NASA around?

Rockstar A would love for his dad to build him a spaceship. If that wasn't already a task on its own, he would like one for his brother as well. No, not just any cardboard space ship but one that goes into space so they can experience no gravity.

Oh and visit the moon and jupiter.

Pumpkins, Ghosts, and Monsters oh MY!

Eek! I can not wait for Halloween. I have always had the tendency of celebrating things for a month, not just that day. Halloween is a good example of this. Once its October the first, all of my decor is out and is very welcomed everywhere. Each year my mom and step dad go to the stores after the holiday and buy me gobs of things for the next year.

I am thinking of fun decor that my boys will take part in for the holiday. Pictures and ideas soon to come. Probably on October 1st:)

Joyfully Mothering

Joy means the following:

(n.) The sign or exhibition of joy; gayety; mirth; merriment; festivity.
(n.) To rejoice; to be glad; to delight; to exult.
(v. t.) To enjoy.
(n.) The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; pleasurable feelings or emotions caused by success, good fortune, and the like, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exhilaration of spirits; delight.
(v. t.) To gladden; to make joyful; to exhilarate.
(n.) That which causes joy or happiness.
(v. t.) To give joy to; to congratulate.

So when I name this post Joyfully Mothering, I mean mothering your children and your day with the above. I know this is what I strive for our family dynamic. The idea of making things joyful; cleaning, chores, and responsibilites all with joy. Joy that you have toys to clean up because this is a symbol of happiness amongst your kids. Joy that you have the life you, ahem I wanted and dreamt of since I was young.

I follow a great blog of a spectacular mother and have had the great pleasure of meeting her and her family back in September.

"For one, when I clean and do the little tasks that I find necessary to keep our house organized throughout the day, I do so *Joyfully*. I never slam things around or get frustrated that toys are on the floor, or dishes are in the sink. I don't huff and puff and talk under my breath about being everyone's "slave". Who would want to help if I was obviously hating when I cleaned?

I truly feel *Gratitude* in my heart every time I clean or pick something up because I feel such love and happiness for having my family and for all that comes with having children."

This really spoke to me. As I am always looking to evolve and grow in myself and with the way I communicate with others. So of course I want to communicate with my own children with love.

Just crank up the music and dance and enjoy doing this daily chores. You will see how quickly your children wish to participate.

Rainy Tuesday

Boy its been raining non-stop over here in Texas and my family has been enjoying it. This morning was actually chilly, by my youngest didnt seem to be bothered by it one bit. As he requested to run around in the front yard with only a diaper on, haha.

We opened up some new bottles of kid paint and tuned into our creative side. The paint left the paper within two minutes and was converted into tribal paint. Here are some great pictures of my two boys.

Rockstar Monday

So this weekend we were filled with plenty of Rockstar funnies.

He informed his sweet daddy that he wished he could go to space. With the highest hopes he asked his daddy if he could build him a spaceship so that he could go.

Rockstar A also informed us that he did not like Michael Jackson because he has girl lips.

He spent the night at his Aunt's new apartment and asked her if her dogs would be taken if they went in the street. She informed him that it wasn't really safe for anyone to hangout on the street. He then asked if her female dog would jump in her car, while wearing her sunglasses and drive herself to the pool instead.

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As some of you may know, my husband's car hasn't been driven in the past few weeks. I have stayed home with the kids and have either walked to the closest park, friends house, or have hosted plenty of playdates. We ran out of a huge bag of water balloons so today we played nail salon, including the boys per their request, played scavenger hunt, hide in seek, and tag. Boy and I tired.

New Phone and New Technology

Dang I used to think that I was pretty hip with what was new and cool. But, with the purchase of my new cellphone, those thoughts have desolved. I am still trying to figure it all out and it seems to be giving me a headache. It would have been easier of a process but I couldn't get the old provider to transfer my old cell number. Yah I could have walked in a store and worked it out in person, but we were at the new provider's store and excited to get out hands on our new ones. So I said forget it and got a brand new number. Oh well right? At least this will filter some people out, ha.

Rockstar Monday

Here is our second monday of doing this type of post. Rockstar has really been concerned about the events that have happened lately in our family. My husband and I spoke to him about what happened about explained it for him to comprehend the shift of energy in the household. He got it. But, in return he was really upset but held in within. But throughout all the changes this weekend had for us, like a happy kid he is found beauty and compassion.

He ached to see his Gigi and Pawpaw. He also informed my mother/Nana that he was lucky 'cause he had two grandmas and one nana. My mom asked him how that was...

He informed her that he had Gigi and Great Grandma Vonda *heart. How special is that? Never under estimate the power of children. They have so much compassion and understanding.

Dedication to Grandma Vonda

We love you Vonda! Your love of laughter and appreciation for jokes will continue in our family in memory of you. Say hi to Buddy for all of us. We know that you are finally at peace. You will not be forgotten!

When I first met you, you welcomed me to the family with open arms. I was 16 at the time( now 28) and our relationship grew to one that was special. You taught me how to play Mexican train and chicken foot. Your grandson and I will teach our children these games in order to keep you close to our hearts.

Your garden was the first one I had ever seen in real life. You exposed me to great home grown produce and we now have one in our backyard.

We love you Grandma Vonda.

Weather Denial

Boy this Texas weather likes to fool us. For about a week or so the weather was absolutely beautiful. The kind that makes you lay on the grass and stare at the sky loving life. We played outside for most of the day, played with friends, bubbles, water, and hopscotch. Then by the end of the great weather we thought that walking to our neighborhood park would be a good idea. Ha, what a joke. Half way there the sky made room for the sun to shine right on top of us. We were covered in sweat but once at the park the kids had a blast with the swings, playing hide and seek, sleeping babies, and making friends. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our weather denial

" Look at me momma!"

"Bad to the bone."


Bliss

Freedom!

Few Pictures from RE Conference

in the pool with daddy and a bunch of cool kids
pic with daddy
pic with momma
found A playing cards with another kiddo
timer on camera pic in hotel room
music and fun in Kid Village just checking my email in the am

daddy working on rubber band racecars Superbaby as a "mean" pirate.
being silly
running for another turn
swimming( our room was two doors down from the pool. How sweet is that?)
My very own superbaby Lion
My ferocious Rocker

Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we enjoyed ourselves at the conference.

We had a wonderful time! From the thought provoking lessons and conversations to the constant enjoyment displayed on each child's face. My rocker was heartbroken when we had to go home. He did not want to leave behind all of his friends, fun, and positive/loving energy and environment. Learned a lot more about myself than I thought I would and saw so much posibility and growth in myself and my family.

Arts 'n' Crafts on a budget

This whole week we have been making beautiful artwork on our front driveway, sidewalk, and even on the sides of our house. All of this appeared to neighbors as I had lost my mind and gave them paint and a brush. Nope, not at all. Just chalk paint. I have noticed that there are some people who are unaware on this cool stuff. Especially with all the 75-80% summer item discounts at local stores, you can find a set of sidewalk chalk for cents now. Even the local dollar store has great chalk for this project. I do have to say the higher end chalk is more of a pain to convert into paint. So just go for the cheap stuff.

All you will need is:
Chalk...duh
muffin tin( this is what I use)
Water
paint brushes

Add chalk in each muffin slot and add some water. Do over pour water- because this will make more of a water paint. This of course will work, but will have a faint color of the sidewalk. Plus it will drip everywhere. Ha.

Let it soak for about 5-10 mins and then crush the chalk in the water. The final product should be a watery paste/ paint.

Its a blast and will keep your kids entertained. My kids love chalk but get tired of writing things that are hard to identify. Plus they adore creating with paint brushes.
The end result of a fanastic paint project.





Happy creations!

Great weather leads to... Halloween

The weather lately has been fantastic. So much that we have kept( other than naptime) the windows opened and the a/c off. This Texas summer has been brutal and I am so pumped to be able to step outside and not be instantly covered in perspiration. So when this weather presents itself, I start getting excited and anxious for Halloween to come. If you know me, and my family, we adore Halloween. What a great time to be something other than yourself, right? A time to enjoy being silly, eat candy, crave pumpkins, and become a kid once again.

Plans are starting to be prepared for our annual family party. This will be our 4th Halloween party and love how friends who have attended the years past are already informing me how excited they are, as well as their children are for it to arrive. How cool is that? I think its freaking- fantastic, since when I was pregnant with Rockstar A, I always told my husband that I wanted to have the fun house, the one where our children's friends loved coming over. Then with our love for Halloween, we thought it would be a great way to incorporate the holiday with family, friends, and our children's friends:)

Ah.. I can't wait. Tick tock... tick... tock :)