No, I Do It!

I can't keep up with this 2 year old. It must be that there are older siblings around, but this kids is learning quick. He is talking really well these days and all I ever hear is, "No, I do it." Today, I left him in the living room watching PBS, only to return to see he had put on Spy Kids 3D in the Blue Ray Disc player, and even knew to put on the 3D glasses. Who needs a mom around when you can put your movie on yourself?

Next he will be making his own lunches and even driving himself to school.

Happy Birthday Kira!

Today this no longer little girl is 14. It seems life sort of begins at 14 and the count down to 16 really starts. Kira has been waiting for this birthday and today it has arrived.

Happy Birthday Kira!

This picture was taken a few weeks ago before braces. The scarf and hat were made for Kira by my Grandma Erickson and Kira loves them.

11 Years

This week marked my 11th year with www.Branders.com. I shake my head at this only because when I started this job back in 2000 I never expected it to last this long. I started with Branders as a temp after moving to the Bay Area and trying to decide what I was going to do. After temping for 2 days, I was offered a job in marketing and then later became a sales rep, and then on to be a manager. That job lead me to the Philippines for 6 months and then back to the US in 2005. Today I am a sales rep which allows me the flexibility of working from home, and being around for our 3 children. At times I want to scream at the world because balancing both a job and being a mom can be difficult. I then sit back and realize what a blessing this job has always been and become thankful that I have it.

In the office I have been told on many occasions that I must take Branders pills because of my energy in the office. While I don't take pills, I do like to remember the blessings I do have and I consider this job one of those blessings.

Thanks Branders.

Brace Face,

and a cute face at that.
Being sick all week wasn't quite enough for Kira. We had to finish off the week with getting braces. We have been preparing for this day for a while both mentally and financially and it finally arrived. Here is to two years of Kira being "metal mouth." Slow down on the insults Andrew, your next.

Starting off the Year, Horribly Wrong.

Last week I had just got the kids back in school, and back to routines when Tom came home from work on Friday with some illness, that I like to think of as some morphed version of a flu that probably has a little bit of BART (Bay Area Transit for those not local) influence. He was running a fever, had chills, congestion, and a cough.

I went to work with the Lysol bound a determined to keep it contained, but by Sunday night, all 5 of us had contracted it. We spent 3 days all laying on the living room floor watching movies and trying to cope and I finally got the kids back in school by Thursday. Today is Friday, Sean and I still have fevers, and chills at times and I am hoping someday to actually get to sleep at night again. Maybe I can start January 2011 next Monday, and just wipe this week out, that is if I am better by then. Right now the most important thing I have to do is go find two small toy horses for a very grumpy two year old in a pile of toys the size of Africa. Wish me luck.

Christmas is Over

All I wanted was a nice photo of my three kids in their matching PJ's by the tree. What I got was super hyper kids hamming it up, and one 2 year old refusing to wear his. It was Halloween all over again.

Needless to say, this morning I was ready to get back to normal life.

Nativity

This year our Bishop has challenged us to read the first four books of the New Testament and the Porters are up for the challenge. We have been making our way through Matthew and I have loved re-connecting with the stories of the Savior.

Along with this challenge I had bought a Fisher Price Nativity set to help teach Sean about the birth of the Savior. What I didn't expect is that we would be incorporating a dinosaur and some Hiyah's into the story.
The spirit in our house has been great but we are really just filling time until the fun begins on Christmas morning.