The Darowski Family

Welcome Sadie Jane Darowski

2011-09-20T14:32:00.000-07:00

SADIE JANE

BORN SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

8:33 AM

9LBS 7OZ

We're Back!

2009-08-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

Since November was so last year....

2009-02-18T18:19:00.000-08:00

....and since Samantha thinks she's a Cub Scout, I thought I'd update this little neglected blog. So today, when we instructed the "Cubbies" (my affectionate nickname for the 8-year-old boys I have the pleasure of meeting with each week) to go to the front of the room and line up to practice a skit, Samantha got right in line. And when we passed out the parts, Samantha reached up for one. And when we practiced our parts, standing in that same line, she stayed focussed, more focussed than most of those 8-year-old boys.

So, all I'm saying is, just be nice to her when she comes to your door to sell Girl Scout Cookies. I mean, she's really into scouting, and I know the cookie thing is coming.

Oh... and....she can talk....a lot.... and it's cute.

Samantha reaching for her part.

(We accidentally skipped her at first, not really being prepared for her desire to participate. Luckily, she can't read yet so I was able to improvise.)

Gratitude

2008-11-30T11:35:00.000-08:00

I probably haven't had Thanksgiving with my parents in at least 8 or 9 years, so it was very nice they could come this year, along with my Sister Annie and my Brother Jacob. The kids seem to go wild when relatives are around, they love all the extra attention. But, I don't think their aunt & uncle are used to being climbed upon, poked, tickled, and punched so frequently.

We were also very happy to spend Thanksgiving with our good friends, the Rousseaus. Christine was the first friend I made when we moved to Texas. We are often mistaken for sisters and it feels like we really are. I am very grateful for all of her goodness and her awesome coconut cream pie. I'm also grateful for their long awaited addition, Baby Pierce.

But, most of all I'm grateful for my cute, sweet, patient husband and my cute, mostly sweet, and rarely patient children, Henry, Caroline, & Samantha.

Speaking of gratitude, I can tell you what Caroline is not thankful for. (Three people came up to me today after church and told me about Caroline's loud comments during "Sharing Time.") In a room full of approximately 50 to 60 children and their teachers, Caroline noticed something she didn't agree with and spoke up. When another child was at the front of the room picking up a picture of fruits and vegetables to show what she was thankful for, Caroline exclaimed loudly: "That's weird! Who would be thankful for fruits and vegetables."

(I'm sure, because she eats at least five servings a day and they are an abundant part of her life, it is so easy for her to take them for granted.)

Oh, and I forgot to mention my mother's really nice turkey outfit.

The Squiggly Wiggly Baby

2008-11-20T11:32:00.000-08:00

My neighbors were able to enjoy the grand entrance made by the ambulance and fire truck.
I was able to feel like the "Mother of the Year."

Spooky Darowskis

2008-11-06T16:21:00.000-08:00

Halloween lasted over a week at our house. So many fun Halloween events to attend. So much candy to eat all week long. And Caroline became a "Power Ranger"- no more princesses for her. Henry dressed as Frankenstein for our first trunk-or- treat.
Samantha dressed as a kitty who likes to ride in strollers.
Here is Caroline with our most beloved Halloween decoration "Spooky Kitty," which was renamed "Sofa." Spooky Kitty sits on our front porch with our pumpkins, but also sleeps in Caroline's bed. Here, Caroline is celebrating Spooky Kitty's birthday with a special Kitty cake. Notice how she carefully placed a bowl of water in front of the Kitty. (and yes, the guinea pig is being neglected)
Adam and the girls.
Henry switched from being Frankenstein to Tony Romo. I'm glad I didn't have to do the green face paint again.
Caroline and her good friend "Giselle."

'Round Here

2008-10-19T17:27:00.000-07:00

Henry was "Longhorn of the Month" for his first grade class.

He was also a first class pouter when we went to the pumpkin patch. (Sometimes kids just get tired of posing for pictures)

At the pumpkin patch Caroline had a hay day. And became friends with a donkey.

But, wouldn't let me snap a picture of her in the pumpkin patch, so I grabbed one of her friend, Audrey. We love Audrey.

Here is Henry and company in what I call the coolest pumpkin house I've ever seen.

And for Samantha, she's getting really good at swinging, laughing, and just being awesome.

My Finger

2008-10-18T06:18:00.001-07:00

About five weeks ago I did something like this to my finger. It was painful and a little shocking. And yes, I did it playing indoor soccer. In all my years of playing soccer I have never done anything quite like this. I knew something was very wrong, and when I pulled off my goalie glove I could not believe it. So my team, the "Red Hots," has been without their keeper for some time.
Now, things are getting much better and I can actually type. So you may see a little more on the blog. Coming soon- pictures of Caroline's team, the Butterfly Dragons!

Going for Gold! Nastia Style!

2008-08-30T14:16:00.000-07:00

So, Adam grabbed a local newspaper last night when he was picking up our Chili's to Go (It's so hard to cook on Fridays) and found out that Nastia Liukin would be signing autographs at a local mall. Well, Adam couldn't help him self, and made plans to take our family to go see her. Caroline was dressed in her gymnastics attire, Henry and Adam both sported Adidas wear, (because Adidas sponsors Nastia) and Samantha and I just dressed in our "everyday wear."

When we first got there, I found this nice cut out picture of Nastia. Caroline examined her Olympic hero very carefully. Nastia has a clothing line at JC Penny, so you might get to see this cut out too.

We heard the line to see Nastia was very long, so I stayed up front to just get a picture of Nastia. Then Nastia arrived! Here she is with her cut out, or so I thought!

I could swear this girl is Nastia, everyone there thought she was Nastia, but no, she just looks like Nastia and now her life is no longer the same.

Then I went to wait in the real line while Adam and Henry scoped the scene waiting for Nastia to finally arrive. This is who they found!

Just Nastia's awesome dad and coach, Valeri, also an olympic gold medalist! He was so gracious to Adam when he asked him to take a picture with Henry. Adam even thanked him in Russian, "spacebo." Then Adam grabbed Caroline to take a picture. At this point, we were not going to wait in line for 5 hours to get Nastia's autograph.

When Valeri saw Caroline he said, "Look at this little gymnast." We even caught a picture of Nastia's mom- remember she couldn't even be in the gym to watch Nastia compete because she was so nervous! They are definitely a very neat family.

So we didn't get to talk to Nastia, but we did meet her parents, and as we all know, parents are a big part of what their children can accomplish!

I was able to reach over the crowd to get this little picture of Nastia. It was pretty cool to see hundreds of little girls lining up in awe to meet a hero. It's nice to have heros. Mine was Mary Lou Retton- I even had to get the haircut. And, I do admit to having a crush on Greg Louganis.

Hopefully, this memory will be a bit of inspiration for this little one.

Next week, we are driving to Iowa to meet Shawn Johnson, and I still want to have her as a babysitter, because she is just so darn cute.

1st Day of School

2008-08-29T06:24:00.000-07:00

Since we took most of August off, we thought we'd at least let you see pictures of Henry's first day of school. Here he is with Mrs. Reading- hopefully she will live up to her name. And here is a picture of Henry walking to school. (We forgot to take the traditional 1st day of school picture at the house, so we caught one on the neighbors lawn!)

It has been really fun to walk to school. The girls love it getting in the stroller and seeing everyone in the neighborhood walk over. It is a very social time for us!

We loved the Olympics and Adam has announced he will begin training for 2012. He doesn't know which event he will compete in, but it will probably involve a racket and a birdie. He may even have to take a leave of absence from work if it competes with his vigorous training routine.

Sweet Escape

2008-07-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

To escape heat, we went on a little adventure with our friends to the Dallas Children's Museum.

Most the time they were crazy, sometimes they were a little corny, and other times they made good use of props. We love you sweet Henry:)

Adam D. Turns Thirty!

2008-07-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

Today

2008-07-18T13:19:00.001-07:00

Guinea Meister Added two new friends on "Facebook," Audrey and Whitney.

And Henry got a bloody nose from playing the Wii. And no he didn't want to quit.

What I'm Up Against

2008-07-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

Me: Caroline, do you want me to be your soccer coach?

Caroline: No, I want to be your soccer coach! Ha ha ha. (Insert evil laugh!)

What the Kids are up Against

Henry: Why do I have to eat my peas?

Me: Because I'm a mean mom.

Henry: Why do you have to be a mean mom?

Me: Because I'm also an awesome mom, and I have to balance out my awesomeness sometimes.

BTW- I didn't do the laundry today, just to balance out my awesomeness a little more.

The 4th of July (As remembered on July 12th)

2008-07-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

This post is to remind everyone of the fun, fast paced, fabulous life we lead at the Darowski household. What else is a blog for any way, but making your life look like the American dream. Seriously, sometimes I have blog envy. I see blogs that cleverly portray the perfect life with all the wit and charm possible, and on top of that it's all tied up with a nice photoshop bow and set to a sound track. I think, wow, their life is so good, their husband is so nice, their kids so perfect, and those outfits- where did they get them? Oh, and that cool graphic, how did they do that? I want to do that - and then I'm overwhelmed. But then I remember, their life really isn't like that all the time. They can put what ever they want on their blog, and of course, they really only pick pictures they look cute in, right? And they only share their awesome adventures. And no one titles their latest blog entry, "Today we did the laundry and it was fabulous!" Pretty much we all have our highs and lows. Blogging is a fun way to see others personalities come through, to see families celebrate, and to have a little laugh once in a while. Blogs can sometimes be like the "Family Brag Letter" we all used to get in the mail at Christmas, you know the one you and your sisters sat around the table and chuckled over. So what is my point? I don't really remember.

Oh, the 4th of July weekend. Aunt Beth helped us make our traditional "Flag Cake." We enjoyed the local parade, played the Wii- and made celebrity Miis. Went to Hawaiin Falls, and I won't mention the swimsuit incident. Enjoyed time at Darowski Beach and riding the trolley in the big "D" after visiting the children's museum.

Having Joseph, Emily, and Beth in town reminded us of nice it is to have family. It made me wish that we lived a little closer to family, especially for the kids. Now I'm aggressively recruiting family members to move to Texas.

Sometimes...

2008-07-13T12:36:00.000-07:00

...when my mom looks out the window, she sees me sitting on the fence. I told her "I like to sit there and think." My mom and dad say it's kind of funny to just sit on a fence. They say "fence sitting" isn't the greatest quality to have, but it's o.k. for now. They even made sure it wasn't bugging the neighbors, and then explained to me that I shouldn't ask adults how old they are, especially when I'm sitting on the fence peeking into their back yard.

Troll Baby

2008-07-12T18:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes my family calls me "Troll Baby." I think it's because of my hair.

That's all I have to say.

Our New Puppy!

2008-07-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Meet our new puppy! His name is "Guinea Meister." And, he is actually a Guinea Pig, but we try to pretend he is a puppy.

Impulse buy. I wanted to make my kids happy, I wanted to be a good mom. Every kid needs a pet, right? They look happy don't they?

Three days after I bought him reality struck, and I put him on Craig's List the next day. I even found a home for him. But, alas, I couldn't do that to the kids. So now I take care of three kids and a guinea pig.

P.S. I'm offering him for a pet CO-OP, if ever your children feel like they need a pet, Guinea Meister can come stay at your house for a few days. He just sits there on your lap and makes cute noises. Even Caroline can't hurt him. He's really nice, for a small rodent.

Samantha Walks!

2008-06-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

Over the past two weeks Samantha has become an expert walker. It is so fun to see her smiling face as she goes exploring. Here's a picture of her at the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science.

(And thanks to Adam for his "snugly kitten post," it was very sweet. I appreciate him putting it all out there.)

Happy Birthday to Laurel

2008-06-19T05:57:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Adam Darowski

Today is Laurel's birthday. I won't say which one, but it is somewhere in the very low 30's. My parents and brothers and sisters have a family message board, and one of the things we'll do is each answer the same set of "get to know you" questions. The last one we did was 12 questions about high school. As a tribute to Laurel on her birthday, here are the some of the questions, and my answers, from the high school survey:

1 - What High School did you go to? I actually did my freshman year at Colonial Heights High School in Virginia (freshman went to high school there) and then my sophomore through senior years at Mountain View High School in Orem (we arrived in Utah a week or so before school started my sophomore year).

2 - What year did you graduate? 1996

3 - Did you have school spirit? Not really. I only went to a couple of football or basketball games my entire time at Mountain View. I did not go to many of the dances. I was pretty happy to leave the school each day when class ended. I did not have a letterman's jacket or any of that sort of thing. I guess you could say that I chose not to embrace the high school experience.

4 - Did you normally eat school lunch or bag lunch? My sophomore year I ate in the cafeteria. As noted above, we moved to Utah just a week or so before school started, so when school began I knew absolutely no one (other than my sister Virginia). I became very intro-verted that year and did not make many friends. I often sat alone in the cafeteria to eat (sad violin music playing the background). I loved the school cafeteria food. Loved it. Especially when they did chicken fried steak, with mashed potatoes, gravy, and roll. Absolutely delicious. I don't remember what I did junior year. Senior year (sad violin music continuing to play in the background) I stopped eating lunch altogether and spent the lunch hour in the library either doing homework or reading for pleasure. School ended at 2:10, so I could last until then without being too hungry. I would try to sit in a spot in the library where no one could see me, like I was trying to be invisible (kind of depressing to think about all of that again). Man oh man these were some awkward times.

5 - Were you considered popular? Uh, no. Please see many of my answers above. I did not make many friends and I don't keep in touch with anyone I graduated with. This was of my own doing, though, so don't feel sorry for me. I chose to be a loner and went out of my way not to know anyone.

6 - What is one of the best memories you have of high school? Well, the dark clouds described above had one very excellent silver lining. The first person I met in high school was my beautiful wife Laurel. She, a senior, and I, a sophomore. We sat next to each other in seminary class and I was completely and totally smitten by her. Like Cupid shot a bazooka into my heart. I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. On the crush scale of 1 to 10, I was easily a 10. The highlight of any day was seeing her (I was a bit of a stalker back then), and, if I were lucky, talking to her. Just imagine the snuggliest scenario a kitten can be in, warm and cozy and snuggled, up, and then it closes its eyes tightly and starts to purr, as content as it could possibly be. That I what I felt like when I was around Laurel. We became friends that first semester of mine. Classes changed for the second semester, so I did not see her as much. I remember during the christmas break between that first and second semester, when I did not see her for two or three weeks, there were moments during the day when I would just ache because I missed her so much. We went on a few social outings together (I guess you could call them dates). I was completely and utterly in love with her, but I knew she was older and heading off to college, so I figured nothing would come it. Still, deep down inside my heart it never occurred to me that I would marry anyone else. And, in one of the epic love stories of all time, Laurel and I are now in our ninth year of marriage, with three kids and a lovely life together.

7 - If you could, would you do it all again? Just that first semester when I fell in love with Laurel. The rest of it was total crap.

Caroline's Father's Day Message

2008-06-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

"Snap- Did- illy- Dee, Thanks for Fathering Me!"

After our very exciting visit from Aunt Annie and her ipod, we've decided to work on singing age appropriate songs. While we were having Father's Day dessert tonight, Caroline and I were making up silly songs, she made this one up all herself and we thought it was very sweet.

Primary Program

2008-06-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

Raccoons and Hydrangeas

2008-05-19T12:07:00.000-07:00

I just need to vent. Although I love living in my new house, there are two things that seem to repeatedly annoy me and both of them have to do with my back yard. First, every night around three in the morning there is a domestic disturbance between a couple of raccoons who live in the forest behind my house. It is not a pleasant noise to wake up to. It's like they are hissing at each other and screaming and it sounds like it is right next to my window. They need therapy or something. I just want to get a gun.

The second issue involves my dream of having beautiful hydrangeas to gaze upon when I look out my back windows. That dream seems to get shattered every 4-5 days. The first time it happened I was understanding. The second and third times were annoying and now I'm just ticked off. When my first hydrangea bloomed I was so excited and I couldn't wait to see what color it would turn out. Then next thing I knew, the long anticipated Hydrangea had been plucked. Caroline came up to me with it and said, "Look mom, I picked you a beautiful flower." I smiled and kindly explained that we shouldn't pick the flowers because we want them to last a long time so we can see them out our window. "But Mom, my teacher told us we should give our Mom flowers." (This was around Mother's day.)

So of course, I waited and waited for the next blooms. And just like that they were gone. Then Caroline tore the plant in half. Then this morning she picked another bloom off my second plant. (I taped the first plant back together, who knows the tape may just keep the stem intact- o.k. I'm not a plant surgeon, but it's worth a try.) I'm rambling- but I have one bloom left. One. I'll let you know how it makes out.

Who knows, the raccoons may just destroy it tonight.

Befores and Afters

2008-05-14T07:17:00.001-07:00

Just wanted you all to know what I've been up to. I have finally emerged again after being totally consumed with redoing the house. Here's a few pictures:

Living Room Before

Living Room After

We are still working on hanging pictures and arranging the furniture. We changed the wall color from the white/pink shade to Restoration Hardware's Silver Sage. I just can't get enough of that color so I put it in the kitchen and the dining room as well. We pulled up the carpet and put in hardwood floors. The dining room is just off the living room.

Dining Room Before

Dining Room After

The Kitchen is adjacent to the dining room. We did the most work in there. Removed wallpaper, changed hardware, added new appliances, granite, and new fixtures. My back splash is my favorite part. It took me a while to find the perfect look.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

My Back Splash

Eventually we want to change/paint the cabinets, but for now I'm happy to be rid of the checkered wall paper.

Stay tuned.... next time, family room and master bedroom!

Birthdays

2008-05-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

Caroline and Samantha recently celebrated birthdays. Our big Manthers turned one. She really enjoyed her cake:

Caroline had another successful trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop, where she obtained her new favorite stuffed animal, which she calls "Pink Loving Bear":

One nice thing about the girls having their birthdays so close together is that we could give them a combined present. It involved a little renovation to our backyard. We hope they will enjoy it for years to come:

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER

Chick Handling

2008-04-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Because the Darowski blog has been a major bore lately, I thought I'd share this funny little conversation.

This exchange with Henry took place on the drive home from school.

-Mom, can you sign a paper so I can do "Chick handling" after school?

Hmmm.... I thought to myself. You're a little young for that, and what kind of sex education program does this elementary school have? I glanced at my mother-in-law who sat in the passenger seat, she had the same confused expression as I had.

-Henry, what are you talking about? What is Chick Handling class?

Henry explained that the eggs in their class incubator had hatched. Only students who had permission from their parents could handle the baby chicks. But first, these students had to go to a special training called, "Chick Handling."

My mother-in-law and I got a big kick out of that. My inclination to even speculate that an elementary school might have a program designed to teach young boys how to "woo" women has only confirmed to me that I have lost all innocence and that the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

Basic Training

2008-04-12T06:15:00.000-07:00

Adam's younger brother Alex joined the U.S. Army last month and is currently going through Basic Training at Fort Jackson, in South Carolina. Alex got married last January and his wife April is doing a blog where she posts excerpts from his letters. If you ever wondered what Basic Training is like from a married Mormon returned missionary's perspective, Alex's letters provide some insights. We are very proud of Alex!!!

A link to his wife's blog is here: apaldarowski.blogspot.com/

The New House

2008-04-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

You've asked, I've been busy, but finally- no more excuses- here's a picture of our new house. It's red brink, just like our last house- and I had the shutters and door painted black, just like our last house. We've been busy putting our little touches on it, new carpet, paint, wo0d floors, and we did some work on the kitchen. Next week, we will be getting new sod and a play set for the back yard, just in time for the girl's birthdays!

The street is nice and quiet. The neighbors have been so friendly since we moved in. All the extra room is nice and we love walking over to the school to pick up Henry. I could see us living here for a long time.

We have plenty of room for company now, and we will be having visits from both sets of Grand parents over the next couple of weeks. And I just realized I don't have anything funny to say in this blog, except I could share a story about a friend who went to get a manicure- but I'll hold off for now.

Favorite Moments from our move!

2008-03-16T18:48:00.001-07:00

Hello! The stress is finally alleviated and I'm ready to reestablish the blog!

We've been in our new home for about 2 weeks and we are finally settling in.

Week 1- Work was still going on in the house. Painting, texturing, lots of kitchen stuff, new appliances were being installed, and the lighting was being reworked. We didn't even move the fridge in from the garage until day 8.

During week 1 Caroline complained- "Mom, the Hollywood house doesn't have a table."
(We call this the Hollywood house because the street is called Hollywood. I overheard Henry telling a friend that we were moving to "Hollywood, you know where Tony Romo's girlfriend lives."- I have to admit I do like living in Hollywood.)

Funny story from Week 1 (or, "The Night Adam Almost Went to Jail" [DISCLAIMER - we have been to the Lewisville landfill many, many times, so the story that follows is an isolated incident, and not how we typically roll]) - After the move we had a lot of stuff that needed to be removed from the old house and thrown away before we delivered possession of the house over to our buyers. In fact, it was a whole van load. Since he wasn't going to be able to make it to the landfill in time, and since he didn't want to move our garbage over to the new house, Adam decided to visit an apartment dumpster with Henry in tow. After Adam had been unloading his junk for a few minutes some man came out from the apartment complex and asked Adam if he was a resident. Adam told him he was not. The man said that what Adam was doing was "illegal" (criminal trespassing--sounds kind of harsh but I guess technically that is what it was) and that he had called the cops. Yikes. At that point Adam envisioned having to call me to bail him out of the Lewisville jail. But then the guy told Adam that he better leave before the cops got there (at which point Adam knew he was bluffing) and quickly left. On the ride away from the apartment dumpster, Henry asked his dad, "What does 'illegal' mean?" Adam told him that it means, "Next time, we'll just go to the landfill." This situation was not Adam's finest moment. The next day Adam, burdened by a guilty conscience and needing to repent, did call the apartment complex manager to apologize and ask if he could pay for a portion of that week's garbage collection costs. The manager thanked him for calling and asked him to just please not illegally dump there again. The moral of this story is obvious. The fact that Adam did this at 7:30 p.m. (not exactly the middle of the night) and that he had the van backed up to the dumpster (rather than parked in a regular stall) may have made him a little extra conspicuous. He was also wearing a hooded jacket because it was raining, so he probably just looked a lot like someone up to no good.

Public Service Announcement from the Darowski's: Don't dump in dumpsters you're not supposed to dump in.

Addendum to this story - the other night we went to Henry's school for an open house to visit his classroom and see what he and the other kids had been working on. The kids are currently keeping a journal where they write entries every few days. One of Henry's entries was entitled "My Dad Did Something Illegle" (that little guy almost had it all spelled correctly!). Again, this whole episode was not Adam's finest moment. Next time we'll just go to the landfill, or at least not bring the children along when we are committing misdemeanors.

Day 9- I held a baby shower at the house for my good friend Bethany. Literally the painter was finishing up just 30 minutes before the shower started. Having something at the house was a good motivator to get unpacked quickly.

Week 2- Cooked for the first time in two months. The family was reintroduced to vegetables, and we had some good friends from Austin come in for a visit.

We are almost done with the remodeling. I will post before and after pictures in the next week or so. Here you can see pictures of Adam and Henry at the FC Dallas LA Galaxy game. I think it was the highlight of Adam's life to see David Beckham play, after all, earlier that week when we debated going Adam said, "If we don't go, what is the point?" "The point to what?" I asked. "To everything."

Needless to say, Adam needed a pick me up after the dumpster incident. Henry had a great time, and you can see that he lost his first tooth this week!

Tomorrow

2008-02-21T05:30:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update. We close on our new house tomorrow! I can't wait to get settled and get back to normal life. Change is hard for me and I hate making decisions so this has been a torturous process. Here's my cute baby. She is laughing and smiling all the time. She's at a real fun age right now.

I Was the 100th Customer!

2008-02-05T08:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, after a busy morning picking out stuff for the new/old house, I headed over to Chick-fil-a to get lunch for Caroline. I approached the drive thru from the wrong angle, so I had to go around the building again in order to get in the drive thru line. Well, good thing I had to do that because my timing couldn't have been more perfect. When I pulled through after I ordered my food, I was told, "You're the 100th customer- there's no charge." I was so happy- I never win anything. Then I wished I had ordered more food.

Lately I've been too busy to blog, but here's what has been going on at our house:

Samantha- is now 9 months old. Super sweet. Has an unusual like for broccoli and not only crawls, pulls herself to stand, and yesterday I found her on the second stair. Yikes!

Caroline- yesterday I caught her dumping out all my water bottles on the driveway. And then I found her outdoor scooter in my bedroom. Lets just say she is still learning boundaries.

Henry- A week or two ago I came into Henry's bedroom and heard him singing,"If you want to be my lover." (You know the Spice Girls song.) Needless to say I was a little shocked and felt horrible, but then I realized he learned it from playing "Dance Dance Revolution" with his friends at the local arcade. What do you do?

Adam & I - watched "Where the Red Fern Grows" the other night and had a good time reminiscing. Those poor dogs, and that boy who fell on the ax. It was pretty good, I even cried again.

But mostly, we've been working on making plans for the new house. We will be moving in at the end of the month. We are having a little work done on the house before we move in and I've been trying to get that all coordinated. We will be very excited to have visitors in the next few months!

My thanks and Neighborhood Lemonade

2008-01-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

First, I want to thank you readers out there for keeping my blog interesting with all your fun comments. I have literally freaked out this past week. I'm glad we don't plan on buying and selling a home for at least 200 years.

With that being said I want to tell you about the girls in my neighborhood who provided me with comic relief this afternoon with their Lemonade selling venture. I myself used to co-own and operate a lemonade stand so I was sympathetic to their request when they knocked on my door and asked me if I wanted to come buy some lemonade. I told them I would get my daughter and we would head over. When I got to the Lemonade selling corner I asked them how much it was.

"Its free or just 2 cents."

"Only 2 cents, why so cheap?"

"Our parents don't want us selling it because we don't have any cups, they said we should just make it free."

"You don't have any cups?"

"No, we just have spoons. You can have one spoonful or five spoonfuls."

"Oh....I can get you some cups."

So I went and got them some cups, gave them a couple quarters for Lemonade, and Caroline and I got to meet their dog 'Sasha' who had white, pink, and blue fur.

The Reason Why

2008-01-16T16:28:00.001-08:00

The last time I updated this post was in 2007. This new year has provided me with a lot of stress. Since I last updated Adam and I found a new house, made an offer, put our house on the market, got a contract on the new house, got an offer on our house and we aren't really sure what we are doing. I don't sleep at night and I just realized that I'm crazy. Is that what you people wanted to know?

Mustache Demolition

2007-12-31T17:43:00.000-08:00

Adam has officially been growing his mustache for 44 days. But today, being the 31st of December, marks the end of the bet. It will be a happy new year after all!

We thought you all might want to celebrate with me and experience the mustache demolition for yourselves.

I'll put up some Christmas pics tomorrow! Happy New Year!

Just to Clarify...

2007-12-25T15:54:00.001-08:00

I'm in a little bit of trouble. Recently I recommended the movie Juno. To me it was utterly entertaining, it was cleverly written, the characters were endearing and it was unpredictable.

That being said - it was a bit crude, especially in the beginning. The movie deals with a teen pregnancy, so the context leads to a little crudity. Adam and I felt a little uncomfortable, but the movie had so much more to offer that the crudity was easy to overlook. I've already seen it twice and I would see it again.

It is rated PG-13, would I take a teenager to it? Definitely not. Would I take my former ecclesiastical leader to it and his family, including his 80 year-old mother? Definitely not. (Feel sorry for my sister Annie.)

Who is this movie for? Mature audiences- maybe 30 plus years. A bunch of girl friends perhaps. Someone who likes independent films and gets bored with the big Hollywood formulaic movie.

I can't say enough about the great writing, the story elements, the fun characters, and the magnificent acting of Ellen Page. It made me laugh and cry. Adam loved it too, but we are a little different, so this movie may not be for everyone.

I still give it 4 stars.

I will now retire as a movie critic.

Merry Christmas!

3 year-old's vocab

2007-12-21T16:10:00.000-08:00

Mom: When we get home we need to clean the house.

Caroline: Lame, Lame, Lame.

Mom: Do you even know the word Lame?

Caroline: Yes, Lame, Lame, Lame.

Mom: What does Lame mean?

Caroline: Clean the house.

New Favorite

2007-12-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

Great movie!
The mustache man and I went for our anniversary.
(Just know it is a little crude- so it is not for everyone)

We all knew it was coming.....

2007-12-17T14:48:00.001-08:00

Caroline's first attempt at cutting her own hair. She pretty much cut off her "piggy" (as she calls it) and made herself some nice heavy bangs. Then she took a chunk out from behind her ear. Luckily, my friend Melissa (a fabulous hairdresser) was able to help me in the time of crisis. We took a good two inches off the back and cropped it a bit- we will have to wait for the chunk to grow back in. Hopefully it won't be too noticeable. There wasn't much we could do with the bangs except angle them and pull some back. Her final look is in the corner. It breaks my heart. We worked so hard to grow out her bangs, but every little girl has a picture in their scrapbook that immortalizes their 1st attempt as a beautician. (I think I actually cut my Sister Katie's hair.) For what it is worth, Caroline cut her bangs pretty straight- at least she wasn't cutting Samantha's hair. (It was my fault for leaving scissors on the dinning room table. I was helping Henry with a project this morning.)
We will miss the "Old Caroline." The "New Caroline" will be with us for the next 3-6 months. It's a good thing we already took the family pictures. Never a dull moment.

Happy Anniversary.....

2007-12-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

...your husband has a mustache! After 8 nice years of marriage - he wouldn't even shave it for our special day.

Eveing Gown Bunco

2007-12-14T14:25:00.000-08:00

Ladies- grab those boas and tiaras and join us for the most anticipated night of the year, "Evening Gown Bunco."

Yes, I'm for real. I'm in a Bunco group- a mindless dice game that is really an excuse to get together and have fun. We play once a month and I was signed up to host it in December (why I signed up for December is beyond me.) Just two weeks ago I had to dress up as an Indian chief for a cub scout pack meeting- and remembered how much fun dressing us is - so Evening Gown Bunco was born.

Here's how it went down:

Miss Texas and Miss Manners showed up

As did the Ladies in Red

Then came the Boa Sisters

Followed by the Starlettes

My long lost high school friend Kerinne Nickerson (Clark) came as Miss High School Acapella- FYI- she normally doesn't wear her bangs in the 80's/90's claw.

We knew someone spiked the Shirly Temples when the decorations became head wear.
The night was so much fun and honestly, I'm glad it is done- onto Christmas shopping, my anniversary, and so much more.

Tomrrow on the Darowski Dish:

"Adam's mustache day 28."

Super Cool Stockings by Aunt Beth

2007-12-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

Living up to expectations, here is today's Darowski Dish:

I always get compliments on theses beautiful hand stitched stockings Adam's Aunt Beth made for us. Just months after Samantha was born Beth had already given us her stocking. Thanks Aunt Beth!

Coming Tomorrow: "Evening Gown Bunco" revealed.

Manthers is on the Move

2007-12-12T22:09:00.000-08:00

In trying to be consistent with my new blog title and due to some pressure from our readers in Argentina, I am going to try to post a little something everyday. We will see. So here's the latest Darowski Dish:

Samantha- We have now entered the messy baby stage. She moves, she puts things from the floor in her mouth, she eats finger food in the high chair (always a mess- thank heavens for dustbusters), and she prefers sucking her index finger. This is the stage where the house is never clean and the mom can't let down on defense. Manthers is still always smiley and ever so sweet.

Today, when I took the kids to get their flu shots, we predicted that Samantha would cry the most, then Caroline, then Henry, because logically we thought the older would be the toughest. It was exactly opposite. It cracked me up. Samantha smiled at the nurse, put on a concerned look when the needle went into her thigh, and the went on to suck her finger. Not a peep! Blessed third child. Henry and I figured out that his hurt so bad because the more muscle you have the more it hurts. Henry's man ego was satisfied by this conclusion.

Caroline- Is becoming ever so sensitive to others. Today when I explained to her that her dad broke his watch and we were going to buy him a new one she began to cry. Then she asked, "Is he broken hearted?" Ever so sensitive.

Henry- Keep this a secret. Henry and two friends from school have a secret strategy that always helps them win connect four. He also tries to wear shorts everyday to school.

Adam- The mustache is hideously ugly, but he is sticking with it. He is ever so proud that his last post yielded 15 comments. He bet me he could get at least 15 comments. But some people commented twice and others only commented to encourage me to come up with another post.

Laurel- Went to four stores today trying to make a certain child's Christmas wish come true. Don't worry though, with the help of Adam, EBAY came through for us and someone made a hefty profit.

The Mustache Era

2007-12-02T16:54:00.000-08:00

Guest Blogger: Adam Darowski

I attended Duke Law School. While Duke is largely known for the success of its men's basketball team, it is also famous for having a terrible football team. Notre Dame, on the other hand, is a school with an excellent football tradition. It was with great anticipation, therefore, that I looked forward to the Duke - Notre Dame football game a few weeks ago. Duke was having a typical season, and entered the game with a 1-9 record. Notre Dame was having a shockingly horrible season, and also had a 1-9 record, one of the worst in that school's history. I thought Duke had a decent chance of beating them.

I work with an attorney who graduated from Notre Dame law school this past May, and I could not pass up the opportunity to have some sort of friendly wager on the game. We settled on a mustache bet. The person who's school lost would have to grow a mustache until December 31. Notre Dame prevailed 28-7. I am now 15 days into the Mustache Era.

Other than for a brief experimentation period with a goatee in law school, I have never in my life had facial hair. While many men still wear beards and goatees with dignity, the mustache, for whatever reason, seems to have fallen out of style. As you can see from the attached photo, mine is not very attractive (Laurel has called it "hideous" and "an embarrassment"), but the kids like it. I still have about 29 days to go with it, so I have not reached the half way point. I have learned that a mustache really does not suit me, not that mine has amounted to much yet anyway. It will probably need the next four weeks to come in properly. But at least my colleagues at work are getting a kick out of it. In hindsight, I should have just agreed to a lunch bet.

Henry rides large animals

2007-11-28T19:19:00.001-08:00

Henry now goes by "Cowboy."

Finally, a new post

2007-11-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

I know people have been getting a little tired of "Wedding in the Woodlands," so now I'd like to share some pictures from our Thanksgiving Holiday. Adam's brother Joseph and his wife Emily came into town from Michigan. Henry and Caroline especially had a great time with their aunt and uncle. Highlights from their trip included seeing the longhorns and Santa at the Fort Worth Stockyards, seeing the 1.2 million Christmas lights at the Gaylord Texan, and "Enchanted" trip to the movies (we all loved it!), Henry going 3-0 against Joseph in Madden '07 on Game Cube, and what turned out to be a cutthroat game of Four Square (yes, the game from kindergarten...its really fun to play as an adult). It was great to have some family in town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

My favorite things this Thanksgiving:

1-The children referring to our guests as "the uncles."

2-Adam's absolute determination to plan "two" fun activities a day.

3-Costco.

4-An "easy going" baby to balance out a "not so easy" big sister.

5-Getting to know my new Sister-in-law, Emily. She's great!

Wedding in The Woodlands

2007-11-13T11:19:00.000-08:00

This past weekend we attended our 4th wedding of the year. My cousin Dante married his long time girl friend Lauren.

My parents flew in from Utah and we drove down to The Woodlands to attend the festivities. We enjoyed the company of my cousin Josh and his wife Emily. Henry was a little bummed that he wasn't going to be the ring bearer, but we explained that he was pretty lucky to even have the chance to be a ring bearer once.

Speechless

2007-11-11T18:24:00.001-08:00

I came home to this. Grandma was babysitting. The truth is no one is ever prepared for what a three year-old can do. Notice her knee, she was using scissors to make her own cutoffs. And my quilt is now at the dry cleaners. We love you Caroline!

Close to Home

2007-11-11T17:09:00.000-08:00

The other day, after I dropped Caroline off at her dance class, I stood in front of my car and visited with the other mothers. Looking past one of them I noticed two men dressed in full military uniform. They looked as if they were on official business. They were walking into an apartment complex, looking for an apartment. It reminded me of something I'd seen in a movie. My heart softened as I realized what their visit might mean. I thought of the person they were trying to find and what they might be telling them. It was the first time I have felt the impact of the war. It is so distant from my life. I feel blessed and selfish at the same time. What have I done for my country ? We have so much. I am ever grateful for the sacrifices made by the brave young men and women who are serving our country. Thank you.

Now, Some Pictures of the Kids

2007-10-28T09:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a few pictures of our past week.

Caroline and Samatha were able to go to Adam's office and do some trick-or-treating. Caroline was a princess and Samantha was a lady-bug. Adam was an attorney.

This past Saturday night Adam and I were able to take Henry out on a special date to go watch and FC Dallas game. We had a lot of fun together. The girls had a baby sitter.

On Thursday we went to the YMCA Halloween party. Here you can see Henry dressed as the "Iron Man" and Caroline as a princess. They painted pumpkins, but the pumpkins didn't make it home- too messy!

Harvest Hoedown

2007-10-28T09:47:00.000-07:00

At Caroline's school this past week they held their annual "Harvest Hoedown." Caroline dressed up in her western wear, they had a parade for the parents, and a carnival for the kids.

Citizen of the Month

2007-10-28T09:46:00.000-07:00

Henry was awarded "Citizen of the Month" for his kindergarten class. Adam and I were able to attend an assembly this past Friday and see Henry honored. It was very exciting because Henry did not know he was going to receive this award. We are very proud of Henry and the strides he is making.

Curbside Check-in

2007-10-24T09:57:00.000-07:00

My cool little sister Annie came to visit last week. On her way to the SLC airport she was running short on time and wanted to check her bags curbside. Unfortunately, she didn't have enough cash, so she and my sister Katie had a great idea, they would stop at the Wendy's up the street and ask for cash back at the drive-thru. Yes, it was a desperate measure, but it may just work. As Annie handed over her debit card to the cashier in the drive-thru she asked him if she could get some cash back. He looked a bit confused, and then he went and found his manager.

"No problem. How much do you need?" Said the manager.

Annie was relieved. Who knew you could get cash back at Wendy's.

Just then the manager handed her a Wendy's cash card. Oh....that's what cash back is when you aren't at a grocery store.

There was no time to worry about the fact that Annie would have to tip the curbside check-in guy with a Wendy's cash card, Annie had to catch her plane. As she pulled up to the curb she asked the curbside check-in guy if she could tip him with a Wendy's Cash card, and he said yes. Then he made up a song to taunt his curbside check-in buddies. It went like this:

"I got a Wendy's cash Card, I'm going to get me some Wendy's.... I got a Wendy's cash card, I'm going to get me some Wendy's."

Then Annie checked in, got on the plane and arrived in Texas, just in time for Caroline to give her a big hug and throw-up on her.

I'm becoming one of those moms

2007-10-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today at Henry's soccer game I was cheering rather loudly.

Caroline took it upon herself to tell me to stop yelling. (She hasn't been her usual cheerful self these past few days since she threw up fifteen times on Friday.)

I told her I was a just being a cheerleader.

She responded rather angrily, "You're not a cheerleader, you are a mom."

Who is Iron Man?

2007-10-14T09:54:00.000-07:00

>Guest Blogger: Joseph Darowski*

So as I was perusing the Darowski Family Blog I noted the question "Who is 'Iron Man' and what is my husband teaching Henry?" and figured I would go ahead and offer some insight (I also noticed the section about Karate Kid, and I've had a few recent conversations about that film, and specifically the "Put him in a body bag" moment (I note the arched eyebrows as key to making it hilarious)).

Iron Man is a comic book character featured in the Marvel universe of comics (Spider-Man, the X-Men, Captain America...). He was created by Stan Lee (who also created Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, and many other characters) in 1963. Iron Man is really billionaire industrialist Tony Stark. His family made their fortune designing weapons. Tony Stark has no super-powers, but wears a suit of armor. Stan Lee was trying to make a member of the military-industrial complex, which was quite unpopular at the time, into a popular superhero, just to see if it could be done.

There is film version of Iron Man coming out next summer, with Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark. The preview looks fantastic, and can be viewed at apple.com/trailers/ .

The Iron Man song Henry and Adam apparently listen to in order to get pumped up is not actually related to the comic book character, though it is used in the trailer for the movie (and is a good song to get pumped up to).

*Joseph Darowski is one of Adam's brothers. Joseph has a Masters Degree is English from BYU and is currently in a doctoral program (American Studies) at Michigan State University. Joseph wrote his masters thesis about comic book super heroes. You may read Joseph's masters thesis here: http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd1515.pdf

"If worse came to worse we could just....

2007-10-14T09:38:00.000-07:00

...eat Hermie. I mean if it were a real disaster." The kids looked horrified when Adam made this off hand remark. I reassured them that we would never eat Hermie. (We are currently working on emergency preparedness in our family. We are putting together 72 hour kits, or "Grab and Go" bags as they are also known. Just in case disaster falls upon us, we will have everything on hand if we have to leave in a hurry.)

Hermie is our family pet. I purchased Hermie this past Christmas after I had given a Beta at a white elephant party. The kids thought having a fish would be cool, so I bought one for our family too. I didn't know how much work it would be. Cleaning the bowl, finding it a babysitter when we go out of town, feeding it etc... Adam even comes home from work and makes the comment, "Is that thing still alive? I thought it would die after a month or two. I didn't know we were committing to so much when we bought the fish."

Then there is Henry who draws a family picture and includes a fish in a fish bowl next to the five of us. Then there is Caroline who sticks her hands in the water and over feeds the fish. Then there is the mom who has to clean the fish bowl every week.

Regardless, we are never going to eat Hermie. We may let it out in a river someday though.

Samantha's New Hairdo

2007-10-14T07:59:00.001-07:00

Samantha finally has enough hair on top that she can wear a bow rather nicely. Do you like it?

How are your flu shots going?

2007-10-14T07:24:00.000-07:00

So last night, after I got home from helping a girlfriend who was hosting and open house, my ever sensitive husband begins to ask me how I'm doing.

"How are your flu shots going?" he asks.

"You mean my allergy shots? They are going fine."

"Oh, I meant allergy shots." Then he thinks for a minute. "What really is the flu any way? I've never had the flu. Have you had the flu?"

"Maybe once."

"I don't know anyone who gets the flu. People only get colds. Why don't they have cold shots? I'm going to invent cold shots and make a billion dollars."

Though Adam has limited scientific background I think he is on to something. Once there was a school teacher who invented these alka seltzer pills you put in water and they fizz up and they are supposed to prevent the common cold. I think they are called Airborne. Anyhow, Adam's a lawyer and if a teacher can invent something like that why couldn't he? Anyone who knows him can verify how scientific he is.

Rough Day at School

2007-10-04T05:31:00.000-07:00

Today at Henry's school the children dressed up as their favorite nursery rhyme character. Of course, I remembered this particular assignment at 7 am. This didn't give me a lot of time to throw something together. Henry mentioned something about being "Jack" from "Jack & Jill." We worked fast. I found an old t-shirt, grabbed some scissors and grabbed a plastic bucket from the garage. He looks good doesn't he. Don't worry I know Halloween is on October 31st. Henry wants to be the "Iron Man." Who is the "Iron Man" and what is my husband teaching Henry?

Sweep the Leg

2007-09-27T19:33:00.000-07:00

If you appreciated my post titled "Random Dinner Conversations with Adam" then you will love this video. It is by a new group called "No More Kings" and it is based on the character "Johnny" from the Karate Kid. It takes about seven minutes, but is totally funny. You will also notice Mr. Belding, from saved by the bell, along with the real Johnny and Ralph Machio.

You can click on the above link or go to www.sweeptheleg.com

This post is dedicated to all you out there who watched the Karate Kid everday for an entire summer.

Manthers has a Tooth and a Tail

2007-09-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

The angelic baby was fussy all weekend. She wasn't eating much and was making a weird whiny sound. She even woke up in the middle of the night. She was just out of sorts. I was feeling a bit sick myself so I thought she might be coming down with what I had. (I however, wasn't making the weird whiny noise.)

On Monday morning I kindly let her suck on my finger- it was then I discovered her first tooth! The weird whiny sound can now be explained along with her super slobber, and her excessive hand, thumb, and finger sucking.

Here is a pictures of sweet Manther's tail. She was born with a patch of hair that was longer than the rest. Isn't it weird? Maybe I'll put some beads on it before I cut it.

And here is a picture of some silly lady (Rebecca) trying to feed her watermelon.

Henry's Assignment

2007-09-20T10:37:00.000-07:00

You are looking at Henry's first kindergarten assignment- a collage to represent who Henry is. Good work Adam! Actually Henry helped pick out the pictures, but I bet if Adam had to make a collage about himself as a homework assignment for Greg (a.k.a. Adam's supervising attorney), it would look a lot like this.

My Son the Exhibitionsit

2007-09-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a lovely day for soccer. Henry's team, the Dinosaurs, played their second game of the season. The game was at 10:15, so Adam had to start the pre-game ritual at 8:30. Their ritual involves laying out Henry's uniform and suiting him up to the song "Iron Man," doing a warm up in the back yard, and watching some highlights from the English Premier League.

As we were getting in the car to head to the game Adam expressed some distress that Henry wasn't really into his warm-up this morning. He's only 6, I thought to myself, we shouldn't put too much pressure on him. (But, Adam is reliving his childhood through Henry so I didn't say anything.)

Anyway, in the third quarter the game was tied 1-1. Henry was in front of the goal and shot the ball, the goal keeper caught it, but rolled into the goal. Score for the Dinosaurs!

Henry ran from the goal and did two consecutive front flip/somersaults as he made his way back to the midfield. The parents were laughing and cheering. I was slightly embarrassed that my son was so celebratory.

I asked Adam about this, and he said he did not tell Henry to do it, but Henry must have learned it from watching the famous goal-scoring celebration of a current Manchester United player, named "Nani". Henry's somersaults looked something like this.

Overcast and 78

2007-09-13T19:22:00.001-07:00

I can do Texas, I really can! This is what I told myself today while walking Caroline into preschool (I was also extra happy there was no sweat dripping down my back). We have been having some exceptionally nice weather this week.

Also, as many of you know due to annoying encounters with people from Texas, Texas likes to think of itself as it's own country. Mind you a "sweaty country," but a country none the less. I think this happens partly because the children of Texas are indoctrinated at an early age. I've recently had to learn the pledge to the Texas flag because I get to do it with my cub scouts. (I'm a den leader-I've got the shirt and everything- lots of fun.)

The pledge of allegiance to the Texas state flag is:
"Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible."

I'm taking this pledge very seriously, and soon I will be one of those annoying people from Texas who like to brag about how wonderful it is here in Texas (however sweaty it may be).

Motherhood and Food Stamps

2007-09-12T10:16:00.001-07:00

Motherhood
Yesterday I found myself having a conversation with a friend in the preschool parking lot that went a little like this:

Laurel: "I just wish I was the type of mom that didn't yell."
Friend: "You had that type of morning too. I'm glad I'm not the only one."
(Then we planned a lunch date.)

This conversation was the result of at least three events orchestrated by "Sweet Caroline" that truly put me over the edge:

1. Caroline putting deodorant all over the leather couch.
2. Caroline coloring with permanent marker all over my new sheets. (It was fun to watch Adam throw the marker off the balcony with disgust when he discovered the "sheet incident.")
And last, but not least,
3. Caroline moving a chair to the mantle in order to get down two angel figurines only to break them.

Food Stamps

While driving home from the preschool that morning I was thinking about what a horrible week I was having when I got a phone call from my good friend Rebecca. Her call made me realize that things could always be worse.
Rebecca just recently moved to another city close by. This city is known for being-what is the word- "posh." For example, the moms do all their make-up and put on high heels just to drop the kids off at school. When driving through the area I've seen many a women in a Mercedes convertible with a toy dog on her lap. (I'm sure I'm just describing the extreme here and I realize there are some normal folk there too.) Paris Hilton owns land there too -JK-. Regardless, there seems to be a little more pressure in this community to be looking your best.
Anyhow, Rebecca had been having a very stressful week. Having just moved into their new home everything that could go wrong did. No gas for hot water, the moving company messing up their furniture, the phone company messing up their computer and phone lines, etc.... Needless to say Rebecca looked stressed out, hadn't had been able to take more than a two second shower, and was probably wearing her workout clothes. Her big mistake was walking into the grocery store like this.
As she was checking out she read the screen on the debit/credit card reader. It said, "select food type." (Something had to be pushed by someone for this to come up.)

"Select food type? What does that mean?" Rebecca stated.

"That is for your food stamps." Replied the clerk.

"Food stamps. I'm not using food stamps. I'm using a credit card." Rebecca responded rather annoyed.

"Oh," said the apologetic clerk, "I just assumed, I'm sorry."

Granted Rebecca's daughter Lauren was probably wearing a swim suit with cowboy boots or something and her hair was probably all messed up, but come on, the clerk was assuming Rebecca was going to use food stamps. I doubt there are many people in her new city that use food stamps. Interesting, it's hard to believe this clerk could be so rude, but come on. (Maybe she accidentally pushed the food stamp button with out knowing.)
Needless to say that was the highlight of Rebecca's horrible week. It was almost as bad as the time I was checking out at Target and I was two weeks away from giving birth to Samantha. The clerk (some foreign women who spoke in an accent) told me that I must be having a baby girl because the baby was draining all the beauty from my face.
I've included a picture of Rebecca and her family, just so you know she cleans up well, and truly could not have looked that awful.

Caroline's First Day

2007-09-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

Caroline started preschool this week. I am proud to report there were no tears from the daughter or the mother! We would like you to notice Caroline's sporty new pink back pack (thanks to her dad who went to seven stores to find the perfect color.)

After I got Caroline ready for her second day she announced, "It's time to take a picture."

She had a great day at school and the teachers reported that she loves to hug and cuddle.

A Flower Girl Gone Wild!

2007-09-03T22:16:00.001-07:00

Here's to my sister, Megan, who made a beautiful bride!

Here's to my daughter, Caroline, a flower girl gone wild! (Yes, she's the one bent over dumping out flower petals during the wedding. And there she is with a basket on her head during the "flower girl" after party.)

Here's to my son, Henry, a Ring Bearer with great style! (Henry asked if he could be a ring bearer again. Adam suggested we rent him out.)

And here's to my sweet little family that makes everyday worthwhile!

Congratulations Megan & Craig, thank you for letting us be part of your special day!
Megan & Craig Johnson - September 1, 2007

Random Airplane Conversations with Adam

2007-09-02T19:32:00.000-07:00

Our discussion while flying over the Great Salt Lake just before landing in Utah.

Laurel: So you saw a frog on the front porch this morning?

Adam: Yeah, it was small though.

Laurel: So it wasn't the same one I saw last night?

Adam: No.

Laurel: Wow, that's an unusual amount of frogs. I think I saw a dead one in front of the Flake's house.

Adam: I believe the frogs are migrating to Mexico for the winter. They're just hopping through town.

Julie Young Came In Handy Today

2007-08-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

I have this friend named Julie Young. She and her husband Scott are some of the most happy and organized people I know. They are also fierce consumers. They always know how to get a deal and get the most out of any situation.

Anyhow, my 4 favs (that being my husband and three children) and I were off to the airport to fly to Utah for my sister's wedding. Dallas was having weather issues and our flight was canceled. This was after three hours of what I will call "airport fun" with Caroline. Just as Caroline did her fourth lap around our table in the airport food court, I got on the phone with the American Airlines agent. The best she could do was get us on a flight late tomorrow afternoon. I wasn't too happy with this. Adam and the kids headed back to curb to await our ride- thanks Bethany- and I went to the baggage claim to figure out where our luggage was.

Then it dawned on me, Julie Young told me about a time where she was able to talk the airline into putting her on another carrier because her flight was delayed. Well, I might as well try that. So I marched up to the ticket counter and was able to get myself and my 4 favs on a Delta flight first thing in the morning.

Thanks Julie Young, you came in handy today.

I don't know if Julie reads my blog, but everyone, lets give a shout out for Julie.

Random Dinner Conversations with Adam

2007-08-29T06:56:00.001-07:00

The other night, Adam looked up from his plate and asked me if I ever had a summer, when I was a kid, that I watched the "Karate Kid" everyday. Hmmm. No I hadn't, but I wanted to see where this was going so I didn't say anything just yet.

He went on to talk about how he watched it everyday one summer and how he would practice the signature karate kid move (you know arms out to the side like large hooks and one leg up) in the ocean when they were at Myrtle Beach. It makes me laugh picturing him doing this. Then Adam started talking about parts of the movie,
like the part when it was Halloween and the mean Karate boys put Daniel's bike in the dumpster and they were dressed like skeletons.

Then he started singing the theme song by Joe Espisito:

"You're the best around, nothings gonna ever keep you down."

Then he started quoting the final fight scene when the boys from Cobra Kai, in the black karate suits, were cheering on the blonde guy with the featherd hair (Johnny):

"Put him in a body bag! YEahhhhh! Tehehehehe!"

Adam quoted this three times and couldn't stop laughing. Then I started laughing because I was so amused he could remember these direct quotes from the movie. All I really remembered was "Wax on wax off," that I didn't like the blonde guy's feathered hair, and that the car Mr. Miagi gave Danielson wasn't really that cool, it was like a big yellow banana. Then I remembered Elizabeth Shue was in that movie and I wished she had been in more stuff. Then we cleared the table.

First Day of School

2007-08-27T05:41:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit emotional right now. I didn't think this day would phase me a bit, but my little boy just walked out of my house on what is the first of many days he will be away from me. Yes, I am a bit sad. It was only yesterday he was my one and only, my little two year-old, my best buddy. Here he is on the front steps of historic St. John's Church in Richmond. And here he is four years later on our front porch ready to go to school.

Adam insisted on taking him this morning. He even got up early and went to Chic-fil-a to buy Henry his favorite breakfast. When they pulled up to the school Adam said that Henry was in the zone. He didn't even want to hold his dad's hand. No hug goodbye, just straight to the legos at his table, past the grandparents trying to take pictures of their grandkids with their over stressed teacher. Henry will do very well. (Double click on my photomerge below to see it better.)

The Kid Report

2007-08-23T22:47:00.000-07:00

Samantha- On Monday, when I picked up Samantha from the YMCA child care center, the nice employee confided, "If I had a favorite baby who comes in here, it would be Samantha." Yes, she still is the "Angel Baby."

Henry- Henry started his fall soccer season this week, nothing like 6 year-olds practicing in 90 degree weather. Anyhow, when we were discussing his upcoming Saturday games, with all seriousness, he asked if his games would be broadcast on t.v. (Too much watching sports with dad.)

On Monday, when we were finishing up family night, I had to run upstairs and change Samantha's diaper. When I came down Adam and the kids had already had the family prayer. I expressed that I was sad that they didn't wait for me to have the prayer. A few minutes later Henry came into the room and said, "Don't be sad, I'll have a prayer with you."

You may have noticed I didn't mention anything about Caroline. Lets see, she screamed while we were at Kroger this week, she smeared oranges into the carpet (but that wasn't as bad as the lipstick a month or so back), she insists on doing everything herself (car seat, shoes, clothes etc...), and she smiled a lot in between screams. Lets just say she's a spirited child.

Get Better Uncle Jake!

2007-08-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago my brother suffered a seizure and a stroke, which left him with what is called an "anoxic brain injury." He suffers from short term memory loss. I was in Utah last weekend offering him love and support. It's hard to be in Texas when there is so much going on at home that I'd like to help with. Right now I'm just working hard doing research on brain injuries, therapy, and the different resources that can be available for him. Brain injury is life altering. We are hoping that with the right therapy he may have a degree of independence in the future, but right now he needs to be cued on what to do all the time. Despite his injury, he is very sweet and pleasant, but is confused most of the time. He is a lot like an Alzheimer patient.

Here is Jake with his little niece Samantha. Sadly, he couldn't remember her name, but on my last day he did ask me how "Little Caroline" was doing. I told him Caroline was in Texas and cued him that this little one's name started with an "S." He immediately said Samantha. That gave me some hope. Brain injuries take time and patience. Through therapy he can develop routines that will help him become more independent. Please keep him and my family in your prayers. We will be in Utah in a week and a half to visit Jake and go to my sister, Megan's, wedding. Sorry the blog has been slow.

Henry's 360- Sideways

2007-08-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

We hit 100 today in the big "D!" Too hot for me! We had our last swimming lesson of the season this morning and then we came home and hibernated in the air conditioning. Henry has become a great swimmer this summer, thanks to his awesome swimming teacher Ethan. Here's a shot of Henry doing a 360, sorry about it being sideways- at least, I'm not blogging about game shows.

The Singing Bee- I'm a Fan

2007-08-07T19:37:00.000-07:00

So, Adam and I caught this show last night and really had a good time watching the people try to sing the missing lyrics, while dancing, in their hopelessly out of tune voices. We got a real kick out of it and Adam definitely thinks they need to make a home version. I'm trying hard to picture Adam swaying his hips trying to sing a song in front of a group of friends. Joey Fatone didn't quite "have it" as a host and the "Honey Bees" were pretty funny to watch- like high school drill team dancers gone wild. I think if NBC tweaks the show a bit they might have something good for a couple seasons until the excitement wears off. "Deal Or No Deal" has probably run it's course. Not that I watch game shows, but come on, there are only so many ways Howie Mandel can make a phone call from "the banker" feel dramatic. And as a side note, it looks like more and more game show hosts are going for the earring look.

Sorry the blog has been slow, life just gets busy. I promise fun pictures of the kids soon.

Samantha 's Blessing

2007-08-03T13:51:00.001-07:00

While in Utah, Adam was able to give Samantha her blessing in the presence of most of her extended family. It is similar to the christenings which are done in other churches, but a blessing is usually done by the father. It was nice to celebrate Samantha's safe arrival with her extended family. She truly is a sweet, gentle spirit who will bring peace and calm where ever she goes. Here are a few pictures of her with her happy grandparents.

"David Beckham is Ridiculously Good Looking!"

2007-08-02T08:30:00.000-07:00

I have heard my husband say this about a hundred times. He is even requesting a David Beckham hair cut. Can you say "man crush?"

Uncle Joseph's Wedding

2007-08-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

This past week we were able to make a trip to Utah and celebrate Adam's little brother Joseph's wedding. Here is a picture of the bride and groom.

Here is a picture of Adam and the kids dressed up in their wedding duds.
And here is a picture of the 2 newest editions to the Darowski Family, little Samantha and Aunt Emily. Emily met Joseph at the Michigan State University where they are both enrolled in graduate school. Emily is getting a PHD in psychology and Joseph is working a PHD in American Studies. Doesn't Emily look beautiful! She is perfect for Joseph and we are so happy to have her in the Family! Samantha looks cute too!

It's Getting Hot in Here!

2007-07-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Things have been heating up here in Texas ever since the rain stopped. Unfortunately, our AC was not up to the challenge. After being fixed on three occasions since we have lived in this house our home warranty company finally decided cough up the cash and replaced the outdoor unit. Luckily, the unit was not mysteriously struck by lightning like the one at pal Mary Kay's.

Sorry I haven't been posting much, we are in Utah for Uncle Joe's wedding, but I will certainly try to make up for it. Plus, I am trying to finish Harry Potter....

Adam D. turns 23!

2007-07-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

O.K. you got me, he really turned 29. But, Adam has been noted as being quite young looking. For instance, when I married him, people thought he looked 16. When he started law school the people at our church thought they were welcoming a new student who was attending The North Carolina School of Mathematics and Science, (a residential high school.) But, I think three kids and three years at a law firm has aged him quite well! Happy Birthday Adam! We love you!

My child can do math....

2007-07-19T19:17:00.001-07:00

"Mom, lets make a rule that you can only have five popsicles a day. That means I can still have four more popsicles today." -Henry D.

Baby on Bumbo 2

2007-07-19T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is my baby on her Bumbo getting smothoed!

No, the Bumbo is not an early potty-training device. Yes, the brotho and the sisto have tried to sit in the Bumbo. Yes, brotho and sisto got stucko. I'll stop now. Just wanted to answer your questions.

Finally...a Thumb Sucker

2007-07-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

Samantha has done what those who came before have tried and failed....she has found her thumb! Thus, confirming my theory that she is an angel baby.

"Of Good Report and Praiseworthy"

2007-07-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

I forced Adam to watch this the other night with Aunt Beth and I. He was reluctant when he read the description, "A delightful Iranian movie about a boy who accidentally loses his sister's shoes and ...." He said he would only watch the first few minutes and then he'd head off to bed. Well, an hour and a half later he was still up and suggested Henry watch it too.

I loved it. If you want to read more check out Ebert's Review.

"Children of Heaven'' is very nearly a perfect movie for children, and of course that means adults will like it, too. -Ebert

Baby on Bumbo

2007-07-16T21:13:00.001-07:00

This is my baby on her Bumbo with her brotho and her sisto.

The Three

2007-07-14T20:17:00.001-07:00

I really like these guys. Nuff said.

Shanghai

2007-07-14T19:49:00.000-07:00

Kathleen (she's the blond on the right) moved into my neighborhood this past year, and now she's moving to Shanghai. I missed out. All year I've been saying to myself, when I feel better and this baby is out of me, I'm going be best buds with Kathleen- she is just so cool. I'm going to walk to her house and just drop in like neighbors on t.v. do. I never really did that- I was too sick or too busy. I missed out. I thought she'd always be there. I guess what I really want to say is that I looked forward to being even better friends with her.

She's stylish and cool, has it all together, gave me a cool Hydrangea once, and took me to meet Martha Stewart. Now, the 16 million people of Shanghai will get to appreciate her too. Life lesson- don't miss out- or as the 80's glam metal band, "Cinderella" would say, "You don't know what you've got till it's gone."

Kathleen you will be missed! Luckily, she is going to start a blog detailing her life in Shanghai. Look for her link, on my blog, over the next few weeks.

Here's a shot of us at her baby shower/farewell brunch, held at Bread Winners Bakery in uptown Dallas. She will be having baby boy "Collin" in November- dual citizenship for him.

Cake

2007-07-12T18:01:00.001-07:00

There were chocolate crumbs on the table this afternoon. I investigated. There was a paper plate with chocolate remains in the garbage. Underneath it was an "actual" fork, not plastic. The cake, leftover from my book club the night before, was gone.

I smiled. My children are survivors, I thought, they know how to take care of themselves. Then, Henry walked in and confided, "Mom, I 'accidentally' ate the rest of the chocolate cake."

"I have accidents like that all the time." I said, and I pulled the fork out of the garbage.

-

2007-07-12T16:48:00.000-07:00

that worked.

I just want money...

2007-07-11T18:09:00.000-07:00

So, potty training Caroline has been a real treat. And we have literally tried to reinforce her successes with every type of treat a three-year-old would love, in every shade of pink imaginable. Still, she is having issues. First, it was coming out at inappropriate times. Now, it is not coming out at all. It took two Nurse Practitioners, myself, and about 30 minutes to try and coax her into giving the Dr. a urine sample. Yeah, right. That didn't work. It's all on Caroline's schedule. (No comments from those of you who potty trained your children in one day.) Now, Caroline is on a regimen of "Milk of Magnesia," hopefully that will help her decide to go to the bathroom.

Today, when I was trying to get her to use the bathroom before we sped out the door to swimming lessons, I hastily offered her a treat if she would please just go. (I've already dealt with a swimming suit accident- it wasn't fun, thanks for helping with that MK.)

"Caroline, I'll let you have a treat if you go to the bathroom." With a devious smile on her face she looked at me and said,"Mom, I just want money..."

I just don't feel right about paying my children to go to the bathroom. This is blackmail by a three-year-old. Ironically, later that day, I walked in on Caroline yelling, "that's not money!" as Henry waved a dollar bill in her face. To Caroline, the concept of money is restricted to the various shaped coins she has collected in her Dora backpack, the small pockets of her shorts, and in her "My Little Pony" Easter basket, not to mention what she has taken out of Henry's piggy bank. Got to love Caroline.

Kid Vid take one

2007-07-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

Just practicing loading videos. Nothing too exciting.

Life Lesson

2007-07-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Guest Blogger: Adam Darowski

Here's an anecdote from the other day: My drive to work involves an 18 mile trip down I 35 from Coppell to Downtown Dallas. Well, the other day traffic on I 35 was moving steadily, but slower than usual. It was approximately 7:15 A.M. There was a line of cars merging onto the freeway at the on ramp I use. As it became my turn to merge onto the freeway the car behind me tried to pull a "fast one" and merge over sooner than I did, like something a jerk would do, and speed up past me. Kind of like cutting in line. This violates several unwritten rules of freeway on-ramp etiquette and was a bold move. Noticing this, I immediately sped up and got ahead of the car again, causing this car to have to slow down (i.e., cutting him off) as the on-ramp merged with the "slow lane" (kind of a jerky thing to do on my part as well, but my reaction was not disproportionate). Upon doing this, the other car honked at me. I thought it was an angry honk as opposed to a courtesy honk or a "you've got a flat tire" honk. I thought, "Settle down, Road Rager. You were trying to cut in line. You can't possibly be angry about that."

So I was in front of this car now, and as soon as it could, the car switched lanes and pulled up beside me. My body proceeded to produce a low level jolt of adrenaline. I sped up a bit in my lane, and the car stayed right beside me. Then I glanced over, and they guy had rolled down his passenger side window and was clearly motioning for me to roll down my window. The guy appeared to be a male in his early 20's (i.e., a possible shooter). This was happening as we were clipping along at 50 mph down the freeway. My body produced slightly more adrenaline at this point, such that I began to tingle all over, and I thought to myself, "Hmm, I hope this guy does not shoot me in the head." I pretended like I did not see him and sped up past him. I worried that he might follow me to work and try to beat me with a tire iron (seems like those road rage guys like to do their beatings with tire irons, if they don't shoot you first), but I figured that since you have to pay like 5 bucks to park in my buildings garage, this guy would be dissuaded by the cost.

Any how, I worked pretty late the prior two nights, so I had planned on leaving work around 5 p.m. that night to give Laurel a break from the kids. I got out to my car at 5:05 or so, and wouldn't you know it, I had a totally flat tire (rear driver's side). There was no sign of puncture marks, so I figured the Road Rage Guy had not come in slashed it. It was just flat. Then I replayed the scene from that morning in my head, kind of like one of those movies where they show the same scene from different points of view, or with slightly different endings. I wondered then if the Road Rage Guy was really just pulling up next to me to warn me that I was driving on a flat tire. Wouldn't that have been ironic! I thought I was the victim, when maybe really I was too stubborn (or afraid) to listed to someone offering help. So that's a life lesson.

Gardenia

2007-07-08T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is my gardenia. Since living in Texas I have had three gardenia shrubs. None of them have ever bloomed until now. This makes me happy. So far I only have one fragrant and delicate little flower on my front porch, but still I am happy. I had gardenias at my wedding.

4th of July

2007-07-08T09:18:00.001-07:00

Since we are having the 71st monsoon of the season right now and since I'm usually running five days behind, it's time to update my blog about our 4th of July celebration.

I really wanted to be one of those moms who had their children color coordinated in red white and blue (Like my pal Julie). I had to get ready to march in the city parade with the cute little Cub Scouts (I am a den mother), so I put Adam on the job. I do have to say he tried his best, but as you know Caroline is a little "Sassy!"

As heard outside her bedroom door:

"Caroline, it's time to get dressed, we need to wear red and blue because it's the 4th of July," then a moment later, "Or you could wear pink."

So no, I do not have a nice color coordinated picture of our family to commemorate the day, but I do have this nice picture of me with my flag cake. Doesn't it look good?

The 4th was really a fabulous day for our family, Aunt Beth was in town, we did the pancake breakfast at our church, the parade, a fun barbecue with friends (where my cake stole the show) and then "Rattatouille," followed by viewing fireworks on our front lawn with our nice neighbors. We really like our country.

I've Out Grown That!

2007-07-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

The first sign that Henry was growing up came a few months back when he informed me
that he would no longer wear pajamas adorned with Disney characters, but instead, would I please buy him some white t-shirts and athletic shorts like the ones his father wears to bed. O.K. that was no problem.

Then, the last few weeks when I've gone to the allergist to get my shot, he kindly told the receptionist "no" when she offered him a sticker, "I've outgrown stickers, I'm turning 6."

Then, at a social gathering when all the children were getting Zoopal plates to put their food on, Henry kindly told the hostess that he had "out grown" those plates and would like a big person's plate. Apparently, Henry is done with any sort of cartoon like character- that makes me a little sad.

He then asked me to get him a subscription to the Wall Street Journal.

My cute little boy is growing up and he is making sure everyone is aware of it. While out shopping on the days building up to his birthday, he told every clerk we came across that he was turning 6. He told the people who were fortunate enough to stand next to us in line, and he even told people who happened to call the house. (He really likes to answer the phone these days, but I wish I could teach him how to discriminate against telemarketers.)

This past Friday he turned six-years old. At the last minute we threw together a birthday party when we found out his soccer camp was canceled for the rest of the week. (Yes, it is still raining in Dallas.) I asked him what he wanted to do and he just wanted a few friends over to play his new Game Cube. That sounded more like a normal everyday play date, so the party then evolved in to a Star Wars Jedi Training Camp, where Game Cube was one of the training experiences. I was very happy with how the party turned out. I had a lot of fun creating the Jedi Training experiences. Some of my favorites were "Jedi Blaster Training," which involved a flip on the couch followed by a dart gun shot at Darth Vader. We also played "Jedi Bowling"- a new creative way to use light sabers with considerably less crying.

The highlight of Henry's day was playing Lego Star Wars on his new Game Cube with his older friends Cale and Grant.

Happy Birthday Henry! We are proud of all you've done this past year with soccer, school, and being a great big brother! You sure are a special part of our family and we love your "infectious smile."

Henry has grown six inches since last year and is also a whopping 50 pounds. (I'm glad there are no regular reports on my weight on this blog, but apparently I need to start reporting on Adam's weight because Greg is calling him "Fat Boy" at work.)

Loving Her to Death!

2007-07-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite shots of Samantha. Those chubby cheeks just melt my heart. I feel guilty I didn't jump in and save her sooner, but I've got to get pictures for the blog. Caroline literally loves her to death, so I have to keep a close eye on Samantha when Caroline is in one of her loving moods (which is often, and for no apparent reason comes up to me with a big hug and says "I just love you Mommy," followed by, "I just love Daddy, lets call him.") Besides being loving, Caroline is also very helpful and often volunteers to carry Samantha for me. Or she volunteers to watch Samantha while I go to the bathroom or take a shower. I politely refuse, as I think about the story my girlfriend shared that involved her son putting the new baby under the recliner.

Here are a few more shots of Samantha. We even got a couple shots of her smiling, which is a new past time for little Manthers. She loves to smile at Henry and Caroline and she even laid on my lap at the movies yesterday and smiled at me for a bit. (She really is an awesome baby, I didn't have to leave the theater once, and she didn't make a peep.) At her two month check up she was over 12 lbs and in the 90th percentile in height, weight, length, and my favorite category "head circumference." Now she is 10 weeks old, talks in full sentences, gives her mother 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night and is an overall joy!

Has Anyone Seen....

2007-06-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Henry?

I just can't seem to find him.

His new clothing line will be hitting stores in late July.

Also, I secretly threw away two happy meal toys today.

Rain

2007-06-26T18:33:00.001-07:00

"The rain is having an accident." Said the three-year-old, potty training girl to her older brother as they looked out the window during, yet another, afternoon summer storm.

The older, thoughtful and sensitive brother responded with all seriousness, "No, the clouds are crying."

The three-year-old, potty training girl then replied, "No, the rain is having an accident- Henry."

"No Caroline- really, the clouds are crying."

Different versions of this conversation continued as the two young children stared at the rain falling briskly in their back yard.

Finally, the three-year-old, potty-training girl said, "Oh." And ran to her mother with very important news, "Mom, the clouds are crying."

The mother then fed the children an early dinner, took advantage of the dark over cast sky, and put the children lovingly to bed an hour early.

The Henry Report

2007-06-24T21:25:00.001-07:00

First of all, it has been confirmed, by comments made to this blog by someone calling them self "Vickstergram," that I am Kelly Clarkson's half sister. Thank you "Vickstergram" for shedding light on this mystery. Secondly, thank you to everyone who has been checking out the blog and giving me regular comments. To keep track of this I have installed a website counter (thanks for the idea Greg). I started it at 53000 so people would think I have a really popular blog. Any how, the feedback I've been getting lately is that Caroline seems to get the most coverage in the blog and Henry has been getting left out. So I'd like to give you an update on Henry.

With the arrival of Samantha Henry has proven to be a very helpful young man. Henry is learning how to be a big brother and is defining his territory. Here is a picture of a sign I found on the children's bathroom door, the playroom, and on Henry's bedroom door. It says "No You"- with a picture of a person crossed out. He told me it was so that Caroline would stay out. It is the first thing he has ever really written, besides his name, without me having to help tell him how to spell anything. I guess with a sister like Caroline you have to take things into your own hands. Secretly, I was really proud of him, but we did have to take the signs down.

He is loving, enthusiastic, and passionate about everything he does- from soccer in the back yard to the Nintendo parties he hosts in the play room. I've kept Henry pretty scheduled this summer, he has attended soccer camp, basketball camp, and a preschool camp. This next week he will be attending the British Soccer Academy. I bought him some new soccer gear to wear, including a dry fit shirt and some cool soccer shorts. Henry was so excited he exclaimed, "These are the clothes I wanted my whole life!" When he said that I felt sort of bad I've waited six years to fulfill this wish.

Kelly Clarkson

2007-06-21T17:47:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have noticed that I have the Kelly Clarkson song, "Because of You, " on my playlist below. Sometimes you may even get to hear the song when you open my blog. You may or may not be a big Kelly Clarkson fan, I'm not either, but I'm trying to like her because a friend of mine says I remind her of Kelly Clarkson. In fact, Mary Kaye, even had a dream, (while she was pregnant) that I was Kelly Clarkson and I was at her house giving a concert in her family room. I was standing on her brick fireplace ledge, with full on highlights and a nose ring, giving a concert for young professionals and their very young children. So it is, Because of You, Mary Kaye that I even have Kelly on my playlist. Now, at Mary Kaye's home I am referred to as Kelly Clarkson. For example, when Mary's husband Dan comes home from work and asks, "What did you do today?" she answers, "Kelly Clarkson" came over and swam with her kids. So here's to you Kelly- I hope things get better for you since your tour has been canceled, you fired your manager, and the prospect of your new album selling is not so good. But look on the bright side, maybe your popularity will spike since I mentioned you on my blog. By the way, I think Mary Kaye reminds me of "Pink."

My Birthday

2007-06-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

First of all, I want to thank Adam for his guest post. I do have to say he is a great dad and a great husband. For my birthday he treated me like a queen. Here are just a few things that he did that made the day so nice: First, the evening before my birthday he took the kids out to buy me a present. They couldn't contain themselves and they had to give it to me as soon as they got back. It was entirely Henry and Caroline's idea. And I love it--they gave me some Crocs. I haven't really seen a lot of moms wear Crocs, but now when you see me this summer I will stand out and look really cool. Caroline has pink Crocs and Henry has camo Crocs. The two of them think Crocs are the coolest thing ever. I'm glad they wanted to share them with me. Then the morning of my birthday Adam made sure the entire house was clean, had laid out the children's clothes the night before, and even went out and bought Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast!!!! It was so great not to have to do any of those things on my birthday. Finally, to top it all off, that evening we hired a sitter and Adam took Mantha and I out for a night on the town. It was nice to go out on a date with my husband considering we have a new born and haven't been out too much.

My dear friends also treated me like a queen on my birthday. During the day I was able to drop Samantha off at a babysitter and go to the Dallas Temple with my friend Rebecca. (Henry & Caroline were at Jungle Safari Camp at Henry's preschool.) After the temple, Rebecca and Christine threw a little party for me at Rebecca's house. Christine brought yummy take-out from Cafe Express, the kids played and ate pizza, and Rebecca bought me a coconut cream pie (my favorite). It was just nice to relax and visit. My life here in Texas would not be the same without these two women. Christine was the first real friend I made when we moved here and Rebecca keeps me laughing during the day to day rigors of life (like the time Rebecca stopped at my house unexpectedly in her new gorilla Halloween costume.) Below is a picture of me with Rebecca on the left and Christine on the right.

Here I am blowing out my candle- thirty one is a lot of candles, so for safety concerns we only put in one candle.

Here is a picture of my favorite girls- Caroline, Lauren (Rebecca's daughter), Maddie (Christine's daughter) and baby Mantha. It's fun to watch these sweet girls hug, maul, and cuddle Samantha.
And to top all that- it was so sweet to get the little notes, emails, and phone calls from so many of my friends. It's nice to know that the friends I have made during the different stages of these past 31 years still think about me and take the time to keep in touch- it means a lot- life long friends, that's what I'd call them. I wouldn't be the same without them.

My birthday was one of the best ever. Here are some sentiments my friend Brooke (whom I've been friends with for over 18 years) sent me that I think really captures the stage of life I'm going through. Brooke wrote, "I hope you are savoring every moment of this alphabet-singing, laundry-filled, sleep-deprived season of our lives." Well, I must end this blog- it's time to fold the laundry.