OK, OK

So this is easy enough....(Kendra probably knew that and had me in mind:)  

99 Things Tag

(Just copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band -if you count junior high
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain-it depends on what qualifies as a mountain - no 14ers:) 
9. Held a praying mantis - if so, purley by accident!  Gross!
10. Sang a solo 
11. Bungee jumped 
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping. 
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse 
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run 
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted 
48. Gone deep sea fishing- never left the bay
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkelingG

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie - a very small thing for high school students
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies 
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job 
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London - I hear the changing is boring, never stuck around
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book 
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car 
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous 
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake -been to it, and on a boat, but never do i want to be in it!)
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (I'm going to count a hornet)

Life as I know it...

I have much to blog about, and think about, and clean up, and prepare, and pray for, but most of all be grateful for....and that is all I want to say.

I am grateful for my life, and everyone in it.  I am blessed and I am happy.  

I put foam curlers in my daughters hair tonight for the first time and we both loved it.  She is precious.  I adore her. 

My little guy has more personality than his little body can handle, energy and exuberance that is more than I can handle much of the time, and a heart that is as big as the moon.  I adore him too.

My husband is as handsome as they come, smart as they get, and we all adore him...and we know he feels the same about us.

What more could I ask for?  Like I said...blessed.

Fun

I could survive for 44 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds Pedia

Catalyst

OK, OK, so I've been tagged, (and reprimanded) and it is actually just the kind of post I needed to get me going again. You know that point when you have so many pictures that need to be uploaded, and blogged about, that you just don't even know where to start...and you feel completely overwhelmed so you don't want to do anything with it at all? Well, that is where I have been for months now, so thank you Kendra for helping me to start with a post that doesn't involve any pictures at all. I can do this. Hopefully it is a catalyst for change.

So here I go...

7 things I can do:

1. Floral arrangements
2. Hand Draft (yes, like with lead, a T-square, and a triangle...not that I will probably ever do this again in my life)
3. Drive on the left side of the road and not wreck!
4. Work all day long and feel as if I have gotten nothing done.
5. Make a perfect MINNIE mouse pancake
6. Find good travel and hotel deals on the Internet
7. Give my husband a decent haircut


7 things I can't do:

1. Give my son a decent haircut (at least until I have resorted to just buzzing it all off with the shortest length we have on the buzzers, because I have hacked to to pieces by this point)
2. Make a decent lasagna 8 out of 10 times (maybe one day)
3. Get everything I want to do done
4. Drink Alka-seltzer
5. Sneeze quietly
6. Eat a popcorn flavored JellyBelly without gagging
7. Get organized

7 things that attracted my to my husband:

1. His confidence
2. His charisma
3. His intelligence
4. His good family
5. His sensitive and spiritual side
6. His good looks
7. He could sing:)


7 things I say most often:

1. Hey, be nice!
2. You're silly.
3. Yea, you did it!
4. What's up?
5. yes
6. no
7. What did you do?


7 celebrity admirations:

1. I don't really care much about them, so I don't really have any, but my shallow observations include:
2. James Mardsen?? - he is always a good guy and never really gets the girl-too bad
3. Harrison Ford looks good for being as old as he is
4. Johnny Depp is talented
5. I wonder if Orlando Bloom is really as cool as Legolas or William Turner in real life, and note that he has a thing for very successful trilogies.
6. The Barefoot Contessa is really thoughtful and has a sweet relationship with her hubby.
7. All the characters on THE OFFICE are terrifically wonderful at their job, love it.

7 favorite foods:

1. My grandmother's caramels
2. Italian chicken
3. Taco salad
4. Tri Tip
5. Mashed potatoes
6. Cream of Wheat
7. There are really to many to name


7 people I tag:

1. Cayly
2. Joellen
3. Kim
4. Christina
5. Marcee
6. Let's face it, most everyone has probably given up reading my blog, so if your one who IS reading this, you can be number six and seven:)

No, I'm not dead

Shocking, I know! I am alive and posting something new. I just wanted to make sure there weren't any wierdos watching my blog you know...I figured they would eventually loose interest...um, right...

No really, I actually did start several posts over this summer, and then could just never get around to adding the pictures, etc.... and then the list of things to blog about became too overwhelming and I just gave up completely.

I have never been that great at record keeping, and obviously I still have a lot to work on. But heres to a fresh start...again!

I love the fall and it seems like the perfect time to reorganize my life and get back some routine.

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out and wish all our Birthday Buddies a great day (Or hope you just had a great day)! Happy Birthday Charlotte, Dad C., Ryan, Kendra, (of course myself:), Grant, Cory, Susan, and Mom M.! We love you all! (if there is anyone else who is having a Birthday and I am unaware of the date, Happy Birthday to you too! And, let me know so I can add you to our monthly list!

Reader Beware - It's an Epistle

Well, about my trip to England.... there are probably only a few of you that want to read all about it, but since I was horrible about doing any sort of journal while away, I want to record about it here for myself. So here goes, please bear with me....

For starters, we had a GREAT time!! It had been almost exactly seven years to the day that I last went to the UK, and it was so neat to go back. It was something I had always wanted to do and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do it.

As you might of guessed, there was a lot of this:

this:

and this:

but so totally worth it!

The trip started out a little rocky with flight delays, missing the connecting flight, the possibility of coming in 10 hours late, (mind you we were supposed to meet my mother-in-law there, thus her having to wait for us for an extra 10 hours!! And THIS was the best option compared to an entire DAY late!) not to mention the Denver to London direct flight, changed to a Denver to Chicago, to Washington Dulles, to London flight = NOT FUN!!!

However, while we were looking depressed and unsure of what to do at the payphone by the baggage claim, we received an answer to silent prayers and the nicest baggage claim girl in the whole world, (seriously) informed us that she thought we could still make our flight in Denver if we caught a Frontier flight that was about to board, (don't ask me why this wasn't an option at the ticket counter...I should have been more forceful) and she quickly re booked us and we RAN to the gate, made it, and then RAN to our next flight and to our relief and joy, we made it again!!! We were SOOOOOO happy, and when Jan saw us waiting for her in London, instead of her waiting for us, she was SOOOOO happy as well.

Our bags were not so fortunate though, and we were finally reunited a mere TWO days later!! Not to worry though, we could all fit into Jan's clothes:) That is not to say that United will not be receiving a strongly worded letter about the matter though.

Once we arrived in London, our first couple of days were to be spent in the countryside, which necessitated us renting a car, and I was the lucky one elected to drive:) As I was the only one even the least bit (and I do mean just a least bit) familiar with driving on the wrong side of the road, I didn't mind and I was confident we could do it, but not entirely stress free about the matter until we had successfully handed the keys back over to the rental car company . I am happy to report that we did so without incident, and it is one more thing I can add to my list of "things I didn't know I could do". It was actually a team effort and I must give credit to Jan and Cayly - never before have I actually wanted a "backseat driver"- but it was a big help to have all of us paying attention to the road. Jan also did most of the shifting (which was on my left hand side) so I could focus on the road and that was a big plus. The whole way of driving may be a bit nerve wracking with the tiny streets, tons of cars, and very few street lights, but I must agree that it promotes a much more defensive driving style and I actually felt a lot safer with the other drivers on the road than I do often times here in America.... But onto the fun stuff.

We successfully found our countryside B&B for the first night just outside of Bath. The home, hostess, and view were all fantastic and it was a great experience. We walked up the lane to an old English pub for dinner that night and ate by fireside. It was quite, quaint, and over 300 years old!

The next morning we awoke to an amazing breakfast of croissants, yogurt (which is much better than in America I must say), cereal, juice, tea, fruit, and THEN a full English breakfast!! It was fantastic and by far the best "English breakfast" I have ever had - and I have had several. (For those of you who are wondering, that usually consists of eggs, bacon (but its more like a slice of ham), mushrooms, cooked tomatoes, sausages, and toast, or sometimes they have beans too.) We didn't want to hurt her feelings when there was no way we could eat it all, so we ran up and got a plastic bag and hid 3 huge sausages in it to throw away later. If she really thought that we ate it all, she probably thought we were pigs...I don't know what the better thing to do was. She was probably having a good laugh while she let us go to town on the first course and then brought out the "English" portion. Oh well, we were smarter the next morning and just asked for a few of the options.

After breakfast we set off for Bath and strolled through town, popped into the Jane Austen museum, and then toured the Roman Baths. We were fortunate (we thought) to get to watch Becoming Jane on the plane ride over, so it was fun to go right to the countryside where she lived and based many of her novels. We enjoyed many of our own countryside walks while there:)

After Bath, we headed for Lacock Abbey which boasts the Fox Talbot museum (inventor of photography) and the window which he chose as his very first subject to be immortalized on film. It has had a fascinating history including playing host to hundreds of children during the war as a makeshift school and more recently as movie set of several films including Harry Potter. I guess that is about as close as any of us will ever get to Hogwarts, (with its magical protective charms and all:). We navigated our way through several more small villages and found our way to our next nights lodging which was also hundreds of years old. It was actually an old mill even mentioned in the Doomsday book. It had a delightful little pond and our host had a lot of character. It was a "jolly" time, as she might have said. We enjoyed another pub meal of fish and chips and reunited with our luggage late that night.

On Thursday morning, we were able to go to Stourhead gardens and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. After our 2 1/2 mile walk around the grounds, we then climbed 200 and something steps up King Alfred's tower! It was a beautiful view and totally worth the climb.

Our next and last stop on the countryside tour was Stonehenge where we were especially lucky to also get to see a wedding taking place, a very different wedding, but a wedding none the less. I don't know if they were druids or what, but it was strange. It may have been the guy in the black cloak with the antlers, or the hopping hand in hand over a very old looking broom, or the leaning on the stones in the main circle (like they were gaining some special power from them or something), but it felt a little funny. Anyway, we couldn't stay long as we needed to return the car, but it was good to see all the same.

We had an awful time trying to return the car, (note to self: signage around Heathrow Airport - not good, and I should listen to the navigator better) but after an hour of driving around (after having been just blocks away from our destination), we finally made it. We were then off to central London and Wicked that night.

We arrived to our hotel, and although we initially had some reservations, we were pleasantly surprised with it and had a great stay. We settled in and headed to Wicked. Awesome. That is all I can say. If you ever get the opportunity to see it, don't miss it.

Stay tuned for part II of the exciting three part trilogy....

Easter Weekend

Although it is VERY belated, I wanted to post pics from our fun Easter weekend. I had spent the week in CO with my little sister and she had returned with us for Easter weekend. On Saturday we were able to go to an Easter Festival at a local Farm. We had tons of fun and will definitely go again. We enjoyed pony rides, balloon animals, face painting, wagon rides, participated in and Easter Egg Hunt, and even met the Easter Bunny! It was a little chilly (so we will come more prepared next time) but still had a great day. The Easter eggs were filled with candy, gift certificates for bowling, and some had slips to get prizes at the prize table. We were lucky enough to find one of those and although I expected something small - perhaps even a cheap stuffed animal - we totally scored when we walked away with a Radio Flyer Inch Worm rider!! The kids think it's great, (although we are still learning how to ride it) and we were very impressed with the quality of the festival overall.

Husband of the Year

Yes I know, my blog has seen another drought. It isn't that I don't want to write, I just seems that I am continually finding myself taking on new projects or finding new distractions. You may be asking yourself, "Don't we all? We can still find a minute to write about it..." and you would be right. I have no excuses.

When I am involved in one thing or another, besides usually creating an added mess of some sort, I tend to let everything else fall by the way side until the particular project is accomplished. It is just the way I work. It isn't that I CAN'T do other things, I am just not that interested in doing them until my mind can focus on them. Of course, there are things that have to be done, but if it doesn't have to be done, it probably won't be. Any of my former roommates could attest to this fact. When I would have a project due for school (and there were a lot) I would be spread out all over the place, (markers and paper everywhere) and would sometimes be up all night trying to get it done. Then I would rush out the door with a promise that I would clean it all up as soon as I got back. I usually did, (after a nap) and actually felt it was a little cathartic. This is typical of my life still. I get involved in something, make a mess doing it, and then relieve the stress of doing it all by cleaning it up when the project is done and deadlines are met.

So... my house is a mess, we have had food to eat, (but not really anything that resembles a real meal), and it is definitely time to do laundry again (except for the sheets-Alli's potty training and Jakie's mischief have necessitated those chores to be done)...But, I have a wonderful husband, who among other things, has given me reason to once again drop out of the blogosphere. He is sending me to London!!!

My sister-in-law and mother-in-law have been planning a trip to England this spring. They have never been and had been wanting me to go along since I had been. As it truly is one of my favorite places in the entire world (albeit I haven't been to much of the world yet), I would have loved to join them, but we had decided that it really wasn't in the budget this year. I was totally fine with that. I was helping Ryan's mom a little as she was trying to put it together, and then on one of those nights where she called with another question, Ryan blew us away when he suggested to her that he wanted me to go too!! I was in CO babysitting at the time and as soon as he hung up with his mom, he called and proposed the idea to me. I was shocked and SOOO excited!! He had been thinking he would surprise me for a while. He is always so thoughtful and has a way of sweeping me off my feet time and time again. Well, of course no sooner had I hung up with Ryan then I received the call from his Mom, obviously excited. Her first words were: "Have you talked to Ryan yet?" I bet she was just as happy with him as her son as I was. (You raised good boys Mom C.!) I really wish Ryan could come too, but I guess that budget bust will have to wait. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband that works so hard to provide for our needs and even some of our wants:). Thank you so much sweetie!

Anyway, the point is that I have been very preoccupied trying to plan my vacation. I think we have it mostly done though, just the looking forward to it part left. That along with the many other activities and obligations of the past weeks have kept me distracted. (Posts related to these other activities to follow soon).

So here's to the hubs! I. love. him.

P. S. He also scored big in my book this week when he surprised me again by bidding on and winning two more Serve-a-snack hostess sets for me on Ebay! They will match the set I have of my grandmothers and give me service for 12! I can't wait to have my sisters for lunch! He is the greatest!

So much to say...

So, life has been busy lately. We have had a whirlwind few months! So I am going to spare you ALL the details (because there are a lot) and proceed with a TOP 10 of Happenings (but more in chronological order than order of importance):

1. We moved! Still getting settled, but happy to be here.

2. Became landlords again. But first had to replace laundry room floor in said unit after we discovered a valve had been leaking for almost a week following the removal of our washing machine, necessitating a complete removal of floor and sub floor.

3. Prepared for the Holidays, and had a "pre" Christmas Morning before we flew to CA for 2 weeks.

4. Enjoyed Christmas with Ryan's family and attended the baby blessing of little Madelyn.

5. Upon returning from our trip, jumped right back in the saddle with my little sister's wedding and another trip to Colorado. I acted as florist and co-wedding planner, and even got the opportunity to littleraly chase down the FedEx man! It wouldn't be a wedding without some stress though right?

6. Celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary with an overnighter and dinner at a wonderful spanish restuarant!

7. Alli turned 3!

8. Jacob can now crawl up AND down the stairs all by himself, so my life just got much easier!

9. We had a terriffic "Valentime's Day" (as Alli calls it)! Ryan made me breakfast in bed with a vase of flowers and then I made a romantic candelit dinner that night. We gave Alli a teddy bear that she now adores. When I gave it to her, I brought her into our bedroom and had her stand outside my closet door and close her eyes while I retieved the gift from inside the closet. She was so excited! The next morning she brought me in and made me stand outside the closet and close MY eyes while she got me my "Valentime". Unfortunately, she couldn't find anything suitable (which I figured). I did however find several shoes strewn on the floor later, as if they had been a consideration. It was so darling.! Alli is so sweet and loving. She loves to be affectionate and cuddly lately.
She surprises me often with her compliments and thoughtful gestures, like the other day when she told me I was " a good cooker". The best part is that I know she really means them, which goes a long way when you are feeling guilty about just making Mac n' cheese for dinner, but too tired to do anything else. Anyway....

10. We unpacked and hung on the wall at least two pictures that hadn't been touched since I packed them for THE LAST MOVE, over a year ago! Hooray!!

Thank you Eve (& Grandma) for these!!! What would we do without all of your thoughtful gestures, time, and love for our family!? We certainly wouldn't be nearly as stylish at next years football game! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

Any Resemblance??

Ok, so I have a million tasks to do, but I had to take a blog break and record this.

I was just putting A. to bed, reading stories like usual. Tonight she chose to read some Sesame Street book where they basically do an entire show in one book. It is really one of my least favorites - it gets pretty wordy... Anyway, when it was time to play "Journey to Ernie", A. began to go through and point to each animal in turn and say, "Tiger Ernie, Turtle Ernie, etc." but when she go to the Water Buffalo (or Yak, or something), she very matter of factly stated, "Mama Ernie..." WHAT???? Do I really look like that Water Buffalo?!

I'm still chuckling... but really, she said it like it was fact, not even a hesitation like she just didn't know what it really was... those silly kids.

Running Away With My Thoughts!

Ok, so does anyone know if it is possible to switch the order of entries on your blog? I know it probably is, but I haven't figured it out yet...among other things. Anyway, I started an entry about Halloween, but didn't get all the pictures put on until after I had published the pumpkin patch one, and moving, which have now been up for a few days. I go to try and finally publish Halloween, and it appears before the other two and I don't know how to fix it, and most people will miss it now. So anyway, any helpful hints on this would be great, but for those of you that have been asking, scroll down a few posts to see the kids in their Halloween costumes.

Also, the above was probably one of my favorite moments that day! Can you say Casa Bonita?!

Family Fun

A few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip to the pumpkin patch for family night. It was a first for all of us I believe, and we had a GREAT time! We went to this perfect little farm, with a BIG red barn where they served delicious ice cream and apple cider donuts.


First we went on the hayride to "the patch" though, (which A. especially enjoyed) and selected two very cute kid sized pumpkins...maybe even considered gourds...

....but anyway, they were all the kids could hold by themselves and thus they were "perfect"!

The weather was perfectly crisp, the view was beautiful, and the company unbeatable. I was reminded once more why I love the Fall. We will definitely be back and have most likely started a tradition!

We're Moving, AGAIN!

Yes, that's right, we are moving the beginning of December. I swore last year that I would never move at Christmas time again, and yet here we are! We surprised even ourselves a couple of weeks ago when we decided to buy another home! We haven't even been here a year, and find ourselves making the jump again, I don't know what got into us. Well...that's not true, I do know,... it's called 1000 more square feet! It is actually another town home, but much bigger, nicer, and we will finally have a GARAGE!!!! (I don't know if I'm more excited or Ryan, but both of us for the same reason-finally a place to put all his tools!) Although I detest moving, I am actually hopeful that this time will be better than the last, considering I don't have a newborn, we aren't having to sell this house at the same time, and partly because I still have a couple of boxes all ready to go still from the last time! ( I did get most everything unpacked, but I never did get everything hung on the walls...now I don't feel so bad!)

Halloween Happenings

We spent Halloween at my parents house this year and also got to enjoy the festivities with my sister and her kids. I didn't dress up this year, (since Ryan wasn't with us, I didn't feel the need to go with a big theme), but the kids looked great and had a great time.

First my little sister Katie threw a Halloween party for the kids and then we went "Trunk or Treating". It was a lot of fun and I decided at least while the kids are little, it is the way to go for me...a small scale, manageable experience for all.

And while I am talking about the Halloween party Katie threw, I wanted to make a note so I always remember what a great aunt Katie is. She is always willing to do anything for her nieces and nephews and she DOES! (Well, unless they need her to kill a bug:) But really, she is always playing with and planning things for them to do and she loves to babysit them and just be with them. We are all really lucky to have her and want her to know that we love her.

Anyway, here are the kids in all their glory!

Grant and Aubrye

Well, a month and a half later I am finally posting a brief recap of Grant's wedding! It was a great day and we all had a lot of fun. Both the reception in CA and in UT turned out beautiful. I did the flowers for the UT reception and was happy with how they all came together, but disappointed that I didn't think to get more shots of them (or anything else that night), except for the cake topper shown above. As is also evident from the shots above, the Bride and Groom were both radiant and our little Jake was quite a charmer as well. Alli looked so cute in her "princess dress" and would have loved to have worn it for a week straight! She is such a girly girl, I love it! She and her little cousins all matched and all looked adorable! Anyway, the fact that she was wearing a nice dress didn't seem to hinder her exuberance for playing in all things water though. We had to watch her closely at both the luncheon and reception to keep her from going swimming fully clad! (It was pretty hot though, I admit!) Anyway, as I do have to make this brief, I will share just one more highlight. And THAT was watching the kids all dance out on the dance floor. My nephew Derrick was especially fun to watch as he displayed his many break dancing moves. He was then reported to have told his other Grandma not in attendance, (and pretty matter of factly I might add), "I was the life of the party!" And then, even though there was not a dance or dance floor at the second reception, he still "got down" out on the lawn to just the "mood music" that was playing. It was so cute! We hope that Grant and Aubrye enjoyed their day as much as we did and we are so excited to have Aubrye in the family! We can't wait to get to know her better and are so happy for them! Congrats once again you guys! We love you!

Super Star Mom

Or anything but. Today was one of those days I just should have stayed in bed, not that everything has gone wrong, but just ONE TERRIFYINGLY AWFUL thing. Chalk one MORE up for me on the "not so super mom" tally. Alli fell out of the shopping cart today, and yes, she is fine, but she sure doesn't look like it. I am refusing to take pictures because I don't constantly want to be reminded in the future. But I am recording it, just as my mom did for me when I fell out myself when I was a baby. (I broke my collar bone, so I guess I shouldn't be complaining.)

I was walking into Kmart from the parking lot and was just about to remind Alli to sit down (as she was standing up in the back side of the cart) and we hit a lip where the asphalt meets the cement. The next thing I know I am watching her FLIP in slow motion over the edge and land on her face...THEN she flipped again! I was SURE she had broken her neck and I was actually witnessing her death. I was terrified! She of course started crying and actually got up, as she was holding her mouth that was filling with blood. Well, I was relieved that she wasn't paralyzed, but now quite certain that she had knocked every one of her teeth out. It didn't take long to determine that her teeth were still in place and that the source of the blood was just a gash in the underside of the upper lip, but at this point the gigantic bruise on her forehead emerged and her eye started to swell. I of course checked her eyes for sign of a concussion, but all seemed well. I comforted her and she calmed a little while a few nice onlookers came to help. One nice mom told me her daughter did this just last week and was fine, but it didn't seem to help much at the moment.

I called the doctor for instructions and several minutes later, with a box of Backyardigans Band-Aids and a cow stuffed animal in hand, we are home. I know everything will be fine now, but I can't help but think how much more of this I can handle. I guess I have always know that things just happen when you raise kids, but maybe I was hoping that somehow all of mine would grow up unscathed? Fat chance. So far Alli has severely burned her hand once, and pretty badly another time. I have gotten locked out of the car with her still inside, ultimately necessitating the breaking of a window to get her out. And now this, not to mention the many less memorable bumps and bruises along the way. And she is only 2 1/2!

I just really don't do well with these "I can't believe this is happening" moments. I do really watch my children pretty well, or so I thought, but I guess I really WOULD have to be Supermom to save them from ever getting hurt.

So.Darn.Cute.

These make me happy. Maybe I have just been jealous of Alli's PURE JOY over the rain, each and every time it happens, or it could be the fact that they are So. Darn. Cute. But my heart is all aflutter over the thought of JOY-ning Alli in PURE fun playing in the rain together. Ooooohhhh.....problem....It also makes me happy to make my husband happy, and nothing makes him happy like keeping money in the bank! What to do, what to do....

If any of you are thinking, "I know exactly what to do!", then you might be interested to know I found these on Target.com and they have probably at least 30 different designs! Maybe they will make you happy as well!

Lazy Days of Summer????

Yes, Yes, I know.....no one needs to say anything. My summer days have been anything but lazy, whose ever are? But obviously when it comes to my blogging, the term couldn't be any more fitting. I do hope to be a little more on top of it the coming months though, as I also hope to have a little more structure return to the household.

That being said, we returned a week ago from a great family vacation for my brother's wedding and just had their last reception last night. I feel like I have been doing wedding stuff all month, but it all turned out great. We are excited to have Aubrye in the family. Congrats you guys, we love you! I will post a summer and wedding picture recap shortly, but also really quickly want to give a shout out and congratulate Toby and Jeanne on the birth of their little girl yesterday! I am so glad she came early!! We love you too!

Yet ANOTHER month in Review!

Well, somehow another month has flown by and I never even finished reviewing the last! I wish I could say that I didn't even have one spare second to sit and blog with all the craziness in my life, but the truth is that I did. Upon further investigation though you would find that although I did eventually encounter moments of personal time this month, I most often found myself filling those moments just trying to recover from the rest of my life.

Last summer, after what I felt was a particularly unproductive summer (particularly in the "memories" dept.), I made a commitment to myself that this year would be different. I'm not pregnant, I don't have a newborn, and I really don't have any good excuses. Each day I see my children grow and change. It is so exciting to see all the new things they learn, but I am also reminded how quickly the time goes and that I should enjoy it while I can. I don't want to look back and realize that I missed it because I let "life" get in the way. With that being said, I wanted to make more memories for myself and my family a priority this summer, and I have happily been able to do so.


SO, although I also want to have a gourmet meal on the table every night for dinner, and I would like a clean house daily, today is not that day or that night. But what I do have is a happy family and many smiles to share and remember. My hope is that I will EVENTUALLY be able to have my house clean as well though!


In Review, we were able to spend time with my family as we attended my Uncle Richard's wedding, we played in the rain, played at the pool, played with more cousins as we saw more of Ryan's family, celebrated Father's Day with a camping trip and a new pontoon boat, and went fishing a few more times as well! Alli absolutely loves her pink "polefish" and even caught a little Bluegill! And at this time of year, I am reminded how especially grateful I am to live here in this great, beautiful, and free land that affords us so many opportunities. We are truly blessed and happy.