A picture lasts longer

Ross surprised me he got me 29 roses for my birthday! Not intentionally - he meant to get 2 dozen - the costco special - but apparently he grabbed the "bakers 2 dozen" or something because there were 29 roses in there, I thought it was funny that he didn't say anything - wondering if I would notice enough to count - but when I mentioned something to him, he had no clue! MEN! Cute, though, so I guess it's okay. Either way - I do love roses, I love the way the open and have a seemingly endless array of pedals, I love how they look like velvet, I love how imperfectly symmetrical they are, but most of all, I love that they came from my love!
Then the other day I was watching my friend's kids - and they were starting to get cranky - so I figured they were either hungry or tired, apparently they were BOTH! Here's them chowing down while they were kicking back! It's a wonder what heart shaped pb&j sammiches does for a 2-3-and 4 year old!

So now, Coby gets ever so slightly jealous of whatever Brynn has - of course, Brynn's on my lap because she gets ever-so-slightly jealous that Coby's constantly keeping it warm...so Coby looks over to Brynn with her baby doll and just wants the whole of it.

They decided to play together...


Look, Coby's kissing the baby - okay - maybe she's trying to latch on, but still - darling, don't you think? haa!

29 things I love about me

yah, it's my birthday - and keeping up with the tradition of listing the age in years of things I love about each family member who has a birthday - here's my list of 29 things I love about myself...(don't even GO there!! Just nod & smile, yes, I'm 29, SHUT UP!)

1 - I love that, even though the last 12 years have been bad hair years for me, I still manage to get out in public. I'm brave.
2 - my deodorant ROCKS - I can totally get nervous when I'm telling people how old I am - and the deodorant totally kicks up to high gear - never let 'em see me sweat.
3 - I rarely have to buy new shoes, 4 years in a row on my flip flops...and my running shoes, still look BRAND NEW (no, you're not allowed to snicker at that)
4 - I still fit into the same clothes I wore 7 years ago, I KNOW, "wow," right?
5 - I've caught up on laundry at least 15 times since Howie was born.
6 - I only have to shave once a week, fine blonde leg hair - (poor Kali gets HERS from her dad!)
7 - I'm not pregnant.
8 - I have a trophy husband.
9 - I get to watch reality TV smut in the middle of the night when ALMOST everyone else is sleeping (thanks, Coby)
10 - Haven't gotten hot flashes yet this late in my life. Phew.
11 - Haven't had my period in almost a year (oh YAH, I went there, I mean who WOULDN'T love that about themselves?)
12 - 5 out of 6 children think I'm pretty cool (the other thinks I'm warm milk)
13 - I don't do dishes on Saturdays.
14 - They're LAUGH LINES not CROWS FEET
15 - God highlights my hair - Grey's the new blonde, and cheaper, too.
16 - I'm not pregnant. Still. I *REALLY* like that about myself.
17 - I'm secure enough I don't HAVE to have the door shut when I tinkle. I don't get stage fright with little eyes watching me, either. SO THERE, BRYNN!
18 - I can nurse AND load the dishwasher at the same time.
19 - I "Killed the Metal" on Guitar Hero III level HARD. indeed.
20 - I haven't gotten in a fight with myself ALL DAY...woot woot!
21 - I can change a diaper with my eyes shut.
22 - I'm not pregnant.
23 - Just trying to take up space, I can't believe I have to think up 6 more things. Glad I'm not older.
25 - Even though I know how to count, I still have the ability to skip numbers without anyone knowing unless I bring it to their attention {cough, cough 24, cough cough)
26 - I have never folded to the pressure of those "get thin quick" infomercials. I have yet to see one whose theory is to stay away from M&Ms...
27 - I can still fit into my size 3 wedding dress.
28 - If you believe #27, then you'll believe I'm pregnant.
29 - I know how to effectively work a table saw, router, sander, chop saw, nail gun AND my HUSBAND.

Playing catch up!

I think I've been busy lately. I can't really be sure, the last week or so has been a blur - so here are some photos to help me journal along the way. (actually it's been more than a week, to be honest)

We went to the worlds largest free pizza buffet (supposedly) there wasn't anything in the news about it - but it was free, and hey, as cheese covered cardboard is concerned Cici's certainly knows how to do it. There were all kinds of inflatable toys & stuff there to help in the lour of stupid families in the valley - (Yes, it's free, yes, it tastes like cardboard, but HEY, we got inflatables - AND - tada - face painting) The lady who did this was really good!


(Brynn also got her face painted, a butterfly on her cheek, but she was napping and yelled at me when I tried to take a picture, touchy!!!)

So see Howie here, his eyes are golden (click on the picture to make it larger). You may notice the fangs, too, that he asked the face painter to include...why yes, that's also blood dripping from the fangs, (by way of red paint) so as you can tell, he's just eaten and this is why his eyes are calm and golden - my little uh - vampire cheetah.

AND finally, Brynn's first day of preschool was today. She was so thoroughly exited to go!
She was met by her overly medicated teacher (Okay - she's not medicated, but really - who would intentionally inflict NINE three year olds on herself?)
She lives the "Secret" if she puts happy faces on each of her ears, she'll be happy. It worked...she's all kinds of happy!
Thanks Bedie! Brynn had a FANTASTIC first day of preschool!

Ward party!

We had so much fun at the ward party last night! We went to the Buckeye Pool, they have a slide and high dives and a beach entry pool...Brynn jumped in right when we got there and we had to drag her out when it was time to leave!
Coby joined in the festivities...she LOVED the pool
- and had fun floating, too!
Howie did a fantastic back flip off the high dive - and got a little too much confidence and did a front flip - landed spank on his back - OUCH...so then he turned it down a notch - just jumps and dives - no more flipping, it just isn't worth it to him!
Rossi raced a couple kids from his HS swim team - he did great - lost in the IM, but won in the freestyle! It was funny watching the HS boys all take their board shorts off to reveal their black speedo racers underneath! I remember when Speedo's used to be dorky! Apparently, it's the "in" thing now, especially with olympics so close in the rear-view mirror!

There was also a pie-eating contest! Rossi put both his name and his dad's name in for the drawing and they were both picked. Here we see Rossi chowing down next to a member of our stake presidency, who really wanted to use a fork.
And then our friend, Bedie (center next to Ross) was also drawn to be in the competition - interestingly, she didn't put her name into the fish-bowl to be drawn, but somehow it magically ended up in there. She was such a great sport, though! Better her than me!

Also, in case anyone here is interested in seeing the syncro routines my girls did over the summer (the very NIGHT crypto creaped up on us!!) Here's Kiersten & Alexis...

And here's Kali & Brook

The 9 year old Kali

has 40 year old virgin legs!

Check this out! She got some really cute shorts for her birthday a few weeks ago - and I was cleaning her room today and found them pushed off in a corner? WHY? Cause her legs are hairy and it's embarassing to wear shorts.

So I fixed that. Instead of teaching her how to slice up her legs with a razor we went for the old rip & roar system we call WAXING. It only lasted twice - then I took my own razor to her legs. Dang, thems some hairy beasts! But now she can wear shorts!

Happy Burfday to Binny - she's free.....

She is an absolute crack up, this little girl of mine! It's hard to ONLY list THREE things I love about her - but I'll stick w/ my little tradition!

1 - She's absolutely HYSTERICAL. Here's an example - She loves Coby so much she'll run and DIVE on Coby while she's on the ground. When I told her not to do it because it would squish her, she said, I luff Coby, Coby luffs me. I have too many hugs in my arms and I have to get rid of them. (see her grittig her teeth with all the energy she's putting into this hug to get rid of the hugs that were stuck in her arms?)
I restricted her to only hugging and playing with Coby's feet so that Coby wouldn't suffocate, and here's what she did...
2 - She LOVES to help me. She helps me with laundry - she cleans the dryer lint. She helps with the dishes (most of the time, she doesn't even get cut open!) She helps unload the dishwasher and she luffs to wash the pots & pans. She also helped make her cake - she cracked the eggs & poured in the water and oil - then she blended them all by herself!
3 - She's a cuddler. What mom doesn't like to be suffocated by her little girl at any given moment in time! She's got plenty of hugs to give out and brightens the day of all of her siblings! (check out that smile! HAA!)

John & Kate plus 8 -

This family is FUNNY! I love to watch the show - not that I know when it's on - but if I happened to be flipping channels at 2 in the morning while I'm rocking a baby back to sleep - then hey - look how funny this family is!

Then I started to notice - it must have been a J&K+8 marathon or something - she doesn't yell at her kids. She kind of jokes around about the events of the day, and it's just fun to watch - I don't see a lot of "reality" in there - ya know - no yelling, no clutter, although - there's a touch of reality - cause the kids sometimes hit each other! I like that part. Makes me feel more normal.

Now it occurred to me - I wonder if I had cameras all over the house & people interviewing me at a "confessional sofa" about my day - I would TOTALLY behave myself. I mean - there's a camera - I'm not gonna yell. Not only that, I have to make sure I get the kids hair all combed, as well as my own - I would even have to put something other than jammies on all day. I'd more than likely brush my teeth before noon, too - cause - ya know - cameras & all.

OOOO - not only that - but I could totally rewind the film to see exactly WHO hit WHO first -- AND/OR find out WHO snuck all the chocolate chips out of the bag before dinner - because I'm beginning to believe this whole "not me" person really does exist.

So I think I want to call up Discovery or something and have them do a reality show on my life - so I can be a better mother & make sure I have dinner every night & tuck each of the kids in each night, too...FURTHER - I would definitely like for ONE of my children to see how their actions for completely no other reason except to fulfill my mothers voodoo curse to me "One day you'll have a child just like yourself and then you'll understand what you put me through." Jerk. Of course, I passed that curse onto that child last night.

I think I will hide my camera and record it for the big school homecoming this afternoon

Food for Thought

Driving down the road I saw a beggar with this sign "Food for Thought" I just happened to have a number 11 super value meal from Burger-donalds and gave it to the lad, hoping that the higher up the number on the value meal, the more in-depth the thought would be.

Not really, but I liked the cartoon, I got this yesterday in a RS training meeting, and it came just at the right moment for me...as I question my perspectives and priorities in life.

"Are there so many fascinating, exciting things to do or so many challenges pressing down upon you that it is hard to keep focused on that which is essential? When things of the world crowd in , all too often the wrong things take highest priority. Then it is easy to forget the fundamental purpose of life. Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with 'good things' so there is no room for the essential ones."
- Elder Richard G. Scott ("First Things First," Ensign, May 2001, p.7)

My brother has a business coach - I guess you can call it - and one of the things he does to help keep business owners on course is called the "6 most and 1 vital" it's a simple printout - that you use that you put down your 6 most important things to get done that day - plus ONE vital thing that MUST be done before the day is through. It goes along that "rocks, gravel, sand, water" type theory - and the 6 most & 1 vital are the rocks - everything else is just gravel sand & water, and it can be fit into your little jar - if done in the right order.

So this week - I'm going to work on prioritizing. Hopefully I'll be able to recognize the "water" things that have taken priorities over those things which I need to pay most attention.

In the moment...cell phone pictures

We were driving home from the church last night & Rossi & I noticed this cloud - more than anything it had a neon-like outline to it - and Rossi mentioned that he thought the way the rays were coming from behind the cloud that it felt like Heaven was just on the other side. He wanted to take a picture. It looks much better if you look at the picture while you're listening to the mo-tab? LOL!
Then while I was doing laundry yesterday - Brynn had an accident - she wet herself - and asked if I would dry her - and climbed in - I couldn't resist snapping this picture!

Kali's birthday

Kali's birthday was this last Sunday - the day before the first day of school! For the first time in - oh - 12 years - we had a "family" birthday party! Jason & Jolisa came over w/ the kids & we sang & had birthday cake! The girls decorated the cake with little supervision - I just showed them how to make different decorations and they went to town!


We all sang, Olivia was excited to blow out the candles, but didn't do it as fast as Kali!
(By the way - it will take her 3 years for her wish to come true, which was probably something along the lines of Hanna Montana clothes - and hopefully by then - she'll have outgrown that sassy fiesty little role model?)

NOW - for the birthday LOVE - 9 Reason Why I Love Kali!

1 - Her smile lights up the room! (First day of Kindergarten 5 years old!)

2 - When she's enjoying herself, everyone around her joins in!

3 - She's a HUGE helper with Brynn and Coby! And a WONDERFUL Loving big sister!



4 - She the best deep cleaner around! Give her a wipie and a dirty item and it will be sparkling brighter than new!
5 - Her laughter is contageous!

6 - She's an extremely tallented swimmer. So fun to watch!

7 - She can really get into character - she's always showing 110% emotions!

8 - She enjoys going to church - (sounds like a cop-out from the mother, but I can't think of anything more rewarding to a mother than a child who loves church!)

AND -----
9 - She's the only one of my kids who has been able to keep her bedroom 100% spotless clean for an entire month! WOOT WOOT! That's a HUGE accomplishment!

And some Coby candy! I LOVE the way a baby looks when she sleeps! She looks so cute in brown, too!