brandon & kathleen

babies, crafts, and romance

2012-02-14T16:18:00.007-06:00

Portia is really into "getting married" right now. She loves looking at pictures of weddings, watching movies with weddings, and pretending to get married herself. So when we went to her Valentine's Day party, and there was a dress up bride outfit, Portia was in heaven. So I decided to make her a bride veil and tutu.
It's my first time making tutus, and I think it turned out pretty good! She loves it. She's been prancing around the house talking about her upcoming wedding all day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWl1-fNF_8A

Owen is a little boy her age, who Portia adores!

Sweet babies!

and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

2012-02-13T13:40:00.002-06:00

I don't know if any of you watched the Grammys last night; I only caught the very end. Let's just talk about Paul McCartney 's performance of Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End. It brought me to tears. And with Joe Walsh, Foo Fighters, and Bruce Springsteen, it was phenomenal.

Apparently, twitter blew up during his performance with teenagers asking who he is. They don't know who Paul McCartney is. Paul McCartney...of the Beatles.

I weep for this generation.

snow babies

2012-02-13T10:33:00.003-06:00

Last night was the first snow of the winter!

Portia was so excited! She was cold, but playing and laughing!

Margot was just cold.

In keeping with the theme of Valentines Day in my house...

2012-02-09T19:48:00.002-06:00

Pretend I dropped these in the paper sack you decorated on your desk in the 3rd grade:

and my personal favorite:

things I learned while trucking

2012-02-09T09:25:00.008-06:00

When I was a little girl, my dad drove a semi for a living. We didn't get to see him a lot, so during the summer, my sisters and I would take turns and go trucking with Dad. We were usually gone about 2 weeks, and we traveled all over the country during that time.

Here are some of the things trucking taught me:

1. Don't judge a book by it's cover. Some of the nicest people in the world are truck stop regulars, and they look terrifying. I remember a guy in Florida who gave me a raisin box full of real shark teeth while I waited for my dad to finish tarping a load. I was a bored little girl and he took the time to stop and entertain me for a bit. I still have those teeth.

2. Sometimes you have to take the scenic route. This is a beautiful country, with some of the prettiest places you'll ever see. Go for a drive, look out the window, stop at the rest stops, enjoy the beauty around you.

3. The best place to eat in Louisiana is the Tiger truck stop. Its a tiny little truck stop/restaurant right off I-10; the owners of the truck stop have live tigers in pens right there on the lot. Get the Crawfish Etouffee. Oh my heavenly stars, it is amazing!

mmmmmmmm

4. Follow the rules of the road. My dad told me enough stories about bad wrecks he's seen to teach me that no matter how annoying I may find the rules, they are for our safety.

5. Ricky Skaggs is a musical genius.

6. My dad is also a genius. Seriously. Close your eyes, point to a random spot on a US map, and my dad can tell you how to get there, right down to the exit number.

7. If you eat a chocolate yoohoo and a crawfish meat pie in one sitting, you throw up.

8. My dad doesn't like it when you throw up right outside the door of the truck.

9. Embrace your weirdness. There is a phenomenon that is not widely known, called "trucking personality." I'll explain. When one is stuck in the cab of a semi for 2 weeks, one begins to lose one's mind. To keep sane, we develop trucking personality. Everyone's trucking personality is different. Daisy talked nonstop, Jeannine read book after book, Carrie sang at the top of her lungs, and I just became weird. Really weird.

10. My dad loves me a lot. He let me spend 2 weeks every summer crammed in his truck, hogging all the room, eating his food, drooling on his pillow, and he never complained.

weirdo

2012-02-06T11:48:00.000-06:00

I just found Portia trying to stick a tortilla to the fridge with magnets.

the Daddy-Daughter Dance

2012-02-06T09:33:00.003-06:00

This last weekend was the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance in my home stake! My dad used to take my sisters and I every year as kids, but it has been a very long time since we all were able to go together. This year, we made it happen.

My handsome dad and us girls:

Brandon even brought Portia! (Margot stayed at home with Grandma, since she is still a bit too little to enjoy dancing the night away.)

It was a lot of fun. There were a bunch of activities geared for little girls like Portia, like puppet making and balloons, and there was plenty of dancing for us older girls. It was a blast.

Sorry, I didn't take any other pictures; I was too busy shakin my booty.

things I'm lovin today

2012-02-01T09:44:00.008-06:00

1. The pajamas my mommy got me for Christmas. They are the comfy and warm and cute, and long enough!!

2. These babies reading books together.

3. Smoked Gouda cheese. Enough said.

4. The awesome nap these babies let me take. I needed it!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-01-26T22:35:00.002-06:00

Brandon and I are way cool. You may think we're nerds. We're not.

For Valentines Day (yeah yeah yeah, I know it's early), I got Brandon a replica of Professor Slughorn's wand. For those of you who don't know, that's from Harry Potter, and you should stop reading this and go read the series instead.

Tonight, my present from Brandon arrived in the mail. A Dumbledore wand. Oh yeah!

The Elder wand. Hey, the most powerful wand ever made, no big deal.

Proffesor Slughorn's wand. Brandon really likes it, he always thought it looked really cool.

Portia even got one. My wand came with a Harry Potter wand pen. She loves it.

In fact, when we opened them all up, Brandon waved his wand at Portia, and she did the best thing ever. She froze, and fell backwards. Think Neville Longbottom: Petrificus Totalus. It was hilarious.

Needless to say, we spend a good 20 minutes playing with our new wands.

Nothing says love like a reenactment of the second wizarding war. Reducto!

I ran over a skunk tonight in my car.

2012-01-26T22:13:00.002-06:00

He jumped right out in front of me.

At first, I felt real bad; I probably killed him!

Then, the bog of eternal stench started to permeate my car, and my compassion for the animal kingdom dissipated.

Stupid skunk.

2012-01-26T16:00:00.001-06:00

Is it lame that I like Court TV?

Judy? What do you think?

milestones

2012-01-14T18:33:00.006-06:00

Margot hit a few milestones this week. She rolled over for the first time tonight, and she ate her first bottle of baby food: carrots! She thought it was pretty yummy!

She has also started to read:

It's just "My Little Animal Book" for now, but next on her reading list are Hemingway, Steinbeck, Tolkien, and Shakespeare.

She's a fast learner.

owl boots

2012-01-14T17:55:00.004-06:00

Brandon's parents have some cats, and Portia loves them. One of her favorite activities is going outside and playing with them. Most of the cats run and hide when they see her coming, but not Owl Boots.

He's a little terrifying. He is an adopted stray, with a bit of a scrappy past. You can tell by looking at him that he's been in more than his fair share of fights. He has patches of fur missing, half of one ear is gone, and his eyes don't quite point the way they should. But Portia loves him. And Owl Boots loves her back. He lets her scream at him, pull his tail, and squeeze him till he can't breathe without any complains. We think he is just so happy that someone is paying attention to him, he doesn't care what she does. He follows her around like a pre-teen girl would to Justin Bieber, his one good eye full of love.

This is from the same day.

You're welcome.

Last night, Daddy came home with a present for Portia: a stuffed cat.

She named him Owl Boots.

Christmas morning!

2012-01-03T11:50:00.009-06:00

Portia was really excited for Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, I was telling her that when she woke up the next morning, Santa would have come and brought her some presents, and she gasped and said "I want to go night-night!" Silly girl.

The loot:

Portia and Margot got a ton of awesome stuff this year!

Portia got a little jeep, barbies, books, a piggy bank, babies, play dough, and tons more. She was thrilled! She kept wanting to stop and play with each toy before opening another one.

Margot's gift stash was a bit smaller, since she is too small to play with a lot of toys. But, she got a few rattles and teethers, and a stuffed hippo. She drooled on that hippo for hours.

The girls put on their new matching Christmas dresses, and we headed to church. After that, Portia wanted to spent every moment outside with the cats, and playing with her new jeep.

I love that Portia is old enough now to really understand and enjoy Christmas, It's so much fun!

I now understand why my mom just sits grinning on Christmas and forgets to open her gifts.

The Annual O'Dell Grandkids Christmas Eve Party

2012-01-02T23:39:00.012-06:00

The next few posts are picture/video heavy!

Ready? Here we go!

Every year on Christmas Eve, my parents and sister plan a spectacular party for all the grandkids. There are now 11 kids, so it's pretty loud and crazy, but super fun! The kids love it!

We arrived at my parents house at about 3, and the festivities commenced! First, the kids decorated gingerbread cookies. They were going to make a gingerbread house, buuut it was decided that it would be too messy and too hard, since we would have to wait for the frosting to dry. So each kid was given a bit of the house and some frosting and they went to town!

A lot of Portia's time was spent eating the candy and frosting rather than decorating with it.

This is how Margot decorates cookies:

Next came presents! We gathered all the kids into the living room and started passing out gifts. They got books, teddy bears, toy octopus (octopuses? octopi? eh), and lots of other goodies. Even the parents got presents. Grandpa's gift was the most anticipated. Everyone was so excited.

He got a muppet! My sisters and I went in together for it, Carrie picked it up at FAO Schwarz in NYC. He was pretty tickled.

Then came the traditional Nativity play. All the kids dress up, and we read from Luke chapter 2, and the kids act it out.

(I'm glad there are so many grandkids now, because a few years ago there weren't enough babies for all the parts, and Carrie and I had to step in. It's great fun for kids, but it gets a bit embarrassing for a 19 year-old to be dressed up as Mary and drug in on a rocking horse. One year I was even a sheep.)

Next we went to Rhema. For those of you who aren't familiar, Rhema is a church in Broken Arrow that puts up thousands of lights every Christmas. Thousands and thousands. Really. A lot of lights.

Margot was entranced, the lights are really exciting for a tiny thing.
Portia thought Rhema was pretty cool, she just discovered Christmas lights this year, and loves them!

All in all, a pretty awesome night!

10 things to do with a paper towel roll

2011-12-27T20:03:00.002-06:00

More specifically, things that toddlers love.

1. Decorate it and use it as a princess/prince scepter.
2. Blow through it like a trumpet.
3. Use it as a spyglass while playing pirates.
4. Use it as a tunnel for toy cars.
5. Use it as the center pole of a doll's tent.
6. Put a Dixie cup on the end and take turns blowing it off.
7. Use it as the towers of a cardboard castle.
8. Race marbles through it.
9. Use it as a baton and have a parade.
10. Tape 2 together and make googly-eyed goggles.

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T17:29:00.003-06:00

Today is Christmas day, and we are having a blast! We are in Tulsa visiting our families, relaxing, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food! Last night was the annual O'Dell Christmas Eve Grandkids party, which was a huge hit! Expect lots of pictures soon!
I love today! Not because we get to open presents and eat a fabulous turkey dinner, even though those things are wonderfully fun. I love today because it is the day we celebrate Christ's birth.
I love the story of the birth of our Lord, I think it's one of my favorites. There's something so beautiful about the Savior of the world bring born in a stable while angels sing in the heavens. I am grateful that I live in a country that allows me to celebrate this day with my family.

The Church has released some great new videos about the birth of Christ, this one is my favorite. They are found at www.lds.org

Oh, Harry.

2011-12-10T22:29:00.002-06:00

I'm watching Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows part 2 for the second time.

Best. Movie. Ever.

Monday Night Fever

2011-12-05T23:14:00.000-06:00

Stayin' Alive from kathleen rawlinson on Vimeo.

a conversation

2011-12-05T19:35:00.000-06:00

Portia to me:

"I'm Dora.

You're Boots."

possessed

2011-12-05T16:24:00.005-06:00

When I was little, I had a problem taking pictures. I always had some weird look on my face. See for yourself:

My family called that one my possessed face.

(nice Pocahontas shirt Carrie)

Unfortunately, it still happens every now and again.

Eeesh.

Sadly, when I was looking for pictures for this post, I found probably 200. And these are not the worst ones. By any means.

things I'm lovin today

2011-11-30T14:32:00.009-06:00

1. The smell of this soup cooking in my kitchen. Yum-o!

2. A large vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic. Happy hour baby!

3. The sweet sultry tones of a Mr. Freddie Mercury.

4. The fact that America's Next Top Model is in tonight, and I heard rumors that Lisa gets the boot! (at this point, I don't even care if you think I'm lame)

5. Blanket forts.

6. Listening to Portia tell stories to herself in her blanket fort about Baby Jesus and his jammies.

7. The awesome 10 pairs of jeans my Jeannine-sister gave me!

8. And of course, these babies!
It's awesome to be me!

Merry Christmas, Bedford Falls!!

2011-11-29T23:05:00.006-06:00

I love Christmas; it's one of my favorite holidays!
I love hot apple cider and pie. I love "It's a Wonderful Life" and "Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Elf". I love listening to Nat King Cole and Bing Crosby, especially when he's dueting with David Bowie.
We put up our Christmas tree the other night, it's beautiful!It's white. We used to have a cheap green one, then my sister gave us a gorgeous, pre-lit, huge tree, so we got rid of the green one. Then we moved to a new apartment with significantly less storage space and had no room for the big one, so we gave it to my parents. So now we got a white one!

Portia and Margot love the tree! Portia has been decorating and re-decorating it all day, and Margot loves to sit underneath it and stare at the lights. Sweet girls.

For your viewing pleasure:

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T00:01:00.005-06:00

Today I am very thankful for my Carrie-sister. Today is her birthday!
23 years ago today was one of best days of my life, my best friend was born. We are only 18 months apart, so a lot of the time, it feels like we were the same age. And we have the same likes, dislikes, sense of humor, so it feels like we as the same person.
Carrie is hilarious. She makes me laugh all the time, and laugh so hard that my abs hurt the next day.
Carrie is quirky. As I type this, she is drying her freshly washed face on my shins. Thanks dude.
Carrie is smart. She is much smarter than me. She learns very quickly, particularly from my mistakes.
Carrie is courageous. She stands for what she believes in. It may frighten her to do so, but she still always does it. She is one of the best examples of goodness and virtue in my life.
I loce you, Larry. You are one choice piece of real estate.
Love, Herman.

ps. Did I mention how pretty she is? DANG!

Cabin Fever, aaaah!

2011-11-21T22:16:00.003-06:00

How did this:

become this:

Were sailors nuts?!?

I suppose it's a good thing she's so smart

2011-11-16T11:12:00.003-06:00

We have a really heavy duty baby gate at our house:

The picture is kinda fuzzy, but the gate is really tall, and has a latch and swings open. It was quite the investment, but we wanted something that would keep our girls out of the kitchen and laundry room for a long time.

It isn't easy to open. We have to explain how to open it to every adult who comes to our house.

Portia learned how to open it.

I can hear $80 saying goodbye as it swirls down the drain.

I know I should have gone to Zumba this morning

2011-11-16T11:01:00.002-06:00

but the only moving my body wanted to do was a slow grow-into-the-couch motion.

So that's what I did.

happy hour

2011-11-15T11:51:00.001-06:00

I could really go for one of these right now:

Vanilla Dr. Pepper please.

Something I never thought I'd say until I became a mother

2011-11-09T21:49:00.002-06:00

"Please don't eat my hairties!"

Being a mom is awkward.

2011-11-08T09:44:00.003-06:00

Today I had a totally awkward experience in the land of mommyhood. It happens to every mom sometime or another: random strangers asking to hold your baby. Eeesh. Here's the story, my morning glories.
I breastfeed my children. I'm a firm believer in it. It's very healthy for both mom and babe, and it provides a sweet emotional bond. But I understand that breastfeeding makes many people uncomfortable. Especially public breastfeeding. Heck, it makes me uncomfortable.
Which is why, when the kid's gotta eat, I try to keep it as low-key as possible. I try to go to a secluded area, like a nursing lounge or another low-traffic spot, and I always bring a nursing cover. My worst fear when it comes to nursing is being like the woman who came into my hair school and proceeded to disgust us all with her pda: public displays of a-breasts.
So today, as Margot fussed her head off in the library, I knew the time had come. I discreetly pulled out my nursing cover, no sooner had I begun to feed her, a 9 or 10 year old girl ran up.
"Can I hold your baby?" she asked way too loudly. I was stunned. Whose kid is this? C'mon folks, control your young! I could understand if she were a 3 year old, but really? 10? She doesn't know it's inappropriate to ask strangers to hold their babies? At 10? And while I'm breastfeeding? Really?
After a pause, I told her "no, sorry" and she ran off to bother someone else.
You never get used to these moments guys.

are you ready for some football?!?!

2011-11-07T21:30:00.001-06:00

I'm not a huge fan of watching football on TV. It tends to make me real bored. But there are some things I enjoy:

1. The bands. They dance while playing, which is difficult. Also, they get to play "Crazy Train" and "Star Wars". Sweet!

2. Making fun of the fans. Dude, they're crazy. My favorite part is when they show footage of the fans of the losing team. They always look like their lives are over, like they just saw the grim reaper coming to take them away. The other day, there was a guy weeping in the stands. Weeping. Comedic gold.

3. Watching Brandon watch football. He gets so excited and charged up. It's cute.

4. Footage of players accidentally tackling refs. I don't know why it makes me laugh so hard, but I accept it.

kicks and giggles

2011-11-07T12:29:00.005-06:00

I finally got some shots of Margot smiling this morning! Enjoy!

my morning babies

Margot's blessing day

2011-11-07T11:56:00.002-06:00

This weekend we went up to Broken Arrow to bless Margot! Here are the pics:

Me and my girls!

All the grandkids:
Portia and her cousin Dahlia.

2011-11-04T09:35:00.001-05:00

Tootsie Roll Pops have a new flavor: pomegranate.

That's right, I'm getting my antioxidants from Portia's halloween candy.

For your entertaiment:

Am I the only one?

2011-11-03T23:33:00.002-05:00

Dude, the McRib is disgusting.

Why in the world does everyone else love it?

Halloween times

2011-10-31T22:38:00.006-05:00

Ok folks. I want you to take a moment to prepare yourself for a lot of cuteness.

Ready? Here we go.

I love Halloween!! I love costumes, trick-or-treating, eating candy, the whole shebang! And since I am a bit old for dressing up and going door to door, I get to live vicariously through my kids! Hooray!!

This year, we attended several Halloween parties! First, we went to a Halloween play group. It was so fun! Portia was a cowgirl, complete with boots and hat. Margot didn't dress up, she actually slept through the entire activity. The kids played games, listened to stories, ate treats (of course), and decorated pumpkins:

Portia is pretty creative. She did the whole thing by herself, I just helped with the glue.

Next, we visited the Tulsa area, and went to the Claremore ward's trunk-or-treat. This time Portia was a princess.

And Grammy was a spooky vampire:

Margot still didn't dress up, and still slept through a large chunk of the evening.

They had the trunk-or-treat inside the church, and decorated lots of different rooms to hand out candy from. There was a little room filled with lit-up pumpkins. It was Portia's favorite, mostly because there were purple ribbon streamers hanging from the door.

Tonight, we went to a trunk-or-treat in Norman. Portia was a cowgirl again, and Margot dressed up as well.

Cutest kitten ever:

This time, the trunk-or-treat was outdoors, and Daddy helped Portia go around to all the cars while Mommy and Margot handed out candy.

Checking out her loot.

beautiful girl

Margot slept through the whole thing. (I'm beginning to see a pattern here)

After the trunk-or-treat ended, we drove to a nearby neighborhood and went door to door for some more action.
Portia was a bit scared because it was so dark, but she said "trick-or-treat" and "thank you" at every door!

Now we are home. Portia is in bed dreaming of dum-dums and snickers and skittles, and Daddy and Margot are snoozig on the couch. And I am sitting here drinking some homeade warm apple cider. It was a great night.

Happy Halloween!

partake in the partay

2011-10-31T21:23:00.008-05:00

My wonderful Daisy-sister had a birthday today. Yeah, on Halloween. Cool huh?

She decided that what she wanted to do to celebrate was have a sleepover with her sisters and mom. So, we had a party! It was awesome.

We arrived in Joplin on Friday night, to Daisy's beautiful historic house. Seriously, it's the coolest house ever. Its over 100 years old, and huge, and she and her hubby have been renovating it. The kitchen makes me drool. Heated tile floors. Need I say more?

Anyways, Daisy opened presents; she got scarves, nail polish, cool halloweeny candle holder/candles, a skull pillow, and a mug and hot chocolate. You can kinda see a few of the gifts in the photo, along with Daisy and Jeannine.

By the time the presents were opened, we were all famished. None of us had eaten much all day, because we knew the food would be incredible. You see, Daisy's husband, Tim, is a superb cook. Superb. Superb. We knew that he would make something to die for. We weren't wrong.

He made Tai food: cilantro lime rice, noodles in a limey peanuty sauce with peppers and more cilantro, and breaded shrimp that was literally the best thing I have ever eaten ever. There was also red curry soup that I didn't take a picture of, because by that point I was lost in delicious-land.

If your eyes had taste buds, you would be crying with joy right now.

Yes, Carrie. Yes.

The beautiful birthday gal:

After we died and went to heaven, we came back to life and decided to run and get ice cream. We had a little trouble getting Mom's car out of the driveway, but after we called Dad and learned the inner-most secrets of Volkswagens, we were on our way.

We came home and did what all girls do at sleepovers: nails!! Carrie gave Daisy a mani with her new polish, and we proceeded to laugh and giggle like we always do when we're together. We told ghost stories; guess whose 100-year-old mansion is a little bit haunted? Daisy's!! I got legitimately freaked out; it was awesome!

After giggling and talking till 2 am, we finally headed to bed, where I did not sleep on account of imagining basement ghosts standing over my air-mattress.

The next morning, Tim made eggs, bacon, and pancakes (again, delish!) and I cut and colored some hair.

After the hair was all done and the car all packed, we headed home. It was the most fun I've had in a while. I love when my sisters and mom and I all get together, we have a blast every time. We are seriously some of the funniest people on the planet when we're together. I got a little ab workout from laughing that night.

I lobby that we do this every year for Daisy's birthday.

little monkeys

2011-10-21T18:36:00.005-05:00

Get it? Monkeys? Cause we went to the zoo!

Look at my beautiful babies!

Maybe I'm biased, but seriously, they are so cute.

Check out Margot's concerned face, and Portia's cheeser grin.

Look how big she is. She looks like a kid, not a baby!

Snugging her mama

The zoo was super crowded because there are new tiger cubs.

That's right, I said tiger cubs.

Cute much?

Portia was a little afraid of the tigers, but she still got as close as she could. Looks like she inherited her mother's love of being scared.

Aaaaand for your viewing pleasure:

Only in Oklahoma do you see a wagon of kids attached to a power chair at the zoo.

Classic.

it's the little things

2011-10-20T16:09:00.003-05:00

A few nights ago, Portia fell asleep on my lap, snugging her mama. She doesn't do that very often anymore, since she's getting so big. I just looked down at her and remembered her as a tiny baby. I was amazed at how fast she has grown and I was filled with pride. She is so wonderful and tries so hard to be good.

Margot has grown so much in the last month. She now looks for me when I talk to her. It's so wonderful to know that your baby girl recognizes your voice. She is such a sweet baby, and I am so blessed to have her!

I love being a mom; it's the best job on the planet. Don't get me wrong, it's hard every day, but I've never gone to bed at the end of the day wishing I could change any part of my life. It's totally worth it.

Tyra, you may be crazy, but thanks.

2011-10-14T11:02:00.003-05:00

I know we've talked about America's Next Top Model before. And we've also talked about Michael Jackson. Well, the two have been combined.

Last week on Top Model, the models got to team up with Michael Jackson's personal stylist, Rushka Bergman, and dressed in some of the King of Pop's most iconic looks. And then La Toya Jackson showed up, and helped the girls in the photoshoot. It was awesome!

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot:

for more pictures, go here.

Pretty cool huh?

Sing it, Tina!

2011-10-11T23:14:00.002-05:00

The woman's got soul.

our little orator

2011-10-09T23:05:00.003-05:00

Portia is funny. Today was testimony meeting at church, and she put on a show.

She had been bugging Brandon to take her to change her diaper, which in reality means that she wanted him to take her out in the hall to run around the church; her diaper was fine. So when he stood up to go bear his testimony, I think she thought he was going to go out in the hall. Naturally, she started yelling for him to take her with him. He did.

At first, Portia just sat in Daddy's arms, watching. But about halfway through his testimony, she got a sneaky little smirk on her face, leaned forward, grabbed the microphone and started talking. She didn't say anything in particular, just babbled.

Brandon pulled her away, and she might have been done after that, but everyone laughed. She realized that she was being cute and funny. So she did it again. And again.

Finally, Brandon turned to her and asked if she had something to say. He then whispered to her to say "Thank you for Jesus," and clear as an adorable little bell, she leaned forward again and said "keenku Jesus!"

It was pretty cute.

beautiful babies

2011-10-06T00:52:00.003-05:00

I ran across this picture today:

This is Portia when she was just a few weeks old.

And this is Margot:

My babies look so much alike!!

Margot's eyes are going to be brown though, and her hair is a lot thicker and darker than Portia's ever was.

something that makes my life awesome

2011-10-03T16:03:00.005-05:00

Ok ok, there are a lot of things that make my life awesome right now. I have the best husband ever, 2 beautiful girls to kiss all day, and I am not pregnant anymore (you have no idea how happy that makes me)!

But I'm talking about popsicles, folks. And not just any popsicles, Edy's Fruit Bars.

I love popsicles. Really. A lot. I kinda like popsicles more than ice cream or custard or gelato. I can seriously go through an entire box in a day. And these are the best ones out there.

Every flavor is delish, and they are made with real fruit, so I can rationalize that fact that I just consumed 13 popsicles in one sitting! They're healthy, right?

My Carrie-sister and I just tried the antioxidant ones, and the Goji White Grape flavor is literally the best thing I've ever eaten. I don't know what Goji is, but I will eat that, man.

best friends

2011-10-01T10:58:00.002-05:00

These two are already BFFs.

Sweet girls.

Margot Jean is here!

2011-09-27T13:35:00.003-05:00

8 lbs 13 oz, 21 inches long

Sweetest thing you've ever seen? Yes.

The best date I ever went on.

2011-09-20T20:00:00.006-05:00

I have a friend who has a hilarious blog, Dopes I've Dated, where she tells stories of all the terrible dates she's been on. Its awesome, because I have quite a few stories like that too. But I'm going the opposite direction tonight.

This is the story of the most fun I ever had on a date. As you might guess, I went on this date with my now hubby, Brandon. We probably got married because this date was so awesome. It was the beginning to our love.

Brandon and I met a few days after he got home from his mission in Oct. 2007. This was actually our first official date. We had hung out several times before this night, and were actually already an item by this point, but we had never been on a meet-your-parents, pick-you-up-at-7, buy-you-dinner type of date.

It was close to Halloween, so Brandon invited me to go with him to the Haunted Castle of Muskogee (oh yeah, you wish you lived on Oklahoma now), for their yearly halloween festival. The Castle of Muskogee is basically a huge castle/medieval village in the town of Muskogee. Hence the name.

Here you go:

They have a huge renaissance fair there every year, and sell millions of fireworks at 4th of July. But at Halloween, there is a haunted house/pumpkin patch/hayride/petting zoo/anything else halloweeny they could think of.

Brandon picked me up and met some of my family for the first time. My older sisters happened to be visiting and I think all their kids were running around like banshees; my mom made small talk, and my dad jokingly asked Brandon why he would want to take me out and then got in trouble for it. We then headed out.

We drove Brandon's little truck, and held hands on the way. Muskogee is a good 45 minute drive from my parent's house, so we had plenty of time to talk and flirt to our heart's content. We talked about his mission and our families, I remember telling Brandon about my past speeding tickets and he told me about the truck he drove in high school. I remember feeling so at ease, even though we had not been dating long. Being with him was easy and comfortable, right from the beginning.

We got to the Castle and hiked about a mile from the truck to the entrance (friday nights are busy at the Castle) and headed inside. The Castle is pretty big, and they want to keep it really family friendly, so there are lots of different attractions, ranging in scariness. There's the Pumpkin Kingdom pumpkin patch and Halloween Land trick or treating for kids, and then there's the Haunted Hayride for pre-teen girls and other medium scare lovers, and then there's the Domus Horrificus, the scariest attraction they have. It's a walk-through haunted house full of creepers from horror films. Terrifying, the sign said. (The website even has the name written in bright red drippy blood font.) So we decided to take our chances and get good and scared.

We waited in line for a good 20 minutes, and expectations were high. We could hear the sound of chainsaws and people screaming inside, and everyone who walked out at the end were clutching each other's arms in giggly fear. We finally entered the house and were immediately disappointed. There was a 16 year old with zits and a squeaky voice dressed up as a dead guy, complete with red-colored corn syrup on his shirt. Really? This is supposed to make me pee my pants in terror? Every person who jumped out at us was some high-schooler in bad makeup saying scripted lines from movies. We laughed quite a bit.

We left the haunted house clutching each other's arms, not in fear, but to hold each other up from laughing too hard. It was so fun. We then went on a walk around the Castle, just holding hands and talking. I remember thinking that it was nice just to talk, and Brandon was so cute. I kept getting butterflies in my tummy when he would hold my hand and when he gave me his jacket because I got cold.

We left the Castle and drove back to Broken Arrow, where Brandon got hungry. So we stopped at Braum's and he ordered a Jalapeno Jack Cheeseburger; I got a shake. This was all that Brandon had planned for our date, but we didn't want to go home yet. So we drove down the street to my elementary school, and we played on the playground for a while. It was so fun, just the two of us, seeing who could jump the farthest from the swings (I won).

It was starting to get late, so Brandon took me home. My sisters and mom were still awake and we giggled like 13 year olds for at least an hour as I told them about my night.

It wasn't an expensive date, and the haunted house was terrible. But I had a blast, because it was the most original date I'd ever been on. Dinner and a movie gets old after a while. Plus, Brandon was smart and funny and really attractive, and had spent the night getting to know me. I could tell that he was really interested in what I was saying, and not just going out with me because I was cute. He was the epitome of a gentleman.

4 years later and I still remember our first real date with a smile, I think I started really falling in love with Brandon that night.

what a ham

2011-09-20T19:09:00.002-05:00

Portia, playing with Aunt Carrie's hat.

manicure, anyone?

2011-09-20T18:31:00.004-05:00

I love OPI nail polish. The shades are all really pretty, and the names of the polishes are awesome. Here are some of my favorites:

Extra-va-vaganza from the Burlesque collection

Mermaid Tears from the Pirates of the Caribbean collection

Banana Bandanna

Show It and Glow It from the Burlesque collection

Shimmery Chic

Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees in Suede

Remember when I wasn't pregnant?

2011-09-19T11:56:00.001-05:00

Because i don't.

Fall!

2011-09-15T21:41:00.006-05:00

Today Brandon and I took Portia to the park for a walk, in an attempt to induce labor (so far, nothing). It was pretty chilly, and it reminded me how much I really like autumn! I love hot chocolate and pie and soup, I have some really cute fall clothes that I'm excited to wear, and autumn has the best holidays.

Seriously, Halloween: dress up as whatever you want and eat pounds of candy. Portia and Margot are going to be really cute this year. Get ready!

Thanksgiving: spend the day with your family, stuffing yourself silly with turkey and cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes and pie and relish trays!! (I have a serious love for relish trays, it's almost creepy.)

For your enjoyment:

Death Star, pumpkin style

aaaaand E.T.

i am embarrassing

2011-09-14T10:26:00.004-05:00

It's true. There are many things about me that are pretty embarrassing. But we're just discussing one of them today.

I am really excited. The new season of America's Next Top Model starts tonight. I love America's Next Top Model. LOVE. I've seen every episode of every season, most of them multiple times. Go ahead, judge me if you must. But let me just explain why I love this show so much.

The drama. Every episode has some stupid girl crying because some other stupid girl said her knees looked weird. Or she's crying because she's under a lot of stress because the judges said her photos "need some work". Or she may be crying because they are cutting her hair. Someone cries in every episode. It's hilarious.

Also, Tyra Banks is insane. Seriously.

Portia and I just watched this

2011-09-13T21:42:00.000-05:00

It's pretty hilarious.

I never realized it before,

2011-09-13T21:31:00.001-05:00

but the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building is shaped like Ferb's head.

See?

Awesome.

Can we just talk about how cute Portia is?

2011-09-12T22:38:00.004-05:00

I ran across these on our computer today, they're from Brian's graduation a few months ago.

Look at my kid. She's adorable.

Ok, I've decided that I'm not really all that biased, she really is the cutest little girl ever.

and we have now reached the end of my sanity.

2011-09-12T22:24:00.002-05:00

Last night was a doozy. The rest of the weekend was lots of fun. But last night was where my brain lost it's will to survive. I'll back up a bit for clarity's sake.

We spent the weekend in Claremore for Brian's missionary farewell. He leaves tomorrow for the MTC , then its off to New Zealand!! We are so excited for him and so blessed to have the experience of having a missionary in the family!

Yesterday was his farewell talk and open house, and the day started off pretty normal. Portia had been running a fever a bit the day before, but yesterday morning, she ate breakfast and acted fine as we got ready for church. It was at church that all the magic happened.

As sacrament meeting started, Portia sat very quietly and still. Usually she doesn't really sit quietly and still. I thought "Maybe it's because church is at a different time than normal and she's in a different place. I'm not going to complain." A few minutes later, Brian began his talk (and did wonderfully) and Portia wanted nothing more than to sit on my lap and snug. She really doesn't do that, especially not in church. She tried to fall asleep several times, and when her baby sister started kicking her from the inside, I handed Portia to Brandon. She snugged daddy for the rest of Sacrament meeting, and we realized that we were probably going to have to leave church early. She obviously wasn't feeling well.

As the closing prayer ended, Brandon stood up, still holding Portia in his arms. Then she threw up. All over Brandon. ALL OVER HIM. It was really bad. He ran out of the chapel and to a bathroom, cleaned her and himself up as much as possible, and we left.

The rest of the day, Brandon and I took turns taking care of Throw-up McGee and helping to get ready for the open house. It was then that I started to feel some teeny tiny contractions. I am now 37 weeks along, and dropped a few days ago, so naturally I thought that this was the very beginnings of labor. I was a little excited; maybe I was finally finished with being pregnant! But at the same time, I was a bit nervous because we were a 2 hour car ride away from my doctor and hospital. My stress level was a-climbing.

The open house was a lot of fun, and had a great turnout. There are a ton of people who love Brian! The house was packed, and I spent most of my time outside on the back porch, in varying levels of discomfort. Portia started to act like she was feeling better, and ate a bit of fruit. The worst was behind us, or so we thought.

We hung out for a few more hours, and it was time to head home. As we loaded up the car, Portia fell asleep and I mentally prepared myself for possibly delivering my own child while driving down the highway. We drove for about 20 minutes and were about to leave Tulsa, when Portia threw up yet again. It was worse than during church. Brandon hurried and pulled over at a gas station, and we spent the next hour trying to clean the carseat and child with just baby wipes and paper towels. We got everything as clean as possible, and started on the road again, and I lost it. I started bawling.

I was so tired and stressed, and I couldn't believe this was happening to me. How on earth was I going to take care of a sick baby while giving birth to another one on the side of the highway?!? I cried for quite a while and Brandon told me everything would be fine. I started to calm down; he was right. Portia would feel better after a good night's rest, we had plenty of time to get home before I started really laboring.

My almost-contractions had started to slow down, and I was finally starting to relax when the highway patrolman pulled us over. I lost it again. He pulled us over because one of our headlights doesn't shine right and sometimes looks like it's out. The poor guy walked up the the car and took one look at me and probably wanted to quit his job. I was bawling again, mascara flowing, not even trying to be discreet. He immediately let us off with a warning and sprinted back to his car. Brandon calmed me down again, and back on the road we went. We finally got home, bathed Portia and ourselves (we smelled pretty bad), and went to bed.

We fell asleep before our heads hit the pillow, it was quite the adventure.

And to top it all off, I never really went into labor.

this is really exciting

2011-09-09T10:56:00.000-05:00

yes.

2011-09-06T12:41:00.001-05:00

This is what Google looks like today.

best parts of the movie

2011-09-03T10:06:00.004-05:00

"Yo, Stacy! Talk to me, talk to me, talk to me babay!"

"Hey don't give me that attitude guys, I'm doing it all for you!

(please ignore the repetition of this video)

"Beat it doofus!!"

Bigfoot

i2i

36 weeks

2011-08-31T21:24:00.001-05:00

Here's the bump:

pretty baby

2011-08-27T21:13:00.002-05:00

If I had lots of money, I would buy these for Miss Margot to wear to church when she comes.

all from Gap

i can't wait to not be pregnant

2011-08-27T21:04:00.000-05:00

So I can wear these:

4 weeks to go!!

2011-08-24T12:47:00.002-05:00

I am scheduled to get induced in one month!! I am so ready!

2011-08-23T18:26:00.003-05:00

Why on earth are the smallest size of candy bars called "fun size"? When it comes to candy, isn't smaller always less fun?

It's probably to trick kids into not being mad at their parents for buying them the mini candy instead of the king size. Rude.

cast off!!

2011-08-23T16:01:00.004-05:00

Today we went to the doctor to get Portia's cast removed! Yay!

I was a little nervous for the actual removal of said cast, since Portia is so little and has been a bit frightened during these doctor's visits. Did you know that to get a cast off, they break out a saw? Yeah, an actual saw. The kind that could take your whole arm off. It's a little terrifying. After they got the cast off, they had to take more X-rays, and pregnant mommy can't be in the room for that of course. But Portia was brave and didn't cry! I was so proud of her!

She is all healed and good as new! And now we can get back to our normal lives of swimming and taking long bubble baths full of toys!

music that everyone should appreciate (in no particular order)

2011-08-10T22:17:00.010-05:00

1. Queen.

Let's start with Freddie. He was a genius. He was a born performer, a gifted songwriter (he wrote Bohemian Rhapsody, Somebody To Love, and We Are the Champions, to name a few), and had a 4-octave range. 4 octaves. He could sing bass AND soprano. That's incredible.

Then add in Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor, and you get one of the greatest bands ever. Not only were these guys very talented musicians, but they also sang. All of them. Even Roger, the drummer, and it is really hard to sing harmonies while drumming. And Queen's harmonies were perfection.

I could literally go on for hours about Queen, but my fingers would start to cramp up.

I got chills watching that.

2. Fun.

Nate Ruess (formerly of the Format), Andrew Dost, and Jack Antonoff. I love these guys, particularly Nate. I listened to the Format, and loved every minute of their 2 albums. When they split, I thought I would cry. Then I heard that Nate formed Fun, and my heart sang.

They are unique. No one sounds like Fun.

Their music speaks to me. Nate, you speak to me.

3. Michael Jackson

Do I really need to explain why The Prince of Pop is in this post? Since his death, Michael has had tribute of every kind payed to him, as it should be. Maybe he was a bit of a weird dude, but man, was he talented! Michael didn't live his music, he was his music.

4. Boston

Boston is one of the most underrated bands ever. These guys were awesome! They were smart. I mean, really smart. Did you know that Tom Scholz went to MIT? He got a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. That's pretty smart.

Here's the thing about Boston. Every note, every guitar riff, every wail was engineered. They planned everything out, and yet their music still sounds genuine .

Plus, they have a seriously unique sound.

5. Beatles

I know we've talked about the Beatles before. This is another band I could go on for hours about. There's a reason that everyone lists the Beatles as one of their influences. Because they literally changed music as we know it today. We now have entire genres of music that might not exist if the Beatles didn't exist.

The Beatles are the fathers of modern music, in my opinion. And my opinion is right.

pregnancy dreams

2011-08-03T22:55:00.005-05:00

Last night I had a pretty crazy dream. I dreamed that I went in to my doctor's appointment, and was showing signs of labor already (I still have 2 months left)! My doc put me on complete bed-rest, which totally freaked me out because Brandon was about to go on tour. That's right, on tour.

You see, Brandon was famous. I mean, really famous. People stopped him in the street for autographs, we were trailed by paparazzi, and the tour had been sold out for months. I started to panic. How on earth was I going to raise a 2 year-old on complete bed-rest when my husband was off traveling the country to appease his screaming fans? Really. There were screaming fans. Lots of them.

Why, you ask? Was Brandon a musician? A comedian? What was he doing that made people pay big bucks to see him? Well, let me tell you. He was the voice of Kipper on the kid's show Kipper the Dog.

My panic started to subside as I started to really think about what was going on around me. Things weren't quite adding up. First of all, doing the voice of Kipper made him that famous? Really? A toddler cartoon? ooooook. Secondly, Brandon's British accent is terrible. How did he pull that one off? And then I realized that we weren't monetarily well-off in this dream. I guess being the voice behind a world-famous talking dog gets you thousands of crazed fans, but no money. Clearly, fame isn't everything.

i just gained 70 lbs...

2011-08-02T11:56:00.001-05:00

in one piece of cake.

I made this.

Yeah.

(in case you didn't read it properly, yes it has 11 Milky Way bars in it.)

poor baby

2011-08-01T21:01:00.005-05:00

Portia had a rough day.

Last night, she fell off a backyard play-set and started favoring her left arm. She wouldn't move it on her own, and cried whenever we touched it. We went to the ER this morning, and sure enough, it's broken. Its a very small crack in the bone that connects her elbow to shoulder, just above the elbow.

She was very brave and only cried in the ER. The rest of the day, she tried very hard to be big and tough, and I'm so proud of her!

She got a little pink cast that comes off in 3 weeks, and now that the arm is stabilized, I don't think she is any pain at all!

What a good girl!

Portia's photography

2011-07-29T10:20:00.005-05:00

Brandon taught Portia how to use the camera the other day; this is her handiwork:

5 reasons why my husband is the bomb-diggity

2011-07-25T23:50:00.002-05:00

My husband is awesome. Here's some of the reasons why:

1. Tonight when I came home from work, he let me sit on the couch with my feet up while he cleaned up the house, had a dance party with Portia, gave her a snack and put her in the bath. This isn't a one-time thing. Along with taking super hard classes and doing really well in them, he somehow still makes time to help me keep the house in order and take care of our daughter.

2. He is a really great dad. Portia thinks he is the coolest guy ever, because he is. He plays with her and pretends with her, takes her on walks and to the park, reads her books; he is patient and kind and he never makes her feel like she is anything but the most important person to him. I am really grateful for that.

3. Even though I look like I have a beach ball fused to my front, I'm starting to walk like an 80-year old, and my stretch marks are rearing their angry heads, Brandon tells me that he loves me and thinks I'm beautiful every day. Even when I'm still in my pj's and haven't brushed my hair at 3 pm.

4. He actively holds the priesthood. It is so comforting to me to know that there is a member of the priesthood in my home. Whenever we need it, he is there to give blessings and guidance. Portia and I have been so blessed because Brandon is a good man.

5. He is pretty darn cute. Just look:

See? Cute.

pregnancy weirdness

2011-07-21T14:02:00.004-05:00

I've realized in the last few days just how strange pregnancy is.

Well, let me clarify. I've known how strange pregnancy is for a few years now, as this is not my first hoe-down. But I had forgotten some of the things that happen to you while you grow a person. I'm getting farther along, and so some of the strangeness that I had filed away in my brain is starting to resurface.

There's, of course, the physical changes of this glorious 9-month long crazy-fest. Oh sure, you know about gaining weight and looking like you've got a couch cushion stuffed under your shirt, but did you know that some women's feet grow while they're pregnant? Like a whole shoe size. Luckily, my feet stay the same. They're big, but they're the same big as always.

The worst physical aspect of pregnancy, to me, is not gaining weight. Its when my bones start moving. You see, as she gets bigger, my tummy-baby starts to push everything (stomach, lungs, those type of things) up into my rib cage. And I can start to feel my rib cage widening. Its not very pleasant, in case you were wondering.

Then there's my temper. Its shorter. And more unpredictable. I find myself getting upset easier than I used to. I don't know if it's because the wiring in my brain is actually different, or simply because it's 105 degrees outside, I can't walk, and I am in a constant state of have-to-pee. (Seriously. I have to pee ALL THE TIME. Sometimes I walk out of the bathroom, and think to myself "Crap. I have to pee again.")

I also eat weirdly. People always ask what foods you crave, expecting you to say something outlandish, like fish sticks dipped in chocolate icing, but I never crave really weird stuff like that. But I do develop weird little quirks when it comes to food. For example, take me to a Mexican restaurant, and I'll go to town, but make Mexican food at home, and I don't want it. It has to be brought to me fully prepared by someone outside of my home in order to eat it. Odd much?

I realize that I sound a bit like I'm ranting. I kind of am. I don't enjoy being pregnant. It hurts, and 9 months is a long time to be in pain. I would actually rather go through labor and delivery every day for 9 months if it meant I got to skip pregnancy. Does that even make sense? Well, it does in my head.

There are some really cool things about pregnancy, like feeling your baby move, and seeing ultrasounds. It is a very interesting experience; I love being pregnant because it means I get to have another baby, but I hate it at the same time.

I want the next 9 weeks to pass quickly because I feel terrible all the time, but mostly, I want to the next 9 weeks to fly by so that I can snug up on our baby girl and Portia can meet her baby sister.

the end is in sight

2011-07-21T13:53:00.002-05:00

I am now 30 weeks pregnant! The final 10 week countdown has begun!

Actually, I am scheduled to be induced a week before my due date, so make that the 9 week countdown!

It can't come soon enough!!

British invasion

2011-07-20T22:34:00.005-05:00

I really love the Beatles. I mean really love them. Not like those people who say they love the Beatles because everyone loves the Beatles, but when you ask what their favorite song is, they say "Hey Jude" out of default because it's the only song they've ever really heard. No. (I really hate those people)

I think I started listening to the Fab Four at birth. I remember playing in the backyard as a very young gal, maybe 5 or 6, and making up a game with my barbies inspired by the song Yesterday. I remember watching Beatles Anthology on tv when it first aired in 1995. I was 9. Seriously, folks, I'm a super-fan.

My Carrie-sister posted this about her love for the Beatles, and I am definitely more of a fan of later Beatles music than earlier. Don't get me wrong, I love their earlier stuff, but there is just something about the deeper, slightly-trippy (sometimes more than slightly), melodies of the later years that really speak to me.

Thank you.

telling mommy about her day

2011-07-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

Telling mommy about her day from kathleen rawlinson on Vimeo.

We went to Portia's 2 yr old checkup yesterday.

28 week bump

2011-07-12T19:32:00.003-05:00

Like my new dress?

i'm a little excited

2011-07-12T18:47:00.003-05:00

oh Ree.

2011-07-06T23:28:00.003-05:00

Tonight, I dined with the Pioneer Woman. She is amazing. Oh, you've not met? Let me introduce you.

The Pioneer Woman is Ree Drummond, from Pawhuska, OK (yeah yeah yeah, we have weird town names here). She lives on a ranch in the country, and she cooks the most incredible food you will ever eat. We've never actually met. You see, Ree is kind of famous. She has a cookbook you can buy at Barnes and Noble, she's been on numerous daytime talk shows, and I heard that they are making a movie about her life starring Reese Witherspoon, because Reese is a big fan of hers.

Tonight, I made Trinidadian Curry and Tres Leches Cake, and they were both just too delicious for words. She does a great job with the recipes, taking lots of pictures, and explaining things so that its super easy to understand. Plus, she's really funny!

If you have never been to the Pioneer Woman website, please do yourself a favor and go. While you're there, read her love story with her husband, From Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Seriously, it reads like a novel. A really wonderful, romantic, can't-stop-even-though-it's-2-am novel.

talking a mile a minute

2011-07-06T09:39:00.001-05:00

talking a mile a minute from kathleen rawlinson on Vimeo.

She says some of my favorites: "Ready daddy?" "Let's go, daddy!" and "Here you go."

what a ham

2011-07-05T22:33:00.003-05:00

She is doing "this little piggy went to market..."

Making faces

spa treatment

2011-07-05T22:11:00.003-05:00

The other day, Portia found a tube of diaper rash creme and decided to give herself a facial.

She got some in her mouth, hence the grossed out face.

(I had been making the grossed out face the whole time.)

After she had been tossed in the bath, I went in her room and found 2 baby dolls completely covered as well. Apparently, they needed facials too.

bear with me

2011-07-05T22:00:00.002-05:00

lots of pictures, lots of videos.

4th of July, part two

2011-07-05T20:30:00.005-05:00

On the 4th, we went to a cookout/pool party and here are some pictures!

Portia was a little weird about swimming, she wanted to swim all by herself, and didn't want to wear floaties at all! She thinks she's 12 years old.

Here's a picture of Brian trying to get on that green intertube.

And here's Brandon.

They couldn't stay afloat.

4th of July

2011-07-05T20:07:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures from our 4th of July!

We went to the fireworks show at Rhema, and Portia had fun running around until it got dark.

Here's Portia and Brandon waiting for the show to start.

And me and Grandma (Ignore my weird hair. I'm pregnant)

Portia watched the first half of the fireworks like this:

and then hid and tried to go to sleep for the rest! Poor girl.

its highly likely i'm a huge dork

2011-07-05T19:26:00.004-05:00

We spent the 4th in Broken Arrow and Claremore with our families, it was great! We had cookouts and went swimming, saw fireworks and UFOs, it was a blast!

Wait, what? UFOs?!?

Saturday night, Brandon, Brian and I were driving into Claremore, when we saw something weird. Up in the sky, there were about 10 floating orange lights. At first we thought they mist be fireworks, but fireworks explode and these didn't. So we pulled over and watched them for a while, and they started to fly away, some going faster than others, and some just disappeared completely.

We were a little weirded out, at least I was. Let me clarify one thing: at no point did we think they were aliens. We weren't afraid of getting abducted or anything like that. We just couldn't figure out what they could be. Maybe weather balloons? Some kind of aircraft? We didn't know.

The next day, we were visiting with Brandon's cousin, Ben and his wife Cali, and we started to tell our story. They immediately knew what we were talking about. Had they seen them too? Maybe the floating whatsits had been seen by a lot of people! Is there some facebook group I should join?

Then Ben and Cali told us about some lanterns that they had seen as part of a fireworks display. They were amber-colored, and floated into the sky. Yeah. Lanterns.

I'm a little embarrassed.

if i had a million dollars...

2011-06-30T23:15:00.003-05:00

I would buy all my maternity clothes here:

http://www.isabellaoliver.com/maternity-clothes/us

Specifically these:

here

And REALLY this:

here

I've been looking at this dress for 15 minutes straight. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful.

boom river

2011-06-29T22:35:00.004-05:00

I love the 4th of July, it's actually one of my favorite holidays. I love summer, cookouts, people-watching, big-boomer fireworks, and the possibility of getting in trouble with the police. Confused? Let me explain.

My love of America's holiday came to me honestly; it's my mom's favorite holiday too. As kids, we couldn't wait for the 4th to finally come around! We would wake up that morning, just as excited as my mom, who would be arm-dancing around the house and clapping her hands over and over!! We would spend the morning swimming and playing outside, sometimes sneaking off with my dad to the fireworks store to stock up on Black Cats and Bottle Rockets.

My mom would buy chips and potato salad and my dad would fire up the grill. We would eat the classic 4th of July menu: burgers and dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon till we'd burst. We would then get hosed off, as watermelon is messy stuff, and get ready to go to the river.

In Tulsa, the place to be on the 4th is the river. They put on an AWESOME fireworks show, folks. But it's not just the fireworks that make it great.

We would show up hours before it got dark, just to beat some traffic and get a good spot on the lawn. We'd set out a blanket and some lawn chairs, equipped with a cooler full of Shasta, card games, roughly 48 bottles of sunscreen, and a portable radio. Let the people-watching commence.

Those of you who have spent time with my family know that we love a good roast. We will make fun of anyone, especially each other, and especially people we don't know. The 4th of July celebration at the river is a goldmine, chalk full of people just dying to be secretly teased.

There was a stage set up, with live bands and local celebrities (like newscasters, and one year the girl who sang in the May's Drug and Drug Warehouse commercials showed up. You know, "get the best of us, every daaaaaaaay, May's Drug and Drug Warehouse!") The music was Lawrence Welk material, at best, but there was always this woman we dubbed "the Flag Lady." She wore a flag dress. Not a dress she bought that had flags on it, but a dress made out of old flags. Really loose and baggy, like a very festive tent. Imagine this, only flags:

She also wore flag earrings, a flag headband, everything flag. No shoes. The same outfit every year. And she'd dance. I don't mean bob her head to the music, I mean arms above her head, eyes closed, full-body swaying to John Phillips Sousa. She was a gem. Then there were, of course, people who'd show up already drunk at 3 pm, those without teeth, and a lot of really classy mullets. Flag Lady was our favorite though.

When it got dark, the fireworks would start. Everyone tuned their radios in to a station that was synced with the display, and for a good 20 minutes, we would enjoy the best fireworks I've ever seen. There were the multi-colored poppers, the streaking screamers, and my favorites, the big-boomers that would shake the ground and take your breath away. All the while, Carrie and I sang "Proud To Be an American" and "Be Kind to Your Webbed-Footed Friend" along with the show. Then came the finale. Babies were crying, dogs were howling, my dad was laughing, it was glorious.

After the show ended, all 5 billion people would try to get up and leave at the same time, so rather than fight the crowds, we sat on our blanket and waited. While we waited, we talked and laughed and teased, and after enough people trickled out, we gathered up our stuff and headed for the car. The traffic was usually still pretty bad, so we drove around all the old neighborhoods in downtown Tulsa. There are some amazing houses down there, most built in the 20s, during the oil boom. I always loved that part.

We would finally venture home, and then have our own fireworks show. When we were really young, it consisted of sparklers and popsicles in the backyard, but as we got older, Dad would break out the illegal stuff. Don't get too excited, all fireworks are illegal inside the Broken Arrow city limits. I'm just talking about bottle rockets and cherry bombs. We would got out in the front yard or the school parking lot across the street and go to town! We rarely had bottles, so we got creative with our bottle rockets, sticking them in the ground, or holding them in our hands. (one time I lit my sweater on fire at the worst birthday party ever doing that, but that's another story). I remember one year somebody tied one to our mail box and it almost hit a neighbor's car! Hilarious! Almost every year, a police car would roll through the neighborhood, and a policeman would stick his head out the window and ask if we had been setting off fireworks. We would say "No, we are just standing outside in the middle of the street with sooty hands for another reason," and they would move on. After every last Black Cat and party popper had been laid to rest, we went inside, ate a few more slices of watermelon, and went to bed.

I haven't been able to go to Boom River for a few years, but I still love the 4th of July. Not only because I really am proud to be an American, but because it reminds me of my childhood and my crazy family, and how blessed I really am.

For your viewing pleasure:

I've always had a sweet-tooth

2011-06-29T13:40:00.005-05:00

Those who have known me for a long time know that I love candy. And cake. Also cookies, brownies, ice cream, etc. Basically, I love sugar.

When I was a kid, I ate any type of sugar I could get my hands on. And as much as possible. I would convince my friends at school to let me have an oreo from their lunch, I'd save my change and raid the vending machines, I'd even sneak my Halloween candy to bed with me and eat it at night (now you know why it was so hard to get Carrie and I to go to sleep, mom).

Now, I normally eat sugar like any normal human being: have a slice of pie for dessert, grab a candy bar from the checkout line every once in a while, make some choco-chip cookies when the missionaries come over for dinner.

But 6 months ago, I began growing a human, and all that changed. I have turned back into my 9-year old self.

I crave candy daily. And not just any candy. I want kid-candy. Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish and Orange Slices and Twizzlers used as a straw in pop. Just last night I almost bought an entire 1 lb. bag of Ring Pops. Who needs that many Ring Pops? Maybe if I were jamming to TLC at the 5th grade skating party!

As I'm typing this, I'm eating Jolly Ranchers and Root Beer. (Don'y worry, I ate some corn on the cob and a sandwich first, I'm not totally crazy.) And I'm about to go get one of the chocolate cupcakes I made last night.

Hopefully this ends before my teeth fall out of my head.

Harry Potter and the power of mothers

2011-06-28T20:28:00.001-05:00

This is really cool:

http://byuwsr.blogspot.com/2011/06/harry-potter-power-of-mothers.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+WomensServicesAndResourcesBlog+%28Women%27s+Services+and+Resources+Blog%29

i thought this was a party, LET'S DANCE!!!

2011-06-28T14:41:00.003-05:00

Did you know they're remaking Footloose?

sooooooo basically, it's exactly like the Kevin Bacon version. Whats the point of remaking it? How can it get any better than this:

1-4 church is hard for babies.

2011-06-28T10:43:00.004-05:00

We now go to church from 1pm to 4pm, right in the middle of Portia's naptime. This is what Brandon and I found as we made dinner after church on Sunday:

It took me 5 minutes just to get her to regain consciousness. Poor baby.

Pottermore

2011-06-23T10:05:00.002-05:00

I think I've mentioned before how much I love Harry Potter.

Well, this video aired this morning:

I went to the Pottermore website, but I'm still a little confused as to what it all means. From what I understand, it's an online version of the Harry Potter series, but with space for notes and insights from readers around the world, and J. K. Rowling herself. Should be interesting!

has anyone else noticed

2011-06-21T11:57:00.006-05:00

How much Lady Gaga is trying to be Cher?

oh shoes

2011-06-20T20:00:00.003-05:00

Carrie took these pictures in New York. I want them all so terribly.

for Carrie

2011-06-20T19:47:00.002-05:00

Part 1:

Part 2:

End credits:

oh yeah.

Just so you know

2011-06-15T13:02:00.001-05:00

Walmart sells 2 liters of Nehi Peach pop for only 99 cents.

You're welcome.

i love love love!!!

2011-06-14T11:06:00.003-05:00

I was directed to this blog/etsy shop, and I am in love! Seriously, I just spent 45 minutes on her site, dreaming. Just a few examples:

1930s celluloid feather necklace

1930s vintage molded glass Art Deco necklace

1920s Art Deco 10k white gold diamond ring

I really like the jewelry, but she has everything!! Go. Now.

first 4 hours of potty training

2011-06-13T22:19:00.000-05:00

Carpet: 5

Toilet: 0

Oh boy.

hair thoughts

2011-06-13T22:02:00.004-05:00

OK. I know this is old news, but can we just take a look at Emma Watson's hair? I'm sure you know that she recently cut off her long wavy locks for this chic pixie:

I was thrilled when she cut it. I think it's adorable and sexy and I wish I were brave enough to do it myself haha!

Here it is growing out:

On another note, here is another Harry Potter star:

3 years!

2011-06-13T09:33:00.011-05:00

Today is our anniversary! Brandon and I have been married for 3 years! I am such a lucky girl, I have the best husband ever!! He is a wonderful dad to Portia, and so sweet to his pregnant wife! Plus, he's pretty cute too!

Here are some of our wedding pictures!

Me and my Carrie-sister.

Dancing with my dad.