My Special Project

Remember a few weeks ago when I said I was in the middle of an amazing project? You don't! Well, I'm not looking up the post I wrote to link you to my mention of it, just believe me.

After copious amounts of blood, sweat and tears (literally, all three), too many hours to count (which I didn't log and should have, but I'm guessing a combined total of 25-30 hours, probably more), and lots of help and encouragment from Liz and Cheryl, I have finished my amazing project.

Here are poorly lit pictures I took tonight, just as my camera battery died and cannot be re-charged because I left my charger in Tahoe and I'm not buying a new one for $80 if there is any chance of me retrieving it on my way to Utah:

Sabine and Sarah's:

Mine and Matthew's:I did all of the embroidery by hand. It took me easily 8 hours to do all 4:These stocking are a true work of love, because let me tell you, they were not easy to make. I made them all by myself from original bolts of fabric. I quilted the fabric, learned how to use a sewing machine, learned to embroider and had many lessons in patience. I don't feel bad saying that my family had better appreciate them. I made 2 extra just in case the family grew. I am not making any more. Ever. Thanks Aunt Liz and Cheryl!

I should also mention, that I made these patterned after the stockings my mom made for us when we were kids. I love the look of them and am so happy they are finished.

I Get It!!!

Well, I took the plunge. I fell down the slippery slope that is Facebook. And guess what? I LOVE IT! I mean I really love it. At first I didn't "get it". I thought it was a silly way of connecting with people. I was content to just do my blog. But then you start getting more and more friends and finding people you thought you'd never hear from again and it becomes addicting. It's completely voyeuristic without being creepy and sneaky. I love being voyeuristic. I have issues with the format though. I think it needs some work. If you're not on Facebook, you should be and then invite me as your friend. I love it. I really love it. The end.

Okay, now I'm just scared!

I find fruit flies and ants, the tiniest bugs out there, very bothersome. I, like many people, really hate bugs. They scare me, they are crawly and some can bite and sting. The bigger the bug, the worse my fear. So imagine how I was feeling last Thursday (my birthday) when I had a run in with a Praying Mantis. I do not like Praying Mantis'. They scare me because they are huge and leggy and creepy.

My children turned up their noses to yet another breakfast so I rewarded them with Popsicles which they ate outside. I went out to check on them and clean them off, wearing a very green shirt. I'm sure when that Mantis saw me walk out he thought he had hit pay dirt as far as camoflouging himself went. I'm sure he flew onto me as soon as I was out there, but I didn't find him until I was inside. I got the kids in the door and was turning around to say something to Sabine when I noticed a huge critter on my shirt in the boob area. I did not want to full on look down because I didn't want to see what it was, but I had to. When I looked down I freaked out to say the least and started in on my screaming and jumping and dancing and body slamming that bug off of me. He survived my hands and flew to our entry table. I made Sabine interupt Matthew in the bathroom to come save us. When he assessed the bug's condition, it was missing 2 of its right legs. Then I felt bad. Here he is:He was put outside to go live in peace and I went to shower. And that's where I realized that that wasn't just a Praying Mantis. I was pretty sure it was my Dad's funny and jokster way of telling me Happy Birthday. He sent me a big, huge bug to visit me and I clobbered him. I realize this is just speculation but I am on a constant watch out for my Dad being around and present in my life. So am I silly in thinking that? Maybe, but it made me feel better that day to think that my Dad sent me birthday wishes. And I went with that until Sunday. That's when I really got scared.

I was going outside to pile my 40 church bags into the car and I wasn't even one foot out the door when I saw this fella just waiting for me:

He is huge. This picture doesn't quite capture his largeness. I had a major case of the shivers and chills and had to find a way to herd the children around him. He would follow our movements. He would turn his entire body in whatever direction we went. It was creepy. I spoke to him and told him to go away. He was making me late for church. It took us ten minutes to get everything in the car and on our way because I had to keep such an eye on him. Then as soon as I pulled away, he flew into the bushes.

Now I'm borderline obsessed. Whenever I leave the house I keep an eye out for him. That same day I hunted for him so I knew of his whereabouts and I found him in the brush:

He stayed there for three days. Now he's gone and that worries me. I liked it better when I could see him everyday. Where is he lurking? It makes me nervous just thinking about it.

I Had A Moment

I have alot of moments. Some good, most bad. Every good blogger KNOWS not to leave home without their camera. It's pretty much a sin. Well, tonight I was caught without it and I'm mad but I'm already over it because my moment was reverent. It was like this:

Tonight I arrived at Safeway at 8:25 on the nose to pick up a few items. I did so and left the parking lot at 8:57 (I looked at my clock). But what happened in between is just pure religious. When I stepped out of the store I saw this:

Now, this of course is a google image because I didn't have my camera but the sunset I saw was just like this one only it had cars and stuff instead of those pretty trees. So I walked out and saw this and it literally, and I mean literally Took. My. Breathe. Away. My hand went up to my chest and I sucked in my breathe. A woman was going into the store and I said to her "This sunset! It's beautiful!" She said "Isn't it amazing?" To which I said "Yes!!!" I was in complete awe. I had moments to act because I wanted Matthew to see it and he was home with the kids but it was going away so quickly that I didn't have time to call him so I tried getting a pic on my cellphone which just didn't do the sunset any sort of justice so I just walked very slowly to my car while it disappeared just like that! It gets better. So I was so in a moment over this sunset. It almost made me cry. Seriously. The beauty was just astounding. So I hopped into my car and rolled down my window and BLARED my new Coldplay CD, song #7, Viva la Vida all the way home. And I sang really loud even though I don't know all the words and I had a smile on my face the whole time. This song makes me really happy because it is so upbeat and fun and after seeing that sunset and then getting to listen to my song I was feeling all sorts of good. I had goosebumps because I'm such a good singer. Safeway is only 2 miles from my home so I took it slow so that I could hear my whole song. I was uplifted. See, what did I tell you? Pure religious.

If your interested in seeing a little about my sister's visit, click here. Good job, Kristin. Thanks!

I Take It Back, Juuust A Little.

If you remember back in November I hit a deer (RIP dear deer) and blogged about it. Then I posted about my disdain for mini-vans because that was the rental we were given. Those posts are here and here. Essentially I say that I HATE mini-vans, because well, I do. Here's the thing- On Saturday when we went to Ashland, my Mother-in-law rented a mini-van so that we could all go in one car. She got this one:
It's a Toyota Sienna. And, gulp, I must say I was rather impressed. It had EVERYTHNG. GPS, DVD player, climate control in each zone, leather, and was super comfy and cozy. Not to mention roomy. Now, being in this van for 13 hours gave me some time to think. This is what I thought about; Why do I hate mini-vans? Here's the answer- I hate their shape. It needs improvement. I'm not quite sure what shape I want it to be, just anything different than what it currently is. Maybe more Suburbanish. I also think they have silly names. Sienna, Odyssey, Windstar, Caravan (caravan????). They could come up with better. And last but not least, I hate the name "mini-van". That needs to change too. I don't want to drive a van, let alone a mini one. I'd be all into driving a mini-suburban. I guess I have issues with vans. So here I am saying I guess I don't hate them, I just wish some things would change about them. I would still never buy one. That would require me to eat too many of my words. I would feel like a sell-out if I bought one since I've spent years saying I never would. That's all. Oh, Paige, I'll be awaiting your "I told you so" comment:)

Drumroll Please!

Guess what? This is my 1ooth post. In the blogging world, this is a pretty big deal. Originally I was going to post 100 reasons why everyone should like me, but I came up with too many ideas and couldn't whittle it down to just a hundred. Maybe another time. I know, I know, I'll use it for my 200th post. Instead I'll write about our day yesterday. We made a day trip out of my nephew's birthday party. They live in Ashland (in Oregon) and it takes about 5 hours to get there. Sabine was really excited for this day to come because she loves her cousins, Athena and Makio (pronounced phonetically). We drove up with Grandma, Me, Sabine, Sarah, Shar (my-sis-law) and her son Adam (my girl's cousin). We went to a resevoir somewhere up there in Ashland. Which by the way is a beautiful city right inside the border of Oregon. The girls had fun playing in the water, eating lots of fruit and seeing their cousins and Uncle Mark (A and M daddy). It was a veeeeerrryyy long day of fun and driving, but it was worth it. The birthday boy had fun and so did everyone else, which included lots of their Ashland friends. I need to mention that my girls are superstars when it comes to car travel. They are almost easy to travel long distance with. I guess they are just used to it. The pics:

Watching "March of The Penguins":

The Birthday Boy Makio- 5 years old:
Sabine and Athena(6 yrs old):
Adam and the girls:
Nama and my baby (Sarah is calling all of you to repentence):
I. Love. This. Girl.:
And this one:
Me and Shar (hiding her adorable 7 month pregnant belly):
Uncle Mark (the Disneyland ordeal Mark):

I Have Kids. Deal With It.

Today I went to the doctor. You know, the doctor. Like the one who hands you your child as they enter the world, doctor. Anyway, this was a last minute appointment and I made the decision that my kids were coming with me. Could I have found a babysitter within an hour? Probably. But definitely not worth the hassle. My kids come lots of places with me. They are very well behaved. On the way I worried that maybe my doctor wouldn't appreciate me and my cargo. I practiced looking and acting frazzled and coming up with an excuse as to why the kids were with me. I went with this, "I'm so sorry my kids are with me. They would not stay with the babysitter. I can't leave behind a screaming child. Sorry." Everything was fine until Sarah decided to do her business in the waiting room. It was embarassingly stinky and had to be taken care of stat. So she had a diaper change on the bathroom floor (GROSS) and now I have this diaper that I can't put in their garbage. Hmmmm. Desperate times. Right before I went to the Dr., we went to Matthew's store. To appease the kids he gave them a huge ziploc bag with some pretzels in it. Well thank goodness I had that because in went the diaper. See:While I had my vitals taken, Sarah sat on my lap and snacked on pretzels next to the sign that read "No food or Drink in this area." For good measure she had a swig of milk too.

When Judy (the nurse practitioner) came into the room and saw all of us she gave me a pretty good sneer. I used my excuse again and she turned the sneer into a semi-I don't believe you smile. So with Sabine happily sitting in a chair reading a Dora book and Sarah standing right beside her, let the fun begin. For Sarah, I mean. While my "bwoken leg" (this is why Sabine thought I was at the Dr.) was being looked at, Sarah started doing laps around the table I was on. She did 4 laps during the whole exam. If Judy, who was sitting on a stool, got in her way, Sarah gave her a little shove so she could squeeze on through. This made me giggle. I had to hold it in. When I got down off the table I saw that Sarah had scattered some "things" all over the floor. These "things" came from a freebie bin on the wall. I had to gather them and put them back. Somehow the diaper bag fell to the floor and left a hefty pile of crushed gold fish, cheerios and other snack foods as I picked it up. I couldn't really ask for a vacuum, so I left it and just hope they don't link it to me. Just so you know, my kids were AWESOME during my appoinment. I rewarded them with M&M's from the pharmacy down stairs. Sabine poses with her treat and thought to show you the sticker a nice nurse gave her. It's on her knee. She also has on big girl undies:

We all left happy. Sabine and Sarah, happy that this appoinment had nothing to do with them. Me, happy because I left with an RX for my "bwoken leg." Am I embarassed by this post? Um, no. Because at least I didn't post this or this. M&M's make Sarah happy. This is her with a mouthful and a handful:

Remember When...

This one is for you, Michele.

Remember when we were children and we went on a nice family outing for some YUMMY Friendly's ice cream? I was 10ish and pretty much lived in a world of my own. Rarely was I "with" everyone else and what was going on. On this particular evening as we left Friendly's I slowly and distractedly sauntered my way over to the family wagon. Being the good child I was, I immediately closed my door and buckled up. When I was done with that I looked up to see an Asian boy sitting next to me. He had plastered himself against the door like I had cooties. He looked as shocked as I felt and so I had to see who was in the front seat. It was a horrified Asian woman and an angry/baffled Asian Man. To have three people look at me with such distate was scary. I quickly looked to my right and over there, two cars down, was my family sitting in the EXACT same car, looking at me with alot of aggravation from Mom and giggles from my siblings. Could. Not. Get. Out. Of. Car. Fast. Enough. At this point the two parents in the car I was sitting in, were in a heated disussion in a language I didn't recognize or understand. The wife was not so nicely telling her husband to get me out. I could tell by her face, gestures and rapid speech. I bolted from the car and ran to my family. I don't remember what was said when I got in the car. I think I was a tad bit traumitized.

I spent much of my childhood in a daze such as this. Sometimes I'm amazed that I'm a functioning adult with two children.

It doesn't rhyme, just read it!

Tahoe was fun, Tahoe was great

Ate all the food off of my plate

Doesn't happen too much

with the kids and such

I missed my kids bad

I really was sad

Cried on the way

Matthew said, it's okay

Tahoe you're cold

It gets real old

I'll come back when it's warm

And the bees can swarm

Matthew didn't ski

He forgot the key

To the box on the car roof

He's a goof, here's proof

Went on a walk

Saw a dead bird

I stopped to stare

Matthew didn't care

I worried about my kids

Yes I dids

But they were okay

All day to play

The machine took my cash

It was only a ten

But I wanted it back

Won't play again

Sabine, come talk to Mom

No I can't

I'm playin' too hard

Okay, Bye, Wuv ya

Time to come home

And rescue the sitter

My kids love to be

With Matthew's baby sister

I also must mention

Aunt Liz saved the day

Taking the kiddies

For part of the way

Love getting away

Even if just for the day

A week would be better

Volunteer to watch my kids, via letter.

You know I can't post without pictures. Sue took the kids to the park, before dark!

Welcome!

Matthew and I have finally left behind the ox-cart, lanterns, pinafores and washboard to join the 21st Century. Such a drastic change, but the rest of the world was leaving us behind. Today, we got new cellphones. REAL new cellphones. Like the kind that have many functions and are fun to use and not embarrassing to pull out of your purse (can't get Matthew to stop carrying a purse). Here we are using them:

The PALM TREO CENTRO phones come with a stylus. I feel so high tech. It makes fun beeps and sounds. And it's red. I love it. I've noticed ever since we arrived in this century (tonight) that I am loving things and not people. Hopefully this passes, as I feel the need to tuck my phone in and sing it a lullaby. It also comes with alot of stuff, like this:

I don't think we left anyone behind. Well except for maybe my Dad, who may or may not know what a cell phone is. Juuuuust Kidding (kind of)!