Christmas

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, (NYC Taught ME) and she said that apparently you do have to post photos of your tree either on your blog or on facebook, and since I don't want 280 something of my "closest friends" seeing my living room and family room, I'm posting them on my blog. So here they are.

You also might notice that some of them are blurry, my goal this Christmas is to not be perfect or care that things are not perfect or even finished because that's what I remember about last Christmas, the stress. So this year, my motto's is either "pretend to care" because it matters to Warren or "I don't care".

I do however like the blurriness because it makes the Christmas lights look like hearts.

Christmas Card Photos

It was the perfect storm, except by storm I mean calm setting. Spencer was in town, it was almost sunny, no one was sick or throwing a crying fit, there were no activities going on so at the last minute I threw some sorta matching outfits together and called Rachael and we all ran to the park for a quick little photo session. It's like Becky L wrote in one of her last posts, "You can't always get what you want, (like matching outfits and the perfect smile) but sometimes, you get what you need." Like all the family together without rain.

11+11+11=35

On 11/11/11 I turned a whopping 35. I have mixed feelings about it. I am not one of those emotionally healthy people who are aging gracefully, I want to cry when I think that in 5 years I'll be 40. That said however, I can't think of a time in my life when I've been smarter, wiser, healthier, wealthier, more loved, more stable and leaner. So what am I to make of that?

I share my birthday with my Dad so this year my Mom rented the top floor of the Camas Library and we had a party! We had pizza from Twilight, Red Velvet Cake and Pumpkin Pie, games for the kids and pumpkin pie for dessert. I also did a slide show for my dad, I'll try to attach it, but I think it takes you to the website.

My brother Leland, My sister Kiran, Dad, Mom, my sister Holly, me, and my brother Will.

13 Grandkids

Blowing out the candles

Will's wife Maggie

Will's son Owen.

Leland's wife Denise and their daughter Adaries.

Grace above and Denise below

My birthday brunch with friends at Tasty & Sons.

Halloween Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of our Halloween.

Putting makeup on my only girl. Seriously, it never gets old. We went with the Jacob and Edward theme,. I heard Bella's gettin married.

I know I say this all the time, but I just die over Max, no pun intended:)

Watching Warren trick-or-treat with his sister was great, he made sure she was front and center at every house, nothing makes a mother happier than when a child is kind to a sibling.

Happy Halloween to me!

Back at the house counting the goods.

I don't know what I like more, my Halloween decorations, or my Christmas decorations......

There is just something about orange that is just so energetic. I love it, my Mother-in-Law

gave me most of my pumpkins.

Good times.

Good Housekeeping

As some of you know Max started all day kindergarten this year and Auri started preschool 2 days a week and it has been very productive for me. I have been getting a lot of housekeeping done. But in between cleaning I managed to take the kids to the Pumpkin Patch and grab some o.k. photos.

I know it is an eclectic outfit, but we had an incident in the car with a Sonic Slushie and the Drakes let us borrow this skirt.

Our Besties, Rachael and Mary Drake.

Just to name a few of the things that I have gotten done:

• gutted the laundry room



• cleaned out under 4 sinks in my house(seriously, they are empty), I have 2 left to clean



• gutted the play room and took almost 4 boxes to the Good Will



• Took 3 truck loads of stuff out of my house, 1 load went to a metal recycling center, 1 went to the Good Will, and 1 went to Waste Connection (The Drakes also loaned us their truck)



• I painted my master bathroom



• I painted my bedroom



• I painted the boys room



• The playroom is next

3 Years Baby!!!

Truth be told, I am pretty hard on my body. I exercise faithfully 5 days a week, I never miss any of the many pills I need to take, if I can't go to the gym in the morning for scheduling reasons I try to go for a walk at night. I tan to maintain a "healthy glow" and then I complain about the lines on my face, irony I know. I bleach my hair as soon as I see those ugly brown roots creep in.
Most days I am frustrated with my body because I feel like I work for it, it doesn't work for me. It doesn't sleep when I want it too, (I wake up most days between 4:45 and 5:30) my blood is either too thick or too thin, and I always have those trouble areas on my backside where I'd like to loose a few more pounds.
When I gain 3 pounds I panic and really kick it up a notch at the gym and try to pay closer attention to eating only when I am hungry.
But one day a year, I DON'T CARE!!! I don't care about what I look like, what I feel like, I don't care that I can't run for very long and I view this as a character flaw on my part, and I don't care that I have to take pills just to keep my body alive. One day a year I just marvel at my beautiful heart, it's audible tick, and the fact that it's a miracle that I'm alive at all.
That day is September 15th, or as we call it around here my Second Birthday.
Last month I got a letter in the mail with a survey. This was one of the questions:

When do you experience severe shortness of breath?

A. With little exertion

B. With a medium amount of exertion

C. With a lot of exertion

When do you experience shortness of breath, not Do you experience shortness of breath.

All in all, I'm doin good and today was a great day, I enjoy having 2 birthdays. My beautiful aortic valve.

Me on my 3rd "2nd Birthday"

Just a few of the pretty things I bought myself for my birthday, Auri helped me pick them out at one of our many trips to ULTA. We have a lot of time on our hands with the boys in school.

Some super sweet perfume and

the perfect shade of red lipstick, it's called burlesque.

A couple of friends took me out to "brunch" at Cupcake Jones in Portland to celebrate.

Red Velvet, S'mores, Chocolate covered pretzel, Chocolate and Oatmeal Cookie

My parents and I had a picnic at the park to celebrate, my Mom brought a heart table clothe and sparkling cider. What a great day!

Another great friend who visited me in the hospital when I had my surgery brought me a gift certificate to See's candy. A gift that keeps on giving.