Family Fun

I will start by saying I went to the campout this year with intentions of enjoying myself and my kids to the fullest.  It has been a straining month or so at work and I just needed the time to relax and enjoy family.  I so wanted to take a million pictures but found myself just enjoying the time instead.  It was great and here are my higlights:

• It did not rain not even one drop!  Yeah I think this is the first year in about 5 that we have not had rain.
• We did not eat one hotdog!  I know it is almost a sin to camp and not eat a hotdog but we decided that Cafe Rio salad for Friday night was better.  Then it was turkey dinner for Saturday dinner and Martha came.  Then I made Indian chicken for the few that stayed on Sunday night.
• Sunday Night:  There is a lot to say about it.  After we had dinner a moose came out of the meadow.  He was young enough to just have buds for horns but he was still a large animal.  There is a sand court for volleyball and such and he got out in the court and was prancing and dancing around.  He was obviously bothered by something.  It was scary because we were not that far away and Huck had just been in that sand about 5 minutes before the moose showed up, thanks to Grandpa Brent who went and got him so he could see the moose.  So he took off again and stayed away for a while but, when he came back he was not alone we assume that it was the mother moose that came back with him.  Well he came back and ate some bushes that are right on the way to the bathroom so he was close.  It made me nervous to be between him and what was assumed to be the mom.  Wild animals are very protective as am I.  It was very interesting to feel the parental safe mode kick in.  I would have thrown myself over my kids or done anything to see that my kids were not hurt by the moose.  Very amazing experience.  He stayed around quite a while.  Where was my camera you ask.  Well it was in the trunk, I know it was a great place for it.  They need to make self picture taking cameras for just said experinces.  My kids are excited to tell their friends at Dancing Moose that they saw a dancing moose this weekend.
• I think my very favorite part is when Eliza and I went over to the bathroom after we saw the moose and she asked me this question:  “Where do moose come from mom, do they lay eggs or something?”  I was so excited that she would pose such a question but a little off guard on how to answer.  I told her that moose are mammals just like us so when moose are born they are alive.  I also told her that the baby moose grows in the tummy of the mommy moose and then the moose is born just like she was.  I was very happy that this answer sufficed and that I did not have to go into any more details.  I love her 5 year old brain.
• Sunday night fire when my kids are so exhausted that they fall asleep on your lap, or Ira’s and Grandma Sue’s.  We had great conversation about our favorite vacation.  I have such great memories of many vacations that it was fun to think about.

Thanks dad for keeping up tradition and having turkey dinner in the canyons so that I can share it with my family.  Love you.

So for my birthday Ira gave me a craft robo. (Google it)

I was a little hesitant at first and was afraid I was not going to be able to use it without his help. It is a glorified cricut that you hook up to your computer and cut out just about anything you want. It is amazing. I have a whole new need for vinyl stickers. Here is a picture story of my first solo project. I was determined to do it by myself and I did. Ira was busy installing a new fountain with the kids.

Here is the image after weeding. Weeding in the process of getting the little pieces out of the picture so you can put you sticker up. The best tool for this is the dental pick I bought at Smith and Edwards. I knew I needed one!

This is a picture of it on the box. We have a green cable box in our front yard and I thought I would girly it up.
I did it. I finished the project with no help. I am so proud.

I was fine with my baby girl turning 5 until the day before her birthday.

On May 18, 2010 I woke up thinking about May 18, 2005. I was 9 months pregnant with Eliza. I was monitoring my blood pressure because it had become high at my last few appointments. I took my blood pressure and was sure that it was a miss read. I took it again about 5 minutes later and it was high. I finished getting ready for work and called the doctors office once I knew they were open. They told me to come in later that afternoon for a non-stress test. Ira and I headed off to the office where they proceeded to hook me up to some sort of monitors and made me drink a soda. I was not a very willing participant in drinking the soda because of the massive heart burn it was giving me. Well after what seemed forever and lots of questions and probing and noise making to the baby the doctor asked how I felt about having a baby tonight. I remember feeling very overwhelmed by the statement and very happy at the same time. Ira and I went back to work so I could tie up the loose ends and so we could finish our work day. On the way home I had to make a phone call to Katie making sure she was willing to share her birthday with her niece or nephew. (We did not know that Eliza was a girl until she was born.) Katie was more than willing, thank goodness. We went home gathered the few things that were still at home and headed to the hospital. We got all checked in hooked up and waited until 10:18 the next morning to meet our Eliza.
Eliza you changed my world forever. I will never forget the moment that I first saw you. It seemed as though I was looking into a mirror. I have watched you grow into such a smart and beautiful little girl. I love that you are learning how to read and that you want to be the best at everything you do. I love that you sing songs and love to go to primary. I love the outfits you pick out for yourself and enjoy watching you play with Huck. I am excited to see you grow but I don’t know where the time went. I love you and wanted you to know that on your 5th birthday!
Eliza turns 1!

Eliza turns 2!

Eliza turns 3!

Eliza turns 4!

Eliza turns 5!

For a beginning martial artist, check out this student karate uniform which is $14.95 - $24.95.

So I was looking for some Karate Gis for my kiddos and ordered them from www.karatedepot.com. When I got confirmation email they said that if I post about them they will send me a free t-shirt. So Here you go Karate Depot. I will post a picture of the kiddos in the gis when I receive them with another link to your site.

Here is a picture of the free tee.

So tonight as I was giving the kiddos a bath I overheard this conversation.

Eliza: Huck someday I will die but, don’t worry I will rise again.

Huck: Yeah, with living breath.

I love having small kids around to remind me that we do get to live again and that there is not a wrong time to share the gospel with each other.  I love it that Eliza wants to teach her friends at school all her primary songs.  I tell her that she has to teach them to her friends during recess so that she does not disturb her teachers.  Thank goodness they get to sing Popcorn popping on the apricot tree at school.

I sure hope that this puts a smile on your face.

So a couple of days before Halloween I took the kiddos to the craft store.  We needed to kill some time before heading out for a birthday party.  We had spent a good hour in the store getting finishing touches to the costumes and such.  We were in the check out line and Eliza decides to hollar “Mom I’m having a heart attack”.  I start laughing and the lady in front of me in line starts chuckling and then turns around just to make sure everything is alright.  I know that it made my day I sure do hope that the other people who heard got a good chuckle also.

I have been crowned the meanest/worstest mom in the world.  That is right ladies I am Queen of the meanest mom for now.  Someone can take it away if they wish but, just know that for the next couple of months (maybe longer) I am crowned with this wonderful title about once a day.  Huck took the opportunity to crown me this in the parking lot of the school the other day in front of witnessess.  Now so that you don’t fell too bad about my sweet baby boy calling me the worstest mom ever, later that day when I picked him up he let me know that I was the nicest mom ever.  Being crowned the nicest mom ever makes it bearable to wear the crown of the meanest mom.

Reason number one for not having road rage:  I was cut off my some dumb a** the other day and took it upon my self to let everyone in the car know including my kids.  That is right everyone I will admit it only because you need to know that the next thing that I heard from the back seat was Huck saying dumb ash over and over and over again.  If he says it feel free to let him know that it is not right and that his mom has a potty mouth.  I really need to get over yelling at people in the car.

Just a cool little note about this morning.  In our house we have some big windows that face north.  As I was preparing food for today a big flock of birds were doing there bird things and flying all over the place.  They flew right up to our house and the windows.  I think that they landed on the roof for about 10 seconds and then they all flew off at the same time.  There were like a hundred birds.  It was like the movie birds but instead of being locked in a phone booth I was safe inside my house.

May this day be always remembered.  This was the first year that I cooked Thanksgiving dinner.  It was so much fun to plan and cook.  I was very overwhelmed at first but got it taken care of.  On the menu was Turkey (of course), cranberry sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, country style green beans, corn, sweet potatoes, stuffing, black and green olives,  jello salad and rolls.  Ben brought some parsnips to cook up and they were delish!  We had Ben, McKenzine, Jake, Katie, Kennedy, Macy and us.  We missed Mom, Dad, Kari and Rainier but we heard that Thanksgiving in Las Vegas is just as good as Thanksgiving in Salt Lake.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well everything turned out.  I hope everyone found something that they liked.  I assigned the dessert out because although I love baking more than cooking I could not bear baking and cooking on the same day.  Ben and McKenzie brought a very tasty peach pie with Huck’s favorite vanilla icecream and Katie brought a wonderful pumpkin bread pudding with a molassas cream topping.  Thanks for the desserts guys they were wonderful!  This year I am thankful for family and the great support that they bring in every situation.  It was great to test my limits and to be able to push myself to do something new.  I thank my mom for all the years that she has made essentially two thanksgiving dinners.  We usually have a practice run for dads birthday in early November.  I love my family and wish them all a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I also am thankful for a brother and husband that did the dishes after dinner

We had a totally awesome Labor Day Weekend. Here is our list (in no particular order):

1. We had a dinner with the Nelson family that was uber yummy!
2. Beth and the Kids did a bunch of gardening.
3. Eliza cooked not one but two dinners (her first ever) and they were both great!  She cooked sloppy joes on Friday and macaroni and tomatoes tonight.
4. I managed to finish the air engine for my grinder street organ.
5. We had some neighbors stop by and ask for a tour of our basement so they could visualize how theirs would turn out.  A nice side effect of this was that we were motivated to finish our unpacking.  We have emptied and put away the stuff in all of the moving boxes.  We still have a few things in boxes, but they have been looked at and deemed box worthy!  So we are officially 100% moved in!  WOOT!

Here is a quick video of Eliza eating at the salad bar. Even though you would guess that it was a lime, it was really a tomato, and they were pretty sweet at that!

Five things tag.

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. I was just married.
2. Working at TheraTech.
3. Eating a lot of Burger King breakfast.
4. Learning the joys of home ownership.
5. Enjoying being married.

Five things on my to do list today:

1. Shower
2. Get the kids dressed.
3. Go to Costco.
4. Go to Harmons.
5. Go to Eliza and Huck’s school Halloween Party.

(Hopefully in that order!)

Five of my favorite snacks:

1. Chips and salsa.
2. Chips of any kind
3. Cheese and Crackers
4. Sunflower seeds
5. cold pizza

Five jobs I have had:

1. Boxed chocolates, thin mints and candy coal for a candy company.
2. Helped move a medical retention center warehouse to a new warehouse
3. Manufacturing of Pharacuticals and Medical Devices
4. Document control Supervisor
5. Mom

Five Things I would do with a million dollars:

1. Buy a house with a wrap around porch, a garage and a workshop.
2. Buy a Mini Cooper S, red with black bonnet stripes.
3. Open 529 accounts for my kids
4. Finish School
5. Save

Five things that made me laugh this week:

1. Eliza singing the months of the year song with actions.
2. A certain guy at work everytime I hear him laugh.
3. Huckleberry dancing to his songs
4. Ira
5. A phone message from Kennedy.

Five people I tag to answer these same questions:
Anyone who has not done a tag like this for a while or is just looking for a reason to post something.