TO: my S.F. PIC's

bringin' back some memories

I left my heart...

IN SAN FRANCISCO

Here's my better-late-than-never post from the Girls Weekend to S.F.

I know it's been said but...words can't even begin to describe the amount of crazy fun that we had. And to cap't Nick...until next time...

HERE.

oh, my poor bloggity-blog...we need to be reconnected!

I am sure all my fans out there are HEARTBROKEN over my unexplained absence. You see, the truth is...nothing could be posted until i rememebred to brush my teeth. Now that my pearly whites are nice and pearly again, here's what has been going on:

took the kid0s here

went on my first girls-weekend here (you can find pictures here & here. but i just might post some of my own)

saw them here (F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!)

&

read this.

I am HERE!

absent minded or mind absent?

DOES THIS HAPPEN TO YOU?? OR IS IT JUST ME?

A conversation occurred over my holidays between me & my brother...

I had mentioned that I forgot to brush my teeth that morning (yes I did just admit that to the world...do i see a "NOT ME" in the works. Read on and I just might not be alone on this one.) He proceeded to ask in an appalled tone, " how do you forget to brush your teeth?" Well, Andy, this is how:

morning (my 3 yr old) awakes me earlier than i would have liked begging for some breakfast. i placate him with cartoons in my bed long enough for me to wake up and drag myself downstairs to make him a bowl of cereal. while down there, i remember that i didn't want to do the dinner dishes or start the dishwasher from the night before so after satisfying the kid, i work on getting those dishes done. once complete i realize the other one-third of the family (trace and tori) is awake...back upstairs to retrieve them from their beds. but not before i make sure that i take something that is supposed to be put away upstairs with me so that i am efficient at my homemaking skills. while upstairs, I put "whatever is was" away, get the twins out and smell something fowl coming from one of them, usually trace, & make sure that smell is gone ASAP. while changing the diaper, tori gets excited that she can run around & find ty, ty runs upstairs excited that tori is excited! once both kids are smelling cute enough again, we try make our way downstairs to start on the second shift of breakfast...but not before ty has remembered that he lost one of his many collections of random things (this explanation is for another time...basically he's a little OCD...ok a lot.) i try to help but have no idea where he could have possible left it. while i am helping ty find his prized toy at the moment I realize trace and tori have been too quiet for comfort & find them experimenting with their new favorite...my make-up. once that is finally cleaned up we, again, try to make our way downstairs. we manage to make it to the top of the stairs but then a fight ensues over who gets to hold which hand of mine all the way down. I end up getting frustrated & walk myself down in hopes that they will all follow. no joke...one whole hour has past, it is now 9:00. breakfast is finally accomplished, for the kiddlets. now its my turn...you can't brush your teeth BEFORE you eat that just doesn't make sense!

i hide myself in the kitchen while i scarf down my breakfast. apparently the breakfast that i made for my children isn't enough & they expect hand-outs from dear-old-mom. once i am finished i make sure that all dishes are in the dishwasher get it started and hike back upstairs, kids in tow, to get dressed for the day. realizing that laundry still needs to be folded i think, "well it would make more sense if i fold a little before i get everyone dressed." makes sense, right? in a perfect world with children who sat quietly & obeyed their mother. Tori is my "big helper" as she likes to remind me often. she tries to "fold" some, she also tries to pile some on my already created piles which just ruin what I have tried to do. so i give up trying to fold just in time for ty to realize he has been left out of being a helper so he tries to "help." it works just as well as the other "big helper." a small argument between ty & i occurs but eventually we resolve our differences and get back to our original reason for coming upstairs: getting dressed. tori always fights getting dressed...but mothers always win. Trace just does whatever. Ty gets upset because he can't get his pajamas off & then upset again when his shirt doesn't go on right the first time. socks & shoes for some reason in my house takes an eternity, but it eventually gets done. just in time for me to glance at the clock and realize we need to get loaded in the car to take ty to school...i leave at the very latest 1130...yes, that much time has passed. i don't want to show up to his school in my adorable pj's so i rush in my closet, throw something decent on and start the loading process. to keep this already long post shorter, i'll just say loading in the car is an ordeal. ty gets dropped at school & i rush over to joe's lab to start my other job. i finish my other job just in time to pick ty up from school & start the drive back home. once home, its a chaotic evening of events of making dinner, cleaning up dinner, cleaning up toys & whatnot that were spread throughout the house while making dinner, bathing children, and our nightly routine of "wash-brush-flush." while the triple t's are brushing, it is then that I realize, "i forgot to brush my teeth this morning."

And THAT is how it happens!

oh and if your wondering, i showered the night before just in case my morning got a little hectic.

WISHING

...that my house AND tree looked as cozy as this

...that my wrapping was complete so i can curl up and watch THIS (tradition)

...that I didn't eat santa's whole plate of cookies...and drink all the milk

...that there was a real santa to set up all the toys for me.

Oh well...Merry! Merry!

I FOUGHT THE LAW

...and the law WON...

I went in with a determination to come out on top! I even had my angry music on to get me pumped up. I was going to tell them that I was RIGHT and they were WRONG!

But then the judge said in light of Christmas, everyone would get the traffic school waived AND in most cases, reduce the citation down to a parking ticket...so, i took a bite of some humble pie that i brought along as a just-in-case, wiped my mouth so that there were no crumbs, turned my angry music down (just a tad) and plead...guilty.

~MERRY CHRISTMAS, YOUR HONOR, MERRY CHRISTMAS~

"Not Me!" Monday

** Things I most definitely DID NOT do this week**

I did not subject my children to profanities while I was manuvering my way through the cold, white stuff. And my finger did not raise when that crazy driver cut me off while trying to text and drive at the same time. I am a good example to my children so I DID NOT do that!

I did not neglect my children while i listened to my fully stocked iPod for a few hours. And my voice did not go a few decibles higher when I found them emptying an economy-size bottle of baby powder in their rooms while I was listening to said iPod. I am very responsible so...not me! never!

I did not eat a whole plate of treats by myself in one sitting. I am very health consious and DO NOT want to gain my weight back that I recently lost. And when joe asked where that plate of goodies went...I, of course, did not lie and say i didn't know what he was talking about.

NO! NOT ME! NEVER!!

another thought...

today the twins turned 21 mo. why is that significant...well i guess only to me, but they are the same age as ty was when i had them. am i ready for another round? I THINK NOT and also not possible thanks to the ol' snippity-snip. I will just live vicariously through other people...like jenna who is going to have her baby tomorrow. good luck, jenna!

something to think about

SO...

it snowed in vegas this past week...two times!

does the phrase "hell froze over" apply here??

the end of the world is coming guys...get ready!

Not Me!

From the innovator of Not Me! Mondays:

"I have found that there is little more satisfying in my journey of motherhood
than admitting that I am not perfect, that I do not know it all, and that I cut
corners at mindblowing speeds. It's so satisfying to write about my shortcomings
and funny mistakes and then share them with you. I'm not
sure exactly why that is, but instead of trying to figure it out, I
instead offer you my Not Me! Monday list. Enjoy, and then join in with
some Not Me's of your own!"

Here goes my "Not Me" Monday list...

"Not Me!" Monday

**Things I most definitely DID NOT do this week**

I did not stay up well past midnight to read Twilight again...and I most certainly did not read it four times in a row. I am not that obsessed with Edward...or the book...or anything related to Twilight!

I did not see that silly movie Twilight again...for the fourth time. Really, I am NOT obsessed!! And I did not see it by myself because that would prove that I don't have any friends and I do not not have friends! Everybody likes me and wants to be around me!

I did not mop my floors for the first time in 4 weeks. That is just gross! My kids play around on that floor and I am not that kind of mother.

I did not wear the same outfit more than twice this week. That would mean I have poor hygiene and I do not have poor hygiene!

I did not give my kids fruit snacks and the holiday treat left on my doorstep for breakfast because I haven't gone to the grocery store in...I don't remember...because that would mean I was lazy and a bad mom. I am NOT lazy!

NO! NOT ME!!

Please share some of your "not me's" so I can see that I am NOT as bad as you are....

my obsession

If you don't know this about me already then you'll find out now... I LOVE music. I can't get enough of it...i love it, any and all. I love the way music makes you feel, i love the way music makes you move, i love the way music triggers your "feel-goods" and "feel-bads." I love finding new music for my earballs...simply put, I can't get enough of music.

Speaking of can't getting enough of something...

These guys are touring starting in January...so far I have not been able to find a Vegas show date (which is SHOCKING!) The only one close enough is San Fran...

I told Joe (hint, hint...) that tickets to see THE KILLERS would be an awesome Christmas present, even if it's a few hours of flying away. Anyone want to join me? I promise you'll love every minute of our little jaunt!!

Introduction...

...to the cold, white stuff: SNOW!

Our family along with Jenna and Kam, & co., spent last weekend up at their cabin. All the kiddos LOVED playing outside despite the cold weather and snow. Ty was very excited to finally see that stuff called snow and he really wanted to make a snow-man but there just wasn't enough...or that was what he was told. But we did get so do some sledding on the make-shift hill in the back yard. Here are a few pics of our sledding advetures. You can check here to see if there are more pictures...I was just too cold to break out the photo snapper...

Kaden and Tori getting pushed down the hill

Ty and his daddy swingin'

Trace getting pushed down...he called it a "weee"

relaxing outdoors...trace reminded me of Ralphy in The Christmas Story

Thanks Jenna and Kam for hanging out with us. We had a lot of fun!

Thank Goodness For Little Boys

GOTTA LOVE LITTLE BOYS

Two young boys walked into a pharmacy one day, picked out a box of tampons and proceeded to the checkout counter. The man at the counter asked the older boy, 'Son, how old are you?'

'Eight', the boy replied.

The man continued, 'Do you know what these are used for?'

The boy replied, 'Not exactly, but they aren't for me. They're for him. He's my brother. He's four. We saw on TV that if you use these, you would be able to swim and ride a bike.

Right now, he can't do either one.'

I got this from my S.I.L. as an email so I thought I would share. For some reason, Ty (and now Trace and Tori-due to Ty's example) think that they make terrific "rockets" . We were at the grocery store one day and I turned around and saw Ty showing his "rocket" to some lady in the isle. I can't even imaging what was going through her head. I have found countless "rockets" around the house...and just incase you were worried, they aren't used...some may call it sick and wrong, I call it imaginative...

I've decided...

...that if i stop at ANY moment today, i won't be able to get going again...

...that someone needs to remind me of my TRUE age...i'm not as young as i once was...

...all-nighters are for the birds...wait, birds don't even pull all-nighters. birds are the smart ones...early to bed early to rise...or is it the early bird gets the worm. well we can all see where sleep deprivation gets me. i just hope my kids aren't scarred for life after they realize that my great and wonderful mothering techniques won't be so great and wonderful... i've fallen off the mom train today... (or just fallen asleep)

...that nap time simply cannot come any faster ..

(D@%* you, Twilight!)

P.S. how are my P.I.C.'s doing??

From the mouth of Ty

Occasionally when the twins are crying for what Joe thinks is unnecessary, he will say "stop your boobin'!" Well apparently Ty has picked up on this...yesterday when we were getting undressed from church and hurrying to get to my parents house, Trace was crying and Ty said to him "stop it with your boob, Trace!

On a side note: BOOB has become a bad word in our house over the past few months due to some recent events...why do boys like boobs!?

B-I-N-G-O!

A new love (not habitual) was found several months ago...we all may be about 3-4 decades off than what we should be but nevertheless there is nothing like sitting in a quiet room with your girl friends, sipping our "drink" of choice, letting our machine do all the work for the 11pm BINGO game. Anyone care to join us?

buddies

...nothing better than spending a day at the park with your best buds...

all grown up

So there's something to be said when your child reaches the age to where he gets to "go play" with the neighborhood friend. Our neighbors across the street have two kids around Ty's age and the three of them have gotten to know each other from playing outside in the cul-de-sac. But today, Ty was asked to go play with them at their house...

Oh, and don't worry...we know the parents and family and they check out to be a really nice family.

I really hope he behaves himself...

TY'S Amazing Alphabet Adventures

I recently ordered and recieved THIS as a recommendation from a friend. It is really cute and I think Ty will love this as a Christmas present. It was a little pricey if you think about it as just a book but I liked the fact that it is personalized for him so, for me, it was worth "every penny." Ty LOVES books and books read to him so this was perfect for him. You can even put your own message on it for you child!