Another Grab Bag!

Ollie looking slightly like a Cabbage Patch Doll. He's standing at the top of a little hill behind our apartment. I like how his arms hang; he looks so soft and sweet. His long shorts combined with the socks and shoes made me smile.

Cousin Fletcher was over that day. They were sending Oliver's favorite red truck down the hill.


We got that truck at Savers several months ago, and he still plays with it almost every day! It's been through hell and back, that's for sure! He loves making it crash and burn, and he adds all his own sound effects.




Moist tulips at my parents' house. Have I made it clear how much I absolutely love spring?
The top pic I took with the car window rolled up, then I rolled it down for a clearer shot. Too bad the work trailer is in the background...



Oliver came out from his nap one day with lipstick all over half of his face.



Ryan brought me this pretty plant a couple weeks ago. He said he'd been thinking of me all day and couldn't focus on his work, so buying me flowers seemed like the logical thing to do. :) I'll take it!



Cora reading Who Were The Beatles? I got it for her at their school book fair. She really seemed to like it. She keeps wanting to listen to Abbey Road. I think I have her on the right track to Beatlemania. ;)


Seeing this never gets old. And I did not pose him. He fell asleep with the bear all on his own.



These flowering bushes (or trees?) are in front of each of the apartment buildings in our complex. The blossoms didn't last long enough, but they were so pretty and they smelled sweet as candy. I should have tried to eat one.



Oliver waving me forward in his usual manner. He loves going on walks. Since he can't pronounce an R yet, I can't tell whether he is saying rock or walk. He'd probably be satisfied with either option, but it gets a little confusing sometimes.


Peeping Oliver



Crazy Jane.



Cora got this Pooh Bear from Aunt Megan for her 2nd birthday. It's rather large and says heartwarming phrases when its tummy is squeezed, punched or stepped on. We'd had him for a few years, when one day he uttered a phrase we'd never heard him say before. I think it was "Will you be my forever friend?" Cora and I had heard his entire repertoire countless times, so when he added that to the mix it was startling indeed! Creepy old bear... It brought to mind the times as a child when I was sure my dolls and stuffed animals came alive at night while I slept.



Our vehicles have been good to us. I bought this 1996 Toyota Tercel when I was 18. I have never had any problems with it. It starts every time and takes us easily from point A to point B. It has under 90,000 miles on it, so I think it will last at least until Cora starts to drive. Oof! that's a scary thought. Not so much the idea of her driving, but of her getting old enough to.
The only problem with the car is its lack of A/C. Since it's red, in the summer it feels kind of like getting into a furnace. Before we got our lovely 1996 periwinkle minivan I'd give the kids ice packs and water to keep cool when we had to go anywhere in hot weather. We bought the van in about 2004 with our tax return that year. We chose it because of its sleek stylishness, awesome color and second-to-none aerodynamics. Well, those things and we wanted an economical, reliable ride with the coveted comfort of cool air. We checked online reviews on vehicles, and the Mercury Villager came highly recommended. We found a few options in the local classifieds, and after a test drive or three we made our choice. We don't really care about having neat-o cars. We're planning on driving these two into the ground before we'll consider getting an upgrade.

That's all for now, folks!

The Secret Life of My Hair.

My hair hates me. And the feeling's kind of mutual. We have a love-hate relationship, my locks and I. I love the fact that I have some hair to work with, but I hate the amount of work it takes to make it look presentable. If I wore it air-dried and without manipulation it would look like this. Craptacular. Now, it doesn't look completely stupid from the front, but from any other angle it does. I refuse to go out in public when it's in its natural state. Some days I don't want to deal with it and I'll pull it all into a ponytail when it's still damp. It looks fine until it's dry, but from that point it becomes frizzy and ill-proportioned and, for lack of a better term, butt-ugly. And to add insult to injury, I always get pony tail headaches. It's just not worth it. It's better to just fix it right the first time around.

I need a haircut. I was trying to grow it out. When I say "out", I don't mean "out of control". I think my days of good long hair ended when I started shedding after Cora was born. It used to be considerably thicker. That was also when it began its steady transformation into the wavy-in-a-bad-way mess it is today. I've found that having kids messes up most of a woman's body, including tresses. Or maybe it's just mine. My neighbor has the most beautiful, long, luxurious brown hair I have ever seen, and she has three kids. She must be doing something right. Or a lot of somethings. :)



This is a fine example of why I have to either curl or straighten my hair EVERY DAY if I want to maintain some shred of dignity.



After I took the flat iron to it. The back of my skull is the most stubborn area. It's super kinky. I get impatient for it to be done after the first few minutes. My poor hair, it's trashed. I know growing it out is a lost cause when my split ends' split ends have split ends! It's pointless to have long hair when it looks like straw. And it does.

See how happy my "after" picture is? Because I was finally done arranging my hair. (I got that term from some show out of the '50s, I think.) Actually, this picture wasn't intended as an "after" shot in the sequence. I forgot to take a front view pic, but this one was taken by Oliver that same day.

Now I'm just trying to figure out where and how to get my hair cut. Maybe I can donate it to "Locks of Hate". Ha, ha...

Progress (if one can call it that) Report

Remember that self-imposed "no shopping" challenge I started a while back? I do. And I think I mostly succeeded. I went an entire two months without buying anything extraneous for myself. No clothes, accessories, trinkets, decorations, shoes, anything. I did buy Easter candy (I said that was my exception) and sugar crystals (sprinkles) because I was running out of them and was making cookies... but I didn't buy any Easter decorations. I didn't really even look at any. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to keep my mitts off needless stuff.
I know I said I wouldn't get any clothes for the kids, and I truthfully only got shirts to go under the girls' Easter dresses (that I'd previously purchased), plus I got a shirt at Target for Jane (under $4) that says Candy Girl. And a cute orange shirt that says Awesome! for Cora on the outlet mall excursion (also $4). And Oliver a 6-dollar one. It's a blue and white checkered dress shirt. He'd outgrown all but one of his church shirts. Then the girls needed new sandals because they'd worn out or grown out of last year's. I love hearing myself attempt to justify my every move and every purchase. I didn't get any new stuff for me! Isn't that a pretty astonishing accomplishment?
I was surprised that the less I shopped, the less desire I had for it. I had to make myself stay out of Target on a few occasions. Near the beginning of my hiatus I would go in there to get some random household need, like TP, and wander around to make sure there was nothing I wanted. I was trying to test my willpower. But as time has gone on I thought that was too torturous a thing to do to myself. So I haven't been in there since a few days before Easter. I think that may be a personal record for me! I LOVE TARGET! It's odd what a completely different experience it is to walk into Target rather than Shopko, Kmart or Walmart. Not that I go to those stores very often. It's for a reason. They are so lifeless and drab and . . . unlike Target! I really had no intention of going off on a Target tangent. Who am I kidding? I am almost always on a tangent and I can often be overheard talking about Target (likely to myself).

A week before I could legally ease out of my spending freeze I was faced with a HUGE decision. My sisters got this crazy idea to go to GLEE LIVE! in Phoenix. The show is in 3 weeks! I love Glee. The characters . . . the singing . . . Sue Sylvester. . .
My older sister (Erin) is obsessed with the show. She knows all the behind the scenes stuff and seems to know where each of the cast members are and what they are doing at any given moment. ;) She and my little sister (Megan) were discussing the topic of getting tickets to the show. A few hours later the deal was as good as sealed. Megan called me to see if I wanted to come along. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to pan out for me. Just for kicks, I asked Ryan (in apologetic sentence fragments) what he thought about me going. He didn't think it was a realistic request. It was so out of the blue. I didn't even know there was such thing as a Glee Live Tour until that day. My 93-year-old Grandpa lives minutes away from Phoenix. It might be the last time in this lifetime we get to see him. Ryan and I debated (okay, argued) for a few minutes while Megan waited for me to call back. I had to make the decision right then or they'd get tickets without me. So finally Ryan told me if I could look at our bank accounts and consider all our expenses over the next month and we could afford it, then I could go. I did -- and we could! I called Meg back and she said they waited and figured I wasn't going to go so they bought the tickets 4 minutes earlier. Luckily she was joking me.
Want to hear all my reasoning behind deciding to go? I didn't want to miss out!
Ryan mentioned the next day that had I not restricted my spending for the last two months then I might have blown my chance to go! That makes it all worth it. =)
My next dilemma... now that I've spent at least several months worth of my discretionary money on a trip, I probably can't justify buying a new outfit to wear to the show! OR CAN I?

Cute Cousins

Earlier this month, Ryan's sister's little boy Ethan was staying with Ryan's mom for a couple of weeks so Ethan's mom could prepare to have a new baby. We went over to play with him a few times while he was here.

Ethan hitching a ride on top. I wish I had an adult-sized car just like that.



Royce (Ryan's sister Bethany's kid) and Ethan.


Oliver




Royce and Oliver







Ethan kept tackling poor Oliver.




I like how Ethan appears to be sitting in midair.



Cora loves playing with the boys. Unfortunately, she's not as willing when it's just Oliver.


It's fun how all three boys are blond/blue-eyed. They're the 3 youngest boys on Ryan's side of the family (well, in his immediate family).

Last Saturday Ethan's baby sister was born! Her name is Tomi (pronounced Tommy) Nicole. She weighed 5-1/2 lbs. Hmm... I just realized I didn't get the length. I'm guessing she's on the short side. She is in the hospital still, but they're hoping she'll get to go home with the proud parents this weekend. =)

Factory Outlet fun!

Last week, my friend Maria invited me (and Renee, but she couldn't make it) to come along with her to the Carter's outlet to look for pajamas for her baby. I couldn't pass up the chance to go somewhere and hang out with a fun friend!



Oliver was lucky enough to get to come shopping with us. He's usually happy and patient with it, for the first hour or so. After that, he gets pretty squirrelly. He was exceptionally well behaved at the good ol' Boise Factory Outlets. He wanted to get out of the stroller after a while in the first store. He started bringing cute baby girl outfits over to show me. He was so into it. He'd been observing Maria and me holding up little outfits to show each other, so he knew just what to do to fit in. He carried the same outfit over to me 3 times. He must've really liked it. =)

We stopped at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for some treats because we were all

being so good! We got an apple dipped in three layers of yumminess: first caramel, then white chocolate, lastly enrobed in milk chocolate. I'm not sure why I settled on that kind. I guess I was overwhelmed with the choices. There were so many kinds to pick from, and most of them had a coating of candy or cookie crumbs on the outside. The one we got was really good, so I'm not regretting the choice. I guess what I'm saying is I want to go back and sample the other varieties.

We asked the lady to slice the apple up so we could share it. We also got a large piece of milk chocolate covered toffee to split. I got Oliver a big snickerdoodle to snack on. Everything was so tasty.

Oliver posing next to Kenley. She was so sleepy by then. Such a cute little doll.

Oliver didn't quite know what to do. He was just trying to cooperate for the camera.
Those are little legwarmers Kenley's wearing. So fashionable!

Maria and Kenley.

Holy cow! I look like my sister Megan in this picture:

Our outing wouldn't have been complete if we hadn't moseyed on over to the Dress Barn! It's such a great name for a dress store. Whoever came up with it must have known exactly what makes a woman feel feminine and pretty!

We were kind of disappointed about the selection. Most of the dresses we saw were cute rather than catastrophic. Where's the fun in that? We went in there with the intention of finding a souvenir for Renee since she couldn't join us. We found one thing - and one thing only - that was perfect! I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it, but it's a super-soft, leopard print shrug. (We liked calling it a shawl.) It was on clearance for $12. I thought that was a little pricey, considering we were getting it as a joke, but what sealed the deal was the Dress Barn tag sewn on the inside of the collar. It was just what Renee needed! So we split the cost. Between the three of us it's sure to get used.

Can you feel the enthusiasm?

It took several tries to get both of us in the picture without one of us blocking the Dress Barn sign. Then we were kind of too far away from it.

Maria couldn't contain herself. She was so jazzed to be there so close to Dress Barn. We were within clucking distance of it...





I look like a complete doofus in the video below, but I just had to include it. I had Maria try taking a picture of us, and being unfamiliar with my camera she mistakenly pressed the record button. She kept pushing the button over and over, so each time she did that we thought it was going to take a picture, but really it was just filming us. :) I was just a little bit embarrassed when I viewed the footage, as anybody else who watches it will be. But it made me laugh. a lot.

I'm glad Maria invited me to come with her. It turned out to be such a fun time. But of course I didn't expect anything less out of Maria's company. =)

Grab Bag!

I find the concept of grab bags amusing. I almost bought one at Dollar Tree for this post, but I decided it would break my "no buying things I don't need" rule. I like variety and surprises. I know I bought at least one grab bag when I was a kid, and I'm sure it was full of cheap, dumb things - which explains why I've never bought another one. I think a fun business would be Grab Bag Haircuts - for those who can't decide what style they want. Customers would blindly select a picture of a new 'do (out of a hat or other receptacle), and they'd have to let the hairdresser cut their hair to match the pic.
Anyway, the rest of this post has nothing to do with actual grab bags, but it includes various photos and things that I didn't want to devote individual posts to.


Oliver has really taken a liking to The Wiggles (and he likes to nestle into the corner of the couch behind the cushion). He gets the biggest grin as he watches them. I also rather enjoy The Wiggles. Their songs are catchy and I love hearing them talk. I just discovered (embarrassingly long after the fact - because we only own the older videos of them) that Greg Wiggle had to retire about 4 years ago due to health problems and was replaced by Sam Wiggle. I found this out after checking out a new DVD from the library called "The Wiggles Go Bananas!" I was disturbed to find that someone "new" was in Greg's place. I liked Greg! Sam is cute, but I don't think his singing blends with the other Wiggles' voices. Sam is, or was, a Broadway singer. Obviously that doesn't jive with The Wiggles' style. I read about it on Wikipedia and I now understand a little more about why they picked Sam. If the kids of the world can live with it, so shall I.

I forgot I still had this shirt when I did my Beatles post. I found it a few weeks ago, all neglected and lonely in the back of a drawer. I used to wear it a lot in High School. It belonged to my older sister, but I took it over (along with assorted other accessories - a watch, a belt buckle, Yellow Submarine boxer shorts, and a pen). The Beatles had a White Album, which had a blank white cover. A lot of kids didn't get the significance of "The White T-Shirt" when I wore it, but that was their problem. :)

The back of the shirt had all The Beatles' songs listed on it. I'm not sure why it did, since it had nothing to do with the album reference on the front of the shirt. But that didn't stop me from liking it.

Oliver always drinks the milk from his cereal bowl. He looks so cute when he does it.

This was when Cora had a school assignment to take Flat Stanley (there is a book by that name) on little adventures. We went to my sister Megan's improv show at Rembrandt's Coffee
House one evening. They call themselves Chicks and Giggles. They've been having fun performances there every other Monday. I haven't missed one yet.

This is a corn bag that Becky made for me. It's so cute! It can be frozen or heated up to give customized relief when I'm sick or injured. I love the fabric she picked just for me. I'm looking forward to using it. Maybe I'll have to hit myself in the face with a frozen lasagna again like I did recently.

I checked this movie out from the Library a couple weeks ago. I hadn't ever seen it before. It's not uncommon for me to miss a lot of movies that come through.

I really liked Juno. I loved her personality, her dry humor, the way she said things. I loved the music in it. I liked the script. It made me laugh, it made me cry. That constitutes a good movie.
I watched it again before I had to return it.






I decided it wouldn't be Easter if I couldn't make a Peeps cake. I wasn't supposed to. I had resigned myself to the fact that there would be no Easter baking this year. :( My sister was in charge of the dinner menu for our family gathering and we were going to have french toast casserole for the meal, along with other brunch-type foods. I had been waiting since January to make something Eastery, so I was bummed when I learned that my dessert was not necessary. Not only that, but it would be overkill. Sunday morning came and I decided that I needed to bake something. This was my favorite season. I couldn't not create something sweet and cute for the occasion. So, first I made sugar cookie Easter eggs, a sun, a hot air balloon, etc. I didn't have the Peeps assortment I needed to adorn the cake with (I only had orange chicks), so I had to make little bunnies using Peeps play dough cutters I have. They just weren't the same as real Peeps bunnies and chicks. What was I thinking! I made a sheet cake on which to arrange my Peeps scene. I know I wasn't supposed to make a dessert, but I figured we could cut the cake up and send some home with everyone after dinner. It all worked out juuuust fine... My holiday wouldn't have been complete if I hadn't baked anything.

The flowers and shapes I made later with the leftover dough. They were mini cookies. I love tiny things!

Oliver and Cuddles.

Janey and Cuddles

Pretty blossoms in Ryan's parents' yard. Someday, around our future house, there will be beautiful flowering trees.

Ahhh, Primary Health. Looks like a pretty safe place to take the kids in an emergency. . .

. . . THINK AGAIN!

Cora pointed out that when she tilted her head to the right the red cross took on a whole new look. She said, "It looks like a scary face!" I never noticed it before, but now whenever I drive past one of these signs that's all I see. Mwaahahaaaa!

I love this kind of pizza. My mom used to get it when I was growing up, and I get it occasionally now. Pizza mix from a box? you ask. Yes, I say. Mmmm . . . yes.

Something about the sauce packets enclosed and the flavor of the crust cannot be duplicated. I hope it never gets discontinued. I might cry if it did.

The pizza we made this week. Pepperoni, olives and artichoke hearts. And lots of cheese. :)

I finally found a mouthwash I like. I hate the kind that burns my face off or tastes like mentholatum. Blech! This kind has a pleasant cinnamon flavor. Yum.

Bleeding heart flowers. They are so intricate and pretty. I don't know how anybody can see something like this, not to mention the miracle of human life, and not believe in God.



And that's all for now! What a neat grab bag that was!

P.S. All comments are always encouraged and welcome. :)