May the Force Be With You...or not

We spent all of Saturday afternoon moving Luke into his own room. And by "We" I mean Sam moved the guest bed to another room, took apart Luke's bed, carried it to the new room, put it back together and then carried the dresser while I watched. I did yell out a few commands, but other than that, I stood back and looked pretty.

Luke has been sharing a room with Ryan since Ryan was born. He has been a good sport about it but Ryan has a terrible habit of waking up in the night crying (which Sam and I ignore) or waking up too early (which Sam and I ignore by turning on both bathroom fans to drown him out.) It wakes Luke up and he inevitably ends up in our bed. Since he sleeps sideways, we have been forced to put him in his own room.

Initially, I told Luke I was going to buy him this Star Wars bedding from PBK since he is obsessed with Star Wars:

Darling, yes, but expensive as all get-out. Oh and did I mention that we told him we would buy him a bunk bed too? So Sam and I start looking at Costco online--I wanted this one--but still pretty pricey when you have to pay shipping. And I don't think I could put the blue Star Wars bedding on a blue bunk bed.

Then I find this one--perfect but still a lot of money.

So we head to Ikea. We come this close to buying this bad-boy.

Then I convince Sam that I need to sleep on it. (Not literally!)

I start to freak about the cost of buying two sets of PBK Star Wars bedding sets. I call my sister Ashey in a panic. She quickly googles Star Wars bedding and finds this set at Target:

I head to Target to take a look. Luke and his friend declare it awesome.


I decide I can't live with the cheap polyester feel and ugly graphics. What can I say--I'm a total snob--I get it from Sam.

Back to square one. I throw my hands up and decide we are just moving his bed downstairs with his current baseball bedding. He hates baseball. Bygones.

Once it is in, we start moving his tupperwares of Transformers and Ninja turtles. He tells me he no longer likes Transformers. I say what about the Ninja turtles--turns out they are dead to him too. Right then and there I told him we weren't getting the Star Wars bedding, seeing as he will probably hate Star Wars in 6 months. He said "Okay" like he didn't even care. Then I told him he wasn't getting a bunk bed either. The next words out of his mouth were "can I have Dino nuggets for lunch?" Turns out after all that, he doesn't care about the bunk bed or the bedding.

Now, I figure I got about $1500 dollars to spend somewhere. We'll talk kitchen next...

The Nesting Place

One of my all-time favorite blogs is The Nesting Place. The girl who writes the blog, or The Nester, as she is called, is a genius when it comes to home decor and all things home improvement. Not only that, she is quite possibly the funniest person I have ever stumbled upon in the blogosphere. Her slogan is "It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful" and she encourages you to just take the plunge and do stuff to your home that you've been wanting to do.

The picture above is from her "Price my Space" party where she tells you what she paid for everything in her family room.

My friend Mandee introduced me to the Nester's blog when I started talking about painting my kitchen cabinets. That is a LONG post for another day. I eventually told my sister Ashley about the Nester and she chastised me for not telling her sooner. Ashley went back and read every post the Nester ever wrote. She's that good.

So go check her out. I warn you that once you go over there, you'll be addicted and you'll want to re-do your whole house. Enjoy!

Not Trying to be a Hero

I didn't run Race for the Cure. I don't buy pink appliances and I have never donated money to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer research. But breast cancer is an illness that is close to my heart. My mom's mom died of breast cancer at age 50. When I was younger, 50 seemed old. The older I get, the more I realized how short her life was. My mom talks about how hard it was to turn 51 and realize that every year she lived after that was a year her mother never had. I hope that my mom, my aunts, my daughter and every other woman that I love never has to battle that disease.

So on that serious note, I wanted to do something to support breast cancer research.


Enter Massage Envy. On September 15th, every Massage Envy location in the United States is offering one hour massages for $35.00 and a portion of the proceeds goes directly to the Susan G. Komen foundation for research. The best part is that the money will stay in the state where you get your massage.

I'm not trying to be a hero. If I HAVE to go get a 60 minute massage to support a good cause I'm going to do it, dang it. Now go call and make your appointments. They're open until 10:00 pm on the 15th. You can thank me later.

Mingling with the Country Folk

Last night, Sam and I went to see Trace Atkins and Toby Keith in concert. Trace is a good singer but not a great performer. Toby is the whole package. He is a true entertainer.

If you have never been to a country music concert, let me give you a little education. The beer is flowing, there is a lot of skin, and people slow dance in the aisles. I saw one couple who I'm sure were trying to conceive a child--It is a redneck crowd. I hesitated to do this post on the heels of my Lagoon post because I knew I would look like a snob but could I really deny you these pictures?

This is your typical male fan--always a lot of camo and sleeveless shirts.


You always get the die-hard, old school, horse-lovin' crowd--nothing like a horse stampede to accentuate your behind.


The classic male pony.


The tank-top twins. If you look closely, you will see that each twin has identical tattoos on her chest.



There is a strong Harley Davidson presence at country concerts.


It's a big night--pull out the leather bra.


For your viewing pleasure--the back view.


Frayed-edge sleevless collared button down on man. Always a good look.


Jack Sparrow look-alike:


Unfortunately for me, this chick was my view for the entire Trace Adkins portion of the show.


I'm all for standing up and dancing at concerts but you have to follow the crowd. In this case, the entire crowd was seated during Trace's performance--the entire crowd except her. She swayed and danced to her own beat. Her shirt kept falling further and further down. Everyone started yelling at her to sit down, which she didn't take kindly to. Sam stood up and pulled his shirt down over one shoulder and imitated her dance. Everyone loved it. He got high fives from about 10 people around us.

This is a close-up of her upper back tat: It says "Daddy's Little Girl." Daddy must be so proud.


At one point, all four of these classy ladies were standing in front of us. We finally moved to other seats. Eventually they got in a fight with the women next to them and were thrown out of the concert. Yippee!

Slummin' at Lagoon

A couple weeks ago, my friend Heidi and I took our kids to Lagoon. I was nervous because I hadn't been since my 9th grade Lagoon day and I had no idea if it was going to be good for little kids. But it turned out to be really fun. My kids didn't really think it was that different than Disneyland. My only beef is that most of the rides are "carni-rides" in that they just go around and around and kind of make you sick. Kids don't care though.

Today, I dragged Sam back with us on a bounce-back pass. Sam is kind of a snob and somehow it felt dirtier just having him there. He kept mentioning the differences in cleanliness between Lagoon and Disneyland. I reminded him not to judge--just to take on the "slumming" mindset--I just wish Sam had worn a wife-beater and I could have worn a tube top.

I seriously loved this lady's tee-shirt. I've got to get my hands on one to wear around the house:

(I got out of bed for this?)

It was an interesting crowd. I loved the huge-ness of his shorts contrasted with the itty-bitty nature of hers:


But enough of that. Here are some pics of the kids. I didn't have my camera last time so here are some pictures from today.

This ride was kind of a poor-man's Dumbo:



While we were there, I was struck with the thought that my kids are growing up so fast.

I need to savor this time when everyone is happy going on the kiddie-rides together:


I need to be grateful that the kids still think it is cool to go on rides with Dad:


My kids will still hold my hands when we walk and cuddle with me on the sky ride:

And even Luke still loves rides like Bulgy the Whale. We gave him so much crap about riding this but I'm glad he's not too big yet.


All in all, it was a great day.

The end.

Parking Spots and Life Lessons

About two weeks ago, I took my kids to our local community rec center to swim. I got there about 2:00 in the afternoon and there was NOWHERE to park. I circled and circled and then made the executive decision to park here:


My kids had a lot of questions about what Senior Citizen meant and why we were parking there. They didn't understand why we had to hurry out of the car and then at the end of the day, why we had to hurry back into the car and get the heck out of there.

Fast forward to this morning. I pulled into the mall and found myself in this spot:


This time I had no excuse. I just drove too far and didn't want to turn my car around to go back to a regular spot. The questions started almost immedietly. Luke and Sammie wanted to know what "expectant mother" meant. I explained and then of course, they didn't understand why we were parking there. I had to shamefully tell them we were just doing it even though I don't have a baby in my tummy.

Luke kept looking at me and raising his eyebrows up and down with a big smile on his face saying "expected mother" like it was an inside joke.

The kicker was when Sammie said "Mom, don't worry, when we get inside the mall, nobody will know whose car is whose in the parking lot." Nice. Is she mini-me or what.

Do you park in expectant mother parking? Do you park in senior parking or worse, disabled parking? I draw the line there--I do have some morals. Am I a horrible person. Don't answer that if you are going to say yes.

Run Jillian!

You know that story about the snake that convinces the man to carry him to the top of the hill and promises not to bite him? When the snake finally gets to the top of the hill he bites the man and says "You knew what I was when you picked me up." Jillian is now seeing Ed for who is truly is--A snake! When I heard about Ed's infidelity, I was grateful for Jillian that she found out now. If Jillian stays with him, she will only have herself to blame.

Does everyone know what I'm talking about? If not, get your hands on a copy of Us Weekly (i.e. the Bible when it comes to celebrity gossip.) Us is reporting, along with other sources (and I have read them all!) that Ed had been seeing two other women when he left Chicago to go on the Bachelorette. When he came home "for work" in the middle of the show, he slept with both women. There are pictures of him at a wedding with one of the women. He then returned to the show.

It gets worse, way worse. After he proposed to Jillian (in the "most romantic/shocking/dramatic" rose ceremony in Bachelorette history) he returned to Chicago where one of the women picked him up at the airport and he slept with her again. She had no idea he got engaged on the show. He kept down playing the show and lied to both women about where he was. All of this is documented in emails and photos.

This just sickens me. I was rooting for Ed from the beginning and the thing I liked most about him was that he seemed like a stand-up guy. He appeared like he was genuinely in love with Jillian. He also seemed the most likely to propose. And don't get me started on the After the Final Rose. I've never seen another couple trying so hard to prove how in love and happy they are.


One of my favorite quotes by Maya Angelou is "If someone shows you who they are, believe them." Jillian is ignoring the truth. In interviews she is acting like the whole thing is being made up by these two women to hurt her and that she is just laughing it off. C'mon Jillian. You are a big girl. I know it would be excruciating to get rid of E.D. at this point but you are only going to save yourself years of heartache and regret by doing it now. Once a cheater, always a cheater. Give him the boot and run back to the loving arms of Reid if he'll still take you.

Eater's Remorse

As I was driving home from Chic-fil-a tonight, enjoying a delicious, refreshing peach shake, I silently thanked my friend Heidi for putting me on to such a delicacy.

When I got home, I finished the shake and began getting the kids their food. I started to feel very full, uncomfortably full. But I still had a chicken sandwich to eat so I soldiered on. (Disclaimer: I'm not usually the type who drinks a shake with a meal--it has been an incredibly long day with sick whiney kids and I pulled the trigger.)

When I finished my sandwich, I was so full I had to lie down for a minute on the couch. Then it hit me. I should go downstairs and take a look at the nutritional information on that yummy shake. As I pulled up the info, I was horrified. 850 calories in a large peach shake!!! But phew, I only ate the small. 720 calories in the small!! What the?! There are also 19 grams of fat and 118 grams of SUGAR! Are you kidding me. This in ADDITION to my meal!!

Heidi is in big trouble. I would never speak to her again if she wasn't one of my favorite people. Heidi has never darkened my doorway without bringing me a 44 oz diet coke over ice. It just so happens that she also braved Lagoon with me last week and took my kids on rides while I sat with Ryan. Yeah, I forgive her this time but it doesn't mean I won't be putting her on to those "low-fat" cinnabuns at the mall!

Do any of you have a good eater's remorse story?

ps. If you want to laugh hard--go check out my friend Heather's blog today about who she has been dating this summer. It is hilarious. http://justheatherann.blogspot.com/

The Most Wondeful Time of the Year

No, it's not Christmas yet--it's back to school! When I was a kid I loved Back to School time. I got to go pick out a trapper keeper, a new Esprit bag in a fun color and of course, shop for new school clothes, especially at the Nordstrom sale. But I also LOVED shopping for school supplies. I still do. I have been asking Luke for weeks if he wanted to go get his school supplies and he couldn't have cared less--boys! Finally, I dragged him to Walmart today and we loaded up. Brand new crayons, markers, paints, glue sticks, sharpies, folders, pencil box and more--all at great prices.

Not my stuff, though I wish it was.

And you know the best part of back to school is that the kids actually go BACK to SCHOOL! Luke is going to be gone all day! And Sammie will be gone three afternoons a week leaving me with exactly 7.5 hours a week with just Ryan who hopefully will be napping. I'm so excited I can barely sleep.

Summer Family Photos 2009

This is the post you've all been waiting for--our family pictures! I'm being sarcastic but actually since you helped me pick our outfits, I thought you might want to see how they turned out. My friend Jill took the photos and I'm so happy with them.

Jill has the most amazing pictures on her blog. The crazy thing is that she and I have the same camera--I bought mine because her pictures were so beautiful--even her everyday photos. But, my photos look nothing like hers--it just goes to show that the camera does not make the picture. Jill just stated taking pictures professionally and you can visit her website Day Tew Day Photography. As a side note, Jill is the mother to triplets (two girls and a boy) who are 5, and two other little boys. I've known her since kindergarten and I just adore her. So without further ado, here are our photos: