Happy Birthday, Rachel

Rachel turned 7 this past Sunday. OMG where has the time gone?? Remember the days of the Wiggles "Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack, cock-a-doodle-do", the puppet shows where she played herself while I was the wizard, the dragon, the prince and who-knows-who else? How about her performing in every window or mirror she walked by? When she used to say "plurple" and "orjen". How she would carry both her taggies everywhere she went, or when she would sing B-52s with Chad whenever he gave her a bath...."bang, bang, bang on the door, Beeby!"
And now it is 2009 and we are into Hannah Montana (you were singing her theme song in the picture above), playing on the computer and with the wii. You are a Brownie and sing in the choir. You are tall and smart and can read and write. Your hair is long and beautiful. You are becoming a little lady and I am very proud of you. Happy Birthday, my love!

The Great Unveiling

After a couple of days reflection, I am coming to understand my hubby's response to my new haircut. Because, truly, I LOVE IT! You see, he was soo blown away by my stunning new look that it rendered him speechless. He was only able to manage a few words on a gasp and I mistook them to be negative. You see, what he really meant to say was that, "Although short hair isn't usually my preference......You look fabulous, honey. I love it!"
The cut has gotten rave reviews by everyone I encounter and several people have commented that it has taken 10 years off me. Gotta love that! My mom said that she has been waiting for years for me to take an interest in myself again (It has always been all about me, mom, it was just that the kids never went along with it!) and I am now boasting my picture. Yay, me!

Mii Fit

Well, after days of watching my children play with my wii fit "game" I finally managed to play it myself. I know that it doesn't sound like it should be much of a challenge to play it, but I have found, after several attempts, that the only way for me to "play" is to do it after the kids are all asleep. I opened the board a week ago and tried to do it at 5 AM. Ben (who gets up at 4:45 like clockwork) thought it looked like fun and tried to get on the board with me. Hmmmm. Hard enough to fit me on the board, never mind the two of us. But I perservered and got him set up with breakfast on the couch while watching Diego (he hardly breathes when Diego is on, so I was guarenteed 20 minutes mwahahaha)... and on the board I went! I was off to a great start, measured my weight and BMI (Groan) and did the beginning of the basic balance test when who should crawl in and put her hands on the board but Miss Rebecca! (She gets up with Ben) Hard to complete a balance test when the right side of the board has an extra 20 lbs. on it. Ugh.
But don't call me a quitter! I pulled out the musical toys and got her set up in th corner (now I only have 12 minutes of Diego left) and I jumped back on. I was sooooo close to finding out my Wii age (What will I ever do if it tells me I am 54??)...but I digress.....and who comes down but my Princess Rachel. "what are you doing? Is this the new game? Can I do it??" OK, I give up. And so it went for the week --until today. Today they all went to bed and I snuck (on tippy-toe) downstairs to the playroom and finally, FINALLY completed the baseline test and tried out a few of the activities. It really was pretty cool. The biggest surprise for me? Yoga is HARD! But I kicked butt anyways. Yeah, baby, hear me roar!!
You're dying to find out, right? What was my Wii fit age? Is it killing you? The suspense? Oh, yeah, uh huh, my Wii fit age is.....35!! Yahoo!
And now it is waaay past my bedtime and I'm tired. Off to bed. The other good news? I feel so good after doing 21 minutes on the wii that I didn't even eat that piece of cake that I have been eying all day (Rachel turned 7 yesterday...but that will be another post). Did I mention that I have the body of a 35 year old?? A very heavy 35 year old, but a 35 year old none-the-less. Take that!!

New Do

Well, I finally gave in and bit the bullet and got my hair cut short as I had been thinking about for a while (a long while). Everyone in the salon loved it, thought that it was great that I was going for it and giving myself a pick-me-up. The stylist was thrilled to cut away the poofy bangs that I had held over from about 1987 and I really felt great!
Then I came home. Ugh. My hubby (who is a BIG fan of long hair) said that it wasn't his preference and my lovely daughter (who shall remain nameless) took a look at it and said that it looked "stupid".....that I looked like a boy and I should go back to being a girl. Ahem. So much for my euphoria! I would post a pic but I am afraid to now, so everyone is going to just have to come see me--and do me a favor, OK? If you hate it, smile and tell me you love it? Thanks!

Presenting.....

Miss Rebecca!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Gotta love it! What a blast we have been having. Every night when Chad comes in he challenges Rachel to a game or two. All the kids pile into the tiny playroom with him, the toys and mess are kicked aside and the games begin. Rachel is really intense and hates it when he wins.
Usually this time provides a great opportunity for me to sneak out to the kitchen and make dinner (or blog!) without having to worry about the little ones around the oven and such. It is always fun to catch snippets of their conversations while they are in the heat of battle.....
"Oh, fishpot!" This from my soon-to-be 7 year old.
"Yes! Stike with a wedgie!" from my hubby whom my daughter was apparently trying to distract. Tonight they are all laughing and yelling, even Rebecca is jumping in with a scream or two. Not only are they up off the couch, but they are in the same room laughing and interacting. What a great "toy"! .....now if only I would get a chance to play.......lol

Pierced ears

Rachel has been interested in getting her ears pierced. She has been talking about it and asking about it and worrying that it will hurt. We finally decided that we would take her to the Piercing Pagoda (I researched them and was impressed with their policy and procedures) and see what she thought. She was excited and terrified and picked out earrings and then changed her mind.
Since the discussion began, Chad and I had been tossing around the idea of getting Rebecca's ears done while she was small. I had asked friends and family their opinions on doing a baby's ears and most were either neutral or in favor of it. My mom wasn't so keen on the idea, to say the least, but since we were there we decided to go for it. Rebecca would have hers done first, then Rachel. The result?? Rebecca looks cute in her diamond studs and Rachel is going to wait another year or two. (I don't blame her- I was 13 when I had mine done!)

On a Mission...

Well, my littlest princess took three steps this morning! We knew it was coming....she definitely prefers standing but knows that for distance, crawling is still faster. Well, this morning an opportunity presented itself that was too good to resist, and since she was already up, she went for it. Three steps later she was able to bonk her brother in the head and try to steal his train. He was not as impressed as I was. LOL. Since then she has taken a step or two between the end table and the chair. I give her two more days and then she will be upright full time. Wow. Where did the time go???