The Clean Gene

I live in a messy house.

I would love to say that this is a problem that I'm constantly combating... but let's be honest here, I'm not trying THAT hard.

However, yesterday I was immensely blessed with two toddlers deciding to sleep in ridiculously late, while I was up and awake earlier than usual. Not only did I get to enjoy a quiet and solitary shower, a cup of tea and frosted mini-wheats (or wheaty-wheats as Elliot calls them), I also had the motivation to really clean my kitchen.

Usually it takes company coming over for crock-pot Sunday to get my fat fat bottom off the couch (or computer chair) and tidy up.

There are these people who have clean houses all the time. I've been inside these houses, and I know they exist. These people have kids and babies, and yet there are no mysterious pink stains on the carpet, no orange crayon on the walls, and no food caked on the the backs of their kitchen chairs. Who are these people?!?

I keep thinking... someday when I'm a stay-at-home mom i'll have time to clean, and I'LL be one of those clean house people.

But let's be honest... probably not. I wasn't born with that obsessive cleaning gene that it sesems most women have. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry to my husband, my kids, and anyone who leaves my house with a Pop-Tart stuck to the back of their t-shirt (yes... that happened).

Then again, who knows? Maybe i'll wake up early tomorrow, enjoy a cuppa Bengal Spice, and hose down my bathrooms with bleach and glass cleaner.

It could happen.

Bye Bye Flicka

Today is a bittersweet day for Blair. After 7 years together, he is parting ways with his Mustang.

In exchange we are getting something with 4 doors, enough room in the back for 3 car seats, won't leave oil spots in the garage, and something that can actually be driven between the months of November and April in Cedar City. (Rear wheel drive cars do NOT do well in cold climates...)

Nevertheless, Flicka the Mustang will be missed.

Blair is Outnumbered

So as most friends and acquaintances are now aware, Blair and I are expecting our third baby early this December. Unsurprisingly, it will be another lovely baby girl. Poor Blair. His chances of teaching a son to play basketball are dwindling. Luckily our daughters seem to come out beautiful, smart, and ridiculously athletic as well, so a little basketball player is not necessarily out of the question. :)
And yes... I am aware of the fact that in every picture i've posted of my girls they have ridiculously messy hair. I promise it's not because i'm a bad mom (well... it might be). My girls have been cursed/blessed with the same crazy natural curls that kept any boys a good 100 yards away till i was about 17 and figured out how to manage it. I in no way see this as a bad thing.

Now that Elliot is 3, i'm planning on starting her in either dance or gymnastic lessons this fall. Of course I would love to see all of our girls grow up and dance at Julliard... but Elliot just seems to be more interested in standing on her head than learning ballet positions.

It's been a pretty eventful summer for us. We were able to go to Disneyland with my parents and sister, as well as spend some time at Lake Powell with Blair's family.Elliot practicing The Perfect Cast "Ten o'clock, two o'clock..."


Astoria was entertained for HOURS by throwing rocks in the lake


My waterskiing hotness of a husband

Blair, the Girls, and uncle Rand on the boat


Elliot was strangely obsessed with fishing while we were there. She did catch a couple things, unfortunately I don't have the pictures. Blair's mom got some i'll have to see if I can get a hold of them.



Elliot and Astoria swimming with the noodles.



I'll have a few Disney pictures coming soon.

Have you noticed all the rain we've been getting this summer? I absolutely LOVE it!! I'll take summer showers over a snowy winter ANY day. The best part is occasionally I get little surprises like this:

I'm sorry the pictures don't really convey the brightness of the rainbows. I blame it on a cheap camera and my lack of photographic skill.

My Little Lady

It's only 8:30 in the morning and it's already shaping up to be an eventful day.

First things first.

Three years ago today I became a Mamma for the very first time. Happy Birthday my sweet Elliot! I love you so!

some fun things about Elliot Anberlin:

• She was named after the musician Elliot Smith, as well as the poet T.S. Eliot, and the band Anberlin
  
• When she was little she would watch Winnie the Pooh and grab her head on the part where Pooh bear bonks his head on a tree.
• Elliot is SO incredibly thoughtful. She always gives me hugs and kisses when i'm feeling down and is eager to "kiss it better" if someone gets an owie.
• Elliot may be diminutive in size, but she has a personality (and a temper) bigger than most adults i know.
  

For her birthday my bff Katie and her two precious daughters are coming up to play, as well as my parents and sister.

OH... and i'm making these. :)
http://conversationswithacupcake.blogspot.com/2009/05/split-personality.html


In other happenings. I put my jeans on today and found 8 or 9 Hungry Hungry Hippos balls in my pockets. I think one of my favorite things about mommy-ness is finding random things in strange places.

I once found my cell phone in a box of Frosted Flakes. That is not even a joke.
:)

Sand in my Hair

I took the girls outside (or "ah 'sie?" as Stori calls it) for a little Father's day photo shoot. Elliot is helping me paint and put flower stickers on a picture frame for daddy, and i thought we'd play in the backyard to get a few cute pics. Of course i forgot that Stori hasn't napped yet today. oops. She wasn't the most cheerful of kids. But I got some decent ones anyway. It took me over an hour to get one where they were both smiling.
Wanna know how I did it? I laughed like Goofy (uh-yuck) Astoria thought it was freaking hilarious.

This is Lovely

I found this today via Neil Gaiman and his awesomeness.

http://catherynnemvalente.com/fairyland/

I donated a little. You can too, if you want.

I wish with all my little heart that I had though of some of these lines.
especially:

"Is she very terrible?"

The Green Wind frowned into his brambly beard. "All little girls are terrible," he admitted finally, "but the Marquess, at least, has a very fine hat."

My goal for today is to buy batteries for my camera.

A Little Cleaner

I decided to take the background off my blog. I wanted it to look a little less... messy.

Elliot's gem of the week:
"Mommy has holes, and daddy has sparkles."
About a week ago i had a terrifying moment when my sweet pure and honest kid pointed out a friend's mole and said "what happened to your face?" I only wanted to die a little. We saved the situation by pointing out that lots of people have moles and freckles and these are things that make us special. I showed her the mole on my forehead, and the freckles on daddy's arms and face. Yesterday, she apparently remembered the conversation, and lifted up my bangs so she could see mommy's "hole". Then pointed to daddy and showed me all of his "sparkles".

I know that this blog is severely deficient in the picture department, and for that i apologize. i've never been super great at taking pictures. The pictures i do take end up cataloged away on our computer and rarely make it to my work computer which is really where i spend the bulk of my "computer time". So i'll try to work on that. Promise.

In other happenings, we took the girls to their first ever movie in a theater. We saw "UP" in 3D. It was a sweet movie, and Elliot really liked the dog. However, going to the movie in 3D was a mistake. Astoria wouldn't wear the glasses at all and Elliot toughed it out for a little over the first half of the movie, but eventually got sick of hers too and took them off.

This weekend is Blair's birthday and we are celebrating by going to a basketball tournament in Salina. Woot. It would almost be bearable because my dear friend Katie C. lives there... unfortunately she will be out of town. Boo. Oh well. Next week Blair and I are going to SLC for a wedding, so i can make up the birthday date then. It will probably involve Marqutos, Rico, and hopefully some sushi. :)

A few recentish photos...


Elliot's Easter dress
And Astoria's Easter dress...
This is Elliot showing me her "mad face". If only.
Oh, and I graduated College last month. Did I mention that? The red thing on my neck means i'm smart, and the little white circle under my thumb means i'm a writer... i guess. I'm probably going to need to work on that sometime.


love and rockets...