Long Time No post

So, it's been a while. Things are crazy, as usual. I wonder when they will slow down? Tonight I did something very brave. I cut my girl's hair. I don't think I did a BAD job, just don't think I did a great job. Whomever cuts their hair next will probably be disgusted at the unevenness of it. But, they were brave enough to let me try and I was brave enough to try it. Tomorrow when they wake up we will see how it goes.

We had a great low-key easter weekend. We went to Fort Worth to see some friends and to buy a car. We have been car shopping for over a month...and for any of you who know my husband, to say we shopped for a month is somewhat of a miracle. He doesn't have a whole ton of patience for shopping around. We were patient and held out and ended up getting a great deal. We bought a 2006 Nissan Armada....pretty nice. It even has a back-up camera so I can see what is going on behind me before I back up. It will keep those around me very safe..

For Easter we had a small Easter Egg hunt at home and then went to church, a little late, and then had a houseful of people over for dinner. It was a fantastic dinner and I am still feeling the effects of it...but still eating leftovers too. Gotta love caramel bread pudding...thanks Union Grill for sharing the recipe. It is FANTASTIC!

Tarin is in full swing with soccer. She still loves it and has an excellent coach and likes the girls on her team. She is very active and asked me tonight why when you do ballet you have to make your toes point so funny. She thinks it looks silly...

Ella was showing off her ballet moves tonight and I am really surprised at the grace and poise she has when she does her little ballet moves. She is definately the ballerina princess....She is going to turn five in May and doesn't want much for her birthday, just to go with her friends to Hawaii to the beach. Or, she would like to take all her friends to Sea World. Seems simple enough, right?

Walker is turning into a wild man. He loves playing outside and has a car in the back yard that he LOVES! Gotta love neighbors who pass down toys. I think that thing is going to keep him busy for hours a day. It is one of those Flinstone-like cars that you push with your feet. He is always happy and has a serious sense of humor.

Dan's mom is coming this week for a visit...we are all SO excited. It has been a LONG time, like almost a year, since we have had visitors. HINT HINT! Come on ya'll and see us!

Teach Me!

So, I was driving on our way to Southern Utah this past week....and had the cruise control set at 75 in a 70 mph speed limit zone...safe you would think. Nope, I got pulled over. He said I was going 77 and I GOT A TICKET! Teach me to blog and brag about getting out of stuff. I am pissed. 7 MPH over...who gets a ticket for that. and it is going to cost me $130.00. Yeah, no fair...that is all I have to say.

Other than that, the trip was great fun and we made it there and back alive. It was about 50 hours in the car..I know you are all jealous! It was worth it though!

Is it Luck??

I just remembered a few things, and thought if I didn't blog them, they may never make it to our family history and I just want my children to know how truely gifted their mother is....at getting out of things.

Situation #1 - - pulled over for going 41 in a 30. I say, "but officer how are we supposed to keep track of the speed limit on this road when it changes 5 times in two miles." We argue about the speed limit up ahead...literally 1/4 mile. I tell him it is 40, he says 35, I am right. I get a warning.

Situation #2 - - pulled over for doing a "California Rolling Stop" with my three kids, plus my neighbors three kids all in the car. All of them buckled appropriately and everyone happy. I get a warning, by simply apologizing, or looking pathetic with all those kids, or he was just too scared to think that some crazy lady in her late 20's could possibly have six kids.

Situation #3 - - -on my way home from a massage one night I drove approximately 10 miles on the freeway and as I was exiting...I knew I wasn't speeding because I was slowing down to exit...i get pulled over. He told me he was suspicious that I had been drinking because my headlights weren't on (it was about 10PM). Apparantly that is a warning sign of a drunk driver. I get a nice reminder to turn on my lights. I apologize profusely because of course it was just a mistake. I was in Dan's truck and not used to having to remember to turn them on.

Situation #4 - - -I am late getting Ella to school and I hurry and put the kids in the car and head down the road with only my cell phone. They just installed a new traffic light in our neighborhood and it happens to be in the middle of the school zone. The intersection where the light is used to be a 4 way stop, and I have accidentally run the red light a few times forgetting there was a light there, so I was very focused on the light and not so much the school zone. Sure enough, I gun it when the light turns green and find myself going 36 in a 25mph school zone. The cop just walks out from behind the tree (because the motorcycle cops park their bikes and just stand there to pull you over), and pulls me over. I immediately realize that I have no wallet, but my insurance card is there, so hopefully that is good enough. The cop approaches me and asks for my stuff. I tell him that I was running my daughter to pre school, running late, and forgot to grab my purse. I don't know my driver's liscense number, and so I just hand him my insurance card...mind you this was on February 3rd. He then looks at the card and asks for a CURRENT card...you see mine expired February 1st, and I hadn't replaced it with the new one. So, no I don't. I NEVER cried, I just had to laugh. He said "Ma'am this just isn't your day is it?" I laughed and said, apparantly not. He goes back to his motorcycle. I think to myself, surely my luck has run out and this is going to be the BIGGEST ticket of my life. He come back to the truck, and says.....well I am going to give you a warning for the speeding (WHAT? HOORAY!!) But I am going to write you up for no proof of insurance and no dirver's liscense. You just have to go show those two things at the courthouse and your ticket will be waived! Yes, I am the luckiest person alive.

Dan however, is not. For the number of times I have gotten out of a ticket, he has gotten twice as many and paid a whole heck of a lot of money to the courthouse. I think he has had three tickets since Christmas, isn't that right honey?

Moral of the story...watch out for PFPD! They are out there in force and may just be hiding behind your nearest tree!

Things to remember.

2 Years old and GROWING!

My Sweet Baby is Two.....although the size of an average three year old

I cannot believe that two years ago tomorrow my baby boy was born. He has been a complete joy since the first day we had him....other than the fact he wanted to be born upside-down....

We had his birthday party today so that Dan could be here. We all met at a bus stop and then rode the city bus to a McDonald's ate their oh so yummy goodness, played a while, had cupcakes, and then rode the bus back home. It was fantastic. This was all for the boy, who every time he sees a bus...asks "bus, mommy, please?" So this was to fulfill his two year old fantasy, and it did. He loved it and I think his friends did too.

All the kids waiting for the bus


Ready to go

Luke, Karina, Ella, Jill, and Tarin are ready to ride

Denise and Sara were so awesome to bring Dawson and Scott to celebrate with Walker.

Ben and Al joined in at McD's

So did Kasey and Kade

As you can tell, Walker enjoyed his cupcake.

This is all of us, minus Ben and Al and a few other friends headed back to the bus stop to catch the bus. This was the scary part of the trip...a whole bunch of toddlers waiting for a bus along a very busy street. I think all of us were happy when the bus finally arrived and the kids were safely on board

Here he is with all his friends and family singing happy birthday to him. This is just a small glimpse into the sweet baby I have. Turn the music to mute so you can enjoy!






His friends by him are Scott on the left and Dawson on the right. Pretty fun, huh?

Happy birthday Big Boy!!

Marathon

So, do you ever have those days that feel completely like you have been running and running all day, and if you added your steps up during the day, you more than likely would have completed the 26.2 miles in a marathon. That was today, completely. I got a head start on the mileage by running on the treadmill for 5.5 miles...and didn't stop until about 10PM tonight. From the gym, to ballet, ballet to lunch with friends, lunch with friends to a playdate for Ella, home from school and playing outside with the neighbors. Make Dinner. Then take that dinner to a friend, and home to feed my own kids...off to Young Women...then to Wal Mart to pick up one item (which they did not have) and back home again, just in time to pack lunches and make sure everyone is tucked in and happy. I think this is the first time ALL day I have sat down.

I know that all of you have lives just like this...daily it is a battle to fit in the right thing and the most important thing. It is days like today that make me feel a need to slow down and stay home. However, I don't forsee that happening any time soon, maybe next week I can have one of those days. Who knows? All I can say is it is a good thing people aren't looking at my house right now. I don't know how I could add any cleaning into this day. I am lucky the dishes are done.

Picture Update

Here are pictures from our trip to St george at Christmastime....a little late, but better late than never, right?

This one is up at the Red Rocks...the girls were hanging out in some sort of cave. Taylor, Tarin, and Ella were quite the mountain climbers. They had so much fun exploring all throughout the red rocks.

We got to go on a few bike rides which was fun! Thanks to Robby and Katie for watching the boys so the rest of us could go enjoy a beautiful day.

We were all bundled up...it was great fun.

It was so cold Walker was crying...but he still looks pretty happy to be outside riding on the back of a bike.

Dan and Ella were always kings of the mountain. Willie was never too far behind.

View from Dixie Rock of st. George. Isn't it pretty?

The Mountain Climber

All of us....we aren't quite sure what Carin was doing, but I thiink we were all supposed to be acting like some sort of hyrogliphic or something...is that how you spell that?

There you go...some pictures, now I am not a liar!

Inspired

I have been re-inspired to dedicate some time to the blog. It has been a long time since a real post..it is a new goal.

Here is the latest...we have all had some 24 hour version of the stomach flu. It started with me on saturday, dan sunday, Tarin on Monday. I think Walker actually may have started it all in Utah when we were at my mom's but I am not 100% sure of that. Ella is still holding out, and I hope she does for a LONG time or gets it soon. This is beginning to DRAG on. One thing about having had it myself....i am completely empathetic to the rest of the gang as they get it one after the other. I am not natually a sympathetic person, so this is a good experience for me.

Robby got married! HOORAY for Robby and Katie. They are super cute and super happy as they should be. The wedding was fabulous! The cute little sealer that performed the ceremony did such a great job. It was very memorable for Dan and I as we are about to celebrate our 10th anniversary...can you believe it? I can't. It has gone by SO Fast. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would spend 5 of my next ten years in Texas I would have never believed you.

I will post some pics soon...I know i have been promising for a while, the problem is that they are all on Dan's computer and I only think to do this kind of stuff when he is out of town! More to come.

The Truths

So I was out on LDS.org looking for some Young Women information and I saw that there is a section of YouTube dedicated to Mormon Messages. I thought this was a great clip....clarifying the Truths about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I think this is a great resource they had all sorts of things that are totally useful in sharing and teaching lessons at church!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ktOwomCAy8

Enjoy!!

Sugarless Journey

So I know it has been too long since I've blogged, but I thought I would blog my time spent without sugar....It all started last night around 8 PM when the Andes Mint Brownies came out of Livia's oven. Of course I ate one....who wouldn't. This morning, I woke up, felt motivated and decided today was the day I would no longer eat sugar (at least until I lose 4-5 pounds...hopefully before Robby's wedding next week). Anywho...I dump the rest of the OH SO YUMMY GOODNESS chocolate cake down the drain...you would have been proud and my sugar free day begins. Make it through the gym, home to shower and run Ella to ballet. Make it through ballet and then I come home for lunch. Make a HUGE yummy salad and eat the ENTIRE thing....think...well since i can't have sugar, I should give myself a piece of whole wheat toast...and when I went to get the bread...THERE THEY WERE.....THIN MINT GIRL SCOUT COOKIES.....there was a minute (maybe 30) hesitation before I promptly sat down and ate 10 of them...2 at a time...very slowly. And it ends...my sugar free 12 hours were fantastic. Maybe I'll do it again tomorrow.

Short Update

So, not to skip over Christmas and all the excitement of our 60 hours in the car, but two major events happened today. My 22 month old "baby" told me he needed to pee pee and sure enough, he went to the potty and not only pee pee but poo poo came out. The intial plop scared him a bit, but he survived. Later this evening, while visiting the restaurant de Busby, he told me again, but this time I made him wait. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later we went to the potty and he had another success. WOO HOO! I think we are going to give this a go.

And to add a funny story to the mix. As we were having baths tonight Ella said something profound. I told her that "no" she could not watch tv. She said to me, "I wish that word (meaning the word no) would just go away!" I thought that was a good indicator as to what type of day Ella had had.

The End