Gone Are Our Mohicans

Well, after a looooong week (almost two months actually!) we shaved off the boys' mohawks. The boys really enjoyed them for a while, but decided they wanted them shaved off this last weekend. They received a lot of compliments and comments and some people probably thought I was "one of those weird mothers." People asked us how we did it and we were able to share some tips we learned. One product that we are fans of is Got 2 Be hair glue! It is awesome. It really kept the mohawks up even when changing shirts, hard play and naps. It takes some scrubbing though to get it out.

One thing the boys learned through this experience is that they are representatives of Jesus and the Ford family. We really drilled them on this explaining that they had to be good examples with the attention they got. It was a good lesson and I plan on continuing to drill them on it!

My mom graciously came over yesterday to help me with the kids and I was able to shave their heads while she held and entertained Carmelita. Here is a picture of Martini and Ethan with their new do's and some silly ones as well.

"Silly"

"Mad"

(Notice Ethan's tie. He and Martini just like to wear it sometimes. He put it on himself this morning.)

"Sad"

"Happy"

"Scared"

Martini took this picture of Carmelita.

My Mother's Day

I want to thank MyLove for a wonderfully sweet Mother's Day. On Saturday, May 10th, MyLove let me sleep in while he fed the kids. What a pearl sleep becomes when you have kiddos! I got up and had a liesurely breakfast and then MyLove and the kids surprised me with a dozen beautiful roses. They are called carnival roses. They are yellow with red tips around the petals. He also gave me a card that was signed and written by the kids. We then got ready to go out. MyLove and the kids surprised me with a trip to the Cinema 6 by our house and we watched Horton by Dr Seuss. It was pretty good and had various messages you can pull from it. The boys sat through the whole thing and Carmelita did very well by sitting through the entire first hour and previews. She started getting restless, so MyLove took her out to walk around, and then I took over (even though MyLove didn't want me to. Thanks, Babe)




After the movie, we headed to Panera Bread for some yummy sandwiches and a refreshing time sitting outside. The weather was perfect and we had the entire patio to ourselves. We were laughing, being silly, the kids could walk around and there was no one to disturb. It was great.
We then went to Starbucks (mmmmm!) and saw some friends and then enjoyed pastries and coffee outside. The kids just loved being outside. I praise the Lord for such beautiful weather and that we could enjoy it together as a family. It was the perfect end to my Mother's Day.
Thank you, Babe, for loving me and for making me feel so appreciated. I couldn't do it without your encouragement and love. I love you!

Carmelita did not want to get her picture taken. Can you tell?

Because God Made Him That Way!

This morning, Ethan was playing with his Star Wars men/things and was describing Darth Vader to me. I was folding clothes, half-listening when Ethan says, "He has buttons on his chest."

"I wonder why?" I asked, trying to still have a conversation, listen to him, fold the laundry, wonder where Carmelita was, and think of what else I could get done before MyLove gets home from getting the car inspected. (I say all this only to make myself feel better that I was really only barely listening to him and asked this question so that he thought I was fully listening :-(

"Because God made him that way!" he so preciously replied.

Then he showed me Darth Vader and the buttons he was referring to on his chest.

Happy Mother's Day to My Mom!

Last night my wonderful hubby watched Martini, Ethanael, and Carmelita so that my sister and I could take my mom out for Mother's Day. We had a great time talking, laughing and eating good food. It is an amazing bond already that we are our mother's daughters, but the fact that we can share being mothers together is extra special . . . and then on top of that loving the Lord together. What can get better?!

We started the night off at Little Miyako for some bento boxes and sushi and green tea. MMMMM, yummy!!! Then we went to Sago Filipino Restaurant for some tasty tapioca drinks. We sat in a couple of comfy sofas and looked at magazines with stars and their newborns and laughed and wondered why we three women all blow up like balloons when we're pregnant and look nothing like these women with simple cantelopes for bellies. We talked about our kids, our hubbies, our desires, and how much fun we were having. What as blessing of a night it was.

I love you, Mom, so much and continue to love you and appreciate you every day.
You minister to my soul and encourage me constantly. I want to be like you. I want to be a prayer warrior like you and love and accept all people like you. I want to be an incredible hostess like you are and always have been growing up. I want to believe and hold on to your mantra: "Love Conquers All!!!"

I love you, Mom!

And to my sister. You make my life interesting with all your happenings and life . . . um . . . how do I say it . . . DRAMA! I love you and thank you for all of your advice and fun-loving heart. And I thank you for always doing my hair and reminding me to look my best. You make my life colorful in your own special way.

I love you, Jennifer!

Ethanisms

Ethan has been saying some of the cutest things. Here are a few that I can remember right now:

"Mommy, can I turn on the light?" "Why?" "I'm scared of the darkness."

Spanich - for Spanish

Wooh! I'm fwetty! - for sweaty

Blana- for banana

I'm hungly - for hungry

Me want oatmeal with sugar. - We keep encouraging him to use "I want" instead of "me want."

He has been so precious lately. Today, I enjoyed a long conversation with him where I really listened to his numerous recalls of different scenes in different movies saying, "Do you remember when . . . That was so funny. Do you remember dat?" He kept trying to recall different funny scenes and see me laugh.

I praise the Lord because he keeps giving me these precious moments with each of my little ones and I just find that I love them more everyday. It makes my heart ache. I want to love them with all that I have, but then the next moment I'm getting impatient with them or scolding them. It is a neverending life lesson to be patient and there are endless opportunities for me to see my shortcomings. My encouragement is that I know I can't be the mom I long to be and the Lord knows that, so I go to Him and that is all He wants from me. Surrender. Giving it to Him and "praying without ceasing" as Paul so rationally put it. I will never be the mom I long to be unless I rely on the Creator for wisdom, strength, endurance, patience, fairness and to be honest, sanity! And I have full confidence that the Lord is faithful. The question is: am I faithfully seeking Him?!

Toy Dilemma

Our children have been very blessed with innumerable amounts of toys. If you come to our house, you will see bins and bins and laundry baskets and containers and boxes full of toys. They are in our living room, school room, the boys' room, Carmelita's room, the office . . . everywhere! I have had organizing fits and put them up neatly, but in my desperate moments, I let the boys take out bins and play with more toys without putting back the other, and utter chaos ensues.

Well, I am on an organizing and purging rampage right now and am about to continue with it after this post. Ahhh, how I love order, but the time and energy it takes is quite overwhelming. And doing it with the wee ones discovering "new toys" or "toys they love" makes it virtually impossible. So, right now at 1 AM, I am going to get my rear in gear and blitz this task!!!

Snackies

The other day the kids and I were on our way somewhere and they were hungry for some snacks. I told them, "Don't worry, I have some snackies that we can eat as soon as we get there."

"Mommy, I hope they aren't good for us." Martini replies.

The boys looooove sweets and when they want a snack, they would prefer sweet fruit snacks or cookies much more than cheese or fruit, although, they do get excited over grapes and mangos, thankfully!