Hi.

We are were here.

We like liked it.

Lucy is was amazing for someone who hates traveling.

Emma is hanging hung in there. For being in a new place, outside of her normal routine, she did fantastic!

We went to the aquarium …

… climbed  rode an elevator to eye-level with the surrounding mountains …

[some of us stood next to the edge … some of us sat next to the elevator]

… rode some swings

… slid down a few water slides [including one with a 40 foot vertical drop that a certain 4-year old rode TWELVE TIMES]

… rode the “River Rampage” six times … and “only” six because it had to shut down for a couple of hours

… rode up a mountain with our feet dangling below us

… went here

… and here

… and here

… and just spent time together. So much time together.

And that was the best part of all.

Maybe one day, I’ll actually do a recap or something. But I have learned not to make any promises. Especially in the summer.

Oh yeah … I started this post while on vacation. We got back 3 days ago.

Today, I turned 33.

It was a good day. A day filled with my littles and lunch with my sweetheart, who started back teaching tonight. I wish I could be all, “Oh, it’s okay! It’s only two nights a week! It’s not so bad.” But it is so bad. I miss him. A whole lot. He took one term off and was home at 5:30 every night, and I got spoiled. I got used to the extra set of hands while making supper. I got used to having help with putting two girls to bed at the same time. Or rather, keeping the oldest girl from cutting her hair or coloring her sheets with markers or taking every single pull-up out of her super size package of pull-ups* while I am putting the baby to bed.

I want to re-visit this pull-ups thing later, because I have a few questions about this. Let’s put a pin in that subject for a while, okay?

So Ken’s teaching again … here’s the deal. I hate it when he teaches at night. I’m going to wallow for about 2 weeks. I’m going to complain. I’m going to whine. I’m going to moan and groan about how hard it is for me to have virtually NO break on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I’m going to use it as an excuse to not shower or clean or get anything done. And then, I’ll kick myself in the butt about how there are moms out there whose husbands are deployed, moms out there whose husbands are no longer on this earth, moms out there with sick husbands, and moms who would do anything to have a husband who doesn’t beat them or get drunk too much or treat them horribly. And then I’ll realize how lucky I am, and I’ll quit wallowing.

Since he knew he wouldn’t be home tonight, he brought balloons home last night. And strawberry shortcake. And two cards – one from him and one from the girls. And the one from him had a boy picking boogers on the front of it.

I love him.

And I love that Emma put some headbands around her head at the supper table and said, “It’s your fancy birthday supper, Mom!”

So today? Today was a good day. I received so many messages from people that I couldn’t even reply to all of them. So thank you. Thank you for your messages. For your thoughts. For your well wishes. I read them all. I loved them all. And I love you all.

If you’ve been reading my blog or following on Flickr for any length of time, you’ll know that I participate in Bench Monday almost every Monday.

The rules are: hop up on a bench. take picture. post on Monday.

Today, we have SNOW! Lots and lots and lots of snow. {For us}

So that turned out okay, in spite of the fact that I jumped out of the frame. But taking pictures with a self-timer can result in hilarity.

nice face

was going to toss some snow in the air … timed it all wrong {and what is UP with my FACE?!}

TA-DA!

Miraculously, that’s all it took to get the right one, but it’s always funny to get back inside and look at the outtakes.

And my neighbors? Pretty sure they think I’m insane.

{posted for Megan}

Merry Christmas!!

ken * keli * emma * lucy

How to get things done when you have a newborn and still have to make dinner, clean the house, do laundry, and take care of a 3-year old …

Tuesday’s Truth is another group on Flickr – I’m actually not a member because I just found out about it today, and I don’t want my whole photostream to be shots specifically for certain groups. But maybe one day when I can’t think of anything to take pictures of.

Yes, I just ended a sentence with a preposition, but let’s all just take a deep breath and pretend it’s not there.

So today’s truth is this … I am constantly embarrassing myself, sticking my foot in my mouth, saying inappropriate things at inappropriate times, etc. But I don’t usually blog about it.

Well, I’ve talked about my kid’s poop, so that should earn her about 10 years of therapy – maybe this little story will help even it out.

One day last week, Angie from I ♥ Faces emailed me and asked me, as a contributor, to send a picture to use for the I ♥ Faces Blurb book.

Her exact words were …

If you’re interested, just make sure that you use a photo that really focuses on the face.

So I dressed up a little, put on makeup, fixed my hair, and spent 45 sweltering minutes outside with my camera, tripod and remote taking pictures of myself that I thought could be used in the book. As a contributor, I didn’t want to send in a crappy picture, ya know?

I went through and deleted 99.9% of them, but finally settled on one that wasn’t absolutely horrible and sent it on to Amy to include in the book.

She politely emailed me back and pretty much said, “Um, nice picture. But we just want your best picture of ANY face that you have taken. Dummy.”

No, she didn’t say that. But she should have! I went back and re-read Angie’s email, and sure enough, not once did she say “a picture of you.”

I tried to cover my utter embarrassment by saying something like, “Oh, well I don’t want to use that one unless it’s on the cover. Hahahaha. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I am going to go crawl into a hole.”

I can just imagine Amy getting this email from me expecting a really cute face shot of a kid, and she opens it up to see ME staring back at her. And then she’s thinking, “Now, how am I going to nicely tell Keli that she is a complete moron!?”

She is a gem, I tell ya. I probably would have just chalked the picture up to a mighty big ego and slapped it inside the book.

Or on the cover.

Whichever.

So I have an iPod Touch (or iTouch), and I have started back running pretty regularly, so I need an armband. I found one that doesn’t seem really bulky, and the band comes on and off, so I can use the protective case as just a case when I’m not running, which is helpful since I pretty much throw it in my bag and take it everywhere.

Here’s a little known fact about me – I ALWAYS have buyer’s remorse about anything I buy. If I end up buying a pair of green pants, I’ll wish that I had bought the white instead. There are a handful of things I’ve loved from the minute I’ve bought them until now, but I mostly second-guess everything I own.

So here’s where you come in. You guys are going to decide the color of my iTouch case w/ armband. This may not seem like a lot, but I truly use this thing daily – many times a day. It will get a LOT of use, and I’ll have to live with this color choice for the rest of my life. Or until I get a new iPod. But we’re poor, so it’ll be a long time.

NO PRESSURE OR ANYTHING.

So … what color should I buy?

I don’t know what it is about bra shopping that I hate, but I just do.

I’ve had the same 2 bras for a couple of years, now, and they are the only ones that fit post-baby. As a matter of fact, I think I bought them right after I had Emma, because I was all, “Oooh, boobs!” And I went right out and bought 2 bras.

Now, Emma’s 26 months old, and I’m still wearing those same 2 bras. Funny thing is, I complain about them all the time b/c they don’t fit right.

The band isn’t tight enough, the cups are too big, the straps are too floppy, they’re uncomfortable, they’re ugly, ad nauseum.

How white trash is it to wear tank tops and then constantly have to shove your straps back under the tank top straps? Ugh.

So Ken’s all, “Just go get yourself some new bras!” If only it were as easy for me to buy new undergarments as it is for him.

Undergarments … tee-hee.

Here’s the deal. I have NO idea what size I am.

Having a baby moves things. Changes things. Reworks things.

And while I didn’t breastfeed for various reasons, “the girls” are still a little different.

Okay, this is the point where I realize that my brother sometimes reads my blog, and I’m a little concerned for him right now. Close down this window and pretend that you never read any of this, Big Bro. M’kay?

So. Do I Google “how to measure for bras” and hope for the best? Or do I go to one of those places that measures for you?

And if I do the latter, do I have to take my bra off in front of a stranger?

Ummm …

And if I do, then is she going to measure me and then point me to the Juniors department??

Oy vey, my armpits are sweating right now just thinking about it.

Yeah, no. Forget it. I’m not going.

I’ll just keep wearing the same two loose, floppy bras that I’ve been wearing for 2 years. And if you ever see me in public, just holler, “Hey! Stuff that bra strap back under your tank top, please! No one wants to see THAT!!”

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ….

I hope you all are having a more relaxing day than I am.

So far, I’ve fixed breakfast, fixed lunch, taken E to school, folded laundry {which still sits in my living room floor, of course}, weed-eated around the house, fence, and square foot garden, picked up dog poop in the backyard, cleaned the kitchen, took deposits to 2 banks, picked E up from school, put E down for a nap, organized some of our business paperwork, created two new logos for one of our sites, went upstairs 4,982 times to try to get E to take a nap, went upstairs to let E out of her room since it was clear she was not going to take a nap, and updated my work moleskine.

And it’s 2:52pm.

Stick a fork in me … I’m DONE*!

*except for 5 more hours with a 2-year old who never stops moving, making messes or talking

Another peek into my little project …

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm …

I won’t give it all away until I’m ready to go, so it may be next week before it is all revealed.

Okay, seriously, I am making this a MUCH bigger deal than it really needs to be, lol. I think I’m still trying to talk myself into doing it.