Best Friends!

The other day, I was making my morning rounds, waking the sleepy kids for another fun filled school day. I usually go around and turn the bedroom lights on and do a few things while the kids eyes adjust to the light. When I got into Malia and Carly's room, I noticed Carly wasn't in her bed. I knew for sure that she was not awake, but thought that maybe she went out to the couch or something. She wasn't there either. She wasn't in bed with me and for a brief moment I panicked. I went into Ethan's room and there she was. All cuddled up sleeping next to him.




The next morning, I found her in Ethan's bed again. I was a little bit perplexed because she usually would come and get in bed with me if she woke up in the middle of the night, but two nights in a row, she ended up with Ethan. When I asked her why she was getting in bed with him, Carly replied in a very sleepy voice, "Because he's my best friend." It was so sweet and cute.

For a third morning in a row, she ended up in bed with Ethan. This is how they looked when I went to wake them up:



So cute and a great blackmail photo for when they're older.

Last night, I was too tired to even put Carly to bed, so she got in bed with me and slept all night long...in my bed. Love those kids of mine!

Easter Festivities

This is going to be one of those "Ye of little words" posts. Truth is, I've been wanting to blog really bad, but haven't thought of anything other than my daily normal happenings to blog. I think I need a little more entertainment in my life...So, here was our Easter Fun:

Silk Tie Easter Egg Dying







Of course we had our own personal videographer (who got a haircut later that day)



Easter Morning...super early as church began at 9am.















Our Easter Best. Fun little fact: The girl who made my girls' cute skirts was recently a contestant on the Price is Right. She won a car and delivered our skirts in it. It was her 18th birthday...how cool is that?













And the Grand Finale...The Hunt















Happy Easter!

Imagination Station

CHURCH CLOTHES AREN'T JUST FOR CHURCH ANYMORE!

I've got to say, I have some creative kids. I've been noticing one in particular lately. This little guy:



If you can't tell...He's Indiana Jones. Ethan has used his church clothes more for dressing up in than going to church in. Occasionally, I get annoyed because he doesn't always keep them clean and when Sunday rolls around...well, you can figure that situation out. None the less, I enjoy watching his creative side come out (even if he sneaks my purse as part of his outfit).

Here he is as Han Solo:



Can you figure out what's in common here? That would be Harrison Ford. I was trying to explain to Ethan that Harrison Ford is a real person in real life and that Han Solo and Indiana Jones are "characters" that Harrison Ford plays in movies. Not 100% for sure he got it...I think he'd rather just BE the characters himself. Ethan is becoming quite the artist as well. It wasn't long ago (preschool), that the kid hated picking up a pencil for anything. It was a nightmare trying to get him to color something already drawn, but now, I can find him at the table for hours drawing, coloring, and well...using A LOT of paper.

This is Indiana Jones:



And on the back of the following picture it says: "We sneak up the rebel base and we get volcanoes and pour lava on the girls." I'm not exactly sure, but I think this might be a mixture of Star Wars and Indiana Jones stories.



I think that being grounded from the Wii for 3 months has really brought out his creative side! What do you think?

Kid Quote of the Week

Patrick: "How many yards are in a football field?" Ethan: "Two. A front yard and a back yard."

The Business of Being Raised!

The Apple Doesn't Fall Too Far From the Tree!

I recently had an "a-ha" moment. It was hilarious actually. In order for you to fully appreciate this moment, I need to give a little bit of background first.

Almost 14 years ago, at the ripe age of 20. I entered into a partnership with my husband. We vowed to love each other in sickness and health and all that other mumbo jumbo (actually, we didn't literally say that, but we all know that is what you do when you get married). Anyway, I didn't read the fine print on the marriage contract. You know, the stuff that says "Your husband CAN and most likely WILL annoy you with little tiny things that really don't matter" and the one that says "The way the toilet paper is hung, REALLY does matter." I guess I was too "in love" to really care what the fine print said. Not that I would have done anything different, but I just wished I would have known then what I know now.

After 14 years of marriage, I have come to realize that all the little things actually do matter. The way the toilet paper is hung REALLY DOES MATTER! In our house the toilet paper is hung over and not under...not because I really care, but because a certain male in the household does...I'll give you a hint...that male is not Ethan. Bread and cereal "should" be left out on the counter to be readily available, Dirty dishes go in the right side of the sink...not the left, and a strainer plug must be kept in the sink at all times so that silverware wont make its way down into the garbage disposal. These little things make a difference in the "happy" Patrick and the "I'm annoyed so everyone else is going to be annoyed with me" Patrick.

Last week, we ventured up to good ol' Boroville...errr I mean, Oroville to visit Patrick's parents. His mom had short notice that we were coming for dinner and was able to pull off a yummy dinner for us to enjoy. After dinner was over, I got in the kitchen and was helping to clean up. The strainer plug was removed from the garbage disposal as I was dumping food and rinsing dishes. As I was doing this, Patrick's mom walked by and noticed that it was not over the disposal. She then proceeded to put it back in its spot and said "Oh, I like to keep this over the disposal so silverware won't go down the drain". It was right then and there that I had my "A-Ha" moment. I realized that it was probably ingrained in Patrick's head growing up that the strainer stays over the disposal and that is how it is supposed to be and that is why he is so anal about it. Same with the dishes being in the right side of the sink, and possibly even the toilet paper being hung the correct way. I often wonder if he actually did the dishes, would the strainer stay in its designated place? I'm not sure I will ever know.

Sure, I've learned it isn't hard to make sure that when I put a new roll of toilet paper on the holder, to do it correctly. But one thing I don't understand and would like to know is...When is my husband going to learn that however I do things in our household, I do it the RIGHT WAY...no matter how he was raised? That, my friends, might take another 14 years of marriage before he gets it...and...I'm willing to wait!

A Most Important Post!

Blogging has really been taking a back seat again. I am not happy with my recent posts. I'm really longing to get back to more meaningful, heartfelt, and important posts like this one here (Confessions of A Twilight Addict). I feel like I'm doing the "I've got to post this daily happening before I forget" thing and even though it's great for posterity, it's REALLY BORING! So, I am going to try and spend the time needed to make my life a little more enjoyable to read...With that being said wrote, here is a very VERY important post:

Remember how I once wrote that I am not an avid reader? After reading all the Twilight books I thought that I was a changed woman! I was now a reader and I was cool (because it's cool to be into books and stuff). I went directly to the store to pick up Stephenie Meyers book "The Host" only to get about half way through it before it got put up on the shelf where it still is...2 years later.

Fast forward some time and I get an email from a friend who told me about this new book series. She said that I would probably enjoy them and wanted to thank me for getting her into Twilight huh? I did?..."You can even borrow them from me" she said. Well, Ok. I was about the have knee surgery and thought that since I was going to be bed ridden for 3 weeks, I could probably start reading a new series. So I started reading these:



I had no idea what I was getting into. I hadn't heard of these books and didn't even know what they were about. I felt a little obligated to read them as I was borrowing them from my friend and they would need to be returned eventually. Regardless of being bed ridden, I didn't feel like doing ANYTHING! Not even watch TV. I just laid in my bed most days and as I moved my head from side to side (because I couldn't move my body), I would see those books sitting there....waiting....calling me....

A quick synopsis of The Hunger Games:

"In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survived."

I did eventually pick up the books and read them all. Here are a few comparisons from Twilight Series and The Hunger Games series:

1. TWILIGHT: I was addicted to it. I ate, breathed and lived it (at least in my head). HUNGER GAMES: I did not. But I enjoyed both stories.

2. TWILIGHT: I let Raya read it with a little discussion about some parts in the last book. HUNGER GAMES: I will not let Raya read them due to the graphic nature of the story.

3. BOTH BOOKS are worthy of blog posting, but HUNGER GAMES is worthy of only one.

I heard that the Hunger Games is going to be made into a movie. I'm pretty excited and I did a little online picture grabbing so that you can see my Hunger Game character vision before the movie comes out. DISCLAIMER: I have no idea who these people are or weather they can even act. This is strictly based on how I pictured them as I was reading. Obviously they've been "hollywoodized" because we all know that Haymitch really isn't that cute!

Katniss Everdeen:


Peeta Mellark:


Haymitch Abernathy:


Gale Hawthorne:


Primrose Everdeen:


President Snow:


When I see that someone took note of this blog post and cast these people in the Hunger Games, I will be demanding my check...then maybe...just maybe... the Hunger Games will get a second blog post from me.

Thriller!!

Malia's PE, Music, and Art teacher combined forces this week and taught all the third graders Michael Jackson's Thriller dance. I was able to capture this awesome event for the yearbook and made sure to get a special few of my Malia. It was so cute watching all these kids dance to a song that used to freak me out when I was their age. Art Dude (the Art teacher) posted it to YouTube. You can view it at the end of this post.

(To view this video, watch video titled "Malia Thriller Dance" on the DVD at the end of this book)