I have been a bad blogger. How is it that a week has past by already? More than a week...it's practically Tuesday. Heck, it is Tuesday somewhere.
I really have absolutely nothing to talk about. (*surprise*) We've been up to nothing except for a evening visit last week from our pastor, my good friend having a baby, regular work stuff, and the ranch. Lord help me...could the ranch be done sometime soon? Not that that will mean anything will change around here I guess. Just more work! But don't get me wrong, it's a good thing. It's hopefully going to get me out of my go no where lame job. So for that, I am thankful. It's just been a long haul that's all.
We're also gearing up for Halloween on Wednesday. Since we moved to this neighborhood we have hosted trick-or-treating for the family. Pete has 3 sisters, they all live here in town, and all have kids. So everyone comes over here for dinner and trick-or-treating. We always have a really good time. But this year because of work and stuff...it's just kind of hectic. I usually try and make dinner...like actually make it, not order out! And I usually do something special for the kids..like last year I made them some gooey punch or you know, something like that. I just can't do it this time..so we're getting pizza! Who doesn't like pizza anyway? So, it should be fun.
As soon as Halloween is over then I gotta get my butt in gear and pack for Seattle! I can't wait!! People at work are saying "oh, so your going to go see your 'Internet friend'" Like, I'm special...if you know what I mean. I just laugh at them. I'm thinking I'll wear a big sign that says I *heart* Scrapbooking! so Chrissy will recognize me in the airport. What do you think?
One more thing before I go...
So there's this guy in my building..he's on the 2nd floor. He's a total butt. I've tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but after today, I'm convinced he is a huge @$$. About two weeks ago I get on the elevator on the 10th floor. I'm riding down with another woman from my floor and she has her hands full. I mean, FedEx box, mail, her purse..all kinds of junk. She can barely hold it all. We stop just short of the ground floor on 2. A man gets in. @$$ man. Now, normally all the men in the building are like, OVERLY chivalrous. Like if I'm standing at the back of a full elevator, they will all part ways to let me, the lady, get off first. Or they will run up behind me just to get to the door to open it. Super nice and polite. But this @$$ man guy...I have no idea what planet he is from, but he is just SO rude. So anyways, me, him and the lady with her hands full get to the bottom floor. He rushes out as fast as he can..but little hands full lady is right behind him. He opens the door, and just keeps walking and the door literally slams right in her face and he doesn't even look back! So I rush up, open the door for her and then say loud enough for him to hear it, "well, wasn't that NICE?!"
I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt that day..maybe he was really in a hurry, or maybe he didn't notice her right behind him...or maybe he didn't see that her hands were full (yeah right). But then today, he did the exact same thing to me! I'm not one of those girls who expects you to open a door for her, or let her get off an elevator before you. I'm not. But it's just not nice to let a door close in someones face. It's just not. Didn't his mother teach him anything? He must have been born in a barn.
The end.
Peace out. Hold a door open for someone tomorrow. :)

You know your a redneck when...

Your brand new plastic, yet fancy, salt and pepper grinders are now held together by duct tape.(at least I used black duct tape, right!?) Yeah, plastic doesn't hold up well on the stove top when you've got the oven on underneath it. Nope. And yes, I just bought these yesterday. Where they expensive? No. Could I go back to Costco and buy more? Yes. But that would be wasteful. And besides that I'm cheap. :| Which leads me to this thought:
Since when do you go to Target to buy $30 dollar jeans? Seriously! Don't get me wrong...Target is probably one of, if not my favorite store. I go there for just about everything. But I also go there for a deal AND I expect somewhat better quality than say something you would find at WalMart or even (blah!) K-Mart. But, that being said, I still expect to go into Target and get some basic jeans for $20 bucks. Am I asking too much? I mean, I could go to Old Navy and get some less than basic jeans for $25, or GAP outlet and get some for $40 bucks. So, why don't I go to those places and get them? Duh...Convenience! It is way more convenient to go to Target than go all the way across town to a different "better" store. Is that what I'm paying $30 dollars for? Convenience? Is it worth it? mmmmm Sometimes. But in the case of these jeans, probably not.
Why did I buy jeans at Target anyways? The answer is quite pathetic. Thursday at work we find out from our really cool boss that we get to have casual dress day on Friday! Woo hoo! Well, the bad thing for me was that I actually didn't even have any jeans at home that I would wear out of the house, let alone to casual day at work. As I'd mentioned before, my jeans were falling of my butt, not to mention the nice holes that had appeared in places, well, that just are not appropriate! LOL! So anyways, at lunch I had planned on going to Target anyways for some necessities and decided to just pick up a decent pair of jeans to wear the next day. So, I got me a pair for $30 bucks (a size smaller than normal!) and guess what? I totally need a belt, cuz these new ones actually still might be too big. Can you believe it? I'm not even trying to lose weight....just still watching what I eat, and still no soda :)But even without a belt, they're pretty cute jeans.
This is totally all I've got! Can you believe an entire post revealing just how cheap I really am?

Photoshop note: Melanie, I will send you an email :)

Another cool one..

Well, I think so anyways. I totally have a scrapbook page in my head using this pic. We'll have to see what comes of it. I had a few inquiries about the actions and links and such. So I will post some here in the next day or so. I'd do it right now, but um...well there's a pile of other stuff that I keep conveniently avoiding that I need to do.
More soon. Peace out.

Pranks, photoshop and other stuff

So, our house got egged. Yeah. Our pretty little red house got egged. And apparently it happened like 3 weeks ago and I just noticed it today. (LOL!) That's what happens when your driveway is in the rear of your house and not the front. My mom, Jake and I went out front today as my mother was doing her yard work at my house. (Luv U Mom!) Anyways, I turn around and see this huge dried up eggy mess running down the front of my house. So me, being a red head and all...I start ranting..."Our house got egged?! Stupid, freaking! GrHA! What the heck!!!" Apparently my kind neighbor heard me (I was so embarrassed!)and came over and told me that it did infact happen about 2 or 3 weeks ago. It was random as about 5 other houses were hit. It was a drive by egging...by some teenage girls. Girls! Gaww I hate girls sometimes. They're so mean. You know, I might have actually seen the humor in it if they had TP'd my house. I've been known to roll a few houses here and there in my youth. But egging? That is just not funny. I mean, we're going to have to paint over that spot. There's no getting it off. It's egg. Dried egg does not come off. So yeah, I'm kinda pissed. And kinda really embarrassed that I didn't notice it until now!
In other news...not a whole lot to report. Jake ended up being really sick last week. I took him to the doctor on Wednesday and he had an ear infection. And sice he had an other one less than a month ago, he's on some pretty heavy meds. He and Megan both still have bad coughs, but thankfully, they seem to be doing better. Thank goodness because I seriously need a break. I honestly don't know how I could handle being home all day every day. Megan is into everything. And I mean everything. All. The. Time. There is constatly a string of stuff all over the entire downstairs, all. the. time. I'm in the kitchen picking up everything she threw on the floor at breakfast, and she's in the dinning room pulling everything off my scrapbooking table. It's a never ending cycle and it makes me insane. And then I get mad, and really it's no one's fault, but it just makes me crazy.
Photoshop: So in the past week or so in my "spare" time I've been kind of messing around with Photoshop. I have PSE5. After doing some research I found out that you actually can run actions in PSE. And I found several free ones to download and I've been playing ever since. It is so addicting and just so fun! Here are some examples:
You may remeber this photo from way back in March:

And now here it is again after I cropped it and added a "soft focus" action:

I think it kind of has a dreamy look to it.
I also found a pretty neet but basic color popping action. Here is the before:
And here is the after: cool, huh? Just subtle enough to notice.

And here's one more just for fun...Pumpkin Patch Guy before:

Pumkin Patch Guy after:

Neat.O.
So do you guys wit DSLR's shoot in RAW or JPEG? Just wondering. Because I don't really know the difference, and during my research I saw several people saying it was better to shoot in RAW. But like I said, I don't really even know what that means. Less resolution?
Anyways, off to put these crazies in bed. Have a great week!

ho hum

Feeling kind of blah right now. Feeling like I kind of want to scrap, but that might take too much energy. Feeling like I need to start some laundry, but don't really want to wake Megan up right now, you know, since her room is right next to the laundry room and all. Thinking, maybe I should mop the floor. Maybe I should clean my bathroom. Maybe I should just sit here and write another boring blog post.
See, this is what happens when I get locked up for...what?...four days now. I lose all ability to do anything but veg. I hate admitting that I'm lazy to all of you. Well, today I'm lazy anyways.
It sounds like an infirmary in here.
Jake has the bug now too. He started looking all glassy-eyed yesterday and I took his temp. Yep 101*. But he's acting just fine. Coughing, yes, but acting like the same old Jake. So we're staying home another day. We're missing church and a friend of the family's wedding today. That's kind of sad...to miss out on something as wonderful as a wedding. But these kids really need to get better. They both sound horrible. I've always had a really bad sounding cough, so it doesn't really surprise me that the kids do too...but man, they both sound like little baby seals barking away. If the coughing and fevers don't subside by tomorrow, they are both going back into the doctor. I hate going to the doctor and being told, "don't worry, it's just a virus, give them lots of rest and fluids, put a humidifier in their room." and then just knowing 2 days later it's an ear infection or something like that. I know that antibiotics aren't the end all cure all, but it's like, could you please give me something to make them feel better?? Not only for their sake, but for my own? That sounds bad. Selfish. But it's true, as a mother you just hate to see your kids sick or hurt. Anyways...
Halloween is coming up soon. Jake could not be more excited about it. Everyday he's asking me if it's Halloween yet. And he remembers last year and our neighbors decorating with "bone hands" and ghosts. "Membo dat momma?!" Jake is going to be Spiderman this year (of course) and I still don't know what Megan is going to be. I thought it would be really cute if he was Spiderman and she was Wonder Woman. I found a really cute WW costume, but it was just too big for her, and with the weather being chilly like it has been, I think it will just be too cold anyways. So I still don't know what she's going to be. Any thoughts?
Uggghhhh, I hear her. She's up already from her nap.

Lovely, huh? This is what I've been dealing with the last 3 days. The girl is sick. I picked her up Wednesday evening and thought she felt warm. When we got home I took her temp and it was 102*! It just kind of came out of no where. So far it's just a virus..no ear infection or bronchitis or anything...yet. I'm supposed to bring her back Tuesday if she still has a fever. Tuesday?? That seems like a long time to wait to me. But anyways, so we basically been shut-in's the last few days. It's making me and both of the kids go insane. Sometimes I question my ability to be a SAHM if I really got to be one. I mean I love it, but at the same time it just makes me goofy. I CAN NOT stand the crap that just accumulates everywhere. It's like a never ending battle. It's like I pick up stuff all day long but at the end of the day there's still a huge mess. It makes me crazy. But what can you do? I'm not a neat freak by any means. But I do appreciate tidy-ness. Something I just can't seem to achieve these days!
I realized today I really need some new clothes. Ok, when does a woman not need new clothes? But really I do. I mean...it's pretty bad when your skinny jeans don't even fit you anymore...cuz they keep falling off my ass. I guess that should be a good thing. It IS a good thing! But I'm sure it looks pretty funny when I'm constantly pulling them up. I just need to break down and buy some that fit. I used to be able to wear jeans everyday, but at my job it's business casual, so it's all about the khaki's. I've procrastinated long enough, I need a pair of weekend jeans that actually fit me. I also noticed today I don't have much winter/warm stuff. I couldn't even find a decent sweatshirt to put on.
Isn't this the most funnest post ever? (enter sarcasm here)This is what happens when you lock me in the house for 3 days! Ok, obviously I have nothing exciting to talk about so I'll sign off for now.
Hey, what are your kids going to be for Halloween?

Seriously

I'm getting really tired of looking at scrapbooking message boards and galleries. It's almost all I do every day. Sad, isn't it? Pathetic, really. You'd think I'd find something better to do with my time. But, since my access is limitted at work, they let me look at the SB stuff, so i guess I should be happy about that. But I've gotten to the point where I LOVE looking at my friends stuff and I HATE looking at everyone elses. I feel like I've seen it all before. Instead of inspiring me, it's actually kind of like overkill. My brain feels dead to it. I never thought I'd feel that way. And there's really SO much good stuff. Especially on SIS. I mean really overwhelming. The message boards are all about contests that I did not enter because #1 I just don't have the time, and #2 because I'm just not too much of a contest person. And I'm just sick of hearing about it. And people getting all worked up about winning and not winning. I'm not competitive. On that note, I did submit a few pages (which I've never done before) just on a whim. I thought, you know, what the heck. (I'm a hopeless wishy-washer!) We'll just see if anything comes of it. *I hardly think so* I think my lack of intrest right now is all just a phase that will fade shortly. Scrapbooking is my thing and I'm really not ready to let it go.
Some things that have been going on lately at home:
The ranch: Is still coming along. Pete works his butt off. He really, really does. I am so proud of how dedicated and commited he is. But dang, the kids and I do miss him. You can really tell the kids do. They both RUN to him, arms out ready to embrace him every time he comes home. It's so cute! He loves it.
Megan: She's everywhere now. The girl runs everywhere she goes. And sometimes, for that extra bit of aerodynamicy (yes, I made that word up), she puts her arms back so she can get just a bit more speed. She likes to follow Jake everywhere, and loves to be in his room. He has a little tent in there that we keep up all the time and she thinks it's great to go in there and hide from me. She doesn't quite get that to hide, you need to be quiet. She thinks she's SO funny. She also LOVES the cat. Well, this is really nothing new. She's always loved the cat. But now that she is really mobile, she runs after her and then"pets" her. When I say "pet her", I really mean "beat her". She's not trying to be mean, she just doesn't quite get the whole gental thing yet. Poor Miss Kitty. But actually, she does't seem to mind too much. She'll just go hide under something if she gets too annoyed. Megan is not talking too much. She says a few things like "Hi" and what sounds like "brother" when ever she's near Jake...though I never call him brother, I just use his name. She also says "mow, mow" whenever she see's the cat. It's so cute! She loves to be picked up and she kicks her legs like a little frog in excitement. I love it! She also does a little bit of baby sign language. Like, 'more' is her arm streached out and her little hand making a grabbing motion.The girl mostly screams for everything. She's VERY impatient (I wonder where she gets that???) and screams if you're not quick enough with the food or the milk. She also really likes to "do it herself" when it comes to eating. If you try to spoon feed her, she shakes her head no. Little punk! We've been working on the spoon feeding though, and that does seem to be better this week. Oh yeah, and she HATES to be told "No". Oh boy, she throws a major fit. I love toddler-hood. If she wasn't so dang cute, I might go crazy! I do love her so much. Pete and I constantly give each other a look like "oh boy, this one is going to give us a run for our money!" LOL! She's a fiesty little thing for sure. She sure brings a lot of life and love to our family. I can't imagine what it would be like to not have her here.
Jake: He's been REALLY into learning lately. He's a really good "know-er" you know! It's like all of a sudden he just knows stuff. We came home from Hawaii and all of a sudden he can recognize a lot of letters in the alphabet, and numbers. A few months ago he couldn't even recognize the difference between letters and numbers. He is also gettting really good at writting his name. And all of a sudden yesterday he can write the letter H perfectly. He asks Grandma every day if he can do pre-school. He just loves doing it. And I love watching him. He's so precise about everything and follows directions really well, you can see him concentrating. He'll sit and color something for an hour. Just strokes of a crayon or marker up and down, up and down. He'll color a whole paper from top to bottom not leaving any white space left. He also loves to paint. The uninhibited mind of a child is amazing. He's just such a good kid. He's very sweet and kind, loves to snuggle and read books and of course, watch movies. Oh and he loves to "capbook" with me too! He used to be just like Megan when he was her age too! He sang us a "pecial song" tonight, all about Jesus. It was so cute.
Home: I'm thinking about hiring a housekeeper. I'm away from home at least 12 hours a day. Honestly, I just don't feel like cleaning all weekend. AND it seems impossible to keep up on it when there is constantly someone right behind you messing it right back up again. I'd just like someone to come in and do the heavy cleaning, once or twice a month. Then, I think I could keep up on the rest. What do you think? Any of you have a housekeeper? You know what's really funny? I have about 4 or so friends that are all SAHM's and they ALL have a housekeeper! And here I am gone all day and I don't. I'm not saying that you SAHM's work any less than I do. Heck no! Right now, ya'll are working 100 times more than I am! I just wish I could be HOME to keep up on stuff.
Me: I'm getting ready to go meet my girl Chrissy in real life! I'm so excited! I've never been to Seattle, never really been anywhere by myself before, AND no kids and no husband for a whole weekend! Just girls. I can't wait. We're also hoping to meet up with Nicole there too! She and her cousin are coming in for CKC. Seriously, it's gonna rock! I wish all my blog friends could come too! :( Wouldn't that be fun?
oh, and before I sign off here...I just want to apologize to some of my friends...I haven't been leaving a lot of comments lately on some blogs. Beleive me, I am reading, but at work I can't leave comments, and by the time I get home, I just have a hard time finding the time. SO, if you haven't heard from me in a while, I'm sorry and you will soon!
Take care!

Kauai intallment #2: The North Shore

So, is the music on here detering you from commenting? Is it like really distracting? I just thought I'd try it out for a while. I went old school this week with a little GnR. Love me some Axle.
It certainly is feeling like fall around here. Wasn't I just talking about it being 100* degrees, like two weeks ago? It's still warm I guess, but you can feel the crispness in the air. I like it, but it seems to early to be like this. It sure is making me want some pot roast or chicken soup. Why is that?
Kauai intallment #2: The North Shore
So, we finally get to the condo around 6, I think. And we are all so exhausted. It takes a good 45 minutes from the airport to get to the condo. Kauai really only has one main road. It goes from one end of the island to the other. The highest the speed limit ever gets is maybe 55. Maybe. So, it takes kind of a while to get anywhere. But that's ok, your in Hawaii bra, chill out! We stayed on the north shore of the island in Princeville. The north end of the island is the wetest. It rains quite a bit, but it is SO SO beautiful! Princeville gets 85 inches of rain a year. That's a lot. In fact, looming right behind Princeville, is the wettest spot on Earth. I forget what the mountain is called, but it gets 485 inches of rain a year. There's basically a constant cloud hovering up there. But if you ever go to Kauai, do not let the rain steer you away from the north side. It really doesn't rain that mouch and it only lasts a few minutes and then the sun is back out. Anyways, in my opionion, the north shore is THE most beautiful part of the entire island. When I mentioned staying in Princeville to a few people, they told me that was the snobby part of island. I sure didn't get that, so don't listen if someone tells you that. Our condo was right near a beautiful golf course and we had a nice ocean view. There were also tons of birds and chickens everywhere. Chickens run wild all over Kauai. They're even on the beach and at the airport! Here is a tour of some of the north shore beaches we went to. (and some of the prettiest the island has to offer)
Anini Beach:
This beach is long and beautiful and you can really see the turquoise water. It's very shallow here and we learned the reef is dead. I have no idea why. But because of that the snorkeling is not that good. No live reef=no fish. Lots of kite surfers and wind surfers at this beach.
Ke'ke's Beach:
This is where the road ends. The Napali Coast is just around the corner. There is no road to Napali as the island is so jungle like and rugged it is just impossible. The only way to access Napali is by foot (a 10 mile hike), by boat, or by helecoptor. Ke'Ke beach is where several scenes of South Pacific where filmed. It is a beautiful beach with a little inlet that is perfect for swimming. Then just beyond that is the reef where we saw tons of beautiful fish. Just like Finding Nemo.
Hideaways Beach:
They call it that for a reason. You'd never know it was there if you didn't know. We just happened to have this book that tells you all the scoop about everything! You have to hike down to it. You'd never even know the path was there. You go right inbetween to chain link fences and then down a cliff. It was super slippery because it had just rained and I fell on my bum. It was totally worth it though. Beautiful soft sand, torquoise water, practically deserted and good snorkeling.
Tunnels Beach:
This beach was freaking awesome! It is so beautiful, just look at it! This is where we had the most awesome-est snorkeling. We even swam with sea turtles! Tons and tons of beautiful fish, deep reef caves. Just freaking awesome. The only bad thing...mosquitos...or noseeums..or whatever, but dang if I didn't get eaten to hell all over the back of my legs. Do not set up camp under the trees, or bring bug spray if you do.
Ok, again, to avoid completely boring you, I'm going to stop here for now. Next stop: The other side of the island :)

Kauai installment #1...

So to avoid completely boring you about one subject and because I feel like maybe I have other things to talk about, I figured I'd give you the Kauai run down in sections. And then I'll move on to other stuff if I feel the need.
Kauai installment #1: Getting there:
Our plane was supposed to leave at 8:30 am from San Francisco International Airport. Since SF is close, but not that close to our house, we decided to stay the night near the airport Friday night to avoid having to get up in the middle of the night. Also, the hotel would keep our car for the entire week and shuttle us to and from the airport...all for $150 bucks. Cool deal, huh? Anyways so we get up at 5:30am, get on the shuttle at 6:30 and get over to the airport. We check in and find out that our plane will be delayed by one hour. The plane got in late the night before and required a crew rest. POOP. Oh well, right? Right. Just for to put this in your head for now: we have a connecting flight in Honolulu to Kauai.
The flight over went amazingly well. It's a 5 hour flight from SF to Honolulu. Megan was asleep before we even took off and stayed asleep for maybe 45 minutes or so. Jake was of course really good. I knew I didn't have to worry about him. The only problem we ran into was once lunch was served, Megan was in a playful mood and I just could not eat. I was making a mess and there was just too much junk and so I decided not to eat. Finally, after my sandwich was completely smashed flat, Megan decided to take a nap. She slept for the remainder of the flight. Thank goodness!
We landed in Honolulu at 11:30. Our flight to Kauai was at 12:05. When we got off the plane we were instructed to go to the inter-island terminal via the Wiki-Wiki Bus. Just step off the curb onto the bus, it will take you to the terminal, when you get there, just look at the monitor to find out what gate your flight is at. OK. So we go out to the curb....there is probably 500 hundred of us standing out there. I'm not kidding you, there were about 5 Wiki-Wiki busses that just passed us all by and did not pick any of us up. So obviously we missed our flight. Grrrr. We get to the inter-island terminal, expecting there to be someone from Hawaiian airlines to tell us where to go, or tell us to hurry they're waiting for us or.... something. Nothing. We ask someone and they say "oh Kauai flights leave out of gate 60" We go down to gate 60, there's no one there. There's a sign saying the desk is closed and go back to the Maui desk. Well there's about 100 people standing at the Maui desk. A Hawaiian airlines person comes by and asks if we have our boarding passes. "Yes we do, but...." and then she cuts us off and says "then just go to the gate". What gate? there is no gate # on our pass! AND we've already missed our flight! We wait in line some more and discover there is about 20 of us who missed our flight due to the late plane and the stupid Wiki-Wiki bus. A while later another HA emloyee comes by and says "I don't know why you missed the flight, because everyone else made it on". Basically, they were blaming us. They put us all on stand by for another flight...we waited some more. Then all of a sudden someone comes and collects all 20 of us and says they're putting us on the next Aloha Air flight. So we walk all the way down to the other end of the terminal and wait some more. (Are you tired of reading this yet? That's how I felt too...only 10 times worse!) Wait it gets better! So we finally get on the plane. We start taxi-ing out to the runway and then the capitan comes on..."Sorry folks we're gonna have to go back to the gate....there's a Blue Angles air show and the FAA has shut down the airspace above the airport for an hour". FREAKING HECK! So we all de-plane and wait another hour. It's now 3:30 Hawaii time, 6:30 California time (and remember how I didn't eat lunch on the plane?) Long and short of it is...(ok maybe the long) we finally get to Kauai at 4:45. We were supposed to be there at 12:30. We were so tired and exhausted. We finally got to our condo around 6:00 Hawaii time. LONG, LONG day! Amazingly, the kids were SO good through all of this. Such troopers they are. Jake even made a friend which helped a ton. The 2 boys played while we waited to get back on the plane. And as soon as we got in the rental car they were both out like a light!
To be continued......
I PROMISE the rest of the week WAY makes up for this. It was such a crazy day though, I just had to get the memory down

Feeling a teensy bit overwhelmed with stuff right now. I feel like I really need to tell you all about Kauai and not just show pictures. It really was an awesome trip...but see everyone is hungry, and someone has a stinky diaper, and there are two circle journals sitting on my table that need to be done, and I just got 300 pictures developed at Costco, and I just commited myself to a family project that I need to get done before Christmas. AND I still need to go get cought up on everyone's blogs. Oh yeah, and I need to do a layout for Unpubbed. And why am I still sitting here? It stinks! P-U!
I'll be back.

Home again, home again

jigity jig.
We had a blast! SOOOO much fun. Here is a slide show. More later!

*Aloha*

I'm sure this will be my last post before heading out Friday night. Just wanted it rub it in a teensy bit. tee hee!! We are so excited! Jake is really excited to go on a plane. He thinks it's going to come land at our house and let us get on and take us to "da beach". Crazy hectic around here figuring out what to do with 2 dogs, one cat, 5 gupies, and one lizzard named Fatty. I need a vacation to get ready for vacation. And then I'll need another vacation to recover from vacation. I think this is why they give Europeans the whole summer off. Pete told me I look pretty today. *glowing* He told me he can really see how much weight I've lost, especially in my face. Awww, he's so sweet. Then 20 minutes later "uh so, like when we get back from Hawaii, are you gonna like completely fore go what you've been working on? uhh you know, like with your weight?" Men. :p No, by the way, I don't plan to fore go it....but I do plan to eat what ever I want while on vacation. And you just can't help that the holidays are around the corner. Or, "Eat-Fest 2007". I don't plan on endulging quite as much in the eat fest as I did last year. We'll see.
Well, I had a bunch more to talk about, but alas, someone is crying and I've already been asked once to go help fold clothes. uhhhh. Well might not be here for a while. Have a great week...or 2.
Aloha!!

Pools, paper, movies and moose

September....is it the end of summer already? Can't be. It just can't be. It's just now getting hot around here! We've had a really mild summer for the Central Valley. It's been over 100 for about a week now though. Though it will stay warm through October, this is probably the last heat wave we'll have. Summer is definitely my favorite season, but I do also look forward to fall....The food in pots, warm baked goods, that slight crispness in the air. Love all of it. I'll even take the first rain. But after that, I can't wait for flip flops and tank tops again. September for some reason also seems like a time for new beginnings. I think it must be the kid in me that remembers the new year starts in September, not January. I feel the desperate need to organize and reorganize. I've got a list going already....organize pantry and pots and pan cupboard, clean out the junk drawer and cupboard below...go through Jake's clothes and bag up the ones for donation. Stuff like that. I've had 3 days to get started on this...do you think I've done a single thing? Nope. But hey! I've made the list...the list is better than nothing, right? Right. I will get it done though, it all needs to get done.
Pete is still gone in Idaho/Wyoming (he's right on the border of both states). He's been hunting for moose. (what the heck am I supposed to do with moose?!) He called Friday night and he'd found one to pounce on the next morning. So Sunday he calls and he got it. So you'd think he'd be on his way home, right? Well, no. He's got two other guys there he's got to guide. uhggg. He'll be home by Wednesday or Thursday. And then one more week until we go to Hawaii!!! Woo hooo!
Does anyone know of any good movies to rent? Whenever Pete is gone I take the kids to the video store to pick out a couple to watch and of course I get me one or two too. I was walking around there though and nothing really looked good. Do you have any recommendations? Seriously, I probably haven't seen 1/2 of the movies that have come out in the last year. And I'm sick of watching Air Buddies. I mean they're cute pups and all...but good lord if I see it one more time I might go nuts! I did rent Bridge to Tarabithia...and if you haven't seen it yet, it's a really great story. I remember reading the book as a kid and the movie is just great. Totally reminds me of being a kid...missing having that unstoppable imagination. Where did those days go, huh?
That's all we've really been doing this weekend. Hanging out at the pool and watching movies...Jake has learned if he plays in his room, Megan won't bug him. So I've had a few quiet afternoons with him upstairs playing by himself. It's kind of cool! Saturday we met my friend Kathleen and her son and went over to Berkeley to the Paper Source. Kind of a wasted trip. I mean, it's a cool store I guess....I guess if you have lots of money. Cuz it's pretty darn expensive. It's more geared towards stationary and card making but they had some BEAUTIFUL hand made papers that were hard to resist. Except for the price. uggg! Some of them were 12 dollars a piece! 12 dollars! They are pretty big...maybe 14x18 but still. The 2 I got were 8 dollars a piece. I still can't believe I bought two pieces of paper for 16 bucks. Crazy.
Well, I'm getting bugged for Air Buddies again.....help me!

about stuff

*I'm warning you now..this post has no real point..just another one of my random ramblings about stuff*
Funny thing I just noticed....Just put Jake to bed a second ago. I swear, he really is more like me every day. Little things I notice here and there. I have this kind of funny thing where I can not stand if the sheets and blankets are messed up on the bed when I get in. Pete could sleep with half the comforter falling on the floor and the top sheet balled up in the middle of the bed. Me? No. Can't stand it. The sheet and blanket have to be all strait and neat when I get in. No mother, I don't make the bed when I get up in the morning. You'd think I would...but who has time for that? So anyways, back to Jake...last night his comforter had fallen off the bed so when I got him up this morning I just threw it on top of the bed and we got dressed and left the house as always. (I'm a great house keeper as you can plainly see) Tonight I'm tucking him in and he says "make sure you fix my blanket first mommy" he gets in and I cover him up and tuck him in all nice...He says "oh! it's so nice and strait!" and lets out a little happy giggle. He was so happy about it! I just chuckled to myself and smiled. He truly is my kid. 100%. No doubt about it.
Little miss Megan had her 12 month check up today. That girl is 33 inches tall! Think about that for a second and let it sink in...she's 12 months old and 3 inches short of 3 feet. Yeah, she's totally off the charts in height.I'm growing a giant. She's so funny, she holds anything she can find up to her ear and "talks" like it's a phone. For instance tonight I see her toddling around with one of my flip-flops up to her head and she's babbling "ma-ma, ba ba ba! Hi!" So funny!
Haven't talked about my job in a while...If you've been following along, most of you know I took a new job earlier this year after working for another company for the last 6 years. Well I'm going to go ahead and write it out loud....It quite possibly was one of the worst decisions. hmm. yeah. Aside the fact that I'm completely bored every day, fight to stay awake at my desk and probably within the near future will need medication to stabilize my mental health, I'm working for a company that very well might be going under. Some of you know I'm in the mortgage industry and well....if you watch any news or own a home or are trying to sell a home, you can probably guess that the real estate market is pretty much in the crapper right now. And so is the mortgage industry. And, I just happen to work for the one company that is ALL over the financial news these days. Yeah, the one where the CEO of the company looks like he sleeps in a tanning bed? Yeah, that one. I don't really have anything else to say about it, but I do wonder if my days are numbered there. I mean how long can they afford to pay me to do nothing? Not really sure what I plan to do, if anything, about it. Just ridding it out for now, but lord have mercy, it's dread full.
Our office likes to take up charitable collections for certain things all the time. Not that I'm against charity, NOT AT ALL....but sometimes we really struggle just to make it to the next paycheck. I feel so pressured to donate stuff to these things. This month being back to school and all, we set up to donate backpacks and school supplies to a local elementary school in Concord. Michelle and I went and delivered them yesterday. Wow, this school could not have been in more need for this stuff. Most of the students there are very low income Hispanics or Asian and a lot of them barely even speak English. There were parents in the office that didn't speak English at all. We walk into the office and it's sweltering in there. It was 100* in Concord yesterday and there was no air conditioning...NO AIR CONDITIONING!...and there was about 20 kids sitting in the office at 2:30 because their parents "forgot" that it was an early day. For some reason here in CA the kids get out early one day a week. And their parents FORGOT they were there! How sad is that? There were 4 ladies working as office staff...besides the fact that there was no air in there...they had desks in places that weren't supposed to have desks...one of them stuck out into a doorway. The "staff room" was about as big as my bathroom with a refrigerator that had to have been about 40 years old. It was just sad. Why is education not held to a higher standard in this state? I've been out of the education scene for about 6 years now and I guess I just forgot what crap these kids and teachers have to deal with. I saw signs posted in the same school district on one of the major streets in town saying 350 teachers left the district because of benefits. 350!! And do you think they were replaced with quality staff? I doubt it. They were probably replaced with "teachers" that are still in school and haven't even finished the credential program. It's sad. It's becoming more of a real issue to me now that I have kids going into a public school system here next year. I could go on and on I suppose but I better quit here.
Pete is gone to Idaho for the week so you know what that means....chips and salsa for dinner, staying up way too late etc...
Guess I better get my butt upstairs.
See ya :)

*Birthday Girl*

Seriously, just yesterday I finally realized just how cool it is to have a girl. Not that I haven't enjoyed Megan this whole time, but oh my gosh....After dressing her up yesterday and doing her hair...Well, I just can't stop gushing over her and how cute she is! And how fun it is to dress her up. Tomorrow she turns one. I can hardly believe it. The year has FLOWN by so fast. But at the same time, I can hardly remember her as a newborn. It seems like just yesterday, but because it's all been so fast, it's like...where did my baby go? She started walking last week...and this week she's saying stuff. She screams when she wants more food...so we tell her "say 'more please'" so she says "mo-mo". Today we were at the Dr.'s office and she dropped the sticker they gave her. I said "uh-oh!" she repeated and said "oh-oh, oh-oh!" It was cute, but it's crazy how once they hit 12 months it's like their brain development just takes off. Crazy. Crazy good and crazy bad all at the same time.
Here are some more pics from the weekend and the cake-eating:




This last one just cracks me up. She's like, "what is this stuff all over me?
Ok, now I'm going to talk about Jake. Well, Jake and me really. Do you ever feel like you're holding your kid back? Like you're holding them back from experiencing things, or being who they want to be? Ok example: Me? For some reason I've got social issues. I'm really shy. At first anyways. I've always been shy, but it just takes me a few minutes to warm up. Sometimes I make plans and then I end up "flaking" because I just feel like hanging out in my jammies all day. Or I want to do something, but I don't call because I feel like I'm intruding or something. Or sometimes, if for some reason I feel like I can completely control the environment or situation, then I can be completely outgoing. (there really is a point to all this...i think) Anyways, so we're at my best friends house on Saturday. Her little girl is turning 4. (Jake and Emily are only 10 days apart!) Kari and I have known each other since we were 3, but we haven't lived near each other since we were 7, nor did we ever go to the same school except for one year...she was in first grade and me in 2nd. So we've never really had the same group of friends. She and I have remained friends all these years, but we don't really have any mutual friends together. SOOO me, Jake and Megan are at this party, but we don't really know anyone there or any of the kids. So me, being my shy self, just kind of meander through the back yard...Keeping close tabs on Megan as she crawls around, and there's Jake....He's practically glued to me. He followed me everywhere. I said, "why don't you go play with the other kids?" Jake: oh, they said I couldn't play. So not true. All he wanted to do was go inside and watch Sponge Bob. (he doesn't get to watch that at home cuz we don't have cable) Then it was time to play games. Jake really wanted to play, I could tell he did. But I could also tell that he was nervous about the whole thing...and I could sense that he thought everyone was looking at him...and he didn't like it. But he LOVED playing the games. The thing that got me was this is SOOOOO EXACTLY what I would have done..and basically DID do and DO now. I kept looking at him and saying to myself "oh. my. gosh. He is ME." He is SO me. Did I do this? Did I make him anti-social? Have I showed him to hold back? I feel like I need to be a better example to him. I already know he's WAY more outgoing than I EVER was. I need to encourage THAT behavior. It's so hard being a parent sometimes. You just want your kids to have the best life and be good people. Jake is good people, that I know for sure. He's very well behaved and a really nice kid. I can see it when we're around other kids. Chrissy was talking about it on her blog...She has good kids too.
The good thing about the whole party was after the games, Jake really opened up. He found a buddy and they played tag and ran around together and I could see he was really having fun. Whew, that made me happy. I opened up a little too. I just dug in and helped Kari with the party. Took pictures for her, helped serve up cake and ice cream...that sort of thing. I had fun too :)
Ok,this has been a long one! See ya :)
P.S. Mom, or anyone else that's interested, there are more pictures here.

Dude, where is everyone?

My email box is empty, there's little to no updates in my Google reader, and there's nothing going on in scrapworld it seems. I guess these really are the lazy days of summer. I have felt like doing nothing lately. Last week was crazy so I just feel like I needed to chill this week.
One HUGE thing to talk about this week is this:

This is Megan taking her very first steps on her own last Saturday! I set her on the grass out front (which I know, desparately needed to me mowed!)and she just decided to go for it! She stood up all by herself and took about 2 steps and then fell back down. She didn't give up, she just kept trying. It was so cute! She's of course still mostly crawling, but tonight she just walked across the room to me. So exciting! She'll be ready to run by the time we go on vacation next month!
I just finished a new miniBook this week too. It was my first attempt at a "clear" one. You can see it here
I don't have much else to report...Back to chillin for now.
See ya :)

Sinfully Delicious

Just look at it! Oh it's so good. And I don't even like chocolate that much. I know, I'm strange. This is a piece of the cake I made the other night. Thought I'd post the recipe just in case you were interested. Grab a glass of milk, or whatever sweet diluting beverage you prefer! The recipe comes from our church cookbook, but I think it's pretty common..I've seen it online a few times. In fact, while making this I referred to another version of it just so I could be sure my cookbook was right. It's LOADED with sugar. So, if your diabetic or watching your carbs, I don't recommend you even look at this cake!
It's very, very easy to make so don't let the whole "from scratch" thing scare you. Easy Peasy! If I can do it, certainly anyone else could.
Cake:
2 cups sugar (yes, 2 whole cups!)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 cup (2 sticks) of butter
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
Mix the sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Set aside. In a small saucepan, bring butter, water and cocoa to a boil. Beat cocoa mixture into the flower mixture until well blended. Beat in egg/buttermilk mixture. Poor into a 9x13 inch greased pan and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.
Mine took a bit longer than 30 minutes. Just do the toothpick trick to make sure it's done in the middle. You can also make this as a sheet cake in a cookie sheet/jelly roll pan, and reduce the cooking time to about 20 minutes.

The last 5 minutes of cooking time, start making the sinful frosting:
Frosting:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
2 Tbsp cocoa
3 Tbsp milk
2 to 2 and half cups of powdered sugar (plan on using about a hole 16oz box) *yikes*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
In a small saucepan, stirring constantly, bring butter, cocoa and milk to a boil. Add vanilla and then beat in the powdered sugar until smooth. If it's too stiff, add a little milk. You can also mix in some chopped nuts, but me personally...I don't think nuts and chocolate should me mixed. I know, I'm strange.
Now, take that frosting and poor it over the hot cake! YUMMM. This cake is best eaten warm, right out of the oven. But if you make it in advance, you could certainly zap it in the microwave for (seriously) only 5 or 6 seconds.
Delicious! Let me know if you try it. Back to normal posts tomorrow!

uhhh, yeah....I've got another mess to clean up. As you can see. Yesterday's recipe: Dunkin Hines baby! All you need is a Pampered Chef Easy Accent Decorator, and you can make anything look delicious! Today's recipe is from SCRATCH and it is OH SO DE-Licious and FATening! I will post it tomorrow maybe or over the weekend.
Pictures: yep, all the recent uploads, including today, yesterday and the banner were taken with the new Canon. The banner was taken strait out of the box. Gotta love it.
Ok, clean up time! see ya :)

I have a huge mess to clean up now. See ya :)

Dessert week in the Wilcox house

MMMMMM blackberry cobbler. Made this on Sunday just to be nice to Pete and I got "this is really good". Which is saying a lot. He usually doesn't complement food too often. I'm calling this week "dessert week" because dang if I'm not making 3 desserts this week....maybe even more. I made the blackberry cobbler on Sunday. (you can find the recipe here...this is a totally awesome blog by the way...oh and her regular blog is pretty cool too..) Anyways, tomorrow night I'm making cupcakes for Jake to take to Grandma's Wednesday...it's his birthday :) THEN Wednesday night I'm making a chocolate cake to take to work for someone elses birthday. Dessert week for sure. Saturday I'm thinking of making homemade ice cream...it's what we always did for birthdays when I was little and I'd like to make it a tradition for my kids too...since both their b-days are in August.
I hope I don't gain all my weight back before I go to Hawaii!...This is why I'm eating Lien Cuisine for lunch all week.
This is very interesting and kind of really sad. I saw it on someone elses blog. I've heard of this website before, but I guess I didn't really think it was real?? I don't know I never gave it much thought, but this video kinda makes you step back and think a bout the world.
That's all I got. I will be practicing with the new camera this week....which I have another story about but will have to wait...I need to get to bed.