Todd's Company Picnic

Last week, was Todd's company picnic. It was at Universal Studios. It was a great LONG day!

My mom works there too. My mom and Eddie sporting the Employee appreciation shirt

On the Back Lot Tour with Trent

Todd and the kids on the Back Lot Tour

Our family... Yes, we are matching and YES, its on purpose, I'm kinda cooky like that.

Watching a special effects show. Trent didn't see any of it.

My phone died and I found an outlet and had a seat while we waited for our nachos, don't judge me because I'm resourceful.

My mom and Eddie are so cute, I just love when I see old people holding hands ;-)

I was tired, so I had to take a break with the kids in their stroller.

It was a long, tiring day full of lots of family and fun! I'm so thankful that my hubby works for a company that treats their employees so well and shows their appreciation with such fun outings.

Pretty Crafty!

For the past few months, I have been tapping into my crafty side. I was inspired at TMOM's one day when we shared our Pinterest crafts and I had one... Pretty sad. They did a demonstration of a door wreath and after, I went straight to Michael's and JoAnn's and bought everything I needed and this was my very 1st wreath. I have to say, I am VERY happy with how they turned out.

I made a wreath for my sister in law for Mother's Day

I helped with flower arrangements for Baby Kendall's first birthday.

I made a fruit pizza for a tea party

I painted these terracotta pots

I also arranged these gardening tools for a gift for our table leaders for my Bible Study

I'm adding these pictures of Taelyn's hair because I have been so proud of myself and how I have been doing her hair. I am getting better and better every day!

I was so brave and actually BRAIDED IT! (*Patting myself on the back*)

My friend Jessica hosted another "Crafternoon" where we did a bunch of crafts and here are mine! A Journal

A Mini Notepad

A decorated wooden letter for my last name

This is my latest craft for the 4th of July. I am quite happy with it.

I am trying my best to be better about making things and tapping into my crafty side. I have to say, I'm not doing too bad.

Fingerprints

A few weeks ago, a few of my mom friends and I went on a day play date to Fingerprints in Hemet. This place was SO FUN! my kids had a BLAST! It was a journey getting there. I picked up my friend Lea in Grand Terrance thinking that the location was off of the 215, which it was, but WAY off of the 215, it took us nearly an hour to get there! According to my GPS, if I would have taken the 10 East the back way, it would have only taken 20 minutes. It was pretty nuts, but totally worth it. This place was only $5 for however long you want to be there. Here is our day trip through pictures:

There was a kiddie size Walmart!!

Taelyn really enjoyed pushing the cart around

Trent thought it was pretty neat too

Taelyn was ready to check out

There was a real life police car

There was a kid size house equipped with a kitchen and food

A garbage truck

Taelyn wanted to drive everything!

They rode on a real motorcycle

Trent in the firetruck

I was modeling the fireman's hat

There was also a room to watch movies, a doctor exam room, a big dog house, a library with LOTS of books, a place to dig for dinosaur bones, a place to see yourself on TV, a place to color and a playground. This was such a little gem. We will most definitely go there again! My kids didn't want to leave, but we had to cut our day trip short because of naps. We went the back way home and gosh golly, it took 23 minutes! Can't wait to go back!

The Wilging Four

Last week, Todd's sister, Dana, and her family came for a visit from Albuquerque, New Mexico. We haven't seen them since January. The last time we saw them, they were preparing to go to Uganda, Africa to adopt two girls, Aisha and Flavia. You can view her blog and their journey here. Since then, they went from a family of two to a family of four! This was the first time we were meeting our new nieces. We all were so excited and a bit nervous. I wasn't sure how the girls would receive us, but from the moment they walked in, they completely embraced us and everything felt so natural and easy. We had a great fun filled four days with them.

They arrived on Saturday, I was helping throw a baby shower for my "brotha from anotha motha," Marco, so they attended the shower with us. The girls played in the jumper and ate and ate and ate! There was an over abundance of yummy food at the shower. Everyone seemed to be quite comfortable around a large amount of people.
On Sunday, (Father's Day) we went to church, then to my brother's house for some swimming fun.
Todd with all of our nieces, Aisha, Lean, Maya, and Flavia

Trent wasn't in 100% health, (although you can't tell from the picture) so he sat under an umbrella with me

After swimming, Todd wanted to take a nap, and Taelyn used him as a bed, it was too cute. They slept like this for almost an hour

Flavia is such a nurturer. She really took to Trent

On Monday, we went on a hike in Oak Glen

Taelyn and Trent found the biggest dandelion I have ever seen and made a wish

After our hike, we came home for naps and then went to Todd's cousin, Mandy's house for dinner and games. She had a plum tree. Flavia taste tested the first plum and it was so sweet and juicy, she decided to climb the tree and gather more all of us

We played Just Dance on the Wii

On Tuesday, Taelyn had Gymnastics, so we went to Gymnastics while the Wilging four did their own thing.

We came back home for some water play.

I brought out the water table and the kids played for a good two hours

Cousin Colleen and her daughter Ellie came for a visit, you would think these two were related or something...

We went to BJ's for dinner and we met Chaz and Jess there. Taelyn LOVES her "Best Friend" Tita Jess

Since we were a big party, our food took forever. Our server brought all of the kids a Shirley Temple (7Up and Grenadine) Taelyn already had water and apple juice mixed with water, but I allowed her to have it since the server gave it to her, she was loving it! This was the FIRST time Taelyn has ever had straight soda. (She's had a root beer float) By the look on her face, you can tell she loved it!

This was our last night with the family. Wednesday, I had plans so I had to leave them early and I came home to this sweetness.

I miss them so much already. I was so sad to see them go. I wish Todd's family lived closer. They are all so far away. A few days together every year is just not enough. I see my family multiple times a week and I love it. I just realized, I didn't get a picture of the Wilging Four... I need to be better about rounding people up and getting a picture. Until Next time Wilgings, we all miss you guys so much!

Teachable Moments

Having two kids, loading and unloading the car is not an easy task. Having two little kids in car seats makes it even harder. I put Trent in first while Taelyn stands at my side, touching my leg or holding on to some article of clothing, so I know where she is at all times, especially if we are in a busy parking lot, when Trent is secure, I walk Taelyn to her side and strap her into her car seat. The other day, I was loading Trent into the car and it was a tight squeeze, so I didn't have the door open all the way. Taelyn went around me and pushed the door open all the way, slamming it into the car next to us. I immediately gasped, because without even looking, I knew that she scratched the car next to us. For a split second, I thought about just putting Taelyn in the car and leaving, there is no way to prove that it was us, but quickly snapped out of it and thought, what kind of example would I be setting for my kids?

I picked Taelyn up and moved my car door to see the damage, and just as I thought, it was a scratch about an inch long. My immediate reaction was to yell at her and tell her she did something terrible, but instead I put her down and I bent down to her level and explained to her that she disobeyed me, by not standing still and holding on to me, not only did she disobey me, but she pushed the door open and hit the car next to us. I showed her the scratch and then I proceeded to explain to her that when we damage something that doesn't belong to us, we must find out who it belongs to and apologize and ask them for their forgiveness. I told her we were going to go inside and find out who the car belonged to and when we find out, she would tell them that she was sorry and ask for their forgiveness, then ask them what she could do to make it right.

When we found the lady who the car belonged to, we brought her outside to asses the damage and Taelyn did just as I asked. She told the lady that she was sorry and asked for her forgiveness, while doing this, Taelyn had a pouty lip and tears in her eyes. It was obvious that she knew what she had done was wrong and she was really sorry. The lady was so nice and said it was perfectly fine, the scratch was not that big of a deal, but I told Taelyn to ask her if there was anything she could do to make it right. She was so gracious about it and said it was ok, but I insisted I pay for the damages, but she insisted it was fine.

I was embarrassed and worried, but I knew I had done the right thing because it felt right. I knew that I was teaching and leading by MY example. When we left, I told Taelyn that I was proud of her for doing the right thing and that I was not mad at her. I asked her what she learned and she said, "When I do something wrong, I must ask forgiveness, like God forgives us." I nearly started to cry because she GOT IT! To think, I could have missed a teachable moment because I was worried about the consequences. Not only did I do the right thing, I taught my daughter to do the right thing. Great Ah-Ha moment for me and an amazingly proud mommy moment.

Alabama Trip 2013

The last time we went to Alabama, I sore I would never go back, just because I went without Todd, it was rough traveling with two kids, and there was just never a moment to myself the entire time we were there. Then I had the worst flying experience of my life. When I got the wedding invitation in the mail from Portia, a great friend of mine, I knew I couldn't NOT go, so we booked our flight and planned to spend some time with Todd's family and leave the kids with them, so we could enjoy a kids free night at the wedding. Here is our trip through pictures:

Taelyn and Trent in the Dallas Airport waiting to board the plane

Trent fell asleep on both flights

When we got to Atlanta, after about an hour of driving, we needed to stop for a break to stretch our legs and let the kids run around a bit and what better place than Bed Bath and Beyond? Todd enjoyed playing with the camo bedding

When we woke up the first morning at Oma's house, she surprised the kids with Mickey and Minnie Mouse Pancakes. The kids absolutely LOVED them!

Oma bought Taelyn and Trent some cute little chairs from Wally World

Trent somehow thought it would be a great idea to put the chair on top of the couch and try and sit. In the last picture, you can see it was not such a good idea, since I snapped it as he was falling.

We always have a game night while we are out there and we played Apples to Apples and these are the cards I ended up with. They say that the cards you get, describe you... Besides, Sweet and Fantastic, I'm gonna have to disagree

The next day, Todd and I set off to Birmingham for the wedding, leaving Taelyn and Trent with Oma and Opa. I had a slight breakdown when we left. I cried and had a hard time breathing and wanted to turn back. Ok, so it wasn't very slight, it was a full on panic attack, but it was the FIRST time I have ever left my kids over night. I knew they would be perfectly fine with their grandparents, but I just couldn't get over the thought that if something happened, that could possibly be the last time I see my babies. I know, ridiculous! I don't know why such irrational thoughts come into my head, but Todd helped me get over it. Also, I have to say, I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!!!! I was able to FaceTime with my babies and that helped with the anxiety.

I was so excited to have a reason to get all dolled up.

My sweet Sorority Sister Tiffani put together this ensemble

Portia was my roommate in college at Howard. She was such a beautiful bride

Todd and I

Todd can never be serious

Chris and Portia, happily married!

Jeff and me, another great friend from Howard

Jeff, Portia and Me

Todd and I had a blast at the wedding and when it was over, we went to a hotel to stay the night since Birmingham is three hours away from Todd's mom's house. We woke up drove back and hung out for a bit and then got back in the car to drive two more hours to Atlanta to stay another night in a hotel so we could wake up and catch an early flight back home. This is Taelyn and Oma saying, "Bye" to each other.

Taelyn and Trent playing in the hotel

Opa giving hugs to his boy

Opa smothering Taelyn with kisses

This is such a sweet moment I caught of Taelyn and Trent. I think this is my favorite picture of them, yet... That is saying A LOT since I take LOTS of pictures of them.

We had a layover in Dallas and Trent was playing with hats

This was the last picture I took before we got home. Houston, we have a problem

It was a great trip for all of us. Todd and I were able to get away alone, without the kids and the kids got some solo time with Oma and Opa. I think all in all it was good for all parties. We truly had a great time. There was a moment where Oma and Opa were walking away from our hotel room and Taelyn opened the door and ran to them for extra hugs and kisses. She said, "Oma, don't leave me! I LOVE you!!" We all cried. It sucks living so far away from family, but it is nice to be able to visit. This was the first time that Taelyn really understood the distance. She said, "I wish Oma was closer, she lives FAR away!" She is still asking when she will see her again. It makes me sad. I hate that they live so far away. I'm just glad we are able to stay in touch through FaceTime and visit every year.