say that again

A few things that were said this past week:

~Brandon (last night) "Only one more real day of school left!" Technically he has a couple more days, but today all of his books need to be handed in.
~LV this morning "When I get married I wanna have a baby just like Elijah." Awwwww...
~Kirsten (who came home an hour late from her friends house and was grounded) "It's no fair! You never believe me. You're the worst mom ever." (:o\)
~"Woohoo Park!" Elijah, when B took him outside to play
~LV (playing WoW) "Mom, big fat tubby is coming - run! By the way, I saw his butt and it was disgusting." lol You have to know what the undead ogre things in WoW look like to appreciate that one.
~Vern (out of the blue-this never happens) "You look really nice today." Mr.I'm happy if your happy who has no opinion about me or how I look actually complimented me twice this week. I wonder what he did with the real Vern...
~Kirsten (when I let her play with Kaitlyn) "Thanks mom! You're the best!" lol Yes, she's a fickle one, and yes, this was before she was grounded.
~Elijah gets excited and says "Elmo! Elmo! Elmo" whenever we change his diaper. Since he can't say Big Bird or Cookie monster, they get called Elmo too. :o)
~Brandon (to Elijah) "C'mere! Where's my hug?" I love how affectionate he is with his baby brother.
~LV (pvping with Vern) "Hahaha! I'm gonna sheep the priest!" (He's actually pretty good at pvp. That's my boy.)
~Me (at the end of this entry) Happy Thursday!

How I see them.

Well, I think that they're beautiful, amazing, fabulous people. Ages 2, 6, almost 10 and almost 16 - they are my joy. I said I was going to try to get pictures of my kiddos this weekend, and while I didn't get the chance over the busy weekend I was able to today. It was sunny & beautiful again - makes for outside playtime and one happy mama.Of course, each of them gave me about 10.2 seconds to get a shot of 'em, but that's all it took. An image of each of my sweeties to share. Hooray!

Feels like Summer.

Brandon is outside mowing the lawn, Vern went to see Pirates of The Carribean 3 with Ben and Kirsten, LV, Elijah and I have been playing around all morning. It definately feels like summer. Kirsten has been bugging to go swimming. Sounds good to me!
I hope that those who read this little blog of mine are enjoying this beautiful weekend wherever they are!
Oh, and since blogging is more fun with pictures (and my camera battery has been charging all morning) here's another WoW screenshot. I'm hoping to play with my camera some this weekend, so with any luck there'll be pictures of my cute kiddos to post soon. :)

Have a great day!

Sights and Sounds

1 song you listened to today:
Been listening to some older mp3s today. No Doubt just played. Love this song & video even though the opening few seconds of the vid make me squeamish. (Hooray bugs? Ewwwww...)

2 things you can hear right now:
Thomas on tv. Elijah is a happy little boy. :)
The fan buzzing.

3 things you said today:
"C'mere baby" to Eljiah who needed his diaper changed.
"Wow Vernie, you're getting so big!" when LV showed me that he finally lost his very wiggly tooth.
"I'll look into it" to Vern when he called and said we need to find a pediatric dentist. I'm so happy we can finally get some of LV's work done. Yay! :)

4 voices you've heard today:
Little Vern, Elijah, Vern & Brandon. Shocking, I know. :p

5 things you can see right now:
ummmm...
Elijah and his blue gatorade, and Brandon who looks like he's gonna scoop him up for a hug.
Little Vern (fully dressed, lol) watching Jimmy Neutron on the kiddo's computer.
Xbox controllers that need to be wrapped up and put away.
My little "Prepare Him Room" heart that I doodled years ago and stuck on my monitor.
My calendar, reminding me that Kirsten's library books are due tomorrow.

So Jordin won AI! No shocker there. It'll be fun to see what some of these singers end up doing. Not a bad season in the end.

Alrighty, time to go make food for some hungry kiddos. Have a great day!

Another sky.

WoW is down & homework is done, so my kids and I were having fun looking through screenshots together. (That's what I get for leaving acdsee open in that folder. lol) Anyhow, Here's another screenshot of that awesome outland sky. :)

For today.

Quote of the day:
"Do what you can with what you've got wherever you are."
T. Roosevelt

Photo of the day:
Song of the day: Daughtry, What About Now

They haven't released a video for this song, so I just picked the least annoying fan vid using the song on youtube. Go Smallville! lol

Screenshot of the day:
The skies in the outlands (in WoW) are awesome. I think my favorite is Nagrand at night.

absent. sleepy. yawn.

It's been days since I last blogged. Where have I been? Right here. I spent the weekend playing WoW & hangin' out with friends. Makes for a great couple of days. :)

On Saturday I turned down an offer to do yet another wedding. It amazes me how many people still ask & hope we'll make an exception for them. I'm on a hiatus for a good reason, and really won't be making exceptions. I guess it does feel good to be wanted/needed, but I don't enjoy the part where I have to say no. The paperwork for B and I is in the works though, and when I can and do decide to go for it, watch out! lol It'll be a blast. I really do love what I do, even if I'm not able to do it at the moment.

Something I'm thinking about doing is sharing some of my wedding work here. I had a friend ask if I have any of my photos online for inspiration. No, I don't. Honestly, I never got to the point where I wanted/needed more work than snowballed my way, so I hid rather than advertised. lol This being a personal kind of blog rather than a commercial one though, I guess just sharing photos isn't going to hurt. Besides, if it backfires I can stop and even delete stuff. I hope I don't have to. The idea of sharing another of the things that I love in life through this blog appeals to me. It's still just in the thinking stages though, I'm not sure how I'm going to incorporate it.

For now I'm off to cuddle with my babe. He's still all goopy sick and gave himself some pink eye in there to boot. I got very little sleep last night, so I'm hoping for a nap.

Have a great day!

Just some stuff.

There's 2 weeks left of school for Brandon. Yes, he's counting.
Kirsten's almost done too, but since she goes to a year round school she doesn't have the same last day as most traditional schools.
Elijah's still sick. He got it worse than anyone and is having a harder time kicking it.
I had a Hire's burger last night. Yum. Seriously.
AI. Was sad to see Melinda go. She was the one who always delivered. Even though I don't see me buying her album, I was rooting for her simply because she's good at what she does. It was a good show with Elliot coming back to perform. Love that song.
When I came downstairs this morning LV was playing his Star Wars Lego video game with a frozen burrito and some gatorade going. He had a Larry Boy movie going for Elijah who was enjoying some pears. It was perfect except that LV was naked. lol While I'm glad he can fix food for himself and Elijah and find suitable entertainment, we're still working on the "clothes are important" rule with him. :P
I put some pictures of my kiddos up by my desk. Elijah loves to point at them and jabber away. I need to put up some more pics for him to enjoy. I'm thinking grandmas & grandpas. :)
I would give anything at this moment for a good Jamaican patty, a can of grape crush and a chocolate chip cookie. That was my favorite lunch in high school. Earl Haig's cafeteria had the yummiest cookies and the sweet soda and cookie went so well with a spicy little Jamaican patty. Yummy.
It's another beautiful sunny day. I'm thinking a walk to the park and a slurpee sound good.

Have a great day!

Call me lazy.

I'm tired, not feeling 100% and wanting to blog anyway. So I turned to blogthings again...

Your Values Profile

Loyalty: You value loyalty highly. You're completely devoted to your friends and family. Even if they totally screw up, you're still there for them. Just make sure they're equally loyal to you! Honesty: You value honesty highly. You're unflinchingly honest, even when it's not easy. For you, integrity is very important - in yourself and others. People may not always like what you say, but they know they can trust it. Generosity: You value generosity a fair amount. You are all about giving, as long as there's some give and take. Supportive and kind, you don't mind helping out a friend in need. But you know when you've given too much. You have no problem saying "no"! Humility: You value humility highly. You have the self-confidence to be happy with who you are. And you don't need to seek praise to make yourself feel better. You're very modest, and you keep the drama factor low. Tolerance: You value tolerance highly. Not only do you enjoy the company of those very different from you... You do all that you can to seek it out interesting and unique friends. You think there are many truths in life, and you're open to many of them.

The Five Factor Values Test

I've had two "need chocolate" kinds of days in a row. I think I'm headed to bed early tonight so that maybe tomorrow I can wake up rested and a little happier. Goodnight cyberspace!

Mondays' Meme

...is a word association game!

baby kisses
beach bikini
fresh fruit
black dress
summer sandals
sweet lovin'
water thirst
soft kisses
morning sunshine
seek peace
ready able

And some blogthing fun thrown in for good measure. :)

You Are Lavender

You are a sweet person with a very soft personality. People become easily entranced with you. They seem to glow around you. You have a quiet energy that can keep you active late into the night. Even if you aren't the life of the party, you definitely keep the party going.

What Color Purple Are You?

Happy Mama's Day

To all the moms out there, I hope that you feel especially loved and appreciated today. To my own mom, I love you & miss you. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Happy mother's day!

Photos for Friday

On my mind:
My father-in-law. I hope he's feeling okay today and that he made it through his doctor appointments yesterday after being rudely awaken in the middle of the night. Vern had me call him and he came right over to help with the water situation. Love this man. I have no idea how to reach out and be there for him, but he sure is quick to be there for us.
In my arms:
Okay, so it isn't both of these cute kiddos. Kirsten's almost as tall as me at 9. (almost 10)
Elijah still fits nicely onto my lap though. Enjoying every moment of it while I can.
On the menu:
The first thing I wrote down onthe list of groceries we need to get was this:
Seriously yummy stuff and I'm all out. It's another hot day, and if I have nothing else for dinner there will be some good ice cream.

Happy Friday!

Well that was fun. :p

At 4:30 this morning a hot water pipe broke in our master bathroom, turning our bedroom into a sauna and the carpets in the basement below soupy. There was a lot of very hot water. Vern fixed the sink this morning and is sucking all of the water up out of the carpets. I'm folding laundry. It took every absorbant thing we could get our hands on to minimize the water leakage onto the carpets in our bedroom. When it leaked downstairs it hit mostly the a storage room. My Christmas tree is outside drying off this lovely afternoon.

Fun. All around fun I tell ya.

I'm off to make some taco soup and continue with the laundry mountain. Have a great day!

Surprise...

Um yeah. I caught the cold from my kiddos. I'm actually pretty sure it was my monkeyboo who shared it with me when he kept kissing me yesterday. I'd say a case of the sniffles & a sore throat are well worth it for Elijah's kisses.
I spent a bunch of time in PS today and still haven't finished everything I need to get done. I did come across this shot of Elijah on Sunday.Yummy. Just yummy.
I'm pretty sure some cuddles will help us both feel better. And possibly a nap. So long as I'm awake in time for AI tonight. I'm a little dubious about Bee Gees week. Uh, yeah. We'll see how it goes tonight. :p

Monday

We had us a busy weekend. We went up to Layton yesterday for Isaac's baby blessing. We had to wake up way early to be able to be up there on time, but it was fun to see everyone. I came home and crashed of course. So did most of my kiddos.

We're taking it easy here today. Elijah and LV have caught the cold that Kirsten & Brandon both started on Friday. It's all coughs and sore throats over here. I'm desperately trying not to catch it while cuddling with Elijah and little Vern and trying to make them feel better.

There will be pictures from the weekend once I rescue my camera from the van :p

Have a great day!

yawns. cuddles. Ernie & Aaron.

I fell asleep long before I intended to last night. I didn't even think I was tired at the time, but totally passed out while cuddling with Elijah to help him stay asleep. Then I slept in this morning. I had a very hard time getting out of bed. So why, may I ask am I sooo tired today? If I could crash right now I would. With kiddos needing care & attention that's not going to happen, but if I were to find my pillow I can guarantee I'd be asleep in minutes. Maybe I can blame the overcast cooler weather or say I'm catching up for the nights where I've stayed up late playing WoW. Whatever the cause may be, I can say I'm grateful for kiddos who don't mind quiet, easy days. PB & J sandwiches for lunch, cartoons on tv and Elijah on my lap watching this video over and over.

It makes him smile, which in turn makes me smile. So I'm sitting here with my sore back pressed against my blasting heating pad enjoying cuddles from Elijah who's fully entertained by Ernie & Aaron. We may fall asleep yet. lol In any case I think I'm going to make the most of yet another quiet Friday.

sweetness

On Sunday I was able to hold my nephew Isaac for the first time. He was so yummy and sweet. Man I love babies. It was really great to see Jill & Josh too. They seem to be doing well. Makes me happy to see them enjoying marriage & parenthood. It's a calming thing for me to hold a new little one, and it makes me smile to think there are sweet moments to be had if we're willing to take them, even amidst the stormiest times in our lives.
I've been struggling lately. Some of it has just been the ever-present cloud above my head that I'm constantly shoving aside for tastes of sunlight, and some of it has been concern and worry over loved ones. I found out just this week that someone that I care about deeply has cancer. Cancer is a scary word to me. One look at my family & personal history will explain that fear. This person is someone who means a whole lot to a lot of people. The outlook is actually as good as it can be concerning that the big C word is involved, but still it shook me. You just never know when something like that is going to come up. It's not really my place to talk about it at length - just wanted to make the point that I have a lot on my mind of late, yet amidst the worry & concern I love being able to find those truly sweet moments. You know, those moments where no matter what is going on in your life, heart or head you're able to smile, love & see all that is good. Thank you baby Isaac, for some sweet moments on Sunday that will help to carry me through this week. :)