I am moving

To another service. I can't take blogger and it's finickyness anymore. Done!! visit me at the new home of Life in Suburbia PLEASE!! Good bye Blogger Flogger!

I am moving

To another service. I can't take blogger and it's finickyness anymore. Done!! visit me at the new home of Life in Suburbia PLEASE!! Good bye Blogger Flogger!

The day after the day after the day after

Ok, So I've been busy. Well, not really busy, but you know. Oliver starts soccer tomorrow. He is super excited about it! Yesterday we went to get him all his gear and as soon as we got home he had to put it all on. Then he went over to our neighbors house and they played soccer in the greenbelt behind our house. All was fine until I heard the screaming. Oliver had tripped and fallen on the sidewalk. Or I guess I should say, slid onto the sidewalk. Yeah, he has road rash all over his arms. An hour later he was fine. So, I'm kind of freaking out. On monday my lovely Annabelle was 5. You can see all her birthday pics Here. Oliver will be 4 next month. How are they getting so old? Anna will be in Kindergarten next year. Kindergarten. Holy Crap. Oliver is in soccer and next month will start TaeKwanDo. Holy Crap. Where has the time gone???

Birthday Bonanza

So, it's finally over. Thank God! I tried to upload pics last night, but Blogger was being finicky. so, here are some pictures of the party!

To See more photos go HERE

Martha Freaking Stewart

That would be me. Look at my masterpiece. Well, it's not quite finished. The pink polka dots will be added tomorrow. I decided to save myself $75 and try to make the cake myself. My mom, always helpful, said 'oh, i'll help you make the cake, i took a decorating class' . yeah. she baked the cakes. that was the end of her helpfulness. but, it was helpful. enough of that word, on to the partly finished masterpiece.

And, I just can't resist putting a picture up of the kids... oliver in his magician outfit and the adorable almost one year old charlie girl...

And of course, stay tuned tomorrow night for more pictures of the fabulous 1st ever birthday party of Charlotte Zelle!!

i am tired

do you ever feel like you are living someone elses life? that's how i feel today. surely i don't live in colorado, i didn't ever live in england. i just am dreaming, and i'll wake up in bed at my house on 21st street in okc. it feels surreal to be living here. and not really a good surreal either. i am feeling really tired lately. so tired i can barely keep my head above water. just want to sleep for a long time. i want to go home for a visit. or a move. i'm too tired to move right now. just want to sleep.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to the lovely Nick. 31 years old. Man, I 've just got to get you that cardigan! I hope you have a super special day. Do you want that surprise party with all of our friends like last year?? :) Love you Nickie D on the MC!

And I forgot to add this....if you haven't read Dooce lately, you're going to have to read this. It's laugh out loud funny, only because I know exactly where she's coming from, being a public farter myself and all!

party planning

Party planning is not that time consuming. I really haven't done anything yet. I'm trying to decide what kind of food to serve. I have to practice icing the cake, etc.

What has been keeping me busy is this girl in the picture. She is WALKING everywhere. She is getting into everything. Like Breklinn, the toilet paper is a fun toy, so is my wallet, the lid drawer, anything that oliver has, and of course, her personal favorite. Mom. Whining until there is no more whine left, which leaves me needing a glass of wine.

She is very very strong-willed. Meaning = a spoiled rotten little girl.

Oliver is good. He's still incredibly clumsy. Black Eye # 5 is in the works right now. He ran into a bar stool at Taco Bell and hit with his eye. I"m gonna try to get a good picture of it. I think his first one was around 18 months. He was a frog for Halloween and I just have pictures of him and Anna sitting on the floor and Oliver's Black Eye taking up most of the picture. Super Cute! Soccer Practice starts next week, Oliver can't wait.

Annabelle is turning 5 on monday. ouch. can't believe it. my baby girl is growing up!!

It's Official

I'm a soccer mom. Not only a soccer mom, but an assistant coach soccer mom. Wow. Melanie already said that I can not tell the girls to get their asses in gear, call them little pussies or encourage them to score, score score. It's apparently not all about winning till they are 11 years old. Whatever. I'm sure I'm going to have some interesting stories to tell. Jason (mel's hubs) will probably be videotaping our humiliation (aka the games) and broadcasting them to the world. I think he and nick have plans to sneak in flasks of liqour to the games, and make fun of us from the sidelines. They will probably have loads of material. Now that it's official, I need to get a haircut and Mel and I have to decide on our 'outfits'. Here are the rules of the outfits: 1. They must include lesbo whistles. 2. They must include lesbo StopWatches. 3. They must include some sort of shirt with the words, Bitch and Assistant Bitch on them. 4. We will wear Pink Sweatbands on our heads. Mel voted for the swishy pants, but I told her that they were SOOOO 90's I couldn't do it. It will be fun

TGIF

Ok. I'm gonna be like Karen and do a Random Round-Up. Because I have nothing specifically to blog about. 1. Was going to change jobs. Went to the new site yesterday, decided that the guy in charge was the biggest asshole I'd ever met. Told Nick I would get fired than work for this guy. Went back to old site. 2. Charlie's b-day is 2 weeks and counting. I am just not ready. Her party is 1 week away. I've never been so disorganized in my life. 3. Went to Gymboree. Got some clothes for the girl. I bought a 12-18 months shirt. When did she get this big?

a couple of links

To Posts I've enjoyed Lately.... 1. http://www.dooce.com/archives/nubbin/02_24_2006.html just about the funniest thing i've read this week 2. http://thebigtradeoff.blogspot.com/2006/02/all-grown-up-and-nowhere-to-go.html truth 3. http://mccarty.typepad.com/mccarty_thoughts/2006/02/new_things_to_t.html interesting baby/church talk 4. http://seedsfrommygarden.blogspot.com/ Just read it all! 5. http://www.crazyus.com/archives/000965.html my favorite guy - anderson cooper read and enjoy!

Why I love having 2 kids.

This was not a posed picture. This is how I found them yeterday morning. Oliver seriously had his arm around her. Precious.

Another note: If you want to see ridiculously close up pictures of the Coldplay concert in OKC see Ashli's Blog

If you want to hear Chris Martin talk about how his fly had been undone for 2 songs, check out Jamie's Blog.

Blobbing

Blogging is an interesting medium. It is writing, sharing pictures, stories and life. It is community. The odd thing about it is that it is out on this big scary internet. Some people are open bloggers. Meaning that they have no problem with people knowing who they are, their kids names and where they live. I am in that category. I think that there is always a chance of some weirdo finding out who you are and stalking you, but that chance is small, and worth the risk in my opinion. Some people are not so open bloggers. They protect their family's privacy by not telling names, sharing pictures or saying where they live. That's cool with me. They are not willing to take the risk mentioned above. I guess the bottom line is that This is the Internet. No matter how careful you are, someone (if they want to) will always be able to find out your information. If this makes you uncomfortable, then don't blog. It is a free world, I am aware of my risks, I am not going to publish any personal information about any of my friends on my blog without their permission first. This has always been my policy. I ask before I post. But, this is my blog and I will blog what I want to. I am not going to be censored by someone else's uncomfortableness. One more uncomfortable subject. Anonymous comments. I have these open on my comments because I want everyone who wants to be able to comment to go for it. I think it's stupid to have to have a Blogger account to post a comment. That being said. I have a friend, who let me know, that someone from my blog, posted on her blog some rude comments about her personal life. This has caused my husband and I to no longer have contact with this person. If this ever happens again, I will be devastated. It is rude, immature, and just really crass. Whoever did this is not someone I want reading my blog. So, person, back off! Get out and never come back. To do this to someone else who comments on my blog is against any sense of decorum, or politeness. It is just un-called for. So, think of this as me being a little ticked off, and shooting off a blog without proof reading it. Don't get angry with me I am just expressing my thoughts and feelings about the said subject. Sorry if I offend.

music and other thoughts.

So, I'm not really into that much music. There are a few things I do really love though. 1. DC TALK Free At Last. This CD rocks. It is just fun singing in the car to. Plus, I used to torture Bilbrey to it on the way to PCN. 2. Anything country. It just rocks. Especially Dixie Chicks, Brad Paisley, George Strait, Toby Keith, and Dirks Bentley. Just love it all. 3. After Beth's recomendation, Hollaback Girl. I don't know where I've been living, but this song kicks some serious ass. serious. dude. I went to the movie tonight. By myself. It was heaven. No one talked to me for 2 hours. Silence. (except for the movie of course). Super Fab. Welcome more of the kind of swanson clan to the blogdom. Kristen and Sherry Happy Friday Night!!

So I went to this scrapbooking store....

I know, the question is, why. why why why?? Because I want to make my own invitations for Chickies First Birthday Party. Here is the following interaction I had with the salesgirl... SG: Can I help you find something? B: Yes, I'm looking for crowns to go on my daughters birthday invitation. I've never been in here before and it's a really big store! SG: We don't have any of those, you'd think we would because they are so popular but we don't. So, where do you normally get your scrapbooking stuff? B: I don't scrapbook. I'm not very crafty. SG : the sales girl gives me a weird look, then just says "OH" SG: That's pretty brave of you to make your own invitations if you don't even scrapbook. B: Um, Yeah. (brooke walks very quickly out of the store)

Ringtones

Ok, So I was wondering. What kind of ringtones do you have on your cell phone? If you could be one ringtone on everyone you knows cell phone what would it be? I have Madonna (Like a Virgin) for Ashli, Mel, Kelly and Amanda I have I ain't as good as I once was (toby keith) for the lovely nick b/c he loves toby keith and the words are just hilarious. example: If you need some love tonight, I might have just enough. I ain't as good as I once was, but I'm as good once, as I ever was. Funny stuff. I have MargaritaVille for my cousin Deborah. If I had just one ringtone for myself for every one to use it would probably be Like a Virgin. Just for the looks you get at the store. Cause it starts out LOUDLY with 'Like a Virgin, HEY!! Touched for the very First Time'. Funny Stuff. Everyone who reads my blog has to chime in. I'll do a boycott from my own blog if you don't. I know who you are. Get commenting.

Tis The Season

Of Sickness. I have a Horrid cold, virusey type thing. Charlotte Zelle has an ear infection in Both Ears. Oliver is healthy so far, but the dripping snot is starting. Good Times Everyone. I'll share new photos. The bottom right one is how oliver kept himself entertained at the dr. office yesterday. taking photos. the left right one is how i found charlie a week ago. yeah. oliver got 'sister' a yogurt. nice.

So Glad You Asked

I think that education is the key. Tell people about it. Hook up with WHO, Unicef or Amnesty International. To those of us who can't actually GO and help: Educate, Educate, Educate. Tell people where to donate money, Tell people what it is and who it's happening to. Gross People out. If they are disturbed enough about it, maybe they'll want to help too. I don't have a specific way to help,I'm trying to figure it out myself. And to 'From A Distance'.... Maybe he didn't kill them. But I would be willing to bet money that he did. His story thus far is that he found them dead at home, thought about killing himself but decided to run home to his parents in England instead. I think it's a croc of shit.

Another Soap Box

So, I am actually learning quite a bit at my job. 1. I have Nancy Grace, who despite our love/hate relationship, I think is doing a good job getting the word out about domestic violence. Raising our awareness to the point that I am ready to go and picket outside the courthouse of the man in Boston who killed his Wife and 9 month old baby girl. That is just one month younger than Charlie. 2. I work with a girl from Ethiopia named Emabet. She is pregnant with her first baby (a girl) and is one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen. We talk a lot about Africa. About the AIDS crisis, and how difficult it is to educate people there because most of them from outside the city don't have a written way to communicate, they don't read. So, education about AIDS has been difficult and slow-going. We also talk about Female Circumcision. Yeah, you heard me. Now, don't laugh at me, But I had no idea what it was and what it involved or that it even still happened around the world. But it does. It really does. Now, it has been outlawed in Ethiopia for about 10 years, but it is still practiced in Somalia, right next door to Ethiopia. After cutting all the 'bits' off, they proceed to sew the woman up until she gets married, leaving only a small hole for the urine or menstural bleeding. The infection rate is staggering, and the sheer cruelness of it is unbelievable. This is all done without any type of anisthesia. You can read more about it here. So, that is my soap box for the day. Find a way to help. Become a better person. I am trying to.

The Girl

WALKING!!

Having a make-0ut session with her baby doll.

And the boys' new haircut.