I think we found our HOUSE

When you know. You know. I think we found our house tonight. It's great. Here is it's picture. I am going to name it Lily. There are lilies in the front yard and that's the first thing I noticed. It's got a fantastic floor plan for a family, plenty of room for guests, playing, cooking (it has a dream kitchen) and a fantastic price. It's 2400 sq feet, one floor, new (2yrs old), clean, light and happy. I love the outside and how it is situated. I love this house. Did I mention that? I LOVE this house? Pray for us that everything goes okay with the paperwork.

Friday Confessions # um not sure

• I stopped cooking for a long time. I just got tired of it. Last night I made a great dinner. As I watched my happy family shoveling in food with gusto while making yummy noises I thought to myself...good. That ought to hold them over for awhile. Thank goodness because cooking is exhausting.
• I'm supposed to be doing something productive right now while my parents take the chicks to the bouncy place but instead I am blogging.
• I made Mike watch 27 dresses last night which perhaps might have the cheeziest ending of any movie ever except "You've Got Mail" where Tom Hanks brushes a tear off of Meg Ryan's cheek and says "Don't cry shopgirl. Don't cry." Even just typing that made my tummy roll with nausea.
• I am dying to see the Sex and the City movie because I have watched SATC in reruns where the bad language and apparently the sex has been removed. But I know the movie version will not be edited. But I still want to see it. If I go at 9:30 tonight by myself and nobody knows do you think that would be okay? (I already checked the show times, that's how I know I could go at 9:30)
• I love cherries and eat them until I get sick.

The Power of Positive Reinforcement

Over the past three weeks Jessica and I have seemed a little like oil and water. She's been pushing her boundaries, arguing and I've been out of patience, out of breath and sharper with her than I would like to be. Basically, I've wanted to ring her neck on multiple occasions and have gone into my room to cry after putting in her room to cry. Katie's been extra good because she's the chick who wants to be popular and have everyone like her so she just wasn't gonna step into this mess.

Obviously, something had to change. And I realized it wasn't going to be my 3 year old. So I conducted an experiment. I would be really sweet and not react when she did something naughty unless it was an established rule breaker. Like going in the street, throwing food on the floor, being unkind etc. On top of that, I would go overboard to praise every little thing she did right or sweet. I told her like 30 times a day that she was nice, and good, and kind, and sweet, and gentle, and loving. I told her she was a good minder and that she listened well to mommy. When she was loving to anyone, I gave HER extra love and hugs. I made a point to spend time holding her and tickling her back and running my fingers through her hair. I decided not to freak out if they didn't take a nap. As long as they were relatively quiet and in their room for the duration of naptime, it was fine. I had fun with her and made sure we laughed together about something each day. I'm only like 5 days into my experiment and I CAN NOT TELL YOU WHAT A DIFFERENT KID I HAVE. She is going out of her way to be good. She is making every effort to be loving and do loving things. She is minding so much faster. The whiny voice that I thought would drive me over the edge is gone. And Katie has even gotten better. They have been so loving to each other and have played so well together the last couple of days. Tonight when we were going to bed after our books and song and before prayers, I said "I have an announcement so everyone touch your ears so I know you are listening. I just would like to say Jessica Rose has been extra good today. She has been so loving, kind and sweet and I am so proud of her." Mike got down on his knees and gave her a big hug and told her how happy he was to hear that and he was so proud of her. Then all of a sudden Kate jumped up like a rocket and I thought (oh, no...she's going to feel left out) and she ran over to Jessica and grabbed her around the neck and yelled "I'm proud of you too Jessica Rose!" And gave her a million kisses. If you could have seen the look on that kid's face...seriously, it brought tears to both Mike and my eyes. She was so proud of herself and so happy that we were all celebrating that she was being good and loving.

I swear, it took very little effort on my part to change my reaction and attitude. And it has made parenting so much fun this week and so much easier. I knew this in my head, I just needed to change my attitude. I feel like I have my Jessica back. And I feel like the girls love each other so much and we are having fun together again. I hope it lasts.

Sophie in Mortal Peril

My girls each have a comfort toy that they've had since they were infants. Jessica's is the head of a rabbit and then the body is an actual little snuggly blanket. Jessica's toy is named Clarice Rahbiet Blankette. (Clarice (because we liked the name, Rahbiet (she's a rabbit) Blankette (she's also a blanket) Katie's toy is named Sophie Bear Blankette. (Same reasons) These two gals are cuddly, velvet, satin pink snuggly, marshmallow, squishy best friends to our girls. Their story is Sophie is married to Stanley Bear Blankette (we also have him but nobody got attached so the girls gave him to me) and they have a Saudi Arabian cousin by marriage living in America named Clarice and Rahbiet was her maiden name. We do these kind of background stories for all of our babies and stuffed animals. Who wants a doll just named dolly that came from ToysRUs and has no soul? Our girls are highly attached to Sophie and Clarice. As in, they have to have them to sleep, they carry them around most of the day and they have to have them in the car wherever we go. My biggest nightmare is somehow losing either Clarice or Sophie because for our family it would be very near to an actual death of a loved one.

Onto my story. So today, we are cruising down the street and Katie says "Mommy, I need some wind". So I crack her window about 4 inches down. We continue down the street. She then says "Mommy, I need my Sophie." Now she says this fifty times at least during every car ride over 2 miles. Usually, I just nod my head and say "uhhuh...ssssooorrry baby girl but I can't get her while the car is moving. I'll get her for ya when we stop". But for some reason today I said "where is she Katie?" and she says "out there!" I look in my rearview mirror and there is Sophie, about 200 feet behind me, on the ground, being plummeted with cars on busier than snot Laguna Blvd. I yell "Katie, Oh NO!" My mom was with me and she says "KATIE, what happened?". We are in actual panic mode because Sophie had actually left the vehicle and was being run over many times by oncoming traffic on a 4 lane busy road. So I whip around, drive like mad, whip around again, hit my hazard lights, block off both lanes of traffic and stop the car. By this time Jessica is crying and Katie is yelling "save her Grammie!!!". My mom jumps out, runs like mad in front of my van, grabs Sophie and dives back into the car. Katie is overcome with happiness and starts hugging and kissing Sophie and whimpering. Jessica can't stop crying for like at least 5 minutes after Sophie got saved because she was so scared for Katie and missing Clarice who she had left at home and taken Shooka the Killer Whale instead. Whew...it was a rough few minutes there. I can't even begin to imagine if I hadn't seen Sophie on the road.

Shooka has a back story too. We'll save that for another time.

If You Are a Parent or Not Please Read This!

I need your help. Mike and I have decided to take our entire stimulus check from the government and make the girls a play room that will really be functional and good for them now as well as in the future. We'll add money if we run out...we just want it to be what will work and aren't totally focused on the cost.

So, here's what we need. Nothing permanent on the walls (we are military and have to move with this stuff), but stuff we can anchor to the walls (so it doesn't fall and crush anyone). We need storage for toys, books, dolls, coloring books, games, puzzles etc. We'd like it to have 2 small desk areas where they can color and later on do homework, draw, write letters etc. We aren't thrilled about paying Pottery Barn Kids prices. But we don't want something cheap that will fall apart either.

Any ideas? Do you have some great system that works awesome? I just want stuff to have a place. Right now they have a small bookcase, a kitchen, a 3 drawer dresser w/TV/DVD on top of it and big clear bins to dump their toys in. It's just not working. The first thing they do in the a.m. is dump out the bins all over the floor. Getting the toys back in is like pulling teeth. Even if I sing the dumb Happy Working Song from Enchanted and do the high princess voice and everything. Help, I'm being overtaken by toys.

My Master To Do List

I'm doing something crazy here. You've heard the old saying that if a tree falls in the forest but nobody is there to hear it does it make a sound? Well, I make a to-do list every couple of days. There's nobody around to see it. Then, I lose it or totally ignore it. So I was wondering, if I shared my to-do list publically with all of you, will I get some stuff on it done? Let's see shall we?

• Clean off dining room table
• Put laundry away
• Organize spice rack
• clean out fridge
• call stanley steamer for carpets and couches
• find house to rent
• sign a rental contract
• Make appointment with my doctor for my neck
• Make appointment with girls doctor for 3 year well baby check up
• Register girls and kinderkare and do a trial day
• return videos to blockbuster
• clean purse
• grocery shopping
• getjessica shoes for church
• find an outfit for Susan's shower
• wash sheets
• go to costco for diapers/pull ups, wipes, tp, papertowels
• clean off deck
• get my hair cut, pedicure
• get Elmo deployment video
• Organize Mike's promotion
• pull out winter pajamas
• organize girls drawers
• get bangs trimmed
• organize toys/books

Just the 4 of Us

Jessica drew a flyboat all by herself with the WonderPets!

We spent this weekend at home, just the 4 of us, hanging out, doing nothing but eating together, playing, taking naps, coloring, playdough and watching movies. I wished we would have done more, but me and the girls had low grade fevers and were achey all over.





I love these kinds of weekends and will cherish them after Mike is gone. He mostly took care of the chicks, played tons of games with them, made up songs and stuff. They love when he is home.

Recent Pix

Jessica and Katie on a ride at Western Festival
Jessica and Mike on the Merry-go-Round

Katie at the Western Festival Parade

I got Aligator Mouth Chip Clips from Jessica on Mothers Day

A legacy of strong women, Gramma Bea, Mom, Me, Gramma Houlie, Katie and Jessica

Papa and Katie on Mother's Day

BOSSY & THE GEEK

A new chapter of Bossy & The Geek, my own personal love story with Mike Meeker the Geeker Seeker is now posted on my other blog: www.bossyandthegeek.blogspot.com. If you are new to this story...PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start with Chapter 1 or it won't make sense and you'll think I'm crazier than I really am.

When It Rains, It Pours

I don't particularly agree with Ted Kennedy's politics. However, it was released today that he has a malignant brain tumor. I started to think about the Kennedy's in general and in particular Ted Kennedy. Here is a family who has all the wealth and privilege that you could possibly have. They are the closest thing to royalty we have in this country. But as a family, they have had so much sadness, especially this man. His brothers were both assassinated suddenly and so publicly. His nephew dies in plane crash. Again, a public national tragedy. Various nephews and cousins have been accused and tried for crimes ranging from rape and murder to drugs. He himself, has lived in the shadow and suspicion of what really happened that night on that Chappaquiddick bridge so many years ago. He could have rested on his laurels, living his life on Easy Street. But instead, he served his life as a servant of the people, earning a meager salary while fighting for the principles his family believed in. I feel badly for Ted Kennedy. Regardless of what he believes politically. I feel bad for his sister Eunice. I feel badly for Caroline who will see every parental figure and sibling she ever has had die tragically before their time. I wish the Kennedy family the very best as they face this new tragedy. A bullet in the head for Jack, a bullet in the chest for Bobby and now a tumor in the brain for Teddy. How much saddness can one family have?

Birthday Party Pictures (Late)

(above) J w/underpants on her head - this is a family tradition
(above) singing happy birthday with their fleur de lis cake

(above) Katie Kate waits for a present

(above) The birthday girls share the cashew bowl

Sorry these pix are so late. We had a fun bday party at my parents home for the girls. We had to cancel their original party because they got so sick. But the make up party was fun. I just didn't get the pictures posted on time.

Summer Is HERE!!!

Katie talking to Daddy on a Little Mermaid Cell Phone

Jessica playing in a puddle

We went to my cousin's 3rd birthday party last week. It was hot and they had a big huge blow up water slide that the girls LOVED. It was fun seeing family I hadn't seen in a long time. I love my family and this is one of the big perks to living back in our hometown again.

I'm so glad it's summer. I love summer. Flipflops, floating in the pool, the beach, the farmers market with great fruit, BBQs, vacation etc.

Major Mikey Goes To The Desert

I wish this was a movie title like Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. I wish it was a movie that I could watch in a dark theater, munching on popcorn and holding Mike's hand. But unfortunately, it's my reality. Mike will be going overseas soon. I keep thinking of the things he'll miss. I keep thinking about how hard it will be for me and the girls...how lonely I'll be. But none of that matters. All I want is for him to go, serve, grow and come home safe. Every time he's gone away before to safe places like Mississippi and Texas and Hawaii, it's always been about me. Me me me. (Big surprise for those of you who read my blog) But this time, it has to be about him doesn't it? He'll be far away from HIS family, missing HIS children, putting HIS safety at risk, doing HIS duty. He'll be all alone while I have my family, his family, my friends, my kids, McDonalds, TiVo, pedicure and massage places and Nordstroms right in my own backyard. So, for once, it's not about ME. Except it's MY heart, MY best friend, MY Mikey that will be on the other side of the world, in harms way all alone. So that makes me a little cuckoo when I think about it. So I won't think about that today, I'll think about it tomorrow. Scarlett can really teach us some great lessons about denial can't she?

Mike is doing great. Excited, nervous, honored and sad all together. He's handling it exactly like he should. He's a textbook picture of appropriateness and mental health. I'm also sad and nervous. I share those emotions with him. I get those emotions. Excited? No so much. But who knows, maybe I'll get there someday. Like the day he gets home.

Catch A Wave Dude

Katie, Jessica and I went to Santa Cruz and Capitola with my Auntie Rita and cousin Vonnie on Thursday and Friday. It was really a fun trip with a lot of laughs, great food and beautiful scenery. I haven't been to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk since I was a little girl. It is so nostalgic with the old Giant Dipper roller coaster and the carousel in which you can still grab a brass ring and toss it into the clown's mouth. It has the oldest carousel in the country and the best salt water taffy too. The girls rode the carousel, the helicopter ride and this really cool nascar ride that whipped them around corners causing them to shriek with glee. We ate dinner on the wharf and went to the lighthouse to watch seals and surfers. The girls were much more interested in the surfers and we taught them to yell down "Catch a Wave Dude" and "Surfs Up". The had so much watch watching the boys "riding on the wave mama...LOOK". It was really cute. Then, the next day we headed over to Capitola. I had never been to Capitola but I will be going back soon. It is beautiful, quaint, filled with cute shops, great restaurants and old fashioned ice cream shops. There are flowers everywhere and a great stretch of beach that has little tiny waves. Everything a family beach town should be. The girls LOVED playing in the surf, running from the waves and finding shells. It was a fun trip, except I had a naughty girl on day 2 that thought she was very funny being very naughty. I need to learn to chill about that stuff but it drives me crazy. It was good to get away, especially when I got the news that was waiting for me when I got home. :(

It's Happening Mommy

Today, as I was getting ready, Katie perched herself on the toilet in my bathroom like normal to watch me put on my make up. I have one of those light up, stainless steel mirrors on the back of the toilet and she likes to look at herself in the mirror and pretend she is doing her make up too. So as usual, she begged for some blush on her cheeks. So I brushed some blush on her cheeks and then told her to look in the mirror so she could see how pretty she looked. Her exact quote was..."I see it Mommy! It's REALLY happening! I'm starting to grow up!"

Needless to say my eyes filled with tears and I said "yep Katie, you are starting to grow up." But inside my head was screaming "Don't you grow up Katie. You stay my baby forever. Live with me forever. Never fall in love. Obviously, never wear blush. Please just stay little, pretending you are a turtle or a duck forever and ever and ever." It sorta ruined my day. Because you know what? It IS really happening. And I'm not ready.

The Tickle Song

I made up a song on the spur of the moment last night to entertain Jessica who had a fever and was grumpy at bedtime. Her favorite thing is to have her back tickled so I made up a song.

Tickle tickle tickle
Tickle down the backy
Tickle tickle tickle
So you can relaxy
Tickle like Papa did
When mama was a little girl
Tickle like Grandma did
When daddy was a boy
Tickle tickle tickle
Tickle down the backy
Tickle tickle tickle
So you can relaxy.

She giggled the whole time, has asked me to sing it like 100 times since I made it up and tonight she and Katie jumped into Jessica's bed, flopped over on their tummies and said "mommy, sing the tickle song." I can see this song having the longevity of Sonny & Cher's "I Got You Babe". It's still sung at weddings, lip sync contests, karaoke etc. But I bet Cher is really sick of it. That's gonna be me. Cher. Singing tickle tickle tickle in like 2020.

Playing "I Spy" With Grandma Bea

This is my Gramma Bea

She is the kindest, most generous with time and things, most giving and most empathetic person I know. She is also one of the most fun. But when it comes to jokes, both telling them and getting them...she's not the sharpest tool in the shed. For years she has been trying to tell the same joke. "What did one casket say to the other casket? Is that you coughin'?" But in all my years on this planet, she has said every version of this joke possible...except the actual joke. Her most common is, "What did one casket say to the coffin? Is that you casket?" And if you tell a joke, she just doesn't get it. She'll laugh and play it off, but when you ask "gram, what was the joke or why is that joke funny?" She will giggle wildly until she can choke out "I don't know" and by then we are all laughing like twenty times harder than we laughed at the joke.

So imagine the fun I had today playing I Spy in the car with two 3 year olds and my 88 year old Gramma Bea. The kids asked her to play I spy. So first Katie went. Then Jessica. Then Me. Then it was Gramma Bea's turn. She started by saying "I want to buy..." and Katie started laughing and said "NO Gamma Bea...I SPY. You silly Gamma Bea!" So then she started over with "Okay, I will pry (this time we let it go) that building next to our car that is a church." Okay, for those of you that have never played I Spy...that is not how it goes. The object is to slyly spy something then to give a description without saying what the item is. For example...Katie spied the water bottle in the cup holder in the van and said "I spy something that is something we drink and it is wet and in the car" Then we are supposed to guess. Katie got this part of the game. Jessica got it. I got it. Grams? Not so much. Another great one was when she said "I spy (yay she was catching on) a sign way up in the air that spells out U-S-B-A-N-K and we are driving by it" Gram... the girls are 3 and can't spell or read. And you still told us it was the sign we were driving by. And the stuff is supposed to be in the car. Bless my Gramma Bea and I hope to have many more I Spy and other memories of her and my kids. I love her more than just about anyone. But she got her butt kicked by two 3 year olds at I Spy today.

Our Mothers Day Celebration

My plan is to have all the posts and pictures from our Blog made into a book each year. As I've mentioned before, this Blog has taken the place of my trusty journal that I've kept since 5th grade. Writing long hand just doesn't fit in my schedule anymore, so here we are and I'm really enjoying it.

We had a great Mothers Day. I wanted to write about what we did so I would always have the memory. This Mothers Day was really special. So I want to be sure to remember it forever.

We went to brunch at a super fancy place called La Provence with my Mom, Dad, Grandma Bea, Grandma Houlie, Mike and the girls. It was beautiful, French and super yummy. Fresh berries, creme fraiche, pomes frites, truffles and sauces that I can't pronounce abounded. It was truly great. We only go out to brunch on Sunday once per year, for Mother's Day and I always look forward to it. I got my Mom a facial and the girls got her an engraved lipstick case because they always ask her for some lipstick. I got Grandma Houlie an engraved locket with pix of the girls and got Grandma Bea an engraved compact for her purse that says "you so so pretty Gamma Bea - Love, Katie and Jessica". The girls got me Alligator mouth chip clips (from Jessica Rose) and a Garden Snow Globe with the "There is a time and a season for every purpose under Heaven " verse from the Bible. (from Katie) Mike got me the house cleaner once/week which is the best gift ever ever ever.

We had church at 1:00...typical Mothers Day stuff. We got a picnic dinner ready and packed and headed over to Elk Grove Park where we met Mike's parents for Mother's Day dinner. We had fried chicken, cold Italian green beans, strawberries, potato salad, olives and homemade (by me and Mike) chocolate cupcakes with sprinkles for dessert. The girls had fun running around chasing the ducks, playing Mother May I and freeze and unfreeze with their Grandma. Bill and Marilyn had just returned from an emotionally difficult week in Yreka where they had to go through and sort all of Grandma and Grandpa Huntsmans things in order to prepare the house to sell. I can't imagine going through my parents belongings and deciding what I wanted to keep, pass down, throw away, sell, give away? I can't think of many things that would be harder than that. So it was nice to do something fun for them.

Then, we swung by Mom's one more time because there was 2 cupcakes left and Katie wanted to take her Grammie a cupcake. I let them each carry a cupcake to the door and ring the doorbell and say surprise to Grammie. Katie yelled "Surprise I brought you a cupcake for Happy Mothers Day and you can share it with me!" So they had cupcakes and watermelon and played with Grammie and Papa for a few minutes, then we headed home. They had to have a 2nd bath for the day due to dirt ground into their skinned knees from the park. Then, we got them ready for bed and they sang the Mother I Love You song in the post below and off they went to bed. Mike and I watched the Survivor finale and off we went to bed. It was a great day. And everything I hoped it would be.

The Mother Song

My favorite thing that happened today, just happened. As we were tucking the girls in, Mike taught them to sing Mother I Love You to me. This was a song I taught the kids at church to sing when I was the kid's chorister. Here's the words in case you don't know them...

Mother I love you
Mother I do
Father in Heaven
Has sent me to you
When I am near you
I love to hear you
Telling my softly
That you love me too.

Thanks for teaching it to our girls Mike. It made my whole day. (The rest of the day was great too, it's just this was extra great.)

My First Mothers Day

I feel like tomorrow will be my first Mother's Day. For so long, Mother's Day was a much dreaded day. For the first few years when we were trying to have a baby, I held my chin high, went to church, listened to the talks on Mothers, listened to the idiots that said you will never reach your true potential until you are a mother and smiled politely at all the mothers who proudly looked down the bench at their brood, dabbing their eyes bursting with pride. I took their heartfelt looks of sympathy, the hugs that said "hang in there" and the token chocolate dipped strawberry given at the chapel door. Then, after a few years, I just couldn't fake it anymore. Some years, I pulled the covers over my head and hid in bed until the day was done. Some years, I cried. My favorite years found me doing something to excess that you could never do as a Mom; reading for hours alone at a diner, going shopping and buying myself something frivolous like $50 eye cream or a $200 designer hand bag. Most years, a good portion of the day was spent eating some sort of ice cream from the container and crying... a lot. After I had my girls in April of 05, Mother's Day was right around the corner. Everyone was so excited for me. I got cards, phone calls and many sweet well wishes for the friend/sister/daughter/granddaughter/niece for whom they prayed this day would come. As for me, I don't remember much except I wore black. I read my cards and opened my gifts with a detached sense of reality and had the same ache in my heart that had always been there. But this time it was worse, I had what I had dreamed of...two perfect little girls...why wasn't I happy? I suppose I was just used to feeling irritated and depressed on this day. And then there was Mother's Day 2006 and 2007. These were spent much like those first few years of trying to have a baby. Just going through the motions , reminding myself I did NOT have to be bitter or sad anymore. But then I thought about all of the nameless women that I went through invitro with and I wondered if any of them were in their beds with their covers over their heads waiting for the day to end. I tried to shake my bad attitude but it just seemed to linger like a gray cloud over the beautiful spring days. I just didn't feel like this holiday included me after being on the outside looking in for so long.

So, finally this year, 2008, I feel like this year will be my first Mother's day. It's the first year I haven't worked and have been a full time mother. It's the first year the girls have lovingly picked out cards and presents and keep trying to tell me what my surprises are. We are home for the first time since I had kids so I get to watch the joy and pride in my own mothers eyes as she watches my daughters. And I get to be with my Grandmothers which I am truly grateful for. I haven't spent a Mother's Day with them in 12 years and I am so excited to celebrate the legacy of strong females in my family. After a year of wiping bottoms, feeding, holding, cheering and coaching, I feel finally ready. And you know what, there's no gray cloud. Not a hint of showers. Just sun, bright and warm on my face and I feel ready to celebrate Amy...she's a mother now.

Happy Mother's Day to all the incredible women in my life...you guys rock.

BIG Night Out

Wow, it's been a loooonnngg time since I've been out. So tonight, we dusted off our dancing shoes and hit the town. We started off the evening at Mike's favorite restaurant, The Melting Pot for some fondue action. My favorite thing about The Melting Pot is that I have Mike captive for 2 hours while we just talk. And he's happily dipping his little bits of food into broth including lobster and fillet and then he ends the meal with a big ol bowl of chocolate. For Mike, the one who doesn't give a lick about food, it's as close to food nirvana as a skinny guy can get. I loved catching up, talking about old times, planning our summer, talking about the kids and what we'll do when he deploys to Iraq. We laughed and flirted and ate til our bellies ached. At the table next to us was a hot girl on a first date with a dork guy. Obviously he was reaching out of his league and asked this chick out on a date. The problem is, you NEVER take a first date to the Melting Pot. Dinner takes a minimum of two hours. This girl looked like she was being fondued herself. She looked around, sighed heavily, looked around some more, focused on her fork and didn't exchange words with her dining partner for over 7 minutes in a row. We timed them. It was the best dinner entertainment we could have asked for. Mike and I went to the Melting Pot one time with a couple we barely knew. It ended up being 3 hours long and was one of the longest nights of my life. We only go to The Melting Pot with people we love. We've gone with Caitlin and Aaron, Rick and Heather, Chuck and Amber and my Mom and Dad and had a blast. But our favorite is just to go together and talk our butts off. Tonight was no exception. After dinner we headed to Massage Envy and got a couples massage. It was so relaxing. Then, we bought my folks some flowers, picked up the girls and headed home. Man it was a great night. Thanks Mom and Dad for watching the chicks. We needed it!

Friday Confessions

Wow, I'm on time this week. I must be feeling extra guilty.

• I have been losing my patience a lot lately with the girls. They just keep breaking stuff, throwing stuff on the floor and taking off their clothes. I know this is normal but when I'm trying to get us out the door and I have them dressed and all cuted out and then I go to get their shoes and I come back and they are naked on top of the bathroom counter with the sink on getting all wet...I just get very frustrated. My voice tends to get loud when I am frustrated and they just don't need me to yell.
• I feel guilty that I feel no guilt about hiring a house cleaner. I am up to my eyeballs in to do lists and I just can't keep up. For those of you out there with 2 or more kids who are three and keep a spotless house all my yourself, I seriously freakin frackin salute the heck out of ya. And would like to know how the heck you do it.
• I left Mike last night to do bath time all by himself. I went to the grocery store to get a refill on a prescription then made an appointment at Massage Envy next door to get a massage even though I knew he was at home with the kids. Then, I called Massage Envy back and told them to forget it that I couldn't make it. I did this because I felt guilty about leaving him all alone with the kids while I flitted off to get a massage.
• I haven't given the kids hardly any presents from their birthday party yet because I first had to go through and throw out the toys that needed to go so we would have room for the new toys. I feel bad because they really haven't gotten to play with that much stuff yet.
• I am going on a date with my husband tonight. We are going out to dinner then going and getting couples massages. I am not confessing this just happy about it.

Don't Ya Just Feel Better When It's Clean?

I've really fallen behind on my housework. It seems as though every time I turn my head to pick something up or wipe something down that two little rascals are off in another room breaking something, or climbing up furniture or filling up their Cinderella teapot in the toilet. So I have to ask myself...do I want to clean my fridge or let my daughters drink toilet water? So the fridge sits there alone and grimy while I bring in apple juice for a real tea party. Oh, and confiscate the Cinderella toilet tea pot. But still, I've been feeling bad about it. I haven't had company over in awhile and have just felt like we are existing in this dwelling rather than really living. Know what I mean? Well, I committed to myself a few weeks ago that enough was enough and I was really going to get in there and do something about it. So today.....the HOUSE CLEANER started. Yes America, I have a house cleaner who is wonderful and loving and pretty and kind and amazing. She already has been cleaning my Grammie Bea's, my Auntie Rita's and my mom's house for a few years. So now she'll be cleaning my crib once/week. yay for me. yay for Mike. And she is going to do our laundry, fold it and put it away at no extra charge. So Mike got something out of this deal too. He does 100% of the laundry except he never puts away anything or folds anything. So this will solve many marital disputes about completed task work. I love Luz. Tonight when we said bedtime prayers, we said the following:

MIKE: "Please bless Luz"
JESSICA: "Please bless little Luz"
MIKE: "Help her to know we appreciate her"
JESSICA: "We preciate her"
MIKE: "And please help her to want to come back"
JESSICA: "Help Little Luz to come back "
MIKE: "even though we are messy"
JESSICA: "we so so messy
KATIE: OH MY GOODNESS!
JESSICA: "oh my goodness we messy"

So that was part of our prayers tonight. When I think of my blessings, I count Luz twice.

For Katie & Jessica, Vol 1

I'm reading The Last Lecture by Dr. Randy Pausch right now. He is a professor in Virginia with three young sons and a wife. He was diagnosed about a two years ago with Pancreatic cancer and given a few months to live. For his students he gave and video taped his "last lecture" which was all about life, end of life issues, having fun, living in the moment and lessons learned. He then went on to write a book called The Last Lecture which goes into these subjects more indepthly. When asked if he was excited about having the #1 Best Seller and selling millions of copes, he replied "well, I wrote it and only cared about the first 3 copies, so I'm happy." He has beaten all the odds and statistics and is still alive. He had congestive heart failure and kidney failure two months ago so his doctors say he is definitely on his final way out. I have no idea how long Dr. Pausch will live but I wish for as many minutes as possible for himself and his family. This whole subject has however, made me think about the lessons or lack thereof that I am leaving for the girls. This blog was intended to sub as a journal where I could document our lives, our history, our thoughts etc. I did it as a blog so family members and friends can see pix of the girls and find out what we've been up to.

But as I look at my Angelina or Ugly Betty post, I realize I might have gone a little bit south of the point. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's what I was thinking at the time. But, it's not what my blog was intended for. So I'm starting a new series of entries called For Katie and Jessica...which will contain thoughts and lessons I want to teach my girls in case I'm flattened by a bus next week. You just never know...and there is stuff I need THEM to know just in case. I pray that I will live a long life, that I'll see them grow and make great choices and turn into fabulous strong, spiritual, self confident women. I hope to see my grandchildren play, travel with Mike and die together in bed at age 93 after a hot bout of lovin'. But that never happens does it? We will all go through a very dark ravine at the end of each of our lives. I am thankful to Dr. Pausch for shining a very bright light on that ravine so that we all might navigate it a little bit better.

On that note, here's my first edition of For Katie and Jessica:

Hey Chicks. The world will tell you to be confident and self assured and strong. These are the characteristics that will help you go the farthest in life. All the while, they will parade Super Models, wrinkle cream and skinny jean ads in front of your face every second. So the real message they are sending is you need to confident, self assured and strong while wearing a size 5 and look fabulous at all times. Oh, you will need to wear Chanel as well. Good Luck! What I want to tell you is that they're right. If you want to go as far as possible in this world you need to have your act together and look awesome. If you do this you will go really far. And you'll probably feel great about yourself until you realize a couple of things. First, there will ALWAYS BE someone prettier and more together. So you'll never feel that great about yourself because you will always get beat by someone else. This might not happen right away in your life but eventually you'll get it that there's always somebody better. Smarter, faster, cuter. It's a hard lesson to learn and one that will be painful. Second, the world values these things but God cares way more about your heart and who you are inside. I guarantee you that God doesn't care if your purse is Chanel, Gucci or a backpack from Target. He doesn't care what your job is or how popular you are or what size your jeans are. He cares that you are kind. That you show and give love to others. He cares that you turn to Him in all things. Not just when you are sad and need comfort, but also when you get a promotion, fall in love or have a great hair day. Turn to God in everything, talk to Him every day and don't lose touch. If you can make that a habit and you talk to God everyday through your prayers, you will find that it won't hurt as much when the hard times come. Sure, you'll be sad. You'll hate that you lost out on a great job or that a boy liked another girl better than you. But I promise that if you can share your sadness with The Lord that it will ease the hurt just a little. I have no idea when you'll read this. But maybe it will be at a time in your life when you've gone a long while since talking to God. I know it's hard to get started and you might feel funny. But God isn't waiting there with His hands on His hips waiting to chew you out for staying away for so long. He is waiting with open arms and NOTHING would make Him happier for you to tell him you want to try and talk to him but you feel funny. That's how you start or restart. It'll make you feel better. Trust me, I'm your mom...I know what I'm talking about. (and if you believe that I must have died really early in your life because if you get to hang out with me for any decent amount of time you will discover that I don't know anything that I often talk about)

We are OFFICIALLY Potty Trained....unoffically.

I feel like I can safely announce with nervousness that we are an official potty trained household. There haven't been accidents when we are home for a month. The only accidents have occurred when we are out and about, at someones house etc. Every once in awhile, the girls forget to go to the potty while they are playing and we have a little tiny accident in the pull up but they make it to the potty for the rest. I am very thankful for pull ups. I thought I was going to be anti pull ups but they really understand that they are not diapers and they pull them up and down all day so we only go through one or two per kid each day. This saves so much money on diapers. They still wear a diaper at night but are usually dry in the morning and can make it to the potty. I am very thankful for the hot pink BJORN potties I bought. They were a little bit more money but they only have two pieces the actual potty and the insert that gets dumped and cleaned. They have no grooves or hinges for stuff to get stuck in if you catch my drift. They are THE best potties. And they are hot pink so they are cute. Also, I am very thankful for stickers which we used as rewards. The girls got to stick a sticker on the BJORN potty every time the have had success. So the potties look very much like an MVP college football helmet with stickers all over it.

Finally, I am thankful for my mom. She bought this DVD and book called Hannah Goes Potty which was the best learning tool the girls had for potty training. They LOVE Hannah and they want to be like Hannah. Hannah helped them want to go potty AND learn how to dress themselves. So now they can do both. And most of the times they can put their shoes on.

I would say we are ready for actual panties starting now. We'll be ready in two or three months for no more pull ups. I would say it will be six months before no more diaper at night??? Maybe sooner but we'll see.

The Games Twins Play

The girls have gotten really into pretending. I used to pretend by playing school, playing dolls, playing house. Mike was GREAT at pretend. He played war, and well...war and some more war. He was so good at pretend that when Ron would come outside to see if he could play, Mike would pretend that Ron was the enemy, throw some grenades at him (rocks) and run away while ordering an air strike on his walkie talkie (again another rock, just bigger and flatter). So when we had girls we were convinced that they would have awesome imaginations. And they do. They just have really weird ones too. I guess by having a permanent, 24/7 playmate, it enables you to get a bit more in depth in your pretend games.

Ball Run Away: They bring us a ball. We throw it in no particular spot in the room and they run out of the room screaming Ball Run Away and laughing.

Fetch: I know this is a game usually reserved for dogs. But the girls THINK they are dogs when we play it. Basically you throw a ball against the back fence and they go retrieve it and bark the entire time they are running.

Doctor: This is typical of kids right? But with my kids, they lead the other one in from the waiting room, they have them sit down, they take a complete medical history (does your head hurt, does your eyes hurt does your feet hurt?) then whatever part is hurting (usually the nose) the "doctor" says "okay, mama will kiss your nose. Will that make you feel better?" Then the "doctor" gives the patient a sticker and sends her on her way.

Swimming Pool: They put blankets all over the floor. They put on their swimsuits and they dive off the ottoman into the "pool"

WonderPets: The WonderPets is a cartoon show on Nickelodeon about a Guinea Pig, Turtle and Duck that go around the world saving baby animals in trouble by using team work, cooperation etc. Katie is the turtle, Jessica is the duck and Mike is the Guinea Pig. I am the Guinea Pig understudy and am able to play this role when Mike is at work. We have songs, props, capes. It's a big deal at our house.

Follow The Leader: This would be normal except Katie always gets to be the leader and Jessica doesn't cooperate and runs in front just to watch Katie blow a gasket.

Angelina or Betty? - You Choose

OR

As I sat in my living room watching Mr. and Mrs. Smith, I kept thinking how utterly cool and beautiful Angelina Jolie is. I started to wish we could be friends. But then, I started thinking about all the cool girls I knew in school and how I just didn't fit in with them. I had a brief stint my Junior year in high school where I wore my normal Esprit T-Shirt and pink hair bow to school during the day and on Saturday nights Erin McGinley and I would dress in all black, go to Java City downtown and drink espresso and smoke Capri cigarettes. We talked with people that were unwashed and had tatoos and we thought we were really deep and above all "that highschool crap". But then, the next morning I would go to church in my Liz Clairborne sweater set and seemlessly re-enter my real life with my real friends, my real pink lip gloss and my real white keds with no laces. But I have always deep down wanted to be a little bit bad. I wanted to be a little bit rebellious. I wanted a tatoo but the closest I ever got was the cracker jacks box. As I watched Angelina beat the crap out of Brad only to make him love her more, I realized I probably would not fit in as her friend. So I started thinking about what character on TV would be sure to be my friend. Ugly Betty is the only one I could come up with. So blog readers I ask you...who would you most likely be friends with? Angelina or Betty? Below are some of the points and counter points I came up with for each to help you decide.

Angelina
Pros:
-Your new friend comes with a little side dish we like to call Brad.
-You know you can always wear black to look thin and your new friend won't judge you because she's in black too.
-You can probably get a good deal on a kid from Africa or Cambodia.
Cons:
-She's never around when you have a really bad hair day because she's like off spreading world peace and ending childhood hunger....WHATEVER.
-When you proudly throw away half your cheeseburger she glares at you and says "there are children starving in Africa" and she really means it.
-You can't share your naughty thoughts about Brad Pitt with her like you can your other girlfriends.
-Your kids will always be known as the "friends of Shiloh and Pax" never by their own names.

Betty:
Pros:
-Papi's cupcakes.
-You'll always be the one who dresses cool.

-Playing practical jokes on Willamina
-You don't have to get a tatoo to be her friend.
-She's just nice allright? She's just a sunshine day kinda gal.
Cons:
-She has to work all the time day and night for Daniel. He'll always be her BFF. Not you.
-She's always in some sort of pickle and you might be called upon to save her and since you aren't on the actual show - you probably won't make it out of the pickle but Betty will.
-Amanda
-You might start thinking blue braces and red glasses are cool.
-You will start forgetting to wax.

So now please leave me your thoughts in the comment section. Who are you most likely to be BFFs with? Angelina or Betty?

Idle Hands Are The Devil's Workshop

I've heard this quote my whole life. I used to hate it. I used to think...I LOVE being idle...I can sleep, read, veg out in front of the TV, lay out in the sun, kiss Mike, smell flowers. I love the feeling of not having to be anywhere or do anything. But after this week, I'm beginning to think this quote is really true.

This week was so busy. The kids birthday party, Fairytale town, taking Gramma Bea on errands and to the credit union, visiting with Gramma Houlie, going out for dinner with my folks, gymnastics, spending a full day with Mom, Dad and the girls going looking for a rental house, going shopping, going to Gramma Bea's, turning in rental applications and gathering references, spending a lot of time Friday at the Bouncy place, grocery shopping, finding a dentist, church, planning Mother's day and buying presents, Western Festival parade and carnival along with just my daily activities of wiping bottoms, faces and hands, singing songs, reading books, enforcing rules, cooking meals, picking up, putting thousands of toys away etc etc etc. You get the idea. So I wanted to have one day where we just didn't do anything or have to be anywhere. This is how I discovered that idle hands really are the Devil's workshop. My kids have been possessed by some demon. They have declared mutiny against mommy and are overtaking this mother ship. Since we aren't going and doing anything, they are breaking stuff, dumping whole rolls of TP in my toilet, getting into my make up, refusing to take naps, whining every single sentence they say, climbing on counter tops, riding the vacuum cleaner, grinding banana bread into my carpet, pulling down all the towels from the racks, bringing every toy they own into the family room and hallway and climbing up me to try and sit on my shoulders every 7.2 seconds. Honestly, if the circus came knocking at my door today I would seriously consider selling them. My kids do not do well with idleness. They have not learned the art of the chill. I have some serious training to do.

I don't want a widow and kids to have to deal with...

Mike and I have been looking for a rental house in Elk Grove. We aren't in a hurry since our lease doesn't expire until the end of July. We would buy but we are only guaranteed to be stationed here for 3 more years and we just aren't sure the housing market will rebound by then. There are SO MANY great rental homes on the market because people can't sell that you can pretty much pick exactly what you want. So we found a house this week that met our needs perfectly and was in our price range as well as in the area in which we wanted to live. We would like to move earlier than July because Mike will be going to Iraq for 4 months in the fall and we'd like to be settled and comfortable in the home/ward/neighborhood etc. So we wrote our reasons for wanting to move early in our cover letter along with our applications. The guy wouldn't rent to us because and I quote "the husband is going off to Iraq and if he dies then I have a widow and kids that I'll have to deal with and who knows how that will go." Seriously you guys, when it's your husband going, your heart, the daddy to your girls and your best friend, you are already a little bit scared but keep those thoughts at the very back of your mind so you can function. But when I heard that it literally took the breath out of my lungs and I felt like I had gotten punched in the gut. Obviously, this dude is a major jerk and if I had the time...I would write him a very mean letter but I don't so he'll just have to live life with the kind of karma can of whoop ass I'm sure will be coming to him. I just didn't need that this week.

Friday Confessions #6 (on Saturday)

• I saw an old classmate at Western Festival today. I didn't say hi because I didn't recognize him until we were past him and he was the source of much embarrassment and torment as a child. I should have said hi. I felt like an idiot for not saying hi.
• I was tired of my kids by Friday night. Like ready to sell them to the circus tired. So on Friday afternoon, I took them to a bouncy place and sat my butt at one of the tables and let them bounce for like 2 hours while I read my book. (We were the only ones at the bouncy place so it was easy to keep track of them and the door)
• I really really really want to rent this new house that is like huge and sorta mansion-ey. It will add 7 minutes to Mike's commute. But I told him it would only add about 4 minutes. Because he's the type to add up 3 minutes and multiply it by the number of days we work a year then divide it into hours. I know this because if you add 4 minutes it adds like 38 hours more of drive time each year to your commute. So if I told him it was really 3 extra minutes I would really have gotten the veto.
• I didn't get a lot of stuff I had planned for the kids birthday party last Saturday. But I didn't feel guilty about it because they still had a great time and nobody knew that the cake was supposed to have all the Mickey Mouse characters sitting on top of it.
• Man, I drink a lot of Diet Coke. (I still have no plans on quitting this)
• I gave our extra ride tickets away to 3 brothers at Western Festival but told the girls we were out of tickets because those rides are the EXACT same ones we had as a kid. Not the same kind of the rides, the SAME RIDES. They looked to be held together by rubber bands and safety pins. I didn't want the kids to ride any more of them so I told them we were out of tickets.

What are noses for?

At lunch today we were reviewing our body parts and what they did...mouth (talking, eating, chewing our food), eyes (seeing, crying, sleeping) etc. When we asked what are our noses for? Katie replied "to make our boogers!" and then stuck a finger in her nose to demonstrate. ugh, yuck, gross. I'm not ready for picking noses.

New Chapter Bossy and The Geek

Chapter 2 - Mike Meeker The Geeker Seeker, is up on my other blog: www.bossyandthegeek.blogspot.com. This blog chronicles my very own personal love story. Enjoy!