Trouble

I love Sunday dinner with family.

I love these bugs.

I love what my parents started.

my little droids

I grew up on Star Wars. My oldest brother has turned it into a hobby...well, lifestyle. :) He is an honest-to-goodness Star Wars geek.

But I would be lying if I didn't admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for Princess Leia.

I have a lot of her action figures, neatly packed away in boxes that will never be opened.

I wish I had her hair.

She is the superior princess. She knocks Padme out of the park, in my opinion, even if she is her mother.

have I lost you yet? :)

In an effort to decrease the level of Cinderella toxicity in the home, we are making efforts to branch out our princess movie definition. Recently, M has taken a liking for a star called Yvaine, a princess named Buttercup and this weekend, an introduction to Princess Leia.

They're already hitting it off quite nicely.

I've also discovered something.

My girls are droids!!!

They're not unfeeling robots but they bear a close resemblance to this pair! Really!

On the left, we have C3PO.

• a very smart, but bossy know-it-all, who gets easily annoyed by his light-hearted counterpart

On the right we have R2D2.

• a short, stocky droid, who likes to dance, hide things just to make C3PO mad, and stomps around when he doesn't get his way!

But if I'm Leia and the girls are droids, who does that make W???? :)

Just what I wanted to hear this week

Text from Mom:

M says you let her watch Princess Bride. Is this true?

Kid in speech therapy:

What happen yo head?

nephew:

What's wrong with your arms, Sizzy?

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Day!

Hear that?

I'm doing my happy dance!

It's my favorite time of day! Seven pm!

BEDTIME!!

It was one of those days. lulu was unhappy from the time she woke up from her nap until she went back to bed! Meg fell, crashed, bumped, slid into anything she could!

And now we can all relax, SYTYCD is calling my name...and maybe some ice cream too!

ps-Will is doing great, very busy!

for Dad

which is ironic because he has no access to a computer and probably won't see this picture since every spare minute is spent studying.

so he'll see it next week when he's home for two days! :)

We told lulu to say "cheese" for Joe so we could send a picture to Daddy. She was happy to comply!

She is starting to combine two words together! love it!

She says "love you" in this funny, muddled way that melts your heart. And she tries to sign it which melts the rest of you!

She is enjoying free reign of her "nummy" while Daddy is gone. Beware of the end of the summer! There will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth to be sure!

She loves shoes, loves to get everyone else's shoes and loves to go bye bye!

She loves to "preeby hair" and brings us headbands, flowers and bows for her hair so it can be pretty!

She is fully and completely in the Elmo phase. If the computer or DVD are on, she is upset if it is not Elmo. If he leaves the screen for too long, she immediately squawks, "help!"

She loves loves loves talking to Daddy on the phone. She won't give back the phone, and jabbers on and on to him.

Adjusting

(M creating art on her easel on the back deck)

Miss M has had a harder time with Dad gone than lulu has. I guess that's to be expected since she's more aware. Lu probably just thinks he's always at school right now!

Our bedtime routine especially has turned into a tantrum routine. She's trying to manipulate every little thing since there's only one person to fight back right now!

On Saturday night, she was beside herself sobbing about, well, nothing. She had bumped her lip earlier in the evening so I asked if she was hurting anywhere else, just in case.

She replied, "Yes, my heart is hurting."

That made mama's heart hurt. Needless to say, that was one tantrum that required a lot of cuddling afterward for her poor heart!

W just shared this story with me last night though! It's now my favorite! When we got to the airport to drop him off last week, both of us jumped out to get the bags and say goodbye. Dad went back to say goodbye to the girls.

Apparently M said, "Dad, you can't go. Lucy and I don't know how to drive home!"

She must have been relieved when I got back into the driver's seat! :)

Why I love Emily Watts

I needed to hear this after last week. It was a long first week of going it alone. We are doing great. The good far outweighs the bad. And Will is doing wonderful at his training!

23 months ago

This is my Grandpa Tobler's gravestone.

This is more for my journaling than your entertainment of course.

The last time I was at his grave, I was extremely hot (not a shock in June in Nevada) eight months pregnant, and quite honestly really enjoying the family reunion that accompanied my grandpa's passing.

Greek Food Festival!

I try to never miss this event! The food is awesome, the dancing is a dream come true for miss M! I am a sucker for a tasty gyro! And lulu could live on pitas and hummus. Seriously!

We met family there and M had herself painted a pink cat.

She danced the evening away, feasting on hummus and souvlaki, while the Greek, Irish and Indian dancers entertained us.

And this one is just for my hubby. I am very very husband-sick today. It's been a very long week! I went from being sick to working a lot the rest of the week.

To cope, I'm staying busy this weekend!

Next up,

Saturday morning swimming :)

a birthday party Saturday afternoon,

a ward fundraiser spaghetti dinner Saturday night,

and the LOST series finale Sunday night, of course!!!!

oldies but goodies!

I don't have my camera or recent pics here at Mom's.

But I have her classics.

And proof.

...

......

proof that Em might just be right that lulu does in fact look a bit like my mother!

because this pic reminds me of my wild girl!

and the crazy kid on the left in the window too! my mom again passing her wild genes down!

(ps-isn't my grandma beautiful?)

and this one who looks a lot like my bedheaded lulu!

but I think my mom's genes have also gone elsewhere.

this one reminds me of my M. Except I think my Mom is being contemplative and this reminds me of M's pouty face. :)
and this one is M's coy face to me.

however, my girls had to get it from somewhere.

somewhere there is a picture of me, in a very similar clown costume, circa 1989 and it looks a lot like this one!
here are a few more to ponder.

Hazel's eyes when she's excited? Or Ru's?

And, why hello, Ru!
My Mom is beautiful and talented and we're blessed to have her genes. And it's fun to see it in all her little grand girls!

Single Mommy Cooking

Help!!!

I have three months looming in front of me that are filled with chicken nuggets and mac 'n cheese!

I must admit I have very little motivation for "real cooking" when it's just me and the girls. I work three days a week, and if you ask M what she wants, the standard answer is always "chicken nuggets and chekup".

I know how to make fast, easy meals but usually it's not the stuff the girls like. I need some fresh, new ideas to spruce up my meal plan, not continually eat in kid land, and still feel like I'm giving them good food!!

Ideas?????

TGIF!!!!

I have high hopes for this weekend!

I'm prayin' for no more fevers!

No more wheezing, vomiting, or ear aches!

Because this has been one loooong week!

However, I have to be thankful that these were my sickies.

pitiful? yes

whiny? yes

clingy? yes

but overall, we got along quite well. I didn't get to work much and we're going back to the doctor today. But we learned why hubby wasn't supposed to start his training until next week. He needed to be here taking care of all of us!!
We learned a few things this week as well.

1) We love Arkansas Children's Hospital. We had a rough experience recently but the care and follow up they gave to miss lulu when she couldn't breathe early this week was outstanding! (wow! that's a big logo! sorry!)

Okay, done gushing.

2) These oven bake meals from Bertolli are REALLY good! I grabbed two at the store last weekend, for exactly this occasion. Home all day, cuddling girls all day, house a wreck, no dinner made. I was amazed at how little I could do being home all day because all they wanted from me was to hold them all day. So we would try to get them to eat something and then hubby and I would eat this. And they were tasty!
3) I must thank the Sesame Street folks for knowing my little Lu.

She's the one who's currently obsessed with Elmo. To the point that when we watch 'Elmo's World', she gets annoyed whenever he leaves the screen and points at the TV whining, Emmo, Emmo, Emmo until he returns. We have resorted to the Sesame Street YouTube channel which is wonderful and provides pure Emmo goodness for all. And then we borrowed this from grandma Mardie. She may not get it back for a while!

Finally, even though I was supposed to work this morning, M didn't know that and was up six or seven times last night with an ear ache (hence the return to the doctors today!), and throwing up mucus, but I still have high hopes for the weekend! We have to get Dad ready for his work training to start on Sunday (surprise!!!) and we have to get the rest of us ready too!!!

Roll call

What I wish we were doing today:

Reality:
Our sick count is still two sad, pathetic little girls. Lulu walks around trying to be normal, all the while wheezing, her little tummy sucking in and out so hard to get that air moving. Nothing scary, just a bad cold with a fever. So, we're marooned at home but doing nothing but whining, all three of us girls! :)

Here's hoping my swimming beauties return soon!!!

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Nelson Mandela

Mom

We are no good at holidays.

Remember the great birthday re-do of 2010 back in February??

Well, luckily there's no throw up involved but two sick and cranky girls today made for a rough Mother's Day.

While I've been battling my own feelings of inadequacy as a mother, I'm truly thankful for the spirits that have been sent to my home.

I adore my oldest girl.

I'm so thankful that she entered this world so peacefully (albeit tardy!) and was such a wonderful baby! It made my transition to mommy-hood so much smoother! I'm eternally thankful that she slept through the night at three weeks old! It almost makes up for all her four year old drama! :) I am thankful for her creativity and that her world is colored with princesses and fairies and all things beautiful!

And you should just be prepared to see this picture of lulu over and over. It's my current favorite.

I treasure my youngest girl.

I'm so thankful that all she wants after a nap is to snuggle with mommy. I love how excited she gets when she hears Daddy's key in the door at the end of the day! I'm thankful that she learned to walk and has become a walking parrot, reassuring us that she will do everything in her own time. I'm thankful for her infectious smile and blonde curls!

Happy Mother's Day to all the lovely women out there, for all of your examples, encouragement, listening ears, and funny stories!

But first a bump in the road!

HR for hubby's new job only had a week to get everything in order!

It was a tall order, and alas, we're stuck here waiting for one piece of paperwork that will probably arrive next Tuesday...after his training class starts!

The good news?

I get to keep my husband around for three weeks and we don't have to go crazy this weekend trying to get him ready!

The bad news?

He just wants to start! And who can blame him??? So, it may be a loooong three weeks! :)

Another fork in the road

so sorry!

not THIS gecko!

this one!
my hubby is starting a new job soon! He will be the guy that estimates the damage on your wrecked car. It's very up his alley-customer service, finance and cars all rolled into one!

We are BEYOND ecstatic!

I am BEYOND proud of my sweet man for his determination, his endurance and for working so hard at both his job and school and finding a better job!!! He is amazing!!!!!!!

A year and a half of looking for a permanent job!!

We were BEYOND blessed to have his temp job to see us through, but things like paid time off? sick time? a 401K? Health insurance???

We're giddy with excitement!

He's going to training for three MONTHS though! He's excited, and if they can get all his background checks done, he will start on Monday! Otherwise, he has to sit for a month, wishing he could start and driving me crazy until the next class starts! :)

So, even though I tear up every time I think of him leaving, I'm rooting for Monday!

Let's get the show on the road!!!

We start 'em young!

During quiet time today, M told me she was "eye-run-ing" in the kitchen. Panicking, I ran into the kitchen to discover that she had indeed taken over my ironing board! I quickly put away the real iron and let her have at it!Notice:

1. the multi-layered nightgown-dress look

2. 2 barrettes, three clips and a headband all put in her hair herself

3. We're ironing a fleece blanket and a polyester pirate costume-good thing the iron doesn't really work!

4. we recently "re-found" the iron cleaning up in their room and she's had so much fun with it. I love rediscovering old toys!

5. I love this girl's imagination! Like I iron anything but fabric!!

my tongue is bleeding

princess gypsie pirate bride

M came up with quite the concoction this morning while playing dress up.

I love her imagination! I love how creative she is!

I told her I wanted to take a picture, got her posed and Lu walked in front and stuck herself right next to her, scrunched up her eyes and said, "cheese!"
but in case you didn't catch the gold lamé veil, here's a close up!

A Dream is a Wish

Our Primary (church kids) had a talent show. M was ready to participate!

You can't really hear her sing but you can see that she's singing every word.

Plus, she was the first to go, so I'm just proud of her for not running off the stage!

my favorite part is how she's poofing her side bussels. love it!