365 - Day 199

This week may be tough to keep up with as it's Quarter End, but I will try!

1.  My girl received a Good Citizen Award at school and gets to have a pizza lunch with the Principal tomorrow.  She is ecstatic!  So proud of her!

2.  I was able to purchase the tickets for Belle's upcoming dance recital that I wanted.  It's always SO stressful, and I got in without issue this time!  Phew! Big relief!

3.  United States of Tara.

365 - Day 198

1.  Great day with my 3 favorite peeps.

2.  Great workout.  Feeling good and starting to notice changes.

3.  Strawberries for dessert.  Love that berries are starting to look in season!

365 - Day 197

1.  Taking my second Yoga class.  I really enjoyed it.

2.   I've been trying out a gym the last few days, and the kids and hubby joined me after my Yoga class.  There was a big event put on for the kids in honor of Spring.  The kids LOVED the magic show, crafts, bouncy house, and Easter Bunny.  It was a great event to attend on a rainy day where we would otherwise be stuck inside going stir crazy.  Elias was hysterical for almost the whole 45 minute long magic show.  Absolutely loved it!

3.  Fro-yo from Costco!  Yummy!

365 - Day 196

1.  I actually worked out for a whole week, given how my asthma has been acting up lately, that's a HUGE accomplishment for me. Yay me!

2.  Elias is starting to really enjoy reading books.  He use to want to just fly through them, but he's really sitting still and paying attention to the story now.  Love watching him grow!  I hope he has the same love of reading as his Daddy, Mommy, and Sissy.

3.  Rewarding myself with my absolute favorite guilty pleasure, chili cheese nachos!  They were DELICIOUS!

365 - Day 195

1.  Being able to try something new today with a friend. 

2.  Being sore and knowing it's a good thing!

3.  Peppermint hot chocolate on a blustery night.

365 - Day 194

1. Today my to-do list was outrageously long.  I'm proud to say, I accomplished everything I wanted to!

2. I got a workout in today and felt really good about it.

3.  Knowing I can make my baby girl feel better when she's feeling really blue.

365 - Day 193

1.  Day 3, sore but motivated!

2.  Hearing some good news from a friend.

3.  Realizing we're raising decent little human beings that have good hearts and consciences.

365 - Day 189-192

Between Internet issues at work and home and tons on our plate, I'm playing catch up!

Day 189
1.  Breakfast for dinner, yum!

2.  Isabelle had the day off of school and went with Elias to my parents house for the day.  She was beyond excited to see them and her cousins. 

3.  A batman raincoat  + my boy = adorableness.

Day 190
1.  My parents for attending Belle's dance competition and helping me wrangle the boy!

2.  The girls won a Platinum trophy for their high score as well as a 1st place in their division. 

3.  Snuggling up after an extremely long, tiring day and watching a movie with my hubby.

Day 191
1.  I accomplished working out for the first time in months without having an asthma attack.

2.  Playing at the "beach" in Isabelle's room with her and the boys.  Love how creative she is. Perfect family play time during a rainy day.

3.  Watching Elias play with another little boy his age at church.  I adore watching him interact and socialize.

Day 192
1.  Day 2 of working out consecutively.  Take that asthma!

2.  Checking many things off my to-do list.  A productive day is a good day.

3.  Having a husband that is supportive of me.

365 - Day 188

1.  We have a roof over our head, food to eat, water to drink, air to breathe, and know where our loved ones are.  Watching the tragedy unfold in Japan I am reminded of just how blessed we are.

2.  My heritage.  I'm proud of my muttness!

3.  A hubby that busts his hump to provide for us. 

365 - Day 187

1.  FINALLY resolving phone issues after several hours spent both yesterday and today.

2.  Being able to help a friend.

3.  Being attacked by my boy with kisses, and having him laugh hysterically. 

365 - Day 186

1.  Reading a good book and sharing a bowl of popcorn with my girl.

2.  News of a beautiful baby girl's birth.  She's gorgeous!  Welcome to the world Jacqueline!

3.  Falling asleep to the rain.

365 - Day 185

1.  My boy is back to his crazy, fun, loving self.

2.  A new baby is coming into the world today. I can't wait to hear the good news that she's arrived!

3.  Having a sweet mother-in-law that will sew on patches to Belle's jeans for me.

365 - Day 184

1.  Leftovers.  Delish!

2. Reading with my best girl. 

3. Big Love.

365 - Day 183

1.  Hubby is a fabulous Daddy.  Took the girl out for a few errands today, and spoiled her rotten.  They had a fabulous time together.

2. Enchiladas for dinner and oreo pudding pie for dessert.

3.  Saturday afternoon nap.  An extremely short one, but a nap nonetheless!

365 - Day 182

1.  Thankful that family in Guam are okay, and family of my friends that live in Japan are okay.

2.  My girl got excellent grades on her report card!  So proud of her!

3.  Pizza night!

365 - Day 181

1.  Hubby was able to stay home with Elias today, and I was able to go to work. My boys had a nice day together.

2.  Officer Young.  Again, nicest policeman I've ever met!

3.  Belle was able to go back to dance class.  It was so sweet how excited everyone was to see her.  Love that my girl is loved!

365 - Day 180

1.  Elias' fever isn't too high and he's eating.

2.  Even with a fever, E is bouncing off the walls!

3.  Knowing that hugs and cuddles from Mommy makes my sicky boy feel better.

Elias' Guide To Fun

When Mommy and Daddy were busy taking care of and worrying about Sissy, I was able to get away with more than I usually do!  If you find yourself as lucky as I was, here's a list of things that are fun to do!

1. Empty your dresser.  Dump your toys all over your room.  It's a blast!

















2.  Refuse to take naps.  Absolutely refuse.  It's a waste of time and you'll miss out on a lot of fun.  Beware though, when you're overtired and it's finally bedtime and you crash, you do weird things.  Like sleep with a stack of pull-ups and put on your Jordans.  And then your Mommy might call in your Daddy to look at you, and they'll take pictures and laugh at what a funny little munch you are.

3. Take off your pants!  They just slow you down, and it's easier to run to the potty without them.  Plus, you get to look at your chones when you don't have pants on!  I love changing my chones from "pider man" to "mickey".   

4.  Put stuff in your hair. I was born with rock star hair.  Hair like mine shouldn't be ignored.  I put stuff in it anytime I can.  This past week I gave myself a vanilla pudding mohawk.  It smelled and tasted delicious!  I also put Mommy's lotion in my hair, dumped a cup of water over my head, as well as a bunch of food.  I'm constantly exploring what will make my hair even more awesome than it already is.  Mommy's not too fond of this past time of mine.  After a few of my experiments, she caught me trying to get into her lotion again.  I gave her this face.  This face is my "I'm not up to nothin' Mommy" face.    You gotta work your cuteness when you get caught.  It makes my Mommy smile and melts her heart every time I give her this face.  She's like putty in my hands I tell you!

















5.  DVDS!  They are my absolute favorite!  I love changing them from player to player, although I know I'm not suppose to.  This is the #1 cause of me having to sit on the "Naughty Step."  I really don't mind sitting on the "Naughty Step" majority of the time.  I also love, love, love pressing the buttons on the tv, dvd player, and Wii.

6.  The face.  Practice your faces.  When I can tell Mommy and Daddy are really upset about me pushing buttons or playing with DVDs, I give them this face.  It's my "Me?  Huh?  I didn't do anything.  Me?  You sure you're talking to me?" face.  Play dumb with a little bit of cute.  It'll soften the punishment.

7.  Take pictures. I found my Mommy's camera and learned the art of the self portrait.  Please see the next 3 pictures.  There are 24 more but they are pretty much all the same.  If you'd like to see my superb photography skills, let me know and I'll give you pointers!  I'm totally self-taught, but I think I did pretty well.

8.   Call your Mommy by her name.  Or even better, by the name your cousins call her.  If you REALLY want to go for the big laughs, call her Grammy!

9.  Go to the park with your family.  The park has loads of fun things to do.  Like going down the slide on your tummy, riding an alligator, and a tractor. 

10. Put on your Sissy's twinkle toe shoes while your Sissy is putting on a concert with her guitar.  Refuse to acknowledge it's bedtime.

 To sum it up, just grit your teeth and have fun!  Fun can be had anywhere with anything.

***DISCLAIMER: Having too much fun and refusing to nap for a week and a half can cause you to totally crash in the car when your Daddy is driving you home.  Your Mommy and Sissy might then take advantage of the fact that you are completely 100% out of it and take pictures and video with you.



365 - Day 179

1.  I was able to get a lot done at work today.

2.  Unfortunately Elias came down with a fever this afternoon.  Thankful he was with his Grammy & Grandpa who took great care of him until I was able to pick him up.

3.  Omar and I are still feeling well.  Hoping it stays that way!

365 - Day 178

1.  Belle went back to school today.  Yay for feeling better and getting back to normalcy!  She cried a bit at the thought of going, but ended up having a great day.

2.  I don't ever think I've been so happy to go to work!  Again, it mean getting back to normal and that my girl was A-Okay.

3.  Not owing money on our taxes.  Hip-hip-hooray!