Pedi anyone?

Does anyone want to:
A) go get pedicures, or
B) watch my kids for me so I can go get a pedicure?
C'mon, it'd be a great birthday present!

Giveaway!!!!

I chose that title so you'd read this. Technically is really is a giveaway. Let's start by saying that I am not a cat person. My mom is allergic, and I guess I just had bad experiences with cats as a kid. It's no secret to my husband that I dislike the feline variety. He knows I hate cats. I suppose little kittens are cute, but the problem is, they grow up to be cats! Scratching, shedding, pooping, peeing, clawing, smelly cats! (gee, I'm not bitter...) So WHY, pray tell, did my husband go searching Craigslist for a cat?!?! He said he saw an ad. In order to see an ad for a cat on Craigslist, you have to be looking for an ad for a cat on Craigslist. It's not something you just stumble upon. So imaging my surprise when he come homes from work on Sunday morning holding a little black & white kitten!

He claimed it was just so the kids could learn how to handle a pet. Right. He is a cat person. I think he just thought I'd fall in love with it once I got used to it. He was wrong.

He said it was litter box trained, but we don't have a litter box. So it went on a kitchen towel that Denver had left on the floor after cleaning up a spill. I suppose it's good with kids, although it (I say "it" because I don't know if it's a boy or girl, and I refuse to look. Matt thinks it's a he.) has not been de-clawed. I told him thank you so much for bringing this thing home, and getting the kids all psyched about it, and making me the bad guy because it can not stay. So we told them that we're just babysitting the cat. I suppose we're it's foster family until we can find a good home for it.

So...who wants a free kitty? First one to claim it (him?) wins!

Ouchy...pain

I know I've been gone awhile. I think I'm back. I think...not sure...I'll try. Anyway.
My tooth broke a couple weeks ago while eating nachos at Friday's! Turns out the silver filling I had, had cracked my tooth a while ago, and I never knew! It finally gave way and broke! After 3 dentists, I found one I like. Well, the tooth was not salvageable, and needed to come out. I opted to get an implant rather that a bridge. The bridge would unnecessarily damage surrounding teeth, and need to be replaced every 10-15 years. An implant will last the rest of my life, and not damage other teeth. We just need to be able to afford it. I went to have the tooth pulled, and just be a toothless hobo for awhile until we could afford the implant. Apparently, the tooth had been deteriorating or a while, and had eaten away at the bone underneath it. So, in order to prevent the surrounding teeth from caving in, because of the lack of bone structure to support them, I needed to get a bone graft! (Ya, that's just how I wanted to spend Matt's bonus.) They mix up freeze dried human bone, with some other stuff, and pack it in there. Gross. Beyond gross. While they were doing it, it smelled like turkey bone. You know, after you eat the turkey, and have the carcass left over? Ya, it smelled like that. Nasty. So now I have stitches and nasty bone ooze for a while. It still hurts too much to eat solid foods. So I'm living on oatmeal and mashed potatoes. The plus side? I should loose 20 pounds in no time!

It should be healed enough for the implant in 3 months. Maybe less. Then it has to heal again before I can get the crown that fits over the titanium screw that will go in my jaw. (That's the implant part, it replaces the root of the tooth.) Until then, I'll just be a toothless redneck!

Good things

Just a reminder that I have to turn in the Entertainment Book orders tomorrow. If you want one, let me know asap. Remember, totally no pressure!
On a side note, my friend Becky is starting a non-profit organization! It's called Lanee's Legacy. You should totally check it out! She makes bereavement boxes for moms who's new babies have passed, and they have to leave the hospital without their baby. She donates the boxes to the hospitals to give the mothers. They are having a pancake breakfast with a raffle and a silent auction to help raise money for the boxes. The breakfast is October 10th, tickets are $5 or 6 for $25. Details on her site. Come support the cause!

Entertainment Book

Okay, let me preface this by saying that I vow NOT to be one of those moms that bombard their friends and family with each and every one of their child's fundraisers. You will not have to avoid my phone calls because you are afraid that I will want you to buy something! You will not be asked to subscribe to magazines, buy wrapping paper, cookies, cookie dough, newspapers, etc.. Personally, I find it all to be a rip off, and I would much rather make a donation to my child's classroom. (No, I won't ask you for donations either ;) However, I may do an occasional post regarding school fundraisers or functions that I believe to actually not be a total scam, and are worthy of my time.

That being said, since I know that several of you use these books anyway, I wanted to give you the opportunity to purchase an Entertainment Book though Amberlyn's school. Proceeds go toward purchasing classroom supplies for Harmon Elementary School, (Amberlyn's school). (Of course there is the party for the top selling class, and the rewards for certain levels, but I couldn't care less about that.) So now a little about the Book:
*Includes coupons for tons of area attractions, including movies, golf, hotels, dining, museums, car, travel, grocery, and much more!
*Supports local economy
*Now with a membership card to fully take advantage of savings.
*Online coupons also available
*Includes $20 savings at Safeway (for Phoenix)
*Helps Amberlyn's school!

The Entertainment Book is available in a wide range of cities, (I have included ones where some of you live, or might visit) click to see the sample for that city:
Phoenix, AZ $30 - Tucson, AZ $35 - Utah $25 - D.C., Maryland $35 - Greater Seattle/Eastside, WA $25 - Vancouver, Canada, $51 - Denver, CO $35 - Witchita, KS $25 - Boise, ID $35
If you'd like to see other available cities, go to www.Entertainment.com

Checks and orders are due September 4th. If you would like to order, just leave a comment and let me know which city you would like an Entertainment Book for, and then you will either have to mail a check to my home address (make checks payable to Harmon Elementary PTSO), OR, I can pay for it myself, then send you an invoice through PayPal. (You do not have to have a PayPal account to do this!) Shipping is FREE! (I will hand deliver to those in the Phoenix area.) Or, I think you can order online. Just enter 939694 for the account number, her teacher is Ms. Lin, a.m. Kindergarten, room 324. (Let me know if you order online, so I can make sure her class gets the credit. But I think it will be easier if I just turn in the order myself.) I have to turn them in by the 4th, so let me know ASAP! I promise I will not hound you about this. I may post a reminder on the 2nd or 3rd of September. Please don't feel obligated. I understand that times are tough for some, or this just may not be of interest to you.

Entertainment Books are great to keep in the car, for those last minute, "Hey let's go here!" times, and make great reading material for long trips. Sometimes we plan our outings according to what coupons we have! Let me know if it interests you!

Kindergarten!! (the realization)

Well Amberlyn L-O-V-E-S her Kindergarten class! When I picked her up on the first day, she told me all about it! They colored a picture, sat in a circle on an alphabet rug & sang songs, watched "The Hungry Hungry Caterpillar", ate her snack I had packed her, and played on the playground. "Mom! We had recess! Recess is when you get to go out and play on the playground!" she informed me. She was also very impressed with the "chalkboard on the tv". Having not been in a classroom in hum-diddly-hum-drum years, I had no idea what she was talking about. An overhead projector perhaps? I asked my teacher friends/relatives, and found out it's a new-fangled thing called a Smartboard, an interactive computerized whiteboard thingie. What will they come up with next? Anyway, she had a blast, and couldn't wait to go back!
Amberlyn is getting so big, and it snuck up on me. And my life has changed dramatically in the last few days, with her being in school! It suddenly occured to me, on Sunday night, that I was going to have to take her to school every day! I was prepared for Monday, but then I realized I would have to take her on Tuesday as well! And, wait a minute... Wednesday too! And Thursday and Friday, and every school day from now on! No more 2 days a week like preschool! I was going to help my sister-in-law move to Tucson next week, but it hit me that Amberlyn had to be in school, and I couldn't just leave whenever I wanted to anymore. No more week long trips, or going to visit my mom in Show Low on a whim.
And, get this, I have to get my hiney out of bed everyday at 6:45! Those of you that know me, know that I am NOT a morning person. At all. I haven't had an obligation to get up that early on a regular basis since I was in school! I do have to admit however, that I thrive on routine, and I think this will be a good change for me. I enjoy helping Amberlyn choose her clothes everynight, and getting her backpack ready, and packing her snack each day, and getting her out the door and to her classroom. I makes me feel like a "real mom". Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I wasn't a real mom before, but the days of playing all day are gone, and have been replaced with a little more responsibility than had occured to me. They say your life changes when you have kids. It does. It changes again when they go to school!
I just wasn't prepared.

1st Day of Kindergarten!

Today was Amberlyn's 1st day of kindergarten!! We've been on a family vacation for nearly 2 weeks (more on that later) and got home Saturday night. On Sunday, Amberlyn and I got her school things ready. We put her new folder together, labeled all her personal things, (I love my label maker!) got her backpack ready, packed her snack, and layed out her school clothes.
After dinner, she took a bath, got ready for bed, daddy gave her a special blessing, and she got all tucked in.
This morning, I got her up, made her some oatmeal while she got dressed, fixed her hail with bows I made after she went to bed, and off to school we went!

*Her first day of Kindergarten!*

It's too hot to walk all the way to school, but I didn't want to just drop her off either, so we parked on the side of the school (away from all the craziness), put Denver in the stroller, and walked to her new classroom. We met the teacher, (we were on vacation for the orientation) got the class info, and found her desk!

*Sitting at her desk in her classroom!**Of course I had to take pictures of her class!*

And her new teacher, Ms. Lin, was kind enough to pose for a picture! (I wasn't the only mom doing it, so I thought it was okay.)

*Amberlyn & Ms. Lin*

Denver and I left the classroom and headed to our car. We saw a neighbor dropping off her daughter in Amberlyn's class, and walked with her for a moment, and it was all I could do not to cry! (Yes, I'm a big baby. I get it from my mother!) I loaded Denver into the car and called Matt to tell him that we got Amberlyn off to school okay. We stopped for gas and a Dr. Pepper, and I had to text all my family to tell them how grown up my little girl is! My mom texted me back, and told me that on my first day of kindergarten, I came home and told her all about the little potties, and the tiny squares of toilet paper! I can wait to her what Amberlyn has to say about her first day! She gets out in an hour, so I'm sure I'll write again today!

Daddy's Day

Unfortunately, Matt had to work on Father's Day, so we celebrated a day early. He came home from work about 10:30 am. We made him banana muffins and he opened his presents. The kids gave him their cards they had made. We went out to lunch and to Target. Denver and I went home for nap time, and Amberlyn and Daddy drove to Tempe to pick up a game. When they got home, we made a special dinner, and ended with Daddy's favorite cake! It was a great day!

The next day for church, Daddy was at work and Denver was sick, but I really wanted to go see the traditional Primary singing time. I wanted to go watch Amberlyn sing with the Primary for Father's Day. Matt called and asked me to record it for him, so he could enjoy it later. I told him my camera was already in my purse! So I dragged my sick child to sacrament meeting. The men got up to sing "Ye Elders Of Israel", and they did a great job, but the Primary didn't get to get up and sing to their dads:( I took Denver home to bed after sacrament was over, and left Amberlyn to go to Primary and found her a ride home. I can't say I wasn't disappointed, but at least we had a good celebration the day before.

My favorite part of Mother's Day & Father's Day is watching the kids sing, it's the highlight of my day! I hope this was just a one time omission!

Yayaya, I'm still here...

Yes, I'm still here! I didn't forget about you! It has just been a VERY crazy-coo-coo-nuts couple of weeks. It's all over now, and I feel like I can finally breathe! We had company, 3 days worth of wedding, family pictures, decorating for the reception, 2 birthday parties in Tucson, company stayed for another week (but we love them, so it was fun!), dance recital, and girls camp. Whew! I'm freaking exhuasted! I will post pictures and details soon, I just wanted you to know that I didn't fall off the face of the earth. I will be back soon:)

Blessings Anyone?

Last month we had a wonderful stake enrichment. In one of the classes, the teacher was saying that we needed to let people help us more. When you help, or preform service, you receive blessings, and we all need to STOP BEING A BLESSING HOG! Let people have the opportunity to receive blessings by serving you! So...anyone wanna earn some blessings?

I know... I'm shameless.

My sister in law is getting married next week, and we are going to her endowment session on Thursday the 21st. I am in need of service in the form of babysitting. We have to leave for the temple at 8:15-8:30 am, and will be back around....12:00 - 12:30? Here's the catch. Amberlyn has dancing lessons from 11:00 - 11:45. Her dance class is on the corner of Ironwood & Combs in the Fry's plaza. So if you need to get some shopping done while she dances....!

I know I have crazy energetic children, so if you don't want both of them, I completely understand, and I don't mind splitting them up. Normally I wouldn't worry about dance, but Amberlyn has a recital in 2 weeks, and needs the practice. So....any takers for my shameless query?

Wise Guy

This morning Amberlyn's primary teacher called to say that they would be learning about the Word of Wisdom today. They would be having a healthy snack of pineapple, grapes, apples, strawberries, and carrot sticks, and asked if Amberlyn had any food allergies. (Very thoughful, thank you Sister Freeman!)

We went to church, and when I picked up Amberlyn from class at the end, she was excited to show me her yummy bowl of fruit! In the car on the way home, I asked her what she learned in Primary today. She told me they are learning a new song for Mother's Day! (I love the Mother's Day Primary singing time!) I asked what she had learned in Sister Freeman's class. She said she didn't know. Trying to refresh her memory, I asked what she was eating that she had gotten in class. She named all the things in her bowl. I asked her what all those things were. She paused and then slowly replied, "Umm... fruit." The inflection in her voice was like, 'duh mom'. Still trying to prod her memory, I asked if those were all healthy things. She asked with amazment, "How did you know that mom!?"

She's been asking me that latley, and evey time, I give her one of two answers. Either "I'm magic," or "mom's know everything". This time I went with "I'm magic." Still claiming she didn't know what her lesson was about, I tried to get her to recall the theme.

Me: "Did you learn about the Word........of........"

Her: silence

Me: "Amberlyn, the Word of what? What did you learn today? The Word........of.....?"

Her: "I don't know. You're magic, you tell me."

I guess she gets away with saying things like that because she's five.

Beauty and the Beast!

Last night we had a mommy daughter date! I heard that Beauty and the Beast was going to be playing at our local community theater, and I thought Amberlyn would love it! We got all dressed up!
We went to the theater and picked up our tickets at will call. We explored the lobby, got a drink, and Amberlyn got to give the usher our tickets and get a program, then we headed to our seats!
We waited for the play to start, and soon a tall man sat 2 rows in front of us. I saw another mom with a good idea, and ran out to the car to get Amberlyn's booster seat. Soon lights dimmed and we were transported to a small village in France! A few times I had to put her up on my lap so she could see a little better, and some of the microphones weren't working very well, but other that that we had a wonderful time! The cast was great! Belle was beautiful, Gaston played his part very well, with a perfectly pompous walk, arrogant shoulders and all! We ran into Amberlyn's swim teacher, and it turns out her son, the swim helper, was playing Maurice! After it was over, we got to go up and meet Belle! Amberlyn was thrilled!
We also saw a few of the other cast members, then headed to the lobby where I bought her a glowing rose, like the one in the story. We headed home, reminiscing our favorite parts. When I asked her what her favorite part was, she said, "The end." I thought she meant it was glad to be over, but after further prodding, it was because she liked all the singing and dancing at the finale! We got home, where she put on her Disney Princess jammies, complete with Belle, showed daddy her special rose, and drifted off to sleep.

I remember going to see plays with my mom, and I hope Amberlyn will remember the same!

So, she DOES pay attention!

Yesterday I bought a bunch of strawberries that were on sale. Today was jam making day! I had one batch done and was working on another. The strawberries were cut up, ready to go in the pot. Amberlyn asked if she could help. She held up the pectin that was in the measuring jar, and asked what it was. I told her that it was pectin, and that it helped to make the jam, jam. I said it makes the strawberries firm. She said, "You mean like a firm foundation?"

Our Easter!

We had a good Easter! We went down to Tucson on Saturday morning to see gramma & grampa. The kids dyed Easter eggs. Then they hunted the plastic ones in the back yard. Each kid had their own assigned color of egg so there were no fights. Every one had the same number of eggs, with the same stuff inside. (Thank you Gramma!)

After the hunt, they all sat and examined their precious finds. It was like Halloween!

We got a great picture of all the grandkids!

Then we ate. And ate. And ate. Yummy ham, potatoes, all the yummy Easter stuff! We sat and played games, and I fed Tommy chocolate!

Amberlyn helped gramma decorate some cookies!

Then she got to try on her dress for Aunt Amy's wedding! She totally got into it! I love her poses!

Then the rest of the clan headed off to a wedding, so we went to the mall and got Amberlyn some new earrings. We stopped for dinner at Little Anthony's. We left at 7:30, and the kids were both asleep at 7:41.

Matt had to work Easter Sunday, but the kids still woke up to a prize from the Easter Bunny! We got ready for church, they looked Fantastic!

After church we headed to Nana's house for more Easter food! Then the kids played while the rest of us played cards. We headed home and sang songs and went to bed. It was a nice Easter, with the exception of Matt having to work. We hope you all enjoyed your day too!

Grocery Sales

So I decided it was lame to pay SisterSavings for information I could get for FREE just by making a few clicks on my computer. SisterSavings is still a great place for menu ideas and such, but to get the best grocery sales, (which she now charges for) go here to get them for FREE! It's not the complete ads, but just the best deals, or things you may use the most. ENJOY! ValleyGrocerySales.blogspot.com

Camping trip!

We took a camping trip this weekend!

(For all those out there condemning me for not staying home to watch conference, I have 4 words: DVR, radio, internet, Ensign.)

We left Saturday about 10:30, and found a camping spot at 2:30. We went to Payson and drove around for a while, checking out different sites, trying to determine the one we wanted. A few were closed, some we're too busy for our liking, one wasn't far enough from "town". We finally settled on a campground called Ponderosa. They had sites with a fire ring, a table, and a camp grill. They had a bathroom a little ways away, (by bathroom, I mean a glorified porta-potty) but I still taught Amberlyn how to pee in the woods. (For any men out there who think peeing in the woods isn't something that needs "teaching", I disagree. Girls required certain rules. Like finding a tree to lean against that has little or no bark on it. Or making sure your feet are either "upstream" or well protected.) Sorry, probably too much information. Anyway, there was also a water spigot pump thingie for drinking water, lots of tall pines, and other campers that were not too close.

We set up our tent, Matt and the kids chopped and collected firewood.

(Matt, my hunter and gatherer)

The kids had a snack,

Something about being camping turns them into crazy children, especially Denver.

We made dinner. We were going to do foil dinners, but time ran short, so we cooked on the stove. Potatoes, carrots, onions, and meat, and barbecue sauce... great camping food! We made a dutch oven peach cobbler too!

I helped the kids make S'Mores,

which they enjoyed thoroughly.

Finally it was bed time! It was going to be a VERY cold night, so they got all bundled up in sleeper jammies, sleeping bags, and LOTS of blankets both on top and underneath.

After a good night's sleep, we got up to make breakfast. (Yes, Matt is wearing shorts. I packed his long pants for him, but anyone who knows Matt, knows he is ALWAYS wearing shorts.)

We made some hot chocolate and sat by the fire. The kids constantly fought over the stool, which Denver seems to have claimed victory over for the moment.

Exploring, running, climbing...

all a necessary part of camping.

By the time we packed up and drove home, they were both exhausted, and tuckered out on the way home!

It was a fun weekend and hopefully we'll do it again soon, or as soon as the night time temperature is a little warmer. It was COLD!

My little Tricksters!

My little tricksters flipping off the couch!

(no fear)

Denver's self praise!

(notice his "thumbs up" for himself)

It's hopeless.

My sister in law is getting married in just over 8 weeks. My other sisters in law and I have joined together to give each other support in trying to lose weight before the wedding. One of them has lost 9 pounds already. She rocks. I've been trying. I really have. I cut down on my sugar consumption. I try to walk more on my treadmill in the mornings to get my metabolism going. I eat a banana for breakfast instead of the donuts Matt brings home. I switched to 1% instead of 2% milk, and have been drinking more water. I watch my portion sizes at dinner time. I feel like I've really been trying. So WHY does the scale say I have GAINED 4 pounds!?

It lies.

Either that or I am dying. I think that there is a little bit of hypochondriac in all of us. My inner hypochondriac is convinced that I have an 8 pound tumor that is getting bigger by the day. That's why I haven't been losing weight. The stupid tumor is saving it for me!

Ya. That's it.

I've developed a huge cancerous tumor that is slowly killing me. I'm convinced it's on my ovary. I'll probably start planning my funeral. I haven't mentioned my inner turmoil to my hubby. I just told him I think I have a cyst. He'd tell me I was crazy if he knew the truth. I should tell him. So he can start cherishing every moment with me, since I will be gone in a year. That's how much time I have decided that I have. So I am going to throw the tv out the window! And cancel the internet! So I am not distracted and can spend all my time with my kids! We'll go to the beach, and to Disneyland, and go camping, and take long walks together. And we'll stay up late and stare at the stars, and name them one by one.

I guess I should go to the doctor to find out how much time I really have left. I made an appointment for next week with the 'girlie' doctor. So she can tell me I'm dying. Feel free to start sending your condolences now.

Amberlyn's Primary Talk

Amberlyn got to give a talk in primary today! She did a very good job! It was about obeying her mom & dad:

"I can obey my parents.

To obey means to listen to another person in charge, and being willing to follow their instruction.

In Colossians chapter 3 verse 20, it says “ ^aChildren, ^bobey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that obeying the commandments leads to blessings from God. Obeying the commandments shows our Heavenly Father that we love him. Obeying our parents shows them we love them, too.

This is my family. I can show my mom & dad that I love them by obeying. Like when my mom asks me to turn off the tv and go get ready for school, I can obey, by doing it right away. Or when my dad asks me to pick up my toys, I can obey. This shows my mom and dad that I love them, and am willing to listen. When we don’t listen, and do what we’re asked to do, it makes our parents and our Heavenly Father sad.

I hope we can all listen to our parents and obey, just like the scriptures and the prophets tell us to.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Here's a video, sorry the kids are a little noisy. You'll want to scroll all the way down and pause the music before you click play on the video.

Sew broken

Does anybody know how to fix my stupid sewing machine? It's so very broken. It won't pick up the bobbin thread, and keeps tangling the upper thread underneath the plate. Matt looked online and said he thought the timing was off, whatever that means. I called several places to try to get it fixed. The cheapest one was $60.00! My whole machine isn't even worth that much! It's an older model Brother that I got for Christmas when I was 18. Maybe I'll just get a whole new machine, because mine hates me! Any recommendations?

Such a mean mom

What a mean mom I am:

To have to put such a cute little boy in time-out,
(for riding his bike too far, and not coming back when I called him.)























and for making such a little girl pull weeds.
(She was out there anyway, and enjoyed helping mom.)

Wanna Prize?

I've seen this on other blogs, and I've wanted to do it, but I've never been in the top five. And technically, I couldv'e just done it anyway, but I needed the motivation of getting a prize to actually do it. Anyway, now I'm in the top 5 here, and now you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about.

Would you like to win a hand-made-by-me prize? Here's the rules:

~The first five people to comment on this post will recieve a hand-made-by-me prize. What I make is up to me. (You're welcome to leave a suggestion, or your favorite color, or whatever, but again, it's totally up to me;)

~There is no guarantee that you will like what I make. (But I hope you do:)

~You will recieve it sometime in the next year. (hopefully sooner rather that later, but I have kids, so we'll see how that goes.)

~You must offer the same kind of deal on your blog. (When you leave your comment, please let me know that you have posted something on your blog;)

That's it! Remember only the first 5 that enter and post will win something!
Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you won when you get it!

Of course it would break NOW

Of course it would happen when I have a deadline. I have to have a tutu out by tomorrow at 10:45 am. I sewed the first half just fine. Then my sewing machine decided it hates me. Well fine. I hate it too. How much do I hate it? Read here.

Denver's New Suit!

Well, if you read the last 2 posts, you saw this one coming. Aunt Amy is getting married in May. The little nieces both got absolutely adorable new green dresses for the occasion, and we couldn't resist the sweet little suits for the boys. All the nephews are getting new little 5 piece suits! Here is Denver in his new threads! His shoes are now too small, so a trip to Target is in order. But here's my shoeless little stud!

Check out the uber-cute little girl dresses and boys suits I have for sale at RazzBerryPie!

Enter the promotional code "blog" for 15% off, and free shipping! Offer expires April 1st!

Congratulations to Amy & Sean!

With Valentines Day comes true love! Sean Georgi proposed to Amy last night! They had dinner, went to a play, and finished the night looking at the city lights and Amy's new ring!

What a cute couple! A May wedding is planned! Congratulations!

Words of encouragement

Kids are funny. (They are they are they are they are) That's what I have to tell myself to stay sane. (It's funny. breathe.) This morning's cheerios-all-over-the-floor-even-though-they-had-oatmeal-for-breakfast was funny. So was the orange juice all over the table. Denver uses a spill proof sippy cup. So how did the o.j. get all over the table? Never mind that he sucks it from his cup, then spits it on the table. It's fun! I love cleaning up drooled orange juice. Here's the cheerios all over the floor.

Denver was "helping me" sweep up the spill.

When we were done, he yelled, "Great Job!"

Now it's all worth it.

Well, it actually happened!

My brother Logan is a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force. He is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas.

A few months ago, there was a rumor that Obama would remove the American Flag from Air Force One if he was elected. The rumors started when he replaced the flag on the tail of his campaign jet with his sunrise/flag "O" that was used as his campaign logo. See the story at Snopes. Well, it actually happened.

The Air Force Base at McConnell shares a runway with Boeing's military facility-Boeing Integrated Defense Systems. It's where they modify Boeing jets to become tankers, airlifts, and other military systems. Today, Logan was out on the flight line and he looked over to Boeing's side, he saw a VC-25, one of 2 highly modified 747s, known as Air Force One. (There are 2 of these planes, and technically speaking, any plane the President is on at the time, is Air Force One.)

Logan also saw a C-32, which is a modified 757 normally used as Air Force Two, to carry the Vice President. What surprised Logan, was the fact that the American Flag was missing from the tail of Air Force One! There was a tail number, but no flag. There is an American Flag on the vertical tail fin of every aircraft in Mobility Command. There was a flag on the tail of Air Force Two, but not Air Force One. Has it been removed from both VC-25s used as Air Force One?

Why has it been removed? Is it going to be replaced with his own logo? Is anyone else upset about this? The symbol of our country and our freedom is the AMERICAN FLAG, not some campaign logo with the same colors!

Explanations, explanations

Every Monday and Wednesday, Denver and I hop in the car to take Amberlyn to preschool. We usually sing a song on the 4 minute drive. Amberlyn hops out of the car, school folder in tow, and runs up to knock on Mrs. T's door. The teacher opens the door, waves, and off we go to head home. As soon as we turn the corner, Denver always says, "Ah-mah-liiiinnnn, Ah-mah-liiinnnnn." Every time, I have to tell him that sister went to school, and we will go get her soon, when she's all done. We stop at the gas station for mommies wake-up juice, (Dr. Pepper, I always have a refill cup in the car) on our way home.

Today as we pulled in the driveway and got out of the car on this rather chilly morning, he had to run in the grass and stop to point out the "Bir-dee!" I tried to get him to come in the house, but he wanted to watch the bird. I told him we would go in the backyard and see if we could see it. He looked at me with a very wary look. "Is there really a bird in the back yard, or is it a trick to get me inside," I could hear him think. Too smart for his own good. I thought for a second. He has enjoyed the lizards on the back fence lately. "Denver, let's go see if we can see a lizard in the backyard!" That worked. (I really figured that when he got in the house, he would get distracted by something shiny.)

Off he ran to go see this proposed lizard. I opened the back door for him and told him to go play. He ran to the back fence and looked up. He called to me "Up dehr mommy, up dehr!" as he pointed to the top of the fence where the lizards usually hang out when it's warm. He wanted me to lift him up to see the non-existent lizard. (Remember, it was cold out.) I told him it was probably too chilly out for the lizards. They would come out when it warmed up. I put him down and he ran to the other fence on the side of the house, where the last lizard sighting had taken place. "Up dehr, up dehr!" again pointing to the top of the fence. I tried another explanation. "The lizards are sleeping. They are at home in there beds and will come back when it's warmer." Apparently still not good enough, as I set him down, and the fussing came. "Denver. The lizard is at work. Daddy went to work, and the lizard went to work. He will be back soon." That worked. He went to play on the swings.

Thief!

A few weeks ago, Matt was laying on the couch under a blanket watching tv. Denver came over and turned the tv off. Matt had to get up to go turn it back on. When he turned back to the couch, there was Denver, laying in the same spot Matt had been, with the blanket pulled over him. Denver totally stole Matt's spot! I think he planned it!

Too smart for her own good!

Matt and Amberlyn were driving in the car. They passed a field with cows in it.

Matt: "Amberlyn, what letter does cow start with?"

Amberlyn: "Cuh-cuh-cow. Letter C!"

Matt: "That's right! Good job! What else starts with C?"

Amberlyn: "Ummm........"

Matt: "How about cuh-cuh-corn? Or cuh-cuh-carrot?

Amberlyn: "Or cuh-cuh-collaborate! When we work together like a team!!!"