These Boots were made for walkin'

I went to a white elphant exchange and won these orange boots. I love them and Chris evidently does too. He does not have winter boots and used mine to shovel the drive way during the winter flurries.

Sleepy Pirate

Earlier this month, our family (minus me) went to a birthday party at the Crawmers. They truly went all out. It was a combined birthday party for their sons Morgan and Jack Jack. There was a costume theme. Amanda was Dot from Mad TV, her husband Andy was a mad scientist, complete with sideburns. Dan was a baseball player and Julie was a teacher. Morgan and Jack were decked out in kilts, braveheart style. The Pasmas were all Bombers fans, one of them (we wont say who) wore shorts that should not be worn by men. (yikes!) And my family consisted of a hippie, a pink pirate, Sharpei from HSM, and Garbriella from HSM. They had a blast! I was at my annual (it was only my second year) cookie exchange. It took me years to get into this group. I remember my aunt going to the exchange when I was a little girl and thinking, "oh I hope I get invited to that when I am older." Basically someone has to die or be miss a year for there to be an opening in the group. A few years back I asked my aunt if there were any weak links in the group so that I could get my foot in. Well, no one died, but I got an invite and felt so pleased to go. So I am in until death keeps me from it. I love going. We play six rounds of bunko and eat all afternoon. The hostess of the party makes an amazing cranberry tea each year and I looked forward to it for that long. It was worth the wait. Hope you enjoy!

December Catch Up!

We got a new camera about a month ago and Chris has been really enjoying playing with the different settings on it. here are some of his master pieces. Also, this month has been a whirlwind. We decorated our tree, played in the snow and had a good time. The snow has made for a lot of indoor play and that has caused cabin fever for the girls and I. Dont get me wrong, I still go somewhere everyday, but they have so much energy that most of it is spent fighting with each other. We have been renting several movies and having "sleepovers" for the girls. I am excited for tonight. Chris is supposed to get off at noon and we get the rest of the day together. Yeah!

Motivation

I have been lacking in this area. I have been running three times a week since the day school started. We are just over three months. Last week I took it off becuase I had all the girls with me and I just didnt know how I would work it with two riding in the stroller and Dani potentially riding her bike, so the only day I went was Monday. Consequently I have felt fat all weekend. So I got back into it on Monday and today. It is amazing to me, I look different to myself in the mirror. Here is the frustrating part....the scale has not really changed. I run three times a week, dance for two hours a week, and nothing as far as numbers has changed. I am going to try and be ok with this and just be ok with feeling good about how I look. Thats all I got for now! Peace

A page for Paige

So as I battled the chaos we all know as Walmart yesterday a friend reminded me that I had not blogged for a while, so this is for you Paige. Not much new going on here. Chris has been working a lot extra the past few days so I havent seen him much. The girls are bugging us to get lights on the house and we havent done it yet. Oh and I did battle black friday and we came up with some rules:

1. Do not buy the things that are not on sale. They will be there tomorrow and there is no reason to stand in long lines for stuff like that.

2. Do not get a cart unless your purchase calls for it. They are too big to maneuver and in large crowds you end up with a traffic jam situation.

3. Decide who will be the place holder upon entering the store. Put that person in line and then go get what you need and bring it to them. Warn the other shoppers around you that you are merely a placeholder and others will be bringing their stuff to you. People are usually cool with you doing this.

4. Cut the weak link from the herd. If you give people fair warning about where you are in the line progression and they do not make it back by the time you are at checkout....leave them. They need to just fend for themselves. Brutal I know.

5. For the love, if you have a cart take it with you. Do not leave it in the middle of an aisle. Nothing drives me more crazy then people who detach from the cart for a side conversation thus causing a traffic jam. Costco shoppers are notorious for this.

6. If you are not sure if you want to buy the on sale item, get it anyway and bring it back if you change your mind. At least you will have gotten it at the sale price if you decide to keep it.

I think I had one more, but have since forgotten it. We always end our day with lunch at the OG and a movie. This year we saw 4 Christmases and it was really funny. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, God bless you and your family.

Upmost

This was part of my devotion this morning. I hope it speaks to you as it did to me:

We should be so one with God that we don’t need to ask continually for guidance........If we are born again by the Spirit of God, our devotion to Him is hindered, or even stopped, by continually asking Him to guide us here and there. ". . . the Lord led me . . ." and on looking back we see the presence of an amazing design. If we are born of God we will see His guiding hand and give Him the credit.
~J~

RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Most of us take for granted the ability to pronounce letters. They flow off our tongue naturally without effort and all is well. That said, Allison has always had trouble saying the letter R. I just thought she would grow out of it, so I was not concerned. During one of our summer functions a friend and her mom (I love you Jen) pointed out to me that Alli could not say her R. Something I knew but didnt think anything about. My friends mom is a speech therapist and said that services would be available to her for free in school. I asked if there was something I could practice with her to work on it myself. She said no, in a totally loving and honest way. She said that her tongue has to lay down in the back to pronounce the R. Alli said the word red, like wed. Anyhow, I took this as a challenge.If someone else can get my child to say her R, by golly I was going to try too. Alli was eager to try her letter r. It started out that she would sort of growl to get the letter out. That was cool with me. Well, after about a month of her really trying, she can say her letter R. She is really into emphasizing it too and we notice and are sure to give her praise.

He Knows Me

Yesterday Chris got off work a little bit early. He went in early, hence he got to come home early. While most women might appreciate some long stem roses or a glass of wine, my husband knows me better than that. He came home with some long stem french fries and a tall glass of iced coffee. He knows me. I appreciated that far more than any flowers I could ever get, chocolates I could eat or anything like that. I loved it!

Halloween

So for Halloween we had a hula dancer, hot lava girl, and a Snow White with hot pink hair. Lou had to have the hot pink hair becuase Alli did. It was really cute. We started out by going to South Hills for the carnival and then we came home at 6:15 to answer the door to hopeful trick-o-treaters. Last year we had 185 and this year we topped that with 260. We attributed the large numbers to the warmer weather. Last year it was simply bitter cold out and Chris did not take the girls for very long. This year it was nice out (in the high 50's) so it brought more people. We finally turned off our porch light at 8:30pm. That was late enough for us. My mom and brother came up to see the girls in their costumes and answer the door for us. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pics of our cuties. Also, we got a new camera b/c our last one was wiggin out. Aldersons, sorry we no longer sport the same camera.

October update

Here are a couple random things we did this month. One day we went to the pumpkin patch with some friends. That was a lot of fun for all of us. The one negative to the trip was the cost. It was a little spendy. $6 for each person, kids 2 and under were free. This price did not include our pumpkins or the bouncy obstacle course. So it was about a $30 day. The girls sure looked cute though.
Also, my mom, dad, brother and I started a new tradition. We go out for a meal together every other month. I never had this as a young adult and so to go out as a family really feels like we are making up for lost time. We talk about memories and someone different gets to pick where we go each time. It is so fun. Side note, my brother left a couple pizzas on top of his car and drove home. It was not until he saw them flying in the rear view mirror that he realized that he had done this. He never reads my blog, so he probably wont know that I blogged that. Love you.
The last pic have my Lou Lou and her head injury. She fell from the piano bench and ended up with three stitches. The huge praise out of this was that a friend did the stitches, so Lou knew her and was comfortable with her. That is all for now, peace out!

Not So Bad

So 30 is not so bad thus far. The other night at hula I did a move that I could not do a year ago. I made the comment that my 30 year old knees did a move that my 29 year old knees could not. My teacher just attributed it to the fact that my legs had gotten stronger and used to the moves, I will say that 30 year old knees rock!

30

Not much else to say. It is the first anniversary of my 29th birthday today. No party, no frills. I think we are going to dinner at Carmines tonight.

Tagged Again!!- Thanks Kelly, I love you!

Kelly tagged me. So now, I share 7 random facts about myself with the world. This is hard to do for someone who does much better when she is asked questions. Here goes:

1. I enjoy pluck my eyebrow hairs out. Weird, yes, but I heard recently that many obsessive compulsive people do this. I am not officially OCD but then, maybe I am. I only do this when I am nervous or concentrating. So, I am sure you can imagine how I used to look in college when there was a big test coming up or when I play poker. Two words, hairless chinchilla.
2. I was a mean big sister to my brother. I remember telling him that Freddy would come out of his closet and get him in the night. Consequently this lead to him wanting to sleep with me in my bed until I was 14 making him 10-11. Totally my fault.
3. I used to love Monopoly and now I don't play. My current passions for games are dominoes and Settlers - thanks again Kelly and Keith. I love the whole building and buying process in games.
4. I ran cross country in high school because of a tryst of events. First, my bad eye was a magnet for getting hit in volleyball. No kidding. I had goggles and everything that I would wear when playing. The breaking point for me was at a tournament. I had just finished two games as a middle hitter and was taking a break on a bench in the foyer. Would you believe that I took my goggles off to lay down and a ball hit me from across the room because two girls were practicing outside the gym and lost control. It hit me right in the bad eye which caused bleeding, elevated pressure, oh you know the story. So needless to say, no more volleyball. Secondly, I had to keep an eye on Chris' wandering eye. Those Abersfeller girls gave me a lot of heartache without even knowing it.
5. Chris and I are appreciating crazy shows like Scrubs and The Office in our later years. I remember when they first came out I thought, how stupid, who would watch these? The humor is so dumb. Well, I have decided that it is just an acquired taste and totally funny now.
6. I will be celebrating my first anniversary next week. Feel free to send me an anni card. Yes, that is right. It will be the first anniversary of my 29th birthday. I will gracefully take 40, not 30. I can do whatever I want even if that means living in DeNial.
7. Lastly, I will have you know that my favorite restaurant currently is Casa Mia. I love the butter that you put on the freshly baked rolls. I would eat the butter packets by themselves if I thought that would be socially acceptable. Who cares, I just may eat a butter packet by itself next time I go there. So much for being bound by the rules of conformity. You sheep!


Now that you know too much about me, I must tag some blogging friends:1. Jenni2. Cierra3. Chaunel 4. Maggie5. Abner 6. The Wickshref="http://roomforatleastonemore.blogspot.com/">Jeremy 7. <

The Shack

I started reading this book a few days ago and it is great. There are very few books I say that about because I hold Janet Evanovich books on such a high pedestal. However, I am devouring this book and it is a good read. There are a lot of really heavy "conversations" with God in the book and it forces you to think outside of your egocentric world and see the world as God sees it. Anyway, I am loving it and I am only half way through. If you have the time, spend the dime (by that I mean $8.49 at Costco).

What else is going on in my life???? Our bathroom is finished and the outdoor project is as finished as it is going to get this year. Praise God! That's all I got for now. I come up with really great blog topics and then I forget them because I dont write it down. I really need to start journaling again, then maybe I could remember stuff.

Also, I am going to a really important cookie exchange again this year and I am totally psyched. I had to check my cookie through my auntie. She is a veteran and I am a newbie. I have been lamenting about the perfect cookie. This is only my second year, I need to make an impression. But, thanks to Amanda, I found it and it is perfect. I will post some pics after I make it. It is truly beautiful. Ode to a cookie.

Fireproof

Our pastor at Crossview Community Church often says stuff about having fire insurance. He means having Christ to protect from the hell that we deserve quite frankly. That said, there is a Christian movie coming to the Tri called Fireproof. It is about not letting your marriage burn to the ground. We are going to try and see it tonight at Carmike if we can line up childcare. If you get a chance, make the time in your marriage to save it.

I sound WITCHY

Im not bitchy, but when I step outside myself for a moment, I might sound bitchy. NO, it is not my time of the month people.This is a topic that has plagued Chris and my relationship for years. He is not allowed to tell me that I sound this way, that would cause a fight. He often brings it up when I am on the phone with some customer service person. I know I get defensive, I just feel like people are always trying to rip me off some way or another.

Example: the other day Alli had an eye appointment. They were offering a test that is not covered by insurance above and beyond the normal appointment. I was asking questions like, "Is this necessary?" Her answer was all our doctors recommend it. Of course they do, what is the mark up on something like that? "Do any of the other tests show the same things that this non covered test is going to show?" Her answer.....this is a much more detailed look at the eye. Anyway, they suckered me into it ( Chris and I declined it for ourselves) but I thought nothing is too much for our kids. She was fine and didnt even need glasses.

Our new care group is going great. God has really blessed Chris and I by bringing couples that could benefit from a group. Praise Him! I so look forward to Sunday nights because the girls go down early, the house is clean, there are no kids, and we get to have some great adult interacation time in fellowship. We have had fleeting moments thinking about moving so that we could accomodate more people. But those thoughts are dashed with the comforting feeling that God will provide for us and for the group and that our home is more than sufficient.

*****Please note the mess behind me in the Picture**********Yikes!***********

Who Dis?

This is Leilani's catch phrase lately. Instead of asking us what something is, she will say, " Who dis?" So cute! She will point to a new color, a pack of gum, something shiny and say that. I am loving that she is our last because I am really cherishing her firsts. I remember doing this with Alli (before we dreamed of Leilani) and mourning a little bit that that would be the last little child I would see to go through these things. That said, I am not mourning that at all with Leilani. Completely enjoying the firsts and lasts. I wouldnt mind being on the last diaper, but quite frankly I have not been disciplined with her about that. I will post some pictures soon.

She also loves to play dress up, this is one of the many hand me downs she has gotten from sisters a cute little old cop costume. I included a crazy pic of my Allison and Dani too.

TAGGED

So I was tagged, and by that I mean that I have to post the fourth picture in my fourth file of my computer....so here it is, my brother. It was a few years ago after a game. His arms and pecs are much larger now, I am sure he would appreciate me saying that, but hands off ladies, he has a gal pal Ashley.

On a side note, I got food poisoning. I deserved it. I ate food that was questionably good. This is what I get. Oh well. Have a good one

Uplift me

Here is another piece from a devotion I read this morning. It was talking about being made into wine.

"Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us.
But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed— you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed."

There are things that make me not want to submit. People I do not want to heed what they are saying. Situations that I do not want to place in the care of God. I must submit if I want to truly walk in His will. Why the heck not? It takes a huge weight off my shoulders knowing that He has my best interest in mind and will care for me.
He has constantly been reminding me that things are not as hard as they seem. More on that later.

IDIOT

so we have a peeping tom in our neighborhood. I am not thrilled about it. We are not prime targets as we do not have a skylight and that is his MO. Do you like my cop terminology? I got that off one of my favorite cop shows. ANyways, could this guy be any dumber??? We have about numerous cops in our neighborhood just itching to get a crack at him. I would be thrilled if he tried to look in our windows and Chris caught him. First of all, I doubt he could get away from Chris, Chris is fast. Second, you know that he would have me on the phone to the cops as he sprinted out the door. It would be a done deal baby. Thats all for now.

Butterscotch Zucchini Bread

This is a new recipe I have been tweaking to make it Chris friendly. It is from the kitchen of a friend of mine named Destry. Enjoy!

1 1/2 c flour
1 t Cinnamon
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Baking Powder
1/4 t Salt
1/4 t Nutmeg
1 C Sugar
1/4 c applesauce
2 egg whites
1/4 c butterscotch chips
1/2 c milk
1 c finely grated zucchini (unpeeled)

Bake in a greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 45 min. or till done.

KNDU

On Labor Day, mom the girls and I were in the parking lot of Safeway and a reporter asked if he could ask our kids a few questions about the day. We said sure and they got in front of the camera. Dani did well. She did not know the meaning of Labor day, but Alli, well she was Alli. Not only did she proceed to scratch herself on camera, but she told the minor viewing audience that Santa Clause is pretend. Luckily that stuff did not make it on the news cut, but just a quick shot of her saying, " I dont know." all nasal like. So funny!

On a seperate note I am totally syked that McCain chose a female running mate. I dont keep up with politics much, but she is cool. Young, mother of 5 ranging from 18-4 mos. Talk about relating to the public. And get this, her husband is a professional snowmobile racer. Can you get any cooler. Anyway, I think that I pretty much represent the "norm" of the American public and I think it was a great move to bring her on. She will probably be the first female president by default, because lets face it, McCain cant have that many years left in him.

Today is my first day with Lou lou by myself and I am loving it. I am going to get of the computer now and spend some time with that cute thing. Later!

My Girl All Grown Up

Allison Taylor went to kindergarten yesterday. It was emotional for me. Moreso than when Dani went. I was so happy when she went, and it is bittersweet for me with Alli leaving. She has always needed me a little more than Dani ever did, so I think that is why it is harder for me to see her go......Wow I actually just had a flash forward to 13 years from now when she is going away for real. To college or something. Our luck, she will want to be a tattoo artist or something.

I have been running again. I hate running, but I am a huge fan of feeling good about myself, so there you have it. It is a lot of work running with a double jogger especially when the wind is blowing because the stroller catches the wind like the sail of a ship and attempts to pull me in the opposite direction. I am allowing myself to walk some of the time too. I usually dont, but in light of the 70lbs I am pushing, I deserve a walk every now and again.

I have a big hula show this weekend and am very excited about it. I love big shows with the band. This is especially fun because we get to dance throughout the crowd. Yeah!

A special event

We had the honor of witnessing a very special time in the lives of our dear friends the Richardsons. Jeremy adopted Jaidah and it was beautiful. I love to see God working and if ever there was a great example of that, the Richardsons are those people with their eyes on God and faith in Him. I nearly missed it as I was running late to the courthouse, but praise God I did make it there on time to get a few important pics. We went to DQ afterwards to celebrate and the kids appreciated that. On a side note, the girls look so much alike, that they could very well be mistaken as sisters and that would be ok with me. Hasta!

Famous Daves

We went to this restaurant for Bub's 26th birthday. Yep, he is gettin old. The food was amazing and I really enjoyed the time with my family. I hope we can make this a monthly tradition. It was fun to hear memories that different family members held dear in their heart. Things I wouldnt have thought of.

On a seperate note, I had a dream the other night about Chris getting back into the air force. For those of you who dont know me well, I have very detailed dreams. We were being stationed in France and the airport was several hours from the base, so we had to drive a long ways north to get there. When we arrived, the base housing was really nice. I remember feeling really secure that he was back in the service and our medical would be taken care of for the rest of our lives, but also a sad feeling becuase I knew that he would probably have to deploy and I would be alone with the kids in a foreign country. Come on, I would be in Europe, what was I thinking?

Olympics 2008

It has been a blast to watch the olympics in the evening. I would love to be in France for the next ones, we will see what I can work out. Here are some memorable clips: