Mom Tag, by Zoe

So Zoe was tagged and completed the following questions. I think the older they get, the harder it gets because they care more about the correct answer vs. saying what first comes to mind. I also think that we will be having a "Get to Know Your Mother" FHE tonight. :)

1. What is something Mom always says to you? "clean up your room"
2. What makes Mom happy? "when I clean my room"
3. What makes Mom sad? "when I don't clean my room"
4. How does Mom do to make you laugh? "tickles me"
5. What was Mom like as a child? "I don't know" (maybe it's better that way)
6. How old is your mom? "34"
7. How tall is your mom? "I don't know. I don't even know how tall I am!"
8. What is your mommy's favorite thing to do? "get a vacation without the kids" (I think she must mean it would be if I ever had one!)
9. What does your mom do when your not around? "clean"
10. If your mom becomes famous what will it be for? "who knows..."
11. What is your mom really good at? "cleaning" (pah, ha ha)
12. What is your mom not really good at? "nothing"
13. What does your mom do for her job? "works at City Mortgage"
14. What is your mom's favorite food? "Chinese food...Mexican food...I don't know..." (Italian, actually)
15. What makes you proud of your mom? "she's my mom"
16. If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be? "June on Little Einsteins"
17. What do you and your mom do together? "shopping"
18. How are you and your mom the same? "we're both girls, and almost wear the same size shoe" (sad, but true, regarding the shoe size)
19. How are you and your mom different? "we don't have the same color eyes"
20. How do you know your mom loves you? "because she tells me"

Zoe tags Katelyn & Josh.

Mom-of-the-Year

I'm on a roll, so I figure I might as well post one more. Here is a shot from my proud parenting moments...




Yep...that's a burn! See, I was visiting with a friend from high school who lives out of state and came for a visit. We had YEARS of catching up to do, so we let the kids play in the pool in the backyard. It was cloudy at first, but then the sun came out and it heated up. We actually made the comment, "we should probably put some sunscreen on the kids", but like I was actually going to stop my precious minutes with my friend, having adult conversation, to apply it.

Well, this was the end result. Luckily, even though he does not tan like Zoe & Noah, his skin is not as bad as mine. Some aloe and a couple of days and it was long gone. And, as you can see, it didn't seem to hurt him so that relieved a little of my guilt.


Speaking of high school, and totally getting off the subject, I ran into someone from high school the other day. He was of the male gender, but was not someone I dated. He noticed me before I saw him and after getting my attention made this comment: "You look EXACTLY the same."

I have heard this a few times lately and am wondering what that is supposed to mean? Is it meant as a compliment, or is it just that they don't know what else to say? I assume I have the same general features, but EXACTLY? I don't think I had crows feet around my eyes or the leftover 10 lbs. (be nice, I'm rounding down) from my last baby. I am positive that my chest area was 3x larger and faced forward, and did not hang down in shame as it appears to now.

I am just going to take it as a compliment. I think what he meant was, "You still have a sparkle in your eyes, a great smile and I bet you could still fit into your cheerleading outfit." That works for me!


P.S. I was not actually offended, I just think sometimes we make funny comments and it makes me laugh!

Swim, Swam, Swum?

Well you know summer is about over when swimming lessons come to an end. It was Jonah's first experience and he did pretty well. I love swimming lessons because my kids LOVE to go swimming, but I don't have to get in with them! It's a win, win.

she's FINE, she's NINE, and she's ALL MINE!

I am a little late in my posting, but my little girl turned 9 this month. It is so crazy! I can't imagine my life without her. She turned my life around and I am so glad she did. It is fun to look back and remember life with one. I remember days when I would literally do nothing but hold her on my chest all day. I remember thinking, "What could possibly be a better way to spend my time?" It would have been great to have that opportunity with my other kids.

Zoe at 4 months!

Zoe has always been a "mama's girl". She adores Chris, but I am the one she always wants to be with. She is not just my daughter, but my little friend. She still requires "cuddles" pretty much every night. I love how much she loves me!

We did a big friend party last year, so we kept things simple this year. It was on a Sunday and we let her open one present in the morning (it was a new outfit for church). That night we had a family party. My sister had just had her baby, so they were not there, but Chris' family and Nana came to celebrate. We had a spaghetti dinner, as per her request, and chocolate cake that she helped decorate like a flower.

She received shoes, clothes, new backpack and lunchbox, sunglasses, snugly blanket made by Grandma, Rollerblades, etc. With her birthday money she bought a cell phone cover and charm. She was really hoping for ear piercing, but I have yet to give in on that one. Her ears are just too perfect for me to poke holes in (so I keep telling her).

Overall it was a great day, but I am still in shock that my little girl is 9!

Happy birthday Ladybug! I love you more than anything!

A Lasting Impression

Originally the plan was to take Zoe and a couple of friends to Cherry Hill for her birthday. Unfortunately, we had some conflicts with scheduling. I am actually glad though because we ended up doing something much more memorable.


Nordstrom is building a new store at Fashion Place Mall. If you have ever been to their current store, you may have seen the hand painted tiles in the children's department floor. Well, they are going to do the same thing in the new store so I bought Zoe a tile.



It was a really fun event! It was the day before her birthday so it worked out perfectly. We were lucky that Zoe's best friend, Sadie, got home from a trip just in time to come too (along with her mom and sister, Mary Jane). It was held at The Children's Center (all proceeds were donated to them). When we arrived the girls were given aprons with the same ladybug as above printed on it. This could not have been more perfect for Zoe. Her nickname is ladybug so she LOVES anything with ladybugs!


After everyone had aprons on, we went to the painting room. Nordstrom flew in an artist, Charlie, from Seattle. He gave them their instructions and the painting began. They were actually able to paint two tiles; one will be in the new floor, one they store as a back-up. The theme was bugs so Zoe painted a butterfly on one, and a ladybug on the other.

When painting was complete they went into another room. After the girls picked their favorites, they took their picture with their tiles and put them in little frames. They also received a little goodies box filled with bug tattoos, pencils, water bottle, plastic bugs, etc. We headed back to the lobby where they had lots of yummy catering, face painting, balloon animals and a magic show. They knew it was Zoe's birthday so she was the first one they picked to help.

I can't believe how much they put into these things. The group from Nordstrom travels around the country planning and hosting these events for all their stores. What a fun job! At any rate, you can see Zoe's tile come March 2009 when the new store is complete.

New Arrival!

My sister, Deb, had her baby on July 30, 2008. She was planning to do a "regular" delivery (her last was cesarean), but this little girl just would not come. After hours in the hospital they decided that another c-section would be best. Once she arrived, everyone realized she just simply could not fit the other way.

Dahri L. (dar-ee)

10 lbs. 2 oz.

23 in.

Eric, Dahri & Daelee

She is super cute and already has little chubs! Everyone in the operating room (which I guess there were quite a few people in there) were going crazy about her size and how she already had little rolls. I am happy to report that both mom and baby are home and doing well. Congrats!

P.S. Zoe has given both Chris and I the talk that we need to get moving on the next one. We'll see....

Ryan (Eric's brother), Julie, Dahri & Logan

Fish, Fish and More Fish!

It has become a family tradition to go with my family to Fish Lake every summer. It is something I look forward to all year long. If it wasn't for not having a bathroom nearby in the middle of the night for my many trips, I could have stayed another week.

This year it was our family, Dad & Carma, Cole (came with Grandma and Grandpa), Denny and his kids, Sandy, and Brad and his family came up later in the week. It, unfortunately, is usually the only time I am able to see my brother and his family who live in Arizona. This year his wife, Nicole, was unable to come because of a new job. We missed her, but it was sure great to be able to spend some time with Denny, Jon Ross and Stacy. Hopefully we'll have even a better turnout next year!

As you can see from the pictures, we fished, fished, then fished some more. We rented a pontoon boat for three of the days for trolling. I had caught the biggest fish (two actually) and I was rubbing it in BIG TIME. But, of course, Chris could not stand it. We had to keep fishing until he caught one just bigger than mine. I conceded, just to spare the others the torture.

Stacy brought her swimsuit, which I had never considered because the water is really cold. We let her get in one day, thinking the cold would scare her off, but not so. In fact, the next day not only did she get in, but so did Jon, Zoe and Jonah. Jonah could not wait to get in the water. He was shivering so bad, but he wanted to keep jumping in. So funny.

We went to a small lake one of the days where my brother caught a beautiful Brown Trout (still smaller than mine). The end of the week we went to Upper Box Creek which was a dirt road drive of over an hour. It was beautiful, but our stay was short due to rain. However, it did provide me a shot of the one and only time my dad picked up a fishing pole.

On Friday night we had our fish fry, complete with hunter spuds and scones. It was funny because no one in my family likes fish. Why a fish fry? I thought he wanted it, he thought I wanted it and so on. But, Chris saved the day. He cooked the fish in a way that it did not taste like fish, so most of us ate it. Roasted Garlic and Herb seasoning by McCormick is the key!

The kids had so much fun together! When we weren't fishing, they were playing baseball, paining nails, playing games, collecting rocks, playing DS, and so on. Time is short and these opportunities to be together are priceless!

Unfortunately, at the end of our trip Grandma Carma got very ill and had to be rushed to the hospital. I am happy to report that she is home and doing much better. We hope she'll be back to 100% soon.

As you're watching what may seem to be the longest slide show you have ever seen, keep in mind that it took me a considerable amount of time to narrow down the pictures to the slide limit. What can I say...I just LOVE MY FAMILY!!