Erin, Author at The Sunny Side Up Blog

Fun with Friends

03.10.09

Jetette Reunion!

This last weekend was our Jetette Reunion and it was a total blast! It has been 15 years since all of us girls were dancing and hanging out together and it felt like it had been 15 minutes. What a fun group of friends! Loved that everyone’s personalities haven’t changed a bit. We just have much tamer hair. :)

{Party at my mom’s house –
loved Nat in our hot pink warm-ups from back in the day!}

{Hopie, Bryn, Koni & me}

{Me and Kenny with “Mrs. P” – our Jetette advisor and teacher at good ol‘ Dixie High…so fun to see her!}

{cute Andee & Bryn}

{most of the group}

{At Dixie High for the Jetette Review. It was so fun seeing the Jetettes dance – truck load of memories came flooding back!}

{In the “D” once again}

It wouldn’t have been a high school get together without ending the night at the Frostop! We had so much fun catching up. We laughed and laughed and laughed! We were there until they finally kicked us out at 11:00 pm and then we continued to talk and laugh out in the parking lot for another hour! Then Koni and I drove home and had to catch up so I rolled into bed at around 2:00 am. Nothing’s changed since High School. Except that the next morning I was up at 6:00 am watching Little Bear with my toddler. :) SOOOO worth it! It was such a blast to be with my Jetette friends again. LOVE YOU ALL!

xoxo, Erin

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Opposites

03.01.09

Opposites Attract

Kenny loves sushi – Erin hates all food from the sea.
Kenny lives for Fall – Erin lives for Spring.
Kenny likes things clean – Erin likes things cleaner than that.
Kenny is a saver – Erin is a spender.
Kenny loves country music – Erin not so much.
Erin wants another baby someday – Kenny not so much.
Erin is an optimist – Kenny is a realist.
Kenny snacks on cookies – Erin snacks on candy.
Kenny drives cautious – Erin goes for speed.
Kenny loves spreadsheets – Erin loves 1,000 thread count sheets.
Kenny is a night owl – Erin is a morning person.
Kenny on vacation is go go go – Erin on vacation is veg veg veg.
Erin is a peace maker – Kenny is a trouble maker.
Erin thinks Bleu Cheese salad dressing is killer –
Kenny thinks Bleu Cheese salad dressing will kill you.
Kenny loves to go to the movies – Erin loves movies on the couch.
Kenny loves change – Erin loves routine.
Kenny is still into Survivor – Erin is SO over it.
Kenny enjoys the cold – Erin enjoys the sun.
Kenny loves the Chargers – Erin loves the charge card.
Kenny hates surprises – Erin lives to be surprised.
Kenny loves to debate – Erin silently stews.
Kenny is analytical – Erin is ana-what?

{Anyone in the mood for Straight Up??? I got your back Paula.}

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

02.26.09

Quotable Quotes

One of the things I love most about living with a 2 & 5 year old is the free entertainment. Kids really do say the funniest things sometimes. I update these quotes on my sidebar but I think I’ll throw them up on my blog every once in awhile so that when I make this blog into a book I’ve got them recorded. Don’t want to forget the things they said that made me smile.

A couple of days ago we were heading to get some food somewhere and Ellie asked if she needed her shoes. I said “no…we’ll just pull -up at the window.” Addison exclaims “Pull-up! Are you kidding me!?? I don’t wear a pull-up. I’m a big girl now!” This was especially funny for our little family because I ALWAYS say “are you kidding me?” and Kenny HATES it! I usually say it when we are arguing over something and he thinks it is so demeaning. (He’ll try to make a point and I shoot him down with a sarcastic “are you kidding me?”) Addie said it just like I do and Kenny was not impressed. (Sorry babe. She spends all day with me. You should have married someone else if you didn’t want mini Erin’s running around. :)

Addison’s latest: (Jan/Feb 2009)

“Daddy, what do you want for Valentines Day?
Kenny: “a Porsche Carrera“
Addison: “What about a hat?”

“Mom…please can I call you Frosty the Snowman?”

Me: Addison, how’s your owie doing? Addison: “I can’t feel it anymore because it still hurts.”

Addison’s first attempt at going potty: “It’s not working mommy!”

After a lot of walking around Disneyland: “Hold you mommy! (which means hold me) …my legs are getting dizzy!”

Addison says “to later” all the time which just means later. She gets this from TOday and TOmorrow. “Are we going to the park to later mommy?”

Ellie’s latest: (Jan/Feb 2009)

Me: “Thanks for helping Addison with that Ellie.”
Ellie: “Your welcome, your majesty.”

“Mom, when Addison is in a bad mood my throat hurts.”

“Mom, I just LOVE the smell of air!”

“Mom…ya know how Thanksgiving and Christmas and Halloween and Pumpkin Patches are over? That’s called a bummer….right?”

Me: “Ellie, Ellie…Ellie! Honey you need to answer me. It’s not nice to ignore people.” Ellie: “But mom, you tell me to ignore Addison all the time!”

“Mom…I love you and daddy a hundred and more than that!”

Then just this last weekend we decided to take the kids to Disneyland again so the night before we left I said “Girls…where would you want to go tomorrow if you could go ANYWHERE!?” (totally expecting them to yell Disneyland!)
Ellie with a huge grin on her face: “TARGET!!!”
Kenny and I cracked up! El…you make your mom and grandma proud!

While seeing the wicked queen at Disneyland…
Queen (mean and serious voice): “Do you know who I am?”
Ellie (scared and quiet voice): “yes”
Queen: “Do you think I’m beautiful?”
Ellie (apprehensive): “yes”
Queen: “Do you think Snow White is beautiful?”
Ellie barely squeaks out: “yes”
Queen: “WRONG ANSWER!”
Ellie moves in closer to me and Addison’s legs grip me tighter. Then we pose for a picture. They were scared to death! Could NOT get a smile out of Addison. I have to admit that this queen even scared me a little!

We all decided we much prefer this character…

While I’m on the subject of quotes…
A favorite from Kenny:
“Babe, I’m just livin‘ in the real world so that you can float above it.”

And a favorite from MY childhood:
My mom talking to me and my sister Carly: “come on girls…let’s go run some errands.”
Carly: “why do we always have to run ERIN’S and we never get to run any CARLY’S!?”

(Carly & Erin 1983ish)

xoxo, Erin

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Birthdays

02.25.09

Happy B-day Austin!

Just wanted to wish my little bro. Austin a happy birthday…yesterday. (sorry I’m a day late Aust!) Austin is quite simply one of the greatest people ever to grace this world. He is kind to everyone, has a great sense of humor, and is extremely loyal. He is one of those people who is SO good with other people (especially older and younger people which is very telling of his character). He also plays a mean game of double solitaire…even though I can still kick your butt Aust – game on!

A lot of my favorite childhood memories come from hangin‘ out with cute Austin…

Carly (my 21 month younger sister) loved playing dodge ball, soccer, and kick the can while I (forever the girly girl) loved playing house, barbies, dress-ups, and hosting tea parties. Since she wouldn’t play what I wanted to play…Austin quickly became my right hand man. Poor kid didn’t have a chance. ;)

Never to old for a good blanket tent! (at least that’s always been our motto)

Since I was so young when I started dating Kenny, Austin practically grew up with him around and they have always been like brothers. They are SO CLOSE that I often wonder if Kenny married me just to hang out with Austin. It would explain a few things…

Austin is a great Uncle and is adored by the girls at my house…

and by the girl at his house…

and COMPLETELY adored by me. Love you bro! Hope you had a great birthday!

(see more childhood pics with Austin here & Austin with his beautiful bride here)

xoxo, Erin

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Feeling Creative

02.23.09

Easy Scrappin’

Life is busy and it has become more and more of a struggle for me to fit scrapbooking into my schedule. I definitely don’t have the time I once had to spend HOURS on page layouts…picking just the right coordinating papers and embellishments…experimenting with different styles and sketches….running to the store to get just what each page needed and sometimes (when my perfectionist side would come out to play) even starting over on a page when I made a mistake or something looked a little off. Those days are LONG GONE! Now I cherish every second I get to scrapbook (because the seconds are few and far between) and I want to HAUL to get as much done as I possibly can. I’m loving that right now there are so many different ways to record family memories. Thank goodness for blogging! Since my blog is our new family scrapbook, I’m just focusing on my girls’ individual books and any themed books I want to have… a Halloween book to pull out every October, a Christmas book that will include all December pics and a handful of friend/family Christmas cards each year, and any other individual events I want recorded in a book… like this one I just finished of our 10 year anniversary trip to Italy. I used Pebbles Share and Tell binder and page protectors and it made it SO easy! I only scrapped a few main pages and then just slid the rest of the pictures in the 4×6 slots. My journaling was also typed on 4×6 cards and I tossed all of our post cards in them as well. I didn’t agonize over each page…just used a lot of the same supplies, kept it simple and got it done. Definitely the quickest book I’ve ever completed. YEA for having one less project on my to-do list! Thought I’d share these albums/page protectors in case any of you want to use them to make a quick album and have one less project on your to-do list too. :)

**Added bonus: getting it done in time to give to Kenny as part of his Valentine’s Day present.

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

02.20.09

Music randomness

I love blaring my music and singing in the car and I didn’t stop this when I started having babies. I remember once when Austin (my brother) came for a visit and was driving around with me and Ellie in my car (Ellie was 2 at the time). Ellie kept saying “Spiderwebs Spiderwebs Spiderwebs!” Austin thought I was going to turn on Itsy Bitsy Spider or some other kid song when I turned on the song Spiderwebs by No Doubt (second song on my play list) and Ellie and I both started jammin‘ to it. She knew almost every word. Austin got a big kick out of that and it’s still one of her favorite songs.

One of my favorite things about being a mom is the total control you have to influence your own kids. My girls will simply have to rock to Gwen Stefani…and wear a lot of green…and eat a lot of Golden Spoon yogurt…and learn to love their dance classes and pose for yet another picture. They will also have no exposure to country music (ICK!) unless they are forced into listening to it by daddy or grandma (who both lack serious taste in good music…in my humble opinion).

I’m always torn about whether or not I like music on blogs. I like to check out what everyone else is listening to, but I also like to solely concentrate on pictures and words and the music is a big distraction. I usually end up muting any music when I check blogs because I like to give the new post my full attention. I recently added a few songs to my blog just because they are songs the girls and I are particularly enjoying lately. Addison’s favorite song is The Show by Lenka (first song on my play list). At the end of the song the lyrics say, ” I want my money back. I want my money back. I want my money back. Just enjoy the show” Addison’s version: “I want my mommy back. I want my mommy back. I want my mommy back. Just enjoy the show…” Classic! Viewing the world from the eyes of a two year old. So stinkin‘ cute – I had to get it on film.

**push pause on my play list to hear Addison’s version of The Show :)

xoxo, Erin

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Ellie and Addison

02.16.09

LOVE-ly weekend

I’ve never made sugar cookies before (gasp!) but I love eating them and I knew my girls would love decorating them so when my cute friend Josie gave us her mom’s ‘to die for’ recipe (Thanks Josie!) I figured it was time to try. Sad to say that Kenny and Ellie ended up actually making the cookies. I got bored with it and started taking pictures and cleaning instead. :) They did turn out delicious and I’m sure I’ve gained a few pounds this weekend to prove it!

It was a fun weekend full of…

cookie decorating

card making

fondue with friends

eating

surprises on the doorstep

rain rain rain

more eating

movies

exercising

and a little more eating

Hope you all had a LOVE-ly weekend as well!

p.s. Heart my conversation hearts? (previous post) You can make them here.

xoxo, Erin

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Holidays

02.13.09

Happy Valentine’s Day

To all of you!

AND to my Valentine-

BABE – I love you more than…

{you are SOOOOO loved!}

Love, me

xoxo, Erin

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Good Things

02.10.09

Good Things

Yesterday was the best day. We woke up to POURING rain – I’m talking torrential downpour. It was dark, wet, windy and cold. I was so not in the mood to bundle the girls up in rain gear and send Ellie to preschool. (Stuck indoors with hyper-active children… I remember all to well from teaching school what rainy days are like!) Plus I wasn’t in the mood to take off my pajamas. So I didn’t. I kept Ellie with me and the three of us stayed home. All day. We never left the house. Usually this isn’t possible with my little ones because they get stir crazy and start to drive ME crazy, but for some reason the stars aligned and everyone was happy and in the mood to be home. We watched the rain (so did Ellie’s “friends”), made Valentine cards, watched a movie together (Return to Neverland), and then the girls played together while I cleaned, did laundry and a little scrapbooking. Kenny came home from work that evening and we all looked just like we did when he left. It was a perfect pajama day and I went to bed that night feeling very lucky to have spent such a fun day at home with my girls.

Spring sandals are in! I love Target sandals for my girls. They are so cute and so cheap! AND how cute are these shirts for $5 each. Love them! I’m still actually debating if Target is really a good thing since I go there for paper plates, cereal and toilet paper and leave with new clothes and shoes for the girls, a pair of earrings, new scrapbook supplies, seasonal home decor, organizing bins, and ANOTHER pair of pajama bottoms. We have a love/hate relationship with Target at our house. I (the buyer of all things too cute to pass up) love it. Kenny (the family financial planner) hates it. Don’t worry babe. Target just may have a surprise or two for you as well.

The sound of popcorn popping. Great sound. Means the girls are in bed and it’s time to sit down, pull out my laptop, turn on the tv, and chill with Kenny.

Daddy’s home from work!

The smile on Ellie’s face when I pick her up at pre-school.

Listening to Addison playing pretend. Especially when she puts all of her little “friends” in time-out. Clearly she has spent a great deal of time there herself.

LOVE LOVE LOVE Golden Spoon yogurt. A hangout I frequent often. I banned the place for awhile after my Coach sunglasses were stolen there. I left them on the counter, stepped outside to check on my girls, and when I came back they were gone. They were an anniversary present from Kenny and I was SO mad. But…sunglasses have been replaced and I couldn’t stay away from Golden Spoon for long. The place calls my name. (New York Cheesecake is to die for!)

So we’ve had a bit of an obsession at our house. The show: Yo Gabba Gabba. The plot: there is none. The music: terrible. The characters: hideously strange animal/alien things. The host: strange, skinny black man in awful orange wig. The problem with all of this (aside from the obvious): my girls love it! This show is so bad I never know whether to laugh or cry when it’s on! It came on once at the end of a Little Bear we had recorded and Addison fell IN LOVE with the characters. She has assigned us all one to be…she is Toodee (the blue cat/dragon), Ellie is Foofa (the pink flower thing), Kenny is Muno (the one-eyed red guy), I’m Brobee (the green one “because mommy loves green”), and Dayna – my sister-in-law is Plex (the yellow robot). Addison worships Dayna. Are these names for real? Anyway – the show is awful but I get the biggest kick out of seeing my girls when it’s on. They are GLUED to the TV or they are up dancing along with the weirdos. So…because Addison learned to go potty and Ellie was such a good helper my cute mom mailed them their own Toodee and Foofa dolls. They were ecstatic. (thanks mom!) Guess I’m stuck being Brobee and watching this strange show a little longer…

Girls…these are vegetables. And a blue fruit we don’t usually eat. I’m TRYING to feed my girls more veggies. It’s not going well so far… Addison exclaims “pee-yew stinky diaper!” every time she sees them on her plate (that’s what she says anytime she doesn’t like something). Oh well. I feel good about making an attempt and plan on being persistent. I don’t scare that easily.

The current edition of CK (my fav scrapbook magazine). First of all my idol Becky Higgins is on the front – AND get this… it’s a special organization issue.
I was beyond giddy when this came in the mail!

Along with Addison’s Gabba Gabba obsession she is also in love with this outfit. This green shirt and white skirt are all she wants to wear anymore. Has to put it on first thing in the morning…then if I have the strength… I fight her to get other clothes on to leave the house. Then the second we’re home again the outfit goes right back on. Most days (if it’s warm enough) I just let her wear it. She has had this on everyday for the last month. I’m so sick of this outfit! I have to wash it at night when she’s asleep. Good thing? Not really right now, but I’ll save this outfit and I’m quite sure that someday I’ll look back on it as a good thing.

So I love zoning out and letting my mind wander. Something about the random randomness of my thoughts always makes me happy. I tend to zone out at various times throughout the day. (Often happens whenever Kenny starts a discussion including words like taxes, finance, or bills) Some may call this being spacey, but I like to think my mind is extremely complex and always needs to be in motion. :) This happens whenever I’m on the treadmill, which is why I like treadmills so much. A few random thoughts during this morning’s jog…

Is today only Tuesday? ….I have GOT to call and find out what I need to do to get Ellie registered for Kindergarten ….wait – today is Koni’s b-day! Crap. Forgot to send a card. Why didn’t I write that on my to-do list? Oh yeah, I did. I just didn’t read my to-do list….I wish I looked like Natalie Portman….thank goodness for this song (So What by Pink) because it’s the only thing keeping my feet moving right now….I need new gym shoes….is American Idol on tonight?….I should wash sheets today….my new camera is probably too big to carry around with me everywhere….wish I knew how to wink….why am I thinking about winking?….love it when my mind wanders….I should put this as a good thing on my blog.

xoxo, Erin

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Fun with Friends

02.07.09

It all started with this

So the other day my friend Malea posted this lovely Jetette Review group picture on Facebook. (“Jetettes” is the name of the dance team I was on in High School) Everyone was tagged in the photo and we were all having a lot of fun chatting on-line back and forth… laughing about this picture and the good ol‘ days of dancing together. We were such a close group of girls and always had a blast together. I mentioned how great it would be to see everyone again and then Lindsay had a fabulous idea. The current Jetettes are having their review (end of the year performance) in March. What if we all head to St. George and get together to catch up and then go to the review? Next thing I knew we were planning our first ever Jetette Reunion! I’m so freakin‘ excited for this!!! Some of these girls I have stayed in touch with, but a lot of them I haven’t seen in years! Everyone is booking plane tickets and making plans for the party! We’re meeting at my mom’s house for dinner, a slide show, game and plenty of time to catch up, and then heading to the review. Our drill team advisor is even going to stop by and is reserving us seats at the review. I can’t wait to see everyone again! I have so many fun memories of all of our practices, competitions, half-time performances, bus trips and get-togethers. I’m counting down to our reunion. We are going to party like it’s 1994!!!

Thought I’d post a few pictures of us that year together…

Side note*** Nice that we aren’t dancing in any of my pictures (I think we spent more time messing around). AND nice that my pictures are all grotesquely cropped because they are from my old scrapbooks (why did we do that?).

xoxo, Erin

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Addison

02.05.09

Update

This is a random picture I took sometime in December. I happened to have my camera upstairs and caught Addison hugging Ellie goodnight while Ellie was still brushing her teeth. Addie is pretty adamant about hugging and kissing everyone several times before bedtime. She, like her sister, is a master staller.

***Update on the potty training. It’s done. She’s potty trained and was after day one. I don’t know WHAT I did to deserve this but it was so easy with Addison. We haven’t even had an accident! It was like once she got over the fear of going the first time it was no big deal. She does everything herself (on the big potty) like she’s been doing if for years. I’ve been in a state of shock! I don’t know if it’s because I waited longer with her and she was just ready, because she sees Ellie doing it all the time, because I knew better what I was doing, because she doesn’t like messes and keeps saying “I can’t go potty on Cinderella!” (Cinderella panties), or if it’s because she has more of an independent personality. My real theory is that someone up above felt like Addison has given me enough stress in her little lifetime and I deserved a break. :) Whatever the reason, I don’t care. She’s potty trained and I didn’t even have to break out the Resolve. Life is good.

xoxo, Erin

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Ramblings

02.03.09

25 Random things about me

(This is a tag going around onfacebook right now. Kind of fun. I figured I’d put it on my blog since I took the time to do it. **Do not at all feel like you need to take the time to read it!)1) I never do tags. I decided to do this one (my first!) because I’ve had so much fun reading random things about so many friends. :)
2) I love to organize. Organizing cupboards, closets, drawers, etc. makes me calm and happy. It’s how I de-stress.
3) I eat a turkey sandwich for lunch almost every day and have for over ten years.

4) I don’t think I’m high maintenance, but my family would disagree!
5) I really miss dancing. In my dreams I am a dancer on So You Think You Can Dance (love that show!)
6) I feel like I’m always cleaning because well…I’m always cleaning.
7) Right now I’m reading the book 1-2-3 Magic (effective discipline for children 2-12) because of my lovely little 2 year old.
8) I hate my thighs and have since I was little. When I was in Jr. High I bought a Thigh Master and exercised with it every night. One night I was workin’ it so hard that it broke. Car and I laughed our heads off!
9) I’m extremely indecisive. I like to have approval for most of my decisions and usually turn to my mom and sister for this. I used to turn to Kenny too, but he’s had it with me and my inability to DECIDE.
10) I LOVE to take pictures and just got a new camera (my first SLR). I also just signed up for a photography class to learn how to use my new camera. Can’t wait!
11) At this point in my life I’m really happy to not have a baby.
12) I have a love affair with the color green. Green laptop, green ipod, WAY too many green shirts.
13) I love driving fast. My family would say I’m a bad driver, but my girls disagree. Ellie once said “mom…I love that when you drive WE are the ones passing all of the cars!” :)
14) I love to exercise and have thought about someday teaching aerobics. I think I could handle the cardio, but my inability to lift anything over 5 lbs. keeps me from pursuing this!
15) I think The Office is hilarious.
16) I wish I had more time for scrapbooking.
17) I love to decorate and am annoyed right now that my house is pretty much done. Time for a bigger house so I can continue to shop for that perfect item to go in that perfect spot!
18) I have been in love with my husband since I was 15 years old. Even during times when we were dating and (to quote Ross from Friends) “on a break” I still loved him.
19) I’m thrilled to have Disneyland season passes this year.
20) Sometimes I speak in a language that only Kenny and I can understand. I tend to mix up words when I’m trying to articulate my thoughts. Kenny gets a real kick out of this.
21) I hate cooking. I’d rather be doing anything else…scrubbing toilets…you name it.
22) The first year I was a stay at home mom I had a hard time and really missed teaching school. Now I LOVE staying home with my girls.
23) I wish so badly I lived closer to my family. In a perfect world I would still live in San Diego (because I love living here), but St. George, UT would be 10 minutes away.
24) I’m really into sauteed mushrooms right now.
25) I think I have the best girlfriends ever (some in San Diego, some in Utah, and some in Virginia) and I love getting together with them!

xoxo, Erin

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