Gymboree School Skills is TOPS with me!

I LOVE School Skills!  I can't say that enough.  I L-O-V-E, love it!  My 2 girls are 5 and 3 years old.  I am a stay at home mom who believes strongly in pre-school homeschooling.  I want to keep them with me as long as I can and allow them to learn and grow in a safe, loving environment.  With this strong belief, I knew that Gymboree School Skills would be the best choice for my girls.  School Skills is a drop off class for pre-school aged kids, ages 3-6.  This awesome class allows my girls to be active and crazy, as kids should be in the first 15 minutes of class.  But as soon as the rainbow rope gets put away, they know it is time to exercise self control and sit with the other class members to welcome everyone.  School Skills teaches so many wonderful skills that I encourage at home.  The teachers are so loving and nurturing and give my children the attention they deserve as well as gentle guidance away from negative behavior. 
Science time is my 5 year olds favorite and they really take the time with her to encourage her curiosity, rather then rush the lesson and move on.  I love picking them up from class and hearing my daughter describe in detail the science projects.  She uses all new vocabulary just like the teachers do at Gymboree. 
My 3 year old is all about the art time.  She really gets creative and does her own interpretation of the projects, and I appreciate the teachers allowing her to create as she sees fit and not discouraging her creativity. 
Our teachers at the Irvine site, Casha and Elisa are just amazing and I adore them, almost as much as my girls do. 

Families are Forever

We had the Missionaries over for dinner tonight.  The young Elders are wonderful examples to the world.  I pray that I can raise my girls up to be shining Christ like young ladies.  Tonight after dinner, the elders showed us a 6 minute video of the conversion of a family here in California.  In the video the lady that was baptized talked about knowing that her family would be together for time and all eternity.  What an amazing thing to know.  I have a sign over my couch that says, "Families Are Forever", and I read it every day.  But am I truly aware of what that means?  I have an eternal family.  What a blessing.

The family is ordained of God. It is the most important unit in time and in eternity. Even before we were born on the earth, we were part of a family. Each of us “is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents” with “a divine nature and destiny” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World).

God is our Heavenly Father, and we lived in His presence as part of His family in the premortal life.  Funny how premortal  is not a word that my spell check recognizes.  Funny how outside of our faith, the idea of a premortal existence does not exist.  How many people would find understanding in why we are here on earth if they only knew of the premortal life.  Anyway, I thought that interesting as I sit here and type that spell check is not recognizing "premortal".  Funny.


God declared, "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man".  Because of his eternal love for each of us, he created a plan, "The plan of Salvation", or "The plan of Happiness".  This plan brought us to this earth, gave us the beautiful gift of a body and and a place where we would be tested to progress and become more like him.  The purpose of all of this is to lead us to eternal life, God's greatest and most precious gift to us.  Through this plan, we can return to God''s presence and receive the "fullness of joy".


Where does family come into all of this?
"As part of our Heavenly Father’s plan, we were born into families. He established families to bring us happiness, to help us learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and to prepare us for eternal life."

In a world of turmoil and uncertainty, it is more important than ever to make our families the center of our lives and the top of our priorities. Families lie at the center of our Heavenly Father’s plan. This statement from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” declares the responsibilities of parents to their families:

“Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. ‘Children are an heritage of the Lord’ (Psalms 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.”

I am so thankful that I have been blessed with a family.  I thank the Lord each day for the joy they bring to me.  I want them with me always.  Knowing about and understanding that Families are Forever brings me such comfort and joy.  More then I have words to express.

How wonderful it is to know where I came from, who I am, why I am here on earth and where I am going.  And knowing who I will be going with.

Families can be together forever

Through Heavenly Father’s plan.

I always want to be with my own family,

And the Lord has shown me how I can.

The Lord has shown me how I can.

My World

My Eternal Companion

Things I am in love with Today!

So I have been in a crazy, "I WANT IT ALL" sort of mood lately!  I seriously do want it all.  But, in these tough economic times, we just can't have it all.  So I just add it to my wish list.  Today I thought I would put it out to the world all the things that my heart is desiring.  Why not?  It can't hurt right?  So here it is, my Sunday Things that I am in love with.

The greatest candy bar on earth!  Better then the original and better then Reece's!

I am VERY excited to do our family pictures tomorrow with
http://sarahhullphotography.blogspot.com

We actually just bought this amazing camera and I LOVE IT!!!

I love pettiskirts, but I love the complete outfit and I want these!!!

These are just about the cutest lunch boxes.  No more using plastic baggies.  I love these!

Had Sprinkles the other night and I am in LOVE!

A Birthday Fit for a Little Pet Lover!! Happy 5th Birthday Jacquelynn

I can't even believe that my baby Jacquelynn in 5 today!!  WHAT?!?!  I know its something everyone says, but "where has the time gone"?  This is all happening so fast.  My baby is 5.  Someone just stop time for just a minute so I can take this all in.  

Well, as tradition goes in our home, my girls get to pick their birthday themes and then I do the rest.  Make the cake, decorate and party hearty to that theme.  In the years past, Jacquelynn has picked, Little Einsteins, Hello Kitty and Minni Mouse.  This year........LITTLEST PET SHOP!

 FYI, no one is selling littlest pet shop decorations in stores.  You have to order it all online.  But that is difficult to do when you don't know that they want LPS until 4 days before the birthday.  So, I had to get creative.  Luckily Albertsons had a GIANT LPS Kitty balloon.  So I decorated around that balloon.  Pink and purple were the colors of choice.  Good thing that kitty balloon is pink!  

Joshlyn is a genius with puffy paint and turned a plain white T-shirt into a littlest pet shop lovers fashion dream. 

The cake is ALWAYS my favorite part of planning the party.  I love to bake cakes.  It takes my first three loves:

1) SUGAR!

2) Baking

3) Creating

Cakes hit all three of those wonderful things.  This one was the first cake I have done using fondant.  Now I only used it for the paw shapes, but now that I tried it, I may try something more difficult next time.  

Anyway, here is the finished product.  

Disneyland.....So much more then "The Happiest Place on Earth"

If you did not already know, Eddie and I met while working at Disneyland.  Since then it has kinda become a special place for us.  Well, I guess it is a special place for most people, but somehow it is "different".  Eddie loves taking the girls there whenever he can.  As for me, I kind of get bored of the lines, crowds, prices and having to constantly call out my girls names when they wander off.  It is not a very relaxing day for me at Disneyland.  But I go because it is special and the girls (and Eddie) love it there.  I think I would love going more often if it were just Eddie and I on a romantic date.  But then I think back to being too far away from my girls in an emergency situation.  Oh well, I guess this is just the way it is when having a BIG family.  You sacrifice/compromise the things you love for them.  

So this past Monday we all packed up and headed out to Disneyland.  Our annual passes are about to expire, so Eddie wanted to get a day in with the girls.  Here are some of my favorite pictures of the day.

Do they really belong in a cage?

Yes they do!

This is just AWESOME!

They are growing so much every day!

 

My Funny Valentine!

Home Made Hand Print Valentines

Sutton Villa 10 Months old

Little Angel

Hungry For Some Love

Innocent Princess

Silly Valentine

A Valentine For You Mommy!

My Funny Valentine

Squeezable Valentine

Hide and Seek Valentine

80's Fun and a Bottle of Pink Hair Spray

Eddie and I had a blast on Friday night when we crashed the Westpark Ward (our old ward) 80's Valentines Dance.  It was super fun going out to find odds and ends to complete our 80's attire.  I was a little hesitant at first to go, because it has been so long since Eddie and I have done something like going out dancing, but I pushed myself to do it specifically to bust out of the same old, same old routine we have found ourselves in.  Anyway, I so happy we went.  We had a great time.  I pulled out some awesome dance moves and Eddie stole the spotlight a few times through out the night as well.  I just adore him.  

 Yes, I am wearing leg warmers.  Joshlyn just so happened to have them in her drawer.  

 Yes, I am wearing leg warmers.  Joshlyn just so happened to have them in her drawer.  

Yes, Eddie let me spray his hair with PINK streaks.  What a trooper.  (Yes, it came out) 

We refused to leave the dance floor that night.  I wanted to get my exercise in for the night.  Plus, music in the 80's ROCKED!!!! 

We still know how to have a great time together.  LOVE YOU BABE!!

The day after the dance, my three little girls wanted me to spray their hair pink too.  So I pulled out the spray and went to town.  I have such DIVAS!!!

They worked that pink hair all day!  They wanted to parade around the neighborhood to show it off.  It was very upsetting for them when I told them they had to wash it out before going to church the next day.  But it was so much fun while it lasted!