Ring Around the Rainbow

Yesterday afternoon, we looked out our window and what did we see? A rainbow that circled the whole city.

No, really, we saw a rainbow that formed a perfect circle. It was so incredible! The pictures don't do it justice, but maybe you can make it out. I had never seen a rainbow that didn't end.

It Is Finished

Our Wedding Album, that is. It has taken me long enough, but I can cross this one off of my list of things to do now. All scrapbooking projects are being put on hold until after the summer semesters...I'm taking 6 classes...crazy, but I have to complete them in order to graduate before the baby comes. Anyway, enjoy the pics of the pages.

Spaghetti Factory (part 3)

This is really just a HUGE thank you to my little sister. She is a regular at reading the blog. Here is just one of those reasons why I love her.

Yesterday, there was a call from the front desk letting us know that there was a package to be picked up from UPS. Todd asked me "Did you order some scrapbooking stuff?" I asked him, "Did you order some computer stuff?"

Todd ventured downstairs and brought up this very thin package. At first I thought it had something bad in it, you know, like tax stuff saying we had to return our return. Todd opened it up and I saw may name on it, and ripped it out of his hand. I felt like I had just gotten the Golden Ticket!

A gift card to the Spaghetti Factory!!!

Suzy loves me. So, if ever you wonder what to get a tired pregnant woman who can't stand to eat the own food she cooks (first trimester thing), get her a gift card to the place that fills her craving.

Help!

I know some of you who read this blog are accomplished musicians. Others of you are accomplished listeners. Here is the dilema...
I have been asked to sing a duet in church with one of my former seminary students. I am drawing a blank as to what to sing. The last few musical numbers in church have been the following:
I Need The Every Hour (twice)
Come Thou Fount
The Olive Tree
Teach Me To Walk in the Light
So, if possible, I would like to avoid doing those numbers again. Is there anything that you have heard lately that has struck a chord with you? It would be for a male and female voice. Thanks!

Food, Glorious Food!

Now that the nausea has subsided, I am fully enjoying the flavors of what food has to offer. I thought I would share a few of the things I just can't live without...some are strange, but some are down-right delectable!

CREAM CHEESE TARTS This yummy treat was introduced to my by my friend Kyle from Boston. She delivered these to our family after Abi was born.
2 8 ounce packages cream cheese (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
12 vanilla wafers
1 21-ounce can cherry filling or other pie filling

Preheat oven to 350. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a muffin pan.

Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Lay a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely. Serve with cherry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice.
( Note: After the tarts have cooled, they will sink in a little in the middle. No worries, it is a perfect place to put the pie filling.)

HAM & PICKLE ROLL-UPS Sounds strange, but it is a great concoction that my mom taught me.
Slice of Deli Ham
Dill Pickle Spear (cut in half length wise)
Cream Cheese
Spread some cream cheese on the slice of ham, lay the pickle in the middle of the ham, roll-it up and enjoy!

SPAGHETTI WITH BROWNED BUTTER AND MIZITHRA CHEESE
This was mentioned earlier. I still can't get enough of it! You can find it for yourself at the nearest Spaghetti Factory. If you don't have one near by, come visit me and I'll take you...okay, who comes to Hawaii to eat Spaghetti? That would be lame...but it is often times the only taste of home I can get...no more local plate lunches for me.


STRAWBERRY BANANA RENDEZVOUS
This is a Coldstone Creamery Original. It has strawberry ice cream with fresh bananas and strawberrys mixed in as well as white chocolate chips (my favorite part) and graham cracker crumbs. It is so tasty...I got a whole tub and it is in the freezer right now. When I am finished, I think I'll have a bowl.

NACHOS
I like 'em best when freshly out of the microwave (I like them better when served with guacamole...but avacados are too expensive). The Tostitos brand Tortilla chips have just enough salt. Sprinkle some shredded cheese on top, nuke it for 45 seconds and wah-lah, the perfect snack to munch on while watching Dancing With the Stars...which is what I will be doing in exactly 1 1/2 hours!

Whose hungry?

Another Connor Thing

Those are Fritos Corn Chips shoved inside of the tape player. Needless to say, this has now become one of Connor's toys and will not be used for the purpose of playing music ever again.

Besides, who uses tape players any more...Connor would just think of me as an old person. We're in the modern age now! He'll look back at this picture and ask me why I didn't save the tape player, it's a classic item that you can't find anymore. I can just imagine it now.

He can walk the walk, but won't talk the talk

Don't worry, this is totally g-rated. Connor is fully dressed.

He has all of the steps down for going potty, but has no desire to actually complete the whole process.

I will find him, seven to twelve times a day (not exaggerating), in the bathroom. He'll say, "go pee-pees". He'll crawl onto the toilet, pull off the toilet paper and "wipe". Then he'll flush the toilet, shut the lid. Wash his hands (his favorite part) and then turn off the light.

However, when I find him squatting in a corner, really doing something, I'll ask if he wants to go potty in the big boy toilet and he quickly replies, "Nope."

Someday, I am sure that when I ask him if he wants to use the toilet, he will surprise me with a "yup." When that day comes...you will all know!

Scrapbooking (& blogging) Makes a Good Parent

I came to this realization yesterday after Connor tried his best to obey me. I have yet to purchase the Crayola Wonder Markers and Paper that Brooke suggested I buy. Yesterday was just the shove I needed to get me into the store.

Connor was allowed to color with a marker, under the strict rules of 1)it must be on the paper 2)once he was done, he had to put the lid back on.

He returned the sheet of paper to me colored beautifully along with the marker...with the lid on! I was so excited. He actually listened to me! So I gave him another piece of paper. It had been a while since I had heard from him, so I went into the living room to check on how his newest masterpiece was turning out. He had discovered a new canvas to color on. No, it was not the door or the wall...it was himself!

Now...to the title of this post. Normally I think I would have freaked out, thrown him on time-out and then helped him scrub his little arm in the tub. Instead, because of both my scrapbooking hobby and my blogging, I grabbed the camera as fast as I could to snap up some shots and instead laughed the whole incidence away (while trying to teach Connor that our body is special and we do not color on it).

We used a baby wipe to get the marker off. And now, all markers are back on off-limits until I can get to Wal-Mart to buy the kind that Connor can use safely.

I think my new motto for when the kids do things that aren't quite right (as long as it isn't injuring themselves or others) is going to be "Don't freak out, grab the camera!"

Virginia Tech

I don't usually want to say things like this outside of my own head, but it has really been bothering me
I must admit, I have almost tried to avoid watching anything on the news about what took place this week at Virginia Tech. So many lives lost. The reason I avoid the media...I think they're focusing on the wrong thing.

Instead of giving so much press time to Cho, they should instead be giving the air time to those people's whose lives were taken. Memorializing them through acknowledgment of their lives.

Cho is getting what he wanted, his name is known everywhere now because of what he did. He is still living, on the cover of our newspapers, every news channel has his face pasted on the screen and they are showing video footage of him. I don't think they should give him the time.

Those teachers and students whose lives were taken or who witnessed this horrific event deserve to be remembered with their faces on the covers of magazines and newspapers. Video clips of them from their lives should be playing on the news channels.

Maybe if instead of watching Sesame Street in the mornings, I could watch the Today Show...I'm sure there is some tv news program paying tribute to those lives lost by introducing the world to their families.

My prayers go out to the families and friends who have lost loved ones or who are suffering because of what took place.

If you would like to see pictures and a small bio about those whose lives should be remembered, click here

The Weather

I have a bone to pick...with the weatherman. I could give a better report of the weather just by looking out my window!!!

For the last few days it has been a little wet and very windy. We are supposed to have our playgroup at the zoo today. It is not going to happen. The weatherman called for 84 degrees and partly cloudy. There is currently no "part" to the clouds. It's all clouds, weird rain and lots of wind.

But on the good side, the wind does cool it down so we don't have to waste energy and use the a/c. So, no playgroup today. Connor and I will have to think up something fun and interesting to do inside. Any suggestions?

The Professional Pics

Okay, so I was able to get on-line today and see the pictures that were taken by the Sears Portrait Studio. If you need the story behind them, just scroll down to Monday's post...you'll understand why Connor is only in one picture.

I can stop nagging myself now...

Well, this morning I finally followed through with one of those projects that I keep saying I am going to do, but never really get to it. Do you want to know what it is?

I put together our family's 72 hour kit! Yee-haw! It only took me a half-hour. I just got a large duffle bag and went from room to room gathering the things we needed and thankfully, we had everything already here in our home!

So, now I feel prepared for whatever natural disaster is thrown at us. One of the reasons I felt the urge to do this was because of a high-rise fire that took place last week. It just so happened to be in the building that we were living in when we returned in January. I could not have imagined the panic that I would have felt if we had been there and I didn't have everything in a bag and ready to go.

"Jump Jump"

This morning, after Todd left for work, I was cleaning the kitchen (is it a never ending task, or what?) when Connor came to me and said "Jump Jump." I had no idea what he was talking about. So, I picked him up and he pointed his finger in the direction he wanted me to go.

We wound up in his dad's DVD collection and he pulled out "Nacho Libre." He couldn't be serious! So, I asked him if he wanted to watch it and he got so excited. I put in the DVD and he watched the entire thing. Weird...it just proves, he is his father's son.

"Professional" Portraits

This morning, Todd suggested that we get the kids in to have their pictures taken "professionally." I guess my snapshots on the digital camera aren't awesome enough. So, I began searching for places that met my criteria.
1) Must be within a 2 mile radius of our home, seeing as how we would be walking there
2) Cost will not break the bank
3) Willing to work with kids under any circumstance

The closest place that had decent prices was Sears. So I scheduled an appointment for the kids at a time that I thought would be ideal. 4:30. They will have both had their long naps for the day, will have been fed and usually have a burst of energy until bed time.

We walked to the mall and got to the photo studio. They were playing "Cars", so I was happy that Connor was feeling comfortable and at home. I got the kids dolled up in their Easter outfits and we got them all posed and ready for the camera. Connor smiled for 1 shot!!!! We let him take a break and worked with Abi for a while so she could get some individual shots. One of which was naked, and she piddled all over their furry blanket.

Next up came the more casual photos, I got the kids changed, but Connor refused to sit or even go near the pedestal.

The evening ended with some really cute pictures of Abi and one single picture of the two of them together. I think it will be a while before we go and take "professional" shots again. Once I get the pics back, I'll post them.

Exhaustion

This exhaustion has really gotten to me. So please bare with me as I ramble about my Saturday. I woke up bright and early and got the house cleaned, laundry done and the kids and myself ready. I was tuckered out and ready to take a nap, but I couldn't. We were off to a baby shower at the beach! It was just what I thought Connor needed to get totally wiped out enough so that he'd take a long nap at home. By noon, he was acting cranky and I knew that was my cue to get him home before he got past the sleepy time.

Sure enough, he fell asleep in the car! Yeah! When we got in the door, I put Connor into his bed, fed Abi, and then she went right down for a nap. Hallelujiah! I took a nap too! It was fantastic. I love to sleep..okay, I don't really love to sleep. It annoys me that I can't get as much stuff done as I am accustomed to. I am way behind in my wedding album (like there's a deadline for a book that I haven't even started in 8 years!) and I have completely dropped the ball on fixing any meals in the house that don't involve unwrapping, putting on a plate, and pushing a button on the microwave. But, in order for me to make it through the day in a sane manner, I have learned to relish my sleep.

So when we all woke up, Todd was a little stir crazy from being inside (he didn't go to the beach, he stayed home and did homework). We loaded up the mini-van (that FINALLY got fixed...another blog entry). I had our plans all layed out for us. We went to the Ward Warehouse to look at kites. We have really wanted to get one and fly it for Connor, he would love it (so we think). After we looked at the way too expensive kites (Costco has nice ones for $11 right now, we'll just go there) we began my dinner dream. Dairy Queen.....butterscotch dipped ice cream cone. Orange Julius....signature drink. Spaghetti Factory.....take out of their Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese (regular craving this pregnancy). I enjoyed my meal in the car while Todd continued to his place of eating, McDonald's. Connor began to tell the person taking our order what he wanted, "chicken fies, chocate," She was listening, and asked him if he wanted a boy or girl toy, he screamed, "boy." Todd got a healthy salad.

Once home, we fed Abi and put her into bed and popped in a movie for us all to watch. Connor and I fell asleep during the movie (does that come as any surprise...hellooo! I'm an incubator...it takes a lot of energy). When the show was over I carried Connor into his room and put him into bed. Then I dazed into bed myself. We heard this whining at our door and it opened and a sad voice cried out "shoes off." In my sleepiness, I had forgotten to not only take off Connor's shoes, but I hadn't changed his diaper or put him in his pajamas. We got him squared away and back into bed, when at 10:00 Abi woke up, I put the binky back in her mouth. 11pm, Connor joined us in bed. 2am, Abi woke back up, I layed down with her till she fell back asleep and put Connor back into his bed, only for him to say "mommy" I knew he wasn't going to sleep in his own bed and I was too tired to fight it. Abi woke up at 5am, raring and ready to go for the day. I gave her a bottle, ignored her and let her play in her bed. At 6am, Todd asked me why I had put Abi to sleep on her stomach...I hadn't...she rolled over and got stuck. So then the whole household was awake. I told them to all go into the living room and watch a movie...I needed more sleep. I got it!

Today's Sunday. We'll see how it goes. These days are always so unpredictable.

Row Row Row Your Boat

Connor's version of the classic

Abi & Connor

Just killing time before they have to go to bed.

Abi Laughing

Not much, just a little giggle

Riches Family Tradition

The guys swear that it helps to strengthen the kids legs and help with their balance.

Thankfully, for Abi's first try, Todd did it over the bed.

"otion"

I have learned to keep anything and everything that I don't want Connor to get into, in a locked closet. I didn't think that he would get into my deodorant, but he did.

He refers to anything that you put on your face (or body) "otion." He means to say lotion. So, my deodorant became "otion." The deodorant has now been added to the locked closet, along with all of my make-up (yes, he has tried that), hairspray (got in the eyes), perfume (ate it), all cleaning products and the real lotion.

Ta-Dah!

So, what do you think? I have been wanting a change for my blog for quite some time. I am not computer saavy enough to be able to get through all of the changes quickly. I was, however, able to create a new header and post it on the page. It has taken me three days to make the header in photo-shop and then, using the links Brooke gave me, try and try again to put it on my page. Here it is! WOW! It was a lot of work, but I am so happy with the way it turned out. Please don't expect any more from me. HTML is not my favorite place to hang around. I used the Shabby Princess Festival Kit to create the whole header.

It's a.....mole?

Todd suggested that our newest addition looks like a mole, he nailed that imagery on the head. Oh bother! Anyway, our due date is November 5th and this little one has a strong healthy heart beat and all that good stuff. So, if you can make any sense of the picture...way to go! The left blob is a head, the middle little blob is a hand and the teeny little blob on the right is a foot. How exciting!

Where should we live?

Todd will graduate in May of 2008, and we don't know where we will end up after he gets that coveted piece of paper. My friend, Heather, told me about this website that has a quiz you take that gives suggestions as to where they calculate the best place for you to live. I gave it a try...here are a few of the suggestions it gave for me:

Chattanooga, Tennessee (and about 6 other cities in Tennessee)
St. George, Utah (this was the only city in Utah it gave me)
Tuscaloosa, Alabama (and three other cities in Alabama)
El Paso, Texas (that was obviously for you, Karie)

Click Here if you want to take the quiz yourself.

We have lived in Texas and would be willing to go back. Todd served his mission in Alabama, I wouldn't mind seeing it there, he raves about the beauty all the time. I have never been to Tennessee, maybe we'll go there next! But in all actuality, we will end up wherever Todd can get work...thus far he has options in Washington, Utah, Massachussetts, Texas and here in Hawaii.

Sleeping Like a Baby

The old adage has always seemed very strange to me. When the baby is up every few hours in the night, you begin to wonder why this phrase even came to mean "good sleep." But then, when you see pictures like these, they speak volumes of what it means. This particular day, the kids and I had begun our trek home from the gym...just getting to the gym is a work-out...I consider it my warm-up and cool-down, it's 1 mile away. As we walked into our apartment, I unloaded Connor and was getting ready to unload Abi, whom I thought was awake. But she was out cold and in one of those positions that only a baby could sleep in.

Foiled Plans

So, this weekend was one of those that I had great plans and a detailed schedule to follow. Of course, Murphy’s Law kicked into gear and things got changed a bit. Here is how it all played out on Saturday:

PLANNED
7am, hit Wal-Mart before the crowds do to start my Easter shopping. Main goal of the day, keep kids out of the house so Todd can do homework.

8am, head out to Aiea and deliver soup to sick friend, Miranda

9am, stop by Scrapbook Clubhouse to cash in on their great sale and buy paper to re-do the ugly pages in wedding album.

10am, go to Pearlridge to find kids Easter outfits and have their picture taken with the Easter Bunny (friend Magali is the photographer).

12pm, bring kids home for naps and let Todd take the van to run an errand for church.

2:30pm, head to Kailua for Simeon’s 5th Birthday party.

7pm, bring kids home and get them ready for bed

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
7am, hit Wal-Mart. Discovered the crowds had already taken all but one package of the plastic eggs and there were no Cadbury Mini-Eggs left.

8am, head back home so friend can use van to take his family to the airport.

9am, put in Toy Story for my sanity. Connor was being cranky.

10am, Abi goes down for a nap.

12pm, Todd takes van to run church errand, Connor refuses to take a nap, so I let Toy Story run again.

2:30pm, persuaded Todd to forget his homework and come with me to the Birthday Party. I can’t do it alone. Todd suggests that I call a friend to take the kids for a few hours after the party so we can go out and spend a few hours alone together. I do. The party is fun, they have an Easter Egg hunt, Connor doesn’t get it. He walks right past all of the eggs.

7pm, drop the kids off at the Yadao’s. Walk the entirety of Ala Moana Shopping Center, try on 4 dresses, none of which look good on me. We did, however, find cute Easter clothes for the kids.

8pm, stop by Ross’, find the perfect Easter outfit

8:30pm, run into Payless Shoes to get Connor and myself some Sunday shoes.

9pm Pick up happy and exhausted kids from the Yadao’s.

The great thing, Abi and Connor slept the whole night in their own room! I slept like a log. Maybe Abi did wake up for her nightly feeding and I was so tired, I just didn’t hear her. Oh well, she’s still fat.

Sunday morning came and I had great plans for that day to, here is how it was supposed to go:

PLANNED
6am, Fix waffles for breakfast

7am, get dinner in the crock-pot

8am, shower and get myself ready

9am, get the kids dressed and ready

10am, pack stuff for church

11am, Visit Norman

12pm, Choir practice

1pm, Church

4:30pm. Easter Dinner

5:30pm, Easter Egg Hunt

8pm, Kids bed time

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
6am, fixed waffled for breakfast. Todd informed me that they weren’t “crunchy” enough.

7am, cleaned up breakfast and got dinner in the crock pot and straightened house

8am, exhausted. I took a nap.

9am, Connor wakes me up. I put in Toy Story so that I can take a shower and get ready

10am, Bathed Connor and Abi and got them all dolled up in their Easter Outfits.


10:30am, Abi starts getting fussy, so I lay her down, she takes a nap

11am, Connor starts getting cranky. I call Norman and apologize that we won’t be visiting him.

11:30am, start Toy Story over again, Connor falls asleep five minutes into it.
Todd and I debate as to what we should do. I suggest that I stay home and take a nap with the kids. He reminds me that it never works out. I either clean instead of sleep, or if I do sleep, the kids radar tells them to wake up as soon as I dose off. So he shoes me off to choir practice and he stays home with the kids (and does some homework that he didn’t get to do yesterday).

12pm, choir practice

1pm, church. Just what I needed! Spiritually uplifting and glorifying. I didn’t have to take any kids out during sacrament meeting or snuggle with a little one during Relief Society. I didn’t know what to do with my hands!

4:30pm, Serve up Easter dinner. It is delicious. Todd asks me to make more ham next time. I think “fix it yourself next time). But he was right, it did need more ham.

5:30pm, Easter Egg Hunt. It was a blast and Connor finally got it!

Diamond Head was our backdrop for the event.

8pm, brought the happy and exhausted kids home. Played with kids for a while and then got them ready and into bed.

Wouldn’t you know it, those two little kids made it through another whole night sleeping in their own beds! Is this too good to be true? Is it going to continue?

So I learned that even though things don’t always go as planned, they always work out. Sure, no one got to see Connor look so handsome in his new Easter Duds, and Abi look like a little princess. Todd didn’t get nearly the amount of homework done that he had planned, but I surely appreciated his help and companionship. But it all came together and it was a wonderful weekend.

Compare & Contrast

Yesterday the kids each had check-ups at the doctors. I do not like those days, especially when shots are involved! I keep telling myself that "next time, Todd has to take them." But I never follow through with it.

Abi had her 6 month check-up and as soon as I got home, I immediately pulled out Connor's old medical records to see how her progress compares to Connor. I don't mean to "compare" the two, as they are entirely different, but it is fun to see just how different they are especially when everyone claims that Abi is so big. I am proud to announce that Abi is smaller than Connor was! They may have reached the same height by six months, but Connor had Abi beat by 2 pounds.

Connor, bless his little heart, had to have his blood taken. You see, before we left Hawaii in 2005, we lived in a building that was very old and being torn down. His lead level was very high and even though we have since moved from the building, they wanted to check his lead level again. So, I had to hold down my poor little buddies body and make sure that he didn't move his arm...all while telling him to "relax, it will make the blood come out faster." No fun. He hates band-aids. He's claustrophobic of them, but he must have really good blood, because it clotted quickly and he didn't bleed all over the place once all was said and done.

Abi had to have shots too...I had high hopes she would be a strong girl and not cry, but who am I kidding. She held her breath and then let out that sad little wail that babies do when they have been hit by a toy that their brother threw.

Good news...Connor doesn't have to have another shot until he is 4. Bad news...Abi gets another dose in 3 months.

Bathtime

The other morning, I had finished bathing Abi and knew that Connor needed a bath too, so I didn't drain the water. I walked into the kids room to get Abi ready and I asked Connor if he wanted to take a bath, and he replied, "Nope." So, that was that. I was lathering Abi with the lotion when Todd walked by and said to me, did you know that Connor is in the tub...with his clothes on?



Maybe it was opposite day, and "Nope" really mean "Yup." Todd helped him out of his wet clothes so that Connor could take a real bath. I took Abi into the living room and set her down, when like a bolt of lightning a little naked body came ripping through the entry-way, slipped, got back up and ran into the living room.

I would hardly call what he took, a bath. No soap was involved, I only hope the bubbles in the tub helped to freshen his skin a little. It did give me one of those great moments I'll never forget though. I'm glad I have Connor to make my world a little livelier.

The Bedroom

I have finally got a picture of the bedroom! A few weeks ago, Todd was in Denver with his Studio class and I took advantage of the opportunity by painting the bedroom. I must admit, as much as I love the pale blue and the two browns, the darker blue has a strange electric feel to it. I think that I am going to have to tone it down a bit. I also am not crazy about how equal the widths of the stripes are, so I am thinking of adding a small 3" light brown stripe on the outsides of the dark blue and a small 2" stripe on the outside of the light brown. What do you think?

We have yet to purchase any nice furniture, only because we are poor starving students. The remainder of the houses remodel is on hold until the Summer, when the Architecture school just so happens to NOT offer any classes and Todd will take the time off to gut the kitchen, living room, entry and bathrooms for their new face lift! I am so excited. I often wonder how we are all going to live in this place while it is under construction. Maybe the kids and I will hop over to another island and spend a week or two (in my dreams).

You'll notice that the picture is not void of a little life...there sits Abigail.

Simmin'

We have a little fish on our hands. Connor loves to swim. He'll wake up in the morning and ask to go "simmin." Last week was Spring Break and Todd took Connor swimming in our complexes pool almost everyday. It has had a great pay-off. Connor has mastered holding his breath under water, and can kick his feet while holding his arms out in front of him. We have yet to get him to float, but he's only two...I really can't wish for more. Abi took a little dip too, but didn't like the initial shock of the cold water.

10 year reunion!?!

Am I already that old....I don't feel that old!

My friend Emilee had just commented on a post and reminded me of our ten year reunion. Under the circumstances of how poor we are, I don't think that I will be able to make it...that is unless they make the wise decision of coming here to Hawaii.

High School...we all went. How many of you have gone to your ten year reunions? What are they like? You know in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion...or any movie that shows a High School reunion for that matter, the people haven't changed...I don't think it is really like that. I've bumped into a few friends from high school. Everyone seems a little softer, kinder, and experienced in what is really important in life. Some people never needed to change...they have always been nice and kind (those are the ones I admired in high school, it seemed like they had a strong sense of well-being).

I think that living with roommates or on your own, having children, and holding down a decent job humbles you. It makes you realize that everyone on this earth is important and we're all here doing the same thing. It doesn't matter what sport you played, what clique you belonged to or how smart you were (or weren't). Nobody cares about that anymore. Thank goodness! I look back on high school and I don't really like who I was then. I had no idea who I was. Those teenage years are difficult.

Now I look forward (ha ha) to raising my own children during those hard teens...I threaten to send them to boarding schools, but I honestly think that I could do a better job of instilling in them self-esteem and good values than someone else.

So to answer you Em, yeah...I can believe it's been ten years. And those last ten years of my life have been great! I found myself through going to school (still plugging slowly along at that A.A.), getting married/having a BOY roommate, working as a decorator and knowing that it is still my passion, moving 8 times in 9 years, and giving birth to two of the most wonderful children on earth...and did I mention learning that we are expecting a third in November?

Happy Ten Year Reunion!

Puddin' Paintings

I needed a creative activity (besides drawing on the front door) for Connor to do. While putting things away in the kitchen I saw a box of vanilla pudding and remembered when I was in kindergarten doing pudding paintings. So I whipped up the box, divided it and used those magical food colorings.

At first, Connor was not quite sure what to do with them, but eventually he really got into it. As he'd finish a drawing, he'd hand it to me and tell me what it was, "it's a bear," "it's a lion,"it's a peacock" and "it's a truck." I did a couple myself. Abi was down for a nap...I think that her hands would be more into it than Connor's and that was an extra mess I didn't want to have to deal with.

We let them dry and mailed the peacock and the truck to the grandparents and hung the tiger, the bear and my grand pieces of art in his bedroom. I hope the ones we mailed don't go moldy or anything like that on their trip across the ocean! The grandparents may not like what they get if it shows up in a different form than originally planned for.