I know, it's been a while...

It's been a while, and I am aware... sorry! I had surgery on Monday December 1st, and it's taken me a while to get up and moving. I was feeling good last weekend and started doing too much. Yesterday I landed myself back in the ER, so I am now trying to be good again. Ugh. Most of you know what the surgery was regarding, but for those who don't, I had a double mastectomy followed by reconstruction. After the last breast cancer scare I got a horrid infection, and while checking back with the surgery for that, they already found another lump. Just 2 weeks after the first! After visiting with Huntsman Cancer institute and alot of prayer, we decided to do what was best for us. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!

Anyway, I sent out Christmas cards right before the surgery and I have lost quite a few addresses, so PLEASE email me with yours if you'd like one! Here's the online preview...

NYC!!!!

We're back! Man, why does it seem like we just left? Why do they go so fast? Dangit! It was crazy fun. The attendees were Kristi, Whitney, Kenon (and the little man she's almost 7 months pregnant with) and myself. I wanted to show them the city I love so much. It didn't let us down. Whit and I flew to Vegas where we had a layover and picked up Kristi. We then flew into JFK. Ok, have you ever landed there? It's HUGE!!! We got our bags and frantically ran around in the rain looking for Kenon's gate. Delta had some confusion, as did the 10 JFK workers we asked. It's ok. We made it PERFECTLY and got to see her coming down the escalator. Cut to us pulling up to our hotel...

Our hotel was the RIGHT HERE! It's in the building that says "PALACE" on it. CRAZY, huh? Wanna see our view?

We got there and after much screaming and jumping around we forged out. It was raining, but come on, we are all Oregonians at heart. The rain wasn't about to stop us.

I won't get too long-winded, and from here it would get really long if I explained it all. A quick rundown would be Bus Tour of city, Soho, Canal Street, Little Italy, H & M, Central park, FAO Schwarz, Ground Zero, Subway rides, Cab rides, lots of food, shopping and giggling and to top it off...

TRL (MTV'S Total Request Live) was ending it's 10 year run. It has been broadcasting from Times Square since 1998, and to send it off, they had a HUGE event that totally shut down Times Square. Try to imagine us, 4 out of the loop moms with 15 kids between us ROCKING out and being silly. Yes, I am aware I have a huge mouth. :)

I had the greatest time there, thanks to all who made it happen, (namely the husbands!) Let's get back to real-life I guess...

Park City

David has had to travel lately, alot. Now, for those of you who know me, I am not a good single parent. I have always been spoiled and had him at home, but since the insanity of the economy, Micron has David in Boise every other week, but just for a few days. Man. This has been kinda hard. BUT. The upside of the traveling are all the points he gets. Free flights, free hotel rooms, and this weekend we took advntage of the free Hotel room. The longer you're married and "in the trenches" of parenting, I think the harder it is to remember WHY we got married... it gets so stressful and you forget that you really like this person! You remember little things about them that seem to get lost in normal day craziness. At least, at our house.

Anyway, David and I snuck away to Park City this weekend, and it was HEAVEN. Westayed at the Park City Summit Marriot (thanks to the points, FOR FREE!) and LOVED it! It was on Main street in Park City and you could literally park the car, and walk. In fact that's how we found the restaurant that we ate at. PRIME Steakhouse... holy cats. This was ONE Awesome place. The food was so crazy good, and they were having a 2 for 1 deal! Made for me, don't you think? Lots of Christmas shopping ensued, and a SCARY movie to top it off!

Anyway, if you can sneak away without the little ones, I reccommend doing it. Often. I love my children, but it's so nice to come home and be refreshed, so that you can resume the argument with them over "He TOUCHED me!". :)

Baby Olivia

So I had to show you guys how GORGEOUS my sister Karin's baby is!!! Look at her!

I mean, I know she's my niece, but WOW! Is it me, or does she remind you a little of Ashlee's babies? I think it's the CRAZY gorgeous eyes with the ridiculously long eyelashes... :)

Halloween...

SO I gotta be honest. It started out rough. You know, the normal running around in the morning, getting everyone ready.. etc. Cut to us waiting 45 minutes for Harris's Halloween parade that was supposed to start at 9:30. At 10:15 it finally starts, and Harris is one the last ones through. He is at that age where I am embarrassing. So he walks past so fast I can't even get a picture! Seriously? I waited in a HOT gym with 500 other parents and ANGRY toddlers and not even a picture?? Sigh. High point of that was there was a Dad there who was dressed as Batman. I mean, BATMAN. Like, the really expensive rubber muscle suit. Anyway, Jack was pointing out all the kids dressed like Batman and Spiderman (his two faves right now) and that Dad walks in. So I said "Jack!!! It's Batman!!!" and he turns. I wish I had the camera ready. His face was AMAZED. He said, "IT IS! It's real Batman!" it was pretty stinkin cute. Anyway, the day goes on and it's rough keeping Jack from being angry that he doesn't get to wear his "Buzz Lightyear" all day. The kids get home, and we left to go to Provo. Here's where the day gets blog worthy... Michael and Karla (David's bro and wife) live in the River Bottoms area of Provo. It's a NICE area. Their ward has some pretty interesting people in it. Here's the run-down. In 1 HOUR of trick or eating we got candy from Donny Osmond's wife, we got Power Bars from Steve Young's parents and Larry King's brother in law was giving the candy out and Larry's house this year. CRAZY!! The kids got more full size candy bars than small ones, and almost NO tootsie rolls. (I was bummed about that one actually). Weird. Weird, weird, weird. Anyway, it ended up being a fun day... here's are a couple quick shots. Hope your Halloween was great everyone!!

Donny's House.... :)

Jacky's costume...

Jack and his friend Chloe during his Halloween parade

The kids were running around so much I didn't ever get another good shot of them dressed up, so I guess this one will do...

CUTEST cupcakes & cookies EVER!

So on the right hand side of my blog I have a link to "Custom Cupcake Creations". I had never seen them in person, but loved them from afar. Now, I AM HOOKED. I went to her open house today, and LOOK what I found!!

Witches hats!! SO cute!
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Candy Corn Cookie pops?!?!? It's like they were made for me!

http://www.cupcakesbyles.blogspot.com/

My pics aren't doing them justice, but Oh! I am in love. She does cookie bouquets too... :) Go check out her website. You will wanna have parties JUST to have her treats around!

Requests? :)

It's official! I am heading to NYC! YEAH!!! Thanks to frequent flyer miles and friends in high places, (AND one AMAZING husband) the trip is practically free. :) So. Those of you who know me know that my favorite part of going is THE SHOPPING!!! I am going to be spending alot of time in the canal street area, which is widely known for it's KILLER purses, watches, hats, etc. I don't wanna make a copyright issue and say any SPECIFICS, but there are some BIG names for little prices. Anyway, let me know if you need/want me to pick you up something! I can't tell you how much the items will be, it always just depends on the person selling it to you, but if you give me a limit to spend up to, I will do my best! I am a MASTER haggler, so I will get the best deals there are to be had!! :)

Halloween Party...

My kids went to thier first boy/girl party last night. It was a Halloween party, so they were in HEAVEN! It is always a bummer to them to only get to wear their costume once, so they were stoked. I can't believe they are at the age that the parties aren't boy only or girl only. Wow. My kids are getting OLD!!!!!!

Anyway, here's Mulan Riley,

And here's Harris the skeleton pirate. He will have his SCARY mask on for actual Halloween, so stay tuned.... but for now, he made a scary face for you instead... :)

Little Miss Riley...

Here's Riley's newest school pics! She is such a cute little thing. She wanted her hair in braids for this one. She is getting her own ideas about what is "cool". Heaven help us. :)

SNL at it's best....

Ok, so I know not all of you watch SNL. I don't know WHY you don't, but whatever. I am not going to judge. :) HOWEVER. you MUST watch this "weekend update clip" from this weekend. Whether you are a fan of Salin Palin, or not so much... you have to admit this is AWESOME.

You will have to watch a little commercial first, but it's TOTALLY worth it. I promise...



In order to hear this clip, you will need to turn off the music player down and to the left of this page... Just hit pause. Also, just in case the blogger is being irritating, here' s a link...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/39808/saturday-night-live-update-palin-rap

Halloween!!

I Love Halloween. LOVE IT! I have by far more Halloween decorations than any other. I am not sure why, other than my obsession with Candy Corn. I think it's not only delicious, but SO stinkin cute! Anyway, This season I have been obsessed with something else. (Ok, in addition to eating my body weight in candy corn) Caramel Corn. DANGIT! This is THE best stuff you have ever tasted, and I totally forgot about the recipe. I was looking for something else, and came upon it. I thought you might like to share...

You should be able to right click the popcorn recipe above and save it as a picture. That way you don't have to type the whole thing out. Honestly, it takes longer to type it than to make it! :)

I thought I would post a few pics of the new additions to the Halloween decorations. Blasted Tai-Pan. If you don't know what Tai-Pan is, see if they have one in your area, and go armed with a credit card. It's the greatest decorating store, and it's REASONABLY PRICED!

Happy Halloween everyone!!

NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Enough said? WHAT? It is 75 degrees as I type! I have made resolution not to blog about the snow everytime it happens this year. I promise. I had to get this one out of my system though. Sigh.

Portland was awesome, I didn't get to see eveyone I would have like to have seen, but you never can, even on a long trip, much less a 72 hour one! KARAOKE was AWESOME, thanks for asking! :) Even thought you guys (you all know who you are) didn't come, it was still great. Crazy singing, scary weird guy that was about 85 and singing kidrock, it just doesn't get any better!

Anyway, I am off to parent-teacher conferences... wish me luck!

Just a quickie....

Jack is the biggest spaz on the planet. I can give you instances if you'd like to hear them... my two favorites to date are

1. When you ask him why he's so cute, he answers , "Because My Mom is SMOKIN' HOT". Yup. Thanks to David for that little embarrassing one when his nursery leaders ask... :)

2. Kasey David and I were sitting around discussing dating. When Kasey asked Jack what he would do if a girl liked him, but he didn't like her. Without missing a beat he looked up and said, "I would kill her." His little voice made it SO funny! It sounded more like"I wood kiwl huh". Ok, so therapy will be expensive, but for now, FUNNY!

Which leads me to the newest Jack item...

Last night was actually somewhat relaxing. David was downstairs on the computer, Harris was watching a show, Riley was showering after her soccer practice and Jack was quietly playing upstairs with his trains... until I heard a gagging noise. So I went to check it out, and asked if he was ok, and he replied, "Yes, but this doesn't taste very good." It was the spray cleaner that I left in the bathroom. ARGH! We gave him his weight in water to dilute it and just watched him for a while. He's fine. WHY!?!?! Why would you want to drink that?

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AND - Karaoke looks like it will be on Saturday the 27th. It starts at 9, and even if you don't sing, COME! PLEASE! I really want to try to see everyone! It's a restaurant with great 1.99 appetizers, so it's a cheap date too! :)

BIG NEWS!

So! I am doing this as a blog post because I don't want to forget anyone, but I am leaving

Here

And flying into

Here!

For those who don't recognize it, I am coming to Portland! Sans Kids! Nice! My frequent flyer miles were going to expire, so I had to use them. My dear husband recommended I come to "Home" for a few days to just relax! :) September 26-28, (I know, so short!) Anyway, I am hoping to get a crazy Karaoke night together on either that Friday night or that Saturday night. Either email me or comment back and let me know! All parties are invited, so COME ON! It will be Lengend-(wait for it)-DARY! (If you don't know where that quote comes from you must go directly to Blockbuster and rent "How I Met Your Mother" season One through whatever is available)

Anwyay, We will go with the evening that more people can do it, I am thinking that we'll do it at the Golden Crown in Beaverton near the Target on Beaverton/Hillsboro Hwy. Mre details to come, Hope to see you soon!!! :)

The Wonderful World Of Little Girls...(AKA Riley's 10th B-Day!)

Riley's 10th birthday party was decided on LONG ago. We walked into "Justice" (which is an off-shoot of Limited Too, think Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, High-School Musical and little girls clothing.) and she saw a sign for Webkinz parties. Now. If you don't have a little girl between the ages of 5-14 you might not recognize the obnoxious teen idols I mentioned above, you everyone has to know what webkinz are, right? They are overpriced stuffed animals that come with a special online code that gets you into the "webkinz world". These were introduced to us last Christmas by my brother Todd (Who WILL get what is coming to him for it) and my kids were hooked. To be honest it is a cute little online world, they have little houses and cars. But MAN. It's out of control! We have at least a SQUILION, I swear! So back to the story. We walk in and she sees a party going on, and it's "So awesome Mom!" They do makeovers, hair, games and you get a webkinz pet. What could be better? Anyway, after much begging she talked me into it, and here are the resulting pics... After the makeovers (and some excedrin for me) we headed back to our house to create our cupcake masterpieces. That was a HIT! You have to try it for your next party. It's messy, but SO much cheaper than a blasted cake! :)

Here's the "Before" pics...

Here's us getting to Justice.

Here's the girls diving into their goody bags. The make-up and combs for the makeover were in them, and well as Justice Cash to spend at the store. Pretty cute...

Here's Riley getting started. Isn't she so cute??? :)

Now that the hair is done, the girls are oh so carefully applying their make-up. This was SO funny to watch!!

Here are Riley and Liv, as they are applying their make-up, I couldn't resist this picture, is there anything cuter?

Here they are all loaded up! They have all their stuff (which was a TON!) and have their make-overs completed! Very fancy, huh?

This was the cupcake area...

And the cakecake creating...

And finally, the presents. It's always a good thing to do the presents, because as the Mom, you know the end is in sight! :) So, Happy Birthday to my Baby girl! You only get into double Digits once!! We love you Riley!!!

DISNEYWORLD!!!!!!

So the last blog being about mostly school I grazed past the infection that I had pretty quickly. The truth about this blasted thing is, it was horrid. The doctors were completely confounded and couldn't figure out why while watching me, the redness started getting worse. Like going up my neck and around the back of my head, down my torso. It was super scary. They did all sorts of unmentionables to me, and then started telling me that I couldn't eat or drink, as they were planning surgery. I must have said the next phrase at LEAST 100 times. "Do whatever you need to do, but I am going to Disneyworld in 10 days, so do it quick." The next day, same comment, but down to 9 days. I really think the whole power of positive suggestion worked, because we went to Disneyworld on the 27th, and it was AMAZING! I am so grateful that we got to go and I wasn't in a wheelchair! (I would STILL have gone! COME ON! It's freaking Disneyworld!!!) Anyway. Below is the skinny on the trip... :)

Wednesday the 27th we got on the plane to go! Woo-Hoo! There is much excitement in the house, in the car, and then in the plane. Fortunately it was containable excitement and we didn't get too many people too irritated. We got there that night and the inevitable happened. All the things I forgot started coming up. ARGH. The restaurant reservations, the end of the antibiotics for Jack, and it was BLASTED HOT. We (meaning mainly me) we having a rough night that night. But the heavens opened and so did Disney World at 9 AM! :)

First day was Magic Kingdom. We are SWEATING SO profusely, it's amazing. It was 95 degrees, and 95 percent humidity. I am not kidding when I say you could see the humidity in the air. It was like little clouds. CRAZY. For those of you who are looking confused at the extra adult in the pics, that is My niece Kasey. We talked her into coming to help even out the parent to child ratio. We were back to man-to-man defense with her there. PS- She is single and obviously SO cute, so hit me up to hook her up! :)

Happy Birthday to me!! :) Is there a better to way to spend your b-day than Space Mountain? I mean, seriously!?!?! Plus one of our waiters thought Kasey and I were sisters, 5 years apart is what he guessed. :) NICE!!! Maybe he just wanted a huge tip... but I loved it anyway! And YES. My shoulders DID get sunburned. OUCH. We went to this beautiful "palace" for lunch, and we had AWESOME food. Plus the Pooh Bear characters joined us for pics.

Onto the next day, David's favorite place! The Animal Kingdom. Now before you look at the next pics, you MUST remember that we were just talking about how hot and muggy it was? We got off the dinosaur ride, (which is all inside) and walked out to get our stroller (parked outside) and it was like someone turned the sky faucet on high. Pouring like you wouldn't believe. We missed most of the shows and such because it was SO rainy the animals wouldn't cooperate. David's shirt is a light-grey normally. We were SOAKED! Jack scored though, we let the kids each pick something, and he picked the hooded dino towel. He was warm and dry, the little punk!

This picture is SO funny to me. mainly because I was roaring at Jack to try to keep him from being afraid, and then it took! I had no idea! It was hilarious though. Check out Kasey too, she was FREAKED! And note the complete lack of Harris. He is actually sitting next to Kasey, you just can't see him, since he's ducking so low!! Hahahha...

The day was on to Disney's Hollywood Studios (Formerly MGM) where we did Tower of Terror and some other fun things. This was Jacky's favorite lunch, as it was the Playtown Disney Character lunch. So the Little Einsteins and JoJo the clown were there. It was very over-stimulating for the adults, but the kids were loving it!

Possibly the most fun for my boys was where we stayed. We stayed in DisneyWorld at the "Camp Wilderness Cabins". There were little frogs, toads, and lizards that the kids could catch, and they were just in heaven!!! I can't tell you how awesome this place is. The cabins themselves are rustic and a bit small, but they perfectly fit all of us, and had a fridge and stove, so we didn't have to buy every meal. The dining plan with Disney is a MUST! Watch their site, sometimes (like ours) the dining plan will be "thrown in" just to get you to book. Probably this time of the year because it was hurricane season and we were washed out of the parks once. But only one day was it really raining, so we made indoor smores (thanks to Kasey's expertise of heating them on the element/burner) and watched movies. What a great trip.

If anyone is a glutton for punishment and would like to see more pics, let me know, but I was figuring this would do it! :) This should sum up the trip. It was fun and wonderful and next time You all have to come with!!! :) Have a great school year everyone!!