Nerd Alert!!

I took this picture of Belle a while ago and just came acrossed it. She looks like a true nerd!! I'll keep this picture on hand for bad days to cheer me up.

Fishin'

Tren went fishing after work last night and here is what he caught...



Yes,... this is a SHARK!! He had seen someone (just a random person) catch one the day before and he wanted to try it. So, after work he went out and threw some line in the water. He used chunks of other fish as bait. Can you imagine!? I would have died! I am not going to be frolicking in any of the waters over there, now!!

Flowers

Mother's Day weekend, Belle and I went to Kings and bought some flowers to plant in the backyard. We picked out our "flat" of flowers and then a few other random ones and some filler flowers. We went home and got to work. We had been working out in the yard all day and saved the planting for last. As I was popping each flower out of the plastic I realized we had a TON of flowers to plant. Belle's job was to place each flower in the dirt where she wanted it planted. She did a good job spreading them out and not clumping a bunch of colors together. Then the planting. Belle got tired of this very quickly, which meant I had a lot of planting to do. I had been hunched over for so long, I ended up with a nice sunburn on my back...between the bottom of my shirt and the waist of my pants. Real nice. Finally, all the flowers were planted. All 64 of them! Holy crow, right!? But they looked great.



The next day we went out to water them and all of this one kind we had picked out had shriveled up and died! I was about to rip them out of the ground and march straight to Kings and get my $2.00 back! Instead, I have been giving them TLC and some of them are recovering. The day after:



They all look kinda sad in that pic, but they just had a watering from Belle and she is a bit rough. :) You can tell the orange ones are hurting.

I went and took a new pic today of everyones progress and they are looking fabulous!

Aaarggh Matey!

For the past couple months, my friend Jesika and I have been planning a surprise party for her husband's birthday. He is turning 29 and she has always wanted to do a surprise party for him, so we decided this year was the time to do it. Jesika chose a pirate theme and we went running with it! We made invitations with pirate talk and asked everyone to wear pirate outfits. It was so much fun to plan!

This weekend was the big bash. Jesika and her two girls came over Saturday. The girls played and we sliced cheese, decorated cupcakes and made the cake. We made a little ship cake and then cupcakes. I wasn't sure how many people would show up and how many people the pirate ship would feed, so I made a smaller ship and cupcakes. I think it turned out so cute! I wish I had a boy to make ships for...





The cupcakes had blue frosting and gold coins with a Jolly Roger flag. Very cute, too!

Here is me and Jesika in our pirate costumes.



Tom (bday boy) was very surprised and had no idea we had anything planned. There was dancing and good times all evening. Russ made an appearance and tried on the pirate hat:



Keith and Carmen made it out too!



It was a good time and a party perfectly executed!

What's next?

Bellami

#1. About 2 years ago, Belle and I were in Fred Meyer doing some grocery shopping. We had gone up and down the isles and gathered up everything we needed. We went to the check-out line and the cashier was scanning our items. I looked over to see what Belle was doing, not in the cart, and she had a very suspicious look on her face. I asked her what she was going and she said she wasn't doing anything. Then I look back to the cashier and pay for our groceries. I turn back around while the receipt is printing and see Belle has her hands behind her back. I ask what she has and she tells me "tic-tacs" and I explain we aren't getting them. She proceeds to stuff them in her pocket. I tell her no again, get the receipt from the cashier and turn around to see Belle is making a break for it towards the door, with the tic-tacs rattling in her pocket! H.O.T. F.L.A.S.H!!!! I have to haul after this child with my load of groceries, trying not to draw more attention to us than she already is. Finally she stops and I catch up and tell her that if she steals the tic-tacs, I will have to tell the police and they will come and take her to jail. She looked up and scanned the area (for police) and tells me "I think I'll put them back." Luckily there was a security looking guy at the Washington Mutual that is in Fred Meyer. Whew.

#2 A few months ago, Belle and I went into Walmart. The greeter at the door gave Belle the wonderful Smiley faced sticker and she wore it around on her hand while we are shopping. (she is riding in the cart this time) We get to the cashier and I send our items down and while we are standing there waiting for our turn, Belle has removed her sticker and is placing it on her shirt or the cart or where ever. Then she reaches towards me to give me a hug and tells me she loves me. This is not unusual for Belle. However, this time when she leaned away from me, the smiley sticker was missing, and in action.... on my back! The little sneak had hugged me, just to put the sticker on my back. At least it didn't say "kick me",right? What 4 year old knows how to do these tricks?!

#3 On our trip to Washington a few weeks ago, Belle was into making "signs" with her fingers. She would hold something up with her fingers twisted and curled in these ways and tell me what they meant. This one in particular, meant either " lame " or " I'm bored " :



Belle was out at my mom's being watched and when I went to get her after work, I decided to eat dinner while she cleaned up her toys. She wasn't listening to my mom and was continuing to play, so she was put in time-out on the stairs. My mom went out to check on her or to just walk through the room and Belle flashed her the above sign. My mom comes into the kitchen fighting back laughter and asks me what the sign means. I tell her either " lame " or " I'm bored " and she tells me Belle just flashed her that sign!! Again, what nearly 5 year old child knows and remembers this sort of thing?!

What is next? I'm worried....

New Hair Cut!

I took Belle to get her haircut tonight. She went to Ashley at a salon in Eagle and recommended by Clint. (thank you!) Belle didn't want her hair cut because she is wanting it long. I told her to just tell Ashley she wanted a trim. On the drive over to the salon, Belle kept calling her Chelsea. It was so funny. We got there and Ashley was finishing up on another client and then it was Belle's turn. She watched her and told me she was excited to get her hair cut. During the cutting, Belle just sat there and watched Ashley in the mirror. Ashley was good about asking what Belle wanted and if it was okay to do this or that. It was nice. I have to say that with the little toilet paper wrap and the hair cape on, belle looked a TON like her dad. I haven't seen him in her much lately, but without her neck she looked just like him.



She finished the cut and then did a nice blow dry and Belle left looking fabulous!

Front view:



Side view:



Back view:



I love her new hair cut and she is quite pleased with it too. We'll be going to Chelsea, I mean Ashley again! Im thinking about making a visit to her for myself soon!!

Washington

There is no way I could post all I wanted to about our trip, so here is a link to my Picasa album with all the pictures. I put "captions" to describe the pictures as needed. Enjoy!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/mimibbare/WashingtonWBelle42009#

The weekend

Tren was here this last weekend and it was such a treat! I finally felt normal again! He arrived Friday night around 9.30 and then we headed to the Lounge for a drink and catching up with some of his friends.

Saturday we went to the horse races, here in Emmett. We sat down in the stands and this little, old, strange lady was sitting down one bench and to the left of us. She had on a black velour sweatsuit and had the hood on. She had a cross-word book and pen and was very tiny. Her husband was sitting to her left and he had a catalog with the races and stuff in it. You could tell who was there to watch the races...



Tren was the closest to her and every time he would move she would look at her (luke-warm) beer and then at Tren and then back at her beer. We got her hint to not knock it over. She was sipping it as if it was a very expensive tea or something. We watched the first race and then got up and went to place a bet on the next one. Tren placed a bet on the 4, 5, and 6 horses to place 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. We went back to our seats in the stands next to our dear friend and she kept doing the eyeing thing. This time though, she would turn around and talk to Tren. He found out her husband was a fire bomber pilot, (Im not sure that's the right name) but he would fly the plane down into the flames to dump water or the powder stuff on it. She told Tren she was always so happy when he would come home. I would say so! The race goes on and the 1, 5, and 6 horses place 1st, 2nd and 3rd. We were one horse away from a lot of money! Dang. Tren went and placed a bet on the 3rd race and it was going to be our last one to watch. We wanted to get to doing other things. He bet that the 3, 5, and 1 horse would all place. Not in that order, but that they would place in the top 3. The dear lady didn't once turn around to talk to me while Tren was gone. I knew she liked Tren. Tren comes back and sits down and she keeps on talking to him. I had to take a picture because it was just so funny...



The race goes and guess what!? The 3, 5 and 1 horses all placed! Woot!! We went to see how much Tren won and it was $105.40!! How sweet is that?! Good way to end the races, eh?

We went out to my parents and Tren burned weed piles and some wood that was up by the old Hut in the field. Tren loves burning ditch and weeds. He was happy to get to do that.

We headed up to the Triangle for a nice prime rib dinner with our winnings. Then headed to his friends house to hang out.

Sunday we picked Belle up from her dad's and went to the park over in Meridian and then to dinner at the Goodwood. Belle and Tren haven't seen each other in 3 months. That is a long time! They have talked on the phone and we webcam every now and then, but to see her in person is much better. He said she has changed a ton and doesn't look like a little kid anymore. Sad. He noticed her beautiful freckles, too. It was so good for them to get to play. Belle misses Tren alot and that is a hard thing for me to have to hear when I miss him too. Someday we'll all be together again...

Belle and I are going to visit Tren this weekend for 4 days, and I can't wait! Belle is excited to see the ocean! Watch for that blog next week!!

Glowing Orange

In the car, Belle has a spiral notebook and pen she uses to write in while we are driving around. She always tells me not to look at what she is doing, until she says it's okay to. She has drawn some hysterical stuff in that notebook! On the way home from Baba's a few days ago, Belle tells me not to look back at her. I don't. She remains very quiet the rest of the ride and just asks me to turn up the music. As we pull into the driveway, I glance back at her and see something glowing orange out of the corner of my eye. I pull in and park and look back at Belle to see what the bright orange stuff was...



She had a regular, relaxed look on her face as if she had forgotten she had the stickers all over it. I was laughing so hard! They were all over, as you can see. Even the My Little Pony ones on her neck. I took a few pics and we went inside. I told her I was going to make dinner and she was to clean her room. I'm in making dinner and I hear her crying. I thought it was because cleaning her room is "hard" and usually it makes her cry. I go and find her in the bathroom trying to peel the stickers off. She had successfully taken the ones off her neck and a few from her forehead and this left her skin a firey red. ( Belle has excema which means very dry and senstive skin. We went to the Dr about her skin a while ago and he told me she shouldnt use smelly lotions or body wash. How can such a fancy girl not?) The stickers were so stuck. I felt very bad for her because she would get one of those tiny smileys off and her skin would be a perfect little round red spot that was kind of bumpy. She wanted to put water on them and wash them off, but I told her they would be even stickier. It was so sad and painful to watch. Finally she got them all off and it seemed like her entire face had puffed up and was bright red. She told me she didn't like those stickers and that she wasn't putting any on her face again. I don't blame her.

Easter!!

This year Belle wasn't at the top of her game for the Easter holiday. I picked her up Friday from her dad's with a fever. On the way home we were talking about Easter and egg hunts and the Easter Bunny. She told me she didn't want to hunt for the eggs. She wanted to do the hiding and make the Easter Bunny find them. ("Great" -Easter Bunny) I told her that the only thing the bunny hides is her basket but she didn't even want to look for that. She insisted on doing the hiding. So we decided she would hide plastic eggs and then the bunny would find the eggs and fill them with candy and put them in her basket on the kitchen table. Saturday comes and she is starting to feel much better. All day she wants to hide the eggs for the bunny but I told her we would do it right before bed. She tells me she is going to hide one under her blanket so when the bunny comes to find it she feels his arm and wakes up and sees him. I told her they had to be in the living room. She agreed and suggested she sleep in the living room. (nice try) Finally it's time to hide!! She hid the 12 eggs and was happy with how things looked

and we went to bed. The Easter Bunny came and successfully located all 12 eggs and stuffed them with candy and placed them in her basket that was patiently waiting on the kitchen table. When she woke up Sunday morning she ran out and was so happy to see her basket filled with the eggs!! She told me "He brought me Tweets,.. just exactly what I've always wanted!" (peeps)

I think she likes the looks of Peeps... pink, girly, and sparkley. That was the first and last bite she took of the peeps. Being sick is never a fun thing on a holiday, but Belle was a good sport about it. And we have a new Sundquist/Bare family tradition for Easter. The kids will hide the eggs and the bunny will find and stuff them. I think it's great!