Christmas withdrawal

First things first! Isabelle turned 5 on the 22nd. She got a Leapster. We knew A might be a little jealous but coming from a place close to my heart I just have to allow the middle daughter the coveted video-gamish-eye-glazing-over toy.

Party time! Pajama party. Complete with cake beds. I try to copy the Parents Magazine photo spread but I really come up short. Probably because I am lazy and not too crafty. They definitely look like the kids made them and honestly- the kids couldn't make them this cool. You try melting airheads and stretching them! They don't stretch- they get harder. Parents mag lied. Make for a great teeth-pulling chew.


Sam with his lot from Santa. He didn't score much this year. Any money we saved from the gift budget went to me. Thanks Sammy!


The sweet 3 with their faux-American Girl dolls. Thanks Target. Anika exclaimed loudly that they are 100 dollars each! I didn't have it in my heart to tell the truth; it's Santa's business, not mine.


Presents from the girls: juggling balls, aluminum-foil wand, pretty art. I have to hand it to Olivia- she spent so much time the last several days decorating candy canes and neighbor gifts with abandoned ribbon and wrapping. I love her vision!

I know you're all dying to know what happened with Santa and my late request. I (kind of) feel bad to say it worked! It's not my fault! I'm blaming it on you commenters. Who wants to look stingy in front of you guys? Toast of my Martinelli's to you R! One day your stocking will have something better than Twix minis and Nu Skin products, I promise. Now I have to go feel sad Christmas is over. It came when I was not totally ready! I've got to have a plan for next year to draw the whole season out slower.

An appeal to Santa

Dear Santa,

I just wanted to let you know that I've changed my mind about something. Remember back when I said some things about leather not being compatible with motherhood? A long, long time ago? Well, my kids are much more clean now. I've stopped using my purse as a garbage bag for all the treats my kids get at the store and in public as I bribe them to stay happy for just 10 more minutes. And I'll be honest- I know I blame it on the kids because I can, but I'll try not to leave my bag laying around just anywhere. I won't put it on the car floor while kids walk on it with slushy shoes; I'll not carry a spill-proof sippy cup in my bag because somehow, some way those darn things always manage to leak. In other words, Santa, I'll protect this bag or this bag (might be asking much) with my life. And the watch...it's smart woman's jewelry. A decorative piece and a time-piece all in one! I've always been practical like that. How often does Fossil have sales on bags? (never) How often do they have sales on beautiful watches? (rarely) It's up to you, but this could be a good investment. I know I've been good.

A Believer always,
CC

P.S. I guess the watch is optional.

*Confidential* email from junkie husband

We got hot cocoa from my boss today. It had 4 candy canes in it.

I ate the 4 candy canes this morning.

I just ate a packet of hot cocoa powder because I wanted something sweet.

I don’t care where I get it. I just want it.

This is true desperation. And it's from the guy who owns a candy machine at work that dispenses M&M's and Hot Tamales with a twist of a key! Granted, they are a little stale, but free and easily accessible. Well, scratch that last part. They are in a different building. Who wants to have to exercise in order to get their fix?

Though I may mock and scoff and mock some more; truth be told, I married someone just like me. I remember a time of making my own string cheese with melted mozzarella and then reshaping it into a log (?!); melting chocolate chips with peanut butter to try and imitate Reese's, and mixing lots of sugar with a dry Kool-Aid packet to make homemade Pixie Stix, aka cavity inducers.

What have you done in a desperate moment to satiate those darn cravings?

Regression and Progression

I was excited that Samuel is finally old enough to play with some of our favorite toys. We love our dangerous Polly Pocket choking hazards! Sam is just there lovingly wetting the doll's hair with his tongue, like a mother cat to her kittens.


I know, I know...I let him eat the shoes and other fine accessories while I snap away..what kind of Mum am I? This experience is very reminiscent of the wood chips at the playground scenario. My philosophy is: let them eat and taste! Their mouth is working overtime to figure out textures and how all those salivary glands work. It's all a part of the learning process, guys. And I am excellent at swift removal of any non-food objects. I think I remove about 20 rug fuzzies from his mouth every day.


I wish I could be rejoicing as I say this: Olivia is finally taking a pacifier after 3 years! We tried over and over to give her the magical pacifier when she was a baby but she would not have it. We tried again at 1, then at 2, when she started abandoning naps (blamed it on no binky to lull her to sleep), and now that she is 3 and there is no point, she took one of Sammy's extras and has it in her mouth constantly. What do I do? (besides take it away from her- that is too obvious. Looking for creativity here!)

Quitting

Children's Book of the Month Club and Literary Guild. These are two book clubs that I've been an un-proud member of for 6-8 years, before I was an active eBay and amazon-ite. I got in with the "Get 8 Free Books" deal where after receiving those free books you're obligated to buy 3 books over a year's time and pay hideous amounts of shipping...you know the spiel. (Who hasn't been a member of BMG or Columbia House in their younger days?) I'm pretty good at not buying more than those requisite books, but of course the "gotcha" is when you occasionally forget to return your featured selection with the "no" checked in the box. Thus the book comes in the mail and you either have to annoy your mail carrier and try to convince them to return to sender, or you're stuck with a big bill and most likely a book you would not want to own (the ones you wouldn't mind accidentally receiving are always on the months you remember to check no!).

With the convenience of online web sites to decline the featured selections instead of using a stamp, after receiving the monthly catalog, I just head straight over to the computer and log on, taking care of business quickly as to avoid a package in the mail. How many years I have been doing this?? Has it really been over 6 years?! Yes. My obligations to the clubs are long gone. Why don't I just quit? A couple reasons:

1) They keep telling me that they are going to kick me out of the clubs if I don't buy something, and I don't! But they haven't kicked me out! Liars.
2) The cancellation process takes too much of my precious time. I spent a good amount of time a few years ago trying to quit. I thought I could just quit online. But those stinkers make you mail in a form requesting cancellation. That's a pain, but I can do that. However, then they make you include your account number, which is only located on those monthly mailers, which I toss as soon as I receive. So embarassingly, somehow I have not been able to remember to keep the mailers at the same time I remember I really want to carry through on this quitting thing.

But after writing this, I am vowing to quit this insanity. That is, if the address they have listed is actually valid!

What do you do automatically that is just unnecessary?

Thanksgiving education and a lot of rambling

I thought it would suit the big day coming up if I just recalled a few flashes of Thanksgivings past. I can't say that I've ever love-loved Thanksgiving until adulthood (okay, maybe a bit later) because I always thought it was just the holiday blocking the entrance of the better holiday: Christmas. Not to say I skipped being grateful all those years because of course I have always been very grateful for lots of stuff. I am also appreciative of the first settlers of this great country for being able to till the ground and make a livelihood despite the hardships...though I am a bit confused about the actual First Thanksgiving because the elementary school version always seemed like an animated children's story to me. It probably doesn't help that I picture snippets from Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving with Snoopy at the head of the long table either. So to help me and maybe somebody else, I did some research just a second ago and I realized some new things about Thanksgiving that you too may not have known.

• Thanksgiving lasted a week or so, with lots of meals indoors and out.
• They ate deer, duck, squash, cabbage, onions and corn.
• They had singing, dancing, shooting, blinds man's bluff!
• The Wampanoag tribe was who the Pilgrims dined with. Squanto was from that tribe.

So how cool are those things!? Who came up with turkey? Who came up with cranberry sauce? Pies? Changing from the week of meals to just one meal the size of one week's worth? There is more to this story we don't know. Who came up with the other half of the feast? I always thought Thanksgiving should have been Taco Bar and Hot Fudge Sundaes or something more interesting than potatoes, gravy,and somewhat unsettling mincemeat and browned banana cream pies. Now at least I can feel solace that my mental rejection of those foods is not a dis to our friendly pilgrim friends and their efforts with the fertile earth. As a pleasant sidenote, I do like stuffing-turkey-cranberry sauce-cheese sandwiches.

Back to my message. I really like Thanksgiving. It is a peaceful, reflective time of thankfulness preceding the rush of Christmas season. And Garfield's Thanksgiving is a must. It is a classic, so try to see that if you can. What else...before I make anyone else cry with this meaningful Thanksgiving Gratitude post I better sign off.

What is your thought on Thanksgiving 2008? Any traditions/foods that make the season for you? Anyone actually use a cornucopia?

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping?

If you know me at all, then you know I like to buy things. Whether it's the new scented Windex or fluffy new towels, I'm happy being a consumer. I don't know if it's the power of ownership or the simple knowledge that money is actually going somewhere instead of sitting there bored in the bank, whatever it is, I love it.

So Christmas is coming. My visiting teachers came over the other week and one of them was talking about how she liked to have all of her Christmas shopping done before December, so she could "relax and enjoy the season". Which for me, begs the question, isn't shopping part of the fun of the Christmas season???

The last couple of years I have started looking on amazon and other websites early as September for deals. I find them, I feel happy and prepared, but the problem is, THE DEALS NEVER END. So I keep on buying because how do you ignore a good deal? What about next year or a birthday? So that is one problem, not to mention the ever-changing Christmas lists of the children as the season goes on.

The other problem is not a problem. I like shopping at Christmas time, when others are out for the same reason. The rush, the Norman Rockwell feel in the air, the Christmas music (though I wish they wouldn't play it in early November!), the snow falling gently while driving on the slippery freeway....I love it all. I have even enjoyed the last minute doll shopping Christmas Eve at Shopko with slim pickins because that was festive, too. How cool to see empty shelves! Yay for Christmas!

So how do you feel? Would you rather not shop during the busy Christmas season? Are you done now? Any good deals you know of?

The last of fall fun? Say it ain't so!

As soon as the first trick or treaters were spotted at about 5:00, Anika was begging me to go...and I'm really anti-begging. I prefer beating around the bush over begging. We held off until 5:30 just so I could be the boss. As a parent, you've got to stick to your guns even if sometimes you don't know quite why.

I really feel bad for Russell who was working at home Friday, because we had a lot of faux-leaf fight fun for the camera he missed out on, along with some really good walks in the perfect weather. I really like being the parent that plays in the leaves and takes pictures and enjoys the cute moments.

We have a serious leaf-falling problem. It came on this week and now that it's cold I really don't want to rake. But it is so cool to look out the window and see the yellow trees and yellow ground.
Russell fed Sam some spaghetti today. I'm wondering if he just let Sam go at it and stick his face in the plate? The spoon-mouth-swoop-wipe is an art that only few have mastered I suppose. Anyhow, Sam is looking quite pleased with himself.

Interesting scenes

We went to Sam's Club Friday and saw the polygamists! There were 3 women, 1 baby, and 1 man. It makes all the sense in the world that they are buying bulk but I previously thought they lived in southern Utah and NV? I followed them closely but acted like I was uninterested in them so I could see them au natural. They didn't seem self-conscious...and they like free samples too! We do have a lot in common.


I'm proud of my artistic snapshot. I'm lovin' these fall colours. The reservoir is my secret weapon to reel in any out-of-towner.


We have some cousins whose parents take exotic getaways so Grandma is doing the Mom thing for a while and we get to hang with the chillun's. Fall is still going strong and I am so happy....

I love pumpkins

Welcome to our family fall fun sum-up! Megan mentioned how everyone has their halloween pumpkin patch blog post and it's true. I am sad I wasn't the first this year but this experience was unique for me in a few ways. First, I had no camera card, so I had to rely solely on Megz to document this experience for posterity, which is very important to me but not so much for her, which made for scant photo ops. Luckily my kids are well-trained to give their best cheeser whenever a camera is in the midst.

Sammy sue and Grandma C

Second unique thing? We went with a lot of cousins, which made for more fun.
Third? I really like how pumpkin patches and ice cream are now one and the same trip.
Fourth? I really like pumpkin patches. Seeing all those orange ovals and smashed octagons and pentagons and little and big and long stemmed and unstemmed really make me think about how people are like pumpkins.
Fifth? I wouldn't mind having my own pumpkin patch with hayrides some day.

Tag hodge-podge

Nikki tagged me for a fun memory thingie, and Megan and Laura and then Tonya did a fun version too, so I decided to kind of combine them, but edit out some q's for time's sake. I really liked the idea of going back 20 years. To even be able to say that astounds me.

What I was doing 20 years ago:

1. Starting 4th grade. I found out I needed glasses badly but was too vain and self-conscious to wear them so I left home each morning with them on, then took them off right before getting on the bus so the kids wouldn't see them. I'd put them back on after the bus dropped me off for home. I felt so guilty from my deceit! I thought for sure my Mom would be mad if she knew I wasn't wearing them. It was a lot of work and stress to live like that. I couldn't see the chalkboard at all. I would grab my glasses from my desk, hold them up really fast to see the board, then put them away. I got contacts in Jr. High, thankfully. I like my glasses now!

Another thing- I started "borrowing" books from the school library in bunches. There were a bunch of books I really wanted to read that were in the shelves in the dark, storage-y part of the library (it was an upstairs loft-style library) that didn't have check-out tags on them. I would take a few, stick 'em in my backpack, read them at home, and sneakily return them when I was done. Sadly, I didn't return all of them and when I reached Middle School I asked Diana, who was still in elementary, to return them for me. I think she did a few, but the sisterly love didn't cross over to covering for my sins.


5 years ago:

Pregnant with child #2, Isabelle, due in December '03. I was Anika's constant playmate but once Isabelle was born, I passed the mantle to Isabelle, in all her 7 lb. glory. Two kids are easier than one!


5 jobs:

1. Cherry sorter 3 summers in high school
2. Peach thinner, tree painter at orchard 2 summers in high school
3. Working concession stands at BYU Basketball games 4 months
4. Subway Sandwich Artist 7 months in CougarEat
5. Copy Center attendant 3 years

3 unique? things about me:

I have a permanent cracking noise when my left pointer finger and my right big toe bend. I don't think bodies are meant to pop like that!

I could have been a private detective because I'm good at spying and have really good ears.

Treats make me happy- just buying candy or knowing I have some stockpiled gives me comfort similar to a plush blankie.

Thanks for reading all that. This has been on my computer for a week now, slowly coming together. Yay!

Humility and awards to me (and I guess maybe you too)

I'm not shy about giving myself an award. After all, doctors, scientists, teachers, writers and other career-persons all get recognition in one way or another for their creativity or skills in their work. Actors have a bazillion award shows, so I'm emmy-hungry. I was just thinking of some really good things I do as a Mom that I wouldn't mind a pat on the back (from myself) for. Please excuse any made-up words.

1. First biggie: multi-tasking. Women in general seem to be pretty good at this. I can talk on the phone while playing polly pockets and checking the dinner and cleaning up drool marks on wood floor all at once. Other people work their brain by sudoku and crosswords.
   
2. Changing a nasty diaper with that child laying on floor while I stayed on exercise ball with sleeping newborn in arms. (that was seriously awesome and I was sad husband didn't get to witness my genius)
3. Taxing all my creative reserves by trying to make up activities on the fly for playdates so friend won't leave after 10 minutes with my child to her own home for more and better fun, thus damaging my child's and my house's/toys-fun reputation (though sometimes it is just really out of my hands, sadly).
   
4. Distracting children during long waits at the doctor's office or in line at Wal-mart (holy long line- why do I punish myself by going there? I should take my award away on that one)
5. Immediate high-energy mediator-ship between feuding siblings about to pull out chunks of hair or pinched skin (yes, just girl fights!).
6. Going grocery shopping with kids. We all deserve lots of awards or tsk-tsks for that one.
7. Figuring out what to do on homework. Last year with Anika I had no clue what to do sometimes. The instructions were translated to English by someone in China that didn't speak English. Comprende?
8. Making lunches that kids will actually eat and not trade with friend for something lesser (my homemade cookies for 3 cheetos??).
9. Car road-trip management. Sacrificing my own life by seatbelt abandonment in order to distribute snacks, new games and clean up spills. I think I'm driving next time!
10. Getting any housework done at all with kids around constantly undermining any and every cleanliness attempt.
11. Still managing to look hot and in heels for romantic candle-lit yummy dinner with husband, where we both unwind and relax, shedding off the worries of the day together whilst kids quietly play in the other room (can you imagine?!)

Don't be shy- what is something you do as a Mom that deserves an award?

Power of mind and miracles

R's work reserved Lagoon last night. We were looking forward to it for a looooooong time, especially Anika, having the best memory and anticipation skills out of the kids. Well, as luck would have it, Anika woke up yesterday with the stomach flu. Bummer! She usually takes two days to get over the stomach flu. She gets it hard!

Anyway, 3:00 rolls around and Russell was planning to take the other two girls, when Anika got up from the couch she'd been glued to all day and said "I feel better now- I can go! I'm even hungry enough to eat a corn dog!" (that's the question we ask to
gauge wellness) So we were cautious but she seemed like her old self again and how can we deny her this pleasure? Grocery bags stocked in the car, we headed out to Lagoon. This renewal of health reminds me of when she was 4 and got a fever Christmas Eve. In the morning, she still was
a bit lethargic and had a fever, and we
carried her downstairs to see her gifts.


Once she saw them, she recovered miraculously. She wanted to be well so bad that she became well! This was the exact same thing. We rode her in on the stroller, she saw the TerrorRide, and she hopped out and we went on that (what were we thinking- Olivia and Sammy were terrified!). That was only the beginning of many rides. She even went on the old, rickety white roller coaster Lagoon is famous for. Russell said it made him sick the second time, but she was fine! She was doing all of this on little liquid consumption and no food consumption. She ran all over the place and was happy.

I know this is how germs are
spread guys, and I apologize. But this was all for the good of the family, and she didn't sneeze or slobber on people or the rides. She was well! Once we were back in the car, she ate two bites of dinner and went to bed. This morning she woke up sick, picking up where she left off yesterday. How sad that she couldn't fully recover, but miraculous that she got to go to Lagoon. Who says miracles need to be limited to only important things?

Painting new life

Well, life has been busy! Full of regular busy-ness like school, soccer, dance, errands, and self-imposed busy-ness like home improvement. Last Saturday I had three projects in the works for Russell (hey- someone's got to supervise) including but not limited to the following:

• adding a panel of some sort to the bar to take away the church-podium appearance
• adding another shelf to our coat closet so we have more space for coloring supplies
• painting the laundry room, because I see it a lot and it is one room in the house that hasn't had the Erin touch since moving in

We accomplished # 3. Yay! I really wanted to paint something dark brown because it's a color I haven't used yet. Our laundry room is our entrance from the garage and it triples as a pantry, coat room, and laundry room. The previous owners had painted the whole thing sage green (not offensive in any way) but the trim was also green and there was a border that was starting to fall off. So I painted the trim white and Russell painted the room "warm brownie". How can you not like a color with such a name? I wonder who gets the fun job of a paint color namer. They get to be so poetic and fun. "Lava falls", "apple frost", "fresh water" and "lover's kiss" are some of my favorites.




It's in no way a beautiful room, but it serves its purpose! Is it a nasty brown or is it okay? Whatever you think, we can't change it for at least a year....so learn to like it! (I was able to convince Russell after all!)






I collect paint strips. So many fun colors!
Yay for projects!

Downsizing

What's up with everything going so small these days? First it was my cereal. Then my ice cream. I can't even buy Dreyer's any more it is so munchkin! Might as well just buy Ben and Jerry's- better taste, same size. I can kind of understand those two, with rising prices of wheat and cream. But what's up with my Barbie friend here? I didn't know plastic costs were rising too! Is this the attempt at a "more real" Barbie? She does have bigger feet. Sorry about the nakedness. I should write to Mattel and have them make spandex clothes with a little wiggle room so little hands can actually dress Barbie without adult help. Aren't they supposed to have focus groups or something for testing before they sell the toys?
















Next we've got my handsome little buddy. Megz was so kind to Livs this year for her bday. She got her the coolest extensions from the dollar store! Good thing Olivia isn't home or she'd be ticked.

Household Tips

It is amazing being domestic. So many appliances to keep running, floors to kept somewhat free of crumbs and stickies, carpets to be vacuumed, counters to keep uncluttered. It is a constant chore, and I know you're feeling burdened just thinking about it!

I found the solution to household cleanliness satisfaction for all.

1. Set standards lower. For example, yesterday I had one goal and one goal alone for the whole day. Mopping the floor. If I could get that done, I would feel like my whole house was clean. So I did it and I was accomplished and had high self-esteem (oops- that's a bad term amongst my family: we believe in humility) I mean high self-worth, or maybe just self-satisfaction.
2. Clean even in your most relaxed moments! An example of this is when I take my 1 or 2 potty breaks during the day. Whilst in the safety of the bathroom, I grab my Clorox Wipes, use one to sweep and wipe the whole floor. Then another to clean the sink area. Voila! The whole bathroom is clean! Save the toilet for another day.
3. When you see smudges on the door, clean them ASAP or you'll forget until the next time you're feeling excessively anal with cleaning inclinations. And for some of you, that could be months. Keep baby wipes in various places around the house for quick clean-ups on walls and doors.
   
4. Have wipes in the car for when you're stuck in the car forever waiting for whatever it is you wait too long for. Be useful and wipe the honey mustard off the cup holders!
5. Throw away, throw away, throw away! If it's on the counter and you want a quick clean space, just toss it! If it's that important it will come again in the mail (bills usually do that), or be re-colored or whatever. Just throw it out.
   

I hope this list is useful? Or was it just a plug for Clorox and baby wipes? Any which way, please share your useful and unique house cleaning tips.

Olivia's 3rd..

Bright and early we boola-boola the gifts. The theme seems to be purple and pink! A dress-up, matching Barbie (from the new Barbie movie coming out in a week- good times!), Dora water bottle, and a Strawberry Shortcake DVD. Olivia is very content.

Who doesn't love a good visit with a good Grandma? They had a fun time.

I didn't plan on doing a party, since Anika's took enough work..(fun work!), but Olivia kept talking about who was coming to her party the days before so we tossed out a few invites the day before for a low-key, hour-long, sprinkler party.

Something Olivia doesn't do- take naps. I guess all the fun really took a toll! She fell asleep downstairs about 5:30.

We brought her upstairs to wake her and she couldn't handle it and went back to sleep. Her sisters were blowing in her face, poking her, trying to wake her up so they could convince her McDonald's playplace was the destination for dinner (I wholly veto that idea! I can't tolerate the stinky, germy playland and will resist with all my power). Eventually she woke and we settled on sandwiches and playing at the school playground. After all, everyone's bellies were full of treats, especially Olivia's.


Happy Birthday Olivia! You are a sweet, fun girl with a great sense of humor. Just like your Mom!

Weekend Sum-up and Sub-down

Well, this was an interesting weekend. Friday night Anika got the fun (she seems to go to the most social events in the family) and went to a back-to-school party where 21 (!) girls were invited. The parents were forking out beaucoup bucks to feed pizza, ice-cream, punch, and make bracelets to all these 7-year olds. They also got to watch High School Musical 2. Of course!

While she was shin-diggin at the jamma party, the rest of us hit a reception. It was an odd reception. Kind of like a camp-out in the mountains without the fire and sleeping part but with the smoke smells and food that you keep in plastic wrap straight from Sam's Club. The festivities and excitement of a new marriage weren't there. Now granted, most receptions are not exciting for the guests and a bit socially awkward as well but it's strange when the reception isn't even exciting for the married persons.

Saturday I took Anika and Sammy on the most unfruitful shopping trip of my life. I enjoy shopping enough that I am happy as long as I buy one thing, even if it took several hours. However, this was not good. When did finding shoes that fit and don't have HSM or HM on them become such a trial? We got a lot of walking in at two malls (I know- sad) and didn't buy one thing. I have this weird rule that I can buy additional items at a store (like clothes for the other kids or toys for O's bday in this case) ONLY if I buy the item I intended to buy initially. In this case the shoes. So I put back the Soccer Coach Barbie for O and the clothes for family picture I had collected (there's always a reason to buy, right?) at Mervyn's because we didn't find any shoes there. It's like punishing Mervyn's! So that's my weird rule. So I come home feeling all ornery and mad that I didn't at least buy that durn Barbie and I get online. Hey- I always do this first! But last week when I checked they didn't have a sale. But there were the shoes I knew fit Anika, and they were 20% off and free ship. So there you go. Moral of the story? What should it be anyway? We enjoyed bonding together. Anika was happy, because she got a milkshake and Arby's melt. And their chocolate turnovers are heavenly! GO ARBY'S. I'm a fan. And I like shopping! I was just a little sad. But I'm okay now.

Summer expectations met and going off on nerd-hood

Anika painted her face just for fun

Why this summer was the best summer ever:

1. There were lots of ripe tomatoes and zucchinis (from others) and eggplant (?)
   
2. We went swimming a lot, like at our family reunion (glad she didn't notice there wasn't much more swimming than that)
   
3. going to swimming lessons (she can swim now!!)
   
4. staying up late (seriously too late- 9:45 pm average)
   
5. not going to school
6. lots of playing with friends
   
7. There were lots of fun things to do outside (bike/friends/park, repeat)
   
8. Shave ice
9. Ice cream
   
10. Parties and BBQs
    
11. My birthday!

Summer is really fun because of all those reasons. Dictated by Anika K.



Isn't this the funnest jacket ever? This is Sammy's new black corduroy jacket from TJMaxx. Look at the fun pins and embroidery. His first stylish clothing item! It's going to look great with his mohawk. My boy gonna be cool. I was wondering what makes boys nerds and even though Russell does computer stuff daily and could definitely fit the nerd mold if he wanted, he isn't a total nerd. Why? Because he doesn't relish in his techie prowess. He doesn't speak C+ to neighbors. He doesn't hide out on the computer and play online games with co-workers. He does recreational things and isn't afraid of outdoors and sports. He dabbles in a lot of things.. what a great hubs. And I love the nerd in him that always allows me a working computer and internet connection. That's where I'm the nerd. Cheers to you RK!

Carnival minus the scary clowns and sticky rides

my steady hand painting rainbows and flowers

Happy Birthday Anika! I saw an idea for a Carnival Party in the Parents magazine. I really liked the idea, so we made it work for us. It could have been cuter with more fancy looking signs but you know what? I feel fine spending as little time on the prep as possible. We had a bean bag toss and clothespin drop cousin Ike was in charge of, a squirting booth (thanks family reunion idea), a kissing booth (guess the kisses in a jar), face painting, fortune teller, potato sack races and popcorn and corndogs.


A view of the backyard. I am much happier having parties outside. And we've got shade, which makes it happen.


Megz was the best fortune teller ever. And who has outfits just waiting for occasions like this like she does? She was calling down spirits and opening heavens and feeling vibes. She had a little cheat sheet that gave insight on the party attendees so they were believers! Most of them have triplets and twins (Olivia has 14 kids!) in their futures.

Grandma lent us her potato sacks. This was a good activity for the masses though I think tall people have an advantage! Oh, and I saved presents for last this time because a few people (ahem) told me I was breaking party law for opening them at the beginning of a party. What is the protocol on this? I had really firmly thought beginning was how it was done! But it did work well at the end.


After the family party at Peteetneet, we had some birthday brownies. Note the pink hair extensions. Though I'm ready for bed, AK is still up (a birthday bonus, naturally), playing her new Pixel Chix Roomies (Ack!), and wanting R and I to play Barbies. She has been counting down this day forever and luckily it has lived up to expectations.

Happy Birthday Anika!

We gonna dance

Well, "So You Think You Can Dance" is now officially over. Waaaaaahhh....it is the fuel for my dancing fire. While viewing the blessed show I think, "hey- if those peoples can learn how to ballroom and crump and jazz it in one 3-hour session then why can't I?" And truly, even if I can't, I am so excited right now to think that I can. Quite empowering. That is why I want to do lots of things; paint, write, therapize, be president....because the idea of it before I do it is such a hopeful and excited one. I am still working on the not-getting-bored-of something new-once-I've tried it and -it doesn't-come-naturally- issues.

Back to the DVD. I bought this on amazon. I've tried it! And I'm gonna be a hip-hop danca. No, really. I was shakin' it and crankin' it and hittin' it. So this will be a fun way to exercise. No more Jane Fonda. Well, I hadn't done JF in about 10 years but there is a reason for that. Because she couldn't funkify her boring stand-still aerobics moves. This girl wears no spandex! Homey pants. And sure, a bare-midriff but just so she shows us how it can tone our abs, which is very important, right?

Anyone want to have a good time, come on over. Oh, and we also have a Salsa DVD you can borrow. This is one you can learn with your hubbies. We did it once. It was good times, but my hubby don't have no latin rhythm in his jig. So if anyone out there can picture their handsome hubby in black tight pants and a red button-up shirt (preferably a waxed chest as well), please know I've got the goods!