Merry Christmas!

wow... i have been online a lot and not so much on my blog. the cataclysm release has sucked up much of my time. and to think, i was bored with the game there for a while and had not played for more than an hour at a time for nearly 6 months. well, i hit max level 2 days ago i think and i still have several zones to quest in. i am quite pleased with everything so far, i have been having loads of fun!

the kids have made it through the first half of the school year and so far all is well. i am still marginally sane and since we are about to bake cookies - i will certainly be better after a few of those! all of the Christmas shopping is done and soon the kids will get to open their one Christmas eve present. Santa should be in tonight about 10 or so and we shall drink some rum together... after all he has a long night ahead of him!
Merry Christmas!!!

well, here i am again... at work...kinda bored. i just looked and thought to myself, "Wow... has it really been that long since i posted on here?!?!?"

guess things have just been that busy. such is life i guess.

i guess mostly i have not been updating lately because i log in and then realize that i really don't have much to say. the kids are good. i am good.

i logged into WoW like 3 times since the big patch. so far i do not like the changes. probably has more to do with the fact that i have not actually played and therefore i am not used to the changes yet. after all, most of the time i was logged in the first time was spent figuring out what talents to take. and most of the second time was redoing my macros. the third time i logged in my unit frames were back and i actually played in a few BGs. it was fun and all, but i just wasn't feeling it so i logged out and played farmville.

i know. i know. i know.

the shame.

...

i let G make a facebook account. i realize this is not my proudest moment as a parent, but it will give him a way to keep in touch with his dad and that side of his family. now all he does is play farmville. and cafe world. and frontierville. and petville - i think you get the point. i guess he comes by that naturally.

i have been working on a quilt for a friend that got married earlier this month. i was a bit hesitant as the colors were not what i would have picked out to go together, but as i have been putting the blocks together, it is starting to really grow on me... i think it looks pretty great now. i will put a picture up when i have the top done.

guess that is all for now.

Happy Halloween!!

WoW....

as i suspected i could not stay away for long. after about 2 months i think i started twitching and i just felt lost without my virtual world. so i started playing again.

now, i certainly don't have the time to commit to playing all the time, and after all the springtime drama i was left guildless. not really wanting to apply anywhere i was happy to get an invite from a friend. i also got to go right into ICC with them and pretty much start off where i left.

it really is chilly where the Lich King resides...

i haven't really had time to focus on raiding since the kids went back to school. i have 2 in scouts and i am the den leader for one. time is just something i have virtually none of. but i have managed a few fun things. i finally went back and did all the quests in Shadowmoon Valley earning me the Outland quest achievement as that was the only area i had done nothing in. while there i finally did Netherwing as well. i have always loved the green one and now i have my own.


i also decided to get the Frenzyheart rep so that i could get the achievement for getting to exalted with both... after buying egg after egg and getting no mount, i decided to take a short break and i got the Frenzyheart Brew out of my very first jar with them. it took me longer to get exalted than to get the best drop from them! i am now back up to buying the eggs again and still no luck.

still playing on the Lich King platform... with my baby oracle conveniently on a leash

i have been working on Bloodsail rep also. i figure that since i want the Hyacinth Macaw and am gonna have to kill a shit ton of Bloodsail to get that to drop, i may as well get the pirate title first so that i have another reason to be killing them... to get my goblin rep back.

other than that i have been working on PvP and playing in many BGs. i used to hate BGs but for some reason i now love them. i cant think of a place i'd rather be in game. there is always something happening, no one is being a jack ass in vent, i get loads of thanks for healing, and we have been winning as well! what's not to love about all that?!?

in the mage tower after killing some dirty horde that decided to camp here and kill some of my buddies. i dont think they were expecting all of us...

oh... and i really suck at 1 on 1 PvP, so killing me is still pretty easy. but am getting better. one day i will be able to kill someone without using my Fire Elemental buddy.

we have been so busy lately that i have not had any time to post.

...


ok, that was a lie. but we have been doing a lot. G is back from Hawaii. he had a great summer there, although he came back rather un-tan for having had an entire summer in the sun. he got to learn how to boogie board and got to play in the ocean... i am soooooo jealous!

he came back right as Grandma Carol was visiting from Grand Junction for M's birthday. hard to believe she is already 5! i still remember when she was still a surprise in my belly. she had a great party with her two favorite people in the whole world. (Grandma Carol & Grandma Susie if anyone is wondering)
and only 3 days later, they got to go back to school. third grade for G and kindergarten for M. she cried when i dropped her off, so i am glad i got this picture of them before we left the house.

she has been doing well since then, she does a little better each day. as she was crying hysterically one morning that i left her there one of the other mothers commented that it must "break my heart." i admit that once upon a time it did, but now that she does it every time anything happens (even when grandma brings her home, she will cry like this for 30 minutes!) it effects me a bit less than it used to. i really do hope that it is just a phase and it goes away though.

G still loves school. he really loves anything that he gets to do. he is becoming more independent each day. i am glad that he seems to be a bit better at making friends as well. it is interesting trying to teach a kid that while it is not OK to lie, we really don't say everything that enters our minds either. not everyone likes to hear the truth about everything and sometimes it is OK to just keep our opinions to ourselves.
finally, this past weekend we went camping on the Platte River. M & CJ have never been before and everyone was excited. we got them all new outdoor sleeping bags and we had to get a tent big enough for all of us. we packed up the car and headed out and found a campground when we got up there. i guess that was kind of lucky though as we did not have a reservation. at least we know that for next time! we only went for the one night since it is the kids first time out, i figured that would be enough for all of us. they all brought their fishing poles and got to play in the river the next morning since it was only about ankle deep where we were.
it was a nice end to a fun summer.

i cant believe the summer is almost over...

it seems like it just flew by. i don't really have anything to show for it, i don't feel like i got anything done. well, i did manage to go through all the kids clothes and toys and take out the old ones... but i did not manage to get any of that stuff into my car to donate it. so i guess i get 1/2 effort points for that.

CJ is now three... well, he turned three last month and i just haven't gotten around to putting up pictures from his party. his toy story party went well. there was a lot of excitement and balloons!
he got a bubble gun-toy and they had much fun playing with that outside one day.
now i have to plan another party because M is turning five next week... and then she is starting kindergarten a few days after that! Oh my does the time fly by! G is also coming back from a summer in Hawaii... i am pretty sure he is going to be disappointed in daily life here again after all that excitement. he got to spend a lot of time at the beach and i hear he has had loads of fun. we are having the party after he gets back so he doesn't miss it.

now i'm off to get something done... not sure what it is yet though! ;)

we have had a lot of fun the past couple of weeks. last weekend we drove up to the summit. i had no idea that the hubby had never been up there, after all he has lived here for several years and we have gone fishing at the lakes on the peak several times. well, now he knows that i don't really like the drive up as i can see down the side of the mountain and apparently don't trust him enough not to drive off the side. he says if we ever go to the top again we are taking the train.
this weekend we went to the Renaissance Festival. i had many drinks and therefore didn't get a lot of pictures, but here are a few:
the kiddos had a lot of fun in the children's realm. it gave them some time to run off some energy since most of the day was spent chilling in the stroller. otherwise it is a lot of walking. we went with a bunch of people from my work and they all seemed to have a blast as well.
and finally yesterday, for the 4th, we went up to my good friend Amber's house. we got to relax, hang out and play games and her husband, Alex, made some great food on the grill. the kids were so worn out that they were asleep before we were even halfway home and they slept all night after that. it is always nice when i don't have to fight with them to go to bed.

this is one of Amber's daughters... isn't she adorable?!?!?

after all that, it is a blessing to have today off so that i can recover before i have to go back to work.

i need your opinion...

i have some good news... through eating better and adding (just a little) exercise back into my life i have managed to lose 15 pounds in 7 weeks. i have a long way to go but this is a pretty good start. seems i got lazy after baby number 3 and just kinda gave up. and unfortunately with the hubby being out of work for so long eating right was just kinda out of the budget. don't let anyone tell you it is cheaper to eat better. yea, vegetables don't cost very much over all, but you actually have to buy MORE of them because they have so few calories. mac and cheese costs less than 2 dollars and i can feed 5 people dinner... that doesn't make it good for me though.

so, why am i telling you this? well, i have set up a reward plan for myself. i am going to start my sleeves (well, not full sleves, just 3/4) and i am getting close to goal number one. i was going to start at 20 pounds and i am almost there. i am really quite excited, but i dont have anything drawn up yet. right now it is kind of just an idea that i have had in my head for a while. for anyone that knows me i have the 2 dragons on my arms already. here they are:


(and before anyone mentions it... i know i need to get some of the sun redone as there was a lot of orange shading in it and i think that is not a color i hold well. i will need to figure something out for that as well...)

as you can see, they are opposites and i want to keep up that theme on my arms. i also want to keep with the "fantasy" theme as well. so here is my idea. i would like to put cute & good fantasy stuff on one side and ugly (well, not too ugly) & bad stuff on the other side. you know like fairies and demons. problem is i don't know which side to use for what. i have a color scheme going already (warm/cool colors) but i don't know if i should use the cool colors for the bad or good side and vice versa. so i need your help and opinions... please let me know what you think i should do and why.

Happy Father's Day

i have been blessed in this life to have many father's in my life that have made my life special.

i will start with my own father. while i grew up away from him, he always made the time we had together special. i will always remember the times we went tubing down the river and that he would always take us to the organ pizza place even though i can only imagine that he tired of the food. i only wish i had more time to spend with him. it has been almost 6 years now since he passed away. i am comforted in that he was able to meet his grandson and take him to that same pizza place i loved so much as a child.

next up is my step-father. you has been in my life for as long as i can remember. you have watched me grow up into the woman that i am today. you ordered a limousine for a father-daughter dance i wanted to go to. you helped guide me through the throws of what will now be known as the high school experiment. you are there whenever i need you to be there or even just to talk about life. and last but not least, you take my children to the zoo when i need a moment to breathe. i appreciate that more than you know.

now for my husband, i know that you don't always feel like you are the best dad in the world and you have your moments of insecurity and doubts, but our children know that you are the best dad in the world to them. even though this thing with work has been difficult and we have had to make sacrifices to make it through, it has given them the opportunity to be home with you and learn from you and they know that you are great. we all love you more than you know.

for my oldest son's dad, you have never let our issues come between you and your son. he knows that you will always be there for him and to him, everything that you do is "awesome." i have never seen such adoration in a little boy's eyes, but when he talks about you i know how much he loves you. you are everything that he wants to be when he grows up and i hope that he is as great a father as you are to him.

for all of my friends that are fathers, i know that you are all wonderful men. you all do what you can to be part of your childrens' lives no matter what your situation and they will be better for it. i know it is important to have good role models while you are growing up and i am confident that you all fit very well into this category. if all the fathers in the world were as great as thee ones i know i think the world would be a better place. so to all of you, Happy Father's Day. each and every one of you deserve it.

Rockies Game

We got to go to the rockies game on Thursday... my company has season tickets and i won the drawing for this game. Honestly i think i may have been the only one in the running for this game as i work a weird schedule and i have thursdays off... so i went through all the thursday listings and signed up for the ones with the lowest number of people wanting to go. we managed to get there in time and the seats we had were great! here's our view of the game.
of course the first thing the kids wanted was lunch... so of course we got hot dogs! (well, M wanted a hot dog until we got to the counter... then she wanted nachos, but the rest of us had a hot dog.) After the hot dogs the kids lasted about 5 minutes before they wanted something else to eat... cotton candy seemed to be what they wanted now. here they are before the cotton candy... and here they are after... overall, i think they had a lot of fun, and they were so tired after the game that they both fell asleep in the car before we even got to Dave and Buster's for dinner.

Summer is off to a great start. the kids got to hang out last week and play since we had to take G to the airport on Tuesday to go visit his dad in HAWAII!!... lucky kid! here they are playing in the sun and having a good time...

(i don't think i was ever this comfortable in a bikini... i must be doing something right with her!)

and M had a HUGE cavity in one of her front teeth so they pulled them today... it certainly wasn't fun for her, but she got over it pretty quick and now she is all ready for a visit from the tooth fairy... i guess i should leave her something good since they had to be pulled and they didn't just fall out... no candy though! that is what got us here to begin with!

I quit WoW...

My account expires tomorrow and i have decided not to renew... for the summer at least. i think i logged in twice this month... i just have other stuff i want to work on for a while. but in the interest of a good blog post, here are a few screen-shots from my time so far in Azeroth...well, mostly Northrend cause i really didn't take a lot of screen-shots before then...

my first whelpling... the red one. it took me like 5 hours to farm this and then i switched my main to my shaman and had to do it all over again!

Dancing as an ogre ... waiting for a raid to start... story of my life.Me and my orphan on KT's throne... 2009.Proof i survived Malygos! I can do vehicle combat!!Checking out the artwork in Dalaran... i wonder how many people actually appreciate the work put into this game??Hanging out with a friend in his secret spot... he plays horde now though, i wonder if he even goes there anymore.ghost wolf form in a tiki mask! trick or treat anyone??

Aaaarrrrgggghhhh! I'm a Pirate!!my first ride on the gator - i have since done this chain 3 more times.
my priest riding on Rudolph... such merriness!

That's all i have for now... maybe after the summer i will have my personal life more in order and i will have the time to dedicate to playing again. if not, i am sure i will want to check out cataclysm. until then, Cheers!

Well, this last week has been busy... the last week of school usually is, but since both G & M had stuff going on it was extra busy this year. I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when CJ is old enough to join in on all the fun.

M got to graduate from pre-school twice... once for the daycare and once for the school. here are a few pictures of that...

G went up to Bears in Cub Scouts... here is a picture of him on the bridge...

and we all went to Garden of the gods last weekend... here are a few pictures from that...




G's class went on a field trim yesterday, but i forgot the camera.. :o( ... oh well, but we still had lots of fun and learned all about bugs. i even touched a millipede! EEEEWWWW!!!

We have one more week with G and then he is off to spend the summer with his dad in Hawaii... jealous anyone?? I sure am!