4 things

4 Happenings

My little cutie pie nephew, Zack, is growing up! He is 10 months old already, where has time gone? I love to hold this little guy, and love on him! Too bad I was sick with a headcold this week, so I didn't dare pick him up. But I wanted to, darn it, because he is moving with his family to Utah soon and I'm going to miss them all!!

I can't say this is a regular occurence at our house, but only because it was a half gallon of milk instead of just a cup!! What can I say, my 3 year old likes to be "Bigger" and pour his own milk. (And his Mama didn't even yell! :) ) And please don't tell me this sort of thing never happens at your house!

The waterfall, without water. This project has been my husband's baby this summer. Trust me, it looks a lot cooler in real life, especially with water running over it!

My GIGANTIC tomato plant! I planted 3 tomato plants this spring. 2 of them were the same brand and one was different. This was one of the ones that was the same brand, and for some reason the other plants didn't follow suit - but this plant has produced 99% of our tomatoes this summer! It's producing like rabbits in bunny hutches!!

Democratic National Convention

Denver

Democratic National Convention

I am a self-professed news junkie. I believe I've admitted to that on my blog before. So lately, I've not only been following the Olympics, but the Democratic National Convention (especially since it's happening in my city!), and all things politics. So when I read in the paper a couple of weeks ago that you could get tickets to tour the Pepsi Center before the DNC, I was all over it! I wanted to see history, before it happens.

The Pepsi Center today, all decorated for the Democratic National Convention. It's looking quite different than it does for Nuggets and Av's games!

I am a registered Republican, so I can vote in the primaries. But in truth, I'm an Independent. I do not yet know who I will vote for in the 2008 Presidential Election. It is no secret, I do not really love either candidate (McCain, or Obama). But I'm listening to them both. I, obviously, have conservative views when it comes to moral issues. And I do not want socialized medicine, ahem Barrack, are you listening? But I do not want to stay in Iraq nor do I want a 72 year old President. What I do want? An improved economy (supermarket and gas prices to go down), a united Nation, who is strong and Trusting in God. Hmmm....it will be interesting to see who this Mother of 5 votes for. Maybe I will have to write in a candidate? In past presidential elections, I have voted Democrat, Republican, and Independent. So, I am not a party Loyal.

The CNN Grill. There are news podiums all over downtown and around the Pepsi Center and Invesco at Mile High (where Obama will make his acceptance speech next Thursday).

THE Stage at the Pepsi Center/DNC. And I have to say, they did a beautiful job of transforming this sports arena into an auditorium!

A sign inside the Pepsi Center.

This Fox News Station inside the Pepsi Center. I was intrigued by those "power cycles" there that will really create power! They are trying everything they can to make sure the GREEN can be seen!!

Tyler, Me and my supportive Hubby! In front of the Pepsi Center.

Laren was not super thrilled about going, but I met him on his lunch break today and he came along for the ride. Politics is not his thing, he's an engineer and unless it's technical or something to do with nature or cars, he's not much into the news. But we did manage to have a good time and it was quite an intriguing sight!

Bounteous Harvest

Bounteous Harvest

When we put in our garden this spring, we had no idea what kind of harvest we would reap. We have pretty much planted a garden every year for the past 9-10 years or so. But we never really know how the plants will grow. Some years do better than others. This year is proving to be a great year for harvest!

Tomatoes I picked just today. Too bad I don't make salsa, huh?

Zuchinni Squash

My payload from just today's harvest, and there are more tomatoes and zuchinni and summer squash coming - quick! If anyone wants to get some veggies of this sort, call me or come over and we will gladly share!

Getting Lucky in Vegas

With all the back to school stuff we've had to do, I haven't taken the time to post about our good luck! School starts tomorrow for my Elementary kids and then on Friday for Kayla. Whoever's bright idea it was to start on a Friday, I don't know! But I think it was a pretty pathetic idea!!!

Getting Lucky in Vegas

In the Casinos not many people were gambling, and I heard one street vendor say to another vendor that nobody was buying anything. I think it is because of the economy being so bad right now.

The "dancing" water in front of The Bellagio.

On our second night there as we stood and watched the water dancing to music in front of The Bellagio, (which was one of my favorite things that we did there), a lady from Virginia was talking to us asking us if we had "gotten Lucky?" Afterall it is Vegas. We told her we don't gamble. She said neither does she. We were talking about the beautiful architecture and she recommended to us Caesars Palace, The Venetian and The Wynn. It was 9:00pm by then (10:00 our time) and we were exhausted but decided to just quickly make our way up there to check them out since we were so 'close.'

This is the inside of the Venetian. Can you see why we loved it so much? It was like being on the streets of Venice, Italy!>

To rewind a little bit, we decided, before we went, to stay at two different hotels on our short stay, just to experience more of Vegas. On our second day we checked into our second hotel, it was the MGM Grand. Right before checking in, Laren leaned over to me and said 'it would be great if they upgraded our room for free.'

The next thing we know the guy at the desk is telling Laren that the hotel had given us a "Complimentary Upgrade" on our room, to a suite!! The only problem was - it was in Tower I - aways behind the main section of the hotel, so they offered us a free taxi to get there. We opted to walk, as we knew how slow the traffic was moving.

The kitchen inside our Suite at the MGM Grand. The room was GREAT! It had a separate living/desk area, it had a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi tub and granite counters. Both of the hotels we stayed in had flat screen tv's next to the bathroom mirrors. It was nice to watch the "pre Olympic" broadcasting while soaking in the jacuzzi when Laren had to finish up some work up the next morning!

We got checked in and went to find a good deal on some tickets to a "show". Laren and I wanted The Blue Man Group or tickets to Wayne Brady or maybe Cirque Du Soleil. By the time we got to the half price ticket counter we found that most of the shows were sold out! Even if there had been more show availabilities, they were all very expensive. Each ticket was nearly $100 or more! The only thing available was tickets to the Blue Man Group for 10pm that night and the discounted price was $104.50. We opted out of a show.

Instead we got dinner and walked up the Strip going in and out of the Hotel Resorts/Casinos. There were tons of tourists, we could hardly go fast at all up the street.

Our final stop was The Venetian. When we were there we happened upon the Theatre where The Blue Man Group was performing. I told Laren I wanted a picture, at least, since we couldn't go in. He handed the camera to me to take the picture.

The ticket booth outside the entrance to The Blue Man Group.

As I was taking the picture a couple came up to him and asked him if he wanted tickets for him and me. They had won 4 free tickets from a Radio Station in San Diego - to see The Blue Man Group in Vegas on that particular night, at 10:00 pm and they didn't want the tickets to go to waste!

Our free tickets!

We couldn't believe it! We excitedly took the tickets and got in line to see the Show!! The show was fantastic, made better by our free tickets, we laughed the entire hour and a half.

Us, just after receiving our free tickets!

It was another one of our favorite things we did there! So in answer to the lady from Virginia's question, yes - we did get Lucky in Vegas! We got a beautiful room upgrade, we paid $65 for our Suite and we got free tickets to The Blue Man Group.

And just a little aside, I cannot say enough good about Hotwire.com. We have had a good experience, so far, every time we've tried them out. We ended up with a fantastic room in Vegas for only $65 - it was supposed to be $190 otherwise and it was a 4 star place. We were only one step "beneath" a Penthouse, on the 21st floor. Even if we hadn't "gotten lucky" we still would have had a great room! Hotwire will let you pick which part of town you want to stay in, it will let you pick however many stars and it will let you see all the amenities that are available and then it will pick the hotel. For the strip, we could have picked quite a few different options but we wanted the more Southern part of The Strip.

Vegas, Baby!!

Viva Las Vegas!

Swimming at Great Pools!

Please ignore my white legs, lest you forget I'm a MOM!! :)

Yummy Food!

(This was my breakfast on one day. It was at the House of Blues cafe inside of Mandalay Bay.) Way more than one can eat!!



Seeing the architecture and lights of the Casino's

This Casino is called, the Paris Hotel. I'm sure I'm the only one who did not know about Las Vegas and how so many of the Casino's have a theme to them. They seem to characterize the architecture and atmosphere of each particular style very accurately!

The water fountains and lights at the Bellagio.

This was one of my favorite things to see in Vegas. It is in front of the The Bellagio and the water dances to the music and lights. It happens every 15 minutes day and night. They have many different songs, water 'dances'. The one we watched was choreographed to Celine Dion's, My Heart will Go On. Thanks for the tip, Amy!

Another Casino.

Me and Caesar, in Caesar's Palace. If I don't look overly enthused, it's because it was waaay past my bedtime and I was tired!! It really was exciting! :)

I thought Las Vegas was so much more than Casino's and smoke. I did not realize that it has great food, great swimming, great shows, and so much more! While there, I was also able to meet up with a friend, while Laren was at work, for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. We also drove up to see the Temple, went shopping on The Strip, saw a Show and we even got Lucky...more on that later!!

Gas Prices and 6 Quirks

Gas prices -

Saturday I was at Costco to pick up a few things like the laundry detergent that we had run completely out of. While I was there I realized I was nearly out of gas and went to fuel up. The gas attendant came over to talk to me. (I always hate the random conversation with those attendants and tend to avoid them at all costs - I don't know why that is?).

He asked me if anyone had told me that gas had gone down the day before by 6 cents a gallon. I told him no one mentioned it, but any price drop was a good thing!! So I paid $3.81 per gallon. It cost me nearly $58. Usually it is about $65 to fill up the van if I'm completely on empty. This time I was just under a quarter of a tank.

I keep hoping that some auto maker will either hurry up with the electric car inventions or the algae fuel alternative for gasoline (an article that was in Time Magazine) or something else to reduce the soaring fuel prices.

But on the other hand, when I think about what gas prices could be ($5, $6, or even $10 per gallon - as they are some places around the world), I will just be happy with almost $4 per gallon gasoline!!

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I have been tagged by my friend Tracy and I'm supposed to share

6 Quirky things about me:

1. I cannot stand to have my kids laying around in the morning. I have to have them get up and dressed and ready for their day. Just a little pet peeve of mine!

2. I would rather drive my old van that is paid for than buy a new vehicle and have payments.

3. My youngest daughter has really fine, wispy hair. I have to put it up in a scrunchy every day or I go crazy!

4. After years of being a night owl, I have learned to love mornings! I love the quiet and the birds singing and just having time to think. One of my favorite places to do this is on my front porch swing that the kids and Laren got me for Mother's Day.

5. I do not coupon shop, it drives me crazy because I clip the coupons (not anymore) and then forget to use them at the store - or my kids are distracting me and I forget to use them. So I decided to rid myself of the guilt and just not clip them in the first place.

6. I am a light sleeper and I have trouble falling to sleep at night. I would like to blame it on all my pregnancies and babies who were fussy, but I can't because I remember having the same problem in high school.

Husband Tag

Husband tag...

So my friend and neighbor Jen tagged me. I never participated last time around so here goes...

1. What is his name?
Laren

2. Who eats more?
Him.

3. Who said I love you first?
He did.

4. Who is taller?
He is, by a mile! Actually by nearly a foot! I'm 5'3 and a half and he's 6' 2".

5. Who is smarter?
Laren is, hands down!!

6. Who is more sensitive?
Me, I'm a girl, I guess it comes with the territory! :)

7. Who does the laundry?
We both do. Laren helps me out whenever he has a chance, he's good like that! Laundry is my least favorite chore! And with 5 kids, you can imagine how it adds up quick!!

8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
If you're looking at the bed, it's him. But if you're laying in the bed, it's me. Although we just switched a few months ago when Laren hurt his knee, it was too hard for him to get into bed on his side...or so he says! LOL

9. Who pays the bill?
He does. I did them up until about 2 years ago. It became a real tedious task for me and so after 12 or so years of me doing them, he took over! I've never been happier! ;)

10. Who cooks more?
I do, because uh...he never cooks! But he will help me clean up after!!

11. Who is more stubborn?
He is. Although he may dispute that?

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong?
Laren.

13. Who has more siblings?
Me - I have 9 and he has 2.

14. Who wears the pants in the family?
We both do!

15. What do you like to do together?
We almost always go on a Sunday walk together. We like to stay up and chat after the kids are in bed, yeah, interesting people we are!

16. Who eats more sweets?
That would be me.

17. Guilty Pleasures?
Hmmm, for him it's a bowl of ice cream almost every single night, and for me I like to take the time to read the newspaper almost every day.

18. How did you meet?
A blind date, but I had to get a sneak peak at him first - just in case I should need to cancel the date! But after seeing him, I knew I was keeping that date!!

19. Who purposed?
Laren did, 2 times. One time informally, and a second time with the ring. I can't believe it was 15 years ago!!

20. What is his best feature?
He helps me out on pretty much anything I endeavor to do! Of course he is incredibly handsome to me as well!!

21. What is his best quality?
See the first part of my answer to #20.