I love that man

It had been a long day involving (amongst other things) an emergency trip to the pharmacy, shopping at eight different stores, hustle, bustle, and an unbelievably sweet and giving sister-in-law (Thanks Jen for watching my kids!!)

Yep. We were all pretty tired so it really was no surprise when Forrest had a meltdown while we were buckling him into the car (yes, it took several of us). As we drove away from my mom's house he started shouting, "I wanna stay at grandma's house alllllll niiiiiiight loooooong." It kinda reminded me of Lionel Ritchie. It also got really annoying. Lola joined in and there was weeping, wailing and I was gnashing my teeth.

I got an idea. Inspiration from the giant, air-filled Christmas decorations in somebody's front yard.

"THAT'S IT!" I said. "That's it! This is ridiculous. I am calling Santa." I grabbed my phone out of my purse and opened it.



SILENCE.


one-one-thousand two-one-thousand three-one-thousand.



"Mommy??"

"Yes, Forrest?"

"Do you think Santa knows I stopped screaming?


"Oh, you bet he knows."


I love Santa.

Something had to be done

about Lola's mullet.

The Cherokee Plaza

First things first. Regarding the matter of the furnace: Quinn came home from work on Wednesday and sprinkled handyman dust all over it so it works again.

Secondly: Thanksgiving. It was awesome. Lots of food and family.

Thirdly: we went up to The Cherokee Ranch yesterday. It was freaking awesome. Highlights, anyone?

Chels and Drew:


The chainsaw was busted out and then got busted.


My Forrey:


2 peas in a pod


big poppa in a hoodie


Justin's cute family (look at that belly...2 more weeks!!)


Mom got some pine boughs


shots were fired

Anybody know the number for the Wah-mbulance?

I really, really, really hate to complain but...

Yesterday I got a migriane.

Last night I fell down the stairs (it's totally OK to laugh at that).

Now my furnace is blowing cold air and my lips are turning blue and I can barely type.

whatup universe?

A few reasons why Forr is the funniest

1. The muffins I made this morning were, "dang yummy."

2. He told the brain-eating zombie (aka mommy) that he needed all of his brains back in order to keep his head big.

3. When he spilled his milk all over the table today he muttered "what the..." under his breath.

If the shoe doesn't fit...

Like my new shoes?

They are the flats I have been looking for so when I saw them yesterday at TJ Maxx I figured that I had to buy them. They are perfect except for the fact that they are too small. Size 7. I wear a 7 1/2 but can get away with a 7 once in a while so I tried one on. I tried ONE on and it fit. You see, I had 2 kids with me and it was dinnertime and I was wearing fussy lace-up boots and was not about to take them both off. So the right shoe fit...pretty well. A little tight but it was OK.

When I got home I tried the left shoe on and that was a different story. Too small. Pretty uncomfortable actually. I really love the shoes so I devised a plan. My friend recently bought some boots that didn't want to zip up her calf so the shoe store stretched them for her. Now they fit. Hmmmm.....











I'll let you know if it works.

Girls' Night

Dearest Lola,

We had our first girls’ night. You won’t remember it because you are only sixteen months old.

We got dressed up and went to a wedding reception then we came home and ate graham cracker/chocolate frosting sammys. You picked your purple-penguin fuzzy pajamas and giggled and squirmed while I put them on you.

Then we read a story about what snowmen do at night.

You gave Ashes a big kiss and hug goodnight.

I wrote this down because I didn’t want to forget how much fun we had tonight, just us girls.


Love,
Mommy

In the Entire History of Childhood

…has there ever been a more spectacular toy than

a

great


big



box??

Halloween Part I

Family Halloween party 2009. A fun time was had by all (well, at least by me). I really need to be better about taking more pictures but I managed to get someone to take one of Quinn and me:



Figure it out?

Quinn is the swine flu and I am the nurse giving him a vaccination. I love that pig nose on him. So did Lola. She couldn't keep her fingers out of the nostril holes.

The babies:



So very hard for me to get a decent picture of these two together. At least they are both looking at me in this one (even though you can't see Forr's eyes).



The downside of the night was the pinata candy. Peanuts and peanut butter everywhere. It was pretty horrifying. He was such a good boy about only eating the "safe" candy in his bag. Now if we can just get through trick-or-treating without having to bust out the epipen jr.

Weekend Update

Quinn and I used Cade's timeshare in Park City this year to celebrate our 8th anniversary. We stayed the night last Saturday and had an awesome time.



Highlights included Quinn's feet completely coming out from underneath him on the slippery tiles in front of a hot tub full of people (including me who might have laughed a little) and me scraping up my face while swimming into the side of the pool (karma is a very mean lady).



I love you baby! Thanks for 8 freaking awesome years and I hope next year's celebration is less painful.

My parents split the week at the timeshare with us and they went up Tuesday night. We crashed their party last night so we all had a big sleepover in the suite. It was quite the party.





Forrest loved the Superman hat Grandma bought him and it was a real tearjerker when he lost it out of the window of the car on the freeway. Still not quite sure how that happened.


And, finally, we just got home from waiting in line for 1+ hours to get our kids vaccinated for the swine flu. We just really didn't want them growing little curly tails and hooves.

The end.

sick day

I had to work today so Forrest and Lola were going to spend the day Grandma and Grandpa's house (I am now working 2 days per week and about 8 hours/week from home). As Forrest was getting out of the car at Quinn's parent's house he began to spew.

As it were, I didn't make it to the office today. Instead we went to Walmart for some Redbox cartoons and Ginger Ale.

On the way into Walmart, Forr spewed again. And again. Don't worry, I didn't turn around. Nope. I still went in for the Redbox's and Ginger Ale. Yeah, and the greeter was giving me some serious looks since she had a pretty good view of me holding my son's hand while he puked and making sure he bent over enough so as not to dribble on himself, giving him a comforting a hug and then just continuing on into the store. Banner parenting.

catching up

Well. Lots has happened since the wedding.

Firstly, Forrest had a birthday. Happy birthday, you big three-year-old! Woah. Glad you enjoyed licking the frosting off of that frosting spreader.



I am also glad that your cousins were able to come up and play for your party and bring you some cool tools along with some super-cool goggles.


Oh yeah, we moved. Here are some pics from the new digs.










Just going to fill in some other highlights from summer '09.

Hike with Dad.



Lots of trips to the zoo (got to make that zoo pass worth the dough). I think this picture is pretty cute save for the gigantic gorilla nipple above Lola's head...








Here's 2 more gratuitous pictures of my children:



There you have it.

hello? hello? hello?

I'm plugged in!! Yippee!!

More soon.

An Affair to Remember

Think back and imagine the most beautiful bride you have ever seen.

Do you have a good mental image?

Chelsea looked prettier. Lots. She was amazing.


Here she is getting ready.


The happy couple


Daddy and Daughter


Mom and Daughter. Aren't they beautiful?


Sister power (keeps me safe from sin)




Nate and Forrest were pretending like they were falling down the stairs and sleeping or dead (I couldn't tell).































Lisa, who was responsible for the girls amazing bows and bracelets. Oh yeah, she also did all of the flowers. Lisa is incredible.


Future Daniel Craig??