Major Surgery

I found this on the floor when we got back this weekend.

Me: "DJ do you know what this is?"

DJ: With shock and horror, "AHH, . . . . it's a finger!"

After looking around we found this.

Yes it's true I'm afraid. Another tragic loss thanks to our new puppy. But this time it came off of Isabel's favorite doll. She was NOT going to like this.

So we had to think quick before Isabel saw the damage. Alexandria and I decided to perform major doll surgery.

**WARNING: If you are a doll lover the following picture may be hard to handle.**

This poor little doll was past her prime her eyes no longer worked right and her face was a little scuffed from many years or much love and so because she had been loved she loved in return and offered her perfect little limb to replace the one that had been eaten off of Isabel's favorite doll.

After thanking the little doll for her arm we quickly performed the procedure and . . .

WA-LA!!

a perfectly new little arm (although a slightly different color) and one happy little girl who will never have a meltdown because her doll was ruined. That makes for a much happier mommy too.

What did you see this weekend?

We got to see Papi play this weekend. This time a lot of the family got to come. It was fun to have everyone there. Papi gave the kids some baseball pointers after the game. That's their favorite part of the night.

And, of course, we had to make a trip to Sea World. These passes have been the best thing ever. We've really been able to use them this year. That was a good deal! And now Sea World has a new thing where you pay $30/adult and you can eat all day. So now hubby stays happy too.

Coming home was CRAZY though because we were heading straight into this. It was kind of fun once we were inside. I thought it was going to be a big sand storm or lots of rain or something but it was more like red fog. Weird but so desert-y, (pretty sure that's not a word) I loved it.

Never Again . . .

. . .will the drawer in my kid's bathroom look like this.

How embarrasing! Can you find anything in there? Because I can't! So, you see I came up with my own little contraption for hanging all the girls' ribbons, flowers and headbands.

TA-DA!! THE RIBBON HANGER!!

I'm sure some of you crafty people out there could really make this look cute. But for now it's functional and works for us. And hanging all those cute ribbons and flowers adds something and is about as crafty as I get. :)

BTW - I'm taking all the photos off of my old camera and these were taken with the old one. I'm sure they would be much better if I used my new camera. ;) Maybe I'll go try and see if there's a difference.

I'm gonna party like it's my birthday . . .

It was my birthday today. I turned 29 for the 4th time and I had a fabulous day thanks mostly to my mom and my kids. We started out the day with a trip to the gym for ZUMBA. It's a mix of latin dancing and international music, very fun. The kiddos were awesome all day. I loved being able to tell them, "It's my birthday. Be nice!" And they would nice right up. Wish I had that excuse every day. Alexandria was a little sad she didn't have anything to give me so we went to get her new books for piano lessons that she'll be starting and she picked out a piano book for me, High School Musical 2, . . . my favorite. Plus she colored a beautiful book and made me a crown for my birthday.

My mom went with me to pick out my birthday present from Papi. I figured I was doing him a favor. You know guys stress about what to get their wives for their birthday so I told him not to worry, I knew exactly what I wanted and I would even go get it. Aren't I such a good wife? ;) So thanks Papi for the new camera. See what good pictures it takes.Our old camera was in pretty bad shape, seriously, it had fallen a few too many times and the pictures were slightly green and blurry. So now I don't have any excuse for my lack of photography talent and hopefully the pictures on our blog will look better. Mom and Dad gave me this beautiful picture that I have always loved. It's huge! Mom said it will go good in our newly remodeled family room when we're done. (Haven't started it yet but it should be happening soon, I hope.) Thanks Mom! ;)

Mom and Janalyn planned a fun party with the whole family that's here in AZ. See my beautiful cake. DJ picked blue balloons and the pink flowers were for Alexandria. My mom tried to pile on as much frosting as possible because that's my favorite part. YUM!And Adam and Whitney both called. I have to say it was such a fun day that if it wasn't for turning older every time I had a birthday I would have a birthday more than just once a year. I think I'm going to go have another piece of my cake. I'm feeling a frosting craving coming on. :)Thanks everyone for the fun birthday!

A Super Safe and Natural Appetite Suppresant

Fitness Friday!!

It burns fat, fends off disease, strengthens our bones, and improves our mood -- and now studies suggest it may even suppress our appetites. What's this miracle of modern medicine? Actually, it's pretty old-school. It's exercise. Although the jury's still out, new research suggests it may inhibit people’s munching.

Overweight people in a study actually ate less and dropped some body fat after 3 months of regular workouts on either a treadmill or a bicycle.

Researchers suspect there may be something chemical about exercise that helps increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a blood protein known to curb appetite. The higher the BDNF, the fewer calories the study participants consumed, and the more weight they lost.

Just another excuse to workout!

Princesa Chloe

We finally settled on a name. I think we went through about 10 or so before one finally stuck and it was a toss up as to what to call her but Alexandria finally won with Chloe. AJ wanted Princesa so we've officially called her Princesa Chloe. She's been a lot of fun but we have had a few issues. DJ will not leave her in her crate. He lets her out and she goes on a rampage (we've already lost a few toys and a rug to those puppy teeth) if no one is around to watch her. I even tried locking the crate and DJ found a way to get her out. I think she gives him those puppy eyes and he falls for it every time. She always has to take me with her to go to the bathroom. You know how girls are. ;) She will not go outside without me. In fact she hates it so much that she'll resort to anything to get back in if I leave her out.
Yup, that's our fireplace. She somehow found her way in through the fireplace!! I wish I could have gotten a picture of the kids too when she popped her head out of the fireplace. Their faces were just as funny. Let me tell you she is one smart puppy, literally.

But it doesn't get any cuter!

Okay, so maybe the waking up thing is awful (seriously it really puts a damper on the WHOLE day, way too scheduled) but it doesn't get any cuter than this.

She was so excited for her 1st day of 1st grade. I'm glad she woke up happy because she wasn't looking forward to waking up early either. I missed the picture in the morning but if she comes home and still looks this happy I think that's a good sign that things went well at school today and maybe it wasn't too long of a day for her.

This Sucks!!

Whoops! Did I just write that bad word?? I must really hate this first day of school, waking up WAY too early for the next nine months thing. Come on people? Can't we start school at a decent time, like 10 or 11? This is going to make me very old very fast. ;)

Well, at least Alexandria was excited this morning. She got up without me having to wake her up. Although, she said she didn't sleep at all last night because she was thinking about school. Do you remember that? I never slept the night before my first day of school all the way through college. What is it about the first day? But, we probably need to wake up even earlier because she barely made it to the bus and in all our rushing I forgot to take pictures this morning. Hopefully, I'll remember to get them this afternoon.

I hope everyone has a great day of school and for all the moms, we get to relax now, right?