How Does your Garden Grow?

Three is definitely a magic number. This is the 3rd spring that my roses and peonies have been planted in my backyard and I cannot believe how they are blooming like crazy. My house has been full of bog beautiful blooming roses.

I love it.

Happy, Happy Birthday...

Today is Paige's 4th Birthday...4 years ago to the hour right now i was pushing my sweet little girl into the world in front of an audience of 6 people...don't ask!

I remember when I found out that I was having a girl. I was so excited as I had been seeing pink forever. Paige is a Daddy's Girl through and through.

She, being the only girl in the household gets a special kind of attention that the only girl always gets. She loves her brothers and loves to play.

She loves dance class, McDonaldDuck's, and anything Disney (especially Sleeping "Dooty"). She is very predictable in the sense that she loves to watch any show, always needs a drink and a snack and LOVES to take baths.
She will say "hold you" when she wants you to hold her and she asks if we can go see the airplanes at the "airsport". She is always the first to spot the temple, any of the 4 around us, when we go by them and says that she is going to get married there when she gets married "next week".

Paige has many little sweet quirks about her but her loving little personality makes it impossible to lose my temper or get upset with her. She always says "Thanks Mom" and "sorry Mom".

This was the first year that decided to do a friend party for Paige. I figured she was old enough to appreciate it and Heaven knows there are plenty of little girls that are willing to come to a Hello Kitty Party!!

So a slaved away on the darling headbands they are wearing. Each girl was donned with a headband and necklace upon arrival and they colored to their heart's contents with photocopied Hello Kitty pictures.

Next was the Pin the flower in the Garden Hello Kitty rendition game. I found out that 4 year-olds have a VERY short attention span. They were interested in the for about 1 minute before they were asking what was next...

So on to the painting of the Hello Kitty figurines. I found these at Target in the craft section. They LOVED it. That lasted for a whole 15 minutes... anything over 5 minutes is considered success in attention games.

The girls then found some entertainment in playing in the backyard with ladybugs and in the playhouse until we then went inside for some "DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE". WOW! That game is rough...especially for us 31 year-olds. They loved that game too and it wore them all out.

We then ate Hello Kitty Birthday cake (thank you Wal-Mart) and drank pink 7-Up. Next was the presents and then a half hour of Hello Kitty cartoons. Whew!

Overall the party was a hit and the girls had a grand time. They all went home with green and pink tote bags from the dollar store filled with little trinkets and super high blood sugar...

Success!

Paige made out like a bandit the birthday with gifts from all her sweet friends and from mommy and daddy. I think she was a bit overwhelmed and flabbergasted at all the stuff and all the fun but she loved it.

She said "Thanks for the 'credible' party mom." I think that's a good thing.

Happy Birthday babygirl! Don't grow up too fast.

Adventures in driving...California here we come!

I had the great pleasure of taking a little trip, not a vaction (the distinction is that a trip is with kids, a vaca is without) to California with Braiden, Paige and my lovely new college-grad sister Whitney. We started by staying in Grandma's house in St George one night (as you will recall from the lovely hairball incident). Then made our way the next day to Las Vegas.

We checked into the Circus Circus Hotel (cheap and decent) and spent a little time at the pool with the kiddos. It was HOT! That night Braiden and I went to the Phantom of the Opera Production at the Venetian. I have seen this twice now and it just gets better. We had amazing seats right in the middle of the theater, smack dab in front of the stage. Perfect view of the stage and perfect view of the infamous chandelier as it fell right on top of us. Braiden was totally taken by all the special effects and trying to spot the Phantom whenever he would pop up out of nowhere. It was a really good time. I want my children to grow with an appreciation for the performing arts so Braiden is off to a great start. The next morning we made our way to the obligatory child-appropriate stops such as the M&M Store and the Coca-Cola Store. That was about the extent of our hanging out on the strip. I am not a fan of Vegas. Off to California we rode!


We stayed the night at Dad's house in Southern California and then the next day we were off to the Magical Kingdom to play with princesses, fairies and mice...First stop---California Adventure. Paige was tall enough this time to ride Soarin' Over California and she LOVED it. It was so fun to see her. We hit Monsters, Tower of Terror, Playhouse Disney, Bugs Land, California Screamin', the Ferris Wheel, Braiden went on the Paradise Pier rocket thing (3 times) and then we were out of there to get some shut-eye.

We got a late start the next day as we visited the pool and the breakfast bar and just took our sweet time. During that time I received about 6 text messages from Eric inquiring as to what we were up to. Where are you guys going now? Where are you parking? Have you guys left yet? I figured he was just missing us so I humored him and answered all his questions so he could live vicariously through my adventures... So...

We get through the security gate and are just walking to the Disneyland entrance when I look to my far left as I see a dude walking toward us that looks curiously like Eric...WHAT THE HECK??? IT IS ERIC!! The sneaker had flown in that morning and checked into his own hotel and managed to track us down to surprise us!! I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought I was seeing things because I truly had NO IDEA!! It was a very pleasant surprise and Paige was in AWW at being able to hold her Daddy. She did very tightly for a solid 10 minutes. It was pretty sweet. He spent the next 2 days with us and flew home...oh yes, I drive home and he flew...stinker!

That day we spent alot of time in line to see the fairies and the princesses. This trip we promised Paige that we would do it so we did and the LINES WERE LONG! My Disneyland tip of the day---if you want to see the Princesses, go first thing in the morning and go pee before you get in line. People are ruthless and those mothers are not about to hold your place for you--you snooze, you lose! Ha!

We Spent a second day at Disneyland for which I forgot my camera so you will just have to use your imagination. Braiden pretty much went on every ride in the park. Eric and he stayed as late as they could and Whit and I went to the hotel with Paige and crashed by 10pm. That's just about my limit after being there about 11 hours.

Paige was a trooper...they both were. No freaking out or massive tantrums. No running away or getting lost and no begging for over-priced ridiculous souvenirs. They were both ready to go home when the time came and so was I. Never do look forward to the drive home but when I get there its all so worth it! Until next time...August I think. :)

In Memoriam...

Jerold Farrar Lazenby

Uncle- In- Law

May 17, 1935-May 12, 2008

Georgiana Lazenby Erickson

Mother- In- Law

June 10, 1947- December 5, 2006

Becky Lynn Pollard Watson

(My Step-mom)

1958-2002

Lynne Jay Lundberg

Grandfather

January 6, 1926- May 11, 2008

Also...

My Grandfather Lee Watson

My Father-In-Law Larry Reynolds Erickson (although I never knew him) lived August 18, 1936-October 2, 1993.

Happy Memorial Day...

Can you Throwdown??

Learn the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown with me!!

Oh Heavens, my child is in the double digits!

Holy Moly, I have a 10 year old. Its official...I'm old. Oh I will get over it but really I cant believe it has been 10 years since Braiden was born. The time has gone by so fast, before i know it he will be 20.

I cannot believe how much Braid has changed in the last year. He went from looking like a little boy at 9 to looking like a 'tween at 10! He will likely be as tall or taller than me in the next couple years. Braiden is a smart, fun-loving, strong, and caring kid. I am so glad that he came to me.

There are days where i wonder if I can do it then there are days where I wonder how anyone could choose to never have kids. I Love you Braiden and I am so proud of the little man are becoming!!

To celebrate the occasion we had a party at Cobblestone with some friends and family. We had a great turn-out (Thanks everyone!) and Braiden made out like a bandit!!

Look closely, you will see "Happy 10th Braiden" scratched into the cake. (Didn't have time to decorate it. Had to make due.)

I also forgot candles so we had to pretend there were candles to blow out. Which really only facilitated Braiden's spitting all over the cake. Oh well. It was good anyway.

The kids had a great time eating and making a wonderful mess

Quinn and Teague came for the food. LOL!

Braiden's ever-prized new DC skate shoes he has been asking me to get for months. I have to take a moment and brag about the fact the I got the $65 shoes on eBay for 30!! Woot!!

Boys are so funny the way they all flock over the new toys like they are gold.

Don't worry Luke! I know you were just trying to be the favorite uncle by buying a 10 year old an air soft gun (YIKES!) but don't you worry. I will get you back when I take one of your girls out to get her belly button pierced!! Haha!

And last but not least! A present for me when my bestest friend Tamara showed up from Seattle to surprise me!! Ok really she came out to see her sister but I am so glad to see her!!

After the party I dropped Braiden off at his Dad's house and he gave me a hug and a kiss and said "That was the best birthday party EVER!" That's what makes it all worthwhile.


Happy Birfday Bubba!!

Warning- this is SICK!!!

***Warning***
This is seriously sick so if you are eating or chewing on anything that you could possibly choke on, please stop prior to scrolling down.


So we went to Grandma's house last weekend. She said "Don't use the shower downstairs because it's backing up". Since I am such the do-it-yourself type i thought "I will fix it!"

Need I say more?

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was rather hectic this year as I left that day to drive to California for a little jaunt (details to come in a future post). So we all met at Mimi's for their yummy breakfast. Food, Folks and Fun as McDonald's would say.

That dude in the picture with my mom is Rand, her new flame and hopefully her last. He is a nice guy and at this point "NICE" is our only requirement for a new step-dad. My mom says he's a good kisser too so I guess that's a bonus- for her.

My husband and kids, of course, gave me great hand-picked gifts for Mother's Day and I love that. Eric is always so good to me and he loves and respects me as a Mother and a Woman more than anyone I have ever known. I love that about him and I love that we have 3 AWESOME kids that make my life what it is.

To those I know who are mothers: Congratulations in taking on the world's most difficult yet rewarding "job" you can ever have. It's because of good mothers that there are ANY good people left in the world today. Thanks for telling your tales so that I can avoid a mistake here and there. We have to work together to assure that our babies make it out of teenage-hood alive. Go TEAM!!

To those I know who are not yet mothers: Get to know who YOU are before you try to bring children to your world. You can only love others when you have learned to love yourself first. When the time is right, it will happen and it will be the most AWESOME and EXHAUSTING challenge you have ever taken on. Don't sweat the small stuff because there will always be small stuff. Just love your children unconditionally and they will appreciate you for it someday.

I have known some of the most awesome mothers there are. I have a mom who worked her entire young life to take care of 4 kids on her own while trying to make her own life better. She taught me perserverance and patience. I have Grandmothers who are amazing examples of unconditional love.

I want to be like them.

Happy Mother's Day- hug your babies a little bit tighter tonight!

Sorry and Scouts

I am so sadly behind on the blogging thing. Other ventures have taken up alot of my time lately but I really do want to be a good blogger- please forgive me?

Where shall I begin?

Braiden earned his Wolf in Scouts on April 22nd- I am very proud of him for making the effort with scouts. He loves it and is probably the most enthusiastic kid in his den. I am certainly not a Nazi type mother that is going to threaten him if he does not earn his Eagle as I believe that those are things that HE should choose to do because he wants to, not because I want him to. So far he is right on track. i am glad that he has the desire to be a good kid. Good job Braid!

SHE IS SO MY CHILD...

She is soooo my child...


She is soooo Bonnie's child...

Easter

His, Mine, Ours

I love this picture.

For all those who may not know here is a brief history...

I was married in February 1998 and was divorced 3 years later. I had Braiden in May of 99 with Quinn. Quinn remarried Sara in January 2002 and they had Tatum in May 03 and Teague in March 07. I remarried Eric in March 03 and had Paige in June 05 and Cameron in September 07.

Its funny because Quinn and I actually get along very well. Sure separating was hard and we had to learn over a good year or two how to be nice to each other for Braiden's sake. But now we are even better friends truly than we were when we were married.

So this is a picture of Braiden and all his siblings. Its pretty funny how you can tell which ones come from different parents and Braiden is a perfect mix of all of them. One of my greatest hopes is that, although they don't all live together all the time is that they all grow up to be good friends because of their bond with their big brother.

They are pretty cute, arent they?

From the mouths of Princesses...

This is too funny not to post right now before I forget. Paige was on one today. She is getting an attittude on her and she, being the little Princess, certainly knows how to use her attitude.

This was a little conversation I witnessed between Braiden and Paige earlier:

Braiden was asking Paige to repeat words to see if she could say them. It started out with people's names and then simple things and then...

Braiden: Can you say Supercalifragilisticexpialidoscious?

Paige (very matter-of-factly): Braiden! I can't speak Spanish!

Eric and I got a huge kick out of that.

Then just about 10 minutes ago after I helped Paige brush her teeth I told her to go show Daddy her clean teeth.

Paige: Daddy look at my clean teeth.

Eric: Wow, those are really nice! Are you going to bed now?

Paige: Ya.

Eric: Can I have a kiss?

Paige: Dad! You will make my teeth dirty!


From the mouths of babes! I love it!

Monkey Business

I have been meaning to post this for a while but I couldn't find the picture. I was going through the pics on my other camera that I thought were all eBay pictures and ---EUREKA!---I found it!

I was in the kitchen just doing my thing and when I heard some sounds of struggling and frustration coming from the back of the house. I initially peaked in Paige's room because I was sure Cameron was there but I did not see anything so I moved on to the next room. I was not having any success in finding him and the grunts were turning into screams.

So I decided to check Paige's room again and this time I actually went in and looked in the corner to find this:
Cameron was very intent on retrieving some item from behind Paige's bookshelf and ended up getting himself wedged back there and totally stuck!


I might not have thought this was so cute if he had not been waring the monkey pants. So I did the unthinkable that I know you are all guilty of...I left my child in distress, knowing he was safe, and ran for the camera. This was too funny not to record for posterity...or at least his wedding video!








If you are wondering, I did finally rescue him and he came out of it unscathed and has completely forgotten the entire incident...I think.

My little Prisoners

Paige and Cameron like to play in/ around the dog kennel. This particular day it was pretty funny because they were so intent on squeezing themselves into that tiny little kennel.

After a little screaming and whining here is what I found.

I know you are thinking that I probably put them there but really, even though at times it is tempting, I have never done that.

I had to pry them out carefully so as not to dislocate any body parts.