A Child's Prayer........

"Thank you for dinner, thank you for healthy food, thank you for Lincoln, thank you for Lincoln's head, thank you for Lincoln's nose, thanks for Lincoln's eyes, thank you for Lincoln's bum, thanks for Lincoln's pee pee!, wait does he have a pee pee? (hahaha) .............Amen!"

Our Loyal Companion..............

Dear Bosco,

Thanks for being such a lovable and loyal companion. Even though you bark at people you've seen a million times and bite at the air, we love you! You are often left behind to guard the house but when you do get to go for a ride, it is pure excitement as your little tail shakes your entire body. You definitely have a "dog's life"! I appreciate your constant companionship, especially when I almost trip over you and fall and break a leg!

Keep up the good work!

Love,

Your Family

Ghouls, Goblins..........Mater and a Monkey!!

As expected, Circe's Halloween Party was fantastic! Alex went as "Mater" (or as he says, "TOWWW Mater!") and Lincoln was a cute little Monkey! This was Lincoln's first Halloween and he had a blast. He couldn't take his eyes off all of the kids running around on the sugar induced highs!

Alex drank so much of Circe's homemade "Witches Brew" that he was so amped up all he could do was scream as loud as he could the entire way home! That was fun! It was worth all the sugar induced rampages to see how thrilled he was to be "TOWWWW Mater". I don't know how Circe does it but I think that next she should run for "President"!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

HEAVEN HELP ME!!!!

Ok, so here is the infamous picture of the deer head that our "lovely" neighbor hung from his kids swing set last winter and didn't take down until Spring when it started to thaw and smell! The reason that I am bringing this up now is because we are approaching that fun season once again, Hunting Season! So, what's going through my mind now is, "am I going to have another poor deer glaring at me through my laundry room window?" Only this time, I will have to look at it while I am doing laundry. Gross!

I was leaving our house today, which will never be done, and I met one of our new neighbors. She was very nice for a change. It has been so disheartening to keep running into or hearing about neighbors that just don't like us! They don't even know us other than what they've heard from the neighbors to the north, aka The Deer Hunters! Anyways, this neighbor I met today says to me, "I hope that you've made piece with them (looking at the Deer house!)" and I said, "no, they won't even talk to us. I'm not sure what we ever did to them?" She replies, "you built a house? (chuckle)" I am not sure exactly how to take that but I never knew that building a house was a crime! At least she did say the house was beautiful.

Anyways, the neighbors are the least of my worries at this point. I swear every time I go by the house, I want to strangle our builder! What does it take to get things done around here!!!

ps. sorry for the disturbing picture, but you had to have a visual to get the full effect!

Lincoln is 11 months old!!! I can't believe that he is almost a year old. How time flies. He is so much fun. He loves to eat and eat and eat! He is also trying to keep up with his big brother, Alex. He watches everything that Alex does and so I can tell he is going to keep us on our toes. He is almost walking, he stands up all by himself and he is babbling up a storm. He is our "Mr. Smiley Pants Man" as Roland calls him because he is always smiling. Alex has decided that he wants to send him back to the hospital! I am hoping that this is a 4yr old phase, he will be four in November. If anyone can give me any advice on age 4 it'd be much appreciated. I thought that it was only the "terrible two's"? Compared to age 4, the terrible two's seem like a walk in the park. Our sweet little Alex can go from Angel to Devil in about 5 seconds! I have never seen anything like it, it amazes me. Most of the time he doesn't even know why he's freaking out in the first place! Oh and also, he started this whole thing, "I'm gonna make Lincoln disappear, Abra Kadabra......... he's gone!"

I was at Restoration Hardware today, because I go there almost everyday because of our house, but that's another blog! Anyways, they had a book there on Astrological signs and so I started to read a little about "Scorpions", that's what Alex and Lincoln are. It basically said that its easier to just give in than to try and fight them when it comes to something they want and I think that I have to agree! Poor Roland, he doesn't have a chance in a household of two Scorpions and a Taurus! By the way, Roland is a Pisces, so he is obviously the Peacemaker in this household!

Killer New House!.........NOT!

Ok, so they say if you can survive building a house that you can survive anything! I am not so sure about that. I feel like I am going to have a heartattack! Everyday that I go by the house there is something else that has gone wrong. For those of you who know that stories about my next door neighbor, well, they haven't gotten any better. In fact, our landscaper told us that the other day he swatted at one of the workers because his hand was too close to his property. I never thought that moving back to UT that I would end up living next to the neighbor from HELL!!!! Hopefully, he will calm down, but I doubt it. He is just someone who is miserable and needs to make others lives just as bad.

As far as the house goes, hopefully, it should be finished by the end of the month. At least that's what our builder is telling us. I hope to have everyone over as soon as its complete! One good thing, I have my Obama for President sign in my yard!!! First things first!

Politics!

I thought that this picture was a classic! Lincoln is watching CNN so intently, I guess that he is named Lincoln for a reason. Since the current election, I am obsessed with Politics! I am actually taking an interest for the first time and I am enthusiastic about it. I am a total "Obama Mama" all the way! I was so inspired by his speech last week that it made me want to go out and volunteer and I actually signed up! I think that everyone in my family thinks that I am a little nuts but that's OK. I feel proud that I am so involved and I care so much about the outcome. Its funny because when I ask Alex, "who's going to be the next President?", he will say, "Bama!" Maybe I have trained him to say that but he actually sat down and watched Obama speak! Now you no that he must be an amazing speaker if he can get a 3 yr old to sit still for more than 5 minutes.............. I talk to my Mom and tell her how excited I am about Obama and she says that Obama is for me like Kenedy was for her! I am excited that something so great is happening in my lifetime, this is definitely a memorable moment! GO OBAMA!!!!

Good old Arctic Circle!

Today Alex went to the park with his little brother and his cousins, Freestone and Xanthe, and a few other lively boys! He had a great time just being a "boy". After the playground, we went to Arctic Circle, which really took me back to my childhood days with the kiddie cones! Yummy. While at Arctic Circle, Roland and I witnessed utter madness. Since Roland and I aren't around kids that much, we were starting to wonder if Alex was behaving like a normal 3 1/2 yr old or if he was just really "over the top"! But, after today, I can honestly say that he is completely normal. I turned to my husband and said, "this is great therapy". I especially noticed that little boys have a totally different way of interacting with each other, than little girls do. And his little brother, Lincoln, who is 9 1/2 months, had this look on his face like he was watching a three ring circus! I guess that this is something that I will have to get used to, being an only child and of the female gender. Thank Heaven for little boys and there wild imaginations!

TAG

Circe tagged me........

JOY

My family! My two beautiful sons and my loving husband bring me joy each day. Just the funny things that come out of Alex's mouth, "take it easy TEX!" is just one of them! And to watch Lincoln learning to crawl and explore a whole new world! Who knew the fireplace screen could be so interesting! Oh and another thing that brings me joy, SHOPPING!!!

FEAR

CANCER!!! But I am conquering that, so I guess I'll have to get a new fear....

SURPRISING FACT

Don't really have one. I'm pretty much an open book.

OBSESSION

Currently, I would have to say Barack Obama! I think he is the best! I'm totally OBAMAFIED!!!

INTERESTING FACT ABOUT CIRCE

She is an amazing Mother and one of the most creative people I know! She also wanted my Mom to name me "Saturn" when I was born! See how creative she is!

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!

This is a picture from Hurricane Wilma back in 2005! This was a boat storage that was just up the street from our house, which collapsed with our boat in it! It was pretty scary! I never wanted to go through something like that again and I thought that while I was here on vacation, it may happen again!! While I have been here, it has been raining every single day, so much for getting a tan and going to the beach. Two days into our vacation we got hit with Tropical Storm Fay. On every single news channel they made you think it was going to be another Hurricane Wilma. They were telling you to make sure to get your water supply, fill up your gas tank, and possibly evacuate! Talk about stress! I was supposed to come here to relax!

Despite all the rain, I have to say, I have enjoyed being here and seeing my friends. My friend Dawn brought her little girl over and she and Alex had a ball. She says that Alex is her new best friend! Isn't that adorable? And today, while at the mall, we had a torrential downpour again! I think we must have had about 6" at our condo! Its just like in Utah when it snows, people forget how to drive! Although, people forget how to drive here when it's sunny!

Well, in three days, I will be back in beautiful, dry UT! I can't wait! Thank heaven for dry sunny days! Try being couped up in a two bedroom apartment for a week with two little kids! Yikes!

La Dolce Vita!

Looking at the picture of the day, The Amalfi Peninsula, it reminds me of when Rolando and I went on our cruise two years ago. We took a cruise that went from Nice, France all through Italy(Ponza, Sorrento, Amalfi, Capri, and Roma!) What an amazing time we had. Funny enough, we met quite a few people from Utah on that cruise! I think that two of my favorite places, besides Roma, are Amalfi and Capri!

While we were stopped in Capri, Roland and I stopped for a bite to eat. The waiter proceeded to tell Roland, "she is like the Rainbow in my skies", etc..... he kept going on and on! Meantime, I was flattered and Roland was over it! He then gave me an apron from the restaurant "to remember him by!" It was definitely a moment to remember. Besides the flattery, Capri and Amalfi have to be two of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I remember when we arrived to port in Amalfi early in the morning, I woke up and looked out the port hole, I have never seen such beauty! The sun was just rising and there were still clouds at the top of the mountains. We then went and sat on the deck of the ship and enjoyed a marvelous breakfast overlooking the entire peninsula! What a magical moment! I would love one day to move to Italy! It is my dream!

My First Blog!

Ok, so this image really has nothing to do with my post, but I just thought it was sooooooo cute!

Anyways, I decided tonight, while I was reading my cousin's blog, that it's about time I started one. Although I am not much of a writer, unlike Circe who's brilliant, I am going to give it a shot. If everyone starts falling asleep or getting bored at any moment, please feel free to let me know. I will immediately STOP blogging! So, here it goes...........

I guess that today has been kind of a strange day. First, I got a call from my step -sister, whom I haven't talked to in about 10 yrs! Then, I get a phone call in the afternoon from my best friend in JR. High, whom I haven't spoken to in about 10 yrs.! I am not sure but I guess that certain people come into your life when you need them.

For those of you who don't know, I was recently diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. YUCK!!! "I know, it's the kind of Cancer that you wanna get if you're going to get Cancer", but come on! Who wants to get Cancer! (So I think that the Dr.'s need to come up with another line!) I had my first surgery back in June to remove the right side of my Thyroid, with the tumor. Then in July, I had the left side removed, which also had Cancer. Now they have me on meds and I am waiting for my lovely "radioactive iodine" cocktail! I am really looking forward to that! (NOT!)

So, to make a long story short, I was stressing out and a little depressed and I thought it'd be a good idea to take a mini vacation to Miami(where I lived for 7 yrs). Turns out that it wasn't such a great one! Two days into our vacation we get hit with Tropical Storm Fay! Talk about adding to the stress, but it was ok. While I have been here, I have gotten together with my friends, relaxed at the spa, and gone shopping!!! Which, by the way, helps me to destress more than anything and at the same time stresses Roland out immensely!LOL!

At the end of my "mini" vacation, I guess I will go back to good old Utah a little more refreshed and appreciative of the boring weather there, but also happy that some old friends/family have reappeared into my life! Thank heaven for friends and FAMILY! I love you all.............

Boys!!!

I have two little rug rats! Alex, who will be 4 in Nov., and Lincoln, who is almost 10 months old! Can someone please tell me that all the yelling, running, weird faces, and utter obsession with tractors and tools is normal? Lately, I am feeling the affects of too much testosterone! I am feeling a little overwhelmed at this boy thing. I grew up an only child and I am very much a girlie girl to the tee! Someone please give me the down low on raising BOYS!!!

At the same time, they warm my heart. Alex, my oldest, can be sooooooooo loving one minute and the next he's doing a WWF move on me! OUCH! He is so cute when he says, "mama, I looove you! Im gonna crush you!", in his monster truck voice. Then on the other hand, he likes to pretend he's Ratatouille!

Lincoln, his little brother, watches him with much anticipation thinking, "I can't wait til I'm big enough!" He is funny because at 9 months, he will get down on the floor and start pulling Alex's hair and try to wrestle with him. I think I have two little Tasmanian Devils on my hands!

If anyone has a little girl that they wanna let me borrow to take shopping, please let me know! LOL! Life with boys sure is fascinating. I never knew so much about Tractors! I can name all of them as I am driving down I-80!