It is a well known fact that I have not been blogging in quite some time. Every day it makes it on the to-do list, but it always finds a way to fall too low on the priority list. I really have been meaning to update -- if for nothing else, than for everyone to be able to see how much the kids have changed! They really are growing fast, and because of that I am always on the move. I feel like this is the first time I've sat at the computer forever. I actually am thinking that my wpm has dropped by almost half -- how sad is that!! (that's typing speed for all of you who missed out on Type to Learn in elementary school)
Anyway, the only real reason I'm posting is because I caught a great deal online today. If you go to softminkyblankets.com, you can receive a FREE mini minky blanket! How awesome is that?!? So I knew I had to share the news. I actually spoke someone there (because my info wasn't sending through) and she informed me that they would only be running the promo through tonight at midnight (MST). So hurry on up and get one for your kids (or yourself, if you want a little minky love)! If you have trouble sending your info through via their website, just email them directly at info@minkycouture.com. Make sure to include your name, number, address, and URL of where you posted the button.
Seriously, TOO EASY to get some incredible free stuff!!
And fingers crossed and share some pictures with you all soon! :)
Here's their website: http://www.softminkyblankets.com/
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
apparent
Thursday, March 18, 2010
and one for march!!
"I brought children into this dark world because it needed the light that only a child can bring."
"Even when freshly washed and relieved of all obvious confections, children tend to be sticky."
"Children are unpredictable. You never know what inconsistency they're going to catch you in next."
"There was never a child so lovely but his mother was glad to get him to sleep."
"It is not easy to be crafty and winsome at the same time, and few accomplish it after the age of six."
~John W. Gardner and Francesca Gardner Reese
"A child seldom needs a good talking to as a good listening to."
~Robert Brault
"If we would listen to our kids, we'd discover that they are largely self-explanatory."
"There are only two things a child will share willingly - communicable diseases and his mother's age."
"Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing."
Monday, February 1, 2010
one post for january, one post for february...
hahaha, let's hope I don't stick to a once-a-month-post plan for the rest of the year! I would allow you all to call me lame. You can't call me that unless I only post once a month, though. No need to be rude.
Joe and I got tivo for Christmas three years ago and yesterday was the official LAST DAY of our service (technically, the last day of our 3 yr service plan). We had talked several times about canceling our cable when the tivo service was going to expire; I was actually the one who first mentioned the idea to Joe. Yesterday rolls around and I actually think my palms started to sweat! Only because I was all paranoid all the shows I had recorded and saved to watch later (apparently, months later) would disappear on February 1st. Throw that fear in with Joe leaving to go out of town yesterday after church (what the heck was I going to do when the kids go to sleep??!?) and I totally caved and renewed the subscription -- Joe wasn't there to stop me! hahaha!! Okay so I have till the end of this month to decide what I am going to do with this 'dilemma.' Some people have had great success with canceling their cable, while others have told me that if I want to save money I can cut corners elsewhere. What to do.... would I need to buy a satellite since the channels are all digital now? If that's like 80 bucks I'd rather just keep my awesome tivo and pause and rewind at will. Well I'm not going to type all my thoughts out about this. Although, not having tivo reminds me of when I was nursing Boston at 3am. All I can tell you about that experience was that had I had the phone AND my wallet next to me while the babe was attached to me, I would have bought several different, yet all incredible, products: MagicBullet, Shark steam cleaner, a straightener/curler/brush all-in-one, and too many other things to name from the Q. It's embarrassing how weak I am...
Alright, well here are some pictures from October (I'm not that far behind -- NOT!!)
These were our neighbors back when we lived in Connecticut. They STILL live there, although they recently put their house up for sale. Joe and I stopped in Connecticut one day because he wanted to see where I spent 8 years of my life :) They were kind enough to let us stay the night. It was weird seeing their kids all grown up (I babysat them all throughout middle school).
Our old house -- I hadn't seen it in almost 10 years.
FINALLY!! We made it to Boston! We made a stop over there because Joe's brother, Luke, is going to school at Berklee College of Music. Here is his 'Full House' style house. I wanted to live in it simply because it looks so cool from the outside. The street it is on reminded me of San Fransisco and how incredibly hilly it was. I think all the roads leading up to his house were a 10 incline, if you speak treadmill talk. Remembering that made me reconsider living in this cool green house.
Luke's room. The size of this apartment made me completely revise my previous statement of wanting to live there. so. ridiculously. small. Not too great of a picture of Joe, but Luke was looking good so it's getting posted! I offered buying Luke some hangers, but he would have none of that. When it comes to his room, he is one of those people that lives by phrase, "organized chaos." So I dropped the offering of the hangers and tried to convince him to put his mattress on top of his suitcases to free up some floor space. I have decided that neither Joe nor Luke like being told what to do.
Joe really, really excited to be a Quincy Market! hahaha, not really. I told him to do that.
Sweetest wigs at the sweetest store ever. Or would these be considered hats?? I should have asked...
OH MY GOSH -- THIS IS WHY I NEVER BLOG!! I gave Reese some marshmallows and she proceeded to put them all in her mouth and spit them all out on the carpet, bookcases and walls. What a sticky mess! While I was cleaning that disaster up, Boston came out of the bathroom and had sprayed the concentrated room fragrance in his hair -- since apparently it is "hair spray." Ugh... Reese scrambled down the stairs after her smearing of the marshmallows and grabbed the popcorn bag from the trashcan in the kitchen and left a trail of popcorn kernels -- Hansel and Gretel style -- from the table, up the stairs and to the loft upstairs.
So I guess I'll finish the rest of October later tonight... we'll see. I'm going to go to the gym and give myself a break from childcare. I might go work out while I'm there, too :)
Monday, January 11, 2010
new year, new post
Wow, has it been this long? My friend Rachel says yes!!! Holy smokes, this blogging vacation has gotten totally out of control. People that go on this long of a break usually come back with "I haven't been blogging because I'm PREGNANT!!!" (in a sing songy voice, mind you)
I have no such announcement. I will announce, however, that I am on my period! WAHOO! Isn't that the best news you've heard in a while? I was laying in bed thinking about how absolutely awful cramps are and thought (WARNING: A peak into my brain), "I wish I had a girl I could complain to about this... too bad I'm not in high school and could chit chat random thoughts with friends during the 5 minute locker break in between classes... actually, what a great thing it is to not be in high school anymore... maybe I'll post about how awful it is to be a 'woman' because only females read my blog and then I'll get some sympathy... do I really want my first post back to be about my monthly 'visitor'? Maybe I should just complain to Joe. On second thought, I'm pretty sure he would want me to keep that to myself..." So I got myself out of bed and here I am! I seriously feel like I need to throw up and poop at the same time (I'm sure Joe is positively THRILLED that I put that info on our blog). Luckily, none of that is going to happen -- but un-luckily (great word), because I actually think I would feel better after the fact. It reminds me of my friend in college that once told me she had a major case of the runs. As she was hurrying to the bathroom, she realized she was about to throw up. There is only one toilet and only one direction you can be in... Oh man, I laughed so hard when she told me about this happening to her -- true story too!! For the life of me I can't remember what she decided to do, but it makes me laugh just thinking about the panic you would be experiencing at that very moment -- "sit or kneel? sit or kneel!?!" The situation also reminds me of my favorite game, "Would You Rather...?" but I think I shall move on...
Life seriously has been flying by at the speed of light for us. I have not posted our Halloween (when we actually went Trick or Treating), Thanksgiving, our trip to Hawaii, Christmas, and all the other random pictures in between the celebrations. I feel totally behind and have been putting off uploading all those pictures because for some reason it takes so long (or am I just retarded?). I have been putting "post to blog" on my to-do list for about 2 weeks now too! How lame am I for including that on my list, right next to "put away laundry" and "go to grocery store" -- seriously. Lame. I figured that by at least letting everyone know that we are all alive and relatively well (Reese has a cold) that it would make the task of uploading pictures and writing about all the events less daunting. Hopefully I'll be posting again more frequently :)
Some things that have been going on, in no particular order:
~ I was the teacher for our preschool this week (have I mentioned that I organized this mom-taught school since preschool out here is ridiculously expensive? I'll have to post about this too). The letter I chose was 'N' and I decided to do the theme around the new year (get it?) since it is all fresh on their minds and to introduce the new date to them. Amongst other things, we made noise makers (lame I keep bolding that letter!) and then these super cute 2010 glasses and held a little parade for the kids. It really was so funny to see them marching around, tooting their noise makers, shouting "2010 -- Happy New Year!!" By the time I realized that I should take some video, or at least some pictures, of the event, Boston started throwing a fit saying he was hungry. And then he was starving. And then he was crying. I really did feed him a mere HOUR before this little meltdown happened. Maybe he's going through a growth spurt... silly boy. Then they all ate craisins. Notice that I didn't bold any letters in that snack? Probably because craisins and the starting with the letter 'n' don't have a ton in common. We were going to make homemade pasta noodles (yes!) with the new pasta maker/roller that I got for Christmas (super cool present and super fun for the kids to use, by the way). But someone had dropped off a starving kid at my school and thereby ruining that plan. What a neglectful mother (who shall remain nameless).
~ Boston is officially a Sunbeam. I truly cannot believe it. Today was his second week of going to sharing time instead of nursery, and when I dropped him off I actually almost cried. I mean, seriously, his feet don't even touch the floor when he's sitting on his chair, and it's one of those mini chairs too. This was his second week; the first week he was in Primary I was actually subbing for one of the classes and so I got to stay in the room with him the whole time he was there. I did not feel weepy that week. Maybe it's the whole period thing coming to ruin my life by making everyone think I'm a crazy mom for crying on my child's second week of Primary. I need to get it together! The first Sunday was so cute because they all sang the "Hello, Hello" song to the new Sunbeams and Boston was standing up front, looking at everyone with the biggest smile on his face, waving. The whole song. The other kids were either staring in shock or bawling their eyes out from all the attention. My little guy was proudly waving hello to every soul in that room. I actually have a video of it, so I'll have to post it later. So cute :) That same day, he raised his hand when the Primary president asked, "What do you and your Dad do together?" She called on him, not knowing that he would say "um... um... um..." for the next 10 seconds. Right before she gave up to call on someone else, he blurted out, "We say prayers." Have I mentioned that he was wearing his little suit? Oh dear, he was so cute answering questions, all while looking so handsome in his suit. Heaven help me. So naturally I almost tear up when I drop him off on the second week, right? Maybe it was because I wasn't going to be in the room with him where he could turn and find me, smile and wave while saying "Hi mommy!" This little boy is getting too old too quick.
He drew a picture in his class today of our family. I think I'm going to have to scan it and post it on here -- Joe wants to save it, but I'd rather just have it on the computer seeing as though he didn't really draw the whole thing. You'll see what I mean later when I post it. Anyway, I think it's funny whenever you ask him about what he did in class he says, "I colored _____" Last week it was his crown and this week it was the picture of our family. So I say back, "No, what did your teacher talk to you about. Did she tell you about choosing the right?" "No mom. She told me to color my crown. These are the sparkly gems and these are not sparkly." Well, at least he's following directions if he's not learning anything else. I'm sure it's not from a lack of trying on the teacher's part, though!
~ Reese has gone from the sweetest of the sweet children to crazy drama mama. I think in like 10 seconds flat, too. I swear, it was like one morning she woke up and decided, "I shall be the screamiest squawker this world has ever seen!" I had been fooled into thinking that girls are easier than boys when they are younger, but are harder when they are older (like teenagers). Either that statement is just a load of quackery or my girl does not like to follow the rules. Seeing as though she is my daughter, I'm beginning to believe that it is the latter of the two. Let's hope she grows out of that soon!! As for now, she is like our little tornado -- leaving little (and big) disasters in her wake. And unfortunately, whenever she doesn't get her way (ie: pick her up and say 'no'), she literally tries to gouge out your eyes. Or rip out your earrings. Or pull your hair (she loves to do this to Boston). All while emitting multiple, short ear piercing screams. Isn't that a lovely scene? She seriously has drawn blood. Gotta keep those nails clipped!! Too bad she hates that. And having her diaper changed. Joe and I argue about who gets to do that chore over the weekends -- you would think we were cutting her with knives. Yet, God knew what he was doing with her and put her in the cutest little package imaginable. She is so incredibly darn cute that it's hard to stay annoyed. She has even perfected the sad, protruding lip all while being able to squeeze out the biggest, fattest tears you've ever seen. Just thinking about it makes me want to hold her. Oh dear, oh my.
All that craziness aside, it has been so fun watching her personality emerge (not the diva one mentioned above). I have thought that Boston is the weirdest little kid -- in a funny, silly way -- but she is definitely vying for that title. She loves to make faces at us and loves to make us laugh even more. She stood up on a truck tonight, stuck her rear end out, turned and looked at me and started to bounce up and down. What made it so funny is that it is Boston's 'signature move.' He does it all the time to try and make us laugh, and here this cute little girl is doing this lame dance from memory -- all in an effort to get me to laugh! Sadly, it totally worked. I wish I didn't laugh at stuff like that, but then again I am the product of my mother :)
~ As for me, I have been trying to go to the gym ever since I went on a non-stop eating binge. Oh, did I mention that it started at Thanksgiving?? Holy living smokes/cow. No lie. It sounds more out of control than it was (apparently I tend to exaggerate), but I really was not caring about what, when, or how much I ate. Pretty sure it's catching up to me, and I didn't need anymore weight catching me. So I've gone back to the dreaded treadmill. Seriously, I hate that machine. I did at one point have a love/hate sort of thing going on with it because I was losing weight. You can't hate something that makes you skinny! This time around, the weight is slower than SLOW to come off. I'm beginning to think that my body is in some sort of 'caveman' mode and is maybe thinking I'm about to hibernate -- it's the only explanation that is making sense (sad because it is an illogical theory!). I am really going to try and be diligent about working out this time. I haven't stuck to it in 5 years, so I figure it's about time. My good friend from BYU started a blog about weight loss, and I am actually finding myself motivated to eat better after reading her posts. Plus, she totally makes me laugh and she is amazingly lazy like me -- I love that about her :), yet hate about me. Anyway, you can follow her if you want here. Aside from trying to stop being obese (according to that terribly depressing BMI chart), nothing really new is going on with me. At least, nothing I can think of at 1:30 in the morning!
~ Joe is still my red headed lover :) He's entering his 4th 'busy season,' but his 1st as an official CPA! I think that's cool, but he probably thinks it's lame I just wrote that because it's "not relevant," as he likes to say. It's hard to believe that he will actually be busier during the next 4 months because it seems like he is always busy and hard at work. It was this time last year that he really started raking in the Marriott points for all his traveling, which in turn allowed us to go to Hawaii for free (with some exceptions, of course). As much as I absolutely LOVED Hawaii, I'd actually rather have that husband of mine around more often. He recently applied for a scholarship to go back to school and get his PhD in Accounting (and be a professor). Out of the hundreds that applied, they narrowed their choices down to 30 people and they chose him!! (which did not come as that much of a surprise to me. He was more surprised, however :)) He has applied to a handful of PhD programs and will find out sometime in March where he was accepted. School would then start this September, therefore making this his last busy season -- hooray!! Ultimately, I would still say that his career is up in the air because there are several decisions yet to be made. I guess we will see where 2010 takes us :)
Joe has made a goal for himself to do a sprint triathlon this year and has been going to the gym to get ready for that. Seeing him make time for working out has been a good motivation for me to do the same :) Joe has asked me in the past if I would want to do a race with him (meaning do the same race. I can't keep up with his speed. Him and his darn skinny legs), and I've always said absolutely not -- I hate running. I think he has given up on pestering me about doing races, but my friend, Rachel, posted some stuff about running on her blog and recently ran her first marathon. I still think she is a little crazy for doing that -- but man, I envy the fact that she did it!! It's really pretty cool. So now I'm starting to think that maybe I will do some sort of race 'with' Joe. I don't know about the sprint triathlon though... maybe just a 5K!! hahaha, there's that reliable Laziness rearing it's face again. Race or no race, it's good thing we are both moving again, eh??
So, small tangent aside, Joe is doing great :)
Okay. I have decided that this post TOTALLY sounded like a Christmas card towards the end. What the heck is wrong with me? I think reading all the Christmas cards my mom got over the holidays permeated my brain more than I thought... still, aren't you all glad that I posted something?!?! First goal of the new year COMPLETE!! Now with that small self-esteem boost and the fact that the cramps are finally gone, I am off to bed. But to sign off in true Christmas card style fashion (yet in all seriousness), "I hope the new year finds you all well!!"