Walking Boy!

Vincent is now almost 14 months. He just started taking his first steps without holding on or diving into the next piece of furniture Saturday. Today I videoed him, but he walked a lot further earlier today at church.



Today, we went to church in Connell for one of my cousins to talk. He is going on a mission to Argentina. Andy was in the foyer with Vincent during the second part of church because Vincent is starting to be too loud and busy for the meetings. Nursery here he comes! Countdown=4 months! I went out to take the diaper bag to Andy and to check on the girls in Primary and Vincent was walking halfway across the room. Andy said it was about 10-15 feet (not steps, feet). When I checked on the girls, Elizabeth saw me and told me to get to class. They were doing just fine. Lunch afterwards at my Aunt and Uncle's house and then we went to Andy's parent's house for dinner and to hang out. Vincent showed off his walking.

Saturday night we went to Nathan's play. He's one of our game night buddies. The play was "Deathtrap" by Ira Levine. I guess it was on Broadway a while ago. It was exciting and funny.
I arranged the babysitter. I called a friend who has bigger kids (also has two girls the same age as mine and we know them well). She asked if I wanted her 15 year old son or one of her daughters (11 and 13). I told her it would probably be more fun for the girls to just come together and then after the kids went to bed, they could watch a movie together and not be so nervous in a house alone (the play started at 8 and wasn't over until 10:30pm), plus we have three kids and sometimes they are a handful, especially for babysitters who they like to ask for things they shouldn't have, like cups of water by their beds. So, the two girls came. They did a great job. All three kids were asleep. They told me that one of them rocked and sang to Vincent to help him go to sleep (which I never do-we just put him in his crib when he acts tired) while the other put the girls to bed. They brought crayons and color books and a sing-a-long video to do with the girls. They fed them dinner, bathed the kids (I think Elizabeth convinced them that Vincent needed a swim diaper so he wouldn't "go" in the bathtub), read to them, and put them all to bed. When we got back, I asked if anyone had called and they said that they just called their mom to ask a question. I was curious and asked what the question was. They said that they forgot to pray (it was on my list) and they had already put the kids to bed. They were all worried about it. CUTE! I'm so glad they are such nice kids. Of course, not everything was put away just where I put it, but they did a great job with the kids and that's the most important thing. When we got back, they were watching Madagascar together and when I dropped them off at home, they ran up the steps to their house holding hands. What nice sisters!

Olivia has retired pull-ups at night now. For the last three nights, she has gone without. I wake her up to "go" before I go to bed and she has been dry when she wakes up. YEA!

Time's almost up to vote in the poll on the sidebar. What did/are you going to do with your tax refund?

American Idol-My thoughts

Front: Kris, Megan, Lil, Danny, Back: Michael, Scott, Allison, Adam, Anoop, Matt

Adam Lambert-I think he's a good singer, but I really don't like the screeching that he does when he sings. The judges always love him even when I need to fast forward (even though I don't, hoping it will get better). I don't get it. Also, I think his hair is gross, but he's better than the headband guy, Nathaniel. Yuck!

Allison Iraheta-I like how she sings. I love the deep sound in her voice. I don't like the songs she picks all the time, but at least she sings them well. It's also a big pet peeve of mine when people dye their hair "red". It just bugs me.

Anoop Desai-Good voice. He doesn't take many risks. I don't think he can win.

Danny Gokey-He's my favorite. He has personality. He looks and acts like a normal guy. He is an amazing singer. He doesn't take risks much either, but he is great anyway. I don't get why the judges were a little mean to him last night, while they though Adam was fabulous because he slowed a song down. I don't get it at all.

Kris Allen-I get him and Matt mixed up. Even though I like his voice, he is too quiet and I don't think he can win.

Lil Rounds-The best girl in the competition. The only girl I like still here. Her voice is powerful. She has three kids. Great!

Matt Giraud-He is annoying to me. His voice is good, I guess. He won't win.

Megan Joy-She is the most annoying contestant. Her weird little washing machine moves bugs me! I don't like the funny fluctuations that she does with her voice. I didn't like her in auditions and I still don't like her. I think if they didn't pick her, we'd still be making fun of her like William Hung.

Michael Sarver-I like him. He seems fun. He probably will make a country or gospel record. He won't win. He may be kicked off tonight, although I think it'd be great if Megan, Kris, or Matt were.

Scott MacIntyre-He is a great musician. He plays the piano beautifully and when that accompanies his voice, it's great. I don't think he actually sings as well without the piano (hence his crutch). He is one of my favorites though.

What do you think of this season?
Who is your favorite?
Are you even still watching Season 8?
Did you ever watch?

Math

Elizabeth does math.
She came into the computer room and wanted a blank piece of paper a few minutes ago.
Then, she wanted me to video her.
I just went out to check on the kids before showering to get ready to go for the day and found this.

I know at six, she ought to do things like this. I also am aware that the numbers are reversed in a few of those. She is doing pretty good though, I think.
Do you know which movie is in the background?

Shipping

Why is it that when you go through all the trouble of finding some cool deal online, then go through all the sign in stuff with the site, you are then told how much shipping will be and change your mind?This is SO annoying to me. I just was at the Target site (who emailed me to tell me that there was free shipping on hundreds of furniture items) and found a 6 drawer side table (that is now out of stock) for 37 bucks. Then, I went through all the stuff and found out shipping is 29 bucks! Really? I wish it was cheaper. I was totally gonna buy it. Maybe if shipping was half of that.
This is a pretty good effort to help me save money though.
I know that some sites have free shipping. But, they rarely have free shipping on the things I get.

Also, mailing packages cost so much. What's the deal? Some are reasonable. Some are not. I bought Andy's nephew a little toy in February. I paid, well, not much, like 5 bucks. To mail it, 8 bucks! Then, later that day, I found out that Andy and his dad were going to take a quick trip to see them. Arg. Hope he liked it. The next birthday got a gift card. Maybe that's better anyway. I don't know. I like to pick out their presents. I like when they get the present on or close to their birthday. Who doesn't like getting cool presents, you know?

At least it's cheap to mail my "one-size fits all" baby gift. If you don't know what that is, have a baby, tell me, and find out.

Road Trip!

If you want to know what we did in pictures today, check out my mom's post.
Elizabeth had another day off of school, so we drove to Walla Walla to hang out with my mom.
Fun day. And, bonus, my dad got home at 3pm and took the girls to the park. Fun stuff!

Hil-A-Rious!

I just got the pictures back from Elizabeth's class picture. She is by far, the silliest! I wasn't expecting it either. What a funny little girl I have.

The whole class.

Zoomed in cheesy grin.
My friend, Christy (who needs someone who does medical transcription to cover her during our Spring Break the end of the month-if you can or know someone, comment on her blog!), gave me two cute beaded purses with hairbows. There are two bows as well, but one is in Olivia's hair already.
I have been planning on doing mine, but have been busy doing other crafts with more urgency, so I hadn't. Until today. I did them. I am going to sell some at our Spring Event for Ransom.Made design on April 18th. Check out the other super cute things that my mother-in-law and sisters- in-law make. They do really fun gifts and cute things.

Oh, and I have an old friend from Church Stake dances and camp and stuff who has a new tiny baby (the baby is 6 weeks old, but was supposed to be born next week. She was born at 27 weeks at 3# 3oz) and is trying to juggle a 15 month old who still uses a bottle too and a bigger girl. Any tips for her? My kids were so much bigger when the next one came along, that I don't think I'm much help.....

Nothing Much...HA

I keep trying to think about what to write about on here the last few days, but I have nothing. Seriously, nothing. (Now watch me contradict that statement.)
We have been busy with school again this week, but really we were a lot busier last week when Elizabeth went to school for a total of two hours. Our week just filled up with everything so fast last week.
This week, we are sort of relaxing. Well, I'm spending a little more time at home anyway. I cleaned deeper this week than I have in a little while. (I'm always pretty tidy, but I HATE to clean the shower and don't like the effort it takes to mop, even though it really only took a couple minutes when I did it.) That was my task on Tuesday. I was going to do it on Monday, but I woke up with a very sore back and couldn't get motivated to do anything. I did take Elizabeth to school, ran a few errands (the eyebrows HAD to be waxed and I mailed a package to a friend), I helped in the kindergarten class, and picked Elizabeth up. I just wanted to lay around all morning though. And I did! Andy's mom sent us home on Sunday with a leftover pan of Chicken and Rice, so dinner was taken care of. Our ward enrichment last Thursday was a service auction and I bid on a really cool one. This lady offered to bring baked goods four times over the next several months. She called on Monday afternoon to see if her husband could bring them by. He brought two different kinds of delicious muffins that we used for a pre-dinner and a FHE snack. Great! They also served as a nighttime snack for me and breakfast on Tuesday for the girls.

So, Tuesday I did cleaned the shower, tub, and bathroom sink, the kitchen floor, vacuumed, cleared the dishes out of the kitchen sink to mop, babysat a niece while making cookie shamrocks, took Olivia to ballet, went to the library between ballet and school (since I hate to go home for 45 minutes before loading kids back into the car, although running errands makes me have to do that very thing), took the kids over to a playdate and visit, made potatoes with chili for dinner, read the lesson for our ward finance class, dropped kids off at Andy's sister's house for babysitting, went to our ward finance class, came home after picking kids up and then watched American Idol and Law and Order on tape. Hmm. Is that all? I think that about covers it. Except I also am working on a baby cross-stitch for someone special and I have a list of others I need to do in the next few weeks. I do that while I watch TV or listen to the radio.

Holy cow! No wonder I'm tired. I should really erase all of that. But I won't.

Wednesday, I continued on my little cleaning streak by cleaning the mirrors and piano, gave the kids bathes, picked up the book group book on CD, Elizabeth did ballet with a visiting cute friend, lunch, changed every bed in our house and did the laundry from that, I made Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner with Garlic Bubbleloaf Rolls from scratch, walked to pick Elizabeth up from school, and babysat a friend's daughter while she helped in our Kindergarten class, played with the neighbor friend, went to the store to pick up essentials (and a few deals), game night, and watched American Idol and Law and Order. Now Vincent is crying and needs to go back to sleep (I think he's teething again). Fun stuff.

Along with checking peoples' blogs to see if they spark anything exciting for me to write about. There were a lot of cool things, but nothing that I really felt any different than them about or that I felt like I needed to share.

Tomorrow, actually Thursday, which is now, there is absolutely nothing on our calendar square.
Friday there is no school. I think we might go to Walla Walla to see my mom. We haven't done that for a long time.

Thursday, Elizabeth will go to school and Andy will go to work, but there is nothing else that I HAVE to do.
Hmm, what should I do?
Maybe relax.
Maybe.
We'll see about that one.
And now all of you are tired, good night!

Holy COW! I just barely accidentally selected this whole thing and almost deleted it. Maybe that would have been nicer than making you read this obnoxiously long boring blog.

Why is it that as soon as I post my blogs, I think of something else to say?

Like, Why do people ask what you do all day as a "stay-at-home" mom? Do they really think we sit around all day long? Maybe I should type out my list in tiny type on a card to hand to them. I think maybe that would be effective. If I do that, I'll have to add all the other things that other moms do too.
Another one lately:
Why have people been asking me how many kids I'm going to have and saying that two more is a huge family? Have they ever seen families that have 5 kids before? It doesn't seem very crazy to me to have two more. Not right now and not every year or anything (and even if I did have one every year, it's up to me, not them.), but the kids will keep on growing and be able to do even more for themselves. I just don't get it. Five kids used to be a tiny family. When did that change? Read the book by the Duggars. My friend showed it to me Wednesday. They have 18 kids! I won't do that, but really, 5! It's not that many to me.

What the back of the book says:
"The Duggars: 20 and Counting! is a behind-the-scenes look at the supersize family that fascinates millions of television viewers around the world. From Idaho to Istanbul, people want to know how Arkansas parents Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar efficiently and lovingly manage seventeen (soon to be eighteen) happy, homeschooled children without going into debt —— or losing their minds!"

Kids play nice

I love it when the kids all play nicely together.
I love hearing the girls plan out what the things they are playing with are going to do, who is the mom or big sister or boy, who gets to use which car, where to play, which movie to watch, etc.
I love it!
Vincent doesn't really get to play with that stuff yet, but they are usually very nice to him too. If he starts to get sad and I'm in the other room (honestly, I am usually in the other room), then they will try to make him happy, even if they have to pause their game. They will find his binky or cup or get him a toy or if he is poopy they will come and get me. They are so sweet.
Of course, there are times when both girls want to be in charge of what they are playing, but most of the time, they solve those problems on their own. If not, I just ask them to come to me and tell me what the problem is and if one was calling names, hitting, etc, they apologize and make the other one feel better. Then, they continue on with their game.
I love when the girls sing together in the car. Or help each other buckle up. Or even when they sneak food out of the fridge to help the other one because they think they are "starving".
Elizabeth kneels down to help someone else's kid feel included sometimes. We went to her uncle's birthday party last weekend and there was a teenager there who was sitting next to her parents. Elizabeth went over to her and asked if she wanted to play. She always tries to include everyone.

Of course, they are still working on sharing and all of those other things, but I love it when they do it on their own.

I babysat some kids when I was a teenager whose mom was from England. They were the best kids ever. They behaved so well. I was amazed! One time, I was there to feed them, so before the mom left, she called her boys (who were downstairs playing video games) up. They came immediately. Amazing! She then asked them to "sometime in the next hour go get a few tomatoes out of the garden for dinner." Then went back downstairs until after she left and I thought, "Great, now I'll have to bug them to do it." Nope. They came up a few minutes later and went right out to do what they were asked. They were always like that when I babysat. When I'd tell them that it was time for pajamas, they would go right upstairs and put them on, would brush their teeth, and I'd go up like 3 minutes later, and they were all in their beds. Seriously, the easiest babysitting ever!

I always told myself that I wanted to have kids like hers, so I'm always striving to make polite, nice, and well-behaved children. Somedays, I think I might even be making progress with this. Somedays, not, but most days, they are pretty good for their ages. I expect a lot of them.

What's the best thing your kids do to play nicely?

How-a Come-a?

How come when we have an appointment at 9am (why'd I do that anyway?) the kids sleep in? It's now 8:30 and they are all sleeping peacefully. I'm going to have to wake all three kids up, get them ready, have them whining about "starving", try to find something for them to eat quickly, and (hopefully) get out the door on time.
Most mornings, Olivia is up at 7:30! Elizabeth would gladly sleep until 10 most mornings. Vincent likes to switch it up by waking up at 1am, 6am (right before Andy's alarm starts going off-he hits snooze like 9 times!), (Andy says: that is absolutely not true! I never hit the 'snooze' button more than six times!) and then sleeps until 9am. Luckily, I stay up until 2am, so I can handle the 1am wake-up for no reason and make him stop squealing. A lot of times, he wakes Olivia up too. That is really fun. Then I'm trying to make them both calm down so Elizabeth and Andy can sleep. I wish I was still in my cozy bed. I was sleeping so well.
Olivia is up now (8:35am).
I know, you guys are saying, "at least most days your kids sleep in. My wake up at 4:30am everyday!" But remember, I don't go to bed until 2am. I know, I'm crazy. There's just so much to do. I wish I was Elizabeth and could just sleep in until 10 everyday (just kidding, I do sometimes, but with interruptions of getting up to start PBS and then flopping myself back on my bed to sleep. I really need to listen to the "go to bed early, rise early in the morning" thing. I just can't sleep before 1 or 2am.
Alright, off to wake up a sleeping Elizabeth. Prepare yourselves. She gets to go to the doctor for a well-check. Alright!!!

Pink Lemonade

"When life throws you lemons - make PINK lemonade"

Wendy (a very deserving recipient of this award-I'd pick her if she wasn't already given this "award".) sent me this award today. She is SO sweet. Her blog is thought-provoking and wonderful.

Apparently, this little 'lemonade stand' is given when someone thinks your blog is positive and filled with happiness ...

As part of the fun, the lemonade stand logo has a few instructions -
1.- Put the logo in your blog.
2.- Nominate 5 - 10 blogs for having great attitude.
3.- List and link the nominees.
4.- Comment this award in their blogs.
5.- Nominate your favorites and link to your post.

My Pink Lemonade Winners -

1. My cousin Trish, is so positive and loves to do fun things with her two kids while her husband is in Iraq. She takes great care of her kids and keeps herself busy with friends and family. She also stays busy moving back and forth across the country. =) Hopefully he'll come back home in a few weeks.

2. One other cousin, Anita, who is in Southern California while her husband goes to school and she teaches high school. They have so many things they do on the weekends, like really cool shows or even just a picnic in the living room when they are too busy memorizing all the bones in the body.

3. A friend from church, Melissa, tells about her kids' experiences in making decisions, letting them be silly, and making memories that will last a lifetime, like almost running off the road to cut down their own Christmas tree.

4. One of my favorite roommates from the four months I spent at college was Emily. She was amazing and I mean, the title of her blog is even, "It's a Wonderful Life". Can you tell how happy and fabulous she is? She is just starting to experience the joys of having a child and is obviously loving every second. She is on the other side of the country and is busy seeing every site there is to see while they are there. I am pretty sure she picked out a great husband too. Check out the super sweet thing he did for Valentine's Day.

5. Veteran blogger, Laurie, who is also the wife of one of my husband's college roommates, tells about her "Adventures in the Ville" with their three daughters. She tells us about the funny things her daughters say and make us feel as though we were there. She is hilarious and very upbeat. Just look how fun they are. They always do fabulous Halloween couples costumes.

To all of you - Thanks for sharing so many wonderful moments on your blogs! I'm so lucky to have friends and family like you!
You make a difference in the lives of others!

Kid Quiz

Ask your children to answer the questions and type their answers in after the question.
I added my answers to the end of this.

Elizabeth 6 years, 1 month, 5 days

1. What is something mom always says to you? Be good and so I don't have to yell at you.
2. What makes mom happy? Being nice to her and not calling her names and hugging and kissing her at bedtime.
3. What makes mom sad? When daddy isn't home and when her kids are spending the night somewhere else and she's all alone.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Telling jokes.
5. What was your mom like as a child? A kid.
6. How old is your mom? 21
7. How tall is your mom? (measuring with my shoe-size 7 1/2) 7 shoes tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Uh, American Idol. The cooking show
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Um, play by herself and call some people to come play at our house.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Cook good food.
11. What is your mom really good at? Cooking
12. What is your mom not very good at? Coloring, making art like I do, drawing pictures.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Cook, do laundry, um, cover the beds, put sheets on 'um. Feed the kids. Get them water.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Let me see..., casserole.
15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she finds Scooter for me. My stuffed animal, Scooter.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? uh, uh, Princess Leah, (I reminded her cartoon) Bugs Bunny Lola
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play Pet Shop Monopoly
18. How are you and your mom the same? Um, the hair.
19. How are you and your mom different? Uh, our sizes. Our mouths. Uh, our rings.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Because she hugs me.
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Uh, he bes nice to her and when she's sick, he just doesn't go to work.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? McDonald's for ice cream.
Do you want to say anything else? Nods, then says no. Yes, I love my family.


Olivia 3 years, 6 months, 16 days

1. What is something mom always says to you? Um, um, what? Do that! (pointing)
2. What makes mom happy? Um a, clean up toys.
3. What makes mom sad? Um a, when I hit.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Um a like this, "ha he". Like that.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Primary.
6. How old is your mom? Um a,10
7. How tall is your mom? Like this (with hand in the air stretching) Inches:Mom-6, Olivia-10
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Mommy movies
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Time out. Read books.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? James Bond.
11. What is your mom really good at? Hiding.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Reading this book (pointing at a book of mine that I haven't had time to read lately.)
13. What does your mom do for her job? Christmas cards, mommy, but I want to play with dress up.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Pancakes
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Um, a ladybugs. Giving ladybugs some food when ladybugs hungry, mommy.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Carriage Rider.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Clean up. Garden plants.
18. How are you and your mom the same? (Shaking head) Like this (Hands together side by side).
19. How are you and your mom different? You're different.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Like, 'cause, uh, because....(walks out of room-I threaten to turn show off and she's back.)
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? Um, a, I think not. Legos, Star Wars, Um, a...
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Ballet, School, Primary.
Do you want to say anything else? No (playing with toes)


Vincent won't be taking this test at this time. He is incoherent (and asleep-not anymore, but he was while I was asking questions.) He will make up the test at a later date.

I have no idea where most of these answers came from. At least they didn't tell you all my secrets......

Here are my answers to the same questions.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Be quiet. Be good. Be nice. Share.

2. What makes mom happy? When they help each other and other friends.

3. What makes mom sad? When kids aren't nice to each other and whine at me.

4. How does your mom make you laugh? When they are silly with each other.

5. What was your mom like as a child? Whiny, spoiled, but not too bratty??

6. How old is your mom? 26, I think.

7. How tall is your mom? 5'4" I think, but 7 shoes will do.

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? Law and Order, American Idol, ER, Hell's Kitchen, etc.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Crafts, shop without kids.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Hopefully for being nice to others.

11. What is your mom really good at? Cross-stitching.

12. What is your mom not very good at? Art, Elizabeth is right.

13. What does your mom do for her job? Everything.

14. What is your mom's favorite food? Lasagna, really any comfort food will do.

15. What makes you proud of your mom? I'm not answering this one, but I would like to think they are proud of me for (hopefully) taking good care of them.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Elastagirl? The Flash?

17. What do you and your mom do together? Read books, go places

18. How are you and your mom the same? Elizabeth is right, hair is the same, temperament is the same. People say Olivia looks just like me.

19. How are you and your mom different? Elizabeth is a lot more outgoing than I am. Olivia is way more stubborn than me and had darker skin coloring.

20. How do you know your mom loves you? Hopefully they know by the way I treat them (most of the time).

21. What does your mom like most about your dad? I like that he takes good care of us and that he loves me.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? To the craft store, Kohl's, sleep

Do you want to say anything else? I have wonderful kids.

I should do one of these for my mom too, maybe another time.

Senses Tag

Here's what you do:
List 4 things you love and one thing you hate for each of the 5 senses.
Then tag 5 people, leave them a note on their blog so they know.
Also, let the person who tagged you know when you post yours.

Taste:
1-I love the taste of chocolate (except dark, I don't like that, but I'll eat it anyway).
2-I love fresh, warm cookies (cold ones will do too).
3-I love vegetables.
4-I love the taste of a good home-cooked dinner.
5-I hate fish or any other sea urchin.

Smell:
1-I love the smell of lemon cleaners.
2-I love the smell of the perfume Very Sexy by Victoria Secret.
3-I love the smell of lavender.
4-I love the smell of cinnamon.
5-I hate the smell of ketchup and vinegar.

Touch:
1-I love the touch of thread (cross-stitching).
2-I love to touch super soft bath towels (even though I need new ones) and fresh sheets.
3-I love to touch Vincent's soft cheeks.
4-I love to touch the keyboard of the computer.
5-I hate to touch smelly people. (Like when super smelly strangers sit down right next to you, yuck. Luckily this doesn't happen very often.)

Sight:
1-I love to see my kids playing nicely.
2-I love to see the Temple all lit up at night.
3-I love to see clouds during sunset.
4-I love to see new emails from friends.
5-I hate to see fighting children.

Sound:
1-I love the sound of sleeping children.
2-I love hearing Vincent's cackling giggle.
3-I love the sound of rain.
4-I love the sound the dishwasher makes after the kitchen is clean. (mostly because I don't have to stand and wash most things by hand.)
5-I hate the sound of hearing little kids throwing up at night.

You are the lucky ones: If you want to do this, go ahead. I love to read everyone's blogs and learn more things about them.

Happy Birthday, ANDY!

Today is Andy's 36th birthday. He is a great dad and husband. I'm so glad that I spotted him at the Single's Branch fireside. He is funny and smart and fun to be around. He likes to play games and watch silly movies and sing good songs in the car. We have a really fun time together. The kids love to "wrestle" with him and tease him. They watch for him to come home after work and don't want to go to bed (that's also because they just want to bug us). They like to watch Looney Tunes and Woody Woodpecker and Star Wars with Daddy, among other things. Andy treats all of us very well and tries to give us the things we want. We appreciate all that Andy does for us and with us and WE LOVE HIM! Happy Birthday, Andy!

(Andy says all the time that he "just earned an all expenses paid trip around the sun" and doesn't care that much about his birthday. He also likes to say that he "went another year without dying".)

We are glad he did.

I-I-I-I-I

The "I" List
(I did this backwards, just for fun. Start at the bottom and then move up. It's way better that way.)

I am: Always looking for people to update their blogs.

I think: My kids are pretty good, most of the time.

I know: I have a great life.

I want: a massage.

I have: had zits since fourth grade. All the time.

I dislike: People who don't have morals and values and don't take care of their children because of it.

I miss: High school.

I fear: Not much.

I feel: Better than yesterday, but not good enough to take the kids to the store for my giant list of groceries.

I hear: Vincent trying to wreak things.

I smell: My hair as it dries.

I crave: A night of uninterrupted sleep, among other things.

I usually: Listen to Dr. Laura.

I search: For great deals.

I wonder: Why people are so dumb sometimes.

I regret: Dating too much as a teenager.

I love: My family.

I care: About my relationship with others.

I always: Stay up too late.

I worry: About others and mostly things I can't change that I want to change to make their lives better.

I am not: A seamstress.

I remember: Learning to make a dress with my mom. It was huge!

I believe: In Christ.

I sing: Anytime there is music I know and like.

I don't always: Appreciate all that I have.

I write: Silly ramblings of my days on my blog and love it.

I win: At Settlers, well, sometimes.

I wish: I could visit Japan.

I can usually be found: Cross-stitching and listening to the radio or watching TV. Or running kids to school or at an enrichment activity.

I am scared: Of car crashes. (When I was 8 or 9 years old, there was an accident right ahead of us on Cabbage Hill outside of Pendleton, OR. It was a semi and a small white car. There was a mom and baby who died in the car. The semi was full of grain. We waited for five hours not far behind the accident. We count us not being in it to my brother who had to go to the bathroom at Dead Man's Pass rest stop right before that. Yikes.) Another one, when I was 13 or 14 my brother was driving us to church in our old Ford pick up with 5 of us in the front (I was right next to him) up a steep hill by the church when he started to slide a little. Being freaked out, I grabbed the wheel (stupid, I know). The truck spun around on the hill and ended up facing the opposite direction and landed into a snowbank. We went back down the hill and around the other way to the church. I don't like snow either, much, but our car does awesome in it.

I need: More sleep.

I forget: To take time to stop and just play a game or three with the kids.

I am happy: When my family is happy and healthy.

My plug for AI (not the movie)

Ahhh, do do do do do, Ah ah, do do do do do....
Why are there several good singers in this third group of American Idol contestants? I know there are several I REALLY dislike and gag to watch as well, but there are five that I want to get through to the finals this time! I hope nobody else gets through except for the ones I really like though. I love Scott MacIntyre's voice, story, emotion. Lil Rounds, Jorge Nunez, Ju'Not Joyner, and Felicia Barton are the next on the list for me. I DO NOT and will not like the others out of this group. I guess we will have to see how it goes and hopefully the two who don't make it into the final 12 tomorrow night will make it into the wild card show. I'm all for Scott MacIntyre though. He has crazy hair, but he is growing on me, just like he is growing on Simon.

In other news, I am the new PTA Secretary for Elizabeth's Elementary School. The meeting was tonight and I am excited to learn more about PTA and all the wonderful things it does for the students and teachers. I've learned a lot this year, just going to the meetings. We have great leadership. I'm excited to work with the other people on the PTA. They are all amazing. So fun.

Vincent is sick. He threw up in the night and a couple of times today. He was wiped, so he slept a lot today too. Andy brought home equate pedialyte after work and he perked back up. I was nervous to give him anything.... Eww. Nobody else so far. I hope the girls don't catch it, not to mention our entire family (on both sides) who we saw Sunday and Monday. I think he's done now and I can go start some laundry of all the gross stuff. I just finished the laundry from last week today too. Vicious cycle.

Sunday was Andy's Dad's birthday. He is now 57. We went over to their house on Monday night for delicious ice cream cake (I had to try to not capitalize that.) So good. It's Andy's Mom's birthday Wednesday (she's three days younger than George) and then Andy's next Monday. I'm still trying to figure out what to do for that. Family or no....? Enough of cake? I don't know. What to buy for his present? Do we really need another family event? I don't know. Maybe after David's (Sara's husband) birthday party this weekend we will have had enough. ???

AI the movie creeped Andy out for weeks. We only had Elizabeth when we watched it, and he would wake up at night to check on her because of the movie. If you haven't seen it, try it out and let me know if you like it. One of our friends loves it. Weird.

Everybody gather round

Sunday evening, my whole immediate family (on my side), except for a 2 sister-in-laws and three nephews, got together. So maybe not my whole family, but close considering there were 22 of 27 here. It was going to be one of the three nephews' blessing day, but his big brother was sick, so the three of them stayed home and graciously gave up my brother for a photo op. The other sister-in-law and nephew live in Ohio. My mom says that the six kids haven't been together for two and a half years, so a picture was in order. Since the blessing was postponed, we had a dinner at our house with everybody. We ate, visited, took too many pictures (and most of mine didn't even turn out! It's been so bad with red eye lately and half of them turned out blurry. Dang it! Good thing we had four cameras going.) and played some Wii Bowling. The kids ran around and were bossed pretty good by Elizabeth. I think they had fun though. In a few years, she can be our reunion planner. She already tells everybody where and how to do everything. I don't think they mind too much, except for one who said that he's not going to listen to her. My uncle dropped by too! He took his family (some who had already seen Jeff) to Stake Choir practice in Pasco and came to see Jeff before he has to leave for Kansas on Tuesday. That was very nice. A busy, but good day.
Jeff with almost all of his nephews. Only missing the two. After the babies were out of the way, the bigger kids dog-piled him.
Milton, Joe, Brant, Jeff, NaDell (Me), Janessa
Our birth order is Milton, Joe, Me, Brant, Jeff, Janessa. M-M-F-M-M-F.
Our family. We can't seem to ever get us all looking the same direction. This one is about the best we got. Notice Olivia's funny dress-up jewelry. Oops.
Vincent does get MAD sometimes. He is working on three new top teeth and two just came in (one on top and one on bottom). The girls weren't even bugging him much here. He must have been hungry!

Saturday night was our Ward Chili/Chowder Cookoff. They give out prizes for chili, chowder, bread, and dessert. It's our favorite of all the ward activities. It's only the adults. We invited Jeff and our pal Nathan to come with us. I made a dessert. Andy made his cousin's recipe for French bread that I've been using for a while. HE WON! He won an apron. Everybody liked mine too, as far as I could tell, but there are judges who decide. They did a few silly games at the church.
Then we played games (Settlers and Spades) after we were joined by Robie, our other game night buddy. Jeff spent the night here and went to church with us. The kids really liked to hang out with him and even recruited him into reading a few stories to them.

Robie and Nathan came over on Friday night to play games too. I won Settlers.
We love to play games on free nights! Call us, and we'll play with you too!