Visit

We went and paid a visit to S at the fire house today. The kids had fun seeing the trucks, and where their dad gets to sleep when he is away. They tried on his hat, and coat, and sat in the engine too.

Tonight me and the kids are going to have a mini New Years party. Just let them play stay up..a little and eat some fun foods.
Maybe I will have them make a resolution..or at least something positive to work on this coming year.

We survived Christmas..

Hoodie, originally uploaded by pics of us.

Barely! We are so lucky to have so much friends and family to share Christmas with. My kids really got too many gifts when you add them all up from everyone.
Now Im exhausted! We had 5 different Christmas get together in 3 days! Pretty amazing. I was happy to be with family though..there is nothing like it.

One of those days..

When your kids are just crazy. They are so emotional and needy! It doesn't really stress me out as much as surprises me of how much ENERGY they require to keep happy today. I think they have all had at least 3 break downs. I'm pretty sure its because I let them stay up to watch yet another holiday show last night..So part of it feels like my fault.

The best part was during V's 3rd fit. She comes screaming, running towards me from upstairs. Crying like she has been beaten up by a linebacker.
V-" R hit meeeeeee SO HARD" sob sob sob "It hurtsssssss"
So I begin to look on her body for marks or whatever
Me- "Where did she hit you?"
V- "I don't know mom, ( sniff-sniff) I wasn't looking! "
HA HA HA HA

Holiday TV

I love this time of year. All the weird holiday shows are on that I watched as a kid. I have been recording them for my kids to watch. The family channel has then on every night this month. I try to fast forward commercials, even though its the family channel it can advertise some not really "kid " shows... So they had this new show this season they kept advertising about a youngish ( my age ha ha) couple who are very different and fall in love during Christmas season.. So after the commercial I failed to fast forward, V goes "Mom who is Mario Love pants" ha ha ha I was like what?? And she goes, "That show, it stars Mario Love Pants.." OHH you mean Mario LOPEZ? Me and R started cracking up and V goes "I guess so?" I just had to tell her that he was a actor in a show.. Funny girl. Gave me a good laugh!

Snow?

Surprise! We woke up to snow today! Not a lot, in fact just a dusting, but that didn't stop the kids from being super excited.

V and A decided to get dressed and go out and play in it. R decided to make snacks instead. This consisted of stale chocolate grahams dipped in melted chocolate and marshmallows. They were a hit with kids of course. My kitchen is a gooey chocolate mess though.


So yesterday I went to the tattoo parlor to get yet another tattoo. I have a bunch..or a few depending on who you are comparing me to, ha ha. So I'm in a rush to get there..traffic..running late. I HATE being late. I suppose I was a bit worked up. Anyway I get in the seat and my very kind artist starts to do the tattoo. Now know that I have sat through a 4 hour tattoo once. It wasn't fun, but I survived. So when 2 minutes in to this tattoo I feel a little weird, it was surprising. I asked if I could recline the chair and that is the last thing I remember until I begin to wake up. Anyone who has passed out knows how horrible it is. Your very disoriented waking up, and very sweaty and confused. So I open my eyes and she is holding my legs in the air, asking me if I'm o.k I say yes and she asks if I ate any food today. HMMM not enough I guess. I felt really bad for fainting and she kept saying it was o.k and was really nice. She even got me a sucker :) I felt better five minutes later and she finished in a little over a hour. I did feel weird all day though. YUCK So note to self: eat a HUGE meal before going under the needle. I never want that to happen again. I admit too, I'm a teeny big "gun shy" now of going back in a few months to get it finished.. I'm sure I will though.

Here is a picture of the peacock. Its going to be the bottom border of my 3/4 "sleeve" ( there is a bit of ink and blood on it still)

Splish Splash!

Oh my we have had some rain...and snow. Basements are flooding, roads are flooding. Pretty crazy weather here. Luckily we have no basement so we were spared that. All the kids had fun splashing in HUGE puddles. Something about jumping in dirty water puts a smile on my kids faces.
BTW, I think my little guy can pull of Ladybug hand me down rain boots handsomely!

CUTE!

My nephew is the cutest thing. AHH I'm so lucky I get to kiss and hold him all I want. Today on the way to drop V off at school she begins to tell me a story. "Once a butta time" HA HA. It was so funny. She had a serious look on her face too.
I miss running. You would think I could just go outside and do it. Unfortunately that would require me to be o.k with the weather. I am not. I really hate the bitter cold..and anything under 40 is bitter cold to me. I really don't mind the snow though. It's pretty and can be fun in short spurts. It's the wet, really cold crap that we have in the northwest that I cant stand anymore. I love every other season here except the long drawn out cold wet winter. The only time I enjoy it is the 3 days of snow we get. Even then I get sick of it if it stops me from leaving the house for more than 2 days.
O.K on a positive note, I had a really yummy apple cider this evening and tomorrow I get to get my hair done. Somewhere new...cheaper(GC!) so I am a bit nervous, but am hoping for fabulous results WOOHOO!

Family

I got to visit with my dad, sister, aunt, and grandma today. My grandmothers name is Janice, I love her name. She is my dads mom. Whenever I'm around my grandma from either side, I have the urge to hug them a lot and hear stories from when they were young. Either about their life or my parents lives. I wish they would write a book. Its great to learn history from family. Unfortunately I rarely get to asking those questions. I know I will regret it later.
It felt good to have family over today. Tis the season. We all took turns holding the new baby. I even swayed him to sleep. Ahh nothing like a tiny warm newborn in your arms. I hope everyone has a safe and loving weekend.

Happy Turkey Day...

Or as Sebastian calls it tome "Mashed Potato Day" Since I don't eat turkey. Me and my sister had decided to have our own Thanksgiving every year. That way we all would get enough food to eat and not have another holiday to travel to our parent's house. This year though, it seemed we were both not wanting to cook, and thought maybe doing the traditional thing would be fun. It was a nice time. I was loving the pumpkin pie. All the kids playing..my moms house very festive and had a lot of yummy appetizers ( yes I finally made mine the last night ! )
While there, my mom asked my son how he liked going to school with his older sister. See he has gone to do a few trial run visits to V's school. He has LOVED it and is so worn out and delirious when I pick him up. It's like he has been to Disneyland all day; All strung out on play and fun.
Anyway my mom asked him what he does at school. He said "Tiss Yinda" Linda is the teacher ha ha. I said, "you kiss Linda?" and he goes " Yes, yike dis" and then kissed the top of his hand. So then Sebastian asked if he loved Linda and he said " Yes Yuv Yinda" It was so cute.

Beautiful boy.

Curly Top, originally uploaded by pics of us.

Can you believe his hair? I mean the curls are out of this world!
As we speak I'm watching horrible TV and going through the few photos I took today. Taking pictures drives me. I'm always striving to learn more. I know there is so much editing I need to learn still. I just look at other people photography and I'm inspired and frustrated at the same time!
Pretty much what I'm doing is putting off preparing appetizers for dinner tomorrow. I'm supposed to bring two. ( To my mom's place) The thing is, if I go do this chore, I also have to clean the kitchen.. I hate cleaning the kitchen. More so since the handle broke off our dishwasher yesterday. Now not only can I not use the dishwasher ( cause I cant figure out how to get it open despite Sebastian's directions) Its holding half my dishes hostage! ACK I have done 2 sink fulls of hand washed dishes today. A record for me! I keep giving myself a time when I will move away from the computer and do what needs to be done..8 30.. has come and gone, 9, then 9 15. Now its 9 26 so my new time is 9 45. IT MUST get done! Ahh procrastination is one of my closest friends..just ask my mom!

Everyone is a comedian..

Especially my R. OH my goodness she was cracking me up the other morning. She has this new thing where she makes up jokes. They're like straight out of Laughy-Taffy wrappers. Here are a few I managed to jot down before I forgot.
"What do you eat while drawing on the chalk board?...CHOCOLATE! get it?"
"What does George Washington like to wash?.......TIN, get it Washing-TIN"
The jokes were so silly I had to laugh. And the fact that she said "Get it" after each joke and kind of explained it to us. Ahh I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Last night I took V to Disney on Ice IT was a surprise for her. She was so happy when we got there. Just jumping out of our ROW 7!! seats. The skating was really cool. The costumes pretty elaborate too. V just loved the songs and seeing all the princesses up close. The props were pretty amazing as well.
One thing that was crazy was the vendors. HOLY COW they were on every corner in the arena. Selling Disney and princess memorabilia for TONS OF CASH. wow. Luckily I was able to buy her some Starbursts and she was happy with that. I would say 90% of the kids there were dressed in fancy princess attire. That was pretty cute to see. Of course after 2 hours I had to come home and have a adult beverage( cold beer)..I was a little kidded out by then :) !

In one week I have sent out emails to old friends and family that I have not seen or talked to in years. I have also had 2 people pass away, both very suddenly and tragically. I think that those deaths have prompted me to take a look at who I want in my life and how I want to live it. Why does it take loss for some of us to realize this? I don't know. I just want to live a life I can be proud of. Be productive, kind and also have fun. I have to realize ALL relationships take work. Whether it be a friend, husband or even a child. Because if the relationship is a keeper, all that work will grant me an even greater return. I'm talking love, friendship and security.
I just don't want any regrets,I know that there will be some. Its almost inevitable. I just want no big ones I guess. I want to know that I did my best in the most important situations. I want to not let the small things drive me crazy and look at the big picture more. Blah blah blah..ok enough of my babble.
peace my lovelies.

Sweets

Seriously I have a addiction to sugar. I need it after every meal. This used to be no big deal until I had children. I'm supposed to be setting a good healthy example for them right? I like food but I LOVE sweets. I swear some days I get most my calorie intake in sugar or baked goods. THIS MUST STOP. I made brownies last night, the night before I bought a yummy sour cream raspberry cake, the day before that I had rice crispy treats..this list goes on and on and on...
I really don't want to be a hypocrite to my kids about sweets..I mean its o.k for me to have cookies for breakfast ( with a protein shake of course ha ha) but not my kids???
I DO let then have sweets, in moderation.. My one daughter really shows signs of sugar love too. Poor poor child of mine.



So I finally purchased a dress up for my son. All these Halloween outfits are on super sale so I bought him a pirate outfit. He loves it! Usually he will play dress up with his sister's pile of dress up clothes. This includes princesses, fairies, mermaids, a ballerina tutu ..you get the idea. We would laugh and he would have a ball. Then if he was feeling more..manly he would wear a few of his jammies, he has superman and a skeleton which was also one of his Halloween costumes. So now he has a little more to choose from. He wore that outfit to bed! Cried when I took it off him for a bath too. He kept walking around the house saying "Arrg Matey"

Sad

My moms best friend passed away very unexpectedly yesterday. I feel for her family, and for my mom. Why is it we take our time here for granted? We think there will always be another time to call that person back, to say thank you, to say I forgive you...
It's really hard to accept, that you will never see that person again..at least here on earth. Anyway hug your family, and call your friends. Life can possibly be shorter than you think.

Happy Halloween!

Woohoo. Love this holiday. I loved dressing up and getting candy as a kid! As a adult I love dressing up my kids...and eating their candy. YUMMERS. I know I will have a bunch of photos later to post as well.
So far today I have dressed up a Ladybug, a Bumble Bee, and sent my oldest to school with a Rock Star Costume. She was so excited. Both girls have parties going on at school. FUN!

Lazy Sunday afternoon

It has been a really fun weekend for the most part. I stayed out way too late with my pals Friday night. We saw a movie then had appetizers and drinks. You know, moms out on the town ha ha. Then Saturday I got to meet a online pal in real life. She was just as funny, sweet, and as pretty as she comes across in her blogs.
The downer of the weekend is my poor little guy is pretty sick. He has a nasty cold and sore throat. Thursday night, the first signs of this nastiness showed up and as I was rocking him to sleep I asked him what song I could sing for him. His reply was "Rock- A- Bye-Baby, On A Sweet Heart" It was so cute I almost laughed. So I sang it the way he thinks it goes...and probably will from now on , even if it makes no sense ha ha. So even with the fun grown up weekend we have had a little boy waking up with a nasty cough every few hours. I'm hoping he is on the mend, as his buddy is going to visit us for part of the day tomorrow.. Two 2 year old boys!! I'm sure to have some stories to write about tomorrow.

Lets read!

You know as a single woman I read ALL THE TIME. I guess I still do but its mostly children's books now. I read to my kids daily. I love to do it too. The sad part of that is I tend to put my own reading on the sidelines. One of my goals, as my kids get older and easier ( HA HA HA) is to start spending more time doing stuff for me. I mean I gave up a lot of time for them.. for good reason but a lot of my hobbies need some attention.. One of them is reading.

I got a book for my birthday and started it 6 days ago..I'm finished! about 300 pages and its done. No small feat for a mother of 3! I was sucked in to it..Easy read and really great story.

I'm addicted again, and am looking for my next book!

CURLS.

LOVE IT!
Let me start by saying I have very curly hair..most of the time. It can get pretty frizzy too. I have tried 3 million hair products and half of them work and half of then are crappy. My big problem is the fact that I have like 3 different textures in my hair, ringlets, waves and my all time love FRIZZ. So something that works on part of my hair makes the other part look bad....
SO I came across this texture shine pomade stuff by Pantene and I LOVE IT. I put it on my washed hair after a biy of gel has been applied. I swear it binds the frizz with the curls to make frizzless curls for the most part. IM IN HEAVEN!!!!!
I will spare you all a before ands after photo..Not quite that bold!

OUTTAKES

So anyone who knows me knows I love to take pictures. Usually I'm emailing people pictures I have taken of their kids or sending family pictures of my own kids..only the good ones of course..My latest outtake roll...

HANDS OFF!

Well I haven't had to say that yet, but in my mind I have ha ha. O.k lets back up. I got a call from the class go to mom ( room helper) from R's school. She was telling me that there is a girl in R's class who "bugs" R and her daughter too. I was sad R had not told me other than saying she didn't want to have any play dates with this girl. So with my new knowledge I go ask R about this girl and what is happening. She tells me that the girl pokes and sometimes punches her in the chest on the playground. She told me she has told a teacher and that the teacher talks to the girl...but its still happening! Apparently the woman who called me ( class helper) talked to this girls mom because she was poking and bothering her daughter. The mom of the bully sounded surprised ( duh) and said she would talk to her daughter. My husband wants to teach R to fight??!! I mean that might work with a boy ( is that sexist?) but I really would rather she tried to settle this with no violence. Although if she really needed to protect herself I would hope she could. UGG the whole thing sucks. Seriously my first instinct is to get in the little kids face and tell her to keep her stinking hand off my kid...or else! HA yeah...no.

Tuesday..

Hmm so if my dog weighs about 45- 50 pounds...how much do you think my cat weighs?? Funny thing is her first name is Piggy and she was named while only 7 weeks old. Then she was just a tiny scrawny kitten. She sure has lived up to her name...

Be afraid....very afraid...



In fact my son IS! Of his own costume. HA HA HA. We showed him how if you turn the lights off his bones glow. He isn't fond of that, and wont even look down during the night while in bed. He prefers to wear his jammies/ costume during the daytime now.

Gorgeous gorgeous

Today was BEAUTIFUL! Its mid October in Seattle so really it should be raining or at least really really chilly. Today the sun was out and the fall leaves were so bright.
During my run today; while music was playing around my ears, I ran under this tree that was actively shedding leaves around me in the gentle breeze. It was amazing really.
IT was a t-shirt day for sure..just perfect.
This day was great since I had a few people over for a birthday party. My sweet girl was showered with lovely gifts from the family. All the kids were able to play outside almost the entire time, while the adults chatted and passed around my brand new nephew.
What kills me though, is the 2 days I spent cleaning my house when now it looks like a bomb went off. There is cake on the carpet, wrapping paper bits scattered everywhere. TONS of dishes and I don't even want to talk about the kids rooms...
It's o.k though. We had a nice time, laughed and ate. Its all worth it.

Isnt he lovely?

baby boy, originally uploaded by pics of us.

Too bad he is evil and 2!!!
Long day..I have a funny story about facial hair and my daughter but it will have to wait until tomorrow..For now you can gaze at my sweet little guy.

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Ahh I cant believe my sweet girl is 4 today.

The day after...

Can I just say..a no napping toddler is like dealing with teeny tiny monster. You think the terrible two's is terrible? Try skipping his nap and see what you get. UGG I'm tired. No funny or witty stories today. Just me wishing I could have gotten to the gym to de-stress but settling for a nice cold beer instead. I'm sure they do the same thing for my ab muscles right?
Another bummer is my darn camera, one of my loves is acting funny. Something about it not able to format the card?? Advice anyone?
I still am hoping to practice my guitar, so that some day be that real hippie singing guitar playing woman I always hoped to be, ha ha ha. No for real.

It's my party....

Woot, its my birthday today. The day starts out with a sick kid, one who doesn't want to go to school, and one who is super grumpy..wait thats my husband ha ha ha.
Actually other than all my favorites being lost on my computer...its going well so far.
I received a gift certificate for shop i frequent and a lovely pair of earrings. My kids all made me beautiful sparkly cards too! I'm going to make a great day. One other reason, I'm going to go shopping!! Even if I have to take 2 out of 3 kids with me!...Will update later .....

LATER.. So while in Target V spies something on the top shelf.
V-"Hey mom can we have a Pina Colada at my birthday?" ( her birthday is in 2 days)
HUH?
Me- "hmm, what are you talking about?" I look up at what she is pointing to.
Laughing I notice that other moms are spying my Pina Colada loving child and then realize she is actually talking about a Pinata!! DUH! ha ha
I had a good laugh as I corrected her. Next a mom comes up to me and goes " Thats my kind of party!"
Too funny.

What did she say?

Pt 3 Wild girl, originally uploaded by pics of us.

Today is Sunday and I let "R" have a friend over for a play date. The child who came over is one whom is very sweet and was a classmate of R's last year.
So to my surprise I hear this come out of the child's mouth while watching a clip of some kids on Sesame Street..
" oooh brown skin :( "
Of course I turned to her my mouth dropping open from her negative toned comment. Before I can chime in R goes..
" Hey there is nothing wrong with brown skin, people have all different kinds of skin..maybe its just showing a world where all people are brown?"
O.K at least the beginning was good right? I'm very proud that I have instilled this kind of thinking in my children..and here I though all us parents in 2007 were..
My hope is that this little girl got this negative thought from another child and not her parents who I really like.
Now my predicament is whether to tell her mom or not.
What would you do?