Girlfriend Trip 2010...nothing could be finer...

Each February, my best girlfriends and I head to North Myrtle Beach for some shopping, relaxing, reconnecting, and insane laughing! Believe me when I say that we count down the days...no kids, no husbands, no schedules...just us..Lauralan, Brenda, me, Jackie, Lynn and Pamelia...this year we stayed at MARGATE TOWER in KINGSTON PLANTATION

(thanks Jackie!!!)
but before we even checked in, we hit the Tanger outlets and the first place we went was to the Disney store for princess dresses...and a Minnie Mouse dress too!!!!! so cute...Princesses Olivia, Mazeigh and Emma will have fun in Novemeber when they go to Disney World!! we knew our girlfriend had found an awesome place for us to stay when we realized we had a servant's entrance AND double front doors....are we spoiled or what????

our condo was oceanfront, luxurious and HUGE!!!!

(4 bedrooms, 3 baths, kitchen, dining, living, laundry, massive deck...)

we had a blast getting ready in the mornings....love bing silly teenagers once a year...

My friend Jackie is cool...so SOOO cool!!! Man! I adore her...she makes everything fun!!! Andrew is working for my brother as an intern and we invited him to meet us for dinner...and he was a big help carrying our afternoon shopping spoils to the car!! Kinda nice having an intern around to help out...

and Pamelia's suggestion of this Mongolian Grill was aFaBuLoUs choice for dinner!!!!!!

delicious and fun!

yum!! we ate good every evening!

and twice we had lunch at my favorite Steak and Shake...

but...

what are wearing??????yep...old age is creeping up on us..fiber and reading glasses....uggghhhh

Brenda is still young enough to sit on the counter...nice kitchen, huh? we LOVED our LUXURY girlfriend condo...unbelievable!!!!

we had soooo much room for relaxing (see my bedroom in the background???? loved that bed)

Saturday came way too soon and the packing began...um, we seem to have accumulated lots of packages...where will we put our luggage????

I know Andrew's internship is demanding but I am so glad he took some time off to help us...the first child (or man) to EVER be allowed in the girlfriend condo!!!!!!

but we needed his help and he gave up sleeping in on Saturday to come to our rescue...

thank goodness he just bought his first car....we needed it...

I see Abercrombie and Coach bags....hmmmm....wonder what else??? (just about everything!!) Even though we took a SUBURBAN this year, we ran out of room so Andrew packed his new car with our shopping bags...

waved goodbye and took our packages home...so we could shop one more day...THANKS SON!!!

I love my girlfriends...we share so much and care so much for each other even though we are very different people...years of sharing each others' burdens and joys have solidified our friendship and have truly bonded us as sisters!! Thank you girlfriends for enriching my life and keeping me sane....seriously campaigning for an entire week next year...love you all.

until next year...missing you all already...

Fun January outings...

Patti and I stopped by Dollar General and then Beth's house and enjoyed a visit with the Bailey Girls!!!

I think Alee is gorgeous...and YES, I need cut and color VERY VERY badly!!!!!

We visited my dad, sister and Andrew in Myrtle Beach...J Conn LOVES visiting with hus brothers....

we enjoyed sleeping at Kim's...

Sarah Beth adores Aunt Kim...

Daddy Tom (aka DT) loves BoJo

and I loved these magnets Kristen Edwards had on her fridge...LaNelle can make these

How in the world did January go by so fast?????

The Most Fun Calling EVER!!!!

This is my 3rd time to be Girls Activity Day Leader and I LOVE my calling!! GAD meets twice a month for an hour and we help the 8-11 year old girls complete their Faith in God requirements...I love this age because they like everything you do and get excited and are just so so fun! Plus, I get to do fun things with Sarah Beth and my co-leader is one of my girlfriends, Lauralan...it's a dream calling! Last week, Lauralan was with family at the hospital so Patti stepped in and helped. (ALthough Lauralan had the idea for the meeting!!) We worked on good health habits and talked about the Temple and our bodies being like the Temple and the importance of staying clean and pure...and beautiful and being your own kind of beautiful, etc etc etc (all in 10 minutes 'cause I insist that these activities be FUN!!!!) Here's our sorta healthy snacks...

Patti is a kids' trainer at My Gym so she helped the girls do really fun stretches and gymnastics. They LOVED IT!!!! We also made our own bath salts...so easy and fun but it was a little messy with 8 girls (we split them in 2 groups and rotated from yoga/gymnastics and bath salts) Here are 8 of "my girls" (clockwise from the girl in green) Chauncey, Emmi, Jessica, Lauren, Catherine,

Sarah Beth, Pazlan, and Madison Lauren is sooooo cute!!!!

Sarah Beth did a cartwheel...

Chauncey and Emmi did a lot of gymnastics and were very good!!!!

Madison and Chauncey doing something!!!!

Sarah Beth and Madison are good friends...and act a lot alike!!!!!

Chauncey was the first to take home our mascot L.A.R.S. (Loving and Righteous Saint). She brought him back and this week Madison took him home. The girls record the fun they have with L.A.R.S. in a journal each day, they feed him by reading the scriptures to him daily, they keep him on his schedule by praying morning and night and exercising 30 minutes a day. They love him and eagerly await their turn to have him...and he helps them establish great habits!

Don't you wish you were part of our Girls Activity Days???? Don't worry, I know your talents and will not hesitate to invite you to come share with us!!!!!

Always outside...

Santa brought laptops for the twins this year and I was worried that might lure them inside which would be sad since I firmly believe kids need outdoor time...thankfully Peter and Ellen (with some help from Steven, LaNelle and Andrew) gave the twins an awesome freestanding "treehouse" for Christmas. It isn't finished yet but is finished enough for play!! The slide is too steep, too narrow and has no side rails (that was my and Ellen's nurse opinion). It is also GREAT FUN (everyone else's opinion). I even went down today and it IS fun!

I have nightmares about ER visits...

It is an amazing gift and with the lattice sides, there's even a "downstairs room". We will be scouring yard sales for their very own furniture...love the custom door!!

This is a big no-no! I do not allow the twins in the pond...especially not when there is ice...so I saw this and jumped up to yell when I realized that the con-man was ernestly looking for SB's lost ring...I just couldn't fuss too much...

Note "our" labrador. He belonged to a neighbor that passed away and asked another neighbor to care for "Spike". Well, Spike has adopted us and trots up EVERY school day at 3 pm to meet the bus and hangs out till bedtime. He is around ALL weekend. His official adopted family checks on him and apologizes for the intrusion but we are okay with it! The twins have a very loving and loyal friend and we have NONE of the responsibility (although we do feed him every afternoon...). He is extremely loving, quiet, well behaved and a perfect watchdog for the twins!

We are looking forward to summer but love our wonderful home's outdoor space in winter too!!!

night shift/day shift decisions

I love my job. I am blessed with the opportunity to do what I love while stretching my mind. I help provide for my family while performing a much needed service. I work nights because that is best for my family...and I love the people I work with and the challenges of the urgency often associated with nights.

My health is steadily declining. My children have compared me to the eveready bunny because I just keep going and going. Lately, I can barely go at all....big part of that is the 120 extra pounds I'm lugging around...but I am thinking the nights and continuously interrupted sleep are the real culprits...some nights I literally cry all the way to work because I am so very very tired. And, more and more, it seems like Pete and I have no life together. We have lived opposite schedules for almost 8 years so we could be here for the kids...it is taking its toll.

In the very near future, I'll have the opportunity to switch to days. Sooooo tempting...have a normal life, be with Pete every night, get on a normal sleep/wake cycle, feel like a human being again...BUT it would also mean the twins alone for a few hours twice a week and working every other Sat/Sun. AND Patti doesn't drive and depends on me to get her to work and school...

decisions decisions...I'll keep you posted

Seriously So Blessed...READ IT!!!!!

OKAY...I LOVE to laught at myself and find this sarcastic tongue-in-cheek blog HI-LARIOUS!!!! You might be offended if it hits too close to home but I hope you will just throw your head back and laugh when you see yourself in it because it truly "gets us"!!! I see myself and many of my family and friends...c'mon...check it out...it's too funny to miss...THE BUTTON IS ON MY SIDEBOARD...you know I don't know how to paste it here...