Thursday, May 31, 2007
Ok Question....
Ok details later. I just needed a little vent.
Thanks :D
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Wanted to share this...
Did you all have a good Memorial Day? I hate the fact that most people kind of forget what the holiday is all about. (Totally ME included!) I'm not pointing fingers, just kind of stating a fact. I mean especially in that we are at war right now. We have young men and women fighting for our freedom right now. Today. Today they are dieing and crying, and fighting, and missing their families for the sake of you and me. Not trying to get all political. i definitely have a different opinion of this war now than I did when it all started. I really do wonder what it is we are fighting for over there. But most importantly, I want to remember and support our guys and gals. I want them to know that they are not forgotten. So if by any chance you are a passer by and you are a soldier...Thank you. For reals, Thanks.
Our Memorial Day did not have anything to do with America, or soldiers, or anything like that. We ended up going to the Oakland Zoo on Monday. We, meaning my MIL, all three SIL's and all 6 kids. It was super fun. And we had gorgeous weather. I'd never been to this zoo. It was actually really nice. Some of you might be familiar with Oakland and might be thinking the words "Oakland" and "nice" may not belong in the same sentence together! Well it is true, a lot of Oakland is totally ghetto, but the majority of it is very nice. The zoo being no exception. Jake had actually never been to a zoo before. He was so excited about everything. They had a reptile/amphibian house and that was by far his favorite. I thought I lost him at one point. Seriously, I started to kind of panic a bit. He was so excited that he wouldn't stand still. He would look at something and then just start running to the next thing 10 seconds later. It was crazy. So finally my MIL just went off with him by herself and let him lead the way. We couldn't find them for like 45 minutes. I thought for sure Jake had run off and she'd lost him! Good Lord. Thank the Lord he didn't and she kept up with him! So I got NO good pics of the zoo. Suck. I just uploaded them tonight and there's maybe one good one of a giraffe. hmm.
Outside the zoo they have a bunch of little kiddie carnival rides. So of course we had to let the kids ride. I took Jake on this little tiger roller coaster. He hated it! It was so funny sitting next to him. He didn't cry or anything, you could just tell he was not enjoying himself at all! Faith took him on another ride that was kind of a combination of the Tea Cups at Disneyland and a Tilt-a-whirl at your local carnival. Not only does it spin around, but it also has a wheel in the middle that you can turn and spin very fast. So before the ride even starts, Faith (she's 8) has the thing spinning like crazy. I didn't even know they made rides like that anymore. You should have seen Jake. His eyes looked like they were just going to pop out of his head. When he got off, he looked miserable and said he just wanted to go home. Long story-short--he lasted for another whole 2 hours maybe...we stopped to get something to eat and he didn't eat. But as soon as we walked in the door....BLAHHH. Yep. He puked. Poor kid. But he felt so much better after that! He went to bed at 6:30 and slept all night. It was a tough day for him!
Anyways, that's about it for now. Ended up being longer than I expected. Off to pay some bills (gross) and then go to bed.
night night. :)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
What do you think?
I finally got me some pencil crayons! Just thought I'd mess around with them a little tonight. Can you belive this?.....JAKE was the one who colored this. Well I started off with just a bit of the red and yellow on the cherry, and I did color the leaves....but I walked away and came back to find this. Not bad for a three year old I must say! He finished my red and then decided to highlight it all in yellow. I think I might have an artist on my hands! Normally I would be totally ticked that he was messing with my stuff. But How could I get mad at this? Not much else going on here this weekend. Pete left Thursday morning to go to Alaska. He's guiding a bear hunt up there. So I guess it's work and play. He'll be gone 10 days. I miss him, of course, but you know it's pretty nice not to have to cook all the time. Well, you know cook, cook. I can make Jake a quesadilla or a PB&J and he's good to go. Same with Megan. Pop open a thing of baby food and she's good to go. I don't have to worry about a 3 course meal or anything! Does that make me a bad mother? I did, however, try the BBQ chicken wrap Chrissy was talking about the other day on her blog. I must say, it was so good I had 2! My tortillas were small so I justified having 2! LOL! Jake ended up just eating the chicken out of it. He gagged on the tomatoes. Kid is just like his dad. I don't understand how someone could hate tomatoes so much and love spaghetti. Anyway, I did technically cook since I actually put the chicken on the Q. I usually eat like crap when Pete is gone. Last night I had chips and salsa for dinner....at 9:30 or some crazy hour. Anyways, yep we're doing nothing exciting around here. Tomorrow we're haning out with the SIL's and MIL. Don't know what we're doing yet though. Hope your weekends are more exciting than this!
*oh-I have to write this down so I don't forget*- Last night I'm putting Jake to bed. He says "Momma, don't turn my fan off." "Ok, I won't". He says, "Yeah, cuz I need some air so I don't die". This is all totally in reffrence to bugs in a jar. He's 100% boy, in that he's obsessed with catching bugs and putting them in jars or bags or what ever he can find to store the stinkin things. *ughh* Do you know he can catch a fly like Mr. Miagi? You know from the Karate Kid? Only he uses his fingers instead of chopsticks. He sneaks up on them and then fast as lightning, he grabs with his fingers. I'm not kidding, I've seen him do it a dozen times now. Pete didn't believe me until he saw a jar sitting on our patio with a live fly in it.
One more funny thing...We're driving around today and Jake sees one of those things they have in front of car dealers...the blow up things that look like a crazy guy dancing? You know what I'm talking about? So he says "Look at that dancing guy! Why is him dancing?" I say "because he's having a good time". So he says "with the ladies?". How does he know, guys have 'good times' with the ladies?! I know, this is all like "you had to be there" type of stuff. But it's just all for my memory's sake.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Pidoman, muscles, and top 10 inventions
Back to business---Jake still thinks he's Spiderman. He just cracks me up. So Sunday he's walking around all day with these tiny little Mr. Potato Head glasses on. They're perched right on the tip of his nose and he's getting all squinty eyed trying to look through them. (I know, a picture would help, wouldn't it?--I'm not home so forgive me for the lack of visuals!) Ok, so he's wearing these glasses all day long. I say "Jake, why are you wearing those?" He says "deese are my Pidoman gasses Momma". I say "Spiderman doesn't wear glasses you ding-a-ling". "Uhhh Yes Momma, he do. Pete-o Parko (that would be Peter Parker)wears gasses and he's Pidoman". Uhhh DUH! The kid is smart, I tell ya! Memory of steel.
Muscles-Another funny Jake story. First I'll give you the background. This goes back to when we were up at my moms after my Grandma passed away. My cousin, Jeremy was up there. Jake thinks Jeremy is SO cool. So we're eating dinner one night and Jake is not eating his baked beans. So Jeremy tells him " you better eat your beans or you won't have big muscles like me" Then he flexes his bicep. So then the other day Jake points to his elbow and says, "see my big muscle Momma? It's weely big, huh?!" I say "dude, that is your elbow...this is your muscle". Of course Mr know it all says "nu uh Momma! Jermy told me. Dis is my muscle! See I eat de beans, dey go down my froat, and den I get big muscles right here!" And he shows me by pointing to his throat and then drawing a line with his finger down his arm to his elbow. Ok, so maybe I'm the only one who thinks this is funny. Me and my mom. We think it is.
Top 10 inventions: I was listening to the radio on my way to work today and the DJ had a list of the 10 top inventions that have changed our lives in the last 25 years (so since 1982) I just thought this was pretty interesting. Can you think of what some could be? I don't remember all of them, but some were the iPod, DVD's, the Blackberry, and stuff like that. But two of them really stuck out to me. One was the debit card. Can you believe we've only had the debit card for 12 years? It first came out in 1995. I could not live without a debit card! Could you? I mean can you imagine writing checks at the grocery store? Or actually carrying your checkbook with you? I never carry mine with me. Number 10 on the list was really great....Bagged salad. Think about it... this is a totally awesome invention. I mean who cares how much it costs? You're totally going to buy it. How often do you buy lettuce and all the other stuff that goes in a salad. I never do that anymore. I might buy a tomato, or you know something else to go in the salad. But I always, always buy the pre-made stuff. Don't you? What else can you think of that has changed our lives?
I know, this was kind of a boring post, but it was just stuff that was on my mind today. I could tell you again how boring my job is....but that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The best weekend...
Saturday: Started off quiet. Megan slept until about 7...which, since I went back to work is pretty late for her. It was nice. When she woke up I put her in bed with me and we snuggled for a while. This is like the only time she really snuggles...the rest of the time she just wants to play, play, play! So I really love the mornings with her. I let Jake sleep until about 8-8:30 because he and I stayed up late the night before. When he finally got up we all played together. I even got some scrapping in before and after nap time! Pete got home from the ranch around 4 and we quickly got ready to go to our dinner thing. It was a fund raising dinner for the California Mule Deer Association. Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun. (and remember we had no kids with us-so even more fun). We had excellent food from Kinders...a locally famous BBQ and meat deli. They served BBQ prime rib. YUM. They had raffles and even a live auction with a real auctioneer. I don't know why, but that dang auction was the best part of the night! I found it highly entertaining! LOL! I didn't even care about what they were auctioning off...it was stuff like riffles and guns and trips to go hunting. Nothing I cared about, but the auctioneer was so good. And they had these guys all around the banquet room as spotters and helping them make bids and stuff. It was crazy exciting! LOL!! One guy at our table obviously had lots of money to burn. He won a few of the auction items and if I calculated correctly he spent about 10 thousand dollars. Yeah. Crazy. They raffled off probably at least 20 to 30 guns and wildlife paintings and a gun safe and all kinds of other little stuff. We did not win anything. That was the only dissapointment of the night. Super fun to have a night out with the kids...which hasn't happened in almost a year. Very, very good.
Sunday: Meg slept late again. Good start! After we snuggeled for a while, I got up, took a shower and then went downstairs. I made homemade muffins for everyone (yeah, I know it was mother's day and it's supposed to be the other way around...but the rest of the day makes up for it!) I emptied the dishwasher as I talked to my mom on the phone wishing her a happy Mother's Day. At 10 I met my SIL's at my MIL's house. We drove over to Pleasanton to hop on BART to get over to the city. It was a beautiful day over there. If you ever go to to SF go in spring or fall. Otherwise it's freezing and foggy. Winter is usually not bad either. In summer it could be 100 degrees at my house and 58 in the city. Anyways, we got off BART at Powell Street. Which dumps you right downtown....basically right into the Nordstroms. :D First thing we did was go to Bloomingdales and Kim and Rachel tried on dresses that were like $1000, (yeah!) just for fun! The only reason I didn't try any on is because I didn't want to take off my tennis shoes and socks. I know, I'm lazy. I also didn't feel like looking like a fat cow. Kim and Rach are both skinny mini's! Anyways, Kim had got us reservations for brunch at a really nice hotel. (it was $65 a person!-a little rich for my blood, but it was good!) We walked up Geary Street to the hotel and had a very nice relaxing brunch. It was expensive, but it was SO good. I said that already, didn't I? Yeah. Anyways on our way to Brunch we passed by the Corran Theater. I think this theater was built way back in the early 1900's. Not sure, I'll have to look it up. I saw Phantom of the Opera here when I was in high school. It is beautiful inside. We saw they were showing Jersey Boys (a Broadway show about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons) My MIL really, really wanted to see it. So she bought tickets for all of us! It didn't start until 7, so we went shopping for the rest of the afternoon. I also had to call Pete and make sure it was ok that I stayed out that late...and make sure the kids were ok. I was surprised he didn't say anything, but he said "yes" without hesitation. YAY!! So anyways like I said we went shopping. Did you know? They have a 4 story Old Navy in SF. 4 stories! It was pretty awesome even though I don't like Old Navy all that much...but they have great stuff for kids. My MIL got a cute little skirt for Megan for $6.99. And I want to go back and get these. They're only 10 bucks. I think they'll be great for around the pool and for when we go to Hawaii. I did get some big framed sun glasses and a beach tote there. Then we went to Nordstroms and my SIL's helped me spend all $300 of my gift certificates! I got some tops and a pair of shorts. I think I'm going to take some of it back though. I don't think I'm down with this new style of shirts...they're like babydoll tops...you know kind of an empire waist with a flowing, peasant type below that. Kinda like this: I don't know, but I just feel pregnant when I wear them! I know it's the syle right now, but I just feel uncomfortable. Yeah, I think I'm gonna take 'em back. Ok so anyways back to the awesome weekend...After spending all my money, we hiked back up to the theater for Jersey Boys. It was so good. If it comes to your town, I highly recommend going to see it. It had all this music in it that I knew, I just didn't know that this paticular group sang them. All from the 60's- "Big girls don't cry", "Sherry", "Rag Doll", "Can't take my eyes off of you". Good, good stuff! The story was good too. All about how they got together, they had some money issues, they were slightly involved with the Mob. It was mostly about the music. Really fun and everyone was dancing in the isle at the end.
So that about sums up the totally mega cool awesome weekend. I want more like that! It was just so relaxing and so nice to just hang out with girls. I NEVER hang out. The SIL's hang out together all the time, but rarely do I get invited. I don't think it's because they don't like me, I think it's because they don't think about it, or that they think I will say no. I do say no sometimes. I can be somewhat anti-social. I wish I wasn't like that.
Kid update: Jake thinks he's Spiderman (or as he says "Pide-o-man") If I say something he doesn't like, he flings an imaginary web at me through his fingers--with sound effects and everything. ("ffffsseeewwwww") Boys are fun. He told me he went to the doctor and the doctor put a web in his hand. He's so funny.
Megan crawling update: We have major mobility. Of course it's not really forward mobility! She goes all over the house now but she doesn't really crawl and she definitely does not go forward. It's so funny to watch her. She goes around in circles, she goes backwards, she goes sideways but not forward. Anyways it's cute, and it's funny. When ever she figures out how to to get up on all fours and actually move forward, it will be a stellar day! LOL!
Hope you all had a great Mother's day! See more pictures of SF here
Saturday, May 12, 2007
*Help!*
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Just a bunch of random stuff...
Scrapbooking/photography note: I think it was Chrissy's blog...the other day I was reading how much her husband gets mad at all the crazy picture taking...Girls! Stand up for your hobby! Stand up for photos! Tell your husbands to eat $#*! (j/k don't do that!) Tell them they need to help and take pictures of you too! I was just reminded this weekend how incredibly important it is to document our lives with photos and stories. My cousin and I spent a couple of hours going through a box of photos my grandma had. It was so amazing to see the passage of time over the last 85 years...the vacations they took, the birthdays, the parties...the everyday life! It took us quite a while to go through them all...and a lot of them didn't have any info on them at all, and some of them had little stories on the back. But all I was thinking when I was done was "I want more". I just couldn't get enough. I saw pictures of my mother when she was my age. She was GORGEOUS. Seriously. Not that she isn't now, but wow, she was just so pretty. Anyways, all I'm trying to say is keep doing what your doing. It really will be appreciated someday.
Kid update: Megan...well she is SOooooooo close to crawling. Last night she fell over on her tummy several times while trying to get something out of her reach. This usually makes her scream, but last night you could see the happy determination on her face. She barly has a bit of forward motion. She can get up on one knee, then she kind of pushes off with the other foot, causing her to inch forward a bit! It's so cute. Oh, and I know you're all going to think I'm nuts, but seriously, she has said her first word. Not counting ma- ma and da- da. She says "kitty". It's not clear as day or anything, but it is clearly two syllables kind of like "ta-ty" or something like that. And I know it's kitty that she's saying because she only says it when she sees the cat. I had heard her say it a couple of times over the weekend, and I wasn't quite sure I was hearing what I thought I was hearing. But then this morning I was getting ready to put her in the car...I was holding her and not really paying attention. The cat ran into the garage, Megan looks down right at her and says "ta-ty". So there you have it. Proof. My child is a genius! Ha!
Saturday, May 05, 2007
National Scrapbook Day
Can you believe this hobby has it's own day? No, this is not just a fad! Scrapbooking has turned the crafting world upside down and brought women together all across the world. Amazing. My friend Chrissy got a huge honor of recognition today over at 2peas. She was highlighted today as basically, 'someone to watch'. And she is for sure. Way to go girl, you totally deserve it! And another scrapping note...please don't forget to check back next week at unpubbed for our first featured guest! It's gonna be good. And join in the fun, post your work...we can't wait to see it!
Ok, I'm off. Hope you have a great rest of your weekend!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Kathleen W. Smith
Or Kay to some, or Kat to her family. To me, she was Grandma. She went home to meet her Heavenly Father this morning, 5/3/07. She was 84 years old. She was a wonderful mother, grandmother, and wife to my Papa. She worked until she was about 72, I think, as a nurse. She was very active and was loved and respected by many of her younger colleagues. I used to go to her house after school...she loved to play games. She taught me how to play domino's and "Farkel", a dice game we always played at family gatherings. We did paint by numbers together, and she did her best to help me with my math homework. Even though she reminded me she got a "D" in math growing up. We went on walks through the neighborhood. She made beans and cornbread. She always had cornbread muffins. She crumbled hers up in a glass of milk and ate it, or drank it like that. I always thought that was gross. We always made homemade ice cream for mine and my Papa's birthdays...and oven steak and fried okra. She let me use her nursing cap for Halloween....more than once. When I was 15 I decided NOT to go on vacation with her and Papa...because i was too cool to be seen alone with my grandparents. I regretted it the second I said it...but didn't go anyways. So, when I was 20 and she asked me again to go to Texas with her, I didn't hesitate, and I said yes. It was me, grandma, her sister Betsy and her Brother Buddy and his wife. Just me and 4 old people! And I had the best time! I'll never forget how we got "lost" in Mexico and all 5 of us crammed into one taxi to get back to the border! The last few years she had been suffering from dementia...or severe short term memory loss. She'd ask you the same question 10 times in a 1/2 hour. But other than that, her body was basically healthy. I saw her just this last Saturday when I went to my moms for a visit. She seemed happy and in a good mood. She remembered my kids names. And held Megan the entire time we were there. She stood at her window and waived to us as we drove out. I had no idea what was to come this morning. It's amazing how we can take every day the Lord gives us for granted. But we do, because what else are we to do? No one can tell what will come next. And you can't spend you're whole life worrying about it. I've been blessed to have shared almost 30 years with this wonderful woman, and I will miss her more than I can imagine. But, I am comforted in knowing she is with Jesus, and Papa and her sister and brother....and she'll be waiting for me when I get there.
I love you Grandma!
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Hey there!
Another note about Greys....I can not confirm that George is leaving. I'm only assuming so because there has been rumors flying around about it for months...and then last week when he tells Izzy he's transferring, I just thought "ok, that's his out", right? I thought that just kind of sealed the deal. But maybe I'm wrong. I guess this week is supposed to be a 2 hour show. :D
Yesterday, I ended my post with "hope your day is full of creative sunshine". I have no idea where I got that...it just came to me. And I've decided I really like it. So, this weekend I'm gonna try and incorporate that somehow to my banner. (mostly as a reminder for myself, but maybe for all of you too) Chris{tina}sy *wink* let us know what the dimensions are for the blog banner so I'm gonna give it a go this weekend and see what I can come up with! :D
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
You know....
Maybe it's a good thing. I feel like maybe my mouth has been running a little too fast lately. Like maybe I've said too much...or not known when to shut up. Yesterday, I really felt like I made some people mad. Some people I really don't want to be mad, you know? I felt like maybe my words were like the last straw....the straw that broke the proverbial "camels back". And then I had a major panic attack. No one said anything for the longest time. I got so nervous because I HATE confrontation. I want to live in a world where people are happy, happy all the time! I'm dreaming, I know. But I get knots in my tummy when I think anyone is mad at me...or if there is some kind of tense conversation going on around me...it doesn't even have to involve me. What is that about?! Yes, I know, I'm overly sensitive. Anyways, I think all is good now.
Anyways, on to other stuff....If you haven't checked out unpubbed yet, please do! And submit your layouts too! We'll be looking at each and every one. Who knows, we might just pick you for our next guest designer! We want you to have your 15 minutes too!
Megan turned 8 months old on Saturday. I can not believe she's that old all ready. And I can't believe it's May 1st! The year is flying by. So, she's 8 months and not crawling yet. She sits up and slaps her hands on the floor and she rocks back and forth...like she's trying to crawl. But she does nothing with her butt. Well sometimes she scoots a bit. If I put her on her tummy, she just looks like she's going for a swim. It's so funny, she just kicks her legs like crazy. Then, if I put her up on her hands and knees, she gets really mad and screams cuz she has no idea what to do. I guess she'll figure it out. I'm not too worried about it except for the fact that Jake was already crawling at this age. But you're not supposed to compare kids, right? She absolutely loves to stand up and pull up though...maybe she'll skip crawling.
Jake's head is much better. He's gonna have a pretty good scar though. Are all kids weird...or just mine? Sometimes I think Jake has OCD. So the other day it got up to like 95 degrees. Pretty hot for April, even in California. Anyways so he's getting ready for bed and he's putting on PJ's with long sleeves and long pants. I tell him it's too hot to wear those and give him another pair that is shorts and a T-shirt. He flips out...not really throwing a fit or anything. He's smart enough not to do that. But you can see it on his face that he's just mad about it. He gets tears in his eyes and says "I don't wanna wear these ones". I calmly explain that it's too hot to wear the other ones and then give him the option to just wear his underwear to bed if he wants. Anyways this back and forth stuff goes on and on for what seems like forever. Finally he puts on the shorts, but he's still upset about it. He gets in his bed, tells me good night and then says "but momma, I don't wanna wear these ones." After like 15 minutes has gone by. He's still fixed on these stupid shorts. Please tell me that my kid is not the only one who acts like that. Should I have just let him wear the other ones? I think we're both just stubborn. I want him to do it my way, and he wants to do it his. We're both Leo's. Maybe that's why.
Well, this is getting kind of boring isn't it? I don't have a whole lot to report. Seriously, yesterday's post that got lost was way better than this one. But I can't remember it all! Oh one more thing for you Grey's fans....I hate George and I'm glad he's leaving. I really like Callie...I think I'm in the minority there, but I do really like her. And what she said to Izzy in the elevator was great. She is so the bigger person. And I think the whole Izzy and George sleeping together thing was crazy...why couldn't they just stay friends? McDreamy is Mc-tickin' me off! He's being really selfish right now. Carrie....I know a lot of people don't like her. But for some reason, I can't help but like her. She is soooo self centered and I think she's kind of mean to Burke, but I can't help but like her for some reason.
Ok, well I'll leave you with that. Hope your day is full of creative sunshine :D