We Made It!!

I can't believe I actually made it home for Christmas, but we did. Just in between all these storms!! I left Spokane on Friday at about 1:00 pm. The city streets were still pretty messed up, but once I hit the freeway it was better. And once I got out of Spokane it was much better. I think that last storm just built up and dumped all it had on us because once I was about an hour outside of town there wasn't hardly anything. I drove to Ellensburg, about three hours away, where my Grandma lives and stayed the night there. The nice part was that my parents met me there with my sister Lindsey because I had a cousin that got married and was having a reception that same night. So, that was nice that we could then drive the rest of the way home together. We left Ellensburg about 8:30 Saturday morning and made it over the pass before a big storm was due to hit. Whew! We did watch some idiots in a Ford Ranger driving way too fast on the pass lose control, fishtail, turn sideways, slide in front of us and hit a snow bank facing the wrong way. Let's just say thankfully no one was hurt and they slowed down the rest of the way down the mountain!! We stopped in Olympia to say hi to Lavonda and Annie and as we were sitting in their house it started snowing - AGAIN!! So, we figured we better make it home. After a "quick" stop at WalMart to buy milk on the Saturday before Christmas - YIKES - we finally made it home just as it was really starting to come down. And now, my parents have like twelve inches of snow which hardly ever happens here. I feel like I can't get away from snow right now. Normally, I love it, but when I have to drive in it and then get stuck and can't go anywhere, it starts to drive me nuts. Anyhoo, I'm home for Christmas which is just where I wanted to be and I don't think I'm leaving until all of this white stuff is gone. Hopefully we can get Todd here for Christmas. He is supposed to fly out Christmas Eve, but the airport keeps cancelling all of the flights to Seattle and Portland because of the weather. Ugh, snow. Hello to all of my Chehalis ladies and I will be calling you when I can get out of my parents driveway!!

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow,Snow, Snow, Snow!!

This is our front yard. There is a street out there and a couple of our cars, but they are buried!! My van is under here somewhere!!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow - And Snow, And Snow

Mother Nature hates my family. Of this I am sure. You think I've finally lost it, right? Here is my proof:

1. December 2007 - Flood in Chehalis, part of why we eventually had to close our office and move to Spokane.

2. July 2008 - Forest fires in Spokane, we were blocks away from having to be evacuated.

3. December 2008 - Snowstorm in Spokane, over two feet of snow in less than 24 hours.

Also the occasional wind storm (Chehalis) and lightning storm (Spokane) and I'm pretty sure that we have somehow pissed off the big Mother and she is exacting her revenge. LOL!! At this very moment I am supposed to be leaving to head home for Christmas. The only problem is we just barely found one car, we're still looking for the other two, and I couldn't back out of my driveway if I wanted to anyways!! Aahh!! We have to get home for Christmas!! Pray for us and to appease Mother Nature I beg of all of you!! (The kids, and by that I mean Raquel, Marcus and Todd, had fun outside today though!)

Holy Craps!!

I have to tell on Marcus. One day he will kill me for putting all of this stuff on the web, but for now he has no idea. He just keeps giving me such funny stuff to blog about. It's his own fault. We were eating dinner last night, in front of the TV I must admit. A bad habit to form I know, but I wanted to watch my Access Hollywood. The kids have to eat on the floor if they eat in the front room with us, so they were chowing down. All of the sudden, Marcus stands up in front of the TV, grabs a butt cheek in each hand and starts yelling, "Craps! Craps! Craps!" At first I thought he had to go to the bathroom, but then he proceeds to pull down his underwear and bend over to show us all his "craps"!!

I know what you're thinking, that he had pooped his pants, right? Nope. My adorable, sweet little boy just wanted to show us his "crack" and he doesn't pronounce everything so clearly yet and it came out sounding like "craps". What the heck? Are boys just born gross or is this something you have to have a special gene for. You would think growing up with six brothers I would have seen enough "crack" in my day, but no, now my son needs to share his "craps" with me. Aahh!! And right during dinner too. Love you Marcus!!

Macaroni & Cheese

I will freely admit that Marcus has been my most difficult child so far. But, as of late he has been growing on me (tee-hee), because out of nowhere he will do the sweetest things and then I forget that one minute before he was actually pulling Raigan's hair while she was strapped into her carseat. (And yes, that really has happened!) Marcus doesn't eat. Anything. Some days I think his only source of nourishment is apple juice. No joke. Honestly, I can tell you what I can get him to eat. Toast with peanut butter, chips, macaroni & cheese and of course all candy. Loves the candy. He was grocery shopping with me the other day and he wanted to sit in the basket where the food was going. So, I let him and then I proceeded to fill up the cart with groceries piled on top of him. He thought it was quite cool. When we walked by the macaroni & cheese I thought the kid was going to pee his pants he was so excited. You see, we had run out the week before and he had been asking for it for several days, so you can imagine his joy when we came across it in the grocery store. I piled macaroni & cheese on him and went to check out. He grabbed two boxes of the mac & cheese and wouldn't let go of them for anything. Wouldn't even let the lady scan them because he didn't want to let go. I think maybe he thought they wouldn't make it home if he let go. It was actually quite sweet watching him cling to those boxes. He carried them out of the store in his two little hands and into the car. While I was putting groceries in the back he was doing something in the back seat. When I came around to buckle him in his carseat he said to me, "Mom, buckled macaroni & cheese." And I in my distracted state of mind was like uh, huh honey. Then I looked in the back seat. Sure enough, there were Marcus' two boxes of macaroni & cheese, buckled into the seat belt on the back seat for a safe ride home from the store!! How cute is that!! Oh, my boy I love you!

Here's another Marcus moment for you. It made me realize how much our children actually do listen and learn from us. Raigan was down for a nap one day and I was talking in the front room and Marcus comes into the room and totally straight faced says, "Mom, shut up Raigan's sleeping." Aahhh!! From the student to the teacher, right?!? Of course, nothing will ever top the time that Raquel told my mom she was going to kick her a**. Yup, have no idea where she would have ever heard that word. Nope, none. My kids give me such good stuff to blog about!!

Dedicated to Aunt Lindsey

Dear Lindsey,

This post is just for you because you aren't getting to know Raigan the way you got to know Raquel and Marcus because you had to move away to that stupid place called Utah and you were feeling sad about not seeing her as much as you saw them. We love you and just wanted you to see how big and adorable your sweet Raigan is getting. See you at Christmas.

Love,

Traci & Raigan

Todd's Kids

I just thought this picture turned out cute. People here are flabbergasted when they find out Todd has four kids and then he has to remind them that he is forty, it's not that strange. I guess he just doesn't "seem" like he's forty and has four kids. I think that is code for he is on the immature side. I love him that way though, because we all know I'm a big dork and so we go well together. He's not perfect, but I think he's a pretty good daddy and ALL of his kids idolize him. I mean, forget about mom who takes care of you all day, when they here that key turn in the door at night everyone freaks out and runs for daddy. Even Raigan gets all excited and army crawls her way straight for him. They sure make me a proud wife and mommy.

Thanksgiving Week

Wow, what a week we just had!! Busy, busy, busy. And now I can finally sit down and write about it. We had my parents over for Thanksgiving and Nicholas flew in to be with us too. Everyone got here on Tuesday and stayed until this morning!! I'm tired, but I love having family here so it's worth it. Let's see if I can remember everything we did. First of all, I have to brag a bit about my sweet Raquel. I went to her parent/teacher conference on Tuesday and she is doing so well. Turning out to be quite the artist and with her flair for the dramatics, well, let's just say I hear the drama department calling and she's only in the first grade. She got rave reviews from her teacher and is excelling in every subject. I'm so proud of her. Not afraid to do anything that one. Very confident.

So, let's see, Wednesday during the day we just stayed home while Todd worked and raked all the leaves in the back yard. We have a pretty big back yard so it was quite the task, but my kids had fun "helping" Grandpa and I with the work. Wednesday evening we went out to eat at Old Country Buffet. It's kind of turning into a tradition when my parents are here. Raquel wanted to see if she could out eat Nick. Are you laughing yet? I swear that boy eats me out of house and home when he's here. No joke, he was on his third plate by the time the rest of us were done with one. Sometimes we ask him if he actually tastes the food or just breathe it down!! Needless to say, Nick won. Raquel tried, but he smoked all of us!! Later that evening my mom, Todd, Nick and I abandoned my poor father to babysit while we went and saw Twilight - again!! It was the second time for everyone but Todd, his first. He really liked it and may I just say - even BETTER the second time around. It is such a good movie and it makes me want to read the books again. I think I'll start after the holidays. Thursday we prepared our Thanksgiving meal and played games all day. Shocker, I know. That's what we do, we play games. And I especially love it when Nick is here because we gang up on Todd and he loses like every game we play. Good bonding for me and the Nickster. The best part of the day came when I was taking Marcus downstairs to bed. I was holding him in my arms facing towards me and at the bottom of the stairs he vomited - ALL OVER ME!! Three times. Apparently, all he had had to eat that afternoon was chocolate milk and hershey's kisses because I was covered in them. Aahh, I love being a mom.

After we cleaned up the "chocolate", I went to bed early because I LOVE to shop on Black Friday. I know, it's strange, but I get such an adrenaline rush and I just love to watch grown adults act like complete idiots!! I got up around 3:30 am and was at good old WalMart at 4:30. I must say, the Chehalis WalMart does things so much better and more organized than the one here. For starters, they actually let you in the warm store. Here, we were standing in lines outside and it is frickin' cold here!! At Chehalis, they give you a map of where everything is that is on sale. Here, you just wander around aimlessly until you stumble upon the dvd player that is on the floor behind the check out counter in electronics and then accidentally find the dvd's on sale in the dairy section. Strange, I know!! From there I hit Lowe's, Kohl's, Old Navy, Linens-N-Things, Walgreen's and finally Target. And believe it or not I was home before noon. Usually I'm gone all day, but I went by myself this year and I must say I got in and out and done a lot faster. The rest of Friday we played more games. Saturday Todd and my dad replaced a part on my new sweet ride while I took Marcus to his first birthday party at a friend's house. So cute!! And then, you guessed it, we played more games. I know, we're dorks. Saturday night Todd and I had a date night with Kim & Freddie and Allie & Todd. It was a blast. We ate out at Chili's and had dessert at Dairy Queen with a whole lotta nonsense inbetween. We've become good friends with them and we always have great fun when we're together!!

Sunday I think I was running out of steam because I didn't feel well so I stayed home with my babies while everyone went to church. Afterwards we did it again - we played some more games. Man, I feel like a broken record!! Nick flew home Sunday night and my parents drove home this morning. It was a hectic week but so worth it because I got to spend it with my family. Now, I must go finish putting up my Christmas decorations while listening to Christmas music. Goodbye Thanksgiving - Hello Christmas!!

TWILIGHT!!

I can't believe it finally came!! I was so giddy with anticipation that I barely slept on Thursday night!! Which wasn't so great considering that I had to drive to the Tri-Cities and back on Friday to attend the private screening of Twilight that my girl Kate had arranged for us to go to. I told my husband I was just as excited as I was the night before our wedding. So, relying on pure adrenalin and caffeine, I loaded up my kids into my awesome minivan (ugh) and drove three hours with all three of my kids to Kate's house. I dropped my kids with Kate's daughter Rachel and off we went to the movies. It was awesome!! Our "ticket" to get into our private screening was this lanyard we wore around our necks.

Pretty creative, huh?! And as we were walking into the theater our hosts had put up all these pictures from the movie and quotes from the books all along the walls. Before the movie started they handed out prizes for all these different Twilight things, like who had read it the most and who had "converted" the most people to the books. I of course came all decked out in my Twilight gear - Twilight t-shirt, check - Twilight bag, check - Twilight keychain, check. I left my poster and calendar at home because well, how could I justify bringing those to a theater!! And then, finally at 10:00 am our private screening of Twilight began!! And of course, I LOVED IT!! Obviously it wasn't as good as the book, but then what movie ever has been bettter than the book? I was so happy just to see this book that I love up on the big screen. I don't even want to hear anything critical about this movie!! I am a TRUE fan and I can't wait to see it again. Plus, hi it made like 70 million bucks so now I can't wait for New Moon!! After the movie we went out to eat at Olive Garden and then I grabbed my kids and headed back on the road for another three hour drive. Needless to say I was exhausted by the time I got home, but it was worth it. Thanks so much to my miss Kate for arranging our private showing and to my dear Clarissa it just wasn't the same without you!! I love Twilight!! Thank you Stephenie Meyer!!

Decorating

Just been doing some more decorating in our duplex (I know, we've lived here since July and I haven't got everything on the walls yet!) and I really liked how this grouping turned out so I thought I would share. I get awfully proud of myself when my decorating comes together and I really love to decorate!! This is above our bed in the master bedroom and I think it turned out too cute. Tell me what you think!!

From Motorcycle to Minivan

I have to give some special attention to my amazing husband in this post. Because, you see, he sold this:

So that he could buy me this:

And I'm pretty sure that he got the raw end of the deal on this one. You see, my husband LOVES his bike. That's what he does. He works and supports our family and when he needs some time to himself he takes his bike out and drives at speeds that I don't even want to think about. He is so a bike person and it actually gives me a great deal of guilt that he gave up his passion so that I could have a bigger car. In our other car our kids were all crammed together in the backseat, wall-to-wall car seats. Now, they are all spread out and we actually have extra room!! In fact, when Nick comes to visit for Thanksgiving we can all ride somewhere together in one car instead of having to drive two!! So, I am thankful so much for my husband's sacrifice of his "baby" so that I can officially be a minivan mom (ugh!). We'll miss you Suzuki!!

Slip-N-Slide

The duplex we are renting is an older home and we've realized that the stairs are just a bit narrower than our old house and they're carpeted as well. Since we've moved in we've all actually slipped on a stair and fallen on our bums and had a good laugh. Last Sunday we were running around as usual trying to get ready for church and be on time. I was trucking it downstairs and I slipped off the second step and took the last four on my back. Ouch! Of course I threw my arms out to try and catch myself, but that didn't work either. I hit my arm so hard on the wall going down that I was sure I had broken it. Thank goodness it wasn't. Just this nasty bruise and holy crap was I sore. I'm not old by any means, but I sure felt this a lot more than I did when I was younger. Everything hurt!! And, no TH, I am not whining, I am just sharing with everyone what a clutz I am so no mean comments!! Enjoy my pain!!

Laundry Man

I know there are bound to be a few of you out there who are going to sympathize with this story. For those of you who don't know me so well I will admit to having a little OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and for those of you who do know me, well, you know. I like things a certain way. Yes, my movies are all alphabetized as well as my cd's and of course my books. My clothes are all hung in the closet a certain way and so on and so forth. I know, I know, but I seriously can't help it. I have gotten better since having kids because so many things are just out of my control right now. Well, I also like to clean and do laundry in my anal way and I usually don't let anyone help me, because, well, they might do it wrong!! Ha-Ha!! So, last week my husband wanted some laundry done and I couldn't get to it at that moment so he decided he would "help" me and run a few loads through. He of course, did it wrong, bless his heart and didn't check pockets and I think the picture tells the rest of the story. . . .



Yup, those are mostly my white clothes that were trapped in laundry hell with something red and came out pink. Thanks for all your help sweetie!!

Happy Halloween

I just had the best Halloween I think I have ever had in my life. Growing up Halloween was never a big deal because my mom hates Halloween and the month of October in general. In fact, I was actually due in October and my mom willed me to stay inside of her until November rolled around!! Thanks Mom!! So, we never made a big deal about the holiday. This year though my kids are older and they were all excited about it and for once we actually live in a city where you can walk around trick-or-treating. I will admit at first I was dragging my feet about even taking them out, but they were just so excited - even sweet little Marcus was walking around the house practicing his "Trick-or-Treat"!! We drove over two streets to where all the "rich" people live and met up with my girlfriends Allie and Kim and we all went out together. It's hard to describe it, but the reason I had such a good time was simply watching my kids. This was literally the first time either of them had been trick-or-treating door to door and they were SO excited!! Just watching them run up to strangers doors and yell trick-or-treat and run back to me so happy about just getting a piece of candy was so fun. My little Marcus running just as fast as he could to keep up with his much faster big sister - oh, it makes me smile just thinking about it. The neighborhood was really great too with tons of decorations, fog machines and even a haunted backyard. I didn't realize it at the time, but we were out there for two hours!! And my sweet babies were running from house to house for most of that time. Needless to say they passed out when we got home. What a great night with my kids and I must say, definitely my most favorite Halloween yet. (Raigan, we'll get you next year sweetie - you slept through the whole night at home with Daddy!!)

The Phantom of the Opera

This last Friday I convinced my husband to take me to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was AMAZING, as I knew it would be. I'd seen it once before when I lived in Colorado, but it was much more fun this time to share it with my sweetheart. He was such a good date. Except for the part where we were eating dinner at The Outback and he jokingly tells me to tuck my napkin into my shirt so that I don't spill anything on it. Ha-Ha, right?!? I swear he jinxed me. I, of course, being the stubborn woman that I am don't tuck my napkin in and guess what happens? Yup - steak juice dribbled all down the front of my super cute top that I had bought specifically to dress up in!! And nothing would take it out. Not even baby wipes that will usually take out anything. They just made it worse!! Oh well, the food was good, the show was good and I got a free night out with my hubby - the best!! This picture is before the catastrophe at The Outback. . . . .

Happy Birthday To Me - Early!!

I have to take a moment and brag about my bestest girlfriend miss Kate! She so knows me so very well. I am not ashamed to admit that my "love language" is gifts. Yup, you heard me right - gifts. She knows this, my husband knows this, my mom knows this - if you know me, you know this. So, I turn 33 a week from today on November 7th and what do I get in the mail last week - my birthday present from my bestest girl Kate! Early even!! She made these with her very own two hands because she also knows that I love to decorate for the holidays. Aren't they adorable!! Thank you so much Kate for remembering me and that I do so love gifts!! Love you!!

Daddy, she just said *#%@!!

This is a true story. The names of the innocent have been changed to protect their identity. The names of the not-so-innocent have not been changed so that I can embarass them. This past Saturday night I had some girlfriends over for dinner and I kicked my family out of the house. So they went over to one of my girlfriends houses to play with their kids and hang out until we were done. Apparently this family has a Wii Fit and so the kids were playing it. One of my girlfriends kids, who shall remain nameless, doesn't pronounce everything so clearly yet and she asked if they were playing the Wii Fit. The only problem was is it came out sounding like she said the Wii *#%@!! (Figure it out - four letters, starts with S and ends with T?!?) So, my sweet daughter Raquel upon hearing this come out of her mouth turns to her daddy and says - "Daddy!! She just said *#%@!!" Aahh, out of the mouths of babes. I have no idea where my daughter would have ever heard that word!! (Hee-Hee) I mean, I'm more of a damn and a hell girl myself. In fact, I'm not sure if my kids even know those are cuss words. Hey, I'm not perfect okay!!

Dedicated to all of Marcus' Grandma's - You Know Who You Are

I think the picture says it all, doesn't it?

New Post Alert!!

I know, I know - it has been forever since I updated my blog!! And for those who I have seriously offended please accept my most humble apologies (Clarissa, Kate & Lindsey)!! I just feel so busy here all the time and I'm not sure why. I think I'm doing the same things I always did, but maybe it's just the hustle and bustle of living in the city again that makes me feel like we are constantly on the go. Well, a lot has gone on in the last few weeks so I will try to play catch up. The first weekend of October Clarissa and Rachel drove all the way over to visit me from Chehalis - a six hour drive - so we could have a girls weekend. We had a good time eating out at P. F. Chang's (yummy, yummy), shopping, seeing a movie, buying matching pj's, playing games and just talking for forever. It was so awesome to see them again and I'm so thankful that they came all that way to see me!! What good friends I have!!

The rest of this month has just flown by with school, swimming lessons and Young Women's stuff. The weather has cooled down quite a bit here, so we have been forced back inside for the fall and winter. I love this time of year, but not being able to send my kids outside to play has led to all kinds of mishaps. Marcus has figured out that when mommy is on the phone I am distracted and not paying attention to what he is doing. This last week this is what I found when I got off the phone with one of my girlfriends. . . .

Yup, that's a whole roll of toilet paper. The funny part is the look on his face - I don't think there is any remorse for this wastefulness!! Little stinkpot!! And I think Raigan is taking cues from her big brother. She figured out how to climb up the three steps that lead to the kid's bedrooms this week and she is causing all kinds of mayhem!! These are her stages of destruction and total world domination!!!

Isn't she adorable!?! Those are my Halloween decorations she has so haphazardly discarded so that she can lay on the hallway table. I mean really, who does she think she is anyway? Oh, that's right - she's the BABY!!!

My sweet Raquel hasn't caused any damage as of late, but that's because she is in school all day! Thank heavens for public school, right?!? Well, I can't think of too much else that is going on right now. My dear friend Todd (not my husband) will be happy to hear that I dropped a chunk of change on some inserts for my shoes for my poor feet that hurt at The Good Feet store and they are actually helping with my pain. In fact I would say I'm about 85% better, so hopefully he won't be hearing me "whine" again anytime soon. It's okay T.H., I don't hate you too bad for calling me a whiner!! Well, that's about it - I am looking forward to this Friday. I talked my husband into buying me tickets to see The Phantom of the Opera for an early birthday/anniversary present and we are going this Friday night!! And my awesome and amazing parents are driving over to stay with us and watch our kids so it should be a great weekend!! Love to all!!

Unicorn

So here's the back story on this post. This past MAY my family was visiting Armitage's and Kate forced me to climb a small mountain. (Tee-Hee) The only problem with this was other than being incredibly out of shape I had only brought sandals with me. Both her and Clint said it would be fine, so I climbed their stupid mountain in sandals and I'm pretty sure that is what gave me plantar fasistis (I'm sure I did not spell that right). My left foot has pretty much been in pretty bad pain since MAY and it's now almost OCTOBER!! Love you my Kates!!

For those of you who know my husband you know that this has perplexed him a great deal. He likes to be able to fix me and he normally can but this is just not going away. So he's been trying all these treatments and stretches on me. It has now actually progressed upwards and is affecting my ankle, calf and knee. Last night he was working on my whole leg doing very painful stretches and working out the muscles. And I am a huge wimp - very low tolerance for pain. So I'm laying on the couch whining that it hurts and what does my sweet Raquel say to me - "Mom, just think about riding a unicorn and then it won't hurt!"

HUH?!

Todd and I started rolling in laughter!! I love my girl. The things she thinks of! So, for anyone having pain of any kind today I say saddle up and ride yourself a unicorn. Trust me, you'll feel better.

Fun At The Park

Since the weather is still gorgeous here in Spokane in the middle of September we have been going to the different parks around town a couple of times a week. So, today I am at the park with my girlfriends Kim and Allyson and the kids are playing and we are visiting, just having a great afternoon. There are several gentlemen (a.k.a. bums) taking naps around the park under the trees. We weren't paying them any mind until all of the sudden we hear this shouting coming from the bushes. Out pops a "gentleman" who is running full speed ahead and screaming at the top of his lungs. Two seconds later a sheriff bursts out of the bushes right behind him. So this guy is running across the park and the sheriff is yelling at him to stop and he doesn't so when he gets close enough the sheriff totally pepper sprays this guy in the face like four times!! Then the sheriff is yelling at him to get down and he isn't so he kicks him until he falls down!! The guy is screaming, "My eyes are burning! I can't see!" and we're like duh, sherlock, you just got maced in the face like four times! This whole time we're just standing there watching and then we decided park time was over and we might want to leave. As we're loading up the kids three more sheriff cars come screaming up to the park and they are handcuffing this guy and he is just a howling about his eyes. Now that I think about it we should have just stayed at the park. It probably would have been super safe for the rest of the day since the minute the sheriff's showed up the park emptied of our "gentlemen" friends! Hey, Kim and Allyson - good call on the choice of park! Which one are we going to next?!?

TV

Okay, I will admit I watch a lot of TV (see sidebar), but there is a new show on FOX called Fringe and it is really good for anyone looking for an exciting show to get into. Also, for all you moms out there who think you've got it hard, check out Jon & Kate Plus 8 sometime on TLC. They have a set of twin girls and then they had sextuplets. That's six kids all at once for a total of 8 children!! I love this show. I love Kate. She totally reminds me of me. She has "Monica" problems just like me and I feel a special kinship with her. I love September - because TV starts again!! Woo-Hoo!!

Raquel's 7th Birthday

Holy crap I can't believe my baby is 7!! Where does the time fly when you are a crazy busy mother, oh, yeah, right out the window. Well, we partied like mad for my little princess. Grandpa and Grandma Jarman and Lavonda and Annie all drove over this past Friday to help us celebrate the big 7. We had such a fun weekend. All Raquel wanted for her birthday was a Nintendo DS. So we all went in together and got her one. She was so happy!! Spoiled rotten and happy! It was a little discouraging at first because no one could figure out how to play the game we had gotten her. No joke, six adults sitting around trying to play this game for kids and none of us can figure it out. Thank heavens for daddy. He finally got it out hours later! (Please disregard the chubby bunny in the background. I'm working on it and I hate cameras!)

We spent the rest of the weekend playing games (of course), going to the movies (all the girls, then all the boys), shopping and out to dinner at a buffet where the birthday girl had ribs. Shocking - NO!! For those who don't know, Raquel is a meat eater. We tease her that if she had been a dinosaur she would have been a T-Rex!!

Her birthday event culminated today, her actual birthday, with cupcakes at school, her favorite dinner and spending all her birthday money on more DS games for mommy and daddy to figure out. I hope she had a great time turning 7. She is such a joy to us. Such a beautiful, smart young lady and I am so thankful that she is my girl. Happy Birthday Raquel!!

I Am A Super Hero

I found out today that I am a superhero and my powers are activated when I am behind the wheel of my 2000 Mistubishi Galant. Let me tell you how I discovered my super powers. It was a normal morning and I left to take Raquel to school. As I turned onto the street where her school is I came upon this scenario. There was a man walking his daughter to school on my left hand side. On my right hand side was a HUGE black dog that was barking like crazy and charging across the street right towards them. I could see the owner of the dog, just standing in their yard yelling at the dog, but doing nothing to prevent it from running across the street. So, what do I do? I discover that I have super powers when I'm driving the Mistubishi. I don't even think I thought about what I was doing, I just did it. I pulled forward really fast and put my car between the dog and the poor people on the street. I think they must have been really scared because they were just standing frozen in place. Every time the dog lunged forward I nudged my car forward to keep it from crossing the street. I told the dad to walk and I stayed right with them so the dog couldn't cross. Then all of the sudden the dog figures it out and just runs around the front of my car barking like mad and totally going crazy! So, no joke, I turn on my best mom voice and I yelled out the window of my car to "Stop" and "Go home"! And he did!! I drove right next to this poor family until we were about a block away from the school and they were totally appreciative. I asked if they wanted a ride, but they said they were okay. What an adrenaline rush!! I was actually happy to know that I would instinctually help someone in need. You know how they say some people are fight and some are flight. As long as I got the Mistubishi, I think I'm a fight kinda girl. So, never fear when Traci and the Mistubishi are near!!!!

And don't worry all you dog lovers, I am a dog lover myself and I would never have actually hit the dog, I was just trying to discourage it from eating the people on the street. I wonder when dogs act like that what their owners are doing to them to cause them to misbehave so aggressively towards humans. Anyhoo, crisis averted and we'll see you next time on Traci and the Mistubishi . . . . . . .

Twilight Party

**Disclaimer** - To all my Adna girlfriends, please know that I love you all and think you are totally awesome. But this post is all about my new Post Falls girlfriends and they are turning out to be SUPER COOL!! So, if you don't want to read about their super coolness then I suggest you stop reading this and wait for my next post!! LOL!!

So if you've been reading my blog you have to know that I am a huge Twilight fan. At the Breaking Dawn release party I met these sisters in line who were from Post Falls. We hit it off and had a great time while we were waiting to buy our books. They kept saying that we were going to get together afterwards and I was like, okay, sure, but not really sure if that would happen. Well, thanks to Katie and Corinne we kept in touch by phone and they let me know that they would be throwing a Twilight party in honor of the release of Breaking Dawn. Well, it was this past Friday night and it was a blast!! First things first - hello the invitations were to die for - so super cute!! They were handmade and the front said - "Were you bitten?" And then you pulled a little ribbon and the card folded in half to reveal a miniature copy of the cover of Breaking Dawn!! Anyhoo, that got me excited for the party and I was not to be disappointed. I was a little late, thanks to getting lost in Post Falls on the way to Katie's house. So, I ring her doorbell and they open the door and they all scream, "Traci!!" I felt kinda loved. Anyhoo, long evening short, we played Jeopardy with questions from all four books, charades, pictionary, etc. There was yummy food and a blood red punch and just good times and lots of silliness and visiting! The real kicker were the party favors - apples, of course, dipped in caramel and chocolate and rolled in nuts. YUMMY!! I had a great time and I am so happy to have my new friends from Post Falls - you know who you are!! Oh, and Katie - you rocked the decorations for the Twilight party sister. Amazing!!

Missing Raquel

So, I found out during quiet time today that I'm not the only one who misses Raquel when she's at school. I went in to check on Marcus and he had taken a picture of her off of her dresser and was holding it while he watched his movie. He carried it around for half the day today and kept giving it kisses. The funny thing is when she's home all he does is pick on her, but apparently he can't live without her! He kept asking me today, "Where's sissy?" and I would say, "At school." and he would say "School" and walk away. So sweet.

First Day of School

I hate school. I'm sure most of you mom's are jumping for joy as our little ones head off to school, but not me. Surprise, surprise, right! It's just that Raquel is my oldest and it is SO HARD sending her to school! It's like I'm letting my baby out into the world and I really don't like the world she has to go out into. I cried my eyes out the first day I took her to preschool. I cried my eyes out the first day I took her to kindergarten and guess what? Today was her first day of the 1st grade and I cried my eyes out!! I did make sure to keep myself together until I got to the parking lot so I wouldn't embarrass her or anything. I mean how horrifying to have your mom crying on the playground right?!? I didn't want her to be known as the kid whose mom cried on the playground, so I kept it together until I was walking back to the car where my sweet husband was waiting. Waiting and laughing at me. No joke, I walk up to the car and he is laughing at me for crying. Men have no feelings or emotions I swear this to be true! He's thinking, yeah, one less kid to take care of today. Not that he actually takes care of any of them because he is gone ALL the time now. Work sucks too. Work and school - hate them both today. Here are some pics to see our first day of yucky school. Isn't she beautiful?

Memories of Me

Kate made me do this on her blog so now you all have to do it on mine.

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments.

Now, let's play!!

Kate's 40th Birthday

I love pulling off surprises! I don't think I like them done on me so much, but I love it when I can pull one off on someone else. Kate turned 40 yesterday and my plan was to drive to Kennewick Friday night as soon as Todd got off work and surprise her. So, I had Todd call Clint during the week to let him in on what I was gonna do and to make sure she would be home. All went according to plan. I took Raquel with me so she could see Allison and we left about 6:45 p.m. on Friday night. It takes a little over two hours to get there and I was a little nervous because it would be dark when we got there and Todd wasn't with me and I wasn't familiar enough with the area. But never fear, I had my mapquest instructions in hand and all would be well.

Mapquest sucks.

I followed every turn and street it told me to take and I ended up on the wrong street in the wrong part of town and then I was screwed. I had no idea where I was and I just kept driving and getting more lost. I called Todd totally freaking out that if I couldn't get there on my own that it wouldn't be much of a surprise if I had to call her for directions!! My ever calm husband got onto Google and found street maps and we figured out where I was and where I had to go to get to Kate's.

Google rocks.

I show up on her doorstep after 10:00 p.m. (another two hour trip that took three) with flowers and a birthday cake in hand, with lit up candles and all. We rang the doorbell and she answered and she was totally surprised! She had no idea!! Yeah!! We had so much fun the next day shopping and eating and just celebratin' the big 4-0! Much love to you my bestest girl. I love ya'!

Closet Twilight Fan (Sorry Clint)

I have to tell on Clint. For those of you who might not have the privilege of knowing him, he is the husband of my best friend Kate. Clint is a police officer and very much a manly man. He has been giving Kate and I all kinds of crap about the Twilight series and being such huge fans. Well, when we were camping with them last weekend someone was on book number two and whenever we weren't playing games he had book in hand and was reading. (Don't worry Clint, I don't think they know it was you - yet.) Then, when I was down visiting Kate this past Saturday we were all out to lunch and guess who is talking my ear off the whole entire time about book four? (I still don't think they think it could be you Clint.) Well, I have hard evidence that it is indeed Clinton Armitage and he is just a big a fan as all of us girls, so be sure to congratulate him on his conversion to the dark side the next time you see or talk to him!!

Camping with Armitage's

We went camping this past weekend with our bestest buds the Armitage family in Moses Lake. Once we got there, we had a blast, but let me first tell you a story of simply trying to get there.

The plan was to leave Friday night as soon as Todd got off work at 6pm because it was a two hour drive and we just wanted to get there and get set up and then be able to enjoy all of Saturday. So, I'm thinking I have all day Friday to pack the car and be totally ready to go by 6, right?!? Wrong!! I swear little kids know more about what is going on than they let on. Sometimes, I get scared. My little baby, who is only six months old, seemed to truly realize that mommy had a lot of crap to get done that day and decided, yup, today is the day that I want my mom to hold me all day or else I am gonna scream like someone is killing me. Seriously. If I was holding her all was well in the world of Raigan. If I set her down to, oh, I don't know, pee - it was as if I had dropped her on her head and left her there. I am so not kidding. It's as if she knew. . .

And on top of that she decides that taking a nap is not on her agenda for the day. So, I have to pack basically one handed because the other one is holding her and not just for myself mind you, oh, no, I have to pack for myself, my husband and the kids and all the camping stuff and food and anything you might just need when you are going camping for two days!! Aaaaahhhhhh!! Believe it or not, we were packed and all in the car waiting for daddy when he got home. Yes, I know, I am truly amazing. So, we head off down the road to our camping destination. Now, for those of you not too familiar with eastern Washington, once you leave Spokane there is nothing. I mean, literally nothing for miles and miles. And wouldn't ya' know it - my kids both wait until we are out in the middle of all that nothingness to decide that they both have to go pee-pee. AAAAHHHH! We pull over on the side of the freeway (I know some of you are flashing back to childhood right now, it's okay, I'll wait) . . . . . . . . . . . to go potty in the great outdoors. This might not seem a big deal to some but this was our first time and we wanted to treasure it.

My awesome and amazing husband stays in the car to take pictures without my knowledge while I traipse through weeds to take the kids to the bathroom. Marcus is potty trained, but he still sits on the potty so this was his first experience trying to pee standing up. Now, picture this if you will, standing on the side of the road with your son's pants down around his ankles holding his wee-wee for him to point it in the right direction and coaxing him, "Come on, you can do it, just pee!!" Ah, the joys of motherhood. Well, we had success and I must say the boy was pretty darn proud of himself. Next was my sweet girl Raquel who was absolutely mortified that I was having her take her pants off on the side of the road, but come on ladies, don't we all know it's hard to squat and pee without getting it on your pants? It's just easier to pull one leg out. And boy did that girl have to pee!! So, back in the car we go to get on our way because it's only a two hour drive and we just wanna get there.

But wait, remember Raigan thought the day was all about her? Not even fifteen more minutes down the road she decides that she doesn't want to be in her car seat and/or look at Raquel anymore. And cue the screaming. Not just regular baby screaming, this is I have been harmed in someway screaming that is ear-splitting. (I really like it when she does it in the middle of Walmart for no apparent reason.) So, guess what? We pull over again. And hey, guess what else - if we had waited for fifteen more minutes we could have peed at the rest area where we stopped to calm down Raigan. Weird, huh? Turns out my girl is a bit of a momma's baby and she wanted to see my oh, so gorgeous face for the rest of the trip. Now, if you are married to law enforcement you can just stop reading right now. I put my oldest girl in the front seat so I could squeeze my fat butt in-between Marcus' seat and Raigan's seat in the back. Heck, I was in there so tight I didn't even need a seat belt. I was hip to hip slammed right inbetween those two car seats. All so my baby could look at me the rest of the way to Moses Lake and be happy. And yes, Raquel sat in the front seat and she isn't old enough and I don't even want to hear it. A momma's gotta do what a momma's gotta do.

Well, then we continue on our "short" drive to Moses Lake and finally get there. Then, we proceed to get lost for another half an hour because apparently, according to Todd, I don't read mapquest directions correctly. Whatever. No joking, our drive should have taken two hours or less and it took us three hours just to get to our campsite. We made it though and had a great weekend with the Armitage's.

Nick's Visit

Nick was here to visit the week after we moved to Spokane. We didn't do as much fun stuff as we normally do, but we had a good time. He hates it when I try to take his picture, hence the very GQ "I am too cool to have my picture taken" pose. He helped me so much I was really sad to see him go. He of course helped with his brother and sisters but he also helped me hang up pictures on walls for like a whole day. And for anyone that has moved, the sooner you can get stuff hung up the sooner it feels like home. Seriously, Nick is so tall it's like having my own ladder that moves itself!! We also went bowling, to the movies and played a ton of games. It's so hard for everyone when he has to leave and go back to Utah. I managed to get a few good pics and then I had to throw down because he wouldn't let me take more. I won.

Not Worried/Worried

I was pondering some things about my kids today and these pictures seem to say it all. I am not worried about my daughter dressing up like a pretty princess in her pink high heels. . . . But should I be worried that I caught my son strutting around the front room in them?
And, we bought this bouncy house for our kids to play outside in because we moved somewhere that the sun actually shines and thought this would be a great way to get them outside and moving, but as you can see I can only get my girls to actually bounce. . . .
My Marcus is terrified of the thing and won't go anywhere near it. He'd rather blow bubbles! So you see I am not worried about my girls, but my boy, oh my boy - you worry me!!

Breaking Dawn

To all my fellow Breaking Dawn fans, wasn't Friday night wonderful!?!? I like any dedicated Stephenie Meyer fan was at my local Barnes & Noble at about 9:00 p.m. I went with my dearest girlfriends, Lavonda & Annie, who were here visiting and believe it or not - my little Raquel wanted to come too!

They were going to start handing out wristbands at 10:00 p.m., so we got in line for that at about 9:15 and we were the second group of people in line. I started visiting with the group of ladies in front of us because they saw my homemade t-shirt and just loved it. We were all so giddy with anticipation and in such a good mood. The best part was telling all the people who walked in the door that we were the front of the line and the back was somewhere WAY back there!! The gasps and looks of shock were priceless I tell you, priceless. We got our wristbands at 10 and we were in group A, which would be the first group to get their books and they were only allowing 20 people per group so we felt pretty special. Then, we claimed a corner of Barnes & Noble and proceeded to hang out for the next two hours until they released Breaking Dawn. I found out that my newfound friends were in fact all LDS and from a ward in Post Falls, Idaho, which is about 20 minutes from where I live. We had a funtastic good time and by the end of the night I was officially dubbed their new friend - "Traci From The Line".

We got in line about a quarter to twelve and yes, as you all might suspect I was counting down right along with all the teenagers and I am not ashamed to say that I hooted and hollered and screamed when midnight struck as well. I got my copy and was home by 12:30 to read until I fell asleep with the book in my hands at about 3:00 a.m. I woke the next morning and diligently ignored my family until I was about half way done and then they made me pay attention to them. I seriously thought about taking it to church with me on Sunday, but it was too big to hide behind my scriptures so I could read. I finally finished it on Monday when my family left me alone and can I just say - Stephenie Meyer, you rock!! LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!! LOVED IT!! I want to change my name to Mrs. Edward Cullen - anyone else?

Check out my t-shirt that I made. It says Edward, Jacob, Edward, Jacob on the front and Cullen vs. Black on the back. I totally rock!!