Happy Late Birthday, Bug the Second

Hannah celebrated her 7th birthday on Saturday! Yay!!! She's pretty proud of her new pierced ears. Here's a sneak peek:


Here are 7 things you might not know about Hannah:

1. She writes songs and then performs them for me (after leaving the room and then announcing her entrance). She is too shy to perform for other people, though, so don't expect a performance anytime soon.
2. Her lyrics are actually pretty good. I'll post a sample when I find one. Hannah had me write a few down for her and then she put them somewhere "safe."
3. She has excellent inductive AND deductive reasoning skills.
4. She has a fairly impressive vocabulary, but doesn't always use it properly.
5. She is GREAT at cutting paper, as is evidenced by the copious amounts of paper shards that I find every time I clean. She likes making little books with the tiny squares she cuts.
6. She knows to be honest with me, and does so to a fault. "I love you, Mommy... even if you have a big tummy." Thanks, Bug.
7. She REALLY wants a baby sister. She even informed me that one of the kids in her class wished on a star for one... and GOT IT! I told her that I need a hubby first, so she decided to ask for a boyfriend-turned-hubby for me next time she wishes on a star.

I love you, Hannah! You're the best thing in my life, and I only hope that I can be worthy of you!

Hugs and Smooches,
Mommy

Black holes?

Today, Hannah and I were watching a program about the universe. It talked about galaxies and black holes and lots of things beyond her current realm of understanding. Good times!

At one point, they were talking about black holes, but showed a picture of a galaxy... Looking at the picture, she said, "That's a black hole??? It looks like a BLUE hole!"

Learning is fun!

Happy Birthday, Shana!

31 things you might not know about Shana:

1. Shana is 2 months, 11 days, 5 hours, and 29 minutes older than me. (I can't remember if we took time zones into account, though, so give or take 2 hours: Cali v. Iowa)
2. Shana is the first Bug, and the inspiration for Hannah's BUG nickname.
3. Shana's middle name is Louise (even though her birth certificate begs to differ).
4. Shana is VERY artistic. Some of her stained glass windows are adorning her parents' home.
5. Shana loves to write and is quite good at it. I'll gladly be your editor if you ever write a book!
6. Shana only has 1 brother, but several of us girls have been adopted in as pseudo-sisters.
7. Shana has had many fictional boyfriends, including the White Ranger (of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers' fame).
8. Some of her other boyfriends include, but are not limited to, John Crichton, John Shepard, Aragon, the Original Doctor, and Cloud.
9. Shana once made my dad guffaw by coming up to the house in a "grayish" shirt. Dad and I were in the garage at the time. When she was still at the end of the driveway I asked if it was a new shirt, to which she replied, "Nope. It's one of my (black) X-Files shirts, I just didn't bother with all the cat hair." Dad just about choked with laughter. And then Bug and I laughed... for a long time! We'd never seen such a gleeful response from Dad.
10. Shana secretly wants to be a 1940's lounge singer - and she's got the pipes to do it!
11. Shana's favorite breakfast cereal is Lucky Charms. Don't try passing off Marshmallow Matey's for the real stuff, though.
12. Shana once supermanned it into one of our big black garbage barrels. It made me feel better after I walked straight into a pole on our field trip.
13. Shana's high school car was an iridescent dark green, lowered 1984 Firebird - with a great sound system in the trunk!
14. The guys at seminary were super-jealous that we were pimping around in KITT, while they were hoofing it to school.
15. Shana and I didn't care for each other much when we first met. I was Molly Mormon and she was Sally Satan. (Well... she DID wear black fingernail polish!) Funny how things change, huh! ;)
16. Shana always had cable, so I'd escape to her much-cooler house. That's where I saw my first MTV video: Bobby Brown's My Prerogative, if you must know.
17. Shana bought an awesome house last year.
18. Shana's roomie is my little sister, Gecky.
19. Shana's cats are possessed. Zoe is the spawn of Satan, and Eryn steals Shana's hair ties.
20. Shana shares a birthday with Kami, one of our college roomie's from Miller #8.
21. Shana has over 600 dvd's and likes to host movie parties at her house.
22. Shana hosts the annual Boring New Year's Eve Party at her house... Complete with games, Cirque du Soleil dvds, and lots of tasty treats.
23. Shana served a mission in New England and had a wicked-good time!
24. Shana is a loyal friend, and would give the shirt off her back for a friend in need.
25. My mom didn't want me to be friends with Shana at first. Did I mention the black nail polish?
26. Shana's awesome parents introduced us to Sea Ranch... a now long-standing tradition of summer relaxation. More than 15 years now, right?
27. Shana and I got her parents to laugh hysterically with the Disney Resort's farting beds. Good times. Sorry you were in the MTC at the time, Wayne.
28. Shana really doesn't like it when meetings don't start on time.
29. Shana is an excellent Auntie. She's making due with my Hannah for now, until Wayne and Stacy start picking up the slack. ;)
30. Shana's date to TWIRP couldn't attend the dance because he'd been caught with drug paraphernalia the day before.
31. Shana has been my longest friend, and has loved me in spite of myself.

Happy Birthday, Bug!!! I am lucky to have you for a friend! And I hope that I can be as good a friend to you. Love you!

Winter Wonderland

One of the "silver linings" of still being unemployed is that I don't have to leave the house to drive anywhere when we get over a foot of snow in 2 days. Well... until I had to go to school last night. (PS - Thanks, Will, for shoveling my driveway so that I could get out!) Here are some really cute pics of Hannah and her friend Casey playing in the resulting piles of snow today:

Hannah + snow = Snowman

Casey + snow = COLD!!!

After jumping into the nearest snowdrift

Surprisingly, Hannah does not make an effective sled.

My horn can pierce the sky!

Happy New Year!

I have determined that 2009 is going to be MY year! I'm going to find a job and get my priorities straight, I'm going to send out my now New Year's cards, I'm going to get my house clean (no comments from the peanut gallery. Nancy - this means you! lol), I'm going to take my 2 math classes so that I can graduate on time in October, I'm going to start exercising for real and finally get rid of all this excess padding, and I am going to finally be a happier and healthier Melissa!


What are some of YOUR New Year's resolutions?