It hurts...

Mom & Brent are on the plane right now flying back home to Seattle, and my heart hurts so much. I just gave myself permission to cry until all the tears were gone,but sadly, there are a lot of tears to get out. I just love my Mama and it hurts without her. Every time she leaves I resort back to a 3 year old who needs her Mom to make everything feel better. And she does. But when she leaves, I just fall apart. We had a great visit, but like always, it was too short. They flew in Friday at 12:25 and left today at 12:55. We got them checked in, went to Costco and bought a gingerbread man decorating kit, came home and had lunch, played Yahtzee & Sorry and then Trav came home. Later we went to drop off library movies, stopped at the dollar store to shop and pick out fabulous BINGO prizes, picked up pizza, came home and ate and then went to the school for Tristin's music concert. Friday night Tristin stayed the night with G-ma & G-pa at their hotel. Saturday I picked them up and brought them back to the house, we visited for awhile and then Mom & I went out for a few hours to hit the thrift stores and check out Gordman's. Trav & G-pa took the kids to the park and We made it home in time for the boys to go watch the BSU game, we made soup for dinner, went out to Panda Expressfor lunch, got hit on by a 80 year old man, came home & relaxed. I showed Mom clips from "the Voice" and tried to convert her to the show (She is a HUGE American Idol fan, so I knew she would like it) The boys came home and we ate dinner, played BINGO, and then went over to the hotel to go swimming. We stayed for awhile and then the girls got to stay the night. They layed in bed and watched movies, ate ice cream & popcorn and had lots of fun. This morning I picked them up, we picked up breakfast, came home and ate, decorated ginger bread men, G-pa went shopping for toys and then it was time to leave. We drove them to the airport but I had to go in just to have 10 more minutes with them. We hugged and cried and then hugged and cried again. They left and Daisy and I cried all the way back to the van. We held each other and just cried. I told her when it hurts that much, it just means we love each other alot. Thank you so much Mom for making another trip out this year. We were blessed to see you guys 3 times this year! We love you both so much!

Almost ready, I think...

For Christmas I am going to splurge and get our 4th blog book published! I think I'm getting close to having another one ready and I'm excited- not to edit or anything, because we all know how horrible I am at spelling, but to have another one in my sweet little hands! All my silly posts make up the pages in our books. It's wonderful to look back over the years and know I captured some of our moments as a family.

I'm totally weird...

I've been having a lot of moments lately where I stop and realize just how crazy,weird or silly I am. I can't really apoligize though,because it's just who I am. For example, I got COMPLETELY excited when I got 5 bottles of Mayo for $1.23 each the other day. I had just opened my last container and was already freaking out about not having anymore on my shelf. I was super excited and even told Trav how happy I was. I stopped and realized how strange I sounded, over mayo.Totally weird, I know. And yesterday when I got free & super cheap lunch meat,chicken breasts,sausage, yogurt & pudding- I was pumped- over meat & dairy- who else gets THAT excited? Or what about last weekend when I found a brand new box of nursing pads for .65! Those puppies are expensive! I was delighted and super thankful. I just had to document my weirdness, I guess.

G-ma & G-pa come tomorrow!

Oh, how I can't wait! Mom & Brent fly in tomorrow! Yeah!!! Off to get caught up on laundry and house work!

4 months old...

Well, this little man is growing up right before our eyes! 4 months? Seriously? Just stop growing and stay tiny forever! Roman turned 4 months a few days ago and had his Dr app yesterday. I thought for sure he had gained 5 pounds, but, no. Just 1. At 2 months he weighed 13.25 pounds (78 %tile) and yesterday he was 14.87 (39%tile). He also grew over 2 inches which explains why he's in bigger jammies now. At 2 months he was 23 inches long, now he's 25.25. At 2 months, his weight-length was in the 83rd %tile. Now he is in the 29th %tile. Just some random stuff nobody cares about but me.

Telling the story...

When the girl's and I went out last week for Lara's birthday, she showed us a ring that she got from her Grandmother who had recently passed away. She was telling us how sad she was that she didn't know the story behind it. It got me thinking that I needed to make sure I told my girls about my "special" jewerly, which consists of just a few silvery things. I thought I would document my most special. # 1- My sun bracelet. If you knew me in highschool- then you saw it there too- I've been wearing this since I was 16 and I love it. I got it from Doctor Jarstad ( he was like a Dad to me growing up. I went to church with his family for years.) He had done some eye work for a man who owned a jewerly kiasok in the mall. One day when we were at the mall, Brother Jarstad said, "Pick out anything you want." I was in heaven! Sterling silver? You bet! So, I picked out this bracelet and it's been by my side for 16 years! # 2- My silver star bracelet. I bought this one for myself shortly after Trav and I were married and we went home for the holidays and ended up going shopping downtown in Seattle with the family. There was the cutest shop in the Westlake mall with this little beauty- so I spent way too much and have been wearing it for about 11 or 12 years now. # 3- my motorcycle ring. I bought this on a Portland trip when I was 17. One of my best friends, Katy and I used to travel around together on the weekends. We would drive to Portland and stay with my Dad, or drive out to Whidbey Island and stay the weekend out at her Grandparents cabin. One Portland trip we stopped at this really cool store downtown where I saw this and knew Imust have it. I wore it on my wedding finger until I got married. I've been wearing it 15 years. # 4- my other ring with the stone. I got this one when I was 15 or 16 with one of my best friends, Michelle. Jaime, her & I went to stay the weekend at her Dad's in/ near (Chehallis WA. I'll get the correct spelling soon!) Her Dad made jewerly and had trays and trays for us to look at. He said we could pick any 2 we wanted. I choose this one and another one that looked like a top hat. It had yellow & brown stone, but I lost that one years ago. This one has been on my middle finger ever since. # 5- My garnet bracelet. When Trav and I were dating, we were looking around at Pike Place Market one day. There was a really cool shop were I saw a ton of beautiful bracelets but they were all around $ 70.00. My cheapness lived in me then too and I thought- yeah right! I'm not paying that much! A few days later, before Trav had to return home to Idaho, he gave me a present and inside was this bracelet. He drove back to Seattle, actually found parking, remembered & found the little shop and bought me one of the bracelets I had been wanting. It was the sweetest thing ever. (The clasp broke years ago and because it meant the world to me, I never wore it because I didn't want to lose it. I've kind of fixed it, so I hope it stays on. I've missed this one!)So there you have it. Those are my "special's"

What a night!

I'm still in shock as I write this, so bare with me! Last night after watching Tristin share his talent at Scouts, I zipped off to meet the girl's for Lara's birthday dinner. (Miss Rosie, Annikan, Lara & myself were there) When we arrived at a place that will remain nameless, we seated ourselves and went straight to the corner for more privacy with 2 nursing babies in tow. The girls mentioned to the waitress that we would like the corner booth, but there were dirty plates still on it. The lady walked over, picked up the plates, used HER HANDS and wiped the crumbs off onto the floor. That should have been our sign right there. No, "Oh, just a moment and I'll CLEAN that table for you." Nope, just a swipe of her dirty hand all over our dirty table. Alrighty then... Rosie gave me some baby wipes, and weirded out, I wiped part of it down while Lara wiped her side. The 2nd problem was the very loud music coming from the speaker directly above our heads. It was difficult to have a normal conversation, so I polietly asked if they could turn it down just a knotch for Rosie's sleeping baby, of course. (It was a very small place, we're not talking Olive Garden or anything). Anyway, they turned the music down and I thanked her. They took our order and for some reason it took quite awahile to get out to us. We were starving so we dug into our food when it finally arrived. We were happily eating for quite sometime listening to Annikan fill us in on church stuff/ drama. All of a sudden Annikan started laughing in a weird way and said something like, "I'm not even going to show you guys." "What!" we all said. Through her laughs and slight tears she turned her plate to show us her half eaten food with a black hair embedded in it, protruding out onto her plate. I almost barfed my buritto right there. I put down my fork and just said. "No, that isn't right. Oh my, that it's right You are NOT paying for that. Ohmigosh." Next Lara held up a little stick/twig and said, "I found this awhile ago too but I didn't say anything because Annikan was talking." I looked over in horror to see A STICK! A little 2 inch stick with tiny branch off shoots. WHAT THE HECK WAS HAPPENING??? Are you kidding me? A hair I could understand, (I have a ton of it and even pulling it back sometimes treasures fall in & it happenes to the best of us, still horribly gross though), but A STICK? Come on people! After a minute of me presuading them that something HAD to be done, Annikan walked up to the counter with me to have a nice little chat. She went first and showed the girl the hair coming out of her enchalada. Next, I held up the stick and said, "I'm not sure what this is." With little expression or real care she took our plates and went into the back. When she came out semi emotionless, she said, "We wont charge you for those 2, would you like something else?" Are you kidding crazy people? Who wants to order more when there were crazy objects found in half our food? There was no remorse, or much of anything! I was shocked. I went and asked Lara if she wanted to order something else, but she declined. Annikan said the lady said sorry, but I must have walked away before she said it. It was definatly not the response I would have given, because I would have at least said SOMETHING! We stayed and opened presents and visited for awhile. She came over and asked how everything was a few times, and I was bothered by that too. Seriously? We just found objects in our food and you are asking us how things are? How about, an "I'm horribly sorry."I was disgusted, and upset and weirded out by the whole experience. And, Lara never even got her water refill that she waited half the night for, poor birthday girl. We went to pay for our food (Rosie & I) and she gave the total, it seemed a little higher than it should have been so I asked her, she said, "Oh, $ 1.75 was for the pop. I said, "Oh that was from one of the orders with no charge", but she apparently didn't hear or care, so Rosie paid the lady. (She owed me a few $, so she payed for mine) but the kicker was, sweet Rosie actually left a tip. She was far nicer than I would have been. Sorry, that was the craziest dinner we have ever had. I will definatly NOT be returning to that lovely establishment, but if nothing else, Lara wins the best birthday memory ever! So, I'm still wondering if any of ithad to do with me asking them to turn the music down a notch, sure hope not!Happy Birthday Miss!

Talent Night at Scouts...

Last night the boys had a talent night for Scouts. Tristin brought some of his Pokemon collection and it was a big hit! When I told one of the boys that most of it was from yard sales, he said, " What kind of yard sales do you go to?" We have been collecting for several years, so it didn't happen overnight, but it was fun to see Tristin excited. He also took his guitar to show. My camera wasn't working when he had it out, so the only shot I go was when he was putting it away. He was a little embarressed to play, but I was proud of him for getting up in front of everybody! Good job Buddy!

There might be something wrong with me...

I think I might have some lingering pregnancy hormones surging through my body right nowmaking me think irrational thoughts. The proof: I'm slightly thinking about getting the kids a hamster or other small, no mess making pet for Christmas. I'm insain I know. And I'm still shaking my head as I type it. I really think I'm nuts, but a super tiny part of my heart kind of tugged the other day when I took the kids into Petco for the dreadful 5 minute walk around the store. I seriously hate pet stores, but I took the plunge and walked through the doors to be instantly overwhelmed by the smell of dry dog bones. So gross. The girls happily ran through the store looking at all the nasty, noisy, smelly animals and I just smiled my fake smile pleading to God to get me out of there! I kept looking at my imaginary watch saying, "Yup, sorry girl's, we gotta go! Say goodby to the sweet little animals." And then it happened. Somewhere between the hamsters and hidious rats, the idea came to me that my kids are not going to turn out normal if they do not have a pet. "Nope", I said to God or whoever was talking to me at the moment. "Not doing it" I felt like saying outloud. But as my eyes checked out the cages, and water things, and messy cage covering stuff, and little plastic hut- home looking things, I thought, "Maybe, just maybe I could muster up whatever it takes for a women like me to break down and get a little fur ball for her sweet kids- and just do it! So I need your help. All of you sweet Mama's who have let your kids have normal childhoods, would you please tell me the best little fur ball for young kids? The least smelly-est? The one that eats the cheapest food? And one that wont get out, crawl into my walls, take up residency there and then only come out at night to make annoying scratching sounds? Or better yet, someone please convince me that a pet-free home really is the safest and healthiest thing for my children who are wildly in love with animals!Oh my word, please help, just the idea of it is killing me!

My sweet little boy...

This little boy makes my heart smile. I am so thankful for healthy, beautiful children. It hit me today as I sat down to nurse, for the millionth time- that maybe one of the reasons we nurse, is so we finally stop. Yeah, I know we are also keeping a little one alive by feeding it, but maybe stopping, the art of doing nothing, in a way is a piece to the puzzle. I also think that part of the joy of nursing is holding our little ones in our arms, being close and just enjoying the moment. They grow so fast and maybe this is one way we get to enjoy their sweetness. Today I am praying for a change of attitude. Instead of getting upset that my "project" or my cleaning routine was interupted by the need to nurse, I am praying that I can be excited for another moment to hold, nurish and be with my last little baby. Please help me Lord to keep things in perspective as I try to slow down and remember what is truely important today.