Four Hours of My Day

This is what I did..

Steve was helping our niece design/start to build a super cool bed she's designed, Joseph was hanging out with his beloved Aunt Liisa, and Kathrynn was asleep for 3 of the 4 hours (spent the last hour in her stroller, thoroughly amused by me). So, I was left alone with my garden to shovel, till, rake, yank and plant for four hours in the blistering 80 degree heat (hehe) - OK, it's the hottest it's been in like 9 months! It was really fulfilling and I feel a great sense of accomplishment.
I wish I had taken a before picture of it. It has two nasty logs on the side that I hated with these awful, thorny things taking up residence by the fence (Steve was kind enough to rip them out this morning) and lots of rye grass and weeds. This is the best before picture I can provide for you: BEFORE. Yeah, take away the snow, and that's what it looked like.

I'm just happy that my garden is finally in!!

Oooooo Look at THIS!

For you fellow Twilight fans out there, I found a little jewel this morning! EW.com has posted an excerpt from the first chapter of Breaking Dawn!! I was a little pumped about it and now REALLY can't wait for the release! Here's the link: CLICK ME.

Our Little Susie Lou Who

Just loved this picture!! This was my first attempt getting her hair up.. not without effort. :)

Still Here.. :)

Why is it when I haven't posted in a week I feel like I've fallen off the face of the blogging world?
Just been busy... and easily distracted. I think that's a better way to describe myself - I'm actually busy BECAUSE I'm easily distracted. :)

I do still take picture of my kids and have some cutes ones to post. Just have to actually sit down and download them onto my computer.

Speaking of the kids - they're still doing great and as spunky as ever. Joseph's new thing is blocking the door whenever I go outside and saying "Hold it right there!" Cracks me up. He's also started allowing Kathrynn to play with him, which is SO nice! I can actually have a half hour to do something without having someone hanging off of me because they're entertaining each other. I LOVE having two kids! :)

Kathrynn is growling nonstop (very effective way of showing her true colors, I think) and is starting to stand with pretty good balance. My life will forever change in probably a few weeks. I'm glad my kids are slow to walk, I don't know what I'm going to do with her when she starts. She's a crazy one.

I actually get to see my husband for more than an hour a day now. YEA! :) The sell of our house meant that he no longer HAD to take remodeling jobs in the evenings, so he actually comes home and doesn't go anywhere. Wow, it's awesome! :)

And, me, I'm just hanging in here and lovin' it. :) The weather's a little fickle, but I think I'm actually enjoying it. I can't say that I've ever lived in a place where it's snowed and had 90 degree weather two weeks later, followed by weather in the 40s and 50s. Crazy, crazy Utah.

Hope this all made sense and that I didn't have too many typos. It's 1 a.m. and for some crazy reason I'm still up. Just felt like blogging a bit. :)

Great News.. and A Little Bit of Murphy's Law..

As you may have noticed in my last post, we sold our house!! We closed today and the financing completely went through, so it's no longer ours! YEA! What wonderful freedom - we no longer have to pay a mortgage and rent at the same time.
I didn't want to post anything about it until we closed because the housing market down in San Antonio is a little crazy right now and our realtor warned us about people entering contracts and flaking out half way through. We were afraid that would happen, so we didn't spread the word out far and wide like we would have liked to.

On the other hand, it didn't go as smoothly as we would have hoped. LAST NIGHT (of all nights) lightning struck a neighboring house and completely FRIED our garage door opener. Nice timing, huh? So, we have to pay to get that replaced, but at least that will be the last that that house will see from our pocketbook.

PS - We also sold our truck a few weeks ago, so we're free of all of that stuff! YEA! :)

Where was I...

20 years ago I...

1. Was 10 and WAY excited about the double digits thing.
2. Went swimming constantly and actually had a tan.
3.Knew how to ride a bike. Believe it or not, that's something I forgot..

10 years ago I...
1. Was a junior at Southern Utah University, majoring in interpersonal communication and broadcasting - changed to advertising later that year.
2. Met my favorite roommate in college (Rosi). :)
3. Worked as a morning show co-host at the college radio station, KSUU.

5 years ago I....
1. Got married. :)
2. Lived in New Braunfels, TX.
3. Lost a lot of weight really easily. It was awesome, wish I could do it again!!!

3 years ago I....
1. Had Joseph. :)
2. Quit my job doing Public Relations at Frost & Sullivan.
3. Sang at the San Antonio temple dedication ceremony.

1 year ago I....
1. Had Kathrynn. :)
2. Moved from San Antonio to Logan.
3. Flew by myself with two small children.

So far this year I have...
1. Moved 4 times.
2. Gone back to work doing PR and quit my job.
3. Learned how to be a better homemaker.

Yesterday I...
1. Was kind of a bum. It was rainy and that kind of weather always makes me want to be a bum. :)
2. Went to a hot dog/marshmallow roast a some friends' house.
3. Successfully roasted a hot dog over a fire pit while holding Kathrynn.

Today I...
1. Pulled weeds in our yard.
2. Went to the library.
3. Signed the papers to close the sell of our house - yea!

Tomorrow I will...
1. Hopefully no longer be a home owner. :)
2. Go to the park with the kids.
3. Have pizza at a friend's house.

In the next year I may....
1. Recreate stability in our family.
2. Build up our food storage.
3. Get back in shape.

In the next 5 years...
1. Get into a (hopefully) final house.
2. Have another baby.
3. Have a calm and serene life.. keeping my fingers crossed for that one. :)

On Our Quiet Little Street

So, last night after we got the kids to bed, Steve and I sat down to watch a movie. We just got through the previews and to the beginning of them movie when I heard this loud plastic bang/crunch sound. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded big. My immediate reaction was to say, "What was THAT?" and I went upstairs to check things out. My first instinct was to look out our side door, thinking maybe our trash cans mysteriously were knocked over, when to my shock, I saw a car flipped over on our street. I couldn't believe it. I yelled for Steve to come and told him what happened, grabbed the phone and we ran out to see what we could do to help. I called 911 (the first time I've ever had to call) and forgot my own phone number because I was so flustered.. :-S Luckily, the operator was very patient. There were police cars, a firetruck and an ambulance on our street in a matter of minutes. Steve managed to get in the car with the guy and was trying to help him get out - he was hanging upside down by his seatbelt (lucky for him) - and trying to see if he was hurt - it took a few police officers to get him out of there, but mostly because he was so stunned.
Well, also for another reason, he was a DUI. So sad. There was a man in a van who was a witness to it and said he almost met him at the intersection, but stopped driving because he was swerving. The guy in the car swerved and turned left through the intersection, then basically drove up the side of two cars and flipped his own. He didn't leave a scratch on either car, but caused about $10K worth damage in one of them because he pushed the tire up and broke an essential part of the vehicle (as you can tell, I'm SO mechanical). What's sad is that person's car was a parent visiting her child who just moved into the aparment of the house next door. Poor thing started worrying about the neighborhood at that point - the whole DUI thing (and us not being to reassuring that it's not a problem in this area..). We sat out there talking to them for like an hour (it was cold!) and got to watch the tow truck flip the car back over, which was really interesting (Steve LOVED that part).
So, that's my exciting Friday night. :) My street really is VERY quiet, and it is actually a pretty good neighborhood, and I was shocked that something like this did or even COULD happen. But it did, and I'll never forget it.

The Spankster on Deal or No Deal

If you know Spanky, then you probably already know that he's going to be (or was, it just hasn't aired yet) on Deal or No Deal. Isn't that crazy?! Anyway, the episode he's on will air on May 22nd, but you can see a clip of it here: http://www.nbc.com/Deal_or_No_Deal/video/#mea=249312
How much fun!! Congrats, Spanky!! :)

EDIT: Spanky's episode will air on June 11th, not May 22nd. :)

Notes from the Changing Table

Have you other moms of kids still in diapers noticed that Huggies has Winnie the Pooh on their diapers now? I think they just changed over from Mickey Mouse. Now, I know that diaper companies will get contracts with kid-oriented companies to advertise on their diapers - like Huggies with Disney, but why'd they choose Pooh? He's really cute, and my kids love him. There's just something unnerving about saying, "Yes, honey, there's Pooh on your diaper."

What Goes Around...

I have learned, probably a billion times, that what goes around definitely comes back around (and I've had that Justin Timberlake song stuck in my head for like the last HOUR because of this post.. ugh!).

It seems like any time I've ever been rude to anyone or judged anyone harshly I always get it back - almost to the exact circumstance. Not necessarily from the person that I was unkind to (to their face or otherwise), I just have a learning experience. The only times that are still fresh in my memory relate to motherhood, though I've had this experience in several different circumstances.
Examples:

• "I can't believe she used an epidural. I want to experience childbirth naturally." Yeah. I lasted 2 hours into the really bad contractions and was sobbingly begging for the epidural. On top of that, I've never experienced natural childbirth at all. Due to complications, Joseph was delivered C-section. Same story for Kathrynn, just so we were on the safe side.
• "I can't believe she doesn't breastfeed her baby. I'm going to nurse my babies for AT LEAST the first year. I want them to have the very best no matter what the sacrifice is on my part." Not if it's not physically possible for me to do so..
• "I'm never going to be one of those moms who ignores their kids when they call for them." You know what I'm talking about "Mom. Mommy. Moooooommmmmmm!!!!" Yeah. I'm there right now.

Joseph has officially entered the phase of yelling "Mom" constantly, mostly for non-urgent stuff. I really try to be patient with it and give him the attention he's seeking. After all, I don't want him to feel ignored. But, after a while, I start to lose it and just really really don't want to respond - I'd rather hide in my closet until he gets over the mom rampage. The mom phase started off reasonable. "Mom, you my milk." (Translation: Mom, will you get my milk for me."), "Mom, look at the bird." "Mom, where are my crayons?" etc. But, lately it's been getting a little ridiculous.

The other morning, a weekend morning, mind you Joseph woke up before everyone else in the house. He came in to get me with the usual "Wake up, Mommy." I promptly hooked him up with a Sesame Street tape and jumped in the shower, stressing to him that he needed to be as quiet as possible because everyone else was asleep. As soon as I turned the shower off he was at my door yelling, "Mom! Mom! Mom!" like someone was trying to saw off his arm. As soon as I got out of the bathroom I asked him to keep it down and what was wrong. His response: "Big Bird lost Radar. He can't find him." (Radar's Big Bird's teddy bear.) Ugh.

So, here are I am, Karma biting me in the bum for ever judging moms who ignore the incessant yells of "Mommy." Now I understand.

On the other end of the spectrum - I was a total punk in middle school. I was a great kid in high school, but middle school - I was just a punk. I remember one time (clear as day, actually) my mom telling me "I hope you have kids just like you." And, the smart alec I was, I responded "So do I, because they'll be perfect." What did I tell you? I was a punk.

Well, my mom got her wish. My little girl is just like me and set out to be total trouble. Oh sure, her spunk is totally cute, but there are parts of her personality that seriously frighten me when I think of the future - particularly the middle school years. Example: in church on Sunday, she repeatedly tapped Joseph on the head with her foot and it was obvious that she was doing it because she knew it would annoy him (luckily he's very patient when we're at church). I know she was doing it on purpose because I tried moving her away from him and she strained to keep tapping his head with her foot. SHE'S ONE! A one-year-old purposefully trying to annoy her brother - and that wasn't the first time. She totally got that from me. But, I don't think I did that kind of stuff that early.

She's also insanely sensitive - one of my major weaknesses. Not normal sensitive, but someone walks out of the room she's in and she starts crying sensitive. It doesn't even have to be someone she knows.

And, don't even get me started on how stubborn she is. Of course, we have the two most stubborn children in existence, but they also have two very stubborn parents, so there's no getting around that one.

She also loves to tease everyone! Anything to get a rise out of someone. When I come in to get her in the morning she stands at her crib, like she's ready for me to get her and then dashes to the far end of her crib just as I'm about to hold her. There's a lady in our ward who is enamoured by her and always wants to hold and she constantly acts like she'll go to her and then turn away really fast and hold on to me (and giggle).

But, on the other hand, she's extraordinarily strong. Not just physically (though, I inwardly call her the bionic baby), but she has an emotional strength that you can actually see in her, even for her age (that is, unless you walk out of the room). She has been through so much this year and has handled it with so much strength and adaptability. She's definitely a trooper. And that little girl loves with all of her heart. She's very outgoing and seems to be very sure of who she is already.

So, even though I was a total punk when my mom wished it upon me, and I have a lot of work in store for me (especially in about 10 years from now), I wouldn't trade my little girl for the world. And, maybe it's a blessing that she is so much like me. It'll help me relate to her better. :)

OK.. longest blog post ever.. :) Had a lot on my mind, I guess.

Oh. My. Heck.

The Twilight teaser trailer is out. I almost peed my pants. You can find the link here - LINK.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :) I'll be revisiting that link now, I think..

Mr. Picasso Head

I found this really cool website today (because I'm being a total slacker because it's Saturday..). It's www.mrpicassohead.com. You can make your very own Picasso. :) Here's mine: LINK. I couldn't paste the actual picture to my blog, but I'm hoping the link stays good.
You guys should go there to waste time like me. :)

Happy May!!

This is outside our kitchen door this morning. :)