Delicious Cleaning!

I don't want to sound like a cleaning commercial... but these cleaners are AMAZING!! Not only do they clean remarkably well, they smell fabulous!! My kitchen and bathrooms don't smell toxic! Yay! I ran out of toilet cleaner last week and my friend had given me some Mrs. Meyer's counter spray in Geranium scent, so I went out looking for some good smelling cleaners. I found some!!! I am a clean freak, as most of you know, and it is so nice to be able to have delicious smelling cleaners to do my daily routine with! They are also environmentally safe so I can help save our planet! Yay! They are a little more expensive, but just the aromas make it all worth it! You can buy all the Mrs. Meyer's cleaners (I like all the scents... but geranium is my fave!!) at her website: www.mrsmeyers.com and the Method cleaners (which smell like mint and eucalyptus!!!) are at Target I believe! Use up all your toxic, ucky cleaners and replace them with these yummy ones!!

My First Polish Pottery!!

My friend T has introduced me to the wonders of Polish Pottery!! It is so beautiful and useful! She has bought lots of it in Europe and her pattern of choice is a pretty daisy. I love the stars! If I were to pick a pattern it would have to involve stars. Well, T brought me this darling little salt and pepper set in a star pattern. I was just in awe!!! I love it!!! Thanks so much T!! LOVE them!!

May I?!

May is such a fun month! Spring still lingers a bit and summer hasn't come yet so the weather is lovely. I was outside today with Jillian and the sun felt sooooo good. I can't say that I like the warmth of the sun very often; I'm always hot, but it felt so nice today. I just finished posting a billion and one pictures over on my family blog... but I wanted to post a few of my favorites here. It has been a long month and especially the past few weeks! With my grandfather's passing, my trip home, Chris getting in a car accident, the move coming up... I feel that I've been twirled around and around and around and then shoved out into traffic and told to make my way safely across the street!!! It's a bit like the commercial that says, "Life comes at you fast...". Too fast sometimes!!
We went to pick up a rental van a few days ago and it has been so very nice to have 2 cars!! I feel free again! The rental is a Chevy Uplander and I really don't like it. For one thing, it stinks. Literally. I hate that smoked-in smell. Secondly, it just isn't my Toyota. I believe I have turned into a Toyota snob. I love my Sienna. Toyota knew what they were doing when they made that van! It has a place for EVERYTHING and it is comfortable and smooth... I just love it. I've been totally spoiled for anything else. It's been the best car we've ever bought.
Back to the pictures I posted... the first one just makes me laugh everytime I look at it! Jeremiah had the hat and scarf in his backpack through all the winter months. He took them out the other night and Jillian grabbed them up and wore them around the house all evening with her little flip flops clicking on the floor as she went. It was adorable. She never fails to make us laugh each and every day!
The second picture is of me and my brothers and sisters. The back row is me, Ben, Emily, Amy, and Rebecca. On the floor is Jake, Sarah and Sam. (James is missing from the photo because he's serving his mission in Mexico and loving every minute of it!) I love this picture because it felt like it had been so long since we took one and because we all look pretty darn good! I have such beautiful sisters and handsome brothers. Both Amy and Rebecca are expecting babies this summer. Boys! We have a lot of boys in our family. I have 2 of the 4 girls and Ben has the other 2. The rest (8?) are boysies. Lots of fun.
The third picture is of my grandfather's casket draped with an American flag. This photo is so meaningful to me. I love that I am a member of a church that teaches such beautiful things about life after death. I know that I will see my grandfather again. I know that he is in a beautiful and happy place with those ancestors who have gone before him. I know that he will be there to greet me when I eventually leave this earth. His funeral wasn't a sad occasion for me. I was initially upset at the news that he had gone, but then I was filled with so much peace knowing the truths of the gospel and the plan that Christ has given us. We will sure miss his sweet smiling face at all our family reunions. We'll miss having him pull up in a new car anxious for a bathroom break and some of Mom's fresh baked cookies! We'll miss his intelligent conversation and his great advice. His physical presence in our lives will be missed but his spiritual presence will never leave us. It was a sweet and special weekend for me to be able to share memories and remembrances of him with all my family. I will treasure those memories for always.
The last picture is of me and my brother, Ben. Ben always makes me laugh. He always has. I thought I was going to pee my pants at least twice as I would break into fits of laughter over something he said or did. We sat and played a dice game on Saturday night and he had us all laughing so hard. I don't even remember what got us going, but I know my stomach muscles were sooooo sore the next day! It seems that every time we get together as a family, laughter just pores out of all of us! All my brothers make me laugh. They just have a way about them. I love them all. It was definitely Joy and Rejoicing all around as we spent some time together. My grandfather always used to say that. Joy and rejoicing. As he would look around at his posterity, he would say it. He had a great posterity. He and my grandmother had 12 children who, in turn, had large families and it has just grown and grown. One of my cousin's brought her new little baby to the funeral and I think he made the 40th great grandchild. Pretty amazing.
Sorry if this post has dragged on or been a bit random... I think my thoughts are always a little crazy in the early evening. The genius doesn't come out till well past midnight... hee hee. Till then...

Monson's Wiggle!

Ok. I spent hours this morning trying to figure out how to get the little YouTube player thingy to come to my blog... but I failed. I even had my super savvy computer tech hubby try... but still no luck! So here is a LINK to the YouTube video I wanted to post...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTmft6wkNa4
It is the most adorable thing!!! You must watch it and tell me what you think!! Chris can do it! His just aren't as big as President Monson's... Hee hee! Ok, if you're not curious by now, you're crazy!!

Good Deeds and Gasoline!

I know. I haven't written for a week and 2 days and now I'm posting twice in one day! Wow! Well. I was sitting here thinking of all the fun things that I think about when I just sit and I thought I would blog about one of my thoughts! The other day, we were at the neighborhood center and I was exercising while Chris and the kids were watching a movie on their big screen TV. Well, that was the plan anyways... They ended up not having a cord to connect their TV to their DVD. Chris, being the amazing man that he is, told the woman in charge that he has billions (yes literally) of cables lying around at our home and could go and get one to make the TV and DVD work. He did so. Then he and the kids watched their movie. I finished my workout and we went home. A few days later, the manager of the neighborhood center called us and asked if we could come down and pick up a gift card for helping them with their TV/DVD!! Of course, he said, "YES!" and went and chose a gift card for 25$ of gas at a Shell gas station!! Yay! It was so unexpected to be rewarded for such a little thing! The only problem with our reward... is that we have no clue where to find a Shell gas station!! Isn't that always how it works!?! I am sitting here trying to rack my brain and remember if I've seen any Shell stations anywhere along any of the roads that we frequently travel. Man. It is nice to know that sometimes good deeds are rewarded in a timely enough manner that you actually remember doing the good deed! I don't know if any of you watched Oprah's Big Give tv show? I watched a few episodes and the finale. I was glad that the man that won was the man that I wanted to win. And it was nice that after giving and giving and giving across America, he was rewarded with more money - to Give! I loved that. I think that it should always happen like that - the givers should get more to give! Anyways... it's been on my mind... :)

I Just Wanna!!

I just read a post on my friend Terina's blog entitled, "I Just Don't Wanna!"(http://terinajlucyandrew.blogspot.com/2008/04/i-just-dont-wanna.html ) and it made me laugh so hard. I believe I am one of the person's she refers to who are "addicted to endorphins"... It inspires me to make a list now of 10 reasons why I wanna exercise!!
1 - I can do it anywhere!! Like in my living room with Deni and Total Body Workout, in my garage on my elliptical, walking the hills and byways of my neighborhood with Jilli in tow or riding my bicycle, also, at the neighborhood center, or at the track... the options are endless!
2 - Sometimes I can kick my kids while doing it! :)
3 - My kids are up early so I can start my day early and get exercise done so I can still accomplish a lot in my day.
4 - I always change it up so I don't get bored!
5 - We have had lots of rain which cools the air and makes it the perfect temperature for outdoor exercise!
6- It takes a lot of effort, but putting forth the effort makes me feel good!
7 - Exercising with a bunch of military spouses at the neighborhood center can be very entertaining. The more women who fill the gym, the more stories and gossip I hear. It's better than Oprah and All My Children combined! (Not to say I watch All My Children... it was the only soap opera title that popped in my head!)
8 - My husband LOVES the results of me exercising and what could be more motivating for me to get out and move!!
9 - But even better still... I love the results of me exercising! And so does Kohls, Downeast Basics, Shade Clothing, Gap, Walmart.... :)
10 - Exercise is always at least one item I can check off on my daily TO DO list!! :)
I hope you've found my list as entertaining as I found writing it!! (especially YOU Terina!!)

"Open the Freakin' Door!!!"

Yeah. I know that's a weird title for a post... but I just had to share the story! Jillian has had a rough time going to sleep since Chris returned. She always fussed a little, but now she fusses a lot.
Well, tonight, I had put her in her bed and gone to Jessica's room to listen as Chris read to the other two. We were all sitting there, getting into the story, when we heard Jilli screaming. Chris stopped reading and we all listened to hear what she was saying. She was screaming, "Open the freakin' door!!" Ok. We all busted out laughing. It was absolutely hilarious! Then I got thinking about where on earth she could have heard that word. Well, I must admit that it was from ME!! Yep. I say freakin' entirely too much. I think it just shows how much I have let my vocabulary lapse. At least she wasn't repeating any other of the choice words I have let slip out on occasion! I really need to watch what comes out of my mouth because obviously someone is listening!!

Happiness is...

Happiness is having my sweetie home safe again! Happiness is having Jilli say "Daddy do it." instead of "Mommie do it." Happiness is having someone to warm my cold feet on at night! Happiness is waking up next to someone you love every morning! Happiness is hearing Chris sing the kids to sleep each night. Happiness is having a pile of Army crap higher than me in my garage! Happiness is kisses... Man I missed them! Happiness is being together as a family once again! Happiness is trying to catch up on all the TV shows and movies he missed while he was away! (Thank goodness for DVR!) Happiness is... ME!!

I think that that just about sums up all that I've been feeling in these past few days since Chris got home! It feels like he never left. He's jumped right back into the swing of things and it has been just wonderful having him here again. So many things have changed and so many things will always stay the same. I just love that he can so easily slide right back into his role as husband and father. He's an amazing man and I love him!!

If you want to see more pictures of his homecoming... check out my family blog - in the links to your right...

Happy Spring!

Don't I just have the cutest kids EVER!?! I'm so lucky!
Jilli was playing with my camera and snapped this photo of me... Lovely eh?
And here I am with Jilli and the big old Dinosaur that she was too scared to stand next to so I had to pick her up and be in this lovely picture... My friend Terina is in the blue trying to get her daughter, Lucy, to stand with us... Ahhhhh. The joys of two year olds!

Going Out Like a Lion!

March is definitely going out like a lion! It has been drizzly and cold for 2 days now and will most likely continue to be for a few more! I don't mind the cooler temperatures but the rain (as much as we need it!) just makes me feel depressed! Chris is not on his way yet and I really wanted him to be!! I know that that is just the way things work... but I think it's pretty impossible to not get your hopes up! I got a call tonight from Mrs. W, Major W's wife. She runs our FRG (Family Readiness Group) and she does a horrendous job. We're supposed to have get-togethers at least every month... but I think we've had maybe one throughout the whole deployment. ONE! That is just lame. She called me to get my address so she could mail me an invitation to come to some event to be recognized for all I've done as a Key Caller through this year... I nearly laughed. I think that I have called down my phone roster maybe three or four times this year; just to check in with people... I guess I've done all that was required of me?? I don't think it's anything to get up and make a fuss over... I'm curious as to what the event will involve. Crazy Army hoopla... I'll probably get a big gold plaque - UGH!! Today, the kids helped me shred a huge stack of papers. I've been going through my filing cabinet and there were a lot of things in it that I really don't need to hang on to! It took us about 3 hours to shred everything. We filled three garbage sacks!! Jilli was having a ball playing in the paper bits! I have paper tracked all through the house tonight. But at least that job is done!! I just know I'm going to have nightmares tonight about some paper that I really really needed and I SHREDDED it!! AHHHH!! Oh well! Que Sera, Sera!!

Spring Break!

We are in the midst of our Spring Break week and I'm pleasantly surprised at how good my kids have been overall! Having them home is usually not something I enjoy. I like ME time and having them go off to school gives me plenty of time to myself, but we are really having a great time together this week. We have been to the new Library playground twice for several hours and today I took them to see "Horton Hears a Who"; which I just loved! I even took them shopping with me at Walmart today and we had no "gimme" moments or Jilli meltdowns! Yay! The lovely spring weather has been wonderful and the kids just LOVE being outside. I have even actually been able to finish making up all my birthday cards for the year! Yay!
I watched a really great movie last night called "Freedom Writers". (What would I do without Netflix!?!) It was excellent. I was amazed at the positive influence of the teacher in the lives of these inner city kids. It plays out like all the other 'teacher helping students realize their potential' movies, but I really enjoyed this one. (Possibly because she was an English teacher... I am a little biased when it comes to English teachers!) One thing she did, that I thought was great, was to have each student write daily in a journal. I know that I've posted on journal writing before... but it really does help you sort out all your feelings. I am amazed at how much better I feel about things that get me upset after I have written about them in my journal. I know I had an experience a few years ago that got me totally aggravated and I didn't feel like I could talk it out with anyone. I went up to my room and wrote all the things out that had gotten to me. After I finished, I sat and read through it all and it was amazingly therapeutic. I think writing is a excellent form of therapy. And it's cheap! I hope I can keep up with my journal writing because it has really made a difference in how I handle things in my life. Watch that movie for some positive reinforcement about the impact writing in a journal can make!
On another note... I've got to come up with some great ideas for our Visiting Teaching Conference coming up in May. My president really wants the focus to be on the basics of Visiting Teaching. Do any of you have any great ideas? Anything you've seen done that really stood out? Let me know! Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Good News!

Sorry I have neglected my poor blog for a bit! I've been so busy this week! My house was completely neglected till Thursday night! I just wasn't home much during the day and then when I did get home, I was too tired to do much else but go on to bed! (Check out my family blog for more on what I've been up to...) I also babysat this week. Usually that is not my forte; but these babies were wonderful! The one little boy I had on Friday from 10 until 2 and he was a doll! His mom was at the Temple and I can't think of a better reason to babysit for someone! The baby girl I watched on Saturday night was also just great! I was so glad! Her mom and dad went out on a date. Her daddy just got home from Afghanistan (and worked with Chris!) so they were needing to get out alone. They went to a concert and I know they had a good time. It's hard for me to agree to watch someone's child when I have 3 of my own... but I was glad I did because they were surprisingly easy. They were both around 9 months old and that is such a fun age. I will definitely count these for my good deeds for the week! Hee hee.

My good news (thus the title for this post!) is that my sweetie will be home sooner than we thought! Yay! He also came up on orders for a teaching position back at Ft. Gordon! We'll be headed back down there at the end of the summer. It is very exciting to me because it means he won't deploy again for a while. Always good news! I am really and truly going to miss being here and all the wonderful, amazing women I have met and become friends with! I almost get weepy thinking about it, but then I remember that I don't cry and my eyes just dry right up! I know we will all stay in touch and I'm so glad I got into blogging so we can stay connected. I love the internet! How did we survive without it!!? Well, I must get to my nightly email to Chris! Love you all!

Recent Cards... part 2!

Here are the rest of the 5 for 5 cards... If you see anything you like or MUST have... Let me know!

Recent Cards!

Here are some recent cards I've made!! Soooo cute, right! I just had to share! The top two are from my Stamp Club. I love the circle card because we used glitter and it was SOOOOO sparkly and fun. The bottom two are from my 5 cards for 5 bucks class I did today! Very fun! I just love making cards! Wish you all could have been here creating with me!

Me and Driving

I can't remember exactly where we were going... oh! Monica and I were headed to the church for the project group on Tuesday morning and I was driving. I hadn't seen "Mica" (Jilli's nickname for her!) in a while so we were catching up on the latest and just laughing and talking... good times. Well, I was driving. I shouldn't drive and talk at the same time. Truly. I ran a red light. Yep. Now, I know this may be alarming to most of you... but it wasn't the least bit alarming to me! I sailed right through the red light (on Gruber, right where you exit the 82nd HQ compound) and didn't even bat an eye. Monica said, "You just ran a red light!!!" I said, "Oh, really??" I honestly hadn't even noticed. Yeah. I am so glad that my guardian angels were out there playing MP's and holding up the traffic. I looked back at the intersection and there were cars there.... They just hadn't decided to go yet - thankfully. Well, needless to say, I was quite a bit more careful for the rest of the day and week. I like to think that I can do two things at once... but sometimes I really wonder at my expertise in that area!! Have any of you ever had this happen to you? I can laugh about it now... but it was a little scary after the fact that morning.
Another thing that I wanted to ask you all... Have you ever seen a minivan, driven by a Mom with children, pulled over to receive a speeding ticket?? I have honestly NEVER seen a minivan driven by a mom and filled with kids pulled over. I have this theory that cops don't pull over minivans driven by women.... Let me know if you've seen this (or been one!!) My husband has been pulled over in our minivan. He was caught shaving! The cop thought he was talking on a cell phone (which is prohibited here on Post). He was given a warning and sent on his way. I'm just curious because I hope that it means that I can fudge a little on my speed, when I'm late for something and trying to get there quickly... Let me know what ya think!

Wonderful People

What a great day I have had! I was able to go to lunch with some friends today at Red Robin. I just love going to lunch with friends. There is just something about sitting together and chatting about life and the things we have in common, the struggles we have, the things that make us happy. It was very nice. After lunch, I went to Kohls and did some shopping. I love Kohls. They have fabulous clearance racks. I found four bright yellow, happy and soft towels for 4 bucks each (reg. 12!). I found a pair of jeans for 12 bucks, a swimsuit for Jilli on sale for 12, and a pink t-shirt for me for 6. Lastly, but not leastly, I found a darling pair of white canvas sling back shoes for me for summer! They were on sale and I just fell in love. Again, very nice to get out and find some good deals. This evening I had planned to meet some friends of ours and their families at Sports USA for dinner to celebrate Jeremiah's 8th birthday. Again, great friends, food, chatting about all sorts of things... just wonderful! My children were kept completely entertained through the incredible generosity of one of my friends who had an endless supply of quarters for all the arcade machines! I am so happy to know the people I know! I really believe that everything happens for a reason - even friendships! I was told once in a blessing that I would be blessed to associate with many wonderful people in my life... and it couldn't be more true!! Spending time with some of these wonderful people tonight was the perfect ending to my lovely day!!

Long Night!

I just had to post a picture, since I haven't for a while, and my choices were very slim... Aren't my toes so perty!? (Not as colorful as yours, Amberlyn!!) I was lucky enough to be able to go and get a pedicure last week with a friend of mine! Her hubby watched Jilli and it was a wonderful treat! It was only my second pedicure ever... and I always forget how ticklish my feet are!!! I had to totally focus on holding still, so the man could finish up! It was crazy.
Well, I'm sitting here today feeling completely unspiritual. I missed church today because Miah was up all night moaning and crying with an earache. Poor kid. I gave him Tylenol, didn't do a thing. I gave him a heating pad, little difference. I gave him Motrin after a couple hours, little better but still hurting. I pulled down my medicine box and started going through it just to see if I had anything more... I found some numbing drops!!!! Duh!! It's been so long since Mi has had trouble with his ears and I forgot that we had them! I dropped some in and sent him in to his bed. He was asleep in 10 minutes. AHHHHH. It was so nice to have him feeling better. He's such a tough kid and I know he was really hurting! He woke up this morning and has had no complaints, but I'm keeping him on Tylenol today. I'll have to take him to the Doc tomorrow. Fun stuff! Needless to say, I didn't wake up this morning and we missed attending church. It was also Daylight Savings and we lost an hour of sleep on top of me getting a lot less sleep than I usually get... I always feel bad about missing church. I enjoy going. Hearing the lessons and interacting with the members of our ward always lifts my spirits and I really need that each week. I've got the BYU channel on upstairs and down and I've listened to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and several Devotional addresses, Conference talks and other uplifting programs. I'm glad that we chose to get satellite so that we have this channel! I also plan on reading the lesson from the manual and reading to the kids from the Book of Mormon. I hope that doing that will fill my spiritual bucket today.
We were able to chat with Chris for a little while today. I love talking with him. I can't wait to get him home again! He keeps me laughing and I love that. He was eating a beef cup-o-noodles... his favorite snack and I just had to laugh at his choices for food. He's such a kid when he chooses what to eat! He loves spaghetti-o's, nuggets, mac-n-cheese, hot dogs, cereal... not too many veggies, and Kool-aid! I hope he can survive coming back to our more nutritious pantry and cupboards! I'm trying to keep healthy food on hand so I can't gain back any of the weight even if I eat everything in the cupboard!! Heeheehee.
Well, my house sounds a little too quiet! I'll try to write more later!

New Look!

Do you like my new look for the blog? I thought it was cute! It was free and surprisingly easy!! I may change it quite often! Check out her selection here: http://matiekay.blogspot.com/ and she gives you directions and everything! Painless!
This morning I woke up and had the hardest time getting out of my warm bed! It was actually cold in our house! I had forgotten to turn the heat back on last night!! It has been in the upper 60's here and we're definitely getting Spring Fever! I walked up to get the kids from school and let them play on the school playgrounds. They had a blast!! Of course, I forgot the camera.... but maybe we'll do that again today! Yay! Well, gotta go get them off to school!! Miah's being a slow poke.... again!

Sunday Nights

I don't know what it is about Sunday nights. I think they have to be my worst time of the whole week. My patience with the kids has worn extremely thin. The walls of our normally good sized home seem to close in a bit and I start to get claustrophobic. Our living room becomes an echo chamber for every little squeak and squeal to be magnified and rushed directly to my ears. Even laughter sounds too loud and intensely annoying. We try to watch quiet family movies on Sunday evening and eat popcorn, but that only takes up 90 minutes or so if we're lucky. Tonight we have watched a movie, played Sleeping Queens a bunch of times (love that game!) and raced to find the hidden CTR ring in the new Friend magazine... and it's only 5:30!!! We have two and a half more hours till bedtime!! UGH! I think that I pray more on Sunday evenings than at any other time. I pray for the kids to play nicely, for the damage to the furniture to be minimal and for something to get my mind off the slowly ticking secondhand!!
I guess I could write more in my blog and that may do the trick! I was reading in the new issue of the Ensign today - which I must say is GORGEOUS! I love the vellum cover over the beautiful picture of the Savior! I read the article written by President Hinckley and one thought really stood out to me:
"We know not all that lies ahead of us. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some, there will be great accomplishment. For others, disappointment. For some, much of rejoicing and gladness, good health, and gracious living. For others, perhaps sickness and a measure of sorrow. We do not know. But one thing we do know. Like the Polar Star in the heavens, regardless of what the future holds, there stands the Redeemer of the world, the Son of God, certain and sure as the anchor of our immortal lives. He is the rock of our salvation, our strength, our comfort, the very focus of our faith.
In sunshine and in shadow we look to Him, and He is there to assure and smile upon us.
He is the central focus of our worship. He is the Son of the living God, the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten in the flesh. He is “risen from the dead, … the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Corinthians 15:20). He is the Lord who shall come again “to reign on the earth over his people” (D&C 76:63; see also Micah 4:7; Revelation 11:15).
None so great has ever walked the earth. None other has made a comparable sacrifice or granted a comparable blessing. He is the Savior and the Redeemer of the world."
Isn't that a beautiful quote!!?? President Hinckley had such a way with words. He was a wonderful prophet. I wished today that my shoes hadn't been filled with cement and I could have made it to the pulpit to bear my testimony. I wanted to share that I know that Jesus is our Savior too! I hate that I let fear keep me in my seat or keep my mouth shut so many times. It is something I need to work on. I did enjoy all our classes today and I was very glad that I had made the efforts to get up and get the kids up and ready. I will be so glad when Chris gets back. So glad in so many ways!
My dear little sister, Emily, is blessing her first little baby boy today and all my family has gone to her home to celebrate. They called me last night and I heard all the fun going on in the background! I miss being there with all of them on those special days! Emily's little boy, Corbin Lee, is adorable! I can't get enough pictures of him! It's always so fun to get another neice or nephew! I now have 9 with 2 more on the way!! It's so exciting! I just wish I could be there to snuggle little Corbi and smell that sweet baby smell! MMMMMM.
I joined Shelfari and Goodreads at the urging of friends... and I have been trying to get through the books on my nightstand: Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss (Yes, I'm still reading it Nicole!!! I'll get it back to you soon!), A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle (very deep), Enna Burning by Shannon Hale (the 2nd book in her series, following The Goose Girl), Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett (thanks Terina!) and The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks (I was given this for my birthday! Yay!) I am one of those odd people who has to be reading several things at once. I don't know why I need to have so many things jangling around in my head... but I do. It's funny but I tend to start a bunch of books and then one starts getting really good and I'll hurry up and finish it and then I'll start another to keep a bunch in the mix... I just love books. I want to read everything.... All at once!! I saw a show once that had a guy who could just flip through a book and it was read - I wouldn't mind that super-ability, if I was a super hero picking abilities... Ok. I can tell I'm beginning to ramble and look - it's now 6:03. Wow. Time flies when I'm having fun!

My Journal

I was printing out the pages of my "journal" tonight and I thought I would share what I have done to make journaling easier for me!! I write an email to my husband every night - no matter what; even if I only write a couple of sentences, I always write. He loves getting them and it keeps him up to date on what is happening with us. Sometimes I include pictures, but they are mostly just a run down of what we did that day, what I was able to accomplish or cute things the kids have done or said. Well, before I send the email off, I copy it to a word document and occasionally (like tonight) I print off all of my entries and take them upstairs to my three ring binder/ journal and there I go!!! Killing two birds with one stone has never felt so good!!
It is really fun to read back through all the entries. Who doesn't like looking back at stuff you've written!? I started a journal when I was 8 years old and it has been a sporadic life goal of mine to be consistent with my journaling. I have never been consistent. I do a little here and there, but it is sooooo much fun to read what I wrote at age 8 or at age 14. I wish that I would have written MORE!! Since I became a mother (ten years ago!!! WOW!) I have been a little better at writing in my journal; at least yearly! This is, by far, my most steady progression to journaling greatness. I have written every day since the 29th of December, 2006. Wow. I would encourage you all to write, or at least collect your writings, and print them out and keep them for your future enjoyment! It's great entertainment for cold February nights!

Look what I found!!

So, I was lazily cruising through my favorite blogs this afternoon.... Jilli put herself down for a nap and I'm between laundry loads... and I found THE most adorable blog. You must take a peek! I don't know that I'll ever actually make any of her delicious delights, (NOT figure friendly!!) but WOW!! Can you just say YUMMY!?! Check it out here: http://bakerella.blogspot.com/ I was definitely drooling!! Good thing pictures are fat free!! Hee hee!!

Saturday

I like Saturday. It is a great day. I always seem to get a lot accomplished on Saturday. Today was no exception. I was able to get the entire house cleaned and organize Jess' room! Hooray! I love sitting in a quiet, clean house. It makes me feel so peaceful.
I'm burning a sweet little candle right now that is filling my kitchen with the greatest aroma - Lavender and Lemons! It smells clean and fresh. Very nice. I love Yankee candles. They have some of the sweetest scents. (Plus we can get them cheaper at the PX! Love that!)
I have been reading some blogs and emails while I've been sitting here in my peaceful kitchen. I must say that my friends have the most beautiful babies!!! Gorgeous! Babies are such fun! I'd have another, if I didn't have to go through the pregnancy and delivery!!! Ugh! I read a blog today from the funniest woman! She shared some great stories and then down a little further, she was talking about inner beauty. I loved what she had to say! She quoted some prophets and made a really good point - “You must do everything you can to make your appearance pleasing, but the minute you walk out the door, forget yourself and start concentrating on others.” She said that her mother had taught her that. I just loved that saying!!! You've really got to read the whole post on her blog... http://accordingtolei.blogspot.com/ It is down a ways, under "On Inner Beauty". Seriously, check it out. Good stuff.
So, one of my long time friends and customers has dropped out of my stamp club! She has a lot going on in her life right at the moment and she felt she needed to let some things go. I really admire her for being able to do that! Sometimes it is so hard for us to let things go! She was so worried that I would be upset with her... uh NO!... for wanting to drop out, but I told her not to worry! I love selling Stampin' Up! but it is really just a way to support my own personal stamping habit... I just feel so honored that there are people that like it as much as I do and actually want to come out and participate with me once a month! It is such a bonus to have women come out and play with me!!! I am just really not a salesperson... I show them the stuff and if they want it GREAT and if they don't GREAT! No worries! It works for me and keeps me happy. Isn't that what life is all about?? Finding happiness!?!
My children made me quite happy tonight. We went out bowling together with some of our friends. They were so well behaved! We waited for our food from the snack bar for over an hour!! Then we had to wait for our lanes... They were just so good! My friend told me several times how impressed she was by them. It made me all warm and fuzzy inside. I love my kids. They also bowl amazingly. Very fun to watch!
I am sorry that this post seems to be somewhat of a ramble through my current thoughts.... I shall try harder next time to keep them more organized! Hee hee.

Visual

I guess I am a very visual person. I have always been like this. In school, if I had seen something, I could picture it in my mind with near perfect recall. I guess you could call it a bit of photographic memory... although it has not stuck with me much. I think it requires some regular usage to stay active... but I am going to attempt to leave a post in my blog that does not have any pictures!!!
I was reading a couple of blogs today that didn't have any pictures and they had such wonderful thoughts that came flowing out into their cyber journals. I wanted this to happen on mine. Now that I want it to happen. It won't.
Back to the photographic memory thing. The more I think about it, I think that I do use that little talent of mine quite a bit as a mother. For instance, when the kids say, "Mom, have you seen the little gray truck with the big black tires that I got from Burger King?" or " Mom, I can't find the shirt to my Polly Pocket doll." I can always say, "It is in your room, under the purple purse in the bottom of your toy drawer." or "Under the third pillow on the couch." This has got to mean that at some point I saw the object in question in precisely that location and can recall it from my memory when asked. What a great talent. See! I do have some talents that don't involve any sort of creativity! Yay!
I was telling the kids the other day that I was a Nerd. Yep. Full-blown, glasses and braces, straight A's, preppy clothes, Nerd. They didn't believe me. Guess it's time to pull out the old photo albums and give them a lovely picture of me to keep in their not so photographic memories! I guess that it's not a trait that one can pass on to their posterity. Darn it. OR maybe it's something that they get when they become parents. Guess I'll wait and see!

My Hair!!

Today has been the best day!! I finally went and got my hair done! It was long overdue. (As you can see from the before photo!!) The last time I had anything done was in July on my visit to Utah with my personal stylist... Miss Emily - LOVE HER!!
I have been asking around and trying to find a great hair place for a month or so. I got the name of a great little salon on Raeford from one of my good friends. She takes all her teenage daughters there and they just love her. The friend who gave me the referral watched my children so I could go and be pampered. She is such an angel! My children are so happy in her home and I know they are well taken care of! I had the stylist go really dark... because I don't want it to fade out as much as it did before. I like my hair more brown than red. It was so nice to go in and talk with an adult, get my head massaged and my self esteem boosted! Who doesn't come out of a salon feeling like a million bucks!!?? I also had my eyebrows waxed... wooo! Isn't it great being a woman? I am just on cloud 9 today... So if you need a hair boost and live by me... call Cynthia at Kim's Hair and Nails on Raeford. AWESOME!

Before

After

We had the best time tonight at our Ward party!! Our Activities committee is awesome!! They had planned a little "drive-in" movie night for us and it was a blast! The kids were all encouraged to make cars from cardboard boxes and my kids really enjoyed making their cars! I let them decide colors and themes... I just helped with the logos (love Google!!). Miah's is a Mustang - with racing stripes (very important!). Jessica's is a VW bug (minus the curvy aspects...) and Jillian's was Dora themed (her favorite!) They served grilled hot dogs and popcorn and handed out tickets to kids who were caught behaving during the show! Afterwards, they got to turn in their tickets for a full sized candy bar!!! My kids are great anyways... but they were extra motivated to be their best. The show was "Snow Buddies" and was a very cute doggie movie that I believe just came out this week, so none of us had seen it! It was perfect. The best part was that each family was encouraged to bring canned food in as their admission price!! The local food bank will love that! I think we have the best Activities committee in the church!! Way to go guys!!

Playing at the playground!

We had so much fun this afternoon playing at the playground! It was very warm and felt like spring - perfect weather! We were waiting for Jessi to come out of her tutoring and what better way to pass the time with a two year old than to hit a nearby playground!?! Jilli is a monkey! Literally!! She climbed everything with NO FEAR!! My friend tells me it is because she is the third child... but it scared me to death!! I was getting all sweaty and anxious just watching her go! It was a nice break for all of us. Jeremiah loved the attention and got to show me all the neat tricks he's been working on at recesses for weeks. I love watching my kids enjoying themselves. I need to let them be kids more often... play away!!

Check out my lovely home!

Here are some pictures of my lovely home. I wrote a whole bunch about them below, in the actual post, but I couldn't get it to put in more than 5 pictures, so here are the rest! Enjoy!

My Decorating Prowess

I would not call my self a "decorator" per say... but I REALLY enjoy making my house feel homey! If that makes me a decorator... than I am! I love stars and I love sunflowers. They are both really happy things. I am a persistent pessimist and I MUST surround myself with happy things to keep my balance. I was talking to my inspiration today (no, dear, not you! Although you do inspire me!). My dear sister, Rebecca, inspires me! She sent me a package today for my birthday full of the most adorable things! You wouldn't believe it! (Or maybe you would if you know her!) Her home is the most picture perfect place. She knows just where to put things and keeps her decor simple and sweet. Her color scheme is perfect... I could go on and on! I'd like to just move right in! It would be nice to have an actual "home" to live in and decorate... but I do love absolutely everything about my home! I think it all meshes well together and I wouldn't give up a single piece of our old, worn, handed down furniture!! It's all full of memories, history and stories! I personally care a great deal for the couch that my parents gave us! I have pictures of me on that couch when I was a tiny infant. It has been with me my whole life. I know Chris would like to chuck it out the door - mostly because he is really good at stubbing his toes on it - but I won't let him! It is just AWESOME! Now, don't get me wrong... I would love some new furniture... (and I absolutely LOVE the new bed Chris gave me for Christmas!!) but I think that couch will have to stay with us for as long as it will. Hopefully forever. Ok. I guess I should have called this post "Ode to a Couch". It is getting late... I can only get this dumb thing to post 5 pictures... I'm so not good at this. The first one is of my lovely couch! Then I took some pictures of my favorite walls. I took some of my sunflower stuff, but I will have to post them later... maybe below or above this post - however it works. Then I took some pictures of what Rebecca sent me... the CUTEST little "LOVE" board and the most adorable clip board/ memo station... She ROCKS!!! She also sent me some chocolate which I was indeed "dying" for this afternoon! Perfect timing Beck! I was busy all day organizing stuff. I got a little bee in my bonnet and had to get rid of some stuff and make everything fit in totes... I still have a lot to go through tomorrow. It is so fun for me though! I just wish it wasn't so time consuming! It seems that my whole day (meaning the time that my older two are at school) is gone before I even finish the game closet and the linen closet!!! ARGH! No worries. I did take a break at 1:00 today to catch the LDS church news conference where they announced that Thomas S. Monson is our new prophet! He will have Elders Eyring and Uchtdorf for his counselors and they are going to be a fantastic first presidency! Change is exciting. As much as we will miss our dear President Hinckley, we look forward to the things that are ahead. The gospel is a glorious thing! Well, I must go prep for bed... my prince will be calling soon! Ta for now!