more birthday treats

Part of Jake's gift to me was money for a pedicure. Of course I jumped right on that because that is one of my favorite things in the world.
I went to a newer place and loved it. I walked in and picked out my pink polish and then sat in a comfy massage chair. While my feet soaked and my back was being massaged, I had the opportunity to watch the new James Bond movie that was showing on flat screens on 3 walls of the room. I admit I preferred to read a magazine because I didn't see the beginning of the movie to want to catch the end.
The girl spent 30 minutes massaging my legs. It was AWESOME! They even did a parafin wax on my feet to make them soft and silky. And once my toes were drying there was another movie in. When all was said and done, the girl asked if I wanted to stay and watch the movie since there weren't any new customers coming in. Of course it would have been nice to sit in a chair massaging my back more while watching another movie, but I had to get back home.
I'll definitely be going back. Too bad it costs money for such services. Maybe one day when we're rich and famous then I could do it more frequently!

When I got home, there was a knock at the door from a chain smoking flower delivery guy. The flowers were beautiful and I couldn't wait to see who they were from. I should have guessed it was Kim - because she's always so thoughtful.

Thanks Kim for such beautiful flowers!
Love you!

pretty gift

My friend Erin got me this cute bracelet for my birthday. The beads are handmade and pretty intricate in design. She picked this pattern because it looks a lot like my favorite decorative paper from Stampin' Up! I love it!

Wyatt's cake

The boys were surprised to find this cake in the fridge when they got home from school. Because I'm no cake decorator, I bought the little soccer guys. Wyatt loved it all the same.

Birthday Boy

Wyatt's day

Instead of taking cupcakes to school, Wyatt wanted to take cookies. He picked out the colors for the icing and then sprinkled them with yummies.

Here is the loot that Wyatt got from Grammy and Grandpa. His first day of soccer practice is today, so the shinguards and bag will be very helpful. It's too cold to wear either of the shorts yet though.

And this is from Nana and PawPaw. Both Brad and Wyatt have been wanting this game for quite a while. Now I guess we ought to get the Wii fixed so that they can play it.

Sunday Stamping

Wyatt asked me the other day why I'm always stamping. I told him because I love to do it and because the ladies that come over during the month like to make things too. So he asked if he could do some stamping, and the other 2 wanted to join in too.

I have a couple of stamp sets that I allow the boys to use. They're usually holiday classics that I'll likely never part with, so it doesn't matter how much ink ends up all over the wooden blocks that the rubber is mounted onto.

I just have to watch out for ink contamination!!! Travis is really good at getting it all over his hands and then touching EVERYTHING. I have to keep wipes handy and remind all of them to only use one color at a time.

Notice the passy? I want to throw those things away, but I realize my life would be very unendurable if I did. We've got to do some weaning!!!

Truckin'

It wasn't long ago that the boys realized that if they had enough nerve, they could ride their Tonka dump trucks down the driveway. I'm pretty sure Brad was the Guinna pig!!! It's so funny that if Brad can do it, then Wyatt tries it too!

They start at the road and head down to the end of our driveway. Because the driveway is quite steep, they pick up a bit of speed and have to stop by running into the grass or using their feet as brakes. I have a feeling we'll run through a few pairs of play shoes before the summer is over.

I'm sure the worst part of it all is pushing the trucks back up the hill. Good thing they don't have 2 feet of snow and a cumbersome sled to carry, huh!

And while the bigger boys play on the driveway, Travis sneaks into the neighbors yard to play on the toys there. Yes, he is in his PJs. On the weekends he makes some pretty good escape attempts from the house. He doesn't care what he's wearing, he just wants to play!

Warning!

WARNING: He's cute, but looks can be deceiving!

OK, so today has been one of those days where I wonder if my sanity will hold up! To start off, I woke up tired... ever have those days? But I went ahead and worked out anyway. Of course while I was on the treadmill, Travis got mad at something and decided to throw the VSmile. (He's getting really good at throwing electronics - our Wii is broken now since he threw it a couple of weeks ago.)

So the VSmile wouldn't work and Wyatt had to have a fit. I spent a good 10 minutes jiggling wires and hitting the box trying to make it work. Thankfully I got it working again despite the fact that neither boy thanked me for my efforts - such as life as a mom!!!

My next objective was to get showered and ready for my meeting at church for Girls Camp. Apparently while I was in the bathroom, Travis climbed onto the counter (I still haven't figured out how) and got my purse. Last night I had a $5 bill in there which happened to vanish sometime this morning. I also had lipstick EVERYWHERE! Yes, the lipstick monster had struck again! There were globs on the prescription for Wyatt's medicine and the Costco receipt that Jake needs to be reimbursed at church.

I was HOT! I got everyone in the van and nearly pealed out of the garage. I stopped at Chick-fil-A to get a drink - that's when I found out I couldn't find my $5! So I used the debit card - and apparently we have NO money in our account! It was great to put $1.69 on the Discover card!!!

We got to church - everyone in 1 piece. We decided to have our meeting in the High Council room since the missionaries were having meetings throughout the rest of the building. I love camp meetings because it gives us a chance to get a glimpse at what is planned as well as to make suggestions about things. Well not today!!! I had to leave the room so many times to run after Travis who decided he needed to be in the gym - where they were setting up lunch for the missionaries!!! After many scoldings that didn't seem to take effect, he decided to get into the pot of the ficus tree in the waiting area of the Stake wing. Yup, there was Spanish moss EVERYWHERE!!! You think I'm kidding? Lauren had so much in her hair you'd think she'd been in a barn with hay... there was so much stuff on the floor that it was ridiculous... there were balls of moss all over where he had been throwing it... and it was time for me to take Wyatt to school so all I could do was throw it back in the pot and leave! Ugh!

Great times! Some days I wonder why I even leave the house! And then it occurs to me that I would go insane if I had to stay couped up in the house with a curious and crazy 2-year-old!!!

More warm weather...

Yes, it is March. And yes, Brad is wearing shorts and short sleeves. It's been quite warm a few days this past week. The kids have been outside non-stop.

Travis rode with Daddy as the truck was parked in the driveway again after washing the van and car. We had to wash all of the salt and grit off of the vehicles from the last snow. Too bad we'll probably have to do it again before the winter is over!

Jake decided to move some things around for better storage. He decided our camping gear needed to move out of the storage room and into the garage.

We just found that we have a carpenter ant problem. I think problem would be an understatement though! Jake found evidence of a colony living in the ceiling/wall of the garage. Thankfully we were able to get a pest company out ASAP and they have been able to make the first treatment before the ants start to emerge for the season.

So yippee for us for paying to get rid of bugs. At least the treatment will rid our house of all of the pesky squirmies that we usually see in the summer - like spiders, silverfish (yuck!) and any other ickies we might have the privilege of housing.

Most every woman knows how cruddy swimsuit season can be. I don't know about everyone else, but my friends and I are always trying to find the right suit to best compliment our body types. Will a tankini work? Should it have a plunging neckline or a sporty one? Should the straps criss-cross or should it be a halter? Skirt or boyshorts? There are lots of different combos that could work.

So one day I got this card from a friend. I laughed out loud because it totally fit the "swimsuit situation". I thought I'd share it with everyone so you could get a laugh out of it too.

Sorry for all you men reading this because it probably isn't quite as funny to you!

pensieves, portkeys and wands

I've been a little overwhelmed with things that I need to get done in the next couple of months. Of course they're all things I want to do, but they all require a bit of thought and action. Sometimes I feel like my thoughts all get muddled together. Sometimes I think it would be kinda nice if I had my own 'pensieve' that I can put my thoughts and memories into. A place that I can revisit by reliving the situation. Hmmm, that could be both good and bad, I guess.

I'm sure you can guess I've taken advantage of watching a few Harry Potter movies this weekend on ABCFamily. I always get sucked into the whimsy of the magic. Wouldn't it be awesome if we could have a wand to wave and have the toilets clean? Or to have portkeys so that we can transport ourselves from one place to another in the blink of an eye? I've always thought it would be neat to be able to transfigure myself or travel by way of floo powder. Ahhh, the excitement of magic.

Anyway, life goes on - in reality. I'll sort things out like I always do. Everything will get done on time and all will be fine. It's just fun to think of what it might be - kinda like winning the lottery or something. Oh to dream!

Girls Camp 2009

Sorry I haven't been posting a lot on our family blog here. If you check out my crafty blog, you'll see that I've been doing tons there instead. Most of my time is spent either running the kids around here and there or crafting.

Well I'm going to Girls Camp again this summer - yippee!!! This year I'm over the 4th year girls (aka; Counselors in Training). We're doing an overnight canoe trip - and Jake's going with us. I'm so excited and a bit anxious since I have to take care of all of the food and other arrangements. Since we're canoeing and then pulling to the side of the river to camp, some of the trip is left up to chance and I can't plan it. That can get a little crazy!

So I need a notebook to jot things down in and I couldn't leave it plain. I used one of my cute camping themed stamp sets to embellish this little notebook.

The snout on the bear as well as the smore, sleeping bag and can of beans are all 3D. I wanted them to pop off the surface to give the scene more punch.

And of course I need a folder for all of the forms and papers I'll be dealing with. I titled it with my little Counselors in Training and embellished with a mosquito and can of spray. It was tons of fun and looks too cute - if I do say so myself!

X-Ray

Last week we were given the order to have a neck xray made to see what Wyatt's adenoids were doing. So this morning we set off to the hospital. It was kind of a hit or miss thing going to get this done because the outpatient radiology doesn't take appointments. We got lucky that we went early enough in the day that they weren't overflowing with patients.

Wyatt is in the back seat waiting to get to the hospital. Too bad all of this is old hat for him. Thankfully there were no tears on this trip!

The xray tech that helped us out today was named Brooke. She was awesome and talked a lot to Wyatt and not me. She made him feel at ease.

The procedure was so simple. He stood still and held his breath while she took the shot. No pain and no waiting! It was great.

Now it's just another waiting game as the hospital writes up the report and sends the xray to Dr Thai. If she sees anything worth scouting out, she'll call us and we'll then go see an ENT. Now to decide what ENT we want to go to!!!

No clean pants!

It's a good thing we had some warm weather this week because Travis ran out of clean pants on Friday. Luckily he looked cute in shorts and a sweater! And you have to notice the boots!!! They're actually a size and a half too big, but he doesn't care.

Looks like he's ready to go hiking somewhere! Of course most hiking trails around here are mud and/or ice right now. We'll stick to running errands around town!