Thursday, January 31, 2013

Good News, Bad News

Grace is on the mend. She felt well enough to ride bike out back.
She wasn't ready to head outside until she had her goggles securely in place.
"They keep my eyes warm!"


The bad news?
Charlotte threw up in her bed last night. So I had to stay home with her today and had to miss Grace's special helper day at school. 
Bummer all the way around!

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Sneaky Charlotte

She snuck into our bed sometime in the middle of the night!
I didn't know she was there until I woke up this morning!



Monday, January 28, 2013

It's Been a Sh*tty Day!

So after getting back home and with everyone sick, I took the girls to the doctor this morning. I think I got off the phone at 8:05 am scheduling an appointment at 9 am. THAT SAME MORNING!

I raced around the house, honking at the girls to hurry up with their coats and shoes. I threw snacks and waters into a bag and we ran out to the car. By 8:20 we were pulling out the driveway. The doctor's office is over an hour away and I had 40 minutes to get there. So you do the math to determine how fast I was driving. Let's just say it was less than 85 but faster than 75...most of the time!

In fact, I was so nervous about how fast I was driving, I quickly slowed down and lept into the right lane when I saw a fast approaching Jeep in my rear view mirror. Something about his speed startled me and I thought the only reason someone could be going THAT fast is 1) they are undercover police officers, 2) they are just plain stupid or 3) they legitimately have to be somewhere! Whatever the reason, I figured it was better that they lead the way and smoke out any cops hidden along the way. As the Jeep passed, I looked in to see if there were any radios or guns. There were neither. Just two average looking men. So I chalked up their speed to stupidity and merged back to the left lane and kept on my merry little way.

The Jeep, traveling much faster than me for the record, took off. A few miles down the road, I caught up to him because some joker was, get this, going 70 mph in a 70 mph zone! The nerve! The Jeep sat on the slow poke for what seemed like eternity before slow poke finally got over. Again, the Jeep took off and we were on our way once more.

These little slow ups happened about two more times. On the second one, the slowpoke decided he was going to show the Jeep and NOT get over. The next thing I knew, the Jeep flipped on police lights...but police lights like I'd never seen. They just flashed down along the rear bumper and they didn't make any noise. I just about died because here I had been speeding along right behind a cop! The guy in front of the Jeep, probably did the same because he pulled the car off to the side of the highway before I could say "Oh sh*t!" To my surprise, the Jeep just kept going but this time took off at a clip well over 100 mph. He was gone in a flash with his police lights off! It was the strangest thing! Anyone else seen a police car like that? They clearly aren't going after traffic violations!

Anyway, I barely made it to the doctor's office. I come tumbling in, both kids in my arms because they won't move fast enough, and check in for my 9 am appointment. They can't find me anywhere in the system and I am about to lose it when they announce that my appointment is at 9:15 - not 9 am! They told me 9 so they could pad their schedule. Are you kidding me?! I drove how fast? Risked a ticket? An accident? So they could have 15 minutes of flex time?!?!

At 9:30 we are FINALLY taken back to the exam room. (I don't think I'll ever be on time for a doctor's appointment again!). During our wait, Grace and Charlotte decide that being quiet is for the birds. They decide to jump off the side of the exam table which is raised pretty high off the ground, over and over again. I am sure the nurses thought I was nuts because there was no way these two girls could be sick if they were THIS active and making THIS much noise. Well, the jumping off the table on your own volition got boring. So Charlotte decdided to take it up a notch by pushing Grace off the table. See where this is going??

In a nutshell, it got ugly fast. Crying. Arguing. Cursing. Sweating.

Repeat.

Finally, the doctor conducted the exam and sent us on our way. As all they'd wanted to do since we got there was go home, you'd think at least this part would have gone well.

Nope.

Charlotte kicked and cried all the way to the parking lot. She kicked my coat pocket that held my phone and then this happened...


Seriously?
It's only Monday and by noon I'd already had two sick kid confirmations, a trip to Best Buy and spent an obscene amount of money replacing my broken phone. 

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Hey Baby Let's Go to Vegas!

That's the song they opened the show up to!
Hey, baby let's go to Vegas.
Kiss the single life good bye!

Awesome!

They fooled us because as the music started there was a silhouette of them up on stage so you thought the screen was going to lift and there they'd be.
(BTW Faith's silhouette looks EXACTLY like Barbie's. Except maybe in one area.)

So as I am anxiously waiting for the screen to lift, they entered from the rear (it was a small venue - 1,800 people) and then walked down the aisles to get on stage! Court must have gotten word about this because he cleverly sat me on the aisle where I got to shake both Faith and Tim's hands!

Side note: I absolutely love seeing celebrities in real life! I don't know why. This last time in Sun Valley I saw Cameron Diaz, Christy Turlington (a for real super model!!) and Edward Burns.

(She has braces ya'll and he is a skinny man! A little too skinny if you ask me. I've seen him 3 times before this (never this close) and he's never been this skinny.)

Anyway, the show lasted for an hour and a half and they sang almost the entire time. They stopped to talk only once or twice and they just seem like lovely people. I knew every word to every song so I was  THAT annoying fan. 

Even though it was the second show of the evening, Faith looked a little nervous at first...like she had a little stage fright. It was endearing. Tim, in my opinion, has never looked so comfortable on stage, even in a tight fitting three piece suit. He is funny and seems down to earth. He told us how his dad drove 18 wheelers and that is where he heard and learned about music. (His biological father was Tug McGraw - the baseball player - as we all know.)
(Crazy how he looks like a demon from the dark side without that hat, no?)
Someone in the audience had a sign saying she was from his hometown. After one of his songs, he called her up to the stage. He squatted down and talked to her for awhile and kept doing something to his guitar - but we couldn't see what he was doing.
Turns out, he was autographing his guitar and gave it to the woman in the audience who of course started screaming in excitement! That was cool!

Faith, on the other hand, grew up Baptist in Mississippi. So her first memories of music were at church and of gospel. To which she started belting out gospel tunes - a cappella - like she was Aretha Franklin. 
It was breathtaking. She lacks his stage presence but I am telling you, she. can. sing. 
In fact, I don't think a lot of her songs demonstrate really how good she can sing but to me. It literally blows my mind.

As long as Tim and Faith perform, I will always want to go and see them. 
While the show wasn't exactly what I was expecting - I thought it would be more of them singing together and bantering with the audience and maybe a bit more rowdy after all it was set in Las Vegas - it was a great show and I am so glad we got to go!  


We had our picture taken before the show. Other than that, I really didn't take any pictures while we were in Vegas! 

I did take this picture of their stage before the show but they told us not to take pictures of any kind during the performance. The rule follower that I am followed orders from headquarters - while all around me, people were firing off their camera phones. I REALLY should have broken the rules!


And I did consider purchasing these Tim and Faith Barbie dolls from the gift shop...for our Barbie lover Grace, of course - but at $100 I couldn't justify pulling the trigger!
(See I do have some self-control!)



Meanwhile, Grace and Charlotte were in Boise with my parents. Charlotte was as good as gold and would talk and talk on the phone about all the fun she was having. Grace, on the other hand, came down with a NASTY cold and cried - to put it mildly - a lot. 
She missed me and she made that known. Every phone call was filled with sobs.

I sent my mom some pictures so that Grace could be assured that I was indeed still alive and hopefully put her mind at ease.


But looking at the photos now, good God! I can see why the poor thing was in hiccuping sobs for two days! 


I sent her pictures of scary mommy!





But the two days went by fast, like-click-your-heels-and-your-home-fast and we were home before we knew it!
Back to reality.
Back to a sick kid and another on the way.
Back to two sicks kids and Mommy close behind.
Back to two sick kids and two sick parents!

I really should have slept more in Vegas!!

Speaking of not sleeping, we finally watched the latest James Bond movie in our hotel room.
I LOVED Casino Royale. Thought it was the best Bond movie of all time. The second Bond movie with Daniel Craig as Bond was horrible. Probably the worst Bond movie of all time. So I was very excited about Skyfall because it had gotten SOOOOO much praise.
I thought it absolutely stunk! Anyone else agree?

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Merry Christmas...to me!

I know Christmas was almost a month ago but it still feels a bit like Christmas in these parts.
In part due to frigid one digit temperatures - both above AND below zero - but mostly because my Christmas gift is getting cashed in this week!! Friday night to be exact!

My most wonderful husband got us tickets to see Tim and Faith 
in Las Vegas!!!
And my most wonderful parents agreed to watch the girls 
so we could make a go at feeling young again! (aka stay up past 10 pm!)


I love Tim and Faith.


What's not to love?


Good music. Easy on the eyes. 
They prioritize their family.

Check. Check. Check.




I can't imagine being able to carry a tune let along sing publicly where people would pay money to come hear me. What a dream! And then to be able to do it with your husband?!?
I mean, could it get any better?

An amazing gift that I am beyond excited about 
and so grateful for the lengths Court went to arrange it all!



Now, if he could only arrange for me to have Faith's leg then it really would be a perfect gift!

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

It's funny but now that the smoke from the holidays has cleared I am finding I have a lot of "down" time. No shopping to do. No cookies to bake. No surprises to wrap.
It's refreshing but it's leaving me feeling a big uneasy.
I almost want to get started on all the holiday stuff for this year so I can try to relieve myself come December 2013. 
Almost.
I know that no matter how early I start, there will always be things saved until the last minute. 
That is the holiday season.
So instead, we've been playing rounds of Chutes N Ladders and Candy Land. Low temperatures have kept us mainly indoors but we've been braving the cold for short jaunts on the tricycle or little walks. 
For the last six months, Grace's favorite video to watch has been the video of our wedding which we thought was just too funny!
She kept asking why she and Charlotte weren't there!

Her new favorite is the video I made of Grace's first year of life.
I had it linked here to the blog but it appears to not work anymore but I made one for Charlotte too which you can view here


Anyway, it's been a calm week getting back into the swing of things.
School, gymnastics, grocery shopping...

I have several new projects that I am tackling.
Waiting to gather a few supplies and to make some progress before I share.
On the more urgent front of things to get done?
My crafting area still looks like Christmas got this latest bout of flu that is hitting the country hard and vomited wrapping paper, ribbon, tags, decorations, packing peanuts, cardboard boxes...you name it...all over the place.
It's been frozen in time since Christmas Eve and I just can't bring myself to tackling it just yet.
I think we'll just watch videos of the girls during their infancy...you know, when they were easy, not mobile, couldn't say no and didn't have an opinion of their own, for a few more days. 
Revel in this down time because I know it won't last long.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Getting Caught Up

December is an insanely busy month for me. In just this last week, life has somewhat returned to normal and I have down over a month's worth of back posting! After this post, we should be current - at least for a while!

So we made the long drive back from Sun Valley. We stopped in Boise for lunch and it was DUMPING snow! The most snow I'd ever seen in Boise!



People were cross country skiing in the streets!


Back on the road, we made pretty good time having only one emergency "pee stop" for Grace at the top of Dead Man's Pass.


Once home, things kicked into full swing!
Laundry, laundry and laundry and we finally got all the Christmas decor packed up and put away!
I've gone through all the girls old clothes and I feel like we are finally ready to start the new year - thirteen days in!



Sunday, January 6, 2013

Snow, Ski, Sled, Sleigh - Sun Valley

Sun Valley really is a magical place during the holiday season. They do lights like no one else!


Well, except for maybe me if I were to ever hang outside lights!


We kicked off our post-Christmas vacation with our annual sleigh ride and cabin dinner.

And a few pre-sled drinks!
You know...to stay warm!


It was a very cold and very late night.
On the way back they say it hit -1!!
Yikes!


Luckily, the cabin is very cozy and they offer warm soup right away!
You are warm before you know it.



At dinner their were carolers - which Charlotte in particular - LOVED!!



On New Year's Eve we hit the magic carpet with just Grace. We were on the fence about putting her in all-day ski school. Some major sleep issues (as in NO SLEEP!) and some anxiety about Mommy and Daddy leaving helped us come to the conclusion that this wasn't the year for Grace to start. Next year for sure!

We kicked off our NYE celebration with marshmallows around the campfire...and a few falls in the snow! 



Grace likes roasting them but not eating them. 




Charlotte likes eating them. Period. 


Charlotte quickly learned why we kept insisting on gloves.


She likes to learn the hard way!

While all the adults had visions of being in bed well before the clock struck midnight, Grace and Charlotte had other plans.


On the first day of 2013, two big things happened.

1. Charlotte went on the magic carpet and loved it! She hates goggles, gloves and hats but once they are out of the equation, she's ready to roll!




2. Grace mastered the magic carpet! Daddy promised her her own candy bar if she would ski by herself. Without a second to lose, she was off! We have discovered what motivates Miss Grace for sure!! Chocolate!





She couldn't wait to get into the lodge and redeem her reward!!

The lack of sleep began catching up with us - namely me. Not sure what was up with Grace and Charlotte. I took a day off and hung with the girls while Court hit the slopes with his parents. 

The next day we got the girls out on the slopes again. Successful and then took them sledding for the first time!




Sledding brought lots of smiles!





Being out in the cold and active for so long, 
we surely thought we'd turn a corner in the sleeping department 
and knock these girls out withe sheer exhaustion.


Nope! 
This chickee had other plans and they sure didn't involve sleeping! 

Just in time for their cousin, June, to roll into town, we all got sick. But we forged on!



Dinner at the Ram.


I've said it once and I'll say it again.
I LOVE IPADS!




Followed by the all important, annual photo on the ice throne!
Getting three toddlers to hold still on a chair of freezing ice, late at night, is next to impossible.



Lunch up the Round House via wagon

 

and gondola. 


Cousins.


All the girls got along so well!
Just wish we hadn't gotten sick and that we could have slept somewhat normally.

It's amazing how on even no sleep these girls just go and go and go.

Especially, this one...boy, oh boy!


While sickness and sleepless nights overshadowed our days in Sun Valley, the good news is that we can finally see the payoff for all of our hard work exposing the girls from an early age. 

Seeing the girls have fun outside in the snow, be successful on their skis, gave us (as parents) the encouragement we needed to keep on trucking.

It isn't easy (or always fun) hauling around endless amounts of gear, getting it all on, sweating your brains out "skating" the kids about the flat areas, only for them to cry, or worse yet, say they want to go inside for a hot cocoa break after one run!
It can be frustrating, time consuming and exhausting.
For the last few years, this has been our reality!
But we've turned a corner and we are on the cusp of the REALLY fun part of outdoor snow sports with these girls!
SO EXCITED!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!



Hard to believe it is 2013! But I am so excited for what's to come this year! Stay tuned!
There will be lots of adventures and lots of changes! There will be some good and there will be some bad - I'm sure! That is life!

Wishing you all love, laughter and luck in the upcoming new year!