Great Expectations

I just got back from being in San Diego for 2 weeks for my Grandpa's funeral. It was an absolutely beautiful service and I know we were all overwhelmed with the love and support shown by his ward family and friends. Thank you to everyone who came! We love and appreciate all of you!

While I was down there I stayed at my sister Erika's house. She recently came up with an expectations chart for each of her girls and at the end of each week she adds up the stars that they earned and they get to pick prizes out of her "treasure bucket." I thought it would be a good idea to try it out with my boys while I was staying down there.

 (N.N. stands for Naughty Natasha, anyone who watches Sesame Street will get that one..)

I am actually pretty proud of my boys for earning all those stars. For some reason when we come down to San Diego without Daddy, it's as if all hell breaks loose. They tend to not listen.. to anyone. Reef tends to forget his manners and Hawk becomes extremely.. Hawkish. (You have to know him to even begin to understand what that means..) It got to the point where they were excited to see what stars they got for that day and I was able to use "you aren't going to get a star for today if you don't pick up those toys..."At the end of the week they loved the idea of getting to pick different prizes from the bucket! The smaller items were worth 5 stars and the bigger ones were worth 20.

I decided to use tickets so that it would help them understand exactly what they could get. 

One thing I learned throughout this whole process was l have to have different levels of expectations for each of my boys. Hawk did so well with some things that Reef may not do so well with and vise versa.
Now with all that said.. I have to ask, does anyone have as big of a problem taking pictures of their 2 year old as I do?? Here are just a few of the outtakes of Hawk...

He sure is my busy boy!! BUT I wouldn't have it any other way... well maybe some days! ;)

"I'm sorry we don't accept Costco cards here.."

Today, my sister and I ran some errands with all 7 of our kids. We were smart this time (or so we thought), we each took turns going into the store instead of bringing all the kids in with us. I should mention, we both hadn't eaten breakfast and were starving which never helps the matter. I went first and then Erika. I'm not sure how her experience was in the car with all the kids, but mine was pretty close to insanity. Almost all the kids got out of their seats and came up to be right by me. The younger kids who were in 5 point harness car seats, that weren't able to get out on their own, were hysterically crying, while the big kids were asking me questions all at the same time. I think I said, "Oh better hurry and buckle up, Auntie/ mom is coming." at least 5 times in hopes of tricking them back into their seats. When Erika came back we decided it would be easier to just grab some Wendy's instead of coming home and making lunch for everyone...
That is where this little ecard comes in...

With that being said, I feel I am completely justified in sharing the next part of my story...

 When Erika pulled up the the menu to order, we had kids yelling what they wanted, screaming because they were starving just like us, and Hawk making bird noises because that is just what he does. To make matters even worse.. for some strange reason, we had High School Musical soundtrack playing in the background. When we finally manage to tell the guy what we want and start to pull up to the window, I grab my card out of my wallet and hand it to Erika to give to the young man. We both notice it is taking quite a while to get my card back and then the sweet young man at the window politely says, "Umm.. we don't accept costco cards here..." and hands back my card.. I tried to pay with my costco card... yep, you read that right.. a COSTCO card... I was so embarrassed, but couldn't help laughing out loud. I decided I needed a picture to document my "air head" moment. 

Confession.. My kids aren't perfect, but I still love them!

Remember the "oh no I hope they don't realize that is my kid!" part of my post on Tuesday? Yeah, today was one of those moments. Please, someone, tell me I am not the only one who has these moments?! My morning went a little something like this...

Do you blame my husband for wanting to work later?? 

Please take me with you to work next time! ;)

So here is the story behind the "yellow"...

When I went to go pick Reef up from school I noticed he had a very sad look on his face. His teacher brought him over to me and I was anticipating the "Your son keeps punching kids and can no longer attend this preschool, I'm sorry!" talk. Luckily, for him, that wasn't exactly how it went.  She felt horrible for giving him a yellow, she said that he was very upset and didn't want one, (well, duh! Who wants a yellow??) but she needed to make him realize it's not ok to walk around the house when he should be doing school work. (let me just add, I completely agree with her!!) Now, you see the part about "major crying and tears..." well, most of those were mine! It took everything in me not to cry right there in front of his teacher.. The whole time she is talking, I am thinking, "I have THAT kid??!" So, when I got home I broke down and sobbed... like a little baby.. I decided to blame it all on my hormones! I'm pregnant and very emotional, it's not because I have "that kid" right?? He is always such a sweet, loving, well behaved child. What the heck is going on?? I sat him down and had a talk with him. He just can't understand why he can't play with all the toys in the other room. His old preschool teacher let them play and preschool was fun! I tried to explain that this is a different preschool with a different teacher and she has different rules. I told him I expect more out of him and that he needs to be the good boy that I know he is. I think he got it...

I have to share this cute little story really fast. My friend Shannon asked Reef how school was.. He looked up at her and said in a very serious voice, "Not good." And just walked away. Apparently he didn't want to elaborate on the subject! :)

Now for the "Hawk mixed the greek yogurt with butter using about 4 different spoons and spatulas." text... well that is a whole other subject! The only thing I will say about that is, I wish I would have gotten some pictures to share. When I told my sister about the whole mess, she told me that by the time you grab your phone and take a picture you are a lot less angry about the whole situation... hhmm... I'll have to try that one next time! 

Grandpa

I wasn't planning on writing another blog post so soon, but just a few hours after I created this blog I received news that my Grandpa had passed away. It still doesn't seem real. I keep thinking I will go down to San Diego and find him sitting in his chair watching TV. Living away from family is EXTREMELY difficult, especially at times like this. It makes it harder to grieve and find some closure. My entire childhood was full of wonderful memories of family gatherings at my Grandparent's house. We would literally get together for anything and everything. As many memories as I have at their house, I don't have many specifically with them. When my Grandma passed away 5 weeks ago, my cousin was in charge of getting memories together to share at her funeral. All of my cousins had amazing stories to share that directly involved my Grandma. Mine was more about playing with my cousins at her house because that is really all I could remember. It wasn't their fault, they gave all of us the opportunity to get to know them and spend quality time, it was mine because I didn't take it. It wasn't until I was married and had Reef and Hawk that I stopped taking my grandparents for granted. I truly wanted to build my own relationship with them. We would call each other , send letters and visit every chance we got when I was down in San Diego. They truly were some of my best friends. I got to learn how compassionate and loving they both are. They would do just about anything for anyone. I am extremely grateful that I was able to really get to know them, to really get to love them. I will miss them both deeply. Just last week my Dad was visiting with my Grandpa and he told my Dad that he was lonely. I truly believe he died of a broken heart. He spent the last 25 or so years taking care of my Grandma, being at her beck and call, serving her with all he had. I think when my Grandma passed Heavenly Father knew that my Grandpa's time was short as well and that he had served and loved with all of his might, mind and strength.

My brother sent us all this picture that was drawn my cousin Jessica after my Grandma passed away. It was sitting on the table next to where he was found. I don't know if it had been there the whole time or if he was looking at it, but I like to think he was at peace when he passed away. He is now with the absolute love is his life and his daughter.

I love you Grandpa! I look forward to the day that I get to be reunited with you and Grandma. Thank you for showing me what unconditional love is, for showing me how to serve others and for being a valiant servant of our Heavenly Father! I will miss you!

My very first confession!

So I am totally and completely one of those women that "blog stalks" people I don't even know. I love to get a little glimpse into other peoples' lives and see how they live day to day... Unfortunately, I am also one of those people that asks, "Why don't I do that? Wow, she is a way better Mom than me! It's like her everyday life is a real life pinterest. She seriously has time to do ALL of that?" I see blogs about Moms and their kids who dress cuter than I ever could. Moms who dress so cute, they want to show off their outfits so they will post a selfie at least once a blog post. Moms who rant and rave about how perfect their child's first day of school was.. Already the favorite in the class! and Moms who, without a recipe, can create dishes that could be served in a top dollar restaurant. I am sooo not that Mom!! I am the mom who is lucky if she gets out of her PJ's or puts a bra on.

Exchange the word Sunday for Everyday!

I am the Mom who, if I posted a selfie of my day to day look, would have to hide under the bed due to embarrassment! I am the Mom who picked her son up from preschool his very first day only to find out her got a "yellow" for punching another child who tattled on him! 

Not one of his best days! 

I am the Mom who, for example, has made teriyaki (sauce from scratch) chicken with salt instead of sugar.. You can imagine the look on my husband's poor face when he took a bite of that!  Life of a housewife who has 2 kids, one on the way, and one car shared with a husband who works 10 hours a day is NOT easy! It is painfully difficult sometimes and extremely rewarding most! I have come to realize I am probably, NO, I am definitely not the only woman who feels this way. That is why I have decided to blog about my REAL life. Not just the happy, incredible "yeah, my family rocks!" times, but the sad, embarrassing, "oh no I hope they don't realize that is my kid!" times. I hope you can all find the humor and truthfulness of this blog to be refreshing. All I really want out of this is for another Mom to come across this blog and see she is not alone! Enjoy!