Some Spa Time

My sweet husband bought me a gift certificate a few months back for a beauty bar in our area. It came with a special note that said, "This is for you. Take some time away from being a great mom, and amazing wife, and treat yourself to something special". Well, in the midst of being a "great mom, and amazing wife" I didn't find any time to "treat myself". So the gift certificate sat, and it sat, and it sat. I finally decided to "cash" it in on Tuesday when he was off from work. After a slight mishap (the salon was actually sold to another owner, but with some persuasion ended up honoring my gift certificate) I set off for a long awaited facial.
Its been a LOOOOOOONNNNNGGGG time since my last one (5 years or so), and it felt so nice to be pampered for a bit.
I went in feeling like this:



And came out feeling like this!


The miracle of a good facial...

8 months old!

Maeve is 8 months old. She isn't walking yet, but she stood on her own (thanks to daddy) for about 2 seconds a few days ago. She loves to eat meals with us, but still loves nursing too. She is definitely more mellow now that she has some independence. I find her in all rooms of the house, contentedly chewing on paper, Brynn's collection of snail shells, or some other highly choke-able object. She is pretty funny, and her personality is developing more and more each day. Rich and I think that she is the jokester. She laughs easily, and is ready with a smile for any of the family. Her communication consists of "uh-oh" and shaking her head no. The "no" doesn't really mean no, it is just fun for her to do.

If this isn't a total example of third child syndrome, I don't know what is. I don't have a single pic of Maeve for her 8 month b-day.
So, here are the three of them in the tub. This is the best that I can do.

This is the "happy, smiley, all is well" picture that I managed to capture.


This is what I usually get when I try to take a picture of the kids. #1 making a crazy face, #2 with a half smile, and #3 looking everywhere but at the camera...
Oh the fun we have!

Tagged...

This was kinda fun, but the pic isn't too great....

1. Choose the 4th folder where your pictures are stored.
2. Select the 4th picture

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 3 other people



This is me, pregnant with Brynn, about a month before delivery. I was the supervisor for the high school "prom". It was a south bay dinner cruise, and I wasn't really into it. I made Rich come, and made him dress in his Sunday best. I wish that I wasn't wearing my coat, cause the dress is actually kinda cute, but if I remember right it was about 5 degrees, and windy.

OK your turn! I am going to tag more than 3 people just because its fun!

Heidi, Kelly, Kerstin, Kasey, Melody W, and Melody G, . Consider yourself tagged!

I WON!!!

THE LOTTERY!!!!

No, not really. I actually won a book.

Thanks to Passionate Homemaking blog, I won the book called Practicing Hospitality!


Thanks Kelly for pointing me towards this blog! I love it. Lots of cool ideas, helpful links, recipes, advice, etc. I love that the authors' focus is on her role as a godly wife, godly mother, and godly steward of the things that He has given, including our planet. Living "green" as you would say, but focused much more on the eternal goal, rather than just this brief life. Check it out when you have time!

Thanks Passionate Homemaking!

Warning: This is rated PG-13!

If you are not married, skip this entry.
If you are married, and don't have kids - just wait!

Friday night Rich and I got caught!
Yeah.
As in, at a rather "intimate moment".
As in - naked, no excuses, -  caught.

A word to the wise!!! Remember to lock the doors friends!
Sometimes 4 year-olds are awake when they should be sleeping.
Sometimes 4 year-olds come into the bedroom asking to have the humidifier plugged
in so that they can breathe through their stuffed up little noses.
Sometimes it can be at the REALLY WRONG TIME!!!!!!!

Awkward...

Ugh

Soooooo, I was sitting at a stoplight the other day, staring at gas prices rise (literally, the guy was putting up the new prices while I was sitting there) and I realized that I think I am going to have to bite the bullet and get a minivan. I almost started to cry as I was thinking about it. I don't know what Rich and I are thinking that we can afford a GMC Yukon, or Chevy Tahoe. Gas is only going to get more expensive, and I am only going to be driving more. How incredibly stubborn would I be if I held onto my dream of never owning a minivan, and then I had to go to work to pay for it.
Its heartbreaking, but I think its a reality. So many people, talk about how much they love their vans though, so hopefully it won't be as bad as the 1984 Ford Aerostar Minivan that I grew up with. (Although, if we don't start saving our pennies, this is what we will be able to afford when it comes time to buy...)
Incredibly, even though I am starting to resign to this idea, I still hold fast that our dream car is out there somewhere. It will be a four door, and have space in the back for the random stroller, diaper bag, baby bjorn, emergency roadside kit, Trader Joes re-usable shopping bags, and spare blanket. It will seat our 3 kids, their gigantic car seats, and the dog with no problem. There will be room for me to crawl between the seats to fish out sippy cups and out of reach "lovies". My dream car will also get more than 12 miles to the gallon (our current rate). And while I'm at it, it will never break down, always stay clean, and never require car washes....
In the meantime, I will be checking gas mileage websites for the best of the best. We will be prepared when it comes time to replace our happy little Trooper. And while it may be with a minivan, at least I will go into it knowing that it was the best thing for our family...
Ugh.

Budding Artiste'

Can't you just see people paying a lot of money for little drawings like this? Maybe this is how I can earn money from home..

Monkey

Snowman

I wanna go outside!!!

She has conquered the inside of the house, and is now itching to do the same with the outside. I don't know how long I will be able to hold her off...



Its torture watching the "big kids" play outside when I have to stay inside!

The Good News and Bad News

So, do you want to hear the good news or the bad news?
I am sort of an optimist, so lets do the good first.

The Good News:
The barfing that Brynn did all night long on Friday night is not due to the stomach flu as I had thought. This is great! I hate stomach flues. I hate barfing. I become a complete hypochondriac with vomit. I start to feel ill, nauseous, etc with even the idea of someone in another household barfing. I am weird, I know. (Oh yeah, I am also a sympathetic barfer. I tend to gag and dry heave so badly while someone else is doing it, that I end up throwing up as well. This makes me the wrong person to take care of sick, vomiting children.)

The Bad News:
She has strep throat. Apparently, nauseousness and vomiting is a classic sign of strep. Along with headache (check), sore throat (check), fever (check) and a small rash called scarlet fever (we missed out on this one - thank goodness).
She is now on day 2 of 10 days worth of antibiotics which taste like bubble gum (I tasted it, it really does), and we have to throw out the new singing veggie tales toothbrush that was one of the favorite Christmas presents.

Oh well. At least its not the stomach flu!

Fun Day

If three is a crowd, seven is a party!
The house was full, noisy, and I loved every minute of it!
We went through 3 boxes of Mac and Cheese, lots of raisins, and finished off a good amount of milk.
Fun, fun!

Welcome 2009!

Happy New Year!!! We brought the new year in watching Office reruns! It was perfect! The kids were in bed by 8pm, and I vaguely heard the people yelling and screaming in the streets when it turned 2009. I think I might have gotten a New Years kiss, though I am not sure. I was pretty tired.



I love the start of a new year! I get the urge to purge! (My house - that is....)
We cleaned out our closet yesterday after a yummy brunch with the family. Our bedroom "inherited" a few more pieces of furniture this year, and its getting crowded. We moved the dog crate (aka - Treks Mobile Home) out of the closet, and the dresser in. Then we moved the faux fireplace over to the other wall. Then we moved it back. Then we sat and stared at it all. Then we took pictures of all our bedroom furniture and posted them on CL. I want something new.


I have a big box in the garage already collecting junk for my annual garage sale. I am having issues though. Do I really want to wait until its warm enough to have a garage sale to clean out my garage? It would be SOOOO freeing to just load up the car, drive it to the thrift store and drop it off. But then I wouldn't make money at my annual garage sale. You know, the annual sale that I spend hours preparing for, pricing stuff, borrowing tables for, making signs, hanging signs, and then sitting in the hot sun on a summer Saturday? You know, the "Annual Sale", that I look forward to, because I believe that I will make a ton of money and be able to buy something really cool with? You know, the sale where I end up counting my money at the end of the day, its is something like $63.48.
Yeah, maybe the thrift store drop off idea is sounding good this year...

Here are my new Years Resolutions:
Stick to the household budget.
Finish reading the Bible (this is an ongoing resolution...)
Study up on eschatology (I think I spelled that right)
Get rid of stuff
Make more lists

Happy New Years!