UPTA Camp - January '10

Iz and I spent the last couple days "UPTA CAMP" with Auntie D. We haven't been up since early August and wanted to see how things were since the heavy rains we got causing ice jams and big messes all over the place.
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The river was gorgeous...as usual :)
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We were only there about 5 minutes before the girls made themselves comfortable...
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...both girls :)
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After the long drive up it was nice to get outside and play in the snow for a while.
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Despite the fact that there wasn't a TON of snow there or any real hills to sled on, we made the best of it and ended up with a pretty good trail for Iz to slide down.
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There were some trees at the end of the path....but she, narrowly, avoided them every time!
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I LOVE the look on her face!
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The first night we were there, Iz slept terribly....got to bed late, was up half the night....ugh!
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We kept her busy the next day with a trip to town for groceries, MORE outside time, game playing and coloring. The result?
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Out like a light by 7:20 pm .... ahhhhhh .....that's better!
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Another great trip to camp!!!
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Birthday Money

Iz got a pretty serious chunk of change for her birthday in between a couple cards from Grammie & Bumpy and Nannie & Papa.
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So, we went to the toy store last week and I let her pick out a couple things (spending about 1/2 her money....the other 1/2 went to the bank!).
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This is what she chose:
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She's been playing with them for an hour or more at a time EVERY day! Between these and her Lego's I'm actually able to accomplish things during the day! Looks like 4-years-old IS easier than 3 :)

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I'm Doomed...

Well, it's been a week since several inches of cold, white stuff fell from the sky forcing Hubby to stay home from work and throw off my groove. I DID get it back, though. I watched my eating a little better last week and had the *pleasure* of Jillian kicking my butt a couple times with her 30 Day Shred (LOVE it! But it's a rough 20 minutes!). I also plan on getting "shredded" today and tomorrow before Iz and I head UPTA CAMP with Auntie D for a couple days.
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However, all the shredding in the world will not help me now. While out getting new tires on the van I made a quick stop to get Thank You notes for Iz to send out for her birthday gifts and THIS is what was calling my name on the counter at CVS.
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Cadbury Mini Eggs. They're dangerous. Seriously. I WAS able to resist the big bag and just get a tiny one for 75 cents, which I split (almost evenly) with Iz on the way home. They were good. TOO good. The crunchy candy coating. The chocolaty inside. I'm in trouble. Why? Well, not to go into too much detail, but I have a certain "monthly visitor" arriving soon (you know what I mean, right girls?) and, due to my extreme chocolate craving during that time (and, let's be honest, the rest of the month too!) I see a whole heaping mess of Mini Eggs coming into this house and going straight into my mouth (and henceforth straight to my BUTT!).
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I'm doomed.
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* image credit

Sweetness...

Hubby was away overnight for work last night so I was in charge of the bedtime routine...when I checked on Iz at about 8pm, this is what I found...
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So SWEET!.

I'm Such a SLACKER!

Well, blog-wise, that is.
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Only two posts in two weeks....sheesh! Ridiculous!
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Now, don't go thinking that I haven't posted because nothing is going on around her....quite the opposite, actually. Iz and I have just been busy, busy, busy! THAT'S why I haven't posted.
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This week has involved story time at the library, a meeting with Papa's doctor's/therapists (he's doing MUCH better!), a dentist appointment for me, a LOT of cleaning out/purging stuff here at home, a trip to the movies and lots of SNOW to play in!!!
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Whew!
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No pictures though. Too busy to grab my camera, I guess :)
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Have a great weekend! We're laying low and, I think, working on the basement tomorrow. Sunday, of course, is ALL ABOUT FOOTBALL!!!! WOO HOO!!!!
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Today WAS The Day

Today was the day that Iz and I got back into a routine, now that the holidays and birthdays are over.
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Today was the day I was going to start working out again.
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Today was the day I was finishing things that have been on my To-Do List for MONTHS!
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But nooooooooooo.
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Instead, today was the day it snowed. A LOT. Like 15+ inches of snow.
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Hubby stayed home and did snow blowing and snow shoveling and went sledding with Iz and worked a little on his laptop. He was busy all day and I'm so glad his job gives him the flexibility to stay home on snowy days. But...as much as I love him, he threw off my groove.
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Instead of getting back into a routine, we stayed in our jammies and watched cartoons and made chocolate chip cookies.
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Not exactly the plan, but still fun :) Maybe I'll get my groove on tomorrow...
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Four-Year Check-Up

Iz had her 4-year physical this morning.
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44 pounds...40 inches tall...right on track size-wise :)
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Dr. M asked Iz a TON of questions (in fact, it was like I wasn't even there) and Iz passed with flying colors :) Dr. M was especially impressed with Iz's unprompted use of "please" and "thank you" and also her imagination.
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Whew! I always get myself worked up about Iz's doctor visits. Like I'm going to go in there and they're going to discover something about her that deems me unfit to be her mother. Or (and this is definitely possible) Iz will rat me out about something that will make me want to crawl into a hole and wait for the end of time...and she will be repaid when she's a teenager and my very existence will make her want to crawl into a hole :) Tee hee hee!
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Iz's 4th Birthday!

We had a GREAT time! Mel made a fantastic cake (Thanks Mel!)
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The Birthday Girl looked adorable (as usual)

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We were lucky enough to have another adorable little girl attending (who had vanilla ice cream for the first time....YUM!)

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The Birthday Boy got his OWN cake...can you say SPOILED?!?
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4 years old! Unbelievable!
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Iz got a ton of great presents...like Christmas all over again, especially the wrapping paper :)
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The food came out good....there were 20 of us all together: Hubby, Iz & me, Auntie D & Uncle S [aka Ellie's GrampaBumpaPapaMan :)] & J, Uncle P & WW & B & VG, SnL & Ellie, Nannie, Grammie & Bumpy, Big Bro J, AND Mel and her THREE boys :) Whew! A full house.

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The only thing that could have made it PERFECT was if Big Sis L & her man AND Papa could have been there... :( We missed you guys!
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I Can't Belive My "Baby" is FOUR Years Old!

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Happy Birthday Iz!

and, lest we forget...

Happy Birthday Hubby!

I love you!!!

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Birthday Weekend!

Sunday is Hubby AND Iz's birthday...yes, they have the SAME birthday :)
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The best part about this? I only have to do ONE party a year!!! It's a good thing too....I had the brilliant idea this year to have everyone over for a spaghetti lunch AND cake and ice cream. What a dummy....this has proven to be WAY more work than I expected. I thought to myself "spaghetti! What could be easier than that?" Um, how about just cake and ice cream and then everyone goes home?!? Anyway, EVERYONE is coming over tomorrow (19 people, I think) and I'm making spaghetti and meatballs as well as chicken broccoli fettuccine alfredo. Of course, I have not even begun to make anything!!! YIPE! Here's to hoping it won't snow!
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Off to get things ready....back on Monday with LOTS of pictures (if I remember to drag out my camera, that is! You know me!)
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How Can It Be...

....that I can shop for HOURS at Wallyworld AND the grocery store AND get gas, spending close to 200 smackeroos and within 10 minutes of being home remember almost 10 things I forgot to buy which will probably cost me close to another 50 bucks???
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Shop with a list, you might say.
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The problem? I HAD a list....and it was a doozie. I stuck to my list too, meaning all that money I spent was not on a bunch of extra junk we don't need (I only bought one thing not on the list but it IS something we need AND it was half price...totally justifiable). The problem is that there were things that I need that I did not put on the list. Obvious things too - I'm doing a spaghetti dinner this weekend and forgot not only garlic bread but the stuff I need to make sauce! Hello?!? I got meatballs but no tomato sauce? Seriously? It may have been all the "help" Iz gave me while we shopped but I think it's more like the fact that I can be quite a dim-witted idiot at times and it's been a heck of a week.
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So, tomorrow, which was supposed to be a day at home getting ready for the busy weekend will now begin with a "quick" and probably expensive trip to town to get everything I forgot. UGH! At least there's a DD there so I can get my iced coffee fix :) Gotta look on the bright side, right?
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Meltdowns

There have been two meltdowns in this family this week...one major, one minor (surprisingly, neither meltdown was mine!).
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MAJOR MELTDOWN:
On Monday I left Iz at Auntie D's house while I went to the hospital to see what was going on with my Dad (long story...maybe another day). Iz spent a few hours there and I picked here up on the way home (it's about 20 miles from Auntie D's to home). About ONE mile from home Iz declares that she forgot her pine cone Christmas thing at Auntie D's house (I had ZERO clue what she was talking about) and I had to TURN AROUND and go get it. Um? No. *insert MAJOR meltdown here*
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MINOR MELTDOWN:
Hubby rented a movie yesterday (a bad one at that...I ended up picking up my book halfway through and ignoring the TV completely until it was over). He popped the movie in the DVD player and grabbed our "universal" remote (well universal as in it will run the TV, DVD, and stereo but NOT our satellite so we still have 2 remotes floating around) and attempts to change the TV to the correct station to watch his movie. Nothing happens. He replaces the batteries. Nothing happens. *insert minor meltdown here*
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Sometimes it's just the littlest things that set us off around here :)
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Note: Hubby WAS able to watch his movie after I opened the drawer next to the couch and got the ACTUAL TV and DVD remotes, which work fine. I also reprogrammed the Universal one so there shouldn't be any meltdowns about that in the near future AND we got Iz's pine cone thing when we stopped at Auntie D's today. Phew!
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A "Wicked" Good Weekend

Friday morning my "seesters" showed up at my house, we all piled into Auntie D's "bus" and headed SOUTH!
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Not South into sunshine or anything fun like that but, still....we got away for the weekend. No kids. No husbands. No worries (well, maybe except for the snowstorm that was supposed to last ALL weekend long!).
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After a couple hours of driving we started to see signs like this one...
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...and this one :)
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We arrived, ran errands, checked in, got a feel for the layout of the city and then settled into our hotel room....with more than 24 hours until the show began, we had A LOT of time to kill!
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Saturday morning we got up, drank a whole mess of coffee and then headed out in the snow and slush to walk around the city, stretch our legs and kill some time. 8pm seemed SO far away.

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We walked down to the theater first...
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...then had some lunch and relaxed away the afternoon in the hotel....counting the minutes until showtime!!!
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There was a really cool WWII memorial near the hotel that I tried to get some good shots of but the snow and wind was relentless!
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No picture taking in the theater or during the show so I'll I can show you is

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BEFORE...
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..and AFTER
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The show was...well... "Wicked" good!!! It surpassed all of my expectations...the singing was awesome, the set and costumes were phenomenal and I LOVED EVERY MINUTE of it!!!!
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WW mentioned what a cool Sweet 16 present it would be to take VG to see this next year...my response? I'M COMIN' TOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
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Sunday morning we packed up and headed home...in the snow...what a relief it was to see this:

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It was good to get away....and great to be back home!
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This is a busy week around here...someone has a birthday this weekend...actually TWO someones have birthdays this weekend :) My To-Do list is a mile and a half long and yesterday was a total wash on getting anything done. I'm going to try and hit the ground running this morning and get ready for BIRTHDAY weekend!!!

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It's Always Something....

I had an AMAZING weekend! However....
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Today? Not so good. So - I have not uploaded pictures yet or had a chance to write a "proper" blog post or do laundry, pick up the house, grocery shop or any other thing on my VERY long to-do list. Something came up.
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Maybe tomorrow....
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2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Next week I'll tackle things like resolutions, a recap of '09 and all that trivial stuff.

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Today, however, there are more important things on the horizon....

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Auntie D and WW should be here soon to pick me up for a girls WEEKEND! We decided to extend our single night away to two nights because of the storm. Planning on heading out soon and have plenty of time to enjoy sans men and kids! Yippee!

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This is where we're staying:

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This is what we're going to see Saturday night:

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.This is the moment in the show I can hardly wait for:

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.I've watched the video of this from the Tony's a million times and it gives me chills EVERY time. I can just imagine that seeing Elphaba "Defy Gravity" live will be AWESOME (and, honestly, will probably bring tears to my eyes...)
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I'm outta here...looking forward to a "Wicked" good weekend with my seesters!

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