How to do Vegas in 48 hours and 150 bucks.

As has been mentioned, we up and decided to hit the road and go to Vegas.  Our cutie friend was playing a gig there, we have other cutie friends who live there and let us stay, AND we had an anniversary that needed to be celebrated.  What we didn't have a lot of was time or money.  So, we snuck in a mid week get away thanks to wonderful grandparents and Auntie Julie, willing to watch the kids and good friends opening up their home.  Be forewarned, there are a lot of pictures in this post.  But, how the heck am I s'posed to to a travelogue and fill you in without said pictures?  I'll try to be concise and not to wordy, but  ::snort:: we know THAT is, for lack of a better term...IMPOSSIBLE.

With no further ado, I give you....Traveling with the VP's.

Jere was required to drive, 'cause I cannot stay awake to save my life these days.  We left around 10:30 Wednesday morning. Driving through the desert and sagebrush.

But there were some pretty mountains, and lovely wildflowers that I didn't choose to show you.  All in all it was a quick, easy drive, minus the HOUR we sat waiting to get over the damn dam.  (Oh really, I'm just to clever) I will say, it was nice to nap, to laugh with Jere about embarrassing admissions of our past, talk, listen to music and just ponder. We arrived just after 5:00, with barely enough time to put on some refresher makeup, iron my clothes and look presentable.

After a delish dinner at Panera (why the poody doo don't we have this in AZ, 'cause YUM!) we headed over to the concert site.  A random highschool somewhere on the outskirts of Vegas.  Which by the way, if you didn't know, Vegas is just one giant freeway.

Me, Jer, Kaitlyn and "THE" Jordan Bluthe

Because he can, that's why.        We waited for about 15 minutes and then the concert of goodness began.  For reals people, if you have never heard of Barrage before, look them up.  Then, if you EVER get a chance, GO.AND.SEE them.  They're amazing.

This pic was taken when Taylor did his concert here in AZ.  Sorry, didn't know I wasn't s'posed to take pics.  He's the boy in the vest.

The concert was of course FABULOUS! Taylor really is retardedly talented, as is everyone in his cast.  It was so much fun to see again, AND to just spend time with our rockstar friend.  Never you mind how totally fat I look in these pics.  Note to self, do not wear that shirt again.

Jer, Taylor the Latte Boy and Moi

(Mom, this is not negative self talk, just simply the truth as witnessed by me and the world.  I promise!)

After the show, Jordan, the newly minted Las Vegan was designated to drive us around to find somewhere to eat.  He chose "Raising Cane's" 'cause they had really good chicken strips.  And truly, they were really good.  We sat and talked and laughed and laughed for a long time.  Only leaving because we'd kept them open a 1/2 hour past closing.  We ended up at Taylors hotel room and laughed a whole lot more.  Finally at 1:30 we headed for home and some sleep.  I'm proud to report that I, Allyson, slept until 10:00 a.m.  If you know nothing of me, know this....I.NEVER.DO.THAT! Pre or post kids, I am just not really capable of sleeping late.  So yeah, we were definitely on VACAY!

Met up randomly with Jers cousin Aaron and his daughter, who were visiting from Illinois.  The cute older couple is Jers Aunts sister and her husband who are Vegas locals.  We had lunch at The Orleans.  It was ok, but the company was grand.  Do you LOVE how it looks like I'm totally wearing a showgirl headpiece.  Ah yah, that's right!  You know I could rock the outfit, right?

After parting ways with them we headed over to the M&M factory to get Julie a gift and then to find tickets to Lion King.  Sadly, Lion King was sold out, which made Jere pout.  So, then we hung out at the New York New York for awhile so I could fulfill my need to gamble, and by gamble I mean, play slot machines.  I'm proud to report that I put in a buck and almost instantly won $26.00 big ones.  And as that was a good gain, I cashed out, 'cause I'm just that hard core.  We wandered over to a couple other slots, Jer put in 5 bucks and won 10, cashed out and we collected our cash and went for a walk.  Upstairs we found this gem of a place.

This totally awesome Lady Liberty made entirely out of jelly beans.  All kinds of AWESOME!

But right behind the innocence of "the lady" is all kinds of kinky.  Right there in the entry to the freaking second floor of the hotel.  And so, I present you with:

Now THAT is sexy, I dare say SEXAY, No?

Seriously, what is wrong with people?

Do NOT be alarmed by the FIVE POUND gummy bear that you could purchase.  No, I kid not, FIVE POUNDS of gummy glory.  I know, I sort of wanted to barf too, but at least I look "hawt".  SNORT!

And then there were these "Gems".  Do click on the one where he's holding the mints, and put your lightning rod up as you do it.  WOW!

When we'd had our fill of the "devils" candy store, we headed for a quick potty stop and then maybe a touch more slotting.

Whilst Jer was stuck on the can, I won another 12.50, which we played on for a good 20 minutes more, on several different machines.  But in the end....

Damn that Hugh Hefner and his penny slot ho's.  After winning a "jackpot" of $10.00 we were reduced to a measley .15 cents.  And with that, we "cashed out" and went on our merry way.

Next we picked up Taylor from his "off the strip" hotel and headed back to Jordan and Kaitlyns for a DELICIOUS dinner that they'd whipped up for us.  We had such a nice time visiting and laughing.  Then K had to take J off to the airport, as he was heading to AZ for the weekend.  While they were out, we all giggled and looked through their dvd's and found their wedding video.  We had a grand time watching that.  Taylor was so sad he hadn't been able to be at their reception, so this was second best.  FINALLY at 10:00 we headed out for the strip to visit the Bellagio.  (May the chorus of angels sing now)

First we stopped for a quick look at Paris.  For some reason, Jere has an undying passion for Paris, and dreams of going there some day.  This is probably as close as we'll ever get.

Next, two fountain shows at the Bellagio.  A-May-ZING!  It was so worth going, just for that.  Well that, and the people watching...priceless!

Isn't Jere adorable?  Well, I think so.  He's all kinds of hot.

Next stop, worlds most amazing crepes (I ADORE crepes) inside the Bellagio.  (Thank goodness for our FAT $30.00 slot winnings, so we could enjoy said crepes and their ridiculous priciness.  Yeah, 20 bucks later we had 2 crepes. Whatev)  I'd show you the pics of me in my ecstacy, but they were hideously scarey and not good for public viewing.  Needless to say, the crepes were devine and the people watching was a true treasure trove of freak shows.  I mean really, who says it's ok to EVER dress like that.  I saw bums in all their glory, bigger, scarier boobs than I ever thought possible, people literally falling down drunk, cute old couples, wierd hippy peeps and P-lenty of hos.  But man, was it fun!  We made up stories about the people we were seeing, which makes it even more enjoyable.  Try it some time.

I WISH I could do the atrium justice.  The visual beauty, the smell, the amazingness of it all.  Suffice it to say, everything in there was flowers, and it was gorgeous and stunning in every way.  Alls I'm saying is, when I hit the mother load, and I ever go back to Vegas, I would ONLY bother to stay at the Bellagio.  Nothing else compares, I'm pretty sure.

Once finished with that we checked out some shops and then took a mini hike around the building, back up to our car.  By this time it was again, VERY late.  So, we took Taylor back to his castle and headed home.  By 2:00 a.m. we were asleep and then at 6:00 the hideous alarm sounded.

Isn't "butt freaking tired" so attractive on me.  We were such rockstars...we actually got in the car by 7:03 a.m. and were officially on the road by about 7:15.

We got our egg mcmuffins and all was well with the world.

A view of Lake Mead just before we got near the dam.  Good news, not a soul on the dam that early in the morning on a Friday.  We flew right on over it, only to be held up by blasting on the other side.  But, nothing so bad that we couldn't make good time.  I won't lie, I slept most of the way home, on and off.  I was too freaking exhausted to function.  I was so impressed with jere and his ability to stay awake and drive us safely home.  It was nice to have the quiet alone time, even if we didn't solve the worlds problems, we still got to just "be."

We drove into town and I literally dropped him off for his class and went to pick up the kids.  Maggie seemed less than impressed to see me, while Max was all a twitter with excitement.  Essentially he wouldn't let me put him down for a good 20 minutes.  As it turns out, Maggie did admit later that she missed us. HA, I KNEW it!

I'm soooo thankful to my Mom and Dad and to Julie for their help in making this possible.  It makes it so much easier to travel and enjoy ourselves knowing that our children are safe and well taken care of.  And a BIG thanks to Jordan and Kaitlyn for opening their home up and being so hospitable.  And thanks to Taylor for just.being.YOU!

All in all it was a delightful little trip that I'm so thankful we got to take.  And to Jer, thanks for making it 8 years, here is to 50 more.  Love you.

Showgirls and strip walks,

Allyson

I'm THE Winner!

This is the story all about how my life got turned upsi....Oh wait,
I'm totally NOT the Fresh Prince of Bel Air here.  Just got a little confused.  Anyway..the story of how I won a blog giveaway.


There was this one day that I was just trolling about the blogosphere, picking random things to read.  I'd recently joined "SITS" (look into it, totally cool) and noticed that there was a link or something to all the blogs doing giveaways. You know what the details are WAY foggy, and frankly, I hardly remember anymore.  Point is, I went there, I clicked on a few of the giveaways and I happened to go to this girls blog.  It was her first giveaway and she was giving away a number of different things.  So, I gamely wrote a comment, saying I'd take the stroller please and left it at that.  I mean for realsies, I NEVER win anything, so I didn't even give it a second thought.  In fact, I completely forgot I even did it.  Thank goodness Jennie commented on my post and told me I'd won, or I'd never have known to go back to hers and see that she'd written a post stating I'd WON!

Anywhozle, it was a total shock and a super fun surprise.  I'm still waiting for it to arrive, and when I do, I'll be sure to take a proper pic with my cute son in it.  In the meantime, it looks like this.

I chose grey, it seemed the most neutral at the time.  Now that I'm thinking of it, I failed, and should have chosen orange, since it's Jers favorite color.  Oh well...my bad.

So there you have it, the quick little story on how I came to be a giveaway winner.  You just never know people, you might as well enter.

Thanks Jennie for having the giveaway.  You all can click on the link (and by link I mean, my blog title (I'm THE winner).  Because I'm totally retarded and that is how it's linked.  Seriously, someone teach me how to properly link STAT!) and check out her blog if you want.

Wheels and whimsy,

Allyson

P.S. I know you're all totally just "dying" to hear about my Vegas trip and Easter and stuff.  Never fret, it is on it's way.  That could be tomorrow, or next month, we'll just see how I do in the next couple of days.

Post it Note Tuesday

Good times and good friends,

Allyson

To answer your questions....

Right.  So here's the deal, I actually have so many little things to talk about, pictures to show that I'm overwhelmed. Therefore, I am just going to answer a couple of questions that have been posed by concerned readers.  Because you know, that's entertaining...right?

1.  Several of you were RATHER concerned with the well being of my couch and my jeans after the tragic nail polish remove incident. (here is where I'd put a link, if I were cool enough to know how to do that).

           ANSWER:  All is well in Zion.  No fading or damage is visible anywhere.  I know, right?  It's a festivus miracle!

2.  Some wanted to know what my beef with local highschools and their plays is.

            ANSWER:  They seem to be utterly incapable of putting on a show without taking up 3 ENTIRE months with practice EVERY day.  I mean seriously, with that much practice, there should be some better shows put on.  UGH!  When this occurrs, my students generally "need to take a break" because they're lesson time is compromised or they're just to busy, or otherwise.  While I'm happy for them to be doing a show...losing that income for that long sort of HURTS!

3.  Concern over the car drama.

         ANSWER:  You'll be pleased to note that everything has been fixed and we're back in action.  Many thanks to Molly for her suggestion on where to go.  It was a quick and easy fix and not to painful on the wallett.

4.  Many suggest I should get video of Maggie in all her songwriting glory.  To this I reply, I WISH I could.  This tragically is a girl who will NOT perform for the camera or for people if she thinks they're watching her.  She has already told us she has NO interest in doing a dance recital or performing in any talent shows at  Greer.  So tragic really.  Oh, and the other thing, I am link, blog, video retarded and can NOT figure out how to properly upload videos.  It never works for me.  Trust me, I have had a couple to share in the past.


With that said, in case I don't get back to you until Friday, never fear.  Jer and I are off to an impromptu trip to Vegas for our anniversary (IT WAS SUNDAY...8 years thank you very much) and to see our rockstar friend Taylor perform.  We're super excited!  Now, if only I could find my blasted battery charger for the camera, then there would be photographic proof!


Love and Marriage,

Allyson

Waving the White Flag.....I Surrender

You guys, I can't win.  I realize that this is a futile fight.  Let me lay out a little scenario from yesterday afternoon.

Maggie wanted her toenails painted..."PINK"!  So, I got out the polish remover and cotton balls.  I snuggled her up on my lap, while I sat on the couch.  I got her toes all cleaned, and then carefully replaced the lid of the remover and set it next to me on the couch.  Because she was all to interested in unscrewing it, and I didn't want THAT to happen, and I didn't want to put it on my wood table.  So, I painted up her toes, she was so delightful and happy.  She kept reprimanding Max, and reminding him "Not to mess up her polish."  After a bit of time had passed, she got down, and was playing.  Max was toodling around doing his thing, and if you MUST know, I was watching "Biggest Loser".  When I began to notice a distinctly wet feeling on my butt.  My thought was, what the heck is that?  Oh, one of their stupid sippys has tipped (I'd completely forgotten about the rogue bottle of remover) or something.  But, on checking the sippy next to me, it had NOT tipped, which in that moment brought back the memory of the bottle.  I jumped up as fast as I could, and here is the honest truth..."I DID NOT SWEAR! 

I held my breath, I let out a very exasperated sigh, I clenched my lips together and in my head I said S-H-I-T a LOT!  But, outwardly, not even a dang it.  But, obviously I was ticked.  And Maggie, being ever so observant said, "What Mommy?  Why you angry?"  I said,  "UGH, this stupid bottle of polish remover spilled all over."  To which she replied, "We don't say stupid, that's not a good word."  Duly noted, miss smart mouth.  Anyway, I was freaking out about having a LOAD of acetone all over my couch cushion and my BUTT, and began trying to clean it up.  Maggie quietly took this all in, asked again why I was upset.  I told her again, I wasn't happy about the bottle spilling.  To which she replied:

"That's a BIG dammit."

I said, "yep it is, but you DON'T say that word." 
She said:  Yeah, we don't say dammit.

I can't freaking win!!


But to counteract this news, I do have a delightful new song she "composed" today.

I was in my bathroom getting ready, while she sat at the piano and played and sang this little ditty.  I was quick thinking enough to write down these gem of lyrics, because hey, this could BE something.  So, for your pleasure..



"I can't believe it." (Repeated at LEAST 7 times in a row)
How much I love you (repeated another 7 times)
I Need
I need to hug you.
I need to love you (repeated 5 times)
I can't believe it (repeat 2 times)
How much I need to love you my friend
How much i need to love you my friend!

Which then morphed into her la la la'ing the abc's tune, which in turn became "how much is that doggie in the window", which finally ended at Wheels on the bus.  And a final...
"I can't believe it, how much I love you."

There was some definite vibrato moments, and the piano playing was stellar!

When she was completely finished, she turned to Max and asked; "Did you like my song Maxi?"  When he didn't give her an affirmative answer, she yelled to me..
"Mommy, Mommy, did you like that song?"

What waas there to say but....I LOVED THAT SONG THE MOST!  It was beautiful!

She was happy.

So was I.


Sailors and virtuosos,

Allyson

We Call Her Magalicious!

Here's the deal...for all the naughty and SASSY that is Maggie, she is also SUPER adorable, sweet, loving and funny.  I got to thinking about this, and how it seems that all i ever report is her potty mouth, sassing back, or "bad" things.  And that just didn't seem right.  Don't get me wrong, she has the SASS in spades, but she's also got the sweet, I often have to remind myself that she really is only 2.  So, I've compiled a short list of "moments" from the last week to show her funny and sweet side as well.

Just look at that happy little face, what is not to love?


For starters, she is the BEST little Mommy to her babies. And her "babies" can be anything, a dolly, a pony, a random cell phone, the air, or my personal favorite...her toothbrush.  You've never seen anything as sweet as maggie cradling her toothbrush in her arms, singing it songs and whispering sweet words of love in it's "ear."  She pats them, burps them, wraps them in blankets and puts them down for naps.  She's sure to tell us to be quiet, or be careful when her baby is nappiing or sad.

The other day I asked her to do cleanup in the family room.  She was holding a baby doll in her arms at the time.  And this is what I overheard...(in the sweetest high voice mind you)
"You want to help me pick up baby?  Help pick up baby?"
PAUSE
"You don't say no to Mommy."

HA!  At least she hears me, right?

Yesterday she was wandering past me in the kitchen. I asked what she was doing.
"I'm having a meeting today?"
       "Why?"
"Oh for my friends, to go to a movie wif me."


Her understanding of things and certain concepts never ceases to amaze me.  The other day we were walking down the street on a little stroll and she saw a car that looked a little like Aunty Julies.
"Mommy is that Auntie Julies car?"
            "No, but it looks a little bit like it."
"Yeah, it's green-ISH."

Who says ISH and gets it?  The next day while riding in the car she was complaining that her finger was really hurting her and she needed a bandaid.  When I asked what was wrong with it, she said, "Look at it, it's all red-ish."

On another walk, we picked some purple flowers from a tree.  As she was smelling it, she wrinkled her nose and said..
"This smells like sour cream."

She has been quite obsessed with "barfing" ever since she had her little barf incident last month.  So now, whenever she starts to cough hard, or does  a big burp, she says, "I'm gonna barf."  But the other day, I was lifting her up to wash her hands, and apparently my hands were a little to much on her tummy.  When I put her down she said:
"Mommy, you were barfing me."  I love her use of barf!  Cracks me up.


She sings constantly,and lately they've taken on a bit of an Easter Theme.  After we went and saw the Easter Pageant, she's been very concerned that "there were a lot of bad people and they hurt Jesus."  So, as we were driving down the road, I was serenaded with this lovely song:

"Jesus is bleeeeeding, and I hit him in the mouth.  He is bleeding and it hurt so much.  I hit him in the mouth."

"Hey Mommy, you like that song?"
"you bet Maggie, I like all songs you sing."

Yesterday, she spent the morning telling me that she was a "pretty pretty princess."  Which, whilst true, makes me a little  nervous.  Someone is gonna have to be knocked down a peg or two, so she'll actually have soome friends. ahahahaha

And for whatever reason, she has decided that the worst thing she can say to us, like when she's REALLY angry is that she is going to throw us away. "I will not be your friend, I will frow you in the garbage."  Don't know where that came from?

And along those lines, she generally says, "I am angry of you." 
One day Brooklyn said: "Maggie are you happy?"
"NO, I'm GRUMPY."  "I'n angry of my Mommy."  "I'm angry because she won't buckle me."

At least she knows her feelings and how to express them.


I love the way she says  Hospital......Hopstibull.  I'll ask her to say it, just because.

She is so very aware of my feelings and moods, and if I ever sigh heavy, she immediately asks why I'm angry.  Even if I'm not angry, she knows that many times, big sighs come when I am.

She loves to give big kisses, where she holds the back of your head to do it.  She adores her Daddy and loves to snuggle with him.

One day, she was totally in a fight with Brooklyn, as in had JUST yelled at her for something and I yelled to Brooklyn that she needed to stop that, or come in and talk to me, or somehing.  And Maggie came rushing in and said, "Mommy, you don't do that, Brookie is my FRIEND."  So, even if you tick her off, she'll still defend you.  Good to know.

Anyway, I truly love this girl, in spite of her lack of desire to let me do hair, or get her dressed, and all her screaming and tantrums.  'Cause in the end, she is perfect, and beautiful, and smart and funny and loving, oh and TWO. AND, she's MINE!  It is moments like these, and the times when she randomly yells out "Mommy, I LOVE YOU." The hugs, the kisses, and the laughs, that I know WHY I do this.  Why I have children and how much I love them.  I am blessed to be able to stay home with them and have these "moments" and to learn how to be a better me, a better person and a better Mom.


Tantrums and tiaras,

Allyson

You Wanna know what SUCKS?

• When BOTH of your car batteries die in the same week.
• When the button that opens your gas tank door BREAKS and you have no way to get into your tank.  AND said tank is empty.
• Not having the know how or the money to fix this problem.
• AND it's the same month that car registration is due, AND lube and oils on both cars.
• When you get a flat tire on your bike.
• When your stupid, computer is posessed and jumps all over the place while your typing, effectively sending you to crazy town.
• When your two year old waits until she is IN the house, NEXT to the bathroom, and blithely informs you..."I just peed, right here on the floor."
• Listening to screeching and fighting and bickering all day between kids.
• When you GAIN weight, in spite of working out every day.  In fact, that is a DOUBLE suck!
• Hitting you knee in the EXACT same place for the billionth time on the corner of your nightstand.
• Stubbing your toe.    Repeatedly.
• Being grumpy
• Chronic Pain
• Naked people at the gym.
• American Idol this year
• A Dirty house

You wanna know what DOESN'T suck?

• I have 40 FORTY followers now.  That's fun!
• Comments
• A great family
• Looking at my A for adorable childrens faces and knowing they're mine.
• Listening to childrens unabashed laughter.   And their hysterical imaginary play games.
• Hearing my kids call out for "Mommy".
• Great friends.
• Laughing.
• Working out.  (surprising I know)
• Tax Returns!
• My voice
• NOT being naked at the gym.
• Biggest Loser
• Talking to old friends on Facebook

I'm just sayin.



Bloggedy blah,

Allyson

Ever been to an Iraqi goodbye?

Well, neither have we, but we sure had a good time anyway.

This is Shane, he's married to Dixie.  He left yesterday for 2 MONTHS in Iraq. (Look how adorable my Mom is back there in the background.) 

Why you  ask?  Because apparently he's crazy good at teaching people how to teach, so ASU (where he works) is sending him over for 2 months to help Iraqi teachers be better.  He's being duly compensated, but I'm not sure any compensation is enough to go into such a scarey place.

Anyway, in the spirit of a good time and saying goodbye, Dixie decided to throw a "Have you Ever been to Iraq" so long party.  There was food, games, family and fun.

Some made attempts at "costume".  Eric does say that this is a real Islamic prayer shawl, given to him by a Muslim many years ago.  Their son Quin had an awesome prayer cap and a sweet mustache.  Sorry, no pic.

Tatum and Livy were sportin a totally hot face painted look.  Because everyone KNOWS that under those Burkahs are some sweet painted faces.

There was plenty of food, and a lot of eating.  My Mom, the rebel she is, decided that SHE'D show that darn Osama and Suddam, and she brought PORK for us to eat.  So take that you stinkin men!  Ok fine, so maybe the only semi middle eastern food there were some pitas and hummus.  Whatevs, we enjoyed.

Please note Max, and what a big boy he was, just kickin it at the table with his Homies.

And SOME people chose to sleep through the whole thing.

I totally forgot to take pictures of the "pin the beard on Osama" game, and the name the picture game.  There was also an Iraqi trivia game, which if you must know, we all failed miserably.  Well, except Quin, 'cause he cheated and googled all the answers.

All in all, a good time was had by all.  We will miss Shane, and we truly hope that he is safe and has a good experience.

HURRY HOME SHANE!

Baba ganoosh and hummus dreams,

Allyson

Just in case you wanted to see Maggie in all her Easter finery, with her spectacular hair (I was quite proud of).  Well, you can't.  'Cause this pic pretty much sums up her entire day!  What a peach!  However, with that said, I am planning a post to reassure us all that she really is funny and cute on top of punky.

Peace.