Clothes...ARG

Let me start this post by saying I love my mom dearly and am very thankful for her. We are blessed to have her in our the lives of our girls and for all of the help they give to us. Since the birth of Emma 5 years of ago we have often fought a battle with her. She dislikes my taste in clothes that I put the girls in, she believes that I dress them dorky and is afraid they will get made fun of. She has been one to make comments about how ugly their clothes are and such in front of the girls and we have talked with her and told her that it is ok if she doesn't like them but please don't say anything in front of the girls. For awhile things were better and she acknowledged that we had different tastes and that it was wrong to say negative things in front of the girls but recently it has started all over again. Mainly it is with Emma, she says that Emma has so much spunk and sass that she "needs" to have clothes to match that and since Emma is going into kindergarten it is important that she have the "right" clothes. My mom really doesn't want Emma to get made fun and believes that it is all about the clothes but that isn't what we want to instill in the girls. We want the girls to know that what is in the inside is what is more important. We don't want them to think that only designer or expensive things are what makes you popular or "better", it should be about personality and your character. We aren't against them having these things but it isn't a necessity and especially with a large family we wont be able to always get designer things. I believe we dress our kids very nicely, we get compliments all the time on how cute they are. Sometimes we buy their clothes second hand but most of the time I buy them on sale. There clothes are always clean, look new, free of stains, holes etc..., so it isn't like I am sending them out in a trash bag.

What gets me really frustrated is the comments mad too and in front of the kids. This past weekend my mom told Emma somethings that she isn't allowed to wear when school starts. One place I like to shop is Gymboree and sometimes the clothes I get have animals on them and my mom told Emma she isn't allowed to wear animals. Emma loved to wear clothes with animals on them, she loves animals and has told us she wants to be an animal doctor when she gets older. Most of the time she picks the clothes with the animal on it but now I am afraid she feels that she can't because Grandma told her no and that she will be made fun of. I know my mom has good intentions but I just don't think these comments should be made to Emma and she shouldn't go against what we have asked, which is not say negative things to the kids about how we dress them.

Also, I am all for allowing the kids to dress in ways that express thier personality. For example Emma likes to wear things with cherries on them and Madison likes to wear things with horses on them. As they get older we will make sure they are allowed to wear what they want as long as it is within our guidelines. We do also let them help pick out their clothes when we are at the store and day to day so it isn't like the girls get no say in what we are putting on them.

If you have made it this far thanks for letting me vent and get my frustrations out. I hope I remember how this makes me feel when my girls become moms so I don't do the same thing to them.

*The pictures above are of the girls in some of their favorite outfits! Of course Alyson's is one of mine but the others are the girls choice.

The Providence Times

Our wonderfully bright, beautiful, caring, sweet, intelligent, amazing daughter Emma was recently spotted in our neighborhoods newspaper! It was a picture of her preschool class during silly week! As a proud mom I felt the need to share with all of my reader! I have made an arrow as to where she is. She is such a cutie and she was extremely excited to be in a newspaper! My star!

Vent

I may get some gripes and whatnots from some people but I feel that I need to share my feelings regarding this whole Michael Jackson frenzy. First let me start of by saying I like his music. I wasn't a fan of all of it but there were several songs that I enjoyed and I will admit that before his death his CD called Number Ones was in the CD changer of my car. I do understand that it is sad that he passed away and I pray, just like I do with anyone who passes away, that he got to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior and that he is in heaven. What I don't get is this two week long obsession with his death and not reporting other events but what is going on in every minute of preparing for his memorial service to the actual service. There have been 12 soldiers that have died since the day Jackson died and not one of them have been mentioned on the major news networks. Seeing pictures of fans being so excited, jumping up and down with huge smiles on their faces because they got tickets and a bracelet to go to the Staples Center just blows my mind. Is that how you truly celebrate someone's death by smiling and squeeling because you got tickets? It just all seems strange to me and I don't get it. I understand having a memorial for him and he deserved that but this two weeks of non stop coverage has just been too much. I am sad for his family, especially his children but I think it might be time to move on and accept that he is gone and there are now other things out there that need everyone's attention, like missing children for example.

I know I may come off mean and cold by this post but it is just how I honestly feel and I think if you know me or get to know me you would know that I am the farthest from mean and cold. I just think we are missing out on things because we are stuck on this event and there is so much more out there. Please let me know what you think of the whole situation. I understand if you disagree and I would love to hear why.

Monorail Accident

Early this morning two monorails at Walt Disney World collided with each other. The driver of the train that crashed into the stationary one was killed. This is this first major accident and fatality in the 38 years history of the monorail at Walt Disney World. So far they aren't saying what happened but there is supposed to be a system that slows down the train and stops it when it is too close to another train. Luckily enough due to the time of night there was only about 8 people on board and no one was injured. This is hard for me to believe because I am huge Walt Disney World fan and have been there thousands of times and was there just two weeks ago, actually one of the monorail workers in the video is a lady who helped us with a wheelchair at the end of our day. As of now the monorail is not operating and there is no news on when it will start operating again. They used to allow visitors to ride up front with the driver, I think a total of 4 at a time, but I am guessing they will no longer allow this because if there would have been people with the driver they could have gotten hurt as well, this is just my opinion though. This is a sad story and my heart goes out to the castmembers family and for those who were there when the accident happened.

To read the story click HERE

Look What I did

Recently Glidden held a promotion for a free quart of paint so of course I took them up on their offer and decided on a color called honey beige. Friday night I was unable to sleep so I decided I would go ahead and use my free paint and I have to say I love how it turned out! I did a wall in our living room and entry way and I loved it so much that we will be buying more and doing the hallway and a wall in the kitchen! Here are some before and after pictures, let me know what you think. As always you can be honest!

Kitchen Bar Before

Kitchen bar After

Hallway Before

Hallway after

Entry way before

Entry way after

Living room before

Living room after

So what do you think? I do have to still do a second coat on everything and on the living room/stairway wall there is a part that needs painting but I couldn't reach so we have to figure something out.

Glidden is no longer giving free quarts due to popular demand but they are giving a $5 rebate. Click HERE for details

Happy 4th of July

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy 4th of July! I also want to thank all of those who have fought and who are fighting for our freedom! Thank you to my brother, Eric, who is currently serving in Iraq. What he has chosen to do is so amazing and I look up to him for his choice! Happy 4th of July and be safe!

Prayer

Yesterday while I was getting the girls ready for bed Madison felt really warm. When I took her temperature it was 101.2 so I gave her tylenol and off to bed the girls went. I put Madison and Kate to bed in the room and we prayed, sang, and I gave each one big hugs and lots of kisses. I then made my way to Emma's room to tuck her in and when I entered her room she was on the floor with her eyes closed and hands folded. She was quietly talking and I heard her asking God to make Madison feel better and to take away her fever. Emma did this without me asking her, she knew to ask God for help. This made my heart melt. Emma is such a caring little girl and truly wanted her sister to feel better so she asked God to help. I am so proud of Emma!