I'm 5, I'm Big Now.

This post is a bit overdue, Annison's birthday was April 1st. But, we have been busy, busy, so better late than never![Present Chaos-note to Mitch:we have no pics of Annison dressed as Princess Leia...by herself- looking at the camera....or by herself not looking at the camera...and this is the best shot of them together...must I do everything? :)]

Annison's birthday celebration actually started on March 21. She shared her "friend party" with her best buddy, Mason Ceci. It turned out great. We have most of the same friends and they are in the same preschool class, so it was very convenient for us and for our friends to do it together. It was a Star Wars theme party. I'm sure you're thinking (as I was) What?? Girly-girl Annison agreed to have a Star Wars party? Well, I told her there was a princess in Star Wars and that we could still have pink decorations and princess goody bags, etc. She agreed to the joint party and even dressed as Princess Leia -SUPER CUTE! So there you have it-Lots of kids & parents, TONS of presents, a bit of wind and they had a really fun afternoon celebrating their 5th birthdays together.(School celebration-sorry for the fuzziness)

On her birthday, I was the helper parent at school, which Annison always loves. She likes to show me all of the things she has done at school and all of the tasks she is in charge of as the leader. She even wanted me to sit by her during circle time, so sweet! It was very fun.

After school, we met Mitch, Uncle Marshall, Aunt Kencie (she skipped school-gasp!) and my mom and dad for lunch at Qdoba. Annison chose Qdoba because, like the rest of us, she LOVES tacos! After lunch, Mitch, Kencie, Lilly and myself all watched as she got her ears pierced. There were NO tears-she was all business! She picked diamonds aka cz's-"because it's my birthstone...thank you mommy for giving me sparkly diamonds for my birthstone"...well not exactly kiddo, but that's fine if you think it was all mommy! :)(Right after the piercing)

Then that night all the grandparents and aunts and uncles came over for dinner. Annison picked chicken nuggets, fries and applesauce for her birthday dinner. So, that is what we ate and then she got a homemade princess cake for dessert. I made it myself with no special pans (and NO special decorating talent) and it turned out pretty good-I was happy with it. She got clothes and books and a ginormous doll house that I found on Craig's List. (Seriously, the thing is like 5' tall. There weren't any dimensions in the listing and the picture did not do the dollhouse justice. I went to pick it up, not knowing how HUGE it was and had to take both car seats out and fold the seats down for it to BARELY fit- Crazy!) But her reaction was well worth it-She squealed with glee! She had a really great birthday and we (Mitch and I) cannot believe our baby is 5 already. It has truly flown by and we have really enjoyed watching her as she has grown into her 5 year old self. She is such a sweet, easy going girl. Everyone loves her and we are so proud that she is our little..I mean, Big-girl, Annison.

(Cousins gathered for present opening)

(Princess with her princess cake)

Happy Birthday Amanda!

My little sister, Amanda turned 21 today-Hooray! I am such a proud big sister. When my mom was pregnant with her I REALLY wanted a sister. I had a brother (love you Anthony!) but I hoped and hoped for a sister to dress up and basically be my doll. I loved helping my mom take care of her-I was 7 when she was born, so I got to change diapers and give her bottles...I remember loving that.

She is a beautiful and smart free-spirit. She is a dreamer, doesn't always have to have a plan (like me) and is easy-going but will absolutely stand up for herself and her family. She is an awesome aunt-my girls love their "aunt manda". I am amazed by her many talents and love her tons and miss her dearly! Bring her back to the West coast Joshua!!! Hope you have a great Birthday Amanda! We love you!

Everybody needs a Kencie....

This is Kencie.

She is my amazing littlest sister. I just love her and the title of this post is a direct quote from my good friend Roz. She often says "everyone needs a Kencie" Roz is right!

Kencie adores my girls and is such a good aunt to them. She plays with them (even when she has friends over!), teaches them, shares all of her things with them, squeezes in our backseat on long trips (or short ones if they ask) to help us entertain them and recently she has started babysitting them. The girls love her to peices and often fight over her-"My Aunt Kencie" says Annison, "No, My Aunt Tencie" yells Lilly. But, more than being who she is to me, Mitch and the girls she is really one of the best people I know. She is kind, sincere, charitable, funny & BEAUTIFUL. She is a really good girl and everyone from my friends to her teachers shower her with compliments. I feel so very lucky to have her as a little sister and friend. So, yes, Roz is right. Everyone does need a Kencie...but we got her!!!

Random thoughts on a Saturday

First off, I wanted to announce the 1st EjectIT.com contest! 101 Users for your EjectIT Flyer. [Begin Shameless plug]


We are giving away a WII and other prizes for the best alternate use of your EjectIT flyer.

[End Shameless Plug]

I was reading today on MSNBC about the attacks going on with Russia and Georgia. There were some photos showing the devastation to the towns and it made me wonder about how these people rebuild. Are there insurance companies in Georgia? Seriously, can you take out an insurance plan when a bomb destroys your home? I know you have to have a special Flood Insurance Rider for Insurance here to cover floods, is there such a thing in countries where peace is not the standard?

I remember soon after 9/11, I received in the mail from my home owner's insurance the option to add on projection for my home in the event it was destroyed in a terrorist attack. I'm just wondering if these people have any type of protection on this?

I guess it puts everything in perspective. I've been complaining lately about how hot it gets here in Las Vegas during the summer. Often commenting about how we live in "Hell", but in reality, I live in paradise compared to the hell ordinary people in warring nations live in. I will stop complaining now, or at least until it hits 115 again.

I think our world is plagued with senseless violence. Not just countries fighting over small pieces of land, oil, or thousands of years of hatred, but also individuals. The Chinese man who attacked and killed the U.S. Volleyball caoch's father-in-law. It is everywhere. It just doesn't make sense. The guy killed the person and then jumped to his death. He should have jumped to his death first and spared an innocent life.

I had a weird experience last week at a 7-11. The 7-11 was located in a part of town that is mainly hispanic. I was waiting in line to buy my drink when the woman behind the counter was trying to understand the question the woman at the front of the line was asking. The 7-11 employee had a thick Indian accent and the woman asking the question had a thick hispanic accent. What made it so difficult was they were both trying to speak English but their accents were getting in the way. It was at a standstill because neither of them could understand what the other was saying. I was clueless as well. Finally, another 7-11 employee came over and determined that the woman wanted to buy plastic cups and didn't know where they were located in the store.

It made me think about how I would feel if I was living in a different country and trying to just do an every day task but be hindered by a language barrier. I guess this was an extreme situation because both parties' primary language was English. Not sure where I'm going with this except that I guess I'm feeling thankful that I don't have those barriers to deal with every day to have a normal functional day.

Side note, if you ever are hungry and are on St. Rose Parkway, drive down to the Chevron east of Executive Airport. Roy's Deli that is inside the gas station has the BEST sandwiches for the money. Subway, Port of Subs, Quiznos don't even compare. They are inexpensive and give you 3 times as much meat as the big guys do.

Sorry about the doom and gloom today, had to finish on a postive note with Roy's. :)

Lilly's Birthday and the Pumpkin Man

LILLY TURNED "TEEEEW"!!! That's how Lilly says 2 and instead of holding her pointer and middle finger up to signify 2 and PEACE, she holds her pointer and thumb up to form an L, probably for LOVE. I can't believe she is already teeeew. It seems like yesterday that I was sick in the hospital and Lilly arrived. Sick with the flu, I was a lot of help. I remember sleeping most of the time and trying not to get my germs all over the place. No one else got sick, so I guess I did my part.

We had all of Lilly's friends over for a fish themed birthday party. Jenn had been planning for the party since about April, right after Annison's 4th. Once again, she did a great job for the party. I hope the girls look back and remember how cool her Mom was for always making their birthday's so special. Oh, I did my part too, I cleaned up dog poop and sprayed off the backyard so it didn't completely smell like dog urine. :)

I of course have no pictures to show of the party, they are all loaded on the camera still and I have no idea where it is. I did take this photo last week, when Jenn was out and about and it was a Daddy and girl night.


For some time now, I've been debating about doing a sprint Triathlon. A sprint is .6 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run. October 18th, is the Pumpkin Man in Boulder City. At lunch the other day I mentioned to Ryan, Keith and Marshall that I was considering it. Keith immediately got on board. We have started training today and have 10 weeks to prepare. The motivation is to actually do it and say I did it. I'm confident that I'll be able to complete the race. My goal is to complete the race without having to rest along the way. Wish me luck!

VOTE FOR ME

Thanks Steve Vegas for sending me this. I hope you all think that I can help turn this country around.

I've narrowed my VP canidates down to the following in no paticular order:

1) Homer Simpson

2) Barry Bonds (I hear he is looking for a job)

3) Hip Hop Harry

4) Dora the Explorer

Email Addiction?

It is Monday and I can't access my email. I recently moved all my email accounts to a single GMAIL account so I can get my email from my iPhone or any web browser.

But today Gmail is having a problem with my account and I can't access it. It has been 10 minutes and I feel hopeless. Am I addicted to Email? I'm thinking so. Do I really need to have my email at my fingertips ALL the time?

The world without email. Remember when getting a letter in the mailbox was such a big deal? Then you had to turn around and write the person back. The turnaround time was a few days even if you sat down and wrote back RIGHT THEN!

How did we survive without our cellphones? How did we meet up with people in a crowded area before TXTing "I'm by the waterfountain"? Did we all just roam around until we bumped into the person we were looking for?

I have to admit that I do TXT a lot and I'm beginning to think it is the dumbest thing in the world. It makes sense to TXT when a phone call might interrupt the person in a meeting or if it is late at night and you want to play XBOX but don't want to wake up your friends kids. Or receiving Calendar reminders to your phone. I understand those uses, but texting in the middle of the day on a Saturday is dumb. Just make the phone call. We end up texting a full conversation over the course of 10-20 messages that could have been completed in 2 minutes on the phone.


It might be time to disconnect from the electronic world for awhile. :)

I told Keith today that I was thinking about starting a landscaping company. As long as plants and trees still are growing, I'll always have business. Don't need to check your email when you using the mower AND TXTing and Mowing is dangerous!!

Watch for the K&M Landscaping launch in 2008! :)

BUMMER.

KMlandscaping.com is taken. So is MKlandscaping.com. Anyone want to join our landscaping company so we can get a domain name that isn't taken? No landscaping experience necessary, we don't have any either. Only requirement is you can't bring your cellphone when we hack up people's yards.

-M