It is CRAZY what a little motivation will do to you.

Tonight we had homemaking, I mean, family, home and personal enrichment, no, enrichment, oh that's right Relief Society Meeting. I've been planning on going for a few weeks but I wasn't really in the mood to go this evening, but the alternative to staying home and finishing dinner, homework, dishes etc. was less appealing. There was a class on digital scrapbooking that I did want to go to so I hopped in the shower, changed out of my pajamas and said good-bye to all motherly responsibilities and left. What a great feeling that is sometimes.

I always feel for the teachers in these meetings because you put a few women together and there is bound to be a lot of talking and laughing. Tonight, Stephanie did a great job teaching and motivating.

When I got home the dishes were in deed done, thanks to Justin, the girls were in bed waiting for me to come in and say good night to them, thanks to Brett. All I had to do was get ready for bed and go to sleep. But there was a problem...I wasn't tired. I kept trying to talk to Brett but he was trying to go to bed. He suggested I go take Buddy for a walk around the neighborhood or atleast lie down so that I might have a better chance at sleeping. But I just couldn't.

Did I mention that Stephanie did a great job motivating me? Infact she did such a great job motivating that I have spent the last 2 hours doing digital scrapbooking. It is now past 1:00 am and the alarms for seminary will be going off in 4 hours and 10 minutes. Brandon is definately not getting a hot breakfast tomorrow. I'll probably make his sandwich and go back to bed.

There might be alot of gramatical errors and rambling going on during this post but it is Stephanie's fault for doing a great job tonight.

Good night!

Evil wins out

I am sitting in the office and the doorbell just rang, twice to be exact. The window in the office is right by the front door so I saw that it was the missionaries. I really do enjoy the missionaries in our ward, but they are at my house quite a bit. I've been cleaning all day long so I'm still in my pj's, no bra, no make up. It is 1:30 in the afternoon and only me, my dog, and my mom are home so they can't come in. As I am hustling to get things done my mind thinks: 1. oh man, I don't want to stop what I'm doing 2. it is cold and windy outside and I don't want to get cold 3. seriously, there isn't anything I can do for them right now is there So, the evil part of me wins out. I scoot close to the desk so they hopefully can't see me and I proceed to type this post. After a few minutes Buddy came and sat down beside me. I knew I was safe to move around because Buddy wouldn't leave the window if someone was standing there. And just in case you've ever knocked on my door and nobody answered. I don't usually do this, unless you are selling something or the missionaries on my cleaning day. You will also know to look in the window to see if I am at my computer.

A Grandma? Seriously?!?

So, I am usually a really hard sleeper. Once I kiss Brett good night I am out until my alarm wakes me up in the morning. What happened last night then when I was up from 2-6? My mind kept thinging about life being so crazy. Then I started to think about the fact that I'll be 40 next month. I have no problem with the idea of being 40. It is kind of exciting to me to see what this new decade will bring. The more I thought about it though, the more I couldn't believe all the changes that will happen before I reach 50. This new decade is going to be amazing.

1. All 4 kids will be graduated from high school.

2. Brandon and Justin will have served their missions and Kelsey could be on one.

3. Brandon, Justin and Kelsey could all have their bachelors degrees. And Emily would have 1 year of college under her belt.

4. Brandon and Justin could be married, Kelsey as well since I was married at 20.

5. Then the thought hit me like a brick...I could be a GRANDMA!!! Seriously?!?

Next, I started thinking about how much I need to improve in so many areas of my life in order to be a good influence on my kids while they are going through such huge changes.

Life has gone by so quickly and it keeps speeding up on me. It seems I am never home. With volunteering, errands, sports, sports, and more sports, as well as music lessons and church callings it is amazing we ever sit down to dinner as a family. But, all this will go away too quickly. I know everyone has the same busy life, but will I remember all the moments I don't want to forget? I love the phase of life I am in right now. I love my teenagers and I love my girls at their ages. And, most of all I love where Brett and I are at this point in our lives.

Note to self for next year: Remember it is impossible to get the whole family together in the months of November and December. Between Brandon's basketball, Justin's soccer and church assignments the first time to get together with it light outside was on Dec. 19.

Once again I'm late with mailing out Christmas cards.

I haven't posted since May and a million things have happened that have made 2009 a fabulous year. Too much to catch up on...lucky you.

I look back over the year and see how my children have grown both in size and in character and wonder if the same is happening to me as far as who I am. As the years fly by faster and faster I hope I'll be able to keep up with my kids as they learn and grow. How sad to be the same person year after year. There are so many ways to improve, hopefully I'll grasp on to some of them.

Here's to a fabulous 2010!!!

Wait...stop...time is going too quickly!!! (still)

As the weeks go by in a flash, I get more and more behind on things and forget things I'm really looking forward to. (Like the VT luncheon this past Thursday, darn it.) If I wrote about the things that have happened in the last 2 months I would be even more behind than I am now. So I decided to just move forward. My kids are healthy, happy and the bright spots in my life so the craziness that I find myself in because of them is worth it. I'm posting a picture of them all together, which is rare, all with smiles on their faces, which is also rare, and syrup on the dogs head. That is a bonus. Atleast the kids got a got breakfast that morning.

I've been picture tagged--and I was honest!!!

This is the 6th folder and the 6th picture. Would I lie about a picture like this. I thought of using a different one, but good grief, I can own up to the picture. Each year on our anniversary we take a picture of Brett and me. This picture was taken in Dec. 2007 while I'm putting my jewelry on for the actual picture. Thanks Mendie!!! Atleast your picture was of Kenzie on her birthday. I tag Teri Esplin, Kimberlie Hall, Amy Hatch, Jen Kesler, Stacy Rhineer and Clarissa Campbell.

New Form of Punishment

This past Presidents Day the boys had slept in late, ate breakfast in front of Sports Center and then went up to shower and get ready for the day, or so I thought. It turned out they started fighting with each other. Not the fist fight kind of fight, but the kind where goofing off and horse play goes a little to far. Well, I didn't want that on a day where we were all supposed to be home having fun together. After calling Brett at work about what to do, (he doesn't necessarily like that type of call), he suggested I have the boys pull out the two big ugly bushes in the front that needed to come out. Brilliant!!! I told the boys what they needed to do and they did it. The boys got to work quickly since they had plans with friends in a few hours, and I got the bushes removed...next time this happens I might have a freshly swept out garage or the rocks moved for our garden area.

Finally, the tooth came out.

Emily has had a really loose tooth for a very long time. I am not posting the picture of the loose tooth because, quit simply, it was really gross. But finally Sunday morning it came out. Brett had already left for church so she took the tooth in a ziplock bag to show him and a bunch of other people. The missing tooth has left a really cute whole. Making her freckled face even cuter to me. By the way, do other kids leave notes and M&M's for the tooth fairy? It used to be so simple--leave your tooth, get your money. Now days kids leave notes asking the tooth fairy questions about what she does with the teeth and what her favorite candy is.

Back to School so Soon?

I walked into the family room just after the boys came home from school on the first day after the Christmas break. Justin was sitting on the couch like this...he was not thrilled about being back in school. Sorry Justin, you still have 6 years until you graduate from High School and then there is college after that.

Christmas dresses made easy!

I usually stress big time about the girls Christmas dresses. For some reason I feel a need to make them and then race to get them finished. This year I went with the dresses from Costco. I know lots of other girls had them, but for some reason, I didn't care this year. Emily and Kelsey would wear them every Sunday if I let them. Hopefully Costco comes through next year too.

I have so much fun with Emily and Kelsey. I can't believe how big they are getting.

Memories of Christmas 2008

Christmas is such a fabulous time of year. This year Brett took two weeks off and it was so nice to have him around so much. I know Christmas is nearly a month ago but there are some things about Christmas I want to last forever.
We went sledding on New Years Day and it was so much fun. We really miss having more snow.

Brandon and Justin really dislike each others NBA teams. Justin loves the Lakers and Brandon loves the Jazz. My mom gave Brandon and Justin NBA shirts and purposefully gave them the other Team shirt. They could barely touch each others shirt. They can't stand each others team

We live across the street from two extremely decorated houses at Christmas time. On Christmas eve Santa and Mrs. Claus always come to visit these 2 houses. It was quite cold outside, but Kelsey is of a different breed because she always wants short on.

Like many families we open up one present on Christmas Eve. It is always pajamas, but Emily still hopes it will be something different. This picture is of them holding the presents. I didn't get one of them in their pajamas. Oh well.
This is a picture of one of the houses. The grandpa that lives there is the nicest man. He starts setting up in early November so the lights are ready just after Thanksgiving.

Happy 17th Anniversary!!!

Can it really have been so long that we have been married? When we decided to get married we were both students and not making much money. Brett's dad was a little worried and said, "You can't live on love alone." Well we haven't, we've added great memories in those 17 years we added 4 children, 1 big dog, lived in 4 different states (some more than once), 7 apartments, 3 houses, many trips to lots of different places, only 3 trips to the emergency room, a few pounds to each of us, and we created a fabulous relationship with each other. Brett and I are different from each other in so many ways and have to laugh at most of them. For example, he stirs his hot chocolate slow and smooth while I prefer to do it fast and furiously. Oh well, we seem to live each day in our own way and somehow it works out at the end of the day.

SNOW DAY!?!

Hooray, it snowed!!!

It started snowing Monday morning with just little flakes on and off during the day. When the kids got off the bus there was more snow and it just kept coming down. Early evening it was announced that school would be on a 2 hour delay and we were all hoping that school would be cancelled. Sure enough school ended up being cancelled Tuesday morning. Snow days are the best! It is all about snowball fights, snowmen, snow angels and hot chocolate.

Yesterday in Denver my friend, Teri, said some of the buses couldn't run because it was so cold. Yet, school wasn't cancelled. Well, it only takes this amount of snow to get the schools closed down here in Albuquerque. What a fun day!

Very Cool Skateboard Cake!!!

Justin had a "WAY SICK" cake! Audrey made this cake and it turned out great. All the boys loved it, both the way it looked and tasted. Before we could light the candles Justin had all his friends hold the cake to see how heavy it was. This cake was definately the BOMB!!!

In the end, this was all that was left of the skateboard dude!!!

Justin Turns 12!!!

My Sweet Little Justin is 12!!!

Justin is 12 and I can't believe it!!! He is such a great kid (I wanted to use the word boy, but he seems to old for that word. He is the child that keeps us laughing, solves the arguments, has no fear (about anything), can create amazing oragami, jumps off our 6 foot high walls landing on the rocks in his bare feet (without feeling pain), will do what he wants without caving into peer-pressure (that can be good and bad), can turn anything into a game (grocery shopping is an adventure with him along), and he sees the good in everything.

Brandon and Justin will now be in Young Men's together. Brandon said he'll make sure Justin stays in line. I never had to wonder how Brandon would behave. With Justin, I wonder.

For his birthday he just had a few friends play lazer tag, eat pizza and yummy cake,

and then goof off!!!

We have such GREAT friends!

As Brett left for early morning basketball, this is what he saw!!! Thankfully he
didn't call me at 6:15 in the morning. He waited until about 8:30. He know I love sleep!

There was no question in our minds as to one of the culprits. We found out later there were actually 2 disfunctional families involved. I really hope they aren't feeling too at ease at home in their warm houses. Because, as far as we know, the score has not been settled...............................

Acutually, we have loved having such fun friends, even if we sit on opposite

sides when BYU and UTAH are concerened. We are glad they haven't forgotten

about us since they kicked us into a new ward that we love just as much.

Where do they get this stuff?

We all know things get done faster
and in the right way don't we?
Well, I'm trying to have my kids help out more with things other than their regular chores. Well, when you ask a 14 year old to crush some Oreo cookies, this is what you might get!!!

At first I was a little mad because I couldn't image why he would think that would be okay with me. Then I had to laugh for a few reasons: 1. Braondon didn't complain when I asked him to help. 2. All the Oreo's stayed in the bag. 3. Bouncing a basketball on the bag actually did a better job than my more traditional way of using a rolling pin. Who would have guessed?

Technology!?!?!

Okay, so I was able to get my pictures from my memory card, but the card isn't working in my camera!?! At least I have the pictures, and they are saved on a disk! Brandon had a great season. He has played soccer since he was 5 so making the basketball team the last 2 year in middle school has been pretty cool.




Our sweet little Kelsey loves everything about whatever she is doing. Coach Petersen told the team that when they are on defense to get their guns out and point one at the person you are guarding and one at the basket. As you can see she does as she is told. Her guns were pulled the entire game. Her team is made up of 3rd and 4th grade kids. You'd never guess that she is one of the older kids based on how tall she is or isn't.

Technology!?!?!?

AUGH!!! I was downloading pictures from my camera and decided I didn't want to wait that long so I pulled my memory card out and I think I lost 483 pictures from my card!!! Daneille said, "Why did you have so many pictures on your camera?" Thanks Danielle. Lesson learned. So I had some great pictures of both Kelsey and Brandon playing, but I've turned into a mom that doesn't know how to work with modern technology. Thanks for good friends who have taken pictures of Brandon playing.

The Circe of Life

Brandon's basketball season is coming to an end with just 2 games left, but Kelsey's just started. While at Brandon's games Brett and I laugh at how the coach and some parents think the game is a life altering event. Kelsey's games are simply entertaining. Kelsey went from being on a pre-team gymnastics class to rookie basketball player. She was awesome on defense, both while a defender and while she was on offense. Like I said she is a rookie. She loved every minute of the game and every day of the week leading up to the game.