The Blog

Confessions of a Tired Mom....

2009-05-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

***I got tired of pushing my kids on the swing, so I taught Ryley how to go on her stomach (she still wants me to push her).

***I put leftover Valentine candy in my kids Easter baskets this year.

***I let Ryley play on the computer while I take a nap.

***I make my kids meals that only take 30 seconds-1 minute.

***I wear my workout clothes for more than half the day.

***We have leftovers for dinner at least twice a week.

***I go to the bathroom to "get away", but even that doesn't work.

***I dream of vacations to Hawaii and Caribbean cruises.

***I get tired of breaking up my kids fighting, so I tell myself I'm helping them be "tough."

***I vacuum around my kids toys on their floor.

***I give them otter pops and tell them to go play outside.

***I have big bins for their clothes so I don't have to fold them. Come on! What's the point of folding a 2 year old's clothes anyway!

***I go to the grocery store, even if we don't need anything, just so we don't have to stay home all day.

Note To Self....

2009-05-07T15:25:00.001-07:00

Shows NOT to watch while working out:
**Grey's Anatomy, especially this month where Izzie finds out her cancer isn't all gone, and she makes her boyfriend try the wedding dishes for Meredith's wedding. He tells her that the shrimp he's eating is like their first date, a little sweet and a little spicy....waaaahhhhhh!

**Oprah: For the most part Oprah has those shows that you can watch while working out, especially if it's anything with Dr. Oz. However, you never know what you're gonna get. So, today as I was running, finishing up the last 10 minutes of Greys', I proceeded to turn on Oprah from a few days ago. Bad decision. It was on that little girl Madeline McCann who had been abducted while her family was in Portugal on vacation . I instantly started crying, while I was running, which I'm sure is a lovely site! What happens is, when I watch these shows, I put myself in their position. So I was Izzzie for a while, with cancer, and Scott was sitting at the side of my bed, testing the wedding dishes. The little girl who gets abducted is my daughter...and on and on.

**Extreme Makeover Home Edition: This show almost inevitably makes me cry. I do like to see the finished project though.

**The Food Network: Self explanatory

Shows TO watch while working out:
**Ellen Degeneres: She starts with her monologue making you laugh, then she dances to some upbeat music, which makes you want to run faster. She also has on a hottie guests like Hugh Jackman. If that's not motivation, I don't know what is!

**ANYTHING on Bravo! That channel is what I call some good ol' entertainment. Who can go wrong with The Real Housewives or Project Runway. And what about Kathy Griffin...what a potty mouth! But I love her anyway because she makes me laugh.

**Biggest Loser: Usually I watch this show with a bag of carrots and celery at my side (yeah right), but it is also nice to watch while working out. Hey, if a 400 pound man can run on the treadmill, so can I!

Any others you like or don't like?

The Lesser Half...

2009-05-06T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking that the title of our blog should be something like "The Zinn...Jill Zinn". I've decided to participate in our blog, not because I think anyone really cares about what Jill's husband thinks, but because I need a way to unwind and get my thoughts out without thinking that I need to get a 4.0!
My daily schedule keeps me planning my hours and sometimes quarter hours. It's not a life that I enjoy, but it's become one that I'm accustomed to. I go to school every morning and work every afternoon.That is the meat and potates. The yams and cream corn consist of 24 hours of church volunteer work per week, and web design/development work for contracted clients to wrap it all up. Someone once told me to make sure to have time for family...oh yeah, that was my conscience. I absolutely love spending time with my family, I adore it in fact. Somehow we're doing well with all of this though. All is well, all is well.

I'm planning a real road trip for September. My best friend will fly up from Calif. and we will be driving from Seattle to Canada. We'll be camping at the really nice KOA camps...not those...other ones... I'm really looking forward to it. We'll live on baked beans and Doritos. Hopefully Barry (as in Manilow) will be playing somewhere in Canada...not because we will go see him, but so that we can say that we didn't go see him.

Jill has been really working hard with Ryley and her tantrums lately. It's my belief that when kids are that young, they are not conditioned or even able to react positively when they feel bad or sad, so they resort to base emotions. Adults can maintain or even work through it more easily. So, young'ns need to have all of their base needs met to be happy. They need to be fed, rested, and loved. If they are missing one or even all of those, tantrums result. So, that's my formula. It's easy for me to say right?;)

I hope all of our family and friends are doing great and are fed, rested, and loved.

My Sister Is Famous!

2009-04-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, check out this link: http://www.abc4.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=91850@video.ktvx.com&navCatId=462
My sister was on Good Things Utah this last Friday promoting her blog called 365 Days of Slow Cooking...(365daysofcrockpot.blogspot.com). She is trying to cook 365 days in a row in her crockpot. She has some really great recipes and ideas on her blog. I love cooking in my crockpot, because it makes dinner so easy. The only problem is, I have to know what I am going to make the night before or that morning.

Slacker

2009-04-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

I have been such a blog slacker lately. My laptop is dead, so at night I have a hard time going in to the computer room and getting online. I used to blog with my laptop in bed. So, anyway, sorry I have kept everyone out of the loop for so long.
Right now we are a busy busy family. Back in November I got certified as a fitness instructor. I have been working at a gym nearby about 5 days a week teaching group exercise classes. It has been so great and I really do love it! I don't even mind waking up at 4:30am (most days)! I teach three 6 am classes, but I like to be there around 5am to work out prior to class. I also teach a two 5pm classes. It has been a great learning experience and I hope to continue my fitness education.
Scott is busy with school, work, and since February, the bishop of our church. We don't see him as much anymore, but he is so strong and is doing so great with everything. He is also training for a few volleyball tournaments this summer. I am excited to watch him play!
Ryley is 3 1/2 and is as grown up as ever. The other day she said to me, "Mom, you're driving me crazy!" Nice. I can't WAIT until she is a teenager. :) Although she has her sassy moments, she is also very sweet and loving. She will turn 4 in August and then start preschool in September! Hooray!
Kirye just turned 2 and is a very active little boy. He loves to follow his sister everywhere and do everything she does. He also likes to show his disapproval of her by biting. Not good. His latest exciting toy has been his baseball and bat.
So, that's an update on us. I want to try to keep up with blogging! Hope everyone is doing well, and I will try to catch up on your blogs as well.

I wish I could sing like Allison

2009-02-27T20:44:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wish you could sing like an American Idol? I do...all the time. I wish I could sing like Allison. She has such an amazing voice for only being 16 years old. I like to turn the tv up really loud (so I can't hear my own voice) and sing along with the contestants and pretend that it's me up on the stage. Randy will call me Dog, and Simon will tell me it was absolutely, positively, the best he's heard all night!

Here's Allison's voice: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVDEnh8xRCU&feature=related

I Love American Idol

2009-02-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

I am just so in to AI this season! Last night was so good already and I especially loved all of the judges comments. I thought Randy was right on when he said to Stevie , "Wow, wow, wow, that was not hot for me!" Scott and I started laughing so hard. He also said to that Casey girl, "That was not good for me, that was kind of weird for me!" It was just so funny the way he said it. I also stared squealing like a 12 year old girl when Danny Gokie sang. I just like him so much. Ryley and I were screaming I LOVE YOU DANNY! Does anyone else have a favorite? I did not like that 17 year old girl Stevie or the other girl, Casey. They both did horrendous!

Are You Kidding Me!!

2009-01-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

Did anyone else hear about the woman who had 8 babies in 5 minutes? She gave birth to them on Monday. I guess the 8th one was a suprise. How insane would your life be? You could pretty much just resign yourself to the fact that you will never sleep for another 18 years! Not to mention the cost! Yikes!!

LET IT SNOW!!!

2008-12-29T17:00:00.000-08:00

We have gotten almost 60 inches of snow in the last 17 days. It is crazy here! There is snow everywhere and many events have been cancelled. People haven't been going anywhere because of how difficult it is to drive. Scott was supposed to go in to work today, but that didn't work out. It is kind of fun, if you ask me!! This month has been the snowiest one on record. The last record was in January 1950 where it snowed 56.9 inches. The kids got a fun inflatable sled for Christmas that they already tried out on Christmas day. It looks like we will be getting a lot of use out of it this winter!

Naughty and Nice

2008-12-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

My sister bought these for my kids and I thought they were so cute. Ryley loves to wear her apron when we cook.

Naughty and Nice

Ryley being Nice

Kirye being Naughty

Naughty :)

I put them on the back of my kitchen chairs when we are not using them.

Dreams do come true...in the Philippines

2008-12-02T23:05:00.000-08:00

Scott and I love this guy. His name is Arnel Pineda and he was the lead singer of a cover band in the Philippines. The band Journey was looking for a new lead singer to replace Steve Perry. The guitarist of journey was just browsing on youtube one day and came across Arnel and his cheesy band called The Zoo. They called him up and invited him to audition for the band. Arnel got hired and now he has been all over the world as the new lead singer of Journey. It is uncanny how similar he sounds to Steve Perry.

Discoing Elves

2008-11-22T23:34:00.001-08:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

I have nothing to say

2008-10-14T22:17:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking and thinking about what I can blog about, but I honestly have nothing to talk about. Shocking isn't it??? Okay, well I guess I can blab about my kids. Today we went to the dentist and Ryley got her front teeth checked out. About 3 months ago she bumped her mouth and her front teeth. It didn't kill the root, but it damaged the teeth and they are a purplish/gray color. So she got x-rays this morning on them to see if they were getting worse or better. The dentist said that her body is trying to reject the teeth, just like your body rejects a sliver and tries to push it out. Basically she has to have her teeth drilled in to and they are going to take out the damaged part and fill it. I do not know all the correct terms, so this might sound a little funny. I guess in a way it is kind of like a root canal, but it isn't fully in to the root.

I started my no sugar diet again and I am a grump! I never diet, but I like to limit my sugar intake. This summer I kind of slacked off a bit since I was running so much. Well, now that it is cold and dark out in the mornings I am not running outside as much or as long (back to the treadmill for me)! So, not as much running means I can't justify eating whatever I want. Which means I go all week with no extra sugar from treats or candy, and then on Sunday I can eat whatever treat (or treats) I want. Yeah! It is my favorite day. I feel really good when I do this, not only physically, but also mentally. I am a huge sugar person, so just knowing in my mind that I can do this makes me stronger.

What else...Scott is going full speed ahead with school, work, exercising, church stuff. He is a busy man. I am hoping this weekend he will have a little time to go to the pumpkin patch with the kids and I. The kids love that place and it is always fun to take cute pictures and drink hot cider.

Kath and Kim

2008-10-07T21:38:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else think that new show Kath and Kim looks hilarious! I can't wait to watch it and see if it's funny or stupid. All of the commercials for it are really funny, and I love Molly Shannon, so we'll see.
Oh crap! I just read some reviews and they aren't good!

Half Marathon

2008-10-05T21:50:00.001-07:00

Well I DID IT!! I ran my first half marathon on Saturday. That is 13.1 miles folks! I feel like I have been training all summer for this. It was a great race, but it was raining the first 7 or 8 miles, so my feet were wet the whole way. I finished in 1:41, which I was pretty happy with. I have been training at about 8-8:30 minute miles, so by my time I was running about 7:45 minute miles. I felt like the race wasn't organized that well though. They didn't even have gatorade at the mile markers, which is odd for a race that long. Scott, his mom, and the kids were at the finish line waiting for me. It was so good to see them there cheering. I just looked at the results online and I placed 31st out of 200 runners (that includes men and women); 5th place out of the 107 female runners, 2nd in my age group. I was only 4 minutes behind the female winner. Oh man, if I would've known maybe I could have pushed it a little harder (Scott just calculated that I would have had to run 19 seconds faster per mile). The course was so hard though! There were a ton of hills, and at one point there was a major hill on a gravel. It was pretty bad. A lot of people had to walk up it.
After the race we went around Greenbluff, which is an area of small family farms with apple orchards and pumpkin patches. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy, so we didn't want to stay long. Ryley had fun going through a corn maze with dad. I will have to post pictures when my mother in law sends them. I think we will go again in a few weeks so we can enjoy ourselves a bit more.
Back to the grind tomorrow. Where do the weekends go! Ugh.

Dark Chocolate Chex Mix

2008-09-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

Has anyone tasted the new dark chocolate chex mix? I really like it and here's why....the normal sweet and salty mixes are good, but they have way too many plain, calorie wasting pretzels in them. The dark chocolate chex mix still has the pretzels in it, but they are covered in dark chocolate. See the difference? Before I would have to sift through and take out all the pretzels. Now I can just dig right in! Thanks General Mills.

Conversation with Dad

2008-09-18T08:10:00.001-07:00

Dad: Ryley, I just told you last night not to play with the outlets. There is fire in there and it could come out and GET YOU!
Ryley: I don't want it to come out and get me.
Dad: Then don't play with the outlets.
Ryley: There's fire in that hole in there?
Dad: Yup

Boy, I love how we scare our kids. The other day I told Ryley if she kept swallowing her gum she would get bugs in her tummy.

Random

2008-09-18T08:10:00.000-07:00

I found these pictures on my camera the other day. It looks like we have a photographer on our hands. :)

New Hobby???

2008-09-15T18:52:00.001-07:00

I thought I would post a little about our vacation to Mammoth Lakes, CA. First of all, it was so great that my mom was able to drive over and watch the kids for 5 days. I can't even tell you how fabulous it was to not worry one single minute about my kids. The whole vacation I was so relaxed and at ease knowing they were in good hands.

We left on a Wednesday and flew in to Reno. When we got the directions to Mammoth the night before I thought the drive would only be about 1 1/2-2 hours. Well, turns out it actually takes about 3 hours because of the highway and going through small towns with the slower speed limits. Ugh. Actually, I can't complain at all because it was so nice to just drive and not have to worry about the kids in the back screaming. We just listened to music and talked and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

The next day our friends weren't getting in until later that afternoon, so Scott and I decided to go mountain biking. Mammoth Lakes is a ski resort in the winter and a big mountain biking resort in the summer. We rented some bikes and got our gondola passes. The gondola ride was only about 10 minutes, and when we got to the top we were at 11,000 feet. We had a map and we were prepared to go down an easy trail, considering we are both novice mountain bikers.

Here is a picture of us at the top, ready to take on the mountain!!

So, remember that "easy" trail we thought we would go down? Unexpectedly, we happened to get on another trail which ended up being a more difficult one. It was frustrating because none of the trails were marked that well, so we just had to guess which one we were on from the map. Scott and I had a great time going down the mountain. I was braking practically the whole time down. It was so steep and really rocky. I felt this great rush though and I feel like I can truly appreciate the passion true mountain bikers have.
At one point as we were going down the mountain and there was a lot of loose gravel type rocks. Well, I totally bit the dust and went flying over my handlebars and skidded on the rocks for a few feet. Luckily I didn't get hurt, only a few scratches. I just felt stupid. Scott of course was instantly frantic and rushed to my side! Actually, he just laughed and took a picture.

We had such a great time mountain biking. I can't wait to go again! Maybe next time I will be a little more prepared for the steep trails and wear protective padding.

ELLEN!!!!

2008-09-15T09:32:00.000-07:00

I got all excited because I thought Ellen started her new season today, but I think it started last week! I can't believe I missed a week of her show. I never miss a day, but since we were on vacation and getting back in to things, I must've just missed it. This morning I set my dvr so no show will be left behind. Jason Lezak is on the show today. How cool is that!
Oh Ellen, how I love you. You always make me laugh and put a skip in my step. Some days I may not be able to watch you until 11pm, but don't you worry, I always make sure to squeeze you in! Happy 6th season! I can't wait to see what this year will bring. OH, and I WILL win one of your 12 days of Christmas this year!
http://www.ellentv.com/

New Bed and New Stash

2008-09-13T13:44:00.000-07:00

Ryley got a new twin size bed for her birthday...thanks to grandma and grandpa!! She loves it and so do I. Before that we just had her sleeping on the spare bed which was a queen. It was too big for her room and too big for her. When we bought the bed we were looking at head boards, but they were a little too expensive to buy right now, so I just decided I would hold off and maybe find one at a garage sale. Well, today I found one at our local thrift store for $8! It literally looks brand new. It is white rod iron and I think it looks great. It may not be my first choice of Pottery Barn Kids, but it works and I think it looks cute in her pink room. Now I just have to get a comforter and bedskirt, which my mom might make. I also think I might spray paint the gold bed knobs or possibly get new ones. The gold just isn't working for me.

While we were on vacation Scott decided to sport a new look...the "beard." It doesn't grow in great since he doesn't have dark facial hair, but it was kind of cute, in a "Shaggy" sort of way. Oh wait, I don't think Shaggy is cute, so I guess I didn't really like it after all. Today he shaved it. It was too scratchy for me.

When Mom is sick....

2008-09-12T21:37:00.000-07:00

**I still have to roll out of bed and try to function as normally as possible.

**The kids get hamburger helper for dinner

**I get the pleasure of finding my rolling pin outside in the grass next to Obi's doo doo....I sure hope they weren't doing what I think they were doing.

Birthday Part II

2008-09-12T19:34:00.000-07:00

The weekend of Ryley's actual birthday we were in Seattle visiting my grandparents. My mom and dad drove here and picked me and the kids up. Poor Scott had to stay home and work. We went over for the weekend and met up with Scott's mom on Sunday, which was Ryley's birthday. It was fun because she took her to the aquarium and brought her presents. The kids loved the aquarium and Ryle even had her face painted. Here are a few more pictures.

At the hotel with the cake Grandpa bought. Looks good!

With her cousins Abby and Kaylee.

Blowing out the candles.

Grandma made her wear this silly hat

Showing off her necklace...

Here's a better look, but no smile.

She instantly had to try on her new raincoat from Grandma.

Getting her face painted at the aquarium.
It was an octopus that covered half of her face!

My little princess. By the pier, looking at al that water!

Ryley's Birthday

2008-09-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know her birthday was 3 weeks ago, but a lot has been going on and I haven't had time to post anything. My little baby turned 3! I can't believe it! We had a great time with friends and family over. She was so excited and kept talking about her princess cake and how she would get to blow out the candles.
Our friends gave her some princess shoes which she wears everywhere, even to the grocery store. It is actually quite cute and I can't believe how many people comment on them. Usually though, I only let her wear them if I know we are going to be in and out fairly quick. They aren't the best shoes for walking in, and have absolutely no traction.

A few of Ryley's favorite things right now are:
1) Oatmeal and grape nuts
2) Lip gloss
3) Princess shoes and dress up clothes
4) Sours (she calls sour patch kids or similar candy sours)
5) Playing with her cousin Abby and her friends Lei lei, Melia, and Nohea
6) Her barbie playhouse
7) Reading books and going to the library
8) Saying prayers
9) Going for drives
10) Cartoons
11) Being sassy and saying OH. MY. GOSH. (I am trying to get her to say oh my goodness instead).

Here are a few pictures of her special day!

Sassy!!

Strike a pose!

Her princess cake. It was tiny, but we had another sheet cake for everyone.

Ryley's friend, Nohea, who has the same curly hair as she does.

Whoa! What is daddy doing?

Some friends and cousins.

Kirye was lovin' it!

Go Ryley! Happy Birthday sis!

Opening presents.

OH. MY. GOSH. Princess shoes!!

Her favorite present.

Standing next to the sign daddy drew for her. Pretty cool, huh?

Oh No LoLo!

2008-08-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

I just love Lolo Jones and I was so sad last night when she hit the 9th hurdle and crushed her dreams at winning a gold medal. It was so hard to watch her cross the finish line and fall to her knees, with her hands in her face. And then they showed her family watching the race and how astonished they were. That is when I get emotional in the Olympics....when they show the families and how proud they are of their children. Watching Shawn Johnson's parents just made me want to cry. Her mom and dad were so happy and so proud of their little bulldog (as Scott calls her). She is so awesome! I can't wait to see her in London in 2012!

The kids and I are off to Seattle tomorrow! Scott is staying home and I am driving over with my parents. We are going to stay in a hotel and hang out with a few of my other sisters and go visit my grandparents. I am most excited about going to the zoo and the aquarium with Ryley. I just know she will love it!

Olympic Fever

2008-08-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

Future Olympians

So, I have been informed that I haven't updated my blog in a while. It's not my fault, really! It's the fault of NBC and all those blasted Olympics being shown non stop. We have been crazy here watching them every night until midnight or later. My sleep is definitely being deprived. But I don't care. The Olympics are just so great and they only happen every 2 years. In the words of Tim Daggett, "WOW!" Does anyone else think he looks a little androgynous? I'm not sure if it's his high cheekbones, or his smooth tanned face. But doing a little research on him I found out he is married and has 2 kids. I would not have guessed that.

It's no secret that I love track and field. Since it has been on I get the biggest high. I think that is why I find it so hard to go to sleep. I just can't sleep knowing there are still amazing events running. We even record the events that are on USA from 11pm-5am. We usually end up fast forwarding through most of them, but sometimes there are some good events. My most favorite unusual event has been speed walking. IT'S CRAZY!! They had to do 20km, which I'm not sure how long that is, but they finished in over an hour. Most of them had such skinny legs and would wear hats. If you get 3 red warning, or yellow, cards, you are out. When I watched them I just don't know how you can tell if they are lifting one of their feet off the ground. They go so fast and their hips wiggle and their heads bobble so funny. I bed they have bad hips. Anyway, just wondering if anyone else saw it! I think we have 10 hours of recorded Olympics on our DVR right now, and we try to catch up everyday.

We have also been watching a TON of volleyball of course. And guess who is commentating on all the matches....you guessed it....Karch Kiraly (ka-rye), who Kirye is named after. Yipee! We love volleyball. I really hope my kids are in to sports and especially something fun to go watch and cheer. I mean, if they want to play handball or do trampoline-ing (is that as word?), I guess that's okay, but it would be so much more exciting if they played volleyball and ran track!

Summer Days

2008-07-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

So, I got a used Prowler bike trailer at a garage sale on Saturday. I have been wanting one for a while but never got one because we didn't have any bikes and we didn't really have the extra money to spend on one. Some of them are almost $500! Well, on Friday this lady was selling a really nice Bell one for $75, but that was too much. You can buy a new one, although, not extremely nice for $100. So on Saturday after my early runs, I usually walk around the neighborhood before I go home and check out the different garage sales. It is around 8:30am so I am there early enough where all the good stuff isn't gone. I went to this house that was selling tons of baby stuff and she was selling her bike trailer for $35. It looked practically new. There were no scratches or problems. So I ran home and told Scott about it. I hurried back and got it because I thought for sure someone would snatch it up if I didn't. I am so excited about it.
On Tuesday, my friend Emily and I went on this great bike trail with our kids. I borrowed one of her bikes. We biked about 5 miles and then stopped and had our sack lunches. We were going to go another 2.5 miles to Nine Mile Falls, but the kids were getting a little restless. It was already almost 1pm. So we just biked back and we were home by 2pm to get the kids down for their naps . It was so much fun and I forgot what a workout biking is, especially going up the hills pulling both the kids behind me.

On Wednesday I went to the recycle center and on the way home we hit the thrift store in our town that is only open 3 days a week. I like going there because I can always find cheap shoes for the kids, and the kids each get a free book. After I was there for a while this lady came in who said she had a bike to donate. She said she had only used it twice, and I kind of believed her because she was really overweight. As soon as they brought it in I went and looked at it. It wasn't super awesome or anything, but it was a nice "Huffy like" 15 speed purple girls bike. It really did look like it was in great condition, except for a little rust spot on the handle bars. So I bought it for $22! I was so excited. I have already used the trailer 3 times and the bike twice!
So, I got everything, including 3 bike helmets for $60! Isn't that great??

Tonight while Scott was having a meeting at our house, I took the kids to the park that is about 5 miles away. It was a good bike ride and fun for the kids. It is such a fun summer activity and I figure Kirye will still be able to go in it 2 years from now. Now I also have a bike if I want to do the triathlon that is coming up.

Bulk

2008-07-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

Can I just say how much I love bulk stuff! I almost wish I had a bigger family just so I could go and get a bunch of bulk products. Today after my run I walked past this garage that had some bulk toilet paper and kleenex and something else, and I just wanted to run to Costco and stock up. It's weird...I get this crazy feeling when I'm in Costco, like I have to have a 5 pound jar of hummus, even though we will only eat 5 ounces!! I do like getting toilet paper, paper towels, detergent, soap...things that won't expire. Oh, and don't even get me started about their bakery items. I can't walk by there without wanting to buy each different dessert. I usually can't get them though because they are so huge, and unless we have company over, there is no way we can eat it all.

So, last night I did the stair climbing machine and lunges, this morning I ran 8 miles, and then later my friend and I are going biking with the kids and the trailers. I have a feeling I am going to be sore tomorrow!

*****I forgot to post this yesterday.*******

I am totally sore today...mostly in my buttocks area....from all of the lunges I did at the gym! When I try to sit down is when it hurts the most.
My kids are on something already today. They both slept in until past 8:30, so I don't know what is up with them. I think I need to go put Kirye down for a nap, and Ryley needs to go run around outside.

Spidey Sense

2008-07-18T16:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Ryley needed some new toothpaste, so I asked her if she wanted the princess kind or the Dora kind. She picked up another one and said, "I want the Spiderman kind." I don't know where in the world she got that. We have never watched Spiderman with her or any Spiderman cartoons, so I can only guess she got it from a commercial on Nickelodeon or something.
Ryley rarely watches tv anymore. She used to watch at least 1 episode of Dora a day. Now she either doesn't watch any tv, or a few clips here and there. She does like Funniest Home Videos, which I think is cute. On Monday I rented Alvin and the Chipmunks for her and she watched it 3 times in less than 24 hours. It is fun that she can start watching movies like that and making it through almost all of them. Scott took her to see Wolly the other day and she made it through about an hour of the movie.
Our friends Greg and Cory are having their baby today. I think they were at the hospital by 6am, so I am curious to know if the little guy is here or not. I need to go text them. Good luck guys. We love you!

Novo-can I get my face back

2008-07-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

I went to the dentist yesterday to get a hole filled where some enamel had chipped off. My appointment was at 10 and I probably got my novocaine shot at 10:30. Well, I was numb for 5 hours! I didn't start feeling my face again until around 3:30! It stunk too because all I had time to eat before my appointment was a piece of toast. And you know when you are numb, if you try to eat it doesn't work that well.
Speaking of dentists, Ryley's teeth are looking a lot less grey. I am think the color might be slowly coming back in to them. Thank goodness. Ryley is just so cute. She is growing up so fast. I can't believe she is almost 3! She catches on to things so quickly and will say the funniest phrases. The other day she said, "Mom, Jesus likes when I give Kirye hugs and kisses." We are trying to help her be nice to her brother. Last week we took her to the track where I was doing some speed work. She decided she wanted to run like mommy, so she ran all the way around the track, IN HER FLIPFLOPS, without stopping. I was amazed! I hope I have a little runner on my hands.

Run Like A Girl

2008-07-14T20:39:00.000-07:00

This weekend my friend Melanie and I drove to Portland for a 10K race called Run Like A Girl. It was an AWESOME weekend! We stayed with her mom and aunt and we had such a good time. We drove down on Friday and just hung out with her brother and some of his friends that night and Saturday night. Her family is awesome and they have such a close bond...it was just fun to be around them.

The race was on Sunday morning at 7:30am. That meant we had to be up by 6am, but it worked out fine, even though I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep! The race started and I was up in front, and within the first 1/2 mile I was leading the pack. There were probably 200 other runners that started at 7:30 (there was another group of 450 runners that started at 9am). I didn't know this, but the 7:30am starters weren't being officially timed. I guess if you signed up to run early, people didn't care as much about being timed or "racing" per se. I kept thinking people would start passing me, but I won the race and I couldn't believe it. I ran the 6.2 mile course in about 53 minutes, but I think I could have run faster if there was someone in front pushing me to run faster.

After the race, I talked to the guy who organizes the race and he told me I should have run with the 9am group...but what could I do. Now I know for next year.
I looked on line this morning and found out that the top finisher ran in about 48 minutes. Out of the 450 people that ran later, I would have come in 17th place and finished 3rd in my age group. I was so happy with the race. It was so fun and the trails were crazy, but I loved it. At times I was flying so fast downhill I thought I was going to fall and roll down!! I can't wait to do my next 10K or half marathon. I am probably going to do a half marathon in September. Running just makes me so happy and when I race my adrenaline is pumping like crazy and I remember why I love to race competitively! Today I took the day off because I am a little sore from all the downhill parts, but tomorrow I am back on the road!

July 4th and Purple Teeth

2008-07-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

Ryley at the parade.

Kirye would NOT look at the camera!

The Rock Band...Elyce and Kirye are groupies.

Playing outside

Notice the purse in his hands.

$1200 of fireworks!!

Ryley and her cousin Kaylee snuggling while watching the show!

We had an awesome 4th! In the morning we went to my sister's house and had a huge pancake breakfast with the works. There was a fruit bowl, scrambled eggs, and some really good turkey sausage. It was so good! Actuallly, before that they had a mile fun run. It started at 8am, so we didn't get there in time. I was up at 5:30 anyway for an 8 mile run, so I wasn't too sad I missed it.

Then was the parade. My sister organized it with neighbors and friends. It was so much fun and we even had people come out of their houses and watch. There were a lot of kids, which made it fun. We waved flags and rode bikes and strollers and threw candy and marched to patriotic music. And then all the kids had popsicles. It was perfect.

Later in the day, we had a bbq with my sister and our friends. I just love bbq's! Scott and my cousin Braden and our friend David played Rock Band for almost 2 hours. Scott was the lead singer and did a great job...and it was his first time!

After the bbq we all came home and slept. I was so tired. Later that night we had our friends over for fireworks. Our neighbors spent $1200 on fireworks, so it was like our own Stadium of Fire in our backyard! It was awesome. Ryley didn't go to bed until 11pm! I just love the 4th of July and I feel so blessed to live in this country!

So, about 2 weeks ago I noticed Ryley's teeth were looking a little grayish, purple. I told Scott and he looked online and we thought maybe she was getting too much flouride. Well, I wanted to be sure what was going on, so I got her in to the dentist pretty quick. Come to find out she somehow bumped her mouth and her 2 front teeth are half-way dead! I say half way because they took an x-ray and the root has not been damaged. I almost started crying at the dentist! I was so sad, but hopefully they will go back to her normal color. I was so scared the root was damaged and that she would have to go 3 more years without any front teeth. In the last post you can kind of tell her front teeth are discolored. Crazy huh?

It Happened!

2008-06-29T10:01:00.001-07:00

I was wondering and wondering when it would happen, and last night IT happened!! Ryley found the scissors and cut her hair! Why do kids do that? Luckily Scott came in and she had only gotten a small chunk cut off, so at least her hair isn't all lopsided. We know this little girl who cut her hair a few months ago. She is 4, so you think they would know better by then, but kids just love those scissors. They had to cut her hair really short, but it ended up being a cute hair cut. Sometimes when you have to "fix" the hair after they've cut it, it just looks so awful and you know they tried to cut their hair themselves.

This morning Ryley says to me, "Please don't talk to me like that." I was like, excuse me? And all I said to her was to please go in the bathroom and get a towel to clean up the water she spilled. She is getting to the age where you say something to her, and you don't like it, she will try to talk back or stand up for herself. Sometimes it can be humorous, and other times it can just be flat out annoying.

After my run yesterday morning I found a few fun garage sales in the neighborhood. I ended up getting Ryley so much fun princess dress up clothes, shoes and crowns for really cheap. I came home and she got so excited about them. If I was smart, I would have saved some for her birthday that is coming up at the end of August. Oh well. Maybe I can find a few other good garage sales and get her some good stuff for her birthday. It is funny because the things I found were practically brand new. I found Kirye some clothes and shoes that had only been worn once! I love garage sales...especially since we are trying to be very conservative with our money.

Better

2008-06-24T15:05:00.001-07:00

Today Ryley has been a little sweet heart. I think God knew how much she put me through yesterday and is helping her to be more loving today.
It is so beautiful here today so we met our friends at the park for a picnic. The kids played for almost 2 hours. It was fun to be in the sun and for the kids to get some good exercise. Kirye was so mad at me when I got him off the swing. I felt bad, but we had to leave sometime.
This weekend it is supposed to be 95! Yikes! The air in our car isn't working either, so I will definitely need to get that fixed, or else I will not be driving around. It is fine for me to roll down the window when it is 75-80 degrees, but past that it just gets too hot...especially with black leather seats!

New baby

2008-06-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

My sister Karen had a baby boy last night. I am so excited for her. They named him Skylar, which is kind of funny because we were thinking about naming Ryley that. His big sister Reagan is already in love with him and was asking to hold him when they were at the hospital. It makes me wonder how different the relationship between Ryley and Kirye would be if they were 3 years apart. Ryley never asked to hold Kirye when he was a baby...EVER! I really do think she was jealous of him coming in to her perfect little life where she was everything to mommy and daddy. I love her so much, but sometimes I just wish she could be nice to her brother and understand how much it hurts him and me when she is rotten to him.

This weekend I spent an afternoon out with Kirye while dad stayed home with Ryley. We went out to lunch, which was a lot of fun. I didn't have to worry about Ryley wanting to sit in the high chair, even though she is almost 3. If Kirye gets a high chair, she wants one. So anyway, it was fun. We went to Quiznos and just ate our lunch and he was so content. While we were there I saw 2 girls walk in with these HUGE Starbucks creations. I had to ask them what they were because they looked so good (and so fattening!). I guess they were mint mocha chip frappuccinno's with whipped cream. The whipped cream was about 3 inches high! So, my curiosity got the best of me and I came home and looked on line to see how much fat was in them. If I put in the right drink, they have 22 grams of fat in them and 79 grams of sugar! Is that not insane???!! SEVENTY-NINE grams of sugar! That is crazy. And they had the venti ones, which are just ridiculously huge. I don't know why anyone needs a drink that big.

After lunch Kirye and I went to the grocery store, and he got a little sugar cookie at the bakery. It was so easy to shop, and it reminded me of when I only had one child to worry about. Everything was so much easier. I was so in love with Ryley and everything she did. Now that she is almost 3, I feel like she breaks me down so much physically, mentally, and emotionally. I often want to go back to the days when she is just 9 months old and listens to me and doesn't make me want to scream. But that is not possible is it? The whole purpose of this life is to grow and learn, and that is exactly what she is doing. At the same time, she is teaching me patience and tolerance, although I feel my patience level is not where I would like it to be. I need to try to stay positive. I feel like there are many more hard times than there are good times right now. I am constantly disciplining and feeling like every day is a battle. Some days I want to go back to work full time because I know it was easier than staying at home raising 2 children. People seriously underestimate how difficult it is being a mother. I feel so trapped sometimes and I don't know what to do. I hope some of you can understand what I am going through. I feel like I just needed to get this off my chest.

Happy Father's Day (1 day late)

2008-06-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all of those wonderful father's and husband's out there (especially mine)!

We had a great day yesterday..the weather was beautiful. We had friends over for a BBQ and Ryley and their girls played from 4pm-10pm! It was crazy. She was so grumpy this morning from going to bed so late. I just love having friends over and making lots of yummy food. I got some steak for Scott, since that is his favorite meal. A few weeks ago I bought him a new dress shirt and tie, which was his present. I also went to Cash and Carry and bought him a 24 count box of Big Hunk's, his favorite treat. I don't know how he is going to eat all of them. I wonder if we should freeze some? And lastly, I burned him a cd to listen to on his way to work. I know, cheesy, but I didn't want to spend a lot of money! :)

This morning it was so hard to wake up. Ugh. Monday's are the worst! It is so hard for me to recover from the weekend! Sunday's are my days off as far as exercise goes, and they are also my "get to eat whatever junk I want" day! So when Monday rolls around I am definitely feeling a lack of energy. On Saturday I got up early and ran 10 miles. It felt so great, and the weather was perfect. I was done and home just as the kids were waking up. Then I took Ryley over to her friends house to play. My friend Melanie has 3 year old twins and a 5 1/2 year old and they all play so well together. She seems so grown up when she is playing with them. It is really cute how they "pretend" play. They get out their purses, keys, cell phones, dolls, etc. And all of them are such girlie girls, but they also can get a little rough when they are playing outside. I need to take some pictures of them to post.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! School is out here and summer has officially begun! YEAH!

Gummy Vitamins?

2008-06-11T14:54:00.001-07:00

I don't really understand the concept of gummy vitamins. I mean, ultimately I do...so your kids will eat their vitamins. But, if your kids are anything like my kids, they will just think they are candy and want more than one gummy bear more than once a day. I have a hard enough time with the Ryley thinking the Flinstone vitamins aren't candy. She always wants more than one. So I'm sorry vitamin industry, but I will never give in to having vitamins that look and taste like candy. Does anyone use those, and if so, how does that go over with your kids? Maybe if Ryley was 5 and not almost 3 she would understand the concept a little better.

On a side note can I just say how much I love Jeffrey Dean Morgan! You know, he was Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy, and I LOVED him then too! I just watched him in PS I Love You and I am completely infatuated with him now (I just googled him and he was born in Seattle!). He was so cute in that movie and I was so happy with the ending. I really did not want Hillary Swank to get with Harry Connick Jr. There was just no chemistry there! Sorry for spoiling it if you haven't seen the movie yet. It took me probably 4 times of starting and stopping that movie to finally finish it. I just love girly movies like that..and of course I always cry. Scott will come in and go, "what's wrong" and I just grab my tissue and say "nothing, it's just the movie." I wonder if guys ever get that emotional over any movies. I have yet to see Scott get emotional over very many movies. Oh, speaking of movies...the other night we went out to dinner with our friends. On the way back we went through the mall to get to the parking garage. It was so funny because we were in the elevator and about 12 women got in all at once with us. I just laughed and asked them if they had just seen the Sex and the City movie. Of course they had and this one girl said it was so good and it made her cry. I thought that was pretty funny!

Track and Field

2008-06-10T21:32:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the Nike Prefontaine Classic was on TV and fortunately Scott recorded it for me.
It is a track meet held every year in Eugene, Oregon featuring top track and field athletes from all over the world. Can I just tell you how much I love watching track and field! I ran track and cross country in high school and that is truly where my passion lies (lay, lyes??? English major anyone). I was so excited for them, and so nervous. When the runners would get in their starting blocks, I would get butterflies in my stomach. I could feel myself in their shoes and remember the nervousness that would set in until the gun went off. It was so great to watch it! I watched most of it when I was working out on the treadmill (it has been really bad weather here for the last few days, so I have been running inside). The boys ran a 2 mile race in just over 8 minutes! 8 MINUTES! Are you kidding me?! They are so fast. During the breaks they had a few commercials that sucked me in. One of them was for nutrilite, a vitamin supplement that is specially formulated for "active lifestyles." Can I just say what a great job they did with their advertising. After seeing about 10 commercials for it, I was ready to sign up for a lifetime supply! They also had a commercial for Reese's peanut butter cups, which I thought was unusually cruel. I hate when I am working out and a commercial for chocolate comes on.
I registered for my 10K today. It is the Run Like a Girl race in Portland. I am so excited!

Question

2008-06-04T19:42:00.001-07:00

You know those birds that WILL NOT fly, even if you are driving at them 50 mph? They just walk really really fast and have that funny thing sticking up on their head. If anyone is a bird expert I would like to know about these weird birds. Every morning I see them and think how obnoxious they are for never wanting to fly.

I just caught Ryley with her legs spread apart, peeing in our back yard! Why does she do that?!!

First for everything...

2008-06-02T22:17:00.000-07:00

Jill and I were finally relaxing after a long day of monotonous nothingness when I decided to read our blog. I chuckled to myself as I read about Bo Duke and the poopy seeds. I figured that she puts so much work into writing that I need to fulfill my sensitive male side by writing also.

It seems that I've been in a vacuum of space and time for the past year or so. I've lost touch with reality I think. Case in point, recently JIll and I found some really great friends in this area after losing all hope that there was anyone that we could really connect with. We were ready to throw in the towel and start wearing plaid coats with sweatshirt hoods, take up hunting "just for fun", and put a spoiler and colored windshield wipers on our cars... just to fit in. So we meet this couple and instantly hit it off. Now here's the weird part. It was as if we were dating all over again! I've never felt so non-heterosexual in my life. Jill would email and call Melanie constantly while Dave and I would stay up late nights discussing the history of the Quiche Mayan civilizations and their migratory patterns! It's really been great...but I think we need some time apart. It's really not them, it's us. No really...

Seriously though, it's been a real blessing for Jill to have someone to talk to during the day. It's important to have good friends whether near or far.

Bo Duke, Is that You?

2008-05-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

I just saw a dude get out of his car like one of the guys on Dukes of Hazzard! He sped up to the curve and jumped out his window. He was staring at me after he got out like it was normal for someone to do that.

Other random nothingness....the other day Ryley was watching Go Diego, while I was in the other room. I kept hearing random quotes like "I really have to go" and "I can't hold it any longer." I was thinking to myself that they couldn't possibly be talking about what I thought they were. Wrong. It was the most random episode ever. Here is the summary:

After the wind blows away Abuelito's strawberries, Alicia and Diego enlist the help of Green Iguana to transport strawberry seeds.

So, come to find out, the green iguana eats the strawberries, then transports them in his stomach and poops them out so new strawberry plants can go. How weird is it that they actually showed the iguana pooping out the seeds! I was shocked, not because I thought it was vulgar, but because I thought it was so completely random! And Alicia actually said "poop" in the story.
And I thought Ryley's occasional poop in the backyard was because she saw our dog do it. Come to find out, it may be from watching too many Diego episodes!

Comphy??

2008-05-23T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here is where I found Kirye earlier today. Look at his face in the first picture. He knows he is being sneaky and mischievous. He is climbing on and in to everything now! I can't keep up with him. This week he recently learned to climb on to the toilet, and then on to the counter. I get so scared that he is going to fall when I am not in there. I have to remember to keep the door closed, but then Ryley will go in and open it and I will forget to shut it.

News

2008-05-17T14:29:00.000-07:00

I guess I need to report what is going on here....nothing much. Scott only has 2 weeks of school left. He is so burned out and there is so much going on that he is losing his mind! He works all day and all night. Poor guy. Luckily this summer he will only have work! He also got accepted to Eastern, so he will be going there this fall, and hopefully only have a year left!
The kids are good. Kirye is saying a few words. The other day he said doggie (kind of). He is trying to run now, which is funny because he isn't there yet, but he see's Ryley trying to do it. They are playing well together, and like to wrestle. Kirye likes to pull Ryley's hair.
I am doing good. I have been running all winter, but I have decided I want to get in really good shape this summer and I want to get strong and toned. I have been running every morning and I have also been going to some classes at the gym on base where my friends live. I go to Mommy and Me Yoga on Tuesday's and on Saturday's I go to this amazing class called Cardio Sculpting. It is so awesome! I always leave there feeling like I got the greatest workout. I have also been doing my bosu ball workout 2-3 days a week. I am running a 10K with my friend in Portland this summer. It's called, Run LIke A Girl. I guess it is all on trails and it ends at the Portland zoo. We are going to have our husbands meet us there with the kids. Fun huh? I am not at all intimidated by a 10K because I run about 6 miles every morning, and on Saturday's I run about 8. I think I could even do a half marathon, but I have no desire to do a full marathon. I just don't think I have it in me to run 26.2 miles straight (you go Patti!).
Today it is supossed to be 90 degrees! We are enjoying being outside and having bbq weather! The air conditioner in our house is already on! I hope it doesn't get unbearable this summer.

Oh Deer!

2008-04-23T19:34:00.000-07:00

This morning on my run I saw one deer cross the street. I guess when the others saw that it was okay they all followed. All 16 of them! I couldn't believe it! And at the end was a little baby. It was so serene and just made me happy that I was outside enjoying God's glory.
So, one thing I have noticed while running is the insane amount of litter, more specifically beer cans! What is up with that? Why beer cans? Does it have something to do with the fact that they don't want to get caught with the evidence. I just don't get it.

This weekend I am going to attempt to drive to Seattle with the kids, ALL BY MYSELF! It is only a 4 hour drive, but still. Just the thought makes me nauseous. But...we really need to get away, and Scott needs some time to himself. He has been so busy with work and school and I really want to just give him a little break.
And I am hoping to get a small shopping break while I am there. I really need some summer clothes...even though it is nowhere near summer weather here! (Don't even get me started)!
Last summer I had just had Kirye so I wasn't in a "shopping" mood with the added baby weight. I am excited to go through my closet and get rid of clothes that I never wear, but keep, "just in case." Well, I am not keeping them anymore. If I haven't worn them in 2 years, I am not going to wear them ever.

What's My Name?

2008-04-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks Ryley has been calling me "Jill" and dad, "Scott." I have to admit, it is pretty funny when she says it, but I don't laugh, because I don't want her to think it is something she should be doing on a regular basis. She sounds so grown up when she does it though. The other day she said, "Hey Jill, where's Scott?" She also calls for me down the stairs after her nap by yelling out my name, not mommy. Where did she get it from? I think it probably finally clicked what our real names are and she wants to use them. I don't know.
Yesterday, on three separate occasions, Kirye put his hands in the toilet. Ugh. The first time was at the dentist's office when I was trying to help Ryley wash her hands. I caught him playing in the water. Gross. The second time was at our house when I forgot to put the toilet down. Ew. And the third time was in Ryley's little potty (which she still uses by the way, even though she has been potty trained for months now) after she had just peed in it and I didn't have time to dump it yet. Yuck.
Kirye is walking all around now. It still shocks me because he just learned so fast. It seems like Ryley took a lot longer to get the hang of it. Everyday he has gotten better and better at it, and now it seems he walks more than he crawls. My little baby is growing up. It is so funny though because he walks with his hands raised above his head and it just cracks me up.
I still have to post pictures of his 1st birthday. I am just being lazy and I haven't put new batteries in my camera.

Happy Birthday Little Buddy!!

2008-04-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

A few hours old after his bath.

One day old

Today is Kirye's 1st birthday! I can't believe already a year has gone by. The day he was born was so amazing. It was Easter weekend and it was so beautiful outside. He came in to the world looking like a little surfer dude. And he was the best baby! He never cried and slept so great!

He is just so sweet and means the world to me. He can do nothing wrong, even when he is whiny. And he is taking about 15 steps. It is so fun to see him walk. He is also going up and down the stairs and waving. Pretty soon he will be running all over with Ryley and trying to jump from the coffee table to the couch!

We had a fun little birthday party for him. It was so funny because when he was eating his cake he kept rubbing his face, but he had chocolate frosting all over his hands. So his whole face was covered in chocolate. I am going to post some pictures tomorrow.

Happy birthday buddy! I love you!

Deal or No Deal

2008-04-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

I am so excited for my brother in law, Ryan! Tuesday in Spokane they had casting calls for the tv show Deal or No Deal. So he went down to where they were having the casting calls. He had to stand outside in line for 2 1/2 hours and then once he got inside there were still hours in line before he got to the first "audition."
The audition was 10 contestants around the table and they each had 20 seconds to sell themselves. Ryan introduced himself by by saying something like, "I am Ryan, I work for a home investing company, I am a cancer survivor and had 2 stem cell transplants and my most embarrassing story is when I was in 7th grade wrestling and going to weigh in. The older boys told me to go to the weight room and weigh in, but I was in my whitie tidies and when I went in the weight room there wasn't a scale, just the 8th grade girls."
Ryan went with his friend and at their table they were the only ones to go to the next round. Ryan said probably less than 1 in 10 people made it to the second round. He had to wait in line again for awhile and then it was the same setup with the casting directors. He and another girl got asked to stay. They really liked him and asked him to return the next night to do a demo tape. He had to bring with him 4-6 supporters and they basically filmed a mock demo tape. I guess it was totally awesome and emotional. In the end he won $245,000 fake dollars. They said they are going to send his demo tape on to NBC. The earliest he could find out is June, but the latest could be a year from now!
Holy crap! I am just so excited for them. First of all, because I love Deal or No Deal, and secondly, because if he got on the show and won some money, him and my sister would totally deserve it. They can't have children naturally so they are going to have to adopt, which requires a lot of funds. I will keep you updated. I hope he makes it and that he brings me with him to LA! I would go crazy if I was in the audience. I would be so nervous!!

Easter

2008-04-01T14:29:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter, even though it snowed on Friday! Luckily it mostly all melted and Ryley was able to participate in her first Easter egg hunt. It was so crazy. There were so many kids there. They had them divided up in to different age groups. Ryley was with the 0-4 group. As soon as the horn sounded she took off and collected about a dozen hard boiled eggs. I couldn't believe how many real dyed eggs they had. There had to have been over a thousand.

She got an American Girl doll from Scott's mom's friend. Actually, Kirye got one too. They are the Bitty Baby twins, and they are so cute. The little boy baby doll looks like Kirye because he has a head full of blond hair.

Scott's mom was here for the weekend, so that made Easter a lot more fun to celebrate. I have always loved Easter. I love the egg hunts, the baskets, the cute dresses, going to church and having ham!! Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

The kids with Grandma Dee (Scott's mom).

One of the fun "treats" in the Easter baskets.

Kirye with his new baby doll.

Eating the doll's shoe.

Ryley showing off in her Easter dress.

Little munchkins!

Look what I found!

The fam

With the creepy Easter bunny.

The bitty baby twins.

She went on the only patch of snow on the field.

The eggs were nice and cold.

A basket full of eggs.

Fitting Rooms

2008-03-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

So I went to Target this morning to get a few things. It was early and I didn't have the kids so I decided to try on some different work out clothes. I get about 7 or 8 different things and I head to the dressing room. I was literally the ONLY person at the changing rooms and I told the lady I had 7 items. She was like, you can only bring in 6. Again, I was the only person there. This was at about 9am. Now, I understand the 6 limit because they need to keep rooms open and not have people in there with 100 different items. But I had 7, which was one over the limit. Don't you think she could have let it slide? Maybe she was having a bad day! I don't know. I just thought it was pretty lame and I wanted to blog about it!

Help Wanted

2008-03-17T13:45:00.000-07:00

I am currently accepting all applications for a full time nanny. The responsibilites would include, but would not be limited to:

**Waking up with the kids, as to allow mommy and daddy a few extra minutes (or many extra minutes) to sleep in.

**Feeding the kids a healthy and filling breakfast so that 10 minutes later they aren't asking for a snack.

**Clean up all their messes. This would include wiping faces, bums, hands, fingerprints, toys....you get the picture.

**Watching them while mommy is in the shower so Kirye won't find the plunger and put it in his mouth

**Making sure Ryley stays in the house instead of opening the front door, letting Obi out, and then proceeding to run across the street to catch him

**Cleaning up all the dog poop so Ryley won't step in it and track it in the house

**Reading to them, no matter how silly the book is.

Come to think of it, if I had a nanny doing all of this, what would I do? Okay, maybe I would just like ( I mean LOVE) a nanny 2-3 times a week. Now that would be nice!

Sweet Dreams

2008-03-12T19:27:00.000-07:00

I have the WEIRDEST dreams. Probably once or twice a week I dream about using a public bathroom. It is always the same...I go in and there are no doors on the stalls, and the toilets are disgusting. I end up using the toilet, even though I don't want to, and someone always ends up watching me because there is no door, and I am so embarrassed. What does this mean? I am so curious. Does it mean I really need to go to the bathroom when I am sleeping?

Scott, on the other hand, always has scary dreams, like someone is chasing him or trying to hurt him or his family. He has those probably once or twice a week.
Dreams just fascinate me. They are so random.

Ayuda Me

2008-03-10T09:16:00.000-07:00

Ryley always says these Spanish words that she gets from watching Dora, but I never know what she's saying. So the other day she is at the top of the stairs and the gate is up, so she is yelling, "ayuda me, ayuda me." Well, I finally figured out that it means "help me" in Spanish and she must've gotten it from Dora or Diego. It is amazing how fast kids pick things up.
It has been really nice out lately so we have been able to go on walks and to the park in the afternoon. It feels so good to finally be outside again. I know my kids were dying of boredom from being inside all winter...and so was I. This morning it was so nice and most of the snow has melted, so I will finally be able to run outside again! Yeah!
Speaking of running, has anyone ever heard of the book The Cardio-Free Diet? I am really interested in the concept, but a little skeptical. Here is a little info:

The Cardio-Free Diet By: Jim Karas
The Cardio-Free Diet is a revolutionary four-phase program that emphasizes strength training to boost your metabolism; build lean, sexy muscles; and achieve all the same heart-healthy benefits of cardio. With just twenty minutes a day, three days a week, you can look and feel noticeably leaner, stronger, and younger than ever before. Weight loss expert Jim Karas has shaped the bodies of Diane Sawyer, Paula Zahn, Hugh Jackman, and even Oprah's best pal, Gayle King. With easy-to-follow instructions, Jim offers maximum results in minimal time -- so break free from the mindless, ineffective cycle of cardio and get the body you've always wanted!

Basically this guy Jim Karas talks about only doing strength training and no cardio. I can't imagine that, but I've heard so much talk lately about how strength training is so important. I just can't imagine being able to cut out cardio all together! I think I would rather run 5 miles than do 20 minutes of weights. I hate it, but I try to do it 3 times/week. Does anyone else think that only doing only strength training seems a little sensational??

My Crazy Kids

2008-03-03T20:52:00.001-08:00

I turn my back for one minute and this is what I find...

I love his "just got out of bed" hair do!

Of course, then Ryley wants to join in the fun, and show off her new hair tie from Grandma!

Being silly!

A New "Leap-Ling" In the Family

2008-03-01T08:42:00.000-08:00

My sister had a baby boy yesterday, on leap day! I guess they call baby's that are born on Leap Day, "leap-lings." Cute huh?

Tagged....

2008-02-25T21:21:00.000-08:00

I've been tagged by Leah and Melanie. Leah tagged me a few weeks ago and I am finally getting around to it. Once you have been tagged you have to write a blog with 10 weird random things, facts, or habits about yourself. Here we go:

1. I am a total sucker when it comes to infomercials. I will buy, or want to buy, anything I see that seems remotely fascinating. I mean, who doesn't need something that will peel potatoes and give you a six pack at the same time, right?

2. I LOVE to vacuum. I am addicted to it. Maybe because it is an "easy" job, or maybe because they kids like it too. When I was pregnant with Kirye I would vacuum at least twice a day!!

3. My kids laugh at me and my husband calls me crazy, but I love to dance. I've never had professional lessons, but I have a feeling some ABC big wigs might be giving me a call soon!

4. I love girly things like smelly lotions and makeup and high heels. I went to Seattle a few weeks ago (BY MYSELF...Scott stayed home with the kids for 2 days) and my mother-in-law and I had a hay day at these amazing outlet store in Tulalip. They had The Cosmetic Company Store where they sell tons of awesome makeup and beauty products for 1/2 the price it is normally. I bought the Mac makeup that I love! I also saw Bobby Brown lipstick there and was thinking of you Swishy! Oh man, I could have bought so much stuff there!

5. My first job was a paper girl. I started when I was 10 years old and finished after I graduated from high school. It was a great way to have a little extra cash, but you NEVER had a day off. I even had to work on Christmas morning. The other sucky thing was I had to wake up around 5am every morning! Are you freakin' kidding me? I could never do that now! Oh, and it was in Montana where some winter mornings are -40 with wind chill.

6. I have naturally curly hair, but I straighten it most days...mostly because it is easier to straighten than it is to do curly. It started getting curly when I when I was 14. Before that it was straight with a little wave. Now after I've had the kids it doesn't seem to be as curly.

7. I love grocery shopping. When I don't have the kids with me I spend so much time wandering around, checking out everything, and reading every label. I love it! My most recent kick has been to see how many things have high fructose corn syrup in them. Lately I have had to buy a lot of organic things because of all the foods...things you would never think of, that have hfcs in them!

8. Even though I love eat right and be healthy, I am also addicted to sugar. Ha ha. Does that make sense? I buy candy almost every time I go to the grocery store, even though I only eat added sugar (like candy or cookies) one day a week. I don't know what it is, but I have to have some sweets in the house. It's like I have this fear of a disaster happening where we can't get to the store and I don't have any candy in the house. Sunday is my day to eat sugar. Let me tell ya, some weeks are so hard, but when Sunday rolls around I feel such a sense of accomplishment.

9. My husband and I met in a psych ward. He was in room 120 and I was in 121. Just kidding. We both worked there and had a lot of free time to get to know each other since we would do grave yard shifts together. It was so fun. We have been married 6 years on the 15th of this month!

10.I love reality tv. Right now my favorites are The Biggest Loser, Big Brother and Project Runway. I also love Lost, Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy. I can't wait until we get some new episodes back on! Thank goodness for my dvr! I don't think I could live without that thing!

Wow! Writing ten random facts was a lot harder than I thought. I'm sure I will think of other more interesting things about me after I post this...especially since I am just so fascinating. Don't be surprised if you see me on Barbara Walter's most fascinating people one day!

Groundhog's Day

2008-02-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen that movie? My day is like the movie Groundhog's day. Every day is the same, and nothing really changes.
I can't decide what would be a good word to describe my day so far. Has it been eventful, adventurous, boring, stressful, or just plain normal? What was the best/worst/craziest part of my day? Was it the part where Ryley had a complete melt down at the doctors office and every freakin' parent was staring at me like they have never heard a kid scream before? Was it the part where Kirye dropped his passie and it rolled right under the car next to us so that I had to literally get on my stomach and stretch my arm as far as it would go to reach it? I must have looked like such a fool just to save his passie...but I couldn't leave without it because it was the only one I had with me. Luckily I was wearing a black shirt, which disguised the dirt all over me.

Or maybe, just maybe it was the part where I go in to the Gap to exchange a pair of shoes for Kirye and the lady takes 10 minutes to figure out the difference in tax between California and Washington (that actually didn't bother me that bad, but I had to add something to my list)? Maybe it was the part where I changed Kirye's diaper and literally 2 minutes later he poops. And it wasn't one of those poops where I can "save" the diaper. On a wipey scale, it was a 5 wipey poop.

Maybe the best/worst/craziest part of my day is yet to come. I do, after all, have to (volunteered to?? get to???) make 180 cups of caramel corn for my husbands graphic design club party tomorrow.

Question: Is it possible to have postpartum depression 10 months after the baby is born? I kind of feel that way right now. Am I in a funk because it is winter and I NEED spring to get here so we can get outside? Or am I really depressed? Does anyone else have this problem? I really do think I have seasonal affect disorder. I can't wait to start running outside again. I am sick of running on the treadmill. But the good thing about it is I can watch Ellen while I work out!!

Gymnastics Girl

2008-02-19T20:09:00.001-08:00

Here's my little gymnastics girl. She has such a suprised look on her face here.

I was going through some older pictures today and found this one of Kirye. I just love this picture of him because of his big blue eyes and surfer dude hair.

Today the kids and I ventured out in the double stroller for a little walk. I haven't used the stroller in about 3 months!! There has been way too much snow. But today we HAD to get out of the house. I am going crazy! Even though it was only 38 degrees, I decided to bundle them up and take them out. It was so nice to get some fresh air and the sun was beaming down, so it was actually quite nice. On our walk I couldn't help but notice a house that had every single one of it's Christmas decorations still up. I'm talking like wreaths, bows, lights, reindeer in the yard, a tree on their front porch, a snowman, and other crazy things. I wonder how much longer they will decide to be lazy. I mean, we are at the end of February here. I can kind of understand when it's cold and snowy if people don't want to take down their lights right away, but they could have at least opened their front door and brough in Santa! (I hope I didn't offend any of you who like to leave your Christmas decorations up until summer)!

Zoom Zoom

2008-02-18T21:02:00.000-08:00

Has anyone ever had Zoom before? It is a hot breakfast cereal like Cream of Wheat. I got some last week and have had it every day for breakfast! I love that the 1 and only ingredient is whole wheat. Today I added a little cinnamon to the water to spice things up. Isn't my life so exciting? It has a very healthy looking recipe on the back for honey wheat bread that I want to try.

Here is a cute story that will tell you a little something about Ryley. At about 5pm today, Ryley opened the back door and said, "oh look mom, the moon." That is pretty normal and not too astounding. But then she said, "look mom, a comet." At first I just thought she was talking about the moon, but then I went out and saw what she was looking at. It was a jet plane, and she was looking at the jet exhaust trail it had left behind. Now that is one smart 2 year old!

New Floor, and I'm a slacker!

2008-02-16T09:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't written for so long. I am such a slacker. And I have about a million things to say, but I will start with the story of the flooded basement. Oohhh...I bet you can't wait to hear about it!!

We were stupid this winter and forgot to turn off the water to our sprinklers. Well, a few weeks ago we found that water from the sprinkler pipe outside had leaked in to my office/exercise room. It was pretty much completely soaked and there was no hope of drying it out. So we ripped up the carpet and found out that almost 3/4 of the room had water damage. Unfortunately it was the room where the carpet was the nicest, and had no stains! Of course! Why couldn't it have happened to the high traffic area right off the kitchen where the kids spill their drinks and whatever food they have in their hands, or where Obi has barfed up dirt (Um, yes, he did this 2 days ago. Don't ask me why he was eating dirt).

So we ripped up the carpet and Scott is taking it to the dump today, and then is going shopping to different flooring stores. We are going to try to find a good deal somewhere, considering we don't want to spend any more money than we have to on this project. There is this store here called Spokane Discount that sells items from Costco that have been discontinued. It is so cool and you get really good deals. We might be able to find some laminate flooring there.

Scott has installed laminate twice now, so he can probably get the room done pretty fast.

On a happy note, yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary! We went to dinner at PF Changs, my favorite restaurant. It was so so so good! I could eat there every week!

Danger Zones

2008-02-04T19:47:00.000-08:00

The other day I had time to go out and run some errands. Scott stayed home with the kids and I just took my time! It was so wonderful. So, I went to See's candy store because we had gotten a gift certificate for Christmas (thanks Greg and Cory)!! I have had See's candy before, but I don't know that I have actually ever been in a store. Let me just tell ya, it is EVIIIIILLLLL!!! You walk in and there are so many different kinds of chocolates to choose from. How could I possibly choose, and actually limit myself to a pound! There was just no way. And I had to limit myself because everything is just so expensive, except for the suckers that are only $.60. So for anyone that knows me you know that I have to have a little bit of everything. I bought some peanut brittle for Scott, some caramels for my mother in law, and some bridge mix for me. It was heaven! I absolutely adore bridge mix, but I never really buy it. For one, it is expensive ($15/pound at See's) and two, you have to find just the right kind because if it's not good chocolate it's not good bridge mix. I don't really like the nuts in the bridge mix (except the peanuts), but I love the caramels and the raisins and chewy ones. Anyway, I have decided the next time I can actually go in to a See's candy store is when I have the money to buy bridge mix for $15/pound! Yikes!

The second danger zone I entered was Target. I had a belt to exchange. I told myself I was going to go in, go STRAIGHT to the return counter and exchange my belt. Well, do you think that is what I did? How could I when I am tempted immediately by the $1 items at the front of the store. And I just had to look with Valentine's day coming up. I was sure they would have something cute I would want to buy. Of course they did! I bought the cutest little Valentine pails, a book for Ryley about saying goodbye to her pacifier, 2 pedicure kits, some stickers, and some baby bowls and spoons for Kirye...all for $1! What a deal! Oh Target, how I love thee, let me count the ways. That place is so dangerous. I can usually never get out of there without buying something I want, but definitely don't need.

Snowed In Part II

2008-01-31T10:01:00.000-08:00

We are snowed in again today. Scott had school yesterday, but it is cancelled again today because we got another 4-6 inches last night!! I did venture out this morning to the grocery store because I had to get eggs and milk. Luckily the grocery store is only a few blocks away. The roads were horrible! Funny thing...as I am sitting here I am noticing a bit of "looseness." I just realized that I didn't put a bra on this morning and I went to the store like that. Oh well, I had a sweatshirt on and a coat. Plus, when you don't have much to start out with and have nursed 2 babies you don't really need a bra anymore!!

Here are some pictures of what it looks like down my street. The snow piles are almost as tall as the cars!

Snowed In

2008-01-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

We have been snowed in the last couple of days. It has been snowing non stop here. I think we got 14 inches in 24 hours! Scott's college was cancelled yesterday and today. Too bad he can't even enjoy his snow day since he has been sick and up in the night puking!

I think we are getting a little cabin fever here. We haven't been out hardly at all. I can tell it is definitely hard on Ryley. She just needs to get outside and run around and let all of her energy out! I can't wait to be able to go to the park again.

I was able to get out on Saturday and run around BY MYSELF!! It was so nice. Scott was home with the kids and told me to take as much time as I needed. It was too bad that in the middle of running my errands he called and sounded stressed out (mostly with Ryley who is DEFINITELY in the terrible two's stage) and I could tell he wanted me to come home. I guess I can look at it kind of like a babysitter. They come over to watch your kids, but they aren't used to them, so sometimes it can be overwhelming. Since Scott is gone most of the day, he really only has about 3 hours with the kids until they are in bed. So I can see how it can be overwhelming watching them for 5 hours by himself!

When I went in Kirye's room this morning to get him he was standing up and holding on to the side of his crib. I wondered if he had been there for a while and was afraid to sit back down. He has just started doing this and is pulling himself up on everything now. It is fun and I can see that he will probably be walking by a year. I can't believe he is almost 10 months old!

Family Outing

2008-01-24T14:52:00.000-08:00

So this morning we went to Wal-Mart because I had to take back a car battery. Last week our Honda died, but Scott thought it was just because he left the lights on (he ALWAYS leaves the lights on in our Honda because there is no signal or dinger that lets you know). So he gets the car jumped and it still doesn't start. We go buy a new battery for $70 and try it. Still dead. So we call our insurance company and have it towed to a mechanic. The next day they figured out it was our ignition fuse! Thank goodness it was only a $2 fix. Of course I was thinking the worst, like the starter or the alternator that would cost at least $1000 to fix!!

Anyway, so I go to Wal-Mart with both the kids. We are out the door by 10 am and I am happy that we are out of the house and actually doing something, even though it is 15 degrees out. We get to Wal-Mart and I had to order some more contacts. There was only one guy working there, but it was fine because I was the only customer. He was an older guy and he said he had just learned the computer system. I was thinking in my head, okay, no biggie. But it took forever! I finally said, okay, I am going to go return the battery and come back. I go back about 5 minutes later and he still hasn't got it figured out. So I wait another five minutes (meanwhile, Ryley is ripping open some little box that holds your contact case) and he says, why don't you go do your other shopping. Okay, fine. So I go get my vitamins, my mascara, some groceries. I was totally dinking around. The kids were fine....until I get to the deli. Oh. My. GOSH!!! We got Ryley a cookie at the bakery while I waited for my favorite sun dried tomato turkey breast to be cut at the deli. I don't know what was going on, but there was only 1 lady in front of me, and for some reason it took them like 10 minutes to get to me. Ryley is freaking out because she saw some cupcakes with disgusting looking foofy yellow frosting on them and thinks she wants them. So I get her and put her in the cart, still screaming. They STILL haven't finished my order at the deli. Ugh. Then this worker lady comes over and tries to make Ryley calm down, which was not a good idea. Ryley started screaming more and I had to give the typical excuse, "she needs a nap." It was only 11 am or so. She really just wanted those damn cupcakes! I can't even tell you how much I hate grocery shopping with her now. It is almost impossible. But what am I supposed to do, wait for Scott to get home and go at 8pm at night during MY free time. I don't think so. I don't want to be grocery shopping on my free time.

Okay, so by this time my turkey is cut and I go over and get Ryley some chicken nuggets because I think she is probably hungry. That helps for a while until we get in line (there were only like 4 check out stands open out of probably 25!!!! I couldn't believe it!!). Of COURSE we get in line where there are 2 people in front of me with minimal items, so I thought I was okay. Uh, no. The guy in front of the lady in front of me was paying with a check. For some reason that totally bugs me and took forever. Then the lady in front of me tries to use her debit card and it doesn't work. Crap. So she has to write a check....and it took FOREVER!! I think she was balancing her check book or something! The 2 people in front of me probably took about 10 minutes. With kids, that feels like 2 hours. I was seriously so over our little "outing."

Oh, but it's not over. Remember the optical center. So, I had to go back and make sure my contact order went through. Well the guy who was helping me earlier went on his break. So the new lady was trying to figure it out. She couldn't, of course, so she had the guy paged. He came back and still couldn't figure it out, so they had to page another lady! IT WAS NOT THAT HARD! It was only a freakin' contact RE order! Everything was already in the computer. I was just so over the people there today. It just reminds me that doing anything like that with a 2 year old and a 9 month old is not fun. Normally I wouldn't care. I would have grabbed a magazine and just enjoyed myself.

Oh, but it doesn't stop there. So, after we order the contacts I ask Ryley if she has to go potty and she says yes. So we go to the bathroom and she freaks out because now Kirye is sitting in her seat. OH MY GOSH! Is it going to be this up and down when she is a teenager? I get Kirye out and put her back in her seat. She no longer wants to go to the bathroom. Oh, and by the way, while we were in there this girl runs in and goes in a stall WHILE she is on her phone. I don't know why, but that is so disguisting to me! At my previous job I once answered the phone where I SWEAR some lady called me while she was on the toilet. I could hear her peeing, I could hear her flush the toilet. Ewwww!! It was just gross.

On a positive note, Ryley did not pee her pants on the car ride home! :) The End!

Bath Time

2008-01-18T22:54:00.000-08:00

We got Ryley some bath crayons for Christmas. They are really fun to play with in the tub, and just in case you are wondering, they do work on skin and hair.

"Mommy, please make her stop."

My two trouble-makers!

Baby Boom

2008-01-17T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know about 7 people right now that are pregnant and that isn't even counting all the celebrities that have recently spoken up! It is freaking me out! Is there something in the water? Please, please, please don't let me get pregnant right now. I have totally been psyching myself out lately and thinking that my IUD has fallen out and I didn't know, and now I am going to get pregnant.
I can't believe that Ryley was only 10 months old when I got pregnant with Kirye!!

Okay, American Idol. Who watches it? And if you don't, WHY NOT (nothing else is on...I can't wait for Lost to start up again)???? It is so crazy. I can't even tell you how the last 2 nights have made me feel. I get all giddy and hide my face under the covers. I am extremely embarrassed for the freaks and geeks they show. Seriously, I can hardly watch, but I can't seem to turn the channel either. Can I just say that girl with the glitter was SO hard to watch. I really felt sorry for her and I hope that she was really just joking when she auditioned.

100 Calorie Packs

2008-01-07T14:26:00.001-08:00

Okay, so observation: 100 calorie packs. What's the point really? Do they fill you up? No. Do they tide you over for a snack at 3pm? No. Are they really worth the 100 calories? No. Just an observation.
Speaking of food, for lunch today Ryley and I had meatless hot dogs. They are basically soy protein and are pretty good. Ryley didn't even know the difference and they are really healthy. They only have 50 calories and .5 grams of fat. The only down side is they have 400mg of sodium (17%), and you pretty much have to eat them with ketchup.

Back to life, back to reality....

2008-01-04T09:28:00.000-08:00

I am in depression right now. We got back yesterday from Montana. We had such a good time and it was so fun to be with everyone, play fun games and eat yummy food. Today was a reality check. Back to the dishes, laundry, cooking, general cleaning and school. I was happy though Ryley slept in until 7:45 today and Kirye until 8:15. Then they each took 2 hour naps this afternoon! Hooray! Back on schedule.

I am sad that Ryley was so mean to her cousin, Reagan, while we were there. I was hoping they would have had more fun playing together. I've noticed Ryley does not do well with kids her own age, but she does well with older or younger kids. We are working on her "hitting" issues. It all started when Kirye came along and now it has gotten worse. Sorry Reagan!

My favorite Christmas presents are:

My new running shoes. They are so light and comfortable and are awesome to run in!

My digital kitchen scale. I opened it yesterday and tried it out on all sorts of things. I had an apple that was 6 oz. and I cooked some hamburger that was 11 oz. I just LOVE how accurate it is! Seriously, it is so cool!

My pampered chef chopper. Yes! No more chopping smelly onions by hand.

And last, my mother in law gave me the cutest Coach purse. It is a small pink purse that is just so perfect for me. She always knows exactly what I like!

Ryley's favorite presents are her books and her tricycle. When she isn't reading her books, she is on her bike. There isn't much room for her to ride around the house though. It will be nice when the snow melts and the weather is nice enough for us to go outside where she can have a lot more room.

Kirye's favorite presents were his diapers and his warm fuzzy sweat suit from Grandma and Grandpa!

I hope everyone is looking forward to the new year! I know I am!

P.S. I found out over Christmas my sister is pregnant with her 2nd child! Yeah! She is due in June...almost 3 years apart from her daughter. I thought that was good timing. I think if Scott and I have another child, it would be good to have them about 3 years apart.

Caramel Nut Fudge Balls

2007-12-24T11:49:00.001-08:00

I made these for my sister's Christmas party last Friday. I thought they turned out so cute. They are very yummy, but very rich. I got the recipe from Paula Dean. The fudge has Velveeta in it. Weird huh? Then you dip them in caramel and I covered them with chopped peanuts. YUM!

Chocolate Cheese Fudge

Ingredients:
1/2 pound Velveeta cheese, sliced
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts
Two 16-ounce packages confectioner's sugar
1/2 cup cocoa

Directions: Melt cheese and butter together over medium heat in saucepan. Remove from heat, add vanilla and nuts. Sift together sugar and cocoa in large bowl. Add cheese mixture. Use hands for final mixing! Remove candy from bowl with hands and roll into balls. Add skewers. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and enjoy!

Tonight we are going to my sister's house for dinner. We are having a 7 course meal. I am in charge of the appetizers. It is always fun for Ryley to go there. Her and her cousin, Abby, have a lot of fun playing dress up. Abby has all of these really cute dress up shoes from Costco. I thought that would be a great present for Ryley for Christmas, but when I went to look, wouldn't you know they didn't have them. I was totally bummed out. I think I will continue looking through out the year though. I think she got 6 pair for $18!

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!! I can't wait for Scott to open a particular present I got him!! And I can't wait for Ryley to see her presents. She got a tricycle that we have to put together tonight!! YEAH!!

Bad Santa Photos

2007-12-22T12:58:00.000-08:00

Do any of you watch Ellen? It is one of my favorite shows. She is just so funny and always makes my day. So on her show she has people submit their bad Santa photos and then she shows everyone. Sometimes they are so sad, but so funny. Almost all of the kids are crying or giving Santa a weird look.
We took Ryley to see Santa last week and this was the photo Scott got:

I'm pretty sure this is the worst Santa photo ever!

Inch worm

2007-12-19T20:01:00.000-08:00

I have an inch worm in my house. Kirye is inch-ing all over now. It is so cute. He has even started getting in to the dog food....just like Ryley did. Ew! I think I will definitely need to put the baby gate up soon so he won't fall down the stairs.

I went to the dr. with Kirye yesterday because he hasn't been feeling well. He had 3 teeth come in all at once and had a runny nose and was just not happy. So I took him in to the doctor because I suspected he might have an ear infection...and he did. So he is on antibiotics now. I am glad I actually took him in instead of just pushing it off like it was just a cold.

Ryley has been so funny lately. She is really in to changing her clothes. She likes to change her pants 2-3 times a day. It is actually quite annoying because there are clothes all over her floor and I don't know which ones are dirty and which ones are clean. It is funny because as soon as we get home from anywhere she will change out of her jeans and in to her "comfy" sweat bottoms or pj bottoms.

Does anyone watch The Biggest Loser? That is one of my favorite shows. It is so inspiring and I just love to see the transformations of the people. The finale was on last night and they all looked AMAZING!!! One of the ladies, Julie, looked so incredible. She went from 220 pounds to 121 pounds! I just couldn't believe how good she looked. And it is amazing how young most of the contestants were, but how the weight made them look so much older than they actually were.

Here is Julie's profile: http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/contestants/current_cast/julie/index.shtml

Maniac

2007-12-17T21:58:00.000-08:00

This is my new favorite commercial. I have probably seen it about 5 times already and each time I end up laughing hysterically!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-12-12T10:22:00.000-08:00

Okay, so for those of you who know me, you know I like to sing and dance around my house pretty much all day long (or even if you know me you might not know that about me). I'm sure my kids will always be annoyed by me when they are old enough to get annoyed.
Anyway, so I was dancing around my kitchen this morning singing, It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, and I started thinking about the lyrics: "There'll be parties for hosting,marshmallows for toasting..." I don't know about you, but I have never roasted marshmallows at Christmas time. Have you? Another lyric I thought was interesting was "there'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago." I have never told scary ghost stories during the holidays. Weird huh? Maybe they just needed to find words to rhyme so they put those ones in.

First Snow Day

2007-12-08T19:02:00.000-08:00

Scott was throwing snow on Obi. For some weird reason he loved it.

We had our first snow day last week so I thought I would post some pictures of us playing in the snow. It snowed a couple of times, but it is completely gone now. This week has been in the 40's. Today was in the 30's and I think it is supposed to get colder next week. Anyway, since the snow was all gone Ryley and I were able to go outside and play on her jungle gym. She just LOVES that thing. I am so glad we have it. We also picked up dog poop today since we could see it. It was so gross, but at least it was competely frozen and came up pretty easy. I filled a whole Wal-Mart bag full. I guess it had been a while!

Today our family went roller skating! Yes, you heard me...roller skating. It was totally fun and Ryley loved it, even though she was pretty much just walking in her skates. She had to hold on to the sides or our hands, but it was fun. I don't think I have been roller skating since middle school. We used to go to this slimy place where all the kids would hang out and meet their boyfriends. I remember they would always do the "hokey pokey" song and everyone would get in a big circle and look like fools. I can't believe how young I was when I was last at a roller skating rink.

This picture reminded me of the kid in "A Christmas Story." The little brother who can't get up when he has fallen in his overly padded snow suit. Kirye was sitting on the floor and then just slowly fell over and I don't think he could move after that.

Ryley climbing up her swing set.

Going down the slide, regardless of all the snow.

Thoughts

2007-12-01T09:25:00.001-08:00

A few things I've learned recently:

**Don't empty the dryer lint with wet hands

**Whoever invented Dora the Explorer is my hero (not because I like the show, but because it will keep my 2 year old entertained for at least 20-30 minutes)

**It doesn't matter if I put my kids to bed 30 minutes late the night before; they will still wake up at 7am.

**I have really learned to appreciate my warm house in 25 degree weather.

**Don't let a 2 year old try to shovel the driveway...trust me, it will never get done.

**Every year I think I just might like to try eggnog, but every year I can't stand the stuff

**Driving 4-6 hours to Grandmas house is definitely worth it

**Staying up late on a Friday night is just not the same after you've had kids. The next morning comes waaaayyy too fast.

**Gymnastics really is worth the $30/month just to see how much fun Ryley has doing it.

**Even though it's only the day after Thanksgiving, it's smart to put up your Christmas lights. Now we have to try to do it with all the snow. At least this year we have a pre lit fake Christmas tree! I am so excited...no mess on the floor for Kirye to try and eat.

Obsess Much?

2007-11-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

I have realized that since I have been married and have a house of my own, I have acquired a few anal tendencies.
The first one is my kitchen. I HAVE to have a clean kitchen or I cannot function. This means there are never any dirty dishes left in the sink at night to wake up to in the morning.

I always have to have a clean dish cloth and it has to be white.

The sponge I use can not have any thing on the green scrubby part and it can only be used for doing dishes.

The counter tops have to be wiped down with anti bacterial spray every night. I can't stand that commercial that shows all the creepy crawly bacteria over everything (even though that is part of life).

My pantry has to be neat and organized and the cans all have to face the same way.

My bathroom sinks always have to be clean as well as the toilets, but I don't really like to clean the tub.

I am addicted to those anti bacterial wipes. I buy them in bulk...especially with 2 kids to make nice messes for me.

Then there are things that I could care less about, like dusting. I HATE dusting.

I also hate unloading the dishwasher.

Is this totally weird or what?

I wonder....

2007-11-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

I wonder how many times a day I:

**Say "no" to my 2 year old

**Say "I love you" to my family

**Give my babies kisses

**Think about going on a vacation

**Try to decide what to make for dinner

**Say "poo poo", "pee pee", and "potty"

**Wish I was 20 again

**Want some alone time

**Do the dishes

**Go up and down my stairs

**Count my many blessings

Peepers

2007-11-23T15:38:00.000-08:00

Peepers, Piffles and Turkey

2007-11-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

We are at my mother in laws house for Thanksgiving. It is so nice to be here and relax a little. But my kids are definitely making sure I am only relaxing a little, that's for sure. Ryley didn't sleep great last night, and Kirye woke up at about 6:30am and hasn't napped well since he's been here. I suppose he is trying to adjust to a new place. Ryley slept in the spare room where my mother in law put a queen size mattress on the floor. I think Ryley was too excited to sleep and she kept waking up wanting to go "potty." After about the 5th time, and 1:00 in the morning, I finally woke up Scott and made him go in there and try to get her to sleep. There is also a train that runs by Dee's house, so at 12:30am she was screaming, "It's Thomas. It's Thomas." She now thinks all trains she hears or sees is Thomas the Tank Engine.

Dee has a black pug named Peepers and a cat named Piffles. Ryley is completely in love with the cat and chases it everywhere. Most of the time the cat has been hiding under the bed. She has also been chasing poor Peepers around like crazy. The dog has back leg problems so she can't really get away from Ryley very well.

I am just waiting around for dinner. I made a pecan pie and a coconut cream pie. I sure hope they are yummy! I can't wait for turkey...and for turkey leftovers. Yum Yum! I also made homemade rolls and cranberry relish (the good homemade kind, not the canned kind).

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you stuffed yourself silly!

I found this picture of Ryley on Dee's computer. I think she must've been about 8 months with her little spring dress on.

Bumper What?

2007-11-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

The other day I saw a bumper sticker that said, "Testicle Festival. I had a ball." Now, let's examine this for a moment, shall we. I would personally like to know what kind of person decides to put bumper stickers on the back of their cars, and especially weird ones like this. Do they think it's funny and don't care what other people think? Do they want people to stare at them as they drive by? Oh, and don't even get me started on the license plate covers that say things like, "Spoiled brat...blah blah blah." I don't really know why someone would want to admit that, or admit other random things about themselves.
Have you ever had a bumper sticker? If so, what did it say?

Bad Hair Day

2007-11-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

And you thought you were having a bad hair day!

Random Happenings

2007-11-09T19:07:00.000-08:00

**Today I found $.50 in the street! That always makes me happy because usually I only find pennies...and I ALWAYS pick them up. My husband laughs at me, but hey, money is money.

**My son's poop was orange today. I guess he had a few too many sweet potatoes for dinner last night.

**Ryley loves to say, "what's that" to everything. And then she always wants to touch it no matter what it is or how far away it is. I always have to say, it's too high in the sky. So now she always says, "too high in the sky."

**Scott designed an Adirondack chair for a charity art auction. The final project looked so great and I'm sure it sold for thousands of dollars! :)

**A new Super Wal Mart opened up only 10 miles from my house. You do not even understand how happy this makes me. With 2 small children it is not easy going anywhere, but at least now it is a heck of a lot closer. We went today and it was so clean and nice. I wanted to just walk around and look at all of the Christmas decor, but with Ryley and Kirye I am always on a time crunch. I never know when either one of them will just fall apart and make shopping miserable for me. They did good though, and Ryley even used the restroom while we were there. No accidents! Hooray!

**Only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving and I am ecstatic! We are going to my mother in laws house just outside of Seattle. I always love going there and being able to relax and have some girlie time. My Thanksgiving duties this year: coconut cream pie, homemade rolls, and cranberry sauce. I am also considering making one more pie...probably banana cream since I use the same filling for the coconut cream.

Litterbug

2007-11-08T14:32:00.000-08:00

Okay, so here is one of my pet peeves...littering. I can't stand it! I can't stand when I see people do it! To me, it is so rude and I just don't understand why people have to dump their garbage on the ground instead of holding on to it until they get to a garbage can. This time of year I especially start to notice all of the litter on the streets. Kids must think that because it is Halloween it gives them the right to throw their candy wrappers all over the streets and on the grass. I can not believe all of the candy wrappers I see when I am running. I have never been able to litter. Even when I was little, I always felt so guilty about it. One time I remember I threw something on the ground and I felt so bad that I went back and picked it up.
Anyway, just thought I would get on my soap box for the day!

Halloween Pictures

2007-11-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Ryley on Halloween. She had such a fun night. We only went about a block or two because it was kind of chilly. She got half her pumpkin filled, which is plenty of candy for a 2 year old. We had so many kids come to our house. I think I bought 15-20 bags of candy and they are all gone. I remember last year was just as crazy. We had to turn off our porch light by 7:30.

Showing off her princess shoes

Enjoying her candy (her eyelashes look fake here!)

Kai Kai enjoying the wrappers

Scott's Celebrity Look Alikes

2007-11-02T10:40:00.000-07:00

Scott has been told a lot that he looks like Luke Wilson. I don't think he's ever been told he looks like Cher.

My Celebrity Look Alikes

2007-11-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

My sister showed me this and I thought it was so fun.

This little piggie...

2007-10-28T15:31:00.000-07:00

We went to a Halloween party on Friday night and I got a few pictures of our little "piggie." It was the only costume I could find for him and was definitely a little tight. Ryley wore it when she was 2 months old and Kirye is 6 months old. Maybe I should go find something that fits him for Halloween.
We are taking Ryley out this year since we figure she is old enough to bask in the candy holiday. We will probably go about a block or so and come back home and drink some hot apple cider. I think it is only supposed to be about 40 degrees. I can just hear my Arizona and California friends snickering right now. I bet they've never had a Halloween where they had to wear a coat. I remember growing up in Montana; it would be sooo cold on Halloween, and most of the time there was snow. It didn't seem to bother us though...candy was definitely more important than getting frost bite.

Man it's cold!!

2007-10-26T14:49:00.001-07:00

So, this morning I decided to take my normal inside treadmill run to the outdoors (thanks to a friendly reminder of how great running outside is from Patti). It helped that I had decided to do it the night before, so I had my alarm set and my clothes placed on the stairs so I wouldn't wake up Scott. I got up bright and early, about 5:45. This was definitely not by choice; I was planning on getting up at 6:30. Remember when I said Ryley could get out of her crib now? Well, she was up at 5:45 and thought it was time to wake up. After I put her back in her crib, I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't, so I just decided to start my day. Okay, so I didn't realize how freakin' cold it is that early in the morning! It was probably about 30 degrees out. Yikes. Once I got running though, it was okay. My hands got a little cold, but I couldn't find my gloves before I left.
ANYWAY, it was such a marvelous, wonderful, fantastic experience. Now, I have been an "outdoor" runner all through high school and college. But when I got married and had kids, I just did whatever was the most convenient, and what would let me sleep in the longest...and that meant I had to move to the treadmill. I don't necessarily love the treadmill, but I don't hate it and I can definitely tolerate it. So this morning when I was able to run outside it brought back all of these wonderful memories and I remembered why I love to run outside. I took the bike trail by my house that leads around the lake. It was so pristine and peaceful and the lake was so beautiful. There were even ducks floating about, and I couldn't help but wonder how they weren't freezing their butts off in that water. As I rounded the lake there was another jogger on the trail who said, "Looks like we're just missing the snow." I laughed like it was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Maybe I was just happy to be outside where it was so peaceful and I didn't have a 2 year old at my feet trying to "work out" with mommy.
On the way home I even saw a deer, who, no kidding, looked both ways before he crossed the street. It was so weird because he was in the middle of a residential area. When I got home my face was red and cold, and my muscles felt a little tight, but I loved it. I loved every minute of it. So, I am going to try to get off the treadmill at least twice a week and hit the bike trail outside. That might mean I will have to wake up a little earlier, but I think it will be so great for my mind, body and spirit to have that time to myself.

Obstacles

2007-10-18T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here are a few obstacles that I have been dealing with lately:

* Ryley learned how to climb out of her crib, even on the lowest setting. So, what that means is I won't be able to sleep in EVER AGAIN! We converted her crib in to a bed last night and she was up for almost 2 hours getting in and out of bed, and then finally fell asleep in front of her door on the floor. Then this morning she was up at 6:30 and she normally doesn't get up until around 8!

* Since I thought Ryley was potty trained why not have her wear panties to gymnastics. Why? I'll tell you why. Because the minute you think they are potty trained, they aren't, and they poop in their leotard! What a mess.

* Working out. I try to work out. In fact, I have been doing really good and getting back up to almost an hour of cardio a day. But with a 2 year old it is not easy and it is so frustrating when she won't let me get in "me" time. I just need my exercise. It gives me energy, it helps me feel better about myself, and I just NEED it. So, when I don't get it, I get cranky.

* Money. I have none, therefore I cannot shop and that makes me sad.

* I took both my kids to the dr this week and Kirye is in the 95th percentile for height and Ryley is off the charts. So, by the third grade my kids will outgrow me, and once again I will be the short one in the group. I guess this isn't really an obstacle, but it reminds me that I am short and that I will always be short and there is nothing I will ever be able to do to change that.

Here are a few positives going on in my life:

* Ryley is pretty much potty trained, which means less money I have to spend on diapers.

* I can fit in to the smallest pair of jeans I have. I said I can fit in to them, I didn't say they looked great on! I still have a few baby weight pounds to lose, but overall I feel okay.

* Kirye is sleeping through the night, about 12 hours straight. We did sleep training a few weeks ago, and by the third night he was sleeping without waking up. We got rid of the pacifier. He will never be able to use it again for sleeping. It was just too much of a crutch and whenever he woke up and it wasn't there he would start crying. According to Ferber, it is as if you woke up and your pillow wasn't there. Well, what if you were handicapped and couldn't get it yourself. You would have to call for help right? That was what Kirye was doing.

* It's autumn time...one of my favorite times of the year. I love the crisp morning air and the beautiful colors of the changing leaves. I also love "fall" food like soup and pumpkin recipes. I have been making lots of soup lately and homemade all bran rolls. Sooo good!

I have put up all of my fall decorations and they are so cute and make me happy whenever I look at them. Here are a few pictures of them:

That's all really. If you have anything you want to complain about or something that is going good for you right now feel free to let me know. This blog is a good way for me to complain without Scott getting on me for being so "negative." I'm not negative, I'm just a realist!

AW SNAP!!

2007-10-08T21:09:00.000-07:00

This is SOOO GROSS!! I am almost throwing up thinking about it. Okay, so I got out my Diet Cranberry Raspberry Snapple tonight , opened it up, and almost puked!! What might you ask did I find?? Here is a snippet of what I wrote to the Snapple company tonight:

I found something in my Diet Cranberry Raspberry Snapple tonight. I am not quite sure what it was, but it looked disgusting and at first I thought it was a condom. I took many pictures of it and dumped the contents of the bottle in to a plastic container. The more I looked at it and poked at it, I think it may have been a round piece of cardboard paper that sometimes sits at the top of lids. However, this type of Snapple does not have the cardboard paper on the top of the lids, so I don't really know where it came from.
I would really like to send you the pictures of this. Please get back to me as soon as possible. Oh, it also looked moldy and was pretty nauseating I might add.

I SWEAR to you, it was so gross looking (don't worry, I will post some lovely pictures for you to see). I made Scott poke it with a fork. I also made sure our hands were both washed for fear of mold spores infesting our house and our bodies!!

So, do you think Snapple will send me a year supply for free?

Need A Baby Sitter?

2007-09-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

Save time! Call: The Babysitters Club and reach four experienced baby-sitters.
Kristy Thomas: President
Claudia Kish, Vice-President
Mary Anne Spier, Secretary
Stacey McGill, Treasurer

back to that in a minute...

i am in montana right now visiting my parents. i decided to drive over here and bring the kids with me so scott could get a break for a few days, have the house to himself, and de-stress. i'm sure he is loving a quiet, clean house, with no whiny kids to deal with. but i'm sure he also misses us...maybe. :)

so, i am at home in my old room and i found a great treasure...all of my babysitters club books. you all know what books i am talking about, even if you are older i'm sure your kids read them. those were the greatest books. i was so tempted to pick one up and start from book #1. remember how they were all numbered? here are just a few funny title's:

stacey's big crush #65
kristy and the snobs #11
claudia and mean janine #7
mary anne saves the day #4
dawn saves the planet #57

man, these tweeny bops sound like they have all sorts of super power. i am actually laughing at myself right now because i would probably really enjoy reading these books again! i remember i always wanted to be stacey because she was cute and had pretty long blond hair, and i ALWAYS wanted my name to be stacey, or cindy.

i also found the babysitters club post card book with "30 full-color postcards for you to collect or send"! it's funny how they say "full-color" like that is some crazy new phenomenon. so, if you want me to send you one just leave me your address.
oh, by the way, my parent's left shift key on the keyboard doesn't work, which is why nothing is capitalized. doh!

Licoripstick

2007-09-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

So Jill has gone to Montana for the week with the kids, leaving me here to cook my own food, clean up after myself, and otherwise be responsible. I have to admit, (with a hint of man giggles in my voice, that I am enjoying every minute of it. If leaving dirty socks on the floor, eating licorice for dinner, then drinking straight from the juice jug is wrong...I dont want to be right!! I feel a hint of guilt for saying that, I do absolutly adore my family, and miss them, but it's true, I love it.

I've been staying at school and getting things done all week so that I can come home and really relax. Today I came home and watched a whole football game (Southern Miss. @ Boise State)....AND FELL ASLEEP!!! It was like being retired!! I had to get up though out of guilt. I did 6 push-ups, played with the dog for 6 seconds, ate 6 more pieces of licorice, then rocked out to Our Lady Peace for about 6 hours!! Sweet...just sweet. I miss my daughters "Daggy?" beckon though....

Baby Blue Eyes

2007-09-23T21:45:00.001-07:00

How will I ever be able to get mad at a face like this!

Birthday Pictures

2007-09-17T22:19:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics from Ryley's birthday. She LOVED her Elmo cake....or at least the frosting. She must take after me because I love cake frosting too!

Popeye

2007-09-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

I have my own little Popeye in the house. This morning I made Ryley a spinach smoothie. You heard it right folks...spinach, as in the leafy greens Popeye ate. It was so good too. I put ice, water, milk, a few frozen strawberries, a couple of Equal packets, half a scoop of protein powder, and some spinach. Ryley has been doing better eating her veggies, but I knew this method would work for sure.

Other random happenings:

Ryley can officially open the pantry door and the refrigerator. So, you know what that means:

AND

I know it looks totally tacky, but I am not ready to deal with this right now. So, the infamous child proof door knobs and lock on the fridge. Hey, maybe this will help my diet!!

My favorite song right now is Big Girls Don't Cry by Fergie. I just LOVE it. It puts me in such a good mood and I just want to run around and sing as loud as I can. I love blasting it in the car when I am without the kiddies.

Big Brother 8 is getting sooo good. I am addicted to that show. I will be so sad when it is over in a few weeks. But to ease my pain I'm sure I will quickly become attached to a new reality show or the new season of Grey's (hopefully if it doesn't flop...I am totally praying this year it will be as good as the first season, but I am definitely having my doubts).

Why is it that blogger NEVER remembers me? It says "remember me?" but it never does. How annoying.

Ellen has started her new season. I totally forgot until today. I love love love her. I record it every day and then try to watch it when I work out. I WILL get Kirye on with his crazy hair, or at least a picture of him. Wouldn't that be cool?

The View has also returned with new co hosts. Whoopi and Sherri Shepherd, who is freakin' hilarious! She is seriously one of the funniest female comedians. Every time I watch her I die laughing.

Okay, it totally sounds like I watch a lot of tv, but I don't. All of my shows are on my dvr and I pretty much just watch them when I can. I watch a lot of them when I work out. It really helps my time on the tread mill go by so much faster.

Battle Wound

2007-09-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

All I hear is a blood curling scream and I run over to the baby. RYLEY! WHAT DID YOU DO???!!! Oh, for the love. (I suppose the baby could have done this by himself with his nails, but I just clipped them).

Look at that cute little face. I wish he could stay this innocent forever.

Oops

2007-09-05T20:02:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to send my last post because I wasn't finished, but I guess it saved and posted anyway. Oh well.
So, back to Seattle. Ryley got spoiled to death by Grandma. I'm not even kidding when I heard this at 9:30 in the morning..."Do you want an ice cream cone?" I about flipped a lid!! Grandma was insisting it was going to be just the cone, no ice cream...but still, come on!
This weekend we rented Wild Hogs and Blades of Glory. Both of them were hilarious. Scott especially loved Wild Hogs and now wants to go on a motorcycle trip across country with his best friend. I asked him if he has ever ridden a motorcycle before and he said no. Uh, okay man, go for it. Just don't get yourself killed and leave me at home a single mom with 2 little kids to raise.
Kai Kai is officially rolling over. He has rolled over about 4 times today. Tomorrow is his 5th month birthday. I went and saw my friend who just had a baby a week ago. I couldn't believe how small her baby was, but then I remembered Kirye used to be that small, and it was only 5 months ago! My little baby is growing up right before my eyes.
The Biggest Loser started last night, kind of. It was a recap of a lot of the popular people from past shows. It had them on to see if they had kept the weight off. Most of them had, kind of, but you could tell they had definitely gained back a little from the finale shows. The Biggest Loser is one of my favorite shows. It is so motivating. I am such a hypocrite though because I will be watching it while eating a big bowl of ice cream and thinking how nice it would be to live on a ranch and have 6 hours a day to work out!
Oh....one more thing about Seattle. I was AMAZED at all the people I saw wearing skinny leg jeans. I mean, I understand they are the "in" thing right now, but that doesn't mean that everyone should be wearing them. And I'm not just talking about girls here people. There were a lot of guys wearing them too. The majority of people did NOT look good in them. I just really don't understand how those jeans do anything for anyone besides little Asian girls or tall 6 foot models.

September

2007-09-04T20:49:00.001-07:00

Well, we are back from Seattle. We had a lot of fun. Scott and I dropped the kids off at Grandmas and took off for downtown. We went out to dinner, we walked around the city, we went to a movie. It was so great and so rejuvinating. The next morning we walked around the city some more and did the Seattle underground tour, which was totally cool. We also went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got some really great chocolates. They had this ginormous peanut butter cup, and I'm not even kidding, it took us until tonight to finish! I just loved being downtown. There was so much to do and see. We could have stayed for another couple of nights.

YOU WHAT!!!!!!????

2007-08-29T20:42:00.000-07:00

The other night my dear, lovely husband spilled part of his protein shake on our laptop and heard a "fizzle" sound. So, we let it dry out for a day but it still doesn't work. It turns on, but the screen is blank. Are you kidding me?? Now I have to go on his Apple laptop to do anything. It's not that I don't like Apple, it's just that I'm not used to it and the screen is so small I have a hard time typing. So I haven't blogged or looked at any blogs in a few days. Usually I am glued to my computer. I guess I better take it in and have it looked at. To top it all off, Ryley threw our new phone in a pool of water on our deck chair and now the screen doesnt work either! What is up with that?
Hooray for the 3 day weekend coming up! We are going to Seattle and hubby and I are going to stay in a hotel downtown on Friday WITHOUT the kids. Scott's mom is taking them for the night. I am positive I will need a sleeping pill since I am such a light sleeper now. And I am definitely not forgetting my ear plugs or eye mask, keep the darkness out, sleeper thing. Oh, and we made sure the hotel has a hot tub and gym. I seriously can't wait. We have been planning our itinerary for weeks now.
Okay, this is the funniest thing, or saddest thing, I have ever seen. Tell me what you think. I think we should help the children "in the Iraq" too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RYLEY!

2007-08-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

My daughter is 2 years old today! I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday. It was just such a sweet day and I am crying just thinking about it. She was 3 days late, so I got induced. I remember being very scared because it was my first and I had no idea what to expect. Everything went very smooth and I thought she looked like a little angel when she came out. That day my mother in law gave me a dozen pink roses and I had them dried and in Ryley's room until a couple of weeks ago. Ryley decided she wanted to pull all the leaves and petals off. What a mess! But I was more sad that they were gone because of their sentimental value. I wonder if I have a picture of them somewhere. I'm sure I do. I will have to post it.

Here is the day we came home from the hospital. I can't believe how small she looks and how tired we both look.

Ryley hasn't had a very good day so far. She has had a little diarrhea and got stung by a bee at the park. We went to the park with a bunch of her friends for a joint party with her friend Ana. It was so cute. I brought rainbow chip cupcakes. Those were my childhood favorite and still are.
Tomorrow we are having some family over and having an Elmo cake. It should be fun and hopefully she will be feeling a little better. Happy birthday baby! I love you!!!

While I was looking at Ryley's baby pictures I found this one of my hottie husband! Nice huh?

It's JUST a Refill!!!!

2007-08-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, remember when refills on your soda used to be like $.25!! I went to the gas station the other day to get my cup refilled because I LOVE fountain soda, and it was over $1.00! I was like, uh, hello, I have MY OWN cup and it only costs you guys like 2 cents for this crap. I even had to take a few pennies from the penny jar because I had what I thought was enough change. I felt like such a dork. So, today I went to this place right around the corner from me and they only charged me $.50. Whew! That is a little better.

Can you tell I have nothing exciting to blog about?

Oh, more poop and pee news. Ryley has been waking up at the crack of dawn lately (for me anyway); like around 7am. It is so early for me. So this morning she wakes up at 6:45 and I was like, uh, I don't think so. But I figured it out. She has to go to the bathroom and doesn't want to pee in her diaper. Personally, I would rather have her pee her bed just to get the extra sleep. Actually, she has done that plenty of times when she takes off her diaper (we had to start using duct tape) and it is way too much work to pull off all the sheets and blankets and wash them every day.

Here is the poop news: So we went swimming today with her little friend Ana (Ah-na). Next thing I know she has pooped in her stinkin' "swimmer" diaper. As you may or may not know, those diapers are like pull ups, so when you pull them down all the poop falls out. That is exactly what happened when I tried to change her. It was disgusting! So, some of the poop falls on the counter, and I am like, oh crap (no pun intended). So I have to get a paper towel and scoop up the poop. Then I felt really bad because I didn't have any of my handy sanitizing wipes with me, so I put a bunch of soap on the counter and tried to wash it. Then I had to put Ryley in the sink because there was poop all over her and....yuck yuck yuck!!!
This, my friends, is my life in a nutshell!!

Do you use the word "pop" or "soda" when describing a carbonated drink? Check out this survey.... http://popvssoda.com:2998/

I used to say pop until my good friend Swishy looked at me like I was crazy. According to her, the proper term is "soda."