Trish's blah blah blog

Spring concert

2009-04-27T10:17:00.001-05:00

Here is a link for Kyle's spring concert...vocal and band, on my youtube page.

Opening day

2009-04-19T10:23:00.003-05:00

Kyle has his first baseball game yesterday. They had the little league opening ceremonies yesterday too. Thankfully we did not get rained out. Kyle's team is the Kansas City Royals, which I was happy about because the past 2 years he's been on the Mets and I was getting tired of the orange. ;)
He played right field and did pretty well out there. He also got a double when he was up to bat, but the kid after him struck out, so that was the end of that inning. He's never been a great ball player, so he was pretty proud of himself...as was I. :)

Everyone throwing up their hats after the national anthem

The procession of teams

Weird photo

2009-04-16T08:27:00.001-05:00

Check out the comments below...they are funny as shit.

Lower back tattoo

2009-03-29T20:38:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorites from a few years back.

Disney pics

2009-03-25T17:57:00.006-05:00

Disney World

2009-03-25T17:19:00.003-05:00

What a trip! Long ass drive, that's for sure. It was kind of fun seeing parts of the country that I've never seen before. Tennessee was beautiful, and I'd never expected that. Kentucky looked like WWIII had gone on there....there were broken trees everywhere. Florida was awesome. We didn't have a drop of rain and it was in the 80's everyday. It was very hard to come back to rainy/cold Iowa, that's for sure. We stayed on Disney property at one of the All Star resorts. It was a Toy Story theme and the kids loved it. The first thing the kids wanted to do was hit the Fantasia themed pool. It was 89 degrees, so I said "hellz, yeah!".
The first day we went to Hollywood studios and Emma wore her High School musical cheerleader outfit to blend in. We saw the car stunt show, the Indiana Jones stunt show, rode on a ton of rides and took Emma to see playhouse Disney and get some Little Einstein's autographs. Then we saw the Fantasmic show, which the kids thought was awesome....well, me too. Rob and Kyle did the Tower of Terror. Emma and I did not. I've done it once, and that was enough. ;) The height requirement for that thing is 40 inches...that's like a 4 year old kid. Give me a break!
The next day we did Epcot. Oh Lord, how my feet hurt after that day. I don't think there was anything that we didn't do/see. We even stayed for the fireworks even though we were exhausted. Kyle's favorite ride was "Test Track" and although Emma was scared to go on it....she liked it afterward. Emma got to meet Snow White unexpectedly in Germany and even got her autograph. Damn, it would drive me nuts to have to talk falsetto and cutesy all day like the girl playing Snow White. That day we also got to go to Magic Kingdom to the Crystal Palace for lunch with Tigger, Piglet and Pooh. Hot damn that was good food. I haven't been that full since the last time I was at Disney (thanks, Coleen ;).
The third day was St. Patrick's day and we spent it at Magic Kingdom.....or we meant to. ;) We donned our St. Patty's gear and headed to the park. Everything was great...riding rides, seeing Cinderella's castle, watching the parade....then Emma decided to take a header over a railing and cut her head open on a brick. Not a big wound, but tons of blood. 3 park employees were right there and ushered us to the Disney World doctor's office. They were great, getting us where we needed to be, helping us, etc. Then we spent the next 3 hours at the urgent care clinic getting Emma all fixed up. She got her wound...that was 3 stitches worth...glued back together. She was a trooper, only crying for a little bit. We went back to the resort and hung around there that evening.
The next day we finished up at Magic Kingdom and then took the kids to the arcade at the resort. Thankfully we had already done the pool, because Emma couldn't get her head wet.
Thursday was Animal Kingdom day. We had a character breakfast at Tusker House planned with Donald, Daisy, Mickey and Goofy. Kyle got up saying his tummy hurt. I thought he just had to poop...until he threw up all over the hotel floor. He was feeling better after, but still a little lousy. He made it to the restaurant with us, but only ate a donut. Thankfully they didn't charge us for him as he is considered an adult by Disney $$$$$$ standards. Afterwards he and I came back to the resort for a nap and Rob and Emma stayed at Animal Kingdom. They did all the little kid stuff and Emma got tons of pictures/autographs from characters. After lunch Kyle and I came back and hung around. Kyle was feeling better, but not good enough to do the Yeti ride, so that was the one thing we missed. Maybe next time. :)
Friday was spent at Downtown Disney where we had lunch at Planet Hollywood, bought our souvenirs....we came all the way to Disney for Kyle to get Legos at the Lego store.....and Emma got a makeover at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. It was so damned cute...she got her makeup and hair done. She requested the princess do, which I wasn't sure could be done with her short hair, but they did it. We decided to leave that evening and made it to Macon, Georgia to spend the night. We got back home at about 11:00 on Saturday night. It was a long drive but nice to be back into our own beds.
It was a great trip...and I know we are going to have to go back sometime soon...but hopefully in a plane. ;)

Off to Disney!

2009-03-12T19:33:00.003-05:00

It's finally here! We are headed to Florida tomorrow for our big Disney World trip. The kids...and me...are super excited. :) We'll be gone until the 22nd and the weather is supposed to be gorgeous. I've packed shorts, so it had better damend well be nice! Here is a shot of my pre Florida pedicure that I got today. It was so worth it! :)

Miss me?

2009-03-09T16:34:00.004-05:00

So, it's been awhile. I swear with Facebook, I hardly ever post on here anymore. But I digress....here is a video link to Emma's most recent dance performance and a picture of Emma riding her bike sans training wheels last week when it was so nice.

Valentine's photos

2009-02-24T10:11:00.004-06:00

Here are some pics from our annual mom's group Valentine's party. I was the coordinator this year, but I kind of cheated and did a lot of the same things as we did last year. Oh well, everyone had a good time. ;)

Emma's new artwork

2009-02-16T09:19:00.001-06:00

Cool color peacock from art class:

Dancing with the stars

2009-02-09T11:58:00.003-06:00

I don't watch the show. I don't think my gag reflex could take it. I was purusing Yahoo and they had the list of new contestants for season 8. That's right, 8 seasons of watching people you may or may not have even heard of, dance. Does anyone want to see this guy dance? 'Cause I know I don't.

School Carnival

2009-01-27T10:18:00.004-06:00

Here are some pics of the kids at their annual school carnival/fun night:

Emma is a reader!

2009-01-20T10:40:00.002-06:00

Emma read her very first book all by herself on Sunday.

She was so proud of herself that she wanted to take the book to school to show her teacher. Then her teacher made her read it to all of her classmates. ;) She said that she did really well and didn't need any help with it. So yay, Emma!

Ice skating

2009-01-07T15:48:00.002-06:00

I took the kids ice skating yesterday as a last hurrah before heading back to school from winter break today. Here is a link to the youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIhXPc3VHxE

Post holiday wrap up

2009-01-05T16:57:00.004-06:00

The children are still not back in school yet....although I think they really should be, but we've got all the decorations down and it pretty much feels like January around here. We spent New Year's in MN with at my sister's house, but Christmas we stayed around here. Here are some shots of the kids opening gifts on Christmas morning as well as some from Grandma and Grandpa's house on Christmas day. My MIL and FIL made that great big Barbie dollhouse for Emma. I would have killed for something like that when I was a kid. ;)

Emma the Red Nosed Reindeer

2008-12-15T16:40:00.003-06:00

Emma had her mall dance performance this past weekend. They performed to "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" while wearing antlers. It was adorable. Here are some of the pictures:

A visit to Santa

2008-12-07T13:51:00.004-06:00

Every year our local grocery store has Santa come and see the kids while sitting on a throne of Coca Cola 24 packs. They also let you take your own photos unlike the mall where they make you buy one of theirs. The kids also got to decorate their own Christmas cookies. Kyle wasn't interested in seeing Santa this year, but he was willing to go for Emma's sake. What a nice brother. ;) This particularly overbearing Santa was having none of Kyle on the sidelines, though. Here are some pictures of Emma loving it up and a slighly uncomfortable Kyle.

Blog slacker

2008-12-01T10:34:00.004-06:00

I've been quite the slacker with the blog lately. I don't really have an excuse, other than I don't have much of interest to say. We got the kids retake photos back from school the other day and they turned out much better than the first ones. I also did some Halloween/fall scapbooking and took a couple pictures of the pages. We got the Christmas decor and lights up before the snow hit yesterday so we are thankful for that....or at least Rob is because my ass wasn't going on the roof anyway. ;)

Emma's birthday

2008-11-14T13:42:00.003-06:00

Emma turned 6 years old last week and we had a Madagascar 2 birthday party for her last weekend. The movie was cute, but really busy....like the theater was sold out and we had to sit in the front row. I made some cupcakes and we had ice cream too. Here are some pictures, although I don't think she is looking at the camera for any of them ;)

Random

2008-11-05T16:04:00.004-06:00

The other day Emma got into the car after school with no backback and no jacket. She handed me a note from her teacher saying that that she (the teacher) was taking them home to wash because some other kid had puked all over them. Gross!!!!...but nice that the teacher was going to wash them, and not me. ;)

Here are some photos of the kids on the inflatable slide at Night Eyes with their Halloween costumes on:

And one from actual trick or treat night:

Apple bobbing

2008-10-30T08:41:00.002-05:00

Here is a video of the kids apple bobbing at our playgroup Halloween party. Thanks Steph!

Fall Festivities

2008-10-22T11:19:00.004-05:00

We had quite a busy weekend filled with a Halloween party and the pumpkin patch. Here are some photos:

Performance photos

2008-10-13T17:11:00.003-05:00

I love her grumpy face in this one. ;)

Cheering Emma

2008-10-05T21:10:00.001-05:00

Here is a youtube link to Emma and her cousin Shaylen's cheer performance at Shay's big brother's football game.

New car

2008-10-03T20:44:00.002-05:00

So we are now the proud owners of new Honda Civic. Youch, car payments, but what a sweet ride.

Things that go bump in the night

2008-09-28T11:33:00.001-05:00

Some soccer pics

2008-09-19T13:02:00.002-05:00

I'm a cheapie, so when the professional photographer takes the team pics for sports, I stand to the side and take my own. So I always have a bunch of "off to the side, not quite looking at the camera" photos. ;)

My car

2008-09-09T10:58:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Rob went up to my FIL's to play golf. He parked our car in the driveway and then went in to have coffee with his dad. They decided to take my FIL's truck to the golf course......are you following this story?...can you guess how this is going to end?....that's right, my FIL forgot our car was there and backed right into it. So although though I wasn't even there, I am the one who got to make/take phone calls to/from insurance people, get estimates from body shops and get a rental car. UGH! So today I took it in and got a rental car that is nicer than my real car. ;)

The victim

The attacker

Table pics as promised

2008-09-04T16:59:00.003-05:00

We finally got the chairs for our table and here are a couple of purdy fall time pictures:

Patrick Murphy vs. Russell Crowe

2008-08-28T12:04:00.000-05:00

I heart Gaelic Storm. :)

Stop Hitting Yourself

2008-08-26T18:51:00.000-05:00

Butt itch

2008-08-24T18:24:00.002-05:00

So we've all had an itchy butt, right? But, I can't say as I've ever fallen asleep mid scratch.......

So my hair is the same color as a door...what of it?!

2008-08-21T18:02:00.002-05:00

Pics from our trip to Saylorville

2008-08-18T18:32:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures from out trip a couple weeks back on Rob's cousin, Steph's pontoon boat. It's a pretty sweet boat, with a potty, grill and overhead cover. The kids had fun being pulled behind the boat....and Rob too. It's really hard to get a good picture, though.

First day of school

2008-08-14T17:41:00.004-05:00

Today Emma started kindergarten and Kyle started 5th grade. Both had a pretty easy time of it, reminding me of when my brother and I started kindergarten and the 5th grade.....only one of us had an easy time with that, though. My brother had a shit fit and had to be carried into the school over the principal's shoulder to my utter 5th grade embarrassment. None of that for Emma. She was a trooper and couldn't wait for me to get the hell out of there. I ran some errands and then came home. I was waiting around to see if I'd cry or get emotional about my baby starting kindergarten. Apparently we're both cold hearted bitches. ;) Kyle was cool about it too...like being patient and helpful with Emma. Interestingly enough, he is in the same class with my niece, Andrea, so I got a quick pic of those two before class started.

Fair Photos

2008-08-12T14:38:00.003-05:00

Been busy lately, so here's what you get....Iowa State Fair photos. I've got a shit ton more from other various activites, but I'll do the editing for those after the kids go back school. You know, in 2 days!!!!!!

Yum

2008-08-03T20:36:00.003-05:00

Now THIS is what a well defined man should look like with his shirt off.

Birthday, Batman, Step Bros. and a table

2008-07-29T17:03:00.003-05:00

This past weekend we celebrated Kyle's 11th birthday with the family at Old Chicago. It's hard to believe he is that old already. He's only got one more year of elementary school for Christ's sake!!!!! Here are a couple of pictures from that. How do you like the cake I made....very professional huh? ;)

We also went and saw 2 movies, Batman and Step Brothers. Heath Ledger did do a very good/creepy Joker. I like how they never really told you how he ended up that way. And although Christian Bale may be a mother/sister assaulter, he was looking mighty fine. Plus, I love how he sounds like Dirty Harry when he is in his Batman suit.
Step Brothers was of course, stupid and quite funny. I love that kind of humor, so it was right up my alley. I laughed my ass off when Will Ferrell rubbed his fake ball sack all over the drum set. Good times......
We also got a new dining room table. This one is a little bigger and works better at this house. Plus we upgraded to 6 chairs instead of 4 although, 3 of them are on back order. :( I post a pic, when we get them and it looks all purdy.

Wanted

2008-07-22T09:33:00.002-05:00

We saw this really awful movie this weekend called "Wanted" with Angelina Jolie. Here is a yahoo review that pretty much sums up the awful-ness of it:

Just shockingly awful. The movie is ludicrous in a matter of seconds, and finds a way to continue the ridiculousness. Somebody should have stopped whoever wrote this at draft one. Lines like this is the 'loom of fate'?! Is that intentionally funny? And this is a group of killer weavers??? Was that chosen after mercenary hairstylists was rejected? This movie as a video game would be embarrassing, let alone as a movie. I actually felt bad for Angelina Jolie having to give her horrifically written speech (her only moment to do more than act like a skinny bad ass).

The only thing I'd add was that we saw it with these 2 girls behind us that were loving every minute of it. So, they would make comments constantly like "Oh, snap!"
Good Lord.

It reminds me of a line from the movie "The Princess Bride"

2008-07-15T12:49:00.001-05:00

"Dear God, what is that thing?"

Is that what I think it is?

2008-07-11T08:40:00.002-05:00

Last night Rob and I were doing some yard work. He was mowing and I was pulling weeds. We live on a corner lot, so when I was pulling weeds from the cracks in the sidewalk, I had to round the corner. What did I find while having my head down looking for weeds? None other than a nasty, used up, old condom. Right there on the sidewalk where my children play and ride their bikes. Fucking gross!!!! I told Rob that he'd better put on a Haz-mat suit and pick that shit up before the kids saw it. It came from some one's trash so I guess it is good to know that our neighbors practice safe sex. ;)

July 4

2008-07-06T19:37:00.002-05:00

Here are some random pics of our 4th of July:

The first one is my kids with my niece and nephew, the second is just Kyle and Emma and the third is Rob and I with the kids. We spent the day at Rob's parents house and their neighbors lit off some fireworks. It was nice just be able to watch from the yard instead of driving somewhere and fighting traffic. This year was crazy as far as weather was concerned. I think it was the first year that I can remember not having the air conditioning on. That's worth writing home about. ;)

A tad over dressed, wouldn't you say?

2008-07-05T13:50:00.001-05:00

Pool

2008-06-29T22:06:00.003-05:00

Here are some pics of the kids playing in our new pool. It is one that I got last fall on clearance for 30 bucks. I, of course, didn't really think through exactly how/where we would put this pool, I just wanted one. So this summer when it was actually time to put it up.....we wound up spending over $200 on lumber and supplies to make a level deck for it and for the chemicals that are needed. Whoops! But anyway, the kids have been playing in it almost everyday and I didn't have to buy a pool pass, so I think it was worth it.

Bowling

2008-06-24T10:12:00.001-05:00

And here are a few pictures of Kyle from bowling camp last week:

Tennis

2008-06-19T11:28:00.003-05:00

Here are some pics of Emma at her tennis lessons from this week:

Fishing pictures

2008-06-14T15:10:00.003-05:00

Here are some photos that Rob took while he and Kyle were up in Canada:

Hairhats

2008-06-10T16:03:00.000-05:00

Check out these freaky pieces of shit.

Stuff

2008-06-03T11:43:00.003-05:00

Let's see......there has been a lot going on lately. The kids are done with school. The link is for a youtube video of Emma performing a song for her last day of preschool program. Rob and Kyle are currently in Canada for their yearly fishing trip, and my mom is here visiting Emma and I while they are gone. We got our "rock patch" finished and I'll post some before and after pictures of that. My mom and I took Emma to Jordan Creek the other night and we stayed around for some fireworks. It was cool except that almost every spot of grass has goose turds that we had to avoid. ;) I also got season passes to Adventureland for the summer. We went last Friday and I was pleasantly surprised that Emma is not only tall enough to go on most of the rides, but that she is willing. This is going to be a crazy summer!

I hit your bullseye every night

2008-05-19T12:20:00.003-05:00

This song always makes me think of Jenny Landau singing the a capella version in front of Mr. Dean at play practice in high school. It also makes me think of my dad coming home from work and telling my sister and I that we couldn't have this album because some bible thumping, Jesus lover that he worked with told him it was Satan's music. Of course, that made us go right out and buy it. Ahhhh, memories. ;)

Tea party

2008-05-12T22:00:00.003-05:00

Emma was invited to a tea party and Rob took some photos of us before we left:

Music concert

2008-05-02T20:16:00.002-05:00

Here is a cute youtube video of Kyle singing America the Beautiful at his school music program. He's the one on the end in the navy blue shirt.

Book Review

2008-04-28T15:47:00.003-05:00

I read the cheesiest, crapfest of a book this weekend. Let me start by saying that I've only recently started reading things other than my typical fantasy/knights/wizards stuff, so I couldn't just jump straight into Harlequin romance. Instead, I've been reading some horny vampire stories. They've been fun and entertaining for the most part without a lot of emotional involvement. I saw the cover of this next book called "Dark Lover" and thought.....okay, I'll give it a try.

Holy hell. It was laughable and at some points I even found myself being embarrassed for the author. I don't know why I suffered though it, but I guess I'm just into self torture. I found myself cringing at the dialog between the supposed tough guys. No straight guy in the history of the planet has ever uttered the cheesetastic lines these guys did. Like telling each other they "look fabulous" and knowing one another for a matter of hours and already calling each other by nicknames. I had no idea that vampires were so friendly. ;)
One of the worst lines has got to be: "He looked like he was smuggling paint rollers under his skin." WTF?!!!! That is the nastiest simile I've ever heard to describe 6 pack abs. Talk about not hot.
Oh, and I can't forget to mention the names.....get this.....Zsadist, Rhage, Phury, Tohrment. Can anyone say Rhetarded?

Various Stories

2008-04-23T15:22:00.003-05:00

Just some random things going on in my head lately......

Kyle got his scores back from taking the Iowa Basic skills tests (standardized achievement tests....I assume every state has these) in Feb. Last year was the first year that he took them and did pretty well. I don't remember his composite score, but the test placed him as on the level of a typical fourth grade student, when he was in the third grade. So this year being a fourth grader, I figured he would do well, but was quite surprised at how well. His composite score was 94, meaning that only 6% of students his age, nationwide, scored higher. Then it said that his score put him on the level of a typical seventh grader. So now Kyle thinks he is as smart as a seventh grader. ;) I was like.....yeah, well then there is no reason you should bring home fourth grade papers with anything less than an A, right?
That kind of took the wind out of his sails. ;)
Speaking of Kyle, a lot of the reason that he is not a straight A student is that he is lacking in the responsibility category. So he looses assignments, turns in half assed work, or forgets things. Yesterday was a "forget". He had an assignment that was due today that he needed a certain form to fill out. I reminded him on Monday to bring it home, but he forgot. Yesterday morning I reminded him again. Yesterday afternoon he gets in the car and here is the conversation from that point:

Me: Did you remember to get that paper that you needed?
Him: No, I forgot it.
(A long pause, as I stare at him)
Me: Well, don't you need it?
Him: Yeah.
Me: Then go get it.
Him: I can't. (getting visibly upset)
Me: Why not? (also getting visibly upset)
Him: Because school is over.
Me: Yeah, by like 5 minutes. Your teacher is still in there. You can go get it.
Him: (tearing up) But, my friends will see me going back in.
Me: So?!
Him: So, they never have to back in.
Me: I'm sure people have to go back in on occasion. Now, get out of the car and go get your paper.
Him: NO!!!! (crying and red faced )
Me: You are the one that kept forgetting it, so you are the one that needs to go get it.
Him: (freaking out) I'm not!
Me: (I suppose I should have just said forget it, and let him get a shitty grade, but I was baffled and pissed by his reaction at that point) Do I need to get out of the car and drag you in myself?!
Him: No!
Me: (getting out of the car and going around to his side) Go, now!
Him: (getting out and making a big spectacle)I am!

So, he goes in, gets his paper and it was so totally not a big deal. On the drive home I said: "So you were embarrassed to go back into the school, but crying and having a 2 year old tantrum in the parking lot wasn't embarrassing?". He just ignored me and sniffled all the way home. It just goes to show that you never know what is going to set a kid off. That would have never crossed my mind as something he would be embarrassed by. Lesson learned, I guess.

Here is story from the funeral home. My FIL, since retiring, works part time at a funeral home, picking up bodies and helping with services. Yesterday they were doing a full on Catholic service in the chapel. So, it is much smaller than a typical cathedral ceiling of a church. Anyway they got to the point where they burn the incense over the casket, you know as an "absolution for the dead", and there is so much smoke that people start coughing. Then, the smoke detectors start going off. There were people waving their arms, and running out. That's a nice send off, huh? My FIL said he's never seen it happen before, but he's only worked there for a couple of years, so maybe it happens a lot. ;)

Rob's cousin Stephanie recently moved to Ankeny. She has a daughter that is Emma's age, so the girls got together one afternoon for a play date. Look at how cute they look in their princess dresses. Emma picked the Sleeping beauty one, and Shaylen picked the Belle one. I was like "you guys do really look like Sleeping Beauty and Belle!". ;)

Obama on Colbert

2008-04-18T13:14:00.002-05:00

Grizzly bears are the number one threat to America. ;)

4 Minutes

2008-04-15T11:28:00.002-05:00

If they only have 4 minutes to save world, then I suggest they stop fucking dancing and start saving. I don't think our first choice for world saving should be JT and Madonna. Oh, and how about those cross cut versions of the people making out...ewww.

This one is for Michele

2008-04-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

Emma and her blanket.

Where have I been?!!

2008-04-08T19:17:00.005-05:00

I've been around. Just busy and shit. Here is a funny picture from last week. I took Emma to this Chuck E Cheese type indoor playground place and they had this inflatable caterpillar. It totally looks like old, saggy vag lips. Check it out:

Back from spring break

2008-03-24T14:24:00.002-05:00

Spring, my ass. ;) We spent last week at my mom's for spring break. It was anything but spring. Emma was sick with a cough and fever for a couple of days and then my mom caught the bug and was coughing like mad, also. We didn't do much of our usual stuff like the St. Patrick's day parade, but my sister and BIL came that weekend, so we just kind of hung out. During the week we took the kids to see Horton Hears a Who and got some Whitey's ice cream......my favorite. Then we had Easter with my brother and Rob because they came over on Friday. Here are some pictures of the kids with the Easter bunny, decorating eggs and us on Easter Sunday.

Who needs a movie?

2008-03-13T16:02:00.002-05:00

And I thought "Mary from Goods" was zombie-esque....this chick kicks Mary's dead-pan ass!

Unnecessary Force

2008-03-09T19:44:00.000-05:00

I want to Spock you like an animal

2008-03-05T13:37:00.001-06:00

Get this.....

2008-03-03T12:53:00.003-06:00

Kyle's basketball coach is a minister/reverend/preacher at one of the churches here in town. He is a really nice guy and didn't go around being all Godly or anything during basketball, but you could still tell he was all about Jesus. Anyway, Kyle's last basketball game was this past Saturday. After the game his coach handed out printed invitations to an end of the season basketball pizza party. Kyle's team's name is the Raptors....FYI. I take a look at the invite and am like.....blah, blah, blah, Sat., 12:00, Godfathers pizza.....sounds good.
So today, I see the invite on the counter and I decide I'm going to write the info on the calendar. That's when I noticed what it really said......

The Raptures
Saturday, March 8th
Godfather's Pizza

Holy shit! Coach preacher must write so many sermons about the Rapture that he didn't even realize he wrote the wrong word for the team name. Either that or it's supposed to be subliminal. ;)
So Kyle has been officially invited to the Rapture.....although I don't think the Godfather's party room has enough space for 144,000 people. ;)

Emma and the snowblower

2008-02-26T20:05:00.001-06:00

Here is link to the youtube video of Emma with the snowblower today.

Just when I thought I'd seen everything

2008-02-24T09:34:00.001-06:00

I was sitting here checking my email when all of a sudden my weather ticker came up across the bottom of the screen. The weather has been so crappy lately that pretty much everyday there is some sort of wind chill advisory or winter storm warning, but today was looking pretty nice, so I was like...what the fuck? It was an "air stagnation" warning. Ummmmmm, I'll take a little stagnant air if it means I'm not knee deep in snow or freezing my tits off. Air stagnation warning.....Christ what's next?!

Valentine's party pics

2008-02-22T18:08:00.002-06:00

These are some pics of the kids and their self decorated cupcakes at our Valentine's party last Saturday. I love Emma's little hand, awwwww. ;)

Quote of the Day

2008-02-18T10:36:00.001-06:00

"He was retarded, not an idiot. Of all the idiots I've known in my life, none of them were retarded."

From Wednesday

2008-02-16T08:46:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures of Emma at her preschool Valentine's party. I just now got them off my camera to make room for new pictures coming today of our playgroup Valentine's party. Party, party, party!

D.I.S.C.O.

2008-02-15T13:05:00.002-06:00

This is how I dance in the privacy of my own home, all random and freaky with periodic leg kicks for no reason. But, I would never allow witnesses. So kudos to Ottawan for throwing caution to the wind and letting it all hang out for the world to see.

More random Monday stuff

2008-02-11T13:24:00.001-06:00

It's fricking freezing out there Mr. Bigglesworth! I had to run a ton of errands today and it was torturous to even walk from the car to the door because the wind is so damn cold. I checked out a few things at the library and the chick behind the counter was saying that my items were due March something-or-other, and she was laughing that it was already almost March. I was like....not close enough. If March brings some warmer weather and the end of the snow, then bring it on March!

My husband thought it would be hilarious to give me a hickey on my neck last night. So this morning I had to put on a turtleneck so all the other preschool moms wouldn't think I was a junkie whore.

I've been watching the HBO show "Deadwood" on DVD lately. It's a good one. More funny than I had expected. Anyway, the oddest thing is that all of these 80's actors keep showing up on there. Like people who you haven't seen since "Newhart" ended. For example, Larry, of "I'm Larry and this is my brother Daryl and this is my other brother Daryl" fame. Also, one of the Simons from Simon and Simon, the one that's married to Delta Burke. Then, the principal from Ferris Bueller.....wasn't that guy arrested for like child pornography or something? Oh and get this, do you remember Blair's cousin Geri from Facts of Life? The one with cerebral palsy? She's on there and what's more....there is even a character on Deadwood named Mrs. Garrett. I was like...isn't there any show this chick is on that doesn't have a Mrs. Garrett?!!!! ;)

Today

2008-02-04T21:30:00.000-06:00

Lots of random things for today. Kyle was sick with a sore throat and fever the past couple of days. I took him to the doctor today to find out that just like Feb. of last year, he has strep. Just not his month, I guess. He was up last night with fever induced rambling again, but not nearly as crazy-ass as previous times. These ones were just gibberish and being really upset about his feet not working right. Who knows?!!!
Also today we went to get our taxes done and we aren't getting back as much as I was expecting. I hate that. I knew we made more money this year, but you never know how much that really means come tax time.
This past Saturday some of my cropping buddies and I went to an Easter Seals fundraiser and I got 10 pages done. I worked on Kyle's basketball, Christmas and some sledding pages. I've only got Emma at basketball left to work on. Here are some:

Holy Thoughtfulness Batman!

2008-01-31T15:27:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was my 36th birthday. Nothing really special in that, so it was spent doing normal Wednesday things like laundry, errands and taking the kids to and from school. We did go out to eat last night as I decided I was not cooking on my birthday. Anyway, Rob actually got me a card and a gift. If you know anything about Rob, you'll know that he isn't the best gift giver, so he usually just doesn't give me gifts. To be fair, he used to try, but they were so awful that I told him to forget it(ie....thong underwear one year, yeah like those were for my benfit). This year though, he actually....all on his own....got me a gift card to our local scrapbook store. Wow! Thoughtful and appropriate. I'm in shock. ;)

A Couple More

2008-01-29T16:46:00.001-06:00

The Daily Show has a new website that has tons of videos from years past, so I've been able to find some of the funniest ones of old. Here are a couple of my favorites:
"The Crack of Ten" with Matt Walsh
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114372&title=nude...-wheres-my-car

"The Crippled Chicken" with Stephen Colbert http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=126543&title=singing-senators

"Slimming Down with Steve" with Steve Carell
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=126459&title=slimming-down-with-steve-dancing

One of my favorites

2008-01-28T23:44:00.000-06:00

This is one of my favorite Stephen Colbert clips from the Daily Show.

Vagina Couch

2008-01-24T20:15:00.000-06:00

A friend sent this link to me and it was just odd enough for sharing.

Emma at basketball videos

2008-01-15T09:06:00.000-06:00

I couldn't figure out how to get a video on here, but I could on youtube.....go figure. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvfi0bXaBSI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLgUfXEBDhM

I'm twisted

2008-01-10T09:05:00.000-06:00

I took this quiz and found out that I'm twisted....which really isn't too shocking. ;)

Conan's beard

2008-01-03T16:16:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of Conan O'Brien sporting his Kris Kringle beard for last night's show. His facial expression makes me laugh my ass off:

Amazon

2008-01-01T13:02:00.000-06:00

Last night I was perusing Amazon as they still had mega sales until midnight. Anyway, I came across a few products with some interesting names. So if you need your boy buttered, your tushy twisted or your goat horny....Amazon is the place for you!

Wii boxing

2007-12-31T11:47:00.001-06:00

Here is a cute picture of Emma boxing on the Wii. She kicks ass!

The day after Christmas

2007-12-26T15:00:00.000-06:00

So, it's over. All the build up for Christmas and then just like that, it's done. I have to say we did really good this year. We didn't spend too much on gifts and everyone got everything they wanted. The big gift was the Wii and some games for it. We pretty much spent all day yesterday playing it. My arms, back, and shoulders are sore as shit from boxing with a computer guy named James. He kicked my ass 3 times before I got him. Kyle got Legend of Zelda and Emma got Super Mario. It's crazy to watch a kid that small navigate stuff like that. Oh, I also got the new camera that I'd been wanting, but a way better model than I had been expecting, with better zooming capabilities and things like that.
My sister and BIL were here this past weekend and we opened gift with them on Saturday. Then we had Christmas eve with Rob's family and spent Christmas day here. It was really warm, like 45 degrees yesterday and my mom and I took the kids sledding. Here are some pics with my new camera of Christmas present opening and sledding:

Damn, I really need a new camera

2007-12-19T15:55:00.000-06:00

Emma had her Christmas program at preschool today and I took some really shitty photos. They had the program in the sanctuary which is notoriously dark, plus I had a bad seat, so I had to zoom. So here are some grainy, zoomed, mega red-eyed photos of Emma singing Christmas songs.;)

Snowball fightin' with Geraldo

2007-12-17T00:42:00.000-06:00

Christmas scrapbooking

2007-12-16T12:10:00.000-06:00

We had our scrapbook group's Christmas party/crop yesterday. My secret Santa got me a bunch of stuff to do some basketball pages. Which is nice considering that both kids are playing basketball this year. I got all my pages completed and again, I'm caught up. ;) Guess I'll just have to be a little more camera happy for the holidays. Actually a new camera is on my list since my current one is 5 years old and in the digital world, that is ancient. At least they no longer cost $400 like they used to. Here are some pictures of some of the pages I did yesterday:

Santa x 2

2007-12-13T17:00:00.000-06:00

I've got some kids with Santa pictures to post. The first one is of Emma and Kyle(who no longer believes in Santa and was really put out by having to pose with his sister) with one mall Santa and the second is Emma with from today with another mall Santa. Gee, can you tell which one was taken by a professional? I'll give you a hint, it's the one without the raging red eyes. ;)

Never trust a big butt and a smile

2007-12-11T10:48:00.000-06:00

Ah, class of 1990. This one takes me back. ;)

Snow play

2007-12-06T16:36:00.000-06:00

We got some snow today and here are some pics of the kids playing:

Dexter

2007-12-05T12:18:00.000-06:00

I just got done watching season 1 of the Showtime show Dexter on DVD because, of course, we don't have Showtime. It was entertaining and he sure makes for an adorable serial killer. ;)

Top 10 Chuck Norris "facts"

2007-12-03T18:23:00.000-06:00

1. Chuck Norris' calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd; no one fools Chuck Norris.
2. Some kids piss their name in the snow. Chuck Norris can piss his name into concrete.
3. Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.
4. Chuck Norris once visited the Virgin Islands. They are now The Islands.
5. Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
6. Superman owns a pair of Chuck Norris pajamas.
7. Chuck Norris likes to knit sweaters in his free time. And by "knit", I mean "kick", and by "sweaters", I mean "babies".
8. Chuck Norris puts the "laughter" in "manslaughter".
9. Chuck Norris once won a game of Connect Four in 3 moves.
10. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

Bill Brasky

2007-12-02T19:50:00.000-06:00

The Hobbs family as elves

2007-11-28T00:00:00.000-06:00

These are the best moves Rob has ever had!

Christmas decor pics

2007-11-24T18:41:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures of the house after the Christmas decorations went up. We put the skinny tree upstairs, the fat one downstairs and I got all my Christmas dishes in our new/used China hutch(we got it free from a funeral home and I had to scrub it thoroughly before my family was satisfied that I got the "dead smell" out).

I'm on a roll

2007-11-20T23:32:00.000-06:00

I'm officially caught up on my scrapbooking pictures/pages. Good thing Christmas is coming to give me something to do. ;) Speaking of Christmas, I got all my decorations up this past weekend. The guys put the lights up outside and helped with the tree and I finished the rest. No pictures of that yet, though. I like this years arrangement better than last year. I guess I needed a practice year to figure out what I wanted/needed for this house.
On an unrelated topic, guess what my apparently non-women's lib daughter said to me today. We were in the car picking up Kyle from school and got to talking about some birthday presents that she had gotten. Here is the next part of the conversation:

Emma: I got you a present for your birthday, Mommy
Me: Oh yeah, what's that?
Emma: a new cleaner bottle
Me: You got me cleaning stuff for my birthday?
Emma: Yes, and a new mop too
Me(clearly not sarcastic enough for a 5 year old to understand): Wonderful. That's just what I need for my time travelling trip to 1950.
Emma: You like those presents, Mommy?
Me: Yes, honey, they're great.

Most typical Emma pose ever

2007-11-16T18:33:00.000-06:00

Some pages

2007-11-14T14:25:00.000-06:00

I got some new scrapbook pages done this past weekend. They were pages that I'd made awhile ago and just needed to add the photos, so it was kind of cheating. But still......they are complete and that's all that matters. I got all of Halloween done, most of fall and soccer. This weekend we have an all day crop at the library and I'll be finishing up fall and Emma's birthday. Tonight we are going to take the kids to see Celtic Woman at Wells Fargo Arena as a birthday treat for Emma. She LOVES Irish music and calls the Celtic Women her "girls". :) Here are some of the completed pages:

Emma's birthday

2007-11-12T16:24:00.000-06:00

Emma turned 5 years old today. It's hard to believe it's been that long since we've had an Emma in our lives. ;) We had a little family party on Saturday. The theme was Tinkerbell and here are a few pictures of the cake I made and Emma with some of her gifts.

Wii

2007-11-05T12:37:00.000-06:00

I got a Wii a couple of months back and have kept it hidden as it is a Christmas present for the family. Rob and my brother know where it is and this weekend convinced me that we should get it out and use it. You know, to "check and make sure it works alright" wink, wink. The kids were at the in-laws this weekend, so I agreed. We only had the sports game that the system comes with, but we played for hours. We were up until 3:00 am, 2:00 with the time change, thankfully. That thing is just a shit ton of fun. My shoulders were sore yesterday from all that tennis. ;)

Halloween 2007

2007-10-31T13:29:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures to enjoy:

The kids right before trick or treating

Kyle and Nosferatu from down the block

Emma at her preschool Halloween party today

Tarzan's medical history and a Halloween party

2007-10-29T12:21:00.000-05:00

I went to the library today and as I was walking though an aisle I caught a glimpse of a book entitled "Tarzan's Tonsillitis". That's not a subject I thought they'd cover. ;)
We had our playgroup Halloween party the other night at a friend's house. She did a great job decorating and making a "spooky room" in her basement. The kids looked so cute in their costumes and their buckets were overflowing with treats and goodies. Kyle was a little annoying with his Yu Gi Oh hair that he kept taking off. I was like "you picked that costume, now you wear it". Another friend's son had the same issue with his Davy Jones costume. He kept taking off his octopus-type headgear. So between the two of them, my friend and I were telling them all night to put their head/hair back on. ;)
Here is a picture of Kyle pretending to be scared by the spooky room.....you know for the benefit of the younger kids:

And here is Emma in the yard before the apple bob:

More pumpkin patching

2007-10-26T20:41:00.000-05:00

Today we had Emma's field trip for preschool. It just happened that Kyle was out of school today so he got to come along too. We went to a little farm outside of Ankeny that had tons of pumpkins and some fun other activities like a hay bale maze and a corn barn. They also had a giant log swing that the kids liked, but had trouble staying on: