The things that come out of my kid's mouth...

Callie always has these funny phrases that she latches onto for a while.

For a few weeks, everything was " pretty darn" something...
"That's pretty darn cute!"
"That's pretty darn sad."
"I'm pretty darn hungry"
"I'm pretty darn thirsty"
And on and on it goes...

Lately, though, it's the word "genius". She LOVES that word! While it is a great stroke to my mommy ego to be called a genius every time I do something she likes, I finally had to ask her what it meant (to see if she knew what she was saying). She had NO idea! So I told her, and now she likes the word even more! It's nice to know she is young enough still to think her mommy and daddy are smart. :-)

Callie quote of the day...

While listening to Marc Brussard's Home (a nice bluesy-beat), Callie says from the backseat of my car: "Look Momma! My bootie is shakin'! It's movin' and groovin' to the beat!!"

Holy crap my kid is funny.

Fall with the Willey's

We have had a very exciting fall around here. October was great! We threw a great party in Spokane (even without the lights, it was still a success!), went pumpkin and apple picking, had a fantastic Halloween and have just been enjoying our blessed life. November looks to be busy but fun. We are seeing Santa on Saturday (I KNOW!!! Seriously, Santa comes earlier every year.) and then going to Madagascar 2 at the new IMAX at Southcenter. Should be a fun "family date day" with the Blue's. Saturday night is "grown up date night" with the Blue's - time to dance our booties off! Which translates to us getting too tired to go out and not wanting to bother with the sitter so we get popcorn and a movie and chill at one of the houses for the evening. Gosh, we are lame!! The nice part is the next week is a 4 day week with Veterans Day right in the smack-dab middle of it. Twilight comes out on the 21st at 12:01 am.... Crystal is crazy enough to go, but I don't think my little body can stay up that late anymore! So I will take the girls that night. Thanksgiving in Spokane, a trip to the in-laws and you've got yourself a November!!! Should be busy, but lots of fun and good times. Well, here is what we were up to in October....

Autumn Fest 2008

Ok, I'm excited! And a little nervous. And a lot obsessive-compulsive.

I am throwing a party in Spokane next weekend and it will be the first party I have ever thrown (besides my wedding, of course). Talk about nerve racking! Plus, if you know me, you know I never do anything halfway. Must be all the way. Full tilt. To the max.

So we are going to be at my dear friend Josh's house. So glad that he is such a good friend and is letting me overrun his house for a day! It's going to be a lot of old friends and their kids. The funny thing is that most of them don't know each other, or only know one or two other people.

I am doing the annual trek to Greenbluff in the morning to pick apples and pumpkins with the family. Always a treat. Then back to Josh's to cook and bake and play hostess! I am planning on making the following:
*Harvest Ham
* Mom's Warm in the Oven Potatoes
* Sauteed Green Beans
* Beer Bread
* Corn & Black Bean Salsa w/ chips
* Artichoke & Spinich Dip
* Toasted Pumpkin Seeds with Sugar and Spice
* Apple Cinnamon Rolls
* Nana's Pumpkin Cake
* Carmel Apples
* Fudge
* Butter Carrots
* Spinich Salad w/ Craisins

Should be a LOT of work, but also a lot of fun.

I am trying to pack everything up now so that I can drive it over on Friday when Andrew and I go over. I can't take too much with me when we fly over next Friday, so it all has to get there now. Which kicks my OCD into overdrive. :-) Got to figure.

I'm happy I am going to Spokane. I will be there for four whole days!! Then home for three and back for two more days. Good food. Good friends. Good times. SOO excited!

A Day in the Life...

Of a bank worker...

Today we were almost robbed. That's right, again. I am getting a little tired of this.

A gentleman walked in and immiately alarmed us. Why, you ask?? Well he had painted on his beard with shoe polish. Yes, shoe polish.

This man was dressed head to toe in black. Black poofy vest, black hat, black doo rag, black shoes, RUBBER GLOVES and glasses. With a painted on beard. Alarms anyone???

Well, thank God for the wonderful women I work with. We were so on top of it that we had the Federal Way Police Department here by the time our visitor walked out the door. Our overly friendly staff got so "in his bubble" that he was literally shaking by the time he left. To top it all off, he needed a reason for being in the bank if he chickened out. So what did he use? HIS REAL INFORMATION. That's right. He gave us his real name and account number. Which, for the record is linked to his social security number, date of birth, drivers license number, address, etc. Real man of genius. To top it off, we weren't his first stop of the day. He had stopped by the bank that he often conducts business at to try to rob them!!! They recognized him through the bad beard and called it in. Needless to say, when the calvary arrived at our branch they had him on the ground fairly quickly. Not his best day.

I love my job. But I never in a million years thought that being an insurance agent could be so exciting. This is not my first experience with these guys, though probably the biggest adrenaline rush. When the police came in to check the branch (they always do), it was full on FBI-training-video mode. Guns drawn, yelling commands, us with our hands in the air. CRAZY!

Bottom line... other than a crazy day in the life.... we are all safe and sound thanks to the lovely, smart women I work with.

My very first blog....

SO.... Callie started pre-school yesterday!!! She had so much fun and is so funny about it.

Which leads me to something I never thought I would do... blogging. So I am venturing out of my comfortable Myspace world into blogland. We shall see...