Thankful Thursday

Here's what I'm really grateful for:


1. My Spanx Cami. Holy spandex, Batman! This sucker hold in all the jiggly parts, and makes all the bumps nice and smooth.



2. Cream of chicken soup. Thank you, creamy easy goodness, for making me feel like a chef.
3. Teachers who think parents need to do craft projects at home for showcasing in class, instead of using class time to teach. Um, can't we stick to math and science?
4. My wicked sense of humor. See #3.

About me from A-Z

This is my blog, so therefore you're getting a great big dose of ME!

A is for Anxious
B is for Brazen
C is for Colorful
D is for Ditzy
E is for Ear wax.
F is for Funny
G is for Grateful
H is for Homebody
I is for Instigator
J is for Jiggly
K is for Killer hair
L is for Laughing
M is for Munchies
N is for Notes
O is for Odd
P is for People person
Q is for Quiet (ha)
R is for Rambunctious
S is for Sexy
T is for Tan
U is for Ugly skin
V is for Valium for airplanes
W is for Water
X is for XXX rated?
Y is for Yellowstone
Z is for Zits


So there you have it folks. All things that describe me. I hope you can make it through the day now.

Can you hear it?

Can you hear my shout of joy?

It's my "First day of school" shout for joy!

And there's a dance, too. I bet you wish you could see me dance, don't you?

Today is Emma's first day of THIRD grade!

Third.Grade.

I remember third grade. I think my mom still had to come sit in my class with me so I wouldn't cry. And I'm pretty sure I remember Lowell taking me to school so my mom wouldn't have to deal with me. Looking back, I was a pain in the butt. Sorry mom.

But I digress.




Here is the woman of the hour. I think we did pink and brown for last years first day of school too, but whatever works. She loves this outfit because it's MaryKate and Ashley (thanks, Wal-Mart). I guess she doesn't know about the anorexia or dropping out of college, but I'm certainly not telling her. She got t new backpack and a pink camo lunch box. How cute is that? I just can't believe it's third grade for her. She's growing up so fast, and becoming quite the little lady.


*Note to bus stop moms: I understand that it's early, and I certainly don't get all decked out to take my kid to the bus stop, but please, please, please, don't wear boob-high acid wash mom jeans with 4" heels and a cut off shirt. Thank you.

Fun times!

This weekend we went on the Ward campout with my parents Ward. The good old Riverton 7th. Times have certainly changed, some of the people have changed, but it's still the same, fun loving, crazy Ward that I grew up in.

Little G doing her famous "drooly face". Don't you just want to eat her up? This is the position she assumes when she wants to be picked up. How can you resist?

Madison, Emma, and Maggie singing songs with the primary at the camp out. We love having Madison along, she is such a nice girl. She and Emma are the cutest girls, and they play so nicely together. We just don't have to worry when she's around, because we know that together, they are probably more responsible than most of the adults. We had a small "gasoline on the fire" moment, but nothing too bad.

And here they are singing "We are Children Holding Hands Around the World". Despite the picture, that paper on the right is not on fire. It was dusk, and I had no tripod, so lay off. The folding chair was the best I could do on such short notice. It held fairly still, but apparently not enough.

It was a fun time away, short and sweet. It was cool up there in Spanish Fork Canyon, we had to use our jackets at night. Unless you're Meg, then you have to use a jacket all the time. We had sloppy joes and potluck salads and desserts, with dutch oven cheesy potatoes thanks to Brent Hales. He knows his way around a potato. The evening was topped off by the primary singing, a few of the young women singing "Princess Pat", and then s'mores. Breakfast was early the next morning, and after being up all night with a stuffy baby, I slept right through it. I heard it was yummy. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Check out this funny eBay ad, thanks to Betsy.

I laughed my butt off.

Truckin' Mama

Today I get to do one of my most favorite things. I get to pull the trailer all the way to Spanish Fork (or as you'd properly say if you were a true Utahn, Spaneesh Fark). I love pulling the trailer. I really do. It's cool to see people when you pass them going up a hill, or pulling into the Wal-Mart and taking up 14 parking spaces. I also like knowing that I can do it. If I ever had to do the trailer thing all alone, I could. Not that I would want to, I definitely like having Sean around to lift the heavy stuff, and reach the high shelves. But I can do it all, and that makes me feel empowered.

What she's doing now

Today is Gretta's 7 month "birthday".
Here's what she's up to now.


Looking cute.
Getting a tan line from her helmet.
Holding her own bottle.
Eating carrots, beans, applesauce, pears, and bananas.
Rolling all over the place.
Eating anything she can get her hands on.
Sleeping all night.
Yelling at the top of her lungs.
Saying "mama baba" when she's hungry.
Swimming and splashing.
Loving the outdoors.
Getting up on her hands and feet, pushing off, and landing on her head. Crawling won't be far off now. I'm sooo not ready for this.

Update on the Maze.

Meg and I had so much fun in Logan on Saturday that we've decided to go back, this time for an extended weekend. The Maze is pretty darn cool, and we were both surprised that more people don't know about it. We also decided it would be a wayyy cool date, ahem, Spencer.

The drive to Logan was about as frustrating as you can imagine. A normal 1 1/2 hour drive turned into 4 hours, plus an hour stop for dinner and pee. After arriving in Logan at 10:00 PM, and Sean getting things situated despite the rain, we settled in to watch Zodiac. A good, long, interesting movie, probably better suited to be watched in the earlier evening hours. At 2:00 AM, we nestled in to sleep. Just as we start to doze off, the loudest crash of thunder I have ever heard breaks the silence. Instantly I'm upright in bed, and Sean just lays there laughing. Gretta promptly awakens, and Meg has to comfort her until I get my wits about me enough to get up and rock her myself. It was so loud, it set off car alarms. The rains came down, but only for a few minutes. We had a restless night of sleep after that, as you can imagine.

We launched at 8:00 AM in chilly, breezy, weather, with a small threat of a storm hovering above us. After Meg stopped to pee, we started upstream, and followed the buoys marking the main channel. It wasn't long, however, that Meg said she had to pee. We didn't plan on going too many miles up, so I told her she could go when we turned around and paddled by the ramp. A few minutes later, Meg informs me that she indeed has to pee. There was a sense of urgency in her voice. I told her I would hold her kayak while she dangled her butt off the side to pee. I was hoping she would accept my offer of "help", because I kinda wanted to see her fall in. But she said she could wait. A few minutes more, and Meg informs me she has to pee...NOW! She was indeed desperate. Meg immediately beaches the kayak, and heads off into a cattle field. Have you ever heard a mad cow? We have, and it's not a pretty sound. She did her thing, and off we went, no near drownings to speak of.

We continued on, and a short time later, I hear Meg from behind shouting "Alligator!" Um, what? I look back and Meg is stranded on a sandbar, and water is splashing on her from each side of the kayak. What the ? Turns out the Catfish beach themselves on the sandbar, and she must have landed right in the middle of their little pow wow. Although I think she's still convinced there was an Alligator. Understandably, we turned around at that point and headed back downstream.

As we paddled past the ramp, I asked Meg if she had to pee.

Nope.

We paddled a few more strokes, and I asked Meg if she had to pee.

Nope.

So we head North, and just as we are about to go under the road, Meg informs me that she does indeed have to pee. Back to the ramp we go.

Is anyone keeping score? Meg=3 pees, Keli=0 pees.

Anywhoo, you can see why we need an extended weekend next time. And maybe a catheter. But we did get to see some pretty cool sights.

A bunch of beached Catfish.
Mad cows.
Several Great Blue Herons.
Several Ibis'.
A redneck catching the biggest freakin' Carp I've ever seen.
Sean nearly capsizing a kayak because he can't be outpaddled by a woman.

Needless to say, we had a good time. We always do with Meg. She's quite a woman. Any guy would be lucky to have her. I'm just glad I have her no matter what.

*Next on the docket, tennis this week, camping this weekend, and then perhaps a paddle around Causey reservoir.

To the North

Meg and I are heading North to Logan this weekend. Should be fun. We'll be using our newly found kayaking expertise to navigate the Wetlands Maze of Cutler Marsh. Hopefully we don't get lost. Hopefully there are no bugs, eww. Or other wildlife, eek. Or too much grass and goop in the water, gross. Do we sound like hard-core or what? Wish me luck!

Remember when...

Tonight I attended a wedding.

A beautiful wedding.

My rockin' cousin Chuck* married Shelly*, and at this wedding they had a video. It showed the usual pictures of them as babies and children, and of course pictures of them together as their love grew. Awww. But as I watched this video, I was reminded of just how fast time goes by. It's dumb, really, to get so wrapped up in everyday life that you forget the meaningful moments.

But it happens.

And now Chuck, the cute, spiky haired, tan, little monster, that no one could understand but his mom, is now a husband. And here I am, wondering how he grew up, and I haven't aged a bit. Can it be possible that in the figurative blink of an eye, it will be Emma getting married? And where has the time gone? What have I left behind for her to learn from and grow from?

I'm left to wonder of the impact that I'm making on her life. I hope she takes all the good intentions I have, and knows that's the real person I am. I hope she doesn't see "The Avoider" I can be, or the social anxiety that plagues me, or the way I use humor to mask my low self esteem. I hope she only takes the good, and leaves the bad.

I hope, I hope, I hope....

What I really hope is that she could stay little forever, and never grow up to know of adult pressures. To eat with her hands and get food on her face. To swim like a fish, and not care how she looks in a swimsuit. To make friends with a person just because they like to slide down the curly slide too. To never have heartache, or peer pressure, or disappointment.

But all these things are sure to come. And I can only look back and remember when she was my baby, my baby bear, my wiener dog.

*Names have been changed to protect the innocent. Not that I'm implying that "Chuck" has ever been innocent in his life.

It's still not a fungus, but...

It doesn't look like skin cancer either. Thank goodness. The doctor I saw today said it looks like it could just be an infection of some kind, and a week on antibiotics will either clear it up, or if not, then we'll know for sure what it is. So I guess there will be an update in a week.

There you go Meg. :)

It's not a fungus!

For about 2 years now I've had a little spot on my arm. It looks like a scar, but it constantly scabs and peels. Kinda gross. I never really thought much about it until about a month ago. I got a red, peeling, weeping, open sore next to it. It wouldn't heal. I tried neosporin, lotions, and of course more sunshine, but I couldn't get it to go away. So I decided to head to the Doc for some topical ointment. Don't you hate the word ointment?

Turns out, it's not a fungus! Yay!

Not so fast. Seems as though I may have picked myself up a little skin cancer. (Insert feigned shocked look here). I know, I know, hours in the sun year after year is probably not a good idea, but with a pool, and kids, what can you do? I do put on sunscreen. SPF 4, but still, it's sunscreen. I'll know tomorrow what we have to do, but it's probably just a little Basal Cell Carcinoma, a very common and easily treated form of skin cancer. Really, it was just a matter of time.


To the pool!!!

Happy Birthday to me!

Yep, it's my birthday folks.

31.

I scored a sweet new white BlackBerry Pearl from Sean, and some cool pink shoes courtesy of Laura.
I have the best friends and family!

We did dinner at Harry's in South Jordan. I love their connect roll and coconut shrimp. Yummy!
I had a great day. Thanks everyone!

10 things I can't live without

10 products I can't live without:

10. Febreze spray. I live with Sean, what can I say.

9. Nivea Moisturizing Toner.

8. Internet.

7. US Weekly.

6. Cosmedicine Mattifier.

5. Satellite TV. And Noggin, mostly.

4. BlackBerry.

3. Banana Boat Tan Extending Lotion.

2. Tropicana tanning oil. I do my best worshiping in the sun.

1. Scrubbing Bubbles.

Birthday and Baptism

My baby is 8. 8! I know I said that about Gretta being 6 months, but this is my baby baby. Emma is very special. She made me a mom. She completed the family we began when we got married. I never thought I'd have another baby after her. Guess I was wrong about that. Here is Emma with her birthday cake. She frosted it, and sprinkled it, and put the candles on it. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting, her favorite just like dad.
Sean baptized Emma today. He got a little emotional, and Emma felt the spirit very strongly. She was ready to get baptized, and knows how important it is. We are very proud of her.
Emma with her Troy and Gabriella dolls from High School Musical, her favorite movie. They sing. A LOT! But she loves them. She also got a necklace and dress for her baptism, Heely's, and a $20 gift card to Wal-Mart. She's all about the gift cards.

Reasons we love Emma:
10. She is very bright and fun.
9. She has a good sense of humor.
8. She makes friends very easily, and loves them all.
7. She loves her sisters so much.
6. She shares even when it's hard.
5. We hardly ever have to ask her twice.
4. She does the right things because she wants to.
3. She's very responsible.
2. She takes care of her things.
1. She is the love of our lives because she's just the way she is. Perfect!