Salem's 6th Birthday Party Was A BLAST!!!

WOW! First of all everyone we invited but 1 person came. That I wasn't expecting. So I had 15 kids there with siblings. I have a niece that is a Bold Gold Squad Leader and her sister is in Bold Gold so they and friends from school came to teach the girls cheers. It was SO cute. They had a contest - I've got spirit yes I do - yelling match. I wish I had it on video.

Then the girls did these little stunts with the kids. These pictures show Salem!!! They all did it but 1 several times. 2 were scared and didn't do it til right before they left.

We had 4 boys here and I set up an area to play football with an inflatable football goal and the idea was the girls would cheer but they wouldn't play so they played on the play set. And all the parents stayed but two so that made it really nice. I really got to visit with some moms of the girls in Salem's K class. I hope we can do more together.

Brian made the cake - the girls got pom poms and megaphones from Oriental Trading that were fabulously inexpensive and the boys got footballs and candy. We decorated with balloons, confetti, football plates for the boys, cheer plates for the girls and drank juice bags and water and provided salsa, chips, cheese, crackers and fruit. Seriously I think I spent less on this party than ANY and it was AMAZING.

And this was seriously the best party ever. All of Salem's friends who have been to her last 4 say it was the most interactive fun and really it was very inexpensive. So if you know cheerleaders - do this!!!

I was SO proud of Salem. She was SO polite opening presents and thanked all her friends personally. Raina was fairly antisocial and hid most of the party! Bizarre. She's suddenly into this hiding stage and Salem never did that so I just let her hide.

Whitney you're right - they are big productions these days! But this party was the easiest and MOST fun ever!!! I can't believe it.

Catching up on pics

I am seriously behind posting pics so please bear with me! :) I have to get caught up before birthday party, MOPS convention and Halloween festivities. :)

So of course the girls are LOVING spending time with the new kittens Lily and Troy! :)

Salem's cheerleader buddy Kelsey won homecoming queen! Salem was SO excited.

Salem and Raina enjoyed the lake with friends in late August.

And of course don't they look adorable in their cheerleading uniforms? Yep I had to get Raina one. It's cute. They were pricey but really my girls don't grow quickly so Salem's will fit her at least 2 years and the same for Raina and then Raina can wear Salem's. Perfect.

Well I can't believe I am up this late. Wish me luck tomorrow. It took me forever to clean the house today. I just seriously can't work more than 5-10 minutes at a time without growing so tired. My house is clean but of course with a husband, a 3 year old, an almost 6 year old and 2 cats - well I'll have to pick up again. But at least the "big" stuff is done.

Nuttin' But Stringz

Click this video!!! Just do it! Trust me.



I managed to accidentally see America's Got Talent last week. They were on it. This week they are in the top 5. They actually revamped and did the song tonight they did on NOGGIN! They are AWESOME.

Here is their site. Listen!!!

If you like to vote vote for them at: 18666024801 or click here.

Here is the Noggin video:

If you go to the player it's the 5th video in line. Salem LOVES these guys!!! They are AMAZING.

What's Happening...

The Holamon House has been nuts. I took Raina and went to the ACS Pep Rally last Friday. Salem was adorable - and the only girl not in a ACS cheerleading uniform so I have to remedy that before the next pep rally. She's very excited. We decided that would be her birthday present. So then we went to the game that night, a birthday party the next day, and company that night. No wonder on Sunday my arm was hurting some. My shingles seem to have localized there and down my side.

Monday morning I had to not go to MOPS it hurt so bad. I did get a lot of sleep Monday and Tuesday and feel back to "normal" today.

My house is a wreck so I've been cleaning in 5 minute increments. Load the dishwasher take a break. Vacuum take a break. Pick up take a break. You get the idea.

The rest of my week will be spent getting everything ready for Salem's party!I have her teacher invites on Monday for all teh girls in her class. No one has RSVP'ed. UGH. Its so hard to plan party favors when you don't know how many are coming. So I will have to plan for all the 12 invited.

It's going to be a cheerleader/football theme. :) My nieces (one is in Bold Gold and one a cheerleader) are going to come and help the cheerleaders cheer and I have an inflatable football goal and football for the boys. Brian's going to wear a jersey and I am going to be the Ref. :) Should be fun.

Brian's also going to make a megaphone cake. The Lightening McQueen cake was SO amazing that Salem said - daddy why haven't you made me a cake? So of course he's going to make one.

Now I need to make a to do list...balloons, get favors ready, snacks for adults, juice bags and water....Never ending lists. The decorations will be easy and it will be outside but I always stress over parties. LOL. But Salem ALWAYS love it. Even when I screw up like last year and put the wrong time on the invites and people started showing up early and I had NO idea why! LOL.

Salem is doing great in school. She LOVES it. Dad is working on #'s with her and soon we'll start working on sight words to supplement what they are doing at school. I don't think she's behind but it amazes me how many of her friends are reading easy readers.

Raina is sweet. Her tantrums are improving - slowly but consistenly. I think she wasn't getting enough one on one time with me. I get to read a lot to her and play with her. Maybe that coupled with her speech was it all along.

Please pray I feel much better next week for MOPS Convention and then when I get back on the 3rd I have to get Brian ready to leave for Brazil on the 7th!

An Update On Me

I feel amazingly good today. My spots look awful but I don't see any new ones. I am tired but I think that's the side-effect of the elavil. I haven't taken an actual pain pill since Sat. I have a few left just in case. I have a friend who is a Nurse Practitioner and he told me not to over do it cause it doesn't mean I am over it but I feel normal. My arm only hurts if I actually bump something.

So I'm off to bed. Hopefully I feel better tomorrow. I slept so much last week I didn't get anything done but I am trying not to go in over drive and take on any projects. I stepped out of being a troop leader for Salem's Girl Scout Group and some church stuff. Now all I have is MOPS (thank God for an assistant coordinator this year) and Salem's upcoming birthday party besides Salem and Raina going to school etc.

I did forget a project for Raina that is due tomorrow. They have a BIG tree in their classroom and they all do an apple. They paint it red in class and they bring it home and you glue pics of your family to it and write their names. She's supposed to help me do it but since I just remembered and got it done before I came here that will have to suffice.

Then I remembered Salem has to bring something to taste tomorrow. So I popped teddy grahams in a baggy. Today it was something to smell so we sent cumino. Tomorrow is feel. I don't usually forget stuff like this. So that's annoying but c'est la vie right?

Anyway - I feel good but I am not supposed to take it for granted so I am going to bed.

Salem Cracks Me Up!!!

Salem's job with the new kittens is to clean and change the litter box (with help changing of course). So today was changing day and Brian was helping. It stinks worse when you change it cause it stirs up the yucky smells on the bottom. So we totally empty it, rinse it out and layer on some baking soda.

She was crying saying it wasn't fair she had to clean it. She's been cleaning it the whole time she's had the cats. So that was odd. She was SO dramatic and had these big tears. She then said - it's not fair - Troy doesn't poop! It's only Lily - Raina should clean it. Troy is hers and Lily is Raina's.

So...

It's hard to update...I don't know what to say. I am so tired. I don't know if that is the medicine or what. I can't feel this tired for 6 months so I was going to talk to the Dr. about alternatives to the meds that seem to knock me out. Brian took off Monday-Wednesday and I simply slept most of the days. He had to work Thursday but got the girls to school and Amy picked up Raina. That gave me some sleep before being up at 10:30.

Salem had her pictures taken with Lindsey Cotton. That was awesome as usual. Here's a teaser pic and a cute one she took of Raina but you can see the rest of Salem's pics here.

Friday night we went to half the ACS homecoming game. I have to get Salem an ACS cheerleading uniform. They actually let the little kids on the grass to cheer. Salem loved it. Of course I was SO tired and we ate burritos and then hit the hay.

I thought I was going to sleep late Saturday so I took the elavil and a pain pill and Brian woke me at 8 cause he had to go to work. ACK. I was so droggy. I don't know how I made it. At 1 he came home and I took Salem to a Girl Scout Daisy orientation. It was 3 long hours. I came home and my sweet hubby was cleaning the house. So I laid down to take a nap and slept 4 hours. EEK. Brian took Salem to the fair and I went back to bed with Raina when they left.

Brian took the girls to Sunday School so I guess I need to try and get ready to go to church. I am glad for the rest. I obviously need it but I can't imagine how I am going to do this everyday when Brian can't be home and while he's in Brazil. It's overwhelming to think about it.

If you don't vote you're a moron!

View beware - political content (but funny, poignant, relatively non-partisan political content). Watch it all. He's got a great perspective on how the media is reporting the election coverage and how important it is to vote. So no matter who you vote for - just vote. I hear a lot of people saying they aren't going to vote because it doesn't matter. It does matter. VOTE. :) I am not calling you a moron like Craig Ferguson is ;) but it is important. VOTE.

It is shingles

Well it's shingles with a secondary bacterial infection. Nice huh? So they prescribed meds (6), 2 for the shingles itself (one pill and one creme), loritab for the pain, diflucan in case I get a yeast infection from the antibiotics and augmentin. Oh and an antidepressant. She said that with my pain being so high but not many blisters yet that my pain will linger - she called it post trauma pain. So she wants me to take ellevil (Sp?) at night to help my body handle the pain. I have to take that for 6 months. **Sigh** I am waiting for them to be filled

This song makes me smile!

I hope they are at MOPS Convention this year. Plumb is and I am VERY excited.

I have shingles

I think I have shingles and I am miserable. It hurts so bad I can't even think. It's like my arm (where they are localized for right now) is on fire. My shirt hurts, my bra hurts, and I read that it can last 2-4 weeks.

I am going to try to go to a walk in clinic tomorrow. Please pray they can give me something to relieve the pain. We thought I had it before - I had the "skin" part but no pain. But this pain is the worst I've ever felt. I simply cannot fathom feeling like this for weeks.

So I joined a gym

OK here I go again. I used to work out amazingly. A year after Salem was born I went to Gold's Gym and worked out an hour+ a day 5 days a week. I ate well and lost almost 70 pounds. Then I got pregnant with Raina. I still worked out but it was harder. I did well during pregnancy and while I was nursing but after I had been nursing about 15 months I started gaining weight and got up to 230. GULP.

So I am eating better with the vegetarian lifestyle but I have to work out. I can eat well and barely lose anything. I have the metabolism of a slug apparently. So I didn't want to go back to Gold's. They are nice and gave a huge ministerial discount but I know NO ONE there. For some reason that's a big deal for me these days. So I figure why waste it.

So I paid more and joined Power Shack. The people are really nice and I have two work out partners. So my goal is to go Tuesday-Friday and some Saturdays. Mondays are MOPS days so unless I go in evening I am not sure how that will work.

I have to be honest - I hate working out. I do feel good after but I am not a natural born exercise love. My knees hurt, I sweat like a pig and I feel so "noticeable". But I am going. I have to lose weight.

Hold me accountable. Really. And after 3 weeks of no diet coke if you EVER see a diet coke in my hands rip it out and throw it away. Seriously!

Salem's Questions

Salem - mommy do you know I love you?
Yes Baby...
How?
I feel it?
How do you feel it?
In my heart?
How?

Wow the questions are endless and so fun to listen to and try to explain without sounding dumb. At least we're past the death questions for now.