dance

I'm going to a single adult church dance tonight? Why? Shoot, I don't know. My kids are gone (sob), I've no other plans, it's new year's eve. I haven't done anything remotely social in ages. So. Why not?

If I don't meet Rick I'll be mad that I wasted my time.

Just kidding. :) You never know, I might have something interesting to write about. Maybe Bigfoot will come. That would be interesting to write about. Maybe a creepy 65 year old will ask me to dance.

I'm scared. What if a cute guy strikes up a conversation? Seriously, what will I do??! What if a guy strikes up a conversation with me? Oh my scariness.

Gotta do it sometime, I guess. Gotta get myself out there. There, here I come.

Is it over already?

Christmas is the best ever EVER! I had the most awesome Christmas! My kids were in Nampa already and I drove there on Tuesday right after work. The roads were a little scary but I made it, and I was so sad that my kids were already sleeping. They were at my Mom's. Well, Santa was coming for my kids that night so I had some work to do. Randy was to have them Christmas morning, and he told me he wasn't doing Christmas so I had to make sure the kids had a visit from Santa.

I was so happy to see my kids, I'd missed them so much. So here's some pictures of that Christmas Eve morning.

Anna playing with a stocking stuffer:

Anna really wanted a Diamond Castle from Santa for her Diamond Castle Barbie she got for her birthday. Well, Santa couldn't afford said Diamond castle, so he got her this school and school bus for her Kelly dolls, hoping it would suffice. She was a little disappointed; she had total faith that Santa would bring her the one thing she asked for. I was sad for her, but she took it like a big girl, and I explained that sometimes Santa brings what he thinks we'll play with more rather than what we think we want at the moment. Hope she understood.

Matthias got a tool box and that batman punchbag thing from Santa. And they both got super soft and warm microplush blankets. He's playing with the slinky that was in his stocking.

Here he is unwrapping the present I was most excited about getting him, his Thomas the Train set:
Anna unwrapping her hair stuff:
My pretty princess and her pretty toys. The baby doll on the left is from Kadin's grandma, Kimmie's mom, whom she's never met! That was very nice of her. The Barbie head is from Kimmie and that was the first toy Anna wanted to play with.

Yay, Thomas! He LOVES it.

Look Mommy, Handy Manny! He loved it.

Yay, more Barbies!

Alright, Kung Fu Panda and Polar Express!

Later, Matthias said, "I love my truck. I love my Handy Manny. I love it all." Ya done good, Mom.

That'll do for now.

I've been tagged by me ebff

Where is your cell phone? Kitchen
Where is your significant other? Dunno
Your hair color? Brown
Your favorite thing? kids
Your dream last night?Ferret
Your life dream/goal? happiness/peace
The room you're in? living
Your hobby? Writing
Your fear? custody
Where do you want to be in 6 years? Nampa
Where were you last night? Broulims
What you're not? married
One of your wish list items? Marriage
Where you grew up? Idaho
The last thing you did? surfed
What you are wearing: dress
Your TV? Off
Your pet? Nonexistant
Your computer? slow
Your mood? Christmasy
Missing someone? KIDS
Something your're NOT wearing? goggles
Favorite store? Burlington
Your summer? Rocked
Love someone? yessiree
You're fave color? PURPLE
When is the last time you laughed? Kim
When is the last time you cried? Church
Your significant other's hair: away
Your life in one word: Crazy

Snow Flops

I think this is hilarious. This was December 13 2008.

Okay, this is why I don't post pictures anymore. I've been working on this blog for 45 minutes and only the following uploads have been successful. I GIVE UP!

Well so on Saturday we celebrated Anna's birthday. It was Saturday, December 13, 2003, that I became a mother. 6:36 p.m. on that date was the best minute of my life! I remember it like it was yesterday, and when I remember that teeny infant, who only yesterday was whimpering on my chest, covered in gray slime and blood, and then I see her now, I am astonished. Five years happened in two blinks! I was holding my 8 pound, 1 ounce, twenty-one and a half inches long miracle yesterday, and yesterday that same miracle turned five years old. It's all the same day to me. How is it possible? My precious, beautiful angel-princess is five years old. And now she's 45 pounds and 45 inches. She's just as beautiful, just as miraculous. How I love her!

I thought we'd do presents later in the day. I grew up unwrapping presents first thing in the morning, before breakfast, before changing clothes, before peeing. I thought it would be cool to add suspense with my kids, so I decided we'd do presents later. It was a Saturday, and as happens on most Saturdays, I want to sleep in but my kids need me out of bed for the stupidest reasons, and we fight for about 30 minutes -- me staying stubbornly in bed trying to ignore their demands, and they never ceasing with their stubborn demands: "Mom, I wanna play on Playhouse Disney! You hafta turn it on!" "Mom, I want to watch a movie! You have to put it in!" "Mom, I'm HUNGRY!" "Mom, I have to go potty!" Most of these things they are perfectly capable of handling themselves at any moment except Saturday morning. Anyway, I got out of bed at 6:11 to say happy birthday to Anna, and then I said she could open one present, thinking my generosity would buy me time in bed. She opened her Diamond Castle Barbie doll. She loved it. Then she asked if she could open another one.
"No."
"Please?"
"No, let's wait."
"Please?"
"Alright. You can open the rest."
It's hard to break tradition! So she opened the rest and we put in her new movie (Barbie and the Diamond Castle of course, which she LOVES), and even with a brand new movie, I was not allowed to stay in bed. One day, when I have a husband, I will beg him to get up with the kids at least one morning a month so I can sleep however long I want 12 times a year.

My Mom got her an amazing dress, which she can't say enough about, and 2 new shirts. Awesome grandma.

Then I tried to clean the house.

Oh, wait. First it had snowed all night. Dangit. Well, it was the first real snow of the season, and since it was Saturday, I figured I had no business keeping my kids locked indoors when fresh, fluffy snow was beckoning. So I bundled them in snow bibs, coats, boots, gloves and hats, and out we went. Oh my coldness, it was COLD. In about 2 minutes, my hands were numb, and I said it was time to go inside. The kids, of course, had something to say about that, so I endured the frigid air for another 8 minutes, and that was it. The kids didn't know it was cold (how do they do that?), and they were doing belly flops into the snow. It was SO funny! I got videos, but I hate blogger right now, so I won't be posting them today.

And then it became blizzardy. Anna said, "It's a blister out there." Even so, Santa was to be at Broulim's, and I'd promised the kids a visit. So we went to see Santa. Sorry for the lack of pics, not my fault, maybe later. Then we went to Jennifer's for cake and icecream.

Anna got a present from Jennifer. It was a lovely dress. I had her try it on:

Matthias, apparently feeling left out, disappeared for a while. I called down the hall, "What are you doing, Mattie?" He said, "Changin" Hmm? Then he rushes out like this:

He had put Anna's shirt on! Silly, silly boy.

I have a video here. Not sure what it is. Anna opening presents, maybe? Considering my luck, it might be nothing. Enjoy:

Dear Santa

We all can dream, right?

Dear Santa,
Here's what I want:
-A husband. So, Santa, if you could fit a tall, handsome temple-worthy lawyer in his early to mid thirties down the chimney with you, I'd be much obliged. Plus, if I have a husband next year, I won't have to bug you. I'll ask him for the stuff I want. See? We both win.

-Jeans. I ripped my good pair at work. I didn't even know it; a coworker pointed it out to me. So I only have one pair. And, since I've gained 15 pounds in 3 months, I'll need those in a 16. Boot cut, if possible.

-A dress. Or a skirt outfit/ with a khaki skirt (more dressy than casual)

-A sweatshirt/pullover hoodie. I only have one sweatshirt and it's falling apart.

-Sweater(s)

-Shoes. I just can't have enough (though I do have plenty)

-The movies Elf and Enchanted

-Season 4 of 24

-Liposuction?

-A karaoke machine, baby!

-A laptop, for school of course

-A Wii. Why not? Everyone else is getting one.

-Super cute dangle earrings

-Makeup. Particularly foundation.

-A tropical climate

-To Kill a Mockingbird. The book.

-A castle

-A crown

Hmm. Well that's all I can think off. I hate to bother you with such a small, inconsequential list. I do appreciate your time.

All my thanks,
~Stephanie Jean (the mighty queen) Montano

I did it again

Once upon a time there was an absent minded young woman. Let's call her . . . Stephanie. She was a single mother who lived in a town 330 miles away from the father of her children. Every two weekends, she would faithfully drive the entire distance so her young children could spend the weekend with their father. She had family and friends in the area, so she never had a problem finding a place to stay while she waited for the weekend to end, when she'd drive her children back to their home.

One such trip proved to be rather eventful when the lovely family stopped at a rest area. The stop itself wasn't unusual, but Stephanie left a very important item in the stall which she used to . . . rest. [Rest area, get it?] Now, since childhood, Stephanie had been very forgetful. But this -- well, this time was the worst moment of forgetfulness yet. No, she didn't leave her child (although leaving-your-offspring-at-a-public-facility syndrome was in her genes [sorry, Mom]); she left her purse. She mindlessly loaded and buckled her children, and continued on her trip.

About 130 miles later, Stephanie needed some chapstick. She reached to the passenger seat to grab her purse, but, since her purse was in a rest area (or, worse, a stranger's hand), her purse was not to be found. Stephanie looked all over. She turned on the dome light and moved the snacks around. She looked behind her as best she could without wrecking the car. And then she remembered having removed it from the car at the rest area, but didn't remember returning to the car with it. She turned off the dome light and resigned to the truth of her embarrassing error. This resignation was followed by an embarrassing panic attack of sorts, during which several beats of her head against the her seat's headrest took place. There were also some vocal exclamations, but no words would be sufficient for how she felt, so mostly she just shouted nonsense. Had it not been so tragic, it would have been quite comical. The very moment she calmed was the moment she called her bank's customer service line and cancelled her debit card. But she was sick about her kids' social security cards that were in her purse, her I.D., her camera, her checks, and her blood donor card.

The next day, Saturday, she tried to call the Idaho Transportation Department, but, of course, they were closed. It was difficult for Stephanie not to give in to despair, but she reminded herself that even when she makes her life especially complicated, God seems to bail her out. Always. So, Stephanie dared to hope that she would either find it on her return trip, or that honest hands had retrieved it and would ship it to her home. However, she remembered that the address on her I.D. had been different for two years. She also had an address on her checks which was more recent but not current. She remembered she had a piece of mail in her purse which had her current address, but there would really be no way for the purse's finder to know which address to use. However, Stephanie was a tithe payer, and she kept her yellow tithing slips in her purse, which slips also contained her current address. She dared hope that the finder would connect the slips with the piece of mail and ship it there.

Well, she did stop on her way home but, of course, a purse simply doesn't last a weekend in a rest area. She sadly trode back to her car and completed the trip. The next day she eagerly checked her mailbox, hoping for a package. Of course this was premature; it was only Monday. And, of course, there was no package. Tuesday, no package. On Wednesday, she found a key in her mailbox! Stephanie's apartment mailboxes were very small, so when a tenant has a package, the mail person leaves a key which opens one of the two very large boxes. Stephanie was thrilled as she turned the lock in the package box, and then promptly disappointed when she saw how small the package was. It was only an eBay purchase.

On Thursday, she remembered she hadn't called the Transportation Dept. yet. Forgetful, remember? So she made a committment that she would call that day. Maybe they'd found it. She pulled into her parking space and was going to check the mail, as was her custom, when her daughter, whom we'll call Anna, said: "Mommy, there's somethin on the door!" Anna had won the race to the door again, and was able to see it long before Stephanie was. Stephanie turned, curious, and asked Anna to bring it to her. It read:

"Hi,I found a purse in a Southern ID rest area with this address inside. I tried to deliver it. Call me when you can. 351-****"

Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! were the words that bounced through Stephanie's brain. She promptly called the number and discovered that the finder of the purse lived in a town about 10 miles away. Of all the people in all the world who stop at rest areas in their travels, Stephanie's purse was found by an HONEST woman who lived a hop, skip and a jump away! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!

The two women met thirty minutes later at a gas station in the stranger's town. And now I have my purse, my camera, my ID, my kids' SS cards, and my beloved blood donor card. Even when I make idiot choices that really mess up my life, God bails me out. Amazing.

We'd never been to St. Anthony before, so we looked around. There's a lovely river that runs through it and a short waterfall, and my kids love waterfalls more than anything in all the world, so we stopped and took a walk in the biting weather. It was very beautiful, with all the ice and snow and running water. Very beautiful. And when my fingers were icicles I said it was time to leave, but the kids didn't want to stop staring at the waterfall. I love them.

The end.

My kids' first ancestor

Ladies and gentleman, may I present my kids' great x great to the 750th power grandfather:

Look, I don't believe in evolution. But if I evolved from an animal, why not a dinosaur? How did monkeys survive the great extinction of dinosaurs anyway? Oh, that's right, first they were fish. Well. Check it out. I found out today that this very dinosaur is called the Montanoceratops. For real! Evidentally, there's a montanoceraptor as well, but I couldn't find any pictures.

How many little boys can say their last name is a dinosaur! Matthias, I think, is going to love that information when he gets older. Maybe I'll call him Matthias Montanoceratops.

They were leaf eaters. Raptors are scary, if Jurassic Park is accurate, so we'll call the kids' daddy Mr. Montanoceraptor. Hey, you gotta poke fun at the ex once in a while, right. Besides, I still miss my ex (but my aim is improving).

Hehe. Randy's not scary anyway. He's gentle, like a teddy bear I used to think.

WHAT? This was supposed to be about a dinosaur. Excuse me.

Catchup

I don't remember what day I took these but it was relatively warm for the season, I'm betting it was October. Went to Nature Park just for photos. We love it there. The kids love to feed the duckaroos. Well. Without further adieu:

Aren't they such darlings?

I was going to post more catch up photos but those five took for eh ver and now I will go to bed.