Day 2--I'm Thankful For My Chillins

Monday, November 23rd--Many years ago I thought very little of myself. I thought I was undeserving of all the happiness others experience on a daily basis. I never thought I would find the perfect man to marry and if, by some miracle I did, we wouldn't be able to have children. I had no physical or health problems to back my feelings on this.

The day that pregnancy test was positive, the first time, I couldn't believe it. I had convinced myself it could never happen. Then a week later I was incredibly sick and had all the typical symptoms of a pregnant woman. I felt Elise move at 22 weeks pregnant.......it was so magical. She finally cooperated for Nate and moved for him at 24 weeks pregnant. It was all reality now and I finally believed I was deserving. I knew she would be born healthy and perfect, that confidence came from the most amazing blessing Nates dad, Dan, gave me. Dan gave me the same kind of blessing when I was pregnant with Brady. Both were born healthy and perfect.

I still have those moments where I am shocked and amazed at the fact that I'm a mom. It's not always an easy job but I experience moments of joy and happiness every day with these crazy kids. I love Elise & Brady SOOOO much and can't be thankful enough for being allowed to be their mom. I say it all the time, I hope I can always be the mom they deserve to have.

A Week of Thankfuls--Day 1, My Best Friend & Love of My Life

Sunday, November 22nd--Today I start another annual week of "thankfuls" for Thanksgiving. I admire those that have been able to do this for the whole month. While I haven't written it down, I find reasons every single day of my life that I am thankful for---a long list of reasons, I am so blessed.

Today, I am thankful for my most favorite person in the world, my Nathan. He's brought me to life, encouraged my confidence and just makes me a better person on a whole. He's incredibly romantic and showers me with affection on a daily basis. He's the most amazing dad! I've never seen such a devoted dad, it's so heartwarming. There's so many little things he does that I'm thankful for. I could go on and on (he truly is THAT amazing!) but really, he's the best thing that's come into my life. I look forward to so many more years happy years with Nate. I love him SOOO much!

Time To Paint!

Sunday, November 15th--While mom was getting things for the tree we're donating to the Festival of Trees, the kids had a hey day going through the craft store, Michaels, and wanting just about everything they got their little hands on. Needless to say, it got quite annoying! When I had got all the items I needed we let them grab some cheap crafts to take home and paint. Sunday night Nate opened them up and the kids started painting. Brady chose a wooden airplane and Elise chose a pair of ceramic animals. Elise LOVED painting her little creatures. Brady got bored pretty fast and let Elise take over the painting of his airplane. Between them both, they did a great job. You can tell they're both really proud of their accomplishments.

Playin' In the Snow

Sunday, November 15th--Last night we had some great snow fall so Nate got the kids dressed up warm for some morning play-time in the snow. They crammed all the typical snow-playing in (snow angels, snowman building, snow ball fights and a little eating of the clean stuff) before it was time to get ready for church. I think they really enjoyed themselves! Once their tooshes were frozen we brought them in and gave them nice, warm baths then time for church. The kids are looking forward to more snow soon!

Elise Got Bangs!

Saturday, November 14th--Well, it's been a very long time coming for Elise to get a hair cut. There's no good reason, I'm just a huge procrastinator. With Christmas coming, we always take family photos for our Christmas cards so I wanted Elise to have a new look. We drove down to my sister-in-law, Marissa, to get Elise's mop chopped. I told Marissa to do whatever she wants while keeping Elise's length (that was important to Elise!). She did a great job and Elise looks so grown up and even more beautiful with her new look.

From Silly to Sentimental

Monday, November 16th--So I was reporting my daily "status" on Facebook and decided it would be an expression of my annoyance of the song "Christmas Shoes" and the fact that the radio stations playing Christmas music (which I LOVE) seem to be playing that song far more than I would prefer (meaning, don't play it at all, thank you very much!). What can I say? Yeah, it's suppose to be touching---it does have a sweet, tender message but the guy that sings it has a horrible voice and, I dunno, it's just annoying (by the way, I feel the same about that "Butterfly Kisses" song too!)! So, shortly after, Nate posts something on my Facebook "wall" making a joke about me becoming a "fan" of said annoying song (yep, I said "annoying" again, get the point yet? he he he). So I commented back that he became a "fan" of ANY Michael Bolton song. You see, Nate thinks Michael Bolton's voice is annoying every bit as much as I think the "Christmas Shoes" guys voice is. So I also mentioned I'd be playing him a MB song shortly.......and, I did. I went to http://www.playlist.com/ and chose a version of "White Christmas" MB did a while back. The ending part is the best for driving Nate crazy as MB holds notes, dips and dives notes too. It almost looked like Nate was grinding his teeth as he endured the torture I placed upon him. It was awesome! (note: DO NOT even joke about me liking or being a "fan" of "Christmas Shoes"! My revenge will be swift and harsh! ha ha ha) I happen to like a lot of MB songs and even his version of "White Christmas" is pretty nice. As I was searching for a "perfect" MB song to play for Nate I came across a song of MB's I truly love. He doesn't have the best voice, I'll give you that, but he chooses or writes music that is beautiful and the message is INCREDIBLE. He recorded a song years ago called "Once In A Lifetime". Strangely enough, this song is not popular, I don't know why, I think it's the best one he ever did. Here's a YouTube link (the video someone did to the song is very odd but it's the best one I could find unless you wanted to watch a video about Luke & Noah being each others one true love!)

Anyhoo, when I first heard this song I remember thinking how much I wanted to feel that way when I found my one true "Mr. Right"............and I do! I hope Nate doesn't mind that every time I hear this particular MB song that I'm reminded of why I love him so incredibly much and how lucky I am. He is the "once in a lifetime" for me. Perhaps he'll be forgiving of being associated with a MB song knowing how much I feel blessed to have him in my life whenever I hear it.

If you can't bear to listen through a MB song (I understand, you either love or hate him, there's no middle ground!) here's the lyrics to the song---I hope you've found that special person you feel this way for!

Once In A Lifetime

Some people fill their lives, with empty nights,
And days that slip away
Some search till the end of time, but never find,
The open arms of fate.
One moment comes along, someone who's a dream to you,
All at once your dreams come true.

[Chorus}
Once in a lifetime, you find the one you really love
For now and forever, one love that never ends.
Once in a lifetime, when every star that lights the sky
Will shine with one reason, leading your heart to the one love you find
Just once in a lifetime,

Some people live their lives in compromise,
And hide their dreams away
Some never take the chance, within their hands,
To claim the prize they make
When faith is all you need, to hold the hand of destiny
Find the love that's meant to be

[Chorus]

If you believe in the power of love
And you believe that dreams come true
Magic will fill your heart, when that moment comes along
Just once in a lifetime
Once in a lifetime, when every star that lights the sky
Will shine with one reason, leading you home to the one love you find
Just once in a lifetime, just once in a lifetime.

Happy Halloween, 2009!

Saturday (evening), October 31st--After the kids appearance on TV, we walked back home and ate dinner. Since we hadn't had Daylight Savings yet, it didn't get dark till 6:30-ish. It was kind of weird but many of us started earlier. I found some amazing coupons for full-sized candy bars at Costco so we got a few boxes along with a bag of smaller candies for the little kids. It was a hit, needless to say! Nate took the kids out for a while and I passed out candy and cleaned up the tornado-of-a-mess the kids left prior to going out to trick-or-treat. When Nate returned I took the kids around our street. A few of our neighbors did some pretty cool stuff! One, the Parry's, had a spooky looking yard and served up hot dogs and hot chocolate. Then we hit up the Alonzo's who had done a haunted porch. It was very creepy and scared the kids quite a bit. We walked up into the covered porch to find 3 skeleton men hanging from ropes. There was fog everywhere and creepy music. To get to the candy you had to walk pass the "dangling" men. Brady and Elise were not too happy about that. I laughed and walked over to the bucket of candy and then one of the dangling skeletons said something and freaked us out! I laughed and demanded to know which one was Tony Alonzo--he revealed himself and, as we laughed, made Elise and Brady feel better. It was incredibly creepy-awesome! I don't know if they can out-do that one for next year! When we got home I convinced Elise to take Nate over to the Alonzo's house. He walked into the porch area and I could hear him screaming (faking it, I think......) and he said, "Elise, help me!" She wouldn't budge! It was so funny!

When they got home we dumped out the candy buckets and well, they got tons! We put it all in one bowl and let the kids eat a few pieces before baths and bed. Our last trick-or-treaters came at 9:00 pm. They got handfuls of candy since we had so much of the little pieces left. They looked very happy and I was happy to get rid of it, considering the big bowl full of candy sitting on the counter in our kitchen! It was a WONDERFUL Halloween!

Earlier, in the afternoon, Nate and I had a great time attending Desert Star Theater. We saw "Snooty and the Beast". It was pretty funny! They were giving out season tickets for best costume. I dressed as a witch. I didn't get picked as a finalist though. I was bummed but we had a great time anyway. I recommend getting season tickets! We have them and love it!

Just for kicks and giggles--a pic of me with my sparkly black lipstick. Kind of a dark, goth moment, I guess.

On TV for Halloween!

Saturday (late afternoon), October 31st--My favorite meteorologist and neighborhood friend, Lindsay Storrs, sent out a message to everyone in our neighborhood letting us know she'd be broadcasting the Channel 2 Weather at her house and she wanted to invite all the neighborhood kids to gather around her, dressed in their Halloween costumes. It was pretty crazy, a football game had gone overtime, but she made it work and the kids loved seeing themselves on TV (Nate DVR'd it! We saved it if anyone wants to see it.). In one of the photos Spiderman is trying to grab Lindsay's microphone--that is her little guy, Aiden. Brady and Aiden are the same age and Brady thinks he's pretty cool! Aiden is also in the picture I took with the kids and Lindsay next to the broadcasting van. Thanks for the experience Lindsay! The kids loved it!

P.S.--Lindsay, time to update your KUTV page! Coen isn't on there--poor Coen! ; )

P.P.S.--I think Aiden may be following in your footsteps wanting that microphone as bad as he did! he he he

Murder Mystery Party--Staying Alive--70's Style!

Friday, October 30th--My awesome friend, Kerri, put on a Murder Mystery Party--Staying Alive. It was a 70's theme--Nate went as "John Revolting" and I went as "Gloria Stunnem". I think John is quite self-explanatory but Gloria's character description is an independant feminist that likes to dress sexy (thanks Kerri! ha ha). I sent out to find a disco costume for Nate. You'd think that would be easy right around Halloween, eh? WRONG! I went to 5 different stores, including a Halloween warehouse, and there weren't any to be found. PLEH! Finally, my friend Heather, called me from Walmart (a place I had already looked with no luck) and said they had them. I told her to please grab one for Nate. Phew, mission accomplished! Next was trying to find something for me. I found a dress at Walmart that could look convincing and a scarf to wrap around my hair. I combed out my styled hair to make it frizzy and brought out the bright-blue eye shadow. OH, since my character was a feminist I decided my little contribution to that was not to shave my legs for a few weeks! Totally true! I didn't quite make it a point to show them off, I wore long, black boots. he he he (yes, I know that being a feminist doesn't necessarily mean unshaven legs!) Nate looked surprisingly sexy in his disco outfit but opted not to do the 70's hair-do.

Kerri borrowed a cooking device called a "raclette". It was pretty cool! It's a small grill with little metal dishes underneath that cook things up as well. Perfect for dinner parties since you put it in the middle of the table, plug it in and grill away! Kerri had strips of steak and chicken, along with shrimp, potatos, bread and cheese. It was so yummy! Everyone else brought side dishes, appetizers and dessert. While we ate our delicious meal, we began the murder mystery. My character had some secrets, including that she was once a man AND that she was the murderer of Jackie Fever! It was so much fun! Plenty of laughing and acting. What a blast!

Kerri was Lyza (last name ?), her husband, Grant, was Andy Warthog. Heather was Diana Rush, her husband, Clark, was Bruce Leap. Dawn was Sunny and her husband, Eric, was Share.

Ya gotta love those wigs! LOL!!

Elise All WITCHED Up!

Tuesday, October 27th--I just loved how adorable Elise looked tonight so I took a few pics of her. The book is a new Halloween favorite I bought at the school book fair: "Trick or Treat, SMELL MY FEET". I highly recommend it!