The B******* Is Back

I change my hair color A LOT. Blond, Brunette, Blond, Brunette. Obviously my brunette self has returned. I just cannot commit.

This picture is a great representation of what I look like during the day. Comfortable t-shirt, apron, old skool headphones (the ear buds kill my ears), no make-up. By the way I am wearing the head phones because I like to listen to music while I clean the house, but Miss Sade is sleeping and I don't want to wake her up.

Also, take a look at my long bangs. I had no intention of growing them long, but here they are. Also, I had a somewhat happy accident while coloring my hair. The dark hair dye did not fully adhere to all of my blond hair, so I have a few highlights that I am okay with.

"Do you have a hard time committing to a hair color?
"Can you wear ear buds"
"Do you think I should grow out my bangs (not completely, I could never commit to that, but just a bit longer)?"

Watch Out PBA

Many of you may not know what the PBA stands for but those of you who are talented bowlers like Eric and I realize that I am talking about The Professional Bowlers Association. That's right, for out date night this week we went bowling! Does anyone find the term "date night" kind of corny? When I use it I conjure up images of old married couples (oh wait, that's me). Anyway, we started off the night eating at Claim Jumper. I wanted to get the pot roast, but of course it is now off the menu. As my Jackson would say (not with my blessing), "What the?". So I settled for the Black Tie Pasta which is very enjoyable. I don't know if you can tell from the picture but Eric ordered the ribs, and they were humongous.

After dinner, we headed out to bowl. I have two things to say. #1) I don't think we have bowled since we got the Wii, and I forgot how physically demanding it was. #2) Bowling without kids is sooooooo much quicker.

There was some sort of major league tournament going on and they actually brought bleachers in for the crowd. Who knew there were so many spectators?

If I had to give myself a bowling label, I believe it would be inconsistent. I can bowl a strike in one frame, and turn around in the next and bowl a gutter ball.

Eric was much more consistent, and kicked my behind. Talking of behinds, there was a couple next to use that was showing extreme amounts of PDA, involving lots of slapping of behinds, and lots of tongue! Ooh, la la.

"Did you ever have the pot roast at Claim Jumper?
Are you okay with the term "date night?
Do you like to bowl?"
How do you feel about PDA?"

Wordless Wednesday-Blackmail Edition

Lake Mead

Last Saturday we spent the afternoon at Lake Mead swimming and playing in the sand (i.e. mostly mud). Oodles of pictures to follow.

The water was a bit chilly at first but once you were fully submerged it was great.

Sadie took a few tumbles in the water and on the beach, which made her a bit sad. However the sadness never lasted long. Her inner bravery took hold, and she marched right back into the water.

Jackson is usually a bit timid in water, but as long as he had his life jacket on he was fearless.

Megan was her fearless self, and had no trouble swimming far, far away from us. I had to call her back in a few times.

We spent quite a bit of time building this masterpiece on the beach.

Under The Big Top

Yesterday we all went to the Circus! I will start off by highlighting the bad. The line to pick up our tickets was horrendous. Since most of us now buy tickets on-line, that means most everyone going has to pick up their tickets at the same time (approx. 15 minutes before the show starts). It was kind of like a mob scene. Luckily the people working were regulating the lines and only allowing a few people up at a time, but that seemed to cause many people in the lines to become angry. I for one was grateful there was some sort of regulation. It seemed to me with all of the anger, someone could have quite quickly been trampled.

Megan and Jackson waiting to get our tickets. I would like to know what they are looking at. Do they not realize I am the one with the camera?

Anyway, it was a bit crazy, but we made it into our seats just as the Circus was starting. Seriously, what are they looking at? Eric is the only one looking at the camera.

I don't have any good pictures of the circus performers, because my camera does not do well in darkness. However I did capture Miss Sade clapping along.

Poor Jackson didn't quite make it all the way until the end. We all really enjoyed ourselves. The circus performers are amazing. I don't know how many of you know that I am a semi-professional stilt walker, and I just happened to notice that there were no stilt walkers in the circus. Do you think I could convince Eric and the kids to join the circus with me?

Five For Friday

I am wondering why I have felt incredibly busy this week, when in fact I have had hardly any commitments. I wake up almost every day thinking there is something I am forgetting to do, but just can't remember what it is. Yesterday that thing was Jackson's soccer class. Disappointing for him and for me (I really love to watch). My memory has quite rapidly declined with the birth of each of my children. Anyway, some things to note about this week.

1. I will start by documenting a few of the cheap or completely free things I have acquired.

First up this Jeep I purchased for $10 at the D.I. It was missing a battery but I thought to myself that can't be much money, so I bought it. Well apparently it needs at 12 volt battery and of course the special quick charger, so the final product wasn't as cheap as I hoped it would be. But about $100 dollars later, Jackson and Sadie are very happy, which makes me very happy.

All of this stuff, along with numerous books, a big wheel, clothes, and movies I received for FREE last night at Enrichment. You can imagine my excitement when I found the tap shoes and all of the fingernail polishes, since my dream is to learn to tap dance, and fingernail polish is my most favorite gift to get.

Lastly, my obsessive eating at Chipotle has paid off (Not for me, but for 10 other lucky people). Since I am such a loyal customer I get to pick 10 people to give lunch to. I wish I could pick all of my friends, but it is supposed to be my favorite charity, kids school, day care providers, etc. Very cool of them.

2. Just a couple of pictures of Sade.

She is very, very active, and tries her very best to keep up with Megan and Jackson. This week she has a set of skinned knees the likes of which I haven't seen in some time. The other one is even worse but she didn't want to sit still for the pictures.

Check out these dirty feet. My kids are often barefoot, and Sadie enjoys purposely stepping in the oil cars have left behind.

3. The one benefit to getting 4 Sunday newspapers, is that there are plenty of Sunday comics to go around. Megan and Jackson both love spreading them out to read them each week.

4. My house is a mess. I will not post a picture, because it will depress you. Because of my strangely, phantom busy schedule, I have neglected certain chores, like laundry (my nemesis) and now I am feeling overwhelmed. Big Sigh!!

5. On a happy note, tonight we are going to the Circus!!!! If you have never been to see Ringling Bros. I highly recommend that you go. Just don't buy snacks, such as cotton candy while you are there. If I remember right, last time we went cotton candy was going for $10 a piece!

"Do you think the Jeep purchase was a good idea?
Do your kids seem to get as dirty as mine?
Do you still read the Sunday comics?
Does your house ever seem to overwhelm you, and do you HATE doing laundry"
And lastly, Who in there right mind would charge $10 for cotton candy?"

Jackson Said

While out to dinner, after staring at a girl sitting next to us for quite some time, Jackson Said:

"Mom would you be really embarrassed to go out in your underwear."

Which caused Megan to stare at her and tell him it is probably not underwear but rather a swimming suit or shorts. Eric and I thought we had sufficiently shushed them enough, but when the girl got up to leave, Megan then remarked,

"See Jackson. They are just really short shorts."

If only kids had some sort of internal monitor that would cause them to think these things rather than saying them out loud. Or perhaps even feel compelled to whisper them.

And for the record I would be really embarrassed to go out in my underwear.

The aforementioned girl.

U.S. Open Here We Come

The last two times Eric and I have gone out sans kids, we have gone to movies instead of taking advantage of the killer weather we have been having. Knowing that the weather soon will change for the worse, we decided to spend some time outside golfing while we still can. For the next few months I am almost positive all date nights will take place indoors.

Do I remind you of Michael Jackson with my cool white glove?

Our friends the Arnold's came with us, which made it much more fun, but slightly more embarrassing since they were able to see how bad my golf skills are. By the way this was Kim's first time golfing, and she has major skills. I am quite jealous of these naturally athletic people.

Just a couple of pictures of us teeing off. This is a three par course, which happen to be my favorite kind. On a side note, when Eric called on Saturday to get our tee time, the guy that he talked to acted like they were really busy, but they would squeeze us in. You can imagine our surprise when we got their and there were only 3 cars in the parking lot! It was fantastic. The weather was beautiful and we practically had the entire course to ourselves.

12 X 12 - June

This 12 X 12 is not very thrilling, but still a typical day in my life. I am a homebody. I love nothing more than a day when I have no commitments. And this Friday was one of those days. It will be even nicer when Megan is done with school and I won't have to leave the house at all.

Recently Sadie graduated from her high chair to her booster seat. Look at her feeding herself! Such a big girl.

Have I mentioned that both of my girls are daddy's girls? Well this translates into Sadie throwing a huge fit everyday when Eric leaves for work. I would like to mention that when I leave, there is no reaction.

5 minutes later! Sadie still has not recovered from the abandonment.

So here was my only commitment of the day. Getting Megan to and from school. Only a week and a half more to go and I am beyond ready for her to be out. We did manage to study for the spelling test the night before but I have to admit I did not check her math homework. I am burned out.

Jackson decided to crawl out of the car through this little hole. This is something only a child would think to do. As an adult this would never occur to me. Also there would be no way I would fit, so it is probably better that way.

I have mentioned before that when Sadie takes her nap that is the time I clean my house. While I am cleaning Jackson spends most of his time playing with cars (his first love). This track makes it out to the living room daily. After playing with the track, he moves on to play Monster Truck Wii, followed by hotwheels on the computer.

After I cleaned up Sadie was still sleeping, so I took some time to make these fans for Megan's room. She has them on her walls, but was still in need of a few more.

Then we went to pick up Megan from school. Sadie INSISTED on bringing Barney and this doll with us. It wouldn't be a problem but she was rather INSISTENT that she not have to let go of them when I was buckling her up. It posed quite a problem, with quite a few tears from her.

After school my kids usually play in the backyard, and today was no exception. For the record our weather has been highly unusual (in a good way). I will take cooler summer weather anytime.

We were waiting for Eric to get ready to go out to dinner and I found the kids both loudly reading to Sadie on the couch. They were trying to drown each other out, and Sadie seemed to be enjoying it. She is looking at the book Megan is reading, but is clapping along to the book Jackson is reading. Everyone is happy!

My friend Rachael told me they were going to dinner at Zaba's, which sparked my fish taco craving, so we went too. Too bad it was at different times. We then went to Costco, and put the kids to bed (yeah!). Low key, but normal day.