Bean Bags, Trash Bags, and Dirty Underwear

About 5 years ago we bought one of those GIANT bean bags. I think they're called love sacks. But it wasn't your typical GIANT bean bag, it was THE BIGGEST one they make. It was well used. For several months it was even used as a child gate for our family room. When we moved into our bigger house a couple years ago we put the bag in the bonus room. There it was totally abused by every kid that ever stepped foot into that room. Lately the zipper has been coming undone and it creates a huge mess. The kids don't ever tell me the zipper is open until it is to the point of foam everywhere. Well, with it being Christmas break, the kids have been sleeping in the bonus room every night, and they have been staying up later and later. The other night I went up there to shut them up and try to get them to go to bed. When I walked in the room I about had a stroke. The zipper to the bean bag was completely broken off and the crap was EVERYWHERE!!!!!
I freaked out, and then made them all get up and help me clean it up. We decided it was time to throw the thing out. But the foam padding stuff inside was all staticky and there was just so much of it. You can see from these pictures how terrified my kids were of me....

Howie was all smiles the whole time, no matter who was yelling at him.

Can you believe I threw out the bag and not the kids?

We ended up sewing up the bag and filling 8 giant trash bags with foam. We were filling buckets then dumping them into the bags. It took about 2 hours!

The next day Dwight tipped the trash men when they came to take it away. I will no longer be endorsing this product.

Other than that, it has been a pretty mellow and relaxing break. I decided though I am obviously ignoring my kids a little too much, when Howie came downstairs dressed in this Saturday.

His face is filthy, he's wearing a shirt 2 sizes too small, I'm pretty sure that's the same underwear from the bean bag pictures several days before, and he's got snowboarding boots on. At least he looks happy.

My blog post

Now that Landee is back, I guess I can post again.

I have been freakishly busy these days. Here are some of the many things I had intentions of accomplishing, and it didn't all quite work out.

* Family pictures
* Make Christmas cards
* Make a photo book, so Mark could tell you all about his
* Clean my house
* Clean my car
* Prepare a lesson for RS
* Blog about it (whatever "it" is)
* Catch up on my CSI Miami's (Better than Saved by the Bell)
* Blog about the Bailey Christmas party (thanks mom for taking care of that one)

Really I could go on, but it starts to get a little personal...
So let's check a few of these things off.

*We did get the family pictures taken care of. Last week at Sam's Club they had a special for $9.95 you could get a 10x13. I went for it. We had to be at Sam's Club at 5:15 on Friday. Right in the middle of the store. Sitting there in our groovy poses. I couldn't stop laughing. Especially the pose he did of Dwight and I alone. It was very similar to our engagement announcement picture. I'll have to do some serious digging for it to show you all. But just picture in your head the two of us laying on the floor. He told me to "lay like a mermaid". People were stopping their shopping to watch. Good thing no more than 10 people ever shop at Sam's Club at any given time.

*I am going to count my Christmas card as this one. All I have to say is...you're welcome.
About the photo book, Mark, I'm never going to get around to it, so feel free to post about your trip to Seattle...if you want...no pressure.

*Clean my house, clean my car? It's totally snowing, it will just get all dirty again so what's the point. We did have a family contest yesterday. We divided the house into sections and had a race. Whoever got their section finished first (and it had to be done well) was the winner. they won a carton of ice cream and there were no rules on when or how much they cold eat of it. You should have seen these kids move. It was a Christmas miracle. It is our new Saturday plan.

*Prepare a lesson for RS. This one I put off until the very last minute, and thanks to some great ideas from my mom, who had the lesson the week before, it wasn't too bad. I think I work best under pressure anyway. No one cried, so it wasn't that great of a lesson I guess. Next month I will totally get on the ball.....maybe not. Just incase, pay attention again mom.

*Blog about "it"....what do you call this.

*Catch up on my CSI Miami shows. CSI Miami is the grooviest show ever. Dwight was going to delete them all too. But, then I reminded him of their extreme grooviness and he let us keep them. I suggest you all try it out. Horatio is the biggest dork and he thinks he is the shiz nit. Horrible actors and bad scripts, huge crimes being solved within a day and the perp always confesses. Just like Scooby Doo. You won't be disappointed.

I feel so much better with my list being all checked off now. I have been busy with many Christmas parties. I did come up with the best white elephant gift ever. I made several of them and brought the same thing to every party. It is my own homemade version of this.

Here is mine.

It looks so much better with unmatching sleeves don't you think. It really just makes it pop! I am now accepting all orders. Only $12.95 plus shipping and handling! They're going fast so order now!

I can't decided what to title this

I don't know what has been going on lately. All I know is that I can't keep up with it. I have had something going on every night for what seems like forever. And a million things going on everyday for forever. And now it is almost Christmas and I have hardly anything done for it. I keep having dreams that it is Christmas morning and I remember I still haven't gotten my kids or Dwight anything and it is majorly stressful. But, I am taking time out of my never ending schedule to do a quick post.
I gave Howie 2 quarters the other day. He put them in his pocket and said he was going to save them for the snack machine at the YMCA. Then when he went to bed, he decided he had to sleep in his clothes. He had the quarters in his pocket and he didn't want to lose them. I guess he felt that it was safest to just keep them in his pocket and sleep in his clothes. The next morning he wouldn't let me change his clothes either. He had 2 quarters in his pocket.... I was running late, and decided I didn't really care what he wore to the YMCA. When we got there, he was missing one of his quarters. All that work, and he still lost one. I gave him another and all was well. That night, at about 3 in the morning, Howie woke me up all excited. He found his other quarter and he wanted to know if we could go back to the YMCA and get some fruit snacks.
Yesterday Ella and I were out getting a couple things when she saw this:

She thought it was the funniest thing ever and was begging me to buy it for Dad. Little did she know, her dad would probably love it!

My last little thing going on is really more like a complaint. Everyone keeps using my toothbrush! Once I find out it has been in someone else mouth I am no longer able to use it. I go to brush my teeth, and I notice my toothbrush is wet, when it should be dry because it has been several hours since I used it. Ella has used it, Calvin used another one, then I caught Howie using one. I went out and bought several more and decided to hide the extras. When I got up the next morning my toothbrush was out of its spot and resting on Dwight's sink, and it was wet!! I had to break out my spare one. Then when Dwight came in I got on to him about using my toothbrush. I went on to tell him how disgusting I thought it was and how I had to get a new one out. I guess I offended him because when he came back in the bathroom he started going on about me using his sink and mirror and how sick that was and now he was going to have to have it all replaced. Am I the only one that can't share a toothbrush? Is it me with the problem? Where's Memzy?

A Public Apology

My friend Jeni says I always love to make her look like an idiot. Since I know I only sometimes like to make her look like an idiot, I thought I should apologize for making her feel like I always do it.

I'm super sorry Jeni!!!!!!

(I'm not doing this for everybody, so if you have a beef, save your breath)

This is us getting ready to watch Twilight.


Edward....
******Edit******
I am apologizing to Jeni for saying she didn't really love Edward.

False Advertising? You tell me.

I was having a busy day. Howie was hungry (and so was I). I decided to just run through the drive thru somewhere. I am trying to decide what to order, when I saw these. Don't they look delicious?

Here's what mine looked like.

I tried to mash the sides together, but it just fell open again.

Here is it mushed, with a single bite taken out of it.

Should I have demanded my $1.99 back?

November in a nutshell

Sometimes I kind of suck at blogging. But, I am at peace with it so that's all that matters. I decided to just do one long post about what's been going on. First of all, Howie got a tie. Big news huh?

He actually stole it from Bailey, but he looks so cute in it, I had to throw it in for big news.
We had a great Thanksgiving. Jenny and Erin came up for it. I had dinner with my in-laws and my assignment was the mashed potatoes. Lot of pressure huh? I put a bunch of kids to work pealing the potatoes. Isn't this the cutest little potato peeler you've ever seen?

My favorite thing about going to my in-laws is the card games. My mother in-law always has new ones for us to play. Dwight's family is also VERY competitive and so it is a lot of fun. This is a pre-game shot. Not everyone looks so happy after the game. Good times.....

This is me concentrating on my next move. You have to be very careful not only which card you play, but which reaction you are going to use. If you win and one of the more competitive people lose, then you can't cheer for yourself unless you want a knife in your back. If you lose and one of the more competitive people win and you don't cheer for them, you could end up with a knife in your back. If you accidentally smile when a more competitive person isn't doing so well, then you could end up with a knife in your back. It makes it very fun and exciting.

Dwight's brother is leaving on a mission tomorrow, so he spent the majority of the time snuggled up with his cute girlfriend. I felt so bad for her when it was time for them to say good bye. Hopefully she really does wait for him, I like her a lot.

Me and my family had a lot of fun hanging out. We got to see Landee and ManicMandee. We played lots of games, and saw movies, and ate, and drank diet coke, and got sick, and ignored the kids........it was the best time ever! Here is the briefest moment of non-ignoring going on.

Ella gets loads of kisses from aunt Sara.

Look how Francy does even care that Jenny is licking her face. There was obviously a lot more that has happened in the past two weeks, but some things are private!

Help a blogger out....

After all the parenting tips I have so generously given to you all, I have decided to now give you the opportunity to give me a tip. Ella has been having a few problems this year (at the beginning) with making friends. Lately she has been talking about who she plays with and the list seems long, so I just assumed the problem was over with. Today she came in and was telling me she had a job as a maid. I knew it wasn't with me, so I asked her what she was meaning. She said her friend at school hired her to be her maid, but it was ok because for payment, Ella gets to play with this girl at recess. I asked her what sorts of things she does as a maid. She said it was super easy, she just had to do whatever this girl told her to do, like "rub her back". She is telling me all this stuff like it is great news. Do I just leave it alone? It kind of bugs me. This is what I keep picturing. (Her "boss" would be the girl on the far right)

Foto Friday

This is Sara imitating me trying to go cross-eyed. Do you see the resemblance?

More parenting tips, using aliens.

Last night we put all the kids to bed. After about 30 mins. of Howie annoying everyone, we pulled him out and made him a bed on our floor and told him to sleep there (which is where he pretty much ends up sleeping every school night). Then, Dwight and I went back to watching our Monday night shows. (Some really good ones, I might add). A few minutes later, Howie came out crying saying there was an alien in our room. So he stayed out with me while Dwight went into the room and proceeded to kick the crap out of the alien. Howie was very pleased, but not quite ready to enter the room alone. We decided we may as well all go to bed. Everyone is all settled in, and I turned out the lights. Then Howie starts going on about the alien he is seeing again. I get on the floor to try to see things from his perspective, and he points to a blue light. I then explained to him about how it was just a light and couldn't possibly be an alien because aliens have bodies. He got it immediately and rolled over and went to sleep. I got back into bed and started thinking, do aliens have bodies? I could have just said there was no such thing as aliens.
It reminded me of when we were living in Canada. Our work permits had expired and we were waiting for our new ones. There was a lapse and so we were told if we left the country, we may not be allowed back in. I had been planning on going down to Boise for my HS reunion, but we had decided I'd better not go unless we got our permits renewed. We were talking about it at dinner one night and Bailey asked what we were talking about. I told him it was time he learned the truth about his family. I very seriously told him, "we are aliens Bailey." (Cuz we were considered illegal aliens at the time in Canada, so I'm not a liar) Bailey was totally excited, as if his wildest dreams had just come true.

Family Pictures

It seems like fall is the time of year to get family pictures done. I missed that opportunity last year and had big plans of getting it done this year. Since I already missed having a good looking outdoor shot with the family, I need to plan a good indoor shot. Somethings to consider:
1. What outfit to wear. We all need to match
2. What color background to have. It should somewhat
coordinate with our outfits.
3. How should I style my hair.
4. What position should we be in. Standing or sitting or lounging.

Then, I got an email with the most perfect family sitting EVER! I need to find a photographer who can replicate this with my own family.

I guess I might need to wait a few months, so we can grow out mine and Dwight's hair a bit though.

Foto Friday: Special Halloween Edition

Howie, the Red Dragon

Ella, the Corpse Bride

Calvin, the ??????
Bailey, Something Scary

Most of the gang (Ted's costume wasn't tight enough, and Wini was MIA)

We hope you all had a fun Halloween! Make sure you check your kids candy for needles and razor blades. The most sure way to do this is by just taking a bite out of every piece.

Halloween Decorations

My kids have been complaining about our lack of Halloween decorations this year. This morning Ella told me she put some out, but I wasn't really paying much attention to it. Until Dwight came home from lunch and pointed it out to me.

Pretty scary huh?

I can only imagine where the body might be.

What a waste.............of perfectly good packaging tape.

Who should play Bella?

With six girls on the same trip, every photo op was pointed out and taken advantage of. Six times. I am pretty sure we didn't look like dorks, at all. Every time someone spotted a "perfect" spot to have their picture taken at, we ALL had our picture taken there. You know you would have too. If you had traveled all the way to Forks, and gotten to the Forks visitor center, and seen the replica of Bella's truck spray painted red with a fake license plate on it that said BELLA, I guarantee you would have stopped. But, who do you think pulled off the best "Bella pose"?

Landee (Too showy)

Sara(Too excited)
Memzy(Too sultry)

Hot Pants(Too tall)

Cristin (Too happy)

JennyESP (Too moody looking, oh wait, perfect!)

Bloggers gone wild

A lot of people think vacations are all fun and games. But the truth of the matter is, things can get ugly. Especially if a certain shorter sister keeps thinking she won a game of 90's trivia twice, instead of just the one time we let her win. Sara finally had it out with her to set the record straight. She just calmly sat her down to talk to her......

Jenny didn't fully agree.....

They just kept moving around......

Sara, found a way to keep her still.

You would think taking a trip with a group of girls that you got to know mostly through the blogs, could possibly be awkward. But, it came just as naturally as it did with all the characters on Friends, only if they were all girls, cuz no boys were with us. I have some pretty solid proof of how well things went. Hopefully no one gets in any kind of trouble for breaking any "pacts".

Hey Tom!

Happy Birthday to my favorite brother Tom! He's super old now, so I thought I would post a photo from his younger years so he wouldn't feel so bad about how old he is. Have a great day, and good luck with getting a new car! Especially since the one in your hand looks a bit unsanitary.

I could be a winner!

Check out this apron I'm probably gonna win!

I should maybe tell you how, but that might lessen my chances of actually winning it.
I'm kind of selfish that way.

Foto Friday

Howie the Hulk

A Friendly Reminder

Three weeks ago I successfully won a very prestigious blog contest. It was hosted by my good friend Matt. We've been friends since High School, and became bosom friends during a particularly fun couple weeks in the summer of '91. Here we are, clearly being bosom friends, at EFY. (Cuz that's where Mormon's bond.... with the help of John Bytheway)

I was going to hold off this post, until I received my big prize. I figured I would try to give him plenty of time, he's a busy man. I don't like to brag too much, but he's pretty famous, just ask my kids. Here he is with mine and my friend Jeni's kids, after watching him in Willy Wonka. He gave them all autographs, totally made their day.

He is currently very busy in another production, and he also works other job(s) on the side. So, ok, I should give him some time to prepare my big prize. Last week I gave him a friendly reminder on his facebook. He told me he was busy making me a Chex mix. Well, another week has gone by, and I am beginning to worry about the freshness of that said Chex mix.

(Speaking of fresh, here he is looking a little too fresh. I really should have posted this beauty with the high school dance picture post. )

I was really hoping this post would be of me opening up my box, and bragging to all the losers of the contest (sorry Casey and Jeni) about how tasty my Chex mix was. But, it is now turning into another polite reminder to Matt. I just really like snack mixes Matt. And I also have lots more pictures, and a fast scanner. (That's totally not a threat, so don't spit in my Chex mix please)

Foto Friday

Either one of Mark's girls was busted, or he was just trying out a new cool pose.