Life over the last few months

Well, now that our basement is finished (Huge sigh of relief) our lives can finally slow down just a little bit, well, at least until March. We started the basement in February of this year and finished it the week of Thanksgiving. Can I just say these last 9 months have been the longest 9 months of my life. Other things have obviously contributed to those long months, but the basement has been torture. We did everything ourselves with the exception of the HVAC stuff. Which is odd to me because HVAC is basically sheet metal and Chris does that for a living on base, but couldn't do it in his own home? Go figure. I didn't find out that little detail until we already had it done or trust me, he would have done it!

Looking back it is interesting to think about all the pointless skills I have learned how to do that I will probably never use again in my lifetime. For example: Framing, hooking electricity up to an outlet, drywalling, mudding and sanding the drywall, and crown molding. Can you see now why I say I will probably never use those skills again? But at least I can feel special in knowing I know how to do them, right?

I must say it has been a very rewarding past month being able to sit downstairs and enjoy our hard work, and hopefully the boys have learned the value of working hard for something, and they will work harder to keep the walls undented and the carpet unpainted. (Okay, it's a long shot with the dents, but one can always hope) As rewarding as the finished product has been I can honestly without a doubt say that WE WILL NEVER FINISH A BASEMENT AGAIN!!! If we ever move, IF, the basement will either be finished or we will hire it out. I would recommend to anyone that they have this experience at least once in their life, but I just have no desire to repeat it.

Anyway, here are a few random pictures of what our lovely boys have been up to these past few months to keep themselves busy while Chris and I have hybernated downstairs....




I guess Brendon and Jayden wanted to join in the fun of mudding and decided the holes in their outlet in their room needed to be filled. They also mudded a fire station toy they have, but I have since cleaned it off.



Obviously the "no shoes in the house rule" doesn't apply to Ethan, because every chance he gets he has to try on every shoe in our entry way and model around in them. He does make a very cute model though, if I don't say so myself.

The boys have now learned how to make paper airplanes thanks to their plane obsessed father. However, they can never make just one. Usually once they start this is the result that follows, and I find them around the house for the next week. Thank you so much, Chris, for teaching our boys such a fantastic skill. I guess I know who to send to the store when our computer paper runs out!

So I guess Jayden got bored one day and decided to get this life jacket down from the top shelf of Ethan's closet. (He had to climb pretty much on top of the dresser to reach it) Thank goodness it is a 12 month size life jacket that he couldn't get off and maybe next time he'll think twice before he climbs on the dresser to get it down and try it on!

Ethan has always loved baths. Yeah, um, well, he recently learned how to strip down to nothing and I can't tell you how many times I have been busy doing something and heard the water in the bathroom running. Of course, I knew every time what I would find when I opened the door. It's just too bad he knows how to make the water warm to his liking. If it was freezing cold he might not do this, but then again, he'll climb in the shower before the water has warmed up and it doesn't seem to bug him one bit. So basically, I'm just doomed to attempt to keep him away from water.


I am so sad to report that my 2 1/2 year old has now learned how to climb out of his crib. I know, I'm lucky it took him this long to figure it out, but once you've been spoiled with a child that loves to go to bed at night and take naps during the day it is heartbraking when you realize it is over.....

However, some days I luck out with the nap thing and this is what I find once he has stopped crying and banging on the door...

At least he can take care of himself when it comes to his blankets. Why are they so gosh darn cute when they're sleeping but when they wake up not so much?

Anyway, that's a little bit of what we have been up to lately. I'm sure you will all agree, there is never a dull moment when my boys are around, I will give them that. I love them to peices, but I must say how extremely extatic I am to be having one of the "other kind" this time around. However, I reserve the right to take back that statement if she ends up extremely emotional and moody. Yeah, don't do so well with that. So this should be very interesting.....

How blessed we are

I loved watching conference this weekend. It always gives me the boost I need to help deal with things I am struggling with, or to get my butt into gear with things I need to work on doing better. This past weekend was no different. What a blessing it is to be able to listen to prophets of the Lord talk specifically to us as Latter Day Saints and tell us what the Lord wants us to hear. It's sad we sometimes take this time lightly and treat it as any other weekend of the year. I think we've all been guilty of that at one time or another. If the Savior himself were talking to us I think we would all make sure we payed attention to every word and even took notes, but we sometimes forget that although He himself isn't speaking physically to us, He is speaking through His prophets and it is no different. That is an awesome thing to think about!

My favorite talk this conference as well as last conference was given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. He is quickly becoming my favorite speaker to listen to. I love that he doesn't beat around the bush with anything. He says it like it is and leaves no room for questions or doubt. That guy is a STUD!! If any of you missed his talk yesterday, it was in the afternoon session. You have GOT to go on to LDS.org and listen to it. Of course, you can always just wait for the Ensign to come out and read it, but it was so powerful to listen to him. It is definitely different to actually hear the talk and the way he says things pierces you to your core. His talk yesterday was on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. It was just awesome! All I can say is wow! Listen to it if you missed it!!!

Anyway, this weekend was great. I felt like just about every talk was written just for me, and it was so great to feel so spiritually fed and uplifted. How grateful I am for living apostles and a living prophet!!!!

Random ramblings

Can I just say I am loving this school thing. It's amazing how much better my boys get along when they don't have all day to annoy each other. Often this past summer I would go to bed and the scripture that reads about not suffering our children to fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil would play over and over in my mind. Then it goes on to read, that we should teach them to love one another and serve one another. Anybody else out there hate this scripture as much as I do? And any time we would have a lovely lesson in R.S. about love and harmony in the home I would cringe. I am positive that this scripture is one of those that isn't fulfilled until years after the kids move out. Any other time it is virtually impossible, or at least it is that way in our house. I have never been a morning person, but I'll take the early mornings and the school stuff if it means I can feel a little better about myself as a mother because my boys only fight 3-4 hours in a day rather than 10-12.

Anybody else feel like the older you get the more of a cry baby you become? It's ridiculous really. Well, last week as I watched Jayden walk into the school with his class for his first day I had to hold back the tears. With Brendon I was cheering. It was really weird. As held back the tears the thought came to me, "what the heck is wrong with me? I only have one child at home, which hasn't been the case in 5 years and he is going to be sleeping in a few minutes, which means freedom!" At that point the struggling with the tears was completely gone. The only thing I can attribute that moment of emotional struggle to is that I am now a year older and a year closer to menopause. I know for many of you my reaction was completely normal, but for me it was completely not like me. I am one of those moms whose idea of a wonderful weekend is a weekend away from children. And one other confession, I don't miss them one bit the whole weekend, not ONE BIT! So really, I should have been leaping for joy that day.

My only issue now is I am having a hard time finding things to entertain myself for 3 hours each day. I could watch Matlock at 1:00, but I'll admit, I'm a nerd and I've already seen every show about 5 times. Then I guess I could watch Bonnie Hunt at
2:00, but I really don't like talk shows. They're boring and I really could care less about actors and their lives. We really need to get cable. So I'm stuck either cleaning my house (yuck), working on the basement (not enough energy and BORING), taking a nap (virtually impossible because I can never turn off my brain, however, somedays I do get lucky), reading (I've done so much of that lately, my brain is just about fried) or watching a movie (and we're back to the Matlock situation). So really, I spend my 3 hours of freedom every day going back and forth with just about everything I just listed. I'll watch tv till I can't stand it anymore, then I do the dishes or laundry or whatever else I feel like doing in the cleaning area, then I lie down to take a nap long enough to get frustrated about not being able to get comfortable, and I get up and do something else.

I guess I really need to find a new hobby. Any ideas that doesn't involve sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, or cooking?

A memorable weekend together

This weekend we got together with my family to celebrate my dad's 51st birthday. Although 51 isn't really considered a milestone, we wanted to make it a special weekend for him so he would know how much we love him. On Friday we all slept at my parents house. Earlier in the day we went ice blocking as a family. I forgot to get out my camera until we were almost done, so I don't have many pictures of that, but it was a blast. Then later that night did some fireworks. All of us kids stayed up until almost 1:00 decking the place out in black balloons and crate paper and the next morning when they got up we had the kids spray my dad with silly string when he came into the kitchen. We then took my parents out to breakfast and came back and did a water slide in my parent's backyard. Poor Chris drug his leg over a metal thing that was accidentally under the tarp of the slide, and got a huge dent in his leg the first time down. You can't see the dent in the picture, but it looked like a chunk was missing from his leg. He was done after that. It was a great weekend to spend together, and we had a blast!

Happy Birthday dad! I have always thought of myself as the luckiest girl in the world to have the dad I do, and to be his daughter. We've always been very close. I cherish the memories I have with him growing up. From the late night PPI's in my room at least once a week, the times he comforted me when I cried over a stupid boy, being late almost every day my sophmore year because dad had to make sure we read scriptures and prayed together every morning, the nickname only he called me,(lissy cakes), him waking me up on a Sunday morning using my hand as a puppet to talk to me, (it annoyed the crap out of me), taking him as a date to a school dance, and my dad making sure I knew he loved me every day. He would drop me off at school and yell out the car window "Melissa, I love you!" He would yell it over and over until I told him I loved him back. I could go on all day about the memories I have with my dad. I always had a testimony that the gospel is true growing up, because I saw how important it was to him. I can't remember a day we missed family prayer or scripture reading, or a week we missed family night. My parents made sure those things came first and were a priority in our family. I am so grateful to my dad for the example he is to me, the good friend he is to Chris, and the "buddy" he is to my boys. You are the best dad, father-in-law, and grandpa we could ever ask for, and we are so blessed beyond words to have you. I think the world of you. Always have, always will. I love you SO much!!!

Ethan, Ethan, Ethan....

I have decided that Ethan is too smart for his own good, or I guess I could really say that he's too smart for my own good. He's started figuring things out that I think should have taken at least another six months, or at least that's the way I think it should be.

Any time I leave the tray off of his high chair he has figured out that he can push it around and then climb onto it to get what he wants. The other day I went to use the bathroom and came back into the room to find him on my counter trying to get something off of the fridge. He gets bread off the counter, and other things out of my pantry. I guess I just need to get in the habit of keeping the tray on after I clean it off.

He has also figured out how to unlock the dishwasher door and open it. I guess one good thing is that I always know when he's thirsty because he heads right for the dishwasher to get out a cup. Except he also loves to pull out other dishes.

Here are just a few more examples of my lovely, smart little boy....

He likes to push the ottoman from his room and put it under light switches to turn them on and off. He could spend countless hours doing this. For some reason it fascinates him.

This is what else he decided to do with the ottoman...

Yes, he is doing summer salts over the arm of the couch and landing on the couch. However, he didn't figure out the summer salt thing on his own. He's seen his big brothers do this many times. I guess he just wants to be like the big boys.

And here's just one more example to top it all off...

Um, yes, Ethan has figured out how to open doors. Wonderful. I have spent this whole week chasing him around the house trying to keep him out of rooms that he's not supposed to be in. I now have to keep my bathroom door, and all the outside doors locked at all times. It's great.

It makes me wonder if he could just channel all of this energy, curiosity and smartness into the area of talking, what he could say. It's weird to me that he can figure out all of these things, but he still hasn't figured out the talking thing. I'm pretty sure he just doesn't care, he's too busy with more important things I guess.

On a little side note, throughout Brendon's and Jayden's lives people have always commented to me on how much they look like their dad. When we found out Ethan was a boy I thought, well, I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer to have a child that takes after my looks. Even though Ethan is now over two I still haven't ever thought he looks much like me. I remembered what my baby picture looks like and I've commented before that I think he looks a little like me in it, but the other night Chris and I were watching our wedding video and we were both shocked at how much Ethan really does look like I did.

I don't have this actual picture here, my mom has it, so I had to take a picture off of the tv from the video, so it isn't as clear as it could be.

I don't know that he looks a whole lot like me now, but I just couldn't believe how similar they are. And yes, he got his chubby cheeks from me.

Our Anniversary Weekend

Today is our 8th anniversary, but with it being Monday we decided to celebrate this past weekend. I told Chris a few weeks ago that really the guy should plan the anniversary and I have pretty much planned the last 7 so it was his turn. I told him I didn't want to know what we were doing, and that he could suprise me. I know, that is a scary thought, but sometimes a girl just wants the guy to take charge!!

Anyway, Friday morning I decided to go up to the church to play basketball a little, and when I got home this is what was hanging on our bedroom wall:



This is a picture that was taken on our wedding night. Just so you all know, this is the way we looked. Chris was wearing a tuxedo earlier in the night, but my uncles decided to change him into this. We had this picture drawen at what used to be the Fun Dome. (It's a long story to explain why this took place, if you really want to know, ask me in person, otherwise this would be a really long post) Anyway, this picture has been sitting rolled up on the top shelf of our closet for 8 years, and Chris decided to get it framed for me.

Later that day we dropped the boys off at Chris' parents and took off on an evening that I thought was going to be quite interesting to say the least. Some of you that I have talked to before Friday know that I was really worried about where we were going for dinner. Earlier in the week I found a folded up paper on our computer desk while I was cleaning and opened it to see what it was. It was Chris' plans for our evening. I only saw the first few words before I realized what it was and put it down. The first few words indicated that he was going to take us to the Pizza Factory. Oh my goodness, really?! Don't get me wrong, the pizza factory is good, but not the type of place for an anniversary with just us two, and no kids!!! I don't know, maybe I'm just picky, but I wanted to go somewhere nice that I hadn't been to before.

So later that night, after I found the paper, I told Chris I was a little bit nervous about what he was planning. I said to him, "Just please don't take me somewhere like Pizza Hut, and don't take me bowling." Okay, maybe that was rude, but I had to be blunt and not beat around the bush or he wouldn't get it. He said in kind of a hesitant voice, "Okay, well, where would you like to go?" I told him I wanted to go somewhere nice that we hadn't been, that wasn't too expensive, but not cheap. I said I wasn't worried as much what we did as long as it wasn't bowling.

Anyway, back to Friday night. We took a trip to Orem and he took me to a place called Carrabbas Italian Grill. It was very good, and it was a very nice enviornment! He done good with his choice of dinner. (Thanks for changing your plans honey) We then had some time to kill before his next plans so we went to Trafalga and went miniature golfing. We hadn't been golfing since we were dating, so it was fun to go again, and I beat Chris so that made it even better! I've had fun rubbing it in all weekend. :) After golfing we went to the Hale Center Theatre in Orem and saw the musical Singin in the Rain. It was SO good! We had a blast. It's been forever since we've been to a play, because they are so expensive, but it was much better than a movie. We need to go more often.

After the play we went out for icecream and came home. We decided to save some money this year and not do the hotel thing, and the next morning we slept in until 10:00, which was heaven, and we had a very yummy French Toast and Egg Omlet breakfast made from scratch at home. It was a simple, but fun weekend, good job planning dear!!!

It seems so weird but at the same time not so weird that 8 years have gone by. I can't remember what single life was like anymore, so I guess that's why it isn't so weird, married life is all I know. Our lives together have been full of ups and downs but we've learned to grow, and work together through the good times and the bad. (Mostly good) I have definitely learned patience and forgiveness, and that it's okay to admit I'm wrong, the one or two times that I have been, and I was talking through my teeth the whole time admitting it. :) I can't imagine anyone better for me out there. Chris is the PERFECT guy for me, and he makes me laugh every day. There is definitely NEVER a dull moment when he is around. Here's to an eternity of years more!! I love you Chris!!!

The Proposal

So yesterday my brother, Jason, decided to pop the question to his cute girlfriend, Whitni. He borrowed my in-laws canoe, and told her they were going on a little outing canoeing up at Jordanelle Reserviour. They made dinner before hand to take up with them. (Soup and bread sticks, a little odd for an engagement dinner, but whatever) They took off in the truck and about 15 minutes later Chris, me, my brother Matt, and his wife, Toni followed after. Jason made a little boat before hand that said JWS Eternity on the side of it. (JWS means Jason and Whitni Staheli) We were to find a place that she couldn't see us and put the boat in the water so that Jason could paddle over to it. He had a letter for her in a compartment inside the boat.

After quite a bit of looking around, and some wading through the water to get to where the best place was to do this, we put the boat in the water. We called Jason on his phone to let him know where we were and he started heading towards us. I hid in the bushes as close to the water as I could so I could get pictures without getting seen. The whole time hiding I kept thinking to myself, "I just know there is probably a snake in these bushes with me." I even said out loud to the others, "Just so you all know, if I see a snake I am going to scream and our cover will be blown. I'm just warning you." Then a couple of seconds later there was some rustling in the bush that I was in. I looked down and couldn't see what it was. As this was happening Jason and Whitni saw the boat in the water. He pulled up to it and said, "Whoa, that's pretty cool." He picked it up out of the water and got the letter out of the inside and had Whitni read it. It was a poem and ended with something like sailing into eternity with her. He then got down on one knee in the canoe and proposed. It was so cute to watch. Here are some pictures.

Putting the ring on her finger. By the way, she said yes.

Awe, how sweet. The first kiss with his fiance'.

The JWS Eternity boat Jason made.

After we came out of the bushes and as we were watching all of this taking place the rustling in the bushes continued. As we were heading back I told my brother, Matt, something is in those bushes I was standing in. He looked at me and said, I know, I heard it too. He then looked down and said, "Whoa, it's a snake!" I said, "yeah, right." Thinking, what are the odds I would tell myself I was probably hiding in a bush with a snake, and there really was one. Then Matt said, "No, really, look!" I looked but it had slithered under the log I was standing on. AHHH! How gross and icky is that! I had the chills walking all the way back to the car. For those of you who don't know, I am terrified of snakes!

We tried to find a secluded place for them to eat dinner together, but couldn't. So we set things up for them in the back of the truck. Not the most romantic place, but after we turned on the radio to FM100 it worked out just fine.

They are planning on getting married on August 11th, in the Salt Lake temple.

Congratulations Jason and Whitni! I am so excited for you guys!

It's official, I am a BIG wimp

I am so ashamed to admit it, but the older I get, the bigger of a wimp I become. I remember when I was younger I wasn't afraid to do anything. This was probably because I was surrounded by three boys, and I refused be shown up by them. I always had to prove I was just as brave as them. But as time has gone by I have realized that, my age I guess, is changing me. If it's not my age, because yes, I am still pretty young, I don't know what it is. I remember recently my younger brother telling me, "What happened to you, you used to not be afraid of anything." I can't remember the circumstances surrounding that comment, but it's true. I am not the same person anymore, it is so sad.

Anyway, why am I writing about this? I had an intense situation this morning, and I COULD HAVE DIED!! (Not really, but like I said, I have become a wimp) So last night Chris and I were in our room talking and the boys came running in and said, "There is a huge spider in the front room!!" Our response was pretty much, "so kill it." We told them to get a hand towel and hit it with the towel. They left the room and we didn't hear anything more about it.

Well, this morning as I was checking my email Jayden yells out to me, "Mom, the spider, it's on the ceiling above you!!" Now in my defense I am not afraid of spiders at all. I have killed them many times without batting an eye, but when I looked up, I saw a big, black spider with a red dot on its tummy. Yes, it was a black widow. (I don't know if this is true, but I have always been told that if you get bit by a Black Widow it can kill you. I guess they are really poisonous?) Anyway, I freaked out! (Just in my head though, I wouldn't want my boys thinking of me as a pansy, I had to be brave for them!) I immediately jumped up and called Chris at work and told him the situation and asked him what I should do. (If he had time to take off, I would have insisted that he come right home, that's how freaked out I was. What the heck is wrong with me?!?!) He told me to get a cup and catch it. "Are you nuts?" I said. "What if it bites me?" He started laughing and said, "You'll be fine." Before I hung up the phone I told him, "well, if we are all dead when you get home, you'll know why!"

I decided I had two choices, I could either camp out in my room with the boys all day, or I could suck it up, be a woman, and just kill the stupid thing. I got a cup, (the biggest one we have, I might add), and a paper. I put a chair about underneath where the spider was so I could reach. As I was climbing up onto the chair I just knew that spider was looking right at me, knew exactly what I was about to do, and was going to jump at me any second and attack me. Well, that didn't happen, needless to say, because I am still alive to write about this, and I was able to get it into the cup, and covered it with the paper.

I went to slip on a shoe, and I swear I checked the outside of the cup about 20 times to make sure it didn't get out as I was doing this. I opened the back door, still checking the outside of the cup over and over, and stepped outside. It's a good thing we don't really have backyard neighbors because I was in my robe. I turned the cup upside down and banged it on the deck. When the spider finally came out I stomped on it, not once, or twice, but three times. The first time would have sufficed, but I had to be sure it was dead, dead.

Whew! But can I say I have had the eebie jeebies all day. As I took a shower this morning I had little tickles all over me, and I kept checking the shower up and down for spiders. Just sitting here typing this I keep getting little itches. Yuck! It's official, I have become a sorry, sad, crazy woman, with an extreme case of the wimps! I have some serious issues!

Family Night Blast

Lately pretty much all of our family nights have been doing the lesson thing, and then our activity would be going on a walk or something at home. So last night we decided to do something more adventurous and we went ice blocking as a family. It was awesome! At first I wasn't sure if the boys would actually do it, but after watching Chris and I go down a few times they warmed up to the idea and had a blast.

I was going to try the tummy thing, but even laying on it at the top of the hill hurt, so I can imagine how much it would hurt to hit all the bumps on the way down. Chris was making all sorts of grunting noises on the way down, it was pretty funny!

Ethan decided to sit on one that wasn't being used, I guess he didn't want to miss out on the fun. He kept climbing up the hill and sliding down on his butt, it was so cute. He was smiling and laughing the whole way down.

Ethan loves ice, so any chunk of ice that got left alone he would rip off the towel and go to town. Gross! But it was so funny! I guess it didn't kill him, so whatever.

I know, it's a great view.

And, of course, you can always count on Chris to make some trouble. After he broke up the ice chunks into little pieces he spent the rest of the time chasing the boys around stuffing them down their pants. And, yes, I even got a huge piece stuffed down my pants, he doesn't even spare his wife!

Jayden wouldn't show us his wet butt, so Chris was obliged to make him.

After the ice got broken into chunks Ethan sat in the middle of tons of pieces and proceeded to pig out. It was pretty cute to watch. That is where he spent the rest of his time.

When we were finished we all went to Arctic Circle and got some ice cream. The boys got the free courtesy cones, and Chris and I got 99 cent brown toppers. It was such a fun night, and it all costed under $5. Not bad for a great family activity! We will definitely do this again!

Happy Mom's Day

I just wanted to tell all you mothers out there Happy Mother's Day. Hopefully you all can enjoy a day of pampering, napping, no dishes, eating a delicious meal that you didn't make, listening to the kids tell each other they love eachother rather than yelling, kicking, and hitting each other, and watching your husband change the poopie diaper.

One of our speakers in sacrament meeting today mentioned a mother's tendency to compare herself to other mothers around her, and that instead we should try to come together as mothers and help eachother in our different duties, and struggles. I will openly and honestly admit that I am totally guilty of comparing myself to all of you great mom's out there. I am continually amazed at the wonderful women you are. What a wonderful calling it is to be a mother. And I want to thank all of you out there that have helped me with my many challenges that come with motherhood. Whether it's listening to me rant and rave about the crazy messed up things my boys do, being willing to help by watching my boys for me, or just allowing me the opportunity to get out of the house and hang out with people that share the common bond of estrogen. A mother definitely couldn't do all that she does without the help of those around her, so thank you to all of my family, and friends that have done so much to help me out. Thank you to my amazing mother. She has always been such a wonderful example of what a mother should be, and I am so blessed to have her as my mother. Chris and I have both been blessed with two of the best moms in the whole world. Thanks also to Chris' mom for doing such a great job raising him, you are great!

How grateful I am to be a mother. I am so humbled that I have been entrusted with such an enormous responsibility. And even though it isn't easy it is so rewarding. My heart melted this morning when the first thing Brendon did when he woke up was give me a hug and a kiss and said to me "Mom, I love you, Happy Mother's Day." If that doesn't warm a mother's heart, and make her cry, I don't what will. I would do anything for my boys, they mean the world to me, and I just hope and pray that I can teach them and give them everything they need to be strong and endure faithfully through whatever lies ahead in their lives.

May the Lord continue to bless, comfort, strengthen, guide, and direct all of us as mothers. You are all great! Thank you for your wonderful examples!

Fun "wif" words

I guess this week is Brendon's week, because I am blogging another funny from him. Today he was very bored so he decided to write down things we could do on a piece of paper. He first read it to me and I thought, there is no way he knows how to spell all of those words, so I asked him if I could read it. He handed it to me and this is what it looked like.




Let me translate for you all. I will capitalize the misspelled words and write them the way he read them to me. First he wrote all of our names that he wanted to play with. Then it reads:
Play GAM IT OR fun. (Play GAMES THAT ARE fun.)
Play ALT SAID. (Play OUT SIDE.)
Play WIF mommy (Play WITH mommy)
Play YO GAM (Play YOUR GAMES- he means a board game)

I just had to laugh. Apparently I need to work "wif" him on his annunciation of certain words. I just love the word OUT. I guess it kind of sounds like ALT, right? At least he got the most important words right. Play, fun, mommy. I guess he likes to play wif his FUN mommy, ...that makes me feel good!

Kids say the darndest things

Yesterday Brendon had a make-up soccer game because of all the lovely rain we've had lately. Brendon and I had to leave Jayden's game early and this was the conversation that took place in the car.

Brendon: Why do I have a soccer game on Tuesday, I thought they were on Wednesdays.

Me: Well, they are, but this game is a make-up game.

(Silence for a moment, I guess he needed to register what I just said)

Brendon: (In kind of a panicky voice) But mom, I don't have any make-up on!

Me: (Laughing) No, it is a make-up game because of the rain.

Brendon: We are going to wear make-up in the rain?

Me: (Hysterically laughing at this point) No, you have a game today because it rained a few weeks ago and you couldn't play soccer that day. So you are playing today, they call that a make-up game. You don't wear make-up, that's just what they call it.

I think he got it at that point.

Then today Brendon was trying to figure out how to spell Melissa. He was sounding it out and this is how he wrote it on a paper:

MLISU

Um, nice try. So I showed him how to spell it. He then looked at it and said "Your name is Melissa? (He accented the Mel part to bring out the "e" sound) I said, "Yeah, I guess you could say it that way." Most people usually say it like Mlissa without the "e" sound, but I guess it really is Melissa with the "e" sound. He then said, "But mom, you're not a mailman...I mean a mail woman."

Aren't kids great! I love the way their little minds work, too funny!

We had a blast, but it's good to be home

I am happy and sad to say that we are back from "The Happiest Place on Earth," or so the saying goes. We left Utah with crappy weather, and came back to crappy weather. You've got to love Utah. It was so nice to pull out the shorts and bask in the sun for a few days. At the beginning of the week it was over 100 then it cooled down to perfect 75-80 degree weather the rest of the week. It was great!

For those of you that don't know, we drove. Yes it was long, but oh, it was worth it! Basically you could say we got paid $800 to drive to LA and back. (That's how much it would have costed to fly and rent a car) The drive was actually suprisingly pleasent. Brendon and Jayden who I thought would fight the whole way didn't fight once. Yes, you heard right, NOT ONCE. The trouble maker the whole drive was shockingly Ethan. He refused to leave the other two alone. He kept hitting and scratching the boys, and trying to take their Leapsters from them. It was quite annoying, and there wasn't much we could do about it but say no and listen to him laugh about it. After all, how do you enforce timeout in the car with a two year old? So we just tried to endure.

The hotel we stayed at was pretty much your average hotel. It was nice to basically be right across the street from Disneyland. The hotel room was average, but their pool was awesome! They had a pirate ship water playground with a few slides and a water slide. A kiddie pool and even a kiddie hot tub. There was a bucket on top of the ship that filled with water and when it was full to the top a bell would sound and all the water would fall out on the ground a few seconds later. All the kids would run over to the water and let it fall on them. The boys had a blast. It was by far the best hotel pool we've ever seen. We will definitely stay there again!

Okay, so I am a cheap person and when we go on vacation we have to have a room with a microwave and fridge. So we had those in our room. Well, one night after we were swimming Chris and I were in the bathroom and Ethan decided to unplug the fridge. When I went to make breakfast the next morning I found out and pretty much all of our food was ruined. There was probably about 35-40 dollars worth of food in there. I about died! Ethan's lucky it was him that did it because if it had been one of the older two I might have beat them. So Chris had to go to the store and buy more stuff. We lived off of waffles, and water for breakfast the rest of the week.

All in all, it was a great trip. We only spent two days at Disneyland, but it was plenty of time. There was hardly anybody there so we got to ride all the rides without much of a wait at all. I think if we would have gone a third day it would have been too much, but that's just me. It's more for the kids anyway. Even though it rained most of the trip home in Utah, it's always nice to come back home to people we love!

An Apostles Easter Thoughts On Christ

I loved Elder Holland's talk during conference, it touched me and helped to remind me what my focus should be on at all times, and in all things, and in all places. I found this on another blog, and was touched by it again. May this message touch your hearts again also. Warning: Go get some tissues.

Random Stuff

First, I would like to introduce you all to the supposedly newest member of our family.

This is Sleeny. (I guess this is how you spell it. The boys don't quite know how to spell yet, so I can't ask them how to spell it)

If you are all thinking Sleeny looks like some sort of dog toy, well, it is. It's only drawback is that it doesn't squeek. So basically it's just a boring little plastic toy, or at least that's what you and I would think. But, oh know, it is extremely special. Just ask Brendon and Jayden. Now, I can't remember for the life of me where in the world they got it from, but the first day Brendon brought it home he decided to name it Sleeny. Every night he sleeps with it. Yes, you read that right, HE SLEEPS WITH IT!! I swear, my boys have some, well, to put it nicely, some interesting issues. In the past he has slept with a few stuffed toys, but nothing as incredibly weird as a stupid dog toy. Um, it gets worse. If he just slept with it, I would think, "that is pretty odd," but both of them treat it like it's of the same importance as a little girl would feel about her little baby doll. I'm not exaggerating. They talk to it in baby voice, and cuddle with it like it's a stupid baby doll. Brendon says all the time, "Sleeny, I love you."

Yesterday when I was dropping Brendon off at school he said to Jayden, "you're in charge of Sleeny. Take good care of her, and keep her with you!" So, of course, yesterday happened to be the day that I needed to do my grocery shopping, and Jayden insisted that he had to bring it with us. Oh my goodness, what a load of crap! Anyway, so Sleeny accompanied us to Costco. Jayden even insisted that she be in the cart. I made him put it in the back of the cart so that Ethan wasn't throwing the whole time. (He's in the mode of throwing everything he touches now) So, anyway, that was interesting. Then on the way to the next store Jayden accidentally dropped Sleeny on the floor of the car. You would think he was being tortured or beaten by the way he reacted. He started crying like it was the end of the world. When we FINALLY got to the next store I told Jayden that he (meaning Sleeny) had to stay in the car this time. Jayden then rebuked me and said, "Mom, Sleeny is a her! She is a girl, not a boy!" Oh, excuse me. I started laughing and said, "Okay, please leave HER in the car this time." Luckily he was okay with that but he had to put her in Ethan's car seat while we were in there.

When I went to pick up Brendon from school the first thing Brendon said when he opened his car door was, "Where is Sleeny?" Man, never in a million years would I have thought that my boys would become so attached to a stupid doy toy. At least they have good imaginations, or at least I hope that is the case or I have some seriously messed up kids!

Next, we just got a new kitchen pantry for our kitchen, and now Ethan's favorite thing to do is open the doors and hang out on the shelves. Before I took this picture he was laying on his back relaxing, and when I got out the camera he rolled over onto his belly and gave me a huge grin. Almost like he was so proud of his new found hang out. I'm okay with this for now, but once he gets bigger I will have to put a stop to it so he doesn't brake something.

And, the other night we were relaxing as a family and the boys decided they wanted to play Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Ethan decided to join in, and he actually won most of the time. Probably because he would keep his hippos mouth open and the balls would roll right in. Chris and I just sat there and laughed. It was so fun to watch the three of them playing together and having a good time.

And finally, this morning as I was getting dressed Jayden came and knocked on my bedroom door and told me "Mom, Ethan is stuck in the chair." I was kind of confused as to how that could happen, but I said, "Okay, just a second I'm almost dressed." As I was hurrying to finish I could hear Ethan crying. When I came out of my room this is the sight I saw.



I just busted up laughing. Hillarious!!! I made him sit there a little longer while I got out the camera to take a picture. This made Ethan even madder. He started crying harder and refused to look at the camera. Man, it was funny!

Brendonitis

It is with a very heavy heart that I report that my poor tree has come down with a severe case of Brendonitis.

Brendonitis- the process by which a FAKE tree is plucked and pruned by a six year old.

I was gone to a sports thing the other night and when I got home Chris pointed out the sad condition of my tree. He told me that when he asked Brendon why he pulled all those leaves off Brendon told him, "what, they'll grow back." HA! HA! Um, not quite. And actually, I'm not really that upset about it. I mean, yes, it's kind of annoying to me that he did it, but I guess in all fairness he really didn't know what he was doing, and the tree was not that good looking in the first place. I bought it at Big Lots quite a while ago, for a dirt cheap price, and, really, it is a dirt cheap looking tree. But I didn't want to spend a lot, and I decided I needed some sort of plant in my house that doesn't require attention, and one that I wont kill, so I settled with this one. So really, no, my heart is not heavy at all about it, but I wanted to set the right tone in loving memory of my poor, ugly, dirt cheap tree.

YOU HAVE TO READ THIS!!!!

I know I just posted, but I had to post about this. I am reading a book called "The Infinite Atonement," by Tad R. Callister. IT IS AMAZING!! Everyone needs to read this book! He goes into intimate, specific, detail about the Atonement, and the nature of the Savior. And he explains it in words that anyone can understand. I am only in the 10th chapter and I have learned SO MUCH already. I thought I had an okay understanding before, but apparently not. There are things he talks about that I had never realized or thought about before. Some of my family members read it and told me I had to read it, and they are so right. All of you out there, GO GET THIS BOOK, and mark it up like you would your scriptures so you can refer to it often!! I promise you it will be well worth your time, and you will never think of the Atonement or the Savior in the same way again.

Anyway, I just had to share this. I love this book!

I'm bored, so I'll cave

Really nothing new to blog about has been happening in our lives lately. I guess I can blame that on the fact that winter doesn't seem to want to go away and I tend to hibernate during the days there is snow on the ground. I guess I just live in the wrong state. Most people say how much they love the snow and how pretty it is. Now don't get me wrong, I do like the color white, but I HATE snow. I'm sorry, but really I do! If it weren't for our families, our friends, Chris' job, and the money thing I would tell Chris lets pick up right now and move to California where it is in the 70's most of the time. That to me would be the perfect weather to live in.

Anyway, now that I've rambled a little bit, I decided to cave and do something a friend tagged me with a while ago. So here you go.

20 things most people don't know about me:

1. I still bite my fingernails. Yes, I do, I am ashamed to admit it. But usually it's only when I'm nervous or scared.

2. I have a big pet peeve about people who speak their opinion with absolutely no regard for other peoples feelings. I will never tell an outspoken person that, but I think that is my biggest annoyance.

3. I love to ballroom dance. I have tried to teach Chris many times, but he just doesn't get it. I think he just doesn't want to learn, it's really not that hard. Someday I will make him learn!

4. I lived in Oklahoma for a year, which turned out to be a really crappy year full of bad luck. I broke my arm, had to get my tonsils out, almost drowned from a "friend" holding me under the water in a swimming pool, and had a bat thrown at my eye while playing baseball which swelled so bad I couldn't see out of it. This would be why I avoid playing catcher at all costs! Good thing we moved!

5. God obviously knows me well because it's probably a good thing I had boys first. Sometimes I just want to smack them upside the head because of their ridiculous little outbursts of emotions. Heaven knows what I would do with a girl and all that extra estrogen!

6. I have an extreme fear of snakes. Which is ironic because when I was little I used to catch them all the time at my grandparents and thought they were so cool.

7. Growing up I wanted 18 kids. Four sets of quads and one set of twins, and I had names for all of them. Man, I was a really stupid kid!

8. The guy I had a huge insane crush on all three years in high school, and was sure I was going to marry, ended up in the same mission as Chris, and left pretty much the same time Chris came home. WEIRD!!

9. I can't stand it when my house is messy. I have no problem when other people's homes are messy, but for some reason I just can't live in one. My brother recently told me he was shocked the first time he visited my house and it was so clean. My room growing up was a huge pig pen. I'm not sure what caused me to change.

10. When I die I want to die playing basketball. This might sound really odd, but I love the game, and I can't think dying from anything better.

11. I am terrified of flying, and would pretty much rather be dead than caught on an airplane. Nuff said, most of you already knew that.

12. I was delivered breech. (Actually, really, I came butt first according to my parents, but saying breech, rather than I mooned everyone, makes me feel better about my entrance into the world)

13. My first and third children were also breech, but I didn't deliver them the normal way. The fact that I had two boys breech has always seemed kind of ironic to me. Maybe me and my offspring are just confused about the head first thing?

14. I sucked my thumb until second grade. My parents did everything possible to make me stop. They even safety pinned a sock to my hands at night. Somehow I figured out how to get the socks off. I guess where there's a will, there's a way, but it was a nice try.

15. I have never told anyone this, but I think it would be so cool to be a comedian. Um yeah, that will never happen, but there's nothing wrong with wishing I could.

16. It takes A LOT for me to get mad at someone, and even if I do get mad I can't stay mad very long. As a teenager I was always in the middle of the fights with my friends, and wondered what the heck all their problems were, and why they couldn't all just get along!

17. I played the accordian when I was young. I have kept that a secret for years and most of my friends don't know about it. Sorry, but it was and still kind of is considered a really nerdy thing to do. I hope I don't regret letting the bag out on this one.

18. When I was little I broke into a neighbors apartment with my brother and threw his weights out his window, and ate his starbursts. (Don't ask me what our reasons were for doing this.)

19. By first grade I had already lost 8 teeth. For those of you that remember that age or have kids that age this was an awesome thing. The other kids were so jealous!

20. I think it is absolutely disgusting to fart in the tub. It completely turns me off when I hear Chris fart in the tub.

Well, there you go. The last one might have been a little too much info, but hey, I wanted to catch you all off guard and say something you wouldn't expect. Well, now I've put myself out there a little bit more, and you all know more than you need to about me. Anyone that feels the desire to put themselves out there also is more than welcome!

Is it just me?

Is it just me or have I been blessed with a boy that has the worst attention span, and best imagination in human history! It has to be both. I'm sure you all already know who I am talking about. Yes, it's my wonderful Jayden. First of all, I will tell you all that I DO LOVE HIM. I'm know you all get a huge kick out of all the wonderful stories I write about that he has been involved in, but like I was telling some friends the other night, sometimes I wonder if I should write about all the troublesome things he does, because it makes me feel like the worst parent in the world. (Although there may be some truth to that. I think we all feel like that at times) But all of you have told me that you love hearing them because you get a good laugh, and I shouldn't stop. So for the sake of you all, I will try to put a smile on your faces today, and put aside my feelings of inadequacy as a parent.

Last week I left to go somewhere. Chris had just gotten out of the shower, and was getting ready. The boys were watching I think George. When Chris came of our room Jayden had gotten into the medicine cabinet. This was the first time that had ever happened, so it was kind of a shock. Jayden had eaten some iron pills, and some pepcid ac. Ethan had an Ibuprofen 800 pill in his mouth that luckily Chris was able to get out before he ate it. Chris called the poison control about the iron pills because he didn't know how many he had eaten. When he examined the "child proof" Ibuprofen bottle later he realized Jayden had used a knife to get it open. You can imagine my shock when I got home about 30 minutes later and Chris told me that story. I immediately asked Chris, "well, how long did it take you to get ready?" He told he it had only been at the most 10 minutes. By the way, I DO LOVE HIM.

On to the next incident. Some of you have already heard about the scary, eventful situation from Wednesday, but for those of you that haven't I'll indulge you. I put in a movie, reminded Jayden of the rules, and got in the shower. (I try to make my showers short. I'm sure you all know why) Anyway, when I got out I checked on Jayden and Ethan, and all was well. They were both sitting on the couch watching the movie. So I went back in my room to get ready. I got a call from Katie that lasted about a minute, then went in the bathroom to put on deodorant, wash my face, put my hair in a pony tail, and brush my teeth. This all lasted probably a little over 5 minutes. As I got done I started smelling a smell all to familiar to me from our many days of camping. Yes, I smelled smoke. I walked out of my bathroom, and noticed that the boys door was shut. When I opened it the room was full of smoke. Jayden had hidden in the closet because I assume he heard me coming. I asked him where the matches were, and he said he didn't know. I began looking for them and he ran and hid from me. I then yelled "Jayden, tell me where the matches are right now, so they don't start a fire!!!" He came in to the room walking past me with his butt against the wall saying, "don't spank me." I told him I wasn't going to and I just wanted to know where the matches were. He then walked over to some blankets on the floor and lifted them up. Underneath were a pile of about, and I kid you not, 20 matches that had been lit, and the box was sitting next to them. How he knew where they were I'll never know. We keep them on the top shelf in a kitchen cupboard, in the very back behind other things. Needless to say, we've chosen a new spot to hide them. And HOW THE HECK did he figure our how to light them in the first place, let alone 20 in a little over 5 minutes. He's only 4 for heaven's sake!!! Have I mentioned I LOVE HIM!

Oh my goodness. (sigh) At that point I explained to him why what he had done was so dangerous. In normal circumstances I would have yelled until my face was blue, but because it scared me so much, and the reality that I could have lost my son that day kind of hit home, I was able to talk to him in a stern voice without yelling. He then began to cry. So hopefully he learned his lesson.

That boy is too smart for his own good. We obviously can't leave him alone without adult supervision for longer than a minute, but at the same time, it's not like I can follow him around everywhere and watch his every move. Does he just get bored easily or something? Or maybe he just enjoys getting into trouble. Whatever it is, I DON'T GET IT!!! He's fine at other people's homes when they are watching him. (Unless you're all forgetting to tell me something I don't know) Man, I could tell a story every day of the things he does that get him into trouble out of curiosity. Each day is a new adventure, if you can call it that. Maybe God knows I am just way too impatient of a person and I need to keep learning the patience lesson daily. If that is the case, then I hope He is forgiving of me when I end up killing him. (I'm kidding, of course, or at least I hope) I promise, I DO LOVE HIM!

This will be interesting....

Something just for you!

Whoohoo! Lucky you!

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. Just for you.

However, this offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It will be done sometime this year (Hopefully sooner than later).

4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be a card. Or maybe if your really lucky you could get a singing telegram from me, not likely, but hey, you never know! I may draw or paint something, but with my talent in this area it could look like it is from Brendon. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Whatever it is, you will be one lucky person!

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they've posted on their blog win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Good luck!

By the way, yes, I am posting this because I am hoping to get something really cool, or yummy from my SIL, Emily.

About the only time they get along longer than 5 minutes....

And,

I just thought I would share this picture. The other day we left the vacuum out after cleaning. Ethan decided to tip it over and ride on it. He sat there for a bit playing. It was pretty cute!

What's wrong with this picture, Ethan's version

So I decided to do a part two of what's wrong with this picture because all these pictures fit so well with this title. Actually I got most of these pictures, with the exception of the first two, from following Ethan around for about 15 minutes. It's crazy how busy he is! Anyway, here it is. Enjoy!

What's wrong with this picture?

1. I told Jayden he could put a movie in that he wanted to watch. Um, it's probably not the best idea to let a 4 year old handle dvd's.

2. He chose to watch episodes of Mr. Bean, which are now becoming quite a popular choice. They are Chris'. Oh, man Chris, what are you doing to our boys!

3. Ethan decided to watch as well. He sat there for about 10 minutes, which is longer than he sits to watch anything. Now, I can understand disney, or pixar, or even Barney, but my goodness, Mr. Bean!....Wow!

What's wrong with this picture?

1. I assume this happened when the boys were cleaning their room today. I even told them to leave the door open so I could listen to what they were doing and so we didn't have any issues like last time.

2. I let Ethan go into their room while they were supposed to be cleaning. Like he is going to help the situation at all! I'm sure if they actually did clean with him in there he would just pull out everything they cleaned up.

3. I didn't notice this had happened until after I let the boys play at Mcdonalds house. I still don't know who is responsible. But I can only assume, as I'm sure all of you have done, that it was probably Jayden. Sorry Jayden, but if the shoe fits!

What's wrong with this picture?

1. Ethan has figured out how to climb into his high chair.

2. I left his tray off so he could climb into his high chair.

3. My child has learned how to climb way to early in his life!

What's wrong with this picture?

1. Again with the climbing thing.

2. He proceeds to climb onto the computer desk.

3. He then tries to dink around on the computer. This is a daily ritual that he tries to do. While I'm working on the computer at this moment, he is attempting to climb and check out what I'm doing.

4. This can't be good for the computer tower.

What's wrong with this picture?



1. I am a lazy butt and left the chairs there. They've been there since Sunday when my family came over for dinner.

2. He loves to play with the lights, turning them on and off.

3. Rather than turning on and off the fan, he chooses to leave it on constantly. When I turn it off, he turns it back on, which makes our living room pretty cold.

4. This can't help our power bill, which was close to $50 dollars last month. Maybe I'm just cheap, but when my gas bill is over $125 dollars, shouldn't the power bill be at least under $20? Give me a break!

Oh, how cute! What could be wrong with this picture you may be asking?

1. He is watching the Bonnie Hunt show. Um, yeah, something is wrong with my boys and the things they choose to watch! But I don't know, the button he is trying to push is the channel button, so maybe he's trying to change the channel. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

2. I have a strange feeling that this picture is telling what he will be like in the future. When he's old and gray with a big pot belly that his shirt doesn't cover, sitting and watching the tv with remote in hand. Now if only he was laying down with his shirt higher up, and a can sitting on top! Hopefully, he chooses to watch something different. Now don't get me wrong, I like Bonnie Hunt, but it's not really a show for guys.

What's wrong with this picture?

Um, yeah, there would be several things wrong with this picture.
1. A 19 month old has scissors, and his mom is taking pictures instead of taking them away.

2. He has learned a wonderful example from his older brothers and is trying to follow it and finish the job.

3. He found the scissors in the boys room in their window seat. The reason I am assuming they cut his hair while they were "cleaning their room."

(Just so you all know, I was following him around, and was right there when he found them, thank goodness. Otherwise, I might have an extremely weird looking bald baby, or worse.)

4. The boys know they aren't supposed to touch my scissors in the first place!

What's wrong with this picture?

Um, okay, this picture is a little embarrassing, so if any men read this blog I apologize ahead of time.

1. Ethan went into my bathroom and immediately went to my feminine hygiene cupboard and pulled this out, then walked towards me holding it up for me to take.

2. I admit Ethan has seen me use these a couple of times, and he has learned that they are mine.

3. I guess he thinks I need to use it, and is being helpful.

What's wrong with this picture?

1. When Ethan is hungry he goes one of two places: his high chair, or the garbage can.

2. Apparently Chris and I have done a great job at raising a child that is expert in the ways of homelessness.

3. The garbage can is his best friend.

....And there you have it. Watch for more blogs of "what's wrong with this picture," because I am sure there are going to be many more to come!