It's My Birthday Week!

Some of you may recognize what's in the photo above... yep, you got it, the Famous Rio Margarita. This was #1 of 4 for me on Saturday night when I went out with some good friends for the kick off to my Birthday Week. I had such a good time, I love that I have "grown-up" friends now. It's weird how different our lives become when we get married and have kids. It becomes such a blessing to have "couple" friends, people that Brian and I can go out with together, that we share the same interests with and can have the same kind of fun. Nothing crazy, just good-ole-fashioned get drunk off of a couple of drinks because we don't drink that much anymore, laugh at everything, ready for bed by 1 am, hungover for the whole rest of the next day kind of fun!

Here are my great girl friends, love them - love that they are willing to give up a night of their crazy-busy lives for me!

Here is part of the group in some Mardi Gras masks that I actually have no idea where we got them, but had no problem just putting them on my face?? Also, have no idea, why Brian isn't wearing his??? We are missing a few people by this point, 2 sleep-deprived parents who were in desperate need of a good nights sleep and one person who already was throwing up. Sorry Nickie!

So, even though it took me all day Sunday to recuperate, it was well worth it. We had a great time at the Rio and later dancing at Croc's and I am so grateful to my husband for planning this and for all of my friends to help kick off Birthday Week.

I am leaving for Vegas Saturday with some family members to celebrate my cousin's 21st Birthday, should be interesting, should have a few more days of recuperating coming my way.

Happy Birthday Week to me!

Project Life...

Well thanks to my friends, Kelly and Lindsay, I am taking plunge into Project Life! I will start by saying that I hope that they are still my friends by the time I am "trained" in this new world of digital scrapbooking.

IT IS HARD! I don't know why I am having such a hard time grasping this, it is soo overwhelming to me. I thought maybe it was because I am having to train myself to think outside of my "normal" scrapbook life, I have been doing paper scrapbooking for years and finally feel like I got that down, now I am learning a whole new way to capture the memories of our life.

I have chosen to do a book for Mason before his high school graduation. If you remember from last year I did one for Rachel too. Last year though, I went to a weekend scrapbooking retreat and cranked out almost her entire book; I basically ate, slept, and breathed her book for a few days and got it finished. I am starting earlier on Mason's but with a whole new process to learn.

I also wonder if I'm struggling because I am trying to re-create a life of 17+ years into this book. I am having to dig through tubs of pics to find what I need and ask for photos from other people because I wasn't Mason's mom from day one, I have pics of him from age 6 and up. I also have a hard time choosing his pics from that early age because I wasn't there, I don't know why the photo was taken or what the memory is that goes with it, I don't know if I am choosing the right photos for the right reasons. Hmmmmmm, uggghhhh, I am struggling!

I also am fighting with the "old fashioned" photos, remember when they were printed on 3x5 instead of 4x6? Well I am scanning them all into my computer and wow! they are little things that I now have to try to fit into the squares. Hmmmmmmm!

I know I am sounding really negative, but I am VERY excited! Just scared to death. :) I will figure this out, I know I will.

I spent a few hours with Kelly today, getting some valuable lessons and have started putting them to use and actually finished a title page and the first layout for Mason's book. I am hoping, and Kelly and Lindsay are promising that once I get the hang of it, I will be moving along much faster, I sure hope so or I won't have his book done until Mason's kids are finishing high school.

So, here are my first finished pages. I will see if I still love them tomorrow, if not... the great thing about digital is that I can fix them, right?

So a big thank you to Lindsay and Kelly. I promise to stop bothering you soon, not real soon, but soon!

Mason's Senior Pics

We found ourselves ready for Mason's senior pics this year and we had the pure luck to catch Lindsay with www.5ivephoto.com before she moved out of state. What a true blessing for us, for Mason especially. Mason is incredibly shy and I was worried that he would just go and give his usual look and we wouldn't get anything different. Wow, was I wrong. Lindsay was able to get this pretty laid back teenager to smile and actually relax for her and got some amazing shots of him. She took us to a location that I would have never thought of and got a lot of different shots that I am so pleased with and more importantly that Mason actually loves, that right there should tell you a lot about his experience, who likes their own photo?

Here are some of my favorite ones

My Grandma always told me when I was little that in life, it's not what you know, but who you know. This is just another example of how well this lesson has played out in my life. Without my friendship with Lindsay, Mason would not have had this great experience for his Senior Pics. So a big thank you to Lindsay. Now I just need her back here in time to do Brady's (Lindsay you have 5 years to move back or we are doing them in Reno).

Last of 2011 in a Nutshell...

So obviously, I have been a slacker! Instead of getting all carried away with what I haven't posted, I am going to just do a quick recap, get current and move on.

What we haven't shared over the last few months ---

-Mason had his senior pictures taken (I will actually do a separate post on this because they are really great and I have to give a big plug to our photographer).

-Went to The Rio downtown (haven't been there for over 10 years) with friends and learned that for some reason there is no longer a 3 margarita max - I had 4.5 and then remembered why I hadn't been there for 10 years (that's how long it takes to be ready for a Rio marg again).

-Brady turned 13 (I cried most of the day). Had 5 teenage boys spend the night and eat and drink me out of house and home. Also learned that teenage boys are indeed just as hilarious as teenage girls, they can sing the sh*t out of I'm sexy and I know it and I now know every word to that song.

-Did an 8-week challenge at the Rec Center with some friends and lost 15 lbs. and actually learned how to work some weight equipment. Had a ton of fun.

-Celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with only a little family drama

-Rachel came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas (she is still here!)

-Spent the holidays hanging with friends and family (I had to learn and deal with Christmas as the mom of a bunch of teenagers and not little kids. I actually mourned having little kids this year and had a hard time learning my "new" type of Christmas, which is actually quite different than what I was used to.

-Brady is still in a cast, it's an acrylic one that will be on for at least a couple more months, but he is doing well.

-Brady was released to start playing indoor soccer and has his first game last night.

-Became obsessed with Pinterest.

Ok, I realize this is really lame, but if I get all caught up in wanting to post pics and do seperate posts on everything than I will never get this blog caught up.

So..... here's to 2012!

Meet my new Nephew!

I'm a little behind on blogging, but on October 23, I became a TT again.



Meet Brogan...







This is probably going to be my last niece or nephew because I think all of my siblings are done having babies, unless there is some adoption going on, this will be it!

I was blessed to be at the hospital hanging with Brogan's brother and sister, keeping them occupied while awaiting their baby brothers birth.

Brogan is so cute, he is such a little guy, weighing in at only 6 lbs. 11 oz., we don't usually have such small babies in this family. He is such a little snuggler too.

Thank you Brother and Sister for making me a TT again, I love your little guy and can't wait to watch him grow up. XOXO

On the Road to Recovery... finally!

After 4 1/2 rough weeks, approximately 10 trips to Children's, a week off of school and work, a lot of rest, and serious amounts of praying, Brady had a great appointment with his Orthopedic Team today. This was a big appointment for him because they took off the long cast to see what his arm would do, well it did what it was supposed to, which is starting to heal and he was able to move to a short cast today; something he has been anxiously awaiting. A short cast means a whole new world for the almost 13 year old (and for mom too, let's be honest, I am ready for him to be able to shower on his own again).

So, from here, he wears this cast for about 4 weeks and HOPEFULLY if all goes well and he doesn't have any more injuries, he will be in just a sling by mid-December.

Thank you to everyone that has been visiting, checking in, and sending good thoughts and prayers his way - it has all paid off because he is well on his way to a full recovery (without surgery) and I'm sure on to his next injury to scare the crap out of me again.

So that happened...

As a mom of a boy, I expect a lot; a lot of injuries, a lot of sweat, a lot of stink, a lot of imagination, just alot of everything. But I did not ever expect to come home to my sons arm angling up like a ramp. I pulled into the driveway at home on Thursday to Brady sitting inside the garage on the phone, I thought "hmm, his face looks weird", then I looked at his arm and he brought me the phone and said "talk to the 911 operator". I'm sorry, what? "Hello ma'am, the ambulance is on it's way". Apparently this is what happens when you are skateboarding and fall off catching yourself on your arm.

I cannot believe how brave he is and has been. He was not screaming, not crying, just very calmly asking me "if this was normal" on the way to the hospital. We got to Children's North Campus and they were so fast to take care of him. They had him on the splint above and pumping meds into him within minutes. I just kept hearing them say "we have a deformed arm" over and over again. After stabilizing him and getting his pain under control, they took him into X-ray to see how bad it was.


After talking with the orthopedic surgeon, they decided to manually manipulate it and get it back into place if they could. Luckily, they put him under and did what they needed to to make his arm "un-deformed". He did awesome during the procedure however didn't do so well coming out of anesthesia. He couldn't stop throwing up and they ended up keeping him overnight because he couldn't keep any pain meds down. They let us go home 1st thing Friday morning and he has been home resting all weekend. He has to keep his arm elevated and take it easy for three days to try and keep the swelling down.

We will go back tomorrow morning to get more x-rays done to make sure the set is doing what it's supposed to be doing so he won't have to have surgery (plates and screws, boo). He should have this cast on until tomorrow, get another one, and then another one (only to the elbow in 3-4 weeks) for a total of about 7-8 weeks of casts and recovery. Seems like a long road for him. He is doing great though, getting more independent every day.


Here is his awesome pink cast, pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month (his idea, cute, huh?). We shall see what color he picks tomorrow...

We will keep you updated on his progress, keep the good thoughts coming his way. He is already bored and driving himself (and us) crazy. :) A big thank you to everyone that has brought him treats and gifts to occupy his time, we really appreciate your love and thoughtfulness. A BIG special thank you to Grandma/Mom for taking such good care of US! Love you.