Wednesday, November 2, 2011


Cooper as Spider-Man

Crew as Mickey Mouse

Bella as a 'Lil' Devil

Jorden as Nacho Libre

Jorden and Jacque all ready for Homecoming!

Just bragging...

I truly have THE best kids on this planet! I have been so stressed out these past few months between planning Jorden's Sweet 16 festivities (and trying to keep them secret), the boys turning four, planning our family vacay to Disneyland, trying to finish up the last of my graduate classes, and everything in-between! When I wake up every morning and get my "morning kisses" from my kids and look into their sweet faces, it makes life all the more worth living! Some people are stressed because of their kids (which does happen), but I must say, I relieve stress with my kids! They are my babies and I refuse to believe that Bella started Kindergarten and the boys are four...WOW! To top that, Jordie turning 16 AND dating!!?? Why???

I was blessed with four healthy children and I couldn't have asked for more sweet, loving, kind-spirited, honest, and BEAUTIFUL human beings! They are the joys of my life and as long as I have them to interact with each and every day, I can handle anything!! (oh yah, and my hubby ;)

P.S. Floyd turned seven on Halloween...even the dog's getting older! :(

Monday, May 2, 2011

Post-holiday accomplishments

Fun, loving Valentine's Day: check
Our awesome 6th year Anniversary overnighter: check
Uneventful St. Patrick's Day: check
Family trip to Sedona and Out of Africa (with two other families): check
Way too many Easter activities: check
Disney on Ice-Princess Classics with three small children: check
Shelly finished last Statistics class: check
Shelly completed first Assessment class: check
Jorden made Varsity cheer: check
Spring has come to a close: check

Summer activities/accomplishments to come....

Thursday, March 31, 2011

MEN SUCK!

**Warning: Contains man bashing content**


Complaint #1: Why does it take men three times as long to do something than it does women? I can feed my children three meals plus snacks in-between (including preparing dinner), keep the house clean, fold laundry, and get myself ready for school...all in ONE DAY! I leave for school (3 1/2 hrs) and when I get home, the entire day's efforts have been trashed! Can he not learn to multi-task while watching "In The Wild"?

Complaint #2: This may be backwards in my family, but why is it every time my husband goes to the grocery store he comes back with useless junk for the kids? (i.e. water paint, bubbles, mylar balloons). The other day he came home with a Justin Bieber poster for Jorden, as if her wall isn't covered enough in posters! Last night he brings home water paint and bubbles! Really? Isn't Easter right around the corner? And guess who has to listen to the fighting all day over this useless junk? Better yet, who has to clean up the messes that this useless junk makes? Yep, THE WOMEN!

Complaint #3: What are "honey to do" lists really for anyway? I've been staring at the same list for over a year. One thing at a time gets done...at a snail's pace. If I had a weekend to myself, I could knock it all out (with the help of a few experienced people). But seriously, why must it take so long to do something? I guess women's brains are just wired to handle more than one thing at a time. Or is this just an excuse men use? After all, they are able to chew gum while throwing a baseball, right? Don't they drive AND listen to Sports Talk radio? They are able to pee and fart at the same time, right? Need I say more?

Complaint #4: Why do men get to be the "good guys" and women always look like the "bad guys" because we want a certain order to things? Again, maybe this is a little backwards in my house. Women need to have things planned, organized, and clean! So I always find myself yelling at the kids to keep things 'in order' and he just lets them do whatever they want because HE doesn't have to clean up the messes...and yet again, daddy = good guy. There you have it!

On a positive note, I will say that my husband does NOT leave the toilet seat up. He also does NOT leave his clothes on the floor, he actually puts them in the hamper and his shoes in the closet. He DOES work 60hrs a week to provide for his family and I am grateful, despite what this blog may sound like! ;) But don't the stay-at-home moms also work? This is the age old question! Even those moms who are employed, don't they really have two jobs? So if I am a stay-at-home mom who is also a full-time student, doesn't that also count as two jobs? Just sayin'...

Monday, January 3, 2011

Holidays, Family, and a Funeral

Well, the New Year has come once again and we are geared up and ready to begin 2011. The end of 2010 was bitter sweet. Holidays were enjoyable this year, not too much hustle and bustle. Thanksgiving was interesting, to say the least. Bella Rose (see side bar 'About Me' notes) earned the turkey day memento this year by breaking her arm. She managed a supracondylar fracture of the humerus within the first five minutes of us arriving at the in-law's house. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the Pediatric Urgent Care so we didn't make it out to my mom's this year. Me, Mike, and the kids celebrated the next weekend with a deep fried turkey and it was delish! We topped the night off at Zoolights.

Christmas festivities started the first week of December which included tamale making, bread and cookie baking, Andreas Xmas party, me, my mom and my sis took kids to Zoolights (again) and headed to Red Devil pizza afterward (tradition we started years ago). We went light-seeing all over town which is always fun for the little ones. Last but not least, I made grape leaves with my mother-in-law Xmas Eve in the A.M. Xmas Eve P.M. was spent with my mom and siblings, and included my grandparents and some out-of-town family members to make it complete! We had lots of fun, but we are definitely missing one family member this year. I have faith that he will pull himself out of the rut he has been in for a while and emerge next year a whole new person. We threw carrots on the roof for the reindeer and left cookies and a note for Santa. The little kids really got into it this year which was so cute! And Jorden helped "Santa" wrap presents until 2:30am, so "he" was very thankful for that! Mike spent that time putting in my new dishwasher and it has been pure bliss ever since!

Christmas morning was a blast and the kids were so excited. I made my traditional cinnamon rolls and they were yummy as always. Kids ripped through their gifts and started playing with them almost immediately. I snapped pics and Mike ran the video camera as usual. Can't wait to view all of those memories later on down the line. Kids are growing WAY too fast! *sniff sniff* After getting all cleaned up, we headed over the the Spiro's to celebrate with Mike's family and wish mom/grandma Spiro a Happy Birthday! Kids put together a gingerbread house and spent the rest of the night shooting each other with the Nerf guns Santa brought them (huge hit). I've really enjoyed my 3 1/2 week winter break from school, but that is coming to an end this week. This next year will be super duper crazy busy, but I am ready to go at it full force and get this darn graduate degree finished!! I always love the last two weeks of the year because the kids are out of school and Mike actually takes quite a few half days to get shopping done with me, etc. I will miss that as well.

We ended the year with more family celebrations, including a celebration of life for someone we lost. Very heart-breaking and many prayers have taken place for this family. He was loved and will always be in our hearts and memories. So as we close the chapter on 2010, let us all be thankful for our families, our health, and our happiness. "As we get we must continue to give, and as we learn we must continue to teach." God Bless and here's to a wonderful and prosperous 2011! Oh yah, and no more broken bones! :)