Hyde Family Fun

Family Time!

2011-05-16T10:20:00.001-07:00

This last weekend we were lucky enough to have our favorite family from Oregon come for a visit! They showed up Thursday night and stayed until lunchtime Sunday and none of us think it was long enough! The 3 littlest kids were over the moon to have their favorite uncle come stay in their house and have his undivided attention for so long! And Derek and Alex were excited to have the twins come and hang out with them doing whatever it is that teenagers do to hang out!We went to dinner Friday night at Leo's so the kids could play and the adults could sit and visit. We invited the rest of the Hyde family living here to join us and most of them came so it made for a nice time. Saturday we headed to the zoo and then to Reed's Dairy for an ice cream cone followed by some nice quiet chill time watching movies! Sunday came along all too soon and before we knew it they were packing the car and heading out.We are very blessed to be able to have opportunities like these and hope we can make more of them in the future! And the kids are already counting down the days until we head to Oregon for our vacation there! 82 more days in case you were wondering! Then it will be 9 fantastic days with the cousins! I can't wait!

I do wish the older kids had showed up long enough for some pictures but they never seemed to stand still long enough for me to take any!

Earth Day and Easter

2011-04-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Saturday was the Earth Day celebration at the park and we went with my brother and his family. The sun was shining and everyone was in a great mood always a plus with our family! My brother has never been to Earth Day so it was alot of fun showing him all the neat things for the kids to do and learn. And of course he was just like a kid, all excited over all the free things being given away! The kids were excited to just be out at the park and to see how many of their friends they could find. And how much food they could eat!Alex was excited because there were funnel cakes and they are her favorite! Mine too but I behaved! After the food we went through the zoo to see the animals. The kids love going to the zoo every chance they get. All in all it was a great day and I am glad my brother and his family spent it with us.

I got Derek's girlfriend to take a family picture for Easter. I thought it might be nice to have a recent photo of the family but of course the kids had to act up so it may not be perfect but I am happy with the results!

Conner's First Tooth Fairy Visit!

2011-04-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Conner is less than 2 weeks off from turning 8 and he has never lost a single tooth. As you can imagine I have been a little concerned about this but every dentist he has been to says it is ok. Well his new dentist decided we were going to step things up and pull out his top front teeth to help the permanent ones have a place to go and this right here is the result of that visit......

Isn't he adorable! The tooth fairy left him $5 I am sure it was to help soothe the shock of the new big hole in his mouth! I hope he spends it well!

Random Happenings

2011-01-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

Not a lot of fun and exciting things have happened since Christmas for us so I feel like I have had nothing to blog about! I will catch you all up on the nothing anyways! The kids are already wishing for summer (who isn't right?!) and telling me that as soon as Rigby Lake has water we need to go! I can understand where they are coming from! I would like some warm sun and cool water right now too! They also want to go camping! We didn't go last summer so they are going to drive me crazy about it this year until we do go!

Derek told me yesterday that he will be soon taking the preparatory test for the ACTs and I hate little reminders like that of how old he is getting! 2 more years of High School and he is out of here. It seems not that long ago I was walking him to pre-school!

Jake is still loving scouts and Conner is counting down the days until he turns 8 and can join too! Conner loves that he can go to the pack meetings and participate! Caitlyn loves to participate too! She also loves to sit and pose so can take pictures like this one of her at the last pack meeting!

For Christmas this year my grandma gave me the lovely gift of money and I got to spend it however I chose and I decided after 6 years of living with bare walls it was time for some decorating so I picked up this amazing metal wall art for above my couch! the picture doesn't do it justice at all! I love the way it looks with my red furniture and the swirls match the swirls in my tables so it helps pull the room together nicely!

Alex turn 12 last week and already we have "teen" drama in our house! I was hoping that all those times she promised me she would not behave this way meant I may have a chance but looks like I was wishing for too much! She is very excited to be 12 since it means she can finally go to Mutual on Tuesdays! She also is excited that I have let her go twice now to the mall with friends to just hang out! I too remember when my mom let me go hang out and how grown up it felt! The nice thing about getting older for me is that she didn't ask for toys for her birthday but a more practical bookshelf for all the books she has been getting lately. She got 14 new books for Christmas and 2 for her birthday plus a gift card for Barnes and Noble so she can buy more!

Well that is it! Like I said a whole lot of NOTHING! Maybe February will be more exciting for us!

Kids Christmas Party

2010-12-07T08:20:00.000-08:00

On Saturday my company had a Christmas party just for kids! They do this every year and my boss very graciously opens his house to the hoard of children! There is always a sleigh ride and hot cocoa and Santa drops in with a gift for every kid there! This is a party they look forward to and talk about for weeks afterwards! Pictures of the kids with Santa are always taken and I am really excited to get them this year but a friend of mine got this one of me with Alex that I thought turned out pretty good so I thought I would share! And when the Santa pictures get in I will add them! Caitlyn got a pretty cool butterfly fairy Barbie that has wings that turn into a skirt and the boys got those Hex bugs that are all the rage now (whatever!) I guess if I have to have bugs in the house then having ones that run on batteries is ok! Alex got a bracelet making kit. She was happy with it since it makes enough bracelets to wear one new one a day for a whole month! All in all it was a great day for them!

Our Quiet Weekend

2010-11-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

Since I had Thursday and Friday off from work and the weekend off from The Dance Shop we did a whole lot of NOTHING the entire Thanksgiving weekend. We actually spent alot of the weekend in our pajamas and it was great! It is not often we have that much time as a family together without alot of other stuff going on to get in the way. On Saturday we made gingerbread houses out of graham cracker since I am way too lazy to make all the gingerbread pieces! The kids thought it was one of the greatest ideas I have had in a long time! Of course they didn't really have the patience necessary to hold the pieces together while the frosting-glue dried so most of the houses didn't turn out with the slanted roof! I was lucky to get the picture I did since right after it was taken the houses were all devoured!! I now only have one lonely house out of this pieceful village and that house is the one I made! It was a great family activity and one we will do again next year! Maybe this time they will last a little bit longer!

Someone turned 6!!

2010-11-15T14:37:00.001-08:00

In case you missed the memo Caitlyn turned 6 last friday! She has been talking about nothing else for over a month! She would wake me up in the middle of the night to discuss it! That is how important this birthday was! Every detail was hashed over so much and so often I am pretty sure I could have talked it over with her in my sleep! In fact I am sure I did once or twice!

Friday I was directed to take cupcakes to the daycare so she could share her birthday with her friends! Then we had a pink princess cake when I got home from work! It had a crown and wand on it and was just what she wanted! It was so good that we skipped dinner and just had cake Friday night! Sometimes a mom has to do things like that!

Saturday Caitlyn got to go to lunch with my Aunt and Grandma then go to the bookstore. She was so excited to have an outing that was all about her. She picked out If You Give A Pig A Party and a search and find Dora the Explorer book. Both good choices if you ask me!

Sunday us girls got up and went to church where Alex was the only one of my kids who participated in the primary program. This was her last. I am kinda sad that she will be moving out of primary in 2 months but also excited for her to get to finally do all the fun thiings they do in young womens! After church Caitlyn and I headed out to the mall so she could get her birthday present from me.........pierced ears! She did great and didn't cry once! She is getting to be so grown up! The picture is not the greatest but you can kinda see her earring in her ear!

My trick or treaters!

2010-11-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Friday the kids got to come down to the office and trick or treat with the rest of the office kids! This is something the look forward to all year. After work we stopped at the house and picked up our cauldron full of candy for the ward trunk or treat and carnival! The kids and more fun then you could imagine racing around inside the church playing all the games and collecting candy! They even had a cake walk and once Conner figured out that all her had to do was walk in a circle and then sit down to get a cupcake he never moved from that game! Jake just liked seeing all his friends from school and boy scouts and Caitlyn was happy to find a friend from school to walk around with too! I never saw much of Alex so I have no clue what she was up too! Some preteen girl thing I am sure! All in all it was a success of a night and they all made off like bandits!

Two hunters and a duck!

2010-10-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

Alex has had a great opportunity to dance as a hunter in Peter and the Wolf for the schools in our area. She danced at 3 different schools yesterday and will dance at 2 more tomorrow. She is very proud of this dance and I am proud of her! More pictures hopefully will follow!

Ready for the new school year!

2010-08-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

4 out of 5 kids are ready for school to start and anyone who knows us can figure out which child is against it! (Derek!) I have school clothes bought and supplies in piles and ready for backpacks! I printed off the lunch menu for the fridge door and they kids have already looked to see what wonderful new things they can eat this year! Caitlyn has her Kindergarten screener on Friday so they know how much she has already learned which according to her is ALOT! The dentist appointments and haircuts will be done within the next 2 weeks! This year I am so totally set! Jake has a new addition to his school gear this year! He is the proud new owner of glasses! He picked them out himself and I think he looks fantastic! Now hopefully they will help him see the books clearer this year!On a side note we finally came up with a name for the new kitty! He will forevermore be known as Simba! King of the Jungle! He has taken to living with us quite well! Even Mr. Dragonsniffles likes him!

Back home!

2010-08-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Oregon was a wonderful success! The kids were all ready to go when I got home on Tuesday so getting us into the car was an easy thing to do! However I was not as ready as they were and had to keep unlocking the door to the house to go back in for things! We hit the road right around 1 with hopes of a quick stop in Pocatello and a quick stop in Boise for dinner then straight on to Oregon without any issues! I really should know better!

We had a planned stop in Pocatello for pointe shoes at the Pointe Shop but I guess I should have called them to see if they were running on summer hours! Oops! Then instead of heading back they way we came and getting back on the freeway the way I knew how I decided we would turn the other direction and find a different freeway entrance! Mistake #1 of the trip down!

Once we got over my stupid moment and got back on the freeway it was smooth sailing to the truckstop in Twin Falls that we always stop at. There the kids ran in for a quick bathroom break while I walked and watered the dogs then we were off again! It was all going so well til we hit Boise right around 5:30! Nothing like drivetime traffic to ruin a mood! And since I wasn't paying any attention to what lane I was in we had to exit and headed into downtown Boise. Mistake #2!By now the little ones were getting hungry and bored and more than ready to get the vacation really started! Derek and I were having a great time looking at the sights in Boise while we drove around looking for a Carl's Jr! Finally after 45 minutes of sight-seeing we hit the drive thru got our food and made it back onto the freeway!

I love my Jake but he has no confidence in my driving abilities! Not long after Boise he started asking me if we were lost! About every 15 minutes he would ask if I needed to call for directions! He actually seemed suprised when I pulled into the driveway at the ranch! He got over it fast once he could jump out and run around!

The kids had a great time riding horses, playing with kittens and new dogs, playing with cousins, and of course playing in the pool! The neighbors invited us all over for a bbq Friday night and that was alot of fun for all of us! Alex and I went into Boise in Thursday and picked up some pointe shoes from a shop there. The kids wore themselves out everyday playing in the water. I have never known my boys to sleep in so late before! It was wonderful for me!

The trip home was very uneventful! Thankfully! We are all glad to be back but wish we were still there too! Hopefully we can take another trip to visit Uncle Bob and the cousins before next summer!

Oh and before I forget.....we brought home a kitty! He is an adorable little guy but he needs a new name since my niece Marissa named him Jacob! That could get confusing fast!

Ready, Set, Go!

2010-08-09T13:04:00.000-07:00

The bags are all packed and ready to go in the van(well except mine)! The oil has been changed and the tank filled! The snacks have been bought and thankfully not yet eaten! The kids are running around like crazy on a rush only little kids can understand! The dogs don't realize it yet but soon they too will be buzzing with excitement! We are all so ready for this vacation to start!

Oregon here we come..............

Dr Dolittle Days and Derek's birthday

2010-07-19T08:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy fun filled day for the Hyde family! We have family in town visiting so we all got together and went to the zoo for Dr. Dolittle Days! My kids love to go and play the games and do the crafts and see the animals so I figured it was a great place to go hang out with the cousins!

Derek went along with us even though he is too old to enjoy the games and stuff! He is 15 now and at 15 games and crafts are just not cool! We took his girlfriend with us so they had fun looking at the animals together!

The kids have a great aunt who is a docent at the zoo so of course we made sure to stop by her table and play the game she was in charge of! The prize from her game was sunglasses! They all thought they were pretty awesome wearing their new glasses!

After all the games and animals we went back to great grandma's house and had cake and ice cream! Derek was very thankful we didn't sing Happy Birthday to him! He got some great presents for his birthday! He now has his very own tent for camping plus a new air mattress, sleeping bags, new Toy Story legos, movies, and he got to pick out a couple of new Xbox games. Not a bad birthday if you ask me!

Next on our agenda is family vacation time! We will be heading to Oregon next month to visit the Hyde's there and we are all super excited to go! The kids can't wait to see all the farm animals and I can't wait to get away for a few days and relax!

Cubanapolis 2010

2010-07-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

Last night was Jake's pack meeting and it was a ton of fun! We had a regular Indy 500 going on in the church yard! All the boys showed up in their awesome cars they created and their families got to be the pit crews!

The boys raced in 2 heats of 4 laps! During the first pit stop they had to refuel (drink a cup of water) 2nd pit stop was to clean the windshield ( wipe the face paint off) 3rd pit stop was a tire change ( they had to lay on the ground and the pit crew put their socks back on them)! The race track had some obstacles they had to go thru and they enjoyed every minute of it! They raced for fun and not to place so everyone cheered for everyone! It was a great time for the boys and you could see how much they loved it!

I think Jake did a great job on his car! I painted the box blue and then he painted the tires, the headlights, doors, and tail lights. Derek added his part by painting the back to make it an Aveo! I think all the boys did a great job on thier cars! I can't wait to see what we will do at next months pack meeting!

Mr. Dragonsniffles

2010-07-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

In my front yard I have a lovely cultivated patch of weeds growing! I would cut them down but then my cat would have no where to hide! And every cat needs a jungle to hide in! Just be careful if you walk thru my yard he may attack!

Jake turned 9!

2010-06-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

Jake turned 9 on the 26th and it was a pretty mellow low key day! It was one of the first nice days we have had this summer so we set the pool up in the driveway and had the neighbor kids over to swim. All the kids were sunblocked but by Sunday night they were all sunburned anyways. Guess maybe next time they will listen to me when I tell them to find some shade!

Jake asked me for a road cake and I had seen a really cool cake on another blog and decided to copy it for him and it was a big hit! Yes my cake was not as pretty as the original but that was probably because after I painstakingly created the road with crushed oreos and then surrounded it with awesome green coconut grass I set the cake on the stove so nothing would happen to it before the party......then I opened to cupboard door! Everything off the bottom shelf came down on top of his cake! I was horrified! However let me tell you how awesome that coconut was! I mushed it all back into place and you couldn't even tell that under all that green was a mashed cake! It was a big hit with Jake and with the other kids so it was all worth it in the end!

I got Jake a Nintendog and his siblings got him clothes, a poster, a tracing kit, and a slip n slide! He also got a great Volkswagon Beetle from his Grandma and then a lunch date and legos from his great aunt and great grandma! All around great birthday if you ask me!

Caitlyn the sunflower

2010-06-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

In our spring recital Caitlyn danced to Norah Jones Sunrise and the dance teacher miss Dantzel had this great idea to have the girls start the song "sleeping" so they wake up and dance then fall back to sleep. Miss Becky designed their costumes in a beautiful yellow with flowers and it fit the dance perfectly! One of the wonderful parents realized I was busy in the back and not able to watch Caitlyn dance a gave me a disc of picture they took during the rehearsal so here are a few of the girls in all their sunflower glory!

Taking a break before the big performance!

2010-06-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a busy day for me and the girls! Alex stayed Friday night with one of the other dancers so I only had to worry about getting Caitlyn to the Civic on time for practice! After a stop in to the beauty supply store to pick up a hair piece then a stop at Starbucks we were on our way! We started on schedule and thankfully got a break before the night performance so we stopped into McDonalds for some chicken nuggets before we went home for a nap. The performance went amazing well. The girls both danced like little divas! I am so proud of both of them! I will post their pictures as soon as I get them!

Spring Fling Dance Recital

2010-06-08T07:51:00.000-07:00

This Saturday June 12th at 7:00pm at the Civic Auditorium you can see my girls in all their dancer glory! We would love to see everyone there! Caitlyn is so excited to dance on stage again and she gets a pretty costume to wear! Alex is dancing in 4 different dances so she will be on stage quite a bit and she loves every minute of it! So come and watch! Admission is free!

Eclipse

2010-05-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

Because I am getting caught up in all the hype with Eclipse coming out next month I decided to add a countdown to my blog! I may come to regret having the constant reminder staring me in the face! Or it may just make everyday that much more exciting to see the seconds and minutes dissappear!

-ology!

2010-05-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ok here you go a whole lot of random nothings about me! Why did I do this??? Well why not! Other people do silly things like this on their blogs I didn't want to be left out!

Darcie – ology 10 things about ME!!!!

1. I get up way too early every morning! 4:00a.m.! I need to learn to sleep a bit more!

2. I drink way too much coffee! Hot, Iced, Frozen matters not to me! It all tastes great!

3. I feel naked if I don’t have my toe nails painted!

4. I snore! Yes I admit it! I can even snore so loud I wake myself up!

5. I hate to fold laundry! I bought a couch for sitting on and a love seat for my clean laundry!

6. I hate to wear shoes but I love to buy and own them! I own a lot of shoes! Some still have tags cuz I never wear them!

7. I love Love LOVE to play Roller Coaster Tycoon! I can play for hours if I let myself!

8. I would love to learn a foreign language! Makes me wish I would have paid attention in German class!

9. I think a bubble bath and a good book is a way better way to spend a Friday night than going out

10. I think my kids are the best thing to ever happen to me!

***********FOODOLOGY***************

What is your salad dressing of choice? Honey Mustard. Yummy

What is your favorite sit-down restaurant? Olive Garden

What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Chinese!!

What are your pizza toppings of choice? Canadian Bacon and Pineapple

What do you like to put on your toast? Peanut Butter

***********TECHNOLOGY***************

How many televisions are in your house? 6 which is 6 too many

What color is your cell phone? Blue

Are you computer savvy? Ok sure if you say so!

***************BIOLOGY******************

Are you right-handed or left-handed? Right

Do you have any children that are left – handed? 2 of them! Aren’t I lucky!

Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
nope

What was the last heavy item you lifted? I really have no idea

Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes in 2nd grade when a boy named Alexander pulled me off the top of the eagles perch. Guess I should have been teasing him huh!

************BULLCRAPOLOGY**************

If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? no

If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I like my name so I wouldn’t change it

Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000? NO WAY!

************DUMBOLOGY******************

How many pairs of flip flops do you own? A lot! But I am always looking for more!

Last person you talked to? Lydia

Last person you hugged? Caitlyn

**************FAVORITOLOGY****************

Season? Fall

Holiday? Halloween all the way!

Day of the week? Sunday. It is the one day of the week I can spend the whole day with my kids

Month? October! It has Halloween in it!

***********CURRENTOLOGY*****************

Mood? Fine. Mellow

What are you listening to? The playlist on my blog

What should you be doing right now? deposits

Current favorite TV Show: Army Wives and when it comes back Top Chef!

Worrying about? Nothing for a change!

***************RANDOMOLOGY*****************

First place you went this morning? Daycare

What’s the last movie you saw? Sweet Home Alabama with my girls last night

Do you smile often? A lot! It makes people think I am up to something!

Sleeping Alone Tonight? Unless Caitlyn or Conner gets in my bed then yes alone again

***************OTHER-OLOGY*****************

Do you always answer your phone? NO sometimes I can’t get to it in time

It’s after ten o’clock in the evening and the phone rings. Who will it be? Wrong number I would hope

If you could change your eye color what would it be? To a more vivid blue like my kids! My blue is not as pretty as theirs

If you could have a body part altered, sucked or botoxed, which part would it be? I want smaller boobs! Like 2 or 3 sizes smaller! Crazy I know!

Do you own a digital camera? No I am kinda behind the times!

Do you have a pet? I have pets! Plural! 2 dogs, 1 cat, and as of this morning 3 fish!

Favorite Christmas song(s)? Do you hear what I hear

What’s on your wish list for your birthday? A clean house!

Can you do push ups? Maybe 1 or 2 before I collapse!

What are you looking forward to? Warmer weather!

Does the future make you more nervous or excited? I would say excited

Do you have an accent? Doesn’t everyone?

Do you cry easily? All the time!

Plans tomorrow? Work, dance, home! Sleep then repeat!

Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Yes and it is a sad place

Name 3 things you bought today: coffee is it! Nothing else!

Have you ever been given roses? Yes! Caitlyn gave me one yesterday!

Current worry? Whether or not I will get my yard cleaned before Memorial day or not!

So now you know all those things about me you were just dying to know!

Conner is 7!

2010-04-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

Another year come and gone and the changes in Conner are very apperent now! My little boy is getting taller and losing the baby look and I am sad about that. He is very different from my other 2 boys because he likes sports! He has asked to play soccer so I will be finding out about that for him soon. He also likes to fish and play video games and can give his older brother Derek a run for his money on some of the games they play! It is great to see him find himself and enjoy what he does. I am sure he will turn into quite the young man!

We didn't have a party this year. Instead we had our favorite neighbors over for cake and ice cream! He got a soccer ball, baseball and bat, new movies, summer clothes, a fishing pole, sunglasses, and a really cool Buzz Lightyear jetpack! His aunt and great grandma took him to lunch at Red Robin and then to Barnes & Noble to pick out books! He made quite the haul for one so young!

He also got his very first serious black eye from a disc golf frisbee! Guess next time he should duck! LOL

I can't wait to see what the coming year has in store for Conner!

Caitlyn's new 'do!

2010-03-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

Last week I went and got my hair trimmed and Caitlyn was jealous that I got to have a hair appointment and she didn't so I called and got her in for a much needed hair cut! I have wanted to get her in for awhile but she kept telling me no so since she decided it was all ok I jumped at the chance! I had our stylist cut off 4 inches some of which was still that baby fine hair so now she looks all grown up!

Chuck

2010-03-17T15:23:00.000-07:00

I have 6 children. Did you know that?! I am sure I only gave birth to 5. Last time I counted I only had 5 beds for kids. I only make 5 plates for dinner at night. But somewhere, somehow I seem to have adopted, collected, acquired, or whatever a new kid that Derek has so lovingly named Chuck!

I am sure that every parent in the world has Chuck live in their house too! Chuck is a very naughty kid! Chuck eats things when he knows very well that mom said NO! Chuck even eats in the living room and bedrooms which is against the rules! Chuck draws on the walls and floor and even writes names like Conner and Caitlyn in an attempt to get them in trouble! Chuck loves to take toys out of toy boxes for me to step on and Chuck thinks unrolling toilet paper into the toilet is pretty dang funny! Chcuk likes to leave empty boxes in the cupboard and fridge so that mom has no idea how much food we really have! Chuck thinks he can get away with anything and everything!

Chuck is wrong!

I am not a fan of Chuck and I really wish he could learn to behave! I don't like having to clean up after Chuck. However I know that I am stuck with Chuck until Caitlyn grows up and moves out and then Chuck can go live with all 5 of my kids! I am sure they will love him just as much as I do!!

Cindy.....whatever will I do with her!

2010-03-11T09:27:00.000-08:00

We have two wonderful dogs in our family. Somedays I wonder why I ever thought having dogs was a good thing and then they give me that sad look and I melt inside! Other days I think they are the greatest things ever until they get into my garbage and then I want to do murder! During the day while I am at work and the kids are at school our doggies sleep the day away inside their sleeping kennels content as can be. Yesterday Alex forgot to put the dogs in their kennels so they had free reign of my house for 7 straight hours and oh what a fun time they had! I need to go buy the kids some new cereal since the dogs helped themselves to a couple of boxes! I am also minus 1 couch pillow that obviously was a dangersous object that needed to be shredded! And then there is the garbage that really must not have belonged in the trash can since it was strung all over the house when the kids got home! And of course my 2 loving adorable dogs had innocent looks on their faces because they didn't do it! Just ask them!

Had it stopped at the mess it would have been ok....... but nope not my dogs!! Alex let them out back and instead of heading to the backyard Cindy ran right out front, across the street, and down the block chasing a cat! Instead of catching a cat she got caught by some very nice guys who brought her back home but somewhere in the mix before she got caught by the guys she got caught on something else and ripped her ear open. Alex called me at work freaking out because Cindy was bleeding everywhere. I had her wrap a dish towel around Cindy's head( I wish I had a picture of that) and wait for Derek to come home and rescue her! Derek got there and got Cindy all bandaged up! However no one bothered to clean up all the blood in my kitchen or off of Cindy for that matter. I guess that was my job in all of it!

Well now the kitchen is clean, the garbage picked up, whats left of the viscious couch pillow removed, and Cindy is somewhat cleaned up from her adventure so hopefully we can have a relatively "normal" rest of the week! I am not going to count on it though!

Yoga!! Love it!!

2010-03-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

Today was my second time at yoga and it was great! I have been saying for a good 6 months that I was going to go to the class but always found a reason to not make it and now I am wondering why I ever thought that I had something better to do! The only thing I wish is that she had more than 1 lunchtime class during the week since lunchtime seems to be the only time I have for me!

Boring Update

2010-03-02T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well as you can see I have not had a whole lot of fun and interesting stuff going on in my life! If I did I would have totally blogged about it by now!

Kids are all healthy and happy and looking forward to Spring Break at the end of the month. We are not going anywhere this year since I have to work but I am hoping to slip a vaca of some sort in before they get out of school in May.

I am still busy working, working, working! I have been trying to come up with some new ideas for the Dance Shop so that the public can know it is the best place to shop for dance stuff but I am kinda stuck in a rut! I am sure some amazing idea will come to me and until then you should all come shop there!

Oh I did decide to add to our family last week! We are now the proud owners of a school of goldfish! 9 little orange and white fishes! Conner named one of them Ketchup! I love the names he comes up with! We had 10 but one of them did not make the transition from the store to our house. Dragonsniffles likes to watch them swim around but he hasn't bothered them so far! (knock on wood!) Cindy and Sadie show alot more interest in them which I find funny!

Well that is it! Like I said............boring!

Me! The dancer!

2010-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

I have been asked many many times why I do not post a picture of me in a dance costume! Well the reason is pretty dang simple! I hate, hate, hate the way I look in pictures! But to appease all those who have asked........... here I am in all my dancer glory! Enjoy! Dang I was a cute kid!

The Nutcracker revisited!

2010-01-18T10:16:00.001-08:00

Derek and his friend as the Palace Guards!

Jacob my serious soldier

Conner my not so fierce mouse!

Caitlyn the cutest little Chinese dancer ever!

Alex in her Arabian costume. This one was her favorite!
We all had a great time and can't wait to do it again!

Hello 2010!!

2010-01-07T07:50:00.000-08:00

The new year has started out kinda slow. Not a whole lot of juicy news to report. Caitlyn started out the year with a touch of flu so I got to miss work for that. I missed the beginning of last year because I was sick and if I remember right I missed the beginning of 2008 because of a sick kid. I hope we are not starting a new family tradition!

The kids have been having a blast with all the new stuff from Christmas. Of course the XBox 360 is the main attraction at our house now. And all the kids friends like to hang out and play so to get from one room to the other you usually have to step on someone. It is kinda nice being "the hangout house" though. I know where my kids are and what kind of mischief they are getting up to that way!

I have started helping out at the dance studio on a more permenent basis. I will like having more to do with the behind the scenes and day to day stuff that keeps the dancers dancing! I love being able to help out my kids in this way. Now if my boys would all 3 agree to dance it would really be cool!

I have not yet made my New Years resolutions because I have decided to not make silly ones or ones that are too far reaching and impossible to stick to. I will have to make them soon though or the year will be over and I will still be thinking! Any ideas?

A very blessed Christmas

2009-12-28T13:34:00.000-08:00

Well another Christmas come and gone and now I will spend the next month trying to get the last of the garbage out of my house! I envy my brother and also my neighbor for their fireplaces! I would love to burn all that stuff and enjoy the warmth it creates! Christmas was excellent this year!!

Santa decided to drop of the contents of his sleigh in my living room and call it a night! It sure kept us busy all Christmas morning! The kids got all they ever wanted and then a whole lot more! I am grateful for all the kids clothes santa wrapped up for my kids even if they weren't as excited! The only thing my kids would like now is for alot of snow so they can go sledding before christmas break is over!

The Nutcracker

2009-12-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

Now I know I have told everyone under the sun that we are dancing in The Nutcracker but for those of you who might have missed that small bit of info here is the lovely poster will all the 411 that we have been slapping up all around town! I hope everyone can free up some time to come watch! If you are interested in attending you can also buy tickets from ME!!!!

The Tree is up already! (whatever was I thinking!)

2009-11-16T11:44:00.000-08:00

After looking over my calendar for the next few weeks I realized I really don't have that much free time from now until Christmas weekend so I figured I had better get out the tree and get it up! So Sunday morning while my house was wonderfully quiet I got the tree box from the storage room and began the "ordeal"! I hate having to fluff out the branches and then sit and look at the tree from all angles to make sure there are no holes before I start with the lights! Mr. Dragonsniffles was very curious about the whole thing and tried his hardest to "help" out! I just about helped him right out the front door before it was over! Anyways tree up, lights on, but it is undecorated! I got the hard part done now I can take a break!

Jake is very concerned about the upcoming Thanksgiving dinner. Every year he starts asking a good two weeks in advance if we are having turkey and mashed potatoes! I don't know why he thinks we would have something different but it obviously is a major concern of his every November! He asked me again this morning to make sure grandma had not changed her mind about mashed potatoes! The way the kid acts you would think I never fix them! Little kids minds work in mysterious ways!

October! and Dancing!

2009-10-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here we are at the start of my favorite month! I look forward to October all year long! I love fall with the cold crisp mornings and the warm sunny afternoons! I love the trees changing colors! I love the way it smells outside(fresh cut hay, woodsmoke, farmers burning fields, the smell of dead leaves)! I love Halloween! I love it! I love it! I love it!!!!

I am already making plans for a visit to Dr. Slaughters with my friend in what I hope is just the first of many haunted houses we visit this month! I got out some of the Halloween decor and have been thinking about what new fun ways I can put it all up this year. I have also gotten out my recipe books to hunt for the perfect dish for the office potluck! I have been very busy!

On top of all the Halloween fun we will be having at our house we and by "we" I mean everyone minus Derek will be dancing in The Nutcracker this December so we have started our practices so we can be the best dancers in the world! Don't think for a minute that Derek is being left out or anything I asked him to dance and he said NO but.....I volunteered him to play the part of a palace guard during the performance! The guards don't dance they just get to stand there and look cool so I know he can play that part perfectly! I am hoping it will be as fun this year as it was last year! With 3 new family members dancing it keeps me busy! Hopefully I will remember to take pictures this year to share with everyone!

New Layout

2009-07-30T08:04:00.000-07:00

This morning as soon as I logged into my computer I had a sudden urge to change the layout of my blog. I have no idea why it became the most important thing for me to do this morning but now that I am done I feel quite satisfied with the outcome! Enjoy!!

Camping

2009-07-28T06:57:00.000-07:00

We went camping this last weekend with my entire family. It was so much fun to get to hang out with my older brother and his family without all of the hassle of trying to find time in both of our schedules. It was my sister-in-laws first time camping with us and she loved every minute of it and didn't want to leave! Not that any of us did! The wind blew and it rained everyday but what is camping without a little variety in the weather! The kids were all covered with dirt as soon as we got out of the car and before I even had a chance to set up our tent! Friday night after the rain was over and it cleared up we started the camp fire for smores. The stars were amazing I wish the little kids would have been awake to see it since Saturday night it was cloudy so they had no chance to see anything.
I was not ready to come home on Sunday so we lazed around until noon before I started to take down the tent and pack up the van. I was sad to leve but also happy to get home if that makes sense! I finally finished unpacking the van yesterday after work. I figured there was no reason to hurry into it. You never know I may have found a good reason to hop back in the van and go camping again so having the tent and sleeping bags in the back would have made it handy!

Can I take a vacation now that my vacation is over!

2009-06-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well we made it home! It was a long rainy drive back to Idaho Falls from Vale and I am ready for the sun to shine for longer than 5 minutes please! We all had a great vacation in Oregon including my dogs! I didn't stick them in the kennel with the other dogs this time so they had free rein of the entire farm. They were in heaven! Though I do hope that they will learn to not walk under the horses next time! They both got kicked and thankfully it was by the colt or they would have been really hurt if not dead.

All 5 of the kids got to get dirty doing some farm work! Derek went along with his cousin Hawk do help out on all of the chores. I think he enjoyed working in the hay fields alot more than feeding the pigs! His cousin Kelly taught him the basics of driving so he could help out! I just hope he realizes that he still has to wait til he is 16 to drive here!

Caitlyn loved feeding the new calf with her cousin Maddy. The little kids named her Angel! She is adorable as can be and will be a very sweet cow when she gets grown! Caitlyn will be sad that she will be too big to hand feed when we visit the next time! She didn't understand why the puppies and kitties were so big either! I told her that all things grow even her!

While waiting for Cammie to saddle the horses for the kids to ride I told the horses in the pasture to stand pretty for a picture and this is what I got!! They listen better than my kids do! The one in the middle decided that we were going to be the best of friends and he would follow along the pasture fence anytime I went outside and if I went up to the fence he would nuzzle up to me. Quite the accomplishment since he wouldn't let anyone near him for the longest time! Maybe it is a sign that farm life is in my future!

Well the vacation was great and I am glad we went but I am also glad to be home and back to what I am used to! The kids are already asking when we can go back! I want to try and make it sometime this fall if it all works out well! Maybe by then they will be ready for us to decend on them again!! I need at least that long to rest after this vacation! I never knew a vacation could be so dang tiring!!

Vale or Bust! Here we go again......

2009-06-16T07:37:00.000-07:00

Today is the start of our family vacation! We had so much fun in Vale, Oregon last month that we are headed back! This time we are going to be there for a lovely 5 days! I am so excited to go! I am told that the weather there is beautiful and sunny which will be a nice change from all the rain we have received here the last 2 weeks! The kids can't wait to see how big the puppies have gotten and Jake is sure the horse will be as happy to see him as he is to see her! I will take tons of pictures so I will have tons to blog about when we get back!

Bragging yet again!

2009-06-15T10:27:00.001-07:00

Ok so I have to confess.....I love to blog lurk!! It is so fun to jump from blog to blog and see what other people in this world ramble on about! In my lurking I came across this wonderful blog filled with recipes and the blog had TONS of links to other great sites! And on one of these sites I found a cupcake heaven! I am a cupcake lover so I was just like a kid on christmas! I browsed through pages and pages of lovely goodness and found a great recipe for kids! I printed the recipe and recreated them for my kids this weekend! This is my version of Taste the Rainbow cupcakes! I am so proud of these! My kids loved them!

This is also the first time I have ever piped frosting onto a cupcake and I think I did a pretty decent job of it! I am going to try and make creamsicle mini cupcakes next! I will blog about them to I am sure!

When did she get so grown up!

2009-06-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after work I took my kids in to the stylist for haircuts. My 10 yr old daughter has had some issues with taking care of her hair lately and I have warned her more than once that if she couldn't get it under control I was having it all chopped off. Well she didn't believe I would actually do it! Boy was she suprised when I handed her a style book yesterday and asked her which one of the short styles she liked the best and that if she didn't pick one fast I would pick and it would probably not be anything she liked! Well this is it! This is what she picked out of the book! She loves it! I love it! The only problem I have with this is that she looks so grown up! What is happening to all my babies!

still walking!

2009-05-29T13:20:00.001-07:00

Well I got up this morning and put my walking shoes back on! I walked to work and walked at lunch and in a few hours I will walk home! I think I am doing great! I have gone 10439 steps already today so I am blowing my goal right out of the water!

Lets talk about water! I wish I was in some right now! It is so freaking hot in my office I want to die! I need to get me a fan for my office for sure or maybe a swimming pool!! (Think I could get away with one of those in the empty space behind my desk?!) I plan to spend alot of time in the kids new pool this weekend enjoying the cool water!! I would rather spend it someplace like Rigby lake but they are a little slow in getting it filled up this year! Soon though I hope!!

I noticed Night at the Museum is playing at the drive-in this weekend and I LOVE the drive-in so I am sure that we will be there saturday night! I think the drive-in is one of the best places to hang out with the family! And nothing will ever beat a cheeseburger that has been sitting under warming lights for hours with dehydrated onions sprinkled on top! I swear it is the same jar of onions that was used back when I worked at the drive-in in 1992! It is doing fun things like that with the kids that make the best memories for me!!

walking, walking, walking

2009-05-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend I obviously let my brain go into shut down mode because I was under the impression that eating things like ice cream and chocolate and chips was a really good idea! So this week I have decided to get my butt in gear and walk alot! Yes I know that walking will not cure all of my fluffiness issues but it will help kick me into gear!

I have set myself a step goal for everyday of 10,000 steps so this morning I strapped on my pedometer and hopped to it! Since I don't have any reason to play momma taxi right after work I decided to walk today! The sun was shining and the birds were singing and the whole world seemed happy and I just joined right in! Then just when I thought everything was all peaches and cream I realized I was standing front of the door to work!~Talk about a mood killer!

Well it is not even 10:00 a.m. and I have already gone 4489 steps so I think I am off to a great start! Of course it is just day #2 of my walking towards skinniness so hopefully I don't give up on myself! I am however overly optimistic so hopefully I can do this!!

Back to work so now I can ramble on about nothing!

2009-05-26T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well as predicted my weekend was not as I would have wanted it! I was very ambitious and I did get some things accomplished but my yard does not look like I had envisioned and my house is still less than perfect! I did get me living room and kitchen clean but the bedrooms are a wreck and the bathrooms are not that far behind!

My wonderful neighbor (go Chad!!) came over to play with his chainsaw and took out a few of my trees so now I can see the kids on the trampoline! now if I could just get rid of that huge mess maker of an apricot tree my yard would be almost perfect! I need to get the weeds under control and the dead spots in the lawn green again before the 4th of July since I am having the bbq at my place this year! Makes sense for me to have it really since I am located in the best spot for all the fun!

Yes I did read a book and it was not anything to write about! Neither was the movie I watched! I had a Netflix that I decided to watch Friday night and it left me so confused that I am kinda pissed off! The movie was The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone. It is based on a short story by Tennessee Williams about an aging widow who is "drifting" in Rome and takes up with a young gigalo. She is in denial about what her relationship with him is really about. the movie was great right up to the end and then I was lost and it didn't make sense to me and so I googled it to read other people's reviews in hopes of figuring out the meaning behind on of the characters in the movie and that got me nowhere! Hopefully my next movie will not leave me so unsatisfied!

I bought a new ice cream maker a few weeks ago. One of those cool ones that you don't need to use salt and ice with you just freeze the canister instead! Anyways we made ice cream like crazy all weekend! We started with a simple vanilla that the kids ate so fast I am sure they all had brain freeze! Next we made a strawberry that was so heavenly that i was glad whent hey ate it so fast so I couldn't! I am not a big fan of strawberry ice cream but this was so dang good! Finally yesterday Derek and I experimented with a chocolate and this one did not turn out right. Let me rephrase that! It didn't turn out right for me! Derek ate the whole thing since it had the taste and consistensy of a Wendy's Frosty! He wants me to make that one again! I think next will be a blueberry or a raspberry though! yum!!

Ok I am done with the rambling for today! Guess I will get some work done now!

TGIF!!! I love Fridays!!

2009-05-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

I am sitting here at my desk (Ashley's desk really) trying so hard to not fall asleep I am actually going to write a blog about nothing! This has been one of the longest work days ever!!! I didn't think it was possible for an eight hour day to last for closer to eighty hours!!

I want to get home to start my weekend! I have ambitous plans to have a sparkling clean house and a beautiful yard all by Monday night! I can see it all in my head now! Clean walls, clean floors, dishes washed and put away, clothes folded and in the dressers, and kids clean and well groomed! Too bad that is an impossible reality for me! Oh the fantasies I can have in my head!!

I will in reality lay out in the sun reading a book, eating food I shouldn't be snacking on, getting a sunburn! Followed by lounging on my bed with the air-conditioner blowing on me while I surf the channels or watch a movie! All the while I will be thinking to myself about how I should be slaving away over the weeds in the flower beds or mowing my lawn so it is all the same length instead of the way it looks now! I will have guilt but I am sure an episode or two of House or a great romantic movie will squash it flat til I forget what I was feeling guilty about!

I will have to blog again on Tuesday with a well spun story full of lies about how great my yard and house look! Either that or I will just tell you all about how great the book I will read is instead!

Massages and sunshine and frustration!

2009-05-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I was stressed out. I truly hate the feeling of never being caught up on the housework and this is a feeling I have daily it seems. Nothing really gets accomplished around my house anymore! I sometimes have that feeling that gnomes are messing up my house just to make more work for me! Yes I know my kids are really the mess makers but sometimes messes appear when no one has been around so explain that to me if you can! Anyways last night what set me off was the kids shoes being everwhere but where they belonged. I put a shoe rack in the foyer just for them! I hate to trip over shoes! So I ended up going to bed last night tense and frustrated and laid there thinking instead of sleeping. I woke up tense and frustrated but no longer because of shoes but because I had let myself get upset over the shoes in the first place!

However I came to work today with my normal happy optimistic attitude and all because I knew that today the sun was going to shine and I had a massage! Now there had better not be any shoes lying around to kill my buzz when I go home!

Oregon

2009-05-18T12:12:00.000-07:00

Our first ever family vacation was a HUGE success! The kids could barely contain their excitement Thursday night and despite them going to bed early most of them were still awake at 10:00! I was up Friday morning and packing the last few things into the van at 4:30. Jake was up, dressed, and ready to leave before 5 and the rest of the kids were not far behind! After a stop for donuts and coffee we were off! In being true to some unwritten little kid rule,even though we had all peed before we left the house we still had to stop at the rest area between Shelley and Blackfoot! It wasn't even 6 a.m.! Wemade it to Boise around 11 and met up with Bob and Cammie so they could show us the way home! I might have found it on my own but I am not counting on that!

My first opinion of Vale was WOW! I can see why they moved there! It is so beautiful!

I enjoyed the quiet of the country and the sounds of nature. The weather was perfect the whole weekend and I have the sunburned shoulders to prove it!

The kids loved it from the start! Not only did they get to see their grandma, aunt, uncle, and cousins but they also got to see more animals than they normally see in a year! Cattle, goats, chickens, pigs, rabbits, dogs, puppies, cats, kittens, and Jake's favorite the horses! By Sunday morning Jake was riding Bullet all by himself! He is my little cowboy! He can't wait to get on a horse again! He loved riding by himself and with Aunt Cammie! All of the kids fell in love with the puppies and tried every trick to convince me to take 1 or even all 8 of them home! I have to admit telling them no was one of the hardest things I have ever done! I fell in love with them too!

We all had a hard time with leaving Sunday but we will be back! After finding out how great it was for all of us we have decided that Uncle Bob's will make a great vacation house and we plan on at least 2 if not 3 more trips this year alone! the kids will be talking about this trip for weeks to come! Our next trip will be for longer than a weekend so that we can really enjoy every aspect of ranch life!

Vacation

2009-05-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Friday I am taking my kids on our first family vacation ever! As you can imagine my kids are super excited to go! We are going to head to Vale, Oregon to visit some family on their ranch for the weekend. I have driven through Oregon on my way to Washington but never had the opportunity to stop and play so I am pretty excited too! My kids are looking forward to seeing lots of animals and being able to run and play. I am looking forward to being there but not the actual trip getting there! The closer it gets to the time for us to leave the idea of taking 5 kids and our 2 dogs on a 5 to 6 hour car ride becomes less appealing. I am not sure what I am thinking but knowing me I will make the best of it and will have plenty to laugh about before it is over! So wish me luck on my quest for a peaceful vacation because I am sure I will need all the luck I can get!

My bragging rights

2009-04-20T10:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Conner's birthday and he asked me to make him a volcano cake. We had seen one made on the Food Network and he decided that that was the coolest thing ever and he had to have it for his big day! I went online found the recipe and printed it out without really reading what was involved! Silly on my part! In the end it took 3 cake mixes and 3 cans of frosting plus one bag of small dinasour toys! I was nervous to assemble it and was so afraid of it falling apart before I was done. In the end I thought it turned out awesome!! I added dry ice in a candle votive tot eh hole in the top so that the cake smoked which all the kids loved! I am happy that I went out of my way to make him the cake he wanted. Normally we just get ice cream cakes from Reed's Dairy and call it good!

Traitor

2009-03-03T11:25:00.000-08:00

So I feel like a total traitor. I left my cat at the vets this morning so he can become a "fur-person". He wants to go outside all the time and I don't want little kitties that look like him running all over the neighborhood. He gave me the most evil look when the vet took him away. He knows this is all my doing!

To top it all off when I go pick up my cat this afternoon I am taking my 2 dogs with me so that they can have their shots! I may find myself in serious trouble tonight while trying to sleep! They may try to get back at me!!

Flowers

2009-02-26T12:01:00.000-08:00

I am trying to be optimistic about the weather but when you look out the window and the snow is swirling around so much you can't see the building across the street that is when I realize that the optimism is pointless!

In an effort to feel a little more "spring like" I bought some fresh flowers from the store last night. They smell divine! I love the smell of fresh flowers! They are so earthy and to me make every bad thing that life throws at you seem pointless. The smell of a pine forest and the smell of sagebrush in the desert after a rain storm have the same effect!

Back to the flowers! My cat Mr. Dragonsniffles obviously thought I had bought all those pretty flowers just for his ammusement! He smelled them, tasted them, and sat on them! I was not ammused by the last one! I had to throw 3 of the flowers away that he had squished! But the flowers look beautiful sitting on my kitchen table! I may have to make fresh flowers a more frequent purchase!

I can't wait for the weather to warm up enough that going to the greenhouse on my lunch break becomes my favorite thing to do and having dirt under my nails is the norm! I have all these grand plans for my backyard this year so Mother Nature had better be nice this year and actually let us enjoy our summer!

My weekend

2009-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

My weekend was a quiet one. I spent most of it just chillin in the house. I did do a mountian of laundry and still have another mountian to do! I think that my dirty laundry multiplies while in the hamper just to keep me busy! the only thing I hate more that laundry is doing the dishes. The reason behind that is because I still do my dishes the old fashioned way instead of using a dishwasher. We use paper plates for most meals because of that!! My daughter likes to do the dishes once in awhile and when she offers I take her up on it of course. Granted most of them are not really that clean when she is done but I am willing to overlook that as long as I am not having to do them myself!

My kids spent all day Saturday outside playing in the snow. I was informed by them that it was the best snow we had ever had! I trusted their opinion on this because as much as I love them I was not about to go have a snowball fight when I could stay inside with hot coffee and a good book! Now I guess if I was going to live up to my supermom persona I would have been knee deep in snowballs but I am not a winter person so they were on their own!! I want all of the snow to melt now. At least off of any pavement. I hate trying to walk on snow and I hate driving on snow. It can keep to the grassy areas of the world!!

My 4 yr old!

2009-01-23T13:44:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I was out "window shopping" during my lunch hour with my mom. We decided to stop into Tuesday Morning to check out what new and exciting thing we just knew we had to have! I was walking through the clearance (I am a clearance queen!) when I saw some tights, the nice thick ones, on an end cap. I picked them up to check out the size before I got too excited over the $1.00 price tag and happily enough they were both the right size. Of course I had to buy them not only because of the price but because one pair was covered in big polka dots and the other with little cute hedgehogs!!

When I picked my daughter up from daycare and showed her the new additions to her wardrobe she told me that she just had to try them on right away! After we got them out of the package I noticed that both pair say sweet potatoes on the back. Sweet Potatoes being the brand name! I made the mistake of pointing it out to her too!

The next morning my daughter happily put on her new polka dot tights and a flowered dress and was ready to go to daycare! We got to the daycare and she put her coat and shoes away in her cubby and walked up to her teacher turned around and in a clear and loud voice says........"read my butt"!!

As you can imagine it was very hard for me to control my laughter but I knew if I didn't she would find this so amusing she would continue to say it to everyone she saw for the rest of the day. Her teacher was also having a hard time containing herself! Of course to my daughter she had said nothing wrong she just thought it was cool there were words on her tights!

Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-02T07:41:00.000-07:00

My weekend was nice and quiet. That is how I like my days off! I am not an on the go kinda person. I am content to spend a day chillin at home with the kids doing silly things like coloring and playing Barbie's with my girls. I wish the weather would have been nicer all 3 days. I still have a backyard like a jungle that I need to work my way through and I have a feeling that my time is limited before the snow flies.

One highlight of my weekend is the beginning purchases for this years Halloween decorating!! I am a HUGE Halloween fan and love to decorate for this holiday! I picked my up some new flashing skull lights that play the theme to the movie Halloween! They are so sweet! I also got this cool little grim reaper that screams and plays the theme to The Addams Family! It makes me want to get the rest of the Halloween decor out and start the party!! I am excited that it falls on a friday this year but only to a point! I am happy to kow that i don't have to get the kids up for school the next morning but I want to be able to enjoy my Halloween at a party with my friends and I am afraid that sitters will be slim for that night. I had better start looking now!!

how 3 yr olds see the world

2008-08-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last night after getting the 3 middle kids to bed I decided to kill an hour playing Rollercoaster Tycoon before I went to bed. Now you have to understand that my littlest girl sleeps in my room most nights. She always has a reason behind it like her bed is to small or her pajamas don't match her sheets so she can't sleep in them or the cat told her to sleep in my room! The reasons are always something totally of the wall and said in such a serious voice that it is hard to tell her no! Anyways last night while sitting in a relatively quiet house playing on the computer I hear this tiny voice from the other room singing a song to me. She was singing me a song about how lonely she was in my room and how if I left her alone in there for long the big orange and purple striped alligator was going to take her away. I paused my game so that I could concentrate on listening to her song. The longer she went on singing it the crazier it got. The alligator was going to take her camping with grandma and then to ride the school bus to the movies of all places!! After 15 minutes of listening to her song and silently laughing to myself I finally gave in and went in to bed before she disappeared forever with an alligator whom I am told lives in my closet behind my shoes

My first blog!

2008-08-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

This morning when the alarm went off I rolled over and hit the snooze. I wanted to pull the blankets up over my head and pretend it was the weekend. I knew this was never going to happen not with my kids around! I pulled myself out of bed and walked to the bathroom to shower. I can do this with my eyes closed. I think it is a special talent women get after having kids! The ability to still get a few extra minutes of sleep while shampooing and shaving in the shower! I am normally not awake til I towel off!! Scary isn't it!! Once I get going in the morning I am fine it is just that initial push I need to give myself to get up in the morning! I need to move my alarm clock across the room I guess! Well that and about a pot of coffee!!

Getting 5 kids ready for school/daycare 5 days a week is not an easy task. One kid will want to sleep in. One kid will want to wear shorts with a sweater and dress shoes! One kid will want to eat nothing but pretzels and kool-aid for breakfast! I learned long ago that as long as they are dressed and eat something....anything....then I am a happy mom!! As much as I would like to think that we could live in a "Leave it to Beaver" world(you know pancakes, bacon, and kisses on moms cheek every morning!)I know my chances of that are slim to none! So at my house it is chocolate cake and pizza for breakfast and cold cereal for dinner and I am ok with that!! Now if I could just teach them something about fashion my world would be complete!!