Coming back can be so difficult.

I made I conscious decision a little while back... That I was to give up on my blogging, for a while. My life has changed a little, and when I say a little I mean completely. My time has been stretched so thin, my goals have been rearranged, and my priorities somewhat put in order. But lately I have been having this itch, the blogging itch. Things happen and a blog is created on my head, I also would like to start again so that I can keep up with the little things that happens in the kids lives. So I am attempting to be back, I am not making any promises. But there will be a whole lot of catching up, so bare with me.

One thing that has been on my mind lately, is something that happened a couple of weeks ago. I was having a very rough week, a trying one. The devil was working on my confidence as a wife, mother and woman. The weather man announced a really bad thunderstorm for the following day. The running club at Spencer's school was canceled, and when I woke up that day, and saw the sky I immediately thought... "red sky in the morning, a sailors sure warning!"

However... The day turned out to be beautiful, I took Spencer to school, went to the gym, went to lunch with my husband, never saw a cloud in the sky. The thought of a bad storm was the furthest thing from my mind. After I picked up Spencer from school, we were very tired from a long busy day... Stephanie went to bed, Annabelle was asleep, and Spencer was going to watch How to Train your dragon! So what better time for a little nap.

I laid down in bed, and closed my eyes. When a feeling came, then a still small voice. "get your car in the garage" I sat up in bed, right away. And under my breath said, "are you kidding me? have you seen the size of my car and the status of my garage?" as it started to rain, this time that feeling came a little stronger, get it in NOW!

I jumped out of bed and ran to the garage, started throwing things to the sides, piling thing on top of each other even the motorcycle was moved faster then has ever been. Spencer was screaming asking me what I was doing, and a little scared to see his mom going so crazy. I grabbed the keys ran to the car in the rain that was now strong. and put my SUBURBAN in the garage. The garage door did not close but it was enough, as soon as the car was in and I opened the door to get out. baseball size hail was falling from the sky. I have never seen such thing. I didn't even know it was possible.

As we sat there looking out the door, I stood amazed and reassured that God lives, and he was watching out for me. Even after all the signs, he gave me clear direction of what to do. And when the time came, I was able and worthy of such inspiration. Now you may think... "well it's just a car, or the insurance would have paid for it, not a big deal."

I do believe that had my car been damaged, it would have been the last drop needed to put me over the edge.  Yes... It is only a car, a material thing. But when you are doubting everything else in your life, little things such as this, becomes major. And our deductible as we found out earlier this summer... Is $1000 dollars, we cannot afford it, and I would have to live with my car being all lumpy. A friend of mine's husband own's a state farm here in the area, and his office alone received over 70 claims of hail damage that day. As we drive in town now, I believe every hail fixer in the United States has relocated to our very small city.  I counted today, and in a matter of 3 miles there were 7 places, trailers and tents with signs for Hail repair.

So was it coincidence? Absolutely not. "Trust the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding." Next time that I receive that little feeling, or hear the still small voice. I pray and hope that I will do as the Lord guides me to. Even if I have to shove North pole into my fridge, I would like to think I will at least try, and I am sure the Lord would bless us for our efforts, He is a good and loving Father in Heaven.

Personality Traits.

Meet 2 of my three angels...
This is Spencer Nicholas, he is 5 years old, and 49 inches long. He loves to play WII, Soccer, swim, and bug his little sister.

This is Stephanie, she is in her awesome terrible 2's stage and because she is a girl the DRAMA come naturally. She is a sweet girl, with all sorts of bad ideas. *Just today, I caught her in front of the toilet with her pants down, holding on to her, well more like pinching the junk out her girl parts to point it at the toilet while making a puddle on the floor. And when I told her she is a girl and needs to sit on the toilet she looked at me as if I am crazy pulled her wet pants up and walked away. It's also the stage where if Spencer doe it than I can do it too.  Awesome, Awesome Stage!!!

I am convinced that you are who you will become. Let me explain... My children come from Heaven loaded with extremely dangerous ideas, and very little fear of executing them. Hence all the injuries at our house. 

They don't think twice about climbing on glass coffee tables, sliding down wooden stairs inside sleeping bags,  jumping in a swimming pool without water wings, and they look at a wall with shelves and imagine it to be a rock climbing wall.

They also learn how to climb out of their cribs by the time they were 15 months old, by throwing themselves head first onto the floor forcing us to put them in real beds for the fear of ending up with paraplegic kids. They also have a poop fetish, I am not sure why they love to touch it and rub in all the places that poop should never touch. My daughter waxed our wooden floors last year with it while I was knocked out with pain killers from removing a wisdom tooth. And she also put a pellet of it up her nose in another occasion. My son used it as chalk to color the walls in his room when I though he was sleeping. 

I know there are many children out there who don't do this kind of stuff. Sooooo??? WHY ME? Well when my children's creativity and skill are put into good actions they are amazing... Spencer learned how to ride his bike without training wheels on his birthday when he turned 4 years old. He also memorized the first 4 Articles of faith when he was 3. He could sing and say clear words at a very early age. He can make a paper airplane that flies faster and longer than many adults can. He is an amazing soccer player for his age, he scored most of the goals in his games. And he is pretty much a little leader, he leads all his little friends to execute his bad ideas with him.

Stephanie can ride a scooter, she potty trained herself the month after she turned 2. She can sing most of the ABC song. And have I mentioned they can both understand 3 languages. Sooo, I will continue to clean poop, and wipe bloody noses, As long as my children continue to develop their little brains, eventually some day they will use it mostly for good. I hope!!!

P.S. Check and support me on my new blog dinnerdeal.blogspot.com 

Thanks

We have a Graduate...

I know it's silly, and I always thought it was kind of dumb. However when it's your preschooler wearing a mini sized cap and gown, you will be just as proud as if they were graduating from Harvard. 

In a way, it felt like a stage of his life was being closed, and another opening. He is no longer a baby, he will no longer take naps... He will learn Math, and will be writing, and homework. Exciting... and Sad. I can just see myself CRYING for a whole day come August first when he walks in to Kindergarten. 

August 2009/ First Day of School

Proud Graduate June/2011

Spencer and Mrs. Wanda

 I believe the next time I see him in a Cap and Gown will be 2024. 

I LOVE YOU LITTLE MAN!!!

A Name and a Blessing

In the LDS religion we believe in the power of the Priesthood, this is nothing new to the world... It was on Earth when Christ was here, and it was restored to the world many years ago. The power of the priesthood, is the power of God held on Earth by worthy men, who have been given the keys for such a privileged power. Priesthood holders are able to bless the sick and afflicted, through revelation from the Lord and with his will, they are able to place their hands upon a persons head and pronounce a blessing for that person through their faith to be healed. (Are you still with me?)

This is something I believe very strongly, for I have seen and been part of miracles that have come to pass because of it. Things that are personal and I do not feel appropriate sharing at this time on this blog. But if you are ever curious about it, let me know and I will in person share it with you. We also believe in the blessing of a newborn child. That's when they are blessed and presented to the Lord with a name here on Earth.

Dear Daughter,

You where blessed on June 12th, 2011 in the Deltona Ward, of the Deland Florida Stake. That was a special moment, for it has been my home ward since we moved to this country. In the circle stood Daddy, Grandpa Gaertner, Jared VanEnglelenhoven, Mathew Boyce, and William Kumbera. 

You were presented to the Lord as Annabelle Louise Martos, Daddy was the one who pronounced that blessing. You did not cry, or make a sound of that matter. You looked beautiful in your 1st, pretty little white dress. Stephanie your sister wore that same dress, on her blessing day and I hope to someday show it to you when you are older.

Daughter, you were blessed to have an obedient soul, that you will recognize the Lord throughout your life. And when placed with oppositions you would heed to the prompting of the Spirit, and resist temptations. You were also blessed to be protected from any devastating diseases of the world, and if you obey the teaching of the gospel and follow the commandments, the Lord will be you constant companion. You are a special daughter of God, whom he loves and knows you personally. 

I hope and pray that you will grow up to live those blessing to the fullest. I will do my very best to fulfill my calling as your mother on this earth. I pray that I will have the strength to follow the promptings of the Holly Ghost, and teach you in those soft important moments to love and know our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ.  He lives, He loves you, He listens and answers prayers. He knows the intentions of our hearts and He is there to pick us up where we come short. Learn to love and follow Him, and you will be blessed through your journey on this Earth, and one day return to live with him in Heaven.

I have loved you before I ever heard your little heart beating, I have prayed for your existence, I knew  you were waiting to come to our family. And I love you now and will do so throughout eternity. Welcome to our little family. Never wonder for a single second if you are loved and wanted, and although I want to some day see you as a faithful daughter of God fulfilling your calling on this Earth, I can WAIT. Don't grow up too fast.

Love, MOM.

Grandpa Gaertner, Daddy, Grandpa Martos

Proud Grandparents

 Eternal.

3 Generation of Girls

3 Generations of Boys

Friendship can last a life time... (but boy we can multiply fast)

Proud Uncle

All the Girls

Sisters

The day I almost went to Jail...

While we were in Florida for 3 weeks, we took a trip to the water park. Daytona Lagoon is a small water park but none the less, it was fun. Here are some pictures we took, I wish I had taken more, but I was too busy trying to get arrested.

Look at this little face, and you will understand why I turned into an angry mamma bear.

We went on a Wednesday after 4 because it was family day and it was only 9 buck a person. We packed our junk and went. Arriving there just after 4 pm, we set up camp on the shade, under a bridge looking thing, in front of the kids play area. We were there with some friends, Diane and Matt Boyce and their boys. We played for a while and got hungry, well Annabelle was hungry. So I sat on one of those lounging chairs and started nursing my baby, (NO! That's not why I almost went to jail. I was covered.)  Behind the chair I was sitting, there was a lazy river.

So while sitting there in peace talking to Diane, this group of teen passed by splashing, and screaming, and soaking EVERYTHING. I tried to tell them to STOP, but knowing they would not hear me... I whistled! And if you know me... I can whistle pretty loud. The kids thought I was a life guard, and emediatly stopped. Someone must have told them it was just me, and not the guard, because the next time they came by they did it again, This time however.. worst, and they did not listen to us screaming at them to stop. By now everyone was there, my mom, and Matt, and my sister and so on. They soaked my baby, and the pizza Matt got for dinner. I was pretty sure they did it on purpose, and I was ready to deal with it, if it happened again. 

SOOO... Do you see where I am going with this? NOPE!!! you think you know, but let me tell you how went down. 

We were all watching for them to come again, and sure enough 5 minutes later.... Here comes the same little group, this time even louder and splashing even more water. So Matt stood up like this...

 and started telling them to stop and screaming at them to keep the water in the water.

The little 17 year old punk jumps out of the water and stood up and opened his arms kind of like this.

He shouts at Matt, "What Dude, wanna piece of this, hum?? C'mon c'mon! 

Matt replies by challenging him out of the water. He then turns towards the exit of the lazy river and starts to come out. He looks back at his (close fist, double pounds on the chest, piece sign) BROS, to make sure they are all coming too. And when he sees they are all behind him, he is filled with courage knowing they got his back. 

Mind you, I am still screaming things that should not come out of my mouth, and my mom... Who knows what she is saying, and what language she is using to let that guy have a piece of her mind. It was a mixture of Portuguenglish.

And Matt??!! Well, He was just staring the guy down, like this...

 (which if I may say... Matt is very good at, he stares at you for no reason at all, give him a reason and you got your self a competition ) Jk Matt... you know I love ya! 

Anyways... I am not sure if they were saying anything, because I was still too busy screaming, and making sure my child became deaf. After what felt like 5 minutes of stare down, I HAD IT. I stood up and went to take care of busyness. I brought my 6 weeks old along with me to show the little punk why,

 I in particular was so mad. Matt was just mad he had a soaky dinner, but me... NO!!!!! This was my baby you were soaking mister.

After showing him the baby... His reply to me was... "Yo! what'you expect? this is a WA-TER-PARK. if ya'll wanna stay dry go-to-the-dry area." (HUM... Moron... this was a dry area until you soaked it.!)

"Take your baby to the dry area this is a water park and we can play with the water however we want." 

So after what felt like another waisted 5 minutes, of who should be where with this little disrespectful, big mouth little boy who obviously had never been put in place by his own parents. I leaned forward and back slapped the little punk like this. 

I know you're impressed with my editing skills. HUM??

Well I tried to slap him, I wanted to get his face in full. But he jumped back in surprise, and I barely got his forehead. Upon which he yelled...

"Lady... you just got yourself an assault charge. what's your full name?!"

Hummm??!! Yeah let me just go write that down for you real quick, would you like a number and address too? 

By now I had put the baby down and came back, and he was still asking me for my full name. And of course, I was still trying to remember. After we had the entire High School Cheer Leader squad come by to see what was going on and to testify about me "full blasting" the kid (I only hoped that to was true). Life guards came to separate the fight, and after asking me what happened. The kids were thrown out of the park. 

I cannot forget to mention, that my mom started taking pictures of everything, "just in case". (she has been watching to much Judge Judy). But when she went to take a picture of the kid, and how crazy he was, STILL trying to get my full name. Poor guy... My memory was really bad that day.

He went bananas and wanted to beat my mom up for snapping pictures of him, and although she looked silly doing it, it was worth seeing how mad he got. The whole thing was kind of embarrassing, I may have lost friends because of it, but now it's just funny. 

It's no news to those who know me, that I have short fuses. But I had hoped I would be able to control my self if it came down to beating an unknown person. But my conclusion is... 

DON'T MESS WITH MY CUBS.

For these babies I am capable of anything...

Ungrateful children

So... Many of you know that I have a 10 year old brother, and a 5 year old son. And although in the future some  day I believe they will become great friends, right now they are incredibly mean and annoying when they are together. Making the visits to Florida during the summer when school is out very hard. So the solution, keep them as busy as we can away from each other. Andrew (my brother) goes to his friends house ALL day, and Spencer stays at the house playing with all the things he is not allowed to when Andrew is around. 

Like little complicated Lego sculptures, and "playing" the WII and Game Boy"erasing very important and hard levels that took months to get to". (*10 year old stumping out of the house, while crying like a baby)

The other day I felt bad for the kids, they had spent all day in the house and I wanted to do something nice. So I decided to take them to the park, and is there a better way to get kids tired then to walk 2 miles each way to the park? At 4 p.m. in Florida on 93 degrees weather? NOTHING I tell ya! So I put the kids in my "new to me" double stroller and off we went, I was feeling like the greatest mom...

We got to the park dehydrated and smelling like Shrek, thank goodness I brought some water. I sat on the shade and watched the kids play in the play ground from afar. We picked shells, and ran, and played. 

I played with a very chubby little girl. My little 6 pound baby is now over 10 pounds. Sniff Sniff

Apparently I was taking too many pictures.

After we played, and had tons of fun it was time to walk home. It was also time for Mr. Grouch to complain, my son complains about EVERYTHING. So it went something like this. 

"Mommy?!"

Yes Spencer?

I don't like that park, actually... I hate it and never want to go back to that one again.

You din't have fun in the play ground? 

Nope!!! It was too small and too far, and kind of boring. I only like the one that Vovo (grandpa) plays tennis at. So take me to that one next time. 

By now I am again dehydrated and ticked cause I went out of my way to be nice and this is what I get?

Well, Spencer, there wont be a next time... You can spend all day locked in the house for all i care.

Ungrateful kids. When do they learn to appreciate their parents efforts? I have a felling it will be a long time before I hear a THANK YOU that I don't have to say "Now what do you say"  first.

Motherhood is a funny thing...

A while back right after the baby was born, with in one week actually. Stephanie decided that she was done with the whole diapers during the day thing. Maybe seeing that the baby wears diapers she no longer wanted to be a "baby". Who knows why she did it, but the good thing is that she did. Over night... One day she had diapers the next it was gone forever. With very minor accidents, she even made the 12 hour trip to FL with no accidents. I am so proud of her, especially after many hours of trying during my pregnancy to get her out of them, I had given up for at least 6 months. 

Since baby Belle's been home Stephanie has really taken to the idea of playing dolls, She is such a good little mommy. She does things I don't even know if I could, diapering 3 babies at once for instance. 

The rule at our house is, if you don't take a nap during the day. You will go to bed early.

So the other day, both of the older kids were really bad and did not take a nap. Leaving me no choice but to put them to bed at 7 p.m. After bath and milk and the whole ordeal, they were in bed and warned to not get out of that room. Seeing that they took me seriously and were very quiet I relaxed and watched TV for 2 hours. It was American Idol finale ok... So stop judging me. 

When I got back to the room ready to go to sleep, I found Stephanie AWAKE playing with some things and eating tooth paste.

Who knew a Diaper bag could be so interesting??

After the initial desire of killing the kid, (she is lucky she ran to grandpa), I began to clean the mess.

When I came across a bottle of MYLICON (infant gas relief drops) Open and half GONE.

Oh great, what's the number for poison control? 1800 222 something 222? 

I knew I should have listened to the Dr. Anyways no big deal, I mean... She was only covered with a facial rash. But was now sleeping peacefully, and who am I to interfere with that? I have the other one to keep me awake all night, don't need 2, thanks....

Here is what I found out, the next day, while at the pool. It relieves MORE than gas. Major D blow out. 

Nasty, it was grainy too, so I am not sure if her tooth paste/Mylicon mix had a shot of Butt paste also.

Well we had lots of fun this week, and my baby has grown so much. Today she smiled at me, YES!!! I was the first one. And we went to the beach, Spencer almost drowned, thank goodness grandpa was fast and caught him, Stephanie almost got ran over by a car when she took off to the road, thank goodness she has a fast auntie also. So you ask... Where was the mother of these kids??? Well where else?  

I was laying on the sun, getting fried. Cause Lobster is the new look you know?  

 This ugly little bathing suit, was given to her by my mom. Just because we live in TN does not mean we dress in camo. But whatever, there were many other people there who should have taken a better look at their suits. JUST SAYING.