Book Tag

1. Pick up the nearest book to you (one of at least 123 pages).
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

(Here's a sad look into my World of Warcraft Widow life (my husband spends a startling amount of time on this computer game)...the THREE nearest books to the computer are all Chad's WoW strategy books. The following is from his game manual.)

"Some players simply explore places of interest looking for loot and experience. The monsters inside these places are usually more powerful than the monsters in the surrounding wilderness, and they are clustered in large groups. Thus, it is wise to explore places of interest with a group, unless you are much higher level than the average monsters inside."

I tag Fran, Kenzie, Tina, Melissa, and Amy.

How to remove a tree stump 101

Step 1: Spend a few hours painstakingly digging through rocky soil to expose roots.

Step 2: Using an axe, cut through the exposed roots.

Step 3: Let your husband fill the whole thing with water, which he says will make the pulling-out process easier (this won't actually do anything but make a big muddy mess)

Step 4: Drill lags into the stump and attach the stump to your truck with straps.

Step 5: Pull, and be disappointed when nothing happens because this means more digging for you (in a wet muddy hole).

Step 6: By an amazing stroke of luck, allow a passing city worker on a front-loader tractor help you. He will, with a few swift movements of his bucket, break the remaining roots to free the stump.

Step 7: Again attach the stump to you truck and pull. This time you're able to drag it up your driveway and out onto the curb for more wonderful city workers to take away.

Step 8: Fill in the hole.

Step 9: Celebrate your success in getting rid of a stump that has been plaguing your side yard for two years!

Silly old boy...

Alas, my days of pain-free nursing are over. Mason got his first tooth last week (click on the above picture to get a close-up of the evidence!), and barely broke his second one a couple days ago. He has bitten me several times now, usually when he becomes bored or is falling asleep, so I'm getting better at preventing the biting (unless, of course, I have fallen asleep too, which often happens during those early morning feedings). He really is a good baby though, aside from the small teething woes. He's almost sleeping throught the night, and is very active during the day--bouncing, rocking, and "talking" constantly. Bree loves to play with him, and Mason loves his big sister, who has started calling him "Silly old boy," (a version of Pooh's expression) and often giggles and says "Mason's so cute!" I agree.

Wanna get away?

Sometimes Chad and I just need some alone time. We decided on this little getaway at the last minute. Yes, I know we were just on vacation in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, staying at the in-laws' is not very conducive to romance (although it was wonderful and relaxing!). So, since we already had to go to town for my doctor appointment, we just asked my mom to come a day early and stay with the kids overnight. She said she would, and Chad told me to book a room, hang the cost! (We love to pretend we can afford stuff like this!) So I logged on to Expedia, and found a gorgeous-looking hotel, The Royal Palms, in Scottsdale. I love Expedia because I can read the reviews and hopefully know what I'm getting ahead of time. Not to mention, we got a killer last-minute deal! This was the second time I've stayed at a 5-star hotel, and I must say, I could get used to it! These photos are a true representation of what this place looks like--they actually don't capture the lush, intimate feel of the mediterranean style resort. The service was amazing. Although we couldn't afford the gourmet restaurant, we had a delicious room-service breakfast, that was not only brought to our door, but was set up for us in our sitting area, complete with tablecloth and vase of flowers. One of our favorite things was the 24-hour pool--there's nothing more romantic than a late-night swim when you have the place to yourself! Our mini-vacation also included a viewing of the movie Hancock (which was very good), a new restaurant experience (delicious Thai, Malaysian, and Singapore cuisine) and a shopping trip to the Fashion Square mall in Scottsdale (a wonderfully snooty place with huge, gorgeous shops). Now we're back in Globe, and coming home to our small town is like returning to a quieter, simpler time. Well, minus the children who are crying because they're exhausted and want Gramma to come back! So thank you a million times Mom for making this possible. We really needed it!

Latest family portraits...

I thought getting portraits taken with one baby was hard...I had no idea. Luckily we took the group photo first while everyone was still in a good mood. Bree had a medium-size break-down after that. This photo with the ugly fake flowers was her best one. She needed some kind of prop to hold, because she was so mad that she couldn't hold the bright multi-colored duster that the photographer was using to tickle her. I have to admit, it was cute when she tickled me with it, and said, "Say cheese Mommy!"

Visit to Vegas

This week we've been having a blast in Las Vegas visiting family and friends.

We swam in Bob and Sydney's pool. Unfortunately, Bree was too freaked out by the deep water. She spent the whole time on the shallow ledge. But Bree had a blast playing with her cousins Shea and Nathan. And Mason enjoyed the time in the nice warm pool too.

We took the kids to a big play place with huge inflatable bouncy houses and slides. Bree had the time of her life, and didn't want to leave. I was surprised that she wasn't afraid to climb up the really tall slide and go down by herself.

And I visited my first Cupcakery! I've heard that cupcakes are all "in vogue" or whatever, and that cupcake shops are the new cool thing. So Fran, Bree, Shea, and I all picked out different types of cupcakes. Bree picked a chocolate one with pink frosting and sprinkles. She licked off all the frosting and then crumbled the cupcake into a million pieces. I chose a Boston Cream Pie cupcake that was filled with delicious Bavarian cream. So, all in all, it was a fun one-time experience, but I maintain that $3 is way too much to pay for one little cupcake!

On our last evening, we went bowling with Fran and Jim, and Curtis, Amber, and their baby Cal. I actually had a final score of 100, which was amazing for me, especially considering that I let Bree bowl a couple of frames for me! Chad, of course, beat us all. After that we all to went to Town Square, which is this really cute outdoor mall that looks like an old-fashioned little village with cute lamp-posts and cobblestone sidewalks. We ate dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen (delicious BBQ chicken pizza), and let Bree play around in the park in the middle of the square.

During the week we also spent a lot of time with our friends Rob and Jaime. There was camping, shopping, and Wii playing to be had. We also go to meet a bunch of their really cool Vegas friends (okay, so I'm a little jealous, but I know it's our fault that we moved away!). I don' t have any of those pictures, since they are all on Jaime's awesome camera, but hopefully I will soon! I'll have to blog about those later.

All in all, it was a great vacation week. Thank you to Jim, Fran, Bob, Syd, Rob, and Jaime, for your hospitality! We love you guys, and we'll miss you!