Hello again

If you are a dedicated fan of this blog, you may be wondering what has happened to me. I didn't forget my blog or my loyal fans (yeah like anyone reads this but me...), I just went on vacation!! Which by the way was awesome! Now that Wes is a really working grown-up, somehow vacation is even more exciting for me. I have a lot to say about this vacation, and will post some pics and everything, but I just want to give a very un-detailed overview of the vacation here. So, Friday the 10th was Wes's last day of work. We had planned to go to Seattle for the weekend, then on to Northern California to see his cousin Mickey and his family (Natalie, his wife. Little Mickey, Matt, and Gabbie, his kids). The Seattle part didn't work out as we started trying to plan and had trouble even pricelining a hotel there for cheap enough, and all the activities I wanted to do there were expensive, and basically we decided we didn't have the budget to do that and started planning our travel from there. For anyone that doesn't know, I NEVER pay full price for hotels. I am the queen of priceline (ok-maybe the princess as I am sure my mom is the queen). And Wes and I together are almost as cheap as Jeremy is (I know it doesn't seem possible for anyone to be that cheap, but it's true). So, we knew we were going to stop somewhere on the way to Cali for a night or 2, so we started to try finding hotels we could stay at along the way. No where on the way even really had hotels available (what the heck was going on in central Oregon last weekend, seriously?!). So, our trip began to form based around mapquest and priceline. We would find a place a bit off course on mapquest and then try to priceline a room within budget at that place. We did this for a long time and ended up getting a room in Portland for Sunday and Monday nights.

Well, so much for un-detailed overview, right?! Anyway, after the plans were decided, this was the final plan: Sunday morning (the 12th) drive to Portland. Stay there Sunday and Monday nights, Then Tuesday, drive to Vacaville to see Mickey & Natalie (and kids of course). Stay at Mickey and Natalie's house until Saturday morning, then spend Saturday (and Sunday if necessary) driving home, so Wes could be back at work on Monday to start his first fairly bad (time wise) rotation. That was our plan...It all went sort of accordingly....feel free to read the other parts of the story as I post them!

Antique Carousels and Wagon Slides

Anyone from Spokane can tell you that downtown there is a park, Riverside Park. It is a big center for activities in Downtown Spokane. There are walking trails, rides, a splash park, the Spokane river and falls, playground, a huge slide on a Wagon, all there permanently, and other random temporary activities/festivals. Often on our walks we end up walking into this park, and the other day, Wes decided to let the older kids have a chance to ride the antique carousel. Ender chose a stationary (doesn't move up and down) giraffe to ride as it was the only giraffe, while Solace chose a more traditional horse. They rode alone, we watched on the sidelines. Above are the pictures I took with my cell phone. I also am including a cute pic of Wes and Armour going down the huge wagon slide. We sure have fun together as a family!!

Bike rides and nights alone...

Another call night last night. I totally do not sleep well when Wes is gone overnight. He actually got more sleep than I did two nights ago. We went for a walk/bike ride with the kids yesterday. It was crazy as usual. For those that don't know, we go for walks as a family pretty much everyday. The shortest our walks we ever take are 2 miles, but usually more like 3-4, and occasionally more. The older kids are learning to ride their bikes, so lately they ride while we walk and Armour rides in the stroller. What a hassle to teach a kid to ride a bike-and we are crazy enough to teach 2 kids at once...AHHHH. Anyway, since we started bikes, it has been a rule that once you decide you are riding, you have to ride the bike the whole walk (we cannot just walk 2 bikes back miles to the car). Well, yesterday, Ender chose to test that theory, and on Centennial Trail, right in front of a packed outdoor restaurant, he chose to pitch a fit that he did not want to ride anymore. We had told the kids they could have fast food lunch when we got back since they were doing so well (and since it was most definately into lunch time). But, I had to tell him that he was going to lose the fast food and have to eat PB&J at home instead unless he stopped the fit and kept going. He lost the fast food, sat in front of the double stroller and I put his bike on the back like a trailer. THen I had to run up this hill pushing the double stroller, Ender and Armour, and dragging the bike to catch up with Solace and Wes....crazy! I am so old, it was like a major feat to do that!

I will write aboyut the call nights later-I need to go right now!

This is HILARIOUS!!!

So, check me out with blonde or red hair-I pretty much can pull anything off. :) This is a freakin awesome thing.



We actually did these with Solace and Ender's pics too, but could only get one to show...They think this thing is almost as funny as when we Simpsonized them last week...I will post those when I get a better Simpsonization done...

By the way, after having done this, and playing with all different colors for my hair, I think it is safe to say that I probably look best with the darker hair that I have...dang, and Wes was so trying to convince me to lighten it right to blonde... :)

The ups and downs of Motherhood

Well, it looks like 1 was a magic number for Mr Armour here. It seems he is suddenly communicating more, moving better, and growing more teeth. He is a funny kids, and never ceases to amaze me.

Yesterday, I took my kids to a free family movie out "in the valley" (if you know Spokane, you know what that means). We watched Charlotte's Web. It was, as usual, a hassle, but it got us out of the hot, hot house and into an air conditioned building for a couple hours. After going to the movie, I decided to do my shopping for the week, as the least expensive groceries are at Super Wal-Mart, and the Super Wal-Mart is right near the movies in "the valley".

During our Wal-Mart excursion, Armour did 2 amazing things. The first, I am quite amazed and proud of. An old person asked him how old he is and he very confidently held up one finger and said loudly "This!" Later when I related that story to Wes, he told Wes he was "This" with one finger up too, so evidently not a fluke, he is simply a genius.

The second thing my genius did doesn't fill me with such a sense of pride-more a sense of dread really. I had my list of things I needed written in my planner and stupidly put the planner, opened to my list, next to Armour in the cart. As I walked to the frozen food case to decide which frozen fattening, expensive child's food to allow my kids to get for lunch (corn dogs as Ender wanted or Chimichungas as Solace wanted), my baby started to pull out cards from my planner. So, being a mere 2 feet away from him, naturally I noticed this pretty rapidly and grabbed my drivers licence, debit card, and health insurance card out of his hand immediately. I returned them to their respective spots, looked around to make sure nothing else was on the ground or in the cart or in his hands. I even walked back through the last few aisles to make sure I hadn't missed something...

Fast forward to me paying for my groceries, and realizing my credit card, the one that says "physician" on it, making it appear as though I might actually have some money, was missing. It had been in there when I went in the store, but was not there anymore...I frantically searched every part of the store I had been in, talked to the manager, and inevitably ended up having to call and report it as lost or stolen. What a grand hassle!!

Ah...the ups and downs of motherhood...

Daily Dose of Us, July 2007

Well, I thought I should put a story or thought of the day each day, we'll see how long this lasts!

July 12: Coeur D'Alene is Beautiful! We went there yesterday, and WOW!
July 13: Oh how I LOVE Friday the 13th-seriously I do!! Always have-here's a thought, for those that don't know, my 13th birthday was on Friday the 13th! Awesome!
July 14: Happy babies are cute, but can be as loud as sad babies when at the movies...just a warning!! :)
July 15: Armour is a happy little guy, happier as he gets older! He is getting such a fun, happy personality and I a so happy about it-what a great kid!!'
July 16: I will just steal Wes's favorite quote of late. "People say money can't buy happiness, but it CAN buy you a Wave Runner, and I defy you to frown on a Wave Runner!" (we heard a comedian on Comedy Central say this...)
July 17th: Keeping my kids happy and active just takes one thing: sprinklers!
July 18th: Happy Birthday Dad!! Happy Birthday Anne!! And I should probably throw in Happy Birthday Gavin! Carly and Jimmy brought us to a Cafe Rio knock off place in Coeur D'Alene called Cafe Chulo. SOOOO good...
July 19: Happy Birthday Tyson!! Here's a thought-be careful what you wish for, you never know what you'll get...I told Wes I needed a caling and some responsibility in this ward-I still have no calling from the bishopric, but I got a visiting teaching calling today, and it will be a hard route!
July 20: Here's Wesley's thought of the day: "I am done with anesthesia today." He also mentioned that the year is already cruising by and he hopes Cardio will be ok (that is what he starts Monday). I would also like to note that this is pretty much exactly like 3 & 4 years of med school except Wes gets paid (and has a bit more responsibility...) It's awesome to get paid instead of paying to do it!
July 21: Learning to ride bikes is hard and frustrating, but teaching someone to ride a bike is hard, frustrating, and so cute when they start to get it!!
July 22: At church today, Solace made little puppets of our family-but she actually only finished the one of Armour. At home, Ender was trying to take the Armour toy away from her, and she yelled at him, "Ender, that is MY Armour, and I need to keep it nice! I made it so when Armour gets married and moves out, I can look at that and smile and I won't miss Armour so much, so GIVE IT BACK." Just thought it was funny.
July 23: Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. ~J.K. Rowling, "Dobby's Reward," Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 1999, spoken by the character Arthur Weasley
July 24: Nothing like a nighttime stroll to give you ideas. ~J.K. Rowling, "The Egg and The Eye," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000, spoken by the character Mad-Eye Moody
July 25: Well, I am watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and thought I would just put the quote from it I just heard that made me laugh and laugh:
Maria Portokalos: Toula, on my wedding night, my mother, she said to me, "Greek women, we may be lambs in the kitchen, but we are tigers in the bedroom."
Toula Portokalos: Eww. Please let that be the end of your speech.
July 26: Happy Birthday Armour!!! Time really does fly...
July 27: I swam in a lake today...seriously. Armour loved it and is going to be a swimmer just like his siblings, I think.
July 28: Ah...Saturdays! How I love them! I sortof think it is funny that we celebrated pioneer day as a stake today here in Spokane, but we did and it was fun...BTW, I love, love, LOVE watermelon. Why do I have to be reminded of that every year?!
July 29: Happy Birthday Stefanie!! Well, I feel I should write a Stefanie story as it is her birthday, but all my stories would be long and detailed, and HILARIOUS! So, I will just say this-Stef really is hilarious, just like she always tells me! :)
July 30: Here's a thought-don't fall down the stairs!
July 31: Napoleon Dynamite: Can you bring me my chapstick?
Kip: No, Napoleon.
Napoleon Dynamite: But my lips hurt real bad!
Ever feel like Napoleon?! I do ALL the time since I moved here to the land of little humidity...man it will be nice for my skin to return to Omaha. Although my hair is really doing well here... :)

The Birthday party

Well, I have more pics from Armour's birthday, these are from the party. I tried to post a video of him "eating" the cake, but couldn't get it to work-I'll keep trying. He had his party combined with Isaac who was also turning 1 on the 26th. You will see them both in the pictures. I made 2 Mickey Mouse cakes for them, and Jessica, Isaac's mom, made cupcakes for everyone else. My cakes sucked, but they were just to be destroyed anyway, right?! When we gave them the cakes, they just stared for a while, but then they both got into the cakes pretty well. Admittedly, Isaac got a lot messier and ended up getting into both cakes, while Armour ended up overturning his cake into the grass multiple times...Here are some pictures.

Horrible cake #1

Horrible Cake #2Isaac and Armour watch the candle lighting "A little messy, but mom and dad didn't take pics of me at my messiest-silly parents!"Ah...the overturned cake on the leg...

What the cake looked like when Army was done with it.

Isaac wasn't done with either cake for a while...

Still picking at the cake a bit, with my stick...

In my cute outfit from XiaXia, Papou, Mel and Spence...Don't I look cute?

One last cute shot...Solace put my hat backwards!

Happy Birthday Baby A!!

Well, today is Armour's first birthday!! What a big big boy he is! I cannot believe a year has gone by so quickly, and now I have another toddler on my hands...Ah...life!! Above is a picture of him in his new borthday outfit that he got this morning! It is a camo/T-Rex outfit (picked out by he big brother). Below is him first thing this morning (he slept in a diaper only as it is so hot at night in his room!)
This is mom and the birthday boy...
This is the other two. Yes, they got new outfits too!
"Now that I am one, I thought I would start practicing for the terrible 2's...I laid on the ground and pitched a fit for quite a while after mom tried to take a picture of me-can you believe she tried to make me smile?!"
Happy Birthday Armour!!!

It's Over...

Oh man! I just finished the last Harry Potter book, and I just cannot believe the series is over!! It is kindof sad really. But I am glad I got to read this last one before anyone ruined anything for me. That being said, I won't say anymore about it...but I can't believe it is over-what will I look forward to now?!

E and his Carlies...

So, I have 2 friends, both named Carly, Carly Dunn and Carlie Hills. Ender loves them both. He has already decided that Armour is going to have to marry Carly Dunn's little girl, so she is called just "Carly". But Ender can't seem to call them both just Carly, so our other Carlie, is always "CarlieHills" (I write it as one word, cause he says it as if it is one word.)

CarlieHills is in our ward here, and every Tuesday is our ward's park days (like playgroup), and Carlie is really good every week about bringing treats for her kids, but not just foe her kids, but she always brings enough for all the kids to share. Well, this morning as I sat breakfast in front of Ender, he said "Mom, you said today was playgroup!" I said "yes, it is, but you have to eat your breakfast before we go to it. And he said, "Mom! It playgroup! CarlieHills will bring me treats! I can just eat there!"

It was hilarious!!! (Try convincing him to eat his breakfast after that...)

Just some Disney Pics...

Here is a little bit of our crazy Trip...

This is actually our most recent family pic-taken at Manito park by Mel before we left Spokane.

I may be sick, but I will still smile for the camera.Mom, I hate this place...(little did he know this was just the beginning...)Sick in the car.At the hotel in PrimmSoaking Wet!

XiaXia and Papou (and a Mickey pretzel, of course)

XiaXia Drives Cathy around.

Oh man-Uncle princess?!

Prince and Princesss (and mommy in back)

Character Breakfast

Character breakfast

Teenage Trio of Trouble!! :)

Teens with Aunt Cathy

Teens with Aunt Kris The kids ride with their uncle
Splash Mountain-they loved this ride!

Well, When there's nothing else to do...
Not happy to be STILL in the car...At least she looks comfy...The traffic we were stuck in for hours...

The problem with "High School Musical"

OK-so here is the problem with "High School Musical." It gives the impression that things like being smart or playing a sport are real talents that people have to work to deveolp and perfect, but somehow drama/music is just something anyone can do. Any random kid in the school can just stop by auditions and accidently be discovered and get the lead in the musical. And the "drama kids" are just snotty, untalented kids, although they have presumably been developing and working on their acting and singing skills/talents as much as the basketball kid has been practicing basketball, or as much as the smart girl has been studying. As if their skills and talents are jsut nothing? And I know people love to pretend that the real point of the movie is that "We're all in this Together" as the song suggests, but I thinik the real point is that no matter how many different activities and groups you could be part, there is really only a few kids that end up taking over ALL the main parts of every group. The groups mesh in that the same kids take over all groups...and push everyone else out...This really pisses me off as a "drama geek." I guess all those years of voice lessons, acting classes, dance classes, and experience performing were all for naught as it is apparent that any joe schmo off the street can come in and do all that stuff with no training whatsoever...

Also. the way they portray drama teachers is pathetic, embarassing and offensive. In my years I have had many many drama teachers, worked with many drama teachers, and of course been a drama teacher (at the school where they filmed this movie I might add...), and I have never, NEVER seen a drama teacher (or any teacher for that matter like the one on this movie. I am not an idiot, so I can see the stereotype joke they are going for, but they missed the mark by miles, and it is pathetic-pathetic writing, pathetic directing and pathetic acting (if you can call it that). AWFUL!!