Only the silliest photo shoot ever

DECADE! Asha 1997-2007

They just dont know

I dont remember what we were talking about (as I was laughing too hard) but Lexy's reply was *said so matter of factly* "They just don't know the power of Greyskull." And another generation of He-Man fans is born.

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Yum yum pancake batter

Hooligans!

A bunch of hooligans at the park. Ok, it's really Kiernan and his best buddies, Jeff and Nathan at the park. I kept asking them, "Why are you sitting in the snow? Why not sit on the dry sidewalk or park bench?" Because they want to. I found Jeff laying in the snow face down. "Are you ok?" "Yeah, I'm just resting." Aaaalrighty then

Nice days are made for bike riding

Nice days are made for bike riding. Kiernan on his new bike that Santa brought him.

On our way to the park

I think it's time for a new bike.

Food eaten in one week around the world

This was originally sent to me in an email but I found it online as well. Very interesting!

http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519_1373664,00.html

Way too many movies

I have slowly been reclaiming my house from the holidays On a whim I decided to pick up one of the movie shelves from the local rental place that is going out of business $20 got me this massive shelf I figured it would take quite a while to fill it up It's almost full!

Talk about being out of the loop!

We just got a phone call from my nephew that one of Mikes favorite authors (David Gemmel) died--back in 2006! We didn't even realize. He wife finished writing his series for him.

What Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Nevadans

I am quite sure this is one of those forwarded emails that you modify to fit your state, but this one was just way too true and made me laugh.

• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't work there, you live in Nevada.
• If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Nevada.
• If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed the wrong number, you live in Nevada.
• If "vacation" means going anywhere south of Salt Lake City for the weekend, you live in Nevada.
• If you measure distance in hours, you live in Nevada.
• If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Nevada.
• If you have switched from "heat" to "A/C" and back again in the same day, you live in Nevada.
• If you install security lights on your house and garage but leave both unlocked, you live in Nevada.
• If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Nevada.
• If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Nevada.
• If the speed limit on the highway is 75 mph -- you're going 80, and everyone is still passing you, you live in Nevada.
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Nevada.
• If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction, you live in Nevada.
• If you find 10 degrees "a little chilly" you live in Nevada.

Our Christmas card for 2008

Alexia's family portrait. I can't get over how detailed it is for a 3 year old. She knows she's smaller than her brother (who she told me wasn't having a good day), daddy has a mustache (yet no arms) and mommy is bigger than everyone (I like to think it's because I'm more important).

Wii would like to play

I'm obsessed with Wii Tennis. I've never really been all that interested in the game before but now I find myself playing every night. Like I rush around in the evening putting the kids to bed, cleaning up etc so I can play for at least an hour. My fracking arm is killing me!! I feel as if I have been playing real tennis. I must remember that the controller is not as heavy as a real racket and I don't need to hit it that hard. It huuuurts so bad. It's just aching right now from my rotator cuff to my shoulder and down my shoulder blade. Will I play again tonight? HELL YES!

And I just found an article that says it burns calories! It must because after that hour I am sweating like crazy and I'm breathing hard. SWEET! Exercise I like :)

http://tinyurl.com/2my2fp

TERRIFIC!

My husband and I were laying in bed last night and it suddenly hit me....no literally, this fart just hit me in the face. Oh my GOD! ARGH! What did you EAT!? He's laying with his back to me giggling. The giggling starts winding down and I said, "You should name it." He said, "I name it Wilbur." "Wilbur?" I reply? "Uh, huh. That's SOME fart." We must have laughed for a solid two minutes before he chokes out, "TERRIFIC!" It's still making me laugh this morning.

You On a Diet

I just watched most of a program called "You on a Diet." It was very interesting indeed I think I'm going to TiVo it and watch it.

Katara

Whatcha doing asks Katara She is so sweet Im very excited to finally have a cat who likes to cuddle

She wants to be a kitty too!

Just laying on the stairs like the kitties do

The Storm of the Century and the Wedding of the Year

That's what they're calling this massive amount of snow dumping on our heads right now (Reno, NV). My mom starting sending me pictures of the snow from her house about 3:30 yesterday while I was at work. She decided that she was going to send me pictures every 20 minutes until I got freaked out enough to leave work. I was like HA HA mom, you live so far out of town that it's only snowing really hard there. My husband called, Nah, it's only sprinkling but not sticking. Mom keeps sending me pictures and signing her emails, "Worried Mom" "Nervous Mom." I'm getting slightly worried at this point but not enough to leave work. Then my husband texts me, "Listen to your mother. It's sticking. You need to leave." Ooook.

I need to go home! I told my boss. "Absolutely, get out of here." Let's take a moment here--Where I work is like a family. We argue like crazy, we come up with great ideas and solutions together and we care about each other like family. Not one of my bosses thinks work is worth risking your life for.

I left and went to pick up my kids. By the time I picked up the second child it was coming down pretty good. Well, not as pretty good as where I had to drive to up in the North Valleys. The closer I got to home, the worse it got. And the wind was whipping around the car. I kept my cussing to the barest minimum. I did say, "ass" twice. As in "Our car kicks ASS!" There were cars every on the sides of the road. We slid a little but the car did good.

Until we got to Anderson Hill. Anderson Hill is a really steep hill between Red Rock and Cold Springs on 395 North towards the California border. I knew if I was going to have problems that it was there. For a brief moment I thought of stopping at the gas station in Red Rock and trying to cable up in a relatively controlled situation. The exit looked pretty bad and it looked like cars were making it. I'm going for it! I only made it about a 1/4 of the way. I called Mike to let him know I was going to cable up. The cables are new and Mike had explained them to me a few weeks back and how they were more simple to use.

As soon as I slid to a stop, my daughter started to cry. My son wanted to know why we were stopping and I could hear the panic in his voice. I explained to them what I was going to do and that I needed for them to be brave and keep each other company. Right before I got out of the car I thought, HEY what if someone hits me? I reached over to my cell phone and flipped it up. I pointed to the keys on the phone and showed my 8 year old son how to speed dial his dad and I handed it to him. I reassured them that everything was going to be ok and I got out of the car.

The cables were actually extremely simple and would have been simple to use if there wasn't so much snow!!! I remember Mike saying that the wheels needed to be slightly turned so I quick turned them. My arms weren't long enough to reach around!!! I strained to pull and they weren't getting where they needed to be. I felt a little bubble of panic start to float up but quickly shoved it back down. I pulled hard enough to get them to connect but they weren't snapped into place. I did the same on the other side and got into the car. As we pulled up the hill I could hear the cables wapping against my wheel wells but HEY we were moving and quite well to boot. We had to stop a little further up for a REAR WHEEL DRIVE truck that was stuck smack dab between the two lanes. There was no way he could go foward and refused to go back so he stopped both lanes of traffic. Nice. And we eventually got home. The kids spent about 5 minutes telling their dad about how brave they were (in my daughter's case, she was "bwave.") I was putting down my things in the kitchen and my son came up to me and quietly asked, "I was brave mom, huh." I told him that he was VERY brave. I could hear him in the back seat taking deeeep breaths and telling his sister about how everything was going to be ok. It brings tears to my eyes even now. He was so brave.

The wedding I am going to miss in about 30 minutes was indeed going to be the wedding of the year. Besides my best friend's Halloween wedding with a costume party as a reception, this was going to be awesome. The 2 people getting married are former co-workers who met at work. You will never meet another couple in the world as suited as them. Apart they are amazing but together...there isn't a word to describe them. Last November they went out for a nice dinner at a local upper crust Italian restaurant. At one point he excused himself from the table. He came back and took her hand and said, "Come here." She figured he saw a mutual friend who wanted to say hi. She came around the corner into the back part of the restaurant and there were several of his music fraternity friends from the east coast (all had flown from the east coast to be a part of his asking her to marry him--he is that kind of friend to them). They all sang a beautiful song to her and at the end he asked her to marry him. It was beautiful. And it's snowing right now. Snowing hard. And I know that only about 100 of the 250 people she invited will be able to make it. Even her Maid of Honor is stuck on the east coast because no one can fly into Reno. I'm so incredibly sad because a girl should have the wedding she dreams of. This girl should have the wedding of her dreams.

*sigh*

Classmates

So about a bazillion years ago (ok so maybe last January) I signed up for Classmates.com then basically completely forgot about it. I was checking an email address I don't check that often and there were all kinds of Classmates emails in there. Huh? I belong to Classmates? I do! So anywho, I spent about an hour updating the thing (adding a bio, pics etc). I found an email in there from my ex-fiance from last February that started with, "So Bobbie and I are still married..." If that isn't true love, what is? His only picture? He and his wife standing in front of Graceland. I have a very strict rules of not talking politics, religion or Elvis with people I don't know that well. I see now why we didn't work out.

No, I'm Optimus Prime

No My other nephew Evan is really Optimus Prime. Will the real Optimus Prime please stand up?

I'm Optimus Prime

My nephew Luke is really Optimus Prime

Poor baby

Texted from Mike (Lexy has been throwing up since early this morning) "Lexy just told me "thank you for letting me not throw up. I'm going to tell all my friends."
HAHAHAA!

Are you jealous?

Alexia is sitting on the stairs making Potato Head people then showing them to her brother and cousin saying "Are you jealous?"

Kiernan and Logan

Kiernan and his cousin Logan had a late night of video game playing. I watched a movie until about 2:15 am and they were still going strong. I told them they giggled like a bunch of little girls which only made them giggle more. Mike found them huddled under one blanket this morning and Logan had his jacket draped around his shoulders.

Get yours while they last

Get your fresh kid heads while they last!

Funniest thing I've heard today

In the used game store a woman said to the clerk, "I need a game for my daughter." To which the clerk replied, "Boy or a Girl?" Hmmm

The world's saddest reindeer

The world's saddest reindeer. Ballet class was rough tonight. The end of the routine calls for all the "reindeer" to run to the center of the room and together pick up a giant present over their heads. Alexia didn't make it the first couple of times and then the waterworks started. Every routine ended in her running to me crying, "NOT AGAIN!!!" The next day I told her that in the actual routine it would be OK if she didn't make it on time and it would be OK if she could only help lift the present up. She's so much shorter than everyone else that once she lifts it up it's out of her reach. She said that she could do it and not cry.

Awkwaaaaaaaaaaaaard

So I sent one of our family housing tenants an eviction notice because you can’t have more than 3 people living in an apartment. If you’re a married couple you can only have one dependent child. From all accounts, this guy’s wife was super pregnant and due practically at any time. So I’ve been pestering the coordinator out there to send them a letter giving them their 30 days notice. I’ve been doing it for weeks now and finally decided to take manners into my own hands and send them the letter myself. The student called me on Friday to say yes, his wife had their baby but that the baby was basically fighting for its live in ICN and probably won’t make it. So while they have a second child, their second child has never come home. *groan*

Kitties of the Serengeti

They are sitting at the top looking for the dog. They're getting braver every day!

Katara takes a step

This may seem like only one step but it's a huge leap for kitty kind.

Where's my money!?

I’ve been moonlighting as Events Staff at the local events arena for sports and concerts this semester. It’s nice because I can work when I want and as long as I call within 24 hours of the call time I can cancel when I want. I worked a basketball game this past Saturday night. I guess my daughter didn’t realize I had left and asked her daddy, “Where’s mommy?” “She’s making money.” “What’s the money for?” “Oh, to buy you the stuff you and your brother want.” She seemed to digest this and watched some cartoons. I walked into the house and said, “Hi Lexy.” “Where’s my money!?”
I laughed pretty hard because it reminded me of this www.funnyordie.com/videos/74
Mike thought it was funny because he didn’t even have to coach her.

The newest members of our family

Here is Sokka (all black) and Kitara (black & white), the 5 1/2 month old brother and sister kitties we got last week. Mike found them during an adoption drive for PAWS at the local pet store. The clerk told him cheerfully, "If you take them both I'll give them to you for 2 for 1." Kitties should always come in pairs anyways. They've never lived outside a cage before they came to our house and I'm pretty sure they haven't had to deal with kids before. They're living in Kiernan's room for now. He has a lofted bed so they can't spend the day hiding under the bed. They are soooo cute!!

Yuss!

I just tried on my size 12 jeans and they FIT! They are tight but I didnt have to lay down to put them down :-D

From the desk of Alexia

This is the letter she wrote and the translation from her teacher

Is it just me?

Or does gingerbread smell much better than it tastes?

I weighed in today 3.6 pounds GONE!

The Dentist

I do SO like my new dentist I do so NOT like going to the dentists Owww!

I'm not tired!

I think this was right before she decided she wasnt tired

WOLF PACK!

My Wolf Pack girl

Picture Day!

It's picture day! Her brother helped her do her hair which made her cry. She stopped crying long enough to let me snap this shot. She looks so grown up. And Kiernan actually did a really good job at fixing her hair.

Do kitties pray?

Do kitties pray?

Toes

She wanted me to take a picture of her toes. This is one girl who likes her bubbles

Queen Alexia

The princess has arrived home. Where are her people?!

Only the best mom EVER!

Walk the plank!!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg Matey!

A pumpkin from Bizarro World

The finished pumpkin. I know what you're thinking, that it's upside down. Nope, that's how she made it.

A pumpkin in the making

Making a pumpkin face

Dats a Wecipe!

We stopped for gas last night on the way home during a pretty exciting lightning storm. I was trying to explain to Lexy what lightning was and how it crackles and sizzles. Just then a big one flashed near us. I said "WOAH!" pretty loud. "Dats a wecipe!" she said matter of factly. "Recipe for what, baby?" "Disastah."

*snort*

It's true, I hate needles!

I had to have a fasting blood draw this morning. For those of you who don’t know me as well, I am very phobic of needles. I can’t look at them without my body sending out panic signals. I’ve been stuck my needles so much in the past few years that I’ve just learned to keep my panic under control (I usually have nightmares about the blood draw later). So I get to the clinic and am led back to the blood draw room. There are several people standing around in white coats but it became apparent quickly that one was the supervisor and the only one who is not wearing a white coat is her trainee. The Supervisor looks at my arm and declares my vein to be easy and tells the trainee, “You can do this one.” The panic signals go off but I quickly began talking myself down from the panic quickly rising up in my throat. “I can do this. I can do this.” Someone else preps my arm while the trainee putts around; she’s shuffling papers & talking. So when it’s time to come to my arm, she starts to prep. “No, I’ve done the prep for you,” says one of the white coats. “Oh, thank you.” So the white coats are basically talking her through it. I just shut my eyes and took a deep breath. PAIN! Only the worst blood draw EVER! And trainee keeps apologizing ad nauseum. “Sorry” “Sorry” “Sorry”

Then comes the blood pressure cuff. And shocker, my blood pressure is high. I’m completely freaked out! She takes it 3 times with an automated cuff. My arm is aching so bad by the 2nd try that my fingers are starting to turn white. She ends up taking it 5 times and the doctor a 6th. My arm feels like it wants to fall off Oh, and at the end of the 5th try, trainee decides that my blood draw tape and gauze are in the way of her stethoscope and without a warning, decides to rip it off! I yelped because IT FREAKIN HURT! I pulled my arm away and told her I would remove the rest.

So I have to go back to have my blood pressure taken. I can’t drink any caffeine and need to avoid salty food (including the Weight Watcher meals I’ve been bringing for lunches) for at least 24 hours (as I drink my coffee). Trainee takes me up to the front to reschedule me. Monday isn’t good because I’m in a meeting. Thursday isn’t good because I have something else at the same time she wants me to come in. At this point she’s angrily flicking the scheduling pages back and forth and finally settles on tomorrow. “Can you come in tomorrow at 10?” she asked tersely. Yes, I can do that.. While she’s writing my name in I realize Heck, all I have to eat for lunch today is a Weight Watcher meal (which I’m not supposed to eat for 24 hours). Then I say this out loud. BIG mistake! Now remember, she’s already mad at me. She looks up at me with flames in her eyes (pinky swear) and says, “We were both there when the doctor told you that you were not supposed to eat one of those within 24 hours of coming in.” Obviously I must be a child. I said, “Yes, I was there. I’m just wondering out loud what I should have for lunch.” I then said, “On Weight Watchers you have to write down everything you eat so I’ve written down everything for the day until dinner.” She looks at me like I’m stupid, “Well, can’t you just erase it?” “Well of course I can, but now I have to figure out what I’ll eat instead. I can’t just run home and pack a new lunch.” I’m mad at this point because she is being so incredibly rude and disrespectful and because I’m completely freaked out by the needle poke and want to cry.

Now I’m debating whether I want to call her boss and reschedule and whether or not I want to recommend that trainee not work with the public anymore. She's obviously not the worst person I've ever had a conversation with but WTF?! To me, it's takes extra energy just to be that incredibly rude.

So skewy

This IS her scary face

Not fun

I have strep and so far it's not very much fun

Dance Kiernan Dance!

Kiernan pretty much dances just like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cNDSPutas8

Laundry mat delimma

Ok Do I use the potentially scary laundry mat bathroom or hold it and wait?

Muse is an awesome band I almost wrote "great" but they really are AWESOME Their album Black Holes & Revelations is 1 of my favs

Sitting at the laundry mat

2 blankets are dried and 1 to go Of course its the biggest one So I sit here and text and listen to Muse

I find it hilarious that a Dorky Dog dance really exists But it does

Its almost the end of my Weight Watchers session I have wrestled with myself the entire time! Apparently Im more unruly than I thought

I splurged and bought new belly dance music and belly dance DVD's I got like 5 of each Now when to get the time to watch them

So Im sitting in the laundry mat washing my blankets I brought my laptop only to discover the batteries were dead And of course the cord is home

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Not doing so hot at the picking out presents for other people

When it comes to dancing, Kiernan has a style all his own

Lexy's First Ballet Lesson

When I went to pick up Lexy from school last week we saw one of her friends getting ready to go to her first ballet lesson. As we drove away from school Lexy said, "I wanna go to ballet." "Really?" "Yeah, I wanna go to ballet!" So we drove around the block and went towards the community center. She couldn't dance because she hadn't paid for the class but she was excited enough to want to sign up and come back. We left from class and went to buy tights, leotard and ballet shoes. She and Kiernan spent 40 minutes that night dancing around her bedroom (yes, Kiernan is dancing).

So last night was her first lesson. All the little girls were adorable. The first thing all the girls do is sit with their teacher while she takes roll.
After she finishes taking roll they all start their warm up. She warms them up just like they were a grown up class. They did jumping jacks (HAHAHA!), side bends, toe touching...you name it.

What patience the ballet teacher has!

For the first 20 minutes or so the girls were totally focused but after that 20 minute mark the younger ones started to get a little tired. That's when the random leaping and jumping started. There were groups of spinning baby ballerinas everywhere. At 30 minutes Lexy's face was red and she was panting from all the dancing she'd done. By the time class was done it was like herding cats :)

Lexy had so much fun that afterwards she wanted to keep her tutu on at dinner so everyone could see it.

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Walking back from the park

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Pedal pedal pedal

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The Ballerina and her Brother