Jolly Holiday!

Here are some moments from our Christmas at home in Idaho at my mom's. It was so nice to have Andrew on Christmas morning again...not having him last year was the worst. He got everything on his list-he made it easy for me by not asking for much. All he wanted was a dog pillow pet-he named him Bagel, how cute is that?, and an Ipod. Now, there was no way I was going to buy a 6 year old an ACTUAL Ipod, but he didn't seem to to notice the difference in his bargain MP3 player. He has always been very into music. I think he gets that from me. lol My niece Rylee also got an MP3 player and the two of them proceeded to ignore the rest of us and talk to each other in loud voices over their music for the rest of the vacation. The MP3 players had to be limited pretty quickly! All in all it was a nice Christmas. As always I had to hurry home too quickly, one to check in on crazy kittens bent on destroying my house, and two because Andrew was scheduled to spend the remainder of the holiday with his other parental unit. Sigh...only 12 more shopping months til next Christmas!

NOTE: Andrew's eye looks freakish and deformed in some of the pics because he got two lovely STYES on his left eye on Christmas Eve. Poor kid! Luckily, they cleared up within a couple of days.

I Am An Amazing Apple!

A new friend of mine shared this wisom with me tonight and it made me feel like a really amazing apple! Women are like apples on trees. The best ones are at the top of the tree.The men don't want to reach for the good ones because theyare afraid of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they just get the rotten apples from the ground that aren't as good,but easy. So the apples at the top think something is wrong with them, when in reality, they're incredibly amazing. They just have to wait for the right man to come along, the one who's brave enough to climb allthe way to the top of the tree!

Tale of the Crazy Cat Lady

As some of you may know, I lost my beloved cat Rocky about three weeks ago. He had been with me the last 15 years through thick and thin and I considered him like another child. People who don't have pets don't understand this mentality, but when an animal is with you that long (he outlasted BOTH of my husbands), they become part of the family. Anyway, dear Rocky was a cat unlike any other. My favorite thing about him was he loved to snuggle and would fall asleep in my arms while I watched TV or a movie. He could never get enough loves. I am like that too. He and I were two peas in a pod. He had to be put down after he became ill with kidney failure. My heart was broken and I cried, and cried, and cried...I couldn't stand how empty the house was. I kept seeing him everywhere. I kept thinking I heard him meowing. I needed to fill the void his death had left in my life. AND SO....

I decided to adopt a kitten. I went on KSL, called a few numbers and ended up at a house looking at two brother kittens. The last two left from the litter. One black, a little larger than the smaller brown striped runt. The house had about 12 kids under five carrying the kittens around by their heads and pulling them out from under the chairs by their tails. Someone had to do something....but not me! TWO new kittens is just not realistic. TWO new kittens is WAY too impulsive. TWO new kittens would be just TOO much! SIGH....

I just had to rescue both the babies...Introducing....Tobey and Mowie-the TWO new kitten children of me, the Crazy Cat Lady. They are so cute and so much fun and so cuddly and have helped me mourn my darling Rocky in a much healthier way than I would have otherwise. Despite the fact that they are clawing their way through the complete and total destruction of my entire house...I just love them!

Back to School....I Am Still Alive (barely)

Andrew had a pretty good week one in first grade. His teacher Miss Shepherd is very positive and encouraging and he only cried once (that I know of) lol. He is growing up so fast. Who knew a first grade boy would be into "skinny jeans?" Should I be worried? He constantly refers to himself as a teenager but luckily does not act like one as of yet. He is still my little sweetheart although getting him to hold still long enough for a hug and kiss takes some doing.

His mother on the other hand did not fare so well. Although my class is beyond cute and has lots of potential I think the lazy days of summer might have done me in. I was SO lazy for three months that a week back at a full-time job just about killed me. Shouldn't this job be easy after 15 years? Hmmmm....I came home from work everyday and had to lay down. No energy for cooking. No energy for walking. Barely enough energy to breathe. Is this part of getting older or am I just supremely out of shape. Seriously considering a gym membership at this juncture because 36 shouldn't feel like 45! Here's to a much less exhausting second week! CHEERS!

I GOT FLOWERS!!!

Really? Seriously? YES YES YES!!! It is not Valentine's Day...I am not sick....and no member of my family was feeling sorry for me!! I actually received flowers from a MAN for the first time in a couple of years! I am one happy, and cautiously optimistic girl. YAY!!

Mini Vacay: Bear Lake, Lake Powell and Yellowstone in 4 Days

Yes it was exhausting and lots of driving, but we had fun nevertheless. My friend came to visit who is originally from Morocco but lives in Dallas. He is into hiking and nature-ish stuff, and wanted to see everything he didn't see the first time he was here. So we did our best to cover the list. Bear Lake and Minnetonka Cave on Saturday, Lake Powell on Sunday and Monday and Yellowstone on Tuesday and Wednesday. I know! It was a whirlwind!

We tried to put Andrew's three summers of swimming lessons to use in Lake Powell to no avail. He sinks like a rock and has absolutely no interest in changing that. Glad my money was well invested. Sigh...lol.

My sister and cute niece joined us for our Yellowstone adventure and we saw Old Faithful, paint pots and then some parts of the park Hillary and I had never been in all our times there so that was nice. Andrew had a great time and is such a good traveler-he really seems to enjoy just looking out the window (and sucking his thumb of course-grrrr!). It is nice to be home but I am glad we went. Now I need to rest and recover from my vacation.

MY BABY GRADUATED FROM KINDERGARTEN!!!

And I didn't even cry. Okay so maybe he was the kid who didn't stand up when he was supposed to when they sang songs, and maybe he shouted out across the room at me a couple of times, but he was the darn cutest kid in the room and there couldn't have been a prouder mom! School is a struggle for my boy yet he tries so hard. This year has been a huge learning experience for both of us. For him to hang in there and always do his best and for me to learn to let go a little and watch him fall and get back up. Mrs. Moffett has been a blessing for Andrew-always so sweet and understanding and never putting on too much pressure like mom tends to do sometimes....I am working on it! Here we come first grade! WHOO HOO!

Rub a Dub Dub-There's A NUT in the Tub!

I responded to Andrew's shrieks and stifled giggles to find him posing like this in the tub:

And I do mean posing. He goes out of his way to think of ways to entertain me and anyone else who will give him a minute of their time. He is such a funny boy! I can't imagine what my life would be like without him. He always makes me smile and brings me unmeasureable joy. I need to focus on the positive-the miracle that my child is and enjoy every second! Little seconds like this one that add up much too quickly!

ps-Let's just ignore the fact that I have not posted since November. Busy Year? EPIC BLOGGING FAIL!