Corona Village?....Corapa Village!

Okay, Cris and I went on a date last night, good times-we went to this little dive of a Mexican restaurant because everyone has told us how yummy it is. When we got there it was crowded (good sign) and it did smell good.
So, we get seated and then our waitress comes over and seriously, chucks our napkins and silverware on the table and didn't even look at us. It was hilarious, Cris gave me the funniest look, so I asked him if he broke up with her or something, she was orenery.
Then, this other waitress comes over and asks if we're ready to order, so I ask her if she likes the quesadillas, or this chicken salad thing, she recommends the salad, so I go with it.... You call that a salad!? It's a platter of shredded lettuce, I could make a better salad with my butt!
I wanted to go to Smokey Mountain Pizza, but noooo, we went to the Mexican butt salad fiesta! We left without leaving a tip (we're jerks) and our waitress forgot to charge us for our drinks and we didn't even fess up to it. We just quickly left before the waitress could throw more silverware at us. Look at the determination on Cris's face as we left!
It was a crappy place, but it really was a fun date. Thank you honey, next time, let me choose.

For The Greats

We have the coolest Great Nana and Great Aunt Jan! They always send my monkeys the funnest presents from Maine! Clear across the stinkin' country, and it's always fun for them to get a "huge" box on the front step from "The Greats".

Here is L openning her belated birthday presents from her Greats.

Happy Birthday London!! She's three!

I cannot believe this girl is 3! It's been a quick 3 years. She was too cute, we opened presents before getting dressed (that's my girl). Yes, she did say her dress was sexy, I guess I need to watch what I say to my hubby! I like to tell him he's sexy, I guess I'll have to think of a good code word, like beefy, that's a good one...that's a whole other blog. Back to the birthday, did you love how she just threw her clothes? I love getting kids clothes and socks and underwear, the reactions are always nothing but gratitude.

Ethan was so excited to give her golf clubs, he told me that now Grandpa can take him and her golfing! Enjoy that trip Grandpa! (Little blurry, it was just that exciting of a morning.)

Daddy got London a beautiful necklace. It's the finest cupcake necklace you can buy. L loves it

Ethan couldn't stand it, he had to be right in the middle of the unwrapping session. L got tons of new clothes for summer. It amazes me how quickly they grow out of all their clothes!

We decided to take L to lunch for her big day while E was at school. She got all dressed up with her new hair bow, yellow shirt, cupcake necklace, and Superman cape.

In my opinion, the sunglasses are the cherry on top of this beautiful ensemble. We took L to Applebee's because I wanted them to sing Happy Birthday to her, get this-Applebee's doesn't do happy birthday anymore. I am so boycotting that place! It's over Applebees!

Daddy and L after lunch. I couldn't resist.

After E got home from school, we were off to Twin Falls to celebrate L and Uncle Nate's birthdays! They have the same birthday fun huh! We had a yummy cake and L was really excited to eat it, little did she know we were going to light the candles and sing to her...

She was not too thrilled to have all the attention on her, she just wanted to chow down on her cake.
Personally, I think Uncle Nate farted and it had a tear gas effect on her. I mean, look at that devious face!

Good thing Pakkah was there to rescue her, he got the party moving again. All it took was a little frosting (again...my girl).

We had a great day, I cannot believe this girl is 3. She is such a light in our lives, I don't know what we did without her, I'm so glad she's in my family I couldn't have asked for a funnier, sweeter, sillier, prettier daughter. I love you London!!!

Tagged twice

I got tagged by my 2 Tricias. One is my sis, and the other's my buddy, she's my Idaho sis. She's the same age as my sister and everything and her name is Tricia....weird huh.

Okay, first tagged by Tricia buddy.

*Two of everything.

Two names I've gone by 1-Tigger 2-Bubbles

Two things I'm wearing 1-jeans 2-t-shirt

Two things I want (or have) in a relationship 1-laughter 2-trust

Two of my favorite things to do 1-scrapbook 2-go running

Two things I did last night 1-Ate cake at L's and Uncle N's b-day party 2-slept in my new bed!

Two people I last talked to 1-Dee my broha! 2-L, we had dinner together

Two things I'm doing tomorrow 1-getting my dresser 2-planning primary

Two longest car drives 1-Twin Falls to Las Vegas 2-Mesa Verde to Salt Lake (I think it was that)

Two favorite holidays 1-HALLOWEEN!! 2-Fourth of July (my honey's b-day)

Two favorite drinks 1-Diet Coke 2-Hot cocoa

Two things about me you may not know 1-I am the primary chorister and I love it!!! 2-I love to play Guitar Hero.

Two jobs I've had in my life 1-Florist 2-Student Advisor at the U of U!

Two movies i could watch over and over 1-Hot Rod 2-Juno they have some of the best dialogue, it cracks me up.

Two favorite foods 1-frosting (is that a food?) 2-stir fry

Two places I'd rather be right now 1-Yellowstone (to see my E) 2-at a beautiful sunny resort by the pool, getting a massage.

Two peeps i tag 1-Sister Tricia 2-Sister Camille!

*"8 Quirks" courtesy of Tricia the sister.
1-I have to have the blinds open during the day.
2-I will stuff the dishwasher ridiculously full so that I don't have to wash any dishes by hand.
3-I don't like to get into an un-made bed.
4-I have to have a night light in the kitchen
5-I hate how I look in shorts, so I wear skirts all summer.
6-I hate my tummy and secretly I would like a tummy tuck.
7-I don't mind the sound of crying babies, I actually think it's endearing.
8-I love to vacuum. I'm a little obsessed with it, I think it's my Dyson-I love that thing.
I tag ummm Zippa.

This week

My E is going to Yellowstone on Thursday, and I'm gonna miss him. He's going with Nana and Grandpa and Uncle Nate and Aunt Marisa. I know he'll have a good time, but I told him I was going to miss him, so he told me to take a picture of him to help me when I'm sad and missing him, so here's the one I took. He looks all sweet and angelic-don't be fooled.
I love this boy. I seriously miss him already.

And the training continues. I really don't love this stage of parenting, it's just messy and stinky and gross. I can't believe what comes out of these kids! At least the other end is adorable, otherwise I don't know if I could do it. I followed Zippas lead, L has a toy on the fridge and if she drops a deuce, she can have it. I really want her to get it, it's a set of LPS toys and they're really cute, they're going to make a good addition to her small collection. L has a long way to go before she reaches "Mad status".

Gettin' our grub on

My children are strange eaters, they have their little quirks, not like they won't eat broccoli, or they have to eat off a cartoon character plate, no, that would be too simple.

London likes to eat cereal in her sunglasses, and she simply will not eat a pb and j sandwich unless it is cut into a heart shape with her favorite cookie cutter.

Doesn't that look delicious?

Ethan doesn't have any quirks really. For some reason, he hates tortillas! How can you hate tortillas? It's the one part of Mexican food that I really really love.

No one has a problem with good old cheesey mac. We eat a lot of that, it really is good with Ketchup, my kids agree with me on that. I still haven't convinced them of peanut butter and syrup on pancakes-actually London digs it, Ethan is leery. I urge everyone within the sound of my types to try peanut butter and syrup on their pancakes, it won't kill you and you never know, you may have a new fav.

My Man

I'm so proud of Cris. Throughout his illnesses, he still hangs in there to change our oil and mow and trim the yard, and prune the trees, and pluck the chickens, and milk the cows. I think it's pretty awesome that he can go out there and just work on the car and get all stinky and greasey, way to go honey!

What this man won't do for bacon. I think this apron looks really pretty on him. He's a man of many talents, he goes straight from working in the garage to cooking up gourmet pig in the kitchen. "Nothing you could say could tear me away from my guy....my guy....."

Potty over here potty over there!

Thumbs up little lady!
Okay, I can't tell you how proud I am of this little munchkin. She doesn't have it down completely, but we've come a long way the past couple of days. She's pretty excited about it too, she sings her little song, "I'm a big girl" over and over, it's so cute. Who knew that pooping in the potty would be so exciting?

Mother's Day

This is a tough day for me, it has been for a few years now. It's just another reminder of how much I miss my mom and how far away I feel from her. I'm comforted knowing that I have my siblings to stand by me, knowing they're going through the same thing- so I don't feel completely nuts. I'm also comforted by my family, my sweet husband and my crazy kids. Mother's day hasn't been as difficult since I became a mom, on the other hand sometimes it makes it harder, I really wish I could watch her with my kids, I wish they could meet her. I hope through me they'll know what a wonderful, loving woman she was.
I have a wonderful mother-in-law and stepmom and they have been so completely supportive of me and my family. They've been a wonderful Nana and Grammy and my children are crazy about them. I want them to know how much I love and appreciate them and although I still feel a crazy twinge of jealousy when I see my friends with their children and their mothers, I know I'm loved by these women. I don't think I can ever say what that truly means to me, I don't think I'll ever realize how much it means to have them.
It's hard without a mom, you think stuff like, "who's gonna call me when I'm sick to make sure I'm better?" or "how will I ever learn to cook turkey?" Seriously, I think these things, I'm sure the turkey thing will come one day....I'm babbling.
Thank you Bonnie and Cathy for loving me, thank you for holding and loving my children the way I always pictured my mom doing it. Thank you for glowing at them with the same pride I always saw in my mom's eyes, you can't possibly know what that means to me. I love you!

Anyway, here are my mother's day memories for this year, I love the card from Ethan. I can't believe how right on he is about everything!

My beautiful heart necklace from my babies and hubby.
My beautiful garbage can that matches my red phone....have you ever seen something more beautiful?
And yummy cookies.
And yummy cookie dough.Happy Mother's Day!

London and the bug

This was too funny. L has a little bug where you pull the cord and it makes the bug vibrate or something-it wiggles anyway. The other day she was playing with it outside and it was still kind of chilly, when she came in, she had her in a blanket (not the sacred "squares blanket") and was warming her up. What is with my children and bugs seriously. Pretty cute though.

EW

E and L found a spider yesterday, so we had to capture him and put him in our little bug house. My children were fascinated by this disgusting creature. They wanted to keep him, they named him Mr. Stubby Legs. I hope he couldn't understand his name, it might have hurt his spider feelings, then again, I don't think I really care about his feelings. They also have an unnatural interest in rolly pollies, ladybugs (which I'm cool with) centipedes-wrong, bees-completely not okay, the common house fly (why?), and praying mantiss's's'. I can understand the last one, I think they're kinda cool too, oh and ants! We mustn't forget the ants. During the summer we house many different species of bugs, sometimes I'm aware of them other times I have no idea until E slams one of his drawers shut at my appearance and then I look in to discover I have an ant farm in my child's bedroom-- again....why? Oh well, let 'em be kids.

Keep on Keepin' on Little Man!

Okay, my child is getting his genius on! He can read full books now, he does such an awesome job it's so exciting to watch him learn and grow. I had no idea how happy these things would make me, I love being a mommy. He reads us a story every night after scriptures, it's such a fun nightly tradition.

Kind of funny, this particular book was about a little boy who lost his tooth. WAIT! Which one's Ethan?! Just kidding E (he can read this now y'know).

But wait! That's not all, get a load of this, he rides his bike now too, no training wheels, no mom, no dad, nothing, he's just.....amazing.
When he actually started riding his bike today without my help, I was so excited I thought I would blow up! He's such a rock star!

Make-up your mind!

I had to go in to Sephora today-okay I didn't have to, but I did and it was great! Me and my friend Tricia needed a girls day out, so of course London had to come, we need to break her in. I love this stinkin' store, it's like my kind of toy store. London loved it too, we had such a great time. They have all these little samples of eye shadow and blush and lipstick-London stuck her finger in every color of eye shadow and wiped it on her face, and she absolutely fell in love with everything bright red or pink in the lipstick department and tried on all of them.

smoochie smooch!
Isn't she lovely?
She needed another right eyebrow.
Isn't she wonderful?
Ready for my close-up.
Kisses with our beautiful lips!

We had such a great day together at the mall, then, we went to Target and had the biggest meltdown of all time, but I still just adore this girl! Thanks for the girls day out Tricia, we had tons of fun!

Same Bat time, Same Bat place!

Ethan has this Batman watch, I think he got it for Christmas 2 years ago-actually, I'm impressed he's kept track of it... Anyway, he's been wearing it every day lately, it doesn't tell the right time, and for the life of us, we don't know how to program it. We've started just considering it "Bat time"-it works for Ethan. He has to stare at it while he waits for his bus every day. I just got a kick out of it so I thought I'd let you enjoy it too. Lucky for us, he enjoys posing for the camera.

Poor Cris

My hubby has been through a lot this year, and it's only the beginning of May for crap's sake. Well, he can add pneumonia to the list, that's right-pneumonia! I swear, our family doc is probably so sick of us, but he takes really good care of us we love him.

Well, Cris wanted to get out of the house today, so we went to the mall so he could get a book he's been wanting, I think it's called "The Infection" ....how fitting.

Anyway, here's a little taste of Cris's big day out-enjoy!

If you're thinking to yourself, "that doesn't look like Nickie-has Cris found a younger woman?"

put your worries aside, he's madly in love with her, and I'm totally cool with it.

The Blanky

Okay, I know that just about every mom has a child who requires some object at almost all times. London's "requirement" is her "squares blanket".

She loves this blanket, there have been many Sunday mornings we've made it to the car with every blessed thing in the house we thought we needed-but NO!!! we've forgotten the squares blanket.

Well, I had to wash it yesterday, that did not go over well.

Reunited and it feels so good.