Productive Days

What I have learned this week: I feel SO much better about my life and myself when I am being productive.
The week before New Years, some friends and I were talking at the park about resolutions. Everybody seemed to have different resolutions and one lady even said she didn't make resolutions because she doesn't keep them. This may be something that has been true in the past for me. I often don't look at my goals even the day after writing them. But not this year.
This month has been a success so far. I've studied my scriptures more, kept up with our Tot School, and today I did a temple session all by myself for the very first time. School has been so much fun for the kids. They love learning new things and having my full attention to help them with practie the things I am teaching them. Spidey is working on the color green this week......while Petey is working on the letters E, P, and the number 4. These papers are from the first day of the week. She has been a sponge for learning how to write her letters and I am impressed with how well she is doing.
I've also been trying to be a better mother, just in my day to day life. My kids are going to be little for only so long and I want to remember and enjoy these moments with them. Last week, we had some friends over for the whole day and it was so fun for me to be a mom of 4 for the day. Petey enjoys have a "baby sister" in the house whenever L comes over. I had to take pictures of my full car when we drove to the park. I love having my van and being able to fit so many littles in my car. Again, Miss Petey loves L. She was such a good little mommy and helped with anything I needed. And on a side note, these swaddler blankets are awesome and I am totally getting some before we have next baby. :)
It makes me happy to see my kids happy and to see them showing love toward others. Often times, I feel like I've done a pretty crappy job so far as their mother so it's nice when I catch them doing something and I know it's because of the way they are being raised.
I really lucked out. I have two of the best children in the entire world (though I'm sure every mother feels that way).
I know that I am striving to be a better mother and in doing so, I know I will get better at it a little bit at a time.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Monday Brag Time

Today is Brag Day. I haven't officially branded this yet but it is a work in progress. :)
Anyway, I really have the most awesome family in the entire world. If you've never met my son in person, youre missing out. This kid is hilarious. He is always thinking of ways to make us laugh. And he always gets himself into the weirdest situations, including having one arm out if his shirt. Lately, he has beencoming up with new words/phrases like crazy. He is adding small words into his sentences like "the, a, to, at". He loves to say, "Look at me, Mom." and "I dont wanna do that." And then there's this guy. Even though he just passed gas while sitting right next to me (true story), he is an awesome dad to our little chicklets. He is often found playing with them, helping them, or sleeping next to them. He even let Petey put a headband on him the other day and take a picture. Ok, fine, so she did that while he was sleeping and I helped by taking the picture. :) He is so busy with school and we don't see him as often anymore and I love that he doesn't take us for granted. We are so lucky to have him!And then there's our smarty pants 3 year old. She has been working so hard on writing her letters and practices daily. It isn't uncommon to find her scribbling on some paper and holding it up to show me her perfect letter A...Or a page full of N's. She can write the letters A, C, H, I, L, N, O, T, U, V, and Y all by herself with no help. This week in tot school, we started working on the letter N and she's already writing it perfectly by herself.

I'm just so proud! Can you tell? It seems everyone in our family is doing something fantastic in their lives right now and it's hard to complain about money issues or having no baby right now when we have SO much to be thankful for throughout each day.

I hope your week is starting out as wonderful as ours is.

And that's how Suze brags about the people she loves.

Week in Pictures

This has been a fun but difficult week for me. Saying hello to 2012 and trying to keep all of my goals from the start has been a challenge but for the most part, I have succeeded!
Early Monday morning, the kids and I started our tot school.

We are practicing our writing on RED paper because that is the color Spidey is learning this week. Petey is learning about the letter Y and the number 1. I had to darken this picture so you could see her writing. I wrote 3 of those y's (you can pick out which ones) but she did the rest! Each day, we practice something with the letter Y and number 1 so that she can remember it. We only do tot school about 10-15 minutes each day but it seems to be working!

Also, this week, we have practically lived at the park. I've been on and off sick and the park helps me to get some fresh air while letting the kids play. Before we left for the park one day, Spidey had the most guilty-looking face and was holding this Mountain Dew. New spokeskid for MD? Maybe...

This is usually what it looks when we walk to the park. Petey is a pro at riding her bike but Spidey can't ride his scooter yet so we carry it and his tractor in the wagon with him. :)My boy loves the park. He loves sliding, getting dirty, swinging, and throwing sand...Petey is always thinking of new ways to climb around the playground. Don't you love this picture? Petey is trying to hug her brother while he sneaks a pile of sand into the pocket of her dress. Lovely.

Hope you've all had a good week. We are survivin' happily over here.
Today, Boss starts his first day at Arizona State University! I'm so proud to be his wife and look at all the hard work he is doing for our family. He's a great man.

And that's how Suze sees it.