dAte niGHt

Damian and I got to go on a date tonight! woot woot! First we stopped by the post office to mail some things (i.e. check things off my list), then we drove by the theater to see what our movie options were. We quickly settled on Yes Man that had already started. (We will call that being spontaneous instead of neglecting to plan.)

We both are Jim Carrey fans, so YES we enjoyed his usual wacky humor and gave it two thumbs up. Actually, there were a few parts where I was pretty sure Damian was going to get up and go sit somewhere else because I couldn’t stop laughing. (i.e. Spartan party and Red bull scene with the glow necklace) I love stupid humor though. It is pretty bad when you are the only one in the theater laughing. (We will call that ENJOYing myself.) Fortunately, he hung in there with me!

After the movie we walked across the parking lot to a pizza place and talked over dinner. I have always had this fear that we would turn into that couple…you know the ones who sit and eat together at a restaurant but hardly share a word? I was so relieved that we talked the whole time-scared for nothin'. I didn’t want it to end, but the babysitter was on the clock. I had so much fun just being with my husband and knowing that after ten years we still aren't that couple. YES!

Business is BOOMING!

The child raising business that is! That doesn’t mean that this is an announcement that we are adding any more to our crew. I just had the pleasure of helping other people raise their kids all day today. Before I go off getting some kind of saintly award, I have to admit that most of the time my kids are easier to manage when they have friends over to occupy them.

This morning there were 5, and tonight we hosted kids night out with only 7. I even got to check a few things off of my list while they were here, and Damian stopped and picked up dinner on the way home from work! Surely our shareholders would agree that today was a successful day.

Today I enJOYed...

- hearing my sweet husband get up with the kids, make breakfast & pack lunches

- Landon showing me what he learned at preschool: K is for ‘Kiss!’

- Having a few hours to myself to run errands

- Talking to both my mom and dad on the phone for a minute

- Sneaking my big spoonful of white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookie dough

- Dinosaur bedtime stories and cuddles with each of my precious kiddos

- Finishing an entire 273 page novel in the bathtub before bed

The Christmas Sweater by Glen Beck was a great story, well written. It is based on a true personal story and written for his children. Put it on your book list for Christmas next year! Without giving away any of the plot line, here are some of my favorite quotes:

“I’m lost.”

“That’s not exactly true… You’re exactly where you are supposed to be.”

“What is this place?”

“It is the world you made for yourself…When you choose the path, you choose the destination.”

“I wonder sometimes how many of us don’t face ourselves because we are convinced that we’re worthy of only a certain level of happiness. We are limited by our imaginations and thoughts of worthiness and joy.”

I am cooler than...TV!

When I was growing up, there was a family we were friends with who didn’t have television. Well, they did until their mom couldn’t get anyone to pay attention to her when she was trying to get them to do something. She ‘dropped’ the only one they had- TV, not kid. Several years and eight kids later, they were still without. All of their kids loved to read, were very intelligent and involved in many extracurricular activities. The only time not having TV at their house was really an issue is when any of the kids went somewhere where there was TV. It was like they were completely mesmerized and could not be distracted. As a teenager, I thought that was pretty weird.

Fast forward to motherhood and I find myself wanting to be that mom who limits TV time. (I didn’t say eliminate, just limit. I have to admit that television has saved my sanity more than once, so we will always have it in some form.) I try to limit my kids to two shows a day. Sometimes it’s more and some days we go without ever turning a TV on. However, my kids have turned into the mesmerized zombie TV watchers that I used to think were so strange. When the TV is on, it would take an earthquake AND a fire to distract them!

This morning, the boys and I were cuddled up reading some books and motorcycle magazines. (Yes, they read their motor sports magazines over and over like books.) I was really enjoying the quality time with the boys, but the clock was ticking closer towards the time to leave for gymnastics. With each tick my every other day shower was slipping away. Then my brilliant thought came, “Landon, how would you like to go upstairs and watch a show with Carter?” I started to get up sure he would fly off my lap and lunge toward the stairs, but he looked at me and said, “Actually, I just want to stay here and hang out with you.”

Seriously? How lucky am I to be so much cooler than TV? Well, it didn’t last for long, but I enjoyed it while it did! I did end up having time for a shower after a few more books. As we scrambled to make it to gymnastics, Landon told me with tears in his eyes that I was ‘boring.’ That is his way of saying totally lame. I went from cooler than TV to totally lame within an hour. I have chosen to focus on the ‘cooler’ description.

Bubble Butt

If there is a possibility that you might be disgusted by bathroom talk, you will want to stop reading here…….

Landon really is potty trained, but yesterday we didn’t do so well in that department. He and Carter were playing upstairs when I heard, “Mom, I pooped in my pants!” After a little investigation I was able to confirm that indeed the pants had been pooped. The worst part was the poor little guy had some pretty loose stool with a few Tablespoons of mucus. (No, I didn’t actually measure.) Totally gross, sorry.

As a mother of three, I believe I have seen my fair share of poop, but since Landon has no sign of congestion this one concerned me enough to call the nurse. By the time they called me back, we had three more incidents of mucus in the pants and two ‘bubble butt’ occurrences.

What is bubble butt you might be asking? (A

fter you asked out loud, “Really, you are still disclosing your son’s bathroom issues?”) Bubble butt is our lingo for clear bubbles that come out when going to the bathroom. No, I am serious. Poor kid has mucus butt and bubble butt, two things I didn’t even know a human could produce…in that way.

The nurse scheduled an appointment. Landon is being tested for food allergies (milk, wheat, eggs, soy...), Celiac’s disease, ulcerative colitis, &

diverticulitis.

They started the tests by drawing three vials of blood. I still hate getting my blood drawn, though it has become a pretty routine occurrence with the birth of three kids and the hormone issues I have had. However, watching the nurses try to find Landon’s tiny veins and seeing one collapse just about sent me sobbing. I decided to punch the nurse instead. Well, I really wanted to but I just decided to hold Landon tighter. Landon did so well! He didn’t fight, yell, or have to be held down. He just sat there holding still while quietly sobbing. I was so proud of him!

Our homework from the doctor is to cover our toilets with syran wrap to capture three days worth of live specimen, eliminate all dairy for 5 days, and start Landon on a probiotic. We should have some test results in a week. He doesn’t have any other symptoms, is a pretty good eater, and the cutest kid in the world. Keep him in your prayers!

Whose got the button?

Damian and I cleaned out our closet. As we were going through our hung up clothes piece by piece, I was surprised when Damian pulled out his brown and yellow striped shirt and tossed it in the donate pile without the slightest hesitation.

**I feel somewhat of a responsibility to document the history of said shirt for posterity.**

It was the bright and sunny day in the spring of 2008. For some reason, Damian had decided it was going to be one of the five chosen days of the year that he patron a retail establishment. He drove by a Wal-mart that seemed to have a magnetism about it that pulled his car into a parking place. He wasn’t sure why he made the stop to Wally World, but assumed it was his subconscious desire to see what the low-price guarantee was all about.

However, he had unknowingly been drawn into the store by a shirt. Some would say it was not so pretty with its mustard yellow and brown stripes, but when Damian saw it all he could think of was getting it on his burly tanned chest.

Beside the striped shirt was a rack of camouflage cargo shorts that he was also drawn to. When he saw the price he hurried to the checkout, unable to bear the anticipation of owning these two fine pieces of clothing any longer.

He sped home and donned the items. Now you might think that a brown and yellow striped shirt doesn’t have any business being paired with camouflage shorts, but your name isn’t Damian.

Damian strutted out to the kitchen to model his new ensemble for his lovely wife; sure she wouldn’t be able to bear his irresistible presentation. Unfortunately, the only thing she couldn’t bear was his fashion sense and the idea that when he actually chose to spend money on clothing for himself, this is what he purchased. A stifled giggle erupted from her throat as she began to question the theory behind his purchase. “It is sweet! And it was only seven bucks!!”

She was afraid to say too much for the fear of discouraging her husband from spending money and decided to leave him with whatever enthusiasm remained for his outfit. Questioning his wife’s judgment, he turned to her sister-in-law, Megan, who had witnessed his debut. “Don’t you think this is a sweet shirt?” he asked with a look of satisfaction on his face. He was shocked when she replied, “Um, well it’s not my favorite.”

The couple went their separate ways shaking their heads. Later that night, despite the earlier discord, they were sharing an embrace. Suddenly, Damian’s wife noticed that the top button on Damian’s new shirt was missing. He didn’t believe her when she told him, but upon further investigation the missing button was found under his collar. It had been sewn about an inch to the left from where it should have been. They both shared a laugh and even Damian found the humor when his wife reminded him, “Well, it looks like it is true. You get what you pay for!”

**Author took creative liberties to dramatize and embellish her always handsome- no matter what he's wearing- husband.**

Virgos hope there is some truth to ASTROLOGY

Virgo (8/23 – 9/22) Outlook for 2009

Saturday, January 3, 2009 | Provided by Astrology.com

Wonderful things are in store for you this year, Virgo! Wahoo! So glad I checked my Yahoo homepage today to find this out! You're experiencing tremendous feelings of rebirth and, as you release old ways of expressing yourself, So, tantrums are now out? you'll find yourself walking into all kinds of new experiences Could you please be a little more specific here? I need to plan for these things. Virgo loves to make sure everything is clear, concise and methodical oh so true, and this will help make it easy for you to graciously receive and beautifully adapt to the growth you are experiencing. I assume this does not include body fat? You'll feel very peaceful with the changes happening both inside and outside of you oh goody! Wait…can we change 'peaceful' to…ecstatic, thrilled, or giddy?, and you welcome the opportunity to express the new knowledge you gain. Express what I got, baby ready or not! Express myself…hey hey…

There's a renaissance rebirth? Really? going on within you that seems to have been asleep for sometime now You got me there! I am totally laughing out loud right now since I slept though most of 2008. You discover where the doorway is Promise it won’t be locked? and are ready to consciously find new meaning in your life As my hubs would say, I was born ready!, and to manifest who you are in your own way this could be scary. Mentally, culturally, instinctually and spiritually, you'll be going through incredible transformation this year. Just call me Megatron…more than meets the eye! Your fresh take on life will give you the ability to manifest a new reality. Fresh…I see more showers in my future. You take a big leap forward as you share these changes with others. I went from walking at the beginning of the year to leaping big at the end. I like it!

A re-emergence of your inventive and creative self will give you new ways of taking action and bringing your talents into the world. Watch out world. You will feel secure, safe is this a plug to really take my blog private and centered good with that as long as it doesn’t mean high-centered, which allows you to achieve anything you want in your life. You will feel more spiritually balanced in 2009 than ever before. I can always use that!

Virgos, looks like 2009 is our year!

Thank you Astrology.com for preparing me for my ‘Rebirth’!

Check out these cutie patooties!

We are watching our friends two adorable kids for a couple days so they could make it to the Sugar Bowl. They are Utes through and through. When they dropped their kids off this morning at 7:30 (so they could hit the road), the whole family was decked out in their red

U of U gear. It would have been even more impressive if it would have been BYU gear instead, but cute nonetheless. This act should not be considered support or encouragement of our rival in any way...just kidding, Steve! Nice game, U of U.

All five kids have been great today! The only issue we had was with Eden. She felt ‘left out’ because none of them would talk to her or play with her. Poor girl. I haven’t seen that many tears in a long time. We remedied the situation with some polish. Nothing like a little pedicure to make a girl feel better!

Eden came home with some funky dried nail polish from Christmas Eve’s white elephant gift exchange. She has been waiting to try it out, so we did. I can’t explain it, but if you try Incoco let me know what you think. I was pretty impressed. We even had enough for her to give me a pedicure! I am curious to see how long it stays on. The best part was I wasn’t sweating Eden getting polish all over or my ridiculously long toe stepping on my big one and making the whole pedicure process more of a recovery effort, which is what usually happens. No toe drama today!

We had to play musical beds tonight to accommodate two more little ones, so we told Eden she could sleep on our floor. All was good and well until Carter heard her still awake and wanted in on the action. I held him on the stairs for a long time trying to hone my negotiation skills. What was I thinking? I am no match for those big eyes, round cheeks and pouty lip!

And then there was this!

Carter: Mom, I really want to cuddle you in your bed.

Me: No bud, everyone sleeps better in their own beds.

Carter: But I don’t want to go to sleep!

Me: Oh, you need to! Don’t you remember what happens when you sleep? You grow bigger!

Carter: But you told me you don’t want me to grow up. You want me to stay just like I am now.

Me (blushing): I did say that. I am just worried that when you get bigger you won’t love me as much as you do now.

Carter: But Mom, when I get bigger I will just be able to love you bigger.

Mom: Do you promise?!

Carter: If I say yes, does that mean you will cuddle me?

Mom: If you promise!

Needless to say, Carter got cuddles and is still trying to fall asleep on my floor.

(I should get some redemption points for him not being in our bed, right?)

To start off the year...

I started 2009 off with a bang!

In addition to getting to wake up to this...

I got up.

I showered.

I did my hair. (Landon's stayed like that all day.)

I got dressed. (Landon never made it that far.)

AND

I cooked dinner!

Bang Baby!

This is a big deal for me because these things rarely all occur during the same day. I consciously decided not to exercise to leave myself a little room for improvement over the next 364 days. (You know you are struggling when you actually do get dressed and do your hair and everyone in the family wants to know where we are going.)

Last year after talking with some friends, I decided I wanted to use Jordan’s brilliant idea to come up with my own word for the year. That word became, in a sense, my theme for 2008. My 2008 word was SIMPLIFY. With Damian in school and working so hard, I knew I was going to have to cut back on some of expectations I had set for myself. I told myself that part of simplifying had to mean that I was not allowed to feel guilty about couldda shouldda wouldda things.

I am not sure if others would agree if simplifying my life happened last year, but I truly feel like it did. Having that theme in my mind with it’s redundant check phrase: ‘It’s okay. Let it go!’ helped me focus on the things that were really important to me and not sweat as much of the small stuff. I have come to the realization that try as I might, I can’t even be perfect at simplifying. I still kept my house freakishly straightened and my eyebrows meticulously groomed (you know, the important things).

At the same time I tried not to sweat things like my kids clothes not matching, how disastrous Damian’s office always looks, or even looking presentable. Instead I tried to focus on keeping my kids happy and fed. They really didn’t care if I was a day over-ripe or that I was an MIA school volunteer. Showering and volunteering are both things I enjoy, but I knew if I was worried about all the little things there was no way I could be happy. (Ok, I averaged an every other day shower.) But, you know what they say about when Mama’s not happy…

Now that I am simplified, my word for 2009 is ENJOY! It was a tough decision between ENDURE & ENJOY. Endure the last four months of not having my best friend and husband around. It sounded good although a little depressing, but then I thought how precious and few the days are until my boyfriend starts kindergarten! That did it. ENJOY it is, and ENJOY I will.

Last year I was able to find wooden letters with my word to put above my kitchen cabinets. So, if you see an ENJOY around in a cute way, shape or form will you let me know? I loved having a visual reminder during the year to keep me on track. Gracias!

Adios 2008!

How did we ring in the New Year?

...10 times I prayed Damian wouldn’t get caught for setting our garden on fire or let it spread to our garage- definitely on Smokey Bear’s naughty list

9 slices of pepperoni pizza

8 minutes talking about the 8 + 8 = 16 states we visited this past year

7 minutes watching Robbie Maddison set a world record for jumping his motorcycle- I’m grateful I just have a pyro and not an Eval Knieval

6 Wii competitions

5 bowls of Moolineum Crunch ice cream…my fave!

4 loads of laundry- celebrate good times, c'mon!

3 kids begging and pleading to light fireworks

2 adults emptying and cleaning out spoiled contents of freezer…again

1 value sized pack of fireworks

...HAPPY NEW YEAR!Hang on tight for a wild ride in 2009!

(this is how Landon spent 40 minutes 'watching' fireworks)

Blessings...

I haven’t even unpacked yet, but I felt a burning need to clean out my cupboards, the kids toy bins and the kitchen drawers as soon as I got home. No, I am not nesting or pregnant. Just weirdly me, I guess. Oh yeah, all my Christmas decorations got packed away today too! Eden hung in right there with me the whole time without even complaining. Today has been a day of miracles all around!

Tonight our family had an appointment with the bishop of our church to declare if we are full tithe payers for 2008. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we agree to pay ten percent of our annual income back to the church. The money is used for people in need, church maintenance, and to build new buildings.

Landon slept through our meeting and the cool object lesson the bishop shared with the kids. After he talked about faith and trust, he brought out a potted plant and a spoon. He asked the kids if they trusted him to eat a spoonful of dirt. They both declined. He then explained how our Father in Heaven sometimes asks us to do things that we don’t understand. He explained that we should always trust the Lord and have faith in Him, because He always has our best interest in mind.

He told the kids that the plant was fake and the ‘dirt’ was actually smashed Oreos. Carter lunged for a spoonful, but Eden passed again. It was evident by Carter’s smile and offer to have seconds that the ‘soil’ was indeed sweet. It is such a humbling thought to know that we can give a little back to the Lord, where all our blessings have come from! How SWEET!

SNoW & mOre SnOW!

We got all decked out to go sledding this morning. Mel and Steve took us to this awesome hill. To be honest, I was a little nervous…for my kids of course. It had been a long time since I went sledding, and I was sure I had never been to a hill that steep. I kept thinking as I watched kids flying down all around me that I could do it if they could. I was surprising myself- I am usually the thrill seeking type!

I think it was the story that was fresh in my mind of my newlywed parents going sledding. They were with a group and got cruisin’ so fast that mom broke from the group and slid the rest of the way down the hill on her face. A trip to the emergency room later and after my dad’s description of her sweet face looking like ‘hamburger’, Mom realized it would be months before she would look the same. I would venture to guess she hasn’t been sledding since.

I pushed away the vision of ground beef and pushed myself down. It was awesome! Once more down and I was a sledding fool. I couldn’t wait to try the different types of sleds, but after a couple of times back up the hill I was sucking wind. Did I mention it was a really big hill?

Since my perfect body is in perfect shape, I am sure it was my dad’s borrowed parka that was slowing me down. I wasn’t willing to take that off and get hives, so I had to mentally prepare myself to suck it up- ok, suck wind.

Before I had a chance to plan our next run, Landon waddled over to me and told me he was cold. Being the responsible mother that I am, I went on a search for snow clothes in Texas before we left for Utah. I bought some on sale for Landon, but later found out that 'snow' clothes in Texas don’t quite cut it for the real snow of Utah. The poor kid was freezing. We got to spend the next hour watching everyone else from the car, but we were warm. Everyone had a blast!

We caravanned to Park City to spend the evening with the Nichols in their beautiful new home. They were my second parents growing up, and their kids are some of my family's best friends. It was the first time we were able to spend time together in YEARS and relive some memories. It was so much fun!

They haven’t changed at all- especially Tanner. His wife, Katie, was telling us about his latest white elephant gift: His Pet Fart. Yes, Tanner proudly kept a log of his cuisine and jarred all his gas. In case you were wondering, yes it does work IF you use the jar with a rubber seal AND yes, he still is my friend. Some things never change!

Paige made some yummy tortilla soup, and they asked us to bring dessert.

Here is the apple cake recipe that I made. It got rave reviews:

Apple Brown Betty

Courtesy of: Jill Parkinson

Cake:

1 c. sugar

1 egg

½ C chopped nuts

1 C flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. salt

¼ C butter

2 C. shredded apples

1 tsp. soda

1 tsp. nutmeg

Cream sugar and butter. Add egg and beat well. Add apples and remaining ingredients. Bake in a 9x9” pan, well greased and floured at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until done.

Sauce:

½ C butter

1 C sugar

1 C evaporated milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

Combine in a saucepan and stir constantly over low heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Serve cake in individual pieces. Pour sauce over cake. Optional: Top with whipped cream.