Monday Madness

Today we need to go to the library. Movies are due back as well as some books. Then I need to go to Lowes to get a little fence to go around my garden. The boys keep destroying the flowers. I bought more and planted them Saturday and they've already pulled off all the blossoms and uprooted them. Hopefully they will survive after being replanted. So I'm hoping if I get a little fence to go around the garden it will keep them away from the flowers. I also need to get my veggie trellis constructed and put up before my tomato plants get much bigger. I think that's it for today. I better double check my calendar to make sure we have no other plans.

Camera Critters

I really need to get some new critter pictures. Not that we get many critters around here. But we do get birds. And I know there has to be a squirrel or something that likes to come take nibbles from my garden. So I will try to remember to get a newer pic this week.

For today, here is a pic of a big lazy bear at the zoo.

He reminded me of the movie Brother Bear, which my boys have been enjoying the last few weeks since we checked it out of the library. Though I doubt this bear is as friendly as Kenai on the movie. Those long claws look deadly.

You can join in Camera Critters every week at camera-critters.blogspot.com.

Can you hear me now?

In our last house, and in this house, there are always spots where you don't get very good reception on a cell phone. If I'm having a hard time hearing someone I have to go into the living room to get better reception. It is better here than our old house, but sometimes I really wish I had cell phone amplifiers to help us get better connections.

Guitar Hero

We don't usually play a lot of video games, mostly because until recently we haven't even had a working video game console. We have a Super Nintendo but it has a problem where you can use the Start buttons on the controllers, so pointless to play most games. But it is nice to find a really good game to play. A really fun game I love to play is Guitar Hero. My family has it, though I can't remember if they have it on Playstation or xbox 360, but it is so fun. I heard they have it out for Wii now, so maybe one of these days we will get it.

Big Memory

One thing I love about our laptop memory is that I can put all our digital pictures on the computer and not worry about space. We have a ton of pics and it is just a tiny fraction of the space available on the computer. Ooh, that reminds me, I really need to back up pictures from the last 6 or so months. You never know when computer problems will come up and you can lose stuff like that in an instant.

Sunday Saying

"There are some remedies worse than the disease."
- Publilius Syrus

This is how I feel about Pepto-bismal. Which is why we don't even have any in the house. I would rather be sick to my stomach than try to gulp down that awful stuff lol. The medicine alone makes me gag and almost throw up. (No, I'm not sick right now, just thought this would be a fun discussion lol). Are there any times you would rather just fight the sickness alone than take whatever treatment is available?

Dang Sprinklers

We keep having problem after problem with our sprinkler system. It seems that every weekend another piece breaks or springs a leak or stops working completely. It's a conspiracy to keep Hubby busy over the weekend I think. Today he fixed a few pinhole leaks in one pipe and as soon as that was done a huge leak started coming out from a pipe somewhere under the sidewalk. So Hubby is trying to figure out a way to find that leak without having to completely dig up the yard. Hopefully it won't take him too long to find and fix. I know he's tired of spending his Saturdays fixing the pipes.

Long day

It's not even noon yet and I'm exhausted! By 8:30am I had already lost all patience with the boys. Luckily now Jakey is sleeping and Jason is watching a movie so it's at least more peaceful. Maybe Jason will surprise me and fall asleep so I can take a quick nap. When my sister wakes up (lucky her getting to sleep in until noon lol) I'm going to see if she'll watch the boys for an hour so I can get out for a bit alone. At least it's Friday. I love weekends because Hubby is home to help out so it feels less stressful for me.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that I am starting to get used to working with the scouts. I'm still a bit overwhelmed with everything, but getting more comfortable with it. The boys seem to like me. And we had a pack meeting last week that was fun and Jason even got to participate with the big boys, which was so cute. I am thankful that my littlest sister spent a few days here, she is a big help with the boys. She loves to play with them and help me out. I am thankful for my air conditioner working. It stopped working last weekend but Hubby was able to fix it. Hurray for my handy-man. :D

What are you thankful for?

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

What is the weather like today where you live?

- Hot. High 90s and a little windy. Friday it's supposed to be near 90 again.

Soup

On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being highest, how career-minded are you?

- 1. I don't want a career and am not working towards one. I love staying home with my kids.

Salad

What type of window coverings do you have in your home? Blinds, curtains, shutters, etc.?

- Blinds

Main Course

Name something that instantly cheers you up.

- Recognition. Like if Hubby comes home and says "the house looks great" or "thank you for doing such-and-such" it really makes a difference.

Dessert

How many times do you hit the snooze button on a typical morning?

- Once. But only if Hubby has fallen asleep on the couch and I have to go wake him up. If he's in bed I roll over and wake him up, otherwise I give myself a few more minutes before getting up.

Tired thoughts

I am so tired right now. I think it's mostly because I was outside for a few hours and so my eyes are itchy and watery. I get seasonal allergies, but only when I'm pregnant, so now I'm all sniffly, itchy and can't see clearly. I was going through searches that brought people to my blog earlier hoping to find some odd search terms like Atlanta resumes or sticky shoes or something that made no sense for my blog. Here's a few I found:

- wedding funny pic (hm, I think my wedding pics are nice, not funny lol)
- shabbyprincess.com coupon code (shabbyprincess is where I got my layout idea)
- things that start with k (get this one a lot)
- get smell out of mattress dog (what's a mattress dog?)
- a bit about me
- sunnynotes (great site for keeping track of notes online)

So none that were too outright funny this time :) If you want to waste a few minutes you should check out what search terms bring people to your blog, it's fun.

Swimsuits

You know how hard it is to find a good swimsuit normally? Well, finding sexy swimwear for pregnant women is nearly impossible. So far my regular swimsuit has been working since it's 2-piece and the top has a loose belly area, but the last time I wore it I realized it was starting to fit more snug. Which means if I plan to do much swimming this hot summer I will need to find a new swimsuit at some point, and I am not looking forward to looking through maternity swimwear.

Love my laptop

I'm so glad our laptop memory is much better than our desktop's. The desktop has gotten so slow lately, it freezes up or just takes forever to load anything. When we first got it everything worked fine but it's just gotten worse. Of course, it might not be a memory problem, it could be a virus or something. We just haven't bothered to do anything about it yet since we mostly use this laptop.

Stuck!

I can't believe I forgot to share this picture! I keep meaning to :)

So, last week sometime I was reading and suddenly hear Jason crying and screaming for help in the living room. Now, there is usually nothing at all in there because it is the one unfurnished room in our house, so there's usually nothing for them to get hurt with in there. Well, a few days before my sister had set up her massage table in there (she's not a masseuse but knows a little from cosmetology school, gave me a nice little massage when my back was hurting) and the boys had been playing on it. I ran in, not knowing what he could have gotten hurt from, and saw this:
He had taken off the padding on the headrest and somehow squeezed himself through it. Unfortunately he has a very large head (thanks to Hubby) and could not get it out. I cracked up immediately and made sure he was ok before grabbing the camera. He was not amused at me taking pictures lol. I tried a bunch of maneuvering and eventually had to remove the headrest from the table, but could not get his head through. I even tried to figure out how to dismantle it, but couldn't. I finally realized he must have slid his body through from the top, not over his head, and had him suck in and we squeezed it down off him. He was very happy to be free and they left it alone until my sister got home and put the table away.

Deal

I don't like buying expensive stuff at full price, so I like to shop for stuff on clearance, or look for deals online like at Amazon and Ebay. I don't mind buying stuff used in good condition. And you can find so many things like used cisco routers for a fraction of the price if you are willing to buy it used. Like our big TV, Hubby got it around 40% off because it was on clearance for being a display item. And it's worked just fine. So it pays off to not pay full price for stuff sometimes :)

Stopped time

I keep meaning to get a new battery for my watch but always forget. It sits on my bathroom counter to remind me but every time we go shopping I forget to bring it. Once I do get it fixed though I'm sure it'll feel weird to wear a watch again, since I haven't in about 4 years. I only wear my wedding ring and CTR ring (religious jewelry) and hardly ever any other jewelry. But I really want it fixed cuz sometimes I'm somewhere without my cell phone and no clock and I like knowing what time it is. I'm going to try remembering to put watch battery on my grocery list this week.

Secure

In Idaho we didn't really worry about our doors being locked. We lived in a quiet cul-de-sac and we just never worried about it. Of course until Jason learned how to open doors, then we had to put in a deadbolt to keep him in lol. But I never thought we get robbed or anything. We only made sure the doors were locked if we weren't home. Here though we always have the front door locked. Again, mostly to keep the boys in so they can't get out to the busy street, but also to keep people out. It just doesn't feel as safe when you are in a bigger city on a busy road. When we moved in Hubby always made sure the blinds in our family room were closed at night so people can't look in and see the big TV and want to steal it lol. Not that I think anyone could easily steal it, the wall lcd mount thing is a pain in the butt to undo to remove the TV. It always took us at least 3 people to get the TV up or down off it lol. We have had a few security system guys come through the neighborhood peddling free systems, but we haven't gotten one because you still have to pay at least $50 a month for the service to work, but one day I think it would be nice to have. Just for peace of mind.

It's A...

Have I held you all in suspense long enough?!
We had to run some errands after my appointment and then it took me about 1/2 hour to get some pics scanned in since I couldn't figure out how to get pics off the DVD they gave me.
My appointment went well, measuring at 20 weeks, no problems, all that. The ultrasound was great. Baby was moving and looking soooo adorable! We got lots of good pictures and a DVD of the whole ultrasound.
And we found out that we are having...





...




Another cute little boy!
His name will be Nathan (after Hubby) and we are excited, though I am now going to be even more outnumbered in my house of blue lol. Here are some pics of our little guy:

Tuesday To-Do

OK, in an attempt to make this day go by quicker until my ultrasound I am going to try doing a bunch of my to-do list :)

* Dishes (what's new? lol) Done

* One or two loads of laundry

* Clean family room Done

* Vacuum Done (not very well, but my littlest sis did it, and I don't want to bother redoing it right now)

* Sweep/mop kitchen Done

* Clean master bathroom

* Ultrasound!!!

So, I bet I can get all that done before my appointment. I am going to start on the family room I think. And if I get all that done we might even tackle the playroom again.

Boy or Girl?!

Just one more day before we know if we are having a baby boy or girl! My ultrasound appointment is at 2:15 tomorrow. I am sooo excited! I would love a girl so I can buy some cute girly things, but my boys are so cute and I already have the stuff and know how to take care of boys, so a boy would be good too. :) And we already have names picked out. If you want to take a guess what this little one is, go ahead and vote in this poll. I will let you know when I get back from the appt tomorrow.

Big pests

Grr, I'm really tempted to buy a little fence to put around my garden to keep the kids out. I don't have many pests in the garden, but the boys are the biggest pests. Half the flowers have been mutilated and they keep removing the sticks and twine that I use to separate the areas. I probably will have to buy some more flowers because I think a few salvia might be past saving now. So far they haven't tried messing with the vegetables, though Jakey likes to tear leaves off the strawberry plants. I told Hubby I just want to get one of those cheap little white picket fences to put around it, but even that might not deter my little guys.

Boxed in

You know how on kids birthdays and Christmas how they always just want to play with the boxes instead of the toys in them? Well, don't you think if would be a good idea if someone would come up with custom boxes just for that purpose? Like a normal box, but the outside looks like a car, or a robot, or a dragon, or whatever. Then when you get them a present and wrap it in one of those boxes it's like they are really getting two presents in one. Maybe it's not such a good idea, but I just know how much my kids love boxes and bet they'd like one that looks cool on the outside to play in lol.

Monday Madness

This whole week we are supposed to have temperatures in the 90s. Good thing the boys don't mind the heat. Hubby is going to try to install a new motor for our a/c when he gets home, hopefully that fixes it. Of course the a/c would have to stop working right before a long heat wave lol. It stays cool enough in the basement at least, so if it's too hot we can all hang out down there. We don't have any plans to go anywhere today. Hubby has a dentist appointment after work, then fixing the motor, but the boys and I are just sitting around. Ooh, never mind, just realized movies are due back to the library today, so I guess we do have somewhere to go :)

Broken A/C :(

Our A/C is broken! Waaaaaaaah!!! It is so hot :P And it really sucks when I'm making dinner and the stove is going, makes it even hotter in here. So we have all the ceiling fans going and that helps a tiny bit. I'm sitting right under one now to cool off after getting dinner in the oven. Hubby spent a lot of yesterday and some of today up on the roof trying to fix the cooler but the motor just won't start. He's gotten tired of fiddling with it and is going to call someone professional to come fix it tomorrow. Hopefully they can come fix it tomorrow since we are supposed to have temps in the 90s all week. If not we'll have to get out the little window units from the garage until it's fixed, though I don't think they will really help too much in a house this size.

No More Ladybugs?!

So you would think that after releasing almost 2000 ladybugs near my rose bushes, that I'd be able to find at least one on them right?! Well, I can. Just 1. Seriously, I can only see one ladybug around. Do they not like the juicy aphids feasting on my roses? I spent $10 on a bunch of bugs and they just disappeared. Grr. Stupid bugs.

Napless

So, I tried to get a nap today. But I failed. I did get about 15 minutes of sleep between kids screaming, Hubby talking loudly, and the inlaws showing up though. I just wish I could sleep better, or take some energy pills, or something. I have no energy to keep up with kids and cleaning. And the heat just saps it even more. Good thing we have a/c!

Summer vacations

Boy this hot weather makes me want to look up some cruise deals and book a vacation to some tropical paradise where I can just lay on the beach and have someone bring me nice cold lemonade all day. We don't have any vacations planned for this summer, except I think going to Bear Lake some time next month. That should be fun :) Maybe I'll borrow some fishing gear from my dad when we go. I love to fish and haven't gone in years.

Ladybugs

So my sister and I went to a local nursery to get ladybugs this evening. The first one didn't have any but the second one did. It was funny to be buying a bag of bugs lol. And that was a lot of bugs! Over 1700 I think. Anyway, I had to wait until it started getting dark to let them out and Hubby joined me. Can I just say EW!?! I really really hate bugs. Ladybugs aren't too bad, but I still don't like them crawling on me. And with that many bugs I was bound to get some on me. I let them out as quickly as possible around my rose bushes and garden but still had to occasionally freak out and blow them off my hands. Now I still feel all itchy just thinking about it. Yuck! Hopefully they will eat up the nasty aphids though, and I bet the boys will love them. They love the "tay-to bugs" (rolly-pollys/pill bugs) so I'm sure ladybugs will be a hit too. (I couldn't even make myself post a pick of a real ladybug lol, I had to get a cartoon one cuz I didn't want to keep seeing a yucky bug on my blog.)

Sunny Day

Today is such a beautiful day! Right now it's not too hot yet (83*) with the sun shining brightly. I'm going to go outside with the boys to run off some energy before Jakey's naptime (completely given up on even trying to get Jason to nap anymore). My garden is looking good, a few flowers are actually on my tomato vines! And the potato plants are growing like crazy, I didn't realize how quickly potato plants grow. I need to figure out some type of stake or trellis for my tomato plants before they start growing fruit because the cages we have won't be big enough since they are 3ft and tomato vines usually grow at least 5-6ft. I think the cages would be ok for my peppers since they don't grow as tall, but I'd really just like to build a big trellis across the whole area for my tomatoes, peas, and peppers. I just need some electrical conduit and nylon mesh netting stuff. Oh, and I need to buy some ladybugs, cuz I'm getting aphids all over my beautiful rose bushes. Anyway, off to spend time outside :)

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

If you could live on another continent for 1 year, which one would you choose?

- I don't think I'd want to live that far away from family and friends for a whole year, but if I had to I'd probably choose Europe.

Soup

Which browser do you use to surf the Internet?

- Mozilla Firefox

Salad

On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being highest), how much do you know about the history of your country?

- Um, maybe a 5? I'm sure when I was in grade school actually studying it all the time it was higher, but I forget stuff I don't use easily.

Main Course

Finish this sentence: Love is…

- the best feeling in the world.

Dessert

Have you ever been in or near a tornado?

- Nope, we don't get many tornadoes around here. The closest was maybe an hour away once when I lived in Idaho, and we had tornado warnings and saw some clouds looking swirly and ominous, but luckily they didn't appear near us.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful that it didn't take too long to get my driver's license at the DMV. I am also thankful that I didn't have to have the scouts over at my house today, because tonight is pack meeting. That means I didn't have to clean my living room and I don't have to have a bunch of noisy kids here lol. I do have to endure an hour of chaos at pack meeting and take the boys with me, but that's fine cuz when it's over I just get to come home and not worry about my house being destroyed lol. And I'm thankful that today wasn't quite as hot as the rest of the week has been, it was a beautiful day.

What are you thankful for?

Licensed

Today I finally had to go get my Utah driver's license. I wasn't looking forward to it because it's not fun having to go stand in line for who knows how long and get a horrible picture taken. But it wasn't too bad. Hubby had to wait about 3 hours when he went on Monday, but I went earlier in the day today and it only took about an hour total. Plus I actually did my hair so my picture hopefully isn't too bad. I had to take a 25 question open book test and missed one. They'll mail me my new license in about 2 weeks. And I didn't have to take the boys with me since my sister agreed to watch them, so that made it much easier. It was actually kind of nice to sit in a relatively quiet room for an hour and not worry about the kids lol.

I want my Hubby to be a loser

Hubby's work is doing a biggest loser competition and Hubby decided to join in. Since working a desk job he has put on a bit of weight. He also hasn't had the best eating habits. So I'm going to help coach him with his exercise and eating better. He has already been working on it before the contest was announced. Last week he started using the work exercise room, and he has cut way back on pop in favor of water. I'm really hoping he wins, because all the people who enter have to chip in money to the prize that the winner gets. And it's a pretty big chunk of change. The contest ends the day before Thanksgiving (guess they didn't think it fair to make people diet for the holidays lol) which is a week after the baby is due, and it would not be good to lose that money when we have a baby to pay for and Christmas coming up. On the other hand, it's a huge amount of money that he could win, so I'm going to do my best to help him out. :)

Worn nerves

Man, it's only 10:30am and the kids have already given me a headache. Doesn't help that Jason ate my stress relief- a Snickers bar Hubby left on the counter for me (isn't Hubby sweet?). They are just getting on my nerves. I think I'm just tired. Jason woke me up at 4:30am and I didn't get much sleep after that. I'm going to grab a Mtn Dew and then lay down. (Yeah, caffeine and rest seem counter-productive, but the caffeine helps my headaches, and it's yummy lol.)

Tuesday To-Do

Today I have a just a few things on my to-do list:

* Dishes

* Clean up family room, maybe vacuum

* Go through Jakey's closet for clothes and diapers

* Do a few loads of laundry

I didn't do much that I planned to do yesterday, but I did get laundry folded, go me! So today I might do a few more loads of laundry and then start on Jakey's closet. It's already over 90* today and hot hot hot! I need to get Jakey down for a nap soon and then I'll get started on my list.

My garden is growing

I posted an update on my garden blog :) You can see pics of the stuff that is growing. I also took some pics of my roses because I am so excited about my rose bushes blooming. They are gorgeous! I'm hoping that by this time next month my garden will be even greener with stuff growing even more. Some things haven't done as well as hoped and others have done really well.

Monday madness

Today we don't have much to do at all. The only place we need to go is the library to return movies. I do need to get laundry put away, it's driving me and Hubby nuts lol. I also need to go through some boxes in Jakey's closet to find some cloth diapers that are missing. We finally went back to using cloth during the day with him since I just have one in diapers now, but my pockets and AIOs are missing, in some box somewhere. Also a good time to start going through baby clothes and getting rid of ones that are too worn to use for this baby and get out any that are gender neutral so I have less to do when we find out baby's gender next week. Oh, I also need to find the box of 2T clothes I know is in there somewhere to see if we have more summer clothes in that size for Jakey, and then pack up the long sleeve shirts and sweats. With temps getting to the 90s now I'm pretty sure it's safe to pack up the winter clothes!

Guess I have more to do than I thought lol. I may start by getting laundry put away so that doesn't get procrastinated again.

Too much to remember

I often wonder how doctors can remember all the different medicines and what to prescribe them for. There are thousands of medicines and different doses for different symptoms and they have to remember which ones can't be used for certain things or will react with other drugs. Do they go home and study new medicines every night like homework? I don't think I could remember the differences between lipovox and celebrex and roxicet. That is one reason I never went into a medical field, way too much stuff to know, and you can't screw up or you could kill someone.

Perfect Pearls

I have always loved pearls. They are just so beautiful and classy. When I was married my mom let me borrow her gorgeous pearl necklace and earrings. I've always wanted a nice earring and necklace set to have on hand for special occasions. A few years ago, I'm not sure how or where, I got a pearl necklace. I have not worn it at all since I got it, because I did not have any earrings that would go with it. It sits lonely in my drawer and I occasionally get it out hoping to get to wear it, but I always put it back because it just doesn't look right without some pearl earrings to go with it.

So when I got the chance to try out some beautiful cultured freshwater pearl earrings from pearlparadise.com I was so excited! I would finally have earrings to wear with my necklace. I received them a few days ago and they were even prettier than I imagined. I asked for white freshwater pearls so they would match the necklace. They are perfectly round and shiny and just gorgeous. I wore them to church today and they looked great :) I'm so happy to finally have some nice pearl earrings to wear!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Father's Day! I hope you are all spoiling the special men in your life. I made a yummy breakfast for Hubby. After church we gave him his gifts (that he picked out lol)- a new power drill and stud finder- and a card. It's been a pretty good day.
My Hubby is a wonderful father. I enjoy seeing him when he's helping with the boys or playing with them. It is so cute to watch the boys follow him around trying to be like daddy. He has always been helpful with changing diapers and getting the kids to bed too. When Jakey was a baby and sleeping so horribly Hubby would get a bottle and lay on the couch with him to get him to sleep so I could rest. I love my Hubby and what a good father and husband he is.

Rose or Pie?

At church today the men each got a big piece of pie for Father's Day. Now, on Mother's Day the ladies all got a rose. One rose. Of course a rose is nice, but from talking to the ladies they all agree that it's not fair the guys get pie and the ladies just get a flower. Evidently us ladies like a little sugar more than flowers lol. I wonder if next year they will do things differently?

Great shopping

It's amazing when we are able to go shopping without picking up a bunch of things that weren't on the list. I think today we were actually able to stick to our list really well. Normally we will see that chips or pop or something is on sale and get some even though we don't really need it, but today we didn't. Mostly it was because we knew we only had a certain amount to spend today and not a penny more. And we only spent that exact amount (give or take a few cents). I was even able to get Hubby's Father's Day gift (he helped pick it out) and a card. It's kind of a thrill to get out of the store without spending tons more than planned.

Ads

It took me the longest time to realize that ads on a website were affected by the topic being written about. Then I started noticing if somebody was talking about going on a diet you'd see the ads change to Phentermine no prescription, weight loss sites, etc. And if someone talks about pregnancy you get ads for baby sites and birth books. I don't know why it took me so long to figure it out lol.

Rambling

Whew, yesterday was a long day! We had a nice time visiting Hubby's family, but it was a 2.5-3hr drive and we didn't get home until almost midnight. Today we haven't done much, though we did manage to get the playroom cleaned up. And we went grocery shopping. I planted some bell pepper plants in my garden because the seeds never sprouted and replanted a few onions that I think some animal got to. The garden is looking good :) It was really hot today too, still near 80* right now. Oh, just remembered I need to put dinner leftovers away. Anyway, been good busy days :)

Tired today

Today we are heading up to Idaho for a little family get-together with Hubby's family. His brother who lives farther away is in town and since we get to see him maybe once a year we are all meeting up. We are just going up for the day and coming home tonight. I am already exhausted. I had a scout committee meeting this morning which went ok, though I still have no idea what I am supposed to be doing. The boys dumped cereal all over the table and floor and I am NOT cleaning it up for them. I told them they can't go see Grandma Cindy until they have cleaned it up. I am so tired of them dumping out cereal, especially when it's Cocoa Puffs, and I mopped less than 2 days ago. What I really want is a nice hot shower and a nap. The shower I can probably get, and maybe I can nap in the car on the way there.

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist or a pessimist?

- An optimist. I always figure that everything will work out ok :)

Soup

What is your favorite color of ink to write with?

- Black, it's nice and simple.

Salad

How often do you get a manicure or pedicure? Do you do them yourself or go to a salon and pay for them?

- Not often :P The last time I had it done at a salon was a few years ago and I've only painted my own nails about 2 times in the last year.

Main Course

Have you ever won anything online? If so, what was it?

- I've won a few little things. Recently I won some cute holiday bibs from a giveaway at mommymandy.com and they just arrived today :)

Dessert

In which room in your house do you keep your home computer?

- The family room. It's where we all spend most of our time.

Out of ideas

Father's Day is coming up and I still have not got Hubby anything. I've read over many different sites with ideas from Guess watches to mugs with customized pictures to gifts handmade by the kids, but I'm still not sure what to get him. I want to get him a new electric drill but I don't think we have the money for it right now. I'm really leaning towards having something made by the kids or with a pic of the kids or something. Maybe I'll get some cheap picture frames and have the kids decorate them and put a cute pics of each of the boys in them, then he can keep them on his desk at work. I want something just from me too, not just a card, but can't think of anything that's not too expensive. Guess I better think quickly since it's in just a few days!

Commercials

So I'm sitting here watching TV (Seinfeld reruns) and am amazed more every day at how many commercials are getting shoved between shows. It used to be you could watch 5 minutes of show then 2 minutes of commercial. Now it seems reversed. I watch a few minutes of show and then get 5 minutes of commercials for cialas, car sales, TV show previews, and local news. By the time the show comes back on I've forgotten the short few minutes I got to see before commercials lol. Oh well, I have all the Seinfeld seasons on DVD so it's not like I couldn't watch it commercial free if I wanted to get off the couch and put the DVD in, and since I don't then I just get to deal with commercials.

Thinking

The baby has gotten more active every day, I love it! I love the tiny thumps and rolls :) I can even feel it from the outside sometimes. Hard to believe that in less than 2 weeks I'll find out if we're having a boy or girl and start calling baby by name.

I think I need to buy some new clothes one of these days. Most of my shirts are worn and faded. I definitely need some new long tank tops to wear under my maternity shirts, one has a hole, one is slightly too big for now, and the other is slightly too small.

Oh, and that reminds me, I need to buy the boys new socks. I don't know how they wear through their socks so quickly considering I can't even get them to keep them on their feet long enough to cause any wear lol.

Hm, baby to new socks, guess my thoughts are a bit jumpy today lol.

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for my little sister who moved in a few weeks ago. It's been so fun having her here. And I am thankful that I got to see my oldest sister today for the first time in almost 10 years. We've never been close and she kind of separated herself from the family but it was great to see her, and she seems to be doing better and was happy to see us.

Now, I would be very thankful if I could get Jakey to take a nap!

What are you thankful for?

What a mess

My little sister was saying today that she finally understands why I don't like to clean often...because it's useless! She can see that the kids just make messes so often that it's just too hard to keep up on it all lol. I'm glad I never got around to mopping the kitchen yesterday because today the boys spilled their Cocoa Puffs all over the kitchen floor. Sigh. So I better get that done before I go to bed tonight. I don't like cleaning much during the day cuz it doesn't stay clean long enough, if I do it at night then at least I know it will be clean for 10 hours or so until the boys get up lol.

Numb face

I had to go get some fillings today :P I hate always having cavities, but at least this time they were just two tiny ones. The appointment actually only took maybe 20 minutes total. But now my face is half numb and it's driving me nuts! I'm hungry but I'm afraid to eat anything because I don't want to dribble all over myself lol. Man, I think the numbing stuff must have gone to my brain too, I keep having to fix silly spelling mistakes.

Tuesday To-Do

I don't have too much to do today:

* Plant some more corn and radishes Done

* Dishes

* Clean and vacuum family room

* Mop kitchen

* Fold laundry

We don't have anywhere to go today, no appointments. While my little sisters are here to keep the kids entertained I should get my cleaning done. I need to get the kitchen and family room looking presentable again. I can't believe how quickly the kids mess things up.

Monday Madness

Today the boys and I went with my little sister shopping. She had to buy the things she needs for her cosmetology practical exam, which is tomorrow. We had fun getting out of the house for a bit and even stopped by PetsMart to look at the animals for the kids then went to the library and let the boys get some DVDs. We didn't do much the rest of the day, though I did make some homemade bread. It was a nice sunny day so when Hubby got home he mowed the lawn and the boys played outside while I watered the garden. My carrots are finally growing! I've spent some time this evening helping my sister put together her supplies for her test and my other little sister is here to spend the night. It's been a pretty good day. :)

Sunday Saying

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory."
- Susan B. Anthony

Most days I feel like I can't remember anything. I blame my kids, they stole my brain. I always feel so bad that I can't remember the cute little things my kids do every day and I don't write them down often enough, by the time I want to write them down I can't remember them well enough. But I do have some memories that stand out more, and they aren't the holidays or birthdays, just brief moments that I hope to hold on to forever.

One of my sweetest memories of Jason as a baby happened in the middle of the night when he was just a few months old. I had just finished nursing him and he was lying next to me in the dark, I scooted down in bed to put my face close to his and was thinking about how much I loved him, and he suddenly reached up his tiny little hand and held it on my cheek as if to say he loved me too, and held it there a few minutes. Still makes me tear up to think about it.

Another memory is of someone's small kindness to me. I was driving from my family's to our house in Idaho with the boys, alone. Jakey was just a newborn and hated being in his carseat and screamed the whole trip. I stopped about midway to nurse him in a gas station parking stall and felt like crying cuz he just wouldn't stop screaming and I had a huge headache. A nice lady noticed I was nursing and came up to the car and knocked on the window. She offered to go in and get me a drink and see if I needed anything, saying she had traveled alone with kids and knew how stressful it could be. I had a drink already so I said no thank you but thanked her for the offer and cried after she left because she was so nice. Although I can't remember what she looked like I will always remember her showing compassion on someone she didn't even know.

I'm so glad I have a camera to take pictures of other special moments I want to remember, I know I'd forget a lot more if I didn't have pictures to look back on.

What are your thoughts on this quote?

Camera Critters

This is a picture taken at Sea World in March 2006. This pic was taken about 2 minutes before this big beautiful Orca swam by and drenched us and shorted out the camera lol. We were able to get about 5 more pictures but then the camera died. Luckily the memory card wasn't damaged and I wanted a new camera anyway.

You can join in Camera Critters every Sunday.

Routine appointment

Today I had a doctor appointment, just routine prenatal stuff. I arrived at 9:50, my appointment was at 10, they got me back at 10:35, the doctor came in at 10:47 and we were done at 10:49. Yeah, I waited almost an hour to see the doctor for 2 minutes. Good thing our insurance pays for it cuz I wouldn't want to be dishing out hundreds of dollars for a long wait and a few minutes with the doc. But baby sounds good and in 2.5 weeks I get to have my 20wk ultrasound and find out if we're having a boy or girl!

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

When you drink soda/pop/coke, do you prefer to drink it from the bottle, a can, or after pouring it into a cup?

-Don't really care, I'll drink it any of those ways.

Soup

What television show are you willing to stay up late to watch?

- House, ER

Salad

Name one person, place, or thing you think of as brilliant.

- I have a friend who is a brilliant photographer. Her work is just amazing and I wish she lived close so I could get family pics taken.

Main Course

Would you be willing to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days in order to save gas?

- I am a stay at home mom so I work 24/7 but at least I don't have to use gas to get here ;) But for Hubby it would depend on what he would rather work.

Dessert

If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself?

- The Amazing Kara. I know, not very creative :D

Metal Mouth

I have an orthodontist appointment today. I really am going to ask if I can at least get my top braces off soon. My top teeth are fine now it's just a few bottom teeth we are trying to get aligned. I am really hopeful that I will have them all off before the baby is born. Of course I know I'll still have to use a retainer for a while to keep them from going crooked again, but at least a retainer can be removed for eating, cleaning, etc. I'm so tired of not being able to brush my teeth well and getting food stuck in my braces. So anyway, we'll see how it goes :) Hopefully the drive there and back isn't too bad. It's raining a lot so I hope there aren't any accidents or anything.

Treats over cleaning

I actually got laundry folded and put away and the family room cleaned and vacuumed. Aren't you proud of me? Never got around to cleaning bathrooms, but they'll still be around tomorrow. I also made some rice krispie treats, mmmm. Much more fun than cleaning bathrooms :D

My sister passed her exam today, yay for her! Tomorrow I have to go to an orthodontist appointment a few hours away and she'll watch the boys so I don't have to take them with me. I think it'll be the first time in years they haven't gone to my ortho appointment with me.

Well, Hubby and the boys are asleep so I think I may actually go to bed early tonight!

Random Stuff

Well, I never got some of the stuff from my to-do list done yesterday. Most of it really. So I still need to clean and vacuumm the family room and fold all our clean laundry and clean the bathrooms. Since it's going to be cool and rainy today it's the perfect day to get caught up on some housework.

My little sister is going to be gone for a few hours, taking her cosmetology state board exam. I'm sure she'll pass, but she's of course a little nervous. Next week she takes the practical exam and then she will be a licensed cosmetologist. I'm so proud of her. She's only 19 and already got an associates degree in college and finished cosmetology school. She worked her butt off through high school and has worked full time at the same time so I'm very proud of her. She's been a lot of fun to have living with us too. :)

And my garden has started sprouting! I am going out to check on it now, but yesterday I already had some lettuce, radishes, and onions starting to sprout :) Everything else seems to be doing good too and growing, except my strawberry plants haven't gotten any fruit yet, not sure if it's still too early or if they're too old or if the compost I put around them is keeping them from fruiting although they are still growing nicely. I really know next to nothing about strawberry plants lol.

Back hurts and funny tan lines

My dentist appointment went well today. My teeth are all nice and clean now, but I have a few cavities that we'll take care of next week. The dentist chair had a built in massager which was nice at the time, but it popped a rib out of place so my back has had shooting pains all day :P Good thing I had nothing else to do. We all went to the playground this evening and the boys had lots of fun. It's so nice that we can go outside so much now. I love that we have a fenced in backyard so the boys can go outside to play without me worrying about where they are. It's funny because they always strip down to their underwear/diaper (good thing we have privacy fence lol) so from playing outside in just that they have tan lines around their little behinds, it's so funny.

Well, I'm off to play some Mario Kart! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week. :)

Tuesday To-Do

Today I need to:

* Go to the dentist

* Clean up family room

* Vacuum

* Fold laundry

* Clean bathrooms

I really need to get laundry folded. I have about 4 loads sitting clean at the foot of my bed, just piling up. I also better go switch around the load in the wash right now so we have clean towels...ok, done. I have a dentist appointment in just a few hours for routine cleaning. I don't like going to the dentist, but it is nice to have them cleaned.

Little kicks

I know I complain a lot about some pregnancy stuff like acne, exhaustion, and weird appetite, but feeling that little one moving around makes it all worth it. The last week I've started to feel baby move a little and it's so awesome. Little flutters and thumps, just light and fun. That's always my favorite part of pregnancy, feeling movement and knowing it's not just gas lol. I always miss it so much after I have the baby. Having them kick you from the outside is not quite the same haha.

Bruised knees

I always notice that I get a lot of bruises right below my knees. I have no idea how they get there. I don't recall banging my legs on things. Though I guess it could be from kneeling on things, like the wood edge of my garden bed. That might do it. It's just funny cuz I don't normally bruise easy, but right around my knees I get tons of bruises. I need a suit of armor or something, at least around my legs, to protect my knees.

Flying

Hubby and I really want to visit Hawaii one of these days. Unfortunately with airplane tickets costing so much these days it might be a long time before that happens. I have a friend who is a member of an airline special club and she gets alerts for really good flight deals. Like going to Florida for $1/ticket. Seriously. She still has to pay taxes and stuff but that still only comes to around $50/ticket. I need to ask her what that club is again, and how to become a member.

Sunday Saying

"The truth always turns out to be simpler than you thought."
- Richard Feynman

This reminds me of something I've heard in classes and such before- usually the simplest answer is the right one. Teachers would always say that the answer that you are first attracted to is usually right.

Another way I think of this is that even if the truth seems hard it ends up a lot easier than lying. With a lie you have to remember the lie, add on to it, hide the truth, etc. On the other hand if you just tell the truth all the time you have a clear conscience and don't have to try keeping your story straight.

What do you think?

Happy Birthday Jacob!

So today, my little baby turns 2. It is so crazy how quickly time goes by. Jacob is such a smart little boy. He talks a ton. At his appointment last week the doctor was asking if he says 2 word sentences and I was like "Oh yeah! He says a lot more than that!" You can have whole conversations in full sentences with this kid. And he is soooo active! He is all over everything. He loves to climb. Get him and Jason together and they can create havoc faster than a tornado. Jacob and Jason are such good friends. Of course they fight like brothers do, but they have so much fun together. Almost makes me hope for another boy so there's another to play with. :) I love my little guy and am so happy he is part of our family.