"Bibbidi Bloggidi Boo"

Back to the blogoshpere...

2009-04-26T12:20:00.002-06:00

I made up a shoe to steal my brother, It took 10 days to find my Mother.
I fell in a pond, made friends with a croc, he gave me a puff ball and said lets go to the mall.
I had a CD that said The world is a horrible place, I took that CD and smacked it in the face.

By Mikayla Diamant

The tooth fairy is considering calling it quits!

2009-01-09T11:50:00.003-07:00

I never really pay that much attention to Kayla's mouth. I don't do a nightly check up. Maybe I should start.
I walked in and she was asleep on the couch, I felt guilty having to wake her up, knowing how tired she has been. I sat down next to her trying to make what was about to happen as painless as possible for both of us. (she doesn't do waking up very well) I gently shook her awake and said, "Kayla, you need to wake up, we need to get going home." I was using a very soft voice trying to avoid a fight. I pulled her up and thought of things to talk about to distract her from my what I was doing. I started to ask her about her day and her friends. She is facing me, a few inches away from my face, trying her best to answer.
It's then I notice her teeth. One is missing. I think back, trying to remember the last time she lost a tooth, it had been a while. Did she tell me she had a loose tooth? Maybe, I couldn't recall the exact conversation.
"Did you lose your tooth?" I asked.
"Yeah" she shrugged still trying hard to not wake up.
"When?"
"Today, at school."
"Did you pull it out?" I ask her, knowing the answer would most likely be yes since she had pulled out the last 3 herself.
"Uh-huh" she replied, still not entertained by our conversation.
"Where is it?" I ask prying for the story filled with what should be 7 year old excitement that most kids exhume when they lose a tooth.
She was instead, irritated, "In my backpack".
At this point I am upset that she doesn't care for me to be involved. "Well what are you planning to do with it?" I ask with more meaning then curiosity.
This is the moment when she was clearly done with our conversation. She looks at me and says, in a clever tone that would better suit an adult, "I am going to put it under my pillow, just like I have done with all the rest of my stupid baby teeth. What is it to you anyway, it's not like you're the tooth fairy? This isn't my first time, it's not like I need you to hold my hand?"

Big Jerk = Me!

2008-12-23T12:55:00.002-07:00

Today is 'Neekee's' birthday.

And being the great friend that I am, I forgot. I didn't forget that Nikki's birthday is the day before Christmas Eve, or that it is December 23rd. I didn't forget when Nikki's birthday is, I just forgot what today is. I thought today was December 22nd. So not only did I think that I still had 2 days to get ready for Christmas, I also thought that Nikki's birthday would be taking place tomorrow, which should have been December 23rd. When in fact, Nikki's birthday is today, which incidentally is December 23rd. Imagine what a big jerk I felt like when Nikki calls me and we talk, for oh a good 30 minutes, part of that being about how Seattle's birthday was, which as I am well aware is December 22nd and one day before Nikki's (not sure why none of this has clicked by now), and I say, "So what are you doing today"? Her reply, "Going to lunch with a friend, she is taking me for my birthday." In which I respond, "That's nice, but your birthday is tomorrow!" The jerkiness only then hit's me as Nikki's telling me nope it's today. So Nik, I public apologize for being so blonde and dumb. I hope you know how much I love you and appreciate having you in my life. You're such a great friend to me, even if you're my only friend... just kidding I really mean it. You know how much I like to be first and if I was all together I would have called you at 6:00 am, like I had planned to do tomorrow.

HAPPY FREAKIN' BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday 'attle'!!

2008-12-22T13:33:00.002-07:00

Since I haven't blogged in so long and with today being my sweet attle's birthday, I though I would take the opportunity to not only add a post that isn't dated 8-2008, but also tell Seattle Happy Birthday! We love you Seattle and are so grateful to have you in our lives. You're a wonderful, daughter (2nd generation daughter to me, of course) sister, friend and clown! Have a super happy day today!

Nothing like a weekend in the canyon!

2008-09-11T00:22:00.008-06:00

My family (including but not limited to - Parents, brothers, brothers girlfriends, some cousins, some other cousins, friends, etc. - because if you know my Mom she invited you) decided to do a weekend camping trip before it became too cold. This included 2 very large combined camp sites at Redmond Campground (possibly my new favorite local spot) a bunch of full size trucks filled with coolers, tents, sleeping bags, barrels and barrels of the best firewood not available for purchase, chairs, chairs, chairs, fishing poles, lanterns, the top 3 drawers in my Mom's kitchen, too much food, monopoly, cards lets see did I mention food we had so much food. This was the first time we (Nonda, the kids and I) have been camping together. This might be the first time Nonda has ever been camping in his life (camping on the beach at a lake doesn't count) We hiked up to Twin Lake one day to fish and let me just tell you that I have some troopers for kids. The trail head says 1 mile no big deal, right? It is almost straight up and made up of very loose rocks. They did so great! Fishing wasn't very exciting, however Jeff decided to wander out to get his line unstuck from a rock. He ended up falling in the water and getting his feet attacked by fish. That was priceless, thank goodness for cameras. We even saw lots of baby ducks. For some "Random" (see pic) reason almost all of they guys on our hike wore a red shirt, 5 out of 7. Even more "Random" Eric and Russell even wore the exact same red shirt. Needless to say this got us some strange looks, but better yet helped for strangers to give some of our group directions to where the rest of our group had gone when we got seperated. And we didn't even have to ask, the guy was just so proud that he knew we were together, he offered the information. We roasted lots of marshmallows and made lots of smores. Andy even broke out the ukulele. It was such a perfect weekend. I wish we took advantage of the mountains we live so close to more often.

6 Randoms...tagged by Nikki

2008-09-10T23:43:00.003-06:00

6 random bits of information about myself...
My friend Nikki tagged me ...... I have to list 6 random facts about me...........

1-) I have to sing (not well, mind you) when listening to music, I CAN NOT just listen. Drives Nonda crazy.

2-) I have an obsession with the dictionary, I keep a copy on my nightstand. I will argue with you if you use slang when speaking. Even more so, if you try to find offense in a slang word. (No sense is being offended by words that aren't real) I have decided to refer to my children as progeny. I will pass my charm to my progeny.

3-) I secretly wish I was a race car driver, and every so often the urge escapes my control. Too bad, even with though the minivan has GPS. From NASA, it doesn't do 200 mph.

4-) I have a purse obsession and Nonda encourages it by buying me multiple purses at a time.

5-) I have a rather large accumulation of cookbooks/recipes and gardening books/magazines.

6-) I have A.D.D. hopefully this is not something I will pass on to my progeny.

now I tag..... Misty, Eric and Carrie.

Blog 'to do list'

2008-09-01T21:21:00.005-06:00

This is more for me than anyone else. I need to blog about a few things so I am making myself a list. If there is anything else you feel I need to share, please feel free to add.

Whatever it was that Nikki tagged me to do...
The family camping weekend.
The ALA fundraiser we went to, the celebrities we encountered, and of course the make you look (or at least feel) like a star sunglasses my brother got me in Italy. And I guess I should explain why these have anything to do with the fundraiser.
Naia's birthday party...because she had the cutest cake...which will lead me to my aunts cake making.
Getting ready for school to start tomorrow. And why it has been more about me this year than the kids. Getting them ready was a cinch.
My torn thoughts about the possibility of going back to work full time.
Jen's new car.
High school reunions...mostly just because Ramsi gave me pics for my blog. Thanks Ramsi.
The only reasons I am okay with Fall being on it's way. Because the thought of summer ending makes me oh so sad.
My new hair cut.

I would start tonight, however the basement is way too cold and Nonda is gone with the laptop. I want to be upstairs, where it is warm, pretending fall is not coming.

I'm Back....

2008-08-30T01:15:00.004-06:00

Now that I have officially returned from Forks, WA I realize I have some blogging I need to catch up on. But, considering that my 1st journey to Forks began about one week ago and I managed to completely finish the entire trip tonight (while still attending to reality in between) I have some major sleep to catch up on first. Blogging will have to wait until tomorrow.

Signs of a toddler...

2008-08-18T21:07:00.002-06:00

Recent signs that my baby is no longer a baby and is quickly turning into a toddler.

Tantrums..the kinds that should require a helmet.
McDonald's..not only eats full chicken nuggets and fries (the official Mcd's toddler food) without needing them broken into pieces, but figures out how to climb and slide down the baby slide all by herself and does it over and over again.
Dolls..knows how to rock, burp and love her babies.
Railings..stuck head in between rails and got it stuck, then figured out how to put head and body through without getting stuck. (this is frowned upon for obvious safety reasons, my other kids were too big to fit through these narrow openings so not sure how to handle this one)
Copycat..copies my yelling at the other kids and joins in.
Bossy..has progressed from mimic yelling, to actually yelling at other kids on her own terms, especially when being ignored.
Crib..cries for a good amount of time when put down for bed at night, then laughs when picked up, thinking she has tricked me.
Violence..has moved from 'play' hitting to hitting or jumping on siblings when upset with them.
Careers..is working on picking her future career and used a combination of skills listed above such as tantrum, hitting, yelling, etc. when taken out of the mail truck while mail carrier was delivering our mail.
Hair..brushes own hair.
Phones..thinks she owns my cell phone, she makes calls to people in my phone book and when it rings she can open it and say 'hi'.

Things I like today...

2008-08-15T23:54:00.003-06:00

crush
iggy's
pineapple express
seeing old friends (knappy)
my co-workers
fitting into one of my favorite pairs of jeans
james franco
jonas brothers
twilight (i realize i am a few books behind the rest of the world)
swiffer - anything swiffer
dave ramsey
my birthday jewelry from nichole
seeing jen

Things I dis-like today... (because we don't say hate)

2008-08-15T23:45:00.002-06:00

sorting socks
road construction
spiders in my kitchen sink
achy body parts
picking up and sorting playing cards
weeds
excess pens
lack of closet space
my hair
27 new voicemails
signs of summer ending

The mohawk! Baby come back!

2008-08-14T00:26:00.003-06:00

1 year old comparison

2008-08-13T23:52:00.006-06:00

After Naia had her one year old check up I thought I would look to see how much the other two weighed and compared at one. Naia weighed 21 lbs. Mikayla weighed close, I can only find her 15 month check up and she weighed 24. Demitri weighed 28lbs! He was and still is a big kid. But I think Demitri and Kayla had teeth by the age of one. Poor Monkey Naia has no teeth and no sign of any teeth.

People tell me all the time how much Demitri and Kayla look like Nonda and how much Naia looks like me. I don't know if I think they look like either one of us but they each look like one another. These are all of our pictures at one, or at least as close to it as I can find.

Chronia Pola to moro! (Happy Birthday Baby!)

2008-08-08T23:43:00.010-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NAIA! I can't express how grateful I am to have you in my life. You are always happy and always loving. You have shown so much strength since the day you were born. Even though you still seem so itty bitty you have the personality of a dinosaur. Thank you for reminding us all that we can't wait to be happy tomorrow but must laugh and be happy now. You put a smile on everyone's face. We all love you monkey, and can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays with you!

Oh how we love the pool...

2008-08-06T22:17:00.021-06:00

Okay so maybe this is not the pool, but it is right outside and her swimsuit is adorable.
She really does get in the water she has even mastered an underwater backfloat and a face dive. Not sure why I don't have any pics of her in the water. Good thing we will be at the pool tomorrow!
This is how much we love the pool, when they close for a storm we wait it out in the locker room.

Diving Lessons!

Diving lessons payoff! This is just from 2 days! Look at that back dive. Go Seattle!

Typically we (the moms) watch while the kids are jumping off the diving board. No more. Misty and I both agree that if you want to know how old you are spend 2 hours doing front flips off the diving board and then come morning... you will know. How you ask? Because you will feel like you have whiplash, your back will ache, ribs will hurt, oh and did I mention the welts and bruises on the back of my legs? (Which sadly to say are not from age just stupidity) We were having so much fun, the kids were crying that they wanted to leave and we kept saying, "One more, I promise just one more" Sadly to say the pool closed, but don' t you worry we already have a play date scheduled for tomorrow. I hope the kids don't have plans, better yet they can stay home. I do have to apologize to Nikki, since she has such a tiny one and wasn't able to get in the water. She was stuck taking the pics. What's so sad is we live in Utah and the pools will be closing up shop soon. Maybe living in Vegas will have it's perks, pools year round!! Yipee!

It's 1:30 in the morning....again, and no sign of sleep in the near future.

2008-08-06T01:25:00.006-06:00

Insomnia is a symptom of a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity. It is typically followed by functional impairment while awake. Insomniacs have been known to complain about being unable to close their eyes or "rest their mind" for more than a few minutes at a time. Both organic and non-organic insomnia constitute a sleep disorder.
Onset insomnia - difficulty falling asleep at the beginning of the night, often associated with anxiety disorders.
In many cases, insomnia is caused by another disease or psychological problem. In this case, medical or psychological help may be useful.

Does anyone know a good psychologist? Why is it, I am blessed with wonderful kids who go to bed early and sleep all night? I feel so bad for the parents who want to be sleeping, but are instead, tired and struggling to deal with their children who don't sleep all night while I am wide awake bored and researching why I am wide awake.

Daisy Camping Trip

2008-08-05T07:24:00.013-06:00

This past weekend Mikayla's Daisy (Girl Scout) group went on their annual camping trip to the Spruces. We had so much fun! The girls had a blast and I got to know the other Mom's better, who I must say are all great Moms and a lot of fun. This is how the trip went down and a few of the pics I took-

One week before the trip:
July 25th - "Mom we are going camping in 7 days, Can I start packing?"
July 26th - "Mom we are going camping in 6 days, Can I start packing?"
July 27th - "Mom we are going camping in 5 days, Can I start packing?"
July 28th - "Mom we are going camping in 4 days, Can I start packing?"
July 29th - "Mom we are going camping in 3 days, Can I start packing?"
July 30th - "Mom we are going camping in 2 days, Can I start packing?"
July 31st - "Mom we are going camping in 1 day, Can I start packing?"
August 1st - "Kayla we have to leave in a few hours are you going to help me get packed?" "No Mom I don't really want to, can you just do it?" Go Figure.

Friday afternoon, once I got us all packed and the truck all loaded up, we were off. We hit the drive up at Lonestar and got some yummy tacos to take up for dinner! When we got to the campsite we were officially greeted by about 15 'potguts' who spent the weekend hanging out at our feet. Each one had a name thanks to the girls. How on earth they were keeping them straight, who knows? Friday night was very laid back. After eating we picked out a spot for our small 4 man tent. (My memory of our tent from the one time we used it when we were first married) I was very excited to find out we had a decent sized (not nearly a 4 man), tent in perfect condition.
After getting the tent up and letting the girls play we sat around the campfire, made s'mores and cuddled. What a great night. Around 10:30, Mikayla said she was tired and wanted to go to bed. Strange coming from her but I took bait and we climbed into our zipped together sleeping bags, on a not so comfy air mattress, and passed out. The next morning after having breakfast we drove down to Doughnut Falls to take the girls hiking. Kayla and Grace are two of a kind and managed to find a 'photo spot' every 5 feet. It took some convincing to get them going.
We also tried convincing the girls to not walk in the water and try to stay on the rocks, you can see how well that worked.
Needless to say, this is what happens when wet feet run down a dirt path.
Speaking of running - Kayla and Tallie decided it would be fun to run the entire way back to the parking lot. I of course couldn't let them go on their own, so I also got to experience the joy of running down a mountain. When we got to the bottom they thought it would be fun to hide (for about 15 min) from everyone else. Here we are hiding behind a tree. Note the broken limb just above my head, it sure would have been nice to have noticed that before I turned and stood up straight. I have a large bump and scab on my noggin.
When every arrived back down at the parking lot a few of the girls wanted to walk back. Renee, 3 of the girls and myself took the scenic route back to the the Spruces. I just love that 'hike'. We then walked from the trail head to the top of the campground to our site. Just the campground walk alone was exhausting. The girls were troopers and made it with very little complaints. Just a few scrapes and bruises.

Once back, we got cleaned up, had a wonderful dinner (thanks to Brenda and Renee) and hung out. Kayla and Grace wanted to have a sleepover (and strangely enough chose the tent over the large, warm comfortable trailer) We climbed into bed and slept great. These girls slept so well, not one peep the entire night.
Sunday morning after eating breakfast we were all just sitting around the campfire, when we hear footsteps behind us. I turned to see a large brown hairy thing about 5 feet behind me underneath the tree. I jump up (mistakenly with Kayla sitting on my lap) to see what it is. Suddenly this large Moose stands up and Mikayla screams a blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs. I grabbed her, covered her mouth and threw her in Diane's trailer. The Moose must have been more scared than she was as it took off back up the hill. Too bad I didn't have my camera on hand or better yet a video. Poor Mikayla wouldn't come out of the trailer for about an hour. I tried a couple times to get her to come back outside to no prevail. Finally Diane used some sort of magic, and was able to get her happy, dressed and back outside.

Coming home was so bitter sweet!! It was sad to end such a fun, relaxing weekend with a bunch of great girls. But I sure missed my boys and my baby. Little did I know how much I was missing.

We walk in to find out Naia decided to take up walking while I was gone. Demitri got a new fish (which we refer to as our doggies and I was against adding any new members to the doggy tank) as well as a hair cut, which I was against but Nonda always manages to cut the kids hair when I am not around. My plants hadn't been watered (no big deal it was only 100 degrees all weekend) the house was exactly as I had left it (I know to some of you, you're thinking wow how wonderful) not in my case, this meant a thousand loads of laundry still piled up in the laundry room, toys still all over, even the tag to the camelbak I left on the counter was still in it's same spot. Life at that point was back to normal. With of course the exception of a walking baby and a new doggy to feed, oh yes and one last treat for bedtime. Naia decided to scream for 45 minutes straight at bedtime (she never, never does this. She goes straight to sleep when I put her in her crib) I tried playing with her, holding her, laying with her, picking her up, putting her down, nothing would work. It wasn't until I started the 'walk the entire house' routine and she points at something on the floor. "Phoof" she says, which is her way of saying bird in Greek and is what she calls all animals. All she wanted to go to bed was this....her pink teddy bear. Who knew, I didn't even know she had a pink teddy bear. It's so good to be home!

Highlights of what we consider a boring weekend...

2008-07-27T23:54:00.009-06:00

Sadly enough, this was one of the least hectic weekends we've had in a while but it was still a rockin good time. Here are a few things we did - Friday night, went to the Bees game. This was the first game we have been to without my family, while taking all three kids...too much work. Naia didn't want to sit still, the kids were loaded on sugar, some crazy old guy without teeth (who by the way made Naia cry and D kept trying to punch and collects those ice cream bowl hats, yep that's correct he told me he's got 4 of them!) sat in front of us for the fireworks. Kayla hid under a blanket during fireworks because we always end up with small bits of fire raining down on us. On the bright side, we were with some really great friends from work including Jen, Jeff's sister, who I didn't realize worked with me. Saturday morning we got up bright and early to finish off the crazy idea of having not only one, but two yardsales in one month. Misty, Lisa, Nikki and myself enjoyed watching people buy our 'junk'. Not sure why that is so satisfying. After wrapping up a long hot morning of junk-sale-ing, and while Nonda was laying sod for his brother, I thought I would quickly clean out the garage. It wasn't such a quick chore. I managed to find that we had all this storage space hiding under the huge shelves that were once filled with junk. I also found an entire box of un-opened landscaping lights (which I had gone to purchase numerous times and then decided I didn't want to waste the money), lots of tools, and lots of firewood. By evening I was beat, as was Nonda when he got home, so we watched National Treasure II. This morning Nonda had some work to do so we passed up our normal Sunday at the pool and I did laundry and helped the kids clean their rooms to earn some money (we are trying to teach them the value of work, and managing money thanks to Dave Ramsey) I then took the kids to this new store we just discovered, Wal Mart. What a nightmare. I told both kids they had to pay for their own things by themselves, which meant they couldn't just give me their money and I pay like we've done in the past. Because that meant they just ended up getting whatever and spending whatever they want. I wasn't too worried about D, he is very predictable. He wanted a car. He had $2.00, which would easily cover the cost of his hot wheels, I just had to point out that he couldn't have 10 hotwheels like he is used to. Kayla wasn't so simple, we went up and down every isle in that enormous building and she could not find anything that was cheaper then $15.00 (she only had $3.00). In the past I would just say fine and she would throw it in the cart. I was standing my ground I just kept telling her that she only had $3.00. Poor kid, she didn't understand. She kept saying, "You're so mean" "You won't let me get anything I want" "It's not fair". It took everything I had to not say, "Fine, lets just go". I kept trying to explain that she didn't have to buy anything today, we just started the commission earnings that day and she would have enough money by next weekend to come get something she really wanted. That wasn't working. I finally told her she could pick what ever it was she wanted but she had to go to the checkout by herself and pay with the money she had. All of the sudden she remember her math and found something within her spendable amount. Then pouted the entire way home. A little bit later we went to a cousin's birthday party at the park. Despite the fierce winds and off and on rain, the kids had a lot of fun. Naia refused to get out of the swing, even though she was getting a good soaking. D got to wrestle with older boys and Kayla was able to play with a good friend. On the way home we stopped at our favorite hot spot, Redbox, and picked up Drillbit Taylor. HILARIOUS!! Kudos to Nonda for a good movie pick. And a special thanks to my family for making my un-eventful weekend, enjoyable!

It's hard for a boy to be patient for an hour before the game.

It's even harder for a one year old.

This is how happy the swing made Naia.

Not sure what his problem was.

The wind was blowing very hard at the park on Sunday, everything on the tables including the food kept blowing away. Naia loved the wind blowing that hard on her face. She kept making this silly faces.

Dr. Jack Shepherd

2008-07-21T23:48:00.008-06:00

I just finished watching the movie Vantage Point, and was so excited to see Mr. Fox, then so disappointed when he turned out the be a bad guy. (Sorry if you haven't seen the movie) But that is not the point here. I just miss my LOST friends. Hurry LOST, please come back! 2009 seems so far away.

Thank You!

2008-07-19T00:09:00.003-06:00

I got the following email from my Aunt. I had to share it: (oh and for future reference here is a link to one of my favorite sites http://www.snopes.com/)

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year.

Thanks to you, I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one past time while driving alone is picking your nose.

Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans-fat I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck!

I must send my special thanks to who ever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any money, but that will change once I receive the$15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer use Saran wrap or Styrofoam in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use any one's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 bill dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 PM this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Have a wonderful day.... Oh, by the way..... A German scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse. Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

It's a wonder Nikki agrees to be my friend...

2008-07-16T00:59:00.004-06:00

I don't' remember the exact date, but a few years ago we were meeting friends to celebrate some birthdays at Benihana. How was I to know that I would be dining with who used to be the future Mrs. James Nonda Diamant? Nikki should hate me for stealing her future husband or at least have tried to stab me in the heart with her chopsticks. But nothing was said, not for months, until one night during the holiday season and we were all together again exchanging very expensive and desirable Christmas gifts. That's when it happened, sitting on the couch at Mary and Alan's house, Nikki told me what a horrible thing I had done and asked me how could I ever live with myself for doing such an awful thing, stealing her man. Okay so it didn't go down exactly like that, well the gifts and the couch are accurate but I don't think those were the exact words that came out of her mouth. I don't remember the exact words she used. But I bet she regrets telling me because I won't let her live it down. And though they weren't exactly getting ready to walk down the isle, when you're in Jr. High is sure feels that way. And I bet she spent more time signing her name as Mrs. Nichole Diamant than I have signing my own married name, okay again not accurate seeing how many checks and credit card slips I sign, but still so fun to tease her about. She is married to her real love and is over her Jr. High crush. I am so happy that I have Nikki in my life and I am so grateful that she lets me tease her about this. Ironically, my 'was going to be my future husband' (Jr. High crush) is friends with my husband. Nikki and Jeff are both such great friends to us and will always be a part of our family, even if it's not through marriage. Now we just need to find a future Mrs. Jeff Worthington to add to strange Jr. High triangle of crushes.

Tribute to Gizmo

2008-07-12T23:24:00.005-06:00

Naia makes very funny noises and it reminds us of Gremlins. When we talk about old movies we watched when growing up, the kids always want to see them. Watching a movie as an adult that you watched when you were a child is so great. Tonight I watched Gremlins with the kids. I remember it being a bit scary when I was younger (keep in mind the movie came out in 1984 making me 4 at the time, I don't remember watching it that young but I couldn't have been too much older) and I was nervous about how they would react. (Not too nervous because one of Kayla's first favorite movies was Jurassic Park III thanks to her Uncle Eric.) I laughed so much that I don't think the kids had the chance to be scared, plus they feel asleep and didn't see it all. In honor of this classic movie, I thought I must post, and suggest if you haven't seen it since the 80's you need to hit up blockbuster or add it to your netflix list.

Some of my favorite parts:
Anytime Gizmo talks, cooes, or sleeps
When the Gremlins are watching Snow White and one of them is wearing Mickey Mouse ears
When the Gremlins are getting drunk at the tavern and a couple of them are dancing around in leg warmers
When the Gremlins mess with Mrs. Deagle's chair elevator' and she is shot flying out the 2nd story window
When the Chinese store keepers picks up Gizmo at the end he says 'Baba'. This is Dad in Chinese and Greek. In Greek it is pronounced Bu-bah, not sure about Chinese
When Gizmo says to the dog- "Bye Bye, woof woof!
The Gremlin in a trench coat pretending to be a flasher
The Gremlins Christmas Caroling in earmuffs
I just realized that if I keep going there will be no point in telling you to watch the movie

Here are a few of the movies we have re-watched with the kids recently -

Gremlins

Goonies

Neverending Story

Herbie Rides Again

Parenthood

Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles (The original)

Jumanji

Original Annie

Rocky (I, II, III,....)

The Muppet Movie

I forget about all the good movies out there, that are no longer 'New Releases' so if you have any suggestions please send them my way. And yes Eric, I will be borrowing 'Drop Dead Fred', watching Gremlins reminded me of it and that the kids haven't seen it.

Mixed Emotions

2008-07-10T23:28:00.000-06:00

Things I am currently having mixed emotions about about:

Miss K quiting dance. I realize it has been a while and I have had plenty of time to be sad about it, however I just saw this picture and I remember how great of a dancer she is and how proud I felt watching her. Then I remember how nice it is to take one more thing off the calendar and keep more money in the bank. Besides, she chose to quit.

My baby not being such a baby anymore. I caught Naia rocking this same baby doll as the one in the picture with her. Not only does this mean that she has grown to be bigger than the doll, but she is old enough to understand how to love it. At the same time I don't miss the days when she woke up at night, couldn't hold her own bottle, only had one form of communication - crying and didn't cry when I left.

Summer ending and school starting. My kids need to go back to school, they miss it, they are bored and it's making me crazy. I want school to start, I just want it to start without having to buy clothes and supplies, having to drive and pick up 3 different times a day, having to remember to make and send lunch, having to keep track of the full uniform days and the library books, trying to remember who has show and tell when and what needs to be done for PTA.

Giving up Starbucks. It needs to be done in the form of 'cold turkey'. There is no cutting back for me. I am not sure, but what I am going through must be what it feels like for someone who is addicted to heroine and is suddenly locked up in rehab. I don't know what I am going to do without my daily veniti skinny 2 pump with whip mocha. I do know that if I had taken just my Starbucks spendings over the last few years along with the amount I would spend over upcoming years and invested in something with a good rate of return, I could have a lot of money. Or my own freakin' Starbucks franchise paid in cash!

This...Why do I encourage these things? He can't wait to play football. Everyone says to him "Wow, you're going to make a great football player." (referring to his size and demeanor) His Dad is already scouting out 'leagues'. It is his destiny. Should we really be molding him for this at such a young age? How can a child know by the time he is 2 that he wants to be a football player? How does any child have a passion this early in life? What if he really wants to be a tap dancer, but doesn't realize it because we didn't buy him tap shoes at a young age. Should we be buying him tap shoes instead?

Blogs

2008-07-10T22:18:00.000-06:00

Okay the day has finally arrived, I started a blog page. Or what I like to refer to as - My Space for grown-ups. One day my friend (name withheld to protect the innocent) said, "When are you going to make a blog page so I can stalk you?" I replied, "Can't you just come over to my house?"

While this blogging thing is a bit exciting, I would still rather read other people's blogs and learn about other people's lives, then share boring bits of my own. I am fascinated with other people's lives, people I don't know. So I guess that would make me a 'blog stalker' too.

As some of you are aware, I am a big believer in the dictionary. If a word is not in the dictionary, then it is not a "real word". It has no context and cannot be taken seriously. I decided to look up the word blog. Sure enough here it is:

Main Entry:
blog
Pronunciation:
\ˈblȯg, ˈbläg\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
short for Weblog
Date:
1999
: a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer; also : the contents of such a site
— blog·ger noun
— blog·ging noun

Typically I like to go off of what is published in the most recent paper copy of the dictionary and not what is online. But, I think for this situation and in honor of trying to be 'paperless', I will accept the online definition. Blog has been a "real word" since 1999, where have I been? I could have been officially blogging the past 9 years of my life.