Sienna Singing

Today Sienna was down in the guest room singing and dancing away (like she always does) and I just happened to catch her and got a little on camera. She LOVES the song No One by Alicia Keys....she sings it ALL the time. (sorry it's sideways though)
Here is a little glimpse of life with Sienna. She makes us laugh.

Costco

Okay is it just me or do we spend a lot of money at Costco?
Today I went in there for a few things and come out 300.00 dollars later.
Are they really good deals? I mean I think I have gotten a lot better at getting things I know I will use all of. I hate it when I buy a mega pack of something and then end up throwing it away because it went bad, so I try to stick with paper products, trashbags, soaps...etc. etc.
They always seem to suck me in though. They always have cool stuff. It might be beach towels, or chairs, or it might be some cute work out shorts....pajamas for Sienna....books....movies....
cool bowls or glasses.....or just something they are sampling that we walk by and taste.
And why does it seem like such a good deal when it's at Costco when if I saw the same thing at the grocery store I would think it seemed expensive?
Am I the only one that does this? I really try to go only when I am out of toilet paper and paper towels. Hmmmmm I wonder if this is what Costco planned when they thought of the store. I guess they know what they are doing.

Easter

Easter was so early this year it was hard for me to get into it.....
I feel like I am still recovering from Christmas.
My boys LOVE to color Easter eggs...it always makes me laugh to watch how "pretty" they
try and make them. It's cute.

They think Easter is almost as exciting as Christmas.....
They come down stairs to find their baskets and then get to look for eggs which the Easter Bunny hid inside this year because it was a bit too chilly outside.
Sienna thought she has died and gone to heaven with all the candy...every egg she opened had candy....she couldn't believe her eyes.

Looking for Easter Eggs......

Isn't Sienna so pretty in her new dress up clothes.....
Then we made a big breakfast. I thought it might be a good idea to remember the real meaning of Easter so we all watched a movie about Jesus and his resurrection....it always makes me cry.
Then we went to church and I forgot to get pictures of them all dressed up of course.
We rushed down to Conwey's parents for dinner and had a great dinner. Rach and Jimmy came too.


Conwey's sister Jayne is here visiting with her kids too. It is always so fun to have them here. The kids all love to be together so much. All and all it was a nice Easter.

Good mom points....

So a few of my girlfriends talk about the good mom points they may have earned with their kids doing fun kid things or maybe something outside their comfort level...such as camping or something.

Well today I feel I earned my good mom points....at least I hope I did.

Today I decided it was going to be a fun boys day. So we loaded up the car and went first to the Batting Cages...

Then we went to the driving range to hit golf balls.....

Then we had a big basketball game with their cousins......

Then we headed over to Fuddruckers for some food.....

Now I am tired and I have been sitting here thinking about how nice it will be to have a girls day with Sienna when she is older....


You get the picture........

Happy Birthday Erin!

A few of us went to Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Erin's Birthday.....as always it was a lot of fun...what happens at Cheesecake stays at Cheesecake.........

Boys Weekend

So Conwey and the boys had a lot of bonding time this weekend.

They started off Friday night going to a Capitols Hockey Game, they had great seats and apparently a big fight broke out in front of them and the police had to come in and arrest the guy. They thought that was pretty cool.

The Harlem Globe Trotters.....



Then Saturday night we had purchased tickets for the Harlem Globe Trotters. We gave a ticket to Conwey's dad for his Birthday so it was a guys night out for them. They had a blast. I even think it would have been fun to go too, but after a beautifully warm day out, and after multiple baseball practices, a great class at the gym, a really good lunch at my new favorite place called Pei Wei where they had food my entire family loved (which is rare) their brown rice is sooooo good and I got a veggie and tofu dish that was delicious! (Don't knock it till you try it!)
Then trying to convince Conwey that we REALLY don't need the 4,000 dollar weight machine he was eyeing at the fitness store next door to the restaurant (hopefully I won the argument)
then 2 (yes 2) trips to the grocery store...and getting the Saturday Chores done which I am happy to say we have finished up our first week and the boys have done so good! I was happy to hand out their money they earned! Let's hope it continues!
Anyway after all that....I was tired and happy to have a quiet house with just Sienna for the night. We watched a movie (well I watched and she quietly played with her dolls) then she wanted to paint her fingernails and toenails.....how long have I been waiting for this???
It was a nice ending to my day.

I also want to say Congratulations to our great friends Amy and Carter Brown on the birth of their new baby boy yesterday that they named Landon. We are so happy he is here safe and wish we could hold and cuddle him. Why do you guys have to live so far away?

LOST

So I just finished watching Lost. We went to go to Conweys little sister Merry's play she was putting on tonight (which was very entertaining... Merry is always the star of the show. She has down syndrome and is a awesome little actress!) So I tivod it, but did anyone else get a bit teary at the end of Lost tonight? So Jin didn't make it. Anyone have any thoughts on what might have happened?

Okay how shocked were you that Michael was on the boat! Is he Ben's spy? And the owner of the boat that is Penny's dad right? What was with the girl jumping overboard? And her book upside down?

I always hate it when it ends....next week looks really good.

Elmo and update on Chores....

Okay I walked in the office tonight and Hunter had Sienna in this red tin basket and they were watching Elmo together on the computer. I thought it was funny...





Also we had a Family Home Evening tonight on Chores....we made a big chart and wrote a month calendar with all the chores....we have different color stickers for the different jobs. Then if they do all the normal chores and start on the extra's then they will get money at the end of the week.....so they were very excited tonight about it and all three got a sticker.
We will see how long it lasts. I am hoping they will stick with it long enough to get a little money and see how it feels. Then maybe they will continue. Let's hope.
So thanks for all the suggestions.....

Am I really this old? (And don't even ask...)

Okay so it was my birthday this week. I have to admit besides the very special treatment I get, I do not look forward to birthdays like I use to. I am getting old. It's kind of freaking me out.
My nephew called to wish me a Happy Birthday and he said "Happy 24th Birthday Aunt Jessie..." I told Cooper he sure knew the way to a girls heart! Cooper said Mom your 26...not 24! He didn't even know what he said that made me smile.
Thanks everyone for all the nice birthday messages you left me!

So I do love all the special treatment that goes along with Birthday's though....
My day started with Conwey telling me not to get up...he got the kids up at 6:30, got them breakfast, made lunches and got them off to school. While it was so nice to not have to get up I couldn't go back to sleep. I lay there thinking about the note I needed to write Cooper's teacher about him going home with a friend that day, and the field trip permission slips I needed to stick in their back packs...it was a sweet thought though. (Oh he also made me some steel cut oatmeal for breakfast.....)
Then I went to my class at the gym and after Kory took Sienna home with her and let me have the afternoon to myself. What a nice treat! A favor I will definitely repay...
then my sister called and said I am 15 minutes from your house...surprise! She walked in with a Cold Diet Coke and a present that I have been wanting forever....a Polar heart monitor watch (and it tells you how many calories you are burning too) So so sweet of her.
So we went and did a little shopping, which how nice was it to go without Sienna..(sooooo nice.)
I of course found all kinds of cute things for Sienna though....girls they are just so fun to shop for! (I did pick up a few T-shirts for the boys too though...don't worry they aren't neglected.)

So then Conwey came home with Cheesecake Factory for dinner (Hunter had basketball which put a nitch in our plans to go out) a ice creme cake and some presents from a store called South Moon Under. If you haven't heard of this store it is so so cute but so so expensive. I try not to go in there because then I just want everything. So this is one of the shirts he bought for me, but unfortunately I just can't keep a shirt that costs that much. It would just make me feel so guilty. It's sure cute though isn't it! He is very good at picking out cute clothes.

Then the next night some of my girlfriends took me out to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants Sweet Water Tavern...it was a lot of fun and always nice to be out with the girls......Thanks so much guys! They all gave me very cute and thoughtful gifts too...


So it was a fun birthday if I don't think about the whole age thing.......I seriously still feel 16. It's weird.

Kids and Chores.....

Okay how do you guys feel about the kids and chores thing. I need some pointers. 

I feel like with my kids it is like pulling teeth to get them to do theirs. 

They are good about making their beds and making sure their rooms are clean before they leave for school everyday, but when it comes time to clean bathrooms etc....it will take them hours to do a 20 minute job. (and me yelling at them)

So Sat. I told them all kindly what they needed to do and then reminded them and that was it. I decided to see what would happen if I only said it twice and didn't raise my voice.

Well needless to say they didn't do it...so yesterday after church I told them they couldn't eat dinner until all their stuff was done...it was like 2 hours of the back and forth.

I want to pull my hair out. I have taught each of them how to throughly clean the bathrooms and it's not like I am asking them to come clean mine. Just their own messes.....

I asked Cooper if he thought I asked too much of them..(clearly I don't but just wanted to see what he said) he of course said no...and then did tell Jackson he was only cleaning his own messes. The guilt trip worked I guess.....

Conwey doesn't believe in allowance...I do though and it makes it hard to figure out what to do.

I think that if they earn money for doing work they will learn a good work ethic. Conwey doesn't think they should get paid to do stuff they should be doing..they are part of a family kind of thing....and they get money when they need it....

I worry about this generation of kids....I feel they have so much and expect so much...all their friends have it blah... blah... blah....we also are so busy with all their activities they don't have the time like I did when I was a kid to really clean on Saturdays....

If anyone has any suggestions I would love to hear them!