Busy Preschool Week!

Wow.....what a couple of busy weeks we have had around here! Jazmyn is absolutely loving preschool. Two weeks ago she had a very FULL week at preschool! Monday was Jazmyn's sharing day. She chose to bring her Froggies that my friend Leslie got her for her birthday....which are named Ryan and Bryan. She had a great time telling her classmates all about them and getting to feed them while they were there. Here they are on the table as Jazmyn shares (they are in a tiny square glass maintenance free habitat). On Wednesday she had a visit from some local fireman. They came and showed the class what to do in case of a fire and also taught them to not be fearful of a fireman coming to help them. It was quite fun, as one of the firemen has a son in Jaz's preschool and both his mom and dad were classmates of mine in high school. I was very pleased with this day. Hopefully we will never need to use the "tools" we learned this day but just in case I am glad Jazmyn will have a head's up! I can totally see how a child could be fearful of a fireman with all of his gear on. Ryan, the fireman here, looked 3 times his actual size and was quite "scary" if you were a youngster!

On Friday, Jazmyn had a very special day with Papa! It was grandparents day at preschool! Papa came up and spent the afternoon with Jazzy singing songs, eating snacks, and hearing all about why grandparents are so special!!! Jazmyn also wore a very special pearl necklace for this special day that once belonged to her Granny! I am very impressed with Jazmyn's love for her family and wanting to learn more about those parts of her family that she has never even met before. She knows so much about her Granny (Papa's mom) and talks about her quite often even though she passed away years ago. What a sweet little girl!

On Sunday, we had our very first Preschool Sunday of the Year! This is where all of the Preschool classes get together to sing praises on Sunday morning for Jesus and their families! It is always a special day.....and guess what...JAZMYN SMILED AND SANG THIS TIME!!! She really sang loud and beautifully! We are still working on the hand motions however....but baby steps!! Here she is at church...she is in the back row wearing teal and white stripes! Jazmyn's best friend this year is the little boy that is two kids to her left. They did a fantastic job!

As many of you know, Jazmyn had tubes in this past week and did wonderfully. She was smiling all the way out of the hospital and all the way home. Her ears finally feel great and we have a hopeful future of NO MORE surgeries ahead of us!!

Halloweeen pictures to follow....next week! Have an amazing week!!

Spa Night for our Family!

For the past several months, Jazmyn has been SPA'ing me with hopes of spaing the entire family soon! Tonight was that special night at our house as Jeovany and I were spa'ed by our little princess! It was quite a fun first! It started with Jazmyn "pampering" mommy from head to toe, including foot massage, warm socks, arm and hand massages, head tingler massage, warm neck wrap, and lots of love!

Then it was mommy's turn to return the favor! Jazmyn had the complete head to toe treatment also! She loved every second of it, as any woman would...lol! How cute is this picture!!!!

I LOVE IT!!!! Check out those eye pads!!..... I was afraid our Beauticontrol Nourishing Eye pads would irritate Jazmyn's eyes so I used Viva Paper towels...that I cut into circles and saturated with water....shhhh... mumz the word....she had NO idea!!!

We are all overcoming flu this past week so I thought it would be a great idea for mommy to enjoy her faithful never failing "Detox" mask. However, tonight EVERYONE wanted to detox!!! So DETOX we did!!!! It is such a gentle but hard working mask that it was even fantastic for Jazmyn's sensitive skin! What a great testimony for BC!!!! Jazmyn enjoyed "painting" all of our faces up and then of course posing for the camera as a family! What an awesome night we had! Thanks Jazmyn!! Bam-ma and Papa....by the way....YOU are next!

This month end marks a very special time in our BC business. Mom and I are once again eager to advance in our business world! NOVEMBER 1st Mama goes into 6 months of what is called the MUSTANG leadership program. Basically this means....in 6 months with some hard work, a "stop at NOTHING" mentality, sincere determination, a willing heart, an unbelievable team, and an ever Faithful Jesus...MAMA (and I) will be driving a brand new 2010 MUSTANG free and clear no strings attached!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!! Also on the same date...I will promote up as a unit DIRECTOR on my way to earning my team's MUSTANG and many other honors!

Mom and Dad are leaving in a few short weeks for Hawaii (another earned BC Complimentary trip) for a week! They are looking forward to the time of their lives! 6 months....and Jeovany, Jazmyn and I will be off to DISNEY WORLD!!!!!! Wow, what an awesome j.o.b. we have!

Have a fabulous weekend! Remember to take some time to PAMPER YOU and YOUR FAMILY! You all deserve it!

Next post (to follow this week sometime) Jazmyn's busy week at preschool....Grandparents Day with Papa, Singing for Preschool Sunday, and a Visit from a local fireman! Stay tuned......

Teddy Bear Picnic & First Field Trip!

There have been many fun memories the past 2 weeks at preschool! The first was a "first" for the school.... a "Teddy Bear Picnic". Have any of you read the book The Teddy Bears' Picnic by Jimmy Kennedy? It is such a sweet book where all of the bears gather in the woods for a picnic! Well, that was the plan at preschool...an outside picnic under the big trees. However, it rained on our special day so we had to make do with an indoor picnic! We still had a great time. All of the children got to bring along their favorite SPECIAL Teddy bear. I was very pleased with Jazmyn's choice. She chose one that I used to play with when I was a little girl. She brought her Great Grandma Helen's big white fluffy bear and she has since named her "Helen Walter" after both of her grandparents! She loves to hear stories about her family that she has never met and talks about them often just as if they were in her everyday life! I'm sure her Great Grandma was looking down on her with a smile that day!

It was a great day together at preschool. Mommy, Daddy and "Bam-ma" all got to join in on the fun!

Here she is with her teacher, Mrs. Lucy and "Helen".

The following week we had our first field trip of the school year! It was to a local farm. We had a hayride and learned about all sorts of things: farm machinery, how corn grows, a few historical markers along the ride, and we even saw some wildlife in the woods!

Here's Jazmyn shucking corn, (well actually just holding the corn that mommy shucked for her!) She wasn't so sure she liked the "yucky brown stuff" on the corn and she was squeamish about the occasional bug! But I did manage to get one picture of her touching the corn! Yep, that's my girly girl!

We even got to feed the CATFISH! The pond has been stocked with huge catfish and spoonbill by the conservation dept. We fed them and then caught one while they were eating. This is the kind of fishing I LIKE! They were everywhere and biting like crazy...LOL! The kids enjoyed seeing the fish and then watching them swim away when we let them go!
Here we are all gathered around the campfire! We roasted smores together! Mmmm! We had a terrific afternoon! The kids had a blast!
Now we are looking forward to next week....Wednesday Jaz has snack and is the leader and Friday is Jazzy's sharing day! Looks like we'll be taking the "froggies" to school! Hmmm....another fun week!

"All dressed up!"

What an amazing night we had! Recently, I was chosen to represent Mama's team at our SUCCESS rally! I was featured on a runway event. It was a lot of fun getting my hair and makeup professionally done as well as having clothes chose for me. We had a great time and it was an honor!

I even think Jeovany had a great time!!
Here's Mama and I having a blast together later in the evening at her "12 days of Christmas" table! If you didn't already know the many many reasons WHY I totally LOVE my j.o.b......check out those diamonds mama is wearing!!! We both just earned these this past week!!! BLING BLING!!
Annie and I ! What a blast we had!

Have a wonderful rest of the week! Make every moment count....and don't forget to bless as many others along the way as you can!!!

Dinner at Skies!

What an honor it was at to attend this VERY special dinner with some VERY special people! We had the opportunity to have dinner out with one of our Extraordinary woman from our Corporate office, Mrs. Donna Schuster! We spent the day with her at VIP Training and then a select few of us earned an evening out with her to the exclusive Skies Revolving Restaurant atop the Hyatt Regency Hotel! It was an incredible evening filled with amazing learning tools, successful business tips, unmatched company, unbelievable views and great food. I do not think I have ever eaten at a classier location an certainly not with better people! Here are a few pictures of our evening....

Left to Right:Fish and Annie Kleoppel (my Sr. Director and best friend), Daryl and Hilary Rider, Mrs. Donna Schuster. Sarah Roos, Jeovany and Kimberly Marimon, and Jennifer (my director and mama) and Jim Price!!!

Beautiful views out that window!!!!

Preschool and Bedtime struggles....

Hello everyone! Well, school has started! (I guess it started a month ago really and I am just a little behind on this post!) Jazmyn is back at the same WONDERFUL preschool where she went last year. She goes 3 days a week for 2 and a half hours each day. She absolutely LOVED it last year but has had some trouble getting into the swing of things this year. She has cried everyday that I have taken her UNTIL YESTERDAY!!!! YAY!!!!!!

It was breaking my heart when she didn't want to go or when she didn't want me to leave. However, then her teacher and I decided we felt like it was more of an attention thing, (seeing as once I leave she ABSOLUTELY loves being there), so we sort of brushed it off. Monday I just (as hard as it was) totally ignored her emotional meltdown and pryed her off of me....and well yesterday she jumped in line and went to her room with her class. I think its been a combination of : having mommy all to herself all summer with no daycare kids, still clingy from mommy's surgery, and new classmates (that are all just turning 4 and are all TINY!).

Tomorrow is her snack day which means she will be the leader all day, gets to bring the snack for everyone, and also gets to share some family pictures! She is VERY excited for tomorrow so hopefully this will be the beginning of another GREAT year!

I was very proud of Jazmyn. The first day of school they had to bring their fish filled in with their favorite things...she was the only one in all of the 4 year old class to hand write hers by herself! You can click on the picture below to enlarge it, she is standing next to her fishy! She did such a great job!!!

Here are her responses:

My favorite color is: "Pink"

I like to eat: "Rice Krispies"

I like to play: "Babies"

My favorite story is: "Spongebob" (thanks to daddy!)

I feel happy when: "Mommy and Daddy give me snuggles."

At preschool, I want to: "Learn"

Spending time with DADDY....probably watching Spongebob! AARRRGGGHHHH!!!
There has been a never ending struggle in our house...its called bedtime. I have never allowed Jazmyn to sleep in our bed, but we haven't been the most structured about bed. (I think I need Brandon and Lezlie to come help us! I am so proud of well you have done with MAYA!!) Jazmyn usually ends up sleeping all night in the living room, in the recliner or on the couch. Occasionally after she falls asleep we move her to her bed, but it seems like when she is in her bed she ends up crowding us out of OUR bed by 3 or 4 in the morning.

I usually still sit, read a book or two and rock her to sleep. Ever since my brain surgery I have had a much later bedtime for myself since I am no longer babysitting. I find myself looking at the clock at 11:00 pm and saying, "OH MY goodness, I've got to get Jazzy to bed!" Am I horrible to have my 5 year old up that late?!?!? We both enjoy sleeping in, but next year is school at 8 am!Hmmmm....HELP!!! She doesn't like to sleep in her bed at all, and I've never made her go to bed on her own. I'm sure she can....but hmmmm...how long will it take me to get her into that routine!!????

Here she is just crashing out on the couch. It was only around 10 pm, actually early for us. Poor baby! Look at that sweet little face!

Here she is sitting at the table (with her kitty, Coconut) playing on her learning laptop around 10 pm again....Hohumm.....what to do....... Poor little thing! She really has never liked to sleep, even as a baby. I need some pointers on how to get her to successfully go in to her room, read a story and say her prayers with mommy, then actually stay there without ME...and simply go to sleep. That would be so nice!! But I want her to enjoy it too and not scream and cry for me. Please help us!!!! LOL!!!!

Have a great week everyone!! I can't wait to hear YOUR brilliant ideas!!!! Who wants to move in with me for a while and get our bedtime struggles conquered!! LOL!!!

Making Fair Memories...

I have so many fond memories of my little hometown fair! It was always one of the most enjoyable times of year! We have the absolute best fair around! It is so great to go and see everyone, catch up on what friends have done over the year and see how their kids have grown! It is a huge reunion weekend!!!! I had a great time getting to visit with everyone!!!!

I hope my kids had just as much fun as I always did as a kid riding rides! Jonathan was with us for the weekend and him and Jazzy rode rides all day Saturday! They had a blast together!

Here are a few snapshots from our day!

Jazmyn loved getting to see all of the floats!

Riding rides with friends!

Jazzy wasn't so sure about the "octopus" but she got on with 'Bubby' and held on for dear life!

However, she absolutely LOVED the BIG swings!!!!! She rode them over and over and over~!

Jonathan's first ride on the BULLET...he was not real excited...but we convinced him he would be fine! I told him that I rode this same ride for years and years and that it was fun and safe....his response was, "well then its a really old ride, what if a bolt falls out or something?" Thanks baby, make me feel old! He rode the entire ride with his eyes shut...but the second time he rode with his eyes opened......the third time he even turned loose of the big bar!!!! LOL!!