Katrina Tripled

An Interview With Zach

2012-02-07T18:35:00.002-06:00

What's your name?
Zach
How old are you?
7
Where do you live?
In Jones Circle
Who do you like to play with?
Reid and Addison.
What is your favorite food?
Mac and Cheese and shrimp!

What is your favorite drink?
Pepsi, water and lemonade.
What is your favorite snack?
um......cheese quesadilla
What is your favorite toy?
hmmmmm....I kind of like doing big foot....OH and LEGOS!!
What is your favorite TV show?
Star Wars
What is your favorite game?
Star Wars
What is your favorite book?
The Mo Williams books.

What is your favorite restaurant?
RED LOBSTER
What is your favorite holiday?
I kind of like Christmas a lot. And Halloween and Valentine's.
What is your favorite animal?
Zabra
If you could change your name what would you change it to?
I don't know. It would still be Zach. What?!?
What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
That he tickles me and plays with me.
What do you love most about Josh?
That he likes playing legos with me and video games with me.

What do you love most about Alex?
Playing outside with him.
What do you love most about mommy?
That she takes care of me.
What do you love most about yourself?
I like doing my own thing. And even if no one is looking I still like doing the right thing.
Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
ARIZONA!!!
What are some wishes for this year?
I wish I had a motor scooter. I got $80 and I want $100 so I can buy a motor scooter. I wish I could find a $20 bill everyday in the street.
Thanks for letting me interview you Zach.
Bye Bye!!

An Interview with Josh

2012-02-07T18:33:00.003-06:00

What's your name?

Josh
How old are you?
7 1/2
Where do you live?
Jones Circle
Who do you like to play with?
hmmmm....everyone!
Like who?
Bodey, Kelton, Elle

What is your favorite food?
SHRIMP!!!! Wait! POPCORN shrimp I mean.
What is your favorite drink?
Chocolate milk
What is your favorite snack?
I need to think about that..... COOKIES!
What is your favorite toy?
hmmm....my lego dump truck.
What is your favorite TV show?
Chowder
What is your favorite game?
Star Wars playstation
What is your favorite book?
hmmmm....That piggy one.
What piggy one?
That one with the pig and elephant...
OH! The one by Mo Williams?
Yes!! My favorite books are by Mo Williams.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Village Inn
What is your favorite holiday?
Winter because I don't have to do my homework.
Well that's a season. And you have homework in the winter. What is your favorite holiday?
What's a holiday? *giggles*
You know what a holiday is!
*giggles* hmm...I don't know which holiday....NEW YEARS!! NEW YEARS!!

What is your favorite animal?
Every animal
Like what?
Monkeys, butterflies, gorillas and lady bugs.
If you could change your name what would you change it to?
Blah Ba De Dah Blah Blah Blah pizza pie
What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
Him tickling me.
What do you love most about Zach?
That he plays video games with me.
What do you love most about Alex?
That he doesn't say inappropriate words.

What do you love most about mommy?
hmmm...That you read books to me at night!
What do you love most about yourself?
That I say blah ba de blah blah ba de blah blah blah *giggles*
Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
hmmm...Pizza Land
Seriously? Really where do you want to go?
ARIZONA!!
What are some wishes for this year?
I wish I had one penny. No homework. New songs on my ipod because my ipod is really cool!
Thanks for letting me interview you Josh.
Bye Bye!

An Interview With Alex

2012-02-06T20:47:00.008-06:00

What's your name?
Alex
How old are you?
7 1/2
Where do you live?
Jones Circle
Who do you like to play with?
My friends.

Like who?
Everyone in the circle. Like Elle, Kelton, Brooke- everyone in the circle.
What is your favorite food?
CHEESE PIZZA and grilled cheese!
What is your favorite drink?
Orange Juice
What is your favorite snack?
um...goldfish.
What is your favorite toy?
*shrugs shoulders* I just like playing with my friends.
What is your favorite TV show?
Chowder and Phineas and Ferb
What is your favorite game?
I don't know.
What is your favorite book?
Geronimo Stilton
What is your favorite restaurant?
The Amazing Pizza Machine
What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas
What is your favorite animal?
Rats and Monkeys

If you could change your name what would you change it to?
Nothing. I would keep it Alex.
What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
He makes me laugh.

What do you love most about Josh?
Everything! He likes being crazy!
What do you love most about Zach?
Everything! He likes being crazy!
What do you love most about mommy?
You scratch my back.
What do you love most about yourself?
EVERYTHING!!!
Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
To Hawaii!
What are some wishes for this year?
Um...Summer Break! And that dad doesn't have to go to work. I want to spend some more time with him. I wish for a thousand hundred million dollars.
Thanks for letting me interview you Alex.
Good Bye!

Let It Snow?!

2012-01-23T14:32:00.002-06:00

Friday Zach's teacher read them a story that had something to do with if you flush ice cubes down the toilet it would snow. So all weekend my boys have flushed ice cubes down our toilet. And wouldn't you know it- it snowed last night. They are CONVINCED that they caused it. They are very proud of themselves. On the way to school this morning they were bragging it up and whatnot and I hear Alex say "Yeah, but whatever you do DON'T eat it! It came from our toilet!"

Oh, my boys make me laugh every day! I'm so lucky!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Guess Who Got Glasses Again!!

2012-01-12T17:34:00.002-06:00

Yep! That would be Mr. Josh! I would like to wish you all luck in telling Josh and Zach apart again! It was a nice year, wasn't it? Super easy to tell them apart. Now you will have to really look again. :)

I'll help you out. Josh's are more round. Zach's glasses are more rectangular. And Josh's are also orange.

He picked them out himself! I think he did a great job. I am also SUPER excited that Josh had to get glasses because of his vision this time and not to correct his crossing!!! Can I get a Woot!!! Woot!!! Oh yeah! In fact, the doctor said his eyes were perfect! No crossing issues at all!!!! So happy about that! That has been a long road. Josh's eyes have been challenging to say the least. Hopefully we are past all that now.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Last Hurrah!

2012-01-09T19:18:00.003-06:00

Today was the last day of the boys Christmas break and I really wanted it to be a fun one! I have loved having the boys around these past few weeks!! A neighbor asked if we wanted to do something fun with them. Of course, we did! We love our neighbors! Margie did all the planning (thanks again for that Margie!) It ended up being a couple of my neighbors, our kids and I. Nine of us all together. We decided to take the out to Sam and Louie's for pizza-

(Caroline, Charlotte, Alex, Zach, Sam, & Josh)

Then onto Bounce U to bounce our brains out! (quoting Margie)

We all had a blast! We bounced and we climbed up these huge slides-

And slid down them- over and over and over again!

Racing or going together or whatever! It was fun! We even had races through some bouncing obstacles.

(Caroline and Josh)

I raced Charlotte about 10 times and FINALLY won the very last race!!! She is super fast! It was a ton of fun and I don't even mind that I jammed my toe, skinned/rug burned my knee, or hurt my back a little. I really wanted to beat her! :) Don't worry it was all in good fun!

We bounced a few hours and wore ourselves out completely! When a few kids were laying in the bouncers rather than jumping in them we decided it was time to go. But the fun didn't stop there! Oh no!! We all headed over to Margie's house for cake. A cake that, Charlotte, her 7 year old daughter made all by herself!! Impressed? I am!! And it was delicious!!! I would say our last day of break was pretty awesome! Back to the grind tomorrow. I think there will be tears tomorrow. And not just from me! :)

June-uary!

2012-01-06T09:20:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we had record highs! It was 67 degrees on January 5!!!! In Nebraska- that's crazy! Crazy wonderful!!! The boys are still on break so we decided to do something outside to enjoy this weather! So we went to the zoo! And it was awesome!

I have lived here all my life and have never gone to the zoo in the winter. It's nice! I would totally do it again! Especially with weather like this! No crazy crowds! Close parking! No sweating to death! All sorts of awesome!The boys are still into bugs so we checked out the butterfly/insect house. Watched a butterfly eat.

And then later the boys all begged to get their picture taken with the biggest, hairiest, (grossest) spider!

(((shivers))) And then they wanted his picture too. Ick! But it made them happy so what's a mom to do! :)We ran into a few people we knew. Including one of our neighbors! So we hung out with them for the rest of the time. It was great!We went to the gorillas. And they were ACTIVE!! Usually when I see them they just lay around scratching themselves or picking their noses. This time they were moving around. And it was kind of scary! A couple of them would run by the glass and pound on it. Scared the you know what out of us. One of them even beat his chest. It was scary cool.

We spent a few hours at the zoo then headed home- with the air conditioning on in the car!!! Never in January have I needed to do that!After getting home, Alex declared he was so hot he couldn't stand it and changed into shorts and flip flops. Not sure it was THAT hot but he was thrilled! The whole neighborhood was out so we all headed to the park for more fun! Do I know how to wear my kids out or what!?!? However I may have done too good of a job. They were falling apart by 6:30. We may have had a few rough moments. But it was all worth it! It was such a fun day!! Today is going to be another nice day although not record breaking. I have to admit I am a little worried that this may be the calm before the storm. But we will enjoy that calm while it's here! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Year's Eve and a Wedding!!

2012-01-01T11:22:00.001-06:00

What a way to bring in the New Year!! We helped celebrate the marriage of Deanna and Grant!

They really make a lovely couple and we wish them all the best! We were happy that we got to celebrate this with them!Eric and Karisa hosted the party and let their house become filled with people who wished nothing but the best for the new couple!

And it was a blast! Great food!

Great friends!

Lots of laughter!

What more could you ask of a party?!?

This was the first NYE that the boys really celebrated, too! It was lots of fun with them!

They all waited to see the ball drop. But sadly we didn't see it. Don't know if they didn't air it or if we missed it or what. But if that's the big disappointment- I'm fine with that!

All in all it was a fantastic New Years! I am just giddy that I finally made it to midnight! Since the boys have been born I haven't made it to midnight once! Looser I know! But no more! :)

Happy 2012 everyone!!! Looking forward to what this year will bring!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Last of the 7 Days Run

2011-12-30T07:13:00.002-06:00

I just realized that I never posted my day 7 of 7 Days picture. Probably because it wasn't blog worthy or all that creative. :) But here is my shot:

Waving goodbye to my fellow 7 Dayers.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fun With Good Friends

2011-12-27T17:16:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we got to spend some time with our good friends Joe and Kassie! They were in town for Christmas and we were able to see them. And we had a great time- as always!We take lots of photos.

And chat and laugh! And maybe scare our guests a little with our rats. All in good fun though! I promise!

We may have even tried to do some magic...I don't think either Kassie or I will become magicians any time soon.

(psssst! Hey Joe- is this picture better? Can I continue to blog again? ;) ) Joe gave me some awesome and helpful advice on picture posting. I really do appreciate it. I just like giving him a hard time. Both Joe and Kassie have done 7 Days in the past. So I was excited to have them be in my 7 Days: Day 6 shot. Here is what I got:

That's talent right there folks! 7 people in one picture that I took holding my camera! Booya!!They are great friends and we can't wait until we are able to get together again! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Double- No Triple-Duty

2011-12-26T11:14:00.002-06:00

I am participating in both 7 Days and a Reverb Broads daily blogging. They overlapped and I didn't want to both at the same time. That was overwhelming to me. But Christmas Day they kind of overlapped so this is a double blog! Wait! I am going to change it to a TRIPLE blog because I wanted to blog about our Christmas anyway. Plus things in threes are really the best! ;)Here is my 7 days: Day 5 shot. The theme was vanilla and that was a hard one. So it was overlooked a little. The ebleskiver looks vanillaish right?

This is our traditional Christmas breakfast. So yummy!The reverb broads prompt was a wordless Christmas. We were to post a picture that represents your day. Here's the picture that represented our Christmas day:

For me, it's all about my kids! This year the excitement was like no other! Alex was up at 5am. He came into our room and just stood at the edge of our bed and stared at us. That is a REALLY creepy way to wake up! Matt had the boys go sort presents so we could sleep a tad longer. And then at about 6:30 Alex told us "Mom, Dad, the presents are all sorted. You have 4 minutes to get down here!". It was hilarious! We quickly went downstairs! We didn't want to miss anything! The boys ripped through their gifts. They were very excited about them all! Then we played with them rest of the day. We also lazed around and watched movies, and ate and ate and ate. I love these types of days! I also want to note that the weather was sunny and warm! So odd but at the same time so great! We had our windows open part of the day! It was fantastic! Merry Christmas!!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Santa's Coming!

2011-12-24T20:03:00.002-06:00

Santa is coming tonight so we needed to get ready for him! How? By making him cookies, of course!

We got out my grandma L's spritz recipe and got at it!

We ate almost as much cookie dough as we made actual cookies. But it's so yummy! Who can make cookies without eating the dough? Not me! Or my family!

Here is my 7 Days shot for the day:

Come on over Santa! We got delicious cookies for you! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's All About the Prep Today

2011-12-23T16:11:00.000-06:00

Today is all about the prep for the holidays. Cleaning, cooking, wrapping, etc. Getting ready for the fun get togethers and the eating and the present openings!! One of the things I did was I took my boys to get their hairs done. I needed to get them all gussied up for the holidays, of course.Here is my day 3 shot:

Did Someone Say Chocolate?!?!

2011-12-22T12:40:00.002-06:00

Today's theme is chocolate for my 7 days run. Could that be any more fun? Or delicious?!? Mmmmmmm chocolate!

Here is my day 2 shot:

There is nothing better than a mixture of peanut butter and chocolate! That is my idea of heaven. I may get a little crazy when I am around it...,

But they are so yummy! Ahhhhh..

Chocolate! How I love thee! Now I'm off to go eat some!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

7 Days Time!

2011-12-21T21:36:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year again! 7 days begins today! I skipped last time. Just didn't feel creative. But I think I am ready to go this time. Get ready to be bombarded with daily posts- or just delete when you get them. :)

Here is my day 1 shot:

I love these hand ornaments! Look at how small Josh's hand was! These are my favorite ornaments! I make them every year. Matt's grandma made them for all her grandkids when Matt was little. It's fun to compare the size of his hand to the boys hands.

So that's what I got for Day 1.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

My Love of Dance

2011-12-20T19:57:00.005-06:00

Today's prompt is: Life is a work of art, or so they say. What beauty do you regularly appreciate/revere in your life? by Neha

Honestly, I was thinking of skipping the prompt again today. Life has been busy (DUH!! Who isn't?!?) But unfortunately things like this are what's getting neglected. I wasn't sure what I was going to write about until I read a couple of fellow Reverb Broads posts. Now I am completely inspired and going to be a TOTAL copy cat!

I love watching people dance. LOVE!! Especially when the dance tells a story. My favorite show is So You Think You Can Dance. If you haven't seen it- CHECK IT OUT!! So amazing!! There have been so many dances that have either made me cry- like the one Kent and Neal did- or super happy- like the one Twitch and Alex did. (Oh and then later that season Ellen got in on it!!) So awesome!

I have to say I am a HUGE fan of Travis Wall. He is amazing. One of my favorite routines he did was this one which he choreographed about his sick mother. It is really no surprise that he was nominated for an Emmy. He is also an amazing dancer- as seen here. Which was choreographed by Mia Michales- who is also AMAZING!!

I could go on and on...but I am having too much fun watching video clip after video clip of my favorite dances!! :)

Christmas in Iowa

2011-12-18T10:56:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was our first Christmas celebration and it was awesome as always! Matt's aunt and uncle are nice enough to host all of us every year. This year everyone couldn't make it but I think the other 25 of us still had a fabulous time.

The weather cooperated for those of us needing to travel. And we were all thankful for that! Plus, we were able to play outside and take tractor rides. That's always a plus. And the food was delicious! All of us stuffing ourselves silly.

But one of the best parts of the day for me was meeting my new nephew (and birthday buddy) Jack!

Isn't he the cutest? I think he was the highlight of the day for most of us, as everyone wanted to hold him.

He is a really great baby!

Other than all the baby holding the rest of the day was great to just catch up with everyone.

And of course the 2 Zachs loved playing together!

Thanks again for hosting Cal and Rose! You did it again! It was a great start to our Christmas celebrations! Can't wait to see everyone again!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Ick!

2011-12-17T11:52:00.002-06:00

Today's prompt is to make a list of you least favorite things. By Amy

Ok here goes-

1. Onions. Gross and ick! My grandma would put them in the blender so I wouldn't notice. But I always did.

2. Puke. Can't handle it. But I think I already blogged about that earlier. ((Shiver!))

3. Heights. Used to be fine with them. Not anymore. Ferris wheels now scare the sh*t out of me. Death traps are all I see.

4. Kids yelling in the car. Which is happening now. Sigh.

5. Kids asking "are we there yet?" or "how much time is left?" every 3 minutes. Again happening now. Sigh.

6. Being disloyal, betrayal, stealing and lying. Those are all big dislikes for me.

What else?

7. The song Gin and Juice done country style. We are listening to the podcast Coverville in the car and it's driving me crazy! It's not right! However, Baby Got Back by Jonathan Colton pretty much rocks.

8. The book Hick by who cares! It's bad. Don't read it.

9. Not being able to read in the car. I get car sick. And I'm starting to feel that way a little now. So I'm going to end my list before I puke. Cause I really dislike that! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Flavors

2011-12-15T16:48:00.003-06:00

Today's prompt is: Did you taste any new flavors this year? Did you love or hate them or something in between? Will you incorporate these new flavors into your life? by Bethany

Yes....we absolutely tried new flavors this year. We joined a CSA for the first time. I felt we were stuck in a rut with food choices and wanted to try something new. And a great bonus was that it supported local farmers!! YEA!

Every week we got a bag of groceries and either a cheese or farm fresh eggs. We were all excited about it!! I should clarify I am not a cook. I do not enjoy anything about cooking. I have been a out of a box or restaurant type of person my whole life. So I was excited to try new things and hopefully eat healthier.

We tried things like kohlrabi and beets and kale and squash and eggplant. And this:

This happens to be garlic scrapes. And no I would not recommend it! Scratch that- I would not recommend me cooking it for you.

Did I like all these new flavors? Hmmmm....hard to say. Some YES!! and some OH HELL NO!! Over the summer I posted a lot of pictures of food on Facebook asking what I got and what do I do with it. :) And some weeks I was excited to try something new and others ....well the food just went to waste or to other people.

Will I do the CSA next year? No, probably not. Mostly because we are a family of 5 and some weeks we would get 1 beet or 2 potatoes. Well what doesn't feed a family of 5. Also, there wasn't enough of what I consider normal vegetables. My plan for next year is to just go to the farmer markets. With all that said I am still definitely glad I did it. As I got to try new things and that was fun.

My Guilty Pleasure

2011-12-12T08:43:00.003-06:00

Today's prompt is: Name and explain the one guilty pleasure you can't live without. ie: that cupcake shop you visit weekly, a book you repeatedly read to find solace in, etc). Then explore the idea of how you would feel if you gave that thing up for a year. By: Neha

My first thought was Chi Tea Lattes from Starbucks. I have always loved them but I think I have taken it to a new level this year. I seem to visit Starbucks a whole lot more than I ever have before. But then when I thought about giving it up for a whole year....eh. I can totally drink hot tea from home. No biggie. So that must not be it.

Then I thought TV. I am a TV addict. I LOVE me some TV shows. I watch WAY too much. And reality shows have been a favorite of mine for a while. And I am talking ALL types of reality shows- from the ones that I should be VERY embarrassed to admit watching (Rock of Love, Real Housewives, Ice Loves Coco) to the normal ones (Survivor, Real World, Biggest Loser) My all time favorite is So You Think You Can Dance. Wait, is that reality TV or a contest show. Hmmm....Anyway I also like the dramas (Parenthood) and the comedies (Modern Family). Like I said WAY too much TV. Could I give it up for a year? Makes me a little uncomfortable- but I think I could do it. So is this my guilty pleasure? Don't know.

I think the thing that I could absolutely NOT give up- although I don't think I would call it a guilty pleasure cause I have never felt guilty doing it- is listening to music. I listen to music all the time. And if I had to give that up- I would just get REALLY FAT! Yep, you read that right. REALLY FAT! Have you ever tried working out without music? It's horrible! I would also probably go into a depression. Music can totally lift your mood!! So I am going to count listening to music the thing I can't live without. And my TV (ohhh and my iphone- that is definitely a guilty pleasure- not giving that up- no way- no how!) as my guilty pleasure.

My Favorite Kids Book

2011-12-09T09:15:00.005-06:00

Today's prompt is:

What was your favorite children's book? by Niki

I LOVE LOVE LOVE children's books. Which is probably why I became an elementary school teacher with my masters in reading. :) But that is besides the point. I could list lots of children's books that I love. But I have to say my most favorite children's book when I was a kid was/is:

I LOVED this book!! I would make my mom read it over and over and over and over!! And then over some more. Sometimes I would even make her read it backwards to me. Why I am not sure...it probably had something to do with delaying my bedtime.

Anyway...I loved this book because I was obsessed with Sesame Street. It was my favorite TV show for years. And if I am honest- I still love that show. I was always a little sad that when I had kids they didn't have the same love for it as I did. Oh well. I also love this book because the voice in it is FANTASTIC!! You can't help but yell when reading certain pages!

The whole book is about not turning pages because there is a monster at the end of the book. And of course you don't want to get to the end because monsters are scary. So Grover does all these crazy things to keep you from turning pages.

It's a great kids book!! SO MUCH FUN to read!! And what makes me love it even more is that my boys love this book too!! I would say it is one of their favorites!! There is even an ap for the ipad that will read this story to you. I would highly recommend checking out this awesome kids book!!

Why Blog?

2011-12-08T10:58:00.003-06:00

Today's prompt is: Why Blog? by the lovely Kristen

First, I think I need to give credit to my two friends Kassie and Bethany for getting me into blogging in the first place. They introduced me to it and I thought I would give it a try.

I blog as a way to document my life. It is my version of scrap booking. It's really as simple as that.

Who Do I Think is Funny?

2011-12-07T09:14:00.006-06:00

Today's prompt is: Who or what makes you laugh so hard that milk shoots out of your nose and why? Slapstick, dry witty comedy, your kids, Monty Python? Courtesy of the lovely Kassie

My first thought was my kids.

They make me laugh every day!!

They are so goofy! And they make me say things that I NEVER thought would come out of my mouth! Like "Get that lawn mower out of the Christmas tree!" or "New Family Rule! No letting the rats jump on our head!" or "Stop throwing baby Jesus!"
They bring laughter to my days!

Besides my kids....Daniel Tosh cracks me up. He is COMPLETELY inappropriate but I find him SO funny!! I find really inappropriate things hilarious.

(Picture copied from the interweb)

Funny Video posted HERE

Matt and I saw him live earlier this year.
And he was everything I wanted him to be. Gross, rude, inappropriate and flat out funny!! My sides hurt from laughing so hard. And I am sure if I would have been drinking milk at that time it would have shot out my nose.
I took the above picture!! :) As I was in the same room as he was!! WOOT! :)

I Would NEVER...

2011-12-06T09:32:00.003-06:00

Today's prompt is: List 10 things you would never do - by ME! I came up with this prompt. :)

1. I would NEVER kill anyone. I am a nice and non-violent person. I would never kill anyone. Wait....now that I think about it I actually might. If it was self defense or something like that. I suppose it would be possible. Or if a pedophile was attacking my kids. I could totally see my mama bear claws coming out. But for the most part I would never kill anyone.

2. I would NEVER jump out of a plane. This seems to be on a lot of my friends bucket lists...but I am scared of heights. And that just doesn't sound like fun at all. Plus, I don't really like flying in a plane in the first place. Yeah. No fun. Not going to happen. Wait....now that I think about it....I would jump out of a plane if it was crashing.

3. I would NEVER cut off a part of my body. I don't like pain. And as much as I complain about certain parts of my body, I happen to love my body enough that I don't want to cut a part off of it. Wait...I suppose if I were ever in a situation like Aron Ralston where I would have to cut off my arm to survive- then MAYBE I might. But then again I don't really see myself hiking alone in a canyon.

4. I would never steal. Stealing isn't a nice thing to do and I am a nice person. Plus, I am fortunate enough that if I REALLY wanted something I can save up for it and buy it. Wait...I supposed if I lost everything and my kids were naked and hungry I would steal some food and clothes for them. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Right?

Wow...I am going into some really dark places with this prompt! Pedophiles who kill my kids, planes crashing, being trapped in a canyon, being so desperate that I have to steal, who came up with this crazy prompt!?!? Oh, wait that was me....hee hee

5. I would NEVER drink blood. That is gross! As much as I loved Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, I am not a vampire! Ick! Blood drinking is not for me! Man, think about all the germs in blood! Ugh!!

6. I would NEVER eat puke. Throwing up is so gross. I can't handle it. Even when I see someone puking on TV I start to gag myself. My husband finds that hilarious! There is not one horrible life or death scenario that I can think of that I would eat puke.

7. I would NEVER be an actress. As much as I LOVE TV and movies- I just can't act. I am horrible at it.

8. I would NEVER run for any sort of political office. SO NOT ME!!

9. I would NEVER do illegal drugs. I don't really see the point in them. I've never smoked pot because I knew it gave you the munchies and I figured I was already fat so why do that to yourself? Plus me being the rule follower that I am- yeah, it's just not me. I suppose if I got cancer or something I would smoke the wacky terbacky...but then that would be for medicinal purposes and not really for recreation right?

And lastly number 10. I would NEVER say never....OBVIOUSLY! Shesh! :) I think I found a loop hole is almost every one of my never list!! :)

First Snow of the Season

2011-12-05T14:47:00.001-06:00

There is just something magical about the first snow of the season! Snow angels, snowball fights...

Building snow volcanos....

Then moving on to building snowmen.

Ta Da!

We had a whole family of them...

But shortly after the kids had fun destroying them.

There is just something magical about the first snow!

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I did it!

2011-12-05T10:50:00.003-06:00

The prompt for today is: What is the one thing you finally did this year that you always wanted or said you were going to do, but in your heart of hearts never thought you would actually do? courtesy of Amy Krajek

A couple of things came to mind when I read this. The first one is that I NEVER thought we would go on a family vacation. When you have kids, everything changes. But when you have triplets, life completely....um....yeah its NOTHING like it was before. I couldn't imagine going to the grocery store when the boys were babies- let alone go on a vacation. As the boys got older, slowly but surely we have ventured out. This year we ventured half way across the country on our very first TRUE family vacation. A few years ago I would never have imagined going on a plane with triplet boys. Just the thought of traveling with triplets can put one into a panic. But we did it. They were fantastic!! We had a few speed bumps and hurdles along the way but we did it. And I would totally do it again!!

The other thing that came to mind was I never thought our house would sell and we would move!! Our house was on the market for almost a year before it sold. That was such a long and hard process!! But it finally sold. Then it was the mad rush of finding a new place. Moving. Settling in. Blah blah blah. So glad that is all over!!

Reverb #3

2011-12-03T08:46:00.003-06:00

I am starting to think I need better titles..... :) I'll work on that for tomorrow.

Today's prompt is: How did you become more of a grown-up this year? Or did you pull a Peter Pan and stubbornly remain childlike? Bethany

Honestly- I dont think I have even not been grown up. I have always been a responsible person. I was just born that way. I am a rule follower- almost to a fault. Sometimes I really feel like I need to let go and be more child like. But the thought of letting go of some adult responsibilities (like spending money freely, speeding, not going to the doctor for a check up or to the dentist for a routine exam, etc) is just CRAZY talk. I think if I became any more "grown up" I would be the lamest person on earth. Someone who is totally NO FUN AT ALL! And I don't consider my self un-fun or lame. I just follow the rules. I do child-like things all the time. I have three young boys. So that is totally easy to do. We play at the park, jump on trampolines, ride go-carts, go to The Muppet Movie and then act like animal afterwards. I love imagining and being creative with them! So in answer to this question: I think I have a good balance of being a grown up and being child like. At least I hope I do!

Reverb #2

2011-12-02T16:26:00.002-06:00

Here is the prompt for today (12/2/2011):

What is the stupidest thing you did this year? What about in your whole life? You can take stupid to mean: embarrassing, dangerous, funny, lame, whatever you consider "stupid." By Kassie http://bravelyobey.blogspot.com

Huh....good one, Kassie....now as I am going through my list of stupid and embarrassing things that I have done- puke in a bar, trip/stumble in front of that really cute guy, laugh loudly at an inappropriate time, etc. I am going to go with my first official date with Matt (my husband). I was giddy with excitement. Spent far too much time getting all dolled up. Making sure I was as beautiful as I could possibly be. Super excited for all the possibilities that this new guy could bring. And perhaps, at that time in my life, I was also in a slight phase of being in too much control and a tad too independent. So I was all I am woman hear me roar! This is the 90s. I will drive. I drove us to Charlie's on the Lake- a seafood restaurant. And I was too giddy with excitement that what I thought was the turn into the parking lot was clearly not a turn into the parking lot. It wasn't a turn at all. I think I just turned into a median in the road and almost killed both of us. Good times. I wanted to DIE of embarrassment. I thought for sure that would be the end of Matt and I. But lucky for me- it wasn't. He just drove more often. Now when we drive by that restaurant we joke "remember that time you almost killed us on our first date?"

Reverb #1

2011-12-01T18:01:00.004-06:00

So I am nervous and excited to try out the Reverb project. Honestly this is way uncomfortable for me. I consider myself a private person- weird I know since I have a BLOG!! But my blog is about what's going on with my family. It's my way of scrap booking or documenting our lives. So to write about my private thoughts and then share them with strangers has me a tad panicky. That's weird right? :) But I also think you grow from doing things that aren't exactly comfortable...so here goes nothing!

Reverb is a group that the awesome Kassie has invited me to join. Everyday I/we get a prompt to write about. I may not get to it everyday but I am going to give it a good try! Today's prompt is:

December 1: Reverb Broads Prompt: "If the you of today could go back in time and give advice to any of the previous yous, which age would you visit and what would you tell them?" via Kristen at kristendomblogs.com

Dear early 20s me,

These next few years are going to be rough.. You are going to struggle to find out who you are and who you want to be. But I promise- it's going to be ok. Stop worrying so much about everything. It all works out in the end. It will be ok! I promise.

College isn't going to be that great. You have these grandiose ideas as to what its going to be like. High school was awesome! You had great friends. A boyfriend. You were leaving the nest!! WOOT!! But then things don't go quite as you thought. You are going to feel like a fish out of water. Like you don't belong in this small town. It isn't fun to feel like your entire world has fallen apart. Friendships and relationships fall apart. But know that is ok. That is all part of growing up. But the best part is you get to rebuild it....and you do an awesome job of it!

Flirt more. Don't be such a rule follower. Take more risks. Don't be so scared to try something new. Don't be so scared of what people think of you. (hmmm....maybe I should change this letter to Dear me of today!)

Oh and travel more. Someday you are going to have triplets and traveling will become almost non-exsistant. But don't travel to Russia. I repeat- DO NOT go to Russia! That really doesn't turn out well for you at all! Go study someplace else. Anywhere else. Just don't go to Russia again. It makes you a nervous traveler for years to come.

Lastly, be who you want to be and not who you think people want you to be. Try and shake off that feeling guilty feeling. It really doesn't do anyone any good.

Just know that when you get to be about 24 life starts to take a turn for the better and it just keeps getting better and better! You are very lucky that way!!

Love,
Me

A Great Weekend!

2011-11-27T19:57:00.001-06:00

After Thanksgiving there always seems to be certain traditions that we do- like putting up our Christmas tree!

This year we decided to do a real tree. It is our very first real one since Matt and I have been together. We took the boys out to look for the "perfect" tree.

And we found one! So we loaded it up and took it home....

...and set it up. It's big and beautiful and smells fantastic...or gross depending on which Venn you ask.

We didn't fully decorate the tree because we wanted to get the lights up outside. And with it getting dark so early time was ticking away.

But we got it done. I LOVE Christmas lights. They are so beautiful!

The next morning we finished decorating the tree.

The boys thought it was cool to climb the wrong side of the stairs to reach the top of the tree. So we have a highly decorated area on our tree. But that's ok. It makes me smile!

Later that day we went to see The Muppets with some friends. Loved it! The boys liked it. And Matt was a good sport for going along. :) I loved the muppets as a kid so I was thrilled to see them again!

Sunday we went out to do some errands and to our surprise Santa was at one of the stores we went to!

In fact, Mulhulls had a whole family Christmas party going on. Complete with games, craft stations, and live reindeer!

And if that wasn't awesome enough- it was all free! Lots of fun!

After that we took the boys to the Pizza Machine for a family fun day- Alex was begging for one that morning. Who can say no to a family fun day? Not me!

Tomorrow it's back to normal. Kids go to school. Matt goes to work. And I am going to go to the gym! WAY too much eating this weekend! All in all- I would say this was a really great weekend!

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Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T21:56:00.001-06:00

Today was an awesome day! Lots of food and family! And the weather couldn't have been more lovely! My cousin Genna and her husband Jon hosted this year and it was fantastic!

We started the day by watching for the cats. (They were outside as lots of kids/people and cats may not be a good thing when cats aren't used to kids)

The boys had lots of fun feeding Sarah.

And playing with her too, of course.

The boys helped cook a little.

We played outside with the husky dogs.

We ate too much!

Made rice crispy turkeys.

And probably ate more of the candy than was necessary. :)

We stared at the cats through the door again.

We decided we needed to work off some of the feast we just consumed so we played Dance Revolution.

It was fun!

Later we found the wishbone in the turkey and my aunt carefully explained to the boys what it means and what to do.

They thought hard what to wish for...

Pulled...and would you believe it split evenly in half!?!?

Which means everyone gets their wish! Imagine the excitement!

It was a great day indeed!! Happy Thanksgiving!

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Leaves!

2011-11-06T07:46:00.001-06:00

Earlier I posted about how excited I was about having a beautiful tree...

Well that beautiful tree is loosing its leaves, as one would expect. So why not have fun with it?

I love that Zach is wearing his helmet. He was riding his bike right before playing in the leaves and just didn't take it off. It cracks me up. Like he is hardcore playing in the leaves or something.

Neighbor kids came to join in the fun.

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Boys!

2011-11-02T16:22:00.001-05:00

Totally having one of those mom moments. The boys are something else today!

We have swimming lessons after school and the boys thought it was funny to stretch their goggles out and snap them on their faces. Why they thought that was a good idea is beyond me. Zach teared up from the smack to his face and Alex broke his goggles.

Notice in the picture my kids in the background totally not doing what they are supposed to. Sigh.

This all happened after Zach informs me that Josh got yelled at by the principal today for tooting with his armpit!

I realize this is all funny and ridiculous, which is why I'm blogging about it, but in the moment you think you may just loose your mind!

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Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T10:10:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween!

We hope there are more treats than tricks for you today!

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Hip Hip Hooray!

2011-10-30T09:04:00.002-05:00

I have a pretty tree!

It's a little pathetic I know, but I have always wanted a pretty tree and yea for me I now have one! Add it to the long list of reasons that I LOVE our new house!

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There are Witches in the...

2011-10-29T08:12:00.002-05:00

Well, kitchen. They might be in the air too, but yesterday they were in my kitchen.

Aren't they cute?

The boys and I had tons of fun making them. And then some more fun passing them out to our neighbors. They were cute and delicious!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

**thats right posted this whole blog from my shiny new iPhone! I'm in love with my phone! :)

Pumpkin Math and Science Day

2011-10-28T14:47:00.004-05:00

This morning I had the pleasure of helping out at the boys school for Math and Science Pumpkin Day! They had been talking excitedly about this all week!!
And I have to say- It was a BLAST! However it made me miss teaching all the more! *sigh* Anyway...All 4 first grade classrooms got together to do fun math and science activities using pumpkins! There were 8 stations that the kids rotated through.Which thrilled me because I got to work with all my boys and didn't have to choose whose classroom I was going to help in. I hate when that happens! I'm too much of a fairness monitor, I guess.
We had lots of fun!! They did lots of fun things like a sink/float activity, estimation pumpkin seeds, weighing pumpkins, sorting candy, etc. It was very well organized and their teachers did a fantastic job putting it all together! You could tell they worked very hard. We are lucky to be at such a great school!!

And in case you are wondering why everyone (except a few- like Mr. Orange Josh) is wearing red- it was red ribbon week at school. Each day they had to dress a certain way. One day was pajama day, one day was favortie sports team shirt/jersey, etc. Today was wear red day.

Hallelujah!!

2011-10-25T10:33:00.004-05:00

Zach's cast came off today!!! The nurse used a special vacuum saw to take it off.
And we are SO happy about it too!!

WOOOOT!!!!

Halloween 's a Comin!

2011-10-17T16:16:00.009-05:00

Halloween is coming!! And we are getting really excited about it! The boys have their costumes picked out. I have candy bought...which may or may not make it to Halloween. Stupid chocolate addiction. Pumpkins are on the porch. And the decorations are up. Anyway....the other day my mom invited us to go to the Children's Museum because they had their Halloween haunted house set up.
The museum does this attraction every year. We have been before and the boys seem to love it. So we went again! We started upstairs....
I had kind of forgot that they had this exhibit now.
These used to be in Richmond Gordman- an old clothing store my mom used to shop in. She would shop while us kids would play on these awesome animals. Great memories...but I seriously can't imagine doing that today with my kids.
They also had a dinosaur exhibit. But my boys have never really been into dinosaurs so we didn't spend too much time there either.
We spent most of the time in the ball area and, of course, at the Halloween area.
Which was an awesome time! Haunted house, strobe lights, and a maze! What more could kids ask for?
Towards the end of our visit, my mom painted the boys faces....Halloween style!
Alex:
Zach
Josh:
I think she did an awesome job! Never knew she had that talent!
It was a great day!!

Yesterday we got "BOOed!" by a neighbor. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this neighborhood? :) We are so lucky to live where we do! We got a bag of candy on our doorstep with this sign:
The instructions are to pass it on to 2 more people! You are supposed to leave candy on someones doorstep, ring the bell and run. Its supposed to be anonymous. Good luck with that! Three 7 yr old boys each had their own way of going things. It made me laugh! I have to admit it's quite fun.

Today the boys are super excited because they are going to their very first non-school sponsored Halloween party!! Let the holiday fun begin!!

Bug Catching

2011-10-16T11:57:00.002-05:00

The boys latest obsession has been bug catching......
They have spent numerous hours out back catching all types of bugs....and may have brought the "cool" ones inside to show me...which most likely led to me screaming "NO BUGS IN THE HOUSE!"

They have had tons of fun doing this....they have caught bees, moths, spiders, praying mantis, wasps, lady bugs, grass hoppers and a few others that we have been unable to identify.
Alex has been catching bugs too....but not as much as Josh and Zach.

Here is what Alex has been up to:

Lots of fun stuff going on around here! Never a dull moment- and I wouldn't have it any other way!

It's Official!

2011-09-29T16:01:00.002-05:00

Zach did break his arm. And he has a bright red cast to prove it!
The doctor has said it's a supracondylar fracture. Fancy talk for he broke his upper arm right by the elbow. Very common for kids his age who play on monkey bars.
I feel like I should start a group called "Moms Against Monkey Bars- MAMB!" :) In all seriousness, Zach will be fine. He has to wear his cast for the next 3 weeks and then hopefully all will be healed. So if you are around and want to sign his cast- come on by. He is anxious to get signatures!

What A Day!

2011-09-25T07:43:00.009-05:00

Bloggers Block.....I HAZ it!

Well, maybe I can write I HAD it. Lately, posts just weren't coming to me. Until today.

Yesterday Alex had another soccer game. He is the first kid in white with blue shorts chasing after the ball.

And luckily it wasn't as cold as the week before!
So we didn't freeze! And were able to cheer Alex on....or practice our dance moves with Grandma. After all it was the day of the big wedding!
Towards the end of the game, Josh and Zach get a little bored and antsy watching Alex. So Larry took them to the nearby playground. And unfortunately, Zach slipped off the monkey bars and landed on his arm/elbow. Poor kid. So after the game Matt and I decided to take Zach to the ER.
He was NOT happy about that. But maybe that had something to do with Alex and Josh telling him that the doctor was going to have to cut his arm off.

Anyhoo- we got to the ER and tried to keep his mind off things. Alex drew him a picture on the dry erase board.
It says:
Zach I heart you Boo Boo and ouch. None of our pictures, or jokes or ipods or anything made Zach happy. What did bring a smile to his face was when the nurse brought a wheelchair for him to ride in to get his x-ray.
Then Zach busted out a big ol grin and said "WOW! Look at my SWEET ride!"

The results of the x-ray- no obvious fractures or breaks. So that is good. At Zach's age the bones have not all fused together yet (which is normal) so there is this pocket of space in the elbow. He jammed that area. The doctor said that that is called some sort of fracture that starts with an S. Of course I can't remember the exact word. The bones need to fuse back into the same spot they were at or his arm may not grow correctly. So Zach has a cast.
The boys were very helpful....
Well, maybe not Josh.....sigh...that kid and his video games!
So we have this cast until we see our pediatrician later this week. Then he will decided if we can take the cast back off or if we need to go to an orthopedic surgeon.

Of course this is the day of Gwen's wedding.
And the boys were a part of it. They got to pass out the programs to everyone and they were SO EXCITED for this job!!
It was really cute how excited they were. For weeks, they would tell anyone and everyone who would listen about their "important" job and have been counting down the days until Gwen and Marty's wedding!
A silly broken/hurt arm wasn't going to stop Zach! They did a wonderful job!

Shortly after this picture I put my camera in my purse and then sort of forgot about it. I guess I had too much fun. The wedding was beautiful , of course! At the end of the wedding my boys were giving everyone they knew (including the wedding party) high fives as they were ushered out. I wanted to die of embarrassment, but everyone else thought it was funny and cute. The reception was a blast! It was at Harrah's and there were about 600-650 people there. The boys and I all got to bust a move, eat cake and hang with loved ones! What more could you ask for in a night?
And in case anyone is wondering- the cut/bruise on Josh's chin is from him jumping off the playground and hitting his head into his knee the day before. Huh...I think we are done with going to the park for awhile!

A Magnificent Time in Minneapolis

2011-08-12T15:21:00.002-05:00

Last weekend we went to visit Andy, Marcie and Mason (Matt's brother and family). And we had an AWESOME time! We always do when we are with them. They are fantastic hosts! I wanted to blog about our wonderful time, and since a picture is worth a thousand words I thought I would slap up some cute photos and let them do the talking...mostly anyway. :)
The weather was fantastic so we spent lots of time outside playing!
One afternoon we went to a lake to swim. Alex was excited because he tried to flip off the edge of the dock. My heart stopped each time, but he was getting the hang of it....until the life guard put a stop to it. :) Josh and Zach LOVED watching the fish swim.

One morning we went bowling. It was Mason's first time! He almost beat me!
Mostly we were just silly together!
One morning we went to the tramps. Yup, we took our kids to the tramps. IT WAS AWESOME!! Trampolines EVERYWHERE! Even up the walls. Andy and I jumped too. Andy may have gotten stuck in the foam pit and I may have fallen on my face needing a glasses adjustment....but it was a sweaty good time!!

Aren't these the CUTEST kids ever?!?!? I just love these guys!

July Catch Up

2011-08-11T16:32:00.009-05:00

Wow! I haven't blogged much at all this summer. I have been having so much fun with the boys! :) It really has been a nice summer. So I will try and do a quick catch up for the month of July....
Well the biggest event of the month was that the boys turned SEVEN!! Wow! I can't believe I am writing that...seven! I really went from praying to make it through the day to now praying for the days to slow down! :) Life is funny that way I guess.

This year we let the boys have their very FIRST friend party. They chose Bounce U and I couldn't have been happier!
They each got to invite 7 kids and then bounced the evening away! It was great!
Afterwards they all had pizza and cake.
And the best part was I didn't have to cook, clean or organize a thing! It was fabulous!! I got to sit back and enjoy the party! I would highly recommend it!

We also had our traditional family party....which I seemed to lack taking pictures of....
They each chose their own cake/theme...so we had a Batman, Star Wars and Wall-E party. Wall-E was chosen not because Josh likes Wall-E but because it had the MOST orange in it. We ate pizza and shrimp (at the boys request). It was great.
Let's see...what else...oh! The boys also went "real" golfing for the very first time! They have had lessons and been to the driving range, but we had never taken them to play an actual game.
It was SO HOT that day....this whole summer has been REALLY HOT....so we only made it through 4 holes....but I think that is great for the first time! They did pretty good too! Still have some things to learn...but really in golf isn't that how it goes?
Andy, Marcie and Mason also came for a visit!! It is always fun to spend time with them. And I really do have the cutest nephew EVER!!
While they were here we hung out,
went to a splash park,
and the zoo.
It was fun like always!!

Matt and I also went to see Daniel Tosh....
Who I find completely and inappropriately HILARIOUS! Lots of laughing!!
Plus, a night out without kids is fun!

Other highlights...I took the boys to a public pool BY MYSELF! That was huge for me! No pictures here for obvious reasons.
We still love our rats....
We found a baby birds nest in our bushes....
And because it's been SO HOT we tried to make snow out of ice cubes and hammers.....
that may not have been my best parenting idea, but they had a good time.

To sum up....July was just plain awesome!!

Reason One Gazillion and Forty ThreeThat I LOVE My Boys!!

2011-07-20T13:08:00.004-05:00

So yesterday was a really rough day for me. I found out that I no longer have a job. And for those of you who know me well- know how much I LOVED LOVED LOVED this job. It was absolutely perfect in every way. Seriously- the staff was awesome, the students I had were perfect, I had creative freedom, it was part time, paid well, AND I HAD MY OWN OFFICE!!! I really looked forward to going to work every day. It was hands down my most favorite job I have ever had in my entire life. Anyway, funding fell through, blah blah blah, and the school has officially closed. Talk about lots of tears in that meeting- and really the rest of the day. That school was fantastic! There was no other place like it ANYWHERE and it is sad that it closed due to lack of funding.

Anyway, I told the boys yesterday- possibly through a few tears- that I would no longer be teaching because the school closed. They were all sympathetic. Josh said "Don't worry, mommy. You can teach us now!" Which made me smile a little, until Zach yells out "NO YOU CAN'T!" I said, "Why not?" And in all seriousness Zach said "Cause then we would have to pay you!" That made me laugh. Something that I needed yesterday! Just add it to the list why I love my boys!!

Rats and New Doos!

2011-06-28T17:55:00.012-05:00

The boys have been asking for a pet for awhile now. Anything from a pet dog to a gold fish to ants. Now that they are almost 7 we thought that they were ready for it. It's a great opportunity for the boys to learn some more responsibility. Matt and I had long discussions about what type of pet would be best for our family. We weren't ready for a dog- too much work. Too many of our friends are allergic to cats. Alex wanted a turtle but after googling them, they don't make the best of pets. Josh wanted a "orange fish" but Matt and I wanted a pet with a tad more interaction. So we thought about a gerbil or hamster or guinea pig. We took the boys to the pet store to look at them and to see if the boys would want one. They of course did. And after talking to the pet store person, she suggested rats. I was all ewww NO! So we left. The more I thought about it, googled it, and discussed it with Matt- it did make sense. They are smart, trainable, clean, and of the rodents bite the least. Oh, and they have personalities. They are also social so we needed more than one. Hmmm....need to let the idea of having rats in the house sink in. It did and I am ok with it so GROSS OUT ALERT- we have 2 pet girl rats!

Meet Ginger- a dumbo eared rat:

and Steve- normal pet rat:
Note: Most of these pictures are blurry because rats don't sit still and are speedy little critters and don't seem to care that I am trying to get a cute picture of them. :)
And yes you read that right Steve and Ginger are girls. The boys named them. It makes me laugh. And to answer your other question- no the cage is not kept in the kitchen! It is still safe to come over for dinner! :)
I have to admit- they are pretty cute. I like them. I had gerbils and hamsters as a kid- so rodents never bothered me. My only rule was NO RED EYES (CREEPY!) and it had to have fur. No naked rats. EWE! And yes they do have them. They are as gross looking as the hairless cats!
Steve seems to be a snuggler. She likes to be around people and sit with us. She will wait at the cage door waiting for someone to come play with her.
Ginger is a mover and a shaker. She likes to explore and play. She will come out of her cage if there isn't a ton of people around. And once she is out she like to be on the go.

Our only problem now is not letting the boys love them TOO much. If you know what I mean. Like that cartoon of "And I will love him and squeeze him" Yeah, its a little like that. But we are working on it and it gets better each day. Perfect pet for our family!!

In other news- the boys got new haircuts- which really isn't news. Other than the fact that we let them choose their doos this time. Zach went first:

Then Alex. He chose a mohawk:

He was PUMPED! -as you can see. Once Josh saw Alex he was all about the mohawk too! Here is Josh:
They think they are pretty cool- which they are! :)

I asked Zach if he wished he would have gotten a mohawk too and he said "Um NO! They are crazy!!" So good news for all you out there- another way to tell Josh and Zach apart- Josh has the mohawk.

7 Days: Day 7

2011-06-28T11:43:00.006-05:00

Last week the boys had golf. They love it! I love it too! Not only do I get to chat with my friends again, but it is fun watching them.

However this week the weather was cold and windy. Last year I got a nice tan....this year I was bundled up in jeans and a jacket! And almost every time after the lesson was over we drove through Starbucks on the way home just to warm up.
And some days it looked like it was going to rain on us, but luckily the rain waited until our lesson was over!
Each day they had a new skill to work on. Whether it was hitting long shots, or
putting....they learned a lot and I think they are ready to play a round of golf! Now the question is am I ready to play a round with them? :)

This is my day 7 of 7 Days shot:

7 Days: Day 6

2011-06-23T19:01:00.002-05:00

Um....Anyone out there know what this is? Got another veggie from the farmer's market and I have no clue what it is or what to do with it! Well....other than making it my Day 6 of 7 days shot that is.

7 Days: Day 5: White

2011-06-22T15:59:00.004-05:00

I struggled with today's theme of white...

This is what I came up with.
It's laundry day! Not very exciting I know. Maybe I will be more creative tomorrow.

7 Days: Day 4

2011-06-22T14:51:00.003-05:00

This is how I spent my night. The boys had Judo and I got to read the new Janet Evanovich book. Not a horrible way to spend the evening.

7 Days: Day 3

2011-06-20T19:49:00.004-05:00

Today we had the pleasure of going to Woodcliff Lake for some boating, swimming and fun! And fun it is! We LOVE going! We always have a really great time!

Bill and Linda (the people who invited us out) fed us some delicious lunch of grilled burgers! Bill makes awesome burgers! So yummy! Then it was off in the boat we went. The weather was perfect today!

At the lake there is a sand hill that the boys love playing on.
So we stayed a while and "sledded" down it on a zip sled.

After awhile we got back on the boat to do some skiing and zip sledding. Zach and Josh did it last year. This year Zach,
Josh
AND Alex all did it.
They loved it!

Matthew (another kid out there- not my Matthew) went skiing for the first time! He did AWESOME!!

After boating around the lake for a while we went back to the beach and played around. Things like Swimming and burring each other....

It was so much fun!!

Here is my 7 Days, Day 3 shot:

7 Days: Day 2: Black

2011-06-19T22:04:00.004-05:00

Today the theme was black. I tried to be creative. So I took a picture of myself in a shiny black TV. Here it is:
It's ok. Not my favorite. But it will do.

Today was also Father's Day. We had my parents and Matt's parents over for dinner. We munched on a few appetizers. And chatted away.
Matt wanted brats (ewe). So we boiled them in beer and onions then grilled them up. GROSS! I had a hot dog, as did the few of us who didn't like brats.
I think everyone had a decent time. It's nice to be able to get together.
The dad's in the picture are really wonderful and I feel blessed to have each of them in my life!

Flooding

2011-06-19T08:12:00.004-05:00

7 Days is here again!! Woot!! Get ready for a snippet into our lives for the next 7 Days!

Last night Matt and I celebrated our 12 anniversary a day early since our actual anniversary falls on Father's Day this year. Ronna and Larry (Matt's parents) were nice enough to watch the boys for us while we went out to celebrate 12 great years of marriage!

We went out to dinner at Blue Agave. It is a new to us Mexican restaurant and it was yummy! They came to our table and made fresh guacamole that was really good! And their margaritas were pretty tasty too!!
Cheers!!

After dinner we decided to go to the casinos. Plus we wanted to check out the flooding of the big Mo. We checked it out a week or so ago and wanted to see where it was at this week. Plus we wanted to hit the JACKPOT at the casinos. We did see the floods....we did NOT hit the jackpot. Unless you call me winning $10 a jackpot. Yeah- me neither.

We went to Ameristar- and both decided we should have gone to Harrahs. However the flooding there was sad. This is the view going into the parking garage.

We parked on the second level of the parking garage because below it was flooded- like this:
This is looking out at the parking lot:

And this is my 7 Days: Day 1 shot:

It's so sad. I feel for all the people and businesses that are getting flooded! It's a big mess!!

Summer Fun

2011-06-15T16:10:00.010-05:00

School has let out for the summer and we have had a blast so far! WOOO HOOO! I have been meaning to blog about what we have been up to each time we have done something fun, but somehow time is getting away from me and if I don't start blogging about something soon summer will be over!

Last day of kindergarten

So school let out just before Memorial day. I had a little bit of a hard time with it. Not because my boys will be home all the time now- I am really looking forward to spending time with them! I had mixed feelings because Kindergarten was over. They are no longer little kids. They grew up right before my eyes. I went from praying to make it through the day to praying that time will SLOW DOWN now. They are so much fun!! I really do cherish every moment with them.

OK, back to the last day of school- we decided to celebrate by going out to lunch with Matt and then we went to Build-A-Bear workshop. Alex had been begging to go for awhile and so I decided now was a good time as any to go. I had no idea how involved this process was. It wasn't just a pick a teddy bear and stuff him. It was much more involved.
They had to warm this little heart they stuffed inside the bear. They "bathed" them. They dressed them. We got birth certificates. I have to admit it was kind of cool. I would have totally been into this if I was their age!
Our summer was officially off to a great start!!

Another day I took the boys to paint pottery. Each kid chose something different to paint. Zach chose to paint a mug in stripes. Josh painted a rainbow scene on a plate. And Alex chose a car box to keep his special treasures in.
It was fun. I do have to admit I had a hard time keeping my mouth shut- telling them what colors to paint where, what would look best, etc. But I did. After all- it is their art not mine!

We have been judo weekly. They are LOVING it!! Especially now that they have their uniforms.
Look out everyone- they think they are professionals now! In the picture its Josh, Alex and Zach- just in case you were wondering.

This week they have been doing tennis. I love this tennis camp that we do. We did it last year too. The coaches do a really great job teaching the kids AND making it fun!! Everyone smiles and laughs the whole time. As do I- as I get to hang out with some of my friends too!!
Alex has another wiggly tooth (number 2) and every time I look at him lately- no matter what he is doing- he has his hand in his mouth wiggling it away! :)

They also started their art classes. Zach and Josh are doing a general art class. **BRAG ALERT** I was sitting out in the hall waiting for their class to finish up and their teacher came out and told me how GIFTED they are in art!! Not that I didn't know this- they are REALLY creative. Zach tells everyone he wants to be an artist when he grows up- but it is nice to hear from an art teacher that they are gifted!!

Alex, of course, wanted NOTHING to do with that type of art- so he is taking drum lessons. Not sure that was the wisest parenting decision but he LOVES it!! That's all that matters right?

Today we went bowling. I think everyone had fun. Josh and Zach got a tad jealous that Alex got a spare and they didn't but that's ok. It's not like they will never get one themselves! They have in the past they will do it again I am sure!
As you can see we are having a blast! And this doesn't include all the playing with the neighborhood kids (or other various play dates)! Have I mentioned lately how much I love our new neighborhood? I really do. The kids get along so great and have so much fun! It's heaven!! I think this may just be the best summer yet!

Who Am I?

2011-06-12T09:09:00.003-05:00

So Josh and Zach have discovered that they are identical and are now fully taking advantage of that.

The other morning they came down looking like this:
Then started giggling and asking "Mom, guess who I am!?!?"

They would then run to the other room, switch around and come back giggling and again asking "MOM! Guess who is who!"

99% of the time I do know who is who. They look different to me. The other 1% of the time I am either exhausted, sick, overwhelmed or all three. Do you know who is who? I'll give you a hint. Josh is in blue and Zach has plaid shorts on. :)
Just kidding. In each picture Zach is on the left and Josh is on the right!

Be warned! They are going to have FUN with this!! :)

Fishing!

2011-05-30T10:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday my step-dad, Ralph, took Matt and the boys out fishing. The boys had never done it before and were quite excited about it!

They had a great time!! They each caught several fish. Matt caught the biggest fish of the day. And the other excitement I heard about was how they each got to stick their finger inside a catfish's mouth.

Thanks to Matt for taking all the pictures for me! Looks like an awesome afternoon!

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Best Day EVER!!

2011-05-24T09:46:00.009-05:00

Last Saturday was one of the best days I have had in a long time!! I was fortunate enough to fly out to Denver for the weekend to spend it with my dear friend Meg. And it was fantastic!! Saturday started out with me sleeping in. And for a mom- that is just HEAVEN!! We lazed around a while then went out for sushi, shopped a little, got manis and pedis. We were shellac-in and relaxin! (on a side note- ladies if you have not had the shellac nail polish experience- I would highly recommend it. First manicure that I have had with out any dings or chips that has lasted longer than 3 days!! And supposedly this lasts about three weeks! WOOT! Color on the fingernails again for me!!) Anywho- after manis and pedis we went to a super cute neighborhood coffee shop and I had my favorite barackti chai while gossiping away. After chai, we went out to dinner. Sounds like a perfect day right? But wait there's MORE!! After dinner we went to U2!! This was the fifth time I have seen them and the second time for Meg.

We bought these tickets 2 years ago and it was worth the wait. Last year Bono had to have emergency back surgery and had to postpone the 360 concert until last weekend. And again- WORTH THE WAIT!! U2 is not just a concert- it's indescribable of what kind of show they put on!! There is no other concert experience out there!!

Meg and I went to our first u2 concert 19 years ago. The Zoo TV tour. HANDS DOWN BEST CONCERT EVER!! I loved u2 before that concert- but that took me to another level of being their fan!

Another side note- all these pictures are taken with my cell phone. So they are not exactly the best quality, but its what I got.

Meg and I got to Mile High Stadium and had to pay $30 for parking!! $30 frikin dollars to park!! And that was at the cheaper place. Most places we saw were $40!! We decided we needed to own a parking lot!

We were a tad concerned about the weather. There was a chance for storms and rain- but it never did that. WHEW!!

Here is the stage. It sort of was like a rocket ship looking thing. The guy on the tv screen is the lead singer from The Fray.

I had heard Lenny Kravitz was supposed to open. But I heard wrong- The Fray opened. And I really liked them. I knew more songs than I thought I did. Guess I am a bigger fan of The Fray than I thought I was. So that was cool.

I gave them a thumbs up. Meg thought they were just ok. I LOVE concerts so really unless the band is REALLY HORRIBLE I will like it. But Meg thought they were "eh." She had seen them before, as they are from Denver. She had a good point that the energy to the crowd wasn't there. They just sang to us. And although I really liked them, I wouldn't necessarily pay a large amount of money to see them again. Ya know?

Anyway after the Fray was finished, the stage was set up for U2. And that was when you started to feel the excitement of the crowd!! The cheering, doing the wave, the anticipation- it is so COOL! Something everyone should experience!! I am telling you a U2 concert is more than just a concert! And I don't think it would even matter if you like their music- it's the best show EVER!!

While we were waiting, u2 entertained us. They do that from the very beginning to the very end. The screen started scrolling with facts that were entertaining- things like times of places around the world, the tallest building in Denver: 714 feet, Cell phones sold this year: 739,020,700 (and this number was continuing to increase), Days until the end of oil: 15,538, height of the stage 167 feet, number of births to the crew members this tour: 17, LED pixels in the video screen: 411,782. Stuff like that.

And then they came out onto stage-

and we all go insane- screaming our heads off and jumping all around. The music starts and all 70,000 of us seem to think that we are u2 back up singers and dancers. We are all dancing and singing at the top of our lungs with perma-grins on our faces. IT'S FANTASTIC!! And Bono plays into it. Inviting us to sing along. There was a guy in our row who was even playing air guitar. It was hilarious and wonderful!

Watching the screen was like the best music video you have ever seen! You would see u2 singing or playing their music, along with special effects. It was AWESOME to say they least!! And it gets even better- the screen during the concert would move up and down!

Spreading apart for even BETTER effects!

Hard to tell in the above picture, but that is Bono spread out on the screen so he is as tall as the stage! Have I mentioned AMAZING! yet?!?!

Bono was very thankful that night. He thanked all of us for waiting so long to see them. He also thanked God and the Germans for making his back better than before and even called himself Bono 2.0. However, at the end of the concert he was almost too thankful. Meg and I started to worry that this was almost a farewell. Yikes!! But who knows. Bono is always very thankful at his concerts. That is one of the things that makes them so damn cool!

I could go on and on about how awesome the concert was. I heard all my favorite songs and more. I really think he played a song or two from every album. And like how when he played "you were all talking like it was the end of the world..." the crowd went extra wild- as it was the supposed redemption day. Or how about the fact that Meg and I got to go together again! It was a mini 360 for us as well! :) But I will stop going on and on and on about it. :) It really is the best concert out there. If you get a chance to ever see u2- DO IT! You wont be sorry!

IT"S A MIRACLE!!

2011-05-13T17:09:00.004-05:00

ALEX LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!! He is beyond excited!!

He lost it at school and brought it home in an envelope to put under his pillow for the tooth fairy!!
Very exciting day around here! He is no longer the only one who hasn't lost a tooth! :)

Best Mother's Day Ever!!

2011-05-08T20:57:00.005-05:00

Today was the best mother's day yet for me!! I love being a mom!

My day started out with sleeping in. HEAVEN!! And when I did wake up, I woke up to this:

Flowers, a gigantic chi tea latte from Starbucks and cinnamon rolls fresh out of the oven!! After eating the boys helped me open the presents they got me. By helping I mean they opened them for me. I think they were just as excited as I was!! It was super cute!! I got some really great stuff. No pictures here, as we were all still in our jammies. :) But I think my favorite thing was these interviews that I already blogged about last time.

After lounging around for a few hours, I decided that I felt like going shopping. And went on a mini shopping spree. Yippeee!!

That evening my parents and Matt's parents came over for a BBQ.

It was fantastic! We ate ourselves silly, chatted the night away, played a little frisbee and then ate some more out on the patio. It was wonderfully fantastic!!

I feel so lucky to have my boys!! They are truly the best thing that have ever happened to me!! Happy Mother's Day to all!!

Mother's Day Interviews

2011-05-08T09:32:00.007-05:00

For Mother's day the boys were interviewed about me at school! Then the interview was written up in a story format. It was really sweet. I decided to type them up to share. Here are their interviews.

JOSH:

My mom is the most wonderful mom in the world! My mom's name is Katrina. My mom has brown hair and blue eyes. She is 2 feet tall and weighs 100 pounds. My mom's favorite food is shrimp.

My mom is happy when I give her stuff, but I know she is really angry when I kick her.

My mom's favorite TV show is Days of our Lives. My mom is smart. She knows all about eating food.

If my mom would have one wish come true, it would be to have lots of money. I love my mom because I love her.

ALEX:

My mom is the most wonderful mom in the world! My mom's name is Katrina. My mom has brown hair and blue eyes. She is 100 feet tall and weighs 70 pounds. My mom's favorite food is turkey.

My mom is happy when I love her, but I know she is really angry when I punch her.

My mom's favorite TV show is Days of our Lives. My mom is smart. She knows all about reading.

If my mom would have one wish come true, it would be to have me around always. I love my mom because she is sweet like candy.

ZACH:

My mom is the most wonderful mom in the world! My mom's name is Katrina. My mom has brown hair and blue eyes. She is 5 feet tall and weighs 60 pounds. My mom's favorite food is soup.

My mom is happy when I hug her, but I know she is really angry when I'm mean.

My mom's favorite TV show is Days of our Lives. My mom is smart. She knows all about school.

If my mom would have one wish come true, it would be to have lots of books. I love my mom because she reads to me.

I love these interviews!! Something I will cherish always!

Music Program

2011-05-04T16:42:00.007-05:00

Tuesday evening was the boys music program at their school. It was really cute. Then again a room full of kindergartners singing their hearts out, how could that NOT be cute!

The program lasted about a half hour with the kids singing about 20 songs. They were all nursery rhymes. You could tell that they all worked very hard!

My kids were completely different when they were performing. Alex seemed bored by it all. He yawned a lot throughout the program.

Zach took it all very seriously. He seemed to be concentrating on making sure hand motions were to perfection.

Josh seemed to enjoy it. Not that he was totally into it, but he seemed to like it a little bit.

After the program we got a picture with their awesome teachers.
Then continued to celebrate their awesome performance by going out for ice cream!
It was the perfect way to end the night!

Guess Who Lost Another Tooth!

2011-04-20T21:30:00.001-05:00

Nope it wasn't me....or Alex. Zach lost tooth number 5 tonight.

He is super excited!! He can now stick his tongue out without opening his mouth!
(just like Josh)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Spring Game

2011-04-17T09:22:00.004-05:00

Yesterday we went to the Spring Game. And it was a blast! It was the boys first football game! And what a great way to introduce them to football- a HUSKER game!!

As the day got closer we became a little concerned about the weather. For awhile the forecast was snow and cold. That wouldn't have been a fun first game. But as it turns out the weather was AWESOME!! Perfect day for football!
What made the day even better was that we got to go with our good friends (who are really like family). We took up two rows!! Fun for adults and kids!!
And we had great seats!! We were in the front row of our section so we could see everything that was going on and had some space to move around!! (Thanks again Eric for getting the awesome tickets and inviting us along!!)
Here the boys were watching the famous tunnel walk!! Gives me goosebumps every time!! Josh is in the top picture and Alex is in the bottom picture.

We snacked on the AWESOME hot dogs that I have only found at Memorial Stadium!! And runzas and popcorn. YUM!!

Josh's first awesome hotdog

Of course, we cheered for our team. Which today you couldn't possibly choose the wrong team! GOOOOOOOOOO BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG REEEEEEDDDDD!!!

Most of us cheered for the red...Alex chose white. He strives to be different! But really, who cares!?!? THE HUSKERS WON!! And that is what matters right?

We had a fantastic time, until about the third quarter when the complaining began. The boys had had enough. So we excused ourselves before things got really bad. And really leaving a little early isn't the worst thing. We didn't have to fight the crowd or traffic. Personally, I was just happy that we made it past half time! :)
It was an awesome day!! By the end we were worn out!!

Hi-ya!

2011-04-13T16:49:00.007-05:00

So the boys started taking Judo last night. And yes I now know that in Judo there's is no yelling of Hi-ya! I am no martial arts expert. That is for sure! But I did learn that much.

The boys watched Karate Kid awhile ago and have been begging to take karate ever since. Do you know how hard it is to find a karate class that is just once a week for 6-8 weeks AND doesn't break the bank?!?!?! Kind of hard let me tell you. Most martial arts places want a 2-3 times a week commitment. Which if this is the boys passion then fine, but who knows if it is! They have never tried it before! I just wanted some class to give them a little taste of some form of martial arts. And luckily I found one at the local community center! WOOT!!! And what is better they have several different kinds of martial arts available. Super excited. The boys have already planned their next class after this one.

Tonight the boys started out with learning about respect and bowing both when they get on and off of the mat. Oh and to clarify who is who- Alex is in blue, Josh is in neon green and Zach is in gray.

Then they started stretching...
It's funny to watch kids stretch. They take it very seriously and do it wrong most of the time. They did some push ups. Ten to be exact and the instructor would count in Japanese while doing them...

Look at the little boy by Zach. Just laying there. Who could blame him? That is exactly what I would have wanted to do!! I HATE push ups!! I know they are great for you but I HATE push ups!! Anyway that kid cracked me up all night. He definitely had a mind of his own!

The next thing they learned was how to fall.

To me it looked like a fancy somersault where you keep your head up and slap the mat. Again I am no martial arts expert. The Sensei (is that what they call the instructor in Judo) went into GREAT detail with everything they did. He would go on and on and on about things going off on tangents. Matt said it is necessary because when they take their test they need to know the whys too. I was in information overload. The instructor was very thorough!

After somersaulting...I mean learning how to fall, they went into their first move. Something about sweeping their leg behind their opponent and making him/her fall backwards. The boys loved that!

A boy named Edward (who cracked me up the whole time- he was NOT amused and looked completely bored the whole class) got to show the boys how to do it. So he got to knock them all down. You would think that would make him smile. Nope he was all ho hum about it. Like he does this all the time.
And then the table turned and the boys got to knock Edward down...
My boys were all smiles. Edward was still not amused. They did this for just over an hour and loved every minute of it!! They can't wait to do it again. They are counting the days until next Tuesday!! And I am so glad that we found this class because the boys are already asking to do other things too. They love Judo but seem to want to do it all!

FYI The Judo instructor is called a Kyoshi. Matt googled it for me. :)

More Missing Teeth

2011-04-08T17:11:00.004-05:00

I don't know why this is so exciting for me. Maybe I have really fond memories of loosing my teeth- I say maybe because I don't remember loosing my teeth much at all. Or maybe it's because kids with missing teeth crack me up. They are so darn cute!!

Anyway, the day after my last blog post Josh lost his other top tooth!!

We were at my parents house for dinner ...

...and Matt and Josh were messing around and Matt's arm bumped Josh's face and out popped his tooth- which was SO LOOSE anyway that I was surprised it hadn't fallen out before this. If you remember the blog before he could stick both teeth straight out!!

What I love is that Josh was telling everyone that "My daddy hit me in the face and my tooth fell out!" He is a funny guy!!

Today Zach lost another tooth! The tooth fairy is going to go BROKE!! with all these teeth falling out!!

Super exciting!!

And in case you are wondering- Alex still hasn't lost any teeth nor are any of them loose.

Another Lost Tooth

2011-04-02T10:05:00.004-05:00

Josh FINALLY lost his top tooth today. I say finally because he has looked like a chipmunk or rabbit for the last couple of weeks. We may have been known to call him Snaggletooth a time or two.

See what I mean? These 2 teeth stick straight out! How they stayed in his mouth so long I will never know.

The other night Matt and I tried to bribe him with ice cream and/or money to let us pull his tooth out. Up until this point, we weren't even allowed to touch it. However, that night, we almost got him to do it....

But once the floss was around the tooth he would change his mind.

Josh was thrilled! Snaggletooth wins!!

This morning at breakfast it finally fell out!! We were all excited...except Josh. Well and maybe Alex who still hasn't lost a tooth nor does he even have a wiggly tooth. Josh didn't seem excited.

And I am not quite sure why. He looks a little freaked out to me in this pic. Immediately after his tooth fell out he was done eating and went and laid on the couch. I guess change is hard. Ha ha ha! After adjusting to his loss he perked up.

And now the tooth fairy gets to come again tonight! Woot!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vacation is Over

2011-03-25T12:22:00.003-05:00

What the heck Nebraska?!?!? I am clearly not in Arizona anymore. Sigh.

Today is also the last day of my 7 days run. It's been fun and I can't wait to do it again this summer!

Arizona: Day 6

2011-03-25T12:14:00.002-05:00

Last vacation day. So sad! What better use of our last few hours than to do this? (also my 7 days shot for the day)

I read and swam. Relaxed as much as I could.

Josh and Zach went on one last desert hike with Linda.

Then they swam! I have a couple of fish on my hands!!!! Alex is still sick so he was in bed, but seemed to be doing better than the day before. Overall, it was relaxing and wonderful last few hours.

The trip home was....well it was horrible. We got to the airport and our flight was delayed. Annoying in the best of circumstances but add a sick kid and it makes it more so. We had a connecting flight and then there was worry that we would miss it. Southwest actually held the plane for us so we didn't miss it. That was a relief.

The first leg of the flight went ok. By the end of it Alex was getting worse. The flight landed, Matt grabbed all carry on luggage, coats, etc. I carried Alex and we ran through the terminal to get to our next flight. Alex moaning and crying the whole way and Matt and I yelling "keep up boys" to Zach and Josh.

We got to the plane and of course it was full and 5 seats were not together. Thankfully some really kind strangers moved around so we could all be near each other. I almost cried I was so thankful! People out there are still kind and its wonderful! The end of that flight Alex was throwing up and was miserable. It was a horrible flight. We landed about 10:30/11 pm so we were all tired.

After we landed we got off the plane. I carried Alex and Matt carried everything else and both of us yelling "keep up boys" to Josh and Zach. Larry was there to pick us up and we were off to get our luggage.

And then the airline lost part of our luggage. The boys booster seats are in the United States somewhere and so far no one has found them. Oh and did I mention that is was snowing? Yup. Vacation is clearly over! :)

The bright side is, we are all home safe and sound. Now if I could just get Alex to stop puking and fever free life would be good!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Arizona: Day 5

2011-03-24T09:46:00.006-05:00

It's hard to describe this trip. I am having a good time, but am sad Alex is so sick. Alex woke up a little worse than the day before. Still running a fever and laying around. No puking though, so hopefully that is done with! So we weren't able to do things as a family like I had hoped.

First thing this morning Josh and Zach made Alex a get well card.

How sweet are they? I think they are missing Alex too!

Linda and I went on a walk. The cacti are just starting to bloom and I LOVE blooming cacti!! So I was excited to see a few of them.

After our walk, Matt stayed home with Alex and Bill, Linda, Josh, Zach and I went hiking up a mountain in the Sears Ruins in the Tonto National Forrest. We saw the Hohokum Native American ruins. It was beautiful! The weather was awesome! We didn't see much wildlife. However, Zach spotted a gecko lizard, so that was fun.

After our hike, we went out to lunch then came back to the house to swim the rest of the afternoon. It's been sad not having the whole family together, but we are making the best of it!!

Today for my 7 days shot the theme was up. So I thought what better shot than hiking UP a mountain. Here is my pic:

Tomorrow is our last day of vacation, and some of are already in tears about it! We heart Arizona!!! And we extra heart Bill and Linda!!

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Arizona: Day 4

2011-03-22T22:39:00.006-05:00

Today didn't go as planned, but it wasn't horrible either. Yesterday we thought Alex got car sick. Turns out he wasn't car sick he seems to have the flu instead. Poor guy. No fun being sick and even worse when it's on vacation!!!

Due to this, plans were changed. Originally, the boys and I were going to go with Bill and Linda to go see Linda's parents and Matt was going to take a photo walk through the desert. Since Alex was sick, Bill and Linda took Josh and Zach for the day of fun. Then Matt and I stayed with Alex. This way Matt could still do a photo walk and we could both take care of Alex.

Alex was devastated that he missed out on all the fun. And fun they all had!!! They rode in the golf cart, picked up pine cones, visited neighbors, ate lunch, played putt putt and then boccie ball. They all had a blast!!

Once Alex had a little Tylenol in him, he perked up and wanted to go on the hike with daddy. So we all went on a hike with the understanding that Alex and I would head back when he tired out.

It was so much fun. The weather was awesome!! But after a little bit, Alex tired out and we headed back to the house and Matt continued on. And lookie what Matt found!!!

So glad I wasn't with him!! He said he almost stepped on it. Creepy!!

Alex slept for a few hours and I worked very hard on my tan and reading.

Such a hard day!! Yeah right! That afternoon Matt and the boys swam a while. After dinner we roasted marshmallows. You can tell by this picture Alex still isn't feeling good.

Then we finished the day with a little hot tubing. For having a sick kid, the day wasn't too horrible.

Today for my 7 days shot I took a pic of me on my hike in the desert. Here's my shot:

Here is hoping Alex feels better tomorrow and the rest of us don't start puking!! Fingers crossed!!!!

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Arizona: Day 3

2011-03-21T23:26:00.003-05:00

Well today we decided to go to the Grand Canyon. We were all excited. It was a rainy day and we knew that meant cold and snow there but it was only going to be 1-3 inches. No big deal for people from Nebraska!

Well, turns out it was a big deal. As we were driving, Alex got either car sick or altitude sick and threw up over and over. I was unprepared and didn't have a puke bag. Since I didn't want throw up all over the car- which Bill and Linda were nice enough to let us borrow- I quick dumped out my favorite purse and he used that to throw up in. So long purse! Poor guy. We got up to Sedona....and can I just say how absolutely gorgeous it was!! Holy cow. Breathtaking!! These pictures do not do it justice!

Anyway the rain turned to snow and ice which caused an accident closing the road. There was another interstate we could have taken, but they closed that one down too due to weather. Turns out a few inches was a big deal.

So we turned around spent a little time in Sedona and then headed back to Bill and Linda's. They boys and Matt stayed here and Linda took me shopping for a new purse. So the day wasn't a total loss. :)

Here is my 7 days: day 3 shot:

Not a flattering picture of me at all, but it does capture the day.

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Arizona: Day 2

2011-03-21T23:11:00.003-05:00

Today we took the boys horseback riding. When Linda first suggested the idea I thought it sounded awesome! I asked the boys if they were interested and they were SUPER excited about it. And then this morning came and I went into a slight panic. I'd like to say it was because I was worried about what could happen to them on a horse, but no, I was freaking out about ME. I am NOT a horse person. Last time I attempted to ride a horse I as in junior high and it scared me to death. In my mind, the horse reared up and whinnied and gave me the evil death stare. What probably happened was the horse shook it's head and it freaked me out. Never the less- I am not a horse fan. I am a city girl- what can I say.

So we are driving to the ranch and I had in my head that it was going to be like a carousel ride, or some cowboy would lead my horse around. Clearly I wasn't thinking. So as we were getting closer to the ranch my heart was starting to beat out of my chest, I was getting sweaty and I really thought I just might throw up. But what was I going to do? Ruin everyone elses time and refuse to go? Nope. I put my big girl panties on, told everyone my goodbyes and got on my horse- which later I found out wasn't even a horse it was a mule. Her name was Pepper and she was wonderful! The perfect match for me. She was calm, cool, obedient, and pretty.

The ride was breathtakingly beautiful!!!!

I thought we would be on these paved out trails. We weren't. We rode through the desert with the most beautiful scenery EVER!

Sujarro cacti, other cacti, mountains, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! It was partly cloudy and cool- for Arizona. It felt like we were the only ones there. We didn't see anyone else, nor could we hear traffic. Talk about stress free!!

Our cowboy guide was named Jared and he was AWESOME!! He stopped us in the middle of our ride and asked if I had a box that took pictures. I said I did and he lined up our horses and took some family pictures. He was funny, knowledgeable and just plain awesome! We liked Jared.

During the ride I tried to get my 7 days shot. Jared probably thought I was some whack a do trying to take a picture of myself on a horse, I mean mule. I am here to tell you that it is NOT easy to do a self portrait riding a horse. It was also a theme day today. The theme was up....well that is what I thought it was. Actually, the theme was down. I thought cool- up on a horse will be perfect. So that is what I was going for. Then I find out the theme was really down and it bummed me out until I realized that we were actually going down the trail at the time. Whew. Problem solved! So here is my 7 days: day 2 shot:

When our ride was over, we got to feed our horses carrots. That was fun for a city girl like me.
I love this picture. It looks like the horse is smiling!

After riding horses, we hiked in the desert a little....Alex took some pictures along the way....

We went out to lunch, shopped a little, saw the great horned owl that has a nest close to Bill and Linda's that I have seen every year i have been coming here....

Isn't she beautiful? Last year I got to see her babies peeping up. It was cool. Then we headed back to Bill and Linda's. Us adults laid down, the boys were still going strong. Sigh. So I made them watch tv and/or play their iPods for a little bit. Then they went swimming the rest of the afternoon until dinner. Where do they get their energy and can I have some please?!?!?

That evening Bill and Linda had some guests come and stay that night too and they were delightful! Funny, kind and warm people. Lots of chatting and laughing. The boys finally dropped and us adults got in the hot tub to end the day. It was wonderful!!

Arizona: Day 1

2011-03-19T21:25:00.004-05:00

Today we took our first family vacation. Where did we go? Arizona!!! I have gone here every year for a while now....well the past 6 years actually. Bill and Linda have been kind enough to let me come down and stay with them for a little getaway. And they treat me like a queen every time. In the past, my dear friend Meg has come with me. Or I have gone with her, depending on how you want to look at it. After all, Bill and Linda are Meg's parents.

This year, my family came with me. And although it is a COMPLETELY different kind of vacation- it is just as wonderful! As Bill and Linda are the best hosts ever!

The plane trip went smoothly.

I am not a huge fan of flying, and I tried very hard not to pass my uneasiness onto the boys. I think I did ok on that. They had a few moments of nervousness- but nothing out of the ordinary. They had lots of fun looking out the windows, watching the plane get loaded with our luggage, etc.

Luckily, we all got to sit together. Which was a concern of mine. With 5 of us we weren't sure how that was going to work. As it turned out- Alex, Josh and I sat in one row and Zach and Matt sat behind us. Perfect!

They kept themselves busy with snacks, looking out the window, chatting, and playing their iPods. No complaints at all! We arrived safely, on time, and with all our luggage. What more can you really ask for, right?

We got to Bill and Linda's and immediately got into the pool.

If you are wanting to know who is in each picture, it's Josh, Zach, Me and Josh, and Alex.

It wasn't the warmest day, but it was warmer than Omaha and that is all that mattered. And kids don't notice that stuff anyway!

The rest of the afternoon we hung out and ate and chatted and cocktailed. What more can you ask for? It's been the perfect start to our first family vacation!!! Oh, and in case you are curious about who is in the picture above, Zach is by the cactus, Josh is on top, Zach is in the middle and Alex is on the bottom.

On a side note....it is 7 Days again (the taking a self portrait for 7 days in a row thing I like to do)....woot!! Anywho, here is my day 1 photo:

The Reading Begins!!!

2011-03-12T09:30:00.006-06:00

I love reading! That is clearly not a secret! I have my masters in Reading. So it does my heart good to see my boys learn to read....and enjoy it!!!

Reading comes easy to Josh and Zach. They are now teaching stuffed animals to read. It has been heartwarming and fun to watch!

With Alex- he can do it, it just doesn't come as easy to him. He compares himself to his brothers and has the "I can't do it!" attitude. Lately, Alex started to say he doesn't like books and that he couldn't read. We even had a meltdown in a used bookstore about it and it broke my heart. I knew I needed to fix that IMMEDIATELY!! We went to Barnes and Nobel and bought a ton of books on his level and his attitude completely changed!! Whew! He is now telling EVERYONE "I can read now!" and is reading to anyone who will listen!! He has even made a few phone calls to let people know he can read. :) It's awesome!

Needless to say I am a proud mama!

Another Missing Tooth

2011-03-10T15:42:00.002-06:00

Zach lost another tooth today!! This makes his third one- his first top tooth! It has been hanging there for about a week now, so we knew it was about to happen.

He had quite the snaggle tooth look for a while. And I mean that in the cutest way....now he has the missing hole!

It's very exciting!! Now the tooth fairy is going to come again tonight!! Woooo Hoooo!!

An Interview with Zach

2011-03-04T21:29:00.011-06:00

What's your name?
Zach
How old are you?
6 1/2
Where do you live?
In Nebraska
Who do you like to play with?
Ryan K
What is your favorite food?
Macaroni and Cheese and Chicken Nuggets
What is your favorite drink?
Chocolate Milk and pop. Oh I just love POP!!
What is your favorite snack?
um...I don't really have one. I kind of like all of them. I really like hummus!
What is your favorite toy?
Um....my favorite toy is video games.
What is your favorite TV show?
Johnny Test and Spongebob.
What is your favorite game?
Little Big Planet 2 and Little Big Planet
What is your favorite book?
The one all about me.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut, The Pizza Machine, RED LOBSTER!!! That's all....OH and Dave and Busters

What is your favorite holiday?
May 18, July 7th and (whispers) Mom when is your birthday?
November 10.
And November 10! They are all our birthdays!
What is your favorite animal?
A zebra because my name is Zach and Zebra starts with Z.
If you could change your name what would you change it to?
Um...maybe...hmmm....Dr. Luther King! Or maybe to Larry.
What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
He tickles me a lot.
What do you love most about Josh?
He colors with me. We like the same things. We play a lot together.
What do you love most about Alex?
We don't do a lot together but I just love him.
What do you love most about mommy?
I need to think....I love that you read to me and you let me read to you. We play together. We snuggle a lot together. We say the bad word snow sometimes, and hmmmm....yep that's all.
What do you love most about yourself?
I love reading.

Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
Well, I really want to go to Iowa. Since I really don't want to go on an airplane ride because it's my first time and I am kind of scared.
What are some wishes for this year?
My wish is that- I know this is going to happen this year- I wish I could go in a hot tub. And I wish it was Christmas so Santa could come. And I would ask him to have grandma stay here forever. Grandma Ronna and Grandma Nita. And Granddad and Grandpa. They would all stay here forever!
Thanks for letting me interview you Zach.
You're Welcome.

An Interview with Josh

2011-03-04T21:29:00.006-06:00

What's your name?
Josh
How old are you?
6
Where do you live?
In a new house.
Do you know where the new house is?
The neighborhood of Jones Circle.
Who do you like to play with?
Aidan.
What is your favorite food?
Shrimp.
What is your favorite drink?
Chocolate milk.
What is your favorite snack?
Granola bars.
What is your favorite toy?
Video Games.
What is your favorite TV show?
Johnny Test
What is your favorite game?
Little Big Planet. Both one and two.
What is your favorite book?
The Quarter Book.
What quarter...ohhhh the one where you collect the state quarters in?
YES!! That one!!
What is your favorite restaurant?
Red Lobster.
What is your favorite holiday?
July
The Fourth Of July?
No, the 7th.
That's your birthday.
My favorite is my birthday!
What is your favorite animal?
Um...I am going to need to think a while.....I like all the animals.
If you could change your name what would you change it to?
Frank.
Why Frank?
Because I like the name Frank.

What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
Hmmm....I might need to think. Because he loves me.
What do you love most about Zach?
He colors with me.
What do you love most about Alex?
I play with him.
What do you love most about mommy?
You snuggle with me.
What do you love most about yourself?
I am just handsome!

Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
To New York.
What are some wishes for this year?
MONEY!!! I also wish for a store and lollipops. Done.
Thanks for letting me interview you Josh.
You're Welcome.

An Interview with Alex

2011-03-04T21:26:00.009-06:00

What's your name?
Alex
How old are you?
6 1/2
Where do you live?
Elkhorn
Who do you like to play with?
Brooke and Brody.
What is your favorite food?
Cheese Pizza
What is your favorite drink?
Apple Juice
What is your favorite snack?
um...its...um...candy.
What is your favorite toy?
My Batman toys.
What is your favorite TV show?
Johnny Test.
What is your favorite game?
I don't like any games.
What is your favorite book?
I don't really like books.
What is your favorite restaurant?
Can I tell you a couple of restaurants?
Sure.
Ok...Dave and Busters, Pizza Machine, Little Caesars and that's it.
What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas
What is your favorite animal?
Monkeys.

If you could change your name what would you change it to?
Batman
What do you love about each person in your family? Like what do you love most about daddy?
He tickles me a lot.
What do you love most about Zach?
He plays with me.
What do you love most about Josh?
He plays with me.
What do you love most about mommy?
You snuggle with me.

What do you love most about yourself?
Just being me.
Where do you want to go on vacation this year?
To Minnesota.
What are some wishes for this year?
Go on an airplane to Arizona. And go to Uncle Andy and Aunt Marcie's.
Thanks for letting me interview you Alex.
Bye! Bye! Love you!