Slacker Mom of the Day AWARD!

I totally deserve the slacker Mom of the day award today! Every morning the kids brush their teeth in Makenzie's bathroom...well the only difference was today I let them brush for like 15 minutes (they LOVE brushing and playing in the water!) while I was on the phone with Carrie (my sis in law!) right outside the door because they were a bit loud...in my defense (a VERY weak one I might add!) I did check on them every couple minutes and I could hear from being right outside their door they were having fun! And then I heard a little whine from inside so I opened the door to see Makenzie washing Zach's hair with hand soap! They were both soaked and poor Zach had soap running in his eyes! So they both had a late AM bath too! I did have great conversation though with Carrie! Thanks Cpaz!!!

At least he smiled for the pic! He is such a ham!!

Compassion Weekend

Hi! I'm so sorry I took so much time off of blogging...I really do love it! And I'm back...hopefully! ;)

As most of you know it doesn't take much for me to be inspired or motivated for a cause...it is just the way I'm wired. I can be a super sappy person...especially when I hear of someone hurting. A few weeks ago our family participated in Compassion Weekend at our Church. For those of you that aren't familiar with it, every year our Church celebrates Compassion Weekend. Instead of going to Church, 3000 plus members sign up to serve the Bay Area and live out Christ's love to serve the needy, poor and hurting. In years past we have served at a home with HIV positive residents, built AIDS caregiver kits for people in Africa. This year we decided that we wanted to serve as a family because the kids are getting to an age where we want them to see service for Christ in action. So we decided to go to a nursing home because we thought the kids would be great with the older folks. Well, it definetly had an impact on us! The kids were a hit! The smiles and joy that our kids brought to 30plus seniors was amazing...Zach was his normal sweet self laughing and being silly..he must of untied 10 peoples shoes that morning (all the rest had velcro shoes...lol). What was even sweeter was Gary following him around tying the shoes of the folks that Zach had just untied and being so kind and warm with the residents. There is just something heartwarming watching your hubby love on others and making them feel cared for. And Makenzie was her sweet compassionate loving self...she brought in big dolly and introduced her to everyone...big dolly "had a cold" that day so Mak was cuddling her a little extra ;)

So this little act of service got me thinking...why don't we go to nursing homes regularly with the kids so that they can have an impact and know what it is to serve?...So here we go...I'm really excited about the opportunity to serve the older generations with my babies smiles and love! I'll keep you all posted...

BTW...Mom's group and HG...I will be throwing it out to all of you as well! Want to join us!?!?

Feeling super blessed! Happy Mother's Day!!

Do you ever have times in life when you are overwhelmed with thankfulness!?!? Well, that sums up where I am in life right now...
There is just something about Mother's Day celebration that brings the things that are most precious to me to the front of my mind.

My journey is overflowing with things to be thankful for...I try to remember them daily...Here is just a glimpse of my joy...my life!
My sweet baby girl and my wonderful, over the top amazing hubby! More pics to come on our quick last minute trip to Hawaii a couple weeks ago! :)

Oh this precious girl brings me so much joy! Do you see all that sugar on her french toast?...

Baby Zach...never thought in a million years I would have such an amazingly wonderful happy baby boy! Isn't he handsome!?!?

Me and my boy on Mother's Day AM...

I know Zach doesn't look happy but he is! ;) Maki is so happy about her finger nails painted purple!

Kids running!

Ok so I know my last blog was weeks ago...sorry! I promise to be a better blogger going forward!! ;) Here is a cute video from today...Mom, I know you are going to love it! I love how Isaiah runs laps around the other kids!

xoxo!

Dani :)

Who am I?

My identity? This has been on my mind lately, just who am I? Am I Gary's wife, Makenzie and Zach's Mommy, a family member, a friend, a follower, a leader, a business woman, an athlete (I use that term very loosely these days!)...

I was wrestling with wanting to be more...wanting my own identity. I wanted to know exactly who I "was"...At any given moment I am all of those things or just 1 of them...since I started being more present in the moment a few months ago I realized I am so much better for it! It has brought me more joy and released so much pressure to just live moment to moment and be present in the moment I'm living...

When I'm on a date with Gary or spending time with him after the kids go down, I'm Gary's wife. When I'm playing with my kids or running errands with them, I'm Makenzie and Zach's Mommy. And did I mention how blessed I feel to be their Mommy and that I'm able to stay home with them!
When I'm with our family or chatting with them there is nothing like that family connection, familiarity and security, I'm part of a family.
When I'm spending time with a friend, I'm a friend (and sometimes a Mommy too if the kids are with me!).
When it's 5am and my family is cozy in bed sleeping and I'm on the computer or phone working, I'm a business woman. P31 woman has a whole new meaning to me now! ;)
When I'm working out, I'm trying to be an athlete.
And I hope that in all of these pursuits, I'm a follower of Jesus...in all my interactions I want to reflect Him...Lord, I know I fail at times but I'm trying!

I am so thankful I am who I am...although there are others whom I'd love to be like...and a few traits I'd love to lose of my own...they make me who I am and I am OVER the TOP GRATEFUL for all the things I get to be each day! -Gary's wife, Makenzie and Zach's Mommy, a family member, a friend, a follower, a leader, a business woman, and an athlete (this one still makes me laugh...ok, I used to be an athlete...now I'm just trying to be an athlete!)

careful what you wish for...

Potty training...I'm just curious why ANYONE would want their child potty trained! I mean seriously this is one thing I regret...potty training Makenzie! I get it, it is a pain to change diapers! But has anyone been in a public restroom lately?!?! Today we were out to dinner at CPK...love the Moroccan salad! :) And of course Maki had to go potty...so Mommy took a deep breath and took her to the bathroom...it actually looked pretty clean...but to a GERM FREAK like me...I knew GERMS were lurking! So of course we had wet ones in hand (we buy stock in that company by the way!) we LOVE wet ones! Maki knows the drill...DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING! She really is so great and careful! But on this particular day Makenize touched the toilet seat and bowl...sigh, to many that may not be a big deal and I tried to blow it off like it wasn't but deep down I was FREAKING OUT! So much that while she was going potty I washed my hands...I hadn't even touched anything yet, but they just felt dirty! I know I'm crazy, Lord please help me! At home I could care less what she touches...I pride myself in our clean bathrooms...A MUST! But good Lord she touched a public restrooms toilet...

I asked her tonight if she wanted to wear diapers again and she touched my face, smiled and said "Mommy, you're silly!"

So if Zach is 10 and still wearing diapers you know why!

Germ freak (ME!) is going to watch a movie with my hubby! Good night! :)

what i've been learning...

i'm so sorry for the radio silence lately...i've been going through a growth spurt spiritually (hopefully not physically!) and have been trying to figure it all out.

here is a little glimpse of my heart...

the last few months those near and far to us have been going through major crisis...dear friends of ours lost their newborn baby just moments after birth...this rocked my world. it rocked my world because we love these people and didn't want to see them hurt. it rocked my world because that precious little angel i felt deserved to live a full life with wonderful parents...but i realized it was not this baby i was mourning for because this baby was born in to the arms of jesus...i'm mourning for those amazing parents and their loss.

....so much more sadness.

to make a LONG story short...i've been realizing the more sadness i feel the more i need jesus to hold me. the more joy i feel i want to praise jesus. the more confusion i am faced with the more i pray to jesus.

so bottom line i need/want more of jesus!

i'm also learning to be more present in every thing in my life! no more distractions...this has been hard! i do not want to be distracted when i'm with my kids, hubby, family or friends. so my cell will be on silent much more now or not with me. so if i'm harder to reach, i'm sorry. but when i'm with you, you will have more of me.

ok enough of my babbling!!
a few updates on my cuties!

maki is without doubt the sweetest little thing i've ever encountered! she is sooo thoughtful and wonderful! example: she was really sick last week and tita (my mom) called to ask her what to send her to help her feel better...maki replied with i think binoculars or something and before she hung up she said "tita, don't forget to send zach something too!" my heart melted...she is always so aware of others feelings. she is the 1st one to comfort another child if they are sad or hurt...and she is over the top sweet and gushy with gary and me! although i'm thinking she may be working us a bit...she knows it melts us! ;)

and zach...wow he is hilarious! and so fun! he makes me laugh almost every moment! he is always smiling! and he is running all over the house! if a door is closed he opens it!-i'm thinking we need those handle cover things. the other day he woke up early from his nap and he disappeared...i found him in maki's room in the darkness saying "ma-ma" he wanted her to wake up! he is always knocking on or running in to Gary's office when he's working in there. maki finally gets the concept that daddy is "at work" when he is in the office but...zach not so much! oh well, hopefully soon! we can not have any gates up with zach either. if there is one up he just screams...he loves his freedom! i think we may be in trouble with this little one... ;)

and we are so excited baby micah is here! my brother and sister in law just had their 3rd little blessing! we can't wait to meet him...soon! :)

ok enough of me this am...
xoxo,
dani :)