Just my Mumbo Jumbo

i love my....

2010-11-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

my family

2010-11-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

Chloe singing Bestest Friends

2010-10-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Chloe was performing for me the other day. She sang a variety of songs that she made up on her own. Here's Bestest Friends.

Hear Colby do his speech

2010-04-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

Here's a little quick video of Colby during his speech session this week. They were going through the first set of flash cards. You might have to listen closely to hear him, so turn those speakers up! We are so proud of the progress he is making. Who knows, another couple months and he might be talking in sentences!

Speech update

2010-04-14T03:01:00.000-07:00

Colby has been doing great at speech. His favorite thing is to do the flashcards. His therapist is really good with him. He has started saying so many more words now. It's great.

This past Monday, he showed her what he likes to do on my iphone. He showed her some of his flashcards that I have on there. Then he showed her how he likes to find pictures on the phone and place them in Disney frames. He's a smart little bugger. He can figure out how to navigate through the different apps.

The downside of having him on my phone, sometimes he makes some calls and I don't realize it.

Funny little man

2010-04-09T01:40:00.000-07:00

When I dropped Sam off at school, I told him that I was going to watch him walk into his classroom. I said feel free to turn around wave to me and do a little dance if you want to.

He's so funny. He was in the gate, about half way up to his class. He turns around waves really big and then starts dancing. To make it even better, he brought his air guitar.

He's a funny little man. He didn't care who was there or who saw him.

2010 First Quarter Earnings, Savings & Winnings

2010-04-01T09:23:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd update each quarter of the year with my earnings from surveys, rebates, promo money & prizes I've received. It's going to be quite a long list! Now keep in mind, this list is just the things I've received since Jan 1-Mar 31, 2010. I have more I'm waiting for.

Rebates Totaling: $197.03

$40.00 Norton
$27.92 Ebates
$21.99 Rite Aid Jan SCR
$13.00 Hasbro Games
$31.98 Baby Einstein
$29.50 Rite Aid Feb SCR
$10.00 Rite Aid cards
$7.64 Fusion Razor
$15.00 Olay

Promo Money Totaling: $464.97

$400 ATT
$9.97 Amazon mag opt out
$10.00 Amazon Coinstar
$30.00 Swagbuck Amazon Cards
$10.00 Target Gift cards
$10.00 Build A Bear

Survey Payments Totaling: $86.05

$13.00 Panel Polls (nickelodeon)
$1.05 You Data
$40.00 Toluna (I can email you an invitation if you want to join)
$12.00 Pinecone Research (I can email you an invitation if they open more spots)
$20.00 Ipsos I-Say (I can email you an invitation if you want to join)

Still awaiting payments for Surveyhead & SurveySavvy

Oh, I have 1610 points at MyPoints. (If you want to join, let me know, I'll send you an invite)

Prizes Received: aprox retail value $525+

$10.00 Bunko
$20.00 Rite Aid Gift Cert
$10.00 Home Depot card
$15.00 Best Buy card
$18.00 Bare Escentuals blush
$5.00 cash (honey nut cheerios win)
$20.00 Pace picante/salsa coupons
$10.00 Barbie doll
$3.99 Jelly Bellys
$4.99 Oreos
$99.00 DJ Hero Wii
$30.00 Dockers
$28.00 Bare Escentuals foundation
$10.00 100 box tops
$28.00 Bare Escentuals Eye Cream
$49.99 Tag Reading System
$2.00? CSI notepad/pen
$178.00 OVO Cirque du Soleil tickets
$7.50 Kids movie ticket
$13.00 Gillette Venus gift set
$5? Cheer Laundry bag
$3 Kikkoman silicon bastin brush

House Party Kits

Digiorno Pizza Party Kit: coupons for pizza/breadsticks, necklaces, apron, cutter, magnet, etc.

Selling: $495.00

$55.00 Once Upon A Child
$440.00 Garage Sale

That wraps up our first quarter numbers. I think we did quite well!

August 1st I'll post our next quarter numbers. I doubt we will do as well, but I'll keep trying. Any little bit helps, right!?

Very cool win!

2010-03-21T18:28:00.001-07:00

Today, I won the mamaRoo! They are giving away 60 of them til their launch day. They look pretty cool. This will be for a baby shower gift. How great is that?! I picked this green one.

What's cool about this special seat is it has lots of functions.

It has five different motions:

Car ride

Kangaroo

Tree Swing

Rock a Bye

Ocean Wave

You can plug your mp3 player into it or you can use one of their five nature sounds.

The seat reclines or sits up. It has five speeds, a LCD screen & the fabric is washable.

I'm very happy I won it!

Happy St Patricks Day!

2010-03-17T10:45:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patricks Day from Sammy. He was very concerned that he needed to wear green today. I bought him this shirt yesterday. We had to throw it in the wash last night for him. He even picked out green underwear for today. Kinda funny, he's off track so who's even going to see him in his green? I guess you!

Overheard at my house

2010-03-13T17:29:00.000-08:00

Sam wanted a blanket tied around his neck like a cape. John tied it for him and off he flew.

He was so happy. It was so funny.
He's running & laughing saying, "I have a cape on".
Chloe says, "You're Batman".
Sam replies, "No, I could be Robin, you know".

Only my special boy Sam would want to be Robin!

Gaps can be good!

2010-03-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

As most everyone knows, my kids have gaps between their teeth. Except Lexi now. She has beautiful teeth thanks to the braces. Colbys teeth are very similar to what Lexi's were like when she was little.

The dentist checked his teeth out and was very pleased by the amount of gaps. It's a good thing to have gaps to prevent the cavities in between the teeth.

Colby found a use for his front gap. He got a sucker at stride rite. He was sucking on it on the way home. I turned around and he stuck the stick in his gap and didn't have to use his hands. Creative little thinker!

You can barely tell head on that his stick is stuck up there. Gaps can be a good thing!

Birthday getaway

2010-03-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

Friday was Sams birthday and he had a great day. He got lots of good presents. So many that he has a hard time picking what to play.

Saturday was Johns birthday. We took off and went to Reno for a few days. It was so nice. Very relaxing. We didn't feel rushed, were able to relax when we wanted to, eat what we wanted to and just enjoy being alone.

Saturday night, John chose Olive Garden for dinner. While he ran into the bathroom when we first got there, I sprung into action and picked out a dessert for him and asked them to sing to him. He was SO surprised. His face turned pretty red.

The picture is a tad dark. But, take my word for it, his face was red. I have it on my little flip video camera, too.

Where's Colby?

2010-02-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

Before I hopped in the shower this morning, Colby was pretty upset.

When I got out, I got dressed like usual and when I finally came out of my bedroom, I realized it was awfully quiet. Chloe was playing nick jr. on the computer. I asked her where's Colby? She looked like she could care less and said I don't know.

I went to his room, I'm calling his name, I checked every room, every normal hiding spot. Then I glanced towards the couch, he was sleeping on the floor. Poor Colbs. He was tired and cranky and he put himself to sleep.

Sammy and his air guitar

2010-02-25T09:12:00.000-08:00

We took Sammy out for his Birthday date with mom and dad on Sunday. He chose Red Robin.

Here's a little video of him. Apparently he brought his air guitar with him. He was talking about how he wants the guitar Hero for the Wii and then broke out in his own jam session.

The background noise on the video is so loud! They sat us in the first booth that backs up to the kitchen/serving area. Next time, I would be willing to wait an hour just so I wouldn't have to sit there again.

Hope the video works, it's my first try.

Walmart Park Job

2010-02-17T12:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday morning, after doing the Kindergarten and preschool drop offs, I took Colby to Walmart with me. We went to pick up some more groceries. I bought the kids those Yoplait Smoothie mixes. It's basically just frozen fruit in a bag. It was cheap though, after my coupons, I paid $1.50 each.

Anyway, when we are all done shopping, we head out to the car. I was unpleasantly surprised at how close the truck next to me parked. I will always be the first to admit that I am a horrible driver when it comes to parking. I really have a hard time parking for some reason. But, if you look at the picture, I was in my lines and I was fairly straight too. The truck was way too close to my car. There was no way I'd be able to get Colby in his car seat from that side. I loaded the back of the car with the bags, taking my time just hoping that this stupid driver would come out so I could get in. But no, never showed up. So, I climbed in the other side and put Colby in. Not that big of a deal. Now for me, I had to go through the passenger side, climb over the middle console and slide into the seat. Imagine how cute that looked, afterall, I'm not a skinny mini!

Grandmaster Mama

2010-02-14T14:18:00.001-08:00

You can call me that now. I think I've earned it. I won the DJ Hero from Coke Rewards in December of last year. It was finally delivered on Saturday. I love it! I think it's super fun. Sam is trying to get the hang of it. It's still a little tricky for him. As the game progresses, you have to be able to keep up and do multiple things at once. It should keep us on our toes when we play it.

Chloe is 4

2010-02-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it. Chloe turned four earlier this month. She had a wonderful day. She chose Isabella to go to the mall with her to buy a pretzel and a Build a Bear. They both chose the iCarly bear. They also bought the same outfit - minus the purse and shoes. It's cute.

They had fun. Chloe got to open presents throughout the day. What kid doesn't like that?

We gave her a Dora bike with training wheels a few days before her birthday. She still needs a lot of practice to get that pedaling down. I have a little video of her on it, but of course, it's on the little flip camera just waiting to be added.

We had pizza for dinner and cupcakes for dessert. She had a great day. She liked everything she received (we do have thank you notes for everyone, we just don't have stamps)!

I hope to upload some pictures of her soon. Our computer crashed and we don't have a cord to transfer the pictures from the camera to this laptop. Figures.

Crying while sleeping

2010-01-29T00:17:00.000-08:00

We went through it with Sam, now it's Chloe's turn I guess.

Night Terrors.
I know, it makes you get the heebie jeebies, the squeems. Well it makes me feel bad for my kids (unless I am super tired and I wake up to them screaming and trying to hit and kick me in my bed).

Chloe was sleeping probably for an hour or so tonight. We heard whimpering, but it almost sounded like sad music or something. Trying to find the noise, I peeked in her room and she was sleeping, sobbing and moaning. I made sure not to touch her. When we do, that sets her in full motion of screaming and kicking. It lasted a little while, then she was fine.

I hate that my kids don't have good dreams all of the time. She doesn't remember the bad dreams that throw her into the doozies, but she has been telling me that she has scary dreams.
Poor girlie.

Dinner with George

2010-01-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

I have made a big effort to cook more at home and spend less on fast food. Thankfully for me, John doesn't mind doing majority of our grocery shopping. He's much faster than I am. I'm a browser, a lookie-lou while he's speedy gonzalez. He sticks to the list while I get side tracked.

For Christmas, John bought me a George. I love it (except the cleaning of it - that sucks). I can cook 5-6 hamburgers on it at once. It's amazing (and gross) to see all of the nasties dripping off of it.

We had breakfast for dinner the other night and I even cooked our french toast on it, which was so much faster than the griddle I usually use.

I've been making lots of dinners at home, affordable ones too. It's so much nicer to have a home cooked meal and know that I'm saving some money. I'm always up for some suggestions of what I can make! hint hint.

Another overheard conversation

2010-01-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

Sam and Quino are playing a game right now on the floor.
Sam says to Quino, "Quino, remember the last time I got a Woody"?
Quino replied, "Yeah, that was hard".

hmmm, are you wondering what game they are playing?

They are playing the Toy Story Memory game.
I sure hope you figured that out anyway, I'd hate to think you may have been thinking of something else!

Scrambling the uno cards

2010-01-18T23:23:00.000-08:00

Chloe can be so funny sometimes. Sam pulled out his Uno cards that he bought from our "*family store"*. He started stacking the cards up and Chloe asked him in amazement, "You know how to scramble cards now"? hmm, makes me wonder if she thinks I shuffle the eggs for breakfast.

*The family store is just that. The little kids earn tickets when they do what they are asked or if we see them playing nicely together without us telling them to. Then when we think it's time, we pull out a big box of goodies for them to trade their tickets in for. They look forward to the store. Sam is really good at counting his tickets and figuring out how many more he would need for something.

This past shopping trip for them, Chloe couldn't find her purse with the tickets in it. Sam was such a nice big brother that he split his tickets with her. Awe, how sweet, right?!

20, Barb and 40

2010-01-16T01:28:00.001-08:00

What's the 20 you are probably wondering. It's a $20 gift certificate to Rite Aid I won from Addicted to Savings! How cool is that? It will come in handy that's for sure. I'm buying and stocking up the household goods like shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and so on. This win came at the perfect time!
Onto the Barb. I won either a Barbie or barbie furniture from the Barbie Pink ticket game. They will ship one of them out to me. I'm hoping it's a barbie. Chloe would be very excited!Now the forty, and no, it's not my age or even how old I look. Not even close (I hope). It's the amount in pounds I have taken off. I'd say I lost them, but then that might mean I want to find them, which I don't! In October, I changed my eating habits, more of a lifestyle change really and guess what? It's working. The scale is flashing me lower numbers every few days, so that's nice!

Cookies

2010-01-13T22:02:00.000-08:00

Isabella's post about the Girl Scout Cookies made me want a cookie. After dinner this evening (burritos) we gave the kids their baths, the little ones, not Lexi. Then we loaded everyone up and took a drive to Fuddruckers. John ran in and bought us each a cookie.

Colby had a sugar cookie, I think. It was plain white, so I'm assuming. Chloe, Sam and John all had the chocolate chip. Me and Lexi chose the best ones, the oatmeal raisin. They make the BEST oatmeal raisin cookies I have ever had. I love them!

It was a nice little after dinner treat (yes, I know, most would call that dessert). One that I would have no problem repeating in the near future!

What do you have for your after dinner treats?

They blogged!

2010-01-11T00:12:00.001-08:00

Lexi and Isabella blogged.

Lexi's blog

Isabella's blog

Another possible money maker

2010-01-10T22:33:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows I'm up for trying to win some online prizes, especially money. I signed up for a site called instantcashsweepstakes. You sign up, visit their website and take small little surveys. A lot of the surveys are from people like you and me, but then there are some from actual businesses. Either way, you answer the questions, they are quickies and then you are rewarded. You are rewarded with coins, lottery tickets (into their lottery) or pennies. Once you get up to $2.00, you can cash out. The coins are to spend at their store. The tickets go in for a drawing of $50.

For example, I answered a few surveys tonight and now have in my account $.01, 650 tickets, 111 coins.

This site isn't going to make us millionaires, but hey, it's kinda fun! I'm hoping to be a $50 dollar winner from their lottery.

What are you waiting for? Go check it out!

The Dance

2010-01-09T10:25:00.001-08:00

I thought it was about time to upload a picture of Lexi and some friends before their winter dance. They went to dinner at Red Robin then on to the dance.

The picture they had taken at the dance of the three girls turned out cute. I'll have to scan it in one day and post it. Ashley, Belle, Blaine, Lexi & Alex

Swaggy

2010-01-07T10:28:00.000-08:00

So, I added another little feature to the blogaroo. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the page, there is a widget for Swagbucks.

Swagbucks is another coolio way to earn some money. For example, I have already earned 2 $5 Amazon cards. It's simple to do really. After you sign up, you can download their toolbar. It will install under your current toolbars. You can search the internet using it. After a few searches, you earn swagbucks. They will occasionally give out free ones also. On the widget, you can check periodically to see if there is a free code. Once you get to 45 swagbucks, you can cash them in for the $5 Amazon card or keep accumulating swagbucks to get maybe a paypal card. There are other prizes, but those two would be my pick.

So c'mon, who wants to earn some Amazon cards just from searching the internet?

Oooh, now is a good time to sign up. Fridays are mega swagbuck days, meaning they give out more swagbucks that day. Also, next week, I heard that they will be giving free codes out on the toolbar. Just check the mail envelope on the toolbar.

Prize winnings for 2010

2010-01-07T00:57:00.000-08:00

I just want to draw your attention to the side bar on the right.
I added a new section.
I'm going to be posting my prizes that I've won on the internet for the year.

It's partly so I can keep track of what I've won, but it's also partly so you can say,
"wow, she's so lucky".

Towards the end of 2009 I started entering some sweeps and playing instant win games.
I won:
$25 Visa Gift card
jar of Pace salsa
Movie ticket
$15 Best Buy card
music download
CSI notepad/pen set
DJ Hero for the wii
$10 Home Depot card

Now the start of this year, I've won the $5 gift card to either Sears or Kmart.
I'm sure I'll be using it at the Big K.
I'll probably combine that with some coupon purchases and get a good deal.

I would say you totally should enter some of the contests, but you know, it would lessen my chances of winning!

I'm really hoping to win a larger amount of cashola! Wouldn't that be nice?

Well hello there pretty lady!

2010-01-05T22:57:00.000-08:00

This is a special little hello to a special new reader of our blog. Isabella! Not only has she been looking and reading the blog lately, she's been leaving some comments! Everyone say hi to Isabella. In case you don't know, Isabella is my niece. :)

I'm thinking I may need to see if we can set her up a blog if she'd want one. What do you say, Isabella, do you want a blog so we can leave comments on yours?

Once more, more Christmas

2010-01-04T00:08:00.000-08:00

These are pictures of Chloe at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony and Sam at his Elf Christmas program at school.

Here's two pictures of our Christmas crafts we did with the kids. We made snowball soaps out of grated up Ivory soap bars. I won't be making those again. The kids got kinda messy with them.

Then we covered styrofoam balls with gumdrops. I love the way they look when they covered tightly in them. They hold up also. I have a larger one that I made a few years back. We pull it out and hang it on our fan/light at Christmastime. I love it! The ball without any gumdrops is Sams creation. He did have gumdrops on most of his, but then decided he liked the "spikey ball" better.

More of Christmas

2010-01-02T21:39:00.000-08:00

I'll start with the Christmas Eve jammies. They weren't Christmas themed this year. I had a hard time finding pj's for the kids. Lexi's were probably too skimpy (especially for winter time) and Chloe's will probably fit her better next Christmas. Colby loved his though. We call them his man jammies.

So, here's the kids in the hallway waiting to come out to see what Santa left for them. Notice Colby on the ground crying. He perked right out of it when he saw his car.

The aftermath of it all. It didn't take long for Lexi to lay on the ground. Next thing you know Sammy was laying under the table. Colby was still happy in his car. I'm not sure where Chloe was. I even looked through the pictures and didn't see her in any. I know she was there, all of her gifts were opened :)

Here's a closer shot of Chloe's cute baby doll. It's blurry, darn camera ~ couldn't be the photographer, has to be the camera!

Santa came to our house!

2010-01-02T00:47:00.000-08:00

Guess my kiddos were on the nice list this year. We have these elves that I've bought over the years. They are the cutest elves ever made & yes, I'm happy to say that I am the proud owner of four of them. We have a little story about Santa and the elves.

When Santa arrives at our house, he sprinkles some magic dust. The magic dust makes the elves come to life while Santa is there. They tell him whether or not the kids made it on the nice list and they let Santa know what the kids want him to leave them. They will know if the elves come to life or not. In the morning when they wake up, if the elves talked to Santa, then they always are in a different spot.

This year, when the kids woke up, the elves were sitting on the couch, each holding one of the kids stockings. Their stockings were filled with the normal goodies: candy, little toys, toothbrushes and of course makeup for Lexi. The kids all went through their stockings before wanting to open their presents. The kids all received a stuffed puppy alongside their stockings. I'm pretty sure Santa got a super good deal on them from the Hallmark store, probably only paying $1.50 each :)

Santa left each of them an unwrapped gift also. They each were happy to see what he brought. Lexi got a camera and a scarf, Sammy the bike and helmet he had asked for, Chloe the cutest baby doll in a crib with a highchair and Colby a Little Tykes car.

Tomorrow I'll fill you on their reactions and post some pictures of the kids. But, for now, I'm off to try to win some more prizes online!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T20:30:00.001-08:00

We wish you a Merry Christmas!

A split chin

2009-12-13T22:19:00.000-08:00

When we were buying our table and chair set, we thought we were getting a great deal. They were at a real furniture store on clearance. The table is pretty good, very sturdy, probably too heavy. The chairs, we have found, were the reason the set was on clearance. They tip over way too easily.

Colby climbed up on the chair by Lexi's computer. He tipped it over backward and split his chin open. It's a tiny little cut. He was bleeding for a little bit, but he's such a trooper, he didn't cry very long.

Sitting on the couch with him tonight, I looked down at him and told him I loved him. He slipped his arm behind my back and leaned in close and said, mmmm, which meant he loved me too.

Our Christmas Tree

2009-12-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

I meant to upload a few pictures, but I haven't downloaded them from the camera yet.

Our Christmas tree was decorated by Lexi, she was in charge, and the rest of the kids. We sorted out all of the breakable ones, like the glass bulbs and left them in the boxes.

The tree was nicely, evenly covered in the ornaments. It looked nice! Notice I said "looked".

Colby is our destroyer. He has broke so many ornaments that I didn't think would break. He will snag an ornament off the tree and throw it as hard as he can and as high as he can into the middle of the tree. Most of the bottom branches are bent out of shape and missing ornaments. The strange thing is, I don't know where most of them are. I think he has stashed them somewhere. I walked out to the living room the other day and he was whacking the tree with his blanket.

How did I know the tree wouldn't do well in our house this year. Maybe the idea of hanging it upside down from the ceiling wouldn't have been so bad after all.

I guess we can only hope next year will be better! Maybe I'll post some before and after pictures once I get them on the computer.

Just a little difference

2009-12-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

Of course there are lots of differences between boys and girls.
Today, I noticed just one of those differences between Chloe and Sammy.

When playing video games (which they like to do, whether it's their Nintendo DS or Wii), if their character dies, they both have different reactions.

Chloe will turn to me, smile and say, "Hah"! Like it's almost funny. Obviously, for her, it's just a game.

Now Sammy on the other hand, when his character dies, I think he feels the pain himself. There are times he will whine, start to cry, get mad. Never would he smile and say Hah! It's rare, but occasionally, he will announce that it's OK, he has more lives, but like I said, it's rare.

So, my girlie can blow it off like, Oh well. My boy gets frustrated and takes it too personal. Hhmm, can you tell which one of these two would be my emotional one? :)

Tree lighting and Elf program

2009-12-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

This week, Chloe and her tottime class will be singing at the City Treelighting Ceremony. I know two songs they are singing, O Christmas Tree and Jingle Bells. When Chloe was practicing them this morning, while sitting on the potty, the lyrics became a little confused.
She was singing:
Oh Christmas Tree to the Americas

She started sing the song then added in part of the pledge. I looked at her and gave her the raised eyebrows. She then added into the song:
I love ya tomorrow.

Apparently she was thinking of Annie also :)

Sammy gets to be in his Kindergarten Elf program next week. It'll be interesting to watch him, I'm sure!

It's Snowing here!

2009-12-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

A rare occurance is happening in our little city.
It's snowing! That just doesn't happen here.

Me and John are very excited. Sam and Lex are already at school. Chloe could care less and Colby just wants to go outside.

There isn't enough to stick, but it's fun to see!

Flies, flies and more flies

2009-12-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

I hate flies! After having the door open so long the other night with Colby and the garage door being opened by the kids, we have too many flies in our house. How many is too many? One or more, of course.

I haven't been able to catch this batch of flies. I'm guessing we have at least four right now. Flies are just gross.

Chloe is usually our bug catcher. That's just gross too. Even she hasn't smashed any of these ones. John tries to catch them in his hand. That's even more gross. Apparently, he is like my dad. Catching flies in men's hands is somewhat of an unspoken sport, I guess. Just gross.

I need a fly swatter, but I think those are just gross also. Can you imagine my kids with one of those? Ewww, Gross!

Lil bit of trauma, lil bit of drama

2009-12-03T13:42:00.000-08:00

Poor Colby. The other night, he decided to try to climb up the oven. Usually it's locked, but this time it wasn't. Thank goodness John had already anchored it down so the whole thing doesn't tip. Anyway, he went to climb up it, the door fell open. He fell flat on his back. My first instinct was to close the oven door to get to him to pick him up.

Well . . . as I was shutting the door, his toes were underneath it in between the bottom drawer and the oven door. John saw that and I immediately stopped. His toes were stuck. If I tried to close it, it pinched them, if I tried to go the other way, it pinched them. After a few minutes of frantically trying to figure out how to get them out, we called 911. While we waited for help to arrive, Sammy was very upset. He kept screaming, " Colby is going to die! I don't want Colby to die! Help him"!

We thought the fire dept was coming but they dispatched the EMT's. Once they arrived, they called in for the fire department. They couldn't see how to get his toes out either. Colby was able to get all of his toes out except his big one (and it is big).

Poor Colby, he was crying. He would point to his toe and say, "Ohh". We gave him his favorite blanket. Eventually, my legs were starting to shake from squatting that long. I was squatting trying to comfort him, while trying to hold the door in place so it didn't move at all. I had John try to hold the door for me so I could sit next to Colby. He was very shaky with the door (doesn't handle crisis very well we learned), so I took over.

The firemen finally showed up, did something to the hinges of the oven door and used a screwdriver to pry up the door. His toe was a tad swollen and red. We'll see in the near future if there is any damage to his nail as it grows.

Even though the firemen were the ones to release his toe, I can tell Colby is very grateful to me (even though I was the one that closed the door). He will come up to me and hug me and make his "uhh" noise (which with a hug means I love you in Colby language).

Do you think he learned his lesson? At times yes, he will come to the oven door say "oh" and point to his toe. But, there have already been times where he tries to climb it AGAIN!

Handsome lil guy

2009-11-24T23:11:00.000-08:00

Look at this handsome lil guy. He's getting so big now. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He's our sweet baby. We just love him to pieces . . . and he loves us. He has a special bond with Lexi. He greets her every morning when he wakes up and as soon as she gets home from school. She can even get him to sleep if we need her to.

Ding Ding Ding

2009-11-24T23:10:00.001-08:00

We have another winner! I just won a $15 Best Buy gift card. Not a bad week for winnings!

Woo Hoo

2009-11-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

I just won a $25 visa gift card from Huggies! Woo Hoo! How cool is that!

Want to try to win? Check out all of the codes you can enter on this blog.

It might take awhile to add all of those codes (just copy & paste), but it may be worth it!

Another prize!

2009-11-20T09:50:00.000-08:00

Last night we won a movie ticket from Kid Cuisine.

I haven't won too many things this year. I did win a few months ago a swiss army suitcase from Pepsi. Then the free jar of Pace, now the movie ticket. I can't remember off hand if there was anything from the beginning of the year.

I'm hoping next year will be full of winnings!

I'm entering left and right

2009-11-19T09:13:00.000-08:00

I'm entering sweepstakes and contests, that is. I'm bound to win something (other than the free bottle of Pace Picante Sauce coupon). Yep, I'll even take a free item coupon. I'm not picky :).

I would love to win the Philosophy grand prize! Or hey, I'd love for you to win it and buy me something. I'm just about of my Baby Grace perfume.

Or, I'd be happy winning the $10,000 bailout plan from Overstock!

I also signed up for some more survey sites and search finding. Love it when I get a couple extra dollars in my paypal account!

I am now using Swagbucks. I've been using it about a week and have accumulated 13 swagbucks. You can trade your swagbucks in for gift cards. I use the search engine, which is google and ask.com. It's not the greatest, so if I don't find what I am looking for, I go back to my google search bar.

When I have enough, I'm going to use mine for either an Alice.com card or for an Amazon gift card. Check it out, I saved a print screen of my latest winning:
So, you can't really see my name, but it says it, trust me.

I also signed up for YouData. Super easy. I signed up, took a few surveys and now every once in a while, I will click on ads which open up a store website. Then I get paid for doing it! I'm not going to get rich by doing it, but a couple of cents and dollars adds up over time.

Another thing I signed up for yesterday is the Kelloggs Pop Tart Sprinklings.

My kids and John love pop tarts. This program is supposed to send you freebies and coupons. Can't beat that!

Maybe I'll have a post tomorrow with something about the kids. Something more interesting. :)

22 Years and a sleepwalker!

2009-09-26T20:38:00.000-07:00

Sam has another loose tooth. He asked me to pull it out like I did with his first one. So I say, "It's not loose enough yet, wiggle it around for awhile". He looks at me and says, "I've been wiggling it for 22 years"!

Can you believe it, 22 years?! Either time flies with Sam or it seems to really drag on.

So, last night, John and I are in the living room watching a movie. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, since I'm sure you were wondering. Anyway, the kids were all in bed sleeping, Lexi was sleeping over at a friends house and we hear the laundry room door open and close. We both look confused at each other, with a hint of nervousness thrown in there. John gets up to see who was here. (We always enter through our garage and laundry room). Turns out Sam was in there putting his thongs on (you know, flipflops - I still call them thongs).

We are still not sure where he was going. Pretty sure he doesn't know either. The night before that, we were in bed, he walked into our room to our bathroom, used it, washed his hands and walked right back to bed without saying a word. We just watched him in the dark, thinking it was kinda funny. Not too funny when he's trying to leave the house though.

I think we have a sleepwalker on our hands. Of course, now we are thinking, great, now we have to worry about him leaving out the garage in the middle of the night.

a little something from Chloe

2009-09-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

This morning Chloe wanted a piece of bread.
She asked if I can take the skin off. :)

Skin, Crust, what's the difference to a three year old?

Chloe singing Macaroni and Cheese

2009-08-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a little cell phone video of Chloe singing Macaroni and Cheese. Don't worry, I turned it off before her head started spinning. :) And yes, her hair is pretty wild, just like it usually is when she doesn't have school.

Sophomore Dude, Sophomore

2009-08-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Lexi started school. It's official, she is now a Sophomore in High School!
The first day she said that school was LONG. Yesterday it was much better than the first day. We're assuming it was still long, since the times haven't changed ;)

Now we have to worry about those horny high school boys again. Sure seemed easier when it was summer time and she didn't see as many.

Shared photo book from Rachel

2009-08-23T16:47:00.001-07:00

I had a free photobook from Shutterfly and thought I'd upload Johns pages from a few years ago. I made the pages for Fathers Day for him using premade pages.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Soccer has started

2009-08-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

Sam had his first soccer practice. I was impressed with him. He listened to the coaches and did what was asked of him. I was surprised at how good he was kicking the ball. He ran and kicked the ball around for about 45 minutes (with water breaks thrown in). At the end of practice, he even told the coach thanks. The coach shook his hand. Sam is growing up!

He can't wait til next weeks practice!

Future Kindergartener

2009-08-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

When we dropped Sam off for school the first day, Colby was just as excited. He loved the little chairs to sit in. He's such a cute boy. He's a smart baby. Poor little guy just can't talk yet. I'm sure when he does start talking, we'll think it's so cute ... But, I'm sure there will be a day when we will look back and think how nice it was when he wasn't talking. You know those days, the ones where the kids are either talking back or talking a mile a minute.

tidbits from the kids

2009-08-10T16:35:00.000-07:00

Today Sam and Chloe were playing in the front room. I overheard Sammy say this:
"Remember when we were leaving Grandmas house and dad had to put the hooker on the car"?
I think Sams version of a hooker is different than mine . . . at least I hope so.

The other day we were in the In n Out drive thru. I yelled back to Chloe and asked if she wanted a grilled cheese. Her response: "no, I'll order a boy cheese".

We were at Costco getting gas. Sam unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door. John stops him and tells him to get back in his seat. Sam jumps out of the car and says, "Let me out, I just want to dance". He did his little happy dance and then jumped back in the car like it was no big deal.

Kindergarten and Tot time begins!

2009-08-07T21:02:00.000-07:00

Yea! School has started up for Sammy and Chloe. It was a very exciting day this past Monday. Sam doesn't start school til 8:15 am, but decided to wake up around 6:30 that morning.

We all got ready and took the "first day of school pictures". You know the one I'm talking about, the backpack pose. I got all of the kids together finally and snapped a few real quick. They were all happy and excited, so I got one with them smiling! Sam still wearing that backpack, of course.

He went to Kindergarten with no problems. He was so excited that when he saw Quino across the parking lot, Sam did his happy dance.

Sam will do great in class this year . . . as long as he's not too wild for his teacher. So far this week, I think he's been really good in class. He says he listens and is a good boy. I'm assuming he is since he is super wild after school gets out. All of that contained energy just bursts out once we start leaving school.

Chloe loves tot time and is a little pro at me leaving her this session. There have been no tears. I worried since Sam isn't there with her, but I'm thinking she might like it better that way.

I'm working at getting Colby back on his "school's in session schedule". Trying to get him to nap in between drop offs and pickups. With the kids back in school, they seemed to have shared something with Colbs. He now has a fever. The first of many to come, I'm sure. Such a bummer!

Sucking problems

2009-08-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's not a good day for my vacuum to be clogged up. I made the mistake of giving Chloe and Colby a bowl of Fruity Pebbles (without milk of course). They have a little picnic table that they eat snacks at. When they were finished, there were more fruity pebbles on the floor and even more crushed into fine dust all over the table than I think I put in the bowl. Funny how those crumbs seem to multiply.

Anyway, I start vacuuming and realize that my Oreck has some sucking problems. It picked up some, but really just moved them around. Now I have to wait til John gets home from work to take the vacuum apart. We'll probably find enough crumbs and food to feed a small child stuck in the pipe and tubes.

But until then, if anyone wants to come vacuum my house. I'm up for it!

Somersault boy gets new shoes

2009-07-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Colby can do somersaults . . . a forward roll for the gymnasts out there. He does them perfectly. He has figured to tuck his head just the right amount to roll over in a straight line. It's really cute.

Today, I bought Colby some shoes. He is almost 16 months old and wears a size 8xw. This little kid has huge wide feet! He's going to be a beast. He loves his shoes. His toes on one foot turn inward when he is walking so I am hoping by him wearing shoes most of the day it will self correct.

The shoes were on sale buy one get one half off so I picked up another pair in a bigger size. These brown ones. The shoes are cute, but way pricey. He needs them though, so I guess I shouldn't complain. They are supportive but still soft and flexible.

Blog Off Babies

2009-07-28T22:11:00.000-07:00

This weeks topic for the blog off for babies is . . . Babies! I decided that I would share our journey of how our babies arrived in our family.

It's only fitting that I start off with pictures of our cute babies.

Lexi, Sammy, Chloe and Colby

Ah, they were so cute!

Of course every mama thinks their own babies are cute, don't they.

Like all babies, my babies were heaven sent. I will admit that I took for granted my first baby. We decided that we wanted to have one shortly after we were married . . . and lo and behold, we had one, with no effort. We were blessed with the prettiest baby girl I had ever layed my eyes on. She was such a fun, smart and lovable baby. She brought us such joy, that we decided we would have another one. When she was 2 1/2, we decided it was time. At least that is what we had planned. To my husbands delight, we started trying . . . and trying . . . and trying . . . and we kept that trying bit up for a couple of years.

Then, we realized something just wasn't right. Turns out, it was me. I went the infertility route. I was diagnosed with PCOS. I tried a few cycles of treatments with no success. It was a devastating blow to hear the doctor tell me that I had a slim chance to get pregnant on my own and even if I did, it would most likely end in a miscarriage. John still had hope and I didn't. There was a part of me that resented him for reassuring me that one day we would have more kids.

Fast forward a little while . . . we decided that we did want to add more babies to our family, so we started up the adoption process. It's a rather long story of ups and downs, more downs than up . . . that will need to be told another day (if I ever decide to). Long story short, we had two adoptions that after months in process fell apart. One was for a newborn baby boy in Guatemala. We were in process for over six months with him only to have it yanked out from underneath us. We were absolutely devastated. We loved this baby boy. We considered him ours even though we never met him. Then months later, we accepted a referral of a newborn baby girl in Guatemala. We were in process just a few months when we found out the case could not go forward. Another devastation.

While we were in the process of adopting, I did end up pregnant, twice. We thought wow, double the blessings! The blessings were cut short. I miscarried both times and both of the adoptions came crashing down.

Miraculously, about the same time we started up a third adoption for a little girl from Guatemala, we found out I was pregnant once again. Of course, with the previous experience, I was thinking, "you've got to be kidding me". I know those around me thought that I wasn't happy to be pregnant. I didn't show much emotion about it on the outside. On the inside, I was very excited, but extremely nervous. Our adoption continued on as did the pregnancy.

It was unreal. After 10 years of secondary infertility, it finally happened! Right on time, Sammy was born. He was such a cute baby. He looked just like an old man in a little baby body.

Months later, our adoption was finalized. Things don't always turn out the way we think they are going to. With out going into details (especially since many don't know this), we later made the decision to place her with another family here in the states. Another devastating situation. Even though it was our decision, it was by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. She was ours & we loved her. I still think of her often, still will cry myself to sleep at times when I think of her & will always love her.

Jumping ahead, two years after Sammy was born, we had Chloe. She is our cute little petite, feisty stubborn child. Two years after Chloe, we had Colby. I would have to say he was somewhat of a surprise. My body finally remembered how to keep hold of a baby and apparently doesn't want to stop. Colby is now our final baby. He completes our family.

Our journey to have our babies was a long one, 15 years long. One filled with surprises & too much heartache. Maybe it was all in "the plan" for us to go the adoption route, to get our little girl to the right family for her, to eventually be blessed with the rest of our family after our job was done. Who knows really, but I can't wait to find out. That will be my first question once I die, no wait, my second question will be to find out the whys of it. My first question will probably be, "dude, what just happened"? :)

Girls Night Away

2009-07-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

We (me and Bethany) decided it was time for a girls night away. Girls as in, the daughters with the mamas. We stayed at the Peppermill in Reno.

The girls swam in the pool three times & we did some shopping.
Check out this cute bag I bought Lexi for school.

We shared a giant pizzookie (that ice cream is so good with the cookie) from BJ's. Enjoyed cherry cokes (cherry sprite for Lexi - she normally is anti soda, so this was a stretch for her) from the dirtiest Johnny Rockets I have ever seen.

We all stayed up late, except Chloe, that was a lot of walking for her little legs. We played a little charades, laughed a lot and had a good time.

It's always nice to be home, but now I'm tired and sore.

Blog off week 3

2009-07-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Topic: "The most important lesson"

One of the many lessons that I am trying to pass on to Lexi, my teenage daughter, is to "Remember Who You Are". While visiting my grandmas house, my grandma would pass on the rules and advice before we walked out the door. There were two that have always stuck with me. Remember who you are & let the boys be the persuers. Both of which I have passed onto Lexi . . . whether she likes it or not!

The most important to me is remember who you are. It's important to stay true to yourself, to your values and morals. I tell Lexi that even though she doesn't like to think she is an example for anyone, she is. People will be watching, whether it be her peers from school or more importantly, her younger siblings and cousins.

When Lexi starts to slip up, I like to use the Brooke Shields funnyordie clip theme for her, "You better check yourself, before you wreck yourself".
Seems fitting for her sometimes (not the video, just the phrase).

Who's this handsome boy?

2009-07-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's Sammy of course! Bethany took some pictures of Sam for me the other day. The lighting wasn't the greatest, so we will try again another day, earlier in the morning. It's funny, because of the way his ears stick out, when he is in the direct sunlight, his ears glow bright red.

*Sam just saw his picture and asked if I'm typing "Sammy Rocks". LOL!

Sam will start Kindergarten soon. He's growin' up! He's been in an exceptionally good mood lately, very excited, animated and funny. Hope it lasts.

Been Readin'

2009-07-15T13:23:00.001-07:00

Since I finished the Twilight books in April, I started reading other books. I hadn't read a book in so long that I think I forgot how much I like to read. So, Bethany gave me a whole bunch of books to read.

Nicholas Sparks books are now my favorite!
Love them! I read:

The Lucky One
The Choice
Dear John
The Wedding
The Guardian
Nights in Rodanthe
A Bend in the Road
The Rescue
A Walk to Remember
Message in a Bottle
The Notebook

Next I moved onto the Shopaholic books. Three down, a few more to go. I have to buy Shopaholic and the sister one before I can start the one sitting on my desk. I hate reading them out of order . . . so I just won't do it!

Then I read two of Jodi Picoult's books: My Sister’s Keeper & Change of Heart.

I still have more of her books to read before I give them all back to my sister. I can't pick a favorite out of all of those. Once I start picking, then I think of another one that maybe I liked better. So, this year, I have read 20 books! That number does not include the many night time story books that I have read to the kids.

Blog off #2

2009-07-14T14:56:00.000-07:00

Week 2 topic for Blog off for Babies:
You are allowed, through the miracles of science, to travel into the past for a span of no more than 24 hours. You are allowed to take with you ONE piece of current modern technology with which you may change the lives of ONE family that you can visit during your stay. Assuming that there are no long-term, widespread disastrous outcomes from this altering of the timeline, when and where would you go, what piece of technology would you take with you to leave with them and why, and what do you think the experience would be like?

You must choose a time of at least 1909 or earlier to return to. You must be able to physically carry or roll the item along with you. Be aware that it has to actually work with the other resources they have – IE: they won’t have the Internet, so email isn’t going to work. Etc.

I thought about this quite a bit. I thought, I could take a digital camera to a family that would be arriving in Ellis Island to have them capture the past (not that they would benefit, but they could pass that camera along to family members to save for the future). I could load up my laptop with stories of the Holocaust and warn a Jewish family. But, I'm taking an easier route. One that will boost up a couples marriage.

I'd travel back to 1900, you pick the family. Any married couple will be glad that I showed up. After all, I'm bringing with me electric razors. Not just any razors . . . I'm bringing the Norelco bodygroomer for men and the Bliss bikini shaver for women.
Electric razors were invented in 1928. Just imagine how happy the couple would be to have these little gems earlier than everyone else. Obviously, these are updated products geared towards "manscaping" and "ladyscaping".

I don't care what year you live in. No one really wants that burly beast lying next to them in bed. The sasquatch look is out and I doubt it was in back in 1900. I would show up and tell them that it was time to tame that hairy beast! I'd whip out those razors and their faces would light up (after the initial embarrassment while thinking to themselves "how'd she know"?).

The outcome of my gifts and visit would be a new found interest in one another. In fact, I wouldn't doubt it if my visit would help populate the world by one more kiddo.

I wouldn't take these items back with me. They have electricity so they can just keep them for future use. I really wouldn't want to bring them back with me . . . that would be gross and totally unhygienic!

Don't BS a BSer

2009-07-10T21:11:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love Jane Lynch?!

The characters she plays are the best. I remember first seeing her in Sleepover, but with Sean Faris playing the cute high school boy, how quickly I forgot she was in it.

*I know this picture wasn't from Sleepover, but I had to post this steamy one for all of us to enjoy*

Getting back to Ms Lynch . . . She is such a great actress. I am looking forward to Glee this fall. I watched the pilot since she was in it and loved it! She was super funny in The 40 year old Virgin, but was even funnier in Role Models.

There are lots of funny lines from her in Role Models, but my favorite is when she tells the boys "Don't BS a BSer".

Be sure to check out what my sister Bethany has to say about Jane on her blog, Gurrola Gossip.

I'll leave you with this sound bit I found online : http://www.entertonement.com/clips/yrbvpfqzwg--Don
Enjoy!

One of our beauties

2009-07-09T10:55:00.001-07:00

Bethany came over and took some pictures of Lexi. You know, Lexi, she loves to get her picture taken . . . especially when she's all dooded up!

Anyway, these turned out so pretty, I just had to share!

Look, the top right one is Lexi without glasses. She's just about at that age for me to start considering letting her wear contacts.

The Best Life?

2009-07-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

As I read the first topic for the "Blog-Off for Babies", I was dreading it. Just seeing Oprah's name pop up just about did me in. Needless to say, I'm not a fan. Most people probably know about Oprah's Best Life series. I did not. So, I started to look it up, but for the life of me, I couldn't stop myself from hitting that darn red X to close her out. But, the post isn't supposed to be about Oprah, so I'll move on.

I've struggled with this post. What would I consider the Best Life and am I living it? That's so tough for me. It shouldn't be and maybe for the average person it isn't, but hey, who ever said I was average . . . OK, probably me. Maybe that's my problem?!

The best life (to me) might consist of:
Physically: being at a healthy weight, looking my prettiest all of the time, having a clear complexion (all that really vain mumbo jumbo), eating healthy foods

Financially: debt free, assets, college funds for the kids, orthodontia savings, emergency food supply, retirement

Emotionally: positive self-esteem, good relationships, good-stable marriage, not carrying around any extra emotional baggage, confidence, educated in a variety of areas (I'm not sure that falls under emotional, just pretend it does)

It's hard for me to think of "Best Life". I will live the life I deserve. What I put into it is what I will get out of it. I do not think I have the Best Life, nor am I living the best life. That being said, I don't think anyone really does.

I think Life is a like a game. It's all about choices and consequences. I know that if I was employed, I would be able to have a more secure future and not necessarily be living paycheck to paycheck. I know that by exercising (which I have been - yay me) will help me inch my way to a healthier weight for myself, but it's that darn healthy eating I have a problem with. I know that I could lose some of that excess emotional baggage I carry around with me if I went to see a therapist, but they cost money and that's not what I want to spend my money on right now. Uh-oh, my life is full of buts. But, (here's one more) what's more important to me than all of the steps to obtain the best life is that I know I love my husband and my kids. Seeing them happy, keeps me happy. I know that they love me unconditionally, just the way that I am. Hmmm, maybe I am living the best life in some ways. Even if I'm not, I'll just keep on living a good, content life.

I appreciated being able to think about what would make up the best life. I plan on making up a list of things that I'd like to accomplish in my lifetime, both short term and long term. Will I ever share it on this blog? Probably not, but you never know!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T16:48:00.001-07:00

Happy Fourth of July! Hopefully you can view this video.

It's Chloe and her version of the Pledge of Allegiance. At the end, she thinks it says, "just fall". She will usually fall down at that part.

Don't worry if you miss the first one, she chose to repeat it three times.

Two new posts today! I better slow down

2009-06-29T12:30:00.001-07:00

My second post of the day, that's a hint for you to read the next posting about Lexi's birthday.

Top Gun was on TV the other day. I was sitting with Chloe on the couch watching part of it.

Here's a little of our conversation:

Mom: ooo, he's a cute boy, isn't he?
Chloe: Mama, you have a daddy boyfriend.
Mom: I have a husband, but he still can be cute. Don't you think so?
Chloe: (silly grin) no
a few minutes in silence go by . . .
Chloe: (silly grin again) yes Mama, actually, I do!

Silly little girlie, who doesn't think Tom Cruise was cute in the Top Gun era? Even though he might be an odd duck now, he still passes as a good looking guy, even as he has aged.

Can you believe that John has never seen Top Gun? I won't even tell you what I think aout that!

Lexi is 15!

2009-06-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

Lexi celebrated her 15th birthday a few weeks ago. I'm just now getting the pictures on the computer, figures, I'm such a slacker.

We gave her a camera (which we have already returned, the quality of the pictures were horrible)! She mainly received clothes and books, both her favorites. Chloe and I ordered her a Princess Belle cake the day of her birthday. It was cute and lasted a few days.

Lexi went to Red Robin that night with her friends and then they came back and watched a movie. Earlier that day, I made her a jello cake and lemon squares. The kids all ate the jello cake, the lemon squares didn't last long enough for them to even try one!

Did you know back when I was ready to deliver Lexi, the bay area was experiencing a huge heat wave? How's that for a little tidbit of unusable knowledge for you?!

It's just Chloe

2009-06-22T13:34:00.001-07:00

Bethany photographed Chloe for me the other day. She looked too cute in Lexi's old dress. She had the cutest little pig tails, little corkscrews and all.
Last night, I was reading books to the kids in Chloe's room. Colby was in there walking around playing with all of the girlie stuff. I smelled something nasty. So, naturally, being totally disgusted, I asked the kids, did one of you fart? They both say no. Then Sammy says, It's just Chloe, she's a girl so she always stinks. Chloe jumped quickly to her defense saying boys are the stinky ones.

It was Colby. He let off a little stinkbomb.

Chunky Nuts

2009-06-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

Sammy came into our room yesterday to tattle on Chloe. Apparently, she double dipped. I asked Chloe what they were eating. She paused a little, then said "chunky nuts".

What's her version of chunky nuts, you might ask? Why, it's peanut butter of course! She double dipped with her spoon. Not to worry, though, we bought new peanut butter last night. We won't keep something that has been double dipped in, that's just gross!

I love when my kids come up with new names for common things. It's always the best when they can't remember what something is called. Sam used to call fruit punch, fun pooch. Chloe has referred to a soft taco as a soft tico. As for Colby, everything is either mmm, aaaa or dun dun dun. We know the dun dun dun is shut the gate. The aaaa is when he is calling someones name. The mmm is just about everything else. Go figure. I'm pretty sure one day he'll really talk.

*Colbys eyes are getting red again, looks like another ear infection in the works,*

He's walking!

2009-06-10T12:15:00.001-07:00

Colby is now walking more than he crawls! He's probably faster at crawling, so there are times that he jams that way. He looks like a little penguin when he walks. He's so cute!

He is still such a dancer. He loves the beat and rhythm in things. He has finally figured out how to dance while standing up. It's more of a slow dance. He seems to dance faster when he's sitting down. He loves music. One of his favorite dancing songs is Poker Face. He bobs his head as soon as the music starts. He even puckers his lips out.

One day if I can figure out how to video him and upload it, I'll post it!

Let's play catch

2009-06-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

Catch up that is!

School is out for all of the kids.
Sam graduated from tot time.
Lexi is now a Sophomore (and very proud of that fact).
Colby has had another set of ear infections that didn't quite clear up with the first medicine prescribed, so, I got to take him back into the doctors for something different. They are now cleared up and he has just a few doses left to take. Have I ever mentioned that our copays are $50? Well, they are. His ears are costing us just about the same as all of his diapers probably have!
John and I celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary. We went to Reno and stayed at the Peppermill. Our suite had a very nice soaking tub, which was used quite a few times. I would . . . or I will should I say, stay there again!

We've had lots of spiders, some even in the toilets. Good thing the lids are never down, other wise, those big floating spideys would've been big crawling spideys! I did find Colby trying to catch a big spider that was trying to run away from him on a couch pillow that was on the floor. Yuck! That's all I need, him to eat one of those.

No pictures to post just yet. Bummer, huh!

Tonight . . So you think you can dance!

2009-05-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo, tonight So You Think You Can Dance is back!

I think it's going to be a totally organic season, one that will be banoodles. Hopefully, we will like it so much that will want to stab someone! I can't wait to hear what other phrases and words Mia Michaels will enlighten us with.

I love the show, but hate how loud and obnoxious the judge Mary can be. I just hope not many make it on her hot tamale train. We don't need the screaming from her.

Colby has been one for awhile now.

2009-05-19T16:06:00.001-07:00

It's about time I do a posting about Colbs. He turned one last month. I'm just a slacker bloggin mama.

Colby had a good birthday. He wasn't too much into his cake. I eventually had to give him a fork for him to try the cake.

He liked all of his presents . . . as did the other little kids, of course.

He is trying to walk now. He can take 4-5 steps on his own before he drops to crawl. His knees are pretty rough from crawling on the carpet. He crawls around on the floor and pushes the cars around.

He is getting two more teeth on the bottom. As of right now, he has six teeth on the bottom, eight teeth on the top and two extremely swollen gum spots. He's a funny boy. He loves to dance! He loves the music playing in the car, loves Lexi's ipod & her phone. He even loves to dance to ringtones. He doesn't really watch tv, which is nice, especially when all of the other kids are at school. I get a few hours of quiet . . . or enough time to catch up on some recorded shows.

He still takes two naps a day, which I love! He's a good napper. I just give him his blanket and put him in his crib and he lays down and falls asleep. Night times we not the same though. He likes to sit on Johns lap to fall asleep, but I am now in the process of breaking them both of that little bonding time.

I guess that's it for now.

The apple with the bone

2009-05-08T18:04:00.000-07:00

Just a little quickie to share.

Chloe loves apples. She grabbed one off of the counter, washed it and sat on the couch to eat it. She's such a big girl. She was eating it and looked over toward me with a surprised look on her face and announced that she almost ate all the way to the bone. I told her it wasn't a bone, but it was a core. She wrinkled up her face and continued eating. Later she asked if all apples had cords.

Silly little girlie.

As a side note, I know this blogaroo has been neglected for a long time. I still need to update it with Colbys first birthday, his well check and just the mumbo jumbo. Hopefully, I'll be back to updating on a regular basis.

21

2009-04-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Today I was listening to Sammy and Quinos conversation as they ate lunch.

Quino: When you get to kindergarten, you have to count to 100
Sammy: Oh wow, will someone help me?
Quino: No, everyone just does it.
Sammy: I can count to 29, but that's it.
Quino: yeah, that's not 100 though.
(long pause)
Sammy: You know, 21 is such a big number. It's so scary, too.
Quino: Why, it's just 12 but backwards. A two and a one.
Sammy: Then 21 is not so scary anymore.

Fear

2009-04-11T08:13:00.000-07:00

Like Lexi, I'm going to answer the question from Nathan.

What one thing should we as modern humans fear the most and why?

I've thought about this one for a few days. Is it fear itself? Is it the unknown? Is it life altering tragedies? Is it the loss of ones identity? Is it the loss of everything that ever meant something to the person? Is it the loss of their integrity? I'm not exactly sure. Is there a "right" answer to this kind of question?

When I woke up this morning, I thought about the question again and here's what popped into my head. *By the way, tomorrow morning, I might have a different answer, so I'll just be posting todays thought*

As modern humans, the thing we should fear the most would be the loss of the internet. Not that it would happen, but what if. Shoot, I don't even know if it could, really.

What if the World Wide Web did not, could not exist anymore? No more internet. As a modern society, the internet is everywhere. It's the first place I check for the news, not only local news but countrywide, worldwide news. There is so much information on this favorite "highway" of ours. Without it, we would be lost. Where would Lexi get her celebrity gossip fix and John get all of his sports news/scores all at once? We'd be back to relying on tv stations, newspapers, telephone calls and even back to the snail mail.

C'mon, you all have had a glitch in your internet service at one time or another. For a split second, you may experience a twinge of panic. Oh no, the internet's not working. You click a dozen times, open - close, open - close. You check the modem, the connection, calling the provider to check on the status of outage, even calling someone to see if their connection is out. You know the feeling. Can you imagine if we lost the internet all together? Couldn't even head to a neighbors driveway to snag their connection or if a little "borrowing" isn't your thing, heading to a free wifi location to hook up.

So, I think the thing modern humans should fear the most is the loss of the internet, our super information highway, our link to the information of the past and present. For most of us, our shopping cart, our mail box, our own personal bill payer, our social network.

All finished!

2009-04-06T12:51:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in a few days. I was too busy finishing the Twilight saga. I'm now finished reading. They were all good books. They all seem to blend into the next one, so I wouldn't be able to tell which book something happened in, know what I mean?

Anyway, they were great books. Now I'm waiting for the movie to be in theaters. My only problem, the two main characters are not how I picture them in the books. Go figure.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll have a layout of Colby from his birthday, which was yesterday. A big one year old!

Glasses?

2009-04-03T09:45:00.000-07:00

Not for Sam! John took him to his appointment. He did great, the perfect patient.

Sam sees perfectly, no need for glasses at this time. I'm sure Sam is relieved.

Turn it off!

2009-04-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

We had a Target run today. On our way out, it was slightly windy. Chloe and Sam were in the basket. We pushed on towards the car and Chloe's hair was blowing in her face.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes and said, "Turn the air off"!
It was cute.

It was so good!

2009-04-02T08:57:00.001-07:00

I finished New Moon last night. Oh man, it was so good! I really liked when they went to Italy. I can't wait to see that part of the movie when it comes out.

Ok, that is all. Now I just have to wait for the next book.
While I wait, I'm reading the partial draft of Midnight Sun on Stephanie Meyers site, Edwards perspective. Thank goodness Bethany told me about it!

Shopaholic takes Manhattan on to New Moon

2009-04-01T08:10:00.000-07:00

I finished Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. It was a good book. Slow for the first part then it picks up. It was a quick read, just like the first book. Now when the movie comes out on dvd, I'll be able to rent it. I wanted to read the first two before seeing the movie.

I'm enjoying the slow romance of Becky and Luke. I'm hoping they get more into it during the next book. I plan on picking that one up after I finish New Moon. I'm alternating between the books while I wait on the Twilight ones.

Bethany, Lexi and myself (and now hopefully Nicole) are all taking turns reading the Twilight Saga. I started New Moon last night. As of right now, I'm a quarter into the book. I'm hoping to finish it tonight! I love it already. So good!

We have ordered the third book, Eclipse, the other day. We found someone selling them in paperback online. Can't wait!

Vision test coming up

2009-03-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sammy gets to go in for his first real vision test on Thursday, not just reading one of those "which way is the hand pointing" charts. At his well check, he had a hard time seeing the little hands. Chloe flew through the test, but Sam had a harder time. When the hands got down towards the bottom, he said they were just circles.

I'm not sure how he'll react when he sees a machine similar to this one.

I think I'll give him the heads up beforehand, show him some pictures.

But, who knows, we may come out of the appointment with a prescription. Lexi started wearing glasses when she was five. The bad eyesight could just run in the genes.

They do have some cute glasses for kiddos though. How 'bout these cute Shrek ones? Cute, huh.

We'll see what happens.

A disappointing "Oh no, I won" and more of Twilight

2009-03-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

John and Sam were taking turns playing a Mario game on the DS. Super Mario Bros, if you feel the need to know. Seems like they (meaning more John, than Sam) played every chance they could to get ahead. Then, one night, I look over at John playing. He looks at the game in disbelief, says in a disappointing voice, "Oh no, I won. The games over". At the time I thought it was funny. I thought, c'mon, give me a break, upset over winning a game and being finished with it.

I know that feeling now. I know the disappointment he felt. After a few days of reading Twilight every chance I got, I finished the book.

I started the next book by reading the preface and chapter at the end of Twilight. Oh my goodness . . . when I turned the page, hoping to find the start of the next chapter, all I found was the discussion questions. That's not what I wanted. Pure disappointment. I wanted to be able to keep on reading.

I need this book now! I even found myself dreaming about the story. How odd is that. It was like I have my own version going through my dreams at night. Could be due to reading the book right before bedtime. ;) Either way, I have fallen for this beautiful love story. Everyone was right, the book outshines the movie. The details of every scene are explained so well. You know the author does an outstanding job when you feel like you are in the scenes, like a fly on the wall, just watching everything take place. When all of the sudden, you are feeling what some of the characters are feeling.

Amazing story, amazing writing, amazing and intriguing characters. Love it love it love it!

The Countdown is ON!

2009-03-28T16:19:00.000-07:00

April 3, 2009. Just right around the corner.

What's the countdown for you might wonder?

Fast and Furious will hit the theatres in six days. WooHoo! Looks like John and I will be going on a date soon. Popcorn and Paul Walker, what more could a girl ask for?

And, here's an older layout I did for a challenge. Could Paul Walker get any hotter? I don't think so either. I just wish when he did interviews, that he didn't talk. Is that bad?

Twilight . . . immortality

2009-03-25T21:33:00.000-07:00

After hearing rave reviews, I decided to watch Twilight. Oh my goodness, I love love loved it! I'll be starting the book series soon.

I love a good romance. Who knew that vampires were so hot? I'm trying to think if I have ever watched a vampire show . . . ummm, can't think of one off the top of my head. So if I had, it wasn't a very memorable one. Twilight on the other hand, will be very memorable.

I'm like Lexi, I didn't think Edward was attractive . . . til I saw this movie. I think it's more his character that's attractive to me.

I really liked whatever type of filter this movie had. I love the way the colors looked. Especially their pale skin and their pink lips.

My favorite vampire (to look at) would have to be James. My goodness he's good looking, especially in real life! Look him up, you will have to agree when you see more pictures of him!

On Nathans Blog, a web friend, he has a great posting on Twilight. That is what prompted me to write about it. Would I want to become immortal? I thought about this last night. I wouldn't want to be immortal. I think there are too many things that I want answered. I look forward to the day I die, when I can drift off to Heaven and get some questions answered. Mainly some whys. If I never died, my questions would continue to haunt me . . . forever. How depressing is that?!

Be sure to check out Lexi and Bethanys blogs for their take on Twilight.

Well checks

2009-03-24T22:13:00.000-07:00

My kids were pros at the doctors office. It helps that we have a super de dooper coolio doctor. This will be short . . . like Chloe.

Chloe is weighing in at 30 lbs (38%) and is 3 ft. tall (or short 19%).
Such a petite little thing.

Sam is 41 lbs (55%) and is 3' 8" tall (70%).

Wouldn't pictures be so nice about now? Well, I can't find the stick thingy to transfer them over . . . so hopefully, the next kiddo posting there will be some.

Well checks tomorrow

2009-03-19T12:27:00.000-07:00

Sam and Chloe have their well check appointments tomorrow. Should be fun. I never know how Chloe is going to react these days. She's been on the emotional, fiesty, I expect to have things my way side lately. When I say they are going to the doctors, she answers back that they are not going to shot her. So, hopefully, this time, there won't be any.

We have to get the paperwork filled out for Sams kindergarten registration. WooHoo! He's been a tad bored at preschool lately. I think he needs more hours and more days . . . sometimes I think I need the more hours and days for Chloe.

Since Sam turned five last month, he seems so much older. They both have seemed to change some. Chloe talks more (only when she wants to). I don't know how to describe Sam, his conversations seem to have grown up with him, but really quickly.

Anyway, tomorrow should be fun. I'm going to ask the doctor to look into Colbys ears real quick too. We have a super de dooper doctor!

Spur of the moment quick weekend trip

2009-03-16T15:44:00.001-07:00

We decided to head up to Johns parents house over this past weekend. Knowing Chloe got car sick the last time we went, we gave her the Bonine beforehand. We made it up there without her getting sick. We just had Sammy whining that he did not want to go.

It's a long quick trip, really. At least four hours with a lot of the time going through windy mountain roads. To top it off, it was windy. Hmm, are windy and windy spelled the same . . . or should one of those be windey?? Anyway, you know what I mean . . . I hope.

We left on Friday, arrived late Friday evening. Everyone stayed up too late, of course. Saturday we headed to Reno, bought Mamma Mia soundtrack on the way. Grandparents bought Chloe sandals and Colbs some tennis shoes. Sam couldn't find any he liked. He just wants flip flops from Old Navy. Sure makes it easy for me!

So we headed for home on Sunday. Not even a half hour out, Chloe threw up. Yuck! It was pretty gross. Many hours later, we made it home only to decide that we are not going on any road trip (with the kids) for a long time!

February recap

2009-03-12T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here's my February recap:
1. Chloe’s first day of Tot Time
2. Chloe’s 2nd Birthday
3. Lexi on phone as usual
4. Moms new haircut
5. Valentines Day treasure hunt finds

6. Mom and Dads romantic date night
7. The dreaded red roses
8. Sammy’s 5th Birthday
9. Johns 36th Birthday
10. Colby’s 3rd ear & eye infection

Sweet Shoppe Blog Challenge

2009-03-11T20:39:00.001-07:00

Image from here

For this weeks Sweet Shoppe blog challenge, we are talking about our favorite Girl Scout Cookies. They are in the purple box. They were called Samoas, but I'm not sure if they are called that or not anymore. I just call them the caramel ones. These ones don't last long in our house. Me and Lexi will finish off the box rather quickly. Of course, we only buy cookies from our favorite little Brownie, Isabella.

Little Buddy a few years ago

2009-03-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout of Sam. It's early, but I think he was just under 3 months old. You can figure out the math. He was born Feb 26 and this was taken May 6th.

Blogaroo decor change and Lexi's blog

2009-03-10T11:06:00.001-07:00

I'm almost done with my blogaroo facelift. I just bought Bug Out by Melissa Bennett. She was having a super good sale at her shop. In fact the sale is still going on if you want to pick up (or download should I say) something cute.

I really like this blog design but there are still some things I'm trying to tweek, like that darn border around the header. I can't seem to get rid of it. It's not supposed to be there. I'm also going to be adding the cutesy little tags on the sidebar, but I need to figure out how to get rid of the extra space under each one. I'll be keeping this blog decor for quite awhile. If you had previously saved it as a favorite, you'll need to update that link.

Our drama queen, Lexi, has now started a blog. We still have to fancy it up, but she is on her bloggin way! If you have a spare minute, go and check it out. I'm sure she'd love a few comments on there.

Colby 11 months already!

2009-03-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Our little baby isn't so little anymore. He's a whopping 23 pounds! I don't know how long he is (I'll find out at his One year well check next month), but he's tall. He's a cruiser. He now hangs onto the top of the counters and table to skim them . . . probably looking for scraps of food. He's our mini vacuum. If there is something on the floor, he'll find it and eat it. Doesn't matter to him what it is. I can't tell you how many pieces of string from our couch pillows that we have pulled out of his mouth.

He's still working on getting over those darn ear infections. I took him back in yesterday and the dr. we saw thinks it may be a persistent ear infection on one side. His 10 days of taking Augmentin is tomorrow, but then, we start another 10 days of it up. Thank goodness he seems to like taking it. He's a trooper. He is still happy even when he should be hurting.

Hmmm, what else about our Bubbas . . . we just love him to pieces! He likes to wave hi and bye, give kisses and has just started to pull hair (especially mine and Chloes). This morning he grabbed Sammy by the hair to show him something. For some reason, he will grab mine and pull when he gets mad. Little stinker!

Just a layout

2009-03-06T17:24:00.000-08:00

link for credits
I did this layout for a template challenge on Heather Rosellis blog. I love the kit and I have always loved this picture of Chloe.

It's always so much easier to scrap girlies than it is to scrap boys for me.

I hope to get a page of Colby scrapped for his 11 month update. Maybe that will be posted some time tomorrow. Then again, maybe not, you just never know!

Sweet Shoppe Blog Challenge

2009-03-05T19:43:00.000-08:00

It's one of those days again. Time to take the quiz from the Sweet Shoppe Blog. This time it's on flowers.
My results:
Apparently, I'm Affectionate

Roses Say You're Very Affectionate

You are a classic romantic who believes in true love.
You often experience deep emotions and feel warmth toward almost everyone.

You are a bundle of positive feelings and sweetness.
You can are easily hurt, and people should be careful with your heart.

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdotheflowersyoupicksayaboutyouquiz/">What Do The Flowers You Pick Say About You?

Kinda funny. John bought me red roses and had them delivered in time for Valentines Day. Well, I HATE red roses. Always have for some reason. I like pretty colored roses. Not yellow ones, unless they are in a bunch with other pretty ones, like pink, purple even an orange one or two. You've seen the spring like bunches of roses at Costco. Those are the pretty ones!

Anyway, long, dramatic story made short, the red roses died shortly after we got them. I swear, I was taking care of them properly. The money was refunded, thank goodness!

Another one sick & rainbow

2009-03-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

Now it's Chloe's turn. She's now the sicky one. She has a cold, I think. Fever, runny nose, sneezing, lounging on the couch and a lot of whining and tears. Poor little feisty thing. She can't stand when anyone looks at her, touches her or talks to her. Makes for a really fun day.

Colby seems to be doing much better. He's in a much better mood. At least I know his medicine is working. He is teething again. Big huge swollen gums where the molars are trying to peek out. Ouch, looks painful!

This pic was taken this morning in the car waiting to drop off Sam at preschool. Chloe stayed home today to relax.

Lexi was over at her friends today. She sent this picture to us on her phone.

I haven't mentioned Lexi lately, but yes, she still exists. I just try to give her more privacy on this blog.

The missing member of The Village People

2009-03-03T20:01:00.001-08:00

I said I would post a picture of John. I'm not quite sure what he was thinking, but he decided to shave and keep a "stache". I think Chloe gave him the idea. We weren't sure if we should laugh or be scared, so we laughed . . . a lot!
Maybe he's going for the Super Trooper look.

Or maybe he thinks he is the lost member of the Village People!

Either way, it made us all uncomfortable. It only lasted through the night. When he woke up, it must have scared him when he looked in the mirror. He shaved it off and we now have our regular OLD John back. He asked me if I even noticed that he had shaved it off and I had to admit that I was trying not to look at him. I love to tease him, he makes it so easy!

I have another picture of him that I'll share another day. It's still on the camera, but it sure is a funny one!

Johns Birthday & Sick Bubbas

2009-03-02T14:18:00.000-08:00

Big daddy John had a birthday too. He is now 36. Whoo, that’s getting up there! We gave him his gifts, which he was excited to open.

Even though it was his special day, we had to devote some time to Colby and take him to the doctors. Poor little Bubbas has ear infections in both ears and eye infections. He looked fine the day before. I can always tell when he has an ear infection, his eyes get nasty. Poor baby was miserable. He had a cold for about a week along with a cough, but that was mainly at night.

The night before we took him in, he had a really hard time sleeping. Too many boogies!

Poor Sick Bubbas!

After a few doses of his medicine (Augmentin) this time, he seems to be getting better. This is the third set of ear infections in three months.

While we were gone to the doctors, Lexi made John his cake and cleaned up the house for him. We brought dinner home for the adults (us, Lexi, Bethany, Omar & Gilbert). John chose Olive Garden. Excellent choice! I can’t stand pasta, but I love their five cheese marinara sauce.
Overall, I know John had a good birthday and he loved all of his gifts. I'm hoping to post some pictures of John! Check back tomorrow!

Sammy turned FIVE!

2009-03-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

Sammy is five now! He had a very good birthday. He wanted everyone to go to bed early the night before so his special day would get here sooner. He woke up before 6:00 and the first thing he asked for was a present. Not surprising, really.

He opened up presents throughout the day. We give the kids their presents little by little throughout the day to make them last longer. Grammie, Papa & cousin Phoenix came over at lunchtime. Auntie, Quino, Garrett & Matthew spent the day with us. There was a lot of wii and ds playing going on that day. Sam has a few new games to play. After school time, we had a few more visitors: Isabella, Hollie, Tyler & Connor came to play.

Sam wanted “muffins” instead of cake,so we had chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting.
Sam had a good fifth birthday, emotional at times, but overall, it was good.

So, let’s think back when Sammy was just a baby. He was so cute. I’d post some details about his birth, but sadly, I didn’t really write anything down and some of it is such a blur to me. I know that Dr. Clare gave the OK to get the epidural as soon as I wanted (which was soon). I can remember that the epidural didn’t quite work. When you can feel everything and get up to walk right after, I’m pretty sure that’s a sign it was a dud.

credits: kit by Kay Miller
Anyway, Sammy was born pretty much on his due date, Feb 26th at 7:10 in the morning. He weighed in at 9 lbs. He looked like a little old man. He looked bald, but had the softest little white/yellowy/orange duck fuzz. Later that soft hair was replaced rather quickly with coarse hair. Since Sammy was 9 pounds, they checked his glucose levels every hour for a few hours. He would scream in the nursery when they had them. He screamed so much, we could hear him & eventually he went hoarse from screaming so much. His first few days at home, he barely had a voice to cry with. He was a good baby. When he would be held, he would just mold into whoever was holding him. He did this as he got older too. In fact, he wanted John to carry him to bed the night before his birthday. John picked him up and Sam just molded in.

credits: Kit by Kay Miller . I used a template and can't remember the name of the designer.