Dreamweaver

**Posts are going to be a little scarce during November due to National Novel Writing Month. This is the fourth time I've participated and the first time I've gone into it almost completely cold. Usually I have pages of notes and lots of ideas. This time? Nada. I've had some inspiration, though, and am already over 11,000 words. That's not a bad start! Just hope I can keep it going.**

I've always had very vivid dreams. They are a good source of material for my stories, too. But every now and then, I have a dream that is a little too real.

When we were still newlyweds, I had a dream that the Man was flirting with another girl, right in front of me, trying to make me jealous. I was so mad at him, that I almost punched him when I woke up! He was more than a little confused.

Even now, I will still have dreams like that. Just recently, I had a dream where, for some unknown reason, the Man and I were no longer married. We were seeing each other only to hand off the kids (which, by the way, we had several, da Boo and the Boy remaining the same age they are now...that was odd). There was a lot of tension between us and I felt tremendously hurt. When I woke up after that dream, I went through the whole day convinced that the Man was mad at me, simply because he had been angry in the dream.

Perhaps it's because I am a very emotional person that my dreams are so full of strong feelings. I don't necessarily think that these dreams are a true reflection of how I am feeling towards the Man or how I think he's feeling toward me. But then again, I also lack self-esteem so maybe this is how my insecurities manifest. And I do occasionally have good dreams, where I wake up giggling.

Next post, I'll tell you about the nightmare that scared me for an entire year after I had it. But in the meantime, tell me some of your dreams.

Cowgirl Boo and Her Posse

Since she is currently obsessed with horses, da Boo wanted a Cowgirl theme for her party. And that's what she got! This was to be her first all-girl party but when she told her buddy Jacob this, he was very upset. We made an exception.

The invitation was on brown cardstock with red bandanna print paper on top. On that was a two-toned brown cowboy boot. A white "Howdy, Partner!" block was outlined with tiny rope twine. Party information was printed on the back in Western-speak. The invited cowpokes were asked to wear Western clothes.

Upon arrival, the kids were given a cowboy hat (if they didn't already have one on) and then informed that they were being made deputies. And what do deputies have? Why, a badge, of course! So I gave them star-shaped sugar cookies, yellow icing, candies and sprinkles to decorate their badges.

When finished decorating, they were instructed to eat the badge. Some of the girls looked horrified. That was kinda funny!

After badges, came Lasso Practice. It was very much like Hot Potato, only they passed around a coiled rope. I didn't get any pictures of this because I was too busy running the music and consoling those that were out. Winner received a bag o' gold. (Really it was yellow bubble gum in a cute little bag.)

Now that they were deputies with lassoing practice, it was time to wrangle a varmint! Here's the posse giving me a big "YeeeHaw!!" before we started this game.


Wrangling consisted of tossing a hula hoop around a toy riding horse. The kids loved it! Winner got a little trophy.

At the end of this game, I noticed that we were running well ahead of schedule. I suggested we play the games some more and they were all for that, especially since I had more prizes (ie: stuff left over from putting together the loot bags).

Then we had cake.

They loved the cake.

A couple girls didn't want to eat it but once others starting calling dibs on various parts, they got into it eating horse flesh. Strawberry cake served with strawberry ice cream and strawberry lemonade. And yes, da Boo likes strawberries. Why do you ask?

When almost everyone was done with their cake, I ran into the kitchen. All the horses had escaped! I needed my deputies to hurry and help me find them. Small plastic horses were hidden all over the front room. There were enough for each kid to "capture" two. Still with plenty of time left, we wrangled more varmints. After killing some time, we opened presents!


And yes, she is trying to smell the Strawberry Shortcake doll. Only half of her friends gave her Littlest Pet Shop.

After presents, with still a good 15 minutes before parents arrived, we watched the Wonder Pets. If you've never seen the Wonder Pets, count yourself fortunate. We watched the episode where the Wonder Pets save a baby cow that was stuck in a tree when a twister blew through. Interesting how they have very little understanding of physics...

As parents started arriving, Cowgirl Boo handed out the goody bags. These were a knotted red bandannas that held a bag of gold (chocolate) coins, horse stickers, a horse finger puppet and candy with bandanna-print wrappers. And after a couple kids left, we remembered to hand out the balloons, too.

A Little Something

I'm still not feeling that great (AND it's Day 4 of NaNoWriMo and I haven't even broken 1,000 words!) so I'm just posting the cake picture here.

See those silver canisters on my counter? I have a set of four. Love 'em! But my mom got a big kick out of what I keep in them. The two biggest have white sugar and flour. The two smaller have powdered sugar and chocolate chips. Hey, it's what I use the most!

Ugh

I had every intention of posting yesterday, giving you all the frosting-coating details from the party.

But I got sick.

I woke up feeling horrible, sick to my stomach, but had a cake to do and a group of 5 year olds to entertain so I soldiered through it. Shortly after the last kid left, I laid down on the couch...and then didn't move for nearly an hour as my body stiffened up. About 4 pm, I went to bed and almost immediately fell asleep. I woke up this morning as the Man was leaving for bishopric meetings. I felt better, although weak and my muscles felt like jello. Nothing some food and a hot shower can't fix! But now I'm starting to feel it again.

Let's all keep our fingers crossed that this is due to morning sickness!

Birthday Boo

Today is da Boo's birthday! I cannot believe that I have a five year old...whoa... So far, for her birthday week, she's gotten pink Rice Krispie treats, a new craft (loves crafts), went to work with Daddy, had a friend over to play, and got an extra cookie. Tonight, we're going out to eat at her favorite resternot with Aunt Denise and the Co-ed. That would be IHOP. The smiley face pancake is her favorite because - and I quote - "Mommy, that pancake looks just like me!" Ah, yes. How could we forget her chocolate chip smile and cherry eyes?

So in honor of my beautiful Boo, here are some of my favorite pictures of her from days long gone:

From her first Christmas. Not quite 2 months old. I loved that outfit!

And here is the Princess, wearing her crown. She had to wear this helmet because she would only look to the right, causing her head to go flat at an awkward angle. Now, she is perfectly formed.

About a year old, da Boo is mastering the stairs.


It appears that she likes chocolate...I wonder where she gets that from? Also, this is one of the first photos of her with her new glasses that she got just after turning two.

Before her third birthday, da Boo took a toddler cooking class and this is the peach pie she made.

What kind of a mother would I be without at least one bathtub picture? Here, she's 3 1/2.

Last summer, we went to Moab and toured Arches National Park. Here, we're locating a geocache and of course da Boo had to hold out GPS. That's Balanced Rock in the background.

Taken just a month ago, this is da Boo riding Danny, the Horse. With the hat and bandana, I was trying to replicate a picture of my mother at age nine, riding a minature horse. Da Boo loves horses. So much so that her birthday party this year is Cowgirl themed. Should be fun! Look for those pictures to come in the next couple days.

If you've never met da Boo, it's hard to help you understand just what kind of person she is. Just ask Crazy Grampa about his little granddaughter. She is very talkative and will often crack me up with the most innocent comments. In fact, just minutes ago, she returned from preschool, carpooling home with her buddy, Jacob. While chatting with Jacob's mom, I noticed she had gum in her mouth so I asked if her teacher gave it to her as a prize. She said no, she got the gum from Jacob while his mom went inside their Grandma's house. Busted!

Happy Birthday, Boo!