my3grits

Skip summer, go directly to fall!

2009-09-24T17:10:00.003-04:00

I have been getting a lot of people e-mailing me or saying to me that it has been months since I last blogged. All I can say is I KNOW! I have good intentions but then time gets away from me. So to fill you all in on my exciting life here is the run down of our last five months.

APRIL
Jenna and I went to NYC and had a fabulous time if you want to see the pictures go check Jennas blog. (I did make a slid show but for some reason it did not get saved and I,m not doing another one).
Easter, same old, same old. Candy, baskets, bunnies, blah, blah, blah.

MAY
Had my 30 something birthday. The gals took me to Busch Gardens and I had sooooo much fun, I even puked (rode the Griffon one to many times after already feeling my 30+ years on other rides). We then went and had IHOP.
My mom came to visit and we went and saw Wicked. It was Awesome!
Emily had her 5th birthday and that was really fun. She chose to have a Candyland birthday party. We made a huge version of the Candyland game in our backyard, and the kids got to play it and at the different places on the board would win what else, candy! We did send home toothbrushes with all the kids, so that the moms wouldn't be to upset with all the sugar.

JUNE
The most interesting and busy month of our summer. Davids grandma (the one we live next to) fell and broke her hip. So while she was in the hospital and then after she got home to recover David and I took turns staying at her house to take care of his grandpa. He had his leg amputated last summer and so he requires hands on care 24 hours a day. Needless to say it was exhausting.
Emily graduated from her little joy school group.
I went to the New Kids concert in Virginia Beach and it POURED down rain. It was outside and after trying to keep from getting wet for a little while we gave up. We were soaked and barefoot and screaming and singing our heads off. Tons of fun!
The girls and I also went camping with Davids parents for a long weekend. We did all the normal camping stuff, hiking, swimming at the lake, fishing, making smores, but we also leaned to canoe. The girls loved that!
David celebrated his birthday in June as well.
Shelby and Savannah finished school.

JULY
The 4th was a fun day. Deborah and I took all of our kids to the beach in the morning, had a cookout in the evening, and then went and saw the fireworks downtown.
We had some of Davids family from Utah come and visit for a few days.
Davids grandfather turned 90 and we had a little party for him. Unfortunately he was having some health issues and passed away a few days later. The girls were really sad but it was a great opportunity to reinforce some gospel principals. They miss him, but they talk about him often and I am grateful that they got to see him on an almost daily basis and learn from him.
We went and saw the 6th Harry Potter movie at midnight with a group of people from church. LOVED the movie, but was tired the next day.

AUGUST
This was our month to have some fun. We went to Busch Gardens or Water Country every week plus we went to the beach the library, the free movies, and just hung out with friends and family.
We had a ward temple trip that included fun stuff for the kids. They got to go to the stake center next to the temple and learn about temples and talk to the temple presidents wife, go to the visitors center to talk to the missionaries and watch a movie, have their pictures taken in front of the temple (the primary president then tuned them into scrapbook pages). After we were done at the temple we went to the national zoo in D.C., the kids loved the animals and it was a great day for all of us.
The kids all had doctors and dentist appointments to get shots up to date and things like that.

SEPTEMBER
Well school started on the 8th and I now have all three kidos in school. It hasn't been to lonely or quite around the house though (David is still looking for a full time job). I am also watching a little boy from church on Wednesdays and half a day on Friday. He is such a good baby (1 1/2 years old). It is just enough to keep me busy.
Savannah had her birthday on the 11th and is very excited to be having a Webkins Party this Saturday.
Ann, my dads wife, came into town and we had dinner with her before she had to catch a flight. The kids enjoyed seeing her and talk about getting to go to Utah to see all of their cousins and other aunts, uncles, grandparents, other family members, and friends. Hopefully next summer will be the one were I get to come and visit and take that extended vacation that I have been talking about forever.

All in all it has been a good summer with a few ups and downs. I miss all of my friends that moved away and hope to see/talk to you all soon.

While Waiting

2009-04-16T14:33:00.008-04:00

I know that some of you are waiting for pictures from my trip to NYC with Jenna (I'm working on it) but in the mean time here are a few of my favorite things at the moment.

The Twilight books were a good read but the movie left a lot to be desired. One redeeming quality of the movies is the actor who plays Edward. Deborah recently sent me this picture and all I can say is THANK YOU Deborah...That picture totally made my day!

Next up is this

Create your own caption

Thanks for buying me a ticket for my birthday Deborah....You Rock!

And if that's not exciting enough I found out that this is being released on the
15th of July (two days earlier than expected)

And last but not least

Only 4 more weeks!

The first time was a great time.....(September 1990)

2009-03-20T11:35:00.005-04:00

Second time was a blast (February 1991)
Third time I fell in love (November 2008)
Why wouldn't I go back? (March 2009)

Some of you might think I'm crazy, but I LOVE the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. They were my favorite group from back in the day. The money I spent on New Kids stuff would prove that. I had it all, the posters on the wall, dolls, pins, magazines, books, videos, etc. So when I heard they were coming to Richmond it was an opportunity I was not going to pass up. The concert was FABULOUS! The men looked good, sang good, danced good, and made me a VERY happy gal! Jon even pointed to the sign I made! =) I am so glad that Kristen and Allison came. It was their first New kids concert, and girls I hope that it was as good for you as it was for me! To the rest of you, here is a glimpse of our amazing night!
***note: this is not my video, I found it on YouTube. Surprisingly it was taken from close to where we were sitting.

Wasting time?!

2008-12-12T22:54:00.014-05:00

T. S. Elliot once said

Time you enjoyed wasting is not wasted time.

So the answer to the title of my post would be NO, I haven't been wasting my time I've just been enjoying a few things. Like what?! It's only been five weeks!

Like going to see the New Kids in concert and see my best friends from high school

Getting a pedicure with Deborah and Nicole before we went to see Twilight

Reading email from MaryJane (this was just one afternoons worth)

Responding to email from MaryJane (same afternoon)

By the way Mare thanks for a great afternoon.....I can't wait until next Wednesday to do it again.

Wondering why we don't IM? Well the truth is MaryJane and I are both suffering a major addiction to YouTube and we send each other clips...like this

(for some reason you have to copy and paste to watch it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhUbnjgwgNo

And before you leave me a comment on the above video the answer is probably....I don't know. It just gave us a good laugh.
Here is another one

So there is just a snippet of whats been happening. I will try and post some more info later, but it is now getting late and I am tired.

The four P's.........Pumpkins, pecans, parties, & politics

2008-11-04T18:01:00.004-05:00

Quick run down of life here at the Strickland house the past few weeks.......
carving pumpkins, picking peacns (we have three trees in the yard), trunk-or-treat party at the church, and voting.

A Weeks Worth

2008-10-21T06:38:00.002-04:00

So my mom has been in town for the past week and left for the airport at 5:30 this morning. She came for Savannah's baptism and a little bit of grandma fun. We went to the pumpkin patch with Emily, had a real girls only tea party for Davids grandma from England, stayed up late and watched movies, went to lunch bunch at El Azteca, celebrated another birthday for a gal in the ward at Panera, made crafts, and Grandma Karen even helped with the Halloween costumes (I think that they might actually be done before Halloween this year). The only down side to her trip was the weather, it was either super hot or miserably cold. Since the kids are in school we were hoping to do something outside on the weekend, but of course that's when it was cold and rainy. Anyway, we are very grateful that she could come for Savannah's special day. She really loves her grand kids and always makes the time to be here for the important stuff.

I'M BACK!!!!!!!

2008-10-13T19:26:00.002-04:00

Hello again! It's Shelby! I haven't posted in a while because I have been up to my eyeballs in homework, and playing with my friends.Some of them have come over. Christopher came over this morning and stayed over at our house and played all day. His mom works at our school and today is parent/teacher conference day so she spent all day at school and his dad is in California. Remember those pictures mom took the other day? I was too silly to take pictures of me. GUESS WHAT? My Grandma Karen is coming to Virginia tomorrow:)!!! She's coming for Savannah's baptism which is soon. :( Want to know something sad? MOM IS LEAVING TO UTAH!!!!!!!!!! (November 13th)She is going for 4 DAYS!!!! I better go now, Chuck is on. I'll post more later. BYE!!!!

Photo Shoot

2008-10-05T19:51:00.003-04:00

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens for a little photo shoot. It is so beautiful there that it just screams to have cute little girls in adorable little dresses come to have their picture taken. I bought these white dresses back in May, with hopes of shooting some pictures with all of the spring flowers. Ha Ha :) I recentlly realized that if I didn't do this soon that the good weather and green foilage would be gone with no chance of doing it next season beacause the dresses wouldn't fit. So after almost 100 photos, a couple of dead camera batteries, and a great big THANK YOU to Heidi for letting me borrow her Botanical Gardens pass, here is some of the finished product. I think they turned out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Two Months of Catch Up......The Good, The Bad, The Ugly!

2008-10-03T13:00:00.003-04:00

Since it has been a while, and I don't feel like writing a novel of the past few months events, I figured I would make a list of what has been going on with us.

The Good

*Shelby and Savannah are back in school and for the most part really enjoy it.
(Shelby is in 4th grade and Savannah is in 3rd)
*Emily has started a preschool type class with some of the kids in the ward that the moms teach once a week and she really likes going and learning new things.
*Our ward split two weeks ago and it has been really exciting to see a brand new ward form from the beginning.
*Shelby is getting back into piano lessons after having the summer off.
*Savannah turned eight and celebrated with a backyard camp out party. She will be getting baptized in a couple of weeks.
* I went and saw Mama Mia the sing along version and now all I want to sing is Abba songs (thanks Nicole, Heidi, & Brooke)
*I bought my ticket to go home to see family and friends. And so that I could go see the New Kids On The Block in concert with my best high school friends. (only 41 days to go!)
*Shelby and Savannah attended their first concert. It was to see the Jonas Brothers!
They have been a little obsessed since then with their favorite boy band! (Like mother like daughter I guess) =)

The Bad

*David is still looking for another job
*Since the ward split not all of my friends are in the same ward. That can be hard here because most people live here for only a short period of time due to Navy and School.
*Davids Grandmother was admitted to the hospital with a possible stroke. (still undecided about yes she did or no she didn't but she is home and doing better)
*My mom was admitted to the hospital for a tumor in her colon and my brothers and I all have to get a colonoscopy. She is also home and doing great. (she will be coming for Savannah's baptism)
*The Harry Potter movie won't be released until July of next year and I am bummed!

The Ugly

* Emily gave herself a hair cut
*I am doing a weight loss challenge with Nicole and haven't had a Pepsi in almost a week.
*My house needs to be cleaned and I have laundry to do.

I am sure that I could write more but this is all I can think of for now. Here are some pictures as well.

Guilty as charged!

2008-07-28T18:58:00.006-04:00

I dare you to ask, just go ahead and ask. What am I guilty of? Well, I am once again finding myself on a countdown to another midnight book release party. Yes, you read that right, another midnight book release party. What book is it for this time you ask? Well, if you are a teenage girl (or have a teenage girl), or maybe a Mormon, or possibly into fantasy books, you may have heard of a woman by the name of Stephanie Meyer. She is the author of a series of vampire books called Twilight. Oh yeah, she is also a Mormon. You know we gotta support each other. :) Now, I have to admit that I had heard of Twilight but didn't know much about it. Besides Harry Potter I wasn't really into the fantasy type books so I didn't have any desire to read it. I obviously came around to the idea and found someone in my ward who had the books and decided to read them. The first book was okay and was promised by my friend Heidi (who had already read the series) that I would like the second book better. So, I read it, and I did like it better. By this point I had to know more so I continued reading and finished the third book about a month ago. Figuring that I had already put hours into this series I had to know how it would all end. So, I googled Twilight and came across a ton of websites. Turns out that the last book will be released this Saturday at 12:01am. I have known this for a few weeks and figured I would by my book on Saturday at some point. I had not planned on going to a midnight release party, but as it turns out a new member in our ward is a huge fan and was planning on going to a release party on her own. Well, Heidi, being who she is (so sweet and nice) didn't want her to go alone and said she would go with her. Now at this point I am sure that Heidi had the thought......I wonder if there is anyone else crazy enough and interested enough to want to come with and well.............here we are counting down to 12:01am August 2nd. Actually I am excited to go. Not just for the book, but this time I will not be taking any kids and I have not met the newest sister in our ward, so it should be fun.

P.S. While I was looking at all the Twilight fan sites I came across a really funny one. So, if you are a Twilight fan or if your a mormon (the title says it all) then head on over and check it out. Some of his posts are HILARIOUS!
http://mormonhusbands.blogspot.com/

Still Alive?!

2008-09-29T09:07:00.002-04:00

Yes I am! Sorry about not posting for such a long time, but you know sometimes that little thing called life gets in the way. Anyway, I will be back later today for a nice long catch up session. Right now I am getting ready to go walking (waiting for my ride). More later!

How many more days until I can go see this?

2008-07-30T19:13:00.000-04:00

This video is amazing, check it out!

2008-07-26T08:56:00.001-04:00

MORE OF SHELBY

2008-07-10T13:06:00.002-04:00

I`m back! I gonna try and blog everyday of the week around noon until I start my own blog. We are still cleaning up Emily`s old room. Hello to Mary Jane. My mom`s told me all about you. Mary Jane and my mom went to school together. Here is something to keep you busy! Tell me something funny no one knows about you. Here`s something about me, I play the piano! I used to plunk keys on the piano trying to play the HP theme song when I was 5 years old. I wanted to take piano lessons sooo bad! We didn't have a piano so I had to wait until we got one. I am really into piano now. I have been playing for about 6 months and I know how to play a LOT of songs like IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN and OLD MAC DONALD HAD A FARM. Mom says I should have harder songs. I have only played in one recital before and I practice so much my mom has to tell me to stop practicing! That's all for today! BYE!

ONE OF THE 3 GRITS

2008-07-09T13:59:00.006-04:00

For anyone who does not know my mom let me tell you who I am: I am Shelby, the oldest of the three. Okay, so I wanted to start my own blog (which I will start soon), but the problem we had was that I have to be a yahoo member to start. So while my mom was signing me up we had technical difficulties with the yahoo website. So, then my mom said that I could type on her blog. Then I ended up here:-)! The best part is... that I get to type here all I want!
I have so much to tell so get comfy!
Right now we are making Emily`s old room into a playroom. (Emily is the youngest of the three) The room looks really nice now.
A few weeks ago we went camping at Newport News park for three days. We saw several deer. The first thing we did is set up camp, but there was a twist to the first day for me, my mom, and Emily. We went for a bike-ride(the trail was 5.3 miles long). We were letter boxing, you can find out about letter boxing at Atlas Quest.com
Instead of going 1 mile, we went around the whole trail!! We, were all tired after that, two hours of biking was fun! The next day was any other day camping in the hot sun. The last day me, Emily, and dad went for a short bike ride and Emily fell asleep! We left on Friday, because it was so hot. that is all I want to tell you today. Bye!

Tagged by Heidi

2008-07-08T14:20:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I know that it has been quite awhile since I last posted. SORRY! I told you all that I am much better talking on the phone than typing/writing. Even though I haven't posted I want you all to know that I have still been reading everyone else's blog including some new ones (Heidi, Alisha, and Janice). So why am I posting now? Well.... #1 It's been too long since the last time. #2 Lots of free time over the summer. #3 Last, but not least is that Heidi tagged me (that and she still lives here and if I don't update she'll keep bugging me about it). So the way this works is that I am supposed to name 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions, and 3 random surprising facts about me....then pass it on to 5 friends.

3 JOYS
*My girls and everything about them
*My friends
*Having my hair played with

3 FEARS
*One of my kids getting a serious illness
*Natural and man made disasters
*Snakes, spiders, & mice (something about these three things give me the CREEPS!)

3 GOALS
*Be more organized and on time
*Update my blog more :)
*Get my food storage back together

3 CURRENT OBSESSIONS
*New Kids On The Block (they were my favorite group back in the day and they have just reunited and I am going to see them in concert in Utah in November with friends that I haven't seen in a very long time!)
*Lindt chocolates (variety bag from BJ's)
*Reading, anything and everything I can get my hands on. (if you know any good books let me know)

3 RANDOM SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT ME
*I LOVE You tube and reality TV
*I have never had super short hair before even though I have always wanted to try it.
*I will listen to pretty much anything in terms of music (pop, jazz, country, musicals, oldies, classical, and my newest favorite has to do with HP it's called wizard rock)

I am only tagging 3, in part because almost everyone else's blog that I read has already had this tag and because the number 3 is THE important number in this tag :)
*Cindy
*Mary Jane
*Suzanne
It's your turn gals!

EXCITING NEWS

2008-04-03T19:07:00.005-04:00

CHECK THIS OUT!

Trailer

M.I.A.

2008-01-18T09:44:00.001-05:00

Missing In Action.....Where in the world did the last three months go? One day I'm getting ready for Halloween (costumes turned out great by the way) and the next it's Thanksgiving, and then before I could even think, it was Christmas. Sometimes I wish I could slow time down so that I could get more things done and enjoy things a bit more. The last three months have been super busy at our house. Besides all of the holidays and the kids being home for almost two weeks we had a dance recital, after school activities, but to tell you the truth the hardest thing was church stuff. Since October we have had 3 linger longers, a trunk-or-treat and Halloween carnival, Relief Society Super Saturday, Chili Cook off and talent show, Ward Christmas party
(which got rescheduled 2 days before it was supposed to happen due to re carpeting of the building, which meant ALOT of phone calls *over 400* thank heaven I have good friends to help)and last but not least a New Years Eve party. I felt like I had a full time job planning parties. We had fun at everything we did but I swear the next activity will seem way too soon after all of that. Anyway, it is now a new year which means resolution time. It has taken a couple of weeks to actually sit down and think about it, but I did and I am proud that I didn't put alot of pressure on myself to have it done as soon as the clock said 12:01 on January 1, 2008. I am a total perfectionist so for me this is a HUGE accomplishment. So what are my resolutions you wonder? Well, the usual try to eat better, exercise more, blah blah blah. One thing that I really want to work on is organization and time management. I figure if I am just a little more organized then I will be able to manage my time more effectively. Makes sense doesn't it?! I am sure you all knew that but my old attitude was I want it all and I want it now. For now I have just decided to take it all one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Sometimes that is all you can do, Right? Wish me luck on the coming year and all that I hope to accomplish. One more thing, I have decided that at the bare minimum I will update my blog at least once a week (on Sunday, seeing that we have morning church again and I have such a hard time trying to fill the afternoon with uplifting things). Hope all is well with you and that the New Year will be full of many wonderful moments.

Pictures from last post

2007-10-17T16:40:00.001-04:00

Having Too Much Fun!

2007-10-16T11:55:00.000-04:00

So they say that time flies when your having fun.....well, I must be having more than my fair share. I cannot believe that it already the middle of October. I finally got my kitchen back to normal and my dinning room is almost there, but I have loads more to do in the living room. Hopefully I can finish up in there this week.

I told my kids that by this Friday they had to decide what they wanted to dress up as for Halloween. I think that Savannah is going to be a chef, my MIL bought her a chefs outfit years ago and just gave it to her on Sunday. She was quite excited about the whole thing. I am hoping that she will decide to use it as her Halloween costume. Emily is the worst, she comes up with about five different ideas a day. The other day I went to the thrift store for something (can't remember now what), but they had a super cute Princess Belle costume for only $13. Now I know that $13 might sound like a lot considering that I got it at the thrift store, but it is one of the dresses you would buy at Disney World/Disneyland for like $50 or $60. It has a little coat that goes with it and everything. So Cute! She is only three so just maybe I can convince her to wear it for trick or treating. That leaves Shelby. She has actually been the easiest. She wants to be Sharpay from High School Musical. The problem that we are having with her is that everything Sharpay wears in the movies is immodest by our standards, so we are having to make changes to the costume. Luckily, since Emily and Savannah's costume were bought already made (I gave up on the idea of sewing ALL of them this year) Shelby's shouldn't be to hard. I just need to get to work.

So, what other kind of fun have I been having? Well, we went on the ward camp out a few weeks ago and had a good time. David didn't go because he said he wasn't feeling well. Whatever?! Anyway, since Deborah didn't have a husband there either we camped together. The kids had a good time getting to have a sleepover with their friends. The next day we spent it fishing with some of the other members of the ward. Didn't catch anything worth keeping, but had fun anyway.

Other than that it's been the usual. Went to Busch Gardens, again. Been bowling. Cleaning house. Went to Playgroup with Emily. Dance classes. Music classes. More cleaning. Went to parent teacher conference. Had book club. You get the idea.....Loads of fun.

As promised in the previous post here are a few pictures.

Until next time..................

I've Been Bad!

2007-09-27T12:30:00.000-04:00

I don't think anyone needs an explanation concerning the title of this blog. I'm not sure where the time has gone. I had these crazy ideas in my head that when school started I would have all this time to get a few things done, spend one on one time with Emily, go out to lunch with friends, etc.. Boy was I wrong! Ever since school started I have been busier than ever. On top of all of those homemaker responsibilities, church callings, and such, I now have to fit in three dance classes, two music classes, homework, bowling, etc.. CRAZY! Anyway, the girls are back in school and were actually pretty happy to be going back. I'll have to post some first day of school pictures later (more about why I can't in a moment). So what have I been up to since I last blogged, well...............

*painted my kitchen RED, which took an unbelievable amount of time because of the color choice I made (tinted primer and three coats of paint)

*put hardwood floors in my dining room, which required me to move everything out of the dining room into the living room. Did I mention that I did this the same weekend (actually it took all week) that I painted the kitchen.

*started bowling with my MIL in the Tuesday morning league again

*got Shelby and Savannah signed up for tap class and music class

*signed up to take a mommy and me class with Emily on Mondays

*today I am finishing up preparations for a ward camp out this weekend

*Had Savannah's birthday party at Cinema Cafe ( you sit and eat like you would at a restaurant while watching a movie)

*took the kids to Howl-o-scream at Busch Gardens

*tried to get over a cold that I got because of all the stress I am experiencing lately

So, there you have it, not to exciting. I hope that everything is going well with you all.

FINALLY!

2007-08-16T12:17:00.001-04:00

Okay, so last time I posted I was only hours away from getting my hands on the final Harry Potter book. So I know that was almost a month ago, so what has been going on since then you ask? Well.......... a bunch of friends and I celebrated Nicole's 35th birthday at Busch Gardens, went to the temple with the kids for a primary/ward activity, I bought the kids their school supplies and a few clothes, cleaned the house like it was springtime (it has been sooooooo much messier since the kids have been home for summer vacation), waited and watched Savannah's cat Snowflake give birth to 4 kittens, and last but not least I think that I am finally back on a normal sleep schedule after reading my HP book straight through from the moment I got home until I finished. It obviously didn't happen in that order , so I'll start with the HP party and go from there.

Before the party (4pm) you had to go and get a wristband that would decide where you fell in line to purchase your book(First come First serve kind of thing). The girls and I waited an hour with Deborah, Heidi and her kids for that. Then we went home to get ready for the party, and after getting the kids all dressed in their costumes and hair done (Savannah's required two bottles of pink hair stuff from party city and Shelby's were extensions) we stopped at McDonald's for a late dinner and headed back to the book store/mall. Unfortunately my babysitting arrangements didn't work out for Emily, so she ended up coming with us. Once we got to the store we had our pictures taken with a HP look alike, got sorted into our houses, made wands, entered the kids in the costume contest (Shelby won 1st place), did a scavenger hunt with prizes, Emily got a scar painted on her forehead just like HP, and a few other things. About an hour before midnight we got into the line to buy our books and by then we had met up with our friends that had come to the store as well. While we waited we did a HP trivia game that they gave to us when we got sorted. Then it was the moment that we had all been waiting for.............FINALLY, we could buy our copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows!! We bought our book, said good-bye and then got back into the car to race home and start reading. Shelby insisted on looking through it all the way home, so I had to give her instructions to not read any of it out loud. She could not wait to find out what happened so she read (silently) the epilogue. As soon as we got home i put Emily in bed (she fell asleep in the car), told Shelby and Savannah to go and do something quite, and then i started to read. I thought that I would get tired at some point and go to sleep, but I didn't I read straight through and finished in just under 12 hours. Was it worth it? YES! YES! YES! I loved the book. I couldn't be happier. I did cry when Dobby died and when Harry walked into the forest to sacrifice himself, but other than that it was just so exciting and full of suspense. And just in case you're wondering, yes I have already reread it.

On to the next item, Nicole's 35th birthday. We had decided a few weeks ago that we would have a girls night at BG(Busch Gardens) and then when we started talking about what day we would go it seemed to fit perfectly with the week of Nicole's birthday. So with the idea of celebrating her birthday in mind Deborah and I started to talk about what we should get her. We talked about making her a shirt that said something about her turning 35 and needing help to celebrate. That idea evolved from people wishing her a Happy Birthday, to whistling at her, to signing her shirt , to what we finally gave her. The front of her shirt said I'm turning 35 help me celebrate *see back for details*. Then on her back we put a Birthday Girl Checklist with 35 things to do. Nicole had to find people to sing Happy Birthday to her in another language, ask someone how old they were in 1972 (her birth year), pay for her to get a fake tattoo. etc. Anyway, after the task was done the person whose help she had asked for had to sign her shirt. It was a BLAST! Nicole kept on saying how embarrassing it was but knowing her, deep down, she loved every minute of the attention. We also made her wear a Birthday Girl crown and feathered boa. I also got to ride the new roller coaster BG has, but have not had a chance to ride yet. After we left BG we went out to dinner and came home. Tons of fun!

In other news, we welcomed 4 new kittens into our home last week. Let me start by saying I don't know much about cats. When Santa brought Savannah Snowflake for Christmas we were told that IT was a boy........Ha! Ha! Because of that we saw no need to rush and get the cat fixed and couldn't see why we shouldn't let IT outside. Well.................when IT started to look a little fat I started to think that we probably had a SHE and that SHE was pregnant. I guessed it right. So after doing some research online we were ready for the cat to have her babies. Then came the waiting, more guessing on when Snowflake would give birth, then more waiting, the girls made her a box and lined it with an old towel, and then a week ago Savannah came to me and said that Snowflake was meowing like she was hurt. We went and found the cat and sure enough, even though I don't know anything about cats having babies, she looked unhappy and she was panting like a dog. Sure signs of labor from what the Internet said , so we all gathered around and watched the cat give birth. The girls named them Oreo, Stripey, Licorice, and Squeaky. Luckily we already have enough people interested in taking them that we hopefully wont have to keep any of them. We made it very clear that we were only keeping Snowflake. We did take pictures, but I haven't put them on my computer yet, so maybe next time I'll post pictures.

The day after the kittens birth we went to the temple for a Primary/ward temple day. Shelby and Savannah got to tour the visitors center, watch a movie, talk to the temple president and his wife and then went and had a picnic at the stake center next to the temple. I think that they had a good time, and even though Emily had to stay with the nursery kids she has been talking about it all week. David was with the youth doing baptisms so Nicole and I drove up together and had a good time talking. I'm glad that I got a chance to take the kids to the temple and let them experience that. I miss being so close that you can go anytime you want.

Last but not least, I have been busy trying to get the kids ready for school again. They only have a few more weeks . So far we have gotten backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies and clothes. When the weather gets a little cooler we will have to buy coats and boots, pants, etc. We have also been cleaning the hose so that when they do go back to school things will be organized for them.

So there you have it, my life in a nut shell for the last few weeks. Sorry that it took forever to post again. Keep checking back, and I'll try and put up some more pictures soon and stuff. I hope that all this rambling makes sense. Hope that everything is going well for you all. Miss you.

Tick Tock, Tick Tock............

2007-07-19T22:47:00.000-04:00

I have a little more than 24 hours before I will have the 7th and final Harry Potter book in my hands. Excitement, fear, disappointment, relief, I'm not quite sure how I feel about all of this. I guess I'm feeling a little bit of everything. Excitement because I will finally know what happens to Harry and friends. Fear because I am worried that JK Rowling will kill some of my favorite characters. Disappointment because this is the end. Relief because I am planning on getting my book and reading straight through the night until I finish it (it is going to be a long night). One thing that I am certain of is this....I am sooooooo glad that when David's mom told me about this great new book that Johnathan (David's nephew) had been reading, that I picked it up and read it. My mom had mentioned the HP series to me before, but was sceptical because of the idea of witches and wizards. Turns out that this story is really about good and evil and that you really can't judge a book by it's cover. Anyway, tomorrow night a bunch of us are going to the midnight HP book release at Barnes and Noble. Shelby and Savannah are coming and are dressing up like some of the characters (they are really looking forward to it). I will of course take pictures and post them later, after I am done reading and have gotten a nap that is. Until then...........Tick Tock, Tick Tock.

FUN IN THE SUN

2007-06-26T08:37:00.001-04:00

Okay, so the kids have been out of school for almost two weeks and they have jumped right into their summer vacation with gusto. We have been to Water Country USA, Busch Gardens again (we have passes), the beach, to see the new Nancy Drew movie, and they have played endlessly in the pool that their grandmother bought them last summer. The day we went to the beach was so much fun. We invited some of our friends to go with us so the kids had a ton of fun playing with their friends. Today we are headed out to Water Country USA once again.....Its nice to have a pass because if it is to crowded or if the kids are getting cranky we can leave and its no big deal. As for the rest of our week, tomorrow we are going to see the free summer movie at our local AMC movie theater, then Thursday will be spent getting the church decorated for a RS enrichment night. On Friday I think we are going to the park and then that evening I have a book club to go to. Busy, busy, busy! Time is flying by and before I know it, it will be time for school again. But for now I'm just going to enjoy spending time with the girls. Before I know it this to will have past.

Oh What A Night

2007-07-12T10:20:00.000-04:00

Here they are.....pictures from our midnight adventure! Deborah picked us up about 9:30 and we went to Cold Stone to get a sugar rush. We met up with David's mom, nephew, Heidi, Harley (Heidi's daughter), and Allison (Harley's friend). After our fill of ice cream we headed out to the movie. We got to the theater around 10:50 and after much searching and a little luck we found a theater to sit in. We bought some snacks and then just sat and people watched (there were a number of people dressed up in HP stuff). Shelby played some game on David's cell phone, and Savannah actually took a nap before the movie started. I honestly didn't know if I had wasted my money on Savannah's ticket or not. She surprised me however when about 15 minutes before the movie started she woke up and was ready to go. After making sure that no one was going to make me get up in the middle of the movie (potty, snacks, etc.) we sat back and enjoyed ourselves. The girls stayed awake the whole time and actually asked if they could stay up and watch another movie when they got home. I DON"T THINK SO! I was ready to go to bed. It was a great movie and we had a great time. Now I just have to get ready for the midnight release of the book. Only 8 days 13 hour and 15minutes to go.

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