another day in the life of...

school pictures 2009-2010

2009-10-31T13:16:00.006-04:00

school pictures always turn out a little interesting. i remember my own looking slightly "cheesy"?! actually, one year when i was in middle school i took my turn sitting in the chair for pictures and before the photographer could open his mouth, i put out my hand and said, "don't say anything trying to make me smile, it just makes my smile turn out fake..." (i know some of you are now shaking your heads and probably think, mindy, mindy-just go with the flow... oh well, that's just not how i do things.)

luckily for me we have entered the age of digital cameras and affordability. that means we do not purchase the traditional school pictures. i take my own! this year i waited until the fall leaves were at least beginning to turn color and we set out on a beautiful, sunny sunday afternoon for a walk on our land.
i think they turned out pretty good. there are some really fun pictures that definitely show each boys personality. but you be the judge...what do you think?

sponge bob square pants

2009-04-17T09:21:00.006-04:00

this is a fun little test that i was sent by a great friend. it is quick easy and fun. the basis is that according to our personality we are all cartoon characters... I'll let the test itself explain:

EVERYONE has a personality of a cartoon character. Have you ever asked yourself what cartoon character do you most resemble? (seriously, I have never asked myself this question, but keep going...) A group of investigators got together and analyzed the personalities of well known and modern cartoon characters. The information that was gathered was made into this test.

Answer all the questions (only 10) with what describes you best, add up all your Points (which are next to the answer that you choose) at the end and look for your results.

Do not cheat by looking at the end of the e-mail before you are done . (when you are done leave a comment letting me know who you are. I want to see what kind of friend I have and if I agree with the synopsis... Yes family, that means you too. I know you don't often comment because you are somewhat google illiterate, but figure it out, I want your comments...)

1. Which one of the following describes the perfect date?
a) Candlelight dinner (4 pts.)
b) Fun/Theme Park (2 pts.)
c) Painting in the park (5 pts)
d) Rock concert (1 pt.)
e) Going to the movies (3 pts.)

2. What is your favorite type of music?
a) Rock and Roll (2 pts.)
b) Alternative (1 pt.)
c) Soft Rock (4 pts.)
d) Country (5 pts )
e) Pop (3 pts.)

3. What type of movies do you prefer?
a) Comedy (2 pts.)
b) Horror (1 pt.)
c) Musical (3 pts.)
d) Romance (4 pts.)
e) Documentary (5 pts.)

4. Which one of these occupations would you choose if you only could choose one of these?
a) Waiter (4 pts.)
b) Professional Sports Player (5 pts.)
c) Teacher (3 pts.)
d) Police (2 pts.)
e) Cashier (1 pt.)

5. What do you do with your spare time?
a) Exercise (5 pts.)
b) Read (4 pts.)
c) Watch television (2 pts.)
d) Listen to music (1 pt.)
e) Sleep (3 pts.)

6. Which one of the following colors do you like best?
a) Yellow (1 pt.)
b) White (5 pts.)
c) Sky Blue (3 pts)
d) Dark Blue(2 pts.)
e) Red (4 pts.)

7. What do you prefer to eat?
a) Snow (3 pts.)
b) Pizza (2 pts.)
c) Sushi (1 pt.)
d) Pasta (4 pts.)
e) Salad (5 pts...)

8. What is your favorite holiday?
a) Halloween(1 pt.)
b) Christmas(3 pts.)
c) New Year (2 pts.)
d) Valentine's Day(4 pts.)
e) Thanksgiving(5 pts.)

9. If you could go to one of these places which one would it be?
a) Paris (4 pts)
b) Spain (5 pts)
c) Las Vegas (1 pt.)
d) Hawaii (4 pts)
e) Hollywood (3 pts)

10. With which of the following would you prefer to spend time with?
a) Someone Smart (5 pts.)
b) Someone attractive (2 pts.)
c) Someone who likes to Party (1 pt.)
d) Someone who always has fun (3 pts.)
e) Someone very sentimental (4 pts....)

Now add up your points and find out the answer you have been waiting for!

10-16 points) You are Garfield :
You are very comfortable, easy going, and you definitely know how to have fun but sometimes you take it to an extreme. You always know what you are doing and you are always in control of your life. Others may not see things as you do, but that doesn't mean that you always have to do what is right. Try to remember, your happy spirit may hurt you or others...

(17-23 points) You are Snoopy:
You are fun; you are very cool and popular.. You always know what's in and you ' re never out of style , you are good at knowing how to satisfy everyone else. You have probably disappeared for a few days more than once but you always come home with the family values that you learned Being married and having children are important to you, but only after you have had your share of fun times.

(24-28 points) You are Elmo:
You have lots of friends and you are also popular, always willing to give advice and help out a person in need. You are very optimistic and you always see the bright side of things. Some good
advice:try not to be too much of a dreamer. Dreaming too big could cause many conflicts in your life.

(29-35 points) You are Sponge Bob Square Pants.
You are the classic person that everyone loves. You are the best friend that anyone could ever have and never wants to lose. You never cause harm to anyone and they would never not understand your feelings. Life is a journey, it's funny and calm for the most part. Stay away from traitors and jealous people and you will be stress free...

(36-43 points) You are Charlie Brown:
You are tender, you fall in love quickly but you are also very serious about all relationships.. You are a family person. You call your Mom every Sunday. You have many friends and may occasionally forget a few Birthdays. Don't let your passion confuse you with reality.

(44-50 points ) You are Dexter:
You are smart and definitely a thinker.... Every situation is fronted with a plan. You have a brilliant mind. You demonstrate very strong family principles. You maintain a stable routine but never ignore a bad situation when it comes. Try to do less over thinking every once in a while to spice things up a bit with spontaneity!

Okay. How did you do? It turns out that I am Sponge Bob Square Pants! I never though I would ever relate myself to Sponge Bob, but here I am. I am flattered by the description and wonder if other people really view me this way. If so I will use it as a tool to build my
self esteem. I'll say to myself, "You are Sponge Bob Square pants and dangit people like you!"

jelly beans

2009-04-13T15:16:00.006-04:00

so who knew that jelly beans could taste so good? i have had jelly belly jelly beans several times and of course like them. this easter eli really wanted jelly beans, it is actually about the only thing he talked about for easter. he didn't care if he got anything else during the easter egg hunt, but he would have been one sorely disappointed boy if he missed out on the jelly beans. he even announced in primary that easter was coming and easter means jelly beans! as you can imagine, i didn't want him to be disappointed. i bought the good kind! the boys have been having so much fun sorting through the bowl of jelly beans and matching them up with the bag to find the good flavors! i sorted through and took out several buttered popcorn ones. have you had these? how do the do it? i mean really, how do you pack in enough flavor that an eraser sized candy really tastes like you are eating popcorn? i'm not sure how they do and i guess i don't care just as long as they keep doing it. yum!

last summer my niece kylee generously shared some jelly beans with me and my sisters. these were not just any jelly beans, these were the harry potter selection from jelly belly. it became almost a contest to see which one of us could gross out the other the most by being brave enough to eat the nastiest flavors. we actually tried things like green grass (tastes just like fresh cut grass), black pepper, boogers and dirt. they were amazingly real tasting! there were however flavors that none of us even dared to smell, let alone taste. thing like vomit, poop, ear wax, etc... nasty! but very funny. we had such a great time tasting and laughing. i never thought i would make memories with anyone while eating rotten egg and earthworms! you should give it a try... if you don't like them you can always wash out all those tastes with a soap flavored one!

miss austen regrets

2009-04-02T14:00:00.002-04:00

last night i finally got to watch a movie that has been on my netflix q for way too long. i have been anxiously waiting to watch this movie, hoping that it would be another love. last fall i watched the new "sense and sensibility" by bbc and absolutely loved it! when i looked it up to purchase it i notices that it was being sold with "miss austen regrets". i of course placed it on my netflix q right away and have been waiting to see it. i know that i could have moved it to the top of my q, and it was there off and on. but i guess i was also a little nervous about seeing this movie in fear that it wouldn't hold true with my picture of the perfect jane austen. i must say, it was wonderful! i love jane austen and her books, but especially the movies. i love to read, but there is something transforming about watching your favorite characters come to life on the screen. i have more to say, but i won't. watch it and decide for yourself.

here is a trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pddz_MR1WkY

jury duty

2009-03-30T16:27:00.002-04:00

friday i had the privelage of serving jury duty! i know that some people dread being called to serve as a juror. some will come up with any excuse to get out of the drudgery. many who make it to the big day are annoyed at the "inconvenience" and show this with hostile body language. i on the other hand, though it is never overly convenient to fit this into your life, was looking forward to the opportunity. i carefully read all the instructions, even the repeat ones in the handy jurors handbook! i know this shocks some of you as you know i normally fly by the seat of my pants. but this is one way that i am able to go with the flow. i read everything that i can about a subject that interests me or involves me and then i can relax and pretend i know everything!...
did you know that in massachusetts you will serve approximately once every three years! that of course does not mean that you will get to become a juror. on friday i got up bright and early (i know, another surprise!), i arrived at the hall of justice in springfield, massachusetts (the murder capital of all massachusetts in case you didn't know) at exactly 8:00 am. once there i hunkered in for a long morning of waiting! a judge came to talk to us, she said that even if we don't get picked we are serving an important part in the legal process just by being there. she further explained that many people don't realize that they can settle a case until the stress of the moment that they are going to bring in the jurors arrives, this prompts them to settle with out the battle. good, however on my particular friday that meant over 100 people sitting around for 4 1/2 hours, doing nothing, all to just get sent home without doing anything! yep, that is the brilliance of the whole legal system in action. instead of hundreds of people being able to work everyday, helping the local economy, they get paid (by their employer) for work that doesn't get done. that means massachusetts is also getting free 'labor' from the population of the willing. they charge us taxes, depend on volunteer labor and rack up large financial burdens for those who don't benefit all so that cases can be settled out of court. sorry about the rant, i didn't mean to go there. it probably didn't even make much sense.
i was rather disappointed that my day went this way. i wanted to be a part of it all. i wanted to stick it to some poor fellow who was the scum of all the earth. i had big dreams of being liek jimmy stewart in "twelve angry men" and teaching everyone that you have to think for yourselves and not just assume the person is guilty. aw, the dreams of the idle... i guess maybe next time.

arizona revisited

2009-03-24T13:49:00.011-04:00

arizona was glorious, arizona was everything a girl could want. sun, entertainment, a best friend, free dental work, spur of the moment trips, pedicures, indians, the grand canyon, sleeping in, laughing, talking.... okay, so a few of these may need some explaining. sun, sun and more sun. i really soaked it up. i know that i told several people i wasn't coming back
without a tan. well, i tried my absolute hardest and my skin just wouldn't cooperate. i was in the sun for hours at a time and got nothing, but it sure felt good. the park was just a short walk from cindy's house so everyday we would go there for the boys to run and swing and slide. cindy and i would sit on a blanket and talk or sometimes just lay down and pretend we were ignoring our children. (ok, so we weren't pretending, we actually were ignoring them, we just figured a kidnapper wouldn't get very far before he turned around and brought them back...)

entertainment was also a given on this trip. the first weekend i was there my sister angel flew down for the weekend, well we just laughed almost non stop with her. she had great stories to tell and she kept us rolling ("that's what he said" :-) for those of you who were there).

free dental work is always a plus when i go on my trip to arizona. cindy's husband rick is a dentist, he is the best as far as i'm concerned. yep, i fly all the way from massachusetts to arizona to bee able to see my dentist! it's such a sacrifice. sorry to everyone else out there who doesn't have the chance to be on the friends and family insurance plan with your dentist.

spur of the moment trips. well, let's see. one day we went to a town called sedona. it is a cool little town, full of snow birds and touristy things. there are a couple of great rock shops there and we went to find benson some rocks for his collection. this trip was met with great success and happiness. the biggest, craziest spur of the moment thing happened the last week end i was there. my sister sunshine called saturday morning to tell me about my niece Keri Jean's mission farewell. It was the next day in utah. sunshine had the idea that cindy and i drive up (about 10-11 hrs.) and surprise everyone. so by saturday afternoon we had arranged what to do with cindy's boys while we were gone (not everyone could fit in the car) and loaded up my boys and all our stuff and we were off. we pulled into my brother's house at about 4am. we of course were tired but stayed up talking with sunshine for another 2 hours before getting 2 hours of sleep. when everyone woke up boy were they surprised! my brother gray and his wife lisa knew we were coming, since it was there house, but everyone else was surprised, josh and his family, noel and her family all the kids, sunshine's boy-it was a very full house. and the surprises had just begun. we still had amber and her family, angel and her family and my parents to see! it turned out to be such a fun weekend. i'm really glad that we decided to go, it was a long drive both ways, but seeing so much of my family was awesome! actually everyone was there except my brother jacob and his clan. (they live in washington state)

My sister Amber & my Papasita!

Noel, my friend & sister

my sis Joanna & her husband Keith

here is most of the fam...

all of the girls being, well, silly!

My really cute mama!

so now, i have shared every detail with the whole cyber world.... feel free to skim through this journal entry of a blog posting. i also got to see my best friend from growing up in ky. she and her family were at kj's farewell. it was so fun to see them. sunday night they came over to gray's house and played games with us, what a fun time.

Heather, my good friend from the teenage years!

so, on the way home from utah we stopped at the grand canyon!

awesome! i know there are those who were disappointed when they saw it, because it was just a hole in the ground. seriously? that is lame, it is so truely majestic, absolutely amazing! there are little stops along part of the southern and northern edges for about 26 miles. you pull of the main road and park, then walk out to the edge, parts are fenced off for safety, but lots of it is just left natural. ethan was enthralled. he walked closer to the edge than i would have liked so that he could take pictures and look for rocks. one picture we have of him on the edge scares me just to see it!

if you have never been to the grand canyon, go! if you have been, i know there is not much there but seriously, just a hole in the ground? surely you thought more of it than that?! if not then go away from my blog, i don't want you reading when i say you are an idiot!

the part of arizona that we drove through crossed through several indian reservations, mainly the navajo. my oldest sister is a navajo indian, she came to live with us when i was a baby and stayed with us until she got married. i had never been to the reservation and had it in my mind that a reservation was like one town, but we drove for miles and miles, i wonder how many acres their reservation is? i guess i could google it... ok, just did it. wikipedia says that it covers 26,000 square miles, that's17 million acres! anyway, we stopped at a couple roadside stands and bought some handmade jewelry. they use real stones, like turquoise and red coral, amethyst, etc.. beautiful stuff, i wish i could have gotten more, some for all my friends! the day after we came home from utah it was time for me to leave. i had already extended my trip 5 days, i would have loved to stay longer, but it was time to get back to routine and life as i know it. so there you have it. my two week trip condensed into one enormous blog posting.

winter weather advisory

2009-03-06T12:42:00.002-05:00

which do you prefer?

that's right. what does it mean? i am tired of winter! you all know that i don't like winter, that i am paralysed by the cold and my depression can easily get out of control when winter lasts too long. well, it's happened. i have reached my limit! all through february i have held on thinking that march was right around the corner, meaning spring. not so in new england... in massachusetts spring does not arrive until at least april. with my "southern" upbringing i am not programmed to wait that long for spring. who came up with the idea for winter anyway? i mean really? does it sound brilliant to you? why does anyplace have to have winter? there are places in this world where winter means 70 degrees and sunny. sounds good to me. why not? so, instead of just complaining i decided to do something about it. my good husband bought tickets for me and eli and ethan and sent us on our way. we are now in sunny arizona, living the good life! i love my girlfriend (yes i have a girlfriend i'm not ashamed to admit it...) cindy for letting me call her one day and fly in the next. i fully intend to go back to massachusetts next week with a suntan or a sunburn, either one so i can say to all of new england that the sun is good, not bad and that winter is for the birds! so, if you are like me and have had enough of this stinky weather, join me in az. there's plenty of sun for everyone!

10 things i love starting with the letter 'w'

2009-02-10T11:02:00.002-05:00

my sister assigned me this blog post. i saw it on her blog and it was kind of fun, so here it goes (in no particular order):

1. west. the last name west is a great one. occasionally i still have someone who will ask how to spell it. i try not to look at them like they are complete idiots, but seriously... the best story i have about this is once when i was in the hospital. the doctor came in to the room and looked at the file in his hand. he asked how to pronounce my name, so i said, "west as in north,south, east and..." he looked a little flustered and then said, "oops, wrong file!" okay, glad he asked.

2. wet grass. i just think it is so pretty when the sun sparkles on the wet grass, making it glitter. then you add a few foot prints and you have a pretty picture.

3. winter? okay, i admit, i hate winter but i do love it when winter is over! does that count?

4. wind. at least a soft breeze. it always feels nice on a warm, sunny day to have the wind blow through your hair and cool off your face. and i must confess that i especially like it when i'm overheated and i lift my arms up to let the wind dry out my armpits! you know you like it too.

5. winning. i don't always have to win, but it is fun. i also like to see my children win, i rarely let them win because they never learn that way, but when they do win i love to see how it lights up their whole face and makes them smile, (and sometimes gloat...hmm?)

6. watching people. i like to do this when the people i'm watching don't know i'm watching them. like when the boys are totally absorbed in play and i can peek around the corner and be a part of their interaction. it is fun to glimpse their world. it is also fun at the mall or airport to watch and if the opportunity presents itself i am not above listening in either!

7. whole wheat. i like it in bread and cookies. maybe it's because i grew up with it, but it just adds such yummy flavor.

8. water. it tastes good. it feels good. it is good. drinking, bathing, swimming, splashing, whatever. i love it!

9. women's night out. okay, i stretched to make this one work, i know we call it girls night out, but i just made us all graduate to women status. this is one of my favorite things. i like seeing movies, shopping, grabbing a bite to eat, swapping labor stories, laughing so hard you cry, etc... what would we do without eachother?

10. weeding. i grew up hating this. my dad owned a landscaping business so every summer we earned money by weeding for his customers. we were seen in our cut off jeans and bright yellow 'Gardening Angels" t-shirts weeding homes, hospitals, hotels, restaurants, etc. i thought that when i grew up i would never touch another weed. well, that didn't happen. i can now spot weeds from a mile away and they drive me nuts! there is something so satisfying about pulling out all the bad and immediately seeing the improvement. i think there might just be a sacrament meeting talk in this. just think, there are bad things trying to choke all the good and beautiful out, when we decide to take action we can remove the bad. yes it keeps trying to come back, but if we properly repent we can dig out the root and get rid of it for good. i'll have to think on that a little more...

now you know way too much about me i'm sure. but hey, what are blogs for?

what to blog about?

2009-02-02T16:27:00.002-05:00

what does one blog about when there is nothing to blog about. of course there are a million things to blog about, but how do you pick just the right thing? do i make up something so that all my devoted fans will be amused and entertained? do i just leave the blog unattended for months on end? do i steal ideas from other people? i could blog about this evil cat i know. this particular cat belongs to a friend of mine, and not to mention any names, but jen also hates this cat. i know of all the evils of this cat because i have seen her in action. i have read about and listened to stories about her. she only proves to solidify my conclusions that cats are hateful and only good to catch mice. they should all be relegated to the outdoors. if you are a cat lover please don't think me cruel. i am very allergic to cats so some of my views may be skewed... when i was a teenager my sister gave me a book for christmas called, "101 Uses for a Dead Cat". it was a very creative book and we had many hours of fun teasing my little sister, who loved cats. i think we may have scarred her for life. between the teasing and the accidents... wait, you may not know about this accidents. let me explain. one early morning, while it was still dark outside i climbed into the car to leave for seminary. when i closed the door it just kind of bounced back. weird i thought. so my brother josh and i tried to figure out why the door didn't close. it didn't take long. it turns out that the cat had jumped up trying to follow me into the car. it didn't quite make it and would never again be able to go for a ride. we lived in the country and i remember josh and i joking about the cat going to live in a nice place in the city. there was another time when we had several kittens. joanna (the baby of our family) and jacob were playing some grand game. i don't have a clue what this game involved, i only know that jacob in particular had a crazy big imagination. so this game was being played on a hot summer day, it included the baby kittens and possibly leaving them at the doctor. the doctor happened to be the unused ash bin which had to have the lid put back on in order for the kittens to stay put. well, sometime after dropping the kittens off at this doctor the game evolved and went on. i guess they completely forgot about the kittens and a few hours later when they remembered it was too late. the summer heat multiplied by the enclosed, black tin bucket equaled dinner! no, not really. i'm not as calloused as i may sound. this is just reflective of the insensitive teenage sister in me. josh and i thought this was prime opportunity to display our merciless sensibilities. we told them they murdered the kittens and would have to pay the consequences. we probably invented a few forms of cruel and unusual punishment for their misdeeds. as if teasing and tormenting them wasn't enough. i'm sure that joanna and jacob felt horrible enough without us rubbing it in. but hey, what are big siblings for? now however, i am gaining more of an understanding of feelings in regard to pets. after i started this blog last night our dog had an accident. i don't mean the kind that you clean up and spank her nose for. at first we thought she had been attacked by a wild animal because she was out playing in the woods. we took her in to the vet. the doctor said that she had puncture wounds and it looked like an animal had bitten her head and clawed her leg and tail. they gave her an IV and pain medication and tried to stabilize her. well, a few hours later bruising became apparent and they did an ultrasound. it turns out that she must have been hit by a car and had internal bleeding. she was going down fast and unfortunately didn't make it. i had to break the news to my own children this morning. now i am feeling remorse for all the cruelty i imposed on my helpless younger siblings. i picture myself tormenting my own children and know that it isn't possible to be more cruel. sorry jacob. sorry joanna. i will never call you a murderer again...
this is Dory dressed up like batman! we will miss her.

crayons!

2009-01-23T11:36:00.003-05:00

i really love the smell of new crayons. this week i came to a sad realization. ethan had homework to color and eli had a new coloring book that we were working in. we couldn't find a red crayon anywhere. we had that strawberry red and the orange red colors, but not a true red. the boys were also complaining because somehow most of the crayons were no longer than an inch. it then dawned on me that these were all the crayons we had in the house!
for shame!

once, a few years ago i happened to come across an overstock of crayons on some website. each box of crayola crayons was just 9 cents! (for a box of 24) i ordered something like 20 boxes. even with shipping it was less than $5.00. that was awesome. i love it when stuff like that comes along. this time i couldn't find anything close to that. everything i found was like boxes of 8 for over $2! NO way. so this morning i broke down and made a quick trip to wal-mart. eli and i happily bought a big box of 120 crayons. i opened them up before we even left the parking lot! they smelled so good! i said, "eli, smell this." he inhaled and replied, "i love it mom!" there is a boy after my own heart.
when we got home i taught him how to use a crayon sharpener to keep them sharp enough for good coloring. we sniffed them some more and are both happily coloring Mickey Mouse...

updates

2009-01-21T13:33:00.009-05:00

we had a great christmas. complete with a gift card for Pottery Barn from my husband and a beautiful quilt from Amber. i was absolutely amazed. i knew that Am had been working on several quilts this year, and i enjoyed seeing all of them when i went to Utah in August. i had hoped to get something she had made, but i was so happy to get this quilt. it was actually my favorite of what i saw this summer! Yeah!

the weekend after christmas karen and jen and i went to NYC. we went to see a broadway show and window shop. we went into Tiffany's and the sales lady let us try on this beautiful 3k diamond! it was $227,000! i figured that meant i could either have a house or a ring.... ethan told me to go for the ring, i deserved it! very sweet. the broadway show we decided to see was called "Boeing, Boeing". it starred several well known actors/actresses. it was so funny and a total blast! we are considering starting a birthday tradition...

the boys have been sledding, sledding and sledding. everyday they have gone out for several hours, just enjoying the fun! at one point our sleds were buried and ethan and eli discovered a new place to sled that they didn't need sleds for... what good is the roof of the shed, if not for sledding?

karen and i are busy trying to decide on paint colors and for our living room and kitchen walls. i am getting anxious for a little order in the basement, for now i just avoid it as much as possible. so, that is life for the past two months in a nutshell. maybe now i can keep up with blogging again, yours and mine! we'll see.

husband tag!

2008-11-06T10:33:00.002-05:00

thanks to kelli for the fun tag.

1. Full name: Andrew Zepherin West
2. How long have you been married?: 10 years
3. How long did we date? just shy of 3 months!
4. Who eats the sweets? shocker, I do! not that andy is above sugar, he just has more refined taste than i do. mostly i don't care what ice cream or chocolate i have, i'll eat it. but andy prefers Hagen Daaz ice cream and good, european chocolate.
5. Who said I love you first? I actually can't remember! Sad, but true, sshh-don't tell andy!
6. Who is taller? andy. he is 6' even and i am 5'7".
7. Who sings better? i think we're pretty equal. i haven't had a lot of practice for years, but i used to be pretty good. not great, nothing to brag about, but decent. andy does have a decent voice as well, he just doesn't use it a lot.
8. Who is smarter? who knows. andy reads a lot and knows tons about everything. i have a lot of common sense but i guess with book smarts i'd have to give props to andy!
9. Who does the laundry? need you even ask? me, me, me. andy does pitch in when i need him to, but i prefer to have my close fit when they are clean!
10. Who pays the bills? andy. he likes knowing it all and i like not having to deal with it!
11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? i guess that depends on how you look at the bed... but what it really comes down to is that i am always right so i must be the one who sleeps on the right side!
12. Who mows the lawn? andy. i like the traditional roles. although mowing is kind of fun so occasionally i can step in, kind of like the laundry question...
13. Who drives? usually andy. for years it was only andy. if i had to pick him up on the side of the road i would still get out and have him drive. it goes back to when we were first married. he would tell me how to drive, so one day i pulled the car over and said that he could drive forever, because he obviously knew how to do it better than me! (stubborn me?!)
14. Who admits they are wrong? refer to the last question... stubborn me!
15. Who kissed who first? i'm pretty sure it just happened. besides, doesn't it take 2 to kiss? yep!
16. Who asked out who first? andy asked me out. of course if you know andy then this might surprise you. i had no idea he was so quiet for many weeks!
17. Who wears the pants? i guess andy does. though, if i don't get my way he's in for a good depantsing!

that was fun and so now i pass along the fun to Jacob & Leahona, Amber, Jenn Gifford. enjoy!

i'm the luckiest girl in the world

2008-11-06T10:21:00.003-05:00

i just wanted to let you all know that andy is amazing! i know, i'm bragging about my husband, but what's a girl to do? i have the greatest husband in the world! lately he has been running around like crazy working all day, and then going out to our new house and working late to finish building it! i don't know how his has this kind of energy or stamina. on top of it all he takes time with the boys, includes them in his projects and supports me in all my craziness. it doesn't get any better than that. a righteous, supportive, hardworking talented husband and father... i love you andy!

what do you think?

2008-11-03T13:01:00.006-05:00

we are getting very close to being in our house. we will move in with all the basics done, but not having finished everything, like the decorating and finishing work. some say we are crazy because once we move in the rest won't get finished. i used to think this myself. but we have one major thing ensuring the house gets all those finishing touches. the boys don't get to build their garage/workshop until the house is 100%! so, i am pretty confident that things will get done. plus, we are coming up on winter, there is plenty of 'down time' in winter to finish projects. i had grand dreams of moving into a beautiful house, ready to fully place all of our things just where they should go. the walls painted lovely shades and the built ins ready for storage. i guess a girl can't have it all. at least we will be in.

i have had months to envision how i would decorate things. i have cut out magazine clippings of ideas and hunted online for the perfect look. the reality is that my home will never look like a pottery barn add. but, i can make it mine, with my touch, my feel. now the issue comes in when husbands can't let go. andy has always been good about letting me do the decorating and liking the outcome. this time it is more difficult for him. i guess the house is a little like his baby. he thought he could let go and be done when the building is complete. but we are finding this a little hard for him. i found out this weekend that he has plans of putting a space mural in the boys room. okay, this could be cool, but it wasn't what i was envisioning. then as i have gotten closer to finalizing my thoughts for the bedroom, i learn that he thinks it won't be comfortable for him. i think he forgets that he has doubted my vision before, but what always happens in the end? he loves it! it may be time for a sit down talk about how he built the house and now i get to finish my part. that is what i can do for this house. i may not be able to climb on the roof wielding my tool belt, complete with 20 pounds of tools and nails, but i have a love for decorating. (with or without the budget i may hope for).

so, this is where you come in. i know that i'll get about 4 responses from those of you kind enough to care about my life enough to follow my blog. but i want to know which way you vote for my bedroom. i am including 2 pictures that give the overall feel of my idea vs. andy's idea. which do you like? keep in mind that obviously the actual room will turn out different than the pictures i could find, but just go with me on this one. what do you think?

one difference in the above picture is that the walls would be a robins egg blue color!

fallen off the face of the earth...

2008-10-26T08:44:00.005-04:00

i have heard from several people wondering if i have fallen off the face of the earth. well, no. i am alive and well. we are extremely busy right now. we expect to be into our new house within the next couple of weeks so my days have been full of taking kids to school and working at the house. mainly i have been doing a ton of sanding. i really enjoy the sanding, as weird as that may seem. i guess it is just something that i don't have to think much about so i can let my mind wander. it's almost therapeutic. picture this: children running around in the background with mom sanding away on the floor, oblivious to said children because of the hum and drum of the sander drowning out all but her own thoughts. very nice!

raising a secure child

2008-10-06T13:22:00.003-04:00

sometimes i wonder what my children will turn out like. will they be competent, mature adults who know how to take care of themselves and others. or, will they be social outcasts, banned to a life of obscurity? wandering in the lone and dreary world, with no one to be their friend because they have become social leeches, draining the life out of anyone who dares try to reach out to them? motherhood is full of phobias. this is just one on my list of many, many things to worry about on an almost daily basis. this one stems from the following photo:

why on earth is eli sleeping on the back doorstep with the door open? well, let me explain. i try to get out with my girls every once in a while. actually, sometimes we go out once a week, that combined with enrichment night and primary presidency meeting, etc... can some weeks lead to a couple of nights that i leave the children at home and go out. this was one of those weeks. eli had had enough. it didn't matter to him that i always come back, or that i played blocks with him for an hour that day. enough is enough right? so when i left, andy was faced with a sobbing, out of control three year old who refused to be consoled. solution? ignore him and he will stop. yes, it worked, he stopped after crying himself to sleep on the doorstep waiting for me to come home! pile on the guilt please!... but, sometimes a girl has got to do what a girl's gotta do. anyone up for a girls night?

Dr. Phil's Test

2008-10-03T11:01:00.002-04:00

i got this test in an email from my sister Amber. i thought it was kind of neat and instead of emailing all of you i decided to post it on my blog. make sure you leave a comment with your score. it is always fun to try these things, at least i think so. and i want to analyze each of you, so take the test and leave your score...

also, don't cheat by looking ahead, just answer the questions one at a time and then score yourself. i got a 41 which when i read the results was fun and hopefully true.

Dr. Phil's Test: Here you go. Try this!

Below is Dr. Phil's test.

(Dr. Phil scored 55, he did this test on Oprah

and she got a 38.) Some folks pay a lot of

money to find this stuff out!

Read on, this is very interesting!

Don't be overly sensitive!

The following is pretty accurate and it

only takes a few minutes.

Take this test for yourself and send it on to your friends.

Don't peek, but begin the test as you

scroll down and answer.

Answers are for who you are now and not who

you were in the past. Have pen or pencil

and paper ready.

This is a real test given by the Human Relations Dept.
at many of the major corporations today. It helps them get better insight concerning their employees and in their prospective employees.

It's only 10 Simple questions, so grab a pencil and paper, keeping track of your letter answers to each question.

Make sure to change the subject of the email to read YOUR total.

When you are finished, forward this to friends, family, and also send it to the person who sent this to you.

Make sure to put 'YOUR' score in the subject box.

Ready?

Begin.

1. When do you feel your best...

A) in the morning
B) during the afternoon and early evening
C) late at night

2. You usually walk...

A) fairly fast, with long steps
B) fairly fast, with little steps
C) less fast head up, looking the world in the face
D) less fast, head down
E) very slowly

3. When talking to people you...

A) stand with your arms folded
B) have your hands clasped
C) have one or both your hands on your hips
D) touch or push the person to whom you are talking
E) ;play with your ear, touch your chin, o r smooth th your hair

4. When relaxing, you sit with...

A) your knees bent with your legs neatly side by side
B) your legs crossed
C) your legs stretched out or straight
D) one leg curled under you

5. When something really amuses you, you react with...

A) big appreciated laugh
B) a laugh, but not a loud one
C) a quiet chuckle
D) a sheepish smile

6. When you go to a party or social gathering you...

A) make a loud entrance so everyone notices you
B) make a quiet entrance, looking around for someone you know
C) make the quietest entrance, trying to stay unnoticed

7. You're working very hard, concentrating hard, and you're interrupted...

A) welcome the break
B) feel extremely irritated
C) vary between these two extremes

8. Which of the following colors do you like most...

A) Red or orange
B) black
C) yellow or light blue
D) green
E) dark blue or purple
F) white
G) brown or gray

9. When you are in bed at night, in those last few moments before going to sleep you are...

A) stretched out on your back
B) stretched out face down on your stomach
C) on your side, slightly curled
D) with your head on one arm
E) with your head under the covers

10. You often dream that you are...

A) falling
B) fighting or struggling
C) searching for something or somebody
D) flying or floating
E) you usually have dreamless sleep
F) your dreams are always pleasant

POINTS:

1. (a) 2 (b) 4 (c) 6
2. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 7 (d) 2 (e) 1
3. (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 5 (d) 7 (e) 6
4. (a) 4 (b) 6 (c) 2 (d) 1
5. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 2
6. (a) 6 (b) 4 (c) 2
7. (a) 6 (b) 2 (c) 4
8. (a) 6 (b) 7 (c) 5 (d) 4 (e) 3 (f) 2 (g) 1
9. (a) 7 (b) 6 (c) 4 (d) 2 (e ) 1
10 (a) 4 (b) 2 (c) 3 (d) 5 (e) 6 (f) 1

Now add up the total number of points.

OVER 60 POINT: Others see you as someone they should 'handle with care'. You're seen as vain, self-centered, and who is extremely dominant. Others may admire you, wishing they could be more like you, but don't always trust you, hesitating to become too deeply involved with you.

51 TO 60 POINTS: Others see you as an exciting, highly volatile, rather impulsive personality, a natural leader, who's quick to make decisions, though not always the right ones. They see you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will try anything once, someone who takes chances and enjoys an adventure. They enjoy being in your company because of the excitement you radiate.

41 TO 50 POINTS: Others see you as fresh, lively, charming, amusing, practical, and always interesting, someone who's constantly in the center of attention, but sufficiently well balanced not to let it go to their head. They also see you as kind, considerate, and understanding, someone who'll always cheer them up and help them out.

31 TO 40 POINTS: Others see you as sensible, cautious, careful & practical. They see you as clever, gifted, or talented, but modest. Not a person who makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone who's extremely loyal to friends you do make and who expect the same loyalty in return. Those who really get to know you, realize it takes a lot to shake your trust in your friends, but equally that it takes you a long time to get over if that trust is ever broken.

21 TO 30 POINTS: Your friends see you as painstaking and fussy. They see you as very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and steady plodder. It would really surprise them if you ever did something impulsively

or on the spur of the moment, expecting you to examine everything carefully from every angle and then, usually decide against it. They think this reaction is caused partly by your careful nature.

UNDER 21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who always wants someone else to make the decisions and who doesn't want to get involved with anyone or anything! They see you as a worrier who always sees problems that don't exist. Some people think you're boring. Only those who know you well, know that you aren't.

tagging can be fun

2008-09-28T19:34:00.003-04:00

okay, sorry kelly that it took me forever and a day to respond to being tagged. but i must admit, i forgot. so thanks to jocelyn for reminding me and tagging me again. so, here it goes:

8 things i'm passionate about.

1: sleep!, i serioiusly sleep way too much, but it never seems like enough. is this some kind of disorder?
2: date night. hello, i either can't get enough of my husband, or i like to get away from the kids-you be the judge...
3: not getting too busy. i really believe that when we get too busy we lose the flexibility to follow the promptings of the spirit.
4: creating: it has been so long since i have had a place to set things up for my creative outlet, but i finally rearranged some things and made myself a spot to stamp, card make & scrapbook again. feel free to join me.
5: ? i honestly don't know. do i really have to be that passionate about 8 things? passionate is pretty strong.
6: family
7: good friends, oh so important.
8: um, seriously.

8 words or phrases i say often.

1: seriously
2: yuck
3: you stink (i have 3 boys...)
4: stop, i'm going crazy!
5: what's for dinner?
6: finish your homework
7: is anybody listening to me?
8: seriously!

8 things i want to do before i die.

1: finish our house
2: more travel
3: see my grandchildren (born to stable, caring parents)
4: shopping spree
5: sleep uninteruppted for as long as i want
6: go to disney world?
7: i don't know
8: are you sensing the frustration of coming up with 8 things over and over?!

8 things i currently want or need.

1: finish our house
2: move into our house tomorrow
3: move into our house today!
4: move into our house yesterday?
5: more sleep
6: a good book
7: a fun trip
8: craft supply $

8 people to tag.

do I know 8 people who even read my blog?
i think i'll skip this 8, it's been fun girls!

um, what?

2008-09-24T08:10:00.000-04:00

a few weeks ago ethan & eli started doing tricks with their pj's. they think that it is so funny and i just hope that the pj's shrink back down to size in the wash. can this possibly be comfortable? i have e feeling that these pics will probably cause them pain when they are older, but for now they sure are funny. i am thankful to have goofy children who make me laugh!

boys are dogs?

2008-09-23T20:06:00.002-04:00

okay, so my boys are probably pretty typical of their ages and genders. i am a proud mama, who thinks that her children are adorable and oh so fun. i realize that men are often referred to as dogs and whether you agree with that or not, at what age does this sentiment become more realized? i hope that these pictures aren't representative of their future...

time out

2008-09-21T20:55:00.004-04:00

friday night was the beginning of Time Out for Woman in Springfield, MA. a friend of mine had bought tickets for both Friday and Saturday but ended up not being able to go on Friday. so, she gave me her ticket! i was not planning on going because i just went to education week and felt like i needed to help build the house on saturday. but i was thrilled with the chance to go on friday night. one of my long time favorite lds musicians was performing that night and it was awesome. Michael McLean is just the best. i have always been able to feel so good when listening to his music and friday night was no disappointment. he is just an amazing man. when you get a chance to hear him tell where his songs came from and listen to him you can really feel the spirit. he sang several of my favorite songs and some new ones that i haven't heard before. we also got to hear Kenneth Cope, which i enjoyed. he has some good songs, but will never be my favorite compared with the feeling i get from Michaels music (yes we are on a first name basis now!).

Some of us girls with the handsome & talented Kenneth Cope!

Before things got started that night one of the presenters by the name of Kim Nelson, came up to Allison Cowden, Sarah Hall and me. He introduced himself and chatted with us for a few minutes. He asked us to pray for him because he was so nervous to sing with Michael McLean. During the break he came to see if we had and to talk with us. He was a very dear and funny man. If you ever have the chance to hear him speak you should. He is a marriage and family therapist, a member of his stake presidency and a great guy. after the program was over he told us to stick around and he would introduce us to Michael and we could get our picture taken! I have been to several of Michael McLean's concerts before. Once in Provo I was even picked out of the audience to pick a song. he had me come up on stage where i sat with him while he sang the song and then he kissed me on the cheek! it was great, but for some reason getting a picture with him was awesome to me. i have never been a groupie before, but i guess things have changed. i wish so many of you could have been there with me, but since you couldn't just enjoy (& be jealous of) my picture and one of my favorite songs (just click the play button on the right to here it, it's beautiful & it might make you cry, but listen up!).

here is the great picture! Brother Nelson even snuck into the back!

i'm back!

2008-09-18T17:13:00.005-04:00

okay, i'm back. i realize that this blog is mostly for my own entertainment, but for the few of you that do check it i know it has been a long time. i am home from my travels and all my visitors have left me. things are settling into a fine routine. so, that means i can blog again. i am thrilled with this because i use my blog in place of my journal. does that mean i should actually print out my entries and save them somewhere? for now i'll just have to be happy with having the time to blog...

okay, so to catch up. the boys started back to school on Sept. 2. I am traveling back and forth everyday to take them to the schools in the area we are building our house. i just didn't want them to have to readjust in two months to a new school, new friends, new teachers, etc... this was especially important to me this year because Benson started 5th grade and at his new school that means Middle School! yep, lockers, changing classes, band, sports and all that good stuff (including sex ed in health class. shocker!) Here are a few pictures of them on their first day of school.

my friend Cindy came to visit!

we have been friends since we were both newlyweds. we moved into the same ward the same week. it seemed only natural for Cindy and Mindy to be put together as visiting teaching partners and we became fast friends. even better was that our husbands became friends enabling us to do just about everything together. so a few short years later we moved to Cincinnati and when they were done with school a year later they moved to Arizona. we try to get together at least once a year and have managed to do at least that. but this is the first visit to Massachusetts for Cindy and the first time that all of our children were able to get together.

they all had so much fun, you would think they had known each other all along. we tried to do some fun things with everyone while we were together, but ended up with an even longer list of more to do the next time.

well, this has become the longest blog posting in history, maybe we could use this post for book club (even though it's not quiet Jane Austen). so, for today, this is enough. i'll post more soon.

thanks jocelyn

2008-08-29T20:04:00.002-04:00

jocelyn has tagged me! that means i get to list 3 each of joys, fears, goals, current obsessions, and random surprises. then i get to tag others...

Joys
1: trying new things and finding out that i like them or am good at them
2: family, just having one, need i explain further?
3: friends, i don't think i've lived in a ward where i have had so many friends and been able to do so much with them. so thanks girls!

Fears
1: dying by fire! Yikes!
2: not being a good enough example for my boys
3: growing old alone

Goals:
goals, schmoals! really, let's see...
1: getting up early enough during the school year to read scriptures and have family prayer as a family before school and work
2: short term, read Emma before book club in September (i guess that's an easy one since i love jane austen)
3: take a photography class

Current Obsessions
nothing new here...
1: reading
2: games
3: movies

Surprises
this is hard, not much going on to surprise anyone with...
1: sometimes i eat ice cream for breakfast
2: sometimes i even let my kids eat ice cream for breakfast
3: i really want some ice cream right now!

okay, now the best part of getting tagged, I tag Amber, Heather, Cindy

which one are you?

2008-08-29T18:30:00.001-04:00

Which Little House on the Prairie character are you? Your Result: Charles Ingalls You are a strong and important person. Kind and loving with an answer for everything, but also firm and stubborn. You help anyone you can and bring home the bacon.
Laura Ingalls
Almanzo Wilder
Caroline Ingalls
Carrie Ingalls
Mary Ingalls
Mr. Edwards
Which Little House on the Prairie character are you? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

i had fun taking this little quiz. i guess i just loved watching these shows when i was younger and the books are so wonderful! take the quiz yourself & let me know who you are...

whirlwind

2008-08-28T16:20:00.004-04:00

Mom, Joanna & Me! we are ready to go on our first morning of classes. when did i get the double chin and relief society arms? oh well...
i went to education week at BYU last week! it was so wonderful. i got to see my utah family and my mom, and aunt, my sister Joanna, and my sister in law lisa all went too! we had a great time. i went to classes about parenting, marriage, nutrition, music, communication and more. i love education week and i say it everytime i go, that i want to go every year. of course, i don't always get to go, but when i do i always come back spiritually fed and happy. so, that is why there are no posts from last week and this week i have had company and been playing catch up from last week. i'll try to update over the next few days to get caught up to speed. not because the 3 or 4 readers i have care, but because i want to remember!

rice christmas trees!

2008-08-18T11:50:00.000-04:00

at our house rice crispy treats are a favorite. eli calls them rice christmas trees! we recently made these and everyone inhaled them. ethan and eli invented a new way to eat them. i tried it and it really helps. now i can eat them without the sticky finger evidence!

twinkle

2008-08-17T07:59:00.000-04:00

each of my boys has their special thing that they sleep with. nobody else is allowed to touch or especially not allowed to play with this special thing.
for benson it is a blanket. he is actually on his 2nd blankie, the first one is in shreds, but safely tucked away in nana's hopechest.
ethan has a teddy. his name is teddy b. beary. teddy takes care of ethan and talks to him, helping him be good.
eli has 2 things, maybe because he is the youngest. he has a blankie and a doll named twinkle. i got these stuffed people at the disney store a while ago. eli immediately latched on to twinkle. he sleeps with her, takes her to church or the store, chews on her, etc.. i am well aware that twinkle is pink and purple and sparkly. i know that these things usually equal girl toys, but it doesn't matter to eli, so it doesn't matter to me!
i have carefully documented each of my sons toys and attachments so i can use them to show future girlfriends and their own children. i sometimes wonder what they will think in the future, but for now heaven forbid we lose them...

can this possibly be comfortable?

2008-08-16T08:03:00.000-04:00

so the other night i tucked the boys in bed with all the usual things. i then plopped down on the couch to read a good book. sometime later i went down the hall and this is how i found eli:

can this even be remotely comfortable? he apparently got his sleeping bag out of his closet and retucked himself in. kids?! as an adult i have this 'ultimate comfort' zone. if i'm not in that zone, i can't be happy, i can't sleep and everyone around me will know there is a problem. for instance, i am a nose breather. at night during allergy season i sometimes get all stuffed up and can't breath thru my nose. it is torture. i am constantly blowing my nose or sniffing trying to reach that comfort zone. i will not sleep until i'm there, i just can't. weird but true. also, if i get too hot or too cold or if i'm camping and the ground is too hard or the air matress is too mushy... i am starting to sound like a whiner. but i've never seen myself that way. maybe i am and i just didn't know it. is anyone else like me? or am i psychotic and do i need professional help? because if the rest of the world can sleep like my eli, then i guess i have problems.

another new addition to the fam

2008-08-15T10:52:00.004-04:00

once again, this is not, i repeat, NOT a pregnancy announcement. this is however, a post of good tidings! one of great joy! hannah has had her baby! yeah! i got a phone call tuesday asking me to come pick up rebecca. so i left my shopping cart full at the store and hustled right over for my adorable neice. (it is fun to have neice, when i get to help take care of her it is almost like a have a little girl of my own, almost...) a few short hours later i got another phone call announcing this little guy:

the next morning rebecca and i went to the hospital so she could meet her new brother! she was instantly in love with him. i think she is going to be quite a handful for a little while, trying to help and love little spencer. but, she'll settle into the routine and turn out to be a real help, i'm sure.

spencer matthew robinson
10lbs., 3 oz.
23 inches tall
congratulations hannah, matt & rebecca!

a day at the beach

2008-08-12T09:11:00.005-04:00

you can't live within 2 hours of the beach, no matter what beach, and not go at least once a year. we would go much more than that, but this year has been filled with building our house. i love the beach. i love the sun and the sand, the breeze that always blows from the ocean, i love the waves and the treasures you find. i love the wet sand between my toes. i love the dizzy feeling you get from standing next to the waves rolling in. i love the sinking feeling when the waves rush back out, pulling the sand out from under your feet.

this past thursday we went with some friends to the beach. here are some pictures, i don't think i need to say more...

okay, so this last one might need some explaining, but i really don't know what to say. Eli just kept pushing sand around with his head and seemed to think it was funny. i guess i thought it was pretty funny too, i just don't understand.

new family editions

2008-08-12T08:51:00.004-04:00

our family is growing! no, this is not a pregnancy announcement. we have adopted two wonderful dogs! Dory is a mostly white whippet/russell mix. she is gentle and loves to give kisses, though i must admit that i don't care for the kisses on my face. Bean is a full blooded brittany spaniel. he is beautiful and loves to cuddle and have attention from the boys. he also gulps down any food in sight so we are learning to not leave things laying around. these dogs have mostly been indoor dogs for most of their life so there is a little adjustment going on while they learn to be in their kennel while in the house. but they have been doing wonderfully!

we took them to the land with us this weekend and they LOVED it! they ran around like they were in heaven and the boys followed them around. Ethan says, "it's a lot more fun with dogs!". and we all agree.

me, me, me, this post is all about me!

2008-08-07T17:31:00.003-04:00

okay, so I am copying this from Brianne's blog, but she said we could, so...

What time did you get up this morning? 7:00, early for me, I really like to sleep and it usually takes me about 20 minutes to transition to being awake. I don't know what I'm going to do when school starts. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds for special times, pearls for everyday. Not like I own a lot of either. Maybe this should be gold or silver? In that case I would have to say silver. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Shrek the Third. I took the boys to a reshowing of this film just yesterday. From current movies the most recent I have seen is 'Made of Honor'. What is your favorite TV show? It used to be Grey's Anatomy (I know, bad, so I'm giving it up.) Now I will have to wait for new seasons to start. I really like Samantha Who? What do you usually have for breakfast? Cereal. Nice and simple and one less meal to cook. My favorite breakfast though is waffles with fresh fruit. What is your middle name? I actually don't have a maiden name. With 11 kids in our family I don't know if Mom and Dad just ran out of names or what. It does make it easy now though, I just use Gifford (my maiden name) as my middle name. What food do you dislike? I have never liked oatmeal, I think it comes from having to eat so much of it when I was growing up. It just makes me gag. Your favorite CD at the moment? I don't even know what it's called. But it is an acoustic arrangement of some of my favorite hymns. It calms me down and makes me feel good. What kind of car do you drive? A black Volvo, XC70. I got it in February and love it! Favorite sandwich? Probably peanut butter banana. It just tastes good. What characteristic do you despise? Judgemental, Narcissistic Favorite item of clothing? Sandals, they keep my feet cool and are easy to slip on quickly.
If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Italy, my cousin Oscar lives there and I'm itching to visit. Plus I love to see the world. Are you an organized person? I like to pretend to be. Where would you retire to? In a house in the woods, tucked away from the world, wait, that's where we are building now. What was your most recent memorable birthday? This past February. I turned 30 and Karen and Hannah threw a birthday party for me. Lots of you came and we had a great time. It was fun to feel like a kid again and have a party! What are you going to do when you finish this? Put the kids to bed so I can have a quiet evening. When is your birthday? February 8. Would you like to know the year? 1978. That's right, 30 years old. I am not sure why I used to think 30 was so old, it sure doesn't feel like it. What is your shoe size? 7 1/2 Pets? Not yet, but soon. Any new and exciting news? I get to go to BYU Education week Aug. 18-23. That also means I will see lots of family! I love it, travel, learning and family all wrapped up into a special getaway for Mom!
What did you want to be when you were little? An interior decorator. I love to make spaces feel comfortable and beautiful. But I always knew I would be a Mom as #1 priority. How are you today? Happy and tired. We went to the beach (I'll blog about that tomorrow), so I am red and sleepy, but in a very good way. What is your favorite flower? For now I think zinnias. They are just so happy looking. What are you listening to right now? The boys playing in the background. Ethan and Eli are pretending to be kitty cats. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? September 4th. I think this is the day my girlfriend Cindy comes to visit (FINALLY!). What was the last thing you ate? A creamscicle (that's the orange sherbet and vanilla swirl) ice cream cone. Oh how I love ice cream! Do you wish on stars? I haven't in a long time, but I used to. Maybe it's time to try again. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Pink, it just seems like such a happy color. How is the weather right now? Partly cloudy and a little humid. It has been rainy here today, luckily not at the beach. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Jenn Baird. We are hoping to get together for Ethan and Natalie to play at Stanley Park tomorrow morning. Favorite soft drink? I like both cream soda and root beer. Favorite Restaurant? Just about anywhere, I happen to like not being the one to cook or clean up. Hair color? Dirty blond. It's getting darker with age, right now it is pretty nondescript. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Mom made me a great homemade cabbage patch kid doll one year for Christmas. I loved it! Other than that I would say my bike. We used to ride our bikes all the time. So fun, it makes me want another one. Summer or Winter? Neither, but if I really have to pick I would say summer. I would rather swim and play in water to cool off than be paralyzed by the cold. Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate. Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! Coffee or tea? How bout hot chocolate (see above!) When was the last time you cried? Hmm? I know it couldn't have been that long ago, but I don't remember. What is under your bed? Shoes. I love shoes and have too many, especially since I tend to wear the same 5 pairs. That doesn't stop me from getting more though. What did you do last night? I read and ate blueberry cheesecake. We also had the missionaries over for dinner. (blueberry pancakes) What are you afraid of? Dying in a fire. Can you imagine how painful. Salty or sweet? Again, see the above chocolate answer. I love sweets, especially chocolate. How many keys on your key ring? 3. One for my house, one for my car and one for Andy's car. Of course then you add the remote locks and the flashlight and it is still pretty bulky. How many years at your current job? 9. Benson is 9, so I have been a Mom for 9 years. Eli is 3, I guess that means I have about 20 years to go until 'retirement'. Favorite day of the week? This always changes, but probably Saturday or Sunday. Andy isn't at work so we get to spend time together and time as a family. Do you make friends easily? I used to be more outgoing than I am now, although I am still very social. I like to make friends, so I guess it depends on the other person.

I hope some of you got to learn something about me. I also hope it wasn't a boring post for you. I would love to hear some of your answers!

blueberries

2008-08-07T08:00:00.001-04:00

blueberries are so yummy! we have been busy picking and picking berries. about 2-3 times per week since they have been in season we have picked. we have made muffins and pies and pancakes and frozen the rest so we can make more yummy things when the berries aren't in season. Andy's favorite way to eat them is frozen. he actually fills a bowl with frozen blueberries and eats them like candy. he says they are better than popsicles! Eli has taken to eating them that way too and gets so excited to eat frozen berries for an afternoon snack.
in this picture you can see thousands of berries drying before being put in the freezer!
yummy!

nightly ritual

2008-08-06T13:48:00.003-04:00

i have posted before about how much Eli likes to read. well, the other night i took a picture of him sleeping with his books. this is an almost nightly occurrence at our house. i will tuck Ethan and Eli in, read them a book, say prayers, sometimes a song. then i will go out and close the door. they can read as long as they stay in bed. it usually only takes about 10 minutes for them to be asleep and i go back in and turn off the light. this is how i find Eli....

isn't he adorable?

fireworks in august

2008-08-04T17:17:00.003-04:00

yesterday we went to the park in Westfield where they were putting on our 4th of July fireworks display. there was some weather in July and a lot of confused and disappointed people when they not only delayed the fireworks, but decided to wait until Aug. 3rd. Weird. but, it turned out they were worth waiting for. the city must have spent a fortune, they let off one after another of some really beautiful fireworks. there were the waterfall kind and the bursting kind and the ones you don't think are doing anything until there are 100 sizzling balls in the sky. there were some that were stars and some that were circles and hearts and according to Benson, there was even one that looked like an alien head! i think me favorite were the ones that look like fast action dandelions growing and turning fuzzy and finally being blown away. so cool! the boys were super excited for the event. we got there nice and early. of course there was plenty to do for the boys who think Stanley Park is the greatest place on earth! we sat nice and close to the playground, although the gate to get into the playground was on the opposite side from where we sat. But, that didn't seem to slow down the kids, they just climbed up the fence and jumped over... Eli also decided to come play duck, duck, goose with the grown ups! Yippee for us. It was really fun to watch him have such a blast running around us or trying not to get caught while ran back to his seat. Anytime it was someone elses turn to circle, calling duck, duck, goose, Eli would say, "Do goose in me!" He loved it.

Eli was also the highlight of the fireworks for me. when they started shooting them off, Eli was totally amazed. He just stared and started giggling. His eyes were all sparkly and he would say something like, "Whoa," or "Wow" each time. that is each time until he noticed we were all watching him and laughing, then he switched gears and was showing off, (nice! i guess he is his mothers child).

anyway, it was a very nice night. Eli fell asleep on the way home, even though he said he was hungry and couldn't go to sleep until his belly was full. Ethan also finally managed to nod off. it turned out to be the easiest bedtime we have had in quite a while. HOORAY for FIREWORKS!!

breaking dawn

2008-08-04T16:34:00.003-04:00

i am anxious to read this new book by Stphanie Meyer. so many of you have already blogged about it and many of you have already read it. i am waiting my turn for a copy from Karen. She is busy working and reading when she can, then i will be lost for a day or two. today i am busy doing all the house things that i can. especially laundry, so that i won't feel as guilty when i ignore it all (yes, even the kids) to read.

now, i didn't ask permission to tell you the following story so i won't mention any names. but some of you will know who i'm talking about. a good friend got her book in the middle of the night on Friday. she took the book to work with her that next morning. after work she didn't even make it out of the parking lot, she had to read right there in her car. she finally pulled together enough self control to go run her errands, but didn't make it real far. she ended up reading in the parking lot! i'm not real sure what the thought process was after that but if it was me i think i would be thinking about how much more comfortable i would be reading at home. so she started home. apparently the book was so gripping at this point that she pulled over about half way home and read some more! now that sounds like a good book. i can't wait to read it, feel free to post whether i know you or not and without giving anything away, let me know what you think of the book. or tell me your funny little story about reading it.

how much is that doggie in the window?

2008-07-31T14:43:00.003-04:00

we have been having a lot of discussions lately about dogs. the boys know that we are planning on getting a dog to run around with and play with them at the land when we move. they also know that the time is getting closer. our friend brought his dog over to play with the boys about two weeks ago and since then prayers and conversations have been filled with dogs. of course they now want a dog just like Hercules! so i took them to the pet store to see that there are lots of other cute dogs that we can have.

the pet store trip was odd. we walked in and all of the dogs on display were asleep. now, i've been to pet stores before and seen a dog here or there sleeping, but all of them at once? i said aloud, "what? do they drug them or something?" about 3 minutes later all the dogs woke up at the same time! coincidence? you tell me...

anyway, one of our dog conversations reminded Benson of a dream of Andy's. Andy sometimes has very real and vivid dreams. one night i woke up to barking. we don't have a dog and certainly not one that sleeps in my bed with me. it took me a minute and a few more barks to realize that it was Andy! so i shook him awake and told him what was happening. he immediately went back to sleep. the next day i reminded him of the incident and he said he was dreaming that he was a dog! (too much Shaggy DA with the kids?) He said it was really cool because his sense of smell was so strong he could see the smell. he could feel the wind through his fur as he was tracking the scent! o-k--- weird! yes, weird, but very funny. now the boys sometimes tease him and bark at him. after all, it's not too often that your pet is also your dad!

Celebrity Look-Alike! Benson

2008-07-29T16:49:00.001-04:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Geneology - Free family tree

Celebrity Look-Alike! Ethan

2008-07-29T16:43:00.001-04:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb - Collage - Morph

Celebrity Look-Alikes!

2008-07-29T16:41:00.001-04:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

which Jane Austen heroine are you?

2008-07-28T14:27:00.002-04:00

Take the Quiz here!

what's a zoon?

2008-07-28T09:49:00.003-04:00

yes, I am a little slow with the latest and greatest. i admit that i don't always know what is going on in the technological world. is it my age? probably not. 30 is old, but not that old. saturday night we got a babysitter (i know crazy, wild us!). when we got home i asked her what she had going on right now and she mentioned that she was bidding on a zoon on ebay. yes, i pretended to know what she was talking about and my husband laughed at me when she was gone, asking if i had any idea what she was talking about. nope. so, i went to my good friend google, who referred me to my other good friend wikipedia. there i learned that i had misspelled the word. it is not a zoon, it is a zune. okay, big deal. i know that i sound like an idiot, so please don't let on to me that you think i'm ridiculously dumb. but, in case i'm not the only human that has this technology impedement, let me tell you what a zune is... basically it is Microsoft's answer to the ipod. i know what an ipod is so i needn't go searching for more info... it plays music, movies and all sorts of good stuff. so, now you know what a zune is. i wonder what a zoon is!

another great email from Josh

2008-07-26T17:56:00.001-04:00

Think about this one: 1. Cows 2..The Constitution 3. The Ten Commandments

C O W S
Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that during the mad cow epidemic our government could track a single cow, born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she slept in the state of Washington? And, they tracked her calves to their stalls. But they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give each of them a cow.

T H E C O N S T I T U T I O N
They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq ... Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it has worked for over 200 years, plus, we're not using it anymore.

T H E 1 0 C O M M A N D M E N T S
The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments posted in a courthouse is this: You cannot post 'Thou Shalt Not Steal,' 'Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery,' and 'Thou Shall Not Lie' in a building full of lawyers, judges and politicians...It creates a hostile work environment.

the following is a true story

2008-07-25T16:36:00.002-04:00

with actual dialougue:

husband: "in the interest of full disclosure, there are bricks in my car!"
wife: "really?! where did you get these bricks?"
husband: "they were posted on craigslist so I picked them up on my way home."
wife: "i thought we were done picking up things for now."
husband: "they were free!"
wife: "i don't care! and in the spirit of full disclosure i am now reporting all your craigslist doings on my blog..."
husband: "uh."

seriously, seriously, i have nothing else i can say!

craigslist

2008-07-23T17:11:00.002-04:00

my husband has a fascination with craigslist.org. i'm not sure why, unless you take into account FREE! i guess the urge to save money is stronger than his ability to think about not needing things. every few days i will get an e-mail from him telling me what he is going to pick up tonight. it may be anything from pallets to toilets. yes, you read that right, i said toilets. used toilets! as most of you know we are building a house. it is expensive to build a house. so andy often curbs the price by finding stuff free on craigslist... One day he actually came home with used toilets! yuck! i have to admit that they were in good shape and looked clean, but come on, really. this is for our house, not a public space where total strangers use the same bathroom.

other things he has come home with include a white, rusty enamel sink. he and chris think that would be great in the kitchen, not! how about furniture for the house. i must say that chris is just as much of a craigslist junkie as andy. he has come home with various end tables or coffee tables. he has even taken to getting things and using them until he finds a better deal and then relisting them for a higher price! what a goober.

most recently one of the above mentioned junkies found free bricks. they thought it would be great to use these to build a patio at the new house. so, we all took the night off from working on the house to pick up some bricks about an hour away. (gas prices make these free bricks already start to get expensive...) we didn't know that in order to get these free bricks we had to disassemble a brick garden wall. so we pitched in and loaded up the trailer. before we could finish it was dark and we were being eaten alive by mosquitoes. once all the bricks were on we noticed that the trailer had a flat tire. the spare tire was also flat. so we unhitched the trailer and left for the night. the next day andy got the tire fixed and went back to pick up the trailer. on the way home this time he got another flat tire (the bricks were a heavy load). he fixed that one and then got another flat. at this point frustration set in and there was no place to pull to the side of the road, so he kept driving. soon there were sparks as the wheel hub was drug on the road. next thing he knows the trailer is on fire! i will leave the rest of this story up to your imagination, so i don't embarrass my husband further. needless to say, we now have no trailer and no bricks! so much for free. i asked if he had learned any kind of lesson?

three days later he is on his laptop when i notice a little twinkle in the eye and he says, someone posted more free bricks! this time i put my foot down. NO! I wonder what would happen if i posted "FREE HUSBAND" on craigslist?

my personality

2008-07-21T19:07:00.003-04:00

I had fun with this personality test. Of course, I copied the idea from friends. But hey, who says I have to be original?...

my personality

2008-07-21T19:03:00.001-04:00

2008-07-17T16:49:00.003-04:00

My brother often sends me great emails. I get such a kick out of him. Of course, you may need to share our sense of humor, so if you don't think this is funny, excuse me. Today's email said:

Everyone concentrates on the problems we're having in this country lately: illegal immigration, hurricane recovery, alligators attacking people in Florida ... Not me. I concentrate on solutions for the problems. It's a win-win situation.

+ Dig a moat the length of the Mexican border.

+ Send the dirt to New Orleans to raise the level of the levies.

+ Put the Florida alligators in the moat along the Mexican border.

Any other problems you would like for me to solve today ?

He cracks me up and it always brightens my day to hear from him. Thanks Josh for being such a great "little" brother!

(this picture is of Joshua in the sunglasses and my older brother Graham in the background)

thanks Aunt Sunshine!

2008-07-15T10:58:00.004-04:00

When we were in Kentucky visiting my sister Sunshine this spring Ethan found a batman costume in Tryston's toy box. He must have worn the thing for 2 days straight! Well, yesterday we got a package from Aunt Sunshine with the Batman costume in it for Ethan! Talk about excitement. He immediately put it on and didn't take it off until bed time. Then this morning he was up and running. He almost literally jumped out of bed and announced he was going to put on his costume. He already plans on wearing it for Halloween, so cool...
THANK YOU AUNT SUNSHINE!!!

my 3 wishes

2008-07-12T13:18:00.002-04:00

Have you ever had anyone ask you "If you could have 3 wishes, what would you wish for?" Well I was just thinking about it as two of my 3 children barged into the bathroom with me sitting on the toilet. Yes, you can guess that one of my wishes would include something about 5 minutes peace while in th bathroom. I think another might be to truely sleep in, without the interruptions of, "he hit me!", or the TV being turned up too loud. The 3rd, I'm not quite as sure about but I'm thinking along the lines of a different budget so that I could go on a shopping spree that didn't include medicine or bandaids or "Please can I get this sugared cereal?". I guess it almost sounds like I could wrap it all up into one wish of not having kids and then I would still have two wishes left. But that really isn't my wish. Because if I didn't have kids I of course would wish for chubby arms around my neck and fingerprints to wash off the walls and lots of kisses after someone breaks into my lipstick! So, I guess I can put up with the no shopping spree and even the fake sleeping in. But please, please let me have some privacy in the bathroom, please...

Eli loves books!

2008-07-12T12:53:00.003-04:00

Our Eli loves to read books. He also loves having books read to him, but doesn't mind reading them on his own. Each night when he is tucked into bed he gets a story and then can look at books for a while. He usually falls asleep with a book fallen over his face! One night last week Auntie Karen spied him in his room reading and thought it was too cute not to document...

It is fun to watch him read as he pretends to be in the story. He often talks to himself or the characters in the books. So cute!

Suddenly he discovered Auntie Karen taking his picture. He just looked at her and went back to reading!

busy life...

2008-07-12T12:11:00.004-04:00

Man, I have been so busy. Too busy to clean, too busy to play, too busy to cook, and too busy to blog! (gasp) We have had Nana and Grampa here to visit and have been working at the house each day. This week Ethan and Eli were also both sick. Ethan worse than Eli. It turns out that they had hand, foot and mouth disease! Not to be mistaken as hoof and mouth disease, which only animals get... So, throughout the weekend we are stuck at home so that the boys don't spread the yuckiness. No sun, but we will survive...

Confessions of a Slacker Mom, part 2

2008-07-02T10:35:00.003-04:00

I was at Home Depot, happily looking at paint colors and tile options. I had Ethan and Eli in the shopping cart with strict instructions to stay put while I made some decisions. Benson was taking turns pushing the cart and Karen and I were browsing. Before long I realized that both younger boys were out of the cart, running around, laughing and taking paint chips off the shelf. Benson was pushing the cart all over the place and often in circles, enjoying the freedom of not having any precious cargo. What could Mom say if his younger brothers weren't inside to get hurt? I was proud of myself for not looking around to see who was watching and wondering about my slacker Momship. What did I do you ask? Nothing. I did not follow through on my threats about what would happen if they got wild at the store. I was enjoying myself and having fun dreaming about my home. No more keeping the children quiet and in place. No more bribing them for good behavior. No more caring what other customers might think. And mostly just having fun watching them have fun. As they started to rifle through each drawer and cupboard in the kitchen section, it got louder and louder. What did I do? Walked away. That's right, I didn't have the energy to wrestle them in, so I walked away. We were almost done with our shopping excursion, so I went to the next isle and pretended they weren't mine. Bad Mommy! Oh well, it's not as if they couldn't be heard. One day I think it would be fun to play the part of shocked bystander. "Who's children are those?", "Can you believe she's not even paying attention to them?", "Well, I never!", "If I had kids, I would never let them do that!", etc... Maybe, some day. Nah, I think I will always be the one laughing in the background, saying to the Mom, "they sure are having fun."

So, until next time, all you slacker Mom's, hang in there...

My name is Mindy West and I am a Slacker Mom!

This is Cranberry Zing, the color we chose for the exterior of our house. The color doesn't translate real well on computer screens, you'll just have to come visit to see the real color.

2008-07-01T16:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I traveled 5 hours away with all three of my children. The goal? Nana's house in New York. Our main reason was picking up some cherry wood that was being stored at their house, we needed it to start building kitchen cabinets for our house. The extra bonus reason was dropping off Ethan and Eli! They get to stay at Nana's house for the week. On Sunday afternoon Nana and Grampa will bring them home. I must admit that I was greatly looking forward to the much needed break. I enjoy getting away by myself about once and sometimes twice a year. This opportunity presented itself and I said yes. I like chances to fill my cup and reenergize. Besides, who doesn't like occasionally pretending to have zero reponsibilities? But I was surprised at how torn I was when it was time to leave them and drive away. I have gone away before. I have even left them at Nana's before. But this time was different. I know I will still enjoy that sleeping in time and the getting ready without someone interuppting my shower. But half my heart is in New York tied to two adorable little boys. I keep telling myself that, as Eli would put it, "That just doesn't make sense!" (You have to say it in his cute little sing song voice that doesn't pronounce every letter.) I know that they love Nana and will have a great time with her and I will have a great time here with Benson. But, still I look forward to Sunday afternoon when little sticky arms will wrap around my neck.

Finally!

2008-06-27T09:55:00.005-04:00

I finally have some pictures to post! Here is the last day of school. We had donuts to celebrate the end of the year! The boys really love donuts.

We have baby birds! At our new house we are building there is a nest in the basement. We didn't get it removed fast enough because we now have babies! Somehow I don't think it is fair for birds to move in before I do, but I don't have the heart to move the nest until they can fly.

Ethan and Eli have become fast friends. They go almost everywhere together, exploring, hunting, playing. It is really cute to watch them and hear them imagine and grow. In these pictures you can also see that they are big helpers when it involves messy paint. Eli has quite the game face!

Ethan's Gymnastics Show

2008-06-27T09:53:00.003-04:00

Ethan loves gymnastics. He also had an end of year show where he got to show off his skills. He was so proud of himself. He works hard and is gaining talent and confidence!

Isn't it Friday yet?

2008-06-26T16:12:00.003-04:00

Today has been such a lazy day. I have just been chilling out reading, napping, blogging, etc... I did do one productive thing though. I mailed and delivered invitations for a baby shower that Karen and I are having for Hannah. But I didn't do that until noon time and it didn't take long. The boys have happily been playing outside with friends when it's not raining, and watching shows when it is. I'm not sure why I have felt so lazy, but hey... Maybe it's the rain. Either way the boys have been happy to have me so relaxed because it means more 'screen time' for them. Usually we only have about 1 hour between the TV and the computer. (except Sat.) When I decided I just didn't have it in me today, they were so happy. Ethan said, "Woo hoo, I thought screen time was over!"

Tonight will make up for it though. We are going to the house to lay foam down in anticipation of the radiant flooring. Maybe I'll pull things together enough in the next few minutes to have more than sandwiches for dinner.

Confessions of a Slacker Mom

2008-06-25T10:22:00.003-04:00

Okay, so sometimes I admit that I am a slacker Mom. I guess I am no longer in the denial phase. I've moved on to acceptance. What comes next? I can' t remember what's after acceptance. Is it learning and becoming better or is it depression? Oh well, I guess I 'll let you know, if I ever move past this phase. Right now I'm feeling pretty comfortable in the let it be phase.

I guess I have come to realize gradually and sometimes very obviously that I am a slacker Mom. How did I become this way? When Benson was little I used to spend almost every waking moment playing with him, reading to him, singing silly songs with him. I rarely let him watch TV. And heaven forbid him having dairy or chocolate before he was 1 (okay, I probably ignored the chocolate thing a couple of times). Now my children ask for a Popsicle while they are out playing and I say something like, "haven't you already had 3 today?" But then I let them have it. Why? It's easy? Sugar keeps them happy? It gives me a few minutes to myself? The last is probably the right one. Popsicles are forbidden inside the house. So if they want to eat one they have to go outside. This allows me to have a quiet house. What do I do while it is peaceful and quiet? Do I clean? Do I make beds? Fold laundry? Start dinner? Oh no, you see these are the things that a healthy, committed Mom would do. Remember, I am a 'Slacker Mom'. I often spend that time on the internet or reading a book or who knows what else, but always something self centered and glutinous. (sometimes I like to sneak ice cream or chocolate from the secret stash!...)

Today's confession is simply this: Today I slept in until 9:00. Meanwhile the boys were running the house. Luckily when I woke up there was no cereal trail down the hall, or milk covered kitchen floor. Just 3 happy children watching TV! Maybe they are getting used to the appropriate behavior while Mom is sleeping. Sad, but true.

My name is Mindy West, and I am a slacker Mom!

Frustration

2008-06-24T17:04:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I went to Best Buy today. They, of course do not have the adapter I need. In fact, the "salesboy" thought I was crazy. Probably because he, like I thought that Best Buy carried everything electronic. He laughingly told me to try the internet (all the while thinking that there was no such thing). I have now come home and done some research on the internet as was recommended. I found what I need! Problem? It can take 2-3 weeks before it even ships! Crazy. I did however just check ebay and there are a few there in the buy it now section. I guess I'll order from there. It does mean that I can't transfer my pictures until it comes though. It's good that I have a 1GB memory card!

Life gets in the way

2008-06-23T10:43:00.002-04:00

It has been a while since I last posted. Unusual for me, I know. But sometimes life just gets in the way. "The best laid plans..." I have gotten a new digital camera and taken lots of pictures for new blog posts. Unfortunately my computer doesn't have a slot for the new memory card and there is something wrong with my USB drive. So, I keep waiting to post, trying to fix the problem. I have given up fixing it and tomorrow I will be going to Best Buy to purchase an xd memory card adapter in order to read my pictures directly from the memory card.

It has also been a busy week. We had the last day of school and meetings with lots of people for work being done on our house. We picked strawberries, had karate, end of the year gymnastics shows and work at the land. I wanted to post, but life got in the way. So, tomorrow you can expect a nice long post, with lots of pictures and updates....

Eli

2008-06-17T12:50:00.003-04:00

Eli loves his gymnastics. Last night we were able to go to his end of the season show. Eli got to show his stuff, doing jumps & somersaults and as he calls them, "tricks". At the end he was rewarded with a medal, which he has barely taken off to hang next to his bed while he slept last night. Pretty great!

Eli's Gymnastics Show!

2008-06-17T12:47:00.002-04:00

Trying the new layout

2008-06-13T15:50:00.003-04:00

Okay, so I finally found something that I like reasonalby well for now. I have actually found lots of 'blog skins' but getting them to work on your blog takes a lot of customization. I don't have any coding experience so this makes it even more difficult. So for now, here you have it, unless it is too hard to read. Let me know what you think. The look will hopefully change soon though because I am going to learn more about it and get my husband to help and teach me...

New Blog Design

2008-06-13T12:52:00.004-04:00

Ok, I thought it would be simple, but maybe I need a class in coding or something. I am trying to change the look of my blog and finding it easier in theory than in reality. So, consider this blog under maintenance today. Hopefully I will figure this out. I have invested enough time into it that I will not back out until I succeed! Oh the stubborn and the proud!

2008-06-12T14:54:00.003-04:00

The other day I received a surprising phone call. A friend from high school had tracked me down. We used to do so much together and yet I haven't seen her for years. I was really happy to get her call and catch up on old times. I was also sad to hear the challenges she has faced over the past year. Sabrina is her name and she has something called aplastic anemia, basically a rare form of blood cancer. She has gone through chemo and radiation and had two bone marrow transplants. In the middle of it all her husband left her and filed for divorce. I wonder sometimes why my life can be so seemingly smooth, while someone else has to suffer so much. I know Heavenly Father loves us both equally. I know he is aware of both of our challenges and circumstances. I have come to a peace in my heart that these things are true and that we all go through different challenges, ones that we are able to handle, but with the end goal being the same. We are expected to use our challenges to come closer to the Lord, to be converted to Him. I want to again share the Gospel with Sabrina. We had many discussions when we were teenagers and I know she has the beginnings of a testimony. I also know that Heavenly Father loves her and wants her to know the truth. There is nothing in this life or the next that can bring her greater peace or happiness than coming to the Lord, through the true church. I now pray that I can know how to share this with her from such a distance. She lives in Kentucky while I am here in Massachusetts. But, I think that she found me again for a reason, more than reminiscing.

While talking to her she gave me her myspace info where she has posted some pictures of us together as teenagers. How embarrassing, but it was the 90's!

Also, I want to share a link for being a bone marrow donor. Talking to someone I know who's life has been saved by someone doing this, opens my eyes to this selfless service...
http://www.cancercenter.com/bone-marrow-transplant.htm?source=googlppc&c=10537:1:1
If this doesn't work as a link then you can always copy and paste...

Summer Fun

2008-06-10T09:55:00.007-04:00

It has been so hot here in New England for the past few days. Yesterday and today it had soared to record highs near 100! This is definitely too hot in an area of the country where central air is hardly heard of. We have one room air conditioner which is in the living room, where we now spend most of our time. (I have even been sleeping in there!) Anyway, yesterday we decided it was time to get a pool. Nothing too expensive or permanent, just big enough to get cooled off and have some fun. The boys stayed in it for hours and have master plans of swimming all afternoon, before and after gymnastics today. And if it is anything like yesterday, they will barely get out long enough for their dinner. So fun!

The Joys of Boys!

2008-06-09T09:00:00.003-04:00

This morning Eli streaked into the living room, stark naked. I was not surprised. This seems to be a daily ritual at our house. No inhibitions or sense of modesty yet. The big boys don't seem to mind either. They know better for themselves, but when it comes to their little brother it seems to be a way for them to live vicariously. Anytime Eli is naked you can hear giggling all around the house. I must admit, sometimes I have to hide a laugh myself. And yes, there are times when I am not so good at hiding my laugh. Like this morning. I asked him to get some underwear on and he came back wearing it like a helmet. He was quite pleased and oh so cute! (I guess I have to start specifying to, "put the underwear on your bum.")

I think it must be a boy thing! Won't their future wives love these pictures?

Kindergarten Graduation

2008-06-06T09:31:00.002-04:00

My Little Man

2008-06-06T09:22:00.004-04:00

Ethan graduated from Kindergarten last night. I couldn't help wondering at the insanity behind celebrating the beginning of the next 15 years of his life. But then again, I guess we weren't really celebrating that, but the end of a wonderful kindergarten year. This year Ethan has come a long way. He now knows how to read! He now knows how to handle himself outside his comfort zone (32 kids packed into one classroom is definitely not his comfort zone...). He now knows how to better speak up for himself in group situations. What an awful lot to learn. Maybe I should learn a few things from him...

We started off the evening with Julia Hall coming over. She and Ethan are best friends and so cute together. It was nice of her to come watch him graduate. They ate corn dogs outside before we had to go, and donuts after graduation was over. In the car on the way home they laughed and sang and never sat still or remained quiet.

The program included the kids reciting poems from each month of the year and then singing songs, etc... Kindergarten kids are by far my favorite to watch at these things. They aren't self conscious yet and the things they do can be hilarious. You always have the child who picks his nose and the one who scratches private parts. Then there are the ones who wave hysterically at their parents, so cute! Last night Ethan was the one who kept yawning and endured the proceedings when it wasn't his turn to shine. What a cutie. I loved seeing him trying not to smile when he was upfront and center.

wax on, wax off

2008-06-05T14:18:00.004-04:00

Benson is the new Karate Kid!

At least he is around our house. He is now taking Kenpo Karate and loving every minute of it. I love to watch him work so hard toward something. He earned his white belt in class on Monday night and was very proud of himself.

Of course, white is the first color and all he had to do was try his best in one class, but he did it and it has him motivated to earn his yellow belt. I think that Karate will give him something to focus on and set goals with. I never thought I would have all of my younger kids involved in extra curricular activities, but I see the benefits already. They are gaining self confidence and becoming more coordinated. They love having something to learn and feel good about. They also like to show off before bedtime, doing all the tricks they can think of for Daddy. Stall tactic? Probably, but fun all the same!

Never, cont...

2008-06-04T16:08:00.005-04:00

I just finished reading Jenn Baird's blog and was reminded of a childhood story. (If you haven't read her posting yet then read it before you read mine, it will make more sense... http://overthinkingeverything.blogspot.com/2008/06/never.html )

I once told my Mom that I "never got to do (fill in the blank) and I always had to do (fill in the blank)." So she told me that she wouldn't want to make me a liar and for the rest of that day I got to follow her around and do all the chores that she was doing. That day I NEVER got to watch TV, I NEVER went outside to play, I NEVER played Barbies with my sister and I NEVER wrestled with my brother. I did get to run around fetching whatever my Mom wanted me to get, I helped sew, I helped do dishes and cook. I dusted, vacuumed, swept the floor, made beds, changed sheets and learned that I NEVER wanted to become a grown up. I probably even said I would NEVER use that punishment on my kids! But, as they are getting older and I am starting to hear some of these same sentiments, I think I may once again copy the wisdom of my mother. Because, after all I am sure that I NEVER said NEVER again!

Sudoku

2008-06-02T14:04:00.003-04:00

I have added a Sudoku Puzzle to my blog. If you have never tried it before, may I suggest trying it now. A couple of years ago I bought a sudoku game for Andy for Christmas. He was enjoying it so much that I decided to give it a try. I was almost immediately hooked! I found that the game was challenging and fun. It worked my brain and enabled me to do easy or more challenging puzzles. I have spent hours and hours solving these over the past years. I now am able to only spend reasonable amounts of time on them and it provides an exercise for my brain when I pick it up. So, to those of you who are fans and those of you who are fans but don't know it yet; ENJOY!

Summer Buzz

2008-06-01T18:47:00.003-04:00

Yesterday Eli got some really sticky sticky tack stuck in his hair. I took one look and knew it was beyond hope of getting out. This is one area that I am thankful to have boys. All I have to do with a boy is chop the hair off! So, I decided that it was time for all of the boys to get their summer hair cuts. This is the first year that I have buzzed anyone besides Benson. But, as I was cutting ones hair they all decided they wanted a buzz too. So, here you have it. Even Jake, a friend from across the street, got in on the action! It was fun to cut, fun to do silly things in their hair first since it was all coming off and fun to see all the hair pile up on the porch...

Waffles

2008-05-31T17:10:00.007-04:00

I love waffles! In fact, Karen has nicknamed me "The Waffle Lady". There was a period of time when I fed my family waffles at least twice a week, more likely 3 or times! If I have the choice of pancakes or waffles, I will choose waffles every time. Often when I go to a restaurant that serves breakfast all hours of the day, I will order belgium waffles. What is it that makes waffles so yummy? I like them plain, with chocolate chips, with any flavor syrup, or my very favorite way to eat a waffle is with fresh strawberries and cool whip! My kids already share my passion, though admittedly, their passion is still blooming. My waffle iron hasn't been working properly for several months. This is so sad. I have missed being able to pull it out and whip up a batch of yummy, mouthwatering goodness. Not a lot of food is as simple and as good as a waffle. So, I have hit my limit. Today I pulled out the waffle iron, fiddled with it a little and mixed the batter while the iron heated. I told Andy that if it doesn't work today, he will be buying me a new one this coming week.

My waffle recipe is called Out of This World Waffles & comes from the Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook:

2 1/2 c. flour

1 TBLS., +1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 TBLS. sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

2 1/2 c.milk

3/4 c. oil

Combine first 4 ingredients in large bowl.

Combine eggs, milk, and oil; add to flour mixture,

stirring with a wire whisk just until dry

ingredients are moistened.

Cook in a preheated, oiled waffle iron until golden.

I think the critics approve!

Mawage, that bwessed awangement

2008-05-30T12:53:00.003-04:00

Today is my Anniversary! Andy and I have been married 10 years today! We were reminiscing about the excitement leading up to the big day, about our whirlwind romance, and about the ups and down in the past 10 years. What fun!

I think I will share with you our story:

Once Upon a Time there was a beautiful maiden (just go with me here...) named Mindy. Mindy was a most peculiar girl, one that thought she could be different and never fall in love. Secretly Mindy wished for a Prince Charming to sweep her off her feet, but outwardly she was a girl with worldly ambitions. Mindy had a friend who wanted to go to the local meat market (singles ward) and begged Mindy to come along, so as not to be alone in her search for the rarest of meats. So, finally Mindy succumbed to the social pressures of her day. Once at the market, as Mindy was inspecting the same old meat, kinds she had all tried before, and knew she was tired of, she glanced something she did not recognize. "What is that?" she cried. Some kind soul told her that it was something called Fillet Mignon, hereafter referred to as Andy. Andy was the rarest and most delicious of all the meats, but some said too pricey. If only Mindy could find a way to talk to this Andy. As she sat musing, low and behold who should approach, but Andy! He had seen this fair maiden from afar and wondered at her flower like beauty (I said go with me...). Could this be the best of fruits he had always heard of? So sweet to the taste and delicious inside and out? He had to know, something inside him said that he must find out. This was the beginning of a short and sweet courtship. One that would take them on a whirlwind roller coaster ride. Three months later the two were joined in holy matrimony.

Little did they know that this was not happily ever after, but just the beginning of an eternal journey. One that would take them down unknown paths with many stops along the way. Things that were never heard of in the kingdom would soon fall upon this blissful couple. Pregnancy, hormones, babies, diapers, dirty diapers, spit up, sleepless nights, budgeting, etc... But other things, also uncommon in the magical kingdom. Breathlessly laughing, picnics, Priesthood blessings, homes, work. All things that brought this fairy tale into reality. Which brings us to the present. Here we are in modern day reality. Would we go back to the magical kingdom if we could? No way,(Back then I wished for a man to sweep me off my feet, now all I wish for is my man to sweep...) I love that we have grown and come to understand each other in ways no one else can. Andy is my opposite in many ways, which also makes him complete me. I am grateful for the journey of the past 10 years, and can only hope for 100 more!

2008-05-29T08:14:00.005-04:00

Last night we went to the boy's school for the "Fine Arts Celebration", which included an Art Show and a concert. We were able to see some of the boys art work displayed, that was cool for them.

Then we sat through the 5th grade band as they played "Hot Cross Buns" over and over! Have you ever heard a 5th grade band that doesn't include your child? I ask because if your child is in the band you are biased and think it is awesome. If you are an innocent bystander and happen to hear them, it is quite a different story... Anyway, after the band we finally came to the part we were waiting for; Benson's concert!

Benson has been in chorus all year and I have gone to several of his concerts. But, being the Mom that I am, I have always forgotten the camera. So last night I took pictures! I snapped one while Benson was getting ready and he said, "Mom, I'm not singing yet." I told him that I am the Mom and I can take pictures whenever I want. (that is true, right?!)

By the end of the night he was done with me taking pictures, as you can see by this photo:

It was a nice night and I'm proud of Benson for learning all those songs this year. He did a wonderful job last night and it was fun to hear his voice.

sesame street 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12

2008-05-28T12:33:00.001-04:00

Can You Tell Me How to get to Sesame Street?

2008-05-28T10:09:00.002-04:00

This morning I was going through the living room cleaning up, when the TV caught my attention. Sesame Street was on! I was mesmerized. I haven't actually sat and watched it in years and years. I used to love that show! Eli was thrilled to see me stop and immediately came to watch with me. We both sat and watched the entire episode! It is a great show. I love the little monsters and the songs. It certainly brought back lots of memories. My brother Josh and I used to watch it together. Did you know that they still show some of the same segments that they did 25 years ago? I loved it. I am happy that it is still around for my children. Good 'ole Sesame Street...

Bits and Pieces

2008-05-27T09:21:00.006-04:00

I love shopping. I don't get to actually do fun shopping nearly as often as I would like to, especially if I want my husbands okay. But this week I have the heads up! Karen and I get to shop for all of the bathroom fixtures (faucets, toilets, showers, etc...) for our new house. Yes, we are getting closer and closer on finishing our house. We still have a long way to go, but we are making progress. You can check out our house progress at http://www.kitandkin.blogspot.com/ .

Anyway, it should be a lot of fun. Now I am just doing a lot of research online so we know where we want to go and what we want to get. Very fun, very exciting!

Another fun thing is this personality test my sister sent me. Check it out and let me know what you think. It is interesting. http://memoriter.net/flash/test.html

We have also had a nice Memorial Day weekend. Yesterday we had some friends come to our land to play and eat. It was so nice to share a place that we love with people that we love. I was cooking at the grill while most were off playing in the brook. Karen took the kids for rides in the kayak. (she had a spill and ended up soaked!) While others waded or swam, getting soaked on purpose!

Here are some picture bits from our weekend. Enjoy!

A Hunting We Will Go

2008-05-22T12:51:00.006-04:00

This morning I was awakened just before 7:00 by Ethan talking to Andy. I hear, "Dad, is today a school day?" Andy tells him that it is and Ethan says, "Rats!" Later he tells me that he should just skip school because he needs to hunt for dragons with Eli! Skip school? Yep, I thought that wasn't supposed to start until high school or at least late in junior high. Ethan is only in Kindergarten, yet almost every day I struggle to get him to school. From forcing him to get dressed in the morning to the out the door and then back again to complain that he still doesn't want to go, or can't I please drive him...

But who can blame him when there is the ever important dragon hunting to do. We were at our land on Saturday. I had coiled up a rope which had left an imprint in the dirt. I pointed it out to the boys and told them it was a snake print. They raced to see it for themselves. While the were examining it they noticed a small little salamander. Immediately they picked it up and rushed it to me, exclaiming what they had found. Being the silly Mom that I am, I told them that I thought it was a baby dragon! Benson, ever practical said, "How can you tell? And besides, there's no such thing as dragons." I gave him a stare and explained that you could tell it was a dragon because it's eyes came out farther from its head than a salamander. They were all over this and loving it! They played with the creature to about an inch of his life before we convinced them to let it go. Since then our house has been full of talk about dragons. The swords have filtered out of the toy box and plans for the next hunt have been made!

While at the butterfly conservatory yesterday, Ethan got to pet an Australian dragon. We had to take pictures to prove to Benson that dragons are real! So, now all the boys are in on it. This Saturday should prove to be exciting and fruitful for the Dragon Hunters as there is no shortage of salamanders at our property. Soon they will be looking for the big dragon though... I hope they don't find a bear cave in the process...

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-05-21T14:45:00.001-04:00

Butterfly Conservatory

2008-05-21T14:30:00.003-04:00

Today I went on a field trip with Ethan and his Kindergarten class. Do you have any idea the amount of noise a kindergarten class can generate on the bus? Crazy. We had a great time though. The conservatory has over 3500 butterflies. It was pretty amazing and lots of fun when they landed on you!

After playing with the butterflies we had a picnic. While Ethan was eating his lunch he lost his first tooth!! So much excitement. He told everyone he saw all about it, including the bus driver and the janitor at school when we got back! Ethan said it was his best field trip ever.

Going Commando!

2008-05-20T15:37:00.002-04:00

Last summer a friend of mine came over. When she arrived Benson was in the driveway riding his bike in nothing but his Scooby Doo boxers! I had no idea he was even outside, how embarrassing! I figure at least he had his boxers on!... Eli on the other hand loves to go everywhere without his underwear on. I will help him get dressed in the morning, making sure he is wearing undies. But at the first bathroom break of the day he will strip down and leave his underwear lying on the bathroom floor. Luckily he puts his pants back on. You may think this is a small thing, but it happens daily, no matter where we are. At Target, at the gas station, or at a friends house. This past Sunday we had a Brother in the Ward bring us a pair of underwear that they found in their bathroom. He said, "I think these are too small for Mikey, are they yours?"

On Monday Eli climbed into my lap and then lifted his legs into the air to do 'tricks'. Much to my surprise, I could see right up the leg of his pants & you guessed it, no undies! Luckily I remembered to check before we went to gymnastics this morning. Can you imagine?...

The things we will do for Money $

2008-05-19T14:29:00.003-04:00

Benson lost another tooth this past week. He knows the tooth fairy isn't real, yet he continues to pretend. Why? Is he being nice so his brothers won't find out the truth? I have told him not to spill the beans, so maybe... But my guess is more practical. He likes money! The tooth came out while on vacation, actually in the bathroom of a gas station somewhere in Pennsylvania! Benson very carefully cleaned it, saying he would get more money for a tooth that is completely clean. I tried explaining to him that usually the cleaning only counts if it is done while the tooth is attached. "Try brushing your teeth better buddy!" But he insists that it will help. He then put it away in the zipper compartment of my wallet, so that it wouldn't get lost. When we got home he almost immediately took the tooth and placed it in a cup of water near the sink. Well, the next day, Andy was loading the dishwasher and included the ever sacred cup! When Benson discovered this there was much weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. (at least the ones that are left) Once he got over it he decided to write a note the the tooth fairy. Direct quote:

"Dear Tooth Fairy,

My Dad dumped my tooth down the drain, but can I still get my money?

Benson"

Andy & I laughed and laughed at that. The entitlement of the younger generation?!

Ethan now has a seriously loose tooth. For him it will be a first. I think the tooth fairy is going to be broke after visiting our house over the next couple of months!

Child Abuse, or the Prevention of...

2008-05-05T15:32:00.005-04:00

As a Mom I often wonder about certain things I do or don't do. I wonder if I should do other things and what I would do... As thinking often leads you to more thinking, I was thinking about when Benson was little. Benson used to be so hard to put to bed. Actually it wasn't the getting him there, it was the getting him to stay there! So, out of desperation, Andy turned the door knob around for me. Then, Benson would get a chance to stay in bed, if he didn't we would lock the door from the outside! Someone made the comment to me once that this was child abuse. I just laughed. Some parents have never had a child like Benson who was describedly "quite a boy". I could follow after him all day and still not keep up. He would go from one mess to another, not trying to be bad, quite the opposite in fact. Benson loved to be good. But out of sheer curiosity he would take things apart to see how they worked. Or rip apart a book and then tell me he knew how people made books now! So when this anonymous person said that it was child abuse at the end of the day to lock him in his room so he would be forced to slow down and go to sleep, all I could do was laugh and say, "No, it is the Prevention of Child Abuse!" After all, nobody has that much patience!

This picture is actually Eli, I guess all of my boys have been busy, are all boys?

"I Wish I had the nicest Mom in the World!"

2008-05-01T11:04:00.002-04:00

"I wish I had the nicest Mom in the World!", yes this is an exact quote from Ethan. He will be 6 on the 4th and sometimes gets a little over dramatic. What happened was that we were driving in the car. Ethan wanted me to roll the windows down and I told him it was too cold outside. So he stuck out his tongue at me and said, "I wish I had the nicest Mom in the world!" He continued to say, "Someone kind..." Just then Benson, the ever controlling, I think I'm their parent even though I'm only a 9 year old boy, spoke up. "Ethan, Mom is!" Way to go Benson I thought, unfortunately he wasn't finished. "...sometimes." Yep, sometimes. Thanks alot. (we'll see if I let you stay up to play just one more game tonight)

The rest of the story, predictably, involves me telling him that my responsibility is to be a parent, not a best friend. That I am supposed to teach him things. "No mom, that's why I go to school..." Okay, I give up, but this conversation is not motivating me to be a nicer, kinder Mom if you know what I "mean".

Should Mom's take Naps?

2008-04-30T17:14:00.000-04:00

This is a subject that I have been thinking a lot about lately. Why? Maybe it is out of guilt. But regardless why I muse, I thought I would share my thoughts on the subject. Some people say is is irresponsible to nap while taking care of your children. Others say to nap when they nap. And then there are those like me who swear by the benefits of a daily rest.

You may have questions, "How do you get things done around the house?", "Doesn't it seem lazy to sleep in the middle of the day?", "What do your kids do while you sleep?". Well, I have a few answers. "How do YOU get anything done around the house?", "Haven't you heard of the health benefits of resting each day?", "Whole cultures take daily siestas, why not?", and lastly, "Is it really going to kill my kids to watch PBS for an hour?"

Now that I am really going on the subject let me tell you what I consider to be some of the benefits of napping. It gives me an energy boost to keep going. That, in turn motivates me and helps me be more productive. It keeps my mood level, so I am not too irritable or cranky. Just ask my kids, they prefer the well rested Mom. Nap time provides an opportunity for my 3 year old to have unhindered creative exploration with the brown sugar! (True story) I am providing picture examples of what my house looks like when I don't take naps=less energy and motivation:

And when I do take naps=more energy and motivation:

The bottom line comes down to the old addage, "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

Happy Mama=Happy Kids!

Learning the ropes

2008-04-29T16:05:00.000-04:00

Okay, so the first little while of blogging is obviously going to take a learning curve for me. I wanted to tell a little about what we have been doing lately, but I didn't want to have to add a new post each time. I guess I will learn.

Eli goes to gymnastics each Tuesday and he really loves it. Every night when we share what our favorite parts of the day have been he says, "Going to Gymnastics!!!!". It doesn't matter that we haven't been that day, it will always be the same answer.

Ethan will be starting gymanstics later today. He is excited to be able to try it out. I think he will catch on quickly and hopefully it will help boost his confidence in group situations. I can only imagine how much pressure I am going to get from Benson now to let him sign up for something, anything!

Spring Break Slide Show!

2008-04-29T13:55:00.001-04:00

Spring Break

2008-04-29T13:09:00.000-04:00

Last week was our Spring Break. I took the boys to Nana's house in New York. They always love visiting with Nana and Grandpa, there is so much to do in their big yellow house and their big, fun yard.

One stop on our trip was Springdale Farms. We were able to see a working farm. We pet pigs, sheep, rabbits, goats, chickens, peacocks, ponies and horses and saw from a distance the cows and ducks/geese. The boys had the best time watching the animals. What a thrill when petting a 900 lb. pigs giant nose, to have him snort and scare you! Oh so Fun!

Eli love's gymnastics!

2008-04-29T12:40:00.001-04:00

Getting Started

2008-04-29T12:35:00.000-04:00

A few people have been after me to start my own blog. I decided to finally give in, thinking it is a good way for family to keep up with eachother. Plus, I can use it as a sort of tech journaling! Sounds fun to me...

My family. There is Andy, myself, Benson, Eli and Ethan (from top left to bottom right).

I sure have fun being the Mom of this bunch.