Welcome to our new family member Jake.

I know that I have not been updating this blog very much.  It seems like the weeks just fly by and I never get anything on my to do list done.  Before I show off our new family member I have some sad news for our family.  Over memorial day weekend our sweet pup Bailey died.  He was diagnosed with lymphoma 6 weeks prior.  Luckily it seemed peaceful but it was hard none the less.  We dealt with explaining death to the kids. My friend (who also happens to be our vet) brought over the book Dog Heaven.  The boys love it and we read it often.  It really helped ease their concerns about death.

I will miss our sweet guy

Things seemed to happen way faster than I thought the would in the next week.  I did notice that Raya was lonely and sad.  The kids were also sad since Bailey was the dog that really interacted with them.  Raya is still a bit hands off but in her sadness she was even tolerating the kids petting her and playing around her.  Ray and I decided maybe we should be on the look out for a new dog.  We both agreed that a shelter or rescue dog would be best.  I looked on petfinder.com to see what was out there and to look up shelters near us.

I came across Pet Adoption Fund which is a non kill shelter in Canoga Park that I never even knew existed.  They had tons of dogs listed online so I thought we might as well go check it out.  Ray and I went on a Thursday afternoon thinking maybe we could put our application in and they could keep us in mind when a dog that would fit well with our house was there.  We never thought we would find one that night.  We went in and told them we had an older dog and four young children.  I could tell they were trying to think about which of their dogs would be a good match.  They said they might have a few and they would show us around. 

We went with them through the kennels and there were so many dogs.  As we walked through she pointed to a lab mix and said keep this one in mind he might be perfect.  Then we looked a a Vizsla puppy about 6 months old and another 7-8 month old lab puppy.  She asked which dog we would like to interact with and we decided to try out the first one that she had mentioned.  His name was Jake and he was a two year old lab/shepherd mix.  When he came in the patio he was calm and mellow we played with him for awhile and then took him for a walk.  They told us he was abandoned in his home and found by the real estate agent who was selling the house.  I just can't believe how some people do that with their pets.

After walking him and thinking about what he would be like at home the women working at the shelter said that we could come back tomorrow with the kids and see how all of them interact together.  I couldn't believe it.  We were just going in to get the application started and now we might have a dog the next day.  I was pretty excited and we wanted to share with the kids.  We brought home a picture to show them and talk to them about meeting a new dog and how the next day would go.  James kept asking when we could bring Jake home so I guess we picked a good one.

First meeting Jake "The Doctor" Turner

The next day we came back with the kids and Raya to meet Jake.  Every thing went so well.  He was great with the kids and Raya didn't bark or growl at all.  We were really amazed.  Raya is usually very cranky with other dogs.  James was a little shy and wouldn't go near Jake but I quickly realized it wasn't the dog he was afraid of it was the woman from the shelter.  He gets so shy around new people but it was kind of funny.  Once Jake was comfortable and off his leash James pet him and talked to him.  So after a great first meeting we decided to adopt Jake!  We couldn't take him home with us because they had to come and inspect our home and yard.  The kids were a little sad that they would have to wait a day but they said good bye to Jake and we headed home. 

Later that night they came by to look around the backyard and the home.  We passed except we had to move a bag of potting soil that had been there since before we moved in.  Apparently it can be toxic to dogs.  So that was an easy fix.  They told us they would bring him by the next afternoon.

Along came Saturday afternoon and they brought Jake to our house. The twins had decided we should keep his name Jake but that it could be Jake "The Doctor" Turner.  We just call him Jake for short.  He has been with us for almost two weeks now and it has been great.  He growled a couple of times when the kids ran at him at first and he flipped over on Lilly when she hugged him but other than that he has been a fantastic family dog.  He was house trained already and hasn't had a single accident.  He does pull on his leash and barks at other dogs a lot when we are out walking so I am thinking about taking a behavior class with him and trying to get him better socialized with other dogs so he doesn't yank my arm out of the socket.


A man and his dog, prepping some Steaks to grill

The kids really love him and want to help walk him but he is a little strong for them

Jake

So Bailey we will always love you and miss you. And Jake welcome to this crazy family!

February's update and March's goal

   I have been really bad about updating this blog.  I apologize.  I realize now that I am writing the next months goals that it has been a full month.  So here were our goals.  Fix up Lilly's room and the new guest bedroom.   Make all my own whole wheat bread products. Set and stay within budgets for Valentines day and our Wine Tasting weekend.
    In January I was spot on with all my goals  this month I struggled a little.  I think I took on too much and as a result had some problems.  So I said I would fix up two rooms and that just did not happened.  I did however get Lilly's room done.  We had to change the dresser in her room to fit the new space.  My husband built some great book shelves.  My mom and I made a reading tent and curtains.  I also made a set of Disney sayings with the characters in silhouette.  Everything in her room was based off of a quilt that one of my cousins made.  We tried to take the non-pink colors so that her room wouldn't look like bubble gum.  So here is our big reveal

Our handmade reading tent

She stole her daddy's dresser.  He got stuck with the cheap Target one.

Her crib with wall decorations, since we live in Earthquake ville everything is nailed to the wall.

These were a bit of a labor of love but I am happy with the way they came out.

Ray's part of the project for Lilly's room.  Her beautiful handmade book shelves.

Did I mention the lady of honor loves her room?

Now on to our other goals.
 I did not make all our own bread.  I made bread several times.  I made hamburger buns three out of the four times we ate them and I made all our own tortillas.  My dad purchased some fancy thick cut bread for french toast so I used that and I also borrow some bread from them one night when we had soup.  I think realistically i just couldn't keep up.  I think I am going to try to keep making the amount that I did but not make myself feel guilty when I have to run out and get bread at dinner time because I didn't have five hours to make bread.
    We did stay within our plans for our weekend away.  We only bought gifts for our parents and kids.  The rest of the time we didn't buy any extra wine or trinkets for ourselves.  I also kept valentines day small but we had a great day.  We did finger painting, made some valentines and baked cupcakes.  It helped reel in my habit of buying all the cute junk from the Target dollar bins.


So here's for March.
  House Organization
     We are tackling the building of a guest bedroom.  (why I thought I could add this in last month I will never know)  There is a small room on our patio that we are going to try to turn into a nice guest bedroom for when Ray's parents come to visit.  This one is going to involve a little more DIY projects for Ray but he seems to be on board.

Nutrition
     I am going to give up all of the low fat, nonfat foods.  I know that sounds silly and counter productive but studies are showing that these products do not help with weight loss but that is it better to eat the real food in reasonable portion sizes.  The only thing I can't do is whole milk.  It hurts my stomach a bit.  But we did switch to 2% and sometimes I use Almond milk.  My biggest hurdle will be salad dressings.  I am so accustomed  to light salad dressings that It's going to be a really big change for me.

Finances
     We are using an iPhone app called You need a budget.  I want to continue to use it and refine our settings to fit our needs.  We are going to do a lot of  projects for the guest room so we are going to need to set a budget and stick with it. 

January Update and Febraury's goals

   We are coming up on the end of the month and I think I did pretty good with my goals.  They were to only eat out twice this month, only purchase groceries and household necessities, and to organize our bedroom.  OK, we only ate out when we went to Disneyland which fit into my only twice rule.  The boys each got an evening treat with their dad so there were those three times but  I am not counting them since it was not a whole meal.  I stuck to my spending goal but my mom did purchase some stuff for the kids during this time so I feel like I cheated a little.  Even though it wasn't my money I didn't really need all the things she purchased, but I absolutely appreciate them.  I also organized and completely rearranged our bedroom.  It looks a little nicer and we have been able to keep some of the surfaces cleared off a little better.  We are not perfect but we are getting better.

Switched some dressers around, this one was in Lilly room.  And yes that is a light saber lamp.

Surfaces clean enough to put my pictures back up

February goals
   Organization:   This time I am going to take on two rooms.  I am going to fix up Lilly's bedroom and our extra patio room.  Lilly's room has become the place to store a bunch of crap and sometimes use the guest bed.  Since she is in a crib she can't get into trouble in there but if she takes after her brothers a toddler bed will not be in the far future.  I am really excited about this because I never really made up a fancy nursery for her.  I bought one Valance and the crib set but never made it her room.  Now I feel like I get to do some fun DIY projects for her .  I will reveal all my plans at the end of February.  I am pretty sure my sister is going to be jealous of my craftiness and want me to make some stuff for her daughter so I need to get ready for that.

I have big plans for this empty corner now that we took the guest bed out

  The other room is a small section of our enclosed patio.  I had grand plans for it to be used as a craft room for the kids but in the year and a half we have been in this house I have yet to use it for that purpose.  We have decided to turn it into a guest room.  We will have some work to do and I don't know if we can afford all the changes but we are going to start.  Since its not connected to the house it has no air or heat so we will have to figure that out.  It also needs a door instead of just a baby gate.  I will also have to figure out where to put all the stuff we have stored in there.
    These two rooms might take me until March because we have a lot of weekend plans in February so we will see how these project goes.

Nutrition:  I am going to make all our own bread products with 100% whole wheat.  I have tried a few recipes and I think I can manage.  The parts I am a little worried about are buns and pizza dough but I think I can find some recipes in time.  We are going to maintain our not eating out during the weeks but we have two weekend trips coming up so there will have to be more eating out this month.  But during the week when we are home I will cook and make all bread products.

I should say that cooking all three meals every day for a months as completely tired me out and there really are times when I just want someone to make me a meal and clean up afterwards but I think for the health of my family it is worth it.

Financial:  There are two things this months that normally I wouldn't think twice about the money and in general spend too much.  The first is Valentines day.  I love to make holidays special for my kids, usually I get fun decorations and little trinkets to play with but this year I am only going to make decorations from craft products we already have and I am not going to purchase them a gift.  I think I can make the day special without having to buy presents.  I am going to prepare special meals and have fun projects during the day but that's it.

The second event is our grown up weekend away.  We are going to Solvang for a weekend for wine tasting.  This can notoriously costs a lot of money.  Ray and I are going to discuss our purchasing before hand and come up with a spending plan.  I'm not sure exactly what that would look like but we are going to limit wine purchases and gifts for people back home.  We never leave all the kids so I would like to bring back a small something special for each of them.  Even if its one special chocolate or candy instead of yet another toy we don't need.  We also like to get something for the generous grandparents who work so hard at watching our kids so we can go.  Before we head out we will come up with a Solid budget for the trip.

Ok so there are our new plans for February.  I had pretty good success this first month I hope February goes as well.  It's a shorter month and we have more plans.  I am going to work really hard to not let it fall apart.

Project 365 First and Second Week

This year I really wanted to work on my photography. I figured the best way to do that was to take lots of pictures. So I have been attempting to do p365. I want to take at least one picture a day to look back at the year and see the changes in our lives. So here is week one and two.

January 1, Flying supermans

January 2, Watching her brother play swords

January 3, life is tough on a little girl with three brothers sometimes you just have to curl up and take a break

January 4, my might fighting Jedi

January 5, A Day at hart park, these two were reading the map to find out where to go next

January 6, She loves the buffalo hat from Aunt Jackie

January 7,  It warms my heart to see them play together

January 8, Nick playing in grandmas front yard.  I can't get enough of their smiles

January 9, Ray wrestling with James while still taking care of his little girl

January 10, making a cake for Papa

January 11,Nick and a  milkshake mustache

January 12,  Mommy and Daughter. 

January 13, Joe takes on the Dark Side at Disneyland

January 14, I think they are so sweet when they are sleeping. Plus I forgot to take a picture that day until they were already asleep

 We will see if I can keep it up. I have managed to make it through two weeks.  I never thought it would be this hard to take a picture a day but it really is.

 

Movie night at Grandmas

    Friday Night Movie Nights are the Best!  Although it is important for us to keep a routine with our kids (if we don't the chaos that would occur would be maddening) we find the need to throw in some fun changes every now and then.  So on Friday night we had a movie night.  We have done this at our house before.  We let the kids pick a movie they either haven't seen or at least haven't seen in awhile.  I make popcorn and "milkshakes."  I say that in quotations because really they are not milkshakes.  They are yogurt, milk, strawberries and some honey.  The kids love them and I don't have to feel guilty about feeding them as much junk food.

The love their snacks, but the movie I think concerned her a bit.

milkshake mustache

    What made this movie night special was its location.   After bath time we all went over to Grandma and Papa's house for a fun evening out of the house.  What really makes it special is Papa will put a fire on in their fireplace.  The kids absolutely love it.  Our fireplace at home isn't really kid friendly right now so I never have a fire at our house.  They love to sit on the hearth and warm up.   It also give them time to snuggle up with grandma in her favorite blankets. 

I love a fire in the fireplace.  It seems so cozy.

  This Friday we picked Cinderella.  We have been playing just dance Disney for exercise and the kids really wanted to see the fairy godmother and her magic wand.  I think they may have been thinking it would be a little more exciting but they did watch the beginning of it while they had their snacks. They ran around a little bit looking for the cat but they came back to Grandma's lap for the end.  They wanted to see Cinderella get married.  Since attending a cousins wedding a few weeks ago they are very interested in weddings and brides.

Snuggle time.

   While the kids are resting and enjoying their snacks it sometimes gives us a chance to relax too.  How did Ray spend the evening?  Drinking Scotch that my dad got for Christmas and then reading about it in the Whiskey encyclopedia.  Even Daddy's get to enjoy movie night!

    I love doing little extra things for my kids.  I hope that when they grow up they have found memories of Friday night movie nights and remember the times we spent as a family.  I hope they remember the little twists we put in like going to Grandma's house for a fire. 

Resolutions from a mom for her family

    As we are coming up on a new year I have been thinking a lot about resolutions.  The past four years I have been... well lets just say surviving.  It seems like the last four years (the years I have been a mother) have been a bit stressful and I have not had a lot of time for improving our lives.  As my youngest has turned one and is starting to be a bit more independent I am realizing where some of our weaknesses as a family are.  So this year I am really going to work on setting up new behaviors for me that play an integral part in my families activities.  I know that I can't make resolutions for anyone else but I am hoping that my behaviors will have a positive impact on my family.

   So here is what I have come up with.  There are three areas in my life that I know need some big changes; home organization, healthy eating, and finances.  Ideally I would love to have a clutter free, clean home while eating non processed "Real food", and have no debt.  Now I know that is a big order for immediate change.  What I have decided to do is each month make a new resolution in each area.  So I will have three little projects each month to improve our family.  Each month I will build on the old resolutions or tweak them for what will work for our family and add new ones.  So here we go

January:

Organized home:  There is one room in my house that drives me crazy every night.  That room is my bedroom.  I used to watch all those home improvement shows where they would remake a couples bedroom and call it their sanctuary.  My room is absolutely not my sanctuary.  Every flat space in our room has junk on it.  In January I am going to declutter our room and keep it that way.  This is going to include cleaning all dresser tops and not piling junk on top every night. I will also go through my closet and drawers and get rid of clothes I don't need.  I am 40 pounds lighter than I was in January 2012 so there are lots of clothes that no longer fit me so they need to go.  My biggest struggle is keeping the lid to my hamper cleaned off.  It always has stuff piled on it so I am constantly leaving clothes on the floor.  So at the end of each night I will not go to sleep if there are clothes on the floor.  I know I was working on this a few months ago but this time I am going to stick too it!

This madness has to stop

Nutrition:  I want to get on the road to eating non processed real food.  For awhile last year I had given up soda but I had one every once in awhile.  I am going to continue on that route, no soda or sugared drinks.  I am going to drink water, tea, milk and the occasional glass of wine.  This is not too big of a commitment.  I have been doing this for a few months but I had a few slip ups.  

   My big commitment in January is going to be eating out, or I should say not eating out.  I want to limit my eating out to only twice this month.  I don't know if my husband will be on board with this but I hope he will be.  Not only is this for healthy eating but it should help with our finances.  My plan to avoid the urge to go out is to have meal plans ready.  When I have the food planned out I am much more willing to go into the kitchen and cook it then when I have to just come up with something random.  Besides dinners, I have a horrible habit of getting the kids fast food or snacks from Starbucks when we are in a rush.  So in January there will be no fast food/Starbucks stops with the kids.  On days when we frequently have stopped before I am going to pack lunches or snacks to have on hand for the kids.  

Finances:  This month I am not going to purchase anything expect for groceries and house hold items such as toiletries and paper goods.  This is going to be a hard one for me. Obviously this one wont go all year long but I am going to see how it goes for the month.  I am terrible about going into target for diapers and walking out with over $100 in things I didn't plan on buying.  I think this will not only help with keeping our finances under control but I want the kids to see that they can't always just buy everything they want.  Often when we go to the store they are asking me non stop for things they want.  I don't want them growing up with a sense of entitlement.  I truly want them to learn patience and the ability to wait for things they really want.

  When I told Ray about my ideas he said, but I really wanted to do a project with my new tools.  Like I said, these goals are for me and I won't make him not purchase things.  He did say maybe his first project could be something for our bedroom to help with organization, or maybe a nightstand.  

So here it is...a mother's resolutions for family improvement. I will update on our progress at the end of the month and set up my February goals.

Who wouldn't want to make improvements for these adorable kiddos!!

Where did December go?

    I can't believe that the month has gone by so fast.  To be fair I can't believe that the year has gone by so fast.  Sometimes it seems like the days drag on forever and I am counting down the minutes to bed time so I can just relax for a second.  I don't know whether this is because I am home all day with the kids or if its just a normal mom thing but days go by so slow and the years fly by.

   I haven't been keeping up with my posts because the month has been busy and a bit stressful.  We had every single weekend in our calendar booked.  We had holiday plans change ten times because of an emergency with our dog.  It has just been crazy.  So here is a little look the month of December in our family.

   The first week in December this little pup followed my dad into our yard.  She had no ID tags but she had a chip number.  I called and the microchipcompany said that the dog was abandoned twice and had no home.  I brought her in and slowly introduced her to our dogs and kids because I knew I needed to figure out what to do with her.  She was a beautiful puppy and was so well behaved.  She was even good with Lilly.  We decided if we couldn't find a home we would keep her.  We did tell the kids that we were looking for her home and that she might have to leave in a few days.  It took almost the whole week for her owners to put up signs.  We had her for four of those days.  When I called the number they described her and came to pick her up.  The kids were a bit sad.  They wanted her to stay but we did have to say good bye.

Nick and Sasha

  The next weekend we were booked solid.  We had a little christmas get together to make graham cracker houses.  I love putting this event together for our fmaily and friends.  It is a lot of work but it is so fun to see all the kids having such a great time.  I can't help but be reminded of my grandmother who taught me how to make the houses and did it with me every year.  The kids stuff themselves with candy while they are doing it but that it half the fun. 

James and his Papa working on the house.

     Of courses Santa also made his appearance.  This year my kids were able to recognize my parents but I think they get a kick out of the fact that their grandparents are Mr and Mrs. Claus. I will have to have a chat with them about it but I can probably wait until christmas next year.  Each child got a small gift from Santa.  My mom is the mastermind behind this part.  She loves buying things for each kid.  We usually do a book and a stuffed animal.  Nick and Joe still remember the book Santa brought them last year.  Joe has slept with his little reindeer a few times so I think he appreciated it this year too.

Family picture with Mr and Mrs. Claus

 The next day we went for a fun day at Disneyland.  This was the first time that James and Joe went on splash mountain.  Nick is about 1/2 and inch too short.  Hopefully he has his growth spurt soon so they can all go on together. 

Oh my!!!  I can't believe they are old enough for this.

    Skip forward to the next weekend.  My Aunt wanted to attend the Wreaths across America event down in San Diego.  It was very important to her and it was something her and my Uncle had done before he passed away.  She was planning on going alone but I didn't want that to be the case.  We decided to go down that weekend and attend the service with her.  Even though we didn't take the kids this time it is actually something I might like to do around christmas time each year with them.  They had a lovely dedication service for all the branches of the military then invite you to walk down and place wreaths on the graves.  They only ask that Medal of honor recipients and killed in action soldiers be left to the families and other military volunteers.  Not only did we get to take some time away from the hustle and bustle of Christmas but it is a time to really reflect on the important things like family and loved ones, and those who have served this country.  We also were able to place wreaths at both my grandparent's and my Uncle's resting place. 

Saluting a Medal of Honor Recipient after placing a wreath.

Mr. and Mrs Claus made another appearance at my MOPS christmas party.  It was great fun.  I am so thankful to have that group of women in my life.  It doesn't matter if I show up with no shower and my hair in a knot on the top of my head they are always there to support me.

Lilly is very weary of Santa this year.  It is pretty funny

  James had his first school performance the next day.  It was so fun to watch.  He has been singing for me all month.  He does a great rendition of Go Tell It On The Mountain.  He even taught Joe and Nick his own version of the song.  His teachers tell me that singing is one of his favorite things to do.  They use music to help focus him when he gets a bit rambunctious. 

 After that our christmas plans changed a bit.  while we were in San Diego for the wreaths our dog Raya got into her bottle of medication and ate the whole thing.  Our original plans were to go to San Diego for a week.  Ray had tickets to the Poinsettia bowl.  We were going to go on the Polar express and we were going to spend the holidays down there.  That all got blown out of the water when Raya had to be hospitalized for five days.  I sent Ray down with the boys while Lilly and I stayed behind to get Raya out of the hospital and take care of her.  She came home needing medication every hour or so.  It was very tiring but at least she came home.

Raya at the vet

   Luckily my cousin was able to watch Raya on the Saturday before Christmas so Lilly and I could go down and enjoy the polar express with the rest of the family.  It is great fun and the kids loved it.  The train leaves from the Campo train museum.  You ride out and they serve hot chocolate and cookies.  They read the polar express and sing Christmas carols.  They have a North pole set up alongside the train so you ride past it and see Mr and Mrs. Claus.  When the train stops they get on and come visit all of the kids on the train.  It really is a fun thing to do each year, especially for little boys who love trains.   After that it was back home for me so I could take care of Raya.  Lilly and I spent 8 hours in the car that day.  I was ready to lay down, that's for sure.

Hanging out with the grandparents is a good thing

Santa on the Polar Express, Lilly wouldn't take her eyes off of him

 Ray and the boys came back the following day and we got ready for Christmas.  We had a great Christmas Eve.  The kids each opened their special presents from us.  I picked power ranger watches for the boys and Ray bought Lilly and beautiful little jewelery box that was engraved to "his little chipmunk."  I love this tradition and I hope to keep it going for a long time.  My dad still give me a special piece of jewelry each year.  I missed my sister this year because we normally open it together but we will be visiting her soon.  We had yet another visit from Santa.  I am pretty sure my kids are the luckiest kids in the world.  They got to talk to Santa so much his year and lets be honest, not everyone gets to say their Papa is Santa.

one of my favorite pictures.  They all have a nice smile!

Special Christmas Eve Present

 Christmas morning we woke up to a little bit of a shock.  Raya was urinating blood.  We were on the phone with the hospital trying to figure out whether we needed to bring her in or if the kids could open their presents.  They said a hour wouldn't make a difference so Christmas morning was on.  The boys ran over to wake up their grandparents.  All four of them were next door.  They thought that was so much fun.  We came back over and had a fabulous Christmas morning.  I couldn't help thinking about Raya while we were opening gifts but I tried to enjoy the moment.

 When we were done Ray and I ran off with the dog hoping the kids wouldn't be too upset with all their new things to play with.  It ended up being one more night in the hospital.  For now she is back with us but we have to keep a close eye on her.

   I told you this month was hectic and crazy but there were a lot of special moments in there that I am thankful for.  I have a very loving and supportive family. I have fantastic kids who drive me a little crazy but are still awesome.  I have a husband whom I love dearly and we are in this game of life together.  Life is good.  Here's to a great new year to come.  I hope everyone else had a good December and a great 2012!