Summer Fun...

We went jet skiing up at Pineview last week. It was a perfect day; weather was perfect, no melt down from kids; lots of yummy food.

Christian and Emma feeding the birds. They would chase them with the bread and get mad that the birds would fly away.

Nerds...plain and simple.

Bigger nerds.

Me and Marcus on the jet ski. I wouldn't let him drive. Last time I did, he dumped me off.

Christian and Marcus riding around. Christian didn't really know what to think. He wanted to go for ride so Marcus took him out. While they were riding, Christian said, "Hey Daddy, I have an idea. Let's go slower." He was really weary of the whole idea.

Emma absolutely loved riding the jet ski. She thought it was always her turn. Christian freaked out when Emma went on it.

Jessi and Marcus going out. For some reason I didn't get a picture of Taylor on the jet ski. Both girls had a great time.

Emma ate so much sand; it took days for it to go through her system. She loves eating sand; nasty girl.

Christian is not going to drown. He is extra prepared.

Last year at the lake Christian was afraid of the water and didn't really want anything to do with it. This time, we couldn't get him out. He had on his life jacket and would just hang out all day in the water. He was making me nervous with how far out he would go, but he loved it.


We had a great time playing. We were all exhausted when we got home, but well worth it. Hopefully we can go again soon.

My Baby is Two...

Emma turned two on June 16. (Thanks Emma for having your birthday in the middle of Girls Camp...I didn't have to stay over night in a wet tent.) We had a little family party on her birthday and then a bigger shindig last weekend.

***Warning: Picture overload!!***

Opening her presents on her birthday. She can't do anything without her tongue sticking out.

We have watched this movie a bazillion times.

Sometimes I wish she would tape her mouth shut! :)

Posers!!

Showing off her new presents..helmet, scooter, and her new doll.

Where are MY presents?!?!

The newest addition to our family, Madeleine Janey, who for some reason always has a poopy diaper.

We don't teach manners in this house when it comes to eating cupcakes. The faster you can inhale it the better.

I wanted to get a cute picture of Emmers in her tutu looking all cute, but she wouldn't hold still long enough for me to get one. This is about as good as I could get.

Opening presents. She got some way cute stuff. Thanks everyone!!

Emma was horrified of this card that Christian and the girls gave to her. Some mean person keep chasing her around the house with it...but I won't mention who cuz only a bad mom would do that...

I was trying to convince her that all was good with the card and it wasn't going to eat her.

Yummy dinner.

Singing Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candles

The cake before the the sink hole...long story that makes me mad...don't ask.

The bounce house in the house. Stupid rain!

Emma had a great time at her Cinderella party. Man, that child is spoiled. I can't believe that two years have all ready gone by. She is two going on four. I can't believe how stinking smart this child is. She could teach me a thing or two. She is in the 90% percentile in height. She sings and talks better then some four year olds I know. We have so much fun together. She has turned into quite the girly girl; she loves to play with her doll and all her princess stuff. But then she can still stand up for herself and kick some butt!

Emmers--I love you!! Thank you for being so awesome! You have blessed my life more then you will ever know. I was told I would never get pregnant--you were proving people wrong before you were even born. You are my miracle. Thank you for letting me be your mommy!!

Why Me?

So today was one of those days where I asked "Why me?" more than once.

After doing four loads of dishes and five loads of laundry, I asked, "Why me?" Too many days go by where I feel like all I do is dishes, change diapers, make meals for the kiddos and repeat.

Walking up the stairs, I see Emma's diaper in the bathroom..not on Emma, just sitting on the floor. I immediately prepare myself for something horrible. I walk into Emma's room and Christian is trying to change Emma's diaper. Poop is everywhere; on Emma, on her dress, on her carpet...it's nasty. Christian says, "I'm trying to wipe Emma, but it won't come off." Finish changing Emma's diaper, change her clothes, scrub Emma, scrub the carpet, all while asking "why me?"

Christian had a T-ball game tonight and I was determined to be on time and with everything we needed. We get there 10 minutes early; I was impressed with myself. I am getting everything ready to take with us when I hear THE noise. Just as I'm thinking, "Oh no! Not now", Emma throws up all over herself and her car seat. I have stopped carrying extra outfits for her because we haven't had to use them in forever. I clean up Emma the best I can with the wipes in her diaper bag while Christian is yelling for me to let him out because it stinks so bad. (Yah, buddy...tell me about it.) Emma luckily had her blanket in the van, so I wrapped her in it and went to find Christian's team. I drop him off with his coach and tell him I will be right back. As I am dragging Emma around the park in only a diaper and a blanket, I am thinking "why me?"

We get back to the park and I'm trying to hurry to get back to Christian's game. Emma starts to make those nasty noises again. She throws up again and then gets a nasty diaper. She is pretty miserable, but I can't leave Christian alone at his game. I then realize that I smell like throw up and see some on my shirt. Awesome! "Why me?"

Putting the kids to bed tonight, we read stories and sang songs and giggled. Both kids tell me they love me...Emma then throws in that I have cooties but she loves me anyway and I think "Why me?" Why am I the lucky one that gets to be their mommy? Why am I the one that gets to roll around and giggle and play with these two little ones? Why am I the one they want when they are sad or hurt? Why am I the one they run to and grab onto when I get home? Why do they make me want to be the best I can? Why am I the lucky one? Why me?

Move Over Babe Ruth...

Tonight was Christian's first T-ball game. The game started at 6:00 so I started getting Christian and Emma ready at 5:20. Plenty of time right? WRONG!! I couldn't find Christian's shirt anywhere. I tore the house apart searching for it. It's gone. I don't have any idea where it ended up. Looking for his shirt for so long made us late for his game. First game: no jersey and late. Awesome way to start out the season. After finally getting there and drying all the tears (mine, not Christian's-he didn't care) Christian did great and had fun. I worried how he would do because every practice he would come over to me, throw his glove on the ground and say, "I can't do this." But he did very well. T-ball is hilarious to watch.

They had an extra shirt there. It looked more like a dress on Christian. He is one of the smallest kids on the team, and then you put a large shirt on him and it looks ridiculous. Finding his shirt tomorrow is on the top of my to do list.

The helmet is too big for him so he can't run without holding on to it.

My Other Man...

I love this little boy. He is so amazing and never fails to amaze me. He got me flowers the other day...completely his own idea. I am so lucky to have him call me Mommy.

Lots O' Closets...Clean Closets Even

Last month over at Organizing Junkie's site, cupboards and closets were the monthly roundup challenge. I didn't get before pictures of Christian's or Emma's rooms. It was one of those times I was putting away laundry and decided to just clean out their closets and got carried away.

Emma's Closet

Emma has way too many shoes. One of the baskets is over flowing with shoes.

Christian's Closet

I made labels for Christian's bins. He can no longer use the excuse of not knowing where things go. I got all the bins because that child has WAY too many toys. I'm not a huge fan of toy boxes; you can't see what's in them and things get over looked. Or when you are looking for something particular, you have to unload the whole box. The bins have been working very well, and Christian's room has been much cleaner.

I did get before pictures of my closet. I don't like the way my closet is designed. When we built the house six years ago, I didn't have the slightest idea on how to design a closet.

Before:

After:

My closet had too many clothes hanging in it so I decided to fold the jeans and use the bins for things that didn't need to be hung up. I am much happier (for now) with my closet.

I also cleaned out all the kitchen cupboards, drawers and pantry. I didn't take pictures, but it looks much better.

Thanks to Laura over at Organizing Junkie for doing these things every month and getting me more organized!

Happy Easter!

Hope your Easter was as good and fun as ours.
Happy Easter!!

Tag You're It: 6th Picture...

Lisa tagged me awhile ago. I have been absent from blog land for awhile so I just saw it today, but here goes.

The Rules:
Go to the document settings/my pictures on your computer.
Choose your 6th file.
Choose your 6th picture.
Blog about it.

This is an awesome picture. I was getting my hair done by Jenna, and Emma decided to get sick at daycare. I was going blonde so it took longer then normal. Daycare called and said Emma had thrown up all over herself and her area. (That's why she is wearing a red bow and a pink outfit. That was her extra outfit in her bag. I wish they would have taken her bow out. Pink and red. Really?!) Anyway, I left Jenna's to go get Emma from daycare and take her to Marcus who was going to meet us at home so I could go back and finish my hair. Emma was so miserable the rest of the day, but my hair turned out cute!!

Monthly Roundup: Recipes/Kitchen

This month over at Organizing Junkie the roundup was recipes. I really needed to do this one. I have a cupboard in my kitchen that was filled with recipe books and a folder that I threw all my loose recipes and odds and ins into. It took me all month to get this project done. All the recipes that were written on little cards, envelopes, receipts and what not I had to rewrite on my cute recipe cards. Old school, I know. I had the recipe box and cards so I wanted to use it. The recipes that are full sheets of paper I put into a binder with page protectors so they don't get ruined when I am cooking. I got rid of a few cookbooks that I haven't or don't use. It feels good to be able to cross another project off my list.

Before: all my recipe books and recipes.

After: This is the cupboard that keeps all my recipes and books. The clear holder on the top shelf is a whole bunch of recipe cards that I have and love. I signed up awhile ago and got the recipe cards in the mail for about a year. Some would think they were a waste of money, but I have found some of my favorite recipes in them.

All the hand written recipes. I'm so anal the handwriting had to be the same on each card or I would start over.

This is the binder I made for the larger recipes that didn't need to be re-written. Simple but it works.

I made the tabs to separate the categories.

Along with the Recipe Roundup, I also did last year's February project: the kitchen. I took everything out of the cupboards, wiped them down, went through all the drawers and cupboards and scrubbed everything down. I got a few new accessories for the counters and took two boxes of misc. stuff to DI. I am getting a really big itch to remodel the kitchen, but that is not in the cards right now. I'm happy with it for now and wish it was always as clean as it was for the pictures.

One last thing we changed in the kitchen was how we charge our cell phones. There are four different cell phones with three different chargers. They sit on the desk in the kitchen and drive me crazy. So Marcus made this cool charging station for all the cell phones. It sits on the desk and looks like a cool trunk instead of cell phones charging. Isn't Marcus clever?

I love doing these projects. They are always things I want to get done and this gives me the motivation to get it done. Next month is photos; I think I may need a few months; mine are out of control. Check out Laura's site for more good ideas on organizing your recipes.

PSS: ACT All Over Again...

Amy asked: "This is a three part question Essay, philosophy, and art.

Ummm.....huh?!

Part one: First the essay - write a letter to your 12 year old self based on your life experiences and knowledge you have now. What advice would you give?

Dear Me:

Relax. Don't take things so seriously. Stay away from boys; they are icky. Stop trying to be so perfect. You are going to make mistakes and you will survive them. Don't be afraid of trying things and failing; life goes on. Don't cry over your first A-; good grades are totally overrated and when you are older no one is going to care that you graduated with a 3.964. Don't graduate high school early. When you are 19, don't let your boyfriend drive your new car on the freeway. The most important thing for you to know as you get older: when you are in your late twenties, you will be asked to join a blog group that asks questions each week. You will be asked to write an essay; DON'T JOIN PSS!!!

Love,
Me

Part two: Philosophy question in honor of Darwin- If a man evolved from apes and monkeys then why do we still have those animals around?

"If" a man evolved. What if he didn't?
We still have them around so Emma can call her stuffed monkey her "buckey" and have an animal to cuddle with at night.

Part three: Art question - What piece of music, art, architecture best represents your view of yourself?"

Music-That one song about that one girl by that one band.
Art-I like Garfunkel's elbow; it reminds me of mine.
Archecture-The dog house Marcus built for our dogs. It is a sight to be seen.


All right Amy, lay off the smart pills. That required way too much thought; I went way over my thinking limit today.