a pink cowboy hat & half-naked men

...that seems to be the gist of how my big sister is planning to celebrate her 40th birthday in Vegas today.  lol
Happy birthday Robin! 
I'd say be good but yeah... we'll go with have fun & be safe! :) 
I love you!
Can't wait to see you Sunday. Hooray!


Oh, and Simple Plan is coming out with a new album! Yay! Sounds like old school SP, and Pierre is looking more like his old-school self these days too. Yum. 
The first new single makes me smile.

Happy Friday peoples!!

so yeah

It has been a crazy kind of week. In order to fill you all in I'm going to do the random catch-up thing. 

Kirsten's figured out how to style her hair so that she doesn't hate it so much. She's lookin cute as ever! Yay! 

Vern & I are headed to St. George on Saturday so I can ninja some of my big sister's Sunday. She'll be in Vegas for her (39+1) birthday with her friend Judy. I can't wait to go hug her! Special thanks to Lauren & Tyler for allowing us to stay with them Saturday night in St. George so that we can pull off the last minute trip. :o) 

Maiah is running around the house in her tutu. I love my little monkey princess. 

Dissension is looking for 2 raiders! (I wish I was joking. My favorite group of WoW friends has shrunk & we need replacements before we lose more people.) Good friends leaving the game and the thought of Dissension raids being at an end makes for one sad April.

My dad is doing ok with recovery so far. I love you dad! Please take care.
I'm so excited for this movie!

brb I need to go stop 2 little boys from killing eachother. The yelling happening in the other room is so not cool.

...K! No bloodshed, just some grumpy kiddos on the verge of beditme.

Alrighty, I'm hungry, still need to run to the store and have some monkeys who need to be tucked in. 

'night!

oh no she didn't...

I am so tired this morning, but I'm gonna blog anyway. So there.
I just might have a nap when I'm done. :p

I made the mistake of taking Kirsten to one of those walk-in places for her haircut yesterday. (In my defense, she'd had very good luck the last 3 times she went there.) This was not the case yesterday. At all. In fact, Kirsten had the unfortunate opportunity of receiving the worst hack-job I've ever seen. Ever. Seriously. Not only did the girl not do what we asked (I helped Kirsten explain that she did NOT want to lose length, just get some wispy long layers worked in & cute, choppy-like bangs.) The picture we brought in was of a totally cute haircut that Kirsten's hair was finally long enough to do. The girl obviously had zero clue what she was doing, and she didn't seem to care. She kind of tried. She failed. Horribly.
She made my girlio cry. :( 
I tried to help her fix it. We died it brown. She was trying to match her natural haircolor ...it went darker than I expected. Cute, but yeah - it's dark. And short. Again. Poor girl.
It's a good thing she's so cute no matter what. :)


Yeah. Oh, and I cut myself twice while trying to help fix it. Two different fingers. Damn those sharp hair scissors... :p

I love you dad

My dad had some serious surgery on Thursday. I'm so grateful that it went well & that so far he's ok.
Prayers please!


I loved holding my newest nephew Berick on Friday. He's so soft, sweet & beautiful. Kenyon & Jeannette will be such cute parents.


The kiddos had a blast at the easter egg hunt today, then coloring eggs with aunt Lauren & Kori. Fun times. 


In case you can't tell, I'm totally exhausted.
Time for me to find my pillow. 
nighty night!

babies

Congratulations Kenyon & Jeannette! Berick is so cute! Can't wait to hold him. :)

Sorry I've been quiet.
Had a scare last night when we couldn't find Maiah, who'd gone outside in the dark, wet & cold wearing only a t-shirt & diaper and walked 1/2 a mile, headed apparently to the store. She was supposed to be upstairs looking for pajama pants with Vernie while we were downstairs where the tv & computers are. 5 minutes after he came back down we asked where Maiah was & he went to look. He didn't find her so we all started looking. I ran outside to the corner, but decided it was way too cold & dark for her to be out there, besides there was no sign of her. After scouring the house and immediately outside Vern called Kirsten, who was sleeping over at her friends, to ask if she'd left the door open or seen Maiah upstairs before she left. Kirsten told him "I have her." Apparantly her & Kiana were walking to the store when the police stopped them & asked if they were looking for someone. Kirsten said no and they asked if she knew any 18 month-2 year olds in the area. Kirsten responded "Maiah...?" Thankfully Maiah says her name clearly, and Kirsten's as well. The police let Kirsten claim her & they were headed home with their escort when we found them. Vern had been gone to meet Kirsten for far too long so I went running tear-streaked & barefoot down the street and around the corner to find a calm but cold baby who was holding a teddy bear & wrapped in Kirsten's hoody, and a very distraught big sister holding her. All told the police say Maiah had been outside for half an hour. They made me promise it wouldn't happen again. Uh, yeah.
We were so lucky that Kirsten & Kiana headed to Peterson's and stumbled across the police & my baby. I'm grateful it didn't take us longer (though it was obviously too long) to check where Maiah had wandered off to. We all seemed to think someone else was with her. Not good. I still can't believe that she decided to sneak out in the cold & dark and made it so far before being stopped. I'm grateful all she got was cold.

...and I'm happy to report that I knew exactly where my babe was every minute of the last 24 hours.
That was the scariest thing. Kiss your babies and keep them safe.

'night.

Vivian & Wil

I'm thinking of your beautiful family today, seeing how hard the Raleigh area was hit by the storms yesterday.
Love you!

Brian and Brooks too - hope they're ok.

hugs!

sunshine, fresh air, pudding and K

It was a beautiful sunshine-y Sunday and I made a point of getting outside & enjoying it. I grabbed Kirsten & we went for a 5.75 mile walk. It was a good thing. I've been kind of down of late for so many reasons, and some quiet, active sunshine was the perfect lift. 
Of course, then I logged into WoW for raid night and there was none. :o(  There were some of my favorite voices over vent, but yeah - we were short people again. We had enough for a heroic and a wand attempt for Ari (no dice) then Vern got home and I surrendered his computer and went for another walk with my K.
Thank goodness for sunshine, fresh air, friendly voices & Kirsten.
...And my pillow. And late night blogging from bed.
Yeah.
Now if only I had me some pudding.
Things would seem better if there was pudding. :)


'night blogland!

Kirsten Rocks

My girlie nailed her part at her school talent show today! 
She looked & sounded so beautiful. I'm totally proud of her! She's happy that she went through with it & I'm so happy that it was a positive experience for her. The 3 girls are having (yet another) sleepover to celebrate the fun they had onstage together. (They slept at Kiana's last night too - so that they could get all ready & primped as a group this morning.) It's been quite the day for them. :)
Thank you Lauren for the drive to the school. I always enjoy your company. 
I have a video & Laurie had her camera too - but I have no way to upload the flip as of yet. It exists though, so once I have a working computer I'll share. Well, unless I find the flip software before my computer gets resurrected - then I could use Vern's comp to upload & share. 


Anyway, just had to tell the world how awesome my Kirsten is. I love watching her perform. She's so awesome!

just some words tonight

Thank you Dissension friends for our raid tonight. I needed some play time. :)
I'm sorry mom that I didn't call you on your birthday. I hope to do better on Mothers' Day. :)
Slow down Maiah. You're growing up way too fast.
Thank you Dixie, for always thinking of me.
You're amazing Helena. When's the last time I let you know how much I enjoy knowing you, in the small way that I do?
Shhhh... It's okay Elijah. No more spider. Go back to bed sweetie.
Go get 'em Kirsten! Hope your first play practice goes well tomorrow & I can't wait to cheer you on at the talent show on Friday! 
Hang in there Lauren! Pregnancies have their fun times too. :)
I love you monkeys! Sweet dreams my beautiful kiddos. 
Please mail-person, bring me the papers I need in order to be able to go to my biometric appointment.
And please Melissa, no more mistakes in our paperwork.
Hey Robin, please squish my nephews for me. :)
Congratulations Tyler on being done with persuasive essays, hopefully forever. lol
Mercy, life. I don't think I can handle any more things going wrong right now.

hugs!

abcd efg hijk lmnop qrs tuv wxy and z sing with me!

Is it really Thursday already? I am such a slacker! My apologies. :)
Let's see... Well, I am still gimped in the photograph department. (A fact I find quite depressing, actually, though I have planned a work-around or two. So sneaky, I know, but I can promise that this entry will not just be another boring wall of text.)

So here we go with the week so far in my little world. Alphabetically for kicks!

Another random post is about to happen. Sorry!
I've been helping Brandon level his warlock a little bit in WoW. Fun stuff! I may finally finish levelling mine and actually learn how to play one. :)
Of  course C is for cuddles! They are a much-needed daily dose of sunshine for me. :)
Dear Vivian, I thought of you lots yesterday. (the 5th) I hope you had a fabulous birthday!

Elijah has decided that he wants to be a rock star when he grows up. Such cuteness! lol I think that Lego Rockband may be responsible, at least in part, for this decision. :)
My whole Family has been singing Forget You lately. Blame Kirsten. And Glee. Yeah. :)

Gosh, I'm only on G? This is gonna take awhile... :P
Have I mentioned yet that I want pudding? Yeah, it's 3 am, I can't sleep and I want pudding. Mmmmm... :)
I have not been running lately. My gym membership ran out & we haven't been able to renew it yet, and my treadmill belt has needed to be oiled for months now, rendering it unusable. Yeah, another no-go. My life seems to be filled with those things of late. Bummer. :(
I Just changed two pillowcases, Maiah's diaper, her pajamas & the sheets beneath her. Her diaper soaked through. Ick. No wonder she's having a big middle-of-the night awake period. Maybe she'll get warm & comfy now that she's dry.:p
Kirsten and two of her friends are trying out for their school talent show tomorrow. Wish them luck! There will be flippage of their performance at the show, of course!
I had my Last can of diet vanilla Pepsi earlier. Sadness. :(
Maiah still hasn't gone back to sleep. She keeps tickling my lower back, giggling and saying "mommy's butt!" and "got you!" So cute, but I swear it's just my back. :p
Another No-go: The race I wanted to run this month. Registration never happened & training fell apart with the whole gym thing, so yeah. I plan to go cheer the runners on though, to motivate me for September. :)
Of course, the lack of gym membership paired with the fact that I actually still get hungry (even when I don't work out) has me feeling positively chunky. Sometimes I hate that I like food. o.O
Mmmmm... Pudding please! And sunshine too - so I can run outside. And the stupid expensive lube for my treadmill. And my gym membership. While we're at it could we fix my computer? And Vern's? And, and... Okay, yeah, I could really use some pudding. :P
I'll Quit whining. Sorry!
Richard is still MIA. :( He told Pain (I think ...or someone) that he'd be gone a couple weeks or something, but yeah - I miss him. We have this core group of people that have played together for so long - I honestly worry/miss them when real life happens and they disappear. (*cough* Yen... *coughcough* Canc & Oshee ...It'll be *cough/bonkLorecough* soonish if he stays gone. :p) I guess it's dumb, we just play a game and all, but these are some of my most favorite-est people ever and they matter to me. It's not as much fun when they go away. :(
It is Spring! And it hasn't snowed in a day and a half! And the next storm isn't here yet. Yay!
Oh, and my Tulips are looking good so far, despite the crazy Utah weather. I hope they hang in there. We'll see. :)
My Usual happy things list has been impaired with my photography, working out/running, WoW, blogging and such all being impacted in negative ways right now. And there's the guilt that stems from Kori's wedding pictures being stuck just because I am. I'm used to being stuck in some ways, but lately life has been a little ridiculous. :(
All I can say is thank goodness for monkey cuddles. And pudding.  And yeah, bring on the damn tulips! :)
(Oooh, I wonder if I can remember how to get into my photobucket account - I could put up my old Spring banner - it had some happy tulips! I'd make a new one, but yeah. Not an option.)
Vern's computer is sick. He was trying to re-format it tonight but it was still not acting right at first, and he started to wonder if it was a hardware issue. Not sure yet what it was, but I'm really hoping he can get it back up and running so that I can continue to use it to play & blog while mine is collecting dust, waiting for parts. *crosses fingers*
Wait, I was supposed to stop whining. Let me think of some happy things to share. Hmmm... I was told last night by 3 different people that I don't look my age. (We all know I love it when that happens. lol) I had mentioned Brandon's age & was told I don't look at all old enough to be his mom - 2 ladies had guessed that I was 13 years younger?! Yeah, I do love those moments. Especially when they happen in 3s!
Oh, and it happened at an art eXhibit at BYU that I ended up going to. It was a girls night that I was unsure about, but that ended up being fun. If you ever find yourself on campus, go to the BYU Creamery on 9th street. Seriously yummy burgers & fries at the grill, and the ice cream & waffle cones are so good. :)
Yet another person I was speaking to the other day looked at me when I spoke of loving shaking a brand new bag of milk as a kid - getting it nice and foamy, then making a tiny hole in the corner & squeezing out the yummy bubbles straight into my mouth. Mmmmmm... :) Everyone I say "bag of milk" to here thinks I'm crazy. I promise I'm not. At least not about this. :p So I looked up some pictures of said format online. Here's what I'm talking about - milk... in bags... sold in Canada... consumed by happy little kiddos like I once was. Oh, and this first one shows a milk jug, like the ones we all put the bags in, after we sliced the corner off for pouring. :)

 

(No copyright infringement intended - these are not my images. I'm grateful these photos existed online to demonstrate what my own words could not.)

Zzzzzzzzzz... Time to find my pillow.
'night!

o.O

Okay, so while it was so sunny and beautiful this past week I kept hearing "but it's going to snow this weekend." I figured it would. This is Utah after all. :p
What I wasn't expecting was snow that was heavy enough to break one of our trees. o.O It wasn't just a limb either. The trunk was v-shaped and it split in the middle from the weight on one half. My neighbor is gonna love it - she's always said she can't see well pulling out because of our pretty pink trees. Well there she goes. The closest half of the one closest to her driveway is laying across ours. :(
I wish I could share a picture of this craziness. :p
Instead I'm just sending out hugs & wishing everyone a happy Sunday!

girls only

Kirsten & I have had some good opportunities to hang out and talk lately. Girls nights/days kind of rock. :)
On Thursday we sat out on the driveway with Maiah & Elijah, enjoying the sunshine & creating some awesome sidewalk chalk art. It was fun! We need to get some more sidewalk chalk. And we need more sunny days. :)
We watched mobbed together last night. Awesome proposal/wedding! The girl freaking out and being so emotional was some seriously good watching. We decided that from now on any guy who proposes to his girl, no matter how much thought or heart he puts into it is going to be asked "um, where are my dancers?" Okay, so we're mostly kidding, but it was a fun show.
Then tonight Tangled brought tears. It was an I laughed, I cried, it moved me Bob kind of movie. "You were my new dream..." "you were mine..." *sniff* So sweet. :)
It's been nice enough for evening walks this week too. (Well, non freezy-cold ones. It's not like we didn't walk all winter - it was just less enjoyable. :p) I love that tradition of ours. More talking. And exercise. And chocolate. Well, usually. ;) Oh, and she can still find Orion on a clear night like I taught her. Good girl. :)
Kirsten is way too hard on herself, like most girls are, and she's every bit emotional as I remember being at that age. Maybe worse. lol She has some good friends, and there are some girls I'd like to strangle on her behalf. (Okay, so I'm mostly kidding again, but I still think girls are mean and wish I could do more than just listen & try to help her through these years.) Jr. High is seriously difficult stuff at times, but those can also be some totally fun years to look back on. She's a lot like I was, though I'd say she's better off in some ways and is dealing with her own issues and circumstances. I think she'll be okay. I hope so.
I wish I could share some pics of my beautiful Kirstie Leigh. And of our awesome sidewalk chalk art. Or something. Soon I hope. Blogging without pictures is only half as fun.
For now though I'm going to sneak me in a WoW turn. I waited all night for a free computer. 
It's me time. :)


Later!