No sleep

You ever have those nights when your brain just won't turn off?  I have been suffering with many of those nights lately.  I just can't seem to fall asleep until a ridiculous hour in the morning.  So you get the pleasure of staying up with me tonight!  : )

I read last week that if you can't fall asleep then you need to get out of bed and do something.  Nothing terribly active and certainly don't eat, but something to take your mind off trying to get to sleep.  For the last week or so I have just laid in bed listening to Jeff snore (hope he doesn't read this) and willing myself to sleep.  It hasn't really worked all that well so I decided that typing up a little blog might help.

I don't really know what I am thinking about when I lay down.  I think I do the grocery list, my errand list, I work on some homework and then fuss about trying to sleep.  Jeff falls asleep so fast - like 30 seconds fast - I envy him.  Even when I am dead tired I don't think I conk out that fast.  

Well I am off to read a few emails and then try it again.  Wish me luck!!

My Diva!

McKayla got her haircut today.  Let me just tell you....DIVA!!  A few months back her friend Kaitlin decided to grow out her bangs so, what should happen?  McKayla wanted to grow out her bangs too.  Then after that the other neighbor girl, Sydney wanted to do it too.  Well guess what, Sydney and Kaitlin have shorter hair than Kayla does and a lot less of it too!  It was not fun but we let her do it.  The bangs finally reached her chin this month and I said I was chopping it off so that we would not have to fight everyday about the hair style for the day.  So here she is....Miss Nebraska Princess....

I just love it!  I can't wait to wash it and see if her curls come back some.  When we saw it on the floor, there were six inch strands and they all had some curl to it.  Remember when she had those beautiful big curls as a toddler?  I sure do miss those.

Paint and my vacation

I have noticed that each time we move - and we have moved a lot! - that it takes me about a year before I start to decorate or make changes.  Well, here we are one year later (can you believe it!) and we are going to paint the interior of the house.  We found a good painter through some friends and he is helping us pick out some colors now.  The nice thing about construction in Nebraska is that it is really good quality, but what the house has in quality the builders cut back in other areas.  The walls are painted a nice color but the paint is flat and it was just applied to the walls with no base.  Every finger print, every water splash or dirt mark shows.  It looks like we have lived here for 10 years with all the scuff marks and handprints.  So, Monday we paint!  Yippeee!  Let's hope I like the color better than what we did in the bathroom a few months ago.....eeeeeewwwwww!

As for my vacation, well, Ian is in California for two weeks and while I do miss him it is so quiet with only one kid in the house.  With no one to antagonize the other and no arguments about what show to watch or who touched who first it is peaceful.  : )  I got about a million calls from him yesterday - I gave him a spare cell phone.  Not a good choice apparently since he called me at 11:30pm last night!  Last night he went to the Galaxy soccer game and watched Beckham, which he says was amazing.  Today he is going to the movies with his uncle and then tonight he is off to his dad's house.  I think he will have a good time but it is hard to keep a pre-teen entertained these days.  Better them than me!!!

I am off to enjoy my part time freedom, enjoy a coffee, take the little girl shopping and pick out some more paint!  Wish me luck!

The Zoo

We went to the zoo on Sunday.  We have not been in quite a while...maybe last November.  We have a family pass, why you ask would we go to the zoo that much? Because it is SO cool!  We have one of the best zoos in the country.  The exhibits are just awesome.  Just ask Krittiya!

This May the zoo opened its newest exhibit, the Butterfly dome.  When you walk in the building you have to wait for an attendant to open the sealed doors for you.  First you walk into a small room the size of an elevator that seals you inside the exhibit so that no butterflies escape.  After the first door is sealed the other set of doors open and you can walk out to the jungle of exotic plants and hundreds of butterflies flying around your head.  All the butterflies in the exhibit come from other parts of the world, there are no indigenous specimens just foreigners.  So that makes it even more special.  I had one in my hair and they kept trying to land on Ian's red hat.  These are HUGE butterflies some the size of a playing card.  Just crazy!

We just love going for a few hours to see the new babies or revisit an exhibit we haven't seen in a while.  The zoo is great about bringing in new species and trying out new exhibits to keep us happy.  With Rosenblatt closing - yes we are sad about it - the zoo has bought the property and will expand in the next coming years.  It is sad to lose the stadium but I am happy the zoo is taking over the property instead of another developer.  I cannot wait to see what new animals they will bring to us.

Enjoy the photos!!!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th everyone!  What are you doing today?  We are going to relax, enjoy our unseasonably cool weather and hang out with some friends.  Two of my favorite things in Omaha: we can shoot off fireworks and I mean the really cool kind that shoot up into the sky and chasing lightening bugs.  And we get to both of those things tonight!  There is some apple pie to eat too.  Very American I think.

We hope that everyone has a fabulous day spending time with your families.  Go eat, drink, be merry and be safe!  Happy 4th of July!!  

A few more pix

I felt like posting a few more photos from our trip today.  Jeff and I never get to be in the same picture so this is a rare event that we have more than one picture with both of us in it!

This photo here is of our last dinner on the island.  Jeff, being the wonderful research guy he is, found us a fabulous restaurant right on the water.  The food was fantastic!  This is where I tried the raw fish.  I had a ceviche with Wahoo (sort of like Mahi Mahi) and a seared yellow tune with ginger sesame sauce...yum!  My dad had lobster and shrimp that was drowning in cream and I had some mango shrimp and some veggies.  Why am I writing about food?  Because you all have had one meal in your life that was just to die for and this was that meal.  

And here are some pix of all of us and the three siblings.  Not the best photo in the world but we don't get together all that often so any picture of the three of us is a good one!

We're Home Mon!

We're home from the Cayman Islands!  Didn't know we were going?  Ooops, we sort of got busy and I think I forgot to mention it.  But here we are home at last and fairly well rested.

Kirbi, Jnet, Gigi, Jamie and Pa

It was  a great trip!  I mean how many times do you get to watch one of your beautiful nieces get her white coat from medical school.  We are so extremely proud of her.  We are so extremely proud of all of them.  All the girls went, except for Ashli who got to see Chelsi a few weeks back while she and Shelby were on a cruise.  Oh and by the way, I am going to be a great aunt....Ashli and Shelby are pregnant!!  If you are wondering, which one is Ashli?  second oldest and Chelsi is the third oldest.  Quick catch up...Britt - the oldest - is managing the garden department at Home Depot in Fresno, she loves the plants.  I think I will have her come out and do some landscaping.  Ashli is next and married Shelby last May and is now going through pharmacy school and two months pregnant.  Chelsi is in the Grand Caymans finishing up medical school and will do her rotations back her in the states this fall.  Next is Kinsi who is a sophomore this fall at ASU and will go into dentistry school when she graduates.  Last but not least are the triplets who are going to be juniors this fall in high school.  Got it?  Good, now back to my trip....

(From left to right: Kirbi, Courtni, Kinsi, Britt, Chelsi and Abbi)

The trip was wonderful, just Jeff and I.  We haven't been away since our honeymoon almost seven years ago.  We went snorkeling, yep I did - and some of you know I am afraid of the ocean.  I ate sushi, yep I did, again afraid of the sushi.  We seemed to eat a lot actually and spent a lot of time at the beach outside of our hotel.  While snorkeling I saw a SHARK!!  It was so cool.  I thought it was normal and it didn't bother me until my sister said that's not NORMAL!  Oh well, I still have my legs.  We also went to sting ray bay.  My niece, Chelsi, who was a wonderful tour guide, hooked us up with this woman who owned her own boat tour company.  We were able to put all of us on one boat and didn't have to share!  We went out late in the afternoon and by the time we got to the bay all the tour boats were gone for the day.  So, not only did we have a boat to ourselves we have the rays to ourselves as well.  They were so awesome!  After a little squealing and nervousness, everyone got into the water and played with the gentle animals.  After that we took a quick ride over to a reef and did some snorkeling. Captain Charlie then gave us a real treat and put up the sails on the boat and gave us a sunset sail.  Such a great day!  Probably one of the best days of my life, I am still smiling.

Sting Ray Bay and snorkeling on the reef

Not only did we have a great time, but my wonderful husband bought me a completely waterproof camera for my birthday and we used it constantly.  I have some fabulous photos to boot!