Mommy Dearest

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There is nothing more important to me than raising good kids.  I am sure we all feel like this, but all go about it in our different ways.  My way may not be the right way for everyone, and I've fore sure taken missteps here and there, but I am very intentional about my choices.

When I first became a mother many of my mom friends were recommending parenting books right and left to me.  Nothing sounded more tedious to me than reading a parenting book.  My way has always been to go with my gut.  To be strong in my religion and then just follow my heart.

My heart told me I wanted curious kids.  Since Emry was old enough to walk we spent our days at the park.  I was the first one there and the last to leave.   She would climb and eat sand.  Slide and run around for hours.  When I was pregnant with Lila I remember being so sick just laying on the grass watching Emry play, hoping and praying she wouldn't ask me to push her on the swing.  She always did.  But in the end all that mattered was my child was in the fresh air having fun and entertaining herself with nature.

After Lila was born and we moved to Temecula we spent our mornings at the pool.  We arrived at pretty much 9am every single morning, most of the time we would be the only ones there.  I would hold baby Lila and push Emry back & forth to the pool steps for hours.  Emry swam on her own at 2 1/2.  People were always amazed  when they saw her, but if they only knew we were there 3 hours every day it wouldn't have seemed so miraculous.

Ethan was born and .................... you get the picture.  That's it.  That's what I did.  I explored and ran, read and played, laughed and colored.  At times playing barbies made my eyes roll in the back of my head, but I did it.  I considered it my job.  The most important one.  I loved it then and I still do.

For sure I had my moments when I threw on 'Cinderella', but those moments were few and far between.  As much work as it is to parent sans T.V. and video games, nothing made me happier than seeing my kids at the end of the day with a million books fanned out around them in bed.  Their bedtime was always early because I then had a million Lego & puzzle pieces to put away, science experiments to wash off counters and floors, and forts to dismantle.

I have regrets for sure.  I am hoping my kids won't remember the times I seethed with anger, lost my cool and had expectations that were extremely inappropriate for their age. But I've learned patience is a must, and you gotta just go with the flow of their crazy antics or else you'll wind up in the looney bin.

Every day I tell them I love them.  Every day we pray as a family.  Every day we do homework together.  Every day I expect them to help each other and me.  Every day we are silly.  Every day we have at least one treat along with all the healthy stuff.

These kids are my heart.  Preparing them to lead a rich and wondrous life, to always be curious, to lose themselves in learning, to figure out solutions, to love adventure and good food, to be open to trying new things, to put faith ahead of fear, to truly love others and believe in themselves enough to fall down and get right back up is my greatest wish, hope, dream and goal.

A Great Day

After  a morning of cleaning bathrooms I thought my kids deserved an afternoon at the beach.  We enjoyed the bit of sun that was out but truth be told they're going in regardless of the weather.

They jumped waves, collected seashells (that are all over my front lawn right now), did acrobatics, and took a walk with their Grandmother & I up and down the beach.

All along Oceanside Pier are Fishermen, one was kind enough to let Emry hold a small Octopus he had caught in his net before he threw it back in the water.  It made her day!  I told her she could cross that off her bucket list, once we write her one.

Ahhhhhhhh, they're so cute. 

My mom bought us dinner at a dive my kids love called Angelos, Glenn always stops there after surfing.  I salivate over the onion rings, but this place is a tad too greasy for my taste.

My kids are watching wrestling on a T.V. above them.  It's my nightmare come to life, they're eating greasy food and watching violent television.  At the same time.

On the way home they read their favorite comic books, 'The Far Side'.  They read these over and over, they just love them and surprisingly they get a lot of the humor.

Just a little preview of what's to come this summer.  Life is always good in SoCal.

Interview

1. Name & meaning?
- Ethan Glenn Wallwork.  Cause my parents named me it.

2. What's the best thing about being you?
- That I have a good family & I have a physical body.
 
3.What's great about being part of your family?
- My parents are always nice to me & my mom makes me food.

4. What's your favorite book?
- Illustrated Classics

5. You in 3 words.
- Honest, Loving, Nice.

6. Favorite Memory.
- When I was a baby doing funny stuff.
 
7. Favorite Quote.
- "When you don't succeed, try try again"

8. Proudest Achievement.
- Mostly getting 100% on my homework.

9. What's your favorite thing your mom makes?
- Peanut Butter & Bananas

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
- A Police Man

11. What do you know for sure?
- That my mom loves me.

12. What do you look forward to?
- I look forward to having a good family and a good house and nice kids.

13.  What's the best thing about.......
Lila - She always says yes if I want to play with her.
Emry- She always makes crafts with me.
Mom in one word- Loving
Dad in one word- Playful

14.  What do you believe in?
- I believe in the Gospel and Church.

 15. Favorite saying.
- You can do it!

Pop Up Carnival

Monday afternoon found us in the mall parking lot at this little carnival.  My kids had seen it a few days before and were dying to go.

Emry convinced me to let her go on the caged ferris wheel.  Her exact words were "Mom, you know I am a thrill seeker", and she is, that girl will try anything.  At a regular amusement park I'd have no problem, but at a creeky, touring carnival, yikes, I held my breath the whole time. 

They had a blast riding all the rides, but watching them was just as fun.

Thrift Finds

 Oops, I did it again.  I took Lila to gymnastics and went down the street to the thrift store.  I should just stay in the waiting room and watch her like a responsible grown up instead of dragging Ethan with me to "just see" if we find anything we need.

I need another dress like I need a hole in the head, but whatcha gonna do, it was too good to pass up.  It has a 70's vibe and if there's one thing I love, it's clothes from the 70's.  While everyone's rocking the skinny jeans I am still sporting my beloved flares.....always.  And at $5.00 I'll make room in my closet.  The striped leggings for Lila were $1.00.

These finds were from two different days.  We headed to a Thrift Store in the next town over last Friday since we were, wait for it, down the block at the dentists.  All the kids clothes were................. $1!!! What?  It's basically like shopping at the dollar store except you don't throw away those stupid cheap toys you knew you shouldn't have bought in the first place.  I went to town.  Ethan's shirt & sweats and Lila's blue leggings & green plaid shirt were all a buck apiece.

Lila tends to favor leggings as she doesn't like buttons of any kind digging into her.  Usually pants have those built in belts on the inside, which is a great invention, but she doesn't like the way those inside buttons feel.  I love these green sweats I got for Ethan, they're super thick and nice and usually all items I get are like new.

Rainbow shirt (thrifted, different post), striped leggings $1, plaid shirt $2.00, grey leggings $2.50.  These grey leggings are so adorable, I can't wait to pair them with all sorts of fun tops.

I am milking these sweet dresses, $4.00, until Lila puts her foot down.  This dress I am wearing, $5.00, is a DREAM.  I love the fit, the material, everything!  It's probably not a dress I would wear to church like the one above,  I would just wear this for every day.  Since Temecula  can get really hot in the summer and I prefer dresses to shorts, I am always on the lookout for flattering, comfy dresses.

Ethan's Gap Sweater $2.00, jeans $1.50.  Lila's cute little orange jumper, $2.00.  Lila's laughing because Emry kept photo-bombing her photo shoot. Oh and the red Kool-Aid dyed hair from Valentines Day, it's not coming out!  I have a punk rock 10 year old.

Nope, no clothes for Emry either of these trips.  With thrifting you get what you get, and we found nothing for her.  She's good for now but come summer I am sure she'll need a few things.

Grand Total - $30.00

In honor of all these "Truly Real" Fabulous Finds.............................

Oh, and the super sweet faux fur coat in the last frame, bought at a thrift store in Santa Cruz over 10 years ago.  I can count the number of times I've worn it on one hand.  I am dying to go somewhere really cold, even though I hate the cold, just so I can wear it.  It'd be worth it :)

*That 'Whoops' in the video is what happens when Emry hands the recorder over to me.  I cannot be trusted with technology of any kind.   Sorry Emsy, awesome job as usual.

Be Mine

 I have to admit I can be a little too carefree for my own good.  Glenn & I have been married almost 17 years and sometimes the night before our anniversary he'll look at me and say "We're not doing anything for each other, right???"  This same question is sometimes posed before Valentines Day, Christmas or our birthdays.

But now that we have kids, it's all about making a fun, magical, holiday experience for every major holiday, & I have to admit I like it.

The kids wake up on Valentines morning to a small gift.  This year Emry got a dozen gel pens (she wanted them) Lila got pencil toppers called 'squinkies', and Ethan got some glow in the dark stars and silly string.  They also received some chocolate covered strawberries I made at a church function the night before.

Upon seeing this lego creation in his room Ethan said, "The heart is really impressive".  Haha, that boy cracks me up.  He is also such a love, he told me "I love you" yesterday at least 50 times.

I did set a plate for Glenn and make him some strawberries as well, and he did get me a sweet card, a chocolate bar and some spending money,  Simple and perfect.

Some women may not appreciate this card, I thought it was funny. 
 

I had bought some nice steaks to grill that night but at the last minute we decided to join our friends for Thai food.  It was so good and we had such a fun night.

It ended with running to Emry's middle shcool at 10:30 pm to pick her up.  She had been on a field trip since before the crack of dawn to a little place called Disneyland.

Between the little ones coming home with shoeboxes stuffed with sweet Valentines and candy, Emry's adventure and Glenn & I's night out, It was the best Valentines Day yet.

ShortCut

Emry chopped off her locks last week.  I didn't want her to, but she insisted she wanted it off her shoulders and out of her way.

I've told myself for years that all I truly want for my kids is for them to live their lives based on what they want, not others, but I didn't expect the 'other' would be me!  I love braiding, curling and twisting the girls hair into all sorts of crazy fancy funky do's, but I guess that's kind of over for the time being.

The reaction to Emry's hair was interesting.  They were all along the lines of "Cute.  But why'd you cut it?".

The psychology behind long hair versus short is fascinating as I got to thinking about it.  I know that whenever I see a girl with super short hair there is some envy that rises to the surface on my part.  These girls always seem confident and sporty, fun and carefree, like they have more important things to do than deal with their hair.

Every few years I cut my hair off to a chin length bob, then cut bangs, then layer it, then grow it out, then repeat the whole process.  Right now I am in the growing out stages, but I am actually dying to cut bangs, so who knows what's in store.  I have to admit I look forward to the day I am old and can for the first time get a really short Demi Moore in Ghost style cut. (Obviously I can do that now, but with my full cheeks I highly doubt it's the right look for me)

Looking around at all my friends and family members daughters I realize one thing - they all have long hair.  Emry has the shortest hair by far of all her friends at church and school.  But you know what?  It doesn't even faze her.  I don't think it even occurs to her to follow the crowd or do things like others.

I got my way after all.

Naughty by Nature

Today was one of those days we were holding our friends baby in church and I found myself thinking how adorable it would be to have another baby, my daydream even went so far as to smugly think twins would be super fun. 

That was before we arrived home.

Our church goes from 9am-12pm, so from noon on we have ALL day to spend as a family, which is usually great.  Usually.  Arriving home the kids thought it the perfect time to be their silliest, loudest, most obnoxious, mischievous, messiest selves.  They even went so far as to annoyingly act like children!!!  It took me a few minutes to remember they still are, so luckily I didn't lose my cool and in an even tone directed Ethan in cleaning up a full glass of spilled chocolate milk, untangled his hair from the hand blender he genius-ly turned on in his 'long haired hippie' hair (as Glenn calls it) and explained why playing with a long stick while jumping from couch to couch, table to chair wasn't the smartest plan.

I tried to read in my bed, oh how silly of me, what was I thinking?  They all joined me and Lila insisted she had to read my magazines as they are all extremely fond of Oprah's favorite things issues.  (Good thing Emry plans on becoming a doctor as Oprah's doesn't like anything under $500)  They then decided to have a party in my bed and went on to take apart the entire bed.

I could go on and on about these punky kids, the state of my home right now, and the aftermath that only human tornadoes can create.

But you know what?  It was okay.  It was all okay.  It was even fun to see my kids who spend so much time doing homework and chores, reading books and scriptures, paying attention at school and being reverent at church to just be silly and wacky, to let loose and act like 2 year olds.

It brought back so many great memories and reminded me to have patience because as immature as they were today, I know every day that passes is a small punch to my gut, a reminder that I can't stop or slow down their march away from me.

Cleaning and organizing, mopping and rearranging can be done tomorrow.  I know the chocolate milk wasn't thoroughly cleaned up.  I know church clothes are still on floors and dressers.  I know the mess isn't cute in the least, it's gross, it makes me uneasy, I have to talk myself out of taking them to task. 

Yes, they are big enough to clean up after themselves, but sometimes I can do it.  I can toast them a bagel in the morning, pack their lunch, kiss them goodbye, watch them walk down the street their backpacks heavy on their shoulders and then I can turn around, crank up the soft rock and go to town cleaning.

The mess will still be there, it isn't going away.  As for my thoughts about adding more kids to this mix?

What thoughts?

Interview

1. Name & meaning?
- Emry Glenn Wallwork.  Emry means brave leader, I looked it up online.  Glenn's my dad's name.

2. What's the best thing about being you?
- I am always happy!

3.What's great about being part of your family?
- We're different. We have our own thing.  After we do chores we end up doing a lot of fun stuff.

4. What's your favorite book?
- I think 'Divergent', it's really good. I really like 'The Mysterious Benedict Society' & 'Harry Potter' & 'Struck by Lightening'.  I don't know, I like a lot of books.

5. You in 3 words.
- Funny.  Spontaneous.  Outgoing.

6. Favorite Memory.
- I really like all my memories of theme parks, I love my memories of roller coasters.  Usually I am with you or Dad.

7. Favorite Quote.
- "Always live up to your dreams.  Unless your dream is stupid."

8. Proudest Achievement.
- When I swam the (Oceanside) Pier, it was really hard and fun. Making honor roll every year.  Getting into video announcements.

9. What's your favorite thing your mom makes?
- You make so much good stuff!  Caramel Corn.  You chop fruit very good, I always love fruit.

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
- A Plastic Surgeon or an Anesthesiologist.

11. What do you know for sure?
- That I've made good friends.  That they love and respect me.

12. What do you look forward to?
-Driving, Disneyland, ASB, High School, Swimming, P.E., getting a big dog, having a boyfriend, joining a gym and going to Zumba, working at the Apple store.

13.  What's the best thing about.......
Lila - She's a loyal little sister, really sweet and funny.
Ethan- hmmm.....He's good at sports.
Mom in one word- Love
Dad in one word- Fun

14.  What do you believe in?
- Being honest & true.

15. Favorite saying.
- I love you.

Thrift Finds

For a few months now I've been looking for new chairs for my dining room.  Definitely a want, not a need.  Whenever I hit the thrift stores I'll check the furniture and see if there are any I like for a good deal.  When looking for Lila's career day costume last week I saw this pair for $100 each.  I loved them and they were in almost perfect condition, exactly what I was looking for, but the price was too steep.

Upon leaving the store there was a big sign advertising that the upcoming Friday everything in the store was 1/2 off.  Music to my ears.

Friday morning I was there when the store opened and grabbed the tags off those chairs so fast.  My first though was that I would recover them until I remembered I can barely sew a straight line.  Reupholstery is expensive and since the chairs are in such great shape and I like the fabric, I can put that off a few years.

When I placed the new chairs in the room I literally jumped up and down. I always thought that was just a saying but it's real.  When you are completely giddy about something you really do jump up and down!  We use our dining room a lot so these chairs will be very loved.

The old chairs.  It sounds extremely bratty but after 10 years I was just sick of them.  They were getting a little grungy and I wanted something bigger to change the whole look of the room.

Of course I found some other deals as well.  I paid $7.50 for the rollerblades (for Emry), $3.00 for the tablecloth (cause I don't  need another one), $0.60 for both magazines, and $6.00 for some random material that I will let the girls try and make some little quilts or blankets with.

$1.00 for some cloth napkins, a microfiber and 2 potholders.  Do you see that $0.20, yes, that means I got them for $0.10 each, it so made my day.  And microfibers can be $3 or $4 each new, which this one was.  I tend not to use too many chemical cleaning products so I love microfibers.

$1.00 for a cute rainbow shirt for Lila & $0.50 for a robe for Ethan.  Can we talk about the robe?  This robe was brand new and retails for about $15.00.  I should know because I've bought a few at Costco.  We go to our community pool year round and my kids wear their robes instead of bringing a towel.  This is an extra Large so it will be perfect in a year or 2 for Ethan.  So happy!

$3.00 for the shirt and leggings for Lila and $1.50 for the pink dress I got for my niece Kiera.

This is Emry & I after church yesterday.  My skirt was bought for $2.00 and Emry's dress for $6.00.  Her dress was a bit expensive (from a thrifting point of view anyway) but she really liked it and it is so hard for me to find modest  clothes for her.  I have pretty strict standards for my girls, their dresses need to be at least to their knee, preferably longer, so when I find something that works I bite the bullet.

I loved this bright blue skirt as soon as I saw it. Usually I am super lazy and go with dresses as they require no coordinating, but it fit like a glove so I had to get it.  I paired it with a fun top I got a few years ago at Marshall's and some bright shoes I got on clearance at Kohl's for $8.00.  Usually I don't go to Kohl's but I went during the Christmas holiday with my sister and saw these.  Even though they're a 9 and I wear an 8.5, I buckled em' tight and made em work.

Grand total was $132.10.  Pretty good February finds if I do say so myself.

Career Day

The kids elementary spirit day  this month was 'Career Day'.  I am sure my kids will change their mind a hundred times before they actually settle on a career, but as of now Ethan wants to be a Police Officer and Lila wants to perform with Cirque de Soleil.

We found this snazzy leotard at the Salvation Amry and complimented it with lots of colorful sparkly makeup.  Lila's never seen a Cirque show but I've seen many & I think she would do great!

 This isn't actually a police outfit, but I asked around to some friends and this is the best I could come up with.  Even with 40% off at the Salvation Army Lila's outfit was almost 15 bucks, so sorry Ethan,  a Park Ranger's outfit that's a few sizes too small will have to do.

At least I got the Ugg's right.  I know all Park Rangers wear Ugg's.