2/25/11

Our Cub Scout

Max started cub scouts when he turned 8 this month. He was SUPER excited about it. I was a den leader when I was pregnant with Juliet and he saw the things we did in scouts when he would come with me. (I hated scouts then and never thought I would let any of my sons in the program because it made me throw up. 7 sweaty little boys in your first trimester will make you hate anything) He couldn't wait until it was his turn to put on the scout uniform. Wednesday night was his first Blue and Gold Banquet. He put on his new shirt (with no patches on it yet...bad scout mom) and grabbed his book and was ready to roll! He HATES jeans! His Den Mother said that for the first 2 years she was ok with jeans and not the scout pants (40$ scout pants) because when her boys were little they put a hole in the knees the first night they wore them. I love her. Max was happy to wear jeans and tuck in his shirt for this one time affair.
At the Banquet he was presented with his hat, his kerchief, his slider, and his BOBCAT patch. They pin the bobcat on upside down and you get to put it on right side up when you do an act of service. I was air brushing a client when Max got home and when I came out he showed me his bobcat was right side up. He quickly unloaded the dishwasher for me so that he could turn it the right way! I love this sweet boy!
As much as scouts made me crazy when I was serving in that capacity, now I love that he loves it! He is learning a ton, he is gaining confidence, making friends, and setting goals. I am not quick to jump in and be a den mother but I do love what it is doing for him! Besides who could resist this little man in uniform!?
Posted by at 3 comments:

Confessions of a weak bladdered woman!

1. I don't like to play pretend. I do it. But I don't like it. Barbies, guys, cars, dress up all of it. I liked it when I was little but when the kids want me to "play" I smile through gritted teeth and say ok. I wish I loved it. I am sure when they are grown and gone I will long for it.
2. I turn the t.v. on to much for the kids. I envy people with time limits for t.v. and video games and computer time. (just enforced those last 2). I wish I didn't like t.v. as much as I did. I am passing on an unhealthy relationship with t.v. to my kids.
3. I want to sell Pampered Chef and Shakeology and work for JetBlu! I love my job as a stay at home mommy and I struggle often making sure I have balance and don't add too much to my schedule so I can give the important parts of me to my kids, my hubby and the Lord.
4. I may have confessed this before but I want to plan a HUGE family reunion with t-shirts and a schedule. Talent show, testimony meeting (of what ever you feel) and everyone staying in one place. I am pretty sure it would end up with me crying and acting like a freaked out controlling beast though. We'll see!
5. I stink at saving money. I REALLY REALLY want to be good at it!
6. I love biographies. I think it's reality tv in book form! Right now I am reading former President George W. Bush's. I know a lot of people aren't fans of his but flip, this book is good! I think he did the best he could with the situation he was given.
7. I take a nap every Sunday. I feel so selfish and every week and I think this week I will let B take a nap and I will "play" with the kids. He is totally fine with me napping. I am afraid he did this to me though. I never EVER napped until we were married.
8. I applied to be on Wheel of Fortune.
9. I love coke Slurpees and they are even better with a chocolate donut or pizzeria combos. (those gross pretzel things filled with cheese pizza flavored product)
10. I hate shoes.
Posted by at 2 comments:

2/23/11

quote of the day!

On Sunday we got to hold a friend of mines baby while she played the organ in church. She is the cutest tiniest sweetest little thing ever! After a bit of fighting (between B and I) over who got to hold her (I had to share) she settled in with me. Dash couldn't keep his hands off her tiny feet and he would stroke her little head soooo softly! He looked up at me and said, "mommy I REALLY wish we could keep her. I promise I will teach her how to hi five?"
As if that is the stipulation for us to keep someones baby!
Posted by at No comments:

2/22/11

What did you do today?

I stole this from my friend Al. (I steal a lot of things!:) Her little girl asked her what she did all day. She showed her her list. I made my list because this is a question I often hear from my kids! Moms are BUSY regardless of what their kids think!
Posted by at No comments:

2/21/11

"It takes a village to raise a child"

So I asked for advice on fb and my blog about disrespect and what to do for it! I loved the answers that I got but more than that I loved that everyone was so kind to offer advice and help! I truly believe that saying that "it takes a village to raise a child"! I am thankful for the village I have in helping me in the hardest, best job I have ever had! I am cutting and pasting it so I have it in my blog to refer to forever and so one day my kids can see how much all these people loved them and wanted to help them in their journey of life!



        • Tim Jeffords Beat em- it works! And stop letting them see you throw temper tantrums-if you always stay calm then they will see your example just kidding since you think only mommies know I thought I would prove it to you
          17 hours ago ·
        • Andrea Teran Chavez I would have her thi k of her own punishment. Also, try to get her to recognize when Shea getting frustrated and pre empt the fit by walking away or finding quiet time for her away from the siblings. (at least siblings are usually what sends my 10 yr old into a fit)
          17 hours ago ·
        • Heather Wynne Stewart-Johnson I dont know if there is a simple across the board answer. I have tied behavior and chores into allowance. Its their salary.It works for most of them. Learn to ignore and walk away. She will get the idea..That is the hardest for me. But at 10 being a girl is hard for moms. The one thing my kids said to me is if you ground them and let them out of it they know they get out of it. So once you ground her even if she is sorry keep in place..hey when all else fails chocolate is good..Hope your day improves.
          16 hours ago · · 1 person
        • Michael Brandon Barrera I would go into her room, and clean everything out of it, then take her door of the hinges so she has nothing and gets no privacy. Then, she can earn her things back with respect and kindness and obedience. The only thing she should have in her room would be a bed and a suitcase with clothes. Might sound harsh, but it worked in my house.
          16 hours ago · · 1 person
        • Christine DiBugnara
          I don't have kids but I was a tough 10 year old. I used to mind play my mom because I knew I could play with her emotions. All you can do is remain consistent with your punishments and don't get sucked into their drama otherwise you'll eith...See More
          16 hours ago ·
        • Lindsey Whelan Hughlett
          My mom made us write. When we were little, we copied sentences that had something to do with what my mom wanted us to figure out. As we got older, it was essays. She gave us a length requirement and it had to include scripture references and quotes from church leaders, all having to do with whatever lesson we needed to learn. It was really effective for a lot of reasons. We all became pretty good writers that way! Plus, we learned through gospel teachers, which helps to instill the true value of the lesson and not just ' because I said so'... You'll also find some very creative and entertaining responses. :) good luck!
          15 hours ago ·
        • Lindsey Whelan Hughlett Oh, and when she got the sarcastic responses that used the Gospel resources to justify the particularl child's poor behavior, or were disrespectful in our writing (there was one sibling who was known for this!), we had to do a rewrite until my mom was convinced that we learned the spirit of the lesson.
          15 hours ago · · 1 person
        • Wendy Jeffords D'Anna Just ignore the fits like you do the 2 year old fits. I had a daughter go through this once...we took everything out of her room except her bed and dresser. All the extras were removed. She changed her behavior to get them back but she didn't realize how blessed she was until she matured...maybe like at age 16...they just don't get it this young. She's probably hormonal too...
          13 hours ago · · 3 people
        • Helen Crawford Shaw
          You poor love! I know taking the door off it's hinges, or removing my things would have worked a treat for me... I know I was difficult : S
          My Dad didn't mess about, if he was there and there was a fit, you'd get a smack! lol He didn't even do it very often, I think I can remember only a couple, as they weren't common practice, that was also my Mum's last resort. I try to keep it as an absolute last resort, especially as Darby is getting older. I'm looking for answers for the same things if it's any consolation : S
          I have a friend with a goodly number of children and she says when they are naughty (she doesn't believe in smacking) she goes to her room for her own time out! I've tried it and it worked, Zeke was devastated that I wouldn't let him in, or come out. Here again Darby's probably too old to care : S
          Good luck, I hope she calms down for you! : )
          8 hours ago ·
        • Katy Bean
          I am so glad you posted this!!!! If the perfect Darbster is doing this it makes me feel so much better that Grace is too! I don't know what to do either. I kind of feel bad for Grace in a way because she is the oldest and I expect a lotout of her. This weekend has been really rough for the disrespect thing. Dan talks to her a bunch about the way she speaks to us and responds to us. We admit we are not perfect and our life situation is challenging right now, but mostly we just try to be patient and remind her she is in a family- and this is what families do-pull together when it gets tough-not fall apart. We also had a big girl outing to talk about how this is NOT how the next few years are going to go. Oh man, Suzy, I don't know the answer and I really wish I did. I KNOW we both have amazing 10-year-olds! Why are they being spazzes? Call me when you want to just cry with frustration-I am there!
          Lindsey- that is the most hilarious thing I have EVER heard! That is pure torture! My dad used to sit us down and be absolutely serious and tell us how disappointed he was when we misbehaved. The worst was when he would tell us about how kind and loving Christ was and how much he did for us and all he ever asked was for us to be good. What a sad day for Him that we were not doing what he asked. Oh...it was HORRIBLE. I remember being so jealous of our neighbors who would get beatings if they misbehaved! Physical pain would have been so much better than the mental anguish we were put through!
          7 hours ago ·
        • Mandie Allen Wallace We take stuff away, works with Dylan but not Kassidy-she usually just takes the punishment and keeps on with what she's doing. Kassidy is all about POSITIVE rewards. With her I have to ignore the bad and praise and reward the heck out of the good. She's driving me crazy!!

          Besty wrote this in the comments of my blog post and I wanted to put it out here so when my blog prints I have it too:
          BITTLES: Suze I feel for you!!! Things go well when I stick to the following (however I seem to forget this and end up in the same place...but it works when I do it) You start off by saying that you don't feel you have been rewarding the kids enough for their good behavior (saying that first part is key for this to work) continue with "so starting now on Sunday mornings (or whenever) each time they talk respectfully to one another or are helpful (or whatever the opposite of the aweful behavior is that you want to fix) they are going to get _______. (Around here it is an extra minute playing the computer when it is computer time.--my kids jump through hoops for that but whatever it is that your kids really enjoy would work) Hope that helps, Good luck! miss you!
Posted by at No comments:

2/20/11

Grumpy Sunday

So I like to get up on Sunday and play church music and get the Sunday stuff up and running. (It sounds nice but usually ends in some Sunday yelling to be honest) Today before I was even out of bed the fighting began and worse than that the disrespect. I thought it would be the teenage years that we got sassy but apparently it is the 10 year old year. I am at a loss. I know it is all perspective but there are kids around the world who are hurt in horrific ways every day, my kids are soooooo blessed. What's a mommy to do? Advise please.... Right now it is $1 for every act of disrespect. Jobs aren't working and neither is the grounding.

SO now I will turn up the Sunday music and continue to get them all ready for church. Signing off as a deflated mommy.
Posted by at 1 comment:

2/19/11

Kitty Kitty Meow Meow

The other night while I was making dinner I heard a little meowing at my feet! I looked down and Juliet had Callie's cat bed and was playing her favorite game! (kitty or doggy)! I had to get a snap shot because one day she won't fit in the kitty bed. :( On more than one occasion I have gone into Juliet and Darby's room to find Juliet curled up in the cat bed.
After she was done playing Kitty she played with Aaron! She LOVES when the Camling boys come over and play! She is such a little rat baby! Where is her mom? Why doesn't she put some pajamas on you? Pull your hair up or something? Poor poor rat/cat baby!
Posted by at No comments:

R.S Valentines Party and Dinner

This is the night of the R.S. Valentines dinner. I had just colored my hair the week before (I didn't, Kat did) and had to get a snap shot before the night started. I had just started feeling yucky and was afraid I was getting the flu that had been going around. (I did get it and this was the last night my hair was done for almost 6 days!) :)Me and Kaela in the kitchen with our our cute aprons!
Me and Mary Skinner! Before things got ugly! (See post below)
Me and Becky! We all had a great time that night! Everyone did tons to help and it turned out amazing! I am sad I didn't get any pictures of the actual dinner and the things we did! Tons and tons of fun!
Posted by at No comments:

R.S. Valentine Party UGLY FACES

After the R.S. Valentine Party we were cleaning up and decided to let our TRUE COLORS shine through! Me and Mary Skinner! She is hilarious and wins the prize for the ugliest faces of the night! Her Beavis and Butthead face.
Super scary. I'm not even sure.
How many chins can you make? (You have to be REALLY ok with your ugliness to post these bad boys! I mean these are U.G.L.Y.!)
Kaela Wheeler sportin some ug!
We caught DiDi laughing and I couldn't delete it because it is HILARIOUS! This is how we were all laughing this night. I just caught hers on camera and super close up!
Here is her "ugly face" and the reason she was laughing so hard in the picture above. She said she looks like she is lying down dead!
Camie Staggs.... I didn't think we were going to get her to do it but she did!
Annie Bannanie! Not to bad! I've seen uglier!
Becky Madigan. (She is Mary Skinner's sister so I thought for sure she would blow us away with some ugly! Come on Becky, that is not even close to Mary's ugly! ) She and Mary are Di's nieces and Anna's cousins. I just adore them all and tried to get myself lumped in with their family all the time.
We had soooo much! I had a picture of Amy Johnson too but she made me delete it! It was a GREAT one! She put the night together with the help of all these ladies. It was a beautiful night and all the sisters appreciated and loved it! I feel bad that I didn't get any pictures of the actual night because it was truly beautiful. All I got was a whole lot of ugly! :)
Posted by at No comments:

Confessions of a weak bladdered woman!

Confession time!

1. I wish I could play the piano. I would play every day! I once took piano and I loved it because it was around Christmas and I was rocking out a ton of Christmas music. Then I got pregnant with Max and the piano made me gag.
2. I still cry when I want a diet coke. Still can't go through a drive through and still have to pay for gas at the pump. I called Tiffany the other day hoping that she would tell me that 1 slip up is ok. She didn't. She told me to be strong! sigh.
3. I like folding clothes. I HATE PUTTING THEM AWAY!
4. I am super excited to speak in church. This is not the norm. Normally it's scary. This time I have been asked to speak the weekend that my whole family will be here for Max's baptism. We'll see how I feel about it when it gets closer.
5. I purge the dvr so often my kids and B call me the great purger. I can't handle if their isn't at least 40 plus hours of recording time. It makes me anxious.
6. I love Blue Cheese dressing.
7. I love the color yellow and orange and blue and red. I think that is the color pallet for my kitchen. It sounds gagger together but it is really amazing and bright and happy.
8. One day I will buy an over sized rocking chair from Pottery Barn. (I think it will be gingham checked. Red or Yellow or maybe it will be Plain Brown) and I will put it in my room and read my scriptures every day and drink hot chocolate in it. It will never be a clothing rack. I wish I had one now so I could rock my last baby in it before she is too big to be rocked!
9. I could hang out with my brother all day! He is tons of fun and hilarious. He makes me feel cool.
10. I hate traffic.
Posted by at 1 comment:

2/17/11

sweet words from my hubby, my number one fan!

My number one Job is being a mom and a wife! I am blessed to be able to stay home full time and do that. I am also blessed that I get to teach group fitness for 24 hour fitness. It is the perfect side gig for a stay at home mom! I was recently asked by one of the clubs I teach at to represent the group x on a committee. I was really excited to be asked and to be able to help make it a better place to work. (it's so weird to call it work when I have so much fun doing it! I get paid to work out? I would be here every day anyway?! Is this for real?:)

After a meeting today I sent out an email to pass on the information. The email was well received and I was super excited because my boss had forwarded it to a higher boss and even a higher one after that. (we don't get a lot of peer praise as mommies.:) I called Brandon to share in my tiny accomplishment. (I look back now at what was said and it is really so very tiny I am a little embarrassed that I even called him.) He was super sweet and asked me to forward the email to him too. This is his response to me:

"I'm constantly floored at how amazing you are. I mean....geez...I know you're an amazing Mrs. Jeffords but this little window into your world is refreshing. You really do it all. Of course, she loves it! Duh. I love that I can go into a place like 24 and say that I'm your husband. It's one of my best titles.
You know the scripture that says, "where much is given, much is required"? It's going to be really hard to get into Heaven with you as a wife. The Lord's going to say, "You had THAT and this is all you've done. Tisk, tisk."
I truly love you.
B"

I seriously love this man! In that little email he made me feel like I was changing the world and I was the best thing that ever happened to this company! He is so amazing to help me pursuit my dreams and help me keep balance in my life! He really is my number one fan!
(we'll see if he is still a fan after all my over sharing ....:)
Posted by at No comments:

Our Valentines dinner

We decided to have a nice dinner at home with the kids for our LOVE day! The kids loved it because we got to use our fancy glasses with sparkling cider and candles. (We also used real plates instead of paper.....notice my plates are literally from the late 70's early 80's....one day I will have all white plates with a rainbow of accent plates.....until then these hold our food just fine!) We had salad, rolls, garlic potatoes and STEAK! I love steak! I especially love it when it is supposed to be $40 and it is on sale for $12. That is when I wish I had $100 and a deep freeze! It is one of Max's favorite foods too! Delicious! Our yummy dessert! I love my new heart baking dish! Anna and Mary gave it to me for Christmas with the cutest apron ever!
Ice cream brownie sundaes! Another of mine and Max's favorites! We all love them! These cute bowls were used at our R.S. Valentines dinner and my friend Amy gave me 8 of them! I was soooooo excited to use them! My kids loved it! It was a great time and I think we may continue to celebrate our Valentines this way! Lots of love was shared!
Posted by at No comments:

My helper Juliet

So what do you do with a 2 year old who wants to help bake the brownies and make the Valentines dinner? You turn on the water and give her a stool and ask her to "do the dishes". She really just liked to dump the water in cups back and forth. I just put a towel under her and let her go. It got really interesting when I threw the paddle from the kitchen aide in the sink. It was covered with the brownie mixture and you should have seen her face! First you lick........
Then you rinse......
Then you lick some more. It is a very serious process!
Then I tossed the spatula in the sink! This was even better because it could kind of "hold" some water in it too!
more licking and slurping......
a little embarrassed that we have chocolate all over our face so we will just smear it onto our pink shirt!
Come on mom! I am working here!
Posted by at No comments:

2/15/11

Sometimes a girls got to brag!

SO sometimes the boy just gets it right! This is one of those years. Every year Brandon draws me a card for Valentines day. It started out as a last minute attempt to fix a forgotten gift and because of his talent it has always melted the anger away. This year was far from last minute and so very thoughtful. I think it is by far one of my favorites! So I had to put it out there and brag. Here is my personal Valentine from the man I love!
Good looks and a sense of humor! He knows how hard this Diet coke thing has been and I love him for acknowledging it! ( I love him for tons more too! ) Inside the card was a Target gift visa to spend on ME! (We weren't even supposed to do anything "big" for each other!) He wins the award for BEST VALENTINE on the block!

If you want to see more of his amazing art and talents (and last years Valentine) check out his blog. Jeffordsart.blogspot.com (there's a link on the side of my blog!) He is really so very talented!





Posted by at 2 comments:

2/14/11

Everybody everybody wants some love!


That is the title of a song on my blog. Brandon made a dance to it and when it comes on we all have to do it. It is very jumpy and you have to smile while you do it! If you get a chance to click on it you should. It is a catchy little number that will make you happy!

Some people hate Valentines Day. I used to. I used to think it was a commercial holiday that made you over eat candy, pay to much for flowers, and do things that you should be doing for each other anyway! I decided to LOVE Valentines from now on! It is a day to show everyone that you are full of love. Like a Christmas after Christmas! SO if you get a chance to tell someone you love them today, why not! DO it! In the words of that fun song I mentioned above "Everybody everybody wants some love....."

I love y'all!
Posted by at No comments:

When it rains.....

Last week BLEW....chunks that is! We were all sooooo sick! It started with Darby last Saturday. We thought we dodged the bullet but then it hit me and Juliet on Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday night it struck Brandon, who HAD to go to work on Friday. He sent me a text Friday saying "I would have taken better care of you if I had known you felt this bad." He really took amazing care of me though. Friday afternoon he came home and we took care of him. In the middle of the night it hit Max. (WHY in the middle of the night and WHY do they do the running barf to the toilet?) It was ugly! I called it the "deal making flu". The kind when you are laying on the bathroom floors pleading with the Lord that you will do anything if He will take this sickness away! Some of my promises included never saying another swear word again, giving up diet coke (sneaky promise as I all ready did that) and even offering to have another baby! I think the Lord knew that was an empty promise because on Thursday morning I asked Brandon if he was getting a vasectomy on the way home from work. I NEVER WANTED TO FEEL THIS NAUSEA AGAIN!!!! Thankfully we didn't have to suffer long and I am to scared to say out loud that Dash dodged the bullet. (I am sure he will puke in his bed at some point or another!) We spent 4 hours sanitizing/bleaching/washing the entire house. Threw out old toothbrushes and committed to not share any drinks with each other for at least 2 weeks! (we have to make sure Dash is REALLY gonna be ok!)

SO what did I gain from this WRETCHED experience!?
A giant heart full of GRATITUDE for B and I didn't get sick at the same time! A deeper LOVE of my kids and how willing they all were to step up and help out when needed. KNOWLEDGE that I have the best friends ever. I think I received a dozen calls to offer help and dinners. Friends brought my kids home from school offered in many other ways! A STRONGER TESTIMONY that I know the Lord hears and answers my prayers. I am sure He often thinks I am ridiculous and dramatic (who me?) but He knows me and knows what I can handle. More GRATITUDE for my body and what it can do when it is healthy. I vow to take better care of it. (Not doing a very good job of that because I should be sleeping and not blogging right now!) And I think best of all I REMEMBERED that saying "When it Rains......." usually we say "it pours". A good friend reminded me in a talk she gave "WHEN IT RAINS.....IT STOPS." When the Lord had Noah build the arc, it wasn't a forever arc. The rain eventually stopped. When our "rains" come down sometimes it feels like it will never stop and sometimes it does pour, but eventually it will stop. And when it does, IT FEELS GREAT!

Posted by at 1 comment:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)