Angel, Busy Daddy, Mean Mommy and Cute Dresses

First off, I should report that I am over my sadness about Lizette not getting into the school I wanted her in. I am a little embarrassed for overreacting the way I did, but I guess I had to vent somewhere. Why not open up to the world via my blog and Facebook? Anyway, next week I am calling another school in our neighborhood to find out about the possibility of her going there. Details to follow.

This week has been busy.

Our sweet friend Angel has been staying with us for the past week or so while her family is out of town. Angel is a joy to have around and the girls love her to pieces. Angel has been a little homesick and we have tried to stay very busy with outings, craft projects, and fun desserts every night. We've made bracelets, necklaces, hair bows, tissue paper pom-poms, painted wooden frames, velvet posters, and Easter bag/baskets. All cute. All fun. And all exhausting! Angel has craft endurance like no one I've ever seen!

Jeff is extremely busy at work. I worry about him. He sleeps for maybe five hours a night and works very long hours these days. I really don't know how he does it. I keep hoping that things will slow down for him and he can get back to a normal schedule again. I kind of have a feeling that's not going to happen for a while. He's got skills that his team needs. And since he is not one to ever do a job half way, he will continue to put everything he has into what he is doing. I know I'm a little biased, but I think they are lucky to have him on their team.

Today I had a very "Mean Mommy" moment. Lexi has been going through her Terrible Twos stage or something along those lines. Every day is filled with tantrums, screaming, fighting and saying "no" to just about everything I ask her to do or not to do. This morning I reached my limit of level headed, calm reasoning with her. I picked her up, put her in her room and told her to stay there until she could be nice. I have done this before, but usually for short periods of time. Today she stayed in there for a long time...maybe a half hour? Screaming the entire time. In the mean time, I realized that Lizette and friends had not picked up several messes in the playroom after I had specifically asked them to for the last two days in a row. So I proceeded to pick up all toys left out and told Lizette I was giving them away. She was shocked. She cried as she watched me pack them up and put them in boxes. It was hard for me to do because Lizette is overall a really good girl. She is only five after all. But in the interest of following through with a previous ultimatum, I had to pack up the toys. So bye-bye Smurfs, so long fake food used in tea parties, sionara baby clothes. They are all going to the Goodwill. The princess tents were taken down to be earned back for good behavior. No wonder she likes Jamie better than me. ;)

Lastly, we found the girls some cute Easter dresses at Costco. $15.49. Gotta love Costco! They both love them and had to try them on as soon as we got home. Hmmm....I think Mommy might need a new dress too.

This weekend is General Conference for our church and I am so looking forward to it. It's always inspiring, uplifting and full of words of wisdom. Hope you all enjoy your weekend!

The Kindergarten Lottery - Part 2

Do you remember THIS POST? I was so worried about Lizette's name not getting drawn in the lottery to get into the magnet school I wanted her to go to?

If you are my Facebook friend then maybe you have heard the news. SHE DIDN'T MAKE THE DRAW!

I am SO sad about this. I called Jeff as soon as I opened the letter and just bawled. I'm just heartbroken.

I know that in the whole scheme of things this is not a big deal. No matter where your child goes to school, the most important thing is that you are involved. I know that Lizette is a smart girl and she will be fine.

But I'm still just really, really, really sad about this.

There are other great things happening in my life right now, but I can't even feel that excited about those things, because I cannot stop thinking and worrying about this school thing.

I just want what's best for her and it's really hurting that the thing I think will be best for her in school next year, we cannot have.

Tears, tears, tears...

Blingidy Bling and Other Things

The last couple of weeks have been a little crazy. I officially kicked off my Paparazzi jewelry and accessory business by hosting an open house and having Thayne build me an awesome website. You can check it out at www.blingidybling.com. He did an amazing job. Thanks Thayne! If you ever have a need for a website you should definitely check him out at www.theantishrill.com. He is good at what he does.

So with my website up and business cards purchased, I was ready to go for my first open house. I had it on Friday and invited about 100 people. About 40 people came and it went great! The response to the products was excellent and I think everyone enjoyed the whole idea of being able to take home your purchase that night. As well as not having to listen to a sales presentation. They were able to come in, shop, have a few snacks, pay for their items and leave. I really like that whole concept and I think it will be a great way to sell these products.

This whole thing has been a little bit scary for me. For one, to put myself out there and actually try to sell something. Also, to invest money into something that may or may not be successful. It's all a little scary, but I have a good feeling that this will be fun and could turn into a nice little extra income. Plus, accessories are way fun to sell! Here is a picture that Jeff took to go on my website. Kind of funny. :)

One thing that I've been reminded of through this whole process is how supportive Jeff is. While I've been worried about not making my investment back or the business part not being successful, he has been worried about me feeling bad or being heart broken if it doesn't go well. Since he wasn't there the night of the open house, he texted Angel through the evening to find out how things were going. He was really rooting for me and when I heard that, it made me feel so good. I don't know how I did it, but I married a great man!

Lizette has been very excited about the jewelry business. She wants to be in charge of all of the little girl products and did stand by the little girls table for a while during the open house. The only problem was she would get upset when the customers weren't coming her way. :) Here she is just before the big event sporting one of the fun hair accessories. What a cutie!

Okay, onto other things...

The girls are doing well. Lexi is going through something of a stage right now. Very fussy and very clingy. Doesn't know what she wants much of the time. Don't know if it's a "Terrible Twos" thing or maybe her moellers are bothering her, but it's been a little rough. She is picking up more and more vocabulary all the time and it's cute to listen to her talk. Her latest thing is that if we ask her to do something like finish her dinner or pick up a mess, she'll say "No thanks!" We all laugh and of course this just eggs her on to do more of the same. She loves being funny and making people laugh so when she realizes something that works to do that, she will keep it up.

Lizette seems to be growing up entirely too fast! She all of a sudden wanted to get her ears pierced this weekend so we did and it was fun and traumatic all at the same time. The pain was a little more than what she expected and it was really hard to see her cry. But in the end she was glad she did it and I must say they are very cute.

Last week Lizette was on a face painting kick and we all became her clients. Then Lexi got ahold of the face paints when we weren't looking and got a little carried away. 

And lastly, how can I end this post without mentioning the iPad3?! Yes, we got one. I used Jeff's iPad2 during my open house as basically a cash register and credit card machine. It worked fantastic and I told him that I thought I wanted it. That was all the ammunition he needed. The next day, we went out and bought him the iPad3 and I will now be the proud owner of the iPad2. Yes, we are the gadget family in just about every way.  This is where we often splurge and I have to say that I am becoming a convert. These devices are nice! Not necessary, but nice.

Fighting!

It seems lately that the fighting between Lexi and Lizette has escalated. And this is saying something because since Lexi has been able to walk and talk, the two of them have had their share of squabbles. Mostly over toys, or who gets to sit on my lap, or who gets to go first.

It's getting worse every day!

I have no experience in this area because all of my siblings are 12+ years older than me. I was spoiled by my siblings. I never had to fight with them. So this sibling rivalry stuff is all new to me and I really don't know what to do about it.

I threaten to separate them and Lizette gets so upset. She cries and says that she'll miss Lexi. So I ask both of them if they can be nice and Lizette promises she will try to work things out. Lexi says "I pwomise Mommy!"

I've tried to have them work things out on their own which usually ends up with Lizette on the floor crying and usually with some sort of battle scar, and Lexi running off with whatever they have fought over.  I discipline Lexi, but then I feel like this is preventing them from learning to work things out. It's all so confusing.

I'm scared for the teenage years!

A Fun Week

Just wanted to post some cute pics of the girls I got this week. We started out the week enjoying a beautiful day at the park. Mid-week we had fun playing dress up. Yesterday, we barely squeaked in building a snowman before the snow melted. The girls had a fun week of playing! I did too.

  I love snapping pictures while they swing. They're almost always smiling!

 I think their choice of dress up clothes fit their personalities perfectly.

We actually built a respectable snowman. Small, yes. But still the likeness of a snowman. Notice the nice snowman accessories? A fun gift for Christmas from Paul and Cara. Lizette was so excited to be able to use it.