Pictures from our park, pizza, candy making play day!

Let's Get this Party Started!


My ooey gooey sweetness!


Awwwhhhh....the lil' guys.

I love this picture of Liv with her lollipop we made that day.

Jones (aka "Monkey")

Mollie Joy

Megan Wakefield

My Sis & Jack Jack

Emma Wakefield & Olivia

Melanie & Jason (Buddy) Wakefield

Do Unto Others

I was watching my niece & nephew Olivia & Jack on Friday and not 15 minutes into it Jones and Livi (as we call her) were wrestling over a toy. I asked both of them to let go and step away from the toy but both were not listening. So I physically stepped in and broke up the "fight" and sent both to time out- Livi to sit on the stairs for 2 minutes (she is 2) & Jones to put his nose against the door for 5 minutes (he is 5.) Well, Jones made the mistake of arguing with me which is something Joey and I have really been working on with him so I sent him to the bathroom for further discipline which is how we handle this type of situation. I went into the bathroom to talk with Jones about the behavior and the back talk and here is how it went as I was explaining that Olivia is 2-years-old and he is 5 and instead of fighting with her, he should ask for the toy and if he has a problem with the response he can talk to me about it. Here is how he responded:

"Well Mom, you know how you taught me and read to me about 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you?' Livi was fighting me so I thought she wanted me to fight her."

I followed up the comment on a conversation of "do unto others" vs. "eye for an eye!"

So have you noticed my blogging pattern?

Well I seem to blog in clumps and then a dry spell and then a bunch in one day again and here we go again. I feel like I actually have been blogging but apparently it has just been in my head. I can't wait until I am disciplined enough and can take the time to sit down for a second in the moment and blog!!!!! So I hope you enjoy the blogs today. There should be several most of them using pictures to jog my blog memory. And away we go.........

Mother/Daughter/Sister/Friend Ice Cream Social

As the Events girl at Grace Church, I have the pleasure of planning our Women's events. This was a fun one but unfortunately we were too busy to take many pics. We decorated in bright colors and lots of polka dots. We served ice cream in bright colored bowls and offered syrups & a cherry. At the tables, we used more toppings as centerpieces. On the cupcake tiers we had cupcakes, nuts, mini chocolate chips, and of course sprinkles! Everyone seemed to enjoy it. The stage was left undressed except a few balloons and of course our beautiful women speakers and musicians! The sides the stage were draped in black curtains which we hung bright colored polka- dotted ribbons and signs with Mother, Daughter, Sister, Friend written on them (thanks Mom!.)

We enjoyed a duet by my friend Janice & her lovely daughter Maggie on piano & violin. My good friend April sang "In My Daughter's Eyes". My friend & Planning partner Jenna gave a testimony on "family" who can actually be friends and one more friend Sheryl gave the testimony of adopting her beautiful girls from Haiti. My best friend and sis read a section on friendship from the book "Captivating." We showed a movie clip from "Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood" and "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." And of course I MC'd and talked a little. We showed our slide show from retreat which was fun! And awesome Erica A. took care of all our sound & lights. She's such a pro! Overall it was a lovely evening out for girls and women of all ages. I am hoping that they all liked it!

Oh, one more thing:
There was one horrible but kind of laughable now thing that happened. Even though I previewed the "YaYa" clip several times, SOMEHOW I missed the part where the mom says to the daughter "Now you better G**d**m marry that boy!" I was horrified! And you couldn't miss it since there were actually the English subtitles on the screen! I wanted to hide. I apologized profusely and we moved on! What are you gonna do?

The Centerpieces



My Mama


My Sister Brittany & My Niece Olivia

Heart Racing Day for Poor Brittany!

One day last week the kids were over at Auntie Britty's and I went to pick them up and when I was there all of a sudden there was a fire in the oven! We were trying to remember what works to put a fire out...baking soda? water? or should we leave it since it is contained in the oven? She was preheating it but some of the previous night's dinner had spilled which is what we think was the cause. We didn't really freak out but then the upper rack caught on fire also and we didn't know if it could explode or what. So I told Britt to ask 911 what to do and I took the kiddos outside (which they loved!) They said they would send someone but shortly after all that the oven began cooling down and the fire was out. Britt cancelled the fire truck but as I have learned in the past, they always still come! Britt answered the door and said "Hey, I cancelled you (jokingly!)" They asked a couple questions and then were leaving and Britt said "Since you are here can the kids take a picture with you?" They agreed and gave the kids badge stickers and let them stand on the truck! You gotta love Firemen!

Then later that evening my poor sis was on her way to my parents and was pulled over for speeding (poor Livi was just potty trained and she HAD to go pee pee!) so she got a ticket! So she had her fix of firemen & police for the day but.....the day was not over.

She went to Mom and Dad's for dinner and guess what? Mom was frying tortillas for tacos (a not so healthy recipe that Mom has made for years! What a treat!) and she had a paper bag and paper towels next the the cooktop (which she has done for years.....) and........GREASE FIRE! Not again! Luckily they put it out pretty quickly. My Sister's poor heart had to many ups and downs that day! And yet...the story is not over.

Soooooo shortly after that my Dad was grating the cheese (and he is a strong man) and he very forcefully grated his thumb!!! Ouch! Okay so we have all done this right? Not right ...this was bad. Mom and Britt said blood was shooting everywhere! So Mom took him to the emergency room where they fixed him up. The put a sheet down on the floor and when they went to clean the wound it bled ALL over! Sooo sick!!! Who knew a thumb could bleed that much.

Anyway, just thought you would get a kick out of this crazy day in my family!

Update in Bullets

Well, sorry for my lack of blogging lately. Life again has picked up speed and I have been doing quite a bit.

*I was busy planning and putting together our Mother/Daughter/Sister/Friend ice cream social at church. It is over now so that frees up some time for me which is good cause I have plenty to do! The social went really well. I posted a couple pics.

*My real estate life has picked up and I have a new listing in Lake Pointe. That is good news. It is keeping me busy with open houses and flyer making and such.

*My kiddos are growing and changing every day and Mollie is talking sooo much! They keep me on my toes. Mollie started tumbling with her cousin Olivia so that is super cute and fun. Jones starts soccer this coming week and is on a team with all of his friends- Haley, Logan, Aden, & Ava so that is going to be so much fun to watch. Mom bought him the cutest black and white Adidas track suit at Costco and the awesome part is they match his soccer cleats I bought him for $4 on clearance at Fred Meyer last year! He is going to look like such a little stud!

*As many of you know I am looking for a part-time job and am working on filling out two applications currently. I am just praying that I can find the perfect job that works for our family and provides the income we need.

*I watched my friend Anggi's 4 kiddos yesterday and it was so busy but so great! My sis and her kids came over too! We had a fun time making candy, having a pizza party, going to the park, and watching a movie! And today I was able to go to the park with Stephanie, Tami, and all the kids. It was so nice to be outside in the sunshine and let the kids play and at the same time spend some (sorry it was interrupted by me chasing Mollie girls) with my friends!

So in general....I am a busy busy girl but super happy and loving the sunshine and feeling like life after camping, sickness, and mental overload is finally returning to normal and hopeful!

Mollie's Short Blended Bangs

Over the weekend Mollie decided to cut her bangs! I didn't imagine I would be facing this at 2-years-old. Jones had out the kiddie scissors working on a project and was told repeatedly to put them away but.....he's five and didn't do what he was told so little miss Mollie took it upon herself to do a project of her own... her hair! I posted two pics. One shows the shortness of the ones she cut and the other is a pic of it blended in (and no...the spot where there is no hair is just because her hair is spread out, not a result of the cut.)

Warning: These were children's scissors. Mollie did not even close the scissors on her hair, I caught her as she held them up to her head, it just sliced it like a razor. Those suckers are sharp!

Part-time.

Okay so this worked really really well for me last time I needed a job. I am currently looking for a part-time job like 10-20 hours a week. Could be a morning or afternoon but mostly evenings and Saturdays. Let me know if you know of one.

*I would love to work at a coffee shop or maybe retail or office work? Any really, just need some extra cash.

*I have lots of work experience as I have been working since I was 14.

*I have great customer service and office skills.

* I am a full-time Momma so I need a job that I can leave at work and not think about it all day & night !

*I am also a real estate agent and could use business there too so if you are in the market to buy or sell or know someone who is, send them my way!

Help me! Thanks friends! Let me know if you know of anything!

Love,
Erin :)

What a job!

So Brittany and I decided to get creative on a whim this evening. First of all it has been a really nice day. We have really worked as a team caring for our children (4 between the two of us.) Things worked so smoothly. And then we put the kids to bed and started working. My project is sanding, conditioning, and staining my new table I purchased at a garage sale. By the way, my old one is for sale if anyone is interested! Hint. Hint. I want the top to be very dark so it is going to take TONS of coats I think. I am trying to do it the right way, the patient way. It is so hard to do things that way. A few years ago I stained an end table of mine and instead of wiping of the stain I just smoothed it on and sort of made my own wood grain out of it. Sounds totally tacky but I actually like it. That would definitely not work with this project though! Britt is stripping the frame of these beautiful stained glass windows she has and then she is staining it dark. I will post pics when we are finished but right now I will show the before and the progress...




My sissi. :)


Before: I do NOT like this color or wood grain!

Where it's at right now. I have to wait 8 whole hours to add another coat! Aah!

Oh yeah, we got a new car!

I forgot to mention that we have a new car! Kind of a big detail to miss! This is our third Volkswagen Jetta (C'mon what else would we get?) It is a brand new 2008 and it is silver. We have never had a new car so it feels really neat! THe kids love it and Joey is letting it be my car I think. WooHoo! It is a base model so it's not all decked out but it has everything we need including awesome gas mileage (1/2 the reason why we got it!) There is one catch....we didn't buy it...we are leasing it. I am not a fan of leasing and don't feel that it is usually the most responsible decision but in our case and with Joey being an employee it ended up being our most economical choice for us. It is such a contradiction though! It's funny! Poor people (well financially anyway) in a brand new car! Crazy but true! Check it out!

Hard Habit To Start.

Who knew I would have such a hard time blogging? My goodness, I thought this would be so easy for me as I constantly have thoughts in my head and I enjoy getting it down in writing. I think time sometimes passes too quickly and we are on to the next thought or venture. So, what's been up with me lately...hmmmm.....well I went on our annual camping trip to Beverly Beach. It is usually so fun. We stay in yurts and have campfires with friends and I was soooo excited because it was our first year bringing our kiddos. Well, I became really really sick and pretty much felt like I missed it all and poor Joey had to work extra hard to make up for my slack. But overall, the kids still had a good first experience and LOVED being with their friends everyday and I had one good day in there that made up for all the sickness. I was literally sick from head to toe, well my toes were okay, maybe head to knee?

One night Joey, the kids and I played "catch" with glow sticks. That was my best moment of the trip. It was pitch black and all we could see were the glow necklaces we were wearing and the glow sticks we were throwing. We were all cracking up! I am thankful to have that moment for the memory books. I also did enjoy some good talks with friends around the campfire so it wasn't totally a bust. I just wish I could have been out and more involved. God gave me strength and we packed up on the last day and headed home. We unloaded everything into the house and then...........

......it all fell apart! Joey and I were both throwing up and we could not do much of anything. I was more sick that night then I can ever remember in my whole life. It was amazing the timing, every 20 minutes from 8pm-8am, literally, almost on the dot, I was up puking and other stuff and unlike other sicknesses I have had, there was no relief in between. What in the world? It was horrible. I am sorry. I should have spared the details (really I am, if you only knew...) but the whole reason I am even taking the time to blog is it was a huge part of my life for the last two weeks. In the days following I became a little better each day but I couldn't eat, and still had icky stuff, and needed to sleep. My mom came over and stayed the day with the kids and I which was sooooooo helpful. The next day we were on our own and did okay but the mentally I got sick as well. You know when you physically can't do anything and feel awful then your mind starts to be upset too? But gradually things got better with each day and today I have strength and I can eat (not normally of course because ALMOST EVERYTHING totally grosses me out!) I can care for my kids and start to do stuff around the house. It feels great. It really makes you appreciate being well and really brings me to a new level of prayer for those who deal with chronic illnesses.

Well, that has been my life since my last blog. Now I am in a much better place and just trying to figure out my life and figure out where my "no's" need to go (referring to my old blog- "He Amazes Me".) I had a great talk with an old friend last night and a long one with my sis the day before and I can't tell you how good it feels to share each other's load and burdens. Friends are so important. And it is so good to talk with people who know you and carry a Godly perspective that always points you to Him.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I met little Aiden Lewis Hosszu! What a pleasure! He is such a sweet little man. I was able to meet him in the hospital! Someday I will just have to tell him that I did meet him in the hospital, the catch is it was more than a week after he was born! That will be a funny story! Poor Caleb (Aiden's older brother) broke his little arm pretty bad which is what brought me to the hospital. It was a pleasure to see them both and their parents unfortunately crummy circumstance! Thank you Ang for watching my kiddos! They love your house!

Well that is pretty much me lately. I have been a really deep thinker lately and wrestling with so many thoughts and decisions so I may have some deep thoughts posts coming...