Karenza Singing As Always

I was getting Karenza's pajama's while she was in the bathtub and heard her singing this from the laundry room. We heard this song on the radio when I picked her up from daycare tonight. Yes, I sometimes get to listen to the radio and not watch a DVD all the time. Sometimes I have to talk her into it, but she's easy. Anyway, this is her new favorite song by Leona Lewis called "Bleeding Love". Enjoy! Below is how it really is suppose to sound....pretty close for a three year old!

The Song Karenza is singing in the bathtub

Misc Pictures

Above is a picture of Dad, Cassidy and Karenza on his birthday.
Papa giving love to his girls!
Papa and his girls!
And the other girl we are waiting for! My sister looking amazing as always. This is at 25 1/2 weeks.

An Effective Weekend

Wow! The weekend always seem to fly by and I never seem to get anything done at home. Maybe it's because I work from home, and like to be gone during the weekend. However, with it raining a couple days and it being cool outside we decided to do some cleaning this weekend. On Saturday we cleaned Karenza's room. Threw away some toys that were broken, and packed up toys she doesn't play with anymore. I re-arranged her room so it is more efficient for her to play. I put her kitchen toys in one place, her play clothes/dress-up in another place, stuffed animals in another place, barbie dolls and dolls in another place. It took all afternoon to go through all her stuff, but it is so nice now and not to mention clean!! She has been playing in her room non-stop since. We then were going to start on Randy and my bedroom, but we didn't start on Saturday. We were like we got two more days! So Sunday morning we woke up and Karenza and I started making pancakes and the phone rang at 10:15, and before I could see who it was I said to Karenza "I bet that's Papa!" Sure enough he wanted to take us for breakfast. So we put the pancake mix in the fridge and would save it for breakfast Monday morning. So after breakfast with Mom and Dad we went to every parking lot in Bismarck/Mandan to look at cars. We aren't looking for anything new now, but our truck is going to be paid off in 8 months and we would like to update to a newer car instead of having to drive the Expedition everywhere all the time. We don't seem to all work well in the Mazda! So we wanted to look to see what we like. Only seen a couple that caught our eye. The Mazda is good for Randy to do all is running in because it gets good gas mileage. Anyway, we came home and all took naps. Mom called at 2:15 to ask is we were home because they were at a farmer's market and had fruit for us. They bought us a seedless water melon, apples, and a cantaloupe. It is so fresh and so good! Mom even cut it up before she left which is even better! I never know how to cut fruit and usually end up hacking the crap out of it! Well, Karenza was still sleeping when they came and I told Dad that he could go wake her up as she had been sleeping for a couple hours. So he did. "It's so nice to see you again, Papa!" is what Karenza said. She ate some fruit and her and Papa went to play in her room. Mom and Dad were headed to S&B landscaping to buy another fruit tree for their back yard. It closed at 5:00 Mom thought, and Mom had to watch the time to make sure they would make it in time. My Dad told Karenza that he had to go, but that he'd see her again real soon. She started to cry and said "Papa it hurts my feelings when you have to go 'cause your part of my life!" Well, you can about imagine how that made my Dad feel! It about broke is heart to walk out the door. She knows just how to get you at the right time the little stinker! It's Dad's birthday tonight so we are meeting for supper. He wanted to go to the kids store (Snoopers) for supper. It's a place where he takes the girls and it has a indoor playground and it sells pizza and hot dogs (that aren't the best!). I told Mom to tell him that he doesn't need to decided on a place for a 9 and 3 year old! It's his birthday and his choice where we eat. He has decided on A&B Pizza where they have games there for kids. Should be a fun night. Randy stayed home with Karenza today as her daycare was going to close at noon today anyway so he just kept her home. She has been practicing singing Happy Birthday so she can sing it to Papa. Randy took her to the YMCA to play basketball and play and get her out of the house so I could work. They had been gone almost all day. It's nice they do that, and she gets to spend time with her Dad because it is usually her and me spending all the time together. She gets to do things with him that I don't do with her so she loves it. I can't wait until it gets a little bit nicer out and then her and I will go for nature walks or bike rides on the bike/walking trail by our house. I'll bring my camera tonight to supper, and hopefully remember to take pictures. I forgot on my Mom's birthday so we'll see! Have a great, short week!

Miranda

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you have a wonderful day. Below are some pictures I found this morning. We'll see you tonight! :o)

Dad getting ready to give his speech at his customer appreciation dinner.
This is when we just moved back to Bismarck. I don't know how many pictures I have of these three like this. It's usually me or my mom snapping the pictures.
Karenza's 1st Birthday (Sweetheart, as my Dad calls her) and Papa
This is Christmas 2004 at my Grandma and Grandpa's in Bismarck. I still lived in Seattle at the time and came back for Christmas. Mom and Dad had just left the beginning of November and Mom couldn't stand us being away so they bought me a ticket to come home. I was still on maternity leave. She was such a good baby on the airplane too with me traveling all by myself as Randy couldn't get off of work.

Good Times

This weekend went by way too fast! Friday was amazing! I was there by 9am and didn't leave until 11:45am. It was just what this momma needed. I then met Holly what was suppose to be for lunch, but we spent all our time registering for her baby registry. After much thought and consideration she is letting me throw her one. Thanks, Sis!! It was so fun to see all the little things again and all the new things they have. Holly was amazed and we spent a lot of time going over things that wasn't available when she had Cassidy. There are so many options, and even the one she did pick out the baby may not even like it. She said that when she was pregnant with Cassidy all she wanted was cute clothes for her, and now she is more interested in butt paste, fever reducer, and the new thermometers they have. We had to laugh.

Randy had a softball game on Friday night and it was his turn to bring the brats and hot dogs. So I stopped by the grocery store and bought 60 hot dogs. There are 12 guys on the team and then all their wives and kids. I only brought two packs of hot dogs home. But, it sure was windy at least 30mph winds. Karenza was so dirty that I gave her a bath at 10:30 at night because she was running around at the park without her shoes on in the sand. That is part of being a kid and enjoying summer I guess. Then on Saturday Cassidy had a soccer jamboree all day by our house and so we went to that from 12-3pm. It was windy still and I had a jacket on Karenza but I just had a short sleeve shirt on and didn't realize until I got home that I got sunburned on my face and neck! (My neck is still hurting like crazy, and I have had a heck of a time trying to lay my head/neck on my pillow!). Karenza didn't get sunburned thank goodness, but I didn't even think to bring sunblock. I now have a nice farmers tan on my arms that I may have to even out with a tanning bed soon! :-) We did get Tasha to babysit on Saturday but she worked until 5:00 so I picked her up at 5:30 and Randy went with our bets we had talked about to the horse races. Karenza couldn't wait to get me out of the house so she could play with Tasha. When I was leaving I told Karenza to lock the door behind me and she had the Hungry Hungry Hippos game in one hand already. They sure had fun! As for the horse races, I was the only one who won off of one of my bets and I raked in a whole $20.20 off a $6.00 bet! By the time I got up there it was over, but that's okay. I was there for 2 minutes and we decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings with Holly and Jeremy. I hadn't been out in so long, and I definitely hadn't been to Buffalo Wild Wings lately. The beer was good, but the food just didn't hit the spot for me. Since there weren't any basketball games on we decided to leave after our food was done. We had 40th anniversary party for some family friends at 7:30pm, but before we headed there we stopped by Expressway Suites Lounge. This has always been Hol and Jer's spot. Holly and I wanted to play pull tabs a little bit. We each put in $10.00 first, so Holly took her first $20 for both of us and played and we only got one $2 play back and so I put it back in and got nothing. So then I took my $20.00 and put it in and we won $100! So we were happy and left after that to go to the party. We got to the party at about 7:45pm and my Mom and Dad were there and some family friends that we hadn't seen in a while. It's always nice to catch up with them. Mom and Dad left at about 10:30 because Dad has been so tired from working such long hours (it's his busy season). So Randy and I said that we weren't sure our daughter was in bed and that she would be so upset if we went home. Randy was hungry again so we decided to run through Wendy's he grab some food and I grabbed a frosty and we sat in the truck to try and waste time to not go home. We just had to laugh!! We got home at 12:00am and both girls were sleeping so we were safe. We then took Tasha home in the morning as she had to work at 11am.

Mom called at about 1pm on Sunday asking us what we were doing and if we wanted to ride along to the cemetery for my Grandpa and Grandma Robinson to put flowers on their grave for Memorial Day. Randy had softball scrimmage at 4:30pm and I didn't really feel like going so Karenza and I decided to go. Mental note to self - bring color books, colors, reading books, toys, blanket, anything to keep a three year old pre-occupied. Mom and Dad picked us up at 1:30pm and Dad dropped us off at 6:00 and she talked the WHOLE TIME! I am not exaggerating either. It got to the point where it wasn't funny anymore and I even got upset with her. It didn't help that Papa was in the backseat with her either. I drove on the way home from the cemetery and my Mom told My Dad that is was okay to make her listen. My Dad said "I did tell her." I happened to be looking in the rear view mirror and didn't see him tell her. He had his arm around her smiling! Those Papa's!! On the way back we stopped at the Plant (where my Dad has his business) because he had to grab a couple things. Well, Karenza can never be further then two steps behind my dad and when she got out to go inside the plant with them Mom asked me if I was going to get out. I just said "The peace and quiet sounds so nice right now even if it's only for 5 minutes!"

Anyway, on the way there since Karenza was talking the whole time we tried explaining where we were going and what we were doing. And you have to remember this is a three year old's perspective. We told her that Grandpa and Grandma (my Dad's mom and Dad) had died and that they were with God. She said God makes the stars and moon, does Grandpa and Grandma make them too? We said that we didn't know but that maybe they could. She said "Where going to the die?" And she always refers to it as that, because how does a three year old know about death? She doesn't. We told her that we would be able to talk to them, but that we wouldn't be able to see them or they wouldn't be able to talk back to us. She was so confused. I told her that they lay in these beds called caskets that get buried in the ground in a hole (that has to be scary to a three year old, but that is the only way I knew how to explain to her.) The next thing she says to me "Are they scary monsters?" I told her that we wouldn't be able to see them, and that they weren't scary monsters. I said "they stay in the pretty place called a cemetery and its kind of like a garden." The cemetery is really small and they keep it so nice. When we got there she happened to be standing right next to the headstone and she asked my Dad, "Where are your Mom and Dad, Papa?" He said your standing on them. She didn't get freaked out they only thing she said was "Is it okay if I stand on them?" She sat on the ledge on the headstone and proceeded to tell my Grandpa and Grandma a story. I don't even remember what the story was about. All I kept thinking was that my Grandma and Grandpa would have loved her! My Grandma and Grandpa only had boys and my Dad was the only one who ever had any girls. And now all these girls my Dad has, and my Grandma and Grandpa must be so proud of him! I know I am. Driving back by the farm where they lived (the drive is about an hour away from Bismarck) brought back so many memories of me being a little girl. I used to just roam free. Ride in the truck with my Uncle Paul or my Grandpa. My Grandma making me pancakes and bacon every morning. I can still smell it. My Grandma passed away in 1992 and my Grandpa in 1996 and when I was a little girl I thought the world stood still. That they would always be there. The memories or so good that it only seems like yesterday they were still here with us. The animals on the farm. All the kitties my sister and I used to try and tame while we stayed there during the summer. The baby calves, sheep, horses. All the chickens, and geese my Grandma had just roaming free in the yard. I hated those geese because they would always chase me! We saw so much wild life when we were driving. Tons of pheasants, ducks, and geese. My dad wanted me to drive by Lake Five where they still have a lake lot. I took a dirt/prairie road (not gravel, dirt!) and a deer ran right in front of the pickup. Good thing I was only going about 10mph. Karenza thought it was the neatest thing, she called it a Reindeer! Mom said to me isn't it funny how slow you drive compared to when you were 16 on these gravel roads? I had to laugh because I didn't even think anything of it until she said it. That is so true Mom! I also saw a coyote! I actually stopped the truck and we just watched what it was going to do. It just starred at us for a couple seconds and then took off running. Must have thought we were getting ready to shoot or something. It's nice going back and seeing the country where I spent so much of my time as a little girl. I know my Dad has many more memories there then I do. I can't even begin to imagine how it must make him feel. Even though Karenza was naughty for the drive there and back I am sure glad I went. I miss them so much and just wish they could see how successful and hard my Dad works and to be able to enjoy it with all of us. Life is so different now then it was when they left us. But, I know they are smiling from above.

The Spa

I took today off of work and have an appointment at the spa for 9am. I can't wait. I am dropping Karenza off at daycare still. Then I am off to the spa. I am getting the Tropical Rain Retreat. According to the brochure there is no better feeling than this amazing massage under their exclusive 6 headed Vichy shower bar. The treatment combines skin exfoliation with an aromatherapy moisturizing massage. Which I need so bad because my skin seems so dry lately. I then am getting the hour long facial! It is so amazing I had this with a head to toe massage the day before my wedding and it was amazing! I am then meeting Holly for lunch when I get done and we are going to do her baby registry for her baby shower. So that should be really fun. After that I will be going to get my nails done. So today will be a enjoyable day for this momma! Randy has another softball game tonight so we will be heading to that at 6:00pm. It is our turn to bring hot dogs/brats for after the game. Each member takes turn bringing the food and beer. Tomorrow Randy and I got a babysitter and will go out to try our luck at the Preakness. We've been studying on what we should bet on. Not sure if we got it or not. Big Brown doesn't have good odds and every other horse could probably win with the way their odds are so we'll see. We haven't paid for a babysitter since I can't remember when so Karenza is really excited that Mom and Dad are finally getting out of the house and she gets to play with Tasha. Sunday is Holly's birthday and I will be picking her present up today. Can't say what I am getting her cause she reads this blog. :-)

Oh, Holly and Jer had another follow up appointment yesterday on baby girl. She still has the calcium deposit, but Holly's doctor isn't too concerned about it. She has a 1 in 1000 chance of having down syndrome. They can do more testing but then Holly has a chance of having a misscarriage and that is 1 in 200 chance of that happening. So Hol and Jer said it didn't matter to them they will just wait it out and see her in August. Because it is what it is, and it can't be changed at this point. Jer had them check to see if it really is a girl, and she still is! :-) So we'll just pray that everything works out for the best, and we'll be so excited to meet her on August 27th!

Have a great weekend!

Karenza's Own Haircut

Okay so last night I decided to take Karenza's braids out. Which I haven't posted any pictures of since she got them braided over a week ago. See below.

It was really cute and she loved wearing the barrettes because they made noise when she walked. Anyway, last night I decided I was going to take them out. We sat in her room and put Cinderella in. They take for ever for me to take out. We started at 8:30 and I thought it would only take about a 1/2 hour and she could have a bath and then to bed. I didn't finish until 10:00! So it was a quick quick bath enough to wash her hair and get straight to bed!! Anyway, in the middle of taking these braids out my cell phone rang and I got up to answer it and made the mistake of leaving the scissors behind (that I was using to cut the small rubber bands out). By the time I got to my cell phone it had stopped ringing so I checked to see who called. I then walked back in Karenza's room (so this was all less then a minute or so of me leaving her room) and the first thing she says to me when I walked back in her room was "Mommy, I didn't cut anything!" I said, "What?" I looked on the bed and there the scissors laid in what I thought was in the same exact position as I had left. So I thought maybe she had thought about it but didn't follow through. So I continued to undo her braids and I get to one that looked an awful limp! It was holding on by "hairs" literally! So I told Randy to come look at what she did, and he says to me "What, did you let her cut her hair right in front of you?" I looked at him like okay I'm not that dumb to let my three year old play with scissors (at least not in front of me!). I just leave them out in the open for her to play with them by her self! So I had to cut the rest of it off. The good thing about her hair texture is that you can't really tell. I took a picture of the braid against Karenza's toothbrush so that you can actually see how long of a braid she cut off!

Then it was quick to bed for her, and before we went to bed last night when we checked on her this is how she was sleeping! Her hair is still wet you can see, and you can also see how curly it gets. If I only had more time to do her hair in the morning during the week it would look so cute, but until she can start doing her own hair it is what it is I guess. And, I did move her more in the middle of her bed so she wouldn't fall out!

I know all kids have a story like this. I have one of cutting my sisters hair, and so I will keep this lock of hair and put it in the baby book with the date of which she cut it off!

Perfect Mother's Day

This weekend was actually relaxing because we really didn't have anything planned. Saturday morning I slept until 10:15!! I can't remember the last time Karenza stayed in bed so long. I was so shocked to see the time when she came into our room. We decided to go to the mall. Randy had a gift certificate to Scheels he had received so we were going to go check and see what they had. We hadn't been to the mall probably since Christmas! So we spent all afternoon. Karenza was good for the most part. I never know what I get with her some days. We ended up buying a Twins jersey and a Yankees t-shirt for Karenza. We had looked at shoes for her, but didn't find anything we really liked for her. They measured her foot and told me she wear a 10 1/2! She tried on a pair of 10 1/2's and it looked like she had ski's on! She is in 8's right now and is walking just fine. I think they measured her foot wrong. I'll have to re-measure sometime when there isn't a salesperson around. Anyway, we decided to have lunch at Arby's and we couldn't believe that for a combo meal is was over $7.00! It was $18.00 for the three of us to eat at Arby's. For some reason that flabbergasted me! Then I asked Randy if he had a mother's day gift for me (knowing he probably didn't, because I know my husband so well). So I told him I had been eyeing a purse and if he wanted to go look at it we could! So he just smiled knowing that he was going to end up buying it for me. So now I have a fabulous new pink purse! We got home about 2:30 and decided we wanted to take naps. Karenza laid in her own bed and I was reclined in the chair, but my husband had other ideas (like make some popcorn, and put ice cubes in a glass) so I just went to the bedroom and tried laying down instead. :-) Randy came and got me at about 4:00 because my Mom and Dad had showed up. They had been out and about and stopped over. My dad bought me a spa package at Spa D'Athena. I love that place and still have one from my husband for my birthday that I will combine and use Friday (as I took this day off of work to just be pampered) and so that I can start tanning! My mom brought me a nice shirt too. I thought they were just giving me my Mother's Day present early. We decided that we would have a late dinner on Sunday so that Jer could get some things done he needed to on Sunday morning. We decided to go to Minerva's. It's a restaurant at The Kelly Inn. I have never been there and my Mom and Dad go there often. They said it was really good. So I called for reservations. Then on Sunday we had a late breakfast and then went and washed the truck. The truck takes about an hour and a half to wash as we have to scrub the rims and shine them up! Drives me crazy, but since I drive it the most I go help. I guess it's only fair. Minerva's was really good. I had stuffed manicotti with chicken breast and Randy had the prime rib. It was delicious! I also received another present from my parents. A really nice outfit (capris and matching shirt). It was a very nice mother's day. Karenza was kind of confused as to what yesterday was. Randy told her to tell me Happy Mother's Day, and she said "Happy Mommy's Day!" and then she started to sing me happy birthday. Then when we went for dinner she told my mom "surprise!" grandma it's your day. Then when Holly came she said "Happy Aunties' Day!" It was cute. Hope all the Mom's who read my blog had a great mother's day!

Have a great week!

Happy Early Mother's Day Present for Me

This is the back of my Mother's Day present from Karenza from daycare today.
And this is the front of it. Isn't that the most precious gift from a three year old? Randy picked her up from daycare today, and she couldn't wait to give me "my present"! I met them outside as Randy had to quick get to a workout with one of his kids he is training, and I had an errand to run quick (run and get a 6-pack for Randy's first softball game tonight). So I hopped in the truck handed Randy the keys to the car. I barely was in the truck and she was trying to hand me "my present". She said "Here Mommy, I made you a present today!" I wasn't expecting anything from her, and I always forget that she has such a thoughtful daycare provider that now that I think about it I should have known I was going to be getting something! Karenza loves to draw smiley faces. My Dad taught her how to draw smiley faces and funny stick people. For a three year old they are pretty good smiley faces. I love to watch her work with a pen/pencil/marker/crayon. It's so cute with her little fingers. I usually have to tell her to hold the pen closer to the tip so that it will write. I had tears in my eyes just because I wasn't expecting to receive anything and its the best present a mom could get. Over any purse, shoes, whatever! I have been thinking the last couple weeks that I wanted to do her hands again because she is only three and I don't have any hand prints of her since probably one. How perfect! I love the little creases of her hands, and they are always so busy. This morning I let her dress herself (first time she really wanted a say in what she was wearing). I only made her change to a t-shirt instead of a sweatshirt otherwise it matched (pretty well). She is pretty easy to persuade into wearing something else, hopefully that will stay when she's 16 (cross fingers)!! I just wanted to wish all my great friends who are mom's, my very special aunts, my very devoted and loving Grandma, my incredible sister-in-laws, my amazing sister, and of course my wonderful mother a very Happy Mother's Day.

Love,
Miranda

Cassidy's 9th Birthday Party!

Here are some pictures of Cassidy's birthday party this weekend. She turns 9 on Monday, can you believe it? She is getting so big. Above is her at her soccer game she had yesterday morning before her party. She looks so big in that picture doesn't she?

And of course the big hit of the party, the princess bouncer. Hol and Jer rented this for 4 hours for her party and it just happened to be a perfect day outside. They set it up in their back yard. It was nice for Holly to be able to have all 8 girls outside! I can tell you that I am not looking forward to having birthday parties for Karenza. There always happens to be one blow-out with girls. It has never failed yet to have one crying about something. Yikes! We have to laugh about it though I guess, as much as it drives you crazy. Holly said to me "Why is it that I can only stand my own kid?" I had to agree!
This is the coolest. It has a slide, and it had a basketball hoop inside. The girls loved it!
Standing in line waiting to hit the pinata again. Karenza is standing in front of Cassidy.
Opening her presents. She got a lot of cute things! And the party was a success. We had great food, and laughter. Even caught the Kentucky Derby. This mom was tired when she got home though. A whole day of party wore me out. Can't believe she is 9, wow! She sure is growing up fast. And of course you have to check out the video below! My Dad got talked into going down the slide. It is funny, as the girls are coming down the slide as he is trying to get off!

Cassidy & The Toothfairy

This is just too hilarious not to share! I laughed until I had tears in my eyes the way Holly told me at lunch. Okay, so Cassidy lost one of her big teeth on the side/kind of in the back and she was excited because it was a big tooth and that she was thinking she would get a lot of money for it. So she left it out I believe Tuesday night. The next morning the tooth fairy left $5.00, But forgot to take the tooth. She said that last time the tooth fairy forgot to take her tooth he paid her twice. (Cassidy has always thought the tooth fairy is a guy, and that his real name is Kyle so that is why I use "he"!). Anyway, so Holly told me this on Wednesday and she said so I suppose the "tooth fairy" will have to leave another $1.00. So last night before Cassidy went to bed she put the tooth in a little basket she had just bought at her school rummage sale (her school has a rummage sale where kids bring in items and other kids can buy them she took $8.00 to school with her last Friday and she brought presents home for everyone (Karenza got a barbie doll, I got a nice bowl/dish, and Randy got some football cards). She is such a thoughtful girl! So back to the basket. She put the tooth in the basket and last night after she was in bed Holly was cleaning and didn't really like the basket and was wondering what she was going to do with it. It was just taking up space. So she thought this was a good way of getting "rid" of the basket. So the "tooth fairy" left Cassidy a note that thanked her for the lovely basket and the tooth fairy left another $1.00. And the basket actually went in the garbage. So this morning when Cassidy woke up and saw that the tooth fairy took her basket she was livid! Holly said she was so mad. She said "Why would the tooth fairy think he could just take the basket? I paid 75 cents for that basket!" Holly said "Well, maybe Mom can give you 75 cents" hoping that the basket could stay in the garbage. Holly said she went to finish getting ready for work this morning and when she came back in the kitchen there was a note from Cassidy to the tooth fairy that read "Keep the dollar I WANT MY BASKET BACK!!!!" and that is how she wrote it on the paper Holly said. So Holly asked her what the letter was for. And Cassidy told her "That is my FIRM letter to the tooth fairy, he can't just take my basket, Mom!" So Cassidy was in the car waiting for Holly and Holly dug the basket out of the garbage and left her a note that said "Here is your basket, and you can keep the dollar!" Isn't that the funniest story ever? I laughed and laughed when Holly told me to the point I had tears running down my face. Kids. I told Holly that she should keep the notes and put them in her baby book so that she can read them when she gets 18! She is going to laugh when she gets older.