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"Time Flies"...

Not A Baby Anymore

Seriously.

I just want to know...

Who told my baby she could grow up so fast!?!

Really.

I blink my eyes and she has turned into a (almost 100%) potty trained, Primary going, super smart, creative, funny, strong, thoughtful, beautiful young girl.

No more babies at our house.

Time goes too fast sometimes.

There Goes the Neighborhood

Take a look at my new neighbors.

They moved in behind me about a two weeks ago.

I have to say that they are relatively quiet,
but
man do they stink!
I'm just glad it's winter and I don't keep my windows open.

And they're pretty lazy too.
There's a whole field for them to graze and frolic in but they choose to lay around on the dirt road right behind my house.
Whatever.
I think they do it to torment me;
you know, like an annoying neighbor kid.

They aren't very friendly either.
I mean, I just went out to say hi and take their picture today
and a couple of them just walked away without so much as a "baaa"!
They mostly just glared at me with their snotty sheep faces.
Have you ever looked at a sheep's face?They have an expression that says,
"I'm better than you so don't even bother!"
As if!

So after realizing that they don't want anything to do with me,
I yelled to them,
"Hey McSheepy's! You don't know what you're missin'!"
and went to leave when one of them gets up,
turns around, and does this...

Can you believe the nerve!?!
See if they get a neighbor gift next Christmas!
Hmmmmf!

Ringing In 2008 and My Dad, The Newsmaker

We have a tradition of going to my sister-in-law, Cristina's, house for New Years Eve.
This year we made a big dinner and the whole family was there playing games and having fun.
(By the way, Blokus is awesome!)

Uncle Jonathan kept the boys busy lighting fireworks from our
arsenal of fireworks left over from the 4th of July.
They had left over firecrackers and thought it would be funny to blow things up.
They attached firecrackers to cd's, cans, action figures, you name it.
Quite frankly, I really don't get the fascination with blowing things up or setting them on fire.
It's a guy thing, I know.
Anyway,
midnight was approaching so we girls were passing out the party hats and horns
(because what's a New Year's party without hats and horns?)
and gathering up our pots and pans to ring in the New Year.

I knew the boys were going to set fireworks off at midnight, but I had
NO CLUE
what they had planned.

I was paying attention to Emma and my niece (the beautiful Savannah)
and counting down that I didn't realize that they were planning on blowing up
a stinkin' Gingerbread House.
(It was a pretty big Gingerbread House too! Not a whimpy graham cracker one, but a real one made with gingerbread and tons of candy. Crazy!)

Well, midnight came and we're running around banging our pots and pans and yelling
when...
BANG!!!!!!
The gingerbread house fell off the ladder and exploded towards us all!
We're running around screaming in a chaotic mess!
Sparks were everywhere!
It was so scary and so funny all at the same time!
Luckily, no one or nothing was hurt.
It was just crazy!

Here's a video of it.
You can't really see anyone (just the explosion) and it's a little slow starting but all the sound is there.
It's pretty funny!
I still can't believe no one got hurt!

Yeah, I think this is symbolic of the surprisingly great and fun things that will happen this year.
I'm choosing to think positive!

*******************************
On another note...
My dad made the news!
He's the one on the phone calling for Mitt NOT Obama.
(I must make that clarification.
If you know him, you know what I mean.)
He's about half way through the video in a blue sweater.
Way to be involved dad!
(Isn't he handsome!)
Is it me, or does Rod Decker sound a little tipsy at the end?

What Made My Christmas

I have to say that I really enjoyed Christmas this year.

Even though I had to wait until the Friday before Christmas to start my shopping,
it all turned out great.
We didn't go overboard on presents and the kids we all happy.
I love that my kids aren't the kind that get upset because we don't get them the latest and greatest Christmas gifts.
I truly am blessed with awesome kids!
We did a lot of fun things together this season and we really enjoyed each other.

What more could a girl ask for?

I don't expect presents for Christmas but my kids surprised me with this...

Elisabeth made it for me!
Isn't it cute!?!
The boys each wrote me a note and put them on it.
I love notes from my children!
But you know what made my Christmas besides this darling magnet board?

This note from Scott.
(I hope he's not going to mind me sharing but I thought it was so cool!)

Like I said,
I have awesome kids!

This was really cute too.
Max wanted to go to Color Me Mine to decorate a plate for Lee for Christmas
(Why a plate? Who knows.)
but we didn't get a chance to go so he decided to decorate one of my white dinner plates with crayon.
He wrapped this up for Lee without me knowing.What a cutie!

I hope you all had a great Christmas like I did!

****
Coming up next,
What happens when you ring in the New Year with gingerbread houses and fire crackers...

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was the big day.

I am now 40!
It's been a great day spent with family and I've only had fun.
Who could ask for more, right?

I didn't want to make a big deal out of turning 40 because, really, is 40 any different than 39?
But I have to say that it has gotten me thinking more.
(Which could be a good thing or a bad thing. We'll see!)

I have to say that I woke up a little on the depressed side.
I didn't sleep well last night.
The sleepless night was spent thinking of the last 40 years.

A big part of me is very happy with my life.
I've been blessed beyond belief.
There's many happy memories that I wouldn't change for anything.
(And I do mean anything!)
Even a lot of my trials and challenges I wouldn't change, for the most part.

But a small part of me feels like a disappointment.
I think I'm a little disappointed with myself.
It's almost like I feel I've wasted part of my life and it's not a great feeling.
I've let myself go--definitely a long way away from the size 8 I was when I was married.
I also think I haven't used my talents like I am meant to.
But, there's always the next 40 years, right?

I just want to focus more on taking care of myself, spiritually, mentally and physically, so that I can look back after my next 40 years and only be able to think about what an awesome life I've lived and not have feelings of disappointment.

I'm just very grateful for the love and support of my family and friends.

And I'm grateful for the experiences I've had over the years
(both good and bad) for I know they have shaped who I am.

I'm looking forward to the coming years and I'm not going to fear getting older.
It's all in your attitude right?

I hope this makes some sense!

****
On another note,
look what my hubby got me ....
Yes, I'm a spoiled girl!
(I like how it says, "Forever Young" on the screen. How appropriate.)

May your Christmas be
Merry and Bright!!!

Luckily I Can Laugh at Myself

I went perfume shopping with Elisabeth the other day.

Those of you who really know me know that I'm more comfortable in stores like Target and not so comfortable in stores like Nordstrom.
And I HATE cosmetic/perfume counters. I don't like being approached by salespeople with little black jackets/smocks wanting to spray perfume on me or offering to give me a makeover.

Well, because I love my daughter more than life itself, I went to Nordstrom so she could buy SJP's new fragrance, Lovely (which I have to say is very lovely).

We walked into the perfume section and started looking at the first display, Juicy Couture.
Elisabeth tells me it's a great perfume so I smell it because she's up on what's good.
So we were looking at the display and smelling the bottle. To be honest, it didn't smell much like anything to me so I thought I'd spray a little on my wrist.
Right as I was about to spray, this guy who works there (yes, a guy which was a little weird to me) stops me and informs me, in a very demeaning and mocking kind of way, that the perfume that I almost sprayed on my wrists was for dogs.
Huh? Perfume for dogs? Are you kidding me?
He then informed me that it would have been okay if I had sprayed it on my wrist because apparently it's tested on humans before it's sprayed on dogs.
Thanks perfume sales guy.
He then showed me the human Juicy Couture and asked if I wanted him to spray some on my wrist.
No, thank you.
Now leave me the heck alone to feel like a complete moron.

Needless-to-say, Elisabeth and I had a good laugh over this.

Apparently, this is what the human Juicy Couture looks like:
See the dogs on the front.


And here's the dog perfume:
See the same dogs on the front!
It's an honest mistake, right?

Although something that I failed to notice,
(and no, it has nothing with me getting older so don't EVEN say it!)
the dog perfume is called

Juicy Crittoure Eau de Pawfum.

My bad.