40 before I'm 40

7/26/13  Sweet!  I just updated my list, it's looking good!  I am hoping in five short years my goals will be met. 

I  just updated my list, I only have about 10 more things to do in the next 6 years!  I think I need to add more, I need some ideas! 


~Edited part~
Just checked out my list and to my surprise I got to check THREE things off!  I/we have painted the inside of our house, we are getting new carpet next week and the girls are in a dance class!  YIPPEE!  The next thing I want to accomplish is teaching the kids how to ski!  Saving up the bucks so we can head to the mountain!  Let me know if you have any tips on how to teach three small children to ski.  I am assuming we will most likely resort to lessons, this may save all of us some tears!  I will let you  know how it goes.

I need to add to my list, the years are ticking away and I still only have 29 items.....

I am frustrated, I am so technically challenged.  I am trying to make my list a link on my page that I can click on and look at periodically....I can't figure it out!  Please help.  I was editing it, and apparently I have to re-post it AGAIN so I don't lose it, so sorry. 

The exciting thing is I got to check off "Take a cooking class!"  I bought a Groupon and it was great!  Kent and I got two date nights during the week and got some great recipes too.  Soon I will be able to check off a girls weekend, hopefully a family camping trip (does the backyard count?) and for SURE an Alaskan cruise!!!  Kent and I were offered a FREE Alaskan cruise!  It leaves from Seattle, so we don't even have to pay for airfare.  We couldn't pass it up, the only bummer is, they don't have cabins big enough for our five person family.  Brayden has already been on two cruises with us, so we are taking the girls on this adventure.  Brayden is going to spend the week with my parents!  THANK YOU!  We do have to pay for the girls to join us, but it was a very good rate that we had to take advantage of.  It still seems too good to be true.  I feel like I am jinxing us, we are supposed to leave July 9, which happens to be two weeks before my sprint tri.  I think I am sabotaging myself!  Oh well, maybe I will actually be motivated to work out on this vacation.....I will finish the tri, it just may not be pretty! 

That's the latest here, it hasn't really sunk in yet!  BTW, we were offered the free trip from Park West, an art dealer from which we "invested" in some of their art.

The Phillips Family: 40 before I'm 40What are some things I want to do in the next 8 and a half years, before I'm 40? YIKES! Maybe if I write them down I will accomplish at least some of them. I am going to give it a go and add to it as things come up:


It has been one year since I wrote this list.  Sadly, only a few of them have been completed.  But I do realize that some of these things are ongoing, lifelong goals.  I have a lot of traveling that needs to get done in the next 7 years!


1. Be more patient with my children. (I'm pretty confident that this will be a LIFE goal)

2. Take a cruise with Kent and ALL the kids. :)  ~happening in 2 months!

3. Get all of the kids into swimming lessons.

4. Teach Brayden to snow ski, and then the girls too.

5. Complete a sprint triathlon. Done 2 times!

6. Take a sewing class.   (Thanks for the reminder Megs!)

7. Take a cooking class with Kent.


8. Go to Europe with Kent.

9. Scrapbook at least the girls' first year of life.

10. Do a canopy tour in Costa Rica. DONE

11. Visit the East coast, especially New York City.

12. Volunteer in each child's classroom.

13. Become healthier with my diabetes. A1C = 6.5  Done 6.2!

14. Take a vacation to Lake Chelan.

15. Go camping as a family.  Such great memories made!

16. Learn how to crochet or knit (I'm not sure which is which).

17. Go to a natural hot springs.

18. Take a long girls weekend somewhere, ANYWHERE!  (happening in July!!!)   So fun!


19. Take a nice getaway for our 10th wedding anniversary.

20. Expand my practice as the kids get older.  It's growing and growing, feeling fortunate!

21. Get a will. Done!

22.  Have the girls take a dance class.

23.  Paint the inside of our house.

24.  Get new carpet.

25.  Build a new deck.  (Have Kent build a new deck.)   Thanks Babe!

26.  Take an Alaskan cruise.

27.  Hire a house cleaning service.  :)  Loving it!

28.  Start an IRA account.  (Newly added).

29.  Complete a bike race (25-50 mile) with Kent.  By myself, not with Kent yet though....


*The list will grow as I grow older and think of more things that need to be completed or experienced. *
What are some of your goals and/or wants?

Less than a month.....

Ever since I gave birth to my twin girls I have been asking EVERY mom of twins, "When does it get easier?"  Most of these mom responded with laughter, (knowing that it never gets easy, just different) but the ones that took my question seriously all responded, "When they turn 4." 

Guess what?  My life is about to change....my babies are going to be 4 on March 14.  Less than a month!  This day can't come soon enough.  I don't know what is going on with my children, but it has been a rough couple of weeks.  I think it's the Winter blahs, and the being cooped up inside for months and months.  I know all of my friends seem to be struggling with their children too. 

My countdown has started.....we are going to party like rock stars for their 4th birthday!  I have no plans yet, but it will be awesome!  Good luck to all of you surviving these last few weeks of Winter, Spring is almost here, and my job is going to get easier!

P.S.  I will keep you posted and let you know what a breeze my life has become within the next month or so!  :)

Willy Wonka

My MIL, Sandy, was so sweet and bought all of us tickets to go see the Children's Theatre production of "Willy Wonka."  Unfortunately, my SIL, Shelby, fell on the mountain last week and BROKE her knee cap!  Sandy is in Oregon helping take care of her and her family.  I hope you're recovering quickly Shelby!

Here is a horrible pic. of the six munchkins.  Brayden, Keegan, Owen, Ally, Dani and Ellie.


So, Kent, Sarah, Grandma Vanna, the six kids and I went to the show.  It was fabulous!  The kids were enthralled through practically all of the 2+ hour production!  My favorite part was when Veruca Salt made her appearance (she's the spoiled, rich girl).  She stole the show and had quite the attitude.  After her monologue Brayden looked over at me and said, quite loudly, "WOW, that girl is more naughty than Dani!"

We missed you Sandy, thanks for the special, Sunday afternoon treat!

Two days off?!?

Sadly last week, I was thrilled to potentially have two days off in a row, from being a productive mom/wife/member of society, at the expense of having gum grafting surgery.  That's right folks, I was actually looking forward to having oral surgery, so I could lay in my bed for TWO days and sleep while being on some nice pain meds.! 

My surgery was scheduled for Thursday morning.  On Wed. night I picked my wonderful mom up from the airport (she was taking over for me),  I visited coherently with her for a few hours then hit the sack.  As I was drifting off to sleep I told Kent how excited I was to have the next couple of days off.  Looking back, that seems very sad.  Who in their right mind would want to have oral surgery to get time off?  This oral surgery consisted of them scraping my palette (one of my client's parents informed me that it felt like a cheese grater being scraped along the roof of your mouth) and then taking that tissue and attaching it to my gums where I had some receding, due to genetics.  GOOD TIMES!

However, I did not feel a THING!  I was out and when they tried to get me goin' I was not havin' it.  I took a lot of time comin' around apparently.  All I know is I felt good, it was nice to be floating and not have a care in the world.  It wasn't so nice to not be able to eat because you have a mouth full of blood and RAW skin everywhere (it seemed).  Thank you Helen for driving me to and from and for not making too much fun of me.  :)  I really appreciate all that you do!

When we got back to my house, to my mom and the girls (Brayden was at school) I took a seat on the couch and I thought I would hang and talk to my mom and Helen.  I faded pretty fast, I remember sitting on the couch and slowly not being able to sit up, I just kept tipping and tipping.  I figured it was time to pass out....and I did just that, for almost two straight days!  I vaguely remember people coming and going, (a client showed up, she forgot I cancelled for the day), luckily my mom interceded before she got too far into the house.  Children were screaming (can you imagine?), phones were ringing, children were running, children were fighting, children were screaming....do you think I cared?  Not a bit!  I did have a touch of concern for my mom, but I knew she could brave through it!  Then all was silent, everyone had left the house.  I remember thinking, I could get so much done right now.  BUT  my mouth is bloody, I am high and I can't function, oh well, better sleep some more!  I attempted to hold up a book and read, but that didn't even last 30 seconds....I love pain meds.!  It's such a good thing that I have made the choices that I have, otherwise I could see myself floating through life without a care in the world......but what would my children do if I wasn't there to nag, pester, annoy and speak sternly to them.  :)

All is well, I am on the mend, back to reality, off the drugs, and LOVING every second of it!  Children are screaming.....

Thank you for everything Mom!  I wouldn't be able to be high without you!  :)

Mini Tri

The YMCA organized a mini triathlon for this weekend.  I found out about it three days before.  Which was good timing because then I didn't have to obsess about it and there wasn't much last minute training that I could do.

I have been having a hard time staying motivated and on track so I thought this picture that was on my friend's FB page may inspire some of you too.  I thought it was too funny, swimsuit season is fast approaching.  :)

(These are heart shaped cookies)

I have digressed.  The mini-tri consisted of a 20 minute swim (in the pool), a 30 minute bike (on a spin bike in the studio) and a 2 mile run on the Centennial trail.  I have to say, I had a great time and it was a good indicator of where I need to focus my energy.  It was DEFINITELY in the swim portion.  20 minutes doesn't sound like much, but when you're sharing a lane with 6 peeps and you feel like you can't slow down and/or stop, the pressure is on!  Toward the end I started getting the panicky, I'm going to drown feeling, but I talked myself through it.  (Besides the fact that I was in a pool with 20 other people and lifeguards), I think someone would have saved me.....
The bike was a breeze, but taking 6+ months off from running isn't the best strategy.  Although I think with running (short distances) it's all in  your head.  Sarah and I were able to push through it and run the whole 2 miles.  We were all quite proud of our spur of the moment mini-tri success!

Sadly, this is the only picture I have of my tri partners, Sarah and Stephanie.  I don't even have one of the three of us together, I forgot to take my camera this morning.  We didn't look as glamorous as this anyway.  :)

Super Mom part ll

I am so proud of myself I am about to burst....

We had a play date at Super mom's house on Monday.  Can you just imagine what her house looks like?  Yeah, it's pretty much perfect, nothing out of place, tidy and super clean.   Frankly, I know my house will NEVER be like that, even when the kids are big and grown and gone, my house will never look like that.  That's ok, I stole some ideas and I am moving in the right direction. 

I was truly inspired by her organization. The next day I went out and bought more of these cubes and shelves to go with them.  (Before the cubes were on the floor overflowing with toys).  I was way too embarrassed to take a before picture, just imagine sh** EVERYWHERE!  There was no visible piece of carpet.  Coats, socks, babies, dress up clothes, my little ponies, legos (which REALLY hurt when stepped on), books, flashlights, school work, crafts.....etc. were overtaking my life!  I took EVERYTHING out of the closets and put it in the middle of the room and got to work sorting.  YES, this took many, many hours.  The Legos alone took 2+ hours. 

Sidenote:  This was done on my first, free, two hour break where I wasn't volunteering in a classroom, going to an appt. or working.  Yeah, can you imagine?  I  passed up coffee and donuts with friends to do this.  My two most favorite things in the world, I was on a mission!

Ok, so after sorting for hours and hours, I was so tempted to have some of my clients work on their categorizing skills, but I thought their parent's may frown upon me exposing them to such filth and chaos.  I alone, all by myself had to come up with a way to group all of this SH**!  Here it is in all its glory:

Since these pics. were taken I have made two more labels, the girls' life is as follows:
Babies, baby stuff, pretend play, dress up, and  purses.  (Puzzles and everything else is on the closet shelves).

 Brayden's life consists of:
Vehicles, spy stuff (walkie talkies, flashlights, cape, sunglasses, headlight), castle things, animals.


Super mom sent me the BEST labels for Legos (let me know if you want me to forward you a copy, I am in love with them!),  wait for it, wait for it.......

 Here it is!  Sorry this pic. isn't so good, but each COLOR has its own bin!  Yes, Kent is in absolute heaven!!!  Look at how cute the little Lego  people are on the labels!  I think I took a pic. of each one because I can't get over it.

All of these pictures were taken the same day the mission was completed.  I will let you know in a few weeks how the organizing has kept up.  So far, the kids have been playing in their room for TWO hours.  I think it'sbecause now they can actually SIT on the floor and find things.  YAY!  Thank you Super mom for your inspiration! 

Super mom is fast becoming a good friend, and her name is Tessa.  She is coming to my house on Monday, yeah that's why I was determined to get this taken care of.  She has promised to help me with our "art station,"  which has overtaken our kitchen and dining room.  I am then going to have her come up with a plan for all of my work materials downstairs.  My house will be unrecognizable (for a few days).    I'll keep you posted.   :)

A day in the life of us

I realize I haven't posted in a while, and I was trying to figure out what we've been doing.  Just normal day to day stuff, with the exception of a ladies luncheon I had.  I have to call it this because as all of my close friends know, I am not very fond of hosting events.  Somehow I got roped into hosting a lunch....actually I have to laugh at myself because I am so naive.....

It all started out in September when I signed up to plan Brayden's Valentine Party at school.  I know, I know, only the crafty, overachiever moms do this.  So not me!  At the time I was thinking, by the time Feb. rolls around I will have my life under control.  Example one of being naive.  It is now January 17 a little less than a month before Valentine's day. 

LAST week I got an e-mail from a SUPER mom (I really do like her, I just wish I had half the energy that she does, or maybe just a 1/4 of the positive attitude) wanting to start planning the party!  I panicked for a second, then realized, it's a month away!  I am NOT and never have been a procrastinator,  but seriously, 4 weeks in advance and we're planning a kindergarten Valentine party?  Oh well, might as well get it done. 

Super mom offered to have me and another mom over to plan.  However, I had to work on that day, so I offered to have her over on a Friday.  She assumed I was talking about the Friday two days from now.....ok, I can make that work.  They will come over after the boys get off the bus, which is 12 noon.  Yes folks, right at lunch!  Plus I had to figure out what to serve these peeps and have NO peanuts or tree nuts anywhere near the children, due to SEVERE allergies!  Hhmm, I was determined to not get stressed about this luncheon with supermoms AND six boys (I was watching an extra one and they each had an extra one, plus my two girls).  I normally do my grocery shopping on Friday afternoons, but that was not going to happen.  I was annoyed and refused to go to the store, therefore everyone got quesadillas and  Progresso soup.  Nothing fancy, but tummys were fed. 

Ahh....the plan was for the kids to go outside and sled after lunch.  But of course this was the one day during the Winter that it was above freezing, therefore all of the snow melted.  Whatever, 6, six year old boys RUNNING and screaming through the house ain't no thang....plus two clingy little girls.  While the boys were destroying the house we got to our planning.....Supermom whipped out her tub full of crafts and her spreadsheets, it was awesome!  All I  had to do was sit and listen (I did have one suggestion) and two hours later the party was planned!

However, in the midst of the planning the kids were playing downstairs and apparently Ellie jumped on Brayden's head.  It happens.  Brayden came upstairs screaming (I thought he might be dying) and crying.  I hugged him and tried to get him to simmer down.  While he was trying to simmer, he screamed, more than once, "SHE NEEDS A SPANKING!  SPANK HER BUM MOM!"  Over and over and over.  The moms were sitting 5 feet from me in the living room trying to pretend like they couldn't hear anything....and I pretended like I had no idea what he meant,  who spanks?  Ellie was in her room in time out, that should be sufficient, no?  This is just a minor glimpse into what went on during my ladies luncheon.... :)  I'm pretty sure good times were had by all! 

If you're lucky maybe I'll fill you in on some other entertaining happenings....