Christmas Eve ~

We went to St. Patrick's Church this evening, instead of Nativity. What an experience, now I know why we don't make it to Mass every Sunday like we did when it was just Riley. Cooper does not grasp the concept of whispering...he spent most of the service asking me how many more minutes until it was over, while driving Cars up and down the wall.

Camdyn was busy going through my mom and Caitlin's purses. When we gave her money to put in the collection basket, she tried taking more out instead of putting hers in. Riley, whom I expected to be good, wasn't. Clyde finally wound up taking Camdyn to the back of the church where she worked her charm on the ushers. She also, apparently, became the official greeter...waving and telling everyone 'hi' and 'bye'.

Sad to say, but we won't be making it back until Easter. Yep, we've become Chreasters...families that make it for Christmas and Easter. :(

Foghat's Slow Ride ~

Catch this---Cooper comes flying out of his room with his radio in tow SCREAMING. I imagine Camdyn in his room on the top shelf of his closet or something, so I run to his room, heart pounding as to what I'm going to find when I get in there. Not only is Lumpy not in there, but Cooper is still yelling out in the living room. Want to know what the craziness was about? Foghat's Slow Ride was on the radio and he starts screaming that it's on Bubba's Guitar Hero. Oh my addict!

Cooper's Christmas List ~

Cooper spent the afternoon at Grammy and Grandpa's house yesterday and when the girls and I got there, my mom told me Cooper had told her his Christmas list. She wrote it down just as he told her:

1. John Deere gator
2. Star Wars TV game
3. light sabers in every color
4. glow-in-the-dark underwear
5. table for my room (as long as Dad's truck)
6. TV remote
7. Polly Pockets for Riley
8. 2 lamps for the living room
9. 3 pillows - 1 big straight one like Dad's
10. a 'mote control John Deere tractor
11. a scary mask
12. a lock for my room so Camdyn can't get in when I'm gone
13. a wooden reindeer
14. stuffed fawn
15. kid cookbook
16. kid craft book
17. Night Before Christmas book

I believe 13-17 and the 2 lamps came from him looking around the room while talking to Grammy. haha He's original, but come on, who really asks for a stuffed fawn? :P He then proceeded to circle every toy in the toy catalog Grammy got in the mail. 'Cause a kid can never have enough toys, right?

Phobia ~


pho·bi·a (fō'bē-ə) n.
1. A persistent, abnormal, and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels one to avoid it, despite the awareness and reassurance that it is not dangerous.

2. A strong fear, dislike, or aversion.

I've come to the conclusion that I have some yet unnamed phobia of opening these unostentatious roll containers. My husband thinks it's darn right humerous, but one of these days when I'm blinded or maimed whilst preparing a breakfast of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, he'll understand my trepidation.

The Surprise Party ~

After waiting for months it was finally here, the surprise 60th birthday party for my mom. We had the party at 180 Main in Dubuque, the neatest old building that has an irish pub in the basement with live music, a restaurant on the main floor, banquet room, and another loft upstairs. You can check it out at http://www.180main.com/ , the food was wonderful and the banquet room was just perfect for us.
My mom was absolutely, without a doubt, clueless about the whole thing---she was SO incredibly surprised and seeing her so happy made it all worth it. It was so nice having our family together, I wish everyone lived closer. So I leave you with a picture of the fam...

Photoshop Actions ~

I'm just figuring out how to work actions in Photoshop, the whole thing is still really confusing, but I'm working on it. This action is vintage, it obviously does something with desaturation and texturization...beyond that, I have no idea! :P

Ratatouille ~

Clyde bought Ratatouille today, so we had family movie night tonight. What a cute movie! The kids loved and we adults enjoyed it too. Thumbs up from the Kay family! ;)

I remember reading that rats make wonderful pets, but after watching the bonus feature on the dvd---I'm not sure so it would be the best for us. It said a male and female rat can produce 15,000 baby rats in a lifetime. Holy babies batman...er, ratman!

Mountain Cabin Revisited---

I posted earlier about Gymboree's new line and how much I loved it, well, we got our first shipment and oh how I love it! I got the girls matching sets of the outfit Riley's wearing in the picture, it has the matching sweater I posted earlier too. Riley loves it when she and Camdyn match and well, I think it's pretty damn cute too. I'll have to try and get a picture of the both of them together. This week starts Circle of Friends sale at Gymbo for 30% everything---uh oh! ;)

You know what irritates me?

How is it that there is an entire generation of young people that have not one shred of common sense? One of my jobs at work is to check in new patients, update their demographics and insurance information, and determine what concerns they're having. The easiest way to start the process is to ask for a date of birth. Step two, ask their name. I cannot even begin to tell you how many young people I've checked in and when asked their date of birth they have no issues, but it all goes down hill quickly after that. I ask their name and get the answer, "Jennifer." or "Mike." Does no one in high school and college have a last name? Do they think they're the only Jennifer or Mike EVER born on their same date of birth?

Happy Halloween ~

Happy Halloween from Cooper the Contractor, Riley the Princess, and Camdyn the Piggy!

Hutch~

Sir Hutchinson Braveheart, more endearingly known as Hutch or Bones, was a college graduation gift to me from Clyde. He got Hutch from a town in Minnesota called Hutchinson, hence the first part of his AKC name. Braveheart stems from Hutch's fierce battle with Parvo Virus as a young puppy.

We took Hutch to see Dr. Stark today, because he hasn't been using his back right leg. The news was bad, Hutch tore his cruciate ligament in his knee. As Dr. Stark put it, "Damn, double damn, triple damn!" He did go on to tell us that it is completely fixable, but both cost and Hutch's age will play a part in our ultimate decision. Hutch is a 12 1/2 year-old Siberian Husky that is not new to the veterinarian's office. Along with the Parvo, Hutch had a rod put in his front left paw due to a fracture he received after running into a moving car. At just over a year of age, Hutch was showing the signs of juvenile cataracts in both eyes. We opted to have a rather costly surgery to replace his cloudy lenses with artificial lenses, enabling him to see again. So, since he was a puppy, he's been an expensive dog...I sure wish he would have qualified on our health insurance policy, since he is after all, part of the family.

So we're faced with deciding if we spend the money on the surgery to repair his knee and hope he's still got a few years in him, or if we feel he's just too old and may not recovery well, then we need to put him down. I have to tell you, I don't want to have to make this choice, it's just tearing me up.

Mountain Cabin ~

Gymboree's new line is tdf, love it. I'm going to either have to start donating plasma or else I'm going to have to sell a kidney to afford what is currently sitting in my shopping cart. *sigh*

Bahl's Pumpkin Patch 2007

This was our 3rd year of going to Bahl's pumpkin farm with the kids, they've been looking forward to it for weeks now. It was in the 50's, so a little chilly, but fun nonetheless!

The kids went in a SpongeBob jump house, they had a corn maze, a hay maze, slides, pony rides, petting zoo, corn box, rope swings into hay, and a wagon ride. Camdyn had her first pony ride today and she LOVED it, she was however, mortified when the pony in front of hers took a big dump!

Each of the kids picked out a pumpkin, some cotton candy, and some hot chocolate, then we headed for home...lucky for us it's only 5 minutes away! :)

Upper Case Living

I was invited to an uppercaseliving party next week. Prior to today, I'd never heard of it. They have a website, http://www.uppercaseliving.com/ so I checked out what they had to offer tonight. Cute stuff!! I definitely will be getting something, I just don't know what. I'm thinking of getting, "Firecrotch" to put on the wall above where Clyde sleeps, but aside from that I'm struggling for ideas! I do like this Irish blessing for the entryway:

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.

or maybe

May you live as long as you want,
and never want as long as you live.

Exchanging Digits

Riley came home from school today and informed me that she and Luke had exchanged phone numbers today---so they could call each other. Um yeah, about that---don't think so. Clyde said when he calls he's going to give him the 'Big, Scary Dad' talk, I had to remind him that Luke is 5.

Homespun Style

So I've been introduced to Janie and Jack's October 2005 line, Homespun Style. Those that know me, know of my addiction to kids clothes. Well, I'm head over heels for this line right now. I'm a woman on a mission---Camdyn will have this line---period.

Guitar Hero 2

Cooper was introduced to GH2 this past weekend. My brother, whom we call Bubba, showed Cooper how to play it. To say Cooper was engrossed with it would be an understatement...the kid straight up would have taken it home if given the opportunity.

They played two player and Cooper had to have the guitar with the skull and crossbones---duh, as if a 4-year-old boy would choose otherwise? I have to admit it was pretty funny to see him jamming out to some of the songs I listened to as a teenager, like Sweet Child O' Mine.

When we got home, Cooper was turning other toys into 'guitars' and running around the house like a crazy fool. Perhaps his aspiration to become a 'diggerman' will now be replaced by a rock star?

You can find me in St. Louie...

We just spent the last 6 hours in the car with the kids. I'm quite sure if I ever decide to make the trek to St Louis again, it will only be after I've added Valium and Xanax to my itinerary. Love my children more than life itself, but a 22-month-old that doesn't sleep a wink, a 4-year-old that keeps asking if we're there yet, and a 6-year-old whining about what movie they're watching is enough to drive me to drink.

It was awesome visiting my brother, I really miss seeing him. We went to see his new apartment, which was not only huge, but also new and bright! He had sunrooms that flanked both ends of the unit, complete with french doors, wood and ceramic tile floors. The most impressive thing was the video game console he made from scratch, complete with all the Nintendo, Super Nintendo, and arcade games EVER MADE! He never ceases to amaze me!

So, as much as I may bitch about the drive time with the kids, it was worth it. In fact, I wish we had more time there. The kids LOVE spending time with Uncle Bubba and he quite obviously loves spending time with them (even though they wear him out!).

Why do dogs smell so stinkin' bad? One of our dogs, not sure which, has gas bad enough to initiate any one's gag reflex. Honestly, worse than rotten milk mixed with garbage that's sat in the sweltering heat, sitting on top of a dead, maggot-ridden rat. There is now a quite flammable, putrid cloud hanging over the living room. Whatever crawled up and died in their anal fissures needs to find it's way out, and fast!

I ordered this shirt today---guess who it's for?

A Riley Brag ~

Riley and her class were tested for an early literacy test...the class scores ranged from 33-124...except for Riley who scored a 162! We are so stinkin proud of her!

Tooth Fairy

The tooth fairy has a date with our house tonight, Riley lost her first tooth today! She was beyond excited, I'm pretty sure she called everyone she knows to tell them the big news.

Billy Bob Binky

Betcha you'd have to look twice if you saw this in her mouth out in public! Rest assured, I will never let that happen! ;)

Morgan and Milo

How cute are these shoes?! I was so stoked when I found out they come in Cooper's size---he LOVES his flame shoes! Now I'm on the lookout for other styles for the girls!

Gato Doméstic

Three and Tashi playing king of the jungle. They usually pay little to no attention to one another, but once they get outside they turn into wild cats pouncing on each other.