The Thurstonian

Ragnar Pictures

2010-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Don't get your hopes up. This blog post is not a come back. I was just too lazy to downsize my pictures so I could email to everyone. And by everyone I don't really mean everyone, just the ones who participated in the ragnar race. Go ahead and lookie-loo if you want though. I may even provide some commentary. Note, this was a 37 hour period and I only remembered the camera around hour 35. Too bad too, because there were loads of things to document.

Kerra, pretending to walk like she was sore when really she was ready to run another 10 miles.

Van #2, I took great care of these gize. You can tell cuz they're still alive.
Trent's face is my favorite.

I know my van was pretty worried about how my knuckle was doing. After careful nursing and neosporin, I think I might end up scarred for life.

I would have supported Trent here with his run, but I thought it more important to document since there were only hours left at this point.

Our van decoration.

Wild burros...four of them.

More burros. I didn't touch them because they were gross.

Mother of the Year, fa shizzle

2010-04-15T20:58:00.000-07:00

I thought it was about time to give you all a few more excerpts from my parenting book.

1. When your kids get hurt, try to refrain from telling them to "suck it up" until after you get the x-ray results. It's one of those things they may remember when they get older.

2. When your child get his booster and is super sad like this:One way to cheer him up is to tell him he can be the one to let his older brother know he has to get a booster shot too. Totally works, see:3. When your kids get a hold of your camera and take a bazillion pictures of each other, make sure you look at each one carefully before you delete them. Cuz you could miss out on this:

4. When you have an old friend with photo skillz come into town, always take advantage of them by having them spend their Saturday taking pictures of your kids. Is it bad that I picked this one for my big framed one?

Why I Don't Drink Wine/Easter Bunny

2010-04-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the movie A Walk in the Clouds? If not, go ahead and watch it, I'll wait.
You know that part where they are all out harvesting the grapes, then they squash them for the wine? (Here's a clip of it, hopefully you speak spanish) Here's a few points I'd like to make about it.
1. When she took off her shoes to step on the grapes, notice she didn't wash them. And also, when she took off her shoes she wasn't wearing socks. So she was out working in a field in shoes with out socks. Can you even imagine how stinky and sweaty her feet were? And she just stuck those things straight into the grape pit.
2. She had really long frizzy black hair, that wasn't pulled back in a hair net before she started swinging it all around in that grape pit. I know she was trying to be all sexy, but all I could think about was the stray long black frizzy hairs that are getting all tangled up in those grapes.

Maybe they have more sanitary ways of doing things now, but all the most expensive wine is the old stuff that was made back when people use their nasty feet to make it. So if I can't drink the best, then I may as well not even waste my time. And also because the prophet said not to, duh.

On another note. I can't get my bold button to turn off now. But, this is how I got my kids to go to bed and not wait up to catch the Easter Bunny in action.

CREEEEEEEEPY!!!!

So much to talk about.

2010-04-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Has it already been three weeks since my last post? Hmmm. What to do. What to do.

So the lion fell in love with the lamb

2010-03-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

This Twilight beauty is at Hobby Lobby for only $199.00! It's also about as big as Howie. It's a big store, so if you have a hard time finding it, look over by all the Jesus statues.

Breaking Promises

2010-02-27T14:32:00.000-08:00

I am not a woman of my word. 14 years ago I made a promise to never snowboard again. I broke that promise on Thursday afternoon. Dwight planned a quick mid-week family vacation up in snowy McCall, Idaho. While we were up there we spent a day at Brundage, snowboarding. If you don't believe I did it, come over here and check out my right hip. I'm pretty sure it's broken. I also have this picture with the ski hill in the background, looking all fake and WalMart studio-ish.

You may be thinking, "it's just like riding a bike, you never forget." Well....it's not. It's a pretty big blow to your ego when you're going down the hill and get passed up by your 4 year old yelling, "stay on your heels mom". Thanks for the tip Howie.
Speaking of Howie, look how fancy he is.

I See Dead People

2010-02-19T13:20:00.000-08:00

Howie: I saw Jesus. He came back to earth.

Me: Really? Where did you see him?

Howie: He's right over at that picnic table playing his DS.

(Cue long hair, bearded skater dude hanging out at a picnic table. Like a thief in the night.)

Do you think Jesus prefers Mario to Pokemon?

Feeling the Love

2009-12-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

Look who loves me twice as much as she loves you. (Or maybe more if you didn't even get one)

Don't think I'm not hanging them both up. Should I do it like this:

Or this:

A Christmas Miracle

2009-12-16T18:05:00.000-08:00

In March of 2007, a couple of my sisters and I took a cruise to "beautiful Encinada, Mexico". (It's a quote, not my quote, but still a quote.) While we were on our shopping tour of "beautiful Encinada, Mexico" I came across this fireproof Gucci purse. Pretty sure it is the real deal.

That was almost 3 years ago, and since then I've bought other knock-off purses, but never actually used them. I have no idea where they are, and when I did know, I was too lazy to transfer all my Sonic and WalMart receipts into a new purse. As you can clearly see, the genuine leather is starting to peel away from the cloth handle making my real, fireproof Gucci purse look a little dumpy.
I've been talking about getting a new purse for the last couple months, but I'm all talk. I talk a lot, to a lot of people, and shockingly some of those people actually listen to me. My friend Anissa brought me over this beauty as a Chrismas present.

It's way bigger! Plus, it was filled with these treats.

There is no way anyone will ever be able to top this gift! Thanks Anissa!

Time for some editing

2009-12-12T09:19:00.000-08:00

Dwight and I went out last night. I gave the kids my usual lecture about the rules while I am gone. I am really good at the lectures. I went out in the garage to find my shoes, and then came back in to put them on. I guess the kids thought when I went into the garage I left, because when I came back in Calvin jumped up real quick from where he had Howie pinned down on the ground. Howie was crying with his hands over his face and Calvin had something hidden behind his back. All I had to do was give Calvin my "look". (You should all learn this.) He showed me the Cookie monster stamp he had been hiding from me. Poor Howie got Stamped. Doesn't he look so super sad?

Can you believe I thought my kids would just sit on the couch with a blanket, quietly watching tv the whole time I was gone? (Cuz that was what I told them to do in my lecture) Looks like I need to rewrite a few chapters of my parenting book.

Reviewing Reviews

2009-12-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

About a year and a half ago, Dwight bought me this fancy laser jet printer. I'd show you a picture, but you can just trust me, it's awesome. But you know what's not awesome? Buying new ink for it. I went to the regular IRL store to get a new black cartridge and it was $85. Too rich for my blood. I figured I'd go online and search out a cheaper option. I found a place through Amazon that sold it for $37...a significant difference. I decided I better look at the reviews first. There were 6 of them. 5 of the reviews gave a 1 star and they were angry, misspelled 1 star reviews. Then there was that lone 5 star review written by John C. Bendheim. It was just a bit too properly written. I clicked on the button to read other reviews written by John C. Bendheim. I suggest you do it too. This guy is quite the online shopper. He has a daughter named Susie who tried the homeopathic calendula cream and loved it. Even though I counted at least 5 dvd purchases, he still wrote in a 5 star review for the purchase of Scenes from a sexual nature, "I don't usually buy DVD's".

I especially loved his review of the Popeye dvd he bought, "Popeye soothes the spirit by getting out of jams in a simple and quick way. While it would be better that he didn't punch his enemies, at least everyone is alive and well each time he eats gets his dietary fiber, calcium and folic acid. The technical quality of the DVD is fine."

Looks to me like I can no longer trust the opinions of complete strangers on the internet. What is this world coming to?

Screws

2009-12-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

It is FREEZING here!!! We got up Monday morning and go out to the car to take the kids to school, and my new tire had a flat. Seems someone ran over a giant screw. Dwight had already left for work (seems to happen every time I have a flat tire) so I was on my own. Dwight suggested I just keep the kids home from school...rude. I decided to teach Calvin how to change a flat instead. What a man.

The kids finally got to school at about 10:30. Then today at about 10:30 I got a call from the school to come pick up my kids. The power was out and they couldn't heat the building. "All students MUST be evacuated" <---you'd think it was a bomb threat. Put a jacket on already. That's two days of schedule ruining.

Old Friends who really aren't old because they're my same age

2009-12-05T21:46:00.001-08:00

I went to this baby shower last week that I wasn't invited too. I ran into one of my favorite blog stalkers. She made such a big deal about my pathetic blog. It was just like the paparazzi. Now I know how Lady Gaga feels.

Look how nice I was to let her take a picture with me. I let her do it one other time.

She looks exactly the same as she did nearly 20 years ago, she's even still with the same guy. Me and Edward broke up. It was on account of his big head. I'm like shallow Hal.

You're right, WalGreens never disapoints!

2009-11-17T00:01:00.000-08:00

Look-a-Like

2009-10-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

Howie says he's grandpa for Halloween.

Deer Oh Dear

2009-10-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

There comes a time in every boys life when becomes a man. There are a few different things that can make this happen. In Bailey's case, it involved a gun.
Over the summer, my dad got an idea to put Bailey in a hunter's education course. He also took Bailey target shooting several times. Today was the first day of hunting season. Last night Dwight, my dad and Bailey packed up the truck and went out for Bailey's first hunting trip. I figured they'd be gone until late tonight, and come home empty handed. (Maybe it was just me hoping) But, at about 9:00 this morning I got a call from Bailey telling me he got his deer and they were heading home. He got one on his first shot. He didn't actually kill it with that one shot, and the deer was crying, which made Bailey cry, and grandpa had to come in and finish it up. By the time he got home, he was pretty proud.
Look at my sweet little boy posing next to his first kill. So precious.

Dwight was asking where he should hang it up and as a joke I told him there was a hook on the front porch. You can't hear it, but I'm totally screaming in the background, "I was joking, take it down!!"

I'm pretty sure this is against the CC&R's.

Bailey getting in one more pose before it gets cut up into cute little Bambi bits.

He shot it right through the butt.

Dwight watched a YouTube video on how to cut it up. Mmmm delicious, right?

He got every bit of it. Just like the indians, we're not wasting a bit.

This is also the view from my kitchen window right now.
Calvin's wanting to make a necklace out of this. The skin is drying out on the grass waiting to be made into a belt.
I have to say, I'm a little grossed out in my house. I for sure will not be hanging out in the backyard for awhile.

It's all the rage

2009-09-18T18:55:00.000-07:00

What's all the rage, you ask? Posts about aprons, duh. It's my second one. I got this beauty in the mail this week. If you don't know how I got it, then you must be Amish.

Since I already had one for the kitchen, I thought I should put this new one somewhere else.

Doesn't it work out well here.? It reminds Dwight of that one time I cooked. What a turn on.

Sombody has a lot of time on their hands..

2009-09-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

And it isn't me. I had some extra time on Sunday, but I used it to bake this cake. I had some extra time on Monday, but I used to decorate this cake. I had some extra time on Wednesday, but I used it calling all my friends and emailing all my friends and texting all my friends to come vote for my cake. Then someone changed some rules around, and now I have no extra time left to continue this pursuit. Fortunately, not only am I talented in the cake decorating area, and in the getting friends to vote for me area, but now I am lucky in the apron acquiring area as well.

Isn't it fantastic?!?!

I especially love the Mockingjay in there. It just looks so real.

So thank you to all who helped me out by voting. I know you did so with your heart. I will wear my apron with pride. And everytime I do, I will be thinking of all of you.

I'm a visionary

2009-07-17T12:45:00.000-07:00

I went with the boys and my mom to see the new Harry Potter movie. The ending was sad, until this popped into my head.

Flashbacks of how funny I thought I was with this post came back to me and it took all I had to suppress the laughter. Poor Dumbledore...

I liked the movie BTW. Ron is way groovy! Plenty of close-ups. And Harry's a bad kisser. I wonder how many times they had to re-shoot just to get what they got. I'll definitely watch it again when they show it on TBS!

Remember me?

2009-07-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Amy, and I am a recovering unmotivated blogger. If it makes you feel any better, blogging hasn't been the only thing I am unmotivated about lately. I could give you a 2-3 month recap of what's been going on, but I'm still recovering. Anyway, I'm pretty sure you could care less. So let's just stick with what has been consuming our house right now. Dwight has been way into running. He started back in February, training for a half marathon. He ran his first in April, and has done one every month since. He is building up for a full marathon in January. It's our anniversary month, and there is a race in Arizona he wants us to run together. He'll do the full and I'll do the half. <--according to his plans... If I can ever get myself to just start trying to run and train, I will go for it.
A few weeks ago he signed up the whole family to run in a race. He ran a 10k, the boys ran a 6k, and me, Howie and Ella ran a mile. Here's us before the fun began.

As our mile race started, us three were off to a great start. For at least the first 50 feet, anyway, then the drama began. Howie was a real sissy, and kept saying things like, "I can't take it anymore!" or "running is for girlths!" I kept trying to get him to keep going to the half mile mark. Then I finally gave him a break and put him on my back for the second half. It only took us 16 minutes!
This kid came in first place out of all boys 19 and under.

He won a gift card to a sports store. He was pretty pleased with himself. Bailey came in second.
The boys liked to so much, Dwight signed them all up for another race yesterday. Dwight ran the half marathon and the boys both ran the 5 k.

Here they are before the race started.

Here's Bailey getting ready to start his race. He looks so little.

The race ended at the Hawk's stadium. Howie did an awesome job cheering for all the racers as they came in.

Bailey was pretty wiped after he finished, and fell asleep waiting for Dwight to be done.
Just a good picture I took.
So finally Dwight came in. He has been running faster and faster with each race. This one he came in about 5 minutes faster than his last. He was man enough to let me take this picture of him.

See the resemblance?

The boys wanted to stay for the awards, in case they won anything this time. I didn't really want to, since I had been there already for about 4 hours and there were so many people racing, I wasn't thinking they would win anything. I was wrong. Bailey came in second and Calvin came in third. They both got medals this time. Dwight's prize was a new shirt and some band-aids I went and got for him at Wal*Mart, so people wouldn't stare at his nipples.

I think they're taking a break for August, but have a race planned in McCall for September.

Here's the Proof

2009-05-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

This was Jenny. Mom thought it was Sara...
Here's my proof.
Jenny on the swing set, note her groovy one piece tank top short outfit. It was once mine.

Here's Jenny later that day wearing the same groovyness. (That's Erin and her classic mullet)

Here is Sara on the swing set. She is wearing a highwater dress.

And, Sara later in the kitchen wearing her same dress.

Jenny and Sara, don't you feel bad that your own mother didn't recognize you?

Hanging out

2009-05-24T15:31:00.000-07:00

I've been busy packing and going through all our junk trying to decide what is worth taking into our new house. So far I'm finding there's not much I want to take with me. I keep getting side tracked with a GIANT box of slides I took from my mom's house. A lot of them are faded and scratched, like this beauty.

After a good 20 minutes of rescanning and adjusting of all kinds of buttons I didn't know what I was adjusting, I finally got this crystal clear image. It took me another 20 minutes to figure out who this was. From top left to right, it is Becky, Tom, a Tuttle, Chad Cooper, Cathe Cooper, Me (behind the giant LHOTP bonnet), Erin, another Tuttle, and Cristin (Cooper) Carter.

Even with all the fun I'm having packing and scanning, this is what I wish I was doing.

Anyone recognize this blogger?

Don't you just want to run your fingers through that hair? I bet you'd find a few tasty snacks.
I've scanned in about 30 slides, out of a box of about 3000. But, I'll be sure to post all the good ones.

Who do you love more Ella? Mom or Dad?

2009-05-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Have you ever gotten a gift that made you so happy you cried? Have you ever given a gift that made someone so happy they cried? Ella has been asking for a dog since...she could. We tried to tide her over with chickens. They made too much noise and we were worried our neighbors would get mad, so we gave them to my BIL. Then, Dwight got her a hamster. I still can't get myself to look at that thing. Anyone who has ever had a conversation with Ella, knows about her hamster John. But, even with her total dedication to John, she still begs for a dog. Bailey is allergic, so we'd need a hypoallergenic dog, and I don't like big dogs. I was walking into WalMart tonight, on the phone with Jespy, when I saw some people standing out front selling shiatsu's. They were actually poodle-shiatsu mix. Both small and hypoallergenic. I couldn't resist. I bought it and brought it home to surprise Ella. I yelled out to her in my "you're busted" yell. She came running, and when she saw the dog she asked, "is that for me". I told her yes, and she burst into sobs. I don't think I've ever made any kid happier. For sure she loves me more now. Here she is with Jane, who she tried to name Shyla, but I told her it was groovy, so she changed it to Jane. Sorry if any of you have a kid named Shyla, but it's groovy. Jane is the runt of her family. I have total confidence in Ella taking care of this dog on her own. Is that niave of me? The things I do for my kids.......

My Inheritance

2009-05-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

Sometimes cleaning the garage can pay off. I found these slides in a box Dwight marked, "Amy's Inheritance". There were also a couple diaries (not mine) that I'm thinking would be good for the next book club. And there was a pretty good stack of funeral announcements from people I never knew had even been born. (Those went into the DI box.)

This is my Grandma Bailey with my mom, brother Tom, sister Becky and newly born sister Erin. For some reason, it is a rare thing to find a baby picture of Erin. Maybe they are all in slides.

This is my grandma Cordil, my brother Tom, my sister Becky and me. Grandma looks like she may have had to lift with her legs when she picked me up. And it's a good thing I'm wearing a cloth diaper. I bet if it were a disposable one, it would have exploded by now with all that foamy stuff.

This was a slide of me and my brother Tom. Just chillin' on the front porch in Long Beach. That's what people in So. Cal. used to do back then. Ahh, those were the days.

Safety

2009-04-23T17:07:00.000-07:00

We're are finally warming up a bit around here and the bikes are coming out. I talked to the kids reminding them of the always wear your helmet rule. Every time I go out to check on them, they have a helmet on, but Calvin just can't seem to figure out to put it on right.

It's backwards every time.

Think it will still protect his head even when it's backwards?

Oscar picks

2009-04-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post about our special visitor for the last week and a half, but I was too depressed about her leaving, so I wasn't able to post until now. Sara, Katie, Landee and I all went out for a romantic dinner at the Mona Lisa fondue restaurant. After eating, we rolled ourselves out to the car and headed over to Katie's house for more good times. Here's a shot I got of it.

We're doing some serious multi-tasking here. Playing Bananagram while we watched a movie on Landee's iPhone. What movie are we watching, you ask. Here's a clue. I happened to click the camera at the perfect time. My favorite scene.

Poor Bella is in agony after being bitten by an evil vampire. The venom is burning so bad. Her hand feels like it is on fire. If only I had clicked when brave Edward started to suck the venom out. Where were the oscar nominations for these two?

****EDIT****

I went to Target and purchased my own copy just to get this image for you. That's dedication!

Neck ache

2009-03-23T11:51:00.000-07:00

I thought you might all like to know, I have been on hold with Wells Fargo for 23 minutes now. They play the most depressing KMart shoppers music. I'm going to need to be medicated after this. What is a reasonable time to hold? They contacted me and asked me to return their call. I'm starting to think they don't really want to talk to me that bad. They want me to buy out a leased vehicle from them, but I guess they are doing great selling all kinds of leased vehicles people aren't wanting to return. Cuz you know, everyone is buying cars these days.

Cyber run-in's

2009-03-20T17:07:00.000-07:00

First off, I don't know why everything is underlined. Dwight's not home to fix it for me, and I don't feel like trying to figure it out on my own either.
Last night I went to a girl's night out pajama party. I didn't wear my pajamas, I didn't want everyone coveting my undies. It was a pretty exclusive party. And as I walked in, to my great joy and suprise, I saw my cyber blog friend Jana.
Look how excited she is to see me too.

Hey, look! The underlining thing is gone, and I don't know even know how or why. Freaky!
The girls night out is a once a month thing, kinda like another girly once a month thing, only this one is fun. Hopefully Jana will be a permanent fixture at these exclusive events.

Ripped Off

2009-03-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

I'm in a serious blogging funk. I'm not depressed, I just can't seem to get myself to blog. I don't know why. I called a doctor and I'm having some blood work done tomorrow. I'll let you know what they say. In the mean time, my friend and fellow band member, Anissa, called me this morning saying she had something for me to blog about. Pretty sad when your friends have to start planning out your blog for you. That's when I decided the situation was serious and I was in denial about. And that's when I called the doctor. He specializes in blog funks. Anyway, this is what Anissa sent me, in honor of Twilight coming out on dvd this weekend. And in honor of the fact that I haven't done my visiting teaching yet this month....or last month.
In other news, Howie got the lamest toy in his kids meal today. It's an iCarly mouse pad. Rarely do kids over the age of 8 get a kids meal. And during the school year it's more like under the age of 5. I'd say 3 or 4 years old is the average kids meal consumer. What the crap would a 3 or 4 year want a mouse pad for? These guys are just shooting themselves in the foot here. They even asked me if it was for a girl or a boy. So the mouse pad is apparently specifically for boys. The iCarly mouse pad, was made for boys to enjoy. Howie didn't get it's purpose either. He thought he was getting a pet mouse to go with Ella's hamster. He was pretty upset.

Since you've been wondering..

2009-02-11T10:04:00.001-08:00

Hey gize, I kind of have some bad news. I have been putting this off for some time now, just hoping to have a better outcome to share with you all.
As you all know, two months ago, Burn-Z left on his mission. He was doing really well, and was even excited to go. About a week into his mission he showed up at my door. He just couldn't handle it you gize. I think it was just too much pressure for his crusty little body. I told him he could stay here, but only for a little while. I just wanted to give him the chance to get his life back in order and figure out what he wanted from it all. He was only here a few days when he started hanging out with this wanna be BlueBerry muffin. I don't even think she had real blue berries either. She was always talking to him about how she knew what her purpose was here and she needed his help with it. Apparently she had issues. She always wanted to be in a Costco multi-muffin pack, but never made it farther than the Chevron bakery.

Well, Burn-Z took off about a week after meeting her, and I haven't heard from him yet. I wasn't ever sure what she was trying to get from Burn-Z any way....until a couple weeks ago. I guess she had asked him for a few of his crumbs, and he gave in you gize. She found a baker at WalMart who was willing to help her out, and now she's expecting a baker's dozen. She has no where to go, and doesn't even own a muffin tin! You can see by her bulging muffin top, she is nearly due.
I didn't want to have to burden you all with this, but I can no longer put up with this unconscionable act. I took it upon myself to give BlueBerry a few addresses of people who I thought may be willing to help her out. And I'll try to keep you all posted.

Fave Foto Friday: The Secret's Out

2009-02-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

The secret is out you gize. It wasn't an all girl trip.

Favorite Foto Friday

2009-01-30T20:49:00.000-08:00

We went to an 80's Murder Mystery party tonight. Dwight's character was supposed to be Wee Pee Vermon. I'll post more after the party, I just wanted to show how perfect Dwight's costume was.

Fave Foto Friday

2009-01-16T13:38:00.000-08:00

My boys planned a party for tonight. Dwight thought it was great that they were so independent like that. Really it was great because he has to work late and won't even be around. Anyway, I told the boys they had to do some serious cleaning if they were going to be hosting a party. They had to clean their rooms and the bonus room. I went up to check it all out. Here is what Calvin's bed looked like.

Does that blanket look familiar? Here's a closer shot.

It was one of the extra snuggies I made. Here is another one.

I called him up to tell him something about his room didn't look right and to come fix it. (He has a nice comforter that was supposed to be on his bed instead.) This is how he fixed what was wrong with his room.

I guess it is inconvenient to not have use of your arms while you are sleeping.

Saturday Snowboarding

2009-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

I had big plans on Saturday. I was going to sleep in, slowly get up, slowly have some breakfast, hang out on the computer and check out everyone's wedding dress posts, maybe do some texting, then possibly a load or two of laundry in between catching up on my dvr. Bailey joined the Ski and Snowboarding team for school and Saturday was his first race. Since I hate to snowboard and that is totally Dwight's thing, I was going to have the day to myself. So I slept in...check, slowly got up....check, slowly had some breakfast...check, then I got hit with "maybe mom should come up to the hill with us and watch you race Bailey, you know...to be supportive". I came back with a quick, "I am supporting him by buying his pass, board, boots, bindings, new jacket, gloves, goggles, and gas to go up there constantly, and by never saying no when you gize want to go up there.....so, I'm good." Then I got a fake depressed look from my pre-teen racer and I caved. So then my day was shot. Next thing I knew all 6 of us were loaded with gear in the car and driving up the winding hill to watch the big race.

Here is the group of kids Bailey was racing with. It wasn't a group race, it was an individual race. You had to go around these markers and be timed. If you missed a marker you were automatically DQ'd (disqualified) I learned the cool way to say it by hearing a mom yelling at her daughter for being DQ'd. "We drove all the way up here, waited forever for your turn just to see you get DQ'd?!?!?" <--Kinda sad. That mom was a B, and by B, you know what I mean. No need to fear, Bailey made all his markers so we didn't have to yell at him.

He's the kid in the green jacket. Waiting his turn, which only took an hour and a half. SERIOUSLY!!

He is so stinkin' cute!

Here he is starting. Still so cute!!

Here's the other kids cheering him on.

Lucky for you I got it on video. Not good video, I only had my regular camera. He fell right off the bat because he started with his wrong foot, but he didn't get DQ'd, so who cares.

After Bailey's race we went back and got the rest of the kids boards and Dwight took the 3 older ones down the hill while Howie and I waited at the bottom for his turn. Then Dwight took Howie on the bunny hill a couple of times. Again, lucky for you I had my camera, because it is the cutest thing evah! Just be patient it takes about 34 sec to figure out which one is Howie. And it gets cut off at the end because he is about to pee his pants. I had to run with him to the lodge and get him in the stall and rip all his gear off . He ended up peeing all over the stall, but at least not in his snowpants. So he still got another turn.

Howie thought he was pretty cool stuff.

Calvin wanted me to take a picture of him looking cool too.

Ella ate a lot of snow.

We ended up hanging out there the ENTIRE day and I was the only one with regular clothes on. Freezing!! We got back to the car and found a note from someone who had hit our car. But it's cool, because I was there to support my kid on his first race. I will never do it again, so hopefully he will always remember this day.

Happy Anniversary to me!

2009-01-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

***Edit at bottom******
I failed to mention this on Wednesday, but it was our anniversary. I actually purposely didn't post about it because I wanted to wait until I got this beauty back. Remember when I did a post about getting our family pictures taken ar Sam's Club? I would put a link to it, but I think I'd rather make you all scroll down and find it yourselves.

It's been 14 years and we still like each other! Crazy eh? Dwight has been stuck hanging out with me for the past 14 years and still likes me? Adores me even. It's true, just ask Jenny and Sara.

Here is a shot of our wedding announcement. It was the style those days to wear a giant vest over a dirty white t-shirt. Dwight's wavy bangs were so cute, seriously! This is making me want to grow my hair out and get a perm.

Here is us on that blissful day. Note the gorgeous peach and lace curtains behind us, and the carpeted church basketball court below us. Also note how skinny I am. What size dress do you think that is? Do you think I could fit into it now?

Guess what? I had it in the garage, so there is no need for speculation. Does it fit now? The answer is yes.

Does it fit well? The answer is no. Look at my new boyfriend though.

Weird how none of the pictures of the back of the dress turned out... It may not have looked as good in the back as the front though.
Ella was my camera gal and she thought maybe it would fit her better. I think she was right.

I guess with it being an anniversary post I should maybe brag about my husband to you all. But, I would be just rubbing it in your face about my good fortune in life. I will say two of my favorite things about Dwight is what a great dad he is, how he makes me feel like he is the luckiest guy in the world to have me as his wife, and his very contagious laugh. Ok that was three, but how the H am I suppose to narrow something like that down to two?

***Edit****
I think if you are still lucky enough to own your wedding dress you should try it on and show us all how it looks. Annnnnnnd GO.

Foto Friday

2009-01-09T12:59:00.000-08:00

Howie was giving his cousin a piggy back ride today.
Don't worry, I got it on video too.

Hey Jenny!

2009-01-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

It's not really about Jenny, but I thought I would just jump on the naming a post after Jenny bandwagon.

I've had a lot going on the last week or so. What can I say....I'm busy! <--That was me yelling. Anyway, I thought I would calm down and share a bit of it with you. Dwight and I decided to host a last minute New Year's Eve party. Surprisingly none of our friends had plans. I don't know if it was because they were all holding out on us planning a party, or if it is because they are all losers. But, they all came over around 7:00 with mounds of food. (It was a potluck. I know I have a rule about not eating at potlucks, but these people are all clean. The rule applies to dirty people. So if you are wondering why I don't eat your potluck food, it is because you are dirty.) We locked all the kids up in the bonus room with their own food. Which was pretty much chips and water. They were all pretty good about staying up there and not coming down until 30 seconds before midnight. So we got all the kids settled in, then layed out our spread and got to work eating. We played a billion different games and tried our darndest to start fights with each other. It came kind of close when we were playing the Newlywed Game. The question was to the guys, and asked, "looking at all the wives present, which one would you say is the meanest and toughest." All but one chose me. I decided to not be offended and that it is probably because all the other wives are slight pushovers..... and I am super strong. There was a running joke going on through the night about a local weatherman. He happens to be in someones ward, and for some reason was the answer to every trivia question we didn't really have the answer to. Just as everyone was getting ready to go, a commercial came on with that weatherman. We had to pause it and get a picture of us with him. Since he was pretty much at our party too. In spirit, anyway. Bailey volunteered to take the picture, and we have a crappy camera, and we have a crappy tv, but here we all are.

After New Year's I got a special visit from this BFC. She braved the roads to travel all the way up to Idaho for ME!! That's way bigger a deal than traveling for 4 hours through sunny California roads. In case you were wondering. We had a great time. Dwight took the kids shooting with my dad on Friday. Anna and I saw a movie one night. We highly recommend it! We checked out the sales at Sam's Club, went out to dinner with some family, played games. Dwight took the older boys snowboarding on Saturday and Anna and I took the rest of the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Awesome!!! Micah almost gave it away, but it was sooo awesome, it would have been good anyway. Just ask Ella and Howie. They have great taste in movies. Another one of their favorites are the Look Who's Talking series. Anyway, it all ended too quickly. Thanks for coming up Butler's!
Today, life had to get back to normal. The party is over. I went from a houseful to just me and Howie. Here's a sampling of what we did with our time today.

Happy New Year to all and to all a good night!

Bean Bags, Trash Bags, and Dirty Underwear

2008-12-30T11:44:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-21T15:57:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-12T13:03:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-03T16:22:00.001-08:00

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.

2008-12-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

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

2008-12-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

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....

2008-11-17T18:24:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-14T09:55:00.000-08:00

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

More parenting tips, using aliens.

2008-11-11T13:24:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-05T16:51:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-29T14:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-10-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-10-22T10:20:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-17T15:00:00.000-07:00

Howie the Hulk

A Friendly Reminder

2008-10-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

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

It's pretty much Sara's fault

2008-10-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

I am a huge slacker when it comes to getting my boys hair cut. Calvin's hair is easy, just a quick shave. But the other two, well, it's a bit more complicated. They both have longer hair, and it needs to be styled. Baileys has gotten out of control. This picture was taken a month ago. His hair grows really fast too. So you can imagine the length it would be a month later, right?

On Sunday afternoon, I gave a call to my sister Sara. She's a professional. She went to beauty school, and passed. I simply asked her if she would be willing to give up her relaxing Sunday evening and cut my boys hair. She said she would call me back. I gave her until Monday afternoon, and never heard from her. I made the decision to take them to a walk in place. I should have known what to expect when I walked in. One of the ladies was wearing white capri's with black tube socks pulled up high, and a pair of sandals. We won't even get into the other two ladies working there. So I check my boys in. And Bailey goes first. She asked me what kind of haircut I wanted. I told her to keep it the same, just shorten it. But, to be careful with the bangs (I HATE short bangs) And then I said "I don't want it to be a mullet". She just looked at me, so I said "Do you know what a mullet is?" She snapped back, "I know what a mullet is!" (Obviously I've hit a nerve. I'm pretty sure her boyfriend has a mullet) Here is the finished product. You tell me.......Is this, or is this not a mullet?!?!?!

I say YES!!!!! Look how she parted it in the middle and feathered it. Woa....turn down the faucet Ferra!

As soon as we left the chop shop, I tried calling Sara. She never answered. I gave my friend Steph a call, and she let us come right over. She thought Bailey resembled more of a Dorothy Hamill than a mullet, is there much of a difference?
Either way, she fixed it and saved the day. He is a handsome little guy. I almost forgot he had eyebrows.

Thanks Steph!

I am pretty much famous

2008-10-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

So I have this new neighbor. Let's call her Toni Diver. She is sort of a local celeb. It is hard to recognize her cuz she wears sunglasses a lot. Anyway, Toni has a little girl that Ella likes to play with. Toni herself has never been to my house, and I have never really had a conversation with her. I guess I am just intimidated. Cuz you all know I get that way, I'm shy, I can only talk to every other stranger I know. So, the other day, Toni's little girl was playing at my house. A while later the doorbell rang, it was Toni, at my house!! She was standing at the door with her little boy. She said, "----- saw your trampoline and wants to jump on it for awhile." This was not a question, more of a statement, letting me know her son would be jumping on my tramp for awhile. I said that was fine, but I was about to teach a lesson and wouldn't be able to watch him. She didn't seem to mind that at all. Then she says, "I'm just going to acclimate him to your house." And she picks him up, walks in and heads upstairs. Now I don't know about the rest of you gize, but my upstairs can get pretty atrocious. And I myself would never venture into the living quarters of someone else's house with out being invited, or unless I was chasing my toddler around. I am also the type of person who cleans their house just enough to have it look clean from the front door. Having anyone actually enter the house is a whole different deal. I would also like to add that I had been gone all morning leaving Bailey and Calvin to babysit my kids and my friends kids. Back to Toni, who is now roaming around my upstairs with her son. Dwight is home for lunch and we are both just standing at the bottom of the stairs giving each other freaked out looks. We were saying "what the aych" with our eyes, and maybe mouthing it too. So she finally decides to come downstairs, and let's us know he just wants to jump. Then she heads towards the backdoor. Maybe I should feel privileged that a celebrity was so comfortable in my home that she seemed to pretty much feel it was her own. As she is walking through the kitchen, Dwight is standing by me, so I take the opportunity to introduce him to her. Considering she and I have never been introduce to each other, I thought maybe it would be less awkward. Dwight is ever so polite, and acts genuinely pleased to meet her, maybe he really was. She gives him a brief "hi" without actually looking at him, and keeps on to the back yard. She got her son on the tramp, and says she'll come back in about 45 minutes. Then she was gone. I don't know if I should be annoyed, freaked out, or just angry at myself for not getting a picture and an autograph. But, I think I will for sure be getting a security system, cuz this neighborhood is going downhill fast.

For reals

2008-10-04T10:57:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take a break from all the fun, and do a normal post. If this is an online diary, I guess sometimes I should tell about what's going on in my life. Not much is going on though. I have been being pretty domesticated. I took a picture to prove it.

Try not to show your husbands this, cuz I'm pretty sure they will covet me. You will count 17 jars of salsa, but we had already eaten about 4. And I had 3 in the fridge that I never sealed. And there are still more tomatoes to be picked. Maybe the sister wives can help me with those.

Seriously, not much else is going on. But, I needed to post so I could get mom's picture to not be the first thing people see on my blog. I am a little nervous to talk to her in person. Fortunately for her, she looks great in a moo moo and boa, while posing in a "woa is me" way, on her bed post.

Foto Friday

2008-10-03T09:29:00.001-07:00

Do I really need to say anything about these? I am a little scared of the repercussions.

More dance pictures

2008-10-02T20:52:00.000-07:00

I couldn't find Dwight's pictures, but don't worry I will continue to look. In the mean time, my HS BFF Jeni let me know she didn't have a scanner, and would therefore be unable to scan in any of her dance photos to participate with us. Fortunately for her, I have a scanner and a pretty great dance picture of hers.

Please note the dedication of her date. What a great guy to get a tie to match his dates purple dress. Your welcome Jeni!

***I wasn't sure when this dance was. But then I noticed that same plant in the bottom right corner that was in my Jr Prom picture.*****

In honor of High School Musical 3

2008-10-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

I have never claimed to be a fashionable person. In fact, I have been told, by many of my own family, that I am "groovin'". Seeing how I am already aware of this fact, there will be no need for any of you to comment about my grooviness. My way groovy frousin-inlaw's-frousin

asked everyone to post their HS prom pictures. Jenny said if I didn't she would, so I am. Sorry if you are disappointed by my modest dresses Landee.

Here is me and Ryan G. at Jr prom '91. My mom made my dress, so making fun of it, will be making fun of her. I had a major thing for this guy. This date cured me of that, though. I wasn't a big eater, and I couldn't eat all my dinner. After the dance we went out for a treat. As we walked in the restaurant he said, "I'll buy you a cinnamon roll, if you promise to eat it!" He did apologize about 6 years ago. So I guess I will forgive and forget. (Right after this post)

I couldn't locate the professional pictures here. Maybe I could have, but I didn't feel like going through the spider box in the garage. This guy doesn't deserve that sort of effort. Prom '92 with Nate H.. It was a fun date, but a bad break-up ensued a couple months later. My mom made this dress too. I did my own hair. I guess I should have gone into cosmetology.

Tomorrow I will dig through the spider box for Dwight's pictures. They are awesomer than mine. I will be waiting for everyone else's pics too.

If Charlie is Jared, Then here is Melanie

2008-09-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

This girl would go perfect with who I have picked to play Jared.

The Host;Character

2008-09-28T21:03:00.001-07:00

If you picture this guy as Jared, the book will get better.

SmartRemarks: The Host

2008-09-28T12:44:00.000-07:00

Before you begin reading my review, I need to say this; Contrary to what you are about to read, I really did like this book. It's a like though, not a love. We hardly know each other.

First off, there were sooooo many similarities between The Host and another Stephenie Meyer book we all know and LOVE (not just like).

She continues to gab on about smells. We always have to hear how someone is smelling. I think Stephenie has a bit of a fetish with smells. And I can guarantee that before she was writing these books she sold Scentsy candles. They're wick less you know. To be fair, I am not a vampire (yet) a werewolf, or an alien. Apparently Stephenie has done a lot of research about all 3, and maybe she knows more about how they smell, or the things they can smell. All I know is, I can't wait to smell Edward, and I wouldn't mind smelling Jared. Not that I like Jared, I'm just curious.

She also continues to use the words "hiss" and "flank". Flank was seriously used on every other page. 620 pages divided by 2=310 times at least. Now I am not really complaining about this, I have grown quite fond of these words, I'm just saying they were used just as much, if not more, in the Twilight series. Don't you think a new series deserves a new favorite word?

There was a lot of burning skin going on in both books. Edward's skin burned when Bella touched him. Bella's skin burned cold when Edward touched her. Wanda/Melanie's skin burned from her temple to her cheek bone when Jared touched her. Actually I recall Edward using that same stroke on Bella's face. From the temple down her cheek. I thought, "Maybe there is a nerve ending there that is more sensitive." So I had Dwight stroke my cheek area. No burn at all. Am I dead inside?

On page 213, Melanie was so mad she bit her tongue and tasted blood. Jacob did this countless times. Again, a new series deserves a new way to react to anger.

There was also a lot of lifting "with ease" going on. No Vampires or Werewolves this time, just strong men that were able to lift the women up "with ease".

Let's move on. The beginning of the book was torturous! It took me forever to get into it. It started to get good when she was captured, but she hung out in that cave forever too. I think Stephenie eventually does a good job of helping you get to know her characters well. I like that about her. For some reason this is all I could picture any time Ian was mentioned.

I have no idea how she described him to look, but this is how he looked to me. Way groovin. Anyone who falls in love with a worm and then says she's gorgeous is groovin. I liked how the book ended, all fixed and happy. But I didn't like Wanda's new body. This is who I pictured for that.

There were a lot of church references again. She used the boiling frog analogy, a sacrament meeting talk favorite. There was the whole Satan's plan thing. And the law of consecration thing. My testimony didn't grow as much with this book as it did with the Twilight series, but it's ok, I went to church this whole month.

Foto Friday

2008-09-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

My sister Erin and our roomate Celeste.

Too cute, huh?

I am just here to help

2008-09-24T16:41:00.001-07:00

I decided I needed to do another installment of parenting tips. I know you gize are all struggling out there with out me helping. I got quite a few good ones this week.

#1 It is not a big deal if your kids are sitting on the curb waiting for you to pick them up after school. It teaches them patience. I remember waiting many a afternoon at the orthodontist when I was a kid. And look at me, I'm totally fine! It is especially ok, if you had good reason. Like trying to win a blog contest. Which I did, so it's fine.

#2 A great way to promise your kids things you don't actually plan on getting for them is to say, "You bet! As soon as we win the lottery." For example, we are getting a new dog, as soon as we win the lottery. Easy enough, yes? Your kids will be so happy, and sometimes even check the winning numbers for you, to see if you won. You only need to ever buy one ticket, then just keep showing them that same ticket to check for numbers. The odds of this backfiring on you are like 1 in 200,000,000 so I would go for it.

#3 It is perfectly acceptable to tell the neighbor kids they are grounded from your house. Sometimes, it can work as a deterrent for future visits after the grounding wears off.

#4 Bisquick can be used in just about every meal, and I am going to prove it starting tonight!

I Concede, Sara

2008-09-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

There's no way I will ever be as photogenic as you.

Sara, flanked by her ducks.

I guess I should have saved these up for "Foto Friday", but I am sure I'll be able to find more!

You Don't Know What You Got Until It's Gone

2008-09-17T20:00:00.000-07:00

You go about your day as usual, taking for granted how easy some things come. Then BAM!! It's not so easy anymore. I now know how it feels. Tonight I suffered a severe trauma. I was at mutual. We were doing humanitarian stuff....quilting, making hair ties, and this coloring packet thing. All very important. I started out at the quilting station, but after about the 10th time I pricked my precious fingers, I made the decision to move to another location. (I was just glad Edward wasn't around) So, on I went over to the hair tie station. I had to take these plastic flowers, and hot glue rubber bands and ribbon onto it. Simple enough... I thought the glue gun was out of glue, it wasn't coming out so fast. So I began to put in a new stick, but then some super hot glue dropped out onto my thumb. The pain was excruciating (Morgan's all know what I mean) I immediately pulled off the glue, only it wasn't glue, it was my skin that had melted from the heat. I tried to suffer through the pain, but alas I could no longer. I made a trip to Wal-Greens (sorry I forgot the trivia game, I had other things on my mind) and I got some first aid necessities. As you can clearly see from the picture, it is pretty serious.

What I realized from this whole experience, was that I really need my thumb. I couldn't turn on or off the lights in my car with my left hand. I had to reach over with my right hand to do it. And even now as I type this post, the difficulty is phenomenal. I have no idea how I am going to do my hair tomorrow, that is the hand I hold the curling brush in. As soon as it heals, I am going to be so grateful for my thumb. (Please feel free to use this message in your next talk)

Check it out

2008-09-15T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was taking a nice little walk around Wal-Greens tonight. And this caught my eye. There are a few of you out there who seem to think they are king of The Office. So the next time I have $14.99 on me and I don't already have a cart full of cheap drug store make-up, I am going to purchase this. Then, I will post several trivia questions. Whoever gets the most right will recieve one Shrewt Dollar. As soon as you get 100, you can trade it in for your own spotlight post from me. Then we can start the argument again as to who is the most neglected. It will be fun, don't ya think?

Ode to Anna

2008-09-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

I was just reading a comment left on a blog from my old roomie. I decided to dedicate an ENTIRE post to her, so she will know how much she is enjoyed, loved, and should never feel "left out". Sorry if it embarrasses her, but everyone needs to be spotlighted once in a while.

When I graduated from high school, not so many years ago, I went straight to BYU. I had never been on my own, I didn't even like to spend the night at friends houses. My new "roommate" drove up to Boise to pick me and my junk up, and drove me all the way to our new home in the projects of Provo. I was a big time nerd, who had no clue about living on her own. I was depressed, I wasn't really wanting to go to college yet. As soon as we got to our new home, she helped me move everything in. She made me feel like it was OUR place, and took me right away all around the apartment complex to introduce me to everyone she knew. Never once did she make me feel like I was just her lame cousin she HAD to hang out with. I had the best summer ever living with her. She protected me from the creepy double date we met on the freeway. We wrote a killer song for a family reunion...."Grandma Bailey" sung to the tune of Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby". It was a hit for sure. We had many nights staying up laughing, mostly making fun of all of you, but it was super fun. She was very generous and shared all her cool stuff with me, even though I had nothing cool to share with her. The only thing she never let me use was her pillow case with her boyfriends picture on it, but I understood, some things are just off limits. When my mom came to visit, she offered her bed to her, which I really should have done because it was MY mom, but I was not that bright, and Anna slept on the floor. We annoyed the crap out of our other two roommates, who had been good friends with Anna before I got there. And she never acted like she cared. She was always so loyal to her nerdy cousin. She ended up moving back home at the end of the summer. But, she was nice enough to come up and visit me the next year. I spent another 2 years living in those projects, and none of them could ever compare to that first summer.

Even though she probably won't want to be friends with me anymore after she sees the awesome picture I am posting, I will ALWAYS be her friend, and total BCF.

This was us, the weekend of our debut album, "Grandma Bailey".

Happy Birthday!

2008-09-13T10:49:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a shout out for my good friend Bella. (She used to be married to my boyfriend) Today is her birthday, and since she is now alone throughout eternity, I wanted to cheer her up. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! You are so lucky to be 18 forever. And I am sorry I stole your man, but you have all eternity to find a new one. Have a great day!

I am sure "Renny" will have something great planned for you too.

A New Doo

2008-09-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally did it. I let Ella's luscious golden locks be cut. It actually wasn't that hard of a decision. They weren't really luscious golden locks anymore. They were more like tangly, ratty, stringy locks that were always pulled back in a pony tail or Laura Ingal braids. Similar to her Aunt Sara's hair growing up. (see Jenny's birthday post to Sara)

Apparently she had enough to donate to locks of love. Aren't we so giving? Some poor soul is going to get a wig made up of food encrusted, ratty hair.
I almost felt like I should be holding on to these things for a scrap book or something, given it was her first real haircut (yes, she's seven). But, I don't do scrap books. Anyway, they will sort of end up in a scrap book, since they will become a wig, and someone will wear that wig, and someone will take a picture of someone wearing that wig, and then someone will put that picture of someone wearing the wig made up of my daughter's first haircut, into some sort of photo/scrap book. I decided it is pretty much the same thing.
Here she is getting is styled.
And here is the final unveiling!! I love it, so if you don't, then there is no need for you to comment. Only praises are welcome on this post.

Time to say GoodBye

2008-09-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what might be in here?

It was a sad day for the Thurston kids. Our chickens finally started laying eggs, after months of feeding and taking care of them. But, everytime one of them layed an egg they would cackle up a storm. Since we aren't really supposed to have chickens in our neighborhood, we started to get worried about ticking off our neighbors with the noise. Dwight's bro has a lot of land, and a load of chickens to boot. So I called and asked them if they wanted FIVE more. (They of course did) It was a piece of cake to get Lil' Puddin' Tater, Bessie, Bertha, and Luigi in the box.

Mario was another story. I had to chase him toward the boys, while they got prepped to grab him. (This was our lovely chicken yard. The chickens layed their eggs in the center blocks, so soft and cozy)

Mario was their fav, so we got a final farewell shot with him.

We got them all loaded into the car and headed out to the in-laws. I was feeling kind of bad, cause it was their pets, but the kids were having a great time on the drive. Then we got there and they helped take all the chicken to their new coop, and made sure their cousins all learned the names of their new chickens. As we were pulling away, heading home, the melt downs began. Apparently the kids didn't think that their cousins chickens were as well cared for as their own. (I guess a couple of them had beaks that were busted off....sick) The kids didn't get that their cousins chickens were just a source for eggs, while ours were pets that happen to lay eggs. It's been a pretty emotional week ever since. I finally couldn't take it anymore, and I may have promised to go look for some sort of new pet this weekend when Dwight is around.

Calvin's day sure perked up though. He had scouts today. It usually lasts about an hour. After two, he was still gone. I was starting to get a bit worried, and was just about to head over to look for him, when he came running in the house with the BIGGEST grin on his face. He was yelling for everyone to come see what he made. HIS VERY OWN TOOL BOX!!! Now he has someplace to keep his chizzles and screw drivers. (**a note for some of you who haven't been around Calvin much, he likes to chizzle letters into things like cars and trucks, especially if they are brand new. And he likes to take apart things like vacuum cleaners, dvd players, video game consoles, or anything else that would cost a load of money to fix or buy) But look how happy he is.

I am blessed

2008-09-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

I just got home from church. You know, that one place you go to get blessings? I don't know how it goes for you, but the first thing I do when I get home is lose the church duds. So today I get home, head for my room. On the way I decide to get a head start by unzipping my skirt, only it was already unzipped. hm, odd? I turn to Bailey and Calvin and I say "has my skirt been unzipped like this all day?" They both said "yes", like it was not big deal. Not one single person at church said a word to me.....what a bunch of perverts.

I have had quite a few of these sorts of incidents at church. Just the usual though, you know, like forgetting to put on my makeup before I go, or my bra, whatever. No one EVER says anything. I think next week I will forget my skirt altogether. Then we'll see who stays quiet.

Movie Review

2008-09-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last night I went out with a couple of my BFF's. We just wanted to get out, without kids, and go do something that would make us laugh and also that required no thinking, or exerting any energy. So someone suggested we see House Bunny. The previews did look funny. Okay, I'm in! It really didn't matter to me if it was good or bad. I love bad movies. Some of my favs: To Justin from Kelly (a must see) and Grease 2. I am also a fan of horrible shows, i.e. "Saved by the Bell". I don't know what it is that draws me to these sorts of things. As I watch them I am always embarrassed for whoever is participating in the show or movie. Anyway, I have to say this movie was pretty bad, but not quite up to the so bad it was good standard that I hold so high. There was a point in the movie where I found myself laughing really hard, not at the movie, but at the movie. Sadly, it was not enough to recommend it for my good, but bad, picks. It sort of stooped to dirtiness to get a laugh sometimes. That's right, my friend picked out a sort of dirty movie. I guess it's one of the many reasons we've been friends for so long. So I will suggest to you all, if you are interested at all in seeing this movie, wait until it comes on TBS and they replay it for six weekends in a row, probably followed by a Harold and Kumar movie.

On another note, there has been a few comments about our blogger reunion. (Jenny and I were talking about it anyway.) We are kind of serious about it. We were thinking about a weekend in October, mid to end. Jenny suggested Forks, in a joking way, but then admitted she was serious. I wasn't sure about it, until I saw this. It is the official Forks, Washington website. Way too awesome! When you pull it up, you need to make sure you pull up the map of the town. There are arrows pointing to points of interest. There is one pointing to the Forks police station, and it says "Bella's father works here." I thought the book was fictional, but apparently Charlie does exist, and not only that, but he is still working at the police station! There was also an arrow pointing to Forks community hospital, and it says "Bella came here and was treated by Edward's father". So I am thinking, Carlisle is still there working too! Seriously, how could anyone pass up this opportunity! I am thinking, one of us could "accidentally" get some sort of cut and need stitches and we could all take you to the community hospital and have Carlisle give you stitches. So, who's in?

More parenting tips for you all

2008-09-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

My friend Dalana went and had herself another baby. (She did have a little help in the matter) So, today I went and met my new friend Cole. Super cute! He loved me too. I meant to only stay a few minutes, knowing how it feels to just have a baby. You need to use the bathroom a lot, you're not very comfortable, you need to nurse, and let's not forget all the "visits" you get from those nurses, massaging your uterus. Anyway, my few minutes turned into about an hour. Rude, I know. But, I just couldn't help myself.

Howie was pretty into the little tyke also. He kept wanting me to show him pictures of him when he was a baby. Then he asked me to show him pictures of me making him a baby....... Don't worry....I didn't. As if I would even know which ones are the ones when he came about anyway. Come on, who keeps track of those sorts of things.

But, I did come across this beauty. It shows just what a great mom I am. It was Calvin's 6th birthday. We have a tradition of breakfast in bed for your birthday. One of many traditions I try to keep up with that I enjoyed as a child.

You can clearly see the amount of time and effort that went into this special birthday breakfast. For those of you who are having a hard time with the clarity, I will give you a run down of what is on the menu. 1. A bowl of Lucky Charms. (Note the amount of marshmallows, this lets me know it must have been a fresh box). 2. A plastic cup of water to drink. (Calvin hates milk) 3. Three Andes mints. (A favorite of mine and anyone else who patrons the Olive Garden).

If I were my own mom and dad, there would have also been bacon, eggs, and a wide assortment of juices to drink. PLUS, the cereal would have included a prize that would have been resting on my tray for only me to enjoy. So I know I keep saying this, but I REALLY need to get started on that parenting book!!

what is it? The Book Club from Down Under?

2008-09-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Alright, I guess I should start by saying, I'm a little obsessed. I read the half finished manuscript of Midnight Sun twice. What's that you say? "SOMEones has a lot of time on their hands". Well, it's no gluing penny's on a dashboard, but I still had the same feeling of accomplishment when I was done. And although after talking with St. Jenny about it, I do feel a little bad critiquing an unfinished novel. But since I have NOTHING bad to say about it, I will proceed. I loved it. I loved how I got to know the Cullen family better, I liked getting to feel how his family life was. I liked being able to hear what everyone was thinking. I liked getting to know her friends better through their thoughts, and I also liked that I found myself not liking many of her friends. There were a few things that I read in Twilight thinking, "Did I miss something? An inside joke?" And they were all explained in Midnight Sun. I also liked that I no longer wanted Bella to ever be with Jacob, only Edward. Who doesn't want a guy to feel about them like that? Don't you gize all agree? My favorite thing about the book was in one of the last chapters she wrote. He kept going on making comments in his head about the ugly sweater Bella was wearing, like it was helping him to not want to attack her. Like this one: "For a brief fraction of a second, I was overwhelmed by the idea of holding her in my arms at a dance-where she would surely wear something pretty and delicate rather than this hideous sweater." or "I was grateful to the unbecoming sweater that she wore". There was another one too, but I don't have THAT much time, geesh.
Really the only thing I didn't like was that it isn't finished. Hopefully she will finish it, or maybe I could help her out if she needs me to. I'll be waiting and rereading till I hear from her.

A week in a day

2008-08-31T16:57:00.000-07:00

So because of a recent, certain, obsession, I have neglected many things this past week. One of them being, everything that has been going on. Everyone posted their kids starting school. I took pictures, then went back to reading a book. (again, an obsession).

So let's start. Here is Ella on her first day of school.

Yep, sick in bed on her first day. She didn't seem to mind much. In fact, I would say she was quite happy about it, and if I hadn't felt the fever myself, I would have thought she was faking it. The next day, she was happy and well. So I am posting the pictures of the second day of school. Which was really more like what the first should have been like, since Dwight was home sick the first day also. I didn't get the full experience of everyone gone, until the second day. So it's the second day, but really the first day....get it?
The week went really well. Dwight made a rule about no TV or video games on school nights. I thought it would be depressing, but it worked out beautifully. The boys spent a lot of time at the local YMCA, Ella and Howie did a lot of playing together outside, I got a lot of book reading time in.

The kids didn't have school on Friday, so I took them and some of their friends, to the movies. The dollar movies, I'm not THAT rich. For $3 you get a movie ticket, a drink and a treat. What a deal!!! So for a mere$24, I was the winner of the cool mom award.

Saturday, was a lazy day. We relaxed, trying to rest up for the big game that night. For the last 5 years, Dwight and I have had season tickets to the BSU football games. We have had the same seats, next to all the same people, making the same jokes......"laces out"......"Is that Rick Lance?" (local celebrity weather man who has seats a few rows below us). Too much fun.

Sunday, woke up feeling a little not so good. Thought it may have something to do with that one thing girls get every 28 days or so. Took my time getting ready for church. Really didn't want to go, but have missed the last three weeks from either being out of town, or someone being sick. Sat in church, feeling a little too cold, but figured someone got a bit crazy with the a/c. we do have a few elderly's in the ward who seem to be hot all the time. By the time I was sitting in mutual, I realized I was sick. I had full on chills, achy skin, dizzy, trying not to throw up. Make it home....barely, and go right to bed. Just as I get into bed, Dwight gets home from work, with the same symptoms. We both stay in bed for about 5 hours, leaving our kids to fend for themselves. I mean, I am pretty sure we almost died, so what else could we have done right? As we slept, I could hear bits and pieces of fights going on. I figured it must have just been the fever, because my kids don't fight. Then I remembered, two of them do. Calvin and Ella. I finally decided to get out of bed, and find out what was going on. Apparently, Calvin was making up all kinds of new rules to try to keep Ella out of his room. His room is also Bailey and Howie's room, which meant, he was keeping Ella out from everyone else. This could have been a fight easily fixed.......had I not been delirious with fever. So I overreacted a tad bit, and told Calvin if he couldn't let Ella in their room, then I would give him a new room, all his very own. He got too excited. So I made a quick decision, that his new, very own room would be......the garage. Again, he got a little too excited. Him and Ella went right out and started cleaning out his new room. (Apparently they are friends again).Then they called me in to take pictures of what they did.
The stroller is his chair.

This is him in front of his bed.......he plans on sleeping in the car.

Here is where he is going to hangs his things, and put his clothes.

I sure showed him.

****Update...The dark garage got the better of him, and he decided he would love to have his sister hang out in his room (the upstairs one) anytime. I definitely need to get my parenting book published!

Where are all the SmartRemarks?

2008-08-30T11:27:00.000-07:00

Okay, thanks to this persons tid bit of info, I sat up all night reading the same book from another perspective. I am just waiting for the go ahead from our SmartRemarks club, to talk about it. Are we gonna do another review or not? Either we review or we need to move on to something else, fast! I thought Jenny would put out the info on "Lord of the Hissy Fit", but I have yet to hear anything from her. So I guess I am throwing out the choice. Is is going to be a review on half of the unedited "Midnight Sun", or "Lord of the Hissy Fit" . If it is Midnight Sun, it starts tonight (it's only part of a book, you can do it, and I am sure you already have). If it is Lord of the Hissy Fit, we need to first get the real name, Jenny has it, and give it a month to order and read it. Or, you can throw our another option, we'll vote, we'll read, we'll mock, we'll laugh, we'll continue to ignore our responsibilities, it will be fun.

Visions and Intuitions

2008-08-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

My sister Jenny was describing herself as a "know-it-all-book-snob". She apparently predicts things as she reads a book, then as proof of her visions, she writes herself a note in the margin. Well, she isn't the only know-it-all-book-snob in the family. I, myself have had several experiences with this sort of thing too.

For example, when I was reading Harry Potter, I had some pretty good intuitions going on. Here's my proof:

Then, I had the same thing happen when I read Star Wars. See.....

I've had many more, but I would have to get into the BOXES of books and scan them all for you, and I am pretty sure you get the idea. Just a talented family I guess, not too different from the Cullens.

BOOK CLUB REVIEW

2008-08-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

***I had to add another thought at the end****

***I also forgot to mention, there are a few spoilers here, so read on with caution....sorry Becky and Jami*****

Believe it or not, (Edward would believe me) I finished all four books in four days. Talk about dedication. I discussed some of it with Jenny (who was trying to ruin it for me with her negative thoughts) as I was going through the last book. I have to say, I loved the last book. I have not slept well these last few days. So many questions going through my mind. I hated the depression Bella felt in the second book (I know we are discussing the fourth book, but you can't really do that without going through the entire story, plus since I read all four together it sort of feels like one LONG story to me). I hated the depression felt by Jacob in the third book. I needed the whole thing to be resolved with all parties being happy. I need to be able to sleep.

I am going to follow Cristin's pattern here.
Things I liked about the book:

1. I liked that Bella finally became the vampire she WHINED about wanting to become throughout the first 1500 pages or so. I liked that she became less whiny as a vampire.
I also liked that she changed just enough to make her become an improved Bella, that doesn't whine so much.

2. I liked that she had a child (we'll get to that child's name in my next grouping) and that Jacob "imprinted" on it. I could tell it was coming, and I was glad I was right. I didn't feel shocked by any of these things, I don't know why, I guess Stephanie must just be a good writer. I can't wait to have you all hear Jenny's points on this part, although negative, it made me laugh.

3. I liked how the author gave a lot of excessive descriptions and recapping for us all, and I am glad that I am so good at skipping all of that crap, so I would be able to read the book in such a shorter amount of time than I would have, had she filled all those pages with something important that I needed to read.

4. I liked how every single person important in Bella's life was so bonded at the end. Even though they were all fighting on such opposite sides to start. I really hate family conflict and drama:)

Things that annoyed me about the book:

1. Renesme..........I am not a fan of made up names. Sorry to those of you who are and who have given your child one. I am just telling you how bad this name annoyed me. I think that is why I liked Jacob so much, especially when he called her Nessie instead.

2. Rosalie did creep me out when Bella was pregnant, and during the delivery.

3. Bella's relationship with her mom was kind of dumb.

4. They didn't defeat the Vulturi, although this could be good if it left it open for another book.

I am glad I read the books, even if I had to sacrifice my family for them. Which is something Bella would have never done. I love all the religious innuendos throughout the book. "Eternal Marriage", "The final battle", "Not murdering", "Love your family", "acceptance", "The Book of Mormon is true", "Family Home Evening", "Saying no to premarital sex", "Saying no to abortion"..............wow, I never realized until now, how religious this book really was. I guess I should try to share it with some of my non-member friends as well.

I really could go on and on, but like I said, I have ignored my family for long enough. I would just like to close, by telling you all, that I love my family. I love my mom and dad. I love my roommates. I know this book is true. And I know that I am secretly Bella, and Edward loves me.

**I just started thinking. Have any of you ever seen The Truman Show. It is a kid that grows up on Tv, like the ultimate reality show. People watched it obsessively. They sat in the bar watching it, watched it at work, even in the tub. Then when it finally ended, after 30 or so years, they all just sat there a brief minute, then it was like they were free to go about life normally now. Well that is how I feel right now, having finished this series. I feel free to go on, and just be free to have a normal life again. Just wanted to add that thought to all of this. I hope it didn't deter from my earlier testimony.

Pathetic

2008-08-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

I am getting prepared to start the final book. I LOVED the third one. I am pretty sure I have a few bed sores though, so I am going to switch rooms and sit in a recliner for awhile. I know you would all be worried about me......at least Edward would. I do feel torn between the two...Edward and Jacob. I may be starting to lean toward Jacob though, I really hate being cold, and I feel so more relaxed snuggled up to Jacob's warm body than Edward's hard, cold one.
I am pretty sure Dwight feels about me the same way Bella's men feel about her. Who else would let their wife ignore EVERYTHING around her for 4 days while she just sat and read a book. We even have two sick kids. He is sick too, and is making all the meals, running to get refills on prescriptions, and even just left to get me the final book so I can continue to ignore them all, just to make me happy. Yep, I'm more loved than Bella.
So hopefully I will still make the deadline for the SmartRemarks club, I did try to guilt Jenny into holding off another day. My powers on Jenny aren't as strong as they are on Dwight, so we'll see.

Wasting my time away

2008-08-22T23:04:00.000-07:00

I just read the first two Twilight series books in 24 hours.

THIS IS WHY I DID'T WANT TO READ THESE!

Thanks alot!!!!!

Stupid book club.........

What the.......

2008-08-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

OK, I have had THE most annoying day, and I have decided to share it all with you. First, I went to finish getting all the school supply list stuff for the kids open house tonight. RIDICULOUS!! Ella needed 2 dozen pencils. Okay, I can get that. But no......they have to be "Ticonderoga pencils". What the crap? I went to two different places and couldn't find them. So I just got the plain old yellow #2. She also needed and eraser, but not just any eraser. She needed a "plastic Staedtler Mars White vinyl eraser". I didn't even waste my time on this one, she got a "pink pearl" eraser. It came in a 6 pack, which would give me what I needed for Bailey and Calvin's lists. Bailey's list had things on it like....a flash drive, rewritable cds/dvds, binder with zippers..... So I finally got everything on the dumb list, paid all the "school fees", and bought some school lunches to get them started, and I will now be filing for bankruptcy. Then, I found out the shuttle bus that I took them to last year to take them onto school is no longer going to be running. That means I will have to drive them to and from school. It is not close...at all. I am going to get killed with the gas. The last straw of the day was going to mutual. I usually enjoy this every week. I like hanging out with the youth, they are funny girls. But tonight we had a combined activity with the boys swimming at our neighborhood clubhouse. When it was time to go, we had a really hard time getting them to leave. One of the young men (he's 12 or 13) got really rude and snotty with me about it. Like I was some kind of jerk, and the rules didn't apply to him. He went on a rant about it. I just thought hey, we took time out of our night to watch you guys swim. Then we provided a tasty treat for you to enjoy as a desert. Then, we cleaned up your mess. The activity already had gone about 45 minutes long before we finally politely told you all it was time to go home. And this is the thanks we get..... I was just floored at the disrespect. So I ended up on a rant myself about it. I am pretty good at the lectures, I was taught well:)
On a lighter note. I did finally give in and bought the stupid Twilight series today. I don't know if I will be ready in time for the next SmartRemarks book club meeting. But I decided to go ahead and read them when I found out even Uncle Mark was reading it. I figured if Mark is in love with Edward, maybe I should get to know him too. I am just leery of getting hooked on things ever since my Alias series incident. I have a couple days left of summer, with the boys home to occupy Howie, I could maybe get it done. I will be taking time off from reading though to entertain THIS guest! Maybe I will entertain her by reading aloud to her?

Back again

2008-08-18T17:45:00.000-07:00

I am back from another trip. I took the kids up to Montana to visit some friends from Calgary. They just bought a cabin in Kallispell. We spent the days out on the lake. The kids got to go tubing, and ride the jet ski's. I was pretty bad with the camera, but I got this beauty with my cell phone. Apparently, I have passed my paranoia (which I got from my dad) onto my kids. Here is Howie in 2 ft. of water with a life jacket and a float tube on. Safety first is my motto.

After Montana, I made a trip down to Utah to see some family. I stayed with Anna. It was a short trip, but we made the most of it. We took the kids to the zoo. Again, no camera, but if you want to see pictures, just check out Amanda's blog. That night, me, Anna, Amanda, Dan and Laurie, met up with our cousin Rachel and her boyfriend/fiance for dinner. We hadn't seen her for years, and I am pretty sure we were pre-described to her man as a bunch of freaks. I am sure once he met us though, we disproved that....................

I also spent the ENTIRE trip sick with a horrible cold. When I got home, it just seemed to get worse. I finally went into the Dr. today and I have a sinus infection and a double ear infection and my chest has sounds of a bacterial; infection as well. So, apparently I am the worst guest ever. I would recommend to Anna, Amanda, Rachel, Dan, Laurie, and my friend Alison to stock up on the Zicam and MusinexD. I am truly sorry! You are welcome to come visit me and pass on something to us. Diarrhea would be a good one, I could use to lose a few pounds.

Blog confessions

2008-08-03T22:15:00.001-07:00

So, today I suffered from major boredom. Church got out at 11:30 am., and Dwight was gone until about 6:00. I was going to take a nap, because I couldn't sleep the night before, but I couldn't fall asleep for a nap either. So I decided to waste a few hours on the computer snooping around on blogs. I know alot of you do it too, I always see people from all over reading my blog. And I don't mind, I'm glad someone finds me interesting enough to stay on for an average of 4 1/2 minutes. When I look to see who is on my blog, I can only see from what city,state, or country they are from, not their blog title or anything. So I am just having to guess who it is. For example, on July 28th, someone from France spent about 2 1/2 minutes on my blog. I am quite certain it was someone from the Pitt/Jolie residence. They are currently living in that area, so obviously that is who it must be. He probably did a Google search on New Orleans, read about my trip and the work I have done there, and decided to keep tabs on me for future visits.
Anyway, today I was doing some scoping around myself. Sometimes I will do a blog search to look for someone in particular, or somedays I might just go to someones blog and click on one of their friends, and click on one of their friends friends, and so on, to see if I will ever eventually get back to my own blog, or find a mutual friend somewhere in there. I try to see if the whole seven steps o Keven Bacon rule works in the blog world too. I feel pretty safe doing this. Anyone whoever looks will just see that someone from, my area, has been reading their blog. They won't know exactly who from my area. They could take a guess, but they will probably guess Demi Moore or Ashton Kutcher, never me. So today I went to an old friends blog, and started to click away at her list of friends. One of her list of friends is a wife of an old family friend and they had posted a very sad story. I wasn't able to get through it. (I had a few interruptions) So I came back again and clicked on the friend and read the rest of her post. As I went back to the original friends blog, I noticed something along the side of her blog. I saw the name of the town I live in. I saw it several times down the side of her blog. Then I noticed my name attached to the name of my city. THEN, I noticed it showed ALL the friends I had clicked on from her blog. She had a ticker thing that showed who had been to her blog and where they went from there. Everyone can now see who the big snooper is. I had to laugh. Here I thought I was so invisible. I decided the best way to handle the situation would be to just come clean. I LOVE TO READ BLOGS I HAVE NOT BEEN INVITED TO READ. I don't care if it is family, or
a perfect stranger or an old friend. I love to see what is going on in other peoples lives. Especially when I am totally bored on a Sunday afternoon. I am pretty sure you all do it too. At least I know someone in France does.

Vacation Part2, Part3, Part4, Part5 &Part6

2008-08-02T10:26:00.000-07:00

I don't really know why I put "Part 1" on my last post. I think I was just trying to be cool like Jenny, who always leaves everyone hangin' with her 6 part posts. It didn't really work for me though. But I decided to go ahead and do a part 2 just to tell you about the great parts of our vacation. We had a condo in Oceanside for a week. It was right on the beach. I had visions of just spending my days sleeping in, then slowly getting up, putting on a suit, packing a cooler full of diet coke and snacks, and sitting on the beach watching Dwight taking the kids out into the treacherous waters. It didn't quite work that way, but we still had fun. Anyone who knows Dwight, knows he can't sleep in past 6:00am. He also can't handle sitting around. He doesn't like to eat junk food everyday. And he burns easily. So we made a few compromises. He would get up between 5 and 6 every morning. But instead of waking us all up, he got a gym pass to the YMCA down there, and went every morning while we slept in. Then we bought a pass that got us into a whole slew of things in the area; the museums, the zoo, the wild animal park, Legoland, and Knott's Berry Farm. There were a lot more, but those were the things we chose to do. So every morning after he got home from the gym, he would wake us up. Then while we got ready he would pack up a healthy and sensible lunch into the cooler, and map out where we were going to go that day. He said he was going to "walk the crap" out of our kids. He really walked the crap out of me. What was nice about our passes was that we could go to Legoland (for example) in the morning, leave after just a couple hours, and then do the same thing the next day. We could get in as many times as we wanted within 5 days. So that is kind of what we would do. We would be the first ones in, hang out until it got crowded, then leave and go do something else.

My favorite place to go down there was Barber park in San Diego with all the museums. The kids liked it quite a bit too. Here is one of the few pictures I got of all four of them together. (If you recall from my last post "Part 1", Howie wasn't fully cooperating throughout the week)

The kids liked Legoland alot. Ella especially. Everything was just perfect size for her. The boys acted like they may have been a little too old for them but I think secretly they thought it was perfect for them. We went here a couple of times. The second day, we got there before it opened. They wanted to be the first ones to ride a roller coaster that had an hour wait the day before. We were lined up along a chain counting down for it to open. When it did Dwight, Bailey, Calvin, and Ella took off running. I walked more casually with Howie to a ride near the roller coaster that Howie was tall enough for. While we were standing in our line, I heard the roller coaster finally start up. Then I heard a very loud and very recognizable "WHOOHOO". I look up to see Dwight, Bailey, Calvin, and Ella all on the first car of the first roller coaster ride. Maybe you have to know Dwight, but it really was the funniest thing I have ever seen. He kept screaming down to us about them being the first ones on, while the car is clanking up the first hill.
That day, we left Legoland after only 2 hours, and decided to hit the beach. Dwight bought a couple of cheap boogie boards from the grocery store (high quality). And we spent the rest of the day swimming at the beach. It was our funnest day of the whole trip.

Remember how I said Dwight burns easily? Despite put on 50 SPF sunblock religiously every 30 minutes or so, he still got a ridiculously bad burn. We all got burned, but Dwight especially. Within 24 hours, the rest of us would go from red to golden brown. Dwight is still red, then maybe within another day or two, he night turn pink. So the next day we decided to either stay covered up or stay indoors. We chose to stay covered up, and Dwight wore a long sleeve shirt and pants to Knott's Berry Farm. (This is where the boys decided officially that Lego land was too sissiesh for them) And I didn't take my camera, so you will just have to take my word on it that we went there. We did get souvenir cups and t-shirts if you do need some sort of proof though. Our last day, Dwight was still suffering from his burn, so we chose to stay in doors and headed back over to the museums. There are too many to mention, and a person could spend an entire week just looking at all the museums and still not see everything. But the kids thought they were all cool, and I was glad that they were fine with a museum and not wanting another theme park.
Outside of a museum, Howie wanted to wade in a fountain. I told him he couldn't because he would get his shorts wet. This was him showing me how he would avoid that.

On our way home we stopped of at Sam and Michelle's (who if you remember are excellent hosts). They had an amazing meal waiting for us. Stayed up late talking. We woke up to an amazing breakfast waiting for us. Then a tired Sam went off to work, and Michelle and Meagan headed down to the bay with us. We walked around, let the kids get wet and sandy, went over to a restaurant for some of the best clam chowder in the the best sourdough bread bowl. Said our goodbyes, and backed out to leave......when I scraped my car along the side of someones new Honda minivan. I had to go in, find the owner, who was completely shocked I would have done that, and then gave her my info. I haven't heard from her, so I am hoping she was able to just buff it out, but I am not holding my breath. Anyway, we finally made it home at about 3:00 the next morning, and are totally bummed to be home. We are looking forward to our next vacation in October to see family at a mini-reunion. (I am still waiting to hear from some of you, you have to give some sort of response, it is rude to just ignore an invite)

Our vacation Part 1; Howie

2008-07-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

Last night I finally downloaded our pictures from our vacation. I noticed a bit of a pattern with them. I had a great time, Dwight had a great time, Bailey had a great time, Calvin had a great time, Ella had a great time, Howie was a brat! Here is a picture of Howie on the bus tour of the San Diego zoo. Dwight was asking him if he liked seeing the anilmals. This was his sweet response to his daddy.

Here he is at Legoland. I was trying to get a picture of him looking like a giant in Las Vegas. You can see how much he appreciated us taking him to Legoland.

Legoland started to get a little too packed for our taste, so we headed over to the Wild Animal park. You can see how excited he was about that.
When we were back at the condo, he wanted to watch Ben 10 and it wasn't on yet. You can see how happy he was the hear that.
We decided to go back to Legoland a second morning to finish up the rides and beat out the crowd. He wasn't excited about it, until I found this. . . . .

Anyway, I guess it was just all a bit too much for a 3 year old. He did love his time with his great uncle Sam though. The rest of the kids were perfect throughout the entire trip and were so excited and happy to go wherever we said we were going to go. Bailey even babysat for us a couple times, while Dwight and I went out to dinner. I'll post pictures of my happy kids tomorrow (or sometime within the next 3-4 weeks).

Lost pictures

2008-07-16T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was on my snapfish account, ordering some pictures. I had an album downloaded that I had never ordered pictures from. I pulled up those pictures, and I found this one. It was from about 3 years ago on the day Howie got blessed. My kids are so cute. (I know you were thinking it too!)

I was sad for a minute, thinking about how fast they grow up. But then I snapped out of it. Although it was fun having a baby around, and I miss Ella's curly hair, things are pretty great at the phase we are in now. Bailey is so responsible, and he gets along so well with his brothers and sister. They all look up to him so much, I am just so glad (and lucky) that he is a good example to them. Calvin is a bit of a daredevil, and is so entertaining. He is easy to make laugh, but you have to be careful, he will pee his pants. Ella has so many questions, but they all have to do with her getting a pet. I used to just say "uh-huh" in response to whatever she was saying. But she takes that as an agreement, and apparently I told her she could get a hypoallergenic dog if we won the lottery. Howie is at, what I think, the funnest age. He is mimicking all of us in the things he says and does. He is such a smart little guy, and has been my easiest toddler. He isn't too hyper, he doesn't have too many questions, he doesn't get into things, and he has never started a fire. Anyway, what I am trying to say, is that I have a freakishly good time with my kids, especially as they are getting older. We are getting ready to go on our family vacation, and I feel as excited about it as I used to when I was a kid myself. I LOVED our family vacations and I have the best memories from them. My mom and dad were always good about planning great family vacations. Two years ago we took the kids to a bison ranch in Arizona, and we had the best time. But Howie was little, and it stopped us from doing a lot of things we would have liked to do. This year we are going to go to San Diego. We have so many things planned, my only worry is we may have planned too much. We even changed our route on the way home to be able to get in a quick visit with Sam and Michelle. They have Emu's, so we are going to refer to this vacation as the one where we went to the Emu ranch. So, I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from blogging, not that you will notice much. But I will have plenty to tell about when we return.

Our weekend

2008-07-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

I guess I pretty much suck at this, but I will go ahead and post about our 4th of July weekend anyway. We had my brother Tom and his family, my sister Jenny and her family, her brother n-law and his family, my brother in-law Cory and his girls, my sister Sara and her family, and my parents all over for a 4th of July b-b-que and a pretty dangerous fireworks show. It is the same thing EVERY year. The guys go out to the "Ill-Eagle" fireworks stand and buy about $150 each worth of bottle rockets, firecrackers, and anything else that their wives would freak out about them buying. They start letting off their dangerous explosives 48 hours before it is necessary to do so. Their wives (including me) start screaming at them about 48 hours before it is necessary to do so. They act shocked that we are stressing out about them sticking a firecracker in one end of a tube while a three year old has his eye to the other end. It is finally dark outside and they have barely managed to save a few fireworks to put on a scary, but decent show for us, and also manage to do so without any serious injuries or deaths. Then I go around the house looking for any leftover bottle rockets and firecrackers and hide them until the next year. I was raised with such extreme caution, that it makes this one of the most stressful holidays of the year. But we all did have a really great time....we meaning Dwight and the kids.

The party started on the back patio, until we all started to get smoked out. Then we moved it to the front yard for the BIG show. (I didn't get any pictures of that part, so you will just have to look at the back patio ones)
With all the cousins in town, we decided to throw Ella an early b-day party. It was just a day early. We decided to trash mom's house for that one. Ella was so excited to be able to have a party with most of her cousins there. We were only missing Becky's kids.

Here's one of the whole crew. Jenny sat in the picture, so Wolf would. Plus, she looks so young, no one would even notice.

I just had to add this next one in here. I have never seen my mom's house so trashed, I just had to take a picture to document it. I took some from several different angles, and you still won't get the same affect as you would have had you been down in the basment in person. The smell of 20 sweaty kids all playing down in a basement together is something that just can't be captured on film, but take my word on it, it was pretty bad.

So, everyone left today, and my kids cried all the way home. And I had to spend the whole time getting them excited for all the other fun things we could do during the rest of the summer. They want everything to include their cousins though. Bailey said he would rather spend time with his cousins than with any of his friends. I am so glad that all my kids get along so well with all of their cousins. It makes it so fun to get together with family. Thanks to Tom, Cory, and Jenny and their families for taking the time and spending the money to come up and visit us. We only wish it could have been for longer.

So I am a little late.

2008-06-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

I am a week late, but Happy Birthday Jenny!! I had planned to do something really great for her, but I kept putting it off. But I am posting her birthday post before two of my kids birthdays that I forgot to post about. So that should really make up for it. Jenny is the most thoughtful of the Morgan clan. She remembers every ones birthday. She always puts so much thought into the gifts she gives and the things she does for others. She would never yell at any of her nieces and nephews like mean aunt Amy. She is extremely talented.

Her house is beautifully decorated. She can paint very well. She can play the guitar. She is super smart (Except for spelling.....now I hope I don't misspell anything...I'll try to remember to use spell check.) She is very creative. She is a very gifted writer. She is very funny. And she is one of my very favorite people to be around.

Odds and Ends of the last month. #1

2008-06-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

OK, so apparently I am a big lazy blogger. I have decided to try to catch everyone up. School is finally out for the kids. The last week was a kicker though. The school has to invite you to come watch your kids do something everyday. Don't they realize we are trying to rest up? A couple days before school got out, I was driving the kids to the bus stop and Ella informed me that I was supposed to come to their class for an author's tea. I asked her what it was and she said an author was going to come and read their book, then she added that ALL the moms and dads were suppose to be there. Way to put me on the spot. So I told her I would be there, then for the next 3 hours I complained to anyone who talked to me, about having to go to the school and listen to some author read their book to my child. Why did I need to be there, other than to have Ella be the only one without her mom or dad there. I get to the school, find my seat in the front row of the class so Ella will know I am there. Then the teacher gets up to start things out, and as it turns out, the kids are the authors, and they have all written books that they are going to read to us. I felt like such a jerk, and was so glad that I had made it. Ella's was the best. She was also first, and so I was able to leave right after she was done. So I guess I deserve to feel like a jerk.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to give in and get the kids a pet. Dwight, Bailey and I are all allergic to cats, rabbits, and most dogs. But Ella came up with a great idea for a pet and Dwight went along with it. We got the kids 3 baby chicks. They were cute (I'll get back to that in a minute) Dwight and the boys built them a box, then Dwight left. He came back with two more chicks, apparently he thought they were cute too. Our garage quickly turned into the hugest stinkiest mess, that seeped into the house everytime the kids would even open the garage door. Dwight finally decided they were big enough to put outside. I got the garage cleaned out, and was glad to have them in the backyard. They wander around the yard and give a great country feel to our home, as long as you watch your step on the back patio. I have spent the last week hosing off the back patio daily. Then I went out of town for the weekend and while I was gone Dwight built a gate for the side yard to keep the chickens confined to that area and off of my patio. I was glad. Then this morning I heard someone tapping at my back door and when I opened it, there were five chickens hanging out on my back patio. I don't know how they got out. Dwight thinks we are going to save so much money on eggs, but I think we will save even more on whole fryers.....get it?

Become a "Master" of the Internets.

2008-05-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

More from New Orleans

2008-04-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, I decided to do a real post about my trip to New Orleans. As I may have mentioned before, Dwight took over 300 pictures of our trip. But I, for some reason, am never able to download more than 5 at a time onto my blog. So I decided to just post my top 5 things about my trip to New Orleans. so here they are, in no particular order, just the order I downloaded them in.
1. Oak Alley plantation. I loved ALL the plantations, but this one was my favorite. I could have spent the entire trip just touring the plantations and been happy. They all had huge trees, and a lot of history to them. Some of the history may not have been so happy, but it was history, and very interesting history too. Couldn't you just hang out all day looking down at those trees?
2. Jay. He was the best tour guide ever. Very flamboyant! He had a funky southern/creole accent that made him hard to understand, at first, then as you got to know him better, I mean really got to know him, you could hear every word he said clear as a bell. Even Dwight and Tom LOVED him. (Dwight took this photo of Jay, and Dwight only takes pictures of things that he loves. i.e. my behind)
3. Atticus. This particular picture was taken by me. It is Atticus' reaction to being left alone with dear aunt Amy. He clammed up the second he saw his dad walk out of the bathroom though. He is one of the cutest babies of those who have never come out of my womb. And by the end of the trip, he loved me. Plus, he is super squooshy, and it makes him fun to hold and snuggle.

4. The stinky "white" kids pretending to be poor dirty bums. That girl was so talented running a spoon across her wash board. Their song had no tune, and they were all off beat, but I think they were hurricane victims, so Dwight took their picture. There were many of these dorks all over the French Quarter. It was like Kurt Cobain and Seattle all over again.
5. Hanging out with Tom and Katie. If I was going in order of best to worst, this would for sure be at the top. I don't get to spend a lot of time with my sister in-law, we live in different states, and when we get together it is usually in a big group. I had a lot of fun with both of them. And it was especially great to have Katie there because we both had the same interests for this trip. And if she hadn't been there, I would have had to go on the scarey French Quarter ghost tour all alone. Then I would have had to walk all alone through the French Quarter, past all the bums, to get to my car. So thanks for saving my life. I would have probably been raped or something had you not been there with me. You saw my butt... you know it would have happened.

Great New Orleans pictures!

2008-04-19T11:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Dwight and I took a trip to New Orleans and met up with my brother Tom and my sister in-law Katie. We had alot of fun, and feel really good about all the relief work we did while we were down there. Brad and Angelina are very happy with us. I was going through my pictures to see which ones I should post. I noticed a trend, whenever Dwight had the camera, his groupings of pictures generally started with one of me. I thought I would start by sharing some of those with you all.

Sorry about this last one, I am going to say it is just from a bad angle. Anyway, my husband is a sicko.

Life can be so stressful...

2008-04-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Every night we have the same routine. It's 9:00, I tell the kids it is time for bed. 9:10, I yell up for them to calm down and go to sleep. 9:15, I yell up "Go To Sleep!" 9:20, I yell up "Who wants to sleep in the garage?" 9:30, I yell up "LAST WARNING!" It is quite effective, and by 9:45 there is silence. Well, last night at about 11:15, Ella came downstairs sobbing. I quickly paused American Idol and asked her what was wrong. She wouldn't respond, or couldn't respond because she was crying too hard. After a few minutes I started to worry about what might have happened to make her so upset. Finally, she calmed herself enough to say "I lied to my friends and I am worried they might find out." So I asked her what she lied about, and she didn't want to tell me. Now, I of course had to know. So I nicely, but firmly asked her to tell me what she lied about. After a good 5 minutes of prodding her, she finally told me, "I told my friends I had special powers, and now I am worried they might find out I don't". I had to come up with a response quickly, it was about 11:30 by this point.

Here is a list of my possible reactions:

Just laugh...

Tell her that's why you should never lie and then tell her to get back in bed, or sleep in the garage.

Comfort her and help her think of a way to keep making her friends think she has special powers.

Tell her to not say anything more, and when her friends call her out on it just say, "What? I was totally joking! You don't think I really thought I had special powers did you?"

Keeping in mind that it was late, I was in the middle of American Idol, I needed to hurry and watch it so I could get to bed and get up at 6:30 the next morning, I thought I gave a pretty good response. I told her #4. Then I told her never to lie again or I would tell everyone the real truth. (which I am already doing right now)

Man I wish my only stress in life was worrying if my friends would find out I didn't have any special powers.

I'm saving this for you Katie!

2008-04-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

My sister in-law, Katie recently confessed an obsession with candy. I was very disgusted and disturbed to hear about the lengths she has gone to with her candy feddish. Her daughter found an easter egg in her neighbor's front yard, that still had a piece of melted candy in it. Anyone else, I would hope anyway, would have thrown the whole thing away. But, Katie saved it in her fridge, and then later ate it! Well, today I was cleaning out my garage. It is jammed packed full of crap. My goal was to empty at least 5 rubber maids worth of stuff into the trash. I was on my third, when I came across a box of church stuff from when we lived in Calgary. In August of 2000, Dwight went to a primary board meeting and recieved this....

I was going to throw it away, until I thought of poor Katie and her need for nasty old candy. Fortunately, I am meeting her and Tom in New Orleans this weekend. She is going to be so happy when I bring it for her to snack on, on the plane. That's right! I am saving this for you Katie! Let's just hope and pray my kids don't find it first......seriously. I can't afford a trip to the emergency room right now.

GOOD NEWS!!!!!

2008-03-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

I recently recieved some really great news. I was going to call a few select people, then I remembered about my blog, and realized the best way to share this would be by posting it. I got this card in the mail the other day, and it just made me feel so happy inside.

There really is nothing better than a clean pap smear! The last time I heard something this great was when my colonoscopy came back, clean as a whistle. They didn't send me a nice card though.

Need a movie?

2008-03-14T15:12:00.000-07:00