I did this LO while nursing (not literally) Kyra when was really sick with the flu last week; it was so awful, she even had to go to the hospital and get rehydrated. I felt so bad for her -in the middle of leaning over the bucket puking, Kyra said, "I WANNA LIVE!" I had to keep my laughter inside as I was right in the middle of the worst sickness in her life. It was also very sweet how she became so sentimental (while puking) and would tell me and Greg, "I love you, Mommy" and "I love you, Daddy." Kyra definitely has a sweet spirit and it certainly shone through - even in her darkest hour.

Momma Mia Inspired...

My first LO in weeks...my most favorite movie in the whole world right now is Momma Mia and I just choreographed "Dancing Queen" for my classes. I decided to do something with my studio picture and thus this LO was born. Here's the journaling:

"This is the picture that hangs on the 'Instructor's Wall' at Dance Expressions. My dream of teaching at a dance studio came true on September, 2008. It has been a great blessing to bring others to joy of Zumba dancing."

Little girls will be little girls...

Here are Kyra (ragdoll) and Nina (Gabriela from HSM) all decked out for the ward Chili Cook-Off/Halloween party and happy as little clams :-) Making happy memories with the girls (as well as my other children) is the best way for me to heal from my own sordid childhood and feel the sweetness of innocence and joy in truth the way a little girl has a divine right to feel. Blessings to all of you out there who have experienced this same enlightenment :-)

Side note: Adobe PhotoShop Elements ROCKS!! I was able to cut and paste Kyra's head in the side-by-side picture from another picture to get them both smiling. It took me all day to figure it out, but Scrapbook Memories TV show on the BYU channel has excellent instructions. Check it out!

Meatloaf Anyone?

For part of Nina's preschool program at the YMCA, she's been taking a Kids in the Kitchen class and has been cooking up a storm each Wednesday. I started to feel the pressure of "bad mom syndrome" since I realized I hadn't really let me the girls help my cook at all except for when cleaning up the brownie bowl...so here's proof that I let down my hair and the girls helped create a tasty meatloaf that didn't have any leftovers :-)
The joy also here is that someday THEY will be cooking me food and I'll get to say "EWW, GROSS!"

My Raked-Up Cutie!

I stumbled on another "joy" moment on Friday when I caught the girls collecting leaves from the cul-de-sac and making a pile in our center common area. Just when I thought with my adult mind that leaves are just another plain annoying and bothersome thing to clean up in the yard - there is a 5 year-old who delightfully relishes in gathering and rolling around these little crumbs of nature and loving every minute of it.

Daughters are a gift!

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to have many daughters so I can give them these long, polysyllabical names (like the ones they have now...Alexandria Estella, Kyrstiana Rene', Josephina Marie) to make up for the fact I had a a short 4-letter name and no middle name (where's the love in that?). Each one of my daughters are a blessing to me and I am overwhelmed with the responsibility I have for my stewardship of them - there are so many things to teach over a span of 18+ years! But my last daughter (at least in this estate) is my precious Nina, who seems to have the best qualities of her older sisters along her own wrapped up in the little package that she is - teaches me so much about what I need to know in this life and about the quality of a smile - as she's full of them!

The challenge for this LO was to use chipboard, ribbon and metal. I also used the biggest felt flower ever made for scrapbooking!

Everyday Moments...

When the girls where younger, I often wondered, "Is there more to life than being a stay-at home mom??" I must preface this by saying that when Anthony was 2 years old, I wanted nothing more than to stay at home with him and watch him grow every second I could. However, as Kyra and Nina approached 3 and 4 years old, my mind began to wander away from mission to stay close to the coop. Looking back to this particular day while Kyra was getting ready for preschool, I realized that I was right where I needed to be - with my girls, at home. I know they could've survived without me at home, but would I have survived without them? Absolutely not! I needed to be at home for me as much as I did for them. There was nothing more healing for me than raising my children the way I would've wanted to have been raised. I re-lived my childhood (in a healthy, nurturing way) through each one of them! Being able to take pictures of the everyday happenings in life such as this moment, makes me eternally grateful for my calling as a stay-at-home mom.

The challenge for the this LO was to scraplift another person's LO from the DS2 group and I chose my Prima pal, Rhonnie :-)