My Own Brand of Crazy

Sophie's 4th Birthday

2012-01-29T08:39:00.001-06:00

Thanks De and Hester for all of the pictures :)

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Bunk Bed

2011-11-09T08:24:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Pete and I happened to drive by the furniture store that had the bunkbed he and Sara had picked out earlier in the year. He decided to stop in and see if it was on sale. The salesman told us that they just had two of the ones we wanted returned and they were marked down $400 so that they could get them out of the store. There was some minor damage to each one, but we went ahead and took advantage of the good opportunity. We didn't tell the girls about it, but chose to get it set up in their room and let them see it. The girls and I went to the grocery store and Target while Pete delivered and set up the bed. I let them each chose a new set of sheets at Target and said we'd save them for when they got bunkbeds. When we got home, we took them in their room and they were completely surprised. They excitedly played on and around their new bed until we made them get ready for bed.

Today Sophie and I will be putting clothes into the drawers and rearranging the other furniture in the room to maximize floor space.

These are pictures from when Sara and Pete when bed shopping a few months ago.

Halloween and Tractors

2011-11-09T08:09:00.000-06:00

Cute

2011-10-21T22:54:00.000-05:00

First, here's little Sophie who has taken to brushing and styling her own hair lately. She's actually gotten really good at putting all of the little clips and barrettes in.

The other cuteness is some cupcakes I made tonight for my nephew's birthday party tomorrow. He turned 6 yesterday and is having a magic/magician themed party.

NY Part 4

2011-10-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

On the last night we were on Long Island, we went out towards Orient Point and stopped at a few wineries on the way to dinner. There are more than 30 wineries along one stretch of road. The owner of the company doing Pete's training lives in the area and gave us a list of which ones were worth checking out. We stopped at the first one he suggested and each had a flight, with 4 1 oz. samples. We enjoyed it, but didn't buy any wine thinking we wouldn't be able to get it home easily.

We stopped at the next place and it was starting to rain. It was 5 when we finished our flight there and the girl serving our wine was talking about getting things ready to close down for the night. We ended up buying a bottle of Chardonnay from her thinking we'd drink it in our room that night. We asked her if most of the wineries closed at 5 and she said they did on weekdays, but there was one called Sparkling Pointe nearby that stayed open until 6. I am so glad she told us about it, we wouldn't have known to stop there. This was by far my favorite of the 3 places we went. It was a beautiful building and we were the only people there. We stood at the bar and talked to the girl working there. She was very nice and we had a great time. She suggested we try some Camembert with honey drizzled on top to go with our flight of sparking wines. It was a fabulous combination. I never would have put honey on cheese, but man, it was delicious. We ended up buying 2 bottles there too. The atmosphere and beauty of this place was awesome. It made me want to get married there, you know, if I wasn't already married and if I was independently wealthy. The wine maker for Sparkling Pointe is from Champagne, France and is well versed in making sparking wines. Once again, being there made me fall in love with Long Island.
http://sparklingpointe.com/joomla/index.php/aboutus

When we finished our last sample of wine, we headed further East to Claudio's, our dinner destination recommended by the guy who lived in the area. The food here was excellent, I really enjoyed it, particularly my appetizer. I had spinach stuffed brie that was encrusted with something, man, it was good. The bread was good, the wine was good, the dessert was good, the service, not so great.

View from the parking lot of Claudio's

My fantastic Brie.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and packed while enjoying a bottle of our sparking wine. We had to be at the airport by 5:30 the next morning. All in all, we had an awesome time and got to do a ton of stuff. I would love to make it an annual trip, but I'm thinking that won't be feasible on our budget. I'm a Texas girl at heart, but I am ready to buy a bed & breakfast on Long Island. I guess I'll start saving my money now, lol.

NY Part 3

2011-10-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

These pictures were all taken from the top of the Empire State Building. It was cool being up there, but I got vertigo if I looked down for too long. You spend about 45 minutes or so in lines, but the actual elevator ride lasts less than a minute. Crazy.

After Empire State, we went and had Cuban food at a nearby restaurant. I fell in love with Cuban food on our honeymoon and haven't had any since then, so I took advantage of being in a place where I could get some. The next thing we did was to walk over to the NY Public Library. They house the actual toys (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Piglet, and Kanga) that belonged to the real life Christopher Robin, who was the son of A.A. Milne. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Robin

The next part of our journey took us to Long Island. The first day that Pete was in class, I drove out to Montauk and just relaxed. It was an overcast, drizzly day and I loved it. The drive out there took a little over an hour and it made me fall in love with Long Island. If everything wasn't so dang expensive, I would want to move there. We encountered very nice people everywhere we went and it was incredibly beautiful.

Along the way from our hotel to Montauk, you drive through the Hamptons. On the way back to the hotel, I was hungry and thought I'd stop for lunch. The weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon, but not too hot. I passed by a cute little cafe with seating outside, so I pulled over and went in to get a table. I was seated outside and they took my drink order. Knowing how expensive everything had been on our trip, I thought I'd get water to save a little money. The waiter, who was very nice and had a lovely French accent, asked if I'd like bread. I said sure, that sounded great. So here he comes with my water and bread, it was a big bottle of Fiji water in a special silver canister thing. The bread was fresh baked and delicious. He left me with a menu and I tried not to choke on what turned out to be my eight dollar bottle of water when I saw the prices. A side of pomme fritz (french fries) was $12. Gasp! I ended up ordering a cup of soup and a salad. The food was good, the atmosphere was great, I had a great time. When he brought out my ticket, I just calmly got out my card and gave it back to him. The grand total, including my $8 water, the not free bread, soup, salad and tip was $55.00. For lunch, for just me. I do regret not having tried a dessert, it was a French bakery apparently known for it's great pastries. If only I had known. http://www.pierresbridgehampton.com/
I was at least dressed nicely that day instead of my usual ragged jeans and t-shirts. When we had dinner that night with the men who were teaching Pete's class and I told them where I had eaten for lunch, the owner of the company said Pierre's is one of the places where the famous people who live in the Hamptons are known to go. He told me that Alec Baldwin has a regular table at Pierre's and frequents it.

NY Part 2

2011-10-04T23:07:00.001-05:00

Cool view from one of the corridors in Grand Central

Central Synagogue

Cool Lego dragon

American Girl store

Salon for American Girl dolls

Sign made of Lego men

Lego diorama of Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY

2011-10-02T20:24:00.000-05:00

We are finally home from our whirlwind trip to NY followed immediately by a quick weekend trip to visit family.

Before we left, Sara wanted to know a little about New York, so Pete sat down with her and talked about some of the more famous parts of the city.

We got in to Manhattan on Friday afternoon and went straight to our hotel, the Roosevelt. After checking in and changing clothes, we walked over to the famous 21 Club for our 8:30 reservations. We figured we'd hang out at the bar and have a couple of drinks while waiting for our table. We stood at the bar and each had 2 outrageously overpriced cocktails. We ended up being seated about 8. They had great service and wonderful food. The atmosphere was great as well.

These fabulous chocolates were the equivalent of an after dinner mint, but they were really big.

After dinner the first night, we walked around a bit and walked over to Time's Square.

We didn't stay long in Time's Square, it was loud and too crowded. The next morning, I made Pete get up earlier than he wanted to and we walked over to Grand Central to catch a subway and have a little breakfast. We wandered around the terminal for a bit and had a bagel from a little stand. Grand Central is a really cool building that has all kinds of shops and restaurants in it. I enjoyed just wandering around checking everything out.

We found the right train and made our way to ground zero. I really wanted to see the 9-11 memorial, but we found out upon arrival that you have to have a reservation to be able to get in to see it while it's still in construction. I was disappointed, but there was nothing we could really do. We walked around and saw some beautiful old buildings as well as the Freedom Tower that is being built.

During our wanderings, we saw a group of 3 or 4 guys doing a street performance. They were basically just break dancing. It was fun to stand around and watch for a few minutes.
We also saw a black squirrel coming out to beg for food, there was a girl nearby with a cracker and he came right up and grabbed it out of her hand. It was adorable.

We also saw a really cool sculpture in one of the parks, I loved all the bright colors. When Sara saw the pictures, she said it looked like someone left a bunch of crayons out and they got melted.

We went through Battery Park City and down through the Soho area. Of course while we were in Soho, we had to stop by the Wooster St. Social Club (the tattoo shop where they film NY Ink) and get a couple of t-shirts.

We stopped in a little tea bar that was really cool too. I forgot to take any pictures, but it was a cute little shop with all kinds of teas an cocktails. We also had our first slice of NY pizza and it was really good. We shared a piece of cheese, plus each got our own. Mine had sliced, fried eggplant and big chunks of fresh Mozzarella, I loved it.

We had our first Broadway show to attend that night, so it was back to the hotel to get cleaned up and change. We saw "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" starring Daniel Radcliffe and John Laroquette. It was an excellent play and all the actors were very talented. I absolutely loved the set and costume design. Daniel Radcliffe was great and his role was funny. If you ever get the chance to see it, on Broadway or off, I highly recommend it.

After the show, we took a train over to a particular hot dog vendor that came highly recommended to us called Gray's Papaya. We each had a couple of dogs and a drink, which was our cheapest meal the entire time we were there.

I'll post the rest of our days in another few posts. We did as much stuff as we could possibly fit in during our short stay there.

Sara's New Glasses

2011-07-17T12:07:00.000-05:00

She tried on about 20 pairs.

I really liked these.

Checking out another pair.

The winners!

Close up of the hearts on the side.

Sophie trying them on for good measure.

Her new case.

Getting measured.

Random Stuff

2011-06-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

First is the art bucket. I got the idea from pinterest and it has been awesome. The girls' art supplies were out of control and taking over the dining room. They have been really good about keeping their supplies and artwork in the bucket. The best part is the whole thing cost around $12.

Next is my homemade looking t-shirt for the New Kids concert. I also got this idea from pinterest, but I'm afraid my bleach pen skills are lacking. I might actually wear it, but then again, it might have to be a pajama shirt.

Fun at the lake with homemade sidewalk paint

2011-05-31T23:46:00.000-05:00

Mix equal parts cornstarch and water.

Add food coloring

My New Addiction

2011-05-24T16:28:00.001-05:00

www.pinterest.com

This is a cool website where you can bookmark or "pin" your favorite websites, blogs, and pictures. You can organize them very easily and can access them from any computer or even your phone. The cool part is you can find people with similar interests and browse their bookmarks so you can find new cool things on the internet.

If you are interested, comment with your e-mail address and I'll send you an invitation. I have found tons of great ideas for teacher gifts and kid's art projects. Also lots of cool decorating ideas and party ideas.

End of School Party

2011-05-21T13:16:00.000-05:00

Sara's class had it's end of school party yesterday and she had a lot of fun. Daddy, Sophie & I were all able to go. First they had ice cream sundaes. Her teacher asked me to bring bowls, so of course, I couldn't bring boring paper bowls. I called mom and asked if she would help me get cute plastic bowls and put the kids' names on them. She went and bought the bowls and painted the names for me (thanks mom!), they looked great.

Names on the front.

Polka dots on the back.

Lots of colors.

More colors

Mom, don't take so many pictures!

With Kynlei, enjoying their ice cream sundaes.


Sophie loves being part of the class.

After the sundaes were eaten and cleaned up, we all went to the gym so the kids could break open the pinatas they had made during the week.

Five years? Really?

2011-05-17T14:29:00.000-05:00

Sara turned 5 yesterday and it's a little hard for me to believe. I know people always tell you that time speeds up the older you get, but I guess I didn't believe anyone, lol.

Anyway, she had a great party Saturday and a fun celebration at school yesterday. I don't have any of our studio pictures to share, we didn't order enough this year to get a disc of the pictures.

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Another One?

2011-05-09T16:11:00.000-05:00

So since the first hole didn't work out so well, they got to jackhammer a new hole right next to my bed now. At least they found the leak this time. It's nowhere near the two different places the leak detection people marked, so maybe they'll have to pay for some of the repairs. The leak is actually right where I told them I thought it was in the first place.

Maybe the plumbers will be able to finish today, but it's not looking promising. Thank goodness we both have parents who live in town that we can stay with if we need to.

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T07:58:00.001-05:00

It's not even quite 8 am and I've already had a great Mother's Day. Sara has been so sweet and telling me how much she loves me several times. She made me a card a few days ago and had daddy hide it from me so she could save it for today. Then she also made me a picture of a mommy butterfly this morning. Pete worked from 8 or so last night until after 3, so he's sleeping in and the girls and I are having a nice, quiet morning. Before Pete came to bed last night, he laid out my presents on the dining room table so I would see them when I got up today.

Here are the pictures of my great gifts and cards.

Waffle from my new waffle maker, scrambled eggs, and turkey bacon. Nothing like breakfast for dinner :)

Plumbing Woes

2011-05-07T09:22:00.000-05:00

So this isn't really a remodel yet. We discovered a leak in the concrete slab two days ago. We called the leak detector people to come pinpoint the leak. The plumber then came and proceeded to dig about 4 1/2 feet down and 3 feet square only to find that the leak is not where they other guy thought it was. Now he's on his way back over here to dig a second giant hole and possibly remove our sink and cabinet to find the leak. It's going to cost a minimum of $1,500 for all of this. The plumber also said to expect our water bill to be really high since we think we've had the leak at least 3 weeks before figuring out what the problem was. As the plumber was digging and working, a man from the gas company came and said our gas bill has quadrupled (from the water heater running continuously) in the last month so that's going to be another $200-300.

Hopefully the plumber is going to find the leak relatively easily today, I really don't want this to end up costing any more. It looks like it's going to be a week or more before I have a bathroom with a shower again. Good thing both sets of our parents live in town so we can either stay with them or shower there if we need to.

X marks the spot, or so we thought.

Some of the dirt they pulled out of the hole

I'm 30!

2011-04-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics from my awesome birthday party last night. Thanks again to everyone for coming and making my day special. I had so much fun and loved seeing so many of my favorite people at the same time. I really loved all of my gifts and cards.

Rodeo

2011-04-02T20:15:00.000-05:00

We took the girls to their first rodeo today and they loved it. I have only been to one rodeo before this and I don't remember any of it. I enjoyed it quite a bit and think we'll try to make this an annual family event. I quickly figured out I am not a big fan of the bull riding or especially the bull fighting parts. I really didn't want to see anyone seriously hurt or anything, especially in front of the kids. The last guy who did the bull fighting part got hurt pretty bad and was on the ground for quite a while. They brought the back board thing out and were preparing to carry him off when he decided he could get up and walk out with some assistance.

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures I took today.

Randomness

2011-02-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

I've got lots of pictures to share, so here ya go.

First, some of the girls playing in the snow last week.

Also, some of Sophie at her ballet class last week.

And lastly, some pictures of the Valentine crayons we made for Sara's class.

First, we got some aluminum cupcake liners at Target.

Then we peeled the labels off of a bunch of crayons. It works best if you use Crayola brand only.

We then broke the crayons into smaller pieces and covered the bottom of the cupcake liners.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees and they should look something like this.

Allow them to cool until they are completely hardened. When you take them out of the molds, they will look something like this.

I put the finished crayons into colored baggies and tied colored hearts on them.

The hearts said, "You Color My World Valentine"

Sophie is 3!

2011-01-30T21:15:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that my baby is 3 already. She does keep telling me, though, that she doesn't want to grow up and wants to be 2 forever, lol. She's quite a funny little character. She had a great time yesterday at her tractor party. I still think it's hysterical that my little city girl chose tractors for her birthday theme. Anyway, here are some pictures from yesterday starting with her professional portraits.

Dallas Cowboys or Cinderella?

2010-12-11T21:27:00.000-06:00

I made some star cookies for my friend's daughter's Cinderella birthday party. I accidentally put too much blue food coloring in, though, so between that and the silver glitter, they looked like Dallas Cowboy stars. The sugar crystals on top helped, but they were still too dark. They were really cute anyway and the kids at the party ate them up.

Teapots and cowboy boots

2010-12-02T08:27:00.001-06:00

Here are some more cookies I've made recently

I think the boots are my favorite. It took several tries to figure out what kind of pattern I wanted to put on them, but I really like the way they turned out.

An Idiot Abroad

2010-10-05T21:39:00.002-05:00

This is a funny show on British tv. You should check it out if you can

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTH1coLIWE

Funny

2010-08-24T21:18:00.000-05:00

When I picked Sara up yesterday, she started bawling and said she didn't want to come home, she wanted to live at school. She cried the whole way home. Then this morning, when I went to wake her up, she said, I'm too tired Mommy. I just want to go back to sleep and miss school today. Why do I feel like this won't be the last time I hear that phrase?

First Day of School

2010-08-23T10:57:00.000-05:00

Sara did great going to school this morning. She went straight into her classroom and put her things in her locker, then her teacher helped her find her chair. She gave me a hug and a kiss and didn't have any hesitation about staying there by herself. I only cried a little when we were leaving, so she didn't see me. Pete, Sophie, Mom and I all walked to school with her, so she had quite the send off. Anyway, here are some pictures.

She wanted to take her school stuff to the open house so her teacher could see it.

Meeting Mrs. Boyer and going over their schedule for the school day.

First lunch- Mini PB&J Sandwiches, Veggies with ranch dip, Watermelon and cantaloupe, string cheese stick, milk and a small package of candy.

Her piggie dishes and Barbie thermos.

I'm ready Mommy, let's go!

Check out my new backpack with a pony tail.

and my new pony lunchbox

We're off!

but not before we stop to take a picture with Daddy.

Almost there

So big, going in all by herself.

She found her locker and put her things in it.

Sitting in her chair waiting for breakfast

Standing to say the Pledge of Allegiance


Mommy, Daddy and Sophie walking home.

Last week Sophie started her first day of "school" too. I joined a homeschool group that has classes on Friday mornings since they had one for Sophie's age and we have a friend who joined with a girl her age. Bubbie bought her a new lunchbox and some dishes to go in the lunchbox, so she thought she was really big carrying a lunchbox like Sara did. Since it was a small homeschool group, my friend and I stay in the classes with the girls. Sophie walked right in and started playing with some toys, she didn't seem to notice whether I was there or not, at least at first she didn't. There were a couple of other mommies in there and 2 "teachers". They sang a few songs, talked about the letter A and sang the alphabet song, had a snack, made a craft, played with play-doh and even had a little P.E. time where they practiced doing somersaults and some other creative movement type activities. After "school" we walked across the street and had our lunch at the park with some of the other mommies and kiddos. She had a great time and told everyone that she ate apples at her new school. I only got 3 pictures of her first day, but they turned out pretty cute.

Random Family Day in Lamesa

2010-08-22T21:00:00.000-05:00

The girls and I went to Lamesa with Pete today while he went on a call for work. We went to McDonald's to play while he worked next door.

Peek-a-boo!

I see you!

I love the joy on her face in this one. She loves sliding.

No more pictures mommy!

There was a weird, random "old car" on top of a building across the street.

Cookies

2010-06-30T07:25:00.001-05:00

Our Day with Duff

2010-06-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

OK, so most of the people who read my blog were either there with me or have already heard about it, but I thought I'd post here anyway.

My friend, the cake lady, Amber, called me Tuesday morning and said that Duff Goldman, of Ace of Cakes fame, would be in Muleshoe (a town a little over an hour away) on Wednesday. We made tentative plans to go and meet each other there. I called mom to see if she would want to go too and she did. From there, mom called grandma, who also wanted to go. Then grandma called aunt Leelee and De. Leelee called Hester and and aunt Lavonna. Anyway, after it was all said and done, counting me and Amber, there were 8 adults and 9 kids in our group.

We got to the location around 11, an hour before it was supposed to start. Well, we were outside and it got really, really hot. Grandma ended up suffering from heat exhaustion and had to be taken away in an ambulance. Luckily the girls didn't see it happening or they would have been upset.

Since we were in a tiny town with a tiny hospital, most of us didn't go to the hospital right away since we couldn't help with anything and would have nowhere to really wait anyway. Thank G-d, grandma just had to rest in the hospital bed and drink some water for a little while, during which time they monitored her blood pressure and stuff. She was able to leave the hospital after a little over an hour and was feeling much better.

While she was in the hospital, we waited around for the presentation of the cake. Duff and the gang finally came out a little after noon. The crowd was not very big, maybe 100 people or so (I'm terrible at estimating things like this, lol). Since we had gotten there so early, we were front and center for the presentation. Anyway, Duff, Geoff, Anna, Jessica and Mary Alice were all there and they brought out the cake, which was a mule driver's hat with a Muleshoe PD badge on it. It was not a very big cake, but it was very cool anyway. We didn't get a very close up look at it b/c the table was up on a platform of sorts.

After the presentation, the crowd started forming two lines, one to get slices of cake and one to take pictures with Duff. We got in the shorter line, the one for cake. When we got up there, we found out that the cake they were serving was cheap sheet cakes from United, a local grocery chain. How disappointing. Anyway, we then decided to skip the long line for a photo with Duff so that we could get to the hospital. The photo line was all along the side of the building and we walked to the front of the building to head towards the car. When we got to the front of the building, we saw Duff and all the crew come out of the front door and they were just kind of standing there. There were a handful of people around them, including a few police officers. Mom went up to one of the officers and asked if we could possibly get our pic taken with Duff without waiting in line since we were having to leave to see grandma in the hospital. He of course said yes and we (me, mom, Sara and Sophie) got some pictures taken with all of the Charm City Cakes folks. I don't have any of those pictures yet because they are on Amber's camera.

After grandma got out of the hospital, the whole crew went to McDonald's to let the kids run around and play for a while. Then the girls and I went back to Littlefield to let them go swimming at aunt De's house. They had a great time and didn't want to leave.

(I couldn't get a good picture of Sara during the swimming, this was the best one)

We finally got home around 9 last night and had a great day, all things considered.

Lake Trip

2010-06-01T21:43:00.000-05:00

The girls and I went to the lake with mom and dad for the weekend and we all had a good time.

Pop carrying Sara Belle to the boat.

Sophie looking cute with her upside down sunglasses.

Pop's new favorite picture of Sara.

Sophie's first time to touch a fish.

Sara had fun doing donuts around the lake while she was driving the boat.

Sophie was nervous about driving the boat, but she had a good time.

Pop helped the girls fly their kites.

Playing Sara's new Goodnight Moon game with Pop.

I don't know who had more fun playing paper dolls, the girls, or Bubbie.

I made Nutella ice cream one night and Sophie really enjoyed it.

The girls each took turns riding down the block on the riding mower. Sara had fun but didn't like the noise. Sophie took the whole thing pretty seriously.

Now the girls are looking forward to going back this summer when their cousins will be there. I had a good time, even though it's really hot.

Bubble Tea Party

2010-05-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

Leelee gave Sara an adorable bubble tea set. The bottom of each cup has a hole to blow bubbles through and the spoons are also bubble wands. The girls had a blast playing tea party the other day. Super cute.

Piggy Party

2010-05-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

Sara's party yesterday was a huge hit, I think all the kids had a good time. It was pretty hot and windy, but everything went well.

Happy Birthday Sara Belle!!

2010-05-16T16:55:00.000-05:00

We had a small celebration today in honor of Sara's 4th birthday. Her "real" party is next week. We took her to get her pictures made this morning, then went to Chuck E. Cheese with both sets of grandparents. I think the kids wore all the adults out. Neither of the girls took a nap, but daddy and mommy took turns taking naps.

Car Safety

2010-05-15T11:15:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, I'm pretty uptight about the kids and their car seats. Both girls are still in 5 pt. harness car seats and I plan to keep them both that way until they reach the weight limits on their seats. I really hate to see kids put into booster seats at 3 years old, but nearly everyone I know does it. For me, the additional safety is worth the extra minute or two it takes to buckle them in. The law in TX says they can be changed to a booster at 3 yrs old, but that's merely a minimum requirement. I'm going to copy some information here about the benefits of extended harnessing. Please e-mail or call me if you have any questions, I'd love to help you find a seat that is appropriate for your child.

Why you should consider keeping your child harnessed past age 4 and 40 pounds in a car seat with a higher weight harness.

A younger child doesn’t have the mental maturity to understand that s/he needs to stay still in a booster. The shoulder belt must always stay on the shoulder to keep the child from being thrown forward in a crash. A parent who prematurely moves a child into a booster is often put in the position of constantly reminding (nagging) her child to stay in position to stay safe. The child will eventually tune out the parent and the parent will become frustrated. The child's safety is placed in the hands of the child. A car seat with a properly tightened 5-point harness allows a child to be a child: no nagging to stay in position, no worrying that the child doesn't have the seat belt on or is leaning over to pick up a toy.
5-point harnesses spread crash forces over a larger area and there are 5 points of protection on the child vs. 3 points with a lap/shoulder belt (1 shoulder and 2 hips). A properly adjusted harness is more likely to keep the child contained in the seat and not ejected, especially in a side impact or rollover. Sleeping is easier in a 5-point harness than in a booster.

Compare these 2 videos and watch how the dummy moves in each:

http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite....icosipriori.mpg (This is a harnessed seat similar to what is sold in the US.)

http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seite....axicosirodi.mpg (This is a booster similar to what is sold in the US.)

There are higher weight harness seats in all price ranges and some convert to boosters once kids reach the weight limit of the harness.

Videos dedicated to children who might have lived had they been harnessed (!Warning!!These are tear jerkers!):

Kyle David Miller: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

Isabelle Broadhead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2LFo8vVi04

Toni Perry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G59s3PjcntQ

Outdoor Fun

2010-05-13T08:59:00.000-05:00

Some random pics from playing outside the last couple of days.

New Camera

2010-05-11T00:24:00.000-05:00

For Mother's Day, Pete got me a new camera. It's an awesome pink Cannon with a touchscreen. It is 14 mexapixels and has lots of fun features. You can turn on a timer and it will automatically take a picture when the subject smiles. There's also a fisheye lens feature and one that picks up accent colors. I love it and think I'll be taking lots of pictures. Here are a few random pictures taken with it.

Sophie after bath.

All of my babies.

Sara playing on her new trampoline from Nana & Papa.

Tiny armed Pete through the fisheye lens.

Sara doing her favorite thing ever, playing on the computer.

Sophie playing in Sara's boots.

Our kitchen using the b&w with color accent feature.

Just ignore the clean laundry I haven't put away yet.

Now that I have a working camera again, I hope to post more.

My Birthday Stuff

2010-04-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

I had one of the best birthdays I've had in years. For starters, I dyed my hair green and got my nose pierced.

Pete got me some rad new neon pink and orange shoes.

Leelee gave me some beautiful flowers

My friend, Amber (the cake lady) brought me a delicious strawberry cake with cream cheese icing and a movie.

I got some yummy tea and a few other things from mom, some awesome drumsticks for Rock Band from my sister and nephews, and lots of other great gifts from all my wonderful friends and family.

Thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate and have a wonderful day!!

Planning

2010-04-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

I'm getting excited about Sara's much anticipated pig party. For those of you who don't know, Sara has been planning every detail of her 4th birthday party since about a month after her 3rd birthday. She chose pigs as her theme and has dictated who is going to be invited, what colors of balloons, what kind of cake, etc. etc. I finally got around to deciding what plates and decorations we will be having. Now I have lots of work to do putting together favor boxes, party hats, and lots of other fun things for the party. Luckily I have a little over a month to get it all done.

Here's a picture of some of the things we will be using

I think she will have lots of fun at her party ad I am going to have fun planning and executing it.

New Gadget

2010-02-28T17:13:00.000-06:00

This may not be exciting to anyone else, but I'm in love...

with our new shampoo dispenser/shelf. Our shower before was just a big cluttered mess of bottles on the floor and scrubbies hanging from the shower head. I've seen these on the internet before, but we never have ordered one. Well, the other night Pete found one at Home Depot, yay! We've tried various shower shelves before, but they leave rust stains on the floor, the shelves break, they take up a lot more room than this, etc. I just have never found a shower shelf I liked. It's still new, but I really love this new dispenser.

Sick

2010-02-23T08:08:00.000-06:00

Pete, Sara and I are all sick today. Yuck. Should be a fun day. Poor Sophie is going to get tired of the rest of lying around all day.

Happy Margarita Day!!

2010-02-22T20:47:00.000-06:00

Hope everyone has had a great day! Time to make my margarita to end the day :)

Funny.

2010-02-21T23:02:00.000-06:00

Just a random funny picture I found on Google Reader.

Followed by a Fun Night

2010-02-17T20:02:00.004-06:00

Daddy has started playing a new game with the girls before bedtime. He hides a bunch of stuffed animals all over the house and the girls get flashlights to go and find them with. They love it and have tons of fun searching high and low for the animals.

A Beautiful Day

2010-02-17T18:34:00.003-06:00

The girls were so happy to have a nice warm day to play outside today. They just ran in a giant circle in the front yard. It was adorable. Sara was really proud because she picked out and put on every part of her outfit today, she even brushed her own hair and put on her headband.

Sophie tried riding big sister's bike.

But decided it was more fun to push it from behind.

New Moon Day

2010-02-15T19:10:00.005-06:00

Today we went to Bubbie's house to celebrate the new moon. She had lots of moon shaped foods for the girls to eat and let them each paint a wooden moon. The girls had a lot of fun and look forward to the new moon each month.

To go with the theme of the day, the girls got to wear moon pajamas. Sara's pj's were mine when I was her age. Mom bought them for me in East Germany.

Our Visit from the Paci Fairy

2010-02-11T20:10:00.005-06:00

Getting all the pacifiers ready.

Coloring the "address label"

Sara counting the pacis.

Putting them into the envelope.
Sealing the envelope.

Showing me her hard work.

Putting it in the mailbox.

Getting a hug from daddy for being such a big girl.

Being such a big girl in bed with no paci.

She did really well with the whole process and only cried a little after we turned off the light in their room. In the morning she will get her present from the Paci Fairy.

Favorite New Blog

2010-02-10T20:13:00.003-06:00

This http://enjoyingthesmallthings.blogspot.com/2010/01/nella-cordelia-birth-story.html is my favorite new blog. Be prepared to cry (a lot) when you read this woman's story about the birth of her second child. She is an amazing writer and photographer and her daughters are just beautiful. I have added her blog to my list of blogs I read if anyone is interested in bookmarking it for themselves.

More Pictures

2010-02-04T20:57:00.006-06:00

Birthday Party Fun!

2010-01-30T21:17:00.007-06:00

Helping Mommy get the goodie bags ready.

Playing with her new Yo Gabba Gabba toys.

Opening a present.

Table decorations.

Look at all my presents Mommy!

Another view of the table.

The cake table.

And of course, the amazing cake. Thank you Amber!!

Sara eying the goodie bags.

Bubbie gave each of the kids some clay to make their own Yo Gabba Gabba characters.

Sophie loves to dance!

Before cake.

After cake.

Keleigh helping open presents.

And relaxing on the way home.

Sophie had a lot of fun today and really loved getting all of the attention. She was really smiling and happy when we sang happy birthday to her. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make today special for Sophie. I wish everyone could have been there, but I'm happy everyone stayed safe at home instead of trying to risk driving down. There's a really cute video of Sophie dancing to her Gabba music that I uploaded to my facebook if anyone is interested.

Birthday Cookies

2010-01-28T15:53:00.007-06:00

Sophie's birthday is tomorrow and we have been busy all week making cookies.

Look Mommy! My hands are messy.

December 12, 2009

2009-12-12T22:10:00.002-06:00

I want to post pictures from the first night of Chanukah, but my laptop died and we haven't been able to replace the hard drive yet. For now, I'm using a computer set up on the bar in the kitchen that has no card reader for my pictures. I could go dig the usb cable out of the closet and retrieve the pictures that way, but that's more trouble than I want to go to for now. So, I am posting a boring blog without any pictures.

We went to mom's house last night along with my sister and her two boys, my brother and his wife and two kids, and Pete's niece Emily. Due to mom's recent surgery and recovery, we wanted to keep everything as low key as possible. We ordered pizzas, Janine made some delicious latkes, and we had some jelly donuts. The kids had a wonderful time seeing their cousins again and playing with the Little People Chanukah set. I really had a good time watching the kids play so well together. I also made each of the kids some Chanukah pajamas and they all looked super cute. The girls each had a sleeping bag and slept on the floor in mom's room. Ethan and I played a good game of dreidel (I lost). After Zee went to sleep, Ethan and Blake came back to my house to spend the night. We had a great time playing card games and Rock Band until 3 am.

Anyway, a good time was had by all of us. For tonight, the second night, it was just the four of us here at home. We lit our candles and said the blessings. The girls are looking forward to a good week filled with plenty of fun and lots of activities (and a few gifts).

2009-11-03T17:21:00.004-06:00

The girls had a lot of fun going to Amarillo to visit their cousins and friends for halloween. Sara was a ladybug and Sophie was a garden gnome. We went to a balloon festival, a carnival at my aunt's church, then trick or treating. I think they both had the most fun trick or treating. Sophie didn't really know what was going on, but she really liked holding open her bag and getting candy put into it.

Here she is with uncle Avi just before we went trick or treating.

All of her cousins anxiously waiting to leave.

Funny Stuff

2009-10-13T20:57:00.004-05:00

If you haven't already, you should browse www.someecards.com

Fun in the Fall

2009-09-30T17:37:00.003-05:00

We went to the pumpkin patch this morning with Bubbie and the girls had a lot of fun loading up baskets with the little pumpkins and gourds.

Last night we went to the fair so the girls could see the animals and we could eat lots of junk food. We all had a good time. Sophie really liked petting the sheep and goats.

This one is just a cute picture we got last weekend of the girls watching tv with cousin Tzippy.

Now, after all the fun we've had, Sara appears to be coming down with the flu. She had a fever on Saturday and Sunday, then was fine for two days. Now the fever is back along with a cough and runny nose. She's just been laying on the couch since lunchtime and even took a nap today. Poor girl doesn't feel good at all.

Tea Party

2009-09-23T18:36:00.005-05:00

Sara is always wanting to have a "special tea party" for snack. Since they were both dressed cute the other day, I took pictures during our tea party. They love doing this and you can tell Sophie thinks she is big when she drinks out of a "real" cup. Such cuteness.

Blogity Goodness

2009-09-20T19:49:00.009-05:00

I haven't really felt like I have much to say lately. Things have been going well. I'm doing good on my medication and have been feeling much better. Day to day life is still hard with two very needy little girls, but it's much easier than it was before I started my medication.

Rosh Hashana was yesterday and the girls had a lot of fun helping mom get things ready for the party she had.

Here they are putting together gift baskets for the guests.

The finished product.

Playing with special Rosh Hashana toys

Lighting the holiday candles

New Website

2009-06-30T20:44:00.002-05:00

I have recently signed up to sell Usborne children's books to help me make a little money and have something to do. I have a website for free for the first six months, check it out and order some books if you can. I'm thinking about having a "party" in Amarillo and here sometime for those that can make it, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to. Anyway, here's the website, thanks for looking! http://www.myubam.com/B3727

Worst Movie Ever

2009-06-29T11:48:00.002-05:00

OK, so the movie wasn't actually the worst, I even enjoyed it. It was, however, the worst movie going experience I've ever had. We went to see Transformers Saturday night because we had free tickets from KMart. We had to buy tickets early, then go back to the theater to wait in line for nearly an hour to get a seat. Once in the theater, we found good seats and just waited. Of course, we forgot to bring our own snacks, so we spent $25 on our free movie, but that was our own fault. The movie finally started and we watched for 2 1/2 hours. Then, just as it was getting intense and was probably 10-15 minutes from the end, the projector broke. The theater went dark. People were all yelling and wondering what was happening. Then the manager and a police officer came in and gave everyone "rain checks" to see another movie or watch that one again. It was already midnight and we had to pick up Sophie or I would have stayed and demanded my money back. Then I remembered we didn't actually give them money, so I got over it and we went home. We still haven't seen the end of the movie and will be using our rain checks for something else, probably Harry Potter next month. Pete is looking for a copy of it to download so we can at least see the end. We were very irritated that night and disappointed that we sat through that long of a movie only to miss the very end.

Pictures

2009-06-15T21:41:00.005-05:00

More Cookies

2009-06-15T21:31:00.006-05:00

These are some cookies I made today for Blake & Ethan to give to their teams. The soccer balls were the hardest cookies I have made yet. They didn't turn out as good as I had hoped I could do them, but I am still proud of them. I hope the boys enjoy giving them to their team members. Now I have to work up the work ethic and courage to make ballet slippers for Sara's ballet class. I'm still not sure that will happen, but I'd like to at least make a bouquet or something for the teacher. We'll see if I feel like it when it's time for the last class.

Insurance

2009-06-11T07:43:00.002-05:00

For those of you that have been praying for us on the insurance issue, Pete told me last night that we will be able to keep our insurance for the time being. I am very happy about this and plan to get on the waiting list for MHMR so that if need be, we can cancel it later in the year. The children will qualify for CHIP if we do need to get off of the insurance. Pete would be the only one left without any kind of medical coverage. Hopefully this won't happen and the business will be booming, but it feels good to know we do have some options if something happens.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers during this time. I appreciate it and know that it helped.

Thanks!

2009-05-26T08:04:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who came to Sara's party this weekend. She had a great time and has been thoroughly enjoying all of her gifts. We hope to see everyone again soon :)

3 Years Old!

2009-05-19T23:55:00.003-05:00

My little Sara turned three on Saturday. I am amazed by her every day. She's really growing into a big girl now and looks less and less like a toddler all the time. Here are a few pictures of her, I'll post more from her professional pictures when I get them later this week.

It Begins

2009-05-04T22:21:00.003-05:00

Menido started her electronics obsession today. Daddy let her play with his iphone and she sat on the couch playing her puzzle game for over thirty minutes. She was great at it too. Very cute.

Pictures!

2009-05-03T15:27:00.004-05:00

3 posts in one day, that's unheard of!
We took the girls to the arts festival yesterday and had fun, then after nap, we took our girls and cousin K to the Ice Cream Shoppe to meet Cinderella. They were terrified and didn't want to take pictures with her.

Adds

2009-05-03T14:31:00.001-05:00

I signed up for Google Ad Sense to let them put adds on my blog. This might be annoying, but if I can earn some money for it, even if it's just a small amount, it's worth it to me. Sorry if it bugs anyone and thanks for anyone who clicks the adds to help me out.

Job Search

2009-05-03T14:22:00.002-05:00

I ran into an old friend from the Buddy Holly Center yesterday and talked to him about working there again. He said the assistant manager of the gift shop just basically walked out on Thursday, so they are looking to fill that position. I was telling Pete about 5 minutes before that that I wanted to work at the BHC again, but there were only about 10 positions available. I said unless someone just happened to have quit recently, they wouldn't be hiring. I was so happy to talk to Eddie and hope that I can get this job. I can't even apply until probably Tuesday or Wed. because it has to be listed on the city website first. I will probably try and go down Monday there to talk to Eddie and meet the new people just to get my foot in the door. I'll have to see what's going on with the kids and everything first, but I really hope it will work out.

Another Day

2009-05-01T07:40:00.003-05:00

I don't have much to say today, but thank you all for your kind words and support these past few weeks, they have truly helped. I've been on my new medicine for a week and think it's helped some.

I added a bunch more blogs to my list of blogs I read, I still forgot to add mom's, I need to do that now.

Official

2009-04-20T12:50:00.002-05:00

I went to my psychiatrist this morning and he gave the official diagnosis of Bipolar I. I'm not entirely sure what the differences are between type I and type II, but I plan to read about it when I have the time. He put me on Lamictal and Abilify. It was $50 for a one month supply of both, it could have been a lot worse, but I'd rather them only be $10 each. He said it would take about 3 weeks to tell for sure if these meds will work or if we need to change it up a little. Pete and I have our first counseling appointment on Wed. evening too, so hopefully a combination of therapy and drugs will help me feel better.

Day by day

2009-04-17T20:40:00.002-05:00

It's gotten hard for me to post anything here. I don't feel like I have anything constructive to say or share. I haven't had my camera to take new pictures of the girls. Every day it's been a struggle for me to function in a somewhat normal way, so trying to come up with things to talk about is too much for me sometimes. It's embarrassing for me to feel like a crazy person, I hate it. I'm not in control of my own mind and have never felt quite this intense before. I have been thinking back over my life and can remember having a few episodes of mania and depression, but nothing drastic or dramatic. It just doesn't make sense to me, even thinking back to 2 weeks ago, some of the things I thought and said during that time are not at all me. I can't even imagine actually thinking and believing some of the things I did, but it was me and I was feeling that way. So many thoughts and beliefs running through my mind like a tornado or something. Now this week, it's more like there is a viscous, thick fog covering me and I can't move well or think straight.

I hope the doctor Monday will help. I don't know exactly what's wrong, but I know I need some kind of medicine or help that I'm not getting right now. I just keep reminding myself that it's just a few more days and to keep going. I think the hardest part for me is having to be happy and good for the girls. They help me to keep going each day, but inside I am wanting to scream at them and run away. Thank G0d I haven't gotten to the point of not being able to control that part of me. I know they need me and don't need to know anything is wrong. They days that it's too much, I am thankful to have a supportive and loving family around me to take care of them for me.

I suppose I feel a little better after getting some of these thoughts out. It's very difficult for me to share any of this with anyone, but I think it will be good for me.

Decisions

2009-04-11T10:10:00.002-05:00

After being mostly kid free for the last two days (thanks mom!) I think I'm ready to make a decision about the whole getting a job thing. I am ready to get back to work. I don't know if it's my personality, the girls ages, my mental disorder(s) or some combination of all of them, but I don't like being a stay at home mom. I wanted to like it and tried for nearly 3 years now, but I just don't. I think I'm ready to start looking for a job and a daycare. Any suggestions for good daycares here? Or a good place to work that is hiring right now?

Energy

2009-03-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

I still have a lot of nervous energy and feel like I need to do something constructive with it. So far this week, all I've managed to do is finish cleaning out the closets and cabinets. I still have a few boxes from the attic to sort and freecycle, but I've gotten rid of tons of the junk that has been sitting around the house. I did also finish some of the cleaning I've been avoiding for the last few months. I don't know how much longer this feeling will last, but I know I need to use it for good things.

Sleep

2009-03-28T10:52:00.003-05:00

It's amazing what a little sleep can do for your body. I've been unable to sleep for more than about 2 hours at a time for a week now. Well, last night I put in earplugs and covered my eyes and made sure Pete was going to take care of the girls if they needed anything. I was able to sleep for about 10 hours last night! Yay!

Doctors, Blah

2009-03-25T08:57:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't know, I've been going to various doctors for about a year now for several health issues. We've gotten most stuff under control, but I still have some digestive issues and am waiting for a referral to a G.I. doc for a scope and some other tests. I also went to a therapist on Monday and he said he thinks I'm bipolar. He referred me to a different psychiatrist for a diagnosis and long term treatment. Nothing is official yet and he hasn't changed me from depression medication to bipolar medication, but he probably will. I go back on Monday to see the first psychiatrist and will keep seeing him weekly until I can get in with the new guy on April 20. I'm not entirely surprised by this, but it is a little shocking. I am glad that my primary doctor was able to recognize that I needed some help and sent me to see the other doctor. If it is bipolar, it's still fairly mild which is good. It's apparently easier to keep under control if you catch it early.

Wild Day

2009-03-18T00:17:00.003-05:00

Today was a busy day for our family. My cousin had to have heart surgery and came through beautifully, thank G-d. All of our family was in town, but the young kids couldn't be at the hospital. Since I had to stay home with my two anyway, I volunteered to keep the other kids that needed somewhere to be. I had my two plus 7, 8 and 10 year old boys and a 5 year old girl. The kids were all VERY well behaved and we had a fun day of playing outside. Needless to say, I'm very tired tonight, but it was a great day overall.

Sleeping Arrangements

2009-03-12T21:56:00.003-05:00

About 30 minutes after putting the girls to bed tonight, daddy man went to go make sure they were covered up because it's chilly tonight. He came back in and told me I had to check it out because they were so cute. They started off in their own beds, but apparently Pita Pocket wanted to sleep with her big sister. So adorable, it's these times that help me remember that I love being a mommy.

Purim Party

2009-03-11T21:54:00.004-05:00

We had a great time at Bubbie's for her Purim party. Thanks Bubbie!

Random Cuteness

2009-02-24T21:07:00.003-06:00

I haven't posted in a while, so here are a couple of newish pictures.

Sara has been having fun playing drums and singing with Rock Band.

Bounce House, the Redneck Way

2009-02-13T09:26:00.004-06:00

We got the girls a bouncy house and Daddy Man wanted to let them play in it right away. He moved all the furniture around in the living room and set it up. It filled the entire room and the slide was sticking out into the entryway. The girls had a blast of course :) I am pretty surprised that I haven't had any requests to set it up yet this morning.

Ballerinas and Big Girl Beds

2009-02-04T21:55:00.005-06:00

Menido started her first mommy & me ballet class today. It was very cute and she had a great time.

First, Bubbie took her to pick out her leotard and shoes.

Checking out her new outfit before class.

First we did some stretching.

Just looking cute. :)
She got to practice hopping, she loved that.
Next was walking on her tippy toes, she was good at that.
I think it was a success for her first time. The class was 45 minutes and she stayed interested for about 30. I've already been planning the ballet slipper cookies I'm going to make for all the girls for our last class.

Then, tonight I decided it was time for little Pita Pocket to transition to her "big girl bed". Menido has been asking me for a few weeks now when little sis was going to get her big bed. I switched big sis a few days before her first birthday. Anyway, she went down without a problem and is still sleeping. OK, so she fell out of the bed once already, but she was fine and went right back to sleep easily. I'll keep the crib set up for a few days to make sure she takes it ok during nap too, but then we will officially be crib free.

New Oven/Stove

2009-02-03T20:02:00.004-06:00

We got a new range today and it's awesome! It has convection baking and has a big, long 5th burner on the stovetop that can be replaced with a griddle. I am so glad to not have the door fall off or randomly lock. I already used it tonight for a casserole for dinner and it was great.

Pita Pocket's Party

2009-01-31T19:43:00.007-06:00

Today was little miss's big first birthday party. Mom & I stayed up late last night making decorations and finished up first thing this morning. My best friend from high school, a.k.a. the crazy cat lady, made an amazing cake as always. We did a Candyland theme and had a lot of fun. I think all of the kiddos had a good time too.

Yes, my children always have wedding cakes for their birthday parties. What can I say, I like cake.
Mom's candy wall.
The "path" leading into candyland.
The party favors.
The kid's table.
Decorations.

And here's Pita Pocket dancing and having fun with one of her new toys. Thanks Leelee!!

Pita Pocket is One!!

2009-01-29T21:16:00.004-06:00

On one hand, it's hard to believe it's been a year. On the other hand, it's been a long year. Staying at home with 2 kids isn't an easy job, but the rewards are great.

Here are some pictures of today's photo shoot. She wouldn't cooperate much for the first 2 outfits, but man did she like that cake :)

Haircut & Makeup

2009-01-28T19:59:00.007-06:00

Menido got a big girl haircut today. It turned out really cute :)

She was playing with her makeup yesterday. It looks completely natural, doesn't it?

And, finally, here's a video from Z's birthday party of Pita Pocket loving the bounce house. Daddy man and I are wanting to get her one for her birthday, now it's just a matter of coming up with the money.

Now, off to finish the cake for her pictures in the morning.

Cookies again

2009-01-25T02:23:00.005-06:00

OK, here are the finished cookies. I can't wait to give them to Z tomorrow.

Cookies and cuties

2009-01-22T00:32:00.009-06:00

Not much going on around here lately, but the girls have been adorable as always. Here are a couple of pictures from this week.

Here's one of the little Pita Pocket making her camera face.

I tried and tried to get Menido to look at the camera and smile while showing off her new ring from Bubbie, but this was the best I could get.

She loved her yogurt this morning :)
Coloring, her favorite pastime

And, just a random cute baby playing in her play kitchen.

Now, on to the cookies. I decided Z didn't need any more toys or junk from us for his birthday, so I thought I'd make him some cookies to take to his classmates. Of course, I couldn't just make some chocolate chip and call it done, I wanted to make Star Wars cookies. After extensively searching the internet for cookie cutters, I realized they don't exist. I resigned myself to needing to make my own cutters and found some helpful tips for doing so. Last night when I went to the store to get the butter, flour, etc. for the dough, I happened upon a strange cookie cutter in the clearance basket at the grocery store. I took a chance on it and bought it. Turns out, it was meant to be my Yoda cookie cutter. I just had to bend it a little and reshape it very slightly and it made a perfect Yoda head. I still have no idea what it was supposed to be, but now it's Yoda. I've got the cookies baked and partially iced now, all I need to do now is pipe and paint on eyes, a mouth, a nose and a few wrinkles/shadows. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the work in progress. I'm having a lot of fun and am pleased with how they've turned out so far considering I've never done anything like this.

These were my inspiration, but Pete said this person's green was too dark. He made me give him final approval on the color. http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

My Quilt

2009-01-18T00:53:00.004-06:00

Mom and I took our first quilting class today and had a lot of fun. After the girls went to bed, I decided to do a practice run on our homework and thoroughly enjoyed myself. This is just using the scrap fabric we got today, after I finish piecing this square with the scraps, I am going to make the same square using the actual fabric from class. This took me about 3 hours total (sewing by hand) and I am pretty proud for my first attempt at sewing anything. Of course, I still need to iron all the pieces and do the edge pieces, but still, I think it's pretty decent.

Have You Ever

2009-01-16T08:37:00.001-06:00

Copy this list and put it on your blog.
If you've done it, change it to bold print.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland (or Disney World!)
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not sick
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo's David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

We're Home!

2009-01-13T20:34:00.004-06:00

The girls and I have made it home and my new camera was waiting for me. Here is our test video daddy just took for me.

I've Decided to Jump on the Blog Wagon

2009-01-05T01:05:00.000-06:00

Well, I've been thinking I'd start a blog just to put pictures of the girls on it for family and friends who don't live around here to keep up with us. I don't typically have a lot to say, but I do take a lot of pictures. I am taking the plunge now because dh (read: dear husband) just got me a new Flip video camera :) I still don't have it, but it will hopefully be here by the end of the week.

Anyway, for tonight, I'll start with the first picture taken of each of the girls. Everyone who knows us have seen these pictures, but I don't have any videos to share right now. I also probably won't have any cute new pictures for a couple of weeks because both girls are sick.

First up, my giant belly when pregnant with little Menido (muh-nid-oh)
OK, here's moments after she was born on May 16, 2006.
(I'll have to find and add the picture later, it's not where I thought it was)

And again, my giant belly when pregnant with the little Pita Pocket.

And her first picture, taken January 29, 2008.
And finally, a link to the video camera we ordered. They are very cool cameras and you can design your own pattern (which I did). I'm excited to get it in the mail and hope to have lots of cute videos of my two favorite kiddos very soon.
http://www.theflip.com/store/designs/view-popup.aspx?img=http://www.theflip.com/mino-p/images/uploads/full/6d9dd2da-fec6-4a51-8c41-b8d60fbdecc5.png&cp_mid=236