Well not totally…..but one of them is, the squids that is. We are officially mobile! While she has been mobile for about a month now, I have not be able to capture on film until recently this exciting moment.
I warn you……watch with extreme caution……
Happy Anniversary…to ME!
On October 1st, 2000 Chad Westley and Karie Noel, together with our friends and family, who shared their love and friendship joined the two of us while we exchanged our vows.
Fast forward 8 years, 3 kids, can’t even tell you the pounds, hurdles, and mountains we climbed…..we are still going strong and still absolutely in love with each other. I can say that I was lucky enough to meet my match, my best friend, and at times my complete opposite who compliments me and I compliment him in every way. I love you Chad just as much as the day I met you.
So last night we got to enjoy a babysitter (BIG LOVE to Grandma Sandy….sorry no Optimus Prime this time Grandma Sandy) and Chad and I went an totally had a blast. Normally we do the uptight married couple thing of getting dressed up for a stuffy dinner at a stuffy restaurant in North Scottsdale only to feel bad about how much we ate, drank and spent. So we did the opposite! We went to Dave&Busters and had a nice dinner (nothing fancy but good eats nonetheless), had some cocktails, and played VIDEO GAMES!!! I so whooped Chad at Ghost Recon, while he earned more points, I had a better shot every time and stayed alive more. Silly boys! We even broke a sweat playing the game. Played some Golden Tee…which I proudly bogied every hole and played some Skee ball. We called it a night and came home and were two happy clams…this morning….still happy clams with our three happy munchkins and looking forward to the next 8 years and the next 8 after that!
Thank you for the last 8 years Honey Bunny! I love you!
Good Will Grant
Lots of goings on lately! Sorry for not being able to post here is some of what has gone on:
Chad went out of town last weekend for business so we spent the day with Grandma Sandy. The kids and I had a great time just playing and I got to sneak in a cat nap! OMG!! I have not had a nap in ages so that was nice….even if it was for only 30 minutes. While we were there Grant asked my Mom about her birthday since her birthday falls two days after Grant’s. Here is how that conversation went:
G: Grandma Sandy did you get any presents for your birthday?
My Mom: No Grant, I didn’t get ANY presents for my birthday.
G: YOU DIDN’T? No balloons?
My Mom: No buddy, no balloons.
G: NO party hats?
My Mom: No sweetie, no party hats either.
G: NO Optimus Prime?
My Mom: No Grant, not even an Optimus Prime.
Such a sweet boy….thinking about how much his Grammy would love to have an Optimus Prime. Good Will Grant gets better though. We had the A/C guys here on Tuesday installing the fantabulous new unit (which by the way is a dream and when it runs my house smells like fresh rain…Film at Eleven). So Grant goes over to one of the installers who is working on our ducting. Here is how that conversation goes:
G: What is your name? My name is (spells) G-R-A-N-T, Grant, Grant Thomas Herring.
HVAC Guys: Well Hi, my name is G-E-O-R-G-E, George.
G: Hi George, nice to meet you. Whatcha doing George.
HVAC Guys: (George explains how he is adjusting the ducting, etc.)
G: Well….you are doing a great job George. Thank you George, good job.
I am sure George and Jon appreciated the sentiment from a five year old…especially because they were working at our house for over 10 hours in the heat and in our attic.
My car and house have Menopause
So DH (Chad) and I have decided to upgrade our home and install a 30 year new A/C unit. Yes, the unit on our home is the original unit. Like everything else the darn thing probably has a stamp that says “1978 Made in Vietnam”. My cabinets said that mind you so I am assuming anything else being replaced must say that. The old A/C unit creates menopause in my home….at around oh say 11pm my house turns into the county morgue. I swear you can chill some fancy prosciutto in this house with how chilly it gets. Then around 2am I wake up sweating like a fat woman stuck in an elevator. Full on drench! My house has now warmed up again, requiring my half dazed self to drag into the hall to turn the thermostat down to my chilly 74*. I like it chilly because gives me a reason to stay cool and cuddle under the covers. Which is retarded because I live in the hottest of the 48 contiguous states. Regardless…off topic.
On top of my house having this wonderful hot and cold spells, my wonderful new mini-van has decided to act in the same fashion. Back on the 9th I had to take it in because the A/C flat out stopped working. I then had a new respect for my mother who also trucked around 3 kids in a car….not only because she trucked them around but did that with NO A/C!! She is a champ! But she was also smart because she took ice cubes that my brother rationed out so sparingly. I mean it will melt otherwise…pass around the damn ice Chris!
Anyway, back to the van. Took it in, got fixed, WEE, cold A/C again. Yeah, this lasted about 3 weeks…exactly 20 days! So I drove the van on Saturday to visit my Mom and get inside after I had ran it to cool it off…..yeah that was in vain. The thing never cooled off and all the kids are loaded ready to go. (Insert lots of curse words!) So, bit the bullet, drove to Mom’s and enjoyed the day. In the meantime, called to yell at the dealership and make another appointment to get it fixed, which is what happened this morning. Had to take the darn thing in. I hope this time they get that fixed…..I am so fed up with A/C issues!! UGH!
Have to get this off my Chest
I know this will be TMI for most folks but I have to say this as I am a proud Mommy.
I am no longer breast-feeding….no….that is not something to be proud of…..I am proud that I have pain stakingly breastfed TWINS for the last 8 months and now I am a free woman! For those who are of the LLLI they would scold me and more than likely crucify me, but I have to say that fueling my squids like that is very emotional and draining after a while. And if you have ever seen a woman breast feed multiples…..you gain a new respect and understanding on why God granted you two of almost everything! Even then….tough job! So the Squids are enjoying their new ability and freedom of “baba’s” and I got to free my girls again!
Back in the Game
Okay, so I slacked off on my blog thing….not that I am not busy finishing my degree, keeping house, playing Jose the yard man and Pedro the pool guy, and raising three kids…yeah, not busy at all. But I did keep the same URL so I don’t create any further confusion for my herd of following minions (yeah right!). Now I have a bit more time since the Squids can move more and are self entertained and Grant is so wonderful about playing with them…though I have to remind him that they are still fragile because they are babies. Beating up a sibling is not optional until they can beat you back. Hope to post some more updates about us soon. Until then……enjoy the happy Squid faces!
!
About Karie
Welcome to The Five Fish, my name is Karie Herring. A bit about me, I am an oldest child, semi-perfectionist. I was born and raised in Arizona, I am one of the last few remaining natives to the state. I am an avid horse lover and former rider (dressage, English, Western show), softball enthusiast, short-dog Bulldog & Bassett Hound lover and registered AKC owner, I love to get dirty, play and work hard. I am the donations coordinator for (non-profit) Busy Bees Mothers of Multiples and state liaison for the National Organization Mothers of Twins Club, in my spare time I am the Treasurer (PTO Board Member) for Hermosa Vista Elementary where I maintain all financial records and bookkeeping. I enjoy writing and am a copyright poet, contributing author, I enjoy reading all genres of books, listening to music including the classics (Beethoven, Bach, Pachebel), a fan of fine, abstract, and modern art. I am a ‘green’ woman on a mission to try to save the world one carbon footprint at a time. Anything else you may want to know hunt out in my blog, I am an open book.
“The Chad” and I met while I was ‘finding’ myself in Albuquerque, NM. I moved there shortly after high school on my quest for adulthood, self discovery, and to enjoy life as a new adult. We played house for a few years acquiring fun cars, building a brand new home, and eventually our family. I have been married to my best friend “The Chad” for nine, going on ten years and we have three brilliant children; our oldest gift of a child Grant and our troublesome twins Seth and Sara.
I am a reformed, generational “car guy,” third generation, to be exact, car guy. I spent many years in ‘the box’ of finance in a dealership learning the hard ropes of the working life, gaining appreciation for the simple pleasures due to an extensive work schedule. I traded in my car guy badge for bankers hours and began building my referral empire business in mortgage consulting and origination. I have been working in the industry since the boom of 2003 and I haven’t been able to slow down since, with the exception of my children.
I did, however find time to go back to school and finish my undergraduate in business administration and finance. My education was important not only personally and professionally, but I wanted my children to know the value and importance in having an education. Also the importance of working hard for your own education, goals, and dreams, by accomplishing goals alone but with the right support system one has an extensive amount of appreciation for conquering personal feats in life.
Finishing school and working in the mortgage industry has awarded me with the perks of working from home to spend time raising my own children but maintaining a personal balance of monetary and personal contribution to my family. As the twins age and move into primary school I will be able to reward myself further by re-entering the workforce outside of the home.
In the meantime, I share my antics and stories of being a mom who tries to do it all raising three kids in an imperfect home with lots of love, time, and partial patience. I also share my stories of how my childhood shaped me into the woman I am, strong of heart and mind, willful, sometimes overbearing, arrogant, but most of all humbled by life and the struggles of the day to day lesson.
Our family could be considered a school of “Magellan” Fish as we adventure through life meandering the mundane and the extraordinary, chronicling and enjoying all we can. Life may give us lemons so we made pie and refreshments. Thanks so much for learning about The Herring family.
THE FIVE FISH
