Since Christmas...

we DID make it to Idaho finally on Saturday. Had a fun visit with my parents and my siblings that live in that town. I sure do miss them! I can't wait for our campout this summer!!!

Mike and I even got to sit down with my parents and play a couple games of Pinochle. It's been forever since we have done that. We had so much fun! My mom and I were one team and Mike and my dad were the other team. We won a game, and they won a game so it turned out semi-fair!

We got home Monday afternoon and I have been busily trying to catch up on the laundry and other household stuff that got neglected because it was Christmastime and then we were gone. I am happy to report that I am one load away from being done with the laundry! Hooray!!

This morning Mike vacuumed out the dryer vents. It took him about 2 hours, but he got a lot of Crap out of them! No wonder my dryer wasn't drying things very well! It works great now! I should've taken before and after pictures, but some things are just too gross for even the internet! Now he is busy at work changing out the water (and properly building platforms for them) from our 50 gallon barrels. He loves having time off during this holiday season and I just love that he is home and getting little odd jobbies done for me!

The Day after...

We were supposed to go to Idaho to visit my parents, but the road was closed because of the big storm we got. So instead we hopped onto FrontRunner and went to Salt Lake to see the lights and stuff. Sidney is a big ole copycat. She saw Mike holding onto the strap while we were on Trax and so she had to do it. It was so funny!!Rachel didn't make a very good Christmas list, so Santa (at the last minute) gave her a gift card to spend at Build-a-Bear. She picked out a bunny. Here she is with the chic that works there (who was completely UNfriendly, btw) watching her bunny get its guts put into it. I didn't get a good picture of her kissing the heart and putting it inside which is a bummer because she was so cute about it.

Here is the finished bunny. Her name is Suzy. Rachel even got a pair of glasses for her to wear so they could match. The best part of the whole thing is that the store was so busy that they gave a $5 coupon to everyone standing in line, so Rachel had even more money to spend. The other kids were so enthralled by the whole process that they have all proclaimed that it is what they want to do for their birthdays!

Then we went over to Temple Square to see the lights. It was too freaking cold, so we didn't last very long, but I did manage to get this great shot!

Christmas Day...

I'm pretty sure that I ToTallY scored with getting this hat for Mike! I think it was his favorite present.

The ONE time that Sidney actually wore her cape. At least she kept her Elmo slippers on.

Jonathan spent the day putting his Lego and Bionicles together. Seriously. One of the things he got was this Lego Mars Mission ship thing. It was for ages 7-12. He is 5. It took him 3 hours, but he stuck with it and he got it built.

Most of the other pictures I took were fuzzy or dorky. Sorry. I was having too much fun watching the kids open their presents!!

Christmas Eve...

is all about TrAdiTionS!! Every year Mike makes homemade pizza. He makes whole wheat dough (yum!!), and throws it in the air... and then the kids get to put whatever toppings they want onto their own personal pizzas. This year Mike made a ton of dough so the pizzas were quite large. That's okay by me though, since it meant LEftoVErs!!This was my pizza. It's the only time that I actually get to have peppers on my pizza. No one else likes them, so others times when we get pizza I can't have them. See how nicely the kids are sitting waiting for me to stop taking pictures and let them eat!

Then we went to look at Christmas lights. This was our favorite.This was not. If you read my blog at all, I'm sure you know why we didn't like this house's lights!

And last of all we came home to eat cookies and drink hot chocolate and open one present. Here are the kids posing with the jammies that I made them. I finished up Rachel and Meghan at about 3:00. I am the world's BEST procrastinator!!

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 10th to Meghan!

Happy 10th Birthday Meghan!!

I can't believe she is 10! Wow! Her childhood is going by so fast. I wonder if she feels the same way? The highlight of her birthday was the ice cream cake from Cold Stone (no picture- sorry! It was all blurry), and getting the Taylor Swift CD.

She is such a young lady, I almost feel silly being a mom to someone who likes the same stuff that I like. (Does that make me weird?)

Here are the top 10 things that are great about Meghan:

1. She likes the color purple and so do I.

2. She is very crafty. Her latest obsession is weaving. She has made 6 scarves for the homeless and is almost done with another.

3. She likes all the same music that I do.

4. She is smart like her dad.

5. She has beautiful handwriting (when she takes her time...)

6. She makes yummy Mac n Cheese.

7. She is a great helper around the house and usually does her chores without grumbling.

8. She is a girlie girl through and through!

9. She likes CHoColAte!!

10. She is very pretty and fixes her own hair EVERYDAY!

LOVE YOU MEGGY!!

Flashback Friday to 1986

Christmas 1986.

I got a new coat which I was very excited about. But apparently I was NOT near as excited as Amy was about the cassette player/walkman she got! Oh yeah baby! Hello, we were in the 80's!

Don't mind our messy hair either. We would get up as soon as the clock said 6:00 to go check out our pressies and wake mom and dad. Seriously. Every year. One year we tried to get up earlier and Mom told us we had to go back to bed and stay there until 6:00. So at 5:59, we were climbing out of bed so we could race into the living room at 6:00. We weren't about to wait a second longer than necessary.

The cape

A couple of years ago I bought this fun double-sided "hero" cape for Jonathan from a craft show. He has loved it and wears it (still) all the time. When he was three (and 4) he would seriously wear it EVERYDAY. Many times I had to give up the fight and just take him to Walmart with the cape on. He loves it that much.

As you can see, it has a Batman side and a Superman side. Perfect for little boys. I have purchased a few more of these capes over the years and given them as gifts to other little boys and they have loved them also.

\

Sidney also likes to wear Jonathan's cape. She runs with it on and it flies out behind her. So, I let her wear it if she wants to. Sometimes this causes fights. But, a couple of months ago, I was at a craft show again and they had this same cape, but in girlie colors. It was so cute and I almost bought it....but then I thought, "hey- I already have ONE. I can make a pattern from it and do this myself."

So I did!

It turned out great and I was so proud of myself! She is getting this for Christmas and I just know she is gonna love it!

Just call me Becky Homecky.

*If you want one....order it from me and I will make it for you for $10. (the craft show was selling them for $15)

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Friday - Christmas Edition #1

Christmas 1982. I got a Peaches & Cream Barbie, and some Strawberry Shortcake lotion, lip gloss, and nail polish. Good times. When I showed this picture to Jenny , she got very excited and said, "WOW! They had Strawberry Shortcake when YOU were a kid?" Yah. Hard to believe, huh? Every year my family would frost cookies and make different candies to take to all our neighbors and friends. I love seeing these pictures of us doing things together because THAT is what I remember!

Wordless Wednesday

Read the sign, Buddy, READ THE SIGN!

I was sitting in my rocking chair trying to take a power nap and there was a knock at my door. Thinking it might be someone who actually needed me, I got up and went and answered it. I don't have a peephole on my door, so I have to actually open the door to see who is there.

I pull it open and a paper is shoved in my face my a twenty-something man who immediately starts some speel about carpet or something like that. It took me about 10 seconds to recover and I said to him while pointing at the "NO SOLICITING" sign next to my door, "Did you not see my sign?" To which he responds, "Well, you don't have to BUY anything, it could be free."

"It's still soliciting for you to even knock and BUG me" I said as I shut the door in his face.


Really. What part of NO SOLICITING did he not understand?

Flashback Friday

Why is it that having a chubbybelly is only adorable on babies?

Wordless Wednesday- don't feel so good...

NaBloPoMo...el fin. (Hooray!!)

Holy cow NaBloPoMo was HARD this year! I had such a hard time trying to be creative and write interesting things for 30 days straight. I swear my blog was even boring to ME! Let's hope that either a) next year my life is more interesting and the writing is easier, or b) I get a brain and just don't do NaBloPoMo.

my first book review

I read this book over the Thanksgiving holiday while at the in-laws house, and finished it on the drive home today. It is a cute story about trusting in God and finding love and is very easy reading. Gretchen was jilted a month before her wedding. She turns to ice cream and HGTV as a way to cope without really coping. One day, she looks in the mirror and decides to take some action in her life and try flipping a house just like they do on the shows she loves to watch on HGTV.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cute, fun, easy read.

Update on the sub state of things

okay, so the superintendent sent me an email that said he was forwarding my email to the Director of Elementary Schools. The very same day the director sent me 2 emails telling me that he would be speaking to the principal the next day and would keep me informed. I haven't heard anything since he was supposed to have spoken to the principal, but he wasn't at our Community Council meeting and we were all told by one of the teachers that he has had a "hard couple of weeks". Let's just say that I think it is because of me.

Anyway, next week is when it was going to be the yucky sub, but has been changed to a different sub that is actually one of the 6th grade teachers at the school who happens to be off track. Rachel will be going to school and if I hear anything more I will definitely update!

Christmas questions...

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can
send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!
1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? mostly wrapping paper, but I have been known to cheat and use a bag
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? whenever we get around to it
4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? YES!!
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Peaches and Cream Barbie
7. Hardest person to buy for? Mike's parents
8. Easiest person to buy for? my kids
9. Do You have a nativity scene? Yes.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can' think of just one, so I won't share any
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? The Grinch, and Elmo Saves Christmas
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? early Fall
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Heck ya!
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Turkey, Pumpkin Pie, Stuffing
16. Lights on the tree? Yes! Hundreds and hundreds of lights
17. Favorite Christmas song? What child is this

18.Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home and travel after
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? one on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas morning
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year. the traffic
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? red and snowmen
24. Favorite Christmas dinner? Ham
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? still deciding
26. Who is most likely to respond to this? couple of people
27. Who is least likely to respond to this? lots of people

Randomness

Movie Edward was pretty Hot. I liked the movie. I didn't like how some things were changed and other things were super cheesed up, but I still really liked the movie!

Brooke won on Dancing with the Stars. That's okay, because Lance and Lacey really stunk with their freestyle dance.

My principal has had a "hard couple of weeks". Or at least that is what one of the teachers said last night at the Community Council meeting to explain why he wasn't there. Judging from the response I got this week from the superintendent and the Director of Elementary Schools....I can just BET that he is having a bad week. OH well. Better now than after a child gets molested by a sub.

Sidney pooped in the tub last night as I was walking out the door. I laughed and said "Bye honey. See ya later. Have fun!" :]

I get to go see Edward tonight.

Cutie patootie movie Edward. I am so excited. I get to go with my girlfriends and giggle and whistle and sigh every time he is on the screen.

Well, maybe not. But still I AM excited!

nothing much to say....

Dancing with the Stars is tonight. I am rooting for Lance and Lacey.

Jenny is a Beauty Shop Guy----NOT!

Jenny cut her hair. She hasn't cut it in SOOOOO LONG. Actually no one has cut their hair in such a long time that I was starting to believe my speech about "how only mom or the beauty shop lady cuts your hair" had worked.

UNtil Saturday morning.

And it is virtually unhideable. Seriously. Right smack dab in the front all the way to the scalp. I left it for a day thinking that maybe if I just parted her hair really far over to one side and combed it across that it would help hold the spikeys down, but no such luck. So this morning while we skipped church (I know, SINNERS, right??) I cut her some bangs. It looks a tad bit better, but still that one spot is like bald mountain!

If she lives to see her 8th birthday, it will be a miracle!!

Blue

Well, they lost. Oh well. You win some, you lose some. It certainly isn't the end of the world. Although I do have to say that I know several Utah fans that feel like a loss is the end of the world.

There is always next year, and rest assured that we will be all decked out in our blue that day also. Because we bleed BLUE!!!

Flashback Friday to homemade dresses

Again with the homemade dresses. Not that you can tell, just that I know because I remember my mom making them and then wearing them. I think this is before church on a Sunday morning or something. I was eight, so this would have been circa 1983.

Love it! My Meghan saw this picture and she said, "Oh I love Aunt Amy's vest and skirt! Mom could you make me one of those?" That made me laugh really hard!!

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday in a while, so I felt like today would be a good time to do one.

Things I am thankful for today:

1. That Mike is coming home from his business trip. We all miss Daddy when he is gone, especially Mommy!

2. I filled up the car yesterday for $25. I got gas at Costco for $1.81 a gallon. I have not seen it that low in FOREVER!

3. That Rachel has had a good week. No meltdowns (yet-it IS only Thursday), and no phone calls from the school. Just one little note from her teacher that asked me to help her at home with her math because she couldn't finish it at school since she was getting a little frustrated.

4. I think MY cold is getting better. I can not vouch for Sidney or Mike yet, and it looks like Meghan may be getting sick, but oh well. At least I feel better and can now take care of the rest of the clan.

5. That my Savior loves me. I feel His love daily in my life. Mostly in the little things, but it is manifest nonetheless and I am so grateful for that!


What are you Thankful for on this beautiful Thursday in November???

One WORD Wednesday

FANS! (this is last year's picture)

To whom it may concern: please read...

Here is a copy of an email that I sent to my daughter's teacher yesterday.

Mrs. Bingham,

This email is to let you know that Rachel will not be at school Dec. 1-3 because Mr. K**** is the substitute. I will not allow her to be in the same classroom with him. I have reasons to believe that he is "grooming" young girls at our school much the same as a child predator would, and I have to protect my child. I am sure that as a teacher you have taken a training all about grooming and are well aware of what I am talking about. If not, then go here and it will help you understand better.

http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=730
http://sexual-abuse.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_pedophiles_groom_victims

Here is my experience with Mr. K****: When my oldest daughter Meghan was in 2nd grade she was in Mrs. S********'s class and that was the year that she had her baby and had several subs over the course of a few months. Meghan would come home talking about how great Mr. K**** was and I wasn't worried until she started bringing home trinkets and other little toys that he had given to her for "being so good". These toys were always things that I thought were just dumb, but in hindsight, they were just the sort of thing that Meghan would've liked. For him to know this, he would have had to have several conversations with her about what she liked. That seems hard to do for someone who is supposed to be teaching a whole class of students. A few times he even gave her money to "buy a treat in the lunchroom", he wrote a note to her once and left it in her desk after she had missed a few days for being sick and told her in the note that he "missed her and hoped she was feeling better". Each time I got more and more concerned, but I didn't want to make a fuss. The final straw was the day that she was late meeting Rachel to walk home after school because Mr. K**** had asked her to stay in the classroom ALONE with him so that he could tell her how much he appreciated her being so good. When she and Rachel did get home and the story came out, I immediately got on the phone and called Mr. V******. I told him of my concerns and how I felt it was highly inappropiate for ANY teacher to be ALONE with a student let alone a MALE teacher with a young GIRL. He assured me that he would talk to Mr. K**** about it and that was the end of our conversation. I never followed up with him and I probably should have, but I also had a baby and life got hectic. I made sure and told my girls though, that if he ever subbed in their class that they were to call me immediately and I would come and pull them out of school. Meghan had told me that he had asked her our address, what color her room was, and all about our family. These are questions that NO substitute needs to know.

Fast forward to this last spring when the girls were in soccer. During one of Rachel's games, a few parents were discussing Mr. K**** and how they didn't like him based on how he treated their sons. One of the moms spoke of how he was rude and mean or sometimes just ignored the boys in the classrooms that he subbed in, but yet was super friendly and affectionate to the girls. Then she told of how once she had been there to volunteer and he was subbing. She left for a moment and came back to get her things only to witness Mr. K**** ALONE in a classroom with a couple of girls from the class he was subbing for while the rest of the class was at their prep class. Once again, he was ALONE with young girls when supposedly he had been told it was inappropiate. This mother's husband said that he had spoken with Mr. V****** also asking what could be done to not have Mr. K**** substitute at our school and was told "it couldn't be done". He said that he wrote a letter to the district expressing his concerns to them. I don't know anything further on that because soccer ended and I wasn't able to talk with those parents again.

Clearly, Mr. K**** is following a pattern. I am not being critical of you for choosing him to be your substitute. I am being critical of the fact that what he is doing is wrong and no one at our school is doing anything about it. I know that he did these same things at S*** ******* Elementary and because of teacher complaints, he has been banned from ever substituting there again. In fact, I personally spoke with Mrs. H*** the principal, and told of her of my experience with him. She knew about me because my friend was the PTA president there last year and my friend told her she should talk to me.

Please understand that I share all of this with you so that if you were not aware of concerns that parents have for this substitute, then you will know now. Also, if you could please gather all the work that Rachel will need for those 3 days and send it home with her so that she can work on it at home with me, I would appreciate that. Thanks so much for all you do for Rachel. She really enjoys being in your class. And thank you for reading this email.

Sincerely,
Jana S*****


So folks....what do ya think? Am I being too overprotective or am I doing the right thing. By the way I sent that email to the principal (Mr. V******) also. I am hoping to get a response from him. All Rachel's teacher responded with was three sentences. "I didn't know. I will not use him again. I understand why you feel this way." I didn't really expect more than that, because frankly I don't think she likes me or my daughter. That's not really the point. The point is that she needed to be informed and for some reason I felt like the principal just wasn't letting any of the teachers know about any complaints regarding this substitute.

Sidney just came and threw the box of wipes and a diaper up onto my laptop.

"Are you stinky?" I asked.

"deekee" she said.

WOW! I thought. That would be pretty great if she really was and she didn't like it, I mean that would mean she is getting pretty close to wanting to be potty trained, right? Probably not, but still.

Sure enough, she was stinky. I changed her and then put the diaper out on the back porch to go in the garbage bin. Sidney got mad at me then because she wanted to throw it into the garbage. (see, that's her JOB. She pees, I change it and tell her to put it into the garbage and off she trots to the bathroom to chuck it into the garbage)

Facebook is fun. If you don't know what it is, it is an online community/organization where you can make friends, play games, send messages to people and just generally keep in contact or reconnect with old friends. I joined in February and have had a lot of fun finding people from High School, missionaries from my mission and people that I know from my hometown as well as people from where I currently live. I send little notes to them and they send them back. It's quick, easy, and totally painless.

It is not like MySpace, in that you can control how much info you put on your profile and who reads it. Actually, people have to be your friend in order to view your info. It feels safer that way. I don't get any more unwanted emails and such than I did before, actually I don't get any spam that comes as a result of Facebook.

So, I invited my little sister to join and she did. I wasn't surprised because quite simply, she is cool like that and I knew it. She has been enjoying being on Facebook and I can tell because she has a bazillion friends! I wondered if my other sisters would like to join and so I sent them invites. One of the invites didn't go through because my nephew was already on there using my sis's email address. He was really surprised to find out that I was a member of FB too, believe me!! Anyway, yesterday my oldest sister Gina joined! So freaking funny! We'll see how "active" she is on it, but I just thought it was cool that she joined!

This post basically had not much interesting to say except that I needed to write for stinking NaBloPoMo and I had to think of something to write and that was the only thing. The End.

Once again, it's me!

And the Mom of the Year Award goes to..........................

ummmm, me.

I noticed a month or so ago that Jonathan's church shoes were a little tight, so I simply got out the ones that my neighbor had handed down to us and had him start wearing them. No big deal, right? Right.

However, I forgot to check his tennis shoes that he wears everyday and ask him how they were fitting. Yesterday, we were at Walmart getting some things and he wanted some slippers. I had him try some on and we found a really cute pair. Then I said, "hey how do your shoes fit?" He says, "ummm, okay I guess".

And then I looked at them and the size and realized that the church shoes he has been wearing for the last month are TWO sizes bigger, so how on Earth could they really be 'ummm okay'???

We found a cool (cuz they can't be cute, they have to be cool) pair of shoes and got him the size that fits him good. Guess what size they are? 12

Now guess what size he was wearing.....oh come on, just guess.....9 1/2!

I AM the freaking Mother of the Year for trying to give my kid scrunched up Chinese feet!

Flashback Friday and the big ball

I love this picture. I look like I am having so much fun playing with my ball. Every time Mike sees this picture he says, " ummm, I don't know, but I don't think your ball is big enough."

Oh yeah, HA HA. Really though, I wasn't THAT small of a baby, so the ball must be super huge to be as big as me, right.

Hey come to think of it...I am pretty teensy in this picture, maybe THIS is the one that I will put up on my fridge as my weight loss goal pic.

Gone....

My voice is gone.

My kids are thrilled. This means mom can't yell anymore.

It started to crack a little yesterday about 3 in the afternoon, and by 7 pm last night it was fading fast. This morning? I.got.nothin'.

This cold is kicking my butt and I am so done with it. Ugh.

big bang

Mike and I don't watch sitcoms generally. Apparently we would rather waste our time with hour long dramas. However, last season we caught a few episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" and absolutely laughed our guts off. This season it is set to record on our DVR every week, and we still laugh hysterically.

Why is it so funny to us? I have a few "theories" of my own. First of all, on any given day, my husband is nerdy enough that he could pass for one of the guys on that show. I.Kid.You.Not. I don't think he knows how to speak Klingon like they did on the last episode, but some of the other quirks they have he does too. Second of all,.....well, I better just stop while I am ahead. Let's just leave it at that.

I love my hubby bunches. I am the "hot chick" to his "nerdiness". (Stop laughing...it's TRUE!)

Anyway, check out "Big Bang Theory" on Monday nights. It's hilarious!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm having one of THOSE days. I feel like a loser. I was in my jammies until 11 am. I got dressed only because I had to take the little boy I watch in the mornings to school. I still didn't shower, and basically could care less. I didn't even put our flag out today and it's Veteran's Day for goodness sake!

It isn't menstrual or pregnancy related I promise. (Anyone in my ward that reads this just probably sighed from relief....) Oh yeah, that was probably TMI, right? Whatev~!~!

So basically I am NOT gonna finish the laundry that has been sitting there since Saturday, NOT make dinner( guess it's cold cereal again kids!), and NOT dress up to go to Enrichment. I'm kindof in a slumpy bumpy frump.

Heaven help my family. They are gonna need it.

Puffy=muscles

I had to buy a new coat for Jonathan because he outgrew his other one. I'm surprised that it lasted him as long as it did. It was a size 3T coat and he IS 5 years old.

Anyway, he was thrilled when we found this coat at Old Navy. He went on and on and on about all of the coat's qualities that he so dearly loved. Yeah, it was annoying.

The other morning when Shannon dropped Porter off at my house, Porter was showing his new coat to Jonathan, so Jonathan got his to show to Porter. Then he said the very best thing I think I have ever heard. He said, "my coat is all puffy on the sleeves. It makes me look like I have big muscles."

I swear Shannon and I laughed for about 5 minutes about that one!

I'll be darned

The other night at dinner Meghan was talking about the election and how they had talked about it in her class at school. She said that all the kids had said they voted for McCain. They she said, "We were all darned that he lost."

Me: "Wait...you were what?"
her: "we were darned, you know like 'Darn it'!"

Me (laughing): "You mean you were disappointed"

her: "oh yeah. I guess that's what I meant."

I'm sorry if you don't get how funny that is to me, but I thought it was pretty great. She describes everything so literally, and this was just one of those times.

Projects. Ugh. That word almost instills fear in me. I have so many projects that I have started and not finished, it would almost be comical if it weren't so darn sad.



This morning following breakfast while the kids were vacuuming and generally pretending to clean their rooms, I went downstairs to my craft room/canning kitchen. I sorted and rearranged things, and threw things away, and organized my junk. In the process I found no less than 7 projects that I have started and not finished. Why do I do this? What is my problem with the no-follow-through?


Anyway, I was literally disgusted with myself.


So, I called my friend Shannon and we went to town and I bought stuff for 3 more projects. I'm a real winner I am.

Flashback Friday- little sisters

I have the best little sister in the world. Seriously. She rocks. She is a great listener. She's super pretty, and extremely funny.

I wasn't always happy to have a little sister though. Right, Andi? Oh yeah. We had our moments. But, thankfully I grew up and am so grateful I did, so that I could recognize how important she is in my life.

*This picture is from July 1982. She would have been about 7 months old, and I was 7 years old. You can't really tell from this picture, but I am wearing one of the old "Dive In Lagoon-a-Beach" t-shirts". Cool, huh?

Guess what I got to clean up today?

I didn't think you be able to guess, so I included this picture. Yes, I am a mean mom. I make my kids suffer so I can take pictures of their misery so I can blog about it. So sue me.

I let Jonathan and his buddy Porter play outside this morning and I kept telling them to stay away from the garden area. With all the rain we got it has become a mud bog. They didn't listen and "miss follower pants" followed and then got stuck and then tipped over face first. Fun times!

wordFUL Wednesday and the kids that don't stop growing

I am shamelessly copying Cecily's "wordFUL Wednesday" (I usually do wordless wednesday, but it's too hard) and posting a picture and writing about it because I can't NOT talk about it! Am I weird or what?

This is my gorgeous girls taken in 2004. Long time ago, huh? I was reminded this week of how little they used to be. I was reminded in a weird way. You see...when they were adopted, they were ages 4, 3, and 20 months. They WERE little. Now they are ages almost 10, 8 1/2, and 7. Everyone always says that they think Meghan and Rachel look like twins because they are both blondies. Lately though I think it is Jenny and Rachel that are more like twins. Jenny, who used to be teensy tiny, is growing like a freaking weed and just won't stop. She is as tall as Rachel and they wear the same size clothes.

The problem is that I like to use the "pass down" method in clothes usage around here and her being the same size as Rachel completely SCREWS that up! Just this morning I had to go to the store and buy her a coat because she has outgrown her other one, but yet Rachel still fits just fine in the one she has and can't pass it down. So I had to go and buy one the exact same size as Rachel's for Jenny! ARGH! Stop growing already!

I just want her to be little again. Matter of fact, I want all of them to just be little again.

Broccoli for President

We went for a walk tonight again. Mike and I are kind of semi-training for a 5K that is the end of the month. Anyway, we got home and in the midst of showering the kids, the topic of the election came up. We went for early voting and took the kids with us, so they know all about it. But anyway, Jenny was telling me that someone came around to their classrooms at school today and they "pretend" voted. I said to her how cool and important I thought that was. Then Meghan walked into the bathroom and said that she voted for John McCain. "Good girl", I said, "I guess we will find out tomorrow who got the most votes". Jenny then proceeded to tell me that "one of the guys was named broccoli".

I swear I almost peed my pants I thought it was so funny.

So, here's to hoping we don't have a vegetable as the President of the United States!

I drove all around this morning running errands and shopping and jazz like that. I was not as bad as it could've been. Jonathan actually didn't wander off as much as he usually does. Thank heavens! Anyway, as I was driving I noticed something rather exciting on the signs of all the gas stations! Remember a month ago, when I posted THIS about how happy I was that gas was under $4 a gallon? In one month it has dropped over $1 in the area where I live. It was $2.45 at most of the stations that I drove past today. How awesome is that?

I was telling my mom on Sunday about how we went for a drive, but had to fill up our SUV first and for the first time in over a year (and a half, I'll wager), it was less than $50 to fill it. She said that it is the lowest it has been in a couple of years, and that last year when her and my dad went to Nauvoo, the cheapest they were able to buy gas for was $2.69. So it is definitely down more than a dollar from last summer! I Just hope today's election results don't screw the downward slide back to up. Which, by the way...GET out and VOTE! They offered early voting here in Utah and I thought it was great how many people actually got out and voted. My husband read (probably in the newspaper) that in Davis County 33% of people early voted. That is wonderful! Sometimes that is all that even comes out to vote. This gives me hope that people care about the current situation and WANT to do what they SHOULD DO to help it/change it.

*okay. I will climb off my soapbox now and go back to eating my milkshake.

Tagged again!

I got tagged again. This one is info about me. I thought it was great. (at least when I read the stuff on my friend's tag, I learned stuff about her that I thought was great- hopefully it will carry over here.....)



8 Favorite TV shows

(okay, first I gotta comment....I watch WAY TOO MUCH television...so only 8 favorites was hard)

Iron Chef America
24
Jon & Kate plus 8
Private Practice
Dancing with the Stars
Super Why?
Word World
Big Bang Theory

8 Favorite Restaurants
Chili's
Red Robin
Cafe Rio
Olive Garden
Goodwood BBQ
Marie Callendars
Applebee's
Hungry Bear Pizza Buffet

8 Things that happened yesterday
raked leaves with kids
Sidney fell asleep in her high chair
I ate too much candy
Mike and I watched Indiana Jones (rented from Redbox)
I blogged
Mike shampooed the carpet in the living room
BYU won their game!
We all had a bath!

8 Things I look forward to
happy faces on Christmas Day
Thanksgiving at the in-laws
visiting my folks after Christmas
Losing some weight after the holidays
See Twilight
Sitting down with a series of books I have wanted to read and actually reading them
My childrens' weddings (I know...that's a LONG way off)
Going on a mission with Mike someday

8 Things I love about Fall
the smells
the colors
making soup all the time
wearing sweaters
warm fuzzy socks
Halloween
Thanksgiving
Election Day

8 Things on my wishlist
Lose 25 pounds
Run a 5K
Mike not have to travel for work
Get my scrapbooking caught up and stay caught up
Make some money selling the hairbows that I have so much fun making
Go back to college and get my degree
Publish some of my writings (magazine, newspaper...I don't care!)
Have my best friends Amber and Deanne live closer to me


Okay, now I tag Shannon, Melinda, Michelle, Gretchen, Kari, and Mindy.

Super Sunday.

I don't often say this. Well, actually I never say this....today was a good day. AND it was a Sunday. Around our house these two things are never combined together or so it seems. But today was different.

I got ready for choir practice and asked the kids if they wanted to come early with me or come later with daddy. Everyone wanted to come early and get in extra coloring time. Even Sidney was dressed and ready to go by 8am. I know! Miracle, huh?

So I hauled them all with me picturing in my mind the seven million times I would have to leave the choir seats during our practice to go remind my kids not to fight in the chapel.

But, I didn't have to. They were quiet and wonderful and definitely not my kids! Anyone know where mine have run away to? Seriously if I believed in alien abductions, I would bet my life that that is the reason for the strange behavior from my children.

And guess what is even better? I came home from church without a headache caused from fighting with kids, and the day has progressed with still not much fighting. Hooray for whatever drugs they have given themselves. It seems to work. I would blame the Halloween candy, but I just can't fathom that sugar is helping them to be nicer. That just seems impossible. Of course, so did well behaved kids.

Maybe I should just count my blessings......

rundown on the Halloween event

We had a fun Halloween yet again. To all the candy that my kids received...my diabetes says Thank You. For the first time ever, Mike and I tried to be a little more lax in our candy eating rules. We bagged up the candy minus anything chocolate, and sent it down to their bedrooms with them. We had bets on whose candy would be gone before 9 pm and sure enough...it was Jenny! The kids all dressed up- Jonathan as a Knight, Meghan as a 50's girl, Sidney the bug, Rachel the Go-Go dancer, and Jenny as the Queen of Hearts.Unbeknownst (is that a word??) to us, Sidney had grabbed a bag of M&M's out of her bucket and had eaten through the wrapper and smothered herself in chocolate. I spent a majority of today handwashing a costume that is not supposed to be washed. Good times!
And last but not least...it would not be Halloween unless our good friends the Bankheads came over and we did a group shot with all the kids together. We seriously have to do this each year because Porter and Jonathan always want to be the same thing.

Hooray for Halloween!

Oh yeah, and it's NaBloPoMo Day 1...check. Hopefully I can keep it up all month long.

Flashback Friday

I got a tad bit nostalgic today and looked at old Halloween pictures of the kids. Halloween is by far the favorite holiday around our house. Something about dressing up and pretending to be something you are not just excites them and makes it fun. Upon looking at the pictures though, I realized that I am missing one year (2005)- that would be when our hard drive crashed and I lost all the pictures that I didn't have on a backup disc- and I took individual pictures in 2006 instead of a group shot. So here is what I do have. Enjoy! It sure was fun to see how they have grown!

face painting gone wrong.

Last night was the Halloween Carnival at our church. The Young Men and Young Women put it on every year and it is tons of fun! The kids all get to put their costumes on and play all sorts of arcade/carnival style games to win candy prizes. One of the favorite stops to make is the face painting table. EVERYONE always wants some doodad painted on their face. Last night was no exception.

Now before I go on with the rest of the story, you should know that we have the best hometeachers in the world. They are so wonderful to us and are just so fun because they fit right in with our circus. That said, they are HUGE University of Utah fans and we are BYU fans. Kind of opposites, huh? Anyway, Bro. Thompson is always telling me that one day he is going to give my kids red U of U shirts, and he usually wears his U of U shirt when he comes to home teach us. He is funny that way!

So anyway, last night when our kids were just wandering the church doing the different activities and such, Bro. Thompson grabs Jonathan and says, "Hey, let's go get your face painted."

This is the result. (Bro. Thompson was SOOO Proud of himself when he brought Jonathan over to show his face to Mike and I. I told him he was FIRED! :] )

My son's face was an abomination! It got even funnier though because ALL these people kept coming over to Mike and I and asking us if we had seen his face and what did we think. It cracked me up! Anyway, the girls, in an effort to placate Daddy (who wasn't mad, by the way), had BYU painted alllllllllll over their faces. Too funny!

parenting sucks

Oh my kids.



Where do I begin.



Today, I encountered yet another sampling of parenting sucks. A wrong choice was made by three children ("the gang"- I call them) and I found the remnants of what remained from that wrong choice and I was in the position where I needed to give a consequence. The thing is that the consequence for said choice had already been outlined and told to them previously so that they would have incentive to NOT choose wrongly. But apparently, wants overruled common sense and "they did not remember". I reinforced to them what the consequence was supposed to be and said, "this is what I think needs to happen now. But I want you to call your dad and make it right with him and talk to him and see what he says."


I overheard bits and pieces of that conversation, but not enough to know what he said for sure. I put myself in a time-out for the safety or should I say sanity of all involved and that is what I was doing until 10 minutes ago when a messenger (one of the gang members) brought me this note.
I guess they are all "sorry". Oh and I am now proclaimed "beutiful", and if I have any questions or want to write notes, they even provided a space for me to do that. How thoughtful they are. Now if I can just get them to realize THAT before the fact then we will be good!

Wordless Wednesday - Pretty Fall Leaves

What we did today.

This morning's project was of the dirty kind. Our front lawn has this spot that is all sunk in and crappy because of the sewer excavation that had to be done last summer (2007) and wasn't made very level. All winter long in settled underneath our loads of snow and the grass has slowly been filling in all this summer on top of the unlevelness. Mike went and got a load of dirt so we could fill in the low spots and get it more level. Jonathan was Daddy's little helper today and helped him with all the steps for this project. Step 1: Tromp all over the dirt in the back of the pickup while Daddy shovels it out and onto the lawn.
Step 2: When you can't lift up the shovel because a) it's too heavy, and b) you are too little and not supposed to touch the shovel....then just kick it out of the pickup.

Step 3: Get in Daddy's way while he is trying to level it out with the rake. Can't even begin to count the number of times Mike redid the same spots because they had little shoe prints all over them.

Step 4: "Help" Daddy by sweeping the dirt out of the pickup and onto the driveway.

This afternoon's project was tilling up our garden area in preparation for winter. Mike got all duded up and started tilling adn his sidekick was following behind. Before long, Jonathan came into the house and told me that Daddy told him he "couldn't help or walk by the tiller unless he had a hankerchief over his nose and mouth too, and so, could I please get one for him."
Really this picture is just too cute for words. I think that Jonathan is even trying to step in Mike's footprints.

And not to be outdone, but the girls HAD to get in on the fun of hankie wearing. Jenny was the only one that opted for the cowboy look. The older girls needed to be more "girlie".