Buddies

Little C's Posse

Two brothers with whom he bonds with perfectly -

with them, life is all about skate boarding and BMXing. 

This funny little threesome could entertain me all day.

With the girl calling the shots and the boys following close behind... what's not to love?

I was so nervous for Little C when we moved here. Would he make friends easily? Would he be happy? 

Our first morning here I jumped about ten feet in the air when I saw a face, squished up against our sliding glass door, just staring at me.

Luckily, the face stood only about 4 ft tall and appeared very nonthreatening. Just big curious eyes, searching the joint for another 6 year old to play with.

The little blond guy pictured above became more like a brother to Little C than simply a friend. Every waking moment was spent together, laughing, fighting, whatever, they were content.

Now we're moving to a new neighborhood, new city, and new state- with Little C already headed in that direction to stay with his grandparents for school.

I miss him.

Even though I'll see him in a week, I miss the things he doesn't realize he misses yet. I miss seeing him enjoying these incredible little people whom we have grown to love. I miss watching our little neighbor girl boss him around and him obeying her every command. I miss hearing him get so excited when our neighbor boy shows up to play and then hearing them argue a few hours later. I miss watching them set up ramps and jumps for their different skate board adventures hours upon end and then being invited to watch all of their new tricks. 

Boo Hoo. :)

Little C is a trooper and has the personality to make friends wherever he goes, but he's been extremely blessed with the posse he's had here.

We'll miss you kids! 

Peanuts, Pretzels, Hot Dogs -

and Baseball! 

All at Wrigley Field!

The Beloved and I being our wonderful spectator selves.

Here's the latest news-I was finally able to name a girl....

I call her, "The Head/completely wrong bra choice". 

I am pretty sure there was a baseball game going on, but "The Head/completely wrong bra choice", in all of her animated conversation, kept blocking my view.

Out of all those Cubbie fans only about 10% are watching the game.

No Joke.

There were rare "Go Teams!" or "Hurrahs!" The words that stood out the most were, "BUD, BEER"!

Over and over and over again.

Just between you and me... I think the Cubs could stop playing their games and still have a full house... as long as "BUD, BEER" was available. But, shhhhhh -

don't tell them I said that.

It was one big party my friends.

Is it against the Word of Wisdom to pass beer cups down the aisle...if so - we are in big trouble! :)

Honestly, the game was wonderful!

I sang my little heart out during the 7th inning stretch to Take Me Out to the Ball Game.

And the Cubs even pulled through - winning 5/4 against the Braves.

I have to thank our magnificent neighbor Kim who gave us the tickets for our anniversary.

It really is America's favorite pass time-

Everybody needs to experience Wrigley Field!

We loved it!

2010 Photos

Here are a few updated pictures of our goof balls :)

Handsome little rug rats - aren't they?

I could squeeze 'em all day long!

It's Okay - He Knew I was Ornery -

before he married me. :) 

That's what The Beloved said to me during our anniversary dinner a few nights back. :)

I had, had one of those days where I had lost complete control of biting my tongue and everything bothering me was being spewed forth. Gosh, I hate it when that happens.

So, of course during our lovely dinner I apologized for being the beast of it all earlier in the day.

And that was how he responded.

And seriously, what a relief.

I have my fair share of good moments... but then I have these others... where I am sure previous knowledge of my sudden crazy outbursts could definitely come in handy.

I love being married.

I love that my spouse knows me - 

that he loves me when I am amazing

and loves when I'm not.

I love you dear.

You're my favorite.

Below we are eating our anniversary feast -

Salmon and Steak.... and it's all for me. I'm not shy about loving great food.

And The Beloved's plate of choice:

Bison

He says that eating buffalo is about the manliest thing a guy can do. :)

(Now, make the grunting noise from Home Improvement to get the real effect)

Happy Anniversary Dear! Thanks for making me so happy!

Babies

My friend and I made this blanket for another marvelous friend who is expecting a little girl next month.

We gifted it to her today, but I of course, had to show if off a little bit.

It was so enjoyable sewing all of those pink fabric color variations together - it made my life complete. :)

Also, in other baby news:

Little Baby Jett,

you were born yesterday and we can't wait to meet you face to face. See, you live in Utah and we live in Illinois but we've been sent the cutest pictures of your precious baby self. We love your name, your uncle is especially fond of it. There's something about a fast name he can't resist. Don't give your mother a run for her money though. Unfortunately, nobody passed on that info to your sweet fast named cousins and they keep us on our toes.

We already love you so much! You were born into a family who truly knows how to love. They have a gift. I was new to the family once too, so I know what I'm talking about. Don't worry, we'll show you the ropes. :) 

Now, don't grow too big before we get a chance to squeeze you.

Love,

Your Aunt  - The Domestic Goddess in Training

and

Your Uncle - The Beloved

Are you Tired...

of hearing about basketball?

Okay, well then I will simply give you an update  on the fam while incorporating b-ball pictures and not necessarily b-ball info. Sad.

The Baby is our ornery little love bug whom we just love to death. He is conquering walking and loves to hum the primary Hello song. Super cute.

Little C is Mr. Smooth/Manipulator :)

Last week I asked him if he had any dinner menu ideas for that evening. He replied, "Spaghetti O's".

"We just had Spaghetti O's last night."

"I know Mom, but you make the best Spaghetti O's in the house."   

Right.

(To those of you related to The Beloved, does this sentence sound familiar to you?)

A few days later, earlier in the a.m. hours, I was heading to the grocery store to pick up a few things. Little C innocently asked, "Can I go with you Mom?"

"Sure, but why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you'd get me some animal bracelets, but mostly just because I LOVE YOU SO MUCH."

Oh my goodness.

What will the teenage years bring?

This funny little human has been experimenting with exclamations lately.

Shouting out, "Oh my goodness!" "Oh my gosh!" and "Holy cow!"

Sometimes there's a little rearrangement of words, resulting in,

"OH, MY COW!"

You have to elongate  the OH and then after a brief pause, shout MY COW, like a 14 year old girl.

I love it.

*I don't think I've ever used the word elongate before, not sure if I am using it in the right context, but it makes me feel like I am branching out there in vocabulary land, and I like it.*

Do you see that man?

Some people may refer to him as The Beloved. :)

He is the man who has been beating me at 99.8% of all the one on one games/horse games we've embarked on over the last five years.

Despicable. 

The Beloved is so good at everything he does it frustrates my little competitive heart to pieces.

It's a torn emotion really. One moment I am so proud of him for being Mr. Fantastic and the next I am shouting, AHHH - why do you have to be Mr. Fantastic?!

Life is hard. :)

But, two weeks ago, guess who beat him in a game of MISSISSIPPI?

(Like HORSE but soooooo much longer. Which you probably could already decipher on your own since you know how to read. Good Great. )

I DID!

In my Sunday Best to say the least.

All I want to say is,

thank you all for recognizing me at this fine moment. :)

I love greeting cards.

I can honestly spend an eternity in the card section thumbing through greeting after greeting. 

The ones I fancy most can, rest assured, be found behind the humor divider.

Unfortunately the genre of laughter I possess is somewhat of a donkey nature, usually slipping out in beats of three, from deep within the bowels of my throat.  

And though I have gotten rather attached to this curious noise throughout my 28 years of life, it still seems to throw off my fellow greeting card shopping customers.

 

Here are a couple of the cards I received for my birthday that were applauded with the donkey laugh seal of approval -

(From The Beloved and our offspring)

I believe this card was purchased after reading one of my recent posts -

you can just feel the overwhelming sympathy :)

(From my mother and sisters)

No more disclaimers for you Mom :)

Now on to the present section (hurray, I love the present section) -

The Beloved spoiled me rotten with clothes, clothes, clothes - and also pink ear phones... I'm in love.

We also had a little pool party at a friends house - super enjoyable!

(Yes, that is The Beloved, and he did shave away his super awesome hair and manly beard.

No, I do not know why his eyebrows look manicured...and yes, he seems to have an identity crisis every six months and has to change his looks completely. Good thing he has such a handsome face :))

Look at those frightened faces - preparing to be flung in the air.

And now, the reason why I look so sweaty and gross in all of my birthday pictures and everyday thereafter:

 

My marvelous parentals and outstanding sisters purchased this little beauty for my birthday.

Oh, the spoilage of it all!

Do the Basketball Gods Hate Me?

Please head down memory lane with me for one moment - traveling

down a portion of a post made back in April (not to worry, I have highlighted key words :) :

Why did all of my teams thus far in the NBA lose their games?

Heat - Bulls - Nuggets - The Thunder

*Why do I hate the Jazz so much? Why did Daron Williams get a tattoo of a birthmark on his arm? Isn't that what it looks like? And Boozer... yuck... screams diva to me.

Sorry, one more b-ball vent and I'll be done.

*Is it naughty that I'm a tiny bit happy that LeBron is hurt? I hate that he is so good. So utterly cocky I can't stand it. I love that Michael Jordan doesn't react to his silly little gestures. No matter how good you are - Michael will always be better in the history books.

 

Now for the heartbreak:

Last week Lebron announced that he would be leaving the Cavs and will be joining the...

HEAT!!!

But wait, basketball fans, that's not all.

Boozer also made an announcement.

He just couldn't be left out could he?

He is going to be playing for none other than...

THE BULLS!!!

Are you as horrified as me?
(For those of you in Utah who are simply happy to be rid of Boozer, do not respond. That would be unkind.)

How am I to respond next season? What if the Bulls do really well and make the comeback I've been waiting for, for over a decade?
And the Heat?
They could win a championship!
Which is my greatest desire for my close friend Dwyane Wade (what, you don't think we're friends? :) - 
but....
then there's Lebron...

I have no solution.

But, things change I guess.
I can't imagine having a change of basketball heart right now (or even ever, especially when it comes to Lebron and Boozer), 
but down the line, things do inevitably change.

Take this hat for example. Looks pretty new huh?

Ten years ago I loved, loved, loved the Lakers (pre-knowing-Kobe-was-a-slime-ball-era).
I was thrilled when the Lakers won back to back championships. Hence the hat -
Recently, Little C has taken up playing baseball and is performing marvelously.
Before his last game he asked me if he could borrow a baseball cap. I said sure, and he started digging through the hat box.
When he met me at the van I saw him sporting my decade old Lakers hat. The tag which had accompanied the hat for the last ten years had, in Little C's excitement, been ripped off.
I must admit, I felt a little empty inside.
My hat.
It's funny how we get attached to stuff -
I had never displayed the hat.
I am sure it is worth nothing.
I don't even like the Lakers anymore.
IT HAD BEEN IN A BOX FOR 10 YRS !
time to let it go...
so he wore it to his game,
and he did super.
Stuff is just stuff -
and watching him run around the bases in that over sized, purple Lakers cap was the most joy that hat has ever brought to me.

Wow!

Multitasking at its finest -

Bathing, potty training, and ironing  - :)

My Man-

Happy Birthday Beloved-

Thanks for again sharing your new clothes with our toddler,

and your kisses with me.

We love your guts!

Now: MOVIE TIME!!!

In celebration of his b-day The Beloved wanted to movie marathon it up!

Our amazing neighbor watched our kids for 8 hours while we were at the theatre - loooovvvve it.

(FYI - you have to say "love it" like the girl Siamese dino on Dragon Tales - trust me, you'll like it.)

Car Ride -

Displaying our faces of anticipation:

Just between you and me, I really need to work on my anticipation face.

Striding toward our seats - ready to embark on our -enjoying a movie without having any children extravaganza-.

Sweet!

He looks pretty buff huh? Whoot whoot!

First movie:

Let's just say we're in love with this movie and I am pretty sure we'll be part of the A Team soon. It's one of those movies that you just get cooler by watching.

Tis true.

Look at us sporting the cool factor. It's practically written all over our faces, right? 

Maybe yes, maybe no?

Anyway, continuing forward -

Iron Man 2

(HA - totally the wrong photo - oh well...)

Probably would have liked it more if we hadn't seen it directly after A team.

Too bad...

We did take a long enough break between movie #2 and #3 for The Beloved to contract food poisoning.

Here he is immensely enjoying his toxic food... just give him a few hours...

that cheerful up-beat smile will be long gone.

Poor guy. Sorry honey.

Luckily for me - I just ordered onion rings.

All this resulted in was bad breath -

which was way more manageable.

Third movie -

Robin Hood

Definitely enjoyable. An entertaining prequel -

but didn't make me feel any cooler.

:) which always makes me a little sad.

Beloved,

I love you -

I love celebrating your birth!

You complete me in every way -

 Thank you for being three years older than me because it makes me feel young.

You're my best friend!

I am excited to be on the A team with you.

HAGS

(do you guys remember that? - sorry I couldn't resist.)

 And

I'd just like to end with this:

I like your beard. :)

*** hint: if you're clueless, listen to the song :)****