Mad as a hatter!

"What's going on in your life?" you ask.

My second favorite answer is I got a promotion at work! Jeff and I have been planning all the ways to spend all that extra cash I will be earning like. . . yachts and private planes.

Just kidding, but I'm totally psyched because I haven't had a promotion since I started and due to the economy getting a raise has been pretty tough, so this is pretty big news for us.

And what has taken me so long to post?

Well let me see if I can sum up in one word what I have been doing with my last month.

Halloween.

While Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday over all. Halloween is the holiday that I was built for . . .

Because I LOVE costumes.

Do you know about me and theater? Have I mentioned it yet? I am a pretty poor actress and singer, so I didn't get to do much on stage, not to mention I pretty much sucked at hitting my cues to enter and leave . .we won't mention the one time I was spacing out in the green room and completely forgot to go on stage. (Don't worry, I didn't have any dialogue that got dropped.)

But I did fall in love with this lady.

Donna

(Ritchie Valenz has begun crooning in the background)

Dear Donna taught me everything I know about doing this . . .

No! Not dressing in drag! Costuming!

While Mom and Grams get all the credit for teaching me how to sew (yes I did leave my high school home ec teacher out on purpose . . .) Donna was my college theater professor of costume and makeup design. Due to her fun and laughter, when I wasn't with my boyfriend off campus, I was in her shop stitching away merrily.

And once a year I let that theater minor loose on the world and wind up with something a little like this . . .

The Mad Hatter!!!

This is me downtown competing in a costume competition on Saturday.
And yes I did place, I came in fourth after Han Solo riding a Tonton, a Chilean Miner, and a Husker *ahem* violating the Mizzou tiger (yucky, but it was well done.)
Currently there are probably 100 plus pictures of me surfing around the intranet and I'm sure several videos of me dancing like a loon
oh, excuse m I mean I was "Futterwacking" like a loon. When in Wonderland . . . .

And now here is where I brag. I made almost the entire thing myself. Yep, the hat. the jacket, the gloves and eyebrows were all me. The pants were modified from Goodwill, and my sister actually had the socks and boots in her closet. Between my makeup design starter kit and my sister's collection of eye shadow, I didn't have to buy a single piece of makeup.

And the gift card that I won wasn't anywhere near what I spent. But I always figure that some of these pieces will be reusable, so they have been retired to the costume closet upstairs until needed again.

I did save a bit of time for my girls' costumes.

Sadly the camera was running out of batteries and I was running out of patience, so these pics are all I have.

And, alright, I admit it!

I purchased the Tink costume! (I just heard Donna's gasp of outrage from across town . . .)

I just couldn't find the right color of stretchy fabric to make a tink costume that would last for at least 2 years. And if I'm going to make a princess/fairy dress for Alaina, it needs to be built to fit for a few years because she loves to dress up.


Jeff was very fortunate in that I didn't have time to make a costume for him, because he would have made a nice Peter Pan. (Ha ha!) Don't mind Kayla, I swear she's just screaming "Take the picture already!!!" : )

I swear if I had the time, I would costume everyone I know for Halloween.

and really that's about it. I've signed us up for holiday photo sessions this weekend so I've resigned myself to rushing around getting haircuts, dresses and everything else for the little ones before Sunday.


And with that planned, Jeff and I are looking at zero relaxing weekends before December.

*Sigh*

I don't know why I ever think that I can get anything done between Labor day and Christmas.

So Suh me . . .

Jeff and I had a great football weekend. We went to a Husker bar and watch the Huskers eek out a rather unsatisfying win and then rounded out the weekend by watching Suh and the Detroit Lions have a harsh loss dealt to them by an old man who can throw a football really well with the Vikings.

But just to shake things up a bit, we did this all in Minnesota.

Yep! That's right! A husker bar in Minneapolis! I have to admit, its actually a lot cooler than a Husker bar in Nebraska, because you don't have to stake out a table three hours before kickoff and you can actually get a drink served to you in under 5 minutes without having to flash the bartender.

Not that I've EVER done that!

And then we attended the Lions/Vikings game here . . .

It was AWESOME! except for the pesky fact that the team I was cheering for lost. Its rather humbling to be surrounded by thousands of people who are NOT cheering for your team. Quite the change for a Nebraskan.

Jeff's cousin took the chance to rub it in.


I look forward to next year when the Lions have their actual quarterback. It is soooo on Primo! And that's about all I have for today . . . I tried to take pictures of Alaina and Kayla playing in the yard, but my camera hates me, so they just turned out blurry. What a shame because we had a little picnic and played "guess what Kayla's pointing and babbling about this time?" Alaina does a pretty good job of narrating in between Kayla cooing and chatting.

What's new?

I'll tell you what's new. After battling with our old computer for months on end, we finally went to Best Buy and got a new computer. Maybe I'll feel move compelled to blog with our shiny new computer.

Next up on my list of wants and desires is a nice camera that I can take stellar pictures with like Mindee or Pioneer Woman, but since I'm really hard on cameras, that day probably won't come for a while.

But since I have taken a few pictures, I'll share what I have, rotten or not. Here's my small landscaping project. As you can see I took advantage of the torrential downpour that interrupted my project and took a picture of my progress. There will be about 20 pastel tulips and 40-50 crocuses here come spring next year if all my work pays off. And that tacky looking downspout coming out of the siding? That's the former homeowners great idea for a dryer vent.

I guess I've been setting a good example, because the girls latest hobby is cleaning. They each get a towel, a spray bottle, and permission to hose down any surface that is glass or shiny plastic. Next on the list of fun things to do is go to the library. I spend most of the trip chasing Kayla around and trying to prevent her from eating crayons, but Alaina has a lot of fun picking out 4 books. She gets to pick out four books and then mommy picks out a few more for her to read.

That rule came about because I have to admit that there are some really weird children's books out there, and I want to make sure that I have a few good selections to read her as well. Here's my little lovelies rocking together is Uncle Scott's rocking chair. I had to run and get my camera, and I wish Alaina would have given me a smile, but Kayla would only sit still for one picture.

I just couldn't resist taking the photo of the girls because it reminded me of this picture that Mimi took of my brothers. Big brother offered to rock little brother to sleep when Mimi was took pregnant to do the job herself. (Did I tell that right Mimi?) We also had friends over for the great Husker victory last weekend. Alaina was ecstatic that her friend 'Phie' was able to come over and stayed for 2 hours past the football game while her parents went to the Husker volleyball game.

I had a small taste of what life was like for Mimi as I bathed and got four kids, ages 6 months to 4 years, ready for bed that night. Baby K went first, then Phie's brother. And while I was putting him down, Phie apparently got sick of waiting for me to get her bath ready, so she shed her clothes and got into the tub and played with the bath toys until Alaina told Daddy that he needed to fill the tub for them.

A good time was had by all.

Yay! Look I posted!

Yesterday I got the bring idea to take the afternoon off to finish up a little planting around the house. Jeff and I have slowly started to tackle landscaping around the house and it is looking pretty barren around the house.

Of course the day that I decide to work in the dirt is the day that the heavens decide to open up and rain on and off all afternoon. I gave up after getting 200 bulbs in the ground with 40 to go. Actually I gave up because I didn't know what to do with the last 40, but since I bought them, they are going in somewhere.

Saturday, Mimi and papa came up and we took Papa to the football game. Its always a good day when the Huskers win in Nebraska. And when I say 'we' I mean Mimi and I stayed with my girls while everyone else went to the game. We had a great time at the Children's Museum.

Maybe I can post some pics tomorrow. . . .

I'm too tired from getting up and attempting to kick my sister's butt at the gym this morning.

Confession time again

Dear blog-gods,

it has been over a month since my last post so I beg forgiveness and offer the following update to appease you . . .

Life still refuses to settle into a steady rhythm at our house as well all struggle to march to a different drum but the beats are at least starting to sync up a little. Alaina is getting more and more into her role of big sister everyday, instructing Kayla on how to best please big sister and enjoying it immensely when she gets the desired results.
Kayla is practically running around now and I've slowly caught on to the fact that childproofing was not a factor when Alaina was a baby which is why I'm struggling with door latches and keeping the carpet cleaner than the table.
But lets get a few pics out now for the photo starved . . .
2 Weekends ago, we headed up to the zoo. We arrived and departed in good time, spending 3 hours pushing and pulling one stroller and one wagon, because we learned on out last trip that a wagon is too close together for the girls, and one stroller guarantees a hurting back from carrying one of them around for an hour. At least I wizened up and ordered a canopy for the wagon.
Since we arrive within 1/2 hour of the zoo opening, we have a pretty easygoing trip for the most part. Alaina enjoyed the penguins and Kayla hollered for all she was worth at the gorillas that were getting a morning treat of apples and oranges.

And while that wasn't much of an update, my camera has decided to run out of batteries, so I'll just give up and post a short update.

Wishful thinking is hazardous to my health.

Be careful what you wish for . . .

I wished for a reason at work to have to travel to Cincinnati to visit our sister office and see all of the people that I only get to see once every 6 months to 2 years.
Results: I ended up attending a week long class in Cincinnati, which is a bit longer that I would have liked to be away, but it was nice to see everyone.

Then I wished for a day off around the 4th of July.
Results: I ended up working 50 hours the week of the 4th

Then I wished for a restful holiday weekend and was hoping to get a lot done on my day off on Monday.
Results: The girls each had the stomach flu over the weekend.

And finally, I wished that I could get completely caught up at work from the two previous stressful weeks and take yesterday off for myself.
Results: I ended up with the stomach flu and had to use two days work of paid time off to stay home and gaze longingly at food.

But now I'm back on track.

Hopefully.

The time has come for a reaffirmation to happiness on my part. So I'm tackling the things that I can change quickly first.

Check list:

1. Get a haircut.
2. Go to a tanning booth just enough to get rid of my 'vampire chic' pale skin.
3. Go to the clinique counter and try some new colors.
4. Start working out.
5. Plan meals more efficiently for the girls and myself
6. Tidy up in the evenings.
7. Steal my sister's clothes.

And I already got my haircut, so its time to get rid of my deathly palor. Because while it may be cool when you sparkle in the sun (Have you seen Twilight?), pale skin is not cool when it causes you to be asked if you are tired/feeling sick every day.