My friend is a punk..

My dear friend, is a total punk! (Love ya, really..)
But she pulled an awesome April Fool's joke yesterday, and quite frankly, I am still recovering...
Apparently, she has pulled-off another doosy..
I might just have to start a support group...
I will be mulling over a retaliation for next year...

100%

Before Merrill and I got married, almost 9 years ago, my mom and dad gave us some awesome advice..
"You hear of 50/50 marriages.. make your a 100/100 marriage. That way, you both give all you can all the time, and when someone just can't quite make up their part, the other partner is still giving their 100, and you can make it."
See, awesome advice.
This has worked for us. When he's sick, I can fill in. When I am sick, or crazy busy, like I get a lot, he is there, doing what needs to be done.
This week is a 100% week for us..
The hotel is set to open next week. It's crazy busy, for both of us.
I have been down there every day this week. Either helping him with shipping (because he is still Warehouse manager..) or at the hotel.. me and my "cronies" (as Merrill calls us..) can make a king bed, to Best Western standards (mattress pad, fitted sheet, flat sheet with hospital corners, duvet, duvet cover, runner and four pillows; all placed per Best Western standards) in three minutes flat.. we are pretty awesome!
I do have awesome cronies.. ahem.. I mean friends :) We do have too much fun...Thanks, "sistas".. ;D
In all of this craziness, I don't mind it at all. I enjoy helping my husband.. increasing the love, teaching our kids what's important.
I have also learned that when you eat crap for three days, you feel like crap. McDonald's 3 days in a row.. bleh!!! How did that "Super Size Me" guy do it as long as he did?!
We all need foot soaks at the end of the day.. very long days..Caught Ashley checking herself out the other night...

Want a little laugh?

Meet my new alter ego...
"Master Pitcher"... dang sexy, I know..
I am the Cubmaster!!! (Think of that in a similar voice to what Skeletor would have said in He-Man...)
The shirt tie? I know.. it is an extra large, in all fairness to me.. I am contemplating getting a Scout belt, earning some belt loops to adorn it, and wearing it as a shirt dress with some olive drab leggings... what do you think? ;)
This is the closest that our household will come to scouting of any type.. says Merrill :)
Really, I think I am okay with it.. I know that we would really be missing out having our son (to be or not to be..) in our Boy Scout Troop.. we do have the most awesome, most experienced, organized, funnest, he's right in there with the boys, working on achievements (and he's pretty handsome too ;) Christie, you agree? Right?!) Scoutmaster of ALL TIME in our ward.. so I can't compete with that.. nor can I compete with the Cubmaster two masters ago.. she was dang awesome too..
I don't know about how sexy she was in her "master shirt" though...
(All photo credit goes to Julie.. anything flattering/un-flattering, is to her credit, or disdain.. ah, love you Julie!!)

THIS is why...

THIS is why I blogged about last night's dinner and Skyler..
Christie made me this shirt for my Birthday.. it turned the whole night into a Bloggin' joke.. and no, I will not be blogging about my chest :) That would be comical though...
And this...
Must be why...
My basement (well, one room really..) is flooded...
and stinks!! Who wants to work out with that stench?!
Anyone up for ice skating when it freezes out there? :)

It's all about you Skyler...

So one might just ask, "Why are you up at 1:30 in the morning, BLOGGING?!" So Skyler will see.. you see, Skyler was our most awesome waiter tonight (okay.. yesterday) at the ol' OG (Olive Garden).. He was a good sport, putting up with our shenanigans. I highly recommend him :) Thanks Skyler!! See, you can just see how awesome and fun he was in this here pic..
They sang "Happy Birthday" to me.. with a cute pink candle in my Black Tie Mousse Cake.. yummm...
And here we are.. those of us who didn't have to work.. missed you Jen!
I'll have to model the way cute shirt Christie made for me.. tomorrow, perhaps?
Thanks girls for a fun night out.. love you guys! Really, who eats at Olive Garden at 9 pm?!.. Julie.. ;)

and the new calling is.....

any bets?.. anyone?..
well, my deductive reasoning led me to believe that i was to be either a- a den leader or b- cubmaster...
the answer is b...
hello yellow scout leader shirt!
i am excited... i get to work hand-in-hand with the best auxiliary in the whole church... primary ;)... and with my best buddy christie as committee chair... more "meetings" with julie.. ahem... president dickamore.. how could it get any funner or better?

Random ramblings of randomness...

So I was in the shower today, the best place to think;)... and I got a lot of thinking done...
Of course it is all about blogging and what I should really record before it gets forgotten.
Merrill took his first shower since the whole cyst thing happened. He's been taking baths, which he says are disgusting because you are just sitting in a soup of your own filth, so pretty much pointless. He was so relieved to be washing his own hair and to shave his face. I miss the scruff already :(. I suggested a good make-out session to say goodbye to it, he was ready to have it gone.
So work on the deck, otherwise known as "that big hole off the back of my house", has somewhat resumed. I should re-gain my home instead of having "the New Yankee Workshop" in my living room and eating area. Nothing like dining with a chop saw...
We are getting prepared for kindergarten! We have been buying some cute tops (and ribbon to make the matching bows, thanks to Christie...) when we are out. I would have her school supplies all purchased if I could just remember to bring along her supply list! I swear, I've been out to Riverdale at least every other day for the past week and a half. Don't get me started on how much gas I've burned through.
We also briefly talked about moving, down the street but a different ward. LOVED the home... not so much the idea of a new ward, or the minimal yard (we want bigger for the girls), but mostly didn't love the higher monthlies. They wouldn't be awful, or impossible, but we don't want to go give up our comfort level, being able to do extra stuff. Plus, who knows how soon, but we will eventually have to get a new vehicle... can you say monthly payment? We haven't had one of those for years! But I still day dream about that house...
Ash will hopefully be going to pre-school for a couple of days out of the week. All the anxiety I felt about them growing up and being away form me, gone... Somehow, being home with them during the summer time has helped to lessen my feelings of wanting them to be near me ALL THE TIME... really near each other for any prolonged period of time. How is that drive to Bullfrog going to go?
The girls asked Mer to tell them a bedtime story last night. It was all about his cyst and the history of the cyst... they wanted to know about it, and asked that it be the topic of their bedtime story. They were quite intrigued. I had not a child wake me with nightmares of a cyst, or the ooze contained within, so I guess it was a winner of a bedtime story!
We stayed up kind of late talking. Those are always good times... we decided that Ashley is our Joe. We decided this after hearing her totally rip one in her sleep, and then laugh about it, in her sleep. She has also started this new thing of torturing Lynn. When they are in their room changing, she'll pull down her panties just enough that her butt crack is peeking out the top. She then turns it to Lynn and says, "Touch my butt Lynn!" And Lynn freaks out. So then it is funny to her, and Ash chases her around, running backwards with her butt pointing out, mind you, chanting, "Touch my butt! Touch my butt!" Great fun. She is our Joe. Such a teaser...
My scriptures were missing. In all of my house cleaning, which hasn't been done to my satisfaction the past couple of weeks, I found them. They were right in front of my face, but I guess it was that thing where you hypnotize yourself because you see it there so often, it's like it's not there...
I bought a new toy... a Swiffer Vac. I HATE trying to sweep my floors. I HATE EVEN MORE trying to vacuum them with my piece of crap vacuum and the attachment, being hunched-over like I am Quasimoto. It's also great fun to have the vacuum tip over on me from behind and either scratch up my ankle, or scare me to death with it whapping my behind. So, basically, I love my new little Swiffer Vac.
We also had FHE with Mer's family Monday. We all went to Lagoon and had a blast. Kaitlyn, MiKell, and I all rode the Sky Coaster. I'll post pics of that later.. it was SOOOO FUN! I wish Mer wouldn't be such a sissy and do it with me. He got panicky on top of the Rocket... I asked him last night if he was going to attempt wake boarding this year at Powell, he said he doesnt think his body can take it. I kind of amen-ed that one. I want to try so bad, but I worry about getting hurt and being out of commission. He said, "Yeah, I was scared that you were going to get messed up on the Sky Coaster and then I'd be solo." Glad he didn't give me that negativity when I was about to take the plunge!
Peyton is doing the cute eyes-squinted-gummy smile. I love it!
I am looking forward to having and enrichment night tonight and being nourished by the good word of Christie. She's awesome!
Now how was all that for random?

My finger is numb...

I don't know if it's because of all the pins I pushed today, or because of my carelessness with hot tools, but my finger is numb.
How I wish I had a camera with a charged battery!!! We had a "Presidency Meeting", which came about because some of us had "needs", you know, the stuff you need your girlfriends for. There was some discussion about primary though... we got some cute hair stuff made. Christie "The Hair Accessory Making Genius" Jefferies, showed us the best little headband that enables me to TRIPLE the use of my bows and hair clips... it's awesome. So I spent a major part of my day making all sorts of bows that I can get more use out of. I also had to make another holder for the back of my bathroom door... pictures to come soon, I promise! So, have you ever had a "disconnect" with your hubby? Some point in time where you need to get back on the same track? Mer and I had one of those. It's been piling up, it doesn't help that the business is so busy this time of the year, and all free time is with the whole fam., not just the two of us.. so we had a breaking point that occurred on our camping trip, in front of my WHOLE FAMILY... I am still a little embarrassed that I lost it so... but we are better! Well, at least working at it! Things are good.
I've been getting "love notes" left on my desktop:Peyton has a new "fun thing" she likes to do now, you know, to get our attention, maybe she's bored (I totally know she doesn't do this on purpose... don't leave me comments like I am dumb...) She rolls around in her crib and gets all crazy flailing about until one of her appendages gets stuck in her crib slats. And then she cries or at least yells at us. This makes ANY NOCTURNAL ACTIVITIES (i.e. anything you would do while other children are sleeping) impossible! (I did say we are reconnecting ;)...) You think you have her asleep and all comfy, just a while later, give her ten or more, she's awake and very stuck!
Needless to say, we were tired this morning.

My "word" for the year is...

4 pages, 2 layouts... all for Peyton's book. Teaching my kids about where they came from is very important to me, those are great people and great stories that they need to know. These pages are about my parents and Merrill's parents. I love to have the baby pics with them, they are so much more interesting than their boring adult pics... just kidding.

Jaclyn posted her word for the year, which got me thinking, and helped to keep me awake last night, well, along with the discomfort of my growing belly... I finally came up with it...

EMBRACE

I will embrace my family, friends, and experiences that happen with them. I will not continue to dwell on what comes next, I will enjoy what is happening now, I will embrace it.

I started to think of how I want to be better this year. I started to think of the naggy wife I was as the year began... I kept nagging Merrill as to when we would "try" for this one, and I have continued to nag him about the "next one". Mom tells me to leave him alone, I am pregnant after all. But I feel like I need to "seal the deal", so this won't be it. I could happily go on to have a dozen or more children, it's Merrill's poor gray hairs that can't, or his wallet for that matter. But I now realize how many things I truly wasn't enjoying or in the moment for, looking ahead to the next event to happen. I wish that I would have enjoyed the girls at their individual stages more, not dwelling on when I could bear their next sibling.

So I will embrace every moment that Peyton has as an infant, not trying to rush it along so I can look forward to the "next one". I will embrace what I have now, two healthy, yet emotional little girls, and the awesome relationship (although there is some slight nagging...) that I have with Merrill.

This all stems from another great lesson I learned from Christie, who also brought me a yummy treat today :)... Thanks buddy!

Journaling: "This year, President Hinckley issued a challenge to all members worldwide to read or re-read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year. We took to it, and this picture illustrates how you embraced it too! It was so sweet to check on you and to find you sleeping with your Book of Mormon. -Oct. '05

I must admit... I could have lied... I could have easily posted a layout that I haven't put in a album yet, that is stored in my drawer, where nobody has seen it but me, and passed it off as a new one completed today. But, I thought about what happens to liars... I really don't want a sty in my eye, right before Christmas, among other, much worse consequences for lying...

Had a fun day today, making (but mostly talking, but mostly making...) a memory block with Christie while our kids played together. A fun day!

Forgive me when my post is mostly about Lynn tonight though...

While we were busy creating, Lynn came in and wanted to as well. I told her to get out her supplies and join in. As I realized she had been quiet for far too long, not showing me her latest creation like she normally does, I looked down at her to find her CUTTING-UP ASHLEY DRESS-UP. I very calmly asked her why she was doing that, and she told me, "because I thought I would be a witch." Her scissors are gone now for an undetermined amount of time...

She has issues again with BM's (refer to a previous post for more info.). So tonight after dinner, another difficult session on the toilet ensued. Merrill said, "Honeybear, I am going to put on some music that will help you." He hooks up his ZEN, and programs the song. It begins, kind of a chant, "Oohhhmmm.... push it all out, push it out.... push it all out, push it out...." Lynn wasn't too happy about his choice.