Sassy red heels

Dear Sassy,

I cannot tell you how many times I have been out looking for the perfect pair of red heels and have come up short. Too strappy, too low, too high, too orangey, too shiny, too pointy etc. I had a vision of what I wanted yet heart broken and frustrated I settled. Oh so many times did I settle. My closet is a pink and red graveyard of second rate heels. But then I found you! Thank you for making me feel like a million bucks. When I slip you on I feel prettier. I praise Steve Madden for creating such a perfect shoe. Red satin heels, not trashy high, with a little peek of toe. What a perfect blend of beauty you are. You make my legs look amazing and spruce up anything I wear you with. Hail to accessories! Bringing life to my simple wardrobe is what you do best. I love it!

Your Faithful Wearer

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Tired but not sleepy

Here I sit Sunday night tired from the day but with a buzzing brain. My thoughts are a jumble of bouncy balls pinging about in my head. I have alot going on and I try to supress it so I can enjoy life day to day.

I am a future thinker. I always try to think about my future and plan out what to do and which path to take. I weigh my options. Look at past experiences. Try to make the best choices and eleminate major changes in my life. Slightly nurotic? Yes. Do I recognize this control freak in me as a problem.... yes.

It is crippling to my spiritual connection and eternal perspective. Jesse has been trying to apply for a new fire department and I have been limiting him to San Diego County. If any of you haven't noticed there aren't too many jobs around here. My life is good here. I love my home and being close to my family. I love my jobs and my business is growing. I am finally establishing some connections for my photography. I was so afraid of moving away from family and going through "Colorado" all over again. I got physically sick when Jesse applied out of state and almost got the position. In an attempt to avoid that I put up my front. Jesse was getting really frustrated with me. One night when I was praying and trying to connect I felt this urge to ask Jesse for a priesthood blessing. I could feel the holy ghost trying to communicate to me but it felt like someone talking to me underwater. I didn't know what was being said. All I knew for sure was that the Lord had something to tell me.

After finishing my garbled prayer I asked Jesse for a blessing. When he asked for what all I could say was I felt like I was not getting what the Lord was trying to say to me about something. Real specific right??

As he began his blessing, clarity rippled through my mind. He told me to not be afraid. To trust that the Lord has a plan and home is where your family is. As in my husband and my sons. Jesse told me exactly what was being said "under water." The spirit confirmed what he told me as I cried with relief and cowardice. I should have been stronger, but it is better to acknowledge a fear openly so you can work through it.

So now, here I am. Living day to day and enjoying the here and now. I have finally opened my arms and said "Here Lord. You take it. I'll go where you want me to go." Now if I could just get rid of those bouncy balls.

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Rainy day

I know that I have not blogged in FOREVA but I had a good excuse. I'll write about that another time or I may not tell you at all.....anyway.

We have had plenty of rainy days lately and if any of you have kids you know it's hard to keep them inside for too long. One day on the way home from running errands Frank says

"I want to make a boat."

Random. Jesse and I just smiled and nodded.

"Ok, buddy." we said, thinking nothing more of it. When we got into the house Frank said it again... and again. I finally figured out what he was talking about. Last year when it rained our patio flooded. So I pulled out some paper plates, cut sails out of computer paper, made a mast out of a pen and stuck it to the plate with playdoh. We then sailed our ships on the lake of our back patio. Frank remembered that from last year!

Jesse, being the how-to king that he is, got on line and found out how to fold a paper boat. Remember those? We made on for each of the boys. They colored them with crayons and then we went hunting for running water. We walked for a while but finally found a good stretch of gutter. The boats had about 3 good trips in them before they collapsed and turned mushy. So we came back and Jesse made two more fortified with crayon coating and a spray painted bottom for good measure. I don't think those lasted much longer but we had a blast:) Yay rainy days. Thanks for making us get creative.

ps- blogger I hate you for bleaching out my pics. Why are you muting my colors? We are not friends.

Getting ready

first run

Frank was loving this

Ollie needed some help once the boat turned soggy

U.S.S SOGGY

Round two: Fortified boat

Happy Holidays everyone!

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Drive Thrus were made for moms

I don't care what people say about America becoming lazy, fat and complacent. Drive Thrus were created for moms and here is why.

example #1: I have two hungry kids in the car. They are so grumpy they are crying and fighting and I don't have anymore snacks in my bag. All I need is a small snack to get us all home in one piece. I most certainly don't want to haul them inside somewhere to eat and pay out way to much money for food the kids won't eat. Mc Donald's drive thru to the rescue! I order snack parfaits, pay out four bucks and have happy kids. Sweet!

Example #2: I need cash from the bank and all of the parking spots by the walk up ATM's are full. It will take double the time to get the kids out of the car, keep them wrangled in the bank, listen to them ask for a sucker a million times, and deal with a teller who thinks they are so cute they need two. NO, they don't thanks. Bank drive thru to the rescue! I can keep my kids strapped in their seats, push some buttons, get the cash I need AND I don't have to deal with the sucker issue. Thanks Wells Fargo for driving me out of your branch with sugar.

Example #3: I am sick as a dog but the only one who can pick up my medicine. I can now sit in my car so I don't put other people at risk of my cooties and get my meds. Thank you Walgreens and CVS.

I LOVE drive thrus! I think I'll drop off some dry cleaning just so I can drive thru to pick it up. Since America is all about saving time and money I would like to suggest a few more places that could use a drive thru.

Grocery Stores: Since we have express lanes lets take it up a notch! You order 10 items or less, a runner grabs your items (they have impeccable knowledge of the store) bags your items and you drive up to a window to pick up your groceries and pay. Women you can even phone in the order for the men to pick up so he doesn't get it wrong.

Blockbuster: I hate going through your aisles and aisles of movies not finding the one I want. Create a drive thru window. I give you the title and you grab the movie I want. Then I don't have to wait in line surrounded by candy and previously viewed flicks.

I am on a roll and could go all night but I won't. What else should have a drive thru?

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Creativity comes in many forms...

Most of us out there love to be creative. I love to sew, take pictures, and scrapbook. I love to play the piano, draw, paint.... ANYTHING. If I can make something out of nothing I feel so accomplished. Some of us are better at it than others. My cousin Allie is quite crafty and has put her skills to work for her. She has set up an Esty shop: Cut.Sew.Repeat. She has an amazing aray of products just in time for the holidays. My personal favorite is the little chef hat and apron set and the double sided super hero cape. Click and enjoy looking at all the cute stuff you want to get for your kids!

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Halloween

Better late than never right? Well this is what we were for Halloween. Monsters! If you can't tell or haven't seen the movie: Dad: Derek (trying to make a Link costume was beyond me.) Mom: Ginormica, I even sprayed my hair white. It didn't work as well as I had hoped. If I use the costume again I'm getting a platinum wig. Frank: BOB, all night he kept saying "BOB Blob, BOB Blob!" Ollie: Dr. Cockaroach (that is how he said it)

Every house we went to Ollie said "Sticker Treat" and then insist on carrying whatever the people gave him. It was really hard for me to convince him to put his candy IN THE BAG and save it for later. Here he is already chowing down. This was after house #2.
I love Frankie's BOB costume! It turned out so awesome. I did it all by imagination. It's all about trying to make the kids happy. If they love their costume they love the night even more. Frank was really into trick or treating this year. Near the end we asked him if he wanted to go to more houses and he said he couldn't because his bag was too heavy. That was our cue. We were done. The next morning the boys asked if they could go trick or treating again that night. Ha! Thank you Frankie for picking our theme this year. I hope next year is just as fun!

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Tragic Week....

I know I haven't blogged in a while and that is because I couldn't share much of myself when I was feeling so low. I was sick with the flu and a sinus infection over last weekend and by Monday the 24th of October I was beginning to recover. That is when my tragic week began.

Jesse took Frank to school that morning and then took Ollie and Willis to a local park in Santee. There are alot of trails at the park around a pond and Willis just canNOT resist swimming after ducks. For those of you who don't know Willis is a stellar swimmer even though his body type would not suggest so. Being a corgi mix he has extremely short legs but can swim better than a Labrador retriever.

So, Jesse let him off the leash for a morning dip and chase. He swam out, came in, swam out, came in. The last time he came in Jesse lost sight of him as he came swimming through the reeds. When Willis didn't appear right away Jesse called him. He heard him struggling and went in after him. Willis' stubby legs were getting wound up in the water weeds and the more he struggled the worst it got. He went under and sadly Jesse did not reach him in time. I will not rehash every detail. Even now my heart aches for my poor little dog. He must have been so scared! Long story short, Jesse found his body and we were able to take him home to bury him.

I explained to Ollie that Willis was with Heavenly Father and Jesus now. Being the darling 2 year old he is he said "Heavenly Father and Jesus are so lucky! Mom, Heavenly Father and Jesus make me happy!" Did I mention I could not stop crying?

Frankie took Willis' death much harder. He cried and cried. I told him the same thing I told Ollie but that held little comfort. As I was sitting there holding my son I tried to think of something else to say. This is the first time he has had to deal with death. I reminded him that Papa Frank was in heaven and that he would take care of Willis so he wouldn't be lonely. I told him that we were going to bury Willis' body so that it would be safe. Saying that put his young mind at ease and he actually helped bury Willis. All last week I got questions like

"Why did Willis have to die?"

"Mom, will you cover me with dirt when I die?"

"Did Papa Frank find Willis?"

"When is Willis coming back?"

"Can we get a new black dog?"

The presence of a four legged friend has been constant in our home for so long I missed it right away. I was so lonely when the kids went to bed and Jesse was at work. I told Jesse that we had to find another dog. So we started to look. Do you know how many dogs out there that need a home?? About A MILLION! I got a headache looking at them all!

There were a few that I saw that I liked. We sent out so many emails trying to find one that was still available and not $250+.

Halloween night, Jesse and I dragged ourselves into bed with achy feet. "I found a couple dogs I want to show you." He said. The first one he clicked on was this cute little puppy with spots all over her legs and face.

"I want that dog. I would call her Pepper." I said. So, we sent an email hoping! I got a call Monday morning telling me that she was still available. I was ecstatic! We made the arrangements and got her home. As I sit here writing, little Pepper is lying next to me twitching in doggie dream. She is sweet and rambunctious and very much a puppy. Maybe only three months old. The boys love her to death and are so glad to have a "new black dog.'' Pepper has been a balm of healing for our whole family. We are so grateful we found her.

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