Five Against One

Typhoon Season

2011-08-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

We moved here right at TYPHOON SEASON! What that means is that it rains Alot! The first rain storm the kids were so excited, and couldn't believe how high the water was getting, and they just had to play in it (Everyone but Taylor, he said the water was too GROSS! he is right:)

We get rain like this at least once a week and it still gets the kids excited but I won't let them play in it anymore I know meanest mom in the world but seriously the first time was more than enough.

Nick making it across the road

Matty and Chase making the "trek"

Land Ho!

Look at the black sludge following this guys, yep and my kids were playing in it

Nothing stops the Filipino's

Bohol

2011-08-12T20:49:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Bohol started at port one where we loaded a non-air conditioned boat, and headed out on a hour and a half ride.

The boat ride was okay except the fact the people behind us kept taking our pictures like we didn't notice what they were doing. I hate that!

That night we had dinner at the hotel, which was free with our hotel room, however we spent $30 on drinks and all we had were soda's, (so much for a "free" dinner :)

Day two: Swimming! Yes that's what we did all day, and of course I didn't get the sunblock on fast enough and Nick, Chase, Matty and I all got fried...

Day three: A tour of the Island

Old Catholic Church

The LARGEST snake in CAPTIVITY!!!!

This place just had a monkey and one HUGE snake. The Monkey loved Lilly and she loved him to she would laugh so hard when it tried to touch her. As for the snake, it was sick and I don't need to see it ever again in my life.

Jeff with the snake!
CHOCOLATE HILLS!!!!
There are close to 2,000 Hills in a 20 mile radius they are green now but turn brown and that's where the name came from.

Butterfly Garden

This place was really neat. They showed us the cocoons and chrysalis's

We even got to hold live cocoons that would move when you touched them. They also had butterflies who "played dead" and some that smelled like chocolate (my favorite.)

Tarsier Monkey

This Monkey is the smallest primate. It only lives on Bohol Island and cannot leave or it can't live. They Are so stinkin cute and tiny, I just wanted to squish their cute little guts . We also saw lemurs, monkey's, snakes, iguanas and wild cats.

That's the end of our tour of Bohol island.We saw lots of cool animals and some amazing sites. I am so glad my kids are able to see all this.

Family Park

2011-08-11T23:42:00.000-07:00

The boys and I spent the day at "Family Park" while dad slept:)

Kind of cool how they have "exotic" animals in cages right where you can touch them.

We saw all the animals (probably close to fifteen), played on the playground, and then went swimming in the pool. Pretty fun little trip for only going ten minutes from our house.

Crocolandia

2011-07-05T19:16:00.000-07:00

Our first "ADVENTURE" in Cebu was Crocolandia, home largest croc in captivity (I made that part up because it's the BIGGEST I've ever seen). This was an amazing place, not like the zoo's back home where you're protected by huge fences and glass paneling 20 ft between you and the crocs,but an actual up close and personal look.

Matty and Chase standing by one of the "small" crocs

This ones kind of far away.

Not anymore, they allow you on all sides of the cages so you can get the BEST view.

The most EXCITING part of the trip was the "Crocodile Feeding". This is absolutely amazing and the guy feeding him is absolutely CRAZY!

Phillipines at first glance!

2011-06-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

When we got to the airport we had arranged for a bus to pick us up, once we found it we were set. All bags and kids in and we're ready to go.

The bus was my first taste of Cebu. No seat belts, no air conditioning, and very dirty. I was scared! All I could think is "what did I sign up for?"

We made it safely to our village (No village idiot jokes! I know that's what you're all thinking right now.) and into our new home.
Here's our first few views of the Cebu.

I'm leaving on a jet plane!

2011-06-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Checking in
Well the fun at the airport took no time at all to get started. We started by waiting for the airlines to open up to check us in. We had to wait about 20 minutes, not bad but when you're juggling 13 suitcases, 7 carry on's and 5 kids it is big deal.

On to security
I was on the ball and made sure we had no liquids, no sharp objects, the boys had their shoes off and we were ready...UMMM MAYBE NOT.

The kids go through perfectly and I am pushing their bags through, when I realize Chase's bag has been pulled out and is getting checked... "oh crap what did I miss?" Water, phew Chase had filled his cup which I had specifically told him not to, but this is easy no big deal. Time to send his bag back through...WHAT? It's getting pulled again? Seriously I told that kid that Joey had to stay home we can't take animals on the plane. No dog! But really what are the looking for? They have now emptied his bag completely and are checking the interior lining.

The guard looks at me and starts playing 20 questions.
- Is this his bag? Yes
- Is it any one Else's? No

- Does your husband ever use it? Yes

This is when Jeff walks up.
-Sir, when was the last time you used this bag? Maybe 6 months ago.
- Do you take it camping? Yes
-What do you take with you when you go camping?- Knives and guns.
- Yep that's what I thought.
He pulls out his hand as is holding four bullets. Holy Crap!
They put it through again and it's still not clear. Do one more thorough search and find three more bullets that makes seven total.
They proceed by doing a background check on Jeff and then send us on our way.

SERIOUSLY? Can we just get on the plane already?

Delayed

After all that our first plane is delayed for almost an hour and when it's time to get on I can't use the car seat for Lilly. Grrr.

Board the plane and realize why. This is the teeniest tiniest plane I have ever seen and it seats 45 people...45 people who are about to die!

The ride was good and we made it to L.A. with no time to spare and we were escorted to our plane by a cute little Korean man who was in a huge hurry to get us on our plane. Just picture the scene from "Home Alone" when their all running through the airport...Yep that was us.

Whew we made it! But wait a minute, they are telling be I can't use Lilly's car seat on this flight either. You've got to be kidding this is the longest flight of all I need her car seat. But it's a no go.

What a ride the kids were Amazingly good and Lilly only fell off the seat once when I dosed off for a minute and wasn't holding her, ooops!

Landed in Hong Kong right on time.
The wait in Hong Kong went fast and before we knew it we were on our way to Cebu. This time with a car seat.
Landed In Cebu safe and sound now on to great adventures!

Sunday June 5, 2011

2011-06-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

Breath in, breath out!
It started out as a normal morning, breakfast with my parents, Jamie, Kenny and Cedar, and then back to my house to finish up packing WHAT.....STOP! That's when it gets all crazy and I'm realizing as I give my Dad his Father's Day gift that "this is for real" and this is the last time I'll be seeing them in person and the next time will be on the web-cam he's opening up, this is where the breathing begins and I have to tell myself "it's only a year". And then after a tearful goodbye they drive off.

I compose myself quickly and get back to work on getting the house ready and the final packing together. Then my friends show up and the breathing starts again. "What am I going to do without these two girls"? They know me best and accept and love me for me, they are the ones who make me laugh and know how to make me feel better. The tears quickly come again and as they are leaving another feeling of "this is for real" is sweeping over me.

I keep telling myself that the great things about goodbye is it make you realize just how much you love someone and each of them for their very own reason and how much impact they have in your life. I love you all!

Dinner
I am lucky enough to have an amazing sister-in-law who has amazing in-laws. They invited us to have dinner at there house as our farewell meal and it was so perfect feasting on hamburgers and potato chips. Thank You Barlow's for the great company and great food.
It's time to leave and the cousins are saying goodbye and I'm getting teary eyed because I don't think that they "get it" .

Airport
I already mentioned my amazing sister-in-law, but it doesn't end there, she and and her husband drove us to the airport. The drive up there was good. My husband and my boys were saying goodbye to "all things Utah" as we pass and we get there quickly...too quickly.
Breathings heavy again this is it, last goodbyes and we're off. This was another hard one and I lose it quickly.
Thanks for all the support and well wishes. I am am scared to death and very excited for this chapter in my life.

The best part of goodbyes is that it 's made me see how important each and everyone of these people are in my life and that they all play their own special role. I love you all!

Hip Hop Halloween Night.

2010-11-02T16:37:00.001-07:00

Oh halloween how I love thee! Everything about Halloween is just great, the pumpkins... carving and seed, the decorations, the costumes, the parties and the ridiculous amount of candy. Does it get any better?

The kids all decided what they were going to be after changing their minds 500 diffrent times and hear are the final decisions....

Matty's list of costumes consisted of, a power ranger, a ninja, a clown and what did he finally decide on?

"Hiccup" from "How to train your dragon"

Next up is Chase first off it was Frankenstein, woody, power ranger, a skunk, and the final costume is...

"Vampire"

Nicholas was pretty much clueless until about the last minute, when he finally decided to be

An "orc" from World of Warcraft.

And finally we bring in Taylor who has no clue, and is pretty much bored with even trying to decide. I do my motherely duties and find him a costume of an out house with a guy in it and he loves the idea. Well time goes by and I have about two days to make his costume and I just can't fit it in so I find this for him, and it was a HUGE hit.

Pony up Cowboy!

Baby girl didn't have much of a choice in the matter, but for parties and main street trick or treating she was a...

Ladybug
Then for Halloween night and trunk or treating this is where she ended up

Lobster stew!

And to finish it off what is Halloween with out "Witches Brew" and the traditional "Meal in a Pumpkin."

4th of July

2010-08-13T04:44:00.000-07:00

There may not have been any fiery explosions or mortars being shot directly aT us and our houses,no fingers being burnt, or holes burnt in to clothing, but this year did not dissapoint. The festivities started with a BBQ with neighbors which included burgers plenty of yummy salads, an awesome cake made by yours truely and of course SLUSHIES.

Next up was the bee stings...I know this isn't really one of those kind of thing you want to remember or that should be highlighted as part of your "GREAT" day, but I just have to share. Chase was playing so nicely in the sandbox minding his own business when a good for nothing mean old bee came up and stung him three yes that's 3 diffrent times. One on his chin, his nose and his ear. Poor little kid. I didn't get a picture because I rushed to save the day.

Chase is such a trooper and it only bothered him for a few minutes...that's not metioning the damage it did as far as seeing any flying bugs now, which usually results in a panicked screams followed by running inside.

The night ended with fireworks. What great neighbors I have I just love you guys!

Matty's Kindergarten Graduation!

2010-08-13T04:41:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten is just the sweetest year for kids. They are so excited to learn and just love the feeling of independance. Matty had the GREATEST teacher this year and he learned so much I was kind of sad to see it come to an end. Okay okay confession time...Yes I cried at his graduation but I amjust so darn proud of him.

Lilly's blessing

2010-08-13T04:20:00.000-07:00

My beautiful family means the world to me. Blessing this sweet baby girl and giving her a family name (Lillian: Great Grandma Dimitt) (Rose: Great Grandma Newman),was one of the greatest days! Lilly has made our family complete and we all love her so much.

Lilly with her Grandma and Grandma Great

Lilly and her Grandpas

My Family

Lilly and PROUD daddy

The BODYGAURDS!

Lilly, the new star of our camera.

2010-04-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

The Princess has arrived

2010-04-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Lillian Rose Newman
6lbs. 1oz. 18 in.

So it all began on March 4th at about 4:00 in the afternoon. I started having contractions thought nothing of it because I was not due for another three weeks. They stayed pretty consistant and then around 7:00 they slowed down and then stopped all together. BOOOO! So I went on about my night and at 9:00 they started back up, oh great I thought another tease. We get ready for bed and the contractions are still going strong. At 2:00 am. the contractions are about 2 minutes apart so I call Angie and she comes over so the kids can stay in bed. As we are leaving she asks when to get the kids up for school and I tell her not to worry about it, Jeff will be back by then...I have never been so WRONG in my life.

We get to the hospital the contractions are going strong but I am not dialated at all, but with my history they decided to keep me for awhile and watch me. They have me get up and walk around the halls to see if I can get things moving a little faster... it doesn't work.

Well I wait and still no progress. To make a long story short I am going to skip to mid-night. Well it's officially March 6th Taylor's birthday I have been in labor now for 27 hours and still no baby. the nurse comes in every 30 minutes to check me and I am still making very little progress. At 2:00am the nurse checks me and I am a 5 oh boy, I will be here forever at this rate...at 2:30 she's back in to check and I am ready YAY!

The nurse calls the Dr. who is sleeping in the hospital waiting for me to have the baby and he heads to my room. As the nurses and Dr. are getting everything ready the baby starts to come and as the Dr. puts his first glove on and reaches for his second the baby decides to come and Jeff catches her right in time, the Dr. turns around with his one gloved hand and takes over from there.

It was a long 29 ours but well worth the wait. After all these years I have my precious baby girl.

Chase turns 4.

2009-12-08T17:39:00.000-08:00

It is so hard to believe that my little boy is getting so big. Little Chase has grown up so much in the past year and his little personality is starting to come to life. We love little Chase and we're so glad he's part of our family.

4 things I LOVE about Chase...

* Chase has been the baby of the family for four years now, he knows it and we know it. He has definatly mastered the art of getting whatever he wants and that's all right by all of us.

* I love the way you get so excited over video games, and how much you love to play them.

*I love your random hugs. We all have times when you just come up to us lean your head on us and say "I love you".

*I love when you fall asleep at night with your thumb in your mouth. You look so sweet and peaceful I could watch you all night long.

Happy Birthday little buddy!

It's a Girl!

2009-11-04T18:52:00.000-08:00

So we found out what we were having on Oct. 27. With this being our last one Jeff wanted to surprise me and tell me in his own little way. Any one who knows me knows this was very hard for me, after all I'm the girl who peeks at all her Christmas presents and cannot stand a secret, it almost kills me not to have my nose in everything. So without dragging it on any further I'll tell you how it went down.

We went into the Dr's office and told him that Jeff would be the only one finding out. The Dr agreed to do his best, and with that he had me shut my eyes. So I'm listening as they are finding out the sex of the baby, trying to get a hint from someones voice, or listening to the key strokes as he types it in to the computer but with no success, I just lay there with my hands grasped firmly over my eyes trying not to peek. We finish with the ultrasound and Jeff heads back to work and I head home.

At this point it's absolutely killing me knowing he knows and I don't. AAAHHH! As I lay around and by lay I really just laid around waiting for him to get home, and at 5:00 he walks in the door. I can't wait I run down stairs and he hands me an envelope...Clue #1. I think, oh this will be easy, a scavenger hunt.

WRONG! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO WRONG IN MY LIFE.

The first clue leads me to my sock drawer, followed by the neighbors kitchen sink, which I know he did because the neighbors were just as anxious to find out as I was. The next clue took me to the church, and then to my other neighbors house. This is where it gets CRAZY. Clue #4 sends me to Trisha's house...in Provo. So I drive to Trisha's house and when I get there I have to bake a batch of cookies before she could give me my next clue. The cookies and milk are done and I head off with my next clue which leads me to Chris's house in Orem... this is getting weird. My next clue is easy all I have to do, is make a phone call to my father-in-law. That clue leads me back home, which I couldn't be more excited about. I pull in the driveway and Jeff's car is gone...WHAT THE CRAP! I find my clue on our Halloween guy and open it up and it says I have to get in my Halloween dress and head to my parents. Okay now you've got to be kidding me right!? I am not driving all the way to American Fork, I have already been clear to Orem, and I want to know NOW!
I take a deep breath and remind myself that this is "supposed" to be fun so just do it. I head to my parents house and when I arrive I have to sing a song for my final clue.

The final clue...
The clue said I would find the answer I was looking for at the core of the cake. Which just happens to be sitting on my parents table. I get a knife, and nothing is stopping me now, I am cutting huge pieces just trying to find something. Finally I stop cutting and dig in with my hands, the answer is here somewhere. As I dig through this cake finding NOTHING, Jeff is sitting in his chair just laughing until finally he says "ooops I guess this is the part where I tell you I didn't put the answer in the cake, we're having a GIRL!" AHHHHHH! CRY!!! CRY!!! CRY!!! SCREAM!!!!! HUGS!!! MORE CRYS!!!! I can't believe it, after all these years I'm having a little girl.

Jeff is the best husband I could ever ask for and I am so glad he loves to get so involved and do little things like this for me. I think this was the best way to find out, and I am so glad Jeff was strong enough to keep the secret from me, no matter how much I begged.

I am excited and nervous as can be to have a girl, but I know it's going to be great.

.

Happy Halloween.

2009-10-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

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Girls night.

2009-10-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

Chastina, Tami, Maurina, Jenn, Mere, Jolene, Michleene April
Nicki, Lindy, Shanna

Last week I went to a well needed girls night. I know all these girls from growing up, we were all in the same ward and luckily most of us still keep in touch. When we get together we have the best times reminiscing about who had saggy ta ta's (it wasn't me), why we all got showered with exclamation, and who are victims were for toilet papering. We all were so close growing up even though some of us came across a little shy and some of us were loud and crazy we all got along really well. The best of times growing up were all because these girls, and I am so lucky to still have most of them still in my life. So here's to you girls and the memories we will continue to share.

And to those of you who couldn't make it, we look forward to seeing you next time.

I'm back!

2009-10-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

Well technically I didn't go anywhere, but I definitely was not blogging.
Summer came and went so fast this year I don't really remember doing much, except the constant trips to the bathroom due to ridiculously crazy morning sickness. Oh by the way I'm pregnant...but of course if your one of my friends on facebook you already knew that. For those of you who don't facebook (losers) I am due March 19. I am so excited I can hardly wait to find out what I'm having, which will happen at the end of this month (cross your fingers for a boy).

The kids started school and It's crazy to think I have a fifth grader. Am I really that old? Don't answer that! Matty started kindergarten and I am so proud of how well he is doing, he comes home every day and tells me what he learned that day. I love these times because by the time they hit second grade you ask them what they learned in school and they say nothing.

As for the rest of the time that has been missed for the last few months your just going to have to wonder what I was really up to...

I know this post was short and quick, but hey at least it's something.

Random Goodness

2009-07-18T03:42:00.000-07:00

You know when you start scrapbooking and your all gung-ho about it and you finish your first book within a weekend, clean up all your stuff and put it away until next time which turns out to be um.....never!? Well that's where I'm at with this blog. My intentions are good but the actual doing part is lacking, but I'm trying to be better.

With it being summer vacation for the kids there have been alot of fun things going on. I won't bore you with the usual trips to the pool or days at the park, I'm just going to throw all the "worth writing about" stuff into this post.

~ Baseball ~

We signed both the boys up for city league baseball which was very fun to watch, Taylor's games were the serious ones where the Ump needed to be yelled at a few times, and Nick's were the laid back ones where we would just sit and talk about how cute it was that they didn't even touch the bases, they just kind of skipped over them.
Watching my boys progress and become better throughout the season was so fun and I can't wait until next season when we get to do it all over again, and again, and again,and again...you get the picture.

~ 4th of July fun ~

Tradition rules again. We started the day off at the Provo parade. Thanks to Jeff and his "willingness" to save us all a seat by waiting 10 hours and enduring tretourous rain pour (which was only a slight rain, just enough to get all the blankets soaking wet). All the kids loved the parade and spending tie with their cousins.
That night we went to Trisha's house for fireworks some legal and some not;) It was a great day just your usual 4th of July.

~ Carnival Time ~

Nothing like heading to the carnival for some good old family fun. I love, love, love the carnival, always have. We were lucky enough to be able to spend some time with My brother Kenny and his son Cedar. The boys loved the carnival and as Matty would say "the carnival is 80% funner than the parade" I know cute kid huh!? They had fun riding rides and I had fun going through he fun house to "save" Matty who was to scared to go down the slide once he got to the top. Little Chase loved the dragon roller caster and he would get off it say "that was so fun, did you watch me mom" Oh, there I go again having another "cute kid" moment. We also loved eating funnel cake, juicy hamburgers and snow cones, mm mmm mmmm the yummy days of summer.

~ Last but not least ~

My Matty is always saying the funniest things, this was his latest. We were sitting down to dinner one night and Matty holds up his sloppy joes and says "Hi Billy May's here for the sandwich." We all about died, man that kid is funny.

Oh Matty!

2009-06-14T21:17:00.000-07:00

Matty is so funny and he is always coming up with something to make us laugh, this is the last thing he did.

Last Saturday when Nick got baptized we sat him down to give him his baptism "gift". which happens to be a set of Scriptures of his very own. We are all watching and Matty is getting so excited talking a mile a minute like he always does and he asks

"Does everyone in our family get a special present when they get baptised?"

I explain that they do, he gets excited again and asks

"will I get the excact same thing as Nick when I get baptised?"

Once again I say "yes". Nick opens the bag looks in gets acute little grin on his face and Matty can hardly stand it any more and starts asking

"what is it"

Nick finally pulls it out and as soon as he does and says it's scriptures Matty turns to Jeff and I says

"I don't want that when I get baptised, I don't want anything for church."

We couldn't stop laughing and all I could think was how much I love the innoncence of my children and how they tell things exactly how they are.
Matty now has 2 1/2 years to prepare for his "unwanted" baptism gift that he "WILL" get,I hope that's enough time for him to get excited about it.

Baptism

2009-06-10T23:47:00.000-07:00

Nicholas was baptized on June 6. What a special day for him. The baptism turned out really well, and both of his Grandpas were able to talk at his baptism. Nicholas is such a sweet boy and we are so thankful he is part of our family. We love you Nicholas and we are so proud of you for all the things you have done.

Birthday Party

2009-06-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

On May 30 Nicholas turned eight. He was so excited and me well I was excited too but really I was feeling old. Turning eight is one of those lanmark ages makes the mom feel old like, holy crap how is it possible I have kid that old, and in my case two.

Nicholas decided to have a "carnival" party. I love, love, love throwing parties,and I knew as soon as we decided what kind it would be that I would have a blast planning it, just imagine, cotton candy, popcorn, bounce houses games ooohh the possibilities are endless.

About two weeks before his party, Nick informed me that he was inviting 100 kid...really? I asked him if he knew 100 kids and he said "yeah the whole second grade". Well we were able to compromise and I let him invite 35 figuring that the "usual half" would show up.

On the morning of his party we got everything ready, and waited for his friends to arrive. They soon started trickling in and by the time we got the activities underway there was a total of 28 kids. Yep that's right, 28 seven and eight year olds.

The kids had a blast getting their faces painted, bouncing in the bounce houses, plaing games and winning prizes. This actually turned out to be ne of the easiest parties because the kids were entertained the entire time.

The party was a huge success thanks to my friends and family who were the man power behind each game, you guys are all awesome.

Hold on

2009-06-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

For all you die hard fans I will be updating my blog on Wednesday night with super exciting stuff like, a Birthday party, Baseball, A Baptism, a trip to Thanksgiving Point and maybe even more if something else happens in the next few days. Thanks all for being patient once again with me.

Life flys by

2009-05-05T02:28:00.000-07:00

Since I have received harsh words and e-mails about me not being so "awesome" because I haven't kept up on my blog I thought I would sit down and take a few minutes to entertain my fans:)

Life has been busy and there have been a lot of things I haven't blogged about, but my intentions have been to blog about all the excitement but when it comes right down too it I just don't, I know I'm a big slacker. here's a run down of the things you have all missed out on.

Easter:
Easter was really fun this year. I had my Easter party on Saturday which I think turned out great I'm a little biased, but I must say it was awesome. Even though the rain was worrying me like crazy it all turned out good, with the exception of the prize table which needs a little rethinking.

Spring Break:
What can I say, it rained and rained and rained. Jeff took Thursday off, which was supposed to be our zoo day but the rain quickly turned it into a bowling day. So we headed to good old Jack and Jill's oh the memories ahhhh. On the very first time up to bowl, Jeff crossed the fowl line and yep you guessed it, he fell right on his butt. Oh man I swear that's one of the best things about him, his clumsiness always leads to a good laugh. Although that was funny it wasn't the best thing about it, so what was your wondering right? Well when I was little I used to go with my dad to watch him bowl with his league, and they had the best fries, well guess what, they still have the same fries and they are the best fries ever talk about delicious. The fries were definitely better then our scores, I actually won a round with a score of 118 don't worry though, I will remember all you little people when I go pro.

Hogle Zoo:
We went to the zoo a couple of Sundays ago and it was so fun. The kids had fun looking at all the animals, and I had fun watching my kids get so excited about the animals. You can only imagine how exciting this was for them because they still get excited when we pass cows or horses, so these animals were amazing. Once again though Jeff was there to entertain, and he sure didn't let us down. While we were in the reptile house which has a big sign "please leave strollers outside" we are wandering around and I look over and see Jeff pushing a stroller, I look behind him and there is a guy trying to get his attention to tell him that he's got his stroller but Jeff doesn't realize until I stop him and pull him away...needless to say I made Jeff hold my had so we didn't have any more mishaps.

Baseball:
Well he season just started which I am very excited about, I love baseball and it's one sport I can practice with my kids and they will actually benefit from my help. I will post about that as soon as games get underway.

Well your all up to date so please stop leaving mean messages in my inbox, and I will honestly try to keep up from now on.

I am too awesome

2009-03-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

Brace yourself folks, your in for a real surprise. I know you all thought this would never happen, but it has. What your wondering, "what has happened"? I will tell you...two posts in one week. I am too awesome.
After skipping out on my blog for a long while, things happened and never got mentioned so with this post I will run through a list of things I have felt guilty about not posting.

First I'm going to start out with a BIG welcome home for my friend Mike. Mike has been in Afghanistan for the past year leaving at home a wife and three kids. That had to be one of the greatest sacrifices for him to leave his family, and go serve our country. I love their whole family very much, and am so happy for them to be back together again.

Next on my list of "things" is the chicks. That's right y'all we are farmers again, or at least as close to be a farmer as you can get without alot of work. Let me guess you all are thinking how many chickens could we possibly need right? Well if you remember the "lasts years" chicks, they are no longer with us. The were found in various places such as Zeb's mouth, Ellie's mouth, and in the hands of Jeff (the rooster) lifeless, lifeless as can be {{fake tears}}. Yeah there finally gone was my thinking but Jeff was quick to prove me wrong when he went out and bought more this spring. The chicks, I'm not sure exactly how many this time, are all alive and I guess growing so big. That's really all about that I just thought I would let you know we are back in business.

Well then there was St Patricks Day. During the night a little leprechaun came and sprinkled confetti shamrocks down the stairs to the kitchen table where he (she) left surprises for each kid. The kids thought it was so neat that the leprechaun actually stopped by, and Nick swears he heard him.

Last but not least I will update you on my aerobics class. One again let me say I am too awesome. Not only have I kept going to this aerobics class, but I have not stopped for a single pink cookie since my first time. Also, I am getting these dances down like mad... Just don't ask Mercades or she'll tell you I dance like a "bear" whatever!

Whew it's nice to have this done, and I promise I will post more frequently so you won't have to read another jumbled mess like this one.

Anniversary

2009-03-24T02:48:00.000-07:00

The other day My honey and I celebrated our 11th anniversary, holy crap eleven years. It seems like I have known him my whole life, and being with him is the only thing I know.
Here's how my day started. I had to work so I got up at 2:30 and headed out the door, YUCK. As a get to my car, which has been conveniently parked behind the truck that I usually take, I see flowers on my dashboard and a card taped to the steering wheel. Oh how sweet, I have the best husband in the world. Then I turn the car on and "our song" is playing on the radio, how is this possible, my radio in my car doesn't automatically come on, you have to turn it on and then turn it to the right station first...I take a closer look, and he has had a brand new radio installed in my car. See I told you I have the best husband ever.

Then thanks to my mom watching the kids we were able to go up to Park City and spend some time together. We started the day by shopping on main street, who am I kidding, we were window shopping, we all know we can't afford anything in any of those shops. After a couple of hours we decided to eat lunch at Flannigans, an Irish pub...not a good idea. It might have been the fact that I ordered a sandwich that consisted of eggplant, squash, and peppers or that Irish food just sucks. Either way not a good idea. After lunch we did some more "browsing", and had some ice cream (which was not eggplant).
That night we went to see the play "something strange happened on he way to the forum" which was very funny.

The next day we hit the outlets for some great deals and then headed home...but not before taking a detour through Kamas (Jeff's big idea).

Thanks Jeff for eleven amazing years you are the best most supportive person, and I am so lucky to have found you. I love you!

Taylor turns 10!

2009-03-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

Last Friday Taylor turned ten...Holy cow. For his party Jeff took him and his friends to play laser tag, then it was back to our house for cake and ice cream. They all had alot of fun.
T. is such a good kid and a joy to have in our family. He is the best big brother and is so patient with all his brothers and he is always willing to help.
We love you T! Happy Birthday!

T's new bike!

Thyme vs. Poop

2009-02-27T18:45:00.000-08:00

Making a dinner that the kids like isn't always the easiest thing to do. Here is the last episode we had at our house.

Jeff says- "Chase eat your dinner"
Chase- "no...it's yucky
Jeff- "it's really good"
Chase- "It's got poop"
Jeff- "theres no poop"
Chase- "YEEEES see, little poops"

Jeff looks at what he's pointing at, and it just happens to be thyme. Jeff tells him again that it's not poop, and takes it off his plate. Chase looks at his plate again and sees more "little poops" and starts crying. Needless to say he didn't finish his dinner, which I don't blame him for, I wouldn't eat food that contained "little poops"

Dear Skinny girls...

2009-02-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

Dear Skinny Girls,
Yes, you know who you are. Your the girls who wear a size 10 or below pants, and who I actually see jogging around town, or I see as I peer through the windows at the gym, yes you. I have a dream, and that dream is to be just like you. This has been a dream I've had since after my first baby,and I've never really been able to make it come true.
So with the peer pressure from Angie I joined a aerobic/hip-hop class.
Picture this...me and Angie on the back row of aerobics class with a full mirror in front of us so we can be reminded of just why we're there. Trying not only to do the moves, but to keep up...I know funny huh. Well I did my first class and went home feeling great...until two days later when I felt like I had been hit by a mack truck. Great this means I did good right?
Well we went back for our next class, and this time we started warming up and then came the jumping jacks...Oh crap I knew I couldn't jump on a trampoline, but jumping jacks really? I made a mad dash to the bathroom and got back just in time to see the last few jumping jacks being completed. I was able to do the rest of the workout with no interruptions, and I was feeling great again kind of like I accomplished something great.
As we leave I decide to stop for a diet dr. pepper. What? Don't give me that it was diet okay. Well I go to pay for this "diet" soda but you have to spend at least two dollars to use your debit card, so what do I do? I grab the first thing I see which happens to be a pink cookie. Oh yeah you know the ones with 24 grams of fat, with a thick layer of pure crisco frosting on top, those ones. I get in the truck and Angie feels like she should give me the exact run down of whats in it, and I do my best to tune her out.
I make it home with the pink cookie unopened and think to myself, I will just pass it up this time...who am I kidding, I opened that cookie as soon as I sat down on the couch.
So my dear friends, Now you know why I am not skinny like you, it's all because of one pink cookie. Please wish me luck at my next aerobics class, not only that I might hold my bladder, but that I will be able to pass up that delightful crisco covered cookies

Valentines Day and the BIG 30!

2009-02-16T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well folks, it's official my husband is an old man. He turned 30 on Friday the 13th(imagine eerie music in the background;) This year for his birthday the boys and I thought we would surprise him by decorating his office. We "borrowed" the keys to his office, which are conveniently on the key ring with his truck keys, and we set out to do the job. We got balloons, confetti, banners, cards, and a special treat and decorated is desk. When he got to work on Friday morning he was so surprised, at first he thought maybe the people at work had decorated it and then saw the cards from me and the boys, and he asked his boss "how did they get in here?" and his boss said "I don't know, I was hoping you could tell us" HA,HA,HA! Luckily he works for great people(scoring brownie points for him just in case they stumble upon this some how) and they didn't really care.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HONEY! I LOVE YOU!

My accomplices

For Valentines day this year I thought it would be a fun idea to have a little Valentines dinner with the boys. I set the table with a valentines theme, which included wine glasses, red plateS, and confetti hearts.
For dinner we had a family favorite, with a little twist of "love" which consisted of heart shaped ham slices and pineapple, red rice, pink white sauce, and broccoli and cheese. The kids thought it was so neat and they love the idea of wine glasses with martinellis.
It was was fun night, and I am so lucky to have such a sweet family to share days like this with. I love you all!

Me and my boys getting ready for our dinner(just ignore how crappy I look)

Valentines dinner.

Man's best friend ...

2009-02-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

This story actually begins back in July when I was at girls camp with our ward. I spent a full week up there and was excited to get home. When I walked in the door there was my family all looking at with guilty eyes and I had the feeling that I knew why. Yep, sure enough I look out the back door and there is this UGLY black puppy staring at me. The only thing I could think of was, "get this dog out of here". After much coaxing, and promises I knew would never be kept, I finally agreed to let the dog stay. I never really liked "Ellie" she was big and just so STUPID. I'm not kidding, she would come up to you and just plow into you with her big ugly head, and I just never grew very attached to her.

Jeff loves Ellie, and thinks she is just the greatest dog ever, and she is for the most part if you like BIG, STUPID dogs. The last week or so I had noticed Ellie was starting to be mean to Joey, and Jeff trys to tell me that all Ellie is trying to is play and Joey is just to ornery. Whatever!

So on Saturday night Matty was petting Ellie, and she just turned and snapped at him, WHAT! STUPID DOG! Luckily she just got the tip of his finger, and didn't break the skin. So back outside she goes and Jeff trys once again to justify this, but is having a hard time. So on Sunday morning Jeff gives STUPID,oops I mean Ellie another shot at coming in the house. Everything is fine, and the bam out of the blue she snaps at Taylor, and unfortunately gets his face. So Jeff knows what he has to do with his best friend, and it make us all real sad (Except for me of course, I was so happy however I was able to hide my happiness and put on a sad supportive front for Jeff:)

I know, this sounds like such a sad thing, but on Sunday before Jeff got rid of Ellie, just to make sure I would let him still have a dog, he went and bought a new one and let me just say, she is precious. We named her Sophie, she is a ten week old yellow lab and she is just super cute. I hope that she will be a good pet for us and that we will get to enjoy her for many years.

The answer is...

2009-01-22T19:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I guess you guys want an answer to my poll right, you all want to know my final decision, and how much influence you all have on me!? So I guess I'll tell you...drum roll please(brdrbdbrbbdbrbbbdd) the answer is YES! Yes I'm still debating {sigh}. I'm not sure what my problem is but I feel like with my baby being so old already, have I already missed the "right" time to do it, or do I need to just plan on having two more... NOT! Either way thank you all for your votes and kind words of encouragement, and thank you Angie for the honest truth, I know I can always depend on you for that.

Scary!

2009-01-12T16:21:00.000-08:00

As alot of you know, Jeff has been trying to convince me to add to our family. Crazy, I know he must be out of his mind, that's my thought and has been my thought for the last year. I of course would say "no" as quickly as it would come out of my mouth. Then it happened, he asked about a month ago and I said "hmmm"... That's right, not a "NO" like it should have been, but a "hmmm" holy crap what am I thinking? I am blaming it on all my pregnant Friends and relatives. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I haven't been able to really decide if I'm losing my mind, or if maybe, just maybe it's an okay idea which leads me to the all to familiar "hmmm".
One of my concerns is if we did and it was a girl, would she be able to survive in this crazy family? Probably not, she would have no manners and actually try to out burp her brothers. Also Jeff asked the boys if we should have another baby and they all said yes, but they want another boy. Jeff asked Matty "what if it's a girl?" and he said "I will kick her", and Chase joins in and says "yeah flick her". Yep a poor girl would never survive. And if it was a boy, that would be okay too, I mean who couldn't use their own baseball team?
So my next option is to ask you the readers of this blog what do you think? Try not to vote on one answer more than 50 times (Michleene,Jeff, and Dad) I really want an honest opinion from the people I know. Hey and no name is required to vote so I won't be able to hunt you down for vocing your true feelings (lucky for you, to bad for me). Thanks to you all in advance.

Matty Moments.

2009-01-07T19:00:00.000-08:00

Matty is so funny, and he is always saying thing to make us last. This is the conversation we had tonight....

Matty: Hey Mom, you see this, it's a camera( as he holds up the go-gurt and points to the picture on the front.)
Mom: Oh yep, it sure is huh!
Matty: Yeah you can win one.
Mom: Oh really?
Matty: Yeah, but this ones dumb.
Mom: Why?
Matty: It say's there's one in every box, but not this one...(thinking)... or maybe it's at the very bottom.

Wow the influence of commercials huh!?

Christmas Day.

2009-01-03T18:36:00.000-08:00

On Christmas morning, Jeff and I waited in bed for the kids to wake up, trying to contain are excitement for the day. Little Chase was the first one up at 7:40 and when he came in it didn't take us longer then two seconds for us to convince him to get his brothers up. With all the kids up, we headed down stairs to see what the big man himself left.
The kids quickly went through their stockings and were ready for their presents. After we had all opened one present, my parents and Jamie came and spent the rest of the morning with us. Most of you know what great parents I have and we were so lucky that they came over and spent the day with us. The kids were all very happy with what they got. After presents the kids ate a traditional Newman Christmas breakfast consisting of...Christmas Crunch. What a wonderful day we all had playing with our new toys.

It all went by so fast.

2009-01-02T18:39:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. Holy crap I need to get with the program, and stay caught up.
This Christmas season has been wonderful, but it seemed to go by so fast this year. I had been so worried because Taylor was making small remarks about not believing in Santa, and there was no way he would sit on his lap or write him a letter and it absolutely broke my heart to think I had a shhhh....non believer. It was almost harder than sending him to kindergarten...who am I kidding, I was so happy for him to go to school.

I'm going to start with Christmas Eve since the rest of December was a blur.
We had Jeff's family over for a Christmas Eve party, where we exchanged white elephant gifts this was the first year we tried this, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Here's some of the gifts...
#1. A mouse (yes alive)
#2 Hot dog roller. I know you all could use one of your own.
#4 games
#5 And last but not least, a toilet seat filled with Mountain Dew and tootsie rolls. Yep you guessed it, Jeff brought that one.
We decorated cookies with the kids (no more gingerbread houses for this family) and played pin the nose on "Frosty".

After all that fun, the worlds best Santa stop by for a visit (thanks Jeff, you are the best.) The kids all loved him, and were so excited to see him and make their last minute request.

After all our company left, we went to the "festival of lights" the kids loved it. When we got home the kids all got in their pajamas and got cookies ready for Santa, and at this point, Taylor was acting just as excited as the other kids and suggested that they should leave some cookies for Mrs. Clause since she never gets any, so they wrote a special letter and left extra cookies. I of course was so excited that Taylor was a BELIEVER and of course I was an emotional wreck inside, but it was all good feelings... Yeah for Christmas Magic. The kids finished off the night by sprinkling reindeer food outside, and putting a special key on the door so Santa could get in. This was by far one of my favorite Christmas Eves in a long time, and I am so thankful for the innocence of my kids and the joy it brings to our family.

This ones for you Mom!

2008-12-15T17:30:00.001-08:00

Make sure you pause my music on the sidebar first.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Matthew turns 5

2008-12-09T15:26:00.001-08:00

Man, where does the time go? On Dec. 4th, Matty turned five! I swear it was just the other day that we were bringing him home from the hospital. He is getting so big and so smart that it's hard for me to realize that he's not so little any more.
He had a fun Birthday with his friends and cousins over for a party, and a dinosaur cake with roaring dinosaurs...what more could a five year old ask for.
I have always had a special bond with Matty and is so fun watching him grow. I love his funny knock knock jokes, and the way he snorts when he laughs. He is such a joy to, and we all love him so much.
We all Love you Matty!

Traditions!!!

2008-12-04T15:27:00.000-08:00

With the Holidays upon us, it's time for traditions. One of our family traditions is making candy chains. It is very simple, and of course super fun for the kids. You just need saran wrap (I use red or green, because I'm festive like that,) ribbon, and candy. Then each day the kids get to wake up and eat a piece of candy, until Christmas day. For a twist I add a special surprise at the very top, and this is what they get on Christmas morning, usually just a big candy bar or something like that. The kids all had so much fun making them, well almost all of them, Chase about died when he realized he couldn't eat them all right away, that they were just going to hang on the wall, staring down at him. I guess he will have to get used to the once a day thing.
Now I want to know what your traditions are. You can either leave it on my comment board, or make your own post about it. It's always fun to see what other families do for fun.

This and that

2008-11-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

Wow! I bet you all thought I gave up on blogging huh!? I haven't and I have had plenty to tell I just haven't taken the time to do it, so this post may be scatter-brained just hang in there and you will be able to finish reading it.
Also now would be the perfect time for you to grab a snack, maybe a diet pepsi too. Go ahead I'll wait...

The first exciting thing on my list is (drum roll please!) after nine loooong years and I do mean long, I am diaper free. That's right Chase is potty trained (clap,clap clap). I swear this little kid was the easiest of all my boys and it only took him three days and one accident, until he started telling me he had to go, I am just so proud ,and just knowing that I will never have sniff around the house wondering wear the poopy boy is hiding,and never having to run a stinky diaper out to the garbage can makes me even a happier mom. And to my friend who still find their nose pinched off while wiping your little ones bum...ha,ha, I don't have to do that any more.

Onto the next item of business. Nicholas had an invention convention at school. This is one of those projects that test the parents ability to do homework. I know you all know what I'm talking about, it's the one where you have to think of the idea, figure out how to accomplish it and put it all together while your kid holds the hot glue gun just so he can feel like he's participating.
Anyways Nicholas invented a ball launcher, made out of wood, a plastic spoon, and a paper cup. It turned out really fun, and he was proud of could be with his invention.
And to all you moms out there who have, and will continue to do great work, your not alone, and yes it does suck, but it is what it is.

As always I saved the best for last. This story actually begins back in Sept. actually, but it ended today. I went to get my haircut back in Sept. and while driving home I got pulled over for expired registration. We had paid for registration, but we couldn't get it to pass safety because of a simple light that would turn on and no one seemed to know the exact cause. Back on track, my temporary tags had expired so technically I wasn't registered, make sense?
The nice officer took my info and while he headed back to his car, I adjusted my shirt, I've seen work in movies so I thought what the heck I'll try it. He came back with a ticket and told me I had to appear in court or pay for the ticket with in two weeks, and walked back to his car without even looking at my shirt.
Two weeks came and went and I received a letter in the mail stating I needed to pay the fine or there would be a warrant issued for my arrest. Holy crap I better get this taken care of. I call the office and of course their not open and the have weird crazy hours that I would never remember so I just thought I would call back later.
Two weeks come and go again and I get a letter in the mail stating that a warrant had been issued for my arrest and that any law enforcement that comes upon me should take me directly to jail where I would remain until a Monday or a Thurs. when I could meet with the judge. WHAAAAAT... I know that I really need to get it taken care of so I call the courts and they say I need to pay $197.00 to get it cleared. Um no way. "Can I get it reduced to the original $45 for just the ticket?" I plead.
"Sorry you will have to talk to the judge, and she will decide."
So this morning I headed down to the court house to plead my case. And to no avail, the judge so kindly reduces the fee by $20 dollars and sentences me to pay $177 and serve 25 days in the county jail unless I pay the fine then the jail time will be dismissed. Now I'm really upset the guy before me had two counts of assault, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and failure to sppear and he only has to pay $75, that's messed up.

You all probably wonder why I am sharing this story right? You probably all think I should be embarressed right? Like if it happened to you, you would'nt be announcing it to the whole world right? Well I think it's pretty funny, I could have ended up in jail, and I am wanted by the police, that's just funny. Plus as a good friend I like all of you to learn from my experiences, so if you keep your car registerd and pay your tickets on time you will never have to end up a convict like me.

My baby turns 3!

2008-11-08T15:45:00.000-08:00

I can hardly believe it, my baby just turned three. I know what your all thinking, "so stop calling him a baby, your going to give him a complex!" Well I'm fully aware of that and I just can't help myself.

We had a fun little day and I just want to share a few things about Chase that I LOVE.

He is so funny. For his Birthday he picked out some party hats at the dollar store, that he just had to have. When we got home I was singing a crazy little song I made up for him about his birthday, he was dancing and having a great time. He stopped dancing and ran off, only to return with a party hat for me to wear. I put it on and he said "sing birthday song " and so I did. So here's the picture, me standing in the kitchen with my hat on clapping my hands and singing a birthday song for him. I love that he's not old enough to be embarrassed by me yet, so I can still do the crazy fun things with him.

Chase is such a funny little kid with a very distinct personality. While he can be super cute and fun one minute he can turn in the blink of an eye and just be the meanest little boy ever. He is even really good at giving dirty looks (he gets that from me;) That's what make Chase, Chase, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Chase loves his Grandma and Grandpa so much. Grandpa called him and sang "Happy Birthday" to him and he just sat on the phone with the biggest smile on his face, happy as could be. After he hung up with Grandpa he ran around singing, "I love bompas (Grandpa) house, I love bompas house", it was so cute. (We like singing made up songs at our house)

Chase is such a blessing to have in our family and he makes us all so happy. I can't wait to watch him continue to grow, even though I am going to miss my little baby.

The first snow...

2008-11-06T15:16:00.001-08:00

Yep that's right! And so the crappy weather begins. I hate the thought of it being winter already. There's not much I like about the cold so let me list a few of the things I hate... I hate the snow, being wet, driving on slick roads, freezing hands, cold runny nose, constantly feeling cold, the bitter wind, changing kids wet clothes so they can just go right back outside, just about everything! So when it snowed on Wednesday all I thought was uggghh. My boys on the other hand were so excited, and couldn't wait to go out in it. Nick and Taylor even played snow baseball before school.

After school there was a little knock on the door, I opened it to see Coltrin standing there. As soon as I opened the door he yells "Guess what
Nit-ty it noooed" It was seriously the cutest thing I have seen in a while, he was so excited.
I bundled Matty and Chase up and they went outside to play. Even though there wasn't much snow, they were in heaven and happy as could be to be playing in it. Me on the other hand about froze to death just going out to take the pictures.

Halloween

2008-11-05T18:50:00.000-08:00

I love, love, love Halloween...Everything about it. Decorating, dressing up,carving pumpkins, and yes I even like the Trick or Treating part of it. This year was really fun because my youngest, Chase was old enough to understand the dressing up part and the craziness of running door to door. He was so excited to tell everyone that he was going to be a "kullen" and for those of you who speak english, that means skeleton. Matty was really funny too...If you asked him what he was going to be, he would say "a power ranger, then Buzz Lightyear, and then a clown" He was set on changing costumes so that he could be all three. But after finding out that I was going to be a clown, he decided to be my little clown buddy.
Taylor and Nick had really fun at their school parties, (of course they did I am room mother for both classes and I only plan fun things).
We started off our night at the ward Trunk or Treat, and then left and went to a couple of neighborhoods around our house. The kids got enough cadny to last them forever, and if not forever they will definitely have the cavities to show from it. Ha ha can you imagine... "this cavities from Halloween2008, I got so much candy and I ate it all in a day and didn't even bother brushing my teeth like my mom said to." (said in a old man's shaky voice). We all had a fun time, now on to Thanksgiving.

He's only 9...

2008-10-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Taylor's friend Paige called to ask if he wanted to go to Gardner Village with her and her family to go on a witches hayride. Taylor says "yes". Excited as can be, (even realizing that he will have to miss wrestling practice which usually nothing gets in the way of) he runs upstairs to change his shirt and re-do his hair for the day. As he takes off his shirt he says "phew, I stink... I been smelling this smell and now I know it's me, do you want to smell?" I of course don't want to smell something that stinks, that is just gross. Being the best mom in the world, and not wanting my son to stink, I go get Jeff's deodorant and put it on him Problem solved.
I send Taylor on his way and call Jeff to tell him how funny it was that Taylor had B.O. Jeff of course just laughs, and tells me that boys don't get stinky until their like twelve, and that Taylor probably just has a crush on her and wants to look and smell his best. WHHAAATT?! LALALALALAL! I don't want to hear that about my son, he's only nine, he's supposed to like star wars and pokemon, NOT GIRLS!
Man how naive am I? I just helped him get all handsome for his big date, and don't even realize what I'm doing. AAAAHHHH! I am not ready for this, and I can guarantee that when he gets home I am going to be quizzing him about his whole night, what they talked about, where his hands were, where his lips were, the whole nine yards...plus I may have to really get on him because he is past his curfew...which is unexceptable.

P.S
I just smelled the shirt he took off, and it does NOT stink... I guess Jeff may know what he's talking about (but only on this one subject).

Halloween party!

2008-10-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday we went to Maurina's house for a Halloween party. The kids had fun doing an obstacle course, a pinata, and decorating candy corn foamies. We all had fun eating and visiting. Thanks for a fun day, I can't wait until next year.

Michleene, Maurina, Jolene, and Me (Yes I know my costume is quite slimming huh!?)

The boy's trying to eat donuts off strings during the obstacle course.

Matthew running through the spider web

My family. Jeff trying to pose as an innocent Boy Scout. Ha Ha!

Killing two birds with one stone...

2008-10-23T09:33:00.000-07:00

Laura Lee tagged me with a tag called "sixth". Basically you have to take your sixth picture from your sixth file and post it. Lucky for me, and lucky for you it wasn't my boudoir pictures I had taken for Valetines for Jeff. Just kidding I burnt those... just kidding there never were any and that's what I'm sticking to. Any ways, back on track this is my sixth picture...

This is a picture of some "Thank You" cards I made for the boys school auction last year, Which leads me right into my next topic.

As most of you already know Jeff's in the real estate business, and with the market being so crazy work has been very little. Things were tight for a little while, tight like squeezing my size 10 butt into a size 2 jeans, you get the picture? During this hard time so many people have stepped up to help us, and I am so thankful for all of you, so I want to give a big THANKS to all of you.

My first Thank You goes to Jeff. Thanks for all you do. You are the best husband a girl could ask for, and I am so thankful for all you do for me and the boys. We love you!

Next I wanted to thank all my family and friends who have helped me out the last little bit. I especially want to thank my parents for their constant love and support and Jamie for always taking the back seat for her "baby" sister. Trisha and Josh, you guys are awesome and I appreciate all of your help. It's so good knowing that you can always count on family.
To all of my friends, thanks for listening and talking to me you guys are very supportive and non-judgemental, I couldn't ask for better friends.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

The Witches came out....

2008-10-16T13:04:00.000-07:00

But this time they dressed up!

Wednesday was our annual Halloween BUNKO, it was so much fun. Thanks Jaime for the good food, good fun, and good prizes you did awesome. There were so many fun costumes, and we all looked fab. Thanks girls for a fun night you are all so awesome, and I love the time we spend together.

Best costume winners!

"White Trash" aka. Paige

"Lucille Ball" aka Angie

Pinewood Derby

2008-10-03T09:18:00.000-07:00

This past week our scouts had their "pinewood derby". It's always fun to see all the different cars the boys build. This year Taylor decided to do his car black and red with a "black widow" look. His car turned out really good and I am so proud of his patience to take the time and make it right. It looked really good when it was finished.

They all had a good time racing their cars and I didn't realize that they go so fast. At the end they gave us a printout of the speeds and places and Taylor's cars average speed was 225mph, now that's fast.

Taylor's car won 2nd in over-all and 1st in his den. Way to go T!

Creepy Crawly!

2008-09-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

It all started on a cold dark night with the rain pouring down, and the lightning the only light in the sky...
Not really. But it should have been (plus I always wanted to start a blog entry that way!) Anyways Jeff and I had gone down to a garage sale on river bottoms road, and on the way back as we're driving along, I see something in the road...
"Holy Crap did you see that spider in the road?" I ask Jeff. I know your all thinking, "girl you are cuckoo there is no way you would see a spider in the middle of the road while driving", I said I was sure of it so Jeff backs the truck up. We start backing up, and right there in the middle of the road is a leaf, and I'm thinking Oh great, I thought a leaf was a spider, now I look really dumb. I promise Jeff that that's not what I saw and he back up some more, and there it is in the middle of river bottoms road, a GIANT TARANTULA! I know! I have lived in Utah for "barely" 29 years, and have never in my life seen a real life tarantula. Except for Jeff's pet tarantula, who he threw at me once and made me pee my pants...true story.

My thought was, we've got to catch it. One of the boys in ward is doing a bug collection in school and he would be the coolest kid in the class if he brought in a tarantula. So we look around and we find a popcorn box in the back of the truck, and Jeff gets out to catch the spider. At this point, I am already in the backseat of the truck, for fear of losing my life because of the spiders massive fangs. We head home, one of the most uneasy rides of my life, with my husband taunting me with the popcorn box.

We take it to my neighbors to see if he still needs bugs for his collection, and sadly he's done with that project, so we're left with this crazy huge spider.
We take it home to show the boys, and they of course thought it was the coolest thing ever. They even took it to a few neighbors to show it off.

After everyone has their fun with it Jeff and all the kids pile in to the truck to go set it free, but not before Jeff has a chance to chase me around the yard with a popcorn box. Here's the picture, imagine this, me running around screaming as Jeff chases me with a box of popcorn, the neighbors were probably thinking that I must have major issues with popcorn, What a JERK! (I really do love you honey, even when you cross the line!)

So now I know, the story's they say of tarantulas living in Utah are true, even if you've never seen one just know their out there. (Creepy I know!)

I am going to post some pictures now, I will start out slow with the not so scary ones just in case some of my loyal friends have a weak stomach when it comes to spiders, but you have to see this sucker!

The last picture with Taylor playing with it shows you it's true size. Gross huh!?

Kids are CraZy...

2008-09-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

I was just sitting here today, thinking about how funny my kids are and how much they make me laugh. I thought I would share with you just a couple of funny things from this week.

Mattty and Chase playing upstairs with their "Mickey Mouse Playhouse"

Mom: Hey Matty can you share the Donald Duck with Chase?
Matty: No mom, it's not Donald Duck, it's Donald Goose.
Mom: What...are you crazy?
Matty: No he's just a goose.

Okay whatever! Atleast I can say my kids don't watch enough T.V. to know Donald Goose's true identity.

Nick telling me about how close Taylor and him are to finishing "Halo" (a game for the xbox, that I don't approve of.)

Nick: Hey mom we are almost all the way done with Halo1, then we can buy Halo2.
Mom: Oh, that's great! Do you like playing it?
Nicki: Yeah, it's awesome, it is so violent and stuff.
Mom: Whaaaat... your done playing it.
Dad: Nick meant all you do in the game is pick flowers and take them to cute old lady's. Right Nick?
Nick: No it's really violent.

I am so glad my kids will tell me the truth, maybe they will continue to do it forever, and I will never have to worry.

Feeling Crappy?

2008-09-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

This video is off of scrubs, and it is sooooo funny. I don't know why I think it's so funny, maybe I am just completely sick or maybe it's because I realize that I will probably be in that same situation one day, and if I can just imagine the doctors being so excited about it, it might not be so bad.

Any ways if you get offended by the word "poo", or you just don't have any sense of humor at all, I advise you not to watch ;)

The Puppies...

2008-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you my story. When I first got Rosie I was so excited I had this cute little purebred Maltese who would be so fun to breed...What was I thinking.

The first thing That really made me regret it was, on the night she had her puppies, Jeff was convinced that there was another puppy in her, and nothing was happening. When it had been 12 hours since her last pup I gave in and called the vet. Just to please Jeff.

The vet told me I could bring her in and have an ultrasound done, and that would be about $10,000,000 dollars, or I could just do a check myself. Hmmm...Check myself huh!? I can probably do that right. So The first thing to do is learn how to properly do a check. I get online to trusty google and find out exactly how to do a check. Ewwww gross! It's worse than I thought, I actually have to do a "real" check.Then I wonder, can I really do this? Yes I can.

So after searching my house for some Vaseline or KY jelly and finding nothing,I am forced to call my neighbors.

Let me ask you, how would you feel if at 10:00 at night you get a call from your crazy neighbor next door asking to borrow some Vaseline? Awkward! Well Megan was kind enough to give me some Vaseline that she actually didn't want back, I can't say I blame her.

Now I had to talk to myself for a little while before I could actually do the check, I was trying to convince myself it was for the best...
So I check...NOTHING. I was fuming mad, I had just done that for nothing. Not only had I scared the crap out of the poor neighbors, I have successfully traumatized myself and the dog.

The next thing is the sleepless first three nights, sleeping with one eye open because the dog is so stupid and keeps laying on her babies, duh that will cause them to die.

Number three reason the puppies are finally getting cute and the kids start getting attached and every day, sometimes twice a day one of your kids will ask " can we keep the puppies? they are so cute. Please, please, please."

And the final reason why this was a dumb idea is because they STINK! Yes, no matter how often I change the bedding or the puppy pads it doesn't matter, they're puppies and they pee and poop, that's all everyday.

So I tell you before you decide to breed your dog, make sure you are ready for the longest eight weeks of your life.

Just a real quick note, to anyone who wants I have two adorable, puppies left for sale. I am asking $300 a piece. They will stay fairly small around 5-7 pounds and they are precious.

What does this look like to you?

2008-08-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I am very content with my little family, while Jeff's not so sure. He keeps insisting that we need one more, just one more. He has not convinced me yet. I keep thinking "what would I do with five kids?" Holy crap that's a lot. So the debate continues, or does it?

I have been feeling kind of crummy this last week and I just haven't been able to put my finger on what wrong. Of course talking to my mom she suggest that it's probably stress, quickly followed by "you know, it wouldn't hurt to take a pregnancy test."
No, no! Theres no way possible it could be that, could it? Not unless I'm one of the 1%, and I'm not even late so why would this even be considered?

After going back and forth I finally decide to get a pregnancy test. I of course send Jeff to get it, I can only imagine what the rumors would be if I was seen purchasing a pregnancy test:)

The ritual is I "pee" and Jeff "looks" (at the pregnancy test when it's done) you sickos. So on Thursday morning I set out to solve a mystery, I do my job and lay back down to wait for Jeff to do his. He confirms it's a negative. Instantly I'm better.

Jeff heads to work and I get up to get the kids ready for school, but suspicion gets the better of me and I have to look in the garbage at the results myself. WHHHHHAAAAAATTTTTT!!!! HOLY CRAP!!!!!!! What is he trying to pull? That is a total positive result. I quickly call him up and start immediately accusing him of lying, "why would you do that? do you think that's funny?" He totally has no idea what I'm accusing him of and quickly cover it up by saying "I think they just turn that way after they sit for awhile." I am not convinced so I set out to take another one. After drinking myself to death I finally take it and it's an instant positive. OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRAP that's all I can think right now, that and how could this happen? (Well I know how it happens, but really?)
I call Jeff back up and tell him what happened, "Jeff theres two line, two lines means I'm pregnant," I'm trying not to yell at him at this point, one because he lied to me, two because I'm pregnant. He quickly explains that a "positive" sign means I'm pregnant and a "negative" means I'm not. I'm not buying that I have taken plenty of pregnancy test to know how to decipher positive from negative and it's a positive! Jeff quickly explains again that he's pretty sure when he read the box it said "with new easy read" Where's the box? I threw it away when I took the trash out earlier, not wanting to did threw the garbage outside, I jump on the internet and what do I find? New EPT easy reads, yep that's it "positive" is a "positive" and "negative" is a "negative". I quickly apologize to Jeff and thank him for not getting me pregnant.

Sorry to all of you who have been "nagging" me about another baby. Mich especially, you have know idea how close you were to getting the call...

As for my little family, I love all my boys and I definitely know that if or when I'm supposed to have another, I will definitely be open to the idea. Until then it will remain "five against one"

Catching baby fish!

2008-08-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

The other day we took Matthew and Chase down to the pond to catch baby fish. Matty was so excited, it was his special outing since his older brothers were spending the night at grandmas. They set out with their nets to catch the fish, and before they knew it they had a whole bug catcher full. Matthew was as happy as could be. Chase was a little nervous at first but soon he got used to the idea and tried to help.

While we were there, we stopped to feed "Tucker" and "Bill" (our ducks that we had but set free because they were too stinky to keep.) The boys threw the bread in and the ducks weren't really interested though, so the bread just floated in the water, the boys didn't seem to notice.

After throwing bread "feeding" the ducks, it was time for rocks, they loved throwing rocks in the water, and could of spent all day doing just that.
We brought the fish home and they lasted about two days until I finally flushed them down the toilet.

I can't wait for our next adventure, having little boys usually means our adventures include catching thing, or lighting them on fire. Ooh what fun.

First day of school!

2008-08-20T20:25:00.001-07:00

Today my boys started school, YAY ME! It seems like I am counting down this day from about the second week of summer vacation, oh how I love for my kids to be in school. Don't get me wrong but after so many days of hearing"I'm bored", and "there's nothing to do" I am about ready to scream, I am definitely for year round school.

Taylor started fourth grade...I know it makes me crazy to think that I have a kid old enough for fourth grade, it seems like just yesterday that I was sending him to kindergarten. He is in Ms. Pardews class, she is a new teacher at the school, and Taylor is excited to be in her class.

Nicholas is in second grade, and when someone would ask him if he was ready for school to start, his answer would always be "no", but after going to school today I'm pretty sure he remembers how fun it can be. He is in Mrs. Sanders class (which I'm happy about) and I think he is too, I mean she let them catch grasshoppers and bring them into the classroom to be the class pet. He couldn't be any luckier.

I am so excited for my boys they are excellent students and I can't wait to see how much they learn and grow this year. I love you Taylor and Nick.

Grasshoppers anyone?

2008-08-19T15:32:00.001-07:00

I bet you all have seen a decrease in the amount of grasshoppers out there right!? Oh maybe just us. Nicholas and Mercedes have been spending the last week or two catching grasshoppers. Everyday they set out to the best spot imaginable for catching grasshoppers, the Mexicans, oops I mean the neighbors back yard. They fill the jar with as many grasshoppers as they can, and then feed them leaves, grass and carrots. The grasshoppers start slowly dying and before to long they empty their catch and start all over again the next day. So if you have a problem with grasshopper or any other bugs just give me a call and I will hook you up with the best bug catchers in town.

On the hunt....

Um, not really sure what to say for this one, maybe just ewww gross!

The three amigos strike again....or do they?

2008-08-19T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Friday night I was home alone with the boys while Jeff was at "Manko". The boys were down stairs watching a movie, and I was upstairs reading, all of us just minding our own business. Nicholas comes up at 11:10 and tells me he saw someone in our front yard sticking things in the grass...Whaaaaat!

I knew before I even went outside who was in my front yard, not a peepeing Tom, or would be robber, but something much worse...it had to be Jessica, Nicole, and Natasha, A.K.A. "the three amigos". As quietly as I can I sneak to the door unlock it, and swing it open. AAAAHHHHH...that's what I hear as I see three figures running away. My lawn is half covered in forks and the three amigos are hiding behind my neighbors truck. Before long they come out of hiding to talk to me since they know that I know who it is. I make then pick up their forks (well really I think they wanted to take them to use on someone else since I had spoiled their surprise for me,) and they head home. Thanks girls for the eventful night. And for all of you out there who have been hit by them, here are some pictures of them cleaning up the mess that I'm sure you'll like to see.

I could beat that kid!!!

2008-08-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

What a horrible title, it makes me sound like an abusive parent huh!?!? Let me tell you why I could beat him.
We were watching the Olympics when women's beach volleyball came on and Jeff said "This is Taylor's favorite thing to watch", and Taylor quickly replied, "no dad it's your because all the girls look better than mom." WHAAAAT... I am sitting right here you know that right!??! I couldn't believe it. Jeff quickly said as sarcastically as he could, "your mom is the most beautiful women in the world, never say something like that when she's around."
Now I don't know which one I want to beat more Jeff or Taylor, I guess they are just preparing on what to expect in the future with a house full of boys.

Summer is flying by....

2008-08-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

Only four more days until school starts (five if you count the first day of school.) We have been enjoying the last week of summer vacation with a bunch of different things.

First we have been to the Payson pool about three times. It is our new favorite place, the kids love everything about it and I love that I don't have to clean it, like I do my pool. Jeff came with us one day and he ended up blistered so he hasn't gone back poor Jeff:(

Next had some family come in from out of town and it's always nice to see them. If it wasn't for them I probably would have never survived living in Las Vegas for the four years we were there. My cousin Jana has two little girls, and I was lucky enough to have them at my house for a day while their mom went to a wedding
We started out our day by heading to McDonald's, they all had a good time getting happy meals (which I swear I'll never buy again since they never really eat them) and playing on the toys. After McDonald's we headed back to my house for some swimming what I though would be a great way to wear them all out...WRONG. they all just kept going. After swimming it was s trip to the dollar store to buy some perfume for Haley, Aunt Lynn had given her some perfume before she came to my house but she wanted a new one for school. Lucky me and everyone else in the poor dollar store, she sprayed every single perfume at least once. It was a good day and my boys loved seeing their cousins.

Taylor and Haley in the pool.

Jill in a float tube and a life vest she's not going under.

Chase and Jill jumping on the trampoline with the sprinkler.

We also went to the county fair it turned out to be really fun the boys loved the animals and the big tank. I of course didn't get any pictures because I forgot my.... memory card. Yep I had my camera and turned it on to realize I left my memory card in the computer, how sad. It has been a busy week but I think it's been a fun way to end a summer vacation.

Hot dog's don't have eyes...

2008-08-07T19:39:00.001-07:00

My boys do a trick on the trampoline called a "hot dog" where they stand with their arm at their side and jump and spin at the same time. What? That doesn't sound like a hot dog to you? me either really, but I'm way past trying to figure my kids out. Any ways back to my story, Matty told me to watch him, he was going to do a new trick his brothers had taught him (oh great what have they taught him now was my first thought) . He assumes the position and says it's called a hot dog, he starts jumping and I notice his eyes are closed, and he keeps getting pretty close to the edge, so I ask him "Matty why are your eyes closed? your going to fall off the tramp." He stops and look at me like "duh" and says "because hot dogs don't have eyes." Oh that makes sense now, if your going to be a hot dog, then be a hot dog all the way.

The puppies are here!!!

2008-08-03T19:20:00.000-07:00

It all started at around 2:30 in the morning, Rosie came up to our bed and was panting and was way restless so I of course thought, I better get her down stairs so she doesn't have her puppies in my bed so at 3:00 we went downstairs.

Jeff followed us downstairs because he didn't want to miss it he laid on the couch for about and hour than yep, he went back upstairs "just come and get me when she ready" he tells me. Hmm sounds familiar seems like I was panting and pacing on my own during all my pregnancies so why would he wait up with the dog?

Rosie didn't want me to leave her if I went up to the couch she quickly followed so I ended up on the floor keeping my hand on the dog. "DRUM ROLL PLEASE!" at 7:40 she has her first baby... she did so good at cleaning it up and she was very sweet to the twelve sets of eyes staring at her the whole time" my boys didn't want to miss it either", what a sweet little girl. At 11:20 she had the last of three puppies... all girls, "do you think we could talk the relief society into bringing us meals since we just had triplets?" Just wondering! I am so excited to have these cute little critters here, they will be so fun but only for eight weeks.

These sweet little puppies will be non-shedding and available October 1st for $350 they are a Maltese Chihuahua mixed, known as a Malchi. Do your research, and reserve yours today.

Fun in the sun.

2008-08-03T14:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the Warner's invited us to go to the Payson pool with (yeah for nice neighbors), we had never been to the Payson pool and it was FABULOUS! We loved it! They have two slides for the older kids and a fun water playground for the younger kids, which also has two slides, and a lazy river. I know your thinking "a lazy river?" that's seven peaks kind of fun "I know."
Taylor and Mercedes had fun going down the slides, especially the one that big one that drops off. Poor Nick was to short to go on those slides but I finally convinced him to go down the smaller slides and he liked them a lot. Matty's favorite thing to do was pull on the ropes that dump water on you when pulled, that was until the lifeguard used her giant cartoon sized blow horn to yell at him "don't swing on the ropes!" he felt dumb so that was the end of that.
I myself loved the lazy river and could spend the entire day laying in it. Of course I had fun in the kids pool watching Matty play as well I mean who doesn't like sitting in the shallow end of the water looking like a beached whale while you watch them play!? J/K!
I can't wait to go again we are planning on going on Friday so if any one wants to join us you know were to find us.
Matthew playing on the ropes...

Mercedes and Matthew going down the slide

Taylor going down the big slide (I know you can't see his face but I know it's him, I remember buying those shorts.)

The stapler was invented in 1867.....

2008-07-28T08:38:00.000-07:00

That's 141 years ago... Nicholas was cleaning up from making some pirate hats in my bedroom when he saw some staples on the floor he asked me what he should do and I said "throw them away". He went on to tell me that he likes to break them apart I agreed and that's when he says "did you do that when you were a little girl"? I said "yes" then he says "did they even have staples back then"? WHAT? Of course they had staples waaaaaaay back then. Nothing like making you feel like your on your death bed, thanks Nicholas.

24th OF July

2008-07-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the parade, my kids loved it they had so much fun getting candy. I remember when Taylor was little he was to shy to run out and get candy, and I'm sure the other parents wouldn't like me shoving their kids so I could get some candy, so I told Taylor I was going to teach him how to do it. We would throw a bunch of candy on the floor and me and T would race to see who got the most...well I guess those lessons paid off because he was out there going crazy and getting tons of candy. Taylor also got to break a board. A karate team was in the parade and they were picking random kids to come and break a board and they chose Taylor it was kinda cool to see.

Later that night we went to our neighbors (The Devenish's) for a BBQ. We got there and when it was time to eat Megan told us all a few times that the corn was in the water cooler, so we all start dishing up our food and Nick says he wants a drink so Jeff says "get a cup and I'll push the button, so you can get some water" he starts getting the water and Nick asks "whys it so hot"? That's when we all realize what he was doing, he was getting Nick "corn water"DUH! Jeff said he didn't hear Megan say there was corn even though she said it at least three times. Ha Ha Ha! Any ways Nick decided to get a slush for a drink instead, I think that was a good idea.
The food was really good and the kids had a fun time playing.

After the BBQ we went down to the ball park to watch fireworks. It was a really good show and the kids loved it,except for Nick who fell asleep right after the fireworks started. We all had a really fun day and were exhausted by the time we got home.

I suck because I didn't take many pictures at the parade, well to be exact i took two and they didn't look very good, but I'll post them any ways since it's all I got.

I know Nick and Matty look really good with their eyes closed, and Taylor's sunblock makes him look like an albino. What "special" boys I have

Jeff,Chase and Ellie. Yes I'm a sucker and let them keep the dog.(really I never had a say in it.)

Matty learns to ride a bike.....

2008-07-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

Today Jeff decided it was time to teach Matty how to ride a bike, he took off the training wheels and Matthew was so excited. First things first,Matty gets his helmet on and gets on the bike while dad holds it and one push and he's off, WHAT.... only one push,no head to toe body armour, Jeff didn't even have to run along side of him, he just took off like the wind. He even figured out how to stop before he ran into me. I am so happy for him he is the cutest little cruiser with out his training wheels.

Girls night out in Park City

2008-07-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was soooooo fun. Me and some my closest friends went to Park city. Friday started off really good, we hit the outlet mall for some shopping where I was able to get church shirts for all of my boys for $2.00 a piece at childrens place, I know awesome huh!? Then we headed to our condo to freshen up for dinner. We hiked up to the third floor with all of our bags, and opened the door to our room. Ahhhh, when we walked in, all the beds were a mess and the garbage can was over flowing, not to mention the gross bathroom....So Lindsey called down to the office to let them know whet we found waitng for us, so they sent someone down to our room, and not just any one...I know what your thinking, first the parade picture of some random lady who likes to steal seats, and now another one of the condo management but trust me words do not do her justice, and this picture is courtesy of Jaime and her sly ways of taking it. Where to start? Her hair, enough said except you cant see the back and it looks like she just got out of bed,her lip outlined in a dark, dark color and left plain in the middle, her shirt a really big stain covers most of her left be-bop and that really is the length it's not tucked into her pants which takes me to the next thing her pants wow look how high they are you can't see her shoes but she is sporting black heals with this outfit. I love people.

Back to business, although she looked crazy she took really good care of us and upgraded us to a much nicer condo for free.

We headed to dinner at Loco Lizard, and then went down to main street and hit rocky mountain chocolate factory...Yummy. Saturday we woke up and headed back to the outlets to finish up our shopping and then went to lunch at a Baja Cantina, then made one last stop at rocky mountain chocolate factory befoer headind hom. I had a great time with all my gal pals and can't wait for the cabin in September. Thanks to Lindsey for setting this up for us.

Memories of me!!!

2008-07-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of my friends who have posted this on their blogs. It is so fun reading everyones memories. I hope everyone will take time and post about memories they have, and I also want all of you to put this on your blog so I can tell my stories too.

Here's how it works:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember, good or bad but be nice please! ;)

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments

Fourth of July

2008-07-06T19:12:00.000-07:00

Before I start this post, I want to send a big thanks to one our best friends Mike. Mike is serving our country in Afghanistan. He left a wife and three beautiful children to spend a year fighting for our country. We are so proud of him! Thanks Mike, we love you, and pray for your safety.

We love the Fourth of July at our house, the freedom festival,parades, and of course the most important thing FIREWORKS. Let me tell you how we started the festivities.

We went to the freedom festival,also know as a commercial in the park, on Thursday, it was fun for all of us.
Then we thought we would take a quick tour down University Ave. to see if there were any spots left. Duh! Are we really that dumb? of course there were not spots left on University Ave., and why would there be, the parade was due to start in 15 hours. We decided to head home, and get blankets and chairs and send Jeff off to brave the night in Provo. He left our house and got to Provo by 8:00 and there were already a few people "wandering" around waiting until it was okay to claim their spots.They weren't sitting yet because the rules said you couldn't get a spot until 6:00 am so Jeff had a long wait ahead of him.

12:00 comes around and some nice older lady approaches Jeff and asks him if he plans on staying the whole night. Jeff says yes and the lady asks him if he will just put her tarp down when he puts his down, Jeff being the nice guy,(or idiot) that his is says "but of course total stranger let me help you". So now not only does he have our stuff he has ,the nice older ladies stuff as well.

3:00 Jeff is able to claim our land, and sets the nice older lady's stuff up next to ours, when all of a sudden,(said in a kind of eerie voice) a few ladies come and sit smack dab in the middle of the nice older lady's tarp.WHHAAAT?
Jeff politely asks them what their doing and they said that the rules said they could sit anywhere they wanted as long as no one was there, so they were taking this spot. Jeff explained to them that he was saving it for a nice older lady, and that there were plenty of other spots that they could move to. Well One lady went on to say how she's not from Utah but every time she comes to Utah someone is saving someone else a seat, like it happened to her once at a movie and she just sat any ways.Jeff trys again to persuade them to move,but that doesn't fly with them, so they decide to flag down an Officer of the law (aka. Provo Police). They explain the situation and the cop tells Jeff that they are technically right and that Jeff should move the tarp. GRRRR.
The "Seat Stealer" (I hope she's not one of your aunts or mother in laws, and if she is you should teach her some manners.)

So Jeff finds the nice older lady a spot about 15 feet away, and saves that for her. He comes back to his blanket so no one takes his spot and over hears the spot stealer's talking about the talk she had given in church on Sunday. WHHHATT? They had given talk in Church on Sunday and stole a seat from some one in such a rude manner, not even a week later? Hypocrite!

Jeff tells me the story and I say "what you should have said" do you ever find yourself doing that after the fact? Sorry back to business "what you have said, is if your following the rules so well than you can't reserve your seat until 6:00 like the rules say, so your either sitting in a different spot now or waiting for this spot and seeing if it is unoccupied at 6:00." man, that would have shut her up.

Needless to say everyone got a spot. The nice older lady who Jeff saved a spot for, but really shouldn't have brought us donuts and juice.

We all loved the parade and the kids enjoyed the spending the day with their cousins, all and all a very fun day.

Taylor and his cousin Hailey

Me and Chase

Blowing bubbles with Hailey

I'ts the little things.

2008-07-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

Two night ago Nicholas and Matty wanted me to sleep outside with them on the trampoline I said I would, so with treats and blankets we headed out to the trampoline. Each kid wanted to sleep next to me so I ended up in the middle, which was fine but every time someone would move they would end up halfway on me, kind of hard to sleep like that. It was getting a little chilly so Nick wanted to go inside, so we woke Matty up and got our blankets and treats and headed back inside. We got inside and it was 2:00 so the boys laid out their blankets on the floor and they asked if I would stay with them since I was spending the night with them, so of course I did. They both fell asleep and about six different times Matty woke up and I would hear "Mom"? and I would say "what bud?" and he'd pause for a minute and then say "I love you". The next day I was telling Jeff how good it felt to know that my kids love me so much. Just knowing that I was still there and that I hadn't headed up stairs was enough for Matty to be happy. It's the little things like this that help you realize how much you mean to your kids, and just shows you how much they love and need you.

Confessions of a 29 year old....

2008-06-26T20:31:00.000-07:00

That's right, and this is scary. I turned 2_ the other day and ever since then I have become truly aware of how old I actually am getting. Yeah, I know it doesn't seem like that big of a deal but do you realize that in 2_ more years I will be 58! That's old enough to have grand kids... Hello!

So to begin, this year for my birthday I received Neutrogena Age Shield sunblock, I know that's a minor thing considering I'm used to my wrinkles by now but it was still a little sad, I am usually an SPF 6 kind of girl.

Any ways back to scary stuff. I rode the fun bus (old people bus), a lot like the short bus, to Wendover with my Mom and Aunt Connie. I have done this before so your all thinking "what's the big deal"? I will tell you what the big deal is, I have always been the youngest one on the bus by far, and this time I don't think I was. This time there was a group of Hispanics, and I'm thinking two or three of them could have been younger than me. In moments like this I try to think positive, like "I am better looking then them, and I speak better english than they do" however it was still a little unsettling to me.

Next, This is something I'm going to admit that I never want repeated, or asked about by any of you, do you all understand?
I have a hard time breathing at night, and the last couple of months I have started wearing the breath right strips. Yep you heard right. The things that you picture old men wearing to stop the snoring, that's me. However I am not as bad as my Uncle Charlie who once wore his hiking and sunburned every where but where the strip was (he is 75 so he can do that kind of stuff and people just think,what a cute old man,he forgot to remove his strip).

This is the final thing, but it is really bad so I am just going to cut to the chase. I am growing facial hair! Yep that's right. And it's not normal facial hair, I found about a one inch long piece of hair growing above my right eye brow on my forehead, NASTY!!!! That hair as since been "plucked" but I would appreciate a heads up the next time I have such a disgusting thing growing out of my face.

I know it's hard to see, but that's the hair.

Also in closing, (Ha Ha sounds like I'm giving a talk in church) I would like to thank Jeff and Christine for reminding that I have reached the end of an era and I am officially older than poop I love you guys and your brutal honesty..

What I love about summer...

2008-06-22T09:55:00.001-07:00

#1 SWIMMING
I love swimming and I love watching the kids swim. Putting in the above ground pool was one of the best things we could have done, now I don't have to go out in public in a bathing suit. Even though I usually just lay out exposing myself to skin cancer, I still love a dip in the pool after the warmth of the sun has been beating down on me.

#2 YARD SALING
LOVE IT! Who doesn't love being able to find great bargains on the things they want! My Saturday mornings consist of waking up at 7:30 and out the door by 7:45 so I can find all the great things. Thanks to my BFF Christine for the company each Saturday, I love the girl time.

#3 Cotton Candy
Being able to make my own cotton candy..Fabulous. If your crazy about cotton candy like I am it's the greatest machine to own, it's also a quick easy treat for the kids, and the sticky will just wash off while they swim.

#4 SNO CONES
Tigers blood or red raspberry with dream cream. mmm mmmm mmm.

#5 SLEEPING IN
No school. Which means I don't have to get up until about 9:00. Not being a morning person the summer months work really well for me.

#6 CARNIVAL
I love going to the carnival. Even though it brings out a lot of crazies, there is just something I love about it. It often reminds me of being a kid and throwing up on the gravitron and hearing some kid say "ewww mom someone just barfed" and me looking around and joining in the ewws like it wasn't me, or sitting with my family and watching it all light up at night.

#7 PARADES
The joy of getting there an hour or day before the parade starts to get a good seat to watch a mobile commercial, what fun. When I was younger there used to be a lot more floats and fun things to watch.Even though they don't seem as good as they once were I still love them, maybe it's just sort of tradition that I go.

#8 FIREWORKS
This one I have to thank Jeff for. Jeff being the huge pyro that he is goes all out on the fireworks, the bigger the better so a trip to Moapa is usually the way to go. I love the colors the sounds the excitement of the kids, the neighbors yelling at you that it's ten o'clock and people are trying to sleep, even sparklers I love it all.

#9 BBQ'S
Getting family and friends together is one of my favorite things. I want to make good memories for my kids, and I think the simple thing of getting together with the people you love makes great memories.

#10 VENDORS
And by vendors I mean the little booths set up in the parks during city days. I love walking around, just browsing at the crap people are selling. I usually fall into one of their trap sale pitches and buy something, and why not,who doesn't want a magic worm?

One day he'll just start talking...

2008-06-22T09:35:00.000-07:00

Well as you all know, Chase "the baby" as we call him, will not talk. He points and say uhhh or cries until we figure out what he says and let me say that can be very hard and annoying at times when you just can't figure out exactly what he wants. People kept telling me that he doesn't need to talk everyone does it for him, or give him time and one day he'll just start talking. Well the day has come. The other night Chase wanted a piece of candy and Jeff said say "I love mom", and Chase just laughs and says "I love mom" clear as can be. We all died, we couldn't believe that our little mute had put three words together. Jeff thought he would test the water, and he was able to get Chase to say a bunch of things he has never said. What a phony, he's been playing us this whole time and we all fell for it. I guess that comes with being the baby of the family.

BOOM DE YADA

2008-06-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

I love this commercial. I'm not sure if it's the brilliant way it was put with this song, or the fact that I love the whole world. Every time it this comes on, I sit there smiling like an idiot, but I just can't help it's that good to me. Thanks Jeff for recording it for me, so whenever I need a pick me up or I just want to see it, I can watch it any time.

I almost had a heart attack!

2008-06-04T09:10:00.000-07:00

The other day the boys were outside playing with their friends. It had been a while since I had seen Matty, so I sent Nick over to the neighbors to see if he was still there. Nick went to both neighbors and no Matty. So I sent the boys outside to look, while I looked in the house. I looked every where and no Matty. I go outside and I yell for him and nothing, I'm starting to get a little worried, and then I see his bike, it is knocked over in the driveway, and as you all know in the shows on T.V. when ever a kid is kidnapped they show a shot of their bike, knocked over on the ground. Any ways I run back inside, nothing go outside and yell lone more time and nothing. So I run in the house to get my keys so I can drive around the neighborhood, I come running out of the house and the door doesn't shut, so I turn around to close it and out of the corner of my eye, I see Matty, sound asleep on the porch swing. Ahh! what a relief. I must have ran past him three or four times, but seeing him was the best feeling..

Nicholas turns SEVEN

2008-06-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

What a way to start summer, than with a birthday! Nicholas had a really fun birthday party with all his friends. This year Nick wanted an "Army" birthday party, so that's what we did. His friends all wore camo, and we played lots of milatary games,(obstacle course, airp;ane throw, and parachute drop.) They all had lots of fun, and I was glad when it was over. Haappy Birthday Nick! We love you!

Mr. Master Craftman, stripped of title!

2008-05-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

That's right folks you heard it here first. Let me begin by letting you know how the competition is judged. The contestants are awarded 30 points for creativity, 30 points for durability, and 40 points for safety of completed projects.
Jeff Newman's fence and chicken coop were fabulous, scoring the top for both creativity and durability, however when put to the true test it came to our attention that safety was not on the list for Jeff Newman,scoring a lousy 0 points for safety. While out walking to the chicken coop he built, Jeff Newman tripped and cut his arm on the roof of the chicken coop, resulting in a 41/2 hour visit in the emergency room and 27 stitches. It has come to our attention that the chicken coops roof must be fixed to regain the title. And the contestant must also use his brain in upcoming accidents, and not ask for the super glue to fix his injury's that are more than an inch in length and a depth no deeper than 1/4 of an inch in depth. In the meantime if there our any of you wanting to nominate someone for the title of "Mr. Master Craftsman" please do so to this blog, and the panel will review his/her potential.

Nicks first baseball game

2008-05-22T09:08:00.000-07:00

Nicholas is so funny. We signed him up for baseball five weeks ago, and they gave him a shirt and a hat, and we went down and bought him a pair of shoes and pants. He was so excited that he was actually on a team and that he was going to get to play baseball. Once he had all his gear he had to try it on, we even had to show Grandma and Grandpa. He has had a few practices, but the weather has canceled a few of them, so they haven't learned a whole lot yet. The game wast on Tuesday, and it was so fun to watch. Most of the kids are new to the sport so their not really sure of everything, like when to get the ball or where to throw it once you got it, but it was still really fun. Nicholas actually did really good, and ran for a couple of balls, and man that kid has an awesome swing. I can't wait for all of his games this summer. GO BLUEJAYS!

I vote for David Archuleta!!!!!

2008-05-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right! I think he's going to win to night. It was so good last night that I found myself watching it with a big ol' perma-smile on my face. Archuleta did so good, and like Simon Cowell said "it was a knockout". After the show, actually while we were watching it because we tevo'd it from earlier, I was voting for him like crazy, I was able to get 300 votes in. I hope you all did the same thing and voted for local David Archuleta... GO ARCHULETA!

Mr. Master Craftsman!

2008-05-18T11:51:00.001-07:00

We finally got our fence up,YEA! Jeff spent the about a week getting our fence put up, he did an awesome job, and I am so happy, and I'm sure the neighbors are too. Thanks to all of you who helped, Mark, Josh,and Chris. Jeff was so happy with the way his fence turned out with the wheels to open the gate, and the detail, of the other gate that he told me I should refer to him from now on as "Mr. Master Craftsman" which I did for about an hour.

On the other hand,on one of his trips to Cal-Ranch, Jeff came home with a surprise.He handed me a box, and I opened it to find a chick and a duck. Why? was my first thought, but Jeff was so proud of his idea to raise a duck and a chicken, who was I to say no!? In all he ended up getting five chicks and two ducks, crazy I know. But Jeff ended up building them a cute little chicken coop, that Will be attached to a run, that will keep them nice and warm. With Jeff so proud of the chicken coop he built,he reminded again that he was "Mr Master Craftsman". And me being happy that he actually finished two of the projects he started, I may call him that until the end of the day.

Mothers Day!

2008-05-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

I just love my husband and my boys so much. Jeff is so good about making sure the boys feel special for giving me things, and he makes it fun for all of them, this Mothers Day was no exception.
Jeff got the boys up while I was in bed and headed to albertsons to get stuff to make me breakfast. By the time they got home I was up and could hear them scurrying around and making sure everyone had signed the card, it was so cute to listen to them all trying to whisper, but not doing so good at it. They finally came into the kitchen, and Matty was leading the pack with a flat balloon, yes a FLAT balloon. He was so excited to give it to me and then they had to explain that it was filled, but when they got home and opened the truck door, it flew out. Taylor chased the balloon into our neighbors back yard and finally caught it and started running back with it when he snagged it on one of their bushes, and it popped. So they decided to just give me a flat balloon so I would know their intentions were good.
Then it's time for cards. The boys gave me their card first and it was perfect, and then Jeff hands me his card.... I opened it and it was all in spanish, I couldn't understand any of it, I opened it up and it plays some Hispanic song and continues in spanish. Jeff had written on the bottom of the card his interpretation of the words, keeping in mind he doesn't know spanish either, I laughed so hard. Jeff apologized and said he waited to long to get me a card, and by the time he got there this was all that was left. I love my family so much they are the greatest blessing I could ever have. Thanks boys for a wonderful Mothers Day.
( Jeff wasn't completely unprepared, he also gave me a gift certificate to Quilted Bear, one of my favorite stores. Thanks Honey!)

Is my life really that boring?

2008-04-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been along time since my last post. I just thought that nothing that exciting was going on to write about, that's when I realized that my life isn't boring, it's just busy. First we had spring break. Not much excitement there, except the fact that I made it through it without having some sort of break down. We spent our time hiking, playing outside, and a day at the arcade with friends. Next, Taylor has had track practice on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and baseball try-outs for the accelerated team on the same three days. Nicholas is also going to play baseball, this is his first year in a sport,(we tried wrestling, but he wouldn't do it) we bought him all the gear, and he is so excited he wears his whole outfit, any time we let him. I am so happy that my boys are happy, energetic kids, and that they love to learn new things. I am so lucky to have such wonderful boys.

State Wrestling Tournament

2008-04-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

It all started on Thursday afternoon when T. went to get weighed in for the state wrestling tournament that would be this weekend. Taylor weighed in at 50.5 lbs. and he couldn't be over 50.0 lbs., so he had to pack on the clothes and his dads jacket and run the track to sweat off as much weight as he could to get to 50 lbs. or less. After running 4 1/2 miles he was down his half a pound and was able to make weight. For those of you who don't know much about wrestling, each tournament you are in you have to say how much you weigh so they know who to pair you up with , so once you sign up you have to be that weight or you cannot compete. Taylor competed on Friday night in the "greco/roman" style wrestling, which he has never done before, he wrestled really well and came in second earning him a silver medal. On Saturday was the " freestyle" wrestling which he has done and is very good at as well, he placed third and was really happy with the way he wrestled. Taylor has done really well practicing and training to be a good wrestler and at his little weight he has done an amazing job. I just had to take a few minutes and brag about my oldest son, I am so proud of him. WAY TO GO T.!

I...

2008-04-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

I know... families are forever
I believe...we should all be true to ourselves and not try to please everyone else.
I am angered...by how expensive dental work is.
I love...tevo.
I need...eight hours of sleep each night.
I take...a bath usually once a day .
I hear...my kids running and yelling.
I drink...diet pepsi daily.
I hate...when my kids are sick,I feel so bad for them.
I use...Britney Spears perfume.
I want...to be on a jury for a really good case.
I like... being with my friends
I feel...happy to know my kids have a wonderful relationship with their grandparents.
I wear...socks to bed.
I left...my SD card on the airplane after my trip to Italy:(
I do...not like the cold weather.
I hope...my boys will grow up to be successful men.
I dream...about being the perfect mother and wife.
I drive...too fast.
I listen...to my ipod when I clean.
I type... very slow.
I think...about scrapbooking, and getting started again.
I wish...I liked to cook for my family.
I am...in need of a vacation.
I regret...not documenting my kids first step,tooth,haircut, etc.
I care...about what I look like.
I said...I would'nt get married young, ha ha fooled myself.
I wonder...what it will be like when my kids are grown.
I cry...when I watch biggest loser.
I lose...my temper easily.
I leave...my slippers on all day untill I go out.
I should...take my kids to church more often.

I tag Maurina, Chastina, and anyone else who hasn't done it yet.

American Idol

2008-04-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

Okay real quick my two bits about American Idol. I want to know who out there keeps voting for Kristy Lee Cook? I have been waiting and waiting for her to go but she never does, so if you are voting for her please stop. She has the worst attitude, I mean making a sign for a seat in the bottom three, that was the stupidest thing I have ever seen, plus the best song she sang was "God bless the USA", when will be the next time, when she sings "Yankee Doodle"? . Don't get me wrong I'm glad Ramiel is gone, but now it's Kristy's turn.

April Fools

2008-04-01T16:56:00.000-07:00

Today being April Fools day I new the tricks would be flying at my house. It started when Jeff came in with my morning diet pepsi , I took a big swig and it was rootbeer, YUCK, I hate rootbeer! Then Taylor was getting ready for school and said he wanted to play a trick on someone, so he got out a book he had and found the trick he wanted to play. The trick is to make a sandwich and leave the wrapper on the cheese so they can't bite the cheese, so we decided he would take a home lunch and an extra sandwich to give to a friend. What he didn't know is I thought it would be funny to play his own trick on him so I made his sandwich and left the wrapper on the cheese. When he got home I asked him how his sandwich was and he died laughing, he couldn't believe I had gotten him. Ha!Ha!

We are Sharks!!!!

2008-03-28T13:23:00.000-07:00

Today was Nick's program at school. He was so cute singing his little heart out, looking up every few seconds to make sure my eyes were on him, they were of course. After all he is the cutest kid in the first grade. ;) Nick kept telling Jeff that he didn't want him to pull faces while he was doing his program, but since Jeff wasn't able to make it, I couldn't help myself from sticking my tongue out a few times at him, I could tell he was trying so hard not to bust up laughing. All the kids did a good job and they are so funny to watch. Most of them say their lines so fast that you look at the person next to you and both of you say "huh"? The set was decorated really cute, usually I expect the school plays to have cheesy decorations but these were really good. all and all it was a good little play. Good job Nicholas!

Do you know what this tape is for?

2008-03-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

Matthew loves sleeping in his brothers room, whether it be on the floor or on the foot of their beds. The boys don't always like the idea. Last night I was in the computer room and Matty came in with a piece of tape and said to me, "do you know what this piece of tape is for?" holding up a piece of tape. I asked him what it was for, and he said "it's so I can be quiet in Taylor and Nick's room." I thought it was so cute that I got him his pillow and blanket and sent him to their room.

I need one of these chairs!

2008-03-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Time to take a breath!

2008-03-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

Wow! What a crazy last couple of days it's been. On Friday Jeff and I celebrated our 1oth wedding anniversary. We went up to the Zermatt in Midway and spent the evening in Park City, it was so fun. It is hard to believe that we have been married for ten years, but then other times it seems like I've known him forever. I have the most amazing husband and best friend a girl could ask for and this definitely has been the best ten years so far.

Then today was the Easter party. I absolutely love having parties at my house, I think it builds great memories for the kids, and its a fun getting together with all the family and friends ( even if you have to deal with the crazy ones for a few hours). It turned out great. The kids loved the Easter egg hunt and little Chase was so fun to watch, he actually understood what he was supposed to do this year. Thanks to everyone who came and helped, you are all wonderful.

2008-03-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

I am going to do it!

2008-03-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

I am going to do it! That's what I told myself today, and by "it" I meant start a blog.
I really enjoy reading others blogs and I feel like it's a great way to connect with each other even when life seems so crazy. I can't believe that it has actually taken me so long to get on board with the rest of the blogging world, but here I go. I can't wait to share all the fun we have at my house with all of you.