This week has gone by so fast!

I can't believe that it is already Friday! (well, almost) This week started out like most others, just minus the husband. Now, I know that that isn't something new for me, but it usually brings out bad behavior from my children. Kind of like how the full moon brings out the crazy people. On Tuesday, Julia decided to decorate my couch (and her face and clothes of course) with sour cream!! She managed to push over the gate that we use to block the kitchen and got right into that sour cream. Then, she did it again on WEDNESDAY!! For those of you that are thinking, "wow, she must really be a terrible mom" it's true. I was distracted with Melanie while the second crime took place - thankfully the damage wasn't as extensive as Tuesday's. Momma was pretty upset though and definitely tired of scrubbing her couch! I am very relieved and happy to say that today went pretty wonderfully. I didn't have any major problems with my children, and even was able to get some cleaning done!! (imagine that!) Plus take care of a few matters of family business (book order, ordering the screen for Jeremiah's broken laptop). I feel as though I have accomplished things, and that is usually half the battle when you're a mom (or at least I think so). I finally got the book Three Cups of Tea from the library (I've had it on my hold list forever it seems), I am excited to read it. I apologize that my posts are always a jumble of thoughts and lots of parentheses. It kind of gives you an idea of how my brain functions these days! I definitely need more adult interaction and visit time!!

In Honor of The Cheesecake Factory's 30th

While at playgroup on Wednesday, I heard about the Cheesecake Factory's $1.50 piece of cheesecake. I was unable to attend (military life) but decided I would go ahead and make my own!! Thank heavens for the Jello Cheesecakes! My heart was with you for those of you who took advantage of the birthday treat. This picture doesn't look like much, but it was still a treat for me.

Wyatt and Melanie's Birthday Celebration!!

Sunday July 13th was the day we celebrated both Wyatt's (July 12th) and Melanie's (July 17th) birthdays! So, I of course felt terrible that I was feeling sick. I took the pictures and tried to stay away from the fun. I didn't even eat the dinner! All I had was rice and mashed potatoes. Anyway... all we had was Christmas wrapping paper, so we had a bit of "Christmas in July". Here are a few photos of them throughout the day.

Wyatt's gift from us

Melanie's Dora sprinkler

New Clothes!!

Twirling with her new dress. She loves to twirl!

Gifts from Nana

Nana even got a gift for Julia so she wouldn't feel left out!

She loves dora! Excuse daddy's blink, it's the only pic I had!

The big present

Wyatt's cake - the candle fell off as soon as we put it on the table and blew itself out! So, Wyatt had no chance to blow it out on his own.

Melanie's cake - I bought it this year. I can't make really small cakes and I tried to find a small one. Plus, I can't make the words look all pretty either. Jenn is great with decorating cakes though - I should take lessons!

Melanie blew out the candle before we could finish singing! She loves "happy days".

Already the seasoned pro (he had a birthday party the day before too) digging in.

Catching up on the past few weeks....

Well, to usher in my sickness a few weeks back I had an unexpected thing happen to me. I was asked to talk at one of my Primary "students" baptism. (July 12th)I'm the kind of person that gets very nervous about these things and of course worried about what to say, let alone why this person chose me to speak! So, I think the reason will remain unknown for the rest of my life, but I hope that I was able to share some things that touched both she and her sister. (They were baptized on the same day). I also feel very blessed to have been a witness to their very special day. Here is a picture of them.

Sonja and Amore

Under the Weather

So, our family has been under the weather for quite a bit. The girls have had "digestion" problems during last week. Then I got sick Saturday evening and have been sick since! I'm slowly getting my strength back and getting back into things I normally do. By the way, thanks to Heidi for taking over my class (I didn't call the Primary Presidency in time to let them know I was sick and unable to be there). Heidi - you're so great for helping out, thank you so much!! I thought I would just send out a quick note, so you all know why I haven't been updating my blog. Hopefully more will come later, but for now I am taking it easy! Hopefully I might even get the chance to scrapbook (Oh, I really hope so!).

Prayer - better than a Psychic

As a member of the LDS church - I have to share my opinion on something I witnessed today. While I was "winding" down and shredding some paper in my room - I was listening to the radio. On Thursdays, there is aparently a Psychic on this particular station (never knew that - don't normally listen to the radio in the evening). People would call in and ask her the most outrageous, yet ordinary questions. She would share her advice gathered from whatever means she used, received a "thank you" and then move on to the next caller. In listening and laughing quite a bit I realized something. All of these questions that were being asked could be answered correctly, if they just knew who to ask! I am so glad that we know who we can ask to help us with our problems or our questions in life. The Lord will always give us the right answer for us at the right time. The answer might not be what we wanted to hear, but it is still the right answer for US. Who needs a pyschic when you have a wonderful Father upstairs that can give you answers that will improve your life and increase your happiness? I pick the happiness and better life. What would you choose?

Un-rabbid Squirrel

At the end of our outing to the Botanical Gardens, we stumbled across a squirrel. He was meandering around, mostly under my car, while I put the girls in the car and the stroller away. Then, I came around to get in the car, and the squirrel came out and followed me a bit. He stared me down and stayed just close enough to freak me out. I would move, the squirrel would follow. I COULDN'T GET IN MY CAR!!! Julia still needed to be buckled and I couldn't get close enough to the car without the little guy following me! So, I took some pictures!!

While this was happening to me, I tried to sneak behind his back (above picture), but couldn't get past him without him turning around and staring me down! He was a pretty cute little guy. Being a wild animal, I found myself continuing to think of two things: 1) What if he has rabies and bites me? - even though I saw none of the symptoms 2) What in the world will scare this little guy away? - I 'stomped' at him, shoo him, anything I could think of that would encourage him to leave.

Needless to say, we "danced" a bit before he walked off to visit another car, I looked behind me to make sure there weren't more. Guess what? There was one coming straight for me!! So, I jumped in the car, buckled Julia in her seat and left as quickly (and "humanely") as possible. To all the animal lovers out there - he and his friend are still alive.

Enjoying my Hobby

I know that this isn't a well known fact, but I really like to take pictures. I am not very good at it, so I take a lot in hopes that a few will turn out nicely. We went to the Botanical Gardens today (in the drizzle) and I took some pictures of plants that caught my eye. I thought that a few turned out very nice. My favorite one is this one though.....

Then, Melanie directed us towards the rose garden and I got a few of those as well. Just experimenting with some different ways of taking pictures of groups of flowers. It was great fun, I even let Melanie take a few pictures (they were out of focus so I deleted them upon uploading them). Here are some more pictures, enjoy!!!

The Artist

Melanie really likes to color and draw these days, and I am so thrilled when she wants to make a "pretty picture"!! She knows she is only supposed to color on PAPER too. When you are a mother of two small children, you find that you need to take advantage of the short times your children are occupied to take a shower unless you have the luxury of waking before them to take your shower and start your day. Today, her color of choice was Orange Sharpie. So, this morning, while I was taking my shower and getting dressed for the day, Melanie was doing this:









After a nice little "chat" she went ahead and started doing this:




That was the straw that broke the camels back, so I packed the girls in the car and headed to Walmart to get some Color Wonder things for them to color with. Thank heavens there are such things as Magic Erasers. In no way am I rewarding them for coloring on things they shouldn't, or eating things they shouldn't (in Julia's case, she eats crayons!). There wasn't even a sharpie in sight when I took a shower. Also as a mother, you learn to make sure there is nothing around that could potentially cause a premature death of one of your children while you are taking a shower. This marker has been banned from our "living area" and is jailed in a plastic box in the top of a closet right now.

Geneology..... I am doing it.....

I love having a best friend (aka husband) when they inspire you to do something great and worthwhile. So, Jeremiah got the "itch" today to look up some of his ancestors names on google. Then, it got me to thinking about some of my ancestors that I had been taught a little bit about. The snowball continued to grow until I was just so excited to see what I could find! I am on a "mission" now and hope to find some things and learn about how to do my family history. I have never taken any classes on it at church, nor do I have the convenience of having a family history center at my ward building - let alone having the babysitters to watch my girls so that I can go do it. Technology will have to be my friend (as well as foe and obstacle maker I'm sure) and lead me to some wonderful information about my family. I am extremely excited to learn about them. I guess that is my new goal for the summer. YAY!! If anyone knows a little bit about how to research your family online and would be willing to leave a little message to nudge me in the right direction, that would be WONDERFUL!! Thanks!

WIPEOUT

"Wipeout" Sneak: Iris - The best free videos are right here">

If you click the part of the link above that says Wipeout - you will see a preview of the show Jeremiah and I watch on Tuesday nights if we are still awake and downstairs. I have always had a problem with laughing at people when they fell. I don't like to see people get hurt, but there is something funny about the act of falling. Maybe it is because I did so much of it growing up! I also think that it is hereditary. So, anyway, there is a lot of falling going on in this show. Thus, the reason I enjoy it. Check out the link if you would like - I was hoping to have it show up with the picture and all on the blog - but I haven't learned that just yet.

Long Walks

So, we've recently been taking 3 1/2 mile walks around the area since Jeremiah has been taking the car to work. So, Monday and today, we went out in the heat to get momma some exercise. We cover the distance in about an hour and a half. I push the girls in the double stroller. By the end of the "course" I'm am definitely sweating from the heat of the sun. So, I feel as though I accomplish quite a bit! It is definitely not what I do at the gym - so it's nice to get a little bit of change in there. I'm still doing pretty well with watching what I am eating and making sure I get exercise during the week. I hope to find the numbers on that scale a little smaller the next time I "weigh in". For anyone out there - I am trying to find some fun, tasty vegetable dishes (without meat) to spice up my snack options. Please feel free to send them my way.

There is a story behind our walks however. Melanie LOVES to collect things while we are outside. Mostly rocks. However, today was a little different. She first collected her favorite of Heavenly Father's creations - the rock, followed by a feather, a flower, a baby pinecone, large pinecone, and some leaves. I was hoping to get some pictures of the "collection", but most were thrown overboard (no doubt to help mom get home quicker by decreasing the weight of the load!) and only the rock remained.

So, I've been Tagged!

So, I was reading friends blogs and thinking I was so lucky that I hadn't been tagged, and then I get tagged! YIKES! I'm not sure I have enough people to tag, but I'll try!!

3 Joys
- Being able to cuddle with my girls anytime they let me
- Watching my husband play with our children
- Taking pictures of my family and friends (I'm practicing so that maybe one day I'll actually be good at it!)


3 Fears
- Losing Jeremiah to war
- One of my girls running away from me and not being able to find them
- Sleeping alone

3 Goals
- To lose 15 lbs in the next 7 weeks
- Catch up with the book club by reading the books I missed
- Continue meeting new people and become more social

3 Obsessions
- Cleaning my house (I have learned to let go a little bit -I have two young girls, but I still don't like it)
- Working out
- Finding the lowest price (still practicing that one to get perfection too!)

3 Random Facts
- I am 23 (that seems to always shock people, so I am listing it)
- I hold high school records for shot put
- I love the smell of burning wood (i.e campfire)

Now I get to tag 5 Lucky Winners!!
- Angela
- Jamie
- Cheryl
- Tami
- Tara

Flag Cake

Growing up, my mom liked to make a Flag Cake for the 4th of July. I have a picture of me as a child holding the first Flag Cake. So, in order to fulfill the tradition and ensure that it would get eaten wihout there being much left, I made it for the Picnic we went to on Friday. There was just enough left over for us to have some for dessert on Sunday. So, a perfect end to the 4th of July weekend.

If your family would appreciate this wonderful cake for a patriotic holiday - here is how I made it. The cake is white cake mix. Bake it according to the directions on the box (greasing the dish and lightly flouring it). Let it cool. Poke holes 1/2 inch apart across the whole cake (I used a 2 prong fork from my knife set). Take any flavor jello (as long as it is red) and mix it with 1 cup of boiling water until dissolved. Add 1/2 cup of cold water and mix well. Then, pour it over the cake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. After refrigerating, dip bottom of dish in hot water briefly to loosen the cake from the bottom of pan and flip the cake over on a flat surface - you then return it to the pan or whatever dish you wish to use to serve it on. (I was unsuccessful in this endeavor - so I just kept it in the pan) Thaw an 8 oz container of whip cream and "ice" the cake with it after flipping. Then, decorate with blueberries and strawberries. I used about a cup of strawberries and about 2 ounces of blueberries. Then refrigerate until ready to serve. It's WONDERFUL!!!

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July. We went to Busch Gardens with the Gaines (I don't have many pictures of that because I was the one riding most of the rides) and then had some fun with some friends (I don't have pictures of the kids playing in their backyard because I didn't have my camera with me) - but we do have a few of us waiting for fireworks, then finding out they were cancelled and waiting a few levels down for the traffic to clear! Melanie dipped her hair in the run-off water in the parking garage for Portsmouth Naval Hospital. Ugh!

Usher the day of the Independence (pronounced with a Dana Carvey (aka Pistachio) accent)

So, Thursday evening, we had the first of our "group" of mishaps. Due to miscommunication or whatever guys call it - the laptop I bought Jeremiah during his last deployment was damaged. Yes, that is right - there is a huge "crack" across the screen that is growing "branches". Then on Friday (the 4th) , we had a great and exhausting day at Busch Gardens with some GREAT friends of the family (pictures to follow) to return home and get ready to run out the door to some other GREAT friends' for dinner and fireworks (downtown). During the "down time" - yeah I like to use "". Julia snatched my glasses off my dresser and ran (there's a pattern there if you were wondering - she runs when she is being naughty). I found them broken on the floor when I followed her to see what mischief she was bringing upon herself. So - my wonderfully creative husband has come up with a plan (we think). We'll see how it works and I'll try to post a picture of my make-shift Harry Potter glasses (not broken in the same spot as his though). So, that is number 2 of our misfortunes - I hope there isn't a three, but that sometimes happens in this family.

12 Week Challenge!!

To all of you "Y" members out there. If you haven't signed up for the 12 week challenge, you have NO idea what you are missing out on! Well, let me describe it for you a little bit. Those lunges and squats you hate to do?? Yeah, you do TONS of em!! Haha! Then, for the next two days you are pretty much incapacitated when it comes to running, walking, squatting down to pick up your kids or let them look at something lower than your eye level. Excruciating pain. Let me tell you. BUT - I wouldn't trade it for the world. No Pain, No Gain. Needless to say, I've taken "leave" of the gym for a few days - but I made sure I had plenty of walking in there to still be active (and get points). So, sign up for the 12 week challenge, you'll find muscles you never knew you had hurting in no time!

The almost crime.... plus our update

Hello all! Well, again I have tried to be diligent with my blogging and have fallen behind. Things are going well for us here. We are quickly approaching the 4th of July weekend and are happy to be getting together with some friends. Maybe if all goes well, this will be the first time we actually see (as in closer than a few miles) the fireworks here in Virginia! Hopefully the girls will last that long and have a blast! I am very excited. Other than that - an update on my weight loss. I've lost 2 1/2 lbs as of last week sometime. I will have to weigh in again before too long to see if I'm still on track! I've been burning over 700 calories during each workout and I've been to the gym every day other than saturday and sunday. I am doing my best!!

We had kind of a funny thing happen to us on Monday. I bought a few movies from ebay last week and was waiting on one more to arrive. The mail carrier brought our mail Monday and told me that he accidentally put my envelope (no doubt containing the dvd) in my neighbors mail slot. He said he knocked on the door but was unable to get anyone to answer the door. After he left, I checked to see if I thought anyone was home. Anyway, I ended up knocking on the door and catching them home. They told me the mail man didn't put an envelope in their mail slot, nor did he knock on the door. (A mother's intuition told me they were lying). So, I chased after the mail carrier to find out my course of action (I mean - this movie cost me 4 dollars!! plus it was the movie cast away - awesome movie). He called his supervisor and they said they would stop by the next day and try to get the movie back for me. I returned home fuming about it and about an hour later the lady next door brings over my OPENED envelope saying "sorry, my son had it". Her son looks like he is six and it was one of those hard to open envelopes. I'm pretty sure they were trying to steal my movie until they found out that it was Cast Away. (These particular neighbors didn't seem the type to like the movie Cast Away). I felt that if it were any other movie more appealing to them - that they would have kept it and not bothered to give it back. So, needless to say - I had to be like my dad for a bit and figure out how to get my movie back. So, I went through all of that for Cast Away. It's a great movie - what can I say??