cousins

The little niblets had the best time with their cousins this weekend. SO much so that they all ended up, playing in the tub together. I'm surprised that more water was not found outside of the bath. Holidays are the best, not only for the food, but for the fun times spent with family. Thanks again, Giggles and Chaos, for coming up to spend time with us!

arbonne

I am loving the Pampermint Two-step Set from Arbonne. Wow. My feet are loving me right now. How many times can I say loving? I just cannot think of a better word: loving.

Included in this set are the Pampermint FootWork, Foot Scrub and SoleMate, Foot Cream. The foot cream is fluffy, like a mousse, but heavy enough to be a cream. It felt like I was rubbing a Yoplait Whips! on my feet. Divine! The scrub is very gentle and cleansing. I am not sure why I had not tried this before. No more unhappy feet for me.

painting

I'm totally embarrassed to show you pictures of our house right now. FEMA would have to step in and give us aide. Truly, it is in bad shape. I have decided that moving is of the devil. He wants us to be miserable and, so far, mission completed. Well, let me back up...I'm not miserable per say. I just hate anything to do with packing and unpacking. It just does not reach up to the fun level on my gauge.

All I will show you is a picture of one of my favorite things in our house. I have to say thanks to my sister T, again, for it is on loan. She is letting me borrow it until she can come back across the atlantic and get it. (hee, hee).

Not sure why I love it so much. I love the colors. I love the style of the painting. Apparently, T bought it from an artist in SLC.

You can also see our new table (it is awesome) and our new fridge (it is huge) and part of our messy kitchen (it is so, so messy). How long should I expect to be unpacking boxes?

happy hubby

Please don't laugh too hard. I mean it. Stop laughing. This picture was taken ten years ago. TEN. But who's counting? Really. This was the first picture ever taken of my hubby and I. This was a girl's choice dance at the institute. I had actually asked another guy, Mike, who already had a date. I was supposed to be going with a big group of friends and didn't know who else to ask. Mike was a part of our big group of friends and so that is why he was my first choice. Then, I remembered this guy who Mike had introduced me to at church the week before. I asked Mike for his number (is it tacky to ask the guy who said no, for another guy's number?) and called him up. Needless to say, he was not expecting to hear from me let alone be asked to accompany me to a dance. I'm just grateful...eternally grateful he said yes. We had so much fun that night. It was memorable. It was a whirlwind. It was the start to many of the best nights, of my life, to come. Honestly, he had me laughing so hard that I almost peed my pants...several times. Almost being the key word. So I guess you could say he had me at hello. And he had me at, "Don't pee your pants."

He has always been able to make me laugh. We have such a good time together and I love him for it. Thanks for being 29 with me. Thanks for always being such a wonderful husband and a father. Thanks for giving me two of the most beautiful children on the planet. Thank you for knowing me better than I do. Thank you for pushing me to reach my full potential. I love you. Happy birthday.

happy birthday

So I know this is a bit late but I didn't want to miss out on an opportunity to wish one of my bestest friends a happy birthday. Dayna is one of those people you want to know...have to know! My life definitely would not be the same if I didn't know Dayna. She is a very tender, smart, loving, ambitious person. I have always looked up to her and wish to be like her. I will never forget being on the dance committee with her in seventh grade and wanting then to be life-long friends. Now we are 29 and have so much more to look forward to. Love you, girl! You're the best!

world on his shoulders

Some of the greatest thinking happens here.

mirror image

Mirror image from Janelle O. on Vimeo.

snapshot

Wednesday, November 19, 8:20pm.

Kiddle no. 1, singing:

"...here comes Mr. Alligator, quiet as a bee..."

Are bees quiet??

"Don't you mean, 'quiet as can be'?"

"No, mom. 'Quiet as a BEE!"

No problem. I won't bother correcting you again. Besides, it is just too cute when you do that.

morning announcement

If you sit and stare long enough at your piles and piles laundry (clean and dirty) and survey all the stuff you have to pack, it is still there when you are done staring. It was an ah-ha moment for me. Pass it on.

moving day

So with tomorrow being our big move, and with there still being so much to do, I thought I would sit and reflect...well, more like waste time. I woke at 4:30 and had a hard time going back to sleep. I could not stop thinking about all that needed to be done today and trying to sort out where to start, etc. It is madness! Truly. It would be nice to have a moving company pack all my stuff...but then again, I wouldn't have a clue where everything was. Plus...not sure I want strangers going through my stuff. I am just so glad we are not moving across country or, worse, moving internationally. I don't know how you all do it! I am struggling to keep normalcy for two kids and move across town.

We have been living at our current residence for over two years. It has been a blessing but also got me itching for our own space. It is hard when you cannot paint or remodel or just move furntiture around to make it your own. Thus, it has been a joyous experience just painting our new place and having new floors put in! Our appliances arrived Wednesday and we are starting to feel more "at home".

New pictures are to come!

you're it!

So I just saw that my cute sis-in-law Julie tagged me. I'm supposed to point out six quirky things about myself. Hmmm...only six? I truly am a nutter. Here we go:

1 - When I set my alarm, it has to end in either a 1 or a 7. So, if I have to get up around 7:30, then I set the alarm for 7:31 or 7:37 or 7:27. I told you I am a nutter. Do you seriously want more?

2 - When I leave a room, I cannot have the light switches in different positions...especially if there are three light switches on one plate. They all have to be down or all have to be up.

3 - If I'm not driving, I always fall asleep in a moving car. It drives my hubby bonkers because he wants to catch up and talk. I have told him several times that it is very hard for me to stay awake...even more so after having kids. It's crazy but the motion just lulls me to sleepy-sleep.

4 - Speratic tap dancing is always fun.

5 - When falling asleep, I have to lay on my left side with my left arm up under the pillow, left leg straight out, right leg bent with toes on my knee and the sheets have to be cold.

6 - I am a control freak. I like to have things done a certain way. For example, I will not let my husband put new sheets on our bed because he doesn't tuck them in the way I like.

the snowman

I loved watching this as a kid and now enjoy it even more with the kids. The Snowman is a timeless tale about a young boy who, with the first snowfall, excitedly runs out and decides to build a snowman. Magically, the snowman comes to life and off they go on an adventure every child dreams of. Definitely worth reading and watching the DVD. Anyone else love this??

snl weekly

If you missed SNL this weeked, you SERIOUSLY missed out. Paul Rudd was the host but Justin Timberlake and Beyonce were also there. Here is JT helping out with Weekend Update and then Beyonce in a very funny parody about her video, "Single Ladies". If you haven't seen her music video, watch it at mtv.com first and then watch this. So, so funny!!

heaven on earth has been found!

I will start off by saying that yes, heaven on earth has been found but maybe not in the way that you think. Of course, my little maple leafs are bliss in itself. But, in terms of comfort, heaven has been found. It comes wrapped in lots of springy but posturpedic coils that react to the different proportions of your body. It is also very roomy and large, the width being such that my hubby's wingspan does not disturb my side of peace. Yes, a king-size bed has topped my list of heavenly-earthly things. With the 16th being our 7 year wedding anniversary (can you believe I have been married for seven years? ), times gone by are refreshed in my memory. More vividly are the years (7, to be exact) spent in a full-size bed. The restless nights of a too large pregnant belly kicking my hubby in the back. The snoring and waking and pushing and, "Honey, PLEASE turn over so I can go back to sleep!!" A king-size bed is like the Noah of Arc's. It is the whale to a minnow. It is the lion to the lamb. It is wonderful and definitely a treat unlike any other.

To me, sleep is a priority in terms of my functionality and mood. So when sleep is not attainted at a maximum level, the dams will be loosed and hell will be opened. In other words, you had better watch out!

Having a full-sized bed up to this point has taught me a lot. For example, I have learned how to train my hubby into sleeping fetally all night long (really cuts down on the snoring). I have learned that if I am not deeply asleep before my hubby, I might as well forget sleep all together. I have also learned that if I'm not in bed first, my beloved cold spots (cold sheets are the best to climb in to) are threatened by size 13 clown feet. Though our newly acquired king-size mattress (think Lily Tomlin on the big rocking chair) is at our new house, I have more than my new appliances, carpet and paint to look forward to. Many high hopes for this monstrosity of Sealy proportions. Will let you know how the first night goes...

halloween critters

Though no pumpkins were carved this year (yeah, tell me about it!), we had a blast getting the kids all dressed up and taking them trick-or-treating in the neighborhood. My oldest critter was a bat and the youngest was a ladybug. Definitely the cutest ever. Yet, no matter how many times I tell myself that all that candy will be thrown away, I can never bring myself to do it. Of course, we hide it from the kids. I just need to hide it from myself!

so many backburners, so little time

With all the craziness of buying a house and moving, much has been laid to rest for a time. If you haven't noticed, many posts have been pushed to the wayside with this new burden and overload of stress. So much is to come and much to look forward to. I haven't forgotten about you and all that is in need of being reported. Carpet is being laid as we speak in our house and then our appliances are supposed to show later in the week. In the midst of all of this, we have been trying to keep a somewhat normal schedule for the kids and for my sanity. I just have no idea how people move across the country. Moving across town is barely fitting in with our life demands. To go one more step up that ladder, how does anyone decide to build a home? When does that cross someone's mind as a perfectly normal thing to do? With all the roadblocks we have hit during this process, I have decided to stay put for as long as we can possibly stand it! Not sure I want to go through this again. So, like I said, much is to come. :)