Hi! It's me

Hello there! I am posting a picture of myself for my friends that I have not seen in forever. You know, so you don't forget what I look like. Hehe.

Catching up

On Monday Bridget started her new preschool. She is attending Blue Valley Montessori School. It is 5 days a week from 8:30- to 12:45. The school is great. I really think that Bridget will do great in the montessori setting. But this morning, on the THIRD day, this is the conversation:

"Bridget, we need to get you dressed"

"What for mom?"

"So you can go to school"

"Again?"

"Yes, you go everyday, except Sat and Sunday"

"Why"

"So you can go learn new things"

"But I'm going to get tired of that stuff"

Nice. She only went 2 days and she is tired of the stuff already. She hasn't even met the whole class yet because the returning students start on Thursday. I think she will be happier when there are more kids in there with her, right now there are only 7. So we will see.

Other news.

Schaun and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on August 10. We had a great time. The first reason it was so nice is because it was free. The second reason is what we did.

It was free becuase he managed to get his company to pay for it. They do things like this for him sometimes. They know he is making them more money than anybody else in the company and they do not pay him enough salary for the revenue he generates or for the hours that he puts in.

What we did was stay at the Westin Crown Center for 2 nights. The girls stayed with Stacy (and thankfully that went smooth). We had the "wedding package" which included room service breakfast both days, and the first night we got champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. We had a great room with a great view of downtown and Union Station. We had dinner at the Melting Pot on the Plaza. That was so yummy and so fun! The next night we ate at Harrahs at the Buffet and had all you can eat crab legs. Yum! This was Schaun's idea. He likes to gamble a little. I think it is a waste because I ALWAYS lose. He didn't have much fun because he lost. I bet $20 and left with $25. Whoo hoo!

It was a nice time. And the idea of leaving the girls and having alone time is nice, but in reality I missed them lots!

Finally some new photos

I can't believe it has been so long since I picked up my camera. This heat is really getting to me. Went to visit my gramma today. I have been trying to go over there more. I feel like she is just sitting there doing nothing all the time because it is way too hot for her to be out doing gardening. So we packed some sack lunches and went to visit "big gramma" as the girls call her. I think this is my favorite place to take photos. Well, my favorite place that I actually go to. I'm sure there are actually better places. But you know what I mean.

I love some of the shots I got today. Bridget is so stylish with her boots and dress. I love the reflection in the birdbath. And man! Becca looks sooooo big now. She keeps telling me (about 15 times a day) that she needs a haircut. They are both just so funny.

Good things are happening

I was hired to be a teacher at Scrapbooker's Dream. I'm soooo excited about this! It is not going to make me rich, but I think it will sure be fun.

On August 10, Schaun and I will celebrate our 10 year anniversary. The way things are looking for August, it didn't seem like much celebrating would actually be happening. But here comes more good news. Schaun's bosses give him little "presents" sometimes. This is one of them. We are going to be spending two nights at the Westin Crown Center. We will be dining on the Plaza both nights. I picked the Melting Pot, Schaun is undecided on his pick still.

August seems like it is going to be a tough month in the finance department. We have to start paying for Bridget's preschool. I picked this montessori school for her when Schaun was making a little more than he is now. His checks vary thru the year. I still really want to send her there and believe it is worth the expense, but it will just be a little harder now. And in August our car tags are due. So that is a lot of money going out. But today, I found out that we only have to pay a pro-rated amount of tuition for the school. Not a huge difference, but enough to make things feel a little better.

My dream job

Here is the challenge:
If you could choose any career in the world, what would it be? Forget that you may not have the talent for it.......imagine that you could be the best at any one thing. What would that be? Does it fit with what you thought wanted to do when you were younger (as in: when I grow up I want to be a ........)

I don't remember having anything that I really wanted to be when I grew up. There was a time that I thought being a marine biologist would be great. But living in Missouri seemed to be a problem. I had a few thoughts of being a veterinarian, but decided it would be too hard seeing the sick animals and the whole putting them down thing sort of did that thought in.

The thing I always loved and what I still love is horses. This has always been a constant for me. I took a few riding lessons growing up. I collected Breyer horses and the only use I had for Barbies was for them to ride my toy horses. On my honeymoon I made Schaun go riding a couple times. A few years into our marriage (before kids) I was able to take some consistant lessons. I was so happy at this time. I love every part of being around them. Not just the riding, I also like to groom them. I just like being with them.

So basically anything that had to do with caring for and riding horses would be my thing.

A trip to the dentist

Bridget seems to have a problem staying upright on the hardwood floors. I can remember at least five times now that she has come around the corner and just wiped out. It is always the same, face first, flat on the floor. She always comes up bleeding. Each time I panic. I think. Oh God, please let her teeth still be there. Well, yesterday it happened again. There was a lot of bleeding again. I got her in the bathroom and got a washcloth and tried to figure out where the blood was coming from. Last time she split her bottom lip open. I could tell right away that it wasn't coming from her lip. I thought, oh no, this is it, she knocked it out this time. So I finally get her calm enough to see in her mouth and the teeth are all still there. Whew! Then I notice all the blood is coming from around the gums around her front two teeth. Oh no! I touch them and they wiggle. Oh no! Now I panic some more.

Oh, and at the same time, Becca is crying and screaming her head off because I was using this washcloth to clean Bridget up and Becca didn't get it. She was screaming "Mommy, don't make Bridgy eat the cloth!"

So I am a little freaked out that Bridget's teeth are going to fall out, she is crying, Becca is screaming. I convince Becca to bring me the phone. I call my dentist office. They do not react like this is the emergency that I think it is. I mean, they could hear the screaming, what is wrong with them? So my sister works for a dentist. I call there. Kristin says the dentist will take a look at her, bring her in. We get dressed and drive over to Lee's Summit. Kristin took a a couple x-rays and the dentist checks out her mouth. The teeth are loose, but no apparent damange. He says the teeth should tighten back up in a couple days. Whew! I am so relieved.

I was a cheer leader

First I need to say that in real life there are not all the E's in Cheer Leader. My stitching program did that and I don't know how to fix it.

Second I need to say LOOK at the awful hair cut!!!!!!! I'm sure this is something my mom talked me into. This is an example of mother NOT always knowing what's best.

Third, if you want to know what all the journaling says, here it is:

Hickman Mills High School 1986-1987 My Freshman year I tried out for cheerleader. I really had not thought about doing this, but one of my good friends talked me into it. We had to go through several clinics to learn the cheers and jumps. I really didn’t have my heart set on actually getting picked, so I wasn’t really nervous. During the try-outs you fill out this card requesting the squad you would like to be on along with your second and third choices. Then came hours of watching each girl go up and perform. I have no memory of actually getting up there and doing my routine. When everyone is done the judges take a couple hours to decide and they come back and give the results. When my name was called I was very shocked. Then I learned that I had been called for my first choice and I had picked a varsity squad! The Cougarettes squad was my first choice. They cheered for Volleyball and Wrestling (no outside sports for me). So here I was, no real desire for this, but after I was chosen, I was really thrilled. I was a Freshman and they had just put me on a varsity squad. I just couldn’t believe it. After it was all over, I went to a friend’s house where I called my mom and gave her the results. She couldn’t believe it either. I think she actually asked me if I was sure they calculated it correct. I told her it was correct and I was in. She was really happy for me, just a bit shocked like me.

Saturday fun

This morning the girls requested that we go to visit gramma and big gramma. They call my gramma, Big Gramma instead of Great Gramma. This is something Bridget just said when she learned who people were. And for the record, she is not big--at all. So we went over there and my brother, Kent, was visiting. He took this time to give my girls some flying lessons. Weeee!

Then after nap time and dinner, we went to a nearby playground. Check out that hair on Becca. Does this happen to all sliding kids? I only see it on mine and I think it is hilarious.

Blog challenge {Finding out I was pregnant}

We had been married for five years. I am pretty sure people thought we were not going to have children. I stopped taking my birth control in April 2000. This was scarey for me. I was married and made a decision to stop it, but it was still weird to me. I had been taking it for soooo long. I figured it would take my body a few months to figure out what happened before I got pregnant. It took 1 year and 3 months for it to figure out what I wanted. We didn't tell a single soul that we were trying. But when that month rolled around I knew right way that it had finally happened. I had to wait to take the test because it was too soon for it to work. I bought several tests as I had been taking for them for months at this point. Sam's club had the best deal on them by the way. I took this one and there was the faintest double pink line. I called Schaun at work and told him to come home right away and look at it. He saw it too. We were so excited, but cautiously so. We needed medical verification. So the next morning I went to the doctor and had a blood test and it was all for real after that point. Bridget was born February 26, 2002.

Week in Review

I bought the girls these cute little dresses for the 4th. I never really got the photos I wanted, but they are still adorable. We went to visit my bestest friend Norma and her 2 girls. It has been waaaay toooo long since out last visit. Hope we can get together again soon. Oh! The photo of Norma and me was taken by her five year old daughter Clara. Pretty good huh? We had a ton a bread piling up in my kitchen. So it was time for a trip to feed the ducks. Turns out we fed the geese, not ducks, and we were swarmed by them. Becca thought it was great, but Bridget headed for higher ground atop the slide. It was nice to have Schaun home for the week and to have such great weather!

Once upon a time there lived 2 princesses

Here is my latest Star Scrapbooker creation. Some of the color is a little washed out in the scan. I took me a long time to cut out all those letters! But I am happy with the final result.

July 4th

Today is the 4th of July. I love this holiday. The past two years we have missed out on the fun though. Before kids we spent every 4th at Corporate Woods watching and listening to the bands and eating all the junk food there. The last two years Bridget has been sick on the 4th. I think we are home free this year. To be sure we didn't miss out this year, we went to this golf course last night and watched their display. It was very nice. Not a huge crowd, the heat blew off, and the girls really enjoyed it. Becca was trying to catch the fireworks and Bridget said they were beautiful. The exact quote was "They are so beautiful. They look like Cinderella's fairy godmothers wand sparkles".

Happy 4th to everybody! Be safe!

Fears

The challenge is to tell your fears. I'll give you my top three.

1. My girls being kidnapped. I have a serious case of stranger danger. The Elizabeth Smart case really freaked me out. I cannot sleep if I know the girls windows are even open a crack. I walk the house and check the locks several times a night before bed and periodically thru the day.

2. Driving over bridges over water. If I survive the fall, could I get out? How would I get the girls out of there carseats and out of the water? Would we just sink and suffocate or drown? I really worry about this one.

3. My home burning down. I am a stuff kinda girl. Get the girls out. Get the pets out. Get the scrapbooks.

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A Happy Father's Day BBQ

We had a Father's Day fest today. I have told Schaun that this seems like a lot of work to do on his day. He seems to love it enough not to care about that. Yesterday he smoked a pork shoulder, and some sausage. Today he smoked ribs and grilled ears of corn, burgers, and some other chopped veggies. My family was all here and most of his family all came out. The kids had a great time playing in the pool. Bridget got in and didn't come out for hours. Becca got in for a short time, then she wanted her swim suit off. We went inside and got her clothes back on and then guess what? She went straight in the sprinkler and then climbed back in the pool fully dressed. Silly kid!That pic of the fire was under control. Don't be worried. Schaun cooks the veggies this way. Do you see how close his hand is to that huge fire? It only lasts for a couple seconds and then it is gone, but it scares me everytime.

Week in Review

Here are my favorite photos from this week. We went to NKC to Dagg Park and played with some Scrapbooker's Dream forum friends. The girls both got new things to ride. When I was a kid we called these big wheels. They are a big hit over here. That is our sweet little dog named Daisy. Then some photos from our backyard play time. It was a fun week. I was also selected to be a Star Scrapbooker at the Kansas Scrapbooker's Dream store. Very exciting for me! Today I took the girls to see Aunt Kristin. That is always a treat for them. Nice weather, fun things to keep us busy, no complaints from me.

If I won the lottery

If I won the lottery today the first thing I would do is pay off all our debt of course (along with all immediate family's). I would buy a house that was big enough, but not a mansion. I'm thinking white with a wrap around porch, very Victorian looking. More important than the house would be the stables for our new horses. I would be a riding fool. I am going to try and convince Stacy to come be our live in nanny. I need a cook--that would solve a lot of issues around here. A trainer for my riding. I hope the girls will grow to love horses too. But if not, we will find their thing. I think we need a pool too. That would be perfect.

Schaun will need a sound proof room in this house. Or we could just build him his own little place. He could go there and listen to music as loud as he wanted. Play video games and just have a good ol' boys place. I'm sure he will not even finish the day at his job when I tell him we won!

I would buy my mom a house. And we would probably need a place in London too. We could share that though. Basically whatever mom wanted she would have.

My in-laws have always talked of retiring at the Lake. So we would set them up with that.

I'm not sure what my sister would want. Some funny money to shop with for sure. A new car equipped with a driver. She hates to drive.

My brother wants to become a chef. So culinary school for him. Paris maybe?

Vacations will be so much better. Stay at the best places and have lots of help with everything.

Well, that is what I'd start with. That will keep me busy for while.

Mrs. Greenwood

Presenting Mr. and Mrs. Mark Greenwood. The ceremony was sweet and perfect. The bride seemed a tiny bit nervous, but Mark vowed to "forgive" and that seemed to really please Kristin. After the ceremony we spent a couple hours outside at different locations taking beautiful photos. Then we were off to an awsome dinner. The bride and groom know the executive chef at Bravo. Let me tell you, that is a good man to know.

CONGRATULATIONS Mark and Kristin! I wish you all the happiness in the world!

Photos of the Day

I went to visit my Gramma today. She has a great yard for picture taking. These are my favorites of the day.

Around my neighborhood

I like to take the girls for a walk in the evenings. As we were walking the other day I started to notice some things that I don't think are typical. This picture doesn't show it as vivid as it is, but the top pic, that house is PINK. It is not pretty. I like that mailbox. I think it is interesting. Then there is the house that doesn't know where they live. This house looks like it is in the middle of a forest. They have a fence made out of logs along the front, overgrown pine trees, and it is not terribly messy looking. It just doesn't fit into a suburban neighborhood. Then there is the house without yard. They tore out all the grass and replaced it with rocks. A few shrubs and trees, but no mowing for them. Then of course I always see my girls. Becca likes to walk behind me. Whenever I turn to snap a photo, she yells at me to "go mommy walk!" and Bridget who weeds all the yards by picking all the dandelions.