Instant Collagen Effect

If you are feeling like you need a little more fullness in your lips but don't have the extra cash to spend on collagen injections right now, you can just follow Emerie's example and smack your face on a hard surface floor.

If you don't think you can bring yourself to do it on your own, I'm sure Jace would be happy to help. He didn't seem to mind too much in this case.

Finally Walking!!!!

Well....kinda.

Emerie is now 14 1/2 months old and this is how she opts to get around. We have been able to get her to take a few steps, but I believe she may be a bit bull-headed like her daddy. I'm so mild mannered I know it couldn't possibly be from me. She gets around fast enough, though. As soon as the pantry is opened she's there dumping out cocoa, powdered sugar, knocking cans over, etc. Then to top it off, she takes things, like boxes of jello, from the pantry and dumps them in the garbage if the lid happens to be open. It's like she's in a slam dunk contest, and from the looks of things, she'd smoke the competition. It's a good thing she's so squishy and cute...I just have to forgive her.

As for Jace, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

Faith, Trust & Tooth Fairy Dust

So I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how important it was for Hallie to finally start losing teeth--to her dismay, she did not lose any during Kindergarten. She had to wait clear until first grade before she lost her very first one….and this is when it happened…she became completely obsessed with the tooth fairy. Can you guess what she is being for Halloween this year?

Anyway, back to my babbling…after her first visit from the tooth fairy she was sold. The next lost tooth was accompanied with a note under her pillow that went along the lines of “I don’t want any money. I just want to meet you…yadda, yadda, yadda.” While this touched my little heart it caused “Starla” (Hallie’s personal tooth fairy) to pen back with “I’m sorry, but it is against regulations in the Fairy Handbook to meet humans.” There were several other correspondences coinciding with more lost teeth. Then Hallie’s mouth went on a kind of hiatus for about six months. Well, she once again lost another tooth. What will this bring? I asked myself. I could not have been more surprised OR amused when I read the note for Starla.

Now, before you read the note here is some background information from this past week. Hallie’s school is constantly asking for money. This week they are acquiring “pledges” for a walk-a-thon fundraiser. Hallie has been relentlessly bugging us to give her money for this cause…OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Now, read on…

The note accompanying Hallie’s newly lost tooth read:

Dear Starla I have lost my tooth. Of course. Please show me a picture. Thank you. You are my best friend. What is your last name? Sign it right here ____________________. Please give me ten dollars I want to get pleges to my school. Thank you and ten or twenty is good.

Seriously, can you say car salesman? Sadly, she only got a dollar.

TIME FLIES

I know the old adage is “time flies when you’re having fun,” but I found during July and now August it also has the ability to fly when “fun” is not necessarily the first word that comes to mind.

We did celebrate Hallie’s 7th birthday in July with a little Tinkerbell party—I’m so happy she is currently out of the “I want to act like a valley-girl-teenager” stage. The attitude and jargon that came along with this phase about drove me to an early Prozac addiction—I’m trying to save that for high school.

She finally got the Barbie mp3 player she'd been wanting--it was fun to see her excitement, though.

We did begin August with a bang…Emerie turned one! Once again, where has the time gone? She’s not even close to walking, but that’s okay with me…she’s got a Russian march meets River Dance thing goin’ on. Perhaps her smokin’ hot thigh rolls will stay around a bit longer, though.

She still has not eaten her first piece of cake. The only thing that came from this experience was the opportunity to wash green icing out of her hair.

This has nothing to do with anything other than I love how she just "chills" every time I put her in the bath, and here she is again just chillin' with Kevin.

As for Jace, nothing too exciting to report…he spends the majority of his time in superhero mode. If there are superpowers involved count him in. Every once in awhile he likes to be “Octopus Prime” (transformer) or likes to play games like “Old Maybe.” It’s also always a safe bet he’ll give me attitude daily…I’ve heard “WHATEVER” and “I don’t like having a mom” more in the last month than most parents probably hear in a lifetime. But, “WHATEVER.”

I bet for those of you who knew about our 24-hour pet dachsund you'd never have imagined we would get another pet. Who knew? At least this one has a short life span.

Here is my favorite quality time with Jace, and I'm not talking about the slip-n-slide either.

No fabulous vacations or camping trips to report, but we had a few fun simple times throughout the summer...here are my kids having backyard fun with their cousin Taylor.

Everybody's first visit to the Living Planet Aquarium...I guess the octopus getting its food out of Mr. Potato Head was kinda cool. This visit definitely fits under the summer "filler" category.

When it comes to this past summer, I don’t know, but I think I want a refund…I did NOT get my money’s worth.

Cravings & Dreams

So, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but I LOVE my itty bitty I-pod. I was slow jumping on the mp3 wagon, but now I’m here and loving it. This week I was doing some dishes while enjoying some tunes…really I was gettin’ down. If anyone was peeping in my windows they would think I was crazy. Anyway, it was getting to the climax of the song…which I’m a bit ashamed to admit was a Pussycat Doll's song…and I was feeling the music, you know, really belting it out. It was then Jace got my attention to advise me, “Mom, sing it like it’s soft because then it’s more beautifuller.” A.K.A…shut your mouth…you’re killing my ears. This is after the fact that Emerie is my first baby who doesn’t cry when I start singing. I suppose I will have to say good-bye to my American Idol dreams.

On top of my lack of singing talent I’ve also had a problem with cravings lately. Okay, well not really just lately…I’ve always been one to enjoy a treat or five, but they’ve become a staple in my diet. I’ve tried hard, well kind of hard, to be healthier. I’ve been going jogging in the mornings, and I’ve stopped buying treats to bring home, but the cravings keep a-comin’. Yesterday I resorted to sniffing out some stale tootsie rolls leftover from this last year’s preschool. I ended the evening with finishing off Jace’s milkshake which had pretty much melted, refroze, and then sat in the freezer for a week. Mmmmmm…yummy. I think I may have a problem.

Lazy Days

From crazy days to lazy days…I love summertime! Hallie celebrated the end of her school year with an extremely disgusting whipped topping fight. What happened to good ol’ fashioned water fights I ask you? I seriously made her bathe twice she was so revolting…but the kids all had a blast, so I guess that counts for something.


Without preschool taking up a large majority of Jace’s time, his imagination has been in full throttle…here he is doing some repair work on Emerie’s walker. He’s a man’s man.

Emerie has finally emerged from her bedroom during her playtime…the house is now hers for the taking. While this seems to satisfy her for a longer duration she, unfortunately, found her adventures taking her tumbling down the stairs. Yeah, I know, I should totally be up for mother-of-the-year.

With all this extra time on our hands we’ve become quite creative with family activities this summer. Our newest pastime is watching Jace, who is a horribly picky eater, taste test all of Emerie’s baby food. It started out with fruits…not too terrible…but has progressed onto the dinner entrees. I’m talking ham, rice and pineapple dishes. I waited for him to toss his cookies, but each time he just licks his lips and wants more. Tonight Hallie didn’t want to miss out on the fun…so after Jace mmm-mmm’d the vegetables and chicken, she decided she’d like a bite as well...I don’t think Jace and I have ever laughed so hard together as we watched Hallie dry-heave her way to the bathroom. Good times in the Pursel home.

Our other past time is attempting to get Emerie to pull her faces at us…she’s a pro. Here’s what we’ve been able to get so far…

With the rest of the summer still ahead of us it’s kind of scary to imagine what we’ll be resorting too for pleasure when this is where we’ve begun.

The sky is the limit, I suppose...

Crazy Days in May

Wow! I can’t believe I made it through…it was touch and go there for awhile. I’ve come to realize May is more hectic than December could ever hope to be. Between preparing for preschool graduation, dance recitals, birthdays, Mother’s Day, end of year school activities, etc. I sometimes wonder what I’ve gotten myself into and that maybe the vagabonds living on the streets have something on me. Yet, after a night of 11 hours sleep along with a two hour nap the next morning and staying in bed all day reading, I think I once again have a handle on things—nothing a little slothfulness couldn’t cure.


Preschool graduation was last week, and while it takes a lot of effort, it is always fun to see the kids perform for their families—especially when one of my own is in the mix. Jace did a really good job belting out the tunes, no matter how monotone he sounded. The “Dopey” look also makes it a sweet experience. Jace also turned four-years-old this month. We went to Farm Country for his b-day and while there he informed us he is allergic to horse poop. He followed up the fun experience with a 20-minute screaming tantrum because we didn’t get him popcorn as we were leaving. I thought girls were supposed to be the emotionally draining ones…I guess I’m just super lucky.

Hallie had her dance recital as well this month. The recitals are the main reason I signed her up for dance—she gets a cute costume, pictures, and I get to see her perform. However, after I watched her run cluelessly around the stage looking for her mark I questioned my logic. She still looked cute in her costume, though Kevin questioned where the other half of it was. I counted an approximate 3.5 seconds she actually danced. Needless to say, she will not be signed back up this fall. She’s not too broken up about it, though. We’re going to try out some gymnastics this summer and soccer this fall.

As for Emerie, it has been a big growth month for her. She now has six teeth and is crawling—spastically crawling, but crawling none the less. She has also perfected the pouncing tactic. She will be softly caressing our faces, adoringly, then out of nowhere she just about claws our faces off. She’s worth the pain, though.

May is pretty much over…Whoo hoo! While I don’t like to wish days away for the most part, I am really excited for this summer and the extra time I will have to spend enjoying my family and making memories…good or bad…I’m excited no matter what!

This is how I occasionally find Emerie sleeping.

This is how I occasionally find Emerie squawking for me, but when I peek in I find...

"Surprise! I'm not stuck I just wanted to show you how cool I am."

DISNEYLAND

Monstrous lines, inflation, tantrums, airplane ride with children, public restrooms,…these are all things that come to mind when I think of taking a vacation to Disneyland. So, why am I always so excited to go? Well, I gotta tell you…I love Disneyland!!! The bright colors, characters, inspired settings, variety of rides, expensive souvenirs, well, I love it all! A $7 ice cream cone never tasted so delicious! Visiting Disneyland with my family is truly one of my favorite things to do. The excitement on the kids’ faces as we see a character come to life or the enthusiasm shown as we are about to climb onto a ride makes it worth the hassle.

We started off the vacation a little rough by almost missing our flight…yes, they actually called our names over the intercom and then lectured us as we were boarding our flight. Whoops! Disneyland was great, though…especially when we were able to utilize our early entry passes. We even got Jace to ride on something other than Small World and Dumbo. I coaxed Hallie into riding Space Mountain with me, and she loved it! So, then she decided she wanted to go on Tower of Terror and California Screamin’. I was a little nervous to take her on either, but she insisted. I don’t know if it was to show up her cowardly dad or an actual desire, but we went and both had a blast! I finally have a partner for Six Flags!!! Whoo hoo!

We also frequented Cheesecake Factory while we were there. As we were enjoying our dessert (Jace licking his ice cream straight from the dish and Hallie talking incessantly about nothing) Kevin looked at me and said, “Our kids are weird.” Before I could agree, Jace looked up and said, “I’m not a kid. I’m a puppy.” Lick, lick. Seriously...what more can I say?

Oh, and not that it matters much, but I totally met Mark from this season’s “The Biggest Loser.” Well, at least I thought it was cool. We really did have a wonderful time!

My cute family (minus Emerie, who was vacationing at home with Grandma Debbie)

Hallie and Jace couldn't get enough of this little water park. Jace even took a couple squirts right in the eye and kept on truckin'.

Hallie and I got quite a giggle out of Cruella-she told Hallie her shirt looked like bad wallpaper. She's great!

It's not a problem getting Hallie to let me take her picture...as you can see, the problem is getting her to stop posing.

Tender Moments

Mornings are few and far between when I actually get to cuddle with any of my children. I’m usually finding a way to drag myself out of bed to then rush and get us all ready to start another day of chaos. However, it is the first day of spring break today, so when Jace crawled in bed with me this morning I was happy to take a moment to cuddle with my little bag of bones. It became an even more precious moment when he leaned up and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. As I was stretching and thinking how I love little moments like these I was rewarded with......a wet willy—so much for my tender moment.

Happy Birthday!!!

It has finally happened...I am now married to a grown-up. Well, in the physical sense anyway. Psychologically, it might just be another story. Kevin turned 30 yesterday. He is a wonderful person, who continually makes me laugh and is not afraid to look like a moron in the process. What can I say? I just love him.

FAVORITES

So, I know in the hypothetical Parents 101 handbook one of the top rules is to not play favorites with your children, but sometimes kids make it really hard. On one hand, I have Emerie who is, seriously, the world’s best baby. This is not “just because I’m her mom” talk either for the reason that Hallie could possibly have been the world’s worst baby. It is just when Emerie is awake she plays quietly with whatever you give her, and she gives heart-tingling smiles when she catches your attention. Another thing that helps Emerie’s standing is she sleeps 19 hours a day still…she knows mommy NEEDS some quiet time. However, Jace and Hallie have completely missed this vital piece of information.

First, I have Mr. Attitude, who seems to never stop talking or pestering and then this week interrupted me while I was telling him to go pick up some toys by yelling, “No, I’m in charge!” I, apparently, didn’t get that memo.

Then I have Hallie, who the majority of the time is a very sweet little girl…that is, until six-year-old hormones kick in. I didn’t realize six-year-olds needed to worry about having too much arm hair or what hairstyle they were getting—I wish she would just focus her energy on actually brushing her teeth now and then.

Don’t get me wrong…I wouldn’t trade my kids for anything, except for maybe a banana shake now and then. Motherhood does have its wonderful moments amidst the chaos. I just didn’t realize the ratio of “wonderful” and “what was I thinking” would be so lopsided.

Here are some pictures to help show that I really do love being a mom...most of the time.

This is the greeting I get every time I get Emerie out of her crib--I love it!

She's not crawling quite yet...but look at that form.

Emerie is the first of my children to not have an automatic detestation for strangers. Whoo hoo!

Emerie is thinking..."I hope Jace can't find me under here."

Don't hate on the hottie!! She might be smuggling popcorn in those britches.

You've got to love blanket huts. I always felt like a genie--so fun. What you can't see is me in there running the show...just teasing.

All I can say is...poor, poor Emerie. Weird...Jace is in his spiderman outfit.

Here's Jace helping with the laundry...oh wait.

Oh, and HAPPY 8th ANNIVERSARY TO KEVIN & ME!!! Boy, do I love my man!

Armpit of the United States

HAPPY EASTER!!!

The world lost a wonderfully sweet lady this month—Kevin’s Grandma Pursel passed away after dealing with both Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. I never used to give the death of an elderly person a second thought before because, well, they were old. I didn’t think a death like this would cause a spouse to grieve as another might who had lost a mate who is still young. Then I realized that a loss like this is still more than I can imagine. They are couples like this who have been companions, lovers and best friends for decades—much longer than the time they were without one another.

With this event I have come to a realization…life really does go by too fast. All those “older” folk that continue to say “time flies by” or “kids grow up too soon” might really know what they are talking about. Who knew?

Accompanying this realization I made a decision…I don’t want to let the days slide by without making the most of my time while I am still “younger”. I have heard people talk about life lists before, but had never thought to make my own. During my time in Nevada I was reading a book that once again talked of life lists. With my recent epiphany I decided this was a great idea. So, here is the beginning of my life list (I figure if I share some with others I’m more likely to actually follow through):

*Read the Book of Mormon (pathetic, I know, I’ve started several times, but never finished)
*Go sky diving
*Run a marathon
*Go deep sea scuba diving
*Learn to play the guitar
*Learn patience AND humility
*Publish a children’s book

These are just to get me started…we’ll say this is my five year plan.

While the trip our family made to Nevada this week was due to a sad event, we also had some sweet moments. The trip always starts and ends on a bad note—I never have been one to enjoy road trips. However, you have to love the comatose state automobile DVD players inflict on children.

We made it to Nevada with making only one stop halfway for gas and grub. However, the trip home was not so smooth sailing. Eight stops. Eight stops. Seriously, eight stops. Jace had to go potty right out of Fallon. If you’ve ever been to Nevada you know its pretty much barren wasteland, so you know you don’t have convenient stops along the way for potty breaks. After two separate stops I finally got Jace to go potty at the side of the road—we did have to find a secluded area to conceal his manly girth, which is a chore in itself because of the “amazing” flora and fauna of the armpit of the United States. He did succeed and was so proud of himself he figured he’d encourage Hallie to do the same. This excitement didn’t last for long because 15 minutes later he had to go “poopoo”. Well, mama don’t play that at the side of the road, so we cruised as quickly as we could to the next trailer park town. This routine repeated itself several times because as it turned out…Jace had the ol’ hershey squirts. I’ve never been so excited to be home in my life. We did have some sweet moments while we were there, though.

Kevin’s sister, Natalie, and her two oldest girls made it over from Alabama. It was really good to see them—Brielle and Brooklyn are like a couple of spirit leaders. We got to visit Kevin’s Aunt Robyn and his purple-haired Grandma Robbins, who spoke of giving strip teases for her guests. We also went bowling where Hallie outscored me, and she didn’t even get to finish all her rounds. Jace was a bit of a different story…he scored 12 and that was with the bumpers up. He had one ball that didn’t even make it to the pins—apparently, he has Kevin’s former arm strength. (Disclaimer: Kevin is waaaaaaaaaay burly and brawny now!) As for Emerie, when she wasn’t sleeping she was wowing everyone with her content, sweet nature and dimpled leg rolls. It was really good to spend this time with my family—they make me laugh and that is one of my favorite things to do!

Reality

So, this is kind of what I was afraid of…that my life would continue to be as boring as usual, and I would not have anything interesting to write about.

My typical day is:

Wake up and get ready
Get kids ready
Eat breakfast
Get Hallie off to school
Teach preschool
Think about the weight-loss program I started that day
Eat a treat
Wish I was a Hilton (“that’s hot”)
Eat another treat
Welcome Hallie home from school
Finish off the rest of my chores for that day while eating more treats. The weight-loss program will just have to start the next day.

If I was being advertised my slogan would be “I just ate my will-power.”

Yep, that’s me. I did, however, manage to embarrass Hallie at the bus-stop this week by yelling at some of the kids from her school. They, apparently, think it is cool to run across the main road in front of large vehicles, buses, dumptrucks, etc. So, being me, I let them know my true feelings…the words “stupid” and “idiot” may have been liberally used. A few days later I walked Hallie up to the bus-stop and noticed a variety of looks I was receiving, which I found to be pretty amusing. Hallie, however, didn’t.

Before the bus arrived she said to me, “Did you want to go home now? Are you cold?”
(I usually stay until I have waved her off in the bus)
Smiling with an idea to what she was getting at, I ask, “Why?”
She answers me with, “Well, I’m a little embarrassed that some of the kids might remember when you yelled at them.”

Seriously, could I have a more devious child? Although, she has made a great turnaround this week from being annoying to somewhat cute again. We’ve been watching American Idol, and she commented after one of the performances, “Yeah, that had a few pitch problems for me.” Hallie is totally in the know. At least we’ve had a rest from Hannah Montana…I’ll count my blessings.

Wow! I Can't Believe I'm Blogging!

So, here's a tidbit of information I'm a bit ashamed to admit...I have, if you can believe it, in the past had a giggle or two about people blogging. I know, I know, I'm not usually one to mock, but go figure. Perhaps I was a bit self-conscious that no one would want to view mine if I ever put one together...Kevin and I aren't a "power couple" like some of our other gifted family members.

However, after becoming more or less enthralled with others' blogs I decided to take a stab at it. Worse case scenario...I'd be talking to myself, which isn't too uncommon anyway. So, with that said, I would like to make my sincerest apologies to those of you who paved the blogging road.

This whole process will be baby steps for me. I may have somewhat of a computer nerd as a dad, but this apple fell far from that tree. I don't know...this will be interesting.