"The Polar Express" Party

I have a cute friend in the ward who came up with a great idea. She invited all the little kiddies from the ward over to have a "Polar Express" party. The kids came in their jammies, and we watched the movie "The Polar Express." Stevie and David absolutely loved it.

Here's a picture of the kiddos after they were given their "ticket" to the Polar Express.
During the part in the movie where the children are served hot chocolate on the train, our hostess (Amie) brings out hot chocolate for all the kids to enjoy. She also passed out little jingle bells for the kids to shake when it was time to "jingle their bells if they believed in Santa." It was so adorable and creative!


After the movie, we had a delicious lunch and I totally the kids pigged out.


I just loved this idea. Granted, most of the smaller kids only took in about 1/3 of the movie (other people's toys are just too darn interesting), but even so, my boys really remembered the experience. They talked about it all day. Adn I have to admit that I loved getting a chance to talk to all the awesome moms that were there. Such a fun way to start off our Christmas-filled week.

Props to Iowa

I went to a good ole fashioned Corn Boil last night!

We have some friends from Iowa, and they had their (visiting) parents bring home a trillion cobs from back home for us all to enjoy. And seriously, they were amazing. It made me a believer in Iowa corn. I brought a dessert—my faux cherry cheesecake. Admittedly, I brought it with the deep hopes that no one else would like it, and I’d end up taking the whole thing home. It didn’t work out, though. *Sigh.

Regardless, I had an amazing time. We just have the nicest, funniest friends. Spending time with them is so relaxing and fun. Maybe it’s just the fact that I can let my children run wild and know that they’re safe and having a good time…….Naaa, I let them run wild anyway—it must be the company.

In conclusion—talking and laughing my butt off with adults is nice.

On another note, I definitely have the pregnancy yuck. I feel like throwing up all day long, but I never do. The only thing that sounds good is water and … well, nothing. But don’t get me wrong, I’m happily nauseous--looking forward to the little stinker at the end of the road! This one’s just making me work for it!

Karaoke Fun

On Saturday night, a few of the ladies from church went to Pepper's for Karaoke night. Our awesome friend, Anna, is moving to Boston, and so this was one last hurrah before she left.

I almost didn't go. It seemed scary for some reason to get all dressed up and go "out"--I was too old, I was too mom-ish, I was too un-cool--my excuses were endless. Truth be told, I just didn't want to go alone. Luckily, Marby texted me and offered to pick me up. (By the way, I feel super cool talking about "texting."--it sounds so hip--like I'm 16 and trying to hide my cell in my purse during chemistry class).

ANYWAY, we ended up going and it was an absolute blast. Karaoke is such a bizarre phenomenon--a bunch of strangers standing up in front of one another and trying desperately to remember words to songs they thought they knew but don't. Quite the spectacle.

There we were--a bunch of sober Mormon gals sitting up front and center--the rowdiest ones in the bar.

It was incredibly hilariou. But most of all it was just great to go out and do something DIFFERENT with friends. I got to know a few girls that I NEVER KNEW were so insanely hilarious (that's right, I'm talking about YOU, Monica!)

Our performances were as follows:

Young Love -- Diana
Why Haven't I Heard From You--me
Word Up--Arlen (who is actually Tracey's husband and just happens to be a karaoke buff. You should have seen him own the place when he performed!!!!)
"We Are Family"--All of us. We knew the chorus just fine, but totally forgot how the verses went. It was a train wreck but tons of fun.
"Baby Got Back"--Monica and Marby. (This was definitely the highlight of the evening. They were SHAKIN' IT! Both moms, by the way. I was laughing so hard I think I peed a little).
"One Week"--Cami (who woulda thunk she could recite ALL of those crazy words).
"I Feel Like a Woman"--Amber (who protested continually that she sucked and then went up there and shamelessly rocked the mic).

Anyways, I don't know if I'll do it again soon, but it was definitely a must-have experience and I loved it.

Marby and Me sporting our huge, insane grins
Me straining to hit a high note--or something

3 Points of Interest

This man is awesome.

I can not express how much I enjoyed this stinkin' concert! I mean, Brad Paisley is just freakishly talented, has fabulously fun music, is a good person, nice to children, looks good in jeans....what's not to love? And I have to admit that being THERE at an actual live show was just magical for some reason. I guess I just haven't been to a concert in so long. But granted, I've only ever been to mind-numbingly loud concerts where everyone is screeching and standing up and crushing themselves together.

But regardless, I had a wonderful time singing along with all the songs and snugglin' into my sweetie on the love songs (he even had to good sense to put him arm around me--intuitive man that he is!)

This movie is awesome.

It was playing at the dollar theater, so Steven and I packed up the kids to go see their very first movie in a movie theater. We figured that if they lost interest and started maniacally running up and down the aisles, we could just leave because hey, it was only a dollar.

However, the boys actually loved it, and were relatively spellbound through the whole movie. It was so much fun, in fact, that I've decided to take them to movies more often. (The sweet, sweet air-conditioning of the movie theater will be a perfect refuge on one of the anticipated sauna-like days of summer).

Lastly, my toes are awesome.

Well, not really my toes, but I do love my toenails (notice the hip little black flowers on the big toes? Love it.) I went to a Girls' Night In last night (complete with toenail painting) and had an absolute blast. I had to laugh out loud when the owner of the toenail polish told me she felt so empowered by that color that she felt like karate kicking someone whenever she wore it (and strangely enough--I understood).

I also had a really great time making a cute bead bracelet (do wonders ever cease?) but somehow managed to lose it by the time I got home. Oh well. It was still so much fun, and I feel really happy to be creating new friendships with such wonderful people. Good times.

A Visit From the Atwoods

On Friday, my college awesome college roommate Solveig and her husband Brady drove up from Indiana for a visit. It was so fun catching up and spending time with her--we haven't seen each other for 6 years! We ate dinner at yet ANOTHER Italian restuarant (Trattoria Pomigliano--the Gnocchi there is mouth-watering). We came back to the house, laughed about some Asian mistranslations (you had to be there), enjoyed yet some more "Flight of the Conchords" and also experienced Tay Zonday's strange phenomenon "Chocolate Rain"--(you've got to see this...I almost peed my pants when the guy started singing).

On Saturday we headed up to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. I was so amazed at the awesomeness therein. It was completely interactive, and the kids LOVED it. It's such an enormous museum, and we only had time (and energy) to see a few exhibits. If we ever moved back to Chicago, we'd definitely have to get a pass to the museum. It would take days to experience it all.
We finished the day at Giordano's for some authentic Chicago-style pizza, which was delicious but incredibly filling (I swear, I must have gained 80 lbs on this trip at LEAST). The kids were so tired they barely ate anything.
Solveig has always been such an amazing girl, and was such a role model to me when I was clueless and still finding my way up at BYU. She was always so down-to-earth, and so much fun, and always so patient when I was being an idiot (which was pretty frequent). She's just one of those girls that's got it together.
And on top of it all, is she gorgeous or what?

Busy Day

Yesterday was Stevie's last day of preschool. He had such a good experience and really enjoyed learning new things and being with his friends. I really wish there was some kind of equivalent in League City.

It was a particularly fun day because they had a Halloween party AND it was Pet Day. Afterwards, we got a picture of the kids in their costumes out on the playground.
(Starting from the left is Natalie, Stevie, James and Dallas).
Afterwards Shannon and I took our broods to McDonald's and had a lovely time. I just love Shannon, and it was so much fun to be able to talk and laugh while our kids went haywire on the play equipment.

Right afterwards it was off to Jan's house for another playdate. Jared and Stevie are such good friends. Whenver they get together, dressing up in costumes is an unwritten rule. They ended up dressing up in each other's Halloween costumes and, of course, gratuitous muscle-flexing immediately followed.
I just love Jan. Nothing is more cathartic than having a nice long talk with her about anything and everything under the sun. The best thing about her is that I always feel edified by the things she says and does. I feel like she really listens and appreciates me, and I always leave inspired to be a better person. I can't think of higher praise than that. *Sigh*...I tend to get just a little weepy now that it's time to leave all my wonderful friends.

Jumpin' on the Pumpkin Patch Train

Yesterday, Sarah and I headed out to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch with the kiddos. It was such a cool place, and completely free! I must admit that part of my motivation was getting some great fall pictures and alas, I was, for the most part, unsuccessful. You can find cuter ones on Sarah's post. HOWEVER, we still had a lovely (though exhausting) time.

This is us on the hayride. Can someone please tell me while I insist on making this insane face every time someone takes my picture lately? I either look hopped up on meth or like a mom about to lose her marbles. (It's usually the latter).
They had the coolest little mazes made out of hay that the kids really loved. At the end of the maze was a little castle slide (a big hit).
This faux tractor caused quite a bit of controversy in that both parties insisted they were the true tractor-driver.
This was pretty much David's mood the entire time. Always happens when he falls asleep in the car.
He was, however, delighted by the tiny pumpkins. I'm pretty sure he intended on taking them all home.
This picture was intended to be a cute little hugging picture of Stevie and Bella. It ended up looking like Stevie was assaulting her. Sorry, Sarah, I just thought it was too funny!
Be still my beating heart. This child is too precious.
Doesn't it look like Stevie's sort of hoping it will hatch?
David was mainly concerned with rearranging the pumpkins

This picture sums up Stevie's opinion of all my picture-taking by the end of the day. Not impressed.
Totally unrelated picture. I watched the kids last night while Sarah and James went to dinner and snapped this one in the midst of all the hub-bub. Two suckers and a cowboy hat. Priceless.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Yesterday we had oodles of fun. After our obligatory breakfast at IHOP (Steven insists on either a Waffle House or IHOP breakfast most Saturdays), we went to a birthday party for Stacie's little Jack. We had such a good time. Once again, Stacie's cute ideas blew me away! Instead of just having little Jack blow out the candles, she made cupcakes and put a candle on every one. Then when we sang to baby Jack, ALL the kids got to blow out their candle at the end. AS IF that wasn't cool enough, afterwards they got to decorate their own cupcakes. It was so cute and I thoroughly plan on shamelessly stealing all her ideas for our future birthday parties.

Afterwards we rushed to the store to buy some last minute supplies for our trunk and for Steven and my costumes for the Trunk-or-Treat. However, Stevie had a huge meltdown after seeing my costume, and firmly decided he no longer wanted to be a knight, but instead wanted to be the same thing as me. In the end, we came to a compromise, and he was a little bit of both. Here's what we all came up with:

If you're wondering what the heck I'm suppose to be, I'm a BLACK-EYED "P"! Get it? Don't feel bad, nobody else got it either. They all thought I was making a statement about spousal abuse or something. At any rate, my black eye make-up was of course what caused all the hub-bub with Stevie, and so I ended up blacking his eye anyways.

And if you're wondering what STEVEN is supposed to be...well, so are we. We just bought an cheap Elvis wig off the clearance rack at Target and that was it. The wig turned out to be kind of wonky and would not cooperate at all. I think Steven's attempting the lip curl in this one...I'm really not sure...

Our trunk decoration was (as was last year) a monster car who tried to bite your arm when you reached in the trunk for candy. It was a big hit (especially since Steven was running the show, complete with sound effects). At the end, the kids decided they needed to defeat the beast, seeing as how they were Knights and all.
All in all, a very fun night. But I was glad when it was over. I collapsed into bed at the earliest opportunity.

Update on Ike

We made it safe to Arlington after an ELEVEN HOUR CAR RIDE from League City. The traffic, obviously, was horrendous. But the Kirchman's are kindly giving us shelter until we find out whether or not we're going to be homeless.

We arrived last night around 11:30am, chatted till about 12:00 (Sarah, you are just too interesting to talk to, darnit!) and finally fell into bed around 12:30. I've never slept so soundly on a futon bed in my entire life.

Today we just hung out and talked, went to IHOP and also went out with my dad and brother. Sarah even watched the kids for us so that Steven and I could finally go and see "The Dark Knight" (which was AWESOME, by the way).

Tomorrow I'll get to go and visit for awhile with my dear friend Jan and then later celebrate at another friend's baby shower.

How strange is it that I get to have this friendly, relaxing little vacation while my father's and brother's houses, which are both on Galveston Island right by the water, are being blown to smithereens? And maybe our house too? Who knows...we're new to this whole hurricane thing, and maybe I'm just overreacting. It's very unsettling and yet unreal at the same time.

I'm just glad we're all insured up to the eyeballs. But that won't get my wedding pictures back if our house is flooded (how could I possibly have forgotten them????!!!)

Playgroup and Robots

Today we had our first playgroup and it was fabulous. We must have a jillion kids in our ward under the age five, and I’m pretty sure all of them were there. It was a potluck just like we did in Arlington, and it really was a great way to meet and visit with some other mommies.

One thing I noticed today was that everyone seems to have only just recently moved into the ward over the past year or so. I actually met 3 girls (besides moi) who’ve just moved in within the past 3 months! So we’re all newbies together, and that was somehow comforting (though truly, I really can’t consider myself a newbie any longer, seeing as we moved here in June). So it’s time for me to stop caterwauling about being the new girl and try to make others feel welcome.

But seriously, it was like the balm of Gilead to chat with the other moms in the ward. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I forgot my children were there…several times in fact. Not a good thing. The boys could’ve been hitchhiking along the highway for all I knew.

When we finally got home, Stevie went over to his little friend’s house down the street. David was a tad put out at not being invited, and so we decided to play robots instead. And by robots I mean blocks, but for some reason he calls them “robots” so I at least tried to make a robot out of my blocks. Here’s mine:


Here’s David’s. I swear he did this completely by himself. Is it normal for a 2 year old to be able to stack blocks 9 high?

Anyway, he soon lost interest and promptly put the blocks container on his head, walking jerkily around the room and saying “GI-ANT-RO-BOT” in a monotone voice.

Strange kid. Hilarious, but strange.

Social Education....Or Lack Thereof

My social life in the ward is progressing slowly. I’m trying to be very brave about talking to people but it's scary because they don’t always react the way I expect them to. I’m trying to tactfully judge people’s personalities and see what kind of conversation they'd be comfortable with. Of course, Steven’s made a dozen friends and everyone already loves him, but it’s a bit more of a process for me.

I’m so easily intimidated by those that seem talented or successful or “with it.” The people I admire the most are usually the ones I’m terrified of. It’s ridiculous and sophomoric, and slightly reminiscent of High School, but unfortunately still true. I’m incessantly afraid I’m going to say something that accidentally offends, or prematurely reveals my general awkwardness. We’re also clearly one of the poorest families in a relatively wealthy ward, so that’s also uncomfortable.

But, like I said before, I’m trying. I have to continually remind myself that most people are good folks, and just want to get to know one another and have a good time. I have to get over that high-school feeling that all the pretty girls are laughing behind their hands at you, and to just go out and try to treat others how I want to be treated.

**Side note—we’ve been invited to dinner at the house of this girl that frightens me tremendously by her absolute coolness. Hopefully, I won’t turn into a shell-shocked mute who guffaws at badly chosen moments. We’ll see.

Sigh…its hard being the new girl. I’ve never done this before.

Progress, In the Form Of...

1) Finally had a very fun time last night socializing with some other sisters in the ward. It was Book Club night, and though the book was “Mansfield Park,” we hardly discussed it at all. In fact, the conversations got pretty salty for a bunch of Mormon gals (especially seeing as how the Relief Society President was heading up the more questionable banter!)

2) Went back to gym this morning, and did complete butt-kicking workout. And though I’m still a bit daunted by the beefmen, I DID enjoy a fabulous episode of “American’s Best Dance Crew” while doing cardio on the elliptical machine (Go Boogie Bots!)

3) Stevie made friends with our neighbors’ grandkids, and while they won’t be around permanently, at least we’ll have some kids to invite to his birthday party in September. We also met the family down the street who just HAPPEN to have a 3 year old boy just one month younger than Stevie. He hasn’t come over to play yet, but we’re just glad to know he’s there!

4) Steven bought the kids a play pool last night, and we actually got out doors and in the water for the first time since the Fourth of July. We stayed out there for TWO HOURS! The boys had a blast.

A Great Weekend

We had a really nice time having the Saunders over on Friday. And my house was actually in some semblance of order when they arrived (thank goodness). I DID however, feel a tad guilty about forcing John and Missy to bunk on this awful inflatable queen-sized bed. It starts out okay, but as the night progresses, you tend to slope inwards towards each other in the middle of the bed, making things rather uncomfortable by morning unless you're willing to blow the dang thing up again in the middle of the night. We also kept them up until a zillion o'clock in the morning gabbing, but we just couldn't help it, they are too funny.

And then JULIE and her wonderful sisters came for a visit on Saturday and Sunday, and we had such a great time chatting. I just love those girls, and I'm so glad we've become close friends after knowing each other OUR ENTIRE LIVES! Here's a few pics:

the lovely Neaves sisters (notice Julie's adorable shoes)

Julie and my closeup

Our silly boys

Feast or Famine

Here I've sat, lonely in my new little abode for 3 whole weeks and LO, AND BEHOLD! not one but TWO friends are coming to visit this weekend! I can't wait to see some familiar faces and actually have some semblance of PLANS this weekend. I'm happy as all get-out (what does that little euphemism mean, anyhow?)

Anyway, POINT BEING is that I'm stoked to have visitors this weekend. Isn't it funny that they're coming on the same weekend, though? It's either feast or famine in the excitment department down here. Does that mean that when they leave there'll be another famine?

Another nice factor in having friends visit is that it forced my sweet wonderful husband to actually find a place to house his multitudes of junk somewhere besides our living/dining/bedroom. Sure, it will of course be stuffed in the back utility room, but at least no one can see it. I don't know about anyone else's husband, but mine has an extreme talent for squirreling away the most confusing objects. He always insists that we need them. So if we ARE ever victims of a hurricane, you can rest assured that we'll be all set with our two broken Mac Monitors, various random (non-working) computer parts and lots and lots of twine.

Good Friends

We had a very busy day today, as we were saying our goodbyes to several different people. In the morning, we went to the Rec Center for the last time and had lunch with my friend Mary and her little boy, Stevie’s friend Dallas. She gave me the sweetest card and despite my remonstration even had little gifts for the boys. I was overwhelmed.

In the afternoon, I went to Stacie’s for one last fabulous cut (and fabulous it was!) I told her to cut it short, because who knew how long it would take me to find such a talented (and affordable!) hairstylist again! Stevie and David played with Clayton and Little Jack, and Stacie (that tricky girl) ended up comping me the cut. Thank you, Stacie!!!

Lastly, I met up with Sarah for one last mini-girlz night dinner and a possession exchange (it seems I had accumulated her beach towel and quite a few of her books!) She gave me the sweetest, most thoughtful little homemade book she had made for Stevie. It meant so much to me I almost cried right then and there. Inside, she had pictures of all Stevie’s little friends: Jared, Bella, Clayton, Ewan, Natalie, Jack, Brady, Aubree, Ben, Fynn-- all his little friends interposed between these words:

You may be going on a
New adventure far away!
But we will miss you and
Friends we will stay!
Just tell yourself, Duckie,
You’re really quite lucky!
Today was good,
Today was fun.
Tomorrow is another one.
Think left and think right
And think low and think high.
Oh, the thinks you can think up
If only you try.
From there to here,
And here to there,
Funny things are everywhere.

We had a wonderful time together. When I got home, I gathered everyone up and we read the little book and looked at all the pictures of Stevie & David’s friends. Stevie’s lip began to quiver, and I think he finally started to understand that we’re saying goodbye for awhile. Steven and I just started boo-hooing at this and we all hugged and had a little cry together.

Thank you, friends, for being such good ones.

Summer Fun

Is there anything better than having great friends? Unless it's a great friend who owns a sparkling pool and invites you and yours to come swim in it? Friday we all had a Fan-Schmabulous time hailing the beginning of summer and swimming our hearts out in the Kirchman's pool. I'm a total water-baby at heart, and it looks like my kiddos have followed suit!

Lovin' Girlz Night

After a minor hit to my self-esteem yesterday, my spirits were majorly lifted going on a Girls' Night Out with some fabulous and hilarious ladies. Thanks, girls, for being so much fun! You rock!


UNRELATED WARNING: I’m not in the market for any more unsolicited weight-loss advice right now. I know I don’t eat right and I’m just not able to conquer that yet. But if one more person tells me why they’re skinny and I’m not, I just might end up stabbing them with a salad fork.

Bluebonnet Bust

This was a very busy weekend, and I feel like I kept my family running from sun-up to sun-down. Saturday morning started off with T-ball, of course, and all 4 of us went. After T-ball class, we had a lovely walk around the park to see the cute baby ducks! Every time David sees a bird of any kind he now says “Hi duckie” in the cutest voice. After that, the next step was OBVIOUSLY Chick-fil-A with the Lundells (who can escape the lure of delicious Chick-fil-A on a Saturday?)

That evening, we met up with the Kirchman’s to take some family bluebonnet pictures. Little did we know that the perfect spot I had picked out would be a complete wasteland. The bluebonnets were completely past their prime, and so our bluebonnet pictures ended up being more like random-sitting-in-the-field-with-family pictures. I was so embarrassed, because I had talked the place up like it was Shangri-La. Oh well, Que sera.

At least we got to eat out at Red Lobster, which I know is iffy and many times the punch-line on network television. But for some reason, everyone was willing to go. And while we did have to wrestle our children the entire time, the clam chowder was oh sooo tasty.

So, needless to say, we definitely need to get out earlier for our bluebonnet pictures next year. Here's the best we could do: