A Place to Write

Christmas jammies! This little girl could eat all day every day. She is happy as a clam with a cookie in her hand. How can you say no to that little face? This is Kaybree's latest trick to get some snuggle time with Aspen. She does spider on the swing with her. Aspen loves it! Once she gets past the giggles and giant smiles she snuggles right in. I tried to get her to untuck the shirt.  We were not allowed to visit Kaybree and Eisley before or after their MCO choir performance so I made everyone take pictures that I could share with Kaybree later. Kaybree and Eisley did awesome in their MCO Christmas concert! Kaybree kept her eyes on the conductor the entire time during the first two songs but the next time she came out there was no conductor to watch. She did even better without one--when she was just singing what she knew!  Eisley saw Stetson and Stryker in the front row and watched them the entire time! There was one moment w

I have never been really close with my dad. It's not that I don't like him or have any hard feelings for him, he just has 8 kids and none of us are great at socializing. So it was strange this week to have a moment where I really felt like we related. He is opening a restaurant this month. No, that's not his background. He's a great cook and all but his professional skills are more in the IT world. but he's an entrepreneur and has this partner he really gets along with and they are opening this brewery and restaurant in downtown Mesa. We got to go to his media night and I got to see how excited he was as he showed us around and gave us the VIP treatment. I've been bugging him about his PR plan so he introduced me to their PR woman. turns out my dad's partner's wife volunteers where I work so I'm sure we'll work with them in the future on something to benefit the kids. As the samplers of food started coming around we sat and we asked my dad

If you take any training about parenting teens the biggest advice you will hear is: QUIT TAKING IT PERSONALLY! I know because I'm pretty sure I've been to every training on parenting teens currently being offered in the Phoenix area. There are not many. What you will not learn is how to do that. How the heck am I supposed to react when I express my feelings to a child, who is mostly an adult, and then they do exactly what you just told them you were afraid they would do? And why is it that I'm so personally offended when my teen will not take the advice and direction I've given? I'm not personally affected when he fails his classes but MAN it pisses me off! Because I TOLD him to bring home work. I TOLD him to stop skipping class. I TOLD him to turn off his phone. I TOLD him to get some sleep and eat breakfast. I TOLD him to take his meds. But he didn't. I know I'm not the only parent of a teen who has dealt with this. I know this can be typical tee

It’s pretty bad when even your apology ends in a fight but that’s what happened tonight. So now I’m sitting here in the dark hoping that you’ll come down stairs and give me a chance to try again to talk to you. Dad found vape pods in your back pack tonight. A LOT of them. And since we’ve had this talk a million times he overreacted. He blew up. He told you if any of that comes into our home again you are out. Done. No more. He was not aware that just last week you told me that has been on your mind. And now you feel like we’re holding it over your head. He feels like we are trapped because the rules we set don’t matter if there’s no punishment behind them. I feel like none of it matters because you’re only still living here for the convenience of it. You don’t want to move away from your friends but you’re not ready to move out together yet. It hurts me to feel like we’re just a roof for you. I don’t know what I expect. It’s just hard. Because when things are good they are great! You c

Brendon and I went on a cruise! It was short and sweet down to Mexico and being on the ship was like being in Vegas. Lots of drinking and partying and shows but overall it was nice. It was nice to be there together. It was a celebration for our 10th wedding anniversary which we didn't really celebrate because we had just had Aspen. But I want to take a moment and acknowledge that I have the best husband ever. Brendon, you are a perfect team mate. You're always there to help with the kids, or cooking or cleaning. (We all know you're better at cleaning than I am) You balance me out when I'm a little out of my mind and busier than I need to be. You support me in everything I want to do--even when you don't really want to do it. But more than all of that I just enjoy spending time with you. I think it's because I can feel how much you love me and support me. I always feel like you're looking out for me and doing all you can to keep me happy. That's not

Aspen has her first official favorite song. It's Dance Monkey by Tones and I. When we turn it on you go crazy, Baby girl. Hands up, legs kicking and "singing" every word! It is adorable! Luckily it's the current favorite of everyone in the family. Eisley loves it because she knows the words and can sing along to it. Brendon and I love it because it is rarely on the radio and it has such a unique sound to it. Even J was a little caught off guard by how much he liked it. Brendon suggested we make a family music video to it and I would LOVE that but we have not found a time yet. Our family music video to "All About That Base" is adorable. We need more of that. Aspen is now 10 months old. Not even close to walking but she is loving crawling and pulling herself up on things. Sometimes she'll walk along furniture but not more than a couple steps. She is constantly getting into the dogs dishes so that's fun. She also loves Cheerios and really any foo