CAST your VOTE! Valentine's 2014.

Decisions Decisions Decisions. 

Anyone who knows me knows that I take FOREVA to decide things. So PLEASE I need your help...which one is your favorite design by Minted for our annual Vday card?

Cast your vote either on FB or in the comments!! If you do...I will enter your name in a secret giveaway happening next week!!

Option 1

 Option 2

Option 3

 Option 4

 Option 5

HELP! 

Besitos, xo

Flash Back Friday and Confession: Valentine's Day Card 2012

How's your Media Diet?

CONFESSION: 
Mine? Oh well let's just say the past two days have been an epic FAIL. Last week and the first part of this week started off fabulous and I was noticing so many changes including our bedtime routine becoming so much smoother.  But then crunch time came and I became a desperate mother trying to complete a task and I hired PBS to entertain my child for the past two days.

You see, last Saturday I woke up with a brilliant idea to take on the project of cleaning out our "Save it for later room." Yes, I vowed never to have one of those but it just happened. It was the extra room that everything that we didn't know where to put would live. Boxes and boxes of graduate school lectures, counseling journals, photography equipment, textbooks, Mister's comic book collection, and more filled this room only allowing for a little pathway from the door to the computer.  I had seen one too many episodes of hoarders to make me begin to question and woke up with the nesting instinct to organize something. So we pulled everything out into our hallway and began. That was EASY BREEZY part...the rest was not.

It wasn't until I was nearing the end of this project and was placing something on this metal shelving in the closet when all of a sudden it came crumbling down on me! Literally the entire shelving collapsed raining stacks of paper, business cards, and craft boxes crashing down on my head.  This photo doesn't do it justice because that rack was once taller than me (which is not really that hard to do) and the majority of it is now on the floor out of the frame... but at that moment I realized how ridiculous the past two days had been- it's Valentines Day and I am choosing to complete a task rather than spend time with my actual Valentine?

I once heard that it is not so much what you did but what you do after what you did that makes the difference to the relationship of your child.

So, I picked him up apologizing and trying my very best to walk away from the room and shut the door (for now). The day was nearing to an end and unlike the past valentines where we spent the day baking pizza and dessert-  we went to Papa Murphy's and a local bakery and got ready for daddy to come.

 I feel like the past few days I have been a preoccupied and distracted wife and it's not because I am spending my monday nights watching the Bachelor (I gave that up to watch later) but it is because I had an unrealistic expectation of completing something that took more time than I had. And may I add- little man had two emotional difficult days because of it...more about what I observed in another post.

Moving forward to the now...today is a new day. I'm up early making pancakes as a peace offering. Pancakes makes it all better right?

Now on to
FLASHBACK FRIDAY

I don't think I ever posted last years letter and card and since I want to compile years to come of these babies-I have to start with the first ever Valentine Letter.

Merry Valentines Day!!! 

Say what? You read that right. The Dames are no longer going to send out a Christmas card…okay they actually never have. Why? Is it because they ran out of stamps? Is it because nothing worth sharing has happened during they year? Are they on Christmas Card Strike?  No, really they figure Christmas is busy enough. To add on scheduling a photo shoot for their pictures in matching reindeer sweaters, just really didn’t leave much time left for fruitcake making and caroling. Plus you already get a ton of cards over Christmas. They don’t want to be just another card in a sea of many. Ask yourself how many Valentine’s cards you get? We’re guessing unless you’re a teacher you may get one or two (Lets hope the 2^nd card is from a grandchild or you’re gonna be in trouble with your significant other). So let us help you up your Valentine’s Card Quota starting this year.

2011 has been a pretty exciting year for the Dames. They kicked off the New Year in New York with Cristi’s Sister and our brother in law Joe. They were very gracious hosts and put up with a baby waking up in the middle of the night and even gave us their bed in their Bronx apt. We kicked off the New Year in Times Square while standing shoulder to shoulder with a couple 100 thousand of our closest friends for 8 hours. Bucket list item checked off. Will we do it again? Probably not.

In January Brooks launched a “garage based” business that soon became a “home and garage” based business. He started Proof Wood Sunglasses and launched the website www.iwantproof.com  January 31^st. Proof sold 6 pair in the first 24 hours. Now with the help of Brooks’ younger brothers Tanner and Taylor Proof is thriving and selling a couple 100 pairs a month. Friends and family get a discount if you’re interested in getting a pair. (Just in case you’re wondering if you are reading this you fall into the friends and family category)

Cristi continued to wear many hats starting this year out running her own counseling business in a new space near downtown Boise, shooting photography when she could fit it in,  working as a counselor one day a week at St. Lukes/Elks Children’s Rehab in their pediatrics department, and last but not least being a pretty rad mom to Little Man. Her counseling ways often show through in her conversations with Little Man and the rubber really meets the road when Mama Cristi starts dropping her counseling skills on Little Man and Brooks at home. The two of them just sit back in awe and let her do her thing.

Little Man is doing pretty dang good and had his first birthday last February with lots of cake. He’s a cute kid that always keeps us smiling with his cute mannerisms and sayings. He’s fond of saying “Oh Boy” and is very well mannered. In addition to saying “Thank you Mommy” to pretty much everyone (not just his mommy) after you give him something or help him,  he also picked up the habit of cleaning up after himself with Clorox wipes. (We are a little worried he may have OCD, or it may be that we really are so boring as parents that he’d rather clean than play toys). He does really likes Mickey Mouse, trains, cars, boats, and planes and points them out to us when he sees them. He also discovered the joys of drinking eggnog this holiday season. He started requesting that sweet nectar 24-7, and after stocking up on the last inventory of eggnog from the store and freezing it.. Cristi was able to single handedly wean him from his eggnog addiction. Brooks on the other hand is still an addict and there is a freezer full of frozen eggnog. Brooks would like you to know that this year the 4^th of July is going to be even awesomer with chilled eggnog to go with the burgers and dogs.

In May Brooks made a career change and moved from Sales at Woodgrain into HR.

He has liked the change of roles and instead of Selling wood products he’s now focused on Health care plans, safety, retention, 401k plans, incentive plans, and fun things like that. If you want to have a long conversation about Health Care reform give him a call he’d love to give you his $0.10 on it.

The summer held a lot of fun events for the family full of family reunions, road trips, and some new roomies- Tanner and Darlene. However, the most memorable trip of the summer was going to El Salvador to visit Cristi’s family and attend the LDS Temple Dedication. It was a really special experience to be there with Cristi’s family. Some of which are pioneers for the Church in El Salvador and count as some of the first members in the country. Since Cristi’s family is from El Salvador and Brooks served his mission down there, they ran into a lot of old friends, some mission presidents, an ex roommate and family that had  showed up for the dedication. But they made sure to spend plenty of time on the beach. Brooks and his Brother in Law Joe went surfing and soon realized that just because a wave is big and you have a surfboard doesn’t make you a surfer. But besides almost getting smashed onto some rocks it was the best surf trip ever. Little Man ate and loved his first Pupusa and drank his first Kolashampan (a proud moment for any Guanaco) and got to meet a lot of his relatives he hadn’t met yet. The El Salvador trip was both spiritual and fun for our family and won’t soon be forgotten.

Cristi decided she didn’t have enough to do and started not one but 2 blogs! www.weedstowishes.com a blog that draws on her counseling and motherhood experience and www.trulymodlydeeply.com a style blog with her friend and hair stylist Camilla Orosco. As if that wasn’t enough blogging for one person she now contributes regularly to www.howdoesshe.com (it’s is a cool website for women with tips on how to do and make stuff) on fashion and parenting ideas.

Little Man got to stamp his passport for the second time this year because the entire Dame family went to Mexico for Thanksgiving. They spent most of the time just relaxing and enjoying great food and good conversation. The men folk went fishing with their matching marlin tank tops while the women folk went to the spa. Although the marlins wouldn’t stay on the line, they caught plenty of Dorado to keep them busy. Later, they took their annual Evelyn Dame coordinated clothing Christmas card photo on the beach and celebrated their niece McCall’s birthday. It was an amazing trip.

Cristi kicked off the Christmas spirit by co-hosting a Christmas benefit concert with her friend Makita for Rett Syndrome. They were thrilled and honored to have Mindy Gledhill perform that night. Together with countless hours of volunteers from loved ones they were able to fundraise around $18,000 and still counting to go towards the International Rett Syndrome Foundation in effort to learn more about and hopefully one day find a cure. It was a successful and magical night that won’t ever be forgotten.

Later, Christmas was spent in Salt Lake with Cristi’s family and not a lot of snow. Boo. However,  Little Man did figure out how to climb out of the crib and things haven’t been the same since. He’s a big fan of showing up at our bedside at all hours of the night now. It’s awesome.

What did we do for New Years? Well, you will just have to wait for next year’s Valentine’s Day to find out.

We send you all the love we can muster on this Valentine’s Day. Hope you have a great Valentine’s Day filled with happiness, love and maybe some of those candy hearts with messages on them that taste like chalk.

besitos,

xo

Happy Valentines from me to you.

Happy Valentines from me to you.

This is a video that my talented sister in law Darlene shot and edited for us. You have to check out her work here: http://www.goldenmomentsmedia.com/ - isn't she so talented? I watch this video all the time and each time it makes me cry. I just love my family.

snow day from darlene dame on Vimeo.

Well, we always had great intentions of sending Christmas Cards out every year- even before we had kids. I believe this lovely number below was a Christmas card (2008?) that we created as a joke and printed over 100 cards... but...never sent them out. Too busy. The holidays just seem like a whirlwind each year and Christmas Cards (let alone taking photos all together with me in them) just never happened!

So, we decided to send Valentine Cards with Letters that Mister writes every year- and this year I sadly ran out WAY before I could finish sending them to our list of dear friends and family. There were some key people we wanted to send them too... ugh, and am sad we ran out with not enough time to order new prints. I really need to have a better system with an actual list of addresses that is all together and that I update regularly- any cool aps or programs out there besides excel (which I don't mind using) that can keep track of all that?? I need help with address lists and birthday lists! That should be a monthly challenge in the near future.

So now I reveal to you... anyone who wants a good (and may I add humorous) read- here is our annual Valentine's Day 2013 letter written by the Mister.

Dame Family Valentine’s letter 2013

It is February so you know what that means right? Black History month! True, but I’m not really qualified to send you a letter on that subject. But it is the month of love and since this is the second Valentine’s letter we’ve done, I think we can officially call it our annual Valentine letter. Plus who doesn’t like getting a Valentine? We would include small candy hearts with messages, but the Post Office wouldn’t allow us to mail them out. I guess they sometimes produce a white powdery substance and then everyone gets all freaked out and they have to call in the bomb squad to remove it. Long story short its frowned upon at the USPS. So unfortunately for you it’s just a crummy picture of us and this letter, NO CANDY. I’m sure you wish you were enjoying this with a chalky candy heart right about now.

LITTLE MAN- Is a fun kid. He turns 3 this month. He’s been telling anyone who will listen it’s his birthday for about 2 weeks now. Birthday and birth month are 2 different things, but we don’t have the heart to correct him, since he’s so cute about sharing the news. His favorite word to say is Awkward. It’s a great word and all don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of him, but it really is awkward when he uses it in the right context and at the right time in public making things actually more awkward than they previously were since it’s a 2 year old pointing out an awkward moment to an adult. Onlookers often will agree with him. He loves Egg Nog which makes his Dad proud and his Mom dry heave. But since we froze a good supply this year after the holidays we should be good until it returns to store shelves. He is very into helping around the house and most of the time loves to vacuum, clean, do dishes, or take out the trash. These tasks usually take 10x’s longer than if Cristi or I would do them ourselves, but hopefully he gets good at them quick, so we don’t have to do them at all in the future. He traveled to Thailand with us this January where he rode and fed elephants and tried a lot of new foods. We also stopped in China where the Chinese shop girls took pictures with him and gave him treats as payment. He figured out really quick when a girls says, “Cute boy, Cute boy, come, come”- he was going to get something so he wasn’t shy about wandering into different shops for photo ops. The kid traveled like a champ on the 20 + hrs of flights and layovers. He traveled so well I think I may send him on my next business trip and I’ll stay home. I just need to teach him power point and not to say awkward so much. Heck he’s potty trained and almost 3 what could go wrong? Nixon’s 2012 Likes: Trucks, Hummus, Rockets, Baking, Elephants, Curious George, and hiding from me when I come home from work. (Lucky for me he always hides in his bed so I don’t have to search too hard. But he laughs every time I pull back the covers and acts shocked that I found him again). He’s a really easy going and a good kid and we are blessed to have him in our family.

CRISTI- Has had a pretty busy year. She has made the decision to put her counseling practice on hold to be home, and between chasing Nixon, taking photos, church callings, and writing for a few blogs such as howdoesshe.com and her own weedstowishes.com she manages to teach a parenting class once a week and still manages to have dinner ready for Nixon and me. (Don’t tell her but sometimes if she gets way too busy I tell her I’ll make dinner and then I get a pizza at Papa Murphy’s and tell her I made it, I don’t think she’s caught on yet). Happy wife, Happy life that’s the motto. She reached a big milestone this year turning 30. She celebrated it in True Cristi fashion and flew to New York to visit her sisters and mom. They went to Newsies on Broadway (Yes, they made that Disney movie with Christian Bale into a musical, go figure) which she came back singing songs from the musical for weeks on end. She also presented at a few conferences this year on parenting as well as photography, which she really enjoys. We got called to teach the 7 year olds at Sunday school this year and I think they really wanted Cristi to teach and me to keep the kids from talking too much, but we do a pretty good job tag teaming. She came with me on a trip to Germany for Proof and we managed to visit a few other European countries along the way, which was a good time. We visited a concentration camp on our last day in Germany which was a really cool experience as well. Taking our trip to Thailand with the fam was great and we saw all the sites and ate great food. Cristi scheduled some visits to 2 orphanages in between some of the activities we had planned. She is always thinking of helping others and it is probably the reason I married her as I need help all the time. Cristi also either started eating a lot of bean burritos recently or is pregnant. I was going to go burritos since I know how much she likes them with horchata, but thought I should get a second opinion, so we went to doctor’s and she confirmed that it was definitely a baby in her belly and not a burrito. So we are excited to be expecting our second boy in June. If you have baby name suggestions shoot them over our way. We are thinking of steering clear of names of former presidents or watch companies this go around but everything else is fair game.

MISTER- I’m working full time in HR. My dream of becoming an interpretive dancer is starting to fade. This body just won’t let me do the things that are in my heart. Woodgrain has been a fun job, its fun to work with great people as well as family. This year I did pass out for no apparent reason on the job. One minute I was chatting with someone and the next my head was bouncing off the floor. The Paramedics came and everything, it was pretty exciting, but mostly embarrassing. A 6’4” dude falling over and bonking his head I’m told isn’t a pretty sight. Other than passing out things have gone pretty smooth at work. Proof Eyewear continues to be a fun adventure that takes up a lot of my free time and weekends. A year ago we moved out of the garage and into an office. Since then we moved again to a larger office. The hobby that started in the garage has morphed into a legit business that my brothers Tanner and Taylor are running. We’ve got about 8 employees and this year went to Germany for a trade show and to California to appear on a TV show. We pitched Proof to the Sharks on ABC’s show Shark Tank and our episode premieres Feb 22^nd so tune in to see if we got a deal or not. Who knows you may even see me pass out on national television, I’m known to do that every once in a while.

We feel blessed as a family and have gotten a lot of love from our Heavenly Father and our family and friends this past year. So in this month, be sure to celebrate Black History and Love.

Check out our family video shot by our Sis in law Dar: https://vimeo.com/58589739

Besitos,

xo

New Tradition

 I have been reflecting on our family  traditions for the past few weeks and making it a point to get started and to continue with traditions we have started.  

And we have one more to add to our list... this past weekend was General Conference- (a two day conference held twice a year where leaders of our church speak) and I really wanted to make this an exciting and special weekend by having a huge hot breakfast with the works on Saturday and then hot homemade cinnamon rolls on Sunday. I also created a conference bag where Little Man could pick an activity or a treat to do every time he heard the choir sing! He loved it! My heart is so full from the messages that were shared. Next conference will be held in April and I will share photos of our conference feast and bag (since I neglected to take any this year)!

Anyhow, start thinking of traditions you want to incorporate in your family...next month there just may be a challenge around traditions!

I am off- nap-time for little man is almost over!

besitos,
xo

Gift #7- Have Family Traditions

So, I bet you are wondering what my gift #7 was?? 

Okay you most likely haven't even thought twice about it- but I need something to distract myself while I am pretending to calmly be busy while I am "ignoring" my 2 year old's tantrum...So, here it is.

I love traditions. They create memories and bond a family together for years to come. Your children will hold on to these memories for the rest of their lives.

This Valentine's Day I wanted it to not only be a romantic date night  with the mister but to include my other little Valentine in my life. So Little Man and I decorated the house and set the table for a yummy Valentines dinner prepared by yours truly- and best part....DESSERT!

We don't have a lot of dessert in our house- so this is a huge treat!!

Little Man's Vday card.

The Mister's Vday card.

 

Heart pizza and Cesar salad...followed by a chocolate heart cake!

It was an amazing day. I can't wait to pull these plates out next year!

Gift #7 Have family traditions.

besitos

Gift #3 Seize the day.

So I am wondering where Winter went? Was it ever here?

 Who would have thought that we only had ONE snow day to play  and build a snowman! 

Did you take advantage of it?

Or did you stay inside?

Because you never know how long the snow will last.

The next day.

Gift #3 Seize the Day
besitos,

7 gifts of Valentines....

Sigh. I just LOVE love... therefore, I LOVE Valentines Day.
The 7 day countdown to Valentines begins!

But this year,  Valentine's Day is not only about thinking of that special man in my life but it also means thinking of my little man as well!

Last week at play group, a friend made a comment that has carried over into this week and it was how one of the greatest lessons of unselfishness in this life is that of being a mother. So, true. 

It is difficult to continually be focusing on one owns desires when there is a little toddler who is tugging at you for his need of his "chockit" milk or a bike ride around the block, or even just a snuggle from time to time.

From the moment they arrive in this world, we are essentially their lifeline. They need us to thrive. And there is no walking away from that. 

He is so much a part of me and I am so much a part of him. In fact, young infants don't even know they are separate from their mother for a long time!  We are one.

Therefore, even as I sit down to write in my blog- the thoughts of motherhood come poring into my mind... that's it I have officially turned into a mommy blogger- can you blame me...there is nothing I love more than my little family.

not even oreos.



 What can I do to be a better mother and wife? Every day this week I am going to share one thing I am working on to strive to just be a little better than the day before.
 
Warning: I am on parenting class mode...I have been once again taking another semester of Carleen Tanner's Positive Parenting Class and am constantly feeling inspired- so you may be hearing several thoughts the next few weeks as I am pondering our discussions.

She challenged us this month on making every one of our children feel as though they are our favorite child.

And I loved that idea and I am going to try that with both my husband and little man.

To me, it means individually building a relationship with each one. 

Taking the time to make them feel that they are so important to us- that they are our favorite.

I know I know- easy for me to say since I only have one little one at home. But I want to make this a habit so I can to it with each one of my children one day...

So today's GIFT:
MAKE EVERY ONE OF YOUR CHILDREN FEEL AS THOUGH THEY ARE YOUR FAVORITE.

Friendship coaching

7 DAYS and counting for Valentines Day!!! YAY! I love Valentine's Day!

 But don't forget your little valentines this year! I'll be posting 7 gifts you can give your children this year to celebrate the week of Valentine!

As for today, I am over here at How Does She talking about how to be a "friendship coach" with our children and the benefits of positive social peer interaction. It is something that can often go overlooked.

Although, I think every child may need a little "friendship coaching" here and there-
 Here are some signs that they may benefit from additional help:

-Lacks at least one or two close mutual friends of his or her same age

-Invades personal space of others

-Has an abnormally loud or soft voice when speaking to others

-Seems ignored or victimized by peers

-Has trouble winning or loosing gracefully

-Doesn’t show empathy when others are hurt or rejected

-Acts bossy or insists on having everything their way

-Constantly tease other children

-Doesn’t attend to facial expressions or nonverbal cues

-Doesn’t make eye contact when speaking or listening to others

Check out some pointers here  on three ways to coach your little ones some social skills. Don't hesitate to seek out additional professional help!

 Also BONUS...We are also making these "friendship bracelets" and singing and dancing along to Bee's Friendship Song!! Did you know that she just started her blog?? This week she is counting down to Valentine's with her thoughts about love and music. Go check her out!

www.biancamerkley.blogspot.com

besitos,

Love Languages...

I am over at How Does She today talking about this valentines idea- check it out here.

Today I made mister take a five love language test by Gary Chapman. Results....drumroll please...

Her score

9	Words of Affirmation
10	Quality Time
0	Receiving Gifts
6	Acts of Service
5	Physical Touch

His Score

6	Words of Affirmation
8	Quality Time
0	Receiving Gifts
6	Acts of Service
10	Physical Touch

Hmmmm....

Here is a little recap of the five languages:

Words of Affirmation

This is positive verbal reinforcement. If this you then you love hearing genuine compliments.  You feel loved when your partner expresses appreciation for the small things you do. You may feel insecure without encouragement or regular expressions of approval.

Quality Time

Periods where you have complete attention. If this you then you enjoy sharing things you love with others, and feel special when someone else includes you in something they are passionate about. You often feel neglected without time spent specifically focused on each other, or doing something together that you love to do. 

Receiving Gifts

This is physical or visual symbols of affection. If this is you, then you respond to tangible illustrations of the love in a relationship. You appreciate thoughtful, personal gifts, not necessarily dependent on price. A home-made card or tiny trinket can speak volumes.

Acts of Service

This is doing things for a loved one. If this is you then you feel loved when someone goes out of their way to make things more pleasant or smooth for you. Examples include: doing chores, cooking dinner, taking care of something that would normally be your responsibility, chipping in without being asked. Most people can relate to this love language, though in very different ways, and it is extremely important to practice this love language out of genuine feeling, rather than duty, to avoid resentment.

Physical Touch

This is bodily contact between people. This love language encompasses all kinds of touch including being intimate, hugs, kisses, and cuddling. Physical contact can be its own form of communication. If this is you then you need your partner to recognize what kinds of touch are pleasant and which are irritating, and focus on increasing the former and reducing the latter.

What is your love language?

To take the quiz go here. 

besitos,

PS- don't forget our GIVEAWAY going on all week...right here.