Happy Thoughts

Every night we have the same routine in our household. Handsome brushes Sassy's teeth while I pick out her clothes and get her room ready for her to go to sleep. We all cuddle on her bed together and read a book. Lately, we've been reading "Five Little Monkeys". Like, at least the last seven nights. I'm dreaming about monkeys with head injuries.

Anyway, the last thing we do before we say our goodnights is to think about our "happy thoughts" to help us go to sleep. They are usually extremely entertaining, and tonight was no exception. Here are some of my favorite happy thoughts from tonight:

Petting fish that are soft.

Petting nice tigers.

Picking roses and flowers from your lawn.

Swimming in the pool when you're an adult.

Playing games with my sweet mommy and daddy.

Getting married (thanks Casey and Ty!).

...and my favorite:

Laughing loud like a princess.

Oh kid, you are forever making us laugh.

Weekend Fun

Well, it's Wednesday and I'm just not sure I can survive this week...so I thought I would reminisce about last weekend's fun. Friday night we drove up to Sammamish, WA to spend the weekend with my parents, and started the weekend off with a marathon of "Just Dance 2" with one of my best friends. She is a dancing FOOL (and I'm basically just a fool), so she totally took us down. I woke up the next day sore EVERYwhere. Talk about making me feel old and out of shape...

Saturday we went out to lunch with my parents at a restaurant on the waterfront, which was really fun. We even snuck in a little garage saling because let's face it- my dad never passes up a garage sale! We spent the afternoon and evening carving pumpkins while my mom made beef stew, and Sunday was spent watching some serious football. (I LOVE FALL!) Here's a look at our totally awesome pumpkins:

Handsome's...


Mine...


And Sassy's!


I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend, with a little bit of trick or treating at North High for "Safe Halloween". Sassy-pants is dressing up as a princess AGAIN...not that I don't heart all the pink and sparkly things, but when will this phase end??

Blue.

It's a sad day in fishy land.

Our little blue Beta fish has bit the big one.

He has been our friend for two whole years so we are really quite sad.

Sassy-pants does not yet understand the situation and wonders why he is just SO tired.

So. Apparently we are going to learn about little fishy heaven tonight. And maybe make a trip to Petco tommorrow.

The End.

Totally Random

Well I haven't been as consistent with posts as I promised, and I'm seriously lacking creativity these days, so here is a totally random post about recently happenings in our lives. Enjoy.

This weekend is going to be the first quiet weekend we've had in weeks...I'm so looking forward to it! Though the past couple of weeks in particular have been SO MUCH FUN...

Two weeks ago I flew to Minnesota by myself (tickets were ridiculously expensive, so Handsome and Sassy-pants had to stay behind) to attend my cousin's wedding and my grandparen'ts 60th anniversary. It was a surprise to most that I was there and I was SO thankful that I was able to be a part of such an amazing weekend.

Last weekend, Handsome told me that our landlord was planning to stop by and take a look at the house, so I went into a cleaning frenzy to get ready for his visit. As it turned out, it was actually one of my closest friends from my neighborhood who drove down from Seattle for a surprise weekend visit. Best surprise ever! My sister and her boyfriend came up from Eugene and we spent a fun weekend catching up, laughing, and watching some serious football.

I am SO excited for Fall!! I can't wait to carve pumpkins, eat soups and stews, wear turtlenecks and boots, sit by the fireplace, feel the crisp cool Fall air in the afternoon...totally my favorite season.

I have baby fever. For real. Every time I see a little tiny baby or hear about a girlfriend or friend of a friend having a baby, I think about what it would be like for us to have #2. Sassy is going to make a FABULOUS big sister and I can't wait for the day that happens. Hopefully in a year or two, but we'll see.

Tommorrow, I am forcing Handsome to go on a shopping spree. For him, not me (bummer, right??). That man would wear basketball shorts and a Budweiser t-shirt 24/7 if it were up to him, so if I don't drag him to the mall, he'll never go....and he is in desperate need of some new duds. Perhaps he'll put on a fashion show for blogging purposes...? Ha, or not....

"Just Dance 2" for Wii came out this week and we are so super pumped to pick that up tommorrow too. Have you ever played that game? SO FUN! Just Dance 2 looks even more awesome- up to 8 players, dance offs...oh yes, we're excited. Here is a glimpse of Just Dance 1 at my parents (photos thanks to this girl)

I can't believe how much Sassy-pants has grown in the past few months. She is becoming her own self-sufficient little person and I love watching grow and learn new things. One of my favorite things to do with her is read stories, because there are a select few that she knows by heart and it is so funny to hear her "read" them to us. I highly recommend "The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear"...such a fun book.

Speaking of books, I have not read anything new in months and I am desperately looking for new reading material. The last book I read was last spring and it was "The Honk and Holler Opening Soon" by Billie Letts...it was a really fun read. Any suggestions for a new book? I'm not looking for anything super heavy, but I'm not too particular.

Well, that about wraps up this edition of "Totally Random"...I'm working from home this afternoon with a sick child, so I best get back to work. Hopefully I will find some inspiration SOON and post something a little more substantial next time.

6 Miles

One of the teachers at the school I work for started a "Fall Fitness Challenge" this past week. It's a $5 buy-in, and for every four workouts you complete in a week you get entered in a drawing to win prizes at the end (the week of Thanksgiving). Plus, everyone who joined the challenge has their name on a board in this teacher's room, and for every workout you put a star by your name.

I decided to give it a whirl because I've been trying (unsuccessfully) for months to get into shape. So far, this challenge seems to be motivating me! I mean seriously- I would be so embarassed to have committed to this but not followed through, especially since (thanks to the star chart) all of my co-workers (and several students) would be able to plainly see if I'm being lazy.

So....I think in order to keep this momentum going, I should also be posting my progress here on my blog...however good or bad it is. This may sound boring, but I really think it will help me stay motivated! And now, as week one is ending, here is what I've done so far.

This week I:

• Ran a total of SIX miles! Woohoo!! This may seem incredibly lame, but for someone who hasn't worked out in years, it's a major feat! I'm only "briskly walking" on the treadmill, not running...it'll take me a while to work up to running I think.
• Resisted my usual Friday Starbucks treat- a grande caramel white chocolate mocha (holy calories, batman!). I'm not gonna lie...I only "resisted" because I got a late start out of the house and didn't have time to stop. Still, I think this counts.
• On at least two occasions this weekend, I chose ice water with a lemon over a soda. That was hard. It's not like I drink a ton of soda (maybe one or two a week?) but when I get a craving for a coke, it's soooo hard to resist.
• This morning I actually planned our meals for the entire week and put together a grocery list, and I'm planning to go grocery shopping after Sassy's nap. Usually our dinner plans are an afterthought. I end up stopping at the store on my way home from work, grumpily and exhaustedly wandering up and down the aisles looking for a quick and easy dinner idea. Then when I get home (completely starving and light-headed, I might add), I grab the first snack I can find- often a handful of potato chips or a cookie. This is not ideal for someone who is hypoglycemic.

I'm really excited to finally be working towards my goals! Speaking of which, my goals for next week: run at least another six miles, stick to the dinner menu, and remember to bring SNACKS to work so I don't have a mental breakdown on the way home from work from lack of nourishment.

Wish me luck and see you next week!

Chili Mac. It's Disgusting.

I love my conversations with Sassy-pants on the car ride home from daycare. We talk about our days, what we had for lunch, and what we want to do when we get home (today we were super excited to go home and sit on the couch...talk about an exhausting day).

Today I asked her what she had for lunch, and her response was, "Chili Mac. It's disgusting."

I couldn't really argue that one.

That kind of got me thinking...I feel like lately the lunchtime menu at Sassy's school has been slipping. If it's not chili mac (uck, I can't even think about it without making a grossed out face), then it's pizza, or corndogs, or ramen noodles. These, to me, do not spell nutrition. Don't get me wrong- they do serve fruits, vegetables and milk with every meal, and thankfully SP loooooves her veggies and milk...but I'm starting to worry that she's not eating as healthy as she should be at lunch.

At home we frequently do fish, salad, veggies...we try to stick to wheat breads, milk or watered-down juice...and when we're at home, SP eats very well. So, my question is- am I overreacting, or should I consider packing a lunch for her every day? I am out of the house for work by 6:30am every day, so if I did pack a lunch I would have to SERIOUSLY be on the ball. And I can't really think of many meals I could send with her that wouldn't required much preparation on the school's part.

Still debating this and weighing pros and cons with Handsome...not really sure what we're going to do at this point. It's entirely possible that I'm overreacting because it's not as if she's at an unhealthy weight, has any kind of health issues, or is not very active...I just feel like maybe we need to make a change.

Until then, she and I are going to continue our strong disgust of Chili Mac.

Chatterbox

My child is a motor mouth. She never ever stops talking. NE. VER. STOPS.

She wants to know what everything is, where it came from, why it's here now...she wants to know everyone's favorite color, who their mom and dad are, and where they live. She has to know what we're having for dinner as soon as I pick her up from preschool. If we're going grocery shopping, she needs to know exactly how many items we're going to buy...and then while we're shopping, she keeps count. She is so full of details, questions and statements, it's ridiculous.

Even now, as she's playing "quietly" in her room, I can hear her talking to her "friends" though that will only last so long before she's back out here playing "20 Questions" with me. And when she's not doing that, she's singing at the top of her tiny lungs. Yep, silence is scarce in this household these days...it's a wonder why my brain hasn't exploded yet.

Don't get me wrong, I've been waiting for this age since the day she was born- we are finally to the point where we can really interact with her, and I love being able to sit and have a whole conversation together. We talk about our days, what we want to do when we get home, the fun things we have planned for the weekend...and her goofy sense of humor and her ability to articulate her thoughts is really shining through.

It's amazing that not even two years ago, the most we could get out of her was this...




And now, all I hear all day long is this:



What a nut. I love my little chatterbox.

This chick...

is BACK.

Yeah, that's right...

I've been trying to get back on the blogging horse (or whatever you want to call it) for MONTHS now, and every time I sit down at the computer, my mind goes completely blank and end up spending an hour (or three, ssshhh!) stalking my friend's blogs.

Anyway, I'm finally gaining some inspiration and energy and ready to rock it once more. Be prepared for some totally random posts as I make my blogging comeback.

We've got a busy few weeks coming up- next weekend is the Mariners/Twins game with my parents, the weekend after that we'll be up at my parents again to celebrate the recent engagements of THREE of my good girlfriends, then a Brad Paisley concert at the Gorge, followed by a weekend visit from Uncle Han & Auntie Steph (all the way from Minnesota!) in addition to our 5th wedding anniversary. And that about takes us to October! Umm, I'm tired already.

See you back here SOON! :-)

For real this time.

Serious.