Z turned Three!

I can't believe it's been three years, but Zoe turned three yesterday. Her special day included Oatmeal prepared for her by a loving older brother. A quick birthday trip to Wal-Mart. Lunch from her favorite place of all time - My Little Pony toy included. A nice long 'Birthday Nap'. Dinner out with her family, and a small audience for gift opening.

Her Grandma dropped off a package earlier last week, and one of Zoe's new favorite things is her purse. Complete with real money inside.


She had so much fun out to dinner with the family. And loved being sung to by all of Red Robin.


And her small audience for gift opening was perfect. It's safe to say we had one delighted Birthday Girl.


It's hard not to spoil this little girl of ours. She is so fun and sweet all at the same time. We are so thankful to have her in our family. Even if her arrival was a bit crazy.

Here are her special order pink (strawberry) and purple cupcakes.

Let the festivities begin.....

Friday night was our ward Christmas party. One suggestion from the activities committee was that your children could come dressed as shepherds, wisemen, or angels. Luckily a few years ago, I was on the activities committee when we did a Back to Bethlehem Christmas extravaganza and I still had the costumes I made (ripped from sheets) for my children. They only problem? Which bin were they in? After I froze my digits coming up empty handed, Mel came home and somehow found the bin full of all of the kids' dress-up clothes. We haven't seen them that excited in sometime. I do believe the word 'PAR-TAY' was thrown around several times. But, we were running late (from a longer search than was anticipated) and shepherds were to be made. Not bad for pulling from a bin and throwing on children in 10 minutes?




The party was fun and festive, the kids all had a great time - complete with a visit to the fat man's lap. One wants a drum set, another wants a bicycle - preferable blue, and the third would like a pink puppy - ahh such simple lovely requests.



Saturday was our 'get the tree' day. We loaded the kids in the car just as it was getting bitterly cold and beginning to snow. In an effort to save a little money, we discussed where to purchase the tree this year. I hate to admit now, but Home Depot and Wal-Mart were actually part of that discussion, until Tyler made his opinion known. He wanted to go somewhere special - NOT Wal-Mart! That was lame. Plus, he would like to see reindeer. We've been going to this great place that has the great-great-grandson of one of Santa's official reindeer - we can't come to an agreement on which one exactly, but they have moved a few times, and we weren't sure where they were this year. I remembered seeing that Beaver Bark advertised that they had reindeer this year, I wondered if maybe they had partnered with our old place, so we decided to check it out, but not to actually buy our tree. No, way, that would be crazy.


So, we enjoyed checking out Donner and Vixen - who were delightful, BTW. They are here until Christmas Eve.


Did I mention it was BITTERLY cold? It was, and there were trees, and Mel and I spotted 'the one' A Noble. Not too big. Perfect shape. So we talk to the tree guy and it was a little more than Wal-Mart, but not quite as much as our old place, so we decide to just do it. As we walk into the store, he asks which vehicle is ours. So, he can secure it to the top. (Hello! Wal-Mart doesn't do that! Neither did our old place.)



As we are defrosting in the beautiful shop, Zoe finds the tree of her dreams:

Perfect for a little Princess, don't you think?

Anyway, we enjoyed a little warmth, the kids all got some free popcorn on the way out the door, and the best part? Mel didn't have to freeze getting the tree secure. YAY!


Oh, and we had some pretty happy kids:


I'd love to say that the whole evening was all sunshine and rainbows, but if you know me at all, you know that's not how I roll. Let's just say it's done. And here is Zoe in her new Christmas dress from Aunt Megan to prove it.

Available - AGAIN

I have 1 (one) more ticket available for Twilight this Friday, November 21 @7:05 PM @ Fairchild Cinemas in Pasco - it is part of the 'group' purchase of tickets which means you will be able to get into the theater earlier than everyone else.

Cost: $9.00

If you or someone you know still needs a ticket, let me know.

Available - not anymore

I have 1 (one) ticket available for Twilight this Friday, November 21 @7:05 PM @ Fairchild Cinemas in Pasco - it is part of the 'group' purchase of tickets which means you will be able to get into the theater earlier than everyone else.

Cost: $9.00

If you or someone you knows still needs a ticket, let me know.


The ticket is gone.

Irresistible

SERIOUSLY!

Flash Back

It's been a rough couple of weeks, and it doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon, so, I am quite relieved to have a tag from this crazy diva to take me back to my childhood.

Also, to the anonymous person who left goodies on my porch this week. THANK YOU! You'll never know what you kindness means to me and my family.

So, here we go: they are in no particular order because, well, you get this tiny screen to maneuver pics around in, and it's no fun.

Ahh, the joys of this kitchen carpet. Yep, that's my childhood kitchen floor. How's that for 70s for ya? Also notice the bangs I am sporting that go back to the middle of my head. I think this may have been my training haircut for the Dorothy Hamill.

You probably already know I was raised by Bob. But, no post exploring my childhood is complete without mentioning TPIR!

Skipping ahead to preteen years, I was introduced to DANNYDONNIEJOEJONJORDAN. When said properly it is one name. NKOTB were the heartrobs of my Jr. High. Personally, Jordan Knight was by far, the cutest one.

I did say this was not in any order, right? Well, here is the prized possession of my childhood. This is actually the exact doll that I had. Somehow, I was lucky enough in my family of 8 kids to be the recipient of this doll one joyous Christmas morning.

Who didn't love Rainbow Brite? Seriously!

This may be showing off the tom-boy in me, or was it the early boy crazy in me? But, I remember loving these M.U.S.C.L.E. Men. Looking back, they were weird!

One of the few TV shows my family watched together was the Cosby Show. Loved them. I wanted to be one of them. Who cares if I wasn't the right race.

Now, Magnum PI is another show I totally loved. Just one actor made the show for me. Tom Selleck. Plain and simple. I found out as a teenager that my mother shared my fondess for him when I found an interesting puzzle of him assembled and glued to a poster board stuffed in the back of a storage closet.

I was also introduced to the wonderfulness that is Pierce Brosnan at a very early age. It is clear to me now that I had no choice but to be boy crazy.

One evening while I was doing my Get In Shape Girl routine in my bedroom, my older sister summoned me to her room. There was an amazing new song on the radio. I remember being totally annoyed by her insistence of my attendance. I think I even continued my routine in her room to the tune of no other than:

I hate to admit it, but my childhood self was not very impressed. He was unavoidable from that point on.

Here is the culmination of all things totally rad: Legwarmers? check. Spandex? check. Olivia Newton-John? check.

I was hit by a car walking to school at the beginning of 7th grade. I was quite upset at the fact that the EMTs showed no regard for my favorite pair of jeans when they cut from the ankle up the middle of my leg to my hip. They destroyed the hard labor of the summer before. I worked so hard wearing in those knee wholes of those acid washed - ankle zip jeans. I actually hung on to them (bumper stain and all) for a few years contemplating their transformation into a mini skirt.

Here's the best part of Elementary School. How sweet was the Oregon Trail?

Played on this sweet piece of equipment of course.

Skate King was the place to be on Friday and Saturday nights. Especially if you were under 14. It was the only place to socialize prior to stake dances - which were huge in my area. If you look closely, you can even see the enormous skate in the back left corner of the rink. My favorite song to skate to? 'Let's Hear it for the Boys'

Who can forget high-top Reeboks? These are very close the the pair that I had. They were black and white with hot pink trim. I am certain I scored an awesome deal at Big 5 for those puppies.

The hours I spent at Jenny Freese's house playing Mario Bros. Are innumerable. The bruises I had on my thumb still hurt.

Did you have a Swatch Watch? Mine had interchangeable bands, so I could make it match perfectly to my triple layered socks.

I thought I was too cool for school with the awesome matching guard:

And, finally, the desire of my entire Jr. High - the infamous Esprit bag. I was the dork that never had one, I think I even had the nerve to continue to carry a backpack, but, these totes were the object of my affection.

So, I apologize that I had more than 10 - I just couldn't stop myself when I went google image searching. I am tagging people who may just update their blogs if they have a reason to - I tag:

Meredith
Dani
Kim
Jessica C
Jessica T
and
Shayla

I'm bummed

about this.

I'm falling in love

OK fine, I'm already in it. DEEP. And, I'm sad to say this post has nothing to do with Mel. Although I do love him dearly.

The new love of my life has actually transformed my life. OK, maybe transformed is a bit of an exaggeration, but if you don't already now, I am a bit of an exaggerator. As PW would say - I'm a middle child, so I'm entitled.

Do you really want to be introduced to the new love of my life? Because you can all have it too. We can all be in love with it together. Now I just sound like one of Nick's many girlfriends.

OK - I'll get on with it. The new love of my life is no other than..................................................




FACEBOOK!



Some of you may be thinking Facebook is only for teenagers to drive their parents crazy with yet another online networking tool, and while that may be true, it is SO much more.

If you are anything like me, and

#1 are LDS,
#2 have moved at any point in your childhood, or
#3 have lost contact with anyone in your life,

than facebook is totally for you!

Personally, I grew up in one house my whole life until the summer before my senior year. The end of Jr. year, I was good to go, and then BOOM - I was moved before Sr year started. That leaves a ton of friends I didn't even get to say goodbye to, let alone tell that I was moving.

Enter Facebook - 13 years later. I have found so many people from my childhood. I even found one guy I have literally known my ENTIRE life. No kidding. He was born 1 month before me, and his Mom brought him to the hospital with her to visit my Mom when she had me. We were in Primary together our whole lives. Now, he's a pilot in AZ.

I found the girl, who in Jr. High gave me the nickname Nikki-Sue. Go ahead, I know you want to - I give you permission to use that one in person. Just once though. What? Don't I strike you as a Nikki-Sue? Just be glad you didn't know me in Jr. High.

I found a couple of girls I was in Blue Birds with. Talk about back in the day, huh?

And, I am a little bit embarrassed to admit this, but I even reconnected with my very favorite cousin. She and I were soul mates in High School. It's a long story about why we lost touch, but I've never been so happy to have found any one on facebook.

There's also the girl who got suckered into giving me trumpet lessons in Jr. High - poor thing. And, some friends from Mom's Club which I no longer belong to. But, I think one of my favorite things about it is I can totally keep tags on my little brother. See, when he adds pictures to impress his legions of facebook friends, his big sister's get to see them too. Hopefully it keeps him from adding scary pictures, which hopefully will help him attract a nice girl one day.

See, Facebook is so useful. So, if you are on, add me. I would love to 'be friends' If you aren't -- climb out from under the rock you are living beneath and join in the fun. It's a party, and I just have to say, so much better than myspace. Just my opinion myspace lovers, just my humble opinion.

The Good and Bad of my week

Monday: Treated to lunch by some fun girls - Very Good!

Monday Night: up all night with Zoe barking - Bad

Tuesday: went to Dr. - saw Nurse Practitioner was told it was probably allergies - really?

Tuesday: went to lunch at friends' house who I haven't seen in forever - did some shopping in her daughter's closet - Zoe now has a few fall clothes - Very Good

Tuesday evening: got to spend some time with friends I haven't hung out with forever - good
missed volleyball - bad

Tuesday Night: Up all night with Zoe barking and struggling to breathe - BAD

Wednesday: Went back to the Dr. - saw the Dr. was prescribed medicine that will help Zoe to breathe - was informed Zoe's throat is so small we will probably be dealing with this quite often - good and bad

Called the pharmacy which had a coupon for a $10 giftcard with a new prescription(thank you Cindy) - they don't have the medication in stock - BAD - (no gift card for me)

Headed to the 'special pharmacy' where last time we had to go there for caffeine for Zoe we paid $700! - stress

Got cut off in the parking lot for the pharmacy's reserved spots - had to park 10 miles away (ok not 10 miles - it just seemed like it) I might have said a few choice things under my breath about the man who stole the spot.

Guess who I got to stand behind in line? NICE. Holding a sick child and bargaining with a 5 year old - that he didn't actually need a candy bar for being good. - not good

after about 45 minutes was told my the pharmacist that there was good news and bad news - never good

Bad news always first: there isn't any liquid med. available so I'll have to crush up 6 pills and slip them into her food - that's not so bad

Good news? I owe them $0.57! --- TOTALLY good news!

Wednesday Evening: I was stopped by at a man at the gas station so he could apologize for cutting me off at the pump - funny because I didn't even notice - I consider this the apology that I needed from the other man earlier in the day - good!

Wednesday Night: Zoe slept all night - a few coughs here and there, but NO trouble breathing. VERY GOOD!!!

Thursday Afternoon: received a phone call from this guy's new teacher:

She wanted to thank us for sending our son for her to teach. We had such a great conversation. It was a VERY good start to the new school year.

Friday morning: went walking with a great friend. Realized how totally out of shape I am. That's good, right?

Saturday: Spent the whole morning at soccer games, watching the boys run their hearts out. So good!

Saturday Night: stayed up entirely too late getting a primary talk ready, and I am not in primary. Procrastination=bad.

So, there you have it. Overall, the good definately outweighs the bad. That's a GOOD thing.

Totally random

Here a little bit of what's been going on around our house:

Zoe's horrible defense against her big brothers is her teeth. Just when I think she's getting better, she goes and does something like this:

*****

When we informed Nick that he could only invite boys to his birthday party, he asked if we could do a 'girls only' party instead. NICE.

Here he is showing us his age. Or maybe he's waving hello. Whatever.

*****

On our way to take Tyler to his 1st day of 4th grade. How did that happen? Wasn't he just getting ready for Kindergarten???


Here's Nick heading to his 1st day of Kindergarten - he takes his role as big brother quite seriously. Good thing he's had such a good example.

*****

I am amazed at all that I fit into the car. Who knew?

I don't really know why I even took this picture, let alone why I am sharing it with all of you, I suppose I am just easily amused.

The grand total was 5 six-foot tables, 28 folding chairs and a punch bowl.

*****

Zoe attended her 1st 'Princess Party' I make little kissy noises to get her attention all the time. That's why she is puckering up.

Nicklaus was delighted to have been invited to the princess party as well. We might have to keep him home in the future - a few too many of his 'girlfriends' were there.

*****

I helped with our ward Luau which turned out crazy amazing. Complete with Maori Warrios - to see a video and pictures click here.
Those guys did such a good job, and were the best sports EVER!!! I have to admit, I am a little bit relieved that's behind me.

On to the next fun thing.

Big Trouble!!!

If you don't know already - my parents are on a mission in New Zealand right now. And, since they are out of the country, this is how my youngest sister decided to celebrate her 25th birthday!





Did she let me know before she went? Nope. I got a text message at 3:05 on Saturday afternoon saying "I'm going sky diving. If I die, I love you! :X"

EXCUSE ME?

Seriously, little sister. You are giving me gray hairs.

Luckily, she followed up at 4:34 with "I survived! So I'll post pictures and the video later. Hee hee."

So, Nutmeg, you're grounded. Especially since my little boys think you are the coolest thing on the planet and are only upset you didn't invite them to go along. G.R.O.U.N.D.E.D. FOR LIFE!


***On a side note, isn't she cute?***

In 11 years.............

you might want to lock up your teen-age daughters:

consider yourself warned. The lady-killer turned 5 today, and I seriously considered putting 'girls' down as one of his 'interests' on his Kindergarten questionnaire.

Storm - for Lindsay

Lindsay was out of town for our fantastic storm last week. So I thought I would post some video I took to show her what she missed.

The video ends at the very best part because, well, I was scared to death.

Check it out

I just got this in the mail today:

not the adorable little girl, the tutu! Isn't it the cutest?

I actually had it custom made from one of my favorite Etsy shops: The Little Middle Sister

Zoe is in love with it. I will have to post some pictures of her in it soon.

Okay, okay, the Little Middle Sister is actually my little sister, Suzanne, who happens to have more talent in her little finger than I do in my whole body. I'm not kidding, she's amazing. She develops an interest in something, and suddenly she's a pro.

Just last week, she got some incredible news. She and her husband are trying to adopt, and they were chosen by a birthmother!!! So, they are adding another baby boy to their family in mid-September. I couldn't be happier to have another sweet nephew on the way!

Eating a Banana

I have finally ventured out of my room to find my house looking like someone very messy has robbed me. Two boys are asleep on the couches, At least one is in his own bed. I am going to ignore it all for now, and focus on the only thing that brought me from my room. The banana. After a day like today, it feels great to actually be eating something. So, I started with the 'B' of the B-R-A-T diet. Let hope I make it to the T before too long. My house needs me!

*BTW - obviously, I've had way too much time to think today, but why oh why would you want to eat Rice after a day of feeling yucky? It's just not something that sounds appealing. Although I suppose I could be wrong.

OK, it's off to bed with me. Again.

If you give Nicole a challenge

If you give Nicole a challenge,
she's going to take it very seriously.

When she takes a challenge very seriously,
She will get tunnel vision and spend a whole Saturday working on the challenge.

She will search the web for every answer
and she will get a very good score

She will tie for 1st
and then she will panic

If she wins she will get a prize
which will be delivered

by someone who does yard work for 'fun'
she does not do yard work for 'fun'
(neither does her husband)

She will be relieved when her name is not drawn to win the prize
She will relax and be satisfied with winning, but not 'winning'

She will get an e-mail saying that she will actually recieve a prize
It's DonSalsa - she loves salsa

It will be delivered
by someone who does yard work for 'fun'

She decides she won't go overboard
She'll just weed - it will only be 105 degrees

The delivery will go off without a hitch
She will think how foolish she was

She will try the salsa
"HOLY NUM-O!" She will exclaim

For this yummy salsa
she just might start doing yard work for 'fun'




******Seriously, Donald, the salsa was divine. It was wonderful meeting you and your fun family. THANK YOU!!! ******

Can't Wait!

The summer 2008 Summer Olympic Games start in 10 days, and I am SO excited! There's just so much to love!

Here are some of the events I look forward to the most:

swimming
diving
gymnastics
rowing
canoe
volleyball
cycling
tennis

I wish I could say they will have my undivided attention while they are on, but, I'll just say thank goodness for DVR!!!

One of my very favorite things to see is how the host country prepares for the games. In Utah, how they 'beautified' the freeways. I have to admit, that while I thought it was a kind of crazy way to spend money, I do quite like driving down I-15 and seeing all of the cool engravings on the sides of the underpasses. It definately is a lot better than the way it was before the Olympics. But don't get me started on Utah roads. My point? I LOVE the stadium they have built in Beijing. It is called The National Stadium, but is also known as The Birds Nest.

Is that not the coolest stadium you've ever seen?


According to Wikipedia "The stadium will host the main track and field competitions for the 2008 Summer Olympics, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies."

I'll have my DVR set. I just hope it can keep up with everything I want to see!