VEGAS BABY!!

Hello Blogger world!!  I am back :)  After a long hiatus I am back to blogging.... and the only one to read this will be Jenny!  Yep, awhile back your husband ratted you out about being a wee bit frustrated with yours truly and my lack of blogging.  So this one is for you "yenny"! ;)

This December we made a sorta spur of the moment decision and headed out to Vegas to meet some old friends.  They say old friends are the best, and they are right.  We had a blast, walked a lot, ate a lot, and laughed a ton!!  All of it was fun, and we hope it doesn't take the three boys another 10 or so years to get together again... I don't think it will, but just in case any of them are reading this.... DON'T!

See these three (below) have been friends since I don't even know when.  They have gotten in trouble together, had more fun than they should have together, and all have matching scars from... I am not allowed to tell!  They have encouraged each other, prayed for one another, picked each other up, helped some move cross country, laughed at each other getting hurt and passing out, and even after ten years apart, picked up right where they left off!  Within 3 minutes of meeting up, they were shocking each others arms and faces with a shocking thingy and laughing their heads off at each other!  I would say best friends, but it doesn't seem to quite cover what they are, more like long lost brothers.

Needless to say the 5 day trip was to short and they are texting each other and planning the next trip already.  

Craig, Jay, Jalon: aka the three amigos

Jalon and I at the Tournament of Kings dinner show

We had a blast walking the strip, shopping at the many "Cowboy Christmas" conventions, watching the Tournament of Kings dinner show, and just hanging out and laughing.  The days flew by and then it was back to reality and the craziness that comes around the Christmas holiday.  It was a fun break in the midst of the season and it is always nice to get away with my hunny for some "us" time.

So thanks for reading Jenny, I am hoping that I can get back to the blogging world on a more regular basis, I really have missed it.  I know you are dying for updates on our little lives here on the prairie ;)  Love ya!!

Dresses, Dresses, Oh My!

Outside Rush's Bridal with the crew after the big purchase!

So I feel like every blog I ever start anymore always starts the same way... Sorry it's been so long!! I hope that I have found a solution for that, but more on that later.

Today I want to tell you about my weekend! It was AWESOME!!

See it all started way back on opening weekend (as any good northern girl knows I am referring to opening weekend of deer season ;) ). See it was way back then in the beginning of November that Mr. Philip Oommen proposed to one of my favorite people on this earth... my favorite sister ANNA!! :D As you can tell I was super excited, and very honored that Phil had called and asked me to be there for the big weekend! Anna had no idea so it was even more fun!

So all of that brings me to last weekend. The girls and I made the trek to the cities and met Mom, and Sarah, and of course Anna, and went dress shopping! Super exciting!! We had a lot of good laughs, some good lunch, and we finally found a dress.... just when we thought all hope was lost! :) It was fun and we made some great memories.

It is really fun getting to watch things come together for such an important day for someone that you really love! Anna is one of those people in my life that knows probably more than she should about me, and I love her all the more for it! I look up to her (even though she is younger, and not because she has me by at least 4 inches!), trust her with anything and everything, and don't think I can go more than 3 days without talking to her! I am so so happy for her and Phil, and can't wait to be there for the big day!! But in the meantime, I am going to enjoy this planning time and probably drive her absolutely insane with all the ideas I have! ;)

Anna and the girls before we started the hunt

Mom working her magic finding dresses. She did end up pulling THE one!

Sorry I am still trying to figure out some things on this computer. It won't let me move my pics for some reason. Bear (bare, bar?) with me people, we have already been over the fact that technology hates me! ;) But as you can see I did finally figure out how to get pics on here at all!! Yay for me!

5 years... already?!!

Sydney just celebrated her 5Th birthday this last week. It was a little confusing as we have always told her that her birthday is after the snow comes. There is no snow this year, and she wasn't to sure it really was time for the big day. Also, I had her party the next day and not on her actual birth-DAY. She celebrated that day by getting to go to Grandma's house, playing dress up with her cousins Elly, and Lydia, and getting to eat doughnuts! Auntie Jeshanah is the best!! :) But she did tell Jeshanah that she wasn't five until she blew out the candles... guess we haven't explained birthdays very well around here! Whoops!

The next day we had the family over for the big party! I say big cause there are a lot of us when we get together... although I can't imagine it any other way coming from a large extended family myself! I asked Syd what she wanted to have for the meal, and she replied "um I think we should have mashed potatoes and gravy, Chinese food, and Subway!!" Um yeah, we didn't!! I finally, after much negotiating, talked her into just Subway, and then I went the cheap route and just bought the fixings for sandwiches at Sam's Club. :)

She had a great time, and was super excited about all of the presents she got. The only bad part was the morning after the party Jalon was asking her if she liked her presents from mom and dad. Sydney looked at him and said what presents? At this point I had one of those embarrassing mom moments... I quickly said "oh just a minute, I think they are still upstairs". Yep, I forgot to wrap or GIVE our presents to my baby on her birthday!! Mom of the year award nominee right here thank you!! Although after I finally got them to her, she did tell me that I got her exactly what she wanted... not even sure she has ever told me she wanted the things we gave her but I will take it as a compliment after spacing so bad!! :)

Hard to believe that she is 5 already. She is turning into such a big girl, who is super excited to start Kindergarten in the fall. I always ask her what I am going to do without her here to talk to and she promises that she will always come straight home after school! I plan on reminding her of this when she is 16! ;)

Happy Birthday Sydney Elizabeth

I love you, my little sweet pea pea

The Crazies

So it is that time of year again... that crazy crazy time of year when half of the family has a birthday, and we celebrate the Lord's birthday too! Yep tomorrow is Sydney's 5Th birthday, Christmas is 10 days later, and then Briann has a birthday on the 10Th of January. Scatter in a few extended family birthdays, a Christmas program at church, and all the shopping I still have to do, and you can understand why I go a little crazy this time of year! Good thing I have lots of cookies and diet Pepsi to keep me going! ;)

We did manage to get our annual Martinson Girl Christmas Baking day in already, and had a blast doing it! Lots and lots of treats are now in my freezer and on the counter tops, and maybe a lot in our tummies already?! I let the kids skip school this year for the event, although Cody decided that he needed to be in gym for the floor hockey championship game, so he got out after half the day. Like I have said many times, that one is ALL BOY!! :) I forgot my camera that day so go visit my mother-in-law's site to see some pics of the day, festivities, and of course the loot! myronandkathy.blogspot.com

On another note completely unrelated to anything above, I got a new computer!!

Yep, I have been working for my hubby at the shop as they have been super swamped... obviously if he is having me do work there! And my payment was a new computer! It is an iMac with a 27 inch screen. Yep he was with me when we got it and his motto always has been "go big or go home"! ;)

I am still figuring it out but so far I love it! It doesn't turn off while I am working on it, it doesn't decide to re-start whenever it feels like it, and it doesn't freeze up randomly. The screen even stays on at all times and doesn't flicker off and on! It is amazing!! When I start really playing and find all the cool things it can do I will let you know... mostly cause I know that you are all waiting with baited breath to hear about it! :)

I will be back soon, hopefully with pictures of my brand new big 5 year old. Can't believe it has been 5 years already!! Crazy how time flies... especially when you are having so much fun on this crazy train!

(Sorry had to throw it in there!) ;)

Later Gators!

Back At It!

Hi all... or few! It has been so long since I updated that I probably only have very few who will actually read this! :) Yes I know, it's been ages. I missed the entire summer, and most of the fall! As I write I am waiting for the snowflakes to start falling... it is raining now, and the weatherman says it's coming!

I have so much to fill you all in on... well sorta. Life is probably about the same as always, but I will still update you all on it! I also missed a very special little mans birthday, and although he could probably care less if I blogged about it, I will... sometime. In the meantime I am just glad that I figured out how to get back in to my account and post anything!! Turns out I have another email account that I didn't know existed and that is the one that my blogger account runs through! Crazy!!

But anywho, I hope to be updating more and more now. So stay tuned to the incredibly interesting, and crazy ride I call my life! :)

See ya again soon!

Later gator!

Hello, Spring!

Winter is gone and now it's Spring.

Flowers bloom and robins sing.

The sunshine is warm; it's nice and bright.

The butterflies are a pretty sight!

Spring, spring, spring! Now it's here.

Spring spring, spring! Give a cheer!

Winter is gone and now it's spring.

Let's shout, "Hooray! We're glad it's spring!" Cody brought this little poem home from school the other day and I thought it was cute! You are supposed to sing it to the tune of "Up on the Housetop"... good thing you can't hear over blogs! ;) This little lady has been begging to go outside every day, and this is where I found her the other day after switching a load of laundry! She said she just wanted to feel the sunshine... can't say that I blame her at all!! We pulled out a couple lawn chairs and sat on the deck in the sun playing fetch with the dog for awhile. I love spring!! Hope you all are enjoying the warm sunshine too!!

Happy Spring Everyone!!!

Spring Cleaning & the Likes

It is spring according to the calender, but here in cold Minnesota it still feels a lot like winter. And for me this winter had been very very long! I don't know why, but it just seems to be dragging on forever, and my favorite time of the year will never get here it seems!! Regardless of the temp outside, inside my humble abode I have been thinking a lot about spring cleaning. I haven't gotten farther than thinking, but I did mop today and in the spirit of spring cleaning I had to break out my Pine-Sol!

Normally I use my trusty environmentally friendly Norwex mop. Just a little hot water to get the pad wet, and wallah, I have a bacteria free floor! And if you have a floor that needs to be mopped as often as mine should be, you need a good mop! (notice I said should... it gets done not that often! Which is why it deserves a blog!) I love it. Only thing is that I am a smell person. You know the kind that has to smell the clean?! So today, I broke out the Pine-Sol for some clean smell in my house! It reminds me of great memories at StoryBook in the summer, and the clean clean bathrooms and Dining Hall after a good mopping! OK so they probably weren't that clean, but they always smelled clean! I know all you die hard Norwex girls are cringing and saying that when my whole family gets ADD, cancer, and Bubonic plague I am gonna regret the Pine-Sol, but for today, well my house smells really really clean. And I LOVE it!! :)

This is the living room where all the chairs became a train for this little lady to play and sing on. We broke out the " Joyful Joyful Sunday School Songs" and danced and sang. A fun time was had by all! ;)

And don't my floors look shiny? I had to take a quick picture, cause as soon as the kids or the dog or I go through they won't look like this!

So happy Spring Cleaning everyone. Or at least just mop your floors with something that smells deliciously clean, and enjoy the sunshine! :)