running away

Well just for the weekend. We haven't gone on a weekend trip for a long time. Maine here we come. I don't know if we will partake of the Maine lobster but who knows there is a first for everything.

horoscope

I don't put much stock into these but I did read todays' horoscope on yahoo for me.

"There are changes coming soon that could put your life into a confusing state, so you shouldn't be in any hurry to move things forward. Stall for time, and try to keep your life in a sort of holding pattern today. Being too hasty about the projects you're working on right now will deprive you of seeing better opportunities when they appear on the scene. Book yourself some spa time or pick a long movie to rent -- settle down and let the world amuse you with its many delights"

Well I don't quite know what it means but I am already at the confusing state, I would add choatic ...so I think I will put the kids to bed and settle into a good chick flick tonight and maybe that will calm the nerves.

First day of school

We were running this morning but I had to at least get a couple of snapshots before they left for school. Check out M sporting her style! I let them dress themselves. I figure it isn't worth the battle and they did a pretty good job. M is like her Aunt they can get away with putting anything together and carrying it off well. A was thrilled with being back in school. Finally his mind can be stimulated in ways only school can do. M's highlight today...well the first thing she told Dad was that she has gone to this place that had HUGE washers and it was amazing. (I spent most of today at the coin-op large capacity washer...OUCH! But I survived my first laundromat experience. I even had to leave it to pick M up from school. Luckily it was still there when I got back. All large bedding items are cleaned a thoroughly dried. YIPPIE)

last day of summer

How can you tell if your children are ready to go to school? Well when they are so excited for a new washing machine and sit in front of it watching the laundry go around and around for more than 30 minutes. Is watching the laundry spin, mind melting? I guess it is better than TV right?

Sleep tight..

Don't let the bed bugs bite! This saying has taken on a whole new meaning for our family. We are cursing our apartment and CT for the plentiful amounts of bugs. We don't know where on earth they came from but they are a current guest at our house. Don't you worry it will be a short stay. I already took everything out of our room. Vaccuumed, steamed, through stuff in the dryer, (would be washing too but washing machine broke last night, getting a new one tomorrow), threw out a ton of stuff because I was so grossed out (good for having to pack less later), bought really expensive mattress covers and the exterminator will be coming as well. Why is this happening? I can't really tell you other than this is our second unwanted infestation on insect creatures in less than a month. I don't know why the other 4 years we lived in this same apartment nothing ever happened like this but we are grossed out. 9 months and counting.....the seconds until we are done with this apartment.

hello

L is waving at all of you! Yep we have voted and we are keeping him. He is now saying 'baaa' for ball, 'an do' for thank you, 'mom ma' (he has now discovered he can blow big bubbles when he says it), 'da da DA' and 'daDIN' when he wants his brother, (we are still working on the scream for his sister, he doesn't want to be mauled).

what a hunk!

Well of course I can say that and the great thing is no one else has to agree with me :). Justin received an award for his research project and needed a picture for the Academy meeting. So we did a little photo shoot after church. I am so proud of him. He has worked so hard and it is nice to get a little recognition. For those who know a little about residency the pats on the back and you are doing a good job are almost non-existent.

the story with a happy ending

Last night as a family we went to a hot air balloon festival in a neighboring town. We met some friends. Unfortunately it was a little to windy to actually fly them but they had fireworks after dark. We had two other families with us. Between all of us we had 9 kids. It was dark and just hanging out waiting for the fireworks to start. M kept picking up L and bringing him back to the blanket. Then all of the sudden she was gone! It happened within seconds. We immediately set out search for her thinking she must not have gone far because we saw her just seconds before. We all do a quick peripheral search with one person staying stationed at the blanket. We come up empty handed. Now we are calling out her name, trying not to let panic over take me. Several people who were sitting by us notice our search and joined ranks, finding out her description and calling out her name. Another person asked if we had found her and went to call the cops. Crystal (my friend we were with) made a dash for the PA to make an announcement. Melissa (my other friend with us) was very calm and collected and was helping to calm my nerves and asked if I had prayed yet. At this point it had been probably at least 10 minutes, though it seemed like eternity. You can imagine my brain going a million miles an hour...will I ever see her again? did someone take her? how will we find her in all these people? please have someone safe find her! The cop came over and got her description and started radioing the other officers. My friends came in for another check to see if anyone had found her nothing. Back they headed out in all different directions. At this point I was fixed next to the cop. His radio cracks... there is someone who is lost with the fire department, no description yet. Please, please, please let it be my daughter. It seems like another eternity before they radio back with the description. The cop finally says the words I wanted to hear with ever fiber of my being. "We FOUND HER!" I followed the cop over to where she was, not really believing until I saw her. There were lots of people gathered around, I couldn't see her until someone stepped to the side and there she was right in front of me. I couldn't hold back the tears. The fire dept introduced me to the young man who had found her by herself. I blubbered out a thank you, thank you so much. He said to me, "it is okay, she is alright, everything is fine now." One of the fire dept people asked if she could have an ice cream and then he said, "see there are good people in the world." Oh how I loved to hear those words. I realized that I had so little faith in humans. Based on what we hear in the news I was trying so hard to fight off the worst case scenario that kept sneaking in, immediately followed with a pray to help me focus, stay strong and someone will find her. We followed him to the ice cream booth as I was holding both M and L. Melissa's husband Scott comes up behind us and takes L from me to help us get back to the blanket. Scott immediately upon seeing us called Justin on the cell phone to say we found her, they had still been looking and didn't know that I was going to get her. We then gathered back at the blanket all the of the wonderful people who were around us breathed a big sigh of relief. I am grateful for good people and good friends who jumped right in to help us find her. The hugs and words of encouragement gave me a peace that I otherwise may have not had. We stayed and enjoyed the fireworks, all of us holding our children a little closer and giving thanks to a Heavenly Father who is watching over us. I realize that I have a happy ending that some parents do not get, they long for but it doesn't become a reality. My heart goes out to them and the anguish they endure. I hope that we can all be a little more conscientious of those around us and when we see someone who looks like they have lost someone to immediately come to their aid. Thank you to everyone who helped us get our sweet daughter back in our arms.

goodbye summer

Well we celebrated the last day of summer for the kids today. They are starting school next week. We had a most beautiful beach day. Perfect weather...friends...good kids...lots of fun. And IKEA to top it off.
Here is a pic from today a little teaser. There will be more to come. My staple summer item; Keen flip flops. These little babies will be missed when the cold weather sets in.

10 months old

He stood all on his own. I was so surprised. We were out in front of our entrance to our complex and it was great, he was distracted by the cars going by, it worked well.
Check out these shoes! One of my dad's friends gave L these. Aren't they soo cute. He was the hit at the BBQ yesterday or at least his shoes were.

:: E L I N O R ::

You are Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are practical, circumspect, and discreet. Though you are tremendously sensible and allow your head to rule, you have a deep, emotional side that few people often see.

Anyone else want to go see Becoming Jane????

so grown up

updated for location for the last two pictures is in my apartment complex. I read a great article on a photog message board about "finding a location...beyond parks and trips" . I have the most amazing "photo spots" right outside my door.

kids

well I am trying to take more pics but there have been so many in the discard pile. This one if you base it on technical stuff should be too but I can't throw all the pics out. We had great lighting but the photographer was lacking the SKILLS.

Tag I'm it

Thanks Lanna!
I was minding my own business...well reading her blog and found that I was tagged. I find it a little harder to dodge this than I do the getting-to-know-you forwards.

Jobs I've held:
1. Mom
2. Scrapbook page/product designer
3. University Registrar's Office
4. Estee Lauder counter manager
5. Maid for a B&B (short sheeted my friend for her wedding night...I was so mean...of course we were only 18....)

Movies I can watch again and again:
1. Down with Love
2. Moulin Rouge
3. Fifth Element

Guilty Pleasures
1. IKEA cinnamon rolls
2. sleeping in/taking a nap
3. Ben and Jerry's

Places I've lived:
1. Connecticut
2. Salt Lake City, UT
3. Manti, UT
4. Holladay, UT
5. Ross, CA

Shows I enjoy:
1. well it would help if I watched TV to even know what is on.
2.
3.

What were likely the first things you thought when you saw your significant other (or best friend) for the first time?
1. Significant other--He is so cute but he is too old I am sure (probably the first and only time someone thought he was older than his age).
2. Best friend--I must know her from somewhere but I just knew she was going to be my best friend

Places I've been on vacation:
1. Montreal
2. Outer Banks, NC
3. Chennai, India
4. Cape Cod
5. Newport, Rhode Island

Favorite foods:
1. Creme brulee (I knew there was another reason why I love Lanna so much!)
2. Mexican, especially Chile Verde smoothered burritos...mmmm
3. Mangoes from India
4. Spaghetti
5. Fresh from the garden tomatoes and grilled cheese sandwich....tis the season!

Websites I visit daily:
1. yahoo.com
2. long list of blogs :)
3. ebay or amazon

Body parts I have injured:
1. the back of my leg....ouch. When I was at IKEA the stupid carts are squirrely and it ran over my heel and left a nice bruise and swollen knot.
2. knees
3. chipped a bone in the arch of my foot and couldn't ever dance in pointe shoes again
4. I have had so many sprained ankles (but so far no broken bones other than a small chip see previous injury.)

Nicknames I've had:
1. Wisha (from when I was really young, because I always wanted to go "Wisha" aka with you)
2. Ashey cakes- my neighbor was Ashley frosting
3. Seagull, C Gull- just to make sure we could tell the differnce between me and my SIL, she was Ashley E Gull.
4. Roach clip- still don't quite understand that one and maybe it is a good thing. I just know one of my dad's friends called me that everytime he saw me when I was little.
5. Ash - I know so original but I am Justin's one and only Ash, well he calls his sister that too...so do I. Hey Ash this is Ash! is always the beginning of our phone conversations.

Your turn. I tag:
1. Hillary
2. Marnie (it is time for a new post :) )
3. Traci
4. Allie
5. Amy

Who tagged me:
1. Lanna

chalk experiment

I love finding pictures that I forgot about. These were back in April. M and her friend S where playing with chalk. They both decided to do an "experiment". How this was accomplished was by grabbing the play coffee pot from the play kitchen, fill with water, place as many chalks in the water as you can. Then take out a color and see if it changed. Brilliant I tell you. And they discovered that when the chalk was wet it made a darker color on the ground. Pretty ingenious for two barely 4 year olds. What would it be like to be a kid again. Everything is a new exciting discovery.

beach trip

I have been such a bad blogger. It is a good sign though. We are finally getting to enjoy summer around here. L isn't quite as difficult if he misses a nap. I can't do it everyday but a few days here and there have worked out. YIPPIE!! I LOVE the beach and the bonus part is stopping by IKEA, they had fresh out of the oven cinnamon rolls. I couldn't resist! And they were worth it!!! yummy! I was able to resist other purchases which was nice. It is hard to justify buying anything when we will be moving within the next year. It is a good place to be :)

clay magic

so my kids created some interesting things with the clay...as Mom I get to be amazed so bare with me. Pardon the poor quality pics. A made a Jedi, complete with light saber. The eyes of the jedi have white circles surrounding the blue irides (correct plural form of iris not irises). A stuck toothpicks in strategic places to make the form sturdy. M made a genie. I love how active their imaginations are and how creative!