Ever since the girls were just little, I have always had a "Special Day" with them. I have heard of people that make a special date with one child just to get some one on one time in, but that never worked out for us. We tried it a few times but the other 2 girls could never wait a whole week before they got their "turn" and they were extremely jealous of the one that did get to go, so we just do a Saturday Girls Day. Sometimes we do it big by going shopping and out to eat, other times we just drive around and look at houses that we wish we could afford. We don't always have to spend money or have an agenda. I have even learned to share my scrapbooking supplies with them! (yes, that was hard for me to do!)
I love spending Saturdays with my girls. Sometimes one or more of us will have a "bad attitude" in the beginning, but by the end of the day we are united and having fun. I have learned so much about my girls just by spending time with them. As they grow to be teenagers they don't always want to share their feelings as much. I think by spending time together away from the house, away from chores, away from homework, we are able to come together, share our thoughts, share our feelings and enjoy being together.
I guess the motivation for me was that I don't remember doing things like that with my mom. She usually was working. (She was a Nursing Assistant and they don't get the same days off each week, which meant she worked most weekends) I hope my girls look back at our time spent together and cherish the moments. I hope they will remember what fun I had with them and how much I love them and love being with them.
I challenge anyone that reads this, to find a way to let your child/children know that you love them and appreciate them. It could mean more to them than you know.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I LOVE LOVE LOVE T MOBILE
I am not a big cell phone person. I could really care less about what company we use or don't use and I have no loyalty to one company over another, BUT....T-Mobile has this awesome plan! It is call the family allowance. It allows one person to be the "key holder" if you will. In my family that is ME! I have total control. I can turn a persons phone on or off. I can limit how many minutes they can or can't have, and I can control the Text Messages! Yes Moms, that's right! I can give out or take away as I see fit. This past week I had problems with 2 of my girls, sad to say they pushed harder than they should have and lost total use of their cell phones until I decided when to turn them back on. Once I did (after 3 whole days, a month in a teenagers life) it was with the condition that they will have their phones shut off every night from 9 pm to 9 am. Those girls were never so happy to agree to one of my conditions before in their lives.
No more empty threats, no more warning after warning. Don't push your luck with this mom or you might just find your cell phone shut off! LOL I love T-Mobile!
No more empty threats, no more warning after warning. Don't push your luck with this mom or you might just find your cell phone shut off! LOL I love T-Mobile!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Nintendo.....DS?
When I was young, we had the very first "video" game....PONG. Remember that? Then we got the Atari and on to the Nintendo. I never was much of a "gamer"....but Super Mario really caught my attention. Of course I loved the arcade games like pac man and donkey kong, but having Super Mario at home really got me going. I would spend hours trying to beat that game, never having any luck. I would get so angry because I would die! Finally, I moved on with life and stopped playing. Now, Monica has the Nintendo DS and guess what game she got? Yep, The New Super Mario! Oh my goodness.....here we go again! I have spend so much time trying to play that stupid game. I usually end up asking one of the girls to help me get to the end, and a lot of good that does me because the next level is even harder. Why do I get sucked in like that? I think I will go back to scrapbooking and stamping.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Laughter
I was listening to my girls tonight after dinner. They were in one of the bedrooms having a grand time. I don't know exactly what they were doing, playing the Nintendo DS, watching movies, listening to CD's....? All I heard was them laughing. No fighting, no calling names, no insults. What a beautiful sound, laughing. I love to see the girls laugh together. It makes me feel like everything will be alright.
Rico and Deebo
So my children wanted a dog.....and I gave in. We are use to having small dogs, but this time we got a black lab. I am such a bad doggie mama!! I didn't really research labs before I agreed to getting one. I have always heard that they are good dogs and great with children so I figured....what else do I need to know? Oh boy, was I in for a surprise.
One of my friends' dog had puppies and so we agreed to take one. Well, then Sheri decided she wanted one too, remember now that she lives with us! Now we have two puppies in a 1050 sq. ft house that has 7 people in it. Things got pretty tight.
I got caught up in the whole puppy thing and forgot that they are going to grow up to be "big" dogs. It doesn't seem like a lot but when space is limited to begin with, you can see where I am going right? So our back yard is trashed now. The puppies dig, another thing I didn't take into consideration. It is mostly mud now. The puppies have somehow turned our fully grassed back yard into a mud pit in just a few short months. I am just a bad doggie mama.
Sheri is moving into her own place in a few weeks and can not take Deebo with her, so we had to decide what we were going to do. I just can not take on both dogs, so we decided to adopt him out. Tonight Deebo meet his new forever family. They are animal people and fell in love with him right away, and he seems to love them as well. They live in the country and have lots of land for him to run on and they have children for him to play with. He will be missed but he is going to be better off with them.
Now.... I just need to grow my back yard again! UGH.....
Monday, January 12, 2009
My Grandma Lucille

As I am sitting here wondering what it is that I want to talk about tonight a thought hit me. I love the idea of journals but hate to write in them because all my journal entries are the same. I complain a lot, and I hate to go back days, weeks, months or even years later and read complaint after complaint. So I started to think, I need to be more like Nephi. He never complained, even after all he went through and all that his brothers did to him. Then I was reminded....my Grandma Lucille never complained either. She didn't always have the easiest life, who does right? Yet, I never heard her complain. When I was a young adult and thought I knew it all, she never said a word. She let me learn from the school of hard knocks, (I think mostly because she knew how stubborn I was and that I would just have done the opposite of whatever it was she wanted me to anyway) but when I needed her to pick me up and dust me off, she was always right there.
I was living with her and Grandpa just out of high school. Things were going well for me, I had just started working for Exxon Oil as a Secretary/Data Entry Clerk and was just beginning to pay off some debt that I occurred. Then an old friend got ahold of me and we began to hang out again. She wasn't the best influence in my life and Grandma and Grandpa both tried to warn me about it. They sat me down one night and tried to get me to see the big picture and get me to plan out what direction I wanted my life to go in. But, being young and stupid and full of worldly knowledge, I blew off the talk, after all I was having much too much fun cruising "the avenue" with my long lost friend in my super hot, super cool Chevy Camero!
It didn't take long before my friend convinced me that we should move into a place of our own. She had to very young children and couldn't afford to rent a place by herself. So we decided to split the living costs and rent our own place. I knew that Grandma and Grandpa were not going to be happy with my decision. Long story short, I moved out like a thief in the night, and my life changed forever. I often wonder if I would have been more mature back then and realized how lucky I was to have 2 grandparents that loved me and had so much knowledge that they wanted to share with me, how different would my life have turned out? But that is that, and this is this, and we are where we are today.
So, tonight as I am writing this and thinking about my Grandma, I am making it my 2009 New Years Resolution to not complain so much this year. I will look for the beauty in all things and in all people. I will look for the positive in the challenges that come my way. I will remember my Grandma Lucille and how she never complained.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
How lucky am I?
I know everyone thinks they are the luckiest people in the world when you are talking about children, but I truely am lucky when it comes to having the best daughters a woman could ask for.
I have 3 wonderful daughters. Chante 17, Yolanda 14, and Monica 10. Of course they give me the same struggles that every child gives their mother, but when you look at each child individually and really see them for who they are, you can't help but see what awesome people they are turning out to be.

Chante is funny. Not just funny, but hilarious! She has such a wonderful personality. She can keep you laughing for days. The most random things come out of her mouth and when you find yourself in a very serious mood or situation, she will spout out something so flippen funny you can't help but bust out in laughter, no matter where you happen to be. She is smart. When she applies herself, there is nothing she can't do. She is a natural when it comes to spelling. I call her my dictionary, and trust me I use her all the time for correcting my spelling errors. Amazing artist! Wow, what a talent. I can't even draw a stick man, but she loves to draw. Mostly I have seen cartoon figures or sceanery type things, not so much real people, but when she does do them, I think she does an amazing job. She is also very good at technology. I come to her for everything. I can't even use the universal remote. She is giving and selfless and just an amazing person.

Yolanda is also very humorous. Always coming up with some kind of off the wall remark. She loves to talk, at home at least. I am always told how quiet she is at school, but around her friends and family she has the gift of gab, just ask her Grandpa Dennis! He calls her a motor mouth. She too loves to draw! How did I get such great artists? She is every bit as good as Chante in the art department. Creative, boy does that girl have an imagination! The things she comes up with, I tell you. Maybe she will be an author someday....whatch out J.K. Rowlings. Yoli is also very smart, she has almost all A's her first year in high school! I am so proud of her. She is always ahead in her school work and is very responisble. Another one of her traits I admire is her loving kindness. She will do just about anything you ask her to (on a good day....jk). She really does work hard.

Monica is my spit fire. I like to tease her and tell her if she was my first child, she would have been my last. She is stubborn and hard headed and one tough cookie, but all that is a good thing if you think about it. She is a girl that knows what she wants and sticks to her guns. I am so thankful that she has accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and lives it to the fullest. She motivates me. I don't have any worries about her being able to live up to her covenants. She is smart and kind and loves to laugh. She has picked up on the family humor too. She is quite entertaining. She also loves to draw...where do they get it from? She is developing into an amazing young lady. She does well in school and loves to try different things. Right now she is trying to learn to play the trombone and wants to try the violin and guitar. She is a school safety guard and loves it.

Caleb isn't my own child but he lives with us and I raise him as if he was my very own. He is Sheri's little boy, my nephew. He is HILARIOUS. He makes the funniest faces and says the most crazy things. The girls have helped him develope the most awesome sense of humor. Everyday is an adventure. He LOVES Star Wars. Everything is Star Wars. He knows the movies, the cartoon, the characters, who is who and what is what. He has a Darth Vader costume and a Storm Trooper one as well, that he wears all the time. He uses the force and uses his light sabers on a daily basis. At 4 years old, this boy is one smart guy. He can play his Nintendo DS better than I can (Star Wars Lego~of course). Caleb loves to say the blessing over our meals too. If he doesn't get to say it, he will throw a fit. Sometimes we have to have 2 prayers over our meals. He knows who Heavenly Father is and he knows that God loves him very much.
Yes, I am truely blessed.
I have 3 wonderful daughters. Chante 17, Yolanda 14, and Monica 10. Of course they give me the same struggles that every child gives their mother, but when you look at each child individually and really see them for who they are, you can't help but see what awesome people they are turning out to be.
Chante is funny. Not just funny, but hilarious! She has such a wonderful personality. She can keep you laughing for days. The most random things come out of her mouth and when you find yourself in a very serious mood or situation, she will spout out something so flippen funny you can't help but bust out in laughter, no matter where you happen to be. She is smart. When she applies herself, there is nothing she can't do. She is a natural when it comes to spelling. I call her my dictionary, and trust me I use her all the time for correcting my spelling errors. Amazing artist! Wow, what a talent. I can't even draw a stick man, but she loves to draw. Mostly I have seen cartoon figures or sceanery type things, not so much real people, but when she does do them, I think she does an amazing job. She is also very good at technology. I come to her for everything. I can't even use the universal remote. She is giving and selfless and just an amazing person.

Yolanda is also very humorous. Always coming up with some kind of off the wall remark. She loves to talk, at home at least. I am always told how quiet she is at school, but around her friends and family she has the gift of gab, just ask her Grandpa Dennis! He calls her a motor mouth. She too loves to draw! How did I get such great artists? She is every bit as good as Chante in the art department. Creative, boy does that girl have an imagination! The things she comes up with, I tell you. Maybe she will be an author someday....whatch out J.K. Rowlings. Yoli is also very smart, she has almost all A's her first year in high school! I am so proud of her. She is always ahead in her school work and is very responisble. Another one of her traits I admire is her loving kindness. She will do just about anything you ask her to (on a good day....jk). She really does work hard.

Monica is my spit fire. I like to tease her and tell her if she was my first child, she would have been my last. She is stubborn and hard headed and one tough cookie, but all that is a good thing if you think about it. She is a girl that knows what she wants and sticks to her guns. I am so thankful that she has accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ and lives it to the fullest. She motivates me. I don't have any worries about her being able to live up to her covenants. She is smart and kind and loves to laugh. She has picked up on the family humor too. She is quite entertaining. She also loves to draw...where do they get it from? She is developing into an amazing young lady. She does well in school and loves to try different things. Right now she is trying to learn to play the trombone and wants to try the violin and guitar. She is a school safety guard and loves it.
Caleb isn't my own child but he lives with us and I raise him as if he was my very own. He is Sheri's little boy, my nephew. He is HILARIOUS. He makes the funniest faces and says the most crazy things. The girls have helped him develope the most awesome sense of humor. Everyday is an adventure. He LOVES Star Wars. Everything is Star Wars. He knows the movies, the cartoon, the characters, who is who and what is what. He has a Darth Vader costume and a Storm Trooper one as well, that he wears all the time. He uses the force and uses his light sabers on a daily basis. At 4 years old, this boy is one smart guy. He can play his Nintendo DS better than I can (Star Wars Lego~of course). Caleb loves to say the blessing over our meals too. If he doesn't get to say it, he will throw a fit. Sometimes we have to have 2 prayers over our meals. He knows who Heavenly Father is and he knows that God loves him very much.
Yes, I am truely blessed.
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