Once Upon a Time.......

Well, it's here. The last day of my twenty something decade. A friend told me the other day that she never had a problem with the 0's....like 30 or 40 or 50, she said it was like a brand new start...I have been talking about turning 30 for awhile now, and NOW that it is upon me, it's kinda weird. I just actually sat here and thought about the last 10 years, and what amazing things have happened, all the challenges, the good times and bad times. 10 years ago right now, I was a sophomore in college, and that's about all I need to SHARE, b/c those were some WILD DAYS!!! I met Dan when I was 21, but we were just good looking co-workers at The Olive Garden at that time!! We started dating when we were 22 (which is funny, because now I look at the younger kids I know who are about that age or OLDER and I think...they are WAY too young to be serious!) ha... I was just a pup myself, but I sure got lucky with my boy.

I mean when I look back at it, we started dating in August, I BOUGHT A DRESS IN OCTOBER,, (what the?) and didn't get engaged until December. Wow, mom that was pretty awesome of you to go along with all that!!! Then we got married that NEXT April...what a whirlwind. Dan and I moved to St. Louis that summer the end of July, I started a job at Yellow Book USA (which has forever scared me), and Dan started law school at SLU.

Hmmm, then two weeks into my training in the arm pit of the USA (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) sorry, it is. I love Des Moines, but Cedar Rapids just STANKS. I noticed that I felt HORRIBLE. Kidney infection? Bladder infection? What was the deal. SO I called my dr. back home and got some meds. They just didn't seem to help. When I finally got back to STL, Dan and I made an executive decision to drive straight into the ghetto and find the scariest hospital known to man, where I sat shivering on a cold hard table, preparing for certain death when our very unfriendly Indian dr. informs us "Congratulations, you are going to be parents" and turns around and walks out.

We went home that night (3 a.m.) and just sat in bed. Wow. Life can really be interesting. I have a bad job, you are in school and we are going to have a baby. Fast forward 8.5 months, and 76 pounds later..Yup that's right; big mama gained 76 pounds, I DO NOT advise that, and Tatum Brynn was born. She was our angel baby!!

Ok, so then we moved to Columbia, MO when Tatum was 2 months old, Dan transferred to MU Law School, and I got a GREAT job with the American Heart Association. We had our adventures there for two years, and moved back to Springfield after he graduated so he could take the job with the firm he is at now. Not too long after that Mr. Dalton Patrick was born!!

So much more has happened, new friends, jobs, Buttons Rice, etc. The kids are 5 and 3 now, and getting bigger by the minute.

I know this was a long post, but I guess I needed to just re-cap some of the big things that have happened for me in the past several years. So here is to the 20's........you have been wonderful and stressful and crazy. Just another chapter in what I hope is a very long books of stories.

What a weekend!

Well it's Sunday night and it's about time to put the kids in bed and get ready for another fun week of work! Um, that was me being sarcastic. But no really, I have a lot of things coming up at work the next couple of weeks and I am actually pretty excited about it. ALSO, IN CASE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN PAYING ATTENTION....I TURN....ok,,,,just say it out loud Lindsay...30,,,,,in less than two weeks. I really can't believe it, but you know what? I am excited. My best friend is coming to see me, I have an event coming up, and life is pretty good.



This weekend has been great too. Friday I took off and went to Tatum's Valentine's Day party at her school and helped out. Good thing too, one other mom and myself were the only ones there and they kept me pretty busy passing things out and making sure all the kindergarteners had a fun time. Ta and I left after that, went to the store and then she helped me (uh, right), clean the house and make dinner. It was a good day and a fun night. Saturday we were up early and played around, then met some friends for Incredible Pizza for lunch so that Tatum could exchange valentine gifts with her "boyfriend" I use that term loosely at age 5. Then we met g-ma and gpa Rice and they took the kids for the night (THANK YOU!!!)



Dan and I proceeded to steam clean all the carpet areas (thank you neighbors Andy and Angela for letting us borrow your AWESOME steam cleaner) and then ordered sushi in for the night and watched movies.



Today has been good. Tonight I made dinner and homemade cupcakes, and we are just chilling out. Nothing too exciting. I am going to post some pictures of Tatum's 'father/daughter dance' last Thursday night. She had SOOO much fun. I can't believe she is so big.



On another note, my Fabulous friend Bevin from LA wants me to come visit this summer, so she and I are trying to figure out a way to see each other which is very exciting for me!!!



I hope everyone is having a great weekend...stay tuned for more crazy RICE adventures.

Igga Ma Jigga Ma Doo

I know I talk a lot about my kids. I think I have a bit of a gift of 're-telling' the stories that I post, but trust me my friends, they are all true. There is no way, even my creative mind could come up with all the hysterical things that come out of my kids' mouths.

So, the older they get the more in tune they are to their surroundings, but at 5 and 3, they honestly say what is on their mind, make observations that are completely innocent that-- usually are pretty accurate and funny.

This morning as I was dropping Tatum off, she and I were doing our usual morning banter of "you are a silly head that lives in the zoo and eats rocks" for example, just made up stuff. I said Tatum,,'you are a igga ma jigga ma doo' and you match the color too (again, just trying to rhyme and be funny), she stops and says 'what color is that' I said, 'uh yellow?' Then she turns to me and says 'Mama, you have browner skin than some people'

I acutally said, (good bronzer)......, she didn't get it so I just said, oh honey we all have different shades of skin. She said, OH like Barrack Obama.

I said, yup you got it.

The point is, kids are so funny, their thought processes. And they really are innocent, and I just wish we could keep them that way as long as possible.

Tonight is the Father/Daughter Valentine Dance and Tatum and Dan are going OUT ON THE TOWN!!! Or, up the street to Ozark West Elementary. Dalton and I are going to have a FUN night together too! We may even go to WALMART! So how do you like them apples?

I must do work now.

Tatum and Bobby McGee

Like most families, we have our routines. In the morning the boys leave early for work and school and the girls take a little more time to get going. With the addition of Buttons Rice, it's 3 girls hanging out in the mornings now. Usually Tatum kinda hangs out in my bathroom with me, while I do the hair, make-up thing. Today she brought her guitar in and serenaded me the WHOLE TIME. I don't have a picture (dang it), but just picture this:

She is laying on her back with her legs up on the door, just strumming away, which made me think of a little acoustic action, with one exception, she was singing Beyonce's 'All the Single Ladies' I didn't dare laugh, but it wasn't easy. I kept saying WOW, Tatum that is really beautiful, etc. etc. She then announced that she would like to play a guitar when she is a 'mom' and also she wants to make dinner. What? Be my guest!!! She is so funny.

Buttons........is getting a little bit sneaky. Things are happening in our house and getting moved and disappearing and then re-appearing. Her favorite thing to do is take items like socks, shirts, you name it and hide them under one of the beds. Of course since she is so tiny, she can crawl under just about everything. She also knows in the morning when it's almost time for us to go, I get her crate out, turn on The Backyardigans or Dora the Explorer and get a puppy pad out for her....she usually runs very fast up the stairs.

A Time for Change

What a week so far! The weather here in southwest Missouri is looking brighter and a little warmer for the next few days, so that is great news! Maybe we can get out and do some hiking around at The Nature Center this weekend, the kids love that! There is a lot going on with us (what's new?)!!! But I like it that way, eventually it would be great to not work AS much, but I get bored very easily. Plus, I would just clean the ba juu juu out of my house all the time and that's just weird after awhile.

I think I have decided that I am going to start going back to school for my MBA, not sure when I will start and there are some interesting options I am looking into, but I really want to go places in my career and in today's world, if you don't have at least a Master's degree,,,well, good luck.
It's exciting, but nerve wracking too.

We found out my best buddy Maggie and her family are coming to visit us the weekend of Feb. 28th (MY birthday weekend)!! So that is going to be an awesome gift just to see them. Her little ones are getting big so fast, and it's about time we had some time together!! Boy do WE have stories from back in the day. We had many many fun adventures together.

I have a big event the day of my birthday, Thursday Feb. 26th, and it is almost SOLD OUT!! So that is exciting. I love to see that people are really having fun at these events.

My baby brother just bought a new Infiniti G35!! I am jealous!! But he deserves it! Matt, I will be expecting many joy rides in the next few months! I told Tatum about Uncle Matt's car and she said she liked it better than any car in the entire universe....uh, you haven't even seen it yet, but OK!!!!

Dan and I are trying to keep each other motivated to work out hard!! He has been getting up in the a.m. and doing about 45-50 minutes of cardio, and then I do it at night. WE are going to be SEXY!!!

I must go, but I do have one more thing. Why. Why why why MUST I insist on wearing the most amazingly cute shoes that KILL MY FEET???? Carrie Bradshaw would be impressed, but my piggies are about to give out on me!

Well, this is all kinda jumbled into one big post of tons of things, but if you know me, then you know that makes perfect sense, my brain works in funny ways.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thursday.

Is the weekend over ALREADY?

It's been a good weekend, Tatum and I had our nails done and we look cute!!! We are watching the superbowl, but it's not really as exciting as it used to be :(

Dalton got some new Iron Man shoes today, not what his mom wanted, but when you are at Payless, and the superhero shoes are yelling at you, it's almost too much to resist. So he got them.

I promised I would post pictures of our crazy opossum, and so I will. I hope you all had a good weekend, I am counting down the days til the next one.