17 is so magical...

Oldest celebrated his birthday last night.  It's always fun when your party can land on the actual date, right?  He had a pretty funtastic birthday, if I do say so myself.  He had a live band.  A friend of his has a band and he asked if they could play for his birthday...well of course.

Yah it was pretty darn loud.  It was the highlight of the evening.  I think they all felt pretty proud too when we realized some police were on their way, we suspect, to shut it down, even though it was barely 9 o'clock pm! They only played a few songs before they were done anyway.  We had the fire pit going for awhile, it was chilly. And I made chili too. ;-)

I also made a pretty cool, although amateur cake, I must say.  Oldest decided he wanted a 'robot' them and told everyone to wear a Tshirt with a robot on it.  I thought I would make a robot cake.  I thought I'd just make a generic robot using basic shapes but then decided last minute to just look up a Star Wars themed robot....it looked simple enough from the pix I found online.  I baked a few cakes and cut basic shapes, rectangles, half circles and a rectangle.

We shut the night down with a little bit of Karaoke.  He wanted his dad to do an improv show.  DH was confused on the dates and was working.  He planned on performing when he got home, w/ some friends, but it was just way too late by then and there were only a few people still here and we were huddled in the house keeping warm...but maybe next year. :-)

BTW: Update

Remember that Scrapblog post? I ordered a printed version of my online Scrapblog.

It arrived very soon after order & it's FABULOUS!!!  The size is great: not too big, not too small.  Quality was fine.  I ordered the soft cover not the hard cover & I just love it.  It was $14.99 @ the time of purchase & I had a code for free shipping.  I can't wait to make and order more.  The price can't be beat.  2 thumbs up here!  I also created mine using all the *free* tools & digital scrapbooking supplies they had.

I highly recommend using their site.  I also *highly* recommend using the QuickMix feature.  It saves tons of time & mental creative energy while still allowing you the freedom and flexibility to personalize your creation.  It will automatically plug in your photos to a themed kit of your own choosing.  The only draw back is that it does not plug them in chronologically, but once they are in, you can rearrange them manually with little effort.

It saves so much time to do it that way.  You can also edit your pix, and rearrange elements, add journalling etc.  I recommend taking some time to familiarize yourself with the features before you order your final product.  You can also purchase complimentary digital scrapbooking elements to add to your QuickMix even though it does come with a nice set of coordinating backgrounds, stickers and premade page templates.

Try it today! Scrapblog.com

Taaa-Daaa!

Delish Valentine Garland! Whaaaaat? Check out that beauty! huh? huh? huh? Nice hanh? I know you want one. It's simple--make one! DO IT! You won't regret it. I promise. ;-)

Hey, while you are over checking out my shamelessly plugged Kraft blog--see that beautiful new lay out? Sweet hanh? I know, I'm sure you were expecting something Valentin-y-ish huh? Well, I wanted something that could last a bit longer--although not like the embarrassment fear of having Valentine decorations up all year ever stopped me before, right?  Anyway, I learned a few tricks from some generous free-blogger-backgrounds-bloggers on how to put together, piece by piece, a little something to call my own. Neat.  I even figured out that header text on my own, thank you very much. ;-)

Ok, enjoy. Go on now, shooshoo.  I'm serious.

Diet Toilets?

Ok, what tree hugging, green peacer invented the low flow (flush?) toilet? I mean seriously.  Do you have one? Cause if you do--I feel for you.  I really do.  If you don't, let me enlighten you on a few things.

First of all, original toilets have that giant-wake-the-baby-flush that we all know and love that sounds like baBOOSH! You know what I'm talking about.  These new fandangled toilets are more like a light swish. I wish I was kidding.  Really I do. Sadly, I am not.

The thing is--it's like the problem with diet sodas.  Studies show they can actually be *more* damaging to your health.  Why? Because the drinker sees that it is 'diet' it has less calories, sugar, caffeine (wtheck is diet soda made out of anyway? :-/) so they tend to over compensate by drinking more than they would have if they just drank a regular full strength soda, right?

Well, it's the same w/ these toilets that I have now dubbed 'diet toilets'.  It doesn't really flush, it lightly swishes.  SO you are stuck w/ a wad of---let's just say toilet paper (& call it a day), in the bowl.  Naturally you flush again. Except--no people, it doesn't have enough swish to even get the toilet paper properly flushed!

True story: yesterday, there was a wad of toilet paper (no really, it really was tp...this time) sitting in the toilet bowl ALL.DAY! Well, *I* certainly was *not* going to put *my* hand in that bowl to push it down.  EEewweee gross! What kind of person do you think I am? Maybe you shouldn't answer that after this post. kwim?

NO, I could not use the toilet bowl brush--it would have ended up as a soggy mess stuck all over the brush. duh! And how would I get that off w/ no water pressure in the darn diet toilet!!!

It's supposed to save water usage but really, like diet soda, the water pressure is so bad you are forced to over compensate.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to *flush* to get tp down! By the time the bowl is actually empty, you've used up way more than your average baBOOSH! Trust me.

Rainy Day

Perfect blogging weather--if only I had time to write all the blogs in mind.  I even have a back log of blogs in my head--pathetic? haha.

SO if you show up one day & there is nothing yesterday & then you hit refresh and suddenly there is--you'll know why. Yes, I post-date my blogs. Secret's out! :-)

I am currently working on the absolutely most fabulous Valentine garland EVER! Seriously.  It's gorgeous And it should be done soon...and then I will post pix.  I've also been sewing hearts. It's ridiculous how much I love Valentine's Day. Truly.  No, it's not just because I'm married either, although I have been married almost HALF my life. Whew!  That's a lot of Valentine's Days, right?

The same way I love Christmas music is how I love Valentine's Day.  I love to hear Christmas music because it's about Jesus, predominantly. People hear it in stores and malls and restaurants and hardly bat an eye but they are hearing about the savior of the WORLD!  Christmas is not my favorite holiday though.

Valentine's is!  I love it because we all have a Savior that loves us, whether we are single, coupled, married, divorced whatever.  There is one that loves us more than life itself.  I believe *that* is something worth celebrating. Don't you?

I think we should embrace this 'holiday' much more than we do.  Send Valentine's to everyone we love and care about.  Let them know there is ONE who will ALWAYS LOVE them! 

I've returned...

from another Women's Retreat.  We're only 11 days into this new year, this new DECADE and already, there is so much that God has shown me and so much that has happened.

The car accident, disappointing lows and sudden highs, this retreat, a new tooth for Baby K.  I mused over resolutions...and so many goals I want to accomplish this year.  At the same time, so much seems impossible.

At least we finally got the tree out of the living room.  That's progress right? ;-/

#7!

Finally another tooth has broken through.  So many sleepless nights.  He was working on this one for about  a month now.  Last night was finally a more restful night of sleep, hope tonight is even better.

Daddy wanted to get him a 'walker' to use, so we found one @ the thrift store.  We left for use @ Nana's house.  He absolutely loved it!!!  He figured out how to roll around the house pretty quickly.

We also founda practically brand new pack-n-play too.  It was half the price of the cheapest brand new one with all the features.  The crib simply takes up way too much space for the amount of use it's hardly getting.  I think a pack-n-play will serve our purposes better, besides saving space that the crib takes up.

Happy NEW Year!

The year started out full of hope and promise.  I am certain this year will be filled with many new adventures and opportunities-CRASH-! What the...???

We were on our way home from lounging around @ my Mother-in-Law's home.  I was driving the 'adventure-van' and Big E was behind me in the newly gifted 1994 Sentra.  We were pleasantly surprised to receive this fixer upper 'run-around'.  It needed quite a bit of work but appeared nothing a lot of time and grunt work and a bit of $$$ couldn't repair. Right?  He was excited to be able to show his mom how he had gotten it running.  It was such a relief.  No more trying to juggle violin lessons, tutoring appointments with his auditions, work and shows. Whew!

Then--the CRASH!

I arrived home before him, wondered where he was.  Oldest ds suggested he had probably stopped to rent a movie. He was right.  DH called--I was sure it was to ask my opinion on his selection--instead it was to tell me there had been an accident & to bring the van to come and get them. YOU ARE LYING! My raised voice automatically responded tensely.  I thought for sure he was joking around.  He wasn't. My thoughts are racing but I still am not sure if he is trying to joke with me, he must be right? Bring the van? that means the car isn't driveable--how bad is it? ARE YOU OK? The kids are fine, just bring the van. OK!

I rush out of the house and in a split second decision decide to have oldest ds go w/ me and bring the baby instead of leaving them there. It's right down the street and the red light would not change fast enough.  I am praying all the way thta no one is actually hurt. Maybe dh just *Said* everyone was ok so that i would not worry on my way. You know how husbands can be.  I see flashing lights and my heart drops.  My babies!!! What if it IS bad. I pray harder.

I pull up--I see them all standing on the corner. Thank GOD! No one is in an ambulance or anything. The car is trashed. I run across the street & grab my babies & they begin bawling. All I can do is hug and kiss them and tell them it's ok, crying is a stress release and they are ok now.  Praise Jesus for his angels watching over my babes. deep breathe.

My husband looks a little bewildered still.  Police keep asking questions, ask him if he has been drinking, do that little eye test to be sure.  I just can't believe this has happened.

Now it's day by day of physical therapy, doctor appointments, phone calls--OH the phone calls! How many people from each insurance are really going to call? Can't they just email each other the report? {eye roll}

Oh! What actually *happened* you ask? Well, dh was driving in one direction.  A guy in a Honda S2000 was driving towards him in the opposite direction and decided to make a left turn *into* DH.  No one was 'seriously' injured but I wonder what type of long lasting affects this has on a body.  WHen your back is tweaked--ouch!


We're back to 'juggling' appointments.  My muscles are so tense from the stress of it all I feel like *I* have been in an accident.  I still believe in you 2010! lol ;-D

Delicious Child o' Mine

Tonight Baby K rubbed his chicken into his hair. I do not know why? Now he smells absolutely yummy though. ;-)  I tried introducing him to using a cup, he likes to drink  water from my cup, when I have some.  He refused to hold it himself.  He just wanted me to hold it up for him.  Silly baby.

A small update on the diaper changing challenge....he is a lovely still baby now.  All it took was 1--ok maybe 2--'training changes'.  You know, training! Now He stays still and it's no longer a problem or issue. I don't know why I didn't realize it was a 'training' issue.  You'd think I'd never had a child before. sheesh! lol