Out with the old!!

I'm so over chilling out! More like b o r e d! Of course ther are a multitude of things I should/could do, but I'm a slug. See, this is why the turbo pace is better for me, I don't make a very good relaxer. Its my all or nothing personality. It was nice to sleep the day away and veg out to the wedding dress show on TLC. Now I have to pay the price, my house looks like a boys college dorm. Bleh!

So on to the new.....of course I am all over my new fitness plan starting Jan 2. I'll be updating here daily so bear with me. I'm really excited. I better get my Kleenex ready for tomorrow, its "before" picture day and measurements. Waaaaaaa! I'm getting my body fat % tested (by calipers, which I have never done) at the gym monday, double waaaa!

The boys were so good on Friday, they played alllll day long at home (since their dad was sleeping between shifts and their mommy was a lump) and we had the B-Dog (Brody) with us so we took them to PPP for dinner. We were the heroes!! One thing I love about little kids, they are easy to please.









Heres to tomorrow. I've got stuff to DO!!

Christmas recap

Ahhhhhh Its over. I almost like the after Christmas time more than the actual 3 days of celebration. I like the "limbo" time where I can plan on chilling(although I haven't yet) and enjoying the presents and spending time with the kids. I thought I'd do a day by day~play by play so I can always remember what kind of stuff we did. I hate not having time to blog and getting behind. So here goes:

Dec 23: Sunday was pie making and movie watching with the kids. Mark was home, it was great. I took a big nap then got baking. I even made my own crust. I'm sure it wasn't better than the store bought pies, but sufficient. I was glad I was even able to pull it off. I made 2 pumpkin and an apple. Next time I make pie, remind me to put on lipstick!! LOL





Dec 24: Got up early(ish) and started cooking and doing dishes. Cook, do dishes, repeat, Cook, do dishes, repeat. I made our traditional Chicken curry from scratch to set aside for Christmas day(turned out really yummy) Green chile enchiladas for Christmas eve dinner and a big batch of Cinnamon Caramel corn. Got all cleaned up and then took the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. That was cute and a perfect way to break up the LOOOONG day of waiting. Got home and MIL and I made the rest of the dinner and she did cheese enchiladas. Cleaned up really quick (again) and geared up for the BIG night. My brother and his little girl came over and we exchanged their gifts first thing (they had exchanged names, it was cute) and that really helped keep the kids under control having a real toy present to open. Then the elves somehow snuck in again this year and left all the kids new jammies (wow are they sneaky!!) Then our neighbors across the street came over and we ate all the yummy food. We sat down by the fire and watched a DVD short movie of Luke 2 on mute while the song "Breath of Heaven" played along to it....it correlates well and is very moving and reverent. We talked about the birth of the Savior and sang songs. It was nice. Then off to bed and get ready for SANTA!! woo hoo!





Dec 25: I was up at 4:30 and could not go back to sleep! ARGH! Cade came in at 5:30 and we all got up and dad got things ready and checked to make sure Santa even came. We were pretty confident that he did. The rule at our house is that the kids can't go looking in the living room till they get the parents up first. Amazingly, they actually obey this rule!



LOL Well Santa did come and he brought everyone one neat thing that they really wanted, and we got opening. We all took turns and the boys were SO excited about their Santa gifts and their RC Jeeps. I got Mark a portable DVD player and he got me a video camera, it was so cool. We got a lot of Christmas morning on tape. Mark had it set up and running when we all walked in so you can see/hear the kids reactions to their stuff. Its so funny! Hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to put that stuff on here. So far, not yet. Then Grandma came over and we had breakfast and played with all our stuff and with some new games she had brought. Mark also got me Dance Dance Revolution and we played that a whole bunch. I've wanted it for years!!! Then I made some rolls and rice and we had our curry. I turned out to be a nice relaxing day.


Dec 26: I got up early(ish) again and got out the door to get my Christmas cards mailed off,~Hey, its the Christmas "Season" cards, OK???? mail my moms package to Montana, and run some other errands. I got home just in time (Mark had gone to help someone move) and then he took the kids out to spend their gift cards. While I had the place to myself I got it cleaned up (AGAIN) and got ready for my (step)mom to bring over her Christmas to us. She brought over SO much stuff, it was really fun. I loved everything. My favorite I think was a really nice recipe binder with ALL the family recipes we have used over the years. That is a priceless gift, I LOVE it. Plus she always makes me some amazing scrapbook-y craft things and this year was the best. The kids all got a toy and a bunch of clothes, art stuff, it goes on. It was a fun time. We just hung out and chatted. She took Cade with her to Thatcher so he could practice violin for an upcoming concert. It was so funny, he packed up half his Christmas stuff and took it with him, since he'll be gone til the 2nd. Then the rest of the day I played with my new camera and hung out with Mark. He had to go back to work (poor guy, its like in the low 30's at night this week and he's out in it all night!) so I cleaned Christmas up (AGAIN!) and cashed it in.

Dec 27: I had to do a hair appt. this morning, but then I was off to the big sales. I should have gotten Christmas stuff for next year, but I needed clothes pretty bad so I got a couple things. I got at least half off everything at Old Navy and Kohls. It was fun to have a few moments for myself and just shop for me for a change.

So we had an AWESOME holiday, I loved it. Of course with kids there are always moments of frustration, but overall they were grateful for their presents and there wasn't too much crying or whining. They have just been really busy with their new stuff. I love that, I get some peace and quiet. Well, a little anyway. :)



Now Sadie is at a sleepover, Marks working and Cade is gone, so its just me and the 3boys. Fire in the fireplace, we had hot chocolate and now its time to settle down with a movie. I have to do another hair appt in the morning, and then I'm free the rest of the day to just hang out. It should be nice.

5 more days!!

Sooooo close!! I am Christmas crashing right now, holy cow!! Today was school holiday party day. It went well, it was reallly fun. The kids were all a lot calmer than I thought they would be in Coops class. I had WAY too much left over candy from the gingerbread houses. The parents in my classroom are awesome and brought so much fun stuff. Seriously I could make a full scale gingerbread house and have enough to decorate it.

I am really happy its vacation time. I am sleeping IN tomorrow! And crashing early.


Side note: Oh, the joys of boys. The new thing for the last 12 hours has been the diahrrea chant. You know it...."when you're cimbing up a ladder and you feel something splatter, its diahrrea, its diahrrrea" I think we have rhymed every combination of words and phrases and stupid chants there could be. Its getting a bit ridiculous. Can't wait for this little trend to be done with.

Movie Review

Today we caught the first showing of I Am Legend. We really liked it! It was a nice break from all the running around and just go and tune out the world for a while. Believe me, this movie made me tune EVERYthing out, it was so intense! Its PG-13, but not the kind I'd take my kids to, it has some very freaky and scary parts, and really sad parts that might scare kids, just because it seems so real, like it could all really happen. Its one of those one that make you a little worried all day. What if some horrible virus does take over?? Its a good movie though. Will Smith is HOT!!! Looks like someone has been doing some serious training! As my kids say...Bow Chicka wow wow! LOL He is SO good at saving the world all the time. Dang! I give it two thumbs way way up!!

Getting there!!

Alright so I'm walking around kinda smug (no not really) about how I'm SOOOO ready for Christmas but I do realize that I am kinda cheating this year. Its a lot easier to do everything when you cut out a good 1/4 of the stuff you usually do. So that is my secret to "doing it all" when the "all" is less than normal. HA! I'm totally exposed now. I want to just have fun with the kids, not be grumpy and tired because I'm worked to death. I find myself saying "oh, I'm not doing that this year" an awful lot. Really, the only thing I actually cut out of the norm was the Christmas cards ( I do actually have to do a very small handful to some far-away family members and out-of-state BFF's, we're talking less than 10, so that dosen't really count) and no crazy variety cookie/treat baking(one big 'ol batch of something easy, boom we're DONE) or lavish Christmas Eve Dinner. We're having Mexican food. Most likely on Holiday paper plates, because my kids don't like soup that much, and I don't wanna wash Christmas dishes. So throw the Christmas Eve soup tradition outta here for now, yeah baby!!! And we are going to have so much fun!

I think my SIL was a wee bit dissapointed hearing that there would be no fabulous sugar cookies with cream cheese lemon frosting, but she and my BIL will survive. I'll give her the recipe.

Mark and I got some of the presents wrapped and under the tree last night. We are hoping it will be a loud reminder for them to be on their best Santa behavior. It was so fun watching them discover what we had done. Ther are 3 really BIG boxes all wrapped up for the 3 younger boys, something awesome that they didn't really expect or ask for but we stumbled upon for a bargain, and they are puzzled beyond belief. Its so great. They have no clue what could be in these big boxes, and I'm sure Cade and Sadie are worried as to why THEY dont' have big boxes like that. ooooh its so confusing!! I love it! I know when they are bigger I am going to miss these times like crazy. Its one of the VERY few times I don't want them to get bigger. Dayton just goes in there and watches the presents, trying to x-ray vision the paper, just mesmerized. Its the best.

the Chirp and me

I LOVE days like today!!! Rainy, cold, cloudy. I get to wear my big gramma sweater and my slippers, YAY! Unfortunately, I have to give it all up for the sake of finishing my Christmas shopping without the Deet-dog, because he has playgroup and there are only 2 more playgroups till Christmas!!! WOOWOO!! So as much fun as it would be to slosh around the house in my fuzzy clothes and eat pumpkin bars with frosting all day, I must put on some jeans and a scarf and hit the stores. I promised myself I'd get all the gifts in the mail to Missourri today, and I will succeed!

To make today even better, I managed to stay up till 2 last night (I partied like a Rockstar!) and got my office totally cleaned out, files filed, school papers and keepsakes sorted and stored, even my primary stuff gutted and reorganized. I found some stuff I could really use in the upcoming months, which was great. I even found a couple of coupons that are quite valuable. I set up a whole gift-wrapping station, and assessed my wrapping paper and tag situation, which was just like I thought....I need MORE. It feels SO good to have it off my to-do list, because that was a biggie. Lets all do the Toyota jump!! LOL

Now the not so great. The Chirp. You know what I mean. Stupid freakin smoke detector is chirping, we replaced the batteries, dusted it, still chirping every 30 seconds. It is of course the very highest one, about 30 feet up on the ceiling. We had Cade get up on the ledge and change the bettery, but it lookes like I will have to hoist my big body up there and check it myself.

And I'm getting a stupid cold. I'm trying to ward it off, but my lack of sleep last night is not going to help, I think I'm too late. Oh well thats what they make cold medicine for, right?? :D


Now I gotta get out of here and get shopping because this chirping is like Chinese Chirp Torture! ARGH!

Weekend update

I still don't have anything exciting to blog about. Friday was really pretty good. Friday night our ward hosted "A Night In Bethlehem". It was really fun. We had a ton of people there, which was great. I was in charge of the program, which I thought was a big job until I saw what other people were doing, then I was really grateful I had way less work than a lot of others. My main thing was running the actual program, which ended up being not too big of a deal. Our song went good, and I think at the end the spirit was really strong when we sang Silent night as a whole group. It was dark in there with the white Christmas lights overhead and the star lit up. I wish I could have seen it from the back of the room, but I was kinda busy LOL. Well now its over and I feel the pressure lifted off, yay! But then.....

Mark and I made the schedule of the activities that our family needs to do for the holidays, and it will really keep me busy. I know this is why I got all my shopping and decorating done early so I'd have time to do all the thigs we like to do this time of year, but I certainly don't feel "relaxed" or "Chilled" when I look at my calendar. Some of the stuff we still need to do as a family are:

Bake and deliver( simple this year...no cookie exchanges or anything nutso like that)

See Temple Lights

Sing to various single elderly grandparents (this is a WHOLE afternoon of driving as a family. We had a great time last year though)

Take various kids shopping for each other.

It dosen't sound like that much, but Mark is only available 2 nights per week and there are only 2 weeks left, so that is why we have to schedule things. Tomorrow night is dinner with my MIL to watch the Christmas brodcast that we taped last week.

Today was nice. I did a lot of hair (cha~ching) and then spent over 3 hours with Cade trying to find him some running shoes (not as easy as you'd think to find an 11 year old some decent shoes within a certain budget- we went 4 places!)and since we were out together he did his shopping for Sadie. He refused to carry the package though the store after he picked it out. He said he "wouldn't be caught dead carrying that" LOL!! It was SO cute when he was wrapping the stuff. He got really picky on how he wanted it wrapped and really did it up fancy with some different ribbons and did the tags and stuff. Really funny. It did bring to my attention that my office is not in any shape to be wrapping presents in. And at this point it can't just be picked up, it must be deep cleaned. ARGH!

Whateva

I can't believe I have been too busy to blog!! You KNOW I make my computer time a priority, but my life is just running crazy! It is semi-controlled chaos, I guess, just like everyone else. I keep waking up tired every day (and LATE! what is up with that??)and I think to myself, ok, today I am going to get some housework done, then take a 1 hour power nap and recharge. I have been trying to do this for a few weeks now and it hasn't happened ONCE! It certainly isn't going to happen tomorrow, or Saturday. Or Sunday. Or Monday. Or Tuesday. MABYE wednsday. Bah!!

But here again I find that tomorrow I have to be up super early, the kids are doing a dog-watching job for our neigbors, which means feeding them and letting them out in the morning before school. I refuse to do it for them, and Cade has to be there at 7:05, so yeah, early moring for us all. I don't even care about watching my shows, I am just going to go to bed. Well, after 2 loads of laundry. THEN bed.

So Elf'n Funny!!!

We got Elfed Too!!!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1140517903

Hey Ho

Fun Times. Today was early release which normally I hate but today wasn't too bad. I just hate the schedule being off and they still give homework. Today Cade had a recital at the State Capitol so I had to ditch all my duties (Sorry, Jill, I'll make it up!:)and it was good that I got to go because it was almost the same stuff that they did last week at the one I missed, except he and my dad didn't sing, but I can hear that anytime. It was cute one guy who obviously worked there thanked Cade for "livening up the normally dead silent Capitol building". Cade and I also took a mini tour of the museum, it was quite interesting. There was a bunch of treasure (like silver plates, goblets, etc) that was retrieved from the USS Arizona, and some cool things. It was a fun little Mom/Cade time out. Then on the way home I realized that we were one of the few schools on half day and I hadn't been to the NEW outdoor mall, so I fed the kids and took them over to see Santa at the NEW mall. It was perfect, there was NO LINE, Santa looked pretty bored. I have been having major camera issues (sorry, mom!!!!! I'ts still under Kodak warranty so hopefully Target will help me out!) and in my final frustration (after missing any pics of Cade playing at the Capitol, then the Santa experience) I broke down and bought a damn 15 dollar crappy picture of the kids with Santa. Its too frustrating to rehash it, but lets just say I went to heroic efforts to take pictures of all of this important once in a lifetime stuff (like most likely Cades last Santa pic) to little avail. Not only that, but with the overcast day the lighting was PERFECT for some awesome shots. And I have only a few random ones.






I have to post this picture, it is so freakin funny. Cooper is soooo obedient, he is forcing his entire face to smile! LOL and Yes, it was overcast but it was still like 70 degrees, but they insisted on wearing gloves, and Dayton had been wearing his beanie all day, the little nerd! Nice hat hair LOL!!! Ahhhhh, I love the little scrubs.


The other morning the kids were assigning themselves (and each other) peanuts characters. It was cracking me up. Cade is Shroeder (DUH) Cooper volunteered to be Linus (perfect!!) Sadie is Sally of course, Wyatt is Pigpen, and Dayton is Woodstock. I just love these little pooters!!!

In full swing!!

Even though it isn't even that close to December yet, Its the holidays for sure! Tomorrow I am planning on getting the main shopping DONE for the kiddos. Mark actually has the day off tomorrow (knock on wood) so we are going to go while Dayton is at school. FUN! Then I have to get the tree finished (ahem...started). Hey, at least I have all the other stuff up already. I was so excited to find a bunch of lights that I forgot about in my light bucket so mabye I'll even get the house done. Different lights this year, YAY! Then the big debate...picture in the cards, or no picture?? I like a picture, but that involves more so I haven't decided.

Tonight we took the kids to see Bee Movie. It was good, lots of funny parts. Well, of course, its Jerry! The funniest man alive! Well, mabye not, but top 5 for sure. On Friday we saw Enchanted, I really loved it, SUCH a girl movie. Cade and his friend hated it of course, but they are stinky boys, so who cares :D I'll be getting that one on DVD for sure.

On Saturday My friend Kristi and I took the older kids (Wyatt and Dayton went to grandmas) and we hiked Camelback mountain, the Echo canyon trail. It was the most gorgeous day, but man that is a tough climb. Kristi and the girls wimped on me about 1/4 of the way through, so I took the boys all the way up. I have pics but my camera cord is not working I think so its not leting me get the pics off my camera. I have SO many pics, from the hike and Thanksgiving that I'd like to put on, dang cord!! Anyway, it is very high, I think it goes to 1,200 feet or something. You can see the entire valley, it is breathtaking! Its a 1.25 mile climb up there, it took us about an hour or more to get up. That was strenuous, but the climb down about killed my poor old lady knees! They are still stiff and swollen!! I'm sure I burned over 1,000 calories, it was very tough and I was breathing deep almost the whole way up and back. I like taking the kids to do that stuff though, its so good for them. I am really going to have to get in shape to keep up though, Cade and his friend beat me to the top by like 20 minutes!! LOL Well, I was helping the littler guys, but still. The big boys were like a couple of goats, it was so funny. It was a really nice weekend!

Uhhhhhhhhh...........

For all family members reading this (Bri;) What goes on the blog, stays on the blog!!





So Tired. So Tired. Every year the same. Does anyone understand what putting a Thanksgiving dinner for 21 people together ALL ALONE and then cleaning it up ALL ALONE is like????? I have to say, Marks mom was the only help I had. She did one of the turkeys and helped with dishes. My dad carved. My mom made gravy. Thats it. Every year I seriously doubt whether this torture is worth it. Technically it wasn't even pot luck, because the stuff people were supposed to bring (except my MIL's turkey) they bailed on and either just didnt bring it or called and asked me to just "get it" for them. They day itself was nice. My tables looked good, my house looked good, the food was great, everyone loved it, we watched football, lalala it was all pretty much perfect. Its in the evening when everyone leaves that it sinks in, I get really tired, then crabby, then pissed, etc. Then Mark gets mad because "dont' do it anymore if it sucks so bad, just stop doing everything" when I'd rather he didn't give me advice like that, it dosen't help after the fact, because every year it seems like it will be different and then I end up in the same situation. Seriously, look up the blog archives for the last 2 Thanksgivings, its quite pathetic! waaa waaa, right??


BUT THEN...............I have to just shut up because seriously, what the heck am I complaining about??? I just gorged myself and 20 other people on a delicious, top of the line feast, washed all my dishes that I own with top of the line dish soap in my dishwasher, plopped on comfy, clean-ish couches in front of a new (inexpensive, yet sufficient) flat screen TV, Sent my hubby off to a secure job that supports us and allows me to be a stay at home mom, Tucked my healthy children into their own individual warm beds, now I am going to go drink a ginormous glass of cold filtered water and snuggle in my own amazingly comfy bed and watch whatever the heck I want until I fall asleep. Everyone had a great time today, My cousin who has been banned from his own home/family activities for heinous drunken behavior( which he has also displayed at my house at past family gatherings..yikes) he was able to come today (sober, thank goodness) and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with family, and I could tell he appreciated us having enough courage to have him over so he wouldn't be alone today. My uncle Paul was brought from the nursing home that he may or may not live another year in, and although he is a miserable crab I think he enjoyed it,so that was good.
It hit me tonight when I was saying prayers with the kids, that there are a lot of people out there tonight in need (hopefully less tonight that normal, but they are out there, kids included)and I should be pretty ashamed if someone like me is having a pity party. Was it worth all the work?? Mabye not to me personally, but I don't celebrate Thanksgiving for me, I like it because it is the calm before the Christmas storm, I have as much family around as possible, and it helps us all (especially the kids) take a minute and be grateful to our Heavenly Father for the ENORMOUSLY blessed life we all have.

So I guess what I'm saying is that if all I have to complain about that I had to work too hard, I need my head examined. And next Saturday, we are having Turkey day #2 at my parents, and you know what they say.....turnabout is fair play. :D

The usual crazy

I have been such a bad blogger lately, but I just don' t have much else to say other than how I just race from one thing to the next in a controlled frenzy day after day. I am happy to say though that I did start my Christmas shopping yesterday, and I had fun doing that. Christmas is back on, but the kids don't know that yet. I'm sure they know they aren't getting NOTHING but they are such little PUNKS so much of the time. They did get themselves to school on time today without too much yellling from me so that was good. I'm trying to make them more independent and make them pack their own lunches and find their own shoes, stuff like that and they are doing pretty well.

Cade and Cooper are going to Thatcher with my dad tonight (after Cade's football pizza party-YAY I don't have to cook!~)and they are staying until Wednsday morning. They will only have 1 day of school next week. That make-up work is gonna SUCK big time, but oh well. With all my dad puts into the boys and their music I can hardly say no, they can't be in the recital. The recital is Tuesday night, but I can't practice with them like it needs to be done, and my dad is willing to take them and work with them, so thats how it is going to have to be, school isn't going anywhere. I am feeling VERY guilty about not driving up to go to the recital, but my mom says it won't be a big deal if I miss it and I really don't have the time or want to spend 75 bucks in gas to drive the 6 hours round trip to go. It is killing me to stay home, because I hated it when my parents missed stuff I was in but I just can't do everything, so I'm trying to let it go. It should be a nice calm week with only Sadie and the 2 little boys though, I am kinda looking forward to that. Plus Sadie will be gone for half the weekend, as well.

So I'm just doing the stuff I need to do to get my house put together for next Thursday, I am hoping to redecorate my kids bathroom (the one everybody has to use) and get some flowers planted out front as well as all the other horse crap that goes along with getting my stuff together and cooked up. I think we are having about 30 (including kids) which is typical.


I had my PMS meltdown yesterday, hopefully that is out of my system and I can get crack-a-lackin on what needs to be done.

Enjoy Adam Sandler on the playlist! :D

I think I am all back to normal now, I got on top of most of the stuff I was behind on, and although this week has been so busy I have managed it fairly well. I finally got to spend a few hours with Mark, it seems like I haven't seen him or talked to him for months. Its really just been about 3 weeks, but that is a long time to live with someone and not really connect. Every night this week during hte evening when he was home, I had things to be at. Today was a good day, I accomplished lots, including finishing Eclipse!!







That is right, I have read 3 books!! It about killed me that I had to go pick up the kids from school right as Victoria showed up at the end....Torture!!!! LOL WHEN is the next one being released??


Sadly, I have not made it to the gym this week at all, But I will be back in action on monday morning. I have been eating alright, but not in a weight loss sort of way. Mark and I are doing a mini contest to see who can lose 20 pounds the fastest (and no crash dieting, it has to be done right and healthy) so we are weighing in tomorrow. It should be fun. He keeps telling me that he should be my personal trainer and put me through workouts. Ummmmmmm no. I just really haven't ever seen a couple who is really good at working out together. I know they are out there, but I just know a lot of people who have tried it and it always ends bad. So I think we will do some stuff together (we did a jumproping contest before a couple times, and a Guerilla Cardio circuit that kicked our butts) but not on a daily basis, no way. Our schedules are all funky anyway. I hate running with him, his stride is so freakishly long I have to take 5 steps for his every 2. Tonight I made us Salmon, green beans and I gave him a portion of pasta with some marinara since he was leaving for work. Any great suggestions for a prize??? I'm thinking the winner gets a full-body professional massage.

If you are looking for a bit of motivation, Check out this movie trailer. It is being made by some Body for Life guys that we know and it gives me goosebumps every time I see it. I am not sure but I think it is actually coming to theaters, I know they are taking it to Sundance film festival (last I heard) Its not a Bodyfor Life movie, its more a real people story movie, I am DYING to see it!!! Just the trailer about brings me to tears, I love it!

I'm baaaaaack!-Trip recap

It hasn't been going super well, which would explain my lack of posting. My trip, however, was really awesome!!! I got in to Missoula pretty late, and just 2 chapters short of finishing Twilight!! Oh yeah, it was really really good! We stayed a a B&B just outside town, a HUGE house from the 70's, but comfy and gorgeous view. The owner was a french lady who made us a great breakfast, I hadn't eaten more than a bite or two in a couple days so it really hit the spot. And who could argue with dessert for breakfast?? LOL So we headed back to Great Falls and I spent the majority of the time sleeping or just hanging out. It was really cold (for me, anyway) but I managed to stay warm the whole time. It was good to feel some crisp air for a change. The main event was probably the scary cowboy bar we went to to hear our friend Mary Lu sing. It was the "Ramble Inn". LOL It was pretty scary in there, talk about some creepy rednecks, I'm tellin ya. I think they were all named Sea Bass!!! LOL It was like out of a movie or something. Like my moms boyfriend Ron says "It looks like some of those guys haven't seen real people in quite a while". I felt pretty out of my element, I felt like I had a big spotlight over my head with all the wierd looks I was getting. Oh well It was a cultural experience, and I only got asked to dance once, Yikes. The next day we went out shopping and just hanging around, I took another nap of course and then went to bed early. It felt so good to SLEEP uninterupted! Then Monday we went out to the quilt shop and I got to pick material for a quilt that my mom is making me...I am SO excited!! It will be gorgeous. Then I set up a blog for my mom and then it was already time to head back to the airport. It was very low-key and uneventful....which was exactly what I needed!!!! I think my camera batteries are low so I can't get any pics off of it yet but hopefully I will be able to tomorrow.

Like I said, I had a rough first day back yesterday, just overwhelmed with the house that was filthy, a very full week of activities and hair to do, and I ran my car into my closed garage door, so that was pretty bad. And you would think that the kids having me back would be all on their good behavior, but lets just say I lost it last night amd officially cancelled Christmas. So far I haven't seen much of an effort to redeem themselves, so it may be a permanent cancellation.

I have spent the entire day today deep cleaning my house, I'm almost half done so I'm feeling more like myself again. I even put up Thanksgiving decorations (they are kind of lame, but the kids like it) since I was so innocently asked by Ellie yesterday at her piano lesson "Did you forget to take down your Halloween decorations???" LOL I thought it was pretty funny. Things are getting back to normal, and hopefully with some new law enforcement around the house it will be better than before! Santa is definetly keeping tabs on things around here.

Halloween is DONE!

I feel bad because I was the least into it this year compared to other years. Mabye I decorated too early, I don't know, but I feel burned out and I just didn't care about any of it that much. I think the boys costumes were a lot of work, I'm really not interested in the candy, I had my fun on Saturday so now I just want it to be over. I managed to keep my mood mostly in check tonight so the kids had a good time, we stayed out WAY too late, but we got in the Baldwins haunted house (all of us went through, even Dayton) and so we felt like the night was a success. One house was really done up right with a real Freddy Krueger and a real Jason (up on the roof with a REAL chainsaw.....freak!!) and we all got a little spooked so that was fun. WAY WAY WAY too much candy!! Too much times 5 kids!! Luckily Fall Festival is on Friday, so whatever isn't eaten by then gets DONATED! It makes me sick just looking at it all. I had some super cute trick-or-treaters though, Its always funny how the best costumes aren't the ones you buy. Its much more fun to get messy and creative.


I'm starting to panic a bit about being ready for this trip on Friday. With the setting up I have to do for fall festival, it cuts into a lot of my prep time on the day I leave, which leaves me only tomorrow. I get really funny about trying to have everything organized when someone else is in charge to make it as easy as possible for them, for example, I need to have the kids church clothes all together on hangers (even the socks) so that early Sunday morning my MIL isn't looking for ties or socks or anything else. Same thing with school monday morning, Football Saturday morning, etc. Not to mention the food for meals, schedules of who needs to be where when and who is driving who where (crazy, it seems in this instance) and never mind Marks insane cluster---- of a schedule. Getting a bed ready for my MIL, etc. etc. etc. I'm not even going to attempt to clean anything, that would be a complete waste. I'm sure if I didn't do any of it they'd figure it out, but that would not be nice of me and I would not enjoy my time away knowing it was all chaos at home. It dosen't help that I have to completely re-do my volunteer list for fall festival because I have enough plus some for my class and the school is short for other stations, so I have to reschedule everyone tomorrow morning(the day before!) and hope all the parents are OK with it. Our class basket did turn out quite cute BTW....





So yeah, I'm really ready for a weekend off! I hope sleep is on the agenda!

Big brag moment!

I only have a minute to blog, but I have to post this! Yesterday was Marks awards banquet for work and the was awarded Rookie Officer of the Year!!! I am so proud of him! He is so deserving of it, I was really hoping he'd get an award. One quick story on him: He was called to pick up a teenage runaway, when he went to where she was supposed to be she was already gone, but he had a prompting that she was hiding inside a building under construction so on that feeling he went to look for her (in the pitch dark) and sure enough, found her in there, she had been cutting herself with a razor blade and had made some very deep cuts, and covered in blood. He and the officer he was training were able to get her medical attention and saved her from bleeding to death. He has gotten many commendations and positive calls and feedback from the people in his community, he is always respectful of everyone and people have really responded to that. He works lots of overtime to make sure shifts are covered, and makes sure he is not just an extra body on hand, he is very pro-active even when he is just filling in. Not only that, he still has made time to keep attending the temple almost once a week, and go to church as much as humanly possible, even in his completely exhausted state, and do his best at his huge calling. Here I am, the lady behind closed doors, and I am totally amazed at how he does what he does and still stays cheerful and grateful for everything. He truly deserves everything good that comes his way. I am seriously married to the best guy EVER!!

Wedding cake weekend!!!

Today I baking my brains out, making my SIL's little sisters wedding cake. OOOOH the pressure!! LOL So far its going really good, except that I messed one of my edges up with the knife when I was releasing it from the pan, so I have to redo one. Luckily its not the biggest layer. I still have to get a few things, but today is just the baking and trimming and stacking, the frosting I will do Saturday night so it will have time in the freezer before monday when she picks it up. It a really nice peaceful day, Its been actually relaxing because I am watching a movie while making it. Into the Blue with my lover Paul Walker. He's my #2 celebrity crush :D

Things are going well with all the activities, I am just taking one thing at a time, and it is working well so far. Of course, major car drama with Marks PT, I'm trying not to stress, its hard but something will work out.

My mom sent me some of the plans for the weekend I will be gone, holy cow I am so excited! Lets just say: Snow, Bed & Breakfast, and Hot Tub. I seriously cannot wait.

Grrrrrrr

OK I really want to update, I really do, but I just have way too much on the list in front of computer time. Thanks for all your comments, I will try to put something else new up. For now, a fitness update......I am down 10 pounds!!!! A combo of hard workouts every day, eating small (very small) frequent meals-I finally found some self control, and diet pills and TONS of water. I'm starting to deflate! YAY!! Mark has a police banquet on the 30th and I am on a mission to look awesome! Plus I barely sit down anymore I am so busy, so I'm staying active allllll day and into the evenings. I'm getting back into my skinny jeans by Thanksgiving!!!!!

Its long but there are pictures :D

This week was CRAAAAAAZY!! This weekend is only a little less pressure but it will all be fun so that makes it better. I am really looking forward to monday already. I don't have a plan and I think thats what I am excited for. So heres just a tiny bit of what I've been up to. I have been very domestic and creative, its fun to do that sometimes.


First up, the card I made for Coopers teachers birthay. I'm the room mom so I have to figure this stuff out. The best part was that I just used a bunch of scraps from some recent scrapbooking, I only had to cut about 3 of these patchwork pieces. I would have liked to use some ribbons or silk flowers, but I forced myself to just stop with this. It is a jumbo card, it is a piece of posterboard folded in half, so that was fun. I took it to recess today and had the whole class sign the inside. She liked it (I think). had another mom bring cupcakes for the kids and we had a candle and sang to her. It was fun, and the kids loved it of course.




I also made her her favorite soup(which doubled as our family meal last night-I was multitasking!) It is SO SO yummy, potato cheese. The kids hated it, I have managed not to eat very much but it is hard to resist.




My other project was Cade's football birthday cake. It was a little late last night when I finished it, so the yard lines are WAY off, but the concept was good. The boys all thought it was cool, so thats all I cared about. His party was after school today. It turned out really good. A couple of the kids couldn't come, but the ones who did had a blast. They are a bunch of football junkies. They would still be playing now if the parents hadn't come pried them out of here. Football and pizza, every man's dream, starting at about age 11, right?? LOL He got nice presents and Mark reeally went over the top and got him a PSP, which I think he never dreamed he would get. He is in watching Ghostbusters on it right now. He is really loving it. Cade is such a cutie.



THis is him opening his PSP, he has never had a nice electronic before, so it was HUGE!



I can't believe my kids are getting so big. 11 years old?? I swear there is no way he is that old. Some of his friends are so funny. His cousin was there tonight and most of the boys don't know him very well because he going to a different school. So Cole asks "who's your mom??" He pops right back with "Oh, you're too young for her" Mark and I were cracking up. I couldn't wait to tell his mom what he said. She about died, it was so funny. Of course his mom is a cute little blond thing. I swear, the older they get the more they can crack me up sometimes. Especially when they are interacting with their friends. I'm sad Cade is growing up so quick, (he gets the puberty talk this year...YIKES!) but I'm trying to just enjoy it!

YAY tagged again!!

OK heres how it went down in the "olden days" back in 1994

1. Where did you meet your husband?At an ASU institute Dance. Neither of us went to ASU (or even college) but we were there with friends of friends so our two little groups were side by side. I put the "come ask me to dance" eyeball on him, and he fell for it :D


2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?I have no clue. I'm sure he asked me a question like "so where do you go to school?" Typical church dance lingo ALTHOUGH: I can't help but add this......He had asked me to dance about 2 weeks after he'd been home from his mission(July) and told me he played baseball for MCC (LIE) I remembered that and that his name was Mark. So 4 months later when we were dancing again he didn't remember me but I remembered him, and in an attempt not to look like a psycho stalker, I told him that we had danced before and he's like "really? So whats my name, do you remember?" and I played it off like "Is it Matt???" LOL


3. Where was your first date?It was December 4th, 1993. He took me to see a big Nativity display these were a new thing) and to Mcdonalds (he brought candles but no candle holders LOL) and then to the movie My Life with Michael Keaton. Total tearjerker. He held my hand after the movie, and when we were driving around I had this overwhelming comfortable feeling, like I could be in his passenger seat forever. Very strange feeling.


4. Where was your first kiss?At my house when he dropped me off from our first date. I wasn't expecting it so he sort of missed, but then I caught on. LOL My mom was DYING for details when I got home (he made a VERY good first impression on my parents) She literally planned the wedding that very night. I kept saying "STOP! Don't jinx it!!" But deep down I couldn't deny it.

6. Where did you get engaged?He came to my house at 5:30 a.m. on Easter conference weekend, April 6, 1994. He crashed on the floor of my room (sorry, I wasnt getting up THAT early to hang out, sheesh!) LOL but later I understood. He had a Easter basket with a Lamb cookie jar (it sits on my counter to this day) and inside was a troll wearing a Lamb costume and in the hood was my ring. Totally his idea. He even put candy and silly putty and stuff, just like a real easter basket. We were in the basement at my parents after I got ready to go watch conference together and we were sitting on the couch when he gave me the basket and when I opened the cookie Jar he got on one knee and formally proposed. He was so nervous he even stumbled over my name. It was so adorable!!

7. Where were you married?Mesa Temple, September 23, 1994

8. How did your reception go?AWESOME! We had the reception in my parents big gorgeous backyard and stood under a lighted Tulle Gazebo that my grandpa built over the inground trampoline. We had big white tents and tons of white christmas lights everywhere. For its time, it was the bomb! Gorgeous weather, Tons of people, We didn't have a line because of our crazy parent situation, it was just us. I loved it.


9. Where was the Honeymoon?We spent 4 days at his uncles Mansion/cabin in Pinedale. It was great, but I was excited to get home and start playing house!

10. If you could have changed anything about your day what would it have been?I would have had my hair and makeup professionally done. I worked at a really nice Salon but had just started and was too shy to ask someone. We didn't get married until 3 (which I HIGHLY recommend) so I had time. I don't know what I was thinking. Also, I would have like to save my bouquet, but I wasnt' there for the clean up and it got thrown away. And I would have had someone besides my lame-o 17 year old brother videotape the reception. He filmed about 5 minutes. I have no reception footage and very few pictures after the photographer left, except for what my Aunt took for us.


SO thats the big love story. I really would not change anything, we definetly grew up together! We are so lucky!!!

Now I tag (again) Casey K, Aimee, and Sarahbear, and I double tag Jill to do BOTH surveys. HA!

What a day!!

Well we certainly sent off this break with a bang!!! LOL Dayton was SO cute at the fire station, he was surprisingly shy, I don't know what was up with that. He said his favorite part was getting the "stuff" at the end (coloring book-which has been colored to perfection, plastic hat and sticker badge) It was a fun field trip and very informative. Then it was Zoo time. We all headed out, 3 moms, 10 kids, one koala bear, and a partrige in a pear tree. LOL I thought everyone was really good the whole time. The kids were all virtually perfect and I don't remember any crying until the end when Wyatt wanted to climb to the "Hole in the Rock" which yes, its cool and all but it was 3 pm, the little ones needed naps and the moms were DONE. He got over it before we got home. It was actually the perfect thing to do because they were no trouble putting to bed on time tonight. Wyatt says he "can't memember-I want to go to school, I don't want to go to school, I want to got to school, I don't want to go to school...but I choose go to school" I think "memember" must mean "decide". Well it was a relief either way, and our packet is DONE, Woo Hoo, thanks Sadie!!!! Unfortunately, I was so tired that I forgot to do something very very very important, which I'm still ashamed of right now, I'll come clean after I have had a chance to redeem myself. Besides that, it was a great day.

I thought this tag was very cute, thanks Maddy! Nobody ever tags me, so I'm all excited now :D




What is his name? Mark
How long have you been together? Married for 13 years
How long did you date? 2 weeks, then he left for 3 months to work with his brothers in Panama, then 2 more weeks when he got back, and then we got engaged. So technically, 4 weeks
Who eats more? I can really put it away, but he can eat insane amounts of food sometimes.
Who said I love you first? I can't remember...it was one of those "Are you thinking what I'm thinking" moments
Who is taller?Mark. . .by a foot
Who sings better? If Mark would try he could probably sing better than me... but he won't so I win!
Who is smarter? Mark, dang it! But I do think I'm a better speller
Whose temper is worse? Marks temper is waaaaay worse than mine. Luckily life has beat a lot of the temper out of him.
Who does the laundry? Always me.
Who does the dishes? Always me.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If we are laying facing the ceiling I am on the right
Who pays the bills? Me-but he has to nag me to do it-It's not a good system
Who mows the lawn? Mark is supposed to but I find myself taking over every now and then
Who cooks dinner? ALWAYS me. He can only cook Wendys or Hungry Howies.
Who drives when you are together? Me, and he backseat drives me the whole way, it sucks.
Who is more stubborn?Mark is WAAAY more stubborn than me
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? What??? I'm wrong????Just kidding! lol I usually break down and send him a well worded, very thought out e-mail, and that gets the ball rolling on apologies.
Whose parents do you see the most? I'd say its even
Who kissed who first? He grabbed me and went for it on our first date-much to my surprise, but I loved it
Who asked who out? He got my number when he took me for a spin in his Jeep and called the next day.
Who proposed? Mark did an elaborate surprise Easter basket all on his own, ring and all. It was the best!
Who is more sensitive? I say me, because I'm a girl
Who has more friends? Mark definetly has more friends. He has TONS of friends. People are calling him to chat constantly. It can be irritating.
Who wears the pants in the family? When it comes down to important things, he definetly does, but I pretty much run things my way in the day to day life. If we disagreee and I get my way, I almost always end up looking stupid because he was right all along. Drat!

I loved doing this one, I hadn't thought about some of these things in a long time. I tag..........Casey K (because we all want to know more about her and Scott), Aimee, (because I miss visiting with her and Ben) and Sarahbear, (because I know she loves a good survey)And if anyone else wants to do it, We'd all love to read it!

Last day of break

I don't have much to update, but I am up in the wee hours unable to sleep. I hate that. We are just getting geared up for school again on Wednsday, it will be nice. We have had a really nice fall break. I am a little worried because Wyatt is really not wanting to go back, and I was afraid of that. He is just not interested in the schoolwork. It is hard to motivate him if it is something he doesn't want to do. I just don't think he can see the point in the schoolwork, it is not rewarding for him. We may have a few rough mornings ahead.

I have a lot of work to do over the next couple weeks. Its Cade's birthday, Halloween, making a wedding cake, (lots more pressure since its for someone else and I'm being paid for it) and getting everything situated and done before I go to Montana. I am going to have to really kill myself every day to get it all in. I will for sure be ready for a weekend away. Unfortunately I am missing a few major events while I am gone, which is a bummer but I cant do anything about it now so I just have to do what I can ahead of time. My mom says she has lots of fun stuff planned which I don't doubt, shes a busy bee and I'm sure it will be a lot of fun. Yesterday I got to go to the mall with my friend Kristi and check out the scene and got a cute new sweater from Forever 21 to take. Boy there are some cute things this season. I still need jeans and another sweater. The good thing is, there is no such thing as dressing up in Montana. Just wearing my regular clothes I will be overdressed compared to most people. I'm sure I will be unprepared for how freaking cold it is going to be.



Tomorrow is the REAL zoo day LOL. The zoo is a lot of work, it will be fun though. We are going in the afternoon after Dayton's preschool goes to the Fire station, so hopefully it isn't too hot and the animals are out.

Fresh, new life!!!

I had mentioned before how my babtsitting job seemed to be phasing out and today was the day. I guess actually Mark got me "fired" LOL thats what I keep telling him anyway. I'm sure he really appreciates that, so if you see him DON"T tease him!!! :D 2 weeks ago I was supposed to pick up the 1st grader early for early release, and I remembered, but was in the middle of finishing a hair client and couldn't go so I sent Mark to get our kids and her, which he of course forgot to pick her up. So the school called the mom and then she called me pretty upset that I had "forgotten her" (which I hadn't, but either way, I looked bad) and Mark tried to apologise profusely later and got kind of a blank "uh-huh" response. We were only a total of 20 minutes late to get her, and the little girl wasn't upset by any means, but her mom was not pleased. It was good though, we ended on good terms and still have a good relationship. So how am I feeling about all of this?? FREE!!!!! I had taken a recent pay cut and that was making it barely worth it anyway, and like I mentioned before....my life is SO much less hectic, just without that responsibility I feel 10 pounds lighter mentally. Its so great. I'll make up the $$ somewhere else, I really don't even care about the $$.


So what have I been doing with all my awesome freedom??? Well nothing yet but man I can't wait for school to ge back in now, booooya!! My main excitement is I'm really getting the itch to hit the gym and healthy eating HARD, which is quite exciting. Today I slept in again and then helped Sadie with her new job(more on that excitement later) and then out to lunch with my friend Kristi and her daughter and to see Hairspray while the boys (she has 2 boys too) saw Transformers. Hairspray was even better the second time, mabe because I have the soundtrack now and I knew the songs better or something, but I totally LOVED it! I think the gym should have a Harispray dancing class where we can go and shake it to 60's music and do the fun Mambo and mashed potato for an hour. That would be the funnest workout. Cheesy, but fun! Yes, I am a total total nerd deluxe!

So the new job. My neighbor Heather asked yesterday if the kids (Cade and Sadie, mabye Cooper as assistant) would be interested in walking their 2 dogs 3 times a week for an hour each session. Heck ya!! An opportunity to be responsibe, pay tithing, save and have Christmas money, you betcha!! Cade was at a sleepover so I supervised the first time out this morning. It was fun, the dogs are BIG ( a chocolate lab and a 5 month old great dane puppy) and we ran them to death. They are really good dogs. Maggie (the lab) comes when you call her and Moe (the dane) just sticks to her like glue. It was great. The kids love it because they want a dog so I'm like "there ya go". This will be interesting, for sure. I really want to take a step back from it and let them handle things without me micromanaging things.

So thats all that has been happening. I changed all my summer bedding out to fall stuff ( I even flipped my mattrass myself) and stayed up all night till 5:30 am cleaning (although you'd hardly know it now after tonight!) and tomorrow we might go to the zoo, so I'm looking forward to chillin in my bedroom with all my recorded shows and zoning out for the rest of the night. YAY!!

Fun weekend

We had a great time in Thatcher. My mom pampered us, as usual and I got to scrapbookmy brains out on the last night. The kids had a really good time, although Wyatt was a pill every night and the last day. I don't know what the heck was up with him but I wanted to beat him. He seems fine now, so who knows. It was nice to spend some down time with my mom, aunt and sisters. I stayed up late every night talking and scrapping, so I cam home exhausted, but I slept in till 11 this moring for the first time in years. I know, it sounds great, but the aftermath of Sadie and her friend making giant chocolate chip pancakes for everyone(yikes) and the kids having free run of the house is a little scary now. Oh well it was worth it because it felt GREAT. Then Mark and I pooped up the yard with grass seed and steer manure and took the boys out to a late lunch at Fridays. Mark is working 11 grave shifts straight so we won't see much of him for the next 2 weeks or so.

As of now until I go to Montana I will be cleaning and yardworking like a madwoman. I looke dup at my family room fan light and htere are so many cobwebs on it the kids were like "whoah, its like Halloween!!" How horrible is that?? LOL Time to get serious!

Blogger isn't letting me download pics so I'll have to do it later.

Weekly wrap up

Thanks so much guys for your awesome comments. Heres what I worked out. I did call my brother back and told him that I couldn't take her to Thatcher. Yay for backbones!! LOL I told him I could take her fri night and Saturday before I left but that I couldn't take her out of town till tuesday night. He had already made arrangements with my other brother Nick to have him bring her back with him to Chandler on Sunday afternoon. SO I agreed to that compromise, now I'll only have her part of the time. My brother is a really cool guy, he was understanding and wasn't offended, he knows she's a handful and a lot to take on with the other ones I already have. ANYWAY the situation is sort of fixed. Of course, 10 minutes into her being here tonight I was ready to pull my hair out trying to get everyone to calm the freak down. It is 7:30 and they are parked in front of a movie in jammies and blankies with the lights out and being threatened with Ava sleeping in my room instead of with the boys, which is the worst punishment they can possibly imagine, so it is working so far. Also, the first person I have to tell to stop or calm down is going straight to bed first. They are trying really hard. Only 2 more days, one more night of this. I can totally do it.

Today was really nice. In fact, this whole week has been pretty nice. We took the kids bowling on Monday, did projects, and then tonight went to the car wash (Yay finally!) and then I took them to see Underdog at the dollar theater. I really made an effort to do stuff with them and it was fun. They have even been pretty good about doing their chores and helping me keep things all cleaned up all week. It makes me realize how draining and stressful babysitting part time is on me.

So far the haunted gingerbread house is still fully intact. Amazing. BTW Amy I have a lot more baking coming up soon, including a wedding cake so you are welcome to come down and keep me company while I bake my brains out. I also am thinking that a Christmas house might be a fun idea, I might get creative and do a little village or some different shaped things, I'll have to look online. Anybody who wants to help is more than welcome. Hmmmmm....I'm thinking a fun mini-village made of pseudo gingerbread houses (i.e. graham cracker houses) would be a fun project for a neighborhood kid decorating party. Oh-oh I better quit now, this is getting a wee bit out of control!!!

So SPOOOOKY

We had such a fun time today. I decided the other day that I needed to find a project to keep the kids busy this week and get excited about halloween(although we neeed very little help in the excitement area) I trekked on over to Michaels and found some cute little projects. THen I decide to do a real from scratch halloween gingerbread house. I've wanted to do one for about 5 years,and this was finally the year. I quickly realized why people buy the kits. Making gingerbread is a real pain in the butt. Although, the recipe I have says you need two batches to make it work, and I barely needed one, which was good because one of my batches wasn't very good. I would have had enough to make 2 houses had it all turned out. Anyway today was bake, assemble, and decorate day. It was really fun, but a lot of work. I got a cool tree to put with our house, and I think the kids and I did an really good job for our first time. Now when I see those elaborate gingerbread christmas houses, I can really appreciate what it takes to make something like that, no thanks!!

Cade took charge of making our little terracotta pot guys. They were really fun and only a dollar, I may go get some more to take to my moms this weekend for something to do. Cade was cute making all these things, he really got into it.







And about my trip to my moms this weekend.....HUGE bummer now I have to take my neice who is a spaz and encourages my boys to be more crazy than usual. I am SO dissapointed! I really really just wanted to chill out. Now I am going to have to be all disciplinarian and enforer and referee. She is starting to swear a LOT (because it is what she hears) and there are just all sorts of issues. I am so pissed at my brother and especially his psycho ex who just refuse to believe that I have nothing better to do. My older kids are really disapointed that it wont be just us....AGAIN. I should have just said no, but then I feel guilty because I know my brother needs to work, and I feel like she should have as much cousin time and good influence as she can. I am so wanting to call him and say sorry I just can't do it, but I'm just too nice. Mark says I have nobody to blame but myself. If anybody had a suggestion I would be very interested to hear it. :D

VACATION!!

Sort of. I'm off babysitting this week, which stinks from a financial standpoint but the kids were thrilled and it is nice to just chill for a whole week. So far today is a pajama day! Not for much longer, though. I sent Dayton to school with Jill and I"m really thinking of crawling back in bed. It is so hard to not stay up late with Mark. Since he works graves he tried to stay up really late on his days off too and sleep in a little, just so his schedule isn't so messed up all the time. Of course today he took an extra shift, so he had to be up at 4:30 and will get home this afternoon. Our schedule is so wierd sometimes. This weekend after Cades game I am heading out with the kids down to Thatcher to spend conference weekend and monday and Tuesday with my mom and sister. I plan on reading the Twilight series and making cards. I can't WAIT!

Yesterday we took the kids bowling. It was really fun. They were having a blast. I sucked it up and only got 2 strikes. I'm a really bad bowler. I guess if I bowled more than once every 3-5 years that might help. If you havent'seen the new Brunswick XL place over on Warner/Gilbert, it is awesome! It is all clean and spacious and it smells good, which is a first for me! Plus the shoes aren't all old and disgusting. Good times.

I also made it to the gym yesterday for a full body workout and cardio. It felt really good but I'm so out of shape and my intensity SUCKS. I have got to figure my crap out on this. I really need a trainer but can't afford one. I need a a cute guy with big muscles to yell in my face and put me through the ringer 5 times a week. OH well, I'm not giving up. Its all about persistence. I'll keep at it and hopefully my killer instinct will resurface.

I have 1 month till my trip to Montana and I am getting so excited. It's not New York like Caseyann or Paris like Nichole, but at least its something! I get to experience REAL winter, I haven't seen that since I was about 7 years old(Utah dosen't count...its not that cold there) I'm such a cheeseball but I AM getting one of those new FairIsle sweaters from Old Navy to wear there. I'm going to milk it for all I can. LOL

Back up to snuff

I have felt like the worlds worst blogger because after I lost my cool zoot layout, I have been so lost in limbo. I finally decided to quit messing around and put my links back up (with LOTS of new ones!) because it looks like this will be my template for a while. I did manage to customize it just a little bit. I hope all of Marks cousins don't mind me linking them, but I was just so excited to have a whole new group of people to blog-stalk! LOL Thanks for the tip-off, Elizabeth! I hope I didn't forget anybody, if I did post me a comment and I'll link you up, and on the flip side-if you want me to take you off just let me know.

Thats it for today, I am tired and ready to have a F-U-N week with my kids.

the kind of motivation that gives you a big shiner

SO I'm over at Deseret Book store looking for stuff for primary, and a lady I know who used to be in my old ward is there working (I know some of the people who work there, its fun) And she say "I didn't know you were expecting" and I laugh and say "oh, I'm not, I'm just fat right now" and she laughs and says "Oh, get outta here, no really, when are you due?" Can a big hole in the floor swallow me now please?? So yeah, pretty horrifying. I don't hold it against her at ALL, First of all I was wearing a long tunic-style top, which looks totally maternity, and then I'm sure I was slouching really bad and my gut was just all relaxed and hanging out. I feel worse for her, because I'm know she felt terrible. SO anyway, funny story, but kind of not at the same time. To make myself feel better I bought a half dozen Lion House Rolls (HEAVEN!!!) and dove in. Then went straight to Ross and bought some clothes that don't make me look pregnant. Well hopefully not AS pregnant.

Then yesterday I got some POSITIVE motivation :D. I was at school and I ran into Becky Babcock (many blog readers know her). I hadn't seen her close up in a few months...Holy moley, she is ripped! She has always been very fit but she looked amazing, veins poppin on her biceps and all. So of course I had to say something and ask her a zillion question. Apparently she is about 15% body fat right now. She and her husband drank 6 protein shakes a day for 6 weeks and got ripped. I guess she has an awesome home gym and lifts 3 days a week (all different types of lifting) and she dropped 10 pounds and 5% body fat in the 6 weeks. At her starting stats that is really impressive. If I did that I'd probably drop 20 because I have so much fat to lose. It is extreme, but oh so tempting. I may have to call her and get more details. Anyway, WOW.

My mom e-mailed me and wants to fly me to Montana for a weekend trip, I am so excited. My MIL is going to fill in for me while I'm gone so I think I will be going the first week of November. I cant' wait!

I am starting to Super-dread school vacation. We have the next 2 weeks off and I have to babysit both girls the whole time. I am going to go to Thatcher for Conference weekend and into monday or mabye even tuesday and that might be my only vaca, but we have to go somewhere!! I just have to keep telling myself.....I will have Christmas money this holiday season, it is really worth it and I have to look at it as a huge blessing! I really am blessed to be able to work from home. REALLY blessed!

Sunday review

Sunday was really great. At church we had our childrens primary program. My job at church is to teach the kids specific songs and then we present them in an organized way with a spiritual message in a 45 minute long program once a year. It turned out really good. It is a big job to keep 60 or so kids focused, singing, and saying their parts for that long, but with some stellar teamwork we made it happen. Luckily, we were the first ones in our stake (area) to do ours, so now everyone has to live up to the bar WE set! HA! Jill did such a pro job writing it all up and making up the parts, it was great. I was so proud of my own kids, they did an awesome job, memorized their parts (except Dayton, because I didn't have time to help him very much) but they were so proud of themselves. In fact Wyatt told me Sunday morning "Mom, tell sister Rogers NOT to help me, I can do it" and even though he stumbled on a couple words, he said it all correctly. Cade said his own talk that he put together even with a scripture reference, and Sadie and Coop memorized theirs too. Cade also played the violin with 2 of the songs and sounded awesome. I was so proud of him!!! This is a big milestone for the year to have crossed, and we did it , YAY!!

Yesterday was also our 13th wedding anniversary. Not really the most romantic, for sure but quite a picture of where we are in our life right now, so it was good. I have to say that we have had an awesome time being married. Really awesome. We are a good team, and still best friends. Plus I still think he's a hottie ;) Today we went to the Olive Garden (the OG as it will now be called) and they are building one right by our house which we are so excited. Then we got flowers for Marks moms b-day then Cold Stone creamery, and called it good. Now its time for family night and NIGHT NIGHT!

Update and TV musings

We got our air fixed yesterday (tuesday) afternoon, YAY! It was so nice to be back to normal. Nothing much new going on, my arms hurt from my monday weight workout, I could hardly move them yesterday. I didn't make it yet today, I wanted to get a little shopping done this morning a the big Mervyns sale, I needed a new dress and I found one for 10 bucks, so that was fun. I'm going to go do my HIIT tonight after the girls get picked up. I had a hair appointment to do and now I have to babysit, so my morning got all messed up.

How awesome was the biggest loser last night?? I loved it. I really love Phil. I Really REALLY love Kim. I think I just want to be her twin, really. Mabye I just want to be her because Mark is in love with her, and I'm jealous, who knows! LOL I'm betting on Phil to win but I'm keeping my eye on the guy on the blue team who is huge but is going to look like a male model at the end, he's a latin guy. I think we have a potential heartthrob going on there. Speaking of that, I usually boycott the Bachelor because I think it is so stupid and fake and ridiculous, but have you seen the new bachelor?? Holy HOTness. I still probably wont watch it.lol And on another TV note, I am 10 degrees past excited about the new episode of the Office next thursday. SO excited. That is my all time number one favorite show ever. We really need to figure out our new TV situation, the season is almost here!!!! :D

EDIT:
Chelsea made me remember that I was going to post about the TV situation. We have been a month with out it in the family room, which has been interesting. The kids have been reading a TON (Cade has over 1,000 pages this quarter and Sadie has read 4 Judy Blume books) and 2 sundays ago the kids decided on the way home from church to have "Lego Day" (yes, it was officially declared) and then last weekend they all sat together and played real monopoly for almost 3 hours without fighting. I am LOVING this no TV thing. It is VERY tempting to not replace it, but impractical for Mark and I. I really am not in a hurry. Depending on how things go, mabye we won't :D

AC and Birthday update

Its a real bummer turning 33. I truly don't care about the getting older part, that dosen't bug me (not yet anyway) But it is just another day, at this stage. It was cute this morning my MIL got the kids who were awake to come wake me up by singing happy birthday, that was sweet. Then I went to the gym, then Mark took me to lunch at Firebirds. I think that will pretty much be it. My mom has some stuff for me on friday she says, and my other mom sent me something, probably a Target card, so that will be fun. So thats it. Woo.

The AC guy is supposed to be here between 2 and 4 today, that is good. I REALLY hope he can fix it today. Mark does not want to go to his moms. He is sleeping fine in the hot house, and I do agreee that it is a lot more fun to be at home. My MIL only has regular TV and dial-up internet, and we would have to try to squish onto a queen size bed, and it is really hard to try to remember and pack everything for so many of us, plus pack food, becuase my MIL has no food, not even milk. So even if it doesn't get fixed today, we may just stay here and be a little warm. It really isn't too bad, especially if you are just sitting around. I wouldn't try to vacuum or make beds or anything strenuous, then it would get unbearable, so we all may be sitting around vegging out all night, and go to the park and eat dinner or something. At least we could watch TV and play on the computer and sleep in our own warm beds. I think Mark just has so few nights at home that he can't bear to give one up just for a few extra degrees of coolness. Anyway, thats it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Last night our air conditioning in the house died.......YIKES!! This is one of the rare times, however that I am SO glad we rent!! All I have to do is make a phone call. LOL Thankfully it was at night and last night was really nice (about 80 degrees) so we were able to sleep here and it was really fine with all the fans going. We won't be able to stay home all day, though. Mark worked all night and I told him to just go to his moms this morning to sleep but he needs clean clothes so I don't know what he is going to do. So when it starts to get too hot we will just pack up stuff for school tomorrow and some food and head over to my MIL's to hang out. Then monday I will back home to hang out and wait for the AC guy. There was a really loud motor noise coming from the hallway ceiling and then it sputtered out and died, so who knows what the problem is. Hopefully it is easily and quickly fixable. If not, we are really lucky that we have a relativley close place to stay and dont have to be too inconvenienced. So now I have to get my house in ship shape in case the landlord decides to come over and I wont be embarrased.LOL

Football has been going great, Cades team has won both of their games and he is playing great. His coach told them at he beginning when they started practice that he didnt want them drinking any more soda for the rest of the season, and Cade has obeyed and stopped completely. I'm so proud of him. There are times he wants a Mountain Dew SO bad but he picks a Gatorade or lemonade instead. He played the whole game yesterday in over 100 degrees (and he really hustled and ran a lot) and said afterward that he felt great, barely even tired. He is such a good kid! He and his football buddies go to school together so they have been wearing their jerseys to school on fridays. It is against dress code, so they just wear them to school and take them off in the classroom, then put them back on right after school. It is like high school, it is the cutest thing ever. I took a pic of Cade last week, I'll post it here when I have more time.

SO thats it, I gotta go get things packed up and situated for our migration west for the rest of the weekend, if it stays cool for another couple hours we will head out to Stake conference then outta here.

Killing time

I hate it when my errands bomb out. Don't you think that I should be able to pull in to any tire place and get a quick rotation within a half hour?? Well, apparently not in Chandler today.LOL Since I was dragging a 3 and 4 year old around, which didn't help. No way was I waiting in a tire place for more than a half hour with those 2. We went by the school to put $$ in the lunch accounts and Mr. Mario gave them each a lunch bag with a cookie and chocolate milk, and a breakfast for lunch tray to share. He is so nice. I can't imagine Dayton there on his own buying school lunch in just less than a year, but I couldn't imagine Wyatt either and he does it just fine. Anyway they loved getting school lunch, and now I don't have to feed them! HAHA We went to the eye doctor to have Daytons eye checked. Backstory: tuesday afternoon he and Wyatt were fighting and Wyatt poked him in the eyeball really hard, and it has looked a little funny since. He has some eye drops now, its fine, but the cool thing is that at the eye dr office I met a lady that knows my MIL and she used to be one of Sunny's clients and she and her whole family have not found a replacement, so I'm on the job, starting with a color friday. WOO! One of my few regrets in life were not calling Sunny when she was moving and telling her to refer her people to me. I'd have a sweet business right about now. What is wrong with me??? Well, I was nervous that it would be too many people, which it might have been. Anyway, I'm glad I got some more people. I'm really hoping to phase out babysitting and phase in more hair. That would be nice.

Well my b-day is on tuesday the 17th. So far I have no plans. Mark usually does something, so I'm sure I'll like whatever it is. My mom is taking me to time out for women fri. nite for my b-day, thats the only plans I have. I'll probably get to do some shopping of some sort. Nothing major, since they probably don't make clothes big enough to fit my ginormous body :P

BUT on a goood fitness note: I have been getting to the gym 4 or more days a week for the last few weeks or so. I haven't lost any pounds really, but I feel a lot better and have been eating a bit better too. I tried on my jeans that have been packed away all summer, and thought it would be fun to do a jeans progress pic like Amyella, but then I tried on the pants and about barfed, no way. Well, for one it would be totally indecent, since I can't really get 2 of my 3 pairs over areas that should not be showing! LOL So if I tell you that my jeans are starting to fit, you will just have to take my word for it, at least till I can pull them up about another 12 inches. I am ready to take it up another notch commitment wise, I think. I got my prescription fat-loss drugs from the DR and I am ready to rock and roll.

Feelin Fall-ish

I have NO clue why I would even be feeling the least bit fall-ish because it is a flippin OVEN up in here, I was about to die doing my grocery trips and errands this afternoon. Ok, well, thats just poor planning on my part not to be done with that crap earlier in the day, but I have reasons :D I wanted to be home with Mark for a little bit this morning after my dentist appt. We had to hash and rehash the shift bid coming up tomorrow, and what we would be able to handle schedule wise. It looks like it won't be much of a change. Its SO funny, these guys are like kids on the last day of school, "which teacher did you get?? I'm with so and so" "well this person is in my group, oh yeah, I want that one too" Its so cute. Calling each other all night last night, going over it all again and again. He's at work now, and thats all the buzz is about, I'm sure. Too funny.

SO back to the Fall thing, I think its because it is my birthday coming up and thats when things kind of turn. I LOVE having a September birthday. Its my very favorite time of year. Its when I completely clean out my house and yard,(lists for that being made now) Its planting season, the weather cools off (theoretically), Its my wedding anniversary, and there is the anticipation of the upcoming holidays without any of the stress yet. My house gets decorated and stays decorated until after the first. I have been loving the stuff coming out at the stores, the halloween candy displays, and seeing how excited the kids are to see that stuff. I love it.