Takin' the Animals to the Zoo

Thursday before we went to Disneyland Kristi wanted to get all the kiddos together and go to the Zoo. It was such a fun day. The kids did really well and it was a nice "out" with all the hub-ub going on.

Nicole refused to get out of the stroller for the picture. Spencer did the exact same thing just a few days later when Grandma wanted a grand kid picture.
I LOVE this picture!!!! Cameron wanted to be on the "big lion, not the baby lion". He is definitely showing his displeasure. I also love that Spencer is showing his joy in Cameron's disappointment.

He Left Me Speechless....and that doesn't happen too often

On Wednesday morning we were trying to get Cam ready for school and the floor of the family room and his bedroom were COVERED with Pokemon cards. I got upset and said, "Boys, I am tired of your stuff always on the floor. How come you can't clean-up after yourselves?"

Spencer looked at me and replied, "Well Mommy, yous stuff is all over the floor downstairs."

Sure enough, even though I have organized all of my craft stuff in bins and those bins now reside in the storage room, I had a few projects I was working on the night before and 6 bins were on the floor in the family room.

Hey, who does that little 3 year old think he is trying to remind me that I am not perfect???

Best Mom EVER!!!

Does anyone remember after they have their first child, and when plans are being made, or the car is being loaded up, the baby is almost forgotten. That new child isn't so ingrained into your life yet, so you almost live your life like you did in the blissful pre-child days.

Well, I have had 1-2 children for 5 1/2 years now,,,and although I didn't forget Spencer today, let's just say my mind was elsewhere.

Today started out as a wonderful day, I have been stressing and fretting for a month now about how to tell my boss of 10 years that I am going to live with the other parent now that the divorce has been final since November (sorry to those of you who don't get it). Well, I told him yesterday. It was ugly and nasty, but it's over and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from me. Now that I am not obsessing over that, I can focus on what needs to be done to get ready for our trip to Disneyland; Enrichment that I am over, but will not be here for; new crochet patterns for beanies (my craft obsession of the moment); getting Cam registered for Kindergarten and T-ball; finishing and mailing off taxes (damn you tax man); getting an Etsy order filled and mailed; what to fix for dinner. (this was the list on my mind all morning).

Spencer and I went to Wal-Mart to buy the stuff for enrichment, and of course pick up some more yarn. I loaded the groceries into the van, loaded Spencer into the van, put the cart away, turned on the I-pod, and we were off. The sun was shining, and I was feeling good. I was going through the above list and when I got to thinking about the fun yarn I bought, Spencer put his cute little face right by my face and announced with an enormous grin, " Nook Mommy, I'm not buctled in my seat belt!!!"
I screamed for 2 reasons
1) When a Mommy is lost in thought and all of the sudden you are cheek to cheek with your child when you shouldn't be cheek to cheek with your child---let's just say the adrenaline starts pumping.
2) Holy Crap, I didn't buckle Spencer in.

Spencer was disappointed when I pulled over and buckled him in.

I am the best mom ever!!!!!

Family Night...Shamly Night

Anybody with kids will empathize with our evening. And those of you without kids will experience this someday.

Chad and I try really hard to do the right things for our little family: family prayer, scripture study, family night, reading, playing, family dinner at the table etc. etc. But most Mondays our efforts are shoved back in our faces with fighting, crying, teasing, etc. etc. Most of the time we can at least get something resembling a lesson, song, prayer in before we are pulling our hair out. I wanted today to be different, so I was going to circumvent the normal pitfalls by fixing the kids a separate meal I know they will eat (I was not in the mood to fight them to eat what we were having). DIDN'T WORK. Spencer spent half of dinner in his room because he didn't want to eat. (NOTE to child: Not smart! If you're not going to eat something I know you like, you're stuck with the big people food.) After dinner--with no dessert I figured we could play outside for a bit before we have the lesson. Holy Cow!!! Can you say double meltdown (and I'm not even talking about mommy and daddy, although that could have happened tonight as well). Both boys ended up out of their minds crying over goodness knows what. I will spare the details, other than to say that Spencer was in bed at 6:20 and Cameron followed a few short minutes later. We were lucky to get jammies on and teeth brushed let alone a nice, feel-good lesson and song.

We had better get points in heaven for the desire to do all the good stuff we're supposed to.

SO Not A Good Thing

My sister Kristi is entering the Pilsbury Million Dollar Bake Off, for her AMAZING cookies. I have been the test taster for every variation she has come up with and she even trusted me with the recipe, so she could see if a baking idiot could replicate the recipe (which by the way I did--woo hoo, not such an idiot after all).

The reason all of this is not a good thing----I have a weakness for all things round and named cookie. Cakes, pies, pastries can go moldy for all I care,,,but cookies...MMMMM!!! These cookies of Kristi's are very large and very rich!!!! So much so, that Richele can only take a bite or two. Mom just eats around the edges leaving the extremely rich middle of secret gooey goodness. Chad breaks a cookie in half and is done for the evening. But Kami-girl, yah, she can down 4 cookies before they are even cooled on the rack and polish off 2 more after the boys are in bed without a second thought (ziggy piggy). And that was just my test batch. With Mom's test batch, I ate one before I even said Hi as I walked in her kitchen. Then I took 2 more home--One for Chad and one for my lunch the next day. Well, I finished off Chad's while I cooked dinner and ate the one I tried so hard to save for the next day after the boys were in bed. I am SO weak.

I should be the size of my house,,,,obviously anxiety burns a ton of calories.

What do I learn from all of this????
Cookies, not a good thing.....anxiety burning calories, very good thing.

"I'm A Hungry Devil"

We had fun with the "hungry" word at Grandmas on Sunday. Chad just noticed the other day that when Spencer says "hungry", it sounds like something that has nothing to do with food. We have also been trying to correct the "booty" thing. Ahh, he's 3. I also think the burp in the middle, is just the final touch to the rudeness of the video (it's hard to hear, but he does say "excuse me"). We are such great parents.

For those of you whom this video offends----tough.

I Can't Believe We Have Put Up With Each Other For A Decade!!

One word for you...Babies!!! Yes, we were almost 23, but still, BABIES!!
Funny thing, I would do almost everything different (other than Chad) if we were getting married now. I'm just glad I didn't do anything too wild or trendy.


Last Friday was our 10 year wedding anniversary (man I feel old). We decided to just stay home since we have Disneyland coming up and we already went to Vegas last October. Cameron went to Grandmas (and was perfect). Spencer went to Grammys (was almost perfect). We may only have 2 kids, but have discovered that the divide and conquer method is best.
We loved dinner and shopping (nothing for the boys). When we got home Grammy called and said that Spencer wasn't going to make it for the sleepover. He kept saying, "Grammy, it's detting dark, I have to dough home. I just need my Mommy and Daddy." So we put him to bed, watched a movie and then comforted him from midnight to 1:30 am (business as usual). In the morning he was supposed to go back to Grammys, but didn't want to. Being the extremely brilliant woman that I am I told him our TV was broken (it worked like a charm--he couldn't wait for Grammy to come). We fixed a big breakfast and went back to sleep until noon. Lovely lovely 24 hours and cheap too :)

Thanks for a great 10 years Chad!!! I can't wait for the rest of eternity (for those of you who know me, totally kidding---I hate cheesy sentiment). But I really am grateful for the wonderful husband and father you are. You are my best friend and you handle me and my restlessness/anxiety better than even I do. I am so grateful for your patience, kindness and love.

We've Got a Big Old Family Tree

Chad and Cameron were upstairs watching the Jazz game. Cameron was asking about the players and Chad explained that Carlos Boozer went to high school with Aunt Shannon.

Cameron responded, "So, is he part of our family?"

Doin' Our Part To Stimulate The Economy

As if finishing the basement isn't enough for us, I decided that I am tired of trying to have family over without enough seating (eating or lounging). SO,,,,a new kitchen table and love seat were purchased (oh, and TV--but that was Chad's thing, not mine). We got rid of some shelves, the entertainment center and rearranged the rest of the furniture. I will now hopefully feel less uptight when we entertain. Chad would love to just get a bigger house, but that's not going to happen, so we make the most of the house we have.

BEFORE
AFTER
The new love seat is so darn comfy

BEFORE
AFTER


BEFORE
AFTER
notice the little vinyl "flourish" on the right side of the mirror--love it love it


BEFORE
AFTER
we just need to hide the cords
I've never been into vinyl lettering on my walls, but I found the best shop on etsy and decided to give the birdcages a try. (I was nervous, but hey, if I didn't like it I just peel it off and kiss $40 good-bye). Cameron loves them, and has even named the birds: Chewy, Alex, and Marty. (Hey, I'm thrilled if my kids will be happy with vinyl pets)
I really like the cherry blossom branch they have, but it wouldn't have worked.



BEFORE
AFTER

BEFOREAFTER
I painted the shelf that Chad and Brett made for me back in the duplex days.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new kitchen table. It's counter-height and the chairs are cushioned. So much more comfy than a normal table. Spencer was afraid to eat dinner on it. He probably knew I would freak out if he did anything to harm/dent it. (too much pressure for a 3 year old)

Notice the picture collages on the shelf as well----So cute and easy!!!! Definately a Girl's Night Project!!!!!

Apparently I'm a Norman!!

This afternoon Spencer brought his scriptures to me and asked, "Mommy, can you read to me about my Normans?"

I said, "You mean you want me to read your Book of Mormon to you?"

"YUP!!!" was his reply.

Also, here are a few pictures I took a couple of weeks ago of the boys "baptizing" all of their Book of Mormon figures. They always want the story of Abinadi, Wicked King Noah, and Alma---ending with them "baptizing everybody in the Book of Mormon".

Such Sillies.

Spencers 3 Year Pictures

Thanks so much to Shell-Bell for taking Spencer's Pictures!!! She does such a good job and it is so much better than the other places we used to "attempt" to get his pictures taken. We are definitely the beneficiaries of her new hobby.

My fav--notice the raised eyebrowsHe looks 5 years old to me in this oneThis is Spencers shy look (he tilts his head down and puts his finger to his lips--but still looks up with his eyes)...I don't even remember what we asked him to do. He will even do this look with me (his favorite person in the world) when he feels shy towards me. Weird kid.He even chose his outfit...especially the jacket (actually he INSISTED on the jacket)