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Tuesday, June 28, 2011

365 - Day 267

Behind again.  I'm in the middle of Quarter End week (read HELL WEEK), so I won't be able to catch up, but I do have lots to post when I can.  This last weekend was filled with fun.

1.  My Mom turned 60!  We had a big surprise party for her on Saturday.  She was actually surprised. Success!

2.  Quiet.  At this exact moment everyone but me is asleep and the house is peaceful.  Such a nice sound.

3.  My job.  That's a reminder to myself during the week I don't like it the most!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

365 - Day 266

1.  Early morning dance parties.

2.  Having children who love each other.  Seeing them constantly express affection for one another is adorable.  I hope that lasts!

3.  My hubby's car sold quickly!  A lot faster than I assumed it would.  Now to get something new!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

365 - Day 265

1.  Fresh, juicy strawberries straight from the garden.

2.  Belle was such a big helper to me today.  Elias had a few naughty moments and Belle jumped right in to help clean up without a single complaint.

3.  Tonight feels cooler than last night.  All the windows are open and a deliciously cool breeze is flowing throughout the house.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

365 - Day 264

1.  Heat and ice cream bars.  I will not complain since I was complaining we weren't having a summer for so long.

2.  A good book to read.

3.  Being married to my best friend.

Monday, June 20, 2011

A Close Encounter Of A Third Kind

The locker room at the gym is a foreign place to me.  It's somewhere I don't think I'll ever feel 100% comfortable.  At least, not as long as women of all ages and sizes are walking around chatting it up while naked or a naked woman with a 70's bush is blow drying it with a hair dryer.  I thought that was the weirdest thing I'd encounter in the locker room.  I was wrong.

Last week after I completed a strenuous workout I went into the locker room to take a shower.  On my way into the shower, I saw who my friend and I have affectionately dubbed "the crazy old Asian lady."   What makes her crazy?  Not the fact that she's mid 70's at least, or the fact that she barely speaks English.  It's her crazy wild hair that looks trollish and like she hasn't brushed/washed it in years.  That and that she acts a bit "off"".  On my walk back to my locker after taking a shower I noticed she was still just wandering around.  I'm not one of those "let-it-all-hang-out-girls" and dress quickly and as discreetly as possible.  I felt someone staring at me as I was halfway dressed.  I turned and saw it was her.  Staring me down a few feet away.  "Creepy", I thought.  I turned back to quickly finish and then felt eyes on the other side of me.  I looked to the left.  It was her again!  She went around to the other side to scope me out!  By this point I was really getting weirded out.  I finished dressing and went over to the mirrors to fix my makeup.  Within seconds the crazy lady was standing right next to me staring me down.  The following describes my close encounter of a third kind:

Crazy Lady: "How old you?
Me: "Excuse me?"
Crazy Lady: "How old you are?"
Me: "How old am I?  I'm 33."
Crazy Lady: "33?!!!  NOOOO!  Look 24!  No wrinkle!"
Me: *laughed* "Um, thanks." *turns back to mirror*
Crazy Lady: *standing even closer now, inches away* "Where you go?  Where you from?"
Me: "Huh?????"
Crazy Lady: "Where go from?"
Me: "Um....I'm sorry I don't understand.  Where did I come from?  Like what class?"
Crazy Lady: "No!  Work, where work?"
Me: "Oh....a...at a computer company" *figuring the shortest most high level answer is best*
Crazy Lady: "Oh you smaaaaaaaaaaaart!"
Me: *laughs* "Thank you!"
Crazy Lady: "You marry? Have babies?"
Me: "Yes, married with 2 babies"
Crazy Lady: "Married TWO BABIES?!"  *THEN GRABS MY STOMACH WITH BOTH OF HER HANDS* "NO LOOK HAVE 2 BABIES!!!"
Me: *shock* "Ummmmmmm, thank you?" *backs away slowly*
Crazy Lady:  "33, no 33, look 24, no wrinkle, smaaaaaart, BUT MARRIED HAVE 2 BABIES. NO LOOK HAVE 2  BABIES." 

She shook her head in disgust and walked away.  I stood there with my mouth a gap wondering what just happened.  I haven't been back to the gym since.  I'm getting up the courage to go tomorrow.  With my friend.  I need the support.  I'm also planning on giving her a little nudge forward in case I spy the Crazy Lady so she can experience a close encounter of her own! :)

365 - Day 263

Father's Day!

1.  I won the dad lottery and got the best dad ever.  Love my Dad.  He's such a wonderful Father and Grandfather.  Such a great example of what a loving, caring, giving man should be.

2.  I won the husband/baby daddy lottery and got the best husband/baby daddy ever.  Nothing makes me fall in love with him more than watching my Hubby with our 2 little munchies.  He's such a good Daddy it makes me melt just thinking about how much he loves them and them him.

3.  My Brothers, Cousin, and Father-in-Law are all fabulous daddies as well!  It's a blessing having so many fabulous fathers in our family.

365 - Day 262

Well, now that that's over, let's get back to business!

1.  My niece Liberty turned 5!  I can't believe how quickly she's grown.  Seems just like yesterday she was just a little Bitty!  Happy Birthday Bitty Rose! Cheers!

2.  Fabulous time at my Bro & Sis' house for Bitty's bday party.  Who doesn't love a PiƱata?

3.  Last dinner with my Sis & the kids before they went home.  Bitter sweet!  Loved having them out here.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Sun, Fun, Another Piercing, and Dinner

Today the kids and I headed over to the pool my parents belong to with my Mom, Sister, her kids, and my Bro and his two little ladies.  Sans the wicked sunburn I ended up taking home, it was a great time!  The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  I'm sure I will be sore tomorrow from catching Elias a thousand times.  He loved jumping off the side over and over as well as having me and his Uncle J throwing him back and forth.  What a little fish he is!  Belle loved "swimming" with her cousins, wearing goggles, and playing with noodles.  Uncle J provided us with much entertainment with his fancy dives off the diving board.  I'm thinking he'll be feeling that tomorrow too!  Getting older is a B fasho! 

After our time at the pool and going back to Grammy's to get cleaned up we headed over to the mall for another first time piercing.  This time it was my Mom's!  It took her almost 60 years, and she finally "found her brave!" as Belle would say!  After much hounding, she gave in and did it!  5 of her grandchildren and her daughters were present for the big event.  She did great!  We were all proud, and the kids and Grammy walked out with lollipops.  The whole gang headed over to Red Robin to meet Grandpa for dinner.  After a day of swimming we were all starving and exhausted (and I'll admit to being crabby.  Sunburn, exhaustion, and me don't mix well!). 

It was a long fun day.  Back to the grind tomorrow.  Maybe I'll get some rest! :) 
















365 - Day 261

1.  Fun day at the pool with my Sis & her kids, my bro & his kids, Mom, and my kids. 

2.  My Auntie! It's her birthday today.  Wishing her a fabulous year filled with blessings.  She's the best Auntie in the world and I love her completely.

3.  Aloe Vera.  I got a wicked sunburn on my shoulders today.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A Week in Pictures

Girl Time with Leianna!


Field Day!







The "last *dance* supper"


Lost tooth/Last Day of School/Luau


Recital!

Pizza Party!

Cousin Fun!








First piercing, I'm so excited! (Guest Blog by Isabelle)

Today I got my ears pierced! At the beginning I was sooooooooooooooooooooo excited I got the "first time jitters",but in the middle,I got the "I changed my mind,I don't want to do it anymore". I was acting like a coo-coo baby,I tell you! You're getting bored?! Oh, you want to hear the real, exciting story? FINE...... I WILL TELL YOU, but you HAVE to keep it a secret!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Okay, here it goes. First of all, we start off at bedtime. Mama and me are talking about "earrings" and "getting your ears pierced"..... fell asleep.... morning came.... Jitters. We went to the mall then strait to Claire's. That's when the scary part came to me. "Ummm........no-thanks, mom, but thanks for offering. We had a talk. Then I made up my mind. "I'm going to do it."









Dots. They're the first thing. "Okay. What's so scary about that?"

NOTHING!!!!!!!!!! WITH MARKER. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
"Not PERMANENT marker." "PHEWWWW......"




This is a picture of one of my dots. Pretty impressive, huh?





"1...2...3...OUCH!!!!""Belle! Belle! Look in the mirror!", so I did. Tears shed over me because I thought I looked so beautiful!

And that's the end of my story.

It Began With A Conversation

Saturday night after the lights were out, Belle's prayers had been said, and I was tucking her in, she whispered, " Mommy, can you turn on the light and shut the door?  I need to have a conversation with you."
I did as she asked and her eyes welled up with tears as she said, "Mama, I think I might be brave enough to get my ears pierced. Can we go tomorrow on your birthday?" 

Back when she was a baby I had decided not to get her ears pierced until she was a little older and wanted them done.  I had heard horror stories of babies with pierced ears yanking them out, earlobes changing, etc.  I just wanted to give her the freedom of choice.  From the time she was a toddler on I told her numerous times she could get her ears pierced whenever she wanted.  At first her reply was, "When I'm five."  Five came and went and her answer changed to, "When I'm six."  Then it was, "I'm too scared too, when I'm older." 

She has to wear clip-on earrings for her dance competitions.  Clip-ons HURT.  I told her repeatedly that getting her ears pierced would hurt a lot less than that repeated pain.  I'm not sure if it was having to wear those darn clip-ons on Saturday that prompted this conversation or what, but she was suddenly feeling brave.  She asked me to tell her about what happened when I got mine pierced the first (and second) time.  With a huge smile and tears streaming down her face she said she wanted to do it on my birthday, BUT, she wanted to be able to change her mind if she wasn't feeling so brave the next day.  Fast forward to Sunday and she woke up brave.  She insisted she wanted to get them done after Hubby and I picked the kids back up after our date.  She also said she wanted to keep it a secret "in case my brave goes away."  Even though she threw out this disclaimer, as she walked into the In-law's house she proudly and loudly proclaimed, "I'M GETTING MY EARS PIERCED TODAY!" So much for a secret! 

She was still feeling brave when we picked her up, so off to the mall we went.  She was brave picking out the earrings, brave sitting in the chair getting marked up, but then her brave quickly went away for a second.  As the 2 ladies had the machines up to her ears she whispered in tears, "Mama, I changed my mind!  Can I please change my mind?!"  Through tears, watching a teen get double pierced, and a lot of talking (about 25 minutes worth) she found her brave.  So proud of her. 

365 - Day 260

1.  Day 2 of spending time with the fam.  We took the kids to a farm, I think it was a toss up between the kids loving the bunnies and the pigs the best.  Finally we have some heat and the kids all cooled off in the pool.  Another fun day.

2.  Having a husband that is ambitious and constantly strives to make things better for us and our future.

3.  An ice-cream cone on a hot day.

365 - Day 259

1.  After such a busy weekend it was nice to wake up on a Monday and NOT have to go to work!

2.  Time spent with my nieces, nephew, kids, Sis & Mom.

3.  Girl's night with my Sissy.  Dinner & a movie.  I love spending time together.  I truly wish we were able to do it on a regular basis. 

365 - Day 258

1.  MY BDAY!!!  Just have to repeat, thankful for my Pops' smoothness and my Moms' not having a headache 33 years & 40+ weeks ago. :)

2.  My 3 favorite peeps making me feel so special and loved.

3.  Date with my best guy.

365 - Day 257

1.  Belle's big recital was today.  It was very long, and a bit stressful as I had to run backstage to help her with costume and hair style changes.  She performed 4 dances total.  I know I am biased, but I still think I'm speaking the truth when I say she danced beautifully.  I think my baby was born to dance.  She just loves it so much and I think that is evident watching her.  During two of the dances I couldn't help but get teary watching her.  I'm so proud of her and of being her Mommy.

2.  After the recital all of the fam headed over to a local pizza joint for a pizza bday party for me/post recital lunch. Big thanks to my Love for organizing it. It was a lot of fun having my sister, brother-in-law, nieces and nephew in town for my bday.  I don't think that's happened for years, so it was really nice.  Both the hubby and I were also so thankful for all of our family that were in attendance for B's recital especially.  It means SO much to her for her family to watch her dance.  She was talking and asking months ago who was going to attend, and afterwards went on and on about how glad she was for everyone that was able to come.  She works her little butt off all year for this day, and it is so nice for her to have all the people she loves support her.

3.  Belle and I stopped at my Gram's on our way home from the party and had a very nice visit.  She hasn't been feeling well and I think the surprise cheered her up a bit.  It's always nice being able to spend some time together and get our hugs in.  Belle especially loves seeing and talking to her.  Gram has this little piano that has ballerinas dancing on the top of it that the two of them love to play and watch together.  I love seeing how much they love each other.

365 - Day 256

1.  Last day of work before a 5 day weekend!  Woot!

2.  Last day of school for my girl.  I now have a big 2nd grader!  Thankful that she had such a wonderful teacher again.  Belle is constantly amazing us with how much she's learning.

3.  B's afterschool care program put on a Luau to celebrate the last day of school.  She has such fabulous teachers there that care so much.  We are incredibly grateful for all of the people who are helping mold our little girl into the beautifully, smart, caring girl that she is.

365 - Day 255

1.  Took the day off to volunteer at B's school for Field Day.  Hooray for days off!

2.  Sun!  Finally!

3.  Thankful for the girl's school.  It's such a good school, and I love all of the activities that they put on for the kids.

365 - Day 254

Another whirlwind week has passed, but yet I have so much to be grateful for!  I'm going to try and knock out a few 365's tonight.  Thanks to my loyal readers for baring with me for slacking lately!  I check my stats/tracking so I can see who's coming back (and who's stalking), sorry for no new content lately!  I'll try to make that up soon as I do have a lot to catch up on.  On with the 365's.  We'll start with where I left off last week, Wednesday.

1.  Again, my lovely ILs helped us out with logistics and came over to watch the little man since I had to go into the office.  Love having both of our parents within driving distance to be able to help when we need it.

2.  Happy Hour with the work peeps since the big dog was in town.  Getting out of a work a bit early to go have a few laughs and Pear Cider ain't a bad deal.

3.  My Mama friends that kept an eye on our girl at dance.  It takes a village.  So glad I have one!

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

I'm All Grown Up

Belle: "Mommy, I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up yet!"
Me:  "That's okay sweetie, I'm not sure what I want to be when I grow up yet either."
Belle:  "HUH?  You're already all grown up!"
Me:  "I am?"
Belle:  "Yes silly!"
Me:  "Says who?"
Belle: *crickets*
Belle:  "Well....Mommy, you're all grown up already because you're a Mommy!"

I guess if she says so!

365 - Day 253

1.  Today was Belle's dress rehearsal for her dance recital.  It went really well and we were home by 7:00 pm, which is a lot earlier than expected!

2.  Kohl's cash and sales.  Scored a cute shirt and new earrings.

3.  Elias is thoroughly enjoying playing with his cousins during the day.

Monday, June 06, 2011

365 - Day 252

1.  One of the classes my friend and I take is called Nia.  Not only is the class itself enjoyable, but I truly enjoy the instructor.  She's a woman with a beautiful heart.  Just one of those people that is filled with light and love, and makes you feel better about yourself just by being around her. 

2.  I watched a documentary this weekend about the Death with Dignity law in Oregon.  It was so very sad, but also was a reminder of how precious life is.  I've taken some extra time due to watching this as well as a prompting from my Nia instructor to "say what I need to say". 

3.  Having a mom that is a brave, excellent Grandma!  I don't know if I could watch 6 kids all day with a smile and love it!  2 are a handful for me already!

365 - Day 251

1.  Hubby and I attended a friend's wedding.  She looked beautiful and so happy.  Thrilled for her.

2.  Spending time with my oldest niece Leianna.  She's growing up to be such a lovely young woman.  It was such fun to spend girly time with her doing her hair, makeup, and going shopping!  I enjoy being a girl!

3.  As crappy as working on the weekend is, I was thankful that I finally made some headway on a project.

365 - Day 249, 250

Day 249
1.  Our nephew Alonzo graduated HS.  Way to go Lonz!  So proud of the handsome, fabulous man you are!

2.  USHER!!!

3.  Night out!


Day 250
1.  My sissy and her fam are in town.  BBQ'd it up with them! Fabulous food, fabulous family! xoxo

2.  Memorial Day.  Incredibly grateful for all of our servicemen and women and all of their sacrifices.  Incredibly proud of my Dad, grandfathers, and great-grandfather for their service to this country.

3. 3 Day weekend, can't beat that!

OMG

I received a call from my bestie saying that her Auntie who has season tickets to the Kings won a box at the Arco Arena for the Usher concert that weekend.  The box was for 20 people and included food and drinks.  Hilarious thing is her Auntie isn't your typical Usher fan, but was thrilled just to win.  Finding 20 people though, not so easy for her.  Bestie knew it was last minute but asked if I could go.  Um, free concert in a suite with food, beverages, and my bestie?!  Heck yeah I'm in! 

It was a crap weather for the end of May, but the rain didn't stop us.  There ended up being a total of 12 of us, and an eclectic collection at that, but it was an amazing night!  So much fun, and I have to say that Usher was extremely impressive dancing and singing his butt off for over 2 hours straight!  Thanks for the invite Rinz, and thanks to your Auntie for winning!

Highlights of the evening:
-Akon singing his SNL Digital Short hit, hilarious!
-Smacking Kristy's bum to "Smack that". 
-People watching, holy crap, you ain't nothin' but a hoochie mama!  Plastic skanky girls in full force!  Tip of the day, just because something comes in your size (or 2 times too small) doesn't mean you should wear it.  Also, just because you may be able to afford purchasing such large, um, accessories, doesn't mean you should.
-Usher's Michael Jackson tribute. 
-Dancing with my girls!
-Laughing hysterically.
-"There Goes My Baby"...swoon.

Unfortunately I can't add videos from that evening (boo YouTube for blocking me!), but here's some pics!