You've Come A Long Way!

Happy 7th Birthday to our beautiful, talented Princess!  We love you!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

First, I want to tell you that I spelled that title without my spell check lighting up!  WooHoo, I have finally taught myself to correctly spell the blasted word.  Now to just work on vaccuum, or vacuum as it is actually spelled.

And I should know all about vacuum right now, as yesterday I left work early to pick up, vacuum, clean carpets, and steam clean floors.  The public rooms of our house are clean!  I feel so domestic now.

I also hit the grocery store and picked up the necessary foods for Dana to survive while I'm away.  Frozen beef taquitos, Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches and a big box of Lucky Charms.  I secretly think Dana and the kids like me leaving, because I buy food normally left off the list to stock the house when I'm gone.  There are also a few bean and cheese burritos still in the freezer from my Ft. Worth trip.

Tomorrow is the big day!  I'm being picked up in the morning and we're driving to the airport, and some time around 11:18 pm EST, I'll be in DC.  I'm finally excited instead of stressed.  Although I do have moments of panic.  I still have to pick up Dana's prescriptions and finish packing, but I am ready.  The only thing I don't have, is cute sundresses to wear in the heat there.  It's not because I didn't look.  I went to Target and ShopKo, but didn't find anything that I thought was decent to wear and reasonably priced. 

I borrowed a very nice blue skirt suit from my friend, but with the weather forecast, I may just leave it at home.  I don't think it will be bearable in the heat.  Instead I'm opting for my silk dress.  The silk dress that didn't fit until my friend/coworker gave me her pair of Spanx.  It took me down a size and my dress fits beautifully now. 

Expect lots of photos in the next few days!  And no posts on forgotten luggage, thanks to traveling with others.  I do have one request though: Anyone know how to best pack my silk dress so that it isn't horribly disfigured by the time I get to DC?

Onions and more

I've mentioned our fantastic next door neighbors before, the kids fondly call them Papa and Grandma, Kaia and recently Mo have attended Sabbath services with them, and they are always helping us out.  Recently we've been gifted with an abundance of produce from them.

Their church runs a food bank, and when a large amount of produce is donated, they take what they can distribute before it spoils for the food bank, and the rest is given to members of the congregation (to use and distribute to others).  So Carl and Myke often bring some to share with us.  Recently we've received 2 heads of iceberg lettuce, apples, grapes, yellow potatoes, a big bag of chopped broccoli and 6 onions.

The lettuce we quickly ate, and the apples and grapes go in lunches and are used for snacks.  I love yellow potatoes for frying, soups and casseroles.  The broccoli is easy to use, especially since it's all cut and ready. 

But the onions... I love french onion soup, but don't think I could convince the rest of the family to eat it.  I could make onion rings, but I'm really trying to eat healthier.  Salsa is always a good option, but tomato prices are high.  So tell me, what do you like to make that uses onions?

Looking Good

They look like big boys now! It was kind of sad to see all the hair go, but this will stop most of the hair pulling that has been going on lately.

Brendon

Bryce

Both boys did great while I used the clippers.  In fact, they could teach Mo a thing or two about getting his haircut.

Can we just slow down already?

Today was a big day for the boys.  They both waved goodbye as daddy left for work!  So soon I will have them signing "more" and "please" and "eat" just as soon as I start working more at it.  Brendon also attempted to eat Cinnamon this morning.  She may not look happy in the photo, but she was purring the whole time.

This weekend is the last weekend before the trip to DC.  I should be really excited, it's just 8 more days, but instead I find myself stressed.  So much to do, so little time.  Can I find some capris that fit before we go?  What shoes do I wear at the awards ceremony that look nice, but won't kill me on the walk from our hotel?  Can I get the house picked up before I leave, and how much money will I need for the different tours?  Dana keeps telling me to relax and have fun, and I will, once I'm packed.  And a huge bonus: this trip I have 2 people traveling with me to the airport, so no forgotten luggage or wrong date. 

I'll be getting things ready this weekend, and we're planning to give the boys their first haircut.  Have a fantastic weekend! 

CoverGirl and Got2B Smoothing Lustre Lotion Review

As a BzzAgent I received a gift pack of the Smoky Shadow Blast eye shadow and Shine Blast lip gloss to test and review.  First let me say, I love the colors I chose.  The eye shadow is a lime green base with a bronze for the second layer.  It goes on so nice, and it looks so good, for about 3 hours and then it all starts to slide into the crease of my eye.  I'm disappointed with that.  I've tried powdering under the shadow and on top, but nothing seems to prevent the inevitable slide.  I still wear the shadow, but only on days where I decide it is worth reapplying several times. 

The lip gloss however is fabulous!  It goes on shiny, the color doesn't clump up, and it's not sticky.  It looks like I have wet lips for hours.  It is by far my favorite lip gloss, and I've tried a lot of them.  As part of my testing, I have $2 off Cover Girl coupons to give away. The coupons are good on any CG product.  So if you are interested, email me your address, and I'll send you one (until I run out).

The second item I got to try was got2be Smoothing Lustre Lotion.  I have been using this, but as I got near the end of my bottle I splurged and bought a Paul Mitchell product from my salon.  After using it exclusively, I went back to the got2be, and then switched back to Paul Mitchell Fast Form.  Honestly, I cannot tell the difference in the way my hair looks or behaves.  The difference is in the price!  $16 for Paul Mitchell, or $5.99 (MSRP) for got2be.  From now on, I'm going to stick to got2be.  For you, I have got2be samples!  They sent little sample packets that include a tear off for one of your friends.  If you'd like to give it a try, email me your address.

I'm hoping more beauty product campaigns open up, as I'm really having fun being pampered for free!

A few things I've learned about Mo

 "The Look" does not affect him when I'm standing at the back of the church and he's in the 3rd pew from the front.  I need to work on my superpowers.

There is a handsome boy under all that scruffy hair. We finally convinced him to let us find out.  He wasn't crying because of the haircut.  He's crying because I made him wake up to get ready to leave the house.

There is a sweet boy with a heart of gold underneath the orneriness.  (He told me this is "I love you.")

It's Monday

I have a post all ready to go, I just need the photos I've emailed from my phone to complete it.  They say they have sent successfully, but they haven't. 

I should also be posting a menu plan since it's Monday.  I've come to the conclusion that without a plan, and a shopping trip where I stock up on the items needed for the plan, our spending on food gets out of control.  I make too many trips to the store, where I realize that we could use X, Y, and Z.  Add to that an oops, where I thought I was getting the correct ground beef at Safeway, buy one and get one free.  Turns out I didn't.  Instead I spent over $20 on ground beef.  At least it will last us for awhile.

So any menu suggestions for me this week?

Your Daily Dose of Cute

Brought to you by Grammy and Papa. 

How long?

Today marks 10 years of marriage for Dana and I.  As I said on Facebook, it's been 10 crazy years.  I told him this morning I'd like to think the next 10 will be uneventful, but in another 10 years we will have two teenagers and two 10 year olds, and I imagine a food budget that is through the roof.

What has made the past 10 years crazy?  Let's just do a quick summary.  10 years ago we were living in Ellensburg, I was going to Central Washington University, we both worked full time (technically I was 35-37 hours a week, but close enough), and we managed a duplex complex.  Within 2 years we were living in Yakima, renting a small duplex, and both working full time. In another year we had a huge surprise, a baby on the way and we were house shopping.  Then there was another baby on the way, planned this time, and some major job changes for both Dana and I.  Then I had that little tubal ligation surgery, Dana began having surgeries on his eyes, surgeries on his knees and then another surprise baby came along, then in a few weeks it became a huge surprise.  Then Dana had his serious eye surgery, the boys were diagnosed with Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome, I had surgery to save the boys, and we began the weekly trips to Seattle.  Dana had his best job change yet, we doubled our number of children in one day, and we've all survived to this day.

But, you know what?  I wouldn't change any of it.  We've had joy and we've had pain.  There have been trials and tests, but being put through those has only made us stronger. 

I love my wonderful husband, and am looking forward to our night alone tomorrow.  We're going out to eat at Gasperetti's and we'll enjoy sleeping without any middle of the night wake-up calls or children climbing in between.  It's a simple pleasure, and one I'm excited about.

This just in...

Literally, Bryce just cut his 3rd tooth.  I braved sticking a finger in his mouth last night (now that he has 2 bottom teeth, biting my fingers while checking for teeth has become a fun game) and a top tooth was through. 

Brendon, poor Brendon, is still working on cutting his 2nd tooth.  He's been working at it for 2 weeks now.  Poor kid is not having fun.  I'm hoping the rest of his teeth come in easier.

We also had our first roll down the stairs on Friday night.  Bryce was at the window one second and the next I heard him thump-thump-thumping down the stairs.  Luckily we have carpeted stairs and there are only a few to go down.  He was fine, but definitely scared by his experience.  For now, we are containing the crawlers by putting the car seats in the entry way, but that won't work for long.  Our life just keeps getting busier!

A Couple of Cuties on Memorial Day

Monday was a lazy day. After a walk to the nearby nursery, we hung out outside for a bit.  Bryce was really enjoying checking out the grass.

Well he was checking it out, until he noticed me snapping photos with the phone.

You may have noticed who was in the background. Brendon missed all the fun, but he was one snoozy boy.

That does not look comfy at all!

The Middle Child

Mo has been the middle child for almost 8 months now, and while he's still my good little boy, he's become quite the handful. 

At home he tends to listen less, and his independent nature tends to exacerbate his feeling left out.  He's always been happy to sit outside and dig in the dirt by himself, and at times he feels excluded even though he's chosen to go off on his own.  Then when he comes in and wants to rough house with his brothers, he gets told to settle down.  He just loves them so much, he can't wait for the opportunity to really play together.

At Sunday School he's become quite the story-teller, and occasionally a bit naughty.  My brother helps out in the classroom, and he finds all the antics hilarious.  One Sunday, the teacher was handing out the little baskets full of crayons.  Mo got his and declared quite loudly, "Volcano!"  He then threw the basket of crayons up in the air and had them rain down.  Every question he's asked comes back with an answer about monster trucks.  Such as, "And what does Jesus like us to do?"  Mo's answer, "Jesus really likes monster trucks."  And according to Mo, I recently had huge fireballs land in my garden, and I was really mad.

This imagination also extends into some fun stories.  You may not know it, but Mo has a farm.  A big farm out by Grammy and Papa's house.  He has animals, and lots of John Deere equipment.  He even told me how many acres it was, but I can't remember the number anymore.  Mo also build I-82 in between Yakima and Ellensburg.  He built it with his construction crew.  I find this hilarious mostly because it was built in the 70's. 

It's been a bumpy road transitioning from two kids to four, but we're all getting the hang of it.  And I know from all the research that middle children are supposed to be among the most well-adjusted people, so in the end it will all work out.