weekend

Here is an adorable puppy picture for Maddy and Shanna. Oh, and June too, but she actually likes dogs.

Apparently Maddy and Shanna don't find having their toes licked under the table endearing. ;) .................. Dog haters.

Some friends came over to scrap last night. As always, good times. After knowing Maddy for how long, I finally heard her maiden name?!? And it was so odd I can't even remember it. Bingo baby!

My abs were seriously hurting when I went to bed last night. Or veeeery early this morning rather.

*************

"BIG MEANIE!"

- also along the lines of laughing so hard your stomach hurts, I am constantly entertained by Trevor. The boy is seriously a riot.

Tonight at dinner, he was getting mad that Megan was staring at him. So we all started staring at him. He got up and walked behind Mike, and Mike was still staring in the direction of Trevor's chair. Then Mike turned around really quick and yelled, "Bwaaaa!"

Trevor literally jumped in the air and fell backwards on his butt on the floor. It was funny! It seemed like it was in slow motion. Poor guy. Don't feel too bad though, he was laughing hysterically on the floor. Then he got up and yelled, "Big meanie!" to Mike. In between laughing of course.

He's always been funny. I swear someday he'll be a comedian.

Oh and I am SO grateful that Mike is going to see Die Hard with some friends tonight. That means one less man movie I'll have to see on pay per view later on. ;) This movie actually got GOOD reviews?!?!?

Have a good weekend!

my underprivileged children

OK, well I have to admit the title is a bit snarky, but it is my nod to an old neighbor of mine who seems to care A LOT about what my family is doing. And not in the good way. I hear gossipy tidbits from a few different people every now and then about this. She is worried that me and my kids never, NEVER get out of the house. Yeah, we're holed up here all the time. ;) But apparently this was the reason why Megan happened to be a little talkative during primary last Sunday. It couldn't have anything to do with her best friend sitting next to her.

Usually I don't give it a second thought, but as we were exiting the parking garage downtown last night, I was thinking about how we have been out every single day since summer began.
But counting from JUST last week alone our plans have included The Pointe, friends' houses, swim parties, various lessons, dinner at Chili's the night before last, and then last night we went to the circus. Oh, and I also took all three shopping since each one has a birthday party to go to this week.

Today Trevor is flying with his daddy. Which to him means that he'll get breakfast before the flight, and lunch somewhere else in the state later on. It's all about food to that little boy.

And let me just throw in here that my 4 year old has been on a cruise a year since birth.
Yeah, my kids never get out.

Little vent aside - (man, do you really know anybody who keeps tabs on your family more than their own????) we had tickets to the circus last night. This is one of the best little bonuses from the radio station.... we have had so many tickets to events over the years that really have spoiled us. Megan loved going before she could talk. She adored the elephants. And one performer named Bello, who was there again last night. We've grown up with Bello. He's cool.

It was a nice media event, where we were invited to a dinner at Cooperstown before the show. Then once inside the arena, we got to stand down on the floor and have about an hour of cool entertainment right in front of us. I think, even pretty horses aside, the favorite had to be these totally cool jump rope guys.

(I'm going to see if I can use the word cool at least 100 times today! Haha! Maybe that is wishful thinking since it is hotter than heck outside.)

I was going to take my camera, but it was pretty hot and I was hoping for a hands free evening. Cool.

Here is to keeping busy this summer, and I have yet to hear the first "I'm bored" of the season.

Which in a roundabout way reminds me that I'm actually pretty excited after going to Target yesterday, that the school clothes and uniforms are back out. It isn't that I'm looking forward to sending my kids off for school, but I really LOVE going clothes shopping with them. Oh, and those fabulous supply lists. I LOVE when you get to buy new crayons.

(also, and I know this is sick to be thinking about... but once the school supplies come out, then Target replaces that huge area with household items. Like the bulk paper towels, wipes and things.... then..... oh yes..... the household items are replaces by...... HALLOWEEN decorations!!!

Perfect little orange happy pumpkins!!!

Life is good. ;)

I'm melting. Or I can't get enough caffiene in my system to stay awake. I'm not sure what it is, but dang I am tired today.

I did this layout a couple of days ago. The pictures just make me laugh because he looks so serious putting his rollerblades on.

I gave up on trying to scan, so the photo isn't that clear when you click on it. Trust me, the pictures are all in focus. Haha!

Trevor was even with me when I bought the paper at the store. He saw it and said, "Mom. (because I'm not mommy anymore. Cool kids say mom.) This paper is COOL, can you use it on a page about me?" OK, my enabling son, twist my arm. ;) I love scenic route, so he didn't have to twist hard.

Wait until someday when he is smart enough to pick out some paper with me, and he says, "I know you don't have anything red. How about you buy me a new RED car, and you can make a page about me?" He's working me already. I can tell.

I tried so hard to work on some projects last night. You know how you have that urge to sit down and do something, but you can't seem to get inspired enough to do anything? It is frustrating. I hope that feeling gets over with soon, because it really stinks!

The Pointe

I have been a bad blogger lately. Summer is such a weird time. You can not have plans, but the day to day stuff seems to keep us all busy.
The kids have had friends over, gone over to friend's houses, errands to run, craft stuff... you name it.

Last week we did get to do something really fun, and something that I hope turns into an annual summer event for us.

It started last year when Megan was invited to an end of school party with a group of girls from her class. About 8 of them went to the Pointe South Mountain where they all stayed in one room and then played at the property's water park all day. Mike and I went so we could help out if needed. From that moment, I knew we'd have to come back with the boys.

So this time we all went, and had SO much fun. We got a huge suite with an extra bedroom, a kitchen and a huge dining area and living room. After we checked in and changed into bathing suits (me included, ugh.) we went to the water park. They have a huge wave pool with a beach entry (perfect for my boys who aren't totally comfortable swimming in the deep areas yet) a lazy river for tubing, slides, and various pop up fountains everywhere.

Trevor was actually tall enough to go on the slides. He was thrilled about that. That little thing on this picture is HIM! .............





















We played until the park closed at 8 that evening. The best part was being able to tell the kids who were all bummed that it was time to go, that we were coming back tomorrow!

We went back to our room, and were all too tired to go out and eat. So we ordered room service, which for some reason the kids think they are royalty or something when somebody brings them food with those metal covers on them. Megan even said, "This is the best trip we've ever had!"

The next day, we got up and went to the park again. We spent hours there, and had snacks at our little table we spread out on. It was just so nice to relax, and do something fun with the kids. By the time we left, we were ALL worn out. The best part was, being that we were so tired, home was only 15 minutes away.

Anybody in the Phoenix area, I totally recommend doing an overnight here. Actually I think there are a couple resorts in the valley that have the same sort of thing. Since it is unbearably hot for out of town people to come here during the summer, the resort is full of locals. The summer rates are so affordable for a big family, and there really is so much for all ages and swim levels. I know we are going to try to do this every summer. It is so worth it.

Scrap night with the girls = cheaper than therapy.

I have to be honest, Friday was not one of my better days. After pure exhaustion, broken promises and a couple other things, I was just feeling down. No short story version, sorry. (Hell that would take too long! Haha!)

So the timing of seeing some good friends on a scrap night couldn’t have been any better.

I know every now and then I throw in a gushy post about how lucky I am to have met some incredible people through a scrapbooking site. (Who would have thought!) Some I have met in real life and love, even though I don’t get to see them often because they live out of state, some I haven’t met in real life but email enough that I feel I would love them too, but the fact that there is this incredible little group of Phoenicians that I call my closest of friends. You know who you are.

We’ve all been through marriages, divorces, new babies, health issues, moving, good times and bad times, and all of that life stuff together for the years that we’ve known each other. It really is the most incredible of support systems.

The thing that made last night so great was that everybody was there. Lisa was able to come all the way down from Prescott, and I realized how much I really miss her funky sense of humor at these crops. Kaelene was supposed to be in California, but ended up being able to come. That girl is sharp! She says things out of nowhere that are just funny.

Shanna made me laugh harder than I have laughed in a long time (that girl can SCREAM!!) We went on a little shopping trip to a scrapbook store, and hit a drive through for some sodas on our way back to Beth’s house. Lisa was in front of us in her Prescott redneck Mack truck along with Michelle and Maddy. Shanna jumped out of her car and snuck up beside them and popped her head through the open window and let out this unnatural blood curdling scream. Resulting in Maddy crying, and I think Michelle peed a little. ;) I just sat back and watched the whole thing. Laughing my rear end off.

And Beth, always the best hostess. Plus she put U2 on for awhile. Enough said right there. She is awesome.

I kind of felt like I was sitting back and watching a movie about these people. Each one brings something in their personality that is different, to the table. Then it all meshes. It was just one of those nights when you realize how lucky you really are and I swear they all made me laugh myself out of a funk. Scrapping + good friends = priceless.

Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is your pilot speaking. Oh, and Toxic Thomas.

Right now I am at flightaware.com watching Mike's plane come home from Cincinnati! He should be here soon. What did we ever do before technology came along that allowed us to track flights across the world?? It is so cool! I like to guess what state he is over before I hit refresh. It's my little game.



I finally get to say more though... He is officially employed!! Woohoo! He got a job with ComAir, who is owned by Delta. It is incredible news!!! I couldn't really say more the other day because technically he still had one more part of the interview to take care of back there.



I am incredibly happy and proud of him. I remember him wanting to do this back when I met him in high school. Life took a few different turns for us, but those turns enabled us to be able to do this now, at this point in our lives.



So it's official! There is a commercial pilot in the house! :)



*********************









I have been putting of the inevitable until tonight, when Matthew goes to sleep. There is a recall on thousands of Thomas wood engines. Supposedly there is lead paint on several different characters from a pretty good chunk of the decade. Prime years that my boys were collecting these toys.



I need to sneak in and tag and bag some of these guys. I don't want to over react, but Toxic Thomas is not a fun toy. The only thing is, I keep having flashbacks of all the years that my boys played with them and they of course ended up in their mouths. Ugh.

Thank goodness a large part of the Thomas stuff we have are the metal trains. That should cut my numbers down to about 500 trains that I need to sort through! LOL!

they do swim!

I just have to preface this by saying how much I used to dread taking my boys near a pool since neither could swim. Trevor, being 6 years old screams like a fire truck if you let go of him or he isn't near the steps. Matthew, always liked to put his head under the water, but never ventured away from the steps either.

I even took them for swimming lessons last year where I spent lots of money, lots of time, and the only thing they both learned how to do was blow bubbles. I was a bit miffed. I just figured if we made it through this summer, they would have to learn next year when we have our own pool.

Today we had a pool party for the activity day girls. Mike wasn't home to watch the boys, so they had to go with me. I was nervous about this. Not only did I have to help lifeguard for several girls, but I had to make sure my boys stayed on top of floaties in the shallow end.

I don't know what got into either of them... but today... they SWAM! Both of them! Like little fish! Well, Matthew looks more like a little frog with his legs, but it is swimming non the less! Trevor even swam across the pool. I am SO proud of both of them. And like a horrible scrapper, I decided to keep my camera at home today since I was afraid there was too many opportunities for it to get broken. Grr.

This is a BIG thing. Huge!

a little layout, and the sopranos happily ever after

This is my totally inspired by Karla Dudley page. (She is SO awesome!! check her out!) I had these photos from awhile ago, and they were just kind of sitting in their folder on the computer.

I saw a page of hers with the Basic Gray paper, and that incredible little sentiment: The most precious of offerings. It was perfect. I had done a page about Trevor giving me flowers at about the same age, and that line just sums it all up. Just about every mom has a moment like this, when a little one brings you a fist full of flowers or pretty weeds.

***********

I'm still thinking about the Sopranos today. I admit when the ending came my first response was to yell at the dog or somebody who had to have accidentally pushed a button on the remote to make the screen go black. I wonder how many other people across the country yelled, "NOOOOO!" at the same time, thinking that the cable had gone out or something.

What an ending. At first I felt kind of angry that everything wasn't all tied up in the end. There were, and are still so many questions. But... that is part of what made that show so good. You had to think a lot while you were watching it. My theory is that Tony and family are all just fine. Like the song on the jukebox in the end: Don't stop believing... Life goes on and on and on....

you know. I could go on forever with talking about it, the little hints that could go both ways (that Tony was killed, or the whole family was killed) but I admit that I like Tony. I want them to all just be a normal family. I'm beginning to think the ending was perfect because you could interpret it anyway you wanted if you thought about it enough. And let's face it, if it had ended in any other way people would be arguing that it wasn't what should have happened. Nobody would be perfectly happy with the ending. Just like people are saying that they expected more when Phil was whacked. Now see, I thought that was pure genius. Mike and I even had to rewind it a few times to enjoy it over and over. Violent... but funny. And the guy deserved it! "Pop!"

My only complaint about the entire show was that I wish Paulie would have whacked the cat!

Harry Potter and what is with this weather???

This was the plan all along.

Well, at least after like the third book and I saw how people were going crazy over it.

I wanted to wait until the last Harry Potter book was near coming out so I could start the whole series and not have to wait. I'm like that. I have a hard time with cliff hangers!

Today I got book ONE!

So, if Lisa is any indication.... I won't be blogging much for awhile. ;) She, along with everybody else I know who started these books kind of went into hiding while reading them. Normal life ceases to exist! It's all about Harry.

******

You know how I love to talk about weather too...

well it has been absolutely AMAZING here in the Grand Canyon state. Is it really June??? I swear, we have had such a great spring. (Which lasted more than the typical week.) But yesterday and today have cooled down. Today in my car the thermometer read 87 degrees! Yes, in JUNE. It is incredible.

Last night was beautiful too. Everybody was outside enjoying it. This reminds me of what Phoenix used to be like when I was a kid. Summer was hot, but we got a daily rainstorm to cool us off for a couple of hours and then the nights were beautiful.

So today I just had to mention how happy the weather is making me! Because I know in another week I'll be complaining about it. ;)

A huge wooohoooo!

What's that in the sky? A bird? A plane?

A big plane???

YES. A very happy day at our house today. Mike had his interview and it went well. :)

some cards.

Nevermind my last post about my clean desk. It's a mess now. I bought these really cute Lil' Davis chipboard things. I love them. I love them so much I have been hoarding them and afraid to use them on anything. Why is that?? So, I figured I would make some cards with them. I mean a package of them is only $2, it was good therapy for me to lighten up and go ahead and use them.

Plus I have a good reason. I have a small tower of plasticware in my kitchen. All clean. All from last week when people were bringing us dinner. Now I know that they are the 'disposable' kind. You know, the Ziplock ones, but you still can't get yourself to throw them away. So I would imagine somewhere in the back of the minds of the people who brought dinner they would be thinking, "I hope she brings those back!"

So along with the plasticware, I wanted to make some thank you cards. These women deserve the time it takes to make them because everything was wonderful and they took a huge burden off of my shoulders last week.

Man, now my desk looks like Lisa's. ;)

It is hot. I'm already whining, but I have a good reason, I promise!

It is 100 degrees.

IN.

MY.

HOUSE.


Upstairs. The a/c went out. This really stinks. I am very grateful for the fact that we have 2 units, so it looks like we'll be having a campout downstairs tonight. The kids are excited. They seem to think it is some sort of adventure.

I'm also glad that our couches are huge. Because THAT is where I'm sleeping tonight.

summer has finally started around here.

Today feels like the official first day of summer. Probably because the first week seemed like a blur with everything going on.

Today I took the kids swimming. My ward has this awesome thing worked out for the summer where every Friday a group of moms meet at different houses so our kids can all get together and swim. My kids loved it... being that we are the only ones on our street that seem to not have a pool. (next year... next year... next year.... I keep chanting this to myself.) It was great that they got to see some friends, cool off and wear themselves out with a couple hours of solid swimming.

Does swimming count as taking a bath??? ;) It should, because I can't believe it is already so late. We've totally blown any sort of bedtime rules too, since summer began.

I took the longest nap ever today. I think the weight of everything going on for the past couple of months crashed on me today. I have been seriously fatigued.

Lets just say that if U2 was waiting for me at a scrapbook store full of free products to give me, and all the coke I could drink, I still wouldn't want to go. Now that is tired. Not to mention too, when I came in the door from swimming expecting Mike to be up and feeling better... he was in a fetal position on the couch. Again. Oh no.

He had a stint removed, and apparently that shocked the hell out of something inside him. Like his innards haven't been violated enough lately. I called the doctor, and he said to watch him for an hour and if it didn't get better to head BACK to the hospital. Noooooooo! I wanted to have an all out tantrum on the floor. No. No. No.

He was still hurting most of the day, but I think the thought of him having to go back didn't appeal to him either. Please, I hope this was the last hurrah today. I'm ready for some normalcy around here.

And speaking of... time to get these kids into bed.

F I N A L L Y !

I got to see the stone that started it all.

Tonight was Mike's surgery. We were at the hospital at 5:00 like they said, and the surgery was supposed to start at 7:00.

We waited... and waited...

until 9:00. From what I understand somebody came in and had some sort of emergency surgery so we had to wait for another operating room to open up. This time we were at Desert Banner. Plus this time we had a different surgeon. This guy was great... and he talked to ME! LOL, much unlike the other guy that neither Mike or I liked.

The surgery was supposed to take 45 minutes, and probably took 46. Dang, I like this doctor! The other guy told us it would take about 20 minutes and then 2 hours later came out to tell me that it was over. I was prepared this time too, with an arsenal of magazines. Even though I ended up spending much of the waiting time eating a late dinner, talking to some people on the phone and playing bubble breaker on Mike's phone. My high score: 510!! I'm very proud.

-- The stone hadn't broken up at all from the last surgery, but I got to see the sucker in a cup. Big piece, and a lot of little pieces. All blown up. It was fascinating. ;)

So I ended up getting home at midnight, and left Mike still in the recovery room. He's in good hands and there isn't anything I could do at that point.

Thank you to everybody for the well wishes, the prayers, the funny kidney stone stories (I'm glad some of you still had a sense of humor after it was all said and done.) the meals, the babysitting... everything. It has been a long and crazy 10 days.

Now I wish they would give the spouse of said patient the left over stuff that makes you loopy and tired right before surgery so I could have a nice long sleep too. ;) The kids will be up and bouncing around in about 6 hours. Aren't they supposed to sleep in now that school is out? It will be a short night.

rock climbing wall

Aw, now I want to write something smart and meaningful about 'reaching for your goals' and all that good stuff... but I can't do mush right now. Instead... this is what we did today and that is my little girl two stories above my head on a rock climbing wall. Awesome.

I had activity day with the church girls today. We went to a place in Gilbert that has a three story rock climbing wall, in air conditioned coolness. They all had so much fun!! Most of the girls had never done this before, and they all did great! A few of them made it all the way to the top, which I couldn't believe. They make it look really easy.

I am taking Trevor back this week since I saw him climb a rock wall at a school carnival once. He'll love this. The best is, it is $3 per child and they can climb for more than an hour if they want! I am sure we'll be doing this a lot this summer.

The pictures aren't that great unfortunately. :(





















One more little update. I know I haven't been around much because of everything going on in our house right now. Mike is going in for surgery tomorrow. Hopefully this will be the last of it, and I'm crossing my fingers for NO complications. Wish us luck!

Then hopefully things will be back to normal. As normal as can be at least! ;)

a little me time.

I decided no matter what I was going to scrap a little today. I haven't done it in a long time, and heaven knows the past week has been insane.

I know there seem to be a few layouts lately about Megan and clothes. I have to laugh at this a little because I realize this is the stage that we are in. She's very into clothes. Only I thought we had a few more years before this would get so big!

This layout turned out NOTHING close to what I had in my mind. I originally was going to go with orange and hot pink, with some blue in it. The photos just got lost with those colors, and I ended up with this much softer version. I like it. Even though it took me hours to do since I kept the original idea in my head. It's frustrating sometimes because this layout doesn't look like it took as long as it did! I know some of you know exactly what I mean when you sit there over a page forever!

Journaling says: I don't think there is an age limit when it comes to that irresistable urge to twirl. Like most girls, (including myself) when you put on a full skirt it is just fun!

We went to the mall to shop for some new clothes for our vacation and Megan loved this skirt. So much so that after a couple of times in the dining room on the ship, she wore it to the beach.

Now since I have completely ignored my children and the dog, I know I have a mess to clean up in the family room and kitchen. Piper discovered the garbage can, and when one of the kids came to tell me about it I just told them to put the can on top of the counter. Hey, it's officially summer vacation. ;)

last day of school and second time in the hospital! Yea!

From this:





















To THIS:





















I know it happens fast, but I was shocked seeing the difference between the first day of school picture, to today's picture. Yep... last day of school. Man, where did that year go?

Maybe it's the bangs. Megan decided she wanted to grow them out this year. Trevor looks different too. So '2nd grade' looking now.

The excitement this morning was electric. I'm not kidding. I passed by one of the crossing areas on one of the busier streets in the subdivision, and there were 3 boys holding a huge sign next to the crossing guard. It said:

HONK!! Today is the last day of school!!!!!

Even the crossing guard was dancing around with her stop sign in the air. It was funny. People were honking like crazy! It was great. I wish I could have gotten a picture. I swear that kids were even walking across the field at a faster pace to get to their class lines. Remember how fun the last day was?? I'm even excited about having the kids home. (Remind me to re-read this entry during the summer when I hear the first, "I'm so bored!")

On another note, Mike is BACK in the hospital today. He wasn't feeling well yesterday afternoon and ended up in a lot of pain around dinner time. Plus he had a fever and was getting chills. He called the hospital and they told him to come back in. This time with a different urologist. That other guy was a quack. This new one promises to get it taken care of. A kidney stone should not take 5 days in the hospital, then ending up back there again. Thank you to Sharon (Mike's mom) for taking him in the middle of the night and sitting there with him. It was nice to know that somebody was there since I couldn't be. She gave me an update somewhere aroung 2:00 a.m. (I think.) I know it saved the kids a lot of stress that I was here this morning.

It's frustrating, but dare I say I'm getting a little used to being here by myself right now. :p

I have had tremendous support from the relief society in my ward. I tried not to let anybody know about what was going on because I felt like I was capable of making dinner. One of my friends found out through the kids, and all of a sudden I started having meals delivered. I have to say it really has helped out knowing that is one less thing to worry about at night.

Trevor thinks it is the coolest thing in the world. The boy loves food. Last night somebody brought by a quiche and a huge bag of cut up fruit. We all finished it up for breakfast this morning too. I am incredibly grateful.

So that is life in the Shums house today. :)

My dog has bling.

Ok, I know. Another dog post.

I can't help it this time because I think this thing is so darn cute.

Also, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I have a hard time finding the letter 'M' at scrapbook stores or anywhere because of Megan and Matthew. It's always the empty spot.

So here I am at Petco the other day. I see shiny rhinestone letters and charms on a display. Sure enough... an empty space where the letter M should be. Figures. BUT... there was a letter 'P' !!! I couldn't resist it.

I have a thing when it comes to monograms or finding my name on anything. For years I couldn't find anything with my name spelled K-e-r-r-y. It was always Carrie. I was the one elementary school kid who didn't have a license plate on my bike because of the Carrie's in the world.

Every girl deserves a little shiny present every now and then, and Piper had to have one. Plus don't you think that the black collar is slimming and timeless? She looks FABULOUS don't you think????

Guess who is home! Well, sort of. His body is here, but he isn't exactly 'here.' He's awake in between pain killer doses for a few minutes.

I wasn't sure if Mike was coming home today or not. I had both boys with me (Trevor came home yesterday from school with a tummy ache, and I kept him home today.) We went to Jack In The Box and Petsmart. Since we were already on Val Vista I thought I'd stop by the hospital with them and see what was going on. Mike was pacing and ready to go.

So the strange thing is... the stone is still there. He had a cat scan yesterday and it shows that it is still the same size and still in there. Plus a stint now. Um, weren't they supposed to use a laser to break up the stone? Guess the surgeon forgot. He's kind of a dolt. He hasn't communicated with Mike at all since before the surgery.

So I'm a little nervous about him being home and the problem really hasn't been fixed. Hmmm. He has a call in to his doctor, so we'll see where we go from here.

Anyway...

The best part of leaving today was watching two separate couples taking new babies home. I saw one family in the elevator, and another family when I was waiting in the car for them to wheel mike down.

The doors opened and there was a new mom with dad holding the baby carrier. (Brown with pink polka dots! I soooo want a baby now just for the car seat!!! How cute!!!)

I watched dad go get the minivan, and then watched as a brand new person went out into the world for the first time. The first time outside, and past the hospital doors. I know, I always think to much about stuff like this. But wow, really what a cool thing if the baby only understood what a huge step that first day is.

You've been inside the walls of a hospital, you are totally equal with all of the other babies in the nursery around you, and then you go out into the real world. An official person now. A brand new life ahead of them! Every single thing is brand new!

I was thinking about this not long ago too. (It was when I was helping Megan clean her room and realized exactly how much stuff this 8 year old has accumulated.) Seriously, a baby comes into the world with nothing. Not a shirt, nothing. Before you realize it, this person has a room, furniture, clothes to put in there, toys, books, food, everything. It really is amazing. Then they only get more as time goes on. This whole circle of life thing is really pretty amazing.

I should have snuck into the nursery to go peek at them while I was there. Babies are so cute!!!!

Blahahvhhchlhelllech.

That is still the sound in our house. Sometimes in stereo.

In my attempt to find the bright side or the humor in the situation, I realized how excited I am that all of the beds in our house have clean sheets, pillows and comforters. That is what happens when 3 out of 4 beds get puked in during the night.

Trevor just lucked out since he isn't sick, but he has clean sheets too.

Mike is still in the hospital. The stones were broken up by a laser, but haven't made an appearance yet. Without getting into TMI, he's not doing too good and is more than likely going to be having surgery again tomorrow. We can't keep things easy around this household you know. ;)

may I please have a little rant?

Because:

a.) I have earned it

b.) Somebody up there really doesn't like me right now.

So, Mike is still in the hospital. Hopefully he'll be coming home sometime tomorrow. I am exhausted from going back and forth to the hospital and doing the stuff that still hadn't gotten done while he was away for a month. Plus getting all of the laundry and stuff clean and put away from last week's vacation.

Yeah, thank goodness for a nice vacation in between. Because I am back to single motherhood while he is in the hospital.

Tonight.... Matthew starts to tell me he isn't feeling well. I go downstairs to get some medicine. Less than a minute later I am coming back up the same stairs and the dog pooped on the middle landing part. Ugh. Before I even look up and start to walk up the remaining 9 stairs I hear,

"Blahahvhhchlhelllech."

Matthew is at the top of the stairs throwing up. Then as I go to get a bucket for him in the bathroom I noticed he had done the same thing all over the bathroom floor. In less than FIVE minutes, I now had about an hour of clean up to do.

Then believe it or not, Megan is up in my bathroom throwing up. WTH???

All I was hoping for tonight was to watch a few episodes of CSI and Desperate Housewives.

Motherhood is grand.

I mean, I do love it. But did you ever think back when you were newly married that someday your entire life would revolve around poop, puke and other bodily functions of OTHER people? It is amazing how tough we get as time goes on.

Now, I'm trying to see the bright side of this whole thing. My steam clean machine has come out of the closet since getting the puppy. Now it just resides in the hallway. Piper hasn't had many accidents, but when she does it is easier to just fill this with hot water and clean it up. All I can say is thank goodness for technology. Thank goodness to Hoover for making something that cleans up puke and dog messes off of my carpet and tile.

Does anybody want to trade with me for awhile??? Pleeeeeease? ;)

E257

Yesterday was quite the day around here.

We have a running joke in our family and our neighborhood about how many times the fire truck E257 has had to come to our house. You know, the ambulance ride rewards card. If you get 9 punches, the 10th ride to the hospital is FREE! Haha!

Breathing trouble, seizures, anaphalactic shock, all that fun stuff.

I still swear that our other house that we lived in (same neighborhood, but 2 streets away) was built on an indian burial ground. That's when most of our bad luck happened.

BUT we have had a couple of calls at this house. Yesterday was one of them.

Long story short, Mike ended up in the hospital yesterday with a kidney stone. Not just a kidney stone, but based on the look of the nurses that look at his chart and the funky look they get on their face tells me that it is the mother of all kidney stones. 9 mm. Too big to pass, so he has to have surgery today.

I swear I have never seen him in so much pain. I think I have lost my standing of 'bad hurting' when even nurses who have had children say that kidney stones are 1000 times worse than childbirth without an epidural. I mean, how do you argue with that? This knocks me down a few levels when I'm trolling for an incredible mother's day present and I look with puppy eyes saying, "But I went through hours of labor and childbirth!!!!"

Piper

A Piper update. Have I mentioned that I love the snot out of this dog? She is so cool. She reminds me so much of our old dog Katie.

I swear she grew while we were gone. See those big feet in this picture? They get bigger everyday and then I worry about the rest of her catching up to them. She's in that funny, lanky stage right now where her legs are so long that she kind of runs sideways. (and somehow always right in front of me.)

She's having to slum it at our house this summer without a pool. Yep, our pool has been put off until next summer. So Mike brought home one of those hard plastic pools from the store the other day. She loves it, and and spends a lot of time in it. She also loves her dogloo. I'm sure you can tell the girl has it pretty rough. ;)

Last one! Random picture.

Here is proof that I really was there. One of the two pictures with me in it!

Believe it or not I have 300 pictures that I took during the week. :p

I promise not to post all of them. Haha! Thank goodness for blogs, and family members who have been wanting to see a few pictures. I at least feel like I have something written down from our trip.

It is hard to remember some of the little things when you are buried in the mountain of laundry after unpacking.

It was such a fun week, and I'm so glad that we all had this time together. Especially after the month that Mike was gone. We all got to do separate fun things that we wanted to do, but still spent a lot of time together. That is my favorite thing about cruising.

Speaking of, Princess just sent me an email for an upgrade on balcony cabins. Hahahaaa!

Cabo, part 3

Bear with me, blogger won't let me do more than 4 pictures at a time. Ugh.

Megan is going to be one extreme sports kind of girl. I can tell.

She wanted to go parasailing, and we had just enough time before we had to catch our tender back to the ship.

I couldn't believe she wanted to do it. She said she had so much fun though. There she is, up there with Mike.



<-- Matthew and a cute little turtle whistle that nana bought for him.























<-- cleaned up and leaving Cabo.

Cabo, part 2

While I sat on the beach, just a few feet away from where the jet ski rental place was... Mike took each of the kids out for a little bit on the ocean. They all had a blast.











<-- see that little speck? That's Mike and Trevor.













Matthew LOVED the jet skis! I was really happy that he did because I wasn't sure what he was going to think about it. He kept saying he wanted to do it since he kept hearing how fun it was from his brother and sister from the last trip here.

Day 6, Cabo, part 1

CABO is awesome. This was the best day ever according to all of us. I'm always bummed that whatever cruise we are on, the time is always short in this port. Someday we are going to have to just come down and stay in one of the hotels and stay for a few days.

Man, and this place changes every time we come to it. It is amazing.

We only had about 5 hours in port, and so much time is spent getting on the tender and then taking water taxis to get to the beach. I found a guy (or the guy found me rather) that was renting umbrellas and lounge chairs. He parked me in a pretty good spot to watch the kids playing in the water. (No jellyfish either! LOL!)



I'm looking at these pictures I took and wondering where everybody is! I swear, there were a ton of people on the beach, and playing in the water on boats, jet skis, parasailing, fishing boats heading out, tenders and everything. This really is a playground for water sports. I love the picture of Matthew with our ship in the background.

a couple pictures from jellyfish beach

<-- before the dead jellyfish sighting and subsequent freak out.

















(below) Matthew with the BEST stick in Mexico. He found this on the beach and wouldn't let it go. This stick went everywhere with us for the rest of the cruise. Except maybe, camp carnival and the dining room. But every now and then he'd still ask, "Where is my stick?!?!" You just have to love boys.

It now lives in a prominent place on his dresser. ;)

Day 4, Mazatlan

I was really excited about Mazatlan. The last time just Mike and I took this ship we went riding on the beach. As much as I had been around horses, the beach was the one place I've always wanted to ride one. I had to wait 34 years. Megan, well she had to wait 8.

The boys decided they wanted to go too. I was really proud of Trevor, he did great. He finally got enough courage to trot and he loved it.

Matthew started out on his own horse and was smiling like crazy when he was first put up on it. Then about five minutes later, he started that silent cry of total paralyzing fear. His head was on the saddle horn with his hands over his eyes. So I ended up riding with him. It was fine, but it had been a long time since I've been on the butt of a horse like that. I think he felt a lot better having me with him. He loved to trot and laughed about that. About half way into the ride he had enough and was ready to go back. We had promised them some time at the beach later in the day, and apparently he had a one track mind.

Megan was awesome! That girl took off and cantered up and down the beach. Mike was with her most of the time, but she loved to run as far as she could then turn the horse around to run back to where I was walking along with the boys. She smiled the entire time. The pictures are weird because this is my small pocket camera. I wish I would have taken my good one. :(

I handed Matthew off to one of the trail people. She was a sweet Mexican lady who loved kids. Then I got a chance to gallop a little myself. Megan and I raced a few times. That was really weird to be running along side of her, but SO much fun!! (Hence the bad, blurry photo that I took while cantering next to her.)























































After riding we went back to the ship to get bathing suits and head out for lunch. There was a place that we had been to a couple times before that was right on the beach and had good food. It is in an area called the Golden Zone, with a lot of resorts and shopping. The last time we were there with the kids the day was perfect, so we wanted to take them back.

This time, there were little jellyfish on the beach which immediately freaked Trevor out. He wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with that beach. So, we headed back to the ship. Which was fine because we were all getting tired and we didn't have as much time in Mazatlan as we did in PV. Plus the next day was Cabo, with the best beaches!!

Day 3, Puerto Vallarta

We weren't sure what we were going to do in Puerto Vallarta at first. The night before we were discussing what we wanted to do. There was a cool excursion that went into the rain forest where you could swim in a waterfall. I guess Predator was filmed there. They also had this beautiful area over the waterfall where you could eat lunch. It sounded like fun, but really, probably more fun for mike and I then for the kids.

I think they would have had fun, but then we found out about this waterpark that a few other families were going to. Once we mentioned 'water park' there was no turning back to a boring old waterfall. ;) Not only was this a waterpark with slides and pools, but they had dolphin shows and seals.

The kids had SO much fun. This park had probably 15 different slides, a lazy river to tube in, and one incredible slide that we called the flusher. Mike and I have actually seen it on the travel channel before as a 'must do waterslide' on the best waterparks in the world. It was 6 stories high, and you go down a long curved part (the colon, haha!) until you get spit out into this enormous toilet bowl looking thing (the size of a house) with swirling water. You swirl around a few times until you finally get dropped about 4 feet into another pool. Now I know from experience what some unfortunate goldfish feel like when they are being 'returned to the ocean.'

We spent all day there. I have a ton of pictures from that day, but really how many more slide pictures can you stand? I promise we did many other things in the other cities that we stopped at. I'll post those pictures soon.

I don't know if you can see it well, but that is Matthew popping out of one of the slides into one of the several pools they had. The best thing was each slide ended in a pool that was only about 4 feet deep, so my two non swimming boys were able to run up and down to their heart's content without mom having to panic about them drowning. Plus there were probably about 50 people at this park all day. Apparently this is their off season. It worked out amazingly well for us since we could see the kids wherever they were.
















After several hours at the waterpark, and all of us tired from the sun, water and climbing up to the tops of the towers, we went back to the ship.

We were leaving at 10:00 that night, so we had a long day in Puerto Vallarta. We dropped the boys off at camp carnival and took Megan back out to have lunch. We ate at a nice place not too far from the ship, on the third story of an open air restaurant. The breeze was nice, and we just sat staring at the ocean. I had the best guacamole and chips, and bottled mexican coke. Trust me, coke aficionados, in Mexico it is made with cane sugar, so it tastes SO much better than coke here. It's always a treat when we are there.

Back to the ship, a nice shower and long nap, dinner and then watching us leave later that night from the balcony. Our room was several decks above where the harbor pilot climbs down and jumps from our ship onto the small boat waiting for him once we got out to sea. This was fun to watch as we left each port, but the pilot in PV was the best. He jumped off and had a to go plate full of cruise food! Then he stood on the front of the small boat and waved while everybody cheered. I think this guy must love his job and the attention that he gets. He was funny.

more soon!

day one and two

<--- waiting to board the ship. I think Matthew was in full vacation mode.

The first two days on the ship were sea days. I love sea days. I take full advantage of the fact that my kids love the kid’s programs on the ship so they are usually gone for a few hours during different blocks of the day. I take a lot of naps. Sometimes I don’t even mean to, but I’ll fall asleep pretty much anywhere where I am stationary for more than five minutes.

Trevor had been asking since we got on the ship when the waterslide was going to open. So when it finally did we took the kids out on deck for a couple of hours. It was pretty cold on the first day, but the second day as we were in Mexico was much better. My kids were great since I could pull up a deck chair and watch them slide down from 3 decks above. Then they'd get out and run back up the stairs to the top again. Mike even went down a couple of times. I'm a wuss, and stuck to towel duty.

Both days we spent a lot of time at the slide or the pool. Trevor became somewhat of a celebrity because of it. He had the funniest scream when he would go down. A lot of people would stop to watch him, give him a high 5 or ask him if the slide was awesome. One time I was in an elevator with all three kids and an older woman asked me if he was the little boy from the slide. I answered yes, and she told me that she couldn't help but get a picture of him because she laughed for hours watching him and she wanted to remember him. Trevor would make a great cruise director since he was all over the place making friends.





















The food is always good on the ships, but man this time everything was incredible. I spent the first couple of days trying to be really good, but I soon gave in once I found the pasta station at lunch. One whiff of garlic and that was it. I think I had pasta with garlic and alfredo sauce everyday after that. Plus my own little chocolate lava cake for dessert every night. Mmmm. Man do I miss that cake.

more in a bit!

bye carnival pride.

We're home.

I am in the process of putting 220 pictures from one camera on to the computer, then I have to find the small camera and put about 100 more photos on here too.

The washing machine is already going too. (sshh... I actually kind of missed doing my own laundry!!)

We had such a wonderful vacation. It was honestly one of the best ever. The kids had such a good time, the weather couldn't have been any more perfect, and the things that we did were awesome. I'll have a lot to write about.

I'm trying to get back into normal mode now. I'm so spoiled... where is Ronald with the dinner menu? And will there be a cabin steward to pull down the bed and leave a chocolate on my pillow tonight???? ;)

As fun as it was, it does feel good to be home.

Happy mother's day to all of my mommy friends out there! I hope today has been a relaxing and nice one for all of you!

more later!

Love .... exciting and new....
come aboard...
we're expecting yoooou!

Set a course for adventure
your mind on a new romance

The loooove boat....
soon will be making another run
the love boat
promise is something for everyone....


I'm packing today. Packing and singing this song over and over in my head! I can't wait, and the kids can't wait. I keep hearing, "Remember when we'd ask you how many days were left until the cruise and you would say 65? Now it is ONE!!"

Adios to my muchachos. See you soon!

I've been tagged

I have been tagged! This is a lot harder than it seems to come up with 7 random things about yourself. Like I said before, especially when you don't see yourself as being all that interesting in the first place! But here is mine:



1. I love to fill out questionnaires. I do. I have no idea why, but I always love when I get that clipboard at a new doctor’s office and I get to sit there and fill out pages, or filling in stuff for the kid’s school. I don’t think I will ever tire of that. Or at least until I can’t see or write anymore.


2. I have owned two horses in my life. One named Sundance, and the other named Ali. I used to barrel race and jump. I was quite the equestrian! I also had a donkey name Rudy for awhile, who used to live in the barn with Ali to keep her company.


3. I absolutely cannot pull a cotton ball out of a bottle of medicine. I can’t stand the feel of it, and have to have somebody else do it. Blah. I get a chill just thinking about it. Thank goodness I’ve never been in a life or death situation because of a cotton ball yet.

4. When I was a baby I was burned by a sparkler that somebody threw off of a pier. It fell on my face. I am guessing this could be why I really hate those things now or anything to do with fireworks.

5. I say a quick prayer every time I see an ambulance, fire truck or airevac.

6. I met Mike the first day of our senior year in high school. I parked next to him because I had a 65 Mustang, and so did he. Serendipity.

7. My first kiss from a male other than a family member was Bono. Seriously. When I met U2 he gave me kiss right on the lips. Pretty freaking cool huh???


Now, since Lisa took everybody I would normally tag…. I’m going to go with Laura, Karen, Kaelene, Shanna (who knows everybody and their brother so she’ll have no trouble thinking of people tag. Haha!)

AND guess who showed up at my front door at 9:00 last night?!?!? I had gotten a call earlier in the day that Mike was going to stop in Moab for the night. The phone rang at 9:00 and at first I was kind of mad that he wasn't asleep so he could leave early in the morning. Then the doorbell rang, and I thought "Who in the hell is here at 9:00??" Seriously not thinking it was him. Yay! He actually surprised me this time... believe me, I am the hardest person to surprise!!

random

Happy May Day! Not that I grew up with the tradition of May Day, but I always liked the idea. Living in Arizona doesn't make it easier to keep this cool day going either, since it is already heating up. - I wish I could leave little baskets of flowers on my neighbor's doors. So instead, I'm leaving this pretty flower on my blog. :)

First of all, I noticed on my little ticker below that HALLOWEEN is exactly 6 months away from today! That is hard for me to believe, but I am pretty excited about that. Which means 5 months until I can get all of my cute pumpkins out again since I always get them out on the first of October.

Second... guess who is on his way home today!?!?!? Finally... Mike is coming home from Colorado. I feel like I have lost my right arm since he was away for an entire month. I have to say that I really am the luckiest girl to have found him so early in my life. We have pretty much grown up together, and we really are the best of friends. I also realized how much he really does do around here. (Don't tell him this, because I know I'll still have to get on him about picking some things up once he gets back!) I'll cut him some slack. But.. life feels complete again. That last month sucked. Plain old sucked.

THIRD... As a reward for a month by ourselves... this weekend we head to California to board the Carnival Pride. Seriously, of all the cruises we have been on, this one is the best with the kids. The ship is gorgeous, and the kids have always had the best time. This will be our third trip on this ship. Believe it or not we even have the same cabins that we had the last time! I'm looking forward to a week of just being a family, and having a ton of fun together.

Last... I have been tagged by Jen, Maddy and Lisa! So I'll have to think of 7 random things about me. I don't think I'm that interesting... so it is going to take some thought. I'll do that later today. :)

back into the groove, and boy do I like it there.

Woop! Woop! Two pages done from last night and this morning. I think I have officially killed that Anna Griffin paper because it is one of my favorites since it came out. I have used it in some way in three layouts from this year.

Someday my kids will look through albums and say, "Hey 2005 was the year of Chiffon Bazzill, 2006 was the year of the big flowers, and 2007 is the year of Anna Griffin." Hey, I guess if I like something I might as well beat it into the ground right?

I think if you click on the page you can see the journaling.

I have a couple more pages to work on today since I have a deadline for Devine Memories. I got some cool stuff to work with this month, so I can't wait to start. (Nothing like putting it off until the last moment though.)

horse love.

A super duper quick one that I did last night during CSI. :)

I still love these pictures of Megan, and quite timely since we went to riding lessons again yesterday morning.

I'm trying to get back into the groove with scrapping this week. I have taken too much time off from it since Mike has been out of town. By the end of the day I'm way too tired to do anything scrap related. I missed it though, so it made me realize again how much I enjoy this hobby.

I'm even working on another one today, so hopefully I'll post that one later.

Happy weekend! Woohoo!

blades of glory

I was invited by a friend to go see a movie today, plus I was lucky enough to find a sitter.

We went to see Blades Of Glory. I have been looking forward to this movie since I saw the trailer a long time ago! Oh my gosh, it was so funny!!!

Sometimes you just have to love dumb humor!! Just looking at Will Ferril makes me laugh, and I love John Heder ever since seeing Napoleon Dynamite the second time. That movie changed my life. I probably qoute from it once a day.

So these two together I knew would make for a funny movie. Add to that the funniest story ever from my friend right before we left. I was already in tears in the parking lot before the movie. It requires a visual, so if you see me sometime be sure to ask. It was like a Seinfeld moment!

I loved that Jenna Fischer (the office) and Amy Poehler (SNL) were in this too.

Anyway, funny stuff. I'm so glad I got to see it in the theater and glad to have gotten out today.

The weather... holy cow, what is up with this and did anybody expect it? When we got out of the movie there was a wall of dirt. Usually something that you see during monsoon season around here. It was a storm that came in fast, and now we are getting sprinkles! Yessss! <-- see.... Napoleon Dynamite. ;)

I'm going to go enjoy watching the storm. :)

fun for a measly $3

Excuse the dirty window. That is something I am trying to embrace right now. The fact that everytime I clean the windows, we get just enough rain to come along and mess things up.

I am trying to come to the realization that I'm never going to be able to win. Mother Nature doesn't like me to have clean windows. Or it's her way of telling me to relax a little on the OCD cleaning.

Yes, another Target post. I bought these cute little pots from the $1 spot for the kids to do. They each came with a dirt pellet that you pour water on and then they expand. The kids LOVED that part. Fascsinating stuff right there! Then they each put their seeds in, covered them with more dirt and put them in the window for some sun. It is cute to see them go check their own pot to see if anything has changed.

We have chives, oregano and basil. Trevor (the future chef, who gets his culinary skills from his father) is waiting so he can use these for spaghetti sauce. I think we'll be waiting awhile.

camouflage puppy

Two posts in one day. Just because I am that kind of girl. (bored.)

Can you spot the puppy?

That is A LOT of tan.

one seasoned pro and one newbie.

Seasoned pro if you count one whole week of riding her bike to school. But that is Megan. After a week of swim lessons, she swore she was ready for the Olympics. Of course, several riding lessons later, she is going to be on the U.S. Equestrian Team next year too. Hey the girl has confidence.

Today T decided he wanted to ride his bike to school. Megan promised she'd help him, and I followed them both all the way just to make sure. I turn in side streets so I can see them, but they feel like they are out on thier own. I'm not ready to have them out of sight yet. By the time they had gotten to the school Trevor comes up to my car and says, "Can I ride my bike to school everyday until the end of the school year?!?!?! That was awesome!!!" You bet little dude.

It is so cool to see them doing something like this. I remember riding my bike to school. Although, not in the first grade, but still... those were fun times. I didn't have as far to go though, so I can't even guilt them with the "When I was a kid...." stories.

I am SO proud of these guys. The little things that they get so excited about are such good reminders of how cool life really is.

the countdown is ON

Oh, I almost forgot:

8 more days!!!!

Today was a pretty good day, and it went by so fast. I went out and did a lot of errands, and got a lot accomplished. Before I knew it, it was time to pick up the kids from school, then off to church for activity day. I had the boys with me tonight. Talk about fun, fun, fun. It is a thing for girls, in which I am one of the leaders, so I have to be working with them. The boys sat pretty well in the back of the room for awhile.

You would not believe the amount of messages left on my answering machine lately. Normally the box doesn't fill up for a long time, in fact I think months can go by without having to delete any of them. UNTIL little friends start calling for Megan. I swear, they leave messages longer than if Megan was actually talking to them. Or... some of the conversations end up on the machine because the phone got picked up late. All in all, I think there were 3 10 minute long messages for Megan on there. All deleted and I have a clean and empty mailbox again. :)

How do I know this? Three, count them... three people told me today when I saw them that my machine was full when they tried to call. It's crazy.

As you can tell there is absolutely nothing going on here. No random thoughts, or anything. I did however make it to the scrapbook store today, so hopefully I'll have time to do some work later tonight and post some things. :)

Later!

ain't no party like a peas scrap party!

Wow, it is that time of year for scrapping people. CK convention time.

Last night was a night that I had been looking forward to for months. Thanks to all who made it possible:

Shanna, for hosting and working so hard putting everything together. You seriously rock at the planning. It was SO much fun.

Nana & Papa: for taking all three of my kids overnight so I could get out of the house and not have to worry about them. (And be able to sleep in a little after getting home at 2:00 a.m.) :)

Lisa: for keeping me company and for the awesome Autumn Leaves stamps that she bought for me! Somehow she has this idea that we like to travel. ???? ;) I'm anxiously waiting to use them next month. Mexico awaits!

I also got to talk a little with Jamie Harper who is a new HOF winner, and incredible photographer. I'll be giving her a call in the fall. She is adorable.

Seriously, last night was so much fun. I went to the 2Peas crop at the Hilton in Mesa. Shanna went crazy this year. She even had a dj, which was a blast. Who says that a crowd of over 30 year old scrapping moms don't know how to party?! There was a ton of great music (and one girl in particular who could shake her thang! Totally hysterical!) a TON of sugary sweet stuff to eat, lots of prizes and a lot of energy.

It was just what I needed after a month of solitude. I swear, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

Just a huge thanks to everybody. This is just one more thing that I love about this hobby, the people are incredible and I love them.

Now I have to unpack all of this mess, get some caffiene, and retrieve children!