Lost Keys

Here we are in Utah! We've actually been here since Saturday. I was worried about taking Owen on the plane, because he seems to fear everything these days. But I really had no need to worry. He colored and looked out the window on our flight to Minnesota, and then he slept on the flight to Utah! All that worry for nothing. I have been taking some pictures, but I haven't got the chance to put them on a computer yet. So pictures will have to wait.

Yesterday morning I needed to go to Walmart to pick up a few things I needed. So I got the kids up bright and early (which isn't hard, they are still functioning on Eastern Standard Time) and I borrowed my youngest brother's car to go to Walmart. We went to Walmart, found everything we needed, and then headed out to the car.

When we go to the car, I took the keys out of my pocket and opened the trunk. I stuck all our stuff in there.

Then I used the keys to unlock the doors.

Then I put Owen in the car.

Then I went around to the other side of the car and put Holly in the car.

We were parked next to a shopping cart returner thingy majig...so I put the shopping cart away.

I went to get into the car...and I couldn't find the keys!

I looked in the backseat, they weren't there. I looked in the trunk, they weren't there. I got down on my hands and knees, they weren't on the ground anywhere that I could see. I look to make sure they didn't fall into my bra, they weren't there. I looked and looked for about 30 minutes, but I couldn't find the keys. Finally I loaded the kids back into the shopping cart and went into the store.

I tried to call by little brother Casey at home, because I had forgotten my cell phone and the only number I know by memory is the number I had growing up. Apparently Casey doesn't answer my parents phone though. Luckily they had a phone book in Walmart, so I looked up my brother Marc's phone number. He was able to give me my mom's number at work. I called her, and she called my dad at work to come and save us.

While I was waiting for my dad I continued to look for the keys. Meanwhile, Owen was sitting in the front seat of the car honking the horn ever 2 seconds, and the Walmart employee who pushes carts back into the store kept walking by looking at me suspiciously. There was one woman with two little kids who stopped to ask if I needed any help. I thanked her and told her what had happened. She wished me luck.

Finally my dad showed up with the extra keys. He got out of his car to give them to me, and I was telling him what had happened. Just then another woman with some little kids stopped and said, "Did you lose your keys?" I said yes, and she handed me the missing keys! She was parked 2 spots up from me, and she found them when she had gotten out of her car. I have no idea how the keys traveled 2 parking spaces away. And I could have sworn I looked over around there, but I guess not good enough. I was very happy to have the keys back though.

And the suspicious cart boy looked very happy to see me finally driving away.

Eating Our Way Through New England

It's that time of year again...state fair time! The state fair here in New England is called The Big E, and it's suppose to be the fair for all 6 New England States. Luckily (?) we live closer to it than most of the people in New England, so we usually go every year. Scott likes to buy a 17 day pass so he can go whenever he wants. Me, I like to just get a free ticket from Scott's mom and go for about 3 hours every year. They have all the same junk every year, so I really just go for the food...yum yum!

On the fair grounds there are 6 buildings which are called the State Buildings. Each New England state runs one of the buildings, and in their building are businesses and foods that are suppose to represent that state. So I love to go through the state buildings and get one thing to eat from each building. Then Scott, Owen, Holly and I all share that one thing. We are quite frugal : ) So here is a tour of our feast this year.

New Hampshire

We found some banana and strawberry shish-kabobs that were covered in chocolate. Four pieces for fruit for $4.00. What a deal! (That is a deal at the Big E)

Connecticut

Connecticut was the worst building...it always is. It's hard to find something, but we found a giant piece of pizza for $4.00. Owen loves pizza, so we decided to get one and share it. When we went outside to eat it we saw them grilling corn on the cob! Dang, that would have been much more yummy than this piece of chewy reheated pizza.

Vermont

We always get a chocolate chip cookie and a cup of milk in the Vermont building. Only $2.00 for both! What a deal. Holly really enjoyed munching on part of the cookie.

Maine

Maine always sells baked potatoes, and the line for the baked potatoes is always about 3 miles long. Lucky for us though, the line wasn't too long while we were there! So we got a baked potato with everything on it for $5.00. Holly, Scott and I thought it was great. Owen wouldn't touch it. We watched a parade going by while we ate this yummy treat.

Massachusetts

We had a hard time deciding in Massachusetts. There was some baked mac and cheese that looked really good, but we finally settled on an apple for 50 cents! It was time for something healthy. After we bought the apple we saw that we could buy an apple cider donut and a cup of apple cider for just $1.25, so we got that too. Then we enjoyed our apple feast on the front lawn of the building.

Rhode Island

Rhode Island was full of fish. That was pretty much all there was. I love clam chowder, so I got a bowl, but nobody would help me eat it except for Holly. Owen did enjoy the oyster crackers that came with it though.

After our food tour through the state buildings we wandered around and saw lots of live infomercials. At the end of the day Owen found these barns where he had a blast running around and jumping in them. I tried to get Scott to take a picture of me and the kids, and this is what we got. I can tell family pictures are going to be fun this year. It might be impossible to get both kids to look at the camera at the same time. Oh well, I'm up for a challenge! Hopefully when they take our family picture they have a better flash too.

Now that Big E fun is over for me it's time to start getting ready for Utah. Now that is going to be a challenge...flying with 2 kids...yikes! I know I did it back in January, but Holly was 3 months at the time and didn't really care about crawling all over the place. So wish me luck!

The Little Things

It's amazing the little things that can make a child happy. A few weeks ago we got these clipboard folder thingys at work to promote a program they have going on. I took it to the baby shower and wrote down all Tracey's gifts in it. Then I brought it home and gave it to Owen.

He said, "Oh Thank You!" and promptly sat down...

and got to work drawing.

I couldn't even get him to look up for a picture of a smile!

It's amazing how kids love the little things. Why do people insist on spending so much on big toys that don't entertain a child for more than 5 minutes, when something like a pen and free notepad can entertain them for hours? Owen does have a love of drawing, whether it be on paper or walls. I prefer paper though, so I try to keep him fully stocked and supplied in paper goods.

Tracey's Baby Shower

So today was Tracey's baby shower. I know, I know...a Sunday isn't the best day for a baby shower. But I didn't pick the date. About 2 weeks after Tracey found out she was having a boy she e-mailed me saying, "The baby shower will be on September 20th! I've booked the same banquet hall where I had my wedding reception." I promptly told her that she was not suppose to throw her own baby shower, and I took over from there with the help of one of her friends. The nice thing about having the shower at a banquet hall, I didn't have to do anything with food...YAY! I was just in charge of invitations, games and favors. Those I can do...food I can't do. So it all worked out for the best.

Here is Tracey. I probably should have tried to get a better picture of her, one where she doesn't look like she's in mid blink...but I didn't. I only got a few pictures before I had to go about my regular duties. Hopefully somebody else got some better pictures!

Games! Tracey picked the first game. She wanted to play the guess the baby food game. We had 9 tables set up for the shower, so I figured the easiest way to do it would be to have 8 jars on each table. So we bought them all and I decorated them as you can see in the picture. It was really exciting to put fabric on top of 80 jars of baby food! I think they turned out cute though. Then we put them around a candle to make up the centerpiece on the table. There was one winner per table for both of the games. So whoever got the most right on the first game won the candle that was the centerpiece!

For the 2nd game we played the Baby Price-Is-Right. I had 8 items that I bought at Babies-R-Us. They had to guess what I paid for it, and then I told them the actual prices. Whoever was closest to the actual price won a gift bag with a Bath & Body Works liquid soap and a bag of chocolates....one winner per table on that game too. It was funny when I was reading off the prices because everybody in the room was gasping at how expensive the stuff was. For example, 46 size 4 Pampers brand Diapers were $17.50! (Actually they were $17.49, but I added a penny to each thing to make the math easier to handle.)

You can see in the picture about the game sheet for the mystery baby food game. On the back was the print out for the other game. Also you will see our favors. Tracey also picked out these favors. They are Boo Boo Bunnies. A few weekends ago Tracey, her friend Karen, and I spent a few hours putting Boo Boo Bunnies together. I think they turned out pretty cute. You are suppose to be able to put an ice cube in its tummy when you get a boo boo, but I think it would fall apart pretty quickly after that. But Tracey wanted them, so we made them!

Overall the shower was a success! This is my niece Erin, sitting all alone. Her mother (Scott's other sister) is always late! But doesn't she look like she's having fun?!?

New Things

I'm sure you all have been waiting patiently by your computer to see what I have done with all my free time. We'll I've been having some fun, and trying out some new things.

First, I watched a movie, "7 Pounds", or at least I started watching it. I have about 30 minutes left to watch, but it hasn't really caught my attention yet. I'm hoping that it's one of those movies with a really great ending that makes you happy you watched through all the boring parts.

While I was watching the movie I worked on one of my New Years Resolutions, which was to cross stitch 4 stockings for the kids, Scott and I. I am happy to report that Scott's stocking is all stitched up and ready to be made into a stocking. I am hoping that my lovely grandmother in Arizona will help me turn it into a stocking when we visiting her in a few weeks!

Then my sister-in-law took me out to be pampered as a thank you for helping her with her baby shower.

We got pedicures! That was a lot of fun. I don't know why I've never tried that before. I am quite in love with my cute little toes. We drove around to many stores after getting pedicures because I needed to find the perfect pair of sandals to wear with my cute new toes. Silly me, stores stop selling sandals at the end of summer! This picture doesn't do my toes justice though...they are much cuter than they appears.

Another first at the beauty salon...I got my eyebrows waxed! I have always been deathly afraid of getting my bushy eyebrows waxed for fear of the pain. I put on a brave face and faced down the hot wax though....and it wasn't that bad. Tweezing is a lot more painful than waxing!

Now I'm home, and Scott and the kids aren't. I still have more free time. I think I'm going to take a nap! Then I will be prepared for Holly's 1:45 AM wake-up call. The fun never stops around here!

Freedom!

Scott just took the kids to the Big E for the day!

All my housework is done!

Everything is ready for the baby shower tomorrow!

I have the house to myself for the whole day!

What will I do with all this free time for myself?

I don't know, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Have a great day!

New Pictures!

I have been meaning to post these for a while now. I am helping throw a baby shower for my sister-in-law this Sunday (she picked the date, not me) so I have been busy getting ready for that. In the meantime, Holly turned 11 months old with no mention of it on my blog! So in honor of Holly being on this planet for 11 months I am giving you 11 new pictures of Holly!

Holly is standing now...but not walking by herself. She walks holding onto furniture, or fingers though. Any day now! You will also notice that she is holding a teething toy. One tooth on the bottom looks like it's ready to show itself. Watch out steak!

Holly watching TV. I think she likes it a little too much. She must get that from me, even though I watch very little tv at home.

Yummy....Holly's first corn on the cob! She probably would have got more out of it if she had teeth, but she still seemed to enjoy it.

She climbed right into that chair by herself. She is quite the climber.

Her teacher at daycare tell me that she will turn around for 10 seconds, and when she turns back Holly will be sitting on top of the table!

"Enough pictures already Mom!"

There's that climbing thing again.

I am still taking pictures of Owen too. He just doesn't sit still for the camera very often.

I still think he's super cute though.

High Waters

Sometimes I try to pretend that I'm not taller than the average girl.

Sometimes I buy pants that aren't labeled "Tall".

I always regret it.

Will I never learn?

Parade Anyone?

I am really behind on posting some family events. All these pictures were taken about a month ago! Our local park had a 60th Anniversary parade, and who doesn't love a parade (besides my dad). So we took the kids up to enjoy the fun.

Before the parade, Owen played on the park's playground. That's why he looks all red and sweaty. It seems that both of my children have inherited Scott's sweaty gene...they sweat anytime the thermostat goes about 75 degrees.

We found a great rock to sit on to watch the parade. We probably could have all fit on it comfortably, but Owen decided it was his rock.

Holly wasn't overly thrilled by the parade.

Owen liked it though. A lot of the people going by threw candy at us. I picked up a tootsie roll and gave it to Owen. He promptly threw it back at the people in the parade! I guess he still has a lot to learn.

After the parade we got to enjoy some of the park's birthday cake. Doesn't it look yummy with all that neon green frosting?

Trampoline Fun

Happy Labor Day everybody! I hope everybody has as much fun this past Labor Day as we had. We kept ourselves busy and out of trouble.

On Saturday we headed down to Connecticut for a cookout with a bunch of Scott's friends. The weather was perfect, and Owen had a blast jumping on the trampoline that was there. This past year I have been telling Scott that we needed a trampoline, but he wasn't convinced. I grew up with a trampoline, I know how much fun they are! I have many great memories on that trampoline, from sleeping outside on it during the summer to being popped above the house and peeing my pants from fright...ok, mabye that is a bit embarrassing, but funny to remember.

So I was sure that Owen would love the trampoline, he loves the jump. He always wants me to hold his hands to help him jump higher. But when we first put him on the trampoline he wanted nothing to do with it. Scott was holding his hands and he was trying to get off. Meanwhile, I had Holly on the trampoline and she was having fun. So Owen decided Holly couldn't have all the fun, and he started jumping, but he would only jump by the side holding onto Scott's hands. Later another lady at the cookout had his hands and he was jumping holding onto her. Her son (Matt) was jumping in the middle, and we finally convinced Owen that he could hold onto Matt's hands and jump. So he did. Then he had some real fun. Owen and Matt jumped for a long time, but they always had to be holding each other's hands...so they tripped a lot...but they had fun. A while later we were able to get Owen on the trampoline by himself. I think Scott is finally convinced that we can buy a trampoline!

As for the rest of our weekend...on Sunday we went to Scott's sister's house for a family cookout. We had a fire roaring and we made lots of smores...yay! Then on Monday my sister-in-law and I went to Connecticut to play Bingo! I don't know why I love playing Bingo, but I do. We didn't win anything, but we had fun meeting some nice new people.

Happy Birthday After All

It's been a week since I turned 30. I don't really feel any differently though. I do think my hair looks much nicer, but that's probably just because the heat and humidity finally died down...YAY! I know I said I wasn't going to write much about my birthday because I didn't expect anything exciting to happen. I was wrong though. My friends and family came through for me on my big turn of a decade birthday.

First up, I was sitting at my desk at work, just trying to blend into my cubicle like I usually do. All of the sudden a bunch of my coworkers are gathered around my desk with a cake (chocolate with a cream cheese frosting, so yummy), two balloons (my two kids appreciated those) a card and a gift certificate to Carabba's! There was also a ticket for the $325 Million Mega Millions Lottery...but I only had 1 number out of the 30 on the ticket. Oh well. It was great to be remembered by my friends at work!

Usually the bookclub I go to meets on the 3rd Thursday of the month. But it was moved to the 4th Thursday, my birthday, this month. I was debating whether to go or no, and I finally decided to go. I didn't want Scott to feel pressured to make me dinner, and I had read the book ("A Tree Grown in Brooklyn"...very good) so I decided to go. When I got home I noticed my sister-in-law's car in front of our house. I wondered what she was doing there at 9:30 at night. I went inside and she was sitting on the couch with the new laptop Scott got me for my birthday. I was pretty surprised, and shocked. I guess while I was out at bookclub Scott and his sister had gone and bought it for me, along with a wireless router. Then they came home, and with the help of Gary, our brother-in-law, they set the computer up and got it hooked up to the wireless router. I have been loving the wireless thing too. It's awesome to be able to curl up on the couch and play a game on facebook, or watch a tv show while I'm cleaning the kitchen. My kids can't get into much trouble anymore either because I am not in a corner of the house on the computer. I never knew I wanted a laptop, but I'm excited I have one now!

Friday night we planned to go out to dinner for my birthday...since we didn't go out Thursday night. I invited Scott's sister and her husband to go along. We decided on a place, and decided to meet each other there. When we got there...surprise! Two of my friends from work also came to celebrate. I guess they had tried to get more people to come, but it was short notice and everybody was busy Friday night. I was happy there wasn't too many people though, I really am not into being the center of attention. So we had a fun dinner with friends and family. I'm happy to say that my 30th birthday will be a memorable one! Who knew birthdays could be so fun when you get old?