GONE II ... and then some finds!!!

So, this is an addition to and continuation of my last post (see below)

Here is a picture from our wedding day...


Here is a picture of what I discovered on Tuesday morning...


Now this is not the first time the diamond has been lost. On our honeymoon, I took my rings off on hole 1 at Kapula Golf Course (Maui) to put on sunscreen. I got distracted and just hopped up when I wanted to look at something. It was about 3 holes later that I realized what I had done. John and I went back and actually found both rings in the fairway.

And, here is a picture from late Wednesday afternoon...

I was amazed!!! I realized the diamond was missing as I was driving to our church Tuesday morning. We had just left the house and putting on my rings was the last thing I did before we left. So, we turned around and went back and I did a complete search of the area between my night stand and the back door. At this point, I believed it was gone. There were too many other places we had been just on Monday alone where it would have been impossible to find.... Oma's house, Memorial Day Service at Rest Haven cemetary, Albertsons. We alerted Oma (John's mom) and she was on a mission to find it. She even called Rest Haven and had them look out there. On Wednesday afternoon, we needed to run to the grocery store to pick up a last minute item for dinner. I parked close to where I parked Monday evening. I told the kids (yes, I had all three of them with me!) that I parked between these two lines and wanted to look to see if the diamond was there...yeah right...like it would still be here three days later! Sophie immediately stoop down and started trying to pick something up.

I said, "Now, Sophie...don't get all dirty! You don't have to pick up everything you see. The chances of it being here are like a gazillion to one!!!".

Sophie said, "But, mom, this really looks like it is the shape of a diamond!"

At this point, I realized that it WAS the diamond and I had no words...I just started to cry!

Some of the other things also found from the last post --- Jason's shoes, Mommy's drivers license, and all of the kids' health!!!

GONE...

10 things that we have lost or gotten rid of in the past couple of weeks:

1. TIME - I've always known that doctor visits take a lot of time, but it is magnified when you have to take all three kids to the doctor for ear infections and they kids didn't think to schedule their illnesses at the same time.

2. SLEEP - kids with ear aches and coughing do not sleep very well...and therefore, neither do their parents.

3. Laptop - John got a new computer a work. He traded in the laptop for a (hopefully) more powerful desktop.

4. Driver's License - The last time I saw mine, it was in Allison's possession.

5. PS3 network connection - John tried to run the required ps3 operating system update and now the network connection is just gone.

6. AM radio - I know ... your thinking, "who cares?" But I run many of my errands at night after the kids go down AND I love the Texas Rangers. No AM radio means no 1080 and no Rangers game.

7. Mommy/Allison Time - Yesterday was Jason's last day of preschool for the year.

8. Half of Jason's shoes - Unfortunately we have misplaced one croc and one sandal, so he is left with just tennis shoes for the moment.

9. Nursery furniture - We gave away all of it to a coworker of John whose wife is expecting their first child this fall.

10. Sophie's first top tooth....

Comedy Act, 12:30 am

It's been a long week and a half. First I spent Mother's Day weekend in a Nyquil-induced coma. Then each of the kids took turns battling the allergies. The results of the allergies have settled into an ear infection for Jason and coughs for all three of the kids. It is the coughing that we are battling especially during the night.

So, last night was no different. Here is part of the conversation that took place during my second wake up call of the night.

Mommy: What's wrong, sweetie?

Jason: skfjeohfradslknvoei (I have no idea what he said through the crying!!!)

Mommy: What?

Jason: They LEFT me!! (pointing at his both his sleeping sisters.)

Mommy: Where did they go? (quite confused as, obviously, they had gone nowhere.)

Jason: to sleeeeeeeep!!!!! (with a big whiney, crying sigh and BIG puppy dog tears!)

Mother's Day

I love my bride and think she is a great Mom. My kids agree. This week Sophie decided to create a Happy Mother's Day Tea card completely unsolicitated and unaided. She made the card while Paula was out and surprised her by putting it on her pillow. This is a scan of the inside of the card.

Happy Mother's Day Paula!!!

Sophie's Birthday Party

Sophie's 6th birthday was last Friday. It took me a week to recover from the festivities to post some photos. Sophie requested a slumber party, but Paula negotiated a slumber evening and then proceeded to plan out a "pillow fight" pajama party. Paula sent out invitations in handcrafted pillowcases and 5PM on Friday 4/3/9 there arrived 20 girls to celebrate with Sophie.

As the girls arrived, they created sleep masks decorated with stickers and jewelry.

Soon after arrival, the pillow fights had started in the media room.

One of Sophie's favorite activities was spinning in the rocking chair. At its peak, 4 or 5 girls would sit in the chair while 2 or 3 spun them in dizzying circles.

Of course, Paula had plenty of food including pizza and ice cream sundaes complete with multiple options for decorations. Chants and singing filled the air most of the time around the table.

Finally after lots of running and screaching, pizza, pillow fights, sleep mask creation, ice cream sundae decoration, lots of running and screaching, chair spinning, singing, ball pit battles, glow in the dark bracelet swirling, and lots and lots of running and screaching, some of the girls settled in to watch Princess Diaries 2.

Spring Break 2009

Back before kids, John and I used to go skiing with a group of friends. Actually John and the group went for several years before he and I met, then he was stuck taking me along with him. As all of us started having kids, the ski trips went by the wayside. This year the majority of the group decided to try out the tradition again. So, we decided on Breckenridge and found this lovely place to stay...http://www.vrbo.com/969. There are 23 of us in one house including 12 children!

I was pretty excited about this trip until we took Sophie and Jason ice skating in early December. Neither of them enjoyed learning the ice skating and they didn't really like the cold either. So, after that event, I started coming up with ideas of what I could do to fill 5 days in the snow with children who didn't like cold. I brought travel games, books, art/craft supplies, and ingredients to make rice krispie treats.

I am happy to report that we have not had to depend on any of them. Even earlier today I got to make the rice krispie treats by myself. Here are some pictures of our week so far:

Walk back from the slopes to our castle (in the background)...
Sophie in ski school...
Allison taking her time getting to the sledding slope...

Sophie and daddy sledding ...
Kids sledding together...
Desert/bedtime snack (brownies, ice cream, rice krispie treats, grapes and blueberries ---it's vacation!!!)...

First Crush??

Sophie is a Daisy Girl Scout this year and this weekend started the annual cookie sales. Sophie's troop has decided to participate in the Project Troop to Troop program which is part of the Gift of Caring Community Service Project. In this program, the girls can ask potential customers if they would like to purchase cookies that will be donated to our military personnel both at home and abroad. Sophie, to my suprise, has taken quite an interest in this program and was very excited when the first person order a box for the Troops. It was later in the day when I finally found the root of her interest. Here is the conversation we had on the drive home:

Sophie: Mommy, do the cookies for the Troops REALLY go to the military people.

Me: Yes! Why?

Sophie: Do they go to the army people?

Me: Yes.

Sophie: Will they go to the people who are still training and learning?

Me: I think that they could....Why?

Sophie: Just wondering.
Sophie (gleefully trying to whisper to Jason): I think Yuri is going to get some of the cookies that I sell!!!

FYI: Yuri is a young man from our church. He graduated from high school last spring and entered training for the Army Reserves. He has always been very sweet to our little Sophie.