I The Boss!

Morgan: Mom, Gabe's not turning off the movie for nigh-nighttime. I told them to, and their not. (keep in mind, its Morgan's bedtime, not the boys.
Mom: And who made you boss?
Morgan: Mommy, you the boss, and I told them to turn off movie, and they no do it!
Mommy: but Morgan, who made you the boss?
Morgan: My, my peoples made me the boss.
(mommy can't talk, has to go in the other room to laugh)
Daddy: Who's boss, Morgan or mommy?
(I hate it when he prompts her!)
Morgan: you the boss daddy
(clearly trying to butter him up for a long story read before bedtime)

Okay, so here's my latest Tag from Emily. Thanks Em. It was fun reading your answers. I hope everyone reads mine with a sence of humor...you'll need it.

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6am
2. Diamonds or pearls? both for different reasons.
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Penelope, see previous post.
4. What is your favorite TV show(s)? AI, Survivor, Men in Trees, (I like to laugh at the way they portray Alaska)
5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Dessert Protein Shake (usually banana nut or Cinnamon flavor...SOOOO GOOD!)
6. What is your middle name? Don't have one... another thing I can blame on my parents. LOL
7. What food do you dislike? Peppers...yup, just peppers. Unfortunately, I'm not a very picky eater.
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? ?CD? with kids? Seriously? Oh, I think we're listening to the Disney Collection number 5 right now. LOL I'm still reeling from the possibility of buying a CD just for my listening pleasures.
9. What kind of car do you drive? KIA Sadona
10. Favorite sandwich? toasted wheat with roast beef and provolone, pickles, lettuce, and olives
11. What characteristic do you dislike? Dishonest and two-faced
12. Favorite item of clothing? my cycling shorts. Matt says they give me a J-Lo butt
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would go? Anyplace tropical. beach, sunny, warm water, can you tell its the end of a cold Alaska Winter?
14. What color is your bathroom? Which one? My master is green, white, and other neutrals, my guest bath is blue and whites with a nautical theme, and the boy's bathroom is blue and white with little goldfish all over. That reminds me, I need to redecorate.
15. Favorite brand of clothing? Old Navy
16. Where would you retire to? Me? Northern Utah, or Idaho. Matt? Here baby, here.
17. What was your most memorable birthday? Probably my 23rd. I cried the whole day before, because I hadn't gone into labor yet, then my husband threw me a party, and I went into labor the next day.
19. Farthest place you are sending this? Arizona
20. What is your best quality? Creative... Physically? my abs...thanks Alina:) (jk of course, I have a ways to go still)
21. When is your birthday? May 15, 1978
22. Are you a morning person or a night person? Used to be a night person, then a morning person, now I'm more of a mid day person.
23. What is your shoe size? 8 to 8 1/2, depending on the shoe.
24. Pets? Black Lab and white cat.
25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? I just broke in a new pair of running shoes! LOL no, no real news.
26. What did you want to be when you were little? When I was little? Either a mommy or a teacher. When I was in JR High, HS? A Lawyer
27. What are you now? Mother, Wife, taxi driver, judge and jury, head chef, trauma nurse, librarian, dry cleaner, math teacher, English teacher, chemist, artist, accountant, and CEO. (well, co- on a few of those maybe.:)
28. What is your favorite candy? Recently, its Recess Peanut butter cups.
29. What is your favorite flower? Daffodils
30. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? The day my family gets to go on a real vacation. (live in Alaska, remember...flying is expensive.) I envy all you "lower 48"ers who can just get in a car and drive a couple of hours to a theme park or beach!

HEART AND SOUL...

...I fell in love with you! Matt and I sat down last night to practice a song that we'll be singing for my RS Birthday Dinner. We were composing new parts for Matt. (he hates unison) Afterwards, we just started fooling around, playing heart and soul, and improvising with with fun songs. I loved it. We used to play the piano together more, and I have missed it lately. Thanks hun, for a fun evening, of music, and much needed laughter at the end of a crazy day. Wait, I just realised he got out of doing his push-ups and crunches...I think I've been duped!

Penelope

We recently had a girls night out where we went and saw the movie "Penelope". Loved it! mom, Renae, and I went (with Morgan in tow) and we sent the boys with dad to see "Spiderwick". everybody had fun. And bonus, Dad didn't have to see another chick-flick. And I'm not normally a big James McAvoy fan, but the ending, where he grabs her and kisses her before he knows her nose is gone? Very hot. (sorry mom and Ellen, but it was)

Recent pictures of Miss Morgan

Just a few pictures of Morgan from the last month.



Morgan and "Claykon" are the best of buddies. If they go more than a few days without seeing each other, Morgan is calling Clayton to see how he's doing, and if he wants to come play with her, and get married. (to Morgan, married, is the same as dancing, twirling, and dipping)

Morgan is all girl, and enjoys getting all gussied up. I rarely sit down to do my makeup that she's not right next to me, asking if she can do makeup too. Her favorites, are powder, lipstick, and mascara. She's surprisingly good at this application.

Wednesday was a day filled with lots of back and forthing. It started early, when I had to answer the call of a friend at 6:30am because she had slid into a ditch at the end of my road. We dug, and dug, then decided it was too big a job, and called my HT in for assistance. (Thank you Jeff and Brandy!) Then I took the kids to school, preschool, and I headed over to my mom's for a personal training session. (she refuses to go to the gym because its become quite popular, and very intimidating). So I go over, and make her do all kinds of painful exercises. She loves it though. She's using muscles she never knew she had. When we were done, I headed to the gym for my own workout. Morgan came home, and she had a friend over to play for the afternoon, then we picked the boys up from school. Homework, reading, and back to the gym for mom's Taebo class. Oh, and did I mention that in the middle of all this, Matt slid into the ditch at the end of our driveway, ran out of gas before we got it out, then once it was out, the car wouldn't start again? Yeah, so its been towed, and we just heard today, that the engine is dead, and needs to be replaced. Nice hu? (if your not aware, we have THE worst luck with cars.... I mean, really bad luck...and neither Matt, nor my dad really know a lot about cars. Not that that would help with a broken engine.

Good bye to a dear friend

Thursday, I attended my dear friend's funeral. I worked quite a lot with Jen Van Ausdal to coordinate several stake activities during the last few years. The big one being the communitee choir's presentation of The Messiah. Jenn and I also went to the same gym. In fact, Jenn was my inspiration to join and keep with it for over a year now. She was always such a a bubbly, funloving individual, who, even after a bad day personally, had nothing but smiles, and positive things to say. Jenn was in a car accident Saturday night, and passed away Sunday morning after being life lined to Anchorage. They did everything, but there was too much head trama, and she never came out of the coma. Her two boys Tim and Zach were with her. Tim sustained a tearing of his bowel, and had to have part of it removed. Their father, Dennis, believes that Tim was actually choking before the crash and that Jenn was trying to help him, and this is why Jenn crossed the line into oncoming traffic. The paramedics were able to remove the obstruction and save Tim. Zach's injuries were more severe. He broke his leg, and fractured his scull, so swelling of the brain has been a great concern. But we are very encouraged by his progress. He has woken up several times, and can write yes and no to answers. Our prayers are with this family, and the long struggle they have ahead of them.

What a Week!

We end the week with a hair cut for the boys. This is where we insert the phrase, "you might be a redneck if..." Let me back up. I HATE giving the boys haircuts. I have now been banned from giving Matt haircuts...he has to call madam Laurie for appointments lately (my mom). I'm also too cheep to pay that much money for little boys to have their hair cut. Especially my boys, who are like their father, and their hair grows out faster than anything I've ever seen. So, I decided that the boys were way too shaggy for church this Sunday. It started out well. I handed the clippers to Chandler for a second, while I moved some towels, and that was enough time for him to remove the comb, and run a stripe down the middle of his head.

me: Well, Chandler, I guess your going bald now.

Chandler: really? can I do it?

me: I guess you can't get anymore bald than you already are, so sure! Have a ball.

Chandler: Wicked cool! (yes, he actually said wicked)

me: Did you just say wicked cool?

Chandler: Ya, this it totally awesome!

no, I have not been letting him watch Wayne's World, Bill and Ted's, or any other dumb 80's movie. The sweet thing, is when it came time for Gabe to get his haircut, he wanted to be just like Chandler, so Chandler wouldn't be bald by himself.

It warms my heart...

This little guy really got into the spirit of Night Tag! It warms my heart to see my husband and children having fun, and playing games together. Even if its past bedtime. Sometimes there are more important things in life...

Last night I came home from the gym, to four kids playing flash light tag in the house. (I'm including my sweetie in the total) This is something Matt started playing with the kids this fall, and with the cold weather, they sometimes move the game inside the house. With 3 levels to our home, it makes for a really fun hide and go seek game. They even got mom to play. FIrst round...Gabe is the seeker, and everyone else hides in the dark, while he counts to 20 in the bathroom, then comes out with his flashlight, and tries to find everyone. I don't know where everyone else hid, but the moment I found where I wanted to hide, the dog decided he needed to hide with me. You should have seen me, trying to shove the dog out from under the bar where I was hiding. I sat between the wall, and a bar stool, and heard Gabe coming around the corner. "thats it," I thought. "The stupid dog is going to give me away". Gabe came around the corner, and I saw the beam from his flash light. "Gotcha!" he shouted. Just then bear came running from my spot, and Gabe's disappointment was evident. "oh, its just you bear". Gabe swept through my area 2 more times, and it took Matt out right telling him (Thanks dear) where mommy was hiding, for him to finally find me. Ha! I am the queen of Flash light tag!

Peannut Butter Cookies!

I was in a total baking mood last night. I had a turkey in the oven, overriped bananas that I made into banana bread, and then I read the pickey palate and got inspired to make some peannut butter cookies for the kids. Morgan helped me and we had a blast. I LOVE this book that my friend Sharon gave me. (Thank you Sharon) 6 Ingredients or less is an awesome cook book for anyone like me, who lives by being a semi homemade kind of cook. (Sandra Lee is my hero!) These are especially fun for the kids to make.

1 cup peannut butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking soda

Mix, roll into balls, and bake for 8-10 minutes at 350. I like to smash them with a fork. And I also added one of my new favs from the bakery isle. These toffee chips are to die for, and they were a great addition to the pb cookies.

Kids say the funniest...

Okay, so during Sacrament Meeting today, Morgan kept asking me for a snackament. I'd go through the bag, item after item, trying to find a snack that would suit her. Nope, she wanted none of it. She was quite insistant that she wanted a snackament. Then tonight, as I was putting her to bed, and she was talking about church, and getting a snackament, it donged on me. She was talking about the Sacrament, but to her, it was also a form of snack. guess we need to review the old Sacrament FHE again) I laughed so hard when I finally put 2 and 2 together, and realized what she was talking about. And all Morgan could say was, "oh my gosh mommy, you so silly!) Guess the ol' mom's getting a little slow in her old age.

Happy Anniversary Babe!

My sweetie and I went into Anchorage this weekend and stayed at the Captain Cook hotel. We had so much fun! We went to the movies, out for Chinese, (at my fav Panda resteraunt) did a little shopping, (I got a late anniversary present...my new beautiful necklace) and we walked through downtown Anchorage. Town Square is full of all kinds of ice sculptures, (yeah, Katie, Arizona's not the only frozen place). I guess the theme this year is Aliens, so that should help explain the picture of Matt and I sitting on one's lap. There was also a wookie, but it had melted a little, and it was hard to tell in the picture. We had so much fun. (Corny, I know) but we didn't care what we did as long as we were together. I even took Matt to Boarders...yeah, I know what turns him on. LOL

Yeah! Chandler's finally a Wolf!

Chandler is our first scout. He's the son of an Eagle Scout, the grandson of an Eagle Scout, and the great-grandson of an Eagle Scout. He has scouting in his blood. Now if we can just convince his leaders. (and mom) This was his first Blue and Gold, and Chandler received his Communications Belt loop, and is looking to get his Bobcat at the next meeting.

Heart Break

Well, it had to happen I guess. Our eldest experienced his first heart brake. On the way home from school, I was asking the boys how their Valentine's parties had gone. Later, he talked about his day with Matt, here's how the conversation went...
Chandler: "Some kids were talking today, and they said the Harlon asked Bailey to be his Valentine, and I got so mad I said I was going to hang him by his underwear in a tree! And a bunch of kids helped me write Bailey hundreds of letters. I don't like that Harlon...Bailey's been my bestest friend since we were in Kindergarden."
Chandler: "Dad, what does it mean to be someone's Valentine?"
Matt: "Well, at your age, it just means your friends."
Chandler: "Oh, that's not so bad, I thought it meant they would be friends forever!"

So, here we are...parents of a second grade boy who's not quite ready to say he likes girls, but doesn't want other boys to like them either. Here's a funny thing about both boys classes. They're incredibly lopsided. Chandler's class has 15 boys and only 5 girls. Gabe's class, on the other hand, has 15 girls and 5 boys. To say the least, Gabe's in Heaven!

Mom's vaca

May RS had a ladies retreat this weekend out at our Bishop's wife's house. It was great. No kids, no husbands, no dogs, or pets, or homework, or housework. Just some fun women, doing whatever crafts or projects we want. Some quilted, some did scrapbooking, sewing, painting, family history, whatever we wanted. We ate, and ate and ate. We stayed up till 2am, talking, giggling, it was great!
So, since I was leaving the kids with their grandpa and dad, I thought it only fitting to fill them up with some good old fashioned sugar. The kids helped me make and then decorate this cake. They had a ball, and it wasn't half bad.

H2O Family

We were invited to a birthday party at the school yesterday. The kids had a ball! notice my kids are still not little fishies when it comes to the water. I think they get it from Matt, cause I was doing the dead man's float, and diving from the high dive by the time I was Chandler's age.

Jenn's Triple Berry Cobbler

Here's my delisioso (you Dora fans know that word well) Triple Berry Cobbler. ITs a tried and true family favorite around my house. Simply take the frozen Costco triple berry blend, mix in some sugar and flower, and a drizzle or so of some lemon juice. then poor into your cooking dish. Then I take a cube and a half of butter, softened, then add one yellow cake mix, some oats, and nutmeg. then I just take a fork and combine it. Keep it nice and crumbly. You don't want everything mixed together like a cake mix. Then I take handfulls, and just crumble them on topof the berries. Bake at 350 till golden brown. (30-45 min.) We like to pull ours out of the oven, wait maybe ten minutes, then dish it up with whip cream. YUMMMMMMY! (I had to cut Chandler off after his third helping)

We love our dentist, Dr. Engibous. He's got to be the best Pediatric dentist ever! What's more, is the kids love him too. The boys love the video games they get to play, and mom loves that nobody goes in, or comes out with tears, or tantrums, like in past dentist visits. Here's the boys playing the video game while they wait.















Looks like some torture devise, hu?

Morgan and her artwork she has been doing this week in pre-school. I try and take pictures of their extra special, and usually, extra big treasure that the kids make at school. That way, if something should 'accidentally happen' to them, we've got a record of what they did.

Why is it, that the smaller the kid, the larger the art project???

Clean your room!

This is what I get when I ask the boys to take pictures of their clean room, instead of going down to see for myself. They thought they were very clever though. Only taking one picture of a small piece of cleared away floor in their room. Oh well, at least they had fun...

So I asked the boys to go clean their room last night. They kept telling me, "it is clean, it is clean". I was busy trying to get dinner ready, (this is where my lazy parenting comes into play)so I actually handed them the digital camera, and said, "here, each of you take a picture of your room to show me how clean it is, then bring the camera back and I'll see". These are the pictures that Chandler took. One of gabe, and one of a square yard of carpet.