Ten on Tuesday

1. As you can see, Jackson and Tyler are going to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and The Little Mermaid for Halloween!!!

2. I love football Season! I am not sure how I spend my Sundays when football is not on!!

3. I wish my house would stay clean after I clean it! It has been like two days, and it is already a mess again!! The amount of junk mail we get is ridiculous, and it piles up until I am willing to look at it again!!

4. I have started my Christmas shopping, and it feels good to be making some progress on it!

5. Just when I think I have a few moments to myself, the week fills up!

6. I am already thinking about what to do with the kids in March when they have Spring Break different weeks!!! Which leads me to think about what I am going to do with the kids over summer break because summer break is TORTURE!

7. For snack at Jackson's school, I have to bring Rice Cakes and Yogurt. I am tempted to buy the chocolate covered rice cakes. What four year old gets excited by rice cakes????????? (I am sure someone is going to say, "My little Jimmy loves rice cakes!" SAVE IT, I want to hear, "You rock Colleen, buy the class chocolate rice cakes!"

8. I love Amazing Race, and how when everyone is interviewed in the beginning of the show they are soul mates, Christians, best friends, etc, and as soon as the Race starts they all turn on one another! SO FUNNY!!! I really want the Father/Son team to win, I like them a whole bunch!

9. Having Tyler home with me on Tuesday and Thursday is TORTURE. She walks around asking to go get Jackson and crying!!!!

10. Tyler spends the entire ride to school telling me that she doesn't want to go because she loves me! I love you too kiddo, but if you read number 9, you would understand why you should go FIVE days a week!

Monster Mash!

Halloween Movie!

Ten on Tuesday

HOPEFULLY TonT will return next week!
Today,I've got nothing!

Five on Friday

FIVE REASONS I ADORE KARISSA, in honor of her 29th Birthday (silly girl will always be younger than me)!

1. She doesn't just sing like Belle from Beauty and the Beast, but she will use any props available to help make it as close to a stage production as possible. This means that she will stand on chairs, use hairbrushes as microphones, and if there is a coat of blanket to use as a cloak (even though I don't know that Belle wears one), you can be sure she is using it!

2. She is the only person I know who would have her Taco Bell taco spit in and not go in and punch the beyatch who did it in the face! However, if someone punches me in the face, she will go and punch them in the face!

3. She has amazing self confidence!

4. She is a fantastic listener. She listens to all the drama, tries to solve my numerous medical conditions, loves me unconditionally-what else can I girl ask for!?

5. We can have the most amazing time playing Old School Nintendo in our pajamas, that the cops will come up and see where the "party" is and wonder where everyone is hiding! OR, we can stalk the city of Phoenix trying to find the love of her life, Lance Bass, and it won't be until years later that we will discover he is gay (I KNEW IT ALL ALONG), and that it really wasn't worth our time to begin with!

Karissa, I love you! There are so many things I would have never survived if it wasn't for you. You are a truly unique individual that I am lucky to have in my life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Ten on Tuesday-Birthday Gift Suggestions for Tyler

1. Bunk beds-I think I found a place that has a hot deal on them, so contact me if you are interested in getting this for her, it is about time she gets a big girl bed!

2. Bedding for above mentioned bunk beds

3. Fall/Winter clothing

4. A winter coat

5. Kitchen set, the one we had broke, and she would be SOOOOO HAPPY with a new one, she loves to cook! I think it is the only toy in our house that actually broke before we were done with it, LOL!

6. Tinkerbell Leapster Game

7. Gift Certificate to get toes painted, she LOVES it!

8. Dora Tennis Racket

9. Old Navy Gift Card, I could spend a million and one dollars in that store.

10. Stroller for baby doll.

Hope

I have wanted to write for awhile about my visit with Kim that I had towards the end of the summer, but I haven't really known what to say until now!

Kim and I were great friends in grade school, but high school came and went, college, marriage, LIFE gets in the way, and you lose touch with people you spend much of your life with. Think about it, Kim and I spent 1/3 of our life seeing each other almost everyday at school. We played softball and basketball together after school, entered track meets, etc. We even played volleyball together, a sport that I wish I was much better at, but Kim was patient and kind with me while others got VERY FRUSTRATED. So, when I found out about her diagnosis, I was devastated. NO, we were in no way currently best friends, but we knew one another for 9 years, how could I not go visit? It would have been EASY to not visit her at the Mayo Clinic when I learned of her diagnosis, but I went. It wasn't easy, it was awkward and uncomfortable, but we chatted about families, what we had been up to for the last 1/3 of our lives, she showed me pictures, and overall, I was glad I went. I saw her again at the bowling fundraiser, we chatted again, it was amazing to see all the people around who loved her so much. All of these people brought together to celebrate such an amazing woman.

Throughout Kim's battle, the reports on the blog and getting the weekly/daily updates from Donna were two completely different stories. When I heard she was at the Cancer Treatment Center of America, I knew it was time to go see her again. I was lucky enough to spend some time with her, hold her hand, talk with her for a few moments. I left feeling kind of silly that I had gone because her room was filled with all of these people who just LOVED her unconditionally, and maybe they resented me for stealing even a few moments of time. I left viewing the blog as a whole bunch of fluff, I was mad at her blog, she kept talking about getting better, and I was mad that she was not herself, and she wasn't really "living life"! I swore up and down that if I was ever diagnosed, I wouldn't ever put my family through all of the treatments she was getting, when the doctors were telling her that there was nothing else they could do for her, she continued to fight.

It is unfortunate, but I wouldn't learn until after her passing, that she never gave up hope because she didn't want her kids to ever think she quit fighting to live and be with them. How can that not be something everyone should aspire to be? She was a fighter, and I swear she didn't ever think of giving up. How many times have I given up on things. There are a million and one things that I can say I have quit on, but very few I can say I follow through until the end. She followed her life through until the end! Kim has taught me the importance of hope. Without hope, there really is no reason to continue living, and she embraced that very theory. Kim taught me that I would fight until the very end of time to stay with the ones I love. There isn't a day that goes by in which I don't think about Kim. I wonder if she knows just how many people she has touched!?

Ten on Tuesday

1. Tyler loves shoes, apparently it doesn't matter if they are men's, women's or children's, she will put them on and wear them proudly!



2. We went to Lolo's Chicken and Waffles this weekend. What a riot! The food, especially the waffles, were amazing. There is the original downtown location and the newest one at Thomas and Scottsdale Road.

3. I started a puzzle about two weeks ago. I was doing the puzzle when I learned Kim died, and I can't bring myself to finish it.

4. Kim wasn't my best friend, I hadn't really had a lot of contact with her before her diagnosis, but I am really struggling with her death. It brings your own mortality much closer to the surface. Thinking about her kids, brother or mom can bring me to tears automatically. The damn Fresh Beat Band that my daughter is obsessed with has a character named Kiki, makes me cry because that's Kim's daughter's name. I can't watch movies! I will never again watch Beaches or Stepmom because I could never make it through them. I used to think I enjoyed a good cry, but I can do without the sadness these days.

5. Andy's (Shannon's husband) mom was diagnosed with colon cancer earlier this year, according to doctors, she is nearing the end of her journey here on Earth. Please keep their family in your prayers during this very difficult time.

6. Our dishwasher hasn't been working for weeks, so I was back to washing dishes by hand, which I really despise. Anyway, the dishwasher wasn't working because the new water heater wasn't set at the appropriate temperature to disolve the detergent. OMG, I seriously cannot stand the people that showed up to "fix" the problem. They huffed and puffed their way through the house, WTF, isn't it your job. I wish more people would do their jobs with a smile!

7. I had an ultrasound on my abdomen on Friday. The ultrasound technician was CRACKING ME UP! She said I should go tell EVERYONE that I am as beautiful on the inside as I am on the out-I think Pat threw up a little in his mouth when I told him about it. She wasn't saying anything about the results, she was just SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED about the clear pictures she was getting. She just kept repeating this over and over everytime we got to a new body part. She was like, "Your insides are so photogenic!" She said she usually struggles to get the pictures she was getting! YAY ME!

8. Are ponchos in again? That is one fashion trend I never wanted to see make a comeback!

9. Pat and I watched Sunshine Cleaning last night. It was VERY INTERESTING! The subject matter was a little morbid, and I cried like a baby, but I would recommend it since I haven't found there are a lot of movies coming out that I want to rent!

10. The house I am currently OBSESSED WITH!

Ever Want to Know. . .

What a Molten Lava Cake from Chili's looks like as the 4 of us DEVOUR it?????



For those of you who live under a rock and don't know what it is supposed to look like. . .

A Few Months Later!

Last weekend we had our 3rd Annual Mother's Day Celebration. To celebrate this occassion, 6 of us headed out to the Hyatt Gainey Ranch for fine food, a ride on the gondola and cocktails! The food and wine was FABULOUS at Alto Ristorante, the cheese platters at this hotel are AMAZING and come with this fabulous fig and apricot spread, so if you are a cheese lover, CHECK IT OUT.

After dinner, we headed to the gondolas, where we were lucky enough to be on a gondola that had just had a proposal on board. The newly engaged couple got off, we got to look at her ring, and congratulate them. She seemed very surprised, and it was quite a special moment. After our very special serenade on board, we headed over to the hotel bar! I was lucky enough to have a FABULOUS strawberry lemonade martini, and it was TOO DIE FOR!


To all the moms in attendance, thanks for making it such a special evening, I can only hope the tradition continues for many years to come!

Tyler's First Day of School

She walked into the classroom, washed her hands, sat down to play with play dough and NEVER LOOKED BACK! I was REALLY impressed with how grown up she is now. AND, she looked pretty darn cute as well! I know this post is a few days late, and I have so many more that I want to do, I just don't feel like doing much lately, but this smile sure cheers me right on up!

Ten on Tuesday

You didn't think I would miss this. . .we are eating our way through the streets on Seattle, but lucky for us there are about 12 thousand steps here, SERIOUSLY, I think if your city is by an ocean, it is required that you have tons of hills!

1. The walk to Jackson's classroom is ridiculously far from the parking lot, and in the 100 plus temps, it puts me in a grumpy mood for the rest of the day!

2. Any ideas for lunches that don't need to be refrigerated would be GREATLY appreciated because I am STRUGGLING!!

3. Jackson is having a difficult time adjusting to his new school, and it makes me sad. It is a longer period of time that he is away from home, and he says he doesn't like being away so long, BUT I know it will be good for him because next year will be even longer!

4. The flight to Seattle was really smooth, the smoothest I have been on in a LONG time-EXCEPT for the part where the plane almost ROLLED over during take off, Gosh I hate to fly!

5. Yesterday we had an amazing lunch at a seafood place right on the ocean, I need to move where my patio overlooks an ocean, I LOVE IT!

6. We had an even more amazing dinner at Steelhead Diner, if any of my readers are from Seattle, visiting Seattle, live in Seattle, WHATEVER, GO THERE, AWESOME FOOD! We ate fried corn on the cob, YUM!

7. We also tried Bubble Tea, wasn't a huge fan, hope there were some health benefits!

8. We walked into this adorable little tea shop, the woman was so welcoming, inviting, gave us 4 different teas to try. We walked out after spending a small fortune, but it was such a fun experience, and the tea was delicious!

9. While at Pike's Market, we saw a TV crew filming a new travel game show! Super fun, won't be on until next year, but I am obsessed with reality television, it was VERY FUN!

10. It is bizarre traveling without your kids! I see stuff, and I am like, "Oh my gosh, Jackson or Tyler would love that!" They never are very far from your heart, no matter how bad you just want to get away some days!