Life And Such As

Summertime

2010-09-12T02:12:00.000-06:00

Cousin Sleepover

Jessi

Nail Polish Time

Birthday Boy

Ringy Dingy Schoolhouse

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Independence Day!

Our Statue of Liberty

Birthday Boy

Buzz Lightyear Galore

Fort

Girl's Night Quilt

Mae's Shower

Baby Wylie

Back to School

Post Eye Surgery :-(

Disneyland Trip

2010-09-12T01:37:00.000-06:00

On our way!

St. George Temple

Pool Time

Fairies

Teacups

My Treasure

It's a Small World After All

Crazy Driver

Submarine Ride

Star Wars Show

Row Row Row Your Boat

A is for Awesome

Las Vegas Temple

Last Day of School

2010-09-12T01:06:00.000-06:00

Hyro's Preschool Graduation

2010-09-12T01:02:00.000-06:00

In Blue with eyes shut

Nice Shades

The Support Section

April Wedding

2010-09-12T00:55:00.000-06:00

The Cousins

Aunt Susie's Fam

Aunt Cindy's Fam

Uncle Richard's Fam + Gma and Gpa J

Gpa and Gma B

Joe and Mae

Brad and Kati's Fam

Dallin

Lambert and Dub

Pauli

My love

Papa

Mae and Joe

John and Bride Kristi

Grandma J, Nana and her Granddaughters

The Shoes

Best Men + Groom

4 Bros and a Sister

Mother and Father of the Groom

Birthday Girl

2010-09-12T00:21:00.000-06:00

Bonfire and Cattle

2010-09-12T00:17:00.000-06:00

C Documents Papa's Orchard Bonfire and Gets a picture of G'pa B's Cattle

Daddy Daughter Dance

2010-03-03T23:37:00.001-07:00

Daughter was thrilled to go on a date with her daddy. They had Maggie Moo Icecream afterwards with her friends and their dads. What a little princess.

Capitol Field Trip

2010-02-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

Crucial conversations

2010-02-18T18:08:00.004-07:00

My husband and I went to a marriage conference where the speaker talked about communication and we learned some skills on how to approach "crucial conversations." The speaker said to share the info with others so I am.

What are Crucial Conversations?

When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions start to run strong, casual conversations become crucial.

Before you Begin:

A) Get your heart right

B) Get your head right

C) Make it safe

A) Get your heart right by asking yourself:

What do I REALLY want?

for the problem
for the relationship

B) Get your head right

Question your "stories" (motives you attribute to other people) by asking:

Why would a decent person do that?

C) Make it Safe

Ingredients of safety are:

mutual purpose
mutual respect

DON'T

Start with an accusation
A statement of emotion
Conclusions or judgements
Games
Traps or leading questions
Hot "condescending" words

State your good intentions
State what you expected compared with what actually happened, and then ask why they were different.

(never let exceeded expectations go by without thanking the person)

I found the info very helpful.

Recovery

2010-02-17T18:20:00.000-07:00

My daughter

2010-02-17T16:57:00.007-07:00

Whirlwind

My son

2010-02-17T16:49:00.007-07:00

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

November

2010-02-17T16:49:00.001-07:00

A family pic:

Thanksgiving Bingo and craft

Thanks for the ride, Papa:

Pilgrim girl:

Nana's rooster:

Helping Joe and Maegan move:

Planetarium trip:

October

2010-02-17T16:04:00.016-07:00

Our new kitty, Charlie

C and his swim coach:

Our soon to be new Sister-in-law:

Soccer:

Hunters:

Scarecrow Festival

Sir C the knight:

B and Cousin Jess

Trick-or-treating @ cookie grandma's house:

Trick-or-treating @ grandma and grandpa Bs house:

My Zorro

B and C's jackolanterns:

Bryan driving:

Birds in the wilderness

2009-10-23T14:52:00.003-06:00

That is what we are...birds in the wilderness...with R gone to Korea. :-(

Why is R in S. Korea? He started a new job working on HPC's all over the place. I never thought he would take a traveling job but he was not happy where he was so this is what came of that.

The time sure is dragging...especially with R so far away, because time is dependant on how close I am to him.

It is C's birthday. I took him to Denny's (Nanna and cousin P came along too) and then Walmart to pick out a present and "cake"...he picked a Wii game and brownies. He really wanted a bakugan cake with a toy on it but instead I bought the toy and cheesecake frosting brownies that he wanted.

Why isn't he in school on a Friday you ask?

Technically he is. He and I are doing homeschool...well really an online public charter school using K12 curriculum. I never actually thought I would do homeschool but it worked out that way with my sis-in-law recommending it, and things not going so hot in the local public school. I love knowing and being involved in C's learning although it takes a lot of my energy just to get him to do it. That is the only frustrating part.

Is anyone there?

2009-08-02T23:59:00.002-06:00

I kinda pooped out on the blog thing, but I still love reading other people's blogs. Kati is so good about keeping up with hers. I love you guys. I'm so blessed to have loving family and friends like you.

Bikes!

2009-05-30T16:56:00.002-06:00

Our new bikes:

The B brothers tried them out. What a sight they were! LOL!

I wanted an adult trike really bad for some crazy reason so I saw one at Smith's Market Place and I tried it out by riding all over the store...they have really wide aisles and few shoppers. B tried out her bike by following me around. The trike was super fun, so I bought it. R got himself a nice Trek bike, and he bought me a pink mountain bike so we could take it on the bike rack...can't haul the trike around.

C learned pretty quickly to ride a bike once we got him one that was the right size.

We took our first family bike ride around M in early May and saw a cute little colt in the pasture. I'm looking forward to more riding.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-30T16:45:00.004-06:00

We went to Nana and Papa's house with our new fishing gear. B got a new princess fishing pole that the kids used to practice casting off the back of Papa's truck. They spent a long time doing that, but didn't bring the fishing pole back in when they came in the house (B asked daddy to get it but he reassured her that it would be okay until the morning...oops!) so Papa ran over it the next morning. B was very upset about it but she got over it after we promised to get her a new one.

I've never liked fishing but I really wanted to catch my first fish...and I did! It was a tiny little bluegill from the M Reservoir. I didn't have my camera so I didn't get a picture. :( I was so excited about about catching a fish that I wanted to keep fishing but there was a big storm rolling over the mountains so we packed up and booked it out of there.

Bedtime Stories

2009-04-21T19:58:00.002-06:00

The movie was funny, but I really began to appreciate the beauty of bedtime stories as I listened to Papa tell my kids bedtime stories catered just for them. C got a story about the "The Lone Survivor"...Navy Seals. B got a story about a princess who was turned into a frog. Then they got a bible story Papa style...this time it was about Doubting Thomas. I loved listening in. I'm so grateful that their Papa would take the time to tell them stories each night they stayed at his house for Spring Break. R loved Papa's stories when he was a kid, and now he tells his own bedtime stories to the kids. They are so creative. He knows just what they are interested in and is able to combine different characters and things that are happening in their lives to make a great story. C loves Spongebob or World of Warcraft stories, and B loves Strawberry shortcake stories daddy style. I don't have the talent for this. I read stories from books because I can't come up with my own.

Some of the good ones I read to the kids are:

Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type

Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry and the Big Hungry Bear

Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!

Pinkalicious

Fancy Nancy

Big Chickens

Fat Cat Sat on a Mat

7 Chinese Brothers

Amelia Bedelia...C gets them, but B doesn't

The End

Mom Mobile

2009-04-03T13:21:00.007-06:00

Here is C with his Pinewood Derby car...Stinger! He was a consistant 3rd placer in his 4 heats, but he didn't mind too much. He said, "At least I wasn't last." He had a good time.

They had a fun race after the boy scouts raced, and the Mom Mobile was one of the top winners. It was made by one of the scout leader ladies. I'm going to get some pointers from her and make a showing next year. I'm getting started now on the carving. Hehe.

The Mom Mobile reminds me of that movie I saw as a kid...the Gnome Mobile! Good times! Maybe I'll name my derby car the Gnome Mobile...and put a gnome head on the top. I'm likin on these plans.

Miss Kellie

2009-04-01T21:13:00.002-06:00

C's student teacher in his class has been our saving grace this year. C will do anything for this sweet young teacher. Yesterday was her last day helping in C's class (she is going on a mission after taking her teacher exams/certifications) so she gave C a farewell note.

C,
I remember when I first came to help in Mrs. D's class and we became great friends and read all about spiders and insects! C you are such a special boy. You are such a hard worker and are full of great wonderful energy. Also you are a friend to everyone. I can always count on you C to help me and your other classmates. C you can do anything you put your mind to! You are one smart cookie! I am excited for you in the future! I have loved to watch you grow and learn! Keep up all the great work and know that you will always have a friend in Miss Kellie!

Miss Kellie

Specialest

2009-03-27T15:16:00.006-06:00

B told me a story today. The best part of the story she "read" from her notebook was: "Mom loves to bake with me. She knows cake is the specialest to me."

Thank Goodness It's Friday!

Wii watched Ellen

2009-03-24T17:21:00.004-06:00

While I was doing step aerobics on the Wii I was watching Ellen. Ellen was saying a lady from Utah had written in saying she had lost her job and her husband may lose his soon, and so Ellen's staff was going to her house so this lady could play Ellen's game "Gold Digger." They showed an aerial view of MY neighborhood and circled this lady's house...very close to mine. Then Ellen called her up and her staff knocked on her door. She was jumping up and down with excitement. She got to go up in the truck with this money blowing machine and grab as much as she could in a certain amount of time. She stuffed it into her shirt. It was a good thing she had layers on. C got his shoes on and ran out to see if it was happening right then. He claims that he saw the Ellen truck leaving. That was a fun thing to have happen.

Princess

2009-03-20T14:25:00.005-06:00

My little princess had a picnic on the front porch with her friends Kimberly and Gigi. Kimberly insisted on saying grace because it would be dangerous to eat otherwise. It was precious.

At the RS Birthday Dinner we got a great poem about Princesses:

A strong princess works out everyday to keep her body in shape, but a princess of strength kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape.

A strong princess isn't afraid of anything, but a princess of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear.

A strong princess won't let anyone get the best of her, but a princess of strength gives the best of herself to everyone.

A strong princess makes mistakes and avoids the same in the future. A princess of strength realizes lifes mistakes can also be God's blessings and capitalizes on them.

A strong princess walks sure footedly, but a princess of strength knows God will catch her when she falls.

A strong princess wears the look of confidence on her face, but a princess of strength wears grace.

A strong princess has faith that she is strong enough for the journey, but a princess of strength has faith that it is in the journey that she will become strong.

-unknown

Wake Up!

2009-03-19T16:43:00.000-06:00

I woke up at 5:30 to blaring fire alarms, and scared kids on the 18th. It was a planned power outage, and it triggered our fire alarms. They were going off every couple of minutes. I stumbled around trying to find a flashlight. I found the the one in its usual place by my computer, but B likes playing with flashlights so it was out of juice. Finally, I remember the lantern N&P gave us down in the closet in the kitchen and that worked just perfect because I had charged it up. R was able to pull all the batteries out of the fire alarms so we could go back to sleep.

Later that day some lady driving while on her cell phone tried to oggg me with her car but I was able to avoid it with my excellent defensive driving abilities.

I also had a bad dream about running over someone and just feeling completely horrified. I'm glad I woke up from that.

Apple Juice

2009-03-17T18:40:00.001-06:00

B told me today why she doesn't like apple juice. She says because it tastes like they squished the rotten out of it. She is super cute.

C explained to me how he made a painting at school. I'm glad he cared enough to explain this to me. He is usually annoyed at my questions of what is going on at school.

I'm grateful that R was so understanding of my breaking the car. He took care of everything with the help of his bro B (thanks) who helped tow it.

Costly mistakes

2009-03-17T18:18:00.000-06:00

Running the car completely out of gas was a costly mistake...$500. There were several factors that led to this mistake. We share the car so R must have been driving when the gas light first came on. I was driving on Sunday so I didn't want to stop for gas, and I was in a hurry when I noticed the low gas. I wasn't driving very far so I figured I would be okay since you still have 20 miles worth of gas when the light first comes on. I assumed it was the first time the light came on. Anyway, I guess this pay out to the mechanics helped stimulate their economy.

Sunday

2009-03-15T15:08:00.001-06:00

I enjoyed listening to B&K speak. They both did really well. H's little talk was adorable. On the way back I ran out of gas in the EXACT same spot I ran out of gas the time before...I never learn. Some nice men pushed me out of the intersection and another guy went and filled up a gas can for me. Then R came to rescue me. The car is still on the side of the road because it wouldn't start even after putting gas in it. *sigh*

Temple Trek

2009-03-14T22:23:00.002-06:00

I enjoyed trekking on up to the Draper temple openhouse today with all the B's. It feels so good to be surrounded by family. I loved chatting with the ladies why the mens went off to the hunting expo.

PB&J

2009-03-14T22:08:00.000-06:00

Sometimes you just feel like a PBJ with a tall glass of milk. Friday the 13th was that day for me.

Cookies

2009-03-11T12:57:00.000-06:00

B. and I made cookies today. She was very insistent about doing it, because she wants to be a Baker one day and have a store called B's Bakery. She is so cute to put on her apron and pull a chair over to help. What will I do when she goes to school all day next year? I'm sure I'll find something, but I'll miss my loving girl.

My Inspiration

2009-03-10T19:36:00.000-06:00

The following youtube video is my inspiration for this blog's name:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww

I was actually watching the pageant when this happened and I've never seen a girl flub an answer so badly. You have to admit that it was a really stupid question so it was an ideal situation for a craptastic answer that we can mock forevermore.