Gravady!!

My wonderful, awesome brother in law

took his FOUR children,.

and my TWO children,

and headed to Gravady last weekend!!

Waiting for your turn is HARD.

 

Jed has been my brother for longer than the official (almost) 13 years.

He is so kind and gentle with my kids.

He takes them fun, wonderful places,

like the lake,

and to Gravady.

Or hiking.

Or shooting.

He puts Scarlet up on the ski trainer and tells her she can do it!!

I can do the same thing, but she can hear the fear in my voice and see it in my eyes!!

He has no reservations,

and all confidence that it will be ok,

and it always is!!

I appreciate he took my girls to do something fun.

 

Because I have hard days.

And they make me sad, because I can't go do fun things.

And I know my girls miss out.

And I feel the guilt,

and the common feelings of not being enough.

I am grateful to my sister's husband,

that he is kind.

That is patient and reassuring to nervous, or cranky, or crazy little girls.

I am blessed to have a wonderful sister,

who shares her wonderful family.



Ella's January

Ella got to go to the Wetlands Park on a field trip with her class.

It is not with in my boundaries to chaperone field trips.

So I did not go.

Around town, with in walking distance is fine.

Bus? Noooooooooo.

 

This is her cute little friend Rebecca.

Her mother is my dear friend,

and also the master mind behind my precious family book.

She is a good little girl who likes to PLAY.

I know if Ella goes to her house,

she is going to make a fort,

or play dress up,

or with dolls.

Not watch TV or be on a device.

I hold no judgment or even care if that is how other children play.

But MY boundaries are:

I want them to PLAY. 

 

 

Ella brought home the recorder.

She works so hard to do 'well'.

Every year at parent teacher conference,

her teachers praise her vocabulary,

and I am well pleased.

Words are so powerful and beautiful,

and I love that my girls feel the same way.

Ella loves music.

I need to get her into some lessons for one instrument or another.

She could easily play several because she is a very determined girl!!



Scarlet's January

My little chicken is flourishing!!

I had parent teacher conference before Christmas,

and she is doing great!!

A smart, bright child,

who just needs to work on neatness in hand writing.

I can't worry about that too much because MY handwriting is terrible.

I don't have time to write neat!!

I have thoughts!!

 

She got invited to a sweet little girl's princess party!!

They dressed up and got nail polish and everything!!

 

We went to my nephew's basketball game on Saturday morning.

Renn just wanted kisses SO bad!!

Scarlet is the youngest and not used to being mauled.

I feel like this is a really excellent experience for her!!

 

Ella brought home a recorder from music.

(Heaven help us all)

And Scarlet was sad she didn't have an instrument.

We made some drums!!

She's a natural!!

Silly Pets

Most people have their work out interrupted by their children.

Or Spouse.

Or a phone call.

Or even a visitor.

 

 Not me!!

I am interrupted by a cat who takes advantage of the situation,

when I'm on my back doing abs.

I love her though. 

She has finally forgiven me for bringing Kato into the house,

since, ya know,

it's been a YEAR AND A HALF.

 

And then there's this pysco.

If I sit down,

my lap is occupied.

If I lay down,

or lay in front of the heater,

or drive,

this is the face I see.

But I also love him.

Pets are silly, fun, troublesome beasts,

but everything would seem empty with out them!!

 

52 Stories in 52 Weeks: My full name

I came across a lovely blog challenge entitled 52 Stories in 52 Weeks.

It outlines a subject to post about for each week of the year.

This is perfect for people like me, who have an idea, but don't know how to organize my thoughts.

Obviously I'll have to play a little catch up, as we are in the 3rd week of the year and I'm barely getting started.

Week 1: What is my full name.

 

My name is Ashley Alderete Bowler

My mother did not have an ultra sound when she was pregnant with me,

they didn't have them available then.

But she was sure I was a girl.

She had a couple names in her mind:

Katie

Austin

Montana

 

I have an Aunt Katie that she is very close to, and simply had always loved that name.

Austin was just pretty to her.

Montana had been a college room mate of my aunt, and had such a great spirit and personality, that my mom thought it would be fun for her baby girl.

A few days (weeks maybe) before I was born,

the neighbor woman came over and told my mom she had heard the best name of a soap opera that morning: Ashley.

I guess the name stuck in her mind, I was born a few days after, and Ashley it was!!

I wasn't given a middle name,

so when I got married, I kept my maiden name as my middle name.

I relate to my maiden name more than my husband's name.

There has always been a great debate with friends, family, and casual acquaintances on the proper pronunciation of my maiden name.

Since it's my name and all I am constantly amazed I have to argue to straighten this out.

Ummm, it's MY name. I'm pretty sure I know how to say it.

Alderete is a Spanish name.

We have anglo-ed it for regular white folks so it isn't so hard to say.

Therefore the pronunciation is:

All-dur-et

Not to be confused with:

All-der-eTEE

The second one is WRONG.

Yes you will be corrected.

 

I have always thought of myself as a unique individual (for better or worse)

and going from a lyrical, ethnic name to:

Bowler

is still an adjustment!!

 

Approx: 1991

Ashley Alderete & Twinkles the cat

 

 



Bikes!!

My husband is a push over for little girls with big pleading eyes,

and my daughters are spoiled.

 

Brent brought the girls bikes home from work yesterday,

and they have been on them all day!!

I am embarrassed to admit that my girls have very little exposure to bikes.

They haven't had them in years, and Ella has never been able to ride with out training wheels!!

She's EIGHT!!

 

But this attempt has been a success!!

She has found her balance, and some confidence,

and has progressed to trying to do fancy things.

I'm waiting for that to end in blood.

 

Scarlet had a balance bike ages ago,

so this is her first try at a bike!!

She's FIVE!!

I feel like I failed as a parent or something!!

 

Important things is; they are having a lot of fun and are zooming up and down the street with streamers flying!!

 

 

 

Irony

All the toys these children got for Christmas....

 Playing in a big box.

 

 

Someone has made poor life choices and has to locked outside when I leave the house.

Hopefully the sulking he has done will amount to him making better decisions!!



New Year Goals

I don't like to make "resolutions".

I like to make goals.

For some reason a "goal" seems more obtainable than a "resolution".

I like to put them here because after years I can come back to them and see if I did indeed complete goals!!

 

 

This year my goals are:

1. Pray better

I always pray, but my Father in Heaven deserves for me to kneel and commit a mere few moments to him, instead of a prayer in my head as I clean, or run, or am half asleep.

 

2. Read doctrine daily

We read scriptures every night as a family, but I don't always take time to read them just for me.

I want to utilize the Ensign in this goal.

 

3. Maintain weight

Stop. Eating. So. Much. Crap.

 

4. Serve

Service is scary for me, because sometimes it is outside my boundaries.

I am NOT comfortable babysitting,

or driving places.

But I can provide edible food, I can clean a house, or I can simply listen.

5. Get to the temple as often as possible!!

Base line goal: quarterly

 

6. To love and accept people as they are.

My family.

My babies.

Myself.