All Dressed Up For One Place To Go

We are headed to Las Vegas! Twice in one year, lucky us :)

My brother-in-law is getting married. And we are so excited to witness the big event. Weddings are such a fun time to reflect on your own life and just be happy.

But right now we are in prepare mode.

We had our hair done.

And our nails did.



Don't you think that Izzy and Cambri picked out festive colors? In case you can't tell, Cambri picked out electric green and Izzy neon yellow.

But we are also preparing for other things. I'm a little nervous to take my girls to Sin City. They are so innocent and it's my job to keep them that way. Las Vegas is fun for adults but might give young minds the wrong impression :(

So we are practicing.

What do you do when Mommy tells you to hurry and close your eyes?

What do you do when Mommy tells you to plug your ears?

And most importantly, who is going to do everything Mommy says very quickly? To keep us and our minds safe.

Wish us luck!

And yes I had to bribe my kids with McDonalds. They were starting to get bored with my neurotic ways.

The Mess is Too Much for Me

I like Easter. But I hate the mess of dying Easter eggs. It makes me want to crawl out of my skin.

So my kids had never dyed eggs before.

My aunt found that out and was mortified.

So out came the egg dying kit.

And in went twenty little fingers.

Cambri only got through two eggs. And they were both a very deep orange. She plopped the egg in and out of the cup several hundred times before it became too much for me. And I took away her spreading-dye-all-over-hell-and-breakfast privilege.

 At least we were at Grandma Great's house. That's all I have to say about that.

Adventures in Un-Babysitting

Okay peeps, I was only gone for 15 minutes. All I wanted to do was run to the store and not have to schlep my kids with me. And Chuck volunteered to help.

But when I got home, things were amiss... the cookies had been broken into.

 And the culprit was at the table eating them.  At least she put on a bib. She's a clean thief if nothing else.

And no one was wearing pants. Well Chuck was wearing pants. Thank goodness. But no one else. 

Remember when I said I was only gone for 15 minutes? That may have been a slight exaggeration.

I was only gone for 12 minutes. But yet my babysitter was completely asleep.

And he was covered with every blanket in the house that was available for use. Courtesy of his loving granddaughters. 

And an hour later, when I had completely cooked dinner, I had to go wake him up. He had actually slept through a reposition.

Once again, coutesy of his granddaughters.

Anyone else need an un-babysitter? I believe he may be available for hire on nights and weekends...

Yay for Adoption!

Hey Faithful Blog Followers!

Can I ask you a favor? You know, besides reading this blog regularly :)

I want to introduce you to dear friends and just ask that you keep them in mind as you go about living your day to day life...

Meet Tyler and Hillary!

Don't they look sweet? Just in case you were wondering, they are as cool as they look!

They are hoping (& praying) to adopt. And I know their baby is out there somewhere.

 Hillary and I have been friends for over 10 years. Yes, thank you for asking! It is very scary that we are that old!

I have flashbulb memories of her talking about being a mom all the way back in our high school days. I know how much this means to her. She has such a sweet spirit and will cherish and honor her commitment as a mother. This baby will  be loved and taken care of in a way that I could never possibly describe here.

Words could never truly capture it .

So where do all of you fit in?

1. Just keep them in mind. You never know when you may run into a friend or family member who needs your love and support while considering adoption.

2. Peruse http://www.tylerandhillaryadoption.blogspot.com/ You can learn more about Tyler and Hillary and how extremely fun they are!

3. Open Facebook and search for Tyler and Hillary are hoping to adopt.

And then this is the important part. 

Hit "Like"

Even if you don't know them. Even if you know that as much as you would like to, you would never be able to help.

Because you never really know where life is going to take you :) 

Infertility is not a Joke!

Ok peeps, because this is the best outlet I have, I wanted to share a letter that I sent off to PETA over the weekend. If you would like to send a letter to them as well, please do!

PETA, PETA, PETA.

You have scared me before. But I have moved on and let your point be what it typically is: shock value!

But you have really crossed the line this time. By attacking an entire sect of the population in what you consider a joke. I don't find it funny.

First let me tell you something. Not that it's any of your business.

I am not infertile.

No one in my immediate family is infertile.

My best friend is not infertile.

But I am still offended. I am offended as a friend who has infertile friends.

I am offended as an American.

I am offended as a breathing human.

I am writing you this letter on behalf of my two daughters who could very well grow up and find themselves infertile. I would hate for them to ever feel the way that you have made thousands of interfile people feel.

By giving away a vasectomy in honor of National Infertility Awareness Week, you are insulting everyone, fertile and infertile alike. A medical condition is not something to laugh at, make a joke of or in anyway minimize in order to prove YOUR point. This is not ok!

I understand that you have removed the reference to NIAW but I don't think that this is enough. You need to issue a public apology.

I have encouraged everyone I know to stop donating to your cause until you do so. I have sent personal emails specifically to my extended family members that I know have donated to your organization, asking them to really consider this issue before they make out another check.

Please understand, I consider myself an absolutist when it comes to the first amendment. I stand by my right to speak freely and therefore stand by your right to speak freely. In the tradition of our country, even the Nazi's have the right to make fools of themselves in a public forum. You have similarly made a fool of your organization.

What you need to understand is that with this right comes responsibility. We should use our first amendment right to speak our minds but in a way that bring others up and encourage people during challenging times in their lives.

Because isn't that what you want us to do for animals?

Don't you see how treating your fellow man insensitively undermines your work for the ethical treatment of animals?

I have seen this other example on other blogs and want to share it here because it really makes the point.

Would you offer a double mastectomy in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month? You know, so that we can be like our feline friends and not have to deal with hoo-hahs?

I seriously doubt it.

And if you did, I would be as equally outraged as I am now!

Please PETA you have the real opportunity to right a wrong here. You have the opportunity to admit you were wrong and issue a public apology. Your organization is run by humans and humans make mistakes. I know that you would probably find forgiveness.

Take the challenge and apologize!

Sincerely,

Katie

What if your life was 99% over?

My mom and I didn't have much overlapping taste in music. I'm a country girl while she was a product of music being at its hay day in the 70's. She would listen to a classic rock station every morning while getting ready and loved a segment where they played a few seconds of the most random (crappy) song for listeners to test their skills. She called in several times with the right answer. Memories like that make me smile.

One of the CD's we both loved was this one:

In fact we jammed out to it on a road trip we took together to South Dakota to visit my sister one summer. I "borrowed" it and the night before she died she asked for it back.

I told her I would try and remember. But actually I probably had no intent of giving it back to her :) Which I know that she knew.

And now its mine for keeps I guess. Unless Chuck asks for it back on her behalf. Which he will probably do just to annoy the snot out of me. I'll have to "lose" it if you get my drift.

But as I was listening to it this morning, I had another thought of my mom that sometimes haunts me. 

Literally brings me to my knees. 

Keeps me until the wee hours (11pm), unaware that sleeping hours are quickly passing.

My mom turned 54 January 3rd before March 4th date that she died. If you lost a few brain cells reading that sentence, I'm right there with you because its kind of confusing. If you didn't, you are so smart. And I'm happy to know you :) Just to be clear, I'm still happy to know you either way.

She made a comment right around her birthday that her life here on earth was probably more than half over.

And I want to go back in time and tell her that "NO, it's 99% over. Do things that you want to do right now!"

But I can't.

Random thought: You are probably asking yourself, if you could go back in time, why wouldn't you do something different to save her life?

My mother had an ischemic stroke which occurs when an artery to the brain is blocked. If an artery is blocked, the brain cells cannot make enough energy and will eventually stop working. If the artery remains blocked for more than a few minutes, the brain cells may die and leave you brain dead. This is why immediate medical treatment is absolutely critical. And realistically, in my mom's case, there was really nothing any of us could do because of the severity of her issue and the time that had already passed by the time she had the stroke in the middle of the night, while sleeping, and woke up the next morning. The carotid arteries in her neck had such severe scar tissues that the examining doctor seemed to think it had been building for 30+ years. None of us could figure out when or why they were so severely damaged.

Random thought answer: I don't allow myself to think "what if" regarding this issue any longer. Even in very obscure, theoretic terms such as this.

Most people who suffer from ischemic stroke have other problems or conditions which put them at higher risk, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, smoking, or diabetes.

This is why every single doctor and nurse who came into her room at the hospital asked us how many packs a day she smoked.

And we have to reiterate several times that she didn't. It was obvious to the doctors that she was a healthy weight, so that wasn't the issue. It was easy to believe that she exercised regularly and was proactive with her health care. Which were all true.

But then they would CONTINUE to say that that it wasn't possible that she didn't smoke (because lying would have made sense for us to do at a time like this, NOT) because people who DON'T suffer from those things listed above and DON'T smoke, don't have strokes.

Obviously not true.

I kow that was a random few paragraphs but it was really intended to be archival information for the girls to read at a much later date.

On with my story.

Sometimes I think about the conversation I had with my mom and I start to feel sad.

It's part of the reason I quit my job.

Don't get me wrong, I know its not all possible for us to quit working and live like we are immediately dying.

But for me, quitting my job was an option. Obviously it comes with sacrifice but I can tell you that I look at it as the last gift my mom gave me.

My girls and I have a blast. While the Daddy Man works ;) Very hard, I might add.

I really don't want to miss a thing with the kiddies. I'm sure that 99% of parents think that. It's part of what makes you a parent. And just because you work, that doesn't make you a bad parent. In some ways, I was more on top of my game when I was working AND my mom was still alive. So go outside-of-the-home-working mom and dads! I support you and value the sacrifce that you make! But all of this is really irrelevant.

Quitting also made me available to go back to school. I left school in 2005 to come back to Idaho and be with my husband (boyfriend at the time) because he needed me. It's a long story that's not really mine to tell but the facts are there. He couldn't have done certain things without me and I made the sacrifice of not finishing my college education to be there for him. I don't regret it. And he obviously values it because 1. he tells me so and 2. he works EXTRA hard to help make this happen for me.

And now that I have gotten to go back and am within a semester of graduating, I see now that everything goes full circle.

It's such a blessing in more way than one.

By giving up school, I spent the last five years of my mom's life hanging out with her instead of living out of state. A lot of manicures, pedicures, girls trips and lunching (as a verb ;). Seeing her become a Grandma. Watching movies. Things that I wouldn't trade for the world because it ended up being a very finite period of time for us.

And not having to go to work leaves me even MORE open time for conversations with my 4 year old.

Isabelle: Can we float up to heaven together?

Katie: God willing I will be there well before you.

Isabelle: I think it would be fun for our WHOLE family to float up together. But so many people might make it explode.

Katie: I think there is a very valid argument that space and time do not exist in heaven as we know them here on earth.

Isabelle: Huh?

Katie: I'm fairly certain that we are all going to fit with no problems.

Isabelle: But there's a lot of us. I would say more than 10 even.

Katie: That is a lot of people.

Isabelle: What language are we all going to speak in heaven?

Katie: I have never really thought about that. What a wonderful Montessori schooled mind you have.

Isabelle: I hope it's not Spanish. I don't know Spanish that well.

Katie: You know it at all?

Isabelle: Yo soy Dora Isabelle.

Katie: Well I have only taken a year of Spanish at a college level so I'm not certain but I would tentatively say that you don't need "Dora" in that statement being that you are Isabelle and not Dora The Explorer Isabelle.

Isabelle: Obviously you don't know Spanish that well either. We should pray that we all speak English. 

We will have to add this to the laundry list of prayer items that we already go through. Things like Paula finding someone to marry again "real soon" and God blessing the creator of Barbie.  

It's hard being schooled on your pathetic Spanish speaking abilities by a four year old.  

Yo soy Dora Katie.

And That Was a Nice Break

I'm back! We kind of went into hiding.

But it turns out we aren't so good at that game. And I really missed blogging!

I have a lot to catch you all up on. Little Harper came for a visit! It was so much fun.

Izzy had her first dance performance of the year. She rocked it. She knew it. A four year old who is a tad stuck on herself gets old. Real fast.

But the fun we had hanging out with Heidi and Harper. It was a really awesome time.

Cam Cam even sat through Gnomeo and Juliet with us. The above picture cracks me up.

You probably wonder why this story is so disjointed. Stupid blogger won't let me rearrange my pictures. Try to keep up. When it starts giving you a headache, take a break and come back. My feelings won't be hurt.

Izzy performed Yankee Doodle Dandy at her school. It was a crack up.

Cambri loved baby Harper. This kid really needs a little brother or sister.

Well now I have forced you to look at all the random pictures I had on my phone. And I have a feeling of being caught up even though I left a lot out. The main thing that I have been doing is reflecting on the past year. I made it one year without my mom. It doesn't quite feel right but I did it. I still get really sad but once in a while I get this feeling of acceptance that washes over me. That makes me REALLY sad but it makes me realize that I am starting to deal with my new reality.

And it really makes me want to be a better mom.

I want to be the kind of mom to my kids that my mom was to me.

Some days its hard. Like today for instance.

I took a five minute shower.

Cam Cam took the liberty of destroying my entire fish tank. Live plants were floating around. Fish were traumatized.

But after I recovered from the shock, I kind of smiled. Just like I knew my mom would have.

The Level For Cool Is Very Low In Our House

Natasha: Who wants pitas for dinner?

Izzy: What? What? I DO!

Natasha: Good because that's what my mom is making.

Izzy: Wow! My mom would never do anything that cool.

Katie: What??!?! How many times have you been to Disneyland?

Izzy: Twice

Katie: How many times have you flown on an airplane?

Izzy: Lots

Katie: Please tell me that you know that there are people out there who NEVER get to do those things. Doesn't that make me cool?

Izzy: No

Katie: What the hexagon?

Izzy: Like I said Natasha, my mom would never do anything like make pitas for dinner.

Can someone out there in blogworld tell me how to be cool?

I don't know how to make a pita bread so I need something different.

Help please.

Vive Lasss Vegas

I'm back :) If we are Facebook friends, then you know that I'm talking about Vegas because I probably annoyed you to the point that I am now hidden deep among your other bothersome "friends." But if we aren't Facebook friends ( and we really should be) than you obviously have no way of knowing that I just returned home from four glorious days in (not very) sunny Las Vegas.

The highlight of the trip was definitely....drum roll please....

Seeing and meeting Holly Madison.

Oh M Ba Gee Gee Peeps.

I seriously was shaking I was so excited. I really don't want to admit that as my brother and sister-in-law Ryan and Nicole EXPECT this behavior out of me and I wanted to show that I could remain classy.

But seriously it's impossible.

We were actually at Planet Hollywood buying our tickets to Holly's show when the lady at the Box Office said, "You know she's right behind you, right?"

Katie: SHUT UP

Old Ticket Lady (visibly offended and taken back):

Well actually, she didn't anything as she was speechless.

Katie: I'm so sorry, that's a bad habit. I didn't really want you to shut up, I'm just a little excited.

Old Ticket Lady: You should go up and meet her. She is very nice and humble. When I brought my granddaughter in, she was extremely nice and told us that she wants to meet her fan.

Yes, I insulted a grandma by telling her to shut up. My bad. On with the story.

Katie: There is no way I could do that.

Old Ticket Lady: Yes you can.

Chase: Ok I'll do it then.

We walk over to her. And when we are four feet away, Chase panics.

Chase: I can't do it.

So there we are, clearly within in the distance of being crazy stalkers, stalled because my husband is a huge wussy.

So I step in.

Katie: Hi Holly. Would you mind if we took a photo with you?

Holly: No problem.

Katie: Thank you! You are so sweet, which of course I already knew.

When I texted the picture to my sister-in-law, one of her first questions was whether or not I hyperventilated.

She knows me too well. But Paula said I did keep it together nicely.

This photo highlights Chase with his murse. What an under the table metrosexual :)

We also went to visit the home of the Pawn Stars. I seriously love this show. Almost too much. But let me tell you peeps, it was 8 in the morning and the place was packed. I couldn't believe it. Those poor employees though. Every single person who passed them asked, "Are the Pawn Stars here?"

And I thought repeating myself about the location of Macy's got old. I can't even imagine.

And of course we went shopping.

Outlet shopping. One of my favorite kinds. Paula and I got new Coach bags at an outlet price. It really doesn't get much better than that. We even went on a Holiday weekend, so we got an EXTRA 30% off. I'm not even joking.

We also got some of our favorite beauties some cute new stuff at the Disney Store.

I have a Minnie Mouse umbrella that will come in handy in Idaho weather because it rains so much in the desert. There is a prepared four year old though, who carries it around everywhere. Next time we get that five minute sprinkle, no wet clothes for her. Oh wait, it will surely be broken by then.  

And lastly, we ate. Buffet style.

To clarify, I was kidding about Chase's murse. The hotel wouldn't let him leave it because it contained his iPad and they didn't want the responsibility. So he had to carry it around until check-in.

Now you know.

This was our trip in a nutshell. I could go on (& on) about how I was verbally berated by Kevin, the time share maniac, in order to get free Criss Angel tickets but I'm not going to bore you. I can tell you that Chasey and I passed on our ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY to be part owners of the Las Vegas strip.

Somehow I think we'll survive :)

Love Equals iPhone

Two days ago I asked Chasey what he wanted for Valentine's Day.

He said he wanted a date with his favorite valentine.

Me! Just in case you were wondering.

But anyone with small children knows that date nights can be hard to come by and are even less likely to happen when there is a specific date in mind. So I got him an iPhone instead.

He doesn't know yet. I know he will be surprised.

But how will he be surprised, Katie, if you posted it on your widely assessable Internet website?

Because he never reads it even though it was started as a way to keep him in touch with our little piece of the world here in Southeast Idaho.

I still love him though. An iPhone's worth.

I'm Going To Have To Stop Cutting People Off

This morning the girls and I were running behind. Tough to believe? So I pulled a SUPERMOM moment and poured cereal into red plastic cups for breakfast.

One of my finest moments.

I'm embarrassed to say how often this happens. But if you can't blog about it, then what can you do? So I would say this has about a 20% chance of occurance. Just so you know.

But this morning was special. Izzy put me in charge of Cambri.

Izzy: Mom I am going to give you a special job today while I'm at school. I'm gong to put you in charge of protecting Cambri...

Katie: Izzy! How sweet. I'm not even going to point out that I do that job everyday and treat it as one of my most sacred duties!

Izzy:  ...from eating my cereal. I want to eat the rest of it when I get home.

Seriously peeps I am going to learn one of these days. Nothing is as it appears when you have a four year old who is addicted to Life (cereal).

Beauty School Drop Ins

Who wants to see something cute?

I know you all eagerly responded so here goes. Who would have guessed that these cute babies would turn into these beauties?

My brother-in-law thought it would be fun to do a beauty day for the cousins. I know what you are thinking. How under the table metrosexual of him. I know! But it was so much fun and all of the girls had a blast. Jade, Isabelle, Mia and Cambri all got their hair did and looked like mini super models. My mother-in-law paid for it so it was EVEN MORE FUN for me!

Yes, Cambri refused to cooperate for the photos. She was so good sitting in the chair and not moving that she used up all of her natural Ritalin-like substance. I have since forgiven her. Later that same day, she drank almost an entire diet Coke without being caught. Now that was a real nightmare. I have not forgiven her for that.

Izzy had such a good time that all I heard all day were things like "Don't I look cute?" "No one will even recognize me I am so beautiful." "Wow, I look so different. I love it."

Not conceited at all, right peeps?

It was insufferable for me to have to listen to. She actually tried to get into the shower with a plastic grocery sack over her head in order to protect the straightness. It was rather ingenious but sadly the lack of oxygen started to affect her. She used it as another opportunity to point out why Nikki would be a better fit as her mother. Izzy told me, "Nikki has beautiful straight blond hair and I want that, not what we have." I tried to use the "some people pay lots of money for curly hair" because that's what my mom used to use on me. Izzy stared at me like I was slow in the head. Lesson learned. 

Izzy says she HATES her curly hair now. Sad for her. She is stuck with it because I am stuck with it.

Aren't we lucky to have these girls in our family? If you don't think they are adorable, I give you permission to close your browser and drop your computer on your big toe.