Have you heard of...

Justin Bieber?

Well, let me tell you about him. He is a teen heart throb, singer, actor, brother and son and every "tween" girl on the planet (including my 9-1/2 yr old daughter) is in love with him. He really is a cutie.
Emily had a sleepover two weeks ago with a school friend and came home talking all about "Justin Bieber" and how she was going to marry him. If his song came on the radio she would start screaming and sing along. Apparently at this sleep over, they watched You-tube videos of him and sang to him all night.

So when I saw how excited she was about something, i reminded her she still had her Christmas money she hadn't spent yet and if she wanted she could get a Justin Bieber CD (Insert high pitched shrieking here). So off we went to the store and she carried that CD throughout the store not letting it go.

As soon as she got home the wrapper got ripped off and we discovered the inset had a poster of him on it. So she made a bed on her floor in her room of a blanket and laid the poster out on it and stared and talked to Justin for days. She played the CD over and over and over and over (oh sorry, flashbacks!) and on HIGH volume and sang to every song before picking her favorite. And this said song has a chorus line of "A, A, A, A" over and over which in effect could be "hey, hey, hey" but to which she will not hear of and says "A, A, A".

I realized how intense this crush was getting when I over heard her kneeling beside her bed to pray and asked God to switch her brother out for Justin Bieber so he could be her brother.

So I then reminded her she still had money left over would she like to go get a BIG poster to hang on her wall??? (Insert ear splitting shriek here)

So off we go again and grabbed a poster along with a "Teen Beat" magazine that was ALL about Justin Bieber. We also bought some sturdy and durable Pink Headphones to go with that CD so mommy could retain her sanity.

Today, I hung her 3 posters up on her wall and when she walked in I heard another ear splintering shriek and giggles and a "Thank you Mommy I love you you are the bestest ever" being yelled through the house.

*sigh* I thought this wasn't suppose to happen until she was 25??? That's the way it played out in my head. ;o)

XOXO

What happens to all the teeth...

We have been losing teeth left and right lately around here! Watch out! The poor tooth fairy is BROKE and knows her way to our house. Emily lost one of her molar's last Thursday and because it was such a big tooth and it happened while she was eating, the tooth fairy left her $5!! (I think that was all the poor fairy had on her at the time, seeing as Emily is 9-1/2 yrs old and we thought we were done with losing teeth for awhile). So lo and behold here comes Emily running into my office today yelling "I lost another tooth!" Sure enough, it was the tooth next to the the molar she lost, so now she has this double wide gap in the side of her mouth!

*sigh*

Someone better give the tooth fairy a loan quick!

So this prompted Emily to ask..."what does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth?" To which I replied "I think she makes a set of teeth for people who don't have any, like Grandma's and Grandpa's". Not bad of an answer considering it was last minute!

So what do you tell your children where the teeth go?

And really...who ever came up with the idea of a Tooth Fairy?

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

In honor of my Uncles death and Memorial this week, thought this was appropriate:

Life is a matter of choice....
You can be a Doctor who saves life.
A Lawyer who defends life.
A Soldier who protects life.
Or just be yourself,
A person who touched my life.

XOXO

Where, oh where has the time gone...

I'm sorry I have been gone so long. We have had a Death, a Funeral, Baseball, First Confession @ Church, First Confirmation plans @ Church, School, Spring break, Work, Overtime @ work and LIFE!

This past week has gone by in a blur. Literally. My son 2nd trimester report cards come out and he got his first 4.0, preparing for 8th grad graduation ceremonies, as well as registering for High School.

My daughter had a field trip to a museum and wore costumes for the day of Pioneer women and learned to bake bread, make crafts and gather wood. She also is rehearsing daily for a play she is in coming up in May.

Work is crazy right now. Sad to say that a catastrophe like the earthquake in Chile has made my industry go into a frenzy and a shortage of lumber now is making prices sky rocket and demand in a fervor. So I have been working overtime and my days off. Which means laundry now gets done at night, house doesn't get cleaned and blogs don't get updated.

But I am working on getting back into the swing of things. So i will be popping back into your blogs and catching up on your lives and may even leave a comment so you know I've been there. I feel like that movie "Horton hears a who" and shouting "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here".

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

I'm heartbroken to say...

I haven't been around this week because Monday, my Uncle unexpectedly passed away in his sleep. My Aunt was home and found him. He was the life of the party, made everyone smile, the kids loved him and he would take the shirt off his back for you. You heard him before you saw him, and you were more likely to find him on the floor playing with kids or out back swimming with them. He was larger then life in every sense of the word. He was so in love with my aunt, that he pursued her for years before she would go out with him. He doted on her in every way. His eyes lite up when he saw her and she shone when he walked in the door. Their marriage was truly made in heaven. It was her second marriage, and after such a turbulent first marriage, he was exactly what she needed and deserved. I still am in shock that he is gone. And I am sure at the Memorial it will hit me. My Aunt called me today and asked me to read during the Mass for him. I started crying. What an honor. For I read during the Mass at their Wedding. I feel so blessed to have had the privilege to have known him in my life and I will remember him forever!

XOXO

Happy Friday Quote...

"Worry looks around
Sorry looks back
Faith looks up"

XOXO

More trip pics...

**Just in off the wire**

Finally got the pics from my friends camera so had to share from her point of view...

Us girls making our way...Don't we look fearless?
Such a devilish look...What do you suppose she was thinking of doing with that scrapper?? You can see behind us how bad the weather was getting! Yikes!
My turn to scrap...I had the big snow parka, so I grabbed her jacket to throw on, turns out it was her daughters she borrowed, yea, about 2 sizes too small for me! lol
There's the proof honey...we really stayed in and scrapbooked! No stripper shows, i promise! :o)
We stopped on the way home to ride the Motion Theatre 3D experience and she whipped her camera out during the ride...good thing we were the only ones in there! It was fun!

So there ya have it...in a nutshell!

XOXO

Part 1,495 of trip...

Just kidding...

Ok - so we made it to our room, with all our luggage, drinks, food and scrapbooking. We made a drink to calm and relax us, and kicked off our shoes. I checked out our view from our room before dark hit, and set about settling into the room. I have this quirk. Drives my hubby mad. When I travel, I need to unpack right away. "settle in". I can not stand living out of a suitcase. I put everything in it's place. Which in reality is pretty funny, because I'm not like that at home at all! Ha Ha

So I get everything put away and realized right away that the one desk in the room is not going to be enough room to scrapbook on for two people. So my friend gets on the phone to front desk to get another table sent up, and they transferred her to several departments, each one not sure who's responsibility it was to do this. After 30 minutes, housekeeping showed up with a nightstand table, a little 3 legged, short, round table. I totally laughed. So we rigged the room up (rearranged furniture) to make it work and set out all our scrap stuff. It was at this point that we realized we were hungry, but neither one of us wanted to go back down into that lobby, with all the cigarette smoke and find a restaurant. So we ordered room service and made another drink!

We set up the Ipod and started scrapping. Dinner arrived shortly and we made another drink to wash it down. It was yummy. We split a Chicago Pizza and fries. :o)

Well, a few hours went by, snacks came out and put away, and drinks poured and gone, and before you know it, it was 12:30am and we needed to stretch. I realized at this point that I was getting stuffy from the smoke in the air and the elevation so went down to the lobby gift shops in search of Sudafed. We walked around a bit, hoping to play in the carnival area, but it was closed! So back to our room after purchasing trinkets to take home to our kids. And we scrapped some more, and we talked some more, and we drank some more. I happened to look over at the clock and it was 3:30am! We laughed like girls, we partied like young ins, we ate like queens, we talked like teenagers and we giggled like no one's business! It was the best time. It was about 4:30am when i crawled into bed, and was up at 6:30am. Just couldn't sleep. Tossed and turned until 9am when we decided we better get up and pack all the crap up and load the car again. We stopped off at another town and ate brunch and went to a motion theatre - so fun!

And believe it or not, when we hit the road at 2pm to head home, the sun was shining on us the whole way. No snow or rain, roads clear and we made it home in 2 hours!!!

It was definitely a trip to remember for a lifetime! We're already planning the next one...hee hee

XOXO

Part 2 of our trip...

Where were we? Oh yea, nasty weather and alone on a road...fun times!

So the Fog crept in from nowhere and visibility was dramatically reduced, and the rain turned to snow and then chunks of ice falling, and we couldn't see anything past our hood of the car. We were literally creeping along and stopping to chip off the wipers and all the time laughing to ourselves how insane are we to be doing this? Because any "Sane" person would have turned around by now. :o)

It was during this treacherous part that we heard a noise and looked behind us and lo and behold there were 3, yes 3, giant Snow Plows and Sand trucks going about 50 mph flying down the road and clearing the way. They flew past us and we followed in the newly plowed and sanded road! And behind them came cars! We weren't alone now. But on the other side of the road, they were being led by Highway Patrol and there were MILES of cars waiting to get through! Man, we weren't sure if we were happy or crazy that we made it through!

I wish I had taken a picture of how bad the weather was. But I was busy jumping in and out to chip wipers off. It was pure WHITEOUT conditions. We couldn't see. We were driving 15 mph and still couldn't see where we were. I just kept an eye on the snow drift embankment next to me and told her when to move over onto the road.

We endured this for about 30 minutes when we rounded a curve in the mountain and all of a sudden, it was blue skies! No more snow falling, ice forming and the road actually turned back into pavement! Woo-hoo! We knew at that point we were going to make it. Now coming home the next day, was another story.

The normally 2 hour drive took us 6-1/2 hours! We pulled into the Hotel and our nerves were shot! Little did we know our journey was still not over! After checking in, they tell us to pull across the street to the parking garage and take the skyway walkway back thru to the hotel and take the elevator to the 10th floor.

The view from our room and our hotel rooftop!

So off we go. The walkway tunnel looking up seems pretty high, so we drive up and up through the garage until we think we are high enough. We are both on our phones checking in with hubbies to let them know we made it in one piece! And apparently we can't talk, drive and think at the same time. We parked and got out to unload when I look across the garage to the walkway and I can't see it. We had gone too high. So back in the car we go again and drive down a few floors until we are pretty sure we got the right one, and park again. And looks are deceiving, because it looked like we were at the right angle, but after unloading bags and luggage, and climbing into the elevator to the "walkway, we learned we had to go "up" 2 floors. Only to learn you can't park on the floor with the walkway, only Valet! WTH?

The mountains around us...

So we make our way across the walkway, each pulling our rolling luggage, carrying bags of alcohol and food, and carrying Ipod Speakers, Cricut machine and purses. We were loaded. When all of a sudden, one bag handle rips. So we readjust and continue. A second bag rips a hole in the bottom. Damn we brought a lot of alcohol. Then the food bag rips! Crap - wth is going on here! So I park my friend with the ripped bags and went in search of the elevators to see how far they were to get to our room. Still pulling all my load, I wind around this hotel following signs that say the elevator is "around the corner". When I finally find it after the 4th corner, I climb into it only to discover it only goes up 3 floors and we need the 10th floor! Damn it! Wrong freaking elevator. So back off I go and back to my friend. We stand there trying to decide our dilemma. Between us and the Lobby were a set of 6 stairs and an escalator. Let me remind you here we have HEAVY broken bags and rolling luggage stacked with more crap! My friend runs down the stairs looking for a luggage cart only to be told we can't let you use them, you have to pay a bellboy! WTH? Who designed this freakin hotel?

One of the mountains we just drove across!

So She's back and we stand there discussing our options. When I finally had enough! I grabbed as much as I could carry, told her to wait, and carried everything down the stairs and ran for the elevators. Found our room, ran back and helped her bring the rest. *panting for air here*
Our snacks - Had to have the M&M's when you drink, something Salty and something sweet, Licorce in the back you cant see and CC Cookies! Mmm...

Ok - Load one done, now back to the car for load two! Seriously, why did we bring so much crap? Umm...because we were only suppose to have a 2 hr drive here, so we were going to spend all day scrapbooking in our room, which by now it is 6pm and we still hadn't even unloaded everything!

It seriously took us 1 hour to figure out how to get our stuff down those stairs and across the lobby to the right elevator! Our brain and nerves were fried after that road trip! And seriously - who designs a bunch of stairs next to the walkway from the garage to the lobby when EVERYONE is pulling LUGGAGE??? Totally insane!

Yes, all this alcohol is for TWO people! And yes, we made quite a dent in it. :o)

We finally crashed in our room around 6:30pm and mixed a STRONG drink right away to relax us!

**Stay tuned for Part 3**

XOXO

The trip that almost didn't happen...

Ok - So we were determined, insanely crazy and oblivious to the world! One of my BFF's from back in the day (High School) who lives 1.5 miles from me and kicks my butt as I drag my feet every morning to walk, and I decided that we needed a night away. Bless her, she has 3 kiddos that keep her busy, and you all know about my "throwing in the towel" and the need for time away.

So on a last minute whim, we planned a night away to Reno, NV. Which means from California we need to travel across the Sierra Mountains to get there. Which in normal weather is a 2 hour drive (if you drive like me, 1-1/2hr). But then this stupid thing called "Winter" happened, and some insane Snow Storm threatened to end our trip. That morning, I checked with Cal Trans road conditions, checked 3 weather reports, checked online road delays and then we decided "Heck, let's go as far as we can and if we have to turn around, at least we tried!". We were armed with LOTS of alcohol, food, warm clothes, good music, full tank of gas, great company, all-wheel drive and Starbucks!

After 30 minutes on the road, we came across this:

It was blowing directly at us. It was like we were driving into the abyss!

Then we hit the first chain control check point and we looked at each other and plowed thru. A little nervous, but little did we know this was going to be nothing compared to what we were about to hit.

We were making our way, passing all the Semi's pulled over putting on chains or parked because they had no chains. We kept it at 30 miles an hour and was making good headway when all of a sudden we hit a road block. Cars stopped on the highway. We figured they closed the road and we had gone as far as we could. We put the car in park and called our Hubbies to tell them we are OK and to see if they could look up online and see what the situation was on the highway. It turned out to be the Cal Tran's Snow Plow truck. He spun out and hit an embankment. Took 2 Flatbed Towtrucks and another snow plow to pull him out! The guy next to us suddenly got out of his truck and pulled this out to play: We talked about anything we could to keep my mind off the fact that it was now hour 4 since I drank that Starbucks and desperately need to PEE like no ones business! I mean I was seriously coming up with an alternate plan. We had a cliff on one side of us. A dozen cars on the other. No where to "squat" outside. I had my Starbucks cup, a back seat and turn the radio up loud as I was about to pee in the car! Just as I was about to unbuckle and crawl over the seat, we see brake lights go on and cars moving! Thank you Lord!

The next exit had a gas station/burger king (and that was it, in the middle of nowhere) so we pulled over so I could pee! We decided since it was snowing and we had such a long journey already, we better eat lunch while there. As we sat through the worst of the snow, it suddenly stopped and we saw blue Sky's! So we hurried up and started to head out. When I noticed in the gas station part they had these window scrappers for sale. I remembered my friend saying she didn't even have one to bring, and seeing as how we were following the storm thru the mountain, I suggested we might buy one. She agreed and THANK GAWD we did!!!

After Lunch, We hit the road and as we pulled onto the highway and were chatting away, I suddenly looked around and said "um...where are all the cars?" We were on a mountain pass, and we were alone. No car in either direction. No Cal Trans snow plows, no sand trucks, no trucks, no highway patrol, no cars, no one! We suddenly giggled, and then reality set in. Oh My Gawd! They closed the highway down and forgot to close our exit. And we are ALONE on this mountain pass! And they would only close the highway if the driving conditions due to the weather were BAD! So we kinda chuckled at ourselves for being crazy woman determined to have our one night alone and plowing thru a snowstorm. So we did what anyone would do. We stopped the car in the middle of the highway and got these amazing pictures!

Yes, that is the road in front of us. Yea, we couldn't tell where the lanes were either!

It was so beautiful. But we knew we needed to get going before conditions got worse. So off we go to continue our climb thru the mountains. The weather immediately turned nasty within 2 minutes. The snow, fog and ice were so bad we were now creeping along at 15 MPH. Ice was building up on our windshield wipers so thick and fast, we had to keep stopping every 15 minutes to chip the ice off them so we could see. THANK GAWD for that window scrapper we bought!

**stay tuned for Part 2**

XOXO

Wow - what an adventure...

I had the best trip - and the best story - and the best adventure to tell along with some great pictures - but I havan't made up for my night of 2 hours sleep yet so i'm crawling into bed and promise to post this weekend all about it! Stay tuned! ;o)

XOXO

Just cuz...

*Why is it when I have planned a Girl's night out of town and NO KIDS or HUBBY allowed, a giant snow storm blows in and traps us from getting there???

*We are going to venture into it anyways and hoping we make it through the mountains. No snow will stop us girls!

*My kids are bothered that I am going away and need to know every detail. When will I be back? Where am I going? Why am I going? With who am I going with? Who is picking them up from school? Will dad cook dinner? Will I have to go to church class? hee...hee...hee...

*This trip was planned after I "threw in the towel" and decided I needed a night away and some FUN!

*I did not ask Hubby.

*Hubby was not pleased.

*Hubby has dealt with it.

*Two girls, a big city, casinos, shows, arcades, circus, buffets, shopping, scrapbooking, talking nonstop throughout the night, and sleeping in! Seriously, can it get any better then that?

XOXO

It's BASEBALL time...

So...last night was our first baseball meeting with the team and coaches. This is our first year in the new division. Juniors now! Bigger field, bigger players, new rules, faster pitches, harder hits and "edge of your seat moments" for parents. I am excited. Austin was nervous.

Let me remind you of this:

Needless to say, he is not pitching this season. First Base! Once he got to the meeting, he was better. The coach is really nice. He knew a few of the boys from around school. We actually saw a pair of twins on his team that he went to preschool with 10 years ago! We don't have any past team players this year that we have played with. That is really unusual. But at this level of play, only the die hard's and high school aged play. The ones who are in it for "fun" do not usually move on. It becomes competitive now. This is the year that will make or break them for High School ball. We also travel this year now. We don't play within our own league. So we will play against other local leagues in our area. That also steps the game up now. You aren't playing your neighbor or best friend. Your playing big kids from other towns. Different fields. Different Ump's calling.

Ok...I think I just got nervous too...

XOXO

It is funny how...

When you have one kid gone for the weekend how QUIET the house is!

Austin spent the whole weekend with his grandparents, and it was just Emily and us for the whole 3 days. I am just amazed how quiet it is when you minus one kid from the equation! Seriously, no sibling rivalry, no teasing, no screaming, no hitting, no yelling, no doors slamming, no toys taken, no fighting over the dog, no yelling "MOM" throughout and I still have food in the house!

Life just isn't the same since a TEENAGER moved into my house and took over my sweet, adorable son!

*sigh*

XOXO