Ellie's Prayer

   We have a nightly family prayer together. Tonight was Brielle's turn. Ellie has always said prayers, but she talks so quickly and quietly you have to strain your ears just to get the gist of what she is saying. This night was different. When Ry asked her if she would like to say the prayer, she smiled, folded her arms and spoke loud and clear. The mystery of what she may have been saying in some of her prayers was revealed! Here is a brief recap.

   "Thank you for the grass, our washing machine, the car, our walls and cribs." Very sincerely, "Thank you for keeping us safe from the big bad wolf and for helping the bad guys to not get us. Please help Keiko's (our dogs) feelings to not get hurt when he wants a treat!" By this point Ry and I were smiling, but also amazed at her prayer and the amount of time invested into it.This had to be a record breaking moment for the longest prayer ever spoken by a two year old! Brielle continued by naming every relative she could think of and then sat there for and a moment and said,

     "And...that's all I got!" Ry and I looked at each other and held our breath, but Zoey didn't hesitate to burst out in laughter. That was the end of holding back. We all laughed our hearts out, including Brielle.

     Two days later Ellie said a prayer over the food and ended with her attention getting grand finale, " And......That's all I got!", but before I could chime in, Zoey burst out, "B-Elle, you so funny!"

This is Brielle pretending she is Zoey's baby! She's taking her nap in her doll's crib. The crib is literally 1ft. by 2 ft.! 

 Brielle is a sweetheart and her special gift in the family is peacemaker. I didn't know a child was capable of sharing, like I have witnessed on a daily basis. She truly cares more about her sisters than herself.  In fact, Daddy has to be careful when pretending to gobble up Zoey, because Brielle's mouth will literally drop open, gasp and begin pleading, "No Daddy. Don't eat Zoey. No!"  Zoey is lucky too, because Brielle has saved her a time or two from being left in the house. Rylie's school drive is only minutes away, yet I give Zoey at least twenty warnings, half an hour before we leave to please put her shoes on. Yet, it is Brielle's pleadings that always save her. I really need to find a new consequence that won't traumatize Brielle more than Zoey! Ellie also has a knack for puzzles, making up her own songs, and loves cuddles. My little tender heart is my best sleeper and according to dad is a natural wrestler! Ellie thanks for making our home a more peaceful,loving place.

      Last Sunday, during the passing of the sacrament, Brielle burst out in song. An Ellie original, that went something like this:

     "My Mommy, mumble.....mumble, Nice, mumble...." Second verse, loud and clear! "My Mommy is mean to me, when she puts me in time out. La lalala la laaa!"

     Yes, there was a lot of rubber necking, smiles, and comments throughout the remainder of church. Hey, I told you that I had a ruff week in my last post!

    Brielle has been placing the word "ever" at the end of most of her sentences. For example: "I don't want cheese on my taco shell, ever." or "Don't take that Rylie, ever."  When I ask,

     "Brielle can you please come here so mommy can do your hair?" Brielle's response is, "No, not,ever." Then she'll come up with something like this ten-barrett-Medusa-head, hair do!

Brielle, "My tummy hurts, momma."

Mom,"Oh no! Do you think it is saying,"I'm hungry"?"

Brielle lifts her church dress up, touches her belly button, and with a crinkled nose says,"no tummy talk, momma, my no tummy talk!"

      I love these independent quirks that come out in each girl's personality. I don't know if they'll last long, but I want to remember.

Living to my Heart's Theme

         For the past month or so, life has chewed me up, swallowed, and then spit me back up again! Wow, that sentence was dramatic. But life has been painfully hard and interestingly enough, other happenings in life have been far worse, yet I coped better.

        A continuous amount of stress, followed by three independent girls, mixed with guilt of knowing I need to do better, created this dilemma. Basically, Ry is gone before I awake and home just as I put the girls to bed. It feels like Houston life, but at least I have the nighttime with him. I have unpacked at least 20 boxes a week and we are still getting settled (How did I accumulate so much junk?!). Rylie just started a great new preschool. We are in the process of making new friends, finding new places, and all of the other fun adventures that come with moving. We have had strep throat twice. My kitchen sink flooded my house. I have two extremely independent two year olds, who won't let me help them with anything. Their pants are on backwards, shoes on the wrong feet, hair  messy, and if you buckle the car seat for them, you will hear a high pitched squeal, sure to make your ears ring for the next half and hour! And finally, I am trying to be the perfect mother.

        The last sentence, I have come to understand, is the real problem. It's great to try for perfection, but not by someone else's standards. I used to laugh when my girls accidentally spilled their milk and then finger painted in it. When did life get so serious? When did it become so important to be on time? To have a clean house? Clean laundry or healthily feed your family?
The answer: All have always been important.

        So, what did I do? I was losing patience, with no close friendships, or husband to help relieve the stresses of temper tantrum's and daily life. I prayed. My prayers basically consisted of me begging the Lord to help me be patient with my children. I had been carrying a lot of Mommy guilt, and please help me to get more done, plan better, and so on.

      These prayers continued, usually out of guilt for being short with my girls or just barely getting them to bed and then sprinting to the other side of the house so I wouldn't say something rude. It was awful. How come I could make it the previous eight months, only seeing Ry twice a week, sell and move out of my house, and not loose patience with my children!?
    Then, I happened upon my friend Michelle's family blog, A Dash of Falk, blog post called, "The Hubs..." She had posted her husbands written thoughts and other quotes to celebrate this thankful time of year.

I have read many inspirational quotes that have lifted me up in my lifetime. But the quote I read, rang true to my soul. I had forgotten my joy in life and my daily perception had changed without me even realizing it. You wouldn't believe the relief my heart felt to read these words.

            "NEVER let a PROBLEM to be solved, become more important than a PERSON to be LOVED." President Thomas S. Monson.

         Simple isn't it? Yet, my inner passion for life is refreshed, the loves of my life are priority, guilt free, walking to beat of my hearts theme--Love First!

       God answers prayers and amazingly, it has been a lot easier to be on time and survive daily life, now that I am reminded that NOTHING is as important as treating my children, self, and hubs with love.

      This may seem silly and obvious to many reader's, but I challenge you the next time you have a problem to take a look at yourself and see if you are treating the problem with more attention and love than those involved, even if the only person involved is yourself.

       "They do not love, that do not show their love." William Shakespeare.

I almost burnt the house down

Seriously. Here's the proof.

The crock pot looks repairable, right?!

I was cooking rice and turned the stove off. Checked the rice, it needed more time so, I turned the burner back on and left. A few minutes later, Rylie said,
       "Mom, the food is burning!" I walked in the kitchen to find flames going up the side of the crock pot. The pot was still plugged in and when I had turned the rice burner back on, I accidentally turned on the burner where I had set the crock pot.
In my defense, the knobs are exactly opposite of my burners in Houston. Anyway, I was able to safely put the flames out and the blessing in all of this is; A. We are safe and B. I now know that the smoke detectors in this rental house do NOT work. I'll be calling the property management in the morning. The one good thing about renting is not having to be responsible for EVERYTHING.

Speaking of renting, all of us are enjoying Dallas. It has been a fun new change. We are still missing old friends. Ryan and I team teach in the most wild primary any L.D.S. ward has ever seen. Don't worry though, after today I think the children have a pretty good idea that there's two new sheriff's in the building. After Ryan rounded up the children hiding in the curtains, he looked at me and we almost had to laugh out loud. I have never had to do so much reverence regulating. If any of you have at least spent a day with our family, you know that we are no strangers to chaos! Anyway, back to renting, hopefully we will hear from Ryan's work in a few months if we should start house shopping here or somewhere else. Until then, we are just doing our best to enjoy the ride!

Tonight we have three little popcorn piggy's that seem quite content!

The Royal Line Up

Presenting their Royal Highnesses.......

Sleeping "BOOTY"

and

CINDERWELLWA

Rapunzel, Rapunzel!

The first Rapunzel didn't think her hair was long enough, because she couldn't swing on it, so we got her the wig.

Trunk or Treating!

The girls loved to collect candy, but they enjoyed all of the costumes even more. It took us forever just to walk around one parking lot because they were so engrossed in their surroundings. But, then we came home....

The candy feast began!

The girls eached picked out what they wanted on their pumpkins this year and Momma and Daddy carved away! Actually they all did some carving on the backs of the pumpkins, but only the little artists can interpret their master pieces. Rylie did a lot of pumpkin seed scraping as well.

I particularly love the moving boxes in the back of this photo.

Below is Ry, working on his perfectly roasted pumpkin seeds, that tasted delicious!

I stuck with the sweets and helped the girls dip their apples in carmel. Ry, followed covering apples in chocolate and nuts!

Good memories with our three princesses!