I stink

Yeah, so much for being good about updating all of our holiday adventures. I honestly don't know why I have been having a hard time finding a second to blog! It's not like I haven't been busy before. I guess I just haven't been making it a priority. It was all I could do to post Christmas books each day on my teaching blog, and honestly, I didn't even do that!

Anyway, since I last posted we have:
-wrecked my car (I wasn't me, it was my most expensive kid yet, Jared ;)
-seen Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert (great show but the same night as the wreck)
- torn up our basement for plumbing (no washer and dryer... yuck!)
- gotten lots of the basement framing done
- had visits from my brothers
- been watching all sorts of peoples kids (good thing my girls LOVE play dates!)
- been doing all sorts of holiday crafts (I may even post a few if I ever find the time)
- finished Christmas shopping
- and done the whole Christmas thing with our families.

I will, eventually, update pictures and stories of the sad Subaru, Bessie the rental car, the basement, the crafts, the holidays and such.
Well that's all the time I have for now. I may even post more updates later tonight... don't count on it! ;)

But at least they are funny!

I was talking to my mom on the phone to make plans for tonight (we are going out and she will watch the girls). When I got off the phone Eva looked up at me and said, "Who was that, mom? John McCain?"

Who says kids aren't expensive...

The other day, a girlfriend of mine was trying to convince me it was time to have another child. I told her we can't afford it. She said that adding one more to two doesn't cost that much more.
Now, I love my girls and wouldn't give them back for anything. That being said....
-Last week as I was getting ready for the holidays, I thought I'd wash the sofa cover. It wasn't dirty (peed/spilled on), but I figured it couldn't hurt to wash it just the same. Boy was I wrong! Since it wasn't really dirty I just tossed it into the washer along with the throw and two throw pillows without inspecting them. Then, again, I tossed it all into the dryer without a thought. When I pulled them out of the dryer, EVERYTHING was spotted with blue and red crayons, and the dryer was coated in a thin film of crayon wax. Joy. You see, cute little Eva thinks it's hilarious to hide things. She gets into mommy's wallet and hides the change in the end table drawer. She takes Naiya's snuggle bunny and hides him in the bottom of the toy bin; and she likes to stuff crayons anywhere they will fit... including in between the sofa cushions. -Fortunately, after hours of scrubbing and scraping, the dryer is clean (or at least clean enough to use, some of the wax melted under the arms that protrude to move the laundry). I did a test run and it's all good. Unfortunately, the sofa cover, throw and pillows are a loss. $$$
-This morning while making blueberry muffins, I got the "frozen" blueberries out of the fridge. I use quotes when I type "frozen" because when I got them out they were cold, but squishy. When I looked in the fridge I noticed the temperature gage was turned down... TO ZERO. Naiya had been playing in the fridge non stop two days ago. TWO DAYS AGO!! Brilliant. $$
Now imagine if I had three!!

Somebody's been sleeping in my bed...

Breakfast of Champions

The other day, the girls came into our room in the morning, bright and early. They told me they were hungry and asked if I'd make them breakfast. I asked Naiya how old she was. She told me three. I asked if she thought she was old enough to make breakfast. She laughed and said no, but then rethought it and said yes. Curious, I gave her a few minutes to do her thing. From my bed, I heard the refrigerator door open. I heard the cutlery drawer open and the sound of cutlery clinging together. I hear chairs moving. Finally I came in to see what was going on.

Naiya had served the two of them a breakfast of PICKLES.... straight out of the jar. Yum!

The Festival of Treats

Thanks to Goompa and Nana for providing us with tickets to this years Festival of Trees. As always it was amazing to see all the wonderful creations.
Thank you to Neema and Pa for sending us with a pocket full of goodies to keep the girls energy up! ;)
Thank you to Naiya and Eva for patiently waiting the hour and a half to see Santa. At first they were content with just catching a glimpse of him, but then Naiya saw that he was handing out candy canes and that was motivation enough to wait in line.
Cute Eva still has SERIOUS issues with stranger danger. This year we are making progress as she actually sat on Santa's lap (last year she was in tears). She would not, however look at Santa, mommy or the candy cane for a picture. She would look at her shoe, and only her shoe. She is stubborn. (I have no idea where she might get that.) Fortunately I had an idea that this might happen so I didn't actually pay for pictures. Here's the one I snapped from the sidelines:
And as you can see, she got over it and accepted the candy cane (from mommy). No permanent mental scars as far as I can tell. Great night for a good cause with yummy treats. Who could ask for anything more?!

Eat Your Heart Out Charlie Brown

It is a tradition in my family to cut our own Christmas tree each year. Generally we go sometime the weekend after Thanksgiving. We drive up past Evanston and then into the Uintas where you get your permit. Then you drive off and find the perfect tree. (Generally mine is Charlie Brown looking.) It's a perfect day-long, hot cocoa filled outing for the family. Unfortunately for as long as I've been married (5+ years) Jared has never made it up with us. He's either working or it's the day of the Utah vs BYU game (go UTES!), or he's sick. This year was no exception, and the poor guy stayed home with a nasty stomach bug. Good thing we have Nema, Pa, and Babi (my grandma) to help out!
The girls were hilarious. Between not being able to decide if they wanted to run in the snow or go up in the backpack and the fact that they wanted to take home EVERY tree, they were a handful. It was fun non-the-less. In the end we found another great tree (only a little crooked on the top :) and a little guy for the girls to have in their room (thanks Amanda for the idea).

Here are the pics:

"What about this one?"

"Are we there yet?"

Here's a pic of the girls helping Pa cut down their little tree (a little hard to see, but I was just so proud of my little lumberjacks!:

And here's the finished product decorated 100% by the girls (but put up on the shelf by mommy):

It was a great outing, and Naiya was only a little disappointed that we didn't run into Santa. ;)

Always Late...

So I've been promising to fill you in on holiday stuff that we've been doing, and so far, I have been terrible at it! The truth is that I have been lazy about downloading pictures. Honestly I've been a little lazy about taking them in general. We have, however been loading up on activites and crafts that I won't post here because they are on my Teach Your Tot's blog.
Anyway, I drank a Coke tonight (happens like twice a year) so I have the umph to get a few of these posts up! Now they may be a little dorky as caffine and I don't mix, but here goes...

Got 5 minutes and 27 seconds?

This is worth watching if you have the time.

Wanna Help?

Lately I've seen a lot of people asking for ideas of how to help on their blogs. I know that a lot of us are not able to help as much financially as we could in years past.
If you are interested in volunteering or helping in some other aspect, here are a few ideas of places you can go/call in Utah:

~ Salvation Army needs volunteers 801-988-4204
~ Eagle Ranch Ministries needs volunteers 801-254-4945
~ To help the United Way visit http://www.uw.org/
~ To volunteer for Toys for Tots (their current staff is only 6 people because of deployments) call 801-583-7318
~ The Crossroads Urban Center needs volunteers call 801-364-7765 or visit http://www.crossroads-u-c.org/ (this is the place that organizes my food co-op, LOVE IT!)
~ Volunteers of America site is at http://www.voaut.org/ or call 801-363-9414 ext 117
~ The Food Bank always needs volunteers and food visit http://www.utahfoodbank.org/ or call 801-978-2452

Also if you want more ideas on ways to help (or if you need help this holiday season), you can dial 211.

*End Scene*

The drama is over! I got the call this evening that I'm in the clear and there is nothing to worry about. I really appreciate all the support & love I got for all y'all the last couple of weeks. It's so nice to know that I have so many great people I can count on when in need. Now I can take a deep breath and enjoy the holidays!
We've been doing lots of fun stuff this weekend, but I've been neglecting the "Teach Your Tots" Blog (and bills, and laundry....), so I will get some stuff done there first and then tomorrow I'll update more on this end. Have a wonderful night!!

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I WON! Not just did I win.... I won the GRAND PRIZE from that awesome site Kandy Kisses I was telling ya'll about. I was checking in yesterday through out the day and gave up around 5:30. I just put the girls down and finished posting the pics of Naiya's train and then I decided... what the heck, might as well check again and...I WON!!!! Now I can go back to scrubbing my dryer with much more joy! :)

Ta Da!

The long awaited and much anticipated train picture:

And here's one she did of a dog:

I'm not one to bag, but that's pretty good for a 3 year old (not even 3 1/2 yet). Ah... who am I kidding? This whole blog is bragging about my kids. (Except when it's complaining about them!) ;)

On that note... Anyone have experience with removing a nice coat of melted crayon from the inside of a dryer?

Not so bad!

The original plan with my surgery was to have him cut down my my ear, along my neck slightly and around the hairline. Then lift the skin and remove the lump. (Sorry to be graphic, but I have a point to make here.) Of course this requires full sedation (Fun tube down the throat kind of stuff.) The surgeon was pretty set on this method, not because it's easier or because it's safer, but because the scar remains hidden this way.
Now let's get real. This thing is back by my jaw bone not far from my ear. Do I really care if I have a scar there? (Keep in mind that I had a funky noncancerous tumor on my forehead removed 7 years ago. There is a scar. IN THE MIDDLE OF MY FOREHEAD). During my consultation this morning, before surgery I said, "Now why not just cut right on top of the sucker and pull it out? Wouldn't that be easier?" Turns out the answer is YUP! Didn't have to get put out, just got a mild sedative and a numbing shot on site. In and out of the OR in 45 minutes, and he stitched me up like a pro... plastic surgeon style. Soooo much easier. Did I mention that since we pay 20% of this I just saved myself a bundle. Uncomfortable? Yeah. Painful? Yup. Worth it? Absolutely.
The best part? Recovery is 100% faster, but I still get spoiled. Thanks to Jared for taking care of me today. Thanks to my family for taking care of my girls today and for bringing me food, magazines and flowers. And thanks to Elissa for making FANTASTIC made from scratch minestrone with home made focaccia bread and brownies. Just soft enough that I can eat it! A great home made dinner tonight and all I have to do is lift my spoon. Plus my mom took care of food for tomorrow so I get to relax and be crafty with my girls!
Thanks also to everyone who sent prayers, happy vibes, sent e-mail and comments and called. It really was a great comfort! The lab results will be in on Monday so I'll keep you all posted, but according to this surgeon (who has TONS of cancer experience) we're looking good! :)

27 more minutes to eat.

In 27 minutes, I can't eat or drink any more. This is what I'm thinking about. At least I have my priorities straight. I was about to scoop myself a huge bowl of thin mint ice cream (no, not vegan) when Jared reminded me that eating that would increase the chances I loose control of my bowels during the surgery. This, by the way, is a huge fear of mine. I have been dealing with this fear since I got pregnant with Naiya and read about it happening during labor. Gross, I know, but I've read stories... Honestly, I think Jared just wanted the ice cream for himself, and he happens to know me too well. Anyhow... now my "last meal" will be a cup of chamomile tea with honey. Just as good... (I'll keep telling myself that anyway).
I wanted to use this time when I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep to update my toddler blog since I know I won't feel like blogging later this week, but instead, I decided I have to share how cute my kids are.
First of all, Eva has been hell to put to bed lately. She doesn't NOT want to sleep and she's not afraid to tell you. Tonight I put her to bed at Ne-ma and Pa's house (my parents) and she was FANTASTIC. She was acting all goofy earlier in the evening because Uncle Martin is in town for Thanksgiving. I thought we'd have drama at bed time for sure. When it got down to it, she wanted her stories and her snuggles. She looked up and said "I love you mama." Then I put her down and got in a solid 30 seconds of tickles before she was out. JOY! :)
Then there's my cute Naiya. She asked me what I would be doing tomorrow. I told her I had a doctor's appointment. She asked if I would get a shot. I said maybe just a small one. Then she said, "Maybe I should come with you to help you be brave." How cute are these girls?
Anyway, I'm running low on time, so I'd better get to that cup of tea!
Oh, and here's something to look forward to: Naiya drew an AMAZING picture of a train at Ne-ma's today. We took a picture of it and I'll post it as soon as my mom e-mails it to me. You won't believe she did it all by herself. (I still don't, and I saw it happen!) I'm positive you all will be just as excited about it as I am, right?! ;)

My lucky day?

I'm not sure how she found my site, but I had a comment left by Laurie of the Kandy Kisses Boutique. She invited me to her "Black Friday" give away and sale. She has very cute stuff and is giving away BUNDLES this Friday. If you have girls, might have girls some day, or know someone with girls, I encourage you to log on to her site and enter to win!

Here's a sample of one of her outfits:

Now what are you waiting for? Go...enter... and good luck!

On a not so cancerous note...

Have I told you lately how funny my girls are? I just love them!
This morning I asked Naiya to come to the bathroom to get washed up. She says "I'm coming," and I hear her slowly shuffling down the hall. Then she rounds the corner to the bathroom and I see that she is walking backwards. I asked her what she's doing and she says, "Thomas backs into the station to get his wash down, so I wanted to back in for my wash up." :)

Here's What's Really Going On

Does it seem like I'm not all here? Well, I feel like I'm not all here. So here's what's up.
First let me say, let's not make a big deal of this, please. That being said, you probably wonder why I'm even blogging about it, right? Well, "it" is on my mind. "It" has been on my mind for a while now, and I haven't blogged about it once. Totally against my personality! I really haven't wanted to think about it, but I'm thinking about it all the time anyway, so why not blog about it?! Anyway... here we go:

What is "it"?
Well to quote the results of the needle biopsy, "cells consistent with Mucoepidermoid Carcinoma."
What the crap is that?
Some sort of cancer of the salivary glands.
Where is it?
In my cheek.
How did it get there?
Beats me.
How will it get out?
Surgery... next Tuesday.
And then?
Now that is the question. Test will be run. Results will be read. I will be notified. Chances are nothing more will need to be done. Slight chance of another surgery. Even slighter chance of chemo.

There, I did it. It's out. Let's not talk about it. Just send me some mental happy vibes on Tuesday and we'll call it good.

Hey, What's going on?

Yes, that's totally a 4 Non Blondes reference. Wow, I'm getting old.
Tonight as we were putting the girls to bed, Naiya was especially rowdy. (In fact I can still hear her quietly singing and kicking her feet upstairs. ) Jared was laying next to her for our nightly snuggle and she flailed her arms out and knocked him in the nose. Then she said, "Oh dad, I'm sorry. I don't know what's going on with me!" What a funny girl!

All I Want for Christmas

The other day I was having a quiet cuddle with my little Eva. Things have been kind of hectic lately, and she certainly needed a mommy snuggle. She was tickling my face and then she looked up at me and said, "Mom we need a baby in this house."
Me- Huh? A what? (Isn't that the role that Eva is filling?)
E- "Yeah a baby and a cat." (No surprise there, as they are still heart broken about Mister Sophie.) Then she says "Maybe Santa can bring them."
I hope she's giving me a choice between the two. ;) Fortunately this is coming from Eva, the child that wanted to be either a playground or a glass for Halloween and finally settled on a lion. She is very fickle.
Now, on a slightly less ominous note, the girls have been SOOO cute together lately. They have been "hunting for monsters." They tip toe around the house with costumes on and squeal and run every time they hear a sound or see something move. This is one of the first times they've really started to play game by themselves and it keeps them occupied for hours. Plus, it's pretty entertaining for me.
BTW I don't want anyone to ask me if I'm prego on the comments. Y'all know me better than that. One glimpse at 2 little pink lines and the whole world would know I'm pregnant.

A point

I try not to get into politics on my blog, but since the election is over, it's not really politics anymore... It's just life. No matter how you feel on this issue. He's got a point.

Grosgrain Store

That lady that sews amazing outfits for baby and toddler girls and gives them away on her website has started an on-line store. She just has a few skirts and a few tops on there for now, but they are adorable!! If you're interested in checking it out, here's the link: GrosgrainStore.com
Here's a sample of one of her super cute outfit:

Tagged

I was tagged by Melanie.

I'm supposed to post the 4th photo from the 4th file of my pictures and then pass it on to 4 people. Me, being the rebel I am, I'm doing the 2nd photo from the second file and passing it on to 2 people. Here we go:



This is my cute (and a little cheesy) Eva at Wheeler Farm last spring.
Heather and Christy... consider yourselves tagged!

What Comes After 10?

This morning, my cute little Eva came in to wake me up. Truth be told, I was already awake. Naiya had walked in a few minutes earlier, and in a desperate attempt to buy a few more minutes of "sleep," I invited her to climb into bed with me. Eva on the other had wasn't falling for that. The conversation went something like this:

Momma- Do you want to come up and snuggle?
Eva- (In her sweet sleepy voice) No, I'm thirsty.
M- Is your water cup empty?
E- Yes. Can I please have some cool soy milk?
M- (desperately trying to buy a few more seconds) Sure, can you count to ten first?
E 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10
M- That's great! Now what comes next? (still hoping for another second)
E- (with way more sarcasm than any 2 year old should ever have) You get the milk.

With that amount of sassy at the ripe age of 2, I'm starting to get worried!

Musical Mad-Lib

Lately Eva's been making up her own songs in a funny sort of way. Here's a sampling:

Twinkle twinkle little light
How I wonder what you see
Up above the world so green
Like a diamond in the floor

Sometimes she gets really creative and sings something like this (to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle):

Stinker mikle bittle mat
Ahhh C dunple sa be tat

I think she's on the verge of creating her own language! :)

We're Being Followed

This morning back at out house, we woke up to this:

When it was time to make birthday cards for Nema (Happy Birthday Nema!!), all the girls could think about was snow. So.... they painted blizzard birthday cards using cool colors! :)

We've been spoiled so far this fall, but now it's time to stock up on hot cocoa!

Park City

We decided to stay in Park City for a night to get away and relax. In the afternoon we stopped at a park to play. It was a little chilly, but not too bad if you are running around.

The girls LOVE playing in leaves, so it was perfect.

All the fun (and no nap) had them worn out and they were both out for the night at 6. 6!!!!! They even slept until their usual 6:30. Fabulous! :)In the morning we woke up to this:

Winter is definitely on it's way!

Halloween

Here are some pics of my "disco lion" and my "scarecrow witch" from Halloween.
Ready to head out....

Hanging out with Nana Janet

Cautiously approaching Gumpa (He's the scarecrow in the middle.)

Our Jack-O-Lanterns
Aren't my kids just so stinkin' cute?!

When I Grow Up...

Last night as I was putting Naiya to bed after another long day with no nap, the conversation went a little something like this:

N- Do you know what I want to be when I grow up?
Me- Thomas the Tank Engine?
N- No, mom, there's only one Thomas.
Me- Then I don't know.
N- I want to be a boy.

The rest of the conversation was me suppressing laughter and trying to briefly explain that, usually, things didn't work that way. With a little tom-boy like her around, Jared really shouldn't feel bad that we never had a boy!

November

So I ended up with an F for effort (or lack there of) on my October list. Here's how it turned out:
-Organize our office.....Didn't even get started
-Get our documents into a safety Deposit box..... Nope
-Make copies of all those documents to keep in case of emergency .... Done
-Make back up copies of all of our pictures... Thought about it a few times
-Have all of our pictures printed so that I can start making albums... Not this either
-Update our business tax logs for 2008... Yeah!!
- Start working on making Christmas gifts... A big fat NO
-Have a plumber come clean out our pipes- Did this
- Make/Alter Halloween costumes for the girls... and this
- Plan a toddler Halloween party.... and this
- Try Bikram's Yoga... loved this
- Get Eva a new bed... have this too
- Paint the outside of our house... Didn't even think about it after I made the list

I did however make it though the month which wasn't on the list, but looking back now, I think maybe it should have been. ;)

So, now it's November. Time for a new list (that looks strangely similar to last month's list).
-Organize our office
-Get our documents into a safety Deposit box
-Make copies of all those documents to keep in case of emergency
-Make back up copies of all of our pictures
-Have all of our pictures printed so that I can start making albums
-Start working on making Christmas gifts

I thought about being ambitious and adding a thing or two, but then I thought better of it. If you look close you'll notice I actually deleted one (painting the house). I'm thinking that'll be a spring time thing.

On a happy note... It's November first. There was no October earthquake as the psychic predicted. I am, however more prepared. Win, win.

A real blog?

It's been 2 weeks since I've blogged anything about the family(a.k.a. a "real" blog). I know that's not long for some, but for me it's a record! I've been busy, but not much more busy than usual. I guess subconsciously I needed a break. Well, the girls are sleeping and Jared's out with some friends, so I guess I have some catching up to do.

At some point between the last two weeks, we went to the Zoo with my friend Elissa and her boys. I couldn't resist posting this picture: Last Friday we went to Gardner Village to have a picnic and to visit all the fun witches on display. Unfortunately it was UEA weekend and apparently EVERY other family in the valley thought it would be a fun free outing too. We still had a good time. I'm sure the girls didn't even notice the crowds. The main reason I did was because of the long walk from the over-over flow parking lot, and even more so, the l...o...n...g walk back. ;) Here's a pick of the ladies with their new witchy friend. Strangely enough, I didn't get them all dolled up in Halloween outfits. That's usually right up my alley, but I didn't think about it this time. You should note, however that both girls are wearing rain boots on a perfectly sunny day. ;)

Last weekend we went up to Snowbird. They had a "customer appreciation" day where if you brought up canned food, you could ride the tram for free. Good deal for a good cause. We had a blast. Here's a pic from the top of Hidden Peak (where the upper tram dock is).
It was fabulous. We haven't hiked any peaks this year so it was great to be up at such a high elevation with such breath taking views.

After the tram, we let the girls bounce in the bounce house and on the slide.
I didn't get a picture of the slide because every time Naiya hiked up to the top, she would start crying (she gets anxiety about a lot of people on a slide). This would get Eva crying too, and I had to either hike up or coax them down. This happened like 4 times. (You'd think they'd learn by time number 2, but not so much!) :)

This morning we went to Barnes and Noble for story time. Curious George dropped by for a visit. The girls were LOVING it (not that you can tell from this picture).
Poor Eva really liked him from a distance but would cling to me like there's no tomorrow when we got too close. When it was time for him to go, however, she cried and cried that she wanted him to stay. She even mentioned it again later. "Mom, I really wanted Curious Monkey to come back, but he didn't. That's not nice." Funny girl!


I'm having technical difficulties with getting the pictures to post. Apparently everyone in the the entire blog-o-sphere is blogging right now and the system is a little over loaded. I'll post them later... I PROMISE for real this time.

*Look... I actually followed throught with a promise to post pictures of something in a reasonable amount of time! :)

Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Not much time for blogging lately, but I couldn't pass this up. (I'll be sure to update y'all on family stuff soon!)
Isn't this AMAZING??! YOu can check it out for yourself and try to win it at:
Marie-Therese Gown GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

MIKE AITKEN

Breaks your heart, doesn't it?!

Mike Aitken

I don't know if you've heard about this kid. He's a friend of my brother, George. He is a BMX pro from Utah who is in a coma. Although he seems to be slowly recovering, he has a long road ahead of him. Unfortunately because of his profession, he is tagged as un-insurable for health insurance. That means that the cost of the medial bills will fall on his family and his wife (and young son). I know this is a difficult time for all of us financially, but I can't help but feel an ache in my heart for this kid. I have to do what I can to help. If you would like to donate, you can click on this link for more info. If you'd like to read the blog his family set up about his progress you can link to it here.

Check anothe one off the list!

Business logs are updated for myself and Jared. I would like to point out that that includes all receipts and checks from Jan 1 to today are logged. Wa-hoo! 4 out of 9 for the month so far.

S-N-O-W!!!!!

I woke up this morning to Naiya's giggles. She was giggling because she peeked out her window and this is what she saw:

SNOW!! Wa-hoo!!!

Tagged

I have been tagged by Erica, so here we go! :

1. Where were you 10 years ago?

I was attending the U of U, changing my major (for the bazillionth time) to business (that one obviously didn't stick either) and working as a secretary for a construction company and at Solitude Ski Resort as a ticket clerk.

2. What's on your to-do list for today?

- Yoga class this morning

- deliver a thank you to my good friend Betsy

- Return Red Box movies

- Update all of Jared's business income and expense logs (from Jan 1st to today)

- Balance Jared's check book

- Update all of my income and expense logs (also from Jan 1st to today!)

- Balance my personal check book

-Do our household bills

- Visit my parents

3. What if you were a billionaire?

I would pay for anyone of my family, extended family and friends that wanted to go on a Mother's Without Boarders trip to Africa for the summer to volunteer helping AIDS babies and teaching kids. I would pay my/my friends/family's home/car/school loans. I would buy Jared any new car that he wanted. I would pick up my house, as it is, and move it to a small town like Oakley. I would buy property somewhere exotic. I would hire a personal chef and a personal trainer so that I could finally eat and workout the way I want to all the time. I would make sure that everyone I could was taken care of.

4. Five places you've lived:

Czech Republic

Austria

Sandy, UT

Mackinac Island, Michigan,

Salt Lake City, UT

5. Three bad habits:

I am at least 15 minutes late to everything (sorry everyone)

I stay up late working on unimportant things but putting off the stuff I should be doing

I worry too much about things I can't change

6. Snacks you like (LOVE):

Fruit Leathers

Izzie fruit sodas

Panda Black Licorice

Vegan Choc Chip Cookies

Real Ice Cream

7. Post a random Picture

I now tag Holly and Chelsy since they haven't blogged in at least 2 weeks! :)

Another Fab Giveaway!!

Love it. Want it. Neeeeeed it.

Shenandoah Costume GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

( I will win one of these, someday! ;)

Need a Plumber?

If you need a plumber and you don't know who to call (in Salt Lake City) I have a recommendation for you. Electric Rooter is fast, clean, reliable, nice and AFFORDABLE! They just came and cleaned out all my pipes in no time flat. They even replaces a few parts that needed to be replaced. They made me feel like my job was their top priority although I know they are very busy. Thanks Corby!!!

BTW- That's one more off of the list.

M.I.A.

On a sad note our sweet little Mister Sophie is missing. :( Unfortunately he doesn't have his micro chip yet because we needed to wait until he got his second set of shots (supposed to be this Friday). Plus his collar doesn't have a tag because we're still waiting for it in the mail. *Sigh* Back to the shelter. Back to putting up posters (lost instead of found). Wish us luck!

And if you happen to be reading this... Please come home, Mister Sophie, we miss you!!

Bikram Yoga

I did it! I tried my first class of Bikram Yoga. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's Yoga to the power of 10. It's a bunch of people shut into a small room doing difficult yoga with the heater turned up full blast. It's hot. It's sweaty. It's stinky. I LOVE IT! I'm trying a 10 day introductory pass for $20. After that it gets MUCH more expensive, so I don't know how often I'll be able to go, but for now Wa-hoo. I think I'll try to go again tomorrow!
* For those who are keeping track of my "October List" I've also gotten Eva's new bed all set up and their room rearranged. Good day!

Tea for Two

So my prediction yesterday was right on the money. That tea set is getting LOT of use. It has also been the cause of a LOT of turmoil between our two toddlers. The biggest problem being that there is only one teapot and both girls want to pour tea. The solution up to now has been to take turns pouring tea for everyone (everyone being Naiya, Eva, Lion and Bear). Someone pours, everyone drinks their imaginary tea and eats an imaginary cookie and then the next girl gets to serve tea and cookies.

On one particular turn, just after the picture above was taken, Eva was taking a little too long for Naiya's liking. Naiya got up set and stood up GLARING at Eva. Then, without a word but what my friend Courtney would call the "pissy face," she pretended to pour the imaginary tea onto the carpet instead of pretending to drink it. I couldn't help but laugh that my cute little Naiya was so mad she wouldn't even drink her "tea." She poured it out just to spite Eva. Funny how even little people can have BIG emotions.

Something Useful

Eva's had some birthday money just burning a hole in her tiny plastic purse (thanks to Uncle Martin!); so this weekend, we went out to spend some of it. I dropped Jared and Eva off at the toy store and went with Naiya to the grocery store so that Eva could take her time and choose things that she really wanted. After the grocery store, Eva needed more time so Naiya and I went to Barnes and Noble for a while. Naiya could play with the train table and I could grab a couple books. (I seriously could spend all of our money there if I had no self control.) After quite some time, Eva still wasn't done and Jared confessed that he didn't know how to help her choose. Apparently the child wanted just about everything. So Naiya and I went up to Toys R Us and Jared took Naiya (to play with the train table of all things) while I helped Eva. The cart was LOADED with all sorts of fun things (worth far more than the $50 we had to spend). There were several kinds of blocks, some trains, one of those things where you mover the beads along the wires that you see at doctors offices, and this: I have to say that it seemed to me that Jared took her to the parts of the toy store that contained the things that HE wanted! ;) We started sorting through the stuff. She chose one set of blocks. She said she didn't want the trains (although we kept one for Naiya that she's been wanting). I vetoed the bead thing because I want them to still love it when they go to the doctors office and I'm afraid if we have it at home, they won't. Now we were to the push-n-pop thing pictured above. I'll tell you ahead of time that I am not a big fan of this. I think it makes a lot of noise and is one of those things that the girls will use a little here and there and then forget about. That being said, I felt that if that is one thing she chose with her birthday money, then she should be able to have it. It's only fair. I pushed it along the floor to remind her what it does and asked her if she would like to take it home. I said "You can use it to pretend to vacuum to help mommy at home." She looked at me with those big blue eyes, thought for a minute, and said, "No thanks, I want something useful." I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I'm assuming that she got it from all the Thomas the Train books and songs that we read/sing about being "really useful engines."

In case you are wondering what Eva thinks is useful, she ended up choosing some mini washable markers and a cute tin tea set. Both of which I'm sure will get a LOT of use. I also would like to say that Mommy spent 15 minutes at the toy store doing what Daddy couldn't do in an hour and a half. No particular reason for telling you that but that it makes me feel really useful. ;)

And Now...

So, September was a busy month. I finished my 100 thing challenge, had my first ever yard sale, got our car and house more earthquake/disaster ready (still have a little ways to go), I ate vegan for 30 days (still going on that), I started my Teach Your Tots blog, and it was Eva's birthday. I'm sure I'm missing some other stuff, but that's all I can think of right now.
Now that it's 3 days into October, I'm getting the itch to expand my to-do list. (I'm not sure why, I feel busy enough as is!) Last month the focus was de-cluttering and safety stuff around the house. This month is finishing that stuff and adding paper work and finances to the mix.
This month I want to:
-Organize our office
-Get our documents into a safety Deposit box (did you know they are only like $20/year?!)
-Make copies of all those documents to keep in case of emergency
-Make back up copies of all of our pictures
-Have all of our pictures printed so that I can start making albums
-Update our business tax logs for 2008 (last year I put it off and regretted it)
- Start working on making Christmas gifts (I'll tell you more about that later)
- Have a plumber come clean out our pipes
- Make/Alter Halloween costumes for the girls
- Plan a toddler Halloween party
- Try Bikram's Yoga
- Get Eva a new bed
- Paint the outside of our house

There's more that I want to do, but I'd better save something for November. Now I told everyone, I really need to get it all done! (As apposed to when I make a list just for myself and don't end up doing 1/2 of it!) Guess it's time to stop blogging (for today) and get busy. Wish me luck!

Eva's B-day Weekend Pics

Each birthday the kids get to choose one place that the four of us go as a family. Eva chose the zoo. Here are a couple pics from that outing:

Loving the train at the zoo...

Looking for gators with daddy...
Eva got to have two parties this year (Naiya got two last year!). She wanted a "bug" party. I didn't get pictures of the first party yet (my mom took the pics), but here are a couple from the Chamberlain family party:

pretty pretty princess...

the big bug hunt...

I still can't believe she's two now. With all the inventions and medications out there I can't believe they haven't invented a "stay this small forever" pill. I don't give my kids a lot of meds, but I'd be all over that one.

Eva Lily Loo is Two!

I can't believe that my baby is 2. I asked her yesterday if I could still call her my baby or if I had to call her my big girl. She told me she was "mamma's big baby." (That's right on the money 90% of the time!) ;) She really is growing up though. She seems so tall to me all the sudden. I know she's not tall compared to most, but she's definitely tall compared to the 19 1/2 inch munchkin I met 2 years ago. I sure miss that time, but I love all the fun things we can do now. I can't believe how smart she is. Sometimes too smart for her own good. I love the little conversations we have together. I really love the little conversations she has with Naiya. I need to get some of their interactions on video so they can have them to remember later.
It's not surprising that she was two weeks late. Sometimes I think that she would still be in my belly if we didn't force her out. She is definitely a mamma's girl. Not that I'm complaining. I will certainly miss this time when she wants to spend time with me once she's a teen.
Happy Birthday little Eva. We love you!! Here's to hoping you'll always be mamma's little peanut!

Peanut's Baby Pictures

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Eva when she really was just a peanut.

Another perfect outfit.

Have I told you lately that I LOVE this website? Check out this ADORABLE Frock! Do any of you know how to sew like this? The winner of the cowgirl outfit is announced tomorrow. But just in case I have to make a link for this cute outfit too. I hope you all are trying to win this cute stuff too!
Dollhouse Frock GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!

Autumn Walk- Princess Style

We went on an autumn walk again the other day. This is how the girls chose to dress:

Instead of gathering leaves into the plastic bags that I brought, they filled their purses to the rim. Such cute girls! In case you're wondering, I was instructed to wear a crown too. No pictures of that though... sorry! :)

Love it!

Thanks again Christy!

Excitement fills the air

Tonight,we're back in business, and we couldn't be more excited! This is something Jared and I look forward to on Thursday nights. The kids are going to be early and I've already stocked up on snacks and drinks! :)

A Compliment?

Dear two guys buying beer at the grocery store last night:
I heard you the first time. There was no need to follow me out to my car and repeat yourselves several more times. I'm sorry if you misinterpreted my uncomfortable smile as an invitation to chat. I was really just wishing I had some mace.

Sincerely,
Me

P.S. I really don't think you needed more beer last night.

A Long Wait

Yesterday I told Naiya to call to her dad that dinner will be ready in 5 minutes. She walks to her room, pokes here head out the window and calls to the back yard where Jared was working and says, "Mom says we can have dinner in 27 years." Apparently sometimes 5 minutes really does feel like a lifetime to a toddler. ;)

A Give Away I Can't Resist

I found this blog called Grosgrain Fabulous through a link to a link to a link sort of thing. This woman makes adorable kids clothes weekly and gives them away on her blog. All you have to do to enter to win is to add a link to the page on your blog. This week she has this adorable cowgirl outfit in Naiya's size. I have to do it! So here's the link: Sarsaparilla Skirt & Vest GIVEAWAY !!!!!!!