A few late thoughts...

I was in such a hurry I forgot to throw in a few thoughts I had about this last week. First of all...the cat.

We found this cat on Craigs List. The family had to move into an apt building and had to get rid of the cat THAT DAY or give her to the shelter. So I am a sucker for anything that will be euthanized. She is a sweet, small calico. She's been spayed and has her shots. She's about 3 years old. The lady was here for about 1/2 hour while her kids were bawling outside with her husband. When she left, Ainsley was elated! About 20 minutes after that Brandon's eyes became huge and puffy. His nose and eyes began to run and it was apparent he is super allergic. For the last week Ryan and I have been battling this allergy thing, as well. Funny how we both grew up with cats and developed this allergy! We've been taking her outside a little everyday and soon will be more of an outside cat. :)

Also, I had a few thoughts regarding Ainsley's birthday party. This party was extremely time consuming for me. I have been working, sewing, organizing, shopping. Very stressful. Well, day of she is a bear! She wasn't very grateful for her presents. (Which she LOVED! EVERY ONE!) But she had some sort of weird attitude going on. Then, later I caught her yelling at a friend over for the party. Well, technically the party had ended, so I scolded her aside and had her think about life for a few minutes in my bathroom. Later she was complaining of how hungry she was. Well, what did you have for lunch? Nothing. Breakfast? Nothing. Being the great mom I am, I totally didn't feed her ALL DAY! She is nine, however, and can feed herself. She is perfectly capable (and does it all the time!) of making sandwiches, etc. But in the hustle and bustle of the day, food just got left behind! Oops! (And in case you are wondering, Brandon and Alexa were fed.)

Third, a little pet peeve of mine I want to share. (I am 99.9% sure this girls mom will never see this blog.) One girl was invited to the party and let us know she would be a little late. She was. But the party ended at 4:00. Par for the course, a few neighbors stayed to play after the party so it wasn't a big deal that she stayed for a while after. Well, 4:30, no mom. 5:00, no mom. 5:30, no mom. Kind of strange! We were going to my moms for dinner at 6:00. 6:00 no mom. So we drove her home! Mind you this was a girl from school, not a neighbor or family friend. Anybody else think this is bizarre?

Happy Number 9, Ainsley

It's the happy #9 for Ainsley, or Paige respectively. Ainsley is turning into a happier child than she ever was before. She tries very hard at everything she does. She aims to please. We had her teacher conference on Friday (her birthday) and of course she had straight A's.

Ainsley got a new cat for her birthday. I think it has something to do with her crazy parents.

This is Lily. She was rescued and adopted. Very sweet.

2010

Favorite color: blue

Favorite TV show: Wizards of Waverly Place

Favorite subject: art

Favorite hobby: ride scooters

Favorite food: steak

Worst thing about life right now: Brandon sleeping in my room.

Favorite book series: Harry Potter

Favorite movie: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Ainsley read the ENTIRE HP series twice through since September. I finallytalked her into starting a new series last week. We'll see if it's a keeper. She loves Harry Potter so much she had a Harry Potter birthday party yesterday. Let me give you a low down.

The kids all received a letter from Prof. Dumbledore inviting them to attend Hogwarts on the day of the party. When the kids arrived, they had to go to Gringotts to withdraw some money. They also received a list of items necessary for school this year. Hogsmeade was in the garage. (We know ours was really a mixture of hogsmeade and diagon alley but so what.) There was Eeylops owl emporiaum, Flourish and Blotts, the Apothecary, and Honeydukes. I was going to make wands for veryone and have Ollivanders, but was a little overwhelmed. Who me???? They purchased everything they needed for school. Magic kits, cauldrons, pets, candy, etc.

After the shopping, we met in the Great Hall for the sorting hat ceremony. We taped my open cell phone into the hat and had ryan telling the girls from the other room whether they were gryffindor or slytherin. It was hilarious. They were so stumped!

Class was next. Divination, potions, charms, and transfiguration. If anyone wants details, I can give them to you.

Finally we went to the 3 broomsticks for butterbeer and cupcakes. It was so fun! Happy Birthday Ainsley!

Oops I did it again

It's that time of year again. Time for the annual open the windows and air out the house. But, as usual, this annual tradition is NOT because the weather is perfect and 75 degrees. (which it is.) It's because of this:

Yes, it may look like a delicious pot of turkey chili. But...if you stir it around a bit...

You will notice I TOTALLY ruined my favorite pot. :( So, just for the record, I HATE my electric stove and miss miss miss my gas one in Utah. :( This is what simmer will do to you. And, also just for the record, kids walking in and out of the 100 times does not mean that one of them will tell you "the house smells like fire mom."

Valentines Day Love!

We had a LOVELY valentines day this year.I had a special delivery on Friday. Ryan NEVER sends flowers so it was quite the surprise! Also, you know me. I'm bossy and not shy. Well, I MIGHT have said something like this. "If you don't get me someting - at least a card!- your present will be cooking and cleaning the whole mess on Sunday." But he did more than a card. Very Sweet. And he made dinner. :)

I made this sweet treat for Ryan to take to work.

Full of yummy snacks

And since $ is tight, but fabric is plentiful, I made these cute church totes for the kids. I'm sick of the big huge bag full of trash every week. Brandon's is the cutest dog material, but Ryan calls it his man purse. As long as Brandon likes it, I don't care!!!

Here's the inside. Elastic for crayons, pencils and pockets for paper, treats, etc. The only problem is that I can't figure out what is wrong with my sewing machine and it's making loose stiches and looking crappy. Oh well, they still work. I don't really know how to sew - just learned from the internet, so if you have any ideas for me let me know.

Ryan made a delicious dinner complete with china and crystal.

and candles for the romantic ambiance

The kids decorated our traditional cheesecake/brownie dessert. It was delicious!

The best part about this V day is that today is Presidents Day and I get Ryan and the kids home. ahhh. I love vacation.

Valentines Fiasco

I am one of those people who never has any ideas of my own, so I copy other peoples. And, unfortunately, I don't have that natural talent to make them go well. Ainsley and I found these heart suckers on the internet. "What a GREAT idea!" We even had all the candy canes left over from Christmas. We bought them for 10 cents a box after Christmas. These four pictures above are the ONLY ones that worked.

They either stuck to the pan...

Or ended up looking like this.

My two kids are totally different. One prefers the $2.99 Batman make-it-easy-on-mom valentines and the other HAS HAS HAS to have something homemade.

We found this other (much easier) template on the internet which she could do herself. Only problem. For some reason every sheet of colored paper got stuck in the printer. So, much to her dismay, white valentines it is.

And guess what. They might be ugly, but we actually had fun!