I'm Thinking....

....about doing an update! Just thinking though.

Mya's (Mom's) Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Look at that sweet, innocent face! Isn't she darling? This kid has been keeping me on my toes since she could crawl. Neither of my older girls really got into things or made messes. I never baby-proofed my house until she came along. Today was no different.

Notice the new bangs? She decided to sleep with a sucker last night and when she woke up this morning it was stuck in her hair. Rather than asking me to help her she hurriedly cut it out. Luckily she has a hair-cut appointment tomorrow morning. Abby can work miracles.

That was just the beginning. I have been spring cleaning, and today I decided to clean Mya's room. I decided to take a few before pictures just for fun. Also to document all of the naughty things she has been up to the last little while! Keep in mind she "cleaned" her room less than 12 hours before these were taken:Notice there isn't a sheet on the bed. That's because she decided to cut holes in it. It's in the garbage.

Half eaten peeps. Nice.

This is where she decided to glue her art work to the wall.

This is the door of her armoire. There were also very nice drawings on the wall, her bed, the closet door, her toybox and the window sill. Remember, she's 5. WAAAY too old for all of this crap!

And now for the after shots:

Much better! I think I'll sleep well tonight and I may even let Mya live. All of the drawings came off, the glue didn't remove the paint, and I got rid of TONS of toys. Now, on to the next room.

P.S. Her room looks so cluttered, even clean. Any suggestions? It's a small room and I'm sure it would help if I toned down the 400 colors I have going on in there, but I'm not going to (cause everything matches!). I hate pushing all of the furniture up against the wall, but maybe I need to. I could make the bed into a day-bed and put it lengthwise against one wall. What do you think?

P.P.S. I know that nothing in here is terribly feminine. It has to be that way. Mya is a "girl-tom" (Someone once told her she was a tom-boy and she can never remember it right. She tells everyone she's a girl-tom) and hates anything pink or frilly.

Recipe

I found a yummy and healthy recipe that we tried tonight and I wanted to share it. I have been training for my first 5K and they tell me that running is easier if you have a healthy diet. I'm all about making my running easier (cause if it gets any harder I'll probably quit!), so I've been trying to cook healthier. This was so easy and my family seemed to like it.

Chili

1 onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained --- (I used ground turkey)
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed
1 can tomato sauce
1 can diced tomatoes
1 bunch swiss chard, carefully washed and torn --- (I used kale)
salt, pepper, chili powder and cumin to taste

Over medium high heat, start cooking the veggies in the order you see here. Add the swiss chard last to maintain the green-ness.

Garnish with low-fat cheese and diced avocado.

HAPPY EASTER!!

We had a great Easter weekend! Here are some pictures of the highlights.....

Three of my favorite things........

You can tell by their squinting that it was a beautiful spring day! Don't they look beautiful? I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures before we left for church.

Also, this holiday weekend, Jade got glasses! Doesn't she look cute in them? I think they make her look even more like her daddy!

The Easter Bunny found our house, and was very good to us. The kids were on a full-fledged sugar high by 8:00 am!!

These next pictures are from Saturday. Traditionally, on Easter Eve, we go to Grandma and Grandpa B.'s house and have a "lunch hunt" (we hide each part of their lunch around the house) and a picnic and then an Easter egg hunt outside. Darcy always goes way overboard planning and the kids have so much fun!

All of the "B" cousins.

I think she looks like she could belong to me. I might steal her.

She may not fit in as well, but I'd take her too.

Please take a moment to appreciate this picture. Noelle had to jump to get this egg out of the tree. Her feet aren't even touching the ground! Amazing, right? I'm available for hire.

Hmm....some of these "kids" look to big to hunt for Easter eggs.

These next pictures are from Mya's preschool Easter Egg Hunt. It was a tad windy as you can see. Luckily they finished before the rain started.

We hope your holiday weekend was as wonderful as ours! Only one more day till school starts again!!

Mya's Special Day

Mya goes to Miss Ginger's Small Wonders Preschool (and loves it). They have set aside a day to honor each child and tell them how special they are. Today was Mya's day!

We have been looking forward to this for a long time! Unfortunately, we haven't been preparing for quite as long. I know, I'm a slacker. Preschool starts at 11:45, and at 11:50 this morning we walked out the door, finally finished with her poster. Luckily, Miss Ginger lives just across the street!

She had a great day at school! She got to look inside the secret box and pick a toy (an army set with a tank, a helicopter and a hummer, in case you wondered what she picked), show off her poster full of pictures and information about herself, and share a treat (Transformer fruit snacks) with all of her classmates. In her honor, we had hot dogs and fruit salad for dinner. It doesn't get any better than that!

I thought today would be a good day to spotlight Mya on our blog. She will be so excited to see this! Sorry there are two posts. Apparently there is a limit to how many pictures you can put on one post, so keep going on to the next one.

WE LOVE YOU MYA!!

Mya and her poster this morning. She picked her outfit and her hair-do. I love that kid!!

In front of the door at school.

Miss Marci, Mya and Miss Ginger. She LOVES these guys!

We love Grandma Bette!

And Grandma House!

Mya and mommy. Could we be related?

Hollywood!

Dreaming!

Riding her Dora bike.

With cousins at Disneyland.

Chief Mya.

This picture was taken at midnight. I put her in her bed and this is her on the floor.

Mya loves Izzy!

Taking a cat nap on the chair. They are both totally zonked!

Teaching great-grandpa Barraclough the ways of the Jedi.

Mya's Special Day Continued

Teaching Chandler to ride.

This is the definition of addiction. No time for dressing or cleaning! I have to save Batman!

Reading to Chandler. "And it came to pass..."

Teaching Darth Vader a lesson.

With Daddy at LegoLand.

First dip in the ocean.

Easter picnic.

Putting herself in Noelle's shoes.

Look at that baby face!

Driving lessons at LegoLand. She's apparently very concerned about the driver behind her. Not so much about the one in front of her. This is why we never let her drive.

Sassy!

Soooo tired!

Her first bike. Within a few weeks she parked it directly behind my car in my blind spot and I backed right over it. We had to re-live that moment again today.

She seems so girly! Very deceiving!

Minnie Mouse!