Crepes and Spiced Peach Sauce

One of the awesome ladies in our Young Women's Presidency makes these amazing creps! They are so delicious! I finally decided to try making them and they were so easy and super delicious! Just remember you have to refrigerate the batter for at least an hour before using. 

CREPES

Steps:
1. Mix up your crepe batter and refrigerate for one hour, meanwhile;
2. Mix up your filling and refrigerate til finished with crepes.
3. Spoon filling into center of crepes and roll, place up to 6 crepes in a gallon size zip lock bag and place in freezer. Remove from freezer one hour before ready to serve.
4. Toppings can be served warm and spooned over top of crepes.

BASIC DESSERT BATTER FOR CREPES

1 1/4 cups flour                   3 eggs

2 tablespoons sugar             1 1/2 cups milk

Pinch of salt                        2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Note: 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract can be added. Refrigerate at least an hour before using.

Tip: Crepes to be filled need only to be cooked on one side. Place a piece of waxed paper between each crepe and keep covered to prevent drying.

FILLING FOR CREPES

 2 tablespoons Almond Extract (I was out of this ingredient so I just didn't add it and they were still delicious!!)

8 oz pkg cream cheese               2 cups powdered sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream 

Cream together cream cheese and sugar; add almond extract and cream. Refrigerate for an hour before using or until you are finished making your crepes.

SPICED PEACH SAUCE

~2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (I used the bottled lemon juice and it was still delicious!)

~1 jar (12 oz) apricot preserves (I bought some but the seal was broken when I opened it to make the sauce so I had to improvise. I did about half peach jam and half strawberry jam. Still delicious!)

~1/8 teaspoon nutmeg            

~1 large can sliced peaches, drain juice        

~1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon     

In a medium saucepan heat together apricot preserves, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg; cook and stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Stir in peaches; keep warm till ready to serve. Spoon warm sauce over top of your filled crepes. 



Mr. Maxers...

Happy 6th Birthday to my "Beautiful Boy", Max!!! I love you so much!!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5BBEOjUKrI

He wants to be EXACTLY like his big brother, Zack!! he wore Zack's jersey and socks all the time. 

He finally got to play baseball and was THRILLED!!!

A yummy recipe...

So I LOVE Italian food! I made this delicious Chicken Parmesan last night. It is so delicious now that I figured out how to make it right. I used to dredge it in Italian bread crumbs until I ordered it at Applebee's one time and they just fry the chicken breasts like they do their normal fried chicken. It was to die for so I decided to copy theirs and it is soooo much better! All you have to do is sprinkle some salt and pepper, dredge it in flour and fry it up. I use Lawry's Course Ground Garlic Salt With Parsley instead of plain salt and I fry it in canola oil because Brian doesn't like olive oil and canola is a bit healthier than vegetable oil. So then you place your fried chicken breasts on a cookie sheet. Spoon a little spaghetti sauce on top, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and grated Parmesan. Place cookie sheet in the oven on broil for a few minutes until the cheese is a light golden brown like pizza cheese looks. Serve over a bed of pasta and sauce, any kind works fine. I used angel hair pasta. I promise if you try it this way you will LOVE it!!!

Seriously?!

I like to at least give the illusion that I have it all together but my family just keeps revealing how very much I don't have it together at all and it is so not nice.  :(   So yesterday I was at BYC for like ever and when I got home it was time to leave the house to head to church. Matthew was wearing a cowboy boot and a dress shoe. When I asked him what the heck was up with that he told me that he and Brian had searched high and low and hadn't been able to find either of the matches to his crazy little pair of shoes. Greaaaaat! So I did a quick search and couldn't find a match either. Now, some of you have actually seen their room and you are not surprised in the least but they had their room totally clean on Friday. I bribed them with a trip to the $1 store and they whipped that room into shape in no time. This fact made me even more upset about the shoe thing. The matches are probably hidden in abyss at the bottom of the toybox, never to be seen again.So he went to church with 2 different shoes on and even had to give a talk in Primary (which, by the way, went surprisingly well considering I forgot he had to give a talk in Primary until the last speaker in Sacrament Meeting was speaking, so I had to just throw something together), where he had to walk to the front of the room where EvErYoNe got to see his unmatched shoes. Oh, and by the way, I just LOVE what obnoxious kids say to other kids. (yes I know mine are probably obnoxious too and I'm just blinded by motherly love to see it) Last week he couldn't find the other church shoe and wore his cowboy boots and some obnoxious kid made fun of him for wearing cowboy boots to church. Ummm there are parts of Emery County, Salem, Kansas and, I'm sure a zillion other places, where cowboy boots ARE their only church shoes and that's totally cool.

Anyhoo...



So, just when I'm getting over the embarrassment of yesterday's shoe dabockle, Max is ready to walk out the door to wait for the bus, when I look at his feet and realize he has on 2 different sized snowboots. One being his size, and one being 4 sizes bigger. Seriously!?! Does he not see a problem here? Really? (big ol' sigh)  So I frantically looked for a matching snow boot and Brian found the match and told him to put them on. The bus had already showed up and Zack was doing an outstanding job of stalling in hopes that Max would get out in time. Well, Max ran out of the house with one boot on and one boot off. Thank goodness Brian had shoveled snow so he wasn't running through that. So I close the door, and I'm still furious over this crazy situation and Brian tells me that Max didn't take both of the matching boots. He took one of those and the 4 sizes too big boot. So I furiously drove over to the school, in my pajamas and my hat that protects my trigeminal nerve from getting cold and causing me pain, but makes me look like the 3rd clone of the dude on the movie, Multiplicity, you know the copy of a copy one, that is always saying, "Hi, Thteve!" and tried to shave his tongue but they had taken out the blade on the razor. So, I get to the school in all of my glory and Max and Matthew just happened to be the only kids on the playground, seeing as how it's only 20 degrees out and all and they are clearly crazy. So I have Max switch boots but he couldn't get the one on his foot so he still has the 2 unmatched boots on. I told him that if anyone says anything to him about his crazy boots then he is to tell them that his mom didn't want him to wear them like that but he snuck out with them on, so people don't think I'm such a loser mom. If this illusion I'm trying to give is eVeR going to work then I'm going to have to have my kids on board. I mean really, they're totally cramping my style.

I Heart PINTEREST!!!

K, so, if you don't know what Pinterest is, I'd be so happy to introduce you to it!!! Say, you're blog surfing or you've Googled something and you just love what you see, you can Pin it on your Pinterest board. Other people can see it and they can Pin it. There is a search engine where you can search a particular subject, for instance; cute Valentine's Decorations. It will pull up Pins that other people have pinned on Pinterest and the ideas are so conveniently scattered on the screen so that you have access to gazillions of cute ideas, right there. Each idea just takes up like a couple of inches on the screen. No searching and searching and searching the internet to find something you just simply type in your topic and it brings up so many cool choices!! When you click on it, you can go to the original place it came from, like it will take you to the blog it was originally posted on, so you can check it out to see if there are more fun ideas on that blog.  You don't post stuff like on blogger. You can add a URL to post an idea but it's just different than on here. I have posted things from my blog on Pinterest by adding the URL of the particular post. It's just such a really fun thing. One fun thing you can do is add a Pin It button to your favorites bar so that when you are on a sight and you find something you like you can just click on that Pin It button and it automatically Pins it to your board. So fun and easy!! I know that this would be absolutely perfect for so many of you, especially my friend, Tara B.!!! It's really just perfect for anyone who loves blogging or finding ideas on the internet for fun, cute, yummy things to make. So, anyhoo, just give it a try! I know you won't regret it!!!

Manners...

~Last night was so much fun! We had a combined young men/young women activity. It was about etiquette, which sounded pretty dull, but Sister Radley made it a LOT of fun!!! She had a panel of 4 adults who answered the questions she compiled. The questions were really fun and some were serious but the panel of adults were all really fun, silly people that made it so much fun. I asked her for a copy of the questions she asked, so if/when she gives it to me I'll post it on here. Each person chose 10 pieces of candy to put in a little cup. Sis. Radley brought Hot Tamales, Mike-n-Ikes, Junior Mints, and Dots to choose from. After the Q&A session we ate some different kinds of foods and we all had to use the good etiquette we had just learned. We weren't allowed to use our fingers to pick up anything. We had to use our utensils. The first course was grapes. Then came Wingers french fries and boneless sticky fingers. Then came a little spaghetti with spaghetti sauce. At some point there was a roll and red punch. And then for dessert we had the choice of a red velvet cupcake or a carrot cake cupcake. If anyone got caught using bad manners or just not following the "rules", like not touching your food with your fingers, or putting your elbows on the table, they had to eat a piece of candy from their cup. The people who had the most candy in their cup at the end got to choose from several different large boxes of candy as their prize. It was one of the funnest activities we have ever had!!! It was nice to learn good manners in such a fun way. I hope the kids all listened really well because they will all need to know this at some point in their lives. Most of the things she talked about were food related but at the end of the Q&A she threw in some cell phone etiquette, which I thought was wonderful!! I think we might just have to do this with our little family just for fun some night.

~I just have to share this Max story. He attended Munchkin Manor Preschool for 2 years. One day he used good manners, I don't remember if he said thank you or please or something and I said, "Good job for using such great MANNERS Max!"  He said, "That's because I go to Munchkin MANOR Preschool."  :-)

Grooming, My Birthday, and Silly Max

My birthday was Friday the 13th this year. I hate when that happens!  It was a great day though! My awesome friends, Mysti and Tamra brought me a chocolate cake in a nice. clear glass cake pedestal with a cover. And they brought me basket with movies, a throw, candy, popcorn, and my survival juice...Cherry Coke!!! And they stayed and ate some cake with me and visited. I just love them! I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a lot of time to spend with them so it was especially nice to hang with them!  Brian had started making me a fabulous Coconut Cream Cake, that's to die for, when they came. So, I had 2 of my favorite cakes! Brian let me pick out some clothes at Maurices. I love them and it makes me feel good knowing I have some cute things to wear. I have such a desire to have cute clothes but no funds!  :) So I got clothes for Christmas AND my birthday. I actually have 3 pairs of jeans I can wear without having my belly hang over the waist, as if I were a man because they are so low rise and they are a size smaller than I really need. My new ones aren't low rise which if fabulous! Anyway, it really was a wonderful day and I felt very spoiled! My Mom has been in Florida visiting my brother, Nathan and his cute little family, so she said she'll come here when she is back in town and I get to celebrate again!  :) Usually I don't make a big deal about my birthday so this year has been especially fun! I've been kinda freaked about the fact that this is my last year of my 30's. Yeah, I'm 39! WoW!!! Where HAS the time gone?!?!? I'm going to try to make year 39 a great one!

~Yesterday, Max played at his friend, Gabe's, house. They invited him to stay for dinner. After I picked him up I asked him what they ate. He said it was lasagna. I asked him if he liked it. To which he responded, "It was good. She doesn't make it like you make it, with all the white stuff in it. It only had a little bit of the white stuff in it so it didn't make me want to puke." I am so grateful for my Max! He keeps us laughing, even when we are sad! I just love him so much!

~So, I can't remember if I ever told more about our dog situation. I was so embarrassed that I didn't dare talk about it. We had a dog named Tex. He was such a cute dog. And we all loved him. We only had him for a few days, however, because we were all allergic to him. The day we decided we needed to let him go, Zack had hives all over him. So, then we ended up with Lucy. Lucy we a cute little puppy. Max especially loved her. His brothers were in school and he wanted a little companion. Unfortunately, she liked to bite everyone. We had to put her on a cable leash thing out front where she could freely run up and down the full yard but she couldn't bite people when they came to visit. She bit almost all of us. We tried every googleable solution we could possibly find to try and nothing worked. One day she bit me twice and drew blood on my leg. That was the final straw. I didn't want her to attack my kids so we had to let her go also. So we finally ended up with Yager. He is a Miniature Schnauzer. He was 2 1/2 years old. His family was too busy to spend the time with him that he needed so we found him on KSL.com and met his owner and got the cute little guy. He is so much fun and we all love him. Since he was older I could ask important questions like, does he bite, chew things up, bark constantly, is he potty trained. He was been a perfect fit for our family. We didn't have him groomed the last few months because the poor guy shivered and shook all last winter. I couldn't take it anymore though and tried my hand at dog grooming last night. He looks so much cuter when he looks like a Mini Schnauzer instead of like Benji! If you don't look closely, he looks really good.  ;)

A recipe, etc.

~Last year all of our YW classes met together for all activities. This year our Beehive class is going to do an activity each month on our own so that the girls can do some of the things the other girls have already done. A lot of the older girls have earned their Medalians already or are really close to finishing so the girls in Beehives need some activities that are focused on the value project. So last night at YW we Beehives planned our year of activities and had brownies. The Mia Maids and Laurels made cake pops. If you have never made cake pops before, they, are, delicious!!! I had the one that was made with red velvet cake. You bake a cake and crumble up the cake after it cools. Then you add either cool whip or a cup of canned or homemade frosting to the crumbles. Mix well and then form into balls. Put a sucker stick in the top of the ball. Place them on a cookie sheet and put the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to help them firm up. Then you take them out and dip them in either melted white almond bark or brown almond bark. I'm sure melted chocolate chips would also work. I especially love milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips melted together and I'm sure that would be DIVINE! The one I ate had the cool whip mixed with the crumbles. I think they just used a cup of cool whip but they may have used a bit more. Then they dipped them in the white almond bark. They were so creamy and delicious! It would be so cute to put some red food coloring in some of the almond bark and drizzle over the white dipped balls for Valentine's Day. You could do them for any occasion! I'm so excited to try making them and have my kids help out. They LOVE having food making projects! Give them a try. They are delicious, easy, and oh, so pretty! I wish I'd have thought to take a picture.  :)
~So I'm trying to figure out how my children do so well in school, they are so smart, they amaze me all the time, yet...they can't figure out how to throw things IN the garbage can, or how to put their dirty clothes in the laundry room.
~Our wonderful bishop, Bishop Manley passed away Tuesday morning. He has been battling Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma and Leukemia. I didn't get to know him as well as others I'm sure, but it was a wonderful thing to get to see him interacting with the youth of our ward. He LOVED them so very much and tried so hard to be a part of their lives. Their favorite time spent with him was when they did an over night Book of Mormon Read-a-thon at our church house. The best part was having him answer questions they had as they read. I wasn't in the program yet but they still talk about it all of the time. He has been a wonderful influence in their lives and such a wonderful example of faith, strength, enduring to the end, enduring it well, trusting the Lord. He has had the very best attitude I have ever seen in someone in this position. What an inspiration to us all! I loved the fact that he ADORES his wife so much! They are so cute together! I hope Brian and I can have that kind of love for each other when we've been married that long. I'm so sad to see such an amazing man leave this life, but I am so happy to know that he's not going through a physical HELL any longer. That he is free of pain and suffering. That he is being welcomed by so many loved ones on the other side. I know with all of my heart that Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ are truly "well pleased" with this out standing man! I just pray that his sweet wife and children and grand children can find comfort as they try to live without him until they all can meet him again.    :(   If any of you know him or are interested in seeing his obituary click on this.

Not your average chore chart!

So, after my little venting post earlier today, I decided I needed to make something. When I make something, it makes me feel happy. A few years ago when we lived in Pleasant Grove, I ordered 2 magnety board things for a Relief Society Super Saturday project. I made the one that was the Family Home Evening one but I never did anything with the other one. I've wanted a chore chart for my kids for some time now but I am really not a fan of most of the chore charts where they do the same chore everyday. I've tried other ways but I'm just so inconsistent. My friend, Mysti, has a dry erase board and she just puts everyone's name on it and writes what chores they need to do that day. A much better idea if you ask me! So I made over my little board. I'll just write the chores with a dry erase marker each day. I just used letter sticker that I ordered from QVC several years ago instead of my Cricket because I need a new mat thing, some vinyl, and possibly a new blade.  Other than that it's totally great! ;)  Anyhoo, it was already painted black. I Mod Podged the paper on and then just glued chip board letters (also from QVC). I decided it would be nice to have some positive messages on it to encourage them to do their work (once again, they are letter stickers from QVC). If you've never Mod Podged before, try it! It's so great you'll want to start Mod Podging EVERYTHING!  It's kind of pricey but it lasts and lasts! I just got it at Walmart. I have used it and used it and I've let my friends use it and there is still like half a bottle. Just get a foam brush or a paint brush and brush it on fairly thick. If you do it too thick it will dry strangely but if you do it too thin the paper won't stick because it just dries so fast. Really watch for running or globs. Those dry so ugly so be sure to clean those up. Basically, I just painted on the Mod Podge, then put the paper on and made sure I pressed it down all over and tried to make sure there were no bubbles. Then I just put another layer of Mod Podge over the top of the paper, cleaned up the runny spots and globs, then I put a thin layer of Mod Podge on all of the exposed wood because I have the glossy kind and it looks best if you put a layer of it all over the wood so it all looks the same. It was SOOOO easy! Anyway, I'm so excited to start writing chores down for my kids tomorrow!!! 

Just a little venting... :)

~Well, Christmas is finally over at our house. Brian got tired of waiting for me to have time to take it all down so he decided to do it himself on Friday. We still have our Christmas lights on the house and fence but other than that it's finally all put away. I have mixed feelings about it actually. We got a real tree from Sam's Club this year. It.was.gorgeous! And our decorations looked so pretty on it. After it was decoration free it STILL looked gorgeous! The needles weren't even dried out or anything. Usually they are brittle by now. We had such a lovely Christmas this year! Kind of sad it's over! When Max was 3 years old, we were driving down the road and he asked, "Mom, can we go to Christmas?" I thought it was so cute that he loved Christmas so much!

~Brian's lack of employment is totally freaking me out now! I was cool with it at first because he had the severence package and will receive pay checks through February 1st. Well, in the beginning I was super busy and we had a little time to look for work so I wasn't too upset. Now that he only gets one more paycheck, I'm having a heart attack! One of my favorite parts of my job is that I get to see people I know, all the time. There are so many members of our church where we live that there have to be 11 different sessions in 5 different buildings. Each session called a ward and each ward has a number, so that we can keep track easier. Well, my parents ward was the 8th ward and it has been really fun to see some of the people I love who are in that ward. And the people from our current ward that we just LoVe! I've been able to see some of my friends from high school also. And a friend I made while attending the college here when Matthew was 3 months old and Zack was 3 years old. Her name is Kelly. She is an AMAZING woman! I just love her! I was SOOO thrilled to see her and it made me so happy that she was as happy to see me as I was to see her! I think of her as a "kindred spirit"! I've met a few "kindred spirits" over the years and they continue to bless my life today! The only problem with working at Walmart, and seeing so many people that I know, is that most of them are so awesome and concerned about us that they ask if Brian has found a job yet. He's applied in outher states and for jobs that aren't Accounting related. He just wants ANYTHING! I appreciate the concern and the love they have for us but hearing that all of the time is starting to really weigh me down. I'm already starting to get depressed about it and then to have constant reminders is just really hard. I need to pray harder that we'll be able to have joy in our trial because that has worked for us in the past and I really need that strength if I'm going to make it through this! I know it could be worse. People are mourning loved ones, watching their loved ones suffer through cancer, chemo, and other horrid diseases. Our trial pales in comparison! I just really worry about having to move our kids from school, the town we live in, their friends, our ward. We need to be able to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for our our 4 children. It's just so scary and overwhelming for me that I just can't take it! Not to mention how very much I hate the whole process of moving!!! The packing. The cleaning. the loading. The unloading. The unpacking. The sorting. The collecting boxes. The switching utilities. All of the deposits. The paperwork involved in registering 3 kids at their new school. I know, I'm so lazy, right! But U~G~H!!!!!

~I'll try to be more positive next post! :)  Just needed to vent a little...

WOW! Long time, no post, huh!?!

 I can't believe how long it has been since I last posted on here! Our life has been pretty hectic, to say the least. I worked quite a bit during December. Probably not nearly as much as most people I know, but a lot for me anyway. I have been so happy that Brian has been able to take care of our little Gracie but it makes me so sad to be away from her. Wednesday I helped my friend out with her preschool for 4 hours and then I did my Hallmark job for 2 hours. Brian said that at one point Gracie went to him and said that she was sad because I was gone. I miss just snuggling in the rocking chair in our p.j.'s in the morning while she watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This time is slipping away so quickly and I just hate missing any of it. I've missed being home some days when my boys get off of the bus. Last week I worked 19 hours and this week I'll only work 4 1/2 hours. I guess the hours really calm down during January. I'm glad! It is still a fun little job that I really like and the money really helped us out. I am just so looking forward to a bit of a break and to be able to spend more time at home!

~We had a great Christmas! At my family Christmas party, we were able to visit with  Nathan's cute little family by using Skype. It was so much fun to see them! We all miss them a lot! It was especially fun to see his new little baby boy, Thomas, who was born in October!

~We stayed home for Christmas. Traveling with our kids on Christmas is just not easy, not fun, and really not worth it! We had a nice quiet day. Our friend's, Mysti and Randy, invited us over to their house for dinner. We decided we would all still make our Christmas dinner to share and we would be able to spend time together to help make our day feel less lonely. Mysti made Roast and potatoes and carrots, and a veggie, and dessert. Brian made ham, yummy potatoes (otherwise known as funeral potatoes), and rolls. It was a delicious meal and everything just worked out great! AND, bonus, I got to hold  Mysti's baby boy, Landon, who was born on ll/11/11 at 11:01! I just had to throw in his birth date cuz it's so cool! He is such a cute little guy!

~My Max made our Christmas extra special! He's 5 now, and turns 6 at the end of January. A lot of you will remember the many stories of my Max's craziness since he is definitely my craziest child, so you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was when my "crazy" little boy was the one who kept our focus on our Savior, Jesus Christ. At church, they learned the song  "Samuel Tells of the Birth of Jesus" for the Ward Christmas Program during Sacrament Meeting on Christmas Sunday. For weeks we heard this song practiced over, and over, and over again. Even when he played the Wii! That's HUGE! Even on Christmas Eve when most kids are singing about Santa Claus and his reindeer, our Max was singing about Jesus.    Here are the words...

Said Samuel, "Within 5 years, a night will be as day, and Baby Jesus will be born in a land far, far away." Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing.  How blessed that our Lord was born. Let earth receive her King!
Across the sea, in Bethlehem, Lord Jesus came to earth, as Samuel had prophesied. The angels sang His birth. Hosanna! Hosanna! Oh let us gladly sing. How blessed that our Lord was born. Let earth receive her King!

What a wonderful song to hear over and over again! What a blessing it is to have Primary for our little children. To have wonderful teachers and choristers and Presidency members help us teach our children the principals of the Gospel. Our entire family was blessed to have the words of this song ingrained in our heads. We needed that! And it NEVER got old!

~Some of you will remember the posts I made last year about our Christmas Jar. (each of those 2 words goes to different posts about the Christmas Jar)  Well, on Christmas Eve, Max found a couple of scriptures he wanted to read in addition to the one we would take out of the jar that night. I just thought that was wonderful! He just really surprised me with his focus on our Savior. I can't even express how happy that made me feel!

~I'm trying so hard to potty train Gracie. If we weren't already, for sure, done having more children, THIS would have totally made me decide to stop! I HATE potty training. I seriously think I have A,D.H.D or something. It is so hard for me to just take a whole day and focus my efforts on potty training. She tries so hard to go. She really does. She sits on the toilet and tries and tries but she just can't let it out. I know that if she would just be able to do it once she'd totally be fine but she just can't. Any suggestions would be really great!  Heaven help me! If only there was potty training camp or potty training school that I could send her to....

~I shared this on facebook the other day. I absolutely LOVE her voice! I have also always really liked him and had no idea he could sing too. It's kind of fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcrd5vpUGyk&feature=related

~Oh and one more thing. We played the game called LOGO at my sister's on New Year's Eve. It was so much fun!!! I hope everyone has a wonderful 2012!!

Just Some Silliness...and a Trumpet

~Last night we attended Zack's first band concert. He plays the trumpet. He's in the sixth grade so this is his first year to play an instrument in a band. We waited in the auditorium for 45 minutes waiting for the concert to begin. That's a long time for an 8 year old, a 5 year old, a 2 year old, 2 grown people to wait for...anything!  At one point Max's gum fell out of his mouth went right between the back of the chair of the woman in front of him and the woman's back. I about DIED!!! I had to tell her! What if it was sticking to her pretty sweater?! Thankfully she was really nice about it AND it didn't stick to her but fell to the floor. Max did not get another piece of gum!!! Well, the band finally started their concert. They played 4 songs. They did a great job...except one poor student that couldn't hit a single note right on their clarinet and always played an extra note when everyone else had stopped. The first 3 songs went so well! Unfortunately they did not stop while they were ahead and played ANOTHER song! It was very....entertaining. But bless their hearts they really tried, and Zack did a wonderful job of starting when he should, ending when he should, watching the band director's cues. The best part of the whole night, though, was that all 4 songs took about 8 minutes from start to finish. It was awesome!!! After the concert we decided to surprise the kids with some Little Caesar's Pizza. I can't remember the last time we did that. Of course, we had to watch the Biggest Loser season finale...after eating pizza! There is something really wrong with that!

Gracie says that Santa says Har! Har! Har!  Cracks us up! When the boys heard that, they tried to correct her but she just still always says that Santa says Har! Har! Har! She also likes to drop the first letter off of words. Makes understanding her a bit difficult sometimes but it's awfully cute! Oothbrush-toothbrush, andy-candy, ood-food, Anta-Santa. Sometimes she just uses the wrong letter at the beginning of a word. For instance, she calls Zack's friend Tanner-Nanner, and mink-drink, nammies-jammies, Yack-Zack, Yacky-Zacky. She also says Grandpa for GrandMa and for Grandpa. That gets confusing! We love her 2 year-old speak! She is so much fun! She's in the 95th %-tile for height though, so people often expect her to act much differently. She won't be 3 until May but people already think she should be potty trained. She probably should but I can't get her to actually GO when she's on the potty. I think if she can finally figure out what she's supposed to do when I put her on there, she might actually just keep doing it and life will be good. She tries. Any suggestions???

A few months ago we discovered that we LOVE the show, The Big Bang Theory. We watch the reruns at 10:00 most nights. Last night's episode was SO hilarious!!! I just have to share cause laughing is so much fun!!! If you don't know the premise of the show, they are all Geniuses (except Wolowitz of course, because he only has a Master's Degree HEHE). They are all a bit backwards but Sheldon is just totally socially inept it's ridiculous. He's always very serious and analyzes EVERYTHING. And he's a major germaphobe. Anyhoo, I hope you laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqwPp--hy-c

Getting ready for Christmas...

Our kids wrote their letters to Santa last night. Max's list (he's 5):  A skateboard ramp, a green bike, a trampoline, $2,000,000, a Green (Grim) Reaper costume with a mask, a blue bike, or all of the Wii games ever made. At least he's keeping it simple and he's well grounded....UGH!!!

We took some snapshots for our Christmas card.  Warning:
Scary woman in following pictures...I look very freaky and fat but I'm sharing them with you anyway...

Our cute little children...

Me and Brian...I think this will be my "before" shot and hopefully by next December I'll have a nice "after" shot to put on here.   :(   I hate  being fat!!!

Zacky T

Matty Watty

Maxer Waxers

Miss Gracie Sue

We had a lot of pictures that looked like this...

I survived Black Thursday/Friday at Walmart...

Well, Brian survived his first "Black Thursday/Friday experience. We went to Walmart in Payson. It was CRAZY! I've never seen anything like it and I've been going to these for years now. One chick's hand was bleeding from fighting someone over something. Not a fan of bumper carts! Had to ditch the cart to try to get through and I still couldn't get through. I thought I was going to have to punch a couple looney cart chicks when I still had the cart. My sister, KayTee would have totally mopped the floor with them! We were so excited though because we were able to get one of the $99 4-wheelers for Max. He will be over the moon excited! We were also able to get Matthew a pogo stick for $12 and 3 Barbies that were $5 each for Gracie and we were also able to find a Harry Potter Lego Wii game for $15 that my mom wanted us to pick up for her. There were lots of other things we wanted to get but they will have to wait until after Brian's payday.  :)  The lines seemed to be moving pretty well to check out so that was nice! I would much rather stay up later than get up at 4 a.m.! Unfortunately, so would everyone else! We were able to save about $150.00 and as cheap as we are and as much as we love a good bargain, it was totally worth it!. Fun times! Fun times! 

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! The food was delicious, the company was wonderful, making gingerbread houses was so much fun, and the Black Thursday/Friday sale was very productive.  We missed Rob, Jenise, Dana, Richard, Nathan, Heidi and everyone's adorable little children and grandchildren!!! I love Thanksgiving! It is such a wonderful time to reflect on all of the wonderful blessings we have! I hope everyone I know had a wonderful day as well! Later today my mom and sisters and I will go to the craft sale in Spanish Fork. Oh, I just love this time of year!!!

Today I am thankful for Brian, Zackary, Matthew, Max, and Gracie, my family and wonderful friends, my doctor, medicine that makes my trigeminal neuralgia mostly under control, my church, the gospel of Jesus Christ, our prophet, President Monson, Joseph Smith, missionaries, the young women in our ward, answers to prayers, my little no stress job that helps us make ends meet better and that doesn't interfere with my little family (most of the time. It wouldn't ever but since Brian's home I've been leaving when he can watch the kids and poor Gracie has had it with that, so I'll have to start going at night again, which is totally fine), a house to live in, food to eat, cars to drive, clothes to wear, freedom, living in a free country is a beautiful thing, our military and their families who sacrifice so much and do so much for us so we can all be safe. Our old bishop is losing his fight with cancer. He is a very wonderful man and we all just love him and his wife so much! We are heart broken for them and their family. They have wonderful attitudes! They are wonderful examples to us of faith and strength!

I am so thankful for Thanksgiving so we can all take time to think of all of the blessings we have. Sure, life isn't perfect and we have our share of problems and challenges and stresses and worries but we are so blessed in so many ways! What a wonderful, positive holiday this is! I just love it that most of the people in our country are united in gratitude on this day special day. It's just neat!

Time Out For Women

So Friday my mom, 2 of my sisters, Stephanie and Katie, and I drove to St. George for Time Out For Women. None of us had ever been to it before but we were all anxious for the experience. We weren't quite sure what to expect but we were sure it would be fun. It was wonderful! The presenters for Friday night were Jason Wright, Jenny Oaks Baker, and Heidi Swinton.  Jason Wright wrote Christmas Jars. Jenny Oaks Baker is a professional violinist. She is absolutely incredible! So talented! I never knew a violin could sound like that. I never knew you could do things like that with a violin. Incredible! I hope she does a concert some day so I can hear her again. Heidi Swinton wrote President Monson's Biography. She told us some very neat stories. What a neat lady. How exciting to have the
Prophet call and request that she write his biography!

Saturday Hilary Weeks was the musical presenter. Mariama Kallon was the first presenter. She was raised in Sierra Leone. She saw her parents murdered by rebels. She and all the other women and girls in her town were raped. Then they lined them all up and made them choose whether they wanted to have their arms cut off with machetes or their legs cut off. Her sister was in the front of the line and had he arms cut off and bled to death. Mariama was 10th in line. She prayed to Heavenly Father and said I know that you can help us...PLEASE help us!!! Right then the military guys rolled into town and the rebels left. They got there just after the 8th woman had been tortured. So Mariama was spared. She was given a humanitarian kit from our church. At some point she was taught the gospel and was baptized and was called to the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. She has THE.MOST.AMAZING.FAITH! I can't get over her strength and forgiving heart. A truly, TRULY amazing woman!!
Then Hilary Weeks sang. She is so hilarious! She was crackin' us all up! She would talk for a while and then sing a song or two. Love her! She's awesome!!!
After a break Deanne Flynn spoke. She wrote The Time-Starved Family: Helping Overloaded Families, Focus on What Matters Most and The Mother's Mite: Why Even Our Smallest Efforts Matter. She has such a positive attitude. She's funny, down to earth, and inspiring!
Then Brad Wilcox spoke. He has written some books also. I'll Never Do It Again and The Continuous Atonement. He recently served as Mission President of the Santiago East Mission and he currently serves as a member of the Sunday School general board. He was a great speaker also.
After lunch break Hilary Weeks spoke and sang (is that the right word? Is it a word? I'm tired!)another song or two.
Then Wendy Ulrich spoke. She is a therapist. She wrote some book also. Forgiving Ourselves. Weakness Is Not Sin. The Why of Work: How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win. She gave such an uplifting talk. She was funny and really had some great advice for us.
Then after a final break Hilary Weeks sung Is that any better? Still not so sure) another song.
Emily Freeman was that last presenter. She Wrote a couple of books, too. Love Life and See Good Days.  21 Days Closer to Christ. She did a fantastic job! I was taking some notes from all the other talks but when she spoke I was so mesmerized by her talk that I didn't remember to take notes. She is one talented and inspiring speaker!!! We stayed the night there again and then drove home Sunday. We had a great time and it was so much fun to talk and laugh and cry and eat yummy food. We are already talking about what our plan for next year is going to be. 
Me, Mom, Stephanie Katie.

Randomness and some venting :)

~So for some reason this morning I remembered something that has made me laugh ever since I remembered it. My older sister Dana is about 2 1/2 years older than I am. Stan used to drive us to school on his way to the college he taught at there in Dodge City, Kansas. He would drop Dana off at the high school and then take me to the junior high. On one particular morning Dana was just having a bad day. Nothing was going right as she was getting ready for school. So she was in a very bad mood!!! (we've all been there. especially when we were teenagers in high school LOL)  The last straw for her was that her jeans were still pretty wet in the dryer. Oooo that just burned her up!!  When we got to the high school she got out of the car and stomped off to school. It happened to be really cold that day. So there she was, all fired up, walking to the school, with steam rolling off of her pants. Stan and I laughed so hard!  It was hilarious! I keep picturing it and it just makes me giggle. I can't help myself!

~The college has been firing people left and right. They repeatedly promised when they merged with our college that NO ONE would lose their jobs. Bunch of liars! When they fired Brian they were going to keep him there until January but changed their minds and told him to go October 31st. And they offered him severance of pay and benefits. I "get" why they would want to save money by giving the responsibilities from this college to the people that already have those responsibilities at their college.  I mean, it's logical. I can wrap my mind around it and understand and realize it's just good business. What I just don't "get", what just infuriates me is that they fired 18 people last Friday. Basically they aren't getting rid of the positions. They even added 2 positions to what they need filled. So 20 positions need to be filled. But they told them that most of the positions will have lower pay. Some even have $15,000 less pay. They all have to reapply and re- interview for the positions they had before. Some of the positions can only be filled by people with Master's Degrees. The part that makes me the maddest is that they did this to Kathy. EVERYONE loves Kathy! She is the creator of the program she runs. She has been the director of it from the moment of it's creation. She does amazing things. She is a wonderful person and has overcome a lot of trials in her life with a smile on her face and a positive attitude. She is an example and an inspiration to everyone who knows her!!! They fired her and demoted her to supervisor instead of director. They are just dirty! You know, just down right dirty! How could anyone do that to KATHY!!! Oh I'm just so MAD!!! I don't know what her decision is going to be with it all but I know she is a strong, wonderful person and she will survive this and continue being a wonderful person but it just breaks my heart to think of people being so rotten to her!!!

~I love music! I have chosen some songs to play on my  blog and I just love to turn it on random play and play it while I clean and do dishes. A few weeks ago I was listening to my blog music and I realized that one of the songs had the "f" word in it. I about died!  Sorry if you happened to hear that! I didn't mean it! Really!

~I am such a bawl baby! I have been stocking those recordable story books that Hallmark makes. I think they are very cute and a wonderful idea. The other day I saw the Hallmark commercial for these books. It had a man in the military sitting on his bed and he opens up the book and hears his voice of his sweet little child reading the book. Of course I thought of my brother in law who just got home from his 3rd or 4th tour of duty in Iraq. I pictured his cute little granddaughter sending one to him and him opening it and hearing her cute little voice. Yeah, I cried! I got all teary just describing it just now. Hallmark commercials always make me cry...

~I know everyone thinks it's terrible that the stores put Christmas stuff out so early but it is really getting me excited for Christmas this year. I love walking into Walmart

~I am starting to like our house more and more all the time. It's amazing to me what a difference having beds for my kids, a couch that doesn't show dirt, a table and chairs that aren't broken, shelves for organizing stuff, shelves for displaying my cute stuff and for organizing movies and books, makes in my life. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. I am surprisingly happy even though Brian is out of work. I love my kids so much! They are such a precious gift! I am grateful for my husband! I love him and I am actually glad he's home more now! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. For forgiveness and repentance. For families being able to be together forever. For spiritual music. For the opportunity I have to go tomorrow with 2 of my sisters and my mom to Time Out For Women in St. George. I haven't ever been so I'm anxious to so what it's like. I am thankful to have a roof over our heads. I am thankful to have a fun little job to supplement our income. I am just so happy to be alive and to feel no pain and to know all of the wonderful people I know. For my friends! For a wonderful ward! I my calling in young women. These girls are just amazing!!! So grateful for a living prophet, President Monson. For missionary work. Brian and I have benefited so much from the wonderful missionaries who taught our parents the gospel. Life certainly isn't perfect. Far from it actually. But I am happy that I still feel happy! Prayer, a loving Heavenly Father, a selfless, Savior Jesus Christ, the comfort and companionship of the Holy Ghost are the greatest blessings in this life!

~

Job security everywhere I turn...

Well, today I spent nearly 5 hours at Walmart straightening cards, wrapping paper, gift bags, party supplies. I also put the 4 boxes of shipment away for Hallmark.When I left it looked GOOD! I had to go back to buy something tonight and the whole thing looked like a bomb went off. I know it's no different than cleaning at home and having the kids go behind me messing everything I accomplished. Still, annoying!!! It's been nice to have Brian home. He watches our little Gracie while I'm at work. Last week I was gone a lot. I just wouldn't have been able to work last week if he hadn't been here to take care of my sweet little girl! She is so much fun! I just love her so much! 

Here we go again...

Brian's last day at his job was Halloween. He's been applying places and had an interview, but hasn't found another job yet. When he lost his job before Gracie was born, he didn't have any warning or money and it freaked us out so much. We were truly blessed during that time and we were able to still have the things we needed. I just don't know if I have the strength and patience level and faith to endure this again. I know I don't have a choice because it is what it is and there isn't anything we can do to change it but it's just hard and life is just hard, isn't it. And yes, I know it could be worse. Much, much worse. But it's still hard...for me anyway. Maybe it wouldn't be for other people, I don't know. Anyhoo. I haven't posted for a long time so I just thought I'd just share what's been going on with us. I'm working a lot at Walmart/Hallmark. We've been tearing down the Halloween stuff and putting up Christmas stuff. It's been a lot of fun. We needed the money. And Brian's been home so he can watch Gracie. It's been nice to not have so much time to think about everything. Next week we'll be back to fewer hours but for now I'll just enjoy it while it lasts.

Just call the WAAAAmbulance...

We've got a whiner here!

In November it will have been a year since I was finally diagnosed with Trigeminal Neuralgia. It took quite a few months to get my medicine right but now that it is right I am virtually pain free. I only have occasional pain. I can bend over to pick Gracie up or stuff off the floor just fine now. That alone is such an amazing difference and has made life a lot easier I must say! I just really really hate being on medication. I really do! I'm so weird. Loopy. Forgetful. Tired. I have to take Pepcid because my medications make me have horrible heart burn. I just hate having to deal with it. Yesterday at church I was embarrassingly weird. It was SOOO hot in the building and I had only eaten cereal at like 8:00 and by the time Sunday School rolled around I was really shaky and feeling really weird. So when it was my turn to read I sounded like a kindergartner trying to read. It was very choppy and strange. Then after Sunday School the ladies had to walk past me to go to Relief Society and these ladies that I am friends with wouldn't even make eye contact with me. I think they didn't know how to act. I actually take unrighteous pride in the way I read the scriptures and the comfort I have developed when reading scriptures. Not many months ago I was really upset to read in front of people but I finally felt comfortable doing it and then I humiliated myself in front of the whole ward by reading them so strangely yesterday. At Matthew's baptism I embarrassed myself by thinking that Stan was supposed to do the talk on the Holy Ghost instead of baptism and I said it loudly in front of everyone there. So embarrassed!!! There was something else like that that happened that weekend but I can't remember what it was. I'm not on pain medications since they don't affect the nerve. I'm on Lyrica and Amitriptyline. They are both used for lots of different ailments but they work to treat the nerve. It's so hard! My choices are: Be in excruciating, horrendous, searing pain all the time, OR be pain free due to medication that makes me really weird all the time. Well, you know, weirder than normal!  :)  I'm trying to be positive about Brian's job ending in January but I'm totally freaking out. Stress is a trigger for pain from the TN. I just hope and pray that he'll find some work before the job ends. I am really grateful that he has a little time before the job ends! HUGE BLESSING! I just worry so much because I know that the job market really sucks right now! I am trying to have faith that it will all be ok. We had a really fun weekend which was great! We went to our neighbor's baptism, we went to our friend's little girl's super fun birthday party and BBQ. And we went to the ward soup and bread fall social. It was great too!  Yummy soups and fabulous homemade bread and rolls, and banana splits for dessert. That is one of our family's favorite activity for the whole year! Sunday was so relaxed and calm that I just had too much time to think about things after church. NOT a good thing! Today I just need to get super busy again so I don't have time to think. I worked twice this weekend doing my little Hallmark job. I LOVE IT! I went Friday and Saturday nights at 8:30pm and got home at I don't remember what time on Friday but midnight on Saturday. It's entertaining to see all the people at Walmart that time of night! I'm going to end this post with a picture because there needs to be something positive on here! Sorry I'm such a downer today. Next time I'll be more positive I promise. Sometimes I just need to wallow in self pity and get it out of my system.

One day I walked into the living room and saw these 2 like this. Just snugglin' in the recliner. I just had to capture this sweet moment!

A very....interesting baptism...etc.

Our sweet little Matthew was baptized Saturday. He has looked forward to being baptized ever since he saw Zack get baptized 3 years ago and has talked about it often. As his baptism date has drawn near he has talked about it even more. He had started talking about how excited he was to be baptized but how scared he was to actually be dunked under water. We've encouraged him and I told him that I was TERRIFIED to have my head under water when I was baptized, too. I told him that our Branch President even talked with me and told me that everything was going to be ok. My wonderful Grandma Irvine sent me a lovely letter of encouragement also. I just remember praying really hard that I wouldn't drown and being so thrilled that He actually answered my prayers and kept me from drowning. HAHA   I thought that might help him but it didn't. He got more and more nervous as the week progressed. Poor kid!

 Well, the big day came. There was a little girl from another ward named Jessica who also was being baptized. When the talks finished the Bishop who was conducting said that they would like to have Matthew baptized first and then Jessica. Well, Matthew freaked! He did NOT want to go first! I was rather embarrassed and explained that Matthew was very nervous about having his head dunked under the water and wondered if she could go first. That's when SHE freaked out TOO! Her mom said she was scared too. It was seriously the craziest thing we all had ever seen! They both were weeping and wailing and yes there was some gnashing of teeth! They both were baptized...eventually. LOL! Some of us joked that we wished we could take video of it so we could show it at Matthew's wedding reception. LOL! It was definitely crazy! Now he says that being baptized was so awesome that he wishes he could do it again and that he can't wait until he's 12 and can go to the temple and do baptisms.

Interestingly enough, though, the spirit was very strong. Especially when Brian confirmed him. I'm thankful that Zack & Matthew have been blessed with that companionship. I am grateful that Brian holds and honors his Priesthood. What a beautiful thing! We felt the spirit throughout the rest of the day. It was like we just felt we needed to be reverent. I had to run to the store for my prescription and I hated going because it felt like I was breaking the Sabbath or something.

The luncheon afterwards was nice. Yummy food and spending time with family. I love baptism days! They are just joyful! I am so grateful for the gospel. I am so grateful for the joy that fills our lives as we strive to live righteously. We are FAR FROM perfect but Heavenly Father blesses us for our efforts and I am truly grateful for Him and the blessings He gives us.

~Brian was told at the very end of last month that his job will be terminated in January. They just simply have enough people in Logan at USU that do the work that Brian does here that they are going to give them the work from USU-CEU and terminate that position here. We are so worried and Brian is hoping that he'll be able to find something. It was nice to have Matthew's baptism to bring some joy to our lives since we've been pretty stressed out. If you hear of any Accounting jobs in your area please feel free to let me know. :) tarafree26@hotmail.com

~So my friend Nikki who was doing my hair in exchange of me babysitting her 2 awesome kids, moved away a couple months ago. She did hair but she also worked part time for Hallmark at Walmart and Smiths here. My friend Tamra worked with her. Well once Nikki moved they put Tamra in charge and they needed to hire someone else to work with her and they hired me! It's very part time and very flexible, which is what I need! So I started yesterday. It was SO much fun! I am really excited about the whole thing! There were about 9 of us yesterday working on a whole redo of the cards and displays and such. It was really fun working with those ladies and learning lots of new things. And those of you who know of my love for stationary, cards, and wrapping paper, and organizing, sorting, and filing, know that this is right up my alley!!! I'm just thrilled with the opportunity!

~So Brian had church meetings all morning Sunday. He usually helps me tons on Sundays so I was worried about making it to church on time when we are always late to church when I HAVE his help so I figured I didn't stand a chance on my own. I was really trying to stay on top of things. When we got to church I scanned the congregation for Brian and couldn't see him anywhere. So I looked at the congregation and I realized that none of these people looked remotely familiar. So I looked at the Bishopric and THEY were different too! So I checked my watch and it was 10:00. We were an hour EARLY!! Yes, I'm crazy!   :~/

Matthew rockin' his 70's jumpsuit. He thought that big collar was totally groovy! :)

My hair looks like crap but I was there on time. :)



Matty with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa gave the best talk on Baptism. I cried like a baby when he talked about how 8 years ago we were all gathered together for Matthew's (and Jessica's family for her) baby blessing. The time is just slipping away...  :(



Matty with Steph, J.J., Josh, & Emily. He's looks kinda like a little ragamuffin. He started undressing and I told him he had to take pictures before he could change his clothes. So his shirt is cockeyed, and his pants are twisted. But his cute little Jack-o-lantern smile makes the rest not matter!!!  Grandma and Grandpa game him a suit and he was THRILLED to get to wear it for the first time on Sunday. He looked very handsome!!!

Matty with his cousins Jordan, Jeremy, and Marne. Jordan just came home from his mission a couple of months ago. We just love them!

Matty with Aunt KayTee. Uncle Chris had to work so he wasn't able to make it. We're so glad KayTee came!!!

Picture frame make over

I bought this picture frame at D.I. a few weeks ago for $2. I was so excited to transform it into SOMETHING I just wasn't sure what. Well, I finally made it over this weekend. I think it turned out cute! At least Gracie's flowers are more organized.

BEFORE...

AFTER...

I think I can squish another row in but you get the gist of it.

Don't Mock the Fanny Pack!!!

So, we took our little family to Disneyland. When we told our kids we were going they flipped out! Our Zack (he's 11) actually cried, he was so excited! We drove to St. George, Utah last Saturday and stayed in a hotel. Then drove the rest of the way Sunday. The kids were so anxious! Zack was seriously giddy as we rode in the bus over to Disneyland. We had so much fun!  Zack and Max rode everything at least once. Matthew rode some stuff, then decided he doesn't like the feeling he gets in his tummy when the ride has ups and downs. After that we couldn't get him to try anything unless it was so tame that even Gracie could ride it. I am so proud of him though because he actually ended up trying most everything the last day or 2 that we were there. I know he was scared but at least he tried it! His most favorite ride was Star Tours. They have changed that ride and I like it so much better than I used to. Mainly because it didn't make me sick like it used to. Zack's favorites were Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Max's favorites were The Tower of Terror, Goofy's Sky School (basically the Wild Mouse), The Matterhorn, and Space Mountain. Apparently he's our biggest dare devil. Gracie's favorites were Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear. When she saw Minnie Mouse she gave her a big hug! It was simply adorable! Unfortunately our bag was stolen off of our stroller and it had the camera in it so we don't have that picture to share. The bag also had my cell phone, Matthew's Epi Pen, his inhaler, my cute little lipstick case Brian surprised me with a few weeks ago, my Clinique lipstick (my mom gets free makeup bags and makeup when she buys stuff at Macey's and she has given them to me a few times. The lipstick that was stolen was THE most perfect lipstick EVER!), my most favorite charcoal gray cardigan-ish thing that I got at Charlotte Russe and that I take EVERYWHERE, Gracie's cute little Minnie Mouse ears we had just bought for her at Disneyland that day. I usually wear a fanny pack when we go to Disneyland, with all of my most important things in it but Brian was making fun of me so I didn't. I caved to peer pressure. It may not be fashionable but certainly smarter and ultimately better!!!  :)   Basically that experience left me feeling stupid, violated, vulnerable, and scared. We figured people were watching the Tiki Room, waiting for someone they could rob. After that I was terrified that if there were people watching so they can steal from you then there could be people watching so they could steal kids. So then I was even more protective of them than I had been before. Other than that part of the trip, we all had a wonderful time! It was so wonderful to just spend time together as a family. It had been about 6 years since we had been on vacation so it was much needed and much appreciated!!! The kids handled the 10 hour drive there and 10 hours back better than we imagined. It was pretty touch and go a few times but for the most part they did well. The car looks HORRIBLE after spending 20 hours in our van. Nasty! We all loved the opportunity to spend so much time with Brian when he didn't have to work! We felt very grown up because it was the first time we've ever been on vacation with just our little family. I had a lot of guilt about going on vacation instead of putting that money in a savings account, until I saw pure joy written on each of my children's, and on Brian's faces when we were in Disneyland. Then, I made peace with our decision. It was priceless!!! I was telling one of my friends about my guilt over it and she said that sometimes you have to spend money to make memories. Her children are starting to leave the house and she has the perspective of a parent with children in their teens and one on a mission. Brian said, you know we only have about 7 years left to be able to take trips with just us and all of our children. Zack will be going on a mission, then comes college, and marriage. It makes me sad to think about how quickly my babies are all growing. It makes me really want to change my perspective. I've just been so wrapped up in trying to get from day to day, week to week, month to month that I forgot about the big picture. And so much time is just....gone. I want the next 7 years to be the most wonderful 7 years we can possibly imagine. I just want to savor this time. Every minute! Of all the things I don't want to look back on with regret, the very limited time I have to raise my children and spend precious time with them, building memories, is at the top of the list! What a blessing! What a gift! To be the mother of 4 fabulously amazing children...truly a gift!!!

I can't stand it when...

*I can't stand it when my kids throw tantrums. OOHHH I just burns me up!
*I can't stand it when Gracie screams and freaks out every time I fix her hair!
*I can't stand it when my kids fight me about doing their homework!
*I can't stand it when my kids ask for a toy or treat or something EVERY time we go to a store!
*I can't stand it when my kids take their shoes off and spill sand all over the house!
*I can't stand it when my kids sass me! That really drives me up the wall!
*I can't stand it when Gracie and Max get food all over themselves when they eat! Seriously, you can give each of them 1 M&M...just 1...and they get it all over themselves!
*I can't stand it when my kids drink my can of Cherry Coke when I'm not looking and I come back for a drink and it's empty!
*I can't stand it when my kids dig in my purse and steal my gum or my pens!
*I can't stand it when my kids don't do what I ask them the first time I ask them in a super nice, lovely tone of voice so after the 3rd or 4th time I ask them I have to yell or talk in my very firm and not so lovely voice and THEN they do what I ask!
*I can't stand it when my kids don't put their shoes in their closets when they take them off and we have to frantically search the house looking for the missing shoes before school or church! Or they can't find their retainer or their backpack or their jacket!
*I can't stand it when my kids can't seem to find the garbage can EVER!!
*I ESPECIALLY can't stand the fact that they get all of this bad behavior from ME!!! Every time something like this occurs in our house I have a flashback to when I was a kid and I know that I absolutely, positively deserve to have to deal with every.single.bit of it! I am amazed that my mother is still sane!!! And I can testify that 'The Mother's Curse' really works!

What we've been up to lately...

Holy smokes!!! I cannot believe how incredibly crazy my life has been for the last month!! I was so totally looking forward to school starting. I envisioned finally having a  super clean house. Daily naps with my sweet little Gracie. Taking her to story time at the library. Being able to go visiting teaching. Having dinner on the table by 6:00 every night. Staying in my sweats or pjs all day long. And Bonbons...lots and lots of Bonbons!!!

BUT...

Life has only become BUSIER since school started. It's been fun though most of the time. Here are some of the highlights...

-We were finally able to get the kids some back to school clothes. We went up to Utah County the Saturday before Labor Day. It was a great day!

-I found a darling little full size, picket fence bed frame last year for Gracie at a yard sale for 10 bucks! It's painted pink. I'm thinking about painting it white. I don't know. A couple of weeks ago I found a full size headboard and foot board and frame at D.I. for $25. Max has been borrowing a bed of my parents for the past year. We decided to get Matty and Max bunk beds and since I found those bed frames for Zack and Gracie we needed to buy 2 full size mattresses and box springs. Max and Matty's room has been such a mess so it will really help to have  bunks and free up so much room in there. And the nice thing is that they can be separate twin beds if we want them to be some day. The best part though was that Brian went online and found a set of bunk beds for $159 and a few days later Brian wanted to look at them before they came and they had upped the price to $219. I love it when we get a great deal when we buy stuff! Our poor table had had it too. My mom gave us her table when she got a new one like 5 or 6 years ago. We've moved like a zillion times since we got it from them. It was stored in a storage with all of our stuff and I accidentally fell and landed on one of the chairs and broke it while looking for something else. Another time I was looking for stuff I fell and landed on a leg of the table and it just couldn't handle the weight of my "fluffiness" and buckled under the immense pressure.  :)   Brian fixed it. Like 3 times. Aaaaand it broke again a few weeks ago when I was tying to move it over when I was vacuuming. Oh how I LoVe having carpet under the table!!! It's like a dream come true with 4 kids! ;)   Anyhoo, we had been looking for a table for a long time but they all cost a fortune. I checked D.I. all the time for another table or chairs. We stopped by Sam's when we were up there and guess what we found...the most perfect table! It can be a square, and it has a built in leaf that folds out to a make the table rectangular and it comes with 8 chairs. And the price was great! So...I've been very busy trying to take out the old furniture and help put together the new furniture and reorganize the rooms. It's a great feeling to know that our kids have clothes and shoes to wear and their own beds to sleep in. I had some mixed emotions about getting rid of the crib and knowing that I will never need to use one again. But Gracie's room is very cute now and she LOVES her big girl bed so much!

-Zack ran for student council this year and he won! Last year he ran as well and lost so I am very proud of him for trying again and for doing so well! I am so happy that he has adjusted so well through all the moves we've subjected the poor kid to. He is truly amazing!!!

-I had an appointment Thursday of last week because I was having strangeness in my breasteses area.  Well, the doctor told me that basically she had eliminated all of the possibilities of what my problem might be except CANCER...S-C-A-R-Y!!! So she wanted me to have a mammogram which I had yesterday. It wasn't painful at all for the first batch of pictures that she took. However, after the radiologist looked at the results and wanted more pictures, closer up pictures, to determined whether the spots that showed up on the pics were simply tissue or something to be concerned with, I thought my boobs were being pinched off! OUCHY WAWA!!! So, after my boobs were pinched off, they looked at the pictures and it turned out that it was just tissue. THANK GOODNESS!!! HUGE AMOUNTS OF RELIEF!!! And if you are afraid of a mammogram...don't be!! I'm feeling so blessed today! Both because I don't have cancer AND because I am not a mammogram lady that has to touch and configure other people's boobs all day! I am so truly grateful for people who are willing to do things like that to help people!!!

-And guess WHAT... We're going to Disneyland. We haven't been on a real vacation since Zack was 5 and Matthew was like 18 months old. Our kids are at perfect ages to really have a great time! The kids are positively giddy with excitement! It is great to see them so excited about something. We usually don't do anything or go anywhere fun. I just can't wait!!!