what does 50 pounds look like?

It looks like:

Two 25-lb bags of Flour...

Ten 5-lb bags of Sugar...

And 42 bags of CHOCOLATE CHIPS!

WHY is 50 pounds significant? That's what I've lost so far!

ahhhhhhh! a little anniversary getaway.

The facts are these:

-Who: Ryan and I

-When: February 10, 2001

-Where: Boise Idaho Temple

In honor of our 9th wedding Anniversary,  my wonderful parents (and Uncle Aaron, of course!) took the kids overnight last weekend so Ryan and I could get away! It was so wonderful.

We started our fabulous date by browsing at Barnes and Noble.  I took this picture from a moving vehicle, I was impressed it actually turned out!

We enjoyed the beautiful weather. 

We went to one of our favorite restaurants and ate delicious mexican food!

Yes, isn't this DELICIOUS???!!! I LOVE Fried Ice Cream. 

I surprised Ryan with a reservation at the Anniversary Inn! I took advantage LAST YEAR of an awesome deal...got this $350 per-night room for only $129!!!!! It was awesome!

I think Ryan's a fan of BIKER ROADHOUSE! The full size REAL Harley bike was cool...

And I loved the set up of the room, with it's feminine touches.

The elegant champange flutes with their logo filled with kisses was so sweet.

And all of the authentic HD details all over the place...

BUT what REALLY won Ryan over was the FREE HARLEY DAVIDSON PINBALL machine!! He played this for hours!

Oh yeah, did I mention FOOSEBALL?

It was a fun and relaxing night away from the kids.  THANK YOU TO MOM, DAD and AARON for tending the kids while we got away! Can't tell you how much I love you!!

Can I put you down for the same time next year?

I appreciate Y-O-U!

JUST yesterday I played the roles of:

-Nurse (took kids to doctor for double ear infections)

-Wife (I love it!)

-Chef (a solid 5 meals a day!)

-Chauffeur (running to various activities: preschool, etc.)

-Cleaning Lady (dishes, dining room, kitchen, Ryanna's room, the boys room and my bathroom)

-Launderess (washing, drying, folding and putting away 5 loads of clothes)

-Play date participant (old high school friends rock, don't they?)
-Exercise Expert (okay, maybe NOT expert, but I certainly love it)
-Homework Helper (Ryanna's homework and various other such fun things)
-Parent Conference Member (with Ryanna's teacher at school, talking about her behaivor...)
-Friend (spoke with a couple really special people)
-Sister (touched base with both of them...or at least I tried!)
-Daughter (visited my Mom for a few minutes)
-Piano instructor (taught lessons and I NEED more students!)


NO WONDER I slept so well last night...but this isn't a day out of the ordinary.  All of we Moms are AMAZING!
Give yourself a pat on the back today, because I admire and look up to every single one of you.  WE ROCK!

mission: green thumb

Cilantro!

Parsley!

Oregano!

You see correctly.  Your eyes do NOT deceive you.  I actually tried my hand at something and haven't killed it yet!

It says right on the packages NOT to plant it until there is direct sunlight...and to plant it in MAY! I couldn't wait that long, I needed something GREEN and ALIVE amidst all the GRAY and DEAD that is winter outside.  It actually WORKED!

a large doll dreamhouse

Grandma and Grandpa Holdaway invited Ryanna over to have a "Dollhouse Putting-Together Party" the other night! They bought this darling (and LARGE) dollhouse and we got to help to decorate it. 

Playing in the dollhouse.

Here she is putting together a little pink bunkbed.

We had to unwrap each and every piece of furniture for the house, it was like Christmas!

Grandpa Holdaway put it together, and it took him quite a while.

It didn't come with dolls, so we played with these wooden dolls inside of the house.  They are so CUTE!

I had a blast putting together the different outfits and costumes, I think that I had more fun than Ryanna did!!

Here's Ryanna putting together the kitchen.

Here's Ryanna putting together the Office...including the little treadmill!

We figured out that will THREE FLOORS of decor, the "owners" of the doll MANSION:

-have one dog that lived out on the balcony in his little doghouse, we named him Spot

-have only ONE child

-they are VERY tidy people because none of the furniture had STAINS, TEARS or ODORS

That's a lot of info to get from a few pieces of doll furniture!!

Can't wait to go over and play with it, Ryanna can't wait for her cousins to play WITH her!

thank you

I got this mysterious card in the mail over the weekend.  It had a WinCo giftcard enclosed and a very thoughtful inscription.

However, I have no idea who sent it.  I don't recognize the handwriting nor was there a return address.

Thank you, Dear Friend, for the thoughtful card, giftcard and encouragement.  You made my day and I am truly touched!

half price happy meal night tradition #1

Look at Carter's face.  Right at the exact moment that I snapped this picture, Ryan stuck a french fry in his ice cream and he exlaimed:

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!"

And he didn't like it one bit.

Our tradition is sticking french fries into ice cream and then eating it.  Now Carter's a HUGE fan:

Look at how PROUD Carter is of his creation! He shows it off.  I love the picture of everyone.

And continues to get it all over himself, the table, the chairs and the rest of us.  At least he's consistent! I think that's why we call it a tradition.

will the real Carter please stand up?

Hi! I'm Carter. I am a mess-making, nail-polish painting, always-causing-trouble kinda guy.  While my Mom was sick a few days ago with the stomach flu, we also had some company stay at our house from out of town.  Mom was sick and Dad was busy doing lawyer stuff, I wasn't getting attention that I needed.  I decided to do something about it.

I waltzed upstairs and got into my Mom's fingernail polish.  My favorite is purple, since this isn't the FIRST time I've found it.  I decided to paint the dresser, Dad's suit, Mom's shirts, the carpet, the t.v. screen, and the floor and the wall.

Not to mention I painted MYSELF.

While Mom was basically having a heart attack (the most awful pictures are NOT being posted...), I went downstairs after getting into trouble with the fingernail polish. 

I guess I was bored while all the attention was upstairs so naturally I decided to get into the fridge and take out a half-dozen eggs and proceed to lay them around the house.

I laid 2 in the living room, 2 in the dining room, and 2 in the kitchen. See what happens when you STEP on them?! They BREAK!

Mom sure didn't find it as funny as I did! I got into a little trouble, but because I was so cute and because the mess was so HUGE, she could only sit and laugh.  I then got into the sock basket and spread those all over the rest of downstairs while the egg mess was getting cleaned up. 

All this in a matter of 15 minutes! I got more work done than most adults do all day.  Whew! No wonder I slept so well that night!

what are YOU thankful for?

In the wintertime, things are gloomy. 

The sun hardly comes out, the kids are stuck indoors therefore driving eachother (and me) crazy, the house starts smelling musty no matter HOW well and how often you clean it, etc. 

It's cold, dreary and gloomy out.  I ACHE for springtime, I even planted an herb garden and it's starting to grow.  I know it's a bit premature, but at least my oregano has little teeny leaves on it!

I find myself being grouchy.  I'm irritated that the kids are out of school for the second day this week...seriously are they EVER in school?? I'm irritated it's raining/snowing outside and my head seriously hurts.  Rather than complain, I wanted to share 5 things that I'm grateful for today...

1) Nick Jr.--it makes it possible for me to BLOG this morning!

2) Good friends--they pick me up when I need it most while simultaneously answering a prayer.

3) My super-huge green chair--Otherwise I'd have NO place to put all the clean laundry that needs to be folded and put away. 

4) My FRIENDS episodes on DVD-- I always have one playing to keep me company.  Could I BE any more obsessed?


5) Bon Jovi CDs-- Upbeat, uplifting and always inspires me.  Thanks be to Josh Hobbs back in 11th grade for starting my collection.

Okay, not so gloomy anymore.
What are YOU thankful for?

the pellet with the poison...

Mystery person revealed...

Danny Kaye!

He could say tongue-twisters faster and better than anyone I've ever heard and had a beautiful singing voice.  I love all of his movies and grew up reciting "The Pellet with the Poison" routine.  He's amazing!

I'll gladly lend my Court Jester or The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for those of you who haven't seen his work! Better yet, come over this weekend and we'll do a movie night!

your challenge, if you chose to accept...

Identify the mystery person!

Here are the stipulations:
-No GOOGLING, NO BINGING, NO looking up the facts.
-Give me your honest-to-goodness guesses of who my mystery person is.

Here are 10 clues:
1) He was one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners baseball team

2) He would have been 97 on his birthday, which is this week

3) He is a talented singer, actor, pilot and chef

4) He is one of my favorite people, although I've never met him

5) He was married to his wife for 47 years and had one child

6) He was told early in his career that his nose was too big and he'd NEED to have plastic surgery.  He refused so to take the focus off of his nose, his hair was always dyed lighter.  He has blonde/redish hair in all of his roles.

7) The musical "The Kid From Brooklyn" chronicles his life

8) He served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF and is known for his charity work

9) He conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra with his FEET at Carnegie Hall

10) He never used understudies

(Here's a bonus hint...his birthname is David Daniel Kaminski)

Okay...can you guess it? I'll reveal the mystery guest tomorrow...GOOD LUCK! And please, NO PEEKING! Give it your BEST shot!!