Old School

One of my mom's groups have been talking a lot about the New Kids on the Block getting back together. This got me thinking about all of the "old school" music that I loved back in high school! I added a few to my playlist, just in case you start to feel a bit nostalgic. My kids and I were having fun dancing to the songs as I was listening to them while adding them. Rachie especially loved it. She has always loved music.

Have I told you about her? Before she was born, Jake used to stick his face on my tummy and sing "Twinkle Twinkle" to her all the time. The day she was born, he was holding her and she started to fuss. As I reached out to take her from him, he snuggled her in tighter and started singing it to her. She quieted down immediately and listened while he sang. It made my heart melt. When she was tiny and would be colicky, Steve had a sill song that he made up for her and it never failed to calm her. In church from the time she was about 4 months old, she has always joined in when the hymns were being sung. Granted, it was her own style of singing, but cute and sweet, and kind of cool all the same. Since she could sit up, in addition to singing along, she dances to any music she hears, including cell phones ringing. I think people at church are finally used to seeing her boogieing down in the aisle in the chapel during the more "peppy" hymns. I hope she continues this love of music. It is fun to have someone who shares that love with me!

Harry Potter Frenzy!

I am in a crazy Harry Potter frenzy over here! Seriously though, I am having fun! My Hogwarts castle practice cake was a flop...not sure how I will fix that problem. I can always go back to the original idea I had and do wizard hat cupcakes if all else fails. I have everything but the chocolate frogs ready to go in the girls' goody bags. Those are cooling in the fridge. I need to make the portrait of the Pink Lady to go over the entrance to the Gryffindor "common room" and then I will be able to breathe a bit easier. I have no clue how to do it though, I am not an artist! My mom is making wizard robes for Becka and Steve, and she is gonna make the sorting hat for us also. I can't wait to take pictures and show ya all, I think it will be lots of fun!

I have been walking or doing some sort of exercise every day with Melissa, for almost a week now. It is hard to schedule it in, but having Melissa to prod me along helps a lot. I wouldn't do it if it was just me! The whole family and Melissa went for a bike ride the other day. My bum is so sore from the hard seat on my bike! We went about 6 miles though, which I know isn't very far on a bike, but for someone like me who hasn't exercised regularly in years, in is AWESOME! We got caught in a rain shower and saw the most beautiful rainbow ever! If you check out my dropshots, you will see pics of it.

What was I thinking?

Seriously, I must be deranged or have something wrong with my brain! I just now sat down and wrote out everything I need to get done for Becka's birthday party. What the heck is wrong with me??? I have SO much to get taken care of. She had better appreciate all of the trouble I am going through!

Anyone wanna come over and help me make chocolate frogs??

A few sweet shots

Angie, Kelsie and Karlee came over Wednesday and spent the afternoon with Rachie and I. I had meant to get a real photo shoot of Miss Karlee, but the camera wasn't cooperating with me. We did some snapshots and got several sweet ones...had to share my favorites here. You can see all of them on my dropshots. www.dropshots.com/punkinmama



Mommy, Big Sis and Baby



Cutie

Is this really what I signed up for?

Sometimes I wonder if I really wanted to be the mom.

This is not what I pictured before I had kids. I imagined days of reading books together, playing outside, doing arts and crafts, making fancy dinners, going on leisurely walks in the evenings. Picking flowers in the perfectly landscaped yard, growing huge vegetables in my weed-free garden. Me, skinny and happy...friendly all the time. I guess it was the "Stepford wife" ideal, huh?

No one told me that I would practically be living in my dirty minivan, breaking up kids' fights several times a day, begging a two year old to use the potty, picking up the same toys over and over and over and over again, drowning in laundry constantly and unable to keep up with the dishes, not to mention the rest of the house. I am constantly feeling guilty because no matter what I do or how much I try, I can never be quite good enough.

We got two more backdrops yesterday, so we had to play with them. Steve got this awesome shot of Rachie...I love it!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

catching up

Whew! What a crazy week! I got sick early on and spent a miserable few days running around when I should have been in bed. Did all the shopping and planning for my mom's birthday party. Plus helping Becka with her huge report that is due this Friday. Add that to all the regular crazies around here and you get my week.

Monday (Memorial Day) we helped Melissa and Michael some more with moving and then had a BBQ with Brandon, Afton and their kids, Dana, Derek and the girls and Melissa/Michael came. It was lots of fun. Poor Rachel was running around the corner and smacked into the wall really hard. Her forehead has a cut and is bruised on one side. That, added to the terrible burn on her hand from the day before when she grabbed my hot curling iron, makes her look like an abused child! Poor baby girl!

Steve and I had our 11th wedding anniversary on Friday. We didn't get to do anything super special. He ended up having to stay at work late. He got home 2.5 hours later than usual, and then we had to re-order some prints for the wedding people he took pics of. So, we went to a late dinner at McGraths. It was actually kind of funny. We drove around town for almost 45 minutes before we gave up and went there. Couldn't decide on something that sounded good, so we were just hoping to drive past someplace and know it was "the place!" It was fun to hang out together without the kids or other interruptions. I was brave and had something called "Halibut Davinci" which was basically small pieces of parmesan crusted halibut over noodles with a sun-dried tomato pesto sauce. It was pretty good, and a big step up in my seafood eating department. lol! I am a fish and chips only kind of girl! Steve had swordfish. He said it was ok, he mostly ordered it just to say that he had eaten swordfish. He made me have a bite, so I guess I can claim it too! :)

Saturday night we went to the reception for the couple whose pics he had taken a few weeks ago. They had several of the pictures in frames on display and they looked wonderful! He got tons of compliments and several new customers that night! I was bursting at the seams with being proud of him, so I am sure he felt good too! The cutest thing of the night was when Jake got in with the single guys to try and catch the garter! LOL! I love that kid, he cracks me up!

Today was an adventure! We went to Newell Creek Ward to be there for Karlee's blessing (did I mention that my best friend had her baby on April 29?). Anyway, we were excited because not only would we get to see Angie and her family, but that is Brandon and Afton's ward. But they weren't there! Hey Afton...where were you guys????? :) Mom and Dad Ard are also in that ward, but they are still on their trip to China. Allright, so on to the adventure part. We got about 10 minutes from home after the blessing and Steve looks at me and says,"you got my bag, right?" I am looking at him like, "what the heck?" I said no, I didn't know he had brought his bag, since it isn't our normal ward and I didn't think he would bring it with him, since it is just bishopric stuff for our ward. We had to turn around and go ALL THE WAY back to the church and get his bag. It took 45 minutes each way. We had planned on going to the last hour of our church, but since we had to go back, we didn't get home in time. Pretty bad when gas is so expensive.

Tomorrow the kids have pajama day at school. Jake wants to wear his sleeper jammies. I am trying to figure out if he will be able to cram his feet into his shoes when they are covered by the jammies, and will he get made fun of by the other kids for wearing that kind of pajamas? He looks adorable in them...they are red with race cars, but I think he is adorable no matter what, since he is my boy! Becka is wearing her Bobby Jack jammies.

Becka had a big project due at the end of the week. It is a report about Washington state. Today she made Mt. St. Helens out of flour, salt and water dough. I helped her get a box ready to use for a diorama. We are just hoping that her mountain dries in time to be painted and glued into the box! I am proud of her hard work on this. She is doing a good job, and is even doing more than the minimum required. She and I are also having tons of fun planning her birthday party. I admit that I go a bit overboard, but it is so fun. She doesn't have a birthday party with her friends every year, so I feel justified in making the parties she does get to have extra special. I can't wait for this one. It is (of course) Harry Potter themed. Just wait for pictures! You will want a HP party too!

Besides Rachie's recent knack for hurting herself, she is doing well. The potty training is going slowly, but it is going. She pooped in the potty yesterday and was so excited! She got to call Nana and Eesa (I asked her who she wanted to tell) and got to have a big marshmallow for doing it. Hopefully she will keep it up! She has always been lovey, but lately it is getting super cute. She is always saying that she loves you, or if you say I love you to her, she says, I love you more! Sweetie!

I ended up needing a CPAP machine for severe sleep apnea. I finally got it this week. I was planning on waiting until we could pay off the actual sleep study itself, but it ended up that they don't charge interest and I only have to pay 10%, since I met my huge insurance deductible this year already. We are hoping to get Steve in for a sleep study when I do get mine paid off. If I have severe sleep apnea, he has it terribly. He should have gone in first I think! I feel silly and a bit embarrassed about using the machine. I had it on for a few hours last night, after Steve fell asleep. It was ok, except that I like to sleep on my tummy and the tube doesn't let me do that. Bleh!

Ok, enough blabbing for one night. I need to go change the laundry over and get in my bed. I gotta stop getting on the computer so late!