Wordless Wednesday: Self-Help Skills

First lesson: putting on your own Sunglasses- well, she tried! All by herself! So proud of herself!

More Keifer-ims on this Hump Day

An umbrella? Nope, a "rain-brella" - makes sense, right?

A short cut? (through the yards to home?) Nope, a "paper cut".

Hee hee.

Our Fourth of July & a Family Wedding

Bear with me. I accidently had "left side" on whenI uploaded ALL these pictures. (*sob*). So, to save myself time and frustration, I'm uploading the pics and story as it is. It may get a little confusing with the pics and writing going this way and that, but I hope you get the gist of it all.
Sorry :(

Where to begin? Well, we did a week long car road trip with CJ's brother and his family, along with Papa & Nana. It was exciting, fun, loving, tiring, exhausting, eye-opening, memorable: all those adjectives you think of with family. I loved our time together as a family and the kids really did amazingly well, for all the car rides we put them through. I think Kyla did even better than her 3 year old sister! Keifer loved having Abby share parts of our road tripping with her, and sleeping in hotels seemed exciting to her- because there were hotel POOLS and water slides!
We started our Fourth of July holiday at CJ's Uncle & Aunt's cabin. They recently redid their
main cabin, and we stayed next door in their old "small" cabin. It was so much fun! Great, beautiful, WARM weather and sunshine, and Keifer got to model MANY swimsuits, cute outfits, and sun hats. She also enjoyed a few hours in the NUDE one afternoon! The girl loves to be "naked baby!".

She had her FIRST boat rides, which she faced with some fears, but swallowed them to put on her brave face for her cousins. She passed out cold for the fireworks display, but both girls were up late each and every night for family fun times. Keifer also did VERY well, considering she spent a lot of time playing alone. Her cousin Abby is 9, so she's a bit older. Cousins Mason and Oscar were both 5,and both boys, so they had fun teasing Keifer more so than "playing" with her. No worries, though, because she did so well with the sand and the water and had plenty of adult attention to go around. She even kicked some booty in the card game "Uno" with Auntie and her cousins! :)



Kyla was a trooper, considering she had just been diagnosed with yet another DOUBLE ear infection the day before we left. You would never know the smiley, happy girl had ear problems. So yes, the antibiotics she was on? Yep, it caused some massive blow out diapers, so luckily our time at the cabin was spent with a WASHING machine - because she went through a few outfits a day, thanks to the medicine. She enjoyed crawling around, exploring the new places, and getting LOTS of kisses and hugs from her family.

Kyla also got to meet, for the second time, HER BIRTHDAY TWIN! CJ's cousin Betsy had Conrad the exact same day I had Kyla! Conrad's birth was planned and on time - Kyla's was not. Needless to say, the family gets a big kick out of our "Birthday twins'. Kyla is finally growing some hair these days, and it's (excited) coming in curly in the back, just like Conrad's is!

We had a great time, but sadly had to say goodbye to move on to our next destination, which was Bismarck for a stop over (night) and then Medora, N. Dakota. Post to come.

We finished our week coming back towards MN, stopping in Jamestown for CJ's cousin Kenn's wedding. It was a hot and steamy wedding, oh yes, and the church was filled to capacity with: no air! Lovely. Kyla, our dream baby, decided to flirt and chat with the baby in front of us, so CJ spent the wedding watching from the hallway with Kyla and big sis, who wanted to be with sissy. We finished the night at the reception, where Keifer danced longer than she's ever danced before, and Papa Jim was nice enough to watch Kyla until Mama came back to the hotel room.
We had SO much fun, but we were all excited and happy to be HOME again (especially the fur kids, who had stayed with Papa Dale & Nana Dian while we were gone). Home again meant exhaustion and laundry, but routine, which was nice to get back into.

I did it, we did it, I did it: Hurrah!

Friday, the 13th of August, and I wrapped up my 50 book challenge list - a bit past half-way through the year, but still.....I did it! And I'm in the midst of 3 other books as well! Whoo hoo!! I'm loving the books I've been reading lately and am excited to get back into The Passage as soon as I finish a few more library books!

I just read Still Missing this week, per a review in People magazine. Awesome, people. Get it. Gripping and scary, but could.not.put.it.down! And as far as the whole Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, book, series, whatever...well, maybe I'm bias, but I'm really NOT a huge fan of the series. It took me about 3/4 of the first book to really get "into" the book and overall, I didnt' think it was as hugely entertaining as it's been hyped. I'm currently 1/2 way through The Girl Who Played With Fire, and although it started out much more engaging that the first, I'm hitting a lull again. I think I just read so much, that I find authors like Karin Slaughter, Jefferey Deaver, and Tess Gerritsen to be much more engaging and entertaining that these books are. Hmm. And I'm also SO excited that I found the author Brian Freeman again- I had read a book of his last summer, but I am really enjoying his mystery books, plus there is the added bonus that he writes/sets his stories in my hometown of Duluth!!

Here's my list thus far:

1. Blame-- Michelle Huneven
2. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress -- Rhoda Janzen
3. Best Friends Forever -- Jennifer Weiner
4. Half Broke Horses -- Jeannette Walls
5. The Broken Window- Jeffery Deaver
6. The Blue Nowhere --Jeffery Deaver
7. Positive Discipline: The First Three Years: From Infant to Toddler--Laying the Foundation for Raising a Capable, Confident Child--Jane Nelsen Ed.D., Cheryl Erwin and Roslyn Ann Duffy
8. Jamesland --Michelle Huneven
9. The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star – Nikki Sixx with Ian Griffins 10. The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir-- Kao Kalia Yang
11. Open: An Autobiography -- Andre Agassi
12. The Brightest Star in the Sky – Marian Keyes
13. You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up: A Love Story--Annabelle Gurwitch and Jeff Kahn
14. The Overnight Socialite--Bridie Clark
15. Watchlist --Based on an idea by Jeffery Deaver
16. The Swan Thieves --Elizabeth Kostova
17. Think Twice --Lisa Scottoline
18. The Perfect Husband --Lisa Gardner
19. House Rules --Jodi Picoult
20. Missing Mark -- Julie Kramer
21. Hide --Lisa Gardner
22. The Next Thing on my List --Jill Smolinski
23. Chelsea, Chelsea, Bang, Bang -- Chelsea Handler
24. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen -- Susan Gregg Gilmore
25. Poor Little Bitch Girl -- Jackie Collins
26. The Carrie Diaries -- Candace Bushnell
27. The Burying Place -- Brian Freeman
28. Heart of the Matter --Emily Giffin
29. Baby Proof--Emily Giffin
30. Storm Prey-- John Sanford
31. The Burning Wire --Jeffery Deaver
32. Seven Year Switch--Claire Cook
33. Something Borrowed--Emily Giffin* 34. Broken --Karin Slaughter
35. The Solitude of Prime Numbers --Paolo Giordano
36. Promises to Keep --Jane Green
37. Something Blue --Emily Giffin
38. Ice Cold -- Tess Gerritsen
39. Life's a Beach -- Claire Cook
40. Husband and Wife -- Leah Stewart
41. Immoral --Brian Freeman
42. Summer Blowout --Claire Cook
43. You Couldn't Ignore Me If You Tried: The Brat Pack, John Hughes, and Their Impact on a Generation -- Susannah Gora
44. The Forgotten Garden -- Kate Morton
45. They're Watching -- Gregg Hurwitz
46. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo-- Stieg Larsson
47. One Day --David Nicholls
48. Pray for Silence -- Linda Castillo
49. Still Missing --Chevy Stevens
50. Silencing Sam --Julie Kramer

TIME, is not on my side

What to say? I apologize. I have so much to share about what is whirling around in my head- the thoughts on MANY books, some movies, some songs, some kids' activities and on the many play dates and fun trips we've taken this summer so far.
However, I have no patience for the uploading of the pictures, and my husband has no patience for watching me type if little ones are awake (and I shouldn't when they are awake, even if I've been with them every second and every minute of the day...........) and then night time comes and I want to decompress and just SIT. Sit and read. Sit and veg out, mindlessly, as I prepare for the next day.
Soon, work will be started by me again. Uggg. Work. August 30 is not coming slow enough, or is it coming TOO fast? Either way, I'm not happy or looking forward to it. I love my summer routine, of playing with my girls, many trips here or there in our mini van and walking the dogs every AM. Sipping my home made chai tea latte at home, while I try to wake up, and make myself hit the gym if the girls are at daycare (2 of the days they go during the week).

Soon, I promise.........I have many pics to share, and soon I will descend upon you the wrath of TOO MANY PICS! You will be tired of them! LOL

Wednesday with Words: Look Who's Walking!?

She started exactly 5 hours AFTER Mama left last Thursday for a long Girls weekend out of state! Of course! Notice 1) she won't let go of her shoes, *good girl*, and 2) Miss Sassy Sissy in the background? LOL

She is a mini-Frankenstein, but oh so sweet. Pretty damn proud of herself, too. She carries herself very carefully- must have learned that from a rambunctious older sis, no? :)

Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby

Kyla is starting to make some words out of her nonsense babble that seems to be more loud and frequent these days. Her favorite right now is "Baby" - hence, we are all baby, including inanimate objects, food, and people. LOL. She has the sweetest voice and the other day at Elaine's, she apparently very sweetly tucked a baby into a cradle and covered it with a blanket. *sigh*. The girl is a natural born snuggler - just like her big sissy. She loves to hug baby and of course, bite her instead of kiss! HA!

Enjoy our baby baby baby labeling "baby". And...as for walking, she's THISCLOSE to taking more than 1 step without us holding her or her holding something. She just has to stop thinking about what she's doing. She will be walking within days, I predict!


Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

My girls: in my heart, on my sleeve forever

Growing up, secretly,or not so secretly, I was in love with hair bands. I loved the rock and roll edge,the punk rock glamour to it all, and didn't have a clue about the seedy, druggy, sex and drugs underside. I also loved /love the tatted up rockers - with their arm sleeves of color and pictures, or the tattoos that mean SOMETHING or maybe not. Later in life, as an adult, I'm a teacher, and so I cannot portray the visual art side of me as prominently as maybe I would want to. I would/will see people (women and men) who have tattoos that are cool to me, and I get this little charge that goes through me: I want one.

In 1999, I got a tattoo on my lower back. A Taurus symbol - for my birth month. It is ME. It means something significant to ME. Coming through the symbol is my favorite flower- cheesey, perhaps, but it is a flower. A tulip. I've even got Keifer trained - she lets people know the tulip is mama's FAVORITE flower.
In 1999, the tattoo artist did a horrible job. I always knew I wanted to fix it, but would wait until post-birth to do that. So I did it, last week. I found a wonderful tattoo artist who is amazing (by word of mouth). He fixed my back tattoo and I am in awe of it.I love it.

As for my girls, I knew I wanted something to symbolize my heart on my sleeve. My love. My girls, my LIFE, literally.

So, yesterday.....I did it. I got my girls tattooed on my arm/wrist FOREVER. Forever. I cannot stop looking at the tattoo.I adore it. I love it. I am so in awe of it. It is 2 K's next to each other, to symbolize my 2 K girls. However, once you look at it, you can clearly see the differences in the swoops and swirls of the K's. Same,but different. Just like my girls: same (sisters, family, K names) but oh so different. No, it didn't hurt as badly as you might think. Not as badly as my back, which is surprising, as I had more fat pad on my back! It went so very quickly.
And as for being prominently displayed, well, the spot is perfect for cover up with jewelry if I want, or for a long sleeve to be pulled over it. However, due to my work, I RARELY wear jewelry and to me, this IS art and decoration. At first glance, it's a design. So I'm not shameful of it. I'm proud.
Also it appears bigger than it really is in the picture. It is inside my wrist, and it's pretty small - the picture makes it appear bigger.

Sager sniffing it, wondering where SHE fits into these K's. Soon enough, Sager...mama has plans for her fur kids in a little while.....hee hee......

My old Taurus symbol with a broomstick (I MEAN) tulip coming through it.
And the new tattoo, fixed up to a color that isn't hideous and the flower fixed into a flower that resembles: a Tulip!

My kudos to Tommy at 5.5.5 Studios in Minneapolis. The dude is talented, quick, and amazing. And a super cool guy to boot!