Now THAT is a Cookie!

Yes, we are back. Sorry I haven't blogged about it. Something about coming home to immediate inundation with school volunteer projects (Spelling Bee and Presidential Pageant essay judging), not to mention the instant return of seasonal depression (this is self-diagnosed, of course, but I am SO ready to have sun and warmth here!) I have facebooked since being home, but the blog is still suffering! :)

I'll do better.

Maybe. ;)

We had a kinda fun day Saturday. After dropping Riley off at the mall with friends, we took the younger kids to lunch at BYU Legends Grille. Good food. The kids liked the pizza, but LOVED the gargantuan chocolate chip cookies. We are such good parents. We bought them one pizza to share(dinner plate size), but each of them got their own dinner plate size cookie to eat. That makes sense, doesn't it? A little backwards for the health conscious, but it was Saturday!

We were planning on a trip to the Bean Museum after lunch, but Jared's meltdown nixed that. I'm sure it had nothing to do with all the refined sugar he had just ingested!

Be back soon!

We're outta here! Off to enjoy some fun, sun, and Disney wonder for a few days. The kids are beside themselves with excitement, and I'm just hoping I get everything together in time for our flight in the morning. Until next week, adieu!

Happy Birthday Riley!

Fifteen, and already asking for a learner's permit......Can I hide under a rock please? I'm not ready for a driving teen in the house!!!!! EEK!

The Bird

I had one of the weirdest animal experiences yesterday morning. I'm still shaking my head and laughing about it.

Jared and I were in my bedroom folding clothes yesterday morning. Suddenly we hear this very loud and distinct knocking coming from the corner of the bedroom. It freaked us both out a bit, since it was so loud, and abnormal. I immediately started going through in my brain thinking about what utility lines or pipes are in that corner of the house, wondering if something had gone wrong. But, there is nothing over there. So the knocking starts again. It is coming from outside of the bedroom wall or floor, so I run over and look through the window, to see a bunch of birds in the tree outside. Then I realized what it was. I went running to the back door, look out, and there it was....a WOODPECKER! On the side of the house pecking on the STUCCO?! Obviously, not a very brilliant bird. I shooed it away, and then had to call Ron and tell him. He was concerned, and told me it would come back.....why? To peck on stucco?! But then, sure enough, it started again. I went out, while still on the phone, shooed it away again, and then went over to see why it was attacking our house, and if it had done any damage thus far. That's when I found the old mud nest of some yellow jackets that had been built last summer....so I guess the bird wasn't that dumb after all! So I got a shovel from the garage, scraped the nest off the house, and Woody hasn't been back since. But this still ranks right up there with odd animal experiences!

I am indeed blessed

There is an amazing post I wanted to share that I read this morning. Although I am sure everyone in the blogosphere has read it. Here's a link in case you haven't. I read this, after following nienie before the accident, and then reading of progress over the last few months, and now watching her re-emerge today on her blog, and am overwhelmed with gratitude for my multitude of blessings.

Yesterday was a bad mommy day around here. My frustration of not enough time, too much clutter and toys not getting put away, and lots of whining combined with a splitting headache. Then I read the above mentioned post and realize how incredibly blessed I am every single day of my life. I have a fabulous husband. I have four great, healthy, and fun kids with amazing potential. I have my health. I am whole. I can take care of my family. I know who I am and what my potential is, and that I'm not living completely up to it. All I can do is go up! I can wake up each new day and do a little better.

So for the rest of the day, I'm not going to worry about the big zit on my chin, I'm going to help the kids clean up their toys instead of just nagging them about it, I'm going to hug them when the whining starts, and I'm going to go get a few more items to help a friend out with a very worthwhile project.

What a lame blogger I am!

I have become such a lame blogger.....nothing around here. Dust bunnies growing bigger by the day. Tumbleweeds blowing through. So quiet even the crickets left!

I guess it's a combination of life's busyness, combined with a lack of blogging material. Never mind that we had Christmas, New Years, two birthdays, a family vacation coming up, and potty training going on around here.....how could I NOT have things to write about?! :)

Christmas and New Years was great. Here's to 2009! I just let go of all the things I didn't get done, and the only resolution I made to myself was to try and get more organized and quit flying by the seat of my pants all the time. I'd like to get Christmas done EARLY this next year so I can just sit back and enjoy it in 11 months. Maybe I should start the prep now.

Ellie had a great birthday, but the kid has serious gift overload in a 4 day time period. We are now working on potty training.....working on it, and having a little success. Depends on the day and how much we are home! She will still be in pull-ups for our family trip, but we'll just keep plugging along as we can and eventually.....

One of the gifts given to the kids was a trip to Disneyworld. Santa found a screaming deal on airfare to Orlando (you can't pass up $99rt, to anywhere! Except Butte Montana, I don't need to go there). So we are outta here to see Mickey and Co. in the warm Florida sunshine in 10 days! I think I need to see if there are any spring apparel items hitting the shelves at Target. Nicole has had a growth spurt and needs some duds that fit for warmer weather.

My birthday was great. I typically don't love having birthdays, because I don't enjoying aging...but this year, although I really have a hard time grasping that I turned 38 since I really still feel like I'm in my 20's, I wasn't grumpy about it, which is an improvement! My husband spoiled me beyond all belief, as usual. I had simply been wishing for a new prime lens for my camera, but was frustrated because the one I wanted didn't have auto-focus capabilities with my camera. So he went out, did a bunch of research, and ended up getting me a new CAMERA to go with the prime lens I was hoping for. He also got me some other fun camera accessories, like a gold reflector. Told you he spoiled me...and trust me, I don't deserve it. I consider myself blessed and the luckiest girl in the universe. :)

Now I've been getting in trouble though because I haven't been out taking a bunch of pictures.....life busyness, combined with the how cold it has been has been interfering with that. But look out Florida! I'll be shooting lots. :) I hope to start experimenting with more indoor stuff when we get home.

I hope the lame blogger phase I'm in is almost over!

My "Done It" list....

Today is my birthday. I'm not going to publish how old I am, because it's old enough. :) But I've seen this list on a couple of other blogs and decided to, well, steal it because it was fun. All of the items in bold are things that I've done or experienced. Maybe I'll be able to make a few more of them bold in the years to come!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii....but I hope to soon!
5. Watched a Meteor Shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland...and I'm going to DisneyWorld the end of January! :)
8. Climbed a mountain...but do i have to get to the top for it to count?!
9. Held a praying mantis...I think I have, but I tend to block memories that include bugs....blech!
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill *gasp!*
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping....in the Sea of Galilee no less.....
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse - lunar and solar
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run....does Wii Sports count?!
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors...recent ancestors, none foreign...yet!
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt...and it was LATE!
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa...technically, Egypt is in Africa, but there's a lot more of Africa to see! Maybe someday.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma...and I can also add: bone marrow (ouch!)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp, but I have been to the Holocaust memorial in both Jerusalem and Washington DC
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person...floated through it on a raft for 7 days...AMAZING!!!
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible - New Testament: yes. Old Testament: lots of parts of it, but not the whole entire page by page thing.
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - a chicken
88. Had chickenpox...TWICE!!!
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby...3 times
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake...I live in Utah, but haven't stepped a foot in it....but I have swam in the Dead Sea. It was a painful experience. Just a head's up, don't ever shave your legs and swim in the Dead Sea on the same day.
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Three years....wow! Since it felt like it was just a year ago that we welcomed this sweet little girl into our home, I am really having a hard time putting my brain around the idea that Ellie is turning three years old today! I no longer have a baby as my youngest, but a little girl. Although I am pretty sure I'll keep carrying her around like she's a baby, and thinking she needs to be rocked to sleep, etc.....Poor thing, I hope I come to terms with no more babies before she goes to kindergarten! :)

Ellie is such a little sweetheart in our family, although the controlling and in charge personality is emerging....they learn by example you know, and since she is surrounded by strong personalities, she is not going to grow up to be a pushover! Ellie has a very advanced vocabulary, and she pronounces her words well. It is hilarious to hear her say kaleidoscope, "that is wonderful", "oh, it's beautiful", and use them correctly!

Ellie loves ALL THINGS PRINCESS! Which is fitting, because she is one! ;)

Happy Birthday Ellie! We love you, and all that you bring to our home. You have your whole huge wonderful life ahead of you, and we can't wait to sit back and watch you achieve amazing things.

Jared's Christmas Concert

The Kindergarten classes at our school put on a cute Christmas concert tonight. They did a great job! Of course, I am biased, but just a tad. The video is small, and not great quality, but you get the idea. In case you are wondering where Jared is, he's "Dasher" (He was very excited for his part, and jumped up a little bit early!)

I shall return....

As everyone can plainly see, my blog is lacking attention from ME! Life has been crazy busy, what with normal goings on, then add to that moving my mom out of her house, doing a mini-extreme makeover on her new place- which is still in progress- and then the Geography Bee to put on tomorrow. Whew! Something's gotta give! I think what I am most worried about is the fact that I am not ready for Christmas, in the least...so until the ducks get in a row, my blog is going to be very quiet.

So watch your Google readers for me to return, or check back in a couple weeks! Until then, have a great holiday season!