The Magic Words

Thank you is probably one of the most honored and frequently used term that is at the top of the list of "magic" words. We teach our children to say "please!" and then reply with "thank you" from the time they start toddling and reaching for food and goodies.

Slowly, along the way, we as adults tend to forget to use these magic words ourselves. As much as we try to instill it into our children's lives, we tend to leave it out of our own. Think about it, how many times do you really say thank you in your daily life. Do you tell the grocery store clerk thank you after she hands you your receipt, or do you simply take it and continue on your way. Do you ever thank your waiter/waitress at the end of your meal (besides with a tip)? Of course you give the obligatory thank you as your meal is served, but do you go out of your way to tell him or her a true thank you?

I think the more thank you's we hand out, the more smiles we would see in people. Maybe the person that you said the magic words to will pass that on to their next personal encounter.

The ultimate thank you, would be to your spouse or parents. These are truely the magic words when they hear how appreciated they are for raising you or cleaning the kitchen and making sure everyone is fed. Have you talked to your mother and flat out said..."thank you mom". She would probably have a tear peek out and a warm grin forming on her face. Motherhood is often the most taken for granted job there is, and a kind thank you is enough to warm even the most frazzled heart.


Tell your spouse thank you, they put up with you every day. None of us are perfect and we can bother our spouse in so many little ways,that the magic word can make all of those bothersome nit pics magically dissapear. No need to buy flowers or a card, say it from your heart and mean it. I bet you you'll get the most wonderful bear hug!

Take a few seconds of your time today. Tell a random person that you come in contact thank you for their help, for doing their job, or even your spouse. Share a smile, we could all smile a little more!

The "Terrible Twos"

Who made up this phrase?

My 16 month old son did not transition into this phase, but hit a brick wall and the tantrums began. He's currently a novice flopper, but as he gets more practice, I'm sure he'll reach champion levels.

Sixteen months....wow, I wish I had a little more time to be with my sweet little precious boy who always had a smile on his face(even when I told him "No!". Now I say "NO!" and his little face srunches up, and his bottom lip comes out and from somewhere in his cute little belly, a really good cry is about to unleash. In order for him to get maximum effectiveness from this upcoming cry, he must first flop to the ground as if he needs to wiggle and force it out of him. And by the time it makes it out to for all of the world to hear... he's on full blast temper tantrum. It's actually quite comical to watch, if that isn't too mean to say!

We have learned to look the other way during these times. We know after reading several official looking websites, that it's best to ignore and not feed the fire. This is "just a phase" as he is growing in independence and looking to control his own world. (hmm, sounds like a teenager I know

Speaking of teenagers, Kendall waited until she was at least 18 months old before unleashing her temper tantrum powers upon the world. She could throw some class act fits in public. One day in Germany, she decided something wasn't right, and went for a fit in her stroller.....she balked, she screamed, she cried, she yelled. Passerbys thought my stroller was some sort of torture device. Germans do not like public disturbances like this, they are a more reserved and quiet society.

So two children, both hit the "terrible twos" before they every reached two...so why give it this name? I think it's to fool parents. They'll believe that their precious little toddlers are going to be sweet and smiley until they reach two, and then they'll deal with the fits. I would have cried if someone told me I only had 16 months of precious child before he wanted his freedom!!

:sigh: I look forward to the day when he smiles at me again with no hint of a fit in his immediate future because I didn't hold him the way he wanted. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy Lola's smile....until...dum dum dum....15 months?

Why do we love Disney World?

As we come to the end of our year of fun with our premium passes to Disney World, we look back at the fantastic times we have had there with the kids.

We have spent time at the parks with my brother and his wife, my whole pregnancy with Lola, a special 12th birthday with Kendall, and even had JC's first hair cut at the Magic Kingdom. So many memories, I just don't have the time to list them all.

We love going to Disney so much that we would go every weekend we could. It's a magical place, where people are genuinely happy to be at. Kids, adults and teens from all over the world visit Disney and it's great to share in their adventures. We always meet the most interesting people. It's a place where people are at their best. We should all strive to have Disney days in our own lives. People look out for others, lend a helping hand, and exchange pleasant conversations. We love getting away from the every day humdrum of life, and get over to Orlando to people watch and enjoy the attractions. Young and old, there are more than enough smiles to fill us up with joy, hoping it will last us until the next time we go. I love it, because it's a place where it's ok to act silly and be a kid again. I can jump up and down as we head for the roller coaster...I can pretend to be scared at the Haunted Mansion, I can smile as I see my favorite characters sign autographs for curious children.

We look forward to bringing JC and Lola back as they grow older. JC is starting to take in the wonder of it all, discovering his own magic more and more as we go. This last time he discovered the Monorail, the steam train and the Ferry. As we all know, he's obsessed with cars and other modes of transportation.

Our year of magic is coming to an end and it makes us sad, but we know that we'll be back again soon. It's too important to us to stay away for too long.

For all of you, we invite you to come join us. We love sharing the magic we have found!

A Poem by Kendall

Crimson Blood forms with air
Cresening its mark within our hair
Gallows brings blood
But death brings tears
And falling skies
Bring us fear

The wind never dies
And the rain never stops
The earth keeps spinning
And the gallows don't stop

Maybe the gallows don't cause pain
But think of me in the falling rain

Tic Tac Stack

Talk about strange happenings....I bought a pack of tic tacs from BJ's the other day, and I was driving down the road, stopped at a red light and opened up the package...grabbed a pack, and woah...what's the chances of that happening?

Pretty cool, thought I'd pass it along :)

Race to the Mall!

In an effort to include girls in the ever popular car scene which has been male dominated hobby for so long....Polly Pockets has created a toy that is supposed to attract the young girls into the wonderful world of cars....and sadly street racing.

The toy is a saturated hot purple with glittery cars to match. While I appreciate the toy world coming to it's senses about the female representation in the car world, why did they have to chose a name like "Race to the Mall".

They're giving girls a car toy, yet taking away anything positive about it by still sending our girls to the mall. Isn't that where all little girls want to be? NO! And then...RACING? Aren't there enough articles about street racing and kids dying from it or being hospitalized without making a toy that could possibly promote it? Oh no! There's a sale at Limited Too! Let's ....Race to the Mall!!!! Polly Pocket does it! Not to mention that Barbie has been driving a pink Corvette for years...at least she has some taste in cars!

Ok, so what alternative could we give out little girls. Little Tykes makes a really cool toy with an engine that you pull apart and put back together, and even has a modifiable car. Who do you think they show playing with it? Little boys. Maybe if they made it in HOT PINK, girls would play with it?

Show a girl some respect.

Left turn only....

Ever sit at a traffic light, and as you wait patiently for your light to turn green, your mind wanders off to the cars across from you waiting to turn left? I'm always curious if I'll ever see two turn signals blinking at the same time (for more than 2 blinks) I watch as the row of cars come close to all blinking at the same time, and then progress into a wave of lights from first to last.

Well, one day I was sitting at the traffic light...and out of the corner of my eye, were two Mercedes turning left that had synchronized left turn signals!! A sight I thought I'd never see in my life time. I know I know, I'm a little goofy for this, but you know you have a quirk that is something similar.

I'm always on the hunt for the synchronized left turn signal...maybe I'll get another chance to see it again :)

More adventures with Bloo....

We were on our way to Disney MGM.....


He loved the coffee


and the donuts



We found out he LOVES the Tower of Terror


He hitched a ride on my shoulder waiting in line for the Doodlebops


which rocked in concert

Field Trip!

I took the kids out to the mall today.

We walked around a bit, and found the little tykes playground. There were two play cars there that immediately spiked JC's attention. He started pointing and saying "cars! cars!"

So I let him out and he made a bee line for the cars. While there, he befriended a 2 year old boy who was about the same height as him. They proceeded into a game of chase which JC LOVES. JC was running and giggling and having a blast! Once that little boy left, there was another group that came in to play that were a little older than him, but he kept up just fine. He watched the older kids climb over the things and laughed at everything they did.

All the while he would come back to me on the bench and check in with me (just to make sure I wasn't bored with Lola) After an hour of this...I packed him back up in the stroller and we went for diaper changes at the family lounge, then over to Chick fil A for chicken nugget lunch.

All of the other moms that were at the playground had somehow ended up in line to feed their own kids. We all chatted for a little bit, and then off to feed the kiddos.

It was very much a successful outing, JC passed out on the way home, and as I unbuckled him from the car seat , he never woke up. He layed his little head on my shoulder as I carried him upstairs. He curled up with his blankie and is snoozing peacefully.

I think we'll have to do this again :)

My lunch with Bloo.

First, he macked on my 1/4lbr w/ cheese!!!


Look...ALL GONE!


Then.....my coke...


:sigh: full belly and napping with lola....


he got a lil nutty....


and then i got.....a LAP(TOP) DANCE!!!

What's in a name?

Someone once asked me: "Did you pick the names out for specific reasons?"

So I thought I'd explain my children's names

Kendall Melissa
I went on a river rafting trip down the Green River in Utah where one of our guides was named Kyndel. I loved the name, and it was quite different. When it came time to name my daughter, I thought of her, and how strong she was, and it was something I wanted in my daughter. Her father and I went through a few versions of this name, and finally came up with Kendall and it just happened to be the name of the town me and her father grew up in.

Melissa is a simpler story.....it's from the Allman Brothers song..."Sweet Melissa". Her dad and I were big fans of the Allman Brothers and have seen them in concert a few times. Just good memories.

JC
Kerry and I named him John, after the two grand fathers...yes...both of our fathers are named John. It also honors my German heritage and is a strong name for a boy. Hard to make fun of a normal name like John

Corbin followed my father's initials of JCH. We also liked the flow of the name...John Corbin. We figured he could use it as a stage name if he became famous :) We had originally had his name as Corbin John, but changed it right before we told everyone the name. We call him JC now, just to not confuse him with the grandparents.

Lola Pink
We decided to give a girlie name to our littlest baby. Little did we know how much of an impact this name would have on people. When people hear her name, they often start singing a song. I've heard people sing...."Whatever Lola wants......Lola gets" from the Damn Yankees. Or, "Her name was Lola, she was a show girl." And then there's The Kinks...."lalalallal Lola" Her name brings a smile to others faces, and music to their mouths....I love it.

Her middle name of Pink, was something that Kerry and I both thought was completely precious for Lola. We love the reaction to the name, and have found that it fits our little girl perfectly.

We love our children, and are proud of their names. I'm sure every parent has some sort of story about how and why they named their child what they did. Ask them, I'm sure you'll find a good story!

Guess I spoke too soon..

Hmmm, well, I went to the bank today...and then drove through the Publix parking lot, just to check to see if my letter really did get some results....nope.

Not one cart....anywhere. Not one cart....in the corrals. Not one cart.....near a car.

: sigh :

So, I called to talk to the manager(the one who left a message apologizing up and down and saying they will be leaving some carts out) and he's not in, he won't be in until Thursday...and guess what, the manager I DID talk to....had NO IDEA what I was talking about!

uh huh, great communication there buddy.

So I guess the saga will continue on Thursday!

A New Kid in Town

My first nephew was born August 30, 2007. I never thought I'd feel so close to another person's baby, but over the years, my little brother and I have built up such a wonderful relationship. He and his wife are some of the best people I know. Holding their new son made me so proud. I can see the change in my brother, he's got the proud pappa look now!

I wish them all the best, and that Austin is a good boy for them. xoxoxoxo