TIME FOR A LITTLE.... Q & A

Love is in the air...every where I look around.

2012-01-30T13:16:00.001-07:00

I'm not a super fan of Valentine's day, but I do love me some crafting and there are just tons of cute ideas for Valentine's crafts so I couldn't resist getting my craft on.

I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out, and Q has been very good with the compliments about them, so that is good enough for me.

I of course made a wreath for my door.

Kim and I spent an afternoon hanging some shelves in my family area. It was my first time using a drill and leveler (I usually just eyeball everything I hang up on the wall cause I;m super lazy that way, and it's kind of a project doing it the "right way"). But I love how they turned out. I wanted a place that I could change out decor for each of the seasons and holidays, and not have to worry about moving all my regular decorations every time.

I got these wood blocks at a craft place, and decoupaged a bunch of vintage victorian valentines all over them, then tied a bow as a little pop of color.

Q made the bird valentine one night, and wanted me to put it in a frame, so I added it to the rest of the decorations.

Pinterest has tons of links to these "subway art" printables for practically every holiday or season, so I plan on putting one up that matches the celebration.

The little letters (just painted with vinyl lettering) and hearts (painted, decoupage paper, and glitter) were simple and fun, and good way to round out the decor.

I love my holiday shelves.

today is such a special day

2012-01-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

Little Elsie had a birthday this past month, and it was so fun to be around to celebrate with her. The kids enjoyed playing a couple games, running around, watching Elsie open presents, and eating delicious cupcakes. Kim threw together a little rainbow themed party last minute and I think it turned out super cute.

Q went crazy eating the m&m's and ended up with a little chimo stache. It was awesome.

Q was super excited to give Elsie the pocahontas doll, and actually insisted on bringing her own pocahontas over to play. I had to make her promise not to tell Elsie what she was getting before she opened it...and surprisingly she kept the secret.

Happy Birthday Elsie!!

We belong together, yes we do.

2012-01-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm glad Q has a cousin friend (her term) like Elsie so close by. They play so well together. and are just so cute.

These were the Valentine projects we worked on last night.

This little ditty I taped while Elsie was over last month. The girls were getting down to Justin Bieber's "Mistletoe". Q was freestylin on the mic while Elsie got her groove on.

(Q is at the worse height right now, cause anytime she comes to hug my legs, her head ends up in my crotch, so just ignore that)

jump around, jump around, jump up jump up and get down

2012-01-01T11:24:00.000-07:00

During the holidays we were able to hang out a bit with Daishan and her family at the jump around place in Springville. Q was hesitant at first to do any sort of bouncing, and was more interested in the coin operated rides against the wall. But eventually she got in there and enjoyed herself. I had to help her get up on a few things, and there is nothing more awkward that watching an overweight person try and balance themselves on those bouncy things. I even made the mistake of trying to carry her up some very steep blow up steps (half way up, I made her climb up herself, while i pushed her bum up). The worst part was sitting up on that high slide, and trying to convince myself to go down. That fear of heights really came into play. But Q had fun, and I got to see Daishan so it was a good day! Towards the end of our time there I let Q ride a few of the rides and she was in heaven. Daishan's Addy hung out by Q during that whole time and was super cute with her. It was a fun day.

merry christmas, happy holidays

2011-12-31T22:08:00.001-07:00

The day started early, when at 6:30 we heard Santa's sleigh bells and reindeer feet on the roof. We woke up the kids, ran upstairs, and hid behind the couch. Q was non stop smiling, as she peeked over the couch to watch Santa deliver her gift and fill her stocking. It was so super cute!! She just couldn't believe that Santa was right there. After We heard the reindeer hoofs leave the roof, we came out and got the party started.
Santa was very good to Q this year and got her the doll princesses she had been asking for.

She also got a stocking full of glowsticks (she sleeps with one every night), whistle, little puzzle, silly putty, play doh, and disney matching cards.
Q loved all her Christmas gifts. It really does make Christmas so much better when the kids know what's going on, and really get into opening the gifts and handing out hugs and kisses in thanks.

I even scored with a super super cute picture frame with Q's picture in it, and a black and white scarf.

The girls had so much fun playing with all their toys the whole morning. Elsie's Disney Princess Castle and Q's coloring easel were both big hits.

After we took a little break to go home, get a nap, and do some cooking, we came back to Gary and Sylvia's and joined the while Wise crew for some delicious food, hanging out, laughing (serious tummy hurting laughter), a dance party with the little girls and Harper's new disco ball, and games.

At one point Cannon had gone outside to try out his new helicopter, and this is how the little girls set themselves up....how cute it that!

Such a good day, and the next day laziness and constant napping was well deserved.

Happy Holidays!

Where are you christmas?

2011-12-30T21:47:00.000-07:00

Christmas Eve day Kim and I took the girls to see the new Chipmunks movie. The girls loved it, and I was entertained. It was a good start to a good day.

For Christmas Eve, we went up to Piper and Greg's house. It was fantastic. We ordered pizza, talked, and hung out. Then we had the kids play a game of christmas bingo. They seriously got into it. It was so fun. Q thought it was so great.

Piper also put together some items to make reindeer food for the kids to take home in cute little packets. It was super cute. Although, after I tried "lightly" blowing on the glitter to get it into the bag, and instead got it all over my face, I could have headed out to a rave and totally fit in.

The kids they cuddled up on the floor and Kim read them a "kid friendly" version of the nativity story, while the kids helped put up the magnet figures for the story. It wasn't close to the usual nativity productions I am used to, but it was super cute and kids liked helping.

Then Kim read them a little story, and the kids played "find the ornament game"

It was a great night!

Afterwards we drove down to Gary and Sylvia's to get ready for night and hang out. We stayed the night there, cause we were going to try and peek in on Santa early that morning with Elsie.

That night the girls helped Sylvia in the kitchen, and were able to make some cookies to leave out for Santa. We tried getting the girls to settle down, maybe watch a movie, but they were wayyyyy to excited. I tried playing some games with Kim, Aaron, and Gary but had to retire early in order to get Q to sleep.

What a fun Christmas Eve.

Baby it sings to me like (fa la la la la) Know that it's christmas time

2011-12-16T13:44:00.001-07:00

Got caught up on my December posts. we've been super festive this year, and Q and I are both enjoying it. In fact last night, we grab some quick dinner and drove around looking at lights for over an hour. Pure joy!

Read on for about 4 posts on what we have been up to. :)

i'm giving love for christmas

2011-12-16T12:14:00.000-07:00

Q's preschool had their first program yesterday. It was so super cute!! I'm mad at myself for forgetting extra batteries for my camera, so most videos and pictures were taken from my cell phone...so although the quality is poor, I hope it gives a little hint at how great it was. Qiana is by far the youngest in her class (since she just turned 3 at the end of September), but she tries her best.

First, let me show you what we made for her teachers. I spent a few hours with Kimmy and some ladies making DIY coasters. it was easy and turned out so cute. I made a 4 pack of them for each teacher. Then Q and I made these tree ornaments with her name on the back for each teacher.

Speaking of teachers, Here are Miss Vicki and Miss Honey. She also has a couple teachers that teach her the dancing and singing, but I missed a picture with them.

Q just loves her teachers, and they are so good with her.

For their program they sang a bunch of songs, did a dance, did sign language to "silent night", and talked about Santa and Jesus. Q would get distracted often, but managed to always come back and do some singing or hand motions. She had a couple twin girls surrounding her that did NOT want to participate in the program and it was funny watching Q try to figure out what was going on with them. At one point she shook the jingle bells directly in the face of one of them in order to elicit some participation from them, and the other she forced into dancing with her until the little girl broke down crying in which Q yelled to me "she's crying mom". poor girls. but funny.

At the end of the program, the kids got to meet Santa and get a candy cane and a book.

Plus the parents got a wonderful present of a cute picture the teachers had taken a couple weeks before. many told me that Q's picture was the best of them, and I cant argue. Its pretty darn magical.

have a funky funky christmas

2011-12-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

My childhood Christmas memories are filled with pictures of graham cracker houses made with Woodruff's. we did it every year, and I just loved it. I think we did it one time many years ago when i was living in Utah and Jared and Kim were just newly married, but haven't done it since...and I missed it. I just love seeing what each person comes up with. In my youth it was always a guess as to what Tyson and Jared would do to their houses, that soon became major complexes after all the add on's.

This year we got together at Kyle Woodruff's house, and got to have a delicious dinner that his wife Jamie made (halibut chowder), hang out with his kids, Janice, and of course Kimmy and Elsie. After dinner, we set up the houses, and let the kids do their thing! Q loved it. After the kids were done and ready to play, the adults took some time to decorate their own houses. Oh it was awesome. it was so fun to sit, talk, laugh, and be so peaceful decorating the house. It was such a fun time! We sure did miss all the rest of the Bates and Woodruff family members!!

Kyle was such a good sport and let the kids just jump all over him. He took turns chasing each of the kids around, and let them ride him like a dinosaur. They loved it!!

And here are our finished products!

We're on the Island of Misfit Toys Here we don't want to stay

2011-12-14T12:49:00.000-07:00

With the Utah Pass of all Passes we were able to go to the Winter Princess festival for free....and thank goodness. The usual cost is $15 and I just can't imagine paying that much for it. The total run time was 15-20 minutes tops. It took place in a rented out space at the Provo mall. You basically immerse yourself in a high school drama/choir production that has hints of Dungeons and Dragons type live action role playing (or LARPing for those of your in the know). The girls really enjoyed themselves, but Kim and I just smirked at each other and rolled our eyes. The girls loved playing with the "princesses" afterwards, and Kim and I got some free babysitting time, while we sat at the craft table and talked..so all was not lost. But boy was it super cheesy.

all of the lights all of the lights

2011-12-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed down with Kimmy and crew to the Riverwoods area to see the lights, talk to Santa, and ride the free horse carriage. Q has become obsessed with lights this year, so it's super fun to let her gaze at all the cool lights adorning the trees.

Q had no qualms about getting up on Santa's lap and was anxious to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. Sometime it can be embarrassing that she isn't shy, but most of the time I'm pretty happy that she's such an outgoing girl.

We also headed up to Salt Lake last weekend as well to eat out, ride the Trax, and check out the lights at Temple Square. They don't light as many trees as the used to on the temple grounds but it was still pretty, and Q loved it so it was worth it. Plus we got to hang out with Kimmy and crew and Jeff/Nicole and family so that is always fun. What wasn't fun, was my rough and extremely embarrassing fall I took on the escalator. Still haven't quite figured out how to work the stroller on the down escalator....and my butt sure took the punishment for it.

where do you come from baby...

2011-12-10T12:56:00.001-07:00

So I'm getting the ol' Christmas Card list put together. I do have a lot of your addresses already, but if you want to make sure you're on the list email me your address.

Thanks!

ab98837@gmail.com

This picture is not featured on the card...but some other cute ones are. :)

(p.s. this is Q doing her best "Annie" impersonation...."who's next?")

This is the way I live...

2011-12-08T20:57:00.001-07:00

What we've been up to:

a lot of this:

these girls just love to play together!

and the end of this:

It didn't turn out super perfect (yes I see the imperfections-but it does look better in person), but I still think it's pretty cute.

And, guess what? I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!

2011-12-05T12:22:00.001-07:00

This year is the first year that Q is really getting into each holiday. So christmas is going to be a big deal this year, and I finally have to step it up and get some fun traditions going. Q and I really enjoyed putting up the christmas tree, and Q was super excited to see all her ornaments and help me put up mine (the ones I trusted her not to break...best believe she did not get anywhere near the awesomest miss Piggy angel ornament ever). She has also enjoyed peeling off the advent card each day and seeing the little surprise each morning. And the glowing heart musical bear that has been in the family since Mitch's first heart operation as a baby now has a permanent place in her bed and she affectionately calls it "Mitch's bear".
But I wanted to start a new tradition. So we adopted an elf.
George joined our family at the beginning of December, and will stay with us through Christmas Eve (when he returns back to the northpole with Santa).
For anyone not familiar with "the elf on the shelf" ( I wasn't until this year). Here is the idea. The elf watches the child throughout the day, making note if they are bad or good. Then each night he/she magically flies back to the northpole and reports back to Santa about the child. When the elf returns the next morning he usually lands himself into funny situations or areas around the house, so when the child awakes they get to go look around and try and find the magic elf. There are websites all around that give fun ideas of things you can do with the elf, and it's been fun to see Q get super excited to find George each morning.
On December 1st, the first morning of George's magic, Q found him like this....

George not only got caught playing on the christmas tree, but he also brought back a new ornament for Q. "Alice in Wonderland" is Q's new favorite movie, so it was only appropriate that a falling Alice ornament join our tree in 2011.

George has also been found sleeping in a hanging stocking, hiding up on the chandelier in the kitchen, putting together a puzzle, with puzzle pieces thrown about the floor from Q's room to the family room, and this morning George was found sitting on Q's windowsill along with all her other babies, dolls, and stuffed animals.

a turkey for me and a turkey for you

2011-11-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

This year's Thanksgiving was a different situation then in year's past, but it turned out pretty nice and laid back. I was super spoiled last year being with all my siblings, and surrounded by enormous amounts of awesome food (mostly due to Mitch), But new traditions are always good.
Q and I spent the day with Kim/Aaron/Elsie, Aaron's parents Gary and Sylvia, and Aaron's brother's families (Jeff and crew for lunch and Greg and crew for games and lounging later).
Our bellies were full of thanksgiving food courtesy of Mimi's cafe. and it was delicious. Plus I got to end the meal with apple crisp and ice cream (I am not a fan of pumpkin flavored things---although I do love pumpkin scented candles) and that made my tummy extra happy. Q was excited just to be able to hang out with Elsie, and kept moving chairs to be close to Kim, Aaron, or Elsie...pretty much anyone but me. haha.
After lunch we headed over to the Wise's to hang out and play around. I had found a couple cute thanksgiving activities on Pinterest for the kids, and they quite enjoyed themselves. We played a game called turkey hunt in the backyard, where the kids had to find 8 different colored turkeys posted around in the yard. We even played twice cause the kids thought it was fun.

We also played a turkey drawing game involving rolling a di to see what you had to draw, and a coloring page filled with different types of leaves.

Then the kids got to run around and play. At one point they were all cuddled up in their own blankets in a room watching a movie.

it was super cute!

Q had so much FUN with everybody, that when it was time to go she threw the biggest fit. She does not like the party to end (hmmmm....wonder where she gets that).
While the kids ran amuck, the grown ups snacked on some yummy snacks. we had a spinach artichoke dip and chips, summer sausage/cheese/crackers, pumpkin roll, pumpkin pie, and these little bits of heaven. When it was just down to Aaron, Kim, Gary, and I we broke out the "ticket to ride" and got our game on. I have been obssessed with playing this game on my phone, and thought the practice would help in real life..it did not. But I had fun anyway.
It was a good day.

Alright, already the show goes on

2011-11-26T09:39:00.001-07:00

Here are some more of my Christmas crafts. Although., I still have one more wreath to make, I am quite proud that it's not even the end of November yet and I have finished my crafts, all Christmas decorations are up, and Christmas shopping is done. yeah me!

I have quite enjoyed being crafty. It's a good way to spend my time, and the feeling of accomplishment is quite awesome. Plus, when Kimmy is my crafting partner it becomes so much fun.

This is my muffin tin advent calender. Inside is some candies and little things for Q. The muffin tin really brought out the OCd side of us. Trying to make sure the colors all matched and that the distribution of patterns and colors were even was quite a feat, but it was worth it.

All throughout my childhood we had this hanging advent calender that my mom had made at some enrichment night (it was one of two projects that my mom actually had completed from enrichment...she was quite proud). The advent had these wooden ornaments that velcroed to a big felt tree. The calender had taken a beating through the years, and many of the ornaments had seen better days. At the end of the christmas season last year, I made the decision to finally get rid of the advent calender, but I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the ornaments that were still useful. I thought I would keep them, and try and use them again. Well it paid off! I decided to make three mini yarn wreaths to hang on my wall, and put the ornaments on those for decoration. I think they turned out so cute, and even though it isn't the advent calender from my childhood the nostalgia is still there.

Then of course I had to make another wreath for my front door. This wreath was a little more complex than the last one I made, and took a lot more time, but I do love how it turned out. it's just so festive.

Happy Holidays.

O christmas tree...o christmas tree

2011-11-20T14:15:00.001-07:00

And the crafting continues. Pinterest has seriously been such a blessing. what a great way to find so many fun, easy, cute ideas in one place. I love it.
This is my newest craft.

I am so in love with it. It was took a long time to cut out about 200 felt circles, and pin them to the foam tree, but it was worth it. As I was taking pictures of the tree, Q wanted to join in the photo shoot.

This project is one of many christmas decorations that I am working on. (I am making a yarn wreath for my door, an ornament wreath for my wall, a muffin tin advent calender, and three small yarn wreaths decorated with old ornaments from my mom's advent calender).

Think of a wonderful thought, any happy little thought...

2011-11-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Ever since our trip to Disneyland, I have had a serious craving for all things Disney. Q and I are both obsessed. She talks about it all the time. I consider every day how long we have to wait to go back again. Lucky for us, Disney on ice came to town, and we were able to get a little Disney fix. Kim, Elsie, and Aaron came as well and it was a great day.

We ate lunch at Cheesecake Factory (delish), then headed up to the Energy Solutions arena (it'll always be the Delta Center right?). The girls were both so excited, and I loved it.

The show was super fun, and I was a fan. Q is loving "alice in wonderland" right now, so the show starting off with that performance just put Q in such a happy mood.

Then they had snow white, lion king, aladdin, peter pan, and little snippets of a lot of the princesses. Gotta love Disney!

This is definitely a new tradition!

Under the moonlight, you see a sight that almost stops your heart.

2011-11-01T15:06:00.002-06:00

This year for Halloween we got invited to hang out with Kim, Elsie, Aaron, Aaron's parents (Gary and Sylvia), and Greg and Piper and their kids (cannon and harper) up at Piper's house. It was super fun. we had delicious baked potatoes and chili for dinner (yummmmmm), then headed out with kids to do some trick or treating.

Aren't these little princesses just the cutest thing?

Cannon, was Indiana Jones, which still fit in with the Disneyland theme, so we let him in the picture hahaha. just kidding.

I actually had bought this dress for Q a couple months ago, thinking she could wear it one day to disneyland, but we never got the chance to wear it, so instead I kept it for her halloween costume. I was too cheap to buy her the official Tiana crown, and although I found a crown at the dollar store that I was going to have her wear, I couldn't get past the fact that it didn't really look like the original crown. So one night I just looked in my craft supplies, and came up with this completely homemade crown. But I think it turned out just perfect, and Q couldn't stop smiling,

The weather was just perfect this year, and Q really got into the festivities. She loved going to each house, holding out her bag, saying trick or treat, and happy halloween as we left. No matter how heavy her bag got, she refused to let me help her carry it, and instead insisted that I hold her hand the entire time. She was so excited every time she got a "trick or treat" in her bag.

Yep, I can't resist taking pictures with weird things.

i think the flash scared her more than the creepy decorations did.

Q, with her stash, one happy girl.

After trick or treating, we came back to Piper's house, scoured the kids bags for yummy treats for the adults, and decorated cookies with the kids.

Horrible picture of me, but I love Q's "concentrating" face

Hopped up on sugar the kids ran crazy around the house for a little but, while the adults talked, and then it was time to head home. It was such a perfectly fun evening!

If you fall, say you'll fall for me. When autumn leaves are fallin' from the trees.

2011-11-01T14:41:00.002-06:00

I aspire to be that kind of person who really gets into each holiday and season. Who adds little decorations inside and/or out that represent the time of year. I vowed that 2012 was my year! that I would have cute little activities for Q and I to do, places to see, and crafts to make. But this year we did do some fun things..maybe as a little beginning to what will hopefully happen in the future.

1. Pumpkins.

I already showed you my little crafty pumpkins, but now it was Q's turn. I like the look of carved pumpkins but have always been too grossed out with the cleaning and carving process to really commit to it. So we continued our tradition of painting.coloring pumpkins again this year. Q had picked out three little pumpkins when we were at the craft store one day and so I let her paint those.

Afterwards, I added some googly eyes.

Then Q colored her little pumpkin that she picked on her own at the pumpkin patch (more on that below)

She filled up that entire thing with marker, and I added googly eyes to that one as well. She loved them so much, she refused to even let me put them outside.

2. Pumpkin patch.

For Q's second field trip we headed to Hee Haw's in American Fork. It was my first adventure to a pumpkin patch, and it was super fun. This place had a large slide that they kids rode down on sacks. a little corn maze. a hay ride. a large maze (which we didn't go in. I don't like mazes). a pumpkin patch. a petting zoo. cutouts. and swings made from tires that looked like horses. Q quite enjoyed herself, and since Kimmie and Elsie came with us it was the perfect day!

Q's preschool class. They have school sweatshirts, which I think is so funny.

Q wasn't so sure about the slide. But she went once and didn't cry.

Elsie didn't want to go down by herself, so she made a new friend.

lil' sebastian

I hope I pass down to Q my love of pictures in cut outs.

petting and feeding the pigs.

ooohhhh scary.

they had these huge pumpkins that were just screaming for a photo op.

the kid corn maze

True story: Q walked right up to this goat and said, "hey goat, how are you doing today". For anyone who is familiar with Andy Samberg's "Mark Wahlberg talks to animals" sketch on SNL this should make you smile.

3. Witchfest.

Kim, Elsie, Q, and I joined our good friend Janice Woodruff up in West Jordan at Gardner Village for Witchfest. GardnerVillage is this cute little shopping area built from old houses. It's super cute. During the fall season they have a celebration of Witchfest which included, activites and parties. They have tons of Witches set up throughout the village, and you can even print out a scavenger hunt and try to find all the witches (of course we did this). They have face painting, food, treats, and cool looking witch outfits walking around. They also have a celebration called "witched night out" that runs one weekend in the evening that I will for sure be dressing up for and participating in next year (along with Kim, Janice, and who else wants to join us)

It was a super fun day, and a great time with Janice! Starting November 18 the village is filled with christmas elves (instead of witches), so you know I'll be heading up again to hit up that bakery and sweet shop and of course, get my scavenger hunt on.

It's the freakin' weekend baby, I'm about to have me some fun.

2011-10-27T18:57:00.000-06:00

I don't like a lot of people. it's true. I'm not one who is easily impressed, nor one who easily gets sucked in by others kindness, talents, or personality. I choose my friends carefully, and only put effort into relationships I really really care about. I have issues, I know, but it's a truth about myself that I have come to realize. I don't have much time or patience in my life for people I don't really like...so making new friends doesn't come easy for me.

I'm also not one who likes someone just because they are related. People have to earn my affection and admiration, and that includes family. So I guess it's pretty lucky that I was blessed with such awesome, fun, intelligent, entertaining, fun loving cousins that I can consider some of my closest friends. These amazing ladies were just given to me, and I couldn't be happier. They get me (and all my oddities) and I get them. We can sit for hours and talk about nothing and everything all at the same time, and be constantly entertained, enlightened, and enthralled. We all understand the importance of good food, good people, and good conversation, and know that one can never have enough of any of them. Miraculously, we can all be so similar and so unique, at the same time, and yet we relate to each other like very few can.

We are family. We are friends.

I love parties, and a party involving these ladies is a "no brainer". Factor in a pimped out presidential suite in beautiful Park City-

deliciously splendid home made meals from each of the "families" that still have me daydreaming of their deliciousness-

crazy games like "what's yours like" where insults and compliments flow with ease

and backwards charades where cousins literally get "mousetrapped" and tears of laughter drip down our faces-

and you've got a perfectly executed weekend.

One that I won't soon forget.

and one that I hope will come again soon.

These are my people.

Maybe it's intuition, but some things you just don't question

2011-10-15T15:20:00.000-06:00

I have a picture of my mother on a shelf in my entertainment center. I have never discussed with Q who this is a picture of and she has never asked. I guess I was waiting until she was older and able to comprehend...and I think I would cry to much.
Yesterday, as we were standing by the door ready to leave, Q picks up the picture frame and says "this is my grandma", with the biggest smile on her face. I looked at her. slightly confused, but with a smile and said "yes it is Q, and she loves you". It was all I could muster.

I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink

2011-10-15T14:52:00.000-06:00

I've done some major blogging today. So check out September for my Disneyland updates (4 posts), and Q's field trip. and down this page for crafting and dress up blogs.

still to come Earl Girl Weekend! (man, even Alysha beat me to posting about that...I am ashamed. haha)

Come with me, and you'll be In a world of pure imagination

2011-10-15T14:45:00.000-06:00

Q loves her dress up bin. Every day she gets into it and plays around. Last year, for her birthday, my friend Vikki gave Q all her daughters old dance outfits...and they have been a hit!!

Here is Q and her little princess photoshoot. She was being so cute, so I had to capture it.

Now that we have Elsie close by, she and Q get together for play dates and that dress up bin gets opened.

The girls often take turns being the "princess" while the other asks for their autograph and takes a picture with them (think disneyland). and every few minutes they announce that "the princesses are coming out" and they parade out past Kim and I waving, as we wave and clap.

Every once in a while they'll put on their own parade with music.

Gotta love dress ups and imagination!!

Someday, everything is gonna be smooth like a rhapsody, when I paint my masterpiece

2011-10-15T14:08:00.000-06:00

I like being crafty, but I don't like having to think of what to make.
Thank you Pinterest for helping me.

I have been getting my craft on. Its been a nice distraction from the everyday routine. Plus it gives me a sense of accomplishment and pride.

My first project:

I painted these frames for Q's room to hang her school artwork. I need to make a few more to fill up the space (or add something else to this wall as well...I'm thinking about silhouettes) But Q loves pointing out her stuff, and it makes the house feel less messy.

Last year Emily, Q, and I painted pumpkins for halloween instead of carving (the inside of pumpkins grosses me out). So this year I took it up a notch. I got these ideas from pinterest, and did what i could. Q thought they were awesome. I was pretty happy with the outcome.

Yep, that's Mike Wasowski

Next, Kimmie and I got together and made yarn wreaths for fall. I loved how mine turned out, and am now addicted to them. I already have my ideas for my winter, christmas, easter, and 4th of july ones.

And here it is on my door....love it.

Here is my fall/Halloween festive entrance.

Now since Q's hair styles mostly consist of headbands and flowers I thought I should try my hand at making my own flowers. So once again with the help of PInterest and my own skill and imagination I came up with these.

I love them and they look super cute in Q's hair.

Yeah for being crafty!!

I've seen the light. It's in my daughter's eyes

2011-10-01T00:44:00.000-06:00

Qiana turned three!!

There are times when I can't believe my baby is three years old, and then there are moments that i think "yep, she's definitely three".

Yesterday was little miss Q's birthday. She has been super excited about it for a couple weeks now it was so cute to see her get so happy.

Since Kim and her crew were going to be out of town on Q's actual birthday, we decided to do a little something wednesday evening.

We met at the Lehi Mcdonald's, had some dinner, let the girls run around and chit chatted for a bit. Elsie had made Q the cutest little card, and they got her a couple Disney figurine sets. Q was a fan!

After dinner we headed over to the Trafalga fun center for a couple hours.

The girls had fun on the rides, and Aaron got to take them both on the go carts. I think both of the girls quite enjoyed themselves.

The girls then played a couple games of the mini-bowling. Elsie was kind of an instant pro at it, and should be entering the pro circuit any day.

Q was much slower in her games, and the group was thankfully patient. We then hit up a couple other arcade games, let the kids run around the play area, and turned in our tickets for some little toys (which Q lost about 1/2 of by the time we got home).

Q had an amazing night and was so sad to say goodbye.

The next morning Q had school, but she was excited to go an tell everyone that it was her birthday (true story: when i went to go pick her up, i could hear her on the other side of the door saying over and over that it was her birthday, haha. yep, she's that annoying kid). While Q was at school, I decorated the house, wrapped her presents, and bought her her own large cupcake (i didn't have want to make anything this year that I would have to finish by myself).

Q walked in to balloons and a banner, and was so excited.

Then she opened her presents. She got three sets of Disney princess squinkies, a fisher price doctor kit (i think this is her favorite present this year), a magnifying glass (which she has used repeatedly to look for clues), a jump rope (Elsie had one and Q wanted one too...of course), and a bunch of stuff for her dress up bin (all bought from the dollare store...gotta love it).

After a solo version of Happy birthday, and a bunch of bites of her cupcake, we cuddled on the couch and watched Cinderella and Snow White.

Q is the best and most frustrating thing in my life. I love the heck out of her. She is sweet and funny and silly and smart. But she can definitely be feisty and crazy and lazy and stubborn. She is definitely an "only child" and likes things her way. We have our little battles, but they always end with her giving me the saddest face ever and just wanting to hug and kiss me. If we are apart for any length of time, the minute she sees me again she runs into my arms yelling "mommy, mommy, you're back. I love you", It is the best feeling in the world.

Other cute things she says:

"I'm sorry mommy I don't mean to"

"I need something to eat. I need energy"

"you're my family" (usually followed by singing "that's my family" from yo gabba gabba)

"I need to lay down, I need to relax"

"you're my mommy. you're my best friend'

"you're so beautiful" (as she softly rubs my face)-(I use to do the same thing to my mother)

"I want to watch a Qiana show"

"oh thank you, thank you so much"

Q loves to be read to, and at night we lay in her bed and take turns telling our own stories. I love when I make up a story and the next night she tries to retell it in her own words.

Q loves to sing. especially disney songs. she can recognize about any of the songs on my disney mix and likes to yell out the movie title as soon as she can (i'm so proud). some of her favorites to sing come from Little Mermaid and Princess and the frog. (although she has been known to break out in a great version of 'little girls" from Annie.)

Q does love to learn, even if she doesn't catch on very quickly. she is willing to try and loves when she gets things right. I can tell that she actively seeks my approval, so I constantly give positive reinforcement and encouragement. She gets sad if she feels like she is disappointing me. She is sensitive soul.

She is always full of great facial expressions. She gets so intense in her story telling. When playing dress up, she commits to her roles and makes me smile with the things she says and acts out.

Q isn't the best listener. It's something we are working on. she is easily distracted and often just says "sorry" when I tell her she is doing something wrong, but then instantly does it again. It is very frustrating.

She also has a hard time trying to talk when i am talking. especially when I am trying to teach her something.

You know that skit on SNL that Kirsten Wiig and Fred Armisen do on weekend update where they are that singing couple? It's basically one of them making up lyrics on the spot and the other is trying to sing along as if they know what the other person is going to say?

( check it out: http://youtu.be/_-TSkboaU3A)

.....YEP, that's me and Q. It's really frustrating but inside quite hilarious.

Q also thinks she knows the words to every song ever invented, and will often start singing along making up her own words. Often times she at least catches on to the tune, so it's not a total mess. But funny nonetheless.

Q is interesting to me. On one side she is so sensitive, so cuddly, so in need of constant mommy attention and love....and on the other, she is full of attitude. Full of independence. so sure she is fine and right that she is unwilling to accept my help or my support. I struggle with how to deal with this. I want her to be tough, to be a strong person, someone who can take care of herself. I don't want her to be too dependent on me, on anyone. But she needs to learn when to calm down, when to know she is wrong, when to let mommy help her. A couple months ago she decided that she would put her own shoes on from now on. She couldn't even tell if they were on the wrong feet, and when I try and correct her she just gets so mad. It's gotten a little better..she at least switches the shoes when I point on they are on the wrong feet. but i can't go anywhere near them, or she freaks out.

She can throw the biggest fits. It's actually quite an art form. She'll turn her back to you, cross her arms in a furious huff, and angrily declare "I'm mad" (as if there was a question). You can try to talk to her, try to touch her, try to even get close...but it won't work. she is mad and she isn't going to take it anymore. I tell ya, this girl has some attitude (and a flair for the theatrics)

(this is Q throwing a fit for Kim at Disneyland-Kim tried to get a picture from the front but she literally turned her body around and threw her fit in the other direction)

Sweet and Sour. That's my Q. And I'm not sure I would have it any other way.

Through it all I know that Q and I were meant to be together. She makes me a better person. She makes me more patient, more kind, more loving, more supportive of others. When life seems hard, she is the one thing that keeps me going. She makes me smile constantly.

She is my Q.

oooh oooh ooh I'm on fire

2011-09-27T14:31:00.000-06:00

Q had her first field trip for school, and I went as a chaperone. We all walked the kids a little over a block down to the fire station, where we learned about fire safety and got to tour the garage and the trucks. It was fun, informative, and so cute to watch the kids get into it.

q practicing her "stop,drop,and roll"

the kids crawling under the smoke to safety

I love that I am available to attend these trips with Q and be involved with her life. I love it.

You got to live and learn. you got to live and learn.

2011-09-24T23:25:00.000-06:00

My little Q started preschool.

She was and is so excited about it. She loves to play with kids, and considers them all her
"friends". I think the social part of school may be her favorite part (like someone else I know), but she is enjoying learning as well...and is super excited to show me all her drawings when I pick her up.

I'm not gonna lie, I like the break as well. It's amazing how much work or errands I can get done in those few hours, leaving me more time to hang out when she is home.

She has her first field trip this week. We are going to the Fire Station a few blocks down from her school, and I can't wait. She is going to love it. And I am so excited that I am able to go with her. Oh the joys of parenthood.

Along with the academics she is also learning dance and singing, and will have performances throughout the year and a recital at the end of the year. I can't even contain my excitement for this, and totally know that I will be crying like a baby during her first performance.

sidenote: Since we are talking about school, I thought I would get some advice from you all. Q is having a hard time learning and remembering her letters. I try to go through them each day with her. Pointing them out, going through the sounds, etc. We read books every day, and I try to point out words and letters in everything we do. But she just isn't quite getting it.

Is this something I should be worried about?

Is there tricks that I should know?

I know that last year I was worried about her not knowing her colors, and now she is a pro, so I don't know if this is the same thing.

Her vocabulary and conversational skills are outstanding, and she isn't short on words...

so advice?

Take me or leave me

2011-09-20T09:16:00.000-06:00

Binky update:

Q slept thru her first night relatively well. she woke up a couple times in the beginning, but after some snuggling she went back to sleep.

the next morning I was feeling good about things. Q went the whole morning without even mentionning her binky.

then.

yesterday afternoon Q found her binky.

yep. it was just as awful as I thought it would be.

The dear girl had volunteered to find mommy's shoes in the front closet, and she came out with her binky. aghhh. I had looked in the closet. twice. Although, I will admit that since there was only 3 pairs of shoes in there, I didn't get down on the ground and really search...I thought a good eye looking would have seen something. Apparently the little bugger was probably hiding under one of my overturned flip flops.

Q was so excited. she was sure her new monster friend had returned her binky. I tried to quickly comeback with a "I think maybe he just accidentally dropped it, but he still needs your binky very badly". she quickly screamed "I NEED MY BINKY".

I tried to calm her down. I took the binky and put it in my pocket. I told her that she didn't need it, and that the monster just dropped it. She kept trying to get in my pocket, crying, wanting her binky. This whole scene looked very similar to a feening crack addict attacking a dealer. As I was trying to calm Q down, I managed to make my way over to the kitchen and slyly putting the binky on one of the high pantry shelves.

a couple minutes of crying later, I acted like I was going to give her the binky from my pocket. "uh-oh, the binky is gone!". I then played out a whole scene of trying to find the binky again. "where did it go? it was just here in my pocket". Q had stopped crying and was searching with me. Then I said "maybe the monster has magic powers and took the binky again?".

she bought it.

I gave her a starburst to make her smile, and the rest of the day we complained about that darn monster who took her binky AGAIN! She added to the story by saying that he came to earth to take her binky back to his planet, to give to a witch or possibly put it into a machine (the story varied with her). She was sad about the binky loss, but knew that the monster apparently really needed it.

I have since thrown the binky in the dumpster never to return again.

If loving you is wrong I don't wanna be right. If being right means being without you i'd rather live a wrong doing life

2011-09-18T21:22:00.000-06:00

Q is coming up on 3 years old, and that means it was time to get rid of the binky. (yes, i chose to wait until after disneyland to take it away).

side story: One of Q's binkies feel into the water at California Adventure. She was devastated. I didn't know how I was going to handle the rest of the day with no binky. Luckily a few hours later, when I went into my backpack to get a snack, I noticed the last remaining binky. phew! q was good for the rest of the day, but man, every time we walked past the water she would say "the ducks stole my binky". yeah, this girl doesn't forget anything, and really holds on to the grudges.

This past week I spent a lot of time researching different ideas. The binky fairy, letting it go in a balloon, stuffing it in a bear, etc.

I had settled on playing up the binky fairy. A beautiful fairy that would come into her room the night before her 3rd birthday, and take her binky(that she lays under her pillow) away, leaving a new toy in exchange. The binky fairy then takes the special binky to a baby in a far away place. I had Q sold on the idea. I even found a video online of a "binky fairy" talking to the kids, telling them that she will be coming soon. Q loved it. She wanted to watch the video over and over. I had talked to her about what present she wanted the fairy to bring her. Q was excited to give her binky to another baby. I was relieved.

Then today she lost it.

I looked everywhere. We live in a two bedroom condo...not a whole lot of space...and yet I can't find it anywhere. Q is devastated. I have searched every inch of this place. I can't find it. We have no more back up binkies. Q finally said "maybe a monster took it" (she has a very active imagination, and monsters have been a recent fascination for her)

So today is the last day of the binky.

it's been a very long day. Lots of ups and downs. She'll forget about the binky for maybe 10 minutes, and then break down like she had just lost it. She was very mad that the monster took it, cause now she couldn't give it to a baby.

It took forever for her to go to sleep for her nap. I let her cry it out. Once she was asleep she slept for her normal 2.5-3 hours. but the minute she awoke she was sad again.

While she was asleep, I wrote a note as the monster.

and put it outside her door.

After the initial "fit" when she first awoke. I brought in the present that was left by her door. I read her the note. She smiled. and ate her candy. She was happy. for 2 minutes.

Then she wanted to speak to this "monster". the one who so rudely had stolen her binky. I told her that maybe she could talk to her later.

All evening it's been a series of okay moments, and complete devastation. She keeps saying that maybe her Dora doll can help her find the binky tomorrow....(doubt it Q).

I think we have a tough road ahead of us.

We did call the "monster" tonight (kimmy) and q got to thank her for the candies, and tell her to take care of her binky. The monster apologized again, but told Q that she was a big girl and she'd be okay.

Q wasn't totally convinced. She did say after the call "ah, the monster's my friend."

but a few minutes later she was crying about her binky.

I have a feeling this pattern of up and down will be a recurring theme for the next oh...20 years.

p.s. my biggest fear is the minute she is finally okay with no binky life, the darn thing will resurface. It's gonna haunt me.

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

2011-09-13T13:40:00.000-06:00

It had been two years since our last trip to disneyland, and it took every ounce of self restraint not to get down there before now, but we waited and the trip was amazing. We had Jared and his crew, Kim and her crew, me and the Q, and Mitch was even able to fly out for a few days and and hang out with us. It was so much fun. all of the kids were at the best age and it was so great to see the parks through their eyes. Our family is already huge fans of the D-land, but visiting with kids makes it even better.
Now in order to get through this potentially long blog post with some sanity (for both me the writer and you the reader) I will split it into 4 separate posts (1. The characters 2. the rides 3. The family 4. the beach).

Let's go surfin' now Everybody's learning how. Come on and safari with me

2011-09-13T13:30:00.000-06:00

One of the days of the trip we all went and hit up the beach at Corona Del Mar. I am torn with my opinion on the beach. I love looking out at the water, and having the waves hit my legs. But i HATE sand. I hate it. I hate the cleaning up process. i hate that is gets everywhere. But Q loves playing in the sand, and loves the water. So I sat in a chair or stood by the water, trying to stay as clean as possible, and just prayed that the cleaning up process on Q wouldn't hurt too much.
But the beach was gorgeous. and everybody had so much fun in the water, and playing in the sand. PLus, I love getting some sun so it was a good day.

You'll be in my heart

2011-09-13T13:20:00.000-06:00

Disneyland is awesome. But sharing Disneyland with your family is even better. It was a great trip, and everyone could feel the love. Carson was such a great older cousin, letting the little girls bug him. Mitch was a great fun uncle riding the rides with the kids.
The three little girls played so well together while the adults took turns riding the bigger rides. They were adorable and so much fun. Plus they even got on the same napping schedule, which is made pretty nice during the day.
I love my family.

We were planning on buying all the little girls a matching minnie shirt, and Kaiya got a cute pink one. Then, Lindsay came up with the idea to make these cute minnie hair accessories. We were quite proud of ourselves

We can fly, we can fly, we can fly

2011-09-13T13:10:00.000-06:00

Q was a big fans of the rides. Even the slightly scary ones that her slightly older cousins weren't too fond of (Snow White, Pinocchio, Mr Toad). I even took her on the Matterhorn, and she said "that was fun" as we were finishing. But her favorites were Small World, Buzz Lightyear, Monsters inc, Little Mermaid, the carousel, and Dumbo. We hit up the rides as many times as we could, and yet even today i feel unsatisfied and that we need to go back soon.

Overall, the kids were really good when it came to "waiting" in line (luckily we didn't have many long lines), but during one of our longer waits this is what Q ended up looking like

Day 2 of Disneyland we finally figured out that we could use Mitch's "condition' to get a free pass for the rides. It was awesome.

We also hit up any parades, shows, or firework shows that we could. I love me a good parade.

We also watched this hip hop Mickey show. And Q found a friend

who brought her up to the front to dance.

Carson was nice enough to go join her so she wouldn't be scared.

I heart disneyland

I'm wishing, for the one I love, to find me, today.

2011-09-13T12:50:00.000-06:00

We had decided that it would be a fun souvenir to get the girls autograph books...little did we know that it would become a major obsession for the adults. It became a goal to find every character and we were on high alert looking around for crowds and characters. We had cameras, autograph books, and pens easily accessible, and got quite the routine figured out for optimal efficiency. But it was awesome. The girls loved it, and Q still looks through her book every day. When we got back I got all the pictures we took with the characters printed out and glued them into her autograph book next to the signatures. I am quite proud how awesome it is, and how much Q loves it.
Q was pretty excited to meet all the characters, and enjoyed getting the pictures. it was fascinating to see her apprehension when it came to the non costume male characters (such as Aladdin, Terrence, and Flynn). She didn't get too close to them. It is so crazy though cause she loves boys. But other than that she loved the characters and loved giving them big hugs when she could

This year we also splurged and did a character breakfast with the kids. It was an all you can eat breakfast buffet at goofy's kitchen. I'm so glad we did it. Good food, great company, and the kids enjoyed having the up close interaction with the characters.

It feels so good to be back...

2011-09-12T17:40:00.000-06:00

FALL TV SCHEDULE LINE-UP

SUN:
7:00-AMAZING RACE
8:00-THE GOOD WIFE
9:00-PAN AM

MON:
7:00-THE SING OFF, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, GOSSIP GIRL
8:00-HART OF DIXIE
9:00-CASTLE, HAWAII 5-0

TUE:
7:00-GLEE
8:00-NEW GIRL
9:00-PARENTHOOD, UNFORGETTABLE

WED:
7:00-SURVIVOR
8:00-ANTM, CRIMINAL MINDS, MODERN FAMILY
9:00-UP ALL NIGHT, LAW AND ORDER SVU, LUTHER

THU:
7:00-COMMUNITY
7:30-PARKS AND REC
8:00-GREY'S ANATOMY, THE OFFICE
8:30-WHITNEY
9:00-IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY, THE MENTALIST, PRIME SUSPECT, PRIVATE PRACTICE

FRI:
7:00-NIKITA
8:00-CSI:NY
9:00-BLUE BLOODS

OCTOBER ADDS: HOUSE, PSYCH, ONCE UPON A TIME, ALLEN GREGORY

MID-SEASON ADDS: 30 ROCK, COUGAR TOWN

(RED INDICATES NEW SHOW TO MY LINE-UP AND THUS MAY OR MAY NOT STAY ON THE SCHEDULE FOR THE WHOLE SEASON)

I'm doin just fine. getting along very well....

2011-08-30T20:14:00.000-06:00

Life has been the same each day. Nothing really that new. I work. Hang out with Q. We hit up parks, pools, libraries, run errands, and play outside.

At the beginning of the month we moved into our own place, and I love it. It took a couple days to get everything organized, but now we are just chillin. We are renting a two bedroom condo in south orem. It has great freeway access, and since it's on the bottom floor, we can just open up the screen door and hang out on the patio and play in the grass. It makes us both very happy.

Last week, Kim and the crew moved down, and we've been able to hang out with them a few times. Q loves it. I think she gets sick of mommy time, and wants friends.

Q will start preschool in a couple weeks, and I am so excited for her. She is going to love it. Along with the academic stuff she will also have dance and singing. She has a few performances throughout the year and a recital at the end, so you know this mama is gonna be so happy!

I'm super stoked for the fall tv schedule to start up. I'm working on my tv lineup. There are a couple shows that I have seen ads for that I want to try and work into my schedule. I'll post my line-up when I get it figured out.

The 5th season of Dexter came out on DVD. I was lucky enough to have my brother Mitch send me the blu-ray discs he bought. I finished the season in two days. awesome.

anyone else watch "the sing-off"?

yeah...super excited!!

Anyway.
Just wanted to check-in.

If you leave me now, you'll take away the biggest part of me

2011-08-15T11:57:00.000-06:00

So we have a little situation here, so I thought I would take it to the streets and see what you think.

Q has always been a big binky fan. Which has been nice. At around 1.5 years I was able to ween her down to only using the binky when she napped or at night. It worked rather successfully. When she would wake, she would hand over the binky, and not another word was said.

Now, since our move, we have gone in serious reverse, and she wants the thing ALL THE TIME! and has thrown some major tantrums as a result of me saying "no". I plan to take away the binky at age 3 (next month), but I don't know what to do in the meantime. I cannot stand it when she talks with the binky in (a.it's hard to understand her and b.I have a fear it will affect her speech), so I try and make her take it out when she is talking...but that only works about 50% of the time.

So here is the dilemma....

Do I quit fighting her, and just let her have it whenever she wants and then take it away next month?

Do I keep my stance on "when sleeping only" for the next bit, and take it away completely at 3?

Do I just take it away completely now, and deal with the tantrums (since I am getting them anyway)?

Any advice or thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.

2011-08-15T11:46:00.000-06:00

The other evening, Q and I went to a cute park near our house. She was super excited about feeding the ducks and playing on the toys.

She laughed every time she threw a piece of bread into the water, and was so happy when the ducks would eat it. She had absolutely no aim, but was really happy when the bread would land in different spots so all the ducks could have some food.

I didn't bring nearly enough bread (bad mom), but she had fun nonetheless.

After the ducks, we went over to the playground and rode the swings for bit.

Then she found a cute little "friend" and played on the big toy for a long while. climbing the stairs, going up and down on the slides. She was in heaven. Plus, another little family, had a couple small dogs there, and Q just loved petting them. She even got crouched down, patting her legs and calling them "Sandy...come here Sandy, come here Sandy" (In her mind all dogs are named Sandy...thanks Annie).

It was a good little evening.

work..cover girl...work it girl...

2011-08-12T12:11:00.000-06:00

PLACEkids Model Search
id#60674

free money and clothes? heck yes!

don't worry, if Q becomes famous we won't forget about you. haha :)

just like me, they long to be, close to you.

2011-08-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

I've mentioned before, that Q is my little shadow. If I'm around, she doesn't like to be too far away. So when it's time for me to work, she is quick to set up her own little station next to me.

Q is a big fan of play doh, and I won some serious "good mom" points when I made this little rose for her. I guess all those hours watching cake decorating shows, gave me a good eye for play doh flowers. hahaha.

Speaking of cute flowers, look at this adorable flower clip Q got from Piper. We had a fun play date with Piper and her daughter Harper, and not only did I leave with some great samples of some products Piper makes, but Q got this adorable flower clip. She was holding that thing the whole drive home. Rubbing it on her face, and saying "so cute. She gave it to me. How nice!". It was so cute.

And we'll remember this when we are old and ancient. Though the specifics might be vague.

2011-08-01T10:40:00.000-06:00

Every summer SLC hosts a Twilight Concert Series (not affiliated with those vampire books) in Pioneer Park. It's a free concert with vendors stationed around the edges. One Thursday, I headed up to the concert with Cali, Joey, and Shane. I'm always down for concerts, and the appeal of "free" made it a must. We got there, parked near the park in a sweet free parking space Shane knew about, walked to the park where we set our chairs and blankets up in a decent spot under a tree and far enough away from the stage to avoid the real concert craziness, then headed over to get something to eat outside the park. Shane and I got something at this Thai place while Cali and Joey shared a delicious sandwich from Bruges waffles and frites. it was pretty hot out, but once the sun went down a bit, it made for a perfect night.
After dinner we headed back to our spot, to talk and people watch until the concert started. It was so much fun! There was a such an eclectic group of people there, and some real "gems" to stare at. It was the perfect idea to bring chairs, cause we could sit or stand, and just relax while we listened to music.

(this is possibly the worst angle for me, but I love the picture)

(cousins)

(I thought the evergreen tree background was so fitting for them)

(aren't they cute)

(it was a jam packed park)

Both of the bands were from the Portland area, which apparently has a big up and coming music scene, and I enjoyed both acts. The opening band was Typhoon, and the lead singer had a very cool and interesting voice. I really liked them. The main act, and the one that Shane/Cali/Joey were excited to see was the decemberists. I had a heard a couple of their songs before, and have since downloaded a bunch. They were really good, and sounded great live. they did two encores, which was cool, cause the second encore was Cali's favorite song, and she was so excited she got to hear it! After the concert it didn't take long to walk back to our car, and head out. funny side story: on the way out, we saw a fight in front of the homeless shelter. and yes...we totally pulled over to we could watch.

what a great ending. what a great night.

Move...get out the way...get out the way...

2011-07-28T12:14:00.000-06:00

I know it may feel like just yesterday that some of you came to my aid in helping me unpack a moving truck...but it's that time again. (feel free to grumble and groan a bit).
My time at kelsey and jon's has been awesome, but I have found a place of my own and am excited to really get settled in.

I hate moving as much as anybody, so this should be the last time for a long time...

and it should be relatively easy...well as far as moving goes. We will just be packing up the storage shed (on 800 north in Orem) and moving into the apt (off geneva road in south Orem) and there are ABSOLUTELY NO STAIRS! see how nice that sounds?

I am planning my move for friday august 5th around 6pm? hopefully this works for people. (fingers crossed).

It really shouldn't take but a couple hours (at that).

Thanks so much if you can help. :)

love you all

And I come to give you more and I will never give you less

2011-07-15T13:04:00.000-06:00

So I just did about 4 or 5 posts to catch me up for the last couple of months. Some are posted in May-July, so you might have to look for them, if you care that is. :)

Check them out.

Let's talk about me for a minute...

2011-07-14T22:03:00.000-06:00

Well baby Q is becoming quite the fun and crazy toddler, but I am loving it. I love the interactions I have with her. The conversations, the laughter, the play, the cuddles, and of course the kisses. Q has always being a touchy feely baby, and things haven't changed in toddlerhood. she loves to sit as close as she can to me, she loves to touch me, to snuggle with me. and I love it to. (most of the time). Even when I am trying to work she wants to sit on my lap or sit in a chair right next to me. so we've basically come full circle from her newborn days of coming with me to the office and sleeping my lap while I worked.

She is becoming so funny, and whether it's nature or nuture this girl is becoming more and more like me each day. She loves to dance. she loves to laugh. she quotes movies as we are watching them. she sings to songs (even if she doesn't know the words), she loves naps, she really getting into books, and loves her shows.

She even has to put on her "glasses" whenever I have mine on.

She's my mini-me. I love it.

Q's hair is even growing in a bit, and getting longer, although her hair is soooooooo super curly that you probably can't tell the length unless you play with it. I've been putting her hair in mulitple ponytails lately, and I think it's so cute. although you will never see beads in her hair (not a fan), I think this look is so cute.

This what it looks like when I take it out....and make it into a funky mowhawk.

Q has always had some issues with her lungs. She had RSV as a kid, And whenever she gets sick it always goes into a nasty cough. But with our move to Utah, and the new elements, it triggered a mild case of asthma. So once a day we have to do this little breathing treatment and if she's having a bad coughing attack or wheezing we have to do a different treatment every 4-6 hours. Q does pretty well with it. I just let her sit in her chair by the tv and she watched a show, while the treatment is going. but she does look pretty pathetic though.

Top 5 favorite movie quotes from Q:

1) "to infinity and beyond"

2)"there's a snake in my boots"

3)"I love kung fu"

4)"fistpump"

5)"what?????" in a high pitched voice ala: despicable me

but no movie gets quoted more than Annie. The girl is obsessed. she loves it. she quotes it throughout the movie. Loves to talk about it. Loves explaining what is happening through each scene. Just loves it. In fact, whenever she is trying to call me from afar(or anybody for that matter) she calls out like Annie calls for Sandy. she cups her mouth her two hands and yells out "sandy! come here sandy, come her sandy. good job Sandy!". I need to video it, cause it's the cutest thing ever. Annie was the first musical I ever went to. My mom took me for my 6th birthday, so it holds a special place in my heart and I love that Q took to it so quickly.

But Q loves lots of movies. she really does. here are a list of the common ones that get chosen by her to watch.

gnomeo and juliet

alvin and the chipmunks: the squeakuel

astro boy

american tail

american tail: fieval goes west

beauty and the beast

despicable me

megamind

princess and the frog

cloudy with a chance of meatballs

aladdin (she LOVES this one)

little mermaid (in fact all food must be cut up so she can eat it with a dinglehopper)

toy story(1,2,3)

Tarzan (we rented this from the library and couple days ago, and have watched it 5 times already)

Sometimes a few random ones make their way back into the rotation, the common alternates right now are:

alpha and omega

a bug's life

the incredibles

monsters vs aliens

monsters inc

shrek (any of them)

Here are a list of the shows that she loves, the list is expanding which is good. variety is good for this mother.

jake and the neverland pirates (Q loves the whole pirate thing)

berenstain bears

bubble guppies

dora

diego

team umizoomi

yo gabba gabba

blues clues

the wiggles

strawberry shortcake

mikey mouse clubhouse

super why!

A couple other funny things to note about Q:

1) she treats inanimate objects like they are real. I'm hoping it's just a overactive imagination and not something to worry about. hahaha. but seriously, she will tattle on the table for hurting her, put her dolls or animals in time or to sleep, tells me something is being "mean" if a toy isn't working properly. Oh and often toys, utensils, dolls, etc have a crab in them that comes out and bites her ear. This happens multiple times during the day. weird? maybe. Cute. yes, for now.

2)and although she LOVES her babies, and loves to feed them, hold them, put them to bed, carry them around, snuggle them...basically treat them like real people, she has yet to give any names to any of them. Not a one. they are all just "baby".

Besides quoting movies Q is also saying so really funny stuff, and with her cute voice it just makes me laugh

1) when she says "oh my gosh" it has a slight boston accent to it. makes me smile

2)"im so sorry", said with a frown and the saddest voice ever.....the girl is gonna be a great actress

3)"i'm not listening". apparently I scold her a bit for not paying attention to what I am saying cause often times, when she hears a certain "i'm getting frustrated" tone in my voice she will be quick to point out "i'm not listening". it makes me less stressed instantly.

4)she often asks tons of questions like "what are they doing?" or "what's happening"...and really she knows the answer, that is just her cue for me to ask her the same question back and she tells me the answer. what a crazy kid.

I've mentioned that Q loves to dance, and I am so excited for her to start her preschool in the fall cause it is combined with dancing and singing as well. I just like to call it Fame preschool cause it makes me smile. But I think she is just gonna love it. She's expanding her dance moves and I've been working on her dance face. She now knows to smile the whole time she's dancing and not stick her tongue out. Her newest move is this bend over, touch the ground, and shake her booty in the air while singing "shake your booty, shake your booty". not quite sure where she learned this, and yes it could be a little weird in a few years, but it makes me laugh now. She also loves trying to do the dance moves the chippette's do in "the squeakuel", especially the "single ladies" musical number. If she can get those down, I will die with happiness! Again, I will try and get video of her dancing soon.

oh and Q is potty trained. it took a tough week of potty training boot camp, where we honestly did not leave the house. But it happened. I didn't know if it would, even into day 4, but she soon picked it up and is doing well. She still has a hard time telling others (not me) that she has to go, and often gets distracted with playing with others that she doesn't tell me in time, but hopefully that will change before preschool starts. She still has to wear a pull up at night, cause the girl is such a hard sleeper that she wasn't waking up at all in the night, and peeing the bed. so we'll work on that as the months go on. But she did it. So thanks to everybody who gave me advice before and especially during the process...it totally helped.

Well that's life in Q's world. She's becoming such a big girl

(and if you read and cared about any of that, I love you)

Reunited and it feels so good...

2011-07-05T20:36:00.000-06:00

It was a last minute decision to drive up to Idaho spend a day with Kim's crew, then drive up with her and Elsie to visit Jared's crew, but it was the perfect trip and I was so glad we did it. Q and I needed a break from Utah, and break from each other, and to see everyone (even Mitch), and just hang out, was a just a dream. We ate some delicious food, spent time in the sun, played with family, spent time with Mitch, laughed, talked, and just had some good quality family time.

We made up this bowling game down the slip and slide...

Cousins,cheeto's and sun time...

Q couldn't get enough of Mitch. It's so cute to me. These kids see him a few times a year, but they all love him and don't leave him alone this minute they see him.

After swimming and snack time Q was out. Like seriously out like a light. She slept in the sun forever, and then I moved her inside with us, and she laid on the floor amid the noise and commotion for a couple hours the girl loves her sleep.

Jared brought home these little bags from work that had suckers, stickers, crayons, and some tattoos in them. The Kids got to work tattin themselves.

I told you Q loved her Uncle Mitch

We were sure sad Aaron couldn't be there. But we had a great time

yep, Jared got all the girls to do "guns". nice jared. nice.

Q giving her Uncle JJ some head love...yeah it hurts.

Oh how I love my family.

Who can say If I´ve been changed for the better but because I knew you i´ve been changed for good

2011-07-03T18:45:00.000-06:00

So, I have a late entry for my birthday blog from Emily. I could of just added it to the end of the last blog entry but I think it gives a good little update on her as well as praise me. hahaha. So I am making it it's own blog post.

My Dearest An-G,

I realize more and more everyday that living with you was the greatest preparation ever for where I´m at now..... SO in true Angie fashion I now present....

Top 5 Lessons Learned from Angie:

1) Remember that one time when I thought you were crazy for making toast in the oven, and I thought huh... I´ll never have to do that..... uh yeah guess who makes toast in a gas stove every morning........This Girl!

2) Remember that one time when you told me I needed to take shorter showers? So..... first day in the Brasil MTC and what was I told ``Please Limit your showers to 3 minutes`` I thought to myself..... wowzers! What happened to the 2 song rule?

3) Every P-day sister Risnemay and I have to clean the house before we can leave to go shopping and use the computers... although we had much more awesome tunes to clean to on Saturdays when we cleaned, it still reminds me of that time, and makes me gratefull I did that in advance so it wouldn´t seem like such torture!

4) remember how you always took the stairs at work at thus inspired me to do the same, well...... AT the MTC it´s forbidden to use the elevator unless transporting luggage, and hauling my trash up 3 or 4 flights of stairs was ROUGH! but thankfully the temptation to use the elevator was curbed, because now instead of having Angie judge I would have God judging me ( truthfully though as far as rule breaking goes, both wraths I fear about the same!)

5) I pretty well make an idiot out of myself everyday, but the sting of laughter over my mishaps is nothing, because you´ve been making fun of me for the past 8 or 9 years we´ve known eachother!

So pretty much I owe you big time, being my friend has caused you to excercise much patience, and step outside of yourself a lot I´m sure, but I´m thankful for you and the impact you´ve had on my life everyday, you´ve taught me sooooo much! I don´t know how they managed to do it, but I feel like the song ``for Good`` was written just for us. ``´Who can say If I´ve been changed for the better but because I knew you i´ve been changed for good`` Truer words were never spoken!

I love and miss you A TON!!!! I hope your birthday is crap because I don´t want to miss out! Just kidding I hope your day is the Bees Knees...just like you!

Love, Sister Em

I get by with a little help from my friends..

2011-06-30T20:18:00.000-06:00

I'll admit there have been times in the last couple of months that I have questioned my choice to move, and most of that is because my social life has been somewhat lacking. how does one make new friends as an adult?

I did have a good group of friends back in Moses, but I have to keep reminding myself that most of them moved on as well so it was time to leave, but I don't have many people to hang out with here, and times do get a little lonely. It's a lot of me and Q time, and it has been great, but every once in a while a girl needs some adult interaction.

I WAS able to go out with a few friends for my birthday. Well it was mostly my friend Tamu and everyone from her salon. But they are all cool, and it was super fun. We went out to dinner, hit up a club, then hit up a 24 hour diner joint until about 2:30 in the morning. It was a super funny night, but getting up the next morning to take care of Q was less than awesome. I took no pictures of that night (someone else did, and I have yet to get the pictures) but I did get this one inside the club.

Me and Tamu June 18 2011

I also attended this "white party" with the ladies a few weekends ago. It was less than awesome (it definitely did not live up to the same level as P Diddy's famous annual "white parties" that he throws in Miami)but it was good to get out for a little bit. Plus I did get to participate in a authentic "soul train" line so that was super fun.

One weekend we headed up to Park City to watch an independent film that Tamu's youngest son Elijah had a bit part in that was premiering at a small film festival there. Without popcorn to entertain her, Q lasted about 20 minutes and then I had to take her home. I didn't even get to see Elijah in the film, but the movie was super weird and from what everybody else told me I didn't miss anything.

Can you find me in this picture? hahaha. I am glowing.

I like it when the girls stop by.. In the summer

2011-06-20T20:04:00.000-06:00

Q and I are the proud owners of the season pass of all passes for Utah County. which means it adds just another fun thing for us to do. We hit the seven peaks water park every few days and both Q and I just love it. We have our little routine that we do every time. First we hit up the the tadpole area, where Q has no fear about climbing up the steps and going down the slides by herself. It is so cute to watch. She loves giving the lifeguards high fives before she makes her way down the slide, and the smile that awaits me as I wait at the bottom to catch her, is just so funny. We play in that area for a bit, then we grab our little kid boat floatie and go around the the lazy river a few thousand times. Q floats in her boat pointing out all the leaves she sees, and I walk beside her collecting the leaves and putting them in her boat. if I wasn't getting an amazing tan while doing this, I would consider this the most mundane thing ever, but it's pretty fun.
Then we take a little break. Q gets her cheetos from the gift shop, then we hit up the grill and get out fries and large water. Then we sit on the towels, getting some sun on my legs, watch all the people, and eat our snacks. After that, we take the boat into the wave pool, where after about 20 minutes Q usually falls asleep. I bring her back to our towels, and she takes a little nap while I get some sun, or I put her in the stroller, pack up our things, and go home where we both can take a nap. Yeah it's a tough life we have.

One day we also hit up the Lehi Trafalga. so fun. Q may be less than 36" but with the afro she is tall enough to ride most of the rides, and she thought it was so fun.

yep, yet another carousel.

They also have this cool mini bowling area, that is just so fun for Q. She played two whole games and would have played more but it was time to go.

We definitely have to go back.....soon....