Poker anyone???

I am loving poker right now... well, let me rephrase that. I have long loved poker, but now that i actually won a game, I am loving it a bit more. Here is the scene...

Our friend Steve had a birthday.
We helped celebrate by playing in a big poker game.

I have only played seriously once before.

I won the game, and $150!!

So, Micah was a tad proud of my beginners luck, and I am saving the $$$ for something fun! :)

And now Lorena has another girl to play with her.

Now, here is real life... we can only be on the world poker tour for so long before reality sets in... That reality is that Lincoln received a digital camera for is birthday. It arrived on Wednesday afternoon.
Adrienne had warned me...

Lincoln has been taking pictures like mad... we had over 80 on the computer by Wednesday dinner time. So, today I got him all set up with a memory card, a case, etc. (this is a Fisher Price camera, his aunties sent it to him. The best part is he already knew he would be able to have more pictures to scrap. He literally said that! LOL)

Anyway, today we got home from a Looooong day at the dr., running errands, etc. I am walking back into my room and from behind me I see/feel a flash go off... Um ,yeah, this is where I should mention that I am in a t-shirt and panties. I turn around to see two little boys dissolved into laughter. I mean, those big, belly-shaking laughs that have them literally doubled over.

"Lincoln, did you just take a picture of Mommy's booty?"

Laughing hysterically he replies, "Yeah! Wanna see?" and hits the review button and sure enough there I am in all my silken clad knockedupedness. (yes, silk did you think I would wear granny panties??? )

At least the shot is dark, and not so clear. No, it will be NOT posted here in any way, shape, or form... unless photoshop has a new lyposuction feature.

But I will admit, to hear and see them laughing so hard was worth the humiliation... :)

Here are some of the other images he captured...

Bathing suit shopping is not for wimps...

Yes, you read that title right... Bathing suit shopping is not for wimps... Or for people who are currently in a state of knockedupedness. I have determined we need to go back to the whole "Bloomers at the Beach" way of life. You know, nice body covering bloomers. Think of how many teen girls who would be saved from the angst of appearing before their peers in a bathing suit. OR think of many LESS woman would be oogled while at the beach. Why this new turn of the century thought...

I was in need of a new bathing suit.
I had the tankini I wore while preggo with Emerson.

It is just a regular size one, I got a bigger size than normal, and it worked fine...

until I stretched the straps beyond recognition...

um, I D-D-D-D-Don't know how that happened... (see last post to get that joke.)

So, I go to buy a new one and decide, I will actually buy a real,live, maternity bathing suit. This is where reality is not fun for me. In my dreams I am Heidi Klum... There are no fat armpits, or bulging tummies here... I am waif like really... in those lovely dreams...

Those are shattered the minute you step in front of an 8 foot mirror with harsh lighting. All of the sudden I am going... "Hello??? Whose butt is that? Me and Heidi, we don't look like this!"

The best part was the suit that had this open back... yeah, every knockeduped woman wants that, a nice flappy open backed suit to show off her girth.

And, apparently, you are supposed to embrace cleavage down to the navel...

I D-D-D-D-Don't know who thought of this, but unless JLo is designing these, they are not made by a woman. This is not just maternity suits either. Several friends have had this same lovely experience. I actually caught myself thinking "Does this make me look fat?"

Well, yes genius Jude... a small tight fitting piece of Lycra is designed to make a knockeduped person look slim. So, maybe it is my unreal expectations, too much Project Runway, or the the hormones, but I for one am going to try and bring back bloomers...

I think I will ask Justin Timberlake to write the song for the propaganda campaign... "I'm bringing back Bloomers...." Yeah, that's all your time I can conscionably waste for today...

Day number 187 of Bladder Captivity...

Yes, I am still alive here. In the trenches of knockedupedness, we are now facing assaults on the bladder almost daily. It is indeed day number 187 of the captivity. I fear the elasticity in the underbelly is giving way... stretch marks will ensue if this full on frontal assault occurs. We have had only a glimpse of the attacker... but daily, he or she is kicking in various spots. At times the whole camp is moving with the commotion. We are pressing forward. We have a clear goal, and a set date for ending this invasion. September 15th... it is a day that will live in infamy... especially if I end up with any stretch marks. :)

No, really I am not an unhappy or moody kockeduped person. I am this moody all the time. HA! Actually I think that once your bra size starts to sound like a stuttering child, (D-D-D-D-D-D-... get it? ) you are allowed a little sarcastic liberty.

So, onto more cheery news... I am finally almost caught up on my Emily Falconbridge "Deck of Me" cards. I even did this week's - this week. Miraculous, I know. Here are some for looks... Thanks for all the e-mails and comments about my Dad. You guys are great, and a real encouragement. :) I am just thankful that my boys have such an amazing father in their lives.

Here are the cards, in no specific order really... and the backs are a little less than spectacular, playing catch up cramps my creative style.

Bling issues and dads...

Well, first off, I hope Linda does not faint when she sees two posts in one week... :) Secondly here are some Layouts (Abbreviated LO, that was for you Heather and Sarah!!)

I did the first one for our UnPubbed lift of this week's Famer, Colleen. Not only does she have great style as a scrapper, but she owns this site : The Cupcake Scrapshop . It has some seriously cool kits on it. Go check it out. :) Here is my lift, and you can also see it and the other Design Team member's lifts at the Unpubbed site too... I wanted to use some Heidi Swapp Bling on it, but didn't have a big enough frame for the photo. So, being the ingenious scrapper that I am, I thought, well, I'll just cut a circle frame in half and then use straight borders to make an oval. Thinking I was oh so smart... until I actually had to make said oval... it is not easy, and was a total pain to try and align correctly. Hence, the cruddy little crooked bling frame. SO, do not attempt to make an oval. Go buy the big ovals, it will make your life easier, and you will not use the word bling as curse word.

Next is the LO I made for this week's challenge over at One Little Word. Some of my dearest friends are working this site and it is great! Go check it out. This week the word to use was STOP. This LO was really hard for me to do. It is the first time I have ever scrapped anything about my father. If you can't read the Title/Journaling here is what it says:

Title = STOP... thinking he will call. Journaling= My father has been gone since I was 4 years old. It has been 20 years since I have seen him. Why do I keep thinking that one day he'll call me and want to love me? I need to STOP. It's not going to happen so - STOP!

There are alot of emotions involved with the whole thing, but I am glad I made it. It is almost embarrassing to admit that after all these years, I still hold onto to that desire to have a dad. Weird. I also used the 7Gypsies Stickers in a most sarcastic sense, so I hope you can read those too... but hey, maybe we lucked out and this photo is clickable so you can enlarge it... never have figured out why some are and some aren't... LOL...

Have a great weekend all...

The belly, some CJs and my sweet boy...

Okay, you asked for it... here it is ... THE belly. I am huge! I feel like I popped out like a balloon. Now you see why the 1 lb. weight gain is not exactly a concern... Now. Moving on to my little Emerson... and a video, hopefully that you can see of him and his verbology. It is the word dumptruck, so please, keep all small children away from the screen... (nicole, karla, adrienne, I do not wish to be resposible for bringing this word into your children's vocabulary.) In the second one he is also saying "trailer" in case you missed that one...

And on that happy note, here are my Circle Journal pages. The first are for Karla's which was on the topic of fear... great to work with that and see what was rattling my cage.

The second set are for Chrissy's journal about "My House". I loved this and it was challenging to keep the pages simple as, our house is pretty simple!! LOL... Here they are:

A little trip and a lesson for Micah...

So, I haven't just been a lazy blogger. We were traveling last week. We made a quick trip to see my family. The weather was perfect up there (yes, that is rare for Buffalo I know!) Window fans like AC at night, and a breezy 70 degrees during the day. The boys had fun playing with their cousins, and were really good in the car. Here are two new trip pointers:

#1 Always take a map... we got stuck in traffic miles long on the highway (um, something about merging we don't get apparently!) We turned back and bought a map at a gas station and went the back way. The cost of said map... $4.95! That is one of those cheesy little paper maps too, you know the kind that no one can fold up correctly on the first try.

#2 Don't drink tons of water while in a state of knockedupedness... a knockeduped bladder is NOT the same size a normal one.

#3 If you are stopping at a hotel halfway, with the point being to swim in the indoor pool, ask if the pool is operational before booking said hotel. You never know when a high school basketball team will rip an entire liner out thus closing the pool indefinitely.

Onto the other part of our title... "Micah learns a lesson". I feel responsible a little, I mean this did happen at my mom's house... but he should have known better too...

You see, my mom loves, and I mean LOVES to keep things. All manner of things... old bills (and I do mean cancelled checks and electric bills from the 70s!) magazines, just stuff. Well, unfortunately she also feels this odd attachment to foods...

Micah and I once found salad dressing that was 4 years past its expiration date in her fridge. So, you see, he is armed with this knowledge. You will find all manner of outdated food and beverage in there. I admit, it is a little scary. BUT I know what to look out for. (NEVER use her salad dressing... seriously, I think if you listen closely danger bells from the food ghosts start to go off in warning.)

When we got there, I went to put the three TINY cooler packs in her freezer... first off there is no room anywhere. That's cause if it doesn't get eaten, it gets frozen! I think cottage cheese might be one of the few "non freezables" to mom. So, I am looking, looking, and I see like 40 butter wrappers stuck in there on a shelf. I say, "Mom, what are all these butter wrappers in here for???"

"Well, you can use them to grease pans for baking, like when you make bread," was her reply.

Hmmm??? Really? Cause I think the last time I remember my mom making bread was when I was in a training bra. (note, she is an excellent cook, I am not mocking her bread making ability. I would hate to rile the yeast lovers out there.)

So, one morning, I notice Micah has had some coffee... with creamer...
I ask him, "Micah, did you check the date on that before you used it?"

He says, "No, your mom just gave it to me."

FOOL!! Her perky early morning spirit tricked you!!! I go the the fridge and what do I find... the creamer he used...

Expiration date....

April 30 .... 2006!!!!

He was so grossed out, and was going, "Why? Why would she give me that?"

Well, the answer my friends is simple...

My mom is doing some sort of secret botox experiment by giving unsuspecting people internal botulism to see if it gives the desired effect on the crows feet. I don't know why!!

It gets even better... we explored further and found another creamer. The date???

Are you ready???

November 20th.... 2005!!!!!!!!!
Don't get me started on the odd colored orange juice or the Kudos granola bars from 2004..
Just in case you think I am kidding, I took these as proof...

And yes, I did make fun of my mom to her face so I am not being mean. She even swore that they were still good, and I told her "Ok, sister, YOU are using that 2005 in your coffee tomorrow!" Um, yeah, they were gone by the time I got up the next day...

Here are some Niagara Falls pics too... the boys loved The Maid of the Mist. It is a boat ride that gets you right up close to the falls. So cool. We had a minor issue at the Canadian border because I failed to bring the boys birth certificates... in my defense... they are not required until 2008, I checked. Plus growing up in WNY I have hopped across that border so many times with no ID I didn't think it would be an issue. Thanks to Lincoln's cuteness and his Sam I am talking to the lady, she waved off the inspectors... Phew.