List of things about me...

Stole this from my cousins blog... and I'm bored... so here you go!

4 shows I like to watch:

1. Lost (kinda glad it's ending though, so I can find out what it is actually about!)
2. The Office (This one is Stefanie's fault - I can't watch any of the new ones yet, as I'm catching up with her DVD sets)
3. Good Eats
4. Scrubs... I guess.  Really, I just don't have that many regular shows... American Idol would usually have taken that spot, but I'm not really liking it this year.

4 things I am passionate about:

1. Being an organized person, someday...
2. My family
3. Continually learning new things... cooking takes up most of this category, as I like learning new recipes, etc.
4. Making it to heaven someday - though that would be better categorized under "hopeful". 

4 words or phrases I say often:

1. No
2. Don't cram your mouth so full - you look like a piggie
3. I love you
4. Be safe

4 things I have learned from the past:

1. What doesn't kill us, or make us insane, makes us stronger... eventually
2. Motion sickness medication is no longer optional
3. Sticking up for yourself is a good thing & generally does not trample on the feelings of others, but does help them realize when they're treading on yours. 
4. Let the little things go & focus on the big picture.

4 places I would love to go:

1. A warm sunny beach somewhere 
2. The National Archives in Washington DC (along w/ many other historical landmarks in the area)
3. Nauvoo temple
4. Jerusalem

4 things I did yesterday:

1. Slept in very late, according to the new time. 
2. Missed church - see #1.
3. Made chicken pot pie out of our 2 roosters (mwa ha ha!!)
4. Watched a movie with the family.

4 things you are looking forward to:

1. SUMMER!!!!
2. Having grass & a fence some day
3. The release of The Mockingjay this fall
4. A vacation!  Any vacation!!!

4 things I love about winter:

1. Seriously???
2. Um... it ends?
3. No flies in the house
4. Two holidays made for making a complete glutton out of yourself (and being w/ family too!)

4 things on my wish list:

1. Um... a yard & a fence... I know it's already on the list, but it deserves two spots
2. Horses... someday!
3. A flat stomach (coupled with liking food just a little bit less than I do)
4. Get my sister to move out here (oh, with her family too! :)

Bad blogger...

I don't have many readers... I probably had more back when I blogged a little more actively.  I have to admit, I've been pretty much AWOL with all things blogging for like... 6 months?  I haven't checked blogs, haven't blogged, and even deleted my Facebook account (which I do not plan on re-activating).  I have, however, decided again that I like my blog & will no longer pretend it doesn't exist.  So - for those of you nice people who actually follow this (mostly family that I call & make read it when I update) - I'll try to do a little better!  Probably no one really cares if I blog or not... but pretend, k?  :) 

Disneyland

Last week, Kayla & Rendan made their first trip to Disneyland with Paige & Kalani, Alan & Amy, Grandma & Grandpa, Jon, Darius, & all the kids! (Kayla, Rendan, I were shanghaied!) We had great weather 2 days, one rainy day, and made the best of all 3 days anyway! (the dates on all the pictures are wrong... my camera is stupid that way.)

Kayla & Hunter waiting in the terminal - this flight was a first for Kayla & Rendan.

Alan & Amy surprised Kayla & Rendan with airplanes for their first flight!

Here are Rendan & Kayla just outside the main gate on our first day - I miss the Anaheim weather!

Here they are again, outside the Lego store in Downtown Disney - we were on our way to have breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen & had to stop! Rendan made a very thorough visit of this store on our last day there (he loves legos!).

Rendan & Chip in Goofy's kitchen. Their Aunt Paige bought Kayla & Rendan autograph books for the trip, and they had fun chasing characters down for their signatures.

One of the great things about the character breakfast was how much it was catered to kids - twice during breakfast, an announcement was made for all the kids to come out and do the twist with Goofy & a few other characters. For once, a restaurant where the kids are expected to NOT sit down & be quiet! Kayla was a little bashful about dancing & but she gave it a try anyway.

Rendan having a nice long conversation with Jasmine about his pen - I think he just wanted to keep her around for a few more minutes.

Rendan - aaah, happiness is having a good looking girl draped around your shoulder!

Kayla & Rendan just inside the front gate - I don't know where he pulled the pose from, but it worked!

Kayla & captain hook - she was pretty excited about meeting him!

Rendan, getting another autograph. All of the characters in the park were great, & really added to the fun!



Kayla & Rendan with their cousin Lacie on the Mad Tea Party ride - I don't do well with rides that spin, so Lacie volunteered to help out (thank you Lacie!) She helped out more than once, and we had a ball with her and everyone else! (I didn't get many group pictures, but we had a ton of fun with everyone there!)

Thank goodness for Grandma, Grandpa, & the little scooters they rented! Rendan & Kayla claimed them as their main mode of transport when their legs had given out from walking!

On the last day, we were wandering toward Tomorrowland when we heard the Jedi Training Academy show in progress - we ran as fast as we could to make it there for the selection of trainees from the audience & I held Rendan up as high as I could, arms waving! The Jedi Master said he looked like he had potential & called him up! He was pretty excited & kept smiling & waving to me from his little training circle. After a short "training" session, Darth Vader & Darth Maul rose from the stage, and we watched storm troopers march back & forth, holding us hostage! Rendan was the first kid pulled up to fight Darth Maul, & I was about 2 seconds too late to get a picture! He was pretty intimidating, & looked like they had brought him straight out of the movie! (yellow eyes & everything!)

Rendan & the other padowans telling Darth Vader they will never join the dark side!

Kayla & Rendan in ToonTown!

Here they are again, sitting on the feet of a giant lego-giraffe at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. It was a pretty cool store - Rendan wanted to buy a miniature of the giant lego dinosaur they had in the middle of the store, but we couldn't find one! He settled for a really obnoxious spinning R2D2 at another store instead. (And refused to be talked into anything else!)


The kids are already asking when we get to go back - Thanks grandma & grandpa for taking us along! :)

10 Percent my butt...

I want to have a word with whatever genius came up with that... we've all heard it before, how we only utilize 10 percent of our brain capacity. Nice theory... too bad it's complete crap. If that were true, then explain to me where all that extra brain goes after we experience the miracle of motherhood? What happened to my ability to keep a running total of numbers in my head? Or remember what I was supposed to buy at the store without making a very detailed list of all three items? Or that I had a really important appointment at 1:00 the day before, that I just remembered today??? Where were you on that one, oh extra brain matter? If we only use 10 percent, then the rest of it is just there to take up space make us feel better about ourselves as a species, as it's totally useless for anything else. If any of you moms out there have figured out a way to gain some of your thinking ability back, please share. In the meantime, I will continue to try and re-master the ability to add & subtract small numbers without writing them down or using the calculator on the computer. Boy howdy...

Oh summer, how do I love thee?...

Ok, so it isn't summer yet, but I'll take what I can get - and it feels like summer, so I'm not going to bother with technicalities. It's not exactly a secret that this is my favorite time of year, as I open my big mouth about how much I hate cold weather to anyone who will listen, and also some who don't really want to.

After being out all morning planting the petunias that have been sitting in their little nursery containers for about a month now, I decided I'd take some pictures of a few of our other family members... and no, these are not all of them - just the ones that were feeling photogenic at the moment. Also, I had to get a picture of Max up here - he's been around longer than we've even been married, and we love him like crazy! Long story short - April, 10 years ago, we were hiking around in Nine-Mile canyon and ran into a couple that had been fostering one-year-old Max as a rescue - Stef & I paid his adoption fee and gave him to Todd for his 21st birthday. I don't care how much you love your dog, or how great you think your dog is, or especially how smart you think your dog is - Max is better. Seriously. He understands almost everything you tell him, and if he doesn't he will work until he figures it out. I've never seen a dog so willing to please and so very personable. Even Myrna, who is not a dog fan, loves Max. We all love Max. Max loves Max! (Yes, he does love himself - and he loves Todd too... more than the rest of us, but we don't mind) You get the point. He is getting up there in years, but still acts like a 2 year old - we hope he stays around for a long time... we will be very lonely without him. (And yes, he's tied up - temporarily. He has demolished his kennel for the 100th time, and we are still fixing it)

Here he is again - pulling his 'look how cute I am' pose (in between rolling over, dancing, speaking, and pulling out whatever other moves he can in the hopes I'll let him off his leash)

Last for today? This is Horace -he's a pygmy goat, and he's about 2 1/2 now. (There used to be a Jasper, but he died this spring... it was sad) Max wants to eat him - or at least chew on him a little. If he looks shrimpy, it's because he is. A two year old could man-handle him quite easily. He's a very nice little guy, and a good weed eater... though, given his size, he doesn't make much of a dent - we actually have 2 goats, but I don't like the other one - therefore, I will not post him! (He's a billy we've had since he was a kid *ha ha!* - we, mistakenly, put off having him neutered... and still haven't done it. He's stinky, cranky, and has a full set of horns that he pushes Horace around with regularly. Happily, he's going to someone else soon, so I won't have to smell him anymore)

Um... time flies?...

Or... maybe I'm just lazy - that's probably more accurate. I guess I am long overdue for a new entry - along with a few new pictures, updates... all that good stuff! (I have also been kind of camera lazy, but I'll post what I have) So here we go!

We had great weather for Easter this year, and were able to spend it with both families - Easter morning was spent up at my Grandparent's house, along with Paige & Kalani's family, Jonathan, and of course, my grandparents! (The day before that was my birthday, and Kalani & Jon surprised me with a very creative animal birthday cake that they baked & decorated all by themselves - I loved it! I think Paige has a picture of it, so I'll have to get it and post it later :) Anyway, the kids had a great time hunting Easter eggs - however, I think that the Easter bunny needs to rethink the amount of eggs he hides, as taking home a grocery bag filled with candy might be considered overkill... that, and I end up eating more than the kids.

After the morning egg hunt & breakfast with my family, we went down to Dave & Myrna's to spend the rest of the afternoon with Scott & Stef's families - the kids were surprised with another egg hunt, and Myrna made me a cake for my birthday (two cakes is way better than one!) The weather was so nice that we spent most of the day outside playing - woo hoo! The kids love the playground at Dave & Myrna's - I think I need to steal it and move it to my house!

Speaking of warm weather, Rendan graduated from preschool at the beginning of May, and is not particularly happy about it - being at school is much more interesting than being at home! Here he is dressing up for 'fairy-tale day' - the kids could dress up as their favorite fairy tale character... Rendan didn't really have a favorite, so we dug through our old Halloween costumes and came up with this... I think he liked the stick more than anything...

And, here he is on graduation day - of course, he managed to give himself a black eye for the occasion - he was worried that everyone was going to look at it when he went to class, but I don't think anyone else minded it as much as he did. This little cutie in the picture with him was the main topic of conversation this preschool year, at least when it came to his friends - he adored her to the point where I'm just glad she put up with his constant attention. The highlight came when we wrote her a letter for her class mail slot - he wasn't happy when I made him downgrade from writing 'I love you' to 'you're nice and you're pretty'... he came to me broken-hearted after class that day and told me that she did not like his letter at all... apparently the 'pretty' part didn't go over very well, and he took it rather hard... (Good thing that 4 year-olds move on quickly!)

Well, that's about it for now! Stefanie pointed out that I need to be writing about the new stuff going on (like gardens & kitties) so I'll try to post something more recent if I get some new pictures - until then, I am patiently awaiting the arrival of my nephew and will hopefully have some great pictures when he arrives! :)

Stephanie Needs...

I received this tag on facebook, but I thought it was pretty funny so I'm posting it on my blog as well! Steal it if you like it - it's an amusing little activity.

This one's easy and doesn't take any thought... Type your name and needs (______ needs) in a Google search, and then type a list of the first 10 things that come up.

Stephanie Needs....

1. Stephanie needs some help.
2. Stephanie needs to be in a family where there are no other children or animals.
3. Stephanie needs rhinoplasty surgery.
4. Stephanie needs to get the women together in an alliance.
5. Stephanie needs to get a life!!!
6. Stephanie needs you BAD (wha?!)
7. Stephanie needs a family who can help her strive to participate in structured recreational & social activities
8. Stephanie needs to pay attention.
9. Stephanie needs a straw for her tea.
10. Stephanie needs to improve.

(Apparently, Stephanie needs to change her name!)