Love is in the air ...

Or should have been, anyway. Last week was our anniversary ! Hooray for 8 years! We actually lined up a babysitter, made some plans and got ourselves a little bit excited. We haven't really celebrated our anniversary for a few years - I think we took Ella to Wingers last year - and I was excited to spend the day without the kids.

Unfortunately, this is how I spent our anniversary ... and the day before it ... and 2 days after it.

I am a true believer in flu shots. I ALWAYS get one ... except this year. Because of my lazy reluctance to hall 1 big and 2 mini butts into Smith's health clinic, I did not move from this position for 4 days! Absolutely not kidding. Poor Gator held down the fort while I drooled and snotted all over our bed. President's Day rolled around and I figured my week of hell should be over. So I showered, ate some food, visited with my loved ones ... and decided I needed a nap. When I awoke, a lovely throbbing sensation was tunneling its way through my right ear. Gator insisted I visit the doctor - who immediately found a bad ear infection with so much fluid it was on the verge of rupturing. Really, could anything else go wrong? Oh yes, I am deaf in my right ear. Not permanently, I hope. I am sure these antibiotics will kick in some day.

In the meantime, I am up and about ... although I can't hear ... and starting to pay attention to my family. My house is a disaster, we have absolutely no food, laundry is piled to the rafters, I am teaching a wheat class on Thursday that I haven't thought much about, my kids probably need bathing ... and I am downstairs blogging. Priorities, priorities.

So, Happy Anniversary Gator! Not sure if I said anything during my drugged-up stupor. It's missed days of work, missed basketball games, 24 -hour child care, frozen bean burritos, early morning feedings, and multiple drug runs - all with no complaining -- that reminds me why I love you so much!

Am I Surprised?

What's Your True Color?

My Result: Black

Your color is black. The color of night. Serene and mysterious, black conjures up images of elegant evening gowns, dashing tuxedos, and gleaming limousines. Traditionally a symbol of success, black also represents power and an uncompromising demand for perfection. Not surprisingly, you tend to set challenging goals for yourself and do whatever it takes to achieve them — your strength of character is second to none. This unfaltering determination, along with your natural elegance, impresses people. But keep in mind that your personality might be intimidating to some. Try to temper your demanding side with a little softness — trust us, it won't kill you. Overall, though, black is the color of professionalism and achievement, which means it's clearly the color for you.

What are you?
http://web.tickle.com/rd/50651/color/index.jsp?testname=colorogt&resultid=G

Jack Does Tricks!

We've been a little nervous about Jack. For a while, we weren't sure if Jack would ever roll over in public. I knew he could do it - believe me, I had to respond to his nightly calls of terror when he found himself facing the wrong direction - but when people were actually watching, he got a little spooked. Finally, Jack worked it out and got over his stage fright. For the past few weeks our latest quest has been to get him to sit up by himself. This has been important for a couple of reasons: a) Chunk has grown out of his infant car seat, although I am still dragging that sucker into the grocery store and trying to heave-ho it into the cart (the car seat, not Jack .. well, I guess it's kind of both). Looks a little something like this (click here). With a new car seat, he'll have to sit in the nasty grocery carts all by himself ... something I'm not so sure he's ready to do. b) Jack was a little slow on the rolling over thing (even the doctor said, "hmmm.") and we are trying to be proactive. Little did we know that our little Cracker Jack already had a few tricks up his sleeve....

Here is Ella making sure Jack has a safe landing for when he topples over (unless he falls to his left). She's such a good sister! Here is Jack saying, "Get out of my face!" Jack is quickly learning Ella's bad habits.

Um, Jack? How long have you known how to do this?

Jack can sit up! Here I was thinking he's a little on the slower side when really, he's just stubborn and a little lazy. He doesn't roll on demand and he doesn't sit on demand. Huh. Who'd have thought!


Oh, and don't forget Jack's crazy Cheerio trick. Gets us every time!

My New Best Friend ...

We have needed a new TV for the last few years and Gator surprised me with this lovely beast last week. Our old TV had issues .. big, fat, spooky issues. I am not really one to watch a lot of TV. Sure, I'll veg on the couch occasionally ... and there are few shows that I hate to miss ... but overall, TV is not my thing. However, over the last week I have watched more TV than than I have ever watched in my entire life! You wouldn't believe the difference it makes when you can actually see what's on the screen! Amazing!

What?

I realize it's not my best picture, but where the heck did Anuar and Gael come from?

Press Play ...

I've seen this a couple of times now and it's a great little snippet .... whether you're a Glen Beck fan or not ...

Over the can on ... ME!!

I’ve been tagged again, and I have to say, this one’s a little different. Perfect timing since I’ve been taking periodic walks down memory lane lately. Gator and I celebrate our 8th anniversary next month. Woo hoo for us! Thanks for the tag, Jen!

The History of Lacey & Gator

How long have you been together? Since the summer of 1999 (isn’t that a song?)

How long did you date? Dated for a little over two months, were engaged for five months … only moved the date up once! The fella just swept me off my feet!

How old is he? 33 or 34, I can’t remember

Who eats more? Gator, although I’m really trying to keep up.

Who said "I love you" first? Gator

Who is taller? Gator

Who sings better? Me, but I’m sure Gator thinks he does!

Who is smarter? Hmmm, tough one. Gator knows more information than anyone I know. He got WAY better grades than I did in high school and college (did you know I almost didn't graduate from high school?). Sometimes he does Yoda talk because his brain works so fast … but I’m funnier and more clever.

Who does the laundry? Me. But sometimes Gator gets sick of waiting for clean clothes and then does his own laundry.

Who does the dishes? Both. I do them all day and Gator cleans the kitchen at night.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do. But that’s so Gator will be closest to the door and the sound waves of kids crying will hit his ears first.

Who pays the bills? Gator. I tried for about 6 ½ years of our marriage and realize that I’m crappy at it. Gator’s a much better saver than I am.

Who mows the lawn? Gator. He rigs up the lawn mowers so only he knows how to start them. I think it makes him feel more manly.

Who cooks dinner? When dinner gets cooked it’s usually by me. When I don’t, Gators more than happy to fix himself something to eat.

Who is more stubborn? Me

Who kissed who first? Gator kissed me. But believe me, I spent way too much time sending signals! He was a slow mover!

Who asked who out? Gator. But only by his friends pushing, who were pushed by me. And oh, what a story it is! Seriously, Gator is so lucky I stuck around!

Who proposed? Gator … one thing he was quick with!

Who is more sensitive? Me

Who has more friends? Me

Who has more siblings? Same

Who wears the pants in the relationship? Mostly me, but there are some things Gator is pretty adamant about.

Who are you tagging? Every single person on my blogging list. Look to the right … if you see your name, YOU’RE IT! Seriously, I'm checking your blogs!

Happy MLK Day!

And thank you Bono.

Strikers Can Stick It!!

To all who are involved with this predicament .... stop your boo-hooing, get off your horses and write me some TV shows! Seriously, what else am I supposed to do with my time?

Thanks for the reminder!

Ella is sitting at the kitchen table eating noodles with a creamy white sauce while telling me all about the noodles - how we eat them in the mountains, they're Cousin Mia's favorite, kind of like macaroni and cheese, absolutely delicious... She notices the seashell shape and then says, "These noodles are kind of fat ... just like your tummy." Yeah, so funny when they're honest ...

I'm as corny as Kansas in August...

Ella came home from preschool yesterday sporting a big wound on her cheek. I dried some tears and wiped off the blood (which actually turned out to be paint, thank goodness) and heard her 3-year-old version of the story. Turns out a little guy named Jackson bit her during painting time. An hour later there is a knock on the door and there is Jackson, with his dad, holding three tulips held together with string. My heart just about ripped in two as Jackson tearfully told Ella how sorry he was and that he would never do it again. Ella was so excited about the flowers and kept telling me all night, "Mama, Jackson is so sorry," while burying her face in her treasured tulips. Ella's love interest has been Cole, our 4-year-old next door neighbor. Poor Cole. I think he just got bumped.

We've Only Just Begun ....

My friend Joanna is thinking about posting on her blog ever time her kids are sick. I think it's a great idea and I'm going to copy. Most of you have heard me whine and cry and pout and curse over all the illnesses that travel throughout my house, but I don't think that a lot of you believe me. So, I am documenting it. And maybe, just maybe, by doing this I will break the curse and my little treasures will be sickness free for the rest of the year! Here I go ....

January 3rd, 2008, 12:30 a.m. (approx) - Ella starts her 2008 debut with croup. Even today, she is still recovering.

January 7th, 2008, 6:30 a.m. (apparox.) - Jack wakes up with snot smeared across his face and the saddest little cough. Has not taken one nap today and currently in his room, propped up in his car seat with Eeyore as a headrest.

Great. Just Great.

Everything's Great in 2008!

*WARNING! This baby's a long one. Make sure you are comfy and warm before diving in!

I'm not really one to make New Year's resolutions. I'm not all that great at meeting New Year's goals and I remind myself daily of the two or three character flaws that I have ... just kidding, I readily admit I have a million. New Year's doesn't work for me .... but Thanksgiving usually does! Around my birthday I am usually blessed with these crazy epiphanies that remind me of the direction my life needs to go in order to be the person I want to be. Maybe it's the realization of me getting older or maybe it's the mass quantity of pumpkin pie I consume over that time frame, but I have had some fabulous experiences over the last couple of years. However, my ever-loving, dream-making protector that blesses me with my partial insanity has failed me. November 22nd has come and gone and still I am clueless as to what is ahead of me for my 29th year. Shoot! I hate it when I'm clueless!

So, since November pretty much sucked for me this year, I am going to have to rely on New Year's to give me a little boost and motivate me to do SOMETHING with myself in 2008. Here are a few hopes and dreams, resolutions, objectives, goals, whatever!, for myself ... and for my family .....

1. Get my Christmas themed blog packed away for the season and come up with something fun, cute and sassy! The thought of actually doing this makes me want to return to my thumb-sucking ball, but I am always jealous when I view people's cute blogging sites. Anyone who has any sort of idea on the whole blog template thing, fill me in!

2. Get myself more organized. This is a goal I set for myself every week, and every week I realize I'm full of crap. However, it is still on the list because I know that someday I will figure something out.

3. Find a great Brain Exercise book. I have noticed that with each child I have become dumber and dumber. Long gone are the days of intelligent conversation and efficient multi-tasking. To think that I might continue to deteriorate from the ridiculous point that I'm at now is absolutely terrifying!

4. Eat more healthy.

5. That Jack will learn how to take naps and sleep through the night.

6. That I will continue to come up with good bribes to keep Ella in her room until 7:00 am since she didn't learn to sleep through the night.

7. I will no longer cuss on my blog. Just on my blog ... I need to keep my goals attainable. Although to be fair to myself, I am not that big of a swearerer (look back to #3 to understand my use of swearerer). I usually only drop naughty words when I'm really mad or if I think it will be funny.

8. Be a better mom. I learned a long time ago not to pray for patience. Instead of a lovely blessing of patience being lightly dropped on my head I ended up with more tantrums and more swear words coming to my mind. This time, I'm flying solo.

9. I am determined to run a triathlon this year ... although the amputation of my right foot might cause a kink in the plan. Something is terribly wrong with my foot. I go to the doctor tomorrow. We'll see what brilliant plan he comes up with.

10. Attend church more regularly. Once again, to be fair to myself, I do have kids (one in particular) that seem to be sick every darn (see?!) week and a husband that has an every-Sunday calling. So, when it's possible, I will be making a greater effort to be there. Except for Sunday school ... that's another year's resolution ....

11. To find a fabulously easy part-time job. One where I can work from home, is extremely flexible and pays a ridiculous amount of money. That way, I can paint my walls, hang some pictures, and get a new kitchen table and chairs that are not held together with duct tape.

12. To be nicer to Gator and hope that he will continue to love me while I sort out the craziness of my life.

13. To keep my kids healthy. I already wash my kids hands with kerosene, wash their mouths nightly with lye and refuse them any sort of social contact. There's got to be something else I'm missing! I will be relying on divine intervention with this one!

14. To get a decent nights sleep. Although this does rely a lot on goal #5 & #6 ...

15. Pray for my yearly epiphany to come ... QUICKLY! Oh, divine dream-maker ... I forgive you for neglecting me. I forgive you for denying me feelings of comfort and strength. I understand your hesitancy to penetrate my already burned-out brain with thoughts of wisdom. I realize you're probably really busy, and maybe a bit behind schedule, but my heart and mind are open and I am waiting .... still. Oh, please hurry! This list of 14 can't be what my life is about!

Happy New Year everybody! I wish you all the best ... this is a lucky year, I know it!

The leader of the band ...

Papa and Margaret gave Ella a keyboard for Christmas. Lucky for me, it also has a microphone attached to it! Here are a couple of videos of what Ella did ALL DAY on Christmas!

Where have you gone ...

Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you ....

So I have emerged! I apologize for my lack of blog contributions but honestly, Christmas really did a number on me this year! When the events were over, I could not help but retreat into my own personal bubble, curl up in fetal position and suck my thumb for 2 1/2 weeks! I have finally forced myself to venture to the freezing basement, power-up the computer and do a little blogging catch-up.
Despite my freakish response to the holiday season, our Christmas was wonderful. Everyone stayed healthy (an absolute feat for us, I tell you!), Jack did amazingly well for a month without much sleep and Ella was so fun this year! All of December was one big excitement after another ... I couldn't help but be excited with her! A few pictures to recap our Christmas experience ...


My cute boys at the Gatherum family Christmas party.


Jack giggling with Papa Owen.


Jack hanging out in his exersaucer. Jack didn't get the exersaucer for christmas. Jack didn't get a whole lotfor Christmas. Poor Jack!


Ella and her two favorite presents - Sharpay and Barbie Island Princess. Both of them sing!


A long day for both Jack and Gator!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Stay tuned for my New Year's resolutions ... I need to let my fingers thaw out before I begin a new entry!