Cassie got PROMOTED!!

Cassie was promoted from a white belt in Karate to a Yellow belt....and we are SO proud of her! Last night was the promotion ceremony....and I didn't know what to expect - but it was SO cool! All of the kids from around the valley were there....and they were each presented and then promoted. Cassie did GREAT...but she was bugged because her "Sifu" said that one thing about Cassie was she always has BEAUTIFUL hair...well Cassie has told me that she does NOT want to be known for just her hair (how funny is that). Anyway....it was an awesome experience - for both of us. I as her Mom am just THRILLED that we have found something that is SO good for her, that she enjoys SO much....and that she is getting really good at!! ( Sorry about the order of the pictures....they are all jumbled up but you get the gist) PRESENT YOURSELF CASS!!! KEYAH!!!

Blessed.......NOT Lucky!!!

I have a GREAT friend - who came to my Infertility Support Group (that I started while living in Mesa). She has been waiting to adopt a baby for almost 4 years....I just got an email for her today saying that she has been CHOSEN!! She found an amazing birth angel - who is expecting a boy in July. They are so excited they can hardly breathe!! She is a teacher, and they are just amazing people! Miracles do happen - maybe not when we want - and DEFINITELY not when we expect them to come, but they DO come!!

Introducing "THE MOM BOX"

I have been trying to figure out how much to require of Cassie. You know...there is such a FINE LINE in doing too much for our kids - and having our kids do to much. She already does the dishes....clears, empties the dishwasher, or loads the dishwasher - some nights she does all 3. Lately, I have noticed that I spend a good chunk of my morning cleaning up after her. It is AMAZING to me how much stuff ONE child can leave around the house. So - I came up with the "Mom Box". What is the "Mom Box" you ask? The Mom box is MY way of teaching Cassie the importance of CLEANING UP AFTER HERSELF! How it works....I have a small box - EVERYTHING Cassie leaves around the house goes into the "Mom Box". If she wants her stuff back - she has to pay me .10 for each item. If the box gets all the way full - she can either pay me $5 to get her stuff back - OR - it becomes MINE and I get to do whatever I want to with it....which means DI here I COME!! When the "Mom Box" was introduced....well it went over about as well as a pregnant pole-vaulter - but now that we have been doing it for a while.....let me just tell you - she does a quick pick up before she goes to bed - AND in case she missed anything she does one before she leaves for school (Mom Box time begins when I get back from taking her to school). I don't have to say ANYTHING to her....I just go over and tap the box - MESSAGE RECEIVED! It's so funny how small things can motivate kids! I am sure this would not work for everyone - especially if your kids don't care about money....but chances are VERY good that there is SOMETHING they care a lot about that would motivate them to not loose to the "Mom Box". VICTORY for the MAMAS!!!

Love My Valentine!

So - My Valentine this year was SO darn cute!!! He surprised me - he got tickets to Hale Center Theatre - here in Gilbert! It was WONDERFUL....I tended for Holli on Friday and she tended for me on Saturday. Joel and I went to dinner - Carrabas - my FAVORITE.....then we went to the mall and wandered (we went to an early dinner so we didn't have to wait - perfect timing). We got to the theater and it was wonderful! It's a BEAUTIFUL little theater - those of you who have been to Hale in Orem, the set-up is the same, but the theater is new and beautiful. Joel went weeks early and hand picked the seats for us.....TONS of leg room - perfect seats with a perfect view....TOTALLY comfortable. The play we saw was "Lend Me A Tenor"....HILARIOUS!! We BOTH really enjoyed it! The cast was just 8 people and they were all amazing!! Joel really went out of his way to pick this date just for me - and I LOVED it - and I LOVE him!!

Upper GI - YUCKY GROSS!!!

So I spent this morning at the hospital - had to have a couple of tests. Has anyone had a upper G.I.? If the answer is "yes" - I am SOOOOO SORRY - if the answer is "no" NEVER NEVER NEVER have this test...unless you ABSOLUTELY have to!! SO NASTY!! This is how it starts.......Strip from the waist up.....lovely enough.....THEN - you drink a little sacrament sized cup of rocks - FIZZY rocks......MEGA fizzy rocks - with about half a sacrament sized cup of water...to wash it down - and get it REALLY fizzing. THEN......you get the hot chocolate sized cup of "thick barium" - this stuff looks like chalk, tasts like chalk and is the consistency of mud. They say take a big gulp - OK......Gulp.....Gag.....gag......gag.....gag...."take another big gulp...."gag...gag....gag.....gag.....gag...."now drink the whole thing".....Me - "ARE YOU KIDDING ME"....them - NO....you need to drink the whole thing.....GAG/...GAG.....GAG......GAG....done. (during all this they are having me hold my breath and turn various directions while they x-ray my guts). They lay the table down....have me roll around like a log -3 times - which is NOT an easy thing to do when you are on a table that is about a foot wide - and you have all the x-ray stuff above you!! So - after you roll - they say - lay on your stomach....you do - and then JOY of JOYS...here comes the "thin barium". Another hot chocolate sized cup - FULL.....of the same stuff as before - but now it's the texture of.......thin mud. This one they say GULP........so you start gulping.......GAG....Gag....>Gag......Gag......Gag...... and you KNOW it's bad when the male nurse keeps asking if you are OK.......During this loveliness they say.......Hold your breath and don't move....gulp more - hold your breath don't move.....gulp some more. Last but not least - roll over onto your back....(thank HEAVENS the drinking crap is over). Now -I kid you not....this is what they say...."bear down like you are going to have a bowel movement.....BUT DON'T"..... Which makes me laugh - as IF I am going to have a BM on the table!!! So - you do what they say and FINALLY it's over!! YOU ARE DONE........when you go to change your clothes - you look in the mirror and see that your entire MOUTH is white - covered in dried up barium - both thick and thin........your teeth are coated and GRITTY......and your throat is burning from the fizzy crap - and FINALLY......relief - BUUUUUURRRRRRRPPPPPPPPP! After the upper GI the EKG was a BREEZE!!! Hopefully everything is OK - and I will NEVER NEVER NEVER have to do that again - EVER!!!!!

Trash To Treasure

THE SONG IS MEANT AS A JOKE.....Here is another one of my favorite finds! This GORGEOUS dresser was found at a garage sale for just $10!! Now - again I didn't take pictures BEFORE I started on it.....but Holli can once again back me up - it had about 10 layers of paint.......so I stripped the paint and the varnish - replaced the handles - re-stained the wood....I had originally wanted to leave the top stained like the rest of the dresser, but the wood on top was just too damaged - I sanded and sanded, but couldn't get the damage to lift - one side looks like it had been burned. ANYWAY - I decided that since the nobs were black, that the top would look really good black - IT DOES! This dresser was supposed to be for the guest room - but I saw on a design show them use a dresser as a sofa table - so I thought I would give it a try - LOVE IT. Ten dollars - TONS of elbow grease......and some creativity and VOILA!! LOVE IT.....and I have already started my next project -and I DID remember to take pictures BEFORE I dug in!!

I'm To Sexy......

So the other day I was at JCPenney - and found some GONGA deals!! This outfit Cass has on was $2.97! Can you BELIEVE IT!! Anyway.....I had Cassie go upstairs and try it on. She was taking FOREVER and I kept calling for her to come down. She had worn braids in her hair that day........when she came down - well she was feeling ALL kids of SASSY!!! She had taken her hair out and brushed it....so it was big and fluffy, and she had put on her strappy Sunday shoes. She was feeling so cute she got the camera and posed.....and wanted me to take a million pictures!! I can't describe the look on her face....she KNEW she looked good.....you could tell that she FELT that she looked good.....it was HILARIOUS......sitting there crossing her legs, posing.....I was just thinking.....well honey - as long as you feel good...that is all that matters!! What a little poser!!!