Happy Birthday Caymbree!

Enjoy the show

While I have been busy getting caught up on my blog, Hope has been in the background keeping herself entertained. I couldn't resist grabbing the camera so YOU too could enjoy the show.

(Pause my music on my playlist first)

AGENDA

Hallee's new word of the week is AGENDA. I've heard it countless times, in a variety of ways. Here's just a few....
"So what's the agenda today Mom?"
"Wow, we had a big agenda today didn't we?"
" Why don't we have anything on our agenda?"
and my personal favorite...
"Mom! Why do we always have to be on YOUR agenda?"


Gotta love it. But she is right about one thing. We have had lots on our agenda lately despite the fact that she is STILL in school (year round- gotta love it).


The girls had their summer dance concert a few weeks ago and they did absolutely FABULOUS! Troy and I were beaming with pride!

Last week we had our "cousins" (what do you call my cousins kids?) down for a a sleepover. We went to the splash park, played in the back yard, saw Kung Fo Panda, and did a little shopping. We had a lot of fun and watching Hallee and Olivia play together warms my heart. They are such sweet little friends and are alike in every way. Olivia had only been gone less than an hour when Hallee's eyes filled with tears because "she already missed livi."

Thanks for coming down guys! We had sooooooooo much fun!

Saturday night we met up with my family to see the production of 1856 at the Capital Theatre. The show was pretty weak but it is always fun to see my family and we got a good laugh out of it anyway.

Sunday was the big BBQ. Troy's work has a tradition of doing a going away party when someone leaves or gets promoted and Troy felt like it was our turn to host it this time. So on Sunday we hosted 36 guests in our backyard. It actually was a lot of fun but a LOT of work to get it all ready. We even played a little trampoline dodge ball for Troy's co-workers.

And there ya have it. So what's on YOUR agenda for the week?

HELP NEEDED

Alright I know the blog world has come to a screeching halt with summer here but I need some help. Even from those of you who never leave a comment, I'm asking (politely) for your input. In July we have a few vacations which means I might actually have time to read a book or two again. Problem is, I don't want to waste my time on a mediocre book. I just finished The Host and despite some negative reviews I absolutely loved it and was quite intrigued with the story line. But now I need some recommendations. Any ideas?? Come on, I know your out there - just tell me your top favorites of all time. And I will even thank you in advance.

Oh NO!

Oh YES. It's happening. Caymbree has developed quite a talent for making messes. Things like dumping a bag of crackers on her head, writing all over her face with marker, emptying out an entire box of tissues, and dumping out over 1,000 beads all over the floor. Oh ya, and the last three all happened before 10 o'clock this morning. Lovely.

Looks Who's Walking!

Okay, try not to get a neck cramp while watching our cute little Caymbree cruise on her own. I forgot that I can't rotate the image when I take video on my regular camera but you'll still get the idea.

She started walking about a week ago but it seemed as if she didn't want anyone to notice. Every time we would acknowledge it she would sit on her bum as fast as she could. Finally last Thursday she took off and hasn't stopped since. I have to say I'm happy we are on to this next milestone. I'm not big on the whole crawling thing. They always seem filthy, it's hard on the clothes and walking just seems a lot easier.

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day Troy! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

And Happy Fathers Day to my DAD! Thanks for setting the bar so high and being the example of an amazing father! Thanks to Tom for teaching Troy everything he knows. Love ya tons!

Mother of the year

If THIS doesn't get me the "Mother of the Year" award than I don't know what will. Yesterday we attempted for the SECOND time to go get a sneak peak of the High School Musical 3 filming. The first attempt occurred thanks to an inside tip of where "Gabriellas" house was. After loading up the kids and driving 30 minutes and waiting around for an hour we found out that the only cast member that would be there was "Gabriella" and all taping would be done inside the house. This came AFTER the news from another family that the day before all the cast members had been there playing catch on the front yard (literally 15 feet away from us) and Zac Efron (aka Troy) even came across and shook all the little girls hands. BIG LET DOWN!!!!!

We made friends with one of the security guards who felt bad that our girls wouldn't get to see anything. So, he gave us the inside scoop. HSM would be filming in front of East High School on June 11th and we could come watch then. He was so nice and even gave me his cell number so we could call and verify what time they would be there.

SECOND ATTEMPT. The big day arrives and it looks like a huge storm is about to break any minute. With our luck we would load all the kids up, drive the 30 minutes and they would cancel the whole thing anyway. After an hour of decision making we decided to head up and of course once we got there they had moved inside. LOVELY!

Once again we made friends with the security guards (Who knew they were so nice?) They told us not to leave and they would keep us posted. As luck would have it - they ended up coming back outside to film. When "Troy, Gabriella, Chad, and Taylor" walked out of the school and waved to our girls we knew our mission had been accomplished. It was freezing cold and once they started filming it was hard to see a whole lot but it was a fun memory anyway.

Ya get what you pay for

I mean what did I expect??? I guess when the babysitter comes dressed like this.....

I should not be surprised that the end result would look like this....

I guess it's a small price to pay for a few minutes of quiet so I could get some work done. Thanks for babysitting Hope!

Ahhhhhhh......

Just got back from my "Day at the Spa" that my fabulous, amazing, spectacular husband gave me for Mothers Day. Life is good.

We've Arrived!

No more SHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!! No more avoiding phone calls and doorbells during certain hours. No more of being intently ignored. HAL-LE-LU-IA!!!!!!! Can you hear the angels singing?

Fate brought me home just in time to hear my "T.V. is such a waste of time" hubby on a very suspicious phone call that sounded a lot like he was changing our television service. Hmmmm...interesting. Very interesting. This is the man that at one point wanted to get rid of our televisions all together. So I sneak in the room and start my eavesdropping. What? 99 channels? Couldn't be. We have so enjoyed our 12 channels up to this point so what possibly could he be thinking? Disney Channel? Oh NO - we will never hear or see our six year old daughter again. And as the salesperson wrapped up the summary of services I just happened to notice the ONE thing I have been asking for missing. DVR. Looks like I made it home just in time to demand (politely) that we add that final option. I WIN! I WIN!

As he hung up the phone and saw my stare of unbelief he started to explain. It all came down to money (big surprise there). Apparently it was cheaper to switch to comcast with all the available options on their big promo than to keep our current 12 channels. He of course, rolled his eyes at my polite demand of DVR.

Now fast forward three days and take a walk with me to the DVR. Hmm..... Let's click on "OUR RECORDINGS". Pirates of the Caribbean; The Curse of the Black Pearl. Pirates of the Caribbean; Dead Man's Curse. Pirates of the Caribbean; (can't remember the third title). Geeeee, I'm pretty sure I did not record those. Now Troy sits with a big grin on his face when he "pauses" his show to deal with the kids or answer my question. Only one problem. He has now declared that there is no need to EVER rent another video again. OH BROTHER.

Just another manic monday

Actually, today is the first day I can breath easy compared to the wild weekend we had. Hope started us out on the right note with probably her best HOPE MOMENT to date....


After walking in her room and discovering that Caymbree had pulled all the magnets off her magnet board she sighed in disgust, " Aggghhhhh.... I just cleaned this! SON OF A NUTCRACKER!" I could not stop laughing and when I finally composed myself enough to ask her where she had learned that from she said, "mom, you know. Elf says it when he gets hit in the face with a snowball." Too much. Too, too much.


Thursday night we saw lots of ticks on the clock go by as Hope spent most of the night coughing, coming in to talk to us, and at 3am declaring that she was done sleeping and ready to play.

Friday I got paid a $95.00 to watch the movie "Over the Hedge" SEVEN times. Yes, SEVEN. You're all ready to sign up for this job now aren't ya? Well, there is a catch. The job requires that you see more cleavage than you thought possible, hear the "F" word used as a noun AND a verb, confiscate notes that would make a stripper blush and hear "ewwwww" when you answer the question "how old are you?." Ah, the wondeful world of a substitute teacher.

Friday afternoon consisted of a fashion show practice for Hope and Hallee, straight home to get Hope in her dance costume, hair and make-up ready and off to her dance pictures where we stood in line for an hour, hoping and praying that nothing sets my extremely tired three year old off thus resulting in a waterwork of tears and destroying the make-up masterpiece I have just created. Also, just as crucial, preventing the $18.00 pair of tights from getting a snag or run. NOT an easy task!


Left there to go pick up a free dinner from Chipolte. Not overly impressed by the way. Stopped by the grocery store to get treats and drinks for Hope's soccer game on Saturday and finally walked in the door at 8:30pm exhausted and ready for bed.


SATURDAY morning. All the girls up and ready and off to Hope's soccer game at 9am. This time Hope did actually kick the ball a few times but still managed to pick the dandelions off the field. Rush home straight from there to get the girls "really" ready for the fashion show....

One of the young women asked my activity day girls to be part of a "MODESTY FASHION SHOW." She was so cute and asked Hope and Hallee and Trinity and Grace if they wanted to be part of it as well. Of course they did and thought they were SO grown up to get to do it. It was very cute!

We left the fashion show a little early to rush home and get Hallee in her costume, hair and make-up for her dance pictures. Then off to the studio for her glam shots :)


By 2pm we (meaning me and the girls - dad, MIA at work) got back home, I declared "quiet time" for all and crashed on the couch. (Did I mention we have all been sick this week?) By 3:30 quiet time was long over and I managed to plant a few more flowers with the help of Caymbree....



















Back in the house for tub time, pj's and to bed early for the kids only to discover that the hour nap Hope had kept her up until 10pm. I, meanwhile spent the night preparing for my Sunday school lesson.

The End. Glad it's over.