This N That

I suppose it is time to give a bitty blog update. I haven't been in the mood to blog much lately. Funny how it comes and goes. Anyway... I am not sure I am much in the mood to blog now, but I can't think of anything better to do and I am not ready to go to bed yet.... so I will blog. :)

This is Amalyssa helping me plant all of our little seedlings. (since it is STILL SNOWING in APRIL we finally decided to start them indoors.)

This is how Braden helped in the planting process. Drawing 'mazes' in the dirt!

Remember what I said about snow in April? This picture is for you Marie - This is April 1st. Nice April fools joke eh!?


This was the real April fools joke 'someone' played on us. I went to the grocery store and came home to find a 'for sale' sign in my living room window!! I kinda freaked out wondering what was going on untill I went to look at it and saw the title 'April Fools', then I laughed and laughed. I found out later it was a few of the Young Women (whom I had suspected all along... I had just suspected the WRONG young women) and a LEADER!!! That silly Sister Sprague. She is a hoot!

Look at all the pretty Easter eggs we died. One fell and broke beyond bandaging so Braden wanted to eat it... then Amalyssa had to have one of course.... so two of the died eggs never even made it to the end of egg dying.


Aren't these the funnest eggs ever! I think this is my new most favorite Easter egg kit!

That is until I closed the carton and one was STARING AT ME! I found it hard to stuff them in the fridge and later eat them.....

This is how many eggs the kids had found before they could roll mom and dad out of bed! Good thing the Easter Bunny set an EARLY alarm!

These are the kids in their Easter outfits. I wasn't going to get any this year since the kids are both fully stocked on Sunday attire.... but then I passed this CUTE blue number for Braden and I just COULDN'T pass it up! Then of course to be fair I had to get something for Amalyssa. I am not happy with the pictures I got of the kids together and just Amalyssa - we were cold and it was windy and conference was starting so we did it in a hurry. I will be scheduling re-shoots soon.

Amalyssa's individual shot isn't too bad I suppose... but her hair wasn't really done.

Now Braden on the other hand... his turned out ADORABLE! That is just MY opinion of course! :)

If you have made it this far into my blog post then CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU! You are a true friend. :) I will reward you with a couple of funnies.

Amalyssa was taking a bath and kept calling me in to help her with various things. On one such trip in to help her she asked "Mom, when I call you to come help me... can I just yell 'MAID!'?" Um.... not a chance.....

Amalyssa asked me one day out of the blue
"Mom, do you think you and dad are dummies?"
"Uh... what did you just ask?"
"Do you think you and dad are dummies??" completely serious I might add
"No..... I don't like to think that mom and dad are dummies? Why do you ask?"
"Cus you keep buying these books for dummies!!"
-as a side note we only bought two and they were for Scott's work and completely un-helpful-

Well I think that is all my catching up for at least a week or so. Who knows, maybe the urge to blog will strike again in the near future and I will tell you all about my dear husbands upcoming major surgery.... then again.... maybe not!

BYE ALL!

Chop Chop!!!

I did it! I cut it all off!!! Ok actually AMANDA THE GREAT cut it all off! She is the best hair dresser EVER! Isn't this cut SO CUTE! My favorite part is the back!


So I was going to write this whole in depth post on my feelings about myself and why I chose to cut my hair... yadda yadda yadda. But I am just not feeling it right now. Mostly because it is past midnight and I am sleepy. So lucky you don't have to read a gigantic post! YAY!

The long and the short of it is (haha... get it... long and short... like my hair.. tee hee) I loved my hair longer, but I NEVER DID IT! I always wondered why ladies hair got shorter with their age. I guess I know now! I have so much to do in my life right now and my hair just isn't one of them. I stay at home most of the time with no one around to see it... so why spend an hour blow drying, curling, straitening, gelling, and fighting my hair. I do it on Sunday and that is about it. In fact one day I decided to go a little crazy and do it on a regular week day. Amalyssa looked at me and asked "Is it Church day today?" Yeah.... it was bad. I have noticed that lately I really hate myself. I will spare you the details... but I sit and mope most of the day about what a lazy slouch I am. Today I decided to make a change. I told Amanda that my hair couldn't take any more than 20 min TOPS start to finish. I am making myself a promise to do my hair and makeup first thing in the morning EVERYDAY! If I feel better on the outside I think it will improve a great deal on the inside. After a great deal of discussion we decided on this cut. That is one of the things I love MOST about having Amanda cut my hair!

REASONS TO HAVE AMANDA CUT YOUR HAIR-

1. She is totally AMAZING at cutting hair! This girl has some serious talent!

2. She will TAKE TIME and TALK with you about what you want in a hair cut

3. She will tell you straight up if she thinks the cut/color you have chosen would be a bad fit for your face or preferences.

4. She will do a complete second cut if she gets finished and you aren't happy

5. She knows what will look great on EVERYBODY and will work well with your needs

6. She just plain ROCKS at doing hair

7. As she styles your new cut she takes the time to TEACH YOU how to do it! She tells you products and their pluses and minuses, she gives great tips on problem areas or what might take some practice, she shows you just what to do when you get home to make it look like you just walked out of the salon every day!

8. Have I told you how totally ADORABLE her 'studio' is. She cuts hair in her living room and has it dolled out!!

9. Need a new style? I can hook you up with the most AMAZING HAIR DRESSER EVER!!!

10. Oh.. and did I tell you that her prices are ridiculously reasonable!???


Ok- enough about Amanda... back to me! lol. As a photographer taking pictures of yourself can be a highly frustrating task! I have to thank my dear Amalyssa who was more than happy to help me out! Isn't she going to be a great photographer some day!!??



Did I mention that she will also be a fashion designer and a super model!?? The other day she comes out of her room in this 'new' ensemble. She tells me that she has to have the dog because it makes her look rich... "all rich people have cute dogs mom." Then she says "Do you want to take a picture of me?" I just told her where to stand, the rest of this is all her! Even the hat tip was a carefully chosen effect by my lovely little girl. She is such a diva! lol

Well I hope you enjoyed the picts and my 'short' ramblings (haha yeah right... I just get going and can't stop). Tomorow I will be getting up, exercizing and then doing my adorable new hair before tackling a productive day. I am even going to refrain from turning the computer on!!! (until at least noon! lol)

Grateful.....

I just finished watching the movie 'Fireproof.' Have you seen it? It is a great movie. The acting is mediocre, the story line slow and often boring, but the message is..... incredible.

I am so grateful for my life. I have always had the gospel in my life... thank you mom. I have an amazing husband who does everything for me and more... thank you Scott. He was raised by amazing people who taught him love, respect, money smarts, and the gospel.... Thank you Becky and Dwayne. I have children who teach me daily, who put up with my selfish ways and love me anyway... thank you Amalyssa and Braden. I am surrounded by friends, family, and aquaintences who constantly uplift me and change my life. I learn from each of you, pull strength from each of you, and admire each of you for who you are and you inspire me to be better everyday.... thank you.... all of you.

I am so blessed.

"....and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it." 3 Nephi 24:10.

I don't know that I have done much to deserve the blessed life I live. But I am thankful for all that I have. I pray that I can live worthy of all he gives me, and more so that I can pass these blessings onto others who may lack.

Thank you all for being part of my life and loving me even when I screw up. I love you all.

Kid bit's

I remembered my stories!! The kids were so accommodating today as to give me several new ones to share too!

Braden's fix it solution-
We have old kitchen cabinets. They don't all shut properly. One of them was bothering Braden the other day. He would try to shut it but it would just creak back open. After several failed attempts to close the cabinet he looked at me and said "Mom, it's broken!" I said "I know sweetie" He suddenly lit up and said "I KNOW!!!! DUCT TAPE!!!!"
Should I be worried that my 3 yr old knows the duct tape solution??


Scapegoat-
Scott fixed the trap under our bathroom sink on Saturday. I had been meaning to empty and rearrange all the stuff under the sink anyway so I told him just to pile it all up outside the door and leave it for me to clean up later. After the fix it job was done and the mess remained Braden wandered upstairs from his movie that he had been watching the whole time dad was playing plumber. Braden saw the mess and exclaimed "WHAT A MESS!" I chuckled and explained in mock surprise "Oh my word! Who do you think made such a mess!??" He darkly replied with accusing eyes "Sister......"

Alphabet doctor-
Amalyssa was looking at the calendar this morning and noticed that I had a doctors appt. She turned to me and asked "Do you have to say the whole alphabet before you can get in to see the doctor?" I was totally confused and asked her why she would think I had to say the alphabet to see my doctor. She responded "because it says Dr. Z." - My doctors name is Dr Zimmerman- Suddenly it all made humorous sense.

"Put it back!"
I found a large rock in Amalyssas backpack this morning. I pulled it out and asked "Why do you have such a large rock in your backpack?" She quickly responded in somewhat of a panic "Put it back!!! It keeps me from blowing away in the wind!!"

"MY COOKIE!"
This morning Braden and I jumped in the car to run errands. I had grabbed a chocolate chip cookie for each of us. Just seconds after getting on the road Braden exclaimed "My cookie!?" I asked "Uh oh... did it fall on the floor?" He then said with sudden realization and a giggle "OH..... Me ate it."


Ahh there are times I love to be a mother.

Bit's 'N pieces

- I really hate when the card swipe machine at the store gives me my total and ask's "Is this OK?" I always think -NO IT IS NOT! Like I really WANT to spend $100 bucks on food for one week! I much prefer when the machine ask's "Is this amount correct." It makes me so much less agrivated.

- I never really understood why people complained so much about getting older. It is just a number so what is the big deal? Now I get it. It ISN'T the number that is so bad... it is the CRAP that comes WITH the number.

-I am watching my weight. Watching it grow anyway.

- What makes the chocolate chip cookie so ultimately delicious?

- Yesterday I had asked the kids to pick up the basement. A while later when Amalyssa came upstairs I asked how the basement looked, the following conversation came next
me-"how does the basement look?"
Amalyssa "Ummm...... I don't want to tell you."
Me "Ahhh, that must mean that it is still a disaster."
Amalyssa "How do you know!?"
Me "Because mom's are amazing like that! Aren't they?"
Amalyssa (with a dose of attitude says) "That's just because they have so much practice!"

-No more water bed. Ours sprung it's final leak. Saturday we spent 4 (CORRECTION - 5 hours) hours bed shopping.

-My kids were GREAT for 4 1/2 hours of the boring bed shopping

- That is about 4 hours and 20 minutes longer than I expected them to be so great!

-Anyone want to help me shampoo carpets on Thursday?

- I had two other cute 'kid' stories to share. Why can't I remember them?? Oh yeah... it goes back to that getting OLD thing. Bugger