For Sale

For Sale

We're Back...

We'll see how long it lasts. Okay so we left off in April. Lots happened to us. I started and ended a Pampered Chef business, found out we are expecting our third child (a boy by the way!) in December, we went on a couple mini-trips, Audi broke her anke, and Q. got potty trained. Not to mention the Mommy Moments!

Now it is August--and it is looking very busy. Pre-school is starting in couple weeks, i am doing alot of shopping for baby and cleaning out of baby girl stuff. I should be cleaning my house right now or watching the kids (they are being babysat by Barney the purple diny).

I'll go back to the top. In April i had a great Pampered Chef show and an opportunity to get a headstart on the business so i took it. A week later i found out i was pregnant. I then proceeded to become very ill. First i had the stomach flu then the morning sickness starting then i got this horrible RSV type cold that gave me a viral sinus and ear infection for three weeks.

I reckon that ear infection was so bad it probably left a teeny hearing loss. It was HORRIBLE! Everyday for ten days i would wake up and then the earache would start in the side of my face and ear and head and it was like having a migraine...very intense. So i just had to wait it out. I even took antibiotics but those did not help. My OB said many women are prone to these bad infections at the beginning of pregnancy.

Anyways, i was so sick with that and the morning sickness (it was so bad i had to take nausea medicine this time--never did with the girls even though i was sick with them too) that my business went down the tubes. I couldn't get my momentum back so i threw in the towel. Maybe another time it'll work out; Pampered Chef is a great company and the products are top quality, easy selling. Just about everyone has a kitchen. And I love to cook and eat. Most people like one or the other (or both), typically.

Well, I'll post a couple pics of the girls and in days to come i'll try to continue catching up on the summer. I guess i'll go ahead with a M.M. today too. Enjoy!

Why buy bracelets when you can use rubberbands?

MOMMY MOMENTS: The Toothpaste Fairy

The story goes like this--I was visiting with my neighbor one evening in my living room. We were discussing a project i was working on for her and then we got to talking about the kids and told her i never what Q. was going to be into next. My exact words were, "In fact, its kinda quiet in here. Q. is probably into something right now." So a few minutes later my neighbor left because it was bedtime. I go to the hall bathroom which is not ten feet from where i was chatting and this is what i discover; all over the sink, on the floor, and in Q.'s bed! Perhaps she was thinking that little dab she gets every time she brushes just isn't quite enough to get her teeth thoroughly clean. Or maybe she just likes that its blue, which reminds her of the fingerpaint they use at school so why not--the bathroom was too green anyways--and tasting like bubblegum is a bonus...right?

Unreliable

So i am unreliable. rather, my computer is unreliable. we installed some new viruscan and now there have been problems. hopefully we will solve them soon. the kids are sick--AGAIN! and we welcomed back winter for Easter. but that didn't keep us from having a great weekend. i have recently started a Pampered Chef business. Check back in a few days for Mommy moments...

Close Call

Mommy Moments:

Q. climbs a chair and retrieves the fish food from the atop the entertainment center. She precedes to feed the fish. She thinks they are really hungry and need to grow big so she dumps the whole canister into the tank. Now the fish just need their bath after dinner. So she squirts some "Shout" in and now her chore is finished. She goes away very proud for this bit of helpfulness she has produced for mom and dad. She has second thoughts only after daddy comes in and finds her washing her own mouth in "Shout" and sees the one inch layer of fish food on the rock floor of the tank. Needless to say, daddy is very upset. And distraught.

Hurry! Call Poison control. Q. gets a piece of bread and some water--the bubbles eventually diminish. Mmmm...the tank water smells funny...OH my @*#...the algae eater is already unconcious and floating on his back...Get the fish out...QUICK. Where's a baggie? Now angelfish Gill is floating on his side...the horror of it! Should the gals leave this tramatic scene of eminent fish death? Uncle mentions that he never felt this affection for his fish and seems impressed. We prepare for the worst.

Somehow, by the grace of God, miraculously, our little friends make a full recovery after they are placed back in their newly cleaned, conditioned, and fortified-with-electrolyte water. A close call indeed.

During her nap Q. discovers she can reach the top drawer of Audi's clothes chest. Inside she finds a little tub of minty smelling jelly (Vicks Rub). She thinks this will be the perfect cure for her dry, frizzy hair that her mommy cursed her with from the beginning of her small life. Now that's some oil treatment! Oh! There's mom. She's not too happy with the way Q. smells. Maybe that's cuz mom only uses that minty jelly for when the gals are coughing. But Q.'s hair has become magnificently curly of late. Catch ya' later frizz head...

Okay one more:

Q. makes her daily tour around the house. This is the her private inventory of what has been mistakenly left out that mom and dad says is off limits. Today she finds mommy's make-up on the counter in mommy's bathroom. MMMmmm...mommy's dozing on the couch cuz the sun has just barely peaked over the horizon. A little lipliner on each cheek and some purple shadow there just beside it...definately need more lipliner and a little blush...oops the brush fell in the sink...oh well...Mommy's calling. Audi's up.

Q. put the lipliner everywhere except on her lips.

Long Time, No See

For anyone who has checked this blog in recent weeks: No. we are not forever lost. Yes. we are still alive, with technical difficulties.

We have been the household of the never-ending sickness. When i am tempted to feel sorry for us, i make an effort to remind myself that many have it worse and perhaps more permanently, than we do. hopefully we are on the mend and i will make this short post.

i also changed the look of my blog. more changes may still be in the near future. i was never really happy with the first one. i like this template better though b/c I can change the background colors too!

Quick recap: March 9-12 was spent in Kansas City...I attended Time out For Women on the saturday. we hung out with Supermans family the rest of the time. Note: Superman refers to hubby. he needed a blog nickname and if you know him personally you will understand this connection (hubby shares a common name with superman, for those of you who want in). Moving on.

March 14-current was spent convalescing. sorry no pics this time. i don't have the patience to sit here and wait for them to download over our "behind-the-times-but-better-than-nothin" internet connection. see ya.

Birthday Bash!

Happy Birthday to me! Even though i've tried to convince myself that birthday's shouldn't be celebrated after 21, after this one I think i might adopt hubby's idea that "the more excuses to celebrate the better".

Hubby took the lil' gals shopping and they picked a bunch a stuff. Then he had them each choose just one thing to give me. The mini Nemo cross-stitch is from Audi (pronounced owdi like the car) and the turtle craft is from GC (my 2yr old niece--i bbsit her twice a week). Q. misplaced her gift to me which was a dolphin suncatcher and the paints to paint it. Following her advice, I painted it purple, white, and green. She's sorta missin' it but it's in the "mommy bus" somewhere.

This picture represents my newest fave thing. Hubby was sweet, sweet, sweet when we went to Kohl's to pay my bill before our dinner reservation and he insisted that my old purse was disgusting and that i needed a new one...well...what he didn't know and found out was that my purse was "the purse". I have never bought a purse for myself. My mom bought the only one i've ever used which happened to be about...mmm...ninth grade or something. I can't recall exactly.

"The Purse" A Memoir

What i do know is that "the purse" was perfect. It was small, which i like, it had plenty of card space, a pocket for my check book, chapstick, and pen, and a place for my change. It a beautiful tan, genuine leather mom got me on a trip to Mexico--so it was affordable too which is necessary to my well being. So maybe it looks a little shabby now. But i coulda' washed it and nothing on it is even broken or ripped.

Hubby was positive he was making the right choice to persuade me even though he was with me and shopping's not his first choice of activities, especially with me (i'm excessively picky and time consuming).

Tada! I chose this new one in record time and a wallet to match and to make things really exciting there was a Sale. Buy One Handbag/Accessory Get One Free. My fave thing about it, is how soft it is. I glowed the rest of the night. And that was before eating the most entertaining dinner in my life.

We went to a place called Sho Guns Japanese Steak House. It was SOOOOoooooo Cool. We sat with three other couples we didn't know and chose between steak, chicken, or shrimp or some combination thereof. I had fillet mignon and shrimp. But first we got some kind of beef and onion broth then a salad with yummy homemade sweet n' tangy dressing. Then the chef came over (because the table is mostly a huge, flat frying pan) and stacked some raw onion rings up, squirted some oil in, and lit in ON FIRE! There was a three foot high flame on our table!

And the chef had all kinds of moves too. He flipped, chopped, tossed, and juggled his knives and steak fork--he even spun the eggs around on his flat chopping knife, tossed the egg up, and VOILA! cracked it open on the edge of the knife.

The vegetables were cooked fresh right there, the sauces (ginger for veggies and shrimp and spicy mustard for meat) were excellent, and we were served green tea (declined that) and sherbet for dessert. These Japanese know how to do a meal!

Got leftovers? These are wrapped in foil packages shaped by hand to look like a dragon!...sigh...It was definately a birthday worth remembering...

Except maybe those Mrs. Field's cookies i made that hubby said were the best ever and then i burned half of them!!!!hmph! Life's not perfect but it can't hurt tryin' can it?

Incomplete Sentences

Funny Hairdo Day!

(i wish the resolution on these downloaded pics was better)

Been busy. Have'nt posted in a week so gotta make a quick one. Consigned to my first "Just Between Friends". More info. http://www.jbfsale.com.

Mommy moments:

Q. plays hairdresser to her cousin--thankfully the kid still has most of her hair left. The chop isn't obvious unless pointed out...

The set-up--Kitchen sink full of tepid water and defrosting turkey (still in pkg.); Q. on chair next to sink dipping in scrub brush (the one used for dirty dishes) and sucking the water off (Yum-Yum!) Actually happened on daddy duty. So far no ill effects.

Q. decides to help herself to the green beans at a dinner party we put on. She climbs to the table, leans to middle, loads up the serving spoon, takes the bite...we have a limited supply of utensils but we survived...

Q. is Incredible! Q.uite the personality...

My Food

I'm a food lover so my list of favorite foods could be quite lengthy. I think I'll start with dislikes and go from there.

Main food dislikes that come to mind--canned spinach and mussels. i don't think i'm a slimy food conessieur besides the fact that i have negative memories linked to both these. When i was a kid (less than 6) my neighbor babysat me and made me sit in front of my plate with the spinach for what seemed like hours; she said i wasn't allowed to leave the plate till i had eaten the spinach. I never did eat it (neither did my brother).

My mom used to make canned spinach with lemon and butter and it smelled yucky (not to mention the sliminess).

And mussels taste like dirt. You know, if you try to bite one of those you can see the organs and poo and stuff. EWWWW!!! They are slimy too. When i was in Australia, I went to this Tongan birthday party. Watching and hearing the Tongan guests slurp those mussels off the shell is a memory impressed on mind.

Brussel sprouts was another strong smelling stomach churner my mom used to cook at Thanksgiving. I have tried them numersous times thru the years and still don't like that bitter taste they leave when i'm done chewing.

What's interesting is that i do like fresh spinach (cooked or raw) and i had brussell sprouts once that had been cooked with a lamb roast in the same manner you would cook potatoes with a beef roast. They were very flavorful.

Another slimy food dislike: tomatoes. As long as i can cover up that jelly stuff in the center with some other flavor such as the hamburger or salad dressing or maybe even just chewing really fast, then i can make it. But don't even ask me to eat a whole cherry tomatoe whose insides will gush into my mouth and cover my tongue...shudder...

Basically, i like everything else I have tried. I haven't tried everything...has anyone? Like on Wifeswap the other week, there was this family who eats everything raw including eggs and meat. They even had this meat that they kept in a jar that was several months old. They would eat it when they got upset as a way to calm down. The dad said it had a twang. EWWW. I would imagine that raw eggs and meat would not go over well with me because they would be classified a slimy food, among other issues.

Brief mention of likeable foods at the top of my list: seafood (except mussels), ice cream, chocolate anything, and avocado/guacomole (this is the exception to slimy foods)

Here is a recent pic of something funny Q. did relating to this topic: (a little blurry after download)

The other day I found my fridge open and the fruit drawer pulled out to reveal the contents. On the left is a mango and right on the top there is a light orange spot, a bite mark! On the right is the nectarine with its own light orange spot on top none other than the bite mark! I guess Q. didn't find these tasty cuz she moved on to other ventures. Maybe tasting the fridge food a bite a time runs in the family considering my brother used to leave bite marks in the cheese...

Our Days are...

Sweet.
Memorable.
Full or boring.
Somewhat unorganized.
Endless but not literally.
A little crazy, not a lot.
Sometimes lazy.
Very playful.
Predictable in an
unpredictable way.
Rarely lonely.
Always ours.

My Sunshine

Getting ahead on their tans...





We had our first beautiful days of warmth and sunshine this week. Temps in the upper 60's. The girls loved it. So did I. They spent hours playing outside on Tuesday and Wednesday. We know there's probably still a little fight left in winter but we are excited to have this taste of spring. Those girls left their coats in one pile and their pants and shoes in another...a preview of what i have to look forward to this summer. Q's shadow hasn't figured out how to pull those pants off...yet. A few more days like this should be enough for her to figure it out!

A Growing Experience

While i was typing this blog my growing experience became just that--typing this. Has this ever happened to you? Typing, typing, typing...proof read, proof read...click Publish--oh NO--I'm not on-line anymore. All my draft, gone. Okay so i messed up. Now this is going to be short. Maybe.

A summary of my last unpublished blog. My growing experience:
Finding the joy of motherhood. The phenomenon of motherhood. Me reminding myself of the Savior's admonition that whosoever will lose [her] life for His sake shall find [her] life.

Some days i grow very impatient looking for my life. Where is it? What i have done with it? Like that proverbial missing other half of a pair of small shoes. I still have hope that my toddler will lead me on the straight and narrow path to the "the shoe" instead of wandering aimlessly around the house miming "whe' es et? I dunno". More a miniature of myself than i care to admit.

And just for humor's sake (some may not find it so), but I hope to bring a smile somewhere: While i was typing the 'unpublished blog' my children raided the diaper bag and found a stray grahm cracker (they ate it), spread one hundred Memory game cards all over the living room (thanks, hubby, for playing hundred card pick up), thanks again hubby for smiling when you found out your flashlight got wet in the toilet, and for smiling (again) when you got home and our toddler was sitting on the kitchen counter in a quest for the playdoh.

I am the mother of an independent, seemingly capable, chair climbing prodigy teenager in a 3 year old's body and let's not leave out her 1 year old baby shadow. This is me.

Growing experience: the now. And trying to find that smile in all of it.

Finally Friday

My week in a nutshell. Actually a handbag! Need I say more?