Whata Weekend & a Winner!

We had a wonderful weekend.

Friday night we met up with the Garretts for some yummy pizza at Park West and even yummier ice cream afterwards! The kids ran around outside in the grass area/fountains while we visited under the big ramada! It was such a nice evening, beautiful weather and special friends!

Saturday was spent at gymnastics in the morning with Lola, as usual, but it was bring a friend week, so Jayla joined us! Then we were off to Xavier's game in the late morning. He played in north Phoenix, so we decided to go visit Brion's grave since we were so close. We haven't been there in a long time, it was nice to go see him as a family and talk about our favorite times with him. Candis and Michael live very close to the cemetery, so we headed to their place next to say hello and to drop off Michael's sunglasses! I swear anytime he is over at our house he leaves them here! Oh well, gives us a good excuse to meet up, even if it is just for a little while! After that, I met up with Chad's mama to go see a movie, The Last Song. It was just like I thought it would be, although different from the book, I did like it a lot. Without giving it away, just wanna say that it hits close to home, very close, and tears were shed. Then it was off to snuggle my kiddos at home for the rest of the night!

Sunday it was Kyan and Chad's turn to see a movie and they headed off early to watch How to Train Your Dragon on the IMAX in 3D! So cool! Chad said that Kyan kept trying to grab things it felt so real! Lola and I met up with them at West Gate after! The kids ran around in the fountains, we ate lunch, and window shopped! The kiddos went home with daddy and I headed to the grocery store! We spent the rest of the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning the kids closets (Amy and Evy we have another box coming your way!!!). I could only handle doing theirs, however, mine NEEDS a good cleaning too! Maybe next week!

And now the winner of the MAC makeup - Mande at HarrisonLane blog! Congratulations!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend! I am counting down the days until summer vacation!

I Will Remember You

I think about Brion EVERYDAY.
Today especially.
April 8, 2009 is a day that I will never, ever forget.
A memory that will stick close to my heart forever and ever.
A place that I am not ready to fully share, but someday will be able to.

Cancer is one of the the ugliest diseases that I have ever had to watch someone I love so much suffer through, and Brion suffered.
In his suffering I saw his incredible strength and will to live.
He was a fighter and fought his cancer until the very end.

Brion is forever in my heart
and the hearts of my children
and my husband, his son.
I feel like I see him and feel him everywhere.
From our family vacation to San Diego,
walking past the room he stayed in at the Beach Haven Inn and reminiscing about California times .
To watching him perform at the halftime show at this year's Superbowl,
I swear that as soon as I saw Pete Townsend I felt like I was watching Brion rock out on the guitar. I wasn't sure I was seeing straight, however, it seemed fitting, as the Superbowl was his thing, if you knew Brion, you were there.
Bottom line, Brion will not ever be forgotten.
Not today, on the one year anniversary of his death.
Not tomorrow.
Not ever.
We love you Brion.

Every time we hear Lincoln Park we turn the the volume up as loud as we can and sing at the top of our lungs, as Kyan had declared it Grandpa B's song!


We have so many wonderful memories with Brion.
If you have a favorite memory of him, please share.

Our Easter Weekend!

This weekend we met up with Chad's extended family for a hopeful new tradition - Easter Saturday at Grandma and Grandpa Shipe's place! There was food, fun, and family! Couldn't have made for a better afternoon! Ok, that is a lie, I should have brought sun screen for Chad and I, we borrowed for the kids but failed to put anything on ourselves and we are suffering the consequences! But in all seriousness, we had a blast! Thank you grandma and grandpa for hosting such a great get together!



Poor Lauren - she somehow got the job of making sure that Lola didn't snatch up all of the Easter Eggs (thanks Jess and Aunt Tammy for stuffing over 200 on the way out from Cali) before "the Hunt" even started! It was hilarious! Lola would grab an egg or three and Lauren would wait for her to search for more so that she could sneak them out of cousin Drew's cart and put them back! Thank you Lauren for keeping her busy!!! She loved playing with you!


And at the end of the day when all is said and done, both of my kids crashed out on the couch watching cartoons! They were pooped! What a great Saturday...

...that led to a great Sunday as a family together! When the kids woke up, it took them awhile, but they finally noticed their Easter baskets that the bunny left for them!
We spent some time with our house guests: Chad's cousin Josh and his girlfriend Vanessa and Josh's son, Andrew! We were so happy that they decided to stay with us and had a fun evening with them and were sad to see them go! Come back soon! Chad's parents stopped by for a visit too!

Then it was off to our favorite place in the neighborhood to hunt for Easter eggs ~ The PARK! Jayla, Susie, and Jearel came by and played with us too!



Hope that everyone had just as good of an Easter as we did and that you were able to spend it with those you love most!

It's Moments Like This...

...that define me as a mother.
And Kyan as a BIG brother.

Last night when I went upstairs to get Kyan and Lola ready for bed, I caught Kyan in a big brother moment. While his TV was on with his own movie, he was in his sister's room not really watching Gabba, but they were both sitting on her bed, reading books. She was getting books out of his room to have him read them to her. They could have cared less about Gabba at that particular moment. When I told them they could read one more and then they had to brush their teeth, I walked away, not really thinking that a five year old was going to listen. Next thing I knew when I walked into their bathroom, both of them brushing their teeth! Kyan got Lola's toothbrush all ready for her! When it came time for bed, how could I not let them snuggle?

I needed to remind them a few times to zip it, as did Kyan, for Lola could have kept him up the whole night just talking...at one point I was listening to what he was telling her - something about how their bodies needed to sleep because they need energy the next day, it was so sweet how he was trying to explain life to her! I just wanted to sit outside the door and listen forever.

I hope that they always get along as good as they do now and that Kyan continues to be the best big brother in the entire planet. I felt so good going to sleep last night and just thought to myself
How lucky are we!

Did You Feel It?

We did!

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake in Baja California, Mexico felt in Arizona!!!

Chad and I were watching The Blind Side and were pretty close to the end when we felt it. At first I thought Chad was messing with the couch and somehow moving it, after it was over he thought I was doing it somehow! I was mulit-tasking and typing away at my career ladder for school, so I thought that maybe I was just going a little crazy from staring at the screen to long and looked up and it was like we were swaying. It was the weirdest feeling - like we were on a boat rocking or something and I almost felt nauseous. Finally that is when I asked Chad if he was moving the couch...

We guessed that we had just felt an earthquake and the movie was just getting over, so I told Chad to turn on the news to see if they were saying anything about it. He said that it was too soon, CNN was covering a different story, so I went to the internet and typed it in and sure enough we saw where it was and the magnitude of it! Confirmed that we weren't crazy! Checked back in with CNN and now it is all over the news! Pretty crazy!

Anyone else feel it?

Random Thoughts...

...that I need to let out! FYI, some of this is nonsense, but just have a bunch of things I need to say, so I am going to put it all into one big post that shouldn't go together, but now will, for the sake of sanity!

1. Easter is right around the corner and Lola and Kyan's Easter basket (ok, box) arrived in the mail from my parents - Grandma and Grandpa Nebraska! They were beyond thrilled! I taped it for them to see the kids opening it, since they couldn't actually be here with them (please move out here). It is almost 7 minutes long...just warning you! It is really cute, but mostly for them, so if you don't have the time to watch their excitement as they are opening it, no worries!




2. My friend Amy held her grand opening for her etsy shop Evy's Tree on Monday and I am so proud of her! Check out her blog and sign up for a $30 giveaway to her shop! She makes adorable sweatshirts for the whole family! My personal favorites are the new baby girl Brilla in Black for Lola and the Rubix for Kyan!


3. I am on stress overload at work, so little time and so many deadlines!!! Two major "projects" are due next week and I am going crazy, one of them has major money attached to it. Plus, I am up to my eyeballs in grading! Have the ulcers on my mouth to prove it...so annoying! They make my whole face hurt - ugh.

4. Thinking about having a MAC makeup party...anyone interested? If so let me know! Major discount prices and the stuff is REAL, but I don't wanna do if no one will show 'cause then I will feel stupid! SO if you are in, lemme know!

5. #4 leads itself to my first blog giveaway and hoping that your mailbox is happier! The first makeup party I went to I bought a lil something extra - a mascara and eyeliner from MAC.

So how do you win them? Well, you would have to actually care enough about me and my rambles to read my random thoughts and actually had to have gotten to this number in the first place...if you have arrived, then here is how you win:
~mandotory: you have to follow my blog using Google friend connect! Once you are a follower, lemme know in a comment! If you are a new follower, introduce yourself!
~leave a comment about this post, doesn't have to be about the makeup part!

6. I love the blogging world, through it I think that I have "met" some pretty amazing people! A Blonde Walks into a Blog is one my favorite blogs to read, Juliana has great giveaways, but more importantly she writes some pretty inspiring things. Just recently she wrote about love, she has posted since then, but I highly encourage you to check it out here. I felt like she was saying exactly how I was feeling. She took the words right out of my brain and posted them more beautifully than I could have ever spit out! If you don't follow her already, you should!


7. Almost a year ago today I held a little craft night at my house - so cute to look back at the post! Everyone looked so little! Amazing what a difference a year makes! I had dinner with Camille and Avery on Sunday while the boys were at Wrestlemania and were talking about makin' bows again! So...thinking NEXT Friday night, April 9th, is the perfect evening to do it! If you wanna participate - lemme know, depending on how many people actually want to come will depend on who brings what! I want to work on some fabric flowers this time instead of ribbon, but can't wait! Not all of my stress will be eliminated, but those two "projects" I was talking about on #3, will be done! So, I get to reward myself and be creative! Lola is definitely in need of some new hair bows!

8. I LOVE MY FAMILY! I am so lucky and am thankful for them everyday!

9. The Help, another great read on the Kindle! I am a Kindle snob! If I can't get a book on my Kindle (like the new Jodi Picoult, House Rules) I kinda get irritated! Also, several of my honors students have been begging me to read this Private series and gave me the books to borrow. They are good, but...they are books, and well, I AM A KINDLE SNOB! Anyone read a good book lately? I am in need!

10. Went to see two of my favorite girls today ~ Laken and Celeste! My family adores these two girls so much and today we showed our love for Laken by going to her first home track meet! She is a pole vaulter!!! Couldn't be more proud of her! While she was jumping we caught up with Celeste and she kept us entertained in the bleachers! Laken came to visit us there too! We were excited to give her high fives and big hugs! Boy do I miss seeing these girls beautiful faces every single day at school!

Ok, so that is all for now! Thanks for listening (or should I say reading)! Off to grade papers and close my eyes! I am pooped!

What a Day!

Kyan was selected for student of the month last month at his elementary school...little did we all know that he was going to get pneumonia the week that he was supposed to get the award and have to miss the entire week of school, thus, missing the awards assembly. Mrs. Revord did some shuffling of names and said that she would rearrange things so that he could get the award next month if she could get the other student's mom in on such short notice (just so happens that I work with her, so she was pretty flexible, thanks Casillas)! So today he received his award!

Last night I told Kyan that I had a little bit of time off in the morning to visit his classroom (at this point he didn't know he had been chosen for the award) and he was beyond thrilled! I arrived with my camera in hand around 8am and immediately he grinned from ear to ear! The kids new they were going to go to the assembly in a few minutes, but Kyan still had no clue that that was why I was there! It is a good thing that I almost always have my camera with me at all times or I would say that it might have thrown him, but I am sure he just figured there is my mama with the camera, again! (I know one day they will thank me).

It was so cute how they reveal the Student of the Month and even cuter to watch Kyan's face when he realizes that it is him!

And here he is at the assembly, receiving his award!
I am so proud of you Kyan!

Cheesin' it up after the assembly!

Then it was back to work for me and what a great Friday I had!
Week 1 of Poetry...done! Not sure how many of you know this, but I hate teaching poetry! It makes my skin crawl actually, but it is something that I have to teach! Why do I hate it you ask? Well, probably because I don't get most of the poems that I read - I think they are about one thing, when they are really about something else entirely! I am learning that that is okay and that that is kinda the point! Are you confused just reading that?! Me too. HA! One more week to go. On a positive note, week 1 of poetry went very well, the kids actually loved the lessons every single day (thanks to the help of my reading coach, he is a poetic genius)!

After school Lola and I headed to see Zonia for her first haircut!
I was tired of what I like to call the "bird's nest"! No matter what I did with her hair, in a matter of minutes, it seemed like the back of it would get ratty and even with detangler, it was incredibly hard to brush. What set me off the most with her hair was not even the hair itself, but Lola! Yesterday when I told her to go to mommy's bathroom to brush her hair she said to me, "Mommy, you nuts!" I about died and just looked at Kyan and we both started laughing! I couldn't believe my ears! She just called me nuts for wanting to brush her nest! You can better believe that we did not skip the hair brushing that morning!

So today, she went

She did a great job on the chair after a slight freak out! Zonia clipped some hair stuff to her shirt and she was good to go! It helped that she spun us around in circles a few times! I didn't get any pictures of the actual haircut because I had to hold her (you know, that slight freak out didn't start out so slight)! As I was driving home, I realized that I didn't save any of her hair from her first haircut either. I was too far away to turn back to get some, as I am sure it would have already been in the trash if I would have (sorry Candis, think I might hear it the worst from you on that one), at first I felt awful about it, but then I thought about what really I would do with the hair, at least I have the pictures! Anywho, I love her new little haircut and she does too! With all of the baby hair gone, her hair will grow much faster and thicker than it was before!

Hope everyone else had as great of a Friday as the Roseland family did!