It's a new.....

Christmas came early for me, today I got a

SHINY...






NEW...






Faucet for my sink!

My other faucet was screamin for retirement! The pressure to the faucet was barely a dribble yet the sprayer had plenty of pressure cause it kept coming off and in the process spraying a stream of water straight into the air leaving a trail of water all over, creating an indoor slip and slide! Now on some occasions(4 out of 5 times) I have been lucky enough to get sprayed directly in the face and it's usually hot water, apparently the faucet thinks I need more then 1 shower in a day! Well we granted the faucets wish and we hope it has a grand time at the Dump Retirement Community! Anyhow I am very pleased and super happy with the new faucet and the fact that my hubby put it in with no complaints and no major plumbing issues!!

7 years

Yesterday Dane and I celebrated 7 years of not always wonderful but totally worth it years! Our neighbor Doreen came over and watched the kids for us so we could go out. Now typically we go out to dinner or to a movie that's how we have celebrated anniversary's past, but this year we didn't have the funds. We decided to go to the Mesa Temple to see the lights and listen to the music program they had, it was so wonderful especially since we didn't have the kids complaining about the cold, or needing to go to the bathroom or the "are we done yet" phrase, we were able to enjoy each others company with no interruptions! After the music was over we went into the Visitors center and looked at all the nativity scenes, here are a few of my favorites.




Once we got our fill of the cold we decided to go home for dessert ( no not that kind of dessert), we got some brownie mix and had hot brownies with a drizzle of chocolate and homemade whipped cream it was supper yummy!! I have to say it was the cheapest and most fun date ever!! Thank you Doreen for watching the kids for us, we really appreciate it.

OOOHHH Christmas Tree!!!

This morning after breakfast we rounded up the troops and cleaned up the house, in the process I managed to knock down our oh so beautiful 7 1/2 foot pre-lit Christmas! You read right it came a tumblin down while I was vacuuming. You see in years past we have never put the screws in the stand once the tree is in(I know dumb) until now we have never had a problem, I blame it on the vacuum! A few tears were shed by me and the kids, Ryne thought " oh man now Christmas is ruined", Kaleb just cried as did I and Dane reminded Ryne that it isn't even Christmas yet! So after I stopped crying, I rummaged through the box and found the screws, with the help of my wonderful husband we got the tree standing again, then I went to work sweeping up the glass YES glass, I had some little had blown snowman ornaments that my mom sent me a few years back, only 3 of them broke and just the bodies broke the heads were found intact so I kept them! Anyway we put the ornaments that fell off back on and all is well and right in the our world again!!
After I recovered from what will be known as "the tree incident of 2010", I decided to put up all my pics and other decor (I know FINALLY), and I have to say the house looks soooo much better!! It feels like home again. So here are some pics of that..

And this is the man who made it all possible! I love you hunny!!
And now for some close ups of the Christmas decor, our lovely Rudolf stockings.

And "Rudy" the reindeer wreath courtesy of Merlene who was getting rid of it and asked my mom if she knew anyone who wanted it!! Thanks Merlene I love it he is by far one of my favorite decorations!
Now my kitchen is no where near being done, but here is a sneak peak!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving! It was just us this year, we really missed not being with our families, but we also really enjoyed spending it with our little family. On Wednesday the kids helped me cook the apple pie, cookies and rolls.

Last year I woke up at 5 in the morning to make fresh cinnamon rolls for the kids, I wanted them to be nice and hot when they got up and I have to admit I kinda regretted it. I thought I would pass this year until the request came via Ryne, when I told her I didn't think I was going to do it this year she retorted with "but it's tradition" even though last year was the first year we had done it! Well I couldn't say no to that, so instead of getting up super early I chose to stay up till midnight, I made the dough and baked them, then in the morning I put them back in the oven to warm and made the cream cheese frosting. Now there is no picture cause all I could think about while they were warming was the gooey cream cheese frosting and the yummy cinnamon goodness, so as soon as they were done and put on a plate they were devoured!

We enjoyed the Macy's Thanksgiving parade while we ate our rolls, and talked about the things we are grateful for. Because I did most of the cooking the day before once the turkey was in the oven I was able to sit down and watch Christmas movies with my family. The kids were dyin to eat especially when we started putting food on the table! Once we declared it was time to eat they were cheering, I don't think I have ever seen them move so fast!!

Here's the feast!

Close up of "the bird", I swear when I took this picture it wasn't blurry.
Since Dane and I have been working hard on losing weight and the kids aren't real big into pie I decided to make 1 pie this year and cookies for the kids. Dane requested an apple crumb pie it was good!!

And for the kids I made jam thumbprint cookies, we all loved them! I caught Ellie suckin all the jam out the of middle and putting the cookies back!
Ellie enjoying her pie! If your wondering why she has no shirt on it's because she got into the gravy, and I mean most of it ended up on her shirt!
He was showing us how super heroes eat pie or in his case a cinnamon roll.
Yeah scary I know, I think she is warning everyone to stay away from her pie!
We had a great relaxing day, after dinner was done and cleaned up, we pulled out the Christmas decorations and put up the tree. It was all going great till I couldn't (and still can't)find one of my sock snowmen he was in the box with the parents but then disappeared, then my neighbor (love you Claudia) scared the crap out of me when she came to warn me about the pipes (it got to 28 degrees last night!), then Dane just had to put a talking Darth Vader ornament on the tree it too scared me when I went to turn out the lights and it spoke without being touched needless to say Dane thought it was hilarious! Oh and the fun didn't stop yesterday today I had some blunders but I will leave that for another post!

Pie Day

Yesterday was "Pie Day" at Kaleb's school, sorry no pictures I forgot my camera and my phone. When we got to the school Kaleb was having a hard time he was crying cause he didn't want to go to the bathroom, then he was upset cause he didn't think I was there, apparently threw all the tears he didn't see me. He was so excited when he saw me, he was sad that Ryne and Dana weren't there but happy that I came with Ellie. After pie Kaleb's class sand songs for us, Ellie loved clapping after each song, she even chimed in when she new a song!

We had a lot of fun, Kaleb was excited to get to come home with me. When we got home he showed me a turkey he made, and a pumpkin plant that he grew from a seed, telling me not to touch it with my fingers cause it will kill it! The kids are out of school for the rest of the week, today we are going to be baking pies, cookies and rolls for tomorrow, they can't wait! Tomorrow we are planning on watching Dane in the Turkey bowl at our church, then it will be time to get the Turkey cookin, then we will pull out all the Christmas decorations!!

Popcorn Popping...

We decided to try out daddy's new popcorn popper, it is now Ellie's favorite "toy".
She puts her hand on it and says "ouch" or "hot", it has become a game she giggles every time.
She kept stealing pieces as they fell into the bowl saying "mine".
We love the new popcorn popper and it's so much cheaper then buying the bags!

Yellow Belt Testing

Saturday Dana tested for his yellow belt (we find out today if he got it). Instead of getting a sitter for the kids we decided to take them, thinking they would enjoy seeing daddy test, they were excited for about the first 10 mins! When they started one of the Master's talked for about an hr, the kids were done after the first 20 mins, he had some great things to say but it just really dragged out and it didn't help that my kids had gone through all their snacks and water before the testing even began. In the amount of time the guy talked I took the kids to the bathroom 6 times, Ellie fell and got a goose egg, and they ate all their snacks(did I mention that already?) that was suppose to last all of the testing.

Once the testing started the kids were really interested, especially Ellie she imitated every hi-ya and punch! The kids were pretty good considering how long we had been there, after seeing Dana test we decided it was time to go home, somehow the wipes got taken out of my diaper bag and let's just say they were needed! Dane dropped the kids and I off and went back to support the other people testing.

I wish we had had the money for me to test as well, but at the same time I now know what to expect and how things are done.

34

The 18th was Dana's birthday. The kids had been looking forward to it all week, they were so excited about the presents they got him (completely their idea). We just had a family dinner, and cake. The kids got him a popcorn popper, popcorn seeds, popcorn seasonings, and M&M's. I got him tickets to go see the Forgotten Carols next month since he's never been.


The cake, Dane asked for whipped frosting instead of buying it( I did cheat and buy a cake mix) I made my own. I got some heavy whipping cream and some semi-sweet bakers chocolate and went to town. It turned out great, everyone loved it, I thought it was comparable to a store bought cake.

"Crazy Face"

The other day I talked about things that make me laugh in this post Smile it's Good for ya!! One of the things I mentioned was Ellie's funny faces. Today I was finally able to capture one of those "funny faces" with my camera phone, I absolutely love this picture I laugh every time I look at it! I love this girl and her cute "crazy face" (as Kaleb calls it) more than words can say. I hope this makes you smile.

Family Night!!!

Today Kaleb, Ellie and I spent 4 hours grocery shopping! Yup that's right 4 HOURS, it's because we didn't just go to one place we went to 3(not counting getting gas), however we did get everything we need for Thanksgiving and for dinners for the rest of the month! The kids did fairly well for how long we were gone, Wal-Mart and Fry's were especially busy and I couldn't find a Turkey with a tag on it, but only paying $3.59 for a 10lb turkey was definitely worth the fight(really people were throwin elbows).

After getting home from our grocery endeavor, Ellie took a nap and Kaleb and I carried all the grocery's inside and I spent the rest of my afternoon putting away all our glorious grocery's! Dane got home around 3:30, he helped me get everything ready for our family night we decided to take the kids to see Despicable Me, then to dinner. As soon as Ryne got home we took off, the movie was great, any movie that keeps all 3 of my kids still in there seats is a GREAT movie!! The kids loved it, they didn't stop laughing and neither did I, I thought it was the best non Disney movie EVER, I loved the story and how light hearted it was, it really was fantastic. After the movie we took the kids to Ned's Crazy sub,were the kids couldn't stop talking about the movie.

It was a great night, it's one of the first times I wasn't chasing kids down the isles, standing in the back with a screaming baby, or taking kids to the bathroom umteen times, I actually got to enjoy myself. It was a fun night had by all.

Tatertots Giveaway

Tatertots and Jello is having an AWESOME giveaway for For All Time Clocks! The clocks are absolutely gorgeous so go on over to Tatertots and Jello and check it out!

Smile it's good for ya! :)

Here are a few things that someone said or did this week that made me laugh:


Kaleb: "Mom, your the man!"

Ryne: " I have a secret. Why do we have eyes?"

Kaleb: "Mom? Why did the monsters poop blow up in my dream?" Me: "I have no idea, it blew up?" Kaleb: " Yes me and my best friend Logan were in a box then the monster pooped and we blew up! It was strange."

Dana: "Your are weird." Me: "I know I am but what are you!" yeah I totally meant to say "I know you are but what am I!" HAHAHAHA

Tinkerbell running as fast as she can on the carpet then hitting the laminate floor and slamming into something!

Ellie's new funny faces

It's moments like these that make life good. They remind me to cherish the small things, and make good memories.

I see light!

I think I am finally starting to see the light at the end on the "home makeover" tunnel! Yesterday I primed the walls and molding in my living room and kitchen, now I just need to paint. The only things I will have left to do (at least for now) is priming and painting my kitchen cupboards and putting up a new back splash. Then I will be able to start decorating I have so many ideas I can't wait! Hopefully I will have some decor stuff up by Thanksgiving, the house looks to sterile with nothing on the walls.

This week has been exhausting, last Friday I took Ellie into the Dr. to find out she had bronchitis, and pneumonia, they gave her antibiotics and albuterol. She seemed to be doing better till yesterday she spiked a fever of 102.4, I called and got her into the Dr.'s after hrs on top of the bronchitis and pneumonia she has a double ear infection that she got while she was on antibiotics! They gave her a strong shot of antibiotics and had us follow up today. This morning her temp was 101.8, we went in for the follow up they gave her another shot of antibiotics(poor girl) and prescribed her with some stronger stuff. We have another appointment tomorrow, I am hoping she will be fever less and she will have this licked. The poor girl is so miserable, she's either laying on the couch or laying at my feet crying.

I am hoping that next week will be better and we will all be in good health. I am very thankful that my doctors office has after hrs, I'm also thankful for my hubby who did his time last night by taking care of a crying baby for me, so I could get a little sleep, thanks hun I love you. I am also thankful that everyone else in the house is in good health (at least for now). Well I am off to get some painting done.

When the dust falls..,play in it.

I will let the pictures tell this story!

Computer Desk

We have a computer desk we are trying to get rid of, it's 5 yrs old and in very good condition. If ya want it or know someone who might please let me know, you can email me at superlamps4@msn.com. We also have an entertainment center that we are trying to get rid of also (sorry no pic).

"I give up"..

Kaleb has been using that phrase all the time, especially when he is in trouble or when he is asked to do something that he doesn't want to do like get out of the shower. Through tears he always says "I give up!", I think I am going to take his advice. I'm sure your thinking what!? you should never give up, which is true with most things. So let me shed some light on what I am going to give up on:

I am going to give up on the number I see on the scale, I am going to give up worrying about it cause let's face it when I see that that number has gone up instead of down or hasn't done anything I get depressed and eat more therefore making the matter worse and more depressing.

I am giving up on others opinion of me, honestly I really don't care. My husband loves me fore me, my kids love me for me and I love me fore me and that's all that matters. And I am done trying to impress people by not being myself.

I am giving up on feeling bad for telling someone what they needed to hear even though they didn't want to listen. I am done thinking it is my fault that this person isn't talking to me, really if it really didn't matter then why get so up in arms about it. And I would expect the same thing from this person which was honesty even if it seems hurtful or if it's something that I wouldn't want to here. I wasn't cruel or mean, and I am done with feeling guilty over it.

I am giving up on feeling sorry for myself and whining about it. I mean I will probably still whine and complain once in awhile but that's just human nature. But I am giving up on giving up on myself, I haven't been giving myself enough credit lately and I am done with that.

I give up on obsessing over a clean house. Don't get me wrong I'm not going to let it get horribly messy but I am going to spend a little less time cleaning and more time with my kids. I'm not going to make cleaning a priority over myself or my family.

I am giving up on the t.v. I will let the kids watch their hr of shows then that's it. I will get up and do something constructive.

Ok so those are the things I am giving up on these are the things that I will never give up on:

Loosing weight, I am not going to obsess over it. I'm just going to keep doing what I am doing. I will eat better and I will keep up with the martial arts.
My family not just my husband and kids but my brothers and sisters
My self
My Heavenly Father I feel like with all the stuff that's been happening I haven't turned to who I needed most, I gave up praying for awhile and I am not doing it again.
I will not give up on others, I will and help them with their grief, sorrows and troubles, instead of focusing on my own.

So my advice to you is to give up on the things holding you back and keeping you down and then work hard on the things that raise you up and make you feel better.

Student of the Month

Ryne's teacher called me on Tuesday to let me know that Ryne was the student of the month for her class! I was excited to hear that, she told me about the assembly where the kids get recognized with a certificate so I decided to make it a surprise and just show up. Despite Ellie not feeling well we made it to the assembly, we were in the very back against the wall, trying our hardest not to spread germs. The 4th grade did a cute little program then all students of the month where given there certificates, and of course right at that moment Ellie decided to scream and move as much as possible so the pics I got are blurry. I was cheerin as loud as I could over a screamin baby and the applause from all the other parents and students, but I wasn't heard Ryne didn't even know I was there!

This pic is the best cause one of the teachers, held Ellie for me long enough to get a nice picture, but of course as I took it Ryne's teacher started pulling them off the stage, oddly enough to get their pic taken! At least I made an effort to be there, even if Ryne didn't know it. I am so proud of her, school hasn't been easy for her she has had to work extra hard to keep up with everyone else, she has dealt with bullies and other things yet she has made a lot of progress and that's why her teacher chose her for student of the month. I love my sweet girl she is awesome!