TIME OUT

I send my children there for making wrong choices. I'm pleased to say that for the most part, I tell them to go and they do....staying for the number of minutes they are old....6 minutes for Tyler, etc. I did that before SuperNanny came around. Sometimes they cry in there, but they know the timer doesn't start until they are relatively quiet. ANYWAY....this time mommy got a time out....but of a different kind. The program is actually called "Time Out for Women" and it is a chance to leave the kids with daddy and "refill my cup" that often gets depleted from the hum drum of day to day things such as sending kids to time out. The age old saying, "Is your cup half full or half empty"...I am a relatively positive thinker and I see my cup as half full even though there are days I feel "less full" than others. I'm grateful that I have a husband who lets me go out with the girls when I need it and even come home to a cleaner house than I left it. He knows that what I do is hard, but he also knows there is no where else I'd rather be. A few of my friends here in Austin wanted to go, and found out it was in Houston, so we planned an over nighter. Where better to stay than to bunk with my parents? I love bringing friends home, and my parents love it even more b/c it is a new audience to tell all their stories. At the convention, I got to run into lots of my hometown "peeps" that I hadn't seen in a while...lots of my high school friends that moved back. The speakers and music at the program were great--we laughed, we cried, we came home with our cups overflowing! I often feel I should be doing more...can't get everything done....want my children to feel my love by how I act....gotta get the house clean, etc. Through the speakers I was reminded that I am doing the best I can and that my Father in Heaven wants me to be happy and not feel so much guilt. I have so much to be grateful for in my life...I will go to TIME OUT anytime someone wants to send me!

you found me!

I've been slacking on my blogging, so I am here to fill all those in who care. I had a successful weekend of hosting a baby shower on Saturday and heading up a church fireside on Sunday. I've started scrapbooking again! Yay! I don't think I"ve slapped any pages together since Alyssa has been born! Yikes....so it's now spread out on a section of my bedroom floor (good Michael had to shove it aside to "clear a path" so he won't break his neck early in the morning). The kids love looking at them and I'm now slowing down on all the other stuff I've added to my life and am making time for this hobby again. I'm very excited about it. I haven't even printed pictures for a while, so I need to do that. I do have lots of pictures, that is for sure! I've decided to slow down a LOT on the biz. It just wasn't as fulfilling when I realized I'm "mentally" gone a lot even if I'm only physically gone from my fam for an hour or so when I "shoot." I'm now just doing occasional Senior in High School sessions. They are my favorite anyway. I feel really really happy about this decision. I also had to decide to kick my bootie off of a really great photography forum where I met a lot of photographer friends that have helped me learn and grow tremendously. But I was spending too much time there. I now go about once a week instead of several times a day.

Michael and I realized we've been in our home/in Round Rock for 4.5 years...yikes! That is a long time...more than half of our marriage. More than I've been anywhere since I was 14. I've never liked the idea of living in any one place my entire life...I like to change things up. We toy with the idea of Michael going back to school to get his PhD and teach PT school after. I am surrounded by great people...great friends...people I can rely on....but I feel very fidgety and unsettled lately. What is out there for us? Now that Tyler is in school at a great elementary, it's concerning that we'd find something else great, but I know greatness is everywhere. Maybe somewhere else I won't have to wake my little ones up at 6:45am to get ready for school...curses! Well lately Alyssa wakes up by then anyway...curses! Did I also mention she isn't napping very well...curses!

My little bro Russy and his cute wife, Kim are now living in Texas! He is starting Medical School in San Antonio this summer, so that will be so fun to have them 1.5 hrs. away! They are currently bunking with my parents in Houston, so we've already seen them quite a bit. They adore my children, so what more could I ask? Even little Alyssa will kinda push Kim off of Uncle Russy's lap to make room for her and Kim graciously scoots over for her. (One night Alyssa walked from Russ to my dad just plopping in their laps...back and forth between the two). The boys gave Russ a fake Knights shield and sword for his birthday so they could "battle fight" and told him that he could leave it at our house if he wanted. Some day they'll have kids and the attention will wane a bit, but for now, we are happy to get the adoration from them. Alayna (Ryan's wife) was just visiting and it was fun to have my 2 great sis in laws. I've been very lucky! They are my sisters.

I joined a book club....I've never been in one. I read the Joy Luck Club and we met last week and I really enjoyed a discussion on the book. I didn't love the book or hate it....but there was a lot to talk about and that was fun for me. I actually went onto Amazon.com and bought all the books for the book club for the year (most were just pennies to buy and $3 to ship). I thought it would be better to do it all at once and really encourage me to read. I've never been great and finishing books. I get bored easily. The day after the meeting I picked up the next months book and the idea of reading another hurt my tummy. I needed a break. It's now been a week and I need to try again. Fast Food Nation, Stiff: the curious life of human cadavers, stones from the river....I'd never read these on my own. I like doing new things. Challenging and getting my mind thinking and exploring people.

We're going to Florida for Spring Break! Yay, I'm so excited....I am not thrilled about the 13 hour drive, but we are doing it in shifts....7 hours then playing in New Orleans for a day and then 6 more hours. Our dear friends live there in Tallahassee (they moved away from Austin last summer) and I am looking forward to being with them again. I'm also going with some friends here to Houston next weekend to stay with my mom...a ladies weekend away. Will be nice. WE will go with Kim and my mom to Time Out for Women. I was going to go to a photog convention in Iowa at the end of March, but decided not to....I sold my convention ticket, and still have plane tickets that I need to change the date...I'll instead take Alyssa to meet my dear BYU roommate Amy and her little girls in April (Hali & Abbi, do you wanna come, too?).

I've made some concrete resolutions on being a better mom....I have so much to teach my children...so much I want to share with them...so much they need to learn and understand. Tyler had a classmates birthday party on Saturday and when Alyssa fell asleep and I had to take her home they offered to keep Matthew and Tyler b/c they were having so much fun. When I came back after an hour, I recieved the best complement..."You have really well behaved children." I was so pleased. When they got in the car, I told them how happy I was to hear that and that I was glad they made good choices (I reminded them of that when we parted) and Tyler said, "I even forgot that you told us to make good choices." I said, "even better because you did it anyway."

my joy

These 3 are going up on the wall.

The petticoat that Alyssa is wearing is a combined effort by my mom and my mother in law. My mom made the white skirt and Janet added the cute pink ruffles on the end as well as the matching boa! Isn't it so cute! They both are so crafty and I am grateful!

here are a few more

My mom and Kim found this cute sweater for Alyssa at Old Navy...she looks so grown up! Tyler just chillin in the grass....what a great sport!

I love how alyssa is rolling her tongue in this one.

Matthew was not excited about the neighbors dog barking at him (hence the tongue action) The boys together (notice star wars guy clutched in tylers hand).

alyssa's owie

Oh my aching heart....I just don't like it when my child has an injury...this one I especially worry about! She was on my friends trampoline jumping, showing me her stunts. I was standing on the ground at the edge (the tramp enclosure had just been torn down and they were getting a new one). I turned around to talk to someone in the house and just as I did she leapt forward to me....luckily she tripped and fell and hit her head on the spring, otherwise she would have been on the ground. It wasn't too hard of a hit, but a slow trickle of blood came out and I realized it was a deep gash. I stressed as to whether or not I should take her to get stiches. I didn't want my daughter to have a big scar right on her face...distracting people from looking into her eyes....well we didn't get stitches and I felt good about that. After talking to my Korean friends about preventing scars, I invested in $16 Mederma (cheaper than an ER visit) and have been applying it several times a day. I guess we'll see if it works. Only time will tell.

my new blog

Here is the link to the old stuff www.dukedeclarations.blogspot.com I'll still have that, but this is the new home for Kristen's blogging.

Many Joyous Occasions.....

life

The boys have had a bunk bed for the last year and recently decided they wanted them separated. So we made one big bed and they thought that was the coolest! The first night, this is what we found...so cute! Alyssa has found her favorite spot to go eat a treat. She opens this cupboard in the kitchen and plops herself down. Her own little perch. Matthew is so protective of his sister, always an arm around her.