MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Well I am trying to catch up my blog before Christmas and the new year come. There are about three new posts so just read down until you get to the last one you read (or until you get bored) The pictures from Jamaica are up so you can see those if you scroll down far enough!!)

Here are some pictures from this holiday season for you to enjoy.

Frosting cookies.... Braden really just put frosting on the same cookie then licked it off.... but Amalyssa did a great job!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Don't think me terrible please..... I just had to post a picture of this tag! Amalyssa wrote this tag on her present to dad. Some how she forgot she was writing dad and put an M on the end.... then when she was writing her name she ran out of room and finished the last three letters of her name in reverse order above where she started. She was asking me why I was laughing the whole time she was writing it and putting it on the package.... I just told her she was cute :)


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Amalyssa lost her first tooth

Amalyssa noticed her tooth was loose on Dec 2nd. She played with in non stop! She finally asked dad to pull it the next day before bed because she was so excited for the tooth fairy. Dad was more afraid of pulling it than she was. (like I am one to talk... I probably would have said "no I can't pull it)

Moving day and Jamaica!

Well I guess the best place to start playing catch up would be a month ago... when we moved and then left the country.

The move went very well. Thank you so much to all that came out to help us!!! This is the ONLY picture I took on moving day! lol. I was a bit busy! My mom took a bunch for me though! THANKS MOM! Someday I may even have time to get those from her.


We moved on Saturday and then on Sunday we left for Jamaica! The flight left at midnight on Sunday so we had the whole day to recuperate. The kids were good on the flights but Braden didn't go to sleep until our second flight which left at 8am from Georgia.

I could blog for hours about Jamaica. But instead I will settle for a short overview and my thoughts on Jamaica, and then I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

The people of Jamaica were so fun! They are totally friendly. That song "Don't worry, be happy." is like their national anthem... ok not really, but that is seriously their moto for life I think. They are all relaxed and happy and about every other comment they make is "Yah man, no problem" or "sure" or "Respect" said in true Jamaican drawl. I loved it! The are not however the fastest people in the world. Since they have such a lid back "It's all good" outlook on life, they also take their time in everything they do. We would ask for a drink and hope to see it 15 min later! haha!

The other thing that struck me about Jamaica were the colors! I really think the colors are more intense in Jamaica! You see all the beautiful pictures and think... (or at least I do) wow that is a gorgeouse picture... it must have been set up and then had the colors enhanced. Nope (well I am sure some of them are) seriously the colors there are just bright, bold, and intense! None of the pictures in my slide show are enhanced in anyway, just the pure color of Jamaica.

Hope you enjoy the pictures! Please forgive the spelling errors... the program won't let me see what I have written easily, so I just have to type and hope it is readable.

BOOM BABY- I'm BACK!

Wheeeew weee. Has it been a long month for anyone else???? It is still November right??? UGH! Well Here I am in my cozy basement FINALY writing on my blog for the first time in a MONTH!!! It took THREE WEEKS to get our internet sorted out at this new place..... (stupid people planting large trees). Anyway... I have a TON.... no... more than that... to blog about!

HOWEVER, you will not be forced to suffer through it all at once. It would take me about 72 hours of typing to blog everything that I want to about the last month. Since I have yet to even unpack boxes I can't dedicate that kind of time to the blogger world (as much as I would love to!) So for now I am just checking in to say HI EVERYONE, and I will be slowly piecing small post about my last month for y'all to read.... because I am just sure you want all the details!

Just as a side note from my last post about being hit by a deer -
Our insurance company ROCKED and got us taken care of! The van was in the shop for 2 weeks and I drove an SUV!! Yes Marie.... I REALLY drove an SUV... and LIKED IT! Mostly because it was a 2008 and NICE!!! (The insurance paid the full rental cost) Anywho.... I got the van back on Monday and was glad to see that it looked even better than when we bought it! The very next day I was out driving in the snow and WHAM-O... rear ended..... Yes... really!!!! UGH! So now I am filing a claim with her insurance to get the bumper replaced since it is now loose (greatfully no other dammage was done and everyone is fine). Yay me... I have an apointment with ANOTHER auto body shop next Tuesday to estimate damages and talk about rental cars. ugh............

Suprise visitor...leaving impressions

So are you sick of all my blogs about the house??? I know I am! This morning I was thinking to myself.... "I should really put something new on my blog that is not house related in anyway." Well...... I guess I get too.... though when I had that thought

this isn't quite what I had in mind

Today I got to have the experience of being hit by a deer!! Now you may be asking yourself.... shouldn't that last sentence read "I hit a deer" instead of "I was hit by a deer". Nope.... the sentence is just the way it should be. The deer definitely hit ME!

I was driving down the back highway minding my own business... when all of a sudden WHAM-O! I didn't even see it until it was a foot from my window! The dumb thing literally JUMPED into the side of my van! All I have is this still frame image in my mind of a huge buck head in my window. One minute I was driving happily down the road... the next I have a deer in the side of my car! I pulled over as soon as it was over and saw the deer limp off the road behind me. A nice gentlemen that was headed the other direction stopped and gave me his name and number since he saw the whole thing. He said the deer was just standing there and then leaped into the side of my car. Amalyssa was pretty shaken up (as was I) Braden just thought it was cool. lol. The car is still drivable and the doors still work, but he did manage to wipe my drivers side mirror clean off and dent all four side pannels. When I got home I had to call the police station and file a report. I got to head down there so they could see the damage.

Poor Amalyssa had just started a movie when I told them they had to get back in the car. Amalyssa said "I HATE deer!" When I asked her why she replied "Because they eat our plants, run into our car,.... and NOW I am missing my movie!!!!"

After the deer left a full body impression in my car it left me some things to ponder though. I am so greatful to the Lord for keeping my children and I safe. it really could have been so much worse. I am very thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and his watchful hand! It made me want to hug my children for the rest of the day and never let them go! I had tears in my eye as we got back in the car and heaed on our way, not tears of frustration or anger but gratitute. Gratitude that I had a family and we were all safe. I am greatful for this above all, and this was merely a reminder to be greatful every day for what I have.

Here are a few more pictures of the damage... really not as bad as it could have been.




And this is a lovely chunk of deer fur stuck in my door handle.

I got tagged by Laura... but that won't be happening for a few weeks.... I have a few other things on my plate at the moment! lol

One Expencive Key!

It's officially official!!!
WE HAVE A KEY!!!!

We settled on Friday and Scott picked up our key tonight after work!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I am also extremely stressed!!! LOL. I just keep telling myself "I will make it... I will make it!" Hopefully somehow all this stuff of ours will end up in boxes this week!

Just had to share my squeals of delight!! I can hardly believe we are really home owners!!! I want to drive out right now just to use the key for the first time!! hehe. But since it is 10:00 at night I suppose I had better wait until tomorrow!

Getting there!

We are 50% packed.... now we just have to figure out where to pack the other one!

This week should be about insanity for me. So many of you have offered to help! THANK YOU! ... Now my problem is I can't remember who volunteered to help with what! LOL If you are the lovely soul who offered to help 'clean' up the new house.... send me an e-mail!!!!

Chaos......

Just thought I would give you all an update....

Yes... My life is CHAOS... and it looks like this!

At least Amalyssa is enjoying the packing!!! lol

Datails... and more picts!!!

Ok ok ok!!! lol. I left out most of the details for three reasons

1. Posting your personal information on a blog is not a good idea. translation- Scott is really leary of the whole "post your life on the internet" idea. (and so am I in a lot of ways)

2. Honestly I didn't think anyone would want the gorey details (though I posted all the details on FINDING the house! LOL)

3. I am very worried about sounding boastful. I feel so very blessed at this time for this amazing opportunity the Lord has given us. This house was priced far below its value so it is a miracle we are able to be getting such a nice home. Scott and I are so blessed at this time in our life!! This has been directed by the Lords hand and I am so thankful for this blessing. In trying to be humble I thought it best not to brag about how nice it was! (thus my adding the picture of my GREEN kitchen!!! lol) So that is a very LARGE reason I didn't post many details.

BUT SINCE YOU ALL ASKED.............

We THINK the house was bought as a 'flip' home. The seller fixed it up all SUPER nice and is now selling it. He is trying to sell it fast so he gave it a super low price. It has all new paint and carpet, and looks immaculate.

The kitchen wasn't re-done..... obviously... lol. But it is still in very good condition and nice. And the color actually isn't THAT bad in person. The pictures make it look rather garish.



Details-
Fully finished basement
1000 sq ft up
1000 sq ft down

Top floor -
Living room with wood burning fireplace!! (and a real mantle to hang my stockings on!!!)
kitchen
master bedroom
master bath (1/2 bath)
Main bath
2 other bed rooms.

Living Room

Another view of the kitchen and the back door

Basement-
HUGE HUGE HUGE Family room!
A 3/4 bath
laundry room
2 more bed rooms

basement bath- the picture makes it look like a rest stop bathroom
but the tile is really pretty in person

Yard-
the yard has the deck/gazebo thing plus a cement pad. The back yard is also fully fenced.




And now for my FAVORITE PART-----

I OFFICIALLY GET A CRAFT ROOM!!!!

The large bedroom in the basement is ALL MINE!!!! OH YEAH!!!! I am actually calling it the 'project room' though. I feel too greedy taking a whole room just for me! I have plans to make one corner into an art area/ creativity center for the kids. Then the rest will have a big ol' craft table for me, with shelving above it to hold all my toys!! WOOT! PARTY AT MY HOUSE.... (not for a few months though! haha)


Well there you have it.... all the gorey details! lol.... at least I think I got them all (except for the area... you will have to talk to me in person to get that). If you have more questions just let me know!! haha!!! I am always happy to talk about it :)

Drum roll please..........

So Scott and I have some considerably big news!!! In fact about 2000 sq feet big!!

WE ARE BUYING A HOUSE!!!!!! I wish I could say that we had BOUGHT a house... that was the original plan. We were going to wait until all the T's were crossed and I's dotted and the key was in our hand.... but fate would have things a bit different. I will explain in a minute.... but FIRST...... Wanna see some PICTURES!???

Here is the main front view of the house!

This is the family room! A HUGE selling point for us!

This is the 'deckebo' LOL. It is the attached gazebo the size of a deck... so I lovingly have titled it the deckebo

Marie calls this my Mormon Green Kitchen (or something)
I had to throw this pic in so you werent all TOO jelouse of our lovely house! lol

So there it is! Now don't feel bad if you didn't know we were looking at houses! This has been a QUICK development in our life and we have kept it on the down low.

here is the gist of the story. Scott and I have looked for a house twice before. Both times ended in frustration and dissapointment. We werent really sure we were ready for another major disappointment. But everyone is saying how great the market is now and the whole tax credit thing..... So we decided to give it a half hearted shot. We met with a relator on Friday Sept 17th. That folowing monday we started to look at houses. We saw several scary or tiny ones that week. On Saturday the 25th we set out yet again to look at some homes. I personaly was to the point that I decided this was not the right time and we werent going to find anything. Well the first home we looked at on Saturday.... in short... is pictured above! lol. It SCREAMED 'US'. It was just exactly what we had wanted minus a few minor things. I wanted to run to the relators office right then and write up an offer...... but mark (our relator) and Scott persuaded me to see the rest of the homes we had lined up for the day. Each one just made me more sure that the first one was for us! After looking through the homes on our list we went back for one final look at the 'perfect' house... the one that felt like home from the minute I steped in the front door. We did a bit of discussion and some closer looking and then asked if Mark had time to write up an offer that night. We went to his office and wrote out our offer while the kids drew pictures of 'our new house'. We knew there was a good chance there would be another offer on the house so I tried not to get my heart set on it (in fact in a way I am STILL trying not to have my heart set on it... but it is getting increasingly harder not to!). After filling out the offer we went straigt to Amanda and Jacks house warming party!!!! LOL. Amanda..... I can't tell you HOW HARD it was to keep my MOUTH SHUT!!!!! UGH! I wanted to tell SO BAD. But at that point we hadnt even heard back from the seller. Mark called us that night and gave us the good news that there were no other offers on the house and we had a verbal acceptance on the offer, but it was still 'on the market' untill paper work was signed the next day. I did not sleep AT ALL that night!!!!

The next morning Mark called to congragulate us and let us know that we were officialy under contract on the house!!! Since then things have just FLOWN! (Andrea- last sunday when Amalyssa said we were moving... and you asked her when we were moving with a distinct question to me in your voice... I am SORRY I couldnt say anything! I just about had to SWALLOW my tounge!!... luckily you asked WHEN we were moving... and I still didn't know! LOL) On monday the 27th we had the inspector out to the house and the inspection went exceptionaly well. The loan is going through underwriting and looks to be great. The aprasial was done this week also. So far things are running very smoothly!! I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that posting this wont JINX us!!! It is in the Lords hands... and I know that with all my heart, so I know what is best for us will happen..... but I can't help but worry a little! lol.

Wow.... that was a much longer ramble than I had expected to write! But after all... this has truly become my 'public' journal so I don't want to leave any thoughts or feelings out! lol

Now for the last part of my story- as pertaining to WHY I am spilling the beans before we have the key (as we had planned on doing) Yes - it was KILLING me to keep it a secret... but that is NOT the reason I have been given permision to blog about our life changing event.

We are set to close just before our trip to Jamaica. Neither of us wanted to be in Jamaica and worrying about a house deal going through or falling apart. The plan was to get the key - go to Jamaica -then move in the next month. Our lovely landlord however decided that we have to pay a full months rent if we are here even one day of the month..... SOOOOOO...... we get to move much MUCH sooner than anticipated and we will be begging for help! lol. So watch your e-mail for a moving party invitation if you live close!!!! lol.


OK- I think I have said just about all I was going to say and then some!!!!!! Hugs to you all for your love and support and for reading my blog!
p.s. if you missed my scary halloween story you need to read my last post! :) wouldnt want anyone to miss out!

A scary story for Halloween

I have a phone horror story for you! Halloween just seems like the perfect day to post about it!

Prologue (Back ground info on the story)

So I have been trying to sell my baby grand piano, as some of you may know. We had a guy say he wanted to buy it and gave us a check with the understanding he would give us cash instead when he came to pick it up. Well it has been two weeks and we have heard NOTHING from him! We even tried to call him and the number is dis-connected. We did have a 'back up plan' though. There was another person who was really interested in the piano. When we sold it this second gentleman said to keep his number and if the deal fell through to give him a call. We will call this man BOB.

Chapter 1...

I gave BOB a call on Thursday (yesterday) morning. I let him know who I was and what I was calling for. BOB was very excited that he was going to get a chance at the piano. He told me he needed a minute to find a pen and paper so he could write down directions to our house. No big deal.. right? After a bit BOB has apparently had no luck getting to a pad and pen. He then tells me the following
"You caught me as I was getting out of the shower. My house is set up in such a way that there are lots of windows and my neighbors will see me if I try to streak to where the pen and paper are."

HELLO!!???? I DO NOT want to know that you are NAKED!!!!!!

So I am on the phone.... a bit stunned... not knowing whether to laugh out loud or vomit... and holding the phone out from my ear a little farther. I tell him.... some what stuttering
"Well... if you need to call me back in a minute that would be just fine..... " Translation- "I don't like talking to NAKED guys!!!!"

He THEN says "No it is fine I have a robe right here... ah... there we go.. now I can go get the pen and paper!"

EEEEKKK!! I am just scrunching my eyes shut at this point in time thinking "I don't need the play by play!!!!" UGH. So yeah... interesting experience.... to say the least. Then there is the slight detail that he is now coming to my HOUSE to see my PIANO!

The End-

BOB shows up tonight to see the piano. BOB IS FAT!!!!!!! EEEEWWWW. He is old and fat!!!! YUCK!!! Like so fat he is almost round and walks with his hands poking straight out the sides. Now I know I will DEFINITELY have nightmares tonight!!!

..............................................................................................

Tomorrow I will try to post picts of my cute little trick or treaters and tell you about the LARGE treat that dad and I got while out trick or treating! But for tonight enjoy my horror story and don't have bad dreams!!

Copper mine fun

So that last post of mine was just too funny. I have had a really hard time wanting to make another post. Anything I have to say just seems too boring!

Alas.... I am back to blog for you anyway... even if it isn't as funny as my last one! (hey... we can't all be as funny as Kieran all the time!)

Speaking of Kieran..... We went to the copper mine today! Amalyssa has really been wanting to go see "The big hole" (as she calls it) So we though it would be fun to go see it with Heber... and his family of course :)

I am SUPER tired so I am not going to say to much, just let you enjoy the slide show. It was a fun afternoon and a nice excuse to go enjoy the great weather! Thanks for joining us Kieran! (oh and just for Kieran's info.... it takes 3 minutes to get to my house from where we parked! lol)

Oh yeah... I almost forgot. I added some random, non coppermine related, photos to the slide show. I did the Christmas cards for a card swap and I was just so proud of them!!! Since they were a bit difficult to make you arent all getting one for Christmas... so enjoy them here! lol. The book marks was another little craft project I did for Scott's cub scouts. Wanted to show them off... because I liked them!!!

ENJOY!

Got Pants?

Moments like this are why I blog and scrapbook.

Really... is there more for me to say??? Nope... I am still to busy LAUGHING!

Playing catch up

Well I have had a completely eventful week! Really... A LOT has been going on. I have wanted to blog about 3 times a day... however.. when evening falls, the kids are in bed, and I have time to blog...I am to stinking tired to care!!!! LOL

So... you get a slide show to catch you up instead. We painted our pumpkins for the year and I put up some pictures of those. I bough both the kids new Sunday outfits for the coming season. On Sunday they both were dressed up and cuter than ever so I took a bunch of pictures of them. When I was outside with Braden I told him "Show me your handsome!" and he stuck his tongue out at me! (does anyone else have trouble remembering how to spell tongue or is it just me!??) Since Amalyssa had a sparkly new dress and new shoes she let me do her hair up special! Isn't it cool!!! I was pretty happy with how it turned out! Kieran thought it looked much harder than it was. I got it off this great hair blog that I love! I need to put it up on my side bar... but not tonight!

Hope you like the pictures. Sorry that I am to tired to tell you all about my crazy day on Monday selling the piano, or about the lady that skanked me in Arctic Circle, or about my crazy spending spree at Hobby Lobby today (though I will say... stuff does not make you happy... but it sure put a smile on my face today!).

I will tell you quick about Amalyssa's prayer Monday night.... then I am off to bed. On Monday I posted our piano for sale on KSL... well.. it was a hot item.. I was on the phone ALL STINKING DAY!!!!!! I apologized to Amalyssa several times that I couldn't play with her or even give her attention. I hardly stole a minute to microwave some lunch for the poor kids! That evening at dinner Scott asked her to say the prayer. In her prayer she said "and please bless mom that she will stop being on the phone so much to sell the piano and that she will be able to play with me." It was so sweet!!! Her prayer was answered too, sold the piano the next day... NO MORE PHONE CALLS! YAY!

Ok... and now to the photos! Enjoy!

I WANT TO BLOG!!!

Sheesh what a week it has been! I have about 100 pictures to blog and a whole mouth full I want to say to the world.....
Alas.... I haven't the time yet! ARG! So..... I just wanted to pop on and say

I WANT TO BLOG!

Quicky for ya.

I am sitting here waiting for time to pass before my date with Scott tonight... SOOOOO.... thought I would blog a bit! lol. I have another (more fun) post to do later tonight or tomorow. For now though I got tagged by Amanda. I am not usually one to play these games... but today I am in the mood, so here ya go!

5 years ago....

1. New mom. My baby was 2 months old
2. Being so thrilled that my mother was making the cutest costume for my baby

3. Trying to figure out how to be a stay at home mom
4. Getting annoyed when people would call at 4 in the afternoon.... didn't they know I was sleeping! Call me at 2 am when I am awake!!!
5. Enjoyed singing my tiny infant to sleep.

Things on my list for today....
1. Go out with hubby and buy stuff for our food storage! (got a 55 gal drum for water and 4 food storage buckets for flour and sugar!)
2. Go to Scotts school alumni dinner with him! yay!
3. Not cook dinner... and LOVE it!
4. work on my primary quarterly report
5. blog :)

5 Snacks I enjoy....
1. Chocolate
2. Ice cream
3. Cake
4. Cookies
5. anything that isn't good for you!

5 Things I would do if I was a millionaire...
1. Buy a house.
2. Buy Scott a corvette
3. Get our food storage and emergency preparedness all ready
4. CRAFT LIKE A MANIAC!
5. Help my family and friends that I know are in need of money, and put a good bit into savings.

5 Places I have lived....
1. Pocatello
2. another house in Pocatello (first apt with Scott)
3. Another appt in pocatello
4. Taylorsville UT
5. Herriman UT

5 Jobs I have had....
1. Craft and Frames (for a crapy 3 months till I quit)
2. Reading Tuitor in a Grade school
3. Inkleys
4. Engineered Systems as a secratary (Scotts dad's office..lol)
5. Stay at home mom---- hardest job EVER!

Tag--- um... do I know 5 people that would do this?
1. Marie- even though Amanda tagged her too! lol
2. Kieran-- because I love her blog and she is so funny!
3. Laura
4.uh....... uh...... uh... anyone else who wants to say they got tagged!!!
5.

Scrapbook page!

Do you remember like 2 post's ago I said "and there is a scrapbook page that goes here, but you will have to wait for it." REMEMBER?? I am sure you are all just dying to see the page! LOL. Well worry not, the page is done and here it is!

Story: While Victoria and I were window shopping with the kids at Gardner Village we saw these necklaces! These were all the rage when we where in grade school. Seeing them again was like entering some strange time warp! We had a good laugh over it and took pictures so we could blog to the world about our nostalgia. I almost bough one just for old times sake.... then I realized that it was a silly waste of money... which I didn't have... So I settled for pictures.



The side journaling says-

You know you're old when...

you use the term "blast from the past."

you tell your kids "I had this when I was your age."

you see something and say "I haven't seen these forever!"

you want to buy expensive 'junk' because it makes you feel young.

you finally understand what your mom meant when she said "it's a waste of money."

Hope you get a good laugh out of this! I know I did!

(WHOA!! Marie just read this post and she said that the striped paper on the side of the page reminds her of some outfits mom made us when we were about the same age that we had these necklaces!!! NO WAY... it TOTALLY does!!! Maybe I picked that paper because of some hidden memory! I can totally see a picture of us both in our striped outfits with our plastic chain necklaces on! Does such a photo really exist??? MOM- if it does... SEND IT TO ME PLEASE! I can see a 2 page LO coming!)

I feel so loved!!!!

Ok, So I just have to tell you how loved I feel right now! My hubby comes home the other day and tells me he won a $100 gift certificate to Kohl's from a radio station drawing! SWEET! Then he tells me he is going to let me spend it! EVEN BETTER! So today I have to go pick it up from the station. Scott forwarded me the e-mail telling him that he had won and where to pick it up at. In this e-mail it says "Thanks for the sweet e-mail. How about this as a prize for your wife's first kiss? $100 to Kohl's" So I read this and think....My first kiss??? What does THAT have to do with a random drawing!!??? (p.s. my first kiss was with my sweet hubby) So I start bugging Scott about what the lady was talking about. He gets all shy and won't tell me!!!!! Finally he is bright red and he tells me that they were having a debate during the morning show on whether or not high schoolers should kiss around or wait for their first kiss to be truly special. Scott wrote in to them and told them that I had kept my first kiss special and given it to him and how much it had meant to him!

AAAWWWWWWWW...................

Then I was like "was that really so hard to tell me?" And he says.. "yes... my face is boiling.. now go away and let me sleep!" ROTFL! He is SOOO CUTE!!! It embarased him to tell me our first kiss was special to him! What a silly boy! (he dosn't share his feelings easily!)

So yeah... anyway.... I am feeling super loved right now! And I have 100$ to go spend at Kohl's! WOO HOO! (Scott is going to really be embarrassed if he finds out I put this up on my blog! lol... but hey... I am enjoying the loved feeling!)

Random.... long.... hopefully not to boring.

Well...... This will be a strange blog...

I had a very 'blogable' day on Thursday... however I haven't had any time to blog about it.... now it is getting kinda 'old' in my memory and I am tired and not in the mood to blog... but I am anyway! lol. So...... Enjoy?

I woke up Thursday morning in the mood to GET OUT! Victoria was nice enough to run away with me to Gardner Village for the morning! We had lots of fun, and of course the kids love feeding the ducks. There is a great scrapbook page that goes in right here....however, since I haven't had time to make said page... you will just have to come back later!!!! :) my blog... my rules... get over it.

Here is a great picture that Victoria took for us at Gardner Village.



After we had some fun there we came home and had some lunch. Then I got a last minute surprise! I have made several good friends over the internet in the last few years. Most of which I will never get to meet. But on Thursday afternoon I got the wonderful opportunity to MEET two of my very good friends!!! These are two ladies I have met through designing at DSO. One of the ladies, Teriann, lives in Treemonton. We have always talked about getting together... but never quite get the time. Joy, however lives in SanDiego. Joy was in town for a conference and called Teriann and I up! We all met downtown and had a great few hours at the Gateway mall! TOO MUCH FUN!!! We gabbed like we have been friends since highschool! It was so much fun! Amalyssa had a hard time understanding why I was so excited. She didn't get how I had a friend... but had never met them... lol. The kids were great the whole time while we just chatted away!



Since this was a momentous occasion I of course brought my camera! I opened my case up, however, and found a shattered lens!!! NOT COOL! Now.... After a moment of panic I realized it was just my protection filter...this is EXACTLY why I HAVE a protection filter! I couldn't get the broken filter off while we were together so Teriann sent me her pictures. Scott had to pry the thing off with a pair of pliers when I got home! Luckily I have a spare filter so I popped it on and we are back in business!

Here is a nice picture of shattered glass for all of you!



I got home from this fun evening late and was rather tired. When I noticed something wonderful on the counter!



I HAVE A PASSPORT!!!! Call me weird...I have always wanted a passport! Now I have one and I feel COOL! We all got one. No... not just a senseless waste of money to fill a silly dream of mine! Who do you think I am???? Anyway, we got the passports because Scott's parents decided it was time for a family vacation... TO JAMAICA!!!! Can I get a WOOT WOOT!

So.... there you have it.... my 'blogable' day on Thursday. Hmmm.... guess I was more in the mood to blog than I though....
Hope you enjoyed my ramblings! Be sure to come back for the Scrapbook page!!!!!

A mother in LOVE!

I found this totally AWESOME web page last night and had to share it!! Scott and I have been wanting to start Amalyssa on a small chore chart for a while now. I could never find anything to motivate her.... or me for that matter. Making the chore charts was not fun and Amalyssa didn't like doing them.

Last night I found my salvation, in more than one way! GREAT chore charts AND motivation in one web space!!!!! AND IT'S FREE!!!

http://www.handipoints.com/printchart.html?gclid=CKvY2uzF8JUCFSJIagodmjA0eQ

Just thought I would share it in case any of you ladies have the same 'chore chart' issues that I have! lol (you are perfect moms so you probably don't!)

This has EASY chore charts and an extensive pre-made list of home chores, hygiene, behavior, and school related 'chores'. You ALSO have the option to add your own items! You can pick and choose to your hearts content! Keep track of it on-line or print it out to track with pen.
The motivation part.... an MMO (massively multi-player online game) for kids! It is this fun little cat world. They earn points by doing their chores and then they can use the points to buy things for their cat or do activities in the MMO! Amalyssa is TRILLED to have a cat of her own! Since she is only 5 I am not sure how much she will really get into the game but there are other ways to use the points as incentive as well! You can set a goal for a certain number of points and then they get a physical reward that you can set. This site looks awesome so far and has a lot to offer! The only down side I have found so far is the keys. To get certain things in the cat world they have to have keys which mom and dad have to pay for on Amazon. The balancing side to this is that you can set it up so they have to earn points for mom and dad to shell out the cash for the keys. I think we are just going to pass on the keys since I don't really see Amalyssa getting to much into the game. We will probably set a point allowance or something for her. Like 1 point = 1 penny. She has a thing for getting REAL money and SPENDING it! (OIY).

Anyway... thought I would share since I am ecstatic I found this site!!! I think I might even set up a chore chart for mommy! LOL... maybe then Scott could see how much I really DO vacuum the floor!!! (and I confess I was playing as Braden's cat last night! lol)

Thought I would throw this picture up too. Braden was sitting like this mimicking daddy last night. I ran to get my camera... knowing full well he would move before I got back... which he did... but as soon as he saw the camera he settled back into his pose for mommy! LOL... are my kids camera trained or what!?

Family Fun with a Frisbee!

Forgive me if this post is full of typos, spelling errors, and random disconnected thoughts! lol. I am tired tonight but I am suddenly in the mood to blog! I don't even have pictures this time! WEIRD!

Amalyssa went to a friends birthday party last Saturday and came home with a frisbee. (ok... apperenly Frisbee is a company.... so it wants me to capitalize it... but this leaves me wondering... what is the name of 'frisbee's' not made by the Frisbee company??? hmmm... like Kleenex and tissues... what is the generic name for Frisbee?) (see... random and disjointed... I warned you!) Anyway... back to the generic brand frisbee! I didn't think much about it when Amalyssa brought it home... but it has quickly become our favorite family past time! Braden is a frisbee addict! I have to hide it or he will throw it around the house! Almost every night this week we have all gone out to the back yard and had a great time playing frisbee! Scott loves teaching Amalyssa how to throw and catch it. The kids get a kick out of dad throwing it as far as he can and then they chase after it. Scott and I have even enjoyed just tossing it back and forth while the kids are distracted. Who knew such a common toy would bring so much family time to our home! Even Braden has learned how to throw it pretty well! He figured out his own way of course (I just know he is going to be our little sports star some day!)

(p.s. The name Frisbee is a registered trademark of the Wham-O toy company, but is often used generically to describe all flying discs.- so there you have it... the appropriate term for what we have is a flying disk! gotta love Wikipedia!)

Second on my mind for blog ramblings. We went bowling tonight for a family treat. It was a lot of fun! The kids LOVE bowling! Braden can hardly sit still until it is his turn again!! He is so cute, we get the ramp and the bumpers up for he an Amalyssa. Tonight he would roll the ball down the ramp and then watch in anticipated silence as the ball rolled toward the pins. He would get excited no matter what happened but when he would knock down most of the pins he would cover his eyes like he was in dis-believe or something! It was pretty cute. I had a great time watching the kids... but my game did not go so well! I think I got a gutter ball at least every frame. Scott and Braden both broke 100 and Amalyssa was close behind in the 90's.... mom.... I got like 50 or 60... bluck.. lol. My bowling arm had definitely changed into a mopping/toilet scrubbing arm!

It will be a while before I go bowling again though. Not just because of my lovely high score. As we were leaving I took Amalyssa for a potty stop. There were some other girls in there... maybe 12 and 13. As I am waiting for Amalyssa to get finished the girl waiting says "Hurry... its your turn!" the girl in the stall says... "ok I am coming"... She runs out of the stall an through the door without so much as LOOKING at the sink!! Suddenly I looked down at my hands that had been all over several bowling balls in the last hour... and I wanted to SCRUB them with LYSOL!!! EEEEEWWWW!!!! It was a realization that I have never quite had before... now I think I will be steering clear of the bowling alley for a while... and when I do go back... I am taking a gallon of Purell!!!!!

Well, that is all of my randomness for one night I suppose. Oh check out my new blog links in my side bar! I have found some fun crafty blogs that I am now addicted to and wanted to share! LOL. Mel Stampz is my favorite because it has a HUGE link list down the side of crafty blogs! I go there first then randomly click till my crafty head explodes!

New look- new post!

Wow, I have been posting crazy lately! Maybe I could keep it up and become one of those 'everyday' bloggers....... na.... not likely. LOL

My friend got a new blog and I was helping her set it up.... that got me messing with my own! So here is my new look! I am happy with it for now....

Well it finally happened. My daughter finally figured out that scissors are good for more than just paper... they also cut HAIR! Gratefully she didn't use her own head to experiment on! I think daddy would have cried! It happened while I was taking one of my 'mommy naps' (which happen unfortunately often) Amalyssa is usually really good during my naps and Braden is almost always asleep before I take my naps. Well on.... hmm... lets see.... Friday.... Yes it was on Friday. I woke up from my 'mommy nap' and went in to find Amalyssa playing sweetly in the toy room. Nothing seemed amiss. But then I sat down on the floor... I noticed.... hair.... then more hair... then trails of hair leading to MORE HAIR! Amalyssa had decided that her barbies all needed hair cuts.... almost all 16 of them.....



Most of the barbies came out looking ok. Mostly she decided that bangs were not in fashion and chopped off all the bangs. This barbie got the worst (or best?) of her cutting efforts. Hard to see in the pictures... but there are quite a few 'layers' to this style.



I called my mother up to tell her my daughters new discovery. I knew that mom would particularly enjoy it because I had a fascination with scissors as well... (only I practiced on my sister and cousins.) It happened to be moms birthday and she thought that the story was a great birthday present..... She loves watching Marie and I go through the ills of parenthood.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Today I am doing a special post for a special person in my life

My MOM! Today is my mothers birthday so I thought I would tell you all how much I love her! There is so much I could say about my wonderful mother. As life swirls around me and the waves of trial toss me around I know I can always count on my mother to be there. Like a rock she has been my foundation so many times. I am so lucky that I can count my mother among my best friends.

Thank you mom, Thank you for all those hundreds of nights you sat on my bed talking with me for hours. Thank you for the magazine you left on my pillow just when I needed words of comfort. Thank for putting up with my child hood misadventures such as love day, soft shoe dancing in the laundry soap, playing barber on my cousins, and the cereal mountain in the middle of the room. I always knew that I was loved. Never have I doubted that. Your hugs and kisses every time we parted stay with me still. You took care of me when I was sick, and put up with me when I was annoying. Your love and our friendship stays strong even thought the distance between us is larger than it once was. You gave me your love for the gospel, photography, nature, and so much more. You have guided me into womanhood... and graciously let me grow into a family of my own. My prayer is that I can be half the mother to my children that you always have been, and continue to be, to me. I love you dearly mother and thank my Heavenly Father for sending me to your heart and home on this earth.
Happy Birthday Mom!

I LOVE YOU MOM!

thought I would also tell you all about my lovely daughter whom I love.... and who got the chicken pox this week! Tuesday after I went to the doctor because I had an ear infection we got home and Amalyssa had a little spot that she said was bothering her. Looked like a little bug bite so I didn't think much about it. When we put her into her PJ's later that night I found another suspicious spot on her tummy..... hmmmm..... I asked her to turn around... and this is what I saw....



What was the first thing I did? Called MY mother for advice, of course!!!! After a warm bath we put her to bed to await the dawn and surely more spots. When she woke up... there were no new spots! And the old ones were already getting better!! WHAT???? So I called the doctor and found out that since she is up to date on her vaccines she is getting off pretty easy! I LOVE modern medicine!!! Turns out that with the chicken pox vaccine about 20% of children still get the illness but it is really mild and short lived. Uh.... one day.... 10 pox.... Yeah I GUESS it is mild!!! Me I had them EVERYWHERE..... Just ask my mother who took care of me! Braden is up on his shots to so he hasn't gotten any pox yet. Let's hope it stays that way! The lucky thing is that she just went off track for school... so she didn't miss ANY school! WOOT! Heavenly Father is watching out for me!

One last birthday cheer before I log off for the day. This is the birthday bash week in my family! So........................
Happy birthday MARIE!
Happy birthday RHEA!
Happy birthday ANNA!
Happy birthday ADAM!

HUGS And LOVE to all!!

Bravest day of my LIFE!

Ok... so today was the bravest day of my life!! I am really going crazy with the heebie geebbies now though!

So I wake up this morning... nice day.... lots to do..... getting ready to get the day started..... and THEN I saw THIS!



This sucker was RIGHT outside my window!!!!! AAAACKKKK!!! He was HUGE!! BIGGEST spider I have EVER seen (and I hope I NEVER see another one!) He was just hanging out there about a foot out my window. I was totaly freaking out!!! I couldn't stand to have it there.... just staring in my house, but it was an even WORSE thought that it might MOVE.... then I would not know if it had moved in with us!!! After calling my landlord... who wasn't home... and asking several friends for advice (more like having a panick attack on the phone a few times) I finaly decided that either the spider or I had to go! Scotts advice to me was to burn the house down and hope it burned with it! LOL.... but I don't think the landlord would have liked that too much. Amalyssa could see how freaked out I was over the spider and apperently thought it was FUNNY! She started refering to the spider as 'mommys pet'! She kept saying... thats your new pet mommy! Then she would crack up when I shivered convulsivly and said said "NO IT IS NOT!" She was having a great time.

Soooo.... I gathered up EVERY BIT of courage that I have in my physical being. I put on LONG pants... THICK socks and the BIGGEST smashiest shoes I could find! (I would have given anything for a full bee keepers suit!) and I went outside to face my foe! The picture was taken through the window.... I couldnt bring my self to take a picture out side... I just wanted it OVER with!!!

I went outside and got the longest stick I could find...but 3 feet wasnt longenough. I found a pole!!!!! A large metal pole about 5 feet long and figured that would have to do. (to say I didn't want to touch it with a 10 ft pole would have been NO exaguration.... but I did with what I had) After taking a DEEP breath and a little mental pep talk.... I used the pole to swipe the sucker from his high post. Once on the ground he started to run! I had no time left to be scared... I JUMPED on him!!!! Like 5 times!!!! Guts EVERYWHERE!!!! I smashed that sucker untill he was good and DEAD!!! I then had to come inside and spend a good half hour recovering from the overload of adrenaline!!!

I was panting harder than I EVER have in my life!!! I was shaking like no bodys bussiness. I almost passed out! Seriously.... I am not sure I wasnt in better physical condition after 14 hours of labor! I would do labor and the 9 months in a heart beat before I ever had to do that again!

After taking a while to get my nerves back under control I went out and took a smashed picture of my 'pet'. I took another wave of courage to put the quarter next to his remains.... I couldn't make myself put it any closer!!!! LOL



I think I deserve something special don't you!???? I am going with the Artic Circle theme I think. "Face your biggest fear today? REWARD YOURSELF!" I am thinking skipping house work and going to the craft store sounds pretty good!

Now... for something a little less creapy to look at.... I got another pair of shoes!!! They were CUTE, COMFORTABLE... and only..... (drumroll please....) $3!!!!! WOOT! Who WOULDN'T buy them!



And just to clarify for Kieran... I do have a much larger variety... LOL. These are just my sandals.... I am fairly new to the shoe addiction so my collection isn't vast yet... but it is getting there! LOL

Leave me comments and tell me how brave I was today! I am seriously still freaking out! Even the fly's are making me jump today!!!

Shoe addiction?

There was once a time in my life when things were so much simpler in my shoe closet. Many years ago I cared little for the fashion of my shoes. I didn't need many shoes and I didn't care what they looked like. If they were comfortable and they fit.. then I was good! I had one pair of tennis shoes, one pair of sandals, and one pair of church shoes... that was it! Well...... then I got married. My dear sweet mother in law just didn't know what to do with me when she found out I hated to go shoe shopping! lol. The first 2 or 3 times we moved she would help move the stuff in the closet and she could hardly believe that I only had 3 pairs!!! She has been so patient with me. Finaly.... I admit defeat..... I now have a shoe fetish!!

I can openly admit that I now desire to have cute shoes... that match my outfit! Becky has been buying me shoes now and then (I think because she couldn't take how bare my closet was of shoes). Slowly I have come to appreciate the beauty of the shoe. Today I openly admit defeat.... I am a shoe lover! My favorite pair of sandals that I wear EVERYDAY...broke! Being me... I didn't have another pair. In desparation I went searching for a new pair of sandals. I found a pair at Walmart for 5$.... I figured "hey, cheep! These will be great". I get them home and start wearing them and realize... these don't really go with just any outfit.... in fact... they are kindof ugly!! That just wouldnt do. I tried to stop myself... I really did.... but this morning I found myself at the checkout counter of Ross with 2 more pairs of sandals!!! EEK! Yep... that is right... It took me not one.... not two... but THREE pairs of shoes to replace my fallen favorites. So you want to see my new CUTE shoes! WOO HOO! I have worn all three pairs today! LOL (now that I have cuter shoes I appreciate the comfort of my 5$ walmart buy)

from left to right- my black comfy and cute pair - my brown SUPER cute, but not so comfortable shoes- and my tan not very cute but REALLY comfy shoes! I am set! I have a 'sandal' for every occasion........ to bad it is September.....

And of course Amalyssa is thrilled with all my new shoes. She has been a shoe lover since she was 1 year old. (really... I would bribe her to be good in the store by saying we could go look at the shoes if she behaved!.... her favorite present for her 1 year b-day was a pair of shoes!) She wanted to pose with my shoes while I was taking pictures of them! HAHA..... oh it is great to be a blogger!!

Some days........

Some days I just can't think of anything to blog about. Sure you would all LOVE to read about how I spent the morning cleaning cheerios off the floor (because I would NEVER feed my kids chocolate chip zucchini bread for breakfast!), or about how messy the toy room got AGAIN, or even about the mega tantrums and siblings fights I deal with every day..... but somehow.... re-living them through writing just doesn't draw me to my blog some days.

The last few weeks have been full of days like these. So I apologize for my long silent blog. I am sure some of you are just in pain without my blog updates!

I think part of my problem is that I have a hard time blogging when I don't have pictures! I haven't taken any pictures in the last few weeks.... therefore... no blog post!

I did have a fun day last Thursday though! I invited all my girl friends over for a scrapping/crafty day! We let the kids run to their hearts content in my back yard and the mothers got to play too! We each had our own table to work on and then a big community share table! It was SO MUCH FUN! It was so much fun in fact... that I FORGOT to take pictures of the mess we made! (it acctualy stayed pretty organized!) Anyway, not to many people made it, but those who did had a great time! I think I will do another one end of Sept. This time I will give you more than 3 days warning though!

Are you TACKY enough!????

Did I wait long enough to post this!?? It has been almost a week since the party! Just trying to be Tacky still!! LOL (or I've been sick all week and didn't care to post anything... your pick)

Tacky Party definition:
a HILARIOUS party thrown by the only one who could... Scotts grandma.
Come and be as tacky as you can be with your family around to witness the laughs.

I have to tell you that I TOTALLY LOVE Scotts grandma! She is SO SO FUNNY!!!!! She throws the BEST parties!!! The Tacky Party is kind of a family tradition for them. This is maybe the 3rd or 4th one they have had. My first time coming though! I LOVED IT!!! G-ma had the whole place decorated AWFUL! picture a classic beautiful spotless home... with fly paper hanging around the Steinway! She even went to the police station and got some police line tape from them!! she had it across the door with a body sketch in the drive way!!! Along with the random elements left haphazardly around her lawn (hose, lawn mower, and several pink flamingos!) The tables were great too! Lined with news paper and centerpices of beer bottles with fake flowers shoved in them! (this at an all LDS family party no less!!! She got them from a neighbor!) LOL Here is a page I did with pictures from the party! I will post some individual ones so you can see them a little better. G-ma is the one in the LO with the 'long hair'.



Here is my favorite costume of the evening. Every time I saw her I would just bust out in laughter!!! She even had toilet paper stuck to her shoe!!! HAHA!




Here is the whole motley crew! What a fun bunch of nuts!



There was a peanut spitting contest. Both of my boys put in a good show. Scott almost got the farthest.... (except for that Jack and Artur... they just HAD to spit the peanuts into G-ma's garden!!) Braden 'won' for spitting the most peanuts I think. He was putting them in and spitting them out as fast as a baseball pitching machine! We had to keep them coming or he would go the the ones in the grass for a second try! lol



And of course the costume you have all been waiting to see.... the lovely.....incredible..... amazingly beautiful..... me



And last but not least... the dessert I brought...



Yes it really is a dessert....Kitty Litter Cake! Now for the really tacky ending to my story... There was SO MUCH of my cake left over... (it is 2 box cakes layered with pudding and cookie crumbs on top) Scott and I had a dinner party on Monday night with friends.... (at lease I hope they will still be our friends when they read this....)I took the 'turds' off the cake (tootsie rolls) and dumped it into a fancy bowl... added some chocolate chips and a bit more pudding on the top... called it trifle.... HAHAHA! HOW TACKY AM I! They loved the fancy dessert though!! HEHE.... gratefully Amalyssa didn't recognize the cake anymore either... or she would have told my secret for sure (while they where happily eating it)!!!

Well... there you have it! The Tacky Party report!! Hope you got a little chuckle at least!