All Dressed Up....

and no one to visit!!!

Shoot! Took the kids to see Santa today...Got them all excited about it, gave them a bath...put on their "fancy" clothes....and headed to the mall!

What do you know? Santa takes breaks!! Got there at 3:30 and they had cut off the line and he wouldn't be back until 5!! There was no way my kids were going to last that long...So we did an impromptu photo shoot in Nordstrom!!! hee hee...I actually think I'll look back at this years "santa pic" and laugh because there is a story behind it! I'm all for an adventure!

date night

= slight hangover

photos.

I love to take pictures...I really have no idea what I'm doing...I don't know how to shoot manual...I just shoot away and usually get a few good ones. I read photography blogs daily and I just LOVE love natural light photos.

I used to do digital scrapbooking quite a bit so I read tutorial after tutorial after tutorial on Photoshop. I taught myself a ton and also learned quite a bit from "the ex." My Canon Xti is the last gift I ever got from him when I was 8 months pregnant with Cash! Best gift EVER!!! At least I got something good before we parted ways! :) I'm a "glass is half full" person! Always looking on the bright side of things! Oh...and I got Chasey and Cash! I think I got my fair share of goodness from that relationship!

I'm a Facebook junkie! I'm addicted! I admit it! I'm constantly posting photos on there and I get comments about how good they are and that I should do it on the side...etc...etc. Well...since most people don't realize that I have NO idea what I'm doing...I just blow it off and say "someday I'll take a class!"
My friend Nikki asked me to take pictures of her son Nathan a few weeks ago. I've never actually attempted a "real" photo shoot! I figured I'd give it a shot. And what do you know? I got some great ones...Here are a few! Now I have 2 more friends lined up for after the first of the year. Check out this cutie!

Gingerbread Men...and a little "horsing around"

This post is a few days late, but I had a busy...well...lazy weekend!

Friday nights take on a WHOLE new meaning once you have kids! I now spend my Friday nights at home doing "art stuff" or watching kid movies....or sometimes we have playdates with other mommies and kids (wine is usually involved in these ones!). Sure, I love a date night here and there or a night out with my girls...but nights in can be SO much fun!

At Christmas time, there are so many cool, easy things to do with your kids! This weekend we did all sorts of crafts....here is our attempt at making Gingerbread Men! and Women!

Notice the candle on the table? Cash made that for me at preschool! Oh how I love the mommy gifts from school!

I think more candy went into their tummies than actually on the cookies, but that was ok...we had fun!
(blurry pic...but had to document the mouthful of gumdrops!)

Chasey insisted that she make "Girls!"

(notice the missing arm...most of the cookies were broken when we took them out of the package)

the finished products...

Then to wear off the large amounts of sugar that they consumed...James took them for a few rides around the living room! He's such a good man!

Hope you enjoyed your weekend nights...in or out!

I won! I won!

I'm pretty lucky! I win things quite often! My mom is the same way. One year when I was very little, she won a whole half a cow! She was a young single mom with very little money. She tells me stories of how we had people over to eat steaks all winter long! It was so great!

I was SO excited when Robyn from Who's the Boss? blog sent me an email this morning telling me that I won a phone call from http://www.santaspeaking.com/!! Chasey is at the PERFECT age for this! I read her post about how her son (who is about the same age as Chasey) got a call from Santa and he was so excited! Of course I entered her contest and was so excited to win it!

I placed my order for a custom call as soon as I got to the office and entered in all of Chasey and Cash's information and Santa...yes SANTA will be calling my kids on December 23rd! I am so excited! I will even get a cd recording of the call! I think I'm more excited to have a recording of my kids voices at this age! They are growing up so fast and their voices are constantly changing!

Busy.

Birthdays.

Christmas.

Visits from Mom. (I'm so excited)

More Birthdays.


Oh man! This time of year just kills me! (and my wallet!)


Why is it that all of my friends have kids born in December?? Me included!! I always get the "what were all of you doing 9 months before December?" joke...but Chasey was due in February and she showed up as an early Christmas present!

I'm starting to feel overwhelmed. Today is Wednesday. We have a birthday party at Pump it Up tonight...Which is awesome...the kids can play and I don't have to cook dinner. Then Saturday, another party...then Saturday night, a Christmas party....then Sunday...a party at Chuck E Cheese.

Then....the stress really hits....Chasey's FIFTH birthday! Her party....not only does it cost a small fortune to throw her party, but her dad and his new girlfriend will be there....Need I say more... I don't mind being around my ex. We get along. I wouldn't say we are "friends" but we get along.
and then I kick myself for letting that bother me...You know what? Who cares about that? I'm a damn great mom! I am doing this party on my own...Just like I did last year! I have a wonderful boyfriend who helps me with anything and everything and even puts up with the fact that we are doing this whole party and STILL inviting her dad! Some opinions are that he shouldn't be invited if he doesn't help. My opinion....that only hurts Chasey!

Then....Christmas.....THEN....that wonderful boyfriend I mentioned....is turning FORTY!!! I don't think he reads this blog...(I showed it to him, but wouldn't give him the url)....but just in case he's sneaky and figured it out....I'll leave it at that. BUT...I'm busy!

So....the next few weeks are going to be crazy. I started this blog so I could have an outlet...somewhere to journal my daily life.....somewhere to be honest. I doubt any of the above mentioned parties will ever read this...but this is my life...these are my thoughts...THIS is why I blog. I would tell a stranger about my life if they seemed at all interested. I'm an open book....so be it!


My four....almost 5 year old Chasey...Mommy loves you and although I bitch and complain that your birthday is 6 days before Christmas....I am so thankful to have you and even more thankful that you are healthy and here with us today! You were a tiny Christmas Miracle!

Salivary Stone?

Last night, we were enjoying tacos...just regular crunchy hamburger meat tacos...Something I've eaten a thousand times before. All of a sudden the right side of my throat started to swell up! I started to freak out a little and said to James across the table "feel this"....his response "I can SEE it!" The gland on the right side of my neck (by my jaw) had blown up to the size of a golf ball! It was INSANE! I thought for sure I was having an allergic reaction and the other side was going to start swelling any minute!

I left the kids with James and rushed to Urgent Care. By the time I saw the dr (within an hour of the "incident") the swelling was almost gone. I thought he was going to think I was crazy, but he knew exactly what was going on. I have Sialoliths. Basically Salivary Gland Stones!

So now...I'm eating sour candies at my desk just hoping for a stone to show up in my mouth! I think I'm going to gross out when it does actually show up! Ewwww!! If I don't pass it on my own within a week...I'll be making a visit to the Ear Nose and Throat Doctor!

I hate feet....

Well...at least that's what I've always told everyone so that they keep them away from me. I really do think they are kind of gross....

that is....until I had kids!


I seriously think I could EAT these feet! :)

We painted toenails last night! Oh the joys of having a girl! Someone who loves getting a mani/pedi as much as I do!
I love you sweet Chasey!
You make my life a ton of girly pink over-accessorizing fun!

Pizza...Wine...and sippy cups!

I love my friends! I'm so lucky to have friends that have been there for SO many years! We can easily go a year...sometimes 2...sometimes 10 and not see each other, but when we get together it's like not one day has passed!



Last night I got together with 3 of my high school girlfriends...Nothing has changed, well, a little has changed...almost 20 years have gone by...there's 7 gorgeous kids between us, a husband, 2 ex-husbands, 1 baby daddy (he doesn't deserve an EX status), and 3 wonderful boyfriends! Life is interesting! We ate pizza, drank a little wine and took WAY too long to tell a story...one of the kids was constantly having to go pee, needed a drink, dessert, the channel changed or screaming because another one of the kids bit them (those were my 2 kids!) but honestly...the way I feel about these girls...has not changed! I love these girls like I did when we were in high school! When nothing in life mattered except being with your friends...finding the next party, and spending long days at the beach! I wouldn't go back to those days if you paid me (well...maybe just for a day or two), but thanks to these girls...and a few others that couldn't be there...I am one very lucky girl!

Dear Santa...

Chasey wrote her first letter to Santa! I'm so proud of her. She got tired of writing (well...tired of copying letters that I had written down on another page) so it's pretty sloppy, but I'm so proud of her!





We went through the Toys R Us Big Book of toys and circled everything she wanted....here is the list.

We then proceeded to put it in an envelope and send it off to Santa at the North Pole....We went through all the motions...took it to the mailbox and sent it on its way.
MOM BRAIN....forgot to go back to the mailbox and take it out to keep it forever! It IS her first letter to santa afterall! The nice mailman took it and sent it to Santa. Thank goodness I scanned it!

Shoot...one less keepsake for me! (and I keep EVERYTHING!)

and these...are the days of our lives....

I've always wanted to do it...I'm just now getting around to it. I hope I can keep up!

The fun/crazy/wacky/tiresome/loving/insane adventures of Chasey and Cash began the day that they were each born. This is a blog to let you in on some of our crazy adventures! Life with 2 preschoolers and working full time can be a little hectic sometimes!

Welcome to my world!


Thanks to Taryn for giving me a little kick in the pants to get this going!