Tonight...

We get to go see this movie at an early 5:30 showing.(Thanks, Sheila, you rock.) When we left Summer Movie Fun at 11 this morning there were people already in line for the midnight showing tonight. I kind of feel guilty for just walking in and seeing it at 5:30 when they will still have 6 1/2 hours to wait. Kind of.



Is it sad that I am a thirtyish woman and am excited to see a kids' movie? Is it sad that I have read all of the books more than once? Is it sad that I have painted my nails black for the occasion, and I kind of like it? I may keep them this way. Seriously.

Luckily I have 3 children old enough to be excited to see it too. And they can be my disguise;)



(p.s- don't google Harry Potter images. there are some scary ones. be more specific. I think I threw up a little....)

My Cute Little Baby Vampire

Does this look like the face of a monster to you? Maybe more than you think.


Yes, I realize I have made this claim before. But for an entirely different reason. I called her a blood sucking vampire because she liked to bite me when she nursed. And drew blood. Not cool.


So it is kind of fitting that she has these:



Fangs. That's right. Fangs. All of you Twilight fans are jealous, I know. Silly baby.




I think she is kind of cute. Even bald and nakey;)

4th of July Fun

As usual, the 4thof July consisted of too much food and too much fun. A bit more laid back this year than previous years.

Those of us that were in town for the holiday spent the day swimming at a friend's house.(until Joy and Rebecca build their houses, and of course the promised pool-a-palooza, my brother Spencer and I are the only ones with pools. And ours are too small to accommodate the fam)



(Wendell throwing Mitchell around)

The dads usually take turns throwing the kids up in the air so they can do some tricks. My dad used to do this to us when we were little. Good times. Not to mention a good work out...

(Breazy, Danica,Rachael, Hanna. Cute little Zan in the background))

The older girls doing what they do best. I am not sure what that is, exactly...


(Abigail chillin' with Kindyl on the noodles)

We continued our laid back theme when we went to watch fireworks. We didn't feel like waiting forever in traffic, so we went and watched them in the greenbelt by Jannalee and Dan's house.

(cheesy Brenley waiting for the fireworks to start...)

(The Queen watching with her dad)


(clusters of kids watching fireworks)

Another low key holiday for us. Are you seeing a trend here? Christmas, Easter, The Fourth. All done with a minimum of effort on my part. (I can't say the same for the Dunyons. Who had to set up, clean up, and do all the grillin'. Thanks guys!)

I am sure next year when Little Queenie is a little older things will all go back to normal. Or maybe with 5 kids we have found a new normal....

Getting All Political and Such

Well it's not like me to get all political and such ( except perhaps at the occasional family dinner. And sometimes late at night while discussing the state of the union with the husband. O.K- and some controversial e mails;)

But I found this Milton Friedman clip from a link from Tammy

and thought it was lovely. I have been so concerned for a long time about the socialist turn our country seems to be taking. I had a pretty vivid nightmare about it the other night.

But I won't get on my soap box. At least until I can educate myself on the finer points of the cap and trade agreement and Obama's health plan. And a few other things....

Weaning and Diet Pepsi. A Sad Tale...

It's true, I did it. I managed to wean The Queen.




It was kind of sad, but had to be done. I found that I had GAINED 12 pounds since I had the baby. That's right ladies. The scale moved the wrong way. I came home from the hospital after having Abigail. And then gained weight while nursing.

Not. Cool. I started having weight related health issues. And I needed to start some medication that I couldn't take while nursing. So I decided to wean her at the ripe old age of 8 months.

I thought I would have to wait for my sister to come home to keep Abigail for three days and just force her to eat. But I am glad to say it wasn't necessary.

I just woke up one morning and realized she hadn't nursed in a while and still seemed to be in a good mood. That is when I decided to just starve her out a little and try some breastmilk in a bottle. She took two ounces. That was the beginning.

I pumped for a while and slowly weaned her onto formula. She was pretty stubborn for weeks refusing to take more than 2 or 3 ounces at a time. Just enough to not starve. She has just now started to take four or more ounces at a time. This tiny little thing has a big attitude. I am a little frightened for the future;)

Unfortunately when I quit nursing, my hormones changed. my ICand endometriosis, which had been in remission for four years, came back with a vengeance. These conditions are hormone related. I had kept them at bay while I was pregnant and nursing Brenley, then pregnant and nursing Abigail.

This means a lot of pain. And a major life style change. I get to cut out many foods I love that are bad for me(chocolate, processed foods, spicy foods) and foods I love that are good for me(citrus, tomatoes, bananas etc.), and last but not least, Diet Pepsi:(


That's right, my soda. That I rely on. To get rid of my headaches. And my boredom. and my sleepiness.

(sigh) Farewell, my friend. You will be missed.....


(and yes. I have seriously considered pumping and dumping for the rest of my life. And just live with being fat. Don't tempt me...)

The good news is I am down twelve pounds since I stopped nursing. This is probably a combination of not nursing and being too afraid to eat anything;) Now I weigh what I weighed the day I got back from the hospital with Abigail. Woo hoo:(