The thoughts on My Mind

1. With all the technology we have, why do I feel like I have less time to do anything?

2. Will my children ever think I am wise or an inspiration? I feel like my words of wisdom just don't compare to my parent's.

3. Friends are great and everyone needs friends. I believe there are many types of friends. Best friends, good friends, hang out friends and acquaintances. I know that I have all of those types of friends, and that out of the first three, any of them would be there in a heart beat if I really needed them. I love friends, but a lot of times I don't think I'm the friend I need to be. I could be a better friend.

4. Everyone needs a good cry. You just feel better afterwards (most of the time).

5. Why do I have to get so crazy and emotional during that time of the month? I just don't like it!

6. I want my written words to be remembered. I know I am no Shakespeare, but it would be great to have something published. I should start writing poetry again, but who has the time to do all the things I would like to with two beautiful children!

Coral Monkey

Our darling Coral is wearing us out. She fights, fights, fights against going to sleep. We even let her scream and cry and at times she is about to throw up. What happened to my beautiful little girl that slept 12 hours a night? She just won't close her eyes!

Finally, at midnight last night, I put her in her bed (for the 500th time), turned all the lights out and crashed in my bed just hoping she'd fall asleep. After all, this is the third night in a row she hasn't gone to bed before 11:00 pm.

This morning, I woke up to find this:

This is the chair next to our bed. I have no idea what time she decided to climb into that chair and fall asleep. I was out! We shared rooms while we were in Arkansas (most of the time, but she always had Daniel with her) and I think she doesn't want to be alone. Sad. Funny. And frustrating!

And another story. . . Coral no longer has any curls on her head. :( In my sleep deprived state, I decided to trim her mullet and cut it all off. So, we took a trip to a salon and had it fixed to a little stack in the back. It was our first outing to the salon as mother and daughter. Thank you Veronica for saving my daughter's hair!

Arkansas Recap Take Four

I know. It is taking me forever to highlight our trip to Arkansas. But this is the last post! And WARNING, it is an extremely long post. I wrote more this time. I guess I was feeling wordy and not wanting to realize the trip is really over. Sad. But we sure had some fun!

My mother-in-law took me garage selling one day and believe it or not, I found a ton of good things. Many of the Daniel's summer clothes are from one of the garage sales there. I also scored some 25 cent aprons, a Melissa & Doug chore chart, a Wilton Guitar cake pan, the best mug ever and some books and games for the kids. Who knew I could find all of that in the back hills of Arkansas. The woman with the cake pan did tell me she has to bake seven cakes a week for her 17 year old. Just a side note that I found interesting.

And the picture above? To end garage selling, she showed me some of the stores in town. This one happens to be my favorite. The name doesn't do it justice. But it is FILLED with Quicksilver and Roxy clothes for kids. I just wish my pocket book would let me love that store.

Grandma had to work in the mornings for the final week we were there. I think the kids favorite part (and mine too, I must guiltily admit) was Grandma bringing home some sort of surprise every day. One time it was a pool for the porch and this time it was the story, "Green Eggs and Ham." They loved it and still do. I just read it to them last night and Daniel is looking at it as I type. Thank you Grandma!

My father-in-law took me fishing. Here he is getting it all ready for me. What a great guy. We had so much fun. At least I did. And the best part. He likes to talk! And so do I! So, it wasn't a boring fishing excursion at all.

We did a type of fishing called "trolling." This was completely new to me, but I have to say it is now my favorite type of fishing. (You were right Debbie.) I put my pole in and let it do the work while we cruised around in the boat. Now that is my kid of fishing. My hand is only in the picture so it looks like I was actually doing something.

And I caught a fish. First I caught a stick, but then this little guy. Unfortunately my desire for fish dinner wasn't met. You have to catch 12 inches or above and neither my father-in-law nor I caught anything close to that long. :(

And possibly the best part about my in-laws living where they do, (besides chickens, the beauty, the quiet, the dark and starry nights, and . . .) is the tractor. A surprise the kids had no idea about. I'm sure they would have been begging to ride that thing the whole time we were there if Grandpa had pulled it out at the beginning.

One of my favorite trips was a day trip to Branson, Missouri. It is the Las Vegas of that part of the country. The first part of our trip was to The Butterfly Palace. We started with a 3D video of the life of a butterfly and then we were able to go into a butterfly atrium. It was amazing. A yellow butterfly landed on my wrist. One landed on Daniel's back. And they even let Daniel release a butterfly. It was pretty exciting. The blue butterfly pictured above was my favorite. I couldn't catch a picture of it with it's wings open, but wouldn't you know, that was one of the one's released. So the worker held the paper still for me that the butterfly was on before she let it go. So beautiful!

Then we went downstairs and checked out their Insect Zoo. Yikes! There were some pretty interesting creatures, including that lizard thing and an exhibit full of LIVE ROACHES! Gross. I see enough here as it is.

And then we were off for some shopping at an outlet mall. My mother-in-law has a talent for finding great deals (and garage sales). I seriously wished I lived by her for that reason- and many others. Daniel scored with a long board shirt (if any of you don't know, Carlo is a true blue long boarder purist) and Coral with the cutest dress and butterfly (appropriate regarding the trip) shirt and Capri's. And of course the trip was not complete without a stop at the Disney store. We were spoiled.

Grandpa took Daniel fishing in a pond and they caught a few fish. And Daniel sat in duck poop. He had fun and kept asking the whole time we were there when he could go fishing.

And Grandpa turned 60 while we were there! (Now everybody knows your age.) My mother-in-law made a killer cake with some delicious icing. The cake recipe came from my father-in-law's mother. Yummy! And the guitar shaped cake . . . where did that come from? And does he really look 60? I hope I look that great when I'm 60 years old!



We ended our trip with a night of some delicious chocolate chip cookies and fireworks! Daniel loved them- if you can't tell by his expression in one of the pictures. Grandpa put on a great show!

The dreaded flight home that turned out to be great. No puking, no crying and Coral even slept for half of it. I asked Daniel if he wanted to fly again and he said, "I'm done for now Mom." lol

Thanks for a GREAT trip Grandpa and Grandma. You always spoil us and we have way too much fun. Which is probably why Daniel was praying something would happen so we didn't have to fly home! The trip was just the refresher we needed. We only wish we could see each other more. Love you guys! (Sorry for those reading who are not Grandma and Grandpa.) :)

Broken

I have a horrible memory, but I do believe the first thing has been broken in my house by my kids. I was washing dishes when I heard Coral say, "Uh oh, I broke it Daniel." Since it's Coral, I quit washing dishes and peeked around the corner. She was indeed carrying something she had broken.

It turns out to be my pepper shaker from my china set. The china set my grandma bought for me. The grandma that just passed away. The china that has been discontinued. I got teary-eyed, cleaned up the mess and went back to washing dishes. Then I chuckled at Coral's reaction to breaking something. (Thanks for the lesson on Sunday Cassondra.)

Well, five years with kids and that is the first time . . . I'll consider myself lucky.

Arkansas Recap Take Three

We spent a lot of time out on the back porch enjoying the view. The kids loved being out there, but made me and Grandma nervous. It is a long drop off the back. Such cute kids!

This is a tree in a park we went to that was struck by lightening. We were trying to figure out why there were shards of wood all over. The lightening shattered it everywhere.

It pretty much rained and lighteninged the whole first week we were there. But we enjoyed it since we come from Las Vegas! Grandma and Grandpa have a storm watch radio that goes off and beeps really loud to warn you or to let you know if you need to take cover in the basement. I was praying we wouldn't have to take cover. As a matter of fact, we flew in right behind a tornado, which uprooted signs and trees. Yea, I'm not sure I could live there for that reason. Scary!

This is my in-law's dock. It was so nice to just go down to the lake and take off.

Grandma hooked a tie strap to Coral's life jacket! Heehee. She was all over the place and making us nervous. A homemade leash!

Grandpa let Daniel have a turn at the wheel.

And Coral had a turn. The kids LOVED steering. I even had a few lessons on driving a boat and I have to say, there is more to it than I thought. But if I lived by them, you can bet (watch out Steve), I'd be down there learning it all and taking the boat out by myself. It is so much fun!

And I thought I'd throw this in just so there is a picture of me!

A Link to My Other Blog

I'm not sure how many of you are aware of my other blog, but I posted about one of my favorite cleaning activities that really gets the job done.

Check it out at:

http://meditationsofamother.blogspot.com/2009/06/tip-for-getting-those-toys-off-floor.html

Arkansas Recap Take Two

We went with Grandpa to put the chickens away at night and to check for eggs. Yummy. Free range eggs straight from the chicken are delicious.

This is what we spent our days looking at. I know, you are jealous. I'm jealous now that I'm not there anymore. This is the view from their porch. Postcard picture anyone?

We also spent a ton of time at the park. Grandma really knows how to make kids happy. A trip to the park followed by McDonald's- every kids dream. I LOVE the parks there- so green.

It is My Summer

We all have those crazy times in life where everything just seems to happen to you. I think it is my turn this summer. If something is going to happen, it is going to happen to me. In the past month, I have broken and dislocated my big toe and have been stung by a bee on my arm.

I'm posting a picture of my bee sting, which happened on Tuesday- it has been three days. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my toe because I was having fun in Arkansas!

New Moon Trailer

I've been rereading the Twilight series again (only the second time) and have been excited for the second movie to come out. With the popularity of the first movie, Twilight, more money was put into the second, New Moon. I just watched the trailer and I think it looks amazing. I can already tell it is not going to follow the book exactly, but that does not bother me. I can understand for the sake of movie production and theatrics, things are not always the same.

So, for you enthusiasts, here is the trailer. Prepare to get goose bumps.

<a href="http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/2009/" target="_blank">The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'</a>

The Twilight Saga: New Moon 'Trailer'