I'm BACK!

Oh, we had a wonderful time in Texas, I am so glad we went. This is gonna be a long post cuz I haven't updated for so long. Wished I had pictures to add but LAM crashed my internet on my computer.

We left Sunday morning at 8:30am, the kids did pretty good in the 15 passenger van we rented considering they slept a lot and grandpa had the dvd for them. We had a bit of snow to travel thru getting out of Kansas and a little bit of traffic jam getting into Texas but the rest of the ride was pretty smooth, we arrived around 6:45pm and had supper at my Aunt Bac Houn's. All of the family was there, we watched a video recording of my cousin in a play. They had music playing and Micah was dancing and bopping and chasing my cousin Allison all around giving her kisses and she was kissing him right back, it was too cute!

Monday - Christmas Eve we had breakfast at my cousin Trinh's house then when to the asian market and around 1pm hit the road for galvaston's Moody Gardens. There we went to the acquarium and the kids loved it especially Micah. It was so fun to watch his face sooooo entranced with all the big fishes. He cried and pout everytime we had to walk on. After that we went to the imax to watch the polar express. The kids did pretty good sitting still for about half way thru the movie then I had to sit outside with them so they could run around. We had dinner at the same location, it was a buffet and my poor mom had the worst experience. I missed the whole thing because I took Micah to the bathroom to wash his hands but heard the story when I got back.

Our waitress evidently spilled hot tea down my mom's back and didn't apoligize, she actually kinda laughed it off and kept pushing her way towards the table. I'm not talking about getting a little water on you, I'm talking about scalding hot tea that could have left blisters and my mom was in pain. We asked to speak to a manager and all he could say was I'll take care of it. He obviously didn't think it was proper to make the waitress come in apoligize or do anything at the moment. We made the security guy write up a report but I was very disappointed and angry at their response. Mom is okay but really! That waitress needs to be repremanded, when my cousin asked her to say sorry, she just huffed and puffed and walked off. It's making me angry just thinking about it!

After that a couple of us went thru the rainforest cafe but it was too dark to really see anything and we met up with everyone at the ice skating rink. We took family pictures next to this huge gigantic pointsetta tree. While we were waiting for everyone to regroup, I took Kenzie to the gift store and she picked out an ornament for her Daddy. She was so excited about it. The first thing she said when she called him on the phone was "I buy you something daddy"

Tue- Christmas Day
We went to the 9:00 mass which went pretty quickly. Then Kim,Ryan,Chi Trinh, and Ma went on a motorcycle ride so it was just me and 5 kids at the house. When they got back we headed to the seafood buffet. Came back to Chi Trinh's house and had supper and finally opened gifts around 8:00pm. This is the latest I"ve ever opened presents on christmas. The kids got tons of toys, I was surprised I got a couple of gifts, a Tommy shirt, calendar, and picture coasters from my cousins. We didn't go to bed until after 10pm. The kids were wiped out every night.

Wed-Shopping Day
We went to IKEA, I just love love browsing through all the showrooms. I wished there was one closer to Wichita. I would love to redecorate my whole house. I only spent $10 there because I had the kids and couldn't browse as freely. (nothing really fun, just a trashcan, dustpan, rod, and dishtowels that were cheap) My sister on the other hand went crazy and purchased a whole king sized bedroom. Our van was stuffed to the rim by the time we got everything packed in. After IKEA we went home for a bit to exchange cars. Went back to the Katy Mills mall so Mom could exchange the shoes she got for Bac Houn. The mall was huge and trying to carry a 30lb kid in one arm and holding Kenzie's hand in the other walking like 2 miles around looking for the Footlocker when we when the wrong direction was very tiring. Mom took care of the kids so I did get to shop at the Ann Taylor outlet, I got myself one work outfit. Then Chi Trinh made a special stop for me at.....Archivers. I was in heaven so many stuff there! I was looking for 2 things in particular some of the new thickers and the MM noteworthy line. I asked the cashier and she claimed they didn't carry either. It's a good thing I browsed the entire store because I found both and then some! They had lots of paper marked down 25-50% off so I just loaded my basket. When I went to check out, my cousin, very sneaky, stuck her credit card in and paid for my purchase. Nothing sweeter than free Scrapbooking supplies! I felt bad for going overboard though, her son got an alphabet stamp and ink and the rest of the $100 was all mine :)

Dinner that night was at Chi Houngs. I love my aunt but her daugher is just annoying! Anh Ma called kenzie "baby" and she responded, I'm not a BABY!

Thur-We hit the road early and made it home before 6pm. It was Ryan's birthday so we all celebrated at the world buffet and invited Bac Khoa's family too.

Fri - I did laundry all day and just hung out at home except for a trip to the PO and Lowes.

Sat-Dinner at Anh Viet's to celebrate yen's 4th Birthday

Sun - went to 11:30 mass which is very late for us, had lunch at Bac Khoa's. Was going to use up our movie passes which will expire tomorrow...the kids wanted to see Alvin and the chipmunks but we didn't make it in time.

Mon - New year's Eve - my only plans is to scrapbook. There are some games online at TSR I'm hoping to participate in but Lam says he may be going to Kansas City to drop off his uncle so if I have both kids again, I won't get much accomplished.

Last Minute

I did not think I'd still be shopping 4 days until Christmas, 2 days until we head out for Houston but tonight I"m making a stop for a few more gifts. Lam wants this 145 piece Mechanic's tool set from Sears which is on sale for half price and I've finally figured out what to get my Dad, a GPS but can't find one for a good deal. They were having a great sale at Cabelas but for overnight express, it had to be purchased by 11:30 and I couldn't get the promotion code in time for that. Plus the wii game we got for Phoma, he already has so we need to exchange that at ToysRUs and I've got to also exchange some books from Sam's club but I'll do that tomorrow while I pick up the photos. Ugh...so much to do yet!

Tues at Micah's dr. appt, he rec'd his 4 shots, cried for just a short period. He's weighing in at 27 lbs -- 80% weight, 75% height, and 80% head cir. He really grew some because the last time he was only 50% height. They also found some fluid in his left ear which is opposite from the one he had an ear infection in so I'm praying it won't get worse.

Santa Pics

Gift of Giving

I slaved over 6 tubs of chocolate last night. Made chocolate dipped pretzels and strawberries for everyone at work. 17 dishes total. It's all about presentation to make then look appatizing. I was going to just put them into ziplock bags then a brown paper lunch bag with a cute xmas tag but since the kids didn't go to sleep until past 11pm, I went the easy route and bought xmas plates from Dillons and wrapped it up with syran wrap. I did spend time arranging the pretzels around the strawberries altering the white and milk chocolate.

I finally rec'd my Scarlet Lime kit in the mail yesterday. So many embellishments, I can't wait for a day where I can just sit down and play. My tsr friend Kim sent me a package full of handmade cards, it was so unexpected and thoughtful. I love receiving "just because" gifts.

Today is Micah's 14 month check up. I think he'll be hit with 4 doses of shots, my poor baby. It's always harder on me than it is on them. Only 4 more days until we leave for Houston!

Altered Bandaid Tins

I made them over the weekend. The kids went to see two different Santas. I'm glad we went to Cessna Activity Center this year because their Santa and Misses Claus look much more real life than good ole JH at BKD's skating party. I was very surprised that Kenzie was not one bit scared this year. She sat on Santa's lap and even said cheese really loud. On the other hand, Micah was scared out of his wits. Guess they all go thru that stage.

Forgetful

I got an invitation to my friend Dawn's baby shower a couple weeks ago. I misplaced the invite but could have sworn it was for tonight. I have the gift wrapped and ready to go. My plans were to pick up Kenzie right after work and take her with me. I called to verify the time and guess what?.....the shower was yesterday! I blame it on the 50 things I have going on right now.

I've been going through spurts of loving this time of year and hating this time of year. I get excited for the kids when I'm getting them presents and they see it's for them but waiting in line, parking, feeling overwelmed with a long to do list....it just brings out the not so sweet side of me. I have my parents yet to shop for then I am officially done shopping.

My FAV

Got more presents bought and wrapped tonight. My list is getting narrower.

Fontwerks from TSR's December kit.

I wanted really bad to learn how to add fairy wings using brushes in PSE but never figured it out so these rub-ons were the next best thing and I got them on clearance sale at Scrapfunattic. I'd have to say this is my favorite layout of the year.

I won!

I won a free 1 year membership to http://www.iscrap.net just from posting on Debbie Hodges blog. I feel like a goofball idiot though because when I tried to register yesterday on that site, I couldn't find a place to enter my promo code. I know I shouldn't have entered my CC info but I went ahead and did it and was hoping the next screen I entered would have a place for it but nope! I got my self charged and had to contact the CS for correction. I was very fortunate they were so nice and helpful about refunding my $20 charge but they did take the time to tell me that I should NEVER give out my credit card information on-line unless 1) It's a site I trust and 2) I'm prepared to make the purchase. Lesson learned! I have done a lot of on-line purchases lately and I need to be more cautious with my info.

Debbie is such a NICE person! I took her class "Scrap your Events" last month at NYCScraps and she is ever so helpful and talented.

Makenzie is in her learning growth spurt. She takes in everything you tell her. She asks why and what everyday. Lam and I were talking to ourselves this morning on the ride to grandmas and she evesdrops the entire conversations, asking "what are you saying momma, and why do you say that and who are you talking about?."

Micah says his same few words, Pay- (play the tv), Momma, uh uh- (no), and More-(feed me)

I've been battling acne this week. I thought I was too old for this stuff but it started out on Friday, I got 2 big zits on my cheek and one under my eye. I was so big and red my dad even commented what happened to your face. So on Sunday I bought this new 3 step face wash from Targets that says it's better than proactive. Proactive never worked for me but I'm trying this new thing out. It's day 3 and it's still visible but w/ the makeup I have on that I never wear it at least covers it up.

A Deeper Look

at MYself. If I were to die right now.... this very moment...would I be proud of myself? With who I am and how I acted today? No...sadly no. As we were carpooling to work this morning, I was arguing with Lam over christmas shopping. We were actually in a shouting match where he had the last words...we still had about 10 minutes to go and neither of us said a single thing for the rest of the ride. I brought the subject up about what to get his nephews. They want games for the Wii and PS and he told me to hold off on buying it a week ago when I asked him. Well, there are only 13 days left so I told him this morning he better decide quickly and if I wait on him, nothing will ever get done. And he replys, I thought you already got it for them. Then I go on to mention how he never helps me w/ any of the shopping and I don't have time to do it all by myself AND take care of both kids. Then he shouts back I had all day on Black Friday, which is complete balony but I won't recount the entire discussion.

I just realized I haven't been too nice to him lately or much of all year. I guess I expect more of his role of husband and father and I'm still bitter over the fact he's decided not to spend xmas w/ us. I get mad at him on a daily basis because he's always just sitting there on his ass watching tv and not lending me a hand.

But I am wrong. He does help out in his little ways. He did help me finish folding the laundry on Sunday. He does help me put Makenzie to bed since she likes sleeping w/ her daddy lately. He did wash the dishes once this week or once this month. So, here is my promise to be a better person for the next 12 days before Christmas.

1) To not yell at him
2) To spend time with the kids and not make a fuss about doing it on my own
3) To spend what little time I have when they are in bed with him instead of wanting to go to my scraproom.

Twelve DAYs...I can do it.

Brrrr...

We just had a fire drill at work and they made us go outside. Of all the days, it's freezing rain and 28 degrees outside! No real danger so I'm back in my office sipping on some hot chocolate to warm myself up.

I've got to remember to update my blog when I'm at home so I can add pictures. It's quite boring with all this jabbering I do quite so often. Kinda like reading a book with no pictures.

Saturday I took the kids to Sam's west for their old time vintage portrait taken. I only got to see the image of both of them together on the photographer's viewfinder but the kids were so darn cute in their outfits and Micah was in a good smiling mood so I'll probably end up dropping another load of mula when they show me the prints and I order more than the basic one pose for $20. I was up from 1-2am addressing my xmas cards so as soon as I get postage on them, these puppies can go out the door.

Nothing on tonight's agenda, I'm hoping my order from Linnecards comes in so I can mail off the package to my scrapbooking sister. Then I can finally post the album I did.

Kid update: I was laying in bed with the both of them last night. Micah crawls right next to Kenzie like his head has to be touching hers and pulls on her hair. Then she grabs a handful of his hair. Then he slaps her. Then she slaps him....and so it continues back and forth. I think in a way it's kinda heartwarming looking at the sibling love/hate relationship they share. :) Well, this is until one of them starts bawling which neither did. Kenzie got up and went looking for her dad and Micah got up and followed her right out the door. (I need to have the camera for these types of moments)

Handmade Gifts

I've been surfing blogs all morning and ran into two very cute cute handmade projects. One from http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/ . I love these little decorated boxes that holds resse pieces, the round circle ornament for pictures, and the little bags for homemade pretzels.

Another cute one are these holiday list books made my Heather http://pinefeather.typepad.com/pine_is_here/2007/11/i-hope-everyone.html aren't the little penguins too cute!!! I want to order that paper just for the penguin.

Last night Noc bought Kenzie a princess tub of popcorn.

Makin a LIst...

and checking it twice....I had such a great night last night. Both kids were in bed by 9pm. Micah slept the entire night since 7pm.. must be his antibiotics kicking in. Can you believe it?! I got so much time to myself. Was in my scraproom for two straight hours and still got a good nights rest. I made 15 christmas cards and even broke out my sewing machine for one of them. This $50 sewing machine I got from Walmart is so worth the money, I've always wanted to try sewing on my scrapbook pages and it isn't as hard as I thought. I had to break out the manual on how to thread a bobbin since I haven't done it in ages and Makenzie got tired of playing with me so she went to see her daddy and they head to bed while Mommy enjoyed her "Me" time. I am the worst card maker but these turned out pretty darn cute, scraplifted of course from the Papercrafts magazine but it was made using scraps on hand and everything matched pretty good. Now I"ve got to decide who I want to send these to that won't just pitch it in the trash. :)

My first DIGI creation

It took me a total one hour to find the free download from shabby princess, pick out my photos, enhance my photos, and self taught my self how to use layers in PSE but I did it! Finished my christmas card today and it's all digital! (patting myself on the back...I thought it turned out pretty cute) Now off to Sam's to print out 50 copies so I can get these mailed out to all the relatives and check one item off my to do list.

On a side note, both Lam and I went to the eye doctor's today. I was in desparate need of new glasses. I had two pairs but somehow managed to lost both and haven't been wearing them or my contacts for the last 2 years but the nights keep getting darker and my eyes aren't getting any better. My right was diagnosed at -1.0 and my left at -1.5. Just learned something today from the doc. We can start taking our kids in as early as 3 years old to get their eyes checked. I did not know that! At least we have another 3 months before Kenzie needs to go in for her free checkup.

More Halloween

Finally finished scrappin my halloween pictures, now I've just got Thanksgiving before I take a million and one pictures for xmas. Christmas is my favorite holiday it makes it more special when you have little ones that gets all excited.

I have the hugest grin on my face right now....why you ask? I've got my first comment posted! Gosh and it's not even a complete stranger from the web but someone who's work I admire. :) How cool is that?

Only 22 days until...

Christmas! I am running out of time to do my xmas shopping. Did not even leave the house the entire weekend, we didn't even go to church on Sunday because the kids were still not well and I so want them to get better. They are at least sleeping better and we've got them on meds. Turns out from Friday's doctor appt that not only does Micah have an ear infection but so does Kenzie.

At least being sick made them tired, I was lucky on Saturday because they both took a long nap together, Micah from like 1:30 til 5:30pm and kenzie from 2pm to about the same time. I did a little of scrappin, did the laundry, finished dishes, and cleaned house. Warmed up the leftover pho and rice and moophoa for the kids and called it a day.

TGIF!

Last night we bought a gingerbread house at Sam's, thanks to the daily chatter at TSR I thought it would be fun for the kids. A good picture opportunity anyways, not like I don't have enough to catch up on but xmas layouts are always fun! The kids slept a little better but between the both of them, I was up at least 4 times. I feel a lot better than the rest of the week though. My SIL is going to take them into the doctors today at 1pm when she takes my nephew so I'm hoping the outcome is just a common cold virus and nothing serious.

We've got nothing planned for this weekend so maybe I'll start on those xmas cards I have yet to send out. I just want to scrap! Haven't been to my scraproom the entire week. My secret santa's helper just delivered my package for the week here at work and I rec'd some xmas clear stickers and a paper reflections scrap pack.

Mail Day

Last night I rec'd a huge box on our front doorstep. It was the toys I bought for my cousin's boys from Young Explorers. Now I know why they charged me $14.99 for S&H, the box was huge and the stuff inside only occupied like 30% of it. Why do they do that? One item in the box was supposed to be for Micah's xmas gift but Kenzie was whining for her DAd when he wasn't home yet. I wasn't in the mood to deal with it from sleep deprevation accumulating over the last 2 days so I made a promise w/ her. I would open the handyman drill set and let her play with it only if she shares with her brother. Of course she agrees to it and of course she DOESN'T share with Micah. Poor little brother.

Was flipping thru my Jan '08 issue of CK and decided to check out the SOY's blog. Very interesting read and I really like her layouts. I love the outfit she wore on the cover of the magazine because of the cool color schemes. Now I'm thinking I want to get rid of the awful purple/yellow paint in my scraproom and turn it into the cool muted blue/orange/beige colors. I would have to take a 2 week vacation in order to move everything out of the way just to tape up the room but I can wish for now and start sketching ideas. I also signed myself up for a free issue of the http://www.marthastewart.com/blueprints magazine since this was one place she got her inspiration from.

Kids are both still sick. It was 30 minute intervals around the clock last night waking up coughing and crying. I was loosing my patience and started getting mad at them, now I feel bad, they were just hurting and uncomfortable. Please pray that I'll have the patience to be a good mom tonight and be soothing and help lessen their pains. I also called my mom to see how her job in the new dept was going, she said she hated it. I pray it gets better for her.

Sick,Sick, Sick!

Started out Monday night with Micah crying every half hour. Don't know if it is still from his ear infection, a tooth coming in because he keeps sticking his fingers in his mouth, or just the flu because he's been running a high fever but the boy could not sleep. So Lam and I both took the day off yesterday to be home with the kids. Everything he ate kept coming right back up. Kenzie just had a cough to start with but by the end of the day she was also throwing up and had a high fever. Phewey! I pray they get better because this is no fun!

We had lop over at mom's last night and Noc took Dara and Kenzie to ToysRUs. She came back with the Barbie Island DVD and a Uniqua doll. Micah kept wanting to play w/ it but she wouldn't share. I think the boy likes the color pink because he also prefers her Dora chair over his red lightning McQueen chair and her pink blanket over his blue one. I watched the DVd with her last night and really enjoyed it. That tells you how very little TV I get to watch. I could honestly say I only watch 1 hr the most out of a week or couple weeks even.

This morning Micah was crying from about 4am til 5:30am. Then I was wide awake once he finally fell asleep so I went downstairs to download some photos to Walgreens. Then Kenzie was crying for her momma. I can hear her tell her dad through the baby monitor "go away unca, I want my mommy" I don't know where she came up with the name but she's always calling brother and daddy "unca" or "ulsa" when they are bad. So Lam gets tired of her shouting back at him to go away and he tells her he's going to chucky cheese then and she can't go.

I ended up driving to work separate and dropping the kids off and this is the conversation we had in the car.

Kenzie: Where's daddy?
Mom: He's still in the house
Kenzie: He's going to chuckie cheeses?
Mom: (laughing) no honey, he was just kidding with you
Kenzie: He told me in the bathroom, he's going to chuckie cheese
Mom: no daddy's going to work today
Kenzie: He told me I no go, I cry, He noisy, I want my mommy
Mom: (just smiling and amazed at how much conversation she picked up when at the time she was just sitting on the chair observing) It's okay honey, I still love you
Kenzie: I love daddy and I love you.
Kenzie: I no cry no more. Look there's a yellow bus.
Mom: (chewing on a chocolate cookie for breakfast)
Kenzie: what's that? I want some

And so that starts off my day...

Scraplifting Fun

Post Thanksgiving

Where did the 4 day weekend go?

Thursday -had Thanksgiving lunch at mom & dad's then went to dinner at Ab & Koko's at 6pm

Friday-went Shopping at Walmart from 5am-7am, came home...fed the kids and got them ready
to go to grandmas. Then went shopping at Scrapfunattic from 8-9am for their 30% off sale. Got myself 4 idea books to read on the long car ride to HOuston for xmas break. Then came back home and started wrapping all the toys for the kids. Nephews called saying Kenzie wanted to go bowling w/ them so I went to the PO to mail Tami's gift and Catherine's gift then met them at Thunderbowl. Lam met us there later then I went to the mall...got some clothes for the kids at JC Pennys and Children's place. Then back home to start xmas decorating.

Saturday-Home all day til 3pm then dropped kids off at Nok's so I could scrapbook for a couple hours. I worked on some gifts for my secret santa at work. The kids were napping the entire time over there so I didn't feel too bad. Lam went to the casino w/ his mom.

Sunday - church, then took the kids to chuckie cheese with all the nephews. Lam finally put up our xmas lights in the afternoon and ran out of hooks so took the kids to Target to get some. Poor Micah was throwing up again yesterday.

And here we are at the start of a new week. I didn't get as many people bought for as I had hoped but I did make a dent on my list. So many things to do and never enough time!

Early present

Yahoo! I rec'd a super fun package in the mail last night. I saw the return address was from Amazon and thought that it was the preorder for Hillary's book but when I opened it up...It was the christmas gift that Kim and Ryan got us...the Flip video! I had so much fun playing and testing it out last night. The kids wanted to see the screen as soon as it was over shooting it. I didn't have any time to download it to the computer but after I learn how to, I'll post an example here. I was really bummed for a while because I thought I broke it. Was deleting some videos that the kids took and all of a sudden, the thing froze on me. Lam took the battery out and after we popped it back in, it was all good. The only down side I can see so far is it doesn't have a flash or lighting so if it is dark when you are shooting, you will not see anything on screen but other than that...this thing is SLICK!!! Thank you sis and bil, this was an awesome gift! Oh, and I love the pink carrying case too, perfect attachment for my purse. :)

More layouts

Xmas Projects

Here is the advent calendar that Shirley had posted at TSR, I had lots of fun making it.

Makenzie helped me with the button trees. She was so good with handling the needles, never even pricked herself once.

Shopping List

Black Friday is this week! I've got to start my shopping list since I have zip, nada, zero christmas gifts purchased yet. Well, at least I know of two gifts to buy. My cousin's sons in Houston have a very detailed list so that one will be easy. And I just found out that Scrapfunattic is having an entire store 30% off sale from 8-9am so you know I will be there! I'm going to have fun shopping for my scrapbooking friends.

Scrapfriends (8):
1. Stacey
2. Stephanie
3. Mikey,HeidiQ, and Carlane
4. Nicole, my old roommate
5. Tami and Shell O, my wishlist sisters

My family (25):
1. Both parents
2. DH
3. Kenzie
4. Micah
5. 3 nephews
6. BIL and SIL
7. My sis
8. My brother
9. Cousins: Yen and Peter
10. Mimi & Kelvin?
11. Astrid and Anna?
12. Kaitlyn & her sis
13. Ann and Tina
14. Minh and Thien

Weekend Recap: Took Micah to doctor's on Saturday and they comfirmed he has an ear infection. Went to Mimi's b-day party then to Lam's friend Keo's house Saturday night. Sunday was all day laundry and at home with Micah. Nok took Kenzie to the bookstore and toystore, she got a Backyardigans book and some hair clips and her fingers and toes french manicured.

Sleepless in Seattle...I mean in the Amphone house

Another rough night. I thought it was only supposed to be rough like the first 2-3 months with kids but not mine. Micah is feeling a little better but still feeling pretty hot.

Ong/Ba Ngoai called to invite us to Thanksgiving dinner next week and they wanted to talk to Kenzie on the phone. She sang her alphabet song to them then Micah was crying for the phone. He's so cute he'll hold the phone with the back of the speaker facing his ear and just act like he's talking away an intelligent conversation. Just to kill some time playing with the kids, I got out my old Hawaiin lei's and outfit I made for Halloween like 4 years ago and had Kenzie dress up in it. Of course took lots of pictures...she loved it so much, she didn't want to change out of it. Then we worked on the little mini house scrapbook for her based on the free mini class instructions posted at TSR. She picked out the papers and photos she wanted to use, purple is still her favorite color.

I'll be out at a Tax Conference on Thursday and Friday for the entire day so I probably won't be back to update my blog until the weekend or Monday. This weekend we're going to a birthday party for Mimi. Which reminds me I better stop and get a gift today.

Sick Day

Well, I was going to call in sick today to stay home with Micah because last night he had a fever of 103 and threw up all over me and was not feeling well the entire night but this morning as we were sitting on the couch at 7:30am helping Daddy get sister ready to go, Micah climbs off the couch pulls my finger and walks towards the back door to the garage. It points to it then trys to put his feet into Daddy's sneakers. So I guess he was feeling a little better so off to grandmas he goes. I'll be checking in on him all day from work, hoping he feels better.

Kenzie's famous most used quotes these days: "Oopsie Daisy" "Gat(what) the Heck" and "gootbeer" (rootbeer)

Each night she wants to go to the basement and turn on the stereo, I have an old tape stuck in there and mommy and she will hold hands jumping up and down then we race back and forth across the basement. That's my exercise for the day since I've been doing sooooo poorly going to the gym. Only went once last week and i skipped out again last night. Since Lam offered to pick the kids up, I went home and completed 2 layouts. I needed my ME time even though it was a short 1 hour.

Diet not going too well either. I had a bowl of cereal for dinner then at 10:00pm I got the munchies and sat there eating chips and salsa with Kenzie. This bulge is stuck with me for life!

Layouts

Just catching up on my assignments for NYCScraps - Scrap Your Events with Debbie Hodge.

Weekend Recap

I hate Mondays, it's so hard to wake up. Of course having two kids that got me up at least 4 times last night didn't help either. Micah did not nap well or sleep well yesterday. He was crying all day, he felt hot and sweaty feaverish. When he finally got to bed, Kenzie cried for me around 5:30 or 6 this morning. Didn't get a single thing accomplished the whole weekend except for 5 loads of laundry washed and folded. How many times do people do laundry a week? I think my MIL washes clothes daily because she always gives the kids a bath during the day, twice if I pick them up late and sometimes the kids will be wearing the same thing they wore that morning except it has been washed. I thought once a week was plenty but with 4 in our household and we each shower twice daily plus all the icecream stains, it makes for a LOT of laundry!

Saturday I took the kids over to Nok's I tried to do a photo shoot of the kids for Blou, my other SIL. It's just impossible to get five kids to smile at the camera at the same time. Portrait Innovations took over 80 shots the last time and we still could only get 4 out of 5 looking straight, well I only took about 20 then Micah got really anzy. These were the best.

I rec'd my TSR kit in the mail plus the two bonus kits, SR Salem and Love Elsie. I love getting scrapbook supplies in the mail! They just make my day. Wished I had time to scrap though...I didn't even get to pull them out of the ups box the whole weekend. Yesterday was one of those days where both kids were crying to be held and I was thinking, what in God's name was I drinking when I decided to have them so close together?!?

But I did manage to get about an hour's worth of time in my scraproom after 11pm last night. I worked on this project I'm doing as a xmas gift for a really good friend. It is turning out sooooo cool. I can't wait to post pictures when I'm done.

Candlelight Dessert

Happy B-day

Happy Birthday Honey, yep Lam is the big 3-4 today!

He's never liked to celebrate his b-days so I don't have anything special planned. He's been craving pumpkin pie so I'll stop after work & get him one and stick a few candles on so the kids can blow them out for him. I gave him his present this morning, some new cologne.

Last night we rolled out the carpet remnant in the utility room that I cleaned up over the weekend. I'm wanting to use it as my practice studio. Bought a cheap curtain $9.99 from Wally's for the backdrop and the kids ran around and posed for me. The set up is great except the lighting is so poor in there. Another item I'm putting down for santa is either an umbrella light or softbox. But this comes after I find a decent deal on a flash. This photography hobbie of mine is worse than scrapbooking! Everything costs sooo much.

While we were still in the utility room, I decided to set up the Christmas tree and maybe do an early shoot for my christmas cards this year. Kenzie starts to whine and cry telling me she doesn't want the tree, put it away. I think she's actually scared of it. Lam told me she was scared of all the santas and xmas decorations the last time he brought her to Lowes. Oh my, this will be a crazy holiday. I will be very sad if I can't decorate my house for xmas because I've got tons of stuff and it's my favorite time of year to decorate.

We hit the gym after work yesterday. It's been since April since we did that. I really hate running with a passion but I guess I can say I felt better when I was done. Today will be day 2. I'm resolved to lose 5 lbs before the end of the year. Let's see how far I get.

This morning I put on some pantyhose and a suit to wear to work. Makenzie was touching my legs and asking me what is that Mommy? Then of course she said "I want to wear pantyhose" It's 40 degrees outside and I"m helping her take off your cozy sweats and put on a dress and pantyhose so she can look like me. I'm just glad she still had a pair. I stopped buying dresses for her because she got into a stage where she hated wearing them. And usually she wants to wear something just like what I have on but there's nothing similar in her dresser so we go on a crying spout. Micah was up early at 6:30am pulling out her swimsuit and trying to pull it down over his head.

I was late to work again. But this time only by a few minutes. Just go glad it's Friday.

Flip

Here's the link to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-Camcorder-60-Minutes-White/dp/B000ONFQ2K/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-6266285-4374268?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1194394111&sr=8-1

M&M Update

Makenzie was a bad little girl yesterday. She is very protective of her toys at grandma's house. I don't know what the issue is but my little girl was aggressive and scratched Mimi (3yr old daughter of a close friend of my BIL) in the face over a simple toy. She and mimi are like best buds but if you're playing with her toy she'll come grab it from you, run off hiding it, then come back and be all peachy keen asking you to play.

Micah just learned how to clap. He is the cutest little thing. He saw them doing it on Barney and now when you tell him to clap, he'll have his chubby little fingers together. He also does the most adorable little bopping dance whenever there is music playing or you sing.

Kenzie can also sing the entire Alphabet minus the letters Y and Z. She gets confused because she thinks the "X" is an S so it goes like this.... "QRSTUVW...STUV now I know my....."

All these cute little things the kiddos are doing makes me want to get an iFlip. I just heard about this yesterday when Shell O from TSR posted a thread on it. We don't have a camcorder and I thought about it then decided against it because I know I would prefer to use my camera everywhere I go...but now I really want it so will probably order it this week.

My recent snapshots

These have got to be my favorite photos of Makenzie to date. She usually hates smiling for the camera these days and always gives me her fake look but I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Can't leave out my boys, these were taken at Pump it Up a couple weekends ago.

I'm On-line

Well, since I spend enough time reading everyone else's life thought I'd go ahead and try this blogging thing for awhile. I've been trying to keep up with my weekly snapshots album that I started from TSR so it couldn't hurt to write it down here then transfer the happenings into my scrapbook pages later.

What's new with me? I'm currently reading Ali Edward's new Life Artist Book. I just love her philosophy of capturing life, creating art. None of my layouts resembles her style but I love how she focuses on the everyday moments. I look at the photos I take and they are just head shots of the kids. I need a new point of view, I need to get creative and tell more of my story.

I've been e-mailing back and forth w/ my sister Kim. We're planning on driving down to Houston with my parents to visit my aunt and cousins the week of Christmas. I'm very excited about it but really wished my husband would go with us. He's not too fond of having to go to church more than his weekly Sunday hour. We haven't gone on a vacation or out of town hardly at all since having kids so it'll be a nice getaway for me.

Last night I got suckered into buying a vacuum cleaner from a door to door salesman! I can't believe he talked me into it. Lam opened the door then told the young lady, you'll have to talk to my wife about these things. I was washing the dishes and whispered to him, just tell them NO! and I'm not here! But of course I go answer and they hooked me with their speel of getting a free carpet stain remover cleaning. We have SOOOO many stains in our carpets from the kids eating icecream. You could see the rainbow of little dots, big dots, and trail of dots from the kitchen to the living room if you looked really close. Anywhoo, I'm even too embarrassed to say how much I dropped for this vacumm but it's supposed to do all kinds of fancy things like wash and shampoo my carpet, clean my blinds and hard to reach places, unclop drains, brush out dust from keyboards....yada yada yada. During the demo, they showed me all the dust they removed from just the top of my couches and matresses and it was not a pretty site! Guess i'll go home tonight and shampoo the rest of the house to see how it really works.