Whittaker Woman

Saved By The Tooth

Saturday morning Carlos and the girls were making pancakes.

This should be a happy activity, some wonderful bonding time, but oh the ladies were TERRIBLE!
Just complaining! Fighting and just getting on my nerves!

It finally got to the point where I was done. I began the mother lecture, I told them to get down, they were done helping, they needed to leave my sight. You know either you have said it or you can remember your mom saying it to you. As I was in the middle of my speech about how disappointed I am about their behavior Sohaila's eyes got real big, she reached into her mouth and just grabbed the tooth. I guess it just fell out as they were getting in trouble. The timing was perfect. We all started busting up laughing. She was saved by the Tooth.

$2.25 and a Pack of Gum!

We are lucky enough to live near a Dollar Theater. That is enough said. Well except on Tuesdays this theater has discount days! So instead of the whopping $1 it cost to see a movie it was only .75 cents.
Soooo for a total of $2.25 the kids and I went to go see Kung Fu Panda. Sounds great right?
Well, as soon as I got in I realized that I did not have enough cash, did I mention that this is a cash only place. I take that back... I had enough cash for the actual tickets, but who goes to the movies and does not get popcorn. I mean why watch a movie?
But I could not leave because I had three VERY  HAPPY CAMPERS!
Everything was fine until about half way through when my little man decided he was done! He wanted to leave. Usually we have great movie experiences because all we have to do is keep the popcorn filled. And since I had two other kids who would not be ok with leaving I decided to dig and dig into the depths of my purse.  I scored! I found five pieces of gum. So what did I do? I would pinch of tiny pieces and feed it to Losiah. He fully ate them ALL, but hey at least we got through the whole moving. Just another great parenting moment! H

Family Night, revealed!

Every week there is always someone who compliments me on my family nights. People say, I just don't know how you do it. Let me tell you the truth...usually  there is always some drama, stress and tears!

You guys saw the fun pictures of our Football Night, now here are some real pictures.  That is me saying something to the effect... "Sohaila if you don't stop by the time I count to three you will be up in your room going to bed."

Look at those crocodile tears coming down. Drama, drama, drama! Welcome to the real side. H

Girls, Girls, Girls

I never could imagine my life full of princesses and fairy tales, now I can't imagine my life with out them.

Gap in the Grin

There are a few extra-special-I-can't-wait moments that I look forward to as a mom. One of them being my kids school pictures, but not just the ordinary school pictures, no those happen every year.  I was really looking forward to the gap in the grin pic. You know the one year where their is a inch size gap in their front grill. I love kids with the  space.  They are so cute. But look what I got... 
 I mean come on, look at this picture. Is it cute? Yes, but her teeth, it was all about her teeth this year! Oh well,  this is one of the reasons she is not the only child. Maybe one will give me the grin picture I am looking for. :) H

Parenting Gone Wrong... Again

Oh, there are days when it would  just be better to start over. I was only minutes into my day when my mouth uttered words that may send my child to a counselor one day. I can hear it now. "I remember when my mom made me feel..."
Let me set the scene, it is Sunday morning and I am doing my best to get the kiddos out the door with out any screaming or tears. I have three kid dressed, fed and I'm working on their hair. Things are going GREAT! Sohaila was next in line. I began to pull her bangs back to clip and she immediately tells me that she does not like her hair like that.
And are you ready for my great motherly response?
In my wonderful persuasive, selling tone I began to tell her that I saw a girl on TV with this hair style and she looked so cute. I could see her begin to think about it, so I jumped in to top it off by telling her that I even saw the same girl in a magazine. With those words Sohaila lit up and said "AWESOME!"
As I finished her hair I realized what I just did. I totally just told my 6 year old that we need to be looking at the TV and magazines for direction on our appearance. Those are the two places she should not look at. Ahh, I am sure she will not remember it, but these are the fun moments I can only laugh at as a mom.
This was who I saw this week that had great hair. The Palin Ladies. Volume, Volume, Volume!

See the poof, with the bangs, very cute...

And this was after my brilliant parenting advice!

Happy Monday! H

When will I accept the truth?

I am a mom. Some how most days I forget it. I guess it defines me so much that I don't even recognize the simple fact anymore.  It seems normal to me to be humming disney songs all day long. It seems normal to have someone want to be in the restroom with you no matter what you may be in there for. It seems normal to me to have 5 people sleeping in one bed.  I just don't think twice about these things.
Well, not today. September 2nd has been a day that I stare momhood in the face.  The alarm rang earlier than usual today. Or maybe it was just harder to get out of bed to start the day. None the less the day began. I walked one baby to the bus stop, which reminded me. Hey I am a mom.  I came home to my next baby saying her "throat hurt" translated means QUICK GRAB A BAG I AM ABOUT TO HURL! So I did 3 hours and 9 bags later she sits like this.

The bag did not make it to her once and so I am now washing the couch covers. Which reminded me that I am a mom! That should be enough reminders right?
Oh, but I have one child left, he woke up gave me the best morning hug, I fed him and not long after I smelt him. Nice and ripe. We went up stairs only to find out that I had another introduction to mommy-hood coming my way... a blow-out! So as I put his soiled PJ's in the wash with the cushions with puke, I just laughed and thought...Wow, I am a mom today! H

The Murder Scene

Warning... this is nasty! I forgot I had these on the camera till today. This was from last week.
Remember the bloody nose day. It happened twice in one day!  It's a good thing I can handle blood!

All clean! Did you notice the color shirt I decided to put on him? H

Thanks For Your Opinion (Sarcasm)

Let me set the scene. Stephanie and I are at Chik-Fil-A, chatting and enjoying lunch while the kids are off in the play area. Our table was one table away from the door and I was sitting facing the door. Losiah being the boy that he is decided that it was more fun to play with the door into the play area rather than the playground itself.  So  that is what he did. Back and forth, back and forth.

Ok back to the scene. There was one mom who sat with her child inside the play area, and then one set of grandparents and their 18 month old child at the table closest to the door. Every time Losiah would open the door he would get really close to getting his arm caught. Here is where my parenting style was very different than the other two people around. First let me remind you I was constantly watching him... I saw when his arm got close, but every time he would almost get caught one of the other parents would jump up and save him. Here is where I am different. This door was not a car door, it was not slamming shut. It was slow and did not have much weight to it.  Obviously if my 2 year old could open it. So I sat and watched. I was going to allow him to learn that when he plays with doors he could get hurt. I would have been there in a second if he got caught, but he thought it was a game and I was going to let him play and learn. However the mom in the play ground and the grandparents kept coming to his rescue.
Here is the fun part. Finally the mom who was in the play ground got fed up and got up again and said to Losiah " Lets go find your mom." Mind you I am 5 feet away. I spoke up and said I am right here. I am watching him. She than said, "oh sorry he just keeps getting caught and I thought his mom might have been over there."  I said no I am watching him and thank you. Then Grandma pipes up and says "Oh, no you are not!"
You should be so proud of me. I said nothing. Oh the fire that both Stephanie and I had could of burnt down the place. But instead I just tucked it away and let it go.I understand that people parent different. I don't spank I have my beliefs, but I am not going to bad mouth you. If she had a problem she just needed to say " I am so sorry, he keeps going in and out and it really makes me nervous. Could you please help him" I would still have been annoyed, but at least she would have respected me enough to talk to me. Instead I just got the rude remarks!
I love my boy and if I thought he was going to get hurt I would have been there in a heart beat. However I think we protect our kids to much. Oh I could go on, but I am going to stop. What are your thoughts? Should we protect  our kids from everything?
Remember I am not dumb. If he was in harms way I would have been there! I want to know where do we draw the line? My kids have a rule in the house... "play hard get hurt hard"
H

Should I wake her?

Sohaila fell a sleep in the car around noon. It was 5:15pm and she was still asleep. Oh I love summer. I love the freedom to sleep whenever! H

The rules

I feel like all I do is clean and sometimes I just give up. When I do, this happens and so I have embraced it. Here are the rules.
-No toys allowed out of your room.
-Have fun
-No food allowed in your room
-No complaining that your room is messy.
It was a lovely week. The kids had fun, I felt normal, I was not constantly cleaning their room or telling them to do it. And finally at the end of the week we tackled it and made it all together again..

It was worth it! H

He's two, part thirteen!

It's like clockwork, very evening around 5 when I go to the kitchen to make dinner, he blesses me with a song!
 
I  just wish there was a mute button! H

The Toof...

To pull or not to pull? Part 2

We have a group of friends who meet in our house once a week, our small group. The Losiah just gets put to bed early and the girls get a movie. This works like a charm, however tonight we hear Sohaila crying so Carlos goes up to see what the problem was. He comes down and says..."Did you tell her she will swallow her tooth if she falls a sleep?"
Confession: I might have reworded Darcies words a little to see if she would allow me to pull it out. Obviously that did not work. I have many failed parenting attempts. Lets just add that to the list.
So anyways we did a little negotiating and finally we took some steps forward.
Dad was going to do the pulling. She could stop at any point and best of all the tooth fairy would becoming tonight!

 
This dance went on for about 15 minutes. Should we do it? Do you want us to wait? Back and fourth, back and fourth. Finally I locked eyes on her and begin to make up nonsense stuff to try to make her focus on me. And it worked a second later Carlos had it in his hand and she had no idea. It was perfect!   

   

H

To pull or not to pull?

Sohaila will not let me get near her. Her front tooth is barely hanging on and she will not let me pull it out. It's driving me crazy. When you were 6 would you wiggle that thing like J-Lo in 2005 or would you just let it fall out on it's own? H

One way

Well my dearest decided not to use the conventional way to keep bugs off of her with bug spray, instead she came out like this. I did not have the heart to tell her some can still bite or the fact that it was blazing hot outside. I mean really how cute is she!  H

My Parenting Style

If you ever want to know my kind of parenting style it is summed up here in this picture. We have a four hour drive ahead of us and I let my three kids play in puddles! Life is to short to miss the fun! H

True confessions

Carlos watched the kids when I went to a Beth Moore Conference this weekend. Losiah woke up on Saturday with blood all over his face and like any good blogging family we captured it on film.
Later that night we were looking at the pictures and I just had this feeling that I needed to see what actually went down while I was gone.
H- "Please tell me that you cleaned him up"
C- "Yeah I did"  ( I just knew he was telling the truth, however I still needed to keep prying.)
H- "What does that mean. How long was he with blood on his face"
C- "Well he did stay that way for a little bit. I wiped it off when I changed his diaper"
Sounds good right?
H- "And when did you change his diaper"
C- (a long pause... You could see him contemplating his answer) "Oh, 2ish"
H- "WHAT! Not only are you saying he had blood all over his face all day but you did not change his diaper till 2!"
There is nothing like true confessions of a dad. H

"Mommy I tried to wake Seanna up"...

I don't know if she really went about it the right way. Maybe I should explain to her that you can't read when your eyes are closed. H

A quick question...

I got this great question from Sarah over at Ordinary Days on this post, and I wanted to see what you guys thought. Sarah, who has three boys wanted to know what thought process I went through in deciding that I was comfortable with Seanna wearing make-up at her young age? Sarah was by no means being judgmental she was just a mom of boys coming to a mom with girls wondering how I came to that decision.  She continues to say that she was sure I gave it some thought and was just curious. So here I go with my parenting style and thought process on this...

Sarah, thanks for the question I by no means think you were judging me on this topic and even if you have a different stance on my way of parenting I still do not believe you are judging me. There are many ways to raise kids. I think majority of the parents out there are doing their best to bring thriving, loving and self sufficient kids into this adult world we live in. So my way may not be the best way it's just my way. Sometimes I fail, sometimes my decisions turn out right!

Ok so here is my opinion or thought process on this... First let me say that I never had a thought process.  But I can tell you how it came about. You see around 4:30pm everyday I will go upstairs and freshen up because Carlos is almost home and I want to look good for him. Seanna being the little me that she is would always be my shadow. One day she asked me mommy why are you putting on makeup. I responded with " to get pretty for daddy". Then the next day she again was my shadow and this time she asked "mommy can I get pretty for daddy too?" Come on! How can I resist that. She is 4 years old, wants to do everything her mommy is doing and on top of that is understanding the value of looking nice for the man in her life. It just so happens that her man is her daddy.

My girls are dreamers. They are playing make believe all day long. It is one constant play in our house and I do not want to stop that, just because "makeup is for adults" I have no problem with them playing with it. When we go to the mall and walk through Nordstrom's we always walk by the MAC counter and they ask for some blush and lip gloss. They float the rest of the time in the mall. How can I resist that.

Here is the final overall belief of mine...

They have pure motives behind using makeup. If they were wanting to put it on because they wanted to be sexual about it then I would be having a different parenting issue. Right now they are sweet innocent kids who just want to have a little sparkle.  They are not trying to be grownups, they simply are all girl!

Thanks for asking Sarah! Ok peeps, what is your rules, beliefs and thoughts? H

 

Getting our monies worth

I was out this morning meeting this girl at the airport while she had a long layover. Carlos was home watching the kids! I got home to this...

Blog Interview

 
I was interviewed over at The Secret Life of Kat go and check it out...

He's two part ten!

Losiah decided he wanted to play in Seanna's makeup. Not only her makeup, but he had to choose the oil based, creamy, blush-like stuff to spread all over himself.

You ask, I'll answer set 6

 
Ahh, the family night questions! I know many of you ask me each week about them and so here I will give you our answers. I say ours because I tag team with my best friend Jacinda and we brainstorm together to get idea's. Check out her Family Night's here.

*Is there a book or website you get your party night ideas from or are you just making them up yourself? Posted by: nina bunk
No there is no book. Yes there is a website. We basically will find a theme, sometimes something ex. strawberry season, triggered an idea and so we will Google it and see what we can find. Other times we are surfing the web and see a great idea and it begins that way. So the WWW is absolutely a fabulous springboard to get ideas from!

Where do you get the inspiration for your creativity, such as for the family nights you have put together so awesomely? Posted by: Linny Best
Ok so here is what we Google, we usually start with Birthday Party sites because the themes are already there. I don't have a favorite I just click away. So say I am having a bowling night, I look for parties that had a "at home bowling night". I try to take what I can from them and add a little of my ideas to that. I try to pick out a couple of things that define that theme. Like our bowling shirts. The kids had these name stickers in their closet and they worked out perfect on the back of their shirts. Some nights the food goes along with the meal and sometimes it is just the dessert that goes with the theme. Again Google, Google, Google!

*We too have Friday Family Fun nights however, I am running out of ideas so I would love any ideas you are willing to share? Posted by: Sarah
Girl get on those birthday websites and you will have plenty. Or between Jacinda's and my posts you will have a few months worth at least!

*I know this may sound completely cheesy but I want to know how you make the family themed dinner night happen. I keep thinking I want to start it but can't even think about how???? I know, crazy but WOW, I love the idea! Posted by: Tamara Cosby
Ahh, this is a question I ask myself each week. I can say that each Thursday I wish I did not start this tradition. I feel to busy and most of the time don't want to do it. HOWEVER, time is what you make of it. If you think this is important to your kids than you will find the time. Even if it is something simple to start with, like having dessert before dinner one night a week try to start small and then you will get the hang of it. Really it does not take much time or money. Use what you have and have fun. Trust me you don't see the stress and chaos that happens before these blog entires!

*Where do you get the inspiration for your creativity, such as for the family nights you have put together so awesomely? Posted by: Linny Best
Ok so beyond Google other inspiration comes from the 99 cent store.  I also get inspiration from the toys the kids have such as our princess night. Seasons, Holidays, any event can be a theme. Take a small piece and then begin by Googling it. Just like last week Goldilocks and the three bears was inspired by a gift that Sohaila got for her birthday. It had three bears and we made a whole night of it. Once you start to think differently things will flow.

Whittaker Family Nights: #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9,
Hale Family Nights:  #1, #2, #3 , #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12,

He's two part nine!

Sunday morning never fails!

Parenting gone wrong!

I may be treading on thin water hear after the last post on Losiah, but did I have a parenting moment go wrong today!  Our roommates have been bringing up the fact that Losiah still sucks his fingers. They don't do it in a bad way, they just joke about the money we will spend fixing his teeth later. Alyssa sucked her thumb till she was ten so she really is not talking smack. However it got my mind thinking.
He really doesn't need to do it. He is two years old. He has just clung on to this new stuffed Tigger and so I thought Hey he has a new comfort thing. Right? I mean he can stop sucking his fingers. Right?
So this afternoon when I noticed him plopping those juicy nubs into his mouth i dabbed them with a little Tapatio. (a Mexican hot sauce). I did it and he really did not fuss, so later in the evening I thought, I am going to take it up a notch and I put some Rooster sauce on them. When he saw me get it out he began to run. When I got to him, I realized that the Tapatio did work because he knew what I was doing. I quickly wiped the sauce on his fingers and boy did he let me have it. He threw a fit and landed on the floor. Normally I would have ignored the tantrum except today he gave himself a bloody nose. I mean a blood gushing-won't stop- kind of bloody nose. I got some tissue and held him down to try to stop the bleeding. Mind you, I am home alone while this is all taking place. I get him tight and just hold the tissue to his nose. He is screaming full force. Torture! I felt so bad, but when I would let go the blood would gush out. He even sprayed me like a spraypaint a few times. Nice! Finally Nurse Alyssa came walking through the door and helped. Oh he was so mad! The good news is he thinks twice before he puts his fingers in his mouth. :)
I guess I get to add that to my long list of parenting gone wrong.
Please tell me I am not the only mom who puts their kids through this. Maybe I am the only one who will admit to it. H

I get around, round, round, round, I get around!

Oh the stares I got today... No wedding ring, a hickey (well it's a bug bite but it sure looks like a hickey) and three kids that look completely different. Hmm?
I like to play the act of a non-racial, non-committal, promiscuous baby mama!
 

I am a failure!

Ok, where did I go wrong? How can I have missed this critical lesson in child rearing? This is how the story goes, let me set the scene for you...
It was bath time so I started the water, Seanna gets in and Sohaila is going to the bathroom before she climbs in. I remembered I had to grab something down stairs so quickly jet down there and back up. As I round the corner to the bathroom I see Sohaila letting go of the shower curtain that is directly in front of the toilet. It was strange to me, just the way she did it made some flags go off in my head.
I walk up and see that the toilet is not flushed and there is no toilet paper in the bowl. Can you see the end of the story? Yep my 6 YEAR OLD could not find the roll of toilet paper so she grabbed the next best thing. The shower curtain. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!
That is all I could say. No other words came to me. I was in shock. Where did my parenting go wrong? How does my 6 year old reason with the fact that it is OK to us a curtain to wipe herself? I give up! H
 

He's two part six, and seven!

What a day this little sneak has given me.
It started around 7 am when I went in to get him,  and
found that over night he had managed to pull out every
wipe we had in our Costco economy size package and
decorate the room with them.
Then this I found around 10 am.

He decided to get noodles instead of the thousands of toys he has to play with.
Then I found this around 2 pm

It never ends!
However I do love this!
Picture. Classic! H

Who needs a bathtub?

The girls are totally into doing the dishes right now..
Which makes less work for me!

Sohaila killed two birds with one stone, who needs a bath
when you get clean while doing the dishes?

Bye, bye little birdie...

We had our memorial service yesterday. Carlos played a lovely song, said some nice words about our dear friend, and then some of us shed some gut wrenching sobs. Ok maybe not some of us. Only Sohaila, but dear lord they were from the deepest part of her soul. Heavens, it was only a bird. I can’t imagine when we actually loose someone we love. Any how it was lovely… Good bye little birdie GOOD BYE!

He is two... part four!

I love the two's, or maybe it's my bipolar child, but regardless what is the cause of it, I am about to go looney. Some days he is joyful when he wakes up and other times he is not. Today HE WAS NOT!
He actually was fine until I made him breakfast. Eggs and bannana. He ate his bannana, then got pissed that it was gone and then dumped his eggs and threw his fork at me. So I took him out of his chair which made him furious. And now his is screaming on the floor. And I say....Good morning, everyone!

NO!!!!!!!!

Sohaila gets off the bus today and has her mouth closed, but has the biggest grin. I ask her what... and she shows me this

And guess what I did. I started to cry. I am not a sappy woman. I don't cry much but as I walked home I had a moment. Why? Because my first baby, lost her first tooth and I was not there. I know there will be other teeth, tons to be exact, but the fact is she is my baby and i missed a milestone.
But she is cute!

Birthday party #12...Check, Survived...Done!

I love it when ideas come together! Sohaila had her
6th birthday party this weekend and if I do say so myself
it was great!

I made these pillows that had the info on them. It read
Bring our PJ's, sleeping bag and your favorite
stuffed friend to a sleep over that is pretend.

We had story time and sang some good night songs.

We ate Pigs in a blanket ( how appropriate!).

Then we played a game of pass the piggy.
(Piggy is Sohaila's sleeping companion)

The stars came out,

They sang to her. I know it looks like they are singing
Kum-ba-yah my Lord to her but I promise it was
happy birthday.

And what sleepover is not complete with out a movie?
This was not the original plan, but once all the kids
got there, I realized that I had no control of these sweet
children! So in it went!
When the kids left we gave them a pillow that my
grandma made of each of their first initials. They were
super cute but I did not get a picture!

I don't know who to say did this. It was either some kids
or it was Billy.  Hmmm.
So besides the stress of a party, plus the fact that I realized
I can not control 14 children alone and the small issue
of the oven catching on fire... it was a great party!
What was your favorite themed party you have gone to?

"Good Morning Sunshine"

I stand corrected, taught and then given specific instructions on how to wake Sohaila up in the morning.  I had no specific way, I would rub her back trying to bring her out of her deep slumber, but I guess it was not good enough because I have been asked to change my ways. Sohaila has given me instructions on how she would like to wake up... including the words I need to say.  And so today, as my baby girl woke as a 6 year old I spoke these words..."Good morning Sunshine."

We started a new tradition on Seanna's last birthday  called the birthday string. Carlos gets on a mission and loops and ties this ribbon all through out the house. At different places we have little gifts wrapped up for her. It such a fun way to start a birthday and something we can keep doing for years!  By 6:30am we had baked 24 cupcakes for her class, made pancakes, did the birthday string and sang Sohaila happy birthday.

Good Morning Sunshine
 

 

What are your family birthday traditions?

Parenting Advice?