Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!!

(I realized that I never posted this draft that I wrote in California...I guess it's just another epic failure that goes with celebrating my baby girl's first birthday.)

Since Logan's birthday post was delayed, it only made sense to wait a few days to talk about Miss K's first birthday celebrations, too. (That, and we're on vacation`, so...)

So I know it sounds awful, but we didn't do much. We still have to take her on her "Mommy and Daddy Birthday Date," but I will let you know when that happens. I figure, hey. She's one. She won't really be offended if we don't take her out for another week or two. Besides, we're in L.A. and we don't have anyone to watch Logan :-)

So what DID we do? Well, on her birthday, we had a lot going on. We all had to be at like 4 different places Wednesday afternoon so we decided to postpone the cake-eating until Thursday. So we ordered her free first birthday cake from Macey's for pick-up Thursday afternoon. Long story short, we didn't get to the cake Thursday. Nor did we do it Friday. And before we knew it, were packing up the car and heading to Vegas. So what did we do? Took it with us and ate it for breakfast, of course.

TOBs...

So this one time, I had car trouble. Well, it wasn't car trouble just yet. I had some seriously squeaky belts. Every time the a/c in the Sube was on, it made a horrible screeching noise under the hood. So, being a mechanic's daughter and all, I figured this to mean that I needed to have the serpentine belts in the Sube replaced. So I took it in to the Subaru shop that is literally 18 feet away from our house and asked how much it would be to change the belts.

"Well the belts are about $18 each and with about a half hour of labor...should be around $85."

Ha. I don't think so.

So I started on my own little adventure. Found a tutorial on the web (which pretty much turned out to be useless). Went to AutoZone and got the belts for a whopping total of $23. Popped the hood, disconnected the battery, marveled at my engine, and called my neighbor for assistance.

So we got to work.




Had a little trouble finding which bolts the tutorial was trying to have us loosen, which was when we decided to forget the tutorial and just do what made sense. So after the moved the alternator around a little bit, voila! The old, cracked, and split belts popped right off. One of our other neighbors walking by called us her new favorite TOBs...tough old broads. I guess I'll take that :-)

Putting the new belts back on took a few minutes. We were so excited when we got them off, we may have forgotten to look and make sure we knew how to put the new ones back on. So after a few tries, we got it. And after some tugging and pulling and grunting, we got the alternator back in place which put the right tension back in the belts. And before we knew it, we were ready to start up the engine.

And sure enough, it started. And for the moment of truth, we turned on the a/c to full blast. Without a single squeak or screech. A job well done, in my opinion. Sure it took about 2 hours when the Subaru guy said it would take him about 30 mins, but whatever. And we got to celebrate with the satisfaction of doing it ourselves. And grease on our hands. And with a couple of Root Brewskies.

I Won! I Won! I Won!!!

Remember this?

Well I won!!!!!!

Since the 1st place winner won BOTH categories (good for her, right?), they wanted to have a runner-up and I GOT IT!!!! I had the second most votes, THANKS TO YOU GUYS, so I get another ARC!!!!

EEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday, Honey!!!

This was from Zac's 5th birthday. 20 years ago. Too bad his siblings aren't here to re-stage the picture. That would be sweet.

Happy birthday, darling. I love you. I'm so so so glad you were born 25 years ago so that you could wander into my life when you did. You're amazing and deserve nothing less than the happiest of birthdays!!!!

Argh! Things Are Happening!!!

Ok, time for a 1:00 a.m. scatter-brained blog post.

As of late, I love the quote from 30 Rock where Liz thinks she's pregnant after eating a ton of Cheet-o type snack foods. (And NO, I am not pregnant and choosing to reveal it in the form of a 30 Rock quote.) She calls and leaves a voice mail for Jack which goes, "Hey Jack, it's Liz. Maybe you're busy spreading democracy. Anyways, give me a call. Argh! Things are HAPPENING!"

So she's freaking out over huge life happenings, but she doesn't want to blurt out said life happenings in inappropriate venues.

I get it, Liz Lemon. I truly do.

Things are HAPPENING.

Do you know how I know things are happening and it's not just me getting all caught up in my head and over-thinking things? DO YOU?


I can't stop biting my nails.

Something I only do before huge things happen.

The week before my wedding, I was at my wits end because I refused to let myself bite away my natural ready-to-be-manicured nails.

High school graduation? I chewed those suckers right off.

Moving to Utah, going to writers conferences, family planning...all big happenings. Not necessarily stressful or bad...just big. And happening. And all resulting in jagged-edged, uncomfortably (for me) short fingernails.

Sorry if this has piqued your interest and is not revealing in the slightest. But all I can say for now is that things are HAPPENING.

Vote For Mine!!!

Remember that book cover I made? Well, it's time to vote!!!! Go here. Click on "Click Here To Vote." Fill out the form. Mark "Yes" for being a blog follower. Vote for #13. Then tell your friends to do the same. It only takes like 2 seconds. 2 seconds of your time to give me ETERNAL GLORY.

Thanks!!!

Sunday Snapshots...

Zac has been spending a lot of time at the Lab as of late...seeing as how his account will expire next month. So instead of sitting around the house by myself on a sunny Sunday evening, I took the kids to the duck stream by the bell tower on campus. Of course, I forgot the camera, but I did happen to have my cell phone so I took some with that. And I have to say, these are some of my favorite pictures ever. K's face in the top one...I don't know how I managed to snap it at just the right moment, but it is HIGH-LARIOUS. And the picture of Logan hugging K...well, it's just precious. And it wasn't staged. He really loves his sister. And as long as he doesn't hug too hard or long, she sure loves him right back. They are the best siblings in the entire world. I'm convinced of it.

Logan loved feeding the ducks while Kaylee pointed and grunted at them. I also let Logan take his shoes of and wade in the water at the top of the waterfall...but it was FREEZING, so he didn't last long.

Happy Sabbath!

Another Contest...

This time, it's a creative one. I'm trying to win a cover design contest for Bree Despain's new book. Isn't it pretty???

STOMP ROCKET!!!

Logan got a "Stomp Rocket" in the mail yesterday for one of his birthday presents, and we played with it outside for well over an hour. And it's not much to blog about, but I felt like I had to share a few things. Like these pictures of Logan playing with, you guessed it, the packaging while the toy patiently waited. But isn't that always the way? The bubble wrap and boxes are almost as entertaining as the toy itself.




So once he popped all of the air bubbles, he moved on to learning how to actually launch the rockets. And of course the one launch I get on video heads right into a tree...

4th Of July Weekend...

Last 4th of July was a bust. I was 25 months pregnant, we didn't stake out seats for the parade 3 days in advance so we had to stand a block away from the route, and we barely got lucky enough to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks...from 8 miles away. LAME.

So while I was complaining about hating Provo during the 4th festivities, one of my very favorite people in the world, Roxy Barlow, said "Why don't you come up to my parent's house in Huntsville? We camp in their yard, boat in the lake, there is a small-town parade, and one of the best fireworks shows you can imagine."


So I said, "Sign me up."

So Friday, we drove up past Ogden to the Harper's. It was pretty much a perfect 4th of July weekend (aside from my apparently terrible ragweed allergies...I couldn't breathe through my nose the entire time we were there). Starting on Friday after we set up "camp," we played volleyball on the sand court in their back yard, Logan had about a million friends to play with, snacked on tons of food, had tons of fun, and Zac had wireless access.

Then Saturday morning, we got up and got ready for the parade. There was also a breakfast in the park...it was very Bloomfield-ish and made me a bit homesick, to tell you the truth. Also, Roxy's Great-Uncle collects Civil War era things and has a group of her cousins dress up every year and march in the parade...and even fire the cannon. It was great!



After the parade, the park was filled with bounce-houses and games and vendors and all sorts of fun. Of course we didn't stay long since we had a sleepy baby, but even back at the Harper's, the fun was continuing.


That night, there was a dance-type thing back in the park prior to fireworks. We were only there for a few songs since, again, we had a sleepy baby who we were trying to make nap late so she would be not so cranky for the fireworks. So for a while, we just drove around the lake so the kids would snooze. And this was the view:


Nice, huh?

So the fireworks were a huge hit. After every blast, Kaylee would go "ooh!" or "eh!" and clap occasionally. Logan said he liked it, even though he covered his ears THE ENTIRE TIME. Silly boy.

So this year...WAY better than last year. Happy Birthday, America. Thanks for giving us an excuse to barbecue and light things on fire.

Logan's Belated Birthday Post...

So we have started a tradition for birthdays in out family. On your actual birthday, you get to go out anywhere you want (within reason) with just Mom and Dad. Then you also get a friend party that weekend (or whenever is convenient). We started this on Logan's 1st birthday mainly because his best friend James was out of town on Logan's birthday. So, that being said, here's how Logan's 3rd birthday went down:

For his "mom and Dad" celebration, we went to Pirate Island. It's a pizza place...on crack, basically. Pirates as servers, ship cannons that fire smoke rings, thunderstorms...let's just say we were impressed and Logan had a blast.




We also went to see Toy Story 3. It was fantastic. And Logan loved that, too. He even got to take his Woody doll he got from James :-)

For his "Friend Party," I believe I had a stroke of genius. Instead of having 10 three-year-olds running around my house and having very limited seating for the parents, I thought, "Hey...why don't we do it at the park down the road?" It was quite possibly the best idea ever. We snagged the pavilion in case it rained (which it didn't...it was perfect), set up hot dogs, all sorts of salads, and drinks. The kids played on the playground (and in the drink cooler of ice) while the adults all got to sit back and relax. I figure there is no point in organizing games and such at this age, so why not keep it low-key?







Logan also requested a "Cars" cake, and since I was way too busy this year to actually make one, I was happy to oblige by getting a store-bought one. He didn't seem to mind.

He made out quite well in terms of presents (THANKS to all the grandparents and aunts and uncles!!!) from family and friends and I think 3 is going to be a good year for the little guy!

Because Bree Is Awesome...

I have blogged about Bree Despain a few times on here. And you should all know by now that I want to be just like her when I grow up. So anything I can do to help her out, I do. (And winning her contests doesn't hurt, either.) So here is the trailer for her first book:



Cool, huh? I WANT TO BE HER!