A little more Vegas...

The strip at night The waterfall outside the Wynn hotel
The view from our hotel room (on the 17th floor)
Our hotel...the Sahara (yes, that's a roller coaster ride in front of me)
Me at Paco's having a Margarita:)

Vegas Baby!

Thanks to Woody's parents and mine, we were able to get away for five days & go to one of our favorite spots...Vegas!! Here are just a few pictures (out of hundreds) we took...that we are able to show you:) heehee We had a GREAT time!! We did lots of walking, sleeping, laying by the pool, more walking, drinking, gambling...did I mention walking? We walked approximately 25 to 30 miles in the five days we were there!!?? That's more exercise than I've gotten in months!!? And we were on VACATION!!?? It was fun, relaxing walking though:)

My mom & dad taught the girls to say "Vegas Baby", so when we first saw them, that's what they said to us...it was SO cute!! Olivia kept asking me why my skin wasn't red or brown? I wondered what she was talking about, but she explained that grandma said that we were in the sun and got a little burned & tan!? By the way, they both look like they are a year older since we saw them last (on Tues.)!?

Woody & I at the slots at Caesar's Palace Our favorite hotel...the Bellagio

The water show at the Bellagio...absolutely beautiful!
The strip at night
Woody & I at Paco's...we ate there twice! Yummy:)

Here goes...My 100 Things

I have been pondering this ever since Missy posted hers, but I just didn't think that I could come up with 100 things about me that are very interesting and things that people don't already know about me, but I thought I'd give it a try!

1. I was born at Weiner Memorial Hospital in Marshall, MN (get your laughs out now!!)
2. I am an only child & have always wanted to be part of a big family!
3. I always wanted a sister and to be a sister (thanks Abby!)
4. I love to cook
5. I'm a perfectionist - not by choice
6. I love to clean:)
7. I enjoy painting
8. I think I could clean or paint for a living
9. I love being with my family
10. My kids bring me SO much joy and ALWAYS put a smile on my face (even if they are being naughty)
11. I have the most amazing husband!
12. I love my church
13. I am not a morning person
14. I have started something new, something I don't even know I am doing, but I can't help it...snoring!? (thanks mom!?)
15. I have the best in-laws (and extended family) in the world
16. I love to travel
17. especially with Woody
18. We are going to Vegas next week (for the third time!!)
19. I look forward to going shopping with Mamie the day after Thanksgiving
20. I love to cuddle with my kids
21. Woody & I rarely cuddle (we have a king bed & enjoy our space)
22. I LOVE my select comfort (sleep number) bed:)
23. I wish our house would sell
24. so we could spend more time together as a family
25. I don't get nervous to sing
26. I could sing in front of thousands of people
27. in fact, I have, I sang three years in a row at the Amatuer Talent Contest at the State Fair
28. But I cannot talk in front of people to save my life!! I get so nervous I think I could puke!
29. My first solo was at age 5
30. My dad held the microphone for me
31. I still remember that moment to this day
32. I now have that song running thru my head...
33. I shut the door, light candles and watch a movie while taking a bath
34. Taking a bath relaxes me:)
35. I wish I could take one every night!?
36. My favorite birthday was my 30th
37. Woody took me to Cape Cod & Boston for 5 days!
38. I would love to have one more child
39. I'm waiting for Woody to agree
40. I was in volleyball and golf my freshman year of High School
41. I am NOT athletic!
42. My girls are more athletic at their age than I ever have been or will be!!??
43. I have the best friends in the world
44. this is really getting old & I'm not even half way done!?
45. I cannot stand Spongebob
46. Olivia is watching it right now, cuddled up next to me:)
47. I wish I could see my parents, grandparents & aunts and uncles more
48. I miss my grandpa Ed
49. He was such a happy man
50. He would have loved my girls
51. He died when I was 7 months pregnant with Olivia
52. I loved being pregnant
53. In the delivery room, after having both girls, I said "I could do this again!!" and I meant it!!
54. I have never been & never will be a size 2
55. I struggle daily with my weight
56. I have since I was in 6th grade
57. I LOVE food
58. That & my metabolism are to blame for #55 & 56
59. My mom and I were in a car accident together, some guy rear-ended us at a stop light & drove off, I was driving
60. We both had to see a chiropracter for a year
61. I bought my first car when I was 18
62. It was a "Red" Ford Escort (technically it's color was Rasberry Ice...when I drove it, it was Pink Lightning & when Woody drove it, it was Red.)
63. I hit a mentally challenged guy on a bike with that car!
64. Oh yeah, I was STOPPED at a stop sign and HE came charging into me!!!???
65. He had Hardee's breakfast in one hand and a pop in the other & all of the above (including the guy) landed on the hood of my clean car!!
66. There was $1500 worth of damage done to the hood & front tire of my car!!
67. My first job was at The Pizza Ranch in downtown Hastings...I was 15 years old
68. I also worked at County Market in the deli & the bakery
69. Oh yeah, I was a sandwhich artist (Subway) too!
70. I did PSO (post-secondary option) my senior year of high school
71. I have been a bridesmaid 9 times!
72. never a Maid of Honor, once as a Maitron of Honor
73. I always wanted to be a hair stylist
74. I went to college at Minneapolis Business College (in Roseville, MN)
75. I was in the 10 month Legal Assistant program
76. I never got a job in that field
77. I have been to Dublin & Killarney, Ireland
78. My first job out of college was at the church daycare
79. It was only for the summer
80. I worked from 3 to 5:30 pm (and some AM's) five days a week
81. Then I got a "real" job
82. at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network
83. I worked there for 5 1/2 years
84. I left for a year to work at the Tunheim Group
85. but came back to work for a year and a half
86. I quit because we moved to Becker and I was pregnant:)
87. I DO NOT like animals!!
88. Thomas (aka the stinkin' cat) is lounging on my deck right now...
89. he's supposed to be killing mice in our backyard!!!
90. I have a tattoo of Winnie the Pooh on my back
91. I want another tattoo
92. I had my belly button pierced (and had my tattoo) when I met Woody
93. He took it out four months after we started dating
94. he used tools from his parents garage to remove it!?
95. I didn't know how to do laundry until I was 19 years old
96. One of my all-time favorite movies is Dumb & Dumber
97. I have been to London, England
98. Woody & I met on a blind date (thank you Liz!)
99. we were engaged after 4 1/2 months
100. We got married in 2000, on October 14th and are now living happily ever after:)

Grandma & Grandpa's house

My mom, the teacher, showing Olivia how to write with dry-erase markers Counting with her
Olivia drew the number 8 & then thought she could make a snowman out of it by adding another circle!?

The girls playing with playdoh in their dress-up clothes (aka - mom's old clothes she keeps in a box for them) My dad with the girls:)

April (snow) showers bring...me down!

This was (and still is) the scene out my window this morning!? Are you kidding me??!! And it's still snowing!! I am supposed to be heading down to Hastings this afternoon, picking Woody up along the way at his work! We are going to visit my parents for the weekend:) I want to be excited, but this snow is bringin' me down...I am NOT excited to drive in it. But apparently, it's just raining in Hastings.

Daddy's home!!

This is the scene at our house about 4 out of 5 days of the week after Woody gets home from work. The girls eat dinner between 5 & 5:30, but Woody doesn't usually get home until @ 6 pm. (He didn't get home last night until 6:45). So as you can see in this picture, they've had their bath and have their jammies on!! Paige got chili on her sleeve too! Poor Woody, he LOVES that the girls are SO excited to see him and want to be around him, but he literally CANNOT eat dinner without them on his lap AND they eat his food!!? He'll ask me "have they eaten yet?" They just can't get enough of their daddy (and food too!)!! Nice...Woody looks half tired, half drunk & Olivia, well, that's just one of her million faces she gives me each day:)

Black-eyed Beauty

Paige ran into the corner of our kitchen table & just missed her left eyeball. She came running to me holding her cheek & it was all red. Well, a couple of minutes passed and a big purple bump appeared right under her eye! I felt SO bad for her:( The result: a black (& blue) eye.

You can't see it very well in these pictures
Poor Paigey:(

Sleepy helper...

On Tuesday afternoons, I always make Olivia "rest" in her room. Which means, she doesn't have to sleep, she can just lay and watch a movie for awhile (9 times out of 10, it leads to a nap). She has school on Tuesday mornings and Cubbies (Awana at church) in the evening. Most Tuesday's, I don't have to say much to get her to take a nap. But today, I made the mistake of saying she just had to "rest". So after an hour, I went to check on her and she was lying in bed under the covers, wide awake, and I said "you're not sleeping!" and she said, "but mom, you said I just had to rest! Resting means I don't have to close my eyes and sleep, I can just lay and watch a movie". I said, "keep resting then". So as I am struggling to take a few pictures of myself, I thought I'd go check on her again and see if she would take a few pics! And here is what I found... Olivia on the floor with all of her pillows (three of them), her baby, and her Cinderella blanket!

My new hair!?

Last Friday night, I went to my sister-in-law's to get my hair "did". It was SO much fun! She highlighted it and cut off 6 inches!!?? I'm starting to get used to it & I think Woody likes it too!? Mary requested that I post some pictures of it, so I thought "okay, no biggie"...I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to take some pictures of myself!? What a chore! Please ignore the double chins, chubby cheeks & dumb expressions on my face!!

Daddy's little girls:)

Paige sitting on the bottom of her chair Olivia posing for daddy
Olivia's face after I told her 3 spoonfuls of cookie dough is ENOUGH!

Spring cleaning!

We spent the day on Saturday hanging out as a family, getting some things done. Woody wanted to clean out our garage & get all of the sand & junk out, but mostly to see if he could find the mouse that left a trail (of chewed up insulation) in the corner of the garage. Olivia wanted to go out & "help" daddy, so he gave me a pair of boots that had been in the garage all winter. They are Olivia's Dora "farm" boots. So I get one boot on & start shoving the second one on & she says "mommy, I can't get my foot in, there's something in my boot!" I took a peek inside to find a baby mouse all cuddled up. I freaked a little & handed Woody the boot and told him "well, we found the mouse!" So he grabbed a little cage we had for Olivia's dead butterfly friend, that she brought home from grandma's house last summer, and he tried directing the mouse into the cage. Plop...dead! Olivia & I started laughing SO hard! For days we had been talking about "the mouse in the garage" and here it was in her boot, for God only knows how long!!??