For many months I purposely avoided giving into the fad of pinterest. I didnt want to be one of the crowd who all they did was "pin" all day long.  And then one day I finally caved. I sent for my Invitation and things have just spiraled since. I dont use it every day but maybe every other day and its not even for hours becuse we all know with kids doing anything for hours is just out of the question. But I do find my self thinking about what is going to be on there next. What magical pin will I find this time. But I have to admit this whole Pinterest thing has been for good. It has made me a better person, or at least better at sharing awesomeness I find. I can't help but being completely inspired to the point that everytime I get off of it I find myself wanting to create someethign amazing, wanting to beautify my home and my surroundings, wanting to build things and make thing with my children. 

So I admit it. I am addicted to Pinterest, it brings me joy and happiness and I think anything that does that can't possibly be that bad for you right? If you haven't been on it yet you should check it out and you should take full responsibility for your actions thereafter! Happy Pinning!

Thien my oldest turned 7 and it was a huge walk down memory lane as I went through his pictures to find a few for this collage. Its crazy to think how fast kids do grow, especially when you have smaller ones and it seems that their current stages are eternal!

Since we made a trip the week beofre to celebrate and we have another trip this week we decided to do a small intimate get together with just a couple of neighborhood buds. I gave them all treats they played their little hearts out and opened presents, then they had some popcorn and movie time before they all got picked up. It was nice and and sweet and best of all stress free!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Thien!

Last week we made a little spring break trip it was short but very well worth it. Indianapolis is a hour and a half drive from Cincinnati, it was a great city with so much to offer. We were very impressed. We were only there for 2 whole days but we managed to cram so much in. Our first stop was the childrens museum. They had a wonderful display of dinousaurs, an enourmous transformer that the kids loved a huge lego exhibition Mr. potato exhibition, chihuly glass works, and so much more it was pretty awesome. Although it was quite pricey we now know that the first thursdays of everymonth it is free admission so we will plan around that next time! We then headed downtown and had a yummy dinner at webster grill that place was full of all fancy grills as decoration it was neat. 

the next day we went to the Zoo, lunch at the most delicious shop in the midwest called Goose the Market they had an amazing selection of meats and cheeses, a cellar with local beers and wide selection of wines.

Then we finished with the art museum. Right of of the art museum there is a huge place called 100 acre woods, which are trails that you can walk on to get to a beautiful garden and there are sculpted benches along the way. then there was a giant bones interactive sort of playground. By this time my camera died so I didnt get many pictures here. BUT IT WAS AWESOME!

I am starting with a little rare subject. I am currently the victim of the "Dora" virus (not official name). I did not consider it to be anthing too serious until today, when Chad experienced it first hand and let me know how serious he felt about it. No matter how hard he tried there was nothing he could do to remedy it and so I shall continue being haunted by this indefinately.

If you have children you are most likely very familiar with Dora the Explorer. That sweet little Mexican American that can't quite pronounce correctly, and if you have kids and a computer you likely have experienced your kids "playing" on your computer. Well for some reason one day my computer became the family computer. Kids of all sizes are ok to play on this funnel of unending entertainment and they do! OH THEY DO! That brings me to this. My kids love to get on Nick Jr. and I like it too dont get me wrong it is full of lessons and songs and games. Never think twice when they ask. Until.....

One night I was peacefully writting a blog post in my quiet office as I am doing right now, everyone was fast asleep and I could finaly hear myself thinking. When out of nowhere this song blasts out of my mac speakers, que the song>>

SCARED ME TO DEATH!! Now let me tell you I have checked and quit every program and restarted my computer and still nothing. I have no idea where this song is coming from, but each night after so many hours of being on, my computer seems to be releasing its stress of the day by having a dance party within and it chose Dora of all songs to do it and I cannot stop it.

Neither of us can figure out how it came, where it lives or if it will ever go away. But know this, I do shake my fist at Nick Jr. each night as I write my blogs and work away to my new theme song.

Now Grab your backpacks, lets go jump in!

One thing that I often forget to do is to be grateful for things that I have. Somedays I go along complaining about what I don't have or what I could and should have, when really everythign I could ever wanted and wished for has always come to me in one way or another. 

I have to admit and give credit to God for always being there for me. No matter what and always being a huge part of my life even if never voiced it or acted on it. He is always on my mind my heart and my soul. 

I am grateful for every little thing he has blessed me with and knowing that He will always take care of me and my family, I put my worries, my fears and all my stresses away and I am thankful for such an amazing feeling of freedom in my heart.

Here is a little video Chad and I (mostly Chad) worked on last year for Easter for the Church we were part of in Arizona called Mission it was the greatest blessing God put before us. Enjoy! 

I don't know many people who get all giddy and excited when it comes to cleaning and organizing, and I am definately not one either! I started this year with a great plan on getting a printable calendar each month and breaking up my to do's per week to make my job easier. Now Im SURE that if I can stick to it it would work wonderfully and I really dont mind it a bit BUT its the pure overwhelming feeling I get when it comes to doing never ending tasks, like laundry and dishes and toilets that just gets me prepared to fail and fall behind on everything else. :(

SO I have ventured out for more help!  I am really excited because I have found this amazing woman who seems to have it down! I hope you will find her tips as helpful as I have!

http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com and her too

http://orgjunkie.com/2007/06/how-to-get-organized-follow-these-process-steps....

In my first to do list to help with my laundry extravaganza > buy everyone the same brand of socks for each one! DUHHHHHH, why did I never think of that.. so now im tossing our endless supply of mis matches and taking a trip to Target. Saxon will get his with one stripe and Thien his with two and unfortnately for them Saxon and Rowan will share. Now bare with me I know this is BORING stuff but its a small step to great freedom, from laundry that is :) Which If I am being quite honest.. most of the time will look like this: EEK!

I will soon try to reedem myself by posting an after photo! and speaking of, I am off to swich a load. I leave you with a better picture so you can erase the awfulness of my laundry room from your mind! 

I feel like I need to do this constantly, at least every few months. By FAT I dont mean the extra rounds I have on my sides, or the extra sweets I dare to eat E-V-E-R-Y day, nor am I talking about my little chubbies at home, (although now that I think about it.....) Anyhow, I am really talking about the unnesassary things in my life, the negative, the things I have multiples of, all the things that make me unhappy and I can do without.

I am trying my hardest to live and take each moment for what it is and enjoy what I am doing, but I always have that need to look further to look at what might be, what if I make that leap, what If I fail, what if noone cares like I do, the same questions that have stopped me from doing things before. Should I give up or should I keep on chasing, and I have pretended to make my dreams come true in my heart enough and that time for taking the leap is here.

As far as the fat, I am slowly ridding myself of it, the negative and scary thoughts, the what ifs and I have a freedom in my heart that wont allow me to sit still, a freedom that makes me want to fly and not hold back. Suddenly I am not afraid, I find myself planning thinking and talking to people about something I have wanted for a long time, the more I talk to people the more real it becomes, the less I hold back and the more things begin to fall into place. Its a magical feeling. 

So I am adding some sweetness to my life, I am saying yes to myself I am indulging in the little things and somehow I know everthing will be worked out and will be ok. Because in the end what is important to me is that I am happy and that I do something that matters to me and will maybe make someone else happy too. I hope and pray that this will make me be a better wife, mother and overall a better person.

Here is the new song for our morning "Dance Party" enjoy!

To my husband:

It's so easy to forget to tell ech other how much we mean to eachother. Life has us spinning in so many dirrecions that we tend to forget what is really important. We tend to ignore the little things that matter and zone out into a routine. Life has so many ups and down and since I have met you I have felt invincible, there is nothing that can trully get me down, nothing that I can't get past.

Since I met you my heart is filled with joy everyday. When im upset you do what you can to change that, to help me be better.

I never want that to go away.

You know the things that I like and the things that I don't.You encourage me and see the best in me even when others don't.

I never want that to go away.

You're smile warms my heart and makes any rainy day, a beautiful one. You laugh at my jokes even if they aren't funny. You are the most amazing person in my world.

I can't imagine my life without you. I always want you to know that and I never ever want any of it to go away.

Love you always,

Your Wife.