Lots to do

I would LOVE to sit on my behind and catch up on my Google reader, catch up on my blogging catch up on my Tivo. But I think that for the sake of my sanity and my families - I better get my house caught up first and maybe some laundry too...(really I have made myself a check list to make sure I do what I need to - I am a check list junky.)

Then I will add Miss A's 10 month pictures.
and maybe more of the pictures I have taken over the past week.

Hope you all have a GREAT week!

I condsidered myself lucky...

until today.
In the 4 years I have been a mom and the 10 (plus) years I have been a Nanny
I have never had a child puke in the car - that all changed this morning.

Miss A threw up all over. She is still in a rear facing car seat and well it's all over the back seat of the van. All over her, all over her car seat. And now all over me. AAACK!

(OK well not anymore, I cleaned up before blogging about it)

and I blog about because I know you all want to know that it happened, ; )

and then some of you might wonder why I am not at church.

So I thought I would share how my puking luck has run out.


How's your Sunday?

What good is spell check...

K just pointed out that I wrote Narcotic neighbor in my last post. I am NOT suggesting that my neighbor is under the influence, I really meant Neurotic....I'll just blame it on spell check and not a Freudian slip... ; )

On A House Sitting Vacation

ahhh wouldn't that be nice if that was my view!?!

But really I am enjoying my time at my sisters house while we house sit. It is SO nice not to have a narcotic upstairs neighbor texting me at all hours of the day. Or listening to her um choice of music.

Hope you are all enjoying the end of summer...(sigh)

BUT my favorite time of year is just around the corner -
which means my baby is ALMOST ONE YEAR OLD! where has the time gone??
And isn't it crazy that a lot of stores have their fall decorations up? We were at Woodfeild Mall this week (more on that later) and most of the stores along with their back to school sales have FALL decorations on display. Yankee candle had the most wonderful aromas coming out of their store. Made me want to have a bon fire and some apple cider! anyway enough of my very random post.

Also CONGRATS Lynsey and Jeremy on the birth of your beautiful baby boy!!!

I can't wait to hold him! (and apparently he couldn't wait to meet you guys

as he was a month and some weeks early!)

Things you should Not say to your wife..

I stole this from my friends blog.

It was a good laugh, And it reminded

me of a girl I worked with whose husband bought her a bathroom scale for

their anniversary! WHAT!?!?

Barefoot In the Parks

(this was Tuesday the 12th)

(I am so glad Sarah had her camera I LOVE the pictures she takes!!)

We had a very full day. I like it when K's home and we can hang out and do things around the town.

We met some friends up at a fun little park it has a water fountain area, playground, hedge maze, lots of bench swings - and some of my friends what could be better!

After the park we came home did a quick change, packed a picnic dinner and headed over to an outdoor theater to watch the Barefoot Hawaiians. (of course I forgot my camera so no pictures) Some of our friends also met us there. It was fun to watch the show, chat with my friends one who just recently moved to Tennessee and happened to be back in town, another who K met at the Big Ka Hoo Na restaurant. My new friend Karrie and her kids. And old friends (Marie and Patrick) that we use to live by. Plus all of our O'hana at that Barefoot/Tiki Terrace. It was a VERY late night (we didn't get home until after 11) but the girls did great. Miss M had lots of fun with her friends and Miss A just danced the night away. She couldn't hold still!
(do that have hula classes for 9 month old babies?)

All this dancing inspired my friend Karrie and I - so we have signed up for Hula lessons!

xoxo hula girl

Ugly Duck - 1999 YSA dance

I was rummaging through some boxes in the basement yesterday.
(K wants to have a garage sale.)
and I came across a bunch of "old" pictures...
Lynsey, Sharon, Kelly and Joleene this one is for you.
OH such sweet memories!!

This Month is such a special month...

It's Birthday Time For YOU!

Happy Birthday Calvin we hope you have a WONDERFUL day and year!
(And I know that Karissa will make it super special for you!)


In honor of your big day, we found some pictures of you. ; )

Calvin at the PCC in Hawaii
I LOVE the tough guy look on his face!

Disco Calvin - this happens to be the night that I met Keenan and Calvin!
(he's the blond next to Keenan)
oh thrift store costumes are the best! Calvin I especially loved the fake earring you
had on that night...I remember something about a "bad boy" comment you made...

Calvin and his beautiful wife Karissa!
(and thanks Calvin for marring a great girl that I can have so much fun with too - because you know, it's all about me!! ; )

Calvin is NOT a polygamist, he was the best man at our wedding...


Playing dress up with our daughter
(Calvin came to spend Christmas with us this year)
he even put curlers in his hair for Miss M!

Calvin and Miss M in Hawaii.
Uncle Calvin also flew to Hawaii to help us celebrate Miss M's
first birthday.

Calvin with Shane and Robert
they also came to Hawaii to celebrate Miss M's first birthday -
I know the sacrifice's our friends make for us,
coming all the way to Hawaii to celebrate our daughter!

Happy Birthday dear friend! We love you!!

(I also wish I had a picture of the time you went through the dog door
trying to make it a Mo-lympics event)

Rude Rude Rude!

I got a text from my lovely upstairs neighbor telling me it's "10 oclock!! Either that or I can kindly turn up the music."

Now, I am really not sure what she was meaning. My girls were in bed, I am changing my blog (because I am already bored with the background). I have no music on, just a fan. However, I can hear her music, her child screaming, her telling her to shut up, them stomping around. It is now 11pm and I can STILL hear all of that. With some more loud talking.

My response: "I have no idea what you are talking about, and you have NEVER been kind about your music, so why start now?" (I was trying to sound sarcastic).

Her response: "My point exactly! Thx. Have a spectacular evening lady."

My response: "Still have no idea what you are talking about - but I can STILL hear your music. And thanks, I plan on having a great evening."

Her response: Jumping up and down on the floor repeatedly. And I think she dropped a bowling ball a couple of times...

How many more days until August 31?

one more side note. I called K (who is at Fight Night with his boys) and I told him, there
might be a TKO here tonight! I think he thought I meant the girls, but I was referring to the fact that I have had it with The Queen upstairs and I was ready to fight...he laughed and then wanted to get back to the fights...

Done and now back to the real world...

I Finished my book!!

I actually had about 20 pages left for the last couple of days - but was too busy and then too tired in the evenings to finish it. I also think I didn't want the book to be over so kept putting it off. And then there was taking care of my family and working...some things can't be put off ; )
Now on to the next book The Host. Or I could catch up on my TIVO - even TV has been on hold for the past week...or maybe I should tackle my crap er I mean CRAFT desk and finally get that taken care of. It's only been a 3 month project...ugh!
I did have some issues with this book... and a lot of them were shared by this persons post
click here to read it. (caution spoiler alerts if you have not finished it) I totally agree with the name I mean what kind of a name was that!!?!?

Des Plaines Times

We took a drive over to Des Plaines to get some copies of the news paper.

there he is FRONT page!! WOO to the HOO!

updating my other blog

Just in case you didn't know- I have another blog I work on Bee Prepared.
I just gave it a face lift check it out HERE

if you have tips you would like to share you can e-mail me at
ns1beeprepared@gmail.com

Our Neighbors know how to party!

Our neighbors next door are so nice!
They always invite us to the family events they have in their back yard. Now I am always up for a fun party - but these are a little out of my comfort zone because my neighbors all speak Spanish - they are from Mexico. Miss M adores the girls and they all play so well together. We have even met up at the pool with them. And their dad has helped me get my van unstuck many a times this past winter! (thanks Oscar!!)
This past Saturday their niece turned 4 years old and was baptized at their church. Afterwards they had a HUGE celebration in their back yard. Lots and lots of yummy HOT (as in spicy) food. And even though I could not understand the majority of what was being said around me, they all made us feel welcome and part of their family.
(I think that is what I love about the Hawaiians too, one big happy Ohana!)
The birthday girl wore this BEAUTIFUL princess dress, they had a jumpy jump and her cake was amazing. Oh and the pinata - it was BIGGER than Miss M and totally stuffed full! At one point the grandpa gathered all the kids, lined them up and started
throwing hand fulls of coins in the air.
A great time had by all! A true Fiesta!!

Crazy Eights!

Its a special day! 8/8/08

Lots of people are getting married today.

The Olympics started today.

Today, I had some 8's too
I pulled marbles out of Miss A's mouth 8 times (I was babysitting and she kept finding marbles!)
I stopped her from climbing the stairs 8 times.
I pulled other things out of her mouth
(ok maybe not 8 times but really where does she find all this stuff!!)
at least I didn't have to change 8 poopy diapers!

Hope you had a great day of 8's!

This Week In Pictures

My Hubby is FAMOUS!

Keenan Camae of Evanston sings and plays the ukulele during Friday's Windy City Uke Fest at the Tiki Terrace in Des Plaines. (Jason Brown/Staff Photographer)
(they spelled his name wrong...)

K made it into the Des Plains Times!
We HEAR it is on the FRONT page - we need to get our
hands on a copy of that.
And needless to say K is on cloud nine!
I am very proud of him and GLAD he did go to the Uke Fest
(in spite of me pouting about it all day long now I kinda feel bad)

go to this link HERE then click on Week In Pictures (its on the right side of page)
his picture is the 5th one in. : ) if you want to see it on line.

(It's the same picture as above so you don't HAVE to go there if you don't want to)

Keenan Camae of Evanston sings and plays the ukulele during last Friday's Windy City Uke Fest at the Tiki Terrace. The festival is the largest ukulele fest in the Midwest. (Jason Brown/Staff Photographer)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hope you have a great day!!!

Miss M says
I love my Grandma because...
she lives by the mountains
we can go hiking in her mountains
she has a cat that is sometimes nice
she has fun toys for me to play with, like that ABC puzzle game
she takes me on walks
she reads to me
we talk on the phone
she is kind
she is my friend
she gives me hugs

Miss A says
I Love my Grandma because...
mmmmbababaw (she makes me laugh)
ooff ooff (she makes doggie sounds to me on the phone)
WAHHHHHHHHH (she gets up with me in the middle of the night when
we are at her house)

I love my mom because,
she is just a phone call a way
she helps me feel sane
she lives in the mountains
she loves and spoils my girls
she helps me feel crafty
she lets me vent to her
she is a great teacher
and she is my friend

Caution, does not play well with others...

You know those kids at the playground that always fight or pick fights?
Well today that kid was mine.
We met at a park for play group today and for whatever reason Miss M had a really hard time playing with one of her little friends. They were really acting like siblings! Terrible to each other, but quick to defend the other if needed. The other mom and I constantly had to keep refereeing and at one point I looked at the other mom's and said.
"this is so frustrating! I am feeling so frustrated with this!" And I hope they all knew I was referring to how embarrassed I was at my child, not at the child she wasn't getting along with...
I felt just as bad for the other mom. Why is it that some kids just can't get along?
Anyway - after the mom and I decided to just ignore them - and we were the only two left in the park. Our kids got along Marvelously. So really, what was that all about!!!
At least the other mom was not upset at me for my child's poor unkind behavior!

(see BFF's!)
and the cute little red head I was babysitting today while his
mom is at girls camp.

And Miss A was an angel, I think she just loved that I held her the whole time. I am so glad that she is such a laid back baby. At one point she was smothering me with her baby kisses and my friends little boy George (HE IS SO SO CUTE!!) started giving his mom those same open mouth slobbery kisses and then he gave them to me. I LOVED it!!

And then my friend Sarah took out her camera and took a bunch of cute photos of the kids.

It was so great (even with the bad behavior) to be out at the park today with my friends!
I love playgroup!

xoxo
playgroup girl

All the better to eat you with...

Miss A has teeth!

Two of them.

After months and months and years of teething - OK not that long. But you know what I mean! She has teeth.
Miss M tried to hold her while I tried to take a picture,
but Miss A would have NONE OF THAT!
So I will just show you these pictures of my little climber.
She is a dare devil.

A Houdini.
She can get out of just about anything. And when I tell my mom about her shenanigans, she laughs and says "oh she is just like her mother" and yes my mom has proof. Pictures of me in the fish tank yes IN the tank, in the dish washer, in the book shelf, in the cupboards... hmm, I should find some of those pictures, remind myself I was a dare devil too.
That, I gave my mom gray hair.

xoxo
daredevil girl

Screen Savor

dictionary.com definition 10. to give oneself to the enjoyment of: to savor the best in life.

K and I have this little thing that we do - not that we have officially discussed that we do this...
we love to change pictures on our computer back ground/screen saver. And I love this little thing we do. The other day as I sat down at our desk top I saw this - and my hear just melted.
and you know we take thousands of pictures (like I am sure you all do) so our screen changes often...



xoxo picture girl

When I Grow Up...

I want to own a bakery.
right now as I was waisting my time on blogs I came across this sweet blog and thought how fun it would be to decorate cakes!!

(perfect for Miss A's first birthday - note the name on the cake!!
it's like they knew I am already thinking about her big day!)

Tutu cute!

(or if we did a Halloween theme. her b-day is the 23rd of Oct then we could have a
costume party too!!)

oh a girl can dream!

xoxo cakegirl
(that's for you Sarah!)

Kiss Kiss

Just so you know - I am having a much better day.
thanks to all who were/are concerned.
offers of child care, ice cream, chick flick.
I have SUCH good friends!

I felt much better after I vented a bit
got my vampire book, read my two chapters.
Had some adult conversation with K - and actually
talked about what Saturday had in store (so no surprises!*)
Took some Advil and got some sleep. (no more headache)

Hubby Dear let me sleep** in, took care of the girls.
And I just had a leisurely morning.

Miss M keeps telling me how much she loves me - her
dislike for me forgotten after a good nights rest.

And Miss A just wants to smile and jabber at me.
and smother me in kisses. I LOVE her baby kisses.


*I really don't want you to think that I don't want him to go and
do things. I love his love of music and culture - it was just the
fact that I didn't know the plans. I just need to know and then I am
cool.

**I wasn't really sleeping, I could hear the girls. But it was
nice to just lay in bed.

I'll be in my room reading...

just in case you can't find me.

I did make it to Barnes and Noble tonight!
it made my day a little bit better. And I treated
myself to TWO books.

I got to hang out with my buddy
and she bought be an IBC root beer!

Oh yeah, we were kicking it with a bunch of other mom's
who were in line with their pre-teens and teens.
It was a pretty mellow time at B&N -
(not like last summer when Krazy Khania came with me for the Harry Potter book it was taking so long just to get into the line we left around 1 am)
and if you did not
have a styling red or white wrist band - you had to leave the store.

Mostess Mommy put a cute post on her blog
already...

and because I still love that little 4 year old
who sticks her tongue out at me, I got
her something too...

My Bad Day

I am having such a rotten day I thought I would blog about it to my bloggy friends...

It started off with learning that my husband - although he had a day off would be spending
the day hanging out with strangers and friends as they all meet together for the
WindyCity Ukulele Festival.
Now, I am happy that he has an outlet, a way to go and have fun. And I understand that this is a great opportunity to be out there meeting other musicians, play as their back up etc. And I try to be supportive...

But, here I am again at home...and I will just leave it at that, I was and still am not a Happy
camper - it would have been nice to know that he was going to be gone all day and all night all
weekend for that matter... and so I have been kind of pouty all day.

And I have been fighting a migraine all day
and let's just say it has won.

I have cleaned the toy room more times than I can count.

I am dealing with a very stubborn 4 year old, and we just clash all day long why does she think it is ok to stick her tongue out at me?

It is now 10:18pm. I should be at the Barnes and Noble book party for the Twilight - Breaking Dawn release party
But instead I am typing my woes out on the computer. WAITING for my husband to get home.

But what made it a horrible no good rotten day - My sweet 4 year old (who is going on 16).
As I was tucking her in (she was mad at me because I wouldn't let her sleep in my room)
told me "Mommy, I Don't Love you!" pause... "I Only Love Daddy. He is my favorite, and he is always nice to me."

And I had about a million and one thoughts run through my head. I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to tell her that I didn't love her so much right now either. I wanted to tell her she was rotten to me and doesn't appreciate what I do for her. That of course Daddy is your favorite, he is the fun guy. I wanted to cry. Then maybe laugh.

But I just tucked her in, told her I loved her. And that it's ok to tell me that she is upset with me, but sometimes words are unkind and we should think about what we say.
and she responded with, "But I still don't love you."

and then I walked out of the room and started typing because I thought this would help me feel better. For some reason typing/writing always helps me feel better.
That and a good book to get lost in. Hopefully husband dear will make it home in time for me to
at least get the book tonight...so I can get lost in the Edward, Jacob, Bella saga. I love me a good vampire/werewolf story!

Phone just rang - Hubby Dear is ON HIS WAY HOME!

Future Blogger

Is this a sign that Mommy spends too much time on the computer?

we had just gotten home, I was putting grocery's away and I could hear her just
babbling away, happy squeals, and pounding on the keyboard...
truly a girl after my own heart.

I Stink!

Driving around town running here and there one must come up with fun car games to entertain a 4 year old.

We play Name that tune (which she rocks at!) I Spy, how many syllables, addition games, I'm Thinking Of a fill in the blank guessing games - (we have done animals, Disney Princess, Movie Lines, Bible or Book of Mormon Heroes, Food). We play rhyming games, opposites, and spelling games also "We went on a picnic and brought along - then you have to pick different items with the alphabet letters and repeat everything everyone has said ie. Apple, Butter, Carrot, Dishes etc. it's fun to try and remember what everyone has said, K and I have even done music bands, songs, movies etc. can you tell we LOVE games?!?

OK Back to my story, most recently K and Miss M have come up with a new game based on the new book she LOVES I STINK by Kate and Jim McMullan. (it really is a cute book! my favorite part is the stinking alphabet - which would be a fun version of the Picnic alphabet game...)

It's like an I spy game, when you spy a garbage truck you have to yell out "I STINK". Try it, it's fun! And if you have your windows rolled down and are yelling "I STINK" think of all the fun looks you will get from other drivers!!

Do we know how to have fun or what!!