Some Friday Fun

Just for fun, I thought I'd share my favorite blogs I've been reading lately.


Confessions of a Pioneer Woman is my absolute favorite! The Pioneer Woman is a city girl who married her "Marlboro Man," and now lives on a ranch and homeschools her children. She does everything - takes pictures, even cooks and just came out with her own cookbook. Her writing style is so fun to read. Read it. She'll inspire you. Click here for some funny Friday photos. Click here for a recent fun post about her wardrobe.

For a cute, innocent, and quirky read, check out Color Me Katie. This girl is so amusing to me. She's just clever, and every post makes me smile. She's always doing crazy things, like making mini photograph versions of herself and putting them in odd places, drawing on the streets of NYC and making ugly things funny. I just imagine walking down the street and finding one of her creations - it would truly make a person stop and smile. I don't imagine one could keep up with her creativity - she's kind of like an Amelie in real life, though I bet she talks more and isn't quite as insane.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. Both of them make me want to be more fun! Maybe some day. Like it says on the wall of Jimmy Johns, something to the effect of your parents weren't always this boring before you came along. Some days I can really relate to that... But I'll strive not to. I want to be as crazy, fun, and cool as these two gals!

On Fire

Let's all take a minute and pray for the wild fires going on right now. I can't imagine how scary it would be to see them within miles from your home. Especially pray for family friends, Brian and Cindy, who can see flames from their front window. YIKES!!! God, protect homes and people from the fire, and the lungs breathing in all the smoke. We were in CA just before the La Canada area fire started, and people really had the need for rain on their minds. PLEASE RAIN!

An update from a nonexistent blogger

I don't really know why I have been nonexistent on my blog these days. It is turning into a mommy blog all about kids, when I originally set out to basically journal. I want it to be about me, darn it!!! However, lots of my readers are checking in on the kids through this anyway, so I may as well embrace it. It has also not become quite what I expected. I haven't put a lot of time into finding friends or bloggers, so it just isn't the friend tool it can be. I'm also having a hard time lately with wondering what creep-o's out there could track us down -- let's call it security issues. So instead of figuring stuff out, I've disappeared. I'll get back into this one of these days!

For now, I'm so far behind, that I'll just update most recent events. Here are the kids with summer hair - look how light, and what a buzz cut on my big boy. I got a little carried away teaching myself how to use the electric clippers...... But it has grown on me, and Matthew loves it!

We are just getting back from a trip to sunny CA, which it really was this time! It was fun for all the cousins on my side of the family to see each other. And can I preface this all by saying I was the worst photo journalist of all time on this trip??? Now that I'm back, I realize I have next to no pictures. We were there to see my 6-week now 7-week new niece, and do you think I took any pictures of her? NO! Well, 2, but they weren't even great shots. And no, not because of my niece, because she's absolutely adorable, but because I apparently do not take good pictures. And now that there's a load of little ones, most of the time none of us had the time to even think of breaking out the camera. I sure hope someone else did better than me! Swimming? No pics. Airplane ride? No pics. Newborn? 2 mediocre pics. Fun with family friends who have triplets? A few mediocre, if that, pics. So here are some from the night the whole CA branch of the family met up with us.

Staredown between cousins Ellie and Mackenzie -- this lasted quite a long time with the two of them standing in this exact spot - they looked back and forth from each other to the kitty toys in their hands, since there are so many kitty toys associated with the presence of FOUR cats in a house. (I won't be running out to get 3 more to add to our house!)

Random silliness -- Mackenzie has discovered somersaults and rolling around like a crazy woman!
And here's the closest pic I have to kids in the sunshine. Why am I lame? Who cares about my lameness, aren't they darling?

Matthew was a dream come true on this trip. No problems with him. Ellie did pretty well on the flight out, minus a couple outbursts, but the 2nd leg of the flight back was horrendous. My Ellie dear fights sleep like a professional, and she was completely exhausted and crabby, but unwilling to let herself sleep. Sorry NW flight companions. That flight was only 2 hours, and it felt like 14. I can say this since I don't anticipate it coming to fruition, that my idea of hell would be being trapped on an airplane with an overtired child. But all is well, we had a great time, we're back safe and sound, and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go continue the post-trip re-training. Apparently we were a little too lax on rules while traveling or something. Sheesh. Lesson learned. FINE. :)

A boy and his bike, and a smiley girl

Can anyone find Ellie????

A boy turns 4

I can hardly believe my first baby turns 4 in two days!! Well, today we had his 4th birthday party! Here he is through the years:

0

1

2
3

4

Happy Birthday my little Mattso!!! We made it through 2 and 3!!! You seem so grown up already!

When you were 0, you didn't know you were here

When you were 1, you were still just a baby

When you were 2, your favorite was Curious George

When you were 3, you obsessed over Thomas the Train

Now that you're 4, you love baseball and golf!

I wonder what 5 will bring!

Summer Fun

Am I the only woman I know that didn't blog about their wonderful husband on Father's Day? Oops. We've got a bit on our minds over here, what can I say. Well, he is wonderful, and he's such a great parenting partner. Kind of ironic that he's leaving me this weekend, isn't it? A cabin full of guys sounds better, I guess. Just kidding, we try to share the freedom. Case in point, I was in CA a few weeks ago, just me and my mom.... I digress.

Summer is full of fun.

Operation: Embrace Ellie's Curls

3D Movies!

Baseball games!

Swings!

AND popsicles!!!

The Cuteness Factor

Seeing that I may have left some of you to wonder when I'll be starting therapy, I thought perhaps something cheerful was in order. So why not start back up with the cuteness factor? It's been such a long time! But first I have to say the day after my motherly meltdowns was completely different. I didn't have to climb in a bouncy and drag out a kicking screaming kid, in fact, that same kid made it through a whole day of church, swimming lessons, and going out for dinner without a meltdown. Hurrah! And they were so good when we were out to eat. I've never seen Ellie eat so much! Her belly was gigantic! Let's just say I have an idea what she may look like pregnant some day. (when she's old and married) Even when we found out they ran out of Matthew's pick (mac & cheese), he didn't crumble. Success.

Ellie

Ellie is a hilarious girl, I must say! This little wonder really cracks us up. She's up to so many cute things these days. Just tonight, she was carrying a giant stuffed kitty around and rolling around on the floor snuggling it. She's at the stage where you can tell her to give someone a kiss and she'll actually do it. With a mighty large pucker I might add. She sticks her lips out and says mmmmmm the whole way to the person she's going to kiss and follows it with a uah. mmuah.


She has also taken to running, which is pretty funny with her gait and her crazy hair bouncing all around her. She runs everywhere - to the swingset, to wave at/kiss/hug somebody, away from you when she's upset, to take a bath, to chase her big brother. She's also quite a little dancer. We've been playing the Francesca Battistelli song on the way to daycare in the morning this week, and she lights right up and starts kicking and throwing her head around to the beat, and trying to sing along. Both kids do, actually.

Matthew

Matthew has plenty of cuteness going on these days, too. Let me start by saying he's in love and he has a girlfriend - 2 different people. He's in love with my friend, Britt. Little schemer even snuggled up to her and ever so discreetly reached to hold her hand. The same day he informed us Payton is his girlfriend (from daycare). Hmmmm. I'm not sure what to think, but I do know he likes blondes. Payton's not a blonde, but every other girl he's mentioned before is. And usually older girls, too. But I won't give away ALL his secrets.

We really like to pick on Matthew now and then. He plays into it so well, we can't resist. Recently Sean got him going on the whole who's on 1st? routine. He was answering it so perfectly, that Sean couldn't stop - no, who's on 1st, but what's on 2nd, etc, etc. There was another day where he was getting ready for bed and we were all on the couch. When he went in to brush his teeth, I decided to see what he'd do if I hid. So I didn't move, all I did was throw a blanket over myself. So he comes out of the bathroom, and I hear:

M: where's mommy?

S: she said she was leaving

M: where did she go?

S: she said she was going to go get an ice cream cone. because she's cold.

M: ....but....you don't get ice cream when you're COLD!

This went back and forth a few more times. Meanwhile, he keeps getting closer and is finally basically sitting on my head, not even aware that I'm there, when I burst out from under the blanket. He cracked up. He makes us do these things. He's so funny about it.

My kiddos are fun, even if they have a bad day here and there. The good definitely outweighs the bad. Yessssss