A small confession...

The past few months I have decided that it was high time I start reading for fun again. During school I didn't really have time, nor the desire after reading all day about thrilling topics like prostate cancer. But I have made it a goal though to try to read at least 1 book a month. I joined my neighborhood book club which has lead to me to this confession. Before I get to that I will give you some more background. I know it is just keeping you on the edge of your seats :-). I have always enjoyed books with a lot of action. Some of my favorites have been Angels and Demons, serial killer type books. I recently have entered into the world of "young adult fiction". It all started with one of my new favs, "hunger games" of course if any of you have read it, you have to read the sequel. They were wonderfully exciting, a little bit of romance (not to much) and were all around just enjoyable and easy to read. I love a good series because you can continue to follow a character so I started into the "uglies". It was also good and I loved to read it but once I was done with those 4 books I found myself looking for another good book.

Our book club has been reading all types of books, mainly from the New York Times best seller list. Some I like, some are ok but I really find myself gravitating to new exciting series. The girls in my book club suggested the "Twilight" series. I don't know why but I have been telling myself for months that I refuse to read those books. (mostly out of fear that I would actually like them and be mocked mercilessly by my family). Liz, my friend from book club, has all of the Twilight books and said that it was mandatory for me to read them to remain a member of said club. On Sunday I begrudgingly agreed. Really she left me no choice as Book Club is tonight and I don't want to be left standing on the doorstep. (maybe that is a slight dramatization)

So here it is: I, Becky Westergard, do in fact love the Twilight series. Yes I know I am fully eating my own words, and those of you who have read the series are saying, duhhh!! of course you love it. I wouldn't say that I am a "Twi-hard" because I haven't resulted to buying Robert Pattinson posters or t-shirts, nor have I started to dress like a vampire. Now I also do have to say that I have only finished Twilight and have started New Moon today. I liked it so much in fact that I read Twilight in two days. I was trying to pace myself but I did become mesmerized by Edward and could not stop. So there it is, I am a Twilight fan and will also admit that I am excited to watch the movies. I can't say that Shaun is nearly as excited about the movies as I am but he will just have to get over it.

The Fab Four

Considering that we are right in the middle of March Madness I decided that we would have our own Final Four. The four things that Remy would rather eat than anything else in the world. Each of these things create such delight to Remy he can hardly stand it. So in no particular order here they are.
Nutrigrain bars: It doesn't matter the flavor, brand, or age he will eat it. He would eat about 6 a day of these but I have limited him down to two. One in the morning and one in the evening. He gets so excited when I say, "Would you like a granola bar?" he runs to his drawer in the kitchen and pulls it out so I can put the cookie sheet on it for his little table. With each mouth watering bite he looks up at me with his big brown eyes and says "MMMMMMMM!!!" He will even eat the old hard crusty pieces that fell into the drawer the day before.
Cheese: Remy has the same affection and reaction when I ask him if he wants a piece of cheese. This also includes anything cheese flavored like Mac and Cheese or Goldfish crackers. He can even say cheese. In fact all food to Remy is cheese, it is just a matter of figuring out which cheese he is talking about.
Milk: who doesn't love a big glass of milk with cheese and granola bars?
And Last but certainly not least-- Probably his favorite among all of the others Rice and refried beans: Remy loves loves loves going to Puerto Vallarta's for rice and beans. He loves everything about Puertos. The second we drive in the parking lot he starts laughing and screaming with glee in the car. As soon as we walk in the door he starts dancing to the jolly music. Once the Rice and beans come out, I literally cannot shovel them into his mouth fast enough. He will eat all of my rice and beans, I don't even get one bite. I have to feel his tummy while I am feeding him to make sure he doesn't get to full becuase he will just keep eating until he is sick. His little tummy gets really big and bloated. It's hilarious, I should have taken a picture of his fat little belly after the beans. I have included a picture of him below with his favorite rice and beans. Luckily Shaun and I also love this restaurant and it's delicious chips and salsa.


The other day Remy was being kind of a rebel after work. (probably after eating rice and beans so he had some gas and was crabby). He just wouldn't quit whining. I eventually just sat on the couch to let him work it out. As I was sitting there relaxing, ok closing my eyelids I noticed that Remy was being soooo quiet and good. Being a parent you would understand that quiet and good don't usually go in the same sentence. I looked over and this is what I found. The little naughty had grabbed the kleenex box and was joyfully pulling out as many as he could before I caught him. What a rebel.

Should I go on the show "10 years younger"

I realize that I may not be the most "trendy" or stylish person; however, I didn't think I looked that bad. I go along in my day and I admit I am not really thinking about how I look but recently I got a hint that makes me beg the question. Should I try out for the show "10 years younger"? This show (which I"m not really sure is even still on the air) is about taking someone who looks way older than their age and 'makes them over' to look young and cute again. So here is the situation at hand.

I ran out of checks the other day. I don't use them very often but often enough that I needed to order some more. So I went to my bank. First, I tried the drive through but they said that I needed to come in to order checks. It was my day off so I wasn't really dressed up at all but I at least was dressed in Levis and not those mommy sweats with stains and such. I told the young man who was helping me that I just wanted the free basic checks. Easy enough, I went on my way and forgot all about the situation until today when my checks had arrived at my home. When I opened them at first I was wondering where the heck Ed Mcmahon was hiding or maybe that I had won a golf tournament. Seriously these checks are huge!!!! And the writing is really big, the lines are super big, black, and embossed. Seriously Brail would have been less obvious. They were like checks for a 95 year old person. I seriously laughed for about 5 minutes and then the sad truth sank in.... I must have looked like an older person who needed a bigger check to write on and the embossed lines to find the place to write. Apparently this young man thought that I can't see well enough to dress myself, or see how I look, so how am I supposed to see the check? Below is a picture of my new checks and I have also placed a regular check right below it for perspective. So what is the verdict?? Should I audition?

On the lighter side of things my two neices Whit and Ash are having their birthdays this week and got a cute little Shitzu puppy for their birthday. I decided for their birthday present I would make a doggy blanket for their new puppy. Isn't it so funny. I felt a little guilty cutting the stuffed dog in half in order to sew it into the blanket but I think it turned out so adorable. It's a "dog blanket" hahaha I have been laughing about it ever since I started sewing it.

Shaun's birthday

We recently celebrated Shaun's big 31st birthday. It was very fun and I have to admit that I was quite the sneaky planner in all of this. If you know Shaun at all he starts talking about his birthday and what he wants the day after Christmas. He is that excited about it. He than will proceed to celebrate it for the entire month of March. I don't know if this year snuck up on him or if he just really didn't know what he wanted but I could not get any ideas from him for birthday presents or party ideas. So I ventured onto planning the festivities by myself.

Shaun and I have been married for 7 1/2 years now and we have never stayed in a theme type of hotel. We have traveled all over but we have never actually just spent the night in a fun hotel. I decided to book a room at the Destinations inn in the Hawaii room. I arranged to drop Remy and Chappy off at the grandparents so Shaun and I could go to dinner and than surprise Shaun with the room. He was so surprised!! It was really fun.

We ate at Johnny Carinos and than went to the Hotel. It was fun because they have cheesecake and sparkling cider ready for you in the room when you get there. The room as seen below was really cool and luxurious with a big bathtub that has lights and bubbles. The Tv is a 8 foot screen that drops down. And the room has a little fountain and mood lighting. It was great. Than they deliver your breakfast and leave it out in the hall for you in the morning. So fun. We have decided to make it a tradition. I totally recommend this to anyone that just needs a get away.

Our favorite games

Remy and I have many games that we like to play throughout the day like "Stair master": the object is to throw as many things down the stairs as possible to see if Mommy will go and get them, "Taste Tester": give various items to Chappy just to see if he will eat them (if he doesn't Remy will), and "Hide That Hairbrush": pretty self explanatory, "Load and Dump": carry around his shape sorter that my sister Ashley and her little boys gave him for his birthday and fill it with all of the various items that will fit into it and than randomly dump it out so that he can fill it up again, and last, but certainly not least is "The Dish Dash": See if Remy can unload the dishwasher faster than Mommy can load it.

Of course as one might imagine many of these games have small variations and Remy likes to combine them whenever possible. For example yesterday I was trying to load the dishwasher he wanted to give himself the upper hand so he decided to combine "Load and Dump" with it. He dumped his whole shape-sorter into the dish washer, than proceeded to climb into the dishwasher and start throwing spoons as far as he could. That little rebel. I was laughing so hard because it was like a sneak attack all of a sudden that I could hardly get him and his shapes out of the dishwasher before he had emptied the whole silverware rack. Smart one this boy.


This first picture is just because Remy is so cute. Seriously, how could you get mad at a boy with this sweet face.When I am taking stuff out to my car to go home from work Remy likes to watch me through the window and make funny faces. He has started to press his face up against the glass too but I barely missed that picture.

We love our day off so here are some of the activities that we enjoy doing throughout the day. In addition of course to the games mentioned above. When we woke up on Thursday we just played in Remy's room for a while. Here he is chewing on gator. He loves stuffed animals and anything soft. It was so cute he had a bottle in one hand and his stuffed dog in the other. He wanted gator as well but no hands left. No problem he just bit onto him and carried it around in his mouth. I missed the picture but it was hilarious.

Remy was starting to get tired so he was resting on his giant gator from Ikea. seriously, the thing is longer than I am tall.

Next we practiced sharing. This is an example of Taste-Tester the game. As you can see Remy is basically shoving the bucket into Chappy's mouth. And judging by all of the chew marks on the bowl you can see that Chappy loves this game as well.

Here are Remy and Chappy playing Lick attack. That is Chappy's favorite game to lick Remy until Remy is crying and Chappy gets locked outside to run around for a while. I don't know what it is with kids but they all love to sit in Chappy's little dog bed. Remy is no exception.