In my head

School sucks.

I thought it would be way more fun. Nope I was wrong. I like work better. Dustin ends class at 3:30 yay, but then he stays at school to do homework/modules etc until 6-7ish because he can't concentrate at home with the kids, I don't blame him. Then last night he sat on the couch beside me until 11pm doing homework! And he is STILL behind. It was only day 3! What. the. crap.

I'm trying to not complain or say anything, because I want him focused and he is, so it's good. 2nd year schooling is the hardest because this is where they work you hard so the people who think it's "easy" realize, it's not. Plus it's been a while since he was in 1st year so he has to be refreshed with all that stuff. So I just sit there happily watching whatever is on tv. (Last night was ANTM, High Society, and Fly girls) Just sitting beside each other on the couch in totally different worlds, what is that? Weird, that's what it is.

I also told Dustin that this sunday is Mother's Day and until I looked at the calendar this morning I knew no different! I keep messing up holidays! For those who are like me, it's NEXT Sunday, like the 9th. I even told him what I was expecting and that he doesn't get a free pass just because our anniversary is tomorrow. I could just leave it and let him think that it still is on Sunday, then I would get mother's day for two weeks! Last month, Dustin and I were walking in Walmart and it was a Friday and we weren't going to be home until later, like supperish and he needed to make a phone call to a place that was closed by 4 and it's closed weekends. We forgot about it. (This was when he had 4 days off Fri-Mon)

So I say, "Dust you needed to call because now it's the weekend and it's probably going to be closed on Monday."

He says, "why is it closed on Monday?"

I say, "Because it's a holiday!" (a little frustrated)

Him confused asks, "What holiday is it?"

Me "REMEMBRANCE DAY!" (as if he's an idiot for not knowing this)

Him "........., um Mind..... it's April."

So then I come home and I even had it written on the calendar! I knew I did. So I showed him. He says, "why did you even think it was a holiday and write it on there, it's not even written on the 11th, you wrote it on the 12th." He got a kick out of it.

I blame the kids.

Actually, I looked at my big yearly calendar and noticed that on the 12th of April it is Holocaust Remembrance day! That is where I got it from, I knew I saw it somewhere! So there ya go. I was close.

Tomorrow is our anniversary and we are actually celebrating it. (Our anniversary always gets the shaft.) What we're doing, I don't know. Dustin has something planned and he seems excited for it. So i'm excited for it! I also have a few things up my sleeve. I'm sure you'll hear all about them on Saturday. Until then....peace out.

I'm so proud

Look at my little boy, all grown up on his first day of school!

I'm a proud mama.
I may be a little emotional.

Good luck darling!

Yes I made him stand there, and no he didn't have a choice.

Giveaway

I found this girl the other day and Dustin and I really liked her and wanted to get her to do our photos when we go down south and today I saw that she is having a giveaway. So why not get them for free! She definitely has talent and an eye for it. I'm not a fan of "I have a good camera and photoshop so i'm a professional and can charge lots." I think this girl is one of few lately that actually has the talent for it.
So go enter!
Actually don't. So I can win.

Don't I get paid?

"Being a mom is the hardest job in the world."

I never really understood this saying.

Sure I change a million diapers, feed meals, clean up the house a hundred times a day, bathe them, dress them, play with them, entertain them, break up fights, give them snacks/drinks, wipe their faces/hands, get no sleep/naps, do laundry, eat at the counter so I don't get mauled, respond to demands instantly, stop the crying/whining....

and don't get paid, or breaks...

k wait, WHY didn't I understand this saying again?

I have been thinking about this a lot. Mostly because I get it now, I get why it is so hard and why people say that. I thought, no, there are so many jobs out there that are harder work. But it's not just because of what we have to do physically everyday but MENTALLY. We can recharged our physical exhaustion (sometimes, depending how lucky you are) by sleep or a break from an awesome husband, or a friend etc. But when you are worn out mentally AND physically, your screwed. Well I am anyways.

Lately I have been having a hard time trying to figure out how to raise these girls the best I can. Kyla can be a stubborn little thing. I swear she is a 16 year old in a 4 year old body. She is a challenge sometimes and I am so worn out from thinking about how to deal with her the right way. She talks back a lot because she is so stinkin smart and says no, and tells me I have to say sorry for getting mad at her when she is in trouble, how do you answer that?

And this is where I finally got it.

Mom's are worrying everyday about raising their children to be amazing people, every decision we make affects them. We have to be their rock, their one person they can count on. If we fail, we fail them. It's so hard while they are pushing your every button to stop and calm yourself from blowing a gasket on them. It's hard to listen to 3 girls fighting and screaming while trying to get something done. It's hard to know if you were too hard on them or if it was it just the right discipline that they needed. It's hard to know if you give them equal attention, or enough attention. The list goes on right?

I absolutely LOVE being a mom, more than anything in the whole world but some days are hard. Twins are hard. I have a hard time admitting that. Having to do double of everything every day is tiring, add onto that a 4 year old with completely different needs. I know I don't have it harder than most people, trust me it could always be worse, but i'm not gonna lie and say it's always easy. I love these girls to death and we have so much fun and I just hope I can be the mom I work so hard to be everyday. I don't think anyone knows the responsibility and work it takes to become a parent before they actually become a parent. I sure didn't.

I wouldn't change it for anything. Nothing will replace the kisses and hugs and happiness my children bring to me. When I see them sharing, and playing together and laughing it melts my heart and those are the moments when I know that I made the right choice when I became a mother.

Don't worry things are going great, just something i've thought about lately.

Thanks for listening.

What you've all been waiting for!!

It's here!! I know you've been anxiously waiting for me to get this on here. Actually maybe it's just me. But I have it! FINALLY.
I had a copy of it before, but it was from a camera so there was quite a delay on it, this one is from a video camera.

Now I better get comments from everyone about how awesome we were because it was so considerate of me to put it on here for your entertainment.
I watched it again and still can't believe we did it, maybe I shouldn't even post it. oh goodness.

oh and if you missed the previous post about it, go here. for more pictures and details.

I can't believe i'm actually showing you this. Don't make fun!

ENJOY!!

I think it's spring now.

See.
Remember this fort, well here it is one week later. Our backyard is pretty much gone since it gets more sun. I am loving it.
Leave snow and NEVER come back.

The kids got creative while we were on house arrest because of the snow and found these cups, they were a hit for days. It was great. Dustin even got into it and built a tower with Kyla.
They were pretty proud.


The day before it snowed mountains, I was going to take Kyla outside to play with her new spirograph chalk set. Then I thought, nah, i'll wait until Dustin is home tomorrow to play with us. Ya great idea Mindy.
Then the next day we were snowed in.
So today I decided since it's supposed to be 18C and the snow is melting fast, and i'm depressed because it snowed, that Kyla and I will go outside and play together with chalk.
So we did.

I wrote a note to Dust for when he gets home from work.

I had to add the last part in there, kinda forgot about them. But only for a second....

Then Kyla goes to another area and attempts to draw her name in block letters.

How awesome is that.

Oh and a little update on the coloring issue. I went and bought two sets of the wonder color markers and books. I bought Kyla one about a year ago and she loved it, and I think they are a great idea. Especially for my kids as of recent! It was a Dora one I got and they are expensive! Especially when I have to buy two! It was $20 for a small skinny book and like 6 felts. (Well two of them) They are already filled up. BUT the first couple days of having them, I caught them coloring on everything else and it was great! It's nice not having to watch their every move like before.
They don't color very much anymore, I took everything away. If Kyla wants to color she does it when they are napping. So it's all good now and I am happy.

Although, the girls decided to move on from coloring on the walls and themselves....
Babies are MUCH better.

I think it's hilarious.
and kind of disturbing.
Not sure where they found that crayon.

One more week of work then Dustin starts school!

Random, my favorite.

MY BUTT HURTS. It hurts bad.
I think I slept on it wrong...about 5 nights ago! I feel like a gimp, and almost like I worked out so hard and now the whole right side kills, down into my leg. But did I work out? Do you know me? No I did not work out for those who don't know me.

My left shoulder hurts. I'm falling apart. Dustin thinks so anyways. It's actually my entire shoulder down to my elbow. I think I slept on that wrong too. Both times I woke up in pain. The shoulder one has even made me cry a few times. It's feeling a lot better though. Kind of random for me. It could be from stress though. I searched it online and sore and aching body is one of the main syptoms stress can cause. The kids have been a handful, and i've had a lot on my plate these last few months. I don't really "stress" and none of it is bad, but it's like the unconsciously stress I think, just from having a lot to do with Kyla's birthday, Easter, Dustin working so much. He has been back to his normal schedule this month though so it's been way nice. He's such a great help too.

I'm trying to come up with a theme for Jayci and Presley's birthday. (May 27th) This is what I have so far.
I want color, fun, SIMPLE, and cute. Some themes I thought of were;
-Bubbles (I could have white/clear-ish balloons everywhere!) i'm thinking definitely balloons, i'm kinda tired of seeing the tissue paper pom poms, even though I JUST used them for Kyla's party. Balloons are so fun and they can be so cute and are so versatile. I have another cute idea for decorations that can be used for any theme.
-Pink Lemonade. Just using pink and yellow and going with that, bright and fun and cute.
-Rainbow. Also tons of colored balloons and colored everything, and using mini jelly beans, just fun.
and...that's it. What's your vote?
I was thinking something twin-ish, like "double bubble" and doing double everything and then using the "bubble" theme in there too. But I think it's too cliche because they ARE twins. I'm sure that makes NO sense to anyone but me. I get it. I don't want it to be typical.
oh ps: there won't be very many kids, mostly family and adults so I don't have to base it on a ton of kids. Also i'm not making a fondant cake this time, as much as I love making them. I'm doing two smaller cakes so that they don't have to worry about peeling the fondant off to eat and it's way easier for me! Some sort of white fluffy icing though, with some stuff. We'll see.

I got asked to make a wedding cake! I am so nervous!! It's supposed to be simple and cute, her colors are black and pink and we are just starting the brainstorming for it. It's not until July, so I have time. It should be fun. Wish me luck.

I'm thinking of taking a class. I found 4 things I want to do that they offer up here.
A yoga class. I've wanted to do yoga forever.
A pottery class. Something totally different and fun.
A belly dancing class. I know a few people who took it and had a blast, besides I think I would love it!
And a dance class of some sort. This will be in September since they are all year, and they have classes for beginners adults. Definitely me!
Dustin and I are also going to be going across to the field when he gets off school and play some baseball and maybe some basketball. We'll take the kids too of course, but sometimes we'll get a sitter and do it as a date night. I'm actually really excited for that.

I teach this Sunday in Relief Society, so i've been working on my lesson. It's on Praying to Heavenly Father. I love how this year we have gone back to the Gospel Principles. The simple stuff. I like it.

Dustin starts school on the 26th. CRAZY. I'm actually really excited for it. Just to change up our routine a bit, and after he'll get a raise, so that's always a bonus. We'll be broke in the time being, but oh well. Money is just money and I never stress about it.

That's my latest thoughts and random stuff.
Take it all in.
Don't forget to leave your thoughts about the party.
peace out.

What do you do at 7am?

I blog.
Not normally but today I did. Normally it takes until 8:00am for me to even function since my girls wake up at 6:30 every morning. I usually lay on the couch, and the girls all climb on top of me, squirming and pushing and laying on my head. I usually can't breathe after about 2 minutes, so I get them a snack or something to do and lay back down. Then at 8:00, Britt calls and we talk for an hour on Skype, and this normally wakes me up.
This morning they are pretty talkative and busy so I just stayed up.

Dustin had this weekend off and I had a ton of stuff for us planned. I wanted to go to the park everyday, color on the sidewalk with Kyla's new Spirograph chalk (remember having the pen sets when you were a kid? I do, now they have them for chalk. How cool eh? She got it for her bday from Emma) I also wanted to play baseball with Kyla and Dustin in the field across the road and just let the little girls run free. We bought her a bat and ball last year, and we went out and got her a new glove and a "real" baseball. It's squishy but small and not so huge like her last one. She loves it. I grew up playing baseball, I played it for 6 years and I loved it. I've always wanted to get back into it but it has been YEARS since i've played so I would definitely need some practice.
Anyways all those plans went down the tubes, when we got hit with this....

This is our van stuck

and that's the mound after shoveling it out.

We had to go out that day, because Kyla had a doctors appointment to get her prescription refilled (another post i've been avoiding) and it had to be done, plus we had a birthday party for the kids that we really wanted to go to. The snow was so heavy and wet and it was still warm out so it wasn't freezing up. The streets were flooding downtown because the drains were getting clogged and the snow was so wet. It was brutal. This was all over 2 days. We had nothing before this, the ground was dry.

When we had Jayci and Presley, most of you know they came 7 weeks early and I got air lifted to Edmonton to deliver them and they had to be in the NICU for 3 weeks. (Pretty short considering they were 7 weeks preemie) We met another set of twins there, 2 boys and they were born at 27 weeks gestation, really preemie. They had already been in the hospital for weeks and just got transferred to our hospital. They have a bigger hospital for super preemies and once they get strong enough they get moved to another hospital for the rest of their stay. These other twins were actually also from up here, so we became friends and got to know each other over those few weeks. They were right beside our twins pretty much the whole time. It was so nice having company during the week when I was by myself everyday. (I had a really hard time without any family, especially Dustin) the whole story is Here if you want to read it.

So we got invited to these boys 2nd birthday party, and we haven't seen them in a long time. We run into each other quit a bit but we haven't really got together and they are moving in a couple months so we really wanted to go to the party. The party was at an indoor little play park and it was perfect for the kids. They loved it!

Dustin enjoying the park, actually he was throwing balls at the kids, when they weren't looking. Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

Presley. (Do you see the static hair??) I was excited about that.

The parents of the twins

The twins reunited

Lately Jayci and Presley have been into making these spaz faces. It's hilarious.
This is one of Jayci's when I said "say cheese!"

Then I also said, "say cheese Presley!" This is what she gave me.
It's my favorite. Ever.

So since we couldn't do any of my plans, we made the most of it and went outside anyways. It just took us and extra hour to get ready to go out! We had to find all our winter stuff again.





It wasn't that cold out, about -4C. But the wind was cold and you can't tell but in this picture we all have watering eyes. Presley even has a tear. So we decided to take them in. Kyla wanted to play more so Dustin stayed out with her.

And they built a fort! A fort in Fort Mac!
Ok not funny. But kind of funny.

I have to share a story. Dustin and I decided to be awesome parents and lay in bed forever one morning while we let our kids roam free in the house. I heard the downstairs toilet slam shut so I knew they were in the bathroom. Kyla yelled up and said she got them out and shut the door. Thanks Kyla. So we stayed upstairs. A while later we came down and I had to go to the bathroom. I opened the door to find the wrappers of a ton of my "feminine products", all over the floor. But where was the actual "product"?? I looked all over the living room, bathroom, then it hit me. The toilet. Yep almost half a box were shoved into the toilet.
Well at least they know where they go.
Dustin said I have to clean them up because I shouldn't leave them accessible. Does that even make sense? Isn't that the point?

I'll leave you with two cute pictures I took of the girls this weekend.
You can tell this is morning because for some odd reason, Kyla likes to strip them down out of their pj's.

This is getting old

Ok before you judge me....

First all these ones are from when a babysitter was here.... (all upstairs by the way.) and this is only a portion of what was really there.

Kyla's room

Kyla's room, this is a big section, you can tell because her bed it beside it and it's a big bed.

This is our bedroom door (you can see the sitter tried to wipe it off, doesn't come off very easily obviously)

Kyla denied having any involvement in it, so i'm pretty sure the babies are genius's and can write her name. That's my only conclusion.

When we got home, the sitter told us and we just laughed it off thinking it was no big deal and so typical. We walked upstairs and of course the girls rooms were close so we didn't see in them. Well the doors were bad enough but then we looked in Kyla's room in the morning, and her room was covered. Magic erasers work, but I used one eraser alone on the staircase (not even pictured), these are not easy to remove markers. They are dora ones and I have no idea how they got ahold of them. I didn't even know where they were!

Then these next pictures are the latest fad around here. Everyone is doing it. I have no idea how they get these felts, and pens. They have this obsession for pens and felts! Not crayons so much but pens and felts are awesome because they color on so many more things, which I understand. I guess. I'm always like "where the heck did you get that?" Drives me nuts.

Ok well, this time I did let her color with Kyla and I was right here and within seconds she was covered. She was coloring with a pen first, took that away. Then Kyla wanted felts to color on her huge coloring pad she got for her birthday so I let Presley color too. Man I hate it. They LOVE to color and honestly it's the only thing that keeps them occupied to get stuff done around here. Plus it keeps me sane because they are not clinging to me all the time. (Ps: I want my body back! To myself! I really do) that's another venting post to come. Anyways, they are getting tired of watching Dora and it doesn't work as well as it used too. Crayons just go to the walls since they don't color on skin right? I don't want to have to take it away for good but I think today was my last straw. Only Kyla will get to color when the babies are sleeping because she is good 95% of the time, the twins have an influence on her though, who knew? Anyways, kind of my fault I know but it still sucks and you should feel sorry for me anyways. When we build a house, our playroom will have a whole wall for just art and it'll be easy to remove or wash off or something genius. I just need that wall....now.

I think i'm going to get those felts that are clear and only color on certain paper. Maybe that'll be better. They just love to draw, which is cute and all, but I HATE it.

Success! Now I can relax.

Kyla's birthday is today! My big girl is 4 and I feel like I just had her. I remember waking up the morning after having her in the hospital and they wheeled her into my room right beside my bed and I remember thinking how it was all real and that she was really here. I had her at 8:22pm the night before but by the time everything was done it was almost midnight and I had 20 hours of hard labour from the start so I was wiped. They offered to take her to the nursery for the night and I was definitely ok with that since I needed the sleep, bad. I couldn't even function after I was so tired. (Those who have been in labour know what I mean).
She was an amazing baby and so happy all the time. She was very smart and she took EVERYTHING in and remembered it. She was/is like a sponge. She was talking very clearly at 2 and could say anything you wanted her to repeat. Now she is the exact same way, remembers everything you show her. She can spell lots of words, even write them. Writes and knows all her letters and numbers. She can tell time. Loves to sing and dance, she makes up her own songs all the time. She will bring things up from forever ago, like a year or more, and she'll say "remember when...?" I'm like what? How the heck do you remember that? I tell ya this kid is way smart and never ceases to amaze us with what she says. She loves her little sisters and is one protective big sister of them. She loves to help them learn things, and she is always trying to get them to copy words and stuff. She loves to help them do anything and I am so lucky to have her here to help me. She cleans, loves to bake, and tries to do dishes (of course, I have to redo them after). She is hilarious and is constantly making us laugh. She loves Dora of course, Hannah Montana, Barbie, Princess anything, Twilight (this is for real.) I asked her yesterday,
"guess what movie we are going to watch?!" (Being Alice in wonderland)
and she goes, "Twilight!" all excited.
I'm not opposed to that idea. We watch it a lot. Well New Moon, not Twilight, but to her there all the same name. Crazy kid. I love her.
So there are just a few reasons why we love Kyla.

Dustin had to work this weekend but he took yesterday off for her party. So we decided to also do Easter yesterday morning so he could be here. The girls all got Dora chocolate faces and some other stuff we hid around to find. We didn't go crazy and that is a good thing. We all know who is going to end up eating Jayci and Presley's candy anyways.... me. I'm kind of anal about feeding my kids junk, especially when they are younger. So they'll get a few things but not too much.

Her party was awesome and everything was perfect. I have been planning it for a while. There were definitely things I would have loved to add to it for sure but of course planning it by myself and not having a ton of mullah to do it, I made do. Dustin starts school in like 3 weeks! So we are saving for that. Well she invited 5 friends but one went out of town for the weekend, but it was perfect. They had so much fun and Kyla got spoiled. As you all know it was an Alice in wonderland tea party. I wish I would have pulled the new alice in wonderland into it more and I would of made it more crazy, but it is for a 4 year old so I kinda kept it more "pretty".

Ok be prepared for lots of pictures, I will try and keep it minimal. We did take over 200.

finding easter treats

All their findings. Oh we also got them my little pony's. We always got a little present with our easter stuff growing up so I want to keep that little tradition.

Birthday Breakfast~ another tradition. Pancakes with "only whip cream and not strawberries" was the request, and orange juice of course.

Birthday Girl! All ready for her party.
This is the dress I made her. I wanted to do a twist on Alice for her, so this is what I did.
It all worked out really well being my first real dress i've ever made.
She loves it too.

Friends!
Leela, Jayna, Kyla, Emma, and Erica

tea time!

just sippin on some tea, they loved it and i'm glad Dustin was on pouring duty because those cups are small, and they loved to drink the "Tea" (lemonade)
We also had little sandwiches and cookies that said "eat me" on them.

Some pom pom decor
playing pin the smile on the "Cheshire cat"

She and Jayna tied for being the closest.

Not too shabby for 4 year olds. I wanted to find a poster of the cat but of course didn't, so I ended up drawing and coloring my own.

Jill came to help. She is sitting with her best friends of course. They love Auntie Jill.
Thanks for your help!

Opening presents

Alice in Wonderland! Good thing it came out 3 days ago! I was kind of freaking out since this is the only thing she wanted.

Some other presents from friends

All her stuff! She got spoiled. We also got her a camera and some "K" letter earrings.

My cake!
Well Kyla's cake, but it's kind of mine because I made it.

She loved that they had to sing TO her.

She looks so old in this picture and it's too cute.
Can't forget about them! Eating some cake.
Cousins and BFF's

Doing the craft. It was butterflies to go in flower pots. I couldn't find little flower pots for them, so I told them they have to tell their dad's to buy their mom some flowers and then they can put their butterfly in them.

They did start out with different colors, but mixing them was more fun for most of them.
Crafty little girlies.

The girls in their Easter dresses.
Happy Easter!

It was a big day for someone. She knows how to party.

So I am quite glad that is over, as much as I LOVED planning it. I feel like I have to do nothing now and it's nice. Well for another week or so, then I have to plan Jayci and Presley's birthday. I still have no idea what to do for it. We'll see!

Happy Birthday Kyla!

and

Happy Easter!

~Mind~