Happy New Year!

So I figure I'd better do my New Years entry early in the day while it's quiet. We're just planning an at-home type of celebration with the kiddos - movies and such. Whether you're going the quiet route like us or doing the party type thing I hope you all have a safe and happy evening! May 2008 be a fantabulous sort of year! :)

a Sunday entry

I've been kind of under the weather since Thursday. I had to have a little outpatient something done & I've been in pain way worse than I'd expected since. If I could stay curled up in a ball until it stopped hurting I'd do it. I've also been falling asleep earlier & sleeping in. >< Hopefully that means that some healing is going on or something. Meanwhile, here's my Sunday meme - a Christmas recap one from my friend Kristi's blog...

Best Food: Hmmm, probably my cherry cordial kisses. I did have lunch at Cafe Rio with Brandon. Now that was good. :)

Best Gift To Me: Uh, I guess I wasn't a good girl this year. >< I did claim the Forgotten Carols dvd that Nina got our family. It had been on my list. :)

Best Gift Given: Watching Elijah open his geo trax bridge was fun. He loves playing with those trains.

Best Game Played: Settlers of Catan, even though B always wins.

Best Song: Something from the Forgotten Carols. Let's go with Let Him In.

The Christmas Recap

I hope that those of you reading this little blog of mine had a wonderful Christmas. I was all stressed out, as any less than rich parent would be who wishes they had more to give to those they love.Thankfully, Santa did come to our house and do at least a little bit for our kiddos. It only took me half the night to wrap everything up & put it under the tree. (I would have finished sooner, but we got home from Nina's pretty late.) I did get a couple hours of sleep in before my kiddos wanted to start opening gifts. I really am thankful that they're so easy to please, and that a little of what they needed was ok with them when there was much more that they wanted and plenty more that they could have used. Brandon was a trooper, with hardly anything to unwrap on Christmas morning. At his age I figure it's more important to pick out his own clothes and our shopping trip with him hasn't happened yet. (He had one little thing from us outside of his stocking & the promise of his shopping trip. ><) He still smiled & we all were together - that's what counts, right? We had fun. :) We're still working on being over this latest round of sickies, and I'm still hoping that at some point that isn't December Vern & I will get one or two things off of our lists too. I think Friday is when B and I are going clothes shopping. I'm wishing him good sales and am looking forward to the one-on-one time with him.
Meanwhile, it's late & I'm ready to find my pillow.
'Night! :)

naps, bumps & sugar

Vern & I went up to Eden yesterday to spend the night at a condo with Wendy & Quinton. Surrounded by beautiful snow-covered mountains & a hundred thousand happy snowboarders we hung out, played Iron Dragon, had steak frites and a few too many cream puffs. We made it back in time today for the family Christmas party (Which Ben & Wendy did a great job hosting this year). When I finally made it home I had a fabulous much-needed nap. Woke up to a worried Vern holding an ice-pack-covered Elijah. He bonked his head really hard & is sporting a beautiful purple goose egg. Poor little guy. I'm thinking he'll be ok. Now I'm holding him and sharing some awesome white, milk & pb chocolate covered popcorn that our neighbor made. This neighborhood is dangerous at Christmas with all of the yummy neighbor-treat type goodies that get passed around. I have a plate of fudge upstairs, some hand made orange & mint chocolates, almond bark, chocolate-dipped fortune cookies, peanut brittle, chocolate covered pretzels & this tdf popcorn. Oh my.
Well I'm sorry for being busy & slow at posting lately. Been dealing with my second cold in two weeks & finally doing some shopping. I'm sure everyone else is busy and not checking in as much anyhow. At least that's my hope. While I'm sitting here I do want to wish you all a safe and fabulous holiday season, whatever you may be celebrating.

Aloha

Kirsten has been having fun teaching Elijah to say different things. Two that have stuck and that are really cute are "Oh baby" and "Oh yeah". Today he's running around saying "Aloha". She must have had some fun with him this morning. lol

Sideways

I heard this song on scrubs tonight and looked up the vid. Good song. :) Well, obviously I like it, since I'm sharing it here. (a little secret - I put songs up on my blog that I want to find again easily. shhhhh... lol)
Well, I barely slept last night & have a monster headache tonight, so I'm off to bed.
'Night :)

Good Stuff

Now this is yumminess. So was lunch today at Cafe Rio. And Elijah's kisses. And my pillow in about 9 seconds.
'Night blog readers! :)

Skirting the stuff & sharing a song.

We all have stuff that we think about/struggle with every day right? Usually you keep those things buried somewhat in order to be able to function. Well today some of my "stuff" is at the forefront of my thoughts, making it hard to talk about anything else. I won't talk about it here though, at least not right now. This particular struggle is a very personal one - this isn't the place. Since anything else I could say would seem trivial and unimportant amid my thoughts I'll just share the video for an awesome song. It's yet another older one, but it played last night & I looked up the vid because for me the lyrics are just that good. :)

I should probably just not blog on days where my thoughts aren't available for public viewing, but I really wanted to share the video. :)

Have a happy Thursday blog readers!

Two weeks 'til Christmas?!

We haven't even started shopping. At all. Oh my. >< This way we'll get to hit the stores with a gazillion of our bestest friends. Fun! Ej has been sick again & I've been busy taking care of him. I've enjoyed the cuddles and such that result. Mmmmmm... I love my babe and his awesome cuddles. I do hope he gets feeling better. His poor little nose. :(

I did get to go to kara again tonight. Third day in a row. We got Shade down on Sunday (hooray!) and tried Prince yesterday. Then today we got to start over for the week with just Vern & I on heals. Go us! It was fun. :) Here's a screen of Sunday's shade downing for the 3 or so of you who know/care about the whole WoW thing. ;) You'll have to click for readability.And an overhead shot before I turned off my ui for kicks. :) Well I'm off to work out before bed. Have a great one!

Weekend stuff.

Friday - Forgotten Carols live. Amazing. Awesome. Fantabulous. One of my very favorite things to listen to at Christmas. The live show is even better. Just awesome. :)
Saturday - Girls day out with Lauren, Kori, Wendy, Abby, Kirsten and I. We finally went to see Enchanted. Very cute little movie. Definitely a chick flick but a fun one. Only thing I didn't like were the cockroaches. Gross. Oh, and I ate too much popcorn. ><
Sunday - Today started off well. I made my favorite smoothie for brunch. (In a blender or smoothie maker add 6 oz or so of oj, handful of frozen strawberries, handful of frozen pineapple, 1/2 banana & 2 tbsp your favorite yogurt. Mmmmm...) The only thing I can think of that's on tap for later is our kara run this afternoon. And maybe a nap.

And here's the Sunday meme - a quick one this time. :)

your latest addiction- blistex lip infusion. just. can't. get. enough.
you're listening to- Daughtry.
you're thinking about- Jody.
you're asking santa for- an itunes card. need. more. music.

Chocolate Chunkiness

Well, since I haven't posted on here since Tuesday I feel like I'm supposed to have something interesting to say by now. Sad thing is I don't. So, uh happy Friday blog readers!
Oh, I know - I'll share my cookies!

2 days late

So it looks like I'm doing Sunday's meme on Tuesday. That's what happens when you're tired, busy and not quite with-it I guess. We were gone most of Sunday, spending time with Vern's mom. I'm not sure that I ever fully woke up yesterday. Or today so far for that matter. I do have to wake up at least a little bit at some point today- it's kara night!

Alrighty - meme time!
List 5 favorite Christmas Carols
Oh Holy Night
Away in a Manger
The first Noel
Oh Come All ye Faithful
Still Still Still

4 favorite Christmas gifts
Ever? Well, Vern looks good here... lol
My ring (10 years later)
My diamond/pearl necklace
My kiddos faces while they open their gifts (that counts as a gift to me right?)
My treadmill.
Yeah, 3 out of 4 - he does look good there. ;)

3 favorite Christmas treats
Fudge,
divinity
and a toblerone for my stocking.
2 favorite Christmas ornaments
The angel that I had for 17 years that's on my banner. She was finally replaced this year. :(
My crystal carousel horse.

1 favorite thing to do on Christmas.
I love listening to the Forgotten Carols late on Christmas Eve while I finish wrapping presents & putting them under the tree. We're going to see it live on Friday. I seriously can't wait.

Happy Tuesday!

the white stuff

Happy December! This is what my front yard looked like this morning. The snow is still coming down by the bunches, and my kiddos are still having way too much fun playing outside. :)The grey skies & cold weather aren't doing much for my energy level. I still just feel like sitting by our Christmas tree with a book and some hot chocolate. Maybe I should go shovel the driveway and see if doing that will lend me some energy? The hot chocolate can warm me up afterwards. Now there's a plan. ;)

10 Reasons to Smile.

Good morning hugs from Elijah. :)
Snow! Our first sticking snowfall of the year. (Pictures to come later - when I'm dressed to brave the cold.)
Chocolate covered strawberries. Mmmmm...
A fun kara run last night, and another scheduled for tonight.
Waking up early enough to go running before my kiddos are all awake. Go me!

Season 3 arena! (Meaning some rocking new helms for my girls next Tues, as well as the season 1 shoulders I was waiting for.)
LV reading to me. He's doing so awesome at school. :)
My comfy blue hoody that's going to keep me warm today.
Kirsten & I are planning a girls day out - we're going to go see Enchanted and do a little shopping.
A good book, a cuddly babe & a warm blanket with room enough for both of us. A nice way to spend our morning before heading to drop LV off at school.

Thanks to K for grabbing this rare smiley shot of me, full-sun squinting and all. I'll smile for pictures more once I get my teeth fixed. (I let my wisdom teeth come in right before I moved to UT and they made my already crowded teeth crooked enough to make me crazy. That's why I never smile big for pics.) ><

Single Mommyhood

Well, not really - but yeah. Vern went down to St. George early yesterday and will be home at some point tonight. B was gone last night too (sleepover) but is home now. So what did my littlest kiddos and I do with ourselves during our small dance with freedom yesterday? Well, we cleaned and cleaned - then we cleaned some more. Once Ej & LV crashed Kirsten & I pulled out the Christmas decorations. Here's a little of how the front room looked before we went to bed...
Now I just have to get some shots of the other little decorations by daylight and get B & the kiddos to help finish up the last of the cleaning. (Laundry - yay?!)

huggishness

Happy Thanksgiving!

May you find yourselves smiling, thankful & well fed.

Is it bad

...that I'm still not sure what I want to say about the last few weeks, and an amazing man that I love very much?

We went from busy taking care of and being with dad, to busy with funeral stuff to - well I'm not sure what to call this stage. I'm trying to get back into the habit of sleeping & hoping that those who had cameras handy will share photos. I think that I've had more sad moments these last 2 days than I did when we had stuff to do, and am less in the mood to be around other people or to talk about things. A good friend tried yesterday (thanks Jody) and I'm not sure either one of us knew what to say. So yeah - I'm just a little lost at the moment.
I do still feel the peace and calm that prevailed during those days at the hospital. This has been such an amazing experience. I'm grateful to be part of this family. And dad, well - I miss him so much but am happy for him and grateful that he didn't have to suffer the worst for very long. The timing and the way things happened was such a blessing.
I had the honor of being right there with him when he died and can tell you that it was the most peaceful, beautiful experience. I was able to promise my own children that if you live life like he did, then dying isn't a negative or scary thing in any way. The room was filled with love, warmth and a tremendous calm. There is no doubt in my mind where he is right now. Moving forward for him was a joyous thing. I'm so thankful that I could be with him and feel of the spirit around him - to have that witness and a glimpse of the joy he felt. I know that he meant that when he said it.
So yeah.
I guess I'm still going through the mixture of happiness for him, sadness when I look at our family and know that there will be hard moments - he'll be greatly missed, to mending my own heart. I love that man. I'm grateful for him. He taught us and was an example to us right up until his last moments here on earth.

There, I said some of what I could say. Not nearly enough, but something for now.

A special thank you needs to go out to my squirrely friends. (Especially the beautiful Carin, who came down from Ogden and surprised me at the viewing.) They are just the sweetest.

More to come

I'm just not sure what I want to say right now, so please bear with me. I can at least share this so that people will know what's going on.
Dad
I don't expect to be at my computer much for the rest of this week. Forgive me Robin for not getting to my e-mail.

hugs, April

Another Sunday Meme

I know I know - what's with the lack of pictures? :p Maybe this week will be a little more normal & I'll feel like playing with my camera. For now though, here's a thankful sort of meme. :)

April's Thankful...

For friends who take the time to listen and who try to understand me. (And still like me anyway.)
That LV & Kirsten go back on track tomorrow. It’s been nice having them home during the day, but I’m ready for them to go back to school.
That prayers are heard and answered, and that I personally know this.
That even at 16 Brandon is affectionate with his mom. :)
That pumpkin pie shakes are still available at Arctic Circle.
To be part of such a loving and close family.
For Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of our Savior. I love the treats, the music, the lights and all the fluff without forgetting why we’re celebrating.
For lots of loving shoulders to cry on, some great reasons to smile & the honest belief that everything will be okay.
That you are reading this blog. It makes me feel like sometimes I reach beyond these walls that I call home. Even if most days I have nothing to say.
For hugs and kisses from my kiddos. They’re crazy, but they’re awesome. ;)
For the Internet. Without it I would not have my squirrelly friends, WoW friends or this blog.

Another entry

...without a picture. We spent all of Thursday night and Friday at the hospital with my FIL. It had been a rough week and we were concerned enough by Thursday to take him to the ER. It ended up being a good thing - new tests mean new info to go on and possibly new treatment routes.

I have to run, we're spending the day with him and with the family. Just wanted to share where I've been.

hide and seek

It was on the wall right by my computer, but before I was able to grab the shoe it crawled away. I wish I knew where it went, because now I can't find the thing and am itchy like crazy. I know it's in here somewhere. I will itch until I find it. Ugh. I hate spiders.

You know...

Sometimes I just really don't have much to say. Just been trying to feel better, thinking about & praying for my FIL a bunch, hanging out with my kiddos and playing WoW. And, uh, yeah. That's about it. I've had lots on my mind, there just isn't a lot going on. I have such an exciting life, I know. :pMy house does smell yummy thanks to the roast that's about done. And tonight is kara night. Sounds to me like the makings of a good kind of day. :)

Mashed Lyrics Meme

Grab a piece of paper or open a word document. List the first 5 songs that come to mind. Keep that list where you can refer to it. Now write the first couple of lines of lyrics that come to mind from each of those songs. "Mash" those lyrics together and answer these 3 questions:

Yes you can hold my hand if you want to
'Cause I want to hold yours too
And I don't know why
You always seem to give me another try.
It looks as though you're letting go
And if it's real - well I don't want to know
You are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
I fell too hard, was in way too deep
I guess I let you get the best of me

Is there a theme at all or were your choices varied?
They're all on my current playlist? lol I actually do kind of have a theme going here. They're all love you - miss you kinds of songs. Different types of music, similar thoughts. Hmmmm...
What would you title this new mashed-together song?
Uhhhh....
Share the list of original songs here.
Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry
Daughtry - Home
No Doubt - Don't speak
Dirty Vegas - Days Go By
Daughtry - Over You

Too much candy

...and a whole lotta Bad Spirit. lol Since when do I know when to stop when it comes to pics of Kirsten? We had fun yesterday. Kirsten went trick-or-treating with her bff Katie, I took Elijah & B took LV. We all managed to hit the house that does homemade donuts. Oh my, they're so good.
I'm still reeling from the sugar intake, and the amount of candy they all hauled in should last awhile. Well, they do happen to be my kids. lol We'll see how long it lasts.

rawr

I apologize for slacking when it comes to posting on here of late. I have been a sick puppy. With a house full of kiddos. :p Brandon's had a long weekend (UEA) and the other 2 still have a week or so to go off track. It's been nice having B home. Yesterday when I had a horrid headache and was sure I was going to throw up he watched the other kiddos for the afternoon so I could have a nap.
Today I'm just sniffly, nauseous and tired. And grateful for my blanket. Brrrrr...
It must be time for hot chocolate. And maybe an afternoon nap again.

Have a great day!

Five slices of Heaven

...and it's not even 2 pm yet.

I slept in. So did my babe. (It was partly his fault - he didn't fall asleep last night until crazy late.)

This was my breakfast.Hot chocolate, whipped cream, cinnamon. Mmmmm...

Time on the treadmill before I showered today. I need to get back into the habit of doing this daily. Nothing beats the energy you get from a good workout. I could use some energy most days. :p

Enjoying a beautiful 60-something degree day with my kiddos.Can you guess what Ej was telling me? Nononono...

My kiddos are headed to frost pumpkin-shaped cookies with their Aunt Lauren. (I'm thinking of celebrating this with a nap. It's either that or some AV. :p)

Girl talk.

Last night instead of logging back into WoW like I had planned I ended up hanging out with Kirsten. We talked about everything under the sun & she ended up staying up way later than a 10 year old should. lol
It was awesome to just talk to her. She's strong & smart. She's a good friend and a caring person. I was able to hopefully help her with some things and through my sometimes not so great example give her some ideas that will help her to be safe and happy.
It's amazing to watch your kiddos grow up and go through similar things that you did. Kirsten has had some better luck than me in some areas. She has a little more confidence than I did at her age. It's awesome to see the strength that comes out of that. She's a good kid. She drives me nuts at times, but considering what I did to my mom when I was younger I figure it's par for the course. I'm pretty lucky. She's pretty awesome.

My Sunday Meme

...that I totally stole off of Erica's blog. ;)

The ABC's of Me

A-Attached or Single: Duh...

B-Best friend: Jody

C-Cake or pie: Both :p I've been craving lemon meringue pie though so we'll go with that.

D-Day of Choice: Sundays - I love my Sunday naps. :)

F-Favorite color: Today it's light blue.

G-Gummy bears or worms: Bears!

H-Hometown: Willowdale/North York

I-Indulgence: Tootsie Rolls lately :p

J-January or July: July all the way.

K-Kids: The cutest ones ever! Four of 'em.

L-Life is incomplete without: The people that I care about.

M-Marriage Date: October 9th. (Yep, we just celebrated 11 years)

N-Number of Siblings: 2- Robin & Aaron. I'm the middle child.

O-Oranges or Apples: Apples

P-Phobias or Fears: Um, snakes.

Q-Quote: The first one to pop into my head is "Do or do not. There is no try." ;)

R-Reason to smile: Kisses from my kiddos.

S- Season: Summer.

T-Tag three: Julie, Holly, Kristi

U-Unknown facts about me: I'm an open book. Ha! Okay, I was an A student in Jr. High and College but I dropped out of High School.

V-Vegetarian or oppressor of animals: I eat meat, I'm just picky about it.

W-Worst habit: Procrastination & taking things too much to heart.

X-Xrays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds are fun. :)

Y:Your favorite food: Today? Well lots of days I'd say perogies.

Z-Zodiac: Leo

Saturday recap. Of sorts. :p

This little cold is threatening to kick my butt. :p I'd say that it's more from being dead tired than anything else. What a funky sort of way to end a good week. >.<

~My 2 elementary school aged kiddos went off track. They'll be home all day for the next 3 weeks.
~We bought the kids' Halloween costumes. They're all happy and lookin' cute.
~Omega Co. finally downed the curator. I was so proud of us. :) An impromptu kara run last night went well too. The chess event is kinda fun. :)
~Vern took Wednesday off from work. Not only did I get out of the house while the kiddos were at school, but we went out for some yummy lunch. :o)
~I'm sure there was more but I'm drawing a blank at the moment. That's okay, I think Ej and I are ready for a nap.

Oh yeah...
I'm not sure what was up with the serious face but here's my little Jedi. :o)

The cutest little engine.

Elijah loves his costume. :) Wearing it makes him happy. Well, until it's time to take it off. He liked holding Thomas' face up to the camera to show me. lol He's just the cutest.
If you know my kiddos then I bet you can guess what LV is being. I'll share what his costume is soon too. Kirsten's is awesome except that she looks way too grown up and beautiful.

2 cute kids & 1 huge pumpkin

Uncle Glen grew some pumpkins this year and we landed a huge one. The 2 cute kiddos (who are now off track for 3.5 weeks) offered to pose to show actual scale. lol
I do have a feeling it's going to be a crazy few weeks with 3 of 4 kiddos home all day.
Elijah's going to have a blast though. :)
Have a great day!

It smells like Autumn

My house smells so good today. It smells like autumn. :o) I made rolls. (Which we've thoroughly enjoyed - they were gone so fast when the kids walked in the door. lol)
I'm thinking I want to make some apple crisp today too. We have a ton of apples and that just sounds so good right now. Yum.

Outside seems more autumn-like today as well. We enjoyed walking through our first crunchy leaves on the way to school. The trees in the valley are finally turning. Slowly but surely they're dropping from limbs to decorate the ground.

I truly do love October. I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of the humungous pumpkin on our doorstep or the mountaintops to the east all covered in snow, but I guess there's no harm in saving something for later.

I'm off to slice apples. Have a great day!

It's Friday!

I love Fridays!!
It's gray and cool outside today. Kinda feels like a storm is coming. I'm thinking of celebrating with my blanket and a cup of hot chocolate. Oh, and a book. :o)
I started reading some fantasy book B got from his school library last night and am almost done. I don't even know the title - just picked it up and started reading. I'll finish it after Elijah & I are done playing Caillou's Kindergarten. He loves to color and play the matching game. It's a lot of fun to watch him. He's growing up so fast. *sigh*
Well I'm looking forward to keeping warm and enjoying some reading time.
Have a fabulous Friday!

Happiness is...

Hangin' with my babe.
A full glass of diet Pepsi.
Nap time.
Actually, Happiness is oodles of pictures of Elijah. :o)I've been taking lots of pics of my babe lately. Today at lunch was awesome - I was able to catch some of his goofiness on film. :o) That's where 4 of these shots are from. I took over 100 photos in the space of 15 minutes or so. I did stop partway through and wipe some of the evidence of his pb & j sandwich off of his face - other than that little cheat this is lunchtime at it's best. :)

Happy Monday!

It feels like I haven't posted an entry here forever.
It was a busy sort of weekend with family stuff going on. Brandon had a 4-day weekend - he goes back tomorrow. It's looking like a slightly busy week ahead as well. Fun stuff. :)

Since I didn't get my Sunday meme in I'll do a very quick one here.

Growing up what was your favorite meal? Perogies & borscht. I know that's 2 things, but both are so yummy. Especially when my mom makes 'em.
Are you blonde, red or brunette. Is it natural? I'm a natural brunette these days.
Free t-shirt coming your way. Your color choices are lime green, bright red or mocha brown. Pick one! Hmmm... today I'd pick the brown one.

Happy Monday!

Yeah...

I really don't have anything to say today. :p

Have a good one! :o)

Happy October!

October started on a very windy sort of day. It was beautiful out for our daily walk to the elementary school - sunny with quite the wind going on. Loved it. :)

This entry will be quick, I have cookies baking. (Strawberry cake mix cookies - yum!)

My big sis recently e-mailed me some pictures from when she visited my mom. I cried when I saw them. I love this woman. I haven't seen her in over 11 years. She looks happy. That's the most awesome thing. Hi mom! :)
Another happy: My fil seems to be doing well. He's working from home and more importantly, working on getting better. Life sure has changed for our whole family with his illness, but we're sure grateful he's fighting this and doing his best to stick around.
I always mention how Elijah likes to sit with me at my computer whatever I may be doing. I decided to take a shot of him just now (icky lighting and all) to share what greets me every time I sit here. I'm so lucky that he likes to hang out with me. Could you refuse cuddles from this little guy? lol
Well, the cookies are done, so Ej and I are off for a treat. :)
Have a great day!

Snow in September?!

It's been a wonderful Saturday. I had a fun evening out with the girls. (Thanks Nina for inviting me!) It was a little crazy with the rain & snow, but an absolutely great day.

I figure that since it's late I'll post my Sunday meme before heading to bed. I'm likely to sleep a bunch tomorrow - Sundays are wonderful for naps. :)

Some of these questions are repeats, but not recent ones & they're the kind that you'd answer differently depending on the day anyway so I didn't mess with it.

7 signs that autumn has arrived.
There’s snow up in the mountains. (Some even tried to fall in the valley today. Craziness!)
I’ve pulled out my favorite sweater & even wore it the other day.
I haven’t worn shorts or capris in over a week.
Getting out of my warm bed in the morning makes me shiver. Getting out of the shower is even worse. Brrrr...
I wore my black wool coat when I went up to the conference center tonight. Brrrr…
There are a few bare trees around, and even the leaves in the valley have begun changing colors.
Parent/teacher conferences are next week. lol That makes me think of Kyle. We really do have pt conferences. ;)
6 songs on your current playlist.
Oh this one will be random. I have a huge Youtube playlist going atm that I listen to while blogging, playing WoW etc.
I Will Follow You Into the Dark by Death Cab for Cutie (Thanks B - its been stuck in my head all week. A good "mom, you'd like this song" share.)
Home by Daughtry He's still the man. Mmmm...
Have You Ever by Brandy In a paticularly sad sort of mood the other day this song actually made me cry. I needed to & am glad it's still on the playlist.
Bring Me To Life by Evanescence Go Amy Lee! The woman has a voice.
Days Go By by Dirty Vegas Yep, both versions. Just because. Another one that's Brandon's fault. And Jody's. Actually, I think Jody reminded me of this one first, then B played it the next day. Yeah. With 2 recommendations it's gonna stick. ;)
When I'm With You by Simple Plan I love this song, and these guys are just awesome live. Yes - I have both of these performances on my playlist as well. I have never claimed to be decisive. ;) I hear they have a new album coming out this year. Yay!!!!
5 things said to you this past week.
“Thanks mom.”
“You have great legs.” (A personal favorite. Go me! lol)
“Well aren’t you looking beautiful!” (Awww thanks. It was something I needed to hear.)
“I’ve missed you.”
“I love you.”
Actually, based on those 5 things it’s got to be safe to say I’ve had a good week. :o)
4 movies you want to watch again.
Music & Lyrics
Pursuit of Happiness
Knight’s Tale
I’d say the Fifth Element but we’re watching it right now.
13 going on 30
3 things you’re known to crave.
Um let’s see…
I recently discovered chipotle ranch Pringles. Oh my. Thank goodness I’ve trained my kiddos to like yummies with heat so that I can just eat a few and beg them to make ‘em disappear.
Chocolate shakes/malts. Especially during Kara runs. lol
Quiznos. Mmmmmm…
2 pictures of you.
That aren't already on here? I can't promise they'll be good ones.
...And it's as I expected. I dug through the files and found these. Uh, they might not get to stay. lol
There’s the one that has been dubbed my mugshot Thank you sis! :p and one slightly distorted shot that Kirsten took in August on my very, very, very bad hair day. (Yeah... I don't recommend having someone take a picture of you from forehead level on this sort of hair day.)

1 happy thought.
I’m hanging out right now with my 4 beautiful kiddos watching one of my favorite movies. It doesn’t get better than that. :)

Some quick thoughts for Wenesday.

My photobucket account is still wonky. They're working to figure out the issue. I'm still mourning my album & all of the fun photos stored there. I hope it gets fixed soon.

I miss WoW. I've noticed that I'm much less likely to play when I'm alone with Elijah during the day. I guess I figure it'd be kinda boring to watch mom sit at her comp all day, so we play outside or watch movies together instead. Today we made a cool train track with the geotrax. I was much more likely to play when my other kiddos were home and they all kept eachother occupied & watched out for eachother. Even when the others get home there's overseeing chores, helping with homework, feeding hungry kiddos & just so much more stuff to do in so much less time that I've lost a lot of play time.

It was cold this weekend. Brrrrr cold. Snow-covered mountaintops cold. Today it's 71 and sunny, but the breeze is still cool enough that sweaters are welcomed in the shade. I need to start stocking up on hot chocolate & apple crisp makings. Mmmm...

I'm feeling the bling itch again. I keep eyeing my beading/jewellery stuff & have been thinking about a necklace/bracelet set design I wanna try. What girl couldn't use a little sparkly something every now and then? I know I crave pretties! Good thing I'm willing to make my own, or we'd be in trouble. ;)

My cup of diet pepsi is almost empty and Elijah just climbed up onto my lap. Two good reasons to get out of this chair. Have a great day!

technical difficulty

All of my photos that are stored on photobucket including my banner & sidebar picture for my blog are missing. :(
I've been trying for 45 minutes to get into my account to see what's up & keep getting a "timed-out" message. I've tried everything. :( All of my photos from the first year or so of blogging are stored there. I'm so sad and my blog is looking sparse. If there are any technical geniuses out there with ideas I'd appreciate it. Maybe it's just something on my end. Either way I just wanna be able to see my old photos and blog banner etc. :(

Update - it isn't my browser. I emptied the cache, triple checked that cookies are enabled - did everything that was recommended and then some. Then I reset my modem. Still nothing. I've been trying off and on all day to get this fixed. Their tech people could see the images just fine. What's weird to me is that I don't even have the "Image hosted by photobucket" icon where the pictures should be, indicating they were deleted or the server is down. And I still can't get into my user account at all. Just more timed-out messages. Why would I not be able to get into my albums on their site? Seriously, if you're a techie sort I could really use some help.The moderator on their forums who tried to help me troubleshoot was really nice, but it's still broken. I can't fathom why I wouldn't be able to login to their server. I just tried again. It timed out. I do know that it probably isn't my modem, browser, computer or firewall. I spent all day quadruple-cheking those things. I know it worked fine last night, then was wonky this morning. Nobody here touched anything in that time frame. (I actually slept - go me :p)

Maybe I'll end up switching to the new blogger stuff after all. :p I'd miss having some of the photos from early posts though. Changing the banner & such is no biggie, but those photos will be missed and it'd be a pain to go back and try to put 'em back up. :p :p :p I miss my photobucket. :(
What a day. :( I think I'm going to have me a bubble bath. That'd be a good way to spend my "me" time tonight.

musical memories

Thank you Sophia for the meme for today. My biggest problem is going to be coming up with a whole 10 songs and not making every single one about a person. I’m thinking that I may have more of a tendency to attach songs to people than to places, but we shall see. Sounds like fun either way. :)

List ten songs from the past. Where do they take you every single time you hear them?

Van Halen's Jump takes me back to Northmount Jr. High and the Youth Center dances every Friday night, where everyone thought it was cool to jump off the stage every single time David Lee Roth said jump. I loved those dances and could probably think of 100+ songs that take me there. The crazy jumping kids is classic though. There were dedications, crushes, heartbreaks, love stories & air band contests. lol The last dance was always Stairway to Heaven seeing as it's an 8 minute long slow-ish song. I'm sure that it has long been replaced at school dances by a newer very-long-slow-song. ;)

I'll be there for you by Bon Jovi is a song that takes me back to when I was in my early 20’s - a single mom going to college and renting a single bedroom for B & I from a lady at church. (I’m sad I can’t remember her name.) Those were the days of ramen and leaving the house at 6am to ride the bus to get B to daycare & myself to class. It was dark when we left in the morning, and dark by the time we made it home. We lived there for a short while after having temporarily stayed with Paul & while looking for an apartment closer to our schools. I used to rollerblade while Brandon played in the front yard & the Crossroads cd was often what I listened to. I'll be there for you was a favorite. Those were good times. We had very little, but we were happy. :)

Those same college days had me living at the gym during every spare moment. I was fit, happy & just doing really well - I had confidence for the first time in my life. The song that has me back at the seated leg press, watching James L. walk into the weight room (I hadn’t seen him in years) is Cranberries’ Linger. Makes me smile just thinking about it. It was good to reconnect with him, especially when I was doing so well and feeling so great. There are few people from my school days whose opinions have any sort of meaning for me, but seeing him at such a high point in my life did matter.

Under the Bridge by Red Hot Chili Peppers has me driving down Crystal Beach in Keith’s red mustang with a very tiny Brandon in the carseat. It was my first time doing my usual summer stuff as a young mom. I was happy & in love with my sweet babe. As crazy as it is to think of someone who had barely turned 19 so happy and ready to embrace motherhood, I was. You’d have to first understand how lonely I was before having him. Having Brandon filled such a huge void for me. Crystal Beach & this song are kind of a first family memory for me and Brandon.

Boys II Men End of the Road has me back at the park at Yonge & Finch talking to Keith. We discussed the latest girl he’d been cheating on me with. Rachel M. Ugh. Ick. Eeeeew. It was finally really the end for us. It took forever for me to admit that I deserved better. He was B’s dad after all. But yeah, when it came to Rachel I was so very done with him and all of that. I had taken one look at her – who she was and what she had to offer & knew for a fact that she had nothing on me. She just wasn’t me and that was apparently what he wanted so I was finally out for good. (In his defense he never did promise me any sort of future - I had just loved him & hoped like crazy until I realized that being his comfortable #2 while he searched for #1 wasn't going to make me happy.)

Grandmaster Flash’s White Lines has me hanging out at the arcade at the Sheppard Centre. Oh my, picture a pre-teen little blonde wearing too much make-up, having no confidence but trying very hard to act as if she’s all that. I wasn’t (what 13 year old really is?) but it’s funny to think about. Man I’m glad we all get to grow up and that somehow I managed to turn out ok. (Thanks mom!) Oh, and if you're actually wondering - this song is in no way an indication of how I was at that age. ;) I just vividily remember it playing while I was at the arcade that day and I still think of my pre-teen years when I hear it. I could easily have chosen Pass the Dutchie by Musical Youth or Tennessee by Arrested Development as these songs also take me to my youth and growing up in the Willowtree, but the moment, song and place that I mentioned to begin with are a very specific & clear memory. I was wearing white shorts, a tank top and had just stepped outside of the arcade for a Du Maurier Light when GMF and the Furious Five came on. ...Rang dang diggedy dang di-dang ...lol

John Micheal Montgomery’s entire self-titled album makes me think about hanging out with Vivian. We’d lay out and tan by the pool at her condo & listen to him. I think that I can love you like that was her favorite song on the album at the time because of Matthew. Mine was I swear.

The Cure’s Just Like Heaven takes me back to high school - 11th grade and totally crushing on Adam P. I still remember how he smiled at me on the stairs after Tracy told him that I liked him. I still have the first love note he ever wrote me - it was his reaction to the news & she pulled me out of chemistry class to give it to me. I still know his phone number off by heart. I still smile when I read what he wrote in my yearbook at the end of that year. I still remember how mad so many other girls were when he & I started our little something. lol I’d apologize, but he was yummy. He played soccer. I enjoyed watching ;) He was a Cure fan. I easily became one. :) Hey Robin, wasn’t he the first one to show up to my surprise 16th birthday party? Somewhere you have a picture of that night. I remember how disappointed I was when Glenn P. & Denise were helping you make me think we were taking my 24 to the drive in. :)

As I Lay Me Down by Sophie B. Hawkins was Vern’s & my song when I was in Toronto and he was here. We racked up the long distance phone calls during what I guess would be our “courtship” phase. It seemed like the perfect song at the time for our long distance relationship. We set a wedding date during one of those phone calls & literally spent thousands of dollars in long distance bills between that May and August, before he & Wil came back to Toronto. The rest is history. ;)

Only one more? Aww... now I have a bazillion old songs in my head. lol How about a funny one? Whitney Houston’s I will Always Love You used to make Brandon cry as a toddler. It was played on the radio constantly, and every time she hit THAT note (if you know the song you know the one) he would start bawling. I still call it Brandon’s song, and tease him every time I hear it. Poor baby. She hits that note a lot. lol ;)

Well that took forever to do but was fun! Before I actually post this I wanna see if I can find some pictures to go with it. I have no scanner atm, so we’ll see what I can come up with.

Um yeah, I'm back awhile later and took a couple of pictures of old pictures. Not a fancy process & they look as icky as you'd expect quality-wise. :p I didn't find everything was looking for(I have a bazillion college-days pics. Where are they? Hmmm? I'm bummed that I didn't find any.)but there you have it. A complete Sunday meme with pictures and all. :)

Oh, and with links and pics this post is crazy with the html. I hope it all looks okay because I really don't feel like fixing it at this point. ;)