Wild and Crazy Family

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Mature Little Miss

My little Haley is sometimes just a little adult. Lately, in the morning, after watching a little T.V. I will hear the shower running. She will get herself in the shower, turn the water to her favorite temperature (VERY warm), and wash her hair. She knows the right amount of shampoo to pump, she knows to "scritchy scratch, and rubby rub" her shampoo into her hair. Then she just likes to relax in the shower for awhile. When I hear the water, I go in and she is just doing her thing. If she hasn't already washed her hair, she talks me through the process while she does it HERSELF. I can't believe she is only 3. I guess I should be happy about her great hygiene. One of these days she might decide that she doesn't want to shower or bath anymore.

Barf-O-ween

Well, what a Halloween we had this year. I was dreaming peacefully in my bed 3:00 a.m. Oct 31st, when I heard a strange sound. It was one of those familiar sounds that just makes you cringe. Yes, Haley was throwing up in her bed! Hurray!! My favorite thing to do it clean up puke in a bunch of blankets, during the middle of the night. O-O-O-h quick sign me up!!!

Haley continued to throw up all night. The next morning, Jace said he wasn't feeling very good. He said, "Maybe I'm just hungry." So, I filled up a bowl of cereal and set it in front of him. After looking at it for a few minutes he decided he wasn't hungry, but sick. He went and got in bed with his "barf bucket".

Haley and Jace were sick all day, throwing up several times. But, they both deserve a medal for hitting the bucket EVERY single time (with exception to Haley's first out burst). Way to go Jace and Haley!!!!

So, they both had to miss Trick-or-Treating and all the school parties, etc. Jace wasn't able to wear his Mario costume that I actually sewed for him (and I don't even sew) He came up to me and told me he was sorry that I sewed him the costume and he didn't even get to wear it. What a sweet boy!!! Luckily we already had a family Halloween party and he was able to wear it there.

Hopefully next year we will have a better Halloween!

Miss "Sicky"


Mr. "Sicky" (doesn't he look pathetic)


What a cute HIPPY CHIC!


One of Riley's costumes. At the family party, she went as Captin Underpants. When she went trick-or-treating she dressed up as a house wife. I think it looks a little like me. Notice the fly swatter in her hand and rather large behind. LOVELY!


Jace at the family party in his Mario costume.

What is that smell?

Haley is one of these funny kids that cannot be in a room if something stinks. She also can't handle being close to someone if they have bad breath. I took her visiting teaching a couple of days ago. We walked in the house and it smelled a little funny. I sat on the couch and she came up to me, her eyes were totally watering, her cheeks were red, and she was dry heaving. I knew immediately what she was going to say. Luckily she whispered in my ear, "It totally stinks in here."

Yesterday, a man was at our house cleaning our carpets. Haley went outside to talk to him and show him her new Barbie tooth brush. She walked in the house and said to me really loud, "His voice totally stinks." Leave it to a kid to tell you the truth. She will always call you on it when you have bad breath.

Halloween Shin-Dig

My family just got together for our annual Halloween shin-dig. The kids played several different games. One of the games that we all had a blast watching was the game where you eat a doughnut off a string without using your hands. Even the little kids were good at it. Everyone was dressed up and ready to party! By the way, Riley is Captin Underpants. Ya gotta love it!

Picture Slide Show - Halloween

Picture Slide Show - Haley

Changing Seasons

It's hard to believe that fall is here and it will soon be snowing. Last week we had our outdoor swim get together, and it was totally warm. This week we are pulling out hats, gloves, and coats. I do enjoy the change of seasons, but I don't love being freezing cold.

The changing of the seasons makes me miss Indiana. We always enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch and the apple orchards. We have so many great memories of Indiana.

I have a tree in the front of my house that is my favorite tree in my yard. It sits near a great big window in my living room. This is my favorite time of year to look out at that tree. It's so pretty that it is almost like looking at a picture.

The last remains of the summer

Apple trees out back

Barbie Kitty

For the last several months, Haley likes to pretend that she is a kitty. She started doing this to get our attention. She will crawl into the room, meowing, and rub up against your leg. It's funny how as a mom you get real good at completely tuning your kids out. They can say "mom" 5 or 6 times or more before you even hear them. The way Jace deals with that is just yelling "Heidi" really loud. Haley, on the other hand, turns herself into a kitty to get our attention. When you pick her up and pet her, she attempts to purr. When she has to talk it is something like this, "Meow meow, yes, meow", or she just changes the way her voice sounds. One day I said to her, "What is your name little kitty?" She said, "Meow meow it's Barbie Kitty." It is so funny how everyone reacts to her when she is "Barbie Kitty". She sure gets a lot of attention...and she milks it for ALL it's worth.

Barbie Kitty by daddy's leg

Great Kids!

One last hurrah

Last week we had a get together with some of the cousins. It was in the mid 80's(probably the last time until summer comes around again). We ate pizza and the kids were just busy getting wet.

Haley loves sitting in the hot tub

Wow look at those HUGE muscles!!

Husband Tag

I was tagged by my good friend Erin. We go wayyyyyyyyyyy back!!

What is his name? John
NICKNAMES? Johnny Lingo, Juany Lingo, Wendell, Johnny Cat
How long have you been married? Almost 16 1/2 years
How long did you date? 1 year
How old is he? 38
Who eats more sweets? I totally do. NO question. His idea of sweets is potatoes and gravy or Mexican food.
Who said I love you first? I can't remember. I must be getting old.
Who is taller? He is.
Who can sing better? I think he would say that I do. He is a good singer, but pretends like he doesn't know how to sing.
Who is smarter? John is totally smart. I have rocks for brains. He is way smarter than I am.
Who does the laundry? I do, over and over and over and over.
Who pays the bills? I do
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If looking at the bed he does.
Who mows the lawn? John does. I think I have only mowed it twice.
Who cooks dinner? I do or we go out. John is a GREAT cook, but is usually not home at dinner time. He cooks some mean Mexican dishes and great breakfasts.
Who drives? He usually does.
Who is more stubborn? I am 100%. I think it runs in my family.
Who kissed who first? No comment. Hee Hee.
Who asked who out first? He called to ask me out and I had a date with someone else that I did NOT want to go with. I wanted to break the date and my mom told me I better not. I was afraid he would not call back.
Who proposed? He did. He froze the ring in an ice cube and put it in my drink. He was afraid that I would swallow it or break a tooth on it.
Who has more siblings? I DO! He married into the "crazy" family. I have 12 siblings and he has one! What the heck! I think he is still trying to adjust to the crazy. I think sometimes he wishes we could "dial the crazy down a notch". He is always amazed about how we can hold three different conversations at once.
Who wears the pants? I completely do. Poor John probably feels like he married my dad!

The Stone Age

Well I feel like I am back to the land of the living. I recently had a computer problem and was unable to use it, and I also had my van in the shop for about 4 days. I felt like a prisoner in my home. The whole van thing was kind of a fiasco and I was definitely starting to lose my patience. We took the van in to be looked at because it would vibrate when you were stopped. They checked it out and told be one of the motor mounts was broken. They had to order a part for it. So, when I went to pick it up I paid about $200 and was told that it was still vibrating a little. Number one-- I was already bugged about the price and Number two-- I just want it to STOP vibrating, that is the reason I brought it in. I paid and went out and started my van. It was vibrating SO bad. I turned off the van and marched right back into the shop. I felt like I was foaming at the mouth I was so mad. I went in to the guy and said, "You didn't even fix it!" I just told him I would talk to my husband and I left. I was so mad on the way home I had to pull over so I could call the company back and complain to a "big wig". After giving him a piece of my mind (I told him that I paid $200 for "crap work") he asked me to bring it back the next day. Long story short, they had to replace the other motor mount and another part. They sold me the parts at cost and free labor on one and half price labor on the other. The last time I went in to pick it up they walked me out to the van to make sure it was perfect and just what I wanted. I'm pretty sure they didn't want to set me off again. I think the reason I was so mad through this whole thing is because they originally just tried to get me out the door with it not being done right. I hate going to mechanics. Half the time I have no clue what they are talking about and they treat you like you are a total idiot. Good Times!! My kids wonder why we just don't get a new van, I have to explain that it is paid for. I'm pretty sure they aren't catching what I am saying. There is a good ending to the story, my van now runs like a dream. I talk nice to it and hope that it will last me many more years.

Haley

Haley is always saying something that totally cracks me up. This morning I asked her if she was hungry. She told me yes, so I said, "What should I feed you?" She said, "I wanna pick the feed."

The other day I took Haley to ride some rides at park here in town. There are only 5 rides and they are very old. But, to a little kid, it is a total blast. She just kept yelling whoo-hoo!

Fun at Grandpa's and Grandma's

My dad just recently got this wild hair to buy a 1954 Chevrolet. So, we started by google searching. He found this great car on the web and purchased it! The car is so nice. It is fun to see the smile on my dad's face as he takes people for a ride and revs the engine. People outside always stop what they are doing and look. You can read their lips saying "nice car".




When I was growing up, one year for Christmas, my dad bought a go-cart. We used to drive it all around the neighborhood and yard. (I'm not sure how much all the neighbors appreciated it.) A couple of months ago my brother-in-law got it running again. My kids are always begging to go over and ride the go-cart. Thanks Dan for getting it going again!!

Back to school

Well the kids went back to school today. Hooray!! I can't believe the things I have been able to get accomplished in just the few hours they have been gone. It has been nice. Haley and I are just the only ones home in the day. We are great little pals. It is fun for the two of us to hang out together. Haley is very good about entertaining herself when she has to. This morning, Haley slept in until 10:00. So, the house was totally quiet for 2 hours. It felt strange, but nice. Riley is in 6th grade, Brynn is in 4th, and Jace in 2nd.

Shoe fettish

I took Riley, Brynn, and Haley shopping for shoes yesterday. Jace just about died when I told him we were going to go shopping for shoes. He DID NOT want to go. He was fighting back the tears asking me to pleeeease call a baby sitter. I ended up taking him to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma. He was so happy for two reasons...
1. Hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma and go to Subway and eat.
2. No shopping. (Not much of a shopper)
Haley was totally hilarious in the store. She went from rack to rack (didn't matter the size) looking for shiny sparkly shoes. She was holding 6 boxes of shoes begging me to buy them all. She kept going to the mirror and she would turn side to side admiring the shoes. Riley and I just kept laughing at her. I think we are going to be in trouble when she gets a little older.

Way to go Riley!

Last night during the opening exercises of Young Womens, Riley played the opening song. She did such a good job and didn't make any mistakes. I think I was more nervous then she was. They were looking for someone to play and I volunteered Riley. She didn't put up too much a fight. I was so proud of her. That has always been something that I struggle with, so I want her to be good at it. She has been practicing hymns all summer and is getting pretty good at some of them. Good Job RILEY!

Mommmmmm, we're BORED!

Okay, I'm not going to beat around the bush, I am ready for school to start. The kids are starting to drive me and each other CRAZY. They are tired of me nagging them to clean up the house and get their "job chart" done. They also need ME to entertain them. What happened to the good ole days of going outside to play for hours and using your imagination. Thanks to TV, video games, computer, etc., kids have become less easily entertained and they all have A.D.D. I now have a password on the computer and am threatening to trash all the T.V.s. What a mean mom. It will be nice to have them back on a good schedule. They are all looking forward to school starting. I think they are all a little tired of it too. Okay I will get off my soap box.

We took the kids swimming the other day. We spent most of the time in the pool racing back and forth across the pool for gold, silver, and bronze medals. The rest of the time was spent on the diving board jumping off. Riley and Brynn were learning to do front flips and dives. By the time we were done swimming we were all starving.

Hiking

John took the kids on a long hike several days ago. They were gone ALL day. It felt like school was back in session. It was just Haley and I all day at home. It was quiet and actually quite nice. John is a good dad!

Big day tomorrow

Tomorrow is Riley's 12th birthday. I cannot believe that she is turning 12 and going into Young Womens. I guess I can officially join the "old bags" club. That is the club where you start to look wrinkled, lumpy, your patience and memory is totally gone, and EVERYTHING heads south. OOOOH quick sign me up! My brother will sometimes tease his older sisters and call them "baggage claim". I think that basically means that they are an "old bag".

Riley is very excited to leave primary and move on to bigger and better things. Her birthday is just in time to miss singing in the primary program, which she is NOT sad about. I think she was a little embarrassed when the primary kids sang in sacrament meeting for Father's Day and she was at least a head taller then all the kids. They were also doing the actions to the song, "I'm so glad when daddy comes home." She just stood there smiling, with red cheeks and arms folded. I am the Laurels advisor and so I will be able to see her at YW on Sunday and Tuesday. I am excited, but it's not always "cool" to have your mom around when you are growing up. Hopefully she is excited too.

Riley is going to have a party on Friday with some of her friends from school. They are going to go swimming at the athletic club in town. She is pretty excited about it. Especially since she has a little crush on one of the boys! Scandelous. Good thing she doesn't read this blog or she would kill me.

Remember when...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.Take me on trip down memory lane.