I'm trying to figure out how I am going to slyly have them sign papers stating that I have partial custody and get that baby at least once a week.  I'll start working on that right now.  Can't wait!

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Black Friday...I have heard that they are starting it in some stores right now...this gives me a little anxiety not knowing which ones and where.  I usually just have to have anxiety about it for one day after Thanksgiving, but now it won't go away.  Perhaps they could have a Black Friday website that gives us a heads up!

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Did you know that if you have a speeding ticket and you mail in the amount due...but you pay $1 over what it says is due, they will send you a check for that $1 and as long as you never cash that check, it can't go on your record because the transaction has to be complete before they can report it.  For you speed demons out there...

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Just got a call from the school that one of my girls fell on her knee real bad and is having trouble walking...I'm out!

For more Random Tuesday Thoughts, please click here.

 

Marriage Retreat...Final

So the weekend is coming to an end here in beautiful South Lake Tahoe.  We are so blessed to have been in such a breath taking place. 

I will sum up our time for you...
When we got here we didn't have a clue what to expect.  To be honest with you, I personally thought they were going to try to get to the root of our problems and tell us what needed to change and what we could fix.  Phew...that's not how it went!  I don't know if I was ready to hear all the things I should be doing differently. 

So the first night we were greeted by an absolutely amazing couple of faith.  They gave their testimonial and then really shared with us tools that we could take home with us to work on our marriage.  That was awesome!

The next day was just as awesome...we really got in to more depth in what the bible says about marriage and he broke that down in to how we could go home and incorporate it into our daily lives.   Then his wife spoke and she was just a doll.  They were so real and so candid that it made the whole weekend very comfortable.

They also talked about parenting and how to ask your children for forgiveness.  If you are wrong and you have done something wrong, admit you're wrong and ask your children to forgive you.  I loved that...and don't ever go to bed angry...or with conflict.  Work things out with your spouse and with your kids.  Give everything to the Lord and it will all work out.

Then yesterday we had a couple of hours to ourselves where Adam and I sat with the pastors and asked several questions that have just been in our minds for a long time.  It really taught us how to go home and implement all that they had shared with us.

And lastly, we have our church service this morning and then are on our way home.

What did I get out of it...I have a renewed spirit in our marriage through Jesus.  I let walls down that only God could help me do and I am so proud of us and so thankful that we had this opportunity.  We are going to do this once every two years to continue to work on our faith, our marriage and ourselves. 

Remember...happy wife, happy life!  Amen!

Multiples & More Question of the Week...

The Multiples and More Question of the week...and you don't have to be a Mother of Multiples to participate...we encourage everyone to!

Name 5 small successes in your life from the past week. (and yes, laundry counts!)

This past week I was proud to have accomplished a few things...

1. We painted our bar in our house from a hideous purple to a beautiful tan...looks 150% better!!
2. I put all my girls' clothes away in their room...not just putting them away...organizing, color coordinating, sorting, getting rid of the stuff that doesn't fit, etc.  And we went through ALL of their books and put them in their book shelf.  This was a major accomplishment. :)
3. I started implementing job charts for my girls that really have worked well.  They are getting to add up all of their accomplishments for the last week and get paid for them tomorrow...then they will really LOVE their job charts.
4. I became an official "tweeter".  I have not ever been interested in getting a Twitter account and a really good friend of mine pushed me to the dark side.  I have enjoyed it so far and am really starting to figure things out with it, thanks to all who gave such good advice on my Aloha Friday questions.
5. For the first time in almost 8 years...my husband and I went to a marriage retreat through our church.  This was something that we knew we needed but didn't know how to do it.  It was definitely stepping out of our comfort zone but putting our relationship, the most important gift we can give our children, first!!  Praise God for all that we have learned and accomplished this weekend.  We vow to go every two years to a marriage retreat and recommend you all do so too! 

To read more about what other successes people have accomplished this week...please click here.

Marriage Retreat...Part 2

You will all be glad to know that I wasn't thrown under the bus tonight...however there is a day and a half left so you just never know.

Tonight was absolutely amazing!  God is good guys!  He is the author of our lives...he knows what we're gonna do before we do it and works in our lives everyday! 

Adam and I have been together for 15 years...we were high school sweethearts and then we got married in 2002 and have been married almost 8 years.  The first 2 years of our marriage was amazing...then when we had our girls...that was amazing too, but a different amazing.  You see we started being parents and stopped being married...bare with me here.  We put so much in to our girls that we never had anything left for each other.  We don't fight, we don't argue unless things don't go my way.  We are best friends who have been growing apart emotionally for 6 years. 

We have seen it happening and have tried to make it right but when you have been doing something for so long, how do you get back to where you started, do you know what I'm saying? 

We quit taking time for each other and everything was all about our babies.  However the best gift you can give your kids is your relationship with your spouse.  Knowing that is what brought us to this retreat. 

God is good...he put us here by divine appointment and we know that.  The speaker is an identical twin...I love that.  (I will be talking to him tomorrow about what his parents did right and what he wished they would change and I will be sharing that on a different post for the twin moms out there).

We are all designed for greatness and with God, you can achieve that greatness.  I let my guard down tonight you guys, which is something that I have kept up for at least the last 3 to 4 years.  Guarding my heart from being hurt because there was nothing being put in to our relationship.  Tonight, through God, I let that down. 

I am so excited to share with you guys how the rest of the weekend goes...and for those of you who are hoping this is going to be like a motion picture...I am afraid that I am probably going to let you down.  I am here to work on myself, my marriage and my life not just for me but for my family!  That's what this is going to be about.

Tomorrow is going to be amazing and I can't wait to get back to you on how!

Marriage Retreat...Part 1

We just got here to our marriage retreat through our church.  You see when we signed up for it, we really didn't need it, just thought it would be fun.  Then the months went by and it's amazing how God works cuz we can really use it now.  Both of us are emotionally, mentally and physically beat and don't do a whole lot to try to work on our relationship. 

So here we sit...just got here and are waiting for dinner.  I was excited to have found a hot spot to be able to access the internet.  I want to blog about this because I have a feeling it's going to be a weekend of throwing Kandi under the bus comedy and tears! 

We are in beautiful South Lake Tahoe and are right on the lake...I am so so thankful for my husband to even be excited about doing something like this.  I know most husbands wouldn't even think of it.

I will keep you posted on the progress of the weekend...I am not sure what to expect but was telling Adam (the husband) that I don't want to be thrown under the bus about everything.  He laughed and laughed and said this is a "Marriage Retreat" he if feeling like it is going to be very positive and give us tools to take home with us.  Myself, I thought it was going to be a session of getting to the bottom of our issues...hence me being thrown under the bus. 

I find myself a very hard working, strong willed, ouspoken delightful person however...there may be times every single day  that I am hard to live with. :)  That's why we're here!

Wish us luck and stay tuned because throughout the weekend you will also hear from my dear husband, Adam.  He said he will tell me what I can type and would love to contribute to this segment of my blog.  Gotta love that guy!

Home Makeover...

There are those who have an eye for decorating and then there's me...I have an eye for nice stuff but not where it goes.  My husband and I have been a really good team in life for many reasons...one of those being that he has the eye for where things go and I buy the stuff that goes in the house.  It has worked out for many, many years...well if you must know since we were 17 yrs old.  LOL
 
Until now...we just moved into our new house and well there is just a way about this house that I know that our previous HGTV wannabe but not qutie cutting it techniques are really not going to work.  One of my best friends offered to come over and tell me what my house needed....and boy did she!

She brought her mom and they got to work...next thing you know my furiture was being moved, the kitchen was being torn apart and everything was being put away off of the counter and in to the pantry.  The pictures were coming off of the walls and going on to new walls...it was crazy.  Then like the Tazmanian devil stopped spinning...it all came together.  It was so awesome!  My house looks awesome!

Then on to the bedroom...the same thing.  She was amazing. 

My mom came over and wanted to take a peak...mind you my mom already lived in the Mother-In-Law unit for about 6 months before we bought the house...that's actually how we learned of it.  So I wanted them to know where I had come from and they went to my moms house.  Now her house is beautiful and she has beautiful things...A TON OF BEAUTIFUL THINGS!  My mom is a collector and she has so many little trinkets...you would die she could open up a store.  They came back and were blown away at not only how cute the house was...but how much stuff she had.

So at the end of the day...I was so proud of the turn around in my house.  It definitely needed it and we are all settled in. 

Can't wait until she comes back again...stay tuned!

Aloha Friday...Tweeting

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

Here is my question this week:

Do you tweet and if so, what advice do you have for a new tweeter?

One of my dear friends brought me to the dark side...Twitter. :)  This was an area that I had never tried on for size.  So as of last night, I am an official "tweeter". 

When I get something new like this...I HAVE to figure it out.  I'm not a big fan of being a part of something and having no idea of how to fully utilize it.  After a little while today I feel that I am on the right track.  Still a LOT to learn but definitely the right track.

Feel free to follow me...my twitter username is:  www.twitter.com/twinspirationz

Happy Friday friends!

Things I love Thursday...Once Upon A Family

I am a big believer of traditions in families...for example, we do Friday night movie nights, Pizza every Sunday night, St. Patricks Day is actually a day that we celebrate how lucky we are to have each other, etc.  I wonder when kids leave home...what is it about their life that they take with them?  The traditions.  That's what.

What I am excited to write about today is one of my very favorite companies called...Once Upon A Family.  The woman who started this company is a mom of twins and really did a ton of research...about two years...researching "good, healthy, strong families".  What she found was that there was a common demonator in all of the good families...they all had traditions.  You see when they are older and out of the house...they don't care how many thousands of dollars that you spent on their Princess Birthday party...what they truly take with them are the traditions that you did together as a family.

Once Upon A Family is a company that is all about family traditions.  There are so many awesome ideas...for example, one of my favorite is on your daughters birthday every year...take a picture of her in your wedding dress and as the years go on, you watch her grow into your dress.  Or there is another one that is my favorite...every year on your childrens birthdays...write them a letter highlighting the year that just passed.  Store them in a box and 21 days before they turn 21, you start sending them to them...one a day until the last day when they turn 21.  These are just a couple...there are SO MANY MORE!

This is a company that offers parties in your house and then you can learn about all of their products that they offer.  The best part about the parties is that you don't actually have to buy "their stuff"...just getting the idea, you can start that tradition in your own house with your own stuff. 

I am not a consultant or associated with Once Upon A Family in any way other than a lover of their products and ideas...which is why I am sharing it with you today for Things I Love Thursdays.

This post has been linked to
"Things I love Thursdays" hosted by Diaper Diaries

Random Tuesday Thoughts...

Oh, once again it’s Tuesday which means that according to Keely, I’m allowed to babble on about anything and everything that pops into my head!

This is my first time with "Random Tuesday Thoughts" and I am a little concerned at how excited I am that I can just go on and on about the random stuff that I worry about in a day...where to begin.

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My girls are 6 year old identical twins and I have been having trouble with them listening lately.  Especially after they come home from school.  I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong.  Nothing is seeming to work aside from beating them...and I am not a spanker so that's not an option.  So I come up with a "Job Chart" that seems to be working for the past two days...but in the next two you know it's not going to work anymore cuz they just won't care whether or not they get a star on the "listening to mom and dad" box for the day...then what?

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How the heck do people actually look at a new house and know where the colored wall should go?  I know that the walls need something...I can figure that much out and then I'm done.

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What do you do when your sisters best friend from years and years is showing signs of skitzophrenia?  When she thinks there are three different people logging into her Facebook having the same name as her...it's time to be concerned.  But how do you intervene?  She has kids and those kids are having to think that there is someone after them because their mom does.  The other side of the family is perfectly heathly and not getting those kids out of the situation...am I the only person that can think logically about this????

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To home school or not to home school...that is the question?  But do your kids suffer from that?  With the way the world is going...I would be just fine to home school my kids until they graduated high school and then send them to a really expensive college where they would be safe...perhaps thats a little over the top, but this is coming from a mom who totally understands the mom in the movie "The Boy in a Bubble"!

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Not eating carbs...I have decided actually three days in a row that I am going to quit eating carbs...to which each day I have failed miserably.  Why is it that there are some out there that can actually lose weight by eating and I gain weight just looking at it?  Where is the justice?  And I don't even like meat...the no carb thing is quite a challenge for me.  But here I go again today...started my day with a small bowl of cottage cheese...yum!

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Lastly...at least for the day...how in the world is one supposed to organize their stuff in a new house without any organizing tools?  I have plenty of room but not a place to put everything.  This could actually be a whole blog in itself.

Don't forget to go to The Un Mom for more Random Tuesday Thoughts! 

Have a great day!

Digital Scrapbooking...YAY!!

I have been a big scrapbooker for many years.  Long before I had kids.  I love the creative aspect along with the organization of it all.  I was a Creative Memories consultant for about 8 years and the only reason that I left Creative Memories was because at that time, they just weren't keeping up with the competition.  Now they have since made up for it and then some.
I have never been a fan of digital cameras...yes, I have one, but only because it is so much easier than the "old school" ones.  I honestly believed that digital cameras were for people who didn't know how to take pictures.  They would have to delete all of their pictures to get one good one.  Myself, I worked for a newspaper for about 3 years prior to kids and learned so much about all aspects of a newspaper.  One of those was how to take pictures.  You see when I take pictures...I want copies of all of my pictures.  And to be honest with you, I don't like the quality of the digital pictures compared to my "old school" way.
Well yesterday I had a day with "just the girls"...we went and got our pedicures, went and helped one of my friends register for her baby shower at Babies R Us and then we all met for dinner and made our way over to Marie Calendars for pie...needless to say, there was a lot of talking that went on. 
My friend Erica was talking to me about digital scrapbooking and she said something to me that stuck...I had told her that I make two books of everything I do so that when my girls leave the house they don't have to decide who takes what.  They each have an album to take.  However this is very costly, considering that you need two of every piece of paper, sticker, embelishment, etc.  My friend Erica has 5 kids and she justs makes her album on the computer and then prints out several copies "yearbook style".  I just about died...what a great concept.  It was all coming clear for me.  You see having been a consultant for 8 years, when I had to make an order every 3 months, basically it went like this"  one for my product base, one for me, one for my product base, one for me.  I have THOUSANDS of dollars of scrapbooking stuff left.  And I have done a lot of shopping in scrapbooking stores where ever we go and have brought a lot of stuff home from there as well.  So I probably have an estimate of over TEN THOUSAND dollars just in stickers.  Now I wish I could tell you that I am ashamed of myself, however I am not.  I love it so much!  I love my stickers, paper, embellishments, albums...all of the equipment that I have collected over the years.  I absolutely love it.  Which is why I think the whole transistion into digital scrapbooking has been so hard for me. 
One thing that I did do though since my babies were little with every single roll of film that I had developed, I also had them put it on a CD.  So I do have all of my pictures for the last 7 years on CD aka digital.  Yay for me!
Well now I am about to become a Creative Memories consultant again but not to make money on it, just to pay for my own hobby.  Based on the past, I have a tendency to buy a lot of stuff when I do these sorts of things. :) 
So I am excited to blog about my experience in getting in to a whole new scrapbooking world for me.  I will continue to scrapbook the "old school" way for my girls' first album since I have already started and have all the stickers, paper, etc. for it...but from this point forward I would like to refer to myself as a "digital scrapbooker". 
Any suggestions you other digital scrapbookers out there have...I would love to hear them. 
Happy Sunday!

Aloha Friday...Parenting Advice

In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer below as a comment. Nothing that requires a lengthy response. Click above button to get more info.

Here is my question this week:

What was your favorite parenting advice?

I actually have a couple of things that I live by and try to give as my parenting advice when asked.

• Never EVER let your child think you are mad at them.  For example, don't ever use he term, "Mommy is so angry, mad, upset or disappointed at you."  You don't ever want your child to feel like you are mad at THEM.  It's fine to be angry, mad, upset and/or disappointed at what they DID, but not at them.  So you would let them know, "Mommy is upset at the choice that was made, not at you!"  It's important that they know you would NEVER be mad at them and that they should never be mad at themselves!

• Have them look in the mirror from a very young age...look right at themselve and tell themselves they love themself.  For example..."I love you Kandi." to myself.  It's hard for many adults to do this but the best gift we can give our kids...#1 is your relationship with your spouse #2 the gift for them to love themselves.
  

• Epressing emotion...there are so many times that we tell our kids to stop crying, stop pouting, stop any kind of behavior that we feel is unnecessary.  To express emotion is so healthy for them and they have to know that it's ok.  It's actually good to talk to them about what they're feeling.  Explain to them what that emotion is so they don't feel bad about themselves when they want to cry or be sad.  What I tell my girls when they are crying whether its for a good reason or not..."Crying is really healthy, but I don't want to hear it so if you would like to cry you are welcome to do that in your bedroom."  That way we are not trying to keep them from expressing emotions...just asking them to do it in their bedroom and when they are all done, they are welcome to join us again.
  

• Never say Bad boy or Bad girl to them.  Maybe what they did was bad but you don't ever want to make them feel bad about themselves.
  
  
  
• Live in the  now...when they have done something that has upset you...don't say you ALWAYS do this or you can't EVER do anything right.  Talk about what happened that day... for example, "We had a rough morning today.  You were not listening...let's work harder on that tomorrow."  Or instead of, "You always talk horrible to me."  Deal in the now..."I don't appreciate the way you were talking to me today."  That way they don't feel like they are a lost cause...fixing one day is a lot easier than fixing something they ALWAYS do!
  
  
  
• Whenever your child is doing something that is DRIVING YOU CRAZY...look in the mirror.  They are mirror images of us.  Sometimes they are doing things that we, ourselves don't even realize we do.  There are many times that my girls do something that I wonder, where in the world did that come from?  Most people would just think of it as a phase...I look in the mirror and figure out what I'm doing that is causing that behavior.  They will duplicate what we do so don't expect to tell them not to do something that you do all the time.  You have to be the example you want to set for your kids!   An example of this...I have a friend whose daughter talks HORRIBLE to her.  She is always just appalled at the way her daughter addresses and treats her.  The problem is...she has never looked in the mirror to see how she talks to her daughter.  From an outside view...the daughter is a spitting image of her mom and talks to and treats her mom the same way her mom treats her.  If you want the behavior to change in your child...you have to first be willing to change it in yourself.
  
  
  
• And last but not least for today...this is a tough one that I struggle with every day...NO EMOTION!  If you can just practice no emotion when they come home and tell you something...just listen and don't offer your advice unless they are asking for it.  As hard as that is, right then is not the appropriate time to get them in to a huge lecture.  They'll never talk to you again.  Be thankful that they are talking to you and just listen.  If they want your advice...I promise they'll ask and then it will be welcome whatever you say.  Or No Emotion when they do something that makes you angry.  Again...hard to be but often times they are only doing it to get that rise out of you.  If you didn't react and just dealt with the problem, you would find those times getting less and less.
  
  
  

I hope that one of this little things helped you in your #1 job in life...parenting!  There is truly nothing more important that we could be good at than being good parents.  We are responsible for what this world is going to become!

Have a great Friday!

Things I love Thursdays...Verseit.com

This post is linked to Things I Love Thursday at The Diaper Diaries.

I have always been a party planner and have made all of my own invitations from my wedding invites (well I got the verse for it anyway), baby showers, to my girls' birthday party invites.  And I always do themed parties so the wording of the invitation is very important.  Where I go to find all of the perfect verses is called...http://www.verseit.com/  you can find a verse for any thing you need.  I actually will find one that I like and use the basis of it to make my own sayings. 
This works every year for birthday parties, holiday parties, baby showers, etc.  This website has saved me many times considering that in my opinion the invitation makes the whole event...if the invite is exciting and can draw them in, you will actually get more people to that event.
For example...this year I did a rockstar birthday party for my girls.  I really wanted concert ticket invitations so while I was looking online for the "perfect" idea that I could copy, I actually found a company that makes concert ticket invitations.  I had to come up with all the verbage and they would do the rest...they were adorable, pink and white and the seat and row numbers were all 6 because thats how old my girls were. 
Definitely use http://www.verseit.com/, you will feel really creative with a little help!

Just a Motivating Monday...

This is an opportunity to write about something that is motivating to you or you think will be motivating to others.  To read more Motivating Mondays go to garibaysoup.com.

I have been very inspired lately by just knowing what we as human beings are designed for.  We are designed for greatness.  God didn't manufacture junk, Success is our birth right.  And knowing that motivates me to seek out things that make me a better mom, wife, make our family more successful, etc.
What I am looking for when I am searching for ways to improve "life" in general is first a vehicle to help me get to my dreams.  You see there are so many people out there who don't dream any more.  They feel, "what's the use."  Remember that what you dream, you can achieve.  And I believe that every single day.  In looking for the "vehicle" to help me reach my dreams, I first had to realize that it wasn't a 9 to 5 job.  You see our whole lives we are taught to be average.  Go to school, go to college, go to work for someone else, work until you are too old to work, retire and then go get the "retirement job" because you can't afford to live on retirement.  Well I'm 33 years old, what's Social Security going to be like when I get old enough to need it?  What's it gonna be when my kids are old enough to need it?  God didn't create us to be average!  He created us to be GREAT!  And if it is to be, it's up to me!
Don't stop dreaming.  This weekend we are going to create our new vision boards.  This vision board will consist of all of the things we are dreaming about...short term and long term.  My girls are 6 years old and we do it with them as well.  Do you have any idea what we are teaching our kids with teaching them to dream? 
There will be many people along the path that frown on you for pursuing your dreams.  Why is that?  Because they don't dream!  It saddens me to think about all the people in life that just settle, settle for where they are going to work, settle for how much money they are going to have, settle for how they are living their lives.  I want the absolute best for my children...and I am not a money motivated person, I am a freedom motivated person.  I am on the path for time and money together...so when you go to Disneyland you don't have to choose if you are going to get a doll from the gift shop OR eat in one of the "downtown restaurants", you can do them both.  You can live life the way you were intended to live life. 
I thank God each and every day knowing that I am on the path that I was intended to be on .  The path that is going to help me reach my dreams, goals and achieve my greatness!  Through it all, I am teaching my children to do the same thing!  Through God all things are possible and I live my life each and every day seeking God's word.  Knowing that when I leave those doors to go to "work", that I am doing God's work!  And I will not be killing myself in a heavy labor job or stressing myself to the max in an environment where everyone hates each other as well as their jobs.  I love what I do and encourage each and every one of you to find what it is that you love to do.  Break out of the J- O- B mold (Just Over Broke) and shoot for the moon, you never know, you may end up with a star!
Don't stop dreaming!  Dream big and then map out how to get there!  Read inspirational books!  You should be working on yourself every single day!  Be positive...live a positive life (and that is a choice).  Good things happen to good people is a fact!  Be a good person! 
Love yourself!
I will tell you of a couple of books that I just recently bought that I encourage all of you to buy...they are not long reading, they are fairly short books... "The Five Major Pieces to the Life Puzzle" and "The Seasons of Life" both written by Jim Rohn.
Pursue your greatness today...and have a blessed day!

Halloween 2009

Yesterday was a very busy and very fun day!  The girls and I carved pumpkins in the afternoon.  This was the first year I actually let them use the little "pumpkin knives" that you buy as kits in the store and cut their own pumpkin.  Usually they will draw on the pumpkin and Adam and I carve them out...but not this year.  And they did awesome! 
Then as it started to get closer to dark we decided it was time to get their outfits together.  They were so excited and so was I to find out how it was all going to come together. 
We put on their make up and it was the first Halloween costume that ever required face makeup like this.  Below is a picture of Em with her face made up and Erynn anxious for hers to be.

We got both girls all done and started with the blue eyebrows and blue eyeshadow makeup with blue eyelashes.  Then we did a pink nose with lipstick and pink lips...time to add the wig.  I was so excited about these wigs...they were perfect.  They were actually blue troll hair that I found on the internet.

This was one of my favorite costumes that we have done yet.  We put on their red long sleeve shirts and pink leggings to keep them warm under their outfit and then it was time to get dressed up.

And then the outfit...they looked SO cute!  It was so much fun!

The night was a blast...I was so surprised how many people just loved the girls' outfits.  Everyone that we passed commented on their outfits.  It was so much fun for them.  My mom and my mother-in-law came with us and we had a great time.  The girls got their share of candy and enough for many others as well.

One more Halloween down...one more year to go!

Hope you all had an awesome time and I look forward to seeing pictures of all of your kids' costumes.

Happy Sunday!