I'm Inspired - Thanks to a good movie & Oprah!

Ok, here is a post with a lot of rambling, so follow closely.

Last night I went and saw the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees." I had read the book a few years ago for book club, actually it was the first book we read. The book was good and I thought the movie was great! I cried through the ending, of course. So if you have a chance check it out.




I just finished watching the Oprah show from today (Wednesday) with Peter Walsh on there beginning his "Clean Up Your Messy House Tour." Just watching him work is inspiring as I LOVE to organize! That would be my dream job. Chad watched with me and kept saying, "our house isn't messy" and I'd agree, not messy...but there are certain things that I would love to get organized and just haven't brought myself to do it yet! There are a lot of emotions tied up in that stuff, so it's hard to do. I can't wait to follow along with Peter's travels across the US to see the other houses he declutters and reorganizes. If you go to Oprah.com you can see the highlights of the show. It was great!

Also, to go along with Kris' coupon clipping/bargain shopping post. If you watched Oprah you heard about the great FREE offer from Snapfish and also the coupon from The Container Store. I don't want to spoil it, but it's worth your time to find out for yourself!

What a day! If anyone has Peter knock on their door, PLEASE let him in. Afterwards, ask him if I can get a job on his crew. ;o)

Fall Fun in the Sun!

The weather has been unusually warm the past week or so. Up in the high 70's by late afternoon. So Sunday afternoon, when all the guests from the birthday festivities had gone home we took the girls to city park. The city just put in some new playground equipment and Cooper couldn't wait to check it out. Campbell had already been a couple of times before with Oma & Opa. The weather was beautiful and the place was crowded, but we still had a great time. We needed to enjoy the last few warm days of Fall. They are predicting snow in Monday's forecast. Yikes!



Campbell loves to swing, with some help from mommy.


A bit blurry, but I just love her expression.


Cooper was showing Campbell how to go down the slide fast.


Campbell finally got brave enough to go down by herself.

It was a great day!

Turning 6 in Chicago!

For Cooper and Teagan's 6th birthdays, Michelle and I decided to take them to Chicago! Mostly to visit the American Girl Store, but also to make some mommy/daughter memories and have a fun girls only trip. Cooper and Teagan were born just 5 weeks apart and then Addy and Campbell were born just 5 days apart. They are great friends and we enjoy doing a lot of things as families together.

We went to Chicago on Wed. Oct. 22 - Fri. Oct. 24. The girls didn't have school on Thursday or Friday, so they only missed Wednesday. Michelle had a big job to do in taking care of me, Cooper, and Teagan on the airplane. All went very smoothly and we all had a fantastic adventure together.


Teagan & Cooper with the big city buildings in the background. We had just ate at the Cheesecake Factory. Our hotel was just a few blocks from here, right off of Michigan Ave.


Mommy & Cooper at the Ghirardelli store. Mommy has visited the original store in San Francisco and I love it! Hopefully one day we can take Cooper there too.


Cooper and Teagan ready for bed. Our first day was a long one, but we had so much fun. Sweet dreams girls, tomorrow we hit the American Girl Store.


Mommy & Cooper at the American Girl Store, right after Cooper's doll, Maye, had her hair done and got her ears pierced. Wow! What a store. We were there from 10am until 2:30pm. We ate lunch at the cafe, had pictures taken, and shopped for all kinds of goodies. Cooper really likes the Historical doll Kaya.


After all that American Girl stuff, we needed a break. Later that day the moms needed some grown up shopping time, the girls went along and enjoyed finding a resting bench to sit on. They also liked all the escalators, elevators, and did really well walking the city streets window shopping.


Cooper and Maye got matching pj's. Cooper really loves her doll. She bought Maye in June and had to save her money up for 4 months to do so.


On Friday we went to the Shedd Aquarium. We all loved the fish! Afterwards, we came back to the hotel and found a little boutique for the girls to get manicures and the moms to get pedicures. What a blast!


Cooper and Mommy on the flight home. It started raining on the ride to the airport, otherwise the weather cooperated all 3 days we were there. (Notice Cooper's tank top, that girl!) We arrived in KC about 11pm and got home way too late. Saturday we were all very tired.

We enjoyed our time together and hope the girls will always remember their first trip to Chicago. Happy Birthday Cooper! Lots of love, Mommy.

A Pumpkin and A Cheerleader

Each year we get the girls' picture taken with our good friends Teagan & Addy. This year the mom's decided to do the pics ourselves. It was a quick photo shoot, but at least we got a few good shots.

Campbell=pumpkin, Cooper=cheerleader, Teagan=Kit Kittredge, Addy=cowgirl.

First Hair Cut

This post is a bit out of order, Sorry!

Campbell had her first haircut on October 14th, 2008. I think she has more hair now then Cooper did at this age. Yet, unlike Cooper's hair, Campbell's hair is only curly when it is wet for about a day, then it goes straight. It was very whispy and uneven, so I thought maybe a haircut could even things out and create some kind of style. I also needed the lock of hair to do the shadow boxes I made.



Campbell sat very nicely in the salon chair. She loved to look at the animals on her cape.


Campbell kept saying "Lori, Lori, Lori" wanting to ask Lori, our hair stylist question after question. Lori has been our hair stylist for 8 years and gave Cooper her first haircut also. Daddy was there to get the lock of hair, while mommy & Cooper took pictures and video taped.


Campbell even liked the blow dryer. She looked so pretty and what a big girl!

Halloween Fun

Campbell loves all the pumpkins. She would have taken every one of them home with her if I would have let her.


Cooper was a good helper. Notice she loves her shorts and tank tops, even if it is "Fall." The girls look so cute with the contrast of their red hair against the orange pumpkins.


We usually dress up our pumpkins with pieces you put into your pumpkin. This year we painted them, and then added the features. Daddy helped and both girls had a blast.


Cooper and Campbell showing off their finished pumpkins. Campbell did the green one, with some help from Big Sis. Cooper did a fantastic job on the black one.

I've Been Tagged

So Kris tagged me on her blog, and now I'm playing along.

Here are the rules:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you are tagged, just do it, and pass the tag along!


Random things about me:
1. I was born in Stuttgart, Germany because my dad was in the Army and stationed there. My mom would tell you she was in labor with me for 48 hours and it was bad. My mom's sister had flown in to visit and my dad, mom, aunt, and parent's good friend all went to a carnival that weekend before. My mom walked around everywhere, hoping I would make my entrance. Needless to say, I was stubborn and didn't want to enter the world quite yet. So as my aunt was on the plane flying home, I was being born. We lived in Germany until I was 2 years old. Little did I know, that 24 years later I'd meet my husband and at the time his parents lived in Stuttgart, Germany.

2. I have lived in 5 different states. Colorado, Kansas, Florida, Iowa, and Nevada. I have also attended 5 different colleges. Seminole Community College, Garden City Community College, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, and University of Nevada Las Vegas.

3. I have 1 real sister, 2 step sisters, and 2 step brothers. Which really means I have 9 nieces and 8 nephews. Wow!

4. I make lists all the time! To do lists, things to buy at the grocery store lists, birthday lists, phone number lists, Christmas gift lists, chore lists, song lists, idea lists, etc. You get the picture. Of course this is really just a way to get all the "stuff" out of my head and get it down on paper, so that I can sleep easier at night. My main "to do" list never really gets completely done, and I so wish there were about 10 of me and maybe it would make a dent in the things that I want done but just can't make a final decision about doing.

5. I worry a lot. Anxiety, fear, silly over analyzing, pre-planning and planning some more, over thinking situations, worrying over how people feel/think, just your basic stuff everybody does right?? I generally can keep it all in check, but at times I'm a bit OCD and have to have things my way. Especially when I start something, I generally won't stop until it's done and in doing so I'll over do what I intended to do and rope in 3 more projects with it. It's really bad when I have to fly, because I hate flying. I don't sleep well the night before the flight, I can't eat the day of the flight, and even worse I can't sleep on the flight. I need distractions, so generally I find some nice stranger who will talk to me the entire time. ;o)

6. I like my sleep. I work better in the mornings right away w/ no interuptions. I enjoy being with family & friends. I like to play games. I love chocolate. I love cereal. I love candy bars. I love PF Chang's and hate the fact that the closest one is 2 hours away. I don't read much, but I did read and really enjoyed the Harry Potter books and the Twilight series. I don't like amusement park rides. I am always cold and don't like the cold. I like to organize, be organized, and if I could have my dream job it would be a professional organizer.

So all that being said; I tag Jura, Emma, Stacy, Heidi, Crystal, and Nicole. Enjoy!