h o m e   October 6, 2008

got home just after midnight last night.
lots to share.
sifting through emails.
getting back into our routine.
love sleeping in my own bed.
so missed my girls, omgosh…this time, harder than it has ever been.
so meant to be a sahm. thank you, God. won’t be forgetting to trust you there. anymore.
one of my fave emails, contained this photo:

more later on. going to hang with my dh and mom, now that the girls are in bed.
and then tackle piles of other stuff. of life.
happy monday!!!

happy hump day!   September 24, 2008

after a great night’s sleep, since i got to work out for 1 1/2 hours tues evening, our day started out great!
we got to school early:) got the laundry going and vaccuuming done, and even got to work on better brushing habits, before we headed out to our mommy and me class!

here she is in one of her new outfits, that we picked out yesterday, after finding out some good results from the dr. she has very few clothes that weren’t hand me downs, and since they were 50% off, i couldn’t refuse!

these were my faves out of the 100 or so taken during the first half of our class:)
had so much fun this month with the new SUGAR HIGH line from MLS.

2 layouts that i created during suzy’s anni crop:)

and a fun mini book, titled *just for you*


this afternoon, was filled with chores, homework, and a trip to the store, to help teach emi about being responsible with her monies. she chose to buy a paw print stamp, over candies or gum, since too much sugar isn’t good for you [those were her exact words] and spotty would enjoy using the stamp with her! mari found a dime and had a ball throwing it and spinning it wherever she could!

and i just returned from a mom’s night out with fellow school mom’s. this was so much fun! can’t wait for the next one, thanks again, k! and thanks dh for taking care of our girls 2 nights in a row:) mommy needed to get her exercise in, and tonight was just pure fun!

how is your week going?

tuesday update.   September 23, 2008

thank you again for all of your sweet emails and vmails!!! that means alot to me.
i LOVE MY DOC! he phoned before noon today with my lab results. he had sent them in asap, but didn’t think i would hear anything until thurs or fri, before he leaves for 3-4 weeks. yikes!
thankfully-
no diabetes.
no pancreatitis.
no diverticulitis.
no [one other itis, cannot for the life of me recall in this moment]
ultrasound is scheduled in 2 weeks, to examine my gall bladder.
am on a new medicine to help the pain. so far so good.
HAVE to lose weight. HAVE to. for me. for my GIRLS. for my family.
dropped off and picked up my grader today!
ran lots of overdue errands with my sassy mari this morning! and once we had gotten the good news, we headed back out and i started looking at workout clothes and walking shoes. figure, once i’ve lost 10 lbs, those will be sweet rewards!
vaccuumed.
cleaned the kitchen.
did laundry.
made a phone calls list for this week.
had a lovely playdate afterschool here. the girls played so nicely together:) and mari fell in love with emi’s friends’ mom. super cute!
after the playdate, i hit the gym! during the 1 1/2 hours i was there, i did 1/2 hr on the treadmill and an awesome aerobics class, called zumba! totally thought it was just dancing- didn’t even expect to sweat like i did. and had so much fun! met a new friend maria, it was her first time, too. we’ll be back doing the zumba weekly, except on bible study nights.
miss emi wanted me to give her her bath. finished up homework, read and put her to bed.
paid bills.
caught up on emails.
added a few more playdates for miss mari.
off to finish up assignments, and then i’ll have some shares!!!

happy tuesday! again, thank you for all of your emails and vmails! i was truly touched, esp those from out of the country:)

love you girls!

what a sunday.   September 22, 2008

today, kl, michelle, laurie, betsey and i at the beloved table 4 at PMP scrapped our hearts out! it took me awhile to get my mojo working, but i did manage to get 4/5 projects completed!
1. MLS DT layouts
2. MLS DT project
3. baby shower invites
4. wish cards for baby shower
5. need to finish- LO class, due asap!
after queen of the crop was announced, and during clean up time, my tummy started acting up again. i barely made it home, it was that painful, yet again. the last time this happened, it lasted for 5 hours, and i figured it was due to eating salads that had mayo in it that had sat out for too long, and that suzy was boarding a plane the next day for brazil. tonight, proved me wrong. i ended up in the ER for over 4 hours. after xrays, blood work, and a low dose morphine drip, i’ve got a follow up appointment tomorrow with my dr. we will discuss blood results, tests, and most likely see a specialist. details to come, once i know more.
that said, i’m off to slumberland now.
my neighbor came right over, to stay with the girls while dh drove me to the hosp. LOVE that she literally came over right away, no questions asked. my mom drove down to stay with the girls and relieve our neighbor. my dad drove separately and met dh and i at the hospital, since he is a pharmacist, wanted to ask all the medical questions.
and yes, as wiped out as i am, i feel the need to blog about this.
i missed my girls all day today! i will post more when things have settled some and do shares about their fun weekends, some with us and some with just their grandparents.
love you girls. love you dh. love you mom. love you dad. love you dear friends, you know who you are!!!

so blessed to be home right now!
erin

more tuesday shares…   September 16, 2008

big things come in small packages, even when they are tiny stuffed spotties!!!

my oldest cousin, laura who now has both of her children off to college, sent 26 tiny spotty friends to emi, with a note attached that reads:
dear emi,
i was cleaning out miles’ room, and found all of his beloved spottys. he named each one of them, their names are on their collars. i thought you would enjoy playing with them, and even sharing some with your sister, mari.
love,
auntie laura
she did share some of them. we decided she was going to share her age. she then retracted as she was counting out the ones mari could play with, and said, “no mommy, i’m really only FIVE still today.” LOL fat chance, and six found a new home in mari’s room:)

mari and her bff:

and her bff’s mommy:) love you addie and nicole!

random tuesday stuff   

hope you all had a nice weekend! ours was full and so much fun:)
saturday, we re-organized most of the girls’ toys from the family/dining room after having the carpets cleaned friday. looks so much better, and now there’s much more room for them to run around in:) pictures to come soon. after lunch, we had a playdate at the jungle, and the baby got worn out even! that night, i finished last minute things for angel’s shower, while dh continued working. he has taken on a consulting job. he also worked friday night, while i cropped:) suzy and i created a book she’ll be teaching in florida next month at the sue gilman show!
sunday, after church, emi and i headed up to my mom’s for angel’s shower. my sweet dad picked up the cake for us, and all the fixings for my fruit salad, how awesome is that? my mom didn’t want me to have to make another stop. they are just amazing! she had already put almost everything together and had decorated so nicely, so there wasn’t much left to do. a big thanks to rocio and nicole, we threw a really fun and funny shower as i’ve been told! and angel and tristan were given lots of love:) just the way it should be.
in scrappy news, rocio’s awesome MLS calendar and acrylic sierra projects were shown on scrapbook memories last thursday am.
and one of my layouts is featured on the front page of scrapvillage this month.
happy tuesday!

whats happening tuesday!   September 9, 2008

our day started off on time, can you believe it? very exciting for us three lil monkeys! the grader has her to do list down in the mornings now, not nearly the struggles with clothes, shoes, etc as last year in kinder. just that much more confidence, etc. and since she mastered tying her own shoes in early summer, she is good to go!
mari and i ran some errands and then were all set to go on our playdate! somewhat excited, given how fatigued i still am from my aqua fit class last night. well, after driving for 40 minutes, i couldn’t find the place! i forgot to bring the phone number of the contact i had with the play group, so we headed out to run more errands and get all the decor and favor stuff for miss angel’s baby shower this weekend!
mari fell asleep on the way to a few party stores, i think going to the park after school yesterday totally helps her get her wiggles out and she slept all the better, too!
had a few great convos with some gfs, some lunch, and now mari is off to nappy time! i’m going to start on the favors, if i can find the other pieces. my mom might already have them, though. that’s what i get for trying to be organized…
in other news, i stumbled on this fun site, all about what year you belong in:

You Belong in 1975

Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you’re partying or protesting, you give it your all!

haha this just cracks me up! click here if you want to see for yourself and where you belong!

happy tuesday!!!

sunday shares…   September 8, 2008

how did i leave out these two from lake tahoe? we are quite a blended extended family! gotta love that! i miss the ease of summer already:)
today, after early service and bible study/sunday school sessions, we took a break and came home. we all pitched in, to get the laundry folded and put away [mari's contribution came in the form of playing by herself in her playard], had some light snacks, and then headed back to church for a fun bbq! the food was just delicious, and we sat with some of the founding members of our church. we are blessed to have such a diverse community there.

miss mari and i got naps in this afternoon! thanks daddy and emi for letting us catch up on some rest! i think the sun really got to me, after our pool and bbq time saturday.

after dinner, i worked on my september projects! some i can share once the scans are finished…some others will have to wait.

in bible study, today, the focus was on adiophora. it is until it isn’t was the message. and it totally makes sense, from all perspectives. after my dh got into discussions surrounding 1st and 2nd service, he comes over to watch me create. and during our convo, he says, *you don’t do like yearbook type things. you don’t do 2008 albums. you do what matters to you in telling our family stories.* i was working on some layouts about my bil’s wedding. and he says, *your layouts aren’t about him getting married and all of their details. your layouts are about what we as a family did at his wedding.* he SOOOOOOOO gets why i do what i do and i just LOVE him even more for getting that, w/o me having to explain it! i asked him if he thinks our girls will ever want like a complete book of an event the traditional way, and he quickly said NO! they are happy with whatever you are happy with! LOVE you dh.

i’ll share once the scans are in:)

happy sunday!

happy saturday!   September 6, 2008

last night, after a wonderful night of suzy and i getting our groove on, i will have some shares soon…i am almost finished with one of seven projects for this month, our gg DT assignments. okie dokie that was a HUGE run on sentence!!! homeschooling- not in my immediate future LOL!
this morning, we spent about 2 hours in the pool at our new family gym and we all had such an awesome time! mari kept yelling MOA [which means more] when daddy would take her out and have her blow bubbles! she would end up getting her whole head wet, each and every time and then shake like a dog when she came up for air. so fun to watch! emi continued to do her swim walking and simply get used to being more comfortable in the water. their swim lessons start next week, totally looking forward to that! our goal: to have them know how to fully swim. and of course have fun and hopefully LOVE the water like their mommy does!
after pool time and lunch, i fixed a yummy fruit salad and headed to my parents for an aloha bbq for our friends in town from hawaii. our extended family was there, and i have a few pictures to share later…but didn’t get a chance to take more, as mari was just all over the place. everyone had such fun watching the girls play in the water in my parents’ backyard.
on another note, suzy and helen booked our tickets for OCTOBER, here! can’t wait!
and i just came across this site, who is having a sweet rak!

LOVED today, just us family…hanging out!

blessings,
erin

seriously…   September 4, 2008

how in the blink of an eye…did she get to be 6 yrs+ in what seems like 6 months??!!!
some of our recent conversations:

m: how was your day at school?
e: i’m a grader now mommy, and i’ve got, so please stop asking me questions!
m: i like to find out about your day, can you tell me anything?
e: yes, mommy. i’m a grader now!
m: okie dokie, what do graders do?
e: big girl stuff, like: pause- puts her hand up, “oh, mommy, i just need a break right now. can i tell you later please?”

and other days, i hear everything from morning prayers, to what her math partner had for snack, to whose card was yellow at the end of the day, etc etc etc. and i LOVE and cherish each and every moment she shares with me, because that is just HER absorbing and learning and growing.

i am so proud of her, in so many ways! love you miss emi girl!

in other news, i finally joined a gym today!!! finally found one that i totally trust leaving miss mari during my workout time, one that dh can workout in, my girls can use the pool, take kids classes, and their summer activities and camps were rated NO. 1 in our local magazines. very very excited about that! i’ve been to 4 gyms/facilities in the past two weeks, and this morning, i just knew. when we were touring with my friend and mari in tow, and we stopped at the childcare area, mari was very intrigued for the first time. our tour guide asked permission for mari to stay and check it out for 5 minutes as long as they weren’t at max capacity and they weren’t, so we could finish our tour. the child walks in, watches the preschool aged kids creating at the arts and crafts table, and then walks over and starts playing in the kitchen. NEVER once during the more than 5 minutes that we were gone did she LOOK up and wonder where i was!!! omgosh, and the facility has so many perks, i can’t stand it! we’re going tomorrow- already booked mari for her playcare time, while i either take the aqua fit or spin/sculpt class and then hit the treadmill! wish me luck.

after shopping for lots of baby shower goodies, and such, and finally making a decision on a gym…i can get my behind into scrappin gear! here’s what i’ve got goin on for this month:

PMP DT
MLS DT
finish my layout class for NOV
special project to be raffled off during the crazy hat anni crop at suzy’s
hb card swap
a special assignment to be revealed in OCT

just mailed off my dear sister in Christ’s assignments…watch for her, she is amazing!!!

oh, yeah…and get to help create a project for here with HER next month. ok, so so excited about that trip with my sweet lil kumquat dino!!!