FHV/PN!!!!!!

Okay, in honor of my sister Becky joining in on the blogging now, I have decided to initiate her in with this glorious photo. (I really do plan on learning to do the video so I can be FHVN instead of having to add in the P, which stands for photo....duh) For those of you who are not aware of Becky having a blog check it out @ avegasfamilylife.blogspot.com.

Now, there are several great things about this photo. Starting with the most obvious, the picture is of Becky and Tom (sorry to those of you who got excited thinking this was Becky and Chachi). For those of you who knew us growing up, you may have caught on a bit to the fact that these two didn't get along the best. So it therefore is funny to me that the picture is of just the two of them, when there are four other kids to have in the photo. Next, are Becky's white pumps......love them! Finally, we have all the things in the background. I count eleven candlesticks with out a single candle. Then we have the doll. My very talented aunt Liz made us all dolls. Huge, beautiful dolls, with fancy clothes made by my grandmother, I think. I loved these dolls, until Chachi....I mean Tom, made us watch a movie about these dolls that came to life and killed everybody. Then I was terrified of them. I remember once, we were all going to watch a movie together. Tom told us to all run upstairs to get our pajamas and pillows and blankets. When we came downstairs into the family room, the dolls had already taken our spots on the couches. They were waiting for us with steak knifes in their hands. . . . .do..do .....do..do .....do..do ....do..do (that was the twilight zone music)

Am I frugal or what?

This is how cheap I am. These pajamas where original purchased for my son Bailey 10 years ago at Costco. They are size 18 months. As he grew out of them, they were kindly passed down to his brother Calvin. As he grew out of them, they were kindly passed down to his sister Ella. As she grew out of them, they were kindly passed down to her brother Howie. Howie has out grown them, and Dwight made a genius decision. I think these pajamas may still have another year left in them.

FHVN!!!!!

I wanted to start out sharing a childhood memory. I have so many, but I am going to try to single it down. I have been thinking alot lately about the way I parent. I like to think I am doing a good job, but who really knows. My one big hope for my children is that they will have good memories of growing up, with me as their mother. (I really do have other hopes for them, but this is a big one.) I hate to hear people talk about their horrible childhood and how it is the reason they are doing drugs, robbing, whatever. (I think it is a poor excuse for making a bad choice. ) So anyway, I was looking through some of my pictures, we had recently taken the kids to the coast for a family reunion on Dwight's side. I myself, have many memories of going to the beach with our family. But one thing in paticular stands out in my head. It is thinking of my dad scrubbing our feet off before we could get into the car. We always had a clean car, it had nearly white seats. We could never eat in the car, we would have never left trash in the car, or our clothes in the car, or our backpacks, or even our shoes. (These are all the things that are currently in my car) I remember making fun of dad for making us clean our feet off. He had a can of gasoline to wash off our feet with, incase we had tar on them from the sand. But then, as I was going through these pictures from our trip I found this one that Dwight took of me and Calvin.
Let me explain..... we had taken the kids to the beach that day, as we had the day before. It was cold on the beach, so everyone was just playing around in their clothes. When we got back to the house, I noticed that all my kids were COVERED in wet muddy sand. I really didn't want to have to clean it out of the carpet or the tub, or the washing machine. The beach house we were staying in had a hot tub on the side yard. So I had an idea to have the boys strip down to their underware, I would hose them off, then they could quickly jump into the hot tub to get warmed up. Then while they were in the hot tub, I could hose down their clothes. It was BRILLIANT! I thought, anyway. Dwight decided to capture the moment. And now looking back, all I can think was, "so dad washed off our feet. He never made us strip down and hose us down." Aren't I doing a good job at being a mom? I should maybe write a book.

Bailey, Calvin, and Ella respond...

Here are Bailey's 6 facts about himself:
1. I like video games. ( this is a rare one I am sure)
2. I love reading. My favorite book is "How to Speak Dragonese"
3. I love to play with my family. (I am typing this for him as he says it, so there may be a bit of kissing up here)
4. I like it when my cousins visit....ALOT.
5. I play the piano.
6. My favorite show is digimon.

Here are Calvin's 6 facts about himself:
1. I like video games. (again, this is rare)
2. I have a best friend named Thomas. (sorry, not you tom)
3. Howie hurts me alot.
4. We have a new game called, "Pokemon Ranger". ( I know this really falls into the video game category, but he is struggling here.)
5. I am doing good in school.
6. I like to smell my toots. ( He was taking too long, so I finished up for him)


Here are Ella's 6 facts about herself:
1. I like cookies.
2. I like my baby alive. (Even though she decided to throw it away a couple months ago, and she bit off the nose)
3. I like Sponge Bob
4. I have lost 6 teeth.
5. She wants to know what this is for?
6. I like my mom. ( I really wish really she would have said Love, but oh well)

Here are Howie's answers, even though we never asked him anything, he just heard everyone talking and decided he needed to be involved:
1. "I hab a Patrick"
2. "I hab a dinasaur"
3. "I hab a prend" (I think he is meaning friend, which he has none of on account of his scratching issues right now)
4. "I hab to practice da biano"
5. "I hab a Buzz"
6. ....... he seems to have lost interest, and is now leaving the room.


They have collectively decided to tag, Cord, Gus, Homer, Thomas, Hazel and Violet.

Thank you Brenda!

Sorry, I have not had the time to update lately, but I now have almost 20 minutes to myself, and lucky for all of you, I have decided to use part of it to work on my blog. I was fortunate enough to get tagged by Brenda, so I have to write six random facts about me. So here goes:

1. I love to pretend shop. I always feel guilty actually buying things, but I love to go looking, as if I were going to buy them. And it isn't little things. I love to look at houses, cars and furniture. I probably go look at cars two or three times a month. Dwight is always commenting on the number of business cards that I have in the console of my car. They are all from salesmen, who I have no intention of ever calling. And I know I am wasting their time, giving them false hope, but I just can't help myself. It is a disease.

2. I have an obsession with craig's list. For those of you who don't know what that is, I will explain. It is an online classifieds, similar to an online garage sale. You can look local, and people put up pictures of their crap and try to sell it. I love looking at what people think their junk is worth. I love it when they say things like, "I love this and am ONLY selling it because......", or when they tell you what they originally paid for it and the extraordinary deal they are now offering to us. Occacsionally, you can find a good deal though, and it is just fun to look. My very favorite thing is when people post a picture of their item, like a couch for example, and they have all the family pets sitting on it while they take the picture. That makes it something someone would really want then. To buy a couch that has had animals on it. I am allergic, so maybe that is why I think it is dumb of them, but anyway, it is still funny to me. And this whole thing is about me, so that is why I put it.

3. I love pre-teen movies and tv shows. Drake and Josh is a good one. I love that my kids are watching the shows, so I can just act like it is on because Bailey is watching it. Some of my favorites have been, "10 Things I hate about you", "Pretty in Pink", "Breakfast Club", "High School Musical", "Better off Dead", "Mean Girls", "Center Stage".......the list embarrissingly goes on. The lamer they are, the more I like them. I am just really interested in whoever wrote it, whoever chose to produce it, and whoever chose to act in it and then on top of that, think they were cool for doing so. I am always embarrassed for them, but I love to watch it. It is like passing a car wreck for me, I just can't help but look. (You all should really watch the final dance in "Center Stage") I know I am not the only person in the family with this secret, but I will leave the others to disclose themselves when they are ready.....Sara. But, I think my all time favorite would have to be.....drum roll.........."Saved by the Bell". I know you all watched it too!

4. Oh, how I hate to get up in the morning. Oh, how I hate to get out of bed, but when I hear that buglars call, it's the saddest sound of all. I hate to get up, I hate to get up, I hate to get up in the morning.

5. I love to play games. Card games, board games, video games, and even those magazine books of games like sudoku, crossword puzzle, and logic puzzles. If I hear someone planning to "get together later to play cards", I am not too proud to invite myself over. I have imposed on many a family game night. So if you don't want me there,.....too bad

6. My final and favorite fact about me is...........I love being with my family. I know it is cliche` and sappy, but it is true. I love being with all my brother and sisters, and all their spouses, and kids. I love being with my cousins and aunts and uncles. I love all their spouses, and kids too. I look forward to every family event with all of them. I love to include myself, again, in events I know I wasn't really invited to, just to hang out with them. I even love my cousins who probably don't even know I exist. I love to stay up all night talking with my family. One of my favorite things to do is reminisce about things. I have the best memories of my childhood, and I love to talk about them. I loved going to family reunions, I love watching the home videos (you would know I am serious then, because we have all seen what I look like on them, thank you Jenny). I love that we all do this blog so I can feel up to date with everyone. I love that my cousin Sam has a blog now also. I love that he didn't know who I was when I stayed with him last summer. And I love that he probably doesn't remember that I stayed with him last summer. I love that my cousin Tim's wife, Brenda, thought enough of me to tag me, even though she probably did it because they were running out of people to tag, but still, she thought of me. Which brings me to another reason I am glad (and maybe even the real reason) my cousin Sam has a blog. I now have to come up with 6 people to tag!

The winners are.... Sam, Mom, Jeni, Jeni's sister Jamie, Jeni's sister Ashlee, and my sister Becky, who doesn't ahve a blog yet, but I am sure it is only because she is out of town. As soon as she gets back it will be up and going and I am giving her her first thing to write about. Now I know you will all do this, for the same reason I did it. Have we all seen the picture of Sara's foot? (if not, check it out here http://sarastrasser.blogspot.com/) That was the result of not following a chain letter correctly!

Family Home Video/Photo Night...or Day...

First of all, I have lookinh forward to this ever since Jenny announced it. Second of all, I expect ALL of you to be participating in it! It was a tough choice to start, but here are this weeks winning photos.

You are all probably looking at this picture and wondering why I cut off the top of my parents heads. (It is my mom and dad) This picture was in my parents scrap book exactly as it is on this post. Someone took this picture cutting off the top of their heads, then my mom and dad paid to have it developed. It wasn't really their fault though because they had no way of knowing their heads would be cut off. But then they took the extra step of actually putting it in the album, in it's own spot. I did not find this picture hidden behind a picture, it was in it's own personal sleave. I don't know, maybe mom thought her egg nog looked especially nice that year. Or maybe that watch she was wearing was special to her. All I know is that it was a picture worth saving, and so I scanned it so that I can save it also.

This is another one of my fave's. It looks like Becky is our mom. I think this was the time we lost Sherod at Disneyland (he is the one strangling his little sister in the dress). It isn't as good as the one with all of us in matching outfits, but that is for another time. Please note that I am wearing my very favorite pair of overalls, and Erin was wearing my other favorite pair of "patchwork" pants. I specifically recall being envious of my cousin Emily's lavender shorts outfit. And it is no wonder, she still looks cute in them. If you look close enough, you can see a girl with a ponytail in the background wearing a pair of Tom's shorts. But I love this picture the most, because I loved going to Disneyland, and I especially loved it when we went with our cousins. My favorite memory was going once when I was about 16 or 17 and we were there with the Waite's. My Sister Erin and I, and two of my cousins, Tim and Sherod, went off riding the rides together. We had many exciting adventures that day. . . oh the memories.

Well that is it for this weeks Family Home Video/Photo Night/Day. Next week I'll shoot for some video. Or, I'll shoot some video for next week. Endless possibilities!

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Well, tomorrow is my oldest child's birthday, but since it is also FHV/PN, I am going to post it today! Bailey is 11 years old! It is crazy to me that I have been a mom for 11 years now. I still don't think I am old enough to be one. But that's what happens when you get married at 14.
Bailey is the best oldest child a person could ask for. He is totally respected by his younger siblings, and by his parents. (I mean, we would never put him in tight pajamas just to get a good video out of it) So for Bailey's birthday I am going to share my favorite Bailey story with you all. When we lived in Canada Bailey went to kindergarten there. The teachers had you call them "madame" instead of "Mrs." and Bailey's teacher was Madame Dolly. But Bailey never could say "madame". So he would come home and we would ask him, "how was school", or "what happened at school today", you know the typical questions GOOD parents are obligated to ask. And Bailey, who loved his teacher, would always respond with telling us something about her. He would always say, "The Dam Dolly taught about....". We loved how he referred to her as "The Dam Dolly". Which may have been the reason we continued to always ask him about her.

Bailey, 11 years ago.

Bailey, or as we called him Mr.Magoo.

Wow, it seems like at least a decade ago!

Happy Birthday Bailey! We love you!

Where do I begin...

Jenny wants us to put up old video (check out Esplin Family blog), but I don't have any of it. So here is a small preview of my new Monday, "Family Home Evening" day blogs. From now on I am going to put up one or two of the Great photos taken from our childhood. Let me just tell you a couple of my favorite things about this one in particular. Starting with my brother Tom on your left. Could his shorts be any shorter? But I guess the sweatshirt compensates. Next to him is me. Please note that the cool homemade vest I am wearing also comes with a matching skirt AND an entire homemade matching outfit for my fake cabbage patch kid. Jenny and Sara lucked out with their age in this one, but don't worry I have plenty more pictures with them. Then we have Erin with her side ponytail, which Jenny later perfected. And on the far right we have Tom's friend Craig, who has beat out Tom's outfit by adding a pair of Eddy Money sunglasses. Finally, the best part of this picture is, this is how we all dressed to go see Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States of America, come off of his plane. Pretty classy huh?

So there is it. Don't be mad Jenny. If I happen to get some of those video's I will be happy to add them to my blog as well, but until then, I will just stick with sharing our groovin pictures.

I am behind but....

I know it has been nearly two weeks since Halloween, but I am very slow about downloading pictures.

Here is Howie, wearing Bailey's costume from 1999, not too bad?
Here are all the kids, dressed a little shabby, but it's about the candy, not the costume.



Here is Ella and her bff.

And these pumkins are my own creation using the Ginzu knifes I received as a wedding gift nearly 14 years ago. I am glad I finally got some use out of them.

So there it is, our Halloween. Now maybe you will hear about our Thanksgiving and Christmas by February.

Is my glass half full?

Yesterday was a crappy day. When I went to bed last night I had a hard time falling asleep. All I could think about was the long bad day I had had. So I decided to try to make a list in my head pointing out only the good things that happened. It was hard at first, but here is my list:
1. I got my butt grabbed by someone other than Dwight. (thanks Amanada!)
2. Tuesdays are always my bad days, and this one was over.
3. Jenny's dramatic video from Halloween had that song in it from The Mission (you should all check it out, Esplin family)
4. Howie's ear drum burst, and he was a big cry baby the whole day. I took him to Walmart with me (which is around the time I got my butt grabbed, again, thanks Amanda) and he insisted on a box of bandaids. Apparently his ear still hurt.
5. There were no serious injuries or incidents and the bad day is probably all just due to pms.
Which brings us to the final and best thing about my day:
6. I am not pregnant!!

So there is my list. I have to admit, it didn't really work. But it was cute watching Howie walk around the rest of the day with a bandaid on his ear.

An online journal

I am a little behind I know. This is like writing in a journal, but everyone can read it. Which is the reason I never actually wrote in a journal. I remember finding my sisters, from when she was in Junior High (28 yrs ago) and we still quote it today, "dear diary, today I decided to go mod!". Sorry Becky, but that is why I never wrote one for myself. And also why I never went mod.