Where's Waldo?

So, today is JD's birthday and we have no birthday wrapping paper! So Morgan and I spent a good hour or so (which is absolutely amazing considering the attention span of a 2 year old) drawing on the back side of our Christmas wrapping paper. She helped for a while, then started telling me what to draw, so, everything on here except the "I love JD" in the middle, and the swirlies, are all things Morgan told me to draw. There is lots of cool stuff, I am sure you can see that all on your own. BUT, for some good old fashioned Where's Waldo fun, can you find:
1. My interpretation of Morgan yelling "POPCORN POPPING!" (I will give you a hint, its the first line of the song that I drew)
2. Our "little table" as Morgan calls it, the coffee table
3. An AWESOME big truck.
4. A strawberry
5. And a "fook (no thats not a swear word) and poon"

Moments like this

I have to admit, every few months, I get reminded of the overwhelming responsibility it is to be a parent. My Morgan is so happy and playful, and funny practically all the time, that its easy for me to just coast through being a Mom enjoying this perfect time in our lives when I am entertained all day by the person I love so very much. Before I was a Mom I didn't know it was possible to feel that strongly for one tiny little person. And it seems, after a few months of me just doing things the way we do around here, I will find myself in the middle of a panic attack, realizing how wonderfully perfect my daughter is, and I want to do everything in my power to keep her that way. So many of our moments together hold so much pure joy, they seem to be the mirror image of how happy I would feel to be sitting with our God. I am so terrified that everyday holds the possibility of pulling her further away from Him, and molding her to be less like Him. But, then there are moments like tonight, when I can relax a little, and realize things are going just great for now, because my nearly 2 year old daughter (all on her own) said this prayer tonight:

"Father, Howie outside, and Keegan, food, Mom, Howie, Dad. Jesus, Amen"

Seriously though, a single prayer has never made me feel such peace and happiness as that simple statement of thanks from my little girl (even if she says she's thankful for the dog twice and me just once). And I pray, with the help of our Father in Heaven, she continues to say prayers like this for the rest of her life.

Two dollars and forty seven cents gets:

I have to be quick because I should be doing schoolwork, not blogging, but I just couldn't resist. I went to Walgreens to pick up a pack of index cards for flashcards and all their Valentine's stuff was 75% off so I grabbed a box of chocolates, and Morgan grabbed herself a tiny one, and that was that. Well, we get to the counter and the cashier is like, "This bear was 20 bucks, I'll give it to you for a dollar." I was like, "NO WAY!" So, even though it will just take up space in my already small house, I bought it anyway. And the grand total was $2.47. Nice, eh?

Happy Valentines!

I took this picture to put on Morgan's homemade Valentines, and I just think it is the cutest. I just wanted to post it because I just think my kid is too perfect sometimes, and I wonder how the heck it happened!

Look Mom, Snow Man!

Those are the four words I have heard about 40 times a day since Tuesday morning. But you have to admit, it is one cool snowma-lady. Complete with ponytail and evergreen skirt, with a coordinating rock necklace accessory, they just don't get much cooler than that!

It all started when Monday afternoon the rain turned to snow and I had one excited girl. Which is so strange to me, because over Christmas she hated, absolutely hated the cold snow! She would not stop asking to go out in the snow on Monday night, and she even disappeared into her room only to come out with gloves,shoes, and a hat on, all ready to go! She eventually got over the disappointment of not being able to go out Monday, and was so very very excited to get outside Tuesday morning! We headed outside and it was beeeee-u-tiful! So nice outside, we ended up shedding our coats after playing for a bit. Well, without further ado, the pictures:

JD and Morgan, with the coolest snow person EVER, and Howie sniffin things out:

I was trying to teach Morgan to be a model and say ta-da! She kind of has it:

Morgan and her #1 pal exploring:

And I just had to put these pictures in because Howie is having so much fun! The poor dog has learned to play catch with himself, because we entertain him so little. But he does a pretty good job at entertaining us!

Any Ideas?

Well, as a general rule, I have always expected JD to be the one "in charge" of Valentines day and our Anniversary. This year I started thinking, "What the heck? This is a holiday not only about the greeting card scam, but about mutual love. Its not just husband-buy-your-wife-flowers day" So, I am trying to come up with a plan for this year, and so far all I have accomplished is getting a baby sitter. Anybody have any good ideas?

P.S. We just got new batteries so I will be able take pictures again, so no more boring photo-less blogs!

Be Cool, Stay in School (or go back to a trade school cause that counts)

I just signed completed my first module in my program for medical transcription. I gotta be honest, I am a little bit scared. There is a lot of stuff to learn, and it is a huge commitment. I mean, I have to not only learn what the ligament is that connects my foot bone to my leg bone (and yes, that is as extensive as my medical knowledge is currently) but I also have to learn how to spell it correctly! Who wouldn't be scared by that?

But, I am also so very excited! It has been a long time since I have been actively involved in learning anything. Learning to be a Mom and learning along with Morgan has been enough for me so far, and I would be happy with that forever, but there is nothing wrong with expanding my knowledge further. And I am very excited to do that, and to challenge myself with all this new stuff.

Plus, if you would have asked me two months ago if I could keep my house clean and organized as well as I have this last month, I would have told you it was never ever going to happen because I just couldn't do it. But I've learned when you expect more of yourself, you can do it. Its not impossible to add one more thing to your plate, you just have to figure out how to fit it all on there! (go to golden corral if you don't believe me...haha so corny)

I won't go on, just thought I'd write a quick blurb since blogging is basically my form of journaling and scrap booking. You know, for posterity's sake, so I can explain to the kids exactly why I was crazy in 2009!