Let's Get Ready to Rumble

How 'bout that Mountain West???
Oh Bronco how I have missed you.
And 486 yards, my Manly Max, I would rather watch you than Tim Tebow any day.

The only thing that gives me a warm fuzzy in subzero temperatures is back. Thank goodness for some pigskins and lycra. Can't you feel the excitement in the air?? Hooray for the fall!!! (and if it still summer where you are, I really don't want to hear about it okay.)

The Wonder Years

Happy 28th Anniversary mommy and daddy! You guys are amazing!!
Love you two lovebirds!

xoxox

Change??

Did you hear the terrorist speak last night? Holy vomit. And then a woman, with a baby? Help us all.

Cookies Save the Day

Both monkeys were up well before 6 today. Gross. By 10:30, the cries and chaos were far too much to bear and I was forced to come up with a plan that did not involve clobbering them, which was oh so tempting.

Instead we made Play Dough Cookies, taking the recipe off of This Mama Cooks . The kids loved it and it took up a good portion of the morning...plus add a little milk and we call that lunch in this household. They aren't as pretty as I had hoped, but they were made by one two-year old and two four-year olds (I was watching my friends kids as well). It is a challenge for me to relinquish control, especially to my children, but today, it was more than worth it.

Pulling the sugar cookie dough out of the fridge. Linley picked the colors. I really wanted purple. She was adamant against purple. Probably for the best since I am pretty sure now the finished product would have been poop brown.

Giving the kids their own collection of balls to roll into snakes.Rolling out the snakes. Or wormies, as named by Linley.Sorry for the double chin pic kiddo. It was the only one I got. We all know you are a perfectly chiseled in real life.

The finished product

Thankfully I gave all the rest away. Perfect ending to our morning of baking. Well, except neither kid is asleep in their bed yet. Note to self: crush Dramamine in next batch of survival cookies.

Zookeeping

I just started a new blog, All Glory, No Guts , where I will be posting fashion finds, giveaways and other materialistic things of that nature that interest me in an effort to eliminate boring the uninterested readers of this blog.

Life's A Beach

Saturday we headed to the beach with some friends, Brad and Melissa of Sugar City Journal (yes, I am that cool to know her awesomeness) and their adorable kids. It was the perfect beach day. The water was warm, the kids were happy, and the sun was shining!

The last couple of times we have gone beaching, Ryder has managed to muster the courage to face the waves. He lets his dad take him neck deep, and considering these boys' previous beach (non)adventurousness, that is dang impressive!!Allen and Brad even got in some body surfing. So what if I stink at taking pictures. I was being splashed by waves myself OK.

I can't believe summer is rapidly coming to an end. I am not ready for falling leaves and dipping temperatures. Oh depression.

Taggalicious

Allen is at mutual (HA!) and the kids are asleep, so I can finally get to this tag that I have been slacking on for a while.

Sparkle Karly (whose blog is private so I won't bother linking) tagged me. I'm supposed to name 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random/surprising facts about myself, then tag 3 people. Here goes:

Joys
(I am veering off of the obvious children and husband)
1. Playing games around the kitchen table with my brothers and sisters and dad in Georgia (while mother, who refuses to join, slaves in the kitchen whipping up some sort of devilish dessert). It is a slice of heaven.
2. Girls. I don't think I really appreciated the value of a fabulous girlfriend until I was married. Now I yearn for the friendship, companionship, enrichment, insight and on and on and on I get from these relationships. I so desperately love and treasure my mother, sisters and girlfriends close enough to be considered sisters.
3. A heated pool and lots and lots of sunshine. Enough said, really.

Fears
1. Bridges. I have addressed this many times. Flashes of flying off the bridge and figuring out how I will rescue both of my strapped-in children while getting out of the car and getting them both up and out of the water to safety strangles me as I drive as quickly as possible over those suckers. I am generally in tears by the end if there is traffic. Retarded brain of mine.
2. Disease, any really, but most specifically cancer. In myself, Allen, a family member and mostly in my children. I don't' think I am strong enough to cope with something of that magnitude.
3. My house catching on fire in the middle of the night and the fire alarms not working. Then going through the same scenario as the bridge. Perhaps this is a reason I get little sleep at night. Further, perhaps I need therapy. Rescue 9-1-1 as a child ruined me with the fire thing. Thanks for letting me watching it parents. You will be paying for the therapy if deemed necessary.

Goals
1. Have all of my closets organized by the end of 2009. Yes, this is a strangely long-term goal, but we have to rebuild every single closet, and I don't do well under pressure.
2. Finish reading New Testament by January 1. So far, so good.
3. Have meaningful Family Home Evenings weekly and read to Ryder for 15 minutes nightly. I suppose this means less time on the blog. Perhaps I need to reconsider this one :)

Current Obsessions/Collections
1. Pie. I always want pie. Always. Hello. Not even pregnant. This is bad, very bad.
2. Scarves. I sometimes even find myself venturing to the scarf section before the shoes. What?
3. Getting Ryder the perfect backpack. Who honestly cares about a 4-year old's backpack? I just get these things in my head and I can't let them go. He needs the perfect size, the perfect color. Plain, but not too plain. Classic but not boring. Young, but not childish. I have shopped for weeks for the perfect one and I have yet to find it. Probably because it doesn't exist. And now I am considering settling. Settling? I am not picking out a husband for craps sake. Still, I have scoured every mall and website my brain can muster. I seriously disturb myself.

Random/Surprising Facts
1. I have NEVER had a boob job. Seriously. Very surprising, I know.
2. I love freckles. They are so youthful and charming and full of personality. I sometimes stare at my shoulders because they are freckly and I think they are cute. Sadly, my nose freckles have melded into a giant freckle blob and thus aren't nearly as cute, and my cheek freckles seemed to not appear this summer. Jipped. I am waiting for the day when Ryder wakes up with his cheeks lightly dotted. Still nothing. Double jipped. And if you have freckles, I have probably stared longingly at you, and made you feel uncomfortable. I really can't help it. They draw me in. It's an uncontrollable fact.
3. I pierced my tragus in college (look it up). I really loved it. President Hinckley, my father, and my boyfriend (who later became my husband) made convinced me to remove it. Sometimes I look in the mirror and miss it. Then I see my monkeys and realize the pain such a thing would cause, and I instantly understand President Hinckley, my father, and now husband were/are geniuses.

These tags really are not good for my image.

I am tagging 3 Dallas ladies:

Sexy Woman Love (Kristin),

Bambi(Cinta),

and the ever beautiful Lacey.

Another Chapter Closed

Today was Allen's last day as an employee at Standard and Poors, and he decided to take along some company for moral support. Ryder has been waking up every morning for two weeks asking if this is the morning he gets to ride the train and the ferry to the big tall building in New York City where daddy works. And today the morning finally came. He was so ecstatic. Who needs Christmas when you can ride a train and a ferry, all in one day??

Shots of the big monkey man strolling downtown Manhattan.

And now, a new chapter begins, bright and early tomorrow morning. We are excited to see what this sexy Citibank building will offer to our fascinating book of life.(Oh, and should you be concerned, Linley and I had a fabulous day of shopping. )

Crayola Factory

Saturday we headed over to Easton, PA to take a stroll through the Crayola Factory, and had an absolutely fabulous time. It is a lot less of a factory and a lot more of a humongous craft spot with tons of different rooms and stations featuring all of Crayolas products for you to experiment with. Luckily I had seen the Jon and Kate where they take their kids to the Crayola factory and so I knew to dress my kids in their scrubbies. They came out of the place clean. I however, seemed to provide the perfect canvas for finger painting. We'll see how washable this stuff really is.

The Animation StationThe Modeling Clay Station

The Party Hat Station
That is a hot angle of your face babe!!

The Chalk Walk

The only picture with me in it. Thanks for looking at the camera Linley.

Some of our favorite not pictured spots were the puppet station, the finger-painting station and the dance room, which the kids could have stayed in all day! I love falling in love with living here.

Ryder Says

Ryder wrote his name all by himself for the first time on Saturday! Such a big man!!

Playing happily at the pool on Thursday whereupon we became instantly drenched by a sudden downpour accompanied by clapping thunder, the following conversation was had:

Erica: "Ryder, get out of the pool right now. You are going to get struck by lightening and crack your head open."
Ryder: "I'm okay mom. My head is an umbrella for my brains."

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Nantucket Weekend GIVEAWAY!!!!

Have you seen this site? This girl sews adorable children's clothing, then GIVES it away. Umm, hello awesomeness.

All About Allen

You have probably noticed I don't post much about the life of the hubster. I am not allowed. This confident man is also a humble one and prefers me not parade his proficiencies over the internet. But, I am going to do so now because there is a lot to say about this sexy beast.

First off- Wall Street is pretty crappy right now. The market sucks. We are all aware of this. Over 40,000 bankers and other finance folks are unemployed. Allen, being the rock star that he is, had no fear of losing his job, but was convinced that bonuses were going to be down to nothing, and he was completely bored at work. Allen doesn't do well bored, so he began looking elsewhere. And he received two offers. Two. Among the over 40,000 looking. Such a stud. One was with Sterling Stamos (the guy who owns the Mets) and the other with Citibank. After some serious prayer and fasting, we concluded that Citi was the place for us. So, yesterday Allen gave his notice (quite happily I might add) to Standard and Poors and in two weeks will begin work as a Vice President, Account Manager in the Fixed Income Analytic Division of Citi's Markets and Banking Sector. I am really excited for him and for us. Our family is so blessed to have him at the head. Did I mention he was also sexy.

Secondly- As if starting a new job isn't exciting enough....Allen just got called as Young Men's President for the Short Hills Ward. I know he will be phenomenal. Allen doesn't know how to do anything but excel. This is a true statement. He really is a rockstar.

And lastly I just want to reiterate what an absolutely amazing husband and father he is. These past few weeks, while work has been slow and he has been able to spend more time at home, I have fallen in love with him all over again. These kids can't get enough of him. And he is so patient and playful with them. He is so sweet and gentle with his little girl. She is his little leach when he is around. She goes everywhere daddy goes, holding on to his pant leg with her tenacious little grip. I am jealous at the constant hugs and kisses she showers upon her daddy. She is always smiling and laughing when daddy is around. And when he's not, she is repeatedly asking when he will be. At bedtime Allen puts Ryder down and I take care of Linley. Except now, every night, Linley says to me, "Daddy no Ryder bed. Daddy Linley bed. Mommy Ryder bed." Rude child. Daddy is Ryder's best friend. They do everything together. Work in the garage, fix things around the house, go to Home Depot, play video games. Allen genuinely loves this boy and Daddy is Ryder's hero. He has so much respect and admiration for his daddy, and his daddy so obviously feels the same way about him. I have also treasured watching him lead our household with his unbelievable faith and strength as we strived to arrive at the decision for which job opportunity to accept. His relationship with his Heavenly Father is something I so admire. He is such a rock (in addition to rock star), which made this somewhat stressful path to decision a pleasure, as we were able to grow closer together as a couple, as a family, and mostly with our Heavenly Father.

So congrats sexy hubster, and thanks for being such a dreamy hunk of studliness.

Seriously, why do I get to be such a lucky girl??

Heavenly Heels

Perhaps this post is pathetic, but Linley is sick and my day is blah and this makes me happy. Not surprisingly to most, I enjoy a great pair of heels. Heck, I enjoy an ungreat pair of heels. Some people think this strange, since I am already a fairly tall girl. But I enjoy heels for large variety of reasons:
I think they make my legs look longer and more shapely. This makes me feel sexier, which I never think is a bad thing.
I have really awful posture until I throw on my heels. Back straightened, chest out, head up.
I walk with more confidence...until I trip, but that is beside the point.
My feet don't tire in heels. In fact, I find heels to be more comfie that most flats. I feel this makes me special. I like to feel special.
A great pair of heels makes an outfit. Even just a white t-shirt and jeans goes from grocery store to hot date by simply adding a pair of heels.
I have a strange obsession with being taller than men. I really, really like being taller than men. It is a powerful feeling. I like power.
These puppies make me taller than the hubster, which is a rare treat and reason alone to pay the way too much money that I did for the suckers. That's a 5 inch heel folks. Pure beauty.
Now if only I could find a pair to make my taller than my father....

Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer

Okay, so she didn't really, but she did come to visit, with Grandpa, too! We always enjoy it when they come to town. The kids love these two people so dang much. Great while there here, bad when they leave. Ryder asked me every 5 minutes yesterday (this is no exaggeration), "Mom, can we go pick grandma and grandpa up yet?" Hello annoying. And Linley spent the afternoon puking, surely a result of the sudden loss of grandparents. Thanks guys for stopping in. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Grandma did a treasure hunt with the kids, containing: Skittle caterpillars, sour worms, and Nerd ants. That creative little woman.

Mmmh. We took a walk to our local little homemade ice cream shop, Magic Fountain. So delicious. Obviously Linley enjoyed her cone.

And of course, no trip is complete without a little Mario Kart action.

We love you grandma and grandpa and can't wait for your next visit!!