Summer Cold

I hate colds. I hate the blowing of the nose, the lack of sleep because you can't breath, the irritability because you are sleep deprived, the headache and pressure. It makes me cranky. So, guess what I have? That's right. A good ol summertime cold. Which I think are the worst. And to top it all off we have a crazy busy week and I don't feel like doing anything but laying in bed. But, since that is not a option I am trying to forge ahead and get stuff done. But I cannot lie, it has not been fun. Why is our week so busy you ask? Well, Bella's baptism is on Saturday and we have family coming into town. Which is going to be really fun and we are so glad that they are coming but the house does not clean itself. And when you have a cold, cleaning is the last thing you want to do. It is getting done though, just slowly. The problem with cleaning when you have small kids is that you clean something and then as soon as you turn your back, someone has messed it all up again. Why is that? Where does the urge to undo all of your hard work come from? And of course there are the day to day things that need to get done along with the special errands. So much to do, so little motivation.... I took Brendan to get a haircut yesterday and decided that it was time I got mine done as well. The original plan was to wait and have Angela cut it (she works wonders with her scissors!) but I was tired of pulling it back into a ponytail. Thinking that my cut is pretty simple and hard to mess up I climbed into the chair and went for it. Big, Giant, Colossal Mistake. As all bad haircuts start out, I thought she and I understood each other. Halfway through as massive amounts of my hair are tumbling to the floor I realize that we didn't understand each other at all. But of course by then it's way too late. So, it looks like I will still be wearing my hair in a ponytail day after day for the next few months until it grows out some. That is if the shortest layers will reach into a ponytail, which I'm not so sure they will. Oh well - It'll grow, right?? Please tell me it will grow!

A Pedicure Like No Other

Who doesn't love a good pedicure?? I know I do. Apparently there is a new kind of pedicure available here in the US. Instead of nice ladies massaging your feet and removing dry skin with razors hundreds of toothless fish eat away the dead skin.


I just don't know what to think about that one.

Two Must See Movies!

Have you ever gone to the movies and when the film is over you have a sense of disappointment that the film just didn't live up to all the hype or just wasn't what you thought it was going to be? Not the case with these!

Going into this movie I knew that unless they totally botched the transfer from stage to screen we were in for a good time. This movie did not disappoint. I don't think I have ever had so much fun at the movies. We laughed, we sang along and even got a little choked up. Grab a couple of girlfriends, guys just will not appreciate it at all, and go have a fabulous time.

I am not a huge fan of comic strip super hero movies. However, since Christian Bale started wearing the batsuit, I've had a little change of heart. And seeing that I am a huge fan of the late Heath Ledger this was a must see on opening day kind of movie for me. The movie is very dark and sinister but I loved it. Heath's performance as the Joker is phenomenal and not over hyped in any way. I think it is truly his best work and I found myself sad at the end pondering once again the loss of such a great young talent. The movie is long so cut back on the drink intake as you will not want to miss a single action packed second. Excellent movie that I am sure I will see many times.

Camera Woes

I am sad to report that I think my camera is on it's last leg. When we were at Bear Lake we got some water in it and thought for sure it was over. But the water evaporated and minus a shutter that won't close all the way, it seemed to recover. Then Bella took it to achievement days for a photography class and dropped it. Part of the cover got broken and pushed up but we pushed it back in and it seemed fine. But the last two days it has given me nothing but trouble. Yesterday we went to see the pigs at the library (they were supposed to be a large hog but ended up being two pot bellied pigs) a couple of shots came out ok but the rest were really blurry. And then today my shots have a faded look on the edges. Very disappointing. Does anyone know of a great digital camera to get that is a reasonable price?

The girls petting the pig.
Lily stealing drinks.

Tagged

Well, Kim C tagged me so here you go!
PS - I started this last night and got so tired I was retyping every word three times, so I finished this morning. We are just going to pretend that I did it all last night ;)

Two names you go by:
1. sweetheart
2. mom

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. pajama capris (pink w/brown scotties on them)
2. tee shirt

Two of your favorite things to do:
1. going on a picnic in the mountains
2. traveling anywhere

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. a large diet coke w\cherry and lime from Sonic
2. an organizational fairy (one wave of her wand and poof! perfection!)

Two Pets that you have or have had:
1. moses, a chocolate lab
2. new fish in the pond; marco, polo and crystal

Two things you did last night:
1. took Bella to her baptism interview
2. bought a new patio set on mega clearance at Target

Two things you did today:
1. went to the spray park
2. went to a fun enrichment class (courtesy of Rachael Ray aka Kendria!)

Two things you ate today:
1. spicy chicken wrap
2. chicken tortilla soup

Two people you last talked to:
1. larry
2. slightly excited girls having a hard time going to sleep

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. go to the library to see the 600 pd hog do tricks
2. enjoy the slightly cooler weather

Two memorable vacations:
1. our trip to Mexico a couple of summers ago
2. trip to Moab where we found the rattlesnake and the black widow all at the same time. That memory will live in my mind forever!

Two favorite holidays:
1. christmas
2. this is a hard one because I LOVE halloween but also have the fondest memories of Thanksgiving as a child. So it's a tie!

Angie, Amy, Danielle, Emily, Kendria, Kimber, Laura, Melanie and Sari tag! Your It!

Happy Birthday Bellaruski!!

Bella turned 8 on the 6th of July. It is positively amazing to me that she is already 8! Where oh where does the time go! Bella has always been beautiful. I know that I am biased because she is my daughter, but it's the truth. When she was born, the nurses couldn't stop gushing about how beautiful she was and how perfect her coloring was. That was after she lost her initial purple hue. When they brought her back to me after her bath the nurse confessed that they had been playing with her hair in the nursery. Trying to style it. They were really sweet. Bella was born about two weeks early. With Brendan I had to be induced so when labor started in the middle of the night I was really nervous about what was going on and didn't know what to expect. But out of the kids, Bella's delivery was by far the easiest. I got to the hospital about 6 and she was born at 10:30. Not as fast as some other people I know, but it was fast to me. And my dr was great. We all laughed the whole time. Not kidding! I got the giggles about something and couldn't stop and then the laughs caught on to everyone else. The only complication was my epidural. For some reason the dr couldn't find the right spot and she actually put four holes in my spinal sac. That meant that I had a greater risk for getting a spinal migraine which can be horrible. To try and prevent that from happening they kept my iv in and gave me a lot of caffeine to drink. It worked and I was migraine free. However the increased fluid made me swell really bad. My eyes swelled so badly that I just had little slits for a couple of days.
Bella and I had a birthday party together up at the lake and then this Friday I took her, Brooke and two of her friends to see Kung Fu Panda. Which, if you have not seen it, is a really funny movie. We all really liked it. The girls were hysterical. When I told them that it was getting close to movie time they decided that they had to have some jewels. Because, when you get ready for a girls night out you have to put on your jewelry and makeup. Gee - where could they have gotten that idea from I wonder......
Bella with her cake. I opted not to make one this year so Larry got a black forest one. It was lovely to look at and tasted divine.
We turned our backs for a second and found Lily stealing the rest of the cherries off the cake.
No party is complete at our house without jumping on the tramp.

Look at how much air Brooke got on this jump (she's in orange). I was shocked when I looked at the picture and realized how high up in the air she is!!

Bella is such a special part of our family. I could never list all of her wonderful qualities but here are a few. Bella is:

1. honestly one of the most loving children I have ever met in my life. She is always concerned about others and tries really hard to make sure that everyone is included.
2. very compassionate. I don't like to watch the news with her around because she gets really worked up about the newstories.
3. very thoughtful and quick to give people compliments.
4. honest and genuine.
5. full of energy and fun loving!

Bella always:

1. has a smile on her face.
2. tries really hard to help out. Especially with Lily
3. is singing. She loves to sing and make up her own songs.
   

We love you Bella!

Bear Lake Chronicles - Fireworks and Misc Fun!

One of the things that made this years trip to Bear Lake special is that Larry's parents were able to come up. This year also marks their 50th wedding anniversary. To celebrate they had a campfire on the 3rd and instead of telling ghost stories they talked about their childhoods and their lives together. On the 4th we had a special family meeting and Larry's sister put together a game to help the grandkids learn more about Nonie and Papa Sir. It was like the Newly Wed Game and it was so cute. She did such a good job. I even learned a thing or two! We took some family pictures, but our camera still had water in it and so far I haven't recieved any pictures from anyone else - hint - hint! Larry's parents are a very special couple and love each other so much. You can see the love that they have for each other in everything they do and say. It is very inspiring to me.

Later on in the day we went to Evanston, Wy to watch fireworks. The cool thing about watching fireworks there is that they are legal. So, while the city puts on their big fireworks show, down below in town everyone else is shooting them off as well. And they are doing ones that are just as big as the city's. You are literally surrounded by fireworks. So cool.

Here we are setting up to watch the fireworks. I a managed to get a quick picture of Larry and his mom before......

Nancy decided to jump right on in.
I think our 4th of July picture from last year was taken in this exact spot.
The girls getting ready for the big show and enjoying some snacks.
You can't celebrate the 4th without some sparklers!

Now the firey things were a little scary to me but the kids really loved them and no one got hurt.
Daniel is always the life of the party. There is something about that kid that just cracks me up!

The rest of the pictures are just some fun things that we did during the week.

The kids spent a lot of time on the swing. Here they are with Aunt Colleen and cousin Anna.
We don't have trees mature enough to climb at home so they love to climb the who knows how old trees in Aunt Colleen's yard.

Bella and cousin Ashely just having fun together.

We ate a lot of shakes while we were there. One night there were so many of us that I think we got close to ordering every shake that they make. We decided that they are all yummy! So many good memories were made on this trip. I hope that our kids will look back, years from now, and remember spending that time with their extended family and it will make them smile.