Thursday, May 28, 2009

And We're Off!!!


No, not to Mexico!!! This was actually a picture taken at El Sarape for Alyssa's 9th birthday yesterday. We went to her baseball game last night and then all headed up to the restaurant to have some dinner and homemade birthday baseball cake courtesy of my Betty Crocker sister, Bobbi. She had a really great time and totally took advantage of having the sombrero and smock (the correct name escapes me right now!) all to herself. She also takes the importance of big faces while blowing out candles, to heart. The band teacher I had I in school would be having a heart attack right now watching those puffed out cheeks!! :-)

I'm still amazed at how quickly time goes by and how fast my babies are growing up. She was also nominated for the HICap program and is half-way through the testing. What a good girl!




HAPPY BIRTHDAY LYSSIE GIRL!!

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Beyond birthdays, we are leaving tomorrow for our long awaited vacation!! The girls know that we are leaving and will be gone for almost a week, but they have no clue as to where we are going and how we are getting there... I swear it's been so hard to keep it a secret but I firmly believe that the only reason they haven't found out is because no other children know. I know that if any of the adults that are aware of our destination had told their children, we would have been blown out of the water. The reason I wanted to keep it a secret is because 1) it's just fun, 2) it's not a place that they would just guess, and 3) they've never been on an airplane before. I have told them that Aunt Bobbi is driving us to a car rental shop so that we can save miles on our own vehicle when in all actuality, we will pull up in front of the airport. They will be so surprised!!

We will be flying out at 6:50 tomorrow evening and will arrive in Phoenix at 9:45 pm. I am sooooo ready for a vacation that we can spend quite a bit of time by the side of a pool in 105 degree weather. I have packed a ton of sunblock and everything else I can think of. I am a little nervous about keeping track of all three kids in the airport but Mike will be there to help so I'm sure we'll survive. The kids are packed, but I don't believe I have one single thing in my own suitcase. I think we will be skipping baseball practice tonight and I will be in packing frenzy mode...hopefully I won't forget anything hugely important. Luckily there's a trusty Walmart down there if I do. :-)

One last picture I wanted to share...this reminds me of summer days. Girls hanging out on the front porch, baby trying to decide where he can squeeze in...

Until we return!!!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Who I am....

on this particular day. I am...


...so ready to go on vacation!

...having a love/hate relationship with my job.

...excited when my hair and makeup look the same when I wake up as it did when I went to bed (though it doesn't happen as frequently any more).

...a lover, mother, daughter, sister, friend, that loves long, fierce, and hard.....stubborn as heck too!

...working on my speed issues including always wanting to be in the front of a line...grocery, traffic, etc., as well as exercising patience (such a hard one to master).

...thankful for God, my family, and my friends.

...proud of my daughters' brains and witty humor (they're pretty darn cute too!).

...very disappointed and hurt because of how quickly I turned back into the "step" child since my mom passed. Parents sometimes don't understand that they can still hurt their children even when they're grown with kids of their own. I'm tired of selfishness and self-importance...

...missing my mom, grandma, and brother so much!!! It's amazing how much it still hurts even after time has passed.

...a good mother and very proud of it.

...very sunburned from a satisfying weekend. How can I be upset at that after the terribly rainy season we're barely coming out of?? I love to sit in the sun with my eyes closed and let all of my senses be aware of my surroundings.

...spending more money than I probably should be for our pending vacation. The kids don't have a clue where we're going and I can barely contain myself! I can't wait to see their faces when we pull up in front of...

...loving the music that is playing right now.

...happy that my aunt stopped to visit me, after not seeing her for a few years, and brought me some wonderful gifts: a bottle of my old favorite lotion "Rain" from Archibald Sisters, some pictures of my cousin and myself when we were little, and my grandma's jewelery box that I used to play with. That last one made me cry all alone in my little office at work :-) She left before I could tell her how special it is to me and how thankful I am to have it.

...head over heels in love with my husband. Sometimes we lose sight of what is truly important such as holding that one person that sticks by you no matter what. The one that takes those vows as seriously as you do. It's easy to lose by the way side.

...the person who usually brings people back down to reality while still being excited right along with them at the prospect of a dream.

...so happy when people smile and even happier if I was a part of conjuring that smile.

...almost completely comfortable in my body.





Pyzam Glitter Text Maker

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Jam Packed Weekend

Well this weekend certainly made up for all of the crummy weather we've been having! It was in the mid 80's both Saturday and Sunday and we definitely took advantage of it. McKenzie had a baseball tournament both days and at Saturday's game, I got fried! I never use sunblock on my legs because it seems like they never get any color, so why use it? Well I guess that rule does not apply when you are sitting on bleachers outside for 4 hours in 85 degree weather. OUCH!!

McKenzie was catcher both days and I'll tell ya, she was awesome! She was so hot in all of her gear but she gave it her all and helped bring her team to victory. The first game started out not so good with the other team kicking butt. Never fear though, our girls forged ahead and beat them 6-4. Woo hoo!! She definitely deserved the Baskin Robbins treat afterward.

Sunday morning dawned bright and early for our household. I had to meet my ride downtown at 6:30 am for our 7:45 half-marathon start and Mike and the girls had to be at Yauger Park by 7. I didn't get to see K's first or second game but they worked really hard and lost the first by only 1 run and won the second.

We met our team at Sylvester Park at 7 am to watch the marathon runners begin. We then got in line for our start at 7:45. It was the longest jaunt of my life!! I broke off with one other member of my team and we bolted. We alternated between walking and running and had a very good time. I included a picture of our team before the race:


Notice my nicely burned knees right there in the front with my lucky #1303!! I was freezing cold with burning legs and arms. Such a nice way to start out the day...LOL.

At every mile, there was a marker and every two miles, there was water and sponges. At one point, running through a neighborhood, there was a beer shot stop!! They actually had little cups of beer. Tempting....but no go, I chose the Gatorade instead. A little girl asked me if I wanted to be sprayed with water while we were passing by and I learned a valuable lesson....always ask what you are going to be sprayed with and how many pumps they are going to take. Oh yeah, she pulled out a Super Soaker 5000 (or something huge like that) and nailed me! She soaked me from my belly button to my knees. Had I known I was going to look like I peed my pants (and shirt) I would have declined; however, it was very warm out so I dried fairly quickly. Right about mile 11 1/2, I stepped down with my left foot and felt a crack. I managed to put it out of my mind for the rest of the race but I'm still enjoying that pain today. I took a picture of the last mile marker before the finish line so I can look back and re-live that gratifying moment again and again and know I did my best:

Whitney and I ran at full force, through the finish line with tons of people on the side-lines cheering for us with a time of 3:13:56 and I have to say that it felt amazing! I was kind of regretting my decision to register but I am so glad that I followed through and finished. It really makes me wonder if I could do the full marathon next year (??????) Maybe not, but I can certainly work toward that goal.

After the marathon, I went back to the tournament for a BBQ and a final game that ended in a tied score. That game was the most exciting of the entire season so far. They worked their tails off and almost won. They won in our book anyway and got an A+ for effort. I'll post some pictures of the tournament soon. All in all, it was a pretty great weekend and ended on a perfectly sunny note!

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Rain Rain Go Away...

I am so so tired of the rain! My mood is below even the lowest crawling creature. Yesterday, I made the mistake of looking at some really sad blogs and had myself crying at work! That was in the morning. By the afternoon, one would think that I would have been in better spirits...wrong! I think that coupled with the rain, the sadness just about did me in. I woke up this morning hoping for sunshine or at least just the absence of liquid falling from the sky but low and behold...it was still here. I think maybe I should invest in one of those vitamin D lamps that act like the sunshine. Or I can just start tanning....ahhhh I can't wait for summer!

When will it end? I think it's supposed to be nice this weekend though. Thank goodness because we have a baseball tournament both Saturday and Sunday and I'm running/walking a half marathon on Sunday http://capitalcitymarathon.org/information.html (what the heck was I thinking??) I will cross my fingers that it's not pouring down rain as I trudge through 13.1 miles of unbalanced terrain. :-)

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Good Time Had by All

Well, we made it home safe and sound...I even managed to evade the pig, dog, frog, and horse flu. I can fully see how freaky I was before I left, but you have to admit: The news took it and ran at a brisk pace with it. They made it sound like everyone was going to get it and we would have another Spanish Flu epidemic...LOL. I am fully back to normal now and I apologize for my loony posts. I did wash my hands quite a bit from the time I left my house until the time I returned but that's just being cautious. I only had one person cough directly in my face, two inches in front of it and boy did he get an earful! That's just plain rude!

So, we had a fabulous time though of course it went too quickly but Mike keeps talking about "next time" we go so that must mean he enjoyed himself as well. By the time we got through the airport and to our terrible inexpensive, convenient hotel (via an Escalade limo), Mike was finally into it. When we were able to get outside and take a deep breath of the nice warm desert air, he finally told me that he thought Vegas was just a big strip of old casinos. What the heck?? A person could have a wonderful vacation and never even step foot into a casino! I see now why he was a little hesitant to leave our children, get onto a big machine that forges through the air, to go to a bunch of casinos when he doesn't even like to gamble. He was amazed at the height of the buildings and how much there was to see and do. We took a ton of pictures and still could have explored for days. Our hotel was centered on the strip so we were able to walk out the door and go to the left one day, and then walk out and go to the right the next. We walked all the way from the Stratosphere back to our hotel and most of the way there on Saturday and by the time we got back, my feet were screaming! As smart as I am, I only brought flip flops and one other pair of sandals. Who does that knowing that they are going to be walking for miles?? I had to go back to our room and soak my footsies in the tub just so I could stand up. Ibuprofen was my friend on that trip :-)

We got caught like so many others do by: TIMESHARES!!! I swear that they had these people waiting to trap us at every entrance! I finally decided to listen to what they had to say and figured that we could sit through their 2 hour spiel on timeshares if it meant free show tickets. Well, 2 hours turned into 4 but we got four tickets to Rita Rudner....she is hilarious!!! Good, clean humor and a $12 beer...what more could you ask for?

We took close to 450 pictures but I think that would be a rather long post, so I'll just show a handful (or two..sorry!!):


The plane...............................................Our limo to the hotel
One of the many casinos..................... M & M Land!!!
1/2 yd of Margarita!................Toby Keith's Bar and Grill
Outback~Cheap dinner!

We also got to experience the Bellagio's water show the last night we were there. It seemed like every time we went to see it or the volcano show, it was either too late or too windy. Bobbi and I finally got to see it while the guys were at Supercross. At least they got to see the video. It is so big so it was hard to get the entire show, but I got a piece of it:


Going to bed Saturday night meant that our vacation was coming to an end, so we stayed out until 2:30 or 3 am. This wasn't any different from any of the other nights except for the fact that we had to leave for the airport at 6:00 am. We somehow managed to drag ourselves there, bleary eyed and exhausted, with a coffee in hand. On our way to Vegas, we had a non-stop flight but on the way back, we had a connecting flight in Oakland, CA. By the time our plane landed in Seattle, I could barely keep my eyes focused. We picked up the girls and headed home where I proceeded to pass out, shortly thereafter. Thank goodness I didn't have to work the next day. Poor Mike, he was up and out of the house by 5am back to Seattle, where he has been all week since then. I hate living alone! :-) All in all, we had a blast and I can't wait to do it again!!