"I Was Like Oh My Gosh!.. And She Was Like, No WAY!" (name that movie)

So one of my BFF'S, Laura, moved an hour away last summer. I was so bummed. Even though I miss seeing her regularly, we still manage to get visits in here and there and it's always a treat.

This time was especially exciting. She called me one day and said she was coming down for the weekend and would it be too much trouble if she stayed over? Too much trouble??? Mariah and I could hardly contain ourselves! We talked and made plans for our sleepover several times.

The plan was simple:

1. Do Mommies' hair.

Okay so he felt a little left out.

2. Get in our PJ'S and make homemade popcorn (not shown, didn't turn out so great after all)

3. Stay up late playing and singing the night away.

4. Wake up and enjoy our Bed and Breakfast special.

Thanks for a great time! Let's do this again soon.

PS.- Oh, and about that movie line...well, I hope you haven't been racking your brain on that one..... I sorta made it up. I always think it's cool when people title their posts with a cool movie line followed by the challenge to "name that movie". I never have a clue what the answer is. So, ya, just wanted to try it out.

Good Morning

Mom: "Good Morning, Handsome."


Logan: "Good Morning, Pretty. (he should've just stopped right there, but of course he didn't..) Well, I don't mean pretty right now. You are wearing scrungy clothes and a sloppy ponytail, but I know you'll get ready for the day and after that you will be pretty."

The Pranksters at it again...

Some things you may not know about Robyn. As a teenager Robyn loved to prank call her friends and complete strangers. She has some really creative and funny prank calls she likes sharing with us.

Last night Robyn was baby sitting for a couple who went on a date, and I was home alone with the kids. "Daddy, I'm in charge of the phone" Mariah exclaimed. I'm content with this for two reasons: 98% of the time the phone rings it's either a telemarketer or for Robyn. When the telemarketers call Mariah wants to talk with them. Discouraged and defeated they hang up. And if it's for Robyn I usually let the phone ring so the caller can leave a message.

During the evening hours Mariah walked the house holding both phones in her hands. Everywhere she went the phones went with her. Last night Mariah was heartbroken because we received no phone calls. So I tip toed out of the room, called Robyn, and asked her to call the house so Mariah could talk with her on the phone... The phone rings and Mariahs eyes widen with excitement. Mariah picks up the phone. I knowing it was Robyn was anticipating her to say "Hi Mariah it's mommy". This isn't what happend. Mariah answers the phone and Robyn is pretending to be a chinese person. They talked for a while and the phone call ends. A few minutes later another call comes through. Mariah is very excited 2 calls in 5 minutes. This time it was an Indian lady named Kuki. She asked Mariah if she lived in a big house with stairs, and if the stairs went up or down. Mariah said the stairs go up and down. Robyn exclaimed the stairs in the house she lived only went down. Mariah didn't know what to think about this.

I'm not sure who had the most fun, Robyn who reverted back to her teenage tendencies, or Mariah who policed the phone lines last night.

In Which I was Glad We Went Anyway...

It was a cold Friday night and I found myself alone with Harrison. Tyler and Logan were off bonding at basketball practice and Mariah was giggling at Chloe's house.

It was the perfect chance to run to Walmart and grab a few must-haves for the weekend. I told Harrison to "grab your coat, we're off to Walmart. And since I love you so much, you can have a horsey ride too!" He didn't have to be told twice. I grabbed 2 quarters (sorry Logan, I'll pay you back) and buckled him in. I looked over and realized that my purse was with Tyler. No money. No shopping. I glanced back at Harrison happily waiting for his horsey ride and I just didn't have the heart to tell him we weren't going.

It was -6 degrees, and I was heading to Walmart. Just for fun. On a Friday night.

We ran in and told the greeter, "no thank you" when offered a cart. I swung him around to my back and bounced on over to the toys. He immediately grabbed one of those popper toys that you push and walked every aisle. We stopped at every car that had buttons to push. Our favorite was the pimped up PT Cruiser that played "Living the Vida Loca." When he was ready, we moved on....

..To see the fishies. He took his time staring at them. I tried not to get grossed out by all the dead ones. When he was ready we moved on...

...To ride the horse. He smiled the whole time and kept leaning over to give me kisses. When he was ready we moved on...

...To get multiple drinks out of the drinking fountain. We held hands and walked out of the store, and I enjoyed a kiss from him here and there. When he was ready we moved on...

...To the car where we both grunted and brrrd from the cold.

We came home and immediately jumped into jammies and he even requested his robe.

And then we enjoyed a delicious meal of turkey bacon and cereal.

Harrison, thanks for a wonderful time!

(shared soley for the purpose of preserving a memory.)

"The Second Most Important Day of My Life"

Those were Logan's exact words after wishing him a Happy Birthday first thing Jan. 12th. "First I was born, and now I'm turning eight!"

It's a birthday he's been waiting for. Eight. And I was happy to see why it is so important to him.

You see, in our faith, when you turn 8 you have a choice to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

After being born, it truly is the second most important day of your life. I am so happy and grateful that he has made this choice on his own and recognizes that this is something special.

I'm not shocked that he would make such a profound statement. He has an insight and understanding that is beyond his years. Logan is a special, valiant spirit.

Here is how we celebrated his actual birthday. There will be much more celebrating when we come to Texas in February for his baptism.



The whole family came to school to have lunch with him. As you can see, it meant a lot to him! I volunteer in his class every other week, and he is always so excited to see me. He runs right up to me and gives me a hug and kiss (even with snickering in the background).



This picture cracks me up. You see that boy sitting by Logan? I have no idea who he is, but he really wanted to eat with us (he does know Logan). I took about 5 pictures trying to get all of us, and this is the best one. The other 4 are of the boy in front of everyone and just him in the picture. (Do you see Tyler keeping an eye on him?)



I told Logan I'd fix him his favorite dinner. He said, "Impossible, because my favorite is the pan pizza from Pizza Hut." So off we went..



When we came home we enjoyed marble cake (Logan's choice, of course). Dad has some serious cake decorating skilz.

Logan at 8:

Favorite Food: Pizza Hut

Favorite Color: All of the colors in the rainbow

Hobbies: SPORTS!, playing games (faves are monopoly and yahtzee), wii, wrestling with Harrison.

What do you want to be when you grow up? Football player

When is the perfect time to buy a house? Why would you ask me that? I have no idea.

Who is your hero? Tim Tebow

She loves me, he loves me not...

Mariah:

"Mmm, mom, what are you making? It smells soooo good!"

Mom:

"I'm making you tacos for dinner."

Mariah (walking over to look in pan):

"Mmm, did you stir a little love in there?"

Mom:

Speechless at her cuteness. Starts smooching her daughter until she begs for mercy.

She Loves Me!
**************************************************************

Mom puts on Harrison's favorite movie (Cars), turns around, does a pathetic, over-exaggerated karate kick and yells "Ka-chow!"

Harrison (irritated):

"Mom, wha you do that fo?"

He Loves Me Not.

Robyn Messes with Texas

My, have I become the lone traveler this past year. I went from "never going anywhere by myself, boo hoo for me" to pretty much owning the airlines. Not really. But hey, 2 trips in 3 months? Let's just say there will be no more "boo hooin'" around here.

I had the priveledge to spend some time in Dallas. The main event? Erik's wedding. Yes. I said Erik. My baby. The one whose diapers I lovingly changed, potty trained, put in time out, played "Kindergarten Quest" game show style, and took out for ice cream to teach him about good music. He got married. And as hard as it was to see him "grow up so fast", I must say, he did a mighty fine job finding his one and only. Let me introduce you to Mrs Karen Sanders. (Welcome to the family honey. As I'm sure you noticed, I am the smartest, prettiest one in the family, and we're all happy when I'm happy. Okay? Okay. Love ya!)


The wedding was done at a nice little chapel and was very nice. For me, very emotional.



My four brothers. Man I love these guys!



Mr. and Mrs. with the nieces and nephew. (Sad that my little ones and another niece, Jasmine, were not there!)



The other "Sanders" women. Oh man, how I adore them!!



Mother of the groom and Savannah giving the aisle a spin.



My other baby. You're next my friend. But no pressure, you gotta wait for the right one. (please see note to Karen at beginning of my post.)



Please take a moment and just stare at this precious girl. I just did and my cup is full. This is Millie and she takes my breath away.




She was blessed by her amazing dad, and I felt honored to be there.



Her mother is one of the most special women you will ever know.



Her sister has a huge heart and lots of love for her family.



What greater joy is there than seeing people you deeply love happy?




More Texas Highlights:



Spending quality



time with



beautiful nieces (missed you Jas!)



and a nephew. (that melted my heart).




There was Game playing, Bedtime Reading,



Baby Staring,




Sleepovers,



and Scavenger Hunting.




My parents took my Grandma and I to a huge Korean market. Their produce selection was incredible. Here is Dad going nuts over the preserved duck eggs.



And Grandma showing off some celery. We took home some purple yams and added them to a soup. I found them quite delicious and smoothlike.




A trip to Texas is never complete without seeing some of the most amazing women I call friends. These ladies have no idea the impact they made on me when I lived there.



Shannon- my very first Texas friend. We worked together at Family Allergy. She was a sort of godparent to Logan.




And in case you are worried that I didn't have any fun... here's a picture to ease your mind. It is ALWAYS fun to come home!



I am truly blessed!