Olson, Dot and Mack

Let me introduce to you Olson, Dot and Mack. These 3 guys are really part of our family! They are loved as though they are anyway. Since they are an essential part of all of us getting a good nights sleep, I thought that I would write a little about each of them.

First we have Olson. Olson is a monkey and is Little Dudes favorite.

Olson was given to Little Dude when Little Princess was born. My grandma gave it to him (his great-grandma). Since then he has slept with Little Dude almost every night. At the beginning of winter we couldn't find Olson. I thought he was buried outside under the snow. It would make me sick to not know where he was at, and Little Dude was having a hard time with it too. A few weeks ago, Little Dude wanted to ride his bike. While searching through the garage he found Olson stashed in the back of the Barbie Jeep. Who would of thought that he was spending the winter in there. I brought him inside, gave him a bath, and we have all been sleeping better at night. I do have to say, Olson is a trooper. He has been tossed around, thrown up on, bounced on the trampoline, and like I said, spent the winter in the back of the Barbie Jeep.

Now here is Dot. Little Princess got her by my same grandma (her great-grandma) when she was born.

For the past 3 (almost 4) years she has been sleeping next to Little Princess. She is one LOVED bear! Little Princess will not go to sleep any where unless Dot is with her. She has been through alot too. Nothing like spending the winter in the garage, but she is almost always needing a bath.

Here is Mack. Little Man got him when he was born, and yes it was from grandma.
Mack hasn't had much time to be loved like Olson and Dot, but he is still very much apart of the clan. Little Man was carrying him around in his walker today and chewing on his arm. I have a feeling that he will end up just like the others with needing to be slept with EVERY night. A little story about how he got his name though. When Little Dude was little and learned what a duck said he couldn't say quack. He just said mack. So every time he saw a duck he would call it mack. So when my grandma gave Little Man this cute duck we just HAD to call him Mack.

Best $6.00 EVER spent

As some of you know, Little Man doesn't really crawl. He scoots. He actually can scoot really well. He even goes forward now! But we felt that he needed to be a little more mobile. My hubby had the idea to check out the DI to see if there was a baby walker that we could get for him. He found this for $6.00. (Gotta love the thrift store!) When we got it home and cleaned up we realized that it was the BEST $6.00 EVER SPENT! This kid LOVES his new freedom. He cruises all over the place. He gets going really fast and will cruise down the hallway with the other kids. He loves to be chased in it, and even chase the cat.



He has learned that he can get into more things like, the blinds, my sock drawer, and things on the coffee table. It cracks me up to watch him in this. He feels like such a big boy now.

Little Dude is 5!

It has been awhile since I had gotten out my camera. I wanted to take a few pictures of Little Dude because of him turning 5 and all. He is just so silly. It is so hard to take his picture sometimes. But occasionally I get a few that I really like. Like this one.



He was a good sport though. I bribed him with making cookies today. That made him really happy.



He was starting to get bored. He really can't contain his silliness for long. So I told him he could give me a silly face.



This is what I got! Always such a joker!

Dinosaur Birthday Cake

Well here it is. I never said I was a pro. I just try to do what my kids ask for. This year Little Dude wanted a dinosaur birthday cake and I delivered the best I could.

Here is how it was made:

I bought the dinosaurs at Wal Mart. The volcano is made out of a ice cream cone with the end cut off of it. The pond is blue jello that was added to my cut out just as the jello was starting to get set up. The trees are made out of pretzels and fruit roll ups. The green grass is just green sugar.

The poor writing looks terrible. I was busy with Little Dude and his friends (they were watching me) and I actually spelled birthday wrong. When I tried to fix it, it just made it look really bad. I should have just left it birthdy. No one would have even noticed!

Back with the living.

I hate to do another post like this but I just have so many things that I want to get caught up on.



~ We are finally better now. It was amazing, the minute my fever broke I felt better. The few days after I felt like I was totally rested. It sucks to get sick, but I loved the extra rest that I got.



~ It was a good thing that I started to feel better too because I had a birthday that I had to plan for. Thursday was Little dude's birthday. I am still in shock that he is now 5 years old. He had a great time and loved all of the attention. I survived the dinosaur birthday cake (pictures to come) and I was actually pretty proud of it. He celebrated from Wednesday at school, Thursday at home, Friday we took him to lunch, Saturday he had a party with his friends, and Sunday they sang to him at church. I am all birthday-ed out.



~ Remember that thing that I mentioned that I was getting impatient about? That thing that was going to change our lives? Well, I can now say what it is. My hubby quit his job at Chase. He was starting to be unhappy there, and things were getting a little hard on our family too. He had been praying about things and what would be best for the family, then one day the answer came to him. (He didn't know it at the time, but we now know that it was totally his answer) He had a feeling that he needed to look at another bank's website to see if they were hiring. They were so he took just a few minutes to fill out the online application. 20 minutes later they called him and set up an interview. The next day they met with him, and set up another interview for the day after that. Within the next week he knew he had the job. He had beat out like 60 something other applicants. He put in his two weeks and they told him to just take the time off. So for the next week he will be at home, then starting his new job next week. This really will be better for our family and for his carrer. He will be in a biger branch, they will be teaching him some things that he couldn't learn at Chase, he will be making more money, and he just feels that he will be happier. I am excited for him and so happy that he listened to the promptings of the spirit.



~ Since my hubby was at home on Friday we thought we should take the kids somewhere fun for lunch. We took them to the Mayan Restaurant so they could watch the cliff divers. They thought that it was really cool. They gave Little Dude a silly hat and gave him ice cream for his birthday. It was so fun to spend time as a family. The kids really got a kick out of it too.



~ Today is our 8th wedding anniversary! I can't believe that we have been married 8 years all ready! I am more in love with my hubby than I ever have been. Every day I love him more and more. I am so blessed because of him. He works so hard, and I am so proud of him. Happy Anniversary Honey! I love you!

This Cop is Mental!

This video just makes me sick!

I wonder why he was asking.

I overheard this the other day when I was trying to make dinner.

Little Dude: "Daddy who created Heavenly Father?"

Daddy: "He was created just like us honey."

Little Dude: "But who did it?"

Daddy: "His daddy did."

Little Dude: "Who is that? Moses?"

Daddy: "No, Moses isn't Heavenly Father's daddy."

Little Dude: "Who is it?"

Daddy: "Heavenly Grandfather."

Little Dude: "Who is Heavenly Grandfather's daddy?"

Daddy: "Heavenly Great-grandfather

Still sick ~ Yuck!

I take it back. I don't feel like I was hit by a bus. It's really more light a freight train.

In fact the baby and I had a really rough night last night. He is really sick too. We got up and went to the Instacare this morning. We fell asleep on the half bed thing in the office together. It was a sweet moment. The doctor took one look at me and said that I am suffering from Influenza and a Sinus Infection. Then he looked at the baby. He still has the croup and has an ear infection. We really are a mess.

My hubby has been holding us together. Let's just hope and pray that he doesn't get it.

Google Search Key Words Part 1

I recently signed up with a new site counter that gives me more information about how people come to my blog and who is here. I knew I got tons of hits from Google searches and I have always wondered what they were searching for that brought them to me. Well now I know. I have been very entertained by the key words so I thought that I would share a few of the funny ones.

~ Crazy Pee (You and I both know that I have had a little too much of that in my career as a mother)
~ Something that I will never understand (Me either! This one is really funny to me!)
~ Miley Cyrus' Deep Dark Secrets (Come here to get all the dirt! LOL)
~ Vaseline Uses (Remember this story? So do I!)
~ I am going crazy (You and me both!)
~ Career time line for the next 10 years (Ummm, ok.)
~ 3 year old peeing all over (Yup! Had my share of this)
~ How to get a truck unstuck (Call me! I am an expert!)
~ Master Bathroom remodel (Mine looks TOTALLY awesome!)
And lets not forget the one that has made me famous
~Lightning McQeen Birthday Cake (Oh, do I get TONS of hits every day from this one!)


Thought these were funny! Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!

Just thinking....

It has been a few days since I have posted, but I have had a few things on my mind still.

#1 Little Dude's birthday is in less than a week away. My kids always put my cake making skills to the test every year. This year is no exception. Little Dude wants a Dinosaur cake. If anyone has any suggestions then let me know. I just don't know what to make.

#2 I have been feeling like I have been hit by a bus. My lungs are so tight and I have this cough that has been giving me a headache. On top of that every inch of my body aches and I have had the chills. I really wanted to make cookies with my kids for Valentine's Day, but I sat my butt on the couch almost the entire day.

#3 My hubby brought me home the most beautiful flowers, a box of peanut butter cups, and the silliest card yesterday. I just love him to death.

#4 I have really been enjoying Roxy (the new kitty). She is the sweetest little thing, and really likes to cuddle. The only problem that we have found in her so far is that she likes to sleep in the baby's crib down by his feet. One night he woke up scared because she was sniffing at his face.

#5 Even though this blog is just for fun and to write down what happens to me every day, it is still fun to get comments. I wonder why I get so many hits on my blog every day but not very many comments.

#6 There might be something that will change in our household really soon, and I am getting a little impatient about it. I just can't wait to see what happens! I would be so good for us.

#7 As much as I love the snow I am getting a little tired of it dumping 6 inches at every storm. I swear we will have snow until the 4th of July.

#8 I love my church calling. I love the young women that are in my ward! They are all so special in their own way, and it hurts to see some of them struggle. I wish that I could take each one of them by the hand and guide them through the hard times in life.

#9 We are VERY blessed that out Jeep didn't die on us the other day. There was a strange noise coming from the engine and when my hubby checked it out there wasn't any oil in it. I am totally embarrassed that this happened, but I am grateful that it was caught before it was a huge problem.

#10 The other day the baby fell off the couch and hit is head on the coffee table. He hit is SO hard that we thought he had a concussion. We took him the ER and he was fine but with a HUGE bruise on his head. The next day Little Dude was trying to take him outside to watch me put away some outside toys and he cut his head open on the brick by the front door. His head is a mess! He looks like we have been beating him. Poor kid!

#11 My 8th anniversary is comming up and I wonder if I get to do something fun with my hubby. The last time he took me on a date was our anniversary last year. Life has just been so busy, but I hope that we can go out this year!

Well that is about it. I am hoping that I will be feeling back to normal soon so I can get to some of the other things that I have been wanting to post. Have a great weekend everyone!

Roxy!

Little Princess it happy to introduce to you HER little Roxy. Roxy is about 5 months old or so and came to live with us late last night. When daddy got home and woke up Little Princess to show her that mommy and daddy got her a new kitty she was THE HAPPIEST I HAVE SEEN HER IN A LONG TIME! That smile is something that I wish I could have captured on camera. This picture just doesn't do it justice.


So far Roxy has been a great little kitty. She has entered into this home with so much love that it really makes it worth it! When we first started talking about getting Little Princess a kitty it just seemed like fun, but the more I thought about it the better the idea got. I realized that it would really do her alot of good to have a little friend. This is something that is all hers. Not her big brother's, not her little brother's, HERS! She has felt a little picked on lately, and sad that she doesn't have friends in the circle that she can just go play with. We have been giving her a little extra attention lately, but we thought this would be something that would make her feel REALLY special! I am happy to report that I have seen the side of my Little Princess that I haven't seen in awhile! I think that she does feel special! I love that she is so happy today!

When I was 3 years old, I loved cats! So much so, that I would take the neighbor's cats and hide them in my room. I would close the door and play with them until my mom would knock on the door. I would hurry and hide them in my dresser drawer and lie that I had a kitty in my room. For my birthday that year, my parents got me a kitty. I remember going to pick him out. I was SUPER excited! I brought him home and named him Tigger. I felt so special when I got my kitty too! I remember taking him everywhere! Playing with him, and having so much love for him. When he would get into a fight and get sick I would call my mom at work and just cry and cry about my worry for him.

When my parents got Tigger for me they thought that he would last just a couple of years. They didn't know that he would be around until just after I got married 17 years later. Even though I know that Tigger was really sick and really old, I still get sad when I think about him not being around any more. He was a big part of my life growing up.

I don't know how long Roxy will be a part of this family, but what I do know is that I know that my Little Princess feels special just like I did when I got Tigger. That is what is important to me!

I really thought we were under attack!

The baby woke up this morning at 5:15. I woke from a very sound sleep to feed him. I stumbled my way to the couch and started to nod back to sleep while I was feeding him. When all of the sudden our un-monitored alarm system goes off. (If you have one you will know how loud they are. Of not let me just say that I wouldn't be surprised if a 2 mile radius around my house heard it.) I jumped off the couch not totally sure what it was. Remember it wasn't monitored so that means that it couldn't be set. I ran SO fast back into my room where I see my hubby trying to get the covers off and yelled at me "WHAT IS THAT?" Here is where the story gets funny so let me paint the picture for you:

Me: Still not totally awake yet, scared out my mind, baby in arms, shirt still open and running into my room.

Hubby: Not totally awake yet either, trying hard to get the covers off, but having a hard time getting out of bed because I was trying to climb all over him for safety. He yells "WHAT IS THAT?"

Me: Remember that I had been sleeping so sound just 20 minutes before! Well, I don't know about you, but when you dream that something terrible happens and you try to yell, but you just can't? And it comes out all mumbled? This wasn't a dream it was very real, and I wasn't totally sure, but almost sure that we were in real danger. I also wasn't totally awake yet either so actually in my mind we were UNDER ATTACK! I tried to yell back to my hubby "I DON"T KNOW WHAT IT IS!" But with my sleepy toung still not cooperating this is how is actually sounded like "WI DONTH DTHOW WATH ITH ITHS!" It was all mumbled like it always is in a dream.

Hubby: In all this mess he yells back "WHAT?" Then he got it! His wife was too scared to talk! (Add sleepy to the mix and I was a wreck!)

At this point the kids were running down the hallway and trying to figure out what was going on. They were in much better shape than their mom!

In the end, my hubby remembered that while he was hanging sheetrock in the basement last night he unplugged the system, and that the battery must have run low. He ran down stairs and plugged it back in and it turned off.

My heart didn't stop pounding until 9:30 this morning, and I have been on high alert since then. Even this night a few years ago wasn't as scary to me as this morning was!

I guess he didn't read my sign!

Does anyone else think that it is funny that snow plow that I requested is having so much trouble driving in the circle that he had to radio for a bigger truck? He even got a little sidways at the end of the street! When I said it was bad, I meant it!

If you drive a truck for a living I am talking to you.

I am going to make this sign and post it at the end of the street!

I can now add Fed Ex truck to my resume. It wasn't near as eventful as the garbage man though. Here is what I have learned in the last week of having to help get two BIG trucks unstuck from my circle:

#1 Don't drive on the North East side of my circle. For some unknown reason that is where everyone keeps getting stuck.

#2 The companies of these two trucks are too cheap to replace tires that are as bald as my dear grandpa. (Love you grandpa!)

#3 One set of chains, (or none in the case of the garbage man) is not really going to help if you don't have it on the tire that is stuck! (Go figure!)

#4 You just can't push these trucks no matter how tough you think you are. (Yea you scrawny little delivery guy. You are smaller than me and if I don't think I can do it I am SURE you won't be able to do it either.)

#5 Now plywood might be a great idea to stick under the tire, I am still going to squint for fear that the tire is going to shoot it across the circle. (it's like waiting for a firework to go off.)

#6 The average time that it will take 2-3 guys and a clueless girl to get big trucks unstuck from the North East corner of my circle is about 45 minutes. (Good thing I started charging by the 1/2 hour)

#7 Watching their clueless mother try to help get the garbage truck, and the Fed Ex truck out of the circle has been better than tv for my kids.

#8 Maybe it is better to just not pull into a circle that has several inches of snow on top of the same amount of ice. There HAS to be a better way if you know you have bald tires and one or no set of chains!

#9 Next time this happens I have to have my camera near by so I can get proof that this keeps happening.

#10 When the other truck says that it is coming to help, count on getting that truck unstuck too! Thankfully this hasn't happened yet, but we were really close with the garbage man!

Thank you!

I am feeling much better. I can't begin to thank you guys enough for your sweet comments, your love and your ideas! I LOVED all of them. Some of the issues are not gone and will take awhile to be gone, but I feel the guidance of my Heavenly Father every day. I am blessed to have wonderful people in my life such as my awesome husband, family and friends. Even you blogging friends! Thank you so very much!

My hubby and I sat down and talked the other night and set some goals for us and our family. I am so excited about these things becasue I know that they will make the difference in our lives, and will make the changes so much easier! I have the most fantastic husband in the world! I am grateful for him and I love him dearly!

I want to share one thing that we have decided to do as a family. That is to do the Hinckley Challenge. It is to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days. I decided to do this on my own too. You can see my own progress on the side of my blog. I am convinced that this will help so much in my life! I hope that anyone else that is struggling with anything right now will also take this challange. I have seen it help me, I am sure that it will help others too!

Middle Child Syndrome

I was going to do a post about my Little Princess and how much she LOVES her overalls. I was thinking this morning about how excited she was to wear her "silver-alls" (still not sure why she calls them that) and I had to laugh. I have always loved them too. There was even a time when I worked at Muzak that my boss had to tell me to stop wearing them to work. I was pretty upset then, but I think that it is really funny now! This girl would wear them every day if she could!

But, while I was taking her picture to go along with the post that I had in mind, I captured this moment. I saw it an fell in love with it. This picture captures HER, who she is, the mischief in her eyes and smile, also the sweet and loving side of her shows through too!

I think that lately she has had a little bit of the "Middle Child Syndrome" where she feels that she is left out, picked on, not heard, and more. I have been trying to give her a little extra attention, and trying to help her and attend to her needs (they are so different than the boy's needs). I think that the small steps have been helping her to feel how special she really is.

We got to play on the floor in her room tegether last night. It was fun! It really helped us both feel better! While giving her some extra attention I remember the lessons that she had taught me in the last few years. I see how alike we are. I realized something of great importance. She learns to love herself from my example of loving myself. Maybe I haven't been the best example to her lately. I have decided on a few things that will help change that, that will help her realize how amazing she is and how much her mommy loves her.

She really is amazing! She makes me laugh, she makes me smile, she makes me think and sometimes cry. I can tell that the battle of right and rebellion (something that I have faught my entire life) has already begun. It is my duty to show her the importance of caring and loving yourself, and most of all the importance of doing what is right. She is so special to me, and I would hate to look back on this time and not feel that I did my very best! I love her so much!

In a slump.

Sometime I go through life just feeling like I am surviving, not really LIVING. I wake up, get kids ready for school, take kids to school, come home, shower, check my email, put baby down for a nap, pick kids up from school, make lunch, have a little down time with the kids, put baby down for another nap, try to get things done around the house (this is the time that I find myself most lazy actually) then I try to get some dinner done because hubby comes home, then we hang out for a bit and everyone goes to bed. But me. I don't sleep well these days. This is what I do every day. It rarely changes.

I have been blogging so much because it seems that it is my connection to the world. My phone never rings unless it is someone telling me that I forgot to pay a bill. (which has been happening too much lately) My hubby might call once a day. He is really busy at work. I check my email, but I rarely have any.

Where am I going with all this you ask? Well, I don't really know. I was feeling pretty crappy about myself and thought that I needed to get some of this out of my head. It has been a really hard couple of months for me. I have tried really hard to put on the happy face and pretend it is all just going to go away. Well, it isn't going anywere. I have the lowest self asteem that I have had in a long time. I feel that I am slowly loosing control of my surroundings.

I think about the things that I need to change to make things better, and it seems overwhelming.Where do I begin? I realize that without change we can never learn, and that in my case it is crutial that things change. I guess all I need is for someone to hold my hand and guide me through it all.

Spring? Um, not till 2009!

When I was a kid, growing up here in Utah, I remember getting so much snow that we had to shovel the roof of the house a few times. There was one year that we got on the roof of the house and jumped off into the pile of snow in the back yard. We had times that the snow would get so bad that they would cancel school even. And for some of you that live in a place that only gets a few inches and the entire town shuts down, let me remind you that you have it easy! It has to snow like 8 inches or more in a 24 hour time in order for them to shut anything down. There was just that much snow!

It has been many years since that has happened here though. I thought that it was just going to be a thing of the past. Until this winter. Almost every day in the last month we have had a snowstorm. Some have been little, but there has been some pretty good ones that has dropped 4-6 inches in one storm. I didn't think that it was possible to get any worse of a storm that we have already had, but when I woke up this morning to probably 8 inches or more, I was SHOCKED! You can't even see the steps to my front porch. My neighbor's van was stuck becasue the snow went right up to the bottom of his bumper. My brother's church was cancelled today because people couldn't get to the building. The wind is blowing so bad that there are snowdrifts that are a couple of feet high. And get this IT IS STILL SNOWING REALLY BAD!

My husband got a call today to bring his snow pants, boots and shovel to church so the Elder's can go dig out those that need help during church! What a cool thing!

There are other places in this valley that usually get more snow than we do. I can't begin to imagine how much snow they have now. This is a crazy storm, but honestly I wouldn't have my winters any other way!

It's a stinky job, but someone had to push him out.

There was quite a scene here in my circle yesterday morning. My hubby had shoveled the driveway before he went to work (nice surprise by the way) but because we got so much snow I had to do it again before little dude went to school. So while I was out there doing it the garbage man came. Usually they slip and slide all over the circle while they pick up the trash, but this morning was different. He got my neighbor's trash but got stuck. He wasn't going anywhere! He got out and tried to shovel some of the ice infront of the tires, he put down some ice melt, he tried to back up, go forward, back up again NOTHING! So my neighbor and I went and tried to help. You can't push those stinky heavy trucks anywhere. We tried to shovel more ice. 30 minutes later still he isn't moving. He calls another garbage truck they come by and help him out. Everything they tried wasn't working either. At this point I thought it was going to be a perminant fixture, well until spring anyway.



Finally, after 45 minutes of the garbage truck still sitting there, they got the idea to lift up the back of the truck like they were dumping it. I saw visions of the circle being filled with piles of garbage and I thought that would be worse than the truck being here until spring, but I had to trust them. Good thing I didn't protest out loud because it was what did the trick. It shifted the weight just enough that he could get out. BUT he still had the rest of the garbage to pick up. So guess what I got to do? My neighbor and I gathered all the rest of the garbage cans placed them in the grabing arms of the garbage truck one at a time. We got the rest of them emptied and he got out ok, but what a fun morning it was yesterday!