Will you Marry Me?

As some of you already know, I took my ring in for its spring cleaning in May, and was told that the prongs were severely warn down, and the diamond was in danger of falling out. Well, the cost of having it repaired was high, so I opted to wear a cheap ring, and put my wedding ring in my jewelry box till we could afford to have it fixed. That time was a few weeks ago when we got our super PFD's (thank you Sarah Palin!). Matt insisted on taking it in, and when it came back about a week later, he surprised me by not only picking it up, but also bringing home a bouquet of roses, (handing one to each kid) he came in, knelt down on one knee, and asked me to marry him again. (he says I hesitated a lot more then I did 10 years ago...what do you expect? It had been a long day!) But I would happily marry this man all over again. I can't believe its already been nearly 10 years since we knelt across the alter in the Anchorage temple and were sealed together for eternity.

If you didn't notice, the ring is placed in the rose in the above picture. Gorgeous roses, hu?

8am Tuesday Morning.

My non-sick kiddo eating his homemade donuts and hot coco (yeah, I know its the world's most nutritious breakfast) before school this morning. I really love the way Gabe gets up so happy every morning, excited to begin the day, and ready to make new friends.

This is how my day started. A sick, pukey kid at the side of my bed beginning at 3:45 this morning. Notice the garbage can next to him?

This is what I found last night as I was heading to bed at 10pm. I had to call Matt in to see what our little artist had done..."I guess she ran out of paper, hu?" was all Matt could say as he walked back to the bedroom, doing his Shelby shake.

What the???!!!

A look out our front door Sunday night after it had started snowing. Don't worry though, it all melted away today!

MY WEEK IN REVIEW

I'm taking after my good friend Amy, and documenting my life for a week. If I can, I'll post pictures, but this will be real folks, so we'll see if I can get my act together this week and get some pictures of what it is we do on a daily basis.

Today, Monday October 6th, 2008:

*Matt was up before the paper boy, so he could ride in with dad since the roads were icy, and we haven't had a chance to buy new tires for either car yet.
*I dragged myself out of bed at 6:30am to start getting the kids ready. I have to literally drag the boys out of bed (not a pretty picture). Morgan is a little bit easier, but Tuesday - Friday, she has to catch the bus at 7:30am, so I like to keep her in the habit of early to bed, early to rise.
*Had to de-ice my car this morning. (grumble grumble, memo to self: have Matt hang bikes tonight so there's room for my car again)
*Boys went to school, and Morgan and I were off to the gym, a little early, since its Monday and I weigh in with Alina on Monday mornings, then its cycling class. (LOVE IT!)
*Ran errands, (bank, Walmart, then took ginger ale and crackers to SIL who had a sick kiddo all night)
*got some work done at home. Scentsy business is doing great, and I'm having lots of fun. I have 2 parties I'm closing up, and a Show to get ready for at the end of the month, at which I am not only doing a booth for Scentsy, but also selling jewelry, Hair clips and bands, and Ornaments, plus teaching a make'n take class)
*Shower, (yes, from my gym class this morning)
*Had to go retrieve Morgan from other SIL's house where she'd been playing with a cousin. Then back to the bus stop to wait for the boys.
*Dinner ready, while getting my fill of politics from Gretta and Hannity.
*Attempt FHE, have the boys read to Morgan and the family for school, try not to yell at my kids.
*Kiss the kids and hubby good night, and have at least one hour of quiet bliss all to myself before I turn in at 10PM

I love that my kids are getting old enough to take on big boy chores. This was taken about a week ago, (before the snow) during a family clean up the yard day, while Matt was at work, and I was trying to get the other two to help me pick up sticks and rake leaves. I figured it was about time Chandler learned to help out with the mowing job. I usually do it, and love it. But this was good for him. He felt a great sense of accomplishment, and pride in helping the family to improve our yard. I don't know why I waited so long. I guess since he's my first, I'm experimenting a lot with when to introduce different things. Thanks again Chandler! I know I can always count on you to big my big helper!

This was Chandler towards the end. Completely pooped. But he did it! And he did a pretty dang good job. As a side note: I LOVE MY HOUSE! Yes, its not always as big as I would like it to be...But I love the way it looks from the street. I love it in fall, when the leaves on all our trees have changed colors, and the blue of our house is such a stark contrast to the oranges, and green of the lawn. I love it in winter with the Christmas lights around the windows, reflected on the freshly fallen snow. And summer is absolutely best, with my kids out running through the sprinkler while I garden in the front. I love my little house!

We listen to a Prophet's voice...

Don't you just love trying to watch conference from (supposedly) the comfort of your own home? Our kids are too old to simply send them to their room to play, so we deal with the 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday of struggling to not only get them to listen for more than 2 minutes, but to also take something away ourselves that we may implement into our daily lives. The following is merely a sample of 5 minutes of trying to listen to the prophet during this mornings session:

Matt: Chandler, give me the play dough...there better not be any in mommy's carpet.

Morgan: sobbing because her play dough was taken away

Matt: Gabe, you bring your blanket and lay on the floor next to mom's side of the bed.

Morgan: still sobbing, but now doing it from the floor as she has fallen off the bed

Jenn: Chandler, get back in your spot.

Chandler: I'm trying to get the cat.

Matt: deep breath, then sighing

Jenn: Chandler, sit down! deep breath and sigh.

Pres. Monson: ....fill our days with those things that matter most....

Gabe: slowly, ever so slowly moving back to where Chandler is sitting so they can once again begin the slow dance of picking at each other till one is upset and the other is smiling like a Cheshire cat.

Morgan: You got to move it move it!

Matt: shhhh

Jenn: trying desperately to keep from pulling her hair out.

President Monson: ....express our gratitude always, and find joy in the journey is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Stastny Family: Amen!

(love Conference....love the fact that it is published in next months Ensign even more---that had to be thought up by mom's who never get to listen to General Conference in its entirety)

TAGGED!

Tagged...
6 Things you may not have known...

So here’s how it works....Link to the person who tagged you.Post the rules on your blog.Write six random things about yourself.Tag six people and let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.(Don't forget to come back and tell me you completed this tag!)

1. I have the same reaction to spiders that my mother in-law has to snakes. (which I also tease her about!) Which is weird, since I grew up in Arizona with 3 brothers who collected all things creepy and crawly.
2. I won a trip on a hot air balloon in the 4th grade for reading the most books.
3. I played the harp for about 4 weeks when I was in grade school.
4. I scared the nurses in the hospital (while I was on Bed rest with Morgan) after cutting my legs while shaving and then not telling them...they thought I was hiding something. I guess there was more blood than I thought on the towels I was blotting the cuts with.
5. I have an unusual fear that while swimming in a lake or the ocean that something is going to bite my toes, so I always swim on my back with my toes in front of me where I can see them.
6. This is funny, because of my last random thing... I once swam in a man made reef full of sharks and other large fish. (Marine Land, snorkeling, and I had fins on my feet, and was wearing a wet suit)

Morgan has been dying to wear her "big girl" dress to
church. I figured the primary program Sunday was as good
a time as any. She felt so grown up!

Stastny FUN FAMILY Day!

If any of you have been paying attention to politics, and interviews with Sarah Palin, you know that we Alaskans received a pretty big Dividend this year. And the fair just happened to fall a few weeks before we got our payout, so we told the kids if they would forgo the whole expensive, crowded, crazy, obnoxious fair thing, then when we got our PFD's we would take them out for a fun Family Day. They loved the idea! So we waited for Matt's next day off, and pulled the kids out of school for the day. We started out at the newly redesigned Toys R Us/ Babies R Us in Anchorage, letting each of the kids pick out a toy under $20. (we weren't letting them go crazy, just a fun treat!) Then we headed over to the mall, for some bowling. Gabe was in heaven! The Chinese restaurant we wanted to go to was in the same mall, so when we were done bowling we headed upstairs to eat lunch. After that, the kids and Matt wanted a trip to Boarders, where we let them once again, each pick out a book. (the stipulation was that it had to be something they could read to themselves...except for Morgan's, cause she doesn't read. But hers even had to be something that Chandler and Gabe could read to her, since that's part of their reading time now) They had a ball. I really love that my kids all love books. We were home by late afternoon, in time to enjoy the wonderful sunshine we got that day, and do a little yard work what with fall upon us, and winter right around the corner. I love these kind of days. Just spending time as a family.

These are a few of my favorite things!

Matt took this picture to document the fact that he got a Turkey.
(ya, I have no idea what that is...as you can tell from my score)

Morgan and I waiting patiently for our turn to bowl.

Morgan waching Gabe as he bowls. (it was kind of funny to watch...like watching the
hunchback of Notradame as he made his approaches.)

Morgan had a 6 lb ball, but it was blue, and so she prefered the pink 8 lb on instead.

Matt bowling a really great game! (bumpers and all!)

Our three little muntkins during lunch at the Chinese Panda

Gabe during his jam session at Best Buy.