New Car Smell

I had my 4Runner for almost 3 years when out of the blue, someone wanted to buy it.  What??  Um, it wasn't really for sale!  And we like it!

What we didn't like were the high payments.  Once we looked into what it was worth and what our payoff was, well, we had an advantage.  We decided it would be in our best interest to sell the 4Runner and use the extra money to buy a car with lower payments and save some money every month!

So what did we get?

A Subaru Tribeca!!

Okay, so that's not ours, but how awesome is Google image search?  I could look foreeeever!  Just type in anything random and see what comes up!

This is the one we got :)

 And here's how it's set up on the inside!

 Fun for third row's!

It actually folds down all the way, which is how we have it now, but it's nice just knowing it's there.

Before the 4Runner I had an '07 Outback... what?  I live in Colorado... Subaru's are normal here, okay? And we LOVED it, except that fact that there was little room for a rear facing car seat :(  We also LOVED the Subaru dealership where we got our Outback, when does that ever happen?  The salesmen aren't shady and cheesy: "So... what can we do to get you in a car... today??"  Just really nice, normal people.  Plus, they have a complimentary coffee bar!  Woot!

Anyway, we went straight back to Hueberger (well, after about a week of crunch car shopping) to check out the Tribeca, loved the new body style (actually hate the last one),  took a test drive and spent slightly too much time deciding on what color we wanted (I have wanted a silver car for sooo long, we ended up with 'Graphite Gray') and drove away happy campers.

The End!

Goggled Crusader

Well, since technically B got the most votes, we'll start off with the Goggled Crusader!

Okay, so it's actually not that exciting of a story, just typical kid stuff.  We started the day by going to the mall so we could find Kyla a swimsuit.  I told Kyla and Colby that if they were really good, we could go to the Dollar Store afterword and get a treat... I know my kids are super easy to please.

Now would be a good time to mention (and address the obvious) yes, Kyla still wears her flamingo pj's, yes, she still loves flamingos, yes we found this dress while swimsuit shopping!!  And HAD to have it!

 (click photo to view larger image of really cute flamingo dress)

(click to see print)

(click for enjoyable flamingo entertainment. OMGosh! Just FABulous!)

(click for previous flamingo post)

How fun was that??

I should confess that I am now in love with flamingos and we find them all the time now, I'm actually tempted to put one in my yard.

After the mall we head on over to the Dollar Store, which actually has many wonderful things, okay?  Kyla finds a pair of "Disney princess" goggles and a "Disney princess" puzzle.

*Side note:  Kyla will open the google app on my phone and voice search "Disney. princess. videos." And stuff like that**

Colby finds a Mickey Mouse coloring book and a huge foam sword!  He likes to use the sword as an extension of his arm to reach up and knock things off shelves.  Great.  He'll also attack things using the sword with great vigor.

Kyla, as seen above, paired the two and became some sort of crime fighting hero(ine).

Here are some photos Stephen had on his phone...

Pretty good pose if you ask me!  Not like posing has ever been a weak point for Kyla...

Well, to wrap this up, Kyla decided to wear the goggles to dinner that night... we were out at Old Chicago's.  She thought she was the Shizz wearing her goggles and trying to show them off to anyone that would look... which was practically everyone.

Cast your vote!

I got a request today for more posts, so I've decided to let you, my fives of friends, cast your vote to decide which story you want to hear about! And the options are...

A.  Fierce Bed Head




B.  Goggled Crusader




or

C.  New Car Smell




The polls are open for the next hour and will close today at 10/9c.

Okay, that last part is a lie... Who do I think I am, Dancing With the Stars? American Idol?

Just vote!

Reason #562

It seems like every day I come up with a new reason why I never want to be pregnant again. I've been doing this officially since my pregnancy with Colby, unofficially since I was pregnant with Kyla. If you wanted me to do a pros and cons list of being pregnant, well, there would be no contest. No babies for anyone! Anyway... here's the latest:


Kyla came into my room like this and told me she was feeding her baby. OMG. It's probably not what you're thinking. It's not the nursing, it's not even the full year commitment I made with each child. Reason #562, 563 564... has a lot more to do with a child's curiosity and the questions that come with it. I remember seeing a 5ish year old asking a woman nursing what the baby was doing in her shirt, oh gosh. If I ever had another child, Kyla could be 5, 6, possibly 7. She's already a smart kid, what she could come up with, the possibilities are endless and I don't need to go there. Why do that to myself? I should clarify. This reason is not THE reason why I never want to be pregnant again/have another child. That would actually make me come across as immature and probably an incompetent mother. There are many reasons, and some are more logical than others, this is not one of those ; )

The Responsible One

Tonight Stephen and I were catching up on some American Idol (what??).  I had already put Colby's pajamas on but he was running around like a crazy child so Stephen told him to go upstairs and we would be right up to put him to bed.

Some several minutes later...

As it turns out Kyla had gone up with Colby, brushed his teeth, read him two books, then came and peeked through the railings, looked downstairs and said, "Could someone come up and put Colby in his bed?"

Well done, child.  A+

I love the two of them, but can't begin to explain how I love the two of them together...

The Sweetest Pair

Top 5: Things I learned today

Isn't is sad how slow the blogosphere gets on the weekends?  It's like all the 'professional' bloggers think it's like a real job and take the weekend off.

I'm sorry.  I didn't mean it.  It's just that, I'm so addicted and realize I wouldn't want to live my life with out the Pioneer Woman, The Possesionista, YHL, et al.

Well, seems like P-Dub wanted to prove me wrong and posted on a Sunday, but I swear, that never happens!

Anyway, I didn't want to disappoint (Hmm, I guess that would be a fail, since it's now 10:17 on Sunday night) and I will still be here FISRT thing Monday morning ; )  OH, and sometimes I like to show you how brilliant I am, so today I tell you about 5 things I learned, in order from least important to earth shattering:

5.  I threw up all over my bed, wall and floor when I was a child.  Thanks for that, dad.  My visions of me being a perfect child (ha!) went out the window.  I guess he felt the need to share that with me after I told the story of Kyla's poop birthday party.

4.  I talked about Disneyland as a child, a lot, and wanted to go there, all the time.  Funny, I know another little girl that talks about Disneyland, A LOT, and wants to go there, ALL THE TIME  : )

Photo by Kimberly Althausen

And it warmed my heart.

3.  La Baguette Bakery Cafe is the closest place to Europe I have been in Colorado Springs (that I can recall at the moment).  Kyla, Colby and I popped in to Old Colorado City to pick up some lunch to take to Stephen, who was working in the area.  I had to do 3 things I generally dislike to get it.  1.  Drive south of Woodmen.  This is only partially a joke.  2. Park alongside the road and walk to restaurant.  Something I would normally love, alone with 2 kids, generally not worth it.  3.  Receive my lunch without it being passed through the drive thru window, ie. waiting for food to 'take away'.

But no!  The cafe was cute and they had fun pastries and lots of loafs of bread and the kids meal?  Tortellini in swiss cheese sauce with a french roll and grapes, delish!!  If I ever had to go back to OCC, I'd go there ; )

2.  The Hershey Company has a section on their website where you can locate hard to find products!

  How fun is that??

Bonus!  I also learned how to take a screen shot on my computer :)  Welcome to 2011, Liz.

And lastly and most earth shattering...

1.  Colby lip-syncs, and it may be the most hilarious thing I have seen either of my kids do.  We were driving down the highway and I look back, cause they are being soooo quiet.  Kyla is sleeping and Colby is tapping his fingers on his leg, eyes closed, head tilted back, mouthing... words, SO passionately to the music on the radio.  Absolute.  Preciousness.  Amen.

Super Bonus:  I leaned that the image in my head of the Cotton Gin was neither correct nor totally incorrect.  Click HERE to see if the image in your head was accurate!

Picking up a Pineapple

Have you ever asked a four year old to pick up a pineapple! It's funny stuff like this that I just don't think about. Kyla has eaten pineapple many times, he knows what Spongebob's house looks like, she's even seen them in real life!!! But I guess I never thought to hand one over to her to explore it. No, I'm not a creative genius... Why do you ask?

But I did today :)

How do you pick this thing up?

Here? It's too heavy!

Got it! (With 4 fingers)

It was too spiny to hold it on the bottom ; )

But she got it... Kinda ; )

It's cool though, Colby plays with pine cones like they're nurf balls.  So at least one of my children tangibly knows what 'spikey' and 'sharp' means.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

Aaaaand that was about as excited about V Day as I am going to get.

I think spending many a Valentines Day alone, going to school or heaven forbid, school dances ALONE on this special day, year after year pretty much did me in for the rest of my life.  And why did I continue to go to dances alone, err... with my friends, anyway??  I mean, I look back and they were fun, but definitely not something I would ever torture myself with now a days... ya know, if I got the chance.

Anyway, that's not what I came here to talk about, my lonely days ; )

Did you know that Stephen and I have been 'together' for almost 8 years?  Did you know that a few days ago we learned something new about each other?  Neither one of us likes Valentine's Day and could care less if we celebrate it, after all, it's just a dumb 'Hallmark Holiday'.
Then he went shopping yesterday and got me something... from Tiffany's.  Stupid Valentine's Day.

Fine.  I accept gifts.  But you wanna know something?  I don't ever, like ever, want to go out to dinner with my 'valentine' on Valentine's Day.  I've only done it once before, the first year Stephen and I were married.  We stayed at the Broadmoor hotel (thanks sister in law discount!) and went out to eat at a nearby restaurant.  Can we say awkward??  Every table is a 2 top and you know everyone is there only because Valentine's Day told them to do so.  And everyone is trying so hard to be romantic, because they don't want to be outdone by someone else.  The restaurants are all. packed. With a million reservations and still wait times of 10 minutes or more.  I'm fine with going on dates with my husband, love it!  But on Valentine's Day?  It seems forced.  Pressure cooker!  I know, I kinda have strong opinions for only having gone on a Vday date... ONE time, but it was enough to know I don't need to do it anytime soon.  Maybe I'll give it a try once the kids are older.  Right now I judge most of my activities on a 'is it worth it to find a babysitter' basis.  Vday?  Not so much :)

OH, I guess I should add that I'm not a total grinch.  Seeing everything, including Valentine's Day, through the eyes of a child is more fun, more exciting and wonderful and amazing blah blah blah...

But it really is special (hearts hearts hearts)

; )

Okay, for serious.  The best thing this year:  My sister Sara came over to watch the kids while I went to a salon to get my hair done (first time in yyeeeearrrs!!) and when I came home she and Kyla had made heart shaped sugar cookies!!!  TOO CUTE!  And I got home in time to help decorate the different sized hearts with pink, bright pink and white frosting and sprinkles.  And they were DELISH!

*Note to reader* Sugar cookies are the thorn in my side.  I have given up and don't even attempt.  So to have them in my house all heartsy and pinky and cutesy was SO FUN!

See??  I'm lovey!!

Super Twice

Just now, sitting down to lunch at home, Kyla mentions that she has never seen the Red Robin robin walking around at Red Robin. "I've never seen him once, I've never seen him twice, I've never even seen him super twice... What's super twice?" Me: "um, I think you just made that one up." Kyla: "maybe like 100... Or something?"

If you dare...

Click HERE

Please don't ask how I found this, that's why they call it a WEB, people.
A World Wide Web.

jeepers creepers... *shudder*

I just needed to share that with someone before I could sleep tonight.  Thank You.

I take requests!

Aaaand I deliver :)

 Kyla's birthday dinner

(after ballet, note the leotard ; )

 Colby man digs in.  One of his few (discernible) words... cake.

 Poor girl, got christmas paper.  I feel your pain Kyla.  I mean, it was either that or wrap them in a towel... which I was all about, haha!

Don't mess with tradition!

 The next morning we had a small party with 3 of Kyla's friends (and their siblings)

The big girls sat at the table together and had a 'tea' party.

 Then made a craft

 Kyla's says: Mom S. and Kyla.  Oh, and 4, because she turned 4 ; )

 Sweet Lily

 Cuteness, this is.

 Happy Birthday, Kyla!!

So... any other requests??  I may or may not provide 1,000 pictures :)