Ontario or Bust

Thanks to Immunisure, buddy passes, really nice gate agents, and even nicer husbands, we made it to Ontario for our girls shopping trip. A trip dedicated entirely to shopping (and a few other girly things such as chick flicks and make-up lessons).

It took place in Ontario California which is home to the biggest shopping mall west of the Mississippi. Alright, I made that up, but it's big.

Here are some highlights of the trip-

*Calling the hotel shuttle to take us to Tony Romas. Then to pick us up. Then to drop us off at the movie theatre. And then to pick us up from the movie theatre and take us back to the hotel which was located about 200 yards away.

*Getting suckered into sampling lotion..." One trip to the salon cost you $29! This stay good for 2 weeks!"

*Sleeping in double beds. Let me remind you that there was one in our company who was pregnant.

*Waking up to a mysterious sound only to learn it is fruit loop rolling.

*6 pillows

*Getting comfortable and whiny at Anchor Blue

*Just plain good company and a lot of girl-talk

After lots of laughs, tired feet and a few dollars spent, a few quotes from the trip deserve a little blog space.

Melissa

"Just buy the freaking necklaces."

"This is so good, I'm already craving one tomorrow."

Shannon

"I can probably sell this dress for a good profit and make up for all the money I've spent."

"You have to buy those shoes. You have no choice."

Rachel

"Sure, I"ll buy you a cinnabon if you can get me on this flight!"

Karla

"But look how shiny my nails are!"

"Does anyone want the curtains cracked a little?"

It was cool to see palm trees amongst snowy mountains

Broadway Shoes. The jackpot. Not one of us left this store without purchasing 2 or more pair of shoes. What you can't see is Melissa dangling another pairs of shoes from her right hand.

Lining up to check our bags since we couldn't fit all of our loot in our original suitcases.

And these are my favorite purchase of the trip. After watching a few episodes of What not to Wear and taking suggestions by 3 fabulous shopping advisers, I'm slowly on my way out of boring T-shirts and on to more girly attire.


And lastly, in my absence, my wonderful husband, who watched the kids, took the liberty of cutting Colby's hair. I only cried a little.

I know, he's still a handsome little devil

Hilarious

Kara spent some time in time-out today for the first time. She has developed quite a naughty habit of hitting. She hits Colby approximately every 2-3 minutes all day long and has decided that that's not enough. So she hits me too. Today, she just about knocked me silly on the side of my head. So I decided that saying "no, no Kara, don't hit" is not working and that it's time we tried the infamous time-out technique even though she's still so young. So the next time she hit Colby (about 2.5 minutes later) I told her "no, no Kara, no hitting" and stuck her in time-out on the stairs. Because Colby spends a good share of his day there lately, she knows the drill pretty well despite her own personal lack of time-out experience. As soon as I told her she was going to time-out and started walking her to the stairs, she mustered up the best fake-cry I've ever seen. She's good. And then after I walked away, her fake-cry was soon followed by an, "aw-ee!" When I figured out she was yelling "sorry!" I totally cracked up. I thought it was so cute that I actually waited with anticipation for her to take another swing at Colby so that I could snatch her up, observe a fake-cry and listen to her "aw-ee!" once again. Oh, what a good disciplinarian I am.

Awful

It's late. I'm up. I'm wired. Why not blog...about random things...

(If you haven't seen the movie Becoming Jane and don't want the ending ruined, don't read on)

I would have to say one of the most tragic things in this life is when 2 people love each other and can't have each other. If you too don't care for such poignant events then don't go see the movie Becoming Jane. And don't see Cast Away either for that matter. Okay, go see Becoming Jane. I loved it. No, I hated it.

It's Pajama Time!

I have a minor obsession with pajamas.

It could be flannels...

Skinnies (my personal favorite)...

Or footsies...

I love them all. Last time I checked, Kara owned 17 pairs of pajamas. And I have only bought her 4 of them. Thanks Katrina, Julie and Rachel for adding to her collection! Maybe I like kid jammies so much because my pajamas are, well, not quite as attractive.

Responsible Voting

Alright, so my latest dilemma (I am good at coming up with lots of them) is about who to vote for for President. This year, thanks to all the hype, I've decided that I am going to become informed. I regrettably admit that I have not done so in the past. Boo if you must, but usually I have just voted republican, if at all. Since I am rapidly approaching 30, I feel the need to become a responsible citizen. Better late than never, right?

So here is where the dilemma begins. I figure the best place to begin my political education is watching the debates which I have been surprisingly into. After watching the republican debate in New Hampshire, my interest has been peaked and I want to learn more. Before watching the debates, I had only heard a few things here and there about the candidates. Of course I'm intrigued by Mitt Romney for obvious reasons besides the fact that my dad knew him pretty well having lived right by him in Michigan for many years while growing up. How cool would that be? If he's elected president, maybe he'll invite us to the white house. Or maybe my family would be invited to some presidential black-tie event and I'd get to buy a ball dress...

Anyways- I had also heard Huckabee's claim to be the "christian" politician as opposed to Romney, etc. etc. Well, based on the republican debate ONLY, I have to say (and if there are any Bells reading this, please don't hunt me down!) I agreed with what Huckabee claimed as his position on most of the issues. As simple as that. Pretending I haven't heard anything else about him, what he said makes the most sense to me. But of course I am aware of the nature of most politicians. Saying what they think you want to hear, just to get a vote.

After a few brief discussions with a couple of people, namely my dad, I have been further lead to believe how dishonest Huckabee is among other things. So I'm not about to vote for someone who appears to make sense to me but does not have my trust. How am I supposed to make an informed decision if the debates don't accurately show their true character? I am also concerned with the rest of the general public. Does anyone vote really knowing where the candidates stand or do most people vote for the one with the best stage presence and best debating skills? I'm confused and want to find out how I can really learn about these candidates instead of just the image they are trying to portray to get votes. Does anyone have any suggestions about what I can do to really get informed? I'm sure there's more to it than watching debates and the news, right? I hope this post doesn't scream how clueless I am. Oh well, too late.

Jerk Face

Yesterday at Walmart, Cameron and I witnessed someone speed past us and steal a parking space that a car in front of us had been waiting for. It 's the kinda thing I've only seen in movies and figured jerks like that don't really exist. My own eyes disproved this theory. Oh the humanity.

What would you have done after witnessing this? Of course Cameron and I couldn't keep our mouths shut and felt it necessary to roll down our windows and give him a good scolding. I'm sure he was shaking in his boots. Cameron then warned me that if he wasn't back quickly to meet me in the never-ending Walmart checkout line, then he probably got in a fight. And I was like, you go get him, honey! What a great example to my children who were listening to every word.

The fury.

Let the Music Begin

Colby had his first violin lesson today! I know, it sounds crazy that I'd put my 3-year-old in violin.

I happened to hear about a teacher who prefers to take kids at age three and decided, what the heck, it can't hurt, right? Since he goes around the house pretending to play the violin with a broken cheese stick, I'm gonna run with his interest while it still exists. As recommended by his teacher, we bought a Suzuki violin CD and Colby can't get enough of it. He has to listen to it when he goes to bed and carries his little boombox downstairs so he can let his friends listen to it. I have to admit, I'm a little sick of "motorcycle stop-stop, motorcycle stop-stop." (Those of you who have taken any type of Suzuki know exactly what I'm talking about, right?).

He was excited about going to his lesson today and especially because he was bribed with gum to talk to his teacher. Our little Colby tends to be a little shy when he meets new people. Well, his teacher was great, even though he didn't speak one word to her the whole time. She gave him a cute little box violin to begin with (pictured above), and a foot chart. As soon as he got home, he wanted to show his violin to his friends. And I actually got him to "practice" a few times today in which he practiced holding his violin, standing in his 3 feet positions and bowing with the violin in his hand. Hopefully it won't take too long for him to warm up to his teacher.

Here is a picture of Colby bowing.

Miss Chatty

Our little Kara is talking! I swear she went from a few words here and there and lots of jabbering to a sizable vocabulary and phrases overnight. As a speech therapist, this pleases me. Here are a few new words and phrases as of late.

b0 (blow)
daddy eye-ee (daddy flying)
baby ty-ee (baby crying)
my baby
baby down
no Coby! (No colby)
pi-ee co (pretty coat)
puppy ee-ee (puppy sleeping)
b-b-b-bye
nigh-nigh
bwee (binky)

Obviously she is just a little obsessed with her "baby" which consists of 2 new dolls she got for Christmas. She has to have them wrapped in blankets and is often found kissing them on the forehead. She is very possessive of them and carries one of the two all around the house nearly all day.

She has also just recently learned the word "no" which is currently dominating her vocabulary. Just this morning, I decided to count how many time she said "no" in just 3 minutes. The final count was 37. There's not usually a single, "no" but, "no no no no no," which is usually directed towards Colby. I think I'd like to go back to her head shake which was portraying her message just fine.

Thanks Santa!!

I am loving my new Kitchen Aid Mixer that I got for Christmas. Yes, it's pink. I guess the girly side of me comes out when I'm baking.

You may be thinking, 'how have you lived without a mixer?' I assure you, I have not truly lived. The day I got my mixer was the day I took my first breath.

My first experiment with the mixer was home-made wheat bread. I was completely amazed that it actually turned out. Santa must have given me a magic mixer.

The mixer even makes baking cookies easier! We made Colby's favorite pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in a flash. Hmmm- this mixer might just be the ticket to more cooking around this house...

Day-after-Christmas Sledding

Christmas Morning 2007

Waiting for Mom and Dad to go downstairs

Kara giving her new gigantic doggy a kiss

Kara letting Colby know how she felt about his present to her. Just kidding- we actually opened presents BEFORE we ate breakfast. Not such a smart idea. Hungry Kara came alive...

The kiddos testing out their new jumpy thing

Colby showing off his favorite gift from Santa

We had a great Christmas. I believe Cameron woke everyone up to open presents, thankfully around 8:00. The kids had a blast opening their gifts. It was so fun watching how surprised they'd get about what was under the wrapping paper. Colby even got excited about getting new jammies!

Later at around noon, we hosted a Christmas brunch. This is the 3rd year in a row we've done this. Cameron has requested this to be our big Christmas tradition. I love it because everyone comes to our house! The best part is the food, and of course, the company. I forgot to take pictures of the event but the feast consisted of french toast breakfast casserole, hashbrown egg and ham breakfast casserole, cinnamon rolls, fresh fruit, cream puffs and fresh squeezed orange juice. Oh yah- it really doesn't get a whole lot better than that, does it?

That night we went to the Jacksons and had nice dinner and played games. It was a great day.